SHIRAYUKI put down the tea cup she was holding. A flash of pain crossed her gentle blue eyes. She closed them and took a deep breath as if trying to clear out her emotions. In that way, she could peacefully tell the events of what happened a hundred years ago. When she opened her eyes, those light blue depths were finally back to its normal gentle gaze.
"May I ask first what you know about that... incident?"
Luo Yan didn’t need to ask what she meant by ’incident’ because he knew that it could only be what happened a hundred years ago. He didn’t hesitate to recount to her the details of the things they knew.
"These things, we only found through Dusk’s fragmented memories. From those fragments, we know that that day a hundred years ago was supposed to be the wedding ceremony of Eclipse’s parents. But what we saw was the place being on fire, the atmosphere of death looming all around. We saw your sister’s last moment as she tried to get the beast egg out of her womb and give it to Dusk. That’s the entirety of what we knew."
Luo Yan noticed that after he said that, the dragon’s expression seemed to tighten. And then the other gazed down, no one knew what he was currently thinking.
Shirayuki almost shared the same reaction. But it was only a flash that quickly changed into calmness. She said;
"That day was indeed the wedding ceremony of my sister and brother-in-law. The ceremony hadn’t yet begun when we were attacked by dark mages from Achaeus. It was something that none of us expected. We were unprepared. But the same couldn’t be said to those dark mages. They set-up formations and spells that affected all of our strength. As if they had been planning that attack for a long time. So, naturally, it turned into a one-sided massacre."
She clenched her fists, almost turning her knuckles to white.
"The Elders acted swiftly and took all the children and unhatched beast eggs to a hidden cave. I was a young kitsune then who only had four tails. So, I was taken to that cave along with the other children. The then oldest kitsune of the tribe was also with us. The Elders used every bit of their power to use the highest grade of illusion to conceal our presence. So, we remained safe inside the cave. The complete opposite to what happened with the rest of our tribe."
Hearing what she said, Luo Yan finally understood why almost all the kitsunes he had seen while walking in the village were all young. Most of them didn’t have more than five tails. As well as what Shirayuki mentioned earlier about not having any elders in the tribe. Even that oldest kitsune must have already died by now.
"When everything was over and we were able to go out of the cave, what welcomed us was a sea of blood and the dead bodies of our families and loved ones. For as long as I live, I will never forget that scene. I was filled with anger, hatred, pain, sadness. It was simply all too much. And when I saw my s-sister’s lifeless body, all those emotions magnified a hundred, no, a million times.
"I wished that I was dead as well. So, I could be with my sister. So, I could no longer feel that unbearable pain. In fact, I almost indeed tried to gauge out my own heart. But I was stopped by the only Elder alive – the one who was with us in the cave. She told me that she only had a few more years left in her and soon I will be the eldest kitsune of the tribe. All the little ones and those who were still unborn could only rely on me.
"It hit me at that moment that I couldn’t choose the easy way out. I looked around me and saw all the crying children. I understood that those children would need someone to support them, emotionally and spiritually. If left alone, they would probably be consumed by the hatred and not even reach adulthood. Then our tribe would truly be gone if that were to happen.
"So, in the absence of the leader, I took the position of High Priestess and became our tribe’s pillar of support. Between me and the Elder, we buried everyone who died and let that place be they’re final resting place. But for the rest of us who survived and managed to stay alive, we could no longer stay in that place. Because it would only constantly remind us of what we had lost.
"We left and found this place. Slowly, we tried to rebuild our lives once again. To make this place our new home. But just a few months later, we heard that the Western dragon clan declared war against the dark mages of Achaeus. We then heard that it was because of the will of the new king. When I found out that this king was actually the close friend of my sister, I was truly shocked.
"I thought then that he must have heard of what happened to my sister and he was doing this to avenge her. It made me somewhat happy. To the point that I went to the dragon clan to offer support. But who would have thought that when I got there, I found a beast egg that had the same breath as my sister? Immediately, I knew that that was my sister’s unborn child.
"I was overcome with rage. I thought- I thought when my sister died, I also l-lost my unborn nephew. But no, it was in the hands of the new dragon king. I asked, no, I begged for him to return the beast egg to me. I was the child’s only remaining family. But the king refused. No matter how much I pleaded, it didn’t work. He just looked at me apathetically.
"And then the next thing I knew, I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was already back in my tribe. I wanted to go back to the dragon clan but the Elder stopped me. Saying that the dragon king threatened to lock me up if he saw me again traipsing to their clan. The Elder had no choice but to acquiesce.
"Another month passed and then news about the disappearance of the dragon king spread. I went back again to the dragon clan to ask about the beast egg. But they only told me that it probably disappeared as well together with the dragon king. Since then, we haven’t heard anything about the dragon king nor of the beast egg he took."
Shirayuki turned her head and looked at the silent Dusk. Thousands of emotions were brewing in her eyes. Luo Yan even thought that she might attack the dragon again. But, at the end, he only let out a deep breath. Obviously pulling back the emotions inside her. But she still said;
"I really wish you have your memories now. So, I could ask you why. Why do the things you did. Why refused to let my nephew be with his family. But I guess, I can only wait for your memories to return to know why."
Dusk suddenly stood up and ran outside as if someone was chasing him.
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