Arthur nodded in agreement.
"The visions show more than just power. They show who he was. Why he made the choices he did."
Father's story. His real story, not the fragments mother could bear to tell.
Jasmine looked at Arthur one more time, uncertainty flickering in her eyes.
"Can he be with me? As I watch it?"
The mercury guardian's form shifted, considering.
"He has witnessed the inheritance before. If he wishes to see it again…"
The being's voice carried approval.
Arthur stepped closer, his presence steadying her racing heart.
Jasmine gripped the legendary staff tighter. The inheritance chamber hummed around them, runes beginning to glow brighter as magic stirred to life.
Ready to see father's story. Ready to understand his choices.
But as the walls began to shift and change, preparing to show her visions of a past she'd only glimpsed in fragments, one question burned in her mind.
What truth about her father's fate would she discover? And would it change everything she thought she knew about his death?
The chamber filled with light, light beginning to bend as the inheritance prepared to reveal its deepest secrets.
Father… I'm finally coming home.
Arthur watched Jasmine's face transform through a kaleidoscope of emotions over the past ten minutes.
Joy when she witnessed her father's childhood triumphs. Pride as she saw him dominate the Academy rankings. Fury when the betrayal began to unfold. And finally, heartbreak as the visions cut off just before the truth she'd spent her life seeking.
The guardian had shown her everything Arthur had experienced—Regulus's humble beginnings in that small house, his secret training sessions in their small courtyard, his meteoric rise through the Academy's ranks.
All the way to that final, incomplete scene where enemies closed in from all sides.
She's been holding her breath for the last five minutes.
The mercury being materialised closer to them, its liquid form rippling with anticipation.
"This is where your companion stopped last time," the guardian announced, looking at Jasmine. "However, there was one final scene that neither of us witnessed. The master sealed it—only his true heir could unlock what came next."
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
One more scene. The missing piece.
That explained the abrupt ending he'd experienced. Regulus had hidden the most crucial part of his story, ensuring that only when he had an heir would the world learn the complete truth.
"The identity of his betrayer," Arthur murmured, understanding flooding through him.
The guardian confirmed. "Among other revelations."
Jasmine trembled beside him, overwhelmed by decades of suppressed grief.
Her hands shook as they gripped the legendary staff, knuckles white with tension.
"Are you ready?" the mercury guardian asked gently, waiting for her emotional storm to settle.
Arthur moved without thinking, his spatial aura wrapping around them both like a protective cocoon. He settled beside her on the floor, close enough that their shoulders touched.
"Hey," he whispered, his voice softer than morning rain.
Jasmine turned, her eyes swimming with unshed tears and raw vulnerability. Although she had slaughtered demons and monsters alike, she was still her dad's small girl, and watching everything made her break from the inside.
Arthur reached up, his fingers gentle as they traced the path of a tear down her cheek.
"You don't have to carry this alone anymore," he said quietly.
"Whatever we see in there, whatever truth your father left behind...you're not that scared little girl hiding in the shadows anymore. You are strong Jasmine, you have the power now, and once you inherit your dad's powers, you would be kicking their butt soon."
She needs to know she's not powerless this time.
His other hand found hers, fingers intertwining slowly. His hands felt like an anchor to her, reminding her that someone chose to stay beside her in the darkness.
"Your father was brave enough to face his enemies alone," Arthur continued, his thumb tracing soothing circles across her knuckles.
"But his daughter doesn't have to be."
Jasmine's breath hitched, the simple promise undoing something tight in her chest.
When was the last time someone just... held space for me to feel?
"We'll watch together," Arthur said firmly. "And whatever comes next—whatever path you choose—I'll be right here."
The certainty in his voice made her believe it. Made her believe that maybe, finally, she wasn't facing the world's cruelty alone.
Jasmine leaned into his warmth, drawing strength from his unwavering presence.
"Okay," she whispered.
The guardians nodded with approval.
"Then let us witness what my master, the Archmage Regulus, had protected from the world."
The chamber began to change around them once again.
The walls dissolved like watercolours in rain, reforming into the familiar battlefield Arthur had witnessed before. The same demon general.
The same desperate chaos. The same moment frozen in time.
But now the scene continued.
The frozen tableau suddenly animated—not completely, but like a painting where only one subject could move. Regulus's head turned, his eyes widening as he registered the newcomer emerging from the dimensional tear.
The battle preparation, the demon general, and the first princess beating against the barrier—all were momentarily forgotten as Regulus stared at the blurred figure.
Regulus's lips moved, and this time the words carried clearly across the battlefield.
The figure's face remained obscured by a mask and a hood, but somehow Regulus could still discern their identity. His expression shifted from shock to confusion, then to something approaching horror.
"Nikolas... how are you here?"
Regulus's gaze darted between the figure before him and the man with dark hair and void-black eyes fighting desperately outside the barrier—the same loyal friend who'd stood beside him since their Academy days.
"Why are there two of you?"
Regulus's voice carried across the magical dome, confusion bleeding into his tone. "And why are you wearing a mask?"
The masked figure remained silent, but something in his posture made Regulus step back.
Despite the concealment that Nikolas was trying, Regulus knew his best friend's aura. It was not something that could be hidden from him.