Waves and waves of soldiers came one after the other, everyone did what they could to take down the guards and run as fast as possible. Once the first row was cleared, they could finally advance. As they went through they got to a door of what looked to be an arena, and a new row of soldiers were awaiting them, Leif stopped at the door of the Arena. In more than just a panic.

"No, no, no, fuck. I could've sworn I had a door key on me," Leif said, looking desperately through his armor.

Ced noticed this and ran toward him, giving him a key that he had gotten from a chest in the last dungeon. "Here, take this." As Leif took it, he then said, "What is going on in there? Sounds like a battle is going on in there as well."

"It is… my friends Nanna and Eyvel are in there. I swear I heard their voices...I need to save them before it's too late!" Breathing heavily, the lord unlocked the door to the arena.

Leif immediately went into the arena and found two blonde-haired women, fighting against a group of powerful enemies and a young black haired girl. She looked strange and she was more aggressive than the others, but for some reason the older blonde woman refused to attack her, limiting herself to only defending herself, despite the perfect openings to counter.

"Nanna! Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Leif exclaimed, taking the girl out of the arena.

"Y-yeah, but, Eyvel...and Mareeta...I don't think they can take much more of this…" The girl-Nanna said, she looked to be shaking as she clung onto Leif.

"Mareeta?" Leif asked and looked inside the arena once again, now realizing who the girl attacking Eyvel was. "Oh gods...what happened to her?"

"I-I don't know...I'm scared...Leif, we must do something!"

Ced, who overheard the conversation, looked through the door and saw what little he could see of the current fight in the arena. Nothing would go well if they stepped in, he had seen Leif's combat skill. He knew if he went in there, especially under strong emotions like that, it could end up killing him. Nanna was scared and she looked tired from the previous fight, she wouldn't last long either; Eyvel wasn't looking any good either. "You two! We must focus on escaping, we mustn't do anything reckless!"

Leif and Nanna looked at Ced. "B-But-" Nanna said, but cut herself upon seeing Leif, who seemed to have understood the situation. "I see...my apologies…"

"Commander!" Leif shouted, almost hyperventilating. "Come with us! You can't keep going on like this, we must leave!"

"I-I can't! Mareeta, she...I need to get her to listen to me!" Eyvel looked toward Leif, still focused on deflecting Mareeta's blows.

"We'll find a way to save her! Please, I need you alive!"

Eyvel stayed silent, looking back at the other swordswoman and sighed, "Alright, I'll go with you, but we have to-"

Ced couldn't keep track of what was happening after that, but before he knew it, Eyvel was surrounded by some sort of spell and shortly after, she was gone. Leif and Nanna looked shocked, until they saw where she ended up. She was at the farthest end of the arena, alongside two other people. It was hard to see but they both had an eerie aura. Leif tried to run towards her, but Ced grabbed his arm and stopped him, giving him a look which Leif immediately understood and backed down.

He took down some of the remaining soldiers in the arena, making sure to not attack Mareeta. She seemed to be special to Leif and Nanna, so he knew he had to protect her as well. When he looked back up again, it was too late. Eyvel had been turned to nothing but a block of stone. Leif and Nanna were both unable to move, Nanna couldn't help but cry at what just happened. Seeing as the enemies neared them, Ced grabbed both of them by the arms and ran out of the arena "Prince Leif, Nanna! Snap out of it! We cannot waste any more time! We must escape, now!"

Both Leif and Nanna stayed silent, and went along with Ced. Eventually they reunited with the main group, who had advanced far enough where, what looked to be the exit could be seen. "Hawke! Have you found any way toward the exit?" Ced asked, once he spotted Hawke.

Hawke looked over at Ced, pointing over to where the exit was, which was in between a wall, so it didn't look like much of an escape route at first. "It's a little far away, but I see it over there, we just need to continue going forward."

Ced breathed a sigh of relief, there was only a bit more to go. As they got closer to the exit, he found another room, it looked like it was already opened by someone. It looked to be a chest room, though before he could go farther, two mages were in his way. Though they didn't look like any mage he had seen before, they looked eerie, just like the man who turned Eyvel to stone, that left a lot to think about.

Regaining his focus, he engaged in combat with them. They attacked first, with a spell he had never seen before, it was like a dark shadow approaching him at an inhuman speed. Fortunately, he had a bit of experience with dodging magic attacks, even if they were unknown, something about his Forseti blood made him skilled at that. 'I guess that's something I can thank father for.' he thought to himself. Then, he cast a powerful blow of wind from his tome, easily knocking them down.

