Nephilim's Wager: The Princess and the Witch

Entry 2 (Penelope)

Well, I fucked up. I was in the abandoned castle cellar, most of the way through my first life's set of journals- as previously I had only skimmed each of them- when I read something that seemed to trigger an emotional reaction in myself, activating a power I only just learned I have and very much cannot control... And burned the library down.

I believe there are magic ways to restore them. But I don't know how I would tell any cleric about this, or if I should tell them. From what I did read, it seems that my identity needs to be top secret.

Knowing about past lives is generally discouraged by society, but this is another level.

Maybe one day, when the cult is gone forever, when I'm reigning with my true love, it will be okay to tell someone. But by then I won't need these anymore anyway.

I suppose the best option is to cultivate my own magic until I can help myself.

Oh, anyway. It seems it'll be very important for me to keep a dream journal, especially now since that's the main way I'll remember more of my past. This all started with a dream, yesterday morning...

It began in the same palace that I live in now. It was nighttime, pitch black, yet I could see perfectly. I kept looking over my shoulder as if I needed to make sure I was alone. Yet I knew every inch of the place far more familiarly than just any intruder would. I stole an assortment of items, most importantly several blank journals, then leapt out the window and flew through the night sky to the old castle. It was before the rise of the empire that the royal family lived in that castle. We relocated to be closer to our other territories, into a grander palace with our newfound riches, and stayed even after the empire splintered apart and left us as a small kingdom once again. I descended to the lower level of the castle, where I had set up my secret library. I lit a fireplace with magic and sat down to begin my first journal. I introduced myself on the first page, then woke up in shock.

So, yes. My first life was... Queen Tyria. Or Empress Tyria, as she was called, and is still called by cultists. A figure who any sane citizen grows up hating and being ashamed of. Especially me, as a member of the royal family. Every time I've interacted with someone from one of the kingdoms she invaded, there's been an unspoken or explicit apology and implication that we are absolutely not like that anymore. Literally the last person I would choose to be my past life, if it worked that way. Wait, did my parents know??? Sometimes parents are allowed to have a say. I'll ask them later.

One thing I learned from reading her journals, though, is that quite a lot of what I was taught about her, in schools and museums and plaques of statues and songs, is partly or wholly incorrect. In some ways, she's better; in some ways, she's worse.

I might just get a copy of her biography and annotate it with corrections as I continue to learn more, instead of writing everything I know here. I assume the future me hypothetically reading this would have some basic information about her considering how important she is to the entire island's history.

But I should give some information about myself, shouldn't I? Surely I will also be in the history books and everyone will know who I am. But given how inaccurate history books seem to be, I should set the record straight just in case.

My name is Penelope Lampyra. I'm the heir to the throne of Sylphidia, a kingdom on the Isle of Neph that was once a bloody empire fueled by demonic dark magic. It's peaceful now, for the most part, aside from the cult of warlocks who remember and romanticize our shameful past and want to return to it. They believe that Tyria, who introduced them to dark magic and turned the kingdom into an empire, will one day make herself known as her reincarnation- currently me- and lead them in restoring her regime. Once she's finally freed of the spell supposedly put on her by a rebel that made her abdicate the throne to begin with. I... think that I- a past version of me- may have been the one to spread that lie to them, to stall them, to make them think that the time just isn't right yet. Which seems to be working. But of course then, if they are ever to find out that I am her, their destined savior, and they believe that I'm under a spell so my reluctance will be ignored... Who knows what they would do to get me to be who they want me to be.

And who am I really? I just realized I'm barely talking about that.

Well, I thought I was a kind princess, beloved by my subjects, friends with everyone in the kingdom I have the time to talk to. I practice air magic, with an amethyst talisman, in accordance with my lineage. I have never once even thought about seeking out a dark magic spell. I always stick to approved spells given to us by the angels.

I'm at the top of my class, not because the teachers are afraid of angering me, but because I genuinely love to learn and I'm diligent about studying. I help my classmates with their homework and test preparation when I can. Yes, unfortunately, it does depend on how much their parents can pay me for tutoring. Not that I need the money. I do it out of the goodness of my heart. So sometimes I actually look at the compensation offers I've been given and instead select the poorest- or stingiest?- of my peers to assist. But if I always did that, they'd be competing to pay me the least- which has a floor, unlike the most- and so it must remain a secret.

...Yes, before yesterday, that was my darkest secret. Please forgive the teardrops that are in danger of staining this parchment. I need to distract myself.