The facility
Ziz sat down at the table with the man to begin another game of chess. As they played, he noticed the man was acting strange. Ziz decided to ask him what was wrong.
"Are you alright? You've been acting strangely today. Is there anything I can do to help?" Ziz asked with a slight tone of concern in his voice.
"I'm fine thank you, but something has come to my attention. Something that will eventually affect us whether we like it or not. We were not the only ones who survived. There are others. But they are different from us, they are more…" the man paused, looking for the right word. "They are more aggressive than us. They have not found us, and most likely never will. But in case they do we must be prepared to defend ourselves." The man said with a look of disappointment on his face.
"So you will train me?" Ziz asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Yes, but first there are some things you must always remember before you can pick your weapon. The first being the you should never aim your gun at something you do not intend to kill. The second thing to know is that you must care for your weapons, if you don't then they will break when you need them the most. The final thing to know before we start our training is that never start a fight if you could avoid the conflict all together. Now, it's time to choose your weapons." The man motioned for Ziz to follow him into a room he had not yet been in. This room, unlike the others he had been in, was smaller. It contained nothing but firearms. Rifles, pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, light machine guns, and revolvers. Aside from the normal firearms were some unusual weapons. From what Ziz could make out from their labels there were flamethrowers, laser rifles, plasma rifles, missile launchers, grenade launchers, and mini-guns.
"What is all of this?" Ziz asked.
"The armory. I hoped we wouldn't have to use this stuff, but looks like fate had other plans. I'll go get some of the ones more suited for your size." The man gathered some small arms and placed them on the table in the middle of the room. He then grabbed some rifles and submachine guns and placed them on the table.
"Which ones do you like?" the man asked as he stood behind the table. Ziz walked up to the table and looked at all his choices. The first he picked out was a lever-action rifle which had the words 'Ol' Reliable' engraved on each side. He held it in his hands, feeling the grooves of the rifle, he felt the weight of rifle in his hands.
"Do you like it? Is it to your liking?" the man asked.
"It's quite nice. I'll take it." Ziz said with a smile. The man motioned to the small arms on the table. Ziz looked over at the smaller caliber firearms on the right side of the table. He found three weapons to his liking. Two of which were revolvers. The first revolver was the largest of the two, it had a custom grip with an extended barrel. It also had glowing sights which helped to illuminate any dark areas, it was painted jet black. He felt the weight of the large revolver in his hand, it was certainly a heavy sidearm but one that would come in handy should he need a hard-hitting backup weapon. Ziz then picked up the smaller revolver was painted white except for a black four-leafed clover on each side of it. It was considerably lighter than the first one. He inspected the smaller revolver and found it to be above satisfactory. The last of the small arms he found to his liking was a Beretta with an extended magazine, laser sight, extended barrel, and custom receiver. As he scanned over the weapon he noticed an engraving on the grip of it. But what made this different from the lever-action rifle was that it did not show words, but rather an image. The image was of a skull and two crossed swords. Ziz quite liked this design so he took it.
"Good picks. I would have chosen the same ones." the man said with a smile. "Now, last but certainly not least you should pick out a heavy weapon for yourself. You might not need it, but it could certainly make things easier in combat." Ziz moved over to the left side of the table, waiting for the man to bring back the last assortment of weapons. The man brought over all he could carry to the table. He set down a small rifle-looking weapon that had a spout looking barrel and a place where a flame would be lit under the barrel. The next weapon that Ziz saw him place down on the table was a long weapon that at the end the barrel was split in two, much like a tuning fork. But what interested him was not its odd shape, but rather the fact that there was electricity arching between the two sides of the barrel. The last one being a weapon that had a wooden stock with a short but wider barrel and a pump under the barrel.
"I'll take all three." Said Ziz. The man looked at him surprised, but put up no protest in his decision. The man then walked away and came back with the holsters for the side-arms and a strap for the rifle.
"Let's go to the range to practice." The man said while pick up some weapons for himself. The man led him to another room. This one was even smaller than the armory. It had two small stalls where a person would stand. On the walls were cardboard targets in the shape of a human's silhouette with circles around the vital organs and brain. Ziz looked over to the man who was simply standing there, staring at the targets.
"Are you alright?" Ziz asked the man. The man seemed to have been snapped out of his hypnotic state.
"I'm fine thank you. I was just reminiscing about something. Something that happened a long time ago." Ziz cocked his head in curiosity and in response the man chuckled.
As they trained they talked to each other, much like when they would play chess.
Sitri Manor
As the sun shined through the window, Ziz stretched his arms out with a yawn. He began to collect his thoughts as he dressed himself for the day. He heard a knock at his door. He got up and walked towards it. As he opened it, he heard multiple female voices talking to one another. At the door, stood two young women that were both wearing maid uniforms. The one standing to the right took a step forward and introduced herself.
"Hello Ziz, my name is Annalise." She said with a bow. Ziz looked her over. She had a beautiful face and ample bust, her dark green eyes complimenting her light brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She had a small fang stick out from her mouth. As she turned around, making her short stature, Ziz saw something moving in between her legs.
"What's that between your legs?" Ziz inquired.
