Looking for answers.

“It’s Darx!” Emma cried as soon as she saw him waiting at their counter. She walked to him and hugged him. “Oh Darx. It’s so good to see you. We were worried about you, you know.” She carried on, embarrassing Darx with how loud she was being.

“Hey, Darx!” Oliver called, walking out from the back. Darx turned to look at his friend, he saw a flash of long blonde hair behind Oliver, someone running up the stairs that led to Emma and Oliver’s rooms as well as the few rooms the tavern had available to rent out. The way the lady moved. . .

Darx felt a punch on his right arm. “It’s good to see you out and about, Darx.” Oliver said with a smile. “Your mother came in a few days ago. She said the church wouldn’t let her see you.”

“Yeah.” Darx said, thinking about why the church would do that but also about his mother, and why he was here.

“You okay, Darx?” Emma asked.

“Can we talk somewhere?” Darx didn’t want to talk about Amelia where others would hear, and the tavern had a lot of people in it.

“You two can talk in the kitchen.” Emma stated.

“What’s going on, Darx?” Oliver asked, concern showing on his face, as the door to the kitchen closed behind them.

“Have you heard anything from Amelia?” Darx asked.

“Amelia? Why?” Oliver responded nervously.

“I just need to find her.” Darx said, not wanting to drag Oliver and his family into it any more than necessary.

Oliver looked at his shoes. “I can’t help you, I’m afraid.” Darx knew Oliver, had known him most of his life. Oliver was an honest guy. He was a terrible liar. Right now, Darx knew Oliver wasn’t telling him the truth. At the very least Oliver was keeping something from him. Darx felt hurt, angry, but he wouldn't give up easily.

“You don’t know where she is?” Darx asked, trying to pin him down, find out as much as he could.

Oliver didn’t answer, he ground the toe of his shoe into the floor of the kitchen.

“Oliver.” Darx said sternly, not letting his friend get away with not answering.

“I’m sorry Darx, I really am. But I can’t help you.” Oliver looked pained, it was obvious he didn’t want to keep things from Darx, but he was choosing to, if he was set against telling Darx he wouldn't, Oliver was a terrible liar but he also never shared secrets.

“I really need to find her.” Darx said, letting the frustration he was feeling show.

“Why?” Oliver asked.

“It’s better if you don’t know.” Darx answered. “If you won't help me at least tell her I can help her if you see her. And let her know I need her help.”

“Darx, I’m sorry.” Oliver said. “If I could. . .”

“I know." Darx said. He needed to leave, he was practically shaking he was so upset. He turned, headed out of the kitchen. "I’ll see you around Oliver.” It was as nice as he could **** himself to be. Darx needed to get out of there. He walked through the dining area and out of the Pleasant Owl, struggling to keep his feelings in check.

“Darx, are you leaving alrea. . .” Emma’s voice was cut off by the door closing behind Darx. Darx took off, walking fast. He was angry, hurt, frustrated. He needed to find Amelia and people that he trusted were refusing to help him. Estella at least had an excuse. She was Darx’s guild master, she had to choose the good of the guild over Darx. If Neku was right she might still help them too. But Oliver? Darx didn’t know how to feel about Oliver. Nothing like this had ever come between them before. Darx couldn’t think of a single time Oliver had lied to him face to face like that. What would cause him to act like that?

If Oliver was lying to him it had to be over something serious. Did someone threaten Emma or their little girl? Was it the church? The Royal Guard? Oblivion? Darx realized how fast, how hard he was walking and stopped. He took a breath. Neku had asked him to trust Estella, to wait until tomorrow, see if she could help. Darx could do that. He would trust Neku.

“You have such foolish faith in women.” In his mind he could hear the voice of the demon Namy. He could hear her laughter as she said it. She had a point. He had trusted Amelia, had trusted Syvis, he trusted his mom. If he hadn't trusted them so much would he have realized what was really going on? And now Darx had Wendy and Neku with him. He trusted them, especially Neku.

But he also knew Neku was with the church. She let him know her stance on his future back in the caves. Then she came to him, wanted him to help her steal from the church. Was that a ploy? Was it a trick to get him to trust her, so that even if he rejected the church, they would still have a way to get to him? She was the one that brought him to the church after all.

“Darx, there you are.” Neku’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She looked at him curiously, “Are you okay Darx?” Darx hadn’t even seen her approach.

