Ezekiel, Bear, and Tokuda made their way back to the kingdom. There, they found the rest of the group, all alive, and Ezekiel smiled, realizing that they had taken care of the remaining cultists with minimal injuries. The kingdom guards had also seemed to help at some point in the fight, as some kingdom guards began arresting cultist members that weren't killed in the battle and were cleaning up the aftermath of the battle. Aqua immediately began taking care of Bear's wound. Ezekiel, remembering that he still needed to bring Mari back, and Tokuda, nervous about all of the guards around, left the scene of the aftermath of the battle behind.
Ezekiel and Tokuda then made their way back to where Mari, Kairi, and the cultist were. Ezekiel decided it would be for the best to make use of the carriage, and they both hopped in. Ezekiel and Tokuda were rather surprised that General Alexander hadn't escaped, as he was still in the carriage, humming quietly to himself. Tokuda and Ezekiel looked at each other, unsure of what to think. Ezekiel simply shrugged, and Ezekiel took the reins of the carriage and began driving it to where Mari, Kairi, and the cultist were.
Ezekiel was right to choose the carriage, as he could see that Mari was in no condition to walk since she was still unconscious. Kairi had tied the cultist up, and the cultist sat silently in the middle of the road. Ezekiel and Tokuda approached them and immediately loaded up the cultist. General Alexander then noticed the cultist, who was in a similar situation as he was and asked, "First time?" The cultist scowled, unamused by the general's sense of humor. Ezekiel carefully picked up Mari, who suddenly put her arms around him. Ezekiel was surprised at this. Still unconscious, Mari quietly mumbled, "E-Ezekiel... S-Save me... My hero..." Ezekiel chuckled to himself, wondering if she would be disappointed to learn that it was in fact one of the leaders of the Freedom Legion that saved her and not his "peasant self," as Mari would've put it. Ezekiel then carefully loaded Mari in as well, and they all headed back to the kingdom.
Once they had reached the kingdom, Mari woke up, confused as to what happened. She began to panic a bit until both Kairi and Ezekiel began reassuring her and explained what had happened while she was unconscious. Mari calmed down a little bit after that, although she had trouble digesting all of this information. However, Mari couldn't process any more information at that time, as the carriage was then greeted by the rest of Ezekiel's group, along with King Anton, Queen Laycie, and her two brothers, Tom and Alton. Everyone seemed very relieved when they saw that Mari was unharmed and safe, as she was helped out of the carriage by Ezekiel. Once she was on the ground, the royal family quickly embraced Mari in a group hug. Ezekiel smiled and decided to let them have their moment. The cultist was also brought to the custody of the guards, who silently hauled the cultist away during this small happy moment for the royal family.
King Anton then let go of Mari, looked at Ezekiel and the others and said, "Thank you for saving my precious daughter. As the king of Valan, I am greatly indebted to you." Ezekiel scratched his head and said, "That's what friends are for, your majesty!" King Anton chuckled and said, "Indeed! However, a brave act as this deserves compensation. Please, what is it that we can do in return?" Ezekiel thought for a moment, then took a quick glance at Tokuda, who was still hiding underneath a robe with a hoodie. Ezekiel then remembered that he had left his materials near the mouth of the cultist cave entrance, so that was something he needed to retrieve. Ezekiel then asked, "Two things, if possible. One, I left some items for something that I'm making near the entrance of the cultist cave. While gathering it, I stumbled upon it and left my items behind. Could you possibly get some men to retrieve it for me?" King Anton nodded and said, "Simple enough, my friend. Men! Please search for the item that Mr. Ezekiel has left behind!" A small batch of the kingdom guards in the area formed up, and Ezekiel told them where to look. The guards then headed to retrieve the items that Ezekiel had left behind. Ezekiel then looked at King Anton and asked, "The second request is a rather tricky one, one that needs a lot of discussion. Perhaps we could talk in private about it?" King Anton then said, "Of course. Guards! Please prepare a carriage for me and Ezekiel." Ezekiel then asked, "Actually, I need to bring along someone rather... important, for this discussion, if you'll allow me to." King Anton, not really paying too much attention, said, "Of course, bring them as well." Ezekiel then looked at Tokuda, and Tokuda shifted nervously in the carriage. However, Ezekiel motioned for Tokuda to follow him, so Tokuda got out of the carriage, and both Ezekiel and Tokuda boarded the carriage of King Anton. Another carriage was prepared to carry the rest of the royal family, and as soon as they were ready, both carriages began heading back to the castle.
