Ajax continued to drag Ari up the staircase and a few more winding corridors, ignoring her constant protests and futile resistance she was trying to put up. He didn't want to think about any of it, he wasn't stupid and he knew Leon was going to die at the hands of Herman, it was only a matter of time.

However, he didn't... no... he couldn't think about the possibility that Leon could die. It took him all the courage and strength he could muster to not turn back now and try to save Leon, regardless of how stupid an idea it would be. But Leon had given him a task, save Ari, and he'd be damned if he didn't follow through with the wish of his friend who'd given his life to ensure its fruition.

'Please don't die Leo, I don't know what to do now.'

Ari had finally stopped struggling and just began to cry into his shoulder, muttering inaudible words whilst being dragged along by Ajax. However, as they got further and further down the corridor Ajax started to slow down, his own body putting up protest unable to keep up the pace.

"Damn this fucking weak ass body" groaned Ajax, as he continued to push forward.

Suddenly, Ajax began to hear footsteps getting louder and louder rushing down the corridor towards him and it wasn't long before a small group of men sporting light, silvery armor come into view.

"Look, we found two!" shouted one of the men to the rest of his comrades.

"Is it her?" another man shouted in reply.

The group of men soon reached Ajax and Ari's position and caught both of them as Ajax pushed Ari into one of the men before falling into another one himself.

"I-I think it's her! She looks extremely frail but I'm pretty sure it's her!" the man who caught Ari said.

Ajax was confused at why the man seemed to know who Aria was but at this moment in time, he didn't care, using the last bit of his strength he pulled himself up and looked at the man holding him dead in the eyes with a serious expression.

"Please... she's very weak she needs help immediately... and my friend... another one... is still down there... save him... please," Ajax begged before his last bit of strength left his body and he passed out in the soldier's arms.

"What the fuck happened to these kids?" asked one of the men, horrified whilst looking at the fragile appearances of the two children.

"Save it for later Jamie," the man who seemed to be in charge of the small group said firmly, "Graham, go with Jamie and take the girl topside to get immediate medical attention and send a message to the Blade family that we've found her."

Both Jamie and Graham saluted the man before immediately turning around and carrying the fragile children back out of the facility.

"Right, let's carry on and see if we can find any more people... including Herman Dest," the leader said, his expression turning into a snarl as he said those last words.

The remainder of the group picked up the pace and continued down the corridor before a sudden boom followed by the sound of something falling apart stopped them all in their tracks.

'The fuck was that?' The leader thought.

However, as they reached the staircase and looked down the faces of the group suddenly dropped. The staircase was in ruins and rocks and dirt had filled it up partway, sealing off any sort of access to the rest of the facility.

'Fuck' thought the group in unison.

The leader turned to another one of the men in the group who was also looking down at the collapsed staircase with a grim expression.

"Jon, can you detect anything down there?" he asked.

Jon knelt down and placed both hands on the ground, closing his eyes in focus however after a few seconds he left out a sigh and shook his head.

"Sorry sir, no life signals detected," said Jon in a sad tone.

"Goddamnit," said the leader, pausing for a second trying to figure out what to do next, "We don't know how stable this facility is anymore and the rest of it could come down on our heads, we should report back topside. This is the work of the excavation team now."

The faces of the group remained grim but nodded in response to the leader's words, if Jon hadn't detected anything it meant nothing down there was left alive, there was no point in them staying here and risking everything to come collapsing down on them too.

The group turned around and made their way out of the facility, no one saying a word as they moved.

---

Ajax's eyes slowly opened and he immediately felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.

'Warmth' he thought.

His eyes squinted as he adjusted to the light coming down from the sun and he began to take in his surroundings. He realized he was in some sort of medical tent as six other beds besides his own were dotted around the large tent, all with other children like him resting in them. He immediately scanned all of them but to his worry, he couldn't see either Ari or Leo.

He tried to sit up before letting out a pained groan and slumping back down. Hearing this, multiple heads of what he assumed were either doctors or nurses turned towards him before one of them, a nice-looking lady with brown hair and eyes came to his bedside.

"Take it easy," said the woman in a gentle tone, "your body is extremely weak right now, and after the treatments we did whilst you were unconscious, your body needs time to recover."

"Where's Ari and Leo?" asked Ajax with a pained expression.

"Ari?" the nurse said with a slightly confused expression before coming to a realization, "Oh! Young lady Blade needed more immediate attention due to her condition so she was moved to a separate tent to get the treatment she required."

Hearing this Ajax's mind was in complete shock and disbelief, not because of the state that Ari was in, no, Ajax knew she was teetering on the edge of life and death, it was what the nurse had called her that had truly shocked him.

