Seeing Giliath no longer beside them, Lucia reached her hand out, and placed it over Rean's hand. It felt...strangely warm. She didn't know that Rean had just suffered a massive amount of blood loss. But because Giliath became the Ebon Knight's Awakener, he had already recovered enough to the point of feeling warm again. Normally, when one loses lots of blood like him, their body would feel cold. But it didn't. Lucia wasn't aware of this part, so she simply smiled at Rean who was covered inside his blanket. She then spoke to Teo.
"It looks like our little Elise will be getting a new sibling, dear.", Lucia said, speaking to Teo. She hadn't a clue how Giliath ended up like this, nor knew where this child came from. For some reason, he took after Giliath in more than one way, and wondered if this child truly was his.
"Indeed. Our family will grow bigger from this. I just can't fathom what put Brother Giliath into this situation. It is a shame I can't ask about it. He's already gone...", Teo said, shaking his head with a sigh. "I just hope our paths will cross again someday. He mentioned cutting off ties completely. Do not let this matter go unturned, Lucia. You should understand the severity at hand."
"I do, dear. We will treat this child as our own from now on. Rean Schwarzer...", Lucia uttered, before smiling again while looking at the boy who was being cradled in her arms. "That has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
"Indeed it does. Brother Giliath, may Aidios be with you. Even if we have parted ways like this, our bond will remain. Always.", Teo uttered, smiling into the dimly-lit town square where Giliath vanished. His figure had long since departed from sight. It was then the two heard a small echo of feet shuffling, only to speak out to them. The sunrise was already taking place, which illuminated parts of their mansion.
"Mama...Is breakfast ready yet?", A girls' voice said, asking the two. From further inside the mansion on the second floor, a little girl could be seen. Perhaps one or two years younger than Rean, who had pale indigo hair. She's born the same year as Princess Alfin. This girl was Elise Schwarzer, the first daughter and rightful heir to the Schwarzer Barony. But now, she will soon be receiving a new big brother.
Lucia smiled hearing Elise's question. Teo also turned around to see his daughter coming down the large staircase.
"Of course, Elise. We will start preparing breakfast shortly.", Lucia happily said. Keeping Rean steady, she saw Elise approach them. "Before we begin, how would you like to meet your new big brother?"
"...Pardon?", Elise asked, still half-asleep. She didn't hear that correctly, but her eyes became much more alert after Lucia said that.
"Yes. Come now, Elise. We will soon be busy from here on.", Teo said, revealing a rare smile, and brought Rean to her. The moment Elise's eyes first laid upon Rean still wrapped in his blanket, her eyes went wide. She saw Rean peacefully sleeping away, still in Lucia's arms.
"Who is this, Papa?", Elise asked, still shocked.
"Haha! Didn't I say so already Elise my dear? This is your new big brother. Rean. Rean Schwarzer. Please don't be too hard on him, alright? I wish I could explain further, but unfortunately, I can't.", Teo said. 'Now that I think about it, didn't Brother Giliath mention about having another son beside Rean? What is he currently doing?', Teo thought to himself, wondering if that was the case. Giliath rarely brought up familial matters with him.
But what was now in front of him was the truth. They now had a new son to call their own. Elise just stared at the sleeping boy, wide-eyed.
"Rean Schwarzer...", Elise uttered softly. "My new big brother?"
Hearing Elise asked that, Lucia simply smiled at her. Giliath was nowhere to be seen, so all they could do was retreat back into their mansion to start their day. As Teo said, they were going to become very busy from now on...
Meanwhile...
Back toward the outskirts of the town the Schwarzer Barony resided in. A town called Ymir, which is famous for its Hot Springs during wintertime. A tall figure emerged, dressed in a torn military uniform. It was Giliath of course. He stood near one of the edges of the town, allowing him to look at the snow capped mountains in the distance. Every so often, a passerby would look at him with interest, but he ignored every single one. Once upon a time, Ymir too used to be Giliath's home after being adopted into the Schwarzer Barony in the long, distant past. He felt like he could leave Rean in Teo Schwarzer's hands, so that is what he decided on doing.
Giliath saw the town of Ymir. It was quite high up in the Eisengard Mountain range. Elevated mountains were scattered around it. With it still being February, the air was quite cold. Lots of snow littered the town, painting it very white. Thankfully to most folks, Ymir was actually known to be famous for its hot springs. Barely anyone who lived here had no issue dealing with the rigid cold.
Unbeknownst to the people here, a black, shadowy-like mist wrapped over Giliath's body like a phantom. It wasn't just him either. Toward the top of the Schwarzer Mansion, a silver fox with a single tail could be seen perched on top of it. A hint of sadness appeared in the fox's eyes. She was Tamamo of course. Her eyes ignored all the other people, and only observed Giliath from afar.
"Kyuu...", Tamamo uttered. Her tail swooped down as if responding to this sadness she was feeling. Tamamo had continued her mission Naoto gave her. Casting that soul-binding incantation was only one part of it. Being here in Ymir to observe Giliath was the second part. She continued observing Giliath, and felt this sadness. Another Skill Naoto had with Tamamo wasn't just the ability to link their senses, including sight. Naoto has the ability to swap positions with Tamamo. As much as he wanted to do that with Tamamo right now, he couldn't. He was in the process of entering the DG Cult.
