Rumble!

The stones of the collapsed courthouse shifted under the effects of magic. Hundreds of soldiers began the excavation effort in search of survivors. Meanwhile, a smaller group of robed men were digging in one specific spot. Some of them gave verbal orders, while others simply moved their hands to direct their magic according to their will.

Soon they uncovered the target of their efforts: The Emperor! Or… whatever was left of him.

The once great man was reduced to a mangled corpse. His body and face were lacerated and frozen over, while his legs and arms were missing. Anyone could tell he was dead at a single glance. But, they would be wrong.

If examined carefully, you could see that the fire of his life was still burning, although incredibly weakly and on the precipice of death.

"He's still alive!" one of the hooded figures announced after a thorough examination.

"Quickly! Feed him the potion!"

They wasted no time before forcing the miraculous brew down their ruler's throat with haste. Then they waited.

The first few seconds when nothing happened were the most nerve-racking. But then, under the immense magical power of the potion, the Emperor's Soul flared up, and similarly, his body burst into flames. He abruptly awoke and opened his eyes, roaring out a single word.

"FOOD!" he ordered. The hooded figures took a few steps away and presented massive amounts of meat and drink at a distance to their newly awakened Emperor.

The man then devoured everything like a hungry black hole, and at the same time, his molten body began to grow, repairing itself at a mind-boggling speed. His limbs reformed and his wounds closed up, bathed in flames, and as the potion's effect ended, a new man was reborn from the clutches of death, standing on the remains of the courthouse, naked, and angry.

"Where is he?! Where is Gerald?!" he thundered. His breathing was deep and angry, accompanied by his quickly rising and falling chest.

The towering Emperor took a step forward and gripped the closest cloaked figure by the collar and lifted it up with one hand, bringing it close to his face. "How was he allowed to use magic?! And my weapon as well! Where is the warden?!"

The victim of his anger shook like a dry leaf in the autumn wind. "I- I don't know! There's been a rebellion in the Abyss, and the inmates escaped into the city! Please, mercy!" the man pleaded, absolutely terrified.

"WHAT?!" The Emperor released the man and an instant later, a pillar of stone lifted them both into the air. From there he was able to see a large portion of the city, and what he saw, angered him even more. The capital was on fire. Buildings were set aflame, and distant explosions entered his ears.

What's worse, it seemed that the majority of the damage was concentrated on the rich part of the town where nobles had their homes!

Even his Royal Estate seemed to be among those set on fire.

"Damn you… GERALD!"

"I can't believe it! You still went there to defend that animal!" came an angry womanly voice as a door was swiftly opened and slammed shut soon after.

"Stop insulting him, he's my friend!"

"Haha, not for long! Father was planning on executing him soon, so I hope you said your goodbyes."

"You are lying! And go away, I don't wanna talk with you!" came a hysterical reply, this one belonging to Emillyinn Vell. She appeared to have been crying before the sudden argument started.

"No! After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me? And to think I spent so much effort to help you escape! Hah!"

"What are you talking about? I ran away on my own. Just my maid knew about my plan, nobody else."

"As if! And who gave you that maid, did you maybe forget?! Oh, yes little sister, let me give you one of my own, you two are about the same age… I made the damn plan! I bribed the guards to look away that night, all so you could get the fuck away and stop ruining my life!"

"What- What are you saying?!"

"It's you! You get everything, you ungrateful bitch! After father found out you escaped, do you know what he did to me?! … You are stupid, naive, and have no talent, and yet you get it all! Why do you get to marry the Emerald Eren when I'm a much better choice?!"

"But I don't even want to marry him!"

"Exactly! So why does father favor you?! You are useless! … Is it because of your face? Am I not pretty enough? Tell me, what have you done to father?!"

"Ow, let me go, I didn't do anything!"

"Lying bitch! You must have done something!"

"Stop it, you are scaring me! Ah! Nooo! Blinding light!"

"AAAAH! MY EYES!" The scream was followed by the sound of someone crashing into things before the doors opened again. "I'll get you for this!" Then the door slammed shut again and silence fell on the room.

The soundless atmosphere lasted for a while, after which a quiet sobbing started.

"So much drama, am I right?"

The sobbing ceased instantly, and Elly perked up on her bed. "Gerald?" she asked. Her eyes were red from tears and her hair was disheveled from the recent meeting. However, there was nobody except her in the room. She ran to the balcony, where she saw Gerald resting with his hands behind his back on one of her chairs.

"A bad time for a visit?" he grinned as per usual.

"… How much did you hear?" she bit her lower lip.

"Well… Sort of, kinda, about… you know, everything."

Elly just exhaled in defeat and collapsed into a chair of her own. "I see…"

"Who was that, anyway?"

"My older sister, Amber. She is really jealous of me for some reason."

"And she has a fiery temper too! Kind of suits her name."

"Yeah…" Elly lowered her head and remained quiet. The sadness in her heart decreased somewhat, but the remnants still hurt. Gerald didn't have much to say either, so he remained quiet and closed his eyes to rest. It has been a hectic day for both of them.

"I don't know what to do, Gerald," she eventually said. "My father wants me to marry some guy I have never even seen before… What would you do in my place?"

"Kick him in the nuts," Gerald replied immediately without even thinking.

"What?" Elly was flabbergasted.

"Yeah, give him a good kick in the nuts! That ought to do it!"

"Gerald, this is serious!"

"Hahahaha, sorry, sorry!" he laughed. "Well, maybe you won't have to do it, since I have… well…"

"What?"

"I have done something…"

Elly got annoyed by his hesitation and demanded his answer. "Tell me! Or… I'll tickle you!"

Oh, no! The horror! Anything but that! "Okay! Okay! I might have... kind of... sort of... in a way... killed your father… Sorry."

The silence that followed was deafening as Elly's mind struggled to comprehend what she just heard. "What?! You killed my father?!"

[And then they made love and lived happily ever after. Not.]

"In my defense," Gerald started, adopting a defensive posture. "It kind of slipped my mind that you two were related and in the spur of a moment I… Also, how could I know he would croak under just one measly spell? Granted, it was a pretty powerful one, but..."

"How could you do that?!" Elly exclaimed and burst into tears.

"Well, look at the bright side." Gerald tried to comfort her. "At least you won't have to marry that guy…"

"But he was still my father! How could you?!" she wailed.

"Um, well… Wait!" He exclaimed and suddenly used his Hawk Eyes to look into the distance. Something was happening in the place of greatest destruction. Something bright. "… Yeah, never mind, the bastard is still alive, god damn it! I mean… oh, thank god!"

All that effort, and in the end it was all for naught. Who knew the Empire had the Elixir of Life as well? Well, it was to be expected. The group he traveled with to hunt the Phoenix came from the Empire in the first place.

"Really?" Elly held back her tears as she also looked into the distance. However, due to the tears, her sight was blurry and she couldn't see a thing. "Is he really still alive?"

"GERALD!" came a thunderous shout from the distance. And it sounded pretty angry.

"I don't know, you tell me."

Elly thought for a second and then nodded, "That does indeed sound like my father. He is furious!"

"Yup!" Gerald rose into the air and became transparent. "Well, anyway, it was nice seeing you, but I really have to go now. I still have to go on a little rampage across the city, and then, who knows… May we see each other again if fate allows it. Take care, Elly!" With that, he completely disappeared.

"Wait! Gerald!" she cried out, but he was gone. She then sighed and wiped away her tears, taking a look at the city from the high vantage point of her palace. That's when she finally saw all the smoke and fire rising above the capital.

"Ah! Gerald, what did you do?!"