In about a few seconds, he had rummaged through all the chests, got some lockpicks and a ring of sorts. The ring was an odd shape, but he didn't pay much attention as he then dashed out of the room. He met with the rest of the group and everyone got through the escape route.

He just barely made it to the exit. "Has everyone else escaped?" He asked Leif who was waiting for him to escape.

"Yeah, we're waiting for you now, but it seems you've made it in no time at all," Leif answered, guiding him toward the exit.

With nothing left to lose, Ced ran through the exit and he managed to make it toward the staircase that led outside. Once he was met with the same bright sunlight he had almost forgotten about, he could finally take a small moment to rest again. By the gods, he was tired, who knew trying to rescue people from prison would be this exhausting, especially when one of them was a prince.

He looked up and realized was in Manster again, just like when he started this mission. He looked over toward the left, seeing the army trade around weapons and items to prepare for the next part of escaping. As he walked toward the group, he saw that Leif was talking to someone, someone that didn't look familiar, at least not until managed to make eye contact with him.

It was the old man he had spoken to when he first landed here in Thracia. So then he put two and two together and realized that the Lord he was referring to before was Leif, it should've been obvious, but he was so busy doing other things that he didn't pay attention to it much until now.

He couldn't say much of anything, however, as he saw that there were more Manster soldiers around the town. He needed to give the items he had taken from the chests to the people who needed them the most, before battle raged again. So, he took the items that he got from the chest, and went to find Lara. "I noticed that you were running low on these, so here. And take this too, it's an accessory that will help boost your ability to move more quickly" He said, handing her the objects.

"Oh! You're giving these to me? Well, I ain't complaining, thank you so much, Ced!" Lara beamed and unlocked the next two doors that were blocking away their path.

Taking advantage of this sudden escape, he decided to visit one of the villages. An old lady gave her something called a 'Sety Scroll' as thanks for saving her child. Ced was immediately intrigued by it, a scroll that has the blood of his own heritage? Where did this lady get this from, was she Silessian as well? Regardless, he took it upon himself to keep it with him, maybe even ask his father about it when he returned.

Afterward, he took out his wind tome again, it was running out of energy, but there was enough left to use for the last part of this. And even if it did end up breaking mid-fight, he had the ability to conjure magic out of his hands, even though it would make him more fatigued than he already was.

Which reminded him that perhaps conjuring the magic out of his hands would reveal his identity, or at the very least make others know he bore some kind of Holy Blood. As only holy-blooded people could cast magic without the use of a tome. But knowing that Hawke had noticed his talent for wind magic, it would probably end up revealing him as being the prince of Silesse, if they thought it through hard enough.

Though that made him think, he would probably have to reveal himself eventually right? Or perhaps he had to keep it a secret for longer; if people knew King Lewyn, then they would know that he had children. Twins, to be specific. Would they be mad? Or perhaps they'd lose their trust in him? Or maybe they wouldn't mind at all. He was not sure It's not like they could see the brand anyway, it was on his back, covered, and he even had a cape of sorts to absolutely be sure nobody saw his brand.

He broke out of his thoughts thanks to a sudden ambush. If it weren't for Hawke's light magic, he would've ended up dead, how careless of him. He ended up getting injured a bit too, why did he have to get into such thoughts now of all times? Fortunately, there was only a little bit left until they could get out of Manster Town.

With the help of Hawke, he managed to get away from the rest of the reinforcements and finally made it to the gate.

He was out of Manster own now, it was much more different than the city. Everything was surrounded by mountains, Ced couldn't help but get distracted by the landscape, but the pain of his wound was enough to snap him back to reality. He should've stopped thinking about all of this. But how could he not? He and Father were going to have a long conversation in due time.

Just then, Nanna ran quickly toward him, a panicked expression on her face once he saw his wound. "Ced! Oh, gosh, Ced, what happened to you?"

"I...got a little careless, is all." Ced gave a weak laugh. "I'll be fine, hopefully."

"Let me heal you, it's the best I can do for you," The troubadour insisted, getting out a Mend staff and beginning to heal Ced. "It's not the most effective healing, but it should be enough to get through this final push."

"Th-thank you, Nanna, I appreciate it...But I think I should leave now, I can't stay away from my homeland any longer..."

"Oh? You're leaving? How are you gonna do that? Just come with us! It will be dangerous to go alone."

