I am not the shield hero

Following the brown filolial left Dante with mixed emotions. Meeting Fitoria this early was unexpected, but not impossible. He did have two royal filolials, after all. While his relations with the other heroes wasn't great, it wasn't too bad either. Itsuki was fairly hateful towards him, but Motoyasu and Ren seemed neutral. Dante did plan on working with them all eventually too, once the whole rape accusation got taken care of.

His thoughts drifted in and out between meeting the filolial queen and listening to the conversations behind him.

"I hope you didn't take my statements to mean I'm excusing any of the king's actions." Eclair said.

"No, of course not." Raphtalia assured her.

"If he had any involvement in your village being attacked, I will condemn it wholeheartedly and see to it that he faces the queen when she returns." Eclair continued on.

Dante had mentioned to Eclair that Davon Mallory was in the throne room while the heroes were being rewarded. Apparently, being stationed there was a step up from where he was when Eclair was imprisoned. Even if the king wasn't involved, it was certainly looking like he approved of the outcome. After all, he did ignore what Eclair said about the knights enslaving the survivors.

"And Sir MacRory." Eclair turned to the Shield Hero. "Until we know whether or not the king had any part in my territory's destruction, I would ask you not to make any conclusions on it."

"Fair enough." Dante nodded. "He's done plenty else for me to judge. And, it's not as if the royal family doesn't have slaves."

"As do you." Eclair pointed out. "My father did as well."

"And I'm sure all those slaves were treated the same." Dante glanced back her. "Of course, I'm not implying the king tortured any directly. He just wouldn't care if they were."

"You think he wouldn't care if his wife, the queen, had her edicts ignored?"

"He tried to have Sadeena and the others taken to the Three Heroes Church to have their slave seals removed." Dante reminded her. "Assuming he was honest about that—and that's a big assumption—it would take an incredible amount of willful ignorance to think they'd be fine, and not enslaved or killed. Well, not that the church could pull that off anyway."

It wasn't as if he'd let them go alone. Dante would have gone with them to make sure that was all that was done, if they somehow lost the duel. If that caused a fight, then they'd have to deal with things a lot earlier. It's not like they couldn't escape.

"Since we won't be able to agree on this, I suggest we postpone this discussion." Eclair suggested.

"Agreed."

For all Dante knew, the king would have made sure his slaves were properly freed. It seemed unlikely, given the hanged emissaries outside the castle walls. Eclair held that knights were responsible for that, since they could have done that without the king's approval. Dante had to admit it was a possibility, given that they must have been put up at night, or early morning at the latest. Aultcray denied knowing anything about them, though he may have just been careful of what he said in front of his daughter. Still, finding Eclair guilty and doing nothing about the slavers was a pretty clear indication to Dante.

"Huh." Rifana looked between the two of them, having retaken her position in the front of the carriage.

"What?" Dante look down at the weasel girl.

"It just…didn't seem like you two made up at all." Rifana said.

"We didn't, because there was nothing to mend." Dante stated. "Neither of us were proven wrong, and neither of us are sorry about what we said to each other."

"Still…" Rifana looked back again at Eclair.

Dante smirked and glanced over his shoulder. "Sorry I raised my voice and sounded threatening." He told the lady knight.

"Ah." Eclair smiled, nodding to him. "My apologies if I brought up bad memories."

"Hm." Dante turned back to Rifana, still smirking. "Better?"

Rifana smiled and leaned into him. "Better."

If nothing else, Dante was glad their fear seemed short lived. Eclair was the stubborn type, and that seemed to extend to giving the benefit of the doubt to people she respected. Until she spoke with Aultcray directly, she may not change her view. Dante did promise her that meeting would happen when Melromarc's next wave occurred.

The carriages continued to rattle as they followed the brown filolial. They went at a decent pace, but made sure not to damage the carriages. From the fields and roads, they ventured into a light forest. Dante couldn't remember where Fitoria's sanctuary was, if it was ever revealed, but this didn't feel like it. The only thing the brown filolial had told Dio was that they were going to meet 'her'.

