A/N: Well, thanks all for the encouraging words and for pointing out some minor errors in my spelling. I'll try and edit former chapters and will strive to keep from those mistakes for the rest of the story. Anyway, now that's out of the way, we can get to business. Please enjoy.
Moments: The Black Banner
The Great War, a mere memory and ink blot on history. Entelexia, beings with animalistic shapes, charged with the task of guarding this world's balance. Humans, once friends and now the opposing side to this fierce battle. The history of this day shall be written in blood, and what bloody handwriting it would have.
The Entelexia easily ripped into the numbers of knights facing them, suffering minor injuries here and there. Dust continually hung over the landscape as fangs and claws met sword and shield. The banner of the knight majestically flapped in the wind as the two sides clashed once more, and as before, it would quiet into a chilling pause.
The third day of fighting soon came, and with it, glorious news. Message was sent throughout the torn forces of the Imperial Empire, a series of banners had appeared over the horizon. Among such banners, the crest given to the noble knight Duke. At his noble side, Elucifer, a fierce Entelexia, led more of his kind to aid the humans. But he was not alone.
Behind Duke, another banner flew in the wind, a whole brigade marching beneath it. The flag's color was as dark as night, a golden crest placed at its center. Through its battle-torn state, one could still make out the mighty griffon with its claw placed on top of a human skull. Its lion tail formed a border around the image, a smaller crest for the Empire held in its other talon.
They were the Black Brigade, knights Sir Duke would trust with his very life. He didn't know treachery boiled under their black helmets. He didn't know he'd soon agree with their atrocious betrayals of the crown.
Hermes blastia knew no wrath like Elucifer and the Black Brigade as they crushed the Entelexia who stood against them. Mount Temza offered them a final battleground, a place to finally settle this bloody war for good. The fighting was intense, drenching the sands with blood. Even the Krityans shutter at the mere memory of what took place there.
Before the great explosion rocked the entire mountaintop, a final act of heresy was made. It was their first, and final act against the Imperial Throne. The banner of the Black Brigade suddenly turned in the waning hours of the battle. Many had no time to recover from shock before blades met their necks in bloody execution. It was no longer claws against sword, but sword against sword. Entelexia, warn from their battle, watched in shock as the Black Brigade swept over the masses like a plague, slaughtering over half of the Imperial forces.
That day, as Elucifer too was betrayed by the very humans he tried to defend, the banner of the Black Brigade became tainted. The golden griffon was now red with the blood of humans and beast alike. These knights dressed in black armor no longer had a country to call home. With them fell the Great Three, one of which the captain himself, the Wolf of Zaphias.
Chapter 10: Record of the Damned
Upon entering Zaphias, everyone went their separate ways. Raven and Karol went to the castle with Estelle to see into what Raven suspected and to set up an audience with Ioder. Yuri, Rita, and Judith had planned on hanging around, until Rita said she wanted to go somewhere. Fen left for the markets, mentioning a craving for apples, and Repede had some doggy business to attend to.
"I'm surprised Yuri," Judy looked over to the swordsman, "I would've thought you would want to go with Estelle and the others."
Yuri shrugged but didn't respond with more than a grunt. He wouldn't tell the others, but he needed some time away from her. She was beginning to dig into places she shouldn't and Yuri needed time to fix his defenses. Innocent as she is, Estelle had a fierce ambition with this stuff and he needed to be ready for her.
Our favorite mage returned his grunt as she kept up her brisk stride, "Well I'm glad you didn't. I may need you if this goes bad." She looked around to see that they were in the Royal Quarter.
Judy looked to her with slight suspicion. Rita was a good friend, but when she requested something, one had to be cautious. "Speaking of which Rita, why did you ask us to come with you?"
Rita stopped and glanced around before turning to Yuri and Judith, "I heard the Hunting Blades talk about a guy named Eaglewood who lives here. Maybe we'll get some answers on Fen and this whole situation if we beat it out of him." She punched her fist into her open palm to get her point across. She was oblivious to the sighs that escaped Yuri and Judy.
"I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself there Rita." Yuri finally spoke, "And why didn't we just ask Fen again, hmm?" He saw Rita falter at his sarcastic question.
