No Longer Alone


Man, it didn't seem that long ago when I had too many stories to keep track of at once. Now all of a sudden I've only this one. Well, aside from miscellaneous oneshots, but notices tickling the ol' noggin right now, so I guess I get to update at a marginally faster pace.

Also, happy Chinese New Year for the year two thousand and ten! Well, kinda belated well-wishing, but still…

As always, I own nothing.


"Ugh! Finally!" Amelia muttered as she took one last glance behind her. The imposing figure of Mt. Nerelas still loomed behind her, but they were far enough that the worst of the gas clouds and the stifling heat were little more than unpleasant memories.

Of course, the wind being in their faces helped too.

"Well, that's it." Neimi glanced up. "We're now in the Theocracy of Rausten. Ruled by Pontifex Mansel as an representative of the Everlasting. L'Arachel is his niece, and he's raised her as his daughter ever since her parents died while travelling the land fighting bandits and general evil."

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "You seem unusually knowledgeable about this place."

Her friend attempted to hold a 'scholarly' expression for about half a second before cracking and chuckling lightly. "Well, it's all about knowing the right person to ask about these things. And in this case Artur turned out to be the right person." She indicated the monk who had been walking ahead of their group for a while.

Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "Well, does Artur know how long it'll take us to reach the Palace?" Soldier barracks weren't exactly high luxury but after repeated campings out in the field, having a roof over their heads would be comfort enough.

"Nope." Neimi gave an easy smile. "But given what others have said, we've got about two more days of solid travelling through the shortest route."

As Amelia heard this, she fought the urge to sigh out loud. Looking around her she saw most of the other soldiers with expressions of grim resolution on their faces, and she resolved that she wasn't going to appear any less stoical about the whole thing than they were.

On that note, she let her gaze sweep the army once more, her eyes seeking out Franz. She found the knight was currently talking softly with Sir Gilliam, pausing only to take a drink from his canteen.

"…We're not expecting an attack from Grado, right?" Amelia said as she turned back.

"I don't think so. I mean," she glanced over her shoulder. "In between all the fighting we've been doing and the bunch that decided to join us after the Narube River, I can't help but think that the Grad army can't have a whole lot of fight left in it. I mean, the last ambush – back in the mountain – it was all Fiends, wasn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but I think that was the point – we weren't doing so good in the middle of all those gases and the heat – the Fiends appeared to be doing fine. Sending in more humans who have been pointless." Amelia shook her head in frustration. "I mean, at the end of the day, we don't even know how many soldiers the army started with – we can't judge how many are left if we don't know how many there were."

Neimi raised an eyebrow. "Well… I bet the Grad general would know?"

"General Duessel?"

"Yeah! I mean, I've seen you talking to him before, so maybe you could ask him when we make camp for today, right?" Neimi raised and lifted one shoulder. "It certainly couldn't hurt."

Amelia pursed her lips and returned her gaze to the front of the column. "Yeah, I suppose." She said softly.


Amelia later found the General in the Grad section of the camp, conversing with several of the leaders that had joined them. As she approached, she briefly reflected that she didn't know any of them well enough to address them beyond the appropriate title, but she could talk to the General in slightly more casual terms.

Being viewed as his student helped, she supposed.

She wasn't able to hear more than brief snatches of conversation from where she was standing, but, well, it wasn't really in her to pry, and so she remained waiting for them to finish their discussion.

The Obsidian nodded a farewell to one of the men and turned away, a look of deep exhaustion set on his face – an expression that fell away as he looked up to see Amelia standing a few feet away from him.

"Amelia? What is it?"

"Well, sir, general –" she coughed nervously. "It's not really very important, but I was wondering… well, I was wondering if you'd be able to tell me how much of the Grad army is still out there."

The General folded his arms. "Well, I can't say for certain, given that a lot of the soldiers would have been spent against Carcino and Frelia's defences as well – at least the assault groups have agreed to stand down by now. Still, my best estimate would put the core Grad force at…" He frowned. "A surprisingly low number, actually. I estimate no more than five thousand."

"Five thousand," Amelia repeated, feeling a faint spark of hope inside her. "That's good, right?"

"I suppose. But numbers can be deceiving. We have reason to believe that the majority of this five thousand remnants are formed from our elite regiments – the 16th, the 27th, the 3rd Royal Knights, and of course, the Emperor's personal Guard. I know those men – I mean, I trained a fair number of them. They won't go down without a hard fight. Also," the general continued, his expression growing even sterner. "Grado isn't our main concern anymore."

