Sin's of the Past
Notice: Small thing to say that will help. In Etrian Odyssey, it's always presumed that there is just some person following the active guild around, which is you. In this, there isn't, only the five members, with one as the 'leader'.
Tavern
Beacon Guild, having just mapped the first floor of the Southern shrine and sleep off a series of cuts and bruises, wandered into the tavern to look at and decide if they'd take a quest or seven. The guild looked over the job board as Dante, the Nightseeker, walked over to order some drinks. The same sort of jobs that usually swam around the board where present, but one caught Noire, the Zodiac, eye.
'Can a guild please search the depths of the Lush Woodlands for my companion. He held off a hoard of monsters as our guild fled and hasn't returned. Please find his, and if he's...gone, please bring his weapon back.'
Noire read the note again before pointing at it.
"Maybe that one…?" she whispered, jumping up and down attempting to reach it, her blond bangs waving around.
It was pinned near the top. Blake, the imperial, walked over and plucked the note off the board, reading it. She turned to the three.
"Seems serious, I second this." she said waving in front of Dawn, the protector's face.
The bored girl leaning on her shield brushed it away.
"Okay, I get it, stop that."
"Hmm, are you lot going to take that one?" Kvasir asked walking over with Dante, five sparkling waters on a tray.
"Water, again?" Leon, the medic, sighed.
"I mean, what do you want to do, chug seventeen beers, stagger out into a labyrinth and get murdered?" the blond man asked her black haired friend.
"You're implying that seventeen is enough." Leon joked, earning the handle of Blake's drive blade to the back of his skull.
"Shut it." she warned, Leon stepping away from the tall purple haired woman.
"Dahah ha! You lot are always so lively!...And violent, but mostly lively." the tavern owner laughed "Anyway, onto that job. It was posted by a member of a recently disbanded guild. They supposedly went too deep into the Lush Woodlands unprepared and were swamped by monsters. Jonathan, their leader, choose to hold off the hoard as the rest fled. I'm not sure of the rest though, you'll have to as the client. She used to come here with the group often, but has only come in once since the incident, to post that. She said that if a guild took the request, they should meet her out by the square. She'll be the one with the crimson hair that shines like metal and wearing a dark green cloak, you can't miss her." Kvasir explained.
"Okay, let's go." Blake ordered as she downed the water in one go, turning to leave.
"Hey, let us at least drink our stuff!" Dawn complained grabbing the glass and gulping it down, freezing as she did.
"Gack!? Bubbles! Owowow...they sting!" she moaned, grabbing her throat.
Noire facepalmed before drinking the water, the two boys following. The four rushed out.
"Daha, always so noisy. Well, better than a quiet skulker." Kvasir grinned.
Blake marched out to the square, glancing around. If this Jonathan has any hope of being brought back alive, they needed to move, now. She scanned the area, before spotting someone matching the description of the client, sitting alone on a bench. Blake approached her, the girl looking up. Apart from her cloak and hair, the only other features she had on display were some kind of metal ear covers and rust coloured eyes. She seemed, nervous at her approach, but Blake brushed it off. A tall, metal clad woman with a massive sword was walking up to her, it had to be unnerving.
"Yes…?" the girl looked like she was trying to inch away, but couldn't.
"Sorry, are you the girl who posted this?" Blake asked showing her the job notice.
The client instantly relaxed.
"Yes, I did. Are you going to go look for him?" she had a hopeful tone, a ghost of a smile appearing.
"Yeah, myself and my guild will be going, can you give me details?" Blake asked as the rest of the guild ran up behind her.
"Blake, could you not run off alone?" Dante complained, Dawn wandering up to the girl.
"Hi there, so, details and stuff?"
