Hey guys, MT here!

Okay, first of all, I would like to apologize for not posting in so long. I had been having a lot of trouble with how to go about continuing this story, as well as continuing my others, and I thought I'd take a short hiatus to really think about what I have next for this story. I finally feel like I have a more solid base to work off of to continue this story and I hope I haven't lost too many of you along the way.

As for the Twitter I created that I had talked about last time, I noticed that I got 3 followers but I wanted to know, is Twitter a good place outside of fanfic to inform you guys about what's going on with chapters. I want to know if there is another place that might be better like Facebook, etc. Please let me know so you guys don't have to sit there wondering!

Anyways, I have two chapters for you today so ENJOY!

Chapter 67

The next day…

Everyone minus Saito were inside of the small, stone house that were using as a meeting place while in the Dwarven capital. Louise and Asuna were sitting with blank, emotionless faces and Tenshi, Tiffa, and Gwen were crying, silently, off to the side. Gan and Don had deep frowns on their faces as they sipped some beer and even Otr and Eir had come by after hearing the news.

Going back in time a bit, after Louise had watched Saito and the mech fall down into the ravine, she freaked out and had cried and screamed for him at the top of the ravine until Asuna and Tenshi found her. They brought her back and she revealed everything that had happened and the group had been in shock ever since.

Normally, Louise might've used World Door to go down and try to save Saito but, considering the explosion, she was too afraid that he had been killed immediately.

"Miss Louise," began Otr, frowning more when Louise failed to react. "Miss Louise, I offer my greatest apologies. It is my fault that the young hero has been lost. If I hadn't asked you to escort Eir then you wouldn't have been in the situation you are in."

"Love, it isn't your fault! It was because I insisted on returning home while you had your meetings. I should have just stayed even if it did distract you," said Eir, her eyes becoming glassy.

"Please don't *sob* blame yourselves," said Gwen, tears streaming down her face as she spoke to the two Dwarves. "Saito-san *sob* wouldn't want you to put unnecessary *sob* blame on yourselves."

Silence ensued once again and the girls continued to sob until Otr spoke out once again.

"I believe you all should return to Halkeginia. You've accomplished your goals of information gathering and I will try very hard to convince my father against this war. It won't be safe for you to remain here much longer," said Otr, catching Gan and Don's attention.

"We…We should return via cart. I don't think the lady has the strength to use magic to get back," said Gan after a moment. Don nodded in agreement and the two left to prepare the carts.

"I'll notify the guards to let you through without hassle," said Otr before leaving as well. From then until the time came to leave in the carts, the room was silent, save for the light sobs.

The next day…

Otr sat in his office with a blank expression on his face. After Louise and the other girls had left the day before, he went to his father, Hreidmar, and plagued him with requests cease the foolish war but was met with his father's immoveable will. He ended up retreating to his bedroom and that morning he had attempted again to curb his father's desire for war, once again failing.

"Dear," said Eir, catching his attention. "Please relax, dear, you still have time."

"I know…it is just…I can't believe things turned out in such a way. I'm not even sure why there had been a mech there to attack Saito to begin with. Father clearly does not know about it and I doubt Fafnir does either. He would have gone himself. Reginn sly but I doubt even he knew. My study is far from his room and study for a reason," said Otr, frustrated. Eir frowned at his angered expression and moved next to him before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You'll figure it out, my love. You're the smartest Dwarf in the kingdom," said Eir, reassuringly. Otr smiled a bit at her words and patted her arm, inciting her to release him. She smiled at him and then retreated upstairs to look for a book.

As the two's room returned to silence, you could hear the faint chuckling of a voice outside of the room. That chuckling belonged to one that anyone would have known in the palace. It belonged to the most calculating and sly prince, Reginn the Strategist. After hearing all that he wanted, he proceeded down the hall, away from the room, chuckling as he did so.

Some time later…

"Love, what is your strategy to harass your father this time?" asked Eir a bit of a smirk on her face. She wasn't too fond of Otr's father so she enjoyed his harassment a bit but she was mostly thinking about keeping the promise with Louise and co.

"I will mostly just persistently bother him about it until I can find some information about the group that infiltrated palace so long ago. If I can find out if the group is still around, I can inform father and he can wipe them out," said Otr as he went through another book. Eir nodded her head in understanding but questioned what he thought he would find. "If I can just find something, anything, that could give me some lead on their identity or location, then I would be able to do something about it. I'm sure finding the group that killed mother would greatly sate father's desire for war."