"You mean the Demon King? I mean, I get that he's a huge threat, but…" Amelia raised and lowered a shoulder. "He's shown up for a while already and the sky hasn't turned black and started raining blood or anything like that. He seemed scarier in the legends."

"Well, yes, that would be because…" Duessel trailed off, looked at Amelia, and sighed. "No. It's better if you don't know."

"Huh?"

Duessel shook his head. "Just trust me on this, Amelia. The Demon King is our main threat. Once we've collected the last Sacred Stone from Rausten, we're heading off to Darkling Woods. We've reason to believe the Demon King is there and we need to stop him immediately. That, I can assure you, will not be easy. Scouts have reported monsters congregating in the forest from as far as the Malkaen coast."

She nodded in response. "I understand, sir."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Well, if it's not out of turn… what were you discussing just now?"

Duessel was silent for a moment. "We were discussing how a fair number of the Frelian and Renaitian troops are currently refusing to do battle alongside the Grad troops."

"Oh." There didn't appear to be much more to say than that.

"It was to be expected, lass. People aren't very good at letting go of hatred. And we did invade them. But, in practical terms, it's a massive inconvenience. We can't afford infighting or distrust in the middle of a battle."

"They… they accepted us – I mean, you pretty easily, though." Amelia said softly. Silently, she thought about how close she'd come to indicating that she considered herself on the same level as the revered general.

"Well, the circumstances that led to my joining involved me and my men being turned upon by other elements of the Grad army – it's a bit easier to earn trust that way. I'd wager the same would go for lady Natasha – plus, as a lady of the cloth, she focuses mostly on healing and caring. And as for you," he said with a sidelong look and what Amelia could swear were the barest traces of a smile. "You did have someone vouching rather vehemently on your behalf – or at least that's what I've been led to believe based on what Ephraim has told me."

Amelia managed an embarrassed smile.

"Well, if that's all, then I guess you should be on your way." Duessel turned away. "Don't forget our training session later on, though."

"Of course not, sir." She saluted once, smartly, and then turned away, her mind whirling with chaotic thoughts.


"In nine days' time, the Demon King plans to initiate a ritual in Darkling Woods that will remerge his soul – currently in Prince Lyon's body – with his body, which is entombed in the Black Temple." Seth's expression was grave as he spoke softly to the three knights with him.

"And that would be bad." Forde said, deadpan.

"If the legends are true…" Kyle said softly.

"Whether or not they exaggerate, we do not know," Seth continued in a measured tone. "But we do know that the Demon King is not at his full might yet – and that he will be restored to his former level should that ritual take place."

"Which makes rushing to Darkling Woods our first priority, huh."

"Not quite." Seth pursed his lips. "We're keeping it a secret for now, but the truth is that back in Mt. Nerelas… Lord Ephraim confronted the Demon King again. I'm sure you've heard the rumours filtering through the ranks."

"Then it's true? He faced the Demon King in single combat?" Kyle sputtered. "How could he have been so reckless-"

"His temperament can be discussed another time," Seth continued smoothly. "But the salient point is that during that conflict, the Sacred Stone of Renais was destroyed."

A hush fell across the three of them, and Franz failed to suppress a wince. That left them only one Sacred Stone – one last chance at stopping the demonic hordes. And that also meant that –

"Our next destination remains Rausten's palace. Now, more than ever, we need the light of Rausten's stone."

"So that's two days out," Forde said, his expression serious for once. "From the palace to the heart of the woods, that'll be five days as the crow flies."

"And not counting the innumerable fiends we'll have to cut our way through to get there." Kyle followed up.

"Well, I'm glad you all of have a grasp of the situation." Seth said, with the barest trace of sarcasm.

"General," Franz spoke up. "Something puzzles me. We've established the Demon King has the ability to teleport, and at least can move around far faster than us. What's stopping him from initiating the ritual before the ten days are up?"

"Two reasons. The first is that from what we understand, he needs a full moon for the ritual and the closest one is in ten days. If you want further clarification about the reasons, ask one of mages. The second is that, according to Ephraim, we have several allies that have been standing guard over the Black Temple."

"And they haven't been overrun by monsters yet? I find that hard to believe."

Seth hesitated for a brief second before replying. "The guardians in question are dragons."

"…Oh."

"Anyway, that's pretty much the situation. There's not much we can do except try to speed up our movements, so I trust you'll spend your time well."