“I’m. . . I don’t know, Neku.” Darx answered. Seeing her before him made him think his doubts about her were stupid, a betrayal even. Neku had been nothing but good to him. She had helped him. If it wasn’t for her he would be a pawn of the priest by now. But didn't he feel the same about Amelia? Couldn't he have said the same about his mother? Neku moved to him, took his hands.

“What happened?” She asked.

“I went and saw Oliver.” Darx responded.

“Your friend from Merton?” Neku asked.

“Yes, I asked him about Amelia and he lied to me.” Darx continued. “He’s never lied to me like that before.”

“Do you know why?” Neku asked. Darx just shook his head.

“Something is going on with Amelia, Neku.” He said. “Why would both Estella and Oliver both refuse to help me?”

“Darx, I think Estella might be able to help us, but she has to talk to the Queen first.” Neku answered him, “She has a meeting with her in the morning about other things, she promised to talk to her about Amelia then.”

Darx closed his eyes. He was angry about Estella having to ask permission to help him find Amelia. But the reason made sense. He could wait a day. If Estella could help him, good. If she couldn’t help him tomorrow, he’d know it was a bigger deal. Knowing that didn't help much, Darx was still angry. Oliver lying to him, keeping secrets about their closest friend. He hadn’t expected that. He’d gotten angry and left. He was still angry about it. But Darx knew Oliver. Oliver wouldn’t lie to Darx if there wasn’t a good reason. He wouldn’t refuse to tell him about Amelia unless there was something keeping from doing so. And yet, without Amelia he couldn't do anything about Kase, he couldn't do anything to help his mother.

“Darx, hey.” Neku said, her hand touching his face. “Whatever it is, we can work through it.”

The way she looked at him, concerned, a little scared. He told her what happened, but he couldn’t tell her what he was feeling. He couldn’t find the words, couldn’t say it out loud. Oliver had lied to him, Oliver. His best friend, the only person he had that Kase hadn’t gotten his hands on. He was trying to tell himself that he should trust Oliver, but what did trusting people ever get him except pain? Darx could feel it in the background too, the abyss, that dark place that had nearly taken him when he found Kase and Syvis. It was still there, it was still inside him. It wasn't threatening to overpower him like before, but it was still there.

Neku took his hand, started walking. Darx followed, spiraling inside his head. When Neku sat on a stone bench in the main square of town he sat next to her. Darx put his head in his hands and did his best to not think. Turn off his brain, escape his thoughts for a moment. Push the Abyss to the background.

Neku had her arms around him, holding him. Her head resting on his shoulder. He laid his head on hers.

“Thank you, Neku.” Darx said softly.

“For what?”

“For being here, with me.” He answered.

“You are the blessed one, chosen by the Goddess from before your birth.” She turned and kissed his cheek. “Where else would I go?”

“Neku, I know Imris saved me from the portal. I know I can choose my powers and advance in ranks. I even have a special ability she personally gave me.” Darx said, his voice slow and sad. “But honestly, I don’t feel very blessed. I feel like the whole world wants to destroy me.”

She kissed him again. “Of course it does." She stated like it was obvious. Darx looked at her, she smiled at him and touched his face lightly. "There’s a lot in this world that wants to be wrong. You’re here to fix it, and a lot of people, a lot of powers don’t want things fixed.”

That didn’t make it feel better, but it did make sense. He was going to have enemies; he just had to find a way to succeed anyway. He wasn’t going to do that fretting about Oliver or Amelia, Syvis or even his mom. Darx did his best to push all of that out of his mind. He needed to focus on the big picture. Concern himself with the Dark Elf delegation. Bring them into the war. That’s what he could do. That’s what he needed to do.

“Neku, I think I’m going to go to the Castle.” Darx said.

“The Castle? I thought Wendy was taking care of the Royal Guard.”

“Not for that. I want to go to the Library, look up what they have on Dark Elf etiquette and politics.” Darx stood up and stretched. “Make sure I make a good impression.” The royal library should have that information, but even more than the information, Darx wanted to get away for a bit. Escape from the church, get away from the people that were turning on him, go someplace peaceful. He had loved the royal library that month he was in the castle, going back there now seemed like a pretty good option.

Neku smiled at him. “Of course.”

Less than an hour later Darx was reading about the customs and etiquette of the Dark Elves. It had been no trouble to gain access; the Queen herself gave permission for him to use the library. Neku stayed with him, reading some older histories, looking for anything that might have been altered in the volumes the church had. As for Wendy, she was still at the castle. She stopped in quickly to see them then ran off again to hang out with some of the friends she had made in the Royal Guard. The library didn’t seem like her kind of a place.

