The decision, once made in the quiet confines of my mind, felt heavy and cold in the open air. They couldn't stay with me. Not on the path I was forced to walk. Sadeena's place. A safe haven. A chance for the normal lives they deserved.
First, Ryu. He was powerful, yes, and our newfound alliance was promising, but I couldn't bring a dragon to someone's doorstep unannounced. Even a companion dragon. Even one who agreed to be called Ryu.
"Alright, Ryu," I said, looking up at his massive form. "I need to take them somewhere safe for a while. Somewhere... away from the immediate chaos."
Ryu lowered his head slightly, his glowing eyes observing me. He didn't object. He was my companion now. My ally. Not bound by slave crests, but by a different kind of understanding. A mutual utility, a shared dislike for certain humans, and the intangible weight of a name and a promise. He was a tool, yes, but one I respected. One I couldn't just abandon.
"You'll need to stay here," I explained, gesturing around the secluded forest clearing. "It's deep enough. You'll be hidden. No one will find you if you're careful."
He let out a low rumble that vibrated through the ground. Agreement? Acknowledgment? With dragons, it was hard to be certain.
"I'll be back," I promised. It wasn't just for his sake. I needed him. Needed his power. Needed the connection to... that other power source.
Ryu simply settled down, curling his immense body, becoming a silent, watchful guardian of the clearing. His eyes remained open, fixed on me. A powerful, ancient creature, patiently waiting on the whim of a human. The absurdity wasn't lost on me.
Steeling myself, I turned to Raphtalia, Rifana, and Filo. They looked at me with curious, expectant eyes. Filo, in her humanoid form, bounced slightly.
"Alright," I said, trying to keep my voice even. "We're going somewhere. Somewhere safe."
"Where, Master?" Raphtalia asked, her hand instinctively going to her dagger.
"Someone I know," I replied vaguely. "They'll look after you. For a while."
I saw the subtle shifts in their expressions. Curiosity mixed with a flicker of apprehension. Going somewhere without me? But they trusted me. They followed.
I gathered them close, the familiar weight of the three of them grounding me for a moment. Raphtalia's hand on my arm, Rifana's quiet presence, Filo's eager energy. It felt like a lifetime since I'd first held them, small and broken. Now they were... this. Strong, capable, beautiful.
My Shield vibrated, ready. I accessed the teleportation skill, focusing on the location I had visited in my past life – the rebuilt demi-human village, Sadeena's home. The specific coordinates locked in.
The world dissolved.
It wasn't just a shift in scenery. It was a wrenching, disorienting tear in reality. The familiar jungle smells vanished, replaced by... nothing. A sensory void. Colors swirled violently around us – emerald greens, ruby reds, sapphire blues, amethyst purples – a chaotic, beautiful storm of raw mana. The air crackled, dry and electric. I felt the mana drain from my body, a physical ache, familiar now from past uses. The weight of the girls and Filo pressed against me, their small gasps of surprise audible even over the roar of the teleportation vortex. It felt like being shoved through a cosmic washing machine at high speed, the fabric of space and time blurring into an indecipherable mess.
Then, a jolt. A sudden, jarring cessation of movement. The swirling colors snapped back into focus, resolving into...
A quiet, dusty road. The smell of woodsmoke and damp earth. The distant sound of livestock. We were standing before a simple, sturdy wooden house. Windows glowing faintly with lamplight. The air was cool, peaceful. A small, rebuilt village surrounded it, far calmer than the chaotic world I usually inhabited.
Sadeena's house. The coordinates were perfect.
Raphtalia, Rifana, and Filo stumbled slightly as the teleportation ended, blinking in the sudden stillness. Their eyes scanned the unfamiliar but strangely comforting surroundings.
My heart hammered in my chest, a different kind of rhythm than from battle or dodging dragons. Anticipation. For them. This was it. The moment.
"Alright," I said, my voice feeling slightly rough. "This is it."
We walked up the short path to the house. My boots crunched on the gravel. Each step felt significant. The light spilling from the windows felt warm, inviting. A stark contrast to the shadows I usually occupied.
We reached the door. Solid wood, well-made. My hand hesitated for a second before I raised it.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound was loud in the quiet evening air. Three sharp raps. Finality.
The wait stretched. Seconds felt like minutes. Was she home? Had she moved? No, the shield coordinates were locked. She had to be here.
Then, movement. A shift in the light behind the window. Footsteps approaching the door from within. Heavy, purposeful steps.
The latch clicked. Slow. Deliberate. The heavy wooden door began to open, revealing...
Sadeena.
She stood there in the doorway, silhouetted against the light of the room behind her. She looked... older than the memory I carried. Her face, etched with the lines of hardship and resilience, held an initial expression of wary inquiry. She was dressed simply, practically. Her eyes, sharp and intelligent, scanned the three adult figures standing before her... and then landed on me. Recognition flickered. Surprise.
But then her gaze shifted back to the three companions standing beside me. Her eyes widened. Her wary posture crumbled.
She looked at Raphtalia. At Rifana. At Filo. Standing there, tall, their faces illuminated by the light from her home. Grown.
"Raphtalia...? Rifana...?" Her voice was barely a whisper, thick with disbelief. "Who is this" she said after looking at filo.
"Uhh, she's my new companion, her name is Filo."
For a moment, the world stopped. The quiet village, the rustling leaves, the distant sounds... everything faded. There was only the light from the doorway, and the four figures bathed in it.
