Summary: It was made out of pure gold. Its brilliance shone out to the hearts of men and women alike. It was called Emperium...and everyone wanted it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online. :P
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The War of Emperium
Chapter Two: Step by Step
-
Three nights had passed and Daxia had set Takii in charge of giving the prisoners their meals. Morning, afternoon, and night, the High Wizard girl would refuse her food and kick it back at Takii. Her teammates, on the other hand, ate their food respectfully, and expressed concerns on how she needed to eat.
"I don't need food," She snapped at the Blacksmith in her Guild, who tried to coax her into eating.
"Okay lady, you're wasting perfectly good food here," Takii twitched, on the verge of exploding. "If you really want to take over this castle, then you'll need food to live. Ever heard of that method?"
"Well I don't need your help!" She stubbornly retorted.
"That's it!"
Takii grabbed the keys he had been entrusted with, opened her cell door, and dumped a bowl of soup over the High Wizard's head. Just as quickly, he slammed the cell door shut, leaving the girl utterly stunned.
"Why you –"
Takii stuck his tongue out childishly at her and ran off to the exit.
-
"Kiet, I'm so screwed."
"What?"
Takii stood motionlessly atop the guard tower, all color drained from his face. "I dumped a bowl of soup over that High Wizard's head. She's going to murder me in cold blood if I ever go back."
"She had it coming," Kiet shrugged. "Besides, she can't hurt you without her spells."
"I'm scared," Takii squeaked, imagining the girl roasting him over a bonfire.
"Takii, this is so unlike you; do you need a new brain?" Kiet smacked Takii over the head, as if trying to smack some sense into him. "You're getting scared of a single girl who is locked in a prison cell, and hasn't eaten for four days. Meaning she's pretty damn weak right now."
"Maybe I should apologize," Takii looked to the skies for inspiration, completely ignoring Kiet.
"Grow some balls, man..."
"Yeah, I should apologize."
"..."
Time flew by quickly and nightfall crept in. Takii gulped as he slowly took baby steps to meet his doom.
"The food has arrived," Takii forced a jolly voice out of his mouth, as he delivered dinner to the prisoners. Soon, he only held one tray in his hands: the one he had to deliver to the High Wizard.
"Hello," Takii stiffly smiled and waved at the girl. She looked up, eyes reflecting death. "Dinner's ready."
He slipped the tray into the slot, and jumped back immediately. But to his surprise, the girl meekly retrieved the tray, and began to eat.
"So you decided to eat?"
No answer.
"Hey, I'm sorry about the soup thing, but you were being way too stubborn. Why can't you tell us why you attacked us?"
"Because I want to win back this castle," The girl said between mouthfuls of food.
"'Win back'? You had it before?"
"This castle belonged to my grandfather. He recently passed away."
"Wait, when we took over this castle, it was overrun by monsters. We had to chase them out ourselves; there was no human presence here!"
"What are you trying to pull? You trespassers took the castle from my grandfather, so I'm going to be the one who reclaims what originally belongs to my family," The girl glared daggers at the Sniper before returning her attention to her dinner. "Reprion was important to my grandfather, and I'm not going to let you take that away from him!"
Takii fell silent.
"So you see why I –"
"No, I think you're stupid."
"What?" The girl's eyes snapped up to meet Takii's.
"We claimed this castle fair and square. It may have belonged to your grandfather, but we were the ones who chased away the monsters inhabiting this place. We didn't chase away your grandfather. If anything, you could have just asked for an alliance with us, instead of trying to pick on someone far bigger than you," Takii walked towards the prison cell bars, closing the distance between the two. "You could've explained how your grandfather originally owned the castle, and we might've let you share this place with us."
It was the girl's turn to fall silent.
"I'll get you some water so you can wash the soup out of your hair," Takii said, as he walked towards the exit.
-
"I cleared it up with that High Wiz," Takii announced to Kiet, as he rummaged around the castle for a spare bucket.
"Really? Why'd she attack us, then?"
"Some stupid thing about her grandpa owning the castle before us; how she thinks we're intruders, and blah, blah, crap," Takii explained. "Whoo! Found a bucket."
