When the two had been force fed a potion or three each to recover their SP and MP, they stood up, and I could see a moment pass between them. It wasn't friendship they had now, but the hatred that had been there, probably since the beginning, melted away into…a kind of respect, as they nodded at each other, and Naofumi was brought towards the rest of us, as Motoyasu went up to the King, who motioned for Myne to follow him.
"Heroes of the Shield and Spear, the outcome of this fight, I would be lying if I said it was not the one I wished for, but now, it is time that Prin…Adventure Myne be sent off," he said, and then motioned with his hands. One of the knights in the middle of the formation stepped forward, carrying a satchel that I could see carried in it all of Myne's effects, including her armor and a weapon or ten. How many daggers did a single adventurer need anyway?
Regardless, he set it at Myne's feet, and before he'd even taken a step back, she surged forward and grabbed onto it like someone grabbing flotsam in a storm. To be fair, she'd been facing the prospect of death a minute ago, so it was understandable. As she rose up with them in her arms, she said nothing to her father, as if snubbing him, and he didn't so much as look at her, as Motoyasu stepped forward.
"I'll…meet everyone back in the capital. I know a village on the coast where she can get passage to somewhere else. Say hello to her highness for me, and let her know I look forward to meeting her," he said, King Aultcray nodding, as he and his party gathered around Myne, who didn't even have the good taste to look ashamed. Instead she stared daggers at the green haired woman and the others, as if they had betrayed her, before Motoyasu raised his spear up, and then brought it down, the party vanishing.
A minute or so would pass, and I thought, if only for a moment, I saw a tear trickle down Aultcray's cheek, but he never wiped it, and it was dry when I looked closer, so perhaps I imagined it. He still smiled at Melty, holding out his arm, and hugging his now only daughter close, and starting to say things to her, as the knights and priests, who had fallen out of formation to watch the duel, got back into straight lines, to await the arrival of the Queen.
Luckily, we didn't have to wait long, as the Queen, along with a full contingent of other knights, armed with GUNS!, arrived a few minutes later, in fact she had galloped ahead with a few mounted men, but obviously having heard the battle, and looking around at all of us, as the knights with the King saluted, and the priests with the Pope bowed their heads and made some symbol I didn't recognize with their hands.
She looked around, very much confused, but the King approached her, his daughter at his side, and the Queen seemed to leap from her filolial, reluctantly if the way her hand squeezed a feather or two was any indication, and made emphatic, sharp gestures with her hands. Her words were just low enough no one save the three royals could hear them, the answers the king offered her being likewise, and when she was seemingly satisfied, she turned to us.
"Heroes, it was my intention to greet you at your summoning, but it would seem I have not only missed that, but events that should have had my presence have been allowed to continue without. I will need to talk with my husband and daughter before we might speak, but I would like to thank you, already, for the efforts you have taken to protect this world," she said, bowing her head for a moment, and then the King, leaning forward, kissed her, whispered something into her ear, and then turned to us as well.
"Ms. Lucia, if I might impose on you to open the Gate once again?" he asked, and she nodded, taking a deep breath as she held up the sword form of the Replica Weapon. It shifted into a spear for a moment, before turning into a strange kind of spear that I had no idea what to call it, as it appeared to be a coil on the end, and a long bronze shaft along the bottom that gleamed like a precious metal in the sunlight.
She muttered some words that I couldn't understand, before smacking the Weapon's shaft into the ground, causing a flash of light, and then, with a small noise, like a rush of air, a geyser of light shot out of the ground, spraying high into the air, before it solidified into a column that slowly rolled outwards, like the unfolding a great map, upon which was drawn a moving image of the Capital of Melromarc.
Without a word, everyone started to march towards it, and while I was hesitant myself, Ray's hand on my shoulder told me I had little choice, and so I was dragged through with everyone else, walking straight through into the altered sunlight of the capital's area. The soldiers, without missing a beat, made for the road that would take them towards the city proper, meanwhile our groups stopped, the King turning to face the Pope.
"Balmus…I will allow you twenty-four hours to gather what effects you might from your chambers, but once that is done, I expect you to leave this city, and never return," he said to the man, the Queen looking at him, both curious, but also with a glint in her eye that said she was proud of him. He then turned with his guards, the Royals following behind, as Balmus said a few words to his followers, and then came towards us.
"Lord Bowman, your party members and I have much to speak with you on, including accommodations that have been made in regards to Sanctuary. I will allow your Party to brief you on what has transpired over the last week, but when you are done, please seek me out. I have a few requests I might make of you, if you'll hear out this poor old man," he said, and then joined the procession of robed figures walking behind the knights, as the rest of us took up the rear.
I tried to strike up a conversation, but Lucia and Ray cut me off sharply, saying that they would speak privately with me. They told, not asked but told, Ren to take care of debriefing Naofumi, and when Raphtalia seemed about to object, she had that catch in her throat, as Lucia glared at her. Naofumi, showing an intelligence that he had lacked only weeks before, quickly shuffled the two onward, saying learning what had happened in the week or so we'd been away would be a good idea.
It was only as we were walking that I realized the truth of that statement. I'd been having a bit of a vacation, safe in the knowledge that Naofumi wouldn't hurt me, or allow me to come to harm. No monsters to fight, no night watches to deal with, and better food than normal, despite being on the road. Really, it was a fine way to take a break from all the monster hunting and marching we'd been doing.
