Chapter 6: "Familiar Feeling"
Previously on Hell's Guard:
"Impossible…"
"What is your name?"
"Ancheindo"
"Reddorimaindā"
"Impressive skills"
"We have plans for you, boy."
"We shall wait until we have more strength.
A/N: I screwed up a little, last chapter was supposed to be chapter five but it says four and I can't seem to fix it. Sorry for the interruption. Back to the story!
Northern Fiore, Hell's Guard
Things had gotten…Weird at the guild. After a new member appeared Samuel had brought out drinks for everyone present. Now he was drunk and was singing alongside the girl. How they both knew the lyrics… I will never know.
"This wench from Ardolis once got drunk and told us a life of crime don't pay!"
"But killing carousing stealing and roughhousing fills coffers every day! HEY!"
Several guards had joined in halfway through; surprisingly enough their voices fit right in.
Jack was trying (and failing) to contain his laughter. He had always been there when Samuel was making an ass of himself. Jacob was on the floor and was struggling to breathe from laughing so hard. What was even funnier was that somehow Samuel had dressed up as a pirate captain, epic cloak, peg leg, hat and everything. The girl looked like a first mate with an orange tank top, a pair of baggy brown pants and her regular boots. She also had a fake hook hand that looked very real.
It should be noted that all was worn on their clothes.
Jack decided to try and converse with Jacob.
"He always does this, when he gets pissed he tries to calm himself down by getting piss drunk. Surprisingly it always works and he's always cheery during his buzz. Last time he tried to teach four younglings "Twistitsu" and he dressed up as an elderly Chinese man and had a glorious moustache and beard combo, and a straw hat."
Jacob had just managed to stop laughing before hearing the story… Then he laughed even harder!
"HAHAHA! Y-You gotta be shittin' me! How'd it go?"
Jack though back to the event.
"Well, they ended up fighting a giant snake, beat a dragon/wyrm/evil spirit thing, an army of metal and a master of gold and survived an elemental tournament and a war against half-snakes."
"By spinning?"
"By spinning."
"…HAHAHA"
And so Jacob burst into laughter once more, as he truly could not believe what he just heard from Jack. Their little reverie was interrupted when a purplish portal opened and two individuals stepped through. Jacob was laughing too hard to notice; yet Jack managed to recognize them fairly quickly.
"Ah, the Zemerik twins. I assume your mission was successful?"
They nodded. Krytus decided to report.
"The mission was completed precisely according to specifications. We followed instructions and completed all objectives. Our handler will give you the full report as soon as he has completed extracting information from the item we acquired."
Jack nodded and smiled slightly.
"Well done you two, but try to speak a little less formally than you do, it's not necessary to speak so, how shall we say, diligently among friends."
Krytus nodded.
"Yes sir, I sh- I'm gonna think about it."
Jack nodded, and then he turned towards Lucretzia who seemed to be itching to ask a question.
"Yes, Lulu?"
She looked at him, extremely confused.
Jack slapped his face with his palm; he forgot they never had any nicknames.
"Lucretzia, what is your question?"
She nodded and then pointed towards the on going party.
"Why is our supreme commanding officer dressed as a pirate and dancing alongside a woman who appears to be new to the guild as well?"
As Jack turned towards Samuel and the others, they started singing a new song.
"Me hearties sing chan-ties, of girls in loose pant-ies, who lin-ger by the shore!"
As they jumped off the table they were standing on they continued with the rest of the lads.
"For six pence I love her, then ditch that land lubber. A Pi-rate ever more!"
They burst into laughter while flinging around a pair of flagons they were drinking out of.
Suddenly Samuel had a serious look as he exclaimed:
"Aye, what be that foul stench?"
One of his drunken compatriots decided to chip in.
"Aye cap'n that booze is starting mutiny in me gut."
He narrowed his eyes.
"No, there be a yet more foul stench lingering, a thing I ain't smelled in near 6 moons!"
Ancheindo seemed to realise something with a smile
"Ah, fresh trousers?"
