Morning came, much to Arch's frustration. He had been awake the whole night, only dozing off for an hour before being fully recharged. His mind was busy processing his newly regained memories and combining it with the new ones he made the last few days. There's so much he had to do, so much to say. The fate of a lot of things depended on him completing his mission. But all those disappeared from his mind when he heard the sound of cooking and cutting coming from the kitchen. He waited for around 30 minutes before he walked into the main part of the house.

Fleur was cooking in the kitchen. She woke up bright and early to make her mother some energizing food to apologize for her harsh attitude last night. As she was chopping up some garlic, a pair of familiar hands wrapped tightly around Fleur's body.

"You don't have to apologize, mom. I should be the one to say it," Fleur turned around and hugged her mother. "I was just unsure on what to feel about father suddenly coming. But after a night of crying and thinking, I have decided to give it a chance."

"I... Thank you, dear," her mother let Fleur go. "But did you say you were crying? The whole night?"

"Nope. You misheard it," Fleur hurriedly turned back around.

"Turn around and let me see your eyes, young lady! They are puffy, aren't they?"

"No, of course not!" The two giggled as Fleur desperately hid her eyes, but she eventually lost to her mother and lotion was forcefully applied to her eyes.

After sitting down, her mother started telling Fleur stories about her father, and Fleur couldn't help but let out a smile, unable to contain her own excitement. But just as she finished a story, Arch walked in.

"Uhm, morning, Arch," Fleur said, her face reddened from embarrassment.

"Morning," Arch replied, completely unfazed.

The three proceeded to have breakfast. But this time, Fleur and her mother was the one constantly talking. Arch slipped in his words here and there, but he was much quieter than usual. Fleur thought he was just being worried about his lost memory, so she didn't question him.

"You know, I haven't seen Quin the last few days. Did something happen to him? Maybe he found another girl to chase around?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. He was ordered to follow this weird monsters that have crystals stuck all over its body. Quite a blessing, I admit."

The moment the crystals were mentioned, Arch visibly flinched.

"Arch, are you okay?" Fleur asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I just wish I can meet this Quin, in person," Arch said while looking menacing.

"Okay... We will see him sooner or later. Anyway-"

The rest of the morning went eventful after that.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"You want to come with me?"

Fleur was about to leave to gather some more herb because, as it turned out, they needed more for winter supplies. And Arch suddenly offered to come with her.

"Yes. I can gather some firewood while you gather the herbs."

Their stock of firewood was indeed getting low, so on top of the fact there were things she wanted to ask of him, she couldn't resist letting him come.

"You can go, Arch," Fleur's mother suddenly spoke. "I will be fine. Just make sure you two come back before the sun sets."

"We will, mom. Alright, Arch, get the axe and let's go."

The two talked the whole way to Fleur's usual spot. She tried pressing on his weird behavior at breakfast, but Arch just brushed it off as her imagination. And his answer remained the same even after they arrived at the herb spot. Fleur started gathering herb while Arch cut down some tree and placed them on the makeshift firewood holder on his back.

Suddenly, they heard the voice of someone screaming. Fleur immediately recognized the voice to be of Quin, the hunter that was keeping track of the crystal monster.

"Maybe we should get back to the village," Arch suggested, but Fleur shook her head in refusal. While it's true that she's constantly annoyed by Quin, it wasn't enough to just abandon him to his fate when she could do something. Before Arch could stop her, she leapt up and ran toward the source of the voice, dagger ready in hand. Arch unwillingly followed suit.

After some minutes of running toward the voice, they finally found Quin running, a monster close on his tail. In an instant, Fleur pulled out a small crystal from her pocket and shattered it in her hand. A magic circle appeared below the beast and from it thick veins came sprouting out, entrapping the beast. At the sight of the beast finally stopping, Quin fell to the ground, utterly exhausted. His breath was ragged and his hands were shaking. Fleur rushed to him to check his condition, while Arch watched the beast struggling against the vines.

"Quin! Are you okay?"

"F-Fleur... Thank god for your help. I had been running for hours from that thing. It feels like my legs are about to come off."

"Arch, help me carry Quin back to the village," Fleur said. But the vines that were stopping the monster were suddenly torn apart.

"There's no time. Get him back to safety, I will hold it off."

They didn't have much choice if they wanted to save Quin, so Fleur reluctantly nodded, "You better come back safely!" and with that, she left with Quin.

Halfway to the village, Fleur and Quin took a little break under a tree. But the sound of the monster approaching alerted them. Before they could respond, though, the monster already appeared. Quin immediately passed out.

The monster's body was bruised all over, blood covered half of it's body. The worst kind of possibilities immediately crossed her mind. The monster wasn't covered in that much blood, and she feared that the rest came from Arch. It was at this moment she realized that she had to run away on her own.

Before she could start running for her life, two blood-covered blades pierced through its torso. The monster groaned out in pain for a moment before thrashing around. The monster had enough strength to split the trees into two, but the blade remained in place. Eventually, it succumbed to its wounds. When the monster's lifeless body fell, Arch, covered in blood, was revealed to be the one who attacked the monster. Fleur was ecstatic and relieved, finding Arch to be still alive. But when she looked down at his hands, she couldn't help but let out a surprised gasp. The two blades that killed the monster were attached to Arch's hands. To be more exact, his hand split open for the blades to come out. On top of that, the lack of magic circle led her to believe that he wasn't using any magic. Her mind made the connection of back when she examined his hands and found some parts much harder than the rest. The blades were inside his hands from the beginning.

Out of reflex, Fleur took a step back when Arch offered his hand. Her reaction made Arch immediately pulled his hand back.

"... Get the man back to the village. I... will clean myself first, so just wait for me at home. I will explain everything then."

Fleur could only watch as Arch disappeared into the forest, unable to say or ask him anything.