Back To Empire

The waves crashed softly against the shore, spreading white foam across the dark sands before retreating back into the endless blue.

Standing at the very edge of the coast, the wind brushed against her purple hair, the scent of salt and sea heavy in the air. Merisa stood silently, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon where the sky met the vast ocean.

Behind her, a tall woman in a purple uniform stood with her hands clasped neatly behind her back posture straight, eyes sharp, her tone composed yet filled with restrained curiosity.

"I thought you, my lady, wouldn't go to find him," Marcella said calmly, her voice steady but questioning.

Merisa didn't turn. Her expression was still, her eyes lost somewhere far beyond the visible waves. "Why would I not?" she said softly. "He is my son."

The answer was quiet, but it carried a weight Marcella could feel even without seeing her face.

Marcella's lips curved faintly not quite a smile, but something close. She tilted her head slightly, studying the matriarch's back, as if reading a story written in her stillness.

"So why wait this long?" she asked gently. "I must admit, I was surprised when you rejected to go before. You even stopped Lady Nova from going to find him. But…" Marcella's eyes softened "it seems I wasn't wrong after all. I thought perhaps you wouldn't be able to bear it. That, eventually, you'd go after him yourself."

Merisa sighed, the sound soft but heavy, the kind of sigh that came from deep exhaustion rather than mere sadness. She shook her head slowly, her eyes still fixed on the water.

"He must have reached Atlantis by now," she murmured.

Marcella's brows lifted slightly. "So you waited for him to reach there?" she asked, a knowing smile flickering on her face, understanding dawning behind her gaze.

Merisa didn't immediately respond. The wind caught her robes, brushing them gently around her as she finally spoke again, her tone low and thoughtful.

"I don't know… maybe it isn't such a bad idea for him to go there," she said softly. "Perhaps he just wanted to escape this place ..this empire or land where he's hated by everyone, where his name brings only whispers and disgust. Maybe Atlantis is the one place where no one knows him… where he could start again."

Her voice wavered slightly at the end, a mixture of resignation and regret lacing her tone.

"Honestly," she continued, "I don't even know what I feel about it. But if it's his choice… I shouldn't stop him. He deserves to live his life too. Nova and I.. yes, we're selfish. We wanted him close, to fix what we broke. To heal the wounds we caused with our mistakes."

Her eyes lifted toward the sky.. vast and clear, reflecting the same deep blue as the ocean below. "But maybe it's too late to do that now."

Marcella stayed quiet, listening.

"I understand that," Merisa finally said. "He was young. Mistakes… they happen. And yes, what he did was wrong. But…" she hesitated, her tone softening "Maybe the punishment i gave him was too harsh. Maybe if i had been gentler, things wouldn't have turned out like this."

She gave a tired, faint smile at that, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Perhaps," she whispered. "Perhaps I should have been gentler. Maybe I could have changed all this.. stopped this from ever happening. But it's done now. The situation can't be changed."

Her hands, clasped before her, trembled ever so slightly before she steadied them again. "I can't force him anymore. If he's chosen to go… to settle in Atlantis, far away from everyone and everything.. then I'll let him. If that's what brings him peace, then maybe it's what he needs."

She paused, looking out toward the sea again, her eyes narrowing faintly. "Perhaps, in that place, where there aren't enemies in every shadow, he might finally find comfort. Something he could never had here."

Marcella shifted slightly, her boots crunching lightly on the sand. Her expression was firm, though her voice carried quiet concern.

"But there will be racism, my lady," she said softly. "Atlantis might look like a paradise, but the Atlantians… they can sense humans easily. Even if they resemble us, they can tell the difference.. and they will treat him differently."

She hesitated before continuing, her tone growing heavier. "Even if he finds a way to blend in.. to breathe underwater, to adapt ..he'll still be alone. That kind of loneliness can destroy a person."

Her words lingered in the air, truthful and bitter.

"That is why," Merisa said after a long pause, "I'll be going to him now."

Marcella's head lifted slightly in surprise.

Merisa continued, her tone calm but resolute. "I'll look over him.. from afar, quietly. I won't interfere with his life unless I must. But if I see that he's living… truly living.. if his life becomes something beautiful again then I'll step away. I'll let him have that peace. I won't drag him back into this world."

A faint, weary smile curved on her lips. "If he can be happy, I'll accept it. That will be enough for me."

