Asalon the capital of Avalon was blanketed in a soft fall of snow that painted the city white. Its buildings were covered in decorations and it's inhabitants were taken with a Christmas cheer, even as their land faced a new dread.

The palaces open windows let in a cold breeze which had a relaxing touch that cooled Chris down as he looked at his grandparents portrait once more before he left for his duty.

He massaged his chest in the area that Nimue's or Pyrrha's spear had gone through. It still had an itch that Chris had found himself scratching since he had returned to Avalon a month ago. He had spent most of his time since then resting in bed and attending one ceremony to commemorate their victory and his promotion.

He was no longer Christian Ambrosius Medraut Ddraig, Aris Knight third class, he was now a respected Argentum third class. He had received the silver coat of arms and everything to prove it, and after everything, he was okay with spending most of his time recovering. He had his fill of reckless danger and duels to the death.

He seeped some of the hot chocolate that was in the white cup which lay in his hand. It was a the perfect thing for the Christmas winter air and he enjoyed it.

"Wish I had kept that scabbard." he thought sadly.

You might wondering how he survived that absolutely fatal wound. Well turns out that scabbard that Joan had given him in the facility belonged to one of the Arthur's.

This enchanted scabbard had the power to render you unable to die from any wound and was only thing that stopped him from crossing over into the far lands long enough for a group of medics to find him and stitch him back together to the best of their ability.

Unfortunately it's owner wanted it back as he returned to rebuild his kingdom and Chris lost his Deus ex machina so he was still grumpy about that.

And speaking of Nimue and the Lunar nation, they had completely fled the Nexus the moment Nimue's corpse was disintegrated by his Alpha-Spell. The Night Terrors on the other hand were not allowed such a luxury and they were hunted down to a man.

He remembered his last view of the Nexus of Narratives as both wizards on their side and the Nexus, cast great wardings that sealed a wall between their world and the Nexus of Narratives, they didn't need another Archtype-king fiasco.

Though his mother decided to punish him by letting Cai come to Avalon making Chris wish that they had disconnected their link to that world before Cai and a lot of his friends came through to tease him without rest and without end.

" At least she seems happy about rebuilding Gamalaot." she had been in full force to recreate another Gamalaot for the knights and citizens of her old kingdom who had crossed over. " She's so happy that she's smiling a lot...it's unsettling."

He was about to delve deeper into a retrospective of his past but the sounds of people speaking amongst themselves drew him out of it.

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He turned to his left to see Hamanymu, Ursa and Thor who came walking down the hallway speaking rather excitedly amongst themselves.

They all carried large duffle bags, packed with their true essentials as had Chris with the bag that lay by his side. In truth he wasn't just Infront of his grandparents portrait to look back on the past, he was here to say goodbye to them.

"Took you long enough, we were worried that you would be sleeping in your bed." Ursa said.

Chris chuckled at the thought, he was nowhere as lazy as his friend thought. She should have known better that after mentally recharging, he was ready to face their new enemy.

" As if, I was worried that you guys had chicken out."

"Chickened out, no way. We are Argentum Knights now, third class." Hamanymu said with a proud smirk and Ursa merely groaned.

"You won't shut up about that will you?"

"Why would I, it is one of the best things to have happened to us after this whole fiasco. Besides, your precious William will be weak at the knees at a woman with authority."

"Shut Up!" Ursa shouted back with her face red from embarrassment.

"What are you thinking about?" Thor asked him, ignoring the two others who were engaged in a verbal spat.

"Just about how crazy things have been. The whole Zodiac, Shade and Nexus of Narratives has been one wild ride. When I first got my mission to Anabia I never thought that it would become so..." he answered as he scratched the scar on his chest. ".... complicated."

"Fate does not always weave the the thread that we want." Thor said before looked at the portrait of Chris's grandparents. " I am sure that they are proud of you."

"Grandmother would probably kick me for nearly dying while Grandfather laughed it off in the corner."

"That not true, Chris." Thor protested but he wasn't there in the healing chambers when Chris woke up.

"When I woke up Ishtar almost chocked me to death in a fit of rage and after mom saved me from her, she too tried to choke me to death. The only ones who didn't do anything were my dad and Joan who was too busy hiding."

" Okay, the women in you're life are a little crazy." this was ironic coming from Ursa crazy person Falcon.

"You can't even begin to imagine."

" Hey, hurry it up we have to go" Hamanymu called from the door.

"We are coming." Ursa answered Hamanymu before asking him with a reassuring smile." I will leave you to say goodbye."

Chris waited until she was bit far away before he started talking... it was embarrassing to be talking to a portrait but at the same time it felt like it took a load off his chest. He could feel the eye's of the portrait looking down upon with the same warm gaze his grandparents had.

"Grandfather, Grandmother" he greeted them as he always did before taking a deep breath " I am going to be going away for a while, far from Avalon, 36,000 kilometers away to the Sun empire to be exact. So this is goodbye, for now just don't worry I will be back soon."

He turned to leave and found Pyrrha being the only one waiting for him. She looked passable, Chris would never admit that she looked beautiful. Things had been awkward between the two of them since the Nexus of Narratives after she saved his life so many time's and almost died because of him also her spear had been what Nimue used to impel him.

" She has been avoiding me recently." he wasn't sure wither to be upset or happy about that.

"Greetings, you're majesty." she offered him a bow of respect but it sounded awkward.

"Greetings, Pyrrha Ulster. Are you ready?"

" Yes my prince." she bowed and turned to leave but she paused and said. "Thank you for giving another chance and allowing me on your team."

Chris didn't know what to say, so he remained silent and Pyrrha left him alone with the portrait. Well, that wasn't entirely true, there was one more person who was going to speak to him.

His mother materialised from thin air besides him and she looked at him with a neutral face. "So this is it."

"I suppose, not having any doubts already are you?" he joked hoping that she didn't try and stop him.

"Of course not. I have learned... I have learned that you are an adult and I should trust you to go into the world and face it's challenges head on. Heavens knows I would rather not, but... you can go." she forced out every word.

Chris smiled and leaned forward drawing his mother into a deep hug as he whispered, "It's okay."

"How is it, I am sending two of my children across an entire ocean with only five carriers to the Sun Empire and fight not just the Lunar Empire, but the Sun's civil war. Nothing about this is okay." she sighed as they let go of eachother. "But I can't stop you from going. So good luck and keep yourself safe out there."

This was all he had ever wanted to hear from her and taking her hand he said. "Come on, we can go to the desperation, I am afraid that we are late."

Mother and son then walked away side by side in peace, after so long. But as they passed a mirror, Chris could have sworn that he saw his reflection in the mirror, grinning from ear to ear in a most unnatural way at him.

And So Volume One Ends. Volume Two Shall Be Set On The High Seas, So Expect To See Pirates, Sea Battles And More Activity From The Night Terrors Because Chris Now Has An Unwanted Guest Ridding His Body.