Beta read by Shigiya, DOOMRAIDER and Fluffy Slayer.
.
.
.
-Geofu-
The morning rays hit Maia's face as she walked past the bridge connecting the castle to the town. No longer could she hear the birds singing, or the quiet of nature, instead the sound of roaring flames and metal being forged dominated the vibe within the area.
She equipped a new pair of swords on her waist, basically the same design as her predecessors but with thin black line grafted onto the blades. Making them far more durable than the last ones, according to Luu-Luu at least.
Speaking of the midget…
"Hey, where is everyone?" She asked a man in a black suit walking next to her.
Luv Veli they called him, the son of a local viscount who regularly helped the halfling with her trades with the other kingdoms. He was in charge of bringing her creations out in public, selling them, and transfering the money back to the girl while taking a small cut for himself. Maia wasn't familiar enough with this process and wondered how Luu-Luu could trust this guy with such an important task. Still, it was a bit shocking for her to see a nobleman participating in such activities… like how he was taking care of the horses now. Something she knew that any stick up their ass nobles would never do, especially the younger ones and would have someone else do it, calling it commoners' work.
Man, did those guys piss her off, especially a certain fat man child.
"The Princess Knight has been in her forge since last night after the assassin was delt with,, we tried to talk with her but she vehemently rejected our calls." The young man said, guiding Maia's horse through the streets, pulling her away from her more darker thoughts. "The former Knight is waiting in the carriage outside the city. And as for Archer-sama… we haven't seen him as well. All of his belongings disappeared when we went to check on him."
That made her mood drop, sadness flooding her heart before she sighed resignation. This was to be expected, even after what he said yesterday, a part of her couldn't help but wonder if he had spoken those words just to soothe her.
Maybe this was for the best, she sucked at saying goodbyes, and breaking down in tears like a child was not something she wanted to show to Archer. Better this outcome than her losing her composure and ruining her rep in front of that man. He would probably tease the hell out of her for that.
That brought a small smile to the red head.
After walking for a few more minutes, Maia and Luv finally reached the outer gates where the remaining members of her group stood waiting for them. There was barely a third of them left, most of her Knights either died during the attack or suffered far too grievous injuries and trauma to continue. The most unlucky ones still had panic attacks whenever someone touched them, so they were sent to the nearest Church to have some time to heal.
Getting raped by those disgusting monsters was a fate she did not wish on even her worst enemy.
As for her mercenary friends, many of them died — including Morgan who was devoured by a white Lycan. According to Charlotte, not many wanted to continue this trip, in fear of getting attacked again, and in turn, decided to settle here. Some of the Kuroinu men retired, and she met a few of them who came to her and handed over their badges and weapons.
Her eyes gazed over the small group of men in civilian clothing talking with those who decided to continue on. She recognised them as those who left her group and the Kuroinu as a whole.
"Hey guys, already settled down I see. Better not waste the money I gave you all on booze and whores." Maia said with a grin, hoping the conversation would lift her spirits.
There were seven men, the one who answered her first was a rather large man, possessing both a large belly and extremely muscular arms. Having a black beard and short hair, he was a former Kuroinu mercenary who always fought in the front lines — Leoric.
"Maia, we're just here to see you guys off. As for the money, ha! I already spent it all, but don't worry, I got a job as an apprentice for a butcher." He said with a giant smile on his face.
Others followed along.
"I became a cook for one of the pubs, the last one bailed on the owner after a few female dwarves got a bit handsy on him… heheheheheh! I hope I get the same treatment as well!" Answered Emil, who used to cook their food during long expeditions.
He still was as weird as before, as not many like women that are strong enough to break them like a twig.
The next one who spoke, Leif, only had a single leg after the other one got crushed by an orc.
"I'm not planning to work, I met this hot chick who owns a spice shop and we hit it off quite well. I'll just relax for a while and spend time fishing, I always wanted to see why some old folks liked it so much."
She did not know why, but seeing the people she basically grew up with leaving to find their own path made her eyes tear up a bit. She never experienced such a thing before, as most of her friends would rather die in a battle than retire like this. It was truly mesmerizing to watch unfold.
"I want to become a carpenter, my dream was to be rich enough to buy a small house and bring home a new girl everyday from the brothel. But seeing how I ain't ever gonna get so much gold, then I'll just build one instead!" A man with a missing eye said with a smile, having lost it with a slash from an imp.
"Oi, is the boss crying?"
"Shut up!" Maia screamed.
