I meant to work on Freaky Saturday, I really did, but I can't figure out how to get it going again (and it doesn't help that I forgot what the Senel subplot was about.) So instead I decided to write a plotbunny that's been bothering me for awhile.
Oh yeah, and Vaclav? I remember the game mentioning him being a prince but apparently I'm wrong…? Well, whatever. Even if I am, he's a prince now. Why? Because I say so! (Actually, it's more 'cause I found out after I wrote this chapter and it would make a lot less sense if I were to delete any references to it so if I'm right, yay, if not, screw it.)
I don't own Tales of Legendia or anything in it.
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"Call in the commander of special operations!" ordered Vaclav from where he lounged on his throne. He frowned, why hadn't the commander appeared yet? His orders had been to report directly to him upon his return to the homeland. And yet, his officer had yet to grace them with his presence. Still, he thought with a chuckle, it would have been stranger if he hadn't delayed his report.
"How shameful," remarked Cashel, one of his most trusted soldiers, "To be shown such generosity from the throne and to cast it away… clearly he is less worthy than I have heard."
"Are you doubting my judgment, Cashel?"
Quickly realizing his mistake he sputtered, "Oh no, of course not, milord. I only meant-"
"Save it Cashel, your excuses only add to your insubordination," Melanie cut in. The fourth and final person in the room watched as impassively as always, not wanting to get caught up in another one of his colleagues squabbles.
Vaclav watched them all with amusement. Melanie, Cashel, and Stingle, the three Terrors. Once he had had high hopes for them. That was before the commander. Leader of the Pythons, his most elite squad at just nineteen (granted Vaclav had trained him himself, it didn't change all that natural talent of his.) The Pythons were his last resort, striking out so that their Fang could inflict devastation upon particularly tenacious foes. And best of all, he had complete control over his little pet snake. After all, who had raised him as a true Crusandian, a true eren, a true warrior?
"All I'm saying is that this Fang character had better show up soon-"
The prince grinned viciously. 3… 2… 1…. Sure enough, his poisonous Fang had been waiting at the door the entire time. Just like him to keep them waiting as a game. Vaclav himself didn't mind, it helped remind the others of their place.
"You called?" He could've laughed. Such a gruff, simple reply! The Fang was something else, as always. A glance was cast to see how the Terrors were taking this greeting. Melanie and Cashel predictably bristled. Only Stingle remained calm, though he probably just didn't care.
"How dare you show such disrespect for Lord Vaclav!" Cashel had switched to 'lord'. Clearly he was upset.
"Impudent brat-" Melanie began before Vaclav's booming laugh echoed around the room. "S-sir?"
"You haven't changed at all, have you Senel?"
"And neither have you, unfortunately," the man, Senel, shot back, "What kind of idiot sends men into the Misty Mountains with the Lord of the Legacy just waiting beyond them?"
Vaclav could see that his Terrors were feeling uncomfortable. Commander Senel Coolidge, the Fang, had that effect on people. His open hostility to even his commanding officers had gotten him into trouble when he was younger and that tendency had yet to noticeably diminish. He knew that it took all Melanie and Cashel had just to not 'chastise' him.
"Speaking of which, did you learn anything?" If the way the other's visage got even frostier was any clue, there was indeed news.
"Lady Gadoria is on the move. Her forces seem to have spread along the southernmost shore of the Legacy. In fact, I've heard rumors that she and the Lord of the Legacy have teamed up. I'll have to have further investigation done to confirm or deny these rumors," he reported. Troubling, to be sure, but could that really be it? Of course not, the Fang wasn't spooked by mere bandits, even if they did control the Legacy. No, it had to be….
"And what of the Albatross?" asked Vaclav. Yes, that was it. He caught that look in Senel's eyes. So he did know more about that troublesome vigilante than he let on!
"Getting bolder with each success." Yes Coolidge, I saw that flicker of doubt. You know who she is, don't you?
"And that's enough to get the mighty Fang all flustered?" Ah, so Cashel finally spoke up. "It looks like even the Pythons are ultimately just more expendable garbage. We Terrors would never be so weak as to tremble before one pathetic girl." And thus he sealed his fate. The ninja never even saw that fist coming, an event that repeated itself several times before he fell to the ground, defeated. Senel ground his heel into Cashel's back as he snapped, "Watch who you call weak. You just might get beaten by them." He removed first his foot, then himself from the room.
Unsurprisingly, he didn't ask for Vaclav's leave.
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The stars shone so brightly that night. Why, Shirley wondered, did they only do that when something had brought her mind back to him? It's not like he had stayed at their village longer than a month before….
"Hey Stella, what do you think Senel's doing right now?" she asked, turning to her sister. As expected, her sister stiffened angrily.
"Why do you keep bringing that traitor up?!" It's not as if I don't understand, Stella. You trusted him even though you knew what he was… who he was. And he betrayed that trust.
"Stella, why do you think he did it?'
"I think a better question would be 'why do you care'," the girl in question spat back.
