After Merlin and Gormay arrived, they tended to the recruits. Gormay wasn't as good a healer as Olem, but with his burger magic, he created four hamburgers and force-fed them to the group.
It still took several hours for Davi and Olivia to wake up, but when they did, they were all patched up and now sat in the middle of the woods. Soon the sun would be up, and it would be time for them to head back. The dungeon was closed, and so their job was done.
"I know this must be traumatic for you all." Merlin sat cross-legged on a log, his brother Gormay standing behind him, holding the unconscious Long Nose, who was slung over Gormay's shoulder. "After all, you all killed people today. You must all be going through a lot—"
"Not really." Sieg let out a tired yawn.
"Those assholes had it coming." Ken nodded.
"I won't be losing any sleep." Davi gave a thumbs up.
"Haru…" Merlin blinked, processing the flat ways they all spoke. "Seriously? You're all fine? What about you?" He shot a look at Olivia.
The snow-haired girl rubbed her neck awkwardly. "I tried to kill one of the Spell Swords also. It's not like I wanted them to die or anything, but at the end of the day, it was them or us. We survived. They didn't. I'm not sad or depressed about it."
"Are you saying we shouldn't have killed them?" Ken questioned, shooting a look to Long Nose.
Merlin shook his head. "No. Actually, I think what you all did was the correct choice. At the end of the day, we're soldiers. Obviously, if they would have surrendered, capturing them would have been better, but they didn't. These guys are soldiers just like us, and soldiers kill other soldiers. I'm glad you all made it out alive."
"It was a little shocking to hear your blunt answers." Gormay chuckled. "Usually, recruits seem to have some naive viewpoint. They think that they're heroes and that heroes don't kill. Glad to see none of you are babies. That said, try not to be a heartless bitch either."
"By the way," Davi hummed and looked toward the large Knight. "When did you get here?"
"I called him," Merlin stated. "Needed the backup. I decided I wanted to capture mine alive. We can drop this Spell Sword off and let the king deal with him. The king can look into his memories better than I can and will find the information they glean from the Spell Sword quite useful."
"And when did you get here?" Ken demanded, shooting Merlin an odd look. "What happened to Miranda?"
"It's complicated." Merlin stood up and stretched. "Get some rest. You all went through hell. I'm going to go do a patrol of the forest and see if any monsters wandered over when the dungeon was still nearby. Maybe we'll get lucky and earn some Cores."
Gormay also stood up and let out a burp. "I'm going to go take this guy to the nearest city and drop him off." He patted the back of Long Nose. The Spell Sword was in a bad condition, with both his arms and legs broken and snapped, and his robes were a torn mess along with most of the flesh around his chest and back. Any time he would start to awaken, Gormay would reknock him out, and he kept a tight grip on the back of the man. "I'm going to demand one hell of an award for capturing this dude. Bet we can even lord it over Pantheon's head since their precious Knights didn't do their job."
"What do you want the rest of us to do?" Sieg asked.
Merlin shrugged, already walking off into the woods with Gormay. "Just sit still, and don't go into a dungeon if one appears! All of you get some rest!"
A silence descended upon the small circle in which the four of them were all seated. It didn't help that Sieg was still shirtless, showing off his impressive physique, though it wasn't as big as it had been earlier. Ken and Olivia kept stealing glances his way while he kept his look fixed on Davi.
Davi noticed all of this and looked annoyed. He slowly stood. "I'm going to go see if I can find a nearby lake or something. I want to fish." Also, he didn't like seeing the way Ken or Olivia was staring at his brother…
"I'll come with you," Olivia said, also getting up. "I wanted to chat anyway." She admitted.
Sieg also started to stand. "Well, then why don't we all—"
"I would rather you didn't come." Davi's blunt response caused Sieg to sit back down.
Olivia winced and looked awkwardly at Sieg and then at the retreating back of Davi, who was walking into the woods. After a moment, she made up her mind and followed Davi. Ken thought about following, but at the moment, she was much more interested in Sieg, so she stayed behind.
Olivia caught up to Davi, and he didn't seem to mind her tagging along, or at least, he didn't say anything about it if he did. She thought about what she should say, but the way he reacted to Sieg had made her mind go blank.
Eventually, they arrived at a small pond. They were far enough away that they couldn't hear Sieg or Ken. Davi quietly pulled his fishing rod out of his vault and began to fish in silence. Olivia took a seat next to him and watched the lake. Finally, she spoke up.
"Do you not like your brother?"
