In the silent clearing in the cold, untouched tundra, in a deep snow one could see a person lying, unconscious and in barely breathing state. While later, a black-maned horse appeared near, nudging the lying person with its nose. After a few such prods, the lying person stirred, slowly awaking.
-"Ugh, make sure I never feel like being a hero again, Arion."-I called out to my partner.
She responded with a neigh, lowering her head to help me stand up.
-"Thanks."
After standing up, I looked around, and finding this place relatively safe, I decided to check how bad my state truly was. First thing to note was that my armor was destroyed, not beyond saving, but barely more than rags at the moment. Luckily, I recorded the enchantments on it, so I should be able to repair it later, but replacement was necessary for now.
Around me lay some broken things that traveled with me, most importantly, the parts of Jeanne's standard. Looking around, I looked for other things, such as that orb sealed in crystal, but I was unable to find it anywhere. I looked around for a few moments, finally giving up and just gathering the parts of the broken standard.
Next was my body. Most of the changes from using divinity disappeared, but some slight lines from my Night Warrior state remained faintly visible. My ears remained slightly pointed, but were not much longer than a normal human's, so while slightly standing out on Sankta, it was not bad. My skin tone was more worrying, as while no longer light purple, the previous light complexion was now truly sickly pale.
Using some ice to see the reflection of my face, I could see that my eyes had returned to a somewhat normal state, possessing a normal pupil and a deep blue iris. The only bad thing was that the glow didn't fully disappear, while not noticeable in a normal environment, in the dark, one could see my sclera emanating gentle moonlight.
Next were parts not connected to my body. The halo didn't fully return to the basic circle shape, turning into something akin to a tiara woven from strands of moonlight I saw in the lands from my dreams. But my wings remained as they were, big enough to fully cover Arion standing near me. After trying a few times, I managed to 'fold' them to keep them closer by my side. After checking myself in the reflection one more time, I couldn't help but think that I truly looked akin to angels depicted by the church of that world.
Lastly, I looked at what was hidden, and there, inside me, was the mess I was expecting. The impact that knocked me out and sent me out of the world shattered some of my crystals, leaving some serious wounds on my spirit and soul, but thanks to the awakening of my second Noble Phantasm, most of them were healed enough to be left alone. Even so, for the next few months, I need to be careful not to overuse my spirit, thus limiting the amount of magic power I can control.
Physically, my body was in ok state, at least there were no wounds, and the crystal was also fully mended, but here lay the greatest aftermath of that fight. When previously around 30% of my body was crystallized, now more than half was solid Originium Glintstone. All my bones and internal organs were now crystal, and below my neck, even the veins were more crystal than tissue. Thankfully, not many more of my muscles changed, most likely as I haven't moved much when they grew, so I escaped fate of new crystal growths appearing on the surface of my body.
The problem was that now I could feel that some crystallization also occurred in my head, along my nervous system. My brain was still ok, but just outside it, the crystals started to appear. While it sounds dangerous, in my state of existence, as some sustained by Primal Glintstone, I wasn't in much of a danger; at most, I would feel more numb emotionally. Of course, I would rather avoid it, so I put looking for a fix high on my agenda.
I made many observations and tests to get a feel for the changes the crystallization brought to me, finally confirming that, aside from minor matters, nothing major changed. At least that's what I thought before noticing a troubling matter. I was able to find the orb I was looking for, problem: it was already absorbed into the crystal in my body. I carefully checked it, and as it was still sealed, I decided to add a few more layers before leaving it put, waiting for when I understood Originium Glintstone better before trying anything.
Aside from that slight twist, the situation was as good as it could be after experiencing beating capable of throwing you worlds away, so I could help but let out a sigh of relief, even internally thanking that Patron of mine for giving me a way to heal those troublesome spirit and soul wounds, along with taking back the part of divinity that would be harmful to me.
With that done, I now needed to understand where I was, but this proved super easy, as after concentrating for a moment, I noticed a unforgettable to me particle in the air: Originium. This means that I was almost certainly back on Terra, a fortunate outcome of that tragic battle. With that in mind, I took out an armor that I held at the deepest part of my storage.
It was armor worn by Apostolic Knights, modified to reflect my status as the Saint. It was more ornate and less bulky, while keeping the main theme of the original. Looking at it, I couldn't get used to the red accents, so with a simple spell, I turned them red, before changing into it. As this armor was a plate armor, it was much heavier than my previous one that had only a few plate elements, but this was an advantage as it covered my whole body, not only hiding my crystal arm but also my face, covering imperfections there.
After that, I stretched my wings and flew up, trying to find some landmark that would give me a better understanding of where I was. After returning a few minutes later, I was able to ascertain that I was in northern Ursus, most likely a central part of it. Good news, I just needed to go south, and I will reach familiar places after some time. Bad news, between Laterano and me were other countries, making it somewhat troublesome to cross.
While, because of the nature of how territories worked on Terra, it wasn't that bad, I still needed to carefully consider what path I should take. For now, I still needed a few days, if not weeks, of travel to pass through Ursus territory, so I decided to make a decision when I needed to cross that bridge. I bundled the broken standard with cloth and bound it into a tight bundle, wearing it on my back like a sling bag, after which I called out to Arion and climbed on her back.
-"Let's go, two of us traveling together once again."
With that, we departed toward my 'home'.
The next few days of travel were uneventful. We traveled when the weather was clear, resting during snowstorms. It was only five days later that I encountered the first village. I stopped there for a moment, resulting in quite a spectacle as Sankta, let alone Apostolic Knights, were a rare sight outside Laterano or some sporadic churches here and there.
I exchanged some things the village needed for food and information, finally allowing me to pinpoint where I was. As for the food, with my body being more mineral than living matter, I needed no sustenance, or air for that matter, so I bought it for appearance's sake. I left the village the same day, continuing on my way.
