Chapter 9

Rush to the Capital

Homura watched a still half asleep Raphtalia and Rishia clamber up into the fixed-up carriage that Lord Ivyred had been kind enough to reinforce to endure a rushed trip to the capital. Turning her attention back to Sakura, she made sure to pet the happy bird that seemed to have grown another 40 cm (16 inches) over the last two days here while strapping her to the carriage. Homura hoped that Sakura wouldn't grow much more, as is she was already the largest Filolial she had seen.

"Now remember Sakura, I need you to go as fast as you can without breaking the carriage. We will be stopping for lunch and dinner. As soon as we make it to the capital, I will make sure to feed you a feast for a good job. Is that a deal?" Homura asked, knowing just how much she was asking of the week-old bird to run essentially nonstop for two days.

Sakura seemed to find nothing wrong with it, ruffling her feathers while leaning into Homura's pets as much as possible, cooing happily. Almost as if she would do anything for her if it would make her happy. It made Homura smile softly.

Sakura really did remind her of Madoka, in a good way. It made her remember some things that she had forgotten, hyper focusing so much on trying to keep her from contracting over almost everything else.

Her heart hurt as the guilty feeling washed over her once again. What was happening back in her world while she was stuck here, playing Hero? She had no guarantee that she would wake up back in her hospital room. She didn't know if her powers would return, or if whatever new powers she gained here would carry with her.

Would she return to her world to find it barren of people, Madoka's Witch having delivered them all in rapture? To Salvation?

Forcing the thought from her mind, she forced her emotions back into the desert sands of her heart, letting her face go blank. Even if she no longer bore her soul gem, she would not allow herself to fall into despair. Focus on the task at hand, keep moving forward.

Climbing up into the driver's spot, even if she found it pointless as Sakura was more than capable of navigating by herself, she had learned that Sakura wouldn't stand for anything less. Holding her hand over her shield, she withdrew a vial of medicine and gave it to Raphtalia.

"Drink this. I made sure to grab you medicine for your motion sickness from the local apothecary. If it turns out to not be enough, I made sure to also get some medicine that will force you to sleep." Homura explained to the teenage girl, Rishia looking on slightly confused even as Raphtalia made a face of disgust. Homura could only roll her eyes.

"I know you hate medicine; I have had to take my fair share of bad medicine. But we have to make quick time, and we can't do that if we're stopping every 15 minutes for your motion sickness." Seeing her grimace and finally choke down the medicine, she turned her attention to Rishia.

"Have you said goodbye to your parents?" she asked the older girl.

"Fuee!" Rishia let out a high-pitched squeak at suddenly being addressed. Turning her eyes down to her lap as she played with the fabric of her dress.

"I-I have, Dame Akemi. We can leave anytime." Rishia stuttered out.

Homura had to bite back her frustration. Rishia reminded her all too much of herself in her earlier loops. She knew how to deal with someone like that since she had been there, but it was going to be so frustrating.

"Please take a deep breath Rishia." She finally instructed. "I do not plan to do anything besides ask you some questions as we travel. It can be hard to speak at first if you are not used to it."

Speaking from experience again, she had travelled fast over rough roads in cars before when she was younger. Or even more recently, running and jumping fast over buildings and the messed-up terrain of Labyrinths. She remembered a few loops where Sayaka had even completely bit off her tongue trying to talk while bouncing around in spars with Mami or Kyoko. At the time, Homura herself had panicked when it happened the first couple of times. Then when she became more desensitized to everything and gotten used to Sayaka's healing, it had become much more amusing.

Doing one last check to make sure everything and everyone was properly secured, she gave Sakura the order to start running. Even she was surprised at the sudden lurch of intense speed that she managed. It was almost as if the carriage wasn't even there and they almost immediately reached speeds that could be compared to a car.

If Sakura were able to maintain this pace for the entirety of the day, then they would highly likely reach Castle Town shortly after lunch tomorrow.