Eventually, they came upon a clearing. Numerous filolials of different colors were present. There didn't seem to be any real organization, but there was a larger group further in. Before he even noticed it approaching, a fog had surrounded the area.

I'm pretty sure that's the skill to keep people in—or out—of an area.

Once they got closer, they could see a girl standing in the center of the group. She had silver hair and looked about as tall as Dio and JoJo, and wore a nice looking red and white dress. There was no doubt this was Fitoria.

Dante and his party climbed off of the carriage and approached. The filolials present made way as Fitoria came closer to meet them. She had her eyes closed as she walked forward.

"You are the Hero of the Shield, are you not?" She asked, stopping in front of Dante.

"Yes. Dante MacRory, the Shield Hero." Dante said.

"I am Fitoria, Queen of all filolials." Fitoria said.

Sadeena held Dante's hand as they talked. He was glad she did. Speaking with Fitoria was somewhat terrifying. He was a little scared when he first met Sadeena, since he thought she could kill him with a casual swing of her harpoon. Since he was the Shield Hero, it was fairly unlikely she would, but the possibility existed. It was the same with Fitoria, only she was much more likely to consider that option.

Of course, circumstantially, that option was still pretty far out there. So far, he hadn't done anything to warrant her anger. He had a small spat with one other holy hero, had neutral relations with another, and a third expressed his willingness to work with Dante. Not to mention the fact that Dante raised two royal filolials.

"It's nice to meet you." Dante gave a light bow. "Is there something we can do for you?"

"First, I would like to ask what your plans are." Fitoria gestured to the ground. She took a seat with her legs underneath her, so Dante sat down as well, though he simply sat cross-legged. Sadeena joined him on the ground.

"Well, my immediate plans are to travel to Zeltoble and register with the hourglass there, then move north to a few others." He told her.

Fitoria hummed. "Good. However, my flock has told me you were heading south when you were spotted."

"Ah, yeah…" Here came the tricky part. "The nation we're in is interfering a bit with my travels. I'll get across eventually."

"I see." Fitoria responded neutrally.

Well, this isn't bad so far.

"Next, I would like to fight the two filolials you've raised." Fitoria pointed behind Dante. Dio still stood in her filolial queen form, but JoJo was in his child form.

"Ah…" Dante nodded. "Right…"

"You disapprove?" Fitoria cocked her head to the side.

"N-No…" Dante knew this moment would come eventually, but now that it was here…

"What's wrong, Dad?" JoJo asked, looking down at him.

"Dad?" Fitoria turned her head towards JoJo, then nodded. "Ah, I understand."

It was hard to let his children fight someone he knew was far more powerful than them. He knew it was just a mock battle, but the hesitation remained.

"I can heal any injuries they get in our battle." Fitoria assured him. "However, if you are still against it, I won't force it."

That was unexpected. He didn't think Fitoria was the type to let something like that slide.

Dante turned up to his kids. "What do you two want to do?"

"We'll fight!" Dio proclaimed, raising up her wing.

"Yeah!" JoJo joined her, raising a fist.

The flock of filolials made more room around them. Fitoria stood and went to one side while Dio and JoJo stood at the other. Neither of the kids changed their forms to match the other. The rest of the party stood behind the kids.

"Come at me in any way you see fit." Fitoria said. "I want to test you at your best."

"Can we drink a potion first?" Dio asked. Fitoria shook her head. Dio and JoJo pouted a bit. "Aw, we wanted to use one of Papa's battle potions."

"That's not what they're called." Dante sighed at their antics.

He played around a bit with his Potion Maker's Shield, and the alchemical recipes he unlocked. Dante was able to brew a number of different potions, ones that temporarily increased stats. A lot of those potions seemed to emulate different support spells he learned, like Guard for defense or Power for physical abilities. The most well-rounded potion increased everything, though not as much as the targeted potions.

