Hey guys! Bet you thought I forgot about my promise huh? But fear not! This was all part of the plan. I really wanted to give a sort of Christmas present, with this chapter being one of two chapters I planned to release on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day respectively. Expect a follow up chapter at some point on December 25th, with the final chapter of 2020 following hopefully on December 31st. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 84:

Hours of combat left their mark on the three heroes left standing. All had sustained heavy injuries, as had their opponent. Their only reason for having survived so long was due to the mysterious connection Saito shared with the enemy. It allowed him to see the enemy's movements and predict their attacks with some accuracy, though this did not always allow him and his allies to escape damage. Especially after such a length of time, receiving gruesome injuries was practically a guarantee. Saito in particular received even more damage than he otherwise would have due to the severe headache that was plaguing him, slowing him down even more.

Fortunately, the converse was also true. Saito's ability to predict the enemy's movements allowed the group to collectively damage him, slowing him down enough to be somewhat manageable for a time. However, with Saito, Louise, and Shion all hurt to a greater extent, they were clearly on their last legs. Seeing as she was more tolerant of pain and was not experiencing the mental strain that Saito was, along with being the most level headed of the group, Shion had already begun formulating a way for them to escape, having decided that killing Brimir wouldn't be possible.

"Saito, Louise. I believe escape is our best option." She said in a remarkably calm voice. "I am confident that defeating this opponent is impossible at this moment."

Louise, having just dodged a beam of light shot at her, landed next to Shion, having a brief moment to observe the battle between her husband and Brimir. Brimir quite plainly had the advantage, hitting harder and moving faster, but Saito would dodge and block any potentially lethal attacks before striking Brimir himself and doing minor damage.

"We can't last like this." Louise said, panting. "But there's a good chance the enemy won't allow us to run away."

"I'm well aware of that." Shion replied. "One of us will have to slow him down and allow the rest to escape. I belie-"

"No! Absolutely not." Louise exclaimed. "We're getting out of here alive! We've already lost too many…"

It was very obvious that despite her injuries, the memory of losing those close to her was fresh in her mind. She remembered having to bury Aigle, who had sacrificed herself to save her. It was extraordinarily painful to imagine having Shion do the same.

"Well what else do you have in mind..?" Shion asked, creating a shield as projectiles flew towards her.

Louise thought silently, remembering how Saito had warned her to gather enough magic. He was never specific, but it was pretty clear that he had intended to have her use it against Brimir.

"I think if I have one shot at him, I might be able to wound him enough." Louise replied.

"But in that case…" Shion began. "That sort of blast could very well envelop all of us. We would need to get everyone out."

Just then, Saito landed a few yards away from them, having backed off momentarily for a break. He was covered in blood and appeared to have an injured leg as he was unable to put weight on the right side of his body. His breathing was heavy and labored. At the same time he was holding his head, still experiencing the same pain. Both Shion and Louise stood in front of him to shield him from any coming attacks.

"I can create a world door and get everyone out of here." Louise said. "Alex is already over there. He can drag the rest away. But I can't keep it open forever, so be quick about it."

"Saito, go over to Alex and start moving anyone." Shion said. "You're far too injured to continue fighting."

Saito wanted to argue. He believed that without him fighting then their chances were zero. However, by the time he was going to say anything, Alex came to grab his arm and help him back to where Sasha and Mariel lay unconscious.

Almost immediately, a world door to their palace opened, so Alex began to drag his mother towards it. All the while, Louise and Shion fought off the onslaught of the enemy. Though weakened, he was still very clearly a force to be reckoned with. Additionally, he appeared weary of their attempted escape. His movements were aimed towards getting closer to the escaping party, though Louise and Shion did a sufficient job of slowing him down, at the same time making their way back towards them.

Alex managed to drag his mother through the portal first due to sustaining less damage compared to his companions. Saito was slower in doing so, but soon managed to bring the elf into relative safety. All that remained were Louise and Shion, who now focused more on dodging attacks than slowing him down. Shion with her powerful wings made it first.

As he watched his wife only a few steps away from the portal, Saito's head ached with extreme pain again. In a split second, he saw the probable outcome. Or at least the outcome his enemy expected. Brimir was close enough that Louise would not be able to fire her blast and close the door fast enough without being injured or worse, letting the enemy through the portal as well.

Immediately, his body acted on instinct. In less than a second, multiple important events happened. Louise jumped to enter the portal, simultaneously turning in mid air to fire her shot. In the same moment, Brimir's hand moved forward with a sharp stone in hand. As the ball of light appeared at the end of Louise's wand, and with the devil's makeshift weapon inches away from piercing her face, Saito jumped into the enemy, using the last of his energy to get to him before he could hurt his wife.

