ML C9, P1- "The Visitor"

"The Visitor" is the first Part of "Miracula Luxia" 's ninth Chapter- "King Of Hearts". It was released on 20.04.2020.
== Plot ==
Our four heroes help the remaining soldiers restore a large portion of the city of Formello to live in and operate for the time being. They train new soldiers to defend the gates, not willing to let the fort get attacked and crushed by Farrar's forces once again. 
However, they also know that they will arrive soon and try to overtake the city once again. Because of that, they have to be in their best shape, all of them.
Meanwhile, a mysterious man arrives at the gates of the newly rebuilt Formello, searching for his long lost brother.
== Story ==
Commander Jones speaks with Jared about the current situation that they have to endure.
"Jared."- He says- "I'm glad that you have done so much for Formello and for Avernum itself. But I have to be the one who leads this city."
"It's... it's for the best. Because you're an adventurer. I'm not. I'm more fit to sit and command rather than explore and fight various enemies during my adventures."
Jared nods.
"I agree, Commander. I think that you will be a good leader. Just make sure that everyone's safe, alright?"
Commander Jones nods.
"Rest assured that I'll give it my all to protect those innocent souls from that fiend Farrar and his pathetic forces."
"Or... at least we won't go down without a fight."
Jared nods.
"I trust your judgement, sir. You are older than me and that's why it's a natural selection for you to be the leader. Good night."
Commander Jones watches as Jared goes to his room.
"G-good night, my friend."- He says and goes to the city hall.
That night, Jared cannot sleep. His eyes are open, his mind is filled with distant thoughts.
He is thinking about Akari.
"No matter where I go, no matter what I do, I just can't get her out of my mind."- He says to himself- "All the time, she interrupts my sleep, makes me forget about my other problems. It's like she... wants me to only think about her. Oh, Aki. Why did you have to betray us? Why did you say that you love me and then leave me in the dust?"
"... Why did you break my heart, Akari?"
With those in mind, Jared finally cries himself to sleep.
He wakes up in the next morning. He opens his eyes and sees that someone is watching him.
The silhouette is close to hers. Her smile is the same.
No difference.
No wrong motion.
Just the normal, beloved classmate.
At first, our hero thinks that everything he experienced recently was just a dream.
"Akari?"- Jared mutters self-consciously as he slowly gets out of his bed.
The girl smiles warmly.
"Nope."- She says- "Just your friendly neighborhood Annie!'
Jared opens his eyes. That's when he realizes that the girl standing in front of him is not Akari.
It's Annie. And she has a wide smile on her face.
Jared yawns.
"Ugh... Good morning, Annie."
"Good morning, m'lord!"- She responds- "Took you quite long a long time to wake up, eh?"
Jared raises his eyebrow.
"Hey, don't say that I'm a sleepyhead just because I was tired after all of our adventures! I needed a good rest, for goodness sake!"
Annie smiles.
"I would never say that to my dear friend. Anyway, we've got some work to do today. The walls of Formello are not fully repaired, and I still need to find my grandpa."
Jared stares warmly at his friend.
"You're worried about him, aren't you?"- He asks her.
Annie can't take it anymore. She breaks down and falls into her friend's arms.
"I... *sniff*... I miss him a lot. He's the only family that I have left and it's just... just... "
Jared pats her on the head.
"Shh. Don't say that, please."- He says slowly and calmly- "Your grandpa is not the only person who should be considered your family. I mean, look at me. I lost my father, mother, uncle... "
"And yet, I still have someone who cares about be. No, it's not just one person. All this time, I've been earning myself new brothers and sisters in the form of all the people that I helped."
"And I am sure that it is the same for you."
Annie nods.
Jared wipes a tear from his friendl's eye.
"Now, don't let your emotions take control of your actions, alright? Your grandfather wants you to be a strong, brave woman, not a weak, little girl."
Annie nods.
"Yeah. Y-yeah. You're right. I have to man up and show my grandfather that I'll be able to fight on, even if it's without him by my side. Let's do this!"
With that, the two of them share one last emotional hug and go outside.
They inspect the walls and see that the work they started yesterday has actually gone pretty well.
Barin, a soldier from the main forces stationed in Formello meets with Jared and hands him the information about the city's current food supply.
