New chapter update.

This chapter is nothing but conflict on top of conflict.

Happy reading.

Choices Part 4

Maria bit her lip as she saw what was unfolding before her eyes. She knew her words had hurt him. To speak of the man, Glenn left to die and join the enemy must have had such a heavy burden on his heart. She saw how shaken he was once she uttered Cyrus's name.

'He must be so pained to know that Cyrus is no longer with us.' The princess thought lowering her gaze.

Perhaps it was a mistake to mention his name. She never knew he was still alive. Unbeknownst to her or King Guardia and Queen Leene, Cyrus was very much still alive. Transformed into a creature who still fights alongside the Guardia Army. Unfortunately, Maria had never seen him.

The moment Glenn's sword met with Ozzie's shield it cracked and disappeared. "H-Hey! Take it easy!" Ozzie shouted. The big buffoon fell from his feet landing on the wet ground with a painful thud and scoffed. He could lay waste to this whelp if he wanted to. His magic was far superior if he used it correctly instead of hiding like a coward. However, doing so would anger Magus and that was someone he would not want to cross paths with in a fight. "What fun is it if we can't torture these putrid humans!?" He glanced over at Maria scoffing with disgust. To show fairness to a human was beyond his understand. "Fine, fine have it your way! Do your job!" He hissed getting up on his feet tripping a little and then ran off before vanishing from sight with his magic.

Once Ozzie had fled, Maria saw the pain in Glenn's eyes when she spoke of Cyrus's name. It saddened her to see him so much pain. She lowered her hand that held her crossbow. She took a deep breath as the rain fell on her messy and dirty hair. She still she had a job to do. She held onto her crossbow tightly in her hand, refusing to fire. She just held it in case Glenn would retaliate. She was about to go against all her training and approached the enemy.

Cautiously and slowly, she approached her former friend. Her hand touched his arm. She was hoping she could speak with him once more. "Glenn…." She said softly.

"As if this were ever supposed to be about fun…" Glenn sneered as Ozzie fled, as his heart was hammering in his chest. His breaths came quick and harsh, but at least if Ozzie was out of the picture, he didn't have to worry about Maria's safety. Matters were in his own hands now, and that was exactly how he wanted it; perhaps he hadn't minded his life being at someone else's whims ten years ago, but nowadays, a lack of control felt like a death sentence to him.

Or, in this case, a death sentence for her.

His sword was sheathed once more and he ran his free hand through his hair, pulling locks away from where they stuck to his cheeks. What the hell was he supposed to do now? How could he convince Maria to flee? She was stubborn, and he doubted that she would listen if the first three attempts had done nothing to sway her. Her fierce loyalty to her people, her devotion to those who depended on her…

He had once thought those to be incredible virtues, once upon a time. Now they were nothing but a hindrance to him. Guilt weighed heavy on his chest as he thought about more underhanded, disingenuous ways he could get her to cease this folly.

He had never had the manipulative streak that Magus was so deft with, though. He didn't know if he could pull off a scheme against her, even if he wanted to.

As his mind raced to come up with a way out of this mess, the hand that brushed his arm shocked him like lightning and brought him back to where they were. He jerked back, whipping around to face her, and stumbled backwards as though he'd been slapped. "Your Highness- Maria," he corrected himself, expression passing through conflicting emotions before he settled on anger.

"I may have stood against Ozzie…but it wasn't for your sake." A lie. One that likely showed in the tremor of his voice. "You are my enemy for as long as you seek to find the Masamune and slay the Fiendlord. The Masamune will remain asleep, I will stand by Magus until his goals are met. Why do you even seek that sword? What purpose could it have in your hands, without the Hero's Badge and without a single soldier able to wield it?"

The princess's heart fell to the pit of her stomach when she heard Glenn say he wasn't protecting her from Ozzie. Calling her his enemy hurt her.

"So that's all I am to you now? An enemy?" She asked with genuine hurt in her eyes. All those times they were friends in the castle meant nothing to him now. As for the Masamune she spoke up, "No one in the kingdom has the heart or courage to find the legendary blade." She told him. "So, I took it upon myself to do so…" She turned away from her friend. "I have to defend my kingdom."

She slowly let go of his arm seeing him shaking. She wanted to know why he abandoned to protect the kingdom and join Magus's conquest to wage war on the kingdom. "I do not consider you my enemy Glenn." She said even though that could be her downfall. She looked up at him as the rain fell on them.