The momentum threw him and Brimir back through the portal, along with the explosion Louise had created. She watched in horror as she saw Saito falling to the ground with Brimir. Before she could scream for him to come back, or even scream his name, the entire space behind the door erupted in bright white light. The suddenness of what happened caused her to lose her focus, sealing the door before the explosion could reach the group.

It left her in an eerie silence, her eyes wide with shock. Despite her silence, internally she was overwhelmed with emotion. The relief, shock, horror, anger, and sadness was far too much to handle at once, causing the world around her to suddenly turn black before she fell into unconsciousness.

Shion wore an abnormally shocked expression that she shared with Alex, who had tried to chase after Saito when he saw the latter move towards the portal. Neither of them said anything. Alex simply sat on the ground next to his unconscious mother while Shion remained standing, her large wings having retracted behind her back as realization came upon her.

5,990 Years Ago

During a peaceful calm night, with clear skies and calm wind, on the balcony of a beautiful home that hung from the side of a hill overlooking a lake, two people stood. A woman with hair as dark as the sky above and eyes greener than the trees surrounding the house was held in the embrace of a man with hair a brilliant blonde and eyes a dazzling blue.

Brimir had his arms wrapped around his darling lover, the elf Sasha. She held his hands softly as they looked over the lake together. The crystal clear water reflected the night sky above, with the galaxy they inhabited clearly visible along with its many stars and the two moons that hung above them in the sky.

"Are...are you sure about this..?" Brimir asked.

"Yeah. If it's for you...to help you achieve your dreams...then I will bear with any pain the world may deliver unto me." She replied, smiling up at him.

He looked touched by her words, holding her a little bit tighter. They could never go back from this moment forward, something he was very well aware of. But with her permission and her clear determination to be by his side, he strengthened his resolve to do what had to be done.

"Thank you…" He said. "For everything."

With that said, he leaned down slowly and carefully, pausing slightly only a hair's width apart before softly planting a kiss on her lips. She accepted his kiss without hesitation, having rarely been so happy before in her life. The wind blew gently as they shared a romantic embrace for several seconds before finally pulling apart.

However, almost as soon as they were apart, Sasha winced in pain and gripped her left hand. Steam rose from the back of her hand for several seconds, with Brimir holding her close throughout the entire ordeal. The pain felt like it lasted forever before it finally subsided. Once she raised her hand, a very clear rune glowed brightly. ᚷᚢᚾᛞᛟᛚᚠ. The runes that would be associated with a certain familiar for generations onward.

"Sasha? How do you feel?" He asked. "Are you alright."

Sasha was panting for a few seconds, taking time to compose herself a little bit.

"S-Sorry. I'm fine." She said. "I just feel like I'm...burning inside. It's a good thing you did that stuff to me beforehand. Otherwise this could have been a lot worse."

"Even if that's the case, you should rest for a while." He said, immediately lifting her up.

She didn't argue with him, instead just letting him carry her inside from the balcony of their room. He set her down on their bed and covered her in a blanket, kissing her forehead afterwards.

"I'm excited…" She suddenly said.

"Excited? For what?"

"I can finally help you with your dream…" She said. "No matter what happens now, I can protect you. I'm so happy…"

She started to doze a little as she spoke. He simply held her hand, giving it a kiss as she looked up at him.

"I'm supposed to be the one protecting you you know…" He said, chuckling a little.

She giggled with him a bit, though soon fell asleep, the rune taking a lot of energy from her and making her lose consciousness. Brimir watched her sleep for a few minutes before going back to the balcony and looking up at the twin moons in the sky, smiling now that he was one step closer to the unity he envisioned.

As he was deep in thought, Sasha too was deep in thought in her own way. She woke up in a dark room before a large gate. She wasn't sure what exactly was happening, but before her and behind the gate, a massive eye opened staring directly at her. The creature behind the wall began to growl in anger causing her great fear. However, after a few seconds, the eye closed and everything became silent. She inched towards the gate, only a few feet away.

After several moments, she sighed, wondering if the creature was finally tame. However, as soon as this thought crossed her mind, the same eye opened again along with a terrifyingly loud roar, making her fall back from fear.

In Louise's Palace

Sasha shot up in bed, hyperventilating and in shock from the memory she had just relived in her dreams. She quickly looked around herself, wondering where she was. Her entire body was wrapped in bandages and her left arm was in a cast. Once the adrenaline wore off, she laid back down in the soft bed she was in. It appeared to be night time seeing as it was dark and everything around her was almost entirely silent.

After taking a few minutes to steady herself, she got up again, noticing that another figure was in another bed in the room.. Using the pillars on the corners of her bed to steady herself, she stood up, a very painful action, and walked over to the other bed. Upon looking at the person, she recognized them immediately as her sister, making her breathe a very heavy sigh of relief.

