I've realized that I've made a few grammar errors in my story so far. If you're one of the guys who always get's bothered for an out of place comma then I apologize. I just never got the hang of using commas so please bear with me on this. (It's a little embarrassing, considering the fact that I'm a junior in high school)
Chapter 7: Secrets
"Lord Hecate! We found this boy sifting through some of our supplies in the basement." An armored knight said standing at attention in front of his employer and his family. The young boy the knight had next to him had a torn brown shirt, dirty dark green shorts, messy white hair, calm blue eyes, smudged pale skin and looked no older than 8.
"How did this boy get past the guards and as far as the basement?" Hecate asked. He had slicked back brown hair, a rather small mustache, brown eyes and a brown suit with an olive green under-shirt. His wife also had black hair, a sky blue gown with strange embodiments all over it and sparkling crimson eyes. Standing behind them were their 2 children. A young girl with long black hair and a boy with short black hair. Both of them had their mother's crimson eyes.
"Um.. Well… you see." The guard stammered and tried to think of a good explanation as to how a young boy managed to get past dozens of armed knights.
"It wasn't their fault." The boy spoke up. "There was a small hole in your wall that I managed to crawl through. I used it a bunch of times before." This statement sort of relaxed the guard knowing that some of the blame will now be focused on the people in charge of construction.
"I see…" Hecate said as he looked at the boy and then at the guard. He then walked over and knelt down to the boy's level. "Hello there young man, I'm James Hecate, the owner of this place, and behind me is my Wife, Clara and my sun and daughter. What's you name?"
"Sol." The boy replied.
"Where's your family?"
"Don't have one." The boy said.
Hecate looked at the boy with concern and stood up. "Then how would you like to stay here? That way you wouldn't have to keep on sneaking in and out of here."
The boy's face lit up. "Really? You mean it?"
Hecate nodded with a smile on his face. "Guard, get this boy some clean clothes and some food. We'll wait in the main hall." As the guard ran off he stood and turned to his Children. "Well? Don't be rude now. Introduce yourselves" He said.
The son stepped back behind his mothers dress in a shy manner. "Don't be so shy Soma. It's not like he'll bite or anything."
Next, the girl stepped forward. "Hello there. I'm Luna and that boy over there is my brother Soma. Welcome to our home." Luna smiled and extended her hand. Sol smiled back and shook it.
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Sol skidded back as he parried another one of Soma's devastating blows. "Why!?" Soma yelled. "Why did you betray us!? My family accepted you without a second thought and you still you destroyed everything we fought for." Soma and Sol's blades clashed against each other again. Soma pushed Sol back and punched him in the gut.
Sol flew back against a tree and fell; he staggered up and coughed up a little blood. "Why do you ask if you know you're going to get the same answer?" Sol grinned. "You wouldn't understand."
Soma snapped and charged forward and leaped into the air. He plunged his blade deep into the ground as Sol dodged his strike. Soma spin kicked Sol away as he got up and moved in for the kill. Soma slashed across Sol's chest as he was still in the air, the blood spraying on his white armor. As Sol crashed to the ground, Soma relaxed his stance. "If you won't give me an answer then that's just fine." He pointed his blade at his enemy. "I'll take my revenge either way." As Soma twitched forward, he saw a black aura surrounding Sol's body. "So… you went this far huh Sol?" Soma commented.
As the aura surrounded Sol, his wound began to close and the aura hardened into armor. Before long, Sol was completely encased in the armor of a rank F black knight. "I can go this far without losing it. But I have to wrap this up quick." Sol readied his katana. "Come and get some."
Soma grinned. "Very well. I'll fight on your level." Soma's armor seemed to twist and grow as he transformed into a Rank F Paladin. The 2 warriors charged towards each other.
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Approximately 30 min earlier
Lydia blocked an attack from one of the knights attacking and grabbed his arm. She picked him up and slammed him, head first, into the ground and dodged another attack from her left. She stomped down on the sword as it went down, breaking the blade and kicked the knight in the face. 3 other knights flew over her head as Rudi smashed through more of them. Before long, the dozen or so knights in the clearing were moaning and/or unconscious on the ground, "These guys were no challenge at all! It's embarrassing what passes as a knight these days. Don't you think so Rudi?" Rudi simply grunted in confirmation. Suddenly, a loud scream was heard in the woods, "That can't be good." Lydia said. A large pillar of fire erupted in another direction. "And I can almost hear the word disaster coming off of that. Rudi, you go towards where that pillar came from and I'll look for the source of the scream." Rudi and Lydia rushed off in the appropriate directions.
