I headed back to the first shop I had left Nemoria in, but she wasn't there, so I gestured for a portal. It opened to Nemoria and Titania sitting in a small coffee shop that was in the beach-themed area.
"Oh? You are done already?" Titania asked, but then looked at my empty hands as I came through. "But you don't seem to have acquired a gift yet."
"No, I was a bit too distracted with the two girls to really pick anything out," I said with a laugh and joined the two women. "So, what are you two getting on about?"
"I was asking Nemoria what it was like all this time to know that you were her husband. None of us had any clue, but she was forced to watch, and not only that," Titania said with a sad look, but Nemoria shook her head.
"While it was painful to have to do what I did, I got to spend a lot of time with him, even if it wasn't always the best. I knew that even through the guise of being evil, Galio still listened to me before Kadeon. I knew that irked him fiercely, and it has been splendid watching him over the years forced to act and do good in the interest of others, not himself. That alone was worth the wait, but now he will be back to his controlling ways," Nemoria said and then looked me in the eye. "What do you plan to do about the Royal Guards?"
That was a very good question, but I didn't have a very good answer to it.
"That is a hard one. We all know that Kadeon is the strongest. There is no point in trying to deny it because I have tried to fight him before, and he was able to stop me like an adult with a child. I am still missing something, but where this thing could be, I am not sure. One thing for certain is that it has to be inside this Realm, or the Underworld," I explained and then twirled my finger. "Rewind now to your question; The Zodiacs or Royal Guards are also going to be stronger than me now. I am certain that Kadeon has been trying to groom me into a sense of self-confidence so that when this time comes, I would rush headlong, and I might have, but not now. I spoke with a being known as Truth when I tried to find the power inside of myself, and the conversation between us reminded me of how trivial but extremely complicated some people can be."
Nemoria picked up her tea and took a sip as Titania sighed and then spoke. "You have it right about him wanting to bait you, but what power are you talking about?"
I explained everything to them both, and when I was finished, both looked confused.
"So you're telling me that this is all over a mistake, then jealousy, and then more jealousy?" Nemoria asked as her pretty face fell into a frown, and I nodded.
"Something like that. My people were messing around with things they didn't understand. They tried to open a hole into the 4th dimension, somehow opened it, the being known as Truth's eye socket, and the eye came out of the hole crystalized. Magic was not a thing before this, but bringing the eye into this realm altered reality, and suddenly people started to gain minor abilities. This happened just as Mathias and I were born. Both of our mothers had been friends and gotten pregnant at the same time, but both of us were born with a mark that drew us to the eye. After that, everyone worshiped us and the eye as its chosen ones," I explained with a sigh, even now remembering how I had felt up until I had touched the eyes.
I had been nothing but pure excitement and bliss, but in a heartbeat, it vanished.
"And then you both destroyed the planet?" Titania asked, and I nodded.
"I tried to stop him from attacking everyone, but a single exchange of blows could blast out for thousands of feet, killing and destroying everything in its path. Nothing I could do would stop him, and I was at war with myself the entire time. We had lived peaceful lives and gotten everything we wanted; all either of us had to do was ask. People did everything for us, and I had been convinced that we would rule over the world together as eternal friends. Then the person that I knew my entire life as my most trusted friend started to try killing me, but when that didn't work, he went after the people that I loved," I said in a tired voice, leaning back in my chair and shaking my head. "It is bothersome to think that I was so stupid to make the same mistake twice. I let Matthias live and then made the same mistake with Kadeon. Now both choices are biting me in the ass."
"It's not your fault," Nemoria said gently, rubbing my back with a warm hand as she looked into my eyes. "No one is perfect, and you made decisions that you thought were right at the moment. You can't keep blaming yourself."
I nodded and sighed, grateful for her understanding. Titania smiled at both of us before continuing.
"Things will be okay, but first, we need to focus on what needs to be done. We need to take out Kadeon and find this thing inside of Galio, so he can get his powers and use them to help people instead of hurting them," she said firmly as she took a sip of her tea.
"The power is called True Magic, but it is not something that I can just go around looking for and hope to find. I don't even know if it is even really gone. I have a spark of it that I can use, but it is so limited that it leaves me exhausted just to use it to conjure a simple Light spell," I said, and Nemoria shrugged.
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