Odyssey of the Guardian Emperor

Two hours later, Alaric collapsed on the ground next to a stationary, observant Grun'am, panting heavily. His breath came out in silent spurts, like he'd just run a marathon, got tired halfway, then forced himself to sprint the rest of it, yet still somehow managing to retain that part of him that didn't want to look bad in front of his friends—he was failing miserably.

Lucy, who had been seated beside the nonchalant Heaven-Crested eagle, approached Alaric with a bottle of water. He took it, thanking the silver-haired girl with what looked like a grateful grimace.

LionHeart stood over the boy, rolling his eyes, "You can't be that exhausted."

Alaric sat up and gulped down some water, still panting, "The Dance of the Sword… didn't use to hurt this much. Either I'm out of touch or you've grown a lot stronger than I remember."

"Or you're still recovering from the battle in Melbourne," Lucy offered a third solution. Silently, she added, "Any progress on my guardian's bond?"

Alaric's eyes snapped wide. "Alia?" he desperately called on the guardian.

The shadows at his feet bubbled, and from them, a knight rose, drowning the surrounding area in an aura so oppressive that even Alaric frowned with worry. "Are you okay?"

"No," the guardian huffed dismissively, "What is it?"

Now Alaric was curious about how to ask the guardian for help. The chances of a positive or direct answer plummeted when she was like this, "How do I fix her bond?"

"You figured out how to help Finn with his Job Clash on your own, and you're asking me about this? Just do the opposite of what you do when you're severing bonds and adopting strays. It's already noisy enough in there as it is," Alia responded, then walked away to a pair of women duking it out.

"What's her problem?" Lucy wondered.

"I wish I knew," Alaric watched the guardian walk away with a curious expression, then turned to Lucy, "In any case, she gave me a clue, so let's meet in LionHeart's room this evening."

"Why mine?" the protector suddenly asked.

"Because a girl's space is private… or at least that's what Sister Marla and Darla used to say," Alaric answered, "In any case, we'll figure this out then."

The girl nodded, "Thank you. Grun'am wanted to know if you know every style of fighting in existence."

"No, I…" Grun'am had just started when Alaric answered.

"I wouldn't say that. Fighting styles are always emerging. The Dance of the Sword covers a wide range of fighting styles," Alaric spoke as they turned to watch Alia talking to Scarlett and Kair'ak on the other side of the golden statue of a spinmaster, "And since it's built from the fundamentals, mastering it all would get me close to having a counter for every style."

"Have you mastered it all?" Grun'am asked.

"Not really," Alaric answered, "I recently learnt that different weapons work better with different variations of the Dance of the Sword, so I still have a lot to learn."

They were brought to a tense silence when the two ladies, Alia and Kair'ak, suddenly gave the knight some distance and got into their fighting stances. For this one, Kair'ak would be using both her arms.

With a signal from the knight, the battle began. Kair'ak and Scarlett were on top of her in an instant, attacking with the full might of the Stone and Wood Temper ranks. Alia weaved between their attacks with relative ease as she gauged their abilities—a fact only Alaric had noticed.

At first, it looked like an innocent, balanced battle before Alia casually blocked the heel of Kair'ak's foot with her palm, withstanding a pressure that sent a gust of wind out through the courtyard.

The trio then burst into a flurry of swift, destructive attacks, sending constant waves of tremors through the courtyard and capturing the attention of everyone present.

"That guardian can go against a Steel Rank, can't she?" Grun'am paled.

"Yes… Yes, she can," Alaric responded. Watching the guardian fight, Alaric couldn't help but feel conflicted. Was she back, or was she just tired of resting inside the In-Between?

Seeing as Alaric was still tired, LionHeart turned to Grun'am, "Mind sparring with me? I'll go easy on you."

"Humans are so arrogant," Grun'am scoffed, "I'll humour you. Let's see how well you fight like a Sentinel."

They left Alaric with Lucy, who remained quiet for a short while before Alaric turned to his shadow, "Come, clone of mine."

