Hey Guys, so here it is. Chapter 8 of my story. Hopefully some of you will review my chapters more. Really need some feedback :/
Disclaimer: I wish the human race wasn't stupid enough for me to need this.
Song of The Day: Professor Sycamore's Theme - Pokemon XY OST
CH 9: Blackened Jewel
Gregor didn't know what to say. There was nothing wrong in what he was asking. He was skilled, a diplomat, seemed like a good guy. He would probably be very helpful on the journey.
Then he realized.
He just didn't want to do anything the guy wanted. Perhaps that's the price of stealing Luxa away from him.
But he never stole Luxa away. I never had her.
"Of course you may come" Said Gregor with a fake grin. " However is it the best idea for a King to leave on such dangerous terms?"
"Well if an Overland girl with no experience can do it, Id assume I, myself can do it"
Gregor couldn't help but laugh at that. He could hear Anya silently seething at the remark on her experience behind him. "I guess you are correct. Then it is as you wish. You may accompany us on our quest to rescue Luxa"
"Thank You, Gregor the Overlander. Do not worry, I don't disappoint on the battle field"
"I never thought you did, Justin." said Gregor with a fake smile. Then a thought occurred to him.
If he could tell all of Justin's gestures were genuine...
Could Justin tell all his gestures were fake?
After the council meeting Justin saw it imperative that they get to work as soon as possible on training Anya in combat.
Anya and Gregor were currently walking down the streets of Regalia heading toward the arena where Gregor had first entered the Underland. Apparently Justin had assigned a combat teacher to help Anya with her training. He had also called Pantharos down to to arena so Gregor could become more accustomed with him.
He was receiving a variety of waves and shouts of approval from the Underlander. It wasnt all good though. It was obvious some Underlander's despised him. However one Underland child actually came up and hugged his knees.
"I'm sorry, so sorry haha. He keeps hearing stories about the great warrior and he's been constantly asking to meet you." said a nervous looking Mother, who was starting to drag her toddler away.
"Hey! Wait!" Gregor motioned for the child to stop. "Whats your name little guy?" He only looked to be around five years old or so.
"Gavian" The boy was looking at Gregor with awe.
"Well Gavian. Thanks for making my day" Gregor said with a smile. "Would you mind If I gave your son something to remember me by?" He asked the mother.
"Of course not! He'd be overjoyed!" The mother was almost in shock. Were they not used to higher ups being like this?
Gregor pulled out the dagger on his left belt harness and unhooked the sheath. He then engraved G.W. on the sheath. He put the blade back in the sheath and handed it to the little boy.
"Here. This is for you." The boys squeals of happiness reminded him of Boots so much.
"Thanks !" He was holding the blade like it was a sacred piece of art that would fly away if he was too rough with it.
"Call me Gregor, Gavian" Gregor smiled as the little boy ran to go show all his friends. He kept on walking and Anya was looking at him with a smirk.
So Gregor. You're something like a celebrity around these parts." Anya was trying to hold her laughs in.
"Well. I kinda saved the entire city last time I was down here so I'd hope I was" replied Gregor.
"You know you still haven't explained your connection to this place to me yet." Anya said gruffly.
"I will Anya. I promise. But Anya...I'm curious about something too" Gregor started obviously avoiding the subject.
"Hmm?" She turned her face to him ash she walked.
"What was with that name thing in the council room?"
"What name thing?"
"Call me Anna"
"Oh...That. Well to be honest. I hate my name."
"You hate "Anya"?"
"Yeah." She replied.
"Why? I love your name. Seriously its so elegant...Its like...Its like..."
Its like Luxa.
"To be honest It seems so stiff, like its forced out. I want a name that's smoother. Less organization, more melody."
"So...Anna?"
"Yeah! Doesn't it feel smooth when you say it? Like its just rolling off your tongue?"
"Yeah, I guess it does" Said Gregor with a laugh.
By the time they finished talking they were entering the arena. They saw Howard, Ripred, Ulysses and Pantharos over near the blood ball cannons. Ripred and and Pantharos were just talking. Howard was fighting with someone.
