This is a the Last Story fan fiction. Collaboration between me and my best friend Robin Logan! We came up with ideas together and she played Yurick, Syrenne and Lowell, while I played Zael, Therius, and Mirania. It was created through a text role play.
Count Zael couldn't seem to shake the gnawing feeling building up in his stomach. He held a strong urge that something was the matter, something was not quite right. First, he had dismissed it as paranoia or simply worry, but now he wasn't sure what it was. Perhaps it was his mercenary instincts but that was all the more reason why he decided he should check in on his friends. He and his wife Calista shared the burden of ruling Lazulis Island so he imagined she could manage just fine for an hour or two... She had done so before to allow Zael time with his friends often and he was eternally grateful for that. After notifying her, as he began his way to Ariela's Tavern, he bumped into Mirania. She and Yurick both were commonplace in the castle. Somewhat less common was Lowell, until he started going out with Syrenne, and she hated the place. Also, he wasn't about to be accused of flirting, since that's usually what he did in the castle (apparently, being friends with Zael gave him quite a bit of influence.)
"Oh, hello, Zael. You seem to be in a hurry." Mirania said.
"Yeah, I was just heading down to visit the others." Zael replied, determining that it was best not to worry her needlessly with his concerns that, at the moment, were unfounded.
"That's wonderful! I'll meet you down there; I have to take care of this book." Mirania smiled, gesturing down to the book in her arms.
"Okay, meet you down there." Zael smiled as Mirania nodded and walked off, heading down to the library.
It was strange, but talking to Mirania only made him feel more uneasy. Usually, it was the highlight of his day to be able to spare a moment or two with his dear friends but right now, it only seemed to increase his anxiety. Once he returned to town and was heading towards the tavern, he noticed a familiar figure in the distance...
Yurick was leaning against a building, looking exhausted. Then he looked over to Zael, and tried walking over to him, but fell on his knees, clutching at somewhere near his side, and slightly panting.
"Yurick!" Zael worried, rushing to his side, with wide eyes. "Are you okay?!"
"Zael..." Yurick muttered, before his arm gave out and he fell onto his side. "It...hurts..." He mumbles tiredly.
"Y-yurick?" Zael muttered, before the idea came to his mind that Mirania said she'd be at the tavern. She could surely help poor Yurick. "Don't worry, I'll take you to Mirania, she'll help you." Zael assured. Being mindful of his side, Zael carefully placed the eye-patched young man on his back. Filled with worry about him, Zael hurried over to Ariela's Tavern where hopefully Mirania would be, or be soon.
"Mmh...okay." Yurick mumbled, before falling silent.
After hurrying over, Zael found, to his relief, that Mirania was indeed present. However Syrenne and Lowell were not present, but that hardly mattered now.
"Oh my, what happened?" Mirania questioned, shocked.
"I don't know." Zael shook his head. "But we need to help him."
"Okay, take him upstairs into one of the beds."
Nodding in agreement, the two headed upstairs into the room containing the four beds the male mercenaries used to sleep in. Mirania made quick work of his injury with her healing magic.
…
There stood a noble man named Kanan traversing the streets of the town with an evident scowl on his face. Several costly rings adorned his fingers and his hair went a bit past his shoulders. He had a permanent haughty expression that seemed to express for everyone to get out of his way or pay the price, this was most true at the moment. Well, at the least, he could still stay hidden as he was certain the brat hadn't seen his face covered by a cloak at the time. No matter, the Count had plenty more poor unsuspecting friends he could pick on; all he needed for his plan to succeed was kill a single one of them. That was certain to devastate him... Yes. So, who would be his next potential target...?
….
Yurick opened his eyes, and began thinking for a moment, having to figure out what was going on. Then he sat up slowly, looking around.
Zael, who was standing in the room a bit out of Yurick's line of sight, urged him to lie back down. "Yurick, you shouldn't push yourself. You should rest."
"I'm fine, really." Yurick told him, and was about to stand up, but grimaced a little. "Anyways, where are the others?"
Frowning, Zael quite obviously disagreed but answered his question first. "Syrenne and Lowell were out shopping so Mirania went to go get them. But... what happened to you?"
"I...was attacked...by this guy." Yurick mumbled.
"Do you know who?" Zael questioned, becoming concerned. "Was it inside the town?"
"He was wearing a cloak, so I didn't see his face." Yurick explained. "I don't know why he attacked though...it's a bit worrying."
"Yeah..." Zael agreed, becoming equally anxious. If only Yurick had managed to get something on him... Why would anyone want to attack Yurick?
"He might try to attack the town or something. Maybe we should try looking for him." Yurick said then, standing up unsteadily, and held his side in pain.
"But you don't look too good, Yurick. Will you really be okay? I can just ask Therius to send some of the knights to look for him..." Zael responded.
Yurick, somewhat reluctantly nodded after a moment. "Alright..." He said, sitting back down on the bed.
