I block the attack easily and morph the earth with my foot, slamming it right into his head, knocking him into the ground. “Dammit! What even is that?!” He shouts, as he picks himself up… “Have you ever even heard of a hard day’s work?” I ask, as I step back and gather my mana.

“Don’t you try and talk to me about a: ‘hard day’s work’...” He says, as he grabs my arm, and tries to toss me into a tree. “Don’t act like you really know what I’m going through…” He says, as he approaches, but I pull the ground towards me, and it strikes him in the back.

“This can end whenever you want Fallengrar, I don’t want to kill you.” I’m not going to of course, but I’m hoping he’ll come willingly, or I’ll knock him out… “You’re just a stupid kid, you wouldn’t hurt a fly.” He says, reminding once more of the fact that I’m a kid.

I grab his shoulder, surprising him, and fling myself around his body to slam my foot into the side of his head! “What even?!” He shouts, as he stands up and looks at me. “What the fuck was that?!” He shouts, as I activate the cloaking device in the suit.

“Figured I’d have a little fun. Y’know, since YOU obviously aren’t a challenge.” I say, as he looks around for me. “Real impressive kid. You’ve gotta’ beat me down both physically AND verbally, because you don’t actually know what you’re doing…” He says, as I throw him to the ground, and slam my fist into his face, breaking his nose.

“Whatever.” I say, as I rolly my eyes, and slam my fist into him again, buthe throws me off him- I land, while he pushes his nose back into place. “What? Not gonna’ try anymore of your fancy tricks?!” I move into Blazing Beatdown Style, and my fists begin to heat up with fire mana.

This style is built for rapid and strong strikes, hard to defend against, and it keeps your face protected. I probably won’t use the flames though, I wouldn't want to kill the guy.

“How about this?” I ask, as I stare at him between my fists. “Personally, I’d prefer whatever hurts the least.” he says, as I strike him in the chest, making him take a step back in surprise. “No.” I say, as I slam my elbow into his midsection.

I quickly deflect a strike from his fist, and knock him to the ground again with my foot. “I think you hit me a little less hard that time- Ya’ getting attached or some’n?” He asks, making himself chuckle. “Nope.” I say, as I consider running him through with my heel blade anyways.

He stands up, and he prepares to defend himself again… This idiot is surprisingly resilient… “What do you even have left to gain? You’re just a bad man, doing some bad thing, for personal gain.” He slams his foot into the ground, and surprises me with his speed, almost catching me off guard with a swift strike-

“Don’t you judge me! Nobody knows why I do what I do! I can’t let them know!” He shouts, as I stand up, and dash towards him! “As if! You tried to hurt people! Whatever it is, it couldn’t possibly be worth THIS!” I shout, as I start rapidly punching him!

I quickly break down his guard, and relentlessly throw my fists at him, leaving him no way to stop me! But as though the universe hates me or something: A massive flash of light hits me- What?! It begins to fade, and he’s suddenly disappeared…

Yeah, I better find him...

-√F-

Vexalan begins to wake up, and looks at me… “What the he~y?” She asks, as she stares at me in surprise. “Kass told me to get you to safety!” I say, with a bright smile. “Don’t worry, she’ll have’im dealt with in no time.” I say, as I help her to her feet.

Kass had me get her to safety, so I brought her here. It’s good to see that she’s not particularly hurt.

“Thanks.” She says, and I offer my arms for a hug- “What are-” She asks, as I take the initiative and hug her myself. “Sorry, I just need a hug right now… It’s been tough for me lately, and I was really thankful for your efforts…” I say, and she slowly wraps arm around me…

“Y-Yes, of course your highness.” She says, before I release her… “I’m just glad this is gonna’ be over soon. After we deal with Solalsara, it’ll just be me and my mom again… And all my new friends!” I say, as I pull her in for a semi-hug.

“Y-Yeah~!” She says, before pushing me away… “It’s fine, everyone’s a little apprehensive at first.” I say, making her take a step back.

“Are you kidding me?!” A stupid man suddenly shouts, allerting us to his position… “Where’s Kass?!” I shout, as I turn around to look at him… “I already killed the dumb kid, now leave me alone before I kill you too…” He says, with a serious look on his face…

Vexalan on the other hand, bounces off a tree, and strikes him in the face, before disappearing into the woods- “Ha- Smart…” He says, as he looks away, while I run towards him!

“What the-” He tries to say, surprised to see my fist fly into his face, as the armor abilities of the suit begin to activate!

