The Third Party

3rd Peron’s POV (MC 4 yrs. And 6-8 months old)

“Again, I’ll ask, whose idea was this?” Tension rose as the leader of the magical beasts asked the question, striking directly at the matter at hand, and it was none other than Klein, the one who shouted a command not long ago to disperse the crowd that had gathered on the boy.

Klein’s expression was greatly dim, looking at their guests with judging and cold eyes, never sparing even the tribe chief from his icy gaze. His demeanor goes unnoticed by his companions by his side.

Everyone inside of the forest residences know that their leader was someone who has strict jurisdictions when it comes to safety and protection of his people, it was his duty to secure a life worth living for his people and to ensure that no harm or calamity may befall them,

After all he is the ‘Continental Snake’ a descendant of the mystical beast destined to protect and provide for its kind, but suddenly these people come out of nowhere to disturb their peace, resulting to his reactions towards the outsiders.

Or more like, people he knows. Silence hung from the intense before being broken by a man’s voice.

“Apologies, it was mine.” This man is none other than Ken’s father, Alfred, seeing as the atmosphere had changed the moment they entered the cottage, he immediately knew that something was wrong, but now it was clarified.

“And what might be your reason as to doing this?” The leader Klein asked, moments after Alfred had answered his first question, the air turning colder.

Alfred hesitated at first, he looked at his wife, then to their other four companions at their right, stopping at the tribe chief, getting a nod of acknowledgement did he only look back at the other five people across the seat and said.

“We had let our children, -as contradicted as we are with our decision- travel to your forest for a real battle experience.” While slowly lowering his gaze from the faces of the five people, he was about to add more to his statement but was cut off by the leaders question, which he blurted out quite harshly.

“What made you think of letting a child, so much as children to fight in a battle?!” fury was evident on his stare before he continued.

“What would have happened if those children had died?” -Klein-

“What would you do if they weren’t let off by our caves?” -Klein-

“What did you think when you sent those three children towards us?” -Klein-

Alfred who was listening intently, felt that his anger from before -when he witnessed his son getting beaten by the person in front of him by a spell- simmer down and was replaced by guilt, guilt towards his actions and the outcomes of it.

At this Lyn couldn’t hold back her opinion, and said.

“We didn’t think things through it because of -.” but got interrupted by Alfred putting his hand in front of her. Alfred looked at her with a reassuring smile before facing Klein.

“Would you be so kind as to listen to our story, it will explain our situation.” Alfred said, looking straight into the leaders eyes despite the nervousness he felt inside.

“Go ahead.” came Klein’s reply. Alfred nodded.

“Our situation dates back from the emergence of the moon.” From the mention of the object, everyone except the parents of the three children were alerted and felt agitated, they could vaguely remember the events that took place in the past,

The surroundings, and magic of the place, of the world acted strange, as if it was in a state of chaos, magical beasts going rouge, and turned up attacking one another.

Others succumbed to a deep sleep that lasted centuries, but was able to recover and one thing that they could never forget, how the moon shown extreme light that almost blinded and robbed of every magical beast of their magic.

The memories were passed down from generation to generation, until to the current leaders of the northern forest, but despite the memories just being passed down by their ancestors, they could not shake the feeling of fear.

Alfred hesitated at first due to the reactions of the magical beasts in front of him, but nevertheless he continued. “Thousands of years ago, a prophet of the Kingdom of Ithel visited the first ever King of the kingdom, carrying with him impending news,

He told the King of an emergence of an object on the sky, which was called the moon, the prophet then told that the moon will choose a blessed one, blessed that this child that will shine under the moon’s light, shall bring with it ‘twilight’, change to the kingdom, upon hearing the news,

The King felt scared for his people and wanted to ask what to do, when the prophet said that there is a way to change such outcome, a statement from the moon, to which the King obliged, the prophet then told the King that by taking care of the child, shall they be able to change the outcome,

But the kingdom was suddenly attacked by a strange light from the sky, creating lines of white before converging at a single point and creating artifacts, five artifacts were created that day, and were scattered all throughout the globe, and it is said that only the blessed child is capable of finding these artifacts.”

“The King was frantic that day, after having build his kingdom, now there’s an eminent doom in the future, he quickly gathered all the people involved in his council of ten and discussed what they should do once the blessed child arrives. Three days later after the discussion and preparation for the announcement of the information to the public,

The King held a gathering to all his people in front of the castle gardens, prepared to tell them of the prophecy given to them by the prophet, after the King had finished his announcement, the place was deathly silent,

Before a shout was heard from the crowd, then another, and another, until the whole crowd shouted profanities towards the so called object in the sky at night, one thought was in their mind, the death of the blessed child.

Unknowns to the King, three days before, many lives were claimed by the lines of white that where left on the wake of the moon, for on that day, people all over the kingdom were shocked to witness their families turned to dust as if they were burned by ethereal fire when they crossed the line, luckily the lines didn’t cross the gate of the palace.

