Chapter 13 – The Return

*WARNING* There is one scene in this chapter that some may find to be disturbing and/or excessively gory.

Here's chapter 13. So this chapter finally has Mikhail and Eclair reunite. Eclair is wears the entire White Hawk armor set except for the helmet and cape and wears Gryphic Greaves instead. She is also equipped with the White Hawk's Talon and no shield. She is a Fighter with some extra skills and techniques. In case you are wondering about her speech pattern, she is generally speaking in Shakespearean. To balance Mikhail, he will have a limited number of the extremely valuable items found in DD (Panacea, Wakestones, etc.) and only one copy of the high tier weapons and armors. Next thing on the list: I need you, the readers' help. I am planning to introduce an OC into this story that is going to play an important villain role. What I need from you is:

Name

Title (i.e. Blah blah the Destroyer)

Gender

Race (if not human)

Physical Appearance (Do not need to be extremely detailed although you are welcomed to)

Vocation or Class level (Dot, Line, Triangle, Square)

*Techniques/Spells (if not related to DD, limited to 5 main ones)

Weapon(s) of Choice

Armor or Clothing

Personality

Brief History before they met the Big Bad

You guys will have until my next update to create your character. I will announce the winner in the chapter that the character makes their debut. If none are submitted or to my liking then I will simply use the one that I have created. Have fun!

Spells used in this chapter are

Wind Hammer: Wind-Wind

Fiery End: Fire-Fire-Fire

As always, read, comment, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon's Dogma or Familiar of Zero.

Tarbes

"WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS WAST THOU THINKING THOU DUMB DAW!"

The female Pawn's metal gauntlet met with Mikhail's face and resulted in the man being sent flying. The girls looked on with shock at what had just transpired. An unknown woman just came through the spontaneous dark cloud and promptly sucker punched the man. Tabitha was the first to recover from the surprise attack. She immediately raised her staff and sent several icicles flying at the woman.

The woman saw the projectiles coming at her and in response drew her rapier. She maneuvered around the icicles and quickly closed the gap between her and the blue-haired mage. When she got within range, she lunged with the rapier at an incredible speed. Tabitha's eyes widened at the sheer speed of the thrust that was coming her way. The girl managed to just barely position her body so that the sword flew past her body. The woman abruptly stopped when the rapier was began to pass her target. She then swung the sword in the direction that Tabitha moved. The girl managed to put her staff in front of the blow and block it. Unfortunately, the staff was now cut in two. The girl jumped back a few meters and then drew her spare wand.

"Wind Hammer," the girl incanted. A dense mass of wind flew towards the woman. She rolled out of the way and was about to attack again if not for a gout of fire forcing her to retreat several meters from both girls.

"Who the hell are you?" Kirche growled. She prepared another spell just in case the woman attacked again, which in her opinion was highly likely. In response to the question, the woman readied her weapon and took an unusual stance. She crouched and held her rapier at eye-level. Her left hand was held out and supported the blade with her thumb. In effect, it looked like she had knocked and drew an imaginary bow and arrow. The woman aimed her sword at the red-haired girl and waited.

"I said: who th-" was as far as Kirche got when the woman moved. She took a quick step forward and twisted her body. In one fluid motion, she thrust her rapier towards Kirche. On instinct, the Germanian unleashed her spell. "Fiery End!"

A large wall of fire flew at the woman. To Kirche's surprise, the wall of fire hit something. Like stabbing a pencil through paper, the wall of fire parted and the area of impact widened, effectively causing the spell to fly past the woman harmlessly. The woman followed through with several more quick thrusts. Tabitha sensed the air move quickly towards them and released a wind shield in defense. The blue-haired girl felt the air easily penetrate her spell; she tackled the Germanian next to her to the ground. Just above her, the air flew by and made three holes in her flowing cloak.

The woman saw her targets fall to the ground. She immediately dashed towards them, intent on ending the ambush (in her opinion). She had to stop once more because another fire spell flew in front of her. Louise pointed her wand at the woman and sent several fire spells at her. The woman nonchalantly swiped her sword at each of the spells, dissipating them. She then approached the pink-haired girl and was about to strike when she sensed an intense pressure of killing intent from behind her. She spun around and raised her rapier to parry an incoming overhead slash. A longsword met the rapier and then shattered the rapier before the woman could redirect the strike.