He seemed to realise what she said and looked towards Jack and the others in a way that would only be explainable by comparing it to that guy from "The Office".
But before any more TV-tropes could be exploited. The doors burst open when the rest of the rookies came back.
"Hey pops, you shoulda seen the mission we got a WHOAH!"
Rey was interrupted as he was forced to dodge a flagon being swung by the man in question.
"Arr! Me wee boyo has returned from plunder! How's the loot?"
Rey blinked a few times before coming up with the appropriate response.
"Wat?"
Just then Sensō walked into the room and garnered Samuel's attention.
"Arr! Ya found a right pretty lass plundering m'boy!"
Sensō was shocked, not only had his superior officer just approached him personally… He also mistook him for a girl.
"Sir, I'm a man."
"HA! Not with those clothes lassie!"
"But sir I!"
"'Nuff talk, who else is he-ARGH!"
He was interrupted by a figure charging and hugging him in a choking hold.
"DAD I'M HOME!"
"GAH! ME BREATHING HOLE!"
While Raina was choking Cap'n Sam, Sensō and Rey decided to get answers… AKA ask Jack.
Rey went first,
"What."
"He's drunk."
"Oh."
Sensō decided to ask something that had bothered him for a little while.
"Why'd he think I was a girl?"
Jack pushed up his glasses so they did the shining thing like in many anime.
"You are a very pretty man with nice clothes and a lithe form. You can be easily mistaken for a fairly attractive lady."
Sensō didn't know what to feel. On one hand he had just been confirmed to have the appearance of a girl. On the other he had been called pretty by and incredibly intelligent man so… Yay?
"Dad! I brought dinner!"
At this announcement everyone visibly paled.
Fireball and Kong ran back out into the snow.
Jammer and Sentinel decided to hide in the sickbay, under the examination table.
Rey ran towards his room with Sensō following him.
"What are you following me for?"
"You're the only guy I know, also you run faster!"
"Fuck off dude, fuck right off!"
And so they kept running towards safety.
Ancheindo and Sam seemed to sober right up and Samuel decided to give her a tip.
"Run towards Rey's room, can't miss it, large blades above the door. Jump in as soon as you can, and don't look back."
She stared in shock at Samuel, he looked so desperate and worried, several guards began to arm themselves, but that was coincidental to the new arrival soon coming.
She then gave a brisk nod and ran towards the safety of Rey's room.
Samuel then turned towards Jack and Jacob… Who had decided to flee the scene evident by their dust lookalikes holding a pose of running away.
Samuel's right eye began to twitch.
"You sons of a-!"
"Dad? What's with everyone arming themselves?"
This caused Samuel to look away from where his companions had previously been and look around, only to find all troops armed and ready to fire at the door. He then realized that he had forgotten about the prison transport Commander Neronicus had ordered ("Nero you fuckface!") And so, without further ado, he managed to switch back into his combat armor from his pirate costume, wearing his terrifying helm he walked alongside Raina who still had her headphones on.
"Raina we are going to be "appropriating", a certain individual with a bloody history. Your uncle Nero sent him over and so we need to make sure to be ready for anything."
"Yes, Sir!"
While her enthusiasm was admirable, there was still a matter at hand.
"Raina, why did you bring the body?"
True to his observation Raina was indeed carrying the body she wished to consume. On her back like a backpack… That bled… And moved slightly from side to side as she carried it.
"Well I couldn't just leave it! You always told us "Never waste a resource!"
And as she said this, her face somehow morphed into that of Samuel's, he was only slightly worried.
Samuel looked at her and remembered.
Fiore. Several years earlier. Kaznan Jungle
The Kaznan jungle, lovely vacations spot for the family. As long as you don't mind flesh-eating diseases, shrieking nocturnal predators and other horrid sights that'd haunt you to future days. But I digress; in this little patch of heaven we find a young man armed with a combat knife, walking through the foliage wearing what seemed to be a black under suit.
