Suikoden Zenkaiwohabamu
すいこでん ぜんかいをはばむ
Chapter 1
Maki's crisp blue eyes focused on the book that lay upon her desk. A stray wave of dark red hair slipped from her pink ear and danced mockingly in her face. She grunted softly and tucked it back only to have it fall down again.
"Miss Daly." The teacher currently running study hall stepped in front of Maki's desk. "That was the call for dinner." The woman's soft brown eyes smiled down at Maki through her thick round glasses that managed to magnify them, yet not distort the sheer amounts of emotion they often expressed.
"Thank you Teacher Darla." Maki smiled back at the short rotund woman and started to gather her books.
Maki followed the flow of students toward the cafeteria, but broke away from them once they were outside of the main building. She walked along the emptied path of stone with the moonlight as her only guide back to the dorms. She would have at least an hour there to read in peace and this thought made her smile. That smile snapped back to her usual blank expression when she heard someone else walking along behind her.
"You really shouldn't neglect your nutrition, Miss Daly." Reprimanded a voice all too familiar to her. Maki restrained her agitation because, whether she wanted to or not, she had to show this woman her respect.
"Yes, Teacher Nina." She turned to face the tall young woman with long, wavy, blond hair and biting brown eyes. Her arms were folded just so across her chest and her foot tapped the cobble. Maki almost asked what else the nosey woman wanted with her, but decided to wait for her to tell her anyway.
"Well?" Nina continued to eye her down.
"Well what, Teacher Nina?" Maki asked as respectfully as she could muster.
"What exactly did you think you were going to do out here by yourself?" Nina asked. "Were you going to meet someone in the woods under the moonlight? Perhaps even sneak out into 'lover's cabin' for a little romantic dinner? I don't see you bringing anything to eat. It's not ladylike to expect your man to make dinner for you, you know."
"I'm not-" Maki started to explain herself, but was cut off.
"Not that you're all that ladylike to begin with. Look at that hair stuffed into that lazy ponytail, that crooked skirt, even the lenses on those little round things sitting atop your nose are dirty."
"They're glasses." Maki pushed them up the bridge a bit.
"Please, you couldn't possibly be able to see anything through them." Nina rolled her eyes.
"I only need them to read." Maki's respectful tone was slipping. "Which is what I'd planned on doing."
"You were going to meet up with a boy to read? That's hardly romantic. Honestly, Daly, I worry about you." Nina grabbed Maki's skirt and straightened it.
"May I go now?" Maki asked as she watched the woman continue to neaten her outfit.
"You know, a little make-up wouldn't hurt either." Nina told her.
"Teacher Nina." Maki growled. Nina let go of Maki's clothes and righted herself.
"Oh fine, do whatever you like. See if I ever help you with that disaster of a love life of yours again." Nina waved Maki off and walked toward the cafeteria. Maki quickened her pace to the dorms in case someone else decided to cut into her precious private time.
Maki got to her room unhindered and was deeply reading about the Dunan Unification War when a knock at the door snapped her back to reality. She held back the obscenity that almost snapped through her teeth before getting up to answer it.
"You, uh, you missed dinner again." Said a young black haired boy with big round tinted glasses that shrouded nervous gray eyes. He held up a tray of food for her. Maki took it and went inside.
"Thanks, Mat." She sighed and left the door open to let him know it was okay to follow her in. He found a chair to sit on while Maki used her desk to eat.
"What are you reading?"
"This chapter on the Dunan Unification war. That Luca Blight guy was really messed up, but then since he lost the war I guess they could just demonize him as much as they want to, right?" Maki bit into an apple and went back to reading.
"No, I think he really was like that. At least, mom says he was." Mat declared. His voice was always stronger when he was just talking to Maki. "Dad doesn't correct her, so..."
"Oh yeah, your folks were in this war weren't they?" She said with some meat pushed to the side of her mouth so it wouldn't fly out while she spoke.
"I think most of the students here had parents that were in the war." Mat replied. "Actually, I think you might be the only one here who didn't."
"Hey, can I help it Kanakan is on the other side of the planet?" Maki stabbed some vegetables. "Not that they'd have fought anyway. Dad might have sent the Allied Army some wine or something."
