A few minutes later, the first prince, Bolten, arrived on the scene looked very amazed and relieved that they survived. He glanced around and asked where their enemy was, to which Gram simply replied that he left.

“So, you defeated him?” Bolten asked curiously.

“I don’t know,” replied Gram with a shrug of his shoulders.

The first prince looked surprised at the strange response from the prince from another world, but he did not press the matter. At that moment, he noticed that all the heroes were looking rather tired and figured it was not the time to be asking questions after the difficult battle they had gone through.

“Alright then. Let us return to the castle and attend to your treatment,” he said and smiled at them.

“The castle?” Vikram asked, looking surprised.

“Don’t you think it’s bad if we return there now after we abandoned the king?” Natsu asked curiously.

“It’s fine. I’ll handle matters from here on,” stated Bolten reassuringly.

The heroes could not help but notice a strange glint in Bolten’s eyes as well as the serious expression on his face. They wondered what had come over him, but they did not find out because the prince had activated his M.E.D. by aiming his hand at them and typing several buttons on his device before they were teleported to the hospital ward inside the castle.

“Doctor,” called Bolten as he went in first while they slowly entered after him.

The doctor, who had been treating the injured soldiers and guards, looked up in surprise upon hearing his voice.

“Prince! What bring you here? And I see you brought the heroes along well,” he said before noticing the heroes standing behind him. “Are they perhaps…?”

He trailed away his question as Bolten nodded and said, “Yes. The battle’s over, and the heroes need healing, but I believe it’s best they rest away from my father’s attention.”

Upon hearing that, the doctor looked a little bemused before he nodded and said, “That’s fine. In that case, let us admit them into the chambers with the only people granted access to are the doctors and nurses.”

Bolten narrowed his eyebrows in seriousness and asked, “Are you positively sure it cannot be infiltrated?”

Realising that this was a very serious matter that made the prince behave so seriously with him, the doctor proceeded to reassure him by saying, “Definitely, sir. If it pleases you, I will stay with them and let the nurses and other wardens to attend to the other injured people. They can handle it.”

After a moment of pause, the prince nodded in satisfaction while Vikram asked, “Wait. Why’re we being admitted into a private space?”

“It’s so that you don’t come into contact with my father,” replied Bolten, turning and looking apologetically at them. “I think you recall of me informing you about that laser cannon that he ordered to fire at you?”

“Yeah. It was while we were in the fusion form,” admitted Maxwell, looking curious.

“What’s that got to do with your father seeing us?” William asked in confusion.

“Is he perhaps angry at us or something?” Fred asked worriedly.

“No… but I rather you stay away from him for a few days at least until things calm down,” said Bolten, and he heaved a sigh. “In the meantime, I’ll get the chance to do things on my end to calm things down as well.”

“Uh… Okay?” Vikram asked, looking puzzled.

“What’s the problem, Bolten?” Gram asked with interest.

To that, the prince merely smiled sadly at him and said, “It’s not a major problem, rather it’s my problem. I’ll deal with it, so don’t worry. Alright?”

He then smiled calmly at them while the heroes felt a strange uncertain feeling in the air. Something was not right and they knew it, but for some reason, they felt as though it was useless to voice it out loud. It appeared that Bolten was prepared to do what he must about something that they were simply not aware of.

Thus, the heroes followed the doctor through a side door leading into a private chamber that was completely different from the room next to it. Once there, they each occupied a bed and let themselves get treated by the doctor’s nursing with the help of a nurse close behind him. Satisfied with seeing this, Bolten bid his farewell and was on his way to leave when Gram called him to a halt.

“Bolten, I think we’ll be receiving visitors from aliens soon,” he said calmly.

“What?!” Bolten exclaimed, whirling around and looking at him in a flabbergasted manner. “Aliens?! You mean an invasion?! Now when we’re at our weakest?!”

“It’s not an invasion,” said Gram in an exasperated voice. As the prince looked confused, he went on to state, “They’re coming to help.”

“Help… us…?” The prince asked, blinking in confusion as he was unsure what he just heard. “What do you mean?”

“The Overlord, whom Lucky had been fighting till now, had a change of heart and now decided to change his ways, and he wants to rectify the damage he and his people caused us here,” explained Natsu with a smile.

Bolten looked confused as if unsure whether to believe it or not.

“It can be trusted,” said Natsu firmly, realising the doubts that were going through the prince’s head. “He swore in the presence of the Goddess of War and the God of Energy, so it can be trusted.”

The news of a God and a Goddess further shocked and confused Bolten, who slowly asked, “There was a God… and a Goddess…?”

“Don’t be so surprised, Bolt,” said Vikram cheerfully. “They’re really great people, although, the Goddess is dangerous.”

At his finishing words, Bolten looked even more puzzled, making Natsu sigh and say, “It’s fine. We’ll explain the finer details later. For now, just inform your people of an alien force’s arrival on the planet and to not attack them. I think you’ll meet up with the Overlord, who’ll greet you and explain what they’ll do. So, just proceed with the things, okay?”

“Um… Okay,” said Bolten meekly as he did not know what else to do.

