Author's Notes:

Hey everyone! Wow, the last chapter was surprisingly well received. Thanks a lot for you support!

Kotano

Hello Kotano-chaaaan! I'm glad you liked the last chapter. As for the question "can they be revived?", we'll have to wait and see. No spoilers :) Also, I can see you're enjoying the story so far, so I'll try to be more consistent in posting. I hope you keep liking it! Feel free to tell me what you'd like to see in a PM or review :)

Chapter 63: de la Forêt

Saito's eyes cracked open. He was surrounded by nothingness and felt very cold. He then remembered how much he had lost. His heart began to ache and his eyes filled with tears. For several minutes, he cried alone with no one to comfort him.

"Why did this happen?" He said to himself. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have come back. I should have stayed with them."

"Are you that weak?" A voice in the dark said.

"Yes, I am." Saito said.

"You come here for your love, yet you so easily wish you hadn't." The voice said.

"Louise..." Saito said to himself. "I love her. But I lost my family because I came back. My sister. I loved her so much...and now she's gone because of me."

"Death happens. We humans aren't always ready for it." The voice said.

"Who are you anyway?" Saito asked. "You said 'we', so are you human?"

"I'm someone who lost the person they loved as well." The voice said after a pause.

"So you lost your lover, huh?" Saito said. "My commiserations on your loss. But how do I know to trust you anyway?"

"You don't." The voice replied.

"How reassuring." Saito said. "I don't have anyone to ask for help anymore. Those two beasts I used to talk to are gone now, so I guess you're it."

"I will not speak to you here often. Perhaps this will be the only time." The voice said. "Although if things go well, I may be able to speak with you in the future."

At this time, Saito saw a thin line of light in the space above him.

"I'm about to wake up." Saito said.

"It seems so." The voice said. "I will leave you with a parting gift of sorts. You will need it quite soon."

As the voice said this, a hand appeared in front of him and reached into his chest, causing it to be in immense pain. After a few minutes, the hand finally disappeared, leaving Saito on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Feel free to thank me at some point." The voice said.

"What did you do?" Saito asked.

"The rest of your magic should be available for use. I'm surprised you can use this magic of the gods, but I suppose it means choosing you was the right decision." The voice said. "I also added a special gift of my own. In return, I'll borrow your power a little."

"You can use the gods' power?" Saito asked.

"I can do, and have done, many things. Good and bad. I regret...so much." The voice said, becoming rather emotional.

"How ominous. Why are you helping me?" Saito asked.

"I assure you, this benefits me as well." The voice said. "We have...common interests, so to speak."

"So you are not an ally..." Saito said.

"Well...that depends on whether you choose to trust my word." The voice said. "I have no intention of harming you or your friends, so I suppose we are allies as of now."

"I suppose I can thank you for now, then." Saito replied.

"Fight well, Hiraga Saito." The voice said, fading away.

Saito's eyes shot open. Staring back down at him were his wife's pink eyes, slightly red from shedding tears. He lifted his hand a laid it on her cheek, making her feel relief and sadness at the same time.

He chose not say anything, and instead got up to look at his deceased family members. Although he felt the same grief as he did before, it was also mixed with anger and hatred.

"How did they die?" He asked no one in particular.

"They...attempted to direct some people to this place." One of the elf m said hesitantly. "However, an explosion nearby showered them with debris, some of which damaged their organs. We could not save them."

"Did you try to save them at all?" Saito asked, his magic, now extremely dark in color, starting to drip from his body.

"We...did." The man said.

"Did you show them the same amount of attention you showed your own people?" He asked, his calm voice piercing the man's heart.

"No...we did not." The man said fearfully.

Saito said nothing afterwards. He walked to a far corner of a room and sat down alone. Louise was going to follow him, wanting to comfort him, but Sasha stopped her before she could.

"He needs to be alone. Leave him be." She said.

She was hesitant, but chose to listen to her. Saito sat alone, looking at his tail, now entirely black. It seemed like it absorbed all light that touched it, making it look like an endless void of darkness.

"What happened?" Saito asked himself.

"Your tail and eyes turned black just before you fell asleep." Derf said from his scabbard. "I...I'm sorry about your family."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Saito replied in an unusually monotone voice. "This isn't the time to mourn them. I can do that once everything is over. More importantly, why am I like this?"

"I don't know." Derf said. "Something has changed within you though. You seem...like a different person."

"I feel dead inside." Saito said, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm not surprised after what you've just been through." Derf replied.

"It will pass eventually." He said. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"A few hours." Derf replied.

"That's too long. We have to leave." He said, standing up rather shakily.

"Take it easy, Saito." Derf said. "Don't push yourself too hard."