"Of course he'd lie, and I don't like being chased without knowing the reason!" Her answer was obviously fabricated, but the other two took it all the same.
Judy, however, had her doubts, "Oh I don't know, Fen seems pretty straight forward. I'm sure if we asked, he'd tell us all he knows." She was using the same light tone that Rita found the most irritating.
"Grr, shut up already! Are you coming with me or not!?" She assumed her usual pose with folded arms and tapping foot as she waited for an answer. Rita was never a patient person, and many doubted she ever will be.
Having their fun, Yuri and Judy continued to accompany her through the Royal Quarter for the man named Eaglewood.
In the castle, however, the search was much more daunting. As requested from Raven, they were granted entry into the Imperial Archives. Going off of pure memory, Raven led Karol and Estelle towards the farthest room in the back. Amongst the shelves of books and scattered files, there was a door. Estelle summoned the guard and had him unlock the door for them.
"Thank you Lady Estelle," Raven joked, "now can you do one last little thing?" He saw her large eyes focus on him in anticipation. She really wanted to help didn't she? "Can you go and get us an audience with Ioder?"
Estelle looked at him in slight confusion, "Don't you want me to help you and Karol look through the Knight Registry? I'm really good at looking for books."
Raven slowly shook his head, "No that's alright Estelle, you just go get us that audience." He looked to the unlocked door and slowly stroked his chin, "This won't take very long at all."
"A-Alright," Estelle nodded and started off for Ioder's chambers. It wasn't long before she found herself in the halls of the castle by herself, alone to her thoughts. A lot has happened since she saw Yuri again, more than she can believe. The most troubling thing on her mind, however, was the story Duke told them. She would've loved to have him here with them, but he was busy at the nearest Aer Krene. "Knights that would turn on their own country, I can hardly believe it."
The mere thought perplexed the pink-haired princess. Through her travels, she learned of the Empire's imperfections and daunting faults, but to be driven to treachery... it was mind boggling. From the start, knights swear loyalty and honor. To go against such an oath would require one to kill the very heart itself, humanity itself. Then there were people like Yuri. He quit the knights, but never lost his valor and noble thinking. Though dark his deeds, his heart was as true as any knight Estelle respected.
"I wonder what... could've caused them to turn their backs on their own people." Estelle continued to think this over, trying to remember anything she heard around ten years ago. It was faint, but she did remember hearing the maids gossiping one day about something that happened in the Lower Quarter. She was only a child then, so she couldn't remember the details. Could that have been it?
Feeling as if she was on to something, Estelle took a sharp turn towards her room, mind focused on finding the only person that's known her as more than just royalty... other than Flynn of course.
In the archives, Raven and Karol were already digging into the mountains of names of people who joined the knights. Feeling memories of Schwann surface to his brain, Raven continued to sift through the papers. He remembered the banner of the Black Brigade very clearly, and also its absence in the aftermath of the Great War. Even Alexei, in all his self proclaimed wisdom, could not locate the tainted knights.
"Here we go, the B's," Raven scanned the entire section of brigades and names... only to find nothing. He stroked his chin and stared down at the papers. After a few moments of thinking, he sighed and put the papers away, "I was right, there's no record of the Black Brigade ever existing." Raven looked back to see Karol snickering in the corner, "Hey kid, what ya find?"
Karol continued to chuckle and waved Raven over, "You have got to see this, heheheh." When Raven was close enough, Karol showed him a sheet of paper. It was a registry form, all filled out with less than acceptable comments. One that caught Raven's eye was 'Reason for Joining?: Because you guys suck at it so bad'. At the top of the form was the name, Yuri Lowell.
A large smirk made its way onto his face. Raven carefully sifted through the paper and startd to chuckle at Yuri's answers. "Well look at this, that's Yuri alright."
"Grrr," Rita growl of frustration didn't go unnoticed by the nobles chatting around the street. She ignored the indignant stares and baffled leers from the snobby women about her. The search for Eaglewood's estate wasn't going as well as she had hoped... considering how every mansion looked the SAME! Finally, she snapped, her temper boiling over and erupting like a volcano.
