It's been five and a half months since Ulrich's speech, Leanna is in self isolated training, Boudica has replaced Gerald as House Bedivere's representative, Maria has been training with Elizabeth to master her blood magic, Alicia's shadows have begun to manifest more unique properties the more she trains, and Ulrich has been studying and training to master his runes. Ulrich's birthday had already passed, with no celebrations being held for him, per his wishes. The only ones who ever celebrated his birthday were Alicia, Leanna, Nina and Maria. September the first, was the date that Alicia had always looked forward to, because that was the one time a year she would surprise her brother with a gift and had the entire day to spend with him. Her gift to him this year was having his garden expanded.
Alicia wanted to make the area larger to make room for more flowers and trees, but also to allow him to have an outside area to train in. While most of the Council knew of Ulrich's birthday, he preferred for them to gift him with improved results, sparring matches, or allowing them to bring him seeds for his garden. On the actual day of his birth, only Alicia was allowed to spend time with him the whole day. In fact, that day was the only day that the castle was closed to the public, since he wanted to make his sister happy. Each of the four who wanted to celebrate his birthday, each had different days they would actually spend with him. Nina was the second person to spend time with Ulrich this year, mainly because she was going to be leaving. Since Ulrich's garden was further expanded to accommodate a bigger area for him to train, she decided to spend the day sparring with him until she had to leave that day. Unlike the other's, Nina understood the desire for battle that all who share the Pendragon bloodline crave. Ulrich and Nina understood each other in that way, so for them, the time that Ulrich spent with Nina was always fun.
Vip! An arrow quickly whizzed by Ulrich's chest. Vines then began to spread along the newly planted trees surrounding Ulrich. He stopped and concentrated his magic into the palm of his right glove. The vines then shot forward, Ulrich held out his hand towards the incoming vines, "Hagalaz!" As Ulrich shouted out his incantation, a rune written on the palm of his glove lit up blue and fired out a concussive blast of air that destroyed the vines. "Ansuz!" another rune lit up on the collar of his cloak, the rune was then visible on his eyes. He quickly nocked an arrow and shot upwards towards a tree that had multiple limbs obscuring his line of sight, however, Nina then fell from the tree. An arrow stuck into the special training armor that they were wearing. Ulrich quickly ran towards Nina before stopping a few feet away, "Nina,you okay?" Ulrich walked up to Nina, who was laying on her side. She quickly turned over, revealing the arrow struck her bow and not her armor. She then tripped Ulrich and pulled out her dagger, as she tried to mount on top of him.
Ulrich quickly kicked her knee out from under her, causing her follow up attack to miss. Ulrich quickly wrestled her dagger from her hand as the two then reversed their respective positions. Ulrich held the dagger to Nina's heart, before noticing that a vine had latched onto his arm, immobilizing him. "You're getting much better little cousin, though, you have to always keep your opponents abilities in mind. You always think ten moves ahead, however, when you think you have the finishing blow, you tend to get careless." She smiled as the two then stood up. She brushed herself off and wiped away her sweat with her sleeve. "I'll tell you what though, you are getting much better with using those new offensive runes. What was that last one you used? I don't think I've heard you use that incantation before." Ulrich then showed her the rune written on the collar of his cloak, it resembled an F, but with the horizontal lines slanting downwards.
"It's incantation is ansuz, the writings on the scroll say that it grants true sight. When I was studying it on my own, it was difficult to comprehend, and because comprehension of how a rune works and means is integral to using it, I wasn't comfortable with using it. However, the more I studied and meditated on it, the more I realized that it allows the user's sight to see things that are normally unseeable and to predict some movements of my opponent. It also covers my blindspots, which is very useful when I'm fighting more than one opponent. The kickback is pretty rough, however." Ulrich covered his eyes for a moment, healing them with a miracle. Nina stood awestruck at the consequences of the rune.
"It temporarily blinds you doesn't it?" Ulrich then removed his hand and looked at Nina with a small smirk. "That should be your trump card, don't use it unless you know you'll be able to recover it with your miracles. Do the others have such a bad kickback?" Ulrich shook his head.
"Only fehu, sowilo, and uruz, which grants foresight, complete regeneration, and enhanced physical capabilities respectively. The rest are minor inconveniences at best. Of course, I haven't used all of them, yet." Nina smirked and shook her head at her cousins arrogant statement.
