You, Sabrina, Reno, Kennedy, Abercrombie and Ajeero stood in front of the entire school along with all of the other graduates. Principle Red smiled at everyone.
"And may I now present this year's graduates of the academy of knights! I would like to congratulate all of the senior years on their hard work. I would also like to congratulate six junior students who have risen through the ranks during the past two years. These students will also be awarded with a certificate of graduation just like the seniors for their hard work." You and everyone else smiled and walked up to Principle Red and grabbed your certificate. You all then smiled at everyone and held your certificate up. Everyone cheered and clapped as you and your friends smiled.
After the graduation ceremony, you and your friends sat down on the grassy field staring at the school. You then heard someone land on the ground behind you and you all turned to see Astro. You all smiled at him.
"Astro!" You all exclaimed. Astro smiled.
"Hey guys! Congrats on graduating, and with honours! You're now all eligible to form the order of the black onyx knights." You all nodded and stood up. You then looked at everyone. Everyone's appearance hadn't changed too much in the past two years, although they were all a lot taller. Sabrina had cut her once long hair to shoulder length. You saw that almost everyone was taller than Astro. You then looked at your height and sighed. For some reason, you hadn't grown all that much. Out of the two years that had passed, you had only grown two millimetres. You sighed and looked away. Astro noticed your sad look and raised his eyebrow at you. "Y/N? What's the matter? Aren't you happy that you've graduated?" You nodded.
"Yeah, it's just that..." You then clenched your fists. "I haven't grown at all during these past two years!" You cried. Everybody laughed at this. Astro then rested his hand on your head.
"I don't see what's there to complain about." You frowned at him.
"You're only saying that because I'm not taller than you!" You cried. Reno looked at the two of you.
"Hmm, I'm not too sure about that. I mean, you're not really taller than him, but more like the same height now. Before, it was only a small height difference, but you're now the same height as Astro." Astro flinched while your eyes widened. Astro then started to push down on you. You frowned.
"Hey, what are you doing?" You questioned. Astro frowned even more.
"I refuse to be the short one of this group!" Astro cried. Abercrombie laughed and picked Astro up. Astro cried out in surprise as Abercrombie put him on his shoulders. You looked up at Abercrombie. He was the one who had the growth spurt. He had also gotten a lot more muscular, but also chubby. Astro laughed and looked down at him. "Man, you guys really have grown. Well, most of you." Astro told as he glanced at you. You growled at him. You then jumped up to pull him down.
"Why don't you come down here and say that to my face!" You shouted. Astro laughed and poked his tongue out at you. He then looked down at everyone.
"Guys, we should really get going to the capital. I know that this is kind of rushed, but we really need to do this as soon as possible. The king is a very busy man after all. Now, let's go!" Astro exclaimed as he jumped off Abercrombie's shoulders and picked you up. You cried out in surprise. You then sighed.
"Astro, I can just teleport us all there." Astro grinned.
"So can I." Astro then held you against him and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, you all appeared at the capital. You sighed and pushed yourself out of Astro's grip.
"Astro, I'm going to be a captain soon, I can't be carried around by you all the time." You told. Astro laughed. You sighed and shook your head. You then felt someone's eyes on you and turned to see Tobio watching you all from behind a wall. When he saw that you had seen him, he jumped and ran away. You raised your eyebrow at him. You then sighed, you hadn't gotten to actually meet him in person ever since you saved him two years ago. Astro watched as Tobio ran off.
"Yeah, he's gotten quite shy ever since back then." You nodded and turned around.
"Well, we'd better quickly get ready and make our way towards the throne room." Everyone nodded. You all then walked off to your rooms which you all had in the capital to get ready.
You were putting on your cape when you heard knocking at your door. You walked over and opened the door to see Sabrina in her outfit. She smiled at you and grabbed your hand.
"Come on! Everyone is waiting for us outside of the throne room." Your eyes widened. You then sighed. Everything was happening just too fast. You and Sabrina ran through the hallways of the castle and ran up the steps leading to the throne room. You leaned on your knees as you breathed heavily. Everyone looked at you and sweat dropped. You swallowed and walked up and kneeled down next to the others. The king chuckled at your arrival and stood up.
"Welcome, black onyx knights. With this emblem that I present to you, you shall all become knighted." The king then clicked his fingers, gesturing for the holy sword to be brought over to him. A priest picked up the sword and handed it to the king while bowing his head. The king took the sword and turned towards you all. He then held the sword upwards. "I shall now start the knighting." The king looked at Abercrombie. "Every order needs a smith, and with your abilities I think that you are fit to become the official smith of the black order knights. I now present to you, the title of the black onyx smith." The king then tapped Abercrombie's shoulders with the sword. He then turned towards Ajeero and Reno. "Ajeero, Reno, you both are much very talented engineers. I would like to give you both the title of the twin black onyx engineers." The king then tapped their shoulders with the sword. He then turned towards Sabrina and Kennedy. "Sabrina, Kennedy, you both are very well respected knight trainees who have earned the trust of others. I now present to the both of you as high ranking knights of the black onyx knights." The king tapped their shoulders with the sword. Finally, he turned towards you. "Y/N, you are the black onyx guardian and have proved to us many times that you can play your part well. I am proud to give you the title of captain of the black onyx knights." The king then tapped your shoulders with his sword and handed the sword back to the priest. He then held his arms out. "Now, rise black onyx knights, for you are this country's future!" You and your friends rose and stood tall. The king then smiled and looked at everyone. "Now, cheer for we have a new order!" Everyone began to cheer while you smiled at everyone. You and your friends then turned around and walked out of the throne room.
