“Such a fool….”

I could barely stand as I stood on quaking legs, the shock of all the information I had been told and seen so far making me dizzy. I had just seen a living man turned into a walking nightmare, a once honorable and noble person now led astray by a single person. I could tell that the Elven girl next to me sensed what I felt, and looking at me she spoke.

“Tarvis who is also your brother, felt that dealing with the problem of Kamui face on would make the world right again. And he wasent wrong with that idea, in fact the world needed to be cleansed of the dark force born unto it. However without the blade of evils bane, nothing can be done to stop Kamui and his dark designs. The hero himself knew of this and urged his older brother to listen and wait for him to do it himself.” The Princess Goddess sighed loudly, the tale of old making her sad. “But Tarvis never would listen, no matter how much the hero begged of him, no plead could reach him. He summoned his men together and marched onto the old capital and in one fell swoop were wiped out by Kamui. But…..”

“But Tarvis was one lone survivor and regreted not listening to his brother….to me back then. And after that he was turned into a puppet to be used by Kamui, a puppet with no hope of ever having a shred of peace in his life…”

I could only feel terrible for Tarvis, knowing that he would never be the same man again. The Elf looked at me with her bright green eyes and frowned as she began to finish the cruel tale. “Tarvis turned into a dark shell of a man, a creature who was hellbent on revenge. As he cursed Tarvis, Kamui had also placed a spell the would insure that his new puppet would do as he pleased and above all, forget who is brother was. He went and killed all of the family and friends he had at the request of Kamui, not even thinking of the guilt he now placed on his soul. Everyone knew that the hero, you Hana, were very different from everyone else. You could speak to the dead and they would help you through everything. But when the phantoms of you family came to you about Tarvis…..” She took a breath and chewed her lower lip as she told me the story. “About how he had changed from what he once was, you cried for the first time in your life. With the blade, you rused to the old capital and fought Kamui head on, fully sealing him away forever. But just as you had, your brother came and…….”

“He….he killed me?” I asked nervousy, somehow being able to guess that. The Elf nodded her head at my guess. “Yes, he stabbed you in the back as you fully sealed kamui away. But you did not die right away, instead you lay there on the ground and stared at him. Stared at what he had become, at becoming the very evil he sought to vanguish. As you did that, you spoke to him one last time. You said, “Brother, I don’t know if you are still there, but I want to know that I forgive you. I forgive you for everything you have and will do. And never forget, we will meet again one day and I will free you. No matter how long it takes, I will save you from your nightmare. I just….can’t do it this time around and in this body.”

I took these words in and felt an almost dejavu after hearing them, which would make sense since I was that person who spoke them. Still speaking, the Princess Goddess ended the tale. “The hero died and the darkness had begun to lift from the land. But Tarvis still remained, his dead brothers body in his arm. Although he had changed, a little bit of him was sad and angered at what he had done. He shed one tear and then left, taking the body with him. In one last act of kindness, he buried the body somewhere, but he left the blade where it had been used to fight Kamui. Nobody knows where the hero was buried, no one but Tarvis alone.”

Now having heard the full tale, I absorbed it as the scenery changed back to that of the room where I sat with the Elven princess Goddess. Looking at me, she spoke simply as she always did. “Now as to how you are able to fix that blade, I saw a person in my dreams who passed though this forest a few days ago. He was on his was south from here, heading towards the old capital. Im sure he could help you.”

I stood up and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering about everything now. “What do I do now, with all of this?”

The Princess Goddess just smiled at me very kindly and tilted her head. “That Hana, is up to you. There is much to do in this world and just as much to learn. You once may have been able to do a lot, but now you have to relearn everything.” Standing up, I noticed her smile vanish quickly. Her eyes alarmed, she looked at me. “I’m afraid there is no time left now…...he is here, at the border from which you escaped him.”

I knew instantly what she was talking about, it was Tarvis. He had come finally, somehow here to get me and Sakura. “Hes here for me, but what will happen to the Elves?!” That really was the biggest question, what would happen to everyone else now that I had come here.

“You two have to leave at once before he is able to catch you here. You must travel to th south, for that is where the beginning of your destiny lays.” Ushering me out, I stood atop the tree platform outside of where we had been and I could see Elves rushing about below. I saw Sakura leaning on the tree and she gave me a silent eyebrow raise as I came back towards her. Looking over to the Princess Goddess as I stood next to her, Sakura spoke without much respect. “So now we gotta leave already, just because some undead general is coming to ruin a good day? Come on!”

Shaking her head, the Princess Goddess sighed as she spoke to Sakura, knowing full well that there was no easy way of saying what she had to. “I know you have just arrived to the city, but I cannot risk you being seen here with us. The consequences are high for both of us Sakura, you should know yourself what will happen when Tarvis gets here. He has a way with dealing with traitors and those who harbor enemies of the High Priestess. I don’t want any bloodshed to happen within the sacred forest.”

Huffing a bit, Sakura just shrugged off everything that the Princess Goddess said and glared. “You can pray all you want for a peaceful ending to this situation, but I think you should repare yourself for the loses. The general does anything when he please, no matter what pain he causes on the survivors. Thats just how the general acts.” I could sense from Sakura that there was more to why she hated Tarvis, almost as if she may have seen something happen close to her. And to be honest, I really wouldn’t blame her for the anger she felt towards him. “I just hope she dosent kill me one day when she finds out how he and I are connected. I doubt she knows much about the ancient past, and more so if the hero ever had a brother in the first place.” Snaking my hand to hold hers, I tried to cal her down asI gave her a half twitching smile. As I did, I could feel her loosen up and speak a little nicer to the woman who had just helped me learn a little about my past. “Okay fine, we will leave the big bad general to you, as much as it pisses me off.”

“No, shes going with you two.”

The voice of Kambal, the Princess Goddesses brother spoke up to us and I saw him walking with a stern look on his face. “Sakura is right about General Tarvis, there is no telling what he will do to us. The High Priestess most likely knows you two are here with us now and thats enough information to tell me that she wants him to kill most of us…” Looking to his younger sister, he spoke to her alone. “We are in process of getting the women and children to safety, but I need you to go with them. It is no longer safe here, and I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you.” Before anyone else could answer, Sakura took a deep breath and spoke loudly. “As much as I dont want to babysit royalty and be in charge of keeping two girls alive, I will drag them both with me. Now can we get going for once?” Nodding his head, he whispered something into his sisters ear and then left us alone together. Still not all that happy, Sakura grabbed the old sword from me and hid it in her coat. “Okay Princess, where do we go? We obviously can’t go back towards the capital, so what else is there?”

Bowing her head towards us, she spoke with a polite voice. I was taken with how she was acting, so humble to us when it should be the other way around. “I am sorry about this, Sakura, Hana. And I would like you to address me by my born name, not my title. My name is Sayu, and I ask you to treat me like anybody else.” Looking back at us with her green eyes, Sayu smiled kindly. “I really don’t want to be a burden to any of you. And we have to go to the south, towards the old capital.”

Raising an eybrow, Sakura looked interested. “So we are going to the old capital, that should prove to be….irritating…..”

“What do you mean by that Sakura?” I asked innocently, worried about what I would hear. Looking at me with an almost nervous smile, Sakura rubbed the back of her neck as she told me. “Well, lets just say this Vampire really wants me dead for leaking info on how he’s been ripping off all the other Vampire nobles, and well….you get the picture.”

Blinking rapidly at the sound of a bloodthirsty Vampire wanting Sakura dead, I was almost not too surprised at all. Because after all, Sakura is Sakura….