The Past
The once-red sky started to turn blue and the sound of cheering could be heard all around. They had made it, and the final wave had been completed.
As the dust began to settle, a large crater could be seen in the middle of the battlefield with an impressively large, yellow-green dome over the top of it. A Filolian girl banged her fists on the dome as if trying to break it, "Master!" She cried out.
As the dome faded away, she stumbled forward, breaking out into a run down the newly formed hill that the crater had created, "Master!" Her hair was cut in a short bob, silver in colour with light blue streaks and two yellow cowlicks bobbing up and down as she ran, her eyes hot pink. Her white clothes were ripped and she had cuts all up her arms and legs. The white wings on her back were covered in dust and dirt.
She stopped when she got close to the middle, staring at the corpse of the large beast. She noticed two people standing near the corpse, she ran towards them, "Master! Lia! Are you both ok!?" She froze when she saw the shield on her master's arm, "Master, you said you wouldn't use that again!"
Her master turned to face her, "I am sorry, Fitoria, but I had to use it."
The other person who had been standing sat down on the floor in exhaustion, she was a racoon Demi-human. She looked like she had taken quite the beating.
Fitoria turned to where three people lay on the ground, stepping towards them, seeing that it was the Spear, Sword and Bow Heroes, "A-are they..."
The Hero bowed their head, "They didn't make it, they wouldn't fight by my side in the end and so I had no choice but to use this shield."
Fitoria turned to look at the Hero, "Is it over?"
The Hero smiled, taking a step towards her, "Yes, it is. We can go home-" The Hero flinched and fell to kneeling as blood began to ooze from open wounds.
Fitoria and Lia both gasped and ran over to their Hero, helping them to lie on the floor.
Lia took hold of her Master's hand, "You need to rest, Master."
The Shield Hero shook their head, smiling, "N-no... My time has come."
The two girls started to cry.
"Just wish I was able to atone." The hero lifted her hands to their faces, "I need to you both something..."
They nodded slowly, holding onto their Master for the last time.
The hero looked at Lia, "Lia... Since the day I met you, you have always surprised me with how strong you are. If it wasn't for you, I would have given up a very long time ago. Thank you for being my sword, my best friend. I need you to keep all the Demi-humans safe, they will look up to you. Be their strength and remember to keep smiling." The hero looked away, "I am sorry for hurting you."
Lia bowed her head.
The hero then looked at Fitoria, "You have grown so much since the day you hatched from that egg and now that you are the next Filolian Queen, you will have a duty to keep them safe, to rule over them, which I do not doubt that you will be amazing at. I know that you will live for a very long time to come, so I have something to ask of you. When the next Cardinal Heroes are to be summoned... I want you to..." The hero coughed for a moment, showing pain in their expression, "I want you to make sure that the next Heroes don't fight each other as these did. If they fail to cooperate then I want you to... To kill the Legendary Heroes so that a new generation of Heroes can be summoned. There has to be cooperation among everyone in the world to stop the threat of the waves, it's so everyone gets the chance to live another day. Continue this for all Heroes you see summoned in your life, this includes the Shield Heroes."
Fitoria nodded, "Of course, Master. I promise that I won't let you down."
As the Shield Hero's body started fading away, a smile crept on her face, "I am so proud of you both... I am sorry..."
I couldn't keep my promise, I am sorry.