Beta read by Shigiya, Fluffy Slayer and DOOMRAIDER
So, this is the final chapter before we loop back to the prologue timeline. So y'all be prepared, because everything after this is gonna be crazy!
Next update: Broly
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-Cave, unknown location-
The rain was incessant, lasting longer than expected.
It had been some time since the downpour began. The sky had become a cacophony of nimbus clouds and thunder. Beyond that, there was nothing much to see, no less the constellations. Yet it didn't damper Archer's mood one bit.
For one thing it was quiet, a godsend for him after all the chaos he went through. Not to mention the musty, earthy odor from the mold growing in the caves blended well with the crisp sizzling of the campfire, providing a momentary sensation of relief for him.
Free of the despair and trauma within his heart, it was in these moments that he could truly experience contentment. He wasn't going to reminisce about his mission nor the past he had long forgotten, including the faces of the people he once knew.
Scouting the area before the rain settled in, he made sure to seek out her trail and the location of her previous encampment. Following the river towards the West, he found a larger body of water connected to a waterfall. That was roughly the same route he was going to take tomorrow, so dropping her off there would kill two birds with one stone.
"..."
Distracted from his thoughts, he opened one eye to see a warm blanket being placed over his body. Gazing over, Archer saw a certain timid pink-haired Princess Knight looming over him while still soaking wet in that revealing dress of hers.
"What are you doing?" He said, scaring the girl as she probably thought that he had fallen asleep.
"A-Ah, I… I th-thought you would c-catch a cold…" she stuttered, not knowing what to do under his scrutinizing gaze. "I-I'm sorry!" Prim bowed her head, a gesture that made him sigh exasperatedly.
From every Princess Knight he met so far, including Maia and Luu-Luu, his initial impressions were that they were quite forward and audacious with the way they talked to others. Since this girl mentioned that she was one herself, he expected a similar personality, but it turned out to be the complete opposite. She was adamant about not being a nuisance even though her hands were shaking from the cold. The thought of taking off her clothes in front of him embarrassed her to no end. Still he wasn't her guardian, so whether she complied or not mattered little to him. There was also the possibility that Princess Knights couldn't get sick due to their nature, but that was just a theory.
"I'm not the one wet and injured, you need to look out for yourself first instead of me." Raising his hand, Archer projected another blanket twice as big and dropped it on her head. "I'll be fine, so focus on healing your wounds… or what remains to be healed."
Her bones had partially healed by now, something that shocked him as he just performed a Structural Analysis scan an hour ago. It wasn't outright regeneration, since it still required another day to fully mend. But the cuts all across her body had disappeared after a full meal, face all rosy with a healthy glow as well. From what he saw with Maia, even she couldn't recover this swiftly. Same goes for Luu-Luu who was very durable — even becoming his punching bag without getting injured for a bit.
"I'll be fine," she said. "We Princess Knight have the blessing of our goddess to keep us protected from such things. I couldn't have my savior suffer while I just sit here!"
Well for one, she certainly was quite caring.
"I wouldn't go so far as to call myself your savior. Your body just floated by as I was eating my meal… half of which you ate by the way." A part of him suspected that she would have survived regardless of whether he helped her out or not.
"You helped heal my legs!"
"I just immobilized them for better healing."
He wondered which Kingdom she was from, maybe Feoh or Ur? Maia was never clear on the rest of the Shields aside from Kaguya and Claudia. He learned about Alicia from his own research and from Jint, the story of his son having suffered as a soldier under the Shield's command was still fresh in his mind. Maia herself was quite open about Alicia's rather infamous reputation with men.
But there was one thing he knew about Prim.
"You know, the only reason why I saved you is because I didn't want to get mauled by your cousin Alicia Arcturus. If by misfortune she couldn't find you and stumbled upon me — then I would probably be incarcerated on the spot." Not that he would let them do it like what happened back in Ken. Archer now had all the information he needed and would just push them aside by force if needed to.
Prim's face noticeably dimmed, her eyes looking downwards and a sad expression settled on her face. She couldn't refute his words, no matter how much she loved her cousin there was still no denying her flawed opinion of certain people.
"I'm sorry, I swear that Onee-sama isn't a bad person. She's honest, beautiful and one of the most amazing people I know in all of Eostia. She's very loving and protective if you get to know her and is also very honorable."
