Eight Things That Didn't Happen in Soul Nomad
A series of Eight Drabbles
By: An Ordinary Fan
Disclaimer: NIS has full rights to the game. For the record, I am not a part of NIS.
Note: AU shenanigans abound. Terribly sorry if this format was copyrighted.

1 - Danette

Danette was thrilled that Lady Lanya was allowing her and Revya to become town guardians. It had been the Sepp girl's dream to protect those that had protected her during her childhood. But, when she was asked to select the weapon with which she would use to fight off intruders with, she had stopped. It wasn't that she suddenly saw her dream in a different light. It was because, at the back of the group of weapons Lady Layna had summoned, was a sword that seemed to be calling out to her.

When she requested to see it, the village's leader at first refused; apparently, the blade was meant for Revya, and she had accidentally summoned it along with the choices that the Sepp could pick from. This sparked a minor argument between Lady Lanya and the two girls; after all, the elderly woman had claimed that Danette could choose from any of the weapons presented to her, and they had thought that Revya would get a similar deal. After a few minutes of angry discussion, and against Lady Lanya's better judgment, Danette was given the onyx blade.

It was a shame that Gig took over her body and killed off both Revya and Lady Lanya just a second later, for it could have made for an interesting story.

2 - Galahad

"A-and so, my f-fellow men, our King is a greedy nut job. The end."

Galahad was sweating bullets as he stood in front of Raide's grand council. To claim that their mighty ruler was backstabbing them all for the sake of an insane gambit…if Thorndyke hadn't discovered proof of this, the noble knight would've been dubbed mad. But he had, and now here was Galahad, who had volunteered to take his place and reveal the truth to the public. After all, Thorndyke was not only a legend, but he had recently discovered that his son was still alive; it was basically a fact that Galahad would be missed much less than he, should this affair go sour.

On cue, the king's personal guards barged in. Galahad quickly told himself that, if there was nothing else of value in his life, at least he would die as a hero.

3 - Odie

The nerve of these halfwits! Doubting the powers of the magnificent Dio, his two beasts from heck, and the blazing warrior Ghestal! …Though, in their foes' defense, Odie and his friends weren't exactly dressed to impress. It probably would be a lot easier to con people out of their loot if they could afford to dress up like the real things. Needing money to buy outfits that will help them earn more money…the whole train of thought just kept going in circles, so Odie decided to stop thinking about it and to just teach the kids some manners.

Anger rushing though his veins, the fake Dio of the Evil Eye lifted his staff and prepared to lay a Pain Rune in the path of the two brats. But in his fury, he neglected to pay attention to how much power he was channeling right then and there. Instead of a magical symbol being crafted in an instant, he accidentally let loose a flurry of thunderbolts directed at the children. He heard three screams…was there a third, camouflaged person? And then, Odie watched as the bodies of Revya and Danette hit the ground, completely lifeless.

If this was under different circumstances, Odie would've been overjoyed that his magical potential had finally blossomed. But now, he could only fall to his knees and shed tears. Murdering two innocent children…what kind of monster had he become?

4 - Vitali

"Cuthbert!" Vitali cried out to the green-cloaked man down the hall. "Isn't midnight a tad too late to be going for a stroll? And so soon after that red-haired lady and her green-haired Sepp friend came into our company. I wonder what Master Christophe will think about this..."

"Oh, stuff it. You know as well as I that, as soon as they awaken, we will be ordered to go along with them on their journey," Cuthbert replied, stopping in his tracks. "And while those strangers should be watched, I doubt it would take both of us in order to observe their actions, and I would prefer it if I didn't have to go."

"As usual, you're absolutely right. But the problem is," Vitali said, pulling out a vial of something from the inside of his cloak, "I don't want to go with them, either. So, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you took a nap right about now."

With an underhanded toss, Vitali threw the vial at Cuthbert's feet. It exploded, releasing a mist which caused the green-cloaked man to quickly become quite drowsy. By the time he had awoken, so had Christophe, Levin, and the two strangers. Vitali was, of course, nowhere to be seen.

It looked as though his fate was sealed. In one swift action, he would turn from an agent of the night into a savior of the world. As he pondered how Lobo would act when the news reached him, Cuthbert couldn't help but chuckle.

