[Moon Castle]
'White coat! Are you here?'
Marika opened the door to his office in the castle
"What's up little girl?"
'Look at me!'
Genus looked at her "Your 16 years old but that is not uncommon for you since you can change your age yourself."
Marika rolled her eyes, 'Well it is when I tell you how it happened.'
'You know that I normally regress in my sleep right and most of the time I turn in to a 5 year old child.'
Genus nodded.
'Not long ago I regressed in my sleep to a 16 year old after the whole incident with my son Khai.'
"True… I thought it was because you either you use magic before or you were absolutely against the fact that you would regress in to a child."
'Well white coat get ready for a shocking revelation, not long ago I got some very, very bad news and after that I went to the ruins, there I found someone in need of healing and I healed that person. And then a few minutes after that I got slightly irritated and then I regressed to my 16 year old self…while I was wide awake and had a conversation.'
Genus jaw dropped "Are you serious?"
Marika nodded.
'So when I was done with my business at the ruins I came over to you right away.'
Genus took a good look, "Odd… you inner energy doesn't seem abnormally unstable."
"Well I can tell for sure now that when you use your magic you regress not that far back, and when you were completely exhausted with William's case you regressed to your 5 year old form because you didn't use your magic at all."
"But to why you regressed when you were wide awake…I can't think of anything at the moment how that is even possible."
Marika shook her head 'It's fine white coat, just make sure you record this for future generation so they can learn and help out those who face a similar problem.'
Genus then showed her a stacked pile of papers, "Well I was already doing that."
Marika started to laugh 'That's all about me?'
Genus nodded "Everything that had happened to you since you came to this world and the solution you and I came up with."
'Can I see it?'
"Sure it is about yourself anyway."
Marika message Richard that she was at the Castle and with Genus and she would be there for a while.
[Mansion]
Richard was back from Faber Village and was greeted by Derick.
"Your daughter just message me she will be with Genus for a while at the Castle."
Derick laughed "And to think it has only been four months ago she had beaten him up, and now they are close friends, one would think they have been friends for years."
"Even if she can't overcome her trauma, as long as she trust him, Azu and Luca than that is a good thing too. But we'll have to see how she will handle Genus current student, at this moment the only reason she won't harm him is because Genus scent is on him. I only hope that she will gradually get use to him without Genus scent."
"Well as long she is comfortable with us as doctors then that's a good sign" Luca spoke.
"But I'm still curious when she started to trust Genus, she told me that some people just grown on you and that she didn't know, nor cared about it."
"Well I think she started to accept him the day before she separated from her human soul." Derick said.
Richard nodded "But she still cursed him when he shot her with a muscle relaxer after she went ballistic at a doctor."
"She openly told Genus he was the first doctor she could like as long as he didn't wear his coat and when he had to block off her 7th stage she said; don't damage the trust I have for you now."
"That was almost two and a half months ago." Richard added.
"I think before Genus got to know what made her lunge at doctors he started with poking fun at her…show her he would treat her as a friend before treating her as a patient. And they always call each other by their given nick names." Derick added.
"So unknowingly to her this was a method created to help him to gain her trust." Luca said.
"You could say that."
Then something hit Luca's mind. "Ohh crap…The day of your engagement banquet is the same day the last doctor will die."
Richard look at Luca "Why are you panicking like that?"
"Well isn't he in Ignis currently?"
"Yes…so?"
"That women is also there…she can't go there right now you know that."
"Still what are you panicking about? I already arranged for him to be transferred tomorrow."
"Are you letting her kill him at your engagement banquet?"
"I wasn't planning on that but if she wants to, I'll let her."
Luca chuckled "Your such a doting husband."
"You think? I just want her to be happy, because she deserves it more than anybody else."
[Moon Castle]
Marika was done reading everything Genus had recorded about her.
'Ahahaha and you call me a walk in the park…'
"Well you are…accept for a few times but still…"
"How is William?"
'Well…in the late morning when I visited him, he looked physically fine. He can only use his magic 2 times a day and only use it a 3rd time if it was an emergency.'
'I also told him to sleep when he was tired and he could move around if he felt like it.'
'I made sure to explain he need it to take it easy since he doesn't have any healing magic to fall back on, and I casted a bonding spell on him since I promised him I would.'
"Why did you do that?"
'Well…'
"Spill it already."
'Because William wants to know why he doesn't remember anything before he was 20 years old.'
Genus looked at her "And…did you already took a peak?"
Marika nodded 'I have already figured out why he doesn't remember a thing before the age of twenty.'
Marika had a sad look on her face.
"Well tell me."
