Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Fragments of the Past
"Excuse me. What? Please repeat? " I asked him in shock. What does he mean he caused this?
"I-I caused this. I didn"t mean to, I didn"t know that I was helping them. " Helping who?
"Let's not talk here, grab my hands." Without hesitation Art grabbed Gray"s hands, Art opened some kind of portal... or wormhoke? Since Gray was holding me I was dragged into the hole.
"Wait-" I looked back, no one don. Except someone familiar, he looks like Al. "Al?"
He looks horrified, but the portal already closed, I didn"t hear what he said.
*************
I felt dizzy, where are we? Where-
"Aaaaaah ~ felt good. I missed this place. " I looked at the speaker, it sounds like Art but he looks muscular and has long hair.
"Who are you-
"We don't have time." Gray said. Art just calmed him down.
"Hey I know my power is low right now but I can still manage to manipulate time."
"WHO THE HECK IS THIS GUY ?!" I shout since they are not listening, it looks like the knew each other. "WHAT IS HAPPENING? I need an explanation. "
"Hello Princess Juniper Astraea Vanderwaine. I am your guardian, call me Destiny or Fate. " He introduces me with a wink.
"What?" I asked in shock. "Wh-what kind of guardian?"
"Ok let"s start from the very beginning. I'll tell him Gray. " Art I mean Destiny- ok fuck this. "I am a guardian who protects those who were loved by the Gods. You and Alitair were loved by the Gods, and since they love you. You both are destined to each other. "
"What? but- why did he end up with Seraphina in my first timeline? " I asked in shock, if we were destined. Why did I die? Why did he marry Seraphina and not me?
"Yeah I made a mistake, and Gray was involved. Over the years I have been chosen to be a guardian. I even hate my job to be honest, of course there is more before you. It"s sort of cycle. "
"Your ancestors were doing fine, no complications no anything they ended up just like the oracle said. So I'm comfortable that you're ok on your own. "
"But someone interfered, he messed up both of your connection and not only that. He accidentally helped the ones who were truly responsible for what was happening. You are not supposed to die nor suppose to be left alone. But it happened... "
I was confused, but what does he mean he". Is he talking to Gray?
"W-what did Gray do?" I slowly looked at gray who was busy looking down, it was shaking.
"He was the only one who put the potion in the prince's drink when they were in the Gremlin Empire." Art I mean Destiny explained.
Wait, are they saying they knew this whole time? I thought I was the only one who knew.
"Wow I really sounded like the bad Guy." He nodded in response.
"It"s because you are. If you hadn't put on what she drank, Seraphina's plan wouldn't have worked, Astraea wouldn't have died either. You"re selfish. " I can"t sink it all in, Art sounds superior and Gray does...
"Was it true?" trembling I asked him, I looked down in both of my hands.
"Yes-" I didn't stop but slapped him, my own hands moved on its own. Am I mad? Frustrated?
I'm backwards.
"I-I'm sorry h-I didn't mean to." I said quickly to her, because of my slap one of her cheeks was red. But I was tearing up, I was working hard just to get noticed by Alistair and I just found out that he was under a spell?
"Nah, I probably deserve this." He answered.
"You deserve more, I almost lost my job because of you messing things up."
"Why? Why did you do that? " I asked, he sighed and looked away.
"It's because I was in love with you at that time." What? We don't see each other much, so why is he in love with me? "Selfish right? I saw you chasing him, but even he wanted someone else. You didn"t give up, I wanted that too. A person who wont give up on me, I put a spell on him. I was blinded of what I did, I didn"t know it could go up to this point that you would die non. I uhm "
He paused, my heart was aching. And everytime I breathe it hurts.
"I regretted it, I didn"t mean to do it to him. I thought the spell would just disappear. So I came back here to get it all right. I promise I don't want you anymore... I- "
"That"s not just the reason isn"t it?" I said, I"m pretty sure he messed up big time in my previous life. He wouldn"t be this desperate. He covered his face. "THAT"S BULLSHIT GRAY, YOU SHOULDN"T PLAY LIKE THAT. You don't know what I went through when I found out that he chose someone else. "
"I was alone my whole life! The king died, and people started throwing rumors at me which I never did! Did I know that? I suffered non, I blamed Alistair for everything he didn"t even mean to do! How could you, love is... love. You can"t force it but you can work hard for it. "
I stopped crying, but it still hurts
So... did Alistair really loved me? Even in my previous life? But why... did he ignore me?