He’s taken aback by my sudden bout of power- “Princess Stallatia- I knew it!” He shouts, surprising me- “How-” I say… But he grabs me, and forces me against a tree… “Only you would’ve known about this suit… Besides, you’re the only kid I know with fins this large.” He says, as I reer my fist back, and feel energy flow into the arm.

I punch him in the face, causing him to drop me, and fall to the floor- He stands up, while I activate the hologram function, and he tries to block it! I strike him in an open spot, knocking him over! He’s probably really exhausted from fighting Vexalan and Kass…

I slam my foot into his chest, crushing his ribcage! “I don’t care about taking you in anymore! I’m going to kill you!” I shout, as an energy sword appears in my hands! He rolls away, before I can plunge the blade into him!

First he tries to kill me, then he kills my one of my friends! It’s my fault she’s hurt, I dragged her into this… I won’t let him hurt anyone else!

He builds a metal rod with his magic, but I cut through it easily, and he backs away- I plunge the sword into a tree on accident, and pull it out quickly to try and stab him again! “Calm down, kid! You could hurt someone!” He shouts, as I swing the blade at him quickly!

“Do you even know what you’re doing?!” He shouts, but I refuse to listen! “Why do you think?! And I don’t care!!!” I shout, as I finally get a cut in! My blade slides through his chest, barely breaking through the skin into the flesh, as he runs away!

“Shit!” He screams, as he holds his chest, while the blood begins to flow…

Hey~Hey~!

Not now! I’m busy!

Hey~Hey~! Come on now, you’re just waving a sword around! Try and cut his head off, I want blood~!

No! I’ll do as much as is necessary…

Hey~Hey~! You’re no fun… We’ll have to have a talk later…

I continue to swing the sword at him, wide slashes to keep him at bay, so he doesn’t even try and get close! I finally cut him again, and lightly cut his arm! “Shit, not again!” He shouts, as he grabs his arm…

I plunge the sword at him, and he rolls out of the way, barely dodging it, as I plunge it into a tree he was standing in front of. I tear it out, nearly cutting the tree in half. “Shit, my arm…” He says, as I rush towards him, causing him to roll out of the way again!

“Stop, wait!” He shouts, but once again, I refuse to listen to someone like him! My blade slides past him, grazing his hair, as he suddenly throws a punch at me- Shield!

A shield deflects his blow, and I try to stab him again! “That’s bullshit!” He shouts, as I manage to miss again… “You don’t have any right to speak of what’s fair!” I shout, as I swing the sword as fast as I can, slashing apart trees and grass I go!

“You hurt me! You killed my friend! You tried to hurt my mother! You tried to ruin my life! You made me think you were my friend! You don’t deserve a fair fight!” I shout, as the sword extends in sice, barely cutting into his waist!

He jumps up the tree, but I cut it down, knocking him out of it! “There’s no escaping this!” I shout, and he tries to kick me in the knee- The shield blocks it easily, and I cut his cheek as he tries to roll away again!

“Stop this!” He shouts, but I shut him up with another quick attack- It barely misses, but that’s fine… He tries to take another strike at me, but once again it’s deflected- I slash him across the arm, once again barely cutting him…

Something seemingly comes over him, and he manages to punch right through my shield- No- The blade on my sword disappears, soon followed by the rest of it! “Haha! Knew it! Now you can’t defend yourself!” He says, as I grab him, and throw him into a tree!

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“Yeah, but neither can you!” I shout, as the tree falls apart! I slam my fist into his chest, knocking him to the ground again! I stomp on his chest, just like earlier! He stands up quickly, and I bolt towards him, striking his fist as he tries to hit me, and using the same motion to kick him in the gut.

I’ve almost got him, he might even bleed out at this rate… Before I can do anything else though, a metal orb hits him in the head, followed by a white thread- I look over, and spot Demitallis reeling herself in.

“Demitallis?” I ask, as I look over and notice Fallengrar, knocked out cold… “Hey. Sirius took care of Solasara. Where’s Kass?” She asks, as she approaches Fallengrar… “Vexalan ran off… Kass is, um…” I drone on, unable to tell her…

“Vexalan’s here? Wait- Where’s my sister?” She says, but I just look away- “Fallengrar said he…” I say, as tears begin to stream down my face… “I see… I’ll deal with Fallengrar…” She says, as she begins to grow in size… “Are you…” I say, but an orb suddenly flies into the air, and explodes-

“If she’s alive, then she’ll follow that… If she isn’t… Then I’ll deal with it personally…” She says, as I sit down next to a tree, and start crying to myself…

“Are you okay?” She asks, causing me to look up at her… “I got her dragged into this… It’s my fault…” I say, as I stare into her endless abyss… “There’s no way to say for certain, I’ll have cut down half of this forest by the time I’ve given up… Besides, he might have been lying, to try and scare you off.” She says, surprising me.

