Tales of Vesperia 1.5 Twist of Events
Needless to say. I'm bad at intros and first chapters. Meh. Been insanely busy... I try to squeeze in bits of time for this. I do very much love the original, but hey this is fanfiction: it's imagination time. Oh if locations do not sound like where they should be, I'm sorry!
Reviews:
Tales of Brothers: Thanks for taking the time to review and I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I'll do my best to keep it game like even if it requires hours of rewatching scenes and what not.
Disclaimer you all know, I don't know Tales of Vesperia. If I did, it might not have been the same.
...
Chapter 2 The Next Step
The group turned around to meet the owner of the shadow. Before them stood an impressive figure. It towered over them as if they were ants. It shielded the light with its great length. Its eyes, blaring red, glared daggers onto them. Its coat was a muffled grey, filthy and reeked of garbage. Fangs beamed, with foul poison seeping through. Claws and horns all sharp and directed at the prey. Its aura was enough to kill. "W-what is this monster?!" Karol shrieked, tumbling backwards onto the ground. Then it let out a roar of powerful vibration and stench.
"Ugh... It obviously doesn't seem want to leave us alone.." Yuri muttered. "Let's crush this guy to dust."
"I don't know... I'm starting to feel faint..." Estelle murmured, covering her nose with her hands. Her eyes felt hazy. She began shaking.
"Estelle!" Yuri, Rita, and Flynn rushed to her support. The monster then kicked the four, though with interference by the others, a couple yards across the field. "Agh!"
Karol raised a Magic Lens. "It's called Lord Garbusis and it has high defense with magic resistance!"
"With this toxicity reeking from its breath mixed with foul body odor, we won't last here very long..." Raven explained in a unusually serious tone.
"With our healer down, we won't last..." Rita grumbled... "Hate to say it, but we should run. Just you wait... I'll roast this fiend next time!" Carrying Estelle who fell into unconsciousness, they made their escape to Dahngrest, however Mr. Stinky happened to be very fast.
"Plan B?"
"Keep going! I'll play with this guy for a while." Yuri headed backwards with this sword in position. Repede followed forth to aid his friend.
"Yuri! Stop being reckless!" Flynn followed after.
"Now's not time! Go, now!" Flynn reluctantly stopped. He knew very well his childhood friend will not listen.
"You better make it back alive and in one piece! Repede, take care of him!"
"Woof!" Flynn hurried up with the rest of the group but another member went to assist the foolishly courageous leader. Yuri, Repede, and Someone left the party.
"Urgh... I got about five minutes with this guy..." Yuri grumbled as he dodged the attacks. It wasn't giving him any time to land a hit. Repede was able to slash Lord Garbusis a couple of times but they were very shallow. "Repede, you probably only got about three minutes. Flee when it's time! They'll be able to at least get a good distance away in these few minutes."
"Grr... ARF ARF!" Repede protested. He wasn't going to abandon his long time companion and caretaker.
"Repede! I'm not playing!" The blob then burped a poison bomb. They two held their breath while continuing to dodge. The cloud of poison still remained. 'This is really bad... This curse is out to get me... At least I won't be bringing them any more trouble... The lower quarter... I won't be able to help them... Flynn... It's up to you...' Yuri can feel the effects of the poison spreading. Just like Estelle, his vision began to blur and his nerves quivered. He ended up taking a couple of hits. Those hits weren't very strong, or was it just because he's going numb?
"WOOF!" Repede gathered the last of his strength to rush to Yuri and drag him out of the area. Lord Garbusis chased after and didn't take very long to catch up. Its paw hovered over to crush them, closing in a just a few seconds.
...
"Estelle! Wake up!" Rita called. They managed to reach Dahngrest, the den of guilds. They managed to find an inn and a doctor to check up on her. The panacea bottle didn't succeed in removing the poison but it was able to lessen it. The doctor had given her an injection of an antidote. The monster's attacks have been common recently and no one had been able to defeat it. An antidote was created for those who managed to survive, which was typically less than ten percent. Estelle groaned and opened her eyes. She pushed herself up to a sitting position.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience..." Her tears dripped down her cheeks.
"What are you apologizing for? It's not your fault! It was a surprise attack and it was strong! Oh... Just thinking about it makes me so mad! When I get stronger, it is dead meat!"
"Where are the others?" The princess looked around the room and saw no one else.
"They're waiting somewhere in town, but that idiot and his dog... They went back to stall for time..."
"W-what?! That's dangerous! Let's go help them!"