"Y-yes, I; m sorry. Forgive me. " He whispered. "It"s ok if you won"t. but please help Jayden. It's ok that you don't help me, just help her. J-Jayden died protecting me. " My heart dropped when he said that. B-why? "I"m begging you, please don"t leave the empire. Everything will happen all over again, Jayden will die again. "
This time he"s crying.
"She"ll die again an — and Jasper will be mad at me. She died because of me, please save her. I will do everything. I will make up all my mistakes and take my punishment. "Art sighed and tapped Gray"s back
"She died?"
"Yeah, one of the reasons why he"s included. It"s against the rules but he pleaded, he said he"ll do everything to make all his mistakes. There will be punishments. " Art explained. "Of course, Seraphina is not the only one with this plan. The plan was perfectly executed, the King"s announcement isn"t supposed to happen since we manage to change the timeline. We didn"t know why that happened again, we kept an eye on Seraphina. But it looks like he has someone else with him. "
I gritted my teeth, all this time it was Seraphina.
"Hey Gray, in Gremlin Empire. Where did you get the potion? " I asked in astonishment. "Did you create those?"
He immediately shook his head, he already stopped crying.
"No, that potion is a higher level type. Looks like a high wizard did non. There was this woman who gave it to me. She was wearing a cloak so I didn't see much. " Napaisip naman ako ulit... "Although I think I saw that cloak before. I just can"t remember. "
"Looks like we're going back to the past." Art. "We can"t find who it is if we don"t know. The one who gave you that must"ve been an acquaintance of Seraphina. "
Back to the past? Will we go back to where I die ???
Art opened some portal, "Let"s go. We"re running out of time. You are going to know all that has happened in your previous life, Astraea "
When I open my eyes are we here in the empire?
"Hello Princess Astraea. What are you doing here child? " I immediately turned to the speaker, he was talking to a child. Is that me?
"I want to play with Al! He said he"d play with me today! " the child said happily, it was one of the guards he"s talking to.
"I'm sorry, the young prince is very busy." The guard replied.
Oh yeah, I remembered this. I went to the empire to play with Alistair, it was also the day he started ignoring me. Ah memories are overflowing and my emotions... the regrets.
"Are we on the right time?" Gray asked Art. "Are you sure we don't-
"Goddammit mortal. Shut up, I've been holding back for a long time. " Mortal? Is he calling Gray... "I can read your mind Princess."
I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Hey that's rude, I am a demigod chosen by the Gods you should respect me too." Says Art. "You should all bow down to me sometimes."
"Nah." -Gray
"And I am loved by the Gods. You"re my guardian right? Which means I'm your master. So shut up and I"m still calling you Art. " We need to lighten up the mood a little. "Also, can they see us?" I pointed to the guard
It would be weird if my younger self would see me.
"No. it"s just a fragment of the past. Tsk. Let"s go in the King"s room, I don"t want to waste my time manipulation without knowing from the start. "
We just nodded and walked towards the King's room. I saw the King sitting on the throne and Alistair studying.
"Alistair, you must do your best. For the people and your queen. " Smiling the King said, he really supports us. I wonder what changed his mine when he announced that, or did he change his mind?
"Yes Father! I will be the best King and the best husband for her! " Al's happy answer. this was in my previous life, looks like he really loved me.
"There"s nothing much here, should we fast-forward to the academy?" we nodded, nothing much was happening here. Maybe in the Academy we will find something. oh wait... there"s another place I"m suspicious about.
I stopped Art for a second.
"Wait. There will be a tea party in the Sapphire Kingdom, I just wanted to confirm something. " I said, and Art followed suit.
We teleported somewhere to the teaparty. The room was full of princesses. Where is Seraphina ... there!
"Is that Seraphina?" Art asked while pointing to a woman wearing glasses and a maid outfit. "Oh yea I remember she told me that she was a maid and was adopted in the Gremlin Empire, weird. The Gremlin Empire is a foreign place, why did she end up to such a far place. "
I didn't answer first, and observed her. She bumped into my younger self, as usual my younger self got angry and scolded her. Demitry dragged Seraphina away and Maddy arrived. My younger self ordered something to Maddy and she obliged.
"Where is your maid going?" Gray asked
"Let's follow her." I whispered.
We followed Maddy, Demitry was also scolding Seraphina. Seraphina is crying now.
