Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord or any other intellectual property used in this story and would like it if none of you claimed I did.
Note: I got nothing for this chapter.
(Sounds)
"Talking"
'Thinking'
-Messages
Special Item Name
"Special voice"
[Spoken Spell/Ability]
{Wordless Spell/Ability}
'Why do I even own so many books? I know a few can add spells to your collection if kept on hand or if you use them, but when did I feel the need to gather so many… in truth it's probably because younger me didn't know what were useful items and what were just lore books and then multiply that by several years and vuala.' I told myself as I looked around at the books lining the walls and those stacked on my desk. I looked at the book in my hand about player abilities before I slammed it shut.
'Regardless, nothing here tells me anything about this goddammed skill!' I internally raged as I flung the book onto the already over encumbered desk. This had been the situation for the past several hours because of my conversation with Kall and Barthandelus the other day. Kall reported nothing, but Barthandelus…
/Flashback/
"So you found a possible threat while scouting Barthandelus?" I asked the elder looking man.
"Yes seneschal. Last night I came upon an ongoing battle and decided to observe the denizens of this world. Unfortunately from my position in the sky I could only see minor details. The battle was between two creatures and a group of humans. The humans seemed to employ abilities much like your own, if in a much diluted form, by summoning dozens of mechanical warriors. The opposing faction seemed confident in its ability to win and with good reason. Although I was not present for the entire engagement I believe I saw enough. After being surrounded by the group of summons, the entire summoned force was decimated by a single burst of dark energy from the creature." My eyes widened at the report.
"Malevolent energy or simply dark elemental?" I questioned while I contemplated the effects of such a being.
"Strictly dark elemental, but with a hint of maliciousness. Unfortunately Shen, that was not the end." Said the elder forebodingly.
'Chinese.'
"Huh, but I thought you said they were all destroyed?" I questioned.
"Yes all the lesser summons were, but what seemed like the leader of the humans had something in reserve. Aside from a mildly stronger construct, that was also defeated rather quickly, I was sure the humans were at their end, but I was mistaken. With what looked like a Storage Crystalfrom Yggdrasil the leader brought forth a substantially more powerful creation, one that radiated a small hint of divinity." He stopped when it seemed like I had a question.
"Are you sure it was the same as Yggdrasil? Could you have been mistaken because of the distance?" I really hoped he may have been wrong.
"As the Guardian of the Guilds Treasury, I am strongly convinced it was as I said Seneschal." He seemed sure of this fact.
'Dammit, if Yggdrasil items are here then so can other aspects of the game… that can either be a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. We'll just have to wait and see.' I motioned for Barthandelus to continue.
"The angel they summoned was a few leaps above the ones before it, but stood comparatively small to your own creations Theos." He praised.
'Greek.'
"Enough pandering Barthandelus, get on with the point." I scolded.
"My apologies creator. Once the angel was summoned, the human used it to attack the magic caster. For a moment the attack seemed successful, but rather than agonize over the attack the caster rather seemed to relish in there futile attempt as it shrugged off the strike. Even having taken a direct hit, the caster seemed unaffected and then proceeded to destroy the creation with a single spell. Once destroyed the humans began to fall into despair, having there trump card so easily defeated had a notable effect. After that I saw fit to simply leave and report back, less I be noticed by either party." He finished his report.
"If the situation was as you say Barthandelus, then it was for the best that you return. If people like that exist in this world then I was right to be so carful. It seemed any further expeditions out will require us to be on full guard. When I make my travel out it seems I will require an escort to accompany me." Once I said it I heard the sound of armor and cloth rustling. I looked up to see both Guardians had sat up straighter than before.
'Looks like one of them wants to be the one to accompany me. Well too bad for them I already made my decision.'
"I will be taking Anima with me on my trip. Before you complain let me ask you this, how well can ether of you just call me by my given name, no honorifics allowed?" Barthandelus seemed unable to say anything. As Kall seemed he was about to speak I cut him off.
"Also how well will you be able to treat me as an equal or even as less than that on a regular bases?" That seemed to shut the knight's protest. I continued to explain.
