#Lady Edith: The Beloved Aunt who turned into a Witch

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

Never in her wildest dreams did Josephine ever imagine that she would have to stop a coup. She knew that many of the nobles were not happy having to share power and would have preferred if Berkut had become the emperor instead. However, since Berkut was helping his cousin, perhaps many did not like this change of heart. “As much as I would love to talk to Rebecca about this, time is not exactly on our side. Perhaps having a compartment that looks like a bag’s lining might work. We did find some old carrier bags used for holding books.” Josephine did have some sewing skills so she felt she could handle the task. She picked up one of the carrier bags near her and took a look inside. “Oh! This one has a hidden compartment!” Josephine showed the inside of the bag to Hunter. There was a hidden flap that was used to hide documents. It was empty because it seemed the people wanted to move them to a safer location which in this case was the secret hideout. “Well, I suppose now we know how they managed to steal stuff and not get caught.” This made things easier for Josephine to go to meet with Alm. “Alright. First this is getting the main documents to show Alm into the bag. Then I finish the rest of the wedding plan while you work on the report of the last battle. I think Alm would be understanding why you did the report instead of me.” Josephine said as she still lost her aunt and while she felt better many of the others would know she would be in mourning.

“Be sure to make the report as basic as possible without revealing the full truth that we know now. So, let’s just say we met the Witch at my family gravesite and I recognized right away who the Witch was. We prepared ourselves for a battle and realizes we needed blessed weapons and thus we had to run to the base and she was following us. Then we can tell the truth from that point and end it when the battle finally ended.” Josephine told Hunter as she felt that was the best plan to go with. “To throw the suspicious people off we should wait at least two days before I make the long travel to Rigel Castle the normal carriage way. You can go back to work at the base as normal.” It could take up to a day or two travel if there is no rush to get there. Wedding planning was not a necessary rush but a royal wedding was still important. Plus, everyone who was at the battle would know that Josephine would want Hunter to comfort her for at a day. “We should at least get the main documents ready first.” Josephe said before getting the documents needed in a folder with dividers and made sure to test the bag to make sure the bag was good to go.

Josephine started to feel the tiredness from not getting enough sleep. “We should get some sleep but let’s put the rest away in their original locations. We are going to be very busy for the rest of the week.” Josephine knew the next two days were critical to get the wedding plans done. It will be a nice distraction but there was that fear that perhaps getting caught by a member of the group. She had to take that risk in order to save not only the royal couples from an assassination attempt with but the lives of the commoners who were being cruelly mistreated depended on her. Alm and Celica were working hard to try to make Valentia a better place for everyone and it would be a disaster if the corrupted nobles regain their power once more…

Those two days flew by as the couple prepared on the surface preparing to the wedding plans for Berkut and Rinea’s wedding and Josephine getting ready to travel to Rigel Castle. Her family’s home would be on the way there so she knew she would have to stop by and tell them some of the news about the Witch. She brought the purple necklace that her aunt Edith always wore to give to her father. That would be imitate proof that she was telling the truth as Edith was supposed to have been buried with it. Josephine was dress in a darker red color than normal as to indicate that she was in the process of mourning. She had woken up early in the morning to finished packing a traveling bag typical for trips that take more than a day and was now waiting inside her manor for the carriage. She made sure to have the carrying back with Hunter’s report, wedding plans and secret documents to show Alm inside. “Well since my family’s manor is the half way point to Rigel Castle, I will have to tell them what happened to Edith. Since it is common for me to always stop there before going to see Rinea…it makes sense.” Josephine was making sure this looked like a normal trip to see Berkut and Rinea at the castle. This was not going to be a fun trip for her but it was something that had to be done. “Oh, I can see the carriage and our mission begins the moment I open the door.” Josephine said before giving Hunter a small smile before opening the door to see the coachman and footman ready to take her travel bag. She got to hold onto her carrying bag and they didn’t ask to see into it. If they did, they would first see fabric examples for wedding dresses. Before she got onto the coach, she turned to look at Hunter. “I’m going to miss you but I know it’s only going to be a few days. Good luck with work. I love you!” Josephine said before giving him a quick kiss on the lips before going into the carriage. At this point everyone around them Josephine was sweet to her soon to be husband. As the carriage started to move, she gave a wave to her beloved before settling down at her seat and looked up at the blue sky. She hoped that her grandfather and aunt Edith were watching over her knowing that Josephine was going to be successful on her mission to protect Valentia...

~*~

"My apologies. You're right, the coup does needs the primary focus."

He did learn a little more about Josephine's family history. Edward seemed to be the name of a warrior but records would be spotty at best if they were to try and find it again. Perhaps it would make a good name for a child if they decided to have them and if the child was male.

When Josephine started to search through the papers and notes that were scattered around the room, Hunter would join her by trying to collect as much as he could and try to organize it while handing papers that she requested. He would organize it from repeated names, locations, and other mentions of importance. It would help if he had S.T.A.R here to categorize and store the information from each page. She would have also been able to find repeats in information to narrow down possible leads but it seemed like it was up to Josephine and Hunter to do some good old fashion detective work. He looked over to his fiancé when she began to put the pieces together.

"Loss of power is a leading cause for people to do drastic things." He commented.

He nodded at the comment about having to split up to not draw attention to the fact that they knew that a coup was being attempted. This would take a lot of maneuvering and sheath if they were to be successful and Josephine also had a way to inform the emperor about it too with the wedding plans.

As a Spartan, Hunter had been sent on some covert missions such as reconnaissance and assassination. The Spartans that worked closely with ONI were more selected for those types of missions. He thought about ways to conceal a message with the more limited resources they had here than what he normally worked with in the UNSC.

