Chapter 206 The Sentinel

Chapter 206 The Sentinel


Then Helena, in turn, told them about the true difficulties their relationship had presented.

She had had to defy the Council.

Stand against tradition.

And, above all, reveal the truth about the Drakions to Bill.

A mere human was not supposed to know of their existence.

Much less marry a woman of royal blood.

Yet Helena had refused to give in.

She had already been married twice without having children. When the Council realized that she had no descendants who could lay claim to anything, some of them eventually accepted the union.

And Winter had made the final decision.

In favor of the human.

Blanche remained thoughtful.

Perhaps her grandfather wasn't as narrow-minded as she had imagined after all.

At least, not always.

The revelation raised another question, however.

So some humans knew their secrets.

And not merely a privileged few.

Entire families could have been connected to the Drakions for generations.

Helena continued her story with an amused smile.

One day, against all odds, she had become pregnant.

By a mere human.

Bill raised his hands.

"I'd like to point out that I hadn't asked for any of that."

"You were very enthusiastic, though."

"I don't deny it."

Billy had been born.

The father of the twins.

Blanche looked at Wiwi, then at Sean.

Another piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.

Helena suddenly grew thoughtful.

"In my opinion, it's the male Drakions who become sterile."

Wiwi nearly choked.

"Grandma!"

Bill, meanwhile, suddenly became intensely fascinated by a bookshelf on the other side of the room.

"I'm staying out of this one."

Blanche burst out laughing.

She couldn't entirely disagree with Helena, either.

Her own father wasn't a Drakion.

And, considering everything she had just learned, certain things were beginning to make a new kind of sense.

But she kept the thought to herself.

There were still far too many secrets surrounding her own birth for her to start handing them out tonight.

The evening continued pleasantly.

Stories followed one another, filled with family memories, embarrassing anecdotes about the twins, and Bill's comments about Drakion traditions, which he found "delightfully absurd."

Around four in the morning, the old man finally surrendered.

He kissed Helena, wished Blanche good night, and disappeared with a slightly unsteady gait.

Helena watched him leave with tenderness.

Then she turned to Blanche.

"My husband isn't quite all there anymore."

Her voice had grown softer.

"He forgets a lot of things. Names, sometimes events... certain memories slip away from him."

She smiled.

"But not me."

Her gaze lingered on Blanche.

"And you..."

She narrowed her eyes.

"You haven't aged a day, young lady."

Blanche exchanged a glance with William.

It was time.

She drew a breath, ready to reveal the truth.

But Helena simply raised a hand.

A small gesture.

Almost imperceptible.

She stopped her.

Blanche fell silent.

The old Drakionne's green eyes suddenly seemed far less gentle.

They were incredibly lucid.

As though, throughout the entire evening, Helena had been observing far more than she had allowed them to see.

As though she already knew.

Or, at the very least, had understood that there was something Blanche wasn't ready to say yet.

"No need. The universe is filled with wonderful secrets. It would be a shame to reveal them all. Let me tell you one instead."

Blanche nodded.

William stepped closer, curious. His grandmother's stories were the best, and it had been a long time since he'd had the honor of hearing one.

Helena then began her tale...

"Once upon a time, there was a young woman gifted with the power of Creation. Alone in the vastness of space, she created a world in her own image. She began by building an Earth, gentle and peaceful, a Wind, cool and warm at the same time, a Water, pure and turbulent. From there, she wandered alone, searching for her home. Then she created the last of the elements, the Flame of Life, warm and powerful, and with it she shaped the first man.
Thus, humanity was born.
Unfortunately, She realized that the world needed balance in order to flourish, and so, with great reluctance, she created an opposite for everything. For every beauty requires a certain ugliness: War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death claimed the first man. In love with him, she created a second world where his soul could reside.
Paradise was then a realm of peace, where the purest souls became winged Creatures, helping the Elements fight the Horsemen and effectively hold back the Apocalypse. The Horsemen realized that they would never succeed alone and corrupted the souls. The First Man, having become the purest, most beautiful of souls, advised the Creator to imagine a world where impure souls could be imprisoned, far from Humanity.
Hell was then born, a place of desolation where tears flowed freely. The man she trusted above all others became its Guardian, Master of this new World, and she gifted him a creation: the Demons. Seeing that her power was in good hands, he wished to give life as well. The Guardian and the Creator then had a daughter.
Like her, gentle and wise; like him, stern and brave, they let her play as she pleased. With the Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire as her friends, she created a world parallel to the first of worlds: the Otherworld, where magic lived in harmony with the Creatures of Light and Shadow.
Peace endured. When the Goddess became a woman, she was courted from all corners of the worlds, but not a single soul made the effort to see her true worth. She continued creating many other worlds and creatures more beautiful than the last. The Guardian, who found her even more beautiful than his wife, fell in love with her, and it was to his great misfortune. His daughter chose to lose herself in the far reaches of the worlds rather than take his hand.
But alas, her Father stole her innocence, and a merciless, endless war followed. The Creatures of Light and Shadow invaded the first of the Worlds in search of their Mother.
Then came the greatest of all cataclysms: the Alignment of the Seven Worlds.
All of this was in vain. To restore peace among her own, the Goddess sacrificed herself, and grief consumed the Father, while betrayal imprisoned the Mother.
But before she departed, she entrusted the Elements, her friends, with one of her powers, hidden within this tragic story: the surest means of preventing future magic from falling into the hands of certain creatures.
Humanity grew increasingly powerful, increasingly strong, and its technology expanded with every passing age. The ancients began to fear them. They called themselves Gods and devised a Game. At first, it was created to entertain them, but these beings became powerful enough to control the rest of the population.
And thus was born the final safeguard:
A Sentinel who possessed the ability to travel through time and space."

Blanche's eyes widened.

She glanced at Wiwi.

He seemed elsewhere, lost in his thoughts.

It was the first time he had ever heard this tale.

There were far too many similarities for this to be nothing more than a simple fable.

The player still had plenty to think about.