"Well, don't use the stronger ones without preparation for the after effects. I do know that, when you use something as a catalyst, such as a rock or coin with the elemental runes, there isn't a negative effect right?" Ulrich nodded. " You should probably focus on perfecting your use of those, they may come in handy when your in a bind." Nina smiled at Ulrich, "You know, those two runes you taught me how to use, they are incredibly useful. Nauthiz and thurisaz have helped me immensely. So, thank you cousin, I really mean it." Nina threw her arms around Ulrich, hugging him tightly. Ulrich was slightly caught off guard, before quickly returning the hug.
"I taught those to you, because I want you to be safe on your mission. I want to tell you that you impressed me with your ability to learn them. I was more surprised that you requested to learn runes as your reward for helping those villages in my absence. I just want you to promise me one thing Nina, if you or your forces face an enemy you can't overcome, then run. Alright?" Nina hugged him tighter.
"You're MY little cousin, I'M supposed to worry about YOU. Also, I'd like to correct you for something you said." She slowly let go but kept her hands ahold of Ulrich. "We both share the blood of The King, so there is nothing that I cannot overcome. I promise that I will lead our troops to victory in our mission. However, since you worry, I'll make that promise. In exchange, when those two princesses arrive, I want you to treat them like ladies. So that means, you have to take them out on a date." She let a small laugh and began to walk away. "I have to prepare the rest of my gear before we leave today. I expect you to have complete mastery over your abilities when we see each other next. Also, when you see that god Ares, be sure dig out his heart for me." She winked as she walked through the doorway leading out of the garden.
Ulrich stood in the garden with a small smile on his face. "Of course, she would make me promise something like that." He looked towards the sakura trees that were in the inner garden. "I guess that means more studying for me."
Nina gathered all of her gear quickly, inspecting it, and making sure that she had all of her ranger gear. Ulrich had placed many runes on her gear, the runes were of fairy origin and mainly gave her armor and weapons enhanced durability. With them, she could move around with light armor that was tougher than heavy armor, and without making a noise. She grabbed multiple sacks of arrowheads, all with different color ribbons on them, indicating what Valkryia rune was placed on the respective arrowheads in each bag.
She then grabbed her magical dagger, Aquamarine, and her magical fairy bow, Stardust. Both were acquired by Nina on her different journeys, however, her most treasured weapon was her sword. Her sword was given to her by Ulrich, it was the sister sword of Excalibur, from a land that rivaled Camelot's former country before the continents united. It was named Joyeous, and was sleeker, smaller, and was even considered to be more beautiful than Excalibur. Ulrich had placed many runes on the blade and handle, tuning them to Nina's magic. They made the ornate sword look even more beautiful, especially when Nina activated the runes. Ulrich gifted her the sword when he became king, telling her that she was much like a sister to him, and since she was a part of the royal family, she should have Excalibur's sister sword as a symbol of their relationship.
"I'll be sure to finish my job quickly, with Laura and Robert with me, it'll be a walk in the park." Nina then held up Joyeous, "I promise little cousin, I'll be sure to show them the might of those with the King's Blood." She strapped it onto her hip and began to make her way to the outer wall's gate, where the rest of the troops were to meet. Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless, black leather chest guard, layered over a sleeveless, hooded blue doublet. The lower part of her gear consisted of black leather leg armor over brown pants. She also wore black gauntlets and had her blue Camelot soldier's sash redesigned to be a scarf. She was considered to be the less knightly looking knight in Camelot, though, being a ranger, this didn't really matter to her.
She reached the gates where Laura and Robert were both waiting, the troops all gathered outside, waiting for their respective captains. Ulrich and Alicia both came to see them off. Ulrich's words were short, only telling them that there wasn't to be a head to head battle, to stick to guerrilla warfare, and for Nina to weaken the Federation by any means necessary. The trip to the Western Forest was two weeks long, another three days to reach the middle of the forest, where they made a basecamp. The Western Forest was entirely filled with many tall oak trees, it was said that the forest extended south, and that the more you ventured south, the more exotic the birds, trees, plants, and people became. It also became unbearably hot to most who ventured into those lands. Luckily, they had no need to go that far, since they already knew what route the enemy would take. Nina commanded the people she was going to take into the Western Federation's capitol, to get some rest for the next three days.