"Hey who's Howard fighting with?" asked Gregor.
"Duh that's Justin...are you blind?"
"That's Justin? Why is he here?"
Gregor and Anya started walking over to the spar to talk with the duo.
When they got there Howard and Justin had stopped sparring and were sitting down.
"Hey! Gregor! Anya! You guys are here! You guys ready to train?"
"Call me Anna"
"Oh yes, sorry" said Justin.
Gregor looked at him a little shocked. His way of talking in the council and outside were completely different.
"Wow, You talk completely different outside of the council" said Gregor.
"Are you kidding me? I hate that place with a vengeance"
Gregor laughed. "Well it seems you have that in common with Luxa. So should we get to training? Who did you ask to train Anya?"
"Anna"
"...Riigght..." said Gregor.
"That will be me. I will train her" said Justin.
"Wait, You're training me?" Asked Anya.
"Yeah. You don't mind do you Anna? I just think since were going on a mission together we should probably get to know each others style of fighting now so we can work together better."
"No not at all. Just a little surprised." replied Anya.
"Why so?" Justin seemed a little insulted.
"Well you're a king aren't you? Since when do King's fight wars?" asked Anya.
"Well If I was a normal king like character than Luxa would have never agreed to marry me" said Justin with a laugh.
That pulled at Gregors heartstrings. He was right, if he wasn't a great guy Luxa wouldn't have agreed. Not in a million centuries.
"Ok so first things first." Gregor cut in. "We need weapons. My sword of Sandwich broke so I need to get a new one. Anya needs to get one too. I think you and Howard have one right Justin?"
"Yeah we both have swords but you two need to go get one. The armory is don there to the end of the arena. You should find all the available armor and blades which Regalia has there" replied Justin.
"Ok, Anya, lets go."
"Goddammit Gregor, Anna!"
"Oh, right, sorry"
They started walking towards the other end of the Arena built somewhere into the stands that surrounded the arena. When he walked in he noticed that there were actually people in the armory. He saw multiple workers organizing and building new armor, most of the steel was standard. Standard soldier wear in Regalia.
As Gregor walked in to the armory a lady walked up to him and Anya.
"Hello, my name is Stacy, do you need a fitting for armor and swords?"
"...Stacy?"
"I don't know. My parents liked this overland name. I don't know why"
"Ok...anyways! No, we don't need to be fitted yet. We would just like to look at the different swords. We will come to you when we have chosen."
"Ok, then I will leave you to your choosing. Please ask if you need any assistance."
Gregor and Anya walked towards the rack of Swords to the right of the room. There was a wall length rack of swords that were placed so people could try them out.
"Um...Ok so yeah. Pick up these swords. Tell me if any of them feel right"
"Ok...but to be honest they all look a little to big for me" Anya laughed.
With that she waked to the other side of the rack and started testing swords. Gregor tested a lot of swords but none of them could match the feeling he had felt with his old sword. The sword Sandwich had entrusted to him.
He saw long swords, broadswords, scimitars, even sickles however none of them seemed to have the right feel to them.
Then he saw it.
It was in a glass case hanging on the right side of the room, over the rack of swords. It was a black sword. But it wasn't just black...It sparkled.
"You have quite an eye"
Gregor swerved around at the voice behind him. He looked to see it was Justin.
"Justin! For Sandwich's sake, does everyone just like sneaking up on me?"
"Haha, sorry. I didn't mean to. But that sword is special. It has a history In the Royal family itself."
"What do you mean?" asked Gregor.
"That sword is made of the hardest, strongest and most durable material known to man."
"Isn't that diamond?"
"You're close Gregor, very but not exactly. That sword is made of black diamond."
"Black diamond?"
"Yes, It's a material that's made by melting diamonds with ash and volcanic rock."
"...How the hell do you melt DIAMONDS?"
"To be honest no ones exactly sure. They know the secret is temperature. But to harness a temperature as great as that which is needed to melt diamond? It is unknown in the Underland. Perhaps it is more common knowledge in the Overland?"