Still, it was a decent work around to not having the Aura spell yet. The results spoke for themselves. A high quality potion like that could really tip the scales in a normal battle. It's what Keel used when he killed those knights.

Pushing past their disappointment, Dio and JoJo took their positions. Dio had her claws at the ready and JoJo had his pole-hammer.

"You may come at me whenever you are ready." Fitoria said, waving the filolial kids to her.

Both of them sprung forward quickly, activating High Quick while they ran. They dashed to either side of Fitoria and came at her from two angles. With a sudden burst of wind, their movements stopped. Fitoria stopped the head of the pole-hammer in her right hand and an outstretched claw in the other.

"Impressive." She said, knocking the pair far away. "I wouldn't think you'd be so strong after a month."

Fitoria likely sensed when the heroes were summoned. That seemed like something she could do.

"Papa helped make us really strong!" Dio declared, charging at Fitoria again.

"It seems he did." Fitoria agreed, knocking Dio's claw strike to the side.

JoJo came in with another swing of his hammer, but Fitoria nimbly dodged to the side. She avoided and blocked their attacks easily, but that was expected. She had been around for hundreds of years, after all.

"Hey, Dante." Keel pulled Dante's focus from the fight. "Fitoria isn't really trying, is she?"

"No, she's not." Dante hadn't told them too much about Fitoria. Mostly just what Fitoria herself just told them, and that she was incredibly strong.

"If they drank a potion, or a few, would they stand a chance?" Keel asked.

"The effect doesn't stack. Even if it did and they drank a dozen potions each, it might become a warmup for Fitoria." Dante said.

The fight continued, but neither one was able to land a solid hit on Fitoria. JoJo channeled a Zweite Tornado spell while Dio kept her busy, but Fitoria was still able to counter it.

After a few more exchanges, Fitoria held up her hand. "That's enough."

JoJo and Dio stopped their attack. The Filolial Queen beckoned them closer, having Dio transform into her angel form. Once they were in front of her, Fitoria pulled a pair of cowlicks from her head and held one in each hand before the filolial children.

"You have both passed my test." She said to the pair. "Therefore, I recognize you both as candidates to be the next filolial queen or king."

The cowlicks jump from her hands and attached themselves to the kids' heads. Before either can react, the tufts of hair burst into a puff of light. Then, each of the kids grew a cowlick of their own. They looked at each other and pointed at the new appendage.

"Ah!" They both yelled at once, then looking up at their own heads. "Ah!"

"Is it really that bad?" Dante asked as he walked closer with the party.

"It's weird~!" Dio cried out, trying to flatten the bit of hair sticking up.

"Big Bro!" JoJo rushed to the small therianthrope and held his shoulders. "Do I still look cool!?"

"Eh?" Keel stared up at him, stuttering. "Uh, y-yeah, you still look cool."

"Promise?"

Keel gave him a thumbs up. "Promise."

"Yay!" JoJo picked him up and hugged him, squeezing a bit of air from his lungs. "Thank you, Big Bro!"

"Can't…breathe…" Keel struggled against JoJo's grip.

All in all, it wasn't as worrying as Dante thought it would be. Still, something nagged at him.

"Shield Hero." Fitoria called to him. "I would like to speak with you. In private."

"Ah, of course." Dante nodded. He let go of Sadeena's hand, who had held him steady the whole time. Gesturing to the rest of his party, he followed after the Filolial Queen alone.

They put a good distance between themselves and everyone else. Once close to the fog that surrounded them, Fitoria turned to face him.

"It is good to meet a hero who has raised filolials again." She started. "It has been quite a long time."

"Ah, that's good…" Dante wasn't really sure how to interact with her. They followed her underling with little explanation, so she could assume they knew something about her. He didn't know how much he should reveal to her. "You fought very well, especially since you never opened your eyes."

Fitoria hummed, lowering her head. "Yes…I've had to learn to see without my eyes."

