Braving the Unknown with You
By: Angelus Erreare
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters featured here all belong to ATLUS USA.
A/N: This is dedicated to the newest inspiration to me, my good friend, Fallen Serph. This is for you. I hope you enjoy reading it. And thank you. Mabuhay ang mga Pilipino! Oo, nag-papractice ako ng Tagalog ko!
WARNINGS: SEMI-AU (Not based on the game and the Asura Project), OOC, CRUDE LANGUAGE
Chapter 1: Mission
The Junkyard had been in their command at last. The Embryon had won and had unified all under their rule.
But one question remained.
What was the Junkyard?
What did it encompass?
Being born and raised there, at Muladhara, Serph knew not the answer. He had never seen the world other than the part of the Junkyard.
He shook his head. Junkyard? It was a sad name. How could they call their home such a drab and trashy name?
He shrugged his shoulders; he knew not who named it anyway.
Well, he was getting sidetracked again. Now that the Junkyard had been won, there was only one place left to go; everywhere.
That was right. There was still the whole world to see…There was still the whole world to explore. That was the reason why he had assembled his team at the Strategy Room.
"Alright. Everyone is present." came Gale's voice.
Heat crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "What the heck is going on now?!"
Cielo yawned and Argilla petted his head sympathetically, "Poor baby." She then turned to Serph, "Well, what's up?"
Serph smiled but held himself back from baring his teeth. He turned away sharply. She always had that effect on him…that elusive feeling that she made him feel whenever she was near. He had always felt that way about her…
It had started when he first enrolled at the academy…
That was when he first met her.
He blushed at the memory. Back then, he had been picked on. He had been branded as "mute" or "spineless"…or worse.
But it had been her who had saved him from those "bullies".
Flashback
He walked along the corridors of the academy. The classes and the training exercises had ended. He needed to get back to the barrack.
He saw the group of boys his own age loitering by the main doors. He groaned; he knew their types. They were the sort that would take lunch money from wimps and nerds; guys that were like him.
He groaned at that.
But hey, maybe, if he was lucky, they wouldn't notice him! There were still quite a few students left anyway. He was sure he could blend in.
So, with his books pressed against his chest, he cast his face down, taking small steps, tending to his ankle that had been sprained during training.
"Wait a minute fresh-meat." a voice said.
He didn't stop and continued to walk out of the building when he suddenly felt being jerked back. Before he could say anything, he felt his books being snatched from him. He looked in front of him and saw that another boy had taken his books and were flipping through its pages before tossing it on the ground.
He frowned, "Give those back! I need them!"
The leader of the group, a large and overweight teen grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him roughly, "And what are you going to do about it, dork?"
"…" He couldn't say anything, stupefied at the spot.
"Heh." the leader spat, "You're just a wimp. A faggot." he told him, shoving him on the ground.
Serph glared at them and before he knew it, the group, three of them, had pounced on him, punching and hitting him.
He curled himself into a ball, wincing as he felt pain in his head…his abdomen. Then suddenly, the teens were thrown from him.
He watched in awe as he saw his savior.
The girl dodged their blows, twisting one of the teen's arms and using him as a human shield as she kicked the other. She parried their attacks and countered with her own strong blows.
Having been done with the others, she had hit the leader square on the face, giving him a broken nose.
Serph watched as the four boys staggered to their feet, "You'd pay for this bitch!" their leader growled. The girl just yawned, "I'll be waiting boys."
Serph blinked as he saw the other three carry their wounded leader from the schoolyard.
"And don't come back!! Creeps!!" the girl with pink hair yelled.
Serph frowned and picked himself from the dusty ground, making sure that his fatigues were clean.
He turned to his books but the female had beaten him to it.
"Here…let me help you with that…" he heard her speak gently. He turned and saw that she had knelt down and gathered his fallen books one by one.
His eyes traveled from her hands and onto her face. She was fair-skinned with long pink locks and eyes and a pair of full luscious lips.
His face blushed harder. She was beautiful.
As soon as she was done, she stood and so did he, "Here." she began, smiling at him warmly, handing his books over to him, "There you go. Don't worry about them. They're just picking on you because you're new."
He nodded and smiled weakly.
She smiled back, "I'm Argilla. What's your name?"
He opened his mouth to speak but it came out as a barely audible whisper, "…Serph…"
She blinked, "I'm sorry…What?" she asked, a bit louder than before, leaning in towards him, her ear nearing his lips.
Serph blushed again and leaned back, "My…my name…is Serph…"
She laughed and leaned back, "Aah…! Serph! Okay! Hahahah…I thought I heard you wrong!"
Serph said nothing as she continued to giggle away, all the while mesmerized by her simple actions.
When she finished, she clutched her stomach and sighed, "Aa…Well, Serph. It was nice to meet you. I'll see you again tomorrow. Till then, take care. Bye."
And with that, she began to walk away…
Serph watched her back. Her long hair was loose, and swayed as her hips did…She wore a plain forest green shirt and a pair of army fatigues with her calf-high black boots. She looked…cute…
He looked on after she was long gone from his sight…and smiled, "See you tomorrow…Argilla…"
End Flashback
He cursed himself at his weakness back then…But it had been because of the aforesaid weakness that allowed him to meet her.