"I'm fi-" Saito began to say, but was cut short.

His head throbbed with immense pain, making fall back onto the ground. His vision blurred before suddenly turning to darkness. Briefly, his vision returned. Although it was still blurry, he could tell that his surroundings were different.

It seemed as if something was moving through a hot and barren land very quickly, but just as quickly as this vision returned to him, it disappeared again. For several seconds, he saw nothing but darkness until finally, his vision returned to him in its entirety.

He was back in the room filled with the wounded, sitting on the ground holding his still slightly throbbing head with his hands. He looked around him, still in a daze. No one had noticed this episode of his, so he decided to try and act normal.

"Partner, what was that?" Derf asked.

"Just a headache. It's...probably stress related." Saito replied, walking around the room to find his friends.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Saito." Derf said.

"I'll keep that in mind." Saito replied, catching sight of Sasha. "But as for now, I'd like you to trust me."

When Sasha noticed him, Saito could immediately see the pained expression the briefly visited her face. Soon though, her face returned to normal as she quickly composed herself.

"I failed to protect them. I am sorry." She said, bowing towards him

This apologetic gesture of respect seemed to bother the other races around him, which were revolted by the sight of their most revered hero bowing towards a mere human. She, however, did not care, as she felt anguish deep in her heart for her failure.

"It's okay." Saito replied, giving her a hug. "You did your best to help them. You shouldn't apologize for that."

Although she was surprised that he hugged her, it offered her some relief from the grief she felt. Hugging her also seemed to offer him some comfort. When he finally pulled away from her, she managed to smile ever so slightly, which made him feel even better.

"You seem different, Saito." She said.

"You're the second person who has told me that in the past five minutes." Saito sighed.

Sasha couldn't quite understand what exactly was different about him, but he somehow seemed more appealing. His magic didn't seem very different compared to before, although it was certainly unsettled and more imposing than before.

Before she could ask him if anything happened to him while he was unconscious, Louise held Saito's hand, seemingly appearing from nowhere. Seeing her made him feel somewhat happy, although he could tell that she had been sobbing.

"I'm fine." He said. "I promise."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "You changed a little."

"Again?" Saito thought to himself.

He then remembered that whoever he met in his sleep gave him a "gift" that would borrow his strength, although he wasn't entirely sure what this gift may be.

"I assure you, I'm the same person." He said.

Just as he said this, the same sensation from earlier fell upon him. His head felt like it was splitting in half and his vision blurred into darkness. When it came back, he saw the same barren landscape from before. It looked hot, as if the very ground was smoldering. The air was hazy with steam and in front of him, he saw a silhouette which seemed to be some sort of mountain.

Again, the pain in his head disappeared and his vision returned to normal. When he opened his eyes, all of his friends were standing over him, looking worried. He quickly got up, feeling completely normal again.

"What's wrong, Saito?" Louise asked with concern.

"I...don't know. I feel fine now though." He said.

"You seem to have returned to normal...for the most part." Mariel said.

He didn't quite understand what she meant. He then noticed that his tail had returned to its orange glow. It glowed more brightly than before and it emitted more heat than it previously did. His eyes had mostly returned to their normal state too, although they had now attained a halo on the edge of their irises. It was black and blue, but was very thin, not being visible from far away.

"I'm fine. We need to go and find Brimir soon though." He said. "With so many powerful people here, he will no doubt try to kill us all at once."

"We should bury your family first..." Alex said.

"Bury them here." Saito said. "I want the people here to know that humans died trying to help them."

"Very well, but I will not bury them until there is no threat to their graves." Sasha said.

"If that's all settled, we must leave immediately." Vittorio said, having listened to the conversation in silence.

"Alright, let's go." Sasha said. "Saito, Louise, you should say goodbye to your family. We will wait for you outside."

"Alright." Louise said.

Once they were gone, Saito and Louise knelt down in front of the bodies of their family. Saito began to pray, as he was still Japanese and it was in his culture to do so. Louise, too, gave them her blessings to safely pass into the afterlife.

When they were finished, they stood up and looked down at them one last time before finally turning away to join the rest of their friends.

"I promise, I'll make sure he pays for doing this to you." Saito thought, walking away.

Outside, Vittorio pulled his mother and aunt aside to discuss with them Saito's rather unpredictable nature.

"Mother, you have seen that something is off about the boy." He said.

"I told you not to speak of it any more." Sasha said.

"He is a danger to all of us." He said. "He has become one with Gandalfr. His power eclipses the void mage. He is from another world. Worst of all, he possesses the magic of the gods. He is not safe to be around."

"Vittorio, he is a good person." Mariel said.