As the small gathering of knights dispersed, Franz found himself wandering towards the centre of the camp. With a sigh, he slumped down onto a nearby stool, one hand reaching up to massage his aching forehead.

The situation wasn't looking very good, that much was clear. Even without the ten day time limit, they were looking at an attempt to cut their way straight through a swathe of hellbeasts from the depths of time and fighting the greatest evil that had ever plagued the land.

Odds are, even if we do win this, we're going to come out of it with untold casualties. He fought to suppress the sudden image of the people he had fought alongside – the people her cared for – lying on the ground in broken heaps.

That's not going to happen. I won't let it.

"Franz?" He looked up to see Amelia looking down on him, an inquisitive smile on her face. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much, really," he said as he scooted over to the side to make room for her. "General Seth just told us about what we have planned for the rest of the expedition."

"Really? General Duessel acted like it was supposed to be classified when he talked about it. Wouldn't give me any more details then where we're going in the next few days."

"Well, you know it's going to end up in a showdown with the Demon King, one way or the other."

Amelia shook her head. "Yeah… the Demon King. It's still kinda hard for me to wrap my head around it. I mean, he's in Prince Lyon's body. He looks like a human. But he's supposed to be ancient – older than any of us," Amelia paused. "He's older than any of the countries – it was only after the Demon King was defeated that the heroes of the war starting founding their domains. I mean – it's so much bigger than any of us." She hung her head. "I'm still not sure I really contribute all that much in battles against ordinary humans. How… what are we supposed to do when we're up against something like… well, like that?"

He kicked at a tiny pebble on the ground. "I don't really know either. I guess the Sacred Twins from each country is supposed to help. Humans managed to beat him once – I guess we'll just have to believe that we can do it again."

"Mm." Amelia was silent for a while before she let out a snort.

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing. It's just – I was wondering…" she stared at the ground. "Let's say we succeed, and we beat him a second time. That would put us on the same level as all the heroes of legend, wouldn't it." She gave a tiny chuckle. "I feel kinda odd… that people might still be talking about what we did so many years down the line."

"Well, all the stories will probably focus on the leaders." Franz shrugged. "Lord Ephraim, General Seth, General Duessel. History doesn't pay much attention to the little soldiers – not unless they do something really special."

"… Hey, Franz?"

"Yeah?"

"If you had a choice, which would you choose?"

"Huh?"

"If you could choose to be remembered by people long after you'd died, or to pass into obscurity like most people… which would you choose?"

"Well, that would depend on what I get remembered for, of course." Franz said with a chuckle. "But if you're talking for something heroic like saving the world… I guess it still wouldn't matter much to me. I don't really like being centre stage." He paused. "If people were going to remember me… I'd rather it just be people I know. My friends, my family. You know."

"Heh. Yeah, I guess I do," Amelia reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I can't say I'd dislike the material benefits such acclaim would bring, though."

"I – we always had enough to keep ourselves well off. In between Forde's job in the knights and whatever our father left us… I couldn't say we were ever really lacking."

The lancer shook her head in response. "Silva's a pretty small town at the best of times. My mother had trouble finding work for herself… back when she was still around anyway. My father always tried to provide for me, and there were times when he went hungry for my sake." There was a brief pause. "Still, I've been saving as much of my pay as possible. I should have a decent amount to bring back to him after all this."

"Bring back?" Franz questioned. "So you've decided to go back to Silva after the war?" He tried to keep from the discomfort he felt at that notion from showing on his face.

"No. Maybe. …I don't know," Amelia shrugged. "A part of me wants to keep travelling the world, keep finding new places and experiences. A part of me just wants to settle down after all this madness, go back to the quiet life I once had. A part of me wants to continue being a soldier, trying to see how good I can become. And…" she hesitated briefly. "And whatever happens, I want you to be at my side." The silence was brief until Amelia broke it with a chuckle. "And even if I don't go back to staying in Silva, I'll still to visit once in a while, won't I?"

"Yeah… I suppose you will." Franz said. Or at least, he started to say it, but he was interrupted by the sight of General Duessel striding up to the two of them with a rather urgent look on his face.

"Amelia! There you are!"


Amelia looked at the general with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. Quickly she cycled through a list of possible misdemeanours that would have warranted the general's attention. None from recent memory came to mind and in her confusion it took her several precious seconds to realize that she had yet to salute him.

Hastily she clambered to her feet, already raising her arm, but the general waved it off. There was a strange look on his face, one Amelia couldn't identify easily.

