This was unexpectedly hard, yet fun, to write. Please enjoy.
The morning sunshine reflected off several dew-kissed petals, creating several prisms of light in the forest path just outside Zaphias. The small and humble dirt path remained untouched this early in the morning except by a few green and fresh leaves, fallen from the nearby trees by the winds of yesterday. The morning itself was rather quiet, the sky blue and dotted with a few fat, fluffy and thick clouds lazily moving across the horizon. A bird chirped quietly, its voice echoing through the woods, a wake up call to all the other animals.
Suddenly, a foot in a grey boot smashed the leaves in the path into the somewhat soft mud, followed by another that ripped the already smashed leaf in two. The person ran down the path, his long and dark hair flowing none too gently behind him. His vest flapped against his powerful body as he ran, his determined obsidian eyes focused solely on the path ahead. Behind him, a creature smashed through the forest, tearing away at everything in its path.
He leapt out of the dark damp woods and into the warm sunlight and pleasant breeze, before twisting his body and grabbing at his red and strangely shaped sword as the enraged boar-like beast emerged, ripping apart the green bushes and emerald trees that had hidden it from common view just moments earlier.
A breeze against the boar's whiskers alerted it far too late as a blade of fire sliced diagonally down, past the monster's head and through the broad and muscled shoulder. The monster had no time to roar in pain as a swift and powerfully executed kick was delivered to the bloody wound before another strike to its injured and torn shoulder sent it into oblivion.
"Is that all?" The swordsman said, obviously disappointed, not even out of breath. "I was hoping it would put up more of a fight…" He moved over to the still warm carcass of his prey and sank slowly to his knees, hovering slightly over the ground so that his clothing wouldn't be wetted by the dewy grass. The man brought up his sword and deftly cut the muddy hooves off the dead creature, taking care not to make too much of a mess of the legs.
Perhaps picking up a few errands in Zaphias while he waited hadn't been a bad idea, Yuri thought as he wiped the mud from the hooves. Without the mud, the hooves were clear amber, just like they were supposed to be, with five thin veins of ruby running through them. Like the beast itself, the hooves fit the description perfectly. He could never be too sure though; the slightest difference in color could mean the wrong species entirely.
Now, for the hard part, he thought with a sigh of disdain. He stood up to his full height and looked down at the corpse and breathed deeply as he tried to answer the most pressing question… How the hell was he supposed to cart this thing back to the lower quarters?
Arms now beast-free, Yuri made his way up the marble steps to the palace. It was nearly noon, and he was sure he still smelled like dead animal even though he had scrubbed for nearly an hour to get rid of the stink. How he had even managed to drag that creature to Zaphias, he'd never know, but he did not intend to do it again anytime soon. Speaking of intentions, he intended to take a more discreet route the next time he visited the castle, he'd forgotten how annoying the nobles were. They apparently didn't know that it's rude to stare.
Ignoring them, Yuri stared up into the front of the castle, looming just ahead of him. No matter how many times he looked at it, it looked like a prison. He didn't understand the common people's fascination with the building, the place was a maze and wasn't even all that great once you got inside. Sure, it had been fun the first few times he had played cat and mouse with the guards after escaping his cell, but after the adrenaline for that wore off, the castle became just boring.
Passing the main gate and the stiff guards who eyed him with slight distrust, Yuri made his way to the gardens to wait for Estelle. She'd probably gotten carried away in one of those books of hers and lost track of time. In hindsight, he could've probably been an hour late and have been fine. Now he was really regretting his rush to get here earlier; he could've actually taken a relaxing bath instead of furiously scrubbing off a layer of skin in a hurried attempt to freshen up. His skin was going to be sensitive and raw for a month…
"That foolish emperor is up to it again!"
Muffled voices to his right caught Yuri's attention, and as stealthily as he could, he dove behind a marble pillar to hide as broken fragments of the conversation drifted to his ears. There were two, no three men, older men just around the corner, close to the garden. They were obviously nervous from the way the man with the nasally voice spoke, and clearly up to no good from the sound of the man with the deep, biting voice. The third man didn't speak much, merely made noises of affirmation. Yuri tried to cement himself closer to the pillar in hopes of hearing them more clearly.