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"This is ridiculous!" Toran complained in his head as he dodged another jab from Sera, "You don't mess around do you!?" Toran said as he raised his staff in time to block a swing from Sera's spear.
"It's part of the job." Sera said as she broke off and leaped back. The very tip of her spear became engulfed in flames that shot out as she thrust it forward. Toran summoned a barrier of ice which melted upon contact with the flames, the water splashing all over him.
Toran grinned until he realized that the other end of the spear was glowing yellow with sparks occasionally arcing across the tip, "A thunder spell! Combine that with…" Toran saw the wet trail that lead towards him, "crap…" Sera plunged her spear into the ground and Toran was immediately shocked by several volts of electricity, his hair standing up as the energy shot through his body. When Sera ended her spell Toran slumped to the ground in a heap, smoke rising off his cloak.
"That should teach you not to mess with our brigade." Just then, Sera felt the ground shaking and looked around. "What the hell is that?" Sere found her answer in a large giant wielding a mace with spinning spikes charging out of the forest. Rudi leaped into the air and sung his mace down hard only to hit the ground as Sera leaped back and landed a good 12 feet away from Rudi, "This could be bad…" Sera muttered as Rudi went in for the kill.
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Diana knelt down on her left knee in pain, 2 arrows had pierced her armor and made their way into her side. "Damn it! This guy's good." The area that they were fighting in was scorched and burned due to Diana's flame arrows.
Kai looked down on Diana and grinned. "Give up yet? Seriously, if we keep this up there won't even be a forest left." Diana pulled out the canister of arrows in her crossbow and tossed it at Kai. The canister embedded itself in the branch that Kai was standing on. Immediately, Kai leapt off of the branch just as it opened up and sprayed arrows in a huge circle. "And that arrow scatter move is getting really old!" Kai yelled.
Diana placed another canister in her crossbow and aimed at Kai's head. "Eat this!" Diana squeezed the trigger and a dozen arrows shot out. They soon began to glow white, and then split into several more arrows.
"Well that's a new one!" Kai leaped onto another trees branch and attempted to ready 3 more arrows, but stopped as soon as another 12 arrows was launched at him. Kai leaped up but was still caught in the cluster as the 12 quickly split into 48. Kai crashed to the ground, making a small crater in the process.
"Take that you bastard." Diana's confident smile turned into one of shock as Kai stood up.
"Got to love the armor you get in a knight brigade… Great against arrows." Kai said bashing the arrows off of his armor. Kai then readied his arrows but was stopped again as Lydia kicked his head from behind. Kai was sent spiraling through the air into another group of trees behind Diana.
"Lydia, thanks for the help."
"No problem. Now come on, we've got to help the others." Just as Lydia offered her hand to Diana, an arrow whizzed past her face and stuck itself in a tree behind them.
Kai staggered up, rage on his face. "You guys aren't going anywhere." Several lights flashed across Kais visor showing that he had a lock on both Diana and Lydia.
"On second thought… you find a place to take cover. I'll finish this guy." Lydia punched her fists together and charged at Kai.
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Soma's blade clanged on contact with Sol's black armor. Sol grabbed the blade, keeping Soma in place, and attempted to stab Soma's stomach. Soma immediately twisted his blade free of Sol's grip and leap back. Sol grasped his katana with both hands and charged at Soma, their blades creating sparks as they continuously clashed against each other. With each swing, Sol seemed to shift back and forth between seeing the Soma who was trying to kill him and the Soma from before.
The blades connected and Sol heard the sound of 2 wooden swords hitting each other and Soma flashing a confident smile as he tried to get his friend to lose his balance. "This is the day that I finally beat you Sol!" Soma said as his wooden blade pressed against Sol's.
"Keep dreaming man. Keep dreaming." Sol said as he broke off and their blades connected again.
"I'll never forgive you!" Soma yelled as he struck at Sol again and again. "Even if you manage to escape me somehow, I'll keep on chasing you and chasing you until one of us lies dead." Soma broke off from the engagement and his blade was engulfed in a bright light.
