What hasn't been told von Kawaii_Fruit ================================================================================ Kapitel 3: Flashback 3 ---------------------- Sheridan had been a good choice for his body to recover. Day by day he gathered more of his former strength. Still Asch shuddered while thinking about the journey to Sheridan. He had travelled all over Auldrant before but this time it had been a torture… His body felt awkwardly numb and exhausted. It didn’t surprise him at all. He had heard of this before. Often people who had been in a coma for a while weren’t even able to stand on their own. But he didn’t have any other choice anyway. It was a blessing in disguise Lorelei hadn’t taken away the little pouch filled with gald, he kept hidden under his clothes. Thanks to his former journeys around Chesedonia he knew the favorite campsites of travelling merchants. It didn’t take much time to locate one of them near Tataroo Valley. He convinced the merchant to sell him some of his supplies and left without any further rest. He didn’t have time to waste. After some terrible days and nights of stumbling around through the landscape of the Ispanian Peninsula, nearly fainting several times, he finally reached Chesedonia. He really could consider himself more than lucky for not running into many monsters. With all of his remaining strength he dragged himself to the inn. Barely awake he entered the room he had reserved for the night just a few moments ago and collapsed onto the bed. Maybe I should peek into that defects mind… , he thought, just to check where he is now. He tried to concentrate but without any success. Overwhelmed by exhaustion he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep… Waking up Asch groaned. Every inch of his body was aching. He felt like if a herd of giant rappigs had trampled right over his entire body while he had been asleep. Biting his lower lip he carefully sat up. In this condition he definitely wasn’t able to reach Sheridan any time soon. He could feel happy if he was able to just go out of the inn to buy some more supplies. He gritted his teeth and stood up. Staggering a few steps forward he tried to regain his lost balance. Finally standing still he straightened his clothes and took a deep breath. Precariously he made his way down the stairs and left the inn. Blinking into the burning midday sun he wondered about what to buy first. As he decided medical-supply had the highest priority in his current state of health, he dived into the crowd of people, eagerly hurrying around to get their shopping done. Looking around for the pharmacists market stall a familiar face caught his attention. Just a few steps away a young man was observing several different pieces of clothing. His ash blond hair had grown a little since he had met him last. Suddenly realizing his problem of travelling to Sheridan had probably been solved, he started following the young pilot with some safety distance. Trying to talk to him now would only end up in drawing undesired attention. After checking a seemingly endless amount of different stores, the young male eventually left the market. Clearly short of breath, Asch caught up with him near the town’s southern exit. “Excuse me-“, he panted grabbing the blonds shoulder. “There isn’t any possibility you could take me along to Sheridan, is there, Ginji?” The young man whipped round, facing the red-haired with a quite startled expression. “Who are-“, he began but suddenly fell silent, looking like he had seen a ghost. “You’re – How – Why- That’s impossible-!“, he stammered, his eyes widening in disbelief. Asch silently nodded and motioned his counterpart to be quiet. “I’ll explain everything to you as soon as we enter the Albiore.” Ginji hesitated for a moment, still scanning the familiar man with a wary gaze. Then he agreed. Shortly after they both were sitting in the Albiore, facing each other. “So it wasn’t just a rumor.”, the blond began, now a rather curious expression on his face. “A rumor?” Asch narrowed his eyes, wondering if Luke had already blabbered out his secret. “The people of Sheridan were whispering about the son of Duke Fabre. They said the hero of Auldrant came back to life right on the day of his coming of age ceremony.” So I’m officially an adult now…, Asch thought. This means I missed nearly two years. “But Asch, tell me, how is this possible? You’re both alive, am I right? How did you come back?” Torn from his thoughts, Asch looked back up at Ginji and shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Lorelei about that. We both woke up near Tataroo Valley a few days ago. Lorelei told me our revival was some kind of sign of his gratitude for saving this world. I don’t know more myself. But how the hell did that replica reach Baticul that fast? His state of health wasn’t any better than mine.” Ginji was smiling by now. “I guess that’s thanks to my sister. Noelle flew to Baticul a week ago. She had promised, she would take your and Luke’s friends to Tataroo Valley while your coming of age ceremony was held at the manor. They all refused to celebrate the ceremony in front of a grave.” “So that’s why…”, Asch grumbled. “They must have arrived right after I left.” “Why didn’t you go straight to Baticul anyway?”, he heard the young pilot ask. Watching him turn around to start the Albiore, Asch sat back in his rather comfortable seat. “I need to recover for a while. Furthermore I will gather some information first.”, he mumbled as he closed his eyes. “Say Ginji, what happened in my absence? Any major changes?” The engines began to roar as the Alboire III slowly lifted from the ground. Clouds of dust shot up and kept whirling around its wings. “Well…”, the pilot pondered. “Kimlasca and Malkuth both revived their research on fomicry. – Not to create any more replicas of course!”, he quickly added catching Asch’s slightly displeased glare. “They are trying to make this world a better place for originals and their replicas. If I’m informed correctly they currently are working on a solution for the so called ‘fonon disassociation’. I didn’t understand what they meant, but I overheard some of Sheridan’s researches talking about it.” Asch frowned. Fonon disassociation… Until now he had totally forgotten about it. Hopefully the solution would be found before the terrible pain would show up again. It really was kind of ironic. Just brought back to life a few days ago he was already worrying about dying once again. Looking back up, he noticed Ginji peering at him. “What’s wrong?”, he asked, slightly alarmed. The pilot cleared his throat and seemed somewhat nervous. “I guess there is one more thing I need to tell you.”, he started, apparently searching for fitting words. “Our dearly beloved princess Natalia, well, may become the queen anytime soon.” It hit Asch like a punch right in the face. Natalia becoming the queen? That meant- “What about King Ingobert?!”, he burst out. “The King suddenly fell ill some time ago. The doctors said it was nothing fatal. But still they prescribed him to rest. He isn’t allowed to be exposed to any kind of mental or physical stress right now. Since princess Natalia is the only heiress, he decided for her to become the rightful queen of Kimlasca as soon as possible.” Utterly shocked Asch stared at the young pilot. Natalia becoming the queen… that inescapably led to the fact she would be searching for someone to support her and to help her in always finding the right path. For someone to keep their promise in his place. For someone to become her king! Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)