"Well, there are a couple of ways we can go about it. In the UNSC we never really used paper as most messages were encrypted and could be hidden on the person instead but there are multiple ways to hide such documents in bags and safes. You can put hidden compartments that look as if it's part of the bag's lining. We can write messages in a certain type of ink that when exposed to lemon juice or anything acidic it will appear by chemical reaction. I could check in with Rebecca to see if she can send us something from the UEG that may do the job."

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

Josephine watched as the spirits of her grandfather and her aunt fade away. It did give her the peace in her heart that she knew she did the right thing. Although she did fell a little embarrassed from her grandfather talking about a firstborn child. “The name Edward has been a middle name for two generations of the head of the family. From what I remember my grandfather told me is that my great grandfather Benedict Reginald Sherington gave him that middle name because that’s what his father’s first name was.” Josephine did remember having to learn about her family history. “There are not too many records from back then but I was told Edward was a powerful warrior.” It was unfortunate that wars between the Mila and Duma caused a mess with many written histories becoming lost to time. “As much as that would be an interesting topic on its own, we have much more important matters to attend to.” Josephine said as trying to stop a coup from happening was the first priority. “The first thing we have to do is sort through all of this paperwork. Most likely the people who were meeting here are going to lay low for a while because of the Witch they were working with is gone. So, let’s get to it.” She knew that the people involved would not be dumb enough to come back after a battle took place.

It took a bit but Josephine managed to sort out everything by date and how important it was. “Ok so Edith wrote down all the names involved for blackmail reasons. She even separated them based on rank. Seeing nobility on there is not surprising.” Josephine knew a lot of the nobility was not too happy sharing their power with the commoners. “The list of Witches and those still in the cult are going to be quite useful but from the letters and notes we read, they confirmed that Witches can still be created. To make matters worse they used the common folk as their test subjects to see if they can make terrors. From the most recent letter, the experiments are still being done.” Those was the most unsettling documents of all. This was way worse than she had imagined. “Not to mention we have a ton of historical documents, books, maps and other treasures from all over Valentia that have been clearly stolen by the same group. Alm and Celica are supposed to have these items in their possession. Which means these people have been stealing for a long time. Plus, from the Edith’s notes we know there are a lot more hide outs similar to what we have. Who knows what other stuff is out there.” It really felt like daunting task that has been given to the couple to deal with.

“The documents with the list of names, the coup plans and the horrible stuff the cult is still doing, needs to be the priority. Those need be shown to Alm as soon as possible so we will have to ask for a private meeting. However, it would not be a good idea to let anyone else know what is going on. This means we cannot tell Berkut and Rinea about it.” Josephine knew the less people knew about it all the better. She knew they had to come up with a very good plan. “We can’t meet with the emperor together as people would get suspicious. Hmm…how to get a meeting with the emperor without telling the truth…” Josephine thought about for a moment before realizing there was a way. “I got it! Berkut did want me to help with the wedding planning so Rinea would not be so stressed out. As her maid of honor, it makes sense for me to go to the castle. Plus, not only is Alm going to be officiating their wedding, but he will be doing that for us as well!” Josephine felt this would be the best plan to go with. “We need to carefully mix the documents with the wedding designs and other wedding plans. It has to be so that I can still have easy access to show Alm. I also have to bring a report from the last battle so I can do that in person.” Josephine knew this was going to be a lot of work. “Hunter? Is there a way to have a secret compartment in a bag carrying documents?” She asked her beloved if he had any insight from where he was from. She knew having the wedding stuff be visible made sense but also needed to be annoying enough for her to not get searched too deeply. This was going to take a lot of strategy and planning on their part before she could head over to the Castle safely.

~*~

Hunter lead the path down the stairs as they followed the floating purple necklace. He kept his knife in front of him, having it trail the object. This felt like too much of a trap. Having to fight against this magic just hours prior, it couldn't be anything but a trap. And they didn't have the reinforcements like they did during the last battle.

When the reached the back into the hidden room, Hunter's eyes scanned around. He was looking for any trap that may be waiting for them. Any hiding place that may be used for an ambush. He didn't see anything but that didn't mean much when it came to magic as he learned. Still it seemed that the only magic being used was to remove obstacles in their way.

"Josephine be careful." He uttered as she moved to another hidden door.

What was reviled to them was something far worse then either of them can imagine. Hunter's eyes traced the string that connected pictures and documents. All of it coming to the conclusion spoked by Edith. The emperor's family was in danger. Things just went bad to worse. They would have to do something now armed with this knowledge. If needed, Hunter could assassinate the coup's leader. It wouldn't take him much to get through any guards that were around the leader nor would it be particularly hard for him to kill the leader. But a brazen attack such as that might make the coup leader a martyr and as such strengthen the legitimacy of this coup. This would need more tact then the ex-spartan could provide on his own.

"It would be the perfect time to strike. Everyone would be busy or preoccupied with the wedding that defenses would be down."

When the two appeared to the couple, Hunter had put his combat knife back into its sheath. The threat was over and the blade unneeded for now. He listened as Josephine and Edith talked to him soon being addressed by Josephine's grandfather.

"Of course sir, I will do everything I can for her."

The comment about naming their firstborn Edward seemed out of left field to Hunter. They were barely married. He wasn't even thinking about having children just yet. It would have to be discussed with Josephine before any of that became serious. When they left, Hunter turned to his beloved and asked a question.

"Is Edward an important name in your family?"

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

It was quite unusual experience as Josephine had never heard about spirits appearing except for in some books that were fictional. That voice was way too familiar to ignore and she had to figure out why this was happening. She still stayed close to Hunter as she still was nervous about dealing with more magic as they followed the floating purple necklace. When she saw the necklace leading her back to the bookshelf that led down to the room where Witch Edith had been. She quietly moved the book that showed the hidden door once more. “…of course, it has to be down there…” Josephine said before looking over and seeing the same lantern that she used was floating up to the desk in the parlor room and a flame showing up without her doing anything. “…Grandfather is someone else with you?” she asked. “…Edith…” the male voice said. “…Oh…” Josephine felt a little regret for asking but at least Edith was reunited with grandfather after all this time. Josephine took the lantern from the desk and went to open the door and watched as the necklace floated down the stairs. “…well here goes nothing…” Josephine said before making the way down the stairs with her beloved close by.