"I'm sure they'd have appreciated it." Mat chuckled. He looked out the door when they heard the faint mutter of approached voices. "I gotta go." He said and hurried out. Maki found it kind of funny how he was so paranoid about people finding them alone in rooms together. Of course, since the last time had been Teacher Nina catching them, she wasn't too surprised about the reason.
Maki focused on her book again in hopes that doing so might drown out the chirping of her approaching roommates.
"You still studying?" Asked one of them snidely when she saw Maki trying to read. "You are such a dork. I can't believe they let you dorm in here."
"My dad can pay for it just as well as yours, Anita." Maki didn't return the snide tone seeing as how she didn't care what this girl's opinion was. "Probably more."
"How DARE you! My father is the Plenipotentiary of Two River!" Anita snapped indignantly.
"Oh, so he doesn't have to pay at all."
"That's right! He and President Teresa are good friends!"
"And that makes you better than me." Maki got up. "We've really got to come up with a new argument. This one is so tired." She snapped her book shut and walked out of the room. She could hear Anita fuming with the other girls as she walked to the stairs.
With a lightly frustrated sigh she continued to walk the main building's empty halls. She'd used the secret tunnel from the dorm's basement to get in there, and now she just had to get to the other side of the building without being noticed by a late working teacher. It wasn't a difficult task and once she'd pushed the bust of the school's founder at the end of a lonely hallway she walked through the door that opened and into the woods. It was then just a brief walk to 'lover's cabin' as Nina had called it. No one really used it as a love nest though, not since Teacher Nina had a habit of spying on the students that would sneak out to it. Maki had started to use it as sort of her own personal living quarters for the past month. Mostly so she could escape the annoyance of Anita and her gaggle of girls who decided to target Maki with often poorly planned prank. Maki's avoidance of all pranks to date seemed to have just made Anita that much meaner.
Maki went to the bed and lay down. She didn't bother opening the book again. She was pretty confident she would ace the exam on the war in the morning and anymore reading could likely jeopardize that with stress. Maki closed her eyes and planned on getting some peaceful sleep when a strange noise made her open them and see the blue orb of light that expanded in her room. Inside the fading orb stood a woman in light blue robes with a hood covering her eyes. Maki, now convinced she had fallen asleep after all, paid no mind to her.
"Greetings, child." The woman's voice was firm and gentle. It had a serious lilt that made Maki snap to attention. "I am Leknaat the seer. Wielder of the Back Gate Rune."
"Hello, Leknaat the seer. I am Maki Daly, wielder of this really thick book that I know how to beat a creative prank to death with." Maki declared.
"I am no prank. I've come to bring you a message of things to come." Leknaat's tone was calm and her face expressionless. What little of her face Maki could see, that is. Maki found herself instantly believing the woman. "There is a great danger looming over the horizon. A danger that can only be met with the power of the twenty seven True Runes if mankind is to survive."
"What...what does that have to do with me?" Maki stammered.
"You, born under the Tenkai star, have been branded with a different kind of fate because of this rune." Leknaat held an orb in her hand that looked to be made of glass. "The Kismet Rune can only be wielded by one born under the Chief Star of Heaven that has yet to be touched by the hands of fate, and can only be used when it has been touched once by the power of all other True Runes." As Leknaat held the orb toward Maki the glass swirled with the colors of the prism and the orb lifted from her hands to float over to the stunned girl. As Maki stared into the swirl of colors she thought she could hear it singing softly before it thrust itself onto her forehead causing her to fling back onto the bed.
She woke up in a daze that lasted until the morning air graced her face when she'd stepped outside. Determined that the night had been a strange dream she made her way to class.
"Morning, Maki." Mat greeted as he sat on the chair next to hers. He set his books into their mutual desk taking great care not to use too much room. "Is that a rune?" He asked as he focused on something on her forehead. "Did you have that yesterday?"
"Rune?" Maki's fingers reached up and ran along the warm glassy surface. "Then it was real."
"What was real?" Mat asked.
