Shiro, Cali, Caelia, and Morgan rode the path dimly illuminated by the setting sun as they traveled back to the capital of Roxburghshire without a word spoken between them. The only sounds were the horses and the occasional wail of a dragon.
“We… We should stop here,” Caelia said.
They all dismounted, and everyone made their way to some rocks and sat down as reality began to set in.
“He… He’s not coming back is he,” Morgan said as tears started to form in their eyes.
At her words, the others also started to cry together. All of them felt an indescribable pain at the loss of Martel.
To Shiro, Martel had become an irreplaceable person in her life. Ever since she witnessed her parents murder, she had been alone and afraid. She lived alone for months in the forest, struggled to find food, and barely survived the winter. At the end of winter, she was so weak that she was quickly captured by soldiers when they found her. When they did so, she was afraid; incredibly afraid. Humans killed her parents and then caught her. She couldn’t help but feel terrified. Then, Martel appeared. When she saw him, she couldn’t help but be terrified of him as well, simply because he was also human. But when he extended his Ki to her, she felt a warmth and comfort she had not felt in months. After that, he treated her better than she would have ever expected. Not only did he care for her every need, but he also showered her with kindness. Over time, this kindness gradually helped her overcome her fear of humans, and she understood that some humans were just as afraid of her as she was of them. There were bad humans, just as there were bad Demihumans and vice versa. She became friends with Morgan and was often doted on by Freyja as well. After all that Martel had done for Shiro, he had taken an eternal place in her heart equivalent to Caelia.
To Caelia, Martel was irreplaceable as well. Because she was half human and half Demihuman, she was ostracized by the Demihuman community she lived in. Aside from Shiro and her parents, she didn’t have any relations with the other Demihumans. Throughout her life, she had often seen many Demihumans become couples, and she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. However, she could only keep that deep down. She never expected that she would ever be flattered; that anyone would see here is a beautiful young woman instead of a detestable hybrid. This was why Martel easily slipped into her heart. The very first time they met, he heavily complimented her on her looks without the sarcasm or scorn she would occasionally hear from others. Instead, she felt an incredible sincerity from him. On top of this, she couldn’t help but admire the astonishing feat of power he had shown. Shortly after that, in the castle of the Demihuman forces had occupied, she would often find her mind would wander toward him. She would often shake it off as simple concern for Shiro, who was with him, but she couldn’t help but notice that her face would become hot. Then, the unthinkable happened.
Martel took her father from her. It was to end the war, and it was her father decision, but she didn’t care. Her mother had already died, and now her father was gone too. Now, Shiro was the only family she had, but she was inseparable with Martel; the man who took her father from her. Caelia’s feelings were in disarray. She felt betrayal, grief, and sadness to the point where she almost decided to kill him. In the end, she finally decided against it for Shiro sake. Then, Martel did something she would not have believed she didn’t see it for herself. He literally took some of her sadness onto himself. When she felt the grief leave her; when she saw the sadness appear on his face, when she realized what he had done, the seedling in her heart finally blossomed. It took her a little time, but she realized she had fallen in love with him. At the same time, she felt some guilt for loving the man that took her father from her. But, that guilt eventually faded as she began to accept her feelings.
Throughout her stay in Camelot, Caelia had become good friends with Freyja. Caelia couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous of Freyja’s relationship with Martel. But, to her surprise, Freyja had accepted her and her feelings for Martel entirely. From that point on, Caelia had decided to give the rest of her life to Martel. Even if he never returned her affections, so long as he took care of her and Shiro and she could support him, it would b enough. She would be happy and content with that. But her expectations for the future began to crumble upon Freyja’s death. She was incredibly distraught by her death, by the loss of a friend and the pain she knew Martel felt. At the same time, she bonded more closely to Morgan, who suffered as much is Martel.
To Morgan, Martel had fallen into her heart almost as quickly as he had fallen into her bed. Morgan’s very first thought when she saw him was that she found him to be handsome though she thought herself dreaming at the time. It wasn’t until Martel moved and spoke that she realized she was awake. In her panic and embarrassment, she launched him into the opposite wall. Later, when Martel first appeared in the throne room, she refused to acknowledge him, not out of any dislike, but rather because she felt terrible and was embarrassed. She was afraid that if she looked him in the eye, she would find he held some disdain for her, which she didn’t want. She listened in on his conversation with Freyja was to discern whether or not he held anything against her. Although she didn’t know why she didn’t want him to misunderstand, she knew that she didn’t want him to dislike her.