Her voice lowered, becoming almost a whisper. "And if not… then perhaps watching from afar will be my punishment. For our cruelty. For my mistakes. For being too blind and too harsh."

Finally, she turned her head, looking back at Marcella.

The wind caught her hair, sweeping it softly around her pale, regal face.

Marcella didn't speak for a long moment. The silence stretched between them, filled only by the low roar of the waves and the cry of distant gulls.

But then, quietly, she broke it.

"My lady," she said softly, "would that truly be what you want?"

Her gaze hardened slightly, as if reminding her of something Merisa had chosen to forget. "And… wouldn't that be risky?"

Merisa's expression didn't change, but her eyes flickered faintly..

Marcella continued, her voice quieter now. "He wrote in his letter that… if he ever saw anyone from our family again.. anyone especially you…or Nova."

She paused, her tone dropping to an almost whisper. "He said we'd be enemies. That if you tried to go after him, he would kill you. No matter what."

Her voice trembled slightly at the last words.

"And that only one of would walk away alive...He or us.."

At this Merisa hands clenched tightly at her sides. Her knuckles turned pale against her fair skin, the faint tremor betraying the frustration beneath her composed appearance.

"That's the problem…" she muttered under her breath, her tone heavy with emotion. "I don't want him to see me.. or Nova, or even you as enemies."

She exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through her long, dark-purple hair in agitation. The loose strands shimmered faintly in the sunlight as her fingers raked through them. "He already hates us enough… and now words like that threatening to kill his own family if we approach him.. I…" She paused, pressing her palm against her forehead as if trying to massage away the ache that wasn't just physical. "I don't really know how to handle that."

Her voice wavered for a moment.

If anyone could have seen her right now, they would have been shaken to their core.

This was Merisa, the woman known as the Second Strongest Being in the World, the matriarch whose presence could silence entire nations. Yet here she stood ..shoulders trembling, brows drawn tight, her composure crumbling as emotion cracked through her like light through stained glass.

A woman of power looked powerless.

Marcella watched silently from beside her. Her own eyes softened with sorrow. She had never seen her lady like this before not even once. The sight of Merisa's despair made something inside her twist painfully. For so long she had followed this woman who could command armies with a single look… and now that same woman looked utterly lost before the heart of her own son.

The silence stretched between them, filled only by the sound of distant waves.

Finally, Marcella sighed quietly and lifted her head. Her back straightened, posture formal again, but her eyes carried quiet resolve as she spoke.. words she had been suppressing for far too long.

"My lady…" she began carefully. "Why don't we… erase the lock? Or perhaps temporarily bind his memories.. just for a short time?"

Merisa's gaze turned toward her, faintly narrowing, but Marcella pressed on before hesitation could stop her.

"We could rewrite certain fragments," she explained gently. "Or rearrange his emotions not to harm him, just to ease the hatred. To make him see reason, even for a little while. We can do it flawlessly.. you can do it flawlessly. No one else in the empire could, but we definitely can. There'd be no side effects, no scars on his mind, not even the faintest ripple in his essence."

She spoke earnestly, almost pleading now.

"I know this might sound extreme… and I apologize for saying it," she added, lowering her gaze briefly. "It would be breaking the sacred rules of our family. But, my lady, I can't stand to see you like this. I'd rather bear that sin myself if it means seeing you at peace again."

Her voice strengthened as she continued, determination cutting through her tone. "If punishment is to come, let it come to me. I will take full responsibility... every bit of it. But sometimes, rules must be broken when they stand between us and what truly matters. Even if it costs the family a little dignity, I'd rather bear that than watch you drown in this sorrow."

Marcella paused for a moment, then went on softly, her tone warmer now that of someone speaking from both loyalty and compassion.

"I know it's difficult. As a mother, I understand why the thought of tampering with his memories would tear at you too. But he's hurting himself too, my lady. You see that, don't you? Maybe if we cheat him a little.. just this once it could bring him peace. He'd forget the pain, even if only for a while, and maybe… just maybe… he'd start to heal."

She took a breath, her expression hopeful yet cautious.

"It doesn't even have to be forever," she said gently. "We could do it temporarily.. a small window of time. During that time, we could show him love again, remind him he matters to us, help him see we accept our mistakes. And when the effect fades, even if he learns we interfered… he'll remember both versions of us the cruel past and the kind present.

