"Revelations"

Swirling darkness...

Then he came. Grasping a black scythe like a grim reaper coming for his prize he strode towards me. He reached out his hand, beckoned me and said.

"Come Tiny Heart, your destiny awaits."

I held his hands and then...

I woke up staring at a stone ceiling. I was having a splitting headache and was very weak physically. Where am I? Is this hell or heaven? I willed myself to get up from the bed I was lying on. I looked around the room I was in. It was nothing like the rooms in Windhurst. All I remember was I blacked out after I got hit by an arrow when the battle between Sandorian and Bastokan forces started.

"Don't try to get up. You are still very weak. It was a good thing they brought you in time to me or else you would have died from the poison arrow."

I turned and saw a Galka leaning on the doorway. "I am Medicine Eagle" said the Galka.

"Where am I?" I asked

"Where you truly belong, Bastok."

Bastok, am I dreaming again or my journey has finally ended. I used every strength I had to stand up and tried to go outside.

"Whoa there tiny heart." he said as he grabbed me as I was falling down. I was very weak but I wanted to see what Bastok looked like.

"Can you take me outside? I want to see Bastok."

"Yes but promise me you will rest after. When you get better I promise to take you around Bastok."

He helped me outside and i saw my first sight of Bastok. the street was dusty. Everything seemed to be made out of stone and mortar. It was so unlike Windhurst. there were little Galkas playing on the streets. Humes and Galkas wearing what look like work clothes went passing by.

"We are in the mines district of Bastok. Later I will take you to see the markets and the metalworks. Now you need to rest." he lead me back to my bed and soon I was fast asleep.

It was dark when i woke up from my slumber. I was feeling my better now that I could get up with ease. Icon and Mourn was seated at a small table in my room.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the big fella is finally awake." Icon smiled at me.

"How are you feeling now Tiny Heart?" Mourn asked.

"I'm feeling much better now. Thank you for your concern. How did the battle go? I don't remember much."

"It was bloody. Both sides lost a lot of men. Bastok is on red alert now. They expect Sandoria to launch an attack Bastok itself." Icon answered.

"It's my fault. If i hadn't thought of coming to Bastok to learn about my past then none of this would have happened." I replied.

"Actually it is not your fault. Bastok and Sandoria has a bad history between them. Iron Eater said when you are well enough he will explain everything. We tired to ask him about you and he said all will be revealed in due time." Mourn said.

"So you mean I will finally learn about my past. Come let us go find him.'

"No tiny heart. Not now, he is busy with the preparations for the defense of Bastok. He will summon us when the time comes." Icon said. "If you are well enough to walk around you have to see the fountains in Bastok market at night."

We left the house I was resting in and walked towards the bridge leading to Bastok Markets. Bastok Mines district has piles of rocks and soil stacked up. Even at night there were people working. The fountain in the middle of Bastok Market was magnificent. Galkas and humes were just sitting down looking at it. The auction house besides it was full of people looking through the stuff being sold there. So many kinds of jewelry and stuff were being sold at the vicinity of the Goldsmithing guild. But all this were overshadowed by the presence of armed soldiers at the entrance of Bastok Markets. More and more iron musketeers streamed out of Bastok to take up positions somewhere. War was coming to Bastok. A Hume came and told us iron eater requested our presence. We followed the hume to the Metalworks district. It was very hot in the Metalworks districts. You could feel the heat of the furnaces the moment you stepped in. we road an elevator up towards where Iron Eater was suppose to meet us. It was where the embassies of Windhurst, Jeuno and Sandoria was located. The president's office was also found here. It was the seat of power of Bastok.

There was a large crowd already gathered on the square when we reach the place. The moment they saw us a commotion ensued. I could hear something about he has finally come back. Will I finally know about my past? Iron Eater was seated at the steps leading to president's office. Medicine Eagle plus a couple of important looking Galkas and Humes were seated around him. He beckoned us to sit in front of the crowd that had gathered.

Iron Eater rose and motioned to the crowd to quiet down. "As you all know by now. Sandoria and Bastok is about to go to war again. There has been talk in Bastok about a Galka who started it all. Well I can tell you that the Galka didn't start it. He is Tiny Heart which you see in front of you. He has finally come back after 18 years."

A crowd started to talk amongst themselves when Iron Eater mentioned my name. Iron Eater yelled for the crowd to be quiet. "If you give me the time to explain why the events now are happening, you will realize this Galka is someone special and deserves our utmost respect." I was shocked to hear what Iron Eater said. How could I, a Galka who never has set foot in Bastok be someone special?