Sol's katana was, likewise, bathed in a black aura. "Then go on! Keep chasing me! Keep going as long as you want! This is the fate that the heavens have cast on to us." Soma and Sol charged at each other, their faces showing unswerving determination. As their blades clashed against each other, the energy stored inside was released on contact. Soma was engulfed by darkness while Sol was bathed in light. The light burned through Sol's armor and disintegrated it in seconds. Somas armor was broken down and crushed to nothingness by the darkness released by Sol. Both combatants were thrown back by the force of the others attack. Sol landed with a thud, his cloak torn and his steel pads were scratched, beaten, and a few were falling off. Soma landed face down in the snow, his armor chipped and worn down.
Sol struggled and, using a nearby tree trunk, stood up and looked at Soma with glaring yellow eyes. Sol grasped his Katana again and stood over his former friend. Aiming to stab Soma's head in, Sol lifted the blade and plunged it down, and then stopped. His eyes softened and turned blue again. "No… no, not yet… you still have a role to play…" Sol turned around and walked on towards the sounds of battle in the distance. "Sounds like the others might need some help. At this point, I don't know if I'll be able to give it." Sol continued to stagger forward.
On a far off tree, a young man with silvery buzz-cut hair, and a white robe observed the battle. Through a pair of binoculars he zoomed in on Sol and then switched over to Soma. "Heh heh heh." He giggled. "Looks like Soma will have more problems to deal with when he gets back to HQ." The man placed the binoculars somewhere in his robe and dashed off into the distance.
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Sera leaped forward to stab at Rudi with her spear only to have it skid of the armor under Rudi's fatigues. "Damn!" Sera flipped in the air and landed on her feet and electricity began to arc across her spear. "Eat this!" Sera turned and stabbed her spear at Rudi only for him to grab it just as the tip of the blade made contact to his armor. "Got you!" Sera sent the electricity through the armor, shocking Rudi repeatedly. Rudi only grunted and lifted the spear (and Sera) up and threw them across the clearing. Sera smashed against a tree and fell to the ground, her spear landing on her lap. "D-damn it… I knew giants didn't go down easily, but I never thought it was like this." Sera grabbed her spear and staggered up. "I can't keep going like this. I have to escape." Sera attempted to leap into the forest to make maneuvering for Rudi difficult but found that she couldn't move her legs. "What the-!" Sera saw that her knee and everything below it was frozen. "How?" Sera looked up to see Toran with a glowing hand in the snow and a wide grin on his face.
"Rudi, now!"
Rudi grunted in confirmation and launched himself at Sera to smash her under his mace. "Crap, crap, crap." Sera channeled a fire spell through her spear and jabbed it into the ground and a large pillar of fire erupted around her, forcing Rudi to step back.
"Damn!" Rudi muttered (first thing he said in over 2 chapters.) When the fire died down, all that was left in Sera's position was a few burned trees, a puddle of water, and 2 footprints.
"She got away." Toran said. He looked over at Rudi and saw that he was staring intently at something. Toran looked around and saw nothing. "What is it?" Rudi pointed at Toran's head, or more specifically his hair. "What about my hair?" Toran looked at his reflection in the puddle and saw how every hair strand on his head was standing up.
"…"
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Lydia leaped, rolled and dodged to avoid Kai's arrows but more kept on coming. "Damn it!" Lydia landed on a tree branch and swatted a few arrows out of the air with a fast kick and leaped again. "How the hell do you get a power like that?" Lydia landed and swept the snow around her up, blocking Kai's line of sight momentarily.
"Damn it! That chick is fast…" Kai muttered and looked around, finding nothing. "Crap…" Kai muttered under his breath as he scanned the trees and bushes several times, hoping to catch her before she made her move. Then he heard a snapping sound and leaped back. The branch he was standing on had been shattered by Lydia's uppercut. "There you are!" Kai quickly readied 3 arrows and fired as he locked on to Lydia.
"Damn! No time to dodge!" Lydia yelled in her head as Kai's arrows drew closer.
Just as Kai's arrows were about to hit it's mark, they was blown in half by another 3 arrows. "What!?" Kai exclaimed and looked to see Diana with bandages wrapped around her chest. A sharp pain shot through Kai as Lydia kicked him in the ribs, mid air. As Kai crashed to the ground, Diana shot 3, yellow-tipped arrows into the dented area in Kai's armor, piercing it effortlessly. "Damn it… forgot about…you." Kai muttered before he was shocked with hundreds of volts of lightning.