King Anton then asked, "So, what is this request?" Ezekiel then said, "It's a long story, but in short, we'd like your kingdom's cooperation." Ezekiel then pulled down the hoodie of Tokuda's robe, revealing his true identity. However, King Anton didn't appear to be alarmed. This surprised both Ezekiel and Tokuda. King Anton smiled, asking, "Ah, you're the war hero, the 'Armless Ghost' that I've heard so much about?" Tokuda simply said, "I am." King Anton scratched his beard and asked, "As well as one of the leaders of the Freedom Legion, correct?" Tokuda nodded. King Anton smiled, saying, "Well, this is quite interesting if I do say so myself. It's quite strange since it's coming from a king, but I'm quite a fan of yours. The tales that they tell of you don't seem to exaggerate your abilities and efforts." Tokuda simply said, "Thank you, King Anton." King Anton then said, "They peg you as a criminal, but I do not believe that. A true criminal would never save the daughter of royalty." Ezekiel, deciding it might not be best for King Anton to fanboy any further, asked, "I've come with a request, King Anton. A possible war against the Freedom Legion and the human army is soon approaching. We ask for your assistance and cooperation in any way possible." King Anton scratched his beard once again, saying, "Hmm. What you ask of me is quite a high price to pay if things don't exactly end well for the Freedom Legion." Ezekiel then said, "It's an investment with high risk, high reward if you ask me." King Anton mulled this proposition over silently to himself. Tokuda then spoke up, saying, "Direct involvement won't be necessary if that is what you're worried about. Some amount of soldiers from your kingdom's army would be sufficient, or possibly supplies." King Anton then took that into account, mulling over the proposition even more. King Anton then said, "I support your cause, even if it doesn't seem so. The pain of turning away families of races affected by the Humanity War due to the fear of the human army calling me a traitor was devastating. Even if I am a human, what the human army is doing doesn't align with my true beliefs." King Anton made up his mind and said, "I will aid you as best I can. However, my people and my position as king come first. I cannot be made out to be a traitor to the humans, so I will discretely provide support, as a thank you for saving my daughter." Tokuda grinned, saying, "Well, we now have a better chance at taking on the human army." Ezekiel smiled as well, extending his hand out towards the king. Ezekiel then said, "To a new powerful ally, and a cause worth fighting for." King Anton shook Ezekiel's hand, saying, "Indeed, Ezekiel. Indeed."
Once back at the castle, King Anton held yet another feast for the heroes that had saved his daughter in the castle. Everyone was in high spirits, drinking, eating, and dancing. Everyone had quite a good time. Ezekiel had also gotten his container of saltwater back, and Suko had also managed to bring back the rest of the incomplete battery components. Ezekiel decided to put together the battery in the middle of the feast, and everyone stared in awe as he began making the strange contraption. Ezekiel quickly made the brine solution, pouring in salt to the river water he collected, heating it until the salt dissolved completely, and let it cool. While the brine was cooling, he began setting out the zinc and copper plates, as well as the glass cylinder that would hold it all together. Once the brine cooled, he used his cloth to soak it in the brine and began placing a pattern of a copper plate, a brine-dipped piece of cloth, a zinc plate, then another brine-dipped piece of cloth. This order was repeated until the Voltaic pile was stacked to the very top. Ezekiel then closed off the top, and there was a small hole for where the copper wire would go, on both the top and bottom. Ezekiel then attached copper wires with dry cloth wrapped around a good amount of it in the holes and stepped back to admire his work. Ezekiel then decided to do a simple experiment to see if the battery truly did work.
Seeing as Ezekiel didn't have anything to produce electricity at the current moment, he decided to whip up some himself. Ezekiel produced a weak electric charge by making a small bit of electricity in his hand by treating mana particles as basic protons and electrons, which are positive and negatively charged particles. By manipulating them in such a way, Ezekiel was able to generate a small bit of electricity. Ezekiel then put the electricity he had created into the Voltaic pile by using one of the copper wires as a way for the Voltaic pile to suck up the electricity. Ezekiel then let the battery charge up a bit, and once that was done, he stood back to admire his work once more, then the ultimate test was about to begin.
Ezekiel decided to use the remaining bit of brine solution as his testing ground. Ezekiel, realizing the potentially harmful effects of the test, decided to take everything outside of the castle before doing anything. Everyone followed and helped bring his equipment along with him. Once outside, Ezekiel took a deep breath and said, "Everyone, I'll need you to do as I say. Dip a piece of cloth in the clean water and put it around your mouth and nose." Everyone did that, including Ezekiel. Once everyone was ready, Ezekiel then put the two copper wires inside of the brine solution. At first, nothing happened, but then Ezekiel noticed that small bubbles were forming. That's a good sign, thought Ezekiel, who grinned to himself. Ezekiel then said, "Step back everyone." Everyone stepped back, and Bear then spoke up, asking, "What exactly is occurring?" Ezekiel then said, "Well, as a test to see if my battery works, I'm ionizing the water. This whole process is called electrolysis, and I'm making two gases by doing this: hydrogen and oxygen. The battery will store electricity, or the little bit of electricity I produced earlier, and it'll use that stored electricity to purify the water. One of the copper wires acts as a cathode and the other acts as an anode. The cathode will attract the positively charged ions while the anode attracts the negatively charged ions, and soon, we'll have a clear distinct difference between the gunk in the water and water that is much clearer." As if on command, the water began to become a bit cloudy, and a minimal amount of yellow-green gas slowly began to form from the process. Bear noticed it and asked, "What's that?" Ezekiel then said, "That's chlorine gas, and it's very harmful. That the price we pay for using science to ionize the water. However, with the wet cloth across your face, it won't harm you. The chlorine gas will simply dissolve when it comes into contact with the water on your cloth, which makes this a really primitive gas mask. Although, since the amount of gas seems to be very little, it might've been overkill to use the cloth like this. At least it's not as bad as when World War 1 soldiers were convinced to use their piss as something to block the chlorine gas used in that war instead of water." Bear let out a small sigh of relief, and Ezekiel chuckled, realizing everyone was relieved to hear that.