"Anima is fully capable of treating me as a regular person when were out. If I am to go out I'll need to have a believable story as to why I don't know anything about this world and a pair of traveling siblings is far more believable than a wandering king nobody has heard of. As much as I know nether of you want me to go out we need to know more about this world and its best that I be the one to explore it." It was then that Kall spoke up.
"But my lord, no human settlement would possibly deny you information or access to their settlements when you arrive." He seemed a bit confused as to why I need an excuse to enter a town.
"Why is that Kall? Is did you discover something crucial about this world?" I asked.
"Nothing you do not already know my king, but what I do know is that no mortal would turn away the King to Humanity." My mind came to a screeching halt at the words.
'King… of … Humanity… I forgot. I fucking forgot!' I screamed in my head.
"Kall is correct, no human could rejec-" The elder was stopped by me putting up my hand. My next orders were quick, but stern.
"Barthandelus I need you to find the closest city to us. A magic caster that strong could not have been cultivated by traveling hermits. There has to be a city nearby that sent the caster to defend the village. I need you to go out, find it and report back to me tomorrow. This is an order that needs to be done immediately. Considering the casters approximate strength assume all people are like that and keep your reflexes ready." I left no room for conversation at the end of my statement.
"As you wish Creator." With that he vanished using the Guild ring. After he did I looked over to Kall.
"Kall I want you to scout out the surrounding forest on foot. Although I trust Barthandelus' vison, I know it is hard to see through the tree line and would like for you to make an inspection of the forest floor." I ordered the knight.
"Why so urgent my liege?"
"I recently realized I have forgotten about a major factor when it comes to my departure of the Guild and I need to research it before I go out." I responded while furiously trying to keep myself calm.
"Is there something I can assist you with my king." Asked the knight.
"Sorry Kall, but this is something only I can rectify. You should only worry about your order and reporting back to me if you find anything noteworthy." I clarified.
"As you wish my lord." He finished before teleporting out of the room.
"DAMMIT!" The shout was followed by my hand pounding the table. The material splintered under the blow before stitching itself up mere seconds later.
"I can't believe I've been using that this entire time! If that has been going this entire time then I've been cheating everyone here!" Another strike sent the table shaking again, this time the floor beneath cracked under the force. A moment past and the floor repaired itself as I looked at my hands, they had been lightly bruised by the strikes, but the pain had done wonders for calming me down. Once fully calm I began to think more rationally.
"Perhaps it's not as bad as I think. Mabey it's only been a minor form of the ability and not the full effect." I was now rapidly talking to myself.
"I need to know more before I can make a conclusion, but without the game menus how do I find out… I know! My personal office has my collection of books from Yggdrasil. There has to be something there!" With a flick of my wrist I was in my main office chambers. Only to find myself in a room nearly overflowing with shelve and shelves of books.
"Well this is going to be a pain to find." I began to observe the room I had moved to. The room had at first been just a standard Guild room like the rest, be it a few times larger, but had soon taken shape into a form of library maze when I started storing books in it. Now it was a single wooden desk in a circular opening, surrounded in a labyrinth of book shelves and piles of magical scrolls.
"No point in wasting time complaining, might as well get to work looking." And so I began my painstaking journey of finding the games archive manual.
/Flashback end/
This had been my routine for the last day and a half. Once I recovered the report from Barthandelus that he had found the closest city to the village that had been attacked, I began to double my efforts of finding the archives.
Book after book, page after page I searched the entire collection. After the first hundred books the search seemed hopeless, but I refused to turn back. I needed to be sure of what I had been doing and a little bit of sleep deprivation was not going to stop me.
It once I felt like giving up again that I finally found the book I was looking for. "Ah, here it is, the [Character archives] book, though I guess I should say My [Character archives] book." As I held the gold trimmed green book, whose cover held my name, within my hand I found myself thinking of the game again.
