The Flower Of Eternity
Chapter 46: Through Various Lives

The deafening sound of a bang was over.

But nothing happened to Anna.

For a moment, Anna still closed her eyes as she clasped tightly onto Vierra. And just then, Anna could hear the sound of wingspans. Then the sound of roars, more like the rumbling of thunder, as if the sky was split apart. The sound was so thrilling to anyone who listened to it. And then the sound of something being shattered in the sky.

The air around it becomes warmer. Like someone lit a bonfire nearby.

Vierra's cry had subsided, but the tiny baby was still twitching, trying to break away from Anna as if to run, or fly, if only she could. As if to approach something that caught his attention out there.

Anna was still standing on the balcony of Vierra's room, overlooking the view of the building's expanse and the snow covering it. With Vierra still twitching in her arms, Anna opened her eyes slowly. See what really happened. And he found that the Phoenix was burning in the sky, its ruins falling down far away, not close enough to reach the Main Palace.

Something much larger than the Phoenix flew nearby, flapping its wide wings, smashing the steel vehicle with its almighty fire.

Anna couldn't have mistaken him.

He's as big as a castle. No, after Anna noticed it again, as her wings were now spread wide, making her look bigger than any Castle. Its thick skin was filled with sturdy scales like steel, as red as volcanic lava. It's like coming out of a fairy tale or a history full of legends. Like a mere myth told in generations, that no one would believe in its existence. Older than the world itself. Older than history itself. Greater than any king in the world.

The Great Fire Dragon.

The Dragon again spewed out its fire, burning away the remains of the Phoenix so that not much of its ruins remained that fell down. The Phoenix, along with its contents or whoever was in it, burned down the flames of the wrath of the Dragon.

The fire of the Dragon that burned the Phoenix melted away layers of thick snow beneath. Behind the reddish twilight sky as the sun was about to set, the view of the afternoon became something magical and amazing for all the people of Noord who witnessed. The sight they will always remember for their entire lives. Once again they were reminded of the existence of their first ruler before man came to power. For them, it was a moment that would be remembered in history, which they would tell their descendants, when the Great Fire Dragon reappeared after a thousand years of unseen existence.

For Anna, the scene is a moment she will remember forever as her love returns to her life and saves her and her daughter.

Anna was so stunned by the sight before her that she did not realize Vierra who had been trying to escape from her arms. Her tiny hands were grabbing into the sky, her emerald eyes were glittering, staring with interest at the figure of the Dragon. The little baby recognized him.

From a distance, the Dragon flew close to the Main Palace. Closer to the balcony where Anna was still standing, looked at her. Even as dazzling rays of white light surrounded the Dragon, Anna remained unblinking. His mind was empty, thinking nothing. He did not want to think of anything and only wanted to witness what was happening before him. Keep everything in his memory.

The Dragon returned to his form that Anna often saw. The figure he knew very well. The person she had long missed. He who was just a few seconds ago Anna believed in his death, and that the man would never return to his life again. She's the one Anna cries out for every night.

Tears unconsciously flowed through Anna's face. He was at a loss for words. Not really believing in who was currently standing before him, looking at him with a pair of emerald eyes that were very similar to his daughter's.

For a moment, no one spoke. They just stared at each other longingly in silence.

"Papa."

Miraculously, the tiny voice broke the silence between them. Such a small baby should not be able to say anything. But it was Vierra who said it. The baby smiled happily at his father.

Anna looked down at Vierra who was still trying to escape from her hand, about to touch the father she had met for the first time since the day of her birth. Then Anna looked back to the front, at Xavier who was smiling at her, and at Vierra.

"I heard her crying. He called me." Xavier said it as his first greeting after all this time. Her voice was exactly as Anna remembered. It was really Xavier's voice. And it was not just in his head, for now the owner of the voice was before him.

Anna still didn't say anything. He was worried that if he said something, then the figure of Xavier who was in front of him would be a mere shadow. A dream or hallucination of the effects of the bloody berry fruit. But Anna didn't consume a single bloody berry. And he's clearly not dreaming.

Since Anna was still standing still on the spot, Xavier who was walking over approached her. Xavier seemed to hesitate for a while, but finally managed to say what he wanted to say since he saw his daughter, "May I hold her?"

Anna did not answer. But because Vierra who had not been willing to stay still and kept moving wanted to go into her father's arms, Anna let Xavier take it. Anna let Xavier carry her daughter—their daughter.

Dreams again. Think Anna. Don't get stuck. This must be a dream. Stop hoping, it will only hurt yourself. Anna said to herself in her heart.

"Papa." Vierra said it again, this time with a carefree smile on her father's arm.

Xavier, now carrying Vierra, looked at his daughter lovingly and kissed the Princess on the cheek. His eyes seemed to be glazed when he heard the voice of his daughter calling him 'papa'.

"Is this your first word, dear Vierra?" Xavier asked with a smile on his daughter.

"It's not a dream, baby." Xavier. "I'm sorry it took so long to find you. You must have been having trouble all this time. I'm really sorry. I don't know where to start." Xavier then looked at Anna and began to explain everything. "Your father saved me. Then—“

"My father is dead." Cut Anna straight away. "You're not real."