After about 5 minutes, the water was now separated into two layers: one layer at the top of the water was a murky white, and the bottom layer seemed to be relatively clear. King Anton then got a closer look, asking, "This doesn't appear safe to drink." Ezekiel then said, "Indeed, it's not safe at all. It hasn't been completely filtered. That's a whole other process for another day, but in short, my battery worked, and I'm quite happy with it." Ezekiel turned and faced everyone with a huge grin, saying, "This is just the start of it, too. I've got bigger plans with this baby." Everyone was amazed by the experiment that had just taken place, and they seemed more excited to know that more amazing stuff would be occurring with this strange electric device.
After letting the small bit of chlorine gas disappear, Ezekiel then took off his wet cloth, and the others followed suit. Ezekiel then packed up his battery, and the others began packing their stuff up as well. The royal family then saw Ezekiel's group off from the castle, bidding them the warmest of farewells. Everyone was about to leave when Ezekiel was suddenly pulled back and then felt something warm, wet, and surprisingly soft on his cheek. Mari had pulled him towards her and given him a quick kiss on the cheek, and Ezekiel was quite surprised at this. Mari then looked at the ground after doing this and said, "Y-You're the only okay peasant in my book! You better feel grateful!" Ezekiel laughed and said, "That little reward made me feel quite special already. Thank you, Mari!" Mari, still looking down at the ground, blushed intensely, but Ezekiel didn't notice it. Aqua felt a different mix of emotions while bearing witness to what just transpired, but she kept her mouth shut. While this was happening, Tokuda glanced at King Anton and said, "We'll send a letter once we're ready for your help." King Anton nodded, saying, "Of course, and I'll be ready to help you with whatever you need." Tokuda nodded back, then turned away and hopped in the carriage. Ezekiel then hopped in the carriage, and once everyone was in it, they rode the carriage out of the kingdom and began their journey once again to the Freedom Legion hideout.
Or so we had thought. Seems like Tokuda and Bear had other plans though. Once they were quite a ways outside of the kingdom, Tokuda asked Bear, "How are you feeling?" Bear then stared coldly at Tokuda and said, "Good enough to kill your ass." Tokuda then said, "If you say so. Stop the carriage. We have unfinished business to settle." The others were quite confused, but Ezekiel, remembering the incident that had occurred between them back in Wolfwater, realized what they were going to do. Ezekiel tried to stop them by saying, "Listen, dudes, do you really have to do this? We're allies, right? We're friends, right?" Bear then looked at Ezekiel and said, "This has to be settled sooner or later. And this also doesn't concern you, either. It's only between me and my father's killer over there." Tokuda stayed silent, but that phrase stung him hard. Tokuda then jumped out of the carriage, followed by Bear, who seemed fully healed thanks to Aqua's healing magic. Ezekiel tried to jump out of the carriage to stop them, but Suko held him back, saying, "This is a personal fight of honor between two men. Stop them now, and they'll hate you for it. Trust me on this one." The look in Suko's eye was quite serious, and it surprised Ezekiel to see him this way. Kairi then sighed and said, "If you ask me, this little squabble is quite stupid. The past is the past, and both of them just need to set that aside." Rina then said, "It's not that simple, it seems." Aqua nodded in agreement, and Mia said, "I can feel the tension between the two, the different kinds of darkness that loom over them. One is a dark cloud of pent-up anger and hatred, while the other is a dark cloud of pain and suffering." Mia then turned towards Ezekiel and said, "Suko is right, Ezekiel. This is something only they can solve." Ezekiel then gave up on stopping them, unsure of what exactly would happen with the two of them.
Surrounded by a flat field populated by a variety of flowers, Bear and Tokuda both took a fighting stance. Tokuda then said, "Here's my proposition, Bear. If you win this duel, you may kill me. If I win, I explain the story of what happened with your father and me, and maybe that can convince you to forgive me." Bear then said, "I'll never forgive you, but I accept your terms." With that, the two of them then charged at each other, with no one knowing how exactly the clash of these two would turn out to be.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlShjiT1nMj