"O-Oh…" That sounded like a landmine if Dante ever heard one. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It was such a long time ago. I've gotten quite used to it."

"Haven't you tried…no, sorry." Dante began, but then thought better of it.

"Haven't I tried healing magic?" Fitoria asked his question, causing a slight wince from him. "I have. I had the most powerful healing magic available cast on me, used every potion I could find, and nothing restored my sight."

That was not what Dante expected at all. Then again, Atla couldn't see, and not even Yggdrasil Elixir could fix that. But, that was some sort of magic-genetic thing, right? Surely that medicine could help Fitoria.

"What about Yggdrasil Elixir? Isn't that known to cure any disease or illness?"

"You hero knowledge serves you well." Fitoria said. "However, the Medicine of Miracles isn't all powerful. It can't bring someone back from the brink of death. And, it's powerless in the face of a curse."

"A curse?" Dante looked over the small woman. "Then…"

Fitoria nodded. "Twice over. First, I was negligent and allowed a curse to fester in me. Then, I received a deep wound on my eyes at the hands of a cursed holy weapon."

Dante didn't like that at all. In the books, he recalled Fitoria mentioning that the heroes needed to work together to fight the waves, as Fitoria wouldn't be strong enough. But, the idea that any of the heroes in the books could become stronger than Fitoria…well, he supposed it wasn't so strange. After all, Naofumi was able to withstand attacks from the Spirit Tortoise, even hold it in place. And Motoyasu…well, he was the prime example, wasn't he?

"If you don't mind me asking, how did it happen?" Dante asked.

"I don't mind, but I will have more questions for you." Fitoria responded. "It was after the last waves were repelled. The Sword Hero and Spear Hero came after me together. I don't recall the reason why, but they decided it was best to kill me. They both unlocked the curse series and mastered one of the forms each. The battle was long and hard. I managed to kill the Spear Hero, but the Sword Hero took the opportunity to blind me. We were both exhausted by that point. I may have been able to defeat him, but the risk was high, and I was able to flee, so I did so."

"I…" Dante was at a loss for words. To defeat the waves, only to go after Fitoria afterwards…

Then again, I don't know what the previous set of waves was like. Besides that, I have a decent idea what the previous heroes may have been like, given the current ones. If they never got past the gamer mindset, they could have seen the curse series as a difficult power up to use, and Fitoria as a hidden boss of sorts. But, to unlock the curse series and still see this world as a game seems…contradictory.

"Now then," Fitoria interrupted his thoughts, "I have some questions for you."

"Oh, yes, please." Dante said, gesturing to her, realizing after the pointlessness of that.

"And I would like you to answer honestly."

Dante really didn't like that modifier.

"How much do you know?"

It was a rather broad question.

"In regards to what?" Dante asked.

"To start simply, tell me everything you know about me."

That would be quite the reveal. Dante didn't want to say anything, but he doubted Fitoria would let him stay silent. Less imminent but still highly concerning, any Q'ten Lo shadows listening in would have that much more information.

Dante changed to the Humming Shield and activated it. Fitoria turned her head to the side.

"Hm. I think it's been a long time since I've seen an ability like this." She said. "Don't worry. If you are concerned about being followed, you were not. No one else is here but my flock and your party."

"Maybe, but I'd rather not risk it, if you don't mind." He had no idea if Fitoria could actually sense those shadows or not. They may have been kept out of her barrier, or they may have snuck in before they were closed out. Either way, he highly doubted the shadows would get within the range of Silence. That would be a bit too close to maintain their stealth effectively, according to Sadeena.

"As you wish." Fitoria said evenly.

Now he had to tell her what he knew. "I knew about you being the Filolial Queen, and about the test you would be giving my kids. I also know you are extremely powerful." He tried testing the waters with just that.

"Go on." She prodded.

"I know you promised the hero who raised you to protect the world and keep the heroes from fighting each other. If I remember right, you've had to kill holy heroes in the past that couldn't work together."

