Chapter Twelve

A gentle breeze sweeps the land, swaying the trees and flowers. The sky is cloudless and blinding to look up; birds of many sizes soar through the open air to warmer climates to the south. Eden pops out of the thicket along with Eleanor behind him, returning to the ruined field.

"I... did all of this?" Eleanor stutters.

Nothing but hills of dirt everywhere; trees are broken down from their trunks and have holes in them.

"Yeah," says Eden.

A pained expression plasters across Eleanor's face. Eden reasures her with a pat on the shoulder not wanting her to fall back in fear. Looking at the field, it looks as if a monster had gone on a rampage. Her magic is really scary, but I want to help her. Sanders’s image appears in his head, making him slightly smirk.

In the center of the field; Eleanor unhooks her grimoire and stares at it for a while. Eden can hear the tremble in her breath before she looks up to him, eyebrows drawing together. He whips one of his big grins and a thumbs up to reassure. “It’s going to be okay.”

Eleanor slowly nods.

Eden grabs his chin and ponders, trying to figure out how to help. The one that healed him comes to mind. "I've talked to a mage before, and he said something about drawing mana from your Armament."

"Drawing mana?" Eleanor tilts her head to the side to think too. "How would I do that?"

"I'm not sure. I was only allowed to ask one question since the mage was in a rush to heal others." Eden grumbles. "When you used your magic, how did it feel?"

Eleanor pinches her expression with her eyes closed like she’s trying to remember the sensation. "It felt like an overwhelming wave of pressure swept over me, then it felt like my body was being ripped apart."

Eden's eyes widen; he jabs his finger at Eleanor and shouts, "That's it!"

"What?" Eleanor raises an eyebrow.

"The wave that swept you must be mana!" Eden's eyes sparkle with excitement that he keeps moving about. "Instead of allowing all of the mana to flow through your body, how about you try tapping it!"

"Tap? How do I do that exactly?"

Eden paces back and forth, grabbing his lips and mulls again. He stops and sticks his finger in the air like an idea popped in his head. "When I trained, I always visualized an image of Gauntlet Legions practicing." He turns to face Eleanor. "How about you imagine opening a water faucet, but only a little like making it drip."

"Imagine opening a water faucet..."

"Let's give it a shot."

"Alright..." Eleanor hovers her hands over the cover of the tome. Then she slowly opens to a blank page and closes her eyes. Warm, soft light glows from the grimoire, and it floats off her hand. Eleanor gasps and instantly opens her eyes. The book falls with a light thud, and the light fades from it. She stumbles back, falling to the ground.

Eden picks up the grimoire and extends a hand to Eleanor with a smile. She takes his hand, and he pulls her up on her feet, then hands the book back. "Don't worry, I'm right here with you."

Eleanor's shaking hands reach for the tome but pauses in front of it before taking the book from his hands.

"Let's try again!"

Eleanor nods her head. Shutting her eyes again, the book glows softly and hovers like before. But this time, she doesn't stop. The light shines brighter and brighter.

Eden tightens his grip on the shield as he watches without blinking. Eleanor’s expression changes; he can hear her breathing becoming unstable and her knees slightly buckling. The yellow aura around her flickers like a fire that’s growing towards the sky. "You can do this, Eleanor!" Eden shouts.

His words seem to have reached her as Eleanor’s heavy breathing calms down. The engulfing light also dies back around the floating book. A couple of deep breaths from her then she extends out both arms, palms facing the sky. Eden widens his eyes.

Ripple-like discs glow on Eleanor's palms. Thin sharp metal blades slowly emerge from the circle like it’s coming out of a portal. They dazzle and reflect the light from her hands like two brand new swords out of a forge.

Eden's mouth drops. "You did it!"

Eleanor slowly opens her eyes and stares with her jaw slacked at the two metal blades. The grimoire floats next to her with a bright yellow aura cloaking it. A smile sparkles across her face. Tears enveloping her eyes. "I did it,” she sniffs.

"Yes, you did!" Eden grins and hangs his Armaments on his back. “How’d you do it?”

“Well, I did what you told me to do. I imagined myself carefully opening a water faucet like I’m caressing a baby’s head until only a small stream was flowing. I can feel the mana traveling through my body, building up energy and tingling. Then I imagined two metal blades coming out of my palms and here they are.”

A feeling of heaviness weighs on Eden, seeing Eleanor with two blades created from her hands. You One Stars are weak, can’t do anything. The words from the knights’ captain reminds him of his incapabilities, not being able to use magic. He wishes he can swing his sword and flames would fan out like Travis’s or even have blades come out of his body or something big and amazing that can prove to everyone that he, a One Star, can also be a strong Legion that can become the True Hero. I will have to try the water faucet method myself. Holding his grin up, he does his best not to show his jealousy to Eleanor.

