Branching Out

The sky slowly turns blue to orange as the sun slowly sets onto the horizon. The white clouds turned darker as the light slowly dissipated. Despite that, the crowd's cheers can still be heard inside the coliseum. The second semi-final battle began after Roland easily beat his opponent. It is to be expected as he was the previous champion of the season, and it was not shocking that he killed his opponent and ended the match. After toying with his opponent since the start of his match, the jester eerily crushes his opponent between his arms before dismembering him into pieces. Some of the crowd screamed in terror as they saw a painful death in front of them, but most of them cheered when they saw blood and body parts scattered around the ring. The second match is between the red-fiery pyromancer and the illusive, speedy fighter. 

"It has been 5 minutes, but neither of them is giving up yet!" the commentator announces, hyping the crowd. 

Burning flames and dust engulfed the ring. The heat was enough to make the front-row spectators remove themselves from the front-row seat to watch from afar while wiping their sweat. The energy radiating from the center is enough to make anybody walk away, except for the two contenders standing in the ring. Drops of water are scattered inside and outside the ring, and the steam makes it warmer. Inside the ring, Solaris and Jojo are battling it out. Solaris attempted to land an attack, but Jojo always dodged it due to his immense speed and maneuverability. 

"Tch, he's still fast as ever," Solaris clicks her tongue, unable to carefully pinpoint her attacks. 

"I can just burn the entire ring, but he can easily appear in my blind spot and counter the flames with his power."

"I have to get on his blind spot, wherever that is."

Solaris blasts another fireball, prompting Jojo to dodge to the side. Once he does, she instantly lunges towards him and enters into close combat. Despite that, each of her punches is blocked by Jojo's arms. After various failed attempts, she creates a ball of fire in her hand and attacks Jojo with a right hook. Jojo immediately ducked downwards, avoiding the attack. The ball of fire in Solaris shoots random flames behind Jojo, which tells the boy he is lucky to dodge that. However, Solaris instantly attempts to kick him with her knee after adding more of her energy to it. 

Jojo instantly transfers his energy to his left hand and right elbow. In an instant, he blocks the kick by cushioning the attack with his left hand, added with the strength of his forehead. After that, he walloped it with his right elbow, temporarily rendering Solaris's right leg useless. Thankfully, Solaris's added energy to her knee prevented it from taking too much damage. Otherwise, her leg would be utterly meaningless in the entire fight. 

Jojo punches the right side of Solaris's knee, toppling her to the side, and kicks her in the chest. Despite being knocked backward, she managed to engulf her body in flames, burning Jojo's leg. Her clothes are still miraculously intact despite the fire. 

"…Got to give a hand to her, using my attacks against me," Jojo murmurs. 

"Still, my attack should temporarily paralyze her lower right leg-."

"This is when I always remind myself to train my elemental powers better."

Jojo looks at his entire body as he snuffs the flames from his leg. 

"Damn, my energy is running low…"

"Crap!"

He turns to Solaris, who's taking deep breaths while limping to the side, searching for Jojo's blind spot. 

"I must've used it all to cancel her fire attacks with it."

"Damn, why didn't I train my elemental powers sooner?!" Jojo curses at himself.

Meanwhile, Solaris is delving into her thoughts. 

"He's pouring most of his attention into evasion, unlike the first 3 minutes."

"He also seems to be intently studying my attacks for his counterattack," Solaris states, looking at her leg. 

"At times like this, I understand well why the others couldn't handle you."

She turns to face Jojo again. 

"He's strong, but that is as I suspected. He's increasing speed is nothing to sneeze at. He'll counter my attacks without hesitation when we head to head."

Their eyes met each other as both concluded. 

"…At my current level, I can't beat him!"

"At my current level, I can't beat her!"

However, despite that, the two of them just smiled. 

"That's to be expected, of course, since you came that day to my house all bloodied and all. Then, you always come back for spars after I nursed you back to health," Solaris chuckles. 

"Looks like we both got a ways to go. Isn't that right, Solaris?" Jojo also chuckled. 

On the other hand, the spectators and the commentator heard nothing amidst the burning ground. Instead, he is commenting;

"HOT! HOT! IT IS CRAZY HOT IN HERE!"