"…Why?" She asked him bluntly. "Why did you join Magus?" She asked. "Do I…" Maria paused on her words. All the time they had spent together. She had slowly started to harbor feelings for him. Feelings which now would not be returned. Perhaps if she said something sooner to him? None of this would be happening right now. They could run away together. Far from the war and live together happily and peacefully. She corrected herself quickly realizing she was about to blurt out feelings for him. "Does the king and queen lives mean nothing to you?" Her voice was a trembling. "Does the kingdom mean nothing to you? And your promise to Cyrus to defend the kingdom?" She felt tears well up in her eyes as she gently grabbed his cloak. "Was it all meaningless to you?" She softly sobbed releasing her grip on her crossbow and letting it fall to the ground.

Glenn turned away, a dagger of grief twisting in his chest. He wasn't proud of himself; of anything he'd done or anything he'd aided Magus in doing. But he knew that it was what had to be done. There wasn't a choice when the entire world hung in the balance, when a misstep or mistake could so easily herald the end of everything. They needed strength. Strength enough to summon Lavos in the first place, and strength even further still to slay the beast before it could destroy everything in its anger.

He would follow Magus through hell and high water if it meant that the world would be spared from Lavos's eventual destruction. But heavens above, it was not easy, and made all the harder by the look on Maria's face, by the pain in her voice and the tears in her eyes. He could tell her, he thought, but Magus had been insistent that they keep this to themselves. That the rudimentary abilities and lacking knowledge of the greater public would only serve as a hindrance to the goal at hand, and Glenn couldn't find the words to argue against that. Even the Fiends hardly came close to the arcane skill and knowledge that Magus possessed from some unknown place he refused to speak of. The kingdom of humanity couldn't help them. Maria couldn't help them.

"…I had to," He replied, folding his arms over his ruined breastplate. Seeing the tears in his former princess's eyes hurt him. He never had any intention of hurting her to the point where she would cry. Part of him wanted to hold her. To tell her everything, but no. He was too far gone and could not turn back from his mission. She was not his princess any longer and he was not her squire to keep her safe. There were others to do that for her. So why? Why was this still so damned hard for him to do? If it was anyone else, he would have laid waste to them the moment he saw them. Even Cyrus would not stand a chance against him if he was pushed hard enough. The chill of the rain was finally beginning to sink in as he returned to his senses. "Kindly do not presume what matters and doesn't matter to me. Of course, my oath to Guardia matters, of course Cyrus matters. But none of it even holds a candle to the forces at play here. What you are involved in is beyond your reckoning. Anyone's reckoning. Even I can barely comprehend the scope of it all." He told her with a defeated sigh. He looked at her continuing on to speak.

"At the end of the day, I do not regret turning my back on Guardia or following the Fiendlord, and I will continue to do so. No words will stop me, so I would advise you not to try." It may have been true that no words would stop him, but they still shook him to his core. He didn't regret a thing, but it still hurt to think about. That pain was simply the price of making the hardest decision of his life, he thought.

He snatched his cloak out of her grip and stepped out of reach. "Your quest is meaningless, you know. With no Hero's Badge and no Hero, the Masamune is nothing more than a lump of steel like any other sword. My guarding it is nothing more than a precaution against…" Against Cyrus's return…Against some capricious turn of fate. Why can you not seem to leave well enough alone?"

'The Hero's Badge? That's what Tata was trying to find.' Maria thought. So, that small trinket was important to using the sword. But even that was lost somewhere. She would have to retrace her steps again to get the sword back. But that would mean having to face Glenn in battle once more. No, she could not leave. Not just yet.

Maria looked at him hurt. Her green eyes were filled with so much pain. "You had to?" She asked him. What could possibly be forcing him to do slay innocent lives, his comrades in arms that were fighting so hard to make sure Zenan Bridge was still intact. She wasn't going to press on any more questions. She knew without the Hero's badge this mission would be meaningless. With Cyrus nowhere to be found and her father wounded from battle she had to take up the mantle to find both the Hero's Badge and the Masamune.

She stood there almost frozen in time when she heard Glenn say he wasn't going to abandon the Fiendlord's orders. What could possibly be so important for him to continue this path. She looked down at her crossbow laying in the mud and dirt by her feet. She now knew what she had to do, even if it meant trying to kill someone who meant more to her than anything.

"I see, so that's how it is." The princess knelt grabbing her crossbow not taking her eyes off him. Her fingers shook from the sheer intent on having to attack him again. Her knuckles turned white from grasping her cross bow. "You do what you must," The princess spoke as her green eyes flickered with a fiery spark. She shut her eyes breathing deeply.

