Mortal Coils

In the castle, Alex summoned Arthur to talk.

In the hallway, Arthur tries to find him in his room but he was not there.

Arthur went to his office but found none.

He went to every room that Alex likes the most but to no avail.

Arthur ponder where has his father went even though he asked to summon him.

While Arthur was walking along with the glass windows, he noticed a man was sitting on a bench in front of a garden.

The man was his father, Alex with his cane on both hands.

Alex sat on a bench filled with flowers and a beautiful garden behind him and stares directly at the lash full greens.

Arthur quickly runs towards his father.

Down the stairs, he goes with many corridors' and halls on the way.

He finally reached the garden and found his father still sitting and waiting for him.

He walked slowly and spoke.

"You called me, Father?"

Alex looked to Arthur with a smile.

"Ah great, your finally here."

"What is it?"

"Come, sit with me."

Arthur sat next to Alex.

"Well?"

"As you already know, I am the former Hero that saves the world from the so-called destruction."

"Stopped the end of all life, you forgot that part."

"Defeated the Dragon of Rymurn the Destroyer and the Demon Lord of Great Dark that even Death himself feared to touch"

"A story told by all and with great details from you. Why are you telling me this?"

"The destruction of the world is not true, more like a country or so."

"Well, Mather did clarify that misunderstanding long ago."

"Oh, she did? And the feared by Death part...Not really, it's just to make him look badass."

"I thought that one was true… why are you telling me all this?"

"Let's just get to the point."

Alex then stood up a started walking.

"Follow me."

And so, Arthur did.

In the Cities below Rhuth, Luke, and Sherni search for a shop that sells accessories in which Sherni has some preferences.

"Ey? What do you think?"

Luke closed his eyes and waved his head from left to right once to tell her no.

Luke then noticed a man right beside the store.

The man was selling the same but was pulled in one table in which he organizes.

Luke then went to the man.

"Hey there, choose what you want and those are reasonable prices by the way."

Luke then looked at every accessory and still, nothing caught his eyes.

Then suddenly, he saw a hear pin with and a red gem on the top.

Luke picked it up and feels the pin.

"Oh… a nice choice, that hairpin is the pin of power! It is rumored that every pin has the power of the red dragon itself!"

Luke then touched the red gem and immediately knows what gem it is.

For it is not a gem, but a mere stone that has been graved with simple earth magic that made it look like a gem.

Luke did not care however and asked for the price.

"It is only 1 silver!"

Luke then noticed a pair of gloves that had poorly polished metal on their knuckles.

"I see it caught your eyes!"

The man then took the gloves offered them to Luke.

"This is the Gloves of the Red Dragon! The leather on this is made from a slain Red Dragon!"

Luke then took the gloves and feels them.

Luke quickly identify the leather and it found out that it's just normal leather made from a cow.

"only 3 silver pieces."

Luke then feels the inside of his cloak but secretly opened a dark mist in which he pulled out the sack from before.

Luke then reached into the insides of the sack and puts 4 silver coins on the hand of the seller.

"Thank you, good sir."

Luke nods and walked away in which Sherni follows.

"You know all he said was a big lie, right?"

"I know, but it's cheaper than going to that shop."

"Well, true but… you know what, fine."

In Alex's room, Alex brought Arthur for some reason.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Today is the last gift from me as father and son."

"What do you mean…?"

Alex opened his half-empty cabinet.

The cabinet was filled with a few clothes and a bottle of some sort.

Alex kneeled and pushed on the back of the cabinet.

The cabinet then let out a click in which Alex stood up.

"What was that?"

Alex then put his finger at the top of the back and pulled a slightly dinted piece of metal.

As he pulled, the back cover falls and revealed a white cloth with a lush full design that covered something.

Alex took the cloth by hand and it seems pretty heavy.

The object rested on Alex's hands and lifted it upon his shoulder level and gestures to Arthur to take it in which he did.

In a dry road of Rhuth, Luke and Sherni finally waved goodbye to each other.

They bought went on their separate ways while Luke is searching for a clear area.