An hour after that Darx was researching magic. Neku had fallen asleep at a table, and Wendy had come back to check on them before running off again. When Darx finished the text he had been looking through he stretched and sighed. He had been in the Hospital and then the church, he missed this library. Darx had always been a book worm, and while the church library was beautiful and impressive, the castle library was quiet and relaxing, a fantastic place to read. It was nice to get away from the stress of the day, be able to escape into reading books for a while.

He had learned a good bit, too. Dark Elf etiquette was in many ways similar to the etiquette of the palace. He felt he had a decent understanding of where it was different. He needed to do more research, but at least he had a good idea of what he needed to research now. Darx had also found some potential ways to accelerate his mana growth and control. Sadly, there was little about learning new magic. Everything was written for people developing magic their awakening had given them. Nothing about how to learn a brand new magic. It made sense, he was the only person in centuries that could add new abilities to his card. Everyone else walked out of their awakening with all the skills they would ever have.

The potential to grow his mana was a big deal though. He knew some of his better attacks were too mana expensive, likely because of how he had trained in his sleep with Zaine. In that empty space mana wasn’t an issue. He had developed new and more powerful ways to spend mana there, without needing to learn how to spend it more efficiently, and without building up his mana pool. It had limited him as a caster, and that needed to change. So far he’d survived fights because of his allies, his owl, or by ranking up mid-fight. He needed to be better than that.

Darx was still in his thoughts when he heard movement. He looked over and had a moment of deja vu.

“Princess.” He said softly, standing and bowing.

“Hi Darx.” Princess Kathleen said, as she walked toward him nervously. “Wendy said you were here. I-I’m sorry if I'm bothering you.”

“It’s fine, Princess. It’s good to see you again.” Darx replied.

“Really?” she smiled. “A-Anyway, I have something to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“Mother wanted you to know that you have her ... that you have our full support. W-We aren’t against you Darx, even if what they say is true, even if you are the future king.” She looked nervous with the last part.

Darx took her hand, tried to reassure her. “I don’t want the throne, Princess. I don’t want to rule anyone. I just want to help.”

The princess blushed. “T-There are ways t-to. . . W-We would. . .” She pulled her hand away from his and hid her face as it turned noticeably red. He decided to change the subject.

“Can I ask you a question, princess?”

”Mhm.” She replied, still doing her best to hide.

“You met my mother, Ilene. Can you tell me about your time with her?”

The princess nodded. “She was so kind to me.” She began, looking less scared as she spoke. “She was so strong, so brave. It made me want to be like her. She talked about you a lot, Darx. She was so proud of you. She would tell me stories about when you were growing up. She clearly loves you a lot.”

“So what happened? Why did she leave?” Darx asked.

“When you disappeared, mother sent people to look for you, to help Ilene find you. Eventually she had to call off the search, but she let Ilene keep looking. We understood and gave her all the time she wanted. W-When she came back though, Ilene was different. She was so sad. She married that man, left the guard. . .” The princess’s voice cracked. “She said she couldn’t be here anymore. That she had more important things to do. . .” Darx could see the princess had been hurt when his mother left.

“Thanks for telling me.” He said.

“I-I’ve heard. . . W-We’ve been told that you and Ilene. . . That you aren’t on good terms.” She looked genuinely concerned. “She really loves you Darx.”

“I know, but she married a man who has promised to kill me." Darx answered. "It makes it a bit difficult.”

“I-It doesn’t make sense, Darx.” The princess looked at the table as she said it, scowling.

Darx looked at her. He wanted to tell her the truth, but that wasn’t a good idea. He felt he could trust her, but he didn’t know for sure, and the fewer people that knew, the better the chance that Kase would be caught off-guard. Darx compromised.

“I’m going to try to get her away from him, just for a little bit.” Darx said. “Kase is controlling her life, I just want to make sure she’s okay.” He said, choosing to not lie, but also not tell the whole story.

“If I, if we can help you, let us know.” She said sincerely.

“I’ll hold you to that princess, and thank you.” He said, smiling at her.

She blushed again, and looked down. “D-Darx, y-you were dating Syvis.”

“Yes.”

“A-Are you s-still. . .” she couldn’t finish the question.

“No. I don’t know what that relationship is anymore, but we aren’t together. I still care about her, but we’ll never be together like that again.”

“T-There are plans. . . W-We might. . . F-For the K-Kingdom, y-you and. . .” It was too much, the princess covered her face. “Oh Goddess.”

