Using a two-person craft stowed inside the medium-sized craft, Gareth and Anwen zoomed away to the former Titanian warehouse they’d called home.

“Anwen,” Gareth said, disembarking so that he could turn on the switch that would allow the elevator to take them into their old home. “Do you know why I didn’t want you to stop by here when we picked up the Utrium?”

“Why?” she asked, following her father.

“Because,” he said, watching the elevator emerge from the ground before him. “I knew it wouldn’t be your last time seeing it.”

“What do you mean? That test the Anbieter put you up to… I suggested it because that was the only real chance that we had to keep you with Stefan. You know, I was… ready to die on that day.”

“I wouldn’t have gone if I knew you’d die. There’s not a chance I’d let that happen.” he affirmed as they descended the elevator to the base Anwen called home, quite literally for as long as she could remember.

The two walked past Esperance’s old enclosure. It was still filled with straw, but clean straw at that. Gareth had mucked out the horse’s waste when Stefan, Anwen and himself had all left together for Marius. He’d known the entire time that he’d come back. He stopped in front of a room that Anwen had almost never gone into before which she had assumed was a spare bedroom. It turned out to be a small armory—full of suits of Titanian armor, the walls lined with swords and guns of excellent craftsmanship.

“You see this red suit?” Gareth said, putting his hand on the shining chest-plate fixed to a wall.

“What about it?”

“It was gifted to me by my brother when I was appointed head of the Palace Guard… it was 16 years ago, now that I remember it. I was the youngest head of the palace guard ever. This suit allowed me to detect the presence of any person with hostile intentions within a two-league radius of the palace.”

“Your brother must’ve really liked you, then.” Anwen said.

“He did… but not as much as he should’ve. He was fonder of our younger sister.”

“You have such a big family, Gareth.” she said in awe.

“Well, I left them for reasons,” he said. “Protecting Stefan was one of them. I’d feared that one day, they’d take him back and use him for their own sick intentions. And that book we found in that village… I think it only confirmed that.”

“The Leistung protocol…” Anwen remembered.

“My brother would’ve never allowed his son, even if he was illegitimate, to be a tool to further his interests. The fact that it’s happening means something unexpected happened within the Titanian command.”

Gareth placed each section of armor over their corresponding body part, where they automatically latched onto. He left only his head bare.

“I can’t tell Stefan this myself, but one day, I’d like you to do it for me. Are you ready?”

“Y-Yeah.” Anwen confirmed.

In about five minutes, Gareth explained everything that he could, without revealing names or specifics. His father was the previous emperor of Titan, his elder half-brother being the present. His younger sister had risen rapidly through the ranks, a lot of it which was due to skill but undoubtably in part due to her lineage, and the last he’d heard, she’d been a colonel, not far from promotion to brigadier general. Gareth himself was the middle child between the two, but an illegitimate one born to a human woman forced into the former emperor’s bed. Gareth had to fight in every aspect of the word to survive, to earn even a sliver of recognition from his peers and superiors. It was undoubtedly this that led him to being so incredibly strong and elusive. Although his lineage did help him somewhat, the majority of his prowess had been due to hard work, perseverance and determination. As for Stefan’s birth, he was also an illegitimate son born to a human woman, but the difference had been that Gareth’s elder brother chose to understand and provide for the mother of his child. Gareth revealed little about Kallista’s relationship with the current emperor, except that he knew that he’d loved her.

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By the end of his brief discourse, Anwen had to avert her gaze from her father’s eyes in order to keep herself from becoming a weeping mess.

“You’re only telling me all of this now because…” she trailed off.

“I have no choice,” Gareth said, gazing at the ground at his side. He too could not look at his daughter. “I have to leave.”

“I don’t want you to go, Gareth! Wherever you’re going, I- I need to be with you, there can be no other way!” she cried in frustration.

“My time here is over,” he said. “I came to Earth with a purpose. I’m ready to go back.”

“To… to Titan? But why? Why now, Gareth?”

“Stefan… he may never be able to forgive me after what he’s learned today. For his own sake, I have to part ways with him.”

He returned to the elevator, expecting Anwen to follow him, which she did.

“He’s not even done his training, how will he manage that without you?” she asked, joining him again in the elevator.

“That book we found in that village, it’s a layman’s guide to the Utrium arts. Even centuries later, most of it still holds true. He’ll use that book to guide his learning.” Gareth answered. But Anwen wasn’t ready to accept that her father was abruptly leaving her.

“It’s not fair, Gareth… it’s not fair to him… hell, it’s not even fair to me! What am I supposed to… what am I supposed to do without you?”

“I know it’s not fair…” Gareth muttered. “But I’ll tell you one thing. There is a silver lining,”

Anwen’s trembling frown remained as the father and daughter left their home together for the final time.

“You get to choose what you do after this. I’ve taught you everything you need to get by,” he said. “After you return to the base to tell them I’m gone, you can stay there and fight with the Black Shield. Or, you can go back to Marius, maybe give Dr. Bernard a little company. And if you ever wish to come back to this base, you can. It’s all yours. But the point is, you have freedom now. This is what our time together has added up to.”

That’s right, Anwen thought. Gareth gave me freedom that day all those years ago. He saved me from bleeding to death and protected me this whole time… but it doesn’t make this any less painful.

“I wanted you to see me get older, have a family. Could you imagine how cool it would be for there to be a Grandpa Gareth?” Anwen said. “You won’t get to see any of that.”

Gareth smiled somberly.

“I guess this is unfair to me, too.” he said.

But what hasn’t been unfair to me?

After a few seconds of irritating silence, Anwen gazed into her father’s eyes, and said words that she had been meaning to utter for years.

“I love you, Papa.”

Gareth’s smile become wider. He cupped his hands around her head, and he leaned in to lightly kiss his daughter on the forehead. He caressed her long, curly locks for a few moments after he pulled away.

“I love you too, Anwen. Oh, and I almost forgot.”

“Hmm?”

“Tia Koppel,” he said. “That was my mother’s name. I want someone to remember it.”

“I won’t forget it.” she proclaimed.

“I know you won’t.” he agreed.

He stepped backwards a few meters. Holding his helmet under his arm, he extended his arms forward, putting his hands together to make a diamond-shape. A band of translucent red light enveloped him and instantly expanded towards the sky. Before his form could vanish, Anwen saw him mouthing the word ‘goodbye’, and a stream of tears leaving his eyes.

Two seconds later, Gareth’s Light Pillar had vanished, himself along with it.

Now alone, Anwen stared at the spot her father stood at just moments prior.

“Did all that really just happen?” she asked no one. “He really just… told me all of that and left.”

She did not wipe away the rivers sourced from her eyes, themselves fixed on the spot she couldn’t pull them from.

Her knees became weak, and she gave way, collapsing onto them. But she allowed the tears to continue flowing. Eventually, they stopped. Gazing at the ground in front of her as the sun began to set, she gave herself the opportunity to think hard about what she was going to do.

She could’ve returned to Marius and lived with Dr. Bernard, but he was an aging man. She didn’t want to see another member of that family die while living under the same roof. She also could’ve chosen to stay at the base, but that would certainly lead to a lonely life. Even the smallest village was a half-days’ ride on horseback, and even longer on foot. So her ideal, and really, only option, was to stay with the Black Shield. Jay, Meinrad, Klaudia, Leon wanted their friend to be with them.

Stefan needed to be with her.

She needed to be with all of them.

With a fresh state of mind, she climbed back on her two-person craft, and headed straight for the Marius Mountains.