"It's my tail! Oh! I forgot to mention I'm a succubus!" she proclaimed. He thought to himself, where had he heard that term used before? He would have to check on that later.
As Annalise was sauntering back to her original place, the taller woman walked towards Ziz. As she walked up to him, he could not help but notice her bust, it was only a bit larger than Annalise's but that did not detract from its size. She looked deep into his eyes and bowed slowly, following his eye movements. She noticed he seemed to be staring at her breasts, so she wanted to get a read on him.
"Hello master Ziz, my name is Kuraki, and I am a nine-tailed fox. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She said in a serious tone. As he looked at the older maid he noticed many things that shocked him. The first being her ears. Normally a person would have their ears on the side of their head not on the top of it. Not to mention she had ears of a fox which were coated in greyish-silver fur. Her large bushy tail which had the same coloration. Her eyes were the color of cyan and her free-flowing hair was baby blue. As he was finished looking her over he replied "And it is a pleasure to meet you." He said in a slightly nervous tone.
"I don't mean to be rude, but why are you two here?" Ziz asked wondering who could have sent them.
"We were sent here by lady Leviathan to assist with your daily activities." Kuraki said in a nervous tone.
"Well, thank you for helping me out. As you can already tell, I'm new here so the assistance is greatly appreciated." Ziz said, trying to put on a kind face. "Just let me gather my things and we can go." Ziz exclaimed with a small smile forming on his face.
As Ziz was walking down the hall with the two maids in tow, he noticed a familiar man walking in the hall. It was Sona's pawn, Saji.
"Hey Ziz! How did you sleep?" Saji said as he approached him.
"I slept well, how about yourself?" Ziz asked.
"Great, however Sona kept nagging me to stop taking the covers. She can be quite brutal when it comes to punishment so I just decided to cede the blankets to her." Saji said with a sigh.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you meant well." Ziz said in an empathetic tone, giving him a soft pat on the back.
"Thanks man, I really appreciate it. By the way, who are those two women behind you?" Saji asked.
"They are my assistants, apparently. Serafall saw fit to give me two maids to assist me with my daily activities. I can't say I mind, to be totally honest. They have been good company so far." At this statement both Annalise and Kuraki inched a bit closer to Ziz, feeling a bit more welcome.
"Well, let's go to the dining hall, shall we?" Ziz said in a cheery tone. He then thought to himself as to why he would say it like that. Why was he being so cheery? Had Serafall's personality rubbed off on him? As Ziz and Saji walked in front of Annalise and Kuraki, the latter of the two began to whisper to one another.
"Do you think the new master will treat us fairly?" Annalise asked Kuraki.
"So far, I can't tell. But from what I can tell is that he seems like a fair man." Kuraki replied to Annalise.
As the four approached the dining hall, the clanging and tinging of silverware and food platters could be heard. Saji and Ziz opened the large, wooden doors and held them for the two maids.
Inside the dining hall. Dozens of servants could be seen getting ready for the morning feast. As Saji and Ziz looked for a good place to sit the two maids followed them. Once the two men had taken a seat, the maids stood behind the chair that Ziz was sitting in.
"Good morning my wonderful queen!" Serafall greeted as she entered the dining hall with Sona and Tsubaki not far behind. She sat down with Ziz, while Sona and Tsubaki sat near Saji.
"Shall we begin breakfast? Cause I'm starving!" Saji said with excitement. As they received their food, they all began to devour their dishes all except for one.
"Ziz why aren't you eating your food? Is it not to you liking?" Serafall said in a concerned tone.
"No, that's not why." Ziz said shyly.
"Then why?" asked Serafall.
"Because they aren't sitting down to eat with us." Ziz said, pointing to his assistants. Serafall motioned for them to both sit down, she then asked for two more platters of food, each for one of the maids. Annalise sat closest to him while Kuraki sat next to Annalise.
There was one thing that Kuraki couldn't understand. Why did he speak up for them? Ever since she was a child, she was always under someone else's rule. Whether it be her abusive orphanage, her boss at her first job, or her now ex-boyfriend. They had all used her. Never seeing her as a person. It was only when she was accepted into the Sitri Manor staff that she knew what if felt like to be cared for. Serafall was a kind and fair ruler, and Kuraki wouldn't choose anybody else. So, when she was asked by Serafall to look after her newly acquired queen, she was both delighted and honored to do so. She was astonished to hear him speak of not only her but also of Annalise as equals, not underlings. It was something she never really experienced from a man, and it was something she liked.
As breakfast came to a close, Serafall got the attention of everyone in the room.
"Ziz, there is something I have to tell you. The reason why I had those two maids become your personal maids it twofold. First, they will be helping you with your training and other daily activates. Second they are to act as your bodyguards." Serafall said in the most serious of tones.
"What do I need bodyguards for?" Ziz asked in a worried voice.
"Just in case someone tries to target you. No one has yet, but they might try and make a name for themselves by killing you. Do you understand Ziz?" Serafall asked.
"Yes, I understand." Ziz said.
"So, it's time for your new training regimen!" Annalise said with an energetic cheer as Ziz raised an eyebrow in curiosity as to what this newly created regimen might include.
Alright! that's it for this chapter! Tell me what you think, what you liked, and what you didn't. Also feel free to give some constructive criticism.