As Kai passed out, Lydia rushed over to Diana who had done a very sloppy job of stopping patching herself up. "Diana, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Just… cold." Diana seemed to drift back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness.
"Hey, hey! Stay with me!" Lydia said patting Diana's cheeks to wake her up. "Damn it." Lydia carefully picked Diana up and walked out of the forest. "If I remember correctly, Rudi should have gone…that way." Lydia said as she headed off to where Sera and Toran battled.
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Sol staggered along the trail, cold, shivering, and having absolutely no idea where he was heading. "Oh man… How the hell did I end up here?" Sol saw nothing but snow and trees to his left and right. He didn't even know if he was even on an actual trail or a ditch that was made here a long time ago. Sol also heard the crunching of snow in the tree lines and soft growls and yellow eyes. "great… as if I didn't have enough trouble." Sol began to walk along the trail, eyeing the trees around him constantly. Soon his walking turned into a run, going faster and faster. The eyes that have been tracking him were keeping up pretty well. "Damn it! I'm not going to die as lunch for some damn coyotes!" Sol eventually stopped as about 3 of the aforementioned hounds jumped in front of him, snarling and revealing their sharp fangs. Sol was about to turn around when another 7 leaped in behind him. "All right… If that's how you want it…" Sol pulled out his Katana and got into the best stance he could, in his weakened state. The first 3 coyotes charged in began to bite and claw at Sol. One jumped in to soon and was sliced in half by Sol's blade while another managed to clamp down on Sol's arm. "Gyahhh!" Sol screamed in pain as the coyotes fangs dug deep into his flesh while the other coyote took a swipe with his claws, creating 3 long cuts on Sol's exposed back. Grunting, Sol punched the coyote who had bit into his arm straight in the nose and kicked away the one who had scratched him. By this time the other 7 coyotes tried to get in on the fray. Sol ducked as one leapt at him and landed behind. He then slashed at another 2 who tried a similar tactic only to get sliced in half like the first one. Another one dashed in and bit down on Sol's ankle, and was stabbed in the head as a reward for his efforts. As Sol pulled out his Katana the same coyote Sol had punched bit at his hand and forced Sol to let go of the Katana. This time, Sol grabbed the coyote by the throat and broke it's neck, tossing it at the pack that was slowly surrounding him. "This is bad… These guys are giving me more trouble than Soma did." Sol looked around frantically for an opening.
Suddenly the coyote pack looked scared and dashed off into the trees. "What's going on?" Sol looked down and saw a shadow cast over him. He turned around and saw a bear staring straight at him. "Holy sh-" Sol staggered back and tripped over one of the coyotes corpses. Shifting backwards Sol reached around and found his Katana. He pointed it at the bear, hoping to scare it off. "Stay back you son of a bitch!" Sol yelled. The bear seemed to not notice him, sniffing the dead coyotes. "What does it want?" Sol muttered. The bear then looked straight at him and got closer. Sol tensed as the bear sniffed him all over and looked right in his eyes. Sol looked back and saw no intent to kill him like most bears usually do. For some reason, Sol felt relaxed. The bear began to look more closely at Sol, mostly at his arms. On the left arm, the bear saw wave and swirl like markings, while on the right, the bear saw markings that looked like a maze. The bear's face lit up and he stepped back and began to draw letters in the snow. Sol staggered up, sheathed his Katana, clasped the arm that was bit by the coyote, and looked at the letters the bear was writing. "T-Tarlach?" Sol said as the bear finished. Sol and the bear looked at each other again. "What does 'Tarlach' mean?" Sol asked the bear, knowing full well that he wouldn't get an answer. The bear simply snorted. "Tarlach…" Sol said again. "Wait! Do you know a way out of here? I'm kind of lost…" Sol asked again. "I'm talking to a bear… not my best idea." The bear walked over to a small bush and began to scratch at something. When it was done it motioned for Sol to come over. When Sol walked over he saw an old sign that said "This way to town." in red paint. Sol swatted the bushes away and saw a small, out of the way, side path that must've been long forgotten over the years. "Whoa… Uh… thanks!" Sol said. The bear simply walked off.
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"Toran! Rudi! Where are you guys?" Lydia called as she went in the direction that she and Rudi saw the large pillar of fire. Diana was bleeding heavily and her mediocre bandage work did little to stop the blood flow. Eventually Lydia reached the clearing and saw Rudi and Toran standing on the far edge. "Toran! I need you help. Diana is-" Lydia stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Toran who's hair looked like a really bad afro.
