Complete Private Vintergard Warriors That Built This Town

[Lune]

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The relentless assault on Camp Hope IV was over. The countless travelers that came to aid in the defense were either resting in the camp, or had logged out for the night. As for Moonsong herself? Well, she's here now, in the safest place of all around Vintergard. Made her think about why those people didn't build the camp around this statue.

In the middle of the night, in front of the Immortal Heroine; probably a great time to reflect on what happened today, too.

The brunette exhaled.

So many things happened in the course of a few hours. Conspiracy, war, hopeless effort, Kenji, death. A normal person would've logged out, not lamenting in front of a gigantic shell of a likely dead person. Maybe all that transpired today made her crazy.

What surprised her was the number of players staying on the battlefield, risking their real lives for a camp. She couldn't protest; after all, she was one of those idiots. "If only there were that many players that day," Moonsong imagined what could've been, muttering to the statue. "Would things be different for you?"

Suddenly, the songstress heard footsteps from behind. No magia could enter the protection field of the statue, so she relaxedly turned around to see who else wandered during the nighttime.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

It was already more than clear for Hanno that there was no big fight in Terrasphere that wouldn't end with the death of one or another.

The dire thought was one that haunted him constantly, but at that point, it was also a thought that the faerin had accepted. He knew he was only one, and that he couldn't protect everyone in the world-- But as long as he could fight and save at least one soul, it would be worth it.

Besides, he wasn't alone in this. Hyakin was doing his best. Moonsong was also another, trying to protect many...

In fact, even going so far as staying behind for Quinn.

The reminder made Hanno grimace, wondering what had been the outcome of those two. Were they still 'alive'? UI-Locked? Maybe it was just their first death.

Hanno couldn't know, but as if destiny heard his worries, he blinked, noticing he had finally approached the Immortal Heroine.

He looked high up, always being in awe at the sight.

His breath was held, and as soon as Hanno prepared to move forward, a vaguely familiar glimpse caught his attention.

"Huh-" He blinked, taking a few steps closer, brightening up when he noticed who it was. "Moonsong!" He rose his hand, showing a smile that slowly fainted, noticing her expressions. "Hey there."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

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The person who came was none other than the faerin protector. "Oh, Hanno," Moonsong greeted the familiar face, trying to smile as wide as she can. "It's nighttime. Shouldn't you rest?"

The thought of him still patrolling around Vintergard after holding the frontline on the battlefield a few hours ago with her was very scary. Hopefully Hyakin is recovering well in the camp.

The brunette sat down in the grass next to the base of the statue, exhaling. "... What a battle, huh?" She muttered. It was too obvious that the whole sequence with Quinn was still on her mind.

Even though this is her first big decisive fight, the man in front of her had been doing this for a while, along with the owner of some of her mixed memories. They seemed to have a lot of similarities; the shield and the resolve to protect everyone, unlike her who threw it all away for the person she loved.

She could never.

"You know Hanno, there's so many of us, and there's only one of you." The woman looked at Hanno with a hopeless, sad gaze. "You know you can't save everyone."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"I already ate something at the camp." Hanno said, resting a hand on his hips and looking at Moonsong, watching her take a seat on the grass and following the fashion, getting next to her, gesturing with his chin as if silently asking if he could take a seat as well.

"It was..." Hanno muttered, resting his shield aside and putting himself in a carefree position as he sat down. He peered at Moonsong for a moment, with her gaze being one that could break any heart, enough to make the faerin feel his chest tight and heavy as he remembered the combat. The head of Quinn being dragged into that robot, and how Moonsong was putting all in the line to try to save him.

"I am sorry." Hanno said. "... I'm not sure if he was UI-locked, or if he became one... But still... My condolences." He muttered.

Her words didn't come unnoticed, and he shook his head. "I've already made peace with that. I am not alone in it either, there are many, like that man that was fighting next to us... And you as well, even if you had someone in special to take care of in the end." He mustered a smile, a faint one. "It doesn't need to be everyone. As one as we can manage to save at least one person, it is worth it."

His gaze then turned more concerned, focusing on the woman's eyes. "... Are you still... Y'know." He gestured. "Can you still access it?"

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

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She nodded, allowing the man to sit beside her.

"It's okay," Moonsong accepted the faerin's sincere gesture. "I made the choice myself before putting him to rest by my own hands." To be honest, she didn't know either if he became UI-locked or was already one. But the gaze they shared told everything; they feared that they might not be able to see each other again.

Hanno was optimistic. As long as anyone is out there with him, it felt like he could take on the world. "Yeah, Hyakin," she muttered. "He's a good man, like you. His heart is in the right place." The corners of her lips twitched as Hanno mentioned the special someone she took care of. The world is that cruel, huh? Finally, after she had found him, after whole five years.

She had to be the one to finish him off.

"Oh yeah, don't worry! It was only my first death." Moonsong tried to be cheerful with the fact that she was one-third of her way into being permanently dead in the real world. "I shouldn't catch another. I'm strong, after all!"