'It's a side effect from where he escaped, the place where the others are held, you see somewhere in Cruentus, The Blue and Brown Dragon Clan are held underground and are kept in that place by a magic barrier, no magic seem to work on breaking it, but portal magic seems the only thing that can bypass that barrier.'
Genus leaned back in his chair, "Even if we find the place, repeating that will probably cause for memory loss again."
Marika nodded.
'But I found the way to break the barrier; once I find that place.'
"How are you going to do that."
'All I need to do is spill the blood of The Sanguis family.'
'So I need to find the place first and then crack the earth to go down there and find where the barrier is and spill their blood.'
Genus stood up and patted Marika's head "Knowing you little girl, you'll succeed and we are all here to help you."
Marika smiled at Genus 'Thanks white coat.'
'O there is one more thing.'
"What is it?"
Marika told him what she had learned today about her body.
'Could you…could you please look if my ovaries are fine…'
Genus saw Marika was genuinely concerned about it and nodded.
"Well since I can't cut you open I need to use magic to extract an egg cell, but it is a very unpleasant procedure."
'I don't care, I'll just bear with it… I just… I just want to know…'
"Alright, go over there and take of your cloth and cover yourself with a blanked."
"O and little girl, I will have to tell him, because I think it's better for you if he is here with you."
Marika nodded.
When Marika was in the next room, Genus told Richard what was bothering her and she desperately want to know.
"I told her I had to tell you about it, so if William can send you over that would be great."
Richard arrived and Genus explain what he was going to do.
"But doing it that way…"
"I know, but since I can't make a small cut in her to retrieve an sample, this is the only way."
Richard sighed.
"The worst thing for a women is not knowing if she can bear a child or not, if after some time passes and she still didn't get pregnant, the guild will eat at them and blame their self's for being incomplete or broken."
"I know adopting a few more children wouldn't be a problem for you, but for her it's different."
"Although she loves all her current adoptive children, she will never experience carrying a child or giving birth, so somewhere in the back of her mind she knows they are not her real children."
"Alright…" Richard never knew that after learning about her ovaries were taken out and grew back it had made her this anxious, and she probably even feared that if there was something wrong with them that he would leave her.
"Hey sweetie" Richard smiled at her and gave her a kiss.
"I just want you to know, no matter the outcome, I will not leave you."
Marika still looked anxious but nodded and smiled at him.
Before Genus started the procedure he had a look at everything.
At first glance indeed nothing look out of the ordinary when he examined the fallopian tube and the uterus he found a problem.
"Those bastards!" Genus said angrily.
He then looked at Marika "Good thing you were concerned because there is a good reason to be concerned."
'What is it?'
"I'm sorry little girl, but they clogged up both of you fallopian tube."
Marika face turned as white as a sheet, she knew very well what it mend. She needed an operation to remove the blockage, but it was risky because it could damage the fallopian tube but even if it got damage, her healing magic could fix that, but if the blockage couldn't be removed then she would never be able to get pregnant in her life.
'Why? Why do they want me to suffer to this extend…' cried.
"Sweetie, listen to me, it may or may not work, but if we could remove one blockage… I know your chance of getting pregnant are slim. But when you get your magic back we can cut out the other one and it could grow back just like your ovaries did."
Marika looked at Richard.
She calmed down a little.
"He is right little girl…better to have a slim chance than to have nothing at all."
'Alright…Let's do that.'
'I'll ask Solis to seal my healing magic after the banquet.'
"But won't your body absorb the seal?"
Marika shook her head 'He should have already modified it by now.'
[Mansion]
Marika and Richard both arrived at the mansion. Before they headed inside Marika said to Richard to fallow her because what she had found out will probably devastate him and he should have his friend with him there.
Richard nodded and fallowed her to Williams room.
'William? Are you awake?'
"Come in."
Both Richard and Marika entered his room.
'How are you feeling?'
"I'm fine, I visited Luca and went outside for a walk, and just woke up from a nap."
"But what about you?"
Marika smiled 'I'm fine now, I just got some unpleasant news that's all.'
Marika then sat down, 'William what I'm about to tell you…it will upset you…that's why Richard is here as well, I thought having a friend here would be nice and you don't have to bear it alone.'
William took a deep breath and nodded.
'William I found out the cause of your memory loss…It's actually a side effect because you escaped the place where The Blue and Brown Dragon Clan have been held ever since the great war.'
'You accidentally created a portal near the magic wall and it send you to the other side of it, and when you went through your portal, you technically crossed through the barrier and resulted in your memory loss.'
William looked shocked, but her explanation would make senses.