"We'll kill them. We'll kill that idiotic emperor, that foolish commandant, and that interfering Brave Vesperia!"
Yuri's eyes widened and he felt his heartbeat pick up at the sudden outburst, quickly followed by Mr. Nasal and Mr. Biting shushing their companion, trying to appease his sudden flare of anger. His curiosity sparked, Yuri slowly moved away from the pillar and sidled up against the wall, before creeping as close as close as he could to the corner, until all he would have to do to be seen was turn his head a little to the right.
"We can't talk about this here…" Mr. Nasal said anxiously, trying to remain quiet as so they might not be overheard, that is, if the lumbering oaf hadn't already given them away. "We should probably meet again later to discuss this…" After Mr. Nasal's second statement, there was a collective silence for several moments.
"I agree, Lord Elydor," Yuri's breath caught in his chest as the silence was destroyed by Mr. Biting's comment, "we should meet again later; perhaps in Bluebell Meadow around midnight." Mr. Biting continued, still unaware that they were being watched, Elydor and the other man did not speak, he said politely "So, until then, Lord Elydor, Lord Suingam."
"Until then, Lord Sutsycrof."
Yuri heard heavy footprints approaching, adrenaline rushing, he quickly, yet quietly darted to the pillar he had hid behind just minutes before. As Sutsycrof rounded the corner, Yuri immediately regretted his decision. If Sutsycrof was to turn left around the corner instead of heading straight ahead, Yuri knew he'd be spotted. Luckily, the man continued straight ahead, but Yuri remained hidden for several more moments, listening for the other two men.
Silence.
Sighing in relief, Yuri cautiously moved out of his hiding spot only after checking to see if the coast was clear. When all he could see was a blond knight approaching from the gate to the south and a blue-clad woman in the gardens to the north, he allowed himself to think about what he had overheard.
Elydor Seamus, Sutsycrof Forrest, and Suingam Craig, all were members of the Seven Elite, an organization that guided and governed the council; they were thought to be a part of the council, yet Yuri knew better. He knew that Ioder wasn't too popular with them, and that Flynn was despised, so he could understand the idea of killing them, but why would they have any interest in killing off Brave Vesperia? Perhaps he should alert Flynn...?
No. He didn't know enough just yet. If he alerted Flynn with the limited information, and possibly incorrect information that he had, something might go wrong. Maybe all the Seven Elite were in on this, and maybe just those three were the only ones planning anything. Heck, they could have half the army or several guilds at their feet, and as of now, Yuri had no idea if they truly did or didn't.
He would investigate a little more before telling Flynn.
"Yuri!"
His breath was suddenly knocked out of him as a blue-clad ball of energy barreled directly into his stomach. Loosing his once secure footing, the tall swordsman found himself falling to the ground, arms swinging wildly to try to help regain his balance. His efforts were in vain, and he crashed to the ground, his head banged against the quite hard, inflexible marble walkway. Only then did it occur to him that waving his arms around wasn't going to help him any, but it did make him look sufficiently idiotic.
He hoped Flynn hadn't seen that.
"You looked rather silly there, Yuri."
Damn.
"I'm sorry for knocking you down, Yuri!" Estelle (aka blue-clad ball of energy) said from her snug position on his chest, dressed in her blue ruffled and lacy dress and hair done up. How the hell had she ran so fast in that getup? Yuri thought with a grimace, his head ringing from the impact, and looked up at the woman on top of him and the blond knight just to his left.
"Don't be, Lady Estellise," Flynn laughed, his amour reflecting the sunlight and helmet tucked under his right arm. "Someone has to knock him down a few pegs every now and then, might as well be you."
Why that….
"I didn't think he'd fall!"
"Owww…. Could you get off me, Estelle?" Yuri groaned as his right hand cupped the bump on the back of his head and he willed himself not to curl into a ball and cradle his injured head. Flynn laughed as Estelle apologized profusely and gingerly climbed off him. Yuri slowly propped himself up, still a little dizzy from his fall…just how hard had he hit his head?
"Well Yuri, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw you going through the front gate." Flynn smiled as his friend glared up at him from his seated position on the marble walk. "You usually sneak in; it seems you derive enjoyment in outwitting my men."
