Drim awoke, jerking upwards in the bed as memories of the war flashed in his mind. Surprisingly, he felt fine, not an ache on his body or a drop of exhaustion. Just how long had he been asleep? He looked around and decided that it couldn’t have been too long. A few other members were asleep in the other beds of The Salvation’s quarters.
The man’s gaze wandered, making sure everyone was alright, and he eventually locked eyes with Farian who’d been sitting at a desk. The doctor came over to check on him and said with a gentle, yet slightly annoyed smile, “You gave us quite a scare.”
“Phon teleported me over a few seconds after you collapsed. You were teetering on the edge. Hell, any other doctor without my ability wouldn’t have hesitated to call you dead on the spot. But you were hanging on by a single thread.”
“And then that big ball in the sky erupted. Next thing we knew, your breathing stabilized, and you were completely fine. Just needed some rest. The ball then topped off our members, and as the enemies were retreating, it gave strength to those who didn’t have the ability to stand up otherwise. Then it vanished entirely. Quite the extraordinary power you have, if it could bring you back like that. Even a Fiend’s regeneration wouldn’t have saved you.”
“So… is it really over then?” Drim asked hesitantly, unsure he was ready to hear the answer. Given the current calm, it felt like they were finished, but he’d been tricked by that before.
“Well, the fighting’s done, yes,” Farian confirmed. “After you sent Horage screaming for the hills, no one has attempted to attack Last Bastion again, though we’ve been having the members guarding the area in shifts. As for the rest, the last I’d heard was that they were almost finished with the induction process. It should be—”
The doctor was likely going to say something along the lines of ‘any time now’, but the sudden appearance of Phon and Harth Boldur finished it for him. Drim was suddenly enveloped in familial love as both of them rushed to hug him. It seemed his sister wanted to yell at him too, but couldn’t quite make out the words through her tears.
Harth was the first to speak. “It’s finished,” he happily told them. “Last Bastion is now officially part of the Central Peace, and this madness can finally come to an end. All countries are being informed as we speak, and a contingent of CP soldiers is being deployed to make sure that no one tries anything stupid.”
“You all can stand down now. I know this hasn’t been easy on your group, and that the losses are higher than anyone would have wished for, all because of greed. Know that this isn’t over on our end. We will strive to uncover those who orchestrated this and hold them accountable.”
“And even though the soldiers' deaths could have been avoided if the politicians hadn’t failed them, you, Drim, saved more than we could have hoped for. So thank you!” the uncle put his hand on his nephew’s shoulder, squeezing it with thanks and affirmation. Harth was on the verge of tears himself, doing a poor job holding them back.
The man wasn’t sure how to react to his uncle’s words, so in the end, he decided to stay silent and just let himself enjoy the moment. And after saying their goodbyes, Drim got up, got some food, and got to work.
Even though their request to protect Last Bastion was officially completed, there was still a lot to be done, not willing to leave the land in its currently tarnished state. Most of the members were relegated to taking down the defenses they’d placed and setting the citizens free who had been boarded up in their homes.
The worst job went to Roque. During the panic of both retreats, none of the armies had stuck around to retrieve their dead. The battlefield was still rife with corpses, and it wouldn’t be long before they really started to rot. All the commotion from the war had kept any hungry monsters at bay, but some would get bold soon, especially flying scavengers.
But Roque managed to clear them out in one fell swoop. Since they were no longer living, he could take possession of them, and actually managed to group it all together on just one single contract. The real problem would come after, having to sort the remains by country and making sure they got where they needed to go, though his Curse would help with figuring it out.
And with all the corpses gone, finding any remaining survivors became that much easier. There were probably more than any of them expected. Phon teleported them all out of the country to a prison in Kazji where they could receive treatment since they were still technically enemies. But even still, Farian went along to assist with their recovery.
The second most gruesome job went to Kada. Even with the bodies gone, the farmland outside of Bastion would now be forever stained with blood. So instead of trying to clean the area, she merely replaced it. The bloody dirt was melted deep underground and replaced with new soil that originally lay just underneath. She also smoothed out the area since it had been ripped up quite a bit during the battles.
Down in the water, there wasn’t much they could do about all the blood there since it was too big of a source for Niloy to purify. But the giant Squordfish chilling in the harbor would act as enough of a deterrent to other monsters until it all dissipated. After repairing the land and restoring the shoreline, Kada worked on retrieving all the sunken ships and submarines, along with a few crashed skycrafts—just getting them all to the surface for Roque to take possession of. Unlike the bodies, they were free for him to scrap and sell—make as much money as he could from the salvage.
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While Kada got the land ready, Drim worked at dismantling the cocoon. It wasn’t something he’d attempt to take down in one go, since there was a very real possibility that absorbing it all at once would kill him… again. And once was enough for a 10-hour period. Since they weren’t in a rush like they were with the war preparations, he took it slow.
