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As Havardr reached for the door, a chill ran down his spine and he shuddered hard. Tempestuous, foreboding feelings swirled in his chest; anxiety and fear made his heart race. This was no monster… No, this chilling aura and threat of imminent violence could only emanate from one being.
Logre.
“Ha-Havardr, are you okay?” Miku inquired from behind him. “You’ve been shaking all day. You’re not getting sick again, are you?”
“N-no, it’s fine,” Havardr mumbled. “I just… I know he’s past this door.”
“Logre…?” Marianne asked. “We had better prepare, then. I remember quite a bit of what you’ve told us about Drive Blades, but no one here is quite as intimate with them as you.”
Havardr leaned against the door and sighed heavily, still trembling with fear and physical weakness.
“I know… I was pretty good with one…” he managed to choke out. “I suppose what’s important to know is that someone like Logre, with years of training, can churn out Drive attacks very quickly, and use the overheating of the blade to his advantage. It’s fairly easy to...to tell when he’s revving up, if you remember from the Southern Sanctuary… B-but once he overheats, he can’t Drive again for a little while. S-so when...when he’s prepping his Drives, everyone hide behind M-Marianne, okay…?”
Miku came up behind Havardr, who was still leaning on the door for support, and put a small, thin hand on his shoulder. “Are you certain you’re feeling up to the task?” she asked worriedly. “Both physically and mentally…”
Havardr nodded and gulped down his nausea. “I-it’s fine. Like I said. It c-can’t be avoided…”
“If you say so…”
Havardr pushed himself off of the door and opened it slowly.
The room beyond was almost claustrophobic, with little room in it for anyone but the man standing in the middle.
Logre, the Imperial knight, vassal to Prince Baldur, and the traitor to Tharsis once known as the Landsknecht Whirlwind.
He turned and looked at the guild coldly.
"So the Outland Count decided to send you, Muninn,” he said. “I have no intention of whitewashing what I did to you. There isn't any need for it. You won't go any further." Logre readied his gargantuan Drive Blade, which began to hum.
“L-Logre, please…” Havardr whispered. “You don’t have to… W-we don’t have to…”
"The adventure's over."
Before he was even finished speaking, the black knight advanced smoothly towards the guild. His Drive Blade was roaring now as he raised it above his head…
“EVERYONE! BEHIND ME!” Marianne yelled as she raised her shield above her head. Lis gathered Mia underneath his black cloak, and Havardr took Miku into his arms, and they all huddled under Marianne’s wide shield. Logre had already set his blade’s path and it couldn’t be changed now.
A loud clang erupted from metal hitting metal, and Marianne grunted as she shifted her trembling legs.
“H-he’s cutting...cutting through my shield…!” she hissed.
A loud hiss came from above, and as Marianne stood up, the others straightened up and stepped back as well. There was a small cut down Marianne’s cheek where the Drive Blade’s tip had pierced her shield, and a gaping slash in the front of said shield, but the party had been protected.
As Logre’s Drive Blade glew orange and spewed steam, he fumbled with an icy white cartridge.
Havardr unsheathed his rapier and rushed at Logre. “You don’t have to do this!” he shouted, his face filled with grief as he stabbed Logre’s arm with the rapier, making him drop the cartridge. It fell to the stone floor and burst open, leaving a small, cold fog in its wake. Havardr glanced at the fog fearfully and pulled his rapier out as he stepped back.
Logre grabbed his bleeding arm and cursed under his breath, glaring at the blonde Landsknecht who was nervously backing away from the icy fog.
“鏈圈!”
At Miku’s command, a glowing white circle formed at Logre’s feet. He tried to step out of the ring of light, but it was too late. Chains shot up from the ground and wrapped around his wrists, tying them together.
“N-no…!”
Logre frantically began to try to maneuver his Drive Blade up to the chains wrapped around his wrists to cut them off, but it was no use- it was simply too unwieldy to work with in such a small space.
“We don’t want to hurt you, Logre…” Havardr begged. “Just surrender, please…”
“Galvanic Rune!” Mia shouted.
Dark storm clouds began to form above Logre’s head.
“Mia, he’s not a monster! We can’t kill him!” Marianne cried. But Mia just stared at Logre with fury and hatred boiling in her far too young eyes.
Logre dropped his Drive Blade and ripped his chains out of the ground, getting out from under the brewing storm just as lightning bolts began raining down onto the library floor.
“He is a monster, Mari! He’s a monster posing as a person!” Mia shouted. “And I won’t let him hurt you again!”
Marianne lightly touched her cheek and stared down at Mia in shock.