The commandant was absolutely correct in that, at least. It was fun to find new ways sneak past those silly guards. Most of the time it wasn't even a challenge, and more than once Yuri had spotted them sleeping on the job.
"I'll make sure to never use the front entrance again," Yuri muttered, still annoyed by the nobles apparent lack of manners. Also, he thought with a half-concealed pout, it was no fun if Estelle and Flynn noticed him before he spotted them. Seeing the looks of surprise when he did manage to pull it off was priceless, except that Flynn had nearly cut off his head last time he had attempted to startle him. Perhaps it was a good thing he had been seen first, he had no desire to repeat that episode.
"Don't like being the one to be surprised?" Flynn half smirked as he offered a hand to his friend. Taking it, Yuri pulled himself up and dusted off his clothes, reluctant to admit that Flynn was right. He hated being surprised.
"Shouldn't you be working, commandant?" Yuri grumbled sourly, glancing over at his armored friend as Estelle watched with a small smile, knowing full well by now that this was getting along for the two men. "It seems to me like you're slacking off."
"I can afford a moment. Being commandant isn't nearly as demanding in times of peace as it is in times of war." Flynn replied with a small smirk as he readjusted his helmet. "I actually came to tell you to stay until I get a better chance to talk to you."
"I haven't done anything," Yuri half-exclaimed; when Flynn and Estelle both looked at him in bemusement, he had the sudden embarrassing feeling that that had nothing to do with whatever Flynn wanted to talk to him about "…recently." He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away awkwardly. Estelle giggled.
"That's not it, Yuri," Flynn said with a sigh of amusement, looking back towards the gate. "I will leave you now to talk with Lady Estellise, but remember," the commandant added, facing his childhood friend, "to wait until I get a chance to talk to you." There was a call from the main gate, and Flynn replied with a loud yell. "Coming!" He looked back at Yuri and Estelle, bowing politely "I will take my leave now." Then, Flynn began walking slowly down the marble pathway, back to the gate.
Yuri watched him silently for a moment, before a devilish grin bloomed across his face. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loudly as he could "It wouldn't have anything to do with the little lady you're seeing, would it!" Flynn stumbled for a moment, his face glowing bright red, before standing up straight once again and continued making his way back to the gate. Now they were even for the 'knocked down a few pegs' comment.
Turning to Estelle, who had made her way to his side while he had taunted Flynn, Yuri awkwardly offered her his arm. Laughing at his unease as much as his attempt to be formal, Estelle simply took his hand in hers and the two of them made their way to the peaceful garden.
Her company was always a pleasure. Always, she entertained him with her bright smile and sunny disposition. Her entertaining comments, her outlook on the world and differing viewpoint in their discourse always comforted him. Warm acceptance and trust, her actions weren't watched around him, and he knew that. Maybe he was being conceited, but he felt fairly certain that she was only really herself around him and away from the pressures of her social world. His eyes flickered again from the dress to her face.
Even though Yuri was listening to every word she was saying, he was distracted by the way her lips moved when she was talking. Her delicate smooth skin at her neck and small, feminine, rounded shoulders, her bright, lively green eyes and healthy, glowing, smooth skin; he was turning into a dirty old man. Yuri shook himself slightly and focused once again fully on her face; taking care to avoid looking directly at her supple, naturally pink-stained lips.
Flynn would kill him if he ever found out where his mind had begun to wander off to.
"Yuri?" Her innocent voice interrupted his thought for a moment and he realized he had fazed out of the conversation. He felt slightly guilty for his semi-impure thoughts; however short lived he had made sure they remained. Yuri grinned at her, holding her hand in his. Pleased with his reaction, she continued talking to him about an old technique she had found in an ancient library book and had attempted while dilly-dallying around with her sword.
From what he was able to understand between her enthusiastic grins and eager, the attack she had found was simple multi-strike technique that, more or less, disoriented the enemy and allowed an ally to fatally wound the opponent easily.
