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Chapter 26: About War and Peace

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Calmly sighing for the umpteenth time, I glanced up to Alejandra as I continued with my careful operation. She looked worried, rightfully so as I continued to attempt something many wouldn't have been able to do in the same circumstances.

Sitting on a chair placed by Diana's bedside, I was carefully working on altering the 'secondary purposes' of the corruption she had on her body.

While it was true that trying to outright fix the curse would be nigh impossible considering the divine nature and how much of her soul had been tainted by it, I was still able to do something to at least soothe her pain in her last few days.

The first issue was cutting the Emperor's influence out of the dark markings the woman had on herself. The process was the easiest since the big bastard was no longer 'active' and capable of countering any of the stuff I had planned to do.

The effect was instantaneous. Diana was already feeling slightly better over the lack of a strange 'strain' that had been there for years now. It was like releasing a chain that kept her from properly standing up.

"I know what I'm doing since this isn't the first time I work on a case like this," I explained politely. "But I suppose you've some questions about it."

Adjusting her glasses, she nodded. "I've read plenty of pamphlets describing that it was impossible to treat this illness by known scientific methods. But you… are using magic- why?"

"Modern doctors have a mistaken diagnosis of the 'illness'," I replied with a nod. "While the symptoms are mostly visible on the patient's body, the curse isn't anything else than a soul-related problem."

"Y-You mean that modern medicines can't fix it?"

I blinked, staring up at Randal as he watched from the doorstep. With Archie having temporarily taken over chores of the kitchen for now, the Collie Prime was allowed to spectate the situation without any worries of things catching on fire.

I trusted the Nanozell Spirit to get accustomed to the slightly more advanced appliances in the house, having allowed him to grow out with his own mistakes ages ago.

"Medicines can slow down the dangerous secondary effects that the curse is known for," I refuted swiftly. "But they can't heal it properly, which is why Magic is more suited for this kind of operation."

"The book never mentioned that-"

"I treated this situation before?" I interrupted Diana with a kind look. "It would be a lie to say that the diary is a full anthology of what happened to me and my crew during the war. Like… I never included how 'things' actually began, and merely started the first chapter with when I first met… Carmie."

Boy, despite my renewed confidence over my future steps, I sure felt frightened by the prospect of finding out what Carmesi ended up becoming.

She wasn't going to be happy to learn that I had been back for nearly a full month now, and I had little to no contacts with the others.

Minos just ended up being lucky, Ambar… was a similar case. But, that I found Gracie before her?

That was going to become grounds for some 'heated' discussions with the Crest of Fire.

'But then I will at least have the chance to hug her again.'

This last bit was the reason why I looked at the situation with an uneasy but giddy outlook.

I really missed them all with their different quirks, personalities.

But now I'm back, and I'm not leaving again.

"Does… Does that mean that there are other stories that you never said about your group?"

I nodded, sparing an interested look at Diana, the woman slowly regaining some color as I continued with this second task.

"Yes. Some were not recorded in the journal because they were outright embarrassing," I mentioned with a huff. "Others were… too painful to remember."

The Cow Prime smiled, carefully shifting her position on the bed so that I had a better means to treat her marks.

While I was half-way done with this issue, the recovery was evident. I hadn't completely healed Diana, but the woman was going to gain a few more peaceful days without having to fear the pain and the unpleasant drain of the markings.

Her soul was too drained to keep up and restore itself, and my hopes of this ending in the best scenario possible were close to zero.

"But… does that mean you're centuries old?"

I frowned, glancing at Randal with a frown.

"What?"

He offered a sheepish look. "I-I mean, you fought in the war that happened a long time ago and… and you're here now."

"I'm still twenty-seven, Randy," I assured him peacefully, still regarding him with a confused look. "I haven't been alive for two full centuries."

"But how would it be possible for you to be this young after so many years have gone by?" Alej inquired with a hint of curiosity. "You mentioned being summoned, but how does that work?"

…I suppose I could tell them a little more than it's known to the rest of the world.

"Nine years ago, I was summoned in this dimension from someone that needed help in protecting someone-"

"Addie?"

I paused, glancing at Diana for a silent moment before nodding at her guess.