Luke seeks a quiet place where he can cast his transportation spell back to Beramuth.

Luke can use other teleportation spells but only with the help of staff, however, Luke doesn't like using his staff due to personal reasons.

Luke transportation spell that doesn't require his stuff is Sky Lightning where the sky becomes heavy and dark, the caster will then be struck by lightning and be transported to the location where the users desire.

This spell is quite loud and can take some time to chant.

Even for a master of this single spell, it would still take an hour to cast. However, knowing Luke, it's would only take a second or so.

After a minute of search, Luke found a safe and quiet area then cast his spell immediately.

In the castle, Toru and Cecilia are running up to find Alex.

They heard bad news from Merlin that something is happening to Alex.

Suddenly, Toru noticed the clouds darken while Cecilia continues to run.

Toru then saw the ground that is right in front of the castle begin to show some static.

Lightning struck followed by a thunder drops down to that area and made Toru cover his eyes.

When Toru lowered his hands again, he saw Luke was on the spot where the lightning strike down with ground spewing gray smoke and slightly burnt ground.

Toru a spark of joy-filled within him to see Luke safe and fine, Toru then began to tap and bang with his hand on the glass window.

Because of him banging on the window, it shattered to pieces in which Luke noticed.

But Toru banged the glass so hard that it broke that caught Toru off guard.

Toru falls from the floor screaming and was caught by something.

Turo looked up and saw Luke floating in the air and the same can be said to Turo.

With the wave of Luke's hand, Toru flew back inside and Luke followed.

Toru rolls over to the floor and hits the wall while Luke landed elegantly on the carpet.

"Luke!"

Toru spoke upside-down

Luke then lifted his hand to the broken glass and the fallen glass came back fixes itself.

"Great to see you again, Toru."

"Your back!"

"Yes, now wher-."

Luke then stopped talking and felt something wrong with the place.

An aura of sadness and grief...

Luke then realized what's happening and grabbed Toru on the hand.

Luke turned into a dark mist and started to fly fast with Toru in his hand.

In Alex's room, Alex lay down on his death bed with Arthur holding Alex's and Elizabeth on the other

whipping his dry chicks.

Merlin on the side, and Qeniver on the other.

The door burst open and Cecilia came inside.

"This better be a Joke!!"

Cecilia then found Alex laying on his bed with the others crying.

Cecilia quickly went to Alex's hand crying.

"No…no…"

"Took you so…long, Cecilia…"

"No! This is not right! You're not dying!"

"Haha…"

"Don't laugh!! We got to do something! Merlin!!"

Cecilia shouted to Merlin for help.

Merlin simply looked away from them with great disappointment in himself.

"Father! We got to do something!"

"Cecilia… be a good girl…"

Alex spoke slowly.

"We have to do something! Please!"

A cool breeze then hits everyone's neck.

Alex then looked at the door and found a familiar face, an old friend.

"Luke…"

Luke then showed up with Toru on the ground.

Luke then walked towards in front of the bed.

"Luke! You can do something about this right!? Right!"

Luke then looked at Alex's eyes, Luke closes his eyes and gestures his head from left to right.

Cecilia stood up and grabbed Luke's hand.

"Right… he's not gonna die, right? Right!?"

Like sighs and looks at Cecilia's eyes.

"Hero or not, a mortal is still a mortal."

Cecilia then drops down on her knees and puts her hand on her face with tears going down to her chicks and dripping on her palm.

"No…"

"Cecilia…come closer…"

Cecilia continues to cry.

Arthur then wipes his tears and tapped Cecilia on her shoulder.

"Come on, don't keep your grandpa waiting."

Cecilia wipes her tears but continued the flow of tears.

She stood up slowly and held Alex's hand.

"You be a good girl… listen to Luke always…"

She continues to cry.

"Don't disobey him, alright…"

She nods with tears on his swollen eyes.

Alex then looked at Toru.

"You to Turo, be a headache to Luke…"

Toru simply looked down with a frown.

"Luke, is there nothing we or you can do?"

Asked Arthur.

"What about the phoenix tears last time?"

Merlin suggested.