It had been almost a week too, during which I hadn't thought at all about how it must be to the others. A week where they were only aware of my status thanks to our link as a Party. A link I had thrown away. For good, time sensitive reasons, true, but nonetheless, they'd suddenly been cut off from me, as my empty party slots would attest, and that probably had hurt, a lot more than I'd really considered.
I still wanted to punch Ren when he actually had the unmitigated GALL to make the actual whip sound as he passed by me. The fact that he was very much correct that I wouldn't say no to Lucia or Ray was just icing on the cake, and soon enough we arrived at the inn/bar where we stayed most often in the capital, the keeper of the place looking up from his doze, seeing us, and then quickly tapping a keg.
Ren waved Naofumi to a large table, and asked his party to just sit back and enjoy themselves, while he filled Naofumi in, and fielded any questions. He then turned to the three of us and asked if I was going to sit in, but Lucia said we had a few…'private' matters to discuss as well, and she'd see me told everything. He smirked at her, said he was sure we did, and we soon found ourselves in our room.
"Before we begin, I would like to say," I got that far, before a slap struck my face, a hard one, leaving a stinging sensation, and probably a hand shaped red mark on my cheek. Lucia, who had done the slapping, huffed, held up her hands as if she was going to strangle me, and then puffed out her cheeks, before turning to Ray.
"You deal with him. I need some ale to calm down with," she said, and then stormed right back out the way we'd come, leaving me with a slightly ringing ear, and a catwoman whose tail twitched at the end, as she tried very not hard at all to hide her amusement at the situation. Still, she soon motioned me towards the room's table, and we sat down at it.
"First off, you deserved that for what you did," she said simply, and I nodded as I rubbed my cheek.
"It wasn't smart, I get that," I said, and she looked into my eyes very seriously as she placed her hands on the table.
"It wasn't smart, it wasn't logical, and it wasn't even a bad idea, it was a terrible one," she said, taking a deep breath and keeping me from responding.
"Even IF Raphtalia wasn't anywhere near him, Naofumi is still the stronger of the two of you. Worse, he was doing something unknown, with a power HE didn't understand, let alone you and the others Heroes. If he'd been unable to 'hold it in' when he spun around like that, you and the Princess could have been vaporized by that magical blast, which put her in danger, as well as yourself, neither of which is acceptable in the slightest, let alone both at once," she said all in one breath.
"Worse than that, the PRINCESS was stronger than you. Magically and physically. Even if you'd been able to pick her up and carry her, which I don't doubt you might be able to do, she'd have been able to beat you in a straight fight, and might have killed you underestimating the amount of damage you can take, given we'd seen her nearly do so not a few moments beforehand," she continued on, making me wince a little, as it was very much the truth.
"And then there was Filo. She was sealed, the Manacle made sure she couldn't use her skills and she was stuck in her human form…for some reason. We still are speculating about that. Regardless, she was strong enough to send the Spear Hero flying with a single kick. You, she could have turned into paste on the wall with a punch. Don't deny it, we both know it's true," and knowing it was, I didn't try.
"And then when we caught up to you in the Rabier Estate, you went with them in some strange carriage that we had never seen before, like you were being kidnapped all over again, but this time by someone completely unknown. Followed by you vanishing to our senses a few hours later. I can only imagine how the brothers are taking that news, or even Souka. She didn't show it, but she was fond of you, and when we return to Sanctuary, we'll need to tell them you're fine right off," she said, finishing up, and letting out what little air she had in a sigh that lasted just a bit too long.
That left us in silence for a while, as I digested what she'd just given me to chew on. It was true, I hadn't thought it at the time, but I'd done a very, very stupid thing five or six days ago, I wasn't even sure anymore. But regardless, I'd leapt into the middle of a fight that I couldn't have possibly won on my own, and only survived because we all knew the others weren't killers, and were trying to avoid hurting people.
Even that was in question, however, given they'd been backed into a corner. I was sure Ren was giving Naofumi an earful of his own about running off with the Princess like that, given his actions were really, really dumb, even if he didn't trust us. Still, regardless of what he did wrong, it was no excuse for what I did. Hanging my head down, I thought on what to say next, before rising up to meet her green eyes.
"I am very sorry I worried everyone. It was not my intention, but even still, it happened. I had just gotten knocked around for not thinking things through, and then I went and did it again, just because I felt like I could fix everything on my own. That's not how the world works, though, and I promise I won't do that again, you have my word," I told her, and she stared at me unblinking, before looking past me.
"I think the idiot means it this time. What do you say we give him another chance?" she asked, and Lucia, who I turned to find standing at the door that was to my back, who had obviously been standing there a while, stared at me, before finally, letting out a sigh, and shrugging.
"He's the Hero we're partied with, so it's not like we have a lot of choice in the matter. But next time he does that, I'm tying a leash to him, and we take turns holding it," she said, walking over to us, and setting down mugs on the table. Ale for the two of them, and that coffee like stuff for me.
"Now then, how's about you tell us what the Wave happened with you, why you dissolved our party, and where you and the Shield Hero have been," she said, and I looked nervously towards them, picking up the cup, taking a long pull, and putting it down half empty, before I started speaking.