Once you reach the main town of the game this book would appears in your inventory and truthfully most people burn them. The most likely reason being because the book hold a detailed statistic on that character. Should it ever be from you by other players then it'd usually be sold for a premium in the game's auction. "Thankfully, it seems my forgetful nature has finally paid off. Now let's see about this skill and what its full capabilities were." As I went through the book I began to reminisce back to when I had obtained the ability I was now researching.
This like [Final Summoner] was a complete fluke on my part. Having sunk around 50 levels into the Summoners tree I was left with little of any other spells or skills not summon related. When I finally maxed out the Summoners section I began to grind out levels so I could start putting levels into something else so I wouldn't be left dead in the water if my summons failed. Before I knew it I was level 84 and had yet to put anything into my race level aside from the initial ten that went in [Human]. When I eventually reached level 85 and put the point into my class I got a message saying I had unlocked a special race class.
I looked down at the book in my hand and began to read what it had under [King of Humanity].
-Congratulations [Erdrick] you have reached level 85 and have done so with only racial levels in [Human].
We as developers admire your dedication to your role and hope you continue to do so, but do not wish you to feel underpowered dew to this decision. Thus you have been awarded the racial class [King of Humanity]. A special race that will not void your pure human run, but makes it just a bit more competitive.
Back when I had first gotten the message I had freaked out because I realized I had forgotten to put any levels in my race level. I had even contemplated suiciding a few times to de-level myself so I could redistribute my levels.
I continued to read.
-This class comes with a number of spectacular aspects to it.
-A king must never be deaf to his people's cries for help and thus must be versed in all forms of speech, but must never be blind to what cases them.
Ex: All languages are available to you. Bonuses to skills related to speech and politics.
-As the king of humanity, no human can see you as anything, but a supreme ruler. This inspires both fear and loyalty within those who simply see you. They will be unable to lie to you or withhold information within your presence.
Ex: Shops and NPC's that fall into Human will sell to you at half price. Given access to all secret quest from NPC's who are also humanoids. Alongside a few other instances of auto completing quests.
-Humans in your presence shall feel that they are under your protection and respond in kind. Creatures under your command shall head your words as absolute and fulfill them to the fullest.
Ex: When within the vicinity of humans, they shall receive an assortment of buffs and healing. Alongside a few stat bosting effects. Summons or thralls shall also gain the effects of this ability.
-A king such as yourself lives both for and with his people. As such it is imperative that you never fall in battle to anything less than a true opponent.
Ex: Mental effect invalidation, Instant death nullification, paralysis immunity, poison immunity, Status effect resistance [High].
-You are the one true king of humanity and others will see that. People stop on the street to stare at your magnificence and all who stand in your way shall feel small under your gaze. You are the pinnacle of humanity and all who stare at you shall know it. This is what humanity is capable of, this is the power of mankind.
At the time I realized I had stumbled onto another hugely beneficial ability. One that complimented my abilities rather well, even if the flavor text was written rather opulently, yet I felt like it was too good to be true so I kept reading.
-Although, being king to humanity comes with a few drawbacks.
'There it is' I had thought.
-Be it Demi-Human or heteromorphic, none shall see you as anything, but an enemy unless given proper incentive otherwise. When in vicinity ether shall see you as the greatest threat and challenge you.
Ex: When in combat MOBs and Bosses will target you if another player is not producing over two times your current agro. This includes, but is not limited to event or story bosses.
-Humanities' best is a power to be feared and many of the weak do, but even the strong are weary of your strength.
Ex: Monsters bellow level 70 flee rather than face you. Players who fight you are applied a slight set of statues debuffs known as [Caution].
-The denizens of none humans shall see fit to eradicate you. Many shall seek your head to show the worthlessness of humanities best.
Ex: When within monster realms or towns you will be placed at the top of any duel seekers list. Also players who tries to kill you will be given extra incentive to do so.
-As the king of humanity you are a constant target to those who see humans as nothing, but bugs. They shall seek to end humanities best, but do not simply laydown and die. Follow your path and show them that humanities son is not one to go down quietly, he is after all the face of all humans.
At the time I had been an idiot and simply clicked agree before fully contemplating the drawbacks.
