Author's Notes:

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, but it is a new year, after all. I'm looking forward to the dozens of chapters I'll be writing for you guys this year. Hopefully you enjoy it enough to stick around. Have a nice day and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 44: Awakening

With her magic, Louise rocked two large cradles in her room while she kept on organizing various sectors of her government. After the two months since her children were born, the amount of work she was required to do had gradually decreased.

She got up and looked into the two cradles, listening to the soft cooing of the children that rested within them. Their hair had grown in during that time. The one with violet eyes, her son, had pitch black hair which had pink tips. Her daughter had seemingly iridescent bright pink hair. In some light, it appeared pure white, while sometimes it seemed to have a bold pink hue.

She smiled as their small hands gripped onto her fingers. Their bodies were unusually warm because of their father, but were not anywhere near as hot as his. Most likely because they were children. As she played with them, Mariel, who had chosen to stay in the human world until Saito had awoken.

"How are they?" She asked.

"Happy." Louise said. "They never cry. They're always laughing and smiling."

"That's good." Mariel said. She suddenly looked very serious, however. "I'm sure you've noticed how powerful they hold within themselves."

"Yes." Louise replied. "They're very powerful. I've already informed all of the doctors and soldiers who were present to keep the children's existence a secret."

"I see." Mariel said. "There will be evil men who wish to abuse this power, so be weary."

"Speaking of danger, Saito once informed me of an Ancient Dragon that would appear in due course." Louise said. "Are you aware of its existence?"

"I am. When it awakens, you will be able to sense it." Mariel replied. "When that happens, you need to use your magic to destroy it as quickly as possible."

"But Saito never told me of its strength in great detail." Louise said. "How am I supposed to defeat it without its help."

"Trust yourself, little sister." Mariel replied. "Your magic is far stronger than anyone else in the human world. If you all band together, you will defeat it."

"Could you and Sasha not help us?" Louise asked. "If you two were to help, victory would be assured."

"I would love to help, but it is against our laws to do so." Mariel replied, sadly. "I am already stretching my privileges by being here."

"I see." Louise said, sadly. "Well, when the time comes, would you take these two to your world? I couldn't stand for them to get hurt."

"I understand." Mariel replied. "I'm sure Saito would be happy to see them when he wakes up."

"Do you...know when he'll wake up?" Louise asked.

"I'm guessing that he'll wake up within the next month or two." Mariel replied. "His body seems to be completely healed on the outside, so it's simply a matter of getting enough energy for him to wake up. His body is immensely powerful and uses a lot of energy, so that is why it will take so long."

"I understand. You said that when the dragon awakens, I will sense it. So does that mean I can't stop it waking up in the first place?" Louise said

"It would take an incredible amount of power to seal it away. Only someone with power like the devil's would be capable of such a thing." Mariel replied.

"The devil? You mean Brimir? How did he become so powerful?" Louise asked.

"No one knows exactly. He kept his strength a secret, but I have some speculation." Mariel replied. "That reminds me, when Saito wakes up, I'd like to speak to both of you. It's extremely important."

"Is something wrong?" Louise asked.

"Not necessarily wrong, just...intriguing." Mariel said. "The magic that Saito is generating is strange, that's all."

"Does it affect my children?" Louise asked.

"Your children do exhibit the same kind of magic. Don't worry, it is not dangerous to them. I'm just worried because the last person I saw with this kind of magic was the devil. But the other thing that bothers me is your dragon has the same type of magic within it, but in vastly larger quantities. I don't even know if the magic it has even has a limit. It seems infinite."

Louise's dragon, which spent every day watching over her children, seemed to understand what they were saying, staring at them intently. Louise ran her hand through his fur, wondering why he had such power.

"Hey Mariel, how come I can't sense his power?" Louise asked.

"Perhaps it's because you've never had that kind of magic within you." Mariel replied.

"I thought there were only five kinds of magic?" Louise said.

"Yes, there are only five that mortals are capable of using, but the magic that I sense within Saito and that dragon is not meant to be used by mortals." Mariel replied, looking very concerned.

"As long as it's not going to hurt them, then we shouldn't worry about it yet." Louise replied, softly rubbing her children's cheeks. "Does Sasha know about it as well?"

"She does, although she believes it could be some kind of fluke." Mariel replied.

"I see. Thank you for informing me." Louise said.

"Don't mention it. It seems you're doing quite well as a leader." Mariel replied.

"I'm doing the best I can." Louise said. "Since I came into possession of Germanian land, I have had to make sure that there was no Germanian rebellions or revolutions, but I also have to avoid using violence. It's been working well so far, but I don't know how long it will last."

"Well, as long as you show that you're willing to work for them, there will be no revolutions." Mariel replied. "When our kingdom was created, of course there was distrust between the races that resided there. They weren't happy that the government was run almost entirely by elves, with minor representation by the other races. After some time, however, we appointed other races to different jobs in our government, which made everyone happy."

"So you're saying that I should give some Germanians power in the government?" Louise asked.

"Not necessarily. You shouldn't go out of your way to do so, especially so soon after the war." Mariel said. "There will eventually be Germanians who stand out as noble and trustworthy. However, be aware of the fact that since you are now in control of part of what was once Germania, there will always be groups who are opposed to your rule and may try to harm you or your family."