After the ceremony, you and your friends laid down in your room, exhausted. You breathed out. Astro glanced down at you.
"Tired?" You nodded.
"Yeah, I mean, now we've graduated." You then sat up in realisation. "Hold on a minute, doesn't that mean that we have to live at the castle!?" You questioned. Everyone's eyes widened. They then nodded.
"Y-yeah, woah that's awesome!" Kennedy exclaimed. You grinned. You then thought back to how this all started. You still couldn't believe that you went through all that. Travelling from the outcast lands to the third wall, meeting your friends, becoming a knight, meeting Astro, it was one hell of a journey. If you had to go through all that again, then you'd definitely would! You then thought back to your family. You wondered how they were doing. You then looked up at everyone.
"Hey, guys? I have an idea. I know that this is sort of sudden." Reno laughed.
"Oh please, everything today has been sudden." You grinned.
"Well, I was wondering if we could visit my family tomorrow." Everyone's eyes widened. Your family? Astro smiled and nodded.
"That would be great! I've wanted to meet your family for a while actually." Astro admitted. Everyone nodded in agreement. You grinned.
"Well, we can head there first thing in the morning!" You exclaimed. You then got up. "Well, it's getting really late. We should all retire to our rooms so that we can get an early start." Everyone nodded. Astro sighed.
"I wish I could go to bed now, but I still have a few things to do before I can take a break." You nodded.
"Ah yeah, paper work?" Astro nodded.
"Yep, just you wait till you get them." Astro joked. He and the others then walked towards the door and waved to you. "See you tomorrow." You nodded and waved everyone off. You then sighed and jumped onto your bed. You couldn't wait to see your family! You smiled at the thought of seeing Rosy, Isabella, Bill, even seeing Kate again excited you! You then thought back to your memories and sighed. Now that you thought about it, Kate had once been a part of the white diamond knights, you would have to question her about it when you saw her again. You closed your eyes. You couldn't wait for tomorrow.
You opened your eyes and stretched. You then looked at the time and your eyes widened. Shoot! You had slept in! It was currently 7:30 am. You had planned to leave at 8! You hurriedly got out of the bed and started getting ready. You threw on your clothes and hurriedly brushed your teeth. You were just putting on your second boot when you heard a knock on the door.
"U-uh, coming!" You then put the boot on and ran over to the door. You opened it to see your friends waiting outside for you. Sabrina looked you up and down and raised her eyebrow.
"Let me guess, you slept in." You chuckled while sweat dropping. You then grabbed your bag and smiled.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Everyone nodded and surrounded you. You thought of the orphanage and teleported everyone to it. You then opened your eyes and grinned when you saw the old building. Everyone looked up at the building with wide eyes. You then turned around and grinned. "Welcome to my home!" You exclaimed. You then saw that the kids weren't outside. You chuckled. "Everyone must be inside or something." You then ran forwards towards the front door, which had a few scratch marks. You went to open the door, but frowned when it was locked. "That's strange, the door is usually never locked." You muttered. Everyone gave each other unsure looks. You then knocked on the door. "Hello? Rosy? It's me, Y/N! I've come back!" You then stood back. After a moment of silence, you heard the door unlock and open. You then grinned when you saw Rosy peek her head out. Her eyes widened and she smiled. She then hurriedly pulled you in and hugged you.
"Y/N!" Rosy cried. You laughed.
"Rosy! I've missed you!" At the sound of your voice, all of the kids piled out of their rooms and their eyes widened when they saw you. They then grinned and ran towards you.
"Big sister!" Everyone exclaimed. You smiled and looked at everyone. You then saw that there were a few new faces and smiled. You then turned towards you friends.
"Guys, come on in and meet my family!" Your friends glanced at each other and walked in. The moment they walked in, Rosy got up and shut the door behind them. Astro frowned as he watched her lock the door. Something didn't feel right. You grinned as you looked at everyone. "Woah, you've all grown so big! Especially you Bill." You told as you booped the young boy's nose. Bill grinned.
"Of course! I'm now seven years old!" Bill exclaimed as he held up seven fingers. You smiled. You then looked around when you didn't see a certain person. You looked at Rosy.
