Renee blinked, still not understanding what the situation was. Eris? Who was he referring to? The only Eris she knew of is the goddess of destruction and chaos from mythology.

“Eris? As in, the goddess of destruction and chaos? The one that is said to desire the end of the world? That Eris?” Then she remembered the nythrals that attacked her and Anise not too long ago, and she realized that the idea of an ancient goddess returning wasn’t that implausible. 

“Is there another?” Someone with red hair quipped back sarcastically.

Renee had a hard time keeping track of who was speaking. There were too many boys. She counted ten of them, including Lirion… wait, ten boys? That number rang a bell in her memory.

She examined the boys again, ignoring their whispering as she tried to identify them. 

“You’re— Are you the saints of Eislyn?” Renee asked slowly, as if still in doubt. 

There were two goddesses in the world’s religion. One was Eris, the goddess of destruction and chaos, and the other was her twin and total opposite—Eislyn, the goddess of creation and order. Eislyn, in her quest to defeat her sister, recruited twelve saints, granting them immortality and strong powers so they can protect humanity. 

Renee wasn’t sure whether to scoff or laugh at her own statement. There were no saints left in this world. They had all died in the battle to seal away Eris, the goddess of destruction and chaos. Afterward, Eislyn disappeared, having been said to have gone dormant like her sister. There hadn’t been a nythral attack in the one thousand years since then, coinciding with the death of magic.

“We are the saints of Eislyn.” Lirion corrected her. “You are one of us.” 

No wonder Lirion’s name was familiar. Lirion was the name of the seventh saint. Twelve chairs, twelve people in this room. Twelve saints of Eislyn. The twelve brave souls who fought against Eris and successfully sealed her away at the cost of their own lives. And now, all twelve of them have reincarnated into the twenty-first century.

Except, two of them did not retain their memories of their previous lives.

One of them sucked in a breath. “You really don’t remember anything from our previous lives?”

Renee shook her head. No wonder they were amused that she was a theology student. The irony of a saint becoming a theology student was rather… ironic.

“Don’t be rude.” A boy with aqua blue eyes and brown hair chided the others. “Yes, we are the reincarnation of the twelve saints of Eislyn. I don’t know why you and Anise are the only ones without your memories of your past lives, but we could probably reintroduce ourselves if that helps? You go first, Shen.”

A scowling boy with a long ponytail sat up from his slouching position. “I doubt this will jog their memories, Cassius, but I’ll just humor you a bit. I’m Shen Ying, the first saint, also known as the Saint of Shadows. I’m a representative of the Lianru kingdom.”

Renee nodded, fully familiar with that information. She had read countless stories about the saints of Eislyn her entire childhood. All she needed to know is who’s who, but she refrained from asking them to shorten their introduction for Anise’s sake. Anise probably isn’t as familiar with mythology as she was.

“I’m Matthias Lennis.” The boy with brown hair and olive skin from earlier went next. “Second saint, the Saint of Earth. Representative of the Carovania kingdom.”

“The Matthias Lennis?” Renee asked. “The very author of The History of the World?”

Mattihas cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed. “I didn’t think that the history textbooks I wrote in my last life would get so popular.”

“It’s deemed the most accurate historical documentation to date!” Renee was impressed. Saint Matthias had been long regarded as a famous historian and scientist as well as an advocate for public education.

“I’m Cassius Talyros.” The boy with aqua blue eyes and brown hair who asked the others to start introducing themselves gave the two a deep bow. “I am the third saint, the Saint of Water. I am a representative of the Selanis kingdom.” Cassius seemed to be the most patient and considerate saint of the group.

“I’m Feiyi Yun.” A boy with short black hair went next. “Fourth saint, the Saint of Wind. I am also a representative of the Lianru kingdom.”

“I’m Jareth Kriston.” Jareth seemed to be the youngest out of all the saints, with auburn hair, hazel green eyes, and a smattering of freckles on his olive skin. He couldn’t be older than sixteen. Renee couldn’t help but wonder how someone who was clearly too young to be a university student ended up in this place. “I’m the fifth saint, the Saint of Flora. I am a representative of the Carovania kingdom.”

“My name is Zethis Elovia.” A boy with red hair and bronze skin gave them a small nod. “I’m the sixth saint, the Saint of Thunder. I am a representative of the Hyperion kingdom.”

“I am Lirion Asteria.” It was the boy who saved them from the nythral. “I am the seventh saint, the Saint of Frost. I am a representative of the Asteria kingdom.” He had a sharp look in his eyes as he scrutinized Renee’s reaction.

“Kayden Lorin.” The last boy, one with curly black hair and sea green eyes, waved at the two of them. “I am the eighth saint, the Saint of Sound. I am a representative of the Selanis kingdom.” 

“Elias Charestia.” The boy with dirty blonde hair who first greeted them earlier grinned at the two. “I’m the ninth saint, the Saint of Light. I am a representative of the Asteria kingdom.”

“Ardien Stanio.” A boy with reddish gold hair blurted out next, almost impatiently. “Tenth saint, the Saint of Fire. I represent the Hyperion kingdom.”

Renee nodded, carefully committing each person’s identity to memory.

“Now that the introductions are over, please elaborate on our current situation.” Renee asked. “Why did we just get attacked by nythrals? Why are we all reborn into the twenty-first century together?”