Despite the commotion, the two of them continued chuckling.

"Well, duh. But I still couldn't do anything with your incomprehensible counterattacks," Solaris responds, taking short breaths. 

"Keep this in mind, Solaris. By the end of this fight-."

"I will be stronger than you and that jester. So-!" Jojo declares, lunging towards Solaris. 

Solaris quickly musters the energy to her hands. Jojo could see her hands glow red, indicating the amount of power she channeled to her next attack. 

"Don't lose to anyone else!" the two of them state with a big, satisfied smile. 

 * * * * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island…

The orange sky has been replaced with myriad blinking, white stars, illuminating the night with their presence. A low, crescent-shaped moon hovered in the starry sky. The night is quite cool and windy, blowing the lake in its presence as the darkness encompasses all but the faintest light. A bright, orange light enlightens the rocky clearing as that dry, withered stump slowly releases energy into and around the air. Hawke had made a campfire for everyone to rest. At the same time, Boyd sets up a tent for his pupils, Owen and Hawke, as if he had already predicted that something like this would happen. After the fight, it seems both Owen and Weiss, even Flare, passed out ultimately. Flare's eyes suddenly turned weary as she comforted Weiss, and she soon fell asleep while in that precarious position. Boyd carried them both into the tent while Marcia helped Hawke catch some fish. Owen woke up in the evening when the sun was about to set and joined Boyd, Hawke, and Marcia, who were roasting fish.

"God, it is already night, but are those kids still asleep?" Owen chuckles as he presses on his injuries after his fight against Weiss. 

"…Out like baby. I suppose I have to check on both of them before I proceed. I advise you not to roughly move your body roughly, Owen. Don't want those stitches to reopen now, wouldn't we?" Boyd chuckles, carrying a bowl of water to the tent he has set up. 

As Boyd fades into the night, Owen stares into the fire. 

"Looks like everyone managed to survive somehow," he utters. 

"Had nothing to do with me. Both your lives were saved, is all," Hawke states. 

"…That armored man healed all three of you, including that girl," he adds.

"And that little miss checked up on all of you to make sure you don't exacerbate your injuries," he continues, looking at Marcia, who is timidly roasting a fish. 

"…B-But, that is just a futile effort. We can punch him, kick him, or tie him up; Mr. Owen will still get back up," Marcia timidly tries to land a joke. 

Hearing this, the two grown men just laughed, which made her smile. 

"This old man is a stubborn mule, little miss," Hawke jokes while patting Owen. 

Despite the joking around, Owen immediately turns silent and stares blankly at the fire. 

"…I know I am stubborn, but that brat made me look like a reasonable fellow," Owen utters.

"It looks like both of us are twisted in our little way. He may be more twisted than I am."

"-Since he beat me in a battle of wills."

Hawke and Marcia both listened to him rambling, not realizing their fish had been cooked. Instead, the sticks remained there to be roasted further despite being perfect for eating. 

"Mr. Owen, you look pretty happy for someone beaten in a fight," Marcia queries, puzzled by Owen's satisfied smile. 

Owen chuckles as he continues to stare at the fire. 

"Yeah…"

"It's been so long since I've had a real fight."

"A real fight between men and warriors." 

"I can only laugh after losing in such a satisfying way," Owen chuckles, recalling his fight with Weiss. 

"I've given up so much in my rage, unable to keep my promise-."

"-But that brat managed to save everything and kept his promise, including me. Even if it not by his own hands."

"When he came here, I was determined to put him down since I thought we could never see eye to eye again," he adds. 

"I was even willing to kill him with my axe because I thought that was my duty as his uncle because William practically begs me to save him amidst his whines."

"…But I couldn't do it," Owen states. 

"…And it probably was the same to him."

"No, I was running away too."

Hawke and Marcia remained silent. 

"…"

"I was so scared of breaking another promise, but those bizarre friends that came to him shattered the ungainly chains around my neck."

"5 years, or was it 8? I can't seem to remember anymore. I spent all those years trying to keep my promise to William, and this is how it ends," Owen recalls. 

