Arc 5: The Heart Within
Road to a Hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 28. Recovery
Blasting down the streets of Walgonia’s capital. Destroying the ground, breaking windows, creating large gusts of wind, all things casually done by gods of war. Ryo struggles to keep up with the faster, stronger Lincoln. There’s no time to think, as they’re speeding toward Jong’s location. Due to the fact Lincoln had to help Ryo, he had to leave Jong to fight on his own, and due to Jong’s strength being much closer to an average soldier, he would surely lose to an Apostle of Anarchy. Ryo is forced to yell because of the distance between himself and Lincoln.
Ryo: “IT SHOULD BE THE SNAKE APOSTLE RIGHT!? SERVERUS!”
Lincoln: “YEAH! STOP LAGGIN’ BEHIND! HE’S PROBABLY DEAD, BUT THOSE CIVILIANS NEED SAVIN’!”
Ryo tilts his head down, with the fact in his mind that, most likely, Jong is dead. He is well known and happy, but not all that strong. He’s not blessed, not born with an unkillable will, he’s just a man who wanted to do the right thing. But when there is any form of want, there is some sort of obstacle in the way, and in the case of a Knight, that obstacle is people, and sometimes people are just better than you. Running there takes over an hour, forcing them to leave their posts permanently. Though they do stop the smaller fights during their time getting over there, helping the smaller groups of knights secure their victory. Over the few hours the raid on the capital has taken, they have basically conquered every area. Thousands of people are safe, and thousands of Anarchists are dead, but the damage is great as well. Hundreds of soldiers were gone, and hundreds of civilians were caught in the crossfire. Hundreds of homes burned to the ground and family history was gone forever. Businesses are gone forever, and the way people have lived and will live has been completely reset.
Their lives are forever changed because people want power. For the rest of history, the day that Walgonia was embarrassed will rain in history, and the same goes for the day Walgonia was taken back. The heroes who saved Walgonia, but that is in the far future, right now Lincoln and Ryo have finally made it to the Southern side. Horror. The only way to describe it. A tragic end. Civilians laying dead on the ground, mountains of bodies. Soldiers trapped in stone, frozen screams. Tears froze in time, soulless eyes, eternal fear, a living nightmare. Ryo is terrified and speechless, and Lincoln is in shock, just as still as the imprisoned people.
Lincoln: “Are…the soldiers…dead?”
Ryo: “Their souls…are alive…but they are stopped. Paused.”
Lincoln runs around, trying to find a semblance of life. Ryo finds groups of people hiding within the buildings, staying just as still as the people turned to stone. Children shivering, and adults locked in primal fear. The closer they get to the middle of the northern side, the more damage they find. Large hand prints on the ground, blood splattered on the walls, chunks of buildings torn off, and shards of ice leading to a body. Ryo runs up to the body, turning it over to see Jong. Ryo puts his ear to Jong's mouth, hearing the faintest breath. Ryo excitedly calls out to Lincoln, waving him over. Ryo started flowing Spirits around his body, trying to not only heal him but call forth his consciousness. His bones begin pulling themselves into place, and the smaller cuts begin closing.
Lincoln: “He’s alive.”
Ryo: “Barley. I can heal him, but Erline is much better at it.”
Lincoln: “That old hag? Where’s she at?”
Ryo looks up, pointing to the castle.
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Ryo: “Gordon sent her there, to heal Gray’s party once they beat Arthur.”
Lincoln: “Gordon’s got a lot of faith in them.”
Ryo: “As we all, now let’s take him there.”
Lincoln throws Musashi’s stuff over his other shoulder and puts Jong on the other one.
Lincoln: “I’ll go, you need to help here.”
Ryo: “Are you sure?”
Lincoln: “I said it didn’t I?”
Ryo nods his head, letting Lincoln go off on his own.
Ryo: “Got a lot of work here…mph.”
Ryo rubs the sweat off his brow, then gets down into a meditation position. He focuses on the spirits around him, looking for any life. A few hundred dead, a few thousand alive, and all injured to some extent, whether it be internal or external.
