A/N: I apologize for the year-long wait. I procrastinated way too long. It's Valentine's Day again, so here you go.

"HEAVEN'S HAMMER!"

Ickhart's irritation turned into pure frustration. How can he use fourth job techniques? He is but a mere third jobber!

Perhaps he is one of the heroes of old, Ickhart. Umbra spoke as Ickhart narrowly dodged the damage radius of the attack. Even so, the shockwave was strong enough to throw him off his feet, despite having the best balance of the Knights of Cygnus.

"Heroes of old?" Ickhart said out loud. The White Knight – Hyrien looked up, eyes seething with fury. His mace lit up with a bright yellow glow. "Divine Charge!" commanded the White Knight as the glow grew even more intense. The Commander of Darkness frowned. What the… How can he use so many skills? It is beyond the ability of any modern adventurer!

Hyrien charged at Ickhart, shouting a battle cry as he surged forward. Ickhart, being a mid-range attacker, needed time and space to work – this knight's 'in your face' attitude was very troublesome. He focused his mana into his feet, and in a split second, leapt high into the air with a Flash Jump.

The White Knight stopped in his tracks, staring up as Ickhart soared into the air. Hyrien cursed. Warriors did not possess ranged attacks, and it was vital that he was able to effectively combat at long range when battling a long-range attacker.

Well, no matter, thought Hyrien. I'll just get rid of the evil deity called the 'Divine Bird', then rid the world of this tyranny. Then I'll return to Pelinor, and we'll fell Caleix once and for all.

Ickhart was flying through the air, trying to get his bearings when he saw Hyrien running off in the direction of the Divine Bird, the slumbering bird that he had sworn to defend with his last drop of blood. Oh, man. Time to protect that overgrown chicken again.

Entering Dark Sight, he landed perfectly on the pavement. He could feel Umbra thinking hard about who this mysterious knight was. He did 'introduce' himself, though. "His name was Hy… Hyrule? Hypot? What was it…?"

Umbra finally spoke up. Hyrien. A White Knight from the guild Nightfall.

"Nightfall? But that guild is supposed to have- "

Yes, I know. This is most distressing, Iscariot.

"Stop calling me that."

Shut up. There are more important things at hand.

Ickhart sighed and raced towards the place where the Divine Bird lay slumbering, eyes closed yet always open.

Mihail, Irina, Oz and Hawkeye arrived in Erev through the magical passage of Mystic Door. The first three were looking around for any signs of battle, while Hawkeye was whining about being 'brutally handled'.

"Oh, shut up, Hawkeye," snapped Oz, lighting a flame in her palm. "Or I'll toast you myself."

Hawkeye snorted. "I'd like to see you try," he sneered, electricity crackling over his knuckles. "Brat."

A vein popped in Oz's forehead. "WHY, YOU LITTLE-"

"Enough!" Irina was irritated by the fact that the two weren't focused at all on their mission – to protect Erev from any harm that might threaten it. "Let's split up and look for-"

Boom.

In the distance, a flash of golden light lit up the sky, if only just for a second.

"There they are," murmured Mihail with a smile.

As Ickhart ran towards the center of Erev, he saw Hyrien chasing after him, mace in hand. He's persistent, he thought uneasily. The Commander of Darkness subtly slipped an Ilbi into his palm in preparation for an attack.

"AVENGER!"

The Ilbi throwing star in his hand glowed red for a second, before it tripled in size by alchemy. It glowed again, this time white in colour, and the small spikes between the primary blades expanded too, forming an Avenger. Snarling, Ickhart flung the star with all his strength backwards at Hyrien.

Hyrien narrowed his eyes as the star whirred towards him. "Power Strike!" he commanded without ceasing his mad chase, swinging his mace at the incoming Avenger. The blunt weapon hit the Avenger with a ping, and the giant throwing star's direction was reversed, instead flying towards its master.

Darn, if only the rest hadn't left for the festival…Ickhart dodged past the Avenger and reversed direction, rushing at Hyrien, right palm enveloped in a mysterious purple aura…

"Disorder!"