He was skulking through the jungle, keeping his eyes open. His face covered by a strange gasmask like helm that had a pair of orange visor like "eyes". As he walked into a clearing he saw something quite interesting. A small girl with lightish brown hair and hazel coloured eyes, her face was in quite an intense frown as she had several scrapes and cuts along her body. She was wearing something similar to the man who was observing her, save for a helmet. She was fighting what appeared to be a large wolf, however on closer inspection it seemed to have a chitinous exoskeleton, coloured entirely black and it had a rather disgusting maw with a pair of large terrifying fangs oozing with slime. It gave a high-pitched shriek towards it's opponent. A vanx.
She merely started to grin.
"Come on! You're gonna be my ticket to success! And right now, I'm pretty damn hungry!"
The beast merely roared and charged against the girl.
The girl, surprisingly, did the same.
As they collided, the girl gripped the beast's throat and managed to swing herself onto it's back before grabbing the fur it had in order to get a good grip as the thing thrashed and jumped in order to get it's prey off. The girl however had other plans as she brought down the blade she was carrying into its throat several times. Stabbing it over.
And over.
And over.
And over.
Again. And. Again.
Until it finally stopped moving and made a gurgling noise signalling that it had successfully choked on it's own blood and her blade.
She breathed heavily before she started laughing rather maniacally, louder, and more.
"I DID IT!"
She shouted with glee, before she started gutting the beast and prepared to move it.
The man who observed her had his knife poised to attack and kill the beast in a fell swoop; he gave a small nod, sheathed his knife and stealthily moved out.
As he continues into the jungle, he saw an Acklay. A mantis like creature with six legs capable of piercing and cutting through metal as easily as flesh, it was coloured green, had a rather long head, and several razor-sharp teeth that made it's mouth look incredibly intimidating. This one was a mere child, less than one and a half meter in height. As the man prepared to kill the beast, he noticed it.
He then gave a small and silent laugh.
"Ha ha ha, clever boy."
There was a small piece of meat hanging from a tree ahead, the Acklay went for the easy meal, it didn't even notice the black haired boy with miscoloured eyes who was standing right next to the tree, nearly perfectly camouflaged. The beast had its head impaled and never saw it coming. The man had seen enough and returned towards the camp. As he sat there and cleaned his weapons, the girl was struggling to carry her prey, at almost the same time the boy came dragging the corpse of his latest kill. They then dropped their prey and saluted the man. He then began slowly removing his helmet as he spoke to them.
"Nature is full of predators and prey, why we went here was to show you that even what we consider prey can be a lethal predator. You have both performed admirably and earned yourselves the title of "Hunters."
The boy and girl began cheering and hugged eachother.
"Now for the next part."
As he said this he threw two forks onto the corpses.
"Eat them."
The two children looked at him with shocked stares.
"You will not always be so lucky as you were today and find such bountiful prey. Never waste a resource."
The youngsters gulped.
"Pass the salt, Raina?"
"Coming right up, Rey."
And so Raina and Rey were taught the harsh lessons of nature, "Eat and avoid getting eaten!"
Surprisingly, Vanx was pretty damn tasty. Acklay. Not so much.
Hell's Guard, Entrance area
Samuel then sighed.
"I know, but I meant when you are out hunting or in combat."
"But dad I am always hunting FOR combat."
Samuel could just shake his head, and give a small smile.
"Just… Not everyone is very accepting to… Your unique eating habits."
"Oh… Why?"
"It's morally wrong and disrespectful to the dead."
"But, they're dead it's not like they care."
"A- Fuck it let's just get this over with and celebrate. I will cook."
"But I thought-"
"No, not since your patented "Liversagna".
"Oh come on! You use a guys liver once!"
"Thrice."
"Thrice!"
But the father daughter conversation was interrupted as they reached their destination.
There was over a dozen guards all armed with weapons ready to kill anything that exited the transport.
"Raina, ready up"
She nodded and clicked the side of her headphones, they soon transformed into her classic skull like helmet with the orange like "eyes"
Samuel put on his own helmet and stood with his arms crossed, he looked to Raina and saw she had dropped the body in favour of holding both her weapons.
