So, with number 2, let's see if this was worth it. Yes, as soon as I get to Ylisse, it'll be the traditional chapter one and such.
Anyway, without much more ado...and I think maybe a title whenever this goes up. I don't know yet, but something will come up...I hope...
Prologue 2
Missing the point
I never had to think of anything really big before...aside from my reading.
Seems that everything else wanted me to actually think about that.
Everything conspired...to make me act
if Fate were a person...I'd enjoy strangling it...
Lessons had finished up for me for the day thankfully. Annoyingly however, the class was kept in until nightfall, which was pretty late by anyone's standards. I somehow got outside, yawning as I realised I was done and worn out.
The night air was cool, calm, almost enjoyable as I pulled a drink bottle from my pocket, opening the thing up and cracking my neck. The skies were clear, with stars clear for a good distance. The rest of the university students were filing out, either walking, grabbing a bus or heading to the car park.
As for me, I just waited for a bit, keeping an eye on the skies, relaxing and wondering what I was going to do. It was late enough that I'd pretty much be stuck alone for the evening when the flatmates are out. Too early for bed so...
"Seems you do a lot" I heard someone speak. I blinked twice as I turned, taking a quick swig of my drink and seeing a woman leaning against a wall. Oddly familiar, but I didn't know her name.
"You again?" I asked. She nodded, walking over to me. "Didn't realise I left that much of a mark" She half chuckled at this point, shaking her head.
"Well, bumping into someone who seems familiar...in my eyes it means something" She replied, doing a small bow. "But apologies, I owe you my name and you owe me yours" She had a point there.
"Craig Appleby" I held my hand out. "You would be..." she shook my hand, but paused for a bit in her response.
"Ruby..." she replied, giving me a wink. "Ruby Hanesta" Hanesta...well that's...Exotic. Ruby's a beautiful name though. "Apologies for calling you Elias earlier"
"Forget it. I'd probably do the same in the situation..." She is good looking...maybe I could bring her home... Oh like I would. She's out my league either way. "So...what can I do for you Miss Hanesta?"
"Ruby, please. And...it's a long story" She started walking down the path. "Come on...I'll explain as we walk" I raised an eyebrow as she paused, turning to me. "What?"
"I've known you the space of 15 seconds, and you want me to just follow you right now?" She nodded. "And I'm expected to trust you, because..." She shrugged.
"Honestly, I'm not giving you a reason...I just have a feeling you will" She turned, walking away once more, her arms behind her back. "Besides, walking with a cute girl like me...should be a bonus for you" I wouldn't say cute. Good looking, yes, but cute...arguable.
I sighed, shaking my head and just going over the options quickly. It would burn off a couple of hours at least. And who knows, it might actually be worth something. And what else am I actually going to be doing tonight, sit around playing games or doing work. Who the hell knows really.
"Damn it Craig...you're going to kill yourself doing this one day" I said to myself, walking after the girl, leaving the university grounds and heading down the road. This had better be worth it.
Let me make something...clear right now. I can't really get anywhere with girls. Most I get is friends, and then you don't really get one to one moments like this. I looked Ruby up and down, taking in her clothes again. They didn't look...normal. I mean, granted, they were unique so that wouldn't blend in, but...I don't know. They're too fancy to be replica plates and just your average leather, but not fancy enough to be the real deal. And that tome didn't look like it was for show.
We were heading towards the city centre, heading by numerous party goers and indeed the guys who want takeaways and such. We were both following the trend, if a little slower then the rest. Ruby was looking up and down at the establishments we passed, almost in an all too curious manner.
Eventually, we stopped at a back alley, Ruby looking around as we stopped. I raised an eyebrow, noting exactly where we were. A shop and a chippy were next to us, with a club over the road, so we were on the outskirts of the party if that makes any sense. The club music was clearly evident, hell, I could attempt to name the songs.
The thing is...I know Ruby wasn't bringing me out here just to go partying. Something else was afoot. She threw her cape up as she turned down the alley.