"So-so fast!" she heard Rishia exclaim from the back. Turning around to check on the two girls in the back, she saw that Raphtalia was pale and clenching the bench she was sitting on tight enough to splinter the wood, an expression of intense discomfort on her face. Rishia on the other hand openly wore her shock on her face, her coloring only slightly paler than usual.

"M-Mistress, how are you not bothered by this?" Raphtalia managed to grit out seeing how unbothered she was despite all of the jostling. Homura decided that she could humor the girl with some knowledge from her world.

"Because in my world, we regularly travel much faster than this, for some people multiple times a day, and for extended periods of time." She spoke loudly, making sure she could be heard over the wind.

"Humans in my world as a general rule do not possess magic, so we made machines to do everything for us more effectively than any animal can. Several of these machines were designed to transport people and cargo over land as quickly as possible, some for personal use, some for large groups of people numbering in the hundreds." Homura felt a bit bad when Raphtalia groaned at the thought while Rishia just looked fascinated.

"How does Sakura's speed compare to these travel machines?" Rishia asked. Homura glanced back at her. A small fire of desire was in her eyes. Apparently, she was a curious girl, one who wanted to know as much as possible. Homura could work with that.

"She is going about as fast as cars are legally allowed to go within most areas of a city." She finally answered. "But considering her level, and the fact that this world has levels, it is possible that she may end up being able to go faster than anything we have on land."

Rishia blinked several times, several questions forming on her lips but unable to decide which one she wanted to know more right now. Raphtalia just buried her face into the top of her backpack that she had started hugging to herself. Homura honestly felt a bit bad for the raccoon girl, but time was of the essence. Especially since she did not trust the Princess or the one in armor to not sneak off, or worse convince Kawasumi to take matters into his own hands.

Thankfully, the trip for the day went pretty quickly answering and asking questions back and forth with Rishia, and occasionally Raphtalia when something piqued her interest. They stopped for an hour for lunch, allowing the huffing Sakura to take a good rest. They then pushed on until the fading light of twilight began to cover the sky in darkness. Allowing Sakura to rest while Homura cooked dinner, she directed and watched Raphtalia go through her solo training and noticed Rishia watching with some interest.

"I could teach you the basics if you would like, Rishia." Homura said, deciding that everything she had been preparing for Sakura was done. She began to load up several large monster steaks and a variety of vegetables onto a large wooden slab, knowing she'd need to provide the exhausted bird with plenty of proteins and carbs if she was going to survive the rest of the trip to the castle tomorrow.

"Fueh?!" Rishia made her usual sound of surprise at Homura's sudden suggestion. Turning around to stare wide eyed at the younger girl, she blinked as she watched Homura pet Sakura and coo softly while the bird began to eat. It was always a bit shocking to see just how open and caring the brunette was with her Filolial when she was rather reserved and curt with people.

"I-I don't think I could do anything like that. Physical classes were the only ones I ever failed when I went to school in Faubley." Rishia tried to explain. She could never make it even halfway through the class before collapsing in exhaustion. She would much, much, rather hide in the library with all the books, left to read to her heart's content.

Rishia couldn't help but cower slightly when Homura turned and gave her a sharp look, but was confused when her eyes seemed to almost immediately glaze over.

"I used to be so much like you," she finally said, idly making her way back to the pot where she was making stew for the three of them. "Before I learned how to use my magic to heal my heart. I would become exhausted just doing the warm up stretches. I even wore my hair in two separate braids like you do."

Rishia looked at the girl in shock. She couldn't imagine this person, the Shield Hero, being anything like her.

"But then I was attacked by a Witch, and learned I had the capability to use magic. I eventually learned how to access my magic, I helped fight Witches with my friends. But even though I had magic, I was still the one being protected, and I hated it. So I changed that. I learned to fight, I learned to heal my heart that had been weak since I was born. I made myself stronger and stronger as it was never enough. Eventually I became the Protector instead of the protected." Homura seemed to bite down on her thoughts when she realized she was starting to ramble.