"…In the end, I just made it even worse."

"Oh, William, you've done a lot for me with my problems before you ended up here, but I kept running in circles when I tried to repay the favor."

"I was never able to return it."

"Sorry, old bud," Owen apologizes. 

The bright lights, whispering hisses, sizzling pops, and the thick, intoxicating smell of burnt fish immediately made them realize their mistake as they quickly removed their 'charred' fish from the bonfire. In that cold, dark clearing, their primal instincts focused on every little sound as they laughed their mistake off. Not far away from them, a figure is standing there eavesdropping before he decides to walk to the other side of the lake. Confused, he grabbed a few pebbles and skipped them across the lake. Angry Boyd interrupted his beautiful sleep when the old man saw him and Flare in a questionable position as they slept. It was nothing…sexual. They had their clothes on, but the memory was so mortifying that Weiss's thoughts were overcome instead of Owen's rambling that he just heard. Without a doubt, the old man is now teasing the living daylights out of Flare, which is why he escaped earlier. 

"…"

"I know you're there…," Weiss announces without turning away from the lake. 

A figure approaches from the shadows. The tranquillity was slightly disturbed by the sound of footsteps, but Weiss didn't seem to mind. 

"You know, you should train more in Control. You can apply the Hide technique you used in our fight to a higher level," he chuckles. 

However, when the moonlight lightened up Flare's face, all Weiss could see was red, covering her entire face. 

"…What's wro-?"

"Ouch!"

Before Weiss could finish his question, he received a hard smack to the head. 

"!!!"

"What was that for?" Weiss yelps, puzzled. 

Flare's face is still beat-red, and at that moment, Weiss instantly realizes why. 

"Oh…"

He instantly kneels with both knees touching the ground. He puts both his hands on his lap and lowers his head. Flare's red face turned from red to flustered when she realized that Weiss was prostrating to her. 

"Cap-…Princess Flare, you have my gratitude!" Weiss bows. 

"…!"

"P-Please stop. Raise your head!" Flare babbled with a flushed face. 

"…You are injured, and you need rest. It would help if you were resting, not walking around," she adds, desperately trying to change the topic for some reason. 

"Now is not the time to be thanking me!"

Weiss slowly raises his head, enough for Flare to look upwards at her. 

"That's true, but when a man doesn't express his gratitude right away, he sometimes never gets the chance to do it later," Weiss smiles. 

Hearing that, Flare's face turned back from puzzled to red. Her thoughts immediately recalled when both of them were just caught just minutes ago by a peeping Boyd. 

"…Y-You perv-…!" she groans, even charging her arm to zap him despite Weiss's injuries. 

"Perv? What do you mean?" Weiss asks, puzzled. 

"…"

"…"

"Heh?"

"Weren't you…talking about…," Flare mumbles. 

"…I was thanking you for stopping me from killing myself," Weiss finishes her sentence. 

"…"

"Why? Are you talking about something else?" he asks. 

After thinking for a few seconds as Flare continued to stare at him angrily, what Flare meant crossed his head, and for the first time, Flare saw him give a broad, sly smile. Both ends of his lips nearly touched his ear if not for his cheeks. When Flare sees this, her face turns redder as she grits her teeth. Weiss could hear her teeth grinding each other, but he continued to smile even wider. 

"…!"

…And all he received was a tight slap on his face. 

…..

"I thought lending you a shoulder would help you out, would lead to you taking advantage to molest me during my sleep," Flare states. 

"I'm telling you, I didn't touch anything!" Weiss defends himself despite having a large bruise on his left cheek. 

"You see when hanging out with girls, you should never touch their private parts…"

"I'm telling you, I didn't touch your private parts!"

The two kept bantering until they realized how idiotic their conversation had turned, so they stopped awkwardly. 

"…"

"…"

"Heh…"

"Heh heh…"

"Hah hah hahaha," the two of them suddenly cracked. 

Weiss's ribs hurt as he laughed, but he kept on laughing even though he shed tears of pain from his eyes. 

"…," Flare just smiles. 

"…Welcome back, my first knight."

…..

"So, when will you tell me about your second mission?" Flare asks. 