Fitoria continued to face him, eyes closed. "Keep going."

"I…remember the hero who raised you was the Shield Hero. Your world was the Shield and Bow, which later fused with the Sword and Spear world. I can't recall too much of that part though." Dante had gone through a bit of sleep deprivation at the time of reading those novels, so he didn't retain as much.

Fitoria stood there, eyes slowly opening. Her dull grey eyes looked up at him. He couldn't see any physical indication on her skin, but her eyes looked to have slash marks on them.

"I see…" Fitoria let the words out slowly. "I didn't expect you to be the Shield Hero." She walked towards Dante, who took a step back.

"D-Did I say something wrong?" If Fitoria was about to do something, he didn't have a chance—

In an instant, she grabbed hold of him, arms wrapped around his waist. She held him tight, keeping him in place.

"I've waited so long to meet you…" Her voice was muffled, her face pressed into his armor.

"I…don't understand." Dante stood stiffly, afraid to make any move.

Fitoria shuddered against him. Her breathing hitched, and he heard her sniffle.

"I get to rest now…"

The implication of those words wasn't lost on Dante. A similar sentiment passed through his mind before his death.

"Can you…tell me what you mean?" Dante hesitantly asked.

Fitoria nodded against him. "I don't remember a lot. Bits and pieces from my past, sometimes more when I hear certain things. One thing I've held onto for all these years was a vision."

"A vision…" It wasn't the first time he heard something like that. "What was your vision?"

"A man came to me." She started. "He told me old knowledge and was much stronger than expected. There would be a filolial with him, a queen or a king. They pulled a carriage that looked more beautiful than anything I'd ever seen, a gem shining brightly on it."

"Fitoria…" It was just what he feared. He wanted to think otherwise, but there was little room for interpretation. Fitoria was waiting to die, so the vassal carriage could be passed on to another.

With that revelation in his mind, Fitoria hugged him tighter. "I couldn't remember who the hero that raised me was. Now I can remember a little more. I'm so glad you're the man from my dreams, Shield Hero."

Whatever fears Dante had of the Filolial Queen vanished with her words of gratitude. It was heartbreaking to hear her thank him for her impending death. What words could he possibly offer her? Here she stood, having gone through countless years, waiting for her replacement to come along so she could die.

There were no words. He hadn't lived hundreds of years. He didn't even make it to 30 before getting killed. To watch those around you be born, grow old, and die again and again…it was something so far removed from Dante. The closest parallel he could realistically have from his world would be a family pet that had children he could raise and take care of, repeating the cycle into old age. Even then, Fitoria could communicate far more with other filolials than he could with cats or dogs. The best comparison he could hope to achieve with her situation wasn't close by a long shot.

In the end, there really was nothing he could say to her. Nothing truly meaningful, anyway. Instead, he merely placed his hand on her head.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I can barely begin to understand what you've gone through."

She shook her head, ruffling her hair with his hand. "You don't need to understand. You being here is enough."

It was a nice sentiment, but not one Dante wanted to hear right now. "Are you sure that's what your vision meant?" He asked, knowing both he and she believed it was. "Maybe…" Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough with his words to come up with anything meaningful.

"It's okay." She said, pulling her head back slightly, but keeping his hand on it. "I'm happy this way." She looked up at him with a smile. "I'm happy you are the Shield Hero."

Dante stroked her head a bit, a low grunt escaping him. "That's a sentiment you share with everyone in my party, in one form or another."

This whole thing did bring up some old thoughts for him. Dante always assumed he was summoned by mistake somehow, that the Shield was supposed to summon Naofumi instead. Now, he learned that a prophecy foretold his coming, apparently. Or, at least, someone who knew about the books and would raise a filolial.

Echoing his thoughts, Fitoria spoke up. "I didn't know what to expect when you came with two filolials, but I see now the Shield chose someone good."

