"It's almost over," Seliph whispered to himself "Almost…" the sea in front of him seemed to sparkle with the sun setting in front of him. He took a step forward and looked down in the water staring at his reflection, he had gotten what he had wanted, what he craved for so many years; revenge, revenge against Arvis, the man who stole his mother and murdered his father. His mother never even got to see him walk and his father had died when he was still an infant. When he was a child he had sworn to defeat Arvis and avenge his father's death.
Yet, when he got his vengeance, he couldn't help but feel...Empty. He should've despised Arvis, he should've despised him for everything he's done to him, he should've despised him for killing not just his father, but the parents of all his friends. Everyone he had grown up with when he was a child lost someone to Arvis, Larcei and Ulster lost both of their parents, Lana and Lester had lost their father and Dermott became separated from his family for most of his life. He should've hated Arvis but in the end he couldn't. Perhaps it was because he could tell he had tried to repent for the sins of his past by freeing the children held in Chalphy castle, or maybe he felt some sympathy for the man who had just become another pawn for Loptyrian Cult, but there was no use dwelling on it at the moment. Arvis was dead and there was no changing that, but the war wasn't over yet...Prince Julius still held the capital and Julia was with him…
Seliph had lost track of how long he had been out here. So when he heard his name being called he had assumed someone had been sent out to bring him back to the castle, but when he turned around, he couldn't see anybody. He had assumed it was just his imagination, but when he looked back into the water, his eyes widened in shock, as right beside him stood a woman, he was sure she hadn't been standing next to him earlier, but here she was, standing right beside him in his reflection.
"Seliph…" the woman in his reflection said again, for a few brief moments he had thought it was Julia, that she hadn't been taken away by Manfroy and that she was right here with him, but while he hoped it, he knew that couldn't have been the case. "Seliph." the voice called out to him again, the way she had said it was gentle, and sweet. The voice brought back memories of when he was a baby in Agustria, and then when she smiled at him, he knew exactly who it was. The woman who had been gone for almost all his life, the woman who never got to hear him speak...
"M-mother…" Seliph managed to mutter out. His hands began to tremble and his eyes began to get watery. He was ashamed of almost crying in front of his mother, but he didn't care, he had been told all his life that he shouldn't cry since people looked up to him as a symbol of hope, but when he saw his mother again that was all he wanted to do, he wanted to cry in her arms because he had missed her that much…
"Oh how you've grown…" Deirdre said, she sounded like she was also about to burst into tears at any minute. "Lewyn has done such a fine job in raising you…I...I couldn't be prouder of you…" she said as she placed a hand on Seliph's shoulder, and that was when Seliph reached his breaking point and tears began to roll down his cheeks, what he had wanted more than anything was to know that his parents accepted the man he had become, he wanted to hear the words "I'm proud of you." from one of them at least once in his life, perhaps that was why he had felt empty after defeating Emperor Arvis, he had done it all for his father's sake and yet, he could never know how father truly felt, but he could now see how his mother felt…
"Mother, I...I've finally avenged father's death, I defeated Emperor Arvis!" he told his mother watching her reaction in the water, but she seemed...saddened by this. Perhaps it was because Arvis had loved mother, and didn't just use her to become emperor of Grannvale, it'd explain why with his dying breath, Arvis had called out her name.
"I see…" his mother said with a hint of regret in her voice, "And what of Julia and Julius?" she asked him.
"Julia and Julius, do you know something about them mother?" Seliph asked, to Seliph half of the question was weird, he knew that Julius was her only other child, but as far as he knew she had no connection to Julia.
She opened her mouth to speak, but another voice interrupted her. "Seliph." the voice said as another figure materialized in the water on the other side of him. He recognized the man's face almost immediately.
"Father?!" Seliph asked in complete shock, the last time he had seen his father was right before Oifey and Shannan took him to Issach to keep him safe. He was still a baby when that had happened.
"It's nice to see you've become a fine young man." His father said, he had promised to Seliph, right before Oifey and Shannan left with him, that they would see each other again one day. Now that promise, after 16 years, had finally been fulfilled.
"Father, did you hear what I told mother? I finally avenged your death!" Seliph said proudly. Hoping his father would finally give him confirmation that this is what he had wanted.
"Seliph, don't let Arvis's defeat get to your head. His death wasn't by your hand alone…"
"Huh? Father what do you mean?" Seliph asked bewildered by his father's answer, what did he mean 'not by your hand alone,' but his answer to that question didn't come from his father, but it came from his mother.
"Seliph, the ones who have accompanied you on this journey, the ones who would give their lives for you. They've brought you to this moment, my son." his mother explained to him.
"Winning this war is not the only obstacle you must overcome Seliph." His father said shortly after his mother had finished speaking, "You must learn how the others have suffered, the reality you live in and the reality others live in are still worlds apart, if you cannot do this Seliph, then this whole war would've been for nothing." he told him as he placed his hand on Seliph's other shoulder.
"I...I promise you father, I promise you that I'll learn! I promise you that when this war is over, no one in Grannvale will suffer…" Seliph cried out. He was going to be worthy of the Chalphy name, he was going to become worthy to wield the sword that his father once had, and he was going to be a worthy son to his parents, so whenever they looked down from the heavens they would smile at him.
"I have no doubt that you will. You're a fine young man." his father said smiling.
"A fine young man." His mother repeated as she also let out a smile.
He looked in the water and he saw what his life could've been like. Both of his parents were standing happily by his side, he wanted this to last forever but he knew it couldn't, his parents were both dead, these were just their spirits in the water. The reflection in the water was what could've been, but he wasn't in the reflection, he was in the real world and he had a war to win.
"Mother, father, thank you…" he croaked out, knowing this would probably be the last time he saw either of them.
"I think it should be us that should be thanking you." His father said.
"We couldn't have asked for a better son." His mother said finishing the sentence. "You've made us both extremely proud of you." his mother said as her image began to disappear from the water.
"Take care, my son." his father said as his image also disappeared from the water, and soon Seliph was just standing alone looking at himself in the water, and turned his head when he heard footsteps approach him, and he began to see the familiar green hair of his advisor, Lewyn.
"I've been wondering where you went." Lewyn said as he approached his side and stared out over the sea. "What are you doing over here?"
"I just, needed sometime to be alone and think." Seliph said, wondering if he should tell Lewyn what he had seen, but he decided against it.
"Well, a lot has happened recently, so I can understand your desire to be alone, but the others were looking for you back at the castle." Lewyn told him as he continued to look over the sea.
"I guess I should head back there." he said and turned away from the water, part of him wanted to stay, hoping his parents would reappear in the water, but he knew he had to move on, he had to win this war.
Lewyn also turned his back towards the sea and began walking back to Chalphy castle with Seliph, who was unusually quiet when he heard a voice whisper, "Thank you" to him. He turned around and looked at the sea which seemed to be calling to him.
"Is there something wrong Lewyn?" Seliph asked him, perhaps he saw something in the water like he did.
"No...No it was just the wind." Lewyn said and continued to walk off.
Seliph took one final look at the ocean and smiled to himself. He was going to make sure that the advice his mother and father gave him here would live on forever, he was going to make sure that every king after him would try to learn the suffering of the common folk, and value the ones around him, he was going to make sure that their advice wouldn't become just mere whispers lost to the winds.