"Yeah, it's hard to explain, but I have to go back home...I already completed what I had to do here."

"Oh, Ced, so you're about to head back to Silesse?" Hawke chimed in when he heard Ced say those words.

"That is correct, I feel like it's best I do so...I need to go back before people start suspecting…"

"I see. It's a shame, but nothing could be done, they must be very strict over in Silesse."

"Yeah, very much so. Naga, I am not looking forward to it, but it is what I must do."

"Well, I guess this is farewell for now."

"It is, but I have a feeling we'll meet again, Hawke, and Leif and Nanna too," Ced assured.

"If you say so, then it must be right!" Nanna said. "So, I guess we'll see you then!"

"Exactly. Anyway, farewell, and stay safe," The sage said, before as quickly as he entered there, he took out a Rewarp staff and teleported away back to Silesse.

When he landed in Silesse, he was unsure where he was at first, somewhere in the castle that was for sure. Gods, he had grown a little too accustomed to Thracia, all dry and sunny, nothing compared to the cold dampness of Silesse.

Taking a moment to balance himself, Ced began to walk through the halls of the palace, searching for his sister. He'd rather talk with her first before confronting his father. He didn't need to look for very long though as he saw her outside of her room with Julia.

Fee was quick to notice her brother had come back home, she ran towards him as soon as she saw him and hugged him tightly. "Cedsy! You're back! Julia and I were getting tired of waiting for you! How did it go? Did you find anything interesting?" She asked. "Maybe someone who caught your interest?" She asked another question right after the other, changing her tone completely to a teasing one.

"Fee, calm down there, there's a lot to explain here. And believe me when I say a lot. But first we need a place where I can speak freely. Father might end up listening, and I want to prepare myself before I have to speak with him." Ced sighed, a mixture of exhaustion and annoyance was in his voice.

"Now you got me interested! Hmm, I'd say my room but last time didn't go well. What if we try outside?"

Ced scratched his chin in thought. "Hmmm, that will work, maybe a little farther away from the palace…"

"Yeah, that will work," Fee replied, before looking over at Julia. "Julia, you should come with us. It feels...unsafe for you to be here on your own."

"A-Alright…" Julia replied and ran to Fee.

Quickly scanning the area to make sure nobody was around, Ced led them toward the exit of the palace and then outside, making sure they went far enough so it wouldn't take a long to head back.

Once the three made it to where it would be safe, Ced began to speak. "Okay first things first…" Rummaging through his satchel where he kept his tome, he took out the scroll that he found in Manster. "I found this on my mission, I was told it's called a Sety Scroll, and apparently every crusader has a scroll. This one in particular belongs to the Wind Crusader Sety, at least in name. I thought it would be interesting to bring it with me, after all we are related to Sety."

Fee nodded in intrigue. "Huh, and what exactly does it do, it has to be special somehow. It's called a 'Crusader' scroll for a reason, right?"

"Yeah that is the thing. I only know it's special, I don't know what it does, exactly. But I would assume it gives similar powers to what descendants of crusaders already have."

"I see, how did you find this in Thracia of all places? That's like an ocean away from here!"

Ced shrugged. "No idea, it was just in a village I visited, I don't know anything else."

"Strange...but well, if it does make you stronger, why don't you give it to Julia! She could have similar powers to you, you could be wind buddies!"

"Well, that could work, it'll be interesting to see how it works," He agreed, before then giving the scroll to Julia. "If you want, you can have this."

Julia looked at Fee and then at Ced. She smiled, and took the scroll. "Ah, thank you, Ced! I'll use it well!"

For a moment, he smiled back at her, before sighing, getting back to the topic at hand. "Okay, now here's the main thing I wanted to mention. How the rest of the continent, save here and a couple other kingdoms, have been undergoing these things called the child hunts by the Grannvalian Empire. I had no idea the Empire would do something so horrible…"

"Wh-What? That's unacceptable…"

"Exactly, and...and these have been happening for years, and I had no idea! I don't think anyone in Silesse knew. Thanks to Prince Julius, they are happening more than ever, at least that is what I was told. And there's no way to defeat him, unless the wielders of the Book of Naga come back..." Ced shook his head in confusion and anger, even now he still couldn't think about what was happening without feeling his blood boil.

Julia froze, upon hearing those words. It was similar to that time she tried to remember her past. Prince Julius, Naga...all of those names sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't figure out where she had heard them before. All of it was so blurry in her mind, it was giving her a headache.