“You’re certain?” I ask, as I notice a large tied up body, wrapped in her thread. “Yeah. Besides, Kass wouldn’t have gone down to someone like this. Still, I’m very disappointed in you two, you should have waited for help…” She says, while I slowly nod.

“I’m sorry, I just… I wanted to bring him down myself, it felt so personal… It just felt wrong, if it wasn’t I who defeated him...” I say, I wrap my arms around my legs, while Demitallis simply sits there and listens…

“I should have stayed home, I should have let you guys deal with him… I never thought something like that could happen…” I say, as I finally rub the tear away with my arm. “Who knows though, maybe it didn’t. You said Vexalan was fine, and if Kass is too…”

She approaches shrinks in size, and sits right in front of me… “Then technically, you did nothing wrong. Aside from risking the life of two of my sisters. But technically, you’ve still probably come out on top… I just hope they get here soon…” She says, as we sit here and wait…

After a few minutes, Kass and Vexalan finally turn up… “Looks like you were right… Hello, Demitallis.” Vexalan says, waving her arm at her, as Kass helps her walk. “Sorry it took us so long to get here, we got attacked by a rogue Mechonica.” Kass says, as she sits down next to us…

“He told me you were dead…” I say, as she sets Vexalan down next to Demi, revealing a broken arm, while she walks over ang hugs me. “Can I assume the body is Fallengrar?” She asks, causing me to simply nod.

“Yeesh… What happened to her, guys?” Demitallis asks, as we release each other. “That was from the Mechonica. She fought furiously, when she saw it attacking me. Can we just go home already?” Kass asks, and I quickly agree, soon followed by the other too.

Kass places her hand on my shoulder, and we’re teleported back to Neo Genesis Haven.

I look around, and notice a weird statue in the middle of the road in the distance… “Stallatia, I’m going to need to talk to you privately, when you’re ready.” Demitallis says, as a Boy with one eye suddenly appears next to us-

“Come here-” He says, but Vexalan dashes away- “No, I’d prefer to let it heal normally, I’ll come get you when it’s done.” She says, surprising us. “O-Okay… I’ll get back to what I was doing, then…” He says, before teleporting away again…

“I’m going home.” Vexalan says, as she hides the horribly damaged part of her arm… “Kass, I need to talk to her in private. What I have to say is incredibly personal.” Demitallis says, surprising her, but she nods and accepts anyway…

Demitalls grows in size again and engulfs me in her body after doing the same to Fallengrar, and we’re teleported to her room then spat back out. “Sorry if that was a little fast, it’s just… I can’t bring myself to tell you, so I asked Sirius to instead. I figured he would help you cope...” She says, as I look around and spot Sirius and Demistar sitting there a few feet away, staring at me…

So this is Sirius… The supposed enemy of Ryleth… He’s cute.

He walks over, and sits in front of me… “Are you Princess Stallatia?” He asks, with a look of uncertainty on his face… “Y-Yeah…” I say, as I take off the head piece.

He sighs, and gives me a more serious expression. “Listen, a couple years ago… I lost my parents-” He says, but Demitallis suddenly spits out Fallengrar’s body, and it starts wiggling- “Wh-What is that thing-” Sirius says, as he stands back a little-

Demistar stands between us and the body, her blade ignited… Fallengrar bursts from the sack, and roars- “Freedom!” He shouts, then looks around… “Where am I?” He asks, as he looks around…

I run up, and smack him in the face, surprising everyone! “You lied to me!” I shout, as he hold his cheek… “I was tired! Alright?! I didn’t want to fight you!” He shouts, but I summon my newly charged blade, and swing it at him!

Demistar cuts it straight in half, and it instantly loses charge- “Don’t! He’s not going anywhere, not as long as I’m around!” She shouts, as he and I breathe heavily… “Fine…” I say, as I toss the handle away, and it disappears again…

“Just take him away, he’s just after money and power anyways… There’s nothing to redeem…” I say, as I sit back down with Sirius… Demistar nods, but stops- “I wouldn’t be so sure...” Demitallis asks, and I turn around to shout at her, but Fallengrar speaks up first- “Of course it is!” He shouts, as Demistar forms handcuffs around his arms.

“But why DO you want power?” She asks, and he turns around to look at her. “And why should I tell you? Why would you care?” He asks, as he glares at her… “I dunno’. I just kind of want to know. Besides, I find it hard to believe you would take over a kingdom just for power. I guess I’m interested, I want to understand you.” She says, and he just stares at her in shock and awe, as though all judgment had left him...