When she turned her attention to the other girls, she saw all of them, even Sakura, were staring at her with various expressions of shock or curiosity. Rishia looked like she had oh so many questions, but had the propriety to refrain from asking for now at least. That was a small mercy at least, cause Homura wasn't sure if she wanted to even deal with hearing the questions after how in depth some of the ones earlier could be.

"So would you like to learn Rishia? It would probably just be the basics tonight." Homura asked as she plated up the meal for the three of them, bringing the subject back around to the original topic. Rishia finally gave a slow hesitant nod as she took her bowl.

"Please teach me Dame Akemi." Homura had a small look of satisfaction grow on her face at the answer.

"Very well."

She figured out very quickly after they began that she was going to be sore for a long while. Rishia couldn't help that she just made a mistake.

P-*-*-*-H

Homura looked up as the gates to the Castle Town came into view. It was at that time that she had Sakura ease back into a slower trot. The filolial was gasping and noticeably tired, making Homura feel bad about how hard she pushed her, so she made a mental note to try and spend tomorrow allowing her to rest. Pending she could convince the King to send his own envoy back to the Ivyred Territory, because she honestly did not want to deal with Kawasumi or the Princess if she didn't have to.

"So first thing first, we need to find some place for Sakura to rest and Raphtalia to watch her. Then Rishia and I will seek a meeting with the King." Homura told the girls to both refresh their memories of the rough plan and to get them back on to the current mission after two days of traveling. Getting a nod from both of them, Homura focused specifically on Rishia.

"Then you will have to make a decision on if you want to stay with us." she finally said after a pause, trying to keep her voice calm and level. It wouldn't do to scare off someone she wanted in her party because she used a sharp tongue on one who scares easily, even if she's seen what lies underneath her surface. "Unlike us, you have a family to return to. I want for you to be certain about your decision."

Getting a hesitant nod of understanding, Homura turned her gaze back forward towards the approaching gatehouse.

"Reason for visiting?" the guard asked as he approached her cart. Homura could see the slight suspicion in his eyes at her exhausted filolial and the wagon that had obviously seen better days.

"I seek an audience with the King." she spoke clearly, wanting to make sure he heard her clearly. When his eyes widened and he appeared to about to chastise her, she shifted her shield from the form she was currently working to unlock to her basic Small Shield, then back. The expression he made made Homura think he had just tried to swallow his tongue in shock.

"Ma-Madam Shield Hero!" the guard exclaimed. "Um. Yes. Well. Yes. I need you to submit your carriage for investigation." he finally said after bumbling over his words. Homura gave him a nod.

Homura nodded to the reasonable request. Turning around to address the girls in the back, she missed the look of shock and countenance that flashed across the guard's face.

"Rishia, Raphtalia, please make room for the guard to do his inspection." she instructed, watching them step out and hold the back open for the guard to enter and look through the cart.

Thankfully the inspection only took a few minutes once the guard was able to shake himself into doing his job. Homura however did not miss the scowl on his face when he finished.

"You're clear to enter Madam Shield." he ground out. It took a moment for the magical girl to remember the words of Erhard and his warning about the Church of Three Heroes. Forcing herself to not frown at the man, she instead pushed out a small smile and thanked the man for his time, getting a look of confusion from the guard.

"Before I go, can you please give me some quick directions to Erhard the Blacksmith's? I need to make a quick stop before meeting with the King." she asked, it had been a while and she wanted to make sure she knew how to get to his store. Getting her answer, she urged Sakura to continue through the gate.

Letting the smile drop from her face, Homura guided Sakura down a few different roads until she arrived outside a familiar shop, a sign with an anvil and hammer hanging from the door.

"Mister Erhard's?" Raphtalia asked, confusion in her voice. Homura gave a nod as she jumped down from the driver's seat.