That night, Nina and her hunters returned from the forest with enough animals to feed everyone. The three captains all had their own tents, all stationed next to each other, so that they could formulate further plans and have a command center when the time came. The night Nina returned, the three captains decided to all eat together, encouraging their respective units to do the same. Nina and Robert both ate pork soup, while Laura decided to eat a soup made of various vegetables and mushrooms that the dryads managed to cultivate. During their dinner, Robert decided to break the silence of their trip, none of them speaking to each other during the whole trip, unless needed. "Nina, I'd like to ask you something, if you don't mind." Nina looked up at Robert as she brought a piece of meat to her mouth. After chewing and swallowing, she finally answered.
"What's on your mind Robert? Scared of the dark forest?" Nina let out a small laugh, with Laura also letting out a small giggle. Robert grinned at her comment.
"No, that's not what I was going to say. I wanted to know why you volunteered to lead the assassination missions? I'm sure that your unit has some people in it that are capable enough to lead the others, so that you wouldn't need to put yourself in harms way. So, tell me why you, along with the rest of those with the royal bloodline, seem to constantly throw yourselves into danger at every opportunity? I mean, King Ulrich could have let Sir Artorius lead the campaign against the Holy Empire, so why did he volunteer himself and Leanna in that campaign? There were many different combinations he could have picked for that, and you could have allowed your own rangers to deal with the assassinations in the capitol." Laura continued to eat her soup in silence, not wanting to be dragged into their conversation.
"Robert, you served under Queen Rose, did you not?" Robert responded with a puzzled look, before nodding. "So, you know how she was, correct? She was very much the same as our king. The reason why we are like this, well, we ourselves don't know. I guess, the best way to put it, is battle is like a constant itch for us. Something inside of us wants to fight powerful opponents. Aunt Rose called it a curse, which is the reason she kept a lot of the royal bloodline away from the battlefields during her reign. I was ready at the later stages of her reign, however, she refused to let me partake in battle and refused to let me take the job of head of my family. She had no faith in me, she believed that I would be an uncontrollable monster. She was able to sense the bloodlust of all who shared the bloodline. So, I was deemed unfit and unable to join. You know about her refusal to allow the bloodline to take part in fighting, but yet, she was always the first one to take charge in battle."
Nina gripped her spoon tightly, causing the wood to crack slightly. "So, it's a curse then. At least, according to Queen Rose, it was a curse. Even so, maybe it was the correct decision, I mean, she had to lead the battles, she was queen." As Robert spoke, Nina's thoughts began to remember her past with her aunt. Most of her memories made her unhappy with her aunt, especially when it came to her beloved little cousins.
"She was a hypocrite, she did that to satisfy her own lust for battle. She tried to fight armies alone, until the rest of the Council were able to intervene, at which point, she would simply find an area where there was no one to stop her. In the end, she got herself killed, leaving behind only Excalibur. We may crave battle, but that doesn't mean we are bloodthirsty berserkers who just wildly attack. You've known me long enough to know, I am not like that. That's not even the worst part about the whole thing." Robert was beginning to become a bit uncomfortable, talking about Queen Rose seemed to be a bit much for him.
"Listen, Nina, let's just drop the stuff with Queen Rose, i was more just wondering about your own personal reasons." Robert tried to change the subject, but, Nina wasn't ready to let go of the pent up anger she had.
"No, you have an idealized view of her, Laura remembers those times." Laura's pointed ears perked up at the mention of her name, she had wanted to stay out of it, as she had mixed feelings about it as well. "My little cousins, Ulrich and Alice, they were fine the way they were. Especially Ulrich, who was sent around the continent to our allies to study and train. However, it was her that caused him to be the way he is. He was a calm, peaceful, loving kid. He had no business leaving the castle when we have the best warriors, saints, magicians, and teachers in the land , but no, she sent him around and she eventually sent him to the place that changed him." Laura finally spoke up, wanting to try and stop Nina.
