"The consequences of what historians now call the great battle of The Fields were long and lasting, from the rise of up to now unheard alliances among nobles and merchants, to the birth of heroes of civilian background, countries and empires, kingdoms and Gods moved and so did the greater world, in this interview with key players of the battle we will now shine a light to their darkest moments, for in war there is much glory, and much grief..."
The Imperium Claws issue, which later became popular in the new world for its exclusive interviews.
Hope felt her blessing pulse with an incredible force as she neared Lucrezia's body, it was the first time such a thing had happened and she was taken back by the sheer power of the pulse, Richard grabbed her tighter than before and both stopped as they neared Lucrezia's fair face.
"Something's not right" Richard spoke "Can you cast any healing spells or miracles?" Hope nodded and flexed her powers, the Blessings slotting themselves sluggish, she was still strained it seems, that or the Gods weren't keen on helping her given her blasphemous acts.
"We will have to deal with the All-Father's Hardliners sooner rather than later, worry not I know some people" Richard spoke his mind connecting the dots fast "Well Mother knows the people, but given what happened today I am sure she will be willing to spare them"
Hope began casting the spells and miracles, Lucrezia's body glowing in purple, green and white, golden lights shining through her fingers as she began coughing black bile, Hope untangled herself from Richard as the young man nearly launched himself to the ground.
He propped Lucrezia up, she trembled a bit before digging her nails into Richard's arms, he sucked in the pain with a sharp intake of air before Lucrezia relaxed and stopped coughing, her eyes opening and locking with Hope's.
The world grew silent as the three shared this intimate moment, Hope saw those beautiful azure eyes again and there was a depth to them, and a sad sort of peace, Arthur told her once, that hidden below Lucrezia's lust and boundless knowledge was a deep-seated sense of regret, of shame.
None of that now, whatever happened in her brush with death and the long queue had changed her, deeply, Richard hugged Lucrezia and Hope heard him sob, the emotions she herself was trying to keep down bubbled back up, and she sucked in air, trying to hold the tears in but seeing Lucrezia cry broke the dam.
The trio had a group hug, the tears flowing in silence as all of them lacked words to express their feelings, Hope coughed a bit after they stopped hugging and said "We won, Richard pulled some sort of powerful beam of light to banish the Queen but we won!"
Lucrezia opened her lips, a sense of gravitas coming from her voice and words "The Tear of the All-Father? You used it?" she sounded tired, a face Hope and Richard had seen once in a while before.
"Aye, aye I used the bastard, it drank every ounce of mana and divine energy I had but she got the Grannarius's special and we godsdamned won" There was an edge to his voice, Richard's opinion on the Queen was not the best it seemed.
"She called you the strongest foes she's faced you know," Hope said a smile on her lips "You missed the fight Lu, turns out all that melee training you gave Richard here turned him into quite the grappler"
"You two can tell me all about it after I take a good nap, in a hot bath" She smiled a little, pain flashing on her face "Ouch" Hope felt it again, that send of sad peace exuding from Lucrezia's presence and felt chills.
A woman of many secrets as Arthur had said once to her, it would take some digging to find out what had happened to her, maybe now that Richard was emotionally invested they would have some answers.
"You guys can tell me what happened later, let's return to the castle now, whoever survived will be happy we won the fight I wager if there's anyone left that is," Lucrezia said as she looked over the horizon, with both Hope and Richard helping her before she got her stride.
It didn't take long before she saw the remains of the airship "Ye gods she didn't spare anything in her rampage, did she? It will take a good while to rebuild it..." A smile crept on her face "The lads back home will be happy with the challenge I bet"
"Worry not, we will help get the Nautilus back in the air, twice as big and strong" Richard spoke with gusto "A fleet of ZENOs units, those frankly terrifying Knightmares, and more, together"
"Aye, together" Lucrezia spoke, her voice trembling with emotion in a rare display of her soft side.
Hope then heard in the wind, a low rumbling at first that grew as loud as thunder, rolling over the fields and beyond as the Reclaimers who hadn't lost and their allies cheered at the top of their lungs.
Wanting to take a peek under Lucrezia's thoughts Hope cast the surface reading memory spell Arthur taught her, a melody creeping under her ear as the lyrics of the song were translated from an unknown language via All-Father's blessing.
O Sorrow, all-penetrating!
I have been wrested away from you!
O Death, all-conquering!
Now you are conquered!
With wings that I won
In the passionate strivings of love
I shall mount
To the light to which no sight has penetrated.
I shall die, so as to live!
Arise, yes, you will arise from the dead,
My heart, in an instant!
What you have conquered
Will bear you to God.
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Richard walked forward now that Lucrezia was walking, his mind bouncing between shame and pride, face red up to the ears as the adrenaline and battle fervor went away when they neared the castle whose outer walls and moat were mostly destroyed. But he could see Reclaimers and allies moving around it, magic being cast to fix the bridge and entryways.