"I am hoping he can direct you and Sakura to a spot to rest for the time we are here in town. Meanwhile, I plan to go talk to the King with Rishia." Homura explained, punching some numbers in her head before depositing a small leather bag with a small amount of silver from her shield. She then proceeded to hand the bag to Raphtalia.

"Keep your ears and tail covered, find a place with a nice stable for Sakura to rest in that we can park our wagon at, and a room large enough for the three of us. Whatever coins are left over, go grab you and Sakura some food. Hopefully the meeting with the King will not take too long." Raphtalia gave a nod of understanding.

"But Mistress, how will you find us?" A reasonable question.

"Your magic is distinct enough to me, I am pretty sure I can find you from the castle." Homura explained, getting a look of shock from both Raphtalia and Rishia. Not giving them a chance to ask more questions for the moment, she gestured to Raphtalia to go.

"Come Rishia, the sooner we get this meeting done with the better. Raphtalia, get some rest with Sakura please." Homura said, getting a nod from both of them before spinning on her heels and making her way down to the main road, trusting Raphtalia to do what was needed.

Homura let the silence hang between her and Rishia, who looked deep in thought, for a while as they walked to the castle.

"Rishia," she finally said, startling Rishia out of her thoughts.

"Fueh?!" Rishia squealed softly at being startled. Homura struggled to keep her annoyance at the high-pitched sound off her face.

"I hope you have made your decision on if you wish to join my party or not. Because I need to know if I need to inform the King that you require transport back to your town or not."

"Oh. Umm…" Rishia stumbled in her thoughts and steps. Gathering herself as best as she could, she looked down at the ground, playing with her skirt that she was wearing. She thought back over the last couple of days. Rishia had been impressed with the amount of knowledge and intellect that the Shield Hero had at her young age. Disbelieving that the cool, strong Shield Hero claimed to have once been like her. Amazed at the patience and skill displayed walking her through basic exercises and combat training.

"I...would like to join you for at least a while longer, Dame Akemi." she finally said, the gates for the castle coming into view. "I want to say I'll gladly stand by your side like Raphtalia does so easily, but I'm too much of a coward. I want to learn how to stand up for myself, but I don't know if I can stand up to the Waves that we'll have to fight."

Homura listened patiently to the older girl. She felt for her, she truly did. She felt that she'd never been good at talking to others. If she were, she wouldn't have so many issues trying to get her friends in her world to just listen. But here, in this world, she wasn't sure if she would get another chance with her normal magic sealed, or if she'd even get back to her world. So she was forced to slow down, choose her words as carefully as possible to try and build up her strength as much as possible. And because of the Shield on her arm that bought her here, she had to have allies.

Homura came to a sudden stop just outside of earshot of the guards standing outside the gates of the castle. Turning to face the green haired girl, she spoke the words that she felt would do the best job while conveying her feelings.

"I still stand by what I said before Miss Rishia. You have great potential inside of you. Enough to make a difference. I can not force you to fight, but I will make sure that if you travel with me that you will be able to at least fight for yourself until I can get there to protect you. If you choose to fight, I will make sure to do my best to make you as strong as you can be while serving as your shield. But if you simply wish to travel with and teach me more knowledge about your world, that will be enough for me."

Rishia stared at the younger girl in shock. She could tell that she was being genuine. Rishia had never been able to believe in herself and couldn't believe any compliments given to her from others, but this was coming from one of the Legendary Heroes. It was hard for an honest girl like her to call the Shield Hero a liar.

"If...if the Madam Shield Hero is the one making the promise, then I would like to learn to fight." Rishia managed to get out.

Homura looked at her, watching her face for something. What, Rishia couldn't even begin to think of, but she did her best to keep eye contact with the Shield Hero. Finally, she nodded.

"Very well then. We will have to stop by Erhard's before we leave to get you some gear. But now we must meet with the King. Are you ready?"

Rishia gave a nod, slightly jarred by the sudden change of pace from Homura. As soon as she got assent from her companion, she continued walking up to the Castle gates.

