Incidents aftermath

Aetheryn Order’s headquarters were currently the busiest it had ever been. Several emergency gates had been opened in its gate hub, providing an instant gateway between Valebryn and the distant kingdom of Jaruna.

Sir Valiansteel entered one such gate along with his lieutenants, and two very important people were waiting for him on the other side.

“Your Highness. Horius,” he said as he shook their hands. “I came here as soon as I could. Thank you for protectin’ my Knights. How is everyone doing?”

They proceeded to walk through the palace halls. TAlong the way, they passed by several injured Knights being carried on litters back to Valebryn, as well as bodies covered in cloth lying on the ground.

The aftermath of the battle was quite severe, and Sir Valiansteel couldn’t help but feel regret for not being there sooner.

“The attack was very sudden. I was late to the scene with my soldiers, and to my surprise, my best strategist, Hisora, went rogue. Based on her threats, it seems she has connections to Noctis Vindex,” King Kaelen explained.

“Or worse, she has been their leader the entire time,” General Horius added.

“Well, ain’t that one hell of a twist. And no one saw this coming?”

“No one. Hisora proved herself very trustworthy, so neither I nor my people ever harbored any concerns. How and why she would join those terrorists is beyond my understanding. But I have to give her credit; she played my kingdom very well,” King Kaelen smiled. “Now, as a sign of respect, I’ll be showing her what it truly means to mess with my kingdom.”

The three men reached the palace’s medical bay, where the members of Cipher and Halo Units were being treated. All of them seemed to be conscious but still badly injured.

The two Captains stood at attention upon their arrival.

“At ease.” Sir Valiansteel waved them off. “How are y’all doin’?”

“Everyone seems to be fine, sir. None of them sustained major injuries except for Astrea, but she’ll be fine,” Captain Bellan replied.

“I think we’re feeling more… emotional distress right now than anything,” Captain Eiren added.

It was then that Sir Valiansteel noticed someone missing.

“Where’s Naoya?”

Everyone in the room exchanged serious looks.

“Naoya is… we have strong evidence to suggest that Naoya, and Jaruna’s head strategist Hisora, are actually the Demon Lord Alcestrus and Demon Lady Arisune. Somehow, they have returned,” Captain Eiren informed him.

“What in the motherlovin’ f*ck do you mean?” Sir Valiansteel said, acting surprised. “The Demon Lord? The bastard we blasted half a century ago?”

“It’s true, Langston,” General Horius replied. “I was there when it happened. Hisora challenged Naoya to a duel to the death, and when he was defeated, she transformed both of their appearance. That’s when he regained the signature flames in his chest. You know what I’m talking about.”

Sir Valiansteel did, in fact, know. The dark, lingering sense of fear that was characteristic of the Demon Lord’s presence, caused by his overwhelming aura. He had experienced it years ago as a child, witnessing a massive castle in the sky hovering above his hometown.

“He acted confused at first, denying his identity as the Demon Lord. Then, Astrea used her… power… on him and Hisora, and he was only slightly affected. But when he saw her in pain, he blasted Astrea into a wall. That was all the proof we needed to arrest or neutralize them on the spot,” Captain Eiren recounted.

“And when I arrived at the Hall, she warned me to ‘not intervene with Valebryn or Jaruna will fall like them.’ Which could only mean she’s planning an attack on your kingdom,” King Kaelen added.

Sir Valiansteel was deep in thought. He had stayed behind at Valebryn to hunt down more Noctis operatives, reasoning that they would be more active knowing half of the Order had left the kingdom. His plan worked, and he had singlehandedly taken down a large number of their secret bases and operatives. But with the threat of this attack, he felt even more concerned about Noctis agents still hiding in the city.

Let’s hope this plan of yours actually succeeds, Archmage, he thought.

He looked up at everyone, all of whom were patiently waiting for his response.

“Thank y’all for the heads up. I’ll be relaying all of this to the Royal Court. Looks like there’s gonna be a lot of preparation to do.”

“You go and do that, and while we’re at it, tell your leaders that Jaruna will be more than happy to provide support for Valebryn,” King Kaelen smiled. “I don’t give a damn about that Demon Lady’s warning. She can try fighting Jaruna if she wants.”

“What’s gonna be our game plan for now, sir?” Captain Bellan asked.

“Y’all should focus on recovering for now. I have an idea that can help us fight Noctis, but I’m gonna have to ask for the Royal Court’s approval first.”

“Approval? For what?” General Horius asked.

Sir Valiansteel replied with a confident smirk, a rare sight for everyone.

“Approval to activate the Eternal Thronewardens.”

…

Back in the Court of Flowers, somewhere in Mortesh Forest.