"Thank you, Eden." Eleanor giggles as a bead of water flows down her cheek.

"Of course!" Eden shoots her a thumbs up.

"Thank you." Eleanor wipes her tears with her arms while moving carefully with her blades. "Now, how do I put these away?"

Eden remains smiling and still. He stays quiet for a while. "That is a good question. I don't know."

"What?" Eleanor narrows her eyes at him. "You don't know? What am I supposed to do with these things? I can't exactly walk around with these all day."

"Don't look at me like that; I didn't think this far." Eden cocks his head to the side and shakes it. "I just told you to visualize, not get your hands glued to swords."

Eleanor flails her arms and groans; the blade barely misses Eden as he jumps to the side. "Watch where you swing that thing!" he yells.

"This is your fault; if you hadn't talked me into using my magic, I wouldn't be in this predicament!" Eleanor points the blade at him.

"What? Who was the one who wanted to become strong again?!"

"Well, I never asked for your help, now did I!"

"I just wanted to help!"

"Still, never asked!" Eleanor takes a step closer to Eden, blade still pointing at him; he withdraws from her as she gets closer. "Why are you backing away!?"

Eden holds and hides behind his shield. "Because you don't know how to handle sharp objects!"

Eleanor's face burns red, almost as if she’s going to explode. "Just tell me how to put these things away!"

"I told you, I don't know!"

“You better think of something, you got me into this mess!”

“I’m just a One Star, I can’t do any of the magic stuff!”

“Fine! I’ll just figure this out myself!” Eleanor stomps her foot then tries pushing the blades back into her hands by shoving it to the ground. But she sinks instead, then she rushes off with her grimoire floating wherever she goes and thrusts the swords to a tree only cutting through it.

Eden sighs and grabs his chin to ponder, thinking of how she uses imagination to create the blades in the first place. “You could try imagining them go back into your hands?”

Eleanor shoots him a cold glare, making him flinch. “Now you want to help?”

“Yes…” Eden avoids her gaze and scratches his head. When the feeling of Eleanor’s eyes burning holes in him disappears, Eden glances at her as she closes her eyes again. The tome glows again then the two blades on her palms slowly retract back into the ripple-like portals and disappear.

“Huh, it worked.”

"Who knew all you had to do to get rid of your blades was to imagine it," Eden grumbles.

"You're right, all I had to do was to think they would disappear, and they'll just go back into my palms." Eleanor stares at her hands, looking mystified. "Does imagination have something to do with artes?"

"I don't know, I don't think I have mana to know how it works."

"I see.” Eleanor looks up to the sky and Eden does so too.

The sky has already burned orange past afternoon.

“We should call it a day and head back to town.”

“Yes, let’s.”

Emerging out of the woods to the flowers of Greenbourge. Eden stretches out his arms.

“Now that I can use a little bit of my magic, can you teach me how to fight like you?” Eleanor asks.

Excitement bubbles within Eden, making him reply immediately after she ends her question."Sure!"

“Thanks, so I guess we’ll meet here again tomorrow?”

Eden nods his head and points a finger at her. "But remember, you asked this time."

Eleanor laughs. "Of course, of course!" Her smile shines as bright and beautiful as the sunset. The wind gently blows her brown hair as it flows to the rhythm of the breeze; it flares in the light as if it blends with the sky.

Eden scratches his head and turns away from her to hide his face reddening. "Well, let's go get something to eat."

"Yes, let's!"

Back to the inn in Greenbourge, Eden sits with Eleanor at one of the wooden round tables and orders a plate of grilled fish. The place looks as if there was never a bandit attack; chairs and counters are replaced and the walls repainted. But it’s quiet here. With only small conversations and very few people here.

As Eden eats with Eleanor, he plans out their training for tomorrow, discussing the different techniques Eden is going to teach and how Eleanor can effectively use her blades with them. Then finally turning in for the night, he separates himself from Eleanor and into his own room.

But before he turns in for the night, he unsheathes his Armaments and closes his eyes. An image of the water facet appears in his mind; he lifts the handle and a stream of water flows. Now what? Eden scratches his head while raising an eyebrow at his weapons. “Do I just imagine what I want?”

Again, he imagines. Starting off by engulfing his sword with fire; he opens his eyes. Nothing. Eden swings his sword, painting it with water flowing from the blade in his mind. Nothing again. He groans, scratching his head more furiously. Wind, earth, plant, metal, lightning, astra, then shadow. Nothing.

Clink!