I know you liked him, Stella. You really thought he would do the right thing. You wanted to believe he cared for you too.
"Do you think he ever regrets what he did?"
"Of course he doesn't! Ugh, just go to sleep, Shirley. You need the rest if you honestly think he might be innocent," Stella said, trying to be nice about it. Trying to be the good older sister looking out for her younger, naïve sibling.
Shirley saw that Stella wouldn't be pushed any further that night. She rolled over and thought once more before going to sleep.
Is he looking up at these same stars, wherever he is?
As for Stella, she donned her feathered mask and cloak and went hunting.
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"Moses, are you sure she can be trusted?" Will fretted as he paced restlessly, "I trust your judgment but any dealings with lady Gadoria are chancy. The woman abandoned her own family and country!"
"You don't need to remind me, Will, I'm the one who has to sit through all her rants!" he replied. Will sighed to himself. Moses was an amazing leader and he was loyal to him… but that didn't mean the other wasn't an idiot.
"It's not just that…. You know how she feels about men. Don't you think she just plans to use us?"
"Of course she does."
Will had to admit he was shocked. Usually it was his job to point out these sorts of things and yet…. Well, it wasn't not like the other man was completely stupid, or else he couldn't control as much of the Legacy as he did.
"We're using her too."
There it was. He supposed it made sense. That would explain how Moses planned to drive away Crusand and gain control of the Legacy in one move.
"I guess I have nothing to worry about then," Will joked, "That aside, how's Harriet?"
"Don't worry about her; she'll be safe with Csaba! In fact, from the sound of his reports we've got a future bandit chief on our hands! Maybe I should pass the torch to her when I retire," Moses remarked slyly. Will laughed. It looked like for now, everything was as it should be.
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"'Lord of the Legacy'? Ha! He's just some puffed-up, stupid bandit!" mocked Norma, "I tell ya, give the guy an inch and he'll claim the whole ship!"
"Of course, what'd you expect? He's just another arrogant man. I can't wait till we win this war, then we can finally stamp out those savages once and for all!" sneered Lady Gadoria herself.
"Oh, oh, oh, that reminds me, C! I recently bought some awesome information off Jay. It seems that Teach has a daughter living out on the mainland!"
"Oh?" Chloe mused, "Well that takes care of Will. He would never dream of going against us if we had his daughter. And Sandor is too stupid to realize our plans on his own. He'll have no choice but to surrender his portion of the Legacy to us! Especially after we control the Bridge."
"Yeah, about that… turns out we need the Merines to even unlock the front door," Norma said with a nervous giggle.
"It doesn't matter. You can always gather information or," and here she grimaced in distaste, "even rely on Jay."
"Come on, C, he's not bad for a guy! I mean, he's not always honest but it's thanks to him that we control the south shore of Raging Bay!" Even as she sais it, Norma knew that Chloe wouldn't listen. Seriously, what was the girl's problem with men? Then again, with a neighbor like Moses…. "He's practically a girl anyway."
"I hope for your sake that word of what you just said never gets back to him."
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I'll have to charge Norma extra for her next request, Jay thought as he slunk away from the room. No matter, I still have a client waiting for me. For most people, the journey from Chloe's camp on the stern of the ship to Port-on-Rage was impossible to make in less than a week. As for Jay, with his secret routes and pathways, he could get there in hours.
"Took you long enough," his client grumbled.
"Merely tracking the target to assure maximum accuracy in my information," Jay lied smoothly. Like he needed to. Those two girls were so predictable. The chase wasn't even fun with such boring prey as them.
"So, where are they?"
Aren't we impatient? Still, he knows better than to provoke a fight. Our strength is too closely matched for either of us to gain anything from it. Out loud he said, "The Merines is getting close to the Alter of the Sea. If all goes well for her, she should reach it in two days."
"What about her sister?"
Jay raised an internal eyebrow. The sister as well? It is as I suspected. He does have some connection to them beyond his orders. "She disappears every night and travels with her sister by day. But I'm sure you already knew that, didn't you?" No reaction. He must have been hiding it for a long time. But why? The Albatross is his enemy and I've seen nothing to suggest that he's anything but loyal to Vaclav…. I must investigate this. "Here's a map I made of their location.
Senel left the port with a map and a significantly decreased amount of gald.
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Okay, I'm just gonna clarify a few points down here.
-Everyone is two years older than they were in the game.
-Norma isn't actually on Chloe's side, per se. She's a second-hand information dealer (i.e. she'll buy info from Jay then sell it to someone else for a profit) and she just happens to prefer Chloe over her other customers. They're friends and she'll go out of her way to help Chloe but she's not under Chloe's command.
-Moses and Chloe both control large portions of the Legacy but Moses holds a little bit more than Chloe does. He owns everything north of Raging Bay and the land to the side of it and Chloe owns the rest. And no, Rexalia didn't fall into a plothole.
-Finally, the Albatross gets it's name from a seabird that's considered bad luck.