"Well...the battle is finally over. Yet, what do we do about the castle?"
Arthur was the first to break the silence, as always. Everyone was looking at the remains of Silesia's castle, with no idea what to do next.
"Oh…" Fee trailed off, looking a little sad. "Well...I don't know, actually."
Arthur looked around, moving closer to the ruins of the castle. "We have to rebuild it, right? I mean, this is a very important castle."
"...Would it be worth it…?" Ced quietly asked, to which the two turned to face him.
"Whatever do you mean?" Tinni asked Ced curiously.
"Is it really worth it?" Ced repeated, emphasizing his confusion and frustration. "Should this not be a sign of our freedom?"
"But Cedsy!" Fee exclaimed, taking both of the sage's hands. "The fact Forseti is dead alone should be a sign that we are finally free!"
"Yes but…" The sage tried to hold back his tears once more.
Arthur interrupted his musings. "But nothing! We can rebuild it! It won't be like before, I promise you Ced. We can make it look even better than it did!"
"'We'? Oh…" There he went again with his dramatic pauses. "But I will not be here…"
Tinni cocked her head, confused at his words. "Huh? What are you-"
"You are being all dramatic again! If you got something else planned, tell us!" Arthur demanded.
"Oh, I have not told you yet...I suppose I just have not had the time." Ced paused to take a break. "You see, I am departing from this continent. My magic will be sealed away for good. I do not belong to Silesse, I am not truly the son of Lewyn as I had thought."
"Ah…" Arthur sighed, unsure of how to reply to that. "I understand that, however, nobody has ever gone away from the continent. Wouldn't having at least some magic help in case there are dangers?"
Ced looked down at his hands, only knowing the power of wind until now. "I guess so...but I am no longer using wind magic. It will only hurt my state of mind. I am not foolish to do that to myself again, not anymore."
"I suppose so, but you have to accept that you will still bear the blood of the wind crusader. A 'child of the wind.' as some say."
"I...do, yeah." Ced replied, looking down. "But...what if…"
Arthur decided to cut him off before Ced would even think about breaking down again. "You won't...but...I am saying maybe you should accept it. Not fully like, use wind again but, if you are going to abandon everything. That is, quite avoidant, if you ask me."
"Perhaps you have a point...I'll think about that."
"Okay, before anyone starts going away, should we all head back to Grannvale? I know all of us have at least some people waiting for us." Fee broke the mood of the conversation and eyed her brother. "I know Cedsy has Princess Julia to come back to before he leaves anywhere!"
Brushing off Fee's comment, he replied, "Y-Yes Fee, we all need to head back first."
"Awww, you are no fun ignoring my teasing." Fee pouted, before laughing. "But yes, let me just get Mahnya!" Then she went off.
Ced turned back to the ruins of the palace and stood there in silence, remembering the times before all of that happened. He looked at what he once was. He was a loyal, obedient, yet quite serious person. While yes, the serious part still remained true, something changed since those days in Silesse. Getting the courage to disobey someone like Forseti was something his past self would never even think of doing. He felt proud of himself, overcoming so much and finally being free of his confinements.
With the castle destroyed, his former life was gone...for good.
"Seliph! Seliph! I'm baaaack!" Fee said once she entered Belhalla castle, where Seliph and Julia would be waiting for them.
"Fee! I am so glad you made it here! Has it been done?" Seliph said.
Fee nodded, smiling widely. "Yep! Forseti is no more! Which means Jugdral is officially free!"
"What a relief, after what happened, I was terrified that things would have gotten worse had Forseti killed you."
"I would have been fine, I did swoop in to save the day after all!"
"Even so, who knows what could have happened." Seliph chuckled, before turning to Julia. "Julia, you mentioned you were waiting for Ced, correct."
Julia nodded. "Y-Yes," Julia stuttered with a blush on her face. "Wh-Where is he, Fee?"
"Oh, don't worry about him Julia! He's coming in a bit, I was just too excited to see you two so I just had to run here!"
"O-Okay! I'll just wait for him I guess..."
"Don't you worry, I'm here in the meantime! I bet you missed me as much as you missed my brother! We have so much to talk about now that we finally have some free time!" Fee said, getting closer to Julia.
