Humanity's Hero Of Despair

The food is even more delicious as I can feel my hunger pains fading away.

We are all eating in the dining hall, which is now even more crowded than before with the addition of King Grey's travel party. There are so many people now the Emperor had to have additional rooms set up for eating. He also hired more people to become staff to make sure everybody is taken care of properly.

He told us having unhappy knights or knights on an empty stomach never ends well.

You can't argue with that kinda logic.

I take another bite of food as Leena elbows Matteo for the fun of it. We laugh as Neve lightly teases Matteo for almost setting himself on fire. Matteo teases back, saying he is going to roast all of us until we become as crisp as fried chicken.

King Grey and the Emperor talk nicely to each other as they discuss personal things unrelated to the war and all the issues going on in the world. King Grey expresses to all of us how he enjoys the game chess and has played many games against Quillen for fun.

Quillen proudly tells all of us he always won against the King. For the first time, Quillen teases the King and laughs as he says he should be King instead.

That makes me almost spit out my water.

After having a pleasant dinner, everybody starts to head to their rooms to sleep. I am not quite that tired yet, so I asked Ivy if she wanted to go to the Imperial Garden with me. She smiles sweetly, her eyes twinkling with that lovely light. Without a second thought, she grabs my hand and we are off to the garden.

The garden is beautiful. Especially as the colorful flowers look beautiful against the moonlight. Ivy and I walk hand in hand, slowly through the garden as we just share each other's presence. Soon I come upon some beautiful crimson roses. I tell Ivy to close her eyes and turn around.

My fingers gently pick up a few of the roses from the ground. My earth magic makes the roses feel more fresh. My light magic adds in a bit more of a glow to them. The glow reminding me of the sparkle of her smile.

"You can turn around now, beautiful."

She turns around, her hair falling softly on her shoulders as she completes her turn. She places her hands on mine that has the roses in it. I place my other hand gently on hers as I softly brush my thumb affectionately against her smooth skin.

"These are for you, baby. I love you."

"I love you too, silly."

Ivy says to me as her eyes light up with that sparkle that made me fall for her. She steps forward, closer to me, our noses brushing against each other. Her touch calms me down. Her warmth blends into mine as I draw her in close, pull her in with my hands on her cheeks, for a long kiss, not wanting it to ever end. Do you know what it feels like to truly be one? Well, now I do.

We slowly end our kiss as our lips part. We open our eyes as both of our elemental sphere necklaces begin to glow. My necklace glows purple as it transforms the mana in the air with light purple energy. Her necklace glows light green as the same thing happens to her. Green and purple mana mix together in the air. Then it's gone as soon as it started.

We both look amazed at each other.

That was pretty cool. It is so beautiful when different magic elements come together to coexist or be one. Ivy gently takes the roses from my hand and holds my hand with the other so we can walk together again.

We find the bench we first sat at when we first discovered the Imperial Garden. The bench feels cool against our backs as we sit against it. Ivy leans her head against my shoulder. The sounds of nature fill the night air as we look at the stars above us. No clouds. No people talking. Just us and the presence of the peaceful night.

As I gaze at the stars, I think to myself about all the people we lost. Hopefully, they are up there.

Happy. Protecting us from evil. We can only hope that is true.

"Do you think they are up there, beautiful? Watching over us?"

Ivy shifts her body until her head is in my lap. She looks at me with a soft gaze.

"Yes. I truly believe they are up there just waiting for us. Protecting us in the meantime from any future threats. Watching over us. They will always be in our hearts. They are a part of us."

She says to me as I look at her. In response, I smile and look back up at the stars.

"I truly hope so."

We continue just sharing each other's presence for a while, not thinking about anything in particular. I feel Ivy slightly shiver as the night grows colder. I lean forward slightly and take off my jacket. I lay it across her body, making sure she is bundled up.

"Better?"

I ask, making sure she is okay. She nods while smiling in thanks. A few more minutes go by and then I start to feel the coldness truly setting in. I decide it's time to head to our bedroom before it gets any colder. I gently pick Ivy up and princess carry her back to our bedroom as I can tell she is super tired still.

Once we make it back to the room, I place her gently on the bed as I pull the covers up to her shoulders, making sure she is as snug as a bug. I kiss her forehead softly and then go to my side of the bed. I place my wands on my nightstand and take a sip of water from my water glass.

This night is perfect and peaceful.

I wonder what tomorrow brings. Let's hope it doesn't create us more pain.