"Holy shit, she is! Hahahaha! She's actually shedding tears over us? I never thought she was even capable of that!"
"I only saw her cry once when Vault ignored her flirting attempts. Funniest shit in my life I tell ya."
"Same, maybe we can mooch more gold from her. I heard crying maidens are easier to fool."
"Since when was Maia a 'maiden'? She hasn't been a maiden since before joining the Kuroinu."
The unfortunate mastermind of that snide remark was immediately rewarded with a gut punch from Maia, causing everyone around them to burst out laughing. Even the usually stoic Knights couldn't help smiling at the scene, watching the Princess Knight continue to viciously stomp on the man with a scarlet face.
"A-Al-Alright! Alright! I give! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that! You're the most beautiful woman ev—oof! Hey! Why are you all hitting me as well!?" Everyone joined in on the fun, even the one with a missing leg.
.
.
.
With the carriage Luu-Luu gave her stocked up on supplies, the redhead said her final goodbyes to the former Kuroinu men.
Before she walked towards the carriage, Leoric stopped her to say his final words. He looked around awkwardly, scratching his cheeks before sighing.
"Listen, though the others are too shy to say it, I'll just do it in their stead." He bowed down, something she wasn't expecting from him. "Most of us joined the Kuroinu as young lads aware of the dangers of being a mercenary. We didn't have a choice since life was grim and we lacked both money and respect. Heck, some of us joined just to sleep around with beautiful girls who viewed us as heroes." Leoric laughed at the last part, as he was one of those people who had enjoyed the fame.
Maia smiled, "I remember you once tried to hit on me."
"That was before I knew who you were… not like I had a chance. I know a lot of people back then had their eyes on you, and most still do." He pointed at the men behind him, everyone waving at their departing friends. "We came a long way, survived a battle that should've killed us all. But… after coming so close to death, I guess you could say we had our eyes opened to the truth. Then you came and gave us a way out without making us regret our decision, you have no idea how much your gesture meant to us and we will forever be grateful for it."
Leoric frowned, his face looking like he was contemplating something as he gazed at Maia. The silence that followed stretched on for a minute, the Shield did not say a word as she knew that Leoric still had something to say. So she waited patiently for the man to gather enough courage to speak his mind.
"That Archer fellow, he's something else. I was there when he used a spear… a single goddamn spear to kill all of those demons back there with a single shot. You will never truly realize just how frightening that man is until you've seen those eyes of his. When he looked at us, I almost pissed my pants right there and then. Even now, the thought of being shredded by that weapon still gives me nightmares. And that monstrosity he summoned… I can feel its presence looming over me, judging me as if I was standing before a god. Even right now, I can still see that thing towering over Geofu, following that man wherever he goes." His voice was trembling, Maia had never seen him so terrified before. "I… I know he saved us from certain death, and the women from an even worse fate. But to be honest, after talking with the others, none of us felt safe around that man. There was this feeling in our hearts, as if a dagger was dangling over heads, ready to drop at any moment. It was one of the main factors that drove us to leave this mercenary lifestyle for good. After that, the feeling seems to have disappeared."
Not to mention the scene with this giant ass sword falling from the sky. Ripping heaven itself before annihilating all things under its shadow, leaving nothing but dust behind. That fucking thing was not Celestine's doing, those crazy people from the Church of Celestine clamoured such ridiculous things could not grasp that the the monster who made that thing walked amongst them.
"I'm telling you Maia, that man is not human. You out of everyone must have seen that thing fall to the ground."
What followed then was Maia chuckling, she never imagined Archer as someone so scary. She did hear from a few Knights about a giant sword having crushed the valley where they were ambushed — but it could've been an illusion he used to his advantage as he did in Grünes. If it were truly a sword as big as a mountain, then Archer would be no less of a God, which Maia knew he was not one.
"He may look like a scary, sarcastic bastard but I guarantee you that he's a lovable guy when you get to know him. He is not bloodthirsty and won't suddenly kill all of you out of nowhere. I trust him, and I know he's not that kind of person." She said confidently until her smile died. "Unfortunately he's no longer here, otherwise, I would've brought him to get you guys comfortable around him."
Leoric looked at the girl in front of him weirdly, she had that same expression on her face whenever her past self would talk about Vault. Longing eyes that would always shine beautifully whenever she would think of him. He shook his head, how this came to be was not something he understood nor wanted to know — but Maia was no longer Vault's. She fell in love with someone else… someone he considered as the truest monster disguised as a human.
