Rescue Part 2

Guts killed his way out and kicked down the tower's doors. Before the guards could react, his blade turned into a blur and cleaved them all in half.

Another platoon was waiting for him. However, Guts wasn't winded at all as he charged through them like a tornado and slaughtered the whole group.

"Incredible, he's like a whirlwind!" Casca stated as she saw the mess left by Guts.

More guards started coming in, so the group got their heads in the game and started fighting too.

Casca used her Mithril Sword to cleave away at enemies' weak points. Judeau cut down everyone that got close to the Princess with his Mithril Katana. Glenn chopped and cut through dozens of knights. Lastly, Pippin held on to Griffith while using his body as a shield for Charlotte and her attendant.

As they dashed through the enemies, a group of archers rushed over the pathway overlooking the rescue crew. A sickly-looking King was carried alongside two Squires(boy-toys) that were helping him walk and shouted, "Don't shoot! The Princess is with them."

"But sire, at this rate --"

"Silence!" The King cut the platoon leader off.

"Damn you, Griffith! Even after locking you away, you still dare to steal my light. Summon the Bakiraka!"

"Yes, your majesty!" The guard shouted as he went to fetch four foreign assassins.

By the time they finally made it back to the Mausoleum, they noticed that the soldiers' attacks stopped partway through.

Gut's body was covered in blood, his muscles worn, and his breathing heavy as he staggered forward. Not so much out of exhaustion, but rather the rage boiling within him.

The Princess clung to Griffith's cloak as she whispered, "That man, he scares me."

Casca felt awful about seeing Guts in such a condition and how the others looked at him. She then walked up to him and started to pat away the blood with a handkerchief.

"What are you?" Guts asked with a surprised expression.

"The Princess is frightened. At least let me wipe off the blood," Casca replied.

After cleaning off his face, Guts and the rest made it back to the hidden passage and ran through the tunnels.

Along the way, Guts was almost ambushed by the assassin with lengthy limbs.

Unfortunately for him, this wasn't the same Guts from the canon.

Guts leapt into the air and stabbed the assassin through the heart before pinning him to the ceiling.

Surprised by the death of their ally, the small fat one, who was floating on his back and swimming through the sludge, suddenly gave himself away.

Casca jumped at the noise near her feet and stomped on the assassin's face before stabbing him in the chest.

"Looks like monsters are living beneath Wyndham," Guts said as he watched the corpse float away.

"Bakiraka. They're a mercenary band, but rather than fighting in wars, they specialize in the art of assassination. I'd heard that each and every one of them is a superhuman monster. But these guys live short of the rumor," Judeau informed.

Glenn nodded his head as he stealthily walked over to a nearby drain channel and grabbed the smallest assassin by his neck seconds after he swam through it.

The blowpipe he was holding dropped to the ground as Glenn snapped the assassin's neck for everyone to see.

Before they could celebrate, a large wooden javelin was launched a few dozen meters ahead of them like a bullet.

Guts blocked the deadly throwing spear and jumped back a few feet before he deflected it.

"Guts! Are you okay?" Casca asked as she helped him up.

"I'm fine!" Guts said as he raised his finger and said, "You don't mind, do you, Glenn?"

Glenn pointed his finger in the opposite direction and said, "I'll take care of this one."

Everyone looked puzzled, even more so when they saw the bracelet on Gut's wrist light up.

A ball of water took the shape of an arrow before launching off like a cannonball towards the javelin-thrower.

The water arrow shot through his chest and left a giant hole in his body before falling forward.

Everyone wanted to start asking questions. However, Glenn's Fire Arrow blew up a lady covered in explosive dust.

"What was that?!" The Princess, Anna, Casca, Judeau, and Pippin shouted in unison.

"Magic," Glenn answered with a nonchalant expression and tone.

"It's why we can still heal Griffith," Guts followed up.

"You can heal, Griffith?" The group said in unison.

To demonstrate, Glenn cast his Cure Spell over everyone except Griffith, healing them of their wounds and restoring their stamina before he answered, "Yes. But it will be painful. If I attempted to heal Griffith now, his newly regrown organic bits would heal over the necrotic flesh. I have to cut him open, remove the dead tissue, and heal him bit by bit. I'll need a blood donor as well for the surgery."

"Blood donor?" Casca asked as they started running again.

"Yes, blood types are important too. You can't give Griffith blood without a matching blood type," Glenn followed up.