"Y-Yeah, that'd be nice...but I-"
Conveniently, the other three managed to head inside too, which interrupted Julia's sentence since Fee shouted at them while waving her hand. "Oh there you guys are! And just in time too!"
Arthur stopped for breath, it looked like he had been running as well. "You are fast...you could have at least let us catch up to you first?"
"Sorry, haha! I was simply too excited!" Fee apologized.
"Whatever…" Arthur scoffed, turning to Seliph. "Anyway, we succeeded, we aren't dead, what more is there to be said?"
"To the point as always, aren't we, Arthur?" Seliph gave him a look, before sighing. "Regardless, I am glad you are all okay."
"Pleas-" Ced was about to advise Arthur to calm himself, he was interrupted by Julia, who hugged him tightly.
"Ced! You are here at last!" Julia beamed. "I was so worried about you, I'm glad you are back in one piece!" She continued, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Ah! Yes...I missed you too." Ced replied. Once again, the same flutter began to form in his heart.
"C'mon Cedsy! Show a little more joy. Julia has been waiting for you for so long, give her a kiss or something!" Fee exclaimed, pulling the two lovers closer.
Ced did not budge as he pushed his sister away. "No, not when there's people here." Then, he heard Arthur trying to hold in a laugh. He turned to see the mage knight and he asked him. "What is so funny?"
Arthur bursted out laughing at the unexpected sweetness. "Ahaha, sorry just, you? You are so...serious, I never thought you would find love."
"I know I know, go ahead and rub it in for me," Ced replied sarcastically, before looking back at Julia. "Well, we have some stuff to prepare, so we'll be leaving for now."
"Oh yeah your wedding is soon, isn't it?" Fee asked in a somewhat teasing tone.
"Y-Yeah, it should be sometime soon," Julia replied, her face red.
"I'll be waiting for my invitation then!"
"Haha yeah! Anyway, Julia, let's go," Ced said and took his future wife's hand, then they both left the castle.
Fee called back as they were walking away. "Make sure not to get too into it! Hee hee!" With a grunt, Ced exited, leaving Fee to sigh happily. She looked at Seliph and then at her siblings, who were standing in confusion. "Well, Lord Seliph and I have some matters to discuss as well! So see you later, you two!" Fee beamed and got behind Seliph, then she pushed him out of the room, to which Seliph was very confused but followed along.
Arthur and Tinni looked at each other and shrugged, then they both exited the building for their own plans.
Thankfully, Arthur did not have to go all the way to Agustria, since Nanna had stayed in Castle Dozel to wait for him. Once he saw her, he merely smiled and waved at her, to which she rushed to him and she hugged him tightly.
"Arthur, I see you have made it safely back here! Hopefully the battle at Silesse was not too hard for you," Nanna said.
"Oh yeah that? Haha, it was nothing...truly." Arthur began to make excuses, to which Nanna gave him a look of disbelief. "Okay, fine, it was very tough."
"Hm, I figured as such, you look like you have been in battle for an entire day straight!"
"Sure...regardless, have you been alright without me?"
"Oh? Ohhhh, I know what you mean here. I've been fine, but the question is, have you?" She giggled.
"Oh yeah, I have been alllllright." Arthur emphasized the word 'alright'. "Now that we are here, I am inclined to ask, how is your brother faring?"
"He's been doing well, still trying to take care of Dozel. It is a little frustrating for him, but he will do quite well. Which reminds me, I spoke with Tinni a little while ago, she wanted to speak with him!"
"Ohhhh? I knew something was up between those two, does this mean…?"
Nanna nodded. "I would assume so."
"I...hmmm...I am not sure what to make of this, perhaps I should do something about it."
"That will not be necessary. They will be great together, won't they?"
"W-Well, sure, but-"
Another laugh from the troubadour. "Arthur, quit being a worrywart will you?"
"I am not being a-"
"Arthur…" Nanna sighed.
"I am serious, if at any point he tries to-"
Nanna sighed once more. "Arthur!"
"What? Are you-"
He was cut off once again, but this time it was from the feeling of Nanna's lips pressing against his own. Holy shit what was happening? Was this real? Surely this was all his mind playing tricks on him! Regardless, he squeezed her tightly, kissing her back.