Archer noted how she called her cousin Onee-sama despite them not being siblings, though he ignored it as it wasn't uncommon for some people to do so.
"Hard to imagine given her reputation in the other kingdoms. Hn, I'm a foreigner and I wasn't spared from all kinds of details. So forgive me if I don't take your words to heart, given how I'm a man myself." Giving some thought he was sure the girl had her good sides but so did everyone. If she posed a danger to him and to his goals then he wouldn't hesitate to consider her an enemy.
Each and every word coming from his mouth had an impact on Prim's mood. She couldn't deny them as they were all truthful in the end.
"It's… Onee-sama hasn't always been like that." Events of the past emerged in her mind, taking her back to a couple of years ago in Feoh when both of them were still getting used to their roles as rulers of their kingdoms. "Back when she was training to become a Knight, she used to be a lot less… aggressive you could say."
Archer could see what was coming from a mile away. These kinds of stories always came with tragic backstories, he had heard them countless times from both his time as a Counter Guardian and a Servant. Nevertheless, he didn't interrupt her and continued to listen attentively. Getting any sort of information from the Princess Knights, personal or public was an advantage in both cases.
"This was before when Onee-sama first started her training with Claudia-sama, back when the responsibility of ruling a kingdom lay with our parents." At the same time, they used to play together nearly every day, going near the waterfall and playing hide and seek. It was a simpler time, when they had little to worry about… still ignorant of the Dark Queen's threat.
"We used to hang out with other people quite often, going to countless balls, ceremonies, and even a few important meetings with other noble families. At that time, she had many friends who we trusted with our lives… some were weird like Michelle, and a few only hung around us due to our status now that I think about it."
"That is to be expected," Archer spoke, catching her attention. "Power attracts people of all kinds, most you meet will see your familial lineage and status first before noticing the individual in front of them. Others may want to befriend you just to curry favor with your family and possibly court you."
Prim giggled, covering her mouth with a dainty hand.
"You are spot on, they all wanted to take Alicia's or my hand in marriage." Since this world was set in the middle ages, he guessed that people acquiring standing and power through weddings were quite common here. This kind of behavior was also heavily present in the Moonlight world back in his world. "Of course, we ignored all of them for obvious reasons. Some of them were old enough to be our grandfather."
Prim continued her story.
"At first, Onee-sama wasn't suspicious of them… we trusted all of them like family. After all, we knew every single of them for our entire life. But everything turned for the worse during a party one of her friends invited her to. She expected something more formal, an event serving as a means to congratulate her friend for his achievement of becoming a commander under Ur's army. A prestigious position that not many could achieve, the best anyone can do is become a high-ranking member of the Church of Celestine."
Like the Dawn Templars, a unit under the command of the Church that accepts both men and women before having them undergo an intense training regime. From what he understood so far, many were people who failed to get Celestine's blessing and didn't choose the route of a nun. Though their strength could not compare, they more than made it up in numbers.
"I take it that things did not proceed well for her."
She shook her head, "No, it did not. She was quite adamant at first to remain there for only an hour or two but many insisted that she stay longer. Back then, she relented when they mentioned that Vault-sama would attend the party as well. Out of everyone, that man was someone my sist—cousin respected a lot. Probably not as much as Claudia-sama but close enough."
Well, that didn't sound good at all, Archer hadn't yet talked to the guy nor did he wish to in the future — but he had a good grasp on what kind of person he was. A man twisted by the evils of the world, having seen the darkest of humanity and succumbing to its corruption and becoming a monster himself. He gestured at Prim to continue her story, looking outside and seeing the rain beginning to subside.
"I do not know the details after that, as Onee-sama doesn't remember much herself. But she started becoming dizzy and weaker the longer she stayed there. In the end, having barely any strength to even walk properly she asked someone for help."
"She was drugged," he stated, having Prim agree to his statement.
"Someone approached my cousin and brought her inside a room, beginning to disrobe her immediately while she lay there paralyzed. He touched her extensively, groped her body in ways that I can't say…" Her eyes turned blank for a moment, devoid of any emotions. Archer couldn't pinpoint it, but something felt… off about that expression of hers.
"Was she raped?" That would explain her hate for the opposite gender, though if it was something as such then Maia would have told him at some point. Maybe it was a secret between them… but his conclusion was immediately thrown out of the window with Prim's following words.
