The White Darkness

By Helbaworshipper

The Roland Kingdom Arc: The Mask of Truth

Frei pushed through to the fog, being chased by some of his Father's men. It wasn't as if he had expected his father to just let him go in. No, what had happened was simply his father's overprotective nature coming out despite agreeing. He'd had to use Lotis to force his way out of their trap. He felt exhausted mentally just from the reasoning.

Most of the reasoning turned into waiting until they could be sure Kyo was there. How did he know when there was no sign of him? He had simply wanted to keep him from getting to Alice. He felt his mind trying to reason how he was going to even get into the castle. What would happen if he-

"Did you get all dirty fighting here?" He blinked, noting it was a person he had never met before. It was an oddly young girl. He was sure that maybe he could remember as she has some interesting features. Something he was sure might have been a writing he read. From Eric or perhaps lost archives? The girl seemed annoyed as she pulled him towards what looked to be a familiar garden. The tree was so familiar.

"Who..." He blinked, feeling her weak, but insistent push for him to lie down under it. He felt weaker than before. Was he being tricked?

"I'm no one important. You're important to Lotsuan, right?"

"Alice… and Lotsuan." He answered, relaxing the best he could as his body probably argued. "Why are you..."

"All of you are fighting so hard, even though the one you want to save is struggling so much."

"I did my best." He answered, turning a little. It felt like something reached out. It wasn't a Matsu. It just kept him down. "I know that I have to make a decision so I'm going to."

"Without discussing it with him?"

"Him? Kyo? Lotsuan?" His voice was losing strength as the girl smiled at him. She chuckled as she poked at his cheek.

"Alice." As she said it, his eyes closed and he felt something enter his body despite fighting it.

"Frei!" A hand shaking him slightly. "Frei!" The shaking got a bit more reckless. He opened his eyes to see Kyo Wakamiya, rather… Well, he had had far better days. He didn't know what to say, so he looked from side to side. He was in what looked to be a guard house. Probably on one of the rather flimsy beds as they couldn't possibly be that comfortable after all these years.

"When did I get here?" He blinked, a bit confused as well. The child had not said anything about transporting him, but… he certainly felt a lot better. Not healed exactly, but well enough to continue fighting. He looked towards Kyo one more time. "Did you see a young girl?"

"No," his words were shorter now. He could see a lot had most likely happened. Kyo had only recently in the past few months been on a battlefield. He could guess it was a lot of things he didn't want to guess. "I was checking and saw a light. Next thing I knew, you were lying down in this bed."

"I was running as my father was deeming it unnecessary to go in until we saw you." He answered, standing up as he tried to figure it out. "Some girl came to me and I swear I knew her."

"I haven't found many Maram masters left out here." Kyo ignored the last part and started to walk out. "The castle is completely blocked off. We're lucky if we can get close at all."

"So there must be a trick." He simply spoke, looking over the castle where Kyo had pointed it stopped. "Raje," the castle barrier had various symbols all over it. Some Maram and some Lotis. "We'll need something to get in either way."

"And where exactly, do we get that?" Kyo's voice was more strained than annoyed. "I tried to find it and it was absolutely pointless the first three times. The fourth time you appeared."

"That little girl must have something do with it..."

"The archive itself is inaccessible." Eric was rather bored at the moment in the middle of a battlefield. In a way, it was easier for Frei to learn with Eric's light insistence. Still, the questions proved to be rather numerous from the smart or perhaps overly curious student.

"You say that, but you have some papers, right?"

"Yes, but you'll have to earn that right."

"Can I see at least one now?" He bowed really low. "I promise I'll wait four days for the next time I ask a question about Roland Kingdom!"

He blinked, his mind looking over what seemed to be a very important document. He had only seen a fraction of what Eric probably had hid over time. Yet… Right! There had to be something in what he read. The medium that Lotsuan used to communicate with others while sort of alive… where had she resided?

