Chapter 60: Healing Wounds

Alex woke up in his hospital bed. It had been about one and a half weeks since Shion had been healed by Saito. Every day since she had been healed, she had complained that four spots on her back were in excruciating pain.

When Alex woke up, he noticed that Shion was nowhere to be found. Something strange considering she had stayed by his side ever since they had arrived in Saito's palace. He wasn't healed yet, so he couldn't get up to look for her. He noticed that Mariel was awake, so he decided to ask her.

"Mother, where is Shion?" He asked.

"I don't know. She wasn't here this morning." She replied. "Little sister, have you seen Shion?"

Sasha, who had developed the habit of pretending like she was asleep until someone noticed otherwise, slowly opened her eyes.

"I do not know. She was not here when I woke up." Sasha replied.

At this moment, Louise and Saito walked into the room. Saito had finally rested enough to heal one more person.

"Good morning." Louise said. "How do you all feel?"

"The pain is bearable." Sasha said in her quiet voice.

"I have the strength to heal one of you." Saito said. "I guess I'll heal Alex first."

"Heal Sasha first." Alex said, laying back in bed.

"Are you sure?" Saito asked. "It'll be another 2 weeks or so before I can heal someone else."

"Heal my mother next. I can wait a month before being healed." He replied.

"I will heal the dark haired woman." Tempus said, seemingly appearing from nowhere. "Her body heals much faster than all of yours, so it shouldn't cause any issues."

"I guess you'll only have to wait two weeks after all." Saito said to Alex.

"Alex, where is Shion?" Louise asked.

"None of us know. She wasn't here this morning." Alex said.

"I'll go look for her." She replied. "I'll find her. Don't worry."

Louise left the room, leaving Saito to begin healing Sasha. Her wounds were extremely severe, especially her internal wounds. However, because the majority of her wounds were bone fractures, she was relatively easy to heal.

After about half an hour, he was done. He sat down in a chair, knowing that he would collapse onto the ground otherwise. Sasha immediately stood on her feet and began hopping on her legs, making sure there was nothing wrong with them.

"I am very grateful, Saito." She said, bowing towards him.

"I'm glad to help." He said weakly.

"I'm going to help little sister look for Shion." She said.

"You should stay in bed for a while, little sister." Mariel said while reading a book.

"I refuse." Sasha said, preparing to leave the room.

"I am still your elder sister. Listen to me." Mariel said, still looking down at her book.

"I am over 6000 years old. I no longer have to obey you." Sasha said.

Despite this, she sat back down in her bed, pouting her face. Saito and Alex laughed at the brief exchange between the two sisters. Soon, however, Saito fell asleep in his chair, exhausted from healing Sasha.

He woke up several hours later by a commotion in the room. When his eyes opened, Sasha was holding someone up against the wall. Saito got a closer look at the person, then immediately tried to get Sasha to drop him.

Wales was frightened for his life, fearing the small, but immensely powerful woman holding him against the wall. Saito tried to loosen her grip on him, but he couldn't so much as make her move. He seemed to have forgotten just how much stronger than him she was

"He's a friend! Trust me! He's fine!" Saito said to Sasha.

When she heard Saito confirm that he was friendly, she gently put him on his feet and dusted him off. After observing him for a while and making sure he was unharmed, she sat back on her bed.

"My deepest apologies." She said.

"It's okay." Wales said, rubbing his neck. "May I ask who you are?"

"I am Sasha. The former Gandalfr of Brimir." She said nonchalantly.

Wales was in shock. He looked at Saito, who simply nodded without saying anything.

"I-I'm Wales, the current leader of Albion." He said, filled with fear.

"Pleased to meet you." Sasha said. "It's good to see such a dashing young man leading the country my son founded."

"Why are you here, Wales?" Alex asked.

"I heard that you were injured somehow, so I came to check on you." Wales replied. "Henrietta, Tabitha, and Josette will be here soon."