As expected from the creators of World-class items, there was an aspect of the ability the game didn't specify, it deactivated the cooldown timer on PVP combat for none-human characters.
It was actually some time before that particular effects became apparent, since I decided to avoided non-human settlements the best I could due to the other effects. Eventually I came to a point I had to travel through a demi-human area to finish a quest. That was when all hell broke loose. Almost every five minutes through the area was filled with me being invaded by one player or another. The entire trip I would get attacked and I would be forced to stop constantly to fight them. What should have taken fifteen minutes ended up dragging on for over an hour as I had to fight and walk almost the whole way there.
After that I decided I needed a way past my situation and since the effects couldn't be turned off I looked to items for help.
"That's right I have an item for this! How the fuck could I forget!?" I yelled at myself while rifling through my inventory. The search was both frantic, but quick as I pulled out an old looking deep blue cloak. The bottom of said garment was shredded to as if it had been torn by a monster. Much like the rest of my apparel the cloak looked rather unassuming, but just like my clothes looks can be deceiving. This was after all the world-class item Null-All
"Welcome back Null, you haven't changed at all." With that I pulled the cape up and tied it around my neck and clipped the two ends together before flipping the hood onto my head.
'I don't feel any different, but then again it only negates effects going in and out, not passives on myself.' I thought it over for a second before I decided to simply call someone in to test it. I tried using {Message}, but soon realized the cloak was blocking the spell.
'That is going to be a problem. Then again this isn't a game anymore so…' I let the thought slide as I pulled the hood of my head and tried again.
-My lord, is there something you require?
I hear Kall's words echo in my head.
'So as long as the part the spell comes from is not obstructed by the cloak then it'll still work. A rather handy tip to know, not to talk about the combat implications as well.' I moved on from my thoughts and responded to Kall.
"Yes Kall, I require you to meet me in my study as soon as you can. I have an experiment I wish to test."
-As you command my lord, I shall be there soon.
With that the call was ended by the knight.
'Alright, now to see if this truly cancels out the ability.' I quickly flipped my cloak back up and turned away from where I knew he would teleport in from.
A few seconds passed before I heard the sound of Kall teleporting in behind me. Although what accompanied the arrival was rather unexpected. The blade of said knight now stood hovering an inch away from my head, the tip barely visible within my vison.
"Stand down intruder. I do not know how you entered my king's study, but you shall not be allowed to leave peacefully." The words wore sharp and peppered with the intent to kill if I moved.
'It seems the cloak is able to hide my entire presence. If even Kall can't tell it's me.'
{Echo Voice}
"How can you be sure I'm not supposed to be here, sir knight?" I spoke in a now spell modified voice.
"You are neither a Guardian nor a guest of my king and for that you must be taken in for questioning." The knight now began to raise his sword into striking position.
"Good initiative Kall, but you seem to have forgotten what your king said before. Treat every new threat as is they are beyond you." The sword swing now nearly upon me.
[Rebound]
The strike from the knight dug deep into the translucent green barrier that appeared before his opponent. The wall shattered quickly after, but instead of falling to the ground, the shards began to glow before shooting off towards Kall. He quickly retreated and brought his massive shield to defend from the attack.
"I thought we talked about underestimating your opponent and how that can get you killed if you're not careful" I said as I dispelled the voice modification mid-way through my sentence while pulling my hood down.
"My King!?"Shouted the knight.
'So he can tell it's me even if only the hood is off. Looks like taking down the hood ends the face obscuring effect. Nice to know.'
"I must say I'm rather disappointed, you should have gone for the legs. If you're trying to capture someone you take out there means of escape, can't get much from a severed head after all… not unless you're a necromancer I suppose." I teased the knight. My teasing did not seem to reach the Guardian.
"I-I am sorry my king I did not know. I believed you to be an intruder and almost struck my supreme ruler! Such a shameful act should be appropriately punished!" With a cry in anguish the knight pointed his blade to his heart. Faster than I could think my body had already closed the distance between the two of us and slapped the blade away from the Knights grasp. After doing so my fist found its mark on the back of the knight's helmet. The blow forcibly pushed the warrior to the ground.