"Of course. First things first, my name is Minerva, and the person you'll be...hopefully finding, is...was the leader of my guild, before it fell apart." she voice lowered "We wanted to go to the bottom of the Lush Woodlands, to explore that floor. Four of the guild where from Tharsis, so they were eager to go. But...we were stupid. Not enough nectar or medica, our ariadne thread got messed up by a Cutter. We messed up everything in the span of an hour. T-Than...the hoard came. Monsters descended of us, so many monsters. We couldn't kill them fast enough. Things...looked really bad. But Jonathan, he refused to give up. He set his drive blade into overdrive and kept forcing it to reav and reav, making an unholy amount of noise. It got the monsters attention. He told us to run, which we did. The last I saw of him was him surrounded, slicing monster after monster. We got back, and waited...and waited. I was the only one still fit to fight since I avoided damage due to being a gunner. I couldn't go alone, and everyone just-just gave up on him. They left town, going home, will gone. But I refuse to let it end like that! He, he had to survive, he's trapped down there!" Minerva yelled, clearly angry at her guild.
"And if he's gone…?" Noire wondered, Minerva's face darkening.
"If he's gone...please bury him, and bring his weapon back."
"Got it. We'll go straight away."
The guild entered the Lush Woodlands from the third floor exit, examining the area as they entered. An odd feeling filled the air, different to the malice that the berserker king radiated or that the monster Cernunnos seemed to leak. It felt like...Noire had shocked them with a jolt attack, an electric tinge in the air. Leon glanced around, unnerved.
"So...should we be feeling this?" he asked, unsure.
Something was off.
"No...feels if like something is gonna go off." Dawn warned, drawing her lance.
The guild continued, cautious, before something new drew their attention. Monsters...dead, scattered around, single large slashes having felled them. So lived, barely, rolling and crawling to escape the new arrivals. Something big happened here. A roar made group jump and draw weapons, speeding up. They rounded the corner and came to the berserker king's territory, the space meant to be empty. But instead, they found a cutter, arm limp and bloody and a big roller, it's shell cracked and cut. Both were worse for wear, too injured to really fight. But what else they saw made them pause. An older looking man, clad in dented, battered armour, lay against a wall next to them, head hung low, a pool of blood beneath him. His skin was pale, with no sign of breathing. Blake's eyes narrowed, looking at his weapon though. A massive drive blade, visibly vibrating, lay beside him, the core exposed, glowing a deep orangy red. The energy was coming from that.
"We need to hurry, now!" she ordered, sprinting ahead, her own blade roaring to life.
Dante quickly caught up to her as the other three ran after them. The cutter turned to them and seemed to want to take an offensive stance, but couldn't due to it's wounds. She dragged the blade along, before jumping into the air, bring the weapon down in a heavy strike, the sword burying itself deep into it's flesh. The powerfully attack made the beast fall back, the wound fatal. Dante wiped a soporific onto at knife and threw it at the roller, the monster reacting for a second before falling back, asleep. Noire conjured a flame and and flung it at the creature, the fire floating forward a foot before speeding up, hitting and ending the monster. The group stopped a few metres away from the body.
"Uhh, what's happening?" Dawn wondered as the charged space staggered her.
"(sigh) Stupid fool, he forcefully overclocked his drive core when overheated. The ventilation system must have failed. It's been charging and heating up with energy at a constant rate with no rest or dispersing the heat. It's going to detonate, and take out the room with it!"
"Wait excuse me?! Why the hell are we here then, we should run!" Leon yelled backing away.
"Well, if explodes, it'll take out the wall. The roof/floor could collapse." Noire reasoned.
"Yeah, that'd be bad." Dawn added.
"Well, let's have some fun." Blake cracked her neck running over to the weapon, undoing a pouch from her belt.
She pulled out several tools and used a covered hand to yank open a panel, a gout of steam erupting from it. With expert precision, Blake began fiddling with the blade's interior. She rooted and twisted the tools around, attempting to force the vents open. She realised quickly the ports were melted shut. She pulled out a plier and grabbed the core, pulling the burning metal. A flash shot out as a low boom blew her back, the core launching into the air, the red hot metal igniting the ground as it hit it, bouncing around. The charged air faded as Leon ran over to Blake, Dawn approaching the core.
"Hey, careful. Let me check you out." he pulled out a tube of liquid and examined Blake's arm, a tear in the leather padding exposing a burn.