He felt ethereal winds flare to his right side as Hvtial, Rose de Castellon, and Tomoe flew down and landed before him, a smile creeping on the dragonkin's face as he saluted Richard.
"My oh my, a declaration of love in the middle of the fiercest battle the kingdom has seen in decades! complete with the blessing of a powerful Goddess at that!" Rose spoke with awe in her voice "Why it would be enough to make any fair lady heart skip wouldn't it Tomoe?"
Hvtial spoke "Don't forget fighting the Queen in honest to gods melee combat, to the point of fisticuffs, something no one bar the King himself had done before" He snapped his fingers and a refreshing wind washed over Richard, cleaning his clothes, and mending his outward wounds "Richard my friend, you are in for quite the reception once we are out of these godsforsaken fields"
"Well you three better help me out then" Richard spoke feeling the tiredness creep up on him "The women of the hour are coming and we gotta set up a proper reception for them" It felt good Richard thought, having those three near him again, they helped him immensely before the fight, it was only right that they would be there for the celebrations, he looked up to the skies and wondered how long the people who "died" would remain there.
An emotionless voice whispered in his ear "One hour"
"Convenient" he spoke and kept going forward, as more and more people saw him the cheers started going out, it felt weird at first but Richard was anything but slow and managed to calm the people down, orders flying as he sped the process up and prepared a stage for the speech that was likely happening, Lucrezia was rather fond of those after all, that and Music.
It was with great sadness that he found out the band had been obliterated by Malphas, the woman took the morale-boosting music threat rather seriously huh? no music would be sad but he quickly got people to prepare food instead.
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Finding the Kitchen complex of the castle was not that hard thankfully, and mages kept the whole assembly line cleaned and ready for the frankly absurd stocks of foodstuff that were being kept there.
It made sense, the castle was being used as a place of revelry and carnal desire until today after all, Richard's mind flew as he wondered if that particular piece of bad news would also come knocking, Lucrezia, Hope, and now Himself had made big waves, and as his mother once told him, those are very fond of come crashing back. Yet not everything was the doom and gloom his mind was conjuring.
Every orc around had come to congratulate him, such pride and honor that they got to witness the alliance between Vermilion and their Goddess, a reminder that the Kingdom would always stand fast against the menace of the sea, an orc lad barely 19 cried when hugging him, overcame by emotion he said, the lad told him that for generations his family was one of the chosen to keep the vigil at the shores of the country.
"Always watching, for one day they will return, and so will the one is chosen by the Goddess" and that was Richard now, embroiling himself against the equivalent of the boogieman for the Orcs, with very few ancients remembering the faces of their enemy.
But he knew, with the knowledge the Goddess gave him, the sea elves were deep below the waves, bidding their time, except now when they came back, it would not be just Magic and Steel that would greet them.
Magi-Tech would as well, his eyes watched the wreck of the Nautilus burning blue fire, he would rebuild it, twice as big and park right above their heads, and when those guns sang once again the elven horde will rue the day they left their darkened abyssal home.
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"Ah yes, one more thing before I leave, your friends asked me to give you this, to remember them by" All-Father Faal pulled a small dagger from his person, glittering in the lights of the artificial space they were in, dark as night, a blade made of obsidian and silver.
"Now, if you would excuse me, I gotta explain a few things to the people upstairs, and when those who summoned your other half come knocking, be sure to ask them the important questions ok? if only so you can tell me later if you want of course"
She held the dagger in her left hand, the silver in the handle burning her palm for a second before the weapon disappeared into the aether, the walls around her falling and she beheld the skies within the realm of her soul.
The Monolith, once pulsing with discord now as smooth as a still lake, the realm still had its buildings and Terran architecture, yet all the young woman could feel was a creeping sense of loneliness and sadness.
"It seems my better half, at least at the subconscious level has yet to come to terms with the fact" she spoke as she moved her left hand again "I feel...whole, stable even, the memories are still there, as are the emotions but its clear now whose came first, whose got to dictate the melding"
"Terrifying isn't it? that I can remain calm like this must be in part thanks to my other half heh, still as a lake, sharp as the blade's edge but fearing for the consequences of my actions"
The lack of confusion was distressing to her, she expected something more dramatic, but then again, it was the lord of all reality within her universe who did the deed, if there was anyone that could mesh their souls together flawlessly it would've been him.
She felt the body waking up and closed her eyes, the waking world called and she had much to do.
"Here lies Lucrezia and William, may their souls find peace with their rejoining"
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Lucrezia walked slowly as Hope held her hand, the lack of her arm didn't feel weird but then again "she" had plenty of time to get used to the feeling. A cool wind blew through the field and trees as Hope's voice rang in her ears.
"You know there's something you must be made aware of with haste" she smiled a teasing smile "Richard led an honest-to-goodness epic charge and guess what he screamed?"
Lucrezia stared at the face of her dear friend, she found mirth in her eyes but also a sense of pride? as if Hope was proud of whatever Richard had said. A weird thought, Lucrezia searched her memories and while Richard was often with the rest of the gang he and Hope weren't that much of friends.
