This story begins with a journal. It was found in a tomb belonging to what we know to be a very high ranking noble family of the Empire of Light. Curiously, it was found between the skeletal remains of a human and chimera. Based on the evidence of the caste system, chimera of the time would have been at the very bottom of the Empire’s social hierarchy. They were the lowest tier of slaves. The human was laid with their hands folded on their stomach, clasping the remains of what must have been an impressive sword, if the remains of magic on it are anything to go by. The chimera was laid on their side, protectively embracing the human. The completeness of their skeletons suggests that in their lifetimes they were extremely accomplished mages—after all, magic, when practiced extensively, is known to enhance the body and extend the lifespan. Unfortunately, the old ways have long been lost to us, and we no longer know how to attain the same accomplished states as the ancients.
What is far more curious than the place it was found was its contents. It was a personal journal that, despite being cast with preservation magic, did not have any spell locks. From the texts previously found, it seemed as though information in the Empire was not only highly prized, but strictly controlled. A journal that did not even contain the remnants of a magical lock was both highly unusual and terribly exciting.
Eventually, the translation of this journal was assigned to a pair of talented young linguists. They are unnamed for now, but their identities will become clear in the end. These two young linguists had previously proven their competence in the translation of the Empire’s language with their work on other texts. Word by word, sentence by sentence, page by page, the two young linguists slowly translated the journal. As the translation progressed, it became apparent that the journal was less of a diary with entries, and more of an autobiography—or perhaps a biography. Not only that, but it was most astonishingly written by the chimera. Gradually, the story contained within its pages was revealed to them.
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The journal began like this:
"Ria, my luchik, I write these words in my final hours while you have already laid to rest beside me. I do not regret nor despair, because I know I will soon join you in the Great Flow and one day we will meet again on the same soil we first met all those years ago. I know you never cared for how future generations would speak of you, so you may call me selfish all you like, for this is a selfish wish. I simply do not want you to be remembered as a monster instead of who you truly are—a hero. I also hope that one day our story does not have to exist in the shadows like it did during our lifetime.
To understand his actions, it is important to start from the beginning. I first met Grand Duke Jean Hatria Marcus when I was a boy, barely a teenager. Of course, he was merely the heir apparent then. Our first conversation was a fistfight."