"Last night. I was visited by-" Maki stopped when she saw the War Strategies teacher looming over them angrily. "Sorry." She shrank into her chair as the man walked back to the front of the room. He cleared his throat and started his usual speech on the importance of understanding history in order to predict the future. Maki had heard many variations of this speech before, so she felt comfortable ignoring it to think back on what she'd been told by the seer. The woman's words played back clear as day, but the odd thing was that she seemed to be telling them to herself. The woman's voice was there, but she was watching herself on the bed as they were being said.
"MISS Daly!" The War Strategies teacher's barking of her name ripped her back into reality with such force that her temples throbbed with pain. "Are you ill?" He asked. The pain must have been quite visible for it to make his tone soften with concern.
"N-no. No, sir." Maki shook her head gently.
"When you've finished your test go see one of the medical teachers." He told her curtly just as the one of the test papers circulating the room was passed to her.
"Yes, sir." She nodded and turned her focus onto the test.
Question 1: What strategy did Shu use during the first battle against Luca Blight?
Maki looked the question over and her thought wandered to what was written in the textbook. Usually at this point she'd be reading the words again in her mind, but this time the world around her melted into another. She was standing in a castle surrounded by unfamiliar faces but one man in front of her who looked like Mat only much older, more confident, and without his glasses.
"Lord Riou? Is everything okay?" The man asked her.
"Okay..." The voice that came from her mouth was gentle and male. "Let's deploy." She found herself nodding once without intending to. Maki realized swiftly that she had no control over her movements at all, and yet she wasn't just an observer. She could feel an aching weakness running through her body. That and carefully masked nerves made it almost impossible to stand.
"General Kiba, we're counting on you also." The man in front of her turned to a large bald man in a red cape. "Apple," He turned to a woman with worried eyes behind big round glasses and a fake smile meant to comfort, but failing to do so. "Call Chaco." He told her. She nodded, making her short tarnished golden hair move.
Things were a bit of a blur after that and Maki soon found herself standing in a battlefield.
"All units report preparations are complete." Said the woman from before to the man from before. Maki tried to remember why she knew the name Apple.
"Lord Riou," The man turned to her again. Hearing the name a second time made her snap to the realization of just who that was. Riou was the leader of the Allied Army and the man talking to her must have been Shu. She didn't remember any mention of a woman named Apple in the book at all, so why did she still know it? "Until General Kiba appears, please don't move unnecessarily." He informed Lord Riou and Maki assumed that it was him who had nodded once to let Shu know he'd been heard. The horse he was sitting on shifted restlessly as he did what he was told by the letter. Lord Riou hadn't been a strategist, that much was clear by how he wasn't mentioned nearly as much as Shu in the book, but she hadn't really realized his complete distaste for battle until she could see the enemies horses pursuing General Kiba's unit until it was closer to the mountains.
"Okay!" Announced Shu. "Give the signal! Lord Riou, your target is Luca Blight!" Riou nodded once last time and gave his horse a kick to send it rushing toward a man in white armor.
"So, this is the Orange Army." Said the man as his wild eyes locked onto her. Maki felt her heart stop from that look, but Riou continued his rush forward. Even when the man erupted in laughter he did not falter. "Is this all you've got?!" He yelled into the sky. You think you can take the head of the great Luca Blight with such a puny army?!"
"You can take the monster, Riou!" Said the young woman who'd been riding alongside him. She branched off after those words and Riou was now riding alone toward the great Luca Blight. Maki knew how this fight ended, and found herself trying to warn Shu of the coming reinforcements from Yuber and Sasarai, but couldn't. Those reinforcements came quickly, but they wouldn't hinder the goal. Riou would make it to Luca Blight.