"That might just bring us back to this situation!"
"I can't just sit here while they risk their lives for us!" Estelle stood up. "What about the antidotes? Did you get any?"
"The doctor is making some more right now, but you're staying here! I bet that knight already went back to help."
"How long will it take?!"
"I don't know! You're going regardless, huh...?"
"You can't stop me... They're our friends! I... I have to do something! How long was I unconscious anyways?"
"Well we got here about an hour ago. So around there."
"That long?"
"It took about ten minutes to get here. Five for that stupid doctor. Thirty for the analysis and preparation of the antidote. Five more minutes for that idiot to inject it properly! He kept shaking!" Rita recalled, counting with her fingers, occasionally making a fist. Then someone pounded on the door impatiently, muffled calls were heard. "Stop hammering already!" Rita opened the door and was shocked at the sight.
At the door was Flynn. He was a bit battered up but he was more or less fine. "Flynn! What happened?" Estelle asked as she began using her healing powers.
"Yeah you look like you got into a fist fight or something."
"T-they're back...!" he panted. "Right now, they're in the other room recovering."
"Shouldn't you be the one recovering?" Rita retorted.
"I only need to sit down for a while, thank you for your concern though."
"W-who said that I was concerned?!" she blushed from embarrassment, denying everything while Flynn and Estelle let out a soft chuckle. After a moment they went ahead into the other room where Karol had already beaten them to. There laid Yuri on the bed semi conscious and Repede asleep on the ground beside him.
"Iffy doctor jabbing the stupid needle in the wrong spot several time..." Yuri complained as he rubbed the patch of bandage on his arm where there are multiple holes thanks to the brilliance of the doctor.
"At least he had the cure right?" Karol optimistically pointed out.
"Yeah I guess. Okay Flynn, you can go all out with your lecture and what not. But before you waste your breath, keep in mind that I'm probably not gonna listen," Yuri waved his right hand around signaling 'go'.
"YURI! Stop making us worry! You don't have to do things alone!" the knight exploded. "You can rely on us!"
"Is Repede nonexistent?" spoke a deep voice coming from the left of the door. Duke stood there, near the wall, partially faced towards them.
"Of course Repede is existent. That wasn't what I meant."
"Good thing Repede's asleep. He'd be sad if he heard you say that. And you say I'm mean," Yuri teased. Flynn flustered at his words. He just cringed for the next few minutes trying to clearly think through his word choice.
"I'm glad you both are alright," Estelle smiled, a tear or two slipped down her cheek.
"Well, I see you guys got back alright. That's good."
"What happened to that monster and its repulsive stench, anyways?" Rita asked.
"Oh about that. You can't set it on fire, sorry about that. It's probably rotting away, smell and all. But one thing's for sure, it gave us a hell of a time."
"It's a miracle that you're still awake! You're amazing, Repede too!" Karol commented.
"You killed that fiend?!" the mage questioned, jabbing her index finger in Yuri's direction.
"Me? Everything Repede and I did failed." Yuri made an annoyed faced as he recalled those hazy moments.
"Then who-" Before she could finishing, the black haired man pointed in the direction left of the door. Their eyes traced the invisible arrow.
"I don't even know how they were able to kill it..."
"They? Isn't it just-" Then a head leaned forward next to, or from their perspective behind, Duke. She had long purple hair tied into a cone-shaped bun, extended pointed ears, mature eyes, friendly expression. She dressed in rather revealing clothing.
"Hello," she chirped.
"H-hello," Estelle greeted back.
"My name's Judith, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too! My name is Estellise, you may call me Estelle. This is Rita, Flynn, and Karol. I assume you know them, already." The princess gesture around as she spoke. "Thank you for helping."
"It's not a problem. Lord Garbusis had been picking senseless fights since last year when it became infected with some sort of disease. Now it's finally able to be at peace."
"H-how did you guys kill it if that idiot and his pooch couldn't even leave a mark on it?!" Rita interrogated.
"Hey! Rita, could you refrain from calling us names?"
"An idiot is an idiot!"
"Ouch... Well it's nice that you care..."
"The weak point was its neck. One hit is sufficient enough to bring Lord Garbusis to an end, however approaching it was difficult," Duke explained, interrupting the mini dispute.
"Good to know. Sorry, but can you guys... talk outside? I'm pretty tired and we're kinda too loud for Repede to get proper rest." With that everyone exited the room. Yuri and Repede temporarily left the party. Judith joined the party.
Yuri received the Title: Reckless Hero 'Act now, think later' is my motto.
