Arthur snatched up his adopted child and placed him securely in the stroller. "Alright, little guy, time for a walk." he murmured as he wrapped the toddler in carefully and securely.
It was quite a strange sight to see a knight toting a baby around the barrack so it was Arthur's great idea to hide Meta in a buggy until they were ways away. The stroller itself was a rather odd piece but with a bit of paint it was easily disguised into a normal cart. The hardest thing about the plan was keeping Meta quite enough to escape the premises without being noticed. It was difficult, but rather fun. Usually this event was joyous but this particular time, Arthur felt blue.
On escaping the base and reaching a small bit of wilderness, Meta fell asleep in the cool Autumn sun. Arthur sat down and thought hard. He looked up to see Meta snoring on and blabbering some baby sleep talk. Arthur's smile turned into a frown.
"I really shouldn't keep you…" he whispered. "Even though Jecra is your trusty playmate and Iacrea and Athena babysits you occasionally, you just don't have a real home. My friends can't be with you all the time and as I go up in the ranks, I get less and less time for you. I think…I should find you a real home where you won't get neglected so much."
"Hey, Arty! I've been looking everywhere for you! You're suppose to be at that meeting!" shouted Athena as she ran up.
"But that not suppose to happen for another ten min-" the golden knight cut himself off as glanced down at his watch. "Time sure passes fast when you're not looking out for it."
"You'd better git going. I'll take care of this little guy." she muttered.
"…See what I mean…" he said more to himself.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Fine kinda dad I am. Meta needs a real father. One who's not running off on missions and meetings all the time"
"Don't you dare think of giving him away. I promise, I'll take better care of him. Besides, you don't have the time to argue. Go to your meeting already!"
Arthur frowned and ran back to his dorm. He quickly made sure that he looked presentable and was off to the meeting. Once again, he was late and sat down rather embarrassed.
"We've just received news that our capital has fallen." the general proclaimed once he was sure that the required were present. "Fortunately, there were many survivors. However, the former wielder of the sacred blade, Galaxia died. We have decided to store the sword here until a new user is found. It is our our mission to make sure that the Galaxia is safely delivered. The enemy is well aware of our movements and are sure to strike. This is a life-threatening job so we will only commission one of you to do it if you volunteer."
Falspar hopped to his feet, but Arthur beat him to it. "Sir, I'll do it!" the golden knight spoke up.
"Very well, Sir Arthur. I entrust this mission to you and your subordinates." the general nodded.
At those words, Falspar reddened with anger. He believed Arthur to be too incompetent and he was sure that this mission would give him much more fame.
The meeting was adjourned and Arthur walked back to his room to prepare. On the floor, Meta was playing with Jecra and having quite a fun time. Arthur smiled at their shenanigans but suddenly the realization hit him. He stepped into the kitchen where Athena was cooking something rather odd.
"Something wrong?" the female asked rather bitterly. She was evidently in a bad mood. Arthur didn't know if it was because her dish didn't seem to be coming out well or it was something he said. The lavender knight wasn't known to hold grudges though.
"I just realized that….Well…" he mumbled.
"Quit blabbering. Spit it out!" she demanded.
Arthur took a deep breath. He knew she would be terribly mad. "The thing is…I broke my promise to you…"
"What!? What do you mean?"
"I just undertook a dangerous mission… You see, I volunteered to recover Galaxia…" he explained, knowing that she would understand what he was implying. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
"Well duh I'm mad at you! I don't care if it's your 'big chance'. What means more to you, me or your reputation? Well, I guess I got my answer!"
Before Arthur could make any sort of comeback, the outraged female stormed out the door and slammed it.
"Oh great what have I done now." the golden knight muttered.
Seeing his father upset, Meta crawled over and latched his little self onto the knight's foot. "Wanna play?" the child babbled.
Arthur's heart was melted and torn. He knew he had to make preparations for the mission but he wished badly to spend time with his son. "Sorry, but I…Have to leave right now…."
The little lad gave a downcast look but he refrained from crying, knowing that none of his cute acts could persuade the knight otherwise. Arthur gave his son a pat and was on his way.
"It'll be fine. Everything will be fine. She'll forget about it." Arthur kept repeating to himself. He couldn't make himself believe it though as he pondered his choices. Family and friends were very important but this mission just might mean his future…
"Sup, bro!" came the cheerful voice of Iacrea.
"Hi. Could you accompany me? I'm having a rather bad day. You see…" Arthur explained as they walked down the halls. They soon arrived at the landing where spaceships of all shapes and sizes were lined up. Arthur's crew was already assembled and waiting. With them was Dragato and Falspar.