"His body will not handle the flames and he body will simply turn to ashes, never to turn back."

Merlin was saddened.

"I'll go ready things… you can talk with your family…"

Merlin got out and flowed by Qeniver.

"Arthur… show him… the sword…"

With tears in his eyes, Arthur then lift a sword and showed it to Luke.

"The Excalibur? Well... it is your turn now?"

"Yes…"

Alex then took a look at Arthur, Cecilia, Nichole, and Elizabeth one final look and stared at Luke right in the eye.

"I want you to bless the sword, my soul."

"I expected that."

"What do you mean Father?"

"This is my final request from my teacher…"

Luke then nods his head once to Alex and you grabbed the sword's handle.

Luke lift the Excalibur and began to chant.

"From Life to Death, a tradition passed down from teacher to student. A power only I wield, I best your soul with glee, I command thee."

Alex then put his hand to Nichole and tighten his grip on Arthur's hand along with Cecilia's hand.

With a sad expression, Elizabeth wipes her dry tears then grabs the other hand, and Nichole is hugging and crying on Alex.

"You know, you still have a few minutes to say your goodbyes."

"Just do it, Old man…"

Luke simply smiled.

"You said it."

"I bless this mighty sword with this mighty Soul, Enchant."

With the spell finished it chanting, a ball of light came out on Alex's chest and began to fly towards the Excalibur.

The ball of light then went inside the Excalibur and glowed for seconds.

Alex dies with a smile and finally loses grip on his hand.

They all then started to cry loudly and Luke exited the room with the Excalibur.

On the way out, Luke found them there crying with Qeniver and Merlin having their hands on their eyes and Toru on the side looking at the wall.

Look then took a glance back to the Excalibur and stood next to Merlin.

"I thought you're his teacher, why are you not grieving over him."

"I am."

Merlin then grabbed Luke's clothes.

"Like hell you are!"

Qeniver then went to Merlin and grabbed his shoulder.

"Stop, you're making it harder as it is."

Merlin let go of Luke and calmed down.

"I've gotten used to it by now, so I don't show much of my emotions.

"Gotten used to it?"

Asked Merlin.

"I've dwelled on this world for how many sorrowful years. Many of my friends die to which I knew from news, on my hands laying or simply like this… on his death bed."

"...."

"Death like this is happy, in a way, at least. A lot dies in the dark alone."

Merlin stood back and leaned back to the wall next to Luke.

"I am unavailable to shred even a drop of tear but I can still feel the feeling of sadness, dread…"

"What about the spell you cast?"

"Oh that, that was an enchanting spell that I used to enhance this sword. This sword has been enchanted with many souls, particularly by its wielder."

"Wielder?"

"Currently, this has 5 souls on this sword with Alex joining a new… and with all five, I was there and I was who chanted this very sword."

"They all died with their loved ones with the exception of the first one that died laying on my hands, betrayed…"

The three grew silent to what they heard.

They all realized just what has Luke have gone through and felt sad for him.

"Don't think about it too much, now, let's all focus on them… they're one who's truly hurt."

Arthur then went walked out of the room and stopped right at the side of Merlin.

"Merlin, Give the announcement and arrange a burial for my father… I'll be in my office, just call me if you need anything."

Arthur continued walking and heads to his office.

As time passed, Luke went to the office of Arthur to talk to him.

As he was about to knock, the door slightly opened.

Luke feels that there's no one on the other side. Pushed the door slowly and went inside.

He found Arthur on the chair with both chairs and him facing away from the door with the sound of sobbing coming from Arthur.

"The door was opened, so I just went inside to check on you."

Arthur stopped sobbing but stayed motionless.

"You probably not like someone bothering you, I'll just leave you be."

Luke puts the Excalibur on the side was about to leave but Arthur's chair moves.

Luke turned around and found him looking down.

"What was he like when he was young?"

Luke smiled and closes the door.

"He was quite energetic, a loudmouth, very annoying, yet kind to others."

Arthur stayed silent and Luke sat on the couch.

"You know, the first time I meet him, he was begging to be my pupil the same goes for the other two."

