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Maotelus -- a name he once told people as the name of the Empyrean, the name that given to him Millennium ago. Now nearly on one know what is the name origin.
When he is just a number, just a boy, a female told him: “ You are living.”13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGJEunCyLK
She said, he possesses the interest to things, he possesses feeling to people, so he is living.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ69Rp68ofy
She gave him a name--Laphicet, meaning the one who lives, which contribute the naming of his true name. Through now ‘Laphicet’ is more like the true name to him, cause now nearly no one knows about it, and there is barely someone would know the story before he became the Empyrean.
As Malak Laphicet, he traveled with the female and learned to live from her companion, learned how human lives with struggling in pain. The female before his eyes had withstood pain to continue her path and he was always by her side to support because he loved her. The female knew she won’t survive or end well, still, she told him to live.
“Please, no matter what happens to me, live and do the thing you want to do.”
Despite bringing lots of destruction to the world on their way, she prayed in the church in Meirchio, where only Eizen and he were with Velvet.
“Repent in the church, the Empyrean will forgive our sins. What am I saying here... will it be communicated to Innominat?...... Well, I only pray for one thing. Please----”
‘Please---- at least to let me redeem my sin with my life, to let human to have the possibility of future.’
As the reborn of the heart of Innominat, Laphicet accepted the pray.
At the very last moment of her revenge, she sealed Innominat with herself and he once wanted to die with her. He is not afraid of dying with her.
She prayed as her last selfish request: “ Good. Then die. But only after eating. Living. Doing everything you want to in life.”
“Phi, you must have seen during our travel. Humans spend their lives in a constant struggle...That’s why they end up making so many mistakes. Even my poor brother...That’s why, I’m asking this of you...Please live. I was the cause of so much chaos and destruction...Help the world I ruined. Help people like me. Help the weak. This is… my last, selfish request.” The female, Velvet, prayed as her voice losing strength and she apologized for her selfishness.
She slept, with all the blame and sin beared.
He accepted all, her apology and pray, so he chose to become the substitution of the fifth Empyrean with his indomitable will.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXsUcAAvd5
Maotelus----as the new Empyrean to the world. He lived and bless the species on the earth, the weak but strong species--human. He wishes people to have another chance for them to right the wrong born of their fallible spirits, to give those great dreamers a moment of rest.
For Maotelus so loved the world, that he gave his life, that whosoever pray him should not doom but have the second chance. Various types of human he has seen, devotion, anger, sadness, disdain, all are the properties human possessed, and he will accept and forgive them. Then bless them to have the second chance, until a day human live with seraphim harmoniously.
He loves the world, he loves humans, and there is one he cannot forget, he will remember her forever, with the name she had given to him, with her last prayer to him and also the first prayer he accepted.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrJWOz2iMC
He gifts human the second chance with the risk of malevolence with his life, but he will still live as he wants. He holds his own wheel, but there is one thing he regrets, that he hasn’t told Velvet of his true name. He was too shy when he was just a Malak.
Now his Malak name gradually buried with time while his friends disappeared one by one after Velvet. He lives and waits, for her awake, the Shepherd to save the world, for one’s who purify him. No matter how many friends he has lost.
The first one to disappear like a meteor is the exorcist who gave him the name of Maotelus. Among all the people he knows, she came the most frequently. Human life is so short, even a short moment to him, it is a long time for human beings.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24XTwuFnz2
That is why she chose to do everything she can to help people, like what she was doing as an exorcist, to avoid more life buried by the disaster brought by their violent awakening method to the four great Empyrean. Her pink long hair was dyed with pale white by time, her well-trained body may keep her looks younger than her actual age, but still could not hide the traces of time on her face.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDuhSgDWyl
She said that she did not know how much time she could come to visit him, but she will continue her journey. He knows death is hardly a thing to stop her, her journey still continues.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzNG2KrA6k
She re-appeared in front of him, but then she disappeared again in the nameless history.
The second person that Maotelus can no longer wait for, he can still portray his face in his memory with the outline of his straight and unsmiling, the earth seraphim.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwtGhi8HTA
The earth seraphim will visit every once in a while to tell what he has seen and heard at sea.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTcoVKMxPr
Human life is too short, and even though those who have known each other have gradually passed away, he always stays close to them.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tWsguexc3
He witnessed the death of the crew and witnessed the birth of a new life, and he became the legend of the old people passing on to the young crew from the past that the crew members missed after drinking.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4lKHLbuKH
The last time I saw the seraph who was blessed by the god of death, he smiled freely and said that if he survived, he would go with him to see his sister.
