This captivating fantasy world holds endless wonders waiting to be explored.
From the mystical power of Hyperion, the vast deserts of Asphar and Bharat, the dark political intrigues of Verise, to the simmering tensions in the Tri-State continent, t...
In the later hours of the morning, Ruben left the Croix manor to pay Alissa a visit. They kept in touch after Alissa had come over to spend time with Ophelia and they had trained with each other ever since.
"Greetings My lord"The guards at the door greeted
"At ease, where is Ms. Hunter?" Ruben asked
"The miss is at the training ground, we will lead you there"
Ruben was led to the back of the manor, alissa was practicing with a wooden sword, and her long purple hair was put in a ponytail that whipped through the air with every swift movement she made with the sword.
"Huh? Ruben! Hey. You guys can go back, thanks" Alissa said
"I brought food," Ruben said, though he was older than alissa and had a deeper voice, he spoke in a soft almost meek tone that some would deem dignified
"Ooooh, thanks Rue, say I haven't asked but how has ophelia been since. . . .you know?"
"She's been. . . . .good," Ruben said
"I heard of what happened from bella, I was so disgusted when I heard the full story that I dared not ask about the punishment they received, as long as Dionetri still rules over oblivion[hell] I believe their spot has been reserved"Alissa said firmly
"I didn't think you were so religious," Ruben said
"A knight needs to believe in something more than just their sword," Alissa said, "Come on don't just stand there I want to see how much I've improved"
They wrapped their hands in bandages and exchanged a few punches, some that alissa could dodge and others she couldn't. Their technique of sparring almost resembled dancing. An hour went by without them even knowing, and they sat down on the bench.
"*sigh* Why do I feel like you've gotten better? Have you been training in secret?" Alissa asked
"Of course, unless you want my father to have my head," Ruben said he unconsciously started wiping her forehead with a hand towel.
"Thanks, that feels great," Alissa said, she got up and began to stretch, she held up her right leg[prosthetic] and stretched it to the back.
". . . . . ." Ruben silently looked up at alissa
"Hmm? What? it's good to stretch after doing strenuous exercises" Alissa said
"No, it's just. . . . . .I've never asked how did you. . ." Ruben asked, he paused not sure if he should still ask what was on his mind.
"My right leg? Yeah long story"
"I'm sorry if I was being rude"
"No of course not, I've grown up enough to not be overly sensitive about it, not to mention I've told bella, Ezra, Drax and even maelyn knows"
"But such a serious injury leading to amputations, such a story must have spread, how is it that I don't recall it?" Ruben asked
"*sigh* I don't know, maybe more important events overshadowed it, plus this happened almost 11 years ago"
"What!? That long?!"
"Yep, so where should i start? . . . ."
Not many remember that Alissa wasn't the first choice to be the next captain of the imperial army, she had an older sister Katrina Hunter.
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Alissa was said to be a carbon copy of her older sister Katrina, but unfortunately, she never lived to become the captain. Even though Katrina and alissa both took their father's hair and their mother's eyes they had different powers, Alissa had weapon spawn from her father while Katrina had teleportation from her mother.
It was the year 1710, Katrina's sister had just turned 18 and she was to be officially knighted as is the custom in Hyperion. Of course, like most other kingdoms, knighting someone was performed by the reigning monarch which was the emperor in this case.
The knighting was to be done in the temple pavilion in the Holy City and overseen by the priests. At the time the empress was still alive so she attended with the emperor with the then 10-year-old Julianna.
Johannes stood at the center of the pavilion, Katrina, dressed in full armor walked to Johannes and knelt on one knee in front of him, she loudly and proudly swore the oath of loyalty to Johannes and he took his sword and officially knighted her.
Afterward, a 5-year-old alissa quickly ran to embrace her older sister who she looked up to, but the merriment was soon cut short when rumbling could be heard from the main temple that held the oracle, a large red crystal that was believed to be formed from Dianatea's own tears and is what if responsible for the stability of mana around the temple. It is the most powerful magical artifact and only ghouls that can withstand high mana can even go near the oracle temple.
The rumbling turned to the sound of an explosion as a beam of mana shot through the large pavilion that Johannes, Katrina, and alissa were under.
Katrina pushed alissa away to get her away from the incoming rubble, she pushed Johannes out of the pavilion but when she was about to leave she noticed alissa just standing staring at the rubble that was about to collapse on her, this was because alissa had a horrible case of Basophobia[fear of falling or falling things], she teleported to alissa and hugged her tight, the rubble fell on them both.
Johannes immediately ordered the guards and priests to dig them out of the rubble and sent them straight to the best hospital in the capital where even imperial physicians were tending to them, but it was of no use, Katrina sheltered alissa from most of the impact and the rubble hit her in her head and caused her to bleed out before they could dig her out. As for alissa, her right leg was most exposed to the rubble and was crushed beyond repair, her leg was amputated whilst she was still unconscious and when she woke up she lost both her leg and her dearest sister.
"That's awful, did they ever find out why the oracle did that?" Ruben asked
"*sigh* Nope, Mum told me i wasn't able to speak for months after that," Alissa said, she lowered her head.
"You miss her don't you?"
"I was five so I won't pretend like i have the clearest memories of her but. . .the ones I can recall were of a person I could look up to, everything I do is to make her proud, I'll become the greatest captain in the history of Hyperion" Alissa smiled
"Haha, I'm sure you will, now eat something or you won't have strength, a captain can't work on an empty stomach" Ruben smiled with a light pink tint to his cheeks as he smiled at Alissa's confident smile.
Sorry for the short chapter this is one of the side stories to ATBU
