Chapter 202 - False Memories

"I – I think so. At least now that I think about it, it's so…strange."

Ara frowned and Ryuu could see that she was honestly confused.  She looked like someone who just realized something and that everything that happened in the last moments of her life in her old world indeed didn't make sense to her.

"What is strange my love?" he asked lightly, although Homura Ryuu somehow could understand what was wrong.

His wife's memories had been tampered with.

However, something might have happened that made her remember the irregularities now.

"It's strange that I said my brother hated me – I was sure he did, before coming here," Ara said again, the eleven in between her brows deepening as she tried her best to recall.

"And?" Ryuu prompted, his blue gaze not leaving his wife's face.

But the warmth in them was slowly vanishing as he studied her closely, noting the shift in her mood and the inconsistency of her recollections. A suspicion was born in his chest and he continued to egg her to answer his questions so that he could also make sure if his assumptions were correct.

"He… He was the one who asked me to go and search for an artifact that was sure to lead me to my death. I was sure he hated me… I mean, there was a faction that wanted me to rise to the throne and replace my brother after the Immortal War where I was hailed a heroine."

Ara touched her head. In her memories when she was in Ritz and when she first woke up from the hospital, she was sure that she and Alistair hadn't been talking for a long time, and that her brother had changed his attitude towards her.

But now…

"But I can't remember my brother being cold to me at all now. In fact…" She swallowed hard, her eyes widening in horror as she realized something, and Ryuu knew why.

"It was not him," he said. "It was you who had changed in personality. You were cold and avoided him."

With this, Ara looked at him with misery on her expression. "Kou…why did I think about him like that? Why did I even act like that? I couldn't remember doing that until now."

The memories Ara could remember at this moment were totally different from the ones she knew when she first came into this world. She had ultimately thought that she was the greatest victim.

Yes, Alistair was not a showy kind of brother. But in his own way, Ara was sure she was spoilt rotten by him. So why did she think that he hated her enough to get rid of her then?

"Before I died, I really believed that he was the one who ordered to ambush my team and killed everyone. The army of archers who attacked us was wearing Ritz' colors, you see? They were waiting for us to feel tired from fighting the guardian beasts before they attacked. We didn't get the chance to defend ourselves."

Ryuu nodded. "So what made you think it's a setup now?"

"Because it didn't make sense."

Ara held the side of her head as if a headache was starting. "My brother is best friends with the Flame Emperor, Ivan of Kres. Even if there was a faction that wanted me to be the queen, it will never work with Kres backing my brother up."

Ryuu's eyebrow rose at the mention of the title. Flame Emperor?

There was only one person he knew with such title: himself .

"We are all demigods but the royals of Kres are a lot more powerful because their divine blood is closer to pure than any other country's. Their ancestor, Kresnik is a constant returner to ancestry – that's a real deity being born again to purify his descendants' bloodline and keep themselves powerful."

Ryuu almost smiled at her explanation. She didn't know that he knew about them. Well, he was the returner to ancestry in question she was talking about after all. He didn't stop her from explaining further as he was more focused on the last part where she mentioned that he was a constant reincarnation.

Why?

Why did he keep coming back to be born in the mortal plane?

Ryuu had no memories of that, but this was not the correct time to ask more questions about it. He had more pressing issues to attend to, and that was dealing with Czernobog first and foremost.

The Black God was an entity he couldn't let running loose for long.

"So what I mean is that my brother is a very smart man even if he's not powerful physically. He didn't have to be that low – he wouldn't be so low even if he wanted to get rid of me for real," Ara continued. "After all, even with all my strength, I can never do anything to overthrow him."

Ryuu nodded again.

"You believe my story?"

"Of course I believe you," Ryuu assured her. "Actually, your memories…"

"What about them? Do you have an idea why I remember differently now?" Ara looked at him expectantly, and the Koutaishidenka who promised to be honest with her nodded.

"Shadow lurker," Ryuu answered, and Ara visibly paled.

"I… I have a parasite?" She looked very alarmed, but he calmed her down.

"Had. You had one but it's gone now." He shifted her again in his arms, his hand brushed the small of her back to make her relax.

"I think, the shadow lurker had attached itself on you but gave up and left to find another host. Or it was forcefully removed when you transmigrated and transferred to someone else. Since you're a demigod, it couldn't really eat you fast enough to make you deteriorate. What more is that you were just a fragment before. It couldn't really damage you since it had no access to all of your soul. But it's strong enough to leave some effects, however, they're temporary ones."

It was why Ara had a different set of memories before but could remember the real ones now. The hosts of shadow lurkers often created false memories.  They also had paranoia, which made Ara thought badly about her brother and had changes in personality at the time the parasite was still there. Nevertheless, the hosts remained oblivious to these changes until they got rid of the parasite.

Hearing that, Ara was relieved again. For the first time since learning she was a broken soul, she felt glad to be one. If she was not a fragment, she would have been a walking catastrophe now.

Then she froze as she turned to Ryuu.

"You knew all about me and all of these things. You said you were a god. Which one are you?" she asked, and Ryuu grinned, with mischief dancing behind his blue orbs.

"I'm the returner to ancestry you were talking about earlier, the one and only Flame Emperor, Kresnik."