"Hoooow do I stop this?" Dawn dodged the jumping core.
"Water!" Noire shouted throwing her canteen's contents on it, the metal steaming and warping.
"Good idea." Dawn joined in, the core's movement slowing as it cooled.
After a quick treatment and Dawn knocking the core into a pond, the guild all joined around Jonathan's body, a somber atmosphere descending.
"Well, looks like he died fighting." Leon commented examining him "He should have died a lot fast from these wounds, but he has newer ones and damage from moving while injured. It's...kind of terrifying that he kept going."
Blake walked over and lifted up the weapon, heaving the thing over her shoulder. It was unwieldably heavy.
"Well, bring him home or bury him." Dawn stated sadly.
Blake nodded, moving the weapon out of the way. The group worked over the next hour digging a grave, with Dante and Dawn moving the body to the hole. They placed him in and covered it, Leon carving something on a large rock. He placed it on the distributed dirt.
'Here lies Jonathan, who died saving his guild and friends from harm'
"Heh, good work." Dante elbowed the medic.
Blake picked the weapon up again.
"Come on, let's go…" she whispered as Noire pulled out a thread, a flash consuming them.
In a flash, the five appeared at the entrance of Maginia, Blake holding the damaged drive blade over her shoulder, the weight of the weapon staggering.
"Come on, let's go into Maginia. We gonna talk to Minerva." Dawn suggested, wandering in front of the group.
But as they approached the square, a crowd bunched in one end drew their attention. They were where Minerva was.
"I knew you where were one of those, things!" someone yelled, enraged.
"W-What is she?" another questioned, worried.
"Is she made of metal? How is that possible?"
"To think one of you would come here? You have some nerve you metal monster!"
The guild was curious...and worried, resulting in the five running over. The crowd was thick, Blake and Dawn having to force the people aside with shield and shoulder. Dante, to his credit, jumped into the center as they pushed in while Leon and Noire followed the two.
Dante landed in the center, turning to the angry voice. A shogun stood hutched slightly, katana drawn. Beneath his foot, was Minerva, face contorted in fear. But what got Dante's attention the most was her body. The cloak was thrown off her, exposing her bare front...made of painted metal, the plate not covering the sides or back, showing off a metallic spine and numerous odd threads, pulsing with energy. Her arms and legs were metal too, but lacked any disguise, constructed in shiny steel. The 'girl' was struggling to escape the shogun, who spat on her.
"You couldn't all go die with your king, huh?! Decided to go play human like that Olympia thing?! Well, it doesn't matter, you will not lead any people to their death!" he pulled her katana back, aiming for her head.
With frightening speed, Dante pulled out a dagger, smeared a paralytic on the blade and stabbed the man's leg, the shogun jumping back.
"What do you think you'rrrrrrre…" he locked up, falling over stiff.
"I believe that's my line, what are you doing?!" he shouted.
The shogun stared at Dante, moving his eyes. Oh yeah, paralysis...
The four other members the guild escaped the crowd, looking at the scene.
"Ohh, shiny." Noire commented crouching down to Minerva, who crawled back and climbed to her feet.
She grabbed her cloak and wrapped herself in it, jumping into the air, the force cracking the floor. She landed on the other end of the square and ran, stumbling, her legs releasing sparks from under the cloth.
"Okay...what the hell was that?" Leon questioned "I've seen prosthetics, but that was a bit more than normal.
"Yggdroid." Noire spoke softly "Didn't know that there were still some around. She was so shiny…" the girl was starry eyed.
"A what?" Dawn leaned over Noire, raised eyebrow.
"You should ask Minerva. I don't know anything else."
"Then let's go, now." Dante turned and jumped the confused crowd, Blake sighing.
"Hey, come on everyone, move!"
Dante ran down the street, the girl fading into a crowd as he approached.
"Minerva?! Come back, please, we just want to talk!" he cried into the crowd.
He pushed his way through, glancing around. She was short, but not so much that she'd be consumed by the masses. He looked and looked. Than he heard something.
