Chapter 40: Moving On (3)

John, who had been overseeing the entire sequence of events, from Annerose being in Marx's shop, to watching the first contract being made between Annerose and Marium, had a smile on his face. The sight was truly touching. He found himself relating to Marium in the sense of pushing past her fear, choosing to charge forward for a higher purpose.

Suddenly however, a throbbing pain interrupted John's thoughts. It came from his head, which he raised his head to hold in confusion. Out of nowhere, the space around him started to distort.

The vast field, filled with the outlines of Marium and Annerose, started to fade. Then, it was like a flash of images poured into his brain in quick succession.

The first showed Marium, however, she was clearly older, having the stature of a woman. She was in a field, one strewn throughout with bodies and blood. In her hands was a steel sword, which she had raised, appearing to be shouting a charge command as warriors ran beside her. She was on a battlefield.

That sort of image repeated multiple times, being in different places and John soon released he was seeing her as the war progressed. Eventually, he saw a unique image. This one, unlike the few before it showed Marium, having one knee resting on the ground.

Her face was strained, a smile on it as she gazed forward. She was looking at a man, one who was covered in blood, his eyes were glazed over with his head tilted upward toward the sky. He was leaning on a tree, a sword embedded into his chest. The one holding the weapon was Vatur, on his body many scars fresh looking lined it. Another flash of light blinded John momentarily, and he once again saw Marium.

This time, she held an infant in her arms, her gaze was filled with warmth. John noticed that beside her, Annerose floated with stars shining in her eyes as she looked at the child. Another flash, this time John saw a Marium, with some noticeable gray streaks in her hair. She was sitting in the village, an air of calm around her. Annerose was on her shoulder, sharing in the moment of tranquility.

Following that image came a sharp jab of pain which reared its way into John's heart. He saw an Annerose, face dressed in tears as she had her hand resting on Marium's now wrinkly face. The older woman was laying on a bed and several individuals stood beside it. Many shared her pink hair.

John had been seeing constant images flash, being somewhat rapid but suddenly, everything picked up pace. He could barely keep track of them as they flashed by. His eyes would naturally gravitate to a bright pink color, which he believed to be the outline of someone's hair; however it went too quickly for him to properly see.

John blinked and suddenly, the images faded from his eyes.

Around him, he saw the familiar outline of a room. He realized he was back in the present, his next action was scanning the room to find Annerose. It took him but a moment for his eyes to fall on the steel spirit. Her back was facing him, and he heard the sound of sniffling coming from her.

He reached his hand out, about to touch her when the sounds of footsteps reached his ears. He quickly turned toward the door, seeing Ashur standing in the frame. His face was dressed with worry, but when his eyes met John's they softened. He quickly rushed over.

"John, Sherryl told me you woke, is everything all right?"

He knelt by the bed, worry flashing from his one good eye.

John wanted nothing more than to console Annerose, but he knew settling his friend's mind wouldn't hurt either. So, he forced a smile onto his face before responding, "Absolutely. Earlier, that was some fight wasn't it?"

Ashur couldn't help but respond with a lighthearted jab, "It was decent. To be honest, I was surprised. I knew you had gotten stronger, thanks to our training but you almost beat Marion."

"Oh, surprised you did I?"

"Definitely. It was close, either one of you could have won. It just happened to lean towards Marion."

John lowered his head in acknowledgment at Ashur's words. He didn't know if his partner had noticed, but his hand clenched the covers ever so tighter. He had really thrown everything he had at Marion. However, it didn't seem to matter. Regardless, as he raised his head, a strained grin was on his face. "Yeah… Well, next time I won't lose ya hear!" He then reached his fist out, and Ashur reached his out as well. They gently collided, as Ashur spoke, "Sounds good. I believe it."

Now finishing greetings with Ashur, John could address Annerose. "Hey." He called out and the spirit, recognizing he was speaking to her, turned around. Her eyes were slightly watery, her nose a bright red.

Now that her attention was fully on him, he spoke. "Thank you. I know it wasn't easy sharing those memories with me. You spent an entire lifetime with Marium. Just as you did with Marigold, and even Mary… I want you to know that I won't leave, okay?"

Annerose was silent, allowing him to speak his entire peace. After John had stopped speaking for a bit, she took that as her moment to responded. "Thanks John. But, you can't make that promise, alright? I won't run off like I did before, I'll stick by your side but don't say things like that."

John heard her request but still, you couldn't grant it. He meant what he said, completely. "Look, I understand where you're coming from but I st-"

"NO." Annersoe suddenly shouted, cutting him off. He was taken aback by her sudden shout, his now wide eyes were fixed on her. She continued, "I'm sorry… That's the same thing Marigold said to me, and then Mary. Listen, all I want from you is to let me support you, okay? Don't make promises you can't keep, please." Her eyes, which had been dressed with tears previously, seemed to dry.