"And just what do you think you're doing?!" I forcibly asked the knight.
"I-I was simply providing punishment for my sins." Quivered the knight without razing his head.
'Jesus you're far too dedicated to killing yourself over a simple mistake!'
"How dose killing yourself help me in any way? If anything you're further damming yourself by leaving the Guild with one less Guardian." I scolded the knight. He did not have a response to that.
"Yea, I didn't think so. Now get up I have a few questions for you." The knight rose from his position, but did so rather somberly.
"Stop sulking, the attempt to attack me was rightfully warranted. You thought I was an infiltrator and acted accordingly, no need to feel sorry about it. Just endeavor to think a little more about your actions next time. Also contact me immediately if there is an intrusion." The knight straightened at the words.
"Yes Sir!" The hints of depression no longer evident in his voice.
"Good, now Kall I'm going to ask a series of questions and you must answer them truthfully. I'm I understood?"
"Of course my King."
"Why did you think me an intruder when you first arrive? I had called you to the study not a moment earlier, why not assume I was simply dressed different?"
"When I arrived and felt none the king's power from you, I gathered that it could not be you my king." The response was quick.
'So the cloak does block everything that comes off of me. At least I won't have to worry about the aura that [King of humanity] gives off, but it seems the guardians identify me by that same energy as well. Interesting.'
"Then I must ask Kall, what do you think of my appearance? Without the energy I usually exude, what image do I invoke? And I don't want pandering, I want a brutally honest answer. It's imperative I know for my upcoming trip out of the guild." I was stern in my request. Kall was silent for a second while he tried to find the correct words.
"If I must then… I am rather impressed that someone so young would achieve the title of humanity's strongest. Even if you look like an average person you still garner attention wherever you step. Nether your stature nor build are substantial and yet you stand as at the pinnacle of all others. That is what I think when I look at you my king." Praised the kneeling man.
'Looks like even if I ask him to be honest he still can't just say what's on his mind without thinking it's an insult necessary of rectification. Still he said I was rather young and now that I think of it I guess I am. I kept my in game avatar at the same age as my real self so that would make this body around nineteen years old. Which if you think about it is rather absurd for the supposed King of Humanity.' I mentally chuckle at the thought. I turn away from Kall and begin to walk back to my desk.
"That will be all for now Kall, but I do have one final question. Have my guest awoken yet?" I asked now sitting behind the stacks of books on the desk.
"Yes my lord. Anima reported they have awoken recently and are heading here as we speak." Answered Kall as he stood up.
"…why was I not informed of this sooner?"
"I believe she said it was a surprise she wanted to give you herself. Then she began to mumble things about a thankyou kiss or something." Said a slightly confused Kall.
'I knew it! I knew leaving fifteen year old me's design of her untouched would haunt me some day and now I have a sister with an actual brother complex! AHHHHH~!'
"Thank you Kall, when she arrives I shall wait here for their arrival. You may return to your duties as before."
"Before I go my king, I would like to say that regardless of your look you will always be my king." With that the knight teleported out of the room.
"Glad to hear you'll always be by my side Kall. I suppose I can take solace in that now that I may lose my six guest once they learn I've been manipulating them." After that I simply flipped through some of the books laying around as I let time roll on waiting for Anima to arrive. About half an hour past before I heard a knock on the door.
"Enter" I called out. With a click I could hear the door begin to slide open across the carpet flooring. Then Anima began to speak from past the mountain of books.
"Erdrick-sama, I'm here to report that your guest have woken up and are here to see you." Called the Guardian.
'Seems Guardians are still capable of distinguishing me from my voice alone.'
"Thank you Anima, would you please stand outside. I have a privet matter that I need to discuss with them… alone." I told her through the books.
"Don't I even get a thankyou kiss Erdrick-sama?" She wined. "Come on, I'll even let you decide where to put it." Said the sultry Guardian.
'God Dammit past me! Why did I let you start designing her during our Anime phase?!' I mentally shouted, but did not lose a step in the conversation regardless.