"I believe that it exists but not many organizations have the resources to access such technology" replied Gregor. "Very few, definitely"
"I see. Even so. It is extremely difficult to forge a sword which is made of black diamond. First of all you need diamond, and a lot. You need volcanic rock, ash and obsidian. And you need a temperature great enough to melt it and mold it into a sword. The diamond gives it a strength, blade, and durability that is unmatched. The ash in the blade makes the blade acutely one person has ever been recorded in the Underland that accomplished it successfully."
Gregor thought about it. A naturally poisonous, never chipping blade. Amazing.
"Let me guess who made it, Sandwich?" said Gregor sarcastically.
"No. When Sandwich tried he burned his left arm to an extent where it was almost unusable. Perhaps its because he was old and slightly mad. He spent the rest of his days in rooms of prophecy"
Gregor was shocked.
"No, the man who did it was Luxa's father."
"Luxa's father?"
"Yes, Her father was king and loved a women. This women was Luxa's mother. They had been going out but Luxa's mother, had severed relationships with him because she found him egotistic. But truth be told he was just a hilarious, clever man"
"How did she accept him?" He thought he already knew the answer.
"To get her to accept him he went to The Queen."
"The Queen? What do you mean, I thought that..."
"No, he went to THE Queen."
"...Ohhh..." It was then that Gregor knew what he was talking about. The Queen, the underground super volcano that had almost destroyed him and all his friends. It had succeeded in killing Hazards to be bond, Thalia.
"He went to the Queen around the time of an eruption so he could harness the radioactivity and heat of the magma to melt the diamonds. All the other materials would be right there from the explosion. How he survived the explosion and actually molded the diamonds into this is unknown to this day. But when he was done, It was like a sword that was far above all others. Not even Sandwich's sword compared. Its blade never becomes dull, it never needs to be sharpened. No matter how many enemies it cuts down it never loses it glint."
"So what, he showed Luxa's mother that he made it and she was so impressed that she accepted him?"
"No, as history goes, her mother actually ridiculed him, she just thought him more egotistic than ever. Its kind of true! What man is crazy enough to go try to build a blade near a radioactive volcano!" Justin laughed at the idea.
"Wait then what..."
" Luxa's father then did something no one expected."
"For gods sake just tell me" Gregor was getting tired.
"He gave her the blade. He bent down on one knee and he proposed to her with it. It was then that she finally accepted, and not only cause she wanted the most powerful blade in existence, she found him to be less self absorbed after that."
"That's nice I guess, so the sword is like, a monument now?"
"Mostly, the story of the kings blade is like a legend now, a romantic story for the people of Regalia...Gregor do you want to use the sword?"
"To be honest...yes" Gregor couldn't help but laugh "Who wouldn't want to use a sword that legendary?"
"I think it would be appropriate if you used it for the mission. Just the mission though"
"Really? And why is that?"
"Because if there was one time that Luxa's parents would want for the sword to be used once again...It would be to save Luxa. Or at least that is what I believe."
Justin opened the glass case, and ran his hand over the diamond blade, and the black ruby encrusted hilt. He picked it up and handed it to Gregor.
"Does it feel right Gregor?"
It feels perfect...
"It feels...better than Sandwich's sword."
"Than I trust you to use it in our mission to rescue Luxa. After all, a blade like that is only taken out for people who are doing something for those they love. Those whom they love unconditionally."
"Thank you, Justin."
As Justin walked away, Gregor couldn't help but wonder...The man was making him feel less hostile toward him every time they talked, even with someone as special as Luxa between them...Hhw?
Then another thought occurred.
Did Justin just tell me he knows I love Luxa?
Gregor is confused about Justin now. Shit.
Continue reading Next Chapter...
CH 9: Blood Storm
Well there you go. I pretty sure this is my longest chapter yet. Its always the story telling chapters isn't it? You may think this wont have much relevance to the actual story but It will. So bear with me.
Read and Review please. =D
If you liked it, compliment me. If you hate it, give me constructive criticism.
I would say Give me flames...but those things really suck even f they do help me make cookies.
So yeah like I said. Review. Pleasseee.
-Glacierstrike