Zael glanced at the door again; he was hoping Mirania would return soon. He couldn't leave Yurick here by himself after someone just attacked him! But wait... What if she was in danger too? He tried to shake the thought from his head.
Yurick tilted his head. "Is...something wrong?"
"Oh no, it's nothing." Zael shook his head. I'm sure Mirania will be here any minute...
…
Kanan was intending to assault another one of Zael's friends, but the three of them had to team up together. He couldn't hope to defeat all three of them... Perhaps if he was a bit sneakier... No, then he could be more easily found out. His glare turned nasty to everyone he saw as he begrudgingly retreated to his quarters to think up his next plan of attack.
….
As the three of them headed inside the tavern, Mirania, Lowell and Syrenne headed up to the room that Yurick was residing at. Once they got inside, Zael smiled, relieved that they were alright.
"Oh, you're up already Yurick?" Mirania asked. "Do you know what happened to you?"
"No, it was a man in a cloak. I was going to go ask some of the knights to search for him." Zael answered for his friend.
"Well, then, I guess you should go now. Who knows how far the guy is now. Or what he wants..." Lowell told him.
"Will you come back after you get the knights to look for him, or will you be helping them search?" Yurick asked Zael.
Zael considered this, on one hand he wanted to be with Yurick, but of course he couldn't do anything then. "I'll search too. I need to find out who did this and stop them. After we've worked so hard for this, I won't let any of you get hurt anymore now."
Yurick nodded. "Alright then..."
"Maybe some of us should come with you." Syrenne told Zael, hand on her hip.
"I can stay with Yurick, you two should go with Zael." Mirania said.
Lowell and Syrenne nodded in agreement. "Let's go then, shall we?" Lowell asked Zael.
Zael nodded and the three of them left the tavern and headed towards the castle.
When they arrived at the castle, the three of them headed straight towards the hall of knights. Luckily, it only took a few moments to find Therius who was speaking to one of the knights but hurriedly finished his conversation when he saw Zael and his companions. Doing a half-bow, he greeted him formally.
"Count Zael, what is the reason for your arrival?"
"No need to be so formal, Therius." Zael reassured, but his demeanor soon changed. "We don't know much about whom, but a cloaked man attacked Yurick earlier. We need to do an investigation about who do it."
"Of course, I'll notify the knights right away." Therius replied.
"Hey, so where should we start looking for this mystery man anyway?" Syrenne asked.
Zael shook his head. "We don't really know anything. If only we had some sort of lead."
"If I may suggest, Count Zael, there are nobles much like Jirall still prowling the castle. Some of them must be opposed to the idea of a former mercenary ruling their island." Therius interjected.
"You think a noble did this?"
"It is certainly a possibility. I will investigate it; perhaps you and your friends can investigate the town."
"Okay, we'll do that."
"Alright then...let's get going. Hopefully we'll find out something." Lowell said.
…
Talks with the townspeople had yielded new information that was a not large, but important step in figuring out the criminal who attacked Yurick. They found out that Therius was right; the person was indeed a noble. Several people claimed on seeing a cloaked figure with too many expensive rings on his fingers and a haughty attitude that was likely a noble's. Apparently, this man had been searching for... something. It was not something that was regularly sold in stores but what exactly it was eluded the ex-mercenaries.
A flash of movement caught Zael's eyes. Instinctively, he turned towards it, and the sight before him shocked him. There was a cloaked man rushing about from an alleyway to the next. Syrenne and Lowell were busy talking to a storekeeper but Zael couldn't let this opportunity pass him by! So, he gave chase to the strange figure that was not surprisingly quick on his feet. Or perhaps the bit of armor he wore was slowing him down. Either way, the cloaked man escaped but not without dropping a small white piece of paper. Catching his breath, Zael bent down to reach the paper and opened it slowly.
If you care at all about those filthy rats you call your friends, beware, because I promise you that if you continue on this path, one of them will die, then more will take their place...
The unsettling message put chills down his spine, as he returned to share what he had found...
…..
Some time had passed without activity and without a lead which was quite unsettling. The main difference was that all of Zael's friends had temporarily moved to the castle. There was a concern that they might be at more danger here, but Therius promised the guards would keep them safe. Yurick had recovered from his wounds and was active with all the others in trying to figure out this mystery.
Actually, Zael and Yurick were just on their way to Therius right now on something new he had found.
"I wonder what it was he found..." Yurick wondered out loud, as they walked.
"Me too. This is getting unnerving..." Zael trailed off. He already felt guilty that Yurick was injured and he was fearful of who or where this spiteful noble would strike next. He couldn't allow any more of his friends to be injured… or worse.
"Definitely...what do you think he's after anyway? I just think the whole things really weird..." Yurick mumbled.
"Yeah..." Zael muttered. "I'm really sorry about what happened to you, Yurick." Zael apologized.
