Holy crap, look at him! He’s huge! Is this really Ed? Did I get the wrong guy? Then again, who else has that specific blonde hair color? Hmm, he seems to be murmuring something to himself. Hehe, I wanna prank him so bad! Didn’t Issei tell me some people like getting things whispered in their ears? What was it that he called that, ASMR was it?

“Thinking so much about me, just how much did you miss me I wonder?”

“BWAH! G-GRIM?!” He suddenly jolted from the scare.

Phahahahaha! He flinched so hard! This guy’s as big as a wall, but he’s still a scaredy-cat! Oh, oh my sides, they’re starting to hurt from all the laughing! Ah, the gap between his appearance and reaction is just too much!

While I was mocking him about liking the autonomous sensory meridian response, he wore a very un-carefree expression. Oogling me from head to toe, he noted how much I’ve changed my appearance. Figures he’d be confused about that, but he’d start worrying about me if I explained to him why it is I did that, so I’ll just brush it off for his sake.

“So have you. It’s been three years, so it’s no surprise that we’ve all changed a bit.”

He agreed with my deep, somewhat philosophical way of looking at things, and continued with the conversation. Just then, he asked what I most wanted him to be curious about! Since I made him read Schnell’s Handbook to help him learn how to read when we were kids, I knew that he knew about the island before coming here! This means he would obviously be curious as to how I’ve managed to gain access to this place!

“Humu, this old place~? T’was bought by none other than yours truly, of course!”

While I was explaining all of my future plans for refurbishing the island and building an Arthur’s branch in place of the scary-looking prison though, I couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t paying all too much attention to my words. Rude, I thought, but he traveled from quite afar to make it here, so I’ll give him a pass under the excuse that he’s still a bit tired from the boat ride. He never was good with seafaring.

“Oh, by the way, I’ve been getting into tinkering a lot recently!” I tried to naturally steer the conversation into my grand reveal, “It really calms the nerves, and you’d be surprised by how much money you can get from it.”

“Mhm, that’s cool…” He nodded without even listening properly.

“I even got a cool nickname I like to use instead of my own name. It’s really convenient!”

“I see. That’s nice…” He continued nodding.

Ugh, he’s totally zoning me out! This guy, he’s starting to get on my nerves! No matter, once he hears this next part, he’ll surely start listening!

“Yeah, people back home know me as Lune, but here I’m Sol!”

“Sol, huh?” He suddenly did a double take, “Wait!? S-Sol?! You mean…?! But then…!? Huh?!?”

Ahh~! There it is~! That was the reaction I was looking for! I miss teasing this guy, I really do, but I was getting worried that he started getting too serious. Thank goodness that’s not the case though!

“Sup, Ed.” Marina came up from behind me. Oh good, looks like she decided not to hide from Ed after all.

“…We need to talk.” She said as she grabbed my hand. Whoa, one thing at a time, dear! We need to ease him into the situation, otherwise he won’t be able to accept it!

***

Seeing as we were in the prison’s courtyard, there were a couple of benches scattered around the edges of the actual yard, so we decided to take a seat so as to better explain the situation to Ed. Marina kind of messed up with grabbing my hand like that, Ed’s been giving both of us the stink-eye ever since, but I’m sure if I just explain the situation properly, he’ll understand.

“So Mariabelle…” Ed finally broke the ice, “When you said you were with Sol, this is what you meant?”

Ah, he’s mad now. I better redirect the anger away from Marina, I’m not sure how mental stress caused from getting yelled at could affect a pregnant woman, but I’m not curious enough to find out!

“Ed, you’ve met my wife Marina before, so I’m sure there’s no need for introductions-!”

“You shut up!” He hit the table with his fist, making a terrifying sound as the wood creaked, “I don’t wanna hear anything from you right now! I wanna hear what Maria-Wait, Marina?”

Ah, obviously he wouldn’t know Marina’s real name. Good on her for managing to keep it a secret so well, but we should probably come clean now.

“Y-Yeah.” Marina spoke up with a shaky voice, ”Like Sol, Mariabelle is a fake name we came up with to escape the ITA’s clutches.”

Hey now, we didn’t come up with anything! Don’t make it sound like I had a say in such a terrible name! Marina fits you way more, and it’s cuter too! Well, never mind that for now. It seems Ed was being a bit more understanding now after he realized what our intentions were with keeping our identities a secret, but honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if he already guessed we would be doing this. That would at least explain how quickly he accepted that fact.

“Grim, you’re kidding me here, right? This is all just some kind of elaborate prank.”

“Ed, I’m lawfully married to Marina. This is no joke, so please don’t undermine our feelings towards one another.”

“You two are sick!” He suddenly jumped from his seat, “I can’t fucking believe you!”

This rash action of his scared Marina, which prompted me to give him a stern warning.

“Sit back down.”

He wasn’t having it though, so before things escalated too much, I decided to show him just how much I sacrificed to get to where I am. That being said, I took out a pocket knife and drove it right through the middle of my left hand. It hurt like a bitch, but at least he switched gears, so I’d call my little plan a success.

“Take a look at my hand.”

“T-The bleeding! We gotta stop the bleeding!”

“Ed, calm down. This is nothing to worry about. It’s a technique I heard about from a foreign friend of mine called bloodletting. It helps relieve stress, something I have a surplus of after you started insulting my wife…”

“Your finger!” He finally noticed, “What happened to it?!”

I then proceeded to explain to him mine and Marina’s expedition with the party over at Sibirus, how we were the only ones to make it out, and of course how Marina managed to salvage as much of my hand as she could. He was understanding and apologetic while I was talking about the others, but he completely stopped being sympathetic the moment I mentioned Marina’s significance in my life.