It looked like Mariel was in worse condition than she was, but she was breathing steadily, so all Sasha could feel was relief. After a few minutes, she walked to th door, letting herself lean on the wall. She walked out of her room and started walking rather randomly down the hall. After a while, she heard the sound of a person. She followed the noise, her progress slow since she needed to take time to rest and subdue the pain she felt.

Eventually, she came across the source of the noises. Shion was laying flat on a table, her back exposed. Alex sat next to her with string and a needle, stitching various wounds on his lover's wings and back. Neither of the two seemed particularly happy. Both were covered in bandages that seemed to be hiding gruesome wounds, with some blood starting to stain the bandages.

After a few moments, Shion's head turned towards Sasha, making her aware of Sasha's presence. She tugged on Alex's arm, getting his attention and making him turn around. As soon as he saw Sasha, he stood up, kissing Shion's cheek first, before going to support the elf. He led her to a chair where she could sit comfortably before sitting back down at Shion's side and continuing to treat her.

"What...happened..?" Sasha asked quietly. "Did we win..?"

Alex was silent for several moments before sighing, never looking up at Sasha's face as he continued his work.

"We don't know." He said. "We never got the chance to go and check."

"What did you do?" Sasha asked.

"Louise opened a portal for us to escape." Shion said. "She fired one last spell through the door, but we don't know what it has done…"

"I see. And the other two?" Sasha asked, referring to Saito and Louise.

Alex's hand clenched into a fist, which Sasha noticed and immediately recognized meant something awful had happened.

"He...he slowed Brimir down…" Alex said, tears welling in his eyes. "The door closed before...before he could…"

His shaking voice easily relayed what had happened, as did the pained look in his eyes.

"He was caught in the blast…" Shion said. "With his condition...there's no chance he lived. Its been a week since then…"

Sasha's face didn't change, remaining rather depressed, if not somewhat indifferent. Someone who knew nothing over her might have thought she didn't care, but both Shion and Alexandre were aware that it was her way of mourning. After several seconds of silence, she shakily got to her feet and began to walk to the door.

"I do not believe going to see her now is a good idea." Shion said.

"We tried to console her but…" Alex added.

Sasha said nothing, instead walking out of the door. She went in search of her little sister, believing that someone had to be there for her even if Louise didn't know she wanted it. She remembered what she was like before Aigle had dragged her out of her despair. She didn't want Louise to experience the same loneliness that she had.

After an hour of searching, she arrived at Louise's room. It was locked, which Sasha took as meaning the pink haired girl was inside. However, she would not be denied audience with her, so with all her strength pushed on the door and breaking the lock. It caused her immense pain to do such a simple action, but she needed to see Louise.

The room was in a mess, but Louise was nowhere to be found. Sasha walked inside, making her way to the balcony connected directly to the girl's room. As expected, Louise was sat on a sofa on the balcony. She was in tatters, with some of her wounds having remained exposed and untreated. The girl was drinking at the time, and judging from the various bottles around her, Sasha judged that she had been drinking constantly.

Sasha said nothing, instead sitting next to Louise. Louise too said nothing and did nothing, just looking blankly at the world beyond her balcony whilst holding her bottle of wine. Sasha gently took away the bottle, with Louise not moving to take it back.

They then sat in silence for many hours, with Louise doing nothing but looking at the scenery outside of her balcony. After some time, Sasha noticed the sun beginning to rise, so decided she should say something to Louise. As soon as she touched her though, Louise fell over onto Sasha's lap, having been unconscious for a little while.

Sasha didn't say anything, choosing to let the girl rest. At a time like that, she would normally never cry. However, thinking of the tragedy Louise was going through, she couldn't help but begin to shed tears. For one of the very few times in her life, she felt like a complete failure. Her tears began to flow much more, falling onto Louise's face beneath her.

After a few minutes though, she felt Louise's arms wrap around her. Still, it appeared as if it was Louise acting on instinct rather than being awake. Whatever the case, it gave Sasha a slight level of comfort. She apologized to Sasha countless times for being a useless sister and being completely and utterly powerless.

Her agony eventually wore her out and let her sleep, with her final thought being an image of a smiling Louise. A vision of her little sister that she so desperately wished to see again, and yet a vision she felt she was responsible for destroying with her failure. At the very least, sleep provided her a temporary relief from the bitter sadness in her heart.

Author's Notes:

Admittedly, releasing a depressing chapter (or set of chapters) like this during Christmas is probably a bad idea, but there's really not too much I can do about that at the moment. Also apologies in advance for any dip in quality. Life can be...interesting at times to say the least. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it (even marginally). See you next time!