"Blood type?" Guts asked next.

"Yeah, think of it like this, everyone's blood is split into groups. If you transfuse blood to someone who has a different blood type, then the blood will clot together. The good news is, I can test you guys for the right blood type,"

Griffith and the rest couldn't believe their ears.

"You, you can make Griffith better?" Charlotte said with tears in her eyes.

"First, we need to get to a sterile location. I'll be up all night working on him," Glenn said with an aggravated tone.

Glimmers of hope appeared in Griffith's eyes; his dream wasn't dead yet. Glenn just hoped it would be enough to sway his decision.

He couldn't interfere with Griffith's choice, but the Skull Knight didn't say Glenn couldn't give him a better opportunity.

They made their way to the entrance and took off on horseback.

After a few hours, they rode out of Wyndham and stopped at a nearby town. There, they used an abandoned building to perform the surgery.

Glenn took blood samples from everyone and then cast haste on the vials of blood.

Within a few seconds, he figured out everyone's blood type and learned that Pippin was a universal donor.

Glenn took his blood and filled an FF8 Med-Pack he snagged from Balmb's Garden.

After healing Pippin's blood loss and filling up multiple bags, Glenn pulled out his sharpest knife and stylized it before putting Griffith on a clean sheet.

Glenn cast the Paralysis and Sleep spells, putting Griffith under.

Then, Glenn used the Sense ability he gained from the Materia in his hand to scan Griffith's body and locate all the necrotic tissue.

First, he cut off the healed section of the band leader's tongue pieces before casting Life 2 on it and sowing it back on. He then started the I-V drip and blood transfusion while he cut away at every last dead nerve, rotten organ, and scars on his body.

Hours had passed, the blanket and floor were drenched in blood, but Glenn had done it. He managed to clear Griffith's Body of all its necrotic flesh and keep him alive.

The Crimson Warlock then wiped away the sweat from his brow and cleaned Griffith's body before healing it with Full Cure.

The room shined with a green and white light as Griffith's body healed rapidly. First was his bones, then muscles, and lastly, his flesh.

The scars faded from his skin, and even his torn hair grew back.

Griffith still needed to eat a lot in order to put on weight, exercise to overcome muscle atrophy, and train in some way to restore his more dexterous motor functions, but other than that, he was perfectly healthy now.

Glenn came out of the room with the gloves and apron soaked in blood. Of course once they saw his appearance, everyone looked at Glenn like he just murdered someone. The princess nearly fainted with a pale face that would give a ghost a run for its money.

In response to their stares, Glenn removed the surgical gloves, apron and washed his body with a water spell before saying, "He's fine now. I healed his body, but he needs nutrients to recover. Give him a couple months of physical therapy, and he should return to full health.

The group then went inside the next room to check on Griffith. They all were immediately horrified when they saw the blood stains everywhere. It looked worse than a butcher's table after a fresh kill.

They only relaxed when they looked at Griffith's pristine and woundless body.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Glenn said as he used Esuna on Griffith and removed the paralysis/sleep combo.

Griffith woke up feeling refreshed, reborn even.

He tilted his head towards his comrades and smiled, "Guts, Casca, Judeau, Pippin, Charlotte, it's been a while."

Everyone was moved to tears when they heard his voice, all except Glenn.

Glenn waved at Griffith and said, "I'm going to go steal a cart. Griffith can't move right now. Feed him something soft and watery while I'm out. His stomach can't handle solid foods yet."

Everyone nodded their heads in unison, and after Glenn left the abandoned building, Griffith turned to Guts and said, "So, magic?"

"It's a long story," Guts said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, we have time, right?" Griffith said as Charlotte and Casca helped him sit up.

Anna prepared some bread soaked in soup, and Charlotte fed him while Guts explained what he had been up to this last year.

"But we're taught magic is evil. Witches are hunted every few months and burned at the cross!" Charlotte mentioned with a sad look of realization on her face.

"It's likely that not a single one killed by the Church was actually a Mage. If they have the power Guts described, then they would simply kill or escape from their pursuers," Griffith explained.

"Yeah, Glenn said the same thing. The power he can wield could wipe Wyndham off the map," Guts said, making everyone's jaws drop.

"I see why he hid it," Griffith said as he thought back to how Glenn fought.

"Huh?" Casca lifted her head before she suddenly figured out what Griffith meant.