"I might have Anima, but you went opposed to my orders of contacting me once they awoke. Thus you get nothing as a punishment." I Reprimanded.
"B-But, but-"
"No "Buts" you knew your orders. Now go and help Kall before I decide on an actual punishment." I chided the girl.
She stomped her foot lightly before I heard her make her way out the door, closing it behind her. When the click from the door rung out I threw the pair of scrolls I had on hand. They flew over the books and erupted into flames.
'A scroll of sound protection and one for area guard should keep this conversation relatively secret.' I began walking out from the side of the desk.
When I saw them the feeling of regret I felt lightened if ever so slightly. Less than two days ago they had all been almost broken by the endless battles they endured, but now I could see the light had returned to their eyes. The picture of them being so lively alleviated my fears if only a little.
"I'm glad to see you're all doing okay. I hope the accommodations were to your liking." Even though my words were sincere they all seemed a tad confused.
"Do we know you?" Questioned Snow.
"Huh, of course you do. Why ask?" I said back, yet they all still seemed confused.
"Alright kid enough funny business who tha' hell are ya'?" Questioned the spear user.
'Hm, don't they-oh right I still have the hood up.' I mentally scolded myself.
"Sorry I forgot I still had this thing up, but I am glad it works." Even as they all readied there weapons I continued unaffected and pulled back my hood. The effects were instantaneous.
"Erdrick!?" They all yelled.
'Ow, that hurt my ears.'
"I am so glad I decided to set up those deafening scrolls before I came out." I said while rubbing my ear.
"Dude what tha' hell, what happened to you? Why are you so… young?" He wasn't the only one with the question it seemed. All the members seemed to want the answer too, especially Vanille for some reason.
'Oh come on, I know it's weird to see I'm so young, but don't say it like that.'
"What are you talking about? I've always been this age, even when we met I was like this." I said while acting confused.
"Are you sure because I sure remember you being much older, yet…." They all seemed to be trying to remember if my comment was correct.
"I think I know what's happening here. You see this cloak is very special, it has the ability to conceal my presence and stop ALL outgoing effects." For a while none them seemed to understand the implication and I was about to begin explaining [King of Humanity], but then all their eyes widened.
'It seems Anima saw fit to explain to them about my ability. Good, looks I don't have to waste too much time explaining it myself.'
"From the looks you're all giving me I can assume Anima already explained at least something about [King of Humanity]. If that's true then that means I can continue." I took a step forward and readied myself.
'I have to make sure they know I'm serious.'
I gave a knee and called out to all of them. "I apologize for what I have done, please forgive me!"
The only reply I got was a very confused "What?" from the group.
'Mabey I should explain.' I internally sweat drop at my own stupidity. Rising back up I spoke.
"Sorry for such a confusing intro, but I had to make sure you understood my sincerity in what I'm about to say." I tried to clarify.
"Sorry? Sorry for what?" questioned Sazh.
"Well everything you've had to endure, but more specifically the whole [King of Humanity] thing of course. I'm assuming Anima explained the abilities most iconic aspects."
"She did, but she also explained that you did it to help us recover. Didn't you?" It was Vanille that came to my defense.
'What did Anima tell them…? Oh, That's right, the ability comes with a slight healing effect, but still I had been unaware of that aspect at the time so…'
"Even still I had no right to manipulate your minds. It may have helped, but by using it I have effected your minds and your decisions. Thus I wear this cloak now, it blocks all aspects to my ability and so you may make your choice without interference." I stood resolute in my speech. The first to speak up was Lightning.
"So you admit to effecting our minds?"
"Yes"
"And you also don't deny that could have been the deciding factor on our choice to be guardians?"
"No, I do not deny it."
"So now what you're doing is making it so that is no longer a factor. You want us to choose again without that influence."
"Yes"
They began to look amongst each other. They gave each other looks as if they were having a silent conversation. This went on for about 30 seconds before Snow stepped ahead of the rest.
"We've made our decision." He spoke
"And as king of this Guild I shall accept and accommodate any choice you make. Whether it's to stay or leave, I will honor it." I promised them as I readied myself for their decision to leave.
