A/N: Haha, Surprise! You got a chapter this week instead of next! I was... kinda motivated to write this chapter so haha. But we finally reached the end of in-game chapter 7! I'll probably still post another chapter next Saturday if I can! I'm so motivated aaa

After Ares had joined Seliph's army, the group went to face Jabarro and rescue Lene trapped in Darna. Many horse riders approached them; Seliph readied his sword and commanded everyone to keep their guard up as they looked to be stronger than others they had faced.

"Everyone! Stick to the trees and mountains! You'll get some defense there!"

Everyone did so and managed to easily slay the cavaliers while also keeping watch of the horsemen who had Horseslayers. When the army slew the horsemen, Seliph ran toward the last one and swiped his sword at him. Unfortunately, the man dodged and Seliph got hit by a powerful sword; he stumbled back in pain.

"Jabarro…" He heard Ares mutter.

"Heh... Welcome to your deaths!" Jabarro said, raising his blade at Seliph.

Ares proceeded to dash in front of Seliph and block the attack, then shouted, "...Where is Lene!? Where did Bramsel take her?"

"She is soon to be executed in Darna; there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Aghhhhh!" Ares shouted, stabbing Jabarro with Mystletainn.

"...Ares! You ungrateful sod! You're not gonna get away with this!"

"...So long, Jabarro…" Ares muttered under his breath before turning to Seliph. "We must make haste to Darna! I hope Lene is still unscathed!"

Seliph nodded. "I'll follow your lead, Ares!"

Once Ares dismounted from his horse and tied it with a lead at one of the entrance posts, Diarmuid rode toward the two. "Lord Seliph! Ares! I've gotten word that my sister Nanna is in Leonster! I need to get a head start, as Leonster will take almost a day or two to reach! Is that alright with you?"

"Who might you be?"

"Oh, I'm Diarmuid. Son of Lady Lachesis of Nordion, your cousin."

"I see...how can I be certain?"

"My sister lived with Lachesis; she might have some proof with her. Just bear with me, okay?"

"...Fine…"

Diarmuid then turned back to Seliph. "Anyway, Seliph, I'll be headed off!"

"Alright, then. I know how dearly you've wanted to see your sister. We have taken care of most of the enemies, and we are about to take control of Darna. We'll meet you back in Melgen by nightfall!"

"Thank you, Lord Seliph!" Diarmuid replied before riding off.

After that, Seliph turned around toward Darna again, drew his sword, and dashed to the castle. Ares, Ulster, Larcei, and Oifey were fighting off some enemy myrmidons that were protecting Darna.

Seliph and Ares went inside the entrance of Darna; the city itself was relatively small. It was easy to run toward the castle and then the throne room and find Bramsel. Immediately, Ares drew his blade and proceeded to attack him. Unfortunately, Bramsel dodged the blow quickly, causing Ares to grunt in frustration.

"...Ares?! What are you... I should've known you were a filthy traitor!"

"Enough, Bramsel! Return Lene to me! NOW!" Ares swiped Mystletainn again.

"Oh, you're far too late! By now, that stubborn strumpet is... Heh, heh, heh…"

"You...D-damn you! You'll regret your words!" With that, Ares stabbed Bramsel's chest while he was distracted, then he growled, "Go to hell, Bramsel…"

"Nngh... No... Darna is mine... All... mine…" And just like that, he was dead.

Face stern, Ares turned to Seliph. "I pray that Lene is still unharmed. I must hasten to the dungeons."

"Come back as soon as you can, Ares."

"Sure…" Ares replied.

Seliph then took a moment to look around the city, "So this is Darna... The legendary city…"

"It is…" Seliph turned around and saw Oifey, "This was where the miracle of Darna happened."

"Oh, Oifey! How do you know about this?"

He simply shrugged. "I read it from many books. I don't know much, but back in the old holy war. Each battle, the overwhelming might of the Loptrian Empire, had devastated the resistance. Here in Darna was where the Twelve Crusaders were born."

"I see...so this place is special in a way."

"You could say that," Oifey replied.

Suddenly, Ares had returned. He was holding hands with a young woman. She beamed at Ares and looked happy. She was a bit bruised and wounded, but Seliph was only focused on just how bright and showy her outfit was.

"I have returned. Now I must leave, Lene, come with me."

"Gimme a bit, Ares! I need to talk to the leader of the Liberation Army!" she replied, then she ran toward Seliph, "Hello, mister Seliph!" Her hair was bright green, the same color as her sparkly eyes.

"Er...Hello..."

