After one day break, here's the final piece of the mystery!

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories

Chapter 36 – The Final Puzzle Piece

Lest slowly opened his eyes as the bright light from a lamp shone on his face. His head was throbbing as he sat up on the bed with two people sitting on the side of the bed.

"He seemed unhurt, Sir Arthur. Just as I had assumed, he had collapsed from exhaustion," Lest turned to the source of the unfamiliar voice, but he couldn't recognize the figure's face because of his tired eyes, "Sir Lest, have you felt better after some rest?"

"Yeah… I guess…" Lest rubbed his tired eyes before trying to look at the person speaking to him, "And you are?"

"Ah, my apologies," the figure turned out to be a man with long teal hear, "My name is Halwell, the current emperor of Sechs Empire. I am Lord Ethelberd's… son."

"Oh, uh…" Lest looked at the emperor nervously, "I-I'm sorry for a being a little rude, but… are you… the real emperor now?"

"Indeed I am," Halwell nodded, "Sir Arthur here had told me regarding the situation you and your dear sister had to go through because of me," the emperor rose from his seat, lowering his head, "For that, please accept my sincere apology."

"Sister…" Lest's memories of the previous events suddenly came back to him as he turned to Arthur, "Arthur, is she…?"

Arthur looked at him with a pained look before shaking his head, "I'm sorry…"

"I… see…" Lest turned away in disappointment before Halwell approached him and put something into his hand, "Huh? Isn't this…"

"For any reason I am not aware of, that pendant was in my hand when I regained consciousness," Halwell started his explanation, "For a short moment during the time Father was in control of my body, I recalled seeing something quite similar to that pendant around your sister's neck. I can only assume that your sister wished for you to keep her pendant for her."

Lest let out a sad smile as he ran a finger across the black fish-like figure, "She told me once before, that these things are charms meant to bring people together. They could be families, siblings, or couples…"

"If that's the case, then I can say that charm can also bring two countries together," Arthur turned to Halwell with a serious look as Lest watched the two nobles in confusion, "Sir Halwell, I believe the time has finally come for Norad and Sechs to sign a peace treaty. One of your soldiers had told me about your wish for making peace with our kingdom."

"Yes, that is true," Halwell nodded in agreement, "Kane had informed me of the peace treaty shortly before this incident and I plan to go with the treaty regardless the Sechs Elders' opinion. When shall we hold this important event?"

"We may have to discuss it with my father as well," Arthur turned to the confused Lest, "Lest, I hope you don't mind if we go and see my father before escorting Sir Halwell back to Sechs."

"I don't really mind," Lest replied with a smile, "I don't think I can see the others back home right now…"

Arthur stared at the Earthmate before nodding, "Very well, I shall let the captain know of your routes."

Halwell stayed behind in the room with Lest as Arthur left to talk to the captain and sat back down, "I might have seen your sister a few years ago, back in the castle in Sechs."

"Huh?" Lest looked up in surprise, "Why would she be there?"

"To be honest, I didn't know at that time," Halwell turned his seat to look at Lest, "Being a little girl, I assumed that she was lost and somehow made her way into the castle. Kane, who was still a soldier-in-training at that time, caught her making quite a mess in the late Lady Sara's room."

"Our mother's room…" Lest spoke up.

The emperor nodded, "Yes, she intended to find something in her room. That was the time when Father learned of your family's secret along with the research regarding the rune spheres. That was also the time I first got interested in the Earthmates Father hated so much."

Lest looked at Halwell, "But… you never thought of finishing off, right?"

Halwell let out a chuckle, "Have no fear, I have no interest in dirtying my hands with the blood of others," the smile on the emperor's face turned into a frown, "Unfortunately, even after Father's passing, the Elders insisted that I take his place as the emperor and continue hunting Earthmates. Their reason for that was they thought the fall of Sechs was caused by Earthmates and they thought all Earthmates are people who used their powers with ill intent," the smile on Halwell's face returned as he looked at Lest, "But I am already aware of the truth. There is no need for you to apologize for what happened to my father. You had to, in order to protect your own people at home."

It was Lest's turn to smile, "Thanks…"

The two continued talking for a while, with Halwell talking about how Ethelberd and his birth mother raised him. Having shared the same evil father never actually make them turn to Ethelberd's evil ways as their other family members had taught them to good way of thinking. Lest had Frey to teach him about the good things about the world while Halwell had his mother to show him how to be a good leader.

An hour of talking had passed and Arthur had returned with the news of their arrival in the capital. Unlike the first time Lest came there, more soldiers were stationed as they headed towards the king's audience room. Lest had to stay outside for a moment while Arthur and Halwell discussed about the issues between Norad and Sechs, until they both came out to call for Lest.

"The king wants to see me?" Lest asked to confirm, getting a nod from Arthur.

"Yes," Arthur replied as he moved out of the way with Halwell, "He needed to see you privately, so I shall lead Sir Halwell to his escorts to accompany him back to the empire. I shall be waiting here to wait for you to finish your discussion with my father."

"Okay…" Lest looked at the two nobles as they left, feeling that they had resolved the issues between the two countries.

Lest pushed the doors open and saw the king on his throne along with his butler at his side. Noticing as Lest walked over to the throne, the king managed to send the reluctant butler out of the room. Lest came face-to-face with the man, who looked at him with a bit of guilt before rushing out of the room. The Earthmate looked at the king as he rose from his seat and walked down the stairs to his level, much to his surprise.

