The sky outside was streaked with soft hues of orange and pink, casting warm light across the shimring spires of Virelia. Inside the tower—more specifically, inside Joshua's overly complicated, dramatically glowing study room—two voices echoed between bookshelves and floating lanterns.
Alice sat cross-legged on a cushion by the glass wall, munching on starlight grapes, while Joshua paced lazily in front of an enchanted chalkboard that had started sketching itself just for fun.
"…and then he actually threw the burrito?" Joshua asked, laughing like a kid hearing the dumbest story in the universe.
Alice choked slightly, wiping a tear from her eye. "Yes! And it landed in Alfred's mouth mid-sentence. I swear, the whole courtyard paused like a dramatic ani close-up."
Joshua clutched his stomach, leaning against a floating book. "That man is chaos in human form. No—cosmic burrito form."
"He keeps pretending he's above all this," Alice snorted, "but last week he declared war on a vending machine."
"It wouldn't take his divine coins!" Joshua mimicked Adam's voice with a frown and grand hand gestures. "Unacceptable. I am the law."
They both collapsed in laughter again, the room briefly flickering with magical sparks from the amusent. The books on the shelves giggled too—so of them were alive, or at least nosy.
Then, all at once… it stopped.
The laughter. The air. Even the light.
It was like the tower itself took a breath and held it.
Alice blinked and sat up slowly. "Did… sothing just—?"
The shadows shifted.
It wasn't a dramatic crack of thunder or explosion or even a ripple. No grand entrance. No epic chant. One mont, the room was empty.
The next—
Soone was standing in the middle of it.
Right between Alice and Joshua.
A figure, cloaked in deep grey, face shadowed by a hood that shimred oddly—like reality wasn't quite sure how to paint them.
Alice's breath caught.
Joshua's body tensed, fingers already twitching near the spell rings hidden on his wrist.
Neither of them moved.
The figure said nothing.
Did nothing.
Just stood there, like they'd always been part of the tower.
A soft ding echoed in the air—a subtle chi only monarchs of Virelia could hear.
Within monts, divine signatures spiked across the entire continent.
Every Monarch felt it.
Freya's teacup shattered mid-pour.
Raphael vanished from his balcony before the glass he held hit the floor.
Aria stood up so fast her parasol exploded into stardust.
Aurora's scrolls caught fire. She didn't even blink.
Mael dropped his card ga upside down and muttered, "Oh crap.
Back in the tower, Alice slowly rose to her feet, her usual carefree air replaced by sharp tension.
"Who the hell are you?" she asked.
Still, the figure said nothing.
But sothing else answered.
The tower groaned. Not from damage—more like it was reacting to the presence.
The air still shimred with leftover pressure from the mysterious figure's sudden arrival. Alice and Joshua stood on edge, spells half-ford and hearts racing, when the cloaked man finally moved.
He reached up, fingers slow and precise, and pulled back his hood.
A deep hush fell across the room.
Silver hair, swept back like waves frozen in ti. Eyes like twin galaxies—burning, calm, ancient. His presence was too complete, too still, like even space itself listened when he breathed.
Alice took a sharp step back. Joshua's pupils shrank.
"…No way," he whispered.
From above, the faint whoosh of wings followed by a burst of glowing petals signaled Aurora's entrance. She floated down beside them, graceful as always, arms crossed and lips curled into a small smirk.
"So much drama," she said casually. "You always did like entrances, Lord of Dominion."
The man smiled faintly. "Please," he said, "let's skip the titles. I'm not your dean today."
Joshua blinked. "Wait. Dean? What? You're—?"
The man ignored him for a mont and stepped forward, placing a hand on Joshua's shoulder. "I'm here for one reason. To do what I was sent here to do… years ago."
His gaze softened.
"To retrieve the young master. And bring him ho."
Joshua froze. "Young… who?"
The man chuckled lightly, a sound filled with nostalgia and sadness. "You really don't rember. Not even a little?"
Joshua shook his head, eyes darting between Alice, Aurora, and the man now standing in front of him like a ghost from so life he never lived.
"You've got the wrong guy," he said, voice wavering slightly. "I'm not so young master. I grew up in so backwater town with a family of three with a father who sold fake relics."
The Lord of Dominion stepped back, eyes narrowing—but not in frustration. More like he was asuring sothing, checking pieces of a puzzle no one else could see.
"Your na," he said, "is not Joshua."
Silence.
Even the floating books stopped.
Alice glanced sideways at Aurora, who had gone uncharacteristically still.
Joshua frowned. "…What?"
The Lord of Dominion raised his hand, light swirling around his fingertips like strands of ti itself. They ford a glowing script in the air, old symbols no one in the room had seen before—except Aurora, whose eyes widened in recognition.
"Your real na," the man said, "is Zaryel Caelestis Azarion."
The air shivered.
Joshua stared. "Jah… what?!"
"That," the Lord said, voice low and steady, "was the na you were given at birth. The blood you carry isn't from this universe. And your existence here… it was never ant to last this long."
Alice whispered, "He's serious."
Joshua laughed nervously, stepping back. "No. No, you're insane. This is insane. I'm not so prince from another dinsion—"
"You're not," the man interrupted. "You're more than that."
Joshua looked like he was about to pass out.
The Lord of Dominion sighed, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose like a tired teacher trying to explain sothing to a student too hungover to get it.
"To explain who you are, Jahseren…" he said slowly, "I'll have to start from the beginning."
A/N
I kept my promise I guess
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