"Dear, you're legs are leaking...lightning?" an older woman spoke, Dante whipping in the direction.
He climbed up a pole and looked around, spotting crimson hair and the glint of metal around the ear. He rushed after her as she ducked into an alley.
"Minerva wait!" he yelled, the girl freezing.
"I'm sorry, I'll leave! I won't hurt you, please leave me alone!" she begged backing against a wall.
She crouched down and attempted to jump over the wall, but a bang echoed from her leg as she only made it halfway, falling to the ground.
"AHHH, damn it, damn it! It wasn't long enough!" she grit her teeth as she robe parted, a hatch in her metal legs opening and bellowing out black smoke.
"Are you okay?" Dante leant down before a jolt arced out of her leg and shocked him, forcing him to back away.
"P-Please stay back, I overextended my legs. I...need time." Minerva covered them, hunkering down into a cloth cocoon.
"O-Okay, got it." he sat down, a metre away from her.
The two just, stared at each other.
"So...can I ask?" he gestured towards her.
Silence greeted him. After another minute, he heard someone enter the alleyway. He shot to his feet and turned, sword drawn, and just barely missed lopping off one of Napier's hair buns.
"Really? That's how you greet me? I was only coming to check on the explosion that happened beside my shop!" her scowl looked like it could murder Dante, before she noticed Minerva "Hey, I remember you, you used to come by nearly as often as this guy's guild, I wondered where my second best…" she slowed as she noticed the smoke escaping her cloak.
Napier walked over and pulled open the fabric, scanning over Minerva.
"Hmm, wasn't expecting to see one of you. Well. Sitting around in an alley is a bit unsavoury, so let's go." she dropped the cloak.
"Where?" Minerva whispered.
"My store you idiot. Hey, help her. She won't be able to walk like that." she elbowed Dante, who nodded.
With a bit of struggling, he got her to her feet, arm over shoulder. She was surprisingly heavy. Well actually, she was made of metal…
As they left the alley, Blake and co walked up to them.
"There you are." she sighed, relieved.
"Could, someone help?" Dante strained.
"(sigh) Really man? Come on, how heav-" Dante let Leon hold her up alone "Agh?! Okay, yeah, I get it, she's heavy HELP?" Dante grabbed her shoulder again.
"Will all of you just hurry up?" Napier snapped.
With a nod, the now group of seven carried Minerva into Napier's firm, placing her on a chair. Blake walked over before anyone could speak and showed her Jonathan's drive blade.
"Oh...then...well, that just made today, the best day ever." she inhaled, looking away as she took the heavy blade, holding it with easy "You stupid man...stupid guild...stupid me…" she held it close, her cloak falling off.
"Hey, Minerva. We have to ask…" Dawn rubbed her neck, looking over the yggdroid.
"I know. Well, there isn't some grand story of rebellion or secret plot to overthrow the government. I was...made, a day before Lord Seyfried was killed. I don't know what I was made to do, or what task I was to perform, except that I'm a battle model. I wasn't given any direction except to wait on standby for the King to return. But then all Yggdroids received a message. 'The Abyssal King has fallen, all units to their preprogrammed positions!' I, didn't know what to do, I never got anything, I was just made and told to wait. So I waited a day, then another. But as I waited of another, a woman found me. I can still remember her clearly. She looked like you." Minerva pointed to Napier.
"Ha, my sister found you? She never told me." she shrugged.
"'What are you doing in here all along?' she asked me. I just stared, confused. I told her that I was a new model and was told to wait for the King, but now that he's gone, I didn't know who to wait for, or what to do. She told me to just, poke around the city before leaving. I never saw her again." Minerva continued.
"That's because she came home."
"So I wandered the city. Most Yggdroids just stood still, unmoving. There were no guards, no workers. I wandered the streets for a day, before finding Angie.
'Oh, how unusually, I thought all combat units descended into the depths to confront the god. Why are you here?'