Repede received the Title: Loyal Friend Loyalty plus friendship equals an unbreakable bond.
An hour later, Yuri woke up from his nap. He felt much better now, ripping off the patch on his arm. That recovered too, somewhat... There were still some visible marks remaining. Repede lifted his head to face his friend then got up on his feet. "Had a good nap?"
"Woof!"
"Alright, let's go find the others." The two exited the room and the inn. Dahngrest was a dusty place, much like a town in a desert in the evening. They glanced left to right in search of a familiar face. They had taken a couple steps into the center of town, witnesses various guilds interacting, particularly in an competitive and rough manner.
"Hey Yuri! Over here!" called out a child's voice from the right. It was Karol. He was with the others in front of a building that gave an impressive aura with its grandiose appearance.
"Hey, Capt'n Karol. So what were you guys up to while I was resting?"
"Well I went to see if we could get this guild started. There are still a few things to do here and there but leave it to me! We'll have it up and running in no time!"
"That's good. Say, where's the old man? Haven't seen him around since I became Stinky's playmate."
"Now that you mentioned it..." They all looked around but no sign of him.
"Who does he think he is!? Just comes and goes as he pleases!" Rita stomped her foot, about ready to light the place on fire like always.
"He could do whatever he wants, but yeah just appearing and disappearing is rather annoying..."
"Perhaps, he had something to do?" Estelle suggested.
"I think he went to see the Don, the head of the guilds. He appears to have plenty of connections here," Flynn suggested something a bit more detailed.
"We could either wait for him or leave him," Yuri shrugged. "He might find his way back to us anyways."
"Let's leave him. Why waste our time for that idiot?" Rita decided.
"Why don't we take a walk around? Maybe there is something we'll find relevant like encountering the Don?" Judith asked.
"What have you guys been doing the pass hour then...?" the leader of the party muttered. They didn't respond to that. Perhaps they were just socializing.
Skit: Our To-Be Guild
Karol: Hmm... What should we focus on...? We need some sort of objective...
Yuri: Why not have it open ended? I hate being tied down to one thing. This way we'll have a broader range of requests to choose from.
Karol: Wouldn't it be good to special in something?
Yuri: Like what?
Karol: Uh... I don't know!
Yuri: Free range is convenient isn't it?
Karol: But it's like saying we're not good in anything in particular.
Yuri: What kind of lens are you looking through? We could be great at everything for all they would know. Besides when we get more members, they could make up for what we lack.
Karol: Okay, I give in. What about the name?
Yuri: You're the Captain; you should pick the name.
Karol: Oh, okay... Hmm... This is hard... Hey, wait a second! You're giving me the hard part!
Yuri: Isn't it an honor to decide the name?
Karol: Fine... How about... The Greatest All In One-
Yuri: Never mind. We'll deal with the name later.
As the party took a stroll around Dahngrest, a familiar face walked out of a building. "There you are, old man. Was getting afraid that you got lost," Yuri joked.
"You're concern is... much appreciated," Raven responded casually.
"What were you up to?" Karol asked.
"I was waiting to see the Don. They made me wait for TWO HOURS! Then they finally told me that he's not here right now and will be back in another few hours... Have they no mercy on this poor old man's soul?" He pretended to weep.
"Obviously not. So should we just wait around for him to show up?" Yuri looked at the others.
"Well, there are some things I need to discuss with the Don," Flynn mentioned.
"Aren't you kids going to introduce me to this lovely lady here?" Raven asked as he walked up to Judith. "Why, hello."
"Hello," she greeted.
"You don't have to respond to him," Yuri added with a stoic face.
"How cruel! You hurt this old man's feelings," Raven dramatically pouted.
"That was the point. Now come on, we starting to draw up a lot of attention with your melodramatic personality of yours." The others had no complaint about waiting a while longer and began walking away from the center of attention. The wait would allow them to explore, restock on items, rest a bit more, and understand each other better.
Skit: Age Spectrum
Estelle: None of us are the same age huh?
Flynn: Well, Yuri and I are both twenty-one, but he'll be twenty-two soon.
Yuri: Hey, hey, hey, who let you freely discuss how old someone is or will be?
Flynn: I didn't think you'll worry about such information.
Yuri: You're right, I don't.
Estelle: You two are twenty-one for now. I'm eighteen. Rita is fifteen. Karol looks twelve.
Karol: Oh, I look my age!
Estelle: So far our ages differ in increments of three years.
Yuri: Not until you get the old man.