Davi went to answer but stopped. He looked conflicted. "It's not that I don't like him. He's my brother. He's part of my family. I do care for him. I don't think he likes me, though."
"What do you mean?"
Davi reached up and rubbed at his shoulder. The image of a wooden sword smashing into him filled his mind, over and over again. "When we were younger, he said some things. Did some things also. He made it clear he hated me. So I ran away."
"Because he hated you?"
"Because I could see what being near him was doing. The look in his eyes…" Davi frowned. "Those weren't the eyes of my brother. I knew that as long as I stuck around, he wouldn't be my brother. So I left."
"What does that mean?"
Davi went to answer, but he felt his body freeze up, and something inside of him stopped him. "Nothing." He said, after some time. "The point is, I left Sieg to get away from that. I couldn't stand the way he looked at me. We were kids back then, and our village had been completely destroyed. We lost everyone. Our friends. Our people. Our parents. All we had was each other, and yet he couldn't even look at me as if I were me. I wanted my brother back, but I knew that as long as I stayed, he wouldn't be my brother. Those feelings of hate and remorse had been forced onto me. So I ran away. I thought that if I did that, he'd finally be free. Sieg would be Sieg again."
Davi flinched when he felt the pair of arms wrap around him. At first, he thought it was his mother, but this was a far warmer hug than she had ever given him. It took him a moment to realize it was coming from Olivia. She embraced him from behind and ran her fingers through his hair, almost comforting him.
"You've suffered a lot," Olivia said softly. "So many bad things have happened to you. I'm happy that you're here, though. You're my friend. It makes me glad to know that you're around when I need you. I want that to be the same. I want to help if I can."
Davi remained in her embrace, sitting there for a moment. When he finally spoke, it wasn't what Olivia expected. "Your breasts are kind of small; I barely feel them despite my head being pressed against your chest." The hug turned into a brutal strike as Olivia hit him with her elbow as hard as she could. "Ow," Davi said flatly.
Olivia let out a huff of annoyance and folded her arms. Eventually, her look softened once more. "So, if Sieg really caused you so many issues, then why are you fine with being in the same guild as him? Or are you not fine with him? Want me to tell the captain to kick him out?"
Davi shook his head. "No. I'm a grown adult. I can handle it. Besides, I liked seeing him again."
"So then why don't you want to spend more time with him?"
Davi's hand clutched around the handle of his fishing rod. The image of his brother with a dark look upon his face and a pair of glowing blue eyes rushed into his head. He felt his scar throb, and a chill went up his spine as the image was replaced with that cursed sword that resided within his vault. The spot Storymaker had stabbed into him burned and was the only thing that fought away the cold.
'I'm afraid that if I get close again, he'll turn into the version of him that hates me. That curse will force its will back into him, and Sieg will be gone. The only one who should have to bear it is me.' Davi said none of this. "From a distance." He said, after some time of pondering, his answer. "I'll be his brother from a distance. In the heat of battle, it should be fine, but right now, I think it is best if he and I figure out how we want to view each other some other time. Besides," Davic cracked a smile and glanced up at Olivia. "I'm more interested in spending time with you than I am with him."
Olivia felt her face flush slightly, and she turned away from him. "D-Don't say stuff like that suddenly."
Davi seemed confused and then shrugged. "Are you doing better?"
Olivia froze, and she stared back at the pond, her reflection looking back at her. "Honestly, no." Her nails jammed into her palm as she balled her hand into a fist. "I—I don't want to be alone anymore, though. I needed some time to sort out my feelings, but now I know what I want to do. I want to get as strong as I can, and I want to kill the bastards that destroyed my home."
Davi nodded at her response. "Sounds good to me. We'll hunt them down and kill them all."
In a fairy tale, the concept of revenge might be viewed as a bad thing. This wasn't a fairy tale, however. This was a story about two people who had been damaged by the world. Two people who lost their homes to a disaster. Two people who would stop at nothing until they killed the things that hurt them.
Olivia reached down, and Davi reached up. She gripped his hand, and he held it back.
This was the story of Davi Hawker and Olivia Lot.
Let's hope it won't be a tragic one.
Meanwhile, near the forest edge, the first flicker of sunlight began to rise. The others were far enough away where it would still be night, but a lone figure was able to glimpse it.
Merlin rubbed the side of his head and sighed. "Looks like my time is almost up. Hopefully Gormay makes it to the guild with that prisoner." He flipped a phone out of his sleeve and quickly dialed a number.
The phone rang for several seconds before the cranky voice of Laerton spilled out. "Miranda? Why the hell are you calling this early? I was trying to sleep-"
"We were attacked by Spell Swords."