"He very well may be. I do not dispute that." He replied. "But his capacity for growth is dangerous. He is also young. He is easy to corrupt if someone powerful wishes to use him."

"I am well aware of his weaknesses, Vittorio." Sasha said. "That is why I am here. To protect anyone from taking advantage of him or his wife."

"If they end up being a threat to you, myself, or my brothers, I will not hesitate to k-" He started to say before seeing the look in his mother's eyes.

She seemed incredibly fierce, something which he had never seen in her before. Mariel patted his shoulder, which he understood as a signal to end the discussion on the subject.

At this moment, Saito and Louise walked outside from the underground lair. Although they were still in a considerable amount of pain from their loss, they seemed determined to find the person who hurt them so badly.

"We're ready." They both said at once.

"Where do we go next?" Alex asked.

"We need better weapons." Sasha said. "My axe was broken by Brimir."

"I can create weapons if my lab is still in order." Mariel said.

Saito turned his head to look at the mountain where her lab resided. His used his eyes to see if there was any damage to her lab's entrance. He noticed that using his eyes caused them no strain, which was odd since they had always, albeit very slightly, made his eyes hurt after using them too often.

However, these thoughts left his mind as he noticed that someone was inside the labyrinth of hallways and rooms that was Mariel's mountain.

"Someone is in there." Saito said.

They all looked at him, waiting for him to give them more information.

"It's someone powerful." He continued. "They aren't injured either."

"It could be him." Louise said.

"Let's go." Mariel said. "Be careful. Saito, with your eyes, you will have to lead the way."

"Fine." Saito said, starting to run towards the mountain.

He was much faster than before, feeling more agile and light on his feet. Sadly, he had no time to revel in his newfound speed. Very quickly, they arrived at the mountain's entrance. They slowly followed Saito inside. There were no torches lit in the hallways, so they're only source of light was his tail. Eventually, they reached the door to the room where the person was.

After pulling out Derf from his scabbard, he slowly opened the door and walked inside. When the light from his tail hit the person's sleeping face, Mariel breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's just Aigle." She said. "Of course she would survive this."

"Wake up." Sasha said quietly, pushing Aigle off of her chair.

When she woke up, the first thing she saw was Saito's demonic looking eyes and tail in the dark, causing fear to shoot through her body. However, Mariel quickly cast a spell, allowing all of the torches in the compound to reignite. Aigle was still frightened of Saito, but chose to ignore it since Mariel and Sasha seemed to be in a good relationship with him.

"It's good to see you Aigle." Sasha said.

In her normal childish nature, Aigle jumped on Sasha, hugging her tightly.

"You really are alive!" She said, rubbing her cheeks on Sasha's.

"Thanks to these two, yes." Sasha said, pointing at Louise and Saito.

"Ah yes. I'm not sure we're familiar." Aigle said.

"My name is Saito." He said. "I'm pleased to meet you."

"I am his wife, Louise." Louise said. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Oh. Such polite kids." Aigle said, no longer afraid of Saito. "I am Aigle, Sasha's favorite doctor."

Her eyes soon caught sight of Alex, who she noticed was missing an arm, making her feel uncomfortable. She then noticed that Shion, who had been very quiet for the entire trip, had one of her eyes scarred.

"I...can help repair you two..." She said. "With Mariel's equipment, I could give you a new arm. Your eye...might have to be replaced if it's too damaged."

"Very well, but not at the moment." Mariel said. "Aigle, tell us what happened here."

"I was underground when the attack began." She said. "It felt like an earthquake, so I immediately went to the surface. Everything was already flattened. I hid behind some rubble, observing everything that happened. Three men made sure to kill every person in sight. One of them was unmistakably that heathen Brimir. But the other two...I do not know."

"It's not just Brimir?" Sasha said.

"No. There were two other men with him, but I could not see their faces." She replied. "Whoever they were, they were capable of killing even our strongest of soldiers."

"Where are the bodies?" Saito asked.

"They were carried away by a swarm of...things." She said.

"What things?" Sasha said.

"I never got a close look at their bodies to be sure, but they seemed to be Anioły." She said gloomily.

"That can't be right...there's no way the Anioły would help that demon." Mariel said.

"It was just a guess. I cannot be sure until I get a closer look." Aigle replied.

Everyone remained silent as they attempted to think of any possibilities, but their minds came up blank despite their best efforts.

"You can brainstorm later. You two, come with me." Aigle said, referring to Alex and Shion.

They followed her to a room within the mountain. It looked like what Saito would have called a modern hospital room, although it had several magical items rather than advanced equipment.

"Which of you should I work on first?" She asked them.

"Help Alex first." Shion said quietly.

"Very well." Aigle said.