The area was a little bit of a mess due to the fight when her aunt was a witch. However, she watched as the fallen book shelf went back up on its own and the books floated back to where they had once been. “…Thanks for that…but is there another hidden room?” She asked before she saw the necklace move to what looked like a large mirror. The necklace tapped the side as if to tell Josephine to touch it. “Like this?” Josephine pressed on it and sure enough it was a sliding door to show a hidden room that looked like a meeting place. There was a map of all of Valentia with pins that were in different locations. She watched as the necklace landed on a wooden document box on the table. Josephine opened the box and started reading the documents. “…These look like notes and some letters…” Josephine said as she read the contents. “…Witches are angry…they work with nobles…” It was Edith’s voice that was heard. The dates from the letters and notes seem to date from not too long after the war ended to very recently. “It seems the people who were here were keeping an eye on us.” That made sense as Edith had been living there as a Witch after all. “…The new emperor…and his family…is in danger…” Her grandfather said. “They are?!” Josephine said as she looked over the notes and sure enough there were documents that were point to a big event. “One of names of the nobles is a member of the old family that was supposed to rule but Duma picked Alm’s father, Emperor Rudolf instead. This place was used for them plot a way to eliminate Alm and those loyal to him. It’s a coup!!” This was not something she was expecting, it was much so worse. “…They are planning to do it on Berkut and Rinea’s wedding day?! Those dastards!” Josephine said as she knew that day would be very busy for everyone involved. She watched as the purple necklace floated back to Josephine.

When Josephine took the necklace and looked back, they were able to see the spirits of her grandfather and Edith whom was no longer a witch. “…Thank you for setting me free. I can finally be with father again.” Edith said with a soft smile. “I watched what happened and I’m proud of you. You really did become the greatest Bow Knight.” Grandfather had said with a grin. “Thanks Grandfather.” Josephine felt like she was getting the closure that she needed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Edith turning into a Witch, but if I had…” Grandfather started to say before Edith continued for him. “…I told him before my mind became corrupted to not to tell or else the family would have been killed…” Edith didn’t want her father to feel guilty anymore. “…I’m sorry…I felt like this was the least I can do…to atone for what I did…” Edith said sadly. “…It’s not your fault you became a Witch…” Josephine replied. It was Edith’s ex-husband’s fault this mess happened. “…The magic I left in the necklace is starting to fade…It’s time for us to go.” Edith said. “Hunter. I have seen that you really do love Josephine for who she is. You have my blessing. Take care of my granddaughter alright?” He told Hunter. For Hunter to get the grandfather’s blessing after everything that happened went through seemed like he was accepting the changes of commoners marrying into nobility. “Oh, and one last thing. Be sure to name your first son Edward for me.” Grandfather said with what seemed like he knew something the couple didn’t. “We will be waiting for you when your time comes but that will be for a long time. Take care!” Edith said. “Goodbye for now. Until we meet again my dear granddaughter.” Grandfather said and soon the spirts faded away into the afterlife…

~*~

Hunter stayed by Josephine's side as she continued to grieve. His hand began to rub her back as it was a way of comfort he learned when taking care of Rebecca. It seemed like his efforts were working a little bit so he continued to just be next to his wife. He stayed silent for a few more moments before she spoke up.

"Some rest might do us some good. I'll help you up to the bed room."

He would pick Josephine up, bridal style, and carry her up to the bed room. While she was changing into her night gown, he would also remove his knight armor and bathe before slipping into his night clothes and then crawl into bed next to Josephine.

"Yes we will but it won't be something that has to be done right now. We can work at it in small bits as a time. You don't need to overwhelm yourself."

His arm lifted up over her as she came closer. When she was all settled in, he lowered his arm around her with his hand resting against her arm. With his genetic augmentations, he never really needed much sleep. It was more like a light rest that he could awaken from at a moments notice. When the purple light began to glow, he was immediately removed from his slumber. It would seem that his wife was up as well.

"Another attack?" He asked while grabbing his combat knife that he kept close by.

Soon came a voice that Hunter was very unfamiliar with but it seemed that Josephine knew exactly who it was. When she got up to follow the light, Hunter did as well but kept the combat knife from the UNSC close with him. He was becoming very unfond of magic.

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

The reality of the events that happened thus far had hit Josephine to her very core. She was not the type to let her negative emotions out often, but when she did, she made sure it was away from others. She had not wanted to depend on others to comfort her, but her beloved was right by her side. He had tried his best to show comfort in his own way and she did appreciate it. Here she was on the ground with her back to the door as he held her close in his arms as she wept. Having Hunter with her at this moment made her feel safe enough to be vulnerable. It took a couple of minutes before Josephine did her best to stop crying as much. She was exhausted both physically and mentally from it all. “…. Let’s just…go to bed…” Josephine was in no mood to eat and just wanted to rest for a bit. Of course, she appreciated Hunter helping with whatever she needed which made her feel a little bit better.

Once the the armor was off, getting a bath and dressed in her nightgown, Josephine put everything away except for the purple necklace that Edith had left behind. She was resting in the bed as she looked at it. Her grandfather must have known that Edith became a witch but he took that secret to the grave. “…We are going to have to look through the documents down there…” She said before sighing. She knew it had to be done for the report so it was best to just get it over with. She gently placed the necklace on the night stand before moving close to her beloved to get more comfort. “…Just let me stay close to you for a while…” Josephine was still saddened by the loss but she knew life would continue on regardless. She was a Countess and she had people that depended on her after all. She did allow herself to fall asleep as it seemed being with her beloved was able to calm her down and try to think of happier things to look forward to.