Raven: I may be an old man, but I'm not that old. Thirty-five, not a bad age if I do say so myself.
Rita: Thirty-five? I expected you to be fifty.
Raven: That hurts. I don't look that old. I'm a healthy middle age man.
Rita: Hah! I never met a middle age man that's proud of being middle aged.
Raven: Well you wouldn't be saying such things when you get to my age. Maybe by then, you'll mature properly-
Rita: Hah! -punch-
Yuri: Don't die on us, old man.
Estelle: Judith, do you mind sharing your age with us?
Judith: Oh, I'm only nineteen.
Raven: You could be thirty and still be radiating.
Estelle: So in increasing order, we have: twelve, fifteen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-one times two, and thirty-five.
Flynn: Lady Estellise- Ahem, I mean Estelle, you make us sound older with the double...
Estelle: Huh?
Yuri: He's saying that that makes us sound like we're forty-two instead of twenty-one.
Estelle: Oh! I'm sorry.
Karol: One, two... We're missing someone.
Raven: You mean this guy?
Duke: ...
Estelle: Do you mind telling us your age? You know ours.
Duke: ...
Yuri: Do you care if we try guessing?
Duke: ...
Yuri: I'm gonna take that as a yes. Go for it, guys.
Duke: ...
Estelle received the Title: Curious Cat Curiosity is a step closer to understanding but also a step closer to repelling.
Skit: The Guessing Game Part 1
Karol: Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twe-
Rita: What are you doing...?
Karol: I'm trying to guess Duke's age.
Rita: Are you stupid or something?
Yuri: You might as well say every number then.
Karol: Hey! I'm bound to get it right eventually!
Estelle: Perhaps there's a way to narrow that list down?
Raven: Let this nice old man help you out a bit. He fought in the Great War ten years ago.
Estelle: Do you know his age?
Raven: Phhfft, no way. I don't care for a man's age.
Karol: That only takes away like twenty years!
"Hey Capt'n, old man, what is this Don guy like?" Yuri asked. They were now on a curb. The females were sitting on a nearby bench and the guys were either standing or sitting on the sandy ground.
"He's really cool!" Karol excitedly declared before going on in an endless description filled with admiration.
"He... sounds like a cool guy," Yuri concluded an hour later after that long winded description. In all honesty, he was lost after the first five details. Karol in the middle of explaining began using vague sounds and poor examples, making it even harder to judge the Don. "What do you think, old man?"
"I have no idea what the boy said..." Raven stared at Karol with a stunned look while trying to process the 'information' stated. It didn't work out too well. "Oh, the Don is a good guy with strong leadership. Nuff said."
"Nice and simple. Good enough for me."
"If we encounter another blastia malfunction... Then there should be an aer krene somewhere near by that's too dense... What could be causing the aer to become so dense though...?" the genius mage muttered to herself deep in thought.
"Rita?" her name slipped through Estelle's lips.
"Maybe all this chaos is caused by the same source..."
"We still need to deal with that Blood Alliance too. There's headquarters are probably here," Yuri added, getting up off the wall he was leaning on.
"Yuri, I know you're going to look for the headquarters but if you're not going to listen to reason, then we're coming with you," Flynn placed his hand on his friend's shoulder with a stern look on his face.
"I didn't say anything about going alone, now did I?" he smirked then it immediately became grim. "But, it's kind of hard to sneak around with mob like this."
"What are you planning...?"
"You guys can wait here for the Don. I'm gonna go search around. Who wants to come with me?"
"WOOF!" Repede walked to Yuri's side.
"Well there you go. See ya later."
"Yuri! No offense to Repede but he's not going to stop you from doing something reckless!"
"Have you no faith in Repede? How sad." Repede whimpered and turned away from Flynn's direction.
"It's not like that! Stop twisting my words! He's just as reckless as you. I worry about you both."
"He doesn't trust us. Some friend."
"Woof!"
"Argh!" Flynn pulled his hair as both Yuri and Repede laughed because they were messing with him.
"Don't worry about them. I'll go too to watch over them," Judith offered.
"If the lady is going, then I shall also go. To protect her of course," Raven decided.
"Don't you have something to discuss with the Don too, you idiot?" Rita scoffed at the man's hasty choice.
"That can wait!"
"Even if you waited two hours? Nitwit..."
"Oh do you prefer if I stay?"
"N-no way! I just thought I should point out your stupidity!"
"Well," Yuri interrupted the two, "Me, Judy and Repede are gonna go scout around. Don't cause a scene while we're gone. We'll be back so don't miss us too much."