"Hoo hoo ha HA HA! You can gather together a MILLION maggots, but they'll still just be MAGGOTS!" Luca roared . Riou's horse slowed on the approach. She could feel him losing his resolve as he drew close enough to the man to feel the raw power that emanated from him. In the distance Luc, a young magician, summoned the true rune of the wind to rip apart Sasarai's men, but Riou's focus wasn't on that. "Blood! Blood! How I thirst for blood!" Laughed Luca Blight. "I will kill every last one of you pigs!" He turned his sights on Riou and ran his horse towards him. Maki wanted to close her eyes, but couldn't. She watched as his sword unsheathed and pointed with the intent of slicing Riou's neck with nothing more than the speed of his horse. Riou jumped from his horse at the last second making the blade swish only air. Riou used his tonfa to club the legs of Luca's horse as he rolled past only just barely missing the hooves crushing his body. Luca's horse fell and Luca clunked to the ground with it. He picked himself up and ran his blade through the horses eye before storming up to Riou. Riou was ready for his angry powerful swing and dodged in time to land five hits on five separate pressure points causing, what Maki hoped, much pain to the man. "Unff." Luca doubled over for just a moment, but it was mostly out of surprise at actually being hit.
"Give up, Luca Blight!" Yelled Shu through the dying heat of battle as the rest of Riou's troops surrounded them. "You can't get away!" Luca let out a soft laugh that erupted into a louder one. "It doesn't matter how many people you've got against me!" He yelled to the thickening crowd. In a second and a flash of painful light Luca Blight vanished from the battle field. Riou sat down on the bloodied grass.
"Riou!" Yelled the young woman as she got off her horse to run up to him. The yelps of agitation and pain from everyone rushed his ears and it was very nearly deafening.
Safely in the distance Luca Blight reappeared.
"You fools thought you could take my head?" He scoffed. "Remember well, Riou! You weren't even able to WOUND Luca Blight!" He laughed and disappeared again.
"Unf..." Winched Shu. "So even with all our planning we weren't able to stop Luca Blight!" He yelled through his pain. "I didn't want to believe that brawn could defeat brains..." He said softly. "Lord Riou, the situation has become too dangerous. We've got to retreat."
Maki blinked as her old world returned to her in swirls of color. She stared at her paper until it came into focus her hand had been moving, there were marks all over the test, but her writing was gibberish.
"Turn your papers in." Said the teacher. Maki started to panic as Mat grabbed hers and took both of theirs to the desk. Her headache had gotten much worse. It was bad enough that when she stood to protest she had to sit back down to keep from falling over. The other students filed from the room and Mat helped Maki to her feet.
"The test..." Maki muttered.
"Don't worry. I switched papers while the teacher wasn't looking. You were taking my test." Mat told her. "It saved me the trouble of flunking it myself." He looked up at Maki as she continued to use his shoulder like a crutch. "What happened to you in there, anyway? I've never seen you freak out over a test before."
"I was Lord Riou!" Maki looked at him with wide eyes as she announced that.
"Uh...okay...we're going to see the Medical Teacher." He said turned them around.
"Really, I'm fine." Maki assured Teacher Darla as she peered down the metal object pointed at Maki's eye. "I probably just studied too hard or something." She muttered.
"Hmmm, I can't find anything wrong with you." Teacher Darla informed her. "Maybe it's something magical. You should see Teacher Nina."
"I'd really rather not." Maki rolled her eyes.
"Now now. Teacher Nina isn't THAT bad." Teacher Darla chuckled. "She's just very...determined after she's set her mind to doing something."
"Like turning me into a proper lady?" Maki huffed and pushed herself off the cot.
"I had meant her obsession with mastering all the runes, but yes, I suppose that too." Teacher Darla's magnified brown eyes danced happily at Maki. "Well, off you go. Either to class or to see Teacher Nina."
"Class. Definitely." Maki walked out with Mat in tow.
"So..." He spoke after they'd walked in silence for a bit. "What happened last night? You were going to tell me before Teacher Gray interrupted you."
"What? Oh, that." He hand went up to the rune and it occurred to her that her out of body experience had been caused by it. "This woman appeared in my room and gave me this rune. She said that something dangerous was coming and that in order to stop it I have to let it get touched by the power of all of the true runes."
"Really?" Mat asked, but it was obvious that he completely believed her.
"I think, during the test, I was in Lord Riou's body because he wielded the shield rune. That's a true rune, isn't it?"
"I guess. I don't know a lot about runes. I bet Teacher Nina would know though."
"Yeah, probably." Maki walked past the Runemaster classroom.