First and foremost, he did his best to rejuvenate the gardens in Last Bastion to how he remembered them. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the foresight to take pictures before the plants had been drained. A few of the citizens came out to scrutinize every action, while a few others took advantage to completely revamp their foliage.
Once those inside the wall had been placated, Drim began restoring the farmland. After Kada’s maintenance, the area was basically just barren soil, so he gave it new life. At first, he’d replenished the crops that were destroyed, but those that actually participated in the farming lifestyle asked that he remove them, wanting to start the process from scratch.
The restoration efforts of all parties continued until late into the night. Originally, the Fiends For Hire had planned to stick around overnight just in case of any unforeseen incidents, but they had been assured that the CP squad had arrived and had placed the area under their protection.
But just as the group was about to leave and return home, they received an invitation. The very next evening, there was going to be a grand celebration to commemorate Last Bastion’s induction into the Central Peace, along with the fact that their country continued to exist at all. And of course, the Fiends For Hire would be the guests of honor.
It was an invitation that they couldn’t refuse, even if they seriously wanted to. And because of this new obligation, most of the group decided to stick around, spending the night floating up in The Salvation. They were content to laze about for another day and relax after the war, rather than dive right back into their daily grind. Though a few insisted that they be taken back home, ready to slump into their own beds.
That wasn’t really a problem, though, since Valen had set up a temporary portal in Last Bastion once the cocoon was removed, so the Fiends For Hire could come and go as they pleased. They wouldn’t leave it up forever, just until their business was done, since it would be a waste of Phon’s precious blood to leave it in a place where they’d likely never visit again. That and they didn’t exactly trust the citizens to leave a font of the hot commodity lying around.
And those that stuck around were generally rather happy they did, since the group was actually summoned several hours before the start of the event. Those still aboard the airship didn’t have to scramble and disrupt their days. Apparently, the Last Bastion citizens didn’t trust that the Fiends For Hire members would have clothing they’d deem adequate. Which was probably true with Chorus as the sole exception. While their combat outfits were top of the line, the group rarely attended fancy social gatherings.
The members were divided up by the citizenry to be dressed. And although it was never actually spoken aloud, it quickly became a competition to see which Bastard could best dress their Fiend in the most lavish, exquisite, expensive outfit that also matched their physique and personality. Some of the members likely found the experience fun, but it was hell on Rathe for most—complete anguish of an afternoon.
Even after they were dressed, the members were isolated in rooms of the recreation facility—actually a castle—until the event started. Once it did, they were called out one at a time so that they could be introduced to the crowd, an especially terrifying proposition to their more timid members.
As to be expected, Drim was last on the list, so he was locked in his room for quite a while longer after the celebration’s official start time. He was just wearing a black suit with green accouterments, pretty standard for him, which made it all the more excruciating that the whole ordeal took so long.
And on top of that, he was basically left alone with his thoughts all that time—not particularly something he wanted to experience given the recent events. He found it horribly ironic that he was about to attend a lavish celebration of his achievements while countless families around the world would be planning funerals for their loved ones that would never come home. But he couldn’t let himself fall into that hole, stuck in despair and consumed by guilt.
Even though deep down he knew that it wasn’t their fault, that they were only fulfilling their duty and protecting innocents from a world gone mad, it was still hard to swallow—that so many lives had to be sacrificed in the name of peace. To distract him from such notions, he began focusing on what was ahead: their plans that still hadn’t come to fruition, what they still needed to accomplish.
Eventually, a servant came to get him. He was led out into the hall where his sister was already waiting. “I’m amazed you wore what they gave you,” Drim couldn’t help but utter when he saw his sister all dolled up, her hatless hair woven into an intricate laced style that would fill any noble with envy. “Didn’t you swear off dresses after we became Fiends since our family made you wear them so much when we were kids?”
“This is the actually the seventh dress they tried to get me to wear,” Phon huffed.
“And the other six?” Drim asked with curiosity, though he could already guess the answer.
“Three shredded and two burned,” his sister smirked with self-satisfaction. “I wasn’t going to let them dress me in anything that wasn’t comfortable to wear. For the sixth, the hostess and I agreed that the servants should be ashamed for bringing such an atrocious outfit, so she made them eat it. That woman is probably the only one of these insufferable louses I can relate to.”
“Well, it’s good that you’re getting along with someone,” her brother could only shrug. “Alright… let’s get this over with.” Drim held out his arm and his sister grabbed hold, wrapping her own around it.
The servant led them down the hallway to an ornate door. When it opened, blinding light flooded their eyes compared to the dimly lit pathway, highlighting the extravagant festivities that lay waiting.
“Ladies and gentleman!” an announcer called the party to attention as the siblings stepped into the room. “Introducing Prince Drim Drazah and Princess Phon Drazah, the saviors of Last Bastion!”