"Merlin- What? Spell Swords?" Laerton's voice cleared of all sleep. "Is everyone okay?"
Merlin cracked a smile. "So you do care?"
"Don't make me shove my boot up your ass..."
Merlin laughed. "Don't worry. We're all okay. A bit banged up but that's it. They'll manage."
"Good. You're coming back to the base?"
"Yeah. We'll be there soon."
"Alright." Laerton grunted. "We'll talk more then. I'll see you soon."
The phone beeped and hung up. Merlin let out a sigh and watched the sun continue to rise. Slowly his form began to flicker. His hair started to grow becoming larger and his body grew frail.
"Keep them safe."
Miranda blinked, now standing where Merlin had been moments ago, and she pocketed her phone. "Yeah, yeah. Go to sleep Merlin. I'll take it from here."
***
Back in the forest, Ken looked at Sieg with a critical eye. "Please stop staring at me." Sieg sighed. "I'm not into you."
"Don't like girls?"
"I don't like men either, so don't feel too bad." Sieg snorted. He looked up to the night sky, which was starting to glow as the sun was getting ready to rise. "I had someone I liked once. That was a long time ago. There was a lot about her that drew me into her. Mainly, the way she smiled and the kindness she showed. Ever since then, women, men, or anything else—it doesn't matter; I'm just not interested in people in a romantic way anymore. Perhaps because I know they'll never truly love me for me. No matter how strong-willed they are, a fraction of them will be taken over by my curse."
"What's up with that curse anyway?" Ken questioned. "Is it why you're so hot?"
"Yes." Sieg reached up and rubbed the front of his mask. "It's also why I wear this damned thing. It represses it. To make a long story short, I got cursed by this bitch whom I hate. You'd think being hot is a good thing, but nope. It's just annoying."
"I see? And what's up with you and Davi?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't act stupid now." Ken gave him an unflattering look. "Explain. The two of you can't seem to stand one another."
Sieg gazed at her from behind his mask. "Do you want the long answer or the short one?"
"Whichever is the best."
Sieg rubbed the back of his neck, trying to get some tension out of it. "Alright. Let's start with the crazy stuff first. We're time travelers."
"...Huh?"
"Davi and I aren't from this place," Sieg replied. "We shouldn't be here, yet we are. I'm sure you know the rumors about Mordheim. About how it's some cursed land covered in ice with people constantly making deals with demons. Well, it wasn't always like this. It used to be very beautiful, in fact."
Ken's eyes widened at what he implied. "A-Are you saying that you're—"
"Yes. We're from the Mordheim of the past."
"T-That would put you all the way to one thousand years ago!"
Sieg shook his head. "Not quite. Nearly one thousand years ago, a lot happened. Han Yuan rebelled against the elves and fled, founding the nation of Rossum. Haru arrived and created the uprising, fought back against the elves, and freed humanity, creating the kingdom of Esteria. The first shogun, Oda, discovered a series of islands and created his own land and his own brand of warriors. And finally, the first heroes, Han Yuan, the Loudest Thunder, the Ebony Knight, Sigurd, and of course, Haru, all teamed up, and they slaughtered King Sylas and every elf that they could find, driving the species to extinction. It was after this event that the Ebony Knight betrayed Haru, killed the Loudest Thunder, created the race of Demons, and was ultimately defeated and sent fleeing into the nation of Mordheim where he died. Years later, my brother and I would be born. We arrived in the world after Haru had passed on, and all that was left were the memories of those who saved this world."
Ken folded her arms as she listened to the story. "So, you're not one thousand years old; you're more like seven or eight hundred?"
"Exactly." Sieg cracked a smile. "A lot of people were harmed during the battle with Sylas. Amongst them was a woman. One who had been an outcast from two nations already. Her name was Titania. The mother of Davi." Sieg went quiet for a moment and gritted his teeth. "She did stuff. Things that I hate. I hope she burns in hell and is suffering. It is her fault that my brother and I are even here today."
"I'm guessing it involved a dungeon?"
Sieg gave a soft nod. "Indeed. It's not the first time something like this has happened. Dungeons can travel through space and time, and their doorways can appear in two different spots at once. It's rare for the doorway to travel across time, but it can happen. The dungeon my brother and I got trapped in was eight hundred years in the past, but it had another doorway that was in the present. At least, that's what I think. To be honest, I was unconscious for most of it. I know that we didn't go to the other side. That I'm sure of. As you can also guess, my time in the dungeon caught up to me." Sieg gestured at the scales that grew across his body. "I became a mutant. They say that mutants all turn into mindless monsters. I figure I've got a few years left in me. Likely less the more time I spend in dungeons. I don't mind dying, but I have something I have to do first."