Similar interactions repeated a few more times as I traveled through more developed regions, even passing by a small Nomadic city at some point. It had been almost two weeks since I started my journey, when I was slowly approaching the border, when I stumbled upon the suffering Terra was full of.
The village I planned to pass through was in flames, with a few silhouettes still running around the ruins. I picked up the simple iron spear I had taken up before, placing it in Arion's rucksack, so as not to have to explain a weapon appearing from thin air. I also placed a few swords there as well as the Royal Scepter, but that wasn't important now.
Entering the village, I was able to find few still intact houses, but for many of those inside, I believe that they preferred them aflame. What occurred here was a tragedy that was sadly prevalent in these lands: bandits. The band of them entered the village, and after killing all the men, adult or not, that garbed what was worth any money while herding women into those few remaining houses.
As for what happened to those women, I believe is rather obvious. A copious amount a brutality, rape, and torture, until they are broken and only then killed. It would seem that I came to this village not even a day since the bandits arrived, so while harm was done, most of the women were still alive. After quick work killing those scums, I healed those in need before gathering them in the village square.
I burned the houses used by the bandits to torture them, but after that, I took out a sword and cut the rope I was able to find into pieces little longer than a meter. Placing them in front of them, I looked at the women who were huddled together. Looking at the pieces, a few of them instantly understood my meaning and looked at me with relief, almost as thankful as they were after I killed the bandits.
-"Before anything else, there are twenty of you here, but only fifteen pieces of rope. While this is cruel, five of you must stay and care for children."-I looked at thirteen or so girls from age five to some teenagers standing nearby, none of them was spared from the fate like those adult women, but being too young to fully understand what had taken place.-"I can escort you to some other village, but I'm unable to care for so many children in such a state alone, so some of you must stay, understood?"
After hearing my words, some women showed pain after I mentioned children, some instantly moved to the group of children to help them, but most remained still, thinking about what to choose. Soon, someone stepped forward, grabbed one of the ropes, and started walking to one of the still somewhat standing ruins. Others quickly followed, and in the end, nine of them chose to take care of the children, as the rest... I could only offer them a moment of silence.
I won't act like I could understand their pain or their situations, so it wasn't my place to preach. Giving them choice and the dignity of death was all I could give them. After I helped the survivors gather some food and other essentials I helped them outside of the village when I let them rest for some time, as I returned and buried the remains of the dead. After marking the graves with simple gravestones inscribed with names, I learned from one of the surviving women.
After that, I left, returning to the survivors, where a small group appeared. I felt someone lurking around since I finished dealing with the bandits, but feeling no enmity, I let them be. Even when they revealed themselves after I returned to the village, I only observed with Spectral Hawk from high above, making sure they weren't a danger. On the subject, I noticed that the moon divinity also had some influence on some of my Ashes, turning Stormhawks into Spectral Hawks, for example, I was researching it along the way, but that's not important now.
-"You are?"-I looked at the golden-haired Kuranta who approached me.
-"I'm Margaret. I apologize for not showing before."-She introduced herself while performing an elegant knightly salute.
I reciprocated, also showing a salute of my own, my gaze falling on remaining two women of the group. Seeing them, I instantly understood why they had hesitated to show up before.
-"No need to hide. While I can't be said to be a friend of Sarkaz, I won't attack just because you are one. You may call me Eno, as you see, I'm Sankta on his way back to Laterano."-
-"You may call me Shining. It's rare to meet Sankta who can talk to us, Sarkaz, normally, especially an Apostolic Knight, so please excuse our behavior. Right, this is Liz."-The tall Sarkaz woman introduced herself and her companion.
From her tone, I could see that she was the leader of this band. I was about to continue our talk, but the last person, a delicate girl named Liz, suddenly approached me, looking me up and down while circling my body. I looked at Shining to understand what Liz wanted to do, but this proved futile when she suddenly grabbed the arm I had by my side, shaking it from side to side lightly.
-"Liz?"-Seeing their companion behaving like that, Shining was even more shocked than I after seeing Sarkaz actively taking Sankta's hand.
-"Eno."-Liz repeated my name a few times, as if trying to remember it.-"Nice to meet you."
-"Likewise."-I answered calmly despite my internal consternation.
-"Interesting."-Shining smiled after a moment, as if accepting what had happened.-"Would you mind taking us along for a part of your journey?"
-"I don't mind, more so, I would be thankful if you could help them. I'm not exactly good at taking care of others."
-"Naturally, we are healers, so it is our duty to extend a helping hand. We'll leave our safety in your and Margaret's hands."
-"Healers, huh?"-I looked at the strange staff in Shining's hands and, after feeling her aura, I couldn't believe that she was a healer, but it wasn't my place to meddle, so I let it go.
Three of the quickly helped the women move, but I stopped them from carrying everything form the children. Despite their protest, I made the children carry some of their own things, mostly clothes and bedding. My decision angered Margaret, who proceeded to argue for some time, finally forcing me to speak my reasons.
-"Sigh. This will indeed make the journey harder for them, even somewhat challenging for them, but that's the point. What they experienced is something few can overcome, while I can't help them with that, I can at least make them remember this journey. Force them to prove that they can overcome it with their own strength, not as burdens others need to carry. For you, this might be cruel, but this word is not gentle, so sometimes, too much care can be as harmful as the harm itself."
Hearing my words, Margaret remained silent for a while, finally apologizing to me.
-"I'm sorry, I was shortsighted."
-"No, it was just difference in perspective. My experiences made me believe in my ideas, yours in yours. If you disagree with me, speak up. It is I who should apologies for not explaining this clearly."
With that, our relationship eased noticeably, and when everyone was ready to depart, I put most of the heavy things on Arion while I walked like everyone else.