Yuri calmly watched as Rita let out a frustrated scream and kicked the wall bordering the road. Finally, after she had calmed down to a tolerable level, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "You done?" He saw her nod stiffly, "In that case," He pointed to the mansion to their right, "I think this is his place."
"Oh my, what a coincidence." Judith could help but laugh at Rita's face as anger over took her once more. Deciding to seek some sort of audience, Judith started towards the mansion, but stopped short of the large porch. It was a beautiful mansion from anyone's point of view. With bright red brick walls, black shuttered on all three floors, and the warm glow of lights. However, Judy's pink eyes couldn't stop staring at the front door. It seemed... too perfect. Something wasn't right.
Marching feet made the Krityan look behind her, their favorite flamboyant mage rushing past. "If you're just going to stand there then I'll blow the freakin' door in." She raised her fist despite Judy's warning and knocked loudly.
"Aren't you going to try and stop her?" Judy innocently looked to Yuri, hand going for her spear. As she expected, he simply shrugged and threw the sheath of his sword to the side.
Yuri followed Rita before she decided to open the door, "She has a head as hard as steel. No use trying to stop her." He patiently waited for her to open the door and wasn't surprised when she jumped back in surprise. Admittedly, he was surprised by how badly the inside of the estate was. It was the polar opposite of the outside.
Blood stained the walls, smeared across them as if someone tried to hold on for dear life as something dragged them along. The furniture was overturned and shattered into pieces, pillows and cushions were ripped open to allow the stuffings to fall out, and the lights seemed oddly untouched. Yuri and Judith closely examined the damages and continued into the estate. One thing was for sure, however, there was nothing alive inside.
"You see that?" Yuri muttered and ran his hand along a mark on the wall. It looked like claws had ripped into the wallpaper and even into the wood beam underneath the dry-wall. Whatever did this had monstrous claws, and only one person stuck out in their minds.
Rita was the first to come to this conclusion, but something in her refused to believe it. "It couldn't have been him. Though it is suspicious since he separated from us as soon as we got here." Rita tapped her lip as she thought it through. All signs pointed to Fen being the culprit, all signs accept one important fact.
"This blood is old, I'd say a few days." Judy looked around once more and shook her head. "Fen was with us for at least a week our so, and he was with Rita for a day." She looked to the researcher for confirmation.
She closed her eyes and recalled the time table in her head, "Yeah, and I first met him in Halure and his injury was fresh. I highly doubt a mansion full of dead people would go unnoticed for over a week and a half."
"Good to know you have so much faith in me." The trio were slightly taken back by Fen's sudden appearance. He calmly bit into a bright red apple in his hands and entered the estate. His eyes held a strange glow as he examined the damages, blood stains, and claw marks.
Yuri watched how he moved through the scene without an expression on his face, "Any idea who, or what, did this?"
"I have a guess," Fen took another bite of his apple, "it's probably the right one. Either way, I hope I won't have to tell you guys anything." He turned to leave, "Raven and the others are waiting at the castle. Estelle said Ioder wants to see us as soon as possible." He seemed to linger, waiting for them to follow.
Rita exchanged looks with Yuri and Judith before falling in behind him. She was still suspicious about all this, and how Fen seemed to know more than he was willing to share.
Estellise patiently sat in the audience chamber of the castle to await everyone's arrival. Raven and Karol had taken a short walk to pass the time and Repede showed up out of what seemed like nowhere. The hound was currently napping at her feet, pipe moving slightly as he snoozed quietly. Normally, this situation would make her feel lonely, but Estelle had much too much to think about.
Her search for her old nanny had been a short one. She had been reassigned to help tend to the laundry of the castle and had taken the day to dry out some of the bed sheets. Amongst the flapping white linens, Estelle had approached her like she usually did: with a smile. For a young girl who barely knew her mother, the nanny was a welcome person to fill the void.
The start of the conversation was pleasant, a usual exchange between respectable women. However, when Estelle asked about the evens of ten years ago, the nanny seemed to watch her words. It took some prodding, but Estelle finally got her to open up a bit.