It was still dark out when fate had other plans for the couple. The purple necklace started to glow. This light caused Josephine to wake up and once she looked at what was glowing, she called to Hunter to wake him up. “Hunter? I think we have a problem.” She said before seeing the purple necklace start to float as if someone was holding it. “…Follow me…” It was an old male voice that she knew all too well. “…Grandfather?” Josephine asked as she saw the necklace move to the door as if wanted her to follow them. “…I think Grandfather wants to show us something…” Josephine was very confused with what was going on but she decided she was going to follow her the spirit of her grandfather. He must have a very important reason why he was appearing now before them.

~*~

Hunter gave a thumbs up after hearing Josephine call out praise to him. Even with one down, there were still many more. He turned to take down some other terrors when Celica's attack formed in the air. The light was bright enough that he had to look away. Looking back over to Josephine, it seemed that she saw it too.

"It looks like the reinforcements have arrived then!"

The happy moment was interrupted when Edith had teleported behind him. He left his flank completely exposed and now was running very low on options. Hunter never really feared death. To him it was just part of the job and a risk that came with every day. He wasn't going to down without a fight however. He turned and tried to raise his sword in defense of the attack but then he saw a glow of light from Josephine before watching Edith fly past him with an arrow stuck into her.

He blinked his eyes trying to figure out if the light was real or just a hallucination. Regardless the main threat was taken down but Hunter knew that it wouldn't be easy for Josephine. He put his sword away and began to walk over to her after Edith had faded away. Before he got to her, he watched as she got back on her horse. They still had a mission to accomplish. He nodded after listening to Josephine. Taking out his sword once more, he charged at the terrors that remained but would look over to Josephine from time to time to make sure she was ok.

The fight lasted a bit longer but ended in victory for the knights. While his soldiers celebrated, Hunter remained quiet alongside Josephine. His main priority now was to make sure that she was ok. He gave a salute to the King and Queen before they left. During the carriage ride, he remained quiet but he did hold her hand. Trying to offer any form of comfort to his wife no matter how little. It would be when they arrived home that he would see everything come out.

Hunter never really had a good grasp on people. He was made for war and as such didn't develop a lot of emotional processing for things like grief or love. He knew when someone was sad but didn't always know how best to alleviate it. Mostly trying to fix the problem that caused it but this was a problem he couldn't fix. He couldn't bring people back to life.

The best he could do was kneel down next to Josephine and put his arm around her and keep her close. Giving her something to hold onto or to know that she wasn't alone.

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

It was clear that the longer the battle went on, the more tiring it was becoming but they had to keep fighting on until reinforcements arrived. Berkut did start to notice that he and the rest of the army were much further away than he would like from Josephine and Hunter. He knew the Witch was doing that on purpose but there was only so much he could do. Those necrodragons really were causing quite a mess of things. At least the blessed weapons were working but breaking through a necrodragon’s defense was still harder than it looked. The did manage to kill a few of the necrodragons by having every one in the army using blessed weapons. Unfortunately, the Witch was still making more of them appear so the numbers were still higher than anyone would like. Suddenly a blast of a bright light attacked one of the necrodragons which instantly killed it. Berkut looked over to see that Alm and Celica had finally arrived. He went over to Alm, “Now I know how you felt during the war fighting all those blasted necrodragons without Celica around.” It was not a pleasant experience at all. Berkut did give a quick recap to the royal couple about of what was going on. They had to try to get to Josephine and Hunter as soon as possible.

It seemed Josephine’s plan was working as intended. She watched as the necrodragon in front of them disintegrated to dust. “Good Job Hunter!” She said before shooting the weaker flying terrors that also turned to dust. She did notice that some of the other necrodragons were starting to move to where Berkut and the army was. As if trying to stop a greater threat. Then a bright light was seen killing one necrodragon with ease was enough to tell who had arrived. “That’s the Seraphim spell! That means Queen Celica is here with King Alm.” That in itself was going to make the battle easier and Josephine could now focus on looking out for her Witch Aunt.

It was clear that Eidth was not going to go near the royal couple since she knew how powerful they were. Edith had to attack before it was too late. So, she warped close enough to try to launch a powerful attack from behind Hunter since she knew he did not have a good resistance for. “Watch as your beloved peasant dies!” Edith yelled but Josephine’s reaction was quicker than the witch anticipated. There was a glow of light that appeared from Josephine for quick moment that gave Josephine the strength needed to take Edith down. “BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT!” Josephine shouted back before she shot her blessed arrow. It hit Edith straight into her heart before she fell to the ground. Josephine got off her horse to run up to Edith but still had her weapon at hand. For one moment it was as if Edith’s mind had cleared before she looked at her niece for one last time. “…Josephine…I’m sorry…I’m happy that you… found someone who loves you just the way you are…take care my little knight…” Edith said before her body faded away leaving behind an amethyst necklace similar to the necklace that Josephine would always wear.

