INSIGNIAS: THE REGALIS

Boreas, Seven Stars, Westeros, Arconien, Austers, and Orient Pearl. These are the living realms. All had their sets of ancient Concordians and Mortemians. Each realm had been led and guided by seven ancient knights like the ancestors of the seven Regalis of Arconien. As time went by, some of the realms decided to remove the division of Concordians and Mortemians and create new divisions and systems of powers, abilities, and responsibilities. Today, magic users in these realms were no longer called Concordians and Mortemians. The others, like Arconien, continued to follow the traditional division. The move for change in the realms that chose to set up their own system led to several destructive fights and year-long battles until the oppositions were silenced. These happened during the years of L.S.A.’s construction but news of opposition continued to reach the ears of the citizens of Arconiens in the present.

The history of the other realms wasn’t thoroughly discussed and taught in the academy. Most of what Skhy knows came from stories of travelling sentries who heard from those involved in the trade.

Granstire made him remember what Clyne said about the Pandora's Box. Skhy didn’t know if it was a coincidence or there was something more about the Rosein Army than a legion of evil Concordians and Mortemians. He was too engrossed in preparing for the training for the war that he forgot to tell the Consortium about these concerns.

He narrowed his eyes at Granstire.

“Why are you asking?”

Granstire sighed.

“You don’t trust us fully.”

“True,” Skhy replied, “No one has yet to explain to me anything.” Granstire’s eyebrow rose. Skhy tried to talk to Aubree or Savvier several times about Ciar’s involvement. However, neither of them wanted to answer. It frustrated him. Granstire nodded.

“Ciar wants to explain to you himself.” Skhy clenched his jaw. A strong feeling crept through his body.

“Everyone,” he started, “seems to keep the most important things from us.” Karl refused to tell him about their allies and plans. Aubree and Savvier kept him in the dark about Ciar. Even his parents didn’t tell him everything. He and his friends had to find out themselves until they face dangerous challenges.

When he recounted these, for the first time since he was told about the seven Regalis, he doubted the importance of the missions.

“They trust you.” His thoughts were interrupted.

“Not enough.” Skhy turned toward the house. He didn’t sense anyone using their elementals. The wind was calm and undisturbed.

“What do you want to talk about?” Skhy asked. He was worried about Lei and the others.

Granstire sighed.

“I want to tell you everything.”

“It’s not your duty to tell,” Skhy interrupted.

“You’ll meet strong opponents as you travel toward The Shadows Island.” Skhy turned to him with a frown.

“What?” Granstire gave him a sad smile.

“It also frustrates me that they’re not telling you anything.” Confused, Skhy continued to frown at Granstire who ruffled his hair.

“Enemies? And how do you know this?” Doubt clouded his mind. He might be tricking me.

“Enemies? Might or might not be." Skhy's brow creased at his response. “I heard it somewhere.”

Exasperated at his confusing statements, Skhy turned to walk toward the house.

“Don’t be hard on him,” Granstire said before he could take a step. His statement angered Skhy.

“Because we don’t know everything?” he mocked without looking at Ciar's attendant. His missions were what moved him forward after his parents’ death. It hurt him that despite trusting him with an important role, his parents and his allies didn’t trust him enough to reveal everything.

“I’m sorry.” The statement surprised Skhy. He wondered if Granstire was apologizing for Ciar's lies or for him being kept in the dark. Either way, it wasn’t his responsibility to apologize.

“I don’t trust you,” Skhy said as he stared at the door, waiting for someone to open it.

“Neither Ciar,” he added, “I only want to achieve our goals.” He was shocked at his own statements. How he acted reminded him of Faz. So this is how it feels. Feeling useless.

Without waiting for Granstire's response, he made his way toward the house. Each step felt heavy but he knew it was more difficult for Nate than anyone. He turned the knob and pushed the door open, revealing a wide receiving room.

“Skhy.” Lei stood up from the sofa when she noticed him. Aria was standing beside Nate while Hanne was under Nate's embrace as they sat on another sofa. Skhy turned to address their òld friend. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of a long scar on Ciar's lower left jaw. It ran from below his ear to under his lower lip. He had his hands in his pocket while he stood awkwardly behind the brother and sister. When he had locked eyes with Skhy, he slowly moved toward him.

Skhy glanced at Lei, Aria, and Clyne. They nodded at him, gesturing that everything was fine.

“Skhy.” Ciar stopped in front of him.

“Ciar.” His unapologetic eyes faced Skhy’s unwavering ones. It disappointed Skhy that Ciar seemed not to regret everything he had done.