“Well,” Matthias, the more serious one of the group, started. “As Lirion said, Eris has broken free from her seal six months ago on the summer solstice. Now we need to awaken Eislyn from her slumber so she can help us defeat Eris again, and the best time to do this is on the winter solstice, where the Boundary is thinnest.”

“I’m sorry,” Renee interrupted. “You’re speaking very normally, but I am unable to understand anything you’re saying. How do we wake up Eislyn? Where is she? And where is Eris right now?”

What she also wanted to know is whether she had a choice in this or not. 

“We can… work out the details later.” Matthias sighed. 

Zethis nodded. “Then we can defeat Eris with Eislyn’s help and seal her again. See how simple it sounds?”

“That’s assuming we don’t lose or die in the process.” Shen added, not even bothering to throw in a sarcastic smile.

Matthias glared at the two of them. “You’re not helping.”

“That’s not going to happen again, right?” Feiyi asked nervously. “We did die last time and that was with Eislyn fighting alongside us.”

So, Zethis is snarky and sarcastic, Shen is a pessimistic, Matthias is the serious one who steps up to take charge, and Feiyi is the one with anxiety. Renee made a mental note of that to file the information away in her memory.

“It’s a good thing Eris’s move was surprisingly tame this time around. Perhaps she hasn’t recovered her full strength.” Matthias noted. 

Renee tried not to snort at him calling the nythrals tame.

“Now what?” Renee asked. “Your plan. What’s the next step?”

“First, let’s evacuate this place.” Cassius proposed. 

“Good idea.” Matthias replied. “The presence of the nythrals is proof that there is probably a hole in the Boundary nearby. Renee, can you release the time capsule now?”

Renee was startled to hear them address her again. “I don’t know how.”

Cassius looked concerned. “Did your lack of memory also affect your control over your magic?”

Renee nervously wetted her lips. “I didn’t even know I had magic until the nythrals attacked me earlier.”

“First, take a deep breath.” Lirion instructed her. When Renee did as he advised her, he continued. “Then, release it, but imagine yourself releasing every bit of stress and tension within you as you do so. Exhale it out with you.”

Despite her doubts, Renee did as she was told. To her surprise, it worked. As she let out her breath as slowly and steadily as she could. She felt the same energy as before unraveling around her. The air suddenly started moving again, along with ambience noise, the change so sudden it felt like a balloon popping.

She turned to Lirion again with a look of amazement. “Thank you.”

He nodded in acknowledgement, then turned away again, as if trying to put up a wall between them. 

“Kayden, do your thing.” Matthias spoke to the Saint of Sound. 

Kayden nodded almost too eagerly and practically bounced out of the dining hall.

“What’s he going to do?” Anise asked, the first question she’d asked in a while. 

“You’ll see.” Elias winked at her. 

Not a moment later, Kayden’s voice came over the intercom. “Attention all students! The University of Elysia decided to start Winter Break early! May all students and staff and anyone else leave this campus by tomorrow evening! Thank you and have a great vacation!”

Renee snorted. “There’s no way they’re going to do what he said.”

Cassius nodded with a smile. “You may not realize it since it doesn’t affect us, but Kayden has an ability to ‘charm’ people with his voice. Believe me, they will definitely do as he says. This entire campus will be empty by tomorrow evening.”

“He can do that with his voice?” Anise asked incredulously. “That’s amazing.”

“Don’t worry.” Elias leaned in to whisper to the girls’ ears. “Kayden doesn’t use that ability for evil… much.” With a mischievous wink, Elias was gone as quick as he appeared. 

“Great, now let’s get out of here too.” Matthias replied as he stood up from his seat.

“Where are we going?” Anise asked.

“To the Court of Saints.” He answered as if it was obvious.

“The Court of Saints…?”

“According to legends, the Court of Saints is the place closest to the gods. It’s also where the saints reside in the past, as well as the place where the World Tree is located.” Renee remembered.

She was glad that she was rather knowledgeable in religious legends and lores as a theology student, as it allowed her to keep up with the ‘common’ knowledge of other saints. She had always thought the Court of Saints to be a myth as no one had ever seen it or found it in the past one thousand years, so she was eager to see the legendary place.

“I would just call it home, but that’s just me.” Cassius smiled. 

“Wait, do I have time to make a quick visit to Lorelia?” Renee suddenly remembered to ask an important question. The University of Elysia was located in the capital of Elysia, but Lorelia, her hometown, was another major city many miles away. “It’s a few hours drive away from here, but I will be back by tomorrow at the latest. I just want to see my parents one last time. According to you all, we might have to face Eris in six days and I might not even survive that battle. So please, let me see them one more time.”

It was a stupid wish. She could tell by the look of uncertainty that the other saints were giving each other. That precious time could be spent on training her magic, trying to regain the skills and memories of her past life, not seeing two people who weren’t even conscious.

“I know a faster way.” Lirion answered, standing up from his chair. “We can be back at the capital by evening. Let me come with you, just in case any nythrals attack again.”

Renee couldn’t disagree with that. “Do you think you can also drop by my house afterward? I might need to grab a few belongings.”

“Wait, let me come too!” Anise blurted out. “Can I?”

“Sure.” Renee agreed. “So Lirion, do you have a car or something?”

Lirion gave her a sly smile, the first smile she had seen him make. “I have something even better.”