5 – Take a Wild Guess

Vitali couldn't believe it. Grunzford couldn't believe it. Not even the guy that was the focus of this whole mess could believe it. And Gig thought that his soul would burst from the insanity of the situation, taking Revya's body with it. But somehow, despite the unwritten laws of the universe, it had happened.

It had started when Revya and Danette first attempted to get into Astec. Danette had been impressed by how much spirit he put into defending others, especially since it was her dream to do the same for the people of her village. After Penn had grown attached to him while they were talking with the Nereids about how to reveal the king of Raide's treachery, Juno wanted to be close to him as well. Tricia still thought that he was quite strapping, and despite being a grandmother, Pinot was able to fall head over heels for the guy mere seconds after they had met. And though it wasn't sudden, nor was there something in particular that made him attractive, Revya also had a bit of a crush on the man. Oh, and then there was the affection that his sister gave him, but he didn't really think that they could count that.

"It just doesn't make sense," Gig muttered as his 'soul mate', as well as the other girls in the group, gazed dreamily at the man. "How the heck did that cheese-headed Levin become a player?! …Must be the whole shirtless thing…"

6 - Juno

"Penn, don't touch that Phynx! It's a wild one, liable to bite your hand off! Danette, shoo that beast away before Penn…Penn! NOW what are you doing?!"

Even Juno herself didn't truly know why she had asked Revya to use the power of dominion over Penn. At the time, she probably thought that the best way to make sure he was always safe was to keep a constant eye on him. But in hindsight, protecting a kid by summoning him into the middle of a warzone was not a good idea…especially since he was an extremely curious person.

"Penn, come back! Just because that man is dressed like a soldier, it doesn't mean he'd want to stop in the middle of a battle and talk about your father!" Juno screamed at the lad as she ran over to him. Sadly for her, she was so focused on Penn that she hadn't quite seen the team of archers that were aiming at her. Right before she could pull the kid away from the enemy, an arrow was shot right into her thigh, causing her to collapse to the ground.

Penn heard the sound of a thud, and quickly turned to the Nereid commander. "Juno? Hey, Juno, why are you taking a nap on the ground like that? You could always head back to the camp…why are you leaking red stuff? You must really like ketchup to bring it into battle with you!"

"Penn…I'm…sorry," Juno whispered as her body began to go numb, knowing that she was about to die. Right before her eyes closed themselves shut, she caught a glimpse of the soldier that Penn was approaching earlier. It pulled out a dagger, and then…darkness. It looked like she was going to die without even knowing if the soul she had tried so hard to protect would survive the next few seconds of his life. Her last few moments alive were spent thinking about what a failure she had become…

Meanwhile, Levin was holding onto a crying Penn. He had knocked out the soldier before the kiddo's neck was sliced, and had told Penn about what had just happened to his adoptive mother. "Don't be sad, young'un," Levin attempted to comfort, as Penn continued to cry. "It'll be all right. I swear it'll be all right…"

7 - Gig

"Okay…that did NOT work out as planned," Gig told himself, examining his current state. Some idealist named Lanya had come to stop him from doing what he did best, which was using his World Eaters to dominate the free world. And, thanks to some sneaky maneuver she had pulled out of thin air, she had actually done so. At the time, Gig had no choice but to send his soul into the sword she had summoned…but, because of the exhaustion of the battle, he had missed. Now, Layna's soul was in the sword, and he was in her body. Weird.

"Dammit, this is embarrassing…I can't rule the world looking like some wench! Maybe I should create a hidden village, and use it to find a manlier vessel…"

8 – Endorph…?!

He was a complete, absolute fool. But, at the very least, he was alive, somehow.

Why had he gone and created that inter-dimensional portal fifteen years ago? There were plenty of others that could have come in at the right moment and have done the job for him. Raphael, Scarlet, Sprout…maybe even Putty, though the odds of that were slim. But no; he had let his emotions overcome his rational thinking, and he had done the deed himself.

On starry nights, he wonders if Marona ever survived against Sulphur's wrath. He wonders if Castille ever got better. He wonders if Walnut ever stopped being a jerk. And, of course, he wonders why he was given a human body, and why he had chosen to stick with the girl with the onyx blade. But, right now, it was not nighttime. It was the middle of the day, and there was a group of enemies who had decided to attack them. As his manikin was activated, Ash prepared to fight until his very last breathe, just as he had done for Marona's family countless times. The former phantom took a breath, and then addressed the enemy.

"You shall go no further! I will protect Revya! For her sake, I will not fail!"