"You should probably have her at least look at it." Mat told her. Maki sighed and turned around.
"Oh fine." She grumbled and went in. Teacher Nina was there, as usual, unpacking all of the runes she had stuffed in the little bag she had tied around her waist, and putting them on stands so that her coming class could see them.
"Miss Daly!" She said with surprised glee. "Oh my." She rushed over to Maki and looked at the rune on her forehead with no respect for personal space. "When did you get this? It's simply gorgeous!"
"Teacher Nina, was the shield rune a true rune?" Maki asked, hoping to get out of as much conversation with the woman as possible.
"Did you sneak out last night to buy it? Oh, it's simply splendid!"
"Teacher Nina." Maki growled. Nina backed up and looked down at the girl.
"Yes, the shield rune was a true rune of a sort. It was actually half of a rune called the Rune of Beginning. The other half was the black sword rune that was wielded by Jowy Atreides-Blight. What's that rune called?"
"Uh...I think it's the Kismet Rune." Maki pressed her fingers against it again. It was so strange having a rune there that she couldn't stop fiddling with it every time it was brought up.
"The Kis...met..." Nina's eyes lit up and she practically pounced on the stack of old books by her desk. She ripped through them, tossing the useless ones behind her, until she found what she was looking for. "AH HA! Kismet! This rune can only be wielded by one born under the Tenkai Star and picks a wielder who has yet been determined a fate only when a great danger grows near. It has the power to grant its wielder their greatest desire, but only after it has been touched by the power of all the other true runes." Nina's eyes got very large as she looked up at Maki. "Oh, my. Where did you get that rune?"
"Leknaat-"
"The seer?! She gave it to you?! She was HERE?!" Nina jumped to her feet. "WHEN? WHERE?"
"L-last night. At the old cabin..." Maki looked a little frightened at the sudden burst of energy from the woman.
"WELL?" Nina franticly started to pack her runes back up.
"W-well what?"
"Why are you still STANDING here?! You have to find the other true runes!" Nina told her quite loudly.
"But I don't-" Maki began.
"Go to your dorm and pack your things! We have to get started right AWAY!"
"W-we?"
"Of course! I can't let a little girl run around the world looking for the true runes all by HERSELF!"
"But I-"
"GO! GOGOGO!" Nina pushed Maki through the door. "Pack! PACK!" She commanded. "PACK LIGHT!"
"I-I'm going too then." Mat was starting to get swept up into the moment as well.
"Yes! More for the adventure! Oh, I wonder if I'll find him again." Nina's eyes got dreamy. "PACK! EVERYONE PACK!"
"But what about my classes?" Maki asked.
"ForGET the classes! This is more IMPORTANT than stuffy old classes!"
"But I like my classes..." Maki said softly. "I don't...I don't even know for certain if this is even real..." Even with all of the evidence this was just too much to take in.
"Are you lying?" Nina asked with deadpan seriousness. Maki looked up at her in surprise at how much like an adult she seemed in that moment.
"No." She replied. Nina's smile returned with her boundless energy.
"Okay! Then it's destiny! Go pack! Our adventure starts in the morning!"
That night, Maki snuck off to the cabin again. She didn't pack much. Her books weighed quite a bit and the rest were just little things that she could sell if she needed to. Her father had a habit of sending her expensive trinkets since her grandmother had died two weeks after Maki had been sent to New Leaf Academy. Maki and her grandmother were very close and at first she'd hated being sent away, but that was three years ago and since then Maki was content resigning herself to her studies in order to make her grandmother's spirit proud. Maki sighed, lay back on the bed, and ran her index finger around the rune on her forehead. It was still warm to the touch which was an odd sensation since even embedded runes would cool down if they weren't being used. Maki didn't have much experience in using runes though. She'd had one embedded into her hand once or twice, but usually ended up having them removed when she could get them to work properly. She'd considered getting the training for it after she was enrolled in the Academy, but that would mean having to learn under Teacher Nina, and it just didn't seem worth it. Now she was finding herself wishing she knew a bit more about them.