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Gray’s mind is vacant, filled with the sudden view of a familiar city, a capital burning, consumed in black flames. Flames consume everyone, in the same way, Athens was consumed by the magma of the Solon Volcano. The sounds of crying, screaming, and voices fill up every inch of Gray’s will. The flames swirl until there is absolutely nothing but ash. The ash spirals about in the air, forming a statue, a statue of himself. Rosemary, Edward, and Soku apparate around the statue, all consumed with different emotions. Rosemary, drowning in her own sorrow. Edward is frustrated and confused. And Soku was left with a feeling of loneliness, with no real friend left in the world. Gray’s mind is splintered, floating around in some sort of third-person view, unable to think, just absorbing the visual torture being forcefully fed to him. With one horrific sight after another, Gray is met with one more to add to it. They burst into flames, acting as if nothing is happening. They break apart, turning into ash that is stolen by the wind, being ripped away from Gray. Then, the area explodes with black flames, consuming all once more.
With nothing but flames and the sound of them for Gray to inhale, failure. Caesar’s laughter takes over the sound of crackling flames, forcing whatever is left of Gray’s will to the ground, being pummeled by what he sees as a failure. Grasping at nothing, Gray is given only a hand and reaches through the fire, but he’s consumed almost instantly, then once again, only fire.
Gray: “NOOO!”
Gray jolts awake, with his hand reaching forward, only to be met with a cold breeze, pushing into the large white tent he finds himself in. He looks at his hand, finding it wrapped in bandages. He then looks at the rest of his body, being covered in even more bandages. He quickly grabs his hair, scared it might have been burned off, and to his relief, he still has all of it. Gray looks to his left, then to his right, then back to his left. Being surrounded by curtains. He assumes he must be in a medical tent. An elderly woman walks through the curtain, giving Gray a quick sight of the many other beds, filled with wounded Soldiers.
Gray: “Who are you?”
Erline: “I’m Erline West, the lead healer in the Leviathan army. And you’re finally awake.”
Gray touches his bandages, wincing in pain.
Erline: “I wouldn’t do that, your body was destroyed, your OD was collapsed, every bone in your left hand is broken, and you have a large burn mark around your left shoulder. You should be dead, and yet you’re still alive.”
Erline’s attitude confuses Gray. He always assumed old women were all nice, like a grandma, but Erline is more pessimistic. Erline notices the look in Gray’s eyes, a look of ridicule, so she pats his left shoulder, causing him immense pain. She puts her hand on his shoulder again, though this time pinkish mana flows around it. The pain eases, and he can feel his skin growing back, bit by bit, the feeling of his bones forcing themselves back into place. She removes her hand and walks out of the curtained-off area.
Gray: “Was that…healing magic? Well, whatever it just took…a lot of my stamina…ugh.”
Gray lays back down on his bed, about to doze off, but the curtains swing open. He sits up, causing him a quick burst of pain. Rosemary, Edward, Soku, Julius, Peter, and Leo, are all covered in bandages. Gray goes to say hi, but he’s met with a tight hug from Rosemary. She quickly backs off, realizing Gray starts shedding tears from the pain of the hug. She apologizes, but Gray interrupts her.
Gray: “Don’t…say…sorry. I’m all good.”
Gray looks at all of them, looking at all the sources of their injuries. Rosemary's destroyed arm, Leo’s drained body, the various cuts on Soku, the stab wound in Julius’ gut, and the burn marks all over Edward. The only one who isn’t very injured is Peter, not having a single bandage on him.
Gray: “Soku, with all those cuts you must have a lot of stitches.”
Erline walks in, frustrated to find everyone out of their beds.
Erline: “Pink-haired boy! Lean on your crutches, no weight on your gut! Green-haired girl! Don’t move around or you’ll rip open all those dastardly cuts! Black hair boy! Let your body’s bones heal back into place! Same for you Golden haired girl!”
She tries to push them all out of the area, but they won’t budge. She sighs and calls some of the other doctors to push over the other beds. So once all the beds are in a small circle so they all lay down together.
Gray: “I would…stay awake…and talk to you guys…but I’m tired.”
Gray tries to keep himself awake, but once he notices that everyone had fallen asleep while he was talking, he also drifts off into a deep sleep.
End of Chapter twenty-Eight