Redemption Run

Chapter 3

My jaw dropped to the ground. Rhys froze mid-sentence. It was as though time had stopped around us. Kydro looked hurt, like he had been physically hurt when he dropped the bomb he just dropped.

"Felice... is my mother?" Rhys said, "That's not possible! Felice died over a century ago, and I'm nineteen!"

"You've been frozen in time," said Xelsa, "Felice used her magic to place you in a frozen sleep for a century, as a way to keep you safe."

"Okay, hold on," I said as gently took Rhys' hand and squeezed it for comfort, "Let's go back and start at the beginning. So Felice is Rhys' mother, does that mean her father is...?"

"Easton." Zappiel said, "The product of their marriage."

"Oh Oktu, oh great Oktu, please..." Rhys said as she started to go limp in my arms. I caught her before she could hit the ground and sat her down on the stump, wrapping my arms around her chest and leaning into her back to keep her from falling over. Tarja bent down to Rhys' level and put her arm around her shoulders.

"Easton's a fanatical cultist to the Essence Cleanser," said Zappiel, "The entity that was fated to destroy the world and bring along the New Era, before it was defeated by Oktu and brought us the Second Era instead."

"They believed a vessel was needed to bring along the second coming of the Cleanser," said Kydro, "But the vessel needed to suffer non-stop pain and torment for their entire lives to accept the Cleanser's ways. So when Rhys was born, they tortured her for years."

"We didn't remember any of this for a while, even after we were freed from those damned jewels," said Killian, "Our memories have been pretty fuzzy for a while, comes with the age I guess."

"When we tried to escape, we were caught," said Zappiel, "But Felice managed to slip away to the dungeons for a while with Rhys, wiped her memories, then froze her in time and space before joining part of her soul with her necklace, which she left with Rhys as well."

"The same necklace you're wearing, Riley." said Xelsa. My hand instinctively went up to touch it.

"So that's why I found Rhys in the dungeons, confused and scared?" Tarja asked, "The spell had worn off?"

"That must be it." said Zappiel, "She was, effectively, a child with no memories or skills. I believe she's more than lucky that you found her, Tarja, and kept her safe for so long."

"The only thing she had was her name." said Tarja, "Even then, she wasn't entirely sure it was her own name, or just one she remembered. I could not just leave her alone in that state, so I brought her with me, and kept her hidden from the guards, as well as the emperor himself."

"Hey, I think that's enough." I said, "This is a lot to take in, let Rhys cool down."

"I agree." said Tarja. She looked at me, and we both realized the same thing; Rhys was trembling, like she was about to have a mental breakdown. I didn't blame her in the slightest.

"I see," said Killian, nodding, "Yes, we should allow this to settle for now."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go get Rhys laid down," I said, "You guys keep figuring out what's gonna happen with those gems."

"Will do." said Kydro, "Be safe you two."

"I've set you guys up a private tent," said Rogal, "It's the dark red one on the edge of the camp."

I helped Rhys stand up, which she did without much of a fuss, and led her out of the tent to the private one. Some of the people around stopped to stare when he passed, but no one said anything, not that I would've had time to deal with that even if they did.