Chapter 55 - Early Life

The curtains parted, revealing a scene Daniel almost recognized. A small harbor in a small village, where a small boy sat with his legs hanging off the docks, staring out at the audience.

Ah, that must be in Barrelton. And that’s me, I suppose.

The boy looked nothing like him, really. Too round-faced and theatrical in his sadness. But there was something charming about the attempt.

"Artorias!" a voice shouted from off stage, projecting loudly enough to reach the back rows. A man dressed in a fishing outfit stepped onto the stage. “Trying to talk to the fishes, son? Tell them to bite more!”

“Dad!” The boy jumped up, nearly tripping over his own feet as he ran into the man's arms. The audience chuckled at the stumble. "Did you catch many fish this time?"

"Oh, a fair few! Let's go home, kiddo! I can't wait to meet your mother again." The actor's delivery was overly enthusiastic, playing to the crowd with broad gestures.

That’s supposed to be Dad? Well, it’s not… No, that’s an entirely different person. He talks like a fancy pants compared to the fisherman's tongue he used to talk in.

Elania leaned closer to him, keeping her eyes on the stage. “That’s you and your dad, right?” 

“Yeah, most likely.”

“I wish I could have met him.”

“This guy does not resemble him in any way. He was reserved, rarely showed that he cared… But those few times he did, I was always shocked to see how much he loved us.”

"Ah, I remember you mentioned the boat.” She took hold of his hand, giving a slight squeeze. “He definitely cared."

“Yeah…”

The boat. Artorias loved boats when he was young, always feeling at peace on the water, out with his dad. But then he left for Novanny, hundreds of kilometers away from his home. Living in the academy, finding new friends, and learning magic. He adapted well, but he would always long to go back home.

Then one day, about a year after he left, his dad suddenly showed up at the academy. He had built a small boat, sailed it all the way from Barrelton to Novanny, and gave it to Artorias. Because he “thought he might like it.”

Artorias had cried then, leaving stains on his father’s shirt. Then his father walked back home after a simple goodbye, patting his shoulder once before turning away. It was the strongest memory Daniel had of him, so perfectly encapsulating who he was.

And the last memory he had of him.

Artorias often used the boat after that, rowing it out to sea whenever he felt stressed or anxious. Sitting in silence on the calm water, feeling close to his father even across the distance.

I should get a boat…

The scene on stage had changed while he was lost in memory, but not to the home he expected to see. Instead, a small group of old men arrived in the little hamlet. They stopped little Artorias as he walked by, dramatically falling to the ground around him.

“Oh my word! You have such talent, young one! Incredible talent, you might save the world one day!" The lead recruiter clutched his chest like he was having heart palpitations. “Please come with us to the great Academy of Magic, so we may cultivate you to your full potential!”

Daniel chuckled while shaking his head. “There was one old man, and he wasn’t very excited about my talent. Just said I had a large mana pool, and that was after testing most of the children in the village.”

Elania's tone was mockingly dramatic as she replied. "But you are the great hero, Artorias! How could you have such a humble beginning?"

"You're right, of course. Maybe my memory is going bad." He grinned at her, enjoying this more than he'd expected.

Finally, his mother and sister showed up on the stage. Neither looked anything like their characters, though they got Lyra’s blonde hair right at least. 

They were only there for a brief moment to agree to let him leave for the academy, barely speaking before being ushered off stage.

Daniel's jaw tightened. They deserved more than that. But they would likely return later in the play, unlike his father.

The scene shifted to the academy. A classroom with painted stone walls, a teacher standing before twelve students at their desks, one of them young Artorias. Of course, it was a class on formations, because what else would define his character?

“Can anyone tell me how to solve this problem?” the teacher asked the class, and Artorias immediately raised his hand.

"You could add a connecting formation with an added mana battery, or a subspersed intake from the top, or possibly a cleft spring-formation from both sides at once." The actor rattled off technical-sounding terms with impressive speed and conviction. "The last would be less efficient, but make up for it in capacity."

"Excellent, young Grifantes! I couldn't have done it better myself!" The teacher clutched his chest in amazement, overcome with emotion at such brilliance. "I've never seen such a talent like you before!"

The other student actors murmured in impressed tones, looking at young Artorias with exaggerated awe.

Daniel scoffed, unable to help himself. "It's not even right; none of those would work. The best solution would be—"

He was interrupted by Elania's laughter, bright and delighted. She leaned into him, shoulders shaking. "I knew that was the part that would bother you! Not the part about your talent, obviously."

He could feel his face warming with a mix of embarrassment and amusement. She knew him too well.

"Well, that part is true…" He tried for dignity but couldn't quite manage it with her laughing beside him. "When are they going to start doing something besides showing how awesome I am?"

“Mmh, the war, maybe? Even the church considers that your lowest point.”

“...It really was.”

The scene changed again, this time to a graduation ceremony. The stage was transformed with banners and formal decorations. Young Artorias was swapped to an older actor, closer to eighteen.

“To Artorias Grifantes, I have the privilege of, for the first time in over a century, granting the most prestigious graduation score we can give—Highest Honors!”

The theater audience clapped politely along with the extras on stage. The actor bowed deeply and received his diploma with both hands, holding it up for the audience to see.

“Hmm, pretty accurate,” Daniel noted. But he feared that was because they couldn’t make it more impressive than reality. “...The actor playing me isn’t quite as handsome as the real deal, though.”

“I’m afraid we’re both too biased to give a proper assessment, dear.”

He half expected she would disagree just to spite him, but was pleasantly surprised. She was right, though—the actor was one of the better-looking people he had seen in a while. Objectively, he probably didn’t measure up.