Yurick looked at him curiously. "What do you mean? What happened to me wasn't your fault."
Zael shook his head in disagreement. "Remember the note I found? This person must be after me for some reason or another and he must have hurt you to get at me."
"Hmm, I guess. Still, I doubt there was anything you could've done to prevent it. So don't blame yourself for what happened." Yurick told him.
"But still..." Zael muttered, not seeming to be sure of Yurick's words.
Yurick shook his head. "There's no need to apologize. And anyways, I'm fine now."
Zael supposed that was the end of the conversation. After all, it was a bit difficult to argue that it was his fault when the person who took the fall was speaking adamantly against the notion.
As the two of them entered the hall where the knights resided it became evident that the duo were the first to arrive. Therius approached them with files in hand.
"What are those?" Zael asked.
"Some of the knights found these out in the town. They might be connected to the man we're after so I wanted you to have a look at them, Count Zael." Therius explained, handing them to Zael.
Yurick got closer to Zael, so he could read the files too. "I hope this helps us find out more about the man..."
"Me too." Zael agreed as he opened up the file.
There are some things that should stay the same in this world. Nobles should be nobles and peasants should be peasants, and mercenaries should stay in their world of violence. A noble of much higher stature then me has agreed so. Then why is it that these worlds cross so constantly? Mercenaries eventually quit their despicable occupation after longing for something besides hate and become peasants, peasants rise to power through manipulation. Us true-blooded nobles can be forgotten, but I will make things right again...through the only way a true noble can.
It seemed to be a diary of sorts but unfortunately was not dated in any specific way. The next entry though was even more incriminating than the last.
Jirall was my greatest role model and yet he was killed by mere mercenaries! Oh, what a woe is this! I will avenge him by putting nobles back into the rightful place and rats back in their place! How to do so is a mystery that will soon be solved...
"Hm, so I guess he's upset about Jirall and you being a ruler." Yurick mumbled, crossing his arms.
"Yes, I guess it's not that surprising when you think about it..." Zael muttered, thinking about the hatred many people held towards his previous occupation.
"Yeah...at least we have a bit more information now. Hopefully we can find him soon though." Yurick said.
After finding out where the papers had came from, Yurick and Zael worked their way backwards from there. Zael had a bad feeling that the man wanted to be found, or rather, for him to find them. Every time they passed through an alleyway, Zael couldn't help but be unnerved, but unfortunately, it was impossible to avoid in the city if one wanted to do a thorough investigation. The young man's feelings were not unfounded either as a large piece of furniture came falling from one of the tops of the buildings, right towards the eye-patched mage.
"Yurick!" Zael called.
Luckily, Zael yanked Yurick out of the way before he could be injured anymore and it crashed to the ground with a cringing boom.
Yurick looked up at where the furniture had fallen from. "Well, that was close...thanks."
"Of course." Zael nodded. "That had to be him, where did he go?" Zael continued, scouring the rooftops for any sign of a person.
Yurick looked around. "I don't know...I'm a bit worried about what he's planning though. I can't tell if he's just messing with us now, or if he's planning on attacking."
"I don't see him, so let's just get out of here!" Zael worried, concerned of another object falling out of nowhere.
"Right, let's go." Yurick agreed, nodding.
Before the two of them could leave however, a hooded figure jumped down from one of the buildings.
"My, what a coincidence that I would run into two rats in an alleyway." The man proclaimed, removing his cloak to reveal his obviously expensive appearance and a demonic grin. "I suppose since my initial plans didn't work, I'll have to be more direct. The only thing mercenary filth can understand is force of course." Thus he began his assault...
The noble dashed at Yurick then, rapier pulled out, but of course, Zael jumped in the way, quickly pulling his own sword out to shield himself from the noble's weapon. Yurick backed up a bit from the two, before charging his magic up and throwing fireballs at the noble, who tried to dodge them as best as possible while fighting Zael. While trying to dodge one of the fireballs though, Zael kicked him in the stomach, making him double over and dropping the blade, and Zael pointed his blade at the noble.
"Oh, woe is me. I see now why Jirall lost to filthy mercenaries. But, I am not like him; I know when I am bested." Kanan spoke, raising his hands in surrender to Zael.
"Good." Yurick said, relieved all of this could hopefully be put behind then now.
…
Of course, after all of the legal proceedings, it was obvious that Kanan would spend his life in the castle dungeons so there was no need to worry about him anymore. Therius began to do background checks on the remaining nobles so that a situation like this wouldn't be repeated. Everything went back to normal sooner than Zael had expected (to his relief.) He supposed it hadn't even been that long since he was a mercenary so it made sense that this would go over swiftly. His friends had moved out of the castle (much to Syrenne's relief) and Yurick and Mirania visited as much as they did before. Zael smiled, thinking about how they would overcome any challenge that might face, together.
Fin