Fantasia Begins Part 3

"What and rundown village," Guts commented.

"I know. But what did you expect from a village being tormented by an Apostle?" Glenn shot back.

"Yeah, but I hate seeing them. Guys that just choose to die under their oppression. They make me sick," Guts responded.

Glenn sighed before he said, "On some level, I agree with you."

"Are you kidding me? Come on, Glenn, I thought you were the sensible one!" Puck said as he poked him with a sticker.

Glenn huffed and puffed Puck into the distance before saying, "Should I care for people who do nothing but sit on their asses all day. Don't get me wrong, if I can save those within reach, I won't shy away from taking action. But, telling me to like random people who let themselves be oppressed, not my cup of tea."

"What could they do? They are up against a genuine monster!" Puck countered as he sat on Gut's head.

"They could have run, fought, or paid someone to fight for them," Guts spoke up as he shook his head, knocking Puck off.

"Anything is better than cowering in fear," Glenn responded as he grabbed Puck and put him into Guts' satchel.

"Jill!" The voice of a young woman called out from ahead of the group.

"Stupid kid! What were you thinking? Running away like that?" The voice of an older man followed suit.

Instead of running to her parents' side, Jill saw the two men behind her father and hid behind Guts.

It didn't take much for Guts to notice what almost occurred between the duo of her father's war buddies. Guts, also being a victim of rape, could see the similarities of his younger self overlapping with Jill's image.

Glenn lifted a brow and knelt down before quietly telling Jill, "Kick, scream, bite, scratch, but most of all, fight! You can't change your position in life by idling about."

Jill pondered at his words when her limping father said, "Well, are you gonna answer us?"

Glenn stood up and slapped her father across the face and used his Silence and Blind spells on his friends before picking him up by the neck and saying, "Listen here, you decrepit old man living in the past of false valor. You've let these men behind you molest your daughter! You are a failure as a parent!"

Glenn then looked at the two men sweating in fear as Glenn marched over towards them and started punching them in the face.

Guts whistled as Glenn brutalized the two child molesters and said, "It's true, he really doesn't think of them as human."

Glenn kicked to the ground before stomping their nuts into paste.

The creeps passed out, frothing from the mouth out of sheer pain. He healed them so they wouldn't die and used a fire spell to brand the words, child-rapist on their foreheads.

Guts smirked as Glenn threw their bodies outside and said, "We're going to be staying at the old windmill outside town. Tomorrow, that demon you call an elf will be coming this way. So lock up everything."

Glenn released his spell over the old father and glared at him before saying, "If I so much as hear that you touch another drop of booze, I'll fucking do what I did to them to you."

"Witch!" The old man shouted before Glenn rolled his eyes.

The Crimson Warlock pointed a finger at his forehead and said, "It's Warlock and go to Sleep!"

The father hit the ground like a bag of rocks while Guts watched the creepers run off screaming.

Glenn then gave the mother a bracelet with a mastered Str-Plus and Spd-Plus before he said, "If you wear this, your strength and speed will be 50% greater than you are now. Beat the shit out of this man anytime he gets out of hand and don't let anyone know about it."

"Are you really a witch?" Jill's mother asked.

"I'd prefer Mage or Warlock, but yes, and I'm not like the fake ones the Holy See claim to have captured and killed. I'm the real deal," Glenn bragged a bit.

Guts rolled his eyes and said, "I'm going to get some rest, you find some food to buy."

Glenn smiled and gave the same bracelet to Jill before saying, "Care to show me around town?"

Jill nodded her head as she felt the Materia strengthening her body.

She led Glenn around the town's shops as he bought various foods and stored them inside his bag. He even purchased several chickens, a cow, and some birds to have it cut up.

"That ought to hold us for a couple of years," Glenn commented before he stored away the final catty of beef inside his inventory. Of course, he did this out of site from the rest of the villagers.

"That bag is amazing? Can you make me one?" Jill asked.

"Sorry, I don't know how to make one. This was given to me a long time ago," Glenn said as he scruffed up her hair.

"Was it by someone important?" Jill questioned with a tilted head.

"Um…it's a bit difficult to explain, so let's just go with that," Glenn replied while walking towards the abandoned windmill.

"Come on, that' not an answer," Jill pouted.

"It's getting late, we should head back and eat something before it gets dark," Glenn announced as he started walking faster.

It only took them a few minutes to arrive. Glenn saw Guts tampering with his Materia Slots and grinned when he put the Alexander Materia into the triple slot with Elemental and Contain.

He then channeled the Holy Element in his sword and noticed Glenn when it suddenly glowed with a soft white hue.

"Not bad, it's an interesting idea, but it eats up Mana to maintain the effect," Glenn said as he sat down over the ledge looking out at the plains.

"I regenerate more than it drains, so it's fine," Guts commented.

"What's Mana?" Jill asked.

"It's an energy that you have to grow in order to use magic, and before you ask, no I can't teach you. I don't have the time. But I can give you a Tent and some starter materials for you to begin your own training." Glenn said as he passed over another Materia Bracelet that Heal and Restore in it.

"I don't have a tuning sword with me, so you have to activate the Materia on your own. It could take you days or years to learn real magic. But with the notes I left, you might make some progress."

Jill looked embarrassed as she opened the books that Glenn gave her and said, "I…can't read."

"Huh, can your parents?" Glenn asked.

"No, my father and mother know a few words, but not enough to read a whole book," Jill sighed.

"Find someone in your village to teach you. It's up to you if you want to change. I'm not going to be responsible for you, so do what you can. Kick, scream, bite, just do what you can do," Glenn said before he started cooking up a meal.