"…you see, in order for the technique to work, you have to strike at least three of the nine targeted areas!" Estelle continued, her eyes merry and bright as she passionately continued, Yuri listened, entertained by her little lecture. "So it works the best followed up by a combo attack…" She paused, and averted her eyes timidly, "…that is….theoretically." It was rather cute when she did that little finger thing…could he not focus for more than a few minutes? However, the rest of Estelle's statement did not go unheard, "I haven't exactly got to try it out since I've been stuck here…"
"Well, why don't we try it out now?" The swordsman suggested as he leaned closer to her and away from the ancient vine and moss covered stone wall he had been relaxing against just moments earlier. From the way Estelle's eyes lit up at the suggestion; Yuri knew it had been a good idea to bring Flamberge with him after all. Rising to his feet, he offered her a hand which she gladly took.
Minutes later, they stood opposite of one another, weapons drawn and a playful tension in the air. Yuri looked confident and relaxed, Flamberge mounted on his shoulder, and his ever present smirk in place. Estelle remained determined and focused, a rapier she had borrowed from the armory in her hand and a simple wooden shield in the other.
Apparently the council had relieved her of the weapons they had gathered on their journey together, Yuri thought with a thinly concealed frown. Also, it didn't seem that her current attire would be too appropriate for a little swordfight- but, she had fought in those same clothes when they had first met, so what did he know?
"All I'm going to try to do is stun you…" Estelle warned, "But don't make it easy for me!" She continued with her mind solely on the task at hand. Yuri, distracted, thought it was really cute when she was focusing like that. "If I can't stun you during a battle, this technique is not worth mastering!"
What?
He was so taken aback by her former comment that he barely had time to react as she swung viciously at his midsection, the rapier cutting smoothly through the air with a fierce whistle. She seemed distracted, he thought with a confused frown. Bringing Flamberge to his midsection, he barely managed to block her horizontal strike with a vertical one, the swordsman back flipped to get a better vantage point and to collect his fragmented psyche. This wouldn't be worth learning unless she managed to hit him with it? Was that a compliment or an insult?
Knowing Estelle, it was probably a compliment.
Again, he was snapped out of his reverie by another attack from the pink haired princess in which, once again he just only fended off. Spinning the ball of his foot and lithely twisting his body to avoid another strike, Yuri retorted with his own offensive. Estelle blocked the attack and threw it off. For being trapped in a castle for the past year; that is, for not out doing jobs for the guild and facing monsters often, her swordsmanship had improved considerably. He was rather impressed.
But it's not like I've not improved.
Confident on ending this quickly and avoiding a drawn-out spectacle, the swordsman fluidly brought his blade down vertically, knocking her diagonal strike off target. Her expression remained unchanged, almost calculating of what his next move might be. It was interesting to see this side of her, Yuri thought as he threw the blade into the air and grabbed it with his left hand, then twisted his body for more impact in his horizontal strike. Only a few moments later did he realize his mistake.
She blocked the strike before it even happened, knocking his left hand away from his body and little to nothing to defend himself with. But before he could retract his arm and retreat, Estelle swiftly rammed her shield-clad left arm into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him off balance momentarily. Yuri knew that right at that moment, he was screwed.
The strikes came quickly, a diagonal right slash for his right shoulder; immediately subtracting over half of his fighting power; a swift horizontal slice to his left hip; restricting his movement and speed; followed instantaneously by a thrust to his stomach; an attack that may have done much worse damage than a simple stun. Luckily, Estelle caught the attack half-way and held the blade inches from his abdomen, stopping the onslaught in the nick of time.
She had got him.
Adrenaline still pumping through the both of their veins and beads of sweat crowning their foreheads, they remained at a standstill. Their eyes met, their breathing slowed and the two slowly retracted and sheathed their respective weapons. Standing in the middle of the garden, heads pounding and the high of the earlier excitement wearing off, the pair was silent for several seconds, before the both of them broke out laughing.
That had been a massive fail on both of their parts.
"How come every time I see you two together, you're laughing?"
"That's because we're making fun of you, Flynn." Yuri replied, his tone mocking, half gasping for breath as he looked up at the approaching commandant. Flynn looked every bit as regal and commanding in his new armor as one might expect. And the magnificent orange and purple sunset behind him helped make for a dramatic entrance Yuri thought with a smirk, before pausing and stopping in awe for a moment. The sunset...had he and Estelle really been together for that long?
It had seemed like no time had passed at all.