"Addie was someone important. An individual that the Emperor wanted to eliminate to further destabilize what remained of the Queendom of Prism."

"But why would the Empire seek to kill a young woman? You never mentioned that in the diary and-"

"She was the queen."

…

"How do you know that?" I dryly asked the old Prime, getting a giggle out of her as she beamed at the indirect praise.

"Let's just say that while the book isn't recorded as a perfect recollection of war memories, teachers at school still offered different views of some characters in it," Diana elaborated mirthfully. "In fact, the theory that Queen Adela was your 'Addie' was considered valid until the High Prime denied this allegation."

"And now that I'm here, I can say Ambar was just covering bases and saying a lie about it."

"You protected the Queen back when she was younger?" Randy quipped with surprise. "I thought the stories were incredible, and that it was odd that the Empire was hunting your group so intensely- but this… explains so much."

"I guess it does," I muttered before nodding.

It was still impressive to discover how things had unfolded after so long.

Ambar surely shaped up a proper society out of this new planet.

The Crests had all settled down one way or another, finding their own resolutions after the war.

And... I still failed to keep up with a promise- no, the promise. One that I didn't have only with Adela… but her mother too.

This last thought was enough to sober me up as I prepared to conclude the last bits of this operation.

Nodding as I was done applying the mixed combination of Life and Light magics, I stood up from my chair.

"And we're done here."

My comment drew Alej's and Randy's attention on Diana, the woman blinking in surprise as she now noticed how much healthier she felt. The sensation was enough to get her shifting in surprise, almost wanting to stand up and admire herself better, but I moved quickly enough to stop her from doing that.

"I suggest you wait for a while before you actually try stressing your body in any possible way," I warned sternly. "You're still recovering from the operation, and any sudden actions might put your body in shock."

"And that would be dumb from my part," She admitted with a sigh, slightly annoyed that she couldn't get up from bed just yet. "Still… thank you."

"Don't..." I sighed, shaking my head. "Don't thank me. I didn't heal the worst."

She was still going to die. I couldn't do anything against the various millennia-old curse, only remove the negative effects created by the Emperor to subjugate the Narakhans to his will when he first built the Empire.

"But you make it painless," The Cow Prime rebuked calmly. "And that's still something worthy of thanks."

Her smile was the epitome of motherly kindness. The radiance was way higher than the one I was accustomed to from her part and… for a moment I felt myself faltering over my standing position.

I offered a weak smile, only for my attention to be taken away, in the most literal of ways, by a joyous Randal.

"Arf!"

The canine sound was the only warning I got as he pounced on me. Surprise swelled for a moment, but I managed to turn around in time and catch him instead of letting me fall down on the ground under his weight.

"T-Thank you!"

I cracked a smile as I peered down over his shoulder and saw his tail wagging madly.

Alej snorted, shaking her head happily while Diana… started to laugh at the amusing sight in front of her.

All in all, the scene turned quite comedic considering how physical Randal actually was in handling affection, and it was very amusing how I was literally lifting him off the floor by using enchanted strength.

The Collie Prime would notice that his feet weren't touching the ground shortly after, eliciting a panicked 'arf' before he was allowed back on the ground.

The conclusion of that embrace prompted more giggles at his silly reaction, much to the young man's embarrassment.

But just as we finished, Archie peeked from the doorstep and smiled as I nodded at him to enter inside. Just as I had expected, the Nanozell Spirit was done with the preparations for breakfast, entering inside and leading a couple of floating trays to the occupants of the room.

Diana blinked as she was regaled with some well-cooked eggs and slices of bacon on her plate.

"Compliments to the little chef," She hummed after taking a taste of the delicious-looking egg.

Archie smiled widely. "Always working to improve on the boss' own recipes."

That got Randal to pause and give me an odd look as he quietly chewed his second slice of bacon. "This is your recipe?"

I shrugged, only for Archie to happily provide a quick explanation of why and when I decided to get him to learn how to cook.

Now, that was an embarrassing story I could tell without feeling too terrible about. Except I still felt embarrassed when Diana pointed out I literally went frugal when the ship had plenty of resources of use at the time.

Once breakfast was over, I proceeded to make my way to town with the cart filled with products I needed to sell. I had so much to do now that I got the most important things at the farm done and… I needed to pay a certain friend a visit.

