Chapter 9: All Hail the King


Previously:

"Fine fine..." Gid said, nonchalantly dropping the wallets on the ground and began walking off. "Who was that guy anyway?" He wondered aloud, intrigued by the stranger. It's not every day that Gid meets someone who can match him in a bar fight.

"More importantly," Zastin interrupted, "What should we do now?" "...""...""...""...Let's go see the king." "What?!" Zastin and Sephie responded in unison. "Right now...?" "There's no time like the present!~" The Raven haired boy said, already walking away further into the city. "W-Wait up!" The two chased after the boy.Weaving through the busy streets of the capital, the three teenagers slowly made their way through the currents of people, with the distant stone castle ever nearing. The first steps, turning into a jog, then to a sprint as hopeful crimson eyes gazed gazed, affixed to the future he will create.


Chapter 9: All Hail the king

"What a tremendous idea this was…" Sephie muttered.

"Save your energy and keep quiet! Or we'll be discovered…!"

Castle Deviluke, a mega structure of wonder – a castle that dwarfed all those in its vicinity, a testament to might and longevity, symbolic of the people it represents.

Present along the castle walls of the castle were guards, patrolling in their predetermined routes as instructed, like dutiful ants.

Unbeknownst to the lot of them, three teenagers, through whatever methods, had somehow managed to scale up the side of one of the lower walls.

Not long after, from the top of the wall, a head of grey popped up, along with a pair of eyes, green and blue. Those eyes timidly flickered left and right. "Ok…!" Zastin gave the all clear as he pulled himself up completely over the wall, landing softly onto the stone and wooden walkway.

"Finally…" Gid sighed gratefully, following suit, he then turned around, extending a hand down. "Here, take my hand."

And soon enough, a hand reached out and held onto Gid's.

"Wahhh…~" Sephie sighed as she too appeared over the castle walls.

"I still can't believe we're doing this…"

"Oh c'mon, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides, look at the view and tell me it wasn't worth it~" Gid said, nodding at the scenery beyond the wall as he leaned on the black marble statue of a gargoyle overlooking the city with menace.

"Gid-nii...!" Without warning, Zastin hastily tapped his brother on the shoulder, semi pulling him down from where he stood. "A guard..." The younger Devilukean whispered, pointing at a guard on the other end of the wall a short distance away, who stood idly relaxed by the ledge with his rifle in hand. Reacting almost immediately, the brothers knelt down and leaned against the base of the gargoyle statue, away from sight.

And while Gid and Zastin exchanged a look of relief, Sephie however wasn't as astute as the Devilukeans. The hooded girl remained perched on the ledge, unaware of the idle guard soon taking notice of movements in his furthest peripheral vision.

'...Shit!' Panic raced through Gid's mind as he left his hiding spot, pulling the girl down from the ledge by the hand.

"Wha-!" Sephie called out in surprise as she lost balance and fell towards Gid, who pull the both of them behind the gargoyle statue next to Zastin.

"WHO'S THERE?!" The guard called out, his rifle now in both hands, "IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!" The guard's gaze remained affixed onto the gargoyle statue.

'Oh no oh no oh no oh we're so done for...!' panic raced through Zastin's head as he curled up by the statue's feet, making himself as small as possible.

"I'm not going to ask again!" The guard repeated as he stepped cautiously in the direction of the nervous three.

"...!-" Sephie was about to make a sound when without warning Gid put his hand over her mouth and held her as close as possible by the waist. Gid shook his head reverently at Sephie, as if begging her to stop making sound.

The three closed their eyes and prayed as the shuffling of footsteps marched closer and closer to them. By now, the guard had reached the gargoyle statue, right around the corner from the three teenagers, where he stopped.

Seeing the tall shadow looming around the corner, Zastin held his tail still and covered his mouth to muffle his breathing whilst Gid held his breath.

The Devilukean guard looked around, peering over the wall as he observed his surroundings.

"..."

"Guess I'm seeing things..." He muttered to himself as he turned around, marching down back to his post. But the teens took no chances as they remained in their positions until they couldn't hear footsteps anymore.

"Whew..." Gid let out a small audible sigh as he relaxed, but not before noticing the position that he and Sephie were in.

"G-Gid-nii..." Zastin facepalmed.