"Almost, she was held by force on the bed but managed to recover her senses long enough to activate her blessing and escape the room. It was only thanks to Beardsley rushing to my house, he was injured from dealing with the people who tried to take advantage of Alicia, we both searched the estate and found her huddled behind a statue of Celestine."
"Beardsley?"
"He's Alicia's family's main advisor and basically the one who took care of her since she was born." She explained, having taken a seat next to him and unconsciously leaning her body onto him. "Ever since that day, her attitude towards men worsened, Celestine-sama and Claudia-sama tried to help her recover but it was all futile — despite our best efforts. Now she worries that I could end up in a similar case, coupled with what happened after my parents died, I guess I can understand why she's like that."
"What about those who drugged her?"
"A few days later, Beardsley personally asked for Vault-sama's aid to capture and execute every single one of them… I made sure to help out as well." Again, another weird feeling came from the girl sitting next to him. The way her tone changed when she said that was too dark and emotionless. Whatever the case, this girl wasn't as innocent as her face made her out to be.
"Quite unexpected for you to open up so much to a stranger you just met." Archer noted, finding it weird how she didn't hesitate to divulge everything so easily. He didn't sense any lies so far, which was quite surprising.
Prim smiled, "I'm not worried about it, most of this is already commonly known, even amongst the people... And Archer-san isn't a bad person, or else I wouldn't be here right now."
Though they just met, it left a bad taste in her mouth to knowingly let her savior leave with a bad impression of Alicia, whom she considered her most cherished. Yet deep down, she feared the thought of being viewed in a bad light by Archer. Because for the first time in her life, she had someone besides Beardsley whom she could talk to with such openness and comfort.
Archer chuckled, "You're weird, trusting someone so easily for just such a minor thing. I don't know if I should call you naive or foolish."
"You can call me both," she said unhesitatingly. "But if it allows me to… experience having a conversation with you without the feeling of constantly being under surveillance or locked inside a castle — then I don't mind it."
"..."
Seeing his eyes widening like that brought her more joy than she expected. His stoic face and exotic features were mesmerizing to look at. Now she wanted to see more, the foreign feeling inside her growing every second they sat so closely together.
There was no one to stop her.
No one to critique her actions.
No one calling her intentions childish.
It was… an addicting sensation.
"May I know more about you, Archer-san?" Prim asked, growing curious about his story and origin.
He pondered on what to tell her, there wasn't anything pushing him to reveal anything. Just like he did with Maia, Luu-Luu and basically anyone he met in this world — he decided to remain vague.
"What is it that piqued your interest? I'm just an outsider with a goal in mind.. Once that's done I'll be returning to whence I came. ."
The smile on her face dimmed a little, but she didn't want to show the inexplicable sadness she felt from hearing that. She shouldn't feel this way, it was normal for the man to continue his journey after all that he has done to save her. He had no obligation to remain with her, just strangers who crossed paths .
"That's… that's unfortunate," she said, trying to act natural by smiling. "Are you sure you don't want to return with me to Feoh? I can show you around the city, there are many beautiful sights with stunning views to see as well as popular attractions." An undertone of desperation filled her tone, she was hoping for the man to second guess his decision and agree with her.
"I'm positive, I have wasted enough time in the past before meeting you. Though it was necessary to some extent, some of those circumstances were easily avoidable." There were times he asked himself why he bothered to remain with Maia and Brynn back then. The transports, maps, and living conditions, all of these were mostly just excuses he gave himself to prolong his time here to the max before his inevitable return to Alaya's domain.
"That's very unfortunate, I'm sure you would have loved my home Kingdom of Ur."
"Something tells me that I wouldn't survive the journey there with your cousin around. Her past is an unfortunate case which I can understand, but that still doesn't excuse her current faults that harm many."
"Fair… "
For the remainder of their time, they continued to talk about other subjects to brighten up the mood. Prim brought up her passion for music and painting, activities she loved to do since her childhood. The girl kept asking Archer about his origins from time to time, wanting to learn more yet getting vague answers instead. The questions even touched on his cooking skills, something she was curious about since she couldn't fathom how something so simple could be packed with so much flavor.
"The fish? I just stuck it on a stick and used some herbs I foraged from the forest. It wasn't anything noteworthy and the taste was okay at best, not my finest work though. I'd even call it average."
"Average!?" Prim shouted in disbelief, unable to comprehend his words. "B-But you're the one who made it! Even the finest cooks in all of Feoh and Ur never came so close to making such a delicious dish!"