~Minos' POV~

These past three days had gone by with little incident.

Minos had only visited town once yesterday, checking on the bar to see if Matt had finally left the farm's territory and finally talked with either Taffy or Miles.

Both young Primes offered no news except for different levels of worrying over why the human was taking so long to visit the bar. Which was alright in his book, considering how furious the young man had looked in their last encounter.

Matt might be far from fully remembering the rest of the past, but the temper had never vanished. In fact, he was more than willing to bet that it had only been sharpened and refined into a weapon that was no longer double-edged after years of trials and errors.

The punch stung, but not as badly as his uneasiness over the matter did to his poor mind.

The Crest of Earth had genuinely wanted to tell the human the truth about his amnesia and origins, but the health-related issues were too strong of a deterrent to actually go through that plan.

Patience was the virtue for the strong, Grace used to tell him the few times the Bull Prime would moan about his unpleasant past.

And if words didn't work, she would happily slap him left and right across his face until he calmed down completely.

Those were indeed the strangest memories of his time spent with her…

Still, things weren't as dreadful as he had expected to turn because of his broken nose.

Today, Minos had planned to spend the day indoors, as he still had to carefully treat his bruised nose. The damage had slowly healed, but it would still take more time to see it properly fixed in its normal shape.

An annoying detail he couldn't do much about except for waiting for it to pass in due time. Or at least that was how he hoped things would go when he started doing some basic stretching.

It was a must to have his muscles prepared for activity before he started with his usual training session.

Once he was sure that he was more than ready to start, the Bull Prime prepared to go through some push-ups as the first exercise.

Dropping to the ground and starting with the first ten, he continued up to fifty and then a full one-hundred round.

Minos' truest enemy was his own power as he carefully burdened his body with his Crest to make it heavier and thus difficult to move around. This kind of trick had helped him plenty of times in the past, allowing him to gain maximum damage from any diving attacks against his enemies.

Now it was just a further improvement over his training. Something which main feature was to heighten the already mighty strength the Bull Prime was known for.

But just as he continued with what were meant to be the usual round of push-ups, his mind went blank as he felt further drawn to the ground. A blink, then Minos started to feel more sweat pouring out at the greater strain on his body.

It wasn't too bad, nor anything he couldn't manage. But the surprise was enough to make him turn back to reality and realize that someone was… sitting on his back?

"You really never stopped training despite the fact the war is over?" A familiar voice questioned, curiosity coating each word. "I suppose that's only a sign that some of your old self never left… Captain."

His nose twitched, and Minos ignored the pain as he felt the need to scowl at that familiar slight.

"You recovered your memories."

A sigh, then the 'burden' adjusted itself on his back. "Yes, and… I have to admit. I'm still surprised to learn how much has changed."

…

"Are you angry?"

"A little bit," Matt admitted shamelessly. "But it's not about the past, Major. It's more correlated to the present."

Minos huffed, once again ignoring the centuries-old gag that existed between himself and the Grand Knight. "I tried to tell you about-"

"Not. That," The human interjected fiercely. "That's not the issue. Not at all. It's the furthest problem that could get me this much irritated."

...What was he talking about?

Taking a moment to think more of the situation, the Bull Prime found it troublesome to ponder over what his 'friend' was suggesting with this situation.

"W-What?"

"Don't play the coy game, General," The young man muttered angrily, getting the Crest of Earth's former rank right this time.

Now Minos was aware that the situation was serious.

"You played a big part in the Empire's politics, military, and economics. And I'm quite sure you had plenty of chances to learn about the true nature and the modifications the Emperor impressed in the Narakhan Curse," Matt finally elaborated. "So please, explain to me why you never mentioned these to Ambar or anyone else?"

…

Modifications? True Nature? He still couldn't make sense of the accusations he was receiving.

He barely had any interactions with Narakhans. The Emperor was quite adamant to keep any Prime away from knowing too much about the curse itself but…

Was there something he was supposed to know? Something important about it?

Was it related to something happening to the owner of the farm where Matt had been working for a month now?

"I..I- I don't know."