"Well now, we might just have to rethink staying if you're going to make leaving so easy for us." He said teasingly. At the words my composer fell.
"Wha, but why? I've done nothing to deserve you're forgiveness. I'm the reason you've all suffered so much. I manipulated your minds into trusting me. I'm the reason you'll never see your families again. Why would you still follow me?!" I said with unrestricted emotions. Lightning was back up to speak.
"Sheesh, Anima was right. You are stupidly humble." She said mockingly. The uncharacteristic comment from Lightning left me stunned and with my only reply being. "Huh?"
Fang was up next. "Sure ya' started that mess, but from how you've been actn' eva' since we've met ya we can see that was never yer' intention." After that it was Hopes turn.
"We may not be happy about what happened, but we can't deny we became a family through it. Separating from each other now isn't going to happen, we made the decision to stay together." Hope politely said.
"Bu-" I was cut off by Sazh.
"To tell the truth I was planning on telling you off for the whole manipulation stuff, but seeing you go so far to make sure that wasn't a factor any more. Well what can I say, we can't rightly accuse you were trying to intentionally manipulate us now can we?" Joked the parent.
"I-"again I was unable to finish.
"Even if you don't believe it yourself. We owe you our lives and even if the rest decided against it I was still going to be a guardian to repay that debt." Pledged Snow.
"Yea and we couldn't let our wannabe hero go and get himself killed now could we?" Taunted Lightning.
"Hey now no need to be so hash sis." Replied the blond.
"I'm not your sister." She turned away playfully.
"Come-on light, even Hope said we're all family." Lightly wined the blond. As they began the banter amongst themselves the thoughts in my head began to roll.
'They don't hate me? But why? I deserve nothing from them. It's all my fault they were so broken just a few days ago. It doesn't make any sense for them to-' I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't even notice Vanille had walked up to my position until she pulled my hand in-between both of hers. She gave me a pleading look as she spoke.
"I know you think it's all your fault, but please remember that our happiness now is also part of what you've done. Don't forget everything you've done to make up for your mistakes. So please stop thinking you don't deserve our forgiveness. We all decided on this choice, don't go throwing it away because of your own guilt." She pleaded with me.
I was stunned for a second at the words, but soon a smile crept up my lips. I pulled my hand free of her grasp and used it to ruffle her hair.
"Alright, I promises I won't forget, but I will still continue to try my best to make up for that mistake." She smiled widely at my response.
"What's that now, your second promise to me?" she teased me lightly.
"I guess it would be wouldn't it." I smiled back at her. I finally looked over to the rest of the group that was still playfully arguing amongst themselves.
'I guess she's right, this happy atmosphere is my doing, but even so I can't stop trying.' I motioned for Vanille to return to the group. I cleared my throat and began my call out.
"Snow Villiers, Hope Estheim, Sazh Katzroy, Clare Farron, Orbeda Yun Fang and Orbeda Dia Vanille. Do you all solemnly swear to uphold the rules and standards of the guild?" questioned the group that had now stopped there banter.
""We do."" They all replied.
"Do you agree to defend the guild and its denizens from all harm external or otherwise?"
""We do"" they relied again.
"And finally, do you all comply with the decision to become Guardians? To uphold my orders and those of the guild to the highest of standards."
"We do" They agreed. A smile reached my lips again.
"Then I am proud to pronounce you six as official members of the guild and honorary Rank six Guardians of the Summoner's Guild." And in that moment the room exploded.
A/N: Well that just happened. Oh don't give me that look, cliffhangers are easy to write and simple to incorporate at the end of a chapter. Regardless you still got two chapters relatively close to one another so stop whining. Anyway, on to the upcoming chapter discussion.
Next we get to see how Erdrick deals with this new problem? Will he save the six L'Cie or has something drastic occurred? Also how will our young OC deal with the situations involving the real protagonist? And just how much of Anima's constant advancements can our hero handle? Find out next time on Dreams of a King.
Thank you for reading and if you review, extra thanks for that too.
Till next time readers.