Chapter 4

Knowing what was going to happen to them, they were about to use their weapons to defend themselves. Although they hadn't spoken among themselves, they already knew what to do: run to the blacksmith's shop, get all their things that they could, and go to another kingdom. But before they could do anything, Egon raised his hands and began to say: "We surrender peacefully" and seeing that, the others trusted him so they threw down their weapons and raised their hands. There was silence while they were taken to the dungeon. After being imprisoned, the Ghostbusters spent the hours in silence in their cells, their thoughts confused by the accusations of treason that they didn't completely understand. However, the arrival of a mysterious prisoner changed the atmosphere in the prison, a young woman with pink hair but beaten, being more dragged than walking by some guards who carried her, they threw her into another cell next to them. Upon seeing them, they wondered who she was and why she was so beaten. The woman, hearing the voices of the prisoners, turned slowly, trying to endure what she suspected was a broken rib, and gave them a penetrating look, but before saying anything, she saw in them something she hadn't seen in a long time: compassion, concern, hope.

"My name is Eclair Seaetto," she said with a clear and firm voice. "I was accused of treason and imprisoned by the church of this kingdom. The truth is that it's all slander, but the church has left me here to never see the sun again." This only made everyone feel a feeling they hadn't had since they were covered by the pink slime, and they just wanted the guilty to pay. Ray, always curious, couldn't help but intervene. "Why did they accuse you of treason?" Eclair looked at them and, after a moment of silence, began to speak. "I'm from a noble family, the SEAETTO. My family has served the kingdom for generations, but the church, in their eagerness to consolidate power, accused me of conspiring against them, as if I were a threat, after my father died, he sacrificed himself to protect the citizens of the territory that we had under our protection, but after that, the demi-humans... They." She couldn't continue anymore, started crying, crying for her father, crying for those who trusted her, crying because a part of her wanted to stop existing, but then stopped crying when she saw that they weren't laughing like others did, but had faces of concern for her, which made her stop crying and continue. "They don't want people who seek a free society, with equality and respect, my sentence is unjust, and now I'm here, waiting to be forgotten."

Winston observed carefully, resigned he asked directly. "If you were free what would you do?" Eclair didn't hesitate for a second to respond. "To have justice done and go to the queen, the kingdom is being manipulated by the church, but that's something that can't be done if I stay here" Saying that while looking at the floor, without hope, she only heard a sarcastic laugh coming from Peter saying: "You're with the heroes who came to save this world, we're locked up because we wanted to be, and when we get out of here, you'll come with us" Giving her a smile, which she, upon seeing it, could only respond with another smile and replied "If you do that, I swear loyalty until the last beat of my heart" To which Winston answered. "As long as you keep moving forward and make the world better, I'm sure that will make us all happy" To which everyone responded affirmatively to what he said.

A day passed and when they thought they would stay in that place until the wave came, one of the maids they already knew appeared to feed them and Eclair as they shared their food with her. While the maid was giving them food, she says: "I have good news for you, apparently they're going to release you" At the end of her sentence everyone couldn't believe it to which she continued "Apparently new information reached the king that the people who started the rumors did it maliciously" To which Winston replied "But how did they discover that?" "It's only known that they appeared saying they were wrong in what they saw and everything was a misinterpretation, well, I suppose you have some good as they said... angels who watched over you?" And while saying that in her mind she said, well it was 4 angels who looked after them and began to withdraw while remembering what she and her companions did, looking for who started this, the key pieces and threatening them to say what it is so they wouldn't kill not only them but their family, she knew that what was done wasn't something they should do, and that maybe they would be punished or taken to the front line without any weapon to die on the battlefield, but they knew it was the right thing and if their lives were the price for their freedom, she was sure they would face it with a smile.

A few hours later, a king's emissary appeared before them. His face was serious and in his hands he carried a sealed letter. Upon delivering it, he explained that the accusation of treason against the Ghostbusters had been withdrawn.