On the other hand, I did write me to be handsome…

Once again, the scene changed, and this time, everything turned darker. Rifts in the ground, glowing bolts of magic flying overhead, and a small crew of mages standing in the middle, sending attacks in the opposite direction through formations.

“Fire! Show those Velen bastards what we can do!”

"Artorias, kid, we need to fall back! Their army is marching on us now!" Another soldier grabbed at the older actor's arm, trying to pull him away.

"No! I refuse to yield to these savages! They should all die!" The actor playing Artorias shook him off violently, face twisted with hatred.

Daniel felt his heart rate speed up immediately, pulse hammering in his ears. Felt his fists clench on the armrests of his seat hard enough that his knuckles went white.

Then two soft and warm hands embraced his from the side. His breathing calmed a bit, but not completely.

“...God, I hated them. I wanted to remove them from the map entirely, and didn’t mind doing it alone.”

“I don’t blame you for that, Art. After what happened, anyone would.” Elania's voice was soft against his ear. Her thumb stroked the back of his hand in soothing circles.

"It was just a war for revenge…" He forced himself to watch the stage, to face it. "None of those soldiers were part of the attack on Barrelton, and I knew that. I wasn't protecting anything, just lashing out."

The scene suddenly stopped, with every actor standing in place. Smoke appeared from the wings, billowing across the stage in thick clouds, creating a dream-like atmosphere.

From the back, the man who played his father walked in, emerging from the mist like a ghost. The only person moving, glowing faintly in a tinted light. He put a hand on Artorias’s shoulder and sighed.

“I’m sorry, Artorias. You’ll have to protect your mother and sister from now on. I did what I could, protected them just long enough… But it took everything I had.”

The actor's voice was gentle, filled with a father's regret and love. Then he walked back through the mist until he disappeared from view entirely.

The actors resumed moving as if time had started again. Artorias fired a final artillery barrage from his formation—a spectacular effect of light and sound that made several audience members gasp. Everything went still, as if the fight was over. Then he fell to his knees with a pained expression, uttering a tearful sob.

“Dad…”

Daniel inhaled sharply, then looked away from the stage. 

Elania pulled him into her embrace immediately, way too perceptive. Her arms wrapped around him, one hand coming up to cradle the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Art. I didn't think this would be so emotional."

"No, it's fine…" He leaned into her warmth, breathing in her scent of winter flowers. "They did a good job."

That was creative writing, I’ll admit…

His father’s ghost hadn’t appeared in the war, of course, but it was a masterful way of telling the audience what had happened. And it did capture part of the feeling he carried in every battle, that weight of responsibility.

They sat in silence for a moment, her arms still around him, as the stage transitioned to the next scene.

This time, the stage depicted the royal palace. Grand columns painted on backdrops, and a throne elaborately gilded and adorned with velvet cushions. Artorias kneeled before the queen, who sat on her throne with regal bearing.

"Your great deeds in the war impressed us, Archmage Artorias." The queen's voice rang out. “But we have heard you no longer wish to fight?”

“No, your highness. I have understood war, and it left me horrified. Human lives are worth so much more, even those of the Velenian people. I implore you to stop this senseless war—enough lives have been shed.”

"...You feel this way, despite what happened to your father?" The queen leaned forward, studying him with theatrical intensity.

"Yes, Your Highness. The men responsible for the attack on innocents are long dead, and now we are nearing their heinous actions." He stood, gesturing passionately. "I have not joined the looting with our men, but I know it happens."

"Then I will listen to your words, Artorias. You are among the ones wronged, so I will consider this the will of the people." The queen rose from her throne, making the pronouncement with grand sweeping gestures. "The war will end today!"

The audience in the theater clapped at the announcement. Elania joined in, clapping and cheering while giving Daniel a sideways glance full of mischief.

"Wow, so that's why the war ended!" Her tone was mockingly impressed, playing along with the drama. "I thought it was because Balur conquered three cities during the war, and Velen sued for peace by giving one more city. But leave it to the great legendary Artorias to change history!"

Daniel had been frowning pretty much since the start of the scene, deeper for every sentence uttered. “I guess you can add peacebringer to my list of deeds… That’s not at all what she said.”

"Oh, but you did speak to the queen?" Elania tilted her head, genuinely curious now.

"Yeah, I said I refused to fight anymore." Daniel's jaw worked as he remembered the actual conversation—tense and political, nothing like the noble scene on stage. 

"She said I had done enough to ask, but that I had to serve as her daughter's bodyguard while the war lasted. It was a pretty obvious attempt at bringing me into the royal family, and it could have worked."

Elania went very still beside him. "...You almost married the princess?"

"Well, no. She ended up with a crush on me, but I was not interested in becoming a royal hound." He tried keeping his tone casual, but could feel her attention sharpening on him like a blade.

“Did you like her?”

"...A little." Honesty seemed safer than evasion. "But not enough to join the royal family.”

"Well, she had good taste at least." Elania's grip on his arm tightened slightly. "But clearly not good enough since she let you get away."

Daniel exhaled slowly, hoping she didn’t notice his relief.

The scene changed once again, this time to a dense forest. The backdrop showed towering trees with painted leaves. Stage fog drifted between artificial tree trunks. A girl with long white hair and long ears stood there by a small stream, singing a song about love. Her voice was clear and melodious.

“Oh no,” Elania whispered, putting a palm on her forehead and sinking deeper into the seat.

Daniel grinned, feeling his earlier heaviness lift entirely.

My turn to have fun.

Ch.54 --I-- Ch.56