"Gah!" the woman shrieked. Fragments of the rapier flew into her face and cut her porcelain skin. One particular fragment flew into her left eye, subsequently destroying it. The longsword followed through and impacted her left shoulder, denting the armor and breaking her shoulder. The woman fell to the ground grasping her shoulder and gasping. Despite the obvious look of pain on her face, the woman did not make a sound. She looked at her assailant to see the longsword pointed in her face. Stunned at what she saw, she spoke, "M-Mikhail, what art thou doing?"

The man had a hazy look in his eyes before it soon cleared up. He looked at his position and then threw the sword to the side, "Eclair! What happened!?" The man hastily changed vocations to a Mage and then casted Grand Anodyne on the fallen woman. The fragments of steel on her face was ejected from her face as the healing spell took effect. The skin knit itself back together and soon her face was once again untouched. The man knelt down and removed her breastplate. The silver armor piece was thrown to the side. The woman's shoulder, previously hindered by the deformed armor, began to heal as bones snapped back into place. The bruise there slowly faded away.

Grand Anodyne is a remarkable healing spell, one of the best probably. However, no matter how good a healing spell is, it can't heal something that no longer exists. The woman's eye sustained an injury so great that the eye had been completely liquified and was leaking from under her hand along with her blood. The man gently pried her hand from her face and analyzed the wound. It was a gruesome sight. The blood slowly stopped as the wound healed.

"I'm sorry Eclair, it's gone," the man said, tears threatening to fall. He still did not know what happened but had pieced together the evidence and concluded that he had done this. He wiped away the blood that dribbled down her cheek like tears. The woman smiled weakly at the man. She then pushed him away and sat up. The woman looked at the audience and saw them grimace; she sighed and covered her injured eye. Mikhail regained his composure and went to retrieve Derf.

"Hey, partner. Don't blame yourself for this. When you got knocked out by the hottie over there, the runes activated automatically to protect its Master. It ain't your fault," Derf explained. Although unsatisfied with the explanation, it did cement his theory as to what had transpired. With a sigh, the man forced a smile and spoke.

"I figured. Well, she's had worse injuries than this; she can recover. Plus, she has a high pain tolerance. Also, Derf, that 'hottie' over there is my wife," Mikhail said.

"Oh," Derf replied brusquely.

"Yeah."

An awkward silence descended upon the two before it was shattered by a loud cough. Mikhail turned around to see that Eclair had used a blue ribbon as a makeshift eyepatch.

"Mikhail, who is she?" Louise asked while eyeing the woman with disdain. The woman simply stared at the pink-haired girl with her remaining eye. The sight slightly perturbed the Tristanian. Tabitha stared at the woman with clear hostile intent but held back from attacking as Mikhail had clearly displayed worry over her. Kirche was still pointing her wand at the woman. Siesta looked at the people in front of her with fear. Not fear for her own life, but fear that the fight could have caused massive collateral damage to her grandfather's resting place. That fear soon turned to barely restrained fury at what could have happened.

Mikhail sheathed Derf, walked over to Eclair and then held her hand, pulling her towards his Master. When he was in front of her, Mikhail bowed a little and then introduced the woman, "Master, I would like to introduce to you my wife, Eclair Fraegh Ritus Serolius."

"You had a wife!?" Louise, Kirche, and oddly Siesta, exclaimed. Tabitha lowered her guard a little at the revelation but still was wary of the newcomer. To answer the question, Mikhail simply took off his and Eclair's left gauntlet to reveal identical golden rings, although Eclair's had a small red jewel on it. The girls, except Tabitha, all stared at the rings before repeatedly looking back and forth between the two adults. Mikhail smiled at their reactions while Eclair looked down with a slight blush on her face. She then remembered that her breastplate had been discarded and took off to get it. She looked at it and frowned. The piece of armor was beyond recovery. A hand landed on her shoulder; she looked over to see Mikhail handing her a new breastplate.

She took the armor and strapped it on, "I forgot that thou possess an armory."

"Mind telling me why the first thing you do when you see your husband is punch him in the face?" Mikhail asked.