"Did you see a shrine like house that was very over-protected? Like to the point it would be pointless to do it?"

"There's a small house that I saw and I couldn't access." Kyo's voice seemed soft as he answered. However, Frei's thoughts most likely were making more noise. He turned towards Kyo and motioned for them to go on. They went through the streets and eventually found a simple house. It wasn't anything out of place on this street or this kingdom. Even Weilhausen had such places. Yet, he could understand what Kyo meant. He moved forward and looked over the lock. It was… he'd seen this before!

"This design looks rather outdated compared to our locks." Eric was simply taking some tea time during their lesson. It wasn't on the battlefield thankfully, but still, it was a tense atmosphere at times. "Why did the Roland Kingdom use it?"

"Probably because of Lotsuan's great influence. It may not be able to be mass produced like a Rajei tool." He pointed to one of the lines on the parchment. "Some locks protect until they are needed. Others are simply too strong to make continuously. This one seems to be very specific in the use."

"It uses a few maram too..."

He brought his hand to the lock and focused. He could feel something drawing to him and to the hand he always hid the mark on. Yet, when he opened his eyes again, the both of them were standing in what looked to be an ancient place. So ancient, it wasn't even in parchment. Was this where Lotsuan was first teaching from? Certainly the garden was one place to know, but…

"It seems I have visitors," It was a man, but one could tell it was sort of hollow. Perhaps the remains of a message. "And one potential Lotis master." He smiled at Kyo lightly, motioning for them to sit. This sort of temple was… Well, it was made of wood. Not particularly rich and no royal aspects. It was built well enough.

"Are you the first Lotsuan or Darva?" Frei asked, sitting carefully on one of the wooden benches. Kyo followed, more surprised at his question.

"Ah, from so far in the future. I suppose this lock has been passed down for far too long." The man sat on a simple cloth rug. His skin wasn't marked, but one could tell his age. "While both exist, this is just Lotsuan, young Frei."

"Then what's in-"

"A complicated question, young Kyo. After what you've been through, I can't imagine you'd be able to handle a whole bunch of history." Kyo's gaze seemed to weaken a bit. Even Frei could feel the pressure was probably worse than the actual event. "Maram and Lotis existing happened simply because it existed. Before that, there were simple wars. What is in the one you seek is not me, but the culmination of constant inheritance."

"So the one who died in Roland was simply an inheritor?" Frei's voice cracked a little.

"In a way," he lifted his hand as a rabbit jumped up into his arms. "When one inherits this decision, it is never easy. And most often, one does not need to choose. They simply watch as a conflict happens."

"If… If the one who gets chosen let's the power keep going, will this happen again?" Kyo thought to his mother for a moment.

"That's as simple as asking if conflict can truly stop." The man stood up slowly as he pet the rabbit. "If the power remains, any power struggles will use both the Maram and the Lotis. An inheritance may happen again in however long, but that rarely decides a battle. If the power is entirely removed, then you'll simply have power struggles with what is left, right?"

"So… it's really just deciding if we want to move forward, right?" Frei thought of Alice having to choose to fight against Eric. Yet, he had never fought against him much. "It's simply… history continuing."

"In a way," one hand touched Frei's gloved hand. "This world will need to change even if it weren't with such powers." He lifted his hand and brought it to Kyo's neck. "Choose the future of this world and perhaps what you think of love."

Frei blinked again and now they were simply sitting at a normal table in the house. On it was a simple meal, as if it had just been cooked. The warmth made him almost melt as he could feel the moment. Kyo's hand without hesitation quietly took a spoon and ate the soup while his tears might have falling. And in that moment, Frei understood.

He slowly picked up a piece of the rather hard, but edible bread and took a bite. Lotsuan wanted this cycle to end just as much as them. And they would end it soon, no matter how many tears they had to shed. He felt his own tears for a moment, ignoring they were probably just as much a mess as Alice probably felt right now.