"Alright, Nina, we get it. You don't have to continue, or I should say that we shouldn't continue." Laura put down her bowl, which was now empty. Nina looked towards Laura, who looked at her with a concerned expression, causing Nina to slightly calm down. Robert's hands had begun to sweat. He knew that the royal family wasn't allowed to fight during her reign, which changed when Ulrich became king. The reason, however, did seem very suspicious to him now. Nina was clearly a fantastic leader and a great ranger. Ulrich always counts on her to get things done, quickly and swiftly. After, she always seems calm and aloof.
"I know Laura, but I think Robert should know for the future. Can I just tell him without the details?" Laura sat silent for a moment, before slowly nodding. "Alright, well, Robert? Have you ever wondered why our king always sends Laura or Leanna into the fairy forest for diplomatic reasons? Have you seen his reactions when he hears about it? At best, his heart rate goes up and he begins to sweat, at worst, he shuts himself off in his garden. He absolutely refuses to enter the forest and refuses to talk about it. I was surprised he mentioned it during his speech, in fact, I never knew the fairies and dryads looked up to him in that way. The number one reason why I feel the way I do about Queen Rose, is that she sent him into that forest. That was the first time he killed someone. I don't know the exact details, except what he mentioned in his speech, but I'm sure that's what changed him. When he returned, his royal blood had begun to show itself and he was no longer the same. Something in that forest changed him, and now, he fears returning to it. It took him awhile to get back to normal" Nina looked into her bowl of soup. Her memory of that day was burned into her mind.
"Hey, little cousin! I see you returned from your journey." Ulrich was walking the halls of the castle, a strange black fur cloak wrapped around his shoulders, and clearly heading to the very small garden near his room. He turned, and Nina saw his eyes, they appeared lifeless and even the way he was walking, he was shambling more than walking. "Little Prince? What's wrong?" Nina walked closer to Ulrich, reaching her hand out to his, until she finally touched him. Ulrich then flinched terribly, before quickly running and hiding inside of his, then, small garden, that he himself cultivated. Nina quickly ran after him, finding him sitting on a bench near his lilacs. She slowly walked up to him, she could see tears coming from his eyes. She quickly sat beside him, grabbed him, and held his face against her chest. He then hugged her tightly, his hands gripping the back of her clothes tightly, and then began to sob.
"All those people, my friends, they died. I was to weak to save them." His words were very hard to hear through his sobs and wailing. "I didn't want to hurt anybody, except that wolf. The others tried to hurt my other friend, so I had to. I had to. I lost control of myself. I'm a monster." Nina could only hold onto Ulrich, comforting him by hugging him tighter and patting him on the head. She wasn't much older than him, but, she had an idea of what happened and that was enough for her to try and comfort him. "Fire, blood, screams, it's all there and..." Nina stopped him from talking with a shush.
"It's all going to be okay Ulrich, it's okay now, your home now. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, or anyone you care about again. You're not weak and you're not a monster, anyone else in your situation would have run away and hid. You didn't, you avenged them little prince. Their souls can rest in peace now, it's all going to be okay. You were even able to protect your other friend. That isn't something a weak person can do." Nina looked down at Ulrich, she could feel her heart began to break. "I promise you, as long as I am alive, I will fight for you and everything you hold dear. That's a promise, little prince..." She hugged Ulrich tighter and began to pat him on the back, "...if you need to cry, then cry. I will be here as long as you need me, I promise." It wasn't much, but it was the best that Nina could do in that moment. The queen then showed up in the garden.
"Nina, what are you doing right now?" Nina then looked up to see the queen, standing inside of the garden. Nina quickly stood between the two.
"I'm taking care of my cousin and my prince. You made him become like this by sending him to that place." Nina knew, that from that day forward, she worried that Ulrich's smiles wouldn't come so easily, and thought that if they did, would they even be real? She may be someone who wanted to fight and kill, but she wasn't a monster who didn't care for the feelings of others. Nina always remembered that her own aunt thought she was a monster, but Ulrich, whether he was too young to know or not, never treated her like that. "You always claim that I'm going to be an uncontrollable killer and a monster, but you ended up putting your own son in a state where he feels like he was a monster." Rose looked at her with cold eyes. She looked at Ulrich, but saw no intent around him. In her eyes, Nina was being insubordinate.