The shadows at his feet bubbled, and from it, a white clone appeared, a devilish smirk on his face, which was an odd expression to be seen on Alaric's face, white or not. Lucy felt goosebumps run down her arms just looking at it.

"If you called on me, then things must be going quite badly," the clone chuckled.

"You know what I want from you," Alaric rolled his eyes. He put his hand over the copper bracelet and retrieved a mask from it, "Take the Face Mask in case you need a disguise, but don't get caught."

"And the vines?" the clone asked.

"I've already started on those. Feel free to use them however you wish," Alaric answered, "I want everything there is to know about that prince."

"Understood," the clone bowed, then vanished from sight.

"You're suspicious of Rail'ak?" Lucy asked.

"I'm just playing it safe."

…………………

The evening passed by in a haze. LionHeart ended up with more bruises than Alaric had ever seen on his person. Had it not been for the boy's interference, it would have gotten worse.. Even then, it was clear to see that Grun'am was holding back.

Grun'am then offered to check up on Troy to see how far he'd gone and bring him back for dinner at the Pantheon.

Meanwhile, everyone else retired to their rooms to freshen up, and before long, they were having supper in a large mess hall inside the Pantheon, which up until then, they hadn't realised was a lot bigger on the inside.

The mess hall was stocked with food lined on three long tables. At the sight of it, Alaric and his friends were stunned. The Pantheon was rarely used, which meant no one would be joining them to eat the massive serving of food.

Alaric was the first to sit and the first to start eating. He ate slowly and elegantly, but never once did he stop to entertain a conversation that was too long, so as supper went on and Troy came in to join them, the food around Alaric just kept vanishing into his abyssal belly.

[ You should limit yourself, master. ] WorldHammer warned.

[ I'll be fine, WorldHammer. ]

Alaric's gluttonous eating was a process no one seemed to notice until the boy put his knife and fork down with a heavy sigh of relief, "Ah! That hit the spot."

"It didn't have a choice," Lucy grimaced. At least eight empty plates could be seen littered around him. "Does this mean we can head up to LionHeart's room?"

"Just give me a moment," Alaric answered, then attempted to stand up. His face paled.

"I think that food hit more than one spot," LionHeart tried to hold his chuckles, but the red flush in Alaric's cheeks made it impossible. He'd eaten himself into an immovable state of satisfaction. LionHeart and Lucy wouldn't stop laughing after that.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Scarlett found herself intrigued by the company of Kair'ak and Alia. She'd bonded with Kair'ak during their first stay in the Barren Mountains, a time during which the demihuman had taught her to focus on her own strength.

However, once she realised it was Alia who'd trained Alaric, well… the guardian gained a new student, and the copper-haired girl gained a second teacher. Kair'ak was more than happy to learn from the knight as well.

An hour after the meal, Alaric checked the items on his list of things to do. Troy was back, but as he closer he got closer to the end of his meal, the heavier his eyelids grew. Grun'am offered to take him to his room once he was done eating, which left Alaric with only two things to think about: The Seance and Lucy's guardian.

Seeing as the High Sentinel wasn't around, he pushed the Seance to the back of his mind. It wasn't long before digestion allowed him the freedom to move again.

"Lucy, I think we can get started on your guardian."

"Okay then," she responded, "What about Troy?"

"Grun'am will take care of him," Alaric responded, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His gaze never once landed on his guardian as they made for the door.

Scarlett called back when she noticed them leave, "Where are you guys going?"

"LionHeart's room," Alaric responded without glancing back, and they were gone, drowning the mess hall in an awkward silence.

At the far end of the table, Grun'am shook a sleepy Troy back to his senses and patiently watched the boy struggle to get on with his meal. He'd given up on convincing the boy to get some sleep first and had resigned to helping him stay alert.

Kair'ak cleared her throat, breaking the silence that overtook the girls, "Forgive me for overstepping, but does it feel like he's been ignoring you? I mean, other than when he summoned you, the two of you haven't as much as looked at each other."

"We're… not yet back on good terms," Alia replied indifferently.