"Why did you do that ?!" Demitry shouted
"I'm sorry P-princess- don't scold me." Maddy stopped Princess Demitry.
"Princess I'm sorry to interrupt, but Princess Astraea asked me to take care of her." Demitry nodded and left. Maddy knelt down and hugged Seraphina. She whispred something to her
"Let me help yo-
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I opened my eyes again and we are in the Academy.
"Art what the heck!" I shouted at him because we suddenly teleported to the Academy. He was panting. Is something wrong? "Are you ok?"
"Y-yeah, I"m sorry but we need to hurry. Something is wrong in the outside world. " What? "Let's hurry"
I sighed, we had no choice. Maddy said something to Seraphina, I didn"t hear it-
I saw Gray, Alistair and Jasper in the cafeteria. Wait, where is Jayden?
"Where's Jayden here?" I will ask.
"She's in the empire, she didn't enter the academy so you didn't see her." Gray answered.
We looked around and students are just passing us. I stared at the tower...
"Hey Art, did someone steal the Tower? Did you figure who that was? Did it also happen in this timeline? " Art raised an eyebrow at me, Gray just stared at me. "What?"
"You didn"t know? The stealing incident also happened in this timeline. " Gray explained. Wait really? Well sorry, I was busy chasing Alistair that time. "It is not known who, same in the current timeline. Even though we knew that would happen, we didn't know who. "
"Well you could have known because you knew it would happen." –Me
"Well there's only way to find out." I was surprised when it suddenly got dark around, it"s nighttime. "Let's go tower, they cant see us so..."

We rushed to the tower, it wasn't that loud but it looked like someone was already in the tower. Shit. We immediately went inside, but the person jumped out the window.
"I thought it can"t see us!" I shouted and went immediately to the window. Gray also went there, we saw a person running wearing a cloak.
"No, they can"t. Shit- "
"Can't we go back to the past again?" I asked Art.
"No, I"m running out of power. I only have a little left because I used it to go back to the past. Even if we see him, I think the person is wearing a mask. " Art said and looked at the taken potion. "Gray, I"m pretty sure creating potion is not your thing-
"That cloak... it looks familiar. That cloak, I saw it in the Gremlin Empire. "
Gremlin Empire?
"Did he give you the potion?" he nodded.
"Art"s right, that person is wearing a mask. Even when we were there, pretty sure that"s a woman. " He taught. "The men didn't run like that."
I raised an eyebrow at him, is he saying that we run artfully?
"HAHAHA serious Princess seems like that's what she's saying." I sighed... and glared at Art who immediately fell silent. "Oh also since Gray said he was the one he saw in the Gremlin Empire. Could it be the potion that has a spell order? "
"No I don"t think so. That person took multiple stuffs. " I commented and looked at the ones the woman took. Gray said she"s wearing a cloak, it was dark I can"t see it clearly.
"Your right, she's probably good at mixing potions." Gray agreed.
"Gray when are you going to the Gremlin Empire? In this timeline, I don't have much information with you since we haven't been close before. " –Me
"3 days from now." He answered.
"Wait so Seraphina"s already in the Empire?" Art said.
"Yes, but I don't know why he appeared in the current timeline. She isn"t supposed to appear in your life since the future changed. I already stopped Alistair from going to the Empire so I let the King sent the letter himself. The letter that the King sent was supposed to be for her older cousin Taliyah"s older sister, I think she forced them into getting into the competition. " She did, Taliyah told us...
"Hmm since Alistair didn't go there, she found another way. So she came here instead. " Art commented.
"So that's why the foreign exchange student appeared." I whispered. "Since this is the past timeline, maybe we'll find that woman with a cloak there."
"You forgot he had a mask." –Art
"I didn"t, we just need to take a look at the cloak. Remember that all cloaks have a crest on which empire they come from. " I told them. If I remembered correctly it was placed on the front or back of the cloak.
"Oh yeaah, I forgot. Hold unto me. "
We teleported again, this time we were in the market. Gray looked for where they had met.
"Being a demigod must be nice." I commented. I was amazed and all.
"Well it was a boring job. You just have to watch them. " Art answered and walked around, we followed Gray since he was the only one who knew where.
"So how did you do this thing?" I will ask.
"I"m just a normal human before, but the Gods chose me to be a guardian. People are jealous, but I wasn"t happy with this job. " He told a story. He looked down
"Why? It looks awesome. " He scoffed and looked up.