"Y-Your Majesty?!" Lest exclaimed in surprise as the ruler of the kingdom stood in front of him.

"Lest, I wish to beg for your forgiveness," Lest was even more surprised when the king took off his crown and lowered his head, "Please accept my apology for the things I did to you and your sister."

"I… I don't understand…" Lest looked at the king in confusion.

"Because of my own family's grudge, I had to force you and Frey to carry the burden of finishing off Ethelberd," the king looked up at Lest, holding his crown on his chest, "That man had killed my brother, the previous king, and the family of his Earthmate relative. To be exact, the family of the Earthmate who had foiled his plans."

"But… why did Frey lose her life in the first place, before she decided to help you with your revenge?" Lest asked.

"If I had to assume, it was her greed," the king replied, "From the background checks I had on her, she was never born with Earthmate powers."

"She… wasn't an Earthmate?" Lest asked in disbelief.

"Yes," the king noded, "I have not found her reason for that greed, but the fact she used a rune sphere to gain more power turned her into a living rune sent into the forest. It was at that time a certain Earthmate who shared the same pain as mine came to me to have her help me."

The king handed him a single envelope, "A letter?"

"Frey gave me that letter on the day she left this castle for the last time," the king explained as Lest examined the letter, "It is a private letter for you, so you will not find Norad's seal anywhere on that letter."

"I will take this letter from you, Your Majesty," Lest put the letter in his rucksack before bowing, "Thank you," Lest paused for a moment before he looked back at the king, "But that Earthmate… can you tell me who he is?"

"My apologies," the king shook his head, "He does not want to have his identity revealed. If there is anything more I can tell you, he is not related to you by blood."

"I see… I'm sorry," Lest apologized, "If there's nothing else, I should be on my way…"

"Yes," the king put his crown back, "Please, take care…"

Lest and Arthur traveled back to Selphia with the airship, with Lest locking himself in his room to open Frey's letter. There was a neatly folded piece of paper containing the letter itself along with a worn piece of paper with an image of a white and black fish swimming in circles. The image of the fish was a perfect match to the fish on the charms he and Frey had.

"Is this a story about these charms?" Lest flipped the worn paper before setting it down on the table as he took the letter.

Lest,

If you're reading this, it must've mean that my time has run out or I've finally carried out my mission. Our mother's research about the rune spheres and rune lakes came to the conclusion that she had to create rune spheres made of pure runes from the lake. Those pure runes can turn a normal human into an Earthmate without any drawbacks, but it can turn that person into a living rune if that person's heart isn't pure. I had envied your Earthmate powers for a long time and I've started becoming power hungry, which led me to become a living rune when I wished to have Earthmate powers like you. I wish I didn't do it, so that I can still be by your side even for a while longer. I wish I could meet you sooner, so the meaning of those charms we have can come true. I just want to stay with you. I can't say the reason why, but I know that I can at least give you a page from the history book belonging to our family. It's a hint, so I really hope that you get the message, okay?

P.S. I stole the book from our mother's old room a few years ago. It's a little old, so take good care of it!

The letter made Lest chuckle a bit as he switched to the worn paper, "Let's see what she wanted me to see here… huh?"

Lest read the passage over and over, which seemed familiar to him. He knew that he had the charms with the same fish figures as the ones drawn on the page, but he felt like he had heard the words in the passage.

-Flashback-

"The koi itself represents courage," Sara read a book she was holding as she was lying on the bed along with her twin children, "The colors black and white are the colors of yin and yang, each representing the dark and the light."

"Mommy, are those thingies on your desk the yinyang?" Lest asked curiously as he pointed at her desk, getting a head pat from his mother.

"Well, those are the family heirloom passed down in my family," Sara reached for the charms on the desk as she showed them to the two, "The black koi and the white koi, together they are believed to bring together families, siblings, or even lovers! Here, I can give them to you two."

Lest was given the white koi fish while Frey was given the black one, getting a protest from Lest, "But Mommy, I want the black one!"

"I'm sorry Lest, but the black one usually represents a female…" Sara looked at Lest, who kept looking at her with pleading look.

"Lest, let's switch!" Frey suddenly suggested, "Come on, Mommy! Didn't you say I'm your sparkling little lady?"

Sara looked at her daughter in surprise before letting out a smile, "Well, I suppose you're right, dear…"

-End of Flashback-

"It was back then, huh…" Lest took off his own charm and held both his and Frey's in his hand, until he noticed the lunch boxes sitting on the table in front of him, "Oh yeah, the lunches Dolly made…"

Lest opened the top most box of the lunches and the smell of cheese came out from the box. It was actually gratin, one of the dishes he asked Dolce to make for him. The good smell of food and the fact that his energy was drained from all the fighting he had done for the day made him finish everything quickly, leaving the last box on the table.

Suspecting it was another portion for Frey, Lest opened it to finish it as well, only to find that the last box didn't contain food at all. Lest took out the blue wool scarf from the box, looking at it in confusion. He turned to look at the small window in his room, which showed that it was snowing outside.

"Oh, right. It's almost winter…" Lest put the scarf around his neck, feeling its warmth, "It's… warm…"