"Open it."
Two of the guards walked up to the transport and opened the door; as soon as it opened they jumped back into position and trained their rifles at the doors.
After a few seconds they herd a yawning from the inside, and soon a man covered in chains and cuffs and whatnot walked out, he seemed tired and had a mask that covered the entirety of his lower face and had a small hole with a pair of bars where his mouth is, preventing anything.
He looked on towards Samuel and Raina, and decided to say something.
"Sup?"
This did nothing to lessen the tension in the air.
"Alexander Metrac, AKA "Alex the Red" AKA "The Butcher", do you understand why you're here?"
He seemed to think it over.
"You bought me as a pet?"
This time a few cocking guns were his reward.
"You are here to serve out your sentence, you will work alongside the members of this guild and you will assist us in completing our objectives."
Alex seemed to process this.
"And in return?"
This time Samuel stepped forward and signed with his hand for his men to lower their weapons.
"You will be treated fairly, rewarded, you will be able to trust us for protection as we will come to trust you. And when you have finally served your sentence. You will be given your freedom."
This garnered a rather surprising reaction from Alex, his eyes widened and he seemed to think over the words in order to make sure he was not being fooled. He put everything in one card.
"Do you promise?"
Everyone in the room looked at Samuel, who had gone completely silent.
Soon he brought his hands to his head and removed the helmet. Looked Alex in the eye and told him:
"I promise on my honour as a warrior that your freedom will be given when your service has ended."
He stared into Samuel's eyes, looking for any hint of deception. He found none.
Alex then started grinning widely.
"Alright boss, lemme out and we'll shake hands! I'm itching to get to work."
While everyone seemed quite worried or uneasy, Samuel merely nodded and ripped off all chains and clamps in one fell swoop. This caused several eyebrows to "take flight".
"Welcome to Hell's Guard, "Butcher".
"I won't let you down boss!"
He gave a crisp salute, before suddenly starting to sniff the air vigorously.
"Hey, uh." He sniffed a little more.
"Something is smelling pretty good!"
Raina, who'd removed her helmet when Alexander was accepted, was carrying her "lunch". Before she noticed Alexander staring.
Her eyes narrowed and her headphones became a helm as she took a defensive pose with her blades.
"Don't you dare."
Alex smiled a predatory grin.
"Unfortunately, I do!"
And with that said he leapt forth his hands turning into massive claws that looked like blades, covered in wire like, thick sinews that looked too large to harm. The two clashed, blades vs blades as they attempted to push the other away. Their stalemate was broken as both jumped back and started hacking and slashing at eachother. Their every move managed to match the other's as they fought. Soon, they both eyed their prize and jumped towards it.
They got closer.
Closer.
Closer…
Until. It suddenly, caught fire. And was turned into ashes.
Both of them were shocked. They froze mid air, and Raina's helmet once more disengaged.
"Phew, finally. Hated that thing. Stunk like hell! So, who's the new guy?"
Raina soon broke the awkward silence with Alexander and her crying comical tear streams. Hugging eachother over the loss of their "meal" while attempting (and failing) to console eachother.
Everyone just stood there in silence. Unable to, process. The deathmatch/grieving. Currently taking place. Jacob managed to break the silence.
"Did I miss something?"
Hell's Guard, Dining hall.
Things were finally taking form. Everyone had managed to return, the last to arrive were Akiba and Dark Horse. They had gotten caught up in a minor robbery; it was quite amusing to look at the faces of the robber when their victims mugged them.
Rey had learned more about his new friends Ancheindo and Sensō, they knew eachother from before, and they could play the cello. And when I mean play, I mean PLAY! They performed Hysteria and The Trooper Overture (by 2CELLOS) with relative ease and without any notes. Needless to say Rey was blown away by their skills, he however wasn't one to be outdone and performed something himself. It was an acoustic cover of Face Down (by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus) and it was quite well done, while it wasn't perfect it was quite impressive that he could both play and sing at the same time.