Before Hyrien could react, Ickhart reached out and punched him in the chest. Hyrien coughed as air was forcefully removed from his lungs, and he fell backwards onto the ground.

"I…can't… move…!" the White Knight managed to spit out as he struggled to move his body. His muscles refused to move, against his will.

Disorder… a weak skill unless used properly. Interrupting the mana flow in the body to stun an opponent for a short period…Well done, Ickhart. Umbra applauded the Commander of Darkness as the latter sprinted towards where the Divine Bird lay, motionless and vulnerable.

Ickhart didn't reply. He could see the Divine Bird now, lying motionless as though in submission to an unseen force. However, Ickhart knew that the reason the Divine Bird couldn't move was because it was too busy concentrating on holding the Maple World together.

He spun on his heel and faced the path he had just taken, ready to kill Hyrien if he tried to even touch the Divine Bird. Already, he had six Steely throwing knives in both of his hands, three in each hand. His sensitive ears picked up footsteps behind him – and without even looking, he knew his comrades were here.

"You're late," Ickhart stated flatly.

They didn't respond – they were too busy looking for something to use as weapons. Mihail settled for a one-handed sword someone had dropped on the ground. Oz and Hawkeye decided to fight bare-handed, while Irina looked around frantically for a bow. She found a worn-out, rusty Composite Bow hidden in a tree – some archer must have left it here for a friend, then forgot about it. For arrows… well, that was what Soul Arrow was for.

"Ready?" asked Mihail.

"Yup."

"All set!"

"…"

"Let's start!"

They could already see Hyrien, blazing with a golden aura, his mace flickering with energy. His knight armour looked even more imposing when he was angry, and his eyes… they were filled with a silent determination.

Determined to bring them down.

Hawkeye was the first to attack. "Shark Wave!"

As he punched in Hyrien's direction, a green shark composed of electricity flowed out from his fist at incredible speed. Before anyone could even begin to wonder how he could shape electricity, another two sharks trailed out from his fists and towards Hyrien.

Mihail roared and dashed forward, his weak weapon gleaming in the sun. As he ran, the electric sharks reached Hyrien, jaws wide open and ready to deliver the shock of his life.

Hyrien twirled his mace, and it flashed brightly in response. "Power Guard!"

His mace was wreathed in holy fire, and Hyrien smashed it onto the ground. When the ground was hit, a barrier sprung up in front of him, just milliseconds before the sharks slammed into him. The barrier dissipated the energy of the first two sharks, but the third shark shattered the barrier and rushed at Hyrien, jaws open and ready to draw blood.

Grunting in exertion, Hyrien swung his mace upwards, hitting the shark square on its lower jaw. The shark fizzled away into nothing, green sparks flickering away.

Ickhart was already in front of him, palm wreathed in the green aura that indicated Disorder was about to be cast. Hyrien twisted his body and narrowly evaded the attack due to his quick reflexes, struggling to keep his balance with a heavy mace in hand. Ickhart smirked and leapt away in case of a counter-attack, which Hyrien failed to deliver.

An azure arrow hit the White Knight in the breastplate, sending him staggering backwards. Cursing as he was repeatedly attacked by throwing stars and arrows of wind and fire, he removed a weird oblong-shaped device from his belt and tossed it at the ground with all his strength. The device exploded with little force, but it released a huge cloud of smoke, which negated Ickhart, Irina and Oz's attempts to hit him with ranged attacks.

Unfazed, Hawkeye and Mihail rushed forward. Hawkeye, being the quicker of the two, rushed forward and started randomly punching. Most of his attacks only hit air, but a single fist managed to find its way to Hyrien's face.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Hawkeye, grinning madly as he sent a barrage of blows towards the unseen opponent. He could hear Hyrien's cries of pain as his bare fists collided with enough force to instantly shatter a normal person's bones to dust. He heard a cracking sound as his right hook slammed right into Hyrien's lower jaw, sending the White Knight toppling backwards and out of the cloud of smoke.

