I'm sorry it took so long. I'm having a huge problem with uploading new chapters. Good news is only one more chapter till the end of the story.

This is actually the longest chapter I wrote till now, mostly cause there were so many answers that needed to be answered. I hope you will enjoy reading it.

About the puzzles; we finished them on Monday in 12:10 am. If you want to know how they look like go to my profile where I put an link for you.

Enjoy, and don't be sad it's almost over... I'm preparing the next story...

A levi-ship was approaching Freid. From the windows its passengers could see the remains of the recently ended battle. They could see the red guymelef lying on the ground few feet away from the fearsome guymelef from Ispano.

"We come to late." Lyanna said looking out "I hope everyone are well."

"They are fine. You are forgetting who your talking about; those people fought in the Grate War and won." Hitomi said making Lyanna crack up in laughter "And what is so funny?"

"I'm sorry I have to say this, but you are." She managed to calm down a bit to speak "It was you who made a biggest fuss about them needing our help, and now you claim you knew all a long they can win without us."

"I guess your right." Hitomi thought about her words and agreed "I guess I wanted to make sure everyone are all right."

"Everyone or just…?" Lyanna got cut off before managed to say the whole sentence.

"Everyone! But I was little more concerned about… um… him." Hitomi admitted what the elder knew all a long. After all Hitomi herself told her once she had feelings for the young king.

"Duke Chid. A ship is approaching. It had the markings of Zeibach." A guard appeared on the doors of the meeting room where everyone gathered.

They all rushed out to anxious to hear what happened with the sorcerers. Van stopped as Allen held his arm.

"What ever you do, don't judge her for leaving." Van nodded after hearing his friend's word. He had really no reason, or rights to judge her, when he wanted to do the same thing after the attack on Fanelia.

The ship landed and the door opened. Merle couldn't control herself anymore and ran to hug Hitomi as soon she had stepped out, which resulted with both of them landing on the floor. Lyanna who walked behind Hitomi help her empress up with a huge smile on her face. And she wasn't the only one who was smiling. Van was happy to see her safe, but his smile soon disappeared from his face. It disappeared in the moment a dark-haired woman appeared on the doors of the ship.

It seemed the time had stopped for the king of Fanelia. It seemed he fell in trance when his eyes met those of his mother. Ten years, it's been ten years since she left his life leaving him in believe she was dead. Leaving him in believe he had no one, that he was alone… that is until Hitomi literally ran into his life.

"Will you not introduce us with your retinues?" Chid asked seeing how many people had walked out of the ship while she greeted everyone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She smiled to him "Lyanna you already know, and those are Usul and Anirul, also members of the council."

Now his attention was directed to the group of people standing closer to the ship. There were twenty-two of them and something in them seemed familiar to the young duke. Noticing this Hitomi figured out it is time to introduce her new allies. And she was about to speak when she got interrupted by non other but Van. But he didn't speak, he ran inside without any explanations.

"Draconians are here. I guess you will face your father after all." Van walked in the room where the prisoner was being kept. Chid didn't want to lock him in the cell when the young mad admitted the fact he was a Draconian who ran out the underground city.

"Why aren't you there with the others?" he asked Van.

"Cause I also hade some ghosts of the past who I am afraid to face." He didn't really know why he said that to the man whose name he didn't even know.

"So the stories are true." Van lifted his eyes "Lady Varie is really…"

"My mother." the words seemed strange to Van "My mother who left me behind when I was five."

"My father wanted me to be the key keeper after he dies. I didn't want that. I didn't want to hide my entire life, and never to see the sun."

"Why didn't you just tell him that?" Van asked and right away his own words sounded stupid to him.

"I guess I didn't want to disappoint him. But now I failed."

"You can't possibly know what he thinks till you talk to him." Van knew right away that the same advice goes for him too. He got up and wanted to walk out when he turned back to the brown-haired Draconian "You never told me your name."

"It's Nuin."

Chid was completely overjoyed as he talked with Draconians while they walked inside. Hitomi's affirmation that the underground city really exists, and some description of it left not only him, but others too completely in wonder.

On the way to the meeting room the group stop when Van suddenly appeared, his eyes locking again with those of Varie.

"I guess we should talk mother." He could hear everyone gasp on the discovery one of those Draconians was indeed mother of Fanelian king.

"Indeed we do." Her voice ringed in his ears as they walked off alone, leaving some people behind completely dumbfounded.