"…Yeah, I think it's about time I said that."

"Looks like the old man didn't tell you about it. Must have been his age, Weiss joked. 

Weiss and Flare stood there silently, facing the reflection of the shining blue moon on the crystal-clear lake. They could see three people sitting near the bonfire on the other side of the lake. Boyd, Owen, and Hawke are talking to each other and laughing. 

"I don't quite remember the details, but what Boyd told me is that there is something important, something significant happened to you here on this island that your brother, Mitchel, wants you to find out before sending you to Erythyl," Weiss states. 

"Does that old man ever give you the full details?" Flare sighs, glancing at Boyd. 

"He did. He said that it was something he didn't understand enough to explain to me, or maybe I didn't understand it."

"I believe he mentioned something about a Memory Wall to me before we set out to find you, though I do not know what that is."

"I think you may know what it is, Captain Flare," Weiss adds. 

"...Hmm, yes, I do. Memory Wall is a spell specifically made to be used by those who use Mental-based magic. People who use telekinesis are also known as ESPERs, Projectors, and Harmonizers."

"Hmm?"

"Memory Wall is a spell; well, it is as its name suggests. It's a spell that blocks certain parts of your memory that the caster wants the target to forget."

"But what does it have to do with this island?" Flare asks. 

"…Beats me. However, Uncle Boyd wouldn't have brought us here if it had not been something important. From the looks of it, I reckon that Mitchel must've known something that happened to you here, and he wants you to know about it," Weiss deduces. 

"…"

"…But what did I forget?"

"Well, whatever it is, I am sure it wasn't you," Weiss suddenly utters with a pitiful yet serious tone. 

"…What are you on about?" Flare inquires. 

"I'm just saying, you can be sure it wasn't you."

"What are you saying? Of course, it wasn't me," Flare declares, without fully understanding the subject he is talking about. 

"It is a memory-blocking spell. I am saying, of course, you don't remember," Weiss pushes the subject. 

"That's…ridiculous. Of course, I remember. That's not how the spell works."

"Now, how would you know how it works?" 

Flare turned puzzled, unable to give a direct answer. 

"K-Knock it off. I was asking you about it," Flare points her finger at Weiss. 

"No! You said that I will be asking you the questions! Now, WHERE WERE THE OTHER DRUGS GOING?!" Weiss threatens, which puzzled Flare even further. 

She was perplexed, unable to comprehend what Weiss was saying. 

"…"

"Heh heh heh…"

"You should've seen the look on your face," Weiss laughs. 

"W-W…"

"What's so funny about it?!" Flare stutters, slightly irritated. 

"…That was a joke, Captain," Weiss kneels on the floor, laughing hysterically. 

Hearing this, Flare clenched both her fist, holding her anger as she locked her arms to both sides of her hips. 

"This is not the time for jokes!" Flare yells and smacks his head. 

"…"

"Ouch…"

Flare crossed both her arms to each other, still angry at Weiss. 

"By the way, you must apologize to your uncle after this. Didn't you say that when a man doesn't express his gratitude right away, he sometimes never gets to do it later?" Flare quotes Weiss. 

"But…is there gratitude…" 

Before Weiss could finish it, Flare smacked him in the head once. 

"Ouch!"

"Same thing!" Flare points. 

"Tch! I knew it was risky to hang out with you. I mean, look how you are now compared to when we rescued you before," Weiss reminded her, almost as if he was complaining. 

"What I was is nothing compared to what you did."

"You chose conflict instead of a peaceful resolution."

"Makes sense for you to be obligated to keep up with it until the very end," Flare concludes. 

"And now, you are scared because you simply do not know how to do it when you face your uncle again, isn't that about it?"

After all that talk, Weiss just remained silent. He looked down to the ground, trying to arrange the right words. 

"I don't have the right to…," Weiss tried to answer. 

"You don't have the right to whine either," Flare cuts him off short. 

"…You're supposed to be the sarcastic jerk. Tell him you won't apologize and laugh at his face, or apologize and leave."

"Don't do the first one," Flare utters. 

"…"

Weiss, again, remained silent. 

"This time, I'll give you my shoulder to lean on," Flare states. 