Raina and Alexander were wearing black clothes "in memoriam" of their lost meal, and yes she does this often. Zhuue had come back from her mission fairly early and had been sneaking through the vents for some, "intriguing information." However it also served to show off Ancheindo's ability of prediction as she predicted something would fall from the vent. She was right, however she didn't predict a person would fall right after the grate. Rey dodged it, but not her.
Jack was sitting at the large table in the centre along with all rookies; he was smiling as he saw all their joyful expressions (and Brad) he was happy they had all returned alive and well and as an added bonus, they were all successful! Jacob who sat right next to him however, was frowning, as he was really hungry.
"Sam, why are we just sittin' pretty when we could be eating? I'm pretty damn starved."
Samuel just sat at his position on the edge of the table in a throne like chair. Quietly waiting for something.
"While Jacob may lack tact."
"Hey!"
"He has spoken a thought many of us have, why are we waiting?"
Jack inquired.
Around them several voices chimed in with agreements and similar questions.
Samuel remained quiet while looking around.
Soon he spoke.
"We are waiting for a guest, they should be arriving at any moment."
Several "oh" sounds could be heard from around the table.
Rey then stated the obvious.
"Sure does explain that menacing extra chair."
There were murmurs of agreements considering the intimidating chair next to Samuel.
But Brad decided to inquire more.
"Sir, all of us are here, all your lieutenants are here and the special case."
"Hey!"
Alexander chimed in
"Whom could we possibly wait for?"
Suddenly there was a small "tink" like noise.
"This one."
And suddenly Revenant dropped from the ceiling, along with a part of it and charged at Samuel while everyone was recovering from the shock, and flash bang.
Much like nothing, Samuel merely grabbed both of Revenant's arms as it tried to cleave him in two and held it above himself.
"Really, three years and you attempt a failed assassination attempt. Really?"
Revenant was struggling to free itself from Samuel's "Iron grip" (he he) but to no avail.
With a grin that could only be described as satanic, Samuel then said.
"Such actions deserve…PUNISHMENT."
At that word, Revenant seemed to panic and increased its efforts to escape tenfold.
Samuel then ripped off its arm armor and removed his gauntlet.
With it's scrambled voice it pleaded:
"No! NO! Anything but that! Anything bu-AHAHAHAHAHA!"
Samuel was tickling Revenant.
Everyone was stunned as the scrambled voice was laughing.
Soon enough, the voice began to sound normal and higher pitched, almost as if Oh my god it's a chick!
Revenant was laughing until Samuel said something.
"Say it."
"Uncle! UNCLE!"
And so the "torture" stopped.
"Honestly, assassination before dinner? Didn't you learn how to be civilized?"
There was a small giggling coming from the helmeted face.
"C'mon bro. Can't you have some fun once in a while?"
"BRO?!"
Was the shocked outburst of everyone in the room.
"Please remove your helmet. We are about to have dinner."
She sighed.
"Fine."
As soon as Samuel released her from his grip she then removed her helmet and showed her face. Quite fascinating.
She looked much like her brother, save for a bit more tanned skin, softer features and far longer and more beautiful hair that seemed to reach her lower back. Her eyes held the same burning determination of her brother, only riddled with far more playfulness and youth.
Everyone was gaping at the, somewhat, "gender bent" version of their leader take her place.
Jacob broke the silence.
"Well hell-o beautiful! What's your name and where ya been all my life?"
She turned towards him and smiled.
"My name is Ilyana Steel, Codename: Revenant. As for where I've been, brutally killing dark guild members, doing secret military ops and maintaining my equipment."
Everyone absorbed the information, as Jacob turned to Jack.
"Jack, slap me in the face."
"What, why?"
"I wanna make sure I ain't dreaming!"
He slapped him. Hard.
"You aren't."
"Great!"
And soon everyone got to know Ilyana Steel; she took a liking to them immediately, as they did her. She gave thanks to young Sensō once more for his assistance during the op. And started hugging (crushing) her nephew and niece for their great work. While also. Giving them gifts.
