Chapter 70: Possessed

"Is that… the vessel Cari had given you?" 

Aries noticed only then that Princess Pieffer was staring at him with awe and worry.

"What happened?" he asked back, totally dumbfounded.

"I… don't know…" the princess replied with a shake of her head. "My eyes were closed and I was too busy counting the seconds that I didn't notice anything else. When I opened my eyes and told you that the barrier had probably faded, I was surprised to see you in that form. I thought your body had already been revived."

"That vessel…" Guardian Aika stormed inside the room and reached out her hand towards the vessel.

NO!!!

Aries winced as that thundering voice of Cari reverberated inside his head.

I WILL NEVER ALLOW YOU TO TAINT MY CREATION!!!

Before Guardian Aika could grab the wooden vessel, darkness had shrouded the vision of Aries, and a powerful force had pulled him away.

When the darkness had faded, Aries found himself back at the white house, right next to Cari.

"Stop testing my patience," Cari was tightly grabbing his right arm. Anger was evident in her eyes. "I waited hundreds of years to finally have you. I will not let anyone take you away from me. You are mine, Aries!"

"No one… owns me…" Aries muttered with difficulty because his vessel was paralyzed from head to foot and he could barely move his mouth. "Please… Cari… stop this…"

"No," Cari stubbornly replied. She was not letting go of his arm. "You are the one who should stop dreaming about worthless things," her expression soften up a bit when she said, "Don't worry, after I take the remaining piece of your soul from that princess, we will immediately leave this place."

"Cari..."

"I am not doing this just for myself," the crazy Zodiac Knight gently touched his cheek. "This is for you, Aries. Please, just help me."

"I can't… kill them…" Aries was quickly losing grip on his consciousness.

"You can," Cari flashed a perturbing smile.

Aries never wanted to lose his consciousness in front of Cari. He had this feeling that the crazy Zodiac Knight would use him again to fight his comrades.

He had to stop that from happening.

But Cari was too powerful for him.

"That's it, Aries. Sleep. Let darkness take away all your unpleasant memories. Forget those hateful people. Forget Serestral. You are my beloved. My knight. My goal is your goal. Fight for it. Fight for me. Protect me at all cost, Aries. Protect me, my dearest knight."

Protect me, my dearest knight…

^########^

Blood splattered at Aries as he slashed the throat of his latest target. He was only seven but he was already an experienced assassin.

Aries tried his best not to kill anyone but since the time he can remember, whenever people important to him were in trouble, his body would instantly move to protect them at all cost.

Everyone in their village feared him. His parents too.

No one wants to befriend a violent person with a pair of frightening red eyes.

In fairness to his parents, they endured for five years. They tried to keep him with them for that long before they decided to abandon him on an empty alleyway far from their village.

Aries did as he was told. He quietly sat there and watch as his parents walk out of sight. He knew that it would eventually happen. He was prepared for it. He was a bad kid after all.

He lay down on the cold pavement and closed his eyes. He would just sleep everything away.

Days had passed before he heard someone speak to him. 

He weakly opened his eyes and found his uncle. 

That was the day he had been saved from the empty alleyway.

His uncle gave him a new home, good food, and intensive training so he could control his gift.

According to his uncle, he had a gift to protect. It only needs to be controlled.

From that day onwards, Aries vowed to protect his uncle from any kind of threat.

His uncle had many enemies and Aries had to clash with them almost every day of his life. Most were annihilated by his crimson blade while some were only badly beaten.

He served his uncle for three years. He would probably stick with that man until the last day of his life if Cari did not come and pull him out of that place. She did it after killing his uncle.

Aries was astonished by her strength. He was completely overpowered by her.

Aries, you should stop killing for the benefit of this selfish person. He is only abusing your ability.

Those were the words she had said to him.

If you are to kill, it should be to protect more people, not just one. Save Serestral. Kill our true enemy. Live your life as you are destined to be. You are a Zodiac Knight.

Zodiac Knight…

Aries opened his eyes and saw that he was back at the house of his master.

"Aries! You are back! At long last! You are here with me again!"

Aries was confused by the excited behavior of his master. It was as if they had parted for a long time.

"Master, what happened?" Aries asked when he noticed that his skin looked like wood then his eyes widened when he realized the probable answer to his question. "That witch! Did she put another curse on me?!"

"Yes, Aries. That witch robbed your body," there was anger in the eyes of his master. "I only managed to save your soul and put it in one of my creations."

Aries was getting confused but he could not keep asking his master. She was getting alarmingly impatient if he starts to ask a lot of questions.

"My body…"

"You cannot return to it," Cari quickly told him. "That wicked witch is too powerful. What we need to take is the remaining piece of your soul that she had given to her disciples."

"The evil princess?"

Aries had never seen her but his master kept on telling him that the most powerful disciple of the witch was an evil princess and she was the one bringing chaos to Serestral.

"Yes, Aries. We need to take it now. We cannot let them have your soul for a longer time. They will definitely do something awful with it."

Aries bolted upright and swayed. His knees were wobbly and his head was as heavy as a brick. He always felt awful whenever he comes across that witch.

She was always erasing his memories of their encounter. All Aries could remember was a thick fog and the shadow of that evil witch.

Now it was not only his memories that were taken but also his body. How that wicked witch did that, Aries would never know. Even if she was killed, Aries doubted that he would ever remember the memories that had been stolen from him. 

Even though he wanted to get even with that witch, declaring war against her could be dangerous for his master. He could never put his master in danger. He should be somehow grateful that it was him the evil witch was targeting. 

The safety of his master was his one and only responsibility.

"Aries, they will try to trick you," Master Cari seriously warned him. "Do not listen to any word they will say."

"Yes, Master," Aries promised.

"Let's go to the House of Twins," his master said with a smile of relief.