Guts sat beside him and took a plate of beef and vegetables before saying, "Why are you teaching the kid?"

"She's better than the scum in that village, so I thought it be okay," Glenn replied before chowing down.

Jill held the books closely and put the bracelet on her other arm.

She hung out with Puck and the trio until the night started to come creeping over the hillsides in the distance.

With Guts using his Holy Element, his Dragon Slayer became a lantern in the night that could ward off evil spirits. The only reason they both didn't sleep in a tent or cottage, was because the evil spirits would gather around them.

Even if they were safe inside the items, the build of evil spirits started to affect their surroundings, making the next morning much harder to fight out of.

While Guts killed the spirits that approached, he would use the Holy Dragon Slayer to rest and recover his stamina.

It was another sleepless night for Guts while Glenn slept soundly inside the cottage.

They agreed to take week shifts so they could each get enough time to rest their minds and bodies.

The morning came and Jill stopped by with some food her mother made. She saw Guts sleeping against the walls of a small cottage that wasn't there when she left.

Glenn woke up and started cooking before he heard the knocking on his door.

"It's open," Glenn said before he finished up the eggs and beacon.

"I brought some freshly baked bread," Jill said as she sat the basket down and glanced at Guts.

"I'll get him up when I'm done. He's been out for about 3 hours now," Glenn said as he threw in more eggs and took a piece of the bread and started toasting it.

"Should we wake him up?" Jill asked.

"I get him when breakfast is done," Glenn said while putting aside the plates and moving over to chop up some leeks.

After he threw on the garnish, Glenn put butter on the toast before shouting, "Guts, the food is done!"

Guts grunted before he stumbled up and Puck flew out of his pouch with drool on his lips.

He ate without saying a word before stumbling over towards the couch and crashing down on to it. The Dragon Slayer hung off the side of the couch, still firmly gripped within the black swordsman's hand.

"He'll be out for a couple more hours. Come on, eat up. It will be a while before those monsters show up," Glenn said as he passed her a plate and sat down to eat at the counter.

"It's good!" Jill smiled as she quickly finished her plate.

"Alright, the kids should be here in a few hours, go tell everyone to lock down the village," Glenn huffed as he got up and plucked Puck up out of Guts' satchel.

"Wake the big lug up in an hour,"

"Right," Puck saluted as he flew to the rafters.

"So, I guess I should prepare," Glenn sighed as he walked outside.

Jill did as told, running from person to person to warn them of the demonic invasion.

Glenn grabbed a cow and walked to a large clearing at the front of a village, "Sorry Bessie, we're bait."

"Mooo,"

He held the Magicite in his hand and prayed, "Please work. I finally have enough MP to summon this gal…I wonder if it'll have any effect on the curse marks."

He waited patiently at the gate for several dozen minutes when Guts showed up yawning and annoyed.

"That them?"

"Yep, freaky right? Like a group of ants crawling in the sky," Glenn shook as he prepared his spell.

It took around twenty minutes for them to arrive, but once they got close enough, Glenn cut the cow's leg to attract them.

Sensing the blood, all of the cursed children made a B-line for the cow.

Guts readied his sword when Glenn held out his hand to stop him. Next, he raised the Magicite into the air and shouted, "Lakshmi!"

A bright and godly light swept over the area as the goddess descended from the clouds. Everywhere she stepped, flowers bloomed, the air became richer, and even the sun felt warmer.

"Oh child of misplaced destiny, what is it that you've summoned me for?" The golden haired goddess asked.

"Wow, she's beautiful," Puck commented as he stared at her shapely figure.

"Whoa, 1,500 MP to initially summon, and 250 per second to keep her out, this is even worse than I thought. With my Mana Regen being 250 per ten seconds, I can barely keep her out for bit more than half a minute and not pass out."

Shaking off his thoughts, Glenn quickly said, "Can you undo the curses place on the children?"

The goddess' golden eyes gleamed as she raised her hand and said, "It shall be done."

A gust of golden wind engulfed the children and reverted them back into humans while the Apostle hissed at the holy light, keeping her distance so it didn't burn her skin.

"Foul creature," Lakshmi's voice was like poison to the demon child's ears. The insectoid screamed in pain while Guts took action.

The children floated down to the ground while Guts used Aero to heighten his jump. His sword gleamed in the sun light seconds before the vertical cut bisected the Apostle.

Glenn sighed as he watched the body being dragged into the abyss, "Damn…I guess an Apostle's accepted curse can't be undone. Hey, before you go, can you do something about this?"

He chugged a set of Ethers to keep the summon out when she raised her hand and placed it over the curse mark. It shined for a bit and faded away. However, Lakshmi shook her head, "Only temporally. This curse is almost as strong as my divine force."

"Well…damn, can you do the same for my buddy over there?" Glenn chugged another Ether.

The goddess did the same and used her most powerful dispel magic to make the brand fade from Guts' neck.

"How long will last?" The black swordsmen asked.

"That is…unknown," Lakshmi started to fade away.

"Sorry, can't keep up with it. Goddesses are a hard to summon. Heck, Alexander cost way less to summon and they're both holy types."

Guts shook his head and started walking away.

"Hey, we have to go the other way. There are still kids in the Valley of Mist. Not to mention all the demons she left behind."

"Right…" Guts turned back around and summoned Bird.

"Come on Boko, that way," Glenn followed after.

"Wait," Jill shouted from the entrance.

They turned around to see parents of the children that had been kidnapped, curious villagers that had peaked out their windows, and Jill standing at the front.

"You're leaving?"

"Sure am, got demons to slay, plus there are a few more cursed kids I have to save. I'll send them back in a bit."

The two rode off into the distance before Jill could request to take her with them.