This surprised Weiss as his eyes opened wide, looking at Flare with a bewildered expression. 

"But you cannot touch my private parts, you hear me, your pervert!" Flare points her finger at his face. 

"…"

"I told you! I didn't touch anything!"

The two of them looked at each other. Their eyes reflected on one another as they stared at each other's faces without even saying a word. After a few seconds, the two of them just smiled and laughed. Weiss applied pressure to his wounds as they slowly reopened from excessive laughing. 

"That was corny as hell…" Weiss joked. 

"…Still, back to the matter at hand. What could I possibly forget?" Flare mutters. 

The two of them remained that way, with Weiss asking barrages of questions Flare could've noticed missing from the head to no avail. Soon, they all took a rest before departing to their respective destinations at dawn. 

 * * * * *

5.00 a.m.

"The place you are going to is located at the center of the island, at the peak of the rocky mountains," Owen informs Boyd regarding his destination. 

Five horses are neighing as the six of them stood there before parting. 

"Don't know what you would want there. Only one way out of that tower is through a wooden hanging bridge. It's a miracle that thing's still standing. It's there before I was here," he adds. 

"Thank you for your assistance," Boyd shook hands with Owen. 

"I suppose you will return to the coliseum?" he asks. 

"Indeed. One of them may be plotting to overthrow me next," Owen jokes, and the two of them, including Hawke, chuckle and laugh. 

"…Oh, by the way, Mr. Boyd, if I may…," Hawke cuts in. 

"Hmm?"

"I suppose we could grab a drink or two back at the tavern?" he asks. 

"…Hmm…Mmm…"

"Ahahaha…Ahahaha!"

"I suppose. We'll see who can win in a drinking competition. The loser pays the tab," Boyd suggests. 

"Oh…" Owen mumbles. 

"Hah hah, you're on! Be prepared to lose!" Hawke shook hands with Boyd. 

"You just made a big mistake, Mr. Boyd. I've never seen Hawke lose in a drinking competition," Owen warns Boyd. 

The three old men laughed at their old bantering.

"Before we go, a lost brat wanted to say something to you, Mr. Owen," Boyd adds a subject. 

Slowly, Owen could see someone dragging himself towards him and another person who pushed him forward, telling him to go faster. Owen looked at the person's face, and he remained silent. Despite being motivated by Flare, Weiss is slightly reluctant to meet him despite being encouraged. However, Flare continuously pushes him until he stands two meters apart. It was the best she could do since Weiss added more weight to his body with magic to prevent her from pushing him closer. There, the two of them just stood before each other while the others slowly walked away, giving them their moment of privacy. 

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Good grief, you have a crowd with you now, huh," Owen opens a topic to break the silence between them. 

"…!"

Weiss arranged his words and tried to get them out of his mouth, but he could not. He stands there silently, clenching his fist together, gripping his pants tighter than a miser's purse. He scratched it with his fingers a few times, making some noise to reply to Owen. 

"I heard you are working right now. What job are you doing right now?" Owen asks. 

"…It-I-It's an escort job. Nothing too dangerous," Weiss answers, still gripping his pants to quell his anxiety. 

"I see…" Owen nods.

"…"

"…"

Weiss remained silent. He is still apprehensive as he keeps scratching his pants.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck. Try not to get yourself killed or, worse, in danger again," Owen advises him earnestly. 

Weiss clenches his fists together. The words were still stuck in his lungs. 

"Yeah…" he mumbles. 

"…"

"…"

"Okay then. Good luck!" Owen wished. 

The Underworld King turned his back to Weiss and walked towards Hawke, leaving the speechless Weiss puzzled. 

"What? Already?" he stammered. 

Owen continues to walk towards Hawke. 

"Wait, old man! I…" Weiss utters, trying to get Owen to stop. 

"Don't say anything," Owen stopped his call. 

"We could do small talk, like always, little brat-."

"-…That's all I need," Owen states.

He said his entire body, including his face, was facing away from Weiss. 

"Old man…" 

"I understand, Weiss. Though this time, it was far better than your usual whining," Owen jokes as his body trembles slightly. 