"Falspar? What are you doing here?" Arthur asked as he approached.
"Clearly, safeguarding Galaxia is waaaaay too important for a newbie like you to handle. I've been a captain much longer and I know all the ropes." was the curt reply.
"Well, there's no reason why you can't come along but I'm the one in charge."
"You were the one in charge. I'm taking over." Falspar gave Arthur a sinister look that clearly meant 'Stay out of my way'.
Arthur bit his lip. Even though he was grateful to Falspar, his pride wouldn't allow him to back down.
"Don't let him speak to you like that! We both know that you're much better than him." Iacrea nudged his friend. "This is a matter of your honor. Don't back down now!"
Edged on by his pal, Arthur stepped forward."The lead is mine and you won't take it away from me!"
Seeing the look of determination clear across the knight's face, Falspar smirked."Okay kiddo, prove that you can handle it." The green knight threw his sword belt off. "Fist to fist!"
"Accepted!" Arthur replied with conviction and threw off his own sword."You asked for it!" Arthur shouted as he hurled himself in the air. "SPIN KICK!"
Falspar's mouth dropped in surprise as he took the hit. "I didn't know you could use fighting moves!"
"The befits of having a lifelong fighter friend!" Arthur threw a wink at Iacrea.
Falspar's eyes narrowed. He packed quite the punch but he was no match against fighting moved. Not willing to give up without a fight, Falspar aimed several punches at his opponent. Arthur proved to be too swift though. Finally Falspar yielded. Bruised with a black eye, the green knight left the battlefield.
Arthur wiped the sweat of his brow as he hoped he didn't make an enemy out of Falspar. Buckling his sword back on, he signaled his men to board the flagship.
"That was quite the fight! I never knew you were such a fighter." Dragato congratulated.
"I'm not, really. Only an amateur at best. Anyway, are you coming?" Arthur asked. With a nod from the knight, they boarded the ship.
"Goodby! Come back in one piece, ya hear!" Iacrea waved until they were out of sight.
Arthur waved back and sighed. Seeing the melancholy look on his face, Dragato wondered aloud if Arthur was scared the mission would fail.
"What could go wrong? All we have to do is find the refugee's camp, grab the sword and escort the people back to our flagship, and bam, mission accomplished!" Arthur exclaimed though Dragato could sense the worry in his voice.
It wasn't long before they reached their destination. However, the operation was ill-fated from the start. The strong winds whipped so much sand up that as the large flagship was landing, it crashed into a hidden rock. After some assessments, they crew was sure it would take several hours for the ship to be repaired.
Since it was useless to wait, Arthur, Dragato and a few other crew members departed into the wilderness. It was difficult to see clearly, as the harsh winds wildly kicked up sand. They marched for what seemed to be hours before the could make out people in the distance.
The survivors of the decimated city were all huddled together against the rough wind in order to avoid losing each other. There was a couple hundred in total. The civilians were excited once they saw Arthur's relief crew.
"You've come to rescue us?" One of them asked. "Well, you're just in time! Here is Galaxia. It's in a secure case, so you don't have to worry."
Arthur nodded as he grasped the legendary sword. "Our ship is a little ways out. We must hurry."
The ship was barely in sight when a band of monsters appeared, leaded by Kirisakin. Dragato lead the civilians to the ship as Arthur and his few subordinates took the army head on. They were sorely outnumbered and fighting a losing fight. One by one they fell, until Arthur was the last one alive. The knight fought with all his might but his sword was knocked clean out of his grip.
Arthur could no longer fly and his sword was no where to be found. In a panic, Arthur pulled Galaxia out of it's secure case. Lightening scorched the knight as he dropped the blazing sword, unknowing right into the enemy's grip. Dragato ran up and was able to pull Arthur away from the monsters. Once safely aboard the ship, they departed homeward. Arthur sat motionless, looking down at his scorched hands.
"We managed to save all the civilians." Dragato said, trying to cheer Arthur up. "And our ship can safely reach home"
Arthur said nothing and continued to stare at his hands.
"Arthur, what's wrong?"
"What do you think. I'm a terrible father to Meta and I just broke my promise to my girlfriend. Not to mention, Falspar probably hates my guts and now…now I just failed my mission."
"But, it wasn't-"
"It was my fault. All of it." Arthur muttered remorsefully as he walked away.
A/N: Sorry for the late update. Hope that didn't sound rushed.