That night when everyone was asleep. Ernst went back to his castle to study the spell to create homunculi. He entered his library and got the spell book. His lips trembled, he was correct. The last stone needed would be in the caster's darkest place, a place where the caster had his darkest memories, his darkest desires, his darkest secrets. Apparently in the book, the stone of white magic would be close to that place. He closed the book and put it back. Ernst knew exactly where the last stone would be, he sighed and went back to their room. Ernst turned off their night lamp and watched them sleep, the moonlight highlighting their faces. He smiled as he watched them sleep, soon falling asleep himself.
"You...all mine..." Ernst moaned to Almarion, who he stroked his hand. He absorbed her power and bathed in it. Oh, that immense, beautiful, and oh so intense power! He felt as though he was being crushed by her energy, as intense and extreme as it was. "Soon...I'll have the power of the three Emelas keys, you, and Alma's power all to myself! Soon...those black wings...will be mine...I...will be...a LEGEND..." He said, passing out due to Almarion's extremely powerful and intense energy.
The day after Ernst woke up with an intense throbbing headache. He remembered that they were closer to reaching their destination and he became even gloomier. Just dreading the day when they'd come back to that place. Not their home, but another place he didn't have fond memories of, that was near the spring. He was sure the stone would be there.
"Ugh..." He groaned clutching his head and curling up to a fetal position. His head throbbed and his hands trembled.
"Brother? Hey, what's wrong?" Geis asked getting up, it was still very early and the sun just barely began to rise. However the birds could be heard chirping outside and the sea and wind, could be heard singing.
"Hngghh..." Ernst just clutched his head, in pain. "I'm sorry to have worried you...I just...my head..." He said, his voice unsteady and weak. Geis became even more worried because Ernst NEVER shown a moment of weakness like this, not even in their card games, or guessing games, or in anything really. He would always remarkably win and the three of them would always accuse him of cheating.
"Hey, hey. Just listen to me. You're gonna be fine okay? Just get some rest. It's still very early." Geis said moving closer to Ernst. "Uh...h-here..." He said, awkwardly patting Ernst in the back, or occasionally, the shoulder and head.
"Thank you Geis...you can stop now, I'm feeling better." Ernst said, mustering up the most normal voice he could. In truth Geis only made it worse and Ernst just wanted him to stop but he didn't tell him that. Geis stopped and went back to sleep, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Ernst could tell, because he began to moan a little. It was something Ernst couldn't help but smile at, they all had their little perks when sleeping. Erina couldn't sleep without cuddling into her pillow, or anything that was next to her at the time. Vincent would talk unrecognizable languages in his sleep and sometimes you could even talk to him and he'd talk back, of course in a different language. Geis, well, moaned in his sleep, and sometimes he would moan names, sometimes he would even curse.
In the morning, Ernst's head grew clearer and it also stopped hurting. Admiral Agares set sail for their home and Ernst only knew how many days were left. Probably tomorrow they'd be there already. He sighed, scared of what they might think of him, when they knew...when they knew...Then a knock was heard from the door, followed by a female voice saying, "Sir, your breakfast." The door opened and a maid came in, pushing a cart full of food and tea.
"Uh...Commander? Are you okay?" She asked Ernst, who was staring into the window as if he was a statue. "Uh...I-I'll be leaving now..." She quickly said, a little baffled at the way Ernst was acting. Ernst heard the door close behind him, and turned around slowly, the three were still fast asleep. He kicked Geis and Geis yelled/moaned at him, his eyes still closed.
"Agh, fuck you!" He moaned and grabbed Ernst's leg, snuggling into it, until he was, a little too close to Ernst's hips. Ernst tried to pull his leg out but Geis would not budge. Ernst began kicking him more but he only moaned "FUCK OFF!" and held on tightly to Ernst's leg.
"WAKE UP GEIS!" Ernst yelled and Vincent replied with "Bah-iyeno mahjo ne!"*
"FUCK YOU!" Geis moaned back at him with his eyes still closed and snuggling even more into Ernst's leg. Then, he saw Geis's eyes begin to open and he immediately jerked Ernst's leg away, stumbling back in the process.