"Yuri you lucky-" Raven got cut off as some of his acquaintances came over to speak with him. Yuri, Repede, and Judith left the party.
"So how do look for this Blood Alliance?" Judith asked as the three took a stroll around the town, casually investigating.
"You look for some shady red eyes in black cloaks. If you see a psycho with odd hair dyes consisting of pink, black, and yellow, I think he's one of them but tell him I'm not here. I don't have time or the mind to deal with him again." Yuri explained. "Repede, remind me to take it out on Flynn for passing me his creepy fan."
"Woof!"
"Yuri Lowell!" hissed a voice.
"Speak of the devil... Walk fast, Judy!" Yuri ran as his obsessed fan chased after.
"Walk? Don't you mean run?" she corrected while following suit. They made zigzags and circle through the alleys. The insane man, Zagi, kept pace.
"You don't know when to give up, do you?!"
"Heh. Ahahaha! I'm going to slice you into bits with my blades until you're coated with your own crimson blood!" he cried manically.
"... I'm starting to hate the color red..."
"Maybe he can show us the hide out," Judith optismistically suggested.
"If he doesn't try to murder me first... This is one lead I do not want!"
"When do you think he'll tire out?"
"Probably never. He's been really persistent lately..."
"Oh? How many times have you met him?"
"This is might be the third or fourth time. Sorry about bringing you guys into this. My curse seems to act whenever it wants. I'd hate to say it but I should have let Flynn come."
"So you can give back his fan?" They chuckled.
"Yeah. Follow my lead, we're gonna get rid of this guy." Yuri led them through a particular alley they kept passing by. He noticed something that could give them the upper hand with all the crates and other materials lying around. However, what he did not know was that there as a hole underneath one of them. Upon stepping on that crate, he fell in with the others and the another crate they bumped into fell on top, covering the unexpected escape. But, where are they now?
...
"Hey it's the Don!" Karol informed the others, quickly getting up. They hurried over to speak with him. The Don invited them inside to talk more in detail. His expression hinted a grave matter underneath his usual expression.
"Shouldn't we wait for Yuri, Judith, and Repede?" Estelle asked. She was a bit concerned about the tense atmosphere but she didn't want to go on without the others.
"Knowing, Yuri and Repede, they'll find their way. I'm more afraid about the troubles he might cause, though he always finds a way out of messes," Flynn assured the princess and led her inside.
...
Huh, normally I wouldn't have so many chapters but okay. I'm still bad with titles and skits and what not. I wanted to put more skits but I dunno where I can fit them and some are a bit too close to each other anyways.
Lord Garbusis, in other words, Lord Garbage. Like I said, or hinted at least, I'm bad with coming up with names. I didn't base it off trash but the details make it sound, well repulsing. Not much to say. Tough thing with one weak point. Great doctor to cure Stinky's poison huh?
Duke's so fat that he can block Judith from their sight (Yuri and Repede's recovering room scene). Just kidding. It's the angle they were at that they couldn't see her, not that they really looked at that direction anyways.
I love Karol's silly names. Splishy splashy water colored etc Heh. I honestly couldn't think of a title even if it was suppose to be silly stupid.
I think I made the Age Spectrum skit too long but it happens when I try to fit all those characters. Though it should amount to maybe a minute if performed. Can you even get titles from skits? I know titles can cause skits but the reverse? Oh well. A comment for that skit, obviously Rita never met Jade before. He's proud to be "old" like Raven.
There's a chance I might not answer the age directly, or I might in the next chapter. Who knows. My guess is that he's like in the twenty to thirties range. He really doesn't look that old to me, might just be the animations though. Though he could be ancient for all we know, I mean look at that white hair. Just kidding. Since I don't give Duke that much attention or lines, mainly since he's rather silent, I'ma pick on him here.
Zagi, Zagi, Zagi... What are we gonna do with you? If Jade was in this game, he'd call him a tenacious cockroach like Dist. I agree completely, his obsession seems to increase too.
Oh, something that I'm probably never gonna answer here but, don't emperors, kings, etc always suppose to have heirs...? Unless the guy was really young, though somehow I don't get that impression, they shouldn't be having the inheritance issue. Also, how long has this guy been dead? Sounds like since the war really but if that's the case then why haven't that matter been settled?! Unorganized and poorly planned empire... It really bothered me. Like what? Is there some long lost heir that they'll wait a decade for without sending out any searches and after so many years finally decide on picking a new leader...?
R&R please, it's much appreciated.