Arc 7. Death to what came before
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 6. The Dragons rebirth
Inside Lincoln's house, Erline assists the still-recovering Lincoln in beginning the process of regaining his strength. His bones have whittled down, his skin has warped, and his spirit has fallen. She pushes him down the short hall, right into a sunroom that has been turned into a small gym. While it has a few weights, a punching bag, as well as some miscellaneous equipment, the main point that they’re in the room is the Parallel bars in the center.
He stares longingly at the bars, and then down at his now useless legs, trying his best to move them.
Erline: “We can wait a week or two, you’ve only been awake for a few days.”
Lincoln: “NO! I won’t force my soldiers to train daily while I sit my ass.”
While his physical appearance has shifted, a viewer in the hall is warmed to see his personality hasn’t changed one bit. Lincoln turns his head, annoyed to see Gordon watching him.
Lincoln: “What? Happy to see me like this?”
Gordon: “No, I’m happy to see you trying, to see you awake, hell, to see you alive.”
Lincoln groans, turning his head back around while he attempts to stand up. He puts pressure on his decayed muscles as he grips the armrests, trying to lift himself. Gordon and Erline are forced to watch as Lincoln strains himself over something so simple, driving home the fact that the world's strongest man has fallen so far. He grits his teeth, slowly making his way up, he even begins to sweat, though he’s unable to fully stand up. With the loss of his right leg, he’s forced to put all of his weight on his one leg, which causes him to crumble, slipping back into the chair.
It was so abrupt that he fell out of the chair, slamming into the ground. Such an abrupt fall onto the cold hardwood floor almost crushes his unstable shoulder, causing him to scream out in pain. While Erline quickly rushes to help him up, even the feeling of her soft, wrinkled hands on his side causes intense pain, even when the soft robe he’s wearing blocks a bit of the small amount of force she was putting out. Gordon covers his quivering lips, unable to watch his friend like this. While Erline casts “El-Vortic” to heal him, Gordon walks away, leaving them alone. Lincoln tries to push Erline off of him, so she steps back and walks out of the room, up to Gordon. She pushes his stern body, annoyed at his inability to show any emotion to his friend.
Erline: “What is wrong with you?”
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Gordon: “Stop, I have things I need to do.”
Gordon attempts to walk away again, but Erline quickly moves in front of him, slapping Gordon square in the face. He doesn't retaliate, just holding his cheek in shock.
Erline: “Your friend almost killed himself to make sure your soldiers didn’t die! Look at him! Help him! DO SOMETHING, DON’T JUST WALK AWAY!”
Gordon is about to scream out, to leave out everything he holds from within his mind, but he stops. His eyes, as straight and focused as a hawk, begin to go soft as he walks away, leaving Erline alone. She attempts to go back to Lincoln, but she finds him in a vulnerable state. He had heard their words, and they broke him.
She’s about to step into the room, but she stops herself. In her mind, this is what he needs, and even if it may be a bit cruel, she walks into the main room and sits on a couch, letting him expel all of his build-up emotions. He grabs at his hair, pulling tufts of it out, causing him to break down even further. As he sits there, straining himself, he feels something in the air, watching him. He quickly turns around, suspecting it to be either Gordon or Erline, but nobody is there. His ability to read his situation, including what, who, and why some things around him have fallen so far that it distracts him from the strange situation he finds himself in. With a knock, he quickly turns his head to the windows in front of him, finding Edward standing out in the cold. With a sigh, he waves his hand, telling him to come inside, but Edward denies this. Edward is the one to call him over, motioning for him to open the door for him.
A small smile forms on his sunken face as he attempts to push himself. If it takes a few minutes, hours, or even years, Edward would stand there to make sure he was able to do it himself. But with Lincoln's unstoppable determination, he pushes forward, literally and figuratively. He begins to slowly roll his way to the screen door, which is shaking due to the harsh freezing wind outside. With just a few pushes, he makes it over to the door, though he’s unable to clench his fist to move the handle down. So to outweigh the door lever knob, he puts his other hand on top, pushing it down while the wind pushes it open. The wind is so strong that it begins to push Lincoln back, but Edwards is quick to stop it, though he almost stumbles over as his prosthetic leg is a bit unstable.
Lincoln: “What are you doing here?”
Edward: “I wanna walk if you’re okay with that.”
Lincoln: “I don’t want my soldiers to see me like this, I won’t have it.”
Edward: “You don’t think they’ll see you as a stronger man? That you’re able to keep going…like this?”
Lincoln: “I’m like this because I’m not strong…I know you wouldn’t get it, but Musashi did the same thing. To throw it all away on a wimp, to make up for your mistakes no matter the cost.”
Edward: “Is that why you activated that state without such care? Did you want to throw it all away? Why?”
Lincoln turns his head, unable to go through with the process. So Edward begins pushing him to the main room, looking at the armor setup. Lincoln looks to a new armor set right beside Musashi’s, his own armor. The sight almost brings a tear to his eye, but it also works to show him what he was like before, how far he’s fallen.
Lincoln: “The armor is put there when great warriors die…and here I am.”
Edward: “I don’t think it’s supposed to be that thought out, it’s just a nice gesture.”
Lincoln: “It is nice…but why are you here?”
Edward: “It’s because I’m leaving in a few days. Peters with Rick finishing the last few touches on my new equipment, so once it’s done I’m off.”
Lincoln: “Do you know where you’re going?”
Edward: “Rick said he’ll tell me when the time is right. But until then I’m in the dark, but I wanted to tell you a bit before I leave.”
Lincoln continues to stare at his armor, never breaking his focus. But with a bit of resolve, and with it working as a new source of motivation, a bit of his pride returns. He sits up straighter, he begins to speak with a more confident tone, all while Edward looks on with a joyous smile.
Lincoln: “I was on top of the mountain longer than I wasn’t. I came from nothing, I hurt a dragon, I focused on what I wanted, and I achieved it. Now, I’m far past my youth, my prime, and I know I can never reach the point I was at…but I won’t stay a husk. You go find that cursed charm, and come back fast because when we see each other after that, we’ll both be new men.”
End of Chapter Six