“This isn’t probably the reunion you had in mind,” Ciar said. He was right. Skhy envisioned a fight between his team and Ciar's Mortemians. He remembered the first time Skhy's group met Storm's group near the river. The idea that Ciar planned everything from the moment he knew about Nate and Hanne angered Skhy. But Skhy tried to hold his feelings from bursting.

“Let’s speak in another room,” he suggested. Skhy noticed Lei’s worried expression. He gave her a reassuring smile.

Ciar led him to a regular-sized kitchen with an oblong dining table with six chairs.

“I’ll be direct and tell you what you want to know.” Both of them took a seat in front of each other.

“Mortemians had been branded as the one who started the war,” he started. “But the truth is, both legions are at fault.” Skhy wanted to say that it wasn’t important who’s at fault. But he waited for Ciar to continue.

“Anyway, not all Mortemians are bad, and not all Concordians are good.” Skhy knew this fact.

“You’re the son of the Mortemian leader, right?” Skhy intended it to be a question but it came out as a statement.

“Yes. But that’s not important-"

“It is,” Skhy interrupted, “The Leader’s family is stronger than any other Mortemians.” This was because their ancestors experimented with their bloodline.

“Yeah. I can’t deny that the previous wars were aimed to destroy the Concordians.” Skhy shivered at the memories of the Eschaton war. His fists clenched when he remembered those who lost their lives.

“But both legions need to stop,” Ciar exclaimed. “Both legions need to stop killing each other.” Determination was evident in his eyes.

“Is that the reason you teamed up with Aubree and the others?” Skhy asked. “Did your plan involve manipulating all of us?” His voice rose at the end.

Ciar’s gaze faltered.

“When the Mortemians found out about the Regalis, my father ordered to find them.” His eyes softened but Skhy couldn’t shake away the feelings of betrayal and anger.

“So you were the man behind the mist.” The person who tried to kill all of us in the beginning.

“What?” Ciar looked confused. Skhy’s jaw tensed. Why is he pretending to not know about it?

“You know it,” Skhy started. “The man in a hoodie.” The man behind the Mortemians who pursued Tessa. The man who controlled the mist to trap Skhy, Tessa, and Lei. The man who shadowed Nate and Hanne.

Ciar’s eyes widened a bit.

“It wasn’t me.” Skhy frowned but didn’t believe him. “I swear. My mission was only to spy.”

Skhy looked away from his pleading eyes.

“It was my decision to join the group,” he revealed. Skhy wondered how Hanne and Nate faced the painful truth.

“But Aubree and Savvier caught me.” And they didn’t tell me. He felt another pang of pain in his chest. “I heard them talking about the Rosein Army.”

“You knew about it too?” Ciar raised both his hands.

“It was the first time I heard about it.” Skhy looked at him suspiciously. “When I found out that it’s made up of Mortemians, Concordians, and humans, I knew something was really wrong.”

“Why did Aubree and Savvier let you continue to deceive us?” Skhy asked the question he longed to ask his childhood friends.

Ciar glanced at the table then at the window.

“To keep all of you safe.” Skhy subconsciously scoffed. “And inform them of the group’s movement.”

Skhy sighed with frustration.

“What about your family?” He remembered when Storm revealed that he’s Ciar and left with his cousin and Tessa’s father.

“I escaped and cut contact.” This surprised Skhy. “My cousin probably brought Tessa’s father underground.” His shifting eyes seemed to indicate that he didn’t want to talk about his family yet.

Skhy watched Ciar as he looked outside the window. For a moment, he thought he saw tears forming in his eyes. Imagination. He wanted to ask more but he decided on his last question.

“Who’s side are you on?” Ciar turned to him.

“Mine.” Skhy caught his chuckle from escaping his mouth. It seemed that Storm didn’t change. This was the longest that Skhy heard him speak. Ciar looked fearless and maintained to stand his ground.

He stood up. He hadn’t forgiven him but they had more important things to do than confront him. He was glad he was able to control his anger toward him.

Skhy suddenly realized why Faz decided not to face Ciar.

“You probably heard about our training.” Ciar nodded. “We’re leaving. With Hanne.” He emphasized the last sentence. Ciar nodded as a response.

“It’s surprising that Faz refused to face me,” Ciar said as they walked toward the receiving room.

“It won’t be a pretty sight if he did,” Skhy muttered.

“I’m sorry.” He stopped in his tracks. After a few seconds of debating what to say, he started walking again in silence. He was tried of hearing apologies.