Other Destined
The trio soon arrived in Claiborne. Using 1500 Gella from the spending money that Virginia and Jet had given the twins, they purchased three fine young horses. Lilka's mare was brown, just like her hair. Her brother has a white coated stallion, matching his hair as well. And Cecille had gotten a mare with a gray coat. Once they finished that, Lilka brought some supplies from Roykman, who was still traveling after
seventeen years. Then, they went to the saloon to plot their next destination, and make a plan.
"We've got to find the final warrior," Lilka stated, "But, we also need some Gella if we're going to be traveling awhile. So, maybe we should take on a job or two in order to earn some pocket money before we try a hard search. After all, we have absolutely no solid leads about the fourth member of the team."
"Why don't you try the new ruin that was just discovered? It's located inside of the mountain, near Serpent's Coils. An ancient rockslide buried the entrance, but the earthquake we had last month has made it visible again. I'm sure that there's plenty of treasure to be found in a place like that, where no Drifter has set foot in," Martina told them. Now that she was all grown up, she ran the saloon for her sickly mother.
It sounded like a good lead to them. Go through a ruin, find the treasure within, and get Gella both from the monsters inside and from selling the treasures they found. So, they saddled up the horses and went towards it. Lilka was naming hers Cocoa, Ashley wanted to call his Shimmer, and Cecille rather liked Blur. The young woman gave a shout of joy when she first ran on Cocoa's back, it was much different from her old sidesaddle that she would sit in as a kid, when her mother rode Hikari from place to place.
* * *
Once inside, they learned they weren't the first to arrive. Bullet casings from a recently fired ARM lay on the ground. From the looks of things, there were at least four people, as four different types of bullet could be found. There was a pistol, a machine gun, a bazooka, and a Gatling gun. Lilka then realized how ill prepared her team was for this venture, they couldn't take on four people with their tiny band. Maybe they could kill large groups of monsters, but people thought about how to fight, monsters charged ahead blindly. Virginia and Jet never had uneven odds, the most they ever fought at a time was four people, but they had a team of four, and Maya sometimes charged ahead like a monster and didn't think about how to fight against her opponents effectively. She never listened to Alfred's strategy ideas either, relying only on her books.
They continued to search around, anyway. But they found no trace of the humans who had entered before. Ashley thought maybe they had come in the other day, but Lilka disagreed. Being the heir to the sacred throne of Adlehyde, as well as having her father's blood, had given her sharper senses than any other person she knew. She could feel a human's presence in the air, just couldn't pinpoint the number of them that had come in as well. He and Cecille took her on her word, they knew what she could do.
Along the way, they found chests containing Gella, and healing items. One thing they found was a whole room dedicated to Elemental and Status Wards. Prism Crowns and Full Libras hung there as if they were just simple decorative pieces. That didn't sit well with the trio, knowing what those Gears were able to do for them. They each took a Prism Crown and a Full Libra, and placed it on the first slot in their Guardian so they could take advantage of the PS each one gave. Then, they used all their points in order to make the two be at full. Now, the team was protected against all that came their way. Of course, there wasn't much left for them to use PS on, and Cecille had no skills that would be useful at all for her points.
Soon, they found a treasure room like no other. Wall to wall was covered in golden artifacts, each looking like they were worth ten thousand Gella at the most and only if a greed merchant who cheated his customers was the one who they were selling it to. Lilka took down a gold scepter, and examined the gem encrusted sides. It had to be worth well over a hundred thousand Gella, and she would know. She wasn't the daughter of Jet Enduro for nothing, she knew the value of the things she found lying around.
A voice called out, "So, you've found the treasure house. Not bad, for novices. But now you'll be giving all the gems and gold to me, Leon Vanderbuilt the Drifter extraordinaire." A boy of about fourteen came in the room. He had short blond hair and brown eye. His shirt was red, his pants brown, and a black vest with sleeves was on top of the shirt. Black leather boots were on his feet, and he also had a leather belt to hold up his pants. There was a pistol holster on his right side, and a machine gun holster on the left. The large pack on his back was actually just a holder for straps to keep a bazooka and Gatling in place.
Ashley looked at him. "You're kind of young to be out on your own in a place like this. Does your mother know that you've gone off to play in the ruins, or are you trying to run away from home?"
"She knows," the boy replied, "She sent me here to look for treasure. I'm a Drifter, like my mother and father. But mother hurt her back in a recent accident, so it's fallen on me to keep the family's honor alive. Now, are you going to give me the gems, or do I have to shoot you with my ARM before you get the message? I don't tolerate people who come out here to play Drifter, they don't last long in battle."
"We're not playing! We just happen to be on a sacred mission for the Guardians. They visited us and told us that we're the only hope Filgaia has when the coming darkness approaches," Lilka stated.
Leon inquired, "By Guardians, do you mean the protectors of the world? Hah, don't make me laugh. Mere armatures couldn't hope to be chosen by such divine beings as those. You're just pulling my leg. If you want to see a Guardian, get a load of this." He pulled an object out of his pocket. The three Drifters went in closer to see what it was. As they looked, they saw the familiar shape of a Medium.
Lilka was shocked. "Then, you're the fourth warrior from the prophecy. Wait, we're not enemies. We've got to work together for the good of all life on Filgaia. Come with us Leon, we'll fight as one.
"This is my fateful companion, Ge Ramtos," Leon told them, "Guardian of Death, quite fitting if you ask me. Now then, if you won't surrender the jewels, you die. I have no desire of hanging around with a bunch of weaklings like you. And the state of the world doesn't concern me in the least."
- - - -
Teefa's Last Words…
Yeah. I figured giving them those Wards at the start would be good, certainly much easier than keeping track of Elements and Status on paper. I've got their PS written down, but I might forget what is on.
~Ge Ramtos~
Doom Circle-Dark attack
Armageddon-Instant Death
Divide-Cuts HP in half
Guarder-A shield against Instant Death
(PS: Dark Ward, Fallen Ward, Counter)
All four of them have on Total Ward and Elemental Ward as well. And Leon can be fourteen because Calamity Jane in Wild ARMs 1 was fourteen.