"Again, literally just a fish on a stick. I know some restaurants and Inns in Eostia that serve better food." A certain young red-headed girl with long curly hair, who frequently tripped over due to her clumsy nature came to mind.
Prim still couldn't believe it.
"Impossible, I've traveled to all seven kingdoms for countless official meetings and events. Yet I have never gone to any establishment that served anything close to what you've fed me."
"That's probably because the Emerald Inn isn't really a place you would consider for such important meetings and it's mostly frequented by adventurers and mercenaries. I would have been shocked if you had known such a place." He then told her about some of the dishes he taught to Alice, describing their taste, ingredients, and how the local people loved them. He was sure that the girl became a better cook now, with Bianca probably helping her with services and Jint manning the bookkeeping and reservations.
He saw Prim looking at him in awe, eyes twinkling like stars. Saliva built up in her mouth as she unconsciously gulped, her hunger growing in intensity as Archer spoke about various cuisines and dishes he ate or cooked so far.
Brrrrrrrr!
Her stomach growled in hunger once more.
"Ah…" her blush came back with a vengeance, turning the poor girl's into a tomato from pure embarrassment and shame. Her intention to showcase her pure and noble image was shattered in a second, betrayed by her own body. "T-That wasn't me!" She lied, hoping he would believe her.
Unfortunately, it was obvious where the sound came from and he just gave her a dry look.
"Then I guess there is a hungry ghost lurking in our midst, eavesdropping on our conversation."
"..."
"..."
"I'm sorry!"
Archer sighed before getting up on his feet and walking outside the cave where the rain had stopped. The clouds parted way to show a full moon, hundreds of stars all shining bright in the sky above.
"A-Archer-san, where are you going?" Prim asked, looking curiously at the figure outside.
"Going to catch something to eat, I won't be long. The last thing I want is to be kept awake by a loud rumbling stomach."
She wanted to stop him from going through such a hassle for her. He has already done so much and didn't want to become a burden for the man. But before she could utter a word, the memory of the fish she ate resurfaced. The explosion of flavor she felt on her tongue was addictive. Not to mention that in the corner of her mind, a small voice was pushing her to take advantage of this opportunity for something else…
"May… I accompany you, Archer-san?" She asked innocently. "Please?"
He nodded, "I was planning on bringing you with me anyways, there is a possibility that predators might pass by here if you were left alone."
Overwhelmed with joy, Prim did her best to fight off the grin and blush that were appearing on her facade. The girl extended her hands towards him, like a child wanting to be picked up, eagerness evident on her face.
"I checked over your injuries, they should have healed enough for you to at least walk by yourself."
"It still hurts," Prim used the same pleading gaze she used on Alicia on many occasions. It worked as he came over to her and picked up the girl from the ground, making her giggle at his expression. "Thank you."
"Both polite and thankful, what a rare combination."
With that said, they both headed back into the woods, while she held onto his back. Unnoticed by Archer, Prim's face was against his neck as she indulged in a feeling she only felt with Alicia before.
'His scent…'
This was the first time she came so close to a man after the death of her father. It felt so different and unique to her. Her arms clenched tighter around his body, the sensation of his muscles and scent making her brain turn lightheaded for a bit. Just as with Alicia, this feeling was so… addicting.
{Break}
-Alicia's camp-
The blonde Shield was a mess.
After getting much-needed sleep, she woke up the next morning to a more organized base after Claudia took command, with the Knights on various tasks around the camp.
"Sara, you'll be in charge of group A and lead them towards the East side of the forest. Proceed with caution as my investigation found traces of ice bears footprints and amber wolves in the vicinity." The elder Princess Knight shouted at the dark-haired girl, the latter nodding her head and began moving out immediately.
"Amelia, you'll be doing the same but in the North."
One by one, she separated everyone into different groups and gave them a specific location to scout. She herself had planned to travel to the base of the waterfall and search out every single path the water branches out to. Given her superior speed and stamina, this wouldn't take long and she hoped to find the girl soon.
"Prim's still not here," she heard Alicia's voice from behind, turning around as she saw the girl looking worriedly in the distant forest. Guilt and fear were evident in her eyes as she clenched her fists.