"He'll know we tampered, but he'll also remember how it felt when we treated him right."

Her gaze softened, almost pleading now. "Maybe he'll resent us at first. Maybe he'll be angry. But he's intelligent. He'll understand.. eventually that we did it not to hurt him, but because we love him. Because we couldn't bear to lose him."

When her words ended, the silence that followed was suffocating.

Marcella straightened her posture, her back stiff, eyes locked respectfully on Merisa. She knew she had crossed a line one that could easily cost her more than her rank. If anyone else, especially Nova, had heard her speak these words… she'd be dead before she could even finish her sentence.

Still, she didn't regret saying them.

She would bear whatever came next.

Merisa met her eyes in silence. For several long seconds, neither spoke. Then, finally, Merisa exhaled softly, her gaze heavy yet calm.

"No," she said simply.

Marcella blinked, startled by the quiet finality in her tone.

Merisa continued slowly, her voice steady but touched with sadness. "We won't do that."

Her eyes lowered, lashes shadowing the faint pain hidden behind them. "The feelings he carries.. all that hatred, all that pain.. I deserve it. Every single bit of it."

Marcella's lips parted as if to argue, but the gentle weight of her lady's tone silenced her.

"Even though what you suggest would work," Merisa said softly, "I won't do it. I don't want to. If my love as a mother isn't strong enough to reach him through his hatred, then I don't deserve to be forgiven. If my actions made him hate me, then it should be my actions.. not magic, not manipulation that make him love me again."

She lifted her gaze once more, and for a moment, the regal strength of the Matriarch returned.. not in power, but in resolve.

"I don't want to cheat that," she said, shaking her head faintly. "I know there are countless ways I could make him forgive me.. to force his heart open, to make him love me again but that wouldn't be real. That would be cruelty disguised as kindness."

Her expression softened, a small, sorrowful smile forming on her lips tired, fragile, but full of dignity.

"He deserves a mother who can face him honestly," she whispered, "not one who would rewrite his heart just to soothe her own pain."

"It's his right to be angry with me," Merisa said softly, her eyes fixed somewhere in the distance, her voice steadier now but carrying that deep maternal ache beneath the calm. "And it's my right… to convince him otherwise. Which I will."

Her gaze softened the sharp glint that had always defined her as a ruler dimming to something deeply human. "There will definitely come a day when he'll understand," she murmured, almost to herself. "He can't be that cruel to his mother, can he?"

A small chuckle escaped her lips. It wasn't mocking, nor confident just quiet, weary hope wrapped in warmth. The faint curve of her lips carried more pain than amusement.

Marcella, standing beside her, lowered her head slightly her expression faintly touched with admiration. Even after everything that had happened, after all the grief and regret, her lady still managed to sound… strong.

Merisa hadn't scolded her for suggesting something so bold something that broke sacred rules. Instead, she had understood that Marcella's intentions were born from care, not disobedience.

That alone made Marcella smile softly.

"Very well, my lady," Marcella said, bowing her head slightly, her voice filled with gentle respect. "I expected nothing less from you."

Merisa smiled faintly in return, the expression dignified yet tired. The silence between them settled again, calm and strangely comforting two women standing at the edge of the ocean, both lost in their own thoughts.

But then..

A soft hum filled the air, almost like the vibration of energy brushing through the wind. The waves slowed, the atmosphere stilled. Both women instinctively lifted their gazes upward.

The sky shimmered faintly. Then, from the clouds.. two figures descended.

They drifted down slowly, weightless, graceful, their presence enough to bend the air around them. The faintest ripples of magic moved through the sea breeze as they touched the ground softly, standing before the two women.

Merisa's brow lifted slightly, one elegant eyebrow arching in curiosity.

"Arabella," she said as recognition dawned, her voice calm yet tinged with surprise.

The woman who had landed in front of her tall, striking, and wild in presence smiled, her bright eyes glinting like molten lava.

"How's it going, Merisa?" Arabella said lightly, her usual confident tone softened with a strange warmth.

"Good," Merisa replied simply, her tone polite but measured. "And you?"

"Good as well," Arabella nodded.

"Greetings, Aunt Merisa," Nancy said politely as she stepped forward, the crystalline wings of ice on her back dispersing into tiny, glittering motes behind her. Her tone was respectful, soft, her posture perfectly straight.

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