But not strong enough.

It doesn't need to be everyone, he said.

"At least one person, huh." She looked up at the armored statue, gazing at its face and pointing at it. "You're just like Corvella, you know."

A second later, a shocked Moonsong quickly covered her mouth with her hands. That wasn't something that everyone knew about, and certainly not something that everyone should know about. Crap.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

It was a grim thing to think of putting down someone you care so much about. The faerin don't think he would have this kind of courage, not the same one of Moonsong's. To make such a hard choice, Hanno couldn't help but feel a sadness sprearing through him.

"I can't imagine if I would make the same choice. I would probably fail. You are too strong." Hanno smiled faintly.

"So the dude's name is Hyakin? It is crazy how we just defend each other's life without ever knowing each other's name." Hanno shrugged, letting out a chuckle, looking at Moonsong with a relieved expression when she mentioned it being just her first death. With warmth spreading on him until her following words dropped like a bomb.

"Corvella-?" His eyes widened slightly, with the flash of the woman's face crossing his mind, and the list Levi gave to him showing her name followed by the grim reveal.

He felt a knot on his throat, but he forced his words out. "You... You knew Corvella?"

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

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Moonsong chuckled, slapping Hanno on the back. "Really? Hyakin's a knight of the Lions. Know your juniors better!" She joked. Both the faerin and the silver knight were in an organization with a clear mission; unlike her who works for money.

She picked the wrong guy to blurt out a piece of confusing information, and now the brunette was stuck in a corner.

Hanno's face changed, and not in a good way. Suddenly mentioning a comrade that was long gone was not a good idea, after all. He probably wouldn't believe the shenanigans she had with the Immortal Heroine, either.

Fuck, how do I get away with this?

"O-oh, no-no. I just read about her in one of the Guild's dossiers." She stuttered, trying to make up excuses. "I just started playing five months ago. The Dragonfall in Vintergard was like, what, a year ago maybe? Surely I don't know her."

She remembered that the blonde shieldmaiden was officially declared dead in most of the documents, so she brought up the Vintergard incident.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hyakin. Hanno needed to record that name for future reference- He couldn't be a good veteran if he didn't give the newcomers proper attention. But at the same time, it was hard to give a warm welcome to every single one of them when there were so many! Hanno needed to work out it at some point.

However, it wouldn't be now, especially when his mind trailed off to somewhere else, with the mention of Corvella being enough to stagger him for a moment. He looked into Moonsong's eyes, holding his breath in expectation before the woman revealed to only know her from stories. Hanno paused, nodding briefly and letting out a sigh before nodding.

"I see, so that's where you know her..." Hanno muttered, having a bitter smile on his lips. "... I'm glad at least her efforts are known. She was quite heroic." He said.

"We fought a few times together, we were from the same group, after all."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Looking at Hanno's bitter smile, now she felt really bad, like she was straight-up lying to him. But maybe she can tell Hanno? He was one of Corvella's precious friends, after all. "Yeah, I can tell." The songstress replied. Then came the long, awkward silence.

Her feet nervously tapped on the grass, as the wind blows filling the silence between them. Deciding to shoot her shot, the brunette parted her lips.

"Corvella spoke of you, during her last moment." Moonsong suddenly revealed, "She said she was sorry." She turned to Hanno, looking straight into his eyes to prove that she was not making things up. "You... never finished that shield training with her, did you?"

That last sentence was quite enough to show that Moonsong had information that nobody else should know, except for Hanno and the presumably-late Corvella.

"How do I say this, uh..." The woman slowly stood up, patted her back thighs before making inching closer to the statue, touching it with her palm. "...There's a part of her, inside of me." She claimed.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno huffed a quiet chuckle at the response. Their similarities were clear, except for experience. She seemed to know what she was doing with her shield, while Hanno just swang it around like some sort of berserker.

The faerin was just about to open his mouth. To start his babbling about the woman, figuring Moonsong would be curious about her.

But what was suddenly revealed made him falter. For a moment, Hanno scowled in a way he usually wouldn't. "What are you-" A scold was held in the middle of his throat, not wishing to see or hear Corvella's name being used in rumors.

Yet, what came next staggered him.

"How..." He muttered, and the answer came right away.

Corvella? Part of Corvella was inside of her?

Hanno's lips quivered, and his fists clenched as he looked deeper into Moonsong's eyes. "How do you... Have her..? No... that doesn't make sense." Hanno grimaced, both in disbelief and uncertainty.

"She died while all of us were gone, she couldn't-" Hanno paused, once again staring at Moonsong, and with his eyes brimming with magic. Seeking Corvella's spirit. Seeking her aura.

It didn't take long.

Next to Moonsong. She was there.

Hanno's eyes flickered with the magic, and tears quickly formed in his eyes. She was there.