"Ge-Get off me!" Sephie blushed feverently as she pushed herself off the boy, staggering backwards.

"You can thank me later, and by later I mean now." Gid retorted, the smallest of blush on his face.

"Don't go pulling me towards you like that!" Sephie exclaimed, clearly embarrassed.

"If it wasn't for me, we would've all been caught-!" Gid reasoned while at the same time crouching down. "More importantly, we need to get into the castle before the guard comes back." He said as he pointed to an open window a distance away.


*Throne room..."

"My king, with all due respect, I believe not taking action is a bit... Naive." A female voice said.

"You dare insult our king, you outsider?!-"

"It's alright general. Now, diplomat, why should I place this bounty on this meaningless hunt? The empire's resources are valuable, especially now."

"My king, I understand your reluctance, but our leader believes that apprehending this individual can and will… mutually beneficial to both empires."

"Alright alright, you've made your point. Consider the Deviluke empire aware. Now, let's move onto the proposed trade arrangements..."


*Ventilation systems*
"Can this day just get any worse?" Zastin complained, crawling on his hands and knees, his sword strapped behind his back.

"Suck it up, we're almost there... I can feel it!" Gid encouraged.

"You know for an air vent it's surprisingly hard to breath in here..." Sephie groaned, crawling next to Gid.

Fortunately for the three, they had discovered a small opened window by the wall, which they wasted no time climbing into.

Erring on the side of caution, Sephie ripped a section of the curtain off and tied it to her face like a veil, just in case anyone saw her face. From then they discovered a small ventilation shaft, to which they climbed into. The three teenagers crawled side by side, their bodies pressed up uncomfortable against one another as they inched their way through.

But soon enough, out of the corner of Gid's earshot, the softest of chatter graced his ears

"Shh! Nobody move...!" Gid hushed as the three crawled to a stop, comically crammed in a confined space.

"What is it?" Zastin asked his brother.

"I hear voices..." Gid breathed as he narrowed his eyes, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sounds.

"You sure it's not just the winds?" Sephie asked skeptically.

"I swear it came from..." Gif trailed off as he continues to wiggle forward, leaving the two behind.

"O-Oi... Wait up..." Zastin called out, but it was too late, Zastin and Sephie briefly rolled their eyes at each other as they continued to crawl through the air vent behind Gid.

Not long after Gid made another stop

"What the hell-"

"-Shh! Listen..." Gid silenced them as he gestured to what's underneath them.

"…!" Zastin and Sephie glowed in surprise as they realised they were directly over a vent opening. The opening hatch had holes gridded along its entirety, allowing for an obscured view of the scenery below.

"Is that… what I think it is…?" Zastin whispered.

"…Is that... a throne?" Gid asked.


*Throne room…*

"Very well, diplomat. The Devilukean Empire agrees to ratify the proposed amendments. Your king and I will meet at Heaven's Summit to further discuss the current affairs regarding this peace treaty."

"Thank you, King Alastor. Our king will be most pleased to hear of our continual alliance. I shall relay all that is said in this room back to my king as soon as possible."

"Well then you'd best be off," The king said, waving a hand. "A squadron of guards will escort you to back to your ship." With his final words, he got up from the throne, a picking up the golden trident in his hand, and hitting the butt of it onto the floor below, the blow echoing through the hall.

"I bid you farewell." The diplomat gave a deep bow and turned around, walking out with two guards following her. The large wooden cathedral-esque door cracked open as the footsteps of the diplomat soon disappeared form the halls.

The man on the throne physically slumped backwards into the chair, giving a deep sigh.

"Is something wrong, sir?" The man standing next to the throne asked.


*Air vent…*

"We've found them!" Gid exclaimed softly in glee. 'We're one step closer to reaching out goal!'

"…!" Zastin and Sephie glowed in surprise as they realized they were directly over a vent opening. The pening hatch hadn holes gridded along its entirety, allowing for an obscured view of the room below.

"Is that… what I think it is…?" Zastin whispered.

"…The throne!"


*Throne room…*

(Music For Mood: "The Ballads of Londinium" – King Arthur: Legend of the Sword)

Crrreaaaakk…

Suddenly, everything froze, and the three looked at each other. Their body weights combined were simply too much for the air vent panel to bear.

