Chapter Text
It was too overwhelming; the twisted magla Louis was pouring into him like a torrent. Will wanted it to end. He wanted it to. END! He flung his arm out for a moment before burying it in his own chest; a cruel parody of his previous awakening to his first Archetype, but this time, the heart he ripped free was not made of metal. This was the flesh and blood organ, tainted by magla.
Will could faintly hear Gallica yelling at him to stop, but, he needed to end the spell, and soon he crushed it, making it explode in a spray dark, corrupted blood, yet, as the pain subsided, and weakness stole in, he felt the spell’s grip on him slip away. Gallica’s screams haunted him. Louis’s gloating sounded as if it were from underwater. Yet, as his vision faded, he found himself reaching for the novel that had literally gotten him through so much. His hand rested on the cover just as the world went to black.
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Suddenly, there was a flash of white-hot pain and the familiar summoning of an archetype. When Will’s vision cleared, he was back at the Northern Fort. Strohl was on the ground unconscious and Homo Gorleo floated before him.
Oh child, thou camest so far, yet in the end nearly succumbed. One who meant well sent thee away from thine peril, but in that haste, sent thee backward instead. Take heart, and know that thine bonds will still serve thee well. Now, move forward once more!
Backward? I’m at the beginning?
“Will! We need to do something!” Gallica said. Will nodded. Unlike the first time he called upon the Seeker archetype, this time he could feel a lot of his higher skills awaiting his command. So, he used Cylco to great effect on Homo Gorleo, and soon stood back in relief once the beast was down.
“What was that voice earlier? And you! What was that power you used? You had metal heart and your whole body was….It was crazy!”
That’s when, as if on cue, Strohl stirred.
“Look that Strohl guy is still alive!” Gallica said. Will nodded and made his way over to Strohl and quickly used a healing spell on him.
“I’ll be damned. Someone actually survived.” Will looked up and froze. Grius. Alive . Warring memories of his short time as Will the Elda traveler (and in hindsight, he could tell that Grius seemed to assume that Will had been a new recruit Gallica collected on the way) and his memories as William Prince of Euchronia made it hard to decide how to react. Relief? Happiness? Some mix of the two?
“That voice? Grius! Oh, thank goodness! You’re alive!”
“Gallica! You made it!” He said. Will met Grius’s gaze steadily. Though, she didn’t know it yet, she had no need to explain further, Gallica continued as she had before.
“He’s our man in the inside! The one I’m delivering the message to!” She said.
“How did you heal him, boy?” Grius said as he examined the still mostly out of it Strohl. The evidence of his wounds were still present but the healing had done its job well.
“It’s part of the power I just awakened,” Will said.
“Power?”
“It’s called an Archetype,” Will said.
“Aye. That sounds about right. Still, be a good lad and lend me your shoulder until this young man regains his full senses. The smell of the blood will draw out the beasts, let’s not hang about,” Grius said. Will nodded and helped his future friend and confidant to his feet as they left the tower as quickly as could be managed with a woozy Strohl.
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After getting through the delivery of Grius’s new orders, the tense talk when Grius discovered Strohl eavesdropping, and discussion of their route, it was time to set up camp.
“Gallica, why don’t you take our newest recruit off to gather firewood? I’ll take this lad with me,” Grius said clapping a heavy hand on Will’s shoulder. The slight grip meant that this would be more than just a trek to get wood.
“Uh. Sure. Ok, Strohl! Let’s do this!” Gallica said pumping a fist into the air. Strohl nodded. He looked over at Will who gave him a nod back. Once they were out of sight, Grius bodily grabbed Will and dragged him along.
“Now. Who are you really, and how do you know about Archetypes?” Grius demanded drawing a dagger. Will mulled over what he could attempt to tell Grius. The full truth would make Grius think he’d gone mad, but…well, perhaps there was a way after all.
“Who I am is very complicated,” Will said putting on his Euchronian Court accent. He didn’t care much for it, which was why he’d slipped back to his Eldan accent the moment he could after he’d regained his full self. This caused Grius to nearly drop his dagger in shock.
