TCF!Ron pulled out his dagger and clenched it’s handle so tightly the leather soundlessly snapped beneath his clenched fist. On the other hand, his son, TCF!Beacrox, gulped down the urge to scream. He can still vividly recall the sight of Cale thrashing about in agony after earning the Sky Eating Water Ancient Power and how as soon he’d gained it, his broken plate began to fuse back together all while causing him to cough up copious amounts of blood and writhe in unspeakable agony.
And now he’s hearing that Jour Thames/Henituse, the mother of the Cale, who became Kim Rok Soo, had knowingly and on purpose broken her plate?! He wants to scream – no, he wants to kill someone, he wants to torture someone, he clenched his fists so tightly that the gloves he was wearing pulled taut and then tore apart.
TCF!Beacrox felt like he was suddenly suffocating as he tried to silently steady his breathing. He had been older than Kim Rok Soo when he’d lost his mother to Arm, but at least he still had his father. For years, he never understood why Cale would insult his food and act like a spoiled good-for-nothing punk, but now he understood. Cale had no one. His mother had voluntarily chosen her ending, and his father had turned away from him. What other outlet could a lonely nine-year-old have when his father suddenly announces a re-marriage after a year of his mother’s death and then to see and compare TCF!Ron and TCF!Beacrox’ father-son relationship.
If their roles were reversed, TCF!Beacrox suspects he would have done much worse than the original Cale, becoming Trash was mild compared to what TCF!Beacrox would have done. He brushes his hand through his hair in frustration and then returns his gaze to the Palantír as the record goes on heedless of the knowing and unknowing pain it has flung at everyone.
As if for the benefit of those who do not know, Cale upon the Palantír explains the true magnitude of what Jour had done to herself.
Cale gasped.
Every person had a ‘plate.’
Ancient powers were stored in this plate as well. Cale’s plate was large, but quite weak. Cale Henituse’s mother had broken her own plate to secretly bury a portion of her ancient power in Harris Village. Cale barely managed to say something.
“…If a person’s plate breaks-”
“They die.”
Kim Rok Soo calmly answered, but Cale could see the understanding and sorrow in his eyes. But neither of those emotions could subdue the resentment clearly visible in Kim Rok Soo’s eyes. These were probably the feelings Kim Rok Soo had for his mother. He noticed Cale’s gaze and buried those emotions before starting to speak about something else.
It is too painful to hear this, TBOAH!Violan and TBOAH!Deruth both collapse the moment Grigori touches the crown of their heads, using her divine magic, she maneuvers their unconscious forms onto the bed where their children lie asleep and then returns to her seat with a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
“The first thing I did when I woke up in your room was reading The Birth of a Hero. This is a hypothesis I came up with while reading it.”
Kim Rok Soo was making it clear that it was his thoughts and may not be true.
“You know how everybody dies in Harris Village, which leads to Choi Han heading out? The White Star would have needed to go to Harris Village at least once to get my mother’s power.”
“Mm.”
Cale had been thinking about that as well. Kim Rok Soo shared his suspicions.
“Isn’t it possible that the White Star got my mother’s power from Harris Village while Choi Han was out? Then he left his subordinates to take care of the rest.”
‘Arm’ delivers the dead mana from the black swamp inside the Forest of Darkness to the mermaids in The Birth of a Hero.
The mermaids use that dead mana in their war against the Whale tribe, leading Choi Han to help the Whales fight.
A lot of different pieces of information popped up and then sank back down in Cale’s mind. Kim Rok Soo noticed Cale’s face stiffening with thought and quickly added on.
“I might be wrong. My suspicions might be completely wrong.”
“…Yes.”
Cale nodded his head and quietly sighed.
“Wow… you figured out so much in such a short amount of time. You figured out things that even us in the first timeline took almost twenty years to speculate about.’’ Kim Rok Soo mumbled, his voice full of genuine admiration toward Cale for his brilliant and strategic mind.
On the other hand, Cale simply shrugged and glanced toward his family and friends on the TCF!World side of the hall.
“I had the help and support of many amazing individuals.” He replies, directing a gentle smile toward them all.
Kim Rok Soo let go of the curtain and walked over to Cale.
“Anyway, what I will tell you now is the important part. What is the White Star doing right now?”
Cale answered without any hesitation.
“He’s aiming for Puzzle City.”
Kim Rok Soo’s face stiffened up as he commented.
“I guess there is a reason the God of Death let the two of us meet.”
Cale noticed the reason as well. He got up from the bed and stood in front of Kim Rok Soo. The two of them looked at each other and Cale asked a question.
“That wood attribute ancient power… Where is the rest of it?”
He said that Cale Henituse’s mother had buried a portion of the power in Harris Village. That meant that the rest was still elsewhere.
“Ahh, just so you know. I got it back, both that half and the one that White Radish stole.” Cale announced in a calm and casual tone.
Kim Rok Soo blinked and then choked when Cale’s name for White Star registered in Rok Soo’s mind, he chuckled heartily a moment later and hung his head. His eyes brighten with delight and relief.
“Thank you, Cale.” He whispered fervently to his Soul Swap Partner.