Anyone that knew Morgan well knew that she made an effort to deceive others into thinking she was a proper Princess while she was prideful and had a quick temper. The very first time she had a decent conversation with Martel, he immediately sparked or ire. In her embarrassment, she lashed out at him and abandoned all pretenses of making up. When she had time to settle down, she realized she might have blown her only chance. However, this turned out to be an unnecessary worry. The more time she spent with him, the more time she realized that he saw through her façade. Not one of the proper princesses, not one of a prideful quick-tempered person, but as someone insecure, incredibly caring, and expressed her embarrassment a tad violently.
When Morgan thought back, it was almost as if he understood this from the very beginning. She believed that no one in the entire world knew and understood her as well as Martel. Though she denied it, even to herself, she loved him dearly. When Freyja and her parents died, he was the only person she could open up to, the only one who she felt truly understood her. When he told her he cared and loved her, it brought her broken heart some peace. This made the loss of Martel even more tragic because she truly had no one left. In that respect, she was very similar to Cali.
To Cali, Martel was someone that she initially held a small amount of contempt for. She remembered very little before Yggdrasil created her. When he did so, she was given essential intelligence, and he proceeded to teach her many things. That was when she found what her purpose was. She found out that two people from another world had come to Albion. She would assist whichever one managed to find Yggdrasil’s dwelling. Her purpose was to transform into whatever this person would need to help them and would be nothing more than a tool. She saw the common tools and found that they were things without sentiments, without emotion. But then what was she? If she was a tool, did that mean that she had to have no emotions? She was quite conflicted about this for some time before she decided that she would be nothing more than an obedient, emotionless tool. With this decision came a tiny bit of resentment and blame. But that was soon wholly blown away from the very beginning.
Martel never treated Cali as a tool. Instead, he treated her as an equal and even told her he would be the place she belonged. Though her face remained expressionless, she became delighted. No one she knew ever treated her like a tool. Even though she was particularly attached to Martel, she saw all the others as part of her family. This was especially true for Freyja. Freyja would often pull Cali aside to teach her many things as she saw the young Cali both needed and desired a teacher. To a certain extent, Freyja became something similar to a surrogate mother for Cali. Next to Martel, Freyja held an important place in her heart. Because of this, she felt a loss when Freyja died. Both loss and death were concepts that Cali didn’t fully understand. She only realized that she would never see Freyja again. While that did sadden her greatly, it was nothing compared to what she felt now. If Martel was truly gone, then where would she belong? What would she do? Where would she go? When she thought about Martel being gone forever, she felt an incredible pain in her chest. She had heard that people would call this being heartbroken, but she didn’t have a heart nor anything else in her chest. She can only hope that one day she could see him again, as was the hope of the of all the girls. But the light of this hope became dimmer every time they heard the wail of the dragon.
...
In the early morning, the girls began to stir. They barely got any sleep as they had only laid their bedrolls on the ground, and the occasional dragon’s roar kept them awake. As Morgan began to move, her horse came up to her and nuzzled her face.
“Did you come to cheer me up, Llamrei?” Morgan asked with a small smile as she patted her head.
They didn’t speak as they packed up and continued their travels.
...
They made their way into the city and obtained a couple of rooms in a tavern as they had done before, they slept through the night without incident. The fatigue of the last couple of days truly set in.
...
The next morning, they slowly made their way back to Camelot. They continued for quite some time, lost in their thoughts and sorrow.
“Morgan, look out!” Cali yelled.
Morgan’s eyes went wide in shock as she saw Freed jump down, sword drawn, from a nearby tree. She couldn’t move; she couldn’t even breathe. Freed’s blade fell, and blood spilled on the ground.
A short time earlier, on Mt. Etna, Martel regained full control of his body. For over two days, he fought against the dragon in a battle of wills. If not for the dragon being wounded and the support of Artoria, Martel didn’t believe he could have succeeded. He walked out of the small castle and put on the raincoat as he felt the immeasurable fatigue befall him. The sword, Gram, was nowhere in sight.
“Can I finally take a rest?” Martel asked in a tone that expressed he had passed the point of exhaustion. “I suppose I should check on them.”
He focused his mind on the marks he had given each of the girls. In the depths of his mind, he saw the basic scenery around them as outlines. They appeared to be riding together on the way back to Camelot. [Thank goodness. They’re all safe and traveling together.] He thought with a sigh of relief.
However, it was premature as he suddenly he felt panic from them. He began to focus again just in time to see Freed. His clothing and flesh were shredded on his left side as he had fallen into a stone slope powdered from erosion.
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Freed jumped from the tree as the heart in Martel’s chest leaped to his throat, and he despaired because there was nothing he could do in time.
At the last second, Llamrei reared up which caused Freed’s blade swing in front of Morgan’s which caused the Ki infused blade to go straight through Llamrei’s neck.