He looks up, his face scrunching with anger, as though he’s trying to release all of it… Then he sits, and looks down. “I… I have a daughter…” He says, as he takes an unsteady glance at me… “She was- She was born, with a physical condition… She was born with a Magic Deficiency…” He says, causing Demistar’s eyes to widen- “Psyphonce?” She asks, as she releases the cuffs- “Yes…” He says, as we sit here confused…

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea…” She says, but Fallengrar shakes his head… “No- It’s my daughter that’s been dealing with this...” He says, as he sists there…

“What is that?” I ask, surprising her with the fact that we’re still here. “Right- I know someone who’s going through the same thing. Psyphonce is the physical condition where someone is born without any mana. None whatsoever. It’s hard to explain how bad that can be…” She says, as she rubs the back of her head…

“How bad can it be?” Demitallis asks, surprising everyone again. “I’m still technically a baby, I’m free of all judgment.” She says, as Demistar glares at her, then looks at Fallengrar. “How much longer does she have to live?” She asks, but he shakes his head… “Seventy years at most, they say she’ll never make it into her early seventies… If she’s lucky...”

Fallengrar sighs, and looks at me and Sirius. “My daughter’s growth has been stunted, and from mental to physical tests, she’s shown performance exceedingly below average. She can barely remember a quarter of her day… Aside from that, she can barely lift seventy pounds if she’s pushing it, and her body is incredibly weak… I can’t even hug her, because otherwise I might hurt her…” He says, as the gravity of it begins to dawn on me…

“I’m looking for some sort of cure, if I attained power and influence, I was hoping I could maybe find it… By any means necessary…” He says, as I sit here and stare at him… “Did that really mean having to take MY life, and possibly even my mother’s?” I ask, and Sirius looks away awkwardly, for some reason.

“I’m sorry… You weren’t supposed to know… And I didn’t have much time left… Her doctors said she could die any moment, and I would be none the wiser… It was already too late, I had focused my life on trying to find some sort of cure, but I didn’t have the strength or power to see it through. So this was my last option… That’s why I’ve done what I have…” He says, as Demistar helps him up.

“Here, I should get you patched up.” She says, as she begins to heal him, and cover up his wounds. “Anything left to say?” She asks, but nobody speaks up- “I thought you said you weren’t going to help out.” Demitallis says, causing Demistar to roll her eyes.

“That was before I learned about Fallengrar’s daughter. Besides, I’ve seen people do worse for less. Is her name Meyfonia?” She asks, surprising him. “Yes. How did you-” He says, but he’s quickly interrupted- “I’m Demistar. I just know.” She says, as they begin to glow, and suddenly disappear…

“Sirius, if you would…” Demitallis says, reminding him of something- “Right- Princess Stallatia… I lost my parents a couple years back… It was the hardest thing of my life…” He says, as he looks at the floor… “I um, had a father, but I never knew him. My mother said she killed him before I was born.” I say, surprising him.

“Wh-Why?” He asks, but I kind of look away- “I think you should continue.” I say, and so he does. “Right… Your mother… She tried to save Solasara, but it may have killed her… There’s no body, they were swallowed by some sort of tear in reality… They’re gone.” He says, as I sit here and think back on all the time I had spent contemplating this, preparing myself…

“Are you okay?” He asks me, as I sit her and take it in… “I need to be alone…” I say, as I stand up, and walk over to the elevator, and wait for it… “I know what it’s like, just come to me if you ever need help.” He says, as I impatiently wait for the elevator-

“I was watching, I’ll get you home, kid.” Demistar says, surprising me again. “S-Sure.” I say, as she picks me up.

Her wings appear, and we ascend.

-√C2-

The ants surround me, but I motion them away, as I open my door, and walk down the hallway, as I continue to cover my arm… I don’t need help, I’m fine… I’m stronger than all of them…

I push open the door, and once again, there’s Meta… “Hey- Are you okay?” She asks, but I shove her back onto the couch- “I’m fine.” I begrudgingly say, as I walk past her… “Whatever, be that way…” She says, as I continue to the staircase, and…

And…

“Vexalan?!”

…

A very young girl, ten years of age specifically, energetically runs around her room, unbeknownst to her condition, or what her father has been up to.

On and on she runs, seemingly alone in her room, as a new guardian angel watches over her from afar.

A doctor enters the room, and walks over to her, to check upon her condition. “When’s daddy coming home again?!” She asks, as she can’t help but excitedly smile at him.

End of Chapter: 8√C2F “Fallengrar finished, Ryleth’s healing.”

Thank you for reading.

“Thank~you~sooo~much!!!”