"Not really, I became immortal and my family... can no longer see me anymore." He said softly to me. "I won't die, and I'm alone."
That's why he enjoyed when he was still with us. I tapped his shoulders...
"Its ok-
"Found her." Gray replied. We saw the woman handing it to himself. His young self to be exact. I stared at young Gray. He looks hesitant, but he took it anyway.
Younger Gray left and looked at the woman again. she is indeed covering her face but the cloak, it was from the Ruby Palace.
"That cloak is from the Ruby Palace, see that rose stitch? It"s Maddy. " I whispered, I"m certain it"s Maddy. I saw her wearing that when I was young. It was before my parents went away, since it was raining she"s wearing that cloak. Watching my parents travel...
"What? Your maid? Wait are you sure? " I smiled at them. I already know who the culprit is.
"Yes I"m sure. But we will not stop here first. Art, let"s go to Taliyah"s house. I want to see how it happens "He nodded.
We were already inside the house, we saw Alistair handing over the letter.
"Hello Prince." Seraphina greeted that she had just arrived in the living room. Taliyah"s parents were around but Taliyah was not.
Alistair just nodded.
"Did you already put the potion in his drink?" I asked Gray, his face was full of regrets.
"Y-yes. But even with the spell under him, he always asked if you"re ok. " Gray whispered.
"What do you mean?" I will ask.
"Well, I don"t think he lost interest in you non. He kept asking where you are. sometimes he pushes you away because when you approach him he is suddenly nervous. But he convinced himself that he didn"t like you, he loves Seraphina. I often hear that from him when it's just the two of us. " He told a story.
I was staring at Alistair slowly falling inlove with Seraphina, it still hurts to see.
"Hey, it"s all in the past. We"re gonna fix this. " Art said. "They manage to put a spell on the King. I don"t know about Al-
"I saw Alistair before we vanished." I whispered.
"What?" I looked at Art.
"He was screaming something I didn't hear." He touched both my shoulders.
"HE SAW YOU ?! YOU?! Well shit, that's why the timeline is so unstable. We need to hurry. " Art is panicking. "Since you've seen this, where are we going?"
"Maybe on the king's birthday-
"Seraphina"s in the party the whole time" Art intruded.
"Not Maddy though, she went in the King's room." They looked at me. "Good thing you kept an eye on Seraphina, when we went out she hit Jayden. She was following us back. "
"Also the King looks fine when the party was over, when everyone came home your maid was gone. You both went home together right? " asked Art. "The announcement was early, it probably happen in the night."
I gasped, I wonder why Maddy did it. He was kind and he was the one who took care of me since my parents died.
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We teleported to the party again. I saw myself watching Alistair dancing with Seraphina. Oh yea, he was already under a spell that time. That's why he's avoiding me, I feel sorry for my younger self not knowing anything.
I was beside my younger self, she was also staring at Seraphina like I did. My eyes were hopeful... after all this time, it still hurts.
Alistair then talked to his father. The three of us approached there.
"No father! I told you, I will marry Seraphina. I love her." it stings. What Alistair said, upsets me. It's a good thing I didn't hear it as my younger self. I would probably lose my shit.
"But son, you said you"d marry Astraea. You both made a promise. " Said the king once caressing its neck.
"I don"t love her, father. For once give me a chance- ah you know what? nevermind. I will be the king in the future and she"ll be my Queen whether you like it or not. " It sped away so the king just stood up and walked. Maybe he was going to his room.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, I smiled a little and nodded.
"Let's follow the King." Gray and Art walk to the king's room first. I left for a while to look at Alistair and Seraphina.
They were smiling at each other. Seraphina said goodbye so I followed, and as expected she went to Maddy. Maddy gave her something, a tea.
"Make him drink this." Maddy said and Seraphina nodded. "Act it out child. Our plan is nearing completion. "
When Seraphina left I stared at Maddy, I wonder why you"re doing this.
I thought your friend was the king? Why did you kill him? what is your reason? Maddy"s eyes were full of rage and anger. Where is the one who takes care of me like my mother?
"Hello your majesty." Seraphina is here in the king's room. "I bought some tea, uhm..."
The king just smiled, he"s always this kind. He doesn"t deserve this.
"Sit down child." Modestly said the king.
"Yes. I"ll pour it for you. " Said Seraphina. It contains poison I"m sure. "I'm sorry about Alistair, he just really loves me."