And it was because that he met her that he had desired, no, coveted to become stronger. And that was what he had done.
She had become his friend and they had become quite close, but even still, despite all of that, she continued to think and believe that it had been her job to protect him…
Throughout those years, he had given it his all just to be at the top of their class…He did it…for her.
That was why he worked hard…Harder! He pushed himself to the limit, almost to the point of utter exhaustion so that he may prove to her that he was strong.
And he had done just that.
He had come to lead Embryon…
And after that, after years of gruel battling, he had led their tribe to victory. She didn't need to protect him any longer…
But sadly, he knew that her belief had not changed.
She too had gone stronger and had been qualified to join his elite team. He had been overwhelmed, to be sure, as he found her there…
But it was only so until she joked about how he would get along his duties if she had not been there to help him.
He frowned at that.
She had insinuated that he needed her still.
It wasn't that he felt ungrateful. No, it was far from it. In his point of view, he wanted her to need him…Couldn't she see that he can do things by himself…? Couldn't she see that now, as leader, that it was his turn to protect her instead?
Well, no. Not really.
His face fell. Well, this wasn't the time or the place to think of such thoughts.
He cleared his throat, "I'm leading an expedition to the north. The ocean there is uncharted."
Cielo's eyes beamed, "Wow!! An expedition! Just like Christopher Columbus!"
"Who?" Heat asked gruffly; annoyed at hearing Cielo's whinny voice.
Argilla chuckled, "An old explorer from the tales of old who discovered an entire continent. Really Heat, you should have listened at history class a bit more."
Heat blushed and glared at her, "Shut up woman!"
An expedition. So much had changed within their world…Because of the Great Disaster, lands were lost and others were formed. And they, the people from the Junkyard; how much of this did they know?
Almost nothing. Nil.
The only thing they knew was that their continent had been the result of the Great Disaster. Nothing more. The rest of the world had been unknown…
Gale shook his head, "Enough idle banter. As Serph had said, he would be leading an expedition. He needs a lieutenant."
"I'll go!"
Four heads whipped to turn to Argilla who smiled, "What? I want to go!"
Serph smiled; it didn't change. He was glad that she was coming along…She would be an asset to him. But he couldn't get that feeling out of his chest that she wanted to come with him because she wanted to protect him.
Because she thought that he needed her.
He sighed…When will she ever see…?
He was still weak in her eyes. That was what he hated the most. To her, he would always be that shy fourteen-year old boy whom the class bullies used to pick on.
Oh well.
But be that as it may though, he cannot refuse her. She had been the first and the most eager to join him. It wouldn't be right to refuse her just because of his personal feelings and perceptions about her either.
Who knows? Perhaps she didn't think of him as that shy nerd from the academy…
He internally snorted; fat chance on that one.
And so, he nodded, "Very well. It is settled then. Argilla and I are to depart at 0600 hours tomorrow."
Heat shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever man. Just send me a postcard."
Cielo nodded, "I didn't want to go anyway…I get seasick!"
Gale touched his forehead and shook his head, "Why don't you two just admit that you both had wanted to go but Argilla had beaten you to it…again?"
Yup. Again. Whenever Serph was to depart on a high-priority mission, Argilla had always made sure that it was she who served to be his lieutenant, beating the others at volunteering.
Heat growled, "Hey! Shut it old man! I'm just fucking bored around here! Ever since the defeat of the Brutes, we've been doing nothing around here! Nothing!" he drawled spitefully.
Cielo nodded, "I agree wid de oaf on dis one Gale! It is kinda boring." he said, drawling.
Serph chuckled, "Well, you still have your duties. So, that's enough from you ladies. Dismissed."
Groans filled the room.
XXXXX
The day had finally arrived. Serph and Argilla had found themselves at the Embryon pier. The others could not see them off seeing that they all had important posts with equally important roles.
And so, it wasn't a sad goodbye.
Serph chuckled; well, it wouldn't be a goodbye, technically.
Serph looked at his companion from the corner of his eyes; she was surveying the area. His heart got caught up in his throat though as he saw her slowly close her eyes and took in a slow intake of air…
Her pink locks danced in the breeze around them…
He couldn't help but feel entranced.
He shook off his thoughts, 'I shouldn't think of her like that…She…she doesn't see me that way.'
"Anything wrong Serph?" Argilla asked.
His stiffened and flashed his warm smile, "No…Nothing's wrong. Come on. We had best get going."
With that, he waked away from her in hopes of reducing the rising temperature of his body. Yup; she still had that effect on him.
"Wait up!" he heard her say from behind him, jogging up to him.
He smiled but kept walking, "Come on Argilla. We have to hurry."
She snorted, "What for? We have all the time in the world!"
Well…that was true…but they just had to hurry damn it! He couldn't let her see that he had begun blushing at her presence…
That would be…compromising of his otherwise stoic countenance…
Embarrassing, in other words.
XXXXX