"And I'll do what I must! For the sake of this war and Guardia!" She declared firing from her crossbow.

Glenn may have relaxed his guard and fallen out of a fighting stance, but no matter who his sword was pledged to, he would always be a knight first and foremost. Or as close to one as he could be. Either way, he was combat-trained, and the instincts that had been drilled into him over long years of training and fighting took over the moment he saw Maria's knees begin to bend. As she slowly drew toward the crossbow, he fell into a defensive stance, feet firmly rooted on the ground. His eyes narrowed, caution overriding his emotions as he contemplated what to do.

Run? No. Out of the question, for obvious reasons. Draw his sword? No. He couldn't trust himself to do battle with her when she wasn't using magic; he ran the risk of doing her serious damage, if not killing her, and that was a consequence he was absolutely not prepared to face. Disarm her? No. He'd already put too much distance between the two, a foolish mistake when facing down someone with a crossbow at their feet. He couldn't count on making the distance in time before she could lodge an arrow into his chest. He cursed his past self for having been so blindsided by her identity being revealed. If he'd been less shocked, he could have avoided the arrows that ripped open the metal that shielded his chest, leaving himself far less vulnerable. He was paying the price for every last one of his terrible decisions in quick succession. What the hell was he to do?

The question was answered for him when she shouted and fired her weapon, and his arm moved thinking, shooting upward to create an arc of ice in front of him that the arrow struck, stopped just inches from piercing flesh. With a flash of light from his gem, the ice melted instantly, splashing down into a frigid puddle at his feet.

Perfect. He couldn't be confident on holding back if he fought her with a sword. But magic? Even borrowing Magus's raw power, he was far from an experienced caster. Even if he didn't hold back, so long as he didn't use a weapon as well, he wasn't sure he could even win a fight against Maria with his magic, much less do her grievous harm.

"Your Highness," He said, intentionally using the title to tug her heartstrings, even though it felt like spilling blood to do, "Stop this nonsensical fight and go home. Don't you realize? Guardia doesn't need a sword. A sword cannot save your country, a sword cannot inspire its people or move the hearts of its soldiers. Return to your people alive and well…and do not force me to harm you!"

Blue light surrounded his gloved hands, and he stepped forward, swinging a harsh, diagonal line through the air and sending forth a volley of icicles. They were heavy enough to hurt, he wagered, but certainly not fast or sharp enough to maim. He could do this…maybe.

Maria watched as her arrows darted towards him. She wondered why he didn't defend himself at first. Did he still care for her wellbeing? And then she let out a gasp as he saw the gem he had starting to glow. Shit! He was using magic! Her magical abilities came from the pendant that hung around her neck. She had little to no practice in harnessing those magical abilities which were beyond her control. This was an extreme disadvantage to her in the fight. What was she supposed to do now? All she could do was try to avoid getting hit.

The princess swayed her body to the left, her boots nearly slipping in the mud.

One of the shards of ice hit her pendant as she tried to dodge not to get pierced by it. There was a hefty scratch on the blue stone. The pendant crackled releasing red faint red sparks. Something it never did before. She completely forgot about the fight with her former friend and looked at her pendant. She looked extremely worried.

"W….What's going on?" She muttered looking at her pendant. She suddenly felt a surge of pain throughout her body as the ground beneath them started to shake and soon enveloped the entire kingdom. When the ground shook, even Glenn was concerned.

The entire kingdom was shaking. The rumbling and tremors could even be felt in Magus's castle where he was attempting to summon Lavos.

'Did he summon Lavos already?' Glenn thought frowning a little. No, this was too soon. Even he knew that much. So, what was causing these terrible tremors?

His thoughts were broken as he heard his princess scream out in excruciating pain. It was like all her strength and energy was leaving her body. Whatever this new threat was, it was beyond either one of their control.

The princess was in such excruciating pain from the pendant's reaction. She let out a blood curdling cry as her energy was being sapped away. Gritting her teeth in pain she dropped her crossbow falling to her knees. "I….I can't stop it…!" She cried. The pendant was sapping her of her strength rather quickly. She looked at Glenn as her vision started to get blurry. She slowly lifted her hand to reach out to him, but her energy was severely drained. She could no longer keep her eyes open as her body felt limp against the ground.

This is why your not supposed to mess with Lavos. See what happens, it gets cranky and no one wants a cranky parasite to show up.

Review.