When she broke the kiss, she smiled. "Now how was that?"
Arthur meanwhile was left extremely bewildered, still unable to figure out what the hell just happened. "I...It was…"
"Awww, you're so cute when you are confused like that!"
"H-Hey! You could have at least warned me!" Arthur pouted.
"But that wouldn't be any fun, would it?"
"This was my chance to ask you something important but you had to ruin it."
Cocking her head at his question, she asked, "Well why didn't you tell me sooner? Tell me now!"
"Ahhh, just give me a second, my heart is feeling weird." So he paused and took a moment to breathe. This was a feeling he really never thought he would ever feel. "I was going to ask you that, since Silesse is in need of a ruler, that being myself, would you go with me? As my…" Another pause, this time because the word he was going to say had an odd feeling on his tongue. "As my queen?"
"Oh! I figured something like that would pop up! Of course, I will, Arthur!" Nanna said and hugged him again.
After the hug, Arthur was surprised at her answer. He threw his hands up in the air. "Okay, that was fast. I did NOT expect an answer so quickly, you didn't even think abou-"
"Hush, it does not matter now, does it?"
"Well, I guess so."
"Um...hello, is Lord Diarmuid here?" They suddenly heard someone ask one of the guards. Once they saw who it was, they realized it was Tinni.
Immediately, Arthur panicked and tried to find a place to hide. Then he looked at Nanna, who only pushed the situation further by indicating where they were.
"Tinni! Over here! My brother is out right now, but you can come hang out with us in the meantime!" Nanna shouted and waved at her.
"Okay!" When she went over there, she seemed to not notice Arthur at first glance, so when she did see him with Nanna, she was surprised. "Oh hi Arthur, I didn't expect to see you there. What were you two doing?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing at all. What were you planning to do?" Arthur countered her question.
"I was trying to find Diarmuid. But it seems I have to wait for him to return," Tinni replied. "Now why don't you answer my question instead of avoiding it?"
Arthur merely shook his head. "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"You didn't do anything weird to her, did you?" Tinni said with a deadly glare that he hadn't seen in a long time.
"No, no, don't worry everything is fine!" Nanna said, then she wrapped her arms around Arthur and leaned her head on his shoulders. "We kind of just confessed each other's love."
Tinni's eyes lit up in curiosity. "Oh! Ohhhhh. I never thought he'd ever feel love again, I thought he was hopeless! But I'm happy for you two!"
"Haha, sureeee. Hey you are looking for Diarmuid, yeah? Now I know what you are up to, just don't get too close with him." Arthur laughed.
"There you go again! Let me enjoy my life now that we are finally free!" Tinni quipped back.
Nanna giggled before separating the two. "Be nice you two, we still need to wait for Diarmuid's return before anything happens!"
Tinni nodded. "Heh, you're right, yeah. What should we do while we wait?"
"We could look around! I haven't been able to get to know Dozel too well, so we could explore together!" Nanna cheered.
"Yay! Then let's do that then!" Tinni beamed, clapping her hands. Soon enough, they all left; sharing many stories along the way, they had a great time together and they looked forward to more moments like this ahead. A peaceful life after the war awaited them.
It was a beautiful morning in Silesse, many months had passed since the end of the War of the Winds. (That's what the four began to call it; they decided it would be an important event in Silesse's history.) The new Silesia Castle was being swiftly rebuilt thanks to the efforts of King Arthur and the citizens. Julia and Ced had been staying with King Seliph of Grannvale during this time, thanks to Queen Fee's insistence.
Weeks passed and Ced and Julia married in Belhalla Castle, most of their friends they made during the war were present and had a great time; everyone was so excited to see the newly wed couple right before they went on their travels. They made sure to spend as much time with Julia and Ced as they could.
It was 778 on the Grannvale Calendar. Early Spring. The Castle of Silesia was in good enough conditions for Ced and Julia to finally go back and prepare for their travels. Fee could tell Ced was getting impatient about it, and really, it was about that time where it would be fitting to leave.
"So, you are finally leaving…" Fee mentioned one night when she saw Julia getting ready to head to sleep. "I must admit I have been oddly afraid of this happening."