To Raina, she gave an MP3 to go with her headphones.
It never occurred to her that music should be used with headphones.
To Rey she gave a specialized elec-dagger, powerful enough to knock out a person in a single strike.
"YO SAM! When's dinner ready? Your wife's getting antsy!"
Jacob turned to her with an indignant look.
"I'm not his wife!"
"Pfft! Not with that attitude you're not."
And so the table descended into laughter at Jacob's expense, until they heard grunting from the kitchen.
"Uh, Sa-"
Suddenly Samuel burst from the door carrying two enormous pots while giving a grand war cry. The damn things were the size of Minivans! It should be noted he also wore an apron with small hearts here and there alongside a chef hat.
As he set them on the table, he then sat down and gave a sigh of relief.
Everyone stared in shock at the giant pots.
"Uh, pops. What's in there?"
Samuel gave a smile.
"Family recipe! "Grandma's Spaghetti!"
And like that, the pots were opened and an enormous amount of spaghetti and Bolognese was visible. Enough to feed them for days!
Surprisingly, it was Brad who broke the silence.
"Holy fuck that is a lot of pasta."
Everyone agreed.
Sensō then spoke.
"Sir, if I may ask. WHAT THE HELL?! DID YOUR GRANDMOTHER OWN A PASTA FACTORY?!
Samuel looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Hmm, Well."
Many Years ago. Fiore.
A small boy was hiding between a pair of stones. He was quite well hidden, he seemed to have curled together and was hugging his knees in order to appear smaller and blend in with the surrounding area. He couldn't have been more than seven years old. Everything was quiet before suddenly!
"FOUND YOU"
A mighty voice called out!
And so the ground began to quake violently, as the pair large stones were lifted into the air and flung far away.
In their wake there was a colossal shadow standing above, reaching for the boy.
There was a scream.
Then silence…
Followed by a bout of childish laughter.
"I got you now kiddo!"
"Ha ha ah! Granny! P-Please stop I-I can't breathe!"
"Should have thought about that before you wanted to play hide and seek, with tickler's loss!"
The giant was, as it turns out, a female and was tickling the child whom she had scooped up with her hands.
"Come now Sam, your grandfather has been worried sick."
"Aw, come on. Five more minutes?"
She laughed slightly.
"That's five more minutes your grandfather will ravage every monster den in the forest."
"Oh… What does "Revage" mean?"
"It means he will break a lot of things."
"Like you, granny?"
The giant seemed to freeze, before giving a tired sigh.
"Yes Sam, just like granny."
"Wow, I wanna "Revage" things like you granny!"
This caused her to smile.
"Not until you're older kiddo."
Meanwhile, Other side of the forest
"RAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!"
A giant white armoured knight (giant by normal people standards) was charging through the entire forest, killing and destroying everyone and everything in his path. Simultaneously shouting:
"WHERE'S MY GRANDSON?!"
He kept charging until he heard a faint buzzing coming from within his armour, along with a small tune familiar to that of three spies. Each wearing a suit with a primary colour. He stopped his charge and answered his lacrima.
"I found him, he was hiding by the boulders."
"Oh, I'll be home soon. Broke a few uh… Miles of forest work."
He swore he heard her shaking her head, while she laughed.
"You are too caring sometimes. Don't worry, it's dinner time."
"Oki doki."
Large cottage attached to small cottage, Forest
Sitting at a rather huge table, was the previous giant woman. Her beautiful blonde long hair and blue eyes gave her a very "Valkyrie" like appearance; she was wearing what seemed to be old-fashioned barbarian type armour that showed off her well-trained midriff and toned legs. On the table was a smaller table where the young boy and armoured knight were sitting. Next to their table was a gargantuan pot of pasta and another with Bolognese.
"Sam, you gotta tell us where you're hiding. You're gonna give your old granddad a heart attack one of these days."
While he laughed at his own joke. He saw Samuel had a face with comically large eyes full of tears and quivering lips while staring at him.