"That may work if you can find something, but it has been so long," said Eir, worriedly.

"I know. Information will be quite limited. I'll be lucky to find anyth-," said Otr before being interrupted by a loud buzzing. He began to looked around and found the sound coming from one of the drawers of his desk. He opened it and gasped. The communicator Saito had made for him had been vibrating. He quickly picked it up and scrambled to hit the button before putting it close to his ear. "Hello?! Saito, is that you?!"

After saying such things to the communicator, Eir was up in a moment, eyes wide as she watched Otr's face. He listened for a voice, a response. Something to show him he wasn't crazy.

He heard nothing but a light static. No voices. No sounds. Just static.

He was about to put the communicator down when he heard a thump come from the small device.

"…O…tr," groaned a weak voice from the communicator.

"Saito, my boy! Can you hear me? Are you alive down in the ravine?" said Otr, frantically.

"…It's…dark and…cold…I think…I fell…I feel…really…really…tired…" said the voice from the communicator.

"My boy, I'm coming to get you so please remain strong. Don't hang up the communicator. I'm going to get you," said Otr, frantically, as he leapt from his chair. Eir followed him and the two made their way to the hanger where the mechs and other machines were kept and he climbed up into a mech.

"Otr! What are you going to do? You can't climb down that ravine in a mech," said Eir, worriedly.

"Do not worry, love. This is my personal mech that I've been upgrading. I had planned to explore the ravine anyways so I installed a grappling system. I should be able to get to the bottom," said Otr, calmly. "Saito, can you still hear me?"

"…Ye…s," said Saito, weakly.

"I'm coming to get you so please remain awake with me for a while longer. I promise I'll get to you quickly," said Otr as he began pulling random cranks and pushing buttons. "Love, please prepare my room. I will give him what first aid I can with the kit inside the mech but he will need proper treatment."

"No, he can't come back to the palace. He will come to my home. I will deal with my parents. On top of that, the place where he fell is closest to my home," said Eir, seriously. Otr nodded and pulled the hatch to the mech shut before stomping away.

Otr was nearing the bottom of the dark ravine, the lights on his mech on so that he could see properly.

"Saito! Do you see any lights? Is it still dark?" asked Otr as he carefully made his way down.

"I…see a little…light…" said Saito, weakly. Otr slowed his pace just in case Saito might be on the ground below him and questioned him again.

"How close are they? Do they look far?" asked Otr.

"…Far…a little…far," said Saito. Otr made his way down, still slowly as he wasn't sure how able Saito was to judge distances. He ended up making it to the bottom with no problems and looked around for the injured familiar. He saw shard of metal that looked like that of a mech and he followed it.

"How about now? Are the lights still far or are they getting closer?" he asked, calmly.

"…Close…r," said Saito. Otr picked up the pace a bit due to his words and he continued to scan the ground, finding more and more parts of the broken mech. Finally, he came across the charred body of what looked like a Dwarf and he bit his lip in nervousness. He feared Saito was severely burned too aside from the fact that he fell down a deep ravine. "I'm…tired…"

"I know, Saito, but please remain with me. You can sleep after I've tended to your wounds. Please think of your wife, Louise. She wouldn't be happy if you just fell asleep now," said Otr, praying that Saito didn't close his eyes and 'sleep'.

"…Lou…ise…" said Saito with a bit more energy than before. Otr hurried a bit as he wasn't sure how much energy Saito had left in him and he found something strange along the way. He saw tremendous, mangled tree roots on the ground and he cocked a brow in confusion. He followed the roots, continuing to watch out for Saito, and he found that they became thicker and more plentiful. Otr finally reached a spot where the roots completely covered the floor and he heard Saito speak again. "Me…ch…gonna be…attacked."

"Mech?" said Otr before looking up. When he looked up, he gasped, as he had finally found Saito. Saito was suspended in a giant mass of wood and roots that covered him from head to toe, only his face being visible. The roots held him upright and he was spread out in an X-shape. "Saito! I found you! I'm in the mech!"

Otr popped open the hatch on the mech, revealing himself, and Saito smiled a bit, his face bloody and bruised.

"…O…tr…" said Saito, weakly. "I'm…alive…"

So? What did you guys think?

Okay, I hated the ending but I couldn't think of another way to end it. To be honest, I felt like this chapter was a little awkward but I'll leave that up to you guys to let me know.

Remember to check out the second chapter!