"Don't. Say. Anything." Toran said with a scowl on his face. His look turned into concern when he saw a bloody Diana in Lydia's arms. "What the hell happened?" Toran motioned for Lydia to set Diana down, carefully.
"Remember that freak with the visor? He got in a few good shots." Lydia responded as she rested Diana down in front of Toran.
"Well, it's a good thing you got her here this fast. It looks like I'll be able to get most of the ground work done." Toran said as he used a healing spell to stop the bleeding in Diana's side. "After this, all we have to do is let her rest."
"That's good to hear… For a second there, I thought she was a goner." Lydia sighed in relief.
"Hey, do you have a feeling that we forgot something?" As Toran finished his last question a loud yelling was heard in the distance.
"Guys!…. Diana!? Toran!? Anybody!?" Sol's voice rang out across the area. "I found what I was looking for!"
"That sounds like Sol!" Lydia said.
"He must be nearby. Could one of you go and find him? I've still got some work to do hear." Toran asked. Lydia and Rudi dashed off to where Sol's voice was coming from.
Sol staggered into a small clearing just in time to see Lydia and Rudi appear in the distance. "Hey!" He called out. "Where are the others?" Sol asked as they 3 drew closer.
"Another clearing, a few yards that way." Lydia said, pointing southward.
"I see… Well, let's hurry. I found what we needed here."
"What was it?" Lydia asked.
"It's a long story."
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Sera dashed across the forest with blinding speed, searching for her colleagues. "All I found were the recruits. Where are Kai and the Captain!?" As if on cue, Sera saw Kai face down in the snow, next to a burned tree. "Kai? What's wrong? Wake up!" Sera nudged Kai a few times with the butt of her spear. When she only got a few slurred words as a response, Sera whacked Kai over the head.
"Ow… What the hell was that for!?" Kai said rubbing his head.
"Enough complaining, Where's the Captain?" Sera asked.
"How the hell should I know? And why should I care? He just dumped both of us on the enemy and now look what happened." Kai said in an annoyed tone. "Our unit is completely decimated and I just got shocked by an ungodly amount of lightning."
Sera snapped and slammed Kai against a nearby tree. "I've had it up to here with your constant whining!" She yelled in rage. "Almost all that you've done on this mission is complain! You're a knight, damn it, start acting like one! Besides, the Captain was responsible for saving, not just yours, but both our asses several times before!"
"Get off me!" Kai pushed Sera away. "Calm down already! Geez, you thought I was being serious!?" Kai brushed off some of the dirt on his armor. "Wherever the captain is, I'm pretty sure he's somewhere up north. I heard a little commotion up there while I was fighting that blue haired chick."
"That won't be necessary…" a voice said from the shadows.
Sera and Kai turned around to see their Captain staggering out of the trees and collapsing on the ground. "Captain!" They both exclaimed, and rushed to his aid.
"Captain, what happened to you?" Kai said in astonishment at the damage done to his CO.
"Did you finish your business with Sol?" Sera asked as she propped Soma against a tree and began to prep healing spells.
"No… No I didn't." Soma said in a depressed tone. "After 4 years of waiting. 4 years of preparing. I still couldn't do anything. Just like back then…" Soma said with a trembling voice, clenching his fists. Sera and Kai exchanged looks.
"Permission to speak freely sir?" Sera asked.
"Granted."
"What exactly happened 'back then'?" Sera asked. "You still haven't explained to us why we're even out here, chasing these people."
Soma looked at Sera, seeing the concern in her eyes. "I'll tell you once we get back to HQ in Emain Macha." Soma said.
"Well good luck. We have several wounded soldiers out there in the clearing and I don't think Sera has the energy to heal everyone." Kai stated.
"No problem." Soma reached into his armor and pulled out a wax wing. "Head over to the others and we'll use this goddess ring to teleport to Emain Macha."
Kai looked at the wing in surprise. "Are you telling me you had that this whole time and we still hade to walk halfway across the continent!?"
"I only have one use left and I can't get them very easily. Now enough talking and let's head out." Sera helped Soma stand up and slung his arm around her to give support. Kai went over and did the same for the other side. "And one last thing." Soma said. "Thank you, both of you." Sera blushed slightly while Kai simply let a small smile spread across his face.