"We were not!" Estelle huffed, poking Yuri in the shoulder, scolding him lightly. But he paid little attention to her lecture, his mind was still alert and his heartbeat was still racing. He was still on an adrenaline high- to him, it seemed like she was glowing. Flynn's next words snapped him out of his adrenaline-induced haze.
"I already know, Lady Estellise." Flynn didn't seem offended, if anything, it seemed he had expected Yuri's abrasive statement. The commandant smiled wryly as Yuri too, straightened his posture besides Estelle." It was quite entertaining the way you outwitted Yuri." He said, and Yuri briefly wondered if his childhood friend was trying to annoy him.
"Yuri was kind enough to let me test a technique I had only read about on him," Estelle said, quickly coming to the swordsman's defense. Yuri and Flynn looked to her in surprise. Suddenly the center of attention, the princess cradled her right hand in her left nervously. Then, looking up to the commandant, the princess finished her statement. "I'm sure he wasn't fighting to his fullest potential. If this had been a real fight…"
Noticing her discomfort, Yuri figured he'd let Flynn's comment slide this time.
"If it had been a real fight, you would have finished me." Yuri interrupted, before any more damage could be done. He hadn't taken the battle seriously enough, and he should have known not to underestimate her by now. It had been rude of him not to take their sparring match completely seriously, even after Estelle had even asked of him to. But even so, she had stunned him and completed her technique, and that had been enough, He would have to swallow his injured pride for now.
Estelle and Flynn looked at him in surprise, although it didn't last long. Flynn's look of surprise turned into a knowing smirk and Estelle's morphed into a self-conscious smile as her face flushed a healthy crimson. Yuri managed to only thinly mask his desire to smack Flynn across his knowing, smirking face; scowling at his friend and sending him the mental message that he'd better be grateful that Estelle was there…
"That aside, I'm afraid I have to steal Yuri from you for now, Lady Estellise." Flynn finally ended the short stillness. He turned to the smaller woman and bowed politely, in which she returned the polite gesture.
"I understand, Flynn." Estelle spoke, the bit of her hair that wasn't up falling into her face. As they straightened up, Estelle looked regretfully towards the sunset, before turning back to the commandant with a strained smile, "besides, it's getting late," she clenched her hands together, glancing over back to Yuri, who stood back and allowed the formal exchange, "and I should be retiring for the night soon anyway."
Sheepishly, the commandant rubbed the back of his neck, messing up some of his golden hair and looked to the mossy stone pathway that threaded itself through the gardens in slight discomfiture, "I'm sorry for interrupting your time together, but…"
"Don't be," Estelle said, trying to soothe his discomfort, "if you hadn't, I wouldn't have gone to bed until midnight." Estelle laughed, a little embarrassed herself. Such behavior was uncouth, and for now she had to behave to the laws of the upper class. Yuri watched her, her last comment ringing a bell in his memory.
Midnight…
"Good night Commandant, goodnight Yuri." Estelle muttered, turning away from them and walking down the pathway, out of the garden. She glanced back, a look of thinly veiled disappointment on her face, before turning and heading into the caste, leaving the two men to their devices.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Yuri began curtly, after he was sure Estelle was out of earshot, and not allowing Flynn to speak before him. He knew something was up if Flynn refused to speak of it in front of Estelle. It couldn't be good news.
"I have suspicions about the council." Flynn, too, was curt. Yuri was unsurprised; the council did a poor job of hiding their intentions. Flynn's expression turned grim as he continued, his tone somewhat sarcastic while being completely serious, "And whenever there's something suspicious going on, you tend to somehow be involved."
Heh.
Flynn wasn't as dimwitted as Yuri had taken him for.
"And how do you figure?" Yuri said, trying to brush off his friend's notions, even if they were well-earned, much less correct. The swordsman glanced upwards from the grey and mossy stone pathway to se Flynn cross his arms across his chest. Yuri suddenly had a feeling that Flynn was about to corner him.
"I saw you eavesdropping on those members of the elite." The commandant began, frowning when Yuri flinched, obviously cornered now. "And then I saw you hiding from them." Flynn glanced over at the silent swordsman with a look of thinly veiled triumph as Yuri sighed in defeat.
"You got me." He shrugged, the tone of his voice almost nonchalant. Yuri stretched, closing his eyes and opening his ears. There was a slight rustle from his left, but that was just Flynn. It seemed like they were completely alone. He turned back to his friend, just in time to meet the commandants challenging, almost demanding gaze.
