Emperor's Reckoning

Ivy's closed eyelids twitched, "Ugh!". She woke up with a sharp prickling pain in her temples before she sat up. Her face was slightly illuminated with a dim yellow hue as she heard the crackles of the burning wood from a nearby bonfire.

Cecile was sitting alongside the three generals around the bonfire and the former glanced over her shoulder before smiling, "You've woken up."

"Ugh," Ivy touched her head to ease the pain somehow, "What happened?"

"I went out of control and got you and the rest implicated into it," said Cecile as she averted her glance back toward the bonfire.

"The rest?" Ivy muttered before she noticed the others were laying as well. She frowned, "I can't remember anything."

"Don't worry about it," said Cecile. "As long as you're fine then you're fine, though you will remember what happened in a given time."

"How long have I been out?" asked Ivy.

"The whole two afternoons."

"What?!" Ivy opened her eyes wide. (I've spent the two days without being conscious?!).

"Shh," Cecile put a finder against her own lips. "He is still resting."

"He?" Ivy raised her brows before she squinted her eyes. She could see someone was laying right in front of Cecile and how she was cherishing them. (Is it him...?) thought Ivy before her mind snapped open as an image of Lyon watching the sands escaping away from his palm replayed.

Ivy's chin was slightly a little bit higher than usual before she gulped. "Is he alright?"

Cecile chuckled, "He is fine, he just needs to rest."

"Are you sure that's all he needed?" asked Ivy with a blatant concern tone. "The injury looks really ghastly."

"Don't worry, his meridians are fine, he just overstressed them," said Cecile.

"Overstress?" Mavis suddenly sat up.

"Oh, you have finally given up on pretending," Cecile chuckled.

"Hehe, am I really that obvious?" asked Mavis.

"Like a sore thumb," Kesya laughed. "Though, those princesses soon follow after that bodyguard guy, and then our dragon princess, and then after that, our elder."

"Dragon princess?" Mavis raised her brows before she noticed a lady with beautiful jade hair sleeping nearby the bonfire. (Oh, it must be her) thought Mavis as he recalled that she was the only one with vertical-slit pupils at the party. "No wonder her nose is so sensitive," he muttered.

Mavis shook his head, "Recalling what I just said, what is this 'overstressing meridians'?"

"You've never heard of it?" Kesya raised her brows.

"The school probably teaches us, but I never listened to them," said Mavis with a wry smile.

Kesya sighed before she clicked her tongue, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, listen carefully."

"Overstressing meridians means basically overstressing one's meridians. You used too much of your cultivation prowess, such as drawing mana from the surrounding, preparing a magic spell, or using heavy ridiculous arts," added Assid.

"Hey! That's my line!!—but yes, what he said," said Kesya as she nodded.

"Really?" Mavis raised his brows, "I have no idea that you could overstress them."

"Usually the body would know and instinctively won't be able to perform any of those without proper recuperation first, however, some art could pierce this invulnerability to gain a temporary boost—thus upper hand in combat," said Cecile. "It's a pretty common thing to happen in a life and death situation."

"Ah, I see," Mavis nodded.

Cecile raised her brows as she spare a glance at Mavis. (From the way he answered, he doesn't seem to have any experience in life and death situations, or perhaps it was too few and less dangerous?).

"Ugh," Hilde woke up the same way Ivy did. "What..."

She was immediately gritted with a nebulous of stars with a full moon. The gentle glow from the bonfire illuminated the majority of her back as she saw the waves crashing and crawling deeper into the sand of the beach.

Hilde turned before she saw the rest of the party. "What happened?"

Cecile shook her head, "Nothing."

(As if!) thought Hilde. (I was clearly out of my body, I can't even remember—oh?!) her mind replayed what happened just before she entered into deep inquisitiveness.

Cherie was the next one and Nit was already sitting with his legs crossed. Kesya's prediction was one hundred percent accurate.

The giant griffin had perched not far from the bonfire. Its jaws opened with its front legs stretched forward. The wings wiggled a little before a pair of feathers were shed. It closed its eyes as its head hung down.

