"Black Knight Zelgius. You were my father's killer. And my last teacher."
As Zelgius lie in the Tower of Guidance, beaten and bleeding, he could not help the smile that spread across his face. He had been defeated in this final battle, but what a battle it had been! Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined his end would be so exhilarating! Never in his life had he felt so fulfilled, so alive! Perhaps it was appropriate that it was only at the end of his life that he could finally say he had no regrets. He had spent his life living in the shadows, but he had died blazing in the light. Now that his life was spent and that last, greatest struggle finished...perhaps now he could indulge in peace.
As the last life left his body, Zelgius felt no pain or fear. He felt only a strange, comforting calm. He felt all the weight he'd carried all these years fade away into nothing, and an inexplicable feeling of relaxation spread across his being. He lie there, blissful in that serene timeless peace. Perhaps it lasted for but a few seconds, or perhaps it lasted for centuries. Zelgius couldn't tell; he only felt like he was drifting through the most soothing air he had ever known.
Yet that blissful void could not last. All too soon, Zelgius found weight return to him. The ache of muscle and tension of tendons dragged him from his serene stupor back into the inconvenient world of sensation. He struggled to keep still in this strange, ethereal dream he'd found himself; he'd spent all he had, after all. There was nothing left for him in the land of the living. There was no point in returning, and it would aid no one if he did so.
Yet whatever force was responsible for his current state would not be denied.
He suddenly felt himself lying upon some sort of grassy surface. He very much was not thrilled at this, and he almost considered just laying there and letting nature take its course. Yet, he was roused from his self-pity by something wooden poking his right cheek. He let out a light grown before slowly sitting up, regretfully opening his weary eyes.
He was...in a forest? Certainly surrounded by a bunch of trees, if nothing else. They lacked the ethereal vibrancy of Serenes, so there was at least one place he was sure he wasn't. Even so, that didn't exactly help him in figuring out where he was. He brought one hand up to soothe his aching head, but gave a start when he noticed something that made this situation even stranger: he was still wearing his armor, but it was the wrong armor. Rather than the black armor of Sephiran's Knight, he was instead wearing the red plate of the Apostle's General. His left hand quickly moved to his side, and it found his blade, but it was the General's blade, not Alondite.
Before he could begin to puzzle out what in the seven hells was going on, he noticed something moving to his right. He turned his head quickly, ready to strike at a moment's notice, only to find a little girl looking back at him. Given her clothing, she didn't appear to be a peasant, but in his situation, he couldn't be sure of anything. Slowly, he began to speak as he allowed his hands to leave his sword. "My apologies. You startled me, my lady. May I have the honor of your name?"