"Truly? How?" He sounded vicious, and for a moment Minos was reminded of the war. This wasn't unusual for the Grand Knight and… the only time he became this malicious was when Carmesi had been hurt by Kayin.

Something important must have happened. Something that determined the passing, or something quite close to it, of someone.

"I- The emperor… he was against- allowing me to know anything."

…

The pressure dropped, with the Human jumping off his back and allowing Minos to recover control over his Crest.

It's been centuries since someone had come so close to overwhelming him with his own power, but this occasion was far from unique. Especially with how deadly the person he was currently speaking to was when caught in a bad mood.

"I can tell that you're not lying but… I'm confused. I thought you once mentioned that the Emperor told you everything since you were his most trusted knight?" Matt pointed out with a surprised tone. "I mean, it was a long time ago but-"

"I lied back then," The Bull Prime confessed with a minor sliver of embarrassment, remembering perfectly when he used to repeat this to his enemies. It was a stupid lie, but one that made him sound like a proper General of the Empire.

"So you don't know anything about the fact that the Narakhan Curse was soul-based… right?"

His mouth opened to give a curt 'no' to that simple query, but his shock froze him up as he realized what he had just heard.

"The Curse is… magical?!"

"Divine to be precise," The human quipped swiftly. "The Gods left it to the Narakhans as a punishment way before the beginning of the Empire."

So what the Emperor said about the early plight of the Empire was… correct? Why was he learning of this just now?

It's not like it was going to condone any of the crimes committed by the Empire, but it did create some trust issues over how much was truthful and how much was false with the Emperor's rhetoric.

"W-Why wasn't this mentioned ever by Ambar or Kate?"

"They don't know," The human remarked dryly. "None of the Crests knew except Ambar since I told her yesterday, and you, Minos. This was something the Dragon Gods themselves told me when I tried to 'cash in' the favor they promised me to accept. With the first one of 'staying around' being rejected, I just tried to be the good guy and get other kind rewards accepted. By the way, none were."

Minos finally sat down to stare at the tired look on Matt's face.

"This is-"

"Stupid. Frustrating. Incredibly foolish coming from a group of long-standing deities," The human listed calmly. "All fit well with the kind of people the Gods were when I had the chance of meeting them before… I left."

The Bull Prime blinked, shock now evident in his eyes as he tried to digest what he was just hearing now.

To think that what had been thought to still be the most glorious of victories against the Empire had been tainted by the Gods' meddling in the most unproductive way possible.

Their greatest hero was denied the promised wish? If the other Crests learned of this travesty, then there would've been another war, but this time the Deities would only end up alone against their champions.

But why? Why would they deny the Grand Knight his request?

"Why would they reject your requests? You were summoned by them to-"

"I wasn't summoned by them."

…

"W-What?"

"The Dragon Gods' plan was to have Kate rule as the Queen, and to have the old line perish right where Adela's mother died," The human explained with a sad tone. "I wasn't summoned by them… I was summoned by the former Queen hours before she died."

Minos actually gawked at this. He had suspected that something was off over the fact that the small group of resistance campaigned by Queen Rehema managed to last for so long despite the Emperor announcing the Gods forsaking the remnants of the old order.

For the Grand Knight to appear to them despite the lack of the Gods' blessing should've suggested that something was immensely off over his appearance.

But at the time, Minos' mind didn't allow for any foreign thoughts other than the Emperor's will.

He thrived for praises and to serve dutifully a galactic order that sounded so majestic and idyllic, but eventually turned into the worst society ever conceived.

"The reason why I decided to tell you this is because I know you will not overreact this-"

"And stop from declaring rebellion against the Gods?"

The human nodded. "I don't wish to make any of that. Especially with how dastardly the pricks are."

…

"But how are you going to take revenge in-"

"I don't care."

…

"What?"

"Minos, I've been missing this for almost a full decade. I thought I had lost everything when I was sent back, when I forgot everything and… now I don't want to lose it again," The young man remarked. "If they try to bring me away once more then I will act accordingly… but for now I'll let this go."

"So you don't wish to make a war over it?"

"Damn… right," He agreed before letting a single sigh escape from his lips. Then his eyes turned to glance at the still bruised nose. "By the way, do you want that… fixed?"