"Oh, so that's how a griffin slept," said Kesya as she raised her brows with stars in her eyes.

"You've never seen one?" asked Assid.

"I usually just kill them when I see them," said Kesya before sending everyone a slight fright.

Lumina rubbed one of her eyes as she glanced at Lyon who was sleeping peacefully on top of Cecile's legs. She furrowed her brows before she said, "He looks really happy with his head sleeping right under your belly."

"You think so?" Cecile smiled.

"Look at his face," said Lumina as she crossed her arms, "He is smiling in his sleep."

Cecile chuckled, "He always has that habit."

"Really? Oh, right, the opposite happened once."

"Hehe, indeed, he does be like that," Cecile shook her head with a smile. "However, that's one of the reasons why he is memorable."

"Look at him grinning," said Lumina, "I think he is happy about something else."

"Oh, what would that be?" Cecile raised her brows. "It's not like you've never seen it before."

Lumina was taken back by her response as she shed a red hue on her cheeks.

"Okay, I will pretend I didn't hear that," said Mavis as he looked away.

Cecile smiled, "You can drop the act too, Mavis."

"Huh?" Mavis raised his brows as he looked at Cecile with a wry smile, "What do you mean?"

"The whole reason you're joining in this quest is so that you can check out our backgrounds right?" said Cecile before the atmosphere was paused by a crackle from the bonfire.

"Er... I guess that's the second reason, but I am genuinely just trying to have fun," said Mavis as he smiled wryly.

"However, you probably got, even more, confused, right?" asked Cecile with a smile. "With how he was called emperor, nor how I was called Empress."

Anna was looking at Ivy the whole time but the latter didn't even spare a glance at the former. Ivy was fixated the moment Cecile took over the attention.

"I..." Mavis sighed. "Can't say that I'm not confused. From what I know, you guys came from the Mortal World, well at least, you, Lyon, Lumina, Kesya, Assid, and then Graham, oh and Ivy of course. Then, Lyon somehow won that blatantly stupid tournament that First Heaven held—oh no offense, princesses."

Hilde smiled wryly before Cherie stepped in with a warm smile, "Some adjustments will be made in the future young master Mavis, I hope that in the next tournament you will grace us with your presence, just like how young master Lyon grace us with his prowess."

Mavis smiled wryly at her response, "I can't promise you, but if I have time I will try to attend."

"We might not be eligible for your promises, but your words are as heavy as Heaven's Prism itself."

(Woah, this woman really has a gullible tongue) thought Mavis as he could only nod and smiled.

Cherie nodded and left him a smile before Cecile took over.

"The Sixth Heaven," Cecile muttered, "Have you ever gone to Paradise before?"

Mavis opened his mouth before he shook his head, "I wanted to but I was not allowed to enter."

"I see," Cecile nodded.

"Young miss, from the information that I've gathered so far—" Assid pushed his glasses and revealed his sharp eyes, "Paradise is still ruled by a single power."

"Really?" Mavis raised his brows, "How did you know?"

Cecile looked at Assid, "Is it still the same as last time?"

"What?" Mavis and the rest were petrified by their exchange of words.

"Yes," Assid nodded, "There is no doubt about it."

"Heh," Cecile smirked before she returned her glance toward Mavis, "Forget about it. You will not be entering Paradise, nor anyone here could, for now?"

"What, do you mean?" Mavis frowned. "How did you know that much about Paradise?"

"All will be revealed when the time comes," said Cecile, "That's why, if you're curious about our backgrounds now then stay curious, however, you will be wasting your time if you try to dig further before the appointed time."

"Appointed time..?" Mavis felt his mind was at the edge of something grand but he seemed not to be able to discover what it was.

"Enough times have been spent in First Heaven, it's time for us to come back," said Cecile with a smile.

"What are you going to do next, Cecile?" asked Cherie.

"That's not up to me," said Cecile as she shook her head before she looked down and cherished Lyon's face. "It's all up to our captain."

His eyelids twitched.