The third one that disappeared in his years was the war daemon who beared the malevolence and obsessiveness to survive...No, strictly speaking, maybe he was also the first one dissappeared....they nearly disappeared at the same time that he can't recall.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApcLCisdT2
He is always alone, perhaps this is the best trip for him, always a strayer who find the way to further forging his sword. Sometimes I called his name and he understood that I called his name hesitantly, guess there was seldom a person to call his name that he had forgotten it.
His smile that is the same as in the past, bright like sunshine despite being a daemon. The smile was brought up with his stories of the search of opponents, they can always make Maotelus send out a series of dragon’s laugh. The daemon would share stories with him with the powerful enemy he defeated, or how many humans are saved by the way. Those are the memories loved by Maotelus, which let him recall the memories of the past, to recall the days he traveled with the war daemon, the Lord of Calamity, the exorcist, the witch, and the earth seraphim.
He is always the same, survive for his sword, and die for his sword. He can’t change or stop him.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj329cYVU2e
Every time Maotelus raised his dragon's claws slightly and greeted the War daemon that he will continue his journey.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sspyTcfGa
They both don’t know when it will be next time. If he is defeated, he may be dead, but he promised that he will visit him if he is still alive.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtdl6ZKLZi
The last time he had seen him, he is not alone, but then he stopped appearing in front of him.
The last one left was the ‘human’ buried the of all the memories of Maotelus, and also the inheritor of history. She recorded the stories of all his friends.
The Mayvin led the child who would take her name.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8JXrwPVHn
She was the only one who will talk about the Lord of Calamity the most frequently, because they are also waiting, waiting for the possibility of the person in the endless time to wake up.
“Your face shows that you want to let Velvet to see the world now.”13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtxwyiJ3th
“Yeah, I try my best to change a better world to let her see after she awake.”13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9oh3y0wpo
“Though I don’t know if I have enough galds to pay her if she awake.”
The wide brim of the witch masked her expression, and the curly long blond hair covered the majority of her face as always. The child she took with his face looked up at her with a small face, but he didn’t understand her. What is meant by the complex emotions that are implicitly lost?
“...You noticed that even if you purify the world, you can’t prevent your hellionization.”13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVEoLLrrX5
“Right, but I will still continue my path, that the only thing I can do now, as the Empyrean.” He will continue his path, even if all of his friends are not here anymore.
“The kid in the past has grown up to say something like this, huh…..Right, believe the path you has chosen.” The witch encouraged him with a smile
“I will try to find a way to solve this, though I may not have too much time left.” She sadly added, the oath can’t lengthen her life that long.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiIyiq7cPn
“When the time arrives, you will have to record the history for me, kid.” She talked to the child standing next to her.
The child nodded with determination. Then they left.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPrCqEQNFb
The Age of Chaos started, Maotelus was hellionized. Fortunately, a Shepherd purified him, with the price of sleeping for 500 years to let his resonance shared with the people on the earth.
500 years passed, they awoke with the person who gave him the name of Laphicet. He is glad, the day he waits for finally come.
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Sorey pov13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTebBS0fco8
We manage to get our way to the Artorius's throne. This place is broken for far away than the last time I came here. I remembered this place was once the shrine of a forbidden Empyrean, which substituted by Maotelus.
After hearing the story from Maotelus, I can sure that the forbidden Empyrean was Innominat. Maotelus had gained his power after becoming one of the Empyrean and also gain his representative symbol from him. Instead of the carving of pure white sun in octagon, Maotelus is presented with half shadowed mark, presenting a balance between black and white, for the difference of forgiving the existence of Malevolence, embracing the sin of human, to show that the world isn't only black and white and both should be allowed to exist. There is darkness within the light, just like Artorius and light within darkness, just like Velvet.
The throne constructed by several sword-shape frames, connected by bridges. Last time I went there, there are many parts exposed to the exterior and cracks everywhere. Some octagon shape pattern is on the floor slabs which belong to the ancient god of Innominat. I wonder if the ruins kept perfectly the same after that long time.
