Wow, can't believe I waited this long to post this, since it's been written for a little while now Oh well. Better late than never, and I've been able to do some good editing, so that's good.

Anywho, a bit of a transition, I guess, and a reference (for me ) of Arsenio's family members' names as well as Navon's mother's name (Mus and I always remember Baldassare, since we use him for all kinds of good Navon-torture in our various AU rps x3). Now, I'm writing a bit of an explanation about a few points, just to both recap and fill in some cracks so there's better explanation of why Mus and I decided on a few things, so that'll be up later today.

Nothing belongs to me 'cept the story.

Back forward in the present, everyone had gotten the paintings uncovered and spread out on stands or hung out against the wall or other brought-out furniture and were looking at them all.

"It's more paintings of Shinou and Daikenja," said Yuri to himself. And then, he translated more clearly for everyone. "I guess there are more paintings of the Great One and Great Wise Man. I thought there were just the two."

"So did we," replied Gwendal, who wasn't busy being a hyperactively-excited Günter. It was just the three, meaning Gwendal, Günter, and Yuri, plus Dakaskos and some other soldiers and staff who were helping. It was quite early in the morning, even for soldiers, so the others weren't quite up and about yet. Luckily, though, it was summer, so they had enough light.

"Well, yeah, that's because it's been hidden in that chamber for 4,000 years," said the mini-Great One, who had just appeared on Yuri's shoulder right then.

"Bwah!" went Yuri.

"Oh, Your Supreme Majesty, the Great One!" squeaked Günter as he finally took notice of something other than the paintings. The Great One just smiled at him and, though it was hard to tell since he was so small, looked Günter over from boots to hair. Günter bowed in the most recent Kleist fashion, which was definitely different from when Navon first learned.

"Hello, Günter von Kleist. I see you're enjoying my life's collection." Arsenio gave his most charming smile, eyebrows quirked in an interested way, though less so interested at what Günter was doing than Günter in general…

"Oh, yes! I must say, if it's not to forward, that it's such an incredible shame that such wondrous treasures were hidden away for so long!" Günter was, of course, oblivious to the glint in the 4,000-year-old pervert's eyes.

"Yes, I can't help but agree." Once he'd gotten his eyeful, the Great One turned his head to look over at the assorted, sorted paintings, specifically the ones depicting the Sage. "Well, it's now time to reveal to everyone who we really were." He looked back at Günter, slight sadness in his eyes, though he kept his face direct. "My name is Arsenio Spitzweg."

Oh, one can imagine the reaction in the lavender lord. His eyes widened, his mouth parted in a small "o," and his entire body froze more than when he was Snow-Günter. Gwendal quickly stepped to his side in case he fainted, but luckily, he didn't. "Your…name…," he said in a sort of mumble. "You're…You're connected to the Spitzweg line!" Günter immediately rushed to the desk, where he had a few pieces of paper for notes and a quill, got them, and went back over to start taking notes. "Arsenio Spitzweg! Who did you marry, did you have children, who were your parents and siblings, where were you born, what's your favorite color, who did-"

"Günter, don't worry, I'll tell you everything." Arsenio smiled his absolute-best charming smile, and it worked. Günter blinked, blushed, and smiled a little. "Let me start by telling you about my own family, and then I'll fill you in on my Sage. My parents' names were Silvia and Bartleby Spitzweg and I had five siblings: Cadfael whom we called Chay, Barrett, Calantha, Bidelia, and Annabelle. For some reason, our parents named us in that odd pattern. Yes, I'm the youngest of the boys, and am actually also the youngest of the entire brood. I spent much time with Bidelia and Annabelle, since Calantha was busy learning to be a lady while the other two were still in the nursery. My parents were loving and attentive to all of us. I suppose that's all there really is to say in general. Oh, and the Bielefelds are also directly descended from my family, though I guess you know at least that."

"Wow, it's so impressive that you've done so many wonderful things, even as the youngest son of such a great family," said Yuri. Japanese families tended to treasure first sons and raise them to rise above all else, though this world seemed to do things by ability, since Wolfram was so highly looked upon while Gwendal just had to do a lot of work…

"My family doesn't really have anything to do with it. I set out to defeat the Originators because I felt I could, not because my family raised me to do anything great. Chay was bred to be the heir to the Spitzweg clan and Barrett would either marry into a noble family or stay on to support Chay."

"And what about you?" asked Yuri.

Arsenio just shrugged in response. "Anyways, my family was very confused at my decision to start an army. I was already in a strong, stable military position that wouldn't put me in much danger, so they didn't understand why I would put myself into such a terrible arrangement. But, they supported me any way they could. It was through their social networks that I found my treasured tactician. Speaking of which, I'm sure you want to know as much about him as you do me."

Günter, who had been scribbling notes furiously throughout Arsenio's telling, piped up and said, "Yes, of course! Any lost information you could give us would be most valuable!"

