Phase 27 “The Enlightened”
A few seconds, minutes, or maybe an hour had passed. Benji's screams continued for what felt like an eternity. He was panting heavily and sweating profusely when he finally collapsed into the chilly ground. Even though Nathan was still trembling terribly, he was nevertheless able to take out something from his pocket. It was a tiny vial that was filled with infected blood, and they had taken it with them with intention of giving it to Kaien and Allen after they had saved them. Nevertheless, the plan was altered.
“Ben... here...” Nathan rolled the bottle in the direction of Benji, and he caught it. It only took Benji a few seconds to open the bottle before he started drinking from it. He remained like that for one more minute before finally getting to his feet and removing the chain from around his ankles.
“Ben?” Nathan was taken aback when Benji returned half the bottle to him and there was still half left in the bottle. Nathan drank it down without questioning it as he sensed his body become more energised. As soon as the next second had passed, he tore the chain apart and dashed off to check on Benji's injury. They had all been healed, and Benji had returned to his normal state.
“Ben, God! You made me sick worried!” Nathan cried as he hugged his childhood friend.
“When you started screaming, it was the same for me as it was for you...” Benji said while tightly gripping Nathan's shoulder. “The worst part is that I was hurt so badly that I couldn't think properly about what to do.” He paused and looked at Nathan in the eyes. “I was afraid I was going to lose you once more, Nathan...”
Nathan wore a gloomy expression. He did not grasp what Benji meant. He asked his question by staring intently into Benji's eyes rather than using any words.
“You do remember, don't you?” Benji started. “The events that took place in the nightmare weren't something that was made up. Those are the true recollections we have from our past existence many years ago.” Benji paused again but did not give a chance for Nathan to say anything. “We were the ones who initiated this, or at the very least, the king was, if I may refer to him as Kaien. That is why it is imperative that we put a stop to all of this insanity.”
Once Nathan heard the news, he was stunned and unable to focus on anything else. The news was so overwhelming for Nathan that he was unable to think clearly until he had processed it. When he glanced at Benji, he noticed that Benji looked a lot like Julian, the character from his nightmares. Then it dawned on him that he had Lance's figure, which meant...
“You are the reincarnation of General Lance from many decades ago, Nathan. I was General Julian, your childhood friend in the life before this one as well as the life we are living now.” Benji added, “To protect the king, sorry, I mean, Kaien, I believe that 'bishop' did magic to us so that we can recall everything when we're awakened.”
“Bishop? What are you talking about---Aaahh!” Nathan let out a shocked breath as he suddenly recalled everything. Everything was perfectly clear at this point. How Kaien used to be obsessed with bringing back his beloved wife in his precious life and summoned a shaman, how the shaman tricked Kaien and killed the entire kingdom folk, how Dominique, the prince, and both of them, the general got killed by the undead, and how in the end, their last hope, the priest or they called him the ‘bishop’, managed to seal the shaman along with all of the undead folks for decades by sacrificing himself. Allen, who was the bishop, was there.
“But then, how is it possible for Kaien and Allen to have woken up and not remembered anything?” Nathan questioned as he smashed the lock on the cell and freed them from the confines of the cell. They approached the area with extreme caution and slowness, armed and ready to kill any zombies they came across.
“I'm very sure it was the evil shaman who was the one who awoke them. After all, he had possessed a limited amount of dark magic with which he could modify their memories from their former life.” Benji continued, “Which means that somebody else was the one who woke us up...”
They continued to move deeper into the cave without exchanging any further words. During their haste to get there, they noticed a light emanating from the opposite end of the tunnel. They were mistaken in their belief that they had found the exit to the cave. They were now inside a room that was square in shape and included a large stone that was fractured in the middle. They moved slowly towards it, closer and closer until the bright light completely blinded them.
Both of them were prepared to kill anything that got in their way as they pointed their weapons in the direction of the light. A few seconds passed before the light completely went out, and when it did, there was a figure seated on top of the broken stone. Both Benji and Nathan stopped moving. They were so confused that they even let their firearms fall to the ground since they had no idea what was actually going on. They were far too familiar with the figure to be fooled or mistaken.
“Finally, you two awakened. I've waited for far too long,” she said with a smile. “I'm sorry to let you suffer like that but the only thing I could do was to control some of those inhuman beings until they infected you with their filthy curse so that you would be fully awakened with full memories of your previous life...”
“I beg your forgiveness for tying the two of you up, but it was the only thing I could think of to do to save you from hurting each other when the pain started... It was entirely my fault for being unable to physically interact with any living thing due to the fact that I am just a useless spirit... But now, the time has come for the five of you to stand up once more and put an end to this nightmare, the one my beloved one, Cecilion, started.”
Both Benji and Nathan remained frozen. They were only aware of one thing. Their cherished empress was as stunningly gorgeous as she had always been, and she stood before them, shining and dazzling.