"Then what about my life before that?"
'What I could see from your memories, you have loving parents and two siblings, you have a younger brother and sister, you also have the looks of your father, but your eyes are the same as your mothers.'
'One more thing, even if I we're to find the place you should never ever do the same thing you did accidentally back then. Because it will be highly likely to cause memory loss again and then you lose your whole life worth of memories.'
A few tears dropped from William eyes and nodded.
'Don't worry all too much because I already found the way to break that barrier, I only need to find the place where it is, and when I do I'll set them all free.'
"Thank you Marika." Williams voice sounded a bit broken and shocked up
'No problem, now get some rest and if you have question just look for me and I'll answer what I can.'
Marika left the room but Richard stayed behind.
"Are you going to be alright?"
"I will be and I have to be, for my family sake…"
"If it's such a powerful barrier it could also mean the time flow is different, between here and there. So I want you to also prepare yourself for the worst."
William nodded.
[Next day]
Marika and Richard got ready to go back to the small village they had visited on the first day of the moon festival.
Marika checked one last time if they had everything packed up.
'Let's go!' Marika said with joy in her voice.
Richard smiled at her, even he was still a bit worried about her after the news they received. But seeing her like that he knew it was her way of trying to forget it for now.
Marika and Richard took off to the sky.
When they arrived the were greeted by everybody from the small village.
The children saw Marika and ran up to her.
"Big sister!"
Marika had a warm smile on her face an crouched down and open her arms to the children.
The all ran up to her and pounced at her what made her loos her balance and fell backwards.
The village elder saw this "Kids don't do that, that's dangerous."
"It's fine, look!"
Marika was laughing and hugged and patted the children.
'Have you all been good?'
All the kids nodded.
'As promised I'm here to deliver your reply.' Marika whistled once.
The children look up to the sky with Marika, and saw an eagle coming towards them.
As Aura came down and landed on Marika's arm, Marika introduced them.
'Kids this is Aura, she is my friend and she is here because she has your letters from King Cillus and Queen Yumaria.'
The eyes of the kids started to brighten up and got excited.
"Big sister is amazing."
'Now kids, sins Aura is still young and timid, I want you to come to her one by one so she doesn't feel overwhelmed.'
The children nodded and a boy came up first.
'Take it slow and don't be afraid she won't hurt you.'
When the boy was standing in front of Marika, Aura lowered her head to the boy and nuzzled him.
'Tell her your name and she will give you your letter.'
"Hi Aura my name is Chris"
Aura then picked off the letter tube from her leg.
She made a chirpy sound and gave it him.
"Thank you Aura, you're the best."
Aura spread her wings and let out a low screech.
Marika giggle a little.
As Aura and Marika were done with giving the letters to the children, Marika saw Aura was more comfortable with the children.
Richard then also whistled and Felix came and landed on his shoulder.
They also received the letter he wrote to them.
'But your Majesty could have just given it to us.' The girl said.
"Isn't this much more fun?"
The girl smiled and nodded.
All the kids read there letter in excitement and asked Marika the meaning of word they didn't understand.
"Big sister… What does the Queen mean by education?"
Marika looked at it and said 'Well she is offering you to come and stay Virtus et Caeruleus Viridi and go to school there so you can learn to write, so you can become someone great when you're an adult.'
"Really!?"
Marika nodded.
Then the village elder came up to them "Did you get some good news?"
The children all nodded.
"The whole village got invited to come to Virtus et Caeruleus Viridi so we can celebrate the engagement of King Richard and Queen Yumaria."
"But…We are just commoners and poor people…"
Marika smiled 'Well I understand your line of thinking, but did you know Queen Yumaria mingles a lot with her people, they know she is The Queen because they appointed her them self's. But she treats everybody equally and doesn't see herself as anything higher than the people.'
'Also there are only two nobles in her country, a Duke and a Grand Duke, Queen Yumaria appointed them there titles because of their achievements and were also just commoners before that.'
'Her palace is a multi-purpose building, it's a hospital, school, court and shelter.'
'Of course it also the place where she rules, but villagers are free to come and go there and most meeting she has are with the common people.'
As the kids were listening to Marika and they had figured out who she really was. But Marika gestured for them not to tell anybody.
The children nodded.
Richard then came up with the gift's he promised the bring.
The children were very happy.
Marika then distributed to the adults new cloths and lots of medicine.
Just as Marika and Richard were about to leave a man heavily wounded came running up to them.
"Everybody get inside!, They're coming!, The wolfs are coming!"
Marika rushed up to the injured man, 'Wolves? What is their fur color?'