Josephine felt that for one moment, everything had stopped. She quietly picked up the necklace and knew where it came from. Her grandfather gave Edith that necklace when Edith was a child and it was clear that Edith had still been there, but got corrupted because of Duma’s influence and dark power. She took a shaken breath as to try to bury her emotions for now. She couldn’t break down now as there were still a battle to finish. She put the necklace in a safe place before going back on her war horse. She could see the numbers were finally going down. “…Now that the… witch is gone, there will be no more terrors being summoned. Let’s help them finish this.” It was clear Josephine was focusing on the battle at hand to distract herself. She took a deep breath before shooting down the weaker flying terrors to lower the numbers to end the battle. She would be silent for the most part as if knowing if she didn’t keep it together, she would break…

When all of the terrors were gone, the army rejoiced that all of those terrors were gone. Berkut figured out pretty quickly that Josephine had successfully taking down the Witch. It helped change the tide of the battle and gave them the victory that they needed. Berkut had made sure there was a carriage for Josephine and Hunter to use to get home much sooner. It was the least he could do after the hell of the battle they all went through. Josephine and Hunter returned to the outside of the base after Josephine put her war horse back in the stable but she kept the blessed bow and arrows in case more terrors appeared in the future. Josephine gave a small smile when she saw Berkut. She was not in the mood to talk but she did it to keep up with the pleasantries. “Josephine! You took down the Witch and all those flying terrors. Excellent work! You gave us quiet a surprise showing up as a Bow Knight. A very skilled and powerful one at that. Alm and Celica were very impressed as well! I’ll make sure to give a good recommendation to Alm for you to be promoted from Calvary Unit to be a Bow Knight instead of a Paladin.” Berkut said as this was the first in history that a woman acted as a Bow Knight. “Thank you, Lord Berkut. That would be wonderful.” That did give Josephine some happiness knowing she would finally have her childhood dream be a reality.

“Why didn’t you tell me about wanting to be a Bow Knight? You know I would have done that so much earlier.” Berkut said as Josephine would have been very useful to have in the war. “…Well, you never asked…” Josephine replied. It was true that while Berkut knew about her military history, he only knew about her being a former Calvary unit not if she knew any additional skills. That and she really was glad she was not a solider in Berkut’s army during the war. He was quite the cruel man when he had been angered and she never wanted to get him too angry. “You probably should get going Lord Berkut. I’m sure Rinea must be very worried.” Josephine said changing the subject as she wanted to leave but wanted to be polite. “You have a point.” Berkut said as the last thing he wanted was for Rinea to come out looking for him. That and Rinea would be happy to see the royal couple face to face. “I did invite Alm and Celica to the castle so you do not need to worry about them.” The royal couple appeared from the base entrance but when they looked at Josephine, they gave a sad smile which let Josephine know that they knew who the Witch was. When Alm told Josephine not to worry and for them to just go home, Josephine gave a small smile. “Thank you. I’ll send my report to you when I can. Take care.” She said before going into the carriage with her beloved close by. She did not say a word on the ride back home. She was shutting her emotions off until she was out of the carriage and watching the carriage leave her sight. She sighed as she looked at the now fireless lantern. She then got her key and opened the door to the manor. Once the door was shut and her beloved were safely back inside with her was when Josephine finally broke down crying as the lantern came crashing down to the ground….

~*~

Hunter watched as Josephine's shot landed with precision. He was at a disadvantage both tactically and physically. Following what Josephine was telling him was the smart play for this fight. These creatures were something that he wasn't fully accustomed to fighting. When Edith had teleported away, it was just another power that they would have to over come.

"Very well. I will keep close towards you for cover. If these creatures are only harmed by magic then I am at a disadvantage but will still try to keep them away."

The fall of the necrodragon from Josephine's shot was the opening that he needed. With a nod to the plan, he sprinted towards the first one to be shot out of the sky. His armor had limited some of his movements just by how the metal would clash with the others. He would still move faster than the other knights. Charging into enemy soldiers, he would push past them to take a great leap onto the fallen dragon.

His blessed sword would act as his anchor as he climbed the dragon. He would move more and more, to try and evade the dragon striking him off. His final target would be the head of the dragon. Even if he wasn't doing much damage to it, he might be able to inflict more damage to a weak point. Still even with a weak point he could use to his advantage, this was still going to be a very long battle.

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

The necrodragon was a sight that many who had fought in the previous war, were absolutely dreading having to deal with it. Berkut looked over to the highest rank unit that was currently there which was a Paladin. “Please tell me you have a high-level Sage or Saint in your ranks to deal with this.” It was clear that Berkut was not thrilled about this battle one bit. “We do have mages as for the high-level ones…Not nearby at the moment.” The Paladin responded although a part of him really was becoming terrified of how angry Berkut was getting. Fortunately for the Paladin, it seemed that a Gold Knight was quickly riding up to where the battle was going. “Prince Berkut!” It was someone who was very familiar to Berkut. “Massena. I take it with you here this brings good news I hope.” Berkut knew Massena given he worked for the late emperor. “King Alm and Queen Celica are on their way.” Massena told Berkut before looking at the battle. The army was doing well for the most part but the necrodragon was a huge problem. With its high defense and health, it was going to take a while to get rid of it. Berkut knew he had to keep the necrodragon focused on him so that Josephine can focus the Witch. He decided to switch to a blessed lance to at least try to do better damage to the necrodragon. “…This is going to be a long night…” Berkut said before doing his best help the army trying to lower the numbers of terrors and making a dent at the necrodragon in front of them.

Josephine was able to move away from the necrodragon thanks to Diamond but now she really had to kill her Aunt Edith before it summoned more necrodragons. “Unfortunately, we can’t do much as much physical damage to necrodragons but the blessed weapons will help a little bit more. Only a magic spell called Seraphim can do way more damage and…usually high rank magic users can do that…which the best one to do that is Queen Celica.” Josephine told him as to not waste too much energy on the necrodragon. Speaking of which it seemed the Witch is going to summon another one! “Oh no you don’t!” Josephine said as she shot a blessed arrow at Edith to stop her summoning. The witch was able to dodge it but it did cut the skin in her arm. ��Ugh! How dare you!” Edith made the lesser flying terrors go to attack Josephine but she was able to shoot them down with ease. However as soon as Josephine took the terrors down, it would seem that Witch Edith decided to use a warp spell to make herself disappear. “Damn it. Stay on look out!” Josephine knew as a Bow Knight she had the most advantage of distance but it looks like the Witch figured that out. “I think she knows my distance is better than hers for attacking so even if you try to strike her, her magic would be too powerful to handle head on.” Josephine said as much she would have given him the honor to do that, she didn’t want him to get badly hurt by the magic.  