Morgan was thrown to the side from the saddle, and she rolled on the ground a couple of times before she stopped, covered in dirt and blood.
“You bastard!” Martel shouted.
He focused hard as he attempted to hastily use the technique which had allowed him the final blow against the dragon as he monitored the situation.
“Llamrei.” Morgan managed to whisper as fear and panic set in. Llamrei’s blood filled the ground as tears started to spill from Morgan’s eyes.
“Oh? I was planning to make your death quick and painless.” Freed said with a false smile.
"""Morgan!""" the girls shouted as they made their way toward Morgan.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Freed said as a constant white flame erupts from his left hand. “Don’t be impatient. I’ll kill all of you in a moment… Although it would be a pity.”
Cali moved in front of Caelia and Shiro and destroyed the fire in front of them, but the rest surrounded them and kept them from moving forward.
For an instant, Morgan found herself back in her parents’ room the night they were killed. Her mind went white, and her stomach churned.
Martel’s heart dropped when he saw Freed had suppressed the other girls.
“Dimension Door,” He said when he activated the magic. As he spoke, what appeared to be a two-dimensional door appeared. It looked almost like a mirror but had no reflection. Instead, on the other side, one could see Freed as fire leaped from his left palm as he appeared to be thinking. No sooner than the door appeared, exhaustion hit him as his vision blurred and he began to stagger and breathe heavily. He wanted to be there, but he couldn’t move. Though his body didn’t move, it almost felt as though his mind, his soul, moved out toward her.
“Now then,” Freed began with a perverse smile, “Say hello to your sister for me.” He raised his sword as he prepared to slash down.
Morgan couldn’t move or speak, but her mind screamed, and Martel heard, [Someone, anyone. Please, save me!]
Martel’s eyes snapped open and glowed gold with the appearance of a dragon’s. With all of his remaining might, he flung a punch as he leaned toward the door so that he still had room to extend once he was beyond it. Faster than the human eye could detect, once he nearly touched it, his body was aglow, and the doorway consumed him. Instantly he appeared, from nowhere; from elsewhere. His anger manifested on his body as his fists smashed into Freed’s face, which sent him into a nearby tree. The blow might have killed Freed if he didn’t react with his Ki.
“Bastard,” Freed said as he rose. “Who are-”
His words cut short as Martel’s anger manifested itself in a tremendous amount of red Ki. The air became hot and dry as the red Ki formed a massive Dragon with him at the center. Both he and the dragon took a step forward as the Ki Dragon’s claws tore into the ground. A massive inhuman roar filled everyone’s ears as it erupted from both him and the Ki Dragon. In fear of the red dragon, Freed turned and ran with surprising speed. A couple of seconds later, Martel’s fatigue showed, and the Ki Dragon dissipated. He coughed a couple of times as he sprayed small traces of blood on the ground.
The girls all froze in a daze from the incomprehensible spectacle before Martel removed his hood and turned to the girls. Tears formed in their eyes as they recognized him.
“Mar-”
“Martel!!” Shiro tearfully shouted as she interrupted Morgan and gave him a flying tackle-hug which knocked him to the ground. “You’re alive, you’re alive,” She repeated over and over while she sobbed into his chest.
The four young ladies got on the ground around him.
“I’m back,” He said weakly; his exhaustion was apparent to all of them.
“Welcome back,” Caelia said as she came close to him, tears streamed down her face.
“Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to pass out.” He said as his voice became weaker and his eyes closed. His face fell into Caelia’s chest, which caused her to flinch. But with a smile, she embraced him.
The last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness was Caelia’s voice.
“Thank you for living.”
...
Martel slept for ten hours before he woke up. The girls had made a quick camp nearby and carried Martel to a bedroll. The weight on his chest came from Cali, his leg’s blood circulation was cut off by Shiro, and warmth from his sides came from Caelia and Morgan.
When he woke up, they asked him what had happened, so he told them.
“What happened to the sword?” Morgan asked.
“I… I seem to have absorbed it.”
They gave him a quizzical look, but he only shrugged his shoulders.
He could feel a foreign entity in his right arm but could find no way to do anything with it. He had attempted to call out to Artoria in his mind, but he never received a response.
“How did you get to us so quickly?” Caelia asked.
“Magic, with help from the markers I placed on you guys,” Martel replied with a smile.
“When did you put the markers on us?” Morgan asked.
In response, Martel stuck his tongue at her.
She looked confused for a couple of seconds until it dawned on her. Her cheeks reddened as she covered her mouth in a panic. “W-w-w-why are you making me remember that.”
“I told you, didn’t I? A kiss always saves the Princess.” He replied with a smile as her face continued to redden.
