Knightshade Forgotten.

Hallucinations

I sat up faster than I expected from the nightmare. And yet, it didn't feel like one. My dragonstone was missing from my bag after I spent a good thirty minutes searching it. Cold swept over me in a sense of fear. I slowly crept out of my room to see Shuji walking out to greet mother and father, my legs were shaking in anticipation.

"Good morning my child, did you sleep well?" my mother asked as she saw me coming. "Yes, thank you mother." I replied with my father right behind her. She smiled gently "Good, we're going to celebrate your return today with the rest of the town. Everyone should rejoice that the family is whole again." Shuji walked up behind me with a stern expression on his face. 

"Reflet, let's go into town together. You need to meet some of the people anyway." He pulled me off before letting me answer.

"You had the same nightmare from the look on your face." I said quietly as I signaled Kanon to accompany us. Shuji nodded, "Something tells me that it wasn't a nightmare, but reality." He was quiet until we were outside the estate. "I've never seen father like this ever. He changed after he discovered your stone. His personality seems..corrupted now."

Kanon spoke up, "He does seem different than he normally is. I'm sure it's due to your return, my lord. He is your father after all, he probably is trying to make a good impression for you." the part of his face I could see looked doubtful as he said these words.

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My mother had everyone gathered in the town center, father stood behind her trying to look as proud as he could as she spoke. Shuji pat my shoulder as he ran off to be by my mother's side, holding a naginata at his side. She turned and announced my name as I slowly walked up to her. People were chattering left and right, likely spreading rumors or suspicions about me. It was faint but I could hear familiar voices.

Faint outlines of people started walking around the square, they all were familiar in some way, I'm remember the armor of one and the face of another, but never the names. "The soldiers, the one's I've mindlessly killed, they're all here." I made myself look as stable as I could, the hallucinations were almost too much for me. My eyes rested on one after a while of searching through the crowds. "Janggo?"

He seemed to duck back into the crowd and disappear the longer I looked at him. I waited for mother to let me walk among the crowd and meet the subjects. Immediately, I walked toward him, greeting people and playing off that I had something important to do. Once the crowd was behind me, I ended up running. I used magic to summon Faylinn's custom armor onto me and relied on the barefoot feature to let me make sharp turns faster.

"Janggo wait!" I cried as he ducked outside the walls of the city. I looked behind me, Kanon was following in pursuit as I decided to step outside. Janggo turned around slowly, he gave a small smile as he put on his horned helm. There were arrows lined in his back. "Oh gods, not you." My mind started screaming. 

"I'm so sorry my friend. I couldn't make it to see you." I stepped forward to see my friend. The Phantoms seemed to hate my presence. As they drew closer Janggo had been shaking more and more.

"Janggo, you're here with me...aren't you?" I said shakily, "Janggo please!" He stepped forward and rose his hammer over his head. His breathing became ragged "Please...kill me." I was shocked by his request, "Janggo, I can't do that to you.- "Please! Before it makes me kill you!" He interrupted. I shakily took his hammer and held it ready. "Hold still, this won't hurt for long." He gave a smile as I drew my sword, "Thank you Reflet." His smile faded as I struck him with the hilt of my sword.

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He was set down on a medical bed with a priestess or two on either side of him. Tsubasa came up behind me with a grim look, "You brought a demon in our walls?"

"I know him personally, he used to be a friend of mine until he disappeared one day. I don't know how he found his way here, but someone's close behind at this point." I explained, "So war may come to our land if the next visitors are not friendly. Especially from Peurotisil." I walked over to Janggo, "I doubt it, I have powerful friends there. If war should come, I can try to resolve it with words."

I turned to Janggo who was slowly recovering from...whatever it was. "He asked me to kill him." I told father, "I can't do something like that again, I don't want to carry more sins than I already have, I can't kill anyone I never want to kill." He put his hand on my shoulders, "Sometimes in a situation like this, you have to think of how much they are suffering. It is not a sin to take the life from someone who asked you to, it is an act of kindness."

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He walked with me the whole way home, asking me questions on what life was like away from Ximodo, "And Faylinn, where is she now?" he asked. "I hope she's safe wherever she is, she is only becoming a woman at this age. I don't want violence to become of her. She deserves a better life away from me." He seemed pleased with my answer, "You have the heart of a kind leader, but kind leaders are often stepped on.

"A vision without an action is a daydream, and an action without a vision is a nightmare. I want you to find out how you know to apply these words my son." He said calmly before he smiled at the confused look on my face. "You'll understand one day."

He opened my palm and pressed my dragonstone to it, "I return this to you, in the hopes that you will use this power to protect your home. Do you accept it? Do you swear to protect your people with it? Even if it means never going back?"

I took a step back, "I don't know if I can do that. I have friends in Peurotisil that need my help. I don't want to let die, not alone anyway." He placed his hands on my shoulders, "We will wait for them to come here. If they do, will you swear to come back?"

I knelt down "I do father, with all that am and all that I will be."

He helped me up and spoke with a smile on his face. "Then you may rise to the challenge, Crown Prince Reflet, Knight of Ximodo."