"First things first" she spoke, disappearing into the shadows. "If your anything like Elias, you'll need these" I shook my head.
"Ruby, I don't even know who the hell Elias is. Care to fill me in?" I moaned.
"He's my partner" Oh, well, that sunk that boat. "Sadly I lost track of him, but that's no matter right now as I'm sure you can fit the part" a comasoama? Someone just tell me what she is talking about.
"O...K..." whatever else am I meant to say? 'oh that makes perfect sense Missy, shall we also go to Hogwarts?'
"So far him and I have had a few...issues during our...travels" She soon reappeared, carrying something in her hand. "So I'm having to make a few alterations to the plan I had" plan? What the hell are you on about? "Catch"
She threw something long and thin towards me, and instinctively I caught it, only just managing to see it in the street light. It was a sword sheath...European style for a longsword, even holding the blade. I pulled on the sheath, seeing the blade inside. Why was she giving me this? I re-sheathed it, shaking my head.
"OK...yeah...Miss, I'm going to say your a little mental about now" I told her. She threw her cloak up, grabbing the longsword inside and unsheathing it, her's looking a lot fancier then mine. "Although you don't look insane"
"Tonight's the night Craig" She spoke, stepping out into the street and looking up. "Any...time...now"
She pointed to the skies, looking serious as all hell. I followed where she was pointing, raising an eyebrow. There was...nothing. I saw a plane go over head, people looking at us in the street commenting on how we looked mental and/or really good cosplayers. If I'm cosplaying in a leather jacket then it's something new for me.
And then...the most weird thing happens that you can possibly imagine...
A giant white eye outline appears in the sky over the city. I gasped, backing up slightly from fear, but got a hand put on my back. It just...sat there...watching us. A massive pure white outline of an eye, eclipsing everything in the sky around it.
And then...a massive purple eye opened with in. I guess that makes the White the outline and the purple...yeah. Makes sense when you thi- why am I thinking about this now? I can see a load of black dots on it, each one falling like tears from it.
"And so it begins" Ruby spoke. I looked at her, seeing her crack her neck. "Whatever happens tonight, know this: if you want to keep this place safe, you must slay as many of them as you can" I turned to Ruby wondering what the hell she was talking about.
Suddenly, a dull thud resounded around me, coming from behind. I quickly turned to it, seeing a figure crouched low, wearing what I can only describe as old medieval leather. You know the type, brown, taut, military style. Hell, he was even holding an axe in his hand.
"Stand here" Ruby told me, stepping in front of me, spinning her sword in her hand. "Let me show you how it's done" Do I even want to know how it's done right now? She stood between me and the...thing, taking a two handed stance, even though her sword wasn't long enough for it.
The creature...yeah, I've given up on trying to think of a name for it, it's not human. It slowly lifts up it's head, looking almost exactly like a human, with dark skin and...weird...glowing...eyes? OK, that ain't right, I don't care who that is. Ruby shifts her stance, holding the blade near her shoulder, pointing the end towards the...thing. Terror was still coursing through me, but Ruby...she looked as cool as ice.
It started to run at her, Ruby counter charging after shouting something like 'Avanti', both running as fast as they could. The thing swung it's axe over it's head, Ruby swinging her blade to block the swing, a clatter of steel on steel resounding around us. At this point...I'd have probably frozen, unable to think of what to do.
Ruby just smiled, knocking the blade up and jumping back, the axe coming back down in front of her. She charged back forwards, planting a foot on the shaft of the axe, running along it before jumping, running the blade through the creature's skull. She landed the other side, quickly spinning around and swinging the blade through the thing another 5 times, too quick for me to see. All I knew was that the creature ended up with a multitude of wounds through it, cutting through to the other side.
It looked at me, charging towards me even though it looked like it was pretty much dead. I heard a growl coming from it, then seeing it charge too fast towards me. My eyes shot open wide, my legs freezing in place, even though I wanted to flee. I dropped the sword, hearing it clatter to the ground a few times.