So the people decided that they were going to ask for help from the King, but were disappointed as the guards of the palace did not let them in or hear their problems out, stating that the King is busy and unable to accommodate them for the time being,

It is true that the King told the guards of the palace to keep the people at bay, but that didn’t mean they had to reprimand them from voicing out their concerns, and that was the first mistake of the King, un-enabling the people to speak for their matter made them turn a blind eye to the situation.” Coralia who had went out to the kitchen brought out refreshments for everyone placed the tray on the low table, and giving each a cup of water to the people present before Albert continued.

“But then came the King’s second mistake, the King didn’t particularly mind the complaints of the people since he had reassured them that they will be given help in time, and since the white lines disappeared after 7 days, he deemed the situation under control.

6 months later a blessed child was born, a couple at the outskirts of the kingdom was fortunate to witness the blessing of the child on the starry night sky, by morning the couple had shared the news to their neighbors,

The couple expected that their neighbors would accept the child, but was shocked when they had found the child on the crib dead, where they left it for a moment, only to be killed.

What’s worse was the person who killed their child was their close neighbor, the best friend of the husband who’s wife was claimed by the white lines, the culprit fled the kingdom and never came back, the couple mourned for the loss of their child like any parent would, but no one dared to comfort them as they drown in their sorrows.

News of what happened reached the King, he was cautious at first, but decided to brush of the subject since he has many other important things to do, but was left with the underlying feeling of unease.

Nearing the King’s second century rule, and was about to step down from the thrown and give it to his eldest son on the day of the coronation, exactly the same day as the moon’s light had descended upon the kingdom, when suddenly a messenger barged into the throne room where the coronation was held.

Everyone stopped to look at the messenger as he gathered his wits and announced that another blessed child had died, everyone in the room was shocked to hear the news especially the King’s brother and his wife, whose face was sickly pale.

Then the messenger continued that the baby that was killed was the child of the King’s brother, everyone became even more frantic of the news as they looked over at the couple, who directly went out of the throne room and to their guest room,

The mother running as if her life was on the line.” Everyone in the room was silent as they felt the tension of the atmosphere rise from the story they are hearing.

“Upon arriving at the room, what greeted them was the sight of blood everywhere, the crib where their child was sleeping whose body is nowhere to be found, but the majority of all the blood and gore are found on the crib,

whomever was the culprit had killed the baby in a gruesome way upon inspection, the royal family even found out that the one who killed the baby was one of their people, whom they executed right on the spot for the murder of a royal family, the culprit was a mage.” -Alfred-

“The King could not believe what his people were doing to the blessed child, the feeling of uneasiness rose, but he did nothing, for he could not think of anything to do of the matter.

Another century later, by this time the Kingdom has expanded to different areas, war wasn’t present on these days, the throne governed by his son, and him, living on a secluded land with his wife, they were going on with their daily lives when a big explosion occurred at the capital of the Kingdom,

They instantly knew that something was wrong, so he and his wife decided to check it out for themselves, dressed in commoner clothes to avoid unnecessary situations, but what greeted them was utter chaos on the houses on the east wing of the capital as people where running everywhere,

Guards hurrying to the scene carrying buckets of water to put out the fire, on the corner of his eye, a silver light flashed, and when he looked, he saw a woman carrying with her a baby whose hair was glowing silver,

Two black figures chasing after her in an alley, the former King and Queen chased after the figures inside the alley, but stopped in their tracks when they saw a heart-wrenching sight before them,

The woman whose clothes was covered in blood, weeping as she cradled her lifeless child, asking for help at the people before, again the uneasiness feeling returned, but this time it was full force as it had muddled with the head of the former king,

He kneeled down holding one hand on his temple as a pounding on his head and chest appeared, the queen who was stunned standing by his side, whose tears are flowing freely without her noticing,

Noticed her husband kneeling, she reached towards the King before he could fall to the ground.” The same uneasiness appeared at the hearts and minds of the people inside the cottage, luckily the people outside could not feel the change of moods on the structure as the Continental Snake had erected a barrier earlier to prevent others from eavesdropping.

“The King woke up at the castle, his family surrounding him, concerned of his well being, he stayed there for five days to recover, and on the sixth day, he took action, he called unto his son, his brother, and three other arch mages on his time to tell him of his plan,

Unknowns to all, after the events of the emergence of the moon, a parchment of paper was left by the oracle and written on it the prophecy of the moon which the King had taken care up to this day, after gathering them on the home where the former King and Queen resided, he told them of his plan,

He discovered that anyone with the magic power rivaling that of kingdoms are able to write on the parchment, but only on the regulations on how to care for the blessed child, and that by using the power of such individuals may they be able to not change the regulation, but enhance the regulation,

Their first concern, was the safety of the child, but because they do not know which couple will be born with the blessed child, they specified that the child be born on one of the bloodlines present on the assembly,

Three of the people present which are two of the arch mages and his brother, stating that how sure is he of the procedure, he reassured them that things will go out fine, for he has reasons for gathering them specifically and told them of what they are going to engrave to the parchment,

And so, they started the ritual to enhance the regulation, intense magic convergence happened at the circle they made, the prophecies parchment is placed on the center, and a magic circle beneath them,

They first secured the safety of the child of being born to one of their bloodlines, all six, tied to one fate, other matters they deemed important they also imparted to the parchment such as the readiness of the child, and those around it,

With the last ounce of their magic they gathered their thoughts into one final thought, that if the child will survive for more than a year, the parchment will find them, and so shall its training begin,

To train for ‘twilight’, the change of their kingdom, and quite possibly their world. These events happened ten thousand years ago.” After Albert had finished, he unclenched his hand which he had only noticed that he had form into a fist, cold sweat rolling down from his forehead. The Continental Snake who first snapped out from a daze due to the story they heard immediately questioned.