"I rejected them at first but they kept on trying."

"I almost killed him… The three of them, actually…"

Arthur turned around to listen to Luke.

"But one day, in a very faithful moment, the Demon Lord of the Great Dark subordinates appeared out of nowhere and started attacking us and the village."

"I was weakened that time, but I tried."

"But your father."

Luke let out a muffled laugh.

"Your father was an idiot, he came out running straight towards the demons with no plan at all."

"He almost dies there, but Lucky Persha and Milvorn were there to save him from his pure stupidity."

"They drove the demons back with Alex still wanting to fight them, but Persha, you're mother, stopped him stopped."

"To this, I made them my students, I taught Persha how to use her magic, particularly light magic."

"Melvorn with his spear and some other spells."

"And Alex to how to use his brain properly."

Arthur laughed a little.

"Hahmm, the truth is, there's no need to be sad, everyone has to die someday…"

"But I do hope the same principles apply to me as well…"

Luke spoke under his voice.

"Mom… How did they meet?"

"As you would've known probably by now, she's was a princess. The princess of Ryalia."

"They meet accidentally back in the villages where the demons attacked."

"Love at first sight may have struck down upon Alex... maybe that was the reason why Alex run in without any plan, to impress Persha.

"Both Alex and Melvorn was thanked for their bravery and for saving the princess."

"Alex sight was solely focused on Persha."

"With a cocky attitude, He requested the king to him marry the princess."

"Everyone was shocked by Alex but everyone was more shocked when the king agreed."

"Of course, the king didn't give the princess that easily and tasked with on defeating the Demon Lord."

"Alex did not hesitate and accepted the quest."

"They were young and foolish, they were not skilled enough, Alex wasn't even a knight but an adopted brother of Melvorn."

"I believe that the king said that to pressure Alex by giving an impossible quest."

"However, I stepped in and offered that to be their teacher to which all agreed."

"When the Demon Lord was defeated, they wanted to marry each other immediately."

"However, the King did not keep his word even though he defeated the Demon Lord."

"The Queen all did not agree along with the nobles, not to mention that Persha even has a fiancé in which she did not like."

"They run together and created the kingdom you rule today."

"With the number of people they helped, the people gladly offered a hand for the construction of the kingdom along with the help of the holy land and me."

Luke then notices Arthur and found he was no longer sad but smiling and eagerly listening to him.

Luke smirked.

"Well, that's how all happened."

"Can you tell me more, please!"

"Haha, I would love to, but that's a story for another day."

"Come on, I'm sad."

"Hahmm…"

Luke laughs a little.

Luke then stood up and opens the door.

The Excalibur then started to float and landed next to Arthur.

"You should keep that weapon in a good shape, your father's soul is within there you know."

Luke exited the room.

When Luke got out, he found Cecilia and Toru sitting on the door that is next to the door Luke opened.

They sat with a smile and Luke continued walking and the two follows.

Later that day, they all assemble a funeral for Alex.

Arthur and Elizabeth gave a speech about Alex.

Everyone went to the funeral of Alex and griefs over the death of the Hero.

After that, a long day of grieving began.

The next day, the burial of The Great Hero Alexburth Z. Beramuth commences, and a long walk of grieving.

A decorated casket of Alex was put on a carriage of pure white with black horses pulling.

After they all walked, they finally went to the graveyard to where they will put Alex's coffin.

Another speech was given by Arthur and after it's done, they lowered his coffin down.

Arthur then threw the first flower on the hole where Alex is about to be buried and followed by Elizabeth then Cecilia, Nichole, Merlin, Qeniver, and Toru.

Knights then began to bury Alex's coffin in the dirt with the others throwing flowers on the side.

Luke is on the church tower and has a bird' eye view in Alex's grave.

He stood there with Brute and Lee on his side.

Luke smiles at Lee and lifts up a shot glass for Alex.

Then next day, In Arthur's office, they all sat together and talked about Cecilia and Turo being an adventurer.

"Why do you want us not to be a knight Luke, anyway?"

"Tell me, you are the first Princess but you're not in the line to be the queen, why's that?"

