Will to Live - A Tales of Vesperia ingame fic by crystaladept/crystalamaris
b!!!SPOILER WARNING!!!/b
I repeat! This story is based ingame! There are spoilers! Haven't played the game yet? You probably shouldn't be reading this! Leave! Leave now! There are spoilers! I think that's enough warnings, so I better not get any complants...
-Spoilers start just beyond yet. Last chance to back away and do something else.-
"You weren't planning on leaving here alive, were you," Yuri stated, looking at the fallen Imperial Knight. Schwann glanced up at him.
"No... if you didn't kill me, then Alexei would've. In fact... he's destroying this room as we speak." At that moment, an explosion shook the room. When the dust cleared, the door was blocked with debris. Rita yelped unhappily and Karol stood there shaking. Looking them over, Schwann smiled grimly. These were children... not quite old enough to be in this kind of situation. Heck... Yuri was still a child, lest compared to Schwann. Even Judith still had a promising future. He... Schwann... had nothing left to live for. With that in mind, he dragged himself back to his feet and pulled out his bow... his trusted companion who had been with him so long. With the others distracted, trying to figure out how to get out before the whole room collapsed, he notched an arrow... and fired.
Yuri's eyes widened in surprise when he heard the tell-tale twang of a bow releasing an arrow. He barely turned is head as an arrow shot past his head and buried itself in the rocks blocking their way. Three seconds passed, then the room shook once again with another explosion. The door was clear.
"Old man!" Yuri yelled, seeing Schwann having fallen to his knees again.
"Run, you idiot. This room won't hold forever."
"Raven! What about you!?" Rita shouted. "You won't survive!" Schwann chuckled, gripping his bow.
"I'm not Raven. My name is Schwann... Oltarion... captian of the Imperial Knights. And my time has come to an end. I can't go any further. You kids get out of here! Now." Schwann shouted, waving an arm out in front of him. Yuri grimaced, then turned.
"You better survive, old man. If you don't... I'll never forgive you." With that, Judith, Yuri, Repede, and Rita bolted for the door. Karol remained rooted, shaking and staring at Schwann.
"Raven... you... but... why... please... Raven...?" Karol stammered. At that moment, the ceiling above Karol gave a sickening crack.
(Damn it...) Schwann thought, pressing a shaky hand to his chest... to the exposed blastia. (He won't make it...) Surging again to his feet, he called on what little strength the blastia had left and raced to where the ceiling had started to fall, right over the young guild leader. He gasped, unable to make any real sounds, as the crushing weight of the ceiling almost made him collapse completely. And if it were not for the young boy quivering there, he probably would've let the ceiling crush him. Instead, he gave Karol a slight nudge with his foot. "I can't hold this much longer. Forget about me and run." Karol nodded and finally ran, grabbing Yuri's hand who hauled him out.
The room shook again and more rocks blocked the door. Schwann smiled. He could finally relax... let the ceiling crush him. But then... why couldn't he move? Why was he still holding the ceiling with everything he had?
"I don't..." He stared forward, blood running down the side of his face. He laughed. "How ironic... I'm a traitor... I deserve to die. But then..." he started sobbing, his arms wobbling under the strain of holding the ceiling. "Why am I so scared? I should want to die... but I... I don't... I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" he screamed, shutting his eyes in desperation.
iThen live./i a female voice echoed. Suddenly, the ceiling disentigrated, allowing Schwann to stand fully, surprise etched upon his face. Turning, he looked at who had saved him. Slightly hovering above the ground, she had pale brown hair and wore an Imperial Knight captain uniform, quite similar to the one that was tattered upon Schwann's body. Save for the floating and the fact you could see through her, you'd almost say she looked human.
"You're..." Schwann stuttered, reaching a hand towards her.
iI'm dead. But you... you're still alive. You have a life. You have friends, Schwann. Friends that are waiting for you. Don't worry about me. I don't blame you, and you should stop blaming yourself./i
"Casey...?"
iThat's me. Now... Schwann... my trusted friend... my liuetenant... my companion... stop trying to die and live now. Brave Vesperia needs you, and face it. You need them./i Her eyes flicked to the side. iYour brigade is coming to find you... lest they think they're looking for your body. You'll be out of here soon./i Casey smiled glowingly. iIt's time for me to move on, and so should you. I can't keep watching over you. You need to live your own life. And I thank you... Thank you for the flowers. They were lovely. Give my compact to Yeager. He'll gladly part with my bow... Thank you Schwann... watch over Harry for me, please?/i
Schwann watched as Casey faded away. He stared at that spot for awhile. Then sounds began on the other side of the rock... sounds of rocks being shifted. Schwann allowed his gaze to drift down to the floor as his right hand, the one that had been hovering in the air while Casey was there, drifted back to his once worn blastia. The machine that had been cracking under the pressure was suddenly fixed, good as new. Clutching the blastia for a second, he then let his hand drop slightly down and take hold of the remains of his top. With a swift tug, the material completely ripped off and he dropped his arm to the side, the orange material dangling from his finger tips.
"CAPTAIN SCHWANN!" a voice cried out. The rock gave way, giving the whole brigade access to the room. Commander Leblanc raced to his captain's side. "Are you alright!? Captain!?" Schwann looked up.
"Alexei betrayed us... as knights... we must punish him. Let us... go join Brave Vesperia... Let us go to Heracles. Come, my brigade. Our honor as Imperial Knights must be restored and Alexei must be brought to justice!" his brigade cheered happily and Schwann spared a smile. (Just you wait Casey. Awhile longer. I'll join you when my time is up.)
Story End