Mihail managed to reach Hawkeye, panting in exertion. He wasn't as fast as Hawkeye – however wearing normal clothes instead of armour helped him to run slightly faster. With a grunt, he swung his sword in a horizontal arc…

Clang. The weapon hit with a dull noise, and Mihail saw why as the smoke cleared due to the force of two different powers colliding – Hyrien had managed to block the swing with his mace. With a grunt, he pushed Mihail back, catching the Soul Master by surprise – few Maplers were strong enough to overpower him.

"Who are you…?" growled Hyrien, wiping away a line of blood from his mouth.

"We are the Knights of Cygnus!" declared Mihail, pointing his (rather disappointing) sword at the White Knight. "The defenders of the Maple World, and the only defence against the Black Wings!"

"Black Wings…?" Hyrien recalled Francis saying something about the Black Wings during his short stay in the puppeteer's den. "Aren't they… the ones who seek the removal of the tyrannical empress?"

Irina and Oz stepped up, along with Hawkeye and Ickhart. "Tyrannical?" gasped Irina with a shocked expression on her face. "No way! The Empress may be young, but she's the kindest person I've ever met!"

Hyrien frowned, dropping his mace to the floor and looking at his bare hands in disgust. "Huh…?" he murmured. These people don't seem evil, but looks can be deceiving…

The White Knight suddenly felt his wounds being healed up by magic, and looked at the sky in amazement – beautiful white feathers were falling from the sky like snow, calming everyone who saw them. Hyrien felt a laugh catch in his throat – it was so beautiful, like the snow of his time…

"Congratulations, buddy," laughed Hawkeye, apparently forgetting that he had just beaten the crap out of him a few moments ago. "It appears that old Benedict has decided to bless you."

"Hawkeye! Don't refer to the Divine Bird by that name!"

"What did I- OW! Oz, what the f- Yeow! Not you too, Irina!"

Hyrien felt himself smile despite himself. He now knew that they weren't enemies – not if they could befriend an enemy so easily. It reminded him of… of a guard from the king's castle he had kidnapped under Pelinor's orders. That guard had willingly given helpful information to him, to help his guild combat the king. He had learnt a valuable lesson that day – that not all enemies were evil, and that sometimes you had to choose between duty and justice. In this case, he chose to follow… them. They possessed the attitude of real knights, besides maybe the one in the black cloak (who was currently… sulking several metres away)

YOU WILL KILL THEM.

Hyrien gasped and clutched his head, swaying about screaming. There was a presence in his mind, and it was speaking to him – it was Francis's voice, he was certain – and the presence made his head feel like exploding…

I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO STRAY FROM OUR MISSION! WE… WE ARE THE BLACK WINGS! WE WILL NOT BE STOPPED!

He felt the hairs on his back raise suddenly, making his muscles spasm in pain. Hyrien shouted, pleaded for help as the markings that Francis had painted on his body earlier began doing their job, snaking around and spreading to his entire body. He shrieked as his hand picked up his mace of their own accord: his fingers flexed themselves as though controlled by invisible puppet strings, and his screams were drowned out as his tongue suddenly ceased movement.

Ickhart was the first to notice the sudden change in Hyrien's behavior, and shouted out a warning to the others – but it was too late. Hyrien, unable to control his own body, struck out at Hawkeye, smashing his mace into the knight's back and sending him sprawling to the floor. Oz screamed as the pirate coughed blood onto the perfectly clean floor of Erev – "Oh, dear Goddess! You've made the floor dirty!"

He got hit by a mace at terminal velocity in the chest and you're worried about the damned floor? thought Ickhart exasperatedly, his shadow beginning to twist and turn as though angered. With a cry of "Vampire!", a swarm of hell bats composed out of darkness emerged from his shadow and rushed towards Hyrien, chittering in rage. The bats grinned like cheshire cats, flying like daggers towards the rapidly advancing White Knight. Hyrien merely shrugged off the bats and sprinted forward, trying to whack Ickhart with his mace. Ickhart just barely dodged the attack: Damn, looks like his speed has increased? What kind of witchcraft is he using?

