𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐍 || 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫

Chapter LXI: Return of the Phoenix

Ruler of All Realms Pt. 3

THE GOLDEN DAWN’S headquarters still looked the same as when Solene had left it. But as the gates swung open to welcome the three of them, she knew it was different from the way it was before.

Was four years really that long of a time that for a split moment she felt like a stranger to these grounds?

Back then, she walked through the grasses of the Quad with so much familiarity that she could  memorize every strand of it. Still, a wave of relief coursed in her veins when they passed through it, a feeling of assurance as if she had walked back home from another mission.

The grounds of the Golden Dawn still remembered her. It was as if the mana surrounding them hummed in response to her steps, that wind blew in places where it didn’t usually stir. Solene paused for a second; not from fear, but from memory.

Some places do not forgive you for leaving.

They simply wait for your return.

As she along with Langris and Sophia walked through the familiar twists and turns of the stone corridors of the base, it was only a matter of time before she encountered other members—some she could vaguely recognize as they might’ve joined after she left, others she recognized but never really knew. Those who knew her had their eyes widened, some had their blood slightly drained off their face as if they had seen a ghost, and the others smiled, approaching her even and welcomed her.

Solene felt good despite the mixed reactions. In fact, she thought it was a good sign. This was always what the Golden Dawn had been when she was there. She had gotten accustomed to it that she might feel uncomfortable if the members welcomed her warmly like they had known her for years.

“You don’t need to worry about them,” Sophia reassured her, as if sensing her thoughts. “They still remember you. I mean, who wouldn’t? You’re the one who made our great captain slash Wizard King fall in love with you, saved everyone from death, and oh—did I mention that badassery at the Grimstone Tower? Solene Amberdawn, no one can wipe your name off the halls of the Golden Dawn. You are legendary.”

“Is this what being a Vice Captain does to people? It transforms you? Because I thought you wanted to make my life miserable.” Solene laughed as Sophia chuckled. Langris only rolled his eyes.

“Yet here we are, two Vice Captains begging you to return,” he said.

Sophia and Langris led her towards her old room, and it took every ounce of her willpower not to cry as he opened the door for her. Sophia leaned against the doorframe, a sly smirk curving on her lips.

“Hey do you still remember when you got drunk the night of your welcoming party and was so tipsy you thought you went to your room but instead slept on Captain Vangeance’s bed—”

“Oh my God, Sophia! Why would you remind me that?!” Solene groaned as she let herself fall on her bed, covering her ears and burying her face as if that would erase that horrifying, totally not that embarrassing event.

Langris’s forehead creased, dumbfounded as his eyes broadened. “What?”

Sophia smirked even wider, moving behind him as if to whisper in his ear but loud enough so Solene could hear as well. “I said she accidentally slept on the same bed as the captain during her first night here in the base!”

Langris looked horrified. He did not want to imagine that in his head, and he absolutely did not want that information at all, thank you very much.

“I think this is where we part. Thank you for accompanying me here but I don’t wanna see the both of you for a long while. Goodbye!” Solene said, shutting the door with a loud bang.