“Ah! Forget it!” Eden tosses his sheathed Armament on the floor and jumps onto bed, grumbling. “Guess I don’t have magic after all.”

* * *

The sky is cloudless, and the sun dazzles onto the land. A gentle breeze dances across the field of flowers, kicking their petals in the air.

Out in the same destroyed field with Eleanor again, Eden demonstrates some of his moves, then has Eleanor mimic him after. He kicks the air, and she does it right after.

Eden throws multiple punches, then he sweeps the ground with his leg. "All right, now try that one." He huffs.

Eleanor nods her head then gets into her stance. She extends one of her arms out and the other up as a guard then shifts her legs apart. Eleanor juts her fist in the air, then awkwardly sweeps with her leg.

Eden grabs his chin and shakes his head. "No, that looks wrong. Again."

Eleanor repeats the moves but still fails. "I tried copying you, but it's so difficult," Eleanor groans. "How did you learn to fight like this?"

"Exactly the same way I'm teaching you," Eden laughs. "I learned by watching Gauntlet Legions fight, then I made it my own."

"You made it your own?"

"Yeah, I've only got a glimpse of the Legions practices, I had no one to teach me swordsmanship, so I used what I stole and created my own fighting style."

Eleanor rubs her chin with a questionable look.

"You should too; you should make the moves I'm teaching, your own.”

"I'll try to come up with something," Eleanor nods.

Eden nods his head as well, then shows his techniques step by step with Eleanor standing next to him following along. He shifts into stance and so does Eleanor, fist out and legs apart. Eden throws a punch, and Eleanor does the same. Eden kicks high in the air, then Eleanor follows.

When the sun reaches the center of the sky, Eden returns to the inn with Eleanor to have lunch together, then discuss her needs for improvements. Then return to the field after a meal and apply what they discussed into practice.

Droplets of sweat rain down on Eleanor's face, but Eden doesn’t so much as break a single drop. He smirks at her, seeing how that was just him a couple years ago in the golden forest with Sanders.

The sun hides to the west then emerges again in the east. Eden continues training Eleanor, doing the same drills as yesterday. He tells her to mimic everything he does until her movements stop being awkward and become more precise.

Eden hurls his fists and legs into the air, picking up speed. Eleanor copies and rushes her attacks, catching up to his speed. Then Eden swiftly throws all sorts of punches and kicks without losing his breath, and Eleanor matches up to him. She takes the same steps as he does and makes the same movement together. She learns fast! Eden thought. She's catching up to me in no time! The way Eleanor moves and stands are precisely the same as his almost as if he’s practicing with his own reflection.

After training Eleanor, Eden goes to have lunch with her again at the inn. Ordering up a plate full of grilled fish, while Eleanor enjoys a honey-roasted lamb.

"You were amazing! you caught up to my speed in no time, and you quickly learned all those moves!" Says Eden.

Eleanor just blushes and chuckles shyly as she pulls her side ponytail.

"How do you learn that fast?"

"I don't know. It just clicks to me." Eleanor cuts a piece of lamb and forks it into her mouth.

"I've spent an entire year perfecting my own fighting style, and you were able to copy most of it in just a couple of days." Eden slightly groans.

"Your technique is really cool after all."

A quiet pause steps between Eden’s conversation with Eleanor as he fills his stomachs with the last of his food until his plate is empty.

"I've been wondering about something Eden," says Eleanor while sliding her chair closer.

Eden gulps down his cup of water and gasps. "Yes?"

"When you fought the bandits back at the fort, I noticed that you didn't cut any of them down with your sword. Why is that?"

Eden sighs. "Well, I don't like the idea of cutting someone else’s flesh," Eden replies while scratching his head.

"That explains the way you fought those bandits." Eleanor nods.

"I can never see myself kill anyone, let alone cut," Eden chuckles half-heartedly. He jumps out of his chair and points at Eleanor. "All right, enough talk, let's go back and train!"

Eleanor smiles and rises from her seat with her hands clasped in front of her like she’s excited to get back into training.

Just as before, Eden has Eleanor copy his techniques by standing side by side in the forest. But this time, he shows her a new move; he runs and leaps off the ground, then whirls his leg. He immediately brings his feet back and lands with a light thud. "All right, let's try that!" He grins.

Eleanor beams at him like she just accepted his challenge and charges. She leaps into the air then her leg spins, promptly twirling like a tornado.

Eden blinks rapidly at what he just witnessed. She just ripped through the air with multiple spin kicks in my jump.

Eleanor lands perfectly; she raises both of her arms in celebration, then gives Eden a smirk.

"Why did you do that? I didn't show you how to do that," Eden spouts.