“You can’t be…”
“I both am and am not. This body…it’s made of magla. It contains my soul and desire to make the world a better place while the rest of me slumbers in the Ancient Sanctum,” Will said. If he focused, now that he was aware of his other body, he could feel echoes of the pain from the cursed thorns.
“I can’t believe I missed the resemblance,” Grius said as he sheathed the dagger. He suddenly pulled Will into a tight embrace.
“I was certain you’d never open your eyes again,” He said before he let go and really looked at Will.
“You can’t let anyone know just yet,” Will said dropping the court accent for the Eldan one.
“Aye. Would be foolish to give any hints as to your survival, let alone… this ,” Grius said. The word survival hit a chord, and Will remembered.
“You can’t attack Louis. If you do, you’ll die!” Will said.
“I’m not afraid of his tricks,” Grius said.
“It’s not his tricks you need to worry about. Besides…he didn’t cast it,” Will said.
“Come again?”
“The caster wasn’t Louis. Even if we managed to take him down, it wouldn’t resolve the curse,” Will said.
“Did you remember something else?” Grius asked. Right. Will couldn’t just tell him “Saint Rella told me in the future.” Well, he could play off the fact Grius seemed to think Will’d regained more memories of that night.
“I’m almost certain the caster was a girl,” Will said.
“A girl? That bears some looking into, but regardless, that cur murdered your father. Don’t you want justice for him?”
“An assassination isn’t justice,” Will said. Besides, it ended up being an assisted suicide if the images I was shown were any indication…
“I have my orders,” Grius said stubbornly. Will dropped it because they needed to grab wood to make it look like this hadn’t been an interrogation. Strohl and Gallica weren’t fooled but Grius gave them nods.
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Despite being worried about whatever Grius had wanted with Will alone, Strohl could tell whatever it was had been resolved between the two.
“This your first deployment, boy? Thank you lucky stars you survived a brush with a human,” Grius said.
“What the hell is that? It was like no beast I’ve ever seen.”
“No one truly knows,” Grius said. There was something to a half-expression Will made that Strohl filed away for later,
“They’re protected by magla, so even the sharpest steel does little good against them. They’re no simple beasts. All we do know, is with every passing year, more of their kind tear travelers apart. That was why I was first sent undercover here. Investigating.”
“And? Did you learn anything?” Strohl asked.
“Simmer down, boy. There wasn’t a damn thing to be found on those monsters. Well, the moon’s still low. If you have any other questions, I’ll answer them as best I can,” Grius said. Will shook his head and looked to Strohl.
“I’d like to hear about how you plan to take on someone like Louis Guidburn,” Strohl said.
“With his numbers, a head on assault is suicide. Quick, covert assassination’s out best bet,” Grius said, “Kingslayer or no, Louis has a lot of public favor behind him. To the people, he’s the only people with the wit and war power to bring down the humans. The military seems powerless to stop them, so he plays savior. The mans’s practically a monster himself. By your age, he was not only a master tactician, but damn near an archmage besides." Grius said.
“Only Louis can harm humans? Isn’t that seen as odd?” Will said.
“Now that you mention it, it does seem rather convenient, doesn’t it? You think he’s summoning the beasties?”
“You said it yourself: he’s a monster at magic,” Will said.
“And if anyone could use magic to draw in humans, it’s Louis,” Grius said.
“And the three of us alone are supposed to stop him?” Strohl said.
“We’ll just have to blend in with the crowd at the funeral. I won’t abide him surviving the ceremony. He will die by my hand.” Grius said. Will frowned at that but said nothing.
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Will was stretching and noticed a golden beetle nearby. Almost out of habit he walked over and picked it up.
“Why’d you grab it?” Gallica asked.
“Isn’t it interesting?” Will said as he tucked it into a pocket.
“You know something, don’t you?” Will turned to see Strohl.
“About….?”
“Humans. I could tell on your face,” Strohl said.
“If we survive the King’s funeral, I promise I’ll tell you what I know. It’s a major revelation and would only distract you,” Will said.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Strohl said. His expression showed he was annoyed, but had accepted that, for now. That expression made Will feel so horribly lonely. This was Strohl, but it wasn’t the Strohl who’d stood by him through thick and thin, and who’d sacrificed himself to help Will attempt to stop Louis.
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