160 Richards Past 4 (2/2)

Richard wanted to say something else but after that point on he was not allowed to speak. Dumbledoor and Serpentine decided on a training program for him and explained the other perks of being a Sovereign like immortality or having the ability to rebuild your body with the said element. Actually, both of those things can be counted as the same thing. Mages had a finite life span just like any other human but that did not include Sovereigns.

In the past, one of the Sovereigns discovered that he could rebuild his body with his domain element after a devastating injury and after that point on he became an immortal. When he gets older he just needed to replace those body parts with the new ones built from his element so he lived for centuries but that was not real immortality. After having a fight with another Sovereign and getting his head destroyed in battle he wasn't able to regenerate anymore so it was decided that Sovereigns only had the ability to keep their youth and they could be counted as pseudo immortals. Still, that didn't discourage the mages, once they found out that they could stop their ageing they tried to find other ways to gain immortality. One of which was the recent debate about the Philosopher's Stone. Currently, it was just a theory but they had found that if someone could fuse their body with the said stone they would achieve true immortality. However, that was only a theory and there was no substance to that as of now.

After being released by his 'teachers' Richard immediately left to find Leon. He was his best friend and wanted to find out if he could do something for him. This must be a very hard time for him. He needed all the support he could get. Of course, the naive Richard did not know that his presence would make matters worse but what can you expect from someone who grew in the countryside and only had a handful of friends.

Richard asked anyone he could find if they had seen Leon but none of them was able to answer him. Then Richard went to the highest tower in their school. Leon liked hanging out in there and watch the stars, imagining the day he would finally get to leave this school and travel around the world. Since it was already dark he might be there. When he arrived there Richard found out that he was right. Leon really was there but he was not alone. Edith was also with him.

”Edith, I love you. Will you marry me?” Richard stopped himself from going inside. So this was how his perfect day was going to end. Leon had finally confessed to Edith and they were going to be a pair. His heart hurt, he knew that he shouldn't have any hopes but once he found that he was special he couldn't help but imagining his own future with Edith. Of course, he could have still barged in and confessed to Edith as well and with his new identity there shouldn't be any problems with them getting married but he couldn't do this to his friend. He had lost too much today and Richard was afraid that he might do something irreversible if he took Edith away from her.

”I am sorry but I can't reply to your feelings I have someone else I like,” said Edith while bowing her head in apology. Richard who was about to leave stopped on his tracks and kept on listening.

”Who?” Leon had asked in hostility.

”Richard,” said Edith and something in Richard's head jolted. He wanted to jump and shout. He wanted to barge in there and confess his feelings to her but he could not do it. At least not right in front of Leon. So he bolted out of there as fast as possible lest he would not be able to hold himself back and barge in there to hold Edith in his arms.

That night Richard wasn't able to sleep and he kept turning around in his bed. He was thinking about what kind of expression he should make when he meets Edith today. As soon as it became morning he got up from his bed and wore his best robes. He wanted to look his best today. He even carefully combed his hair!

After having a heft breakfast he wondered if he should also grab a bouquet of flowers for her. Yes, it would be so romantic.

”Hey, did you hear the explosion last night?”

”What explosion?”

”I heard that Leon barged into one of the element pools to build his own altar. It seems like he wasn't able to come to terms with the fact that he wasn't a genius anymore. I also heard that his girlfriend Edith barged in after him to stop him from doing anything stupid but he didn't listen to her. Resulting in him implode and taking away Edith to the underworld together with himself. Such a tragedy”

After listening to the chat of the students next to him Richard felt numb. They could not be serious, right? Today was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. They both couldn't have gone and left him all alone in this world right?

Richard got up from his chair and went to where the explosion took place. The teachers including Dumbledoor was there stopping students from barging in there. Seeing the mangled bodies lying in the middle of the room Richard let out an agonizing cry. Everything was his fault. If he had been more courageous, more honest with her Edith might have been alive. If it was Leon who was the Sovereign he would have still been here. They had died because of him. Everything was his fault!