She was, odd. She was a Yggdroid, but was still responsive. So I explained that I was a new model, I had no order other then wait for the King, but he is gone. She smiled at me.
'You are one of the few that are free then. Free of those suicide orders our Lord personally hardwired into every unit. No order to chase that thing that we cannot defeat, or go into a slumber, one that will end when you rust to nothing. You're lucky. I cannot leave here, I have to remain to end of time. You may be the only free one.'
I was...stunned. I didn't know what to do. So I asked. And she told me to leave, and live my life. And then, she never spoke again." Minerva reached down and closed the hatches on her legs, the smoke having stopped.
"So, you left?" Blake asked, engrossed by the tale.
"Yes, I grabbed a cloak from the abandoned store, and ascended to the surface. I was, terrified. There was so many humans, and walking around and chatting. There appeared to be some event on, so I wandered over, hidden in the crowd. And in the town center, there were...piles of bodies, hundreds of Yggdroids, broken and mangled. The people were cheering! They drank and smashed their bodies, proclaiming that the metal monsters that roamed the city were dead! I-I couldn't handle it! I ran! I ran in some random direction! I ended up on a boat, I can't remember how, and hide in a corner, covered in filth and rot, away from everything in the hold. I didn't know where I was going, I just had to go! I couldn't stay, not after seeing that!" she gripped her hair, clawing at it.
"Hey, calm down, we're here." Blake reassured, kneeling down.
"Eh, I remember that. It was horrible. People tried selling me bits and parts from them, it was disturbing." Napier grimaced.
"Oh, well, that explains this." Noire pulled out her necklace, made of thin wire and a metallic, skin coloured shard clasped in a bronze grip "My father made it for me when I was little, from...spare parts…" she finished by taking it off, put off by it.
"I was thrown around and shaken below the deck, a storm brewing. Whatever boat it was, it struck something, and cracked open the wall. The ship flooded and sank, I don't know anything about the crew. But I sank, sank all the way down to the bottom of the sea. I struggled and flailed, desperate to stop my descent, but my body was too heavy. So, I ended up wandering the ocean's floor, alone, in the dark...for a while. A long while. I think months. I didn't need to eat or breath. My energy core was undamaged, so I walked. I eventually began to rise into shallow water, my movement stiffened and slowed from rust caused by the saltwater, before walking out onto a beach, soaked, water pouring from my joints and cavities. And I proceeded to scare a man witless.
He fled, going to get a 'warrior to slay the metal mermaid!' I wanted to run, but I was so rusted, my joints stiff. But...instead of a warrior arriving to kill me, Jonathan came along, and well, he was surprised. He rushed over and grabbed me, carrying me away from the beach, to a cabin he was living in after leaving the Empire. He spent a week using spare drive blades and parts repairing and derusting me. Lemon juice and ethanol work very at removing it, and well…" she exposed her side, showing her spine was partial made of drive blade parts with a core welded to the back of her body plate.
"Heh, nice. He knew his stuff." Blake smiled.
"We...lived in that cabin for a few years. He never asked for my story, never told me to help or work, said I could tell him anytime, but I did help out, and I eventually told him two years later. He knew what I was from the start though, a notice went out to everyone in all countries a few years back to, destroy, any Yggdroids found. But Jonathan didn't, he was of the mind of 'she didn't do anything, why kill her? If she's dangerous, fine, but otherwise, no murder.' After a few more years of doing...nothing really, we heard about this place. That Maginia accepted anyone, everyone who wished to help explore this new Yggdrasil. So, he wanted to go and I'm an anyone. But I was too scared to show myself, so he helped train me in gunmanship to pose as a gunner. I didn't know how to use any of my Yggdroid stuff, well, except jumping, which I discovered by jumping through the roof, and I rocket punched him in the groin...and activated a core dump, whatever that is and locked up for an hour. I only focused on the jumping, it was handy.
And now time to shorten the rest, because not a lot happened. We arrived here, made a guild, and he showed myself to the three others. They...got angry, wanted to get rid of me, but Jonathan threatened to maim them if they attacked me. So we did quests, mapped and we were decent. Then finally, we overextended. You know the rest." she finished.