But as she well knew by now, combat can forge bonds stronger than steel, they must've fought together and Hope came to trust Richard a great deal, something Lucrezia approved in her heart, he was a good man and deserving of praise, while the game never gave him a chance to shine she had done it, and the world was better for it, After all, he was now friends with the future Queen of the Kingdom!
Lucrezia laughed "Pray do tell, what did our esteemed friend bellow from the top of his lungs to the entire Kingdom and Allies to hear?" Hope snickered as she regaled the tale of Richard's mad dash.
"Love he said, the Goddess asked and he screamed, a shame you were already out to witness such a dramatic and let's be honest here, most heroic declaration of love one could get short of having the Goddess of Love on your side while you do it," Hope said with gusto "Pardon me being so forward but you should really give him a chance Lu, he's a great catch especially now that's he's all powered up, you should've seen the hand to hand fight against the Queen, that was insane"
"He fought hand to hand, against Malphas?" Lucrezia's eyes widened, even with the powerful blessing he got that would be nearly impossible to even last a round of fisticuffs, the woman was a monster with her melee skills.
Of course, that wasn't enough, Hope told more, and Lucrezia couldn't help but smile at the mention of Aogurious being summoned, Kaine using time magic on that big of a scale, and her army fighting to the bitter end it felt amazing to hear it.
Not so much when she saw the remains of her airship, but that could be fixed, bigger and better too.
"And then he used the Tear, as the Mad Royals of Grannarius once did, we couldn't...defeat Malphas even with everything we had, but that was enough and we won" Hope finished her hand gripping Lucrezia's "You need, nay must train me, Lu I know you can push me, Arthur and the rest to our peak and when the time comes we will win, with our own powers and skills"
Lucrezia felt emotions flood her, she held the tears as she hugged Hope "Of course, everything I know you will also know, together" After the wave of emotion passed she distanced herself from Hope and saw the stage Richard and the others were building.
"He knows you would want to give a speech, what a thoughtful young lad" Hope spoke with mirth "You ought to be careful Lu, otherwise that elven woman will steal him right under your nose, I saw the way she was looking at him before the fight.."
Lucrezia shook her head "Let's worry about my love life after we are done with this alright? I need a good 3 days of lazing around before dealing with that sort of thing, even if Shal'Xhir will want to have my head for denying her the pleasure"
Hope laughed "Oh you fool, she likes you too much for that! She told me you know? out of everyone you are the one who keeps popping in her head, If I didn't know any better I would go as far as say the Goddess has a crush on you!"
Lucrezia laughed "O to be young and in love" to which Hope punched her in the arm "Hey we are the same age! don't go speaking like an old crone"
Lucrezia shrugged with delight on her face, the cheers from the survivors in the castle loud as thunder as they got closer, she readied herself for a speech, as her better half was wont to do when victory was fact, she flexed her hand, and walked forward.
The thunder of shields and spears, swords, and Magi-Tech weapons roared across the fields as Lucrezia went up the stage together with Hope and Richard, the young man flanked by his aides as he raised his hands to calm the crowd down.
"Friends! Save your cheers! our leader has a few words for you all" The people quieted down in a flash, Lucrezia smiled seeing how much respect Richard commanded now, poised and sure of himself but still having his smarts as a merchant.
"Friends, it fills my heart with pride, with joy to stand here today, by the sweat of your brow, the strength of your muscles, dominion over faith, and magic we stood against the very best our fair Kingdom has to offer! It was a long battle, a hard battle but we WON!" thunderous clapping and cheers stormed out of the castle "Today we brought out the might of our fair Kingdom, the bonds we forged today will last until the very end of this realm"
"Look at those who stand with you right now, and those who will soon return to partake in the festivities, for today we are not nobles, commoners or merchants, knights, and soldiers, today we are united under a single banner, and that banner will shine on top of this hallowed field of combat for the future to see! and that future will be a glorious one, my friends, for we are now one, and as right proper Vermilians we all know the honor that is sharing a battlefield with our brothers and sisters"
"I would also like to thank my allies for lending me their strength in this hour of need, for today we fought not as enemies but as allies! The Elite Troops of Grannarius and Magenta Squad! The First Imperium Legion! My own men from the great Wulfgrem Duchy! A cheer my friends! a cheer for the war machines we have unleashed! a cheer for battles to come for they will taste Crystal and Steel! Weapons even the dragons will fear!"
More noise as Lucrezia bathed in, her mind going back to her first speech at the gates of her castle, or was it after the battle? the memories were fuzzy still, she raised her hands and moved on "But now rest! much was done today, many secrets aired, many techniques unleashed and it's only fair I grant you succor for the fruits of your labors, for today the Reclaimers are Victorious and shall be forever more!"
The Sigil of Morugarius bloomed in the skies above Lucrezia, she smiled as the cheers got louder, it seems at least for a while she wouldn't have to deal with the very real consequences of summoning the Terran Spirits here.
The future looked bright indeed.
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