~Chee~ Shiro’s stared at Martel, which started to make him feel uncomfortable.
“What is it, Shiro? Is there something on my face?” He asked.
“You look different,” She replied.
“I think so too.” Caelia immediately started with an upbeat expression. “You look more hand-… You look a little different.”
“Really?” Martel asked he touched her face.
“Here,” Morgan said as she passed him a small mirror.
Martel was a little surprised when he saw his reflection. His face appeared more refined. Even though the change was barely noticeable, it was a step in the right direction.
*poke poke* “I think you have a little more muscle too.” Shiro added as she poked his arm.
“Really?” Caelia asked as she gently massaged his other arm. “I don’t think there is more. It’s more like its stronger or more compact.” She said as she continued the massage.
“...”
“...”
“Anything else?” He asked her.
“Eh? Nothing!” She replied as she snapped out of her apparent trance.
Martel stood up and stretched to feel his body once again. Not a scar remained from the fight. It was almost an entirely new body.
“You got taller by a couple of inches too,” Morgan said as she also stood. “I don’t remember having to look up to you as much.”
“Nice to know you think so highly of me.” Martel teased.
“That’s not what I meant, pervert.” She retorted haughtily.
“Now then, you girls stay here. There’s something I have to do.”
“What?” Shiro asked innocently.
“Dig a grave.”
...
A couple of hours later, they stood in front of a freshly made grave.
“I’m sorry I was late Morgan,” Martel stood softly.
“It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re alive. She was a good horse.” She replied.
Martel bent down and put his hand down on the grave. “Thank you for protecting her in my stead,” He said with respect. “Now then, let’s retreat to our tent for the evening.”
They nodded in response as they all made their way back to the camp.
He walked up to Morgan. “You know, someday, I think I’d like to have a horse as dependable as her.”
Morgan’s head slightly dropped as she took a couple more steps before she spoke. “It seems that I continue to lose my family.”
Martel grabbed her shoulder and held her close. “I… I can understand a little. You should remember, you shouldn’t let the family that you’ve lost keep you from the family that you gained.”
“Morgan, Martel, hurry up!” Shiro said with a smile as she waved.
“Coming,” Morgan responded in a fluster as she separated from Martel and quickly walked ahead.
They all turned away and continued to walk with Martel in the back, so they did not see his face as it became soft. His eyes closed and he saw his late family and Freyja.
[If only it were that easy.]
End of Day -146
“What happened to you?” Martel asked Duran after he returned to Camelot. Duran had bandages on his arm.
“We had a run-in with the blonde bastard. He was waiting in the outskirts for you guys to show up.”
“What happened?”
“Some of the security found him. Unfortunately, he killed a few before I got there. Thankfully with Grandma’s help, we manage to drive him back.”
“Still, you got off with only this level of injury.”
“Oh, they were worse. Grandma patched me up pretty well. I suppose I should thank you as well. If I hadn’t fought a monster like you before, I would’ve been finished right quick.”
“What happened to him?”
“He got angry after he couldn’t kill me with the first couple of strikes, so he decided to retreat. We chased him a bit towards the Hero’s Gate. Then one of the guards shouted ‘we can’t let him through the gate,’ to which he promptly went through upon hearing that.”
“He got away.”
“Unfortunately,” Duran said as he tightened his fist. “I wanted to kill that bastard.”
“Frankly, I can’t blame you, but don’t let revenge and rage consume your heart.”
Silence filled the room for a short time.
“So, do you plan on going back to your world?”
“I do.”
“Are you planning to take anyone with you?”
“Cali is a given. Shiro wants to go no matter what, and Caelia is using Shiro as an excuse to go as well.”
“What about Morgan?”
“I offered, she seems set on staying.”
“Now that the bastard has gone back, perhaps it is for the best.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to be keeping an eye on her regardless.”
“Even from your world?... I’ll take your word for it. When do you plan to leave?”
“Immediately. I’ve already sent the stuff from my world back. I have to tie up a few loose ends.” Martel said as he got up to leave.
“Is this a permanent goodbye?”
“No, it’s not, Brother,” Martel said with a small smile as he exited the room.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Duran’s face go from shock to a smile.
“See you later then, Brother.”
...
“Are you girls ready to go?” Martel asked the girls.
“Yep.”
“Yes.”
*Nod*
“Good,” Morgan said in a huff. “I finally get my house back.”
“So you aren’t coming with us?” Shiro asked, sadly.
“Sorry,” She replied as she petted Shiro.
“Well then, let’s go,” Martel said as he made his way to the Hero’s Gate.
...
“You don’t have to look so sad, Shiro,” Martel said as he petted her head after they arrived. “We have one more thing to do before we leave,” Martel said with a smile.