"I see." Alex said. "Well, we're fine. I'm a bit lighter than before, but I'm okay."

Wales instantly noticed that Alex was missing an arm. The sight made his own arm start to ache, despite Alex's laid back attitude towards it.

"Where's your wife?" Wales asked.

"I don't know." Alex said. "The palace grounds are so big, it could be days before we find her."

"Why'd she disappear?" Wales asked.

"She probably wanted some fresh air and got lost." Alex replied. "Her sense of direction is mediocre at best. She's a strong girl though, so I'm not worried."

At this time, Louise came back. She had no luck in finding Shion, but the other leaders that Wales had mentioned met her on her way back to the room.

"Hello everyone." Henrietta said. She then noticed the two elves that were reading some books. "Ummm, I'm not sure we're familiar."

"I am Mariel." Mariel said, introducing herself. "This is my little sister, Sasha."

"You must be friends of Louise. In that case, I am pleased to meet you." Henrietta said.

"Saito, explain what happened." Josette said, being very blunt.

"Sasha, Shion, Mariel, and Alex were attacked by someone." Saito said, choosing to hide who actually attacked them. "They weren't able to get a look at his face."

"Someone strong enough to do this to Alex, Shion, and this elf..." Wales thought to himself.

"We'll figure it out later." Alex said, catching on to what Saito was trying to do.

"I'm going to go and rest for a while." Saito said. "It takes a lot of energy to heal, so Im pretty drained right now."

"Sure. Don't push yourself too hard." Wales said, waving at him as he left the room.

"We will let you three rest as well." Wales said, more from being uncomfortable around Sasha than from wanting them to rest.

Alex laid down in his bed, thinking of where his wife might be. Despite his easy going demeanor on the outside, he was crippled with worry in his heart.

"She is fine." Mariel said.

"I know." Alex replied. "I just miss her."

He soon fell asleep, something relieving for him since he was still in quite a lot of pain. For the next several days, he would wake up, hoping that she would be there, only to find that she was still gone.

It continued like this for day after day until eventually, Saito walked into the room, prepared to heal Alex. Alex said nothing, instead waiting patiently for the process to finish.

"Let me guess...you're going to search for her?" Saito asked.

"You know me a little too well." Alex said, putting on a jacket.

"I'm exhausted, but I guess I'll come with you." Saito replied.

"We will remain here." Mariel said. Tempus had accelerated her healing the previous day, so she was walking around the room, stretching her muscles.

"Alright then. Let's go." Alex said.

The palace grounds, as he had mentioned earlier, were massive. Most of it was gardens in every direction. For several kilometers, flowers and beautiful trees stretched into the distance.

For hours upon hours they searched, but found nothing. With Saito's weakness, they couldn't move much faster than a normal human could, so they weren't able to cover much ground. Eventually, they reached a cliff that towered over them.

"She must have gone in a different direction." Saito said. "We would have found her by now."

"Yeah..." Alex said, disappointed. "You're too weak to walk back to the palace. We can make a camp here."

"Fine." Saito said.

Alex quickly made them a tent and started a fire. They sat on a log looking into the fire. They were silent for a few moments, thinking about how Alex had lost his arm to Brimir.

"I'm really proud of you." Saito said.

"Hm? Why?" Alex asked, eating a fruit he picked from a tree nearby.

"You gave your life for Louise. This is nothing in comparison." Alex replied, chuckling lightly.

"You would do the same for Shion." Saito replied.

"I couldn't protect her." Alex said, remembering what happened to her.

"She's alive." Saito said. "You did well."

Saito patted Alex's shoulder, then went into their tent to sleep. Alex remained awake, staring into the fire, feeling worried about his wife, missing the warmth she showed him when they were alone.

"I miss you." He said while looking into the fire.

"Sorry to make you worry." She replied.

"I just don't know where you are. It mak-" He stopped short, realizing someone responded to him.

He looked to his left, where his heart skipped a beat when he saw his wife sitting next to him, illuminated by the campfire's light. He immediately pulled her into a very tight hug, as if she'd disappear if he let go.