They briefly smiled before Bolten nodded at the rest and turned around to leave the room. No sooner had he gone before Asura lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep and not waking up since then.

***

“He’s been asleep for a while,” pointed out Vikram curiously. “I guess he’s very tired and all.”

“Highly likely since he fought that God before the fusion, and even then, the fusion would’ve probably drained him even further,” stated Natsu in an understanding voice.

“But it was Lucky that fought, not Asura, right?” Fred asked, looking puzzled.

“Yes, it was,” said Natsu in agreement, “but I think they share some of their powers? I don’t really know how well to describe the way two personas exist in a single entity and it didn’t seem like split personalities either.”

“It felt more like two spirits coexisting in a single body,” explained Ward telepathically. “It’s possible that Asura has his own power consumption, but chose to sleep it off because he does not wish to push the body that originally belongs to Lucky.”

“Ah,” the other heroes said, looking surprised.

“Makes sense,” said Maxwell in understanding. Their powers might be separate, but they share the same body, so he probably went to sleep so as to give the body the full rest it deserved after all the strain it was put through.”

“Heh. So, he does care,” remarked Gram quietly.

“Hey. That’s rude, you know?” Vikram asked, looking critically at him.

Gram shrugged his shoulders indifferently and said, “Meh. He didn’t appear the type that would put the well being of others first, although, in this case, it was the wellbeing of himself, I guess?”

“Man, you’re such a pain,” commented Vikram while eying him wearily.

“I’m being realistic,” retorted Gram coldly.

The two stared at each other in silence before they sighed and gave up arguing with one another. The others saw this as a sign of them being tired and smiled blissfully. Then they turned and began conversing with one another quietly while Lakshman remained sleeping.

***

Inside his mind, he opened his eyes with a start and quickly sat upright with high tension. Sitting beside him were Asura and the fairy, who cried out joyfully at his awakening and went to hug his face.

“Thanks, miss,” he said to her with a smile and turned to Asura. “How did it go after I lost consciousness?”

“It went well,” replied Asura and retold the events that followed after Lakshman losing consciousness.

Lakshman was shocked when he heard that the Goddess of War had flew into a rage, but breathed a sigh in relief that she calmed down without causing any damage whatsoever. He was glad things did not escalate in the wrong direction after he lost consciousness as he was apparently worried that things would not go as planned.

“The Goddess gave some pep talk to this guy before leaving,” said the fairy suddenly with a cheeky grin on her face.

“Oh? She did?” Lakshman asked, turning towards Asura, who looked unimpressed.

“It wasn’t much; just her usual inspirational speeches. That’s all,” replied Asura quietly.

“Are you sure? I could’ve sworn she scolded you for being careless and reckless and foolish during your time as the first Phoenix Titan and stuff,” the fairy said cheekily.

Asura eyed her coldly and retorted, “It’s part of the mother’s duty to scold her son when he missteps, except it was too late in my case and it was more of less advice for Lucky anyway.”

“Ah? She scolded you?” Lucky asked, smiling a little while Asura looked embarrassed about it. After chuckling to himself, he asked, “So, what did she say?”

He listened quietly as Asura retold everything that the Goddess of War advised him with for the present and the future. Lakshman listened quietly with a look of interest on his face and when Asura finished, he finally smiled in appreciation.

“I’m glad she’s taken more interest in giving us that much advice since she has never done it before to you,” said Lakshman with a smile.

“Yes. That part surprised me as the only advice she ever provided till now was war related and blessings for my success in my campaigns,” agreed Asura with an amused look on his face. “Regardless, it’s up to you now to heed her advice, Lakshman.”

“I will,” replied Lakshman with a smile. Then he looked up at the limitless sky and said, “I better get back to the surface and see what’s happening over there.”

“Go ahead, but it’s been boring since all of you are stuck in the hospital room.”

Lakshman laughed and said, “That’s fine. I’ll take this opportunity to get some rest from all the fighting.”

Smiling happily, he closed his eyes and felt himself rising to the surface and opened his eyes to find himself staring up at the white ceiling. Feeling that he was lying on a comfortable bed and sensing familiar people nearby, he glanced sideways and saw his comrades talking nonchalantly with smiles on their faces. He felt his body aching all over from the gruelling battle he endured, but seeing their smiling faces made him feel content and call out to them.

“Hey guys.”

To his call, all of them reacted with surprise before they jumped out of their bed and quickly moved to stand or sit near him. They began asking him questions of how he was feeling, what took him so long to wake up, and whatever else that popped up inside their heads as they all showed concern for him. Though he found it amusing that they showed concern for him, he was more worried that they would strain themselves like this for his sake.

“Relax, guys and lady. I’m feeling fine,” he said simply and eased their worries in a flash.

“Good, otherwise I wouldn’t be satisfied in our next rematch!” Gram said, folding his arms and looking away while secretly feeling relieved while everyone else looked at him in amusement.

Lakshman chuckled but did not voice his doubt of whether they would even have a rematch in the first place. The reason for this was because he wanted to return home as soon as possible. With the problem of aliens cleared, and with the Goddess of War proclaiming her support for this world’s survival, he felt it was time he returned home. However, he felt that there was one final task remaining that he must attend to soon.

“Erza.”