It all began 18 years ago in Jeuno. An Elvaan prince from Sandoria and Galka from Bastok was having a drinking spree in one of the pubs. Both had a little to much to drink. The prince was one of the best paladins ever to come out from the ranks of the royal knights and the most prized son of the king of Sandoria. The Galka named Brave Bear was a dark knight feared by everyone in Vanadiel. Two were boasting about who was better a Paladin or a Dark Knight. In the end after a heated argument, words become action. Both fought each other to prove who was better. The fight was a draw before both were separated by the Jeuno Ducal guards.

The prince refusing to accept the outcome of the fight broke loose from the Ducal guards and charged Brave Bear with his sword. Brave Bear seeing the prince coming towards him instinctively swung his scythe at the prince slashing his neck in the process. The prince, badly wounded from the neck wound, used his last remaining strength to pierce the Brave Bear's heart. Both died that day.

The king of Sandoria was so enrage upon learning of his favorite son's death that he ordered Elvaans to kill any Galka they would encounter. He vowed to wipe the Galkans from the face of Vanadiel. Bastok, home of the Galkas protested to Jeuno but the king of Sandoria was determined to attack Bastok and destroy all the Galkans. In the end it took the threat of Jeuno and Windhurst joining forces with Bastok that made the king of Sandoria rethink his plan to attack Bastok.

Even with the temporary ceasefire at hand. The ranks of the Elvaan paladins wanted revenge for the death of one of their best. In the shadows dark knights and paladins were waging a silent war. Both were determined to see who the best was. Soon their little secret war spilled unto the streets of Bastok and Sandoria. Innocents were dying from the crossfire between the dark knights and the paladins. An emergency meeting was convened by the heads of Jeuno, Bastok Sandoria and windhurst to try and contain the situation before it went out of hand. In order to cool down both sides, an agreement was hatched. Two babies, one Galkan and one Elvaan, were to be sent to Windhurst. Both were to be kept in the dark about their past. Inside 18 years, no harm would befall the two. They were under the protection of Windhurst. Anyone who tried to harm them in anyway would lose the agreement. After 18 years they would be told of their destiny. That was to settle once and for all in a duel who the best was, a paladin or a dark knight. On the twentieth year, a duel will be held in Jeuno.

"You, Tiny Heart was that baby selected to be the representative of the dark knights." Iron Eater pointed to me.

I was dumbfounded by the story. All these years not knowing why I was in Windhurst. I wasn't sure how to react but deep inside me a burning rage was growing. I lost 18 years of my life just because of a stupid fight between two people who I don't even have any connection with. I snapped and went hysterical, yelled my heart out. I was so angry with what has happened to me that the Galkas had to restrain me from my rage.

"We know it is unfair to you Tiny Heart. We took 18 years of your life away from you. You should be proud though, you are a hero for all Bastokans and Galkas in general for having to carry the burden for 18 years. The burden of preventing a war and saving lives in the process." Medicine Eagle said then knelt and bowed in front of me. The rest of the crowd did the same. It was their own little way of thanking me my sacrifice.

Then it hit me, tears streamed forth from my eyes after I saw the scene around me. My hardships were nothing compared to the lives that would have been lost. I fell down on my knees and held my hands to my face crying. Mourn and Icon hugged and tried to comfort me. It was all coming too fast to me. The truth hurts. The sins of my ancestors coming back to haunt us.

"So what becomes of me now?" I asked

"You shall become the greatest Dark Knight who will ever walk the face of Vanadiel." a voice boomed behind the crowd.

That voice, it's him. I turned and saw the crowd opened a path for a Galka to pass. Even though he was wearing a simple tunic, I recognized him as the Galka who visits me in my dreams. As he walked toward me, the crowd would bow in reverence to him. He was Zeid, one of the greatest Galkan who ever lived. He held my shoulders and said to me. "You will fulfill your destiny, and give honor to all the Galkans who have died before you. You will become the symbol of hope to Galkans who have long been oppressed. Do us proud."

He then strode toward Iron Eater and said. "It has been awhile."

Iron Eater replied "Yes my old friend." And both of them hugged.

All these years I had questions about my life. After 18 years I finally found the answers I was looking for. Now is time I fulfill my destiny.

Epilogue:

"Master, the assault on Bastok did not materialize. As with before Jeuno and Windhurst threatened to join forces with Bastok if Sandoria attacks." a female Elvaan said.

"Jeuno and Windhurst have meddled in my affairs long enough. I will deal with them when the time comes. All is not lost. The duel is still two years away. A lot of things can still happen before then. Patience is a virtue."

-THE END-