Julia turned to her friend, giving her a reassuring smile. "Yeah, but...this is what I want. I want to be with Ced, and...I also have a curiosity for different continents."
"I know, just, it's going to suck I guess, you were my only friend back in Silesse, and we have been friends for years now."
"Mhm, but I told Ced we should visit Jugdral more often than he wanted. It seems he still fears returning here…"
"He's been like that ever since he learned the truth, even now he has the tendency to avoid a lot of things. Any mention of Silesse shakes him up!"
"Yeah, it worries me...but I'm sure he will move on from that eventually! I promise we'll see each other again!"
"If you say so, then I cannot help but believe you. I'm really gonna miss you, you know?"
"Yeah, me too! But you do have my brother to take care of, at least you won't be lonely!"
"Yeah. You are right on that." Fee smiled, before yawning. "Anyway, let's get some rest. I know you have a big day tomorrow."
"Of course. Good night, Fee!"
The day was finally here, Ced and Julia (now married) were about to get on their ship and get started with their travels. Naturally, Arthur went to send them off, despite Ced telling him that they'd be fine on their own.
"Well, looks like it's finally happening. I was waiting for this, finally! Took you long enough," Arthur said, hitting his brother's back.
"Yeah yeah, Fee just insisted on keeping us in Grannvale for a while. But it was fine, really, Silesse needed to be reconstructed I suppose," Ced replied with a laugh.
"That is true. Even so, it's going to be odd seeing you go. But I suppose I'll see you around then, yeah?"
"Arthur. Before I do, I wish to give you this." Ced mentioned as he gave Arthur the holy tome.
"You want me to have the Forseti tome?" The mage knight cocked his head in confusion. "But, why?"
"I do not want it with me. Even if it is merely empty now, having it around will make me feel worse about myself. Plus, I am not truly Silessian. Well, technically I am, but…"
"I know...even so, what would I do with it? I certainly don't plan on using it."
"That is up to you to figure out. Do whatever you want." Ced smiled as Arthur took the tome; no reaction from the tome was present this time.
"Well...I will do my best!" Arthur cheered.
"I know you will, heh, you've sure grown up a little since the first time I saw you."
"I suppose I have yeah! Not to say you haven't either though."
"Yeah, I have indeed. I am no longer Ced, the Prince of Silesse. I wish to be Ced...Ced the Brave!" Ced said, echoing the words he mentioned to Julia before.
"So that's your dream, huh?" Arthur asked with a smile. "Knowing you, I suppose that makes sense. I've considered the same, but I guess I've got a kingdom to rule over."
"Yeah. I'm sorry to burden you like this. But I simply cannot rule Silesse."
"I understand, yeah. I know all the shit you went through, it makes sense. But I guess I've been the rightful ruler all along, so it's my duty to rule over the country."
Ced sighed and looked back at the ship Ced was boarding with his newly wed wife. "I suppose I'll take my leave now, Julia must be waiting for me. We have a long way ahead."
"Alright, good luck out there, brother!" Arthur grinned, before both men shook hands. "Make sure to come back to see everyone though."
"Oh don't worry. I'll visit from time to time. I love you all too much to never see you again."
At that, Arthur couldn't help but grin. "Heh, good."
Just like that, Ced, along with Julia, departed. Even now Arthur was still trying to process the entire adventure that had happened. How everything was sort of solved now (keyword: sort of). But even now, Arthur would still suffer from his past actions, but he would always keep his head up; even when he wasn't feeling the best.
Despite all his confidence, he still was insecure about being the new king of Silesse. The expectations from the citizens after Forseti's rule were high and he needed to live up to it. Thankfully Nanna was there to support him, just like his sister had all those years ago. Heh, he was always depending on someone else, wasn't he?
As the boat then disappeared from his eyesight, Arthur turned around and sighed. Then he made his way back to the new Palace of Silesia. He was for sure not looking forward to the work he still had to do, but this was his responsibility.
Once he made it to the capital he noticed that it was snowing, typical of Silesse, he thought. He felt the cold, brisk air on his face. He remembered that regardless of where his siblings were in the world, or what their dreams were, they would always be there with him. That gave him hope to keep going, to make the world a better place.
No matter what, no matter their fate, they were always...the children of the wind.