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The kingdom was in a delighted mood even two weeks after defeating the wicked dark wizard, who had tried to steal the royal crystal and in the process kidnapped the four princesses. It seemed like all was lost for none could dare hope to match the dark wizard’s power, but then four heroes had emerged. Four heroes from different worlds.
Seeing the crisis at hand and the potential they possessed, the late king had tasked the four with rescuing his daughters, christening them as The Castle Crashers. Four unlikely heroes who together shall overcome the malefic threat.
There was the pyromancer, Natsu Dragneel, who had salmon hair and shark-like teeth. He proclaimed to be the son of a dragon and made it evident in the raw power of his flames. He had a keen sense to form strong bonds and loved gorging on food, and for some odd reason was quite prone to motion sickness, which did not help in times such as when they were in the woods riding deer to escape the furry beast or on the river trying to face off against the feral catfish.
Due to the nature of his powers, his magic was limited here in the world, but he made up for it thanks to a weapon from another world that the king’s men had found months before their arrival. A weapon of holy, or perhaps even hellish, flame known as the Igneus Eden. With it, Natsu’s flames could be well harnessed and amplified. He was cited as the one to rescue the princess of the north, who was caged by the frost king. His flames of course overwhelmed the king’s icy powers. When the king tried to flee, he used another weapon he procured before the crew left ship, a rope dart from an otherworldly ninja clan known as the Shirai Ryu.
Then there was an odd fellow, Sonic. He was akin to the bears in how he seemed to walk, talk, and think like a man, but rather than either man or bear he was this creature called a hedgehog. Odd as he may be, he was also a carefree and occasionally prideful soul, and he possessed with him an impossible speed. He seemingly had no need for a weapon, confident in his trademark spin dash and a number of other attacks, but still, he gained some. Namely the so-called Cerberus, a tri-piece nunchaku which benefited from his excellent dexterity.
For all his braggings, Sonic was ultimately a hero as well, seeking to free people from the corruptive conquest of the evil wizard. Later armed with the so-called Hermes Boots to increase his incomprehensible speed, he scattered the armies of the evil wizard, overwhelming The Painter and even managing to save The Princess of the East during the final battle. Though as it turned out, she was a clown. How strange. The search for her was to continue, but what mattered right now was that the threat was dealt with.
Next was an imposing man, Dimitri Blaiddyd. He had one eye and for a while was known for his black armor which masked the scars that littered his body. He was arguably the strongest man in the entire world, able to carry anything overhead and smash through any wall. Only he was strong enough to wield the sharpened chunk of iron that called itself a blade. Dragonslayer was the name the universe whispered into the king’s ear when it came to his attention. With it, he killed everyone in his way.
Dimitri was an incredibly distant man, far more hopeless than his three companions, but in the end there was still a piece of him to cling tight to the heroism the kingdom needed, and so he persevered. Rescuing the princess of the south from the vengeful cyclops. Funnily enough, that was actually not his first weapon. His original weapon was a scythe, bony and belonging to some crusader called Dante, but it shattered during an epic battle with the machines of the Industrial Prince, who had hijacked the husk of an otherworldly machine called Omega Supreme for his battle with the Castle Crashers.
Finally, there was the face of the entire operation. Natsu was known as the greatest mage in the world, and Sonic the fastest creature, and Dimitri the strongest man, but all of them followed the leadership of a man who exemplified what it meant to be a knight and hero. A noble soul by the name of Himmel. At first, he wielded a shield of red, white, and blue, that could bounce around when thrown and somehow always return to his hand, and more importantly was virtually indestructible. With this weapon, he was able to rescue the princess of the west from the barbarians before she could be taken further away from the kingdom.
Later as they marched ever closer to the dark wizard, he was gifted with a weapon befitting his inspiring humanity. A mystical sword that could only be wielded by a pure heart, and the ultimate weapon against evil. Incorruptible in spirit, irresistible by any defense, and indestructible to any who dare try to destroy it, it was simply known as The Katana, a single-edged blade that allowed Himmel to ensure the finishing blow against the ultimate evil.
The king unfortunately perished in the final days of the great quest, and during it he blessed the crashers with the right to become members of the royal family. It was an… uncertain choice for them, given their alienness to this world, and the worlds they left behind.
Then, news hit.
A rift had opened.
Somehow, some way, the four had arrived here via these rifts, and now another had opened. During the final battle, the evil wizard revealed himself to be this reality-hopping man in black known as Randall Flagg, and he sought to use the power of the rifts to collapse a central pillar at the heart of all realities called The Dark Tower. The Castle Crashers had unknowingly foiled his plans, and now the rifts were wild and free, and one had opened, granting them a means to return to their old worlds.
Naturally, the four had to discuss this.
So there they were, in the king’s private meeting room. A large round table with a number of chairs, though it was only them. They’d had access to it since the king made his proclamation.
“We have to get to that rift before it closes,” Sonic was quick and to the point.
“Yeah, I gotta agree with Sonic. This place has been nothing but fun and friendly, but my friends are waiting for me back home. I can only wonder what Happy is feeling…” Natsu exclaimed. “It’ll be tough on the girls for sure though.”
“That’s what I was worried about,” Himmel held his head down. “They’d grown really attached to you three, I don’t think they’ll be able to handle to see you all go.”