“I promised you that I’d protect you, Mari!” Mia said. “And I will, no matter what!”
In all of the commotion caused by Mia’s outburst, Lis had snuck up behind Logre unnoticed. A gasp hitched in Marianne’s throat, but before Logre could even look back, Lis had wrapped a hand around the Imperial’s neck and had placed a dagger against it.
“This dagger has potent poisons forged within its blade,” Lis said calmly. “Now then, you can either drop your Drive Blade…”
Lis lifted the dagger off of Logre’s neck to let it glint in the light shining through the cracked ceiling.
“Or with one little nick, I can doom you to a slow and painful death.”
The white-haired Nightseeker smirked as he twirled the knife in his hand.
Not even blinking, Logre elbowed the young man in the gut. The dagger flew out of Lis’s hand and embedded itself into the floor as he crumpled to the ground, wheezing and clutching his stomach. Logre stepped on the tail of the chain binding his arms and pulled his hands up. The chain unraveled, and the older man stretched out his hands.
He turned away from the gasping Nightseeker and picked his Drive Blade up calmly. Though his breathing was ragged and blood soaked his striped sleeve, he was still standing strong.
“His Drive Blade is growing cooler…” Havardr whispered to Marianne as Miku rushed to Lis’s side. “The fog from the Heat Sink cartridge must have cooled it off some.”
Logre raised his Drive Blade again, this time without revving it up, and swung at the Landsknecht, but Marianne managed to parry the attack just in time. The gigantic blade left a large gash in her shield, although not as deep as the other one.
“圈套圈!”
Another glowing circle formed at Logre’s feet.
“Next time, don’t get so cocky, Lis,” Miku snapped as she helped the boy to his feet.
Logre stepped back, but he only got one leg out in time; the other one was still in the circle when it activated, and vines that reeked of plant matter began trailing up Logre’s leg and wrapped around it, locking it in place. Rather than fight, however, he simply stared coldly at Havardr and Marianne in front of him.
“How many times do I have to tell you children not to interfere?”
“Commander, please, you don’t ha---”
“I am no longer your commander and I haven’t been for ten years. Traitors have no right to call me by any title.”
Havardr stood there in shock, shaking even harder than before, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Marianne patted his shoulder sympathetically and glared at Logre.
“P-please… You d-don’t…”
“Silence.”
Logre lifted his Drive Blade and began revving it up.
“Logre, please!” Havardr begged.
The Drive Blade began glowing red, and Logre lifted it above his head.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
Havardr began screaming so loudly that the entire room rattled. His head clutched in his hands, he sunk to the floor and continued screaming.
“Edg--- Havardr?!”
Marianne crouched down beside Havardr and tried to pull him up off the ground, but the man’s muscles were locked into place; he wasn’t budging.
“Havardr, please!” Marianne pleaded. “Logre’s going to---!”
Metal on stone, barely heard over Havardr’s screaming- more like a roar at this point.
Marianne looked up, and the others, besides Havardr, were staring too. Logre had fallen to the ground, and his Drive Blade, heating up dangerously quickly, was lying behind him. Steam and smoke began to pour out of the motor, but Logre was too stunned to stop it.
As the room grew deathly quiet, Havardr looked up, trembling with rage.
His eyes were blood red.
He stood up slowly, towering over the terrified Imperial now, who was struggling to untangle his leg before his Drive Blade combusted behind him.
He took the mace off of his back and held it in both hands.
Logre pulled a small survival knife out of his pocket and began hacking at the vines around his leg; his face was rigid again, but his breathing was growing more unstable by the second.
“What did I tell you, commander?” Havardr growled, almost beastly in his demeanor. “There was no need to fight. There was no need to stop us from fulfilling our duties. All you had to do was let us pass through here unscathed, but you just couldn’t do that…”
Marianne stared at the Landsknecht beside her in horror. Any trace of his cocky, playful demeanor or his inner sorrow was gone; all that was left was pure rage and betrayal.
“解僱癒合!”
The shining ring surrounding Logre disappeared, and the vines wrapped around his legs retreated into the ground.
As Havardr lifted his mace above his head, Logre scrambled for his Drive Blade and switched the motor off. The smell of smoke and burnt metal hung in the air. The Drive Blade was still red-hot, but Logre slipped a small cartridge in it and it quickly began to cool down.
“The adventure’s over, commander.”
Quick as a flash, Havardr swung his mace and swept Logre’s feet out from underneath him. The Imperial soldier fell to the ground face-first, his face hitting the flat side of his Drive Blade. With a nasty crack, blood began to drip down the sword. Logre struggled to sit up and wiped his nose, but the blood kept coming steadily.