"They… they are reddish brown" The man was panting heavily.
Marika looked at Richard 'Do you have another wolf clan in your lands?'
Richard shook his head "I don't know where they're from, I'm certain they are not from Ignis or here."
'Alright…Spike, Agito! You two stay with Richard and the people.'
'Richard you take the people and evacuate them, I'll handle those rude fur coats.'
The wolfs had appeared and Marika was standing in front of them and keeping them at bay so the villagers could leave.
Richard wanted to leave but a woman panicked and said her child was still in the house. Richard asked which house it was and the woman told him where her child was.
As Richard looked in the direction, he saw he couldn't get to it because there were to many wolfs.
"Sweetie there is still a child in the house on your left." He spoke to her telepathically.
Marika changed in to a dragon and swiped all the wolfs away with her claws and stood defensive in front of the house.
'Just go! I already arrange for back up, I'll keep the child save.'
Richard told the women they needed to go and she would keep her child save even if it would cost her, her own life.
The villagers left and on their way they were met with Agrius and Ferox and 50 soldiers from the castle.
Richard smiled to himself "She really knows how to move people."
"My King!, where is Our Queen?"
"She is keeping them at bay and defending a house, because there is still a child inside."
"But she can't keep it up forever."
"I need 6 of you to help me evacuate the people, the rest of your go support her."
"But My King don't you…"
"My first priority are these people, it may look harsh to you, but she knows it as well because she prioritizes her people before her own safety."
"Understood My King!"
6 soldiers stayed with Richard, while the captain took off.
"Let's go man! And support Our Queen!"
The man all raised their weapons and let out a battle cry and headed for the Village.
When they arrived they saw Marika was cornered and couldn't moves because she was standing to close to the house.
The soldiers started to charge from behind, the wolfs notice this and started to charge at them.
Marika finally had more space to move in.
Then she suddenly got spooked by the sound of a baby crying. Marika looked inside and saw 3 wolves had manage to get in the house and were nearing the baby.
'Agrius, Ferox! Kill those bastards!'
They both went in and started to attack the intruding wolfs.
Marika swiped again at a group of wolfs and changed to her 7th stage and rushed inside to support Agrius and Ferox.
Just as she arrived at the room of the child she saw the 3rd wolf getting ready to lunge at the baby.
Marika threw her body in front of the baby so the baby wouldn't get hurt.
The baby kept on crying and Marika just hovered over it as a protective shield and start to sooth the baby.
'It's alright baby, nothing will harm you, and I will bring you to your mommy soon.'
Marika started to hum a tune and slowly the baby stopped crying.
The third wolf kept attacking Marika, she receive so many wounds that her healing ability couldn't keep up with healing them all. But Marika didn't budge either, she was vulnerable at this moment because she couldn't cast a spell to get a sword or a dagger, because it could create an opening for her opponent. She knew the only thing she could do is being a strong shield until a soldier would come in.
After a few minutes the Captain asked one of his soldiers, "Did she come out of the house yet?"
"No I haven't seen her come out."
"Keep pushing them back, I go see if she needs assistance."
The soldiers nodded and the captain went inside.
When he arrived he saw why she hadn't come out yet, he knew there was no way for her to do so.
The Captain then swung his sword at the two wolfs Agrius and Ferox were keeping away from Marika and then grabbed the 3rd wolf by the neck that was biting and scratching Marika. He threw it to the other side of the room and killed it.
Agrius and Ferox walked up to Marika and started to whimper.
The captain heard it and rushed over to her. He saw the stated of her body and that she was slightly panting and sweating.
He took of his cape and wrapped it around her.
"My Queen are you alright?"
Marika turned her head and an looked at the captain.
She nodded, 'I'll be fine in a moment.'
'How is the situation outside?'
The captain looked outside through the window, "It seems they are retreating."
Marika casted a spell and pulled out her black bag, she took out some healing pills and some energy pills. As she was taking them her body started to heal up faster and in a few minutes she was fully healed.
Marika then looked at the baby and saw her blood on child and she asked the captain to bring some water and find some clean clothes for the child.
When he returned he heard Marika was humming a lullaby and saw she had a warm smile on her face.
Marika was carefully clean and changing the child.
Marika then handed the baby to the captain
The captain looked panicked and Marika smiled she adjust his arms so the baby was firmly supported.
Marika then looked for a blanked and laid it down on the ground, she took the baby from the captain again and wrapped the child in it. She then carried the baby and went outside to join the soldiers.
'Thanks to you all; this little one is safe and sound and can be reunited with his mother.'