"Well, it happened eleven years ago in the Lower Quarter, or perhaps twelve years ago, the time sometimes gets lost." She paused to laugh softly, "It was terrible, we couldn't let you or Ioder anywhere near the windows. There was a fire big enough to see from the castle, the chaos was terrible. I have a sister who lived near the place where the fire occurred and she told me how it started. Some nobles hired some shady people to set the northeastern district of the Lower Quarter afire. Nobody knows who the nobles were, but some say that the fire killed a lot of people."
When Estelle had heard this, she was struck to the core. How could the nobles of Zaphias plot something so close to their own homes and families? It left a bitter taste in her mouth and it took all her willpower not to hate them. Estelle had asked the nanny if there were any survivors, but she wasn't sure. The visit became lighter after that, allowing them to part on better terms.
The thoughts still plagued her though. It was like seeing the scattered pieces of puzzle and not knowing where to start. Once one fit together, however, Estelle was sure she could assemble the entire picture. Was the fire the reason why the Black Brigade betrayed the Empire? If so, why did they react so flamboyantly? All these questions swirled around her head, and she had only intuition to guide her to the answer.
"Oh, Estellise," Ioder entered the audience chamber and saw Estelle seated near the doors, "I wasn't expecting you to come straight here." His eyes danced in amusement when she gave him a clueless expression, "I mean, I figured you would fetch Yuri Lowell yourself."
Estelle caught what he was implying and looked away in embarrassment, "Ioder, stop teasing me already. I trusted you with that secret so please hush." She tried to act angry, but Ioder's chuckling proved that she had failed.
The young emperor calmly sat down beside her and relaxed, "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, he is a good man after all." Ioder caught Estelle's hard glance towards him and decided a change of subject was in order. "Did you get a chance to see Aspio recently? I heard repairs just finished over there."
"Hmm, I don't know for sure, but I haven't heard Rita complain about it so I guess it's fine over there." Estelle glanced down at Repede and saw he was snoozing beside her. With her tongue slightly poking out of her pink lips, she leaned over to try and pet him. As fate would have it, however, Repede sprang up and away at the last moment. Estelle pouted with frustration as she watched him run to Yuri as he entered the audience chamber.
Of all the times, he choosing now to be on time. Estelle's mild fuming was cooled when she caught the awkward way Yuri moved. Once again, his swagger was weaker than usual, as if forced to put on an image of normality. Did he have another nightmare? It was yet another issue Estelle wanted resolved, but she couldn't help but wonder. Was this also connected?
"Hey Yuri, Rita, Judy," Estelle politely greeted them, "what were you guys doing this whole time?" She was slightly surprised when Fen followed them in with a distant look in his eyes. Was something bothering him too?
"Just small stuff, nothing worth worrying about." Yuri stroked Repede's head and shrugged off the question. Unfortunately, Rita was too busy musing over her own thoughts to catch the obvious cover story.
"Did you forget that horrible mansion already?" Rita didn't even look at Yuri, oblivious to his piercing glare. Without any questions, she continued, "That guy Eaglewood's mansion looked like a monster got loose inside of it. No bodies though, which is strange."
Ioder shook his head at the news, "So another noble has been touched by this incident. It's just like that man in the black armor. He's suspected of assaulting various nobles around Zaphias. Until recently of course." He received a few shocked looks but disregarded them for the moment. Luckily, Raven and Karol walked into the audience chamber not too long afterwards.
Assuming usual position, Ioder strolled to the throne of the chamber and sat down. Knights lined the walls and entrance ways for security, but Ioder seemed perfectly fine with the tension. "So, why have you asked for an audience with me?"
All eyes went to Raven, the reason why they were even in Zaphias. Getting the hint, Raven stepped forward, "I'll be blunt your lordship, we need to know about the Black Brigade." Ioder visibly tensed so Raven continued, "If we're to stop whatever is going on your Highness, we need to know."
Ioder thought it over for a few moments before looking to the knights lining the chamber. With a brisk nod, the knights stepped out and locked the doors behind them. They were now alone, but the tension only thickened. Ioder's gentle grew hard as he stared at Raven, "Why come to me?"