However, he noticed that on her back, he felt something strange. When he pulled away, he looked at her up and down. Soon, his eyes widened when he saw the four large, silver feathered wings that protruded from her back.

She looked sad when she noticed that he saw them, turning her face away so that he couldn't see her. He reached his hand out and stroked the soft feathers, which matched the color and luster of her silver hair.

"When did this happen?" He asked.

"The day I left." She said. "I didn't want you to see them, so I ran out into this garden, but I got lost so I couldn't come back."

"They're beautiful..." He said, staring at them.

He softly turned her face towards his and gave her a long kiss. They remained locked together for a long time. After some time, Saito walked out of the tent, looking sleepy.

"Hey Alex, where did you get that fruit?" He asked, not noticing Shion's presence because of his fatigue. "Never mind, I found it."

As he walked back from the tree, he noticed that Alex was with someone. Soon, he came back to his senses and noticed that he was kissing Shion. He also noticed that she had wings, but decided to go back into the tent, letting them have a moment.

When Alex pulled away, a thought crossed his mind, making him look quite serious, but also quite embarrassed. His face turned bright red and he had trouble looking at her in the eye.

"What's wrong, Alex?" Shion asked him.

"Well...we're in a lot of danger after what happened." He said.

"Are you afraid of attack?" She asked.

"Not exactly. See...we almost died back there. And we never got the chance to...make sure our country could have an heir." He said, trying to make it sound like his reasoning was because of political reasons.

Her face flushed red when she realized what he meant. Her usually calm demeanor disappeared as she thought about what she should do.

"We can't!" She said in a fluster. "Saito is in the tent."

"I can make another one." Alex said.

"F-Fine." She said, looking down at the ground.

Alex quickly made them a separate tent, filling it with soft grasses and flowers on the floor for comfort. He held her hand and led her inside. They slowly helped each other out of their clothes until they were completely bare.

Alex's eyes were transfixed on her body. Her breasts had grown slightly since the first time they met, although Louise's were still slightly larger. Her pale skin was very smooth despite her past profession. She too was focused on Alex's body.

He was far more muscular than his face would lead someone to believe. His skin was oddly smooth, but covered in scars. However, even with his variety of scars, she found him very attractive. She slowly and softly forced him to lay down.

He immediately became aroused when he saw her over him, her sweat making her skin moist and making it shine in the light from the moon and the fire outside. Her ran his hand down her back, making her shiver, until he reached her soft rump.

She closed her eyes and gasped when she felt his hand there. Despite her nervousness, she didn't move away. He slowly lowered her down onto the throbbing organ attached to his body. As it went inside her, she held her breath. She was extremely sensitive, as was Alex, so once he was all the way inside, they remained still for several moments.

After a few moments, she gave him the okay to start moving. Slowly, he began to move forward and back. She was at first, very tense, but soon began to loosen up towards him. She began to let out a series of squeals and moans as the feeling transitioned from pain to pleasure.

In Saito's tent, he tried his best to block out the noises coming from the couple, but to no avail. For the whole night, the sounds got louder and louder until around 4 AM, there was silence. About three hours later, Saito sat outside on a log looking down into the fire. Alex came out of the tent looking exhausted.

"Good morning, Saito." Alex said. "Shion's back."

"I know." Saito said, looking rather upset.

"Hm? You saw her?" Alex asked.

"I heard her." Saito replied. "I heard both of you. Congratulations on becoming a man after 400 years."

Alex turned a bright shade of red and looked down into his lap, filled with embarrassment. He said nothing to Saito for quite a while. After about ten minutes, he finally returned to his bubbly self.

"Well, I have to admit, I was pretty scared." He said, starting to laugh.

"Scared? That's not what I expected from you." Saito said, putting his hand into the fire to feel its heat more.

"Well, I didn't want to disappoint her." Alex replied, looking up into the sky.

