Big time jump here guys

Elle von Werner: yeah! it happened to me too, I started writing, wanting to completely hate W, but as his personality developed I just couldn't do it, so I had to change my storyline.

blackirishawk: wow! I'll just say this: you guessed right! but you guessed twice, so I won't tell you which guess is the right one [ evil smile {: ]

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Chapter 22: Ken's POV

It has been already three months since the incident with Wolfram and even though his physical condition is now completely back to normal his memories have not come back. At all.

This is not so worrying. There had been cases in which an amnesic person recovers his memories even after years have passed. At least it wouldn't be if he is, in fact, amnesic.

I been having my doubts since day one but what happened today made me question things even further.

As I walk into the shrine the smile I've been faking slowly disappears. I open the twin doors to Ulrike's meditation room and two sets of eyes with the same expression as mine look back at me.

"Did you confirmed it yourself?" Shinou asks, not wasting any time. Wolfram is his descendant after all, so it was about time he showed up.

"I did" I say in the most neutral tone I can manage. Ulrike gasps and covers her mouth with both her hands. This is what we have been fearing all along. "Then Lord von Bielefeld is..." she finally manages to say, although she doesn't have the strength to finish the sentence.

"No, he's alive, and he's in Blood Pledge Castle" Shinou says looking at the boxes.

"But how?" she says, her voice is trembling, I walk up to her and place myself behind her holding her shoulders.

"I don't know" I can hear the frustration on Shinou's voice.

"Care to tell us where you have been all this time?" I say after making sure Ulrike sits down.

"I have been on the Bielefeld territory" My eyes almost popped out of their sockets... so he knew all along... "Don't be so surprised my friend. I only went there to punish whoever had hurt my descendant. At least that was the goal at the beginning. But I as can see for the stack of read books on your room, you have found out as little as I have"

I straighten up my posture and lean on the wall trying to gather my thoughts. "I had my doubts about Lord von Bielefeld's memory lost since the beginning. But I found nothing wrong with him and neither did the healers" Shinou nods and sits on The end of the Wind.

"I can imagine why. Not even I felt anything strange until just recently, that is why I decided to come back this morning" Ulrike stands up and her divination sphere appears in front of her. "This is Lord von Bielefeld's majutsu's light" she says looking at the small red star next to Yuuri's "He is at Blood Pledge Castle... I can't be wrong"

"And you aren't, Ulrike" I say looking at the small star that seems to be losing it's glow as every second passes. "When I was asked to help Wolfram recover the control over his marioku I was shocked. Neither Günter nor Gwendal were capable of performing the task. His marioku was always so strong, tapping into it once again should not have been much of a problem, but then..."

"You found not a single trace of it in his body" Shinou finish the sentence for me. I nod.

"That is impossible. Majutsu is a characteristic of the soul. If that was Lord von Bielefeld's soul he would have it or else he would be dead!" Ulrike points out what is going through all of our heads.

"Well, he was dead for a moment when we found him... could that be the reason?" I say hopefully, although I pretty much already know the answer.

"It is not impossible. But highly unlikely, considering Wolfram's light can still be seen, his soul still possesses his marioku" Shinou says holding his head with his hand like he was about to get a strong headache, which he probably would if he wasn't dead.

"Well then. Let's review the facts: We are certain that Wolfram's soul is currently at Blood Pledge Castle, next to Yuuri" I pause and receive an affirmative nod from Ulrike and Shinou. I take a deep breath before continuing. "We also know that whoever the person we see as Wolfram is, he does not hold Wolfram soul" they nod again.

"But it is impossible!" I say as the headache reaches me too.

"Nothing is, my Sage" Shinou says standing up, right now is really not the moment to get cryptic.

"You haven't told Yuuri about this, have you?" he asks and I roll my eyes as a response.

"Of course not, what would have I told him? I don't even understand this myself. Besides..." I just can't bring myself to continue, out of respect for Wolfram, the real Wolfram, wherever he is. But Shinou gives me one of this looks, those that mean nothing more and nothing less than an order and signals me to continue.

"Shibuya really likes this Wolfram... I don't know how to put this but... We had a conversation some days ago and he told me some stuff..." I clear my throat before continuing and Shinou starts getting restless.

"He said Wolfram had told him he didn't want to get his memories back, that he didn't want to disappear, to lose himself because of his old self. Shibuya said he was fine with that... At first I thought it was because he really believes that Wolfram is still the same person, but now I'm not so sure" Shinou groans and I feel his anger raising.

"Is his love for my descendant so weak?!" he says as a gold aura starts filling the room and his body is lifted from the ground. Great, just what I needed, the Great Baby taking matters personally.

"No, it is not" I say looking at him defiantly.

"What makes you so sure?" he asks, still not holding back his powers.

"I know him. And so do you. You chose him because of who he is, and you know as well as I do that his feeling are never shallow" he seems more or less convinced by my words but he still hasn't held back his powers. I'm about to call onto my marioku to see if I can knock some sense into him. I might not be much more than a battery recharge, but I still can do a thing or two, but then...

"Shinou Heika! Come down this instant!" Ulrike's little but very angry voice makes us both snap out of it and burst into laughter. I swear that woman will strangle us both with her hair someday.

"Forgive me Ulrike. This is no time to be wasted in useless arguments" he says now in miniature form. I wipe a laughter tear off my cheek and clear my throat.

"Anyway, the only information we have to proceed are the present events and what Shibuya and I saw the day we rescued Lord von Bielefeld. I have searched through every book in the shrine and the Castle's library and came up almost empty handed" I look down knowing the reflection of the light in the waterfall will hide my eyes, with the help of my glasses.

"Everything about the people that might have inhabited the Bielefeld lands before the foundation of Shin Makoku has been ripped out of the history books and any present data about the lands is held on Bielefeld Castle. I also was unable to find anything about any tribe capable of transforming into smoke or performing smoke mirages... wait... Mirage..."

Something just clicked inside of my head... A name I saw on one of the books just before a portion of pages was ripped off... Which one was it? Before I know it I'm running towards my room and apparently Ulrike and Shinou run behind me. I slam the door open and scan it quickly looking for the small purple book I read less than a week ago.

"Here!" I say as I open the book and start looking for the right page. I read out loud.

"Mirage is the name inherited by every generation of rulers of the proud tribe that shares the same name. Capable of great magic, although known for their peaceful ways; they live in the secluded forest of Ghy..."

"Ghy?" asks Shinou

"That is where the page has been torn off. I overlooked it at first because the name didn't rang any bells, but now I remember!" I say excitedly, seriously, if it wasn't too uncool I would be jumping up and down right now. "The forest currently on the border if the Bielefeld territory was named Ghyran forest before Rufus took over it!"

I can almost hear the clicks in their heads as I finish mi sentence.

"That would explain it! The power that the Mirage tribe controls is perfectly capable of doing something like this!" Shinou smirks evilly, probably thinking about crushing the bastards.

"But Shinou Heika, there is a problem with that..." Ulrike says in a tiny voice bringing me and Shinou down from our cloud.

"During the reign of the 26th Maou, her former majesty Cheri-sama, Lord Stoffel von Spitzweg ordered the killing of the Mirage tribe, it was a massacre, and I believe Lady Cheri never knew about it, as it was done during the war and the country's attention was focused elsewhere. But I am certain, every single one of them was killed."

"WHAT?!" I don't know if it was me who screamed, maybe it was Shinou.

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They were so close! it's a real shame :(