Now, the only thing he could spot in their depths was sorrow. A somewhat faint one, being hidden behind many layers that John couldn't begin to understand. It took everything he had not to double down on his statement. He didn't want to be selfish. If that was Annerose' one request, he would have to not deny it.

"Alright," he said simply. He didn't offer any further words of protest. Now, a deep silence filled the space however it was filled by a knocking sound, coming from the door to the room. Marion was the one behind the action, as he was leaned up against it. His gaze filtered through Annerose and Ashur before falling onto John.

"Come in." John said curtly. Ashur gave a sideways glance toward him, unable to mask his surprise at John's blessing to enter. His reaction was only a given, seeing how the pair of warriors had fought the last time they saw each other. John didn't notice the look Ashur was giving him, as his gaze was locked onto the pink-haired man. Marion walked into the room, stopping in front of his bed.

Ashur started to speak up, to ask if he needed to leave for whatever was about to happen, but Marion's voice rang out first. "It was a good fight."

Following his words came silence. It only lasted a second or two, but for Ashur it felt like centuries. John let out an inward sigh, nodding slowly, "That it was. I can see why you're the acting director of the defense corp. You're immensely strong."

A snort fell from Marion's mouth. It wasn't an arrogant or even smug one like he may have displayed before their fight though, it held a softer edge to it. He turned, as he walked toward the door he spoke, "If you were a match for me then I'm going to need a lot more training."

John gritted his teeth, irritation rising in him, "You…"

Right before Marion exited the room, he paused. His back was still facing the trio, but he turned his head slightly. "Annerose."

The spirit let out a slight yelp at hearing her name. The moment Marion had entered the room, she had lowered her head. John understood why. She still felt deeply repentant. After all, her previous contractor Mary, was his sister. When first entering the village, she had raced off to meet him; there she was met with malice and curses. "Yes." She responded meekly.

"I still won't forgive you. No amount of forgiveness, or time since her death can make the pain of her loss go away… But, I can at least accept her passing if you do the honorable thing and avenge her. Ashur over there said he plans to destroy Black Jack, so I expect you want the same thing?"

"Yes! Of course!" She said, almost jumbling over her words due to the speed she spoke.

It may have been John's imagination but he thought a slight smirk formed onto Marion's face; but he quickly turned his head to face the exit. "Good then." He said, before walking out of it, his pink hair rounding the corner out of sight.

"Well that was interesting." Ashur muttered. I'm surprised you two didn't fight. He thought, however, he decided to keep it just that, a thought. "So, what now?" He questioned, turning to John. "Is there anything else you need to do here? I was thinking once you fully recovered we could leave, continue our hunt for Boreas."

John silently shook his head, allowing himself to fall back onto his bed. "I'll just get some more rest if you don't mind. Afterwards, we can leave."

"Sounds like a good idea partner." He said with a nod. Then, he stood up, prepared to leave but not before giving Annerose a head pat. She shooed his hand away, sticking her tongue out at him in defiance. He simply chuckled, before exiting the room, leaving spirit and master.

"John, if you don't mind I think I'm going to connect with you again."

The term connect referred to when a spirit gave up their physical form and merged with their master. It meant she wouldn't have a form, and could only communicate with John telepathically.

John released an agreeing notion before she flew down toward his chest, slipping into it. A bright light shone out, before fading once more. Now he was 'alone' in the room. As he stared at the gray ceiling, he felt many thoughts flowing through his mind.

Currently, at the forefront of his worries was Boreas, Ashur's brother. His mind had mainly been preoccupied with finding Annerose and resolving the bad blood between him and Marion since entering the village, and both goals seemed realized or at least handled for now.

He couldn't help the feeling of unease that rose from his stomach when thinking about the man. The little he knew about the man left little to be desired. Everything he heard of him was unpleasant.

From his slaughtering of the second village years ago, to his murder of the former Sun Clan head and even his newest escapades killing two A-Rank adventurers; he was a handful at best. He had asked briefly about his strength, to which Ashur only explained he had an ice controlling blessing as well as Sun Clan warrior training. He would be a dangerous enemy. Also, he apparently had two aids, being some of his allies who helped him during his attempted coup long ago.

The whole reason they had entered the village in the first place was for Ashur to retrieve Astreas blade; a weapon used by the second head of the clan. The purpose of acquiring it was to give Ashur an edge over his bloodthirsty sibling. But still, John wondered, would it be enough?