'You not only saved my life, but also the life of this baby, be proud of yourself. Because fighting for a defenseless child is something worth fighting for, so he can grow up happy and healthy.'
'I want all the injured soldiers to come to me so I can treat your wounds and we can join Richard and bring this little guy to his mother.'
Marika handed the baby over to the captain and started to treat the wounded soldiers and also made 2 bottles for the baby just in case it got hungry on their way. She then gave one to the captain.
'Here let me help you.' Marika adjusted his arm and that the baby's position, she then instructed him how to hold the bottle.
All the soldiers looked at the captain an awe, it looked al so natural to them, as if he were the father of the baby.
"The captain would be a great father one day." One of the soldiers said out loud.
The captain blushed as little and Marika wanted to laugh but kept it in.
Then a soldier asked "How are you so calm and patient with baby's?"
'You want to know the trick behind it?'
The soldiers nodded.
'It's easy…Just remember you were a baby once too, so everything a baby throws at you, you did the same to your parents.'
Marika saw the captain was done feeding the bottle she wanted to walk over again but she saw him placing a piece of cloth over his should and made the baby burp up to air it took in during feeding.
Marika smiled 'Instinct will always kick in.' she said softly.
Richard and the villagers arrived at an abandoned village that was sitting near the castle.
The soldiers first scouted out the village, but it all was save and clear.
Richard then whistled for Felix.
As Felix approached he quickly write a message to Dantis.
"Bring this to Dantis."
Felix took off and Richard turned to the villagers.
"Do you guys get attacked by those wolfs often?"
The village elder looked at the six children, "No… They only come when a child is born and they keep at it for two years, somehow they lose interest if the child turns two."
Richard found it strange, but first he need to discover the origin of the wolfs, he knew they weren't from Ignis nor from his lands.
"Well I think it would be better if you stay in this place temporarily, it's much saver."
The people knew he was right, with the baby that was still in the village they left behind, even if he was saved now the wolfs would return and try again.
After 45 minutes a large group of people arrived at the abandoned village
Richard instructed them to inspect the houses and give him a report on their findings.
Another group of people started to set up tents and the cooks were starting to cook food for the villager who now were refugees.
Genus and his student Damion where also there to help and tread people for injuries and the sick.
"Were is the little girl?
"I had to leave her behind so I could evacuate the people, but she had called for reinforcement so she is not alone over there."
"Well she is a though girl, so we don't have to worry about her too much."
Richard nodded.
Back at the village Marika tore up the cape she got from the captain and made a few decoys just in case.
'I'll get you a new cape when we get back.'
"It's fine, but how did you come up with this idea?"
Marika laughed 'Well it's actually Prince Canus who did the same thing when I was trapped in a 3 year old body and we got attacked by assassins in the night.'
She strapped one decoy around Agrius, one on the captain and one on a random soldier.
'Captain you are in front, I'm in the middle and the last one is at the rear and we send Agrius ahead of us.'
Ferox you go with Agrius.
She gave them a hug 'Be good and deliver the message. Go!'
Agrius and Ferox left the village, Marika saw 1 wolf was tailing them.
'They are so persistent.'
'Alright people let's move out and stay close to each other don't give them the room to break our formation and kill any wolf who attacks us.'
Marika and the soldiers moved out and headed towards the castle.
[Abandoned Village]
"You Majesty we have assessed all the houses and buildings, the ones with a green ribbon are save to live in the ones with blue ribbons need small repairs but are overall save, the once with red ribbon are dangerous and unfit to use."
Richard nodded.
Spike and Agito were on the lookout and saw Aura was behaving strange, when they saw what she was doing they ran out to support her.
Richard saw Spike and Agito took off without a word and looked in the direction they were going. He also saw Aura's unusual behavior. He changed his eyes to dragon eyes to have a better sighted on what's going on.
Agrius was running with something tied to him but they were cached by a wolf, Ferox did his best to fend of the wolf who was constantly trying to nab at what was tied to Agrius. Then he saw Aura diving down and with her claws grabbing and pulling the wolf away from them.
The wolf then started to attack Ferox, and Ferox told Agrius to keep running.
Ferox was trying to fight of the wolf but he got pinned down, just as wolf wanted to bite down in Ferox, both Spike and Agito rammed the wolf with full speed and Aura also again attacked the wolf.
Agito changed his size and started to roar at the wolf.
The wolf finally started to back away because he knew he was no match for something the size of Agito.
"Ferox can you stand?" Agito asked him.
Ferox stood up but was badly injured.
Spike supported Ferox and Agito first chanced to the size of a cat and when he stood under Ferox he then changed his size to a big cat so he could carry him back to Richard.