Suddenly more necrodragons appeared to take the place of the now terrors that had turned to dust on the battlefield. Time was not on their side and Josephine had to take Edith down! Josephine knew that Edith would try to distract them with the necrodragons all over the place so she can strike back. She even could hear Berkut cursing at the sight of even more necrodragons but he also knew warp spells were the worst to deal when fighting a Witch. The laugh from Edith could be heard from a distance as if she was taunting the couple as they were getting surrounded by necrodragons. “I’ll shot the necrodragons down first so that you can strike them with the blessed sword.” Josephine said to Hunter before shooting the necrodragons which since they were flying units did some damage. It really was going to be a long night indeed and they still had to fight the Witch but Edith was going to wear them all down. Just enough for her to strike when their guards were lowers. It would only be a matter of time after all…

~*~

Even with the arrival of Prince Berkut, more terrors would spawn. For every one they were able to kill, two more would arrive. They would have to ramp up how many of the terrors they put down or deal with the one controlling them. Both seemed like steep tasks and if Hunter were to attack Edith, while in self defense, probably not the best way to stay on Josephine's family's good side. Though with Edith being a witch, there may not be a way to bring her back at all. The complexities of this magic still made no sense to Hunter.

His attention would be brought to the sounds of thunderous rumbling as the calvary had quite literally arrived. As the soldiers past by Hunter, he gave a quick salute. It was a blessing to see them and hopefully they stuck to their training that would see them through this new foe. The winged terrors were new but as soon as Hunter took aim at them, they were already slain. Looking over to where the arrows came from he could see his beautiful fiancé.

He discarded his broken and battered sword and took the blessed sword that she had from her hand. This could change the tide of the battle. It was also more apparent that the only way to end this would be to take down Edith. Looking at Josephine's expressions, she seemed to be torn about what they might have to do.

"I guess talking this out is not an option anymore." His attempt at humor may have fallen a little flat. He would take a more serious tone with his next response.

"Josephine, if it comes down to it, I can take your aunt Edith down. That way you won't have to do it. I'll make it quick and painless."

His vow would have to wait with the arrival of the necrodragon. Seeing it really made him wish that he had some Pelican air support to take it down. Still if he could find a weakness in the dragon then he could take it down.

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

As the soldiers were getting their gear and starting to make their way to help their commander Hunter and Lord Berkut, Josephine went as quickly as she good to the armory. She had been there before plenty of times before either to check in on Hunter or if there was some paperwork that needed to be taken care of. It was there that the Blessed Bow caught her eye and gave her pause. Would it be alright if she used it? After all the old military power was gone so no one could really stop her. She took a deep breath and grab the bow and arrows. She also grabbed a Blessed Sword should Hunter need it before going to where the horses were. There was one horse that she had in mind for this one task as she quickly went to check the stable. It looked like an average war horse but this one had a white diamond shape on the head. It was the one that she was assigned to in her teen years and gave her the name Diamond.

As she prepared the war horse for battle, it made her remember that it was one of the main regrets when she quit being in the military that she was unable to keep Diamond. She had mentioned it to Berkut briefly when they had been talking about war horses as they were watching Rinea in the castle garden. Imagine her surprise that Berkut, of all people, not only found Diamond but assigned her to Josephine to use during the war to help Rinea escape. He could have gotten any horse and yet he remembered that detail was one of few good moments of that war. Once saddled up and out of the sable, Josephine got onto her horse once more. “Alright Diamond. Let’s go girl!” with a tap of her leg, Diamond galloped off in the direction of where Hunter and Berkut should be.

Meanwhile a few miles outside the base, Berkut looked over at Hunter still with that smirk on his face. “You helped defeat Duma, I think you have earned a little bit of my praise.” He said before striking down another terror. He did notice the state that Hunter was in but his eyes were on the Witch who was getting even more angry as time went. “The fact that Witch can summon terrors makes her stronger than average.” Which was of course not a good thing to deal with. “Commander Hunter! Prince Berkut!” It would seem that the Calvary units arrived first and with blessed weapons. “It seems your men are here to help.” Berkut said before focusing on the Witch who tried to send a blast his way. Unfortunately for her, his magical resistant was stronger than most and was able to dodge easily enough. “Ready to give up Witch?” he was taunting her. “Never! Not until that man is dead!” Edith yelled before summoning the winged terrors. Those were not pleasant to deal with. There were at least some archers doing some work, but clearly needed more of them and they were headed for Hunter! “Watch out!” Berkut called out to him.

A shot from an arrow hit one of the winged terrors causing it to decay and turn to dust. Three more arrows hit their targets with ease. Someone was shooting with a blessed bow quite well. When Berkut looked over, he was surprised to see that it was none other that Josephine herself! “Hunter! Here take this sword!” she handed him a blessed sword for him to use. “Blessed weapons are the best to use on terrors, monsters and of course Witches.” She looked over to her Witch Aunt who not only was surprised to see Josephine but then it turned into rage. “Josephine! You should be listening to me! I know you better!” Edith said to her. “How does this Witch know you?” Berkut asked. “She’s my aunt Edith…her husband sacrificed her for wealth and power. I guess she think Hunter will do the same to me…” Josephine said sadly as she looked at her aunt. Whatever was left of her aunt still worried over Josephine but she knew her aunt was far too gone to be saved. “You know what you have to do, or else the witch might summon something even more annoying to deal with!” Berkut said as he stabbed another terror in annoyance at this point. “Focus on the battle at hand!” He told her and went off to kill even more monsters. Honestly, he just wanted to go home and be with his beloved Rinea, but no he had to deal with this problem. Josephine did her best shooting terrors and getting closer to her Witch Aunt. “So, are you are choosing that peasant over me?” Edith said. “Yes, I am. I love him and there is nothing you can do to change my mind!” Josephine said before pointing the arrow at her. “Fine! Then you’ll die with him!” Edith then summons a necrodragon which of course without Celica around, fight it was going to be a pain to deal with.