"I thought I should improvise," Eleanor laughs.

"Are you sure this is your first time learning martial arts?"

"Yes, it is!" Eleanor put her hands on her hips and snorts. "Are you impressed?"

"Well, if you feel that confident, how about we spar? Eden smirks as Eleanor’s victory pose is moved to a stooped posture.

"I don't know if I'm ready for combat?" Eleanor nervously chuckles.

Eden narrows his eyes. "You just did a triple tornado kick; you're more than ready. In fact, you can probably knock me out." He creates enough space between them both, and he gets into stance. Eden beckons Eleanor with a wave of his hand. “Come on!”

Eleanor sighs then shifts into the same stance as Eden.

She charges at Eden, closing the gap between them in seconds; her fist whistles as Eleanor throws it.

But Eden smacks it away in an instant. His eyes zip to Eleanor swinging her other arm; he holds his guard up and blocks it with his elbow. Her expression pinches then she releases a barrage of punches.

Eden's eyes zip at every one of Eleanor's punches like he has enhanced vision; he waves his arms in every direction knocking away every attack. He can’t hold it in any longer. A grin stretches across his face then a laugh bursts out of him.

Eleanor bares her teeth at him, then her leg shoots up from below, her foot reaching close to Eden's eyes, but with a loud thud, he diverts her attack with his arm in the nick of time.

“That was a close one!” Eden smiles.

“I’ll wipe that smirk off your face!” Eleanor growls as she quickly turns around with her leg, sweeping along the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

Eden's leg twitches, and he pivots back right before Eleanor can hit him. With a loud grunt, Eleanor jumps and twirls a kick in the air.

Eden leans back; Eleanor's foot winds past his face, barely missing by inches; he is about to counter, but in that instant, Eden widens his eyes. Eleanor curves her other leg, and it comes in at full speed. Every nerve in his body jerks him out of the way in a panic. The attack sweeps before him then Eleanor comes back again with another kick, but Eden has created enough distance from her.

“You're open!” His words echo as a jolt of electricity runs through his leg and makes him react; he propels his foot off the ground. Just as she’s twisting in the air, Eden swings his foot and collides with Eleanor's, sending her spinning uncontrollably. Then she falls with a hard thump and groans in pain.

"I retract my statement. You can’t knock me out," says Eden. He gives out his hand to Eleanor. She grabs it, and he pulls her back up on her feet.

Still, it surprises Eden how Eleanor is able to perform three kicks in one jump. It took him months to learn how to do one in mid-air, and she did it on her first try. Eden can’t help but smile at her rapid learning. "Let's go again."

"This time, I'll knock you down!" says Eleanor.

Eden gets back into his stance readying for Eleanor. Then he charges at her, exchanging blows. His fists and legs thump with hers and whistles as he misses.

Laughter fills the air as Eden puts Eleanor down, again and again, and helps her back up then continue to spar. Eden can’t stop grinning about having someone use his fighting style to spar with him gives so much amusement to Eden. And seeing Eleanor smile brightly makes him go all out helping her.

The sparring lasts until the sky burns bright orange; Eden lay on the dirt along with Eleanor, out of breath. Their clothes are all covered in soil, but they paid no mind to it; Eden stares at the fiery heavens refilling his lungs with air. Eden yawns and stretches; he sits up and pats the dirt off his apparels. "So Eleanor, what's your dream?" He asks.

Eleanor calmly sits up and sinks her head down. Her eyes droop, and she stares at the ground while biting her lip. "I'm not sure; I haven't put much thought into it," she replies.

"That's okay. There's no need to worry about the unknown. Just focus on improving yourself, and one day, you'll find a dream." Eden grins still staring up to the sky.

"Yes, you're right."

"My dream is to become the True Hero!"

There’s silence for a brief moment then Eleanor bursts out laughing.

Eden forces a smile and crosses his arms at her. "Go ahead and laugh all you want because I will show you what I can do."

"Sorry, sorry." Eleanor stops herself from chuckling anymore. "But isn't the story of the True Hero just a fairytale?"

"Not exactly. It's also a legend about a hero who was selected by the goddess Dwelleen. The hero fought against an army of Menaces and saved many kingdoms."

"Sounds like a fairytale." Eleanor rolls her eyes.

"You'll believe whatever you want then." Eden shrugs.

"Why do you want to become the True Hero?" Eleanor tilts her head.

Eden smirks, jumping to his feet then shoves his fist toward the heavens. "Just as you did, people humiliated me at my summoning, so I slammed my sword on the marble floor and swore at everyone's faces." He takes a deep breath, points the finger at Eleanor, and shouts, "I will become the True Hero!"