He took her hand in his. “It’s okay Princess, whatever I can do to help you, I will.”

“D-Do you m-mean that?” She looked up, her eyes bright, hopeful. Darx was struck by how beautiful she was when she didn’t look scared.

“Absolutely.” He smiled at her. The two of them stayed there for a moment, her hand in his, before she suddenly pulled back.

“I-I need to go. C-can you look away for a minute?”

He turned and closed his eyes. “Go ahead.”

He waited for a moment, didn’t hear her move, then suddenly he felt the soft touch of lips against his cheek, “Goodnight Darx.” She whispered. He waited for a bit then looked back and she was gone.

With the princess gone, Darx returned to the table where he had been reading.

“Darx?” Neku's voice interrupted his thoughts.

“I thought you were asleep, Neku.”

“You guys weren’t that quiet.” Neku said with a smile.

Darx laughed.

“Would you really marry the princess, Darx?” Neku asked, her tone serious.

“What?”

“Seriously? What do you think she was talking about at the end there?” Neku said, her eyes studying his reaction to her words.

“I don’t know, she was too nervous to say it.”

“Think about it, Darx. You are the rightful king. The princess admitted it. Said they won’t fight you.” Neku stated. “But Darx, your existence makes their rule illegitimate. Even if you don’t forcefully take the throne from them, the nobles won’t respect them when you become accepted as the Heir of Zrephia.”

“I didn’t think about that.” Darx said.

“What would be the best way for them to stay in power, Darx?”

It made sense. The obvious route. “If I married the princess. . .” Darx laughed. “Syvis and I both pressured to marry for the sake of the ruling families, that’s ironic.”

Neku just looked at him. “You’re the rightful king Darx, their reign can’t survive while you save the kingdom.”

“But if they lose power, I lose allies in my stand against the church leaders and against Oblivion.” He said thoughtfully.

They didn’t say anything more. Darx was trying to keep his thoughts off of Amelia and his mom. He was trying to deal with his feelings that remained for Syvis in spite of everything that happened. Trying his best to focus on his meeting with the Dark Elves, how important it was to get that right. And now, on top of everything else, the possibility of marrying the princess. It seemed everything was determined to chain him to a destiny he didn’t even want. He’d always just wanted to live his life his own way, with the people he cared about. He didn't want all of this.

He laughed again, a sad, shallow laugh. He and Syvis were in the same boat, and it looked like the freedom to live their lives the way they wanted wasn’t really an option for either of them, they were doomed from birth. Darx rubbed his temples. He felt tired. It had been a crazy day.

Darx looked to Neku. “Let’s get out of here.”

They ran into Wendy on the way out, and the three of them walked back to the church together. Darx’s thoughts were all over the place. He had just been reading about the etiquette of the Dark Elf court, comparing it to the etiquette of the court in Riledo, trying to figure out how to fake his way through the meeting coming in a week. Now he had to consider the possibility that he would be joining the Royal Family, living every moment of his life in that world. It was a lot, and he did not like it. He at least liked Princess Kathleen. She seemed genuinely nice. Just very shy and nervous. If it came to it, he could imagine worse fates than marrying the princess.

But if he married the princess, what would happen to Neku? He looked to his right, Neku returned his look and smiled at him. He was really growing attached to her. Wendy had only been with them a short while, but he liked her too. Darx thought of Soraya, in the library. The way she looked at him as she talked of restoring the bloodline of Zrephia. If she meant what he thought she might mean. . .

Darx held that thought as the three of them walked through the church, back to his room.

“Neku, can I ask you a question?” he asked.

“Anything, Darx.” she replied.

Darx took a moment, trying to find the best way to bring it up.

“So, earlier today, I met a battle nun, in the Library.” He started. “She offered to help me with my 'duty as the Heir of Zrephia'.”

Neku noticeably swallowed and a blush crept up her neck.

“She spoke about the importance of 'restoring the bloodline of Zrephia'.” He spoke slowly, hoping she wouldn't make him say more.

“Are you asking me what that entails, Darx?” Neku responded. Dark nodded.

“How much do you know about Zrephian bloodlines? About passing on the red eyes and everything that comes with them?” She asked him.

“I read a bit, that two people with red eyes would always have a red-eyed child. But if only one partner had red eyes, it was just a chance.” He explained.

“A low chance, Darx. So to have heirs, to get more children with red eyes . . .”

“I’d need to have a lot of kids ...” He stated.

“With a lot of different women ...” Neku added.