It appears he has been possessed by the Black Wings, replied Umbra with a deep, sorrowful voice. Now, his destiny is to fade away once his possession is over, disappearing from this timeline and possibly altering history.

I won't let that happen! Ickhart threw a mental glare at Umbra as he vanished in a blur, reappearing behind Hyrien with a throwing knife in his hand. He whirled around and thrust the blade out, aiming to kill…

No! shouted Umbra with a sharp edge to its voice. You'll kill him-

Something collided with his gut. The Commander of Darkness had only a fraction of a second to comprehend what had happened before Hyrien's punch sent him flying, landing almost two dozen feet away in a heap. What? Impossible…

"Damn it!" Mihail shifted into a battle-ready stance, tightening his grip around the handle of the sword. What happened to him? He was perfectly calm several moments ago!

I think he's being controlled by some unseen force, replied a voice in his mind, a voice he recognized belonged to Sol, his guardian sprite. You should get out of here, boy.

Of all times for you to come and have a chat with me, Sol, though Mihail wearily. His guardian sprite had been reluctant to lend him its powers, and was more of a hindrance than anything else – so far, Mihail had to rely on his own strength and skill for combat, unlike the other Commanders who could utilize the magic of their spirits.

I think I should give you a hint on how to defeat him, Sol added. I think…

Mihail ducked under a swing by Hyrien and scooted away from the other side. "Run, Rina!" he shouted. "Rina, take Ickhart and go! Oz, you get Hawkeye to a safe place!" Before he could say anymore, Hyrien's mace interrupted him and he was forced to block with his sword, the weak metal of its blade nearly bending and breaking under the power of Hyrien's far superior weapon.

"No!" cried Oz – were those tears in her eyes? – "I wanna stay and help!" The look in Irina's eyes suggested that the feeling was mutual, her bow still in her hands.

"Argh – GO!" Mihail nearly screamed. Irina and Oz ran over to their fallen comrades reluctantly and vanished in a bright blue flash, leaving Mihail alone with the now-glowing-dark-purple Hyrien. The Soul Master quickly put some distance between him and the White Knight, not wanting to get caught in a pre-emptive attack.

Loneliness. Mihail hated being lonely. His mother had died at a young age, as a result of his father's neglect – the man was too busy being a hero. Mihail once loathed his father, believing that power came at the price of hurting the ones around you: but now, his views towards warriors had changed, thanks to Irina.

Irina…Mihail's heart seemed to throb even harder as he thought about her. For only the second time in his life, he had wanted to strive to gain more power, if only because he wanted to protect her. He had only ever felt the need to protect someone else once before that, and it was for Oz, his childhood friend.

"Help…"

The Commander of Light noticed that Hyrien's movements were jerky, as though unable to move at will. "It's not- me… I'm…being controlled-" the White Knight moaned, unable to properly control his own tongue.

Helplessness. Another terrible feeling, that he had felt as he watched his mother die. He wanted power, so he would never have to experience this feeling again.

Just like that Ickhart guy, aren't you? mumbled Sol.

"No." Mihail gritted his teeth at the thought of the Commander of Darkness. "Ickhart pursues power to kill. I need power… the power to protect."

He heard Sol chuckling in his mind. Very well, child. Will you let me help you in this battle?

"Anything." The Soul Master couldn't be bothered, really, but any little help would be appreciated. Sol was chuckling in amusement.

Looks like you've fallen in love with that archer, boy. Now, let me bestow upon you the power of the Guardian Sprite of Light…

Wisps of golden energy snaked around his body, and Mihail raised his glowing blade with a mighty cry – "SOUL BLADE!"

I needed rescue… again.

From… Oz.

Damn it…my back. It hurts.

"Do you think he broke a rib?"

That voice…It belongs to Oz.

"Hmm, I don't know…"

Irina.