Fury returned to Eclair's face as she jabbed her finger into Mikhail's chest, "Thou! What the hell were thou thinking!? Art thou stupid!? Wherefore art thou so daft!? Do thou not care about me? About us? Why?" The once regal woman had become a sobbing mess as she weakly punched Mikhail in the chest. Mikhail wrapped his arms around the crying woman and held her. The woman let all her pent up emotions flow out as she wailed, holding her husband tightly as if he would disappear once more if she let up. Mikhail looked at the audience. The girls watched on with confusion before catching his stare and promptly looked away.

After a short while, the woman stopped crying, only hiccuping every once in a while. Mikhail whispered, "I'm sorry Eclair, I'm truly sorry." He was then punched in the gut and fell to the ground in pain.

With one final sniff, the woman spoke, "Thou better be." The girls heard Mikhail's grunt of pain and looked over to see the man on the ground. The woman wiped away her tears and then walked over to the girls and bowed a little, "I am sorry about 'ere. I am Eclair Fraegh Ritus Serolius as previously stated. Who are thou?"

The return of the woman's earlier demeanor shook the girls out of their stunned state. Awkwardly and stumbling over her words, Louise spoke first, "I-I am Louise Francoise Le Blanc De la Valliere, your h-husband's M-Master." At those words, Eclair's eyes narrowed. The girl shrunk a little under the woman's intense glare.

"Ahem, I am Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst," Kirche supplied. She was looking over the woman's body and begrudgingly admitted that it was good-looking. The woman had an athletic build but also had decent curves. To Kirche, it was clear as day as to why Mikhail chose this woman as his wife.

"Tabitha," the blue-haired girl answered. She had put away her wand after repairing her staff.

Siesta bowed before straightening up and replying, "Ah, I am Siesta. Glad to make you acquaintance Mrs Serolius." The woman smiled at the maid and nodded at her. Mikhail walked up behind her and gestured at the exit.

"Perhaps we should speak somewhere else. Let's go back to the village." With that, the group left the grave site and moved back towards Tarbes.

Tristanian Palace – Council of War

"We must prepare the military. No doubt that since Reconquista is finished with my country, it will set its sights on Tristain next," Prince Wales urged. He had been requesting that the nobles of Tristain prepare for war. The nobles, however, refused. They reasoned that Reconquista was a weak force of commoners who would pose no threat, evidently disregarding the fact that Reconquista had already taken over the nation with the strongest air force.

"No, Reconquista serves no threat to us. Even if they did attack us, with Germania's backing, they will be defeated in the blink of an eye. We can better spend our time focusing on domestic problems," Marquis Baroque said.

"Reconquista has already taken over my country! Next will be yours if you do not prepare yourself for war! Do not underestimate Reconquista. They may consist of many commoners, but they also have many able mages on their side. Along with that, they now possess the strongest air force in all of Halkeginia," Wales argued.

"Prince Wales, do not let your thirst for revenge cloud your judgment. At the moment Reconquista is not a threat to Tristain and by the time that they would be, the alliance with Germania will already be in effect. With the combined forces of Germania and Tristain, Reconquista will be a fool if they attack us," Cardinal Mazarin reasoned.

"We should attack right now exactly because they do not pose a threat. If we attack now, then they will be unable to defend properly and suffer a swift defeat," Wales explained.

"Please listen to-"

"No, you listen! Reconquista will stop at nothing to achieve total victory. Even if they have to jump from battle to battle without rest, they will keep advancing! We must strike when they are still down," Wales interrupted.

"Perhaps we should-" Princess Henrietta began before she was cut off by rapid knocks on the door. She then nodded at the guards and they opened the door to see a battered soldier. The soldier stepped into the room and then knelt before the Council.

"Your Highness, I bring grave news. Reconquista has shot down several of our patrol ships and have declared war on us! The entire Albion Armada is making its way here at this very moment!" the soldier said. Many of the nobles were shocked to hear that piece of news.

"Founder damnit," Wales cursed. "I told you! We must mobilize the forces now! Mount a defense, prepare for air warfare!"

"Looks like you got your war Prince. Are you happy now?" Marquis Baroque scoffed. Wales glared at the Marquis and then shook his head.

"I will lead the first response troops. Princess Henrietta, please stay safe," Wales then left the room to prepare for battle. When the door shut after Wales left, the gathered nobles began bickering about the situation. As the shouting escalated, the Princess began to get irritated.

