While arguing, we arrived right by the graveyards of my parents. Mom and Dad are supposedly under there, buried meters deep underground.
"Can I ask some of the knights to help in the digging?" I turned to Uncle Killian, but he only shook his head.
"No. Dig it yourself."
"W-What!? How can I do such work all by myself!?"
"Don't rope my men into being your accomplice! If you're planning to do something so sinful, do it yourself!" Uncle Killian said with a little anger, and I only grit my teeth at him.
This old man is really just so annoying, huh…? No wonder Dad likes him.
Beforelong, I managed to convince him to lend me a hand with the digging… somehow. The knights who were with him came back with two pairs of shovels, and the four of us started digging the graveyard that belongs to Mom.
And when we arrived at the bottom… my suspicion was answered.
"It's really not her." I said after studying the bones that were at the bottom of the grave, and Uncle Killian turned his confused glare to me.
"How do you know?" He asked out of confusion, and I wondered how I could explain this to him.
"First things first… Mom is immortal."
"What?"
"The white fire origin that she has wouldn't let her body decay in the slightest. It can also heal wounds very quickly, which doesn't make sense as to why there's a missing rib bone on this one." I explained while pointing at the chest part of the skeleton, which is missing one rib bone on the left set.
I got stabbed in the chest twice by the headmaster today. For sure, my bones were destroyed as a result of the stabs. But thanks to the passive white fire origin that is inside of me, the wounds were healed very quickly. I didn't die despite having my heart pierced, and my bones were patched together just like before.
An abnormal ability, for sure. Which is why it is also abnormal to see someone else with a similar, if not stronger, ability to die after getting stabbed in the chest the same way.
From the way the rib is missing, the woman on the grave died after being stabbed on the chest. If Mom truly has the same ability as me, then she couldn't have died that easily. The rib bone would've regenerated, and her body would still exist even years later thanks to the healing ability of the white fire origin.
If that is so, if this skeleton doesn't belong to her, then… Where is she?
For sure, her body definitely survived. If so, where could she be?
"What does this mean… Nathan?" Next to me, Uncle Killian asked quite concernedly, but I turned my firm gaze at him.
"Don't let anyone know about this. Please, Uncle Killian." I said while begging him, and the two knights behind him stared at each other in confusion.
"I understand. If news does get out that she might be alive, then problems might occur. Right?" Uncle Killian guessed while nodding, and I turned my gaze around the village.
"Big problems. Something as big as this place." I said while looking around the burned down old village, and Uncle Killian noticed that I wasn't talking about the size of the village.
I'm talking about the size of the incident. How big that incident was that it completely shook the entirety of Avenor. I'm talking about how an incident at that size can happen again if such information were to be leaked.
Knowing this, Uncle Killian and the two knights who helped us dig gave me the promise. With all of that obtained, I took my feet off the village and started heading towards Fiordall. The trip there is quite far away, but it was more than enough time for me to think about the answer to everything.
The amount of questions I had… has now doubled compared to before.
"Fae… was a victim. I tried to protect her."
The headmaster's pained voice rang inside my head again as I recalled everything that happened, and I can feel myself losing sanity by the second.
"You're lying. You murdered her." I said to him coldly after what he said, and the headmaster shook his head slightly.
"While I'm still sane… listen closely, Nathan. The Apocalypse… is real. He is a being that will destroy... all that is in Avenor.
Your mother learned about the apocalypse being, and she made actions that enraged a certain faction of the world. They are the 'Four Harbingers of the Apocalypse'. They are real, and they want the Apocalypse.
And your mother… stood in their way. She used the book and saw the fate of the future. Not only was it a forbidden act of sorcery… but she was also breaking the laws of nature."
The headmaster said before pointing in a direction, and I noticed that he must be talking about an object that is in that way. I will ask about it to the others later on.
"The future has changed. The past has now adapted to that future… and everything was simply so different than how it was before. Your existence and role was the cause of it."
What… does he mean?
"My existence… what did I have to do with everything, anyway--"
"Nghhkkk!!!!!----" The headmaster suddenly writhed from pain, and I realized that it wasn't because of the pain that we inflicted upon him.
My senses noticed a powerful surge of energy coming inside him, and I realized that it was not his origins acting up. It was something else… something different.
"I don't have much time… While I'm still sane and out of the brainwashing… Listen carefully to my words, Nathan." The headmaster said to me very seriously after he told me about my fate, and I was already listening quite well.
"I am one of the Four Harbingers of the Apocalypse... The Harbinger of Conquest, with the light and darkness origin.
The war demon Omega… He is the Harbinger of War, with the ability to use all five origins.
The Harbinger of Famine is… anonymous. I know not of his identity, so be aware of his presence. His ability is to use a special ancient metal origin… so keep an eye out.
And finally… the Harbinger of Death. It was previously an ally of mine who was in the dark republic… but your mother's actions deleted him from existence. As a result, the new Harbinger of Death was appointed.
And that is… you. Nathan Fiore. You are one of the Four Harbinger of the Apocalypse. All thanks to your mother's actions."
Yeah… he is bullshitting. For sure.
There's absolutely no way someone like me can destroy the world by bringing in the apocalypse. There's just no way.
And thanks to my mother's actions, he says? Why would Mom ever want me to be a world destroyer?
"How can any of your words be trustworthy? How can I even remotely believe that I'm destined to destroy the world?" I asked him with a rather small voice since I don't want the others to hear, and the headmaster only laughs at me.
"My time… is up. Ask your mother. She's still alive…" The headmaster said quite tired, and I waited for a while to see if there's anything else he needed to say.
However… It looks like he wasn't lying to begin with.
"Damn… you got me good~…" He suddenly said, and I noticed right away that the way he talks changed drastically.
So, he was… mind controlled?
And now… here I am. After seeing the proof that the corpse in my mother's graveyard was indeed not her, I began to question whether or not it was possible for Mom to be alive.
'She is immortal. There's no way she could've died.' The late Miss Hilda once told me that as well, and if two people of different sides are saying the same thing, then it must be true.
Mom… if you're truly still alive…
Where are you? Why did you abandon me?
Just how... could you leave all of this to me?