"It looks like the city will last for another month or two! Good job, Barin!"- Jared congratulates him.
Barin smiles.
"It is my honor to serve our beautiful city and crush its enemies. It's my sacred duty as the defender of our land."
Jared nods.
"How is Aimee doing? I need to see her regarding the number of wounded."
Barin raises his eyebrow.
"Oh. My sister? She's a little tired right now. Please don't bother her. She couldn't sleep last night and is trying to get some sleep right now."
Jared nods.
"Understood. I won't bother her. But I still need the information."
"Then I'll tell you what I know, sir."- Barin says- "From what my sister told me before going to sleep, there is a total of twelve wounded soldiers after the most recent attack. And-- "
Jared nods.
"That's all I need to know. There is no need for you to give me more details, Barin."
He and Annie turn to leave.
"Goodbye, sir."- Barin says.
"Goodbye."- Jared says, still lost in thought and watches Barin as he goes back to his usual spot.
"This Barin's a pretty nice guy, don't you think?"- Akari asks her friend.
Jared nods.
"I agree. He's such a loyal defender of Formello. It's a shame that so few of the soldiers are as enthusiastic as him."
"Yeah. I know."- Akari says, but doesn't look at Jared as she says so.
Something at the front gate has gotten her attention.
"Is that... a person?"- She says and points out that someone is slowly approaching the gate.
The soldiers watch as the man slowly shambles towards them.
"It's an undead!"- One of them says and points his bow at the silhouette, intending to shoot.
Jared stares at the approaching figure and realizes that it is a human.
"Don't shoot! It's a person!"- He yells at the soldier.
The man panicks and accidentally shoots an arrow. Fortunately, the arrow lands on the ground near the person.
The person reveals himself. Jared and Annie realize that he is a middle-aged man with blonde hair, with a close resemblance to Jared's friend- Commander Jones.
"Greetings, stranger."- Jared says and cautiously approaches him- "Can we help you?"
The man nods.
"Um... yes. In fact, yes. I am looking for my brother. The people at Silvar told me that he was last seen here, at Formello. Have you seen him anywhere around here, kind sir? Or do you know his whereabouts, at the very least?"
Jared shakes his head.
"I'm sorry, stranger."- He apologizes- "I cannot help you out without learning about how your brother looks like."
"Oh. R-right!"- The stranger says- "My brother has long, blonde hair, longer than mine. And he has the same beard as me."
"Oh, and his soldiers refer to him as "Commander". That's all I know."
Thanks to the stranger's description of his brother, Jared realizes who the man in question is.
"Stay here."- He tells Annie as he runs back to get someone.
Annie and Barin watch as Jared quickly enters the city hall and leaves with Commander Jones.
"I think that this man is looking for you, sir."- He tells the commander and allows the two of them to look at each other.
At first, the commander doesn't recognize the person in front of him. But when he sees the goatee near his mouth, he gasps.
He touches his own goatee- it's the same shape as the man's.
The stranger also realizes that and approaches the commander.
"Gary!"- He says as he hugs Commander Jones.
"Jimmy! I-I can't believe it!"- The commander says, quickly embracing Jim.
Jared and Annie are confused.
"Do you know each other?"- Jared asks them.
Commander Jones smiles.
"Know? For goodness sake, Jared! This is my brother!"
"Brother?!"- Jared says- "But... you never told me that you had a brother!"
Jim smiles.
"That's because he's very shy not to reveal my relation to him."
"So that's why they look so similar to each other!"- Annie notes.
Commander Jones and Jim nods.
"We're brothers."- The commander says- "And our bond will never be broken, no matter how far away one of us is."
Jim nods, completely agreeing with his brother.
"It's been this way ever since we were children!"- He adds.
Jared nods and sighs.
"Well, brother or not, we still have to make sure that you're not a suspicious individual."
He turns to Barin.
"Barin, inspect him."- He tells him.
"Wait, Jared! Don't do it!"- The commander says- "This is my brother! Don't you trust him?"
Jared stays silent for a moment. Then he says:
"Listen, sir. No matter if this is your brother or not, we still need to make sure that he doesn't have anything suspicious with him. You understand that, don't you?"
The commander looks at Jared. Then he looks at his brother.
He nods.
"Very well. Those are the rules for every passing traveler and I won't interfere with them."