"J-Julia? Did Ced say something wrong?" Fee said, caressing Julia's hair. She then gave Ced a deadly stare. "You apologize to her, now!"

Shaking her head, she waved her hands around, trying to calm down Fee. "N-No...I'm alright, I was just lost in thought...that's all."

"B-But you look so pale, it's just like last time…" Fee said, looking down.

Ced looked over at Julia, was that really something he said? It seemed too...odd to be the case, there had to be something more, especially since she looked so happy just moments ago. He thought about what he just said, was it the childhunts? Prince Julius? Or Naga? He felt as if he was so close to figuring out the mystery of her past, he just needed to figure out which one of these three options was the correct one. He didn't want to ask her again in case she gets a reaction like that again, he needed to figure it out by himself.

He examined Julia as he thought of a possible answer, nothing seemed to give him the answers he needed, not even a hint. That was until he stared deep into her eyes, he noticed a strange mark in her right eye. How did he not notice it before? What could it mean? He really needed to think this one through.

After some time, he realized. Was it something similar to the mark on his back? Was Julia bearing some sort of Holy Blood? This was as close as he could get to knowing her past, though it gave him even more questions. Childhunts, Prince Julius, Naga. That was it! It was the brand of Naga, no wonder why she reacted like that a few moments ago, he finally figured it out. She could use the book of Naga and put an end to Prince Julius, that saved him so much time,

"What are you looking at, you weirdo?! You've been staring for too long!" Fee suddenly yelled, waking him up from his deep thought with yet another deadly stare.

"Ahhhh! Sorry, I just...my mind has been all over the place, and I, I just figured it out! Julia, she...she bears a brand, the brand of Naga! Everything makes so much sense now, and!" He paused, realizing yet another grim truth...Father. "...This also explains why...why Father had such an interest in her. Though, I can't necessarily be too sure of that, but it makes sense. Too much sense."

"That explains a lot! Who would've thought my Julia was that special! And I thought you were having perverted thoughts about her!" Fee laughed.

Julia remained silent, at least she didn't react as bad as the previous times. She was happy to finally find some of her past, but she still was a bit confused. She looked at Fee who gave her a nod and a smile. That was reassuring for some reason, she felt calm.

"A-And perhaps that had something to do with me being sent off to Thracia. I don't know what though, was it to get me away from you two? That can't be right, you two seem completely okay!" Ced sputtered, so many thoughts were in his mind he couldn't even think straight now.

"Honestly Father didn't even notice me, after you had been sent off I just spent my days pretty normally. I made sure to keep Julia with me, too."

"Then, why? Why!? I do not understand anything!" He shouted, beginning to pace around. "How can I-"

"You're freaking out, Cedsy, calm down!" Fee exclaimed, taking his hand and pulling him back to where she was.

Taking a few breaths, trying to calm himself down, he said, "You're right...I think I know what we should do about Julia," He said, giving Julia a look, then returning to Fee. "She must get out of here...don't worry, she'll be safe, I know exactly where I'll take her," Ced said, taking out a warp staff. "I'll take her to Thracia, there are a few people I know that'll take care of her."

Fee feared he would say that, he didn't want to be so far away from Julia, her best friend. Her only friend really, she didn't want to be alone again. She didn't want to leave Julia all by herself either. "I-I...I don't want this…" Fee said on the verge of tears, "I don't want her to leave...c-can I go with her? Please?" She said, clinging to Julia.

Julia didn't know what to do or say. She felt safe around Fee and Ced, she didn't know what she would do without them. What was she going to do with a group of strangers in a far away land? She was scared. She hugged Fee back and looked at Ced. "P-Please…" She said.

"I can't do that, Sister. We don't know what Father would do if you disappeared out of nowhere. Besides, she'll be alright, I know it. You'll see her again, I promise."

"I...I understand, it's for the better...I do not want Father to use her for other purposes." Fee looked at her friend, eyes misty. "Julia, let Ced warp you to Thracia. Here, I even got you this." She took out what looked to be a light tome. "I was going to give this to you regardless, but I feel like you can use this well. It's a light tome, I don't know which type, but I know you can use these."

"Th-thank you, Fee. You have been so kind to me, I appreciate it a lot." Julia said, giving her a sad smile. Then, she looked over at Ced. "Ced, I think I am ready now. Thank you for everything as well."

"I-I- you are welcome. Now, if somebody asks who you are, just say your name, and that you were sent by me. Just so there is no confusion."

"O-Okay! I think I can do that!"