Then, a sound. A choked sob from Sadeena. And then, simultaneously, Raphtalia's voice, filled with raw emotion, "Sadeena!" and Rifana's, equally tearful, somehow sensing the gravity of the moment despite their usual cheer, "Sadeena!"
They surged forward.
Filo was just standing, looking at me.
Sadeena gasped, tears streaming down her face as her arms flew open. Raphtalia and Rifana launched themselves into her embrace, their strong, new adult bodies clinging to the woman who represented their past, their home, their lost innocence. Filo, adapting instantly, wrapped her own long arms around the group, a whirlwind of blonde hair and heartfelt emotion.
It was a tangle of tears, laughter, and overlapping voices. Sadeena sobbing, murmuring their names over and over, running her hands over their faces, their hair, their arms, as if she couldn't believe they were real, that they were grown. Raphtalia and Rifana crying, burying their faces in her shoulder, the sounds of their grief for the past and relief for the present mixing into a single, raw wave of emotion. Filo, not understanding the nuances, just flowed with the situation, joined in the crying, hugging everyone tightly.
I stood back, a few steps from the doorway, watching. Observing. The pragmatist in me noted their increased height, the strength in their embrace, the surprising volume of sound they could produce. The jaded part of me felt a familiar pang of being an outsider, watching an emotional display I wasn't fully a part of.
But another part... the part that remembered a small, shivering demi-human girl, the part that had held a dying Rifana in a nightmare timeline, the part that found unexpected joy in a giant bird's antics... that part felt a profound, quiet satisfaction. This. This was what they deserved. This was the safe haven. The warmth. The reunion.
My decision. It was the right one. The painful, necessary, right one.
After the initial storm of emotion subsided slightly, Sadeena pulled back, holding the girls and Filo at arm's length, looking at their faces through her tears. Her eyes found mine, standing in the shadows just outside the light. A look of question, of gratitude, of overwhelming confusion filled her gaze.
I stepped forward then, into the light.
"Sadeena," I said, keeping my voice calm, pragmatic. "They're safe. They're... they've grown. Rapidly. It's complicated." Simplification was key. "I... I need to leave them here. For a while."
Sadeena's eyes widened again. "Leave them? Here? For... for a while?" Her gaze flickered back to the girls and Filo, still clinging to her. "But... but why?"
Raphtalia's head snapped up, her eyes, red-rimmed with tears, fixing on me. "Master? Leaving us? Why?"
Rifana looked up too, her lower lip trembling slightly. Filo looked between me and Sadeena, sensing the shift in the atmosphere.
"Yeah, Master!" Filo chirped, sounding confused. "Where are you going? Filo wants to go too!"
The questions, the sad looks, the raw, clinging need in their voices... It was a blow to the chest. This is why I couldn't tell them the truth. Not now. Not ever, if I could help it. They wouldn't let me. They would insist on coming, on following me into the inevitable storm.
"I..." I searched for a simple, unassailable excuse. Something that wouldn't invite argument, wouldn't reveal the scale of the danger or the depth of my intention. "I... I have important work to do."
Important work. Dodging dragons. Acquiring curses. Dealing with Gods. Fighting the coming Waves. All the things that would put them in danger.
"Important work?" Raphtalia's brow furrowed. "But... but Master, we can help! We're strong now!"
"Yeah! We can fight!" Rifana insisted.
"Filo is super strong! Filo will help Master!" Filo bounced, trying to project an aura of immense helpfulness.
"It's... it's work I have to do alone," I lied, my voice firm, projecting an air of finality. "Something... that requires just me. It's too dangerous for you. Too... specific."
I avoided their eyes then, turning slightly back towards the darkness from which I'd come. Looking at them, their tear-streaked faces, their desperate pleas... it would break my resolve.
"Stay here," I said, my voice rough. "Stay with Sadeena. She'll protect you. She'll give you... a safe place. For a while." The lie tasted like ash. "I... I'll come back. When I'm done."
The silence that followed was deafening, save for Sadeena's quiet sobs and the rustle of clothes as she held the girls closer. They weren't arguing anymore. Just looking at me with wide, hurt eyes.
This was the hardest part. Leaving them. Knowing I probably wouldn't be coming back for them. Not like this.
With a final, steeling breath, I accessed the teleportation skill again. Focused on the coordinates of the forest clearing. Ryu. My pragmatic companion. Awaiting my return.
"I... I have to go," I muttered, more to myself than to them.
The familiar, disorienting pull began. The air crackled. The edges of my vision blurred into swirling colors. I saw their faces for a final, agonizing second – hurt, confusion, disbelief etched there. Sadeena holding them, watching me disappear.
"Wait!"
"Hey, we need to talk!"
"Master?"
Then, darkness. The roar of the vortex. The tearing of space.
And then, silence. The smell of pine. The cool night air.
I stood in the clearing, the grass damp under my boots. Ryu's massive form was still curled near the rock formation, his eyes opening as I materialized. He rumbled low in his chest. My companion. Waiting.
The contrast was stark. Moments ago, a tangle of raw human emotion. Now, the quiet presence of an ancient dragon, a shared glance that held understanding forged in silence and struggle.
The sadness of leaving them behind, of choosing their safety over my own desire for their presence, settled deep in my gut. But the decision was made. The task was done. They were safe. For now.
"Alright, Ryu," I said, walking towards him, dusting off my shield. The emotional display was over. The pragmatic reality returned.
The Multiversal Pass. The Waves. The enemies. My path.
I had left behind the possibility of a normal life, both for myself and for them. Now, there was only this. The Shield Hero. His dragon companion. And the endless, chaotic journey ahead.