“Havardr…!”
Miku rushed to Havardr’s side.
“I-is this the power of the Blood Surge in a human…?” Marianne asked shakily.
“Deep breaths, Havardr…”
Miku put one hand on the Landsknecht’s chest and the other on his back and began rubbing his back rhythmically.
“In...and out… Yes, that’s it… In and out…”
Miku smiled as Havardr’s eyes faded back to their usual blue.
Marianne nervously put a hand on Havardr’s shoulder and watched Logre carefully. The older man was struggling to sit up on his knees, his breathing growing heavier by the second.
Havardr closed his eyes and took one last breath, and then opened them and looked around.
“D-did I…?”
“It was the Blood Surge, yes,” Miku said with a gentle smile. “We’re glad to have you back.”
Lis cautiously walked over to Logre and stood over him. “I don’t think he can fight any longer,” he said in a matter-of fact manner. He nodded at Mia.
Mia, her face streaked with tears, stayed rooted to the spot, staring at Havardr fearfully. “I’m not coming over there…!” she cried.
Using his Drive Blade as a crutch, Logre finally managed to sit up. The bottom half of his face was covered in blood, and his nose was swollen and still dripping blood.
“It’s a bit sad that you proved a match for me…” he gasped, wiping his face again with his sleeve. “Though I suppose that’s what happens when...when one of your former students...is among the group.”
He stared expectantly at the guild, who looked right back at him, waiting for his next move.
“Aren’t you going to finish me off…?”
The guild members looked at each other in utter confusion.
“Why would we…?”
Logre chuckled darkly, another spurt of blood coming out of his nose.
“No... You're explorers, not murderers. Of course you wouldn't.”
He stood up unsteadily, leaning on his sword as a crutch but weaving all the same.
“But I am no true explorer... I'd give my life to stop you!”
He lifted his Drive Blade slowly and flipped a switch. The blade began to glow red-hot, and the explorers could feel the heat emanating off of it. It whirred louder than before as thin trails of steam slithered out from the motor.
Though he could barely stand, there was killing intent in Logre’s eyes.
“Wait!”
Tears rolling down his cheeks, Havardr stepped in front of Marianne, who had her shield ready to protect the others.
“Ha-Havardr--!”
“Logre, please…! Listen to me for a minute!” Havardr sobbed.
Logre stared at him silently, but did not move to attack the party.
“Logre, I… I…”
Havardr was sobbing too hard to find the right words to say. His eyes were frantic, his face was pale, and he was shaking like a leaf, but his arm was held out protectively in front of Marianne.
“P-please…”
He held out his hand and looked at Logre with blurry eyes, his vision clouded by his tears. Logre looked at Havardr’s scarred, calloused hand sadly, as though lost in the tides of memory.
“I… I honestly thought you would return home,” Logre whispered.
“I thought I would too…” Havardr replied hoarsely. “But what Prince Baldur’s doing… It isn’t right.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s right,” Logre replied, going to wipe the blood from his nose before noticing, surprisingly, that it had stopped bleeding. “I...I thought I was the only one to have survived...all those years ago… I bear not just my burden towards the royal family, but their burdens too. Their duties were mine, and I would do anything to aid them, and to bring them back to life…”
Logre began to silently cry as well.
“Together we were… We were capable of anything. You remember, don’t you, Havardr? To have comrades like that again… You have that, now, so maybe that’s why you felt safe enough to defect. But I don’t… All I have is His Imperial Highness.”
“Logre, you have us,” Havardr said resolutely. Marianne nodded behind him; Lis and Miku looked at Logre kindly; Mia, still off to the side, mumbled something angrily under her breath.
“Logre…” the blonde man continued. “You sat there, in the Southern Sanctuary, and told me that your duties were not mine. But how can that be true, when my duties were yours? That’s the whole point of having comrades- you share your burdens and your common goal. And our common goal was to save the Empire without sacrificing the Vessels and Sentinels. If all our comrades…”
Havardr’s words hitched in his throat as he fought back a sob.
“If all our comrades...Sigurd and Frey and all the rest… If they were alive, right here, right now, and saw what Baldur was doing… Do you think that they’d stand for it? I don’t.”
Havardr smiled sadly. Logre hung his head in shame.
“I think they’d be standing right here beside me with all their Drive Blades, pleading with me for you to come back and fight for Alfodr’s ideals- the ones we risked our lives for, and the ones they gave their lives for. Baldur doesn’t want to take the title of emperor to respect his father...yet he disregards the cause that Alfodr died in the Golden Lair for.”
