Lucia's Point of View

Helmsforth Temple

Moving in front of him, I spoke. “I have your sword, Arthur. It is in safe hands, I assure you.” Gesturing down another hall, my brow raised. “Would you like me to take you to it?”

“Are you sure he should be up and moving?” Typhon asked softly in worry. “Was he not declared de-“

Cassidy placed her hand over his mouth. “Don’t worry about him none, Arthur. Ya get yer sword, and we’ll look after those here.” My brows furrowed in confusion when I saw her grip tighten on his arm to hold him in place.

Arthur looked at me and nodded before following, hunched over with his hand covering his nub. “Sweetheart.” Aydalia called out.

Aien suddenly appeared off to the side, but the sight of his father made Alwin frown. “Yes?”

“Please inform Captain Greigh of the situation up here. Sergeant Ziah and I will help escort the General with Lady Lucia.” He teleported off as Aydalia finished before her eyes looked blankly at her son.

I was confused by this entire situation, but I ignored it as we came to my personal quarters. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

We all entered the room as Arthur looked around before grabbing his sword. A sigh escaped his lips as he held it in his hands. Taking a few deep breaths, his breathing seemed to even out, which surprised us. Several sparks shot from the sword into Arthur’s hand, but he merely closed his eyes. It wasn’t much later when his eyes slammed open, and he began panting.

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“Not as much as I hoped…” I heard him mumbled before he looked around the room. “It’s very plain for a High Elf,” Arthur commented in a more even tone. “No, knick-knacks for Lady Lucia?”

That put a smile on my lips. “Just a few trinkets that are more personal in nature.” Moving to him, I frowned. “Arthur, we really need to talk.”

His eyes were flickering back and forth between the strange symbols. “About?”

A nervous laugh escaped my lips. “A few things, but I suppose we should start at the most alarming and work our way down.”

“Or,” Arthur began as he moved past me. “We could not do that, and I can figure out what’s happened while I’ve been unconscious.”

“You weren’t just unconscious! Okay!?” I shouted suddenly, and he paused but didn’t face me. “You were dead, Arthur! Gone!” My breathing was picking up as I went through everything. “Not just for a few minutes, but hours! Then, after you had passed, Demons came for you, and you crushed them! Without even waking up, you sent them running!”

“Lucia-“ Arthur began, but I ignored him as I shook my head.

My hands came up to the sides of my head as I grabbed it. “We struggled against one Ghoul, and you killed dozens from your bed!” Moving in front of him, I began tapping his chest angrily. “Then, when you wake up, you go crazy and not to mention all the weird things that happened in your room with the stars!” My taps turned to slaps as I saw his blood-soaked robes. “You don’t get to just get up and act like nothing happened! Look at your arm, Arthur! It’s gone!”

He grabbed my hand, and I tried to pull it back, but I couldn’t. Using my free hand to try and pull away was pointless. Arthur was right. There was no one here who was his equal. Even in this state, he could heal everyone, save us, and strut about while bleeding profusely. It wasn’t until I realized that tears were pouring down my cheeks that I looked up at him to have my eyes widen. There were no words to describe the expression Arthur wore as he spoke without any emotion.

“What do you mean? What stars?” His head tilted almost like you would expect from a doll of sorts as his eyes began to glow.

Shying away from him, I answered. “When you died, a bunch of stars appeared in your room as it glassed over in a black substance of some kind. None of us wanted to get close after what you just did.”

Arthur’s face began twitching in anger as he kept his eyes homed in on me. Slowly, he let go of my arm as his hand seemed to do so almost mechanically. He backed away from me and turned away from our entire group. None of us knew what was happening but became even more confused when he looked at his missing arm with a glare.

After a moment, Arthur deflated visibly as his shoulders slumped, and he turned back to me. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He said softly. “It must’ve been terrifying.” Closing his eyes, the Knight continued. “I know you have questions, but I do too. Is my arm still around?”

Wiping my face with my fingers, I answered with a sigh. “Your arm has been placed in stasis. Given that your wound is cursed and refuses to stop bleeding, we had no other choice.”

“Another curse, eh?” Arthur said softly as he looked at his nub, but his words rang through my mind.