~*~

Being the bait wasn't high on Hunter's list of things he liked to be but he did have a lot of experience with it both from the UNSC and in other fights he had been in. They would just have to figure a good distance that the two of them would be safe and would keep Edith's attention. Simple enough it would seem. Edith's target in mind seemed to be just Hunter so keeping her focus on him would be an easier time. Especially if he needed to give Josephine time to escape.

Hunter followed Josephine back to the military base where they could get reinforcements and magical weapons that would be more effective against a witch. Hunter's sword was in his sheath on his left hip. From his right hip, he grabbed a hand crossbow. A small comfort for the ex-spartan. It felt similar to the M6G pistol he would have as a sidearm during his time in the UNSC.

Looking over to Josephine, she seemed to be getting tired. Any slowing in pace would give Edith a chance to catch up. Fortunately up ahead was Berkut on his horse. Hunter had no idea why he was out here but the timing couldn't be more perfect.

After the purple blast had landed, Hunter's eyes trailed to see where it could have come from. Edith had finally caught up to them. He turned to Berkut after Josephine had gotten up on Berkut's horse.

"I will, just get her to safety!"

His escape seemed to be halted however with the addition of all the terrors that were being spawned. These were something that Hunter was more familiar with. This was going to be a battle of attrition and Hunter was ok with these odds. While he would have better odds with his Mjolnir armor and UNSC weapons, he still had gotten comfortable with his knight armor now and was ready to make a stand.

"I'm not doing anything to harm her!" He yelled back to Edith.

By the time Berkut had returned, Hunter would be knee deep in the fight against the numerous terrors. His armor would be dented, the sword chipped in places but he was still standing. Bodies of terrors would surround him. He looked back to see Berkut arrived and was a little surprised to hear a compliment from the man.

"A compliment Lord Berkut? My you have changed."

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

Josephine was doing the best that she could given the circumstances. A part of her wanted to cry because seeing her aunt as a Witch meant that her grandfather only told part of the truth of what really happened to Edith. Still, she had to focus on making sure her aunt didn’t try to kill not only Hunter but go after the rest of the family as well. “You have a good point. I will do my best with running but we will have to make sure we keep us as her target. If not…she might go after my parents for approving of you.” That was another issue that Josephine feared as well so if she had to be the bait then so be it. She strapped the lantern to her side and the sword back in the sheath. “Let’s get going.” She said as they both started the running to the base.

It was a good thing Josephine decided to wear the cavalier armor, with the exception of her helmet, she wore during her late teen years when she went out to survey her property earlier in the day. Since there had been rumors of rebels and of course the monsters that were unfortunately still out there, Josephine felt it was better safe to be sorry. If she was in her usual dress, it would have made running a lot harder. Since she was a noble woman, she had also been able to customize her armor but that reminded her of a childhood dream she had. Someone who was very familiar with Rigelian armor would see that she made to look closer to a Bow Knight’s armor. For some strange reason only men were allowed to use bows which still made her bitter since her grandfather not only taught her swords but also bows due to him being a Bow Knight during his military service. She could have become a Paladin with the skills she had, according to what Berkut told her, but the fact that she couldn't be promoted to Bow Knight made her lose all motivation in staying in the military after she turned 18. She never really told anyone about that as she felt it no one would really think that it was worth a dream pursuing...

It seemed that her thoughts were able to distract her to be able to run most of the way and she could see the base coming to view. “…Just a bit more…” She was getting tired as she was used to riding horses or marches but not running for longer periods of time. However, they were in luck as Berkut had been the one to check on how things were going at the base and was riding back home when he spotted the couple running for their life it seemed and went over to them. “What on earth are you two running here like that for?” Berkut said as he came down from his horse. This was indeed a strange sight for him to see. Josephine was taking the time to catch her breath before replying. “A Witch!” She called out before a sudden blast of purple magic was sent their way but Berkut’s quick reaction made sure Josephine was out of the way so it would miss her.

It would seem that Witch Edith managed to catch up to them and was very upset. “How dare you refuse me, Josephine! Get back here!” Edith said before Berkut practically threw Josephine on his horse before he mounted it. “I got her! Get to the base as fast as you can!” Berkut called out to Hunter before riding to the base as Josephine held onto Berkut for dear life with how quick everything was going. Dodging magical blast were not exactly fun but what made it worse was it seems Edith was conjuring other terrors and monsters to use to fight Hunter. “I won’t let you ruin my niece, you filthy commoner!” the witch yelled at Hunter before sending the terrors at him. Those at least Hunter would be familiar as he did help Alm’s army in the tower but either way it was not going to be a fun time if they overwhelmed him.

Berkut managed to get to the base first due to him being on horseback and alerted the soldiers on the outside. “Prepare for battle! We are under attack by a Witch and her army!” he shouted which sent the whole base on high alert. Berkut did helped Josephine get down from his horse in a better manner this time. “You better get on horseback and get any blessed weapon from the armory that you can use, Josephine!” He told her. “I will! Just go make sure Hunter is alright! She wants to kill him!” she called out in return. Berkut simply nodded before riding back over to help Hunter fight off the hoard with his lance at hand. This of course made Edith even more angry. "Why is Prince Berkut helping a man like him?!" she snared. "Oh? So you have heard of me? Well I can't just let you kill one of my best commanders now can I?" Berkut smirked before striking down one of the terrors with ease. It was clear that Berkut's opinion on commoners had changed...well he approved of Hunter at the very least.