Here we come to see Maotelus again, the friendly empyrean of kindness and charity.
“ Here is the place of Maotelus.” I introduced the place to Velvet.
“ But I want to find Laphicet, not the fifth Empyrean. So, where is he?”Velvet asked since there is no one but the throne with grassland of peace. Velvet got the knowledge of Empyrean from the villagers, she is not keen on the faith that much but still she pays her respect to the religion.
“Here, Hello, Velvet, Sorey.” A silver flame burnt in the air and turned into a silver dragon.
“----” Velvet turned silent as she heard the familiar voice from the boy. The boy has become the dragon and Empyrean in front of her, I guess this is so unbelievable to her.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyGuO4xDmU
“ Hello, Laphicet.” I simply greet back.
“-----Ph--” Velvet is shocked, looking up the dragon and opening her mouth with barely a word to come up with. There are so many words she wanted to say, she doesn’t know where to start with.
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“Maotelus, my true name, meaning the one who lives. Sorry to tell you that late.” Finally, the Empyrean gets his long-awaited wish come true. The true name is like the confession to someone the seraph really trusted on, he didn’t hold the chance to say his true name to Velvet until now.
“Glad to hear that, seems Eleanor gave you a good name.”She smiled.
“ I have always believed you will awake one day.” Maotelus bow down to lean his head to Velvet, his eyes filled with fondness, tender and soft green eyes that you cannot believe it is the eyes of the dragon.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCK6tVo11L
“ Thank you, I am back.” Velvet held Maotelus's head with gratitude.
The wind blowing softly, with the natural scent surrounding the throne. The silver light of the dragon scale cast on the grass and made everything shining, everything is embraced in his shine. A woman softly holds and embrace the dragon and the wind blow her hair and clothes sightly. This is a beautiful scene to me that I can't say anything but keep watching.
I feel good to let them be gathered again, after all those years. They really trust each other, just like Mikleo and me, we don’t need a word to understand each other and we respect each other. I figured that he was upset with my decision to slumber with Maotelus and put him alone, but he didn’t disagree but support me. Once I find him, I would embrace him and talk about the things in the slumbering and after the wake, all the things just like happened in the yesterday.
“ Phi, how come you turned into a dragon??” When Velvet asked, I remembered Maotelus told me once his marak form is just a little boy in the past.
“ After your slumbering, I became the new fifth Empyrean as the four empyreans required, so I can breathe in the world with the silver flame and given the second chance to all human and daemon. The dragon form is my form of Empyrean as a result of the formed pact. Is that great?” Maotelus said like a child who wants to show off their achievements to their parent, he is smiling, it is kind of strange to a dragon smile.
“ Yes, it looks great....you.. grew up.” Velvet needed time to accept things that she can't react quickly. She expected Laphicet to have a normal life instead but it is not like the boy is unhappy with his decision.
“Yes, so stop calling me as Phi, I am 1510 years old now!” I can hear Maotelus cannot hide his glee to see Velvet.
“You are a child to me anyway, cause I am technically 1519 years old too when you come up with this” Velvet is trying to be like a sister and mock Maotelus.
“Puff, fine, I am still pretty young by seraphim standard. However, I experienced a longer life than you! You are still 19 to me.” Maotelus teased back with the age issue.
They talked as if it was yesterday, as if they were always together, like those precious moments, Maotelus told me, the time is never a gap for them.
“Well....how old is Sorey now?” Velvet gets embarrassed and change the focus on me, I laugh for her reaction.
“Me? I may be technically 517 years old.” I answer with a break of calculation, I think Mikleo may be able to count it faster than me but he is not here so I shall calculate myself.
“Oh.....that's why you said you know a long time pass since you have gone....... wait, you slumbered too?” I can't believe she remembers such a line from me over all the time.
“Yes, I slumbered to purify Laphicet.” I see I am gonna reveal more to her as she is so smart to guess and I shall tell her everything on one day.
“ ...What's happened?” Velvet seems worried and emits a little Malevolence.
“ That's a long story, Laphicet gets tainted by malevolence with the earth that time, so I slumbered with him to purify him and gift the resonance to people for the next Shepherd rise. Finally, you can see, we both awake, in the whole new age of humanity.” I tried to explain it shortly.
