Arcturius let out a groan as he felt his entire body aching.
'Why couldn't I have just died in the field?' Arcturius complained to himself as he slowly stretched out his limbs. He noted with slight appreciation that he at least seemed to have been laying down on something soft this time.
After feeling nothing else wrong with his body other than the aching, Arcturius opened his eyes and saw a large figure just beside him from his peripheral view. Arcturius fought down the urge to spring up and simply turned his head to face the person beside him. When his eyes adjusted to the new lighting of the room, he immediately recognized the man as the one who held Crocea Mors from before.
"You're finally awake." The man commented from his seat beside the bed, voice even and betraying no emotion.
Arcturius saw the man's chin resting on his left hand while his right was just on the man's thigh. At first, it looked like the man was very relaxed and vulnerable, but Arcturius also saw Crocea Mors just leaning on the man's thigh. Arcturius knew that even unarmed, the man would be hard to subdue even if the man was close enough to effectively surprise. However, with the distance between them and with Crocea Mors at the ready for the man, Arcturius knew he didn't have a chance to fight it out.
"It appears so." Arcturius responded in kind, slowly trying to sit up from the bed to see if the man objected and finally fully doing so when he saw none.
"Are you really Arcturius? The First Arc?" The man questioned, his eyes and voice lacking the steel Arcturius saw and heard from them in their last encounter.
"I am still uncertain about what The First Arc means but it is true that I am Arcturius. I am-was the husband of Meryl Cadia and the father of Salerna Cadia." Arcturius answered truthfully, painfully correcting himself that his wife and daughter were gone.
The man remained silent for a long while, his eyes seemingly staring into Arcturius' own. Arcturius did not falter from this and met him head on, staring right back with his still functioning eye.
After what felt like minutes, the man broke from their staring contest first by dropping his head and letting out an audible sigh. Arcturius was a bit confused by this but chose to remain quiet. After he sighed, the man raised his head again, looking back at Arcturius, this time with a tinge of relief in his eyes.
"Arc. Meryl Arc and Salerna Arc." The man finally said, making Arcturius remember the names inscribed on their arches.
"HERE LIES MERYL CADIA-ARC"
"HERE LIES SALERNA ARC"
"From how the story is told, the Arc name was derived from you. Your wife and daughter took your name after you died. That's why you're the First Arc. You are my family's first ancestor." The man concluded, giving Arcturius a small smile.
"Ancestor? I… see." Arcturius simply said, still trying to internalize the apparent reality of his situation.
"Well, now that you know and accept that I am Arcturius, may I finally know the name of whom I'm speaking with?" Arcturius inquired, trying to buy himself some more time to wrap his head around the new information.
"Ah, I apologize for that. My name is Aurum Arc." The man answered apologetically before offering his right hand to Arcturius.
"Pleasure to finally know you, Aurum." Arcturius said, taking the man's hand and shaking it.
"So, tell me Aurum. What relation do we have with each other? Are you my great grandson? My great great grandson?" Arcturius curiously asked as he took back his own hand from the handshake. At that question, Aurum awkwardly laughed, making Arcturius raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"Well, it's actually much more than that. We don't have any existing records from before the Age of Kingdoms so I can't say exactly how far apart we are, but a rough estimate would be that we have at least twenty generations between us. Maybe more." Aurum explained, greatly shocking Arcturius.
'Twenty generations!? I…I thought I woke up for my grandchildren or great grandchildren. Not… wake up twenty generations later.' Arcturius' mind scrambled, once again trying to handle the sudden addition of heavy information on his situation.
"That's… unreal. That's unbelievable." Arcturius simply stated, too overwhelmed to voice anything else other than his current thoughts.
"Yeah… unbelievable." Aurum agreed, something that Arcturius took notice of.
"Wait. If it is unbelievable, how come you now believe that I am Arcturius? You did not during our last encounter, if I recall correctly." Arcturius questioned, hoping that Aurum's answer would help him understand and digest it as well.
Aurum looked at Arcturius contemplatively before finally motioning for him to sit on the edge of the bed. Arcturius complied and moved, sitting faced towards Aurum. As Arcturius changed positions, Aurum laid Crocea Mors on the floor gently before moving his chair closer to Arcturius until they sat right in front of each other.
"Take my hand." Aurum told Arcturius as he held out his right palm. Again, Arcturius complied and took Aurum' hand with his own.
Arcturius was unsure where Aurum was going with this until he felt Aurum' Soul reaching out towards his hand. When that happened, Arcturius understood what Aurum wanted to do and willed his own Soul towards Aurum' hand. Arcturius braced for something similar to his previous experiences but was surprised with what happened when their Souls touched.
Flashes of emotions exploded in Arcturius, none of them his own and yet they felt like they were.
For a moment, Arcturius once again felt the emotions of his daughter, Salerna. Then suddenly it switched to someone else. Janice Arc.
'My granddaughter.' Arcturius quickly realized before it changed again to another.
Every moment was of a different person, a different descendant. Each one felt like a lifetime of emotions, but each one only lasted a single moment. And with each experienced life, a name would come to mind.
Strong and arrogant Alexander Arc. Inspiring and impetuous Joan Arc. Dutiful and self-sacrificing Aurelius Arc. And countless more. They were all familiar to Arcturius, for they were all his descendants. They were all his blood.
As soon as it all started did it end as well. Arcturius was brought back to room he was in, his hand once again free from Aurum's own.
"You felt that too, didn't you?" Arcturius asked Aurum, slightly panting from the exhilaration of the event. Aurum simply nodded his head, panting more heavily than Arcturius.
"Then why didn't you believe me from the start?" Arcturius continued, wanting to know Aurum's reason.
"I felt nothing the first time we met in the catacomb. There, you were just a stranger to me." Aurum started after catching some of his breath.
"But, when you unlocked my son's Aura, my own Aura seemed to sing out for you, like it recognized you." Aurum continued, to which Arcturius asked a question.
"What do you mean by Aura?"
Aurum looked at Arcturius weirdly before his eyes suddenly widened in apparent realization.
"I guess you probably called differently back then. What we used to feel those experiences is what we call Aura." Aurum explained as he showed his right palm to indicate what he was talking about.
"Ahh, you mean your Soul." Arcturius provided, understanding what Aurum was referring to.
"I guess that's true since Aura's the manifestation of the soul." Aurum said more to himself before returning his attention to Arcturius.
"Anyways, even though we know for certain what happened here, it still doesn't explain how or why it did." Aurum said, still clueless as for the reason or method.
"I am at a loss as well." Arcturius admitted, not really understanding how he came to be resurrected in the future.
"Well, until we find out, you're welcome to stay with us. You are family after all." Aurum offered with a smile.
At those words, a memory suddenly returned to the mind of Arcturius.
"If there is another chance, I will choose my family."
"Thank you," Arcturius responded, keeping the memory of his dying vow to himself.
'Whatever the reason is, I do not care. The only thing important is that I have another chance to be with this family. My family.' Arcturius silently thought before finishing his sentence.
"I think I would like that."