Logre looked up in surprise.
“Logre… If you still feel bound to your bloodborne duty, that’s alright. I could never imagine being raised to serve the king and then...watch him die in your arms...and come home a decade later only to find his son trying to unbuild everything he’d worked so hard for...and knowing that you had to serve him anyways… I wasn’t raised like that; I can’t fathom such a choice. But I...I don’t want to kill you, commander. Please, sir, even if you don’t---”
“Havardr… I… You’re… Their duty, or their convictions…”
Logre stared down at his Drive Blade, which was now being used a crutch again, unnoticed somehow before now.
“Their duty, or their convictions… Which one is more important to uphold, when it’s all said and done…?”
He switched his Drive Blade off.
"Throwing my life away and doing nothing would be a desecration of their memory. If you will lend your hand to me, I will be the man I was then. I will stop the Empire in their stead.”
He took Havardr’s hand, a new fire blazing in his eyes. Havardr smiled the most genuine smile he’d had in a long time and gripped Logre’s hand tightly before pulling him closer and hugging him.
“Th-thank you, Logre… Thank you, sir...”
Havardr began crying anew, his face flush with the Imperial’s chestplate. Logre looked down in surprise before gently hugging the man back.
Marianne and Miku looked at each other in shock.
“So it… He’s not…?”
“I think perhaps he wants to fight with us, in our party…”
“We can only hope, Miku. We can only hope…”
Marianne happened to glance over at her younger sister and saw her fuming.
“One moment. I’m going to go have a little chat with Mia… It seems she isn’t too pleased with this turn of events. You should treat Logre’s wounds…”
“Of course, Ms. Marianne.”
Miku went up behind Havardr and tapped him on the shoulder. Havardr peeked back at her, and she lifted her Vessel’s staff.
“O-of course.”
As he stepped back, he could feel that his armor was...wet. Miku lifted Logre’s injured arm and put the head of her staff against it while reciting a quiet prayer. Havardr put his fingers against the back of his armor, and when he drew them back, there was blood… He almost panicked until he realized that it was from Logre, not him.
“Damn, he cracked his nose pretty good, didn’t he?” Lis said snarkily, nodding in Logre and Miku’s general direction. “...I’m just glad we didn’t have to kill him.”
Havardr nodded and rubbed his temples. “I’m... going to sit down over there, if that’s okay,” he mumbled drowsily as he stumbled over to a nearby bookshelf.
Havardr leaned against the side of the bookshelf, out of view of the rest of the group, and sighed wearily as he sunk to the ground. He was still shaking like a leaf, even after convincing Logre to ally with them, and he was pretty sure he knew the reason why.
He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with another sigh before ravenously opening his canteen and draining half of its contents in one go.
He closed it back up and smiled wearily. He propped his legs up and leaned his head against them, draping his arms over his knees. He was already feeling a bit better…
“E--- Havardr?”
Havardr looked to his left at the sound of the familiar, gentle voice.
Miku leaned down beside him. “Logre is going to be alright. I’ve healed his arm and cleaned his face,” she said calmly. “Is there anything you need? You weren’t injured in the battle, were you?”
“No…” Havardr replied. “I-I’m okay now.”
“Lis told me that you looked like you were going to faint earlier,” Miku said, suddenly growing stern. “I can see that the color is returning to your face now that you’ve had something to drink… You weren’t dehydrated, were you?”
“No, that wasn’t it at all. I was just terrified, going in here to fight my former commander, and now I’m feeling better… My body just took a minute to get out of fight-or-flight mode, is all.”
“Well, tell us if you start to feel ill. Please. We can’t have you fainting again, not with the fate of the Vessels and Sentinels on the line.”
“O-of course.”
“And take care of yourself, Havardr.”
“Of course, Miku…”
Havardr laughed nervously and blushed a little at Miku’s obvious concern. The blue-haired Vessel stared at him for a bit more, evaluating his condition, before giving a satisfied nod and returning to the larger group. Havardr watched her go back over his shoulder.
Marianne was holding Mia back tightly as the tiny firecracker of a Runemaster attempted to whale on Logre, who was sitting on the floor and trying his best to apologize to her. Lis was watching with great amusement from beside the door that they’d come in through. Miku rushed over to Marianne’s side and took Mia aside to the corner.
Havardr sighed and stared up at the ceiling.
“If Logre wants to join us in the labyrinth… Perhaps I can convince him to join the guild, too,” he thought. “And then… He can replace me. Because I don’t want to leave them one man down. It’s the least I can do for them, to get them someone far better to take my place, after all they’ve done for me…”