And all I did...was put my arms over my head and kneel down. Not my finest hour, I'll admit. I did my best not to look at it, only hearing it running at me. It growled extremely close to me.
"Craig!" Ruby yelled. I heard another few shrill sounds, the growling ceasing, only replaced by people screaming in the distance. I slowly opened my eyes, seeing the thing just looking at me. I was shaking so much it was hard to tell if it was moving at all.
The glow from it's eyes faded, it's grip on the axe going as it fell to the ground. It eventually decided it had been here long enough, falling to the ground, the axe clattering as it did so. Ruby was stood there, holding her sword in a stance like a Samurai had just taken a swing. She move back to her old position, swinging her sword down before holding a hand out for me.
"It all happens tonight Craig" She told me, now the sounds of the rest of the city screaming in panic. Those...things must have been attacking people everywhere. "Stick with me...I'll get you to safety" I looked at her, seeing her looking too calm right now.
"Why me?" I asked her, still untrusting of her considering. She sighed, shaking her head.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" She replied. That doesn't help at all. "Right now, my job is simple: keep you safe. And if it takes me the whole of tonight, that's what I will damn well do" She bent down to my level, taking her hand and placing it against her knee. "I know that you have a fondness for the tales of knights, of swords and cavalry" wait...how does she...I looked at her, confusion reigning in my fear.
"Who are you?" I ask her again. She smiles, giving me a wink.
"I told you...my name is Ruby" She gave a small chuckle at this point. "If you pick up the sword and fight, I promise I will protect you...you could get some good practise in at the same time" practise? NO, what I need is a psychotherapist. Or failing that, a mental asylum.
I paused, looking at her and her too calm demeanour. She was too calm...too cool about all this. I was expected to put my life in her hands, to just...give her everything I had at this moment and throw in my lot. Something fucking weird was going on, that much was certain, but how did I know she wasn't behind it, that she wasn't doing this?
Why am I even asking this? Giant eyes don't open in the sky, dropping...minions down to wreak havoc where they see fit. Swords don't become the god given weapon to slay anything in an age of guns. And mysterious girls who are, granted very good looking, suddenly know a lot about me when we didn't know of each other this frickin' morning. Or maybe that's just me. I hope it's not just me.
Not just me? Thank you.
But...saying that...what other choice did I really have? She lowered her hand, reaching for the sword she had given me earlier and grabbing it, lifting it up and examining it quickly. For what I really didn't see when I first had it...it was a very simple hilt. Weird when I thought about it. She closed her eyes and nodded, throwing the whole thing up and letting it spin in the air before catching it, sheath first, pointing the pommel at me.
"Take your fate in your own hands" She told me. I looked down to one side, quickly thinking things through, and then making my decision.
"Not like I have much of a choice" I spoke, reaching out and grabbing the sword, taking it out of the sheath and taking a tight grip with it. I stood up as well, playing a bit with my grip of it, making sure it was comfortable in my hand. Ruby stood up, looking me up and down before putting a hand on her chin, smiling.
"So...I know where we will be safe...:" She told me, flipping her sword in her hand. "That will be the best place for you to go right now...and it just so happens to fit with my plan" I put the sheathe under my belt, sighing.
"Why don't I like the sound of that?"
"Oh, relax, you'll be fine" easy for you to say. You've probably done this before. And if not then your a total badass. "I've got your back...and for what it's worth, I'm legendary with this stuff" Should I even ask?
"Well, to get it over and done with...let's get going" I say to her. She nods, turning around and jogging away. I put the sword over my shoulder, jogging after her.
I had no idea what was really going on...don't think I really wanted to.
All I really knew was that things were going to hell in a hand basket.
The mysterious Ruby guiding me through this war zone of pain and death...
seemed she was the only one who could help me right about now...
someone I didn't know being my last hope. Never been there before.
Not much left, I swear.