"Whatever I say won't matter anymore, you're already too far gone." He relented, confusing Maia. "But then again, it doesn't matter really, everyone is a monster to some degree."
Right now, all that mattered to him was living what years he had left in peace. Yet as Maia began leaving, a frown contorted his face. One thing he desired was for Vault to bring change to Eostia, destroying the system that made him join the Kuroinu in the first place. Others joined for more selfish and devious reasons, but not everyone shared that mindset. Now that his mind wasn't flooded with hate towards the Shields, a sense of clarity returned to him. The initial rage that he felt was extinguished by the fear of that white-haired monster as well as the fact that Maia did care about them, even as a Princess Knight.
Whether this man loved Maia or not wasn't something he wanted to dwell on.
But if something were to befall her… Leoric felt a shiver crawl up his spine. He could already imagine those silver eyes staring straight down at him.
"Maia," he called, making the woman stop and lock back at him.
"Yes?"
He took a deep breath before whispering something to her.
"I don't know how to explain this, but be wary of the people close to you. Those you consider as friends or family may not have the best of intentions. They may hurt you worse than what the Dark Queen could ever do."
Maia looked at him with blank eyes, "I know about Hicks, I'll deal with Kin as well. He can't hide forever. When Vault finds out about this, even he won't protect Kin from the punishment he deserves."
Leoric closed his eyes, weighing his options before coming to a clear answer.
"I'm not talking about Kin or Hicks… those two were just pawns — like the rest of us." Leaving those words, he walked away. The meaning behind them was clear, it was up to Maia whether she wanted to believe him or not. Now his heart could rest at ease, for he had nothing to hide anymore.
Living lavishly in a sex empire? What a fucking joke. Why strive for a world built on sand when all it takes is just one person to topple it... He would be better off suffering in this corrupt system than die a dog's death at the hands of that man. To have his life ended before he could even see that dream come true.
At least now, he had a chance to survive, and hopefully, have a better life.
"..."
Maia was speechless as she gazed at Leoric. His words resonated within her mind, nudging to the meaning of his words and making her sick to her stomach at the conclusion. She couldn't react, her head filled with doubts and scrambled emotions. It was only when someone tapped her shoulders did she come back to her senses. Turning around, the Princess Knight was faced with a confused Brynn.
"Are you feeling alright, Maia-sama?" She said worriedly.
"A-Ah, it was nothing Brynn, just lost in my thoughts, that's all. By the way, what happened to your…"
Maia pointed at Brynn's stump, which was no longer folded under a layer of bandages. Now, there seemed to be rows of weird inscriptions carved all over it. It resembled a fresh tattoo, yet traces of the wounds from yesterday were gone, not even a layer of scarring was visible.
"I don't know," Brynn said awkwardly, "I was summoned by the Princess Knight after I escorted Gaius safely to a healer. When I reached the main forge and was about to knock… the door opened itself and I was faced with a giant hammer hitting me square on the face."
"..."
The only thing Brynn remembered before losing consciousness was Luu-Luu laughing maniacally, "Sorry about that, poom, I'll be experimenting with your body a bit!" The next thing she knew, it was already morning and she woke up in her room with a splitting headache. By then she noticed her stump was mostly healed with weird symbols and patterns appearing up her shoulders. She tried to wash it off but it proved resilient.
"I just ignored it afterwards and came here."
Maia was speechless, just what the hell did that gremlin do to Brynn!? The patterns were unreadable and whether or not that twerp did some kind of black magic on her.
"Let's make haste, I don't want to stay any longer in this troubling place."
Brynn nodded while Maia headed inside the carriage, since she no longer had her horse. Kaguya was scary enough, she didn't want to stay and find out if the halfling was a bigger danger or not.
Finally with a few days' rest, they finally started the final part of their journey to Feoh.
…Before dealing with the troubling news that Leoric left her.
{Break}
(Outskirts of Geofu)
After sitting inside by herself, Maia was not feeling well. She was bored and felt lonely, looking around as if expecting someone to pop out.
"Is there a reason why we didn't wait for master?" Brynn asked, riding her horse along the moving coach.
"About Archer, I don't think he was present in Geofu in the first place." She said, supporting her head with her right hand as she gazed at the moving scenery.
"He… left us?"
Brynn found this information hard to believe, why would he leave so suddenly? She thought they would travel together for the remainder of the journey!