"If you still want to talk more…"

The king opens his pouch and pulls something out. While facing the other way, he tosses a letter into the air directly above Weiss. Weiss catches it and lands slowly in his hands. 

"…I suppose we can talk more at the tavern."

Owen and Hawke quickly hopped onto their horses, and Owen was still facing the other way. With his back still facing Weiss, he raises his arm and waves. 

"See you soon, nephew," Owen waves and the two of them galloped away without saying much else. 

"Oi, are you done? We're going to the tower!" Boyd calls out for Weiss while stroking his horse. 

"…Ah, in a minute, Uncle Boyd," Weiss replies.

He looked at the piece of paper Owen gave him. It looked…old and musty. The paper had turned brown, losing its original white color. There are traces of pressure on the paper, meaning it had been held many times before it reached Weiss's hands. Taking a deep breath, Weiss tears the envelope and opens the letter to read it. 

…..

'Dear nephew,

Greetings,

It means that I have disappeared for one reason or another, or ~ we have, I hope, reconciled, even if it is temporary. 

However, you do not need to worry. 

I'm sure I am doing fine. I am traveling somewhere to another island, so we need more time to meet. 

~~~ I apologize that I could not meet you after William's death and after that. 

You must've thought, or maybe it just came to your mind; that's why I am so fixated on you two. 

You may not know, but before the two of you were taken, my shop and my possessions were robbed and sold by slavers. I didn't have anything. 

It was William who came by and helped with my problem. Using his connections, he found me a job as a merchant for a particular ore trading company. With the money, I managed to have shelter and gold for myself. I am sure you know William is a lovely man, despite everything he says or does that might hurt your feelings. 

When I heard what happened to him and you, I used my connections to find out where you were. After a year of searching, a traveling merchant told me that both of you were here, in the Knights' Mausoleum. 

I'm sure you no longer remember, Weiss, but when I first came here, it was very different from the other trading districts I've ever been in. Goods were stolen every day, thieves among the crowds, and all manner of scum were here. When I first came here, I was a complete outsider. I begged the company to establish a branch here, and eventually, they gave in. 

But the hardened criminals wouldn't listen to a clueless fool, and the guards and the other merchants resented me for my connections with the company. You could say I was constantly robbed every day. 

I often found myself going to you both, the most extended people on the island. I found out that both of you were this 'Homo Ferox,' and it made me try my best, but it wasn't enough.

However, William knows nothing about the traders and pushed me to get you two out. Then, I would turn to you, as there was no one else. You were very young, and I am sure you are a fine person now. Then, when you first opened up to me, we always talked about my problems instead of my own. The rules of trading, methods for handling nasty people, ways to strike underhanded deals, as well as the fact that the outside world was a ray of hope to all Homo Ferox in their dark cells, I learned all of that from you. 

But…it was all too late. William died, and I distanced myself from you for revenge when you needed someone.

I can't say that I'm a respectable member of society or that you should apologize. I know I have nothing to be proud of. Although I abolished and freed the Homo Ferox when I took over, you were not there. 

The two of you are why I can stand on my unsightly legs. All I could manage after you left was to hope you would return, whether to reconcile. 

For whatever reason, any explanation would make you return to this island. 

And please, remember that someone outside thinks about you. 

Please remember that William is not the only person who cares about you. 

My nephew, I'd always been waiting for a letter from you or to see you on the island.

The nephew turned out to have a very nasty personality who doesn't know how to talk to anyone appropriately, especially women. However, a foolish nephew of mine is always dedicated to his mission.

I'm glad this letter is in your hands today. 

…..

Meanwhile, the two galloping horses have stopped and are trotting to the coliseum. The two riders are side by side, and Hawke is looking straight ahead while Owen is still looking at the ground, still trembling. Without even realizing it, Owen's face is covered by their tears as the old man grits his teeth to hold them back unsuccessfully. 

"…"

As his body trembles, Weiss still stands there like a pole at the clearing. Tears dropped on the musty, old piece of paper as the man held the letter tightly despite his shaking hands. 

"Ah…"

"…I'll be sure to write back when we have a drink together, Uncle Owen…" Weiss sobs.