Arsenio smiled one of his most charming smiles at him (again, oi) and winked, causing Günter to pause in his writings to blush. Gwendal shifted. Arsenio said, "Whatever you wish. I would have liked my original Sage's soul to have been given back to me by now in his rightful state, and then he could tell you a few things, but I suppose it's up to me." Everyone stared at him, since this was an odd thing to say. He continued as if he hadn't said anything of the sort. "He had no siblings and his parents were Baldassare and Lamara Kleist."

At this point, as I'm sure you all expect (if you're paying attention), Günter dropped his quill and turned his face to as wide an expression as physically possible, and probably then some. "K-Kleist?" he squeaked, unable to believe his ears. His mouth was like that of a fish, trying to form words to express the feelings of shock and wonder inside of him, but not quite able to. His hands shook, his knees wobbled, and his eyes bulged. "Kleist?"

Arsenio chuckled. "Yes, Günter, Kleist. You are a descendent of Navon's familial line. Congratulations. I thought there was something I liked about you." That caused Gwendal to shift again and clear his throat. Günter was too busy blushing from such an honor to notice the flirtations or the jealous Gwendal.

Yuri, who had been silent until now, piped up. "Alright, so we know about your parents and siblings, but what about marriage and kids? I'm sure Günter wants to know so he can figure out exactly who is from what exact line, or something like that."

"In Navon's case, you'd have to look at his aunts and uncles, because he had no children. And neither did I. Any Spitzweg descendents come from my siblings, since most of them married and had children." He smirked a bit. "We both married, however."

"Really? To whom?" squeaked Günter, managing just barely to stay cool with all this incredibly new information.

Of course, Arsenio chose at that moment to disappear again, leaving them hanging. Günter moaned a bit in disappointment, but was once again distracted by looking over his notes to make sure he didn't miss anything, since it was all so valuable, and began making a few hypotheses and listing leads he had to follow to fill in all the family lines. He had much work to get done, not to mention cataloguing all that had been found in the Tomb storage room. So, Günter was out for the count if anyone needed him.

"Well, he's an odd guy," commented Yuri casually, filling the silence. Gwendal "Hmph"d and turned to helping Günter and making sure the pale dæmon's attention on this whole matter was purely objective and for scholarly purposes.

From a window back at the castle, Murata looked over to the Tomb. He couldn't see it clearly, but it looked like a lot of old artifacts had been in that chamber. He had memories of sitting as the tall Navon for painting after painting which Arsenio had ordered from all the best artists. It had been dull and left his neck terribly stiff, but Arsenio had done his best to help by reading to him during the sitting and then giving him an unnecessarily-thorough massage… Oh, that had been good. Memories of it almost turned Murata on, but he was straight in this life, and they were just memories. Anyways, that had all been so long ago… It made it more strange that they were all coming up now. He'd wondered where those paintings had gone in the couple lives he'd spent back in the Great Demon Kingdom, and there they were, apparently. Why did Arsenio have them stashed away since before his death after having so many painted? Why did he put them in the Tomb? …Oh, that was obvious. He obviously wanted to be able to look upon them while he was trapped in the Tomb. Murata blushed a little. He really had cared so much…and…had also known he'd be trapped for so long, alone. He knew he would suffer for thousands of years and be that lonely, and yet he still ordered it to happen. He was so…

"Hey, Ken," said Yuri, interrupting Murata's thoughts as he entered the room. He'd just ridden back, since Günter and Gwendal were being a bit boring. "I promise I won't ask you any more questions, since I know it annoys you. Still, wanna hang out? Everyone else is too busy with those artifacts, which are cool, but really repetitive."

Murata adjusted his glasses and put on his friendly smile and tried not to think of how similar it was to the old smile he used to give Arsenio when he was Navon. "Sure, sounds like fun. I'd be glad for the distraction."

Yuri nodded, understanding. It must hurt to have so many painful memories coming up again, especially since he couldn't escape them so easily with the world around him, which was focusing greatly on that most painful past. So, Yuri thought of something they could do while the rest of the castle went crazy with the past. "You know, we could probably go back to Earth for a while. I'm sure mom'll have some delicious curry waiting for us to eat to pass the time. Plus, I could grab a few more baseballs to bring back."

Before Murata could respond, Shinou appeared again in full-naked-size. "You're not leaving already, are you? Don't you want to know more about Navon and me?"

"Well, I know I'll learn more once they get all the facts started, right? I'll just wait until then," said Yuri.

"Ugh, facts, facts, facts!" complained Arsenio, waving his hand dramatically dismissively. "Stories are always more enjoyable than prattling off dull facts when it comes to history." He winked at Murata, who kept his mouth shut in a word-and-expression-containing line. "Let me tell you about the first time Navon started learning swordfighting with Rufus."

"Are you focused on humiliating me today, or is it just a new practice of yours?" asked Murata levelly, glasses flashing.

"It is the next point of interest in our general story," explained Arsenio. "The history books tell a bit about when we met, though leave out everything that happens at your- er, his parents' castle, which is all the fun stuff, but I don't feel like telling that. They just put in the heart-warming part, which is pretty accurate, but whatever. Anyways, when Navon started learning swordfighting…"