I frowned. How is she acting like this in front of the king. The king sighed and took a cup.
"You know child. Should I be honest with you? " said the king. "I don't like you for my son."
The king slowly drank the tea. If only I can stop this before... I hate to see this. Seraphina smiled. The king turned pale.
"Don"t worry your highness. I don"t like you too as my future father in law. So we need to... you know. Eliminate you immediately. " I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist. This bitch- "This is the best for all of us. I get what I want, Maddy got what she wants. Our plans work. "
"H-help." The king gasped and released the cup he was holding.
"Now what"s left is the princess. She won"t be hard to kill, Alistair"s already mine anyway. " Laugh at it and come out. I feel disgusted when I remember myself respecting her before because she is the queen. I knelt down and tried to touch his cheek, but I cant... because this is just my previous memories.
"I'm sorry-
"No." I whispered. If only I was paying more attention.
"Since we already found who killed the king-
"No, there's one last place I wanted to be." I told Art. "Take me to my execution memories."
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"Where are you, Gray?" I asked as I looked at myself to be beheaded. I remember pleading... "You were on a mission with Alistair right?"
"N-no, wait. T-this. Art! Teleport us to that cliff. " Gray said to Art. I was surprised.
"Why-
The nect thing I knew was we were on the cliff. I can see the view here, I can also see you here where I will be beheaded. I wasn"t beheaded yet... not yet.
"What are we doing here?" I will ask
"T-to tell you the truth, Alistair didn"t know any of this. We didn't know you were going to be beheaded, so when the news spread to the place where we worked, we went home immediately. "
"Wait, you don't know? Seraphina is your only plan? " –Me
"Yes, if Alistair would know. He"d be furious he would save you of course... sadly we didn"t make it in time. " I looked at myself in the position that I would be beheaded. I was looking for Al at that moment, blaming him because he didn"t save me. "The time we got here. You"re already dead. "
I could here the guillotine"s sound when it was released so I closed my eyes. I saw my previous self getting executed for a crime I didn"t do. Crying because Alistair didn"t show up. I blamed him even though he didn"t know it would happen to me. I have been though so much, I didn"t know he was suffering too-
"Shit NO!" loud shout of someone behind us so I turned away. I saw Alistair riding a horse, looks like he just arrived. it came down to where he was riding.
"Your highness!" Gray shouted behind it. They both looked at where I died, and I saw Alistair got down on his knees when he saw I was gone.
"No, no no no. WHY !? " he shouted. "I-I didn"t make it?"
I backed away, he"s crying. Why is he crying? He"s still under a spell is he?
"Your highness." Gray whispred.
"N-no, Gray. Help me. It hurts m-my heart hurts. MY BODY HURTS HELP ME. " Shout it out, he"s crying really hard. "FUCK THIS!"
He coughed and blood came out so I was surprised and approached him.
"W-what"s happening? What is happening to Al? " I asked in shock, I"m panicking right now. "ART! GRAY! WHY IS HE COUGHING UP BLOOD ?! "
I saw Art sighed and walked towards me.
"This will happen when your destined person dies. He will also die. " Says Art. "You both are loved by the Gods, you both have a connection a thread."
I saw Al kneel properly.
"Dear God, please save her." even though his nose and mouth were bleeding it didn"t stop. What is he doing ?! "I regret ingnoring her. Just save her... * cough * "
"Your highness! I"m sorry, I d-did this to both of you- "
"Gray... its ok. I know, I noticed. " Al said weakly.
Then suddenly a portal appeared, it was Art.
"Then I appeared, since this is just the fragments of memories. He can"t see us. " answer by Art.
"I'll save her." Art said in a cool tone. Is he showing off...? "I"m Destiny, your guardian. No time to explain. But I can save her. "
"P-please help her-
"I will, it"s my fault anyways. I will bring her back to the past, but she is the only one who remembers what will happen. I would disguise myself as a person so I can save her-
"Wait, let me come with you." Gray said.
"No, there will be punishments if I take you with me. Especially you, this is against the rules. " Gray sighed and helped Alistair get up.
"Please, I will accept the punishment. I ha-have someone to save too. It's also my fault, isn't it? " Art just raised an eyebrow at him. "I will help you, I know what's going on."
"Fine, mortal. Let"s go. "
"What about his highness?"
"Go Gray, help her. If possible, please tell her that I love her. "

To be continued...