"I see... If word gets out about his power, then the countries would never let him go. They would chase him to the ends of the Earth to obtain that power or kill him to rid themselves of worry," Casca announced.

"And to think I hired him as a Map-Maker," Griffith said before he took another mouthful of the chicken broth with soaked bread Anna made.

"So, what did you do exactly to gain Mana?" Judeau asked, full of curiosity. The Elf he met in the past said it was almost impossible for an adult to learn magic. It was better to start when they were young.

"Well, I mostly used these to cast spells and overdraft my Mana. Mana only recovers slowly over time, but Glenn has a tent that can restore health and Mana by sleeping in it," Guts said as he held up the bracelet with the Materia slotted in it.

"So you cast spells and slept in a tent? Can we do the same?" Casca asked with a confused expression.

"Glenn says it dangerous to practice magic without someone to guide them. Overusing more Mana than you have can cause you to lose consciousness, thus the need for the magic tent," Guts said with a simple tone.

"So, you repeatedly overuse your Mana and knock yourself out to increase it?" Griffith asked.

"Yes, but you have to be careful. You can damage the soul if you dip too far into the negative. If you do it slowly, you can gradually strengthen your Astral body and increase your total amount of Internal Mana. At least that's how Glenn explained it," Guts followed up.

Before they could finish their conversation, Glenn showed up with a carriage full of hay and a couple of horses attached to it.

"Come on, I already laid down a blanket, so get on," Glenn said as he rode on the front of the wagon. Casca rode beside Guts on their own horses. Judeau joined Glenn upfront while the Princess and Anna rode with Griffith.

When they returned to the village the rest of the Band of the Hawk was waiting in, Glenn suggested that they split up and meet at the rally point.

"Why?" Rickert asked.

"Rickert, you need to lead the Princess along with everyone in this village away from here for a day. While I was out stealing a wagon, I heard the King let the Black Dogs loose. They'll be chasing us down, and there is a monster like Zodd leading them. He will kill everyone in this village in the most brutal fashion possible, and since he'll be chasing us, we can't guarantee the Princess's safety," Glenn explained, shocking everyone.

"But, I don't want to leave Griffith's side," Charlotte explained.

"Lady Charlotte, if you want to force your Father off of the throne, you'll need to inform the public of his… mental condition. Rickert and his squad will be in charge of your protection. You need to go visit the neighboring villages in order to raise morale and clear Griffith's name," Glenn said as he looked at the Princess.

She started to pout when Griffith spoke up, "He's right, Charlotte, you have to leave."

Charlotte started to cry when Griffith placed his hand on her cheek and said, "I promise, I will return for you."

Casca felt a deep sense of jealousy swell before she left the room.

Guts lifted a brow before he followed after.

The two talked outside about what was wrong. Guts couldn't help but sigh while listening to Casca calling herself a bitch.

"I know it's not that easy to move on. If someone told me to stop wanting you, I know it wouldn't go over well." Guts said as he held Casca's face with his hands.

"But..." Casca wanted to refute, but Guts wouldn't allow it.

He kissed and hugged her before saying, "I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere."

Casca hugged Guts back and called him, "Fool."

"Yeah, I know. I still don't like being called one, though," Guts followed up.

"Idiot!" Casca let the tears fall for a while.

For the next few minutes, Griffith, Charlotte, and Glenn went over their plans for the future.

The Princess would tour the countryside, gaining the approval of the citizens as both a benevolent ruler and instrument of justice.

She would spread the tale of how Griffith was wrongfully arrested, how her Father has an illness of both body and mind, how Griffith's Knightly Order is under Charlotte's direct command, and that the alignment of the party she roams with in direct opposition to the King.

Griffith was stunned by Glenn's intelligence. The ideas he had were revolutionary to him, but what Griffith didn't know was that Glenn was rehashing many things he learned in school about European and Norse History.

While Glenn offered the ideas, Griffith worked through the finer details of the methods and made them into perfect strategies to use in both war and politics.

Charlotte learned many things from their conversation, and she was even scolded by Glenn when he said, "You're the Royal Family's only heir right now. No other is in line for the Throne. By doing this, you are basically declaring Griffith as the future King of Wyndham. You need to shape up and do what's right for your people. It's great that you love Griffith, and I know you want to stay by him. But, if you are going to be the future Queen, your people must come first."

Glenn then turned to Griffith and said, "You too. You can't put your feelings and desires above the populace. If you're going to be a King, be a good one. Ambition is fine as long as you're not drowning in it."