"Yuri, what did they say?" Flynn's tone was curious, yet nervous. Yuri didn't like this, this sense of urgency that seemed to roll off the commandant in waves. Flynn's rigid posture, his tense movements and hurried voice, it worried him. Just how much did Flynn know, and just how much trouble was the Empire in?
"Why you so interested?" Yuri said in an attempt to divert some of the anxiety, and in the process find out exactly what Flynn might know. He kept his ears open and eyes trained on the area behind Flynn in case of eavesdroppers. This conversation could take a turn for the worse and Yuri had a sneaking suspicion that it might. He didn't want anyone to overhear them, things could get really ugly.
"They've been suspicious as of late," Flynn began, then added, "more than usual, that is. Although they rarely have to show up in the capital, they've been here constantly since late last year." Yuri could understand how that might seem a little off- wait, late last year? Flynn didn't notice his friends discomfort and continued with a tone akin to annoyance. "They've kept Ioder and I busy constantly with all sorts of frivolous things."
"It must be tough being so popular." Yuri laughed, still trying to diffuse the tension- and his mind off of Flynn's comment about the start of the council's pesky interferences. His effort wasn't appreciated as Flynn turned to him, and with a tone of ice, hit home.
"I could say the same for you in regards to Lady Estellise."
"That has nothing to do with this." Yuri snapped, suddenly defensive. He didn't want her to get involved, if she wasn't already. The elite arriving in Zaphias around the time that Estelle was demanded to stay wasn't already sitting too well with him. Flynn, however, forged ahead into the territory that the swordsman so wanted to avoid.
"You think they'd really let her go?" Flynn muttered mockingly, turning away in frustration as Yuri tensed. "They probably plan to marry her off to some preapproved noble as backup incase Ioder dies off or is…overthrown." The sickening words spoken, Yuri caved and faced away from his friend. Flynn, surprised, looked up, not expecting the reaction from the swordsman. ""Yuri, is something wrong? You seem distracted."
"…this isn't the best place to discuss this." Yuri said, his tone gone cold as he and Flynn faced each other. They were in danger, too much danger, of being overheard here. If that happened, their suspicions and little knowledge they had wouldn't help them any.
"So you do know something." It wasn't an accusation so much as a statement. Darkness had finally fallen and half-bathed in the young nights moonlight, Yuri looked away as the full reality of what they were getting into struck him like the chilly night breeze. This was not going to be a pleasant experience.
"Not enough." Yuri replied, his eyes and ears still firmly trained on their surroundings, harder to do in the dark. It sounded like someone was approaching them from the gate, still too far to have overheard anything important. Flynn sighed, pleased with the implication that the swordsman was intent on finding out more.
"Fine," The commandant had sensed their imminent visitor, apparently. He turned from his childhood friend as he prepared to leave the gardens to avoid arousing anymore suspicion. "We'll talk about this later."
"That's a good idea."
Sand stirred up by the wind would've got into any other travelers face or eyes, but not this one. Blonde hair whipped wildly in the fierce wind that was summoned around the plotting woman as gold eyes trained on the glowing lake narrowed in delight. Her red-headed companion looked to her in astonishment as the wind suddenly died, the sand falling to the ground, encircling the woman.
"It looks like something is about to get interesting." She spoke, her voice shaking in delight. Maybe this world would be spared after all; the longer she remained entertained, the better. She closed her eyes and basked in the rosy glow from the water. "Yuri Lowell…"
What was she planning now?
Opening her golden eyes, she extended a tanned arm out over the water, inserting a mere finger below the surface. She spoke again, her face delighted and the tone of her voice ringing childishly cruel.
"This is what will happen, Lowell, this is your fate."
I love Flynn... I hope I didn't mess Him, Yuri, and Estelle up too much. This chapter, like I mentioned earlier, was a tough chapter to write. I originally wasn't going to have Flynn notice, but, he's too smart not to pick up on things like this. If you have any comments or advice, please leave it in a review. Reviews are always appreciated.
"Only six more months, we only have six months until we can bring this plan to fruition!"
"Why are you doing this?"
"I'm...fine."