Despite how overwhelmed his mind felt due to the previous conversation, the Bull Prime managed a nod and allowed Matt closer so that he could treat the wound he had inflicted.

Life-based magic swiftly mended and corrected the damage, speeding up the natural process that would normally take much longer to conclude.

He blinked once as the hand retracted, giving him the chance to check on the current state of his face.

Everything felt normal, much to his immediate relief.

"Also, I don't want to impose but… I would need to contact two individuals before I leave," Matt muttered with a hint of nervousness. "And I kind of promised Ambar that I would do this today."

Minos frowned at the request. "Who do you need to call?"

Hopefully not Grace and Kayin. He was certain that approaching the matter now would only end up with the Crest of Love making a crusade to find where Matt was and 'take him in her safe hold'.

"Naerie and Geecku," The Grand Knight replied. "Both know of my identity, but don't know yet that I'm now through with my amnesia."

"I suppose Ambar doesn't want this to be kept a secret from them?"

"Would you imagine Hugging Bear trying to do that to both?" The young man pointed out mirthfully. "She would never see the end of their wrath."

Conceding to this situation, both Minos and Matt settled by the couch in front of the communication array.

Once the system was online and the two distinct individuals were alerted, the two guys waited for communications to be established with the other side.

A couple of quiet minutes passed and… the screen flared to life to show both girls already on the other side.

Minos glanced at Matt, wondering how this scene would evolve now that the stage was the young man's to win.

With a bright smile settled on my face, I regarded both women with the friendliest look I could muster.

"Geecku, Naerie. Good day, and I hope I hadn't caught you busy-"

"We fine!" Geecku interjected eagerly. "How are you Matty?

"Matt," The Bear Prime addressed with much less excitement, but still offering a positive mood with her tone. "I have yet to start with my daily paperwork, but I can spare some time if this conversation is truly important."

I nodded at the redhead, pondering for a moment from which point I should start to tackle what I really wanted out of this discussion.

I needed to offer the truth, but in a way that neither would react poorly to it. Naerie was going to be 'easier' to face, but Geecku was possibly going to be complicated to restrain from trying to find me here.

A difficult instance alright, but one I felt certain of victory if I kept cautious and attentive about their moods.

"I'm glad to hear that," I replied happily, before turning to look at Minos. "And I'm not alone here if you both noticed. Minos is here too since I've asked him if I could use his… communication device?"

"Array," The Bull Prime corrected and I offered a thankful nod at that.

"Understood, Major," I replied mirthfully, ignoring the brunet grimace at being reminded of the little fun gag we had running when I would 'mistake' his ranking with others. "Still, it's nice to see that you two are fine and well."

Geecku giggled and nodded, but it was Naerie that spoke up.

"Thank you, Matt. And I notice that you seem… happier than before."

"I've been told some good news," I explained, grinning as I emphasized my positive mood. "Mrs. Linda managed to have a minor recovery, which is enough to remove her from the danger zone for some time. And I think she will be able to see her daughter Mora one last time."

"That's… good to know," Naerie stated, seemingly ignoring that her voice highlighted her uneasiness over the topic. It was never easy to talk about dying people, especially with those that never experienced that kind of loss.

"Oh? Is Linda the maker of apples?"

"She owns the farm that has an apple orchard, the one where the apples come from," I replied while nodding. "And her name is Diana. Linda is her last name."

Geecku opened her mouth in an 'o' and let out a little noise that signaled her understanding of my words.

"Is she sick? Why last time with daughter?" The Crest of Life pressed on.

"She has been sick for decades now, and she's coming quite close to passing away," I answered calmly.

"That's bad!" The blue-haired girl exclaimed. "Maybe Geecku can-"

"You cannot, sweetie," I replied tensely. "It's not something anyone can fix."

Her jaws dropped a little bit at that interruption, but while I expected Geecku to ignore the affectionate addressing, Naerie didn't.

"Matt, I know this might sound odd but… I think you're behaving differently from the usual," The Bear Prime pointed out with a hint of concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Mostly fine. Thank you for asking, Naerie," I said while nodding at her. "But there is something I need to tell Geecku before I forget?"

"What is it, Matty?"

I smiled. "Sweetie, you can now call me 'Buddy'."