"I just don't like being the queen, that's all."

"So that means you'll become a duchess, am I correct Arthur?"

"Yes."

"That means you'll become a Noble and will be chained by papers."

"I don't want you to be slowed by some paperwork."

"What about Toru, he is not a prince but you still don't want him to be a knight."

"You should ask Qeniver, she's the one who knows the true answer to that question."

Toru and Cecilia looked at Qeniver.

"Hell nah, I'm not telling you, I'll tell you the truth when your done training."

"But-."

"No!"

Toru went silent.

"Don't worry, the two of you are royalties, you can come back again anytime. well, you have to start from the button again of course."

"Well, you two should go again in the guild, we have things to talk to."

The two sigh under their breath and exited the room.

When the two got out, they were met with Nichole and Lee with Brute beside them.

Nichole's right hand was on her right eye and wipes her tears going down her little chicks.

"Are going away as well?"

Nichole spoke with a sad tune.

Cecilia then kneeled down and went to hold Nichole's left hand.

"Yeah... but it's for you, father and mother!"

"But..."

"We don't be gone for long, we'll come back. Eventually..."

Nichole was relieved but still sad about them leaving.

The door opens and Luke came out.

Nichole then saw Luke then come to him and hugged leg.

Luke smiled and kneeled down then patted Nichole's head.

"There, there..."

"Are you going to come back?"

"Well, since I am teaching your sister, there is a good chance that I'll come back."

Brute then suddenly pocked Luke with his nose and let out a puppy dog eyes.

Luke smiled and petted Brute then hugged him.

"I know, stay with them till they grow old."

The door suddenly opens and keeps out Arthur.

"Wait are you sure, Luke?"

"Like me, Brute is undying, so I'll get him one day. So I don't mind."

"Okay then, if you say so."

"I'll get going now, the two are waiting for me."

"We should go, we have things to do."

Luke stood up and walks.

The two nod in agreement and

followed Luke.

As they walk and spoke together, Luke saw a glimpse of Elizabeth in a room and locked eyes together for a moment.

They walk pasted and continued walking with Luke still looking to the room where Elizabeth was.

"What's wrong?"

Luke closed his eyes and opens back again with a smile.

"Nothing."

They finally reached below and went out of the gates of the castle.

"By the way, What happened back in Rhuth?"

"Yeah, you haven't told us yet. have you told them yet?"

"I've already finished talking to them about that, and that reminds me..."

a dark mist then appears in both hands of Luke.

the mist drops the pin and the gloves.

They stopped walking to look at the things that Luke holds.

Luke then gave Cecilia the red pin and Toru with the leathered gloves.

"That's just accessories that I bought from the Rhuth, make good use out of it."

Their eyes sparkles and put their gifts on while Luke continued walking.

Cecilia put his hairpin on and Toru on his hands.

They then run up towards Luke and gesture to Luke as if to tell him that does it looks good on them.

"It suits the two of you well."

At the distance, they saw a girl with staff and a large hat waving and running towards them.

She has a familiar voice but was still far to hear clearly.

The girl was Ray that is running towards them.

Ray then stopped in front of them while she gasp for air.

"Hey, Ray."

"Good day to see again, Ray."

Suddenly, Three Carriage then passed the four of them.

Dust was left by the passing Carriage and they all started coughing and waving their hands to move away the dust with only Luke standing still as if the dust has no effects on him.

With the wave of Luke's hand, a strong gust of wind blows away the dust.

Ray falls down due to exhaustion and the strong wind hitting her.

Toru then turns around to the carriage shouting and calmed down quickly as he got angry.

Luke then also turned around saw the carriage heading towards the castle but looked back again upon hearing Ray desperately gasping for air.

Luke's eyes then turn blue while looking directly at Ray.

Suddenly, Ray's stamina was fully restored.

Luke's eyes turn back to normal.

"What just...?"

Cecilia then offered her hand to Ray.

Ray took Cecilia's and pulled her back up.

"Let's get going now."

Ray pats her butt from the dirt and dust.

They all then start walking forwards with enthusiasm.