"I D-DON'T WANT GRANDPA TO DIE!"
And so Sam started weeping while throwing himself at his grandpa and hugging him. As if he thought that when he let go his grandpa would die or disappear.
His grandfather looked alarmed and stared at his wife, who was just chuckling at his misfortune.
"Um, there, there. Sam. Your grandfather is strong and will be with you a long time."
Sam sniffed.
"R-Really?"
"Of course! Who else would pay for your grandmother when she ruins thi-"
A large fist crashing down at him silenced him.
"What he meant was: Who would keep granny company when you are not around?"
There was a muffled yes from under her fist.
This seemed to cheer the boy up.
"Okay! Granny, why do you eat so much?"
"Uh well it is because I-"
"Is it because you're fat?"
She froze, and her world seemed to shatter before she retreated to a corner of the house. And she started mumbling in a depressed tone.
"I'm not fat, just very tall. I eat enough food for my body. I don't eat too much. Maybe a desert now and then but that shouldn't matter. Maybe I should train more, I have been slacking a little."
While she was mumbling, Sam's grandfather sweat dropped and patted his grandson on his back.
"He he, Sam. Don't call people fat, it is very rude."
He looked shocked.
"Was I rude to granny?!"
He asked in a panicked voice.
"Don't worry, she knows you didn't mean it. But remember, don't be so blunt about your thoughts."
"Ok."
His grandfather then placed his hand on Sam's head, and ruffled the hair.
"Alright you little scamp, let's eat. It's grandma's spaghetti!"
"Yay!"
Needless to say, Sam was a little bit of a moron.
Hell's Guard, Dinner hall. Present Day.
"My grandmother knew how to cook."
This seemed to tide over a few of the questions.
"Was she tall?"
Samuel seemed to think it over before answering.
"Yes"
"Well that explains it."
He nodded and turned towards everyone, with a wide smile.
"Let the celebrations BEGIN!"
And so everyone cheered and started to enjoy him or herself. A lot of things are happening at once so we're going to go a little left and right here.
"So, you see the future when playing an instrument?"
"Yes"
"And when you're circling the rim of a glass?"
"Indeed."
"Haha! How does that even work?"
" Don't know, but it sure does come in handy."
"Yeah, now we can know that Rey won't get a girl!"
And so Sensō and Ancheindo laughed at Rey's misfortune, before he too joined in.
"I'd never seen him run so fast. I'm fighting this guy with a hook sword, everything is burning and everyone is shooting everyone. So suddenly Samuel just sprints past while grabbing me and shouting and I quote: "Fuck, Fuck! FUUUCK!"
The table burst into laughter once more as they laughed at their fearless leader.
"Ilyana, I got a better one!"
"Do tell Jack."'
"Heard about gravity?"
"Yeah?"
"Samuel sure hadn't! We were doing a mission. Hunting a guy who hid in the mountains. Bottom line, he was an air mage. Sam jumps to grab him. They fall to the fucking bottom and Sam is stuck in full body cast for three weeks!"
Several chairs had fallen backwards from laughter; Ilyana was smashing her fist into the table and just kept laughing.
"So there I was, outnumbered and outgunned. Samuel at my back and assholes in front."
The crowd of onlookers were intrigued by the story. While Johnny was listening to the story with his eyes full of amazement, along with his shades. Brad was taking notes of the different killing styles, weapon tactics and names for takedowns. Hey, what better way than to learn from a pro?
"So what does the fucking maniac do? He picks up two machine guns, puts me on his shoulders and just fires everything! He kept pulling the trigger until nothing was left of both his ammo and enemies! I kept hitting the fuckas who didn't get wasted by his barrage. Was a damn good day for a "Gunnado". Everyone clapped while Brad wrote "Gunnado" while circling it a few times. Before nodding to himself.
Suddenly there was a noise that caught everyone's attention.
Piano music.
And not just any old kind of music. But the one played by a goddamn professional.