"Whoa what the hell brother!?" He said falling into Vincent and starting a chain reaction that ended in Erina falling off her bed. "Don't get too comfortable with me!" He yelled. Ernst just laughed, shaking his head.
"Ow...what a way to wake up..." Erina said, getting up. "What the hell Geis?"
"It wasn't me! It was him!" Geis pointed at Ernst. "You don't get too comfortable with me!" He yelled, and Ernst just laughed while looking down and shaking his head.
"You can get off my face now!" Vincent said, and Geis got off him, red as an apple. He began to angrily whisper in Ernst's ear.
"Just because we hugged doesn't mean you can do that! What were you thinking!" Geis whispered in Ernst's ear. Ernst just laughed even more as he saw Vincent whispering something in Erina's ear while looking at them. Her eyes narrowed and she hit Vincent in the face. He fell back into his bed and she began angrily signalling him something.
"WHAT!? I'M NOT WHISPERING EROTIC THINGS IN—UGH!" Geis became angry and red, and marched toward Vincent. "Erina." He said holding a pillow in front of her. She took the pillow and they both started attacking Vincent. Ernst picked up his tray and watched them from a distance, happily eating away.
Night came and soon enough Ernst could see the shores of their homeland through the window. He sighed, and braced himself. He was fearful of what they might think of him after they knew and how hurt they'd be once they found out what he did.
"Ah! Home sweet home, eh? Hey, thanks for taking us on such a wonderful adventure!" Vincent happily said, laying a hand on Ernst's shoulder. Ernst's lips trembled and he mustered what he could of a smile.
"Haha...yeah..." He said nervously. "Hey...do you think they'll forgive me, no matter what I do?" He asked Vincent.
"I don't really see why you need to ask. I mean, they'll never get angry at you. You've basically been another parent to them ever since their parents died." Vincent said, looking at Ernst with confused eyes. He saw fear in Ernst's eyes, even though he could tell Ernst was trying his best to hide it. Vincent noticed signs of instability from Ernst, even though no one else could see it. It was his aura; it was going haywire nowadays, getting stronger and stronger at an alarming rate. He noticed this ever since the day after Ernst first moaned that name, which was about two months ago.
"Hey, what's been going on with y...nevermind. Hey, look we're almost there! I can see the docks from here!" Vincent said, happily changing the subject. Ernst became nervous.
"Hey, brother. We can keep our armours right?" Geis asked.
"Hah, yes Geis. I already asked them. They said we were free to keep whatever equipment we wished." Ernst replied.
"Yay." Geis said.
The next day Ernst could hear the gates being opened. He sighed and got up, packing all his belongings. Then the door opened and they were greeted by guards who helped them take their things back to their home. The three of them bid farewell to everyone on the ship and went off.
After a while of walking, they saw their cute and petite little house near the mountains and the ocean. Ernst became a little less agitated when he saw their house. They entered the door, and the knights put all their belongings in their respective rooms then went off.
"Okay, start unpacking guys and see if everything still works, I need to check something." He said, while sighing and left them to tend for themselves. He walked into the mountain woods and strayed a little north-west from the path. He climbed several trees to get to an old battered house and it had been abandoned for years now. Although that's not to say it wasn't huge, it connected to the cave near it, and that cave was basically another part of the house. He walked near the cave and turned a little left to a hidden passage no one would have been able to see.
"It's been a while huh? Looks like I have to come clean this time...I don't regret what I did, though. You bastards deserved every bit of it." He said, walking up to two gravestones. One said R.I.P Raelia, and the other said R.I.P Dameon. He sighed, and turned back, heading toward their house. Once there, knocked on the door to be greeted by Erina who was cooking some fruits and vegetables, in a delicious smelling sauce.
"Hey, dinner's here!" She said, and the three boys went down and had their dinner. It was a hearty dinner, they talked a lot and it made Ernst almost forget about the stone, almost. After they finished their dinner, they each went into their respective rooms. Ernst smiled and headed for his room, ah, his room. He missed it when he could sleep naked at night, cuddled up in the homiest of blankets. As soon as he was finished with his bath, he headed straight for his bed, cuddling up into the warm blankets and falling asleep soon after.
**That means: I'll see you again!**