“This is really good.” Airen said, munching on a baked dumpling.

“Yes it is.” Yuelei said, already finished with hers and reaching for another one. “Airen, you absolutely must learn how to make these for me.”

“A prince that cooks in his spare time? What is going to happen to the poor Kingdom of Macha?” Jourmind sighed with a hint of a smile.

“Ignore him, Airen, any princess would fall for you if you can make food this good.” Yuelei responded between bites. “You should really take the culi-, what's that word again, Jomin?”

“The Culinarian Exam.” Jourmind replied. “There are several professions that are well acclaimed on the Eiloong continent, such as culinarians, alchemists, blacksmiths, and artificer-scribes. Each of these professions have five ranks in total, Novice, Apprentice, Skilled, Renowned, Artisan. Artisans are usually well received no matter where they go.”

“You hear that, Airen? If you become an Artisan Culinarian when you become king, people far and wide will come to the Kingdom of Macha”

“Wouldn't it be beneath a king to cook though?”

“No, it isn't uncommon for leaders of their countries to be skilled in a few professions. However, the knowledge is kept secret so only a few know about it.“ Jourmind answered. “It is said that Priestess Geisla is an acclaimed singer.”

“Why do they keep it a secret?”

“Because there are very few Renowned and above craftsmen, after reaching Skilled, you need to take a unique test in front of the respective guild leaders and gain their approval to advance. Every year, hundreds attempt to take the exam. Once every few years, someone manages to reach Renowned, and only a few every century manage to become an Artisan.“

“What does that have to do with kings and queens hiding their craftsman skills?” Yuelei objected.

“Since it's a public test, there are few leaders that actually make an appearance.”

“It seems like being a king is a lot more complicated than I thought.” Airen commented. “Even when Yuelei and I sneaked outside the palace, there's always someone following us.”

That 'someone' was me, Airen. “It is for your own good, Airen.” Jourmind said while shooting Yuelei a knowing look. At one point, Yuelei had noticed Jourmind watching them sneak towards the hole in the wall, and he had put his finger to his lips. She had put two and two together when Airen had forgotten his wallet, and Jourmind slipped a small purse into her hands.

“It's not easy being a prince~” Airen sang while jumping around.

“Or a princess~” Yuelei said, chasing Airen around the courtyard.

Jourmind smiled as he watched the two fooling around. He had come to adore them like his very own children, and he often wished that they weren't born as heirs to a kingdom. Little did he know that his wish would be granted all too soon.

-

“Jomin, tell us a story.” Airen and Yuelei had returned to their chambers as the colors of dusk had started to blanket the sky, and oddly, Jourmind had followed them. It was still too early to sleep.

“Of course.” Jourmind grinned and started in a matter-of-fact tone, just like when he gave lectures. “In the year 294-”

“No no no stop, Jomin!” the two little ones protested together.

“...There was a certain heroine during that time of war called Alesta of the Golden Lightning.”

“Lightning..? But I thought that-”

“Yes, that was what made her exceptional. This woman with hair a shade of dark red, instead of wielding water, fire,earth,wind,light, or dark elements, wielded lightning the color of gold. It was at that time the world was made known of variant elements, and we would eventually put these in a category of their own, called divine elements, because to be given one was considered to be blessed by the heavens. There are several theories out there as to how variant elements occurred: one scholar said that it was a combination of the parent's elements, another said that the individual was originally had dual elements but one of them was consumed by the other, another said it was a form of mutation, and one even claimed it was due to a pact with a spirit beast. To this day, we don't know.”

“Alesta must have been really special.” Airen said.

“No, Airen, she was human just like you and me. There are few records of her during her youth, but I would imagine that she would have had a rough childhood due to how different she was. But the world knew nothing of her for a long time. The largest empire at the time, the Gatun Empire, attempted to 'unify the Eiloong Continent’, and attacked a small village near its borders. The Gatun Empire was known for levying heavy taxes and forcing its non-citizens to work like slaves. The village resisted, and because of that, that village no longer exists today.“ Jourmind paused, giving some time for it to sink in.

“So the Gatun Empire were the bad guys?”

“There are no good or bad people, Airen, but I believe that the Gatun Empire's methods were 'wrong'. Perhaps, they wanted to set an example, but I believe that there was never a reason to wipe out an entire village’s population. Either way, their conquest went smoothly, and country after country were defeated and annexed by the Gatun Empire. The few countries that resisted were utterly crushed, their people raped and used as entertainment. Those that knew they had no chance had already surrendered helplessly, their rulers executed, and a dictator put in their place. Even the countries with a Divine Being were no match against the three that worked for the Gatun Empire. After conquering most of the continent, their final target was a small country to the west that inhabited the various islands that today are part of the Kingdom of Four Winds. They built large warships, each the size of the Imperial Palace, filled them with their troops, and set sail.” Jourmind wet his mouth with some tea before continuing.

“It was cloudy that day as if foreboding an ill omen, and the enemy fleet was intercepted on the Sea of Voices. Although the island country's ships were more skillful in naval warfare and their mages consisted mostly of the water element, they could not manage to stop the troops from reaching their major port.”

“Why not?” Yuelei questioned

“Because of the number of mages Gatun had. As the Gatun Empire's warships sank, their wind element mages would levitate the troops and fly them towards land. But as I was saying, the Gatun troops managed to land and were making their way onto the beach. It seemed all was lost at that point.” Jourmind paused, and meeting Airen and Yuelei's expectant gazes.

