Nice to see I have piqued others interest in this story.

Things are about to get pretty interesting from here.

Happy reading

Choices Part 3

When the barrier shattered under his blade, Glenn's eyes shot open wide and he reeled back, nearly dislocating his shoulder from the sheer force of how quickly he drew away. No. He hated this; he hated it more than he could say. It was one thing to slay a knight, a man of the sword, a fighter by trade who made the unspoken agreement that one of them would fall bleeding without hesitation. He could force himself to stomach it with enough denial, if he closed his eyes and reminded himself of what was at stake.

"Glenn…! Is it really you?!" Maria's voice full of hope echoed in the fallen squire's ears. She was shaking. She saw her arrows pierce through his armor. She felt like she was going to be sick. The notion that she hurt her friend, someone who she thought was longed dead. Her fingers gripped the chain of her pendant and prayed that her it could heal his wounds. "I…. I thought you would never come back!" She told him in a haggard breath as tears welled up in her eyes and slowly stained her cheeks. She knew showing weakness to an enemy wasn't the best thing to do, but her emotions had gotten the better of her. She then felt a surge of anger swell up inside her. The Chancellor had told her, he had told her parents that Glenn was dead.

How much was she and her parents lied to by the Chancellor?

"W-We all thought you were dead…" She saw her bow lying beside her. She had no urge to pick it up and fight back. No, she didn't want to continue this fight anymore. She couldn't do it.

The moment Glenn saw Maria in tears something inside of him broke. Would he really have the courage to strike her down? A member of the royal family he swore his allegiance to protect the day he became a squire and served Cyrus.

He had slain so many of his former comrades that dared went against his cause and were foolish enough to take the legendary sword he was guarding. People he knew, people he was once friends with. But this was Maria. This was different.

He felt something deep in his chest clench tightly. He couldn't cry, refused to cry, but that didn't make the pain lessen even by a fraction. He breathed harshly, trying to regulate himself at least a little, and kept his sword aimed forward. His arm was numb. He thought he might have a broken rib, but he wasn't sure. He was barely even present, barely even feeling the rain that beat against him like a drum. "…My name is Glenn," He agreed, trying to force the hand over his gemstone to stop trembling. "Perhaps it would have been better if I remained dead to you. I know that this is not the me that you wish to reunite with…if reunion this can be called."

His eyes hardened, and he carefully removed his hand from his breastplate to pull down the covering over his nose and mouth before going back to protect the gem. The fresh, humid air felt like poison to his lungs. "I will say this again. Perhaps the third time, 'twill sink in and you will leave the sword in the dirt where it belongs.

"Leave. Now. And I shan't raise my sword against you again. The Hero is gone. No one can nor should take the Masamune against Magus, and I…" his voice broke off and he swallowed harshly. Hating to have to be allied to someone that is causing so much chaos to the kingdom. 'Focus on the stakes.' His mind wandered remembering the reason why he joined Magus in the first place. There was a force much greater than either of them that could wipe the entire world in a single handled. He turned his attention back to the princess. "I will not hesitate to strike down anyone who tries. Even you, Your Highness." There it was, the formal speech Glenn had used in front of the royal family. He had long forgotten all about it.

Maria could not believe his words. Once the noble brave squire who protected her and her parents from any danger dared to strike her down. She still considered him a dear friend.

"Glenn! You're my friend! Please…." She pleaded with him hoping to get through to him. Their friendship and bond were what got her through these terrible times without him. Whenever she felt like giving up, she always thought of him. Knowing that he was still alive since no guard or soldier had retrieved his body to King Guardia filled her with so much hope. And now this, he was betraying her, threatening to kill her if she kept going.

"Just come home…" She begged him trying to reach him. Trying to convince herself that this was still her friend.

Glenn's grip tightened on his sword, but the ice in his eyes wavered. It was damn near embarrassing how easily he was cracking under the weight of Maria's hopeful pleas and anguished tears. He had cast aside all friendships he'd had in Guardia, knowing full well that what he did next would earn him no recourse from those he'd once cared for. He'd let go the moment he brought his blade against Cyrus, He always had been the better of the two when it came to a duel, he thought bitterly.

But, despite it having been ten years, ten years to harden himself and force himself to forget and to remember damn well why he had no choice but to forget, upon reunion with Maria, his mind kept racing back. Back to when he'd been a squire, and he'd so desperately wanted to be friends with the young princess despite knowing that their stations wouldn't have it. And Maria had wormed her way into his life anyway, and he'd seen her as both a liege and, in his heart of hearts, a dear friend. He couldn't allow himself to be drawn back. He couldn't afford it, not with the weight of epochs upon epochs of the future weighing on his allegiance to Magus, and yet...He wanted to see his princess safe from harm. Safe from having her blood stain his sword. "Your Highness… Please, I-"

And that was when the princess was knocked down her feet by a spell. She could feel her skin burning from the sensation. It wasn't enough to scorch her, but the pain was still lingering on her flesh. She tumbled and crashed against the ground. Mud and dirt all over her clothes, hair, and face. That's when she as well as Glenn heard it an annoying laughter.