The air in the room went colder, letting them all know not to ask questions, and yet, Kair'ak still spoke up, "That's hard to believe. I've heard the High Sentinel go on and on about Soren ever since I was a child. At some point, I started to think he was just a serious case of hallucination. I mean, someone like that just couldn't exist. That was… until we were walking through the demiplane. Even the aether in the air felt easier to command, like it was happy. Moods were lifted mysteriously, and Alaric just kept stopping to talk to people he'd never met. I want to call it amazing—miraculous, even—but it's creepy."

"I lost you somewhere in there. Are you trying to comfort me?" Alia asked.

Kair'ak shook her head with a smirk, "Oh no. I'm just saying, if you need help getting dirt on him, I'm here for you. It can't be easy getting into a fight with someone like him."

"You're right. It's not easy, and I appreciate the sentiment," Alia giggled, "But I know that boy better than he knows himself. He has many flaws, with most of them being incurable."

"Like what?" Scarlett leaned in closer.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kair'ak interrupted with a devilish grin.

The girl turned reddish, "Ugh, fine. Let's talk about something else." From the ring on her finger, she pulled out a lot of jewellery, "I bought these. I was thinking of trying them on with Lucy, but I think some of them would look better on you guys. That, and the fact that I've never seen a guardian accessorise."

Gentle laughter filled the empty hall as the three bubbled into more frivolous conversation. It was a first for Kair'ak, who, up until then, had always appeared too serious.

Alia, on the other hand, was able to forget about the bond tying her to Alaric and the troubles weighing her down for what could have been the first time since her awakening.

At the end of the day, she'd have to return to him, but just for now, it was nice to be away from his realm in the In-Between and away from him physically, having some time to enjoy herself.

………………………

LionHeart watched patiently from his door, worried about what had happened in Melbourne happening again now. Alaric had convinced him that the procedures were different and that he didn't need to worry, but that did nothing for his nerves.

The boy stood in front of a wraith floating between him and Lucy. The ghost-like guardian's powers were non-existent, acting only as a bridge between Lucy and the aether in her reserves. That, and the fact that Lucy retained quite a unique Inborn Ability.

Alaric stared at the creature with a puzzled expression. A guardian with no abilities to speak of. 'Are all wraiths like this?' he wondered.

[ No, Master. Wraiths all retain a certain percentage of their former glory. This one just happens to have a lower percentage. ] WorldHammer explained from his place in the In-Between.

[ So, are we back to the two of you, or will Alia be coming back soon? ] Alaric asked.

[ Alia is still adjusting. ] Sabre pitched in apologetically.

[ Adjusting to what? ] Alaric wondered. He'd felt her anguish, but the lack of an explanation still racked his brain, and he wanted to know.

[ To everything that's happened since she cut herself off. ] WorldHammer tried.

Alia had started acting differently when WorldHammer accidentally revealed information she preferred he didn't know.

It was at this point that Alaric realised the exact emotion his guardian was guarding, [ She's afraid. ]

Sabre's voice came gently, like a blowing whisper, [ Among other things. ]

The boy took a deep breath and returned his attention to the wraith in front of him. His heart, which had been beating erratically, was now calm. Adjusting to not having Alia in his ear was taking its toll, but the short conversation with Sabre and WorldHammer seemed to have done the trick, at least for now.

"I'm going to touch you now," he told the wraith blankly, then put his hand through the creature's ethereal form.

Just like before, he was thrust into the In-Between, only this time it was a place he was familiar with. The shattered realm of Lucy's In-Between was a lot worse than he'd left it. The chasms splitting the frozen lake were a lot wider than before, and the castle was crumbling even more.

Today, though, he would attempt to bring this to an end. 'Alright, the opposite of severing bonds. The goal is to just will this realm to repair itself. Seems simple enou—'

Alaric had barely finished this thought when he crumpled to the ground. His breath hitched, and he struggled to breathe, as though he'd just been punched in the gut by ten Rail'aks. Pain flared through his body before everything went still.

His mind was blank, and for a brief moment, he forgot where he was. Sweat covered his body, and he was winded. His head throbbed, and the world was spinning, but above all else, he didn't feel like going through that hellish pain again.