"And what's that?" Ken questioned.
Sieg glanced in the direction that Davi had left. "Do you like my brother?"
Ken turned her nose up. "That's none of your business."
"I'll take that as a yes."
Ken's face flushed. "I do not—"
"I want you to keep him safe." Ken went silent as Sieg spoke. "I know this is going to be hard to believe, but Davi has an enemy. A great foe that will ruin his life at the first chance she gets."
"The dragon? I heard him mention it but assumed that it was a male."
Sieg shook his head. "It's not the dragon. Davi likely doesn't care about it. I know he's talked about slaying it, but that isn't my brother. My brother is gentle. My brother is kind. My brother is someone who wants to help people, not hurt them. Sometimes, Davi isn't Davi."
"What do you mean?"
"It's hard to explain, so please just trust me." Sieg sighed. "There is a woman. Her name is Evelyn Lunar. I haven't told anyone else about her because I'm afraid the rest of the guild might side with her due to the reputation they have. You aren't from this land, and so I doubt you care. This woman has silver hair and eyes that look like the moon. Whatever you do, do not let her near Davi."
"Why—"
"Just don't!"
"Okay? Geez?" Ken gave him an odd look now. "I won't let this woman near him?"
"I'm serious. I'll even beg if I have to. Just keep that woman away from my brother."
"If it's such a big deal, why don't you tell Davi yourself?"
"I—I can't." Sieg looked down at his lap, and he had the urge to hit something. It was so frustrating.
Shadow Possession…
It was a cursed spell that Titania had somehow created. This spell existed so that Titania could be immortal. Davi was literally designed to be her next body. Using this spell, Titania planned to transfer her consciousness into him and take him over. Her body had been crippled and destroyed during the battle with Sylas, and so she planned to get a new one. That was why she mated with Orion, wanting to get the genes of the Hawker clan and create a baby that had the blood of elves and both the Cores of Mordhiem and Rossum and, if possible, Gallenth.
When he learned this was to be the fate of his brother, Sieg came up with the plan of running away with Noble and taking Davi with him. He would flee to his mother and beg for her to take him and his brother in so they could escape from Titania.
Then, because of Titania and 'that man', the dragon came…
Everyone died, including Titania. The only saving grace about the situation was that she hadn't been able to possess Davi.
Shadow Possession took a long time for it to activate fully. It was an entire process, and Titania had been killed before she could complete the ritual. What was left was just a fraction of her will and nothing more. If given enough time, that fraction would fade away and be reduced to nothing, and his brother would be free.
However, if this fraction were somehow able to grow and evolve…
That was the current issue. When he and Davi first escaped the dungeon, that piece of an ego somehow leapt from Davi to him. He still didn't know how it did this, but he knew why. The piece in him was small and barely able to do anything, but it brought out all his anger and hate and reduced any positive emotion he might have had. This resulted in him behaving in ways he shouldn't with his brother, treating Davi like scum, and in the end, Davi ran away just as the piece wanted.
Separated, it was able to direct and move Davi far more easily. It still would have eventually run out of power, but luckily for it, someone was willing to feed it. Evelyn Lunar had somehow used her magic to strengthen and grow that ego that was within Davi.
She wasn't able to fully control or possess Davi like Titania could, but she could strengthen and allow the pieces of that blasted woman to grow inside of him. This strengthened Titania's control and, as such, allowed Davi to become more and more robotic-like, forced to follow his programs. That was why he was now on this path, hunting the dragon, for Titania screamed and yelled, her hatred so massive that she forced this will upon him.
Thankfully, Davi hadn't been entirely taken over yet and was still himself, but he now had this force inside of him, and if he wasn't careful, it could fully erase him, and all that would be left would be Titania.
She and Davi were currently in a struggle. Davi was winning, and the longer he stayed himself, the more he would keep winning, since the shard would keep shrinking as Titania was dead. The only one who could give the shard more power was Evelyn, and the woman was extremely busy and, as such, couldn't always be there every second of every day. She also couldn't just hand the win to Titania, it seemed, otherwise Davi would have been wiped out long ago.
This meant, in order for Davi to be free, Evelyn had to be kept away. If Evelyn got in contact with him, she could strengthen the shard and reduce Davi's ego. If he managed to keep Evelyn away from his brother, then Davi would eventually be able to entirely destroy the shackles on his soul and be truly free.