"Enough! I will not stand anymore arguing. We must worry more about the current circumstances: an enemy army is invading. We will gather the troops and prepare for war. I will personally lead the army into battle and we will win," Henrietta commanded. Then, she too left the room to prepare for war.

As she walked through the halls of the palace, all that Henrietta could think about is the upcoming battle.

'The entire Albion Armada… if I remember correctly, that's about 15 destroyers, 20 cruisers, 20 corvettes, 20 carriers, 30 frigates, 35 battleships,10 dreadnoughts and 5 super-dreadnoughts. Compared to the Tristanian Navy of 5 carriers, 10 frigates, 10 cruisers, and 15 battleships… there's no hope for an air battle. The ground forces will also be bombarded with cannon fire if the Armada is not taken care of. Are we truly going to face defeat here?' the Princess thought. The outlook for the war was grim for the country of Tristain. As she approached the Royal Chamber, she began to think about any plans for victory. Any thoughts of the war was discarded as she entered the Royal Chamber.

"Mother, Reconquista was declared war on us. I will lead the Tristanian Army in our defense. I will not lie to you, victory is unlikely in this upcoming battle," Henrietta said. When she received no answer, she turned to exit the room. The Princess had expected no answer, her mother had never said a word ever since her father passed away. With the Queen incapacitated like this, the duty to protect the nation fell onto the young Princess's shoulders. Steeling herself, the Princess left the room for the armory.

"Agnes, prepare the Musketeers. We have work to be done," the Princess ordered.

"At once," Agnes saluted. She had been following the Princess ever since the meeting, so she had heard about the news.

Tarbes

Several hours had passed since the incident with Eclair. Siesta had warmed up to the woman instantly. Her knightly demeanor and obvious devotion to Mikhail made the maid's mind plunge right into the gutter. All throughout the day, she had rambled on about "forbidden love between Master and Servant" and how Mikhail and Eclair's love life was "novel-worthy". Louise also got along well with the woman. The woman's actions were similar to her familiar's so it was just like having an extra aide, which she was used to having.

Kirche was not so happy with the new woman. The wife of her target suddenly appearing had ruined her plans. The woman's high standards of social etiquette were also annoying to the Germanian.

Tabitha was wary of the female Pawn. The woman's skills with the sword were too dangerous to disregard. Even if she was weaponless, Tabitha figured that the woman was still just as deadly.

After spending the rest of the day helping around the village, the group returned to Siesta's house to have dinner and sleep. Mikhail and Eclair had chosen to sleep in the tents under the stars. Eclair refused to let go of the man, reasoning that he might just go ahead and do something stupid again. Mikhail had finally began to really relax now that his wife was by his side again. He had worried about her constantly ever since he arrived in Tristain. That night was the first time that Mikhail enjoyed a peaceful sleep in his new world.

.

.

The next morning, Mikhail woke to find Eclair snuggling in his chest, hugging him like he was a pillow. He smiled briefly before he gently pried her arms off of him. As happy as he was to be reunited with his lover, he still had his duty to fulfill. As he moved to exit the tent, he heard a voice speak to him, "Good morning Mikhail. I see that ye are taking thy duty seriously."

"Of course, the duty of a Pawn is no joking matter. You of all people should understand," Mikhail replied.

"True, but ye are not a real Pawn. If thou wilt serve that dram girl, then I shall serve alongside thou."

"Eclair -" Mikhail began only to shut up when said woman shot him a glare. She then smiled and gestured towards the exit.

"Shall we?" she asked. Knowing better than to argue this, Mikhail left the tent and headed towards Siesta's house. All of a sudden, he heard something whistling and before he could react, a nearby house was demolished. The sudden destruction caused everyone to wake up and take a look. A patrolman ran into town and began shouting.

"We're under attack! Everyone, evacuate immediately! Head east towards the capital!"

Everyone understood the simple commands. Panic ensued as men and women grabbed their nearest belongings and fled. Children cried as parents practically dragged them away from town. The town guards tried to bring order to the people in vain. Flying in from the west were about 10 military ships with cannons pointed at the village. The ships fired several more shots and several houses were reduced to nothing but wooden piles.