"Madam Shield Hero? What are you here for?" one of the guards asked.

"I seek an audience with his Majesty, King Aultcray, concerning some information that I received that I believe he would like to be made aware of." Homura answered, keeping her face set in a neutral expression.

That guard raised an eyebrow but waved over a passing servant.

"What can I do for you Sir Knight?" the servant asked with a bow.

"You are to pass a message on to his Majesty that the Madam Shield Hero is seeking an audience. Now go. Be quick about it." the knight ordered. The servant bowed deeper before running off to do as directed.

It was about 15 minutes later that the gate opened to reveal a familiar person to Homura. Amelia stood there, hands folded neatly in front of her while the gate opened. Homura couldn't help but notice as she approached that her maid outfit was a bit fancier and looked to be made from higher quality materials.

"Good afternoon Lady Akemi." Amelia said with a bow. "I am here to escort you and your companion to his Majesty's office."

"Amelia, it is nice to see you again." Homura greeted her with a small smile, "I hope you have been well?" she asked as she fell in step behind the maid.

"I have been very well since we last met my Lady." Amelia replied with a large smile. "I have even received a promotion of sorts when his Majesty accepted me and granted me the position of your handmaiden. I now am considered one of the head maids in the Castle and am to be your personal liaison for you when you are present in the Castle."

"Congratulations." Homura returned seriously. Promotions were considered a fairly big thing in her home world. While Homura herself had little in depth understanding about the actual duties of a maid, let alone a maid in the medieval time period, she felt that Amelia was more than capable enough to have deserved the promotion.

"If I may ask, do you know what kind of mood the King is in?" Homura asked. It would do well to have an idea of how to approach the upcoming sensitive conversation based off of if he was already angry or some other negative mood.

"When he called for me, he seemed annoyed at having his work disturbed but interested in what a Legendary Hero would deem important enough to bring directly to his attention." Amelia answered, slowing down as they were approaching a slightly more ornate pair of doors than the others around them. Homura gave a nod of understanding and gestured to the door.

Amelia took a small deep breath before knocking firmly on the doors. Loudly enough to be heard through the thick closed doors, she announced as clearly as possible.

"Your Majesty, I have arrived with my Lady Akemi and her companion."

"You may enter." came the muffled reply.

With that, Amelia pushed open the door and bowed deeply to Homura and Rishia while making sure there was plenty of room for them to pass. As Homura entered, she took a quick look around the office she found herself in. Towards the back, in the middle of the room sat Aultcray at an ornate wooden desk stacked high with papers and various books. The walls were filled with shelves and bookcases filled to the brim with books and various devices, some of which Homura could feel various amounts of magic emanating from.

"Lady Akemi, welcome." Aultcray said, setting his quill to the side and folding his hands over the paper he had been working on, his deep voice ringing with the authority of his station. "While I am not above welcoming one of the Heroes back into my castle, I will admit to finding myself...curious, as to what you deemed of such vital importance to seek an audience with me directly instead of going through the Adventurer's Guild like your fellow Heroes."

Homura frowned ever so slightly, filing away the note to ask Rishia about this 'Adventurer's Guild' later tonight. Stepping forward and giving the King a small bow, Homura answered his question.

"While I am here to save the world from the Waves, there is nothing that says I can not try to help out the people of the world. To that end, while I was traveling north, I ended up approaching the Ivyred's Territory." Here Homura paused for a small moment, watching to see if the King allowed any tells to show on his face. However, his face remained set in a mask of careful neutrality.

"As I neared the village in my carriage, we saw their crops and some of the outer buildings catch aflame. After assisting in extinguishing the flames and saving what we could, I had a meeting with Lord Ivyred." Holding her hand over the jewel on her shield, she withdrew the letter that had been given to her, the same one that Rishia's father received demanding for Rishia herself. Stepping forward she set the letter on the edge of the King's table before stepping back to a proper distance.