"Go ahead."
Barin approaches Jim and checks his backpack. He looks closer, but only sees basic necessities like food, water, as well as a bow, but nothing else that would identify him as a potential raider.
He turns back to Jared, a clear opinion about the visitor on his mind.
"He's clear, sir."- He says- "Shall we let him in?"
Jared inspects the backpack himself and notices that Barin is right. Satisfied with the results, he nods.
"Very well. Let him in."- He says and enters the city himself, Annie walking close to him like a little, loyal dog.
The commander eagerly welcomes his brother into the city and the two of them walk around for a few hours.
At one moment, John notices the commander and greets him.
"I see that you've found a new friend, sir."- He says- "Who is he?"
The commander grins.
"Why, it's no other than my dear brother! Jim, this is my good friend John."
Jim shakes John's hand. John smiles.
"It's nice to meet you, John."- Jim says.
"The pleasure is mine, my friend."- John responds.
"Well, I'll leave you do... whatever you're going to do next, then. Good day."
"Good day."- Jim says. 
Commander Jones and his brother sit on a cavewood bench and watch as the soldiers continue working on the fort, with Jared and Annie inspecting the work as it goes.
"So, what happened to the fort you were leading?"- Jim wonders.
The commander shakes his head.
"I'm sorry, Jim. I... I don't want to talk about it."
Jim stares warmly at his brother. This gaze suddenly melts his heart.
He sighs as he decides to tell the fate of Fort Duvno to his brother.
Commander Jones soon finishes with the story, leaving Jim shocked.
"So... you're not a commander anymore.
"Not of Fort Duvno. That land is now a total wreck. But at least I am now the leader of this settlement."
He waves at everything around him.
"I'm still a commanding authority."
Jim smiles and nods.
"I've always known that you would be a good leader, brother."- He says- "Such a dashing look, strong commanding force and such powerful and determined allies."
Commander Jones smiles.
"Oh, but I'm not the real leader of Formello. I'm just the one who receives the information and deals with the financial problems."
"The real leader of this big city is the young man over there... "
He points at Jared.
Jim raises his eyebrow.
"The boy? Is he that important?"
Commander Jones smiles.
"You don't know how many times he saved my life. Um... excuse me, our lives. He saved the lives of so many people with his actions, no matter how dangerous they seemed to be, he still made the decisions that led to them, not fearing how the circumstances will affect him."
"In fact, he is more than ready to help even more people, should the time come."
Jim nods.
"I can see it in his eyes."- He says- "He has the look of a hero who has saved many souls. And a competent one, no less."
"Agreed."- The commander says and the duo watches as Jared approaches the grave of Formello's former leader- Samuel Blake.
Meanwhile, Jared is worried about the constant sounds that come from underneath the grave. He presses his ear against the cold, hard stone, trying to determine if it is his imagination or not.
"Come on!"- He says to himself- "I know you're in there."
It is unknown to whom he speaks, but the sounds slowly get louder and louder.
Scratching.
Growling.
The clomping sounds of boots.
Those are the sounds that come from underneath the grave.
From a distance, Commander Jones and his brother worry about Jared.
"He's trying to find someone!"- Jim says- "Should we help him."
The commander nods.
"Of course. I won't let my friend do this alone."
The duo approach Jared and ask if he needs any help.
"I think that I'm hearing something coming from here."- He says and points at the grave- "I could use some extra help."
The three of them, along with Annie and John slowly remove the dirt to uncover whatever is making the sounds from underneath.
Finally, they remove the last piece of dirt.
The five of them stare at the hole.
At first, it seems like nothing is there. Just a small hole.
What is suspicious is that Samuel's corpse is not there.
"I'll go get the gravediggers. Stay here."- Commander Jones says to his brother and leaves to get the men.
However, this proves to be a big mistake as something jumps out behind the unaware Jared and takes him by surprise.
"Jared! Look out!"- John yells and draws his blade to get an undead creature off of his friend.
That's when Jared realizes that this isn't just an ordinary undead creature.
It is Samuel Blake- the former leader of Formello. He slowly approaches the four of them, ready for another attack.
== Trivia ==
=== Deleted Sequences ===
* Originally, this Part's title was going to be "An Unexpected Guest", but was quickly changed to "The Visitor" to sound more mysterious than the original.