The issue is that anytime Davi began to become more and more free, Evelyn would always show up. Sieg was constantly hot on his brother's trail, yet each time Evelyn got in the way. Davi had begun to break free a few months ago, but during the entrance exams, Evelyn gave the shard the power it needed to grow again, and so Davi was back to having to balance his own mind and that of his mother, which had grown stronger than ever. At the moment, he was winning, but should Evelyn feel the shard grow weaker and give it a bit more of her power, Davi might not be able to win a second time.
That wasn't the only problem, either. Evelyn was extremely high up in terms of ranking. It was possible she already had plans or people inside of the guilds who were meant to help her keep Davi under her thumb. Being in Phoenix Flight also meant he had very little leverage, and so if he began to badmouth Evelyn or word got out that he knew, Evelyn might use her power to get him thrown in jail or taken away from Davi. There was also the issue that like Titania she seemed to have some sort of control-like ability. He had no way of knowing how many people had charms in them that hadn't gone off yet or how easily Evelyn could use her powers now.
At the moment, most of her effort went to hunting down the dragon, and she wanted Davi to keep growing while he was still himself, since that would give Titania a better host, but if her hand was forced, she'd no doubt do everything she could to get rid of Davi and bring Titania out fully.
If her strength grew, it meant that even captains might be under her control, and that also meant Sieg couldn't trust anyone, for how would he know if they were themselves or just a spy Evelyn put before him.
Also, with the existence of memory magic, it meant that the more people who knew about this, the worse off he would be. Even if Phoenix Flight was on his side, Sieg knew that one of them might slip up or have their mind read, and that information could eventually get back to Evelyn, and he'd be screwed. That was why he didn't tell Ken or anyone else about why Evelyn needed to stay away from Davi and why he was trying to be extremely vague about it.
During the entrance exam, he had actually used a high-level spell to wipe his own memories and erase certain sections. He couldn't do too many; otherwise, the king's Core would have noticed, but he erased all the portions with Evelyn so the Core wouldn't report back to her, just in case they were working together. He then undid the spell, regained his memories, and went to check on Davi. That was when he helped out with the monster fight but was teleported back to the exam base before he could thoroughly check on his brother.
Now that they were in the same guild and he had studied Davi more, he knew that his brother had a run-in with Evelyn during the exam. This was also the reason why he couldn't tell Davi all about this either or get too close. The Titania shard wasn't reacting to him yet, as its efforts were focused on corrupting Davi, but if it saw that he was trying to help Davi, it might attempt to take Davi over again or subtly charm Davi as it did with the orders of slaying the dragon.
This would cause Davi to drop whatever he was doing and run away from Sieg to avoid him.
Basically, Sieg was extremely handicapped, as he couldn't tell too many people or even interact with his brother at all; otherwise, it would doom Davi. He'd have to do his best to keep Evelyn away from Davi or take her out when he could and keep Davi safe from a distance.
It wasn't an easy game, but Sieg was playing to win.
"If you care about your brother, you should say sorry." Ken's voice broke Sieg out of his daze, and he turned to look at her.
"What do you mean?"
"You kind of blew up at him earlier today," Ken grunted. "Maybe say sorry."
Sieg looked like he was about to answer, but he stopped. He pondered for a moment and adjusted his mask. "From a distance."
"What?"
"I'll say sorry, from a distance. I'll help Davi from a distance. I can't get too close. Please, just trust me and… If you can, spend time with Davi for me. Keep my brother safe."
Ken looked like she wanted to retort, but she didn't. "Yeah, yeah." She turned away from Sieg. "I'll make sure that dumbass doesn't get hurt."
"Who's a dumbass?"
Ken jumped when she heard Olivia's voice. She spun around and saw the girl and Davi stepping out of the woods. Olivia held Davi's fishing pole, and at the end of it was a trout that she had caught. She had a proud look on her face.
Davi stopped at the edge of the woods and folded his arms. His eyes met his brother's, and the two looked at each other for a moment.
From a distance…
"I caught a fish!" Olivia declared. "Look! Can you cook it with your fire magic, Ken?"
"Gross." Ken wrinkled her nose. "You have to clean it first."
"Really?"
"Yes! Cooked fish on its own isn't good either." Ken announced. "We need ingredients if we want it to be good! Quick, get me butter, salt, and milk!"
"No time." Another new voice made them all jump, and they turned to find Miranda. The silver-haired woman was back, dressed in the same hoodie as Merlin. Just in time as the sun fully lifted into the air and dawn returned. "We're heading back to the base." She announced. "Our first mission has come to an end!"