“And when one soldier raised his sword to strike at a fleeing girl, with a thundering crackle, a sword of golden lightning shot from the heavens and impaled the soldier through the heart. The rest of the charging soldiers stopped in their tracks. As they stared in shock at their fallen comrade who was a rank eight warrior and rank seven mage, five more swords of lightning fell from the skies.”

“That was when Alesta, the 'Golden Lightning', made her name known across the Eiloong continent. Alesta wielded a pure white blade of lightning, and flitted across the battlefield slaying one enemy after another. With each flash of lightning, she would vanish, and each clap of thunder, she would reappear, her sword sinking deep into another soldier's chest. What made her even more fearful was that she controlled those six swords of lighting as if were her own body, and soldiers died left and right as they made their way to shore. Despite all their numbers and training, none of the troops knew how to deal with this new type of enemy.

"They simply could not catch her. Before long the sand turned a shade of crimson, the water a dark red hue, and bodies piled up in the thousands. Yet, despite this, it appeared to the islanders as if not a single speck of blood had touched her nor tainted the color of her blades.”

“Why did she appear there and nowhere else when other countries were attacked?” Airen asked.

“Who knows. Human motives are always things that can never be understood easily.” Jourmind shook his head sadly. “But nevertheless, that was a turning point for the Gatun Empire. Four times they attempted to attack the islands, and each time they were repelled single handedly by Alesta. On the second attempt, they only sent rank nine individuals, on the third, they sent rank tens, and on the final attempt, two Divine Beings.”

“Are you saying she managed to defeat two Divine Beings at the same time?” Yuelei gasped.

“Very few managed to witness that battle, so we are not entirely sure. But what we do know that because of their battle, two more islands now exist in the Kingdom of Four Winds, and those two Divine Beings from the Gatun Empire were never seen again. It was at that point the noble-class rulers of the Gatun Empire knew that they had made an enemy of a very, very dangerous person. They sent a messenger with offers of riches beyond imagination and asked her to name what she wanted, and all they received back was the messenger's head with the words 'Nobody can bring back the Dead' seared into the messenger's face.“ Jourmind lightly shook his arm to shoo away a firefly that had landed on him.

“It is said that Alesta went to each conquered kingdom and town, executing all of the rulers put into power by the Gatun Empire. She left rebellion in her wake and exacted justice for the enslaved. Within a month, all of the countries and lands that the Gatun Empire had conquered was in open rebellion. Within another month, the rulers of the Gatun Empire were killed by Alesta.”

“Did she found a country like our grandfather did?” Yuelei asked.

Jourmind shook his head.“ She vanished after it was all over. To this day, many speculate her motives, who she was, if she is still alive, and even if she was actually human. But we would never know as none of the countries from that time exist today, and only a few even know of the legend of Alesta, the Golden Lightning.”

Jourmind patted both of them on their heads. “Now now, the both of you have been up long enough. It's time for the two little ones to go to bed. Look, Airen is already half asleep.” Jourmind picked Airen up and tucked him into bed. Yuelei had followed his example.

“Jomin?”

“Yes?”

“When I grow up, I want to be like Alesta”

“That's good, Yuli, but to do that, you'll need to rest so you can train tomorrow.”

Yuelei smiled and closed her eyes. Quietly, ever so quietly, Jomin tiptoed out of their room and close the door. His mind wandered as he slowly walked towards his own chambers.

There's two sides to every story, Yuli.

-

In a well-furnished room, Empress Xeina sat alone in the dark, illuminated only by the light of a single candle. If a servant would have dared to peer into the Empress's room at this time, he would have been surprised that the Empress was still awake, seemingly staring into the candle. If he peered even closer, however, he would notice her lips slowly moving, a whisper barely escaping, before he died on the spot.

“Did anyone see you enter the city?”

“No.” a hooded figure spoke, hidden between the shadows. “Why do you even bother asking? There are only five- no four named people on this continent that can actually detect my presence.”

“Four? I take it that our... arrangement is complete then?”

“It took eight legendary poisons, but he is dead.”

“And did you-”

“He is nothing but a walking corpse now.”

“Good.“ The tension in the room seemed to dissipate with the murmuring of these words. “At long last...”

“Relaxing already?” the owner of the voice walked into the candlelight. In the glow, he appeared to be an apparition, with hair of silver white and aged skin pale as death. The dark cloak he wore, inscribed with all manner of faintly glowing runes, only added to this skeleton-like image. “Hold out your arm so we can be done.”

“Is that the way you treat an Empress?” But she did as he instructed.

The man ignored her and opened an ornate chest he withdrew from inside his robe. To Xeina's eyes, it appeared to be a dark red crystal. Taking the crystal into his palm, a light purple flame started glowing from his fingers, and the crystal started to melt and drip onto Xeina's arm.

As the final vestiges seeped into her skin, the crystal formed a sigil, the only evidence of the dark pact that was just made. Without a word, she took out a lotus flower and placed it on the desk. “Here is the herb that you asked for.”

After carefully inspecting it, the man whispered to nobody in particular. “It took six years to procure it.... six years I have waited...“

At this, Xeina felt her anger began to rise. “Six years is a small amount of time for a legendary herb that wasn't even supposed to exist.” She stressed the last part.

In response the man slowly turned his gaze to Xeina, as if seeing her for the first time. His eyes lost its steely glare for a moment, and he opened his mouth a few times trying to form words. Finally he shook his head and simply said. “You needed something to even the deal. I am grateful that you managed to find this.” He cradled the herb as if it was his own child. “But we are finished now.” He turned around and started to leave.

“May we never meet again, Empress Xeina. I know not your reasons, but because of you, there are only four Divine Beings on the Eiloong Continent now. ”

Five, my dear Magus. But the world is not ready to know that yet.

-