The fraction of the frozen lake he was standing on suddenly moved, shaking Alaric out of his daze to look around. A moment passed, and the tremors subsided enough for him to stagger to his feet and look around.

The chasms were smaller, having improved by a little bit. Lucy's realm didn't look that much better, but there was a difference. His head hurt, and frankly, he wanted to stop here and find some other solution.

He sat on the frozen lake and sighed, 'This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.'

[ No, it's just going to hurt a lot more. ] Alia's voice filtered into his mind, [ You're not ready to use that kind of power. ]

Alaric felt a well of anger boiling within him at the sound of his guardian's voice. It was obvious she'd turned her attention to him because of the pain he'd just experienced, and that only fanned the flames of his anger. For a split second, he questioned the source of his anger, then got distracted by it.

He took a deep breath and echoed his thoughts back as calmly as he could, [ I'll take it one excruciating step at a time. ]

In the next moment, another wave of excruciating pain washed over him, sending him writhing on the ground. His body was on fire, burning like he was being pierced through all pores by a thousand hot needles going deep into his body—brain, liver and all.

The pain came to a stop a moment later, with Alaric on the moving piece of the frozen lake. A white glow filled the realm, inviting a wraith covered in fragments of light.

Alaric was too tired to understand what any of that meant. All he knew was that he couldn't go through the pain again. At least not tonight, so his body vanished from the realm and he woke up back on the mortal plane with a soft pillow under his head.

Everything hurt, sounds were too loud, his mouth tasted like metal, and only the thunderous sound of a door being slammed open made its way to his ears. Alaric covered his ears and coiled, ignoring the sound of arguing around him.

He wanted to sleep. He wanted to disappear and appear in his bed and sleep off this tormenting headache. He wanted the noise gone.

His pain got worse in response to his instinctual demands. Aether flooded his damaged aether channels to fuel these demands. He understood today that he was summoning far too much of his Will into his whimsical demands, and the toll it was having on him was immense. The only problem was that through all that pain, he couldn't figure out how to make it stop.

He gritted his teeth and begged, "Quiet."

The silence came instantly, and with it, a breath of fresh air. Tears were streaming down his face, but he wasn't aware of them.

A pair of cool, solid arms dug under him and lifted him off the ground. The cold and firm touch was all too familiar, but today, it only made his tears flow harder.

Why was she here?

[ You want me gone that badly. ] The guardian's voice softly echoed through his screaming mind.

His thoughts wailed the word 'Never' at least a million times in his feverish state, overwhelming his senses to the point where he lost his sense of up and down. At this point, he could only manage basic, rudimentary thoughts, and his emotions echoed clearly through their bond. He never wanted his guardian to leave him, ever. He was tired of her silent treatment and her secrets.

The next thing he knew, the pain reached a threshold too much for him and he fell fast asleep, dreamless.

Alia placed the boy on his bed and stared at his sleeping face for a while, pensive.

In the silence, a puma emerged from the shadows and noiselessly coiled at the boy's feet. WorldHammer's armoured head peeked out of the shadows, earning a glare from the knight that sent him back into the In-Between.

[ The two of you are getting too… attached. ] Alia spoke to the big cat at Alaric's feet.

[ We're covering for you. ] The puma replied telepathically, [ I must remind you that while he is Soren, he is also Alaric. And Alaric has never known heartbreak or the kind of pain you know.

You should have seen him. Lost and alone. It was like he'd lost his eyes. I used to watch him from afar, and I'd never seen him snap at someone or get riled up so easily. He's always been cool-headed, but today, he was a wreck. Look at him now… He's crying in his sleep. ]

Alia stared at the boy with a neutral expression, not saying a word, even as tears flowed down the sleeping boy's face.

[ We can never replace you, Alia. ] The Guardian added, [ But that's not because you're special or powerful. It's because he has chosen you, and he will always choose you. I thought you knew how precious that was. ]

The knight gave the puma a death glare, but for the first time since they'd met, Sabre simply turned her head away with a huff.