'Oh sh-' But Gid didn't get to finish as the panel completely cracked, swinging open as the three teenagers fell down.

Boom!

"…!- Protect the King!" The armoured man next to the throne immediately responded to the danger, stepping forward with a rifle drawn. Guards around the walls of the hall similarly turned with their weapons drawn at the abrupt interruption.

When the dust cleared, three figures revealed themselves among the rubble.

"Oww…"

"Why were we bunched up together…?"

"What the-" the man on the throne gawked in shock.

"Put your hands up where we can see them!" The tall man next to the throne hollered, wasting no time as he pulled out his sidearm attached to his leg, pointing it at the three.

Concurrently, two rows of uniformed guards seemingly popped out from the side of the grand hall, appearing from behind the pillars, all brandishing rifles that charged up with light.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands behind your back!" The guards yelled, now encircling the group of teens.

"Don't do anything stupid now…" one of the guards said, approaching Zastin and knocked his sword out of his hand, kicking it away from him.

"Wait n-" Zastin begged for his sword and stood up.

"Zastin, stay down-" But before Sephie could finish her warning, Zastin was tackled by one of the guards, who wrestled and submitted the ashen haired teen onto the floor, holding his arms and tail behind his back.

"Don't touch him-!" Gid warned despite the dangerous predicament they were in.

Recognising that voice, the man next to the throne snapped out of his zone and blinked in surprise. "Wait… Don't I know you from somewhere…-" his eyes furrowed. 'It can't be… the brawl from the bar…'

"…It's you!" Gid blinked in surprise and sighed in relief.

"Men, stand down…" The man said as he lowered his sidearm as a signal for the other guards to do the same.

"You know them, Gigor?" The king asked with a deep voice, raising an eyebrow.

"We've met." The man known as Gorgon replied. "How's your face kid? Hope I didn't hit you too hard."

"How's your gut doing?" Gid quipped.

"Silence! Street urchin!" The man known as Gorgon quieted the room, although casually adjusting his armour in the abdomen region. He then turned to the king. "My king, I've met them earlier today while I was in the foreign sect."

"I see…" The king trailed off, confused, but accepting of the situation.

"Men, gather the children on their feet." The king ordered. Complying, the guard got off Zastin and pulled him onto his feet, shoving him back to Gid and Sephie, who also slowly stood up. The guards backed away from the three children, though their guns remained in their hands, just in case.

"Now… identify yourselves. And how did you get past security and into this room?" The man sitting on the throne asked.

"Who are you?! " Gid retorted angrily.

"I am Alastor of house Abraxas, King of Deviluke, protector of the Devilukean Empire, second of his name." The man on the throne stated, using the trident by his side to help himself up, once again slamming the trident onto the smooth stone floor, the sound reverberating through the hall.

"…." Zastin and Sephie were sweating nervously, whilst Gid didn't seem to care at all who he was talking to.

"I want to know about the war, and what you're going to do about stopping it!" The red eyed Devilukean demanded, staring directly into the king's grey ones.

"You impudent child! Show some respect to our king-"

"-No Gigor, it's alright." The king said, now up from his throne, he slowly approached the three teenagers, walking down the stairs with the tall trident in hand, his royal red cloak dragging behind him. Zastin and Sephie gulped with his every step, drawing the king closer and closer to them. He was not the tallest, nor the biggest, but was still at least two heads taller than any of them. "The child simply doesn't know any better, do you…" The king reasoned, looking down upon Gid with eyes feigning a smile.

"…It's Gid." The boy replied quietly.

"Well young Gid, you're simply too young to understand the war. All you need to know is that under my kingship, we're onward to a swift victory against our enemies. Gigor!" The king then called forward his captain.

"Yes sire."

"Get these children out of here! And find someone to fix that ceiling." The king dismissed with a wave, before turning his back and began walking back to the throne.

'He dismissed us… just like that…' Gid was furious, evident in his burning red eyes on his downward expression. Zastin noticed his brother's shaking demeanour and began to worry.

"Gid…" Zastin hushed warningly, while Sephie merely adjusted her cowl nonchalantly. 'Please don't say anything stupid… please don't say anything stupid…. Please don't say anything stupid…'

"You better hurry back and sit on it while you can!" Gid called out as the Devilukean King Alastor halted his steps at the top of the steps, turning around.