"Maybe if I do this…"

Hawkeye returned to full consciousness with a startled yelp as Oz kicked him in the ribs, clutching at his left side painfully. He felt a broken rib prod his organs and cried in pain, trying not to release a scream.

"Jeez, you really are a handful, aren't ya?"

The Commander of Lightning turned to look at the woman who had just woken him up. She was grinning evilly at him, with that fiery glint in her eye that she always seemed to have. Next to her was a perplexed looking Irina, clutching her scavenged bow tightly.

Hawkeye instinctually cracked a joke. "Cygnus is gonna be pissed that we messed up these expensive clothes…" he muttered with a grin despite his situation. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and was not surprised to see blood.

Oz... Hawkeye felt his face heat up all of a sudden, and groaned as a sudden spike of pain forced him to grab his ribs.

"Pervert," Oz muttered, turning around and walking back towards where Mihail was fighting the White Knight. The ex-pirate felt something in his chest, but dismissed it as a side-effect of the battle. Ugh. That must have knocked something in my head...

"Irina!" The Commander of Flame's voice was loud and piercing, making the green-haired archer flinch and turn to her. "What is it?" Irina replied with an eyebrow raised. Hawkeye already knew what would happen though – Oz was one of the smartest magicians in the world, what with the thousands of magic theorems she had memorized, and she was also a wise person: however, when it came to Mihail...

"I will assist Mihail," the sorceress said. Her voice was calm and collected, as though they were talking over a cup of tea. "Don't argue – you know I am the only one who can dispel the magic over Hyrien."

Hawkeye forced himself onto his feet with a grunt. "Let me go with you-"

"No." The single syllable felt like an arrow to his chest. "In this state, you'll be nothing more than a burden. You stay here and help Ickhart."

As usual... I'm unable to help. Hawkeye turned away from the magician, unable to meet her eyes out of his shame. Not my family, not my friends.

No one.

Clang!

Mihail skidded backwards, the force of Hyrien's attack too strong – it was all he could do to remain standing. With a curse, he ducked under a swing of the mace and roared "Soul Rush!"

The Commander of Light diverted all the spare mana he could to his feet, jumping twenty feet into the sky in a single bound.

"SOUL DRIVER!"

Swords composed out of pure light energy emerged from his sword, glowing with a radiant power. The blades swooped down at Hyrien, but the knight somehow managed to deflect all the hits perfectly with his mace, not even showing a single sign of hesitance. Even when Mihail dropped from the sky, swinging his sword down on him, the knight still single-handedly blocked his sword with a wide, evil grin.

"Surprise!" The voice that came out from Hyrien's mouth was not his.

"Damn you, puppeteer!" Mihail grunted, leaping back. He's too strong! How do we defeat him...?

Damn it... If Oz were here, she'd know what to do...

"Fire Pillar!"

Several rocks rose from the ground around Hyrien, glowing brighter with each passing second. Mihail could see the magical runes engraved on each and every one of them – he was no expert in arcane arts, but even he could tell that it was an explosive rune. And when something exploded, it had to be the work of –

The white knight disappeared in a pillar of flame, roaring in pain as a magician in red robes teleported to Mihail's side.

"Oz…" the warrior muttered, but the girl held up a hand to silence him.

"He's not gonna die from that," the Commander of Flame said without looking at him. She had a serious expression on her face, making Mihail gulp in fear. "The knight won't stay down for long – we have to send him back to the past."

How? thought the Commander of Light.

As though reading his mind, the Flame Wizard added, "I have an arte that can undo the effects of time magic. It will take some time to prepare though, and if I miss, I will be completely drained of energy. We can't just kill him outright. That would be playing into the puppeteer's hands."

"I'll distract him," Mihail said. "Go!" Before she could stop him, he was already rushing towards the white knight, intent on stopping him.

As Mihail clashed weapons again and again with the White Knight, the Commander of Flames was running through several procedures in her mind.

The knight is from the past, she thought with a sigh. That makes things complicated. I'll have to use a forbidden arte to send him back… but if I fail, he'll die, and history will be affected.

So… yeah. There's no other way.