The idea behind this position-swapping ability was that as long as Tamamo visited certain places, Naoto could therefore swap places with her. In games, this would be the so-called 'Fast travel' method one could use to quickly go from one area on the map to another. Trails games further adopted this style of traveling, and now, Naoto has access to this. But even if he wanted to, he couldn't right now, even if he did have enough EP for it.
At most, Naoto was sharing his senses with Tamamo right now while he was being hoisted away by the High Priest. That is why Tamamo was feeling such sadness. It was as if Naoto was directly observing Giliath.
As for Giliath, he observed the Schwarzer Mansion from a distance, and felt a feeling of melancholy swell inside his chest.
"This is for the best...", Giliath said, seeing the door of the Schwarzer Mansion close up once more, and no longer saw Rean. As he said that, he took a moment to look around his own body for once, making sure things were all in alignment. "Still, this immortal business is truly something, isn't it?", Giliath questioned, seeing his body completely fine and free of injury. He had already healed back up to full, and even felt bursting with energy. Now it made sense as to why he could run all the way here in such a short amount of time without a single break.
Giliath even heard a voice speak to him, which caused his thoughts to stir.
"Of course it is, you fool. We are now linked. What you share is a constant reserve of the energy I feed into this pathetic body of yours.", An imposing voice said, speaking directly into Giliath's mind. "And do not forget that you would have died after you sacrificed your heart to save your child. Now you belong to me, Dreichels."
"Yeah, yeah. You keep addressing me as Dreichels. If I truly was him, then I am him no longer. Call me Giliath. Not Dreichels. You dwell on the past too much. That is who I am now.", Giliath responding, scoffing at the voice. This voice belonged to none other than Ishmelga. The simplest way of explaining Ishmelga, apart from the fact that he is the Ebon Knight, is that he is a thought entity birthed from pure malice and hatred. It is none other than this being who orchestrated every major disaster that struck throughout Erebonia since the Great Collapse. The War of the Lions was one such instance.
"Hmph. Fair enough. You have nothing holding you back anymore.", Ishmelga answered.
"That is true. On top of that, the pro-war nobles have begun to act in the shadows. They already know I've begun to sniff them out. I must return to His Majesty's side at once, since his newfound position cannot be treated lightly.", Giliath said. A new resolve appeared in his eyes. It was then Ishmelga asked him a question Giliath wasn't expecting to hear.
"Must you depart right away? Don't you want to take some time to see what this newfound power has to offer you?", Ishmelga asked. Giliath's eyes remained calm, and didn't falter from that question.
"As nice as that sounds, I fear for what these nobles are trying to accomplish. Worse comes to serve, we very well could enter another war. Not from within, but from the outside. Time is of the essence here.", Giliath responded, worry struck his eyes.
"Not that I care in the slightest. Do as you wish. Once you have become adjusted and your idiocies handled, I will take you to meet someone. As worthless as he might be, he is nonetheless a servant of mine.", Ishmelga suddenly said, drawing Giliath's interest.
"A servant, eh? Who exactly might that be?"
"It would seem you are already familiar with the Kin of Fire. Who I am referring to doesn't belong to that clan, but the one who opposes them from the shadows. He belongs to the Kin of Earth. I do realize some time has passed since my slumber. It looks like they go by the Hexen Clan and Gnomes Clan now.", Ishmelga answered.
"The Hexen Clan and the Gnomes Clan...So this is tied to them after all. I do recall they have a rivalry going on. Even now they do.", Giliath said.
"Indeed. And you should know what it means for you to reach out to the Gnomes. Your own kin is already closely related to the Kin of Fire. I don't need to spell it out for you, do I?", Ishmelga responded with another question. Hearing that, Giliath smiled and laughed.
"Haha! That truly does seem to be the case here. A clash might be inevitable. The Vermillion Knight, Testa-Rossa...", Giliath uttered to himself. Still, while he thought this, any shred of doubt he still had vanished. Clarity appeared in his eyes. A look of determination. "And for that very reason, I am willing to play the role of the villian. I must secure my position as Erebonia's next Chancellor. I must."
"And I shall assist you from the shadows so you can step onto that stage, Giliath. What is to become yours, will become mine. A petty position like that will require little effort to obtain.", Ishmelga said. If he could within that dark misty-like cloud, Ishmelga would grin here. It was then Ishmelga's gaze on Giliath turned serious. "But even with that said, you know you've been tailed since your journey started here, right?"
Hearing that question, Giliath smiled, and didn't immediately answer. Instead, he shifted his head toward the top of the Schwarzer Mansion. He saw a little silver fox staring at him from afar.
"Kyuu?", Tamamo questioned, tilting her head a bit in confusion. It looks like Giliath spotted her!
But once Tamamo blinked her eyes once, the very same Giliath that looked at her from Ymir's outskirts could no longer be seen.
It was as if he had completely vanished. They wondered if they had seen a ghost or something.
Still, Tamamo shook this weird feeling away, and hopped down from the rooftop. She squeezed through the door's gap, making her way inside the Schwarzer Mansion to make sure Rean was safe...
And as for Giliath, he had a newfound resolve. One that would place him on the path to becoming the Blood and Iron Chancellor. He could leave his second son to Teo Schwarzer just like how it went down in the games, and for his firstborn son Naoto, he saw back at the villa that he was already on a path of his own that he must go follow.
Nothing was holding Giliath back any longer.