“Grim, Cecily and Nelly are waiting for you. You can still make things right.”

These words of his really hit me. His tone wasn’t shrouded in anger, he was completely calm when he said this, as if he knew that he was without a doubt in the right here. I’m not saying he’s not, but if he really wants to preach this stuff to me, then he should at least have the decency to hear out my side of the story properly.

I took a look at Marina, who was taking out a roll of bandages out of our bag. She wasn’t at all focused on the situation, she didn’t care if Ed accepted her or not, all she cared about was patching me up. Even still, she noticed my gaze and looked up at me with a soft expression. I see, I thought to myself, now I really need to convince him.

“…” I steeled my resolve to say what I honestly thought, “But things are right, though.”

“Nelly’s three!” He started shouting, “She’s three, and you know what she said to Cecily the other day?! She asked who ‘Daddy’ is! Cecily still hasn’t fucking recovered from that, you sick fuck!"

Aww, she’s already that big? Wait, that means I missed her first words. It’s a shame, but it couldn’t be helped. That’s why I won’t be making the same mistake twice with mine and Marina’s child!

“Heh, she can already talk? Daddy’s little girl-”

*whack*

He struck me. I was trying to calm him down and naturally segue into revealing Marina’s pregnancy, but he struck me. Now I’m pissed. Marina’s looking at the red punch-mark on my cheek, and Ed looks like he’s about to shit his pants. I don’t care though, things just got real.

I started slowly and carefully recounting what my actions were meant to do, and about how we were nothing but hospitable and patient with him. With each word I uttered, his eyes spread open more and more. By the time I was done with my explanation, his eyes were wide open, and his eyebrows were arched inwards and upwards, to show that he was feeling nothing but absolute fear and regret. Yeah, serves him right for stepping out of line…

“…You’re sick. You sure that rockfall didn’t hit your head as well? Heh, maybe that whore sitting next to you is just manipulating you into staying with her.”

You…! What the fuck did you just say about Marina?! Come on, say that again! I fucking dare you!

I slowly yanked the knife out of my hand whilst also making sure I don’t break eye-contact with him. I had actually intended to stab this motherfucker right then and there, but I calmed down a bit after Marina took my bleeding hand to bandage it up. That’s when I realized I’d probably come to regret my actions if I hurt him beyond repair, so I threw the knife away. That being said, beating some sense into him with my fists surely counts as ‘still barely within repair’, so I’ll allow myself a few swings.

“You wanna get your ass beat by your ol’ pal that badly?”

I expected anything and everything from him at this point, but the last thing on my mind was that he would spit in my face and not say a word. To think this guy turned into such an asshole… The nerve!

“…I’ll take that as a yes.”

***

Holding him by the collar, with spit in my face and my honor ridiculed, I was all but ready to burn his head off. Even still, he’s supposed to be a friend, so I’ll hold back for now. Marina tried to stop us, but both of us knew where this was heading. Still, he can’t beat me no matter how much he’s grown! Even if he took out that firestarter… pistol…

“What…” I uttered the words with a terrified expression, ”is that godforsaken thing doing on your belt?”

“Hm?” He got confused by my sudden question, “Oh, this old hunk of junk should be familiar to you, shouldn’t it? Well, it’s quite a shoddy piece of work, but it saved my butt, so I won’t knock it too hard.”

Of all the people, it just had to land in this asshole’s hands…! But how? Issei and I destroyed the blueprints before Adam could mass produce it! I… I killed so that this future never came to be! Does this mean Adam somehow managed to replicate the firestarter before we could steal the blueprints back? Was it this simple to create a weapon of mass destruction? Fuck! Adam, Ed, everyone’s just a war hungry murderer! And you give me flack?! I’m the one in the right here! Issei and I are the good guys, and even despite our best efforts you still stomp on our dreams like you’re on top of the world?! You fucking traitors!

“Give it here, Ed.”

“My ass, if I give you the weapon now, you’ll just shoot me point blank.”

“I’m not fucking around here, Ed. I threw away my knife. If I wanted you dead, you’d already be six feet under by now. Stop being a bitch and hand it over, if you’re quick then I might hold back with my punches…”

I’m really not in the mood for his semantics. Threatening isn’t something I’d like to be known for, but if it’s for a greater purpose, then I’ll gladly threaten even the four Gods. I’ll protect this world, the world in which my child is soon to be born in!

“See what I mean? Threatening really isn’t helping your case here, Grim. That being the case, what would you even do with it after I were to give it to you, hypothetically speaking?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’d burn it to smithereens.”

For a moment, his brown pupils flickered as he experienced a moment of clarity and hope. He looked like he was glad that I had good intentions with creating the gun, like he knew just how much I regretted making it.

“Grim, the pistol that’s holstered on my belt saved mine and Anna’s life, you know. Just like you, I used fire to save her from a pack of hungry stray wolves.”

“Stray wolves?” I looked at him.

“Yeah, there were dozens of them, but I held out somehow. Both she and I are alive thanks to your efforts. Thanks to the pistol, I too can be a hero… just like you.”

A hero? Me? But I created such a menacing weapon! Add to that the fact that I killed, that I harmed the people around me, that I didn’t even succeed in my endeavors to not get it mass produced… Such a person could never be called something as great as a hero, but I’m glad Anna and you lived at least. Heh, goes to show that my weapon really could be used to protect, rather than harm.

“That being the case, I’m not throwing it away.” He said with a resolute expression, “Now are you gonna follow me back home peacefully so we can end this damned charade or am I gonna have to drag you back there myself?”

“Oh?” I shoved him to the center of the courtyard before cracking my fingers, “You’re free to try, then.”