"Oh….?" The king raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Oh boy…" Sephie closed her eyes. 'Idiot…'

"Better keep that seat warm enough so my butt doesn't freeze when I sit on it one day!" Gid yelled, pointing a finger directly at the king.

The guards surrounding the group of teens tensed at the exclaim, and Zastin and Sephie froze in fear. 'He's really done it now…'

And for a while, a tense silence hung in the air.

"…"

"…"

"…-" Gid tensed up as he saw the king's expression changed from serious, surprised, then amused. And for a second, as the king opened his mouth to speak, the trident tailed boy truly felt nervous.


(Music For Mood: "The Point of the Spear" – Horizon Zero Dawn OST)

CLANG!

"...Had to do it didn't you…" Zastin trailed off.

"What choice did I have?" Gid retorted. "Otherwise we came all this way for nothing!"

"You could've, I don't know… don't any other thing other than disrespecting your King in his throne room?!" Sephie suggested sarcastically.

"He's not my king." Gid uttered. "He didn't answer me about the war."

"Oi! You Three! Be quiet!" A Devilukean guard said as he walked past the stone corridor, clanking his rifle against the rattling cages of the cell.

"Come in here and make me!" Gid nagged, slamming his hands against the bars as the guard disappeared down the corridor and through the doorway. The boy sighed and slumped against the cage. "Gaadammit…"

"You friends are right, you should've stayed quiet back there." Out of the blue, a voice said.

The three was about to argue once again when they heard the sudden voice, they turned and backed away from the cell they were put in, curious at the looming shadow flickering down by brazier fire.

"It's you…" Gid breathed.

"Indeed." The tall Devilukean answered, his armour clanking coming to a halt, his half red cape stopped swaying. "We haven't been formally introduced. The name's General Gigor, Arch-General of Deviluke."

"You're the same man we ran into at the tavern… But… what were you doing down in the tavern?" Zastin pointed. "And that's my sword!" he pointed at the weapon in the general's hand.

"I'm the Arch-General, I go wherever I please." Gigor waved off. "However, sneaking past security and the wall and getting meters away from the King of Deviluke, what were you kids thinking. So I'm going to be blunt. What in the hell were you three doing?"

"We just wanted answers, that's all." Sephie explained to the tempering general. "We wanted to know more about the war, and what we could do to help out."

"Well it didn't exactly look like it, considering the short one over here openly opposed the throne and challenged for the position. If I didn't recognise you, we would've eliminated you on the spot." The general explained.

"Well then answer our questions - What's happening with the war? How do we win? Who are we fighting? When will it stop?" A flurry of questions flew out of Gid's mouth, surprising the general. "And don't give me a half-assed answer like your king did."

"Well, like my King Alastor said, there're a lot of moving parts, many different parties and nations and empires involved, And it's been going on for approximately fourteen- fifteen years now."

"Yeah no shit. But you're not answering my-"

"-And I am under no obligation to." Gigor interrupted Gid sternly, before his face softened. "Look, the three of you are children and are in the registry of citizens, so we're letting this incident slide." The man said, holding up a chain of keys.

"Thank goodness…!" Sephie sighed in relief. 'Looks like we won't be spending our first night in Deviluke in Prison'

"Consider yourselves warned, this is not a repeatable incident." he told them as he opened the cell cage, letting Sephie and Zastin walk through. "I believe this is yours." General Gigor said, holding up Zastin's sword. "It's one of fine make, make sure to take good care of it."

"A-Ah, Y-Yes General, thank you!" Zastin accepted the sword with bowed head.

It was Gid's turn to walk out the cage, but the three teenagers were surprised as the General slid the cage doors close, relocking it with his keys.

"Oi?! What the hell?!" Gid shouted.

"Gid-nii!" Zastin called in concern.

"The two of you should head on home first-"

"Well jokes on you, we don't have a home!" Gid retorted. The General and the two children outside the cell collectively sweatdropped and fell to the ground at the statement.

"…."

"Well…" Gigor coughed. "Then I suppose the two of you should run off now, I'm assuming you have a place to stay?"

"We do." Sephie said, dragging Zastin away.

"Very well then."

"W-What about Gid-nii?" Zastin asked worriedly.

"He'll stay in here tonight and will be released next morning."