The sorceress was done in half a second.

"Meteor!" she shouted, lifting her arms to the sky. The sky darkened considerably, turning a dark crimson. The two warriors were forced to leap apart when an asteroid the size of a small car descended from the swirling red clouds, smashing into the ground.

The Empress is not gonna like the money needed to repair this road… "Meteor Shower!"

Several more meteors fell from the sky, each of them aimed at Hyrien. The knight looked truly terrified, and continued to struggle against the puppeteer's spell – however, the arte was not affected at all.

"Hearlgh!" the knight shrieked horribly, unable to control his tongue. "Wargh are you doing?"

Oz didn't respond – her attention was focused on the arte she was about to cast. "Spirits of the past, guardians of the future…"

Mihail blinked, before realizing what the flame sorceress was about to do. He quickly dashed towards Hyrien…

"I summon thy gate of time! I beg of thee, send this mortal back to the timeline in which he belongs…"

With a cry, the Commander of Light swung his fist out and knocked the stunned Hyrien to the ground and quickly Soul Rush-ed away, knowing what would happen.

Oz… you've grown since our days in Perion.

"Clock Spirit! Reach out your hand and open the portal! REVERSE ALMAGEST!"

A portal quickly formed under Hyrien, blue bolts of lightning arcing over his body. He cried out in pain as the puppet arte over him vanished, allowing him to regain control over his body. A tired smile appeared on his face, his eyes closing shut.

Pelinor, Yunira… Nightfall. I'm coming back…

The last thing the knight saw before fading into unconsciousness was Mihail, smiling at him – bidding him goodbye.

"Hyrien!"

He found himself lying on the ground and tasted blood in his mouth. His lip was injured, he was sure of it. But why was it cut?

Suddenly, his back shot up, becoming ramrod straight. "Argh, this damn headache," he muttered. He would equate it to having his memory erased…

Hyrien realized that he must have fallen asleep when resting after training. His lips parted into a grin as he caught sight of his Spearwoman partner, Yunira, running towards him.

"Pelinor is looking for you," she panted. "He said he had some new plans…"

The White Knight smiled – it didn't matter if he was hurt or anything, as long as he was back with his friends.

Back? Why do I have this feeling… that I haven't seen them in a while…?

He was jerked out of his thoughts as the spearwoman grabbed his hand, pulling him up. As he walked with his friend, his worries slowly fell to the depths of his mind, buried under other hidden memories forever.

"Oh, this will cost a lot to fix…"

Cygnus was back in Erev, inspecting the damage. Nineheart looked on disapprovingly, adjusting his monocle in slight disgust. Their short vacation had been cut short when Athena Pierce had informed them of the presence of a mysterious aura over Erev, and they had rushed to the scene.

"I believe your leave lasts for another 4 hours," the strategist murmured to the chief knights standing guard. "Dismissed."

Without a word, they left – but not before noticing Ickhart was mysteriously gone.

"Damn it… Damn it… Damn it!"

Ickhart cursed his weakness. He had let his guard down! He had failed again! Now that useless excuse for a knight, Mihail, would ridicule him for falling to a third-jobber of all things! Even though it was a hero from the past…

Don't be discouraged, Iscariot. Umbra tried to comfort him, but the Night Walker wasn't listening. Your rage is like a beacon to the darkness.

Before Ickhart could reply, a voice interrupted him. "Mr. Ickhart? You have a letter."

The Commander of Darkness looked down from his lofty perch atop a tree at a youth, carrying a bag filled with letters. The youth was holding an envelope in his hands, smiling warmly up at Ickhart. The Night Walker swiped the letter away before the postman could even blink, and within a second he was back in his tree.

"What the hell is th… oh."

Happy Valentine's Day. Will you be my valentine?

He read the message written on the pink card, and the tips of his mouth twitched before slowly turning into a smile. Umbra muttered something to himself, but Ickhart paid him no heed once he saw who the letter was from. For the first time since he became the Commander of the Night Walkers, he smiled.

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day!