She walked out of the room for a few minutes before coming back with a massive glass container filled with some kind of white paste. She then left and came back again, this time with what seemed like a massive cement block with a hole in its top. On its sides were a pair of clamps.

"What's that?" Alex asked.

"A mold." Aigle said.

"What's the white stuff?" He asked.

"Ah, a special material I made. It can mimic the components of a living organism, although I still cannot create complex organs." She said. "Limbs will be easy to create though."

"How long will it take?" Alex asked.

"To create a functional arm, only about an hour. If you want it to be aesthetically pleasing, perhaps a few more." She replied. "I will have to take a sample of your blood so that it is compatible with your body."

"I just need an arm that functions for now." Alex said.

"Very well. I will improve it at a later time." She said, pouring the white liquid into the mold. She cut Alex's arm slightly to draw blood, then dropped it into the mold as well.

She sealed the top and the placed her hands on it. Using her magic, she began to heat the material inside the mold. At the same time, the clamps on the side of the mold began to compress it, applying a vast amount of pressure to the material inside.

For nearly an hour, she remained perfectly still with her eyes closed while her hands remained on the container. Eventually, her eyes finally opened and the clamps finally released themselves, causing a loud hissing sound.

"Lay on that metal table there." She said to Alex while she pulled what looked like a pure white arm out of the mold.

He laid down, removing his shirt so that his arm was easier to access. She walked towards him with the newly manufactured appendage and laid it next to him. She then applied a liquid to the area on his body that it would attach to.

"What's that?" He asked.

"This arm I made will bond to your body." She said. "This liquid is simply to disinfect the area."

"Will it be painful?" He asked.

"Very painful." She replied. "After all, this new arm will have to fuse with the nerves in your body."

He didn't quite understand what she meant, but closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As the new arm made contact with his body, a hissing sound could be heard as it melded with his skin, bone, and muscle.

It was excruciatingly painful for him, but he managed not to scream at the top of his breath. His ordeal lasted for several minutes, but eventually, the pain stopped and he could feel fingers on his left side again. Aigle wrapped the arm in bandages, then sat back and sighed.

"That's that. I suggest you don't strain it too much." She said. "Let your blood flow through it for a while."

"Thank you, Ms. Aigle." He said. "How will you fix Shion's eye?"

"Honestly, that sort of work could take days." Aigle replied. "It may be easier to replace it, but I have no access to spare eyes."

"I can manage with one." Shion said. "Alex can cover me when we fight."

"If that's what you want, then it can wait." Aigle said. "I see that your wings have grown back. They're quite beautiful. Silver wings like yours don't occur often."

"They are not particularly useful yet. I cannot fly." Shion replied.

"You will learn with time." Aigle said. "As for now, let's go back to your friends."

When they finally returned, everyone was resting as they waited. Everyone but Saito, who was wide awake.

"Nice arm." He said.

"Thanks. I need to break it in though." Alex said, stretching his new appendage.

As Saito was about to reply, he saw felt another presence in the surrounding area. Someone else had arrived in the vicinity of the mountain. Just as he was about to tell everyone, they all felt an explosion towards its entrance.

Everyone immediately got up and rushed towards the explosion. Because she was not adept at fighting, they had Aigle hide in the mountain. When they reached the massive hole that the explosion had caused, they saw the shadow of a man hidden by smoke.

"You're going to break in that arm of yours sooner than you thought, huh?" Saito said to Alex.

"Looks like it." Alex said.

However, when the smoke cleared, the person that stood there did not have the blonde hair of Brimir. Instead, there was a young looking, pale skinned man with waist length, pitch black hair. He was taller than Saito by about three inches and had bright, light gray eyes.

He was wearing a black, hoodless, sleeveless cloak that stretched down to his ankles, concealing the rest of his body. In his hands were two, fairly long daggers, about one and a half feet in length.

"Who the hell is that?" Alex asked.

"I...don't know." Saito said.

"Be careful." Louise said. "I don't feel very much magic coming from him."

The three of them turned to ask Sasha about what she thought was the best decision, but she seemed more concerned with her elder sister, who seemed to have lost her composure for some reason.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked.

"That man..." Olivièr said, seemingly frustrated by the situation.

"Yeah...that's him." Bartholomew confirmed for his brother.

"Who is it?" Alex said.

"Our uncle, aunt Mariel's husband, and your father." Vittorio said.

"Maximilien de la Forêt."

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter guys (and girls). Yeah, yeah, I know hearing that is getting old, so I won't even try to explain this time. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it. It was rather long now that I look back on it, but I hope you can withstand it. Tell me what you think of it in a review or PM. Thanks! See you next time!