"WHAT?!" Gid and Zastin exclaimed in shock.

"Consider this a lesson on respect for the Devilukean throne. Frankly, we're letting you three off easy."

"C'mon Zastin," Sephie said quietly, tugging Zastin on the shirt, "Gid, we'll meet tomorrow at town square, outside the Tavern, sound good?"

"Hai hai…" Gid waved, seeing his brother and Charmian friend disappear from the scene.


"So?" Gid asked, sitting on the bench by the side of the cell, drenched by the pool of orange evening sunlight "What are you still doing here then?"

"Look… Gid," The General sighed, "Why are you so fixated on the war?"

"How can one not? The street is busy with nervous people, young men enlisting for the army, the skies buzzing with aircrafts, soldiers patrolling every street corner."

"The war is the only thing that can explain the fire on Moon Endurance."

"Oh?" The general raised an eyebrow curiously. "But that fire four years ago was reported as a natural disaster."


*With Sephie and Zastin…*

Back from the castle, the two teens tiredly went into the inn, and occupied a small table at a corner.

"Should've known he'd drag us into something like this on our first day, I'm so sorry Sephie-san…" Zastin gave a exasperated chuckle.

"It's fine. We got off pretty easy if you ask me." The hooded girl replied, taking a small sip from her cup. "But if you don't mind me asking… this morning at the city gate… Gid mentioned an orphanage… and a fire."

"Well... it's a long story."

"Well," Sephie said, leaning in and resting her chin on her hands, "We've got time."


"Bullshit!" Gid retorted, his tail and hands banging on the cage. "It wasn't any natural disaster! A group of mercs carrying explosives unloaded their inventory on top on an orphanage and you call it a natural disaster?!"

"…!" For the first time a genuine look of surprise was seen on the general's face. "How did you come into possession of this information?" The general inquired, eyes narrowing.

"Who do you think lived in that orphanage…" Gid muttered, "You've just confirmed to me that you know more than you let on."

"…" General Gigor was now in deep contemplation.

"…Well? Are you gonna say anything?"

"You're right," The general agreed, "But I can neither confirm nor deny that I possess any/more information pertaining to the Scorch of Moon Endurance."

"WHY?!" Gid was now livid. 'I'm so close to my answers, all that I came here for!'

"Because it's classified." The general stated.

"…What…?"


"And till this day, we're still searching for the real people ultimately responsible for the fire, Deviluke is where our answers lie, we're… pretty sure of it…" Zastin finished.

"My God…" Sephie breathed. 'These two have been through so much…'

"This is the underlying motivation for Gid, and I swore an oath to the first King of Deviluke to help Gid-nii on his quest."

"…What about you, Sephie-san?" Zastin asked, "What will you do now, now that you're on Planet Deviluke. How will you find the other Charmians spread out over the galaxy?" The thirteen year old asked.

"Well…" Sephie trailed, surprised. She sat in contemplation.

He was right. Her father's cryptic message did leave more questions than answers, most of which unknown. Atop of that, her partnership with the two brothers had reached their conclusion through their escape from the deserted planet. But a small tug at the back of her mind told her otherwise. Whatever it was, she needed more time to collect her thoughts.

"I… " Sephie gulped, looking at the ashen haired Devilukean. "…Why don't we head back to the ship, we should get some rest first." She suggested.

"Good idea." Zastin agreed.


"Classified... what do you mean classified?! WHO BOMBED OUR HOME?!" The boy yelled, his crimson eyes wept with anger as his grip now tightening on the cell bars "TELL ME!" Then his tail lashed out, flicking wildly out from between the bars.

The tall general swiftly grabbed on to Gid's tail end just as it was about to strike him at shoulder height. The white bandages, of the end fell, exposing the trident tip.

'…A trident tipped tail…!' For a brief moment, the general's eyes widened at the sight of the trident end, his eyes lingered with slight interest. "Control yourself, boy." The general gave the tail a firm squeeze.

"YA-Ouch!" Gid whelped, retreating from the front of the cell, his tail hung low in pain.

'The last known Devilukean with a trident tipped tail was the first king and his descends, but… that's not possible!' The general quivered in his mind.

"Are you calm enough to talk now?" Gigor asked.