Eleanor jumps at the roar of his voice; it echoes into the distance and scares off a flock of birds out of the trees. "You didn't have to yell like that!"

"Well, you laughed at my dream, so now we're even."

Eleanor sighs. "How are you going to do that exactly?"

"Camelot! I heard that that is the place where legions can become legends." He imagines himself in the capital of Dwelleen, Camelot and the king himself granting him the title of True Hero. Just thinking about it makes the fire inside him explode.

"I'll cheer you on," Eleanor softly says.

Eden notices that her hand is resting on the satchel and she seems sad as she stares at her bag. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." She shakes her head and quickly removes her hand.

Without pressing any further, Eden shrugs and looks down at the path back to town. "Let's head back before it gets dark." He begins to head toward the woods.

"Eden!"

He stops in his tracks and turns around. "Yes?"

Eleanor catches up and digs in her bag; she takes out a skull brooch and shows it to Eden. "Have you ever seen this before?"

Eden scratches his head. He takes the brooch off of Eleanor's hand and looks at every part of the ominous gem. But to him, it looks like ordinary jewelry. "No." He replies.

"I figured as much." Eleanor takes the brooch back and stares at it with dull eyes.

"Isn't that the thing you were crying about back in the fort?"

"Huh?" Eleanor flushes red. "Oh, yes, it is."

Seeing how Eleanor cares so much about the brooch yet wanting to have information about it strikes Eden's curiosity. "What's the story?"

Eleanor doesn’t give him an answer right away. She breathes out heavily with her mouth open like the words are stuck in her throat. Then she shakes her head and meets Eden’s eyes with a sharp look "It was left behind when my parents disappeared."

Speechless, Eden had no idea Eleanor carried such a heavy burden. This girl, all alone, searches for her missing parents; he clenches his fist, and words form at the tip of his tongue, but Eleanor interrupts him.

"Three years ago, I was picking up some groceries one day, and when I returned home, they were gone." Eleanor's voice begins to quiver as each word leaves her mouth. "There was no sign of a struggle, but the house was quiet... like death." Her eyes become wet, but she continues on. "I searched every corner of the house and called out to them, but there was only silence. And this." She stares at the purple snakes and black skull coldly and tightens her grip around it. "This was left on the table."

Eleanor sobs quietly, holding the brooch close to her chest as if to keep her last moments of her parents close. "I know you're going to make some sort of promise to help me find my parents, but please don't make promises you can't keep."

"My uncle once said, ‘If you feel like you're in a dark cave, your eyes will adjust,’ or however he worded it." Eden clears his throat. "He also said, ‘Light doesn't have legs, so even after your eyes adjust, you have to be the one to find your way out of it, or you'll never find the light, and the pain will last forever.’” Eden gives Eleanor a thumbs up and one of his biggest smiles. "You may be right that I probably won't be able to help you find your parents, but at least give me the chance to fail."

A slight gasp escapes from Eleanor. "Why?"

"Well, first off, I haven't even made the promise yet, and I want to travel the same path with you so you can have a shoulder to cry on."

Eleanor flushes red and bursts out in laughter. "That’s so cheesy!"

"I know, but you smiled, though."

Eleanor gleefully wipes her tears. "So you're going to help me search for my parents? Even if that pushes your dream further?"

"You're mistaken. This will only improve me to become the True Hero."

"You promise?"

"Promise!" Eden sticks out his pinky toward Eleanor then connects their fingers together and chuckles.

"I'll be counting on you."

"I got your back!"

Through the thicket and emerging to the otherside of the woods, the moon appears in the sky and showers its white light upon the land. Crickets sing their lullabies hidden from sight and the tranquil rustling sounds of green in the wind.

As Eden and Eleanor enter Greenbourge, he notices something was amiss. There’s no guard at the entrance. Eden places a finger to his lips, alerting Eleanor to stay quiet. Her face pales slightly but quickly nods her head, following behind him. He cautiously looks around their surroundings; every building has its door wide open.

Carefully walking to the nearest open door, Eden sticks his hand out to stop Eleanor as he comes closer to the entrance. His hand rests on the grip of his sword at the ready; his heart begins to pound like a drum as he anxiously peeks in. The place is ravaged; pots, tables, and dishes are scattered on the floor in pieces.

A horrifying gasp escapes Eden's throat; he covers his mouth. His eyes bulge as if they are stuck open; a body covered in blood lay in the corner of the room. Stepping away from the doorway, he shakes his head at Eleanor, not telling her anything, to which she gives him a shaky nod.

A scream of terror breaks the silence.

Eden shoots his eyes in the direction of the cry. It’s coming from the marketplace.