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Meanwhile, Osna Sail Pass
"I always hated coming through here…" Shaosu muttered as he adjusted the scarf around his neck. "I can't tell if Sidhe Sneachta or Osna Sail is colder." Shaosu shivered. "How're you holding up!?" Shaosu yelled over the wailing winds to Nao who was following just a few feet behind.
"I'm fine. It's just…" Nao stumbled and her foot almost slipped off the edge. "Is this the only way?"
"It's the fastest way! You're the one who wanted to get to Emain Macha in under a week." Shaosu retorted. Shaosu heard movement in the upper cliffs and saw a few dire wolves up above. Shaosu flashed his claymore and that was enough to keep them from attacking. "I really hate coming through here…" Shaosu muttered.
After a few more hours Shaosu came across a poorly constructed sign that read "Emain Macha." and an arrow pointing down the pass. "Are we almost there?" Nao asked.
"Yeah!" Shaosu began to walk faster and Nao soon followed.
Emain Macha
"What do you mean he isn't here yet!?" Shaosu slammed his hands on the table. "I just spent a week traveling through one of the most brutal locations in the continent and Captain Soma isn't even done with the mission yet!?" Shaosu and Nao were inside the lobby of a relatively small, 2 story recruitment center for those wishing to join the knights.
"We haven't received any reports from him in the last 3 days, Shaosu." Craig said with a slightly irritated tone. "We're preparing a search party now, but unless he just appears out of nowhere you either join the search party or wait here at HQ." As soon as craig finished his statement a large white flash was seen outside and a loud thump was heard.
Kai and Sera burst through the door, holding an unconscious Captain between them. "Commander, we need immediate medical help! We have wounded!" Kai looked at Shaosu with surprise. "Oh! Hey Shaosu!"
Craig rubbed his temple in frustration. "For some reason… I felt this coming right as I finished that last sentence." Craig looked at Soma and then outside to see several knights unconscious in the middle of the street. A carriage almost crashed into a tree when it rounded the corner. "(sigh)… Get these men some medical treatment ASAP! I'll deal with them later." Craig said heading to his office on the second floor.
Several healers and medical officers came out into the streets with stretchers to carry the wounded soldiers. Shaosu stared, contemptuously, at his captain. Wondering what he could possibly know what happened to his brother. "Captain…"
"So, Shaosu!" Kai swung his arm, hard, around shaosu, bringing him in close enough to whisper. "So, where'd you pick up a beauty like her anyway?" Kai said with a sly grin, pointing to girl with Rose colored hair behind them. "Did you do this whole mission just so you could sneak away and pick up chicks?" Kai said snickering.
"W-what!? No!" Shaosu shoved Kai away, blushing slightly. "You have no idea what happened so don't go making any assumptions!"
"Then why did you suddenly disappear on us then? If the captain finds out that you've been keeping secrets then you're really in for it!"
Shaosu then remembered something Nao told him. "If you want to know more, Talk to your captain." "Yeah… well, maybe I'm not the only one keeping secrets." Shaosu said in a more serious tone.
"So what is your name anyway?" Sera said after getting tired of sitting on the sidelines.
"Na-Naomi" Nao replied with a smile.
"Well then, Naomi. How did you meet with Shaosu anyway?" Sera asked.
"Well…" Nao looked over at Shaosu who was silently pleading her not to tell them he slept in. "You see… I asked him to escort me to Bangor!" Nao lied. "I wanted to visit a friend there and Shaosu agreed."
"Is that true Shaosu?" Kai asked in an over-the top, detective voice.
"Uh…Y-yeah! That's right." Shaosu nervously agreed.
"Hm… then in that case, I deem you a sucker for a cute face, and I'm ashamed to call you a man." Kai teased. Shaosu simply stuck up his middle finger in response and mouthed the words "thank you" to Nao when the others weren't looking.
"So then what are you doing here?" Sera asked.
"Um… well after I visited my friend… I…"
"She wanted to see Emain Macha, and since I was heading over here anyway I thought I'd take her with me." Shaosu explained.
"Hm… alright, I believe you. But you could've at least sent a messenger owl explaining your situation." Sera reprimanded Shaosu.
"Yes sir." Shaosu responded.
One of the healers soon appeared from the back of the small infirmary. "Your captain should recover in time, but he's resting right now. If you have anything to say to him, you'll have to wait a while." The healer then retreated back into the infirmary to see to the others.