"That's kinda...strange. There were only monsters around when we took over," Kiet scratched his head, puzzled.
"Exactly; it doesn't make sense, yet she's trying to be all righteous by taking Reprion 'back'," Takii filled the bucket to the brim with water.
"And what are you going to do with all that water?"
"I'm going to water the flowers so they'll grow up all nice and pretty to distract intruders."
"Forget I asked."
"I'm just going to give her some water to wash the soup from her hair," Takii explained, heading for the prison again. He walked back to the girl's cell, and saw her staring blankly at the walls.
"Here's your water," Takii carefully opened the cell and gently pushed the bucket inside, as well as a towel he had picked up along the way. "...you okay?"
"I'm fine," The girl answered. "...I'd like to negotiate an alliance, if that is still possible."
"Aha, so you've finally considered the more sensible solution," Takii grinned.
"Don't think that this means we're on good terms," She glowered.
"Fine, whatever. So, what's your name?" Takii asked the same question he had asked five nights ago.
"...Miranda," The blonde answered after a pause.
"I'm Takii; I'll tell Spades, our leader, that you're willing to talk now," Takii notified cheerfully before he exited the prison. And for once, he was genuinely eager to return.
-
Everyone was surprised to see Miranda and her Guild casually walking down the halls of Reprion. Daxia looked upset as she held a conversation with her brother Daemyn, watching their once-attackers brush by them. But with Takii, it was a different story; he seemed to accept the fact with open arms.
"I take it all is well?" Takii grinned, joining Oceanic's little stroll.
"Didn't I tell you? Don't think that this means we're on good terms. I don't want to see you," Miranda snapped. "You might as well have killed our teammate; you poured soup on my head; you are an annoyance; and don't forget you stole this castle from my grandfather."
"Again with that B.S.," Takii sighed. "I told you, we –"
"I don't want to see you especially," Miranda icily said, shoving Takii against a wall. For a High Wizard, she was rather physically strong. "My Guild is going to search for our missing teammate. After that, we will return to stay in this castle. I will be expecting no further trouble from you, mister."
"It's Takii!" The Sniper called out in irritation. Miranda paid no heed and exited down the hall, cape billowing behind her.
"Wow, she really hates you," Rya commented, joining Takii. She had witnessed the event from afar.
"What did you do, look up her skirt or something?" Skoo asked, popping up beside Rya.
"All I did was dump soup on her," Takii griped and he began to walk with the two. "But if she's this angry, I should've looked up her skirt! Then it would be fair!"
"Are you imagining what color it would be, you perv?" Skoo grinned fiendishly, elbowing Takii in the stomach.
"Skoo!" Rya scolded.
"Pink suits her," Takii answered without hesitation.
"...boys and their strange logic," Rya sighed, putting a hand to her head.
"Okay kiddies, bed time! I'll tuck my favorite little girl and boy in tonight," Takii announced in a singsong voice, sweeping up both Rya and Skoo. He began spinning in circles, singing loudly, as he traveled down the hall.
"♫ Raindrops, lollipops and, rainbows ♪ –"
"Takii," The all too familiar strict voice of Daxia reached the Sniper's ears. "You're disturbing everyone."
"But Skoo and Rya love me! Right?" Takii shook the two, who were both dazed from all the spinning.
"Going to bucket; need barf," Skoo mumbled incoherently.
"Ears bleeding from Takii's singing," Rya added, still dizzy.
"Some help you guys are," Takii grumbled as Daxia tapped her foot impatiently.
"Just get them to bed. You too; you've had a rough day," Daxia turned and walked to her quarters.
"Oh, um...ah, thanks Daxia," Takii snapped out his surprised state after finding his voice; his normally stern leader had actually shown him some mercy for once.
"And as for you guys," Takii's lips curved upwards devilishly, turning on the two younger teens. "So, brother Takii makes you want to puke? Makes your ears bleed?"
