Chapter 3: Carriage Of The Forgotten
The carriage rolled onward beneath a sky drowned in grey.
Its iron wheels groaned against the stone roads while the distant capital of Valoria slowly faded into the horizon behind them.
Golden towered disappeared first. Then the silver walls. And lastly, the banners of the noble Houses became no more than stains against the dying evening light.
Eventually... Even House Valehart vanished from sight.
Regaleon sat quietly beside the carriage window, his silver hair shifting faintly whenever cold wind slipped through the cracks of the wooded frame.
His cold golden eyes watched the distant capital walls before they eventually vanished into view. Then he closed them and sighed...
No one came after him. There was no servant, no knight and no family nor friend that came for him. Even when he was chained and placed in a cell to wait before the carriage arrived... No one checked up on him.
For seventeen years he had lived within Castle Valehart; yet his departure carried less weight than the changing of seasons. It was supposed to be disheartening but...
Strangely, he felt nothing. He was supposed to feel hurt for been abandoned and discarded like a useless pawn but he felt empty more than anything. Like a sword left too long within winter frost.
He closed his eyes tiredly as his thoughts drifted to the only person he ever held warmth towards... His mother. One could say that she was the only one that treated him like a person but death was merciless...
As she died just when he was about six years old. He could still faintly remember that night when he saw her cold body laying on a bed before him. The night when the only warmth in his cold world was snuffed out... Like a candle fire in the storm...
The carriage itself was large and reinforced with black iron bars across the sides. It resembled less a noble transport and more a prisoner wagon.
Perhaps that was intentional...
Inside sat others like Regaleon. The discarded and broken remnants noble Houses no longer wished to acknowledge...
While Regaleon was lost in his melancholic thoughts, the carriage itself was also ruled by silence. It was not the peaceful kind... It was the silence of abandoned things...
There were ten people in the carriage including Regaleon himself. Each person was using one act or another to soften the grieve in their heart...
Some stared blankly at the floor. Like a soldier whose only purpose had been ripped from him. Others simply slept. Perhaps trying to use dreams to comfort themselves better...
There was a boy who quietly wept into his sleeves while trying not to make a sound. But he failed as the sob just keep escaping his lips...
No one comforted him as everyone there carried their own ruin already.
Thirty minutes into the journey, the grievous silence finally broke,
"It’s going to be okay." A voice whispered. The voice was low and soft that it sounded fragile.
Regaleon finally snapped out of his thoughts. He shifted his gaze slightly and noticed that at the far corner of the carriage sat a girl.
She looked no older than him. Her silver-black hair fell messily around her shoulders while ragged traveling clothes hung loosely upon her thin frame...
Beside her leaned another girl. She was younger, in her early teens. Perhaps, fourteen years of age. She was pale, far too pale...
Her breathing was shallow while faint sweat gathered across her forehead. She was leaning against the other girl who gently held her hand...
"It’s going to be okay," the older amongst the two whispered again. But the way her voice trembled betrayed that she herself did not believe it.
Regaleon watched quietly. It was obvious the duo were sisters. Not just through their appearances, though both shared similar silver-black hair and sharp eyes...
No. It was the way the older one held the younger one protectively. Like someone desperately trying to shield the last precious thing left in her world.
Regaleon watched them for some time before looking away afterward. Whatever was happening was not his concern. He also has problems of his own so he is not about to concern himself with the problems of others.
Then suddenly...
"What House are you from?" The weird question came from a young man seated nearby.
He looked around Regaleon’s age with messy brown hair and sharp amber eyes. Unlike the others in the carriage wallowing in despair, there remained an usual lightness within his expression despite the bitterness buried underneath.
The question was directed toward the older sister. She immediately turned toward him with cold eyes...
Even in her weakened state, her gaze carried danger. It was sharp and dark. Like the personification of death itself.
The boy merely smiled faintly and said, "It’s okay if you don’t wish to answer."
His tone carried no mockery, only understanding. Then his gaze shifted toward the younger sister resting against her sibling’s shoulder...
"... She’s sick." He pointed out.
The older sister stiffened instantly as her eyes narrowed dangerously as she looked at him. "What did you say?" Even her tone sounded low and dangerous.
The boy raised both hands lightly. "I mean no harm." Then he leaned back against the cold wooden walls before continuing, "I am from House Vauldryn..."
At that, several passengers, who were once staring blankly, glanced toward him with faint surprise...
House Vauldryn?
The House of alchemists. Masters of medicines, poison, Aetheric concoctions, and strange arts few understood...
The boy’s expression softened slightly as his gaze lingered on the younger girl. "...so trust me when i say that she needs treatment. Soon."
The older sister’s jaw tightened. For a moment, it seemed she would lash out... But eventually, she lowered her gaze instantly.
The younger girl coughed weakly into her sleeve. The sound was painfully soft. Like a sprout struggling pitifully against the wind that seeks to uproot it.
The older sister gently adjusted her posture before laying the girl carefully again her lap...