As everyone turned towards the stage, they saw Zhuue standing alongside Lucretzia. Suddenly, Zhuue began to hum the first part of Sins of the Father, with Lucretzia starting to softly sing. Everyone was so distracted by the beautiful singing that they hadn't noticed Raina making her way to the stage and taking the mike. They noticed when she sang in a much less gentle and "angelic" tone. With far more force and determination.
"Words that kill! Would you speak them to me? With your breath so still, it makes me believe"
She then looked out at her audience with a surprisingly serious look.
"In the father's Sins! Let me suffer now, and never die. I'M ALIVE!"
With that power verse, the song slowed down, until all three girls prepared for the finale. They each sang a verse before all joining in for the final verse.
The order was Zhuue, Lucretzia and finally Raina.
Z: "Pride, feeds their blackened hearts, and their thirst must be quenched to fuel hypocrisy"
L: "Cleansing flames, is the only way to repent. Renounce what made you."
R: "Words that kill, would you speak them to me? With your breath so still, it makes me believe."
All three joined together.
"The sins never die! Can't wash this blood off our hands."
"Let the world fear us all! It's just means to an end!"
"Our salvation lies! In the father's sins. Beyond the truth!"
"Let me suffer now!"
The singing captivated almost everyone. Brad however wondered about the music, so as he looked towards Krytus. He saw something pretty interesting. His arms were inside a pair of purple portals, and all around the instruments were purple portals with his arms sticking out and playing the instruments.
"In my heart I just know that there's no way to light up the dark, in his eyes."
And amidst the flurry of voices, a small one seemed to wail similarly to the beginning, but before anyone could realize, being captivated by the song. Samuel had joined the girls on stage and stood at the centre with a cape billowing as they gave the final tone. A combined "WHOAH HO!" Samuel looked incredibly intimidating and inspiring with the song's final part and his position fitting so well together.
As the song ended, everyone applauded the young girls, whistles and banging on the tables, people screaming for encores. Samuel silenced everyone with a warm smile while raising his hand as a gesture of ceasing.
"I hope you all have enjoyed yourselves during these festivities. For tomorrow we all return to work."
There was a collective groaning from most of the patrons.
"However, great deeds MUST be celebrated. So when you're out in the field or back at base. Do your best and parties like these will be held in YOUR honour!"
And so Samuel managed to rile up the audience with his promises of parties and good times for their deeds.
Soon enough, everyone was off to bed. Going to either their respective rooms or the shared barracks. As everyone made their way to bed, Samuel called out to them through the intercom.
"Good night little mercs."
Everyone replied to him in kind.
"Night boss."
As they started to sleep, they heard another announcement.
"Good night monster that eats disobedient little mercs."
Nobody knew that Alexander had snuck out with an intercom per Samuel's instructions; he then took a deep breath and roared in a terrifying and beastlike way that scared everyone into a shiver. Several mercs had decided to… Share bunks for training purposes. Definitely not because they were terrified of a monster for sure.
Meanwhile, Alexander snuck into his room through a window and was silently snickering about this. Maybe these guys wouldn't be so bad.
At the same time, Samuel was getting ready for bed; he removed all weapons, took off his armor and brushed his teeth. Before going to bed. As he entered it, something was off. As he removed the duvet, he found his sister, lying comfortably in his bed.
He merely raised an eyebrow.
She yawned.
"No bed. Here comfy. Tell story. Big bro."
He just gave a small sigh and sat up straight, before grabbing a book while his little sister, leaned onto his shoulder half-asleep and half-listening.
"Let me tell you the story of: "Caped Baldy, the Strongest Hero".
And so he too began drifting off as he told his sister of the hero's exploits.
However, neither of them knew. That their calm and peaceful times, were about to come to an end.
A/N: Another one! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Finally we get some insight into the old fighting man and his past. Also some music that I do not own, it's from Metal Gear Solid V. Also, the Shanties are from Ratchet and Clank Future, I don't own them either. Not much else to say other than: I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible and Review follow and favourite if you want!
