When the both of them entered the Twilight manor, they were surprised by the luxury. The ceiling was high, and a chandelier made of crystal stood in the center of it. On the walls were various luxurious paintings, and the floor was covered by what looked like an expensive carpet. On the right side of the hall was a large door, which Orba explained to be the dining room of the entire familia. The Loki familia had their chefs serving the members. Giving a quick look at the dining room, Aidan turned back his attention to the manor.
It was only the hall as they started to climb the stairs at the far end of the room. The inside of the manor was of seemingly expensive wood, and the stairs were on both sides of the hall as they linked together at the very top. It felt vibrant. However, none of that mattered to either Ais or Aidan as they both only sought one thing. Strength.
Climbing from the first floor to the third floor of the manor, they stopped in front of two large doors with an emblem looking like a clown on top of it. Next to the door were two guards who stopped Orba as one of them went inside to notify the goddess of the familia of their request to visit.
After waiting for a moment in a rich lobby, the guard who went inside to notify the goddess came out. “You can enter.” He said while looking at the two children next to Orba. “Thank you.” Answered the muscular man as he brought Aidan and Ais to the goddess room.
“Loki-sama, I brought the two first new members who passed the test of Captain Finn.” Said the muscular man as he bowed down to the tomboyish figure sitting on the sofa. The goddess had red hair tied up in a ponytail as she wore blue clothing and dressed similarly to a boy. With a constant smile on her face, she gave the impression of being someone able to prank anyone at any time. However, she gave Aidan the impression of sadness behind her smile. He stopped thinking about it as she started to talk.
“Thank you, Orba. You can leave and go get the other new members.” She said lightly while looking at the two new faces.
“Yes, Loki-sama.” The black-haired man answered as he turned around and left the room, closing the doors behind him.
“Alright, you two. Come and sit here.” She said as she pointed to the couch in front of hers.
As the two of them sat down, she showed the sweets she had on the small table in between the couches, and Aidan took two while giving one to Ais, who was sitting a bit further on the sofa and couldn’t reach from her position. She gave a small smile and a nod at Aidan, who knew she was grateful for the help.
“Oh? You two seem to know each other a lot?” Asked Loki as she was alternating between Ais and Aidan.
“We just met this morning before the recruitment test.” Answered Aidan habitually.
“Oh? It almost seems as if you’ve known each other for a while.” She said with a slight smile while eyeing the two. “The two of you are quite young. Why do the two of you want to become adventurers of my familia?” She asked at no one in particular.
Sharing a look with Ais, Aidan once again answered for the both of them. “We want to become strong. We each have our own goals.” He stopped while Ais continued. “I want to kill the one-eyed black dragon. Aidan wants to find his lost memories.”
“You want to kill the one-eyed black dragon?” She looked at Ais seriously. “You’ll have to work hard.” She then turned to Aidan with a frown on her face. “What is the link between becoming stronger and getting your memories back?”
“I don’t know.” Upon which he slightly laughed, which was soon shared by Loki and a smile from Ais. “I only know that once I woke up in that forest, I only remembered a few things. The first was to become strong and never stop growing stronger. The second was the location of Orario. The third was information on the true limit of the falna, and finally was information on my magic. That’s all. Except for this, I had identification papers, a pass for the city, ten thousand Valis, a black deck of cards, those clothes and this sword.” He said as he pointed to his clothes and his sword. He had no problem revealing everything of what he knew since nothing was very private, and the goddess may be able to help him regain his memories in the future.
Frowning slightly, she looked thoughtfully at Aidan. “If you want, I can try to unlock your memories. I have the strength of a God. It shouldn’t be a problem to unlock them. And even if by a miracle it doesn’t work, then there won’t be a single difference.”
Widening his eyes and smiling as he was happy to have shared his problems with the goddess, he nodded his head. Seeing him agreeing, Loki patted on the couch next. “Come here and lie down on your back.”
Swiftly getting up, Aidan followed her commands as he lay down right next to his future goddess. “Alright. You must understand that when we unlock your memories, I’ll be seeing them as well. It’s fine for you, right?” She asked Aidan before starting.
Nodding his head, he closed his eyes as he relaxed. Feeling the hands of the goddess on the side of his hands, he felt a bit of magic passing through her hands as he felt like he entered in his head along with Loki.
Looking around, with Loki next to him, she turned towards Aidan as she explained what he had to do. “You see those doors over there?” She asked while pointing on their right. “Yes?” He answered questioningly. “Go and push one open to see your memories behind that door.” With a slight smile and a bit of curiosity, as sealing memories behind gates was an ancient practice, she explained to Aidan what he had to do.
After hearing her words, the two of them went to the closest door. Pushing the door open immediately, Aidan felt a strong resistance but pushed nonetheless. Soon enough, the immense golden doors began to open slowly, giving a hint of majesty in its way. Once Aidan opened the door big enough to enter through it, Aidan and Loki entered through the crack as they met a surreal scene.
Two people were fighting in what Loki could tell was the universe. Surrounding them were millions of monsters as they stood back to back with a young Aidan in the middle of the two of them. Having no difficulties breathing in space, both the older man and women fended off their enemies with their weapons as if it was the easiest thing to do.
The woman wore a red dress and had silver hair that reached down to her hips. With blue eyes and pale skin, she was svelte and had a strong’s temperament in her every move. She held a black deck of cards, which was the same Aidan currently had in his possession.
The man held a black sword with an orange edge as he hacked and killed his enemies. With blond-coloured hair, golden eyes and muscular stature, he gave off the temperament of a tyrant in his every move. He wore black pants and a black shirt, just like the one Aidan was wearing as it repaired itself whenever the monsters hit him.
The woman opened the black deck of cards, and from the deck emerged one card after another. From 54 to 108 and 216, it continued doubling until millions of cards faced the monsters. A moment later, most of them flew straight at the monsters as they all released strong magic to defend its user from the monsters.
On the other hand, the man, holding an orange-edged sword, made a single swing of the blade, and as he swung, the man killed thousands of monsters instantly. With weird footwork, the man seemed to dance in the middle of the enemies as each sword strike cause more and more monsters to die in his hands. The fight finished after half an hour as the couple killed everything and kissed lovingly before taking the young Aidan, who clapped his hands after seeing the slaughter.
The scene then disappeared as both Loki and Aidan looked at each other, stunned by the scene which had just played. However, before they could do anything else, another set appeared it was the place where Aidan had woken up. They each had injuries, and the baby, Aidan, was bleeding from his head and was unconscious. As they watched the scene where Aidan figured his parents left him, he understood what happened that night.