𝕽𝖊𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖓 - 𝕳𝖎3𝖗𝖉 𝖝 𝕳𝕾𝕽 [Inspired by @KeysOfVoid]

Recollections - Chapter XIII

"We've looked everywhere but here... I hope my memory is right.", Seele checked the crates. "It's... Ah! Yes, we found it! Great, and it's barely damaged! Nat wouldn't have expected her old supplies from years ago to have stayed in such good condition."

"You should still check the expiration date for things like rubbing alcohol. If it's expired, it won't be effective.", Bronya advised.

"Hm, true. Let me check a few bottles.", she said, digging through the crates.

"What's this..?"

"This is...", Bronya said, lost for words. "This is... something from when I was a child."

"Wh—When you were a child!? Are you sure...?", Seele said, shocked.

"You came to this town as a child?", Stelle asked.

"I—I used to live here... B—Before the Architects took me away, before Madam Cocolia adopted me... I used to live here! I'm... an undergrounder.", Bronya realized.

Seele's face turned into an expression of pure shock. "You're... an undergrounder? Wait a minute... you're saying that Cocolia, the Supreme Guardian, adopted you? Then—"

"Yes. I'm the successor chosen by the Architects. In the future, I will become the guardian who leads Belobog.", Bronya nods.

"..."

"Why... Why didn't I remember this until now? My childhood memories are so blurry..."

"Maybe you're too young to remember. It's hard for me to remember my childhood as well.", Kevin said.

"The Architects said that the guardian's successor is selected from among all people in Belobog. The selection process can take anywhere from a few years to a few decades. During that time, all children of the appropriate age in both the Overworld and the Underworld will be tested. In the end, only one child deemed as "worthy" will be chosen.", Bronya explained. 

"I... must have been chosen from among the children here and then taken to the surface..."

"The kids at the orphanage are always coming and going... I never thought that there would've been a future Supreme Guardian among us! Does Nat know about this? Could she have been keeping it a secret...", Seele thought.

"..I don't think she knows. The selection of the successor is done with utmost secrecy, and the child chosen must completely say goodbye to their past. And thus... I became the daughter of Madam Cocolia. My only identity is that of guardian successor, but I'm... not good enough..."

"Every day I see Silvermane Guards sacrifice their lives in the Fragmentum, but I've never had the resolve to change mother's mind. The Underworld has been struggling, but I never tried to help. I didn't even know that it was my own home that had fallen into such a dire state... In the end, I haven't been able to guard anything. How could they have thought I was worthy to be the successor..."