"It's hard to disappoint someone with no experience." Saito said.

"She's stronger than I anticipated." Alex remembered. "Still, it felt great."

"Good for you." Saito said, wondering why Alex was telling him such things in detail. "How did her wings grow back?"

"She said she woke up on the morning of the day she left and they were there." Alex replied. "They're beautiful."

"Yeah. I'm happy for you two." Saito replied, standing up. "We should go back to the palace."

"Alright. I'll wake her up." Alex said.

Saito nodded and began dismantling the camp. When he was finished, he waited outside for Alex and Shion. It took several minutes, but Alex finally came out of his tent, carrying Shion on his back. She was wide awake, but felt numb from the waist down.

Her wings looked beautiful during the day, reflecting the sun's light perfectly to look like bright stainless steel. It took them quite a while to walk all the way back to the palace. It was already past noon by the time they arrived.

When they walked to the palace's infirmary, there was no one there. They walked through the palace until they heard everyone talking on a balcony at the back of the palace. When everyone noticed that they were there, they immediately stared at Shion's four avian appendages.

"So she grew her wings back after all." Mariel said.

"Why is she on your back?" Mariel asked.

"She said she's having trouble walking today." Alex said.

"Oh. Did she injure her leg? I can take a look at it." Mariel replied.

"Her wings are just weighing her down." Saito said, knowing Alex wasn't ready with an excuse. "She just needs time to get used to the extra weight."

"Ah okay. That makes sense." Mariel replied.

"So why are all of you sitting on this balcony?" Alex asked.

"We're discussing what to do about Brimir." Louise said.

"We're going to go back to the kingdom." Sasha said. "First and foremost, we have to ensure the safety of your family."

"I see." Saito said. "When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning." Mariel said. "Until then, we should ready ourselves."

"Won't we need some more help?" Louise asked. "If he shows up again, we could all be killed."

"I thought of this and called for help." Sasha said. "They will be here in an hour or two."

"Okay..?" Saito said. "Until they arrive, we may as well relax for a while."

"As you wish." Sasha said.

"Your wings are beautiful." Louise said to Shion. "Can you fly with them?"

"Yes, but I'm not used to it." Shion replied, having Alex let her stand on her own.

She slowly stretched her wings, spreading them far apart. She then stood on the balcony's guard rail. She took a deep breath, then let herself fall backwards. After a few seconds, she rose back up over the balcony, beating her wings as hard as possible. She was clearly off balance and could only sustain her flight for a few seconds. She had a rough landing back on the balcony, but was otherwise okay.

"I'll have someone teach her to fly when we get back." Mariel said. "She is remarkably good at it for someone who has never flown before."

She tucked her wings behind her back again and sat down on a chair. She wasn't used to having so much attention, so she was very nervous.

"She acts like you used to, little sister." Mariel said.

"Silence, elder sister." Sasha said, crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

"What? You were so sweet." Mariel said. "I think you still are, but you hide it bec-"

Sasha hit her older sister's head, making her stop talking.

As everyone laughed at the sister's interaction, Saito's ear twitched as he heard someone enter the palace.

"Someone is here." Saito said.

"So it seems." Sasha said. "They arrived earlier than expected."

Everyone waited to see who exactly was coming to see them. When they came up the stairs, everyone but Saito, Mariel, and Sasha were confused as to who they could be.

They were three young men, all with blonde hair. One with blue eyes, the other teal, and the last one orange. They stood in a line, then got on one knee, bowing towards Sasha and Mariel.

"Hello Bartholomew, Vittorio, Olivière." Sasha said.

The three men looked up at Sasha, wearing smiles on their perfectly smooth faces.

"Hello, Mother."

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! I'm really enjoying writing these chapters. It seems like you guys enjoy them too, so that makes it even better! Thanks for reading! See you next time.

Kotano-chan:

Thanks for your support! It really means a lot. I'll keep updating the story, don't worry about that. We have a lot of chapters to go before it ends.