"Don't be surprised, from the beginning, the man had his own duties to attend to. He came to Eostia for a reason, and it just so happens that it was time we parted ways."
"But he didn't even say goodbye, I don't think he would do such a thing."
True, Archer was a man of his word. But after everything that happened so far, the ambush and Hicks' betrayal — he had a good reason to travel alone. And his final destination was probably not even Feoh. There were so many reasons why he would've left the group early on.
At least the warmth of his touch still lingered all over her body, a bit of comfort for the long road ahead.
"He had his reasons, who are we to say otherwise…" With that, Brynn was unable to retort.
She wondered if they would cross paths again. Maybe he could bring her to visit his kingdom or she could do the same with Thorne and Ansur. However right now she just felt hollow and hoped that by just resting her head against the window, she could drift off and forget this feeling.
"Well, don't I feel special having you talk about me like that."
"—!?"
Both Brynn and Maia jumped in fright when they heard that familiar voice.
"Archer!?"
"Master, you came!"
Peeking his head inside the cabin was none other than the bowman they were talking about though he looked worse for wear for some reason. Messy hair covered in dust, subtle black soot all over his skin, and the fact that he wasn't even wearing that red cloth over his arms. She also noticed his bloodshot and sunken eyes that looked like someone who hadn't slept for days.
"Are you gonna cr—mnf!" Archer couldn't finish his sentence as Maia's mouth covered his. She stayed like that for a few seconds before separating.
"I thought you left us!" The red head said, shaking Archer's shoulders before giving him another kiss.
"I remember promising you on the roof that I would keep you company until we reached Feoh… or at least the border. Now can you stop shaking me? I'm rather tired and would like to take this moment to get some sleep. Also, Brynn, get in here. I have something to give you."
Both girls were confused but complied regardless. The Knight handed over the leash of her horse to one of the Knights before entering the moving carriage.
"Master, I'm glad that you came!" She said cheerfully, glad that she was right to keep faith in him, as she gave her master a quick hug.
"I wouldn't have any modes of transportation if I didn't come… and I don't want to run to another kingdom all day." He said dryly before grabbing a large wooden box. "Now, I'm sure you're curious about those black markings on your stump there."
The brunette nodded her head.
"Yeah, those are Luu-Luu's work, according to her, these markings are a form of magic that basically help bind one material to another. It acts like a lock of sorts, by concentrating you can activate the spell and deactivate it at any time. She managed to engrave it in not only your skin… but your bones as well. Don't ask me how, you'll probably vomit if you knew." He explained, rubbing his eyes, still feeling quite fatigued.
"B-But why…?" Brynn asked, confused about the necessity for such a thing. Even Maia was wondering the same thing.
"Now that you're missing an arm, you'll have to relearn combat from the very beginning — a process which could even take years to master, which none of us time for at the moment. What you used against the assassin is an extremely dangerous style of fighting that you should only use against an opponent that far surpasses in both strength and speed. This suicidal style requires great reflexes and confidence in yourself. You only won because of the surprise factor, the fact that you used your stump to hamper the blade was sheer, stupid luck. Never use it again unless absolutely necessary." He warned.
During his time as a Counter Guardian, Archer accumulated countless swords and weapons from many heroes and powerful figures across the entirety of history. All of their blueprints now existed inside his Reality Marble, allowing him to not only learn the weapon's history and summon copies of them at his will — but also learn the many styles pertaining to them
He even created his own fighting style centered around his magecraft and twin blades. As well as other more riskier and suicidal fighting styles if forced against enemies as strong as Cu Chullain, but these cases were extremely rare. It was thanks to his Mind's Eye that Archer managed to not die during those few moments. Nevertheless, the man would never recommend such a thing to anyone.
It was both idiotic and dangerous.
"The best course of action is to continue practicing like a regular, observe and analyze how you can compensate for your weaknesses by slowly incorporating your own moves. You have other options, weapons such as rapiers are an excellent choice for one-handed combat, giving you speed and distance to attack your enemies. You can ask Maia here to help you out with sparring. But for the most part, this will take time and unfortunately for you, your current skills will have to make do if we find ourselves under attack at this moment." Archer gave her a lengthy explanation, which Brynn made sure to memorize for the future.
"But… how will I continue to practice my regular style with just one arm?"
Archer nodded and brought the wooden case in front of her and slowly opened it.
"With this."
Both girls gasped when they saw the contents inside, eyes sparkling with wonder and disbelief — they had to rub their eyes to ensure they weren't imagining things.