"The king has decided to pardon you," said the emissary. "After investigating, the people who accused the heroes have retracted. Apparently, it was all a misunderstanding, an error caused by malicious rumors."

Although the message was a release, the Ghostbusters couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. Malty had managed to manipulate the situation, but for now, the rumors she had created had vanished. However, the atmosphere remained tense.

While being released, Egon, Ray, Peter, and Winston quickly discussed among themselves what to do about Eclair. Despite their time in prison, they knew she shouldn't be in that place. "The king has decided to pardon us, but I think we could do something more," said Egon with a calculating look. "Instead of leaving Eclair in prison, why not ask her to join our cause?" Ray nodded, understanding the reasoning. "Exactly, we must get her out of that place." Peter, as always, with a mischievous smile, intervened: "And why not tell that fifth-rate king to serve her sentence on the front line? She'll be safer with us than in that cell, don't you think?" Winston also joined the idea. "Not a bad idea. That way she can realize her desire for justice and if what she mentions is correct, the queen will be a good ally for us. Besides, we don't know anything about our weapons or any type of weapon and she must know and could train us to be 100% ready when the wave comes."

The group, standing in front of the King, decided to propose Eclair's release as an active part of their mission, approached the emissary and presented the idea to the king. "Your Majesty," Peter began, with a firm voice. "We know that the situation with Eclair is complex, but we believe she can be a crucial ally in our fight. Instead of keeping her in prison, we propose that she be released under one condition: that she serve her sentence facing the wave of destruction. She can fight on the front line with us, and if she dies what does it matter to you and if she wins, she would just stay alive for another battle." The king was thinking about that, although he doesn't like the idea, it's something tempting, since if she dies in the wave, he would wash his hands of the Eclair matter, smiling maliciously he responded: "I am a benevolent king therefore, I will let Eclair Seaetto be in charge of the heroes, only that she will carry a curse, so she cannot escape, and cannot harm other people, only the enemies of our kingdom" All this saying with an evil smile, while the angry ghostbusters couldn't do anything more and would see how to remove that curse to which only Peter could say: "Thank you your excellency, we hope to soon see more of your benevolence" To which the king thinking he had won kept smiling and while they were leaving with their weapons Peter turns and says: "Oh by the way, when we see the queen, we'll tell her about your great benevolence"

When Eclair before being released, was given a mark that would cause her pain and death that could only be given provisional antidote every 2 weeks, and after that Utena approached her, giving her a message only for her, of which, she should go to the blacksmith of section A, and that there she would receive an indication. While she was going to that place, she began to remember everything she went through, from before her father died, until being in that place where her freedom, her humanity, her hope was taken away, and upon arriving at that place, not only was the blacksmith waiting for her, but also the ghostbusters and a demi-human, which surprised her to see her but put aside that thought and went straight to the ghostbusters, and being in front of her saviors, her expression changed to one of surprise and happiness, knowing that now she had an opportunity not only to fulfill her promise, but also to put her knowledge and skills at the disposal of a greater cause. "Thank you," said Eclair, looking at each team member "I won't let you down." To which they, with a somewhat sad look, Ray told her "Please forgive us, we couldn't save you as we wanted, you have to carry that curse everywhere until they say you can continue serving, forgive us" To which she, with a sincere smile replied "What you have given me is hope, it's something that had died inside me since I was in that place, what they have done to me is nothing compared to what you have given me, hope"

After she calmed down she saw the little demi-human and asked about her, and they just told her she is Raphtalia and is a new member of the team, to which Eclair had many questions but knew that would be answered in the course of days.

With Eclair now officially part of their team, the Ghostbusters prepared for what was coming. Although the accusation of treason had been withdrawn, they knew that tensions had not yet been resolved. Malty remained a threat, and the church was a new threat that they had to be careful of.

The day had ended quietly, but ended with new alliances, new threats to face and the feeling that the fate of Melromarc was in their hands.

Author's note: all rights to Ghostbusters belong to Columbia Pictures and Ghost Corps and The Rising of the Shield Hero to Aneko Yusagi