"Corvella..." His teeth gritted. "... Sorry? I am the one that should've apologize..." For not even knowing she was UI Locked. For not even being there to try and stop it from happening.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

She was nervous, afraid that Hanno would think that she was spouting slanders about his dear friend. But once it clicks, not even the faerin could oppose the fact the songstress just revealed. "I know, it just doesn't make any sense."

Hanno's eyes suddenly flickered before she could explain further, scanning her body with his magic receptacle, enhancing the sight further with spirit magic and aura.

And there the blonde was, standing beside the brunette, doubling like an echo, mimicking her every move. The Titanic Empress appeared like how she was before the disappearance, taking the form of an aura shrouding Moonsong. "Hiding away from all of you was her choice," Moonsong explained, slowly inching towards the Immortal Heroine. "It would have spared the unnecessary tears."

"She defied the gods, cheated death, and became... this." She touched the statue again, like the last time the brunette went there. But there were no more reactions, no fate threads. "... I-I don't know, maybe someday she'll wake up. We'll find a way." The woman stuttered, and the memories of the other protector started to appear in her thoughts again.

"I'm no hero, Hanno. Unlike her, unlike you. But—" That was true, she couldn't even protect Kenji, the person most important to her. The woman turned back to Hanno, her eyes burning with resolve.

"—There's got to be something, a reason, a meaning. The purpose of entrusting her memories with me, a stranger. She would have wanted me to tell you this."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Moonsong's words hammered one after another, with each word flashing Corvella's face in his mind, until she was there herself, or at least partially. A trick of his magic? He couldn't tell. He wanted to reach out, nearly going to hold her, to hug her, to apologize, to say thanks. To do a lot of things that at the time of life were taken for granted.

"I'm no hero-"

He paused before it was too late. The one in front of him was Moonsong, not Corvella.

Restraining himself from going further, his arms crossed, and his gaze turned to the giant statue. "She has been here... and I never realized. How could I be so blind?" He muttered in a cracked voice, in disapproval at himself.

He turned to face Moonsong, pursing his lips.

"There... There really must be a reason... a chance for her to come back... something, anything..." His hand freed from the crossed arms, touching the statue and closing his eyes.

He shifted a glance to Moonsong, offering another faint smile, he shouldn't look like this in front of others. "Corvella wouldn't choose someone just because they are a hero. Which mind you..." He tightened his palm against the statue.

"Being a hero is overrated." His eyes went up to the statue again. She was so close, yet so far.

"... Why it had to be like this..." Hanno lamented.

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Their lives were indeed funny. It's the heroes that suffered the most, losing their loved ones, losing their lives. She kept hearing about gods in this world, but was there truly any? Were they just as malevolent as the machine that attempted to burn Camp Hope to the ground?

"There's a reason... for everything," Moonsong muttered, repeating what a certain blonde protector said to her inside her dreams. "We just have to find it."

They silently stood in front of the statue, at loss for words. This has been a peaceful night under the bright stars in the sky. No scouts flying all over the place, hunting for stragglers. The two of them enjoyed a brief moment they deserved from the hard-fought battle.

"Hanno, I—"

The brunette paused, her hands tightening as she looked at the face of the statue, trying to find any kind of sign. In front of her, there was the hero who would stop at nothing to save even one life, while behind her was the heroine who gave her life.

Trace the path, or make her own?

"—Would you teach me? So that I can become..."

Not a hero. Something else.

"... a protector."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

As silence grew, Hanno closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the statue, with his mind running at full speed to try and think of a solution.

There is a reason... for everything. We just need to find it.

A reason for all of this? The statue did ward off the enemies from coming close, and the story it carried sure made it clear for Hanno that Corvella wasn't just a hero, but a legend, a true protector both in life and after it...

... But was she really dead?

Moonsong calling his name brought his eyes open again, tilting his head to partially look at her with teary eyes, and tugging his scarf to wipe them, so he could give her the attention she deserved.

The request was unexpected, and Hanno's eyes locked on Moonsong's, seeing the desire... and also, the vision of Corvella.

"... Just like before. But the roles are a bit messed up..." Hanno muttered, pensive and having another bitter smile.

"Of course." He said, trying to brighten up, leaning his head away from the statue and offering a hand to Moonsong. "Let's see what you are capable of."

@Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Seeing him lamenting for his long-lost friend was quite heartbreaking. Was she that much important to him? A person as strong as Hanno, letting out tears for a dear friend. This world is a very cruel place.

She walked closer to the Lion's defender with a faint smile on her face. "I'll be in your care, then." A familiar tone came out, as the woman extended her hand to give the faerin a shake. "Hanno."

They did not need to worry, as long as one survives, there will always be the next protector ready to take up the mantle. In one way or another, they will always live inside others. But until that day comes, all Moonsong has to do is find herself. Become something.

Something more. A necessary evil, maybe? No.

The best partner a hero could ever have. Someone that will make them grow stronger and stronger, preparing for the next world-ending threat.

A villain.

Where Corvella failed, Moonsong will succeed.

@Hanno Futaba