"Ah, we're just joking," Skoo nervously laughed, noticing pure evil radiating from Takii's eyes. Rya nodded vigorously in agreement. The evil glint in Takii's eyes shone even brighter once the trio neared Skoo's room. Takii reached the door and threw Skoo headfirst right through it.
"Ahhh! Skoo! What the hell! THE SPLINTERS! THE SPLINTERS!!!"
"Ow, get off me, you're heavy!"
Takii gave a look of satisfaction before he continued on, his smile growing as Skoo's roommates, Evol and Blades, screamed in agony.
"Er, Takii? You okay?" Rya asked, as the grinning Takii carried her towards her room. Just as he did to Skoo, Takii swung Rya at the door. However, unlike Skoo, Rya latched onto his arm. Takii noticed that the door didn't break down and looked up to see that Rya was hanging on for dear life by her arms.
"Haha, Rya, you're like a little monkey," Takii laughed, making Rya puff up her cheeks in irritation. "Aww, how cute. I could never stay mad at you guys."
Takii patted the shorter girl on the head. But a sudden image of Miranda and her relentless death stare blew Takii's anger meter off the scale. Instead of the gentle pat he had given, he accidentally unleashed an angry karate chop over Rya's innocent head.
"What's with all the ruckus?" Miraka, Rya's roommate, opened the door in annoyance.
"Er..."
Rya rubbed her head in pain as Takii sheepishly smiled. "Sorry about that, Rya. It's just that...that girl is so infuriating. You'd better get some sleep now; I'll check up on you in the morning."
As Takii left, still fuming, Miraka helped Rya into the room. "Che, he's all messed up in the head 'cause of that Oceanic Guild."
"Ah...I wonder why that girl hates him so much," Rya wondered. Shishkabob rushed to her side to look over a minor bump on her head.
"And I wonder why Spades formed an alliance with them so easily," Miraka added, sitting down on her bed.
"He'll probably tell us in tomorrow's meeting. Let's just get some rest for now," Shishkabob suggested, as she finished applying herbs to Rya's head. Both girls nodded, anxious for the next day to arrive.
-
"As you may or may not know, we now have an alliance with the newly formed Oceanic Guild."
Objections and approvals rippled through the Wings Armada Guild as they held their weekly meeting.
"I know it's very sudden, but they were very persistent. They also prove to be rather strong for such a small Guild," Spades explained to his subordinates. "They are currently out searching for their wounded teammate. However, they will return to reside in the castle alongside us to tighten the security."
"They just want to take over the castle!" Takii exclaimed from his seat irritably.
"Takii, please," Spades frowned. "I have discussed this with your division leaders, and they have all agreed that this was the appropriate solution. We ourselves are not a very large Guild, and we will need more firepower in the future. The attacks on Reprion have been steadily rising over the past months. There needs to be more castle defenders if we want to continue our actual jobs as bounty hunters."
Takii huffed, defeated, crossing his arms over his chest. Thoughts of Miranda and her ungrateful nature towards him was continuously rousing his anger. He didn't want to cross paths with her again.
"Also, there are rumors of Legion Oscura planning to invade Geffen," Spades informed.
"Legion Oscura? Don't they have something like...a hundred or more members?" Kiet asked.
"Yes. They currently hold two castles in Prontera, one in Payon, and one in Al de Baran. They do not own any Geffen castles, so I suppose that is why they plan to invade. They are currently one of, if not the, most powerful Guild in Rune-Midgard. Retention is coming in later this afternoon to discuss alliances; they hold one of Reprion's neighboring castles, including one in Al de Baran. If all goes well, we unfortunately will need to send one of our divisions to their Al de Baran castle, as it is a fairly large castle to defend."
Takii immediately shot up his hand to volunteer.
"Regrettably for you, Takii, you and the Ignition division must stay in Reprion, along with the Ownage Crew. Ignition, you are our strongest force, and the Ownage Crew is still in training. Retention is currently in the middle of recruiting new members, and cannot send in any of their division to our aid until they have finished. In conclusion, either Black-Fire or Continuum has to offer their services."
"Which castle do they own in Al de Baran?" Boaz asked, the leader of Continuum.
"They own Hohensyubangawoo."