"I understand. Thank you." Louise said.

Mariel nodded and walked out of Louise's room, closing the door behind her. Louise sat on her bed and began to think about what Mariel had told her. A magic which could not be used by mortals such as herself or the elves? Then who or what was capable of using it, and why do Saito and Hayai have it within them? As all of these thoughts rushed through her head, she noticed that the very dragon she thinking of was staring directly at her.

She reached out to pet his fur. As soon as she touched his head, several scenes appeared before her eyes. Everything moved extremely quickly, so it was hard to make out what was happening. She did manage to make out what looked like Hayai fighting some other creature, which resulted in the injury he had on his neck, but she couldn't tell what the creature looked like. She could only barely make out that it was her own dragon she was seeing at all.

When she moved her hand away, the series of images she was seeing disappeared. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm down her rapidly beating heart. When she finally calmed down enough she looked back up at her dragon. For a reason she did not know yet, it looked extremely sad, like its heart was broken by someone it cared for. She didn't know what to do, so she hugged him around his neck, which seemed to comfort him.

"What was that other creature..?" She asked herself.

At Sasha's house

Sasha sat outside her home chopping firewood. For hours, she sorted out logs of wood to pass the time until eventually, it became dark. She walked into her house and began cooking food for herself. When she was done, she sat at a small table and began to eat. Just as she was about to take her first bite of food, she looked at Saito.

She dropped her fork in shock as she saw his eyes wide open, shining less brightly than normal in her dimly lit room. She immediately ran over to him, not knowing exactly what to do.

"How do you feel?!" She asked.

However, he didn't say anything. He was very obviously looking at her, but his body didn't move and he didn't speak.

"Can you speak? Can you hear me?" She asked.

He blinked twice to let her know that he understood her, but couldn't move or speak.

"Would you like some kind of food? Maybe soup?" She asked.

He blinked twice again, letting her know that he wanted something. She immediately began to make soup for him. Since he hadn't eaten in months, she knew it would be better to start him off with a liquid rather than solid form of nourishment.

When she was done, she slowly fed him with a spoon. For several minutes, he sipped on the soup she made until Sasha's bowl was empty. Soon afterwards, he fell asleep again. Sasha sighed and went back to eating her own food, after which, she also fell asleep.

The next morning, she woke up and saw that yet again, Saito's eyes were open. She walked over to him again and sat on his bed.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

He looked like he was straining to try and speak, but all that came out was the sound of air leaving his windpipe. However, after much determination, he finally managed to make a sound.

"Weak..." He said.

"Of course. You've been asleep for months." Sasha told him. "It will be quite a while before you can move again."

"The war. Is it over?" He managed to say.

"Indeed, it is over. Your allies have won." Sasha replied.

"So they lived." Saito thought, remembering how he stopped them from being poisoned.

"Louise is currently the Queen of your country." Sasha told him.

"She's okay..." He replied weakly. He sighed with relief and started to laugh very weakly. "Are our kids born?"

"I am not sure yet." Sasha replied. "My sister went to your world to watch over Louise. I haven't heard back from her yet."

"I see. Thank you." He said, in a voice that sounded more like wind blowing than someone speaking.

"No thanks are necessary." Sasha replied. "Just rest."

She got up and let him rest for the rest of the day, occupying herself with a series of meetings she went to with the other representatives of the Kingdom. When she arrived later that night, Saito was still sleeping, so she quietly laid in her own bed and slept.

For the next several days, she would feed Saito soup and, eventually, some solid foods as well. As soon as she began to give him meats, however little in quantity, his voice began to return until soon, he was capable of speaking without straining his voice, although he was still incapable of movement. When this happened, she decided to confront him about the strange magic that his body emitted whilst he was in a coma.

"Oh, well I spoke to Gandalfr while I was unconscious." He explained. "A long time ago, he helped me unlock the magic within me, but he couldn't unlock all of it at once. While I was unconscious, we tried unlocking the rest, but we still couldn't do it since I'm not very well right now."

"Still, that doesn't explain why you have this magic within you." Sasha said.

"What's so wrong with my magic, again?" Saito asked.

"Living beings such as Elves, Humans, Dwarves, and onward are not supposed to be capable of using it." Sasha replied, sipping tea.

"What does it do?" Saito asked.

"According to legend, it depends on which god is using it." Sasha replied.

"So basically, no one knows what it does?" Saito said.

Sasha nodded. "I don't even know if it's safe for you to use, although you seem to be okay for now."

"I guess we'll figure out what it does in due course then." Saito said.

He was about to thank her again, but he suddenly felt a heavy and cold feeling throughout his body. It sent chills up his spine and made him start breathing more heavily. After the feeling subsided, he looked over at Sasha, who obviously felt the same thing.

"What was that?" He asked her.

"This is a feeling I recognize." She replied. "The ancient dragon will soon awaken."

Author's Notes:

Again, sorry for the late chapter, but it's a new year and I had a lot of stuff to do from school, to family. Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I appreciate all the feedback I've been getting, and I'd love to hear more from you. Thanks again, and see you soon!