Then, a blasting of trumpets silenced the hysteric villagers. To the east, the Tristanian Navy had arrived. The Navy fired at the attacking ships and had sunk a few of them before they could return fire. The lead ship of the Tristanian Navy, a dreadnought, fired all of its cannons and destroyed the remaining enemy ships.

The villagers cheered. They had been saved. The dreadnought descended and landed not too far away from the village. Prince Wales dismounted along with several members of the Albion Royal Guard. He approached the village and then commanded, "People of Tarbes! This was but a prelude to an upcoming war. I need all able men to help construct a defensive line to hold back the ground forces long enough until the Army gets here. Five hours is all I ask. Five hours before we achieve victory against the invaders!"

The Prince's speech stirred the men into action. Several more ships landed and the soldiers began to turn Tarbes into a defensive area. The men of Tarbes joined them and soon the village had been barricaded as much as possible. Spare cannons lined the village, ready to fire at the invading army at a moment's notice.

.

.

"Master, we must leave immediately. This place is about to turn into a warzone, you are not safe here," Mikhail urged.

"No! I will not leave when my country needs me most. What kind of noble would I be if I did not defend my home when an enemy invades? I will stay here and fight the invaders," Louise yelled back.

"Master, this is not a game. You could be killed. If that happens, then that's it. People die when they are killed."

"Nonsense. I know that you revived Prince Wales at Newcastle. I don't need to worry about death when you cannot die and youcan always revive me."

"So he told you. Listen to me Master, I cannot revive you or anyone else anymore because I used my last Wakestone on the Prince, and my powers have not return to me fully."

"That doesn't matter, you have many potions that have miraculous healing abilities. They will suffice."

"The potions cannot help if you die before they can be used. And trust me, human lives are fragile things that can end just as easily as blowing out a candle."

"Are you suggesting that I am a weakling!?"

"You are weak!"

Louise was stunned at her familiar's sudden outburst. She then began tearing up as his words sunk in.

"Y-Y-You dog! How d-dare you call me weak! I'll show you!" Louise screamed as she stomped off. Kirche, who was observing the argument, looked at Louise's shrinking figure. She then walked up to the white-haired man and slapped him before running after Louise. Tabitha scowled at the man and then followed her long-time friend.

"Master, haply thou shouldst apologize to thy Master," Eclair said.

Mikhail sighed, "Eclair, how many times have I told you to call me by my name?"

"Exactly 29438732995 times sir," the woman answered.

"And how many times have you actually times have you followed through with it?"

"Five."

Mikhail sighed one more time, "Alright, let's get this over with. Maker, I can never win a verbal fight with you women."

"Tis because we distaff art born as masters of speechcraft," Eclair replied smugly.

"Yeah, yeah," Mikhail said as he walked in the direction of Louise.

"Master, prithee bestow upon me new weapon."

Mikhail raised an eyebrow at his wife. As he saw the Dragonseye Band on her face, Mikhail remembered what had happened to her previous weapon. A wave of guilt washed over him. Eclair noticed the change in her husband's attitude and instantly felt guilty of making him feel guilty over something that he had no control over. Mikhail sighed again and swallowed his guilt before pulling out the holy sword Ascalon.

"Repeatedly sighing is bad f'r thou Master," Eclair said as she took Ascalon out of Mikhail's hands. The man smiled at her and then continued after his Master. He then felt the ground tremble at a regular interval.

"An earthquake at this time!?" a nearby soldier whined.

"Nay soldier, tis not an earthquake. Tis," Eclair began.

"Battle formations," Mikhail completed. From the western horizon, a large armada could be seen unloading thousands of ground troops and thousands of flying units taking off.

"Founder! How many are there!?" another soldier exclaimed. Loud trumpets erupted from the east, signaling the arrival of the Tristanian Army. At the head of the army, Princess Henrietta in a beautiful suit of armor rode on a majestic unicorn.

"Not enough. Tristain does not have enough to repel the invaders… Eclair! Go find my Master and take her towards the Princess over there. After that, defend her as you would me until I return," Mikhail commanded.

Eclair grinned as she heard someone return. She loved her husband wholeheartedly, but there was one aspect of her husband that she absolutely adored. The return of it flipped a mental switch in Eclair. Her blood sang as he resurfaced. The man who ascended to godhood. The one and only…

"Welcome back Rex Victoriae."