"I think you're bit mistaken." Dante shook his head. "I've done plenty of terrible things. And…this wouldn't be the first time my appearance has meant death for someone…"

"I welcome it." Fitoria placed her hands on Dante's arm, shifting his hand to the side of her head. "You earnestly comforted someone you're clearly afraid of. I think that speaks for itself."

"I was pretty obvious, wasn't I?" Dante gave a small laugh. "Knowing what I know, can you blame me?"

"Not at all." Fitoria closed her eyes and smiled brightly.

There was that feeling again. Seeing someone so happy about their own death, it reminded Dante of himself. The release from loss, from pain, it hurt to see that in someone who looked like a child.

But she wasn't a child. She was a being far older than him. And this was something she really wanted.

"Well, I'm…glad you're happy." Dante said, straining to get the words out. "If it's not too much trouble, I have a few things I'd like to ask you about."

"Of course, Shield Hero." Fitoria said, releasing his arm but staying close enough to keep his hand in place. "What do you want to know?"

~The Wrong Hero~

They talked for a while after the test fight. Dante had all manner of questions for her, but her biology proved itself a great hindrance. He wanted to know the power up methods of the other heroes, the ones he couldn't remember, but Fitoria couldn't recall either. He asked her about being teleported to the waves and being registered to multiple hourglasses, but she had little to say there too. Fitoria had gone to all the hourglasses she was in charge of, registering to all of them, but she couldn't properly answer his question. She had a timer for every hourglass, but she wasn't teleported to the location of the wave, even for the one she registered to last. Dante couldn't guess at the reason, but Fitoria could. She assumed it was because her weapon was too old.

"I haven't used it much before the waves, so I don't know if it's working properly."

Dante recalled something similar from the books, but he couldn't be sure. He knew vassal weapon holders should be teleported, unless that was another change in this world. It seemed the quickest way to figure that out would be to register to another hourglass.

In that regard, Fitoria could easily help. She connected the carriages Dante had to her own and had everyone get inside hers. It was much more spacious inside than what they thought it would be. In a moment, they were transported across space. Once out of the carriage, the found themselves in an open field.

Fitoria pointed out on Dante's map where she had taken them. It was quite a bit northeast of where they had been. They were about equal distance between Siltvelt and Zeltoble and, according to Eclair, it would take about a week to reach either place at their current speed.

Dante thanked Fitoria for her help, both for the transportation and for empowering his kids. In response, Fitoria held out her arms to him. Dante lowered himself to her and wrapped his arm around her, wishing her well. Once they got stronger and were confident enough, Fitoria would bring them to the hourglasses in her domain. Even with her flock, Dante wanted to help the bird girl if he could.

After she left, Sadeena slid up next to him, teasingly asking about the hug the two shared. Dante, however, simply shook his head. He wasn't ready to talk about it, and Sadeena picked up on his feelings.

They loaded up into the carriages, ready to set out. Well, almost everyone.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Dante asked the tanuki girl before him. She looked at him, confused. "It's back to giant training for you."

Raphtalia turned her head away, muttering something under her breath. "I was hoping you forgot."

"Didn't forget, just had more pressing matters. And now, those matters are solved." She had gotten out of a few hours of being transformed, between trying to cross the border and meeting with Fitoria.

Sighing, Raphtalia took on her therianthrope form and climbed into the more spacious carriage. Eclair shook her head as she joined her. The silliness of it all wasn't lost on Dante, but he appreciated it. After talking with Fitoria, he needed a bit of a distraction.

With the more loaded up carriage in the front again, Dante joined the others. Sadeena sat in the front, Keel sitting next to her with his water tome and JoJo pulling the carriages. Dante sat in the back, letting his mind drift off.

Before it could, Rifana sat against him, still in her therianthrope form. Dante placed his hand on her head, giving it a scratch. It was a soothing feeling. Dio sat on his other side, still fussing over her new cowlick. She hadn't gotten over it like JoJo had.

With the border far behind them, they made their way towards Siltvelt.