“We?” Dimitri raised a brow, his arms crossed. “What about you?”
“Oh, I’m not going.”
“What?” Natsu and Sonic said in unison.
“What do you mean, Himmel?” Sonic asked. “Don’t you want to go back to your own world?”
“What about your family? Your nakama?” Natsu tried to remind him. “You can’t just leave them all behind!”
Himmel closed his eyes and let out a small smile before looking at the both of them. “Friends. I understand your concern but… don’t you remember how each of us got here?”
“We died,” Dimitri huffed.
“Aha, but that’s the thing. I died, you three were all killed,” Himmel explained, his eyes focused on Dimitri for a moment. “Well, these two died. You never told us yours, but I’ll assume it’s the same, unless you object.”
Dimitri remained silent.
“Himmel, what are you saying?” Natsu got up from his seat and approached Himmel, sitting closer to him. Sonic did the same, running to his side in the blink of an eye.
“Do you remember that night? We sat by the fire after we finally slew the catfish? That was when we finally started sharing how we each got here, no?” Himmel scratched his back a bit, and then the back of his head. “Each of us revealed that our last memories were that of death. So this world is a new life. A second chance, but as I speak here now before all of you, I’ve come to see that that holds very different meanings for each of us.”
They all remembered that night.
Natsu spoke about the S-Class Trials which took place on Tenrou Island. His final moments were holding hands with all of his friends, watching as Acnologia roared aloft and annihilated them and the island along with it.
Sonic fared no better. He remembered being beaten senseless by a coalition of his many enemies. There was of course Eggman and his Metal imposter, but also Chaos and Zavok, and finally a mysterious fifth foe. They were just about to end this whole crisis and then it was all plucked from his grasp. He could only wonder what the world was like now.
Dimitri never bothered to share his, only saying that it was grim. They respected his privacy, at the very least.
And then finally, there was Himmel.
“You three were killed, but I died. Of old age. You three all still have lives back there, this place was a chance for you all to rediscover yourselves and ready you for your return, where all of your friends need you most. But me?” Himmel placed his hand on his chest. “I don’t have anything to go back to. My time there is over. I have a lot of regrets in my old life.”
“Frieren,” said Dimitri.
“Yeah,” Himmel nodded shyly. “So many failures that mar my history, but… I can’t go back and fix them because… well, that was my life. I’m grateful for what it was, and I don’t want to overstay it. I… It’s…” Himmel sighed a bit. “It’s selfish of me, I’m sorry, but this place is a new beginning for me. There’s still threats out there, and I’ll stand to stop them all because nothing is waiting for me back home. I’ll try to do what’s right, like I always did. I can only hope and try to do better.”
“So you’re not coming with us?” Natsu said with sad eyes.
“Sorry, Natsu, but this is the place where I move forward. But hey, I came here when I died of old age, who’s to say we won’t meet again in the next life? In a whole new world?” Himmel looked to Dimitri and Sonic, “all four of us can be literal brothers at some point, for all we know, as opposed to just brothers-in-arms.”
“I… okay,” Natsu then hugged Himmel, Sonic did too. Himmel and Dimitri locked eyes (or rather eyes to eye, Dimitri did only have one). The blonde then stood up and walked on over, joining the group hug.
The princesses were weeping as they bid goodbye to their heroes, as did the people. They spent three nights remembering the kingdom before they each headed to the rift which still remained open. There, the heroes stood together, with Natsu, Sonic, and Dimitri all standing by the edge of the rift. They each held their respective weapons, and looked back at Himmel.
“This is goodbye then,” said Natsu. He gave Himmel one last hug, “I’ll make sure to remember you, man. All of you.”
“Yeah. Our worlds still need us, right, Dimitri?” Sonic looked at Dimitri, though he merely grunted in response.
The princesses gave them teary goodbyes as Natsu and Sonic entered the rift. Their bodies turned into energy and went separate paths, headed to different realities all together. Dimitri alone stood before Himmel.
“There’s nothing waiting for me back home, Himmel,” said Dimitri.
“Is there?” Himmel asked the man. “Surely there has to be. Unless you died, like me. I know it’s hard to believe, Dimitri, but people do care about you in the same way people care about me. You just need to accept that there’s no I, it’s nothing but cold out there if you do it alone. You need the warmth of other people. I did, Sonic did, Natsu did, and so do you. You deserve that.”
Dimitri sighed and held his head down. Then he approached Himmel and whispered into his ear the reason for his death.
Himmel’s eyes widened.
“Dimitri…” Himmel looked him straight in the eye. “That means you need them more than ever. Your friends- no, your family is waiting for you. Out there. Find their warmth, be the warmth, I know it’s inside you. Our quest to save the princesses was proof enough of that already, now it’s time for you to do it back home.”
Himmel held Dimitri by the shoulders.
“Choose justice, brother.”
Dimitri nodded. He hugged Himmel and turned around.
“I have a feeling I’ll forget you, Himmel, and you might too,” Dimitri admitted as he walked towards the rift.
“Then that just means we’ll get to learn how to be brothers all over again,” Himmel smiled. “I’ll see you sometime soon, Dimitri. Preferably after you die like me.”
Dimitri smiled, then he walked into the rift.