Walter Dornez of the Emblem UPDATE CHAPTER

Walter: My, what a mess the author's gotten himself into. It feels like it takes him an entire year to update anything, and here I am standing around waiting for my story to make progress. This is becoming dreadfully dull...

Lucina runs into the room

Lucina: Did you get the news, Walter!?

Walter: No I did not get the news, what is it Lucina?

Lucina begins to hop up and down excitedly.

Lucina: Our story is getting updated!

Walter: Really? Lucina, I don't like jokes- especially the kind that get your hopes up.

Lucina: I'm not joking! We're getting updated soon!

Walter recoils in surprise

Walter: What!? But I thought that the author had dropped off the face of the Earth like he usually does!

Lucina: Well, he did feel like giving up on completing the story, but he suddenly had a bout of invigoration after replaying Fire Emblem Awakening again. After that, he decided to re-watch all of Hellsing Ultimate in order to get his brain running again!

Walter: Unbelievable! I cannot believe this is happening! I'm so happy that I can bloody kiss you right now!

Lucina blushes

Lucina: Maybe if you were younger, but I'll let you hug me if you want.

Walter: That's fine by me.

Walter hugs Lucina

Walter: Wait, how do I know that the author isn't going to disappear again?

Lucina: Well, he's actually stockpiling chapters right now.

Walter: What do you mean by that?

Lucina: I mean that he's producing several chapters at the moment and he hopes to have three to five chapters written ahead of time. That way he can update the story with a more consistent schedule.

Walter: How many chapter's does he have finished right now?

Lucina: Currently chapter 12 is in progress with chapters 10 and 11 needing editing.

Walter: What about chapter 9?

Lucina: He's finishing up editing right now!

Walter: My, this is quite the surprise.

Lucina: That's not all, he's decided to provide a preview for chapter 9!

Walter: Then what're we doing standing around here? Let's see the preview!

South Regna Ferox
August 18 (12:10 P.M.)

"It's time for explanations, Walter." Chrom moved to the butler's side. "General rule, men get older, not younger."

Walter nodded, "Yes, that is true for most people." The butler stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Of course, as you are no doubt aware, I am not like most people. I need to be honest with you, you are my master after all." He lifted the glove off of his hand to reveal the sigil tattooed to the back of his hand.

Chrom's face bore a confused expression. "What's that supposed to be?"

The butler sighed as he paced the glove back over his hand. "My punishment, I guess. Sealed within me is an unholy power that I dare not use under any circumstances. It's a power that is far too dangerous to be unleashed in this world." Walter stared up at the sky. "You see, the symbol on my hand is what is called a "sealing sigil". Where I come from, sealing sigils are used to contain someone- or something's- power. The seal is generally made to force something, most often a monster, into subjugation. This results in a master/servant dynamic between the sealer and the sealed. The sealer will be connected to the sealed through the seal. In order for the seal to maintain itself, the sealer must sacrifice something daily. The sacrificed object must be something connected to the sealer, one example being blood. So long as the the sealer continues to meet the seals requirements, the sealed will be unable to access whatever was contained without permission."

The Ylissean prince lifted an eyebrow. "So you're saying that someone placed a seal on you in order to seal your power?"

Walter shook his head, "Not exactly Chrom. You see the seal was indeed placed in order to seal the power within myself, but this is a case where I am both the sealed and the sealer."

Chrom's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean to tell me that you purposefully put a seal on yourself?"

"No, it wasn't me that put the seal up. Whoever created the seal did so with the intention of not controlling it." Walter stared at the back of his gloved hand with a forlorn expression. "The seal was created specifically so that I'm in control of it. It feeds on my physical energy in order to maintain itself."

"So that's why you're so easily exhausted?" The blue-haired prince crossed his arms.

"Yes, that is correct." Walter let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, that means my stamina is practically halved at all times."

Chrom raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't explain to me why you suddenly look a decade younger though."

"Yes, that's where it gets slightly complicated, sir." The butler had a dark expression on his face. "You see, the power sealed within me isn't simply just a large power boost. The power sealed is the result of an unholy experiment of sorts, one that I was unfortunately subjugated to. What this power does is it not only heightens all my senses beyond what could feasibly be possible by human standards, but it also returns me to the prime of my life; the prime of my life being my mid-twenties to mid-thirties." Walter clenched his fist in rage. "Me de-aging by about a decade is a result of the power of the seal weakening. My hypothesis is that the seal was made in order to contain the power, but only for awhile."

Chrom looked at his friend with a concerned look. "Does that mean that the seal will eventually be released of it's own accord?"

Walter shook his head. "No, no matter what the seal is connected to my own physical energy. So long as I'm alive, the seal will stay in place." Walter clicked his teeth in annoyance, "That won't stop me from steadily de-aging though. I'll continue to de-age until eventually I de-age to the years after my prime or…" Walter trailed off.