"I thought… Van's mother was dead…" Millerna mumbled.

"She was almost dead when she returned to us." Mandor said, first time talking about it to anyone "She was broken after the death of the king Gaou and disappearance of her older son."

"But Van was still there. So why did she left?" Hitomi got curious. That question lied on her heart ever since she find out lady Varie wasn't dead as presumed.

"It is not on us to answer that question. I guess you will have to ask her personally." That wasn't the answer she wanted to hear, but there was no point object.

"Um… Mandor…" Chid wanted to inform the key keeper about the prisoner, but had a hard time finding the right words "The pilot of Escavalon claims to be your son."

"What? It was Nuin?" the old man was shocked, angry and disappointed at the same time "Where is he?"

"He's is locked in a room. I couldn't put a Draconian in dungeon."

"I wish to speak to him." Mandor said and on Chid's order one of the guards show him the way to the room where his son waited for him to walk in.

"I understand that you felt broken after fathers death and Folken's disappearance, but why haven't you come back?" Van was sitting opposite to a woman he never thought he would see again. She hasn't changed much over the years, despite she was ten years older now than the last time he saw her.

"I wanted to, but the memories were too painful. But don't think I didn't thought about you all this years, you were always on my mind, Van." Her voice was still the same too.

"I wish you let me know you were still alive, if nothing more."

"If I had done that you would search for me, and that might bring you and all of us in danger. We hide for a good reason, my son. Especially since Dornkirk came to our land." She looked down, like she was ashamed for something.

"He got the information's about the machine strait from the source, hasn't he?" Van understood his mother's behavior, and her unwillingness to look him in the eyes "It was Draconians who told him about it, and how to build one."

"Yes, and that is why we remained hid, even though he was dead. People will certainly hate us for what we have done. Draconians destroyed Atlantis, out home, and now we almost destroyed Gaea too." Her voice trembled "We thought this time things would be different, but things were exactly the same. It almost ended exactly the same."

"But it didn't. Gaea wasn't destroyed." Van smiled.

"Thanks to you." First time after ten years Varie smiled back to her son "And thanks to your devotion to the young seer."

"What will you do now?" he wanted so badly hear her say she'll come to Fanelia with him.

"I'm going back to Zeibach." His eyes revealed how hurt he was when her words reached him "The empress there is very young, and needs some help in making a new start with a land that seems to be on it's own." She gave him a hint on which Van could only laugh.

"I'm sure that once the word is spread about the empress and her new advisers all lands of Gaea would gladly have land as strong as New Zeibach Empire for an ally."

"Van, I will come back to Fanelia. I promise." She gave him a smile only a mother knows how to put on.

Hitomi was sitting in the garden after dinner. She wanted to talk to Van, but he didn't show up for a meal. She wanted just to talk, to explain, to promise. Van must have sensed something, cause as soon as he finished his conversation with Nuin about how it was facing their fears he rushed outside. He found Hitomi sitting under a tree looking at the moons.

"I just talked to Nuin, the pilot of the second guymelef." Van didn't exactly how to say what he planed, so he started with something completely random.

"How did his conversation with Mandor pass?" Hitomi was actually curious about the subject, even though she sensed it wasn't the real thing Van wanted to say.

"He explained his father why he did what he did." Van sat down next to her "He didn't want to be a keeper of the keys, and spend his entire life in the underground city. That's why he ran away. Sorcerers somehow managed to convince to join them."

"And your conversation?"

"My mother is coming back with you." He didn't know what to think about her decision.

"She'll come back to Fanelia." Hitomi smiled.

"I know. She said she would. But what about you?" he finally spoke what was really bothering him.

"I have changed the laws in Zeibach, created democracy." He was slightly confused by her words, but that soon changed "To prevent something as stupid as another war ruler's decisions can only be accomplished if the council agreed." She than smiled to him "And to give other a chance to design a future policy of the land, elections will be held every four years, and one person can only be elected twice."

"So in four years you may no longer be the empress of Zeibach?" a spark of hope lit in Van's heart.

"In four years I will certainly no longer be the empress, even if I do get reelected, I won't accept it."

"Hitomi?"

"In four years I'm leaving Zeibach." She looked down, so Van couldn't see her smiling.

"So, your going home?" he said, feeling the weight of those words on his heart.

"Fanelia isn't my home, but I would like call it so someday." Van looked at the smiling face of his beloved.

"Someday, in say… four years?" he grinned.

"In four years… I promise…"