"really. I mean, no." Xavier sighed, not really knowing how to explain everything to Anna. Especially since Anna now thought of it as a mere dream. "Please listen to my explanation. King Edward used a Grimoire— hourglass that he stole from Lilacier— to save my mother from dying of war. He returns to the pre-war period and accidentally brings Leon who was a baby. King Edward managed to convince the King Edward of the time to make my mother return to the Winterthur family so that she would not have to die in the war, so my mother was married to my father, became Queen, she said, and then I was born. Then—“

"I don't understand." Anna frowned confused. Xavier's explanation really made him dizzy.

"It's okay. Just listen to me." Xavier said, then continued his explanation, "When my father killed King Edward, he was dead. But your father, King Edward who held the Grimoire hourglass, was still alive at the time. He then uses the Grimoire hourglass to go into the future and the past. Trying to save anyone he knows, his brother, Leon's father who is his best friend, your mother, and Alexis. He tried many times to save your mother and sister, but never succeeded. Some things can't be changed with a Grimoire hourglass, no matter how many times you flip that hourglass, no matter how many times you repeat time. He was so frustrated because in any life your mother and sister could not be saved from death. But in the end he learned that he could only save one life. And one life is not he who has the right to determine it, but the hourglass itself. And finally, he saved me. He went to the time when Elle was going to attack me, block Elle's ice spear with his own body and die." Xavier's tears flowed as he explained the passage, "He saved me, as he promised, because I protected you according to my promise. And before the end really picked him up, your father gave me this hourglass with a letter in it that explained everything. The things I just explained to you."

With one hand, Xavier reached into his pocket and took out a small box. Anna accepted it and opened the box. Inside is a small hourglass that looks like a regular hourglass in general, as well as a letter. But it turns out that simple little thing that has made Xavier back in front of him at this time.

Xavier continued, "With that hourglass, I look for you, exploring space and time. In some lifetimes you've been killed, either by suicide or by disease, or by someone killing you. I went through different lifetimes, through different lives to find you and try to save you from whatever was going to kill you. In other lifetimes, I failed to save you. Sometimes I come at a time when we haven't been met. Sometimes even in times when we have aged together and lived in Shina. So I'm sure I'll be able to find you and we'll be able to live together again and age together. Because such a future exists, and I've seen it. I did not give up and dive into various other lifetimes to be able to meet you again. I finally heard Vierra cry. Somehow, I recognized him. I know it's my daughter's voice. So I followed the direction of the sound and the grimoire hourglass brought me here, just as that ruthless flying object was about to destroy our Palace." Xavier paused for a moment to stare at Anna who was still trying to digest an explanation that would sound unbelievable to the common sense of anyone who did not believe in the power of love and wonder. But Anna believes. And although it was difficult to understand everything directly, Anna believed in that explanation.

Xavier wiped away the tears on Anna's face that was still speechless looking at him longingly. "I'm grateful I'm not too late. I kept our wedding vows, baby. Finally, I found you again." He said with a smile.

"Xavier's..." Said Anna.

"Yes, dear Anna." Xavier said with great love. His hand was still holding Vierra. The other hand was gently caressing Anna's face, while exuding a soothing warmth to Anna.

"Please tell me this isn't all a dream." Anna said as she held Xavier's hand on her face. He felt the warmth he had missed thousands of times. "Please tell me you're real. I'll trust you this time."

Xavier smiled at her, "It's not a dream." Said. "I'm real. I was right here. With you."

Without saying another word, Anna immediately rushed into Xavier's arms. Be whole again. Be complete again.

"I miss you." Said Anna.

But it felt like those words were too simple to describe what he felt. Anna doesn't know what words can describe her current feelings, as Xavier finally returns to her. When they were once again found. So Anna kissed him. Wreaking his longing, feeling back the part of him that was lost when Xavier left his life. Re-feeling their love.

"Mama."

One word from Vierra's tiny lips stopped their kiss. Anna turned her head towards her little daughter who was still being carried by Xavier.

"Try saying it again, baby." Anna Pinta.

Long Vierra looked at him with both of her emerald eyes that were exactly the same as Xavier's. The princess extended her hand to Anna's face, wiping away the happy tears on Anna's cheeks with her tiny fingers. "Father." said the Princess later.

"No. You didn't say that." Said Anna. "Let's try saying 'mama' one more time, baby."

"That's it. You have to accept the fact that he likes me more." Laughter Xavier. "Tell me one more time, dear Vierra."

"Mama" said Vierra.

Anna smiles happily, then takes Vierra from Xavier's hand, hugs her lovingly and kisses her. "I love you, my daughter."

"And I love you both." Xavier said as he hugged his wife and son.

They also live together, are happy together, and go through various lives together. They may not live eternally, but their love is eternal.

Later, in another lifetime, they will reappear in various legendary love stories with various different names. Romeo and Juliet, Cleopatra and Mark Antony, Guinevere and Lancelot, Odysseus and Penelope, Layla and Majnun, as well as many more love stories that they go through in other lives. Their story will be forever immortal, remembered and told by word of mouth, passed down from parents to their children, written in romance books, mentioned in heart-stirring verses, as a symbol of eternal love.

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