After leaving the room to prepare, Charlotte and Griffith spent some time together talking.

"I'm sorry, Griffith. I have stained your good name. But I'll do everything in my power to correct it," Charlotte said as she lowered her head.

Griffith lifted her chin with his finger and kissed the Princess before saying, "I'm okay. What kind of King could I be if I let my Queen worry like this? Once I'm better, I'll come to find you."

Glenn then suddenly popped his head back in the room and said, "Oh, yeah, about the magic. Keep it a secret and disseminate its teachings to the public over a lengthy period of time rather than short. It will take time and precautions before people can change their views on mages. The Church will be your worst opponent, so tread cautiously."

The two realized that they had quite the future ahead as Glenn zipped out of the room and went to help Rickert and Judeau prepare to leave.

A third of the Band of the Hawk gathered their horses and travel supplies before meeting at the Eastern Exit Roads of the Village.

Judeau and Rickert took the townspeople and left alongside the Princess and Anna.

After heading off into the distance, Glenn waited until they were out of sight before he took the time to remove their footprints and wagon impressions.

While the rest of the group gathered their things, Glenn used a simple Earth Spell to cover their tracks and a Wind Spell to remove their scent. They then boarded the weakened Griffith onto the back of the wagon and took off toward the location of the meet-up.

During their travel, Glenn stayed on high alert. He had made his move and chosen to try and change the future. Glenn knew the Apostles wouldn't take kindly to his interference, and he was currently wondering what they had in store for him.

It wasn't long until the Band of the Hawk and Glenn discovered the Black Dogs charging towards them in the distance.

Being carried upon the tips of spears, lances, and pikes, the Black Dogs were dragging along bodies of the humans from the villages they raided along the way.

When Glenn saw that they were the bodies of villagers from the places they passed through, he grew sick.

"God damn it!" Glenn gritted his teeth.

He didn't expect them to kill the people who had nothing to do with the chase. He went through all that trouble avoiding the public roads and communities, yet that bastard ran in pretty much a straight line to find them.

Casca ordered her men to move ahead and set up the traps.

Guts shook his head and said, "I'll take care of them. Glenn, give me my sword."

"Your horse won't be able to handle the weight. Let me summon something that can." Glenn pulled out a red Chocobo Summon Materia and said, "Come on out!"

A red light flashed in front of everyone. When the radiant light faded, it revealed a large and yellow land-bird around the size of a horse.

The Chocobo let out a "Kwie!" noise as it flapped its wings.

Casca couldn't help but think it was cute while Guts looked at it with an expression of doubt.

Glenn then threw out the Dragon Slayer from his Inventory and said, "Boko here can handle the weight. He's also quite fast and proficient in combat, so don't worry about his deceptive appearance."

Glen then turned to Boko and equipped him with a saddle before saying, "Listen to my friend, he needs your help."

Guts dismounted his horse and placed his hand around the hilt of the Dragon Slayer while the Band murmured in the background.

"Look at the size of that sword!" A member of the Hawk's Raiders shouted.

"Can you call that a sword?"

"It's way too thick and heavy! It looks more like a raw heap of iron!" Another member of the Band commented.

"There's no way he can lift that thing! And where did that monstrous bird come from?!" Corkus shouted.

Casca looked worried, but when she saw Guts effortlessly lift the Dragon Slayer with one hand and sit on the Chocobo, everyone's facial expressions, including her, changed to one of surprise.

"Okay, guys, let's show them the power of the Band of the Hawk. Pippin, how about a Raid Leader Team Combo." Guts said as he watched Pippin raise the massive Mithril War Hammer.

"Can I join in," Glenn said as he drew his favorite greatsword. It was the enhanced Buster Sword from the FF7-Remake.

"Nice sword," Gut's commented.

"It's one of the few items I have that is both Magic and Melee in nature. Of course, it's nice." Glenn stated as he watched Guts tap the Chocobo's hind legs.

The yellow-feathered bird chirped as he suddenly took off in a sprint.

"Fast!" Casca and Griffith said in unison as they watched the dust cloud being kicked up by the Chocobo's feet.

"Whoa! Easy, don't pull too far ahead of the rest of the crowd," Guts said while pulling back on the bird's reigns.

Boko slowed down and rode alongside the horses and eventually clashed with the Black Dogs.

Wyld, the leader of the Black Dogs, gleefully laughed while he watched Guts, Glenn, Pippin, and many of the Hawk's Raiders slaughter his men.