"He informed me that he had received this letter from a noble in a Northern Territory, on the border of Melromarc. Shortly after Kawasumi-senpai and his party arrived in the same town, though they were originally just passing through. Apparently, they had heard that the same noble was excessively taxing his land into poverty, and steadily taking over several of the smaller territories near his own through...more subtle means.

"Kawasumi-senpai and his party were on their way to...forcefully remove the noble on, supposedly, your daughter's authority." Homura was internally satisfied to see the flinch and shock on his face at that final sentence. The letter was held in his hand, seemingly forgotten for the moment in his shock.

"Malty should know she doesn't possess that authority!" he roared, slamming his hands on to his desk, standing. Homura forced herself to remain as calm as possible even as the heavy magical presence that had been restrained and hidden from her suddenly flared to life. Very much like a startled and angry lion.

"I do not know what the Princess was thinking, your Majesty. All I know is what Kawasumi-senpai told me. I managed to convince them to stay in Ivyred Territory while I traveled here to inform you." Homura stated, maintaining eye contact with Aultcray. After a while, he simply frowned and sat back down in his chair.

"You, young lady, are you the Rishia spoked of in these letters?" he asked, holding up the papers Homura gave him at the start of the meeting. Rishia gave a shaky nod, not trusting her voice.

"Come here." he said after a pause. Rishia hesitantly walked up to the large desk. The King frowned a bit more before pointing a finger at her.

"I am the Wise King who has understood Nature's Laws and demand it,

Banish all tricks and lies that effect this soul! Return her to her truest self so I may know the truth!

[Dritte Cleansing]!"

"FUEH?!" Rishia made a loud gasp of surprise at the King's sudden and rapid casting of Dritte class magic that washed over her without any warning. The light from his spell faded from her quickly, revealing her holding her hands up in front of her face even as her entire body shook at the instinctual fright from the strength of his magic. Slowly she lowered her shaking hands and looked around in slight shock.

"N-nothing happened?" she stuttered out fearfully.

"Rishia, is anything the Shield Hero spoken here a lie?" Aultcray demanded.

"Fueh! No! Dame Akemi hasn't lied at all!" she spoke, shocked that the King would think one of the Heroes would lie.

"Your Majesty," Homura interrupted any more questions, "I felt that as Heroes from other worlds, we had no right to interfere so directly in your world politics. However, the other Heroes…" Homura grimaced. She didn't want to admit it, even if she knew it were the truth.

"The other Heroes, what? Madam Shield Hero?" Aultcray asked, turning his attention back to her.

"They believe this world is a game. As they recognize it from a form of entertainment that exists in our world. So because of that, they have the belief that they can do as they please, and everything they do will end up doing good. They...might not even believe that the people in this world are truly alive, nor that they can actually die." Homura said after a moment.

The King frowned deeply.

"That is a grave accusation to throw at your fellow Heroes, Shield." Aultcray said, his voice darkening in anger.

"You do not have to accept my words now, your Majesty." Homura tried to soothe, she knew that as she was now, from that display from earlier, the King could kill her if he desired. "But please, I ask you, keep an eye and ear on their actions. Especially the consequences of their actions. I plan to try and show them reason, but that will take some time. Especially since we have to operate separately from each other."

Homura and Aultcray eyed each other, Rishia's eyes darting between the both of them. Finally, the King spoke.

"I will send an envoy through Ivyred Territory to meet with the Bow Hero and his party, then they will continue on to the noble in question. An official investigation will be done on my authority. I hope that you are not wasting my time, Shield Hero. I expect to see you at the Wave in two weeks. You are dismissed."

Homura bowed a bit deeper than she would normally before backing out of the office, aware of the King's gaze on her the entire time.

As they exited the office, Amelia closed the door behind them, looking just as spooked and startled as the other two.

"I don't think I've ever seen his Majesty like that." she muttered softly. Homura shot a curious look.

"Have you worked here long Amelia?" she asked.