"This is my fault… I should have listened to Prim, given her what she wanted instead of ignoring her." She began crying for the first time, her knees giving out as she fell to the ground. "I failed her, I-I failed Prim! I… I don't…"
Given how many days have passed, she feared the worst might have happened to her. The forest was filled with dangerous animals and deadly environments, for Prim who never experienced such a thing…
"Calm yourself, Alicia!" Claudia came with a stern voice, forcing the girl back on her feet. "You can cry and despair after we found the girl. Putting yourself down serves us no purpose other than wasting time which could be used on finding Prim." She wiped her tears and gave the girl a small chop on the head like she used to do years ago when Alicia was just a small child.
"Get ready, you look like a mess. We want you to look presentable when Prim sees you. Imagine how much she'll hate herself if she finds out that the only person she ever considered as family and her guardian broke down so easily."
Claudia's words seemed to have an effect on her as she stopped crying and got a hold of herself. Her armor was loose, showing parts that shouldn't be shown in public, so after a quick adjustment from the brunette — she now looked better.
"What is our plan?" Alicia asked, hoping for her mentor to accomplish what she couldn't.
"We will organize a search party, you and I will scout the different river channels and try to find Prim. I have already found a path leading down the waterfall and if we hurry then we should be there in about five minutes." Claudia explained, watching the sun's placement. It was still very early in the morning and every second counted.
"Can we… Can we ask for Celestine-sama's help?" It wasn't farfetched to think that Celestine could be helpful with their search.
Claudia couldn't help but grimace on the inside, Celestine has been acting very weirdly lately. Secluding herself to her chambers and tasking her subordinates to find a certain person from her vision. When asked about the details of this vision and whether the boy she saw in her vision had any connections to Olga, she heavily denied it, stating that the boy was an innocent soul that would never hurt anyone.
'She's becoming far too obsessed with this boy, it's even having an effect on her state of mind. It won't be possible for her to attend to the duties within her Kingdom and Eostia.'
Truth be told, Claudia was beginning to worry about her longtime friend. Especiallythe last time she visited Celestine from her recent trip, the goddess was a wreck, to say the least. Crying and horrified over something she saw, murmuring "He didn't deserve to die." Or "They killed him, he was innocent." every second for the past hour.
Of course, she made sure no one in the palace witnessed their goddess' current state. Everyone was given the news that she was in the middle of an important vision that would help the Kuroinu in taking down Olga — so no one dared to disturb her anymore.
Kaguya was called to remain by her side to comfort the woman and to find out what exactly was happening with her.
"Celestine-sama is busy with matters concerning Olga. Again, she would have mentioned it if Prim's life was in any danger at all. We better not disturb her when we're so close to ending this accursed war." She hated having to lie for such a thing, it felt like she was betraying their trust. But this was for everyone's sake, in such a crucial period with their war against Olga reaching its end — the last thing people wanted was for their goddess to break down like this.
"I see… that's to be expected, I guess." Alicia said, looking disappointed and frustrated.
This only made it worse for Claudia.
"Come on, have something to eat while we—"
"—INTRUDER!"
One of the guards shouted before blowing a loud horn to alert everyone in the camp. Both Shields moved quickly towards the source of the voice, expecting to fight a monster or an invading demon army. They have heard details about the onslaught Maia faced previously, but were doubtful it could happen again — Yet the possibility was still there.
Sara was returning with her group when they heard the sound of the horn and immediately proceeded to draw their bows and arrows.
"Onee-sama!" Alicia heard the voice she dreaded to never hear again.
"Prim!"
Alicia's face changed drastically when she saw the familiar pink-haired girl waving at her with a giant smile on her face. An immense amount of joy and happiness surfaced in her eyes, and just as she was about to run over to her — she heard someone else's voice beside Prim.
"Wow, I never expected such a grandiose welcome." The man next to her said sarcastically, usurping Alicia's gaze from Prim.
The joy inside her eyes was soon replaced with fury as she saw this unknown man standing next to Prim with his hands on her waist. Coupled with what looked like a mostly healed injury on her leg and traces of blood, she assumed the worst.
"What did you do to Prim?! Give her back you monster!"
"Alicia, wait!"
"Onee-sama!"
To the surprise of many, Alicia rushed at him with her sword held firmly in her hand, ready to strike him down. She ignored everyone around her, including Claudia's orders. With rage consuming her mind, she wouldn't stop til her cousin was saved from this heathen.