"Ares here rescued me from danger! By the way, the name's Lene! I'm a dancer!" she beamed, doing a little twirl.

Seliph felt his cheeks burning up upon seeing Lene's...questionable clothing, "S-so Y-you're Lene, h-huh?"

"What's the matter? You've never seen a dancer before?"

"Hahaha, no, I haven't," Seliph replied, utterly embarrassed.

Lene giggled at his flustered state, "Hee hee, you're a funny li'l guy! I think I'll go with 'ya in your Liberation Army. That'll make Ares want to go with too, I'm sure!"

"Sureeeeeee," Seliph uttered, before changing the subject. "Anyway we should all head to Melgen as soon as possible. The night will be falling soon!"

"Alright, Mister Seliph!" Lene beamed before running out of the city.

When they made it to Melgen again, the sky was a dark blue; it almost looked black. Once Seliph found an inn they could stay at, "I'm beat, I need some rest…"

Unfortunately, when he went to the room he was staying in, he heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he saw Larcei, "Do you need something, Larcei?"

"No, not at all. I just want to talk."

"Hm...well, maybe a short conversation wouldn't hurt. What is it you wish to speak about?"

"How are you holding up? You seem much more confident in your abilities than before." Larcei remarked.

"I suppose so. I mean, it's still nerve-wracking to me, but Shannan assured me that nobody knows for certain of my brand, albeit only minor."

"I admit, it's only rumored. It terrifies me, knowing you could get taken away and tested on. Or worse, killed."

"Mhm, the best thing to do, however, is to ignore it. However…" Seliph then rolled his sleeve up and put his hand onto where the mark was. "The mark reacts more when I am with Julius; I kept quiet about it but, being near Julius, I feel this small shock of pain in my arm."

"I noticed you put your hand on your arm after you speak with him...it only started recently, though." She then leaned closer toward him and looked, "Is there...any reason why?"

Shaking his head, Seliph replied, "I don't know. When I first met him, I didn't feel anything, but whenever I've been with him...I feel pain...and it gets worse each time…" he paused for a moment before sighing, "When I reunite with him in Alster I will ask him. Maybe not the second I see him, but when I feel the time is right, I will."

"I know you can do it, Seliph…" she smiled at him. "By the way, I'm glad you're not neglecting me anymore…"

Seliph's eyes widened before he responded, "Oh! Well, I'm glad...I'm sorry for making you angry like that."

"I forgive you, but promise me you won't leave me behind again? You know I care a lot about you."

"I won't. You are the person I trust the most in this army."

"Mhm...thank you, Seliph…" she leaned close toward him and sighed happily.

They stayed for a few more minutes until Larcei then said, "I think I'll go back to bed now. It's late."

"Then rest well, Larcei! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Seliph!"

The next morning, once everyone ate their breakfast, they all rode off toward Alster, which was not far away now. And once they made it to Alster, they were met with Julius and the others, as well as a few new faces.

Seliph was the first to step into Alster and was met with Prince Leif, "Ah! You're prince Leif, correct?"

"I am indeed. Your army saved us from Alster's forces!"

"I see! Well, I'm glad to know the others succeeded!"

"It is an honor to finally meet you, Lord Seliph. I've heard a lot of good things about you!"

"Haha, I'm honored. Did Diarmuid already make his way to your army?"

"He has actually. He made it to Alster not long before you."

"Did he get to reunite with his sister?"

"He did! He and Nanna are delighted to see each other again. I left them alone to talk. They haven't seen each other for years."

"I'm glad they had the chance to see each other again! I'll leave Diarmuid in your command for the time being."

"Thank you, Lord Seliph!"

Just then, Julius ran toward Seliph. "Lord Seliph! You have returned!"

"Oh, hello, Julius!"

"Lord Seliph, we should head for Connaught. Blume is still alive and well."

"Be patient, Julius. We'll head to Connaught tomorrow. Lord Leif here wants to stick around a while before he heads to Manster."

"I...hope I'm not too selfish, Seliph," Leif said.

"Not at all! If anything, I understand your feelings perfectly. You can head to Manster with a clean conscience."

"If that's okay, we will wait then. Let's take our time to meet Leif's army first!" Julius said.

"That'd be great. But tomorrow, my army will head to Manster. You can count on it."

"Sounds good! I'll accompany you when I am done with Connaught."

"I'll wait for you then!"

"So, you're the new recruit in Lord Seliph's Army?" Julius asked, walking over to Ares.

"I suppose you could say that…" Ares replied, crossing his arms, "I mainly just joined to save Lene."

"Ah, I see. Lene is the dancer, right?"