"Then, let me begin." Ced said, closing his eyes and concentrating. Warp staves required a lot of focus, especially when it's somewhere as far as Thracia. With the word Thracia alone in his mind, he felt that the staff was glowing. And with that, he knew it worked. Once he opened his eyes again, Julia had disappeared and Fee was obviously trying to hold back her tears. The deed had been done, and it was only a matter of time before father found out.

"Fee, I think I should...talk to Father now. If only to get an explanation out of him. I have been lied to and misled all my life. I want to know the truth."

Fee only nodded and headed back inside, a sad look on her face.

Ced, with nothing else left to do now, made his way back to the palace, the explanations only made him question everything even more. There were no real answers now, what was real and what was a lie, he wasn't sure. Father had lied to him all of his life? He already hated his father, after Father left Mother to die just like that. But this...all the secrets he was kept away from, just made it so much worse…

Upon entering the palace, the first thing he set his mind on was where the hell Lewyn was. He was shaking now, more so than the previous time he had gone to talk to him. So much had happened in one day it was fucking with his head. He could only look down at the floor, it was hard to even lift his own head up.

Where was Father?

He didn't look for very long, though, as before he knew it, he found him. He was walking in the hallways with a book in his hand.

Ced lifted his head up, he got a good long hard look at him. With nothing but silence.

"Ah, Ced, you have returned. I was wondering if you had gotten distracted," Lewyn said, looking away from his book to look at Ced.

Lies! All of it was lies! Oh Naga where was he to begin? "Oh...I didn't get distracted. In fact, I was just about to tell you everything…" He said, glaring at his father, "Starting with all those petty lies you told me. All of my life you told me to be just like you, but you deceived me, you're using me like a tool, aren't you?"

"Lies? What are you talking about? No, I wouldn't call them lies, I just needed a way to keep you here. If you had willingly left Silesse without my knowledge, all hell would break loose."

"That is what I do not understand, Father. Why have you been so insistent to Fee and I to not leave Silesse? But then out of nowhere you decide to rely on me to leave the country?"

"Well, I needed the information. It would be strange if the King of Silesse himself were there. So you were perfect for the job."

"Then you should've known that I would find out the truth eventually right? What was your purpose in that? Did you think I was naive enough to not pay attention to what was going on? Not only that, but you did not give me any other information on what to do!"

"Well, that's what I needed. And you should've been capable enough to figure things out on your own. But well, no matter. I got what I needed and you are still alive, we both ended up winning."

"I don't understand how this works out for both of us, I feel like it has done the opposite. I learned the truth, and that doesn't bother you at all?"

"Hm, I couldn't care less. You knowing the truth doesn't affect me at all, you are the only one who's making a mess out of this."

"Me? Me!? I-I just...I can't even argue anymore…"

"Was that all? Well, now tell me what you saw in Thracia."

Ced was hesitant to tell him, he didn't even know what he would do with that information. But he knew that he wouldn't leave him alone until he told him, so he did just that. And as he was about to leave, his father had one more thing to tell him.

"Well that's useful. Now, I need you to go back there, you must stay and make sure that the Empire makes no further advances. I'll also give you Forseti so you can wipe them out easily."

Ced stepped back in surprise upon the mention of the sacred book. "F-Forseti? That's...I do not think I am ready to use something like that!"

"You'll learn, just go now. Forseti should be somewhere in my office, just take it and leave," Lewyn said, and with that he resumed his book and continued walking through the castle halls.

Grunting in annoyance, Ced walked toward his father's office. Once he entered he looked around the room, surely the tome had to be around there somewhere. It wasn't long until he found it, it was exactly on his father's desk. Someone might have stolen it, it was just there easily noticeable.

For a long moment, he only looked at it, feeling a little hesitant; eventually he placed his hand on it, feeling the strong sense of power flow through him-yet oddly calming. Such a different feeling. With a deep breath, he picked up the tome, and at that moment, the same feeling became more powerful. That power...was this what the power of the divine wind was like?

Once the wind-like feeling had subsided, Ced left the office, before taking out his Rewarp staff once again. Thracia again, huh? He never thought he'd be back there so soon. He wondered how Julia was, hopefully well. Maybe he'd encounter her, who knows.

He didn't even get to tell Fee, but it was too late now. Hopefully she'd be fine without him, or Julia.

So, with not a moment to lose, he put Forseti in his satchel and gripped the Rewarp staff with both hands.

"...I swear, I'll put an end to this...no matter what."