"Nice work little tadpole!" It was Ozzie hovering beside Glenn.

Maria lifted her head and gritted her teeth glaring at the fiend that was beside Glenn. She mentally cursed to herself. She should've taken Glenn's advice and left when she had the chance. She could try to fight Glenn, but now that one of Magus's top generals were here this fight had become incredibly one sided. As bumbling and comedic as Ozzie's antics were, he was a very powerful fiend.

Whatever Glenn was about to say fled his mind the moment Maria was thrown to the ground. Stunned, he stood idle, his sword remaining pointed at the space Maria had filled until just then. When a familiarly grating voice reached his ears, he gritted his teeth and sheathed his sword. Ozzie. Of course, why wouldn't it be Ozzie? The former squire was irritated by this and turned his attention from Maria to the general at his side, folding his arms defensively and allowing his guard to slip. Dealing with Ozzie was easy. He was used to it by now. Dealing with Maria?

That was considerably more complicated.

"Ozzie. What business do you have here?" He grit out, allowing the nickname to go ignored, despite the fact that it very clearly bothered him. "Was I not given this job? If Magus changed his mind, I would think that I would be told. I would start explaining quickly if I were you."

"Making sure that you're doing your job, whelp." Ozzie replied nonchalantly and then turned to the princess.

Perhaps not a smart move on his part, because Ozzie was a formidable force when he allowed himself to be, but… Glenn's eyes flickered over to Maria for the briefest moment. He could technically allow her to run away without getting in trouble. But with Ozzie present, he couldn't do so forthrightly. Ozzie could very well turn this battle lethal before Glenn could respond to the situation, so the best he could do was discreetly give her the opportunity to act and take any action.

If he didn't have to outright lie, anyway. His nerves ran rampant. If he had to lie, he would flounder in an instant.

"Isn't this spectacular the princess came out to play," Ozzie cackled outstretching his large chubby green hand creating balls of fire out of thin air. "Didn't you learn not to play with fire!" He roared throwing them at her. He was just here for some fun. If Slash and Flea were here, they do would revel in the chaos to hurt an innocent person. Magus was not as petty as his three generals. His sole focus was summoning Lavos to his castle. With this war and the innocent blood being split, it aided him on his quest.

Glenn watched in silent horror, carefully schooling his expression into hard neutrality, but his eyes betrayed his fear. Ozzie was violent and unpredictable. He and Flea were the most difficult of the generals to deal with; if it had been Slash, he likely could have used reason to convince him to back down. But Ozzie relished in chaos alone, and there was nothing words could do to stop him. He'd been a fool to even try.

The princess's green eyes widened in horror seeing flaming orbs headed straight for her. Maria lunged forward and grabbed her crossbow that was lying a few feet in the mud and fired a few stray arrows while rolling in the mud to avoid getting attacked by Ozzie's magic. The general was quick to act casting his shield to protect himself from the arrows which bounced off leaving him without a scratch.

Maria took the chance to stand up slowly aiming her crossbow at Glenn.

With bated breath she then spat out, "If Cyrus knew what you have become, he surely would be rolling in his grave!" She hissed at her former friend bitterly. Her hand shook on her crossbow. Her fingers didn't want to fire anymore arrows at her friend. She didn't have the heart to fire at him. She couldn't, but she didn't have the choice in the matter. She had to come to terms with that. This person was no longer her squire who served the Guardian kingdom, no longer her friend.

As Glenn's mind raced, trying to conjure something that he could do, some way he could stop Ozzie from killing her without giving her the chance to give up and run, her words stopped him in his tracks. His arms and legs stiffened, the pattering of the rain and the sounds of battle became white noise, and his breath caught in his throat. 'Cyrus.' The name echoed and raced through the fallen squire's mind of his former master. Cyrus, indeed.

Of course, he knew the truth, that Cyrus was alive. Cursed with some affliction that Glenn hadn't been able to see the effects of, but he was out there somewhere, alive and living in such obscurity that he doubted a damn soul knew that the famed knight of the realm's grave was empty.

But that didn't mean the words didn't hurt.

Perhaps they hurt because of how true they rang to his ears. He didn't have time to think, to allow his sluggish thoughts of regret to catch up with him before he had drawn his sword once more. One step forward, then another, and he broke into a sprint, racing forward to bring his sword down as fiercely as he could muster…onto Ozzie's shield. In other circumstances, Ozzie's shield would have been impenetrable to break by any normal weapon. However, Glenn's sword was pulsing with magic from the gem he had hidden clasped in his gloved hand.

"I don't know how much clearer I can make this for you," he said, spitting the words like venom with a harshness that sounded wrong in his own voice. "You have your duties, General, and I have mine! I would suggest that you go attend to your own before usurping my quarry! We may fight under the same banner, but make no mistake, I will slay all who attempt to get in the way of my duty. You are no exception."

He was turned away from Maria, focused solely on Ozzie, and his guard was dropped. But he didn't even consider doing anything to remedy that. The worst part, he thought, was that he couldn't tell if it was because he trusted her not to fire at him, or if he didn't care if she did.

A short chapter, but one that has some interesting turn of events.

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