"Or what?"

"...or I will continue to de-age until my body wears down into nothing." The butler said gravely.

Chrom gripped Walter's shoulders and looked the butler in the eyes. Concern was written all over the prince's face, something that even the most clueless person could see. "Then why the hell are you keeping the damn seal up!?" Chrom's teeth clenched. "If that thing is killing you then what's the point in keeping it up!?"

Walter scowled and replied, "No, you haven't any idea what releasing the seal would unleash. As it stands, I'd rather I die as I am- a human- rather than live as a monster."

"I am ordering you to release that seal, Walter!" Chrom looked desperate.

"I refuse to carry out that order, sir." Walter spoke in a monotone voice. The butler released himself from Chrom's grip. "I am merely your butler, sir. Why do you even care?

The Ylissean prince was taken aback by the question. It took him a moment to think of how to word his response. When he did, he stared right into Walter's gunmetal grey eyes. "I'll do anything to protect those around me. You're not just my butler, Walter, nor are you just a subordinate. You're my friend, and I like to think that I'm your friend too." Chrom tightened his grip on Walter's shoulders. "Friends help each other, Walter. I'm asking you, as a friend, release that seal."

Walter saw a fire in the young lord's eyes, one that he had also seen when he served Integra. The idea of protecting everyone was far from feasible, no matter what a leader will lose someone under their command, but it was refreshing for the butler to see a young leader with the determination of a king many times his age.

Walter sighed, "I'm sorry Chrom, I will not release the seal." he said simply. "Even as a friend, that is a request I cannot grant. I'd rather it be you that buries me in the end, not me that buries you."

The fire in Chrom's eyes faded slightly, but the Ylissean prince was still determined. "In that case, you'll have to make sure to fulfill the other promise you made, to always come back from battle alive. If the prospect of dying by the seal's effects don't bother you, then make sure that that's what you die by. I won't let you die any other way."

Walter smiled, "Of course sir."

Lucina: You're dying!?

Walter: It's fine, Lucina, I really don't mind dying.

Lucina looks distraught

Walter: Oh dear, Chrom I can handle, but I doubt that I could handle you...

Lucina: Walter, you have to release that seal!

Walter: Child, I cannot bear to release the seal.

Lucina: But you have to! The story is called "Walter Dornez of the Emblem"! The story can't function without you!

Lucina begins to cry

Walter: Lucina... I...

Lucina's light sobs and whimpers interrupt Walter

Walter: It seems that I'm facing a dilemma at the moment, but I can at least say- with confidence- that this story is officially off it's unofficial hiatus! I do hope that it stays that way up until the very end!

Walter is suddenly hugged by Lucina, who continues to sob into the aged butler's chest, as she is a good head shorter than him.

Walter: Oh Lucina... the way you're behaving is simply... I don't even know... all I can say is that this is going to be the cause for some interesting rumors on the nature of our relationship...

Walter picks up Lucina, who is practically crying a river of tears, bridal style.

Walter: I hope you folks have enjoyed the update. If you'll excuse me, I have to attended to Miss Lucina.

The butler leaves while carrying the princess from the future in his arms.

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Chrom walks in

Chrom: I wonder what all that noise was...

Chrom searches every corner of the room

Chrom: I could've sworn I heard Walter talking to someone. I could also hear the sound of a woman crying as he did- it must've been...

A crumpled up piece of paper hits Chrom in the back of the head. The Ylissean prince picks up the paper

Chrom: Huh, it says "the story rating will probably change rating from T to M due to the increased violence in the upcoming chapters". I wonder what that means...

He tosses the paper into one of the waste bins within the room.

Chrom: I should probably find Walter and ask him about it.

Chrom leaves the room

Oh crap, the story is being updated. As the main three, more like two since Chrom had no idea what was going on, characters stated, this story is not abandoned!

HUZZAH!

The plan is to have chapter 9 out sometime within the following week, so that means it could even come out tomorrow(highly unlikely it will come out tomorrow) As detailed above, chapters 10 and 11 need to be edited and I am working on chapter 12 right now. As for the rating change, I'm thinking about it. The following chapters feature a lot more of Walter...

...being Walter, so it would make sense if I do up the rating. Then again, the language is also pretty tame, hell there's really only been a couple minor swears. I don't even think there's been any of those either to be frank. Even then, it's not like I'm gonna do anything extreme like write a sex scene or something.

Unless there's a crazy demand for that, then I may consider it...

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...I'm kidding...

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...maybe...

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Either way, the rating change is up in the air right now.

I'm just happy to be back writing this story. I've wanted to come back to it for a long time, but I never had the motivation to until recently. I really did feel like giving it up, but now I'm determined to see this through to the very end!

Thank you for your patience, especially to those who have been with this fic since the very beginning. I hope that the wait was worth it!