After these words were dropped, I saw her golden eyes widening at the mention of the word.

She blinked once, then twice and… then she started to vibrate.

"B-Buddy."

"Yes, hon?"

"Y-You're-"

"I remember. And I missed you a lot, sweetie."

A massive smile appeared on her face as she started to cheer on over the matter.

"You actually… remember?" The redhead beside the giddy Crest inquired. "I thought that… you couldn't because of-"

"Some problems I had with mental blocks. Apogeo ultimately decided to let those go when I met her almost two days ago," I interjected with a sigh. "I suppose you were not expecting this surprise."

"I… wasn't," She admitted. "But… I'm still glad you recovered your memories, Grand Knight."

"It's still 'Matt' to you Naerie," I rebuked mirthfully. "I know your parents well enough that I don't see a reason to impose any formalities."

She nodded. "I understand… Uncle."

I blinked, a frown briefly flashing on my face as I quickly realized what prompted that sudden 'honor'.

"Pulsar actually went through with that? I thought he was-" I paused, my lips twitching in amusement at this unexpected development. "I guess he went ahead and made me your godfather."

Naerie nodded, confirming quite the interesting long-term reward I hadn't expected to find out in such a manner.

While I did have some trouble convincing Ambar that Pulsar was her best candidate for a stable lover, the same could not be said for the Crest of Ice as the man was heads over heels with the Bear Prime.

Despite his reluctance to see his attempt of getting together with Ambar to succeed, he still accepted to make a bet with me while we were drunk. It was an odd circumstance, one I still don't remember out of the fact that we were both brain dead at that specific point of our 'partying', but I remember a single element that stood out.

A bet which I asked to be made the godfather of any eventual children born from that union. That element persisted after so long and, right now, I found myself staring at my clear victory.

"Well, I'm happy to say that you succeeded with this task, goddaughter," I resumed the conversation. "You managed to carefully bring this case to an end without causing any major problems neither with your mother, nor actually keeping me completely in the dark over the matter."

She blinked. "But… Uncle-"

"This is a win on your belt, Naerie," I interjected sternly. "I'm not giving anything freely, except for the praise you more than deserve with your dedication and attention to details. Congratulations."

Her lips parted, finally shattering the blank expression that I was familiar to see on the girl's face and… she showed incredible surprise over the matter.

Then, she allowed a nod, a ghost of a smile flashing between her surprised look and her trademark neutral expression. "Thank you, Uncle Matt."

Just as I finished with the redhead, I noticed Geecku now staring at me intensely.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"When are you coming here?"

I blinked. "As you know, sweetie, I'm trying to help in a particularly complicated situation, so I will come to stay there once I'm done here."

"B-But-" The Crest of Life pouted a little bit. "Maybe Geecku can help?"

"Sadly enough, it's not a situation you can solve, sweetie. It's something beyond what Life can do."

She looked surprised. "What? Why?"

"The issue is a Narakhan Curse," I answered quietly, and with that her surprise dimmed down a notch or two. "And that's beyond what your element can do."

She looked perplexed, slightly embarrassed but…

"I promise you that I will be there soon, sweetie," I affirmed with a tiny smile. "Once I'm done here… we will be playing lots of hide n' seek."

That got her attention, a smile returning on her face. "Really?"

"Yep, and I hope you're ready to taste defeat."

"Geecku's greatest predator! Geecku is gonna win!"

"Then Buddy proves Geecku wrong… again," I mirthfully reminded, getting a raspberry in return for that.

The conversation didn't last any longer and, once the call was over and I thanked Minos once again for allowing my request, I found myself returning back home with much done in a single day.

After swiftly selling the contents of the cart at the market, I thought my 'visit' at the Bull Prime's place would've been relaxing. I was proven wrong.

I failed to keep up with my emotions over the chances of the Crest of Earth being indirectly responsible for hiding the true nature of the Narakhan curse and… in the end I was proven wrong.

And now that these complications were solved, I would need to only wait for Mora to finally arrive. Then I expect things to get… bumpy.

AN

Little detail for the next few chapters. The last four chapters will be written 'back-to-back' (updates will be one chapter each day for the next four days from now).

Time to bring this tale to an end~!