^##########^

Aries and his master stepped into the southern border of the House of Twins. There was only a statue of twins standing near the high stone wall. Not a single soul could be sighted in the area. 

"Let's wait," Master Cari was still beaming happily. "They are already on their way here."

"Will the witch come?" Aries was a little nervous. He could take care of her allies but not the witch herself.

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"No," his master confidently answered and it made him at ease. "We will only be fighting her disciples."

After a few minutes of waiting, their enemies had finally arrived.

There were only three. Two men and a woman.

That was the first time Aries had seen them but they felt strangely familiar to him.

They were probably in the memories the witch had erased. He must have fought them each time he had an encounter with the witch.

"You know what I want," Master Cari told the disciples. 

"We will not let you have it," the blue-haired woman had answered. "Aries is a human. Stop treating him like one of your dolls!"

Her words made something inside Aries ache.

"Kill them, Aries!" his master powerfully bellowed. "That woman is hiding a rag doll. You have to take it from her!"

Ignoring the pain within him, Aries called out his crimson claymore and attacked the three disciples.

The silver-haired man was a Zodiac Knight because of the way his weapon had materialized.

The blonde man and the blue-haired woman both unsheathed their silver sword.

But it was only the woman who deflected his crimson claymore.

"Princess!" the silver-haired man yelled as the blonde exclaimed, "Pieffer! You don't have to fight him."

Both seemed deeply concerned with the blue-haired woman.

"I want to fight him," Princess Pieffer had seriously said. "I will bring him back to us."

Princess Pieffer. 

She was the evil princess. He had to be extra careful.

"Don't hold back," the blonde seriously advised.

"Thanks, Sunrei."

"If Aries hurts you…"

"I know, Pines," Princess Pieffer had quickly interrupted. "I will not let him hurt me."

Aries was annoyed by her words but when he attacked and the princess parried his crimson claymore with her tiny silver sword, he was completely mesmerized.

She was a surprisingly excellent fighter. Aries fought a few women but not as good as she was. She could read his every movement and knew how to react accordingly. Her mind was calm. Her footsteps were swift. Her blades were enduring. She was like a graceful dancer, moving around with astounding elegance.

Aries felt like he had seen that beautiful performance several times. He tried to remember his encounters with the witch but his head felt like shattering into pieces as he searched deeper into his mind.

"I will never get tired, Aries," Princess Pieffer said those words with sincerity that confused Aries. "I will always be here to help you remember."

The princess sidestepped, run her tiny silver blade against the crimson claymore, and slashed Aries in his left arm.

Aries staggered as memories flashed in his mind. It was about Princess Pieffer, Prince Sunrei, and his home at the House of Ram.

"Aries! Why are you only standing there?!" Master Cari yelled at him. "I told you to kill her! Kill them all!!!"

Aries swayed as more pain shot in his mind. It was as if the voice of his master had thrown needles into his brain.

"Yes… Master…" Aries ignored the chaos in his mind with a shake of his head. He tightened the grip on his weapon and attacked the princess.

He should avoid getting wounded by the tiny silver blade. The evil princess was probably trying to plant memories in his mind by slashing his wooden vessel.

He should not let that happen again.

"You are probably thinking that I am planting memories on you."

Aries was spooked when the princess said those words after deflecting his crimson claymore.

She was sending a spine-tingling sensation of déjà vu on him. It was as if he was reliving a thing in his past.

Is this magic?

"This is not magic."

Aries caught the blade of the princess, shoved it away, and took a few steps backward. He had to distance himself from his creepy opponent.

"You evil spirit!" Master Cari angrily bellowed and attacked Princess Pieffer but Prince Sunrei and Pines had stopped her.

Cari was using magic but the two were doing well in repelling her spells.

There were only three of them but they came prepared.

"Master…" he stepped towards his master but Princess Pieffer had quickly intercepted.

She slashed him on his right arm and he nearly dropped him crimson claymore as memories rushed in his mind.

He remembered Leon and how they reinstated the barriers around the House of Lion.

"What are you doing to me?!" Aries violently waved his claymore.

"I am helping you remember," the princess sincerely replied as she evaded, parried, and deflected his attacks. "Look into those memories and ask yourself if you own them or not."

The princess pierced his right leg and he instantly dropped on his knees. His crimson blade struck the ground and he had to lean on it for support.

His head felt like imploding. That excruciating pain was not new to him. He was always enduring that intense pain whenever she encountered the witch.

It was just that Aries never anticipated fighting someone nearly as powerful as the witch. He never imagined that remembering could be more agonizing than forgetting.

Aries recalled Tauren and how they helped him in warding off some corrupted souls.

Then there was Gin-Ren and the House of Maiden, Quaria and the House of Pitcher, Lira and the House of Scale.

He also remembered being there in the House of Twins and his relationship with Gust and Gale.

And finally, he reminisced getting stuck in the bed with Princess Pieffer. It happened not only once but twice. He also recalled how they broke out of it.

He remembered their first kiss.

"Princess… Pieffer…" Aries was breathing unevenly and tears filled his eyes. "I'm sorry… for forgetting…"

"It is not your fault," the princess knelt in front of him and put a hand over his shoulder. "Cari is to blame."

"Don't… hurt her," Aries glanced at Cari.

She was struggling against Prince Sunrei and Pines. She already had cuts on her arms and face.

"You have to remember more," the voice of Princess Pieffer suddenly became chilling. "You will want to kill her if you remember everything that she did to you."

Aries nervously glanced back at the princess. The dark aura around her was back and her eyes were pitch-black.

"Princess…" his words were halted by the tiny blade that pierced his chest.

"I will no longer wait," she wickedly smiled. "You have to remember everything about me."

Aries tried to stay awake but with the flooding of memories, he could not avoid drowning in them.

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