"Don’t worry," she whispered quietly while brushing strands of hair away from the younger girl’s face.
"...Go to sleep. It’s going to be okay."
Again, those words...
Again, that fragile lie people told themselves when reality became too unbearable...
After that episode, the carriage fell silent once more. Shortly afterward, rain began outside...
Softs droplets tapped endlessly against wood and iron with cold water seeping through the gaps in the carriage walls...
The boy from House Vauldryn eventually turned his attention elsewhere... Toward Regaleon.
"What about you?" He asked.
Regaleon gave him a side glance but said nothing before shifting his gaze back outside...
The boy chuckled lightly and not minding Regaleon’s behaviour, he asked again. "What’s your story?"
For several seconds, only the sound of rain filled the carriage. Then, Regaleon finally answered curtly, "...A failed Knight."
It was simple, flat and devoid of any emotion.
The boy stared at him briefly before laughing softly. It was not the laugh of mockery Regaleon was used to all his life. This one was different... Because it was bitter.
"That," the boy murmured, "is what we all are, isn’t it?"
His amber eyes swept across the carriage as he said, "... Failures."
No one argued because no one possessed the strength to deny it anymore. They had long accepted the label...
The boy leaned his head against the wooden wall behind him and continued, "I am a failed Alchemist." He said it casually. With the tone of someone discussing the weather.
Yet pain lingered beneath every word spoken. Then pointing toward a quiet boy seated nearby, he continued. "That one over there is a failed Gnost."
The boy being referred to wore round spectatcles cracked at one corner. Scrolls and books were tied tightly to his waist as though they were the only things he still possessed...
"...all because he awakened an Earl Tier Lantern and Marquess Tier Scroll."
The spectacled boy gave a hollow laugh as he said. "My family called it ’imbalanced enlightenment.’"
He looked at toward his hands. "They said my Aether Veins would never harmonize properly."
Regaleon didn’t say a word. Then the boy from House Vauldryn continued. "As for me..." He smiled faintly. "I awakened a Viscount Tier Cauldron and a Count Tier Life Tree."
At that, even Regaleon looked toward him properly. Aetheric manifestations were exceedingly rare, especially one associated with healing and vitality. It was something that was not weak at all. Something that kingdoms could wage war for...
Yet the boy merely shrugged. "My family desired poison craft..." Then his smile became thinner. "They wanted a War Alchemist."
The irony settled heavily within the carriage after hearing those words. The boy was talented and gifted as he awakened something rare. Yet he was still abandoned...
Then the boy turned towards Regaleon again. "And you? What did you awaken?"
Regaleon’s gaze shifted briefly toward the rain-covered window before answering. "I awakened a Count Tier Armour and a Baron Tier Halberd."
The carriage became still. Then the boy blinked before letting out another quiet chuckle. "A mismatch, i see... "
Then recognition flickered in his gaze. "...You are from House Valehart?"
Regaleon said nothing but the boy took his silence as an answer. He leaned back again and said, "House Valehart are known to be strict with their awakenings..."
Strict? What a gentle word for cruelty!
Then the carriage descended once more into silence. Outside, the rain grew heavier as the roads gradually became rougher while civilization faded behind them...
They have been on the journey for an hour now but they are still moving. No one knew exactly how far the Nether Lands are. Only that it existed beyond the reach of kingdoms, laws and mercy...
Then, the older sister finally spoke. Her voice was calm now with a controlled and cold tone. "I awakened King Tier twin Daggers..."
The moment she said those words, the carriage froze immediately. Even the rain outside seemed quieter somehow as though it was trying to listen in on their conversation...
A King Tier weapon?
Several passengers stared openly at her now. Yet the girl continued without an expression. "...and a Count Tier Shadow Cloak."
This time, even Regaleon’s eyes narrowed slightly. King Tier? That alone should have made her precious beyond measure.
Cedric himself had become the pride of House Valehart merely for the awakening of his King Tier Soul Essences...
Yet this girl, a genius like him, sat within a prisoner carriage beside outcasts and failures. Also judging by the Essences she awakened, it was obvious that she is from House Noctivane...
But they cast her out. Why...?
The girl noticed the subtle surprise within the carriage and her lips curved bitterly. "My House feared me..."
No one spoke as they listened attentively. The girl gently brushed her sister’s hair using her fingers before continuing, "...They told me Shadow Aether users eventually lose themselves."
Then her gaze darkened faintly, "They called me cursed."
Her younger sister shifted weakly in her sleep and the girl’s coldness softened immediately as she looked at her. It was only for a moment before it vanished again...
Regaleon watched her quietly but he did not ask further questions. Everyone here has a story to tell with scars that come with it. Some scars were visible while others were buried too deep for words...
And whatever story placed her in this carriage, it was not his business...
The rain continued falling outside endlessly. And inside the dark carriage, forgotten children of noble blood sat together...
They were failures...
Broken awakeners...
But most of all, they were already forgotten. Forgotten by the Houses that discarded them.