"Wow, that could have used more paragraphs." Leon commented sarcastically, earning a shield bash from Dawn.
"Really?"
"I see, so, what are you going to do now?" Blake asked, arms folded.
"I...don't know. After Jonathan disappeared, the three other members took the chance to 'get away from the freak'. I don't have anywhere to go. Every country has an exterminate on sight thing for Yggdroids, and here? I've nothing, and even if I could stay, people like that shogun will be out to get rid of me. I have...nowhere." she clutched the blade, clearly distraught.
"What do we do?" Noire looked at the group.
"I don't know." Dante answered.
"Simple. Maginia lets any and everyone come and try to explore or work. And you can fight. So, why not join us?" Blake suggested.
That seemed, to shock Minerva.
"Wh-wh-wha-what? No, you can't, people will turn on you-!" "Ha, like I turn'em away, do you know who I am." Napier sneered with a grin.
"I'm pretty sure Kvasir was kicked out of somewhere for something illegal." Leon added.
"I don't think Vivian will notice." Dante sighed.
"Her royal princess will probably flip out and want to get her scholars to look at you and then not care anymore." Dawn joked.
"Probably...and hey, if they let Noire in, you'll be fine." Leon said.
"What did you do?"
"I killed seven people." she stated matter of factly.
"She stole a royal treasure from the Empire...on her three day visit to it..." Blake corrected.
"No one expects the short ones…" she announced throwing her arms into the air.
Minerva was left silent.
"W-Why…"
"Because you've got no one, suffered for a long time, and we're not about to leave you alone." Blake gave a thumbs up with a smile, crouching down to her.
"Because I'm curious about a weird metal girl." Leon shrugged.
"Because you're shiny!" Noire hugged her.
"Because as long as you're better than him it's all good." Dawn pointed to Leon.
"Because I'm not a racist asshole." Dante finished.
"Ah...ah…*sob* why...why…" Minerva started sobbing, overwhelmed.
"I'd take the deal, you'll never find another group of nutjobs like this one." Napier smiled.
"Ahhh! Why...if only...you'd been around when we made the guild...we..." she cried, tears running down her face. "T-Then we could have...had people w-who…"
"Jeez, you really set her off. Take it outside, or the tavern. Kvasir would probably love this." Napier complained, hiding her grin.
"Well, Minerva, shall we head to the tavern, finish up the quest and get you recruited. Then we'll stick our heads in at the HQ." Blake helped her stand.
"I need to say this. T-Thank you. For putting Jonathan to rest, and for not ripping my head off." she reached for her cloak.
"Well, after we go to HQ, no more this." Dawn tugged the cloth.
"B-But…" No buts, no hiding." Noire argued.
"Ugh...this is going to be a trial…" Minerva sighed as she was pushed out the door, still holding the blade.
"Hey, come back later with that I'll see about getting it fixed if you like!" Napier called after them.
Napier smirked as they went, grabbing noticing and grabbing Noire's necklace from the table she left it on.
"Well, this is horrifying with context." she dropped it into a bowl beside her normal seat "Wonder if she'll still want it?"
AN: Hello, this is a bit of a surprise. I had another one of my, 'can't get it out of my head' moments.
This story was born from my saddness that EON doesn't have Yggdroids. No, we got shoguns! I want my weird robot people that are mechanically messy and broken! Of all the classes that I wanted in Nexus, I wanted protectors and Yggdroids, but I got only one...
I like EOIII...where's EOUIII...
Okay, enough ranting. This'll probably only be a one-off thing. Maybe a second chapter with some Minerva and Beacon stuff. Possibly, but no more.
Also, two things, yes, I call all Guild or house stuff in EO and EOU games Beacon as a RWBY reference, and that team of five is my current team, except Leon is a female medic...that I made look like Ruby from RWBY. Decided to change that for the story.
Hope people like it!
Pm, review, say if you'd like a second chapter.
Anyway,enjoy