"Now, this is getting fun!" Wyld shouted as he brandished a large wooden club and charged into the fray.

With every swing of his sword, Guts cut and cleaved through multiple men at a time. Blood and innards sprayed around his body as he slowly made his way towards Wyld.

The men from the Hawks Raiders unit were gushing as they saw him fight.

"Our Captain's a monster!"

"He's way stronger than he was a year ago!"

"Look at that sword move!"

"Come on, boys! We can't show our Captain a bad show!"

The Hawk Raiders' morale surged as they began killing even more efficiently.

Glenn swept across the field like a god of death. Everything his Buster Sword touched turned into piles of body parts and was followed by the screaming death wails of the dying Black Dogs.

Pippins hammer sent multiple men flying across the air with shattered bones and dismembered limbs. With the Mithril Hammer, his show of force was no less than Guts.

"Three toys to play with, this is gonna be so fun!!!" Wyld shouted as he dashed towards Guts and swung down with all of his strength.

Instantly, Guts reacted as he lifted his sword and cut through the log and towards Wyld's face.

Wyld laughed as he leaned back and rolled off his horse. He then landed on the ground before charging towards the Chocobo in an attempt to kill it.

As he reached out with his hand, the demonic troll suddenly found himself surprised as he thought, "That bird knows how to fight?"

The Chocobo flapped his wings, jumped to the side, avoiding the attack with insane reflexes while Guts took the chance to cut down at his head with a vertical strike.

In response to the lethal blow aimed at his skull, Wyld reached out for Gut's hand and gripped his wrist before a cracking noise was heard. Guts growled as he realized that he couldn't compete with Wyld's strength and saw Pippin appear from behind Wyld's back.

Pippin swung his hammer as hard as he could while aiming for the back of Wyld's head.

Wyld lifted his hand and got ready to stop Pippin's attack with a look of confidence on his face.

However, contrary to his expectations, Wyld felt the Mithril sting against his flesh and tear through his unnaturally thick skin.

Reacting as quickly as he could, Wyld threw Guts to the side seconds before he felt the arm Pippin smashed being ripped and torn from his elbow socket.

Slamming Guts against Pippin, Wyld managed to stop his arm from completely falling off and gave him some room to shout, "You, damn pond scum! You think you can kill me?!"

Without any warning, Wyld's body suddenly started to morph, growing into something monstrous. His arms grew into the size of thick tree while his legs buffed up and became more ape like. Before they knew it, where the wild and cruel man once stood was gargantuan shape of a Mountain Troll.

His body was over two meters, his limbs were thick and covered in white fur, his upper body looked like it was growing out of the wide-like stomach, and a second mouth appeared at the base of the creature's belly.

Everyone gasped, but Guts didn't give Wyld the chance to feel triumphant. This is what he was training for. This is what he wanted.

His mind drifted back to the time when Glenn summoned Bahamut. For Guts, facing down a Dragon King felt tens of thousands of times more frightening than facing off against this cannon fodder of a demon.

Guts leaped off the Chocobo and charged at Wyld's lower half.

With a spinning sliding motion using his knees, Guts slipped underneath Wyld and cut his legs off with the Dragon Slayer.

Wyld's giant body flew back as the battle came to a stop. Everyone looked at Guts with their mouths wide open while their eyes bulged from their sockets.

Guts didn't stop moving. The moment Wyld almost hit the ground, Guts was already at Apostle's side, dropping the massive Dragon Slayer on the creature's neck.

A clear and hoarse, "Nooo!" was heard as Wyld's body flew from his neck.

The mountain troll's giant body went limp as his head continued to spin in the air.

When it fell to the ground, Wyld shouted, "Stop! My body! My body! It's dead! I don't want to die!"

Wyld then used his tongue to try and crawl back to his body, "Incredible. Glenn was right. You guys won't even die if I cut your head off. I guess I have to destroy the head entirely." Guts turned his sword to the flat side and slammed down as hard as he could.

"Noo!" Wyld shouted as his head was crushed like a melon.

After killing Wyld, the army of the formations of the Black Dogs quickly shattered like glass.

The remaining forces from the Band of the Hawk swooped down from the hillside and routed them before they could escape.

Slaying each and every one of them with ease, the group returned to the wagon carrying Griffith.

"Wow!" was all that Casca could say.

Griffith was in a similar state.