“Phi....may be I should not request you with such selfish wish...You don't have to do it like that.....”Velvet felt sorry about her request to Laphicet in the past and emit more malevolence, but I think that should not be her fault, she always blames herself too much.
“Did you remember the time I told you that I was not so keen on the name of Phi? But that's the name you gave me, so I love it at the same time. Like the time I said, I will always forgive you, but this time...It is not your fault. You don't have to feel sorry for that, I choose the path because I want to. I want to save you, and the people suffered or once made mistakes. I want to give them the wings to fly again and a moment of rest. I hold the wheel of my own life.” Maotelus knew so well about Velvet, he assured her that it is not her fault on this to comfort her and Velvet stopped emitting malevolence.
“ …...You really have grown up.” Velvet tried to retain her sigh towards the thing happened.
“As I told you, I am the older one.” Maotelus taunted.
“Fine, fine.....And Sorey, thank you, really.” Velvet genuinely thanks me as she turned to me, I feel a bit shy for that, this is the first time she thanks me in such a serious manner.
“You are welcome.” I managed to answer that with a calm voice.
“ Anyway, How are you two going?” Maotelus asked.
“ We are fine, just plan to travel together,” I answered.
“ Good to hear that. I want you two to see the new world I pay effort to protect.” I am curious about what is in this whole new world too.
“ Yeah, I will go and see it.” Velvet smiled and answered, I see she seems to let her negative thought go away now. She walks away to calm herself with thoughts.
“And thank you so much, Sorey, for taking care of her,” Maotelus whispered, as Velvet has gone far enough. He must know that Velvet won't be happy to hear this sentence.
“ You are welcome, she took care of me too.” I chuckled, remembered all those days we spent in the village.
Maotelus used his arc to repair the throne in a more complete manner. I see Velvet is being thoughtful at this place and same to me too, since here is the end of both of our journey, and I believe it will be the start point of our new journey, in the blessing of Maotelus.
“Phi, can I ask you some question?” As I am memorizing my last battle, I heard the conversation between Velvet and Maotelus.
“ Am I still a therion now?” I am surprised that Velvet inquired about this, she never reflects her thought in those days.
“No, you are a human now,” Maotelus assured Velvet.
“But I recovered so fast, barely have a taste on foods and most importantly, I can see you.” Velvet indicated some facts she minded, I guess she was once a human with low resonance.
“I bless you two when I saw you two are nearly awake from the slumber, this may make your recovery went fast but I am sorry with your taste, I think it may return gradually, as you are not a therion now. You may see me since you gain high enough resonance from staying with maraks like Eizen and me in our journey, and you stayed with Innominat for 1500 years, so you have pretty high resonance now.” I have never known that Velvet had a taste problem until now, I am glad to know it will recover gradually. And Velvet is just like my case, gain a super high resonance by living with seraphim for a long time.
“If you say so....And how is Innominat now?.” Velvet accepted Maotelus words.
“He became a part of me now. Oh, and yes, there is something I want to give you, here.” Maotelus gave a wooden chest to Velvet by invisible floating force.
“ What is it?” Velvet asked.
“ The letters to you.” This is another shocking line, it is really hard to believe there are letters kept since 1500 years ago and remain still fine even with the fight to Heldalf. Now they are finally delivered, I am a bit jealous as I got no letter, but I am also glad that Velvet can trace her friend life with those letters.
“And also a thing I would like to ask you for.”13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksAxrftTiC
“Yes?”13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflGFlR0Glh
“Please, live, to see the world I changed with humanity.” Maotelus convinced Velvet to live, just like how she wanted him to live in the past.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEh1opqtvI1
“........Right, I will.”
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A.N13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKAximTgYf
Keeping revealing things, I choose Maotelus to be the first one they meet. I post-added lots of word about Maotelus in case you don’t about TOB story and try figuring out what he should be like now and this contributes an unstable word count ( I can’t promise to have such word count in every chapter...) The concept of the letter is actually inspired by a story written in Pixiv by羽虫/織原. I like his/her story very much. You may have a look at the story if you know Japanese.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRv01LuTSK
The cover is inspired by ‘Tales from Earthsea.’13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pVh6I8MLs