"Hey Rosy, where's Kate?" Rosy froze. Everyone went silent. You raised your eyebrow at everyone. "Why did everyone go quiet? Wait, let me guess. Kate's asleep, right?" You then started chuckling. "Of course, she is an old bat after all." Rosy clenched her hands and walked towards you. Everyone watched as she neared you and bent down to you. She then hugged you. Your eyes widened. You then gave her a confused look. "Rosy?" Tears poured down Rosy's cheeks.
"I-I'm sorry, Y/N. Kate...she's..." You gave her a confused look. You then saw that some kids began to cry.
"I don't get it...did something happen?" You questioned. Rosy leaned back and rested her hands on your shoulders.
"Y/N...Kate is...gone..." Your eyes widened.
"W-what do you mean...?" You questioned. Rosy's grip on your shoulders tightened.
"Kate's dead..." You froze as you stared at Rosy in disbelief. You then shook your head.
"No way...you're lying, YOU'RE LYING! Kate would never...she could never die! Nothing could take her down!" You cried. Rosy let out a shaky breath and stood up. She then pulled you up and gestured for you to follow her. You hurriedly followed her as your friends gave each other unsure glances. You and Rosy walked outside. You then saw that you were heading towards the hill that you would watch over the city from. Once you reached the top, you saw a lone grave. Your eyes widened as you made your way towards it. You then stared at the grave and fell to your knees. "How...how did she die...?" You questioned. Rosy gripped her dress.
"Bandits...HUMAN bandits attacked...Kate fought them off, but one of the bandits got her. She was heavily wounded and...died on the spot..." You clenched your fists as you gritted your teeth. Tears then rolled down your cheeks as you stared at the grave. You then punched the ground.
"Damn it...DAMN IT! If only I had come back sooner, I could have saved her!" You cried. Rosy reached out towards you and rested her hand on your shoulder.
"Kate...she said that she was proud to have died protecting us." Rosy told. You shook your head as black markings appeared on your skin. Your eyes then turned red. Rosy gasped and took a step back as you stood up.
"I'll kill them...I'LL KILL THEM ALL!" You shouted as you turned around and glared at Rosy. Rosy's eyes widened in fear. Astro and the others were watching from back at the orphanage when they saw your shadow summon a scythe. Astro gasped and teleported to you. He then ran up to you and ripped the scythe out of your grip.
"Y/N calm down!" Astro told. You trembled and fell to your knees. Astro glanced back at Rosy, who stared at you with a shocked look. Astro then sighed and turned back towards you. "Y/N, I know that losing someone can be tough, but you just have to-"
"Shut up!" You shouted. You then glared up at Astro. "What would you know!? You've never even HAD a family!" You shouted. Astro's eyes widened as he looked at you with a hurt look. You gasped and covered your mouth. You then stood up and backed away. You then teleported. Astro gasped.
"Y/N wait!" Astro then sighed and turned towards Rosy. "I'm sorry, a lot has happened so..." Rosy shook her head.
"No, I know Y/N and I know that she can get very emotional. She...I know that she didn't show it a lot, but she loved Kate very much. Kate was the one who brought her in and took care of her." Astro looked down at Kate's grave.
"How did it happen? How did Kate die?" Rosy frowned and gripped her arm.
You panted as you walked through the forest. Damn it, you couldn't believe that she was actually gone. You sighed and looked up. Your eyes then widened when you saw your past life's grave. You then thought back to what you had said to Astro. Astro...he had to kill you. He had killed your past self and even buried her. You were spared seeing Kate die, but Astro wasn't. He wasn't spared from seeing your past self die. You sat down in front of her grave.
"Hey, long time no see. How are you doing?" You questioned. You then shook your head. "Oh what am I saying, you're me." You stared at the grave stone. It was carved. Astro must have taken his time to make it. You then heard footsteps approach you and immediately knew who it was.
"I thought I'd find you here." Astro told as he sat next to you. He then looked at the grave and frowned. You stared at the grave.
"Did you carve this yourself?" You questioned. Astro nodded.
"Yeah, it took me two days." You nodded. You then sighed and rested your head on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that to you. You must have seen much more blood than I have." Astro rested his head on yours and shrugged.
"There's no need to be sorry, you were upset and I understand that. I mean, she was practically a mother to you, right?" You nodded. You then clenched your fists.
"I want to find the ones who did this, and make them pay." You growled as you stood up. Astro frowned at you and stood up.
"Y/N, what do you exactly plan on doing?" You turned towards him and summoned your scythe.
"Isn't it obvious?" Astro's eyes widened.
"Don't kill them!" Astro told. Your eyes widened.
"Don't kill them? They deserve to die!" You shouted. Astro shook his head.
"Killing them isn't the right answer, let's first assess the situation and bring them to justice." Astro told. You sighed and made your scythe disappear.
"Fine." Astro smiled at you. He then hugged you.
"Everything is going to be okay. I promise." Astro whispered. You nodded and hugged him back. You then buried your face in his scarf. It was so warm and soft. It was no wonder why he wore it. You then glanced at your past life's grave. You would find those bandits as your first job as the captain of the black onyx knights.