A snicker arose from the Ownage Crew, Takii, and Kiet, at the unusual name. Boaz turned to frown disapprovingly from his seat upfront.
"I've heard that the castle has very good sniping spots for Wizards," Boaz continued. His division was made up mainly of Mages, Wizards and High Wizards. "My team will go if Retention forms an alliance with us."
"Do you have any objections, Black-Fire?" Spades asked the remaining division of the Guild.
"No; we will stay in Reprion," Dante announced. Takii and Kiet exchanged a quick high-five: the two best friends were allowed to stay in Reprion together.
"Then the meeting is adjourned. Black-Fire will continue their guard duties today, in addition to Continuum. Ignition, you are to train the Ownage Crew for now. They will be joining you in guard duties if Continuum needs to leave."
"It's training time, training time! Training time, Rya!" Takii swept up his apprentice gleefully. "You too, Skoo; get over here!"
"I still don't get why you train a Blacksmith," Kiet murmured, as he made his way to go on guard duty.
"Hey, don't look down on me 'cause I'm not Blacksmith! Besides, Skoo's awesome!"
The real reason was because there was no other Blacksmith in the Guild to train Skoo, so Takii offered to take up the task instead. It seemed that the strange pair would not work out, but in the end, their training together went fairly well.
"Damn right," Skoo grinned. "But...don't pick me up Takii. You might just throw me through another door."
"It'll be a wall next time."
"We'll be having a team training today," Daxia cut through Takii's fun with his two trainees.
"Team training?"
"Yes, it will be the Daemyn and the Knights versus everyone else," Kane spoke up.
"But bro," Takii whined. "That's not fair!"
"Three young Swordsmen and a Knight, a Lord Knight, a blind Crusader, and a High Priest; I think that's rather fair," Kane smiled at his younger brother. Although he was the leader of the subdivision, he often let Daxia take charge of situations, as he held numerous vital meetings with Spades. At first glance, it would seem that the fact that Kane was blind led to Daxia being his replacement, but the Crusader proved to be quite capable even without his sight.
"Daemyn kicks too much ass!"
"Let's see the odds...you have a Champion, Sniper, Assassin Cross, Hunter, Thief, Acolyte, Blacksmith, and Wizard. You've got plenty of offensive strategies," Kane laughed. "Use your brain, you still have one you know."
"Hey!"
"Anyways," Daxia cleared her throat. "As I said, it's team training. We'll go separate routes to see who can kill the most monsters in the Guild Dungeon. If the teams are to cross paths, it is permitted to try to stop or slow down each other. However, you must not use life-threatening attacks, or your team is automatically disqualified. Takii and Rya, if you're to use Mute Arrows on others, make sure to merely scratch their skin, not shoot right through them."
"Yes mother," Takii saluted, making Rya salute alongside him.
"We'll give the Knights a little head start, since we outnumber them by one," Daxia said with a slight smile on her face. "We'll meet at the Switch in fifteen minutes; that should give everyone enough time to prepare."
-
"Immaterial arrows?"
"Check."
"Oridecon arrows?"
"Check."
"Mute arrows?"
"Check."
"Flame arrows?"
"Check."
"Alright, that should be good enough," Takii grinned, swinging his knapsack and arrow case over his shoulder. "If you spot Daemyn, make sure to nail him with a Mute arrow. That'll slow their team down by a whole lot."
"Got it," Rya nodded.
"Skoo, you carrying extra zeny with you for your Mammonite?" Takii asked.
"Yep, but if I run out, you're supplying me," Skoo gave Takii a thumbs up.
"Che, I'm not that rich. Don't forget about Hammer Fall if you see Payon and them," Takii reminded.
"No worries, Takii, I don't forget my own skills."
"Really? I thought I might've killed a couple hundred brain cells when I threw you through that door."
"You just lodged some splinters in my butt."
"Yeah, Skoo's skull is too thick for you to do any real damage," Rya teased.
"You mean his butt," Takii corrected with a laugh.
"Okay kids, settle down," Daxia directed, as the crowd at the Switch grew larger. "Let the training begin!"