Back in the Emerald Room, Alex was still hovering over an unconscious Felicia with Hildegarde, Constantine and Liam seated bedside.
He placed a hand on Felicia's forehead and sensed that she was about to wake up.
Had he gotten it wrong? He thought she was going to be asleep for at least a month?
The Goddess decided to release her mind much sooner?
But where had Felicia's mind been these past few days? And what had she experienced?
Alex hoped that she would not wake up with newfound trauma.
Once more he felt a fog settle over his mind, taking him someplace else. It was similar to the vision that had appeared half an hour ago.
------
He was back in the mists.
Alex saw himself, covered in blood, holding an unconscious Felicia in his arms. Both her face and the front part of her dress was spattered with more red fluid.
"I just want her to be okay." He heard himself say. "I just want her to stop hurting. I will not fail again!"
He understood.
With no explanation, Alex understood what he was witnessing. This wasn't a prophecy.
It was a memory.
His own memory.
Before he could delve further, the mists thickened and blurred everything.
---------
His mind withdrew and he opened his eyes, only to see his sister staring back at him.
Felicia had woken up.
"Alex." Her voice was hoarse.
"Felicia!" He immediately yanked her up into his embrace.
"My lady, thank goodness!" Hildegarde leapt to her feet.
"Lady Felicia!"
"Oh, she's awake!"
Both Liam and Constantine also stood up.
"My lady, how are you feeling?"
Felicia said nothing. She just hugged her brother and wept silently.
It felt as if years had passed since she had last seen him.
She knew exactly the time she had returned to. Only four days had passed since the attack at Hildegarde's residence.
After desperately trying to heal her grievously wounded brother, she had fainted from using too much magic. Not knowing if she had saved him or died with him.
To see him now meant she had succeeded.
They had returned to their first lives.
Felicia's head was overflowing with so much information and she couldn't wait to share it with Alex. The pain and madness over being betrayed was nothing more than a distant memory.
The Goddess had been correct in her assessment.
Living a brand new life as Dixie Demont had indeed cured her.
There was no more hate and anger within her.
Only strong love for Alex and a desire to preserve the happiness in their lives.
And her duty.
She had not wanted to battle the Pope and the Demon Lord when the Goddess first made her offer, but now she was determined to do just that.
Never again would she allow herself to be reduced to what she once was.
She was both a Del Montague and a Saintess!
This was a new life. It may be her first life, but she was entering it with a fresh set of eyes. The memories and knowledge of her previous lives would serve to guide her.
She was Felicia, then she was Dixie and now she was back to being Felicia.
She hugged her brother tighter and ignored the voices around her.
She could understand Hildegarde being in her room, but she was confused as to why both Liam and Crown Prince Constantine were here.
Most importantly, why were they in her bedroom and not downstairs in the sitting room or in the tea parlor as what was appropriate for guests?
Even though she loved Liam, she felt a bit uneasy with him at her bedside.
Even more so with Prince Constantine.
Strange, my desire to protect my virtue from the opposite sex during my first life is warring against my liberated ways from my second life. My emotions and mindset are hot and cold right now. I can't believe how different I was as Felicia and Dixie.
She pulled away from her hug and gave Alex a meaningful look.
Then she looked at the other men.
"I'm curious as to what the two of you are doing in my bedroom?"
Liam and Constantine flushed slightly.
"We were worried about you, my lady. We heard about the attack." Constantine sat back down. "I received a letter from Alex saying that you were well, but then Helena sent me a letter saying you had been unconscious for days so, well...my father insisted I come check on my future bride."
"I'm glad to see you awake, Lady Felicia. Alex has told us the whole truth and I promise, we are with you in this. We will fight the Pope together." Liam added, his eyes taking on a protective edge.
Felicia looked from him to the prince to her brother then finally at her nanny.
Hildegarde smiled. "Shall I go inform the Duke and get the physician to check on you?"
"No need. I'm perfectly fine. And there is something I need to tell you all. Something...very alarming and seemingly impossible, but it's important you know as it will aid us in defeating the Pope."
Felicia took a deep breath, her eyes growing dark. She briefly glanced at the door and the closed blinds. Night had already fallen, causing the bright candles and fireplace to throw their shadows on the walls.
Alex and Hildegarde, who were still standing promptly took their seats.
Constantine and Liam were eager to hear what she had to say, but felt an uncomfortable stirring in their stomachs. More bad news was approaching.
"You experienced something crazy while you were asleep, didn't you?" Alex's question came as a statement.
Felicia locked eyes with him. "Yes, brother." It felt a bit strange to call him that since she had long since seen him as her sister. The last time she called him brother was when she was hurling obscenities at him in the mists where their souls had passed into.
"I had a most harrowing trip through memory lane. Me healing you and the magic of the infinity symbol which you used to heal me triggered something within my soul. Lost memories from another life. Everything that happened to me after I was set to burn."
Alex's eyes hardened. He had not gone into too much detail about that part when he was telling his friends the truth. He simply mentioned Helena's slanderous stunt and Felicia's punishment as a result of it.
He did not want them to know just how cruel they had all been to her the first time.
Most especially him and the prince.
"Burn? You mean your execution by fire?" Constantine questions echoed Liam's thoughts.
Felicia glanced over at them. She stared especially hard at the Crown Prince.
"Yes, I was killed by fire in my first life as Alex has already told you I'm sure. But what happened after, I doubt he knew up until just now. Elysium was invaded by your aunt, Queen Matilda. Imperium established full control over Elysium. You were dead, your parents were dead, all of nobility and all the clergymen were dead. There was nobody from the ruling class left and the northern queen swooped down with her army to claim the bounty of Elysium."
"What!?" Prince Constantine shot to his feet. "That cannot be!"
Alex pressed a hand to his temple as memories bombarded him.