"Damn it!" Shaosu thought. "I travel all this way and I still can't talk to him?" Shaosu clenched his fists.
Nao looked at Shaosu in concern. "Sha-" Nao was interrupted by Kai as heswung his arm around her. "Well, now that we have some down time, why don't we head out to eat? My treat!" Kai turned to shaosu. "And by 'my' I of course mean Shaosu's treat!"
Shaosu was brought back to reality with this. "What!? Not again!"
Kai moved over next to shaosu. "C'mon man help me out ! I'm broke!"
"Screw you! You still owe me from last time!"
"Aw c'mon! Don't be so stingy!"
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Meanwhile
"A bear… You expect us to believe that a bear told you the all important clue to stop Cichol's army?" Lydia asked skeptically.
"That's basically it, yes." Sol said calmly. The entire group was walking down the mountain towards Tir Chonail. Diana was resting as Rudi carried her safely through the snow.
"How do you expect us to believe that!?" Toran yelled.
"I just don't see why you can't believe this." Sol said in an exasperated tone. "We've been attacked by black knights, Paladins, demons, wolves, and I just got my left arm bitten to pieces by Coyotes, and you're fixated on an unusually intelligent bear." Sol yelled and pointed at the sling his arm was in.
"I guess you have a point… But what could Tarlach possibly mean?" Lydia said wondering.
"I'll ask Chief Duncan when we get to town. He should have info on it." Sol said.
"Tarlach… That name sounds so familiar to me…" Toran thought silently to himself.
"Do you know the one thing that still bugs me though?" Sol asked Toran.
"What?"
"How the hell did you get your hair fixed so fast? When we got there you dashed off somewhere and when you came back your hair was fixed." Sol said pointing at Toran's neatly designed hair. "It's almost like nothing happened to it."
"Well, that's something for me to know and for you to forget about." Toran said smiling.
"Aw c'mon! You can tell me! Do you use some kind of gel?" Sol said pleading.
"Nope!"
"Then what?"
"I'm not telling." The argument continued back and forth until finally Diana woke up.
"SHUT UP!" Diana used the butt of her crossbow and whacked Sol and Toran on the head. The group was quiet for the rest of the trip.
Tir chonail
"What in the world?…" Duncan stared at the group of travelers in front of him. Mostly at Sol and Diana.
"It's a long story." Sol said scratching the back of his head. Sol then sat down with Duncan and filled him in on the events that transpired up in the mountain. The rest of the group had decided to wait back at the inn.
"I see. So after your battle with the knights, you came into contact with a bear that wrote Tarlach in the snow?" Duncan asked.
"Yup, that's pretty much it." Sol said shrugging his shoulders. "Now, do you know what the word Tarlach means?" Sol asked.
"It's a name, actually. The name of one of the 3 legendary warriors." Duncan stated.
"Legendary warriors?"
"A long time ago, there were 3 warriors who went in search of a land called Tir Na Nogg. However, somewhere along the line, the 3 adventurers disappeared and were never heard from again. Tarlach was the name of one of those 3 warriors."
"What is Tir Na Nogg?" Sol asked, intrigued.
"No one really knows. However, some scholars believe it is an absolute paradise where nothing bad ever happens. Speak to Lassar if you want to know more." Duncan said.
"I see. Well, thank you for the information Chief Duncan. I'd better hurry, it's getting late." As Sol walked out the door Duncan looked down at Sol's shadow. What he saw was not the shadow of a young man, but of a horned demon ready to attack.
"Sometimes… I can't tell if I should trust this boy." Duncan stared at Sol through his window.
At the School
Sol stepped through the door leading to the Magic Classroom (man that sounded lame) and saw Lassar organizing several books. "Excuse me!" Lassar seemed to pay little attention to what was going on. "Excuse me!" Lassar jumped and looked at Sol. "You're Lassar, the magic teacher right?"
"Y-yeah. Sorry about that. I was just taking care of some last minute cleaning. So what can I do for you?" Lassar asked.
"chief Duncan said you might know something about the 3 missing warriors." Sol said.
"You mean that old legend? Sorry, I don't really know all that much. Try talking to Stewart in Dunbarton. He apparently did a report on it about half a year ago." Lassar said.