"Mhm. Yes. She was a dancer in Darna. She told me that the reason why she danced was to look for her mother. However, her dancing caught the eyes of...questionable people...Bramsel was one of them. I promised to protect her from people like that. But then while I was fighting, Bramsel got a hold of her..."

"Oh, no...I pray she is unharmed now."

"She is. I don't want her to be harmed again, so I am doing whatever it takes to protect her, for real this time."

"Lord Ares!" Diarmuid called, interrupting Seliph, running toward Julius and Ares.

"Ah, hello, Diarmuid!" Julius chirped.

Ares turned away from Julius and looked directly at Diarmuid, "Diarmuid. Have you gotten anything from Nanna?"

"Yes, and I have something for you," Diarmuid said, handing him what looked to be a letter.

He looked at the letter and saw the name 'Eldigan,' "What… Is that from my father!?"

"It is indeed."

"Hm...My father knew Agustria was about to be engulfed in war. So he sent me and my frail mother to her parent's residence in Leonster. But I lost my dear mother to the flames of war during the empire's invasion of Leonster."

"And that's when you went with Jabarro, correct?"

"Yeah, he took me in after that, and I traveled the world with his mercenary troops."

"Yes. My mother gave it to Nanna, but she wanted me to give it to you. It's addressed to you, Ares."

Ares stumbled back in shock, unable to say anything.

"See… Sir Sigurd never once betrayed King Eldigan's trust. I'm sure they were good friends till the very end."

"So I've…had it wrong all this time."

"Ares, keep Lord Seliph safe, okay? He needs you on his side more than anything!"

"Yeah… I'll do that, Diarmuid. Hey, I'll teach you some sword fighting tactics. Do you wish to spar?"

"I'd be happy to!" Diarmuid replied, then the two went off.

When they left, Julius sighed and went out of the castle and into the city. He looked around the different shops, sadly finding nothing of interest, then he bumped into Nanna, making her fall to the ground. "Ah, I'm sorry, Lady Nanna. What are you doing here?" he apologized as he took Nanna's hand to help her stand up.

"My apologies, I was simply going through Alster's shops and houses. They're... ruined, not so much the buildings themselves, but rather the things they have in stock are..not great. Blume must've prevented them from any restocks."

"That...explains a little bit at least. But now that Alster's forces are liberated, they're free now. I'm sure things will return to normal soon enough."

Nanna simply nodded before Julius looked down at her hand. "What is that mark on your hand?"

"Oh, it's the brand of my father. The mark of Fjalar." Nanna replied

"The Mark of Fjalar...I have a similar mark to the one you have...does that mean I bear the blood of Fjalar as well?"

"I would assume so. Does it mean you're the son of Emperor Arvis? Or perhaps my father, Lord Azel?"

Julius got a strange feeling...the name Arvis again...is he really his son? "Emperor...Arvis…?"

"He is the descendant of the crusader Fjarlar, as well as my father. My father was always loyal to my mother. I doubt he would have another family. So you must be Arvis's son."

"...I..I am…?" It all just hit him after that. What Oifey said, and now this, there was no doubt that Arvis must be his father. Naga, now he felt bad for telling Oifey that he had no idea who Arvis was.

"Most likely, I'm not sure. But if it is true, that means we are family!"

"Y-you're right…that means we would be cousins? Does that mean Diarmuid is my cousin too?"

"Yes! Ares is related to you too. You are second cousins!"

"I'm glad not all my family is gone!"

"Same with me!"

"I'm glad to have met you, Nanna! But what do we say to Diarmuid? Would he know?"

"Yes, of course! He'd be thrilled to meet more family members!"

"Well, I'm delighted to hear that!"

"We should go tell him soon. Also, Ares should know!"

"Sounds good! We should tell them the next time we see them!"

"We will! When you and I reunite in Manster, we will tell them."

A few hours had passed, and Julius had talked and met most of Leif's army; he was delighted with the new friends he made. Then a red-haired mage approached him, "Hey! I see you are a mage too! What type of magic can you use?"

"Oh, hi! My name is Julius. I can use light magic. Why do you ask?"

"Light magic is a rare type of magic. Would you, perhaps, like to teach me some?"

"Yes! I'd be happy too!"

"Thank you! Oh, also the name's Salem; I'm part of Perne's Dandelion gang!"

"I see! Well, It's a pleasure to meet you, Salem!"

"You too, Julius! I think we should find a better place to study magic.

"Hmmm, perhaps when we arrive in Manster?"

"Sounds good! I'll meet you there when we have the time!"