Maki pulled her hand away and stared at the ceiling. The anticipation of adventure was keeping her up, and the worry of danger was making her body tense. Her fingers moved up to the rune again. The seer's words rolled through her head over and over until they became all she could hear. They echoed over one another, bounced around in her head, and drowned her thoughts. Maki jolted upright and shook her head to get them out. Doing so just made new words enter.
"You look troubled, child." The voice was more substantial than it had been in her head. Maki looked up at the woman in her sky blue robes.
"Of course I look troubled! You just told me the world was going to end if I didn't find the true runes!" Maki snapped.
"Ah, so it is worry that has brought you to me." She declared with a light smile on her lips. Maki was about to correct her when she realized that they were not in the cabin, but instead a large stone hall with a giant stained glass window adorning one wall. Leknaat appeared to be sitting at a table with a book opened in front of her.
"How..."
"The Kismet Rune and the Back Gate Rune are both very old."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Maki crossed her arms.
"If you would allow me to finish then you would know." Leknaat said with her infinite patience. "Runes are much like people as when they grow old they form certain habits that they do not wish to break from. The previous owner of the Kismet Rune would often visit me when they grew worried. However, she had the power to bring herself here. Something you do not possess. This causes me to believe that my Back Gate Rune, also accustomed to these visits, allowed you to visit under its power."
"So...I'm actually here?"
"For the moment, yes."
"Then...how do I get back?"
"When your question is answered you will likely be returned." Leknaat had not looked from her book the entire time she'd been speaking. It was something Maki had a habit of doing herself and it was really annoying her.
"Well what's my question?" Maki asked with just a hint of impudence.
"My future sight doesn't work to quite that specific of a degree." Leknaat replied just as even toned as before.
"I wasn't asking you to divine it, I just assumed you were going to tell me what I should ask. You've told me everything else that I'm pretty much going to have to change my entire life plan to do."
"You did not have a life plan."
"I might have. You don't know."
"Yes, actually, I do." Leknaat looked up at her. The hood wasn't covering her eyes now so Maki could see the mild amusement dancing in them.
"Okay, fine, so maybe I didn't. Still, I didn't think I'd be having to go out and save the world."
"Not many people do. It is why I usually have to tell them."
"W-well...is that my question? Can I go?"
"As I said before. I do not know your question until you ask it."
"Well I don't know my question either!"
"Think, child. What was on your mind before you were brought to me?"
"I was just thinking about what you said over and over again."
"And what sort of question would you surmise arose from those thoughts?"
"How am I supposed to find the blasted runes?!"
"Ah, and there we are. Some simple reasoning and we've found our solution. Now, shall we try to ascertain your answer?"
"Can't you just answer me?" Maki grumbled. This woman was actually more frustrating to talk to than Teacher Nina.
"Yes, I can. I had just felt that you could use some practice in deductive reasoning."
"HEY! I happen to have a genius IQ, lady!"
"Then it should come very easily to you."
"Gck." Maki twitched and slumped in defeat. "Okay! Okay."
"Very well then." Leknaat shut her book and gave Maki her full attention. "What have you experienced of the rune's powers so far?"
"Uh...I think I can watch the past of a true rune wielder through their eyes."
"Good. Now, how can you use that to find the true rune?"
"Um...maybe I could try and find someone that knew them. It'd be way easier than finding the wielder. They tend to just drop out of history."
"Very good." Leknaat looked almost proud. "The Kismet Rune allows you to follow the strands of fate of those you meet. Now, what help does that knowledge provide you?"
"But I never met Lord Riou."
"No, you have not."
"So then...have I met someone who has?" Maki's eyes widened. "Apple! Apple, that's Mat's mom! That's why I know that name!"
"Yes." Leknaat smiled.
"So, through my connection with Mat I followed the strand of fate to his mom who was with Riou during that battle. So then if I find Mat's mom I can find Lord Riou?"
"Perhaps."
"But what are the chances Mat's mom would even know where he is? I need to find someone who saw him more recently..." Maki pressed her lips together as she thought on this.
"I do believe your question has been very thoroughly answered, child." Leknaat declared. Maki looked up,
"Thank you, see-" but she was already back in her cabin. "That is going to get annoying really fast."