"Who do you think you are to speak to me like this? Unlike you, I can plainly see that my son has no intent surrounding him. He has not spoken to anybody since he has returned, so I don't know what you are talking about Nina, so you should move and let me see my son, before I lose my temper." Nina looked back towards Ulrich, seeing him looking at her with a concerned look. Alicia, Leanna, nor Maria were around to help him. They were the only three she felt that he could fully relate to. The three of them understood him far better than anyone, even their own mother. She was always concentrating on her own things, while they may have been important, but were they more important than her own children? Saint Elizabeth was the one who Nina always saw them spend their free time with. The queen could be a loving mother, Nina had seen it when she was younger, but it felt like she had lost touch with something.
"I can't move, I made him a promise, that I will be here as long as he needs me. If he is old enough to be sent away by you, then he's old enough to command me to leave. So, I will only leave if my cousin tells me to." The queen became increasingly frustrated with Nina's words. She then began to move her hand towards Nina, deciding to move her by force. She still had the same cold eyes as earlier. Before anyone could react, Ulrich had moved in-between the two, his right hand slightly pushing Nina away, his left hand wielding the shears he used for his garden. Ulrich was crouched down, holding the shears in a defensive position, his blue aura had exploded so much that it felt like he was sucking the oxygen from the air.
What she saw that day, was something that she would never forget. "I won't let anyone harm those I care about again. I will kill anyone who tries to take my loved ones away from me!" Ulrich's aura and killing intent was so overwhelming, that Queen Rose took a step back. When she saw him in that moment, she could't understand what had happened, he had no intent earlier, but now, it was so intense that it made the air feel heavy and cold. She then realized what Nina was trying to say, because the look in Ulrich's eyes was empty, as if he was merely reacting. Before the queen could even register what happened, Nina quickly grabbed Ulrich. His aura then receded quickly, the color and thought returned to his eyes.
"Ulrich, it's alright! Remember, your home now. There isn't any danger here. Can't you see who's in front of you? It's your mom, she just wants to make sure that your alright. There's nothing to be scared of." Ulrich then dropped the shears quickly, before quickly turning around towards to Nina, and proceeding to hug her tightly. Rose could only stand in shock as she then noticed that, in that moment, there was no bloodlust or killing intent, from either of them. She began to tear up at the sight of the two of them. Her own son didn't recognize her in that moment. Whatever had happened to him, had changed him. It seemed like something changed in her that day too. The next thing she did was walk up to both of them and wrap her arms around the both of them.
Nina remembered this vividly. For once, she didn't exude the cold persona that she normally did, and she seemed to finally acknowledge Nina. She remembered this moment, because the one thing that always came to mind when she thought about it, was how warm Rose's hug was. Later, she asked Nina about what she knew, but what she knew was very little, and Ulrich refused to talk about it. Rose then decided to head to the Fairy Forest herself, to get some answers, and whatever answers she found there, she never shared with anyone. Nina then remembered what Queen Rose asked of her afterwards, "When Ulrich becomes king, can you promise me that you'll watch over him? I fear that, one day, my son will have to face his past actions. I saw how you handled Ulrich, so I would like to ask you to continue to do that after I'm gone. Don't let him, nor Alicia, succumb to the same darkness that plagues our family. I don't want him to become a murderer who kills because that is what he likes to do. When he fights, make sure that it is always to protect those he loves, so that he doesn't have to go through what he went through again."
Nina continued looking into her soup, "I promised auntie that I'll make sure he only kills to protect those he loves." She spoke softly, so silent that neither Laura or Robert could hear her. Nina recognized that she will always have mixed feelings about her aunt, but despite her what she may say, Nina knew that she loved her son. She looked up at both Laura and Robert, "I guess that it doesn't matter what happened in the forest, because if it didn't happen, I don't think he'd be as good of a king as he is. Robert, you asked why I volunteered for this, let me give you a real answer. I made a promise, that I will make sure that Ulrich never kills unnecessarily. That he swings his blade for those he loves. Because of that promise, I will always take on the jobs that must be done in the dark, so that his sword will stay clean. However, I don't want you to misunderstand, we are the equivalent of King Ulrich's blade now, so I will only kill those that threaten the ones he loves." Nina's green aura and brownish blue eyes began to slightly glow with intensity, "Even if that means I have to dirty my hands with unsavory tactics. I will wipe out the entire capitol of the Federation if need be, because as long as I live, Ulrich will never again, lose someone he loves."