"Yes, sir?" She questioned.

"Amelia, I've remembered!"

"Remembered… what?"

The general sighed once, apparently calming himself down somewhat. "Amelia, you remember that I've always thought I'd seen your face somewhere before? All the way back in the recruitment lines?"

"Uh huh. You mean that's what you remember?" Amelia frowned. "I'm sorry sir, but I still don't know how we could have met anywhere before –"

"Amelia, what's your mother's name?"

"H – huh?" The suddenness of the question was enough to throw her off guard, enough for Franz to step in quickly.

'Sir, I'm sorry," The young knight said hurriedly. "But Amelia's mother has been gone for a long time. I don't –"

"It's all right, Franz." She said softly, a small but grateful smile on her face. So he remembers mom's face, huh? I wonder why he would have ever come to visit the village. "My mother was named Melina. She used to live with me in Silva… until bandits raided the village and took her away." Even recounting it now brought a fresh stab of pain. "I'm actually kinda surprised you'd met my mother before – she really didn't go out much-"

"Amelia, your mother is alive and well."

It took her a moment to register what had just been said, and in that span of time she simply stood there, her mouth open, the half-formed word on her lips trailing off into silence.

"What?" She finally managed to squeak out.

"Some years ago – seven, to be exact, my men and I came upon a group of bandits. We were able to defeat them rather easily. And as it turned out, they were bringing a captive woman with them. We rescued her and tended to her wounds, but the trauma of her abduction had been severe – she had lost most of her memory."

For some reason she couldn't adequately explain, Amelia felt her legs starting to tremble violently. She managed to back up the two steps towards the bench she had been sitting on before collapsing onto it.

"We brought her to a nearby village, set up a place for her to stay, and I always came by every once in a while to check on how she was doing. Recently… she had recovered well enough to regain some of her older memories, such as the name of her home village… and the name of her daughter."

Amelia could have sworn she'd felt her heart stop.

"Amelia… that woman is your mother. I'm sure of it."

"My…mother." Amelia repeated softly. She felt so full, so choked with emotion that if she said something too quickly or moved too much she would burst open. "My mother is… she's… alive…" Suddenly she realized she was crying, tears running down her face, her body shaking with her sobs. "She's alive." She repeated, trying to grasp the enormity of the concept before her.

Her mother. Alive. Safe. Well. She would be waiting somewhere, waiting for her. After this fighting, she could go find her – it wouldn't take long to locate her. She could go find her mother and they'd see each other again after so long, and Amelia would reach out to hug her and she'd feel her mother's arms around her again, just like before-

Her focus abruptly shifted to General Duessel and Franz, both of whom were standing in front of her, unsure expressions on their faces. Rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hands, she finally managed a teary smile.

"Thank you…" she whispered. "Thank you… for saving her… for keeping her safe. I… I…" And suddenly she was embracing the aged general in broad daylight, holding on as tightly as she could. A distant corner of her mind noted that it was probably a severe breach of protocol – not that she actually cared.

And after a moment, she felt him reach down to pat her shoulders comfortingly.

"Thank you," she continued to whisper softly. "Thank you."


It was inevitable, Franz reflected, that the news would have spread to all of Amelia's friends who knew the unpleasant details of her past. As most of them gathered aroud her, either for congratulations or questions, he hung back, keeping an ear and an eye on the situation.

He'd caught wind that someone had had a ridiculous idea of starting an impromptu party over the news, but cooler heads had prevailed – aided by Amelia telling them that she preferred the issue kept quiet and personal.

Eventually, as the sun had started to set, the group had dispersed, with the lone exception of Neimi who still sat at her friend's side. Talking to her softly.

As he watched the scene, Amelia managed to catch his eye and indicate that he should come over.

As he neared, he smiled tiredly. "Congratulations, Amelia. I'm so happy for you."

She nodded, her face radiant. "I know. I mean, I can still barely believe it's real. I thought for the longest time that she was gone, that she was dead, and now I…."

Neimi leaned over, one hand grasping Amelia's shoulder. "After all this is over, we're going to have to go visit her, you know that? All of us. Me, Franz, Ewan, Ross…."

"I know. There's so much I want to tell her! Everything that's happened, this journey, all the friends I've made…" Amelia trailed off. "I want to see her again."

As the night wore on, Franz sat quietly, listening to Amelia bask in the glow of having suddenly rediscovered her family, allowing himself to feel a bit of that warmth for himself too.


Chapter End


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