"…More or less…"

The general sighed, this wasn't going to easy. "Gid, I understand your frustration, I truly do. But matters regarding this incident besides its peripheral nature is strictly classified, at the highest order, any mention of it and you could be persecuted. Am I making myself understood."

"But I need to know who!" Gid begged.

Then an lightbulb struck the general. "Well then, how about I make you a proposal?"

"A proposal…?"


*At ship… nightfall…*

(Music for Mood: The world and all its lessons – Horizon Zero Dawn ost)

The sounds of the village of refugees fell silent to the Devilukean night, and it was all the more apparent in one particular spaceship.

"zzz…zzz…" The inanimate swordsman fell soundly asleep on one of the ship's side benches, sandwiched by warm sheets and blankets.

Sephie however, remained awake, sitting by the captain's seat slumped in a relaxed position, looking out to the Devilukean night sky. To the distance, several moons shone brightly in the eternal hue of black, floating amidst a river of glistening silver.

"Sephie.. my sweet baby girl…..aasdf^)*&…..My sister instigated a military coup,…. A-f&_*&jpfo… A secretive civil war for our survival across the stars…johbjpak;n|}{P…..you… the last Charmian untouched by the sterilisation program… -Transmission error: Type three- $%*_)[pu+*" The sounds of the fast-forwarded holographic video emitted from the Charmian's electronic scanner. The hologram of her father reflected off the girl's glassy pink eyes.

'"Go find the other Charmian rebel cells across the galaxy, spread the word, Old charmia is doomed!"' Sephie recounted the words from her past as she sat in silence.

"Lady Sephie, you seem to be in distress." The voice of the on-board AI voiced out from the speaker from the captain's chair arm.

"…!" The girl jolted in surprise at the soft voice. "Y-Yes… I guess I am…"

"…Is something the matter?" The machine Atlas queried.

"It's nothing…" Sephie then turned and twisted her neck. "Can you do me a favor?"

"A favor, Lady Sephie?" Atlas asked, intrigue in its voice.

"It's…" The girl trailed off as she inserted the golden disk of the message into a port by the captain's chair. "There's this message, left behind by my father, it's rather important. But… it cuts off at the end everything, something about a transmission error… I can't quite make sense of it."

"Analyzing…" Atlas replied. And for several moments, there was silence, the silent whirling of machines filled the air. "Analysis complete. It appears the video message is corrupted and blocked beyond a certain point through a polyphasic entangled waveforms."

"But… why would father block such an important message?" Sephie asked aloud. "Atlas, do you think you can try decrypt the rest of the message?"

"I have already begun decryption processes. However, my matrix combined with this spacecraft's on-board processing power is estimated to complete the process in approximately 10 years time."

"Ten years?!" Sephie yelped hysterically, "I don't have time to sit around for a decade?!"

"Perhaps of I am provided with more access processing power and storage capacity, the process could be accelerated drastically."

"Hmmm…" Sephie expression contorted into one of perplexed. 'How in the world am I going to do that?!'

"One more thing," Sephie spoke to the AI, "How good are you with keeping secrets?" She wondered.

"Secrets. You wish to transact private information between the two of us, hidden from whom?"

"Can you keep all this under wraps… from Gid and Zastin?" She asked, her eyes looking left and right, then turning to look at the sleeping Devilukean uneasily. 'I mustn't get too attached to them, they're just children, and we'll be on our separate ways… soon enough…' She thought sadly.

"I am able partition a portion of my memory dedicated to confidential conferences between you and I, yes." Atlas agreed.

"Good, please do." Sephie said, hopping out form the captain's seat, yawning.

"I will notify you if there are any new developments or progress regarding the decryption progress. Good night, Lady Sephie."


Accompanied by the hue of silence and the whispers of the Devilukean night, in the moonlit cell, columns of shadow fell unto the gentle face of a young Devilukean soundly asleep, a certain gleam lit off the trident pendant laying on his chest.


Author's Notes:

Back with another chapter, it's been entire months since I've uploaded. This is partly due to exams and work :'D

How did you guys like this chapter?

Considering there isn't much, if any at all, stories dedicated to Gid's backstory, I'd figured this story might attract more attention. But oh well XD That could change in time, and it ain't gunna stop me from writing!

And as always, more chapters still to come!

Reviews are highly appreciated and loved!

Criticisms are also accepted.