“And did the parchment mentioned that the child bring himself or herself to harm on the age of four?” everyone snapped out from their daze as well when Klein suddenly stood up and voiced his concerns.

“I cannot really confirm that the child will bring himself or herself to harm on the age of four, but one thing is certain.” he took out a flat black container, took out a parchment of paper and read the content. “That the below the age of five, the blessed child will undergo training.”

“That is ridiculous! A child!? Training under the age of five? Why!” -Klein-

“I’ve examined the reason behind by using my magic to read the thought behind the statement, it had seemed that blessed children in the past were killed on the age of five and up, without proper training to defend themselves, this statement was an enhanced version from the original one since our ancestors had changed the regulation countless times.” -Alfred-

“Change? How So?” this time Lana asked.

“The bloodline tied by this parchment, were given the will to change the regulations if they deemed it necessary to be changed.” answered Albert, all the while everyone’s eyes widened except for Lyn, thinking how powerful can this bloodline be to be able to change the regulation of a powerful prophetical parchment, and like so, someone asked the question.

“How were they… how were your ancestors able to change the original regulation of the prophecy.” Asked Ulysses.

Everyone in the room looked at Alfred before he stated.

“By the power of one of the artifacts of the moon, which the first King stumbled upon by accident.” -Alfred-

“What artifact?” Asked Klein

“The Moon Stone.” Everyone could not hide the shock on their faces on the mention of the legendary artifact, particularly the leaders of the forest, since the said artifact was used on their territorial war five thousand years ago, but was lost after the war.

“And after 5 thousand years after the creation of the prophecy, was the halt of the change in the regulations of the parchment and so is the disappearance of the moon stone.” So the leaders really were right of the moon stone’s disappearance in the past, it was due to their ancestors.

“Okay, that makes sense.” said Lana, looking at Klein, who still remained standing.

“Klein, I think you should sit, and calm yourself down for a bit.” Coralia couldn’t help but state since seeing the reaction of her leader and friend is sprouting, the look that want to learn and get more information.

“A-“ before Klein could speak up again, he was interrupted by Coralia.

“Before we could delve in more on the topic of the prophecy, I would like everyone to focus on the most important one, the children.” -Coralia-

“Oh, I want to ask, does the regulation of the parchment has anything to do with the other two kids coming with the blessed child?” asked Lana, making her stand and lean her body towards Albert, holding on to the table where the drinks are placed.

“In fact it has, it says here, ‘that any companion of the child that are unable to defend themselves shall also undergo training to be able to defend themselves’.” -Alfred-

“Aren’t you concerned that your child will be in danger from being friends with theirs?” Everyone turned to Trunk who, had been silent since the discussion started, voice his opinions, while he look at the other parents.

“Actually-.” Vin looked at Alfred to help explain the situation, since they can’t explain it themselves.

“They are unable to stop their children from doing what’s according to the parchment since it had been enchanted and enhanced in the past millenniums, making the enchantment absolute, that neither the descendants of the bloodlines are able to go against’ the will of the regulation.” said Alfred.

“Hmmm, okay, I think we understand that your children are safe due to the regulation of the prophecy, however, I will not be satisfied with only the protection of the parchment, so I would like everyone here in this room to cooperate in protecting the children.” said Klein.

“Oh, uhh, thank you, what made you think so?” asked Lorna, all the while Erick stayed silent.

“Since the three of us will be teaching the three children individually and as a group, it would be very well reassuring if the parents would also join, thought it would already come naturally to you, since all of you are parents, and extra measures would be met for we would be bringing students of our own too, some, their children, and disciples.” explained Klein.

“Oh, Okay, we understand.” said Lorna as she looked at her husband and smiled, in fact, all the parents looked at their counterpart with smiles on their faces, as they felt relieved of the situation.

“Alfred, if you would so kindly answer, did you or did you not teach your child magic?” said Klein.

“Yes.” Alfred replied, with a warm yet proud glint on his face.

“Spells?” -Klein-

“Yes, I did.” -Alfred-

“So you did huh, and of course the basics of magic and weaving spells would be enlisted too, have you taught him advanced magic or spells?” asked again by Klein.

“No, why do you ask?” said Alfred looking rather confused. Klein looked at him with a serious face and said.

“Your son used advanced magic and spells during our battle.” One could only imagine the look on the faces of the people present, especially Alfred’s.

-------