Sitting on a bed of purple cushions were two items.
The first one was a bronze-colored straight sword. With a slight V-shaped guard, the steel blade gave the impression it was scorched with fire. The more intriguing part of it was the hilt where there was some sort of mechanism and lock — almost as if it was meant to be attached to something.
But it was the second item that caught their attention the most.
"This is…"
"Hm, it took the twerp and me all night to craft it. We used everything, nearly melting the entire forge and depleting my Magical Energy several times just to hammer the metal to my specifications. I think by the end of it, Luu-Luu had gone somewhat crazy. I'm sure a quick sleep will return her to her usual self." Archer said with a smirk.
Brynn picked up the metal arm, it had a similar color to the sword including the same scorched fire pattern running across its glossy exterior. It looked like a gauntlet with plated metal armor. At the same length as her other arm, but light enough that she barely felt the weight. On the pauldron, she saw the same pattern that Luu-Luu engraved on her stump.
"This… this…"
The girl was speechless, she'd never seen something like this in her life! It felt so strange to hold, a great amount of effort went into making this.
Maia was equally stunned, her finger touching the metal as she felt the heat coming off of it, almost like it just came out of the forge.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Stop gawking and try it out." Archer urged Brynn, the latter shakily bringing it up to her shoulder and then looking back at him.
"Close your eyes and concentrate. The brat told me that it should lock onto your shoulder with a mental command after you emit a tiny strand of magic over the markings."
She followed his words and concentrated, channeling the blessing she received from the goddess over her arm. Circulating the strand of energy around her body bit by bit till she got enough control of it. She concentrated on the markings and whispered "Bind," before she felt it react.
The metal prosthetic arm moved, its plate overlaying on her shoulders as a slow hiss came from it. The parts clanged together till she felt it become attached securely enough for her to let go of it. The fingers twitched, her pinky finger moved then her index finger followed. A few seconds later, Brynn managed to clench the hand into a fist.
"Woah…" It was amazing, going beyond anything she thought possible.
"Right, looks like it works. Luu-Luu may be quite annoying to deal with but she sure is talented with her craft. Unfortunately, we couldn't really add a sensation of touch to it since we aren't the best in magic enchantment. So you won't feel anything, so still not ideal at the moment until you get another mage to add it for you. These things are not my field of expertise, if I was more knowledgeable — then I would have tried to graft another human arm instead." Archer thought Kirie Kotomine, the only man who could perform such a thing without any imperfection.
Then again, it wasn't like he would ever need that man's help to do such a thing.
Bzzt!
A scene of a young redhead lying down in a pool of blood missing a left arm flashed before his eyes, but it disappeared in a split second.
'Huh, what was that?' Archer wondered, his vision blackening for a bit before returning to normal. His head started to hurt, the thought was at his fingertips but couldn't completely reach for it.
He did not remember such a thing from ever happening to him. Yet why did it feel so familiar?
The more he thought about it, the more pieces of the memory came back. He remembered a shadow, plunging into a mud that corrupted his Spirit Core and then…
'Not now, this memory no longer matters anymore.'
The man returned his attention to Brynn, who was watching her hands clench and open a few more times. Her eyes began to water and her lips were shaking.
Archer couldn't help but smirk at her expression.
"I take it that you liked it."
His response was for Brynn to hug him before starting to cry in his chest.
"Uuuuuh, thank you master! Th-This is the best gift anyone ever gave me!" She said in between her sobs.
"I didn't do much aside from making the metal and sword, the rest was all Luu-Luu. So you can thank her the next time you see her."
He did have the idea to just trace a sword, but Luu-Luu had other ideas with the mechanism and he was worried that it would disappear if they were damaged or under other specific cases. It was safer to just make a new sword with the materials from this world, at least it added a new weapon copy to his ever growing collection.
"Alright, now spend your time to familiarize yourself with it. Now I really need some sleep."
With that said, Archer brushed Brynn away before jumping out of the window and getting on the roof of the coach. He yawned, before laying down — closing his eyes as he began to ponder on his past memories. There were just so many different versions and timelines that he stopped caring at some point. But that didn't mean he wanted to forget them, some of these memories contained events that were vital to him… Even if it was just a glimpse, he would make sure to never forget.
Though before he left, Archer didn't miss Maia's words.
"You're a real hero, ain't ya Emiya."
Hm, he wondered if Maia would still say that if she knew what he was about to do in the coming days.
----------
The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, ??????, and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.