~*~

Hunter followed Josephine down the steps. Instinctively his right hand went to his right temple. Were his Mjolnir helmet still on his head, he would have activated the headlights on either side of the helmet to give them a little more light. It took him a minute to realize that he in fact was not wearing that helmet anymore. He moved his hand down and continued to follow his fiancé.

Something didn't feel right as they continued their descent. As Josephine pointed out, the area was too well maintained for it to be abandoned. Someone was living in this area. It may not be anything too drastic but it was better to be cautious. A lot of the items and paintings down in the area were unknown to Hunter. He could tell the portraits were of Josephine's Aunt but nothing else looked familiar. When she picked up the letter, he peered over her shoulder as she read it aloud. The letter soon mentioned his name written by the deceased aunt.

"Josephine what's going on?" He asked.

It felt as if they were being watched. Turning around he would see a purple glow and then the aunt from the pictures. It didn't seem like she wanted to congratulated the two. He took up a fighting stance until Josephine pushed over a bookshelf onto her aunt. While Hunter thought that he could take her, magical enemies were a tougher foe than he had fought before. He followed Josephine's orders and followed her quickly back up the stairs.

He grabbed his longsword and ran outside along side her. A witch wasn't a common enemy but it was still a challenging foe. Hunter's experience on fighting them was limited so he followed Josephine's advice. They got some distance but it wouldn't mean much against an opponent that could teleport.

"We should run for the base. If we try to go for the horses then she might catch us off guard. I can carry you if you start to get tired. Distance is going to be our friend for this fight."

[devotedrigelianflower]

~*~

Josephine looked down the stairs once more and for a moment she saw what appeared to be a purple light but it went away. “…or it might have something to do with…the old Duma cult…” She had heard rumors that there were still some creatures left behind but she didn’t want to believe it. She was cursing herself for not talking to Sonya, the mage who was in Celica’s army, about it in more detail. “I’ll be fine. I can go first since I have the lantern.” There was a hint of nervousness but she took a deep breath and slowly walked down the stairs with her beloved very close by.

It felt like an eternity by the time she got down the stairs and saw that the area was bigger than she anticipated. As she looked around, she realized something. “…It looks clean but how can that be?” It was as if someone had been keeping it well maintained. There was a sitting area with many books, a bedroom, a small kitchen and eating area. It had everything needed for someone to live comfortably. Josephine looked around the sitting area which had some paintings but she paused when she realized who they were. “…These are paintings of my Aunt Edith but the ones that had her with her husband are crossed out…well more like stabbed given the knife left in this one.” Josephine thought that was very odd. “But that doesn’t make sense…grandfather said her husband killed her for power…” She was confused and went to look at the papers on the table and one stood out. “This is my aunt’s handwriting! I recognize it from the letters she would send to my father. It says… ‘…To my dear beloved niece Josephine. I do hope you would not marry someone like my former husband Orson Lovett…who only wanted me for power and wealth…it would be a shame…if I killed Hunter like I… killed my husband after he sacrificed me’…How would she…know about you? Unless…” This caused her to remembered a conversation she had briefly with Sonya that made her skin turn pale in fear. “…we need to get out of here…” The letter looked like it had been written not too long ago.

Suddenly a purple glow appeared near the opening to the bedroom and it was what Josephine feared most about her aunt’s fate. She turned to see a woman with purple glowing eyes.

“…My dear Josephine. Don’t worry, I will make sure you never have to worry about a man using you ever again.”

Her Aunt Edith had indeed been turned into a Witch. It was the worst possibility and they were not prepared to deal with a magic class! However, her worry over her beloved took over her fear for the moment. She needed to act fast! “I’m so sorry that I have to do this to you auntie!” Using her feet, she pushed one of the bookcases to fall which caught the witch by surprise and getting hit by it in the process. “GO!” She yelled before bolting back the way she came. She knew they had to be quick before her witch aunt got her composer back.

When they got back to the parlor, quickly shut the door and put the bookshelf back but she knew that would not do much. She turned to look at Hunter. “Get your weapon and we need to get out of the house!” She ran to grab her grandfather’s old sword, the lantern that was still lit, and then quickly going outside as fast as possible. Again, locking the front door even though it might be pointless but hey she was willing to try anything. Josephine was trying to catch her breath but she knew time was not on their side. “She got turned into a Witch! They can teleport so she is going to be following us!!” She knew they had to get help from someone more familiar with them. “We have to go to your base Hunter and hope that is either a Sage like Halcyon, or Sonya or hopefully Alm is touring the base and brought Celica with him!” It was days like this that she was so happy that the base where Hunter work was not too far away. “Do we run to the stables near by and get the horses or do we run the whole way there?” Running would be difficult for her if it went for too long so she was leaving this up to Hunter. The sun was setting so they were losing daylight and dealing with a Witch at night is the worst thing to deal with. She wanted to talk about wedding stuff not deal with witches! This was turning out to be a horrible day!

~*~

"Hopefully the transition will go smooth. I'm sure the people will see Alm and Celica as good leaders in due time. I'm glad to hear that they were interested in some of the ideas that we have in the UNSC. A lot of those practices were built over years and years of history and mistakes."

Hunter couldn't help but slightly chuckle after hearing that Berkut didn't want him and Josephine to get married before he and Rinea could get married.

"There will be ways for people to get married without the gods. Back in the UEG, people would have the ceremonies for weddings based off of traditions or styles and the government would sign a marriage license to officiate the marriage. It would be nice to see Alm at the wedding but even if it is not until years from now, I don't mind the wait. It's just more time to spend with you."

He followed her through the pathways and to the parlor room. Watching as she showed the secret passage and the passage to the staircase.

"Should we explore this new room? Could find something good inside. Would you like me to go first?"