Chapter 394: Basin of Memories (2/2)
”What you saw is in the past, Arthur,” the gourd reappeared in its hand before the Sovereign took another sip, devouring more spirits. ”Why are you blaming me for a gift I gave you? You wanted to see your father, so I showed you.”
”Then show me again. Tell me where he is,” Arthur gritted his teeth. ”Why would you show me if you wanted to take it away? Cruel.”
”You are talking like a child now,” it threw the gourd over its back before standing up. Looking at him with its abnormal and unfeeling eyes, the Sovereign of the Spirits Realm had a goal that Arthur didn't know. ”You had someone who knew your father this entire time, but you missed it.”
”I didn't know that she knew him,” Arthur stood up, feeling drained. He turned away from the Sovereign and went to look through the basin, but it was nothing but water. ”Show me again,”
”I can't show you more than I did,” the voice answered from behind him. ”Your father is unique. No mana fluctuations can escape his senses, not even those that transcend time.”
”Time,” Arthur repeated as he clenched his fist. ”Time, time, time.” He banged his hand against the basin, and the water's rippled distorted his image. ”When was this?” His voice was helpless and tired.
”A hundred years ago,”
”Hah,” Arthur fell to his knees while still clutching the basin. ”My father traveled hundreds of years into the past?”
”That, he did,” the cheerful voice of the Sovereign was gone. ”I've watched over him, and sometimes he looked back.”
”It didn't matter how much I've waited for his return,” Arthur gasped, muffling a sob. ”He was hundreds of years away from us.”
The Spirits Sovereign didn't say anything but simply stood there quietly. Arthur's mind had countless thoughts, and he felt many feelings until he let out a laugh.
”Absurdity makes us laugh,”
Arthur said as he turned toward the Spirits Sovereign. It was standing there, looking at him with a relieved smile. The sight of it made Arthur angry again, but he was too tired now.
”I feared that after your fight against the Duke of Fire, you would have lost all feelings. Yet, I'm glad that they are still there, no matter how much they hurt,”
”For an omnipotent being, you care too much about trivial things,” Arthur shook his head and looked into the basin again.
”What do humans survive for?” As it asked him, the Sovereign walked to stand beside him. Images began appearing in front of the two again. ”Is it not to feel these things: happiness, love, ambitions, awe, curiosity, and every other emotion?”
Images began appearing in the basin: friends joking with each other as they walked home, a father listening to his child who couldn't stop laughing, two lovers sneaking into a forest under the stars, an alchemist who danced because he made a potion, and a father reading his two kids a book.
The images froze on the last one of Arthur, Oren, and their father sitting beside each other. Arthur's eyes stared into the basin, seeing the thin smile on his father and the awe Oren and him had as they listened.
”This image isn't from your memories,” the Spirits Sovereign said. ”It's the most treasured memory your father had.”
”Where is he now?” Arthur was silent before asking.
”I don't know, really,” it said and paused. ”However, I can feel that he's alive somewhere, doing what he believes in.”
”Do you think saying that would make me feel better?”
”I don't know what it would make you feel. You asked, and I simply answered,” the Spirits Sovereign shrugged. ”I showed him to you to make sure you are still capable of feeling,”
”Still?” Arthur glared at the spirit. ”Am I going to lose my feelings the more power I draw from that being?”
”Ah,” the Sovereign smiled. ”You aren't as clueless as I thought. If I say that you will, would you stop using this power? Would you choose to feel, or would you choose to become powerful?”
”You are offering me an impossible choice,” Arthur shook his head. ”I can't choose between these two,”
”Why can't you?”
The Spirits Sovereign walked away from him, returning to its branch on Yggdrasil. Arthur turned to look at it with confusion. The following words it said arrived with the hissing wind, but Arthur heard them.
”After all, you made that choice once before,”