"I started working here 3 years ago." Amelia answered, making her way back to gate. "Is there anything else you need while you're here, Madam Akemi?"

"No," she answered with a sigh. "We need to go to Erhard's to get Rishia some equipment, and I need to talk to him about a request I have. Then we need to meet up with the rest of my party, and I have to spoil my filolial for getting us here as fast as she did."

"Oh? You have a filolial now?" Homura nodded.

"She's a bright pink filolial named Sakura, a type of flower that blooms in my world."

"She must be gorgeous!" Amelia squealed softly. Homura blinked in slight shock. She wouldn't have pegged Amelia to think that large birds were cute.

When they finally reach the gates, they turned and faced each other.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again Madam Akemi, and it was nice meeting you Lady Rishia. Hopefully next time it is under better circumstances." Amelia said, giving a deep bow, which Homura returned with a shallower one.

"It was nice to see you again Amelia. Take care of yourself. I will introduce you to Sakura the next time we are here."

"It was nice meeting you as well!" Rishia said, her own bow almost as deep as Amelia's.

Homura looked up to the sky that was slowly turning orange, informing her of just how long they had spent here.

"Let's hurry Rishia. I want to make sure we catch Erhard before he closes, especially so we can spend tomorrow drilling you in the basics." the magical girl said before moving off in a hurry.

"Fueh! Dame Akemi, please wait for me!" Rishia squealed softly, trying to catch up to her new trainer.

P-*-*-*-H

King Aultcray stared at the door as Rishia, the Shield Hero and her handmaiden left his office.

Looking at the Shield Hero filled him with conflicting emotions. If a young man had been summoned like with the other three Heroes, it would be so much easier to hate him. At least then images of his late younger sister wouldn't haunt him. Or at least would do so in a different way.

Slowly, he stood from his chair, staring down at the letter she had given to him. Her story about what was going on in his own kingdom. The accusation against his daughter.

But was it wrong? He had already determined that Malty had lied about the physical assault on her person. Had a young man been summoned; would she have accused him of rape? Would he have moved to protect the man, or let him fall and burn like the God of those filthy animals should?

Making his way over to the window to look over the town that his wife ruled over, he remembered some of the things his wife had tried to tell him about Malty. But he was a father, and Malty was his first born, he had refused to believe what he had thought had been lies about her. Looking down he saw the Shield Hero being escorted across the bridge to the gate by her handmaiden. Something was said that caused the maid to laugh happily.

"If Lucia had survived, would she have gotten the chance to laugh like that with friends?" he asked softly. Clenching the windowsill tightly, his mind was filled with the images of the destroyed cottage, the large deep claw marks making it obvious that a Hakuko had been responsible for them. The small splashes of blood that magic had determined to belong to his sister. The banners carried by that blasted Tiger King's army emblazoned with the crest of the Shield Hero. His anger blazed brightly.

The young lady with long black hair and a face like a doll's looking up at him from beside the other Heroes. Her eyes filled with surprise, grief, love and pain beneath a mask of indifference. Her shame and embarrassment at being exposed in front of her fellow Heroes that she had been trying to impress. The obvious care she had for other people. His anger smoldered and he felt sadness and regret.

"The Shield is a weapon meant to protect." he remembered his wife telling a young Melty in a story about the heroes. He remembered scoffing at the time and getting punished by Mirellia. "The Shield provides shelter and help to those in need."

Maybe his wife's words had been the truth. But why would those wild demi humans need protection? What about his younger sister who had been killed by those savage animals?

Reaching up, Aultcray massaged his now throbbing temples. Why was his head pounding so badly?

A/N: So here's a Merry Christmas chapter from me! I hope it came out ok, as this should be the next to last 'Filler' chapter before we get back to the canon material. Nervous and excited because we're about to get into some serious action, and I have to start playing with the 'consequences' of Homura getting so many party members early.

I hope everyone who reads this around when it was posted has a good Holiday season for whatever holiday you observer in this time period, and I wish everyone a blessed New Year!