Chapter 36: Castle on the Hill

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Lloyd sighs as he leaned back in his chair, he was in his lab at the Del castle. Aria was downstairs reading, leaving him in peace. Lloyd turned his head to look at the portrait beside his desk. It was a picture of the girl who resembled Aria. He then looked back at the children's picture book of The Servant of Evil.

Lloyd opened up the book and flipped through it once again, for what seemed like the 100th time.

"I don't get it," He muttered "What does this mean?"

The longer he thought about it, the more his mind went hazy. It was like he saw these images in his dreams. The same way he learned he could use his powers to make deals, but when he actually tested it with Clouse, he didn't feel like himself.

"The last clue is this," Lloyd says to himself as he picked up the picture book "what could it-"

Lloyd stopped flipping through the book and stopped on a page. He opened it up and slammed it on the table. Lloyd stood up and rushed into the hall, he ran down the stairs and stopped at the portrait that hung in the center.

Aria, who was reading on the couch, sat up and looked at him curiously.

"I knew it..." Lloyd muttered "It wasn't a dream."

"Are you sure I'm the crazy one Lloyd?" Aria questions "You're mumbling to yourself."

"Hold on!" Lloyd runs back up into his lab, grabbing the book, before running down the stairs.

"Lloyd-"

"Look!" Lloyd showed her the picture on the picture book.

"That's nice Lloyd," Aria nods slowly as she took the book from him "Are you-"

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"That's nice Lloyd," Aria nods slowly as she took the book from him "Are you-"

"Idiot," Lloyd made her face the picture on the wall.

Aria's eyes widened as she held up the picture book next to the painting on the wall, they were the exact same.

"Now this is creepy," Aria says.

"This is a wild theory," Lloyd stood in front of her "I mean really wild, but what if those pictures in the temple weren't our future, what if it was-"

"Our past," Aria mutters.

"Just like your parent's images were the past, ours was too." Lloyd says.

"That sounds... insane." Aria shakes her head as she walked away.

"We're the story Aria," Lloyd says "We're the Servant and Princess from the story. Look-" Lloyd flips to the end of the book "The last line of the novel and the children's story is with their last breath the two swore to return, 'your moon will turn red with our blood and our souls will return to the earth.' and the picture isn't their death but the banner of Del."

"I..." Aria was at a loss for words.

"Think about it Aria, 'when you see the image amongst the gold, find the end of the story.' The image in the gold was the Del banner insignia, at the end of the picture book is the Del banner insignia. Del is the name of the kingdom where Princess Sophia and Noah ruled." Lloyd explains.

"Del is your father's home, it's the kingdom he built. Everyone keeps saying 'they don't remember' everyone calls you 'princess' or 'your highness.' Aria... I've been having dreams about this." Lloyd catches his breath before looking back at Aria "I... I consider you my family, I've never left you because I fell in love with you. We're... we're the same."

"We're..." Aria turns around and looks up at the Del banners around the room "This means it was real... all these things we deemed creepy or weird. How do we confirm this without my father?"

"There's one person still alive that's been friends with my father and the old man for years," Lloyd says, "And we're in luck..." he closed the picture book and points to the author's name "She wrote this book."

"Mystic?" Aria questions confuse "That's not a name."

"No, but I know who she is." Lloyd says, "The lady who runs the tea shop, Mystake."

"I gotta sit down," Aria sat down.

"We don't remember anything," Lloyd says "but everyone else does. There are people who are still alive from all those years ago from when we ruled."

"We don't know that it was us Lloyd," Aria shakes her head.

"Why else would their characters have been drawn to look exactly like us if we weren't born yet then?" Lloyd questions.

"I don't know," Aria shakes her head. "Wait a minute, I'm completely ignoring the fact you said that you loved me."

"Of course I did idiot, you just realized that." Lloyd sighs "Why are you so dense? This is the third time I've said something like that."

"I've... um... been busy?" Aria looks away before turning back to him.

"You've been my best friend since forever Aria," Lloyd says "If I'm right about this though, it means we've been in love with each other longer than we've remembered."

"Much longer then forever then," Aria smiles.

"So... do you love me too?" Lloyd questions.

"Ignoring all the craziness we just talked about, this isn't the craziest thing for me to admit then is it?" Aria chuckles.

"Not at all," Lloyd replies as he kneeled on the ground and took her hand.

"That means you were my servant in the past," Aria jokes "you're ok with admitting that?"

"Hey if that's what takes to be beside you," Lloyd kisses her hand "then of course."

Aria put her hands around Lloyd's face and pulled him closer to kiss him on the lips.

"You're such a weirdo," Aria says.

"You're the one who took 3 years to realize I loved you," Lloyd laughs "and you say I'm the weirdo?"

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