Wendy walked over to them. “Are you serious?” She asked.

Neku nodded. “And to 'restore the bloodline', we need to avoid half-siblings mating. Ideally, they would be second or even third cousins, but even if first cousins are having kids together, that’s Darx’s grandchildren. If Darx had two or three kids with red eyes, odds are the line would just die off again.”

“So, how many are we talking about?” Darx asked. “How many Zrephian kids do I need to have.”

“As many as possible, Darx.” Neku said, her face conflicted. “The low-end goal would be ten or more, just to have a chance to build a sustainable royal line.”

“How many kids would I need to have to get ten with red eyes?” Darx asked.

“No one knows Darx.” Neku answered. “We just know it is a lot.”

Darx tried to let that information sink in. “Like, I would have a harem of women?” He asked.

“Oh no, Darx.” Neku came over, grabbed his arm. “That wouldn’t be practical. That wouldn’t be nearly enough women.”

Darx was glad she was holding onto him. He felt like he was going to feint.

“How?” He asked, unable to form the rest of the sentence, it was too much, it was absurd.

Neku led him to the bed, had him sit down.

“A breeding program, single women, married women, adventurers, commoners, nobles, all of them.” Neku paused before continuing. “Darx, I’ve seen some of the plans the elders of the church made once the prophecy of your coming was verified. They are impressive. They’ve been preparing for over a century Darx.”

Darx laughed. He couldn’t help it. It was absurd, ridiculous. It couldn’t be real.

- - - - - -

The Pleasant Owl.

Emma walked up the stairs to the rooms on the second floor of the tavern. She took a deep breath, steeled herself for the conversation she was about to have.

She knocked on the door.

"Oliver?" a feminine voice asked.

"No, it's Emma."

She heard the latch move then the door cracked open. When the person inside saw she was alone the door opened.

"Come in." The young lady said.

Emma walked into the small room, one the previous owners had rented to pilgrims, visitors, and young people in town for the awakening ritual. She and Oliver hadn't gotten them ready for renting yet, but they had prepared this room. Emma sat on the bed, patted the mattress beside her and the young lady sat down.

"How long do you plan on hiding from him?" She asked.

"Not much longer." the lady answered.

"Oliver lied to him." Emma said, hoping the weight of the words didn't need to be explained.

"I'm sorry."

"Come on, give Darx some credit." Emma said. "He's not going to be angry at you for what happened. He helped me when I was pregnant, and you know all that Oliver has done for me. You really think Darx would be angry at you, that he'd hold that all against you?"

The young lady clenched her fists. "It's not that. I know Darx wouldn't be angry. He'd care, he'd want to help. . ." She trailed off.

"Then why not let him?" Emma understood being ashamed of a relationship. She understood very well what that felt like. "Stop beating yourself up about what happened and talk to him."

"I told you it isn't that."

"Then what is it?" Emma asked.

"I can't tell you." She answered.

Emma sighed, she didn't want to do what came next, but she wasn't going to watch her husband be torn in half over his long time friends.

"The next time Darx comes here, I'm telling him." She said, then silenced the young lady with a look before she could object. "I won't have Oliver lying for you. He's downstairs beating himself up over it, not knowing what to do. He's too sweet of a man for you to put him in this spot."

She looked at the woman sitting beside her. "Do you understand?"

"Yes." the lady replied.

"Look," Emma continued, unable to leave it that harshly. "We all love you. We want the best for you. But I won't let Oliver get hurt."

"I understand." the lady replied. "Trust me, I want to tell everyone the truth, I just need a little bit more time."

"Okay." Emma said. "And honestly, I think Darx would love the way you look with your hair blonde." Emma smiled, then left the room, hoping she hadn't made things worse.

When Emma had gone back downstairs, Amelia threw herself on the bed and clutched the pillow to her chest. She hated hiding from Darx. She hated asking Oliver to keep her presence a secret from Darx. She knew Oliver, she knew how he hated lying, and she knew he was beating himself up over it right now. She knew all of that, but there wasn't any choice.

If she told Darx, if he even knew she was here, he'd get involved. He'd try to help her. He'd get caught up in it. She wouldn't let that happen. She couldn't. She'd saved up enough money, she'd made contact, arranged the purchase. Tomorrow she'd pick up the poison and then it was only a few days till she would get her shot. Then Kase would be dead and her son, her little Daver, would finally be safe. If she got away with it she could go see Darx then. But not before, not while Kase was alive and her son was at risk. . .