Willow and her children, Miss Camelline and Ori, were sitting at a small table, having a simple breakfast together.

“And that’s when I got this body. That was a crazy morning. I’m sure Naoya’s still embarrassed about that one,” Ori said as she finished her story.

“Well, he might be the Demon Lord, but at least we’re sure he isn’t a pervert,” Willow commented. “I’m just relieved you’re safe. I was worried he’d be trouble when I first sensed him in the forest, but I guess I was just worried for nothing. Speaking of, has he finished sunbathing yet?”

They all turned to look at Naoya, who was sitting on a rock away from them, directly under a beam of sunlight.

“Give him time, mother. He’s still trying to piece everything together,” Miss Camelline said.

“Yeah, I don’t think anyone’s prepared to find out they’re actually the biggest villain in the world. Especially someone like him—he’s been wanting to join the Knights ever since we first met them,” Ori added.

After a while, Naoya stood and walked towards them. He seemed less troubled than before and had a more determined look on his face. Some questions had been answered, but there were still more he wanted to find. He stopped in front of the ladies and took a deep breath.

“First, thank you, Miss Camelline and Miss Willow—”

“Just Willow is fine.”

“Oh. Okay. Thank you to both of you for bringing me here and helping me… I’d probably have lost my mind already if you guys didn’t find me. And Ori,” he said, turning to her. “Thanks for bringing us away from everyone last night.”

His friend smiled, and follows up with a question, “So, what’s your plan now?”

“I think… I’m going to visit my past for now. Retrace my—well, the past me’s—steps. These memories don’t really paint a full picture, so I want to understand what kind of person I really was, and why…”

“Ohhh, a journey of self-discovery. Sounds fun. Where are you going first?”

“Ummm… I think I want to go to a certain village first. It’s somewhere in the south, I’m not really sure, but I remember it because it was the first place I… the Demon Lord attacked after he gained his powers.”

“You mean your powers?”

“Yes, I know. I just don’t like saying it that way, okay?”

Willow raised her arms guiltily as her children gave her a pair of doubting looks.

“Village in the south… first attacked… that should be Dustwood then. Aha! I have the perfect gift for you.”

Willow snapped her fingers and a scroll of paper appeared in front of her.

“I used this a lot back in the day when I still traveled. It’s a special map that can instantly teleport you to any place in your memory. Just open it up in front of you, think of your destination, keep your eyes closed, then boom! You open your eyes and you’re there.” The map floated over towards him.

“I can have this?”

“Yeah, sure. I can’t really use it anymore, so it’s better than letting it crust in my storage.”

“Thank you, Willow,” he said with a bow. “I think I’ll go now.”

“Wait, I’m not done eating yet! Why are you in such a rush?”

“Ehh? I-I thought you were gonna stay here with your family.”

“You think I’m gonna leave my best friend on his own just because I met my mom?” she said as she stuffed her face with pastries and took a few more as she stood from her chair.

“Ummm…” Naoya gave Willow a hesitant look.

“Why are you asking? She’s your best friend, isn’t she?”

Naoya smiled, almost tearing up from the kindness he had been given. He wiped his face and looked at Ori, who was storing a bunch of food in her special shelf.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yep, we should have enough food for a week in here,” she replied as she closed the shelf and it disappeared. Both of them faced the beautiful nymphs.

“Thank you for everything. We’re off!”

“Remember, open the map, think of your destination, and keep your eyes closed, okay?”

“We will,” Naoya replied as the two of them opened the map and held it together. He closed his eyes, recalled their destination from his memories, and a gust of wind started swirling around them.

“Oh, and say hi to my friend for me!” Willow told them.

“What?” Naoya opened his eyes to ask, but when he did, his surroundings suddenly shifted, as if space itself was being stretched. After that, everything started rushing past them in a blur. His eyes hurt from the visual overload, and he was confused whether it was the two of them or the world itself moving so fast.

After a while, they eventually stopped. They were in the middle of a dirt road, surrounded by trees on either side, which were somehow growing on dry, cracked land. The thin canopy shaded them from the harsh sunlight, and the air immediately felt warmer.

Ori opened her eyes.

“What is this place? Are we in a desert? And what happened to you?!” she exclaimed as she turned to Naoya.

He looked like he had been blown away by a storm. His hair and clothes were messy and pushed back, his eyes barely open and strained.

He faced her to reply. “I didn’t keep my eyes closed. I feel like I got strapped to the side of a rocket.”

At that moment, someone spoke from the trees.

“There you are. Right on time.”

They turned to the source of the voice, and they found a mage with blue, wavy hair, wearing a large hat and elegant robes, standing under the tree’s shade and holding up an umbrella.