Echoed Reveries

“Alfred! Alfred! Are you talking to yourself again?” I heard a shout from behind. I can recognise that voice any day.

“Hey Myra, what are you doing up here?” I turn around and see her walking towards me, catching her breath from all the climbing.

“New commissions are up, let’s go check them out,” she said, huffing.

I tapped the ground beside me, “Come catch your breath first,” inviting her to join me.

She gave me her hand, trying to calm her breathing. I grabbed it and gently pulled her, helping her get to the spot.

She sat down and took a long breath, “Why do you always come up here?”

I looked at her and smiled, “I just like it here, away from the busy city”. I turned my head to stare in the distance.

“And with how things are, I don’t even know when I could come back here. So might as well make the most out of it.”

“You cling to things too much, Alfred” She said, resting her face on her palms.

“Well, my bad for wanting to keep the things I like with me” I turn around to see her gazing in the distance.

“Wanting to keep things isn’t an issue, it’s your obsession with it.” She said, turning her gaze towards me. “You are obsessed with the idea of protecting things, rather than doing them.” She gave a smile and turned her gaze in the distance again.

I silently follow her gaze as they get lost in the endless horizon.

The view is nothing new, it’s the same forest I see almost everyday, from the same spot. I have been coming to this knoll since I was a kid and Myra has been following me ever since. Does this place hold the same significance to her as it does to me? Or does she only come here because I do? Will she stop once I am gone? Ah, I am spacing out again, she doesn’t like it when I ignore her existence.

“So much has changed, hasn’t it? The forest used to be so lush, and the sk-”

“Alfred, I won’t get bored of your silence.” She said, interrupting me.

I can’t help but smile. “Thank you Myra.”

“So, what has been on your mind? Or do you want me to cast a truth spell on you?” She giggles.

“I don’t really know,” I sigh, “but I am having these weird dreams, and they are so vivid it almost feels like I have experienced those moments.”

“Hmm? How is that an issue?” She tilts her head slightly.

“Well, I won’t have thought about it much but it has been happening regularly and I can oddly remember all of it.”

“What’s wrong with remembering your dreams?” She asked in a confused tone.

“Myra, tell me what you dreamed of today.” I ask her.

“I dreamt of- wait!” She took a minute to think. “I don’t know…I swear I know it but-”

“Yeah, that’s what a normal dream should be like.” I interrupted her, “You don’t remember them. But I do, and this has been happening everyday.”

“It sure is weird.” She paused, “Are your mana circuits fine? Let me check.”

I got them checked from another doctor a few days ago, but I can’t tell her this.

She placed two of her fingers on my chest and closed her eyes. The tip of her fingers started gleaming yellow as she released her mana inside my body and slowly I started to feel conscious of everything.

I felt my heart rushing and my lungs expanding, her mana flowing in my body, every corner of it. I was aware of its every movement. “I hate this feeling.”

She removed her hand and opened her eyes, “You felt awful means your mana circuits and nervous system are working correctly.” She smiled and gently patted my cheeks. “Have you not been sleeping well?”

“I have, and that’s exactly why I am getting those vivid dreams.”

She sighed, “I wonder what’s gonna happen to you without me.”

“Why would you say that?” I gave her a concerned look.

She looked at me for a moment and smiled, “The war is inevitable Alfred, everyone knows that.”

Right, Myra’s fate was sealed when our parents got separated.

“Then run away with me, we already have a fake identity for you under the guild.”

“I can’t abandon my responsibilities you know,” she said, turning her face away from me.

“So you can abandon me and what’s left of us?” I exclaimed, “Just like her-” I whispered

Myra gasped and placed her hand on her chest, “Alfred-” she turned towards me, the brightness in her eyes long gone.

What have I done, I clenched my fists, a cold dread seizing me. “I am sorry Myra…” I moved forward to hug her but was interrupted by her hand gently pressing on my cheek.

“Alfred, you are the most important person to me.” She said with a smile, but I could see the faint tears at the corner of her eyes, “But that doesn’t mean-”

As she was speaking, we got interrupted by a red magic circle which appeared below us.

“Teleportation?” I said, quickly grabbing Myra’s hand.

The surroundings got dense, and it felt as if something was crushing my body. Why were we being teleported unwillingly? I quickly casted a shield around Myra as our bodies vanished.

I opened my eyes, and we were teleported to the guild’s headquarters. Seems like all the mercs affiliated by the guild have been summoned. Myra was holding onto me, I could feel her palms sweating.

I looked around a bit to see what was going on, until a person came on the stage. He was dressed like a fine noble, a cape with the guild logo and a rapier sheathed on his waist. He has some kind of tattoo on his wrist, but I can’t make it out from this distance.

“Welcome, members of the IronHeart guild. Today marks a new day for us. Today we overthrow the shackles bounding us.” the man spoke in a bold voice.

I still don’t know why we were summoned. The only reason me and Myra joined this guild was because they didn’t run any background checks, so we could easily get her registered under her fake identity and get her an official citizen id.

He unsheathed his rapier and raised it in the air. Two people came on the stage, dragging someone who was bleeding badly.

“Al- Alfred,” Myra gasped, I felt her clutching my palm tightly. I turned to her and saw her standing frozen with wide eyes.

“What happened?” I asked her, she has never been this shaken. She didn’t answer and continued looking at the stage. Myra’s grip tightened on my hand, her nails digging in my skin.

I turned towards the stage too and was left startled at the sight. “The princess…? M-Mother?”

I couldn’t believe my eyes, the world seemed to have stopped. The man was saying something, people were murmuring but I couldn’t hear anything. It was all slowly going white, a static hum building inside my head, as if I were being electrocuted. My heart started beating fast. Then, suddenly something clung to me. I slowly shifted down my gaze. Myra was clinging to me, sobbing, trembling.

I brought my shaking hand to Myra’s head and stroked her hair, offering the little comfort I could.

I am trembling?

“This is the symbol of our freedom, this is the symbol of a failed kingdom” He spoke, poking the princess with his rapier. I felt sick in my stomach, I suddenly wanted to bite off that man’s neck.

“The king has been slain, and the only heir to his dynasty is this pig.” He said, poking her again. I clenched my fist and closed my eyes, putting my hands around Myra.

Why am I feeling so guilty, even though I have never loved her.

At the same time, the room went completely silent.

“My people, today we become free. But there’s one last thing you must do, hunt down a dog who escaped.”

So that’s why we were summoned.

“Find the daughter of this woman.” He said, pointing to our mother.

Huh, what the fuck? They should not concern themselves with Myra, she was not given any form of nobility. Even if mother took her, she shouldn’t have the title of a princess. What the hell is even going on here?

People started murmuring. It was given, since the fact that my mother married a commoner was kept secret and so were both of her children.

Myra was still sobbing and clinging onto me. I wrapped my arms around her and gently stroked her hair. My gaze was fixated on that man who dared to do this in front of her. Yes, this isn’t about mother, this is about Myra. I am feeling guilty because Myra is sad, not because that woman is hurt.

“Then, I hope you all will help us. That’s all.” He said and walked off, sheathing his rapier back. I shifted my gaze to mother, clothes stained with blood and multiple wounds on her body. Her face was pale and covered by the messy hair. She showed no signs of life. Why do I feel relieved?

I patted Myra to help her calm down so we could leave. I took a last look at mother and she suddenly opened her blood-stained eyes. For a moment, my heart stopped beating. It felt as if I was stuck on the ground, just like a statue.

By the looks of it, she struggled to do even that. It’s fine, she’s probably clinging to her last breath. She turned towards me, staring right into my eyes. Tears mixed with blood rolled down her eyes. She was smiling.