"I see… Thanks." As Sol left the school grounds, he let out an exasperated sigh. "I have to go all the way back to Dunbarton? This whole adventure is like one giant circle." Sol walked off towards the Inn.
Piaras Inn
"Hey I'm back." Sol walked in through the Inn door. Piaras and Nora were talking about something when he came in.
"Oh! Sol, your friends are upstairs, 3rd room on the left." Piaras gestured upstairs.
"Right I'll see you later."
As Sol opened the door, he burst in with a cheer. "He guys, I got the info I needed, we just have to go to Dunbarton for a bit." all his friends gave him a strange look. "What's with the look guys?" Sol said nervously
"Sol, we've been talking and we've decided that it's time you came clean." Toran said.
"What do you mean come clean?" Sol asked genuinely confused.
"When we were attacked by Vulcan in Dunbarton, That knight knew you, and before that you told me about how you used to be part of a group of knights that was supposed to protect some girl." Diana pointed out.
"And recently, We were assaulted by a group of Paladins who's captain seemed to be after you specifically. He also seemed to have a personal vendetta as well." Toran said.
"So basically if you want us to continue this journey, you need to answer this. Who are you, Sol? Who are you really? And what happened before?" Lydia finished. Rudi grunted in response.
Sol's expression turned grim. "I guess I can't hide it anymore."
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Emain Macha, Paladin recruitment center
"I can't believe I ended up paying anyway." Shaosu opened his wallet to find nothing but a few silver coins. "I'm broke again." the 3 paladins and Nao had decided to go see the sights in Emain Macha and were forced (kinda) to use Shaosu's wallet to pay off the restaurant they visited
"Aw c'mon, don't be so glum! It was for a good cause." Kai said with a slurr in his voice.
Shaosu tensed up in rage. "Why I let you talk me into these things I'll never know" Shaosu was about to pull out his claymore when the same healer from earlier came in.
"Excuse me for interrupting but, you captain has fully healed and you may visit him if you wish." The healer then disappeared as quickly as she came.
"Does anyone else find her a little creepy…" Kai commented.
Shaosu paid him no heed as he darted up the stairs towards his captains personal room. The other 3 soon followed. Shaosu kicked down the door and saw Captain Soma sitting up in his bed with a surprised look on his face.
"What is the meaning of this!" Soma yelled before shaosu walked up next to him.
"You've been hiding something and I want to know what." Shaosu demanded.
"I don't know what you're-"
"What happened to my brother?" Shaosu asked. "What do you know about my brother's death?"
"Who told you about that?" Soma asked.
"Naomi told me you'd know." Shaosu gestured to the girl behind him. "I also met Sol in Bangor."
"You what!?" Soma tried to stand up but sat back down due to his injuries.
"Naomi told me that he had something to do with Ceez's death and that you know. So captain, please tell me, what happened to my brother?" Shaosu said.
Soma looked at Naomi and stared for a long time. "How could this girl possibly know that, unless…" Soma's eyes widened with shock. "Heh, heh…" Soma chuckled. "She her isn't she. The guardian of the soul stream, Nao Mariota Pryderi." Soma stated.
Sera and Kai stared at Naomi and stepped back in shock. Kai's face turned to horror when he realized the gravity of his actions earlier in the day.
"If that's the case, then I have no choice but to tell you." Soma said calming down a bit. "you know the general details of your brothers death right?"
"That he was killed when the manor that he was working in was burned to the ground right?" Shaosu answered.
"Yes, and did you know that there were 2 survivors of that horrible day?" Soma looked as Shaosu nodded. "The truth is, Me and Sol are those 2 survivors." Soma stated. "And Sol was the reason why everything went to hell."
"Why where you even there?" shaosu asked. "Why would you go to such a remote place? The manor wasn't even listed on most maps at the time."
"The lord of the manor, James Hecate, my father, needed protection from a certain enemy that plagued our family as well as the several guards that were already there. You see, in remote areas like where the manor was there is little to no chance that it would be attacked regularly by bandits and the like, but there was something even worse that threatened it. Every month a large group of Fomors would attempt to break into the castle, and with each month, the soldiers hired to protect the manor would lose several men in the process. But one day, The attacks became more vicious and frequent. That is when everything started going downhill."
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And that's where we'll leave off for now. The next chapter (or 2) will be like one giant flashback so get ready.
PS: I put in a line from the machinima series Red vs. Blue. Kudos to those of you who find it.
Well, see you next time.