"Blade..." Ajax muttered in disbelief.

The reason for Ajax's dazed expression was that there was only one family he knew that carried the name 'Blade'. The overlord family of the northern region of the kingdom of Lutia, Bellus.

The Blade family was a unique existence amongst the five overlord families that made up the pillars of the kingdom under the rule of the Lockheart's as they were the only family that didn't cling to one type of element. In fact, the Blade family was notorious for having a massive variety of elemental ability users under their banner, which, whilst preventing them from reaching the level of pure specialization as some of the other overlord families, like the Volcans for example, made them by far the most versatile family of the bunch.

The reason Ajax knew this was due to his parents being merchants, as a young child he'd traveled with them into the region of Bellus multiple times and heard tales about the legendary Blade family. However, this only added to his confusion as Aria had never once mentioned what family she was from, which was no surprise as if Herman had found out he had kidnapped and tortured a Blade, he would have torched the entire facility long ago but the shy girl he'd met on the induction day all those years ago didn't fit his grand expectations of who the Blade's were.

More importantly, he wondered how a daughter under the Blade banner ended up as one of Herman's test subjects. Aria had told them she had been kidnapped, but who would dare kidnap a Blade?

Ajax's mind was running riot with questions, but he knew that the answers could only come from one person and so he'd reserve them for when he saw Ari next. For now, he still wanted the answer to the second part of his initial question.

"And Leon? Where is he?" asked Ajax expectingly.

The nurse tensed up slightly at his question, she knew no one called Leon amongst the children that had been recovered from the facility which meant that Leon had most likely died in the collapse that occurred in the facility, however, looking at the child's desperate expression she couldn't bring herself to tell him this so she vaguely answered the question.

"S-Sorry, I don't know anyone here named Leon."

The nurse averted her gaze from Ajax who felt a panic suddenly starting to set in.

However, he has quickly snapped out of his inner panic as a familiar-looking man walked into the tent and scanned the room before his eyes settled on Ajax in his bed.

The man in question was the leader of the squad that had found Ari and Ajax and he walked up to his bed before standing by the nurse and coming to a stop.

"I'm sorry to have to do this after you've just woken up but we need you to tell us ab-" the man said before suddenly being cut off.

"Where's Leon?" asked Ajax.

Looking at the desperation in the kid's eyes, both the nurse and the man wore a pained expression, the man sighed as he gathered himself, he had told many families about their fathers and husbands falling in battle, but it was always hard telling a kid someone close to them was dead.

"I'm sorry kid, but after you passed out, the staircase at the end of the corridor collapsed and the entire facility below that point was completely buried. We... detected no life signals so the rescue operation ended there." said the man, trying to hold his resolve.

Ajax sat there in a daze for a few seconds before tears started rolling down his cheeks and he completely broke down infront of the two adults. The nurse and the military man looked at each other before standing up, giving their condolences before moving off, giving the boy the space he needed to grieve.

'I-I'm so sorry Leon... I'm sorry I left you to die.' Ajax thought, continuing to ball his eyes out.

---

The small man was running through the corridor of the palatial estate as fast as his legs could carry him, in his hand an open letter holding a message that the man believed he would never see after three long years.

He turned multiple corners and gained a few perplexed looks as he rushed past surprised bystanders before barging through a door.

Beyond the door lay a grand office, flanked on either side with large bookshelves filled to the brim with tomes, scrolls, and books, and at the end a large wooden desk. Behind it sat a tired-looking but attractive couple that both had the same ashen blonde hair and emerald green eyes that despite their weary appearances, still didn't look to be too much past 40 years old. Surprised at the sudden intrusion, the man and woman looked up at the small man who was panting at the door, a wide-eyed expression on his face.

"What is it, Alan?" asked the blonde man sitting behind the desk in a somewhat surprised but tired tone.

"T-They found her!" said the messenger incredulously, "They found Aria!"

The couple suddenly bolted up from their seats now mirroring the same wide-eyed expression as Alan.

"Where is she!" said the man a little too loudly, causing Alan to flinch.

"T-The message says one of the search squads found her on the outskirts of the Dern region!" Alan quickly replied.

"Prepare the griffons at once Alan!," ordered the man, trembling as he placed his hands on the desk, "We'll be going immediately."

Alan bowed deeply to the man before rushing out of the room and back down the hallway.

The blonde-haired man stood there, his hands shaking as he gripped the wooden desk and he turned to his wife.

They looked at each other and just stared for a few seconds in utter disbelief before tears started streaming down both of their faces and they smiled for the first time in three long, miserable years.

"O-Our daughter is alive..." he muttered before taking his wife into a long, tear-filled embrace.