Back with Archer and Prim, the latter was impressed with how short the girl's fuse was. She didn't even attempt to talk and immediately jumped to conclusions before coming at him with murderous intent.
"Would you look at that, she's even worse than I imagined." He said, unable to help himself from smirking a bit. Now, this was the standard greetings he was used to from Princess Knights, whether it be Maia, Luu-Luu, and now her. In due time they all came at him armed to the teeth.
Though this one most likely wanted to decapitate him with one strike.
Next to him, Prim was panicking, she didn't expect to see Claudia nor see Alicia react so violently. "Onee-sama, don't attack him! He saved my life!" Trying to reason with her seemed to fail as Alicia's bloodlust eyes were locked onto Archer. She was panicking, maybe wanting to introduce her savior, and begging Alicia to convince him to stay was a bad idea.
"Don't bother arguing with her, just look at her face. I may as well be an Orc intent on raping you or something." He spoke calmly despite the girl being halfway towards their location. She certainly had speed, her figure blurring as she ran at a rate greater than Maia and anything he'd seen in this world. Still not as fast as him but impressive nonetheless.
'I'm already close to where I need to be. I don't have time nor the desire to deal with this bunch any longer.'
He grabbed Prim by the cloak she was wearing and lifted her up in the air with a bit of reinforcement.
"E-Eh, A-Archer-san?" The girl was confused by his action, she tried to get answers but was met with a simple smile on his face.
"Sorry about this, but you'll have to become my human shield and weapon for a bit… let's hope you don't die."
This only proved to further enrage Alicia as she expected him to hurt Prim. "I'm going to cut you down!!!!!" She shrieked, almost reaching the man before he did something that forced her to stop.
"You can try and kill me after catching her."
With a single move, Archer flung Prim high up in the air, aimed directly at Alicia.
"KYAAAHHH!!!!!!!" Shouting from fright, everyone gasped in horror as Prim was hurdled in the air. None were as shaken as Alicia, who dropped both her bloodlust and her swords in order to catch Prim.
"Oof!"
Bam!
Both girls fell to the ground, Alicia having used her body as a shield to make sure no harm came to Prim. in the end, both ended up rolling near Claudia's feet, the latter helping them to recover from the fall.
It might have been dirty and calculated, but the result was a success. Both the shields and knights were distracted and Prim wasn't hurt at all. A better outcome than fighting them off using physical force. Turning around, he wanted to leave before being shot by arrows.
"W-Wait, Archer-san!" Hearing her call, he gazed back to see the girl wearing a complicated expression on her face. "Thank you for saving me!"
He did not know why, but hearing those words had a bigger effect on him than he expected. "Take care of yourself Prim, say hi to Maia and Brynn for me." He couldn't help but give the girl one last smirk before leaving for Olga's territory — The location of his main target as well as Kin, who he failed to kill before. This time, there will be no distractions or amnesty, only corpses..
"Shoot him down before he escapes!" Alicia shouted, but no one could do anything as Archer had long since disappeared. "Everyone! Find this man and bring me his corpse!"
"Onee-sama, he saved m—"
"He tried to kill you just now! I'm not going to let such a monster live!"
"Enough!" Claudia decided to take control of matters before they took a turn for the worse. "Alicia, bring her to your tent and clean her up. Make sure to tend to her wounds as well, we don't want anything bad to happen." She then called off the girls who were prepared to run after Archer. "All of you, start dismantling the camp, we will return to Feoh by sundown. I don't want anyone wasting their time on this futile search!We'll find him later, but now we focus on safeguarding the princess. Understood!?"
"Yes!"
Alicia wanted to protest her decision and go after the man herself, but the glare she got from the older Princess Knight calmed her down swiftly. Not wanting to disobey her, she grabbed Prim and headed back to the camp.
Meanwhile, Claudia gazed at the area where the man stood before with Prim. The image of his face left a weight in her mind.
"That man… he looks far too familiar." His features weren't Eostian but it felt like she had seen his face from somewhere. White hair, grey eyes that reminded her of steel and tanned skin… she was certain she never met someone like him but the image of a certain boy Celestine had been obsessing over resurfaced in her mind.
"It can't be… they don't look anything alike and he's far older."
Maybe he was related to the boy.
Perhaps Alicia's suggestion to capture this man called Archer holds weight. But she would do this on her own after returning to Feoh.
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Archer will face Alicia again, now he just doesn't have the time with you know what happening soon
The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn 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.