"Every emperor is given a journal written by past emperors. Of course you'd know of the actions of the past emperor through the journal." Raven expertly pointed out.
Estelle looked astonished, she didn't know of such a tradition. It wouldn't surprise her, however, perhaps that's why the Council wanted her to be empress, so they could gain access to such a set of documents. "Ioder, is this true?"
Ioder didn't answer directly, but answered Raven's prior request with a cool voice. "Our blood relative, the last emperor before me, was a man of vision. He knew the empire had many enemies and could see war would break out very soon. Knowing the knights could prove inadequate to fulfill their duties, he decided to form a brigade that answered only to him. He named them, the Black Brigade."
"Kind of like a secret army." Judy summarized.
Ioder nodded, "Yes, quite like that. This brigade would not serve the Council, or even the Commandant of the Imperial Knights. They were agents of the emperor, nothing more, or less." He leaned back on his throne and looked to the marble floor, "They were the greatest warriors of all the Empire, all marching under a single banner."
"The Golden Griffin." Raven closed his eyes as he remembered the sight of the banner. "I remember when I first saw it. Almost pissed myself when I saw that red sword cut into an Entelexia. They had strong monsters on their side, but not even Duke could deny the power of the Black Brigade's Captain."
Karol swallowed the lump in his throat, "I-Is he really that strong?"
"If he survived the Great War, then I'd imagine so." Judy reasoned, "It's faint, but I remember Mt. Temza's fall, I thought nobody but Ba'ul and me survived."
"Does anybody know his name?" Yuri seemed to ask this question in a tone that showed shock that nobody mentioned it.
Ioder shook his head, "Nobody knows his true name." He shot Raven a very swift glance before closing his eyes, "I'm sorry I cannot say more. Even the journal spoke briefly of the Black Brigade. All I do know is that they were not counted as nobles, even though they were paid handsomely for their deeds. Some were even of the Lower Quarter."
That piece of information struck both Yuri and Estelle. Yuri was simply surprised by the fact that Lower Quarter swordsmen did make it in the knights before. Flynn would love to hear about it. Estelle, on the other hand, was struck by realization, and so were many of the others. It would explain why they betrayed Zaphias if nobles conspired to kill their families in cold blood. It fit perfectly. Estelle suddenly felt a strong urge to talk with their Captain, to hear his side of the story.
"So what do we do from here?" Rita voiced the very question on everyone's mind. She looked to Judy, "Does the Shepherd's Journal say anything?"
Judith smiled, "Well, about that," She showed everyone the blank pages of the book, "it's blank all the way through. Nothing's appearing."
"So a dead end?" Karol's shoulder's dropped. All this for nothing.
"In that case," Ioder's serious expression grew warm once more, "why not stay here for the night. Perhaps you'll know what to do after a good night's sleep. I already had the maids prepare rooms for all of you." He smiled when everyone's faces lit up at the luxurious offer, everyone but Yuri that is, he never liked the castle much.
Everyone filed out of the room, some ready to sleep, others needing to take care of small business. Fen and Karol instantly went to their room to get some rest while Judy decided to chat with Ba'ul for a few minutes before bed. Rita, like the bookworm she is, went to look through the castle's library for anything good. Yuri and Repede went for a walk, and Estelle decided she wanted to go with them... but Ioder summoned her back.
"Estellise, please wait a moment?" He waited for his dearest relative to step back into the chamber, minus her companions. He caught Raven linger behind also, but thought little of it.
Estelle looked to Ioder, noticing he appeared troubled, "Is something the matter?"
"I lied Estellise." He didn't give her time to even gasp at such a sudden statement, "All the names of the Black Brigade are listed within the journal. The former emperor made sure of it."
"Ioder, why did you lie about that?" Estelle felt a sudden fear of the answer.
"Because, the Captain of the Black Brigade's name is..."
"They have the other two books."
"I know, that makes this much more difficult."
"So shall we give chase to them and try to steal the books?"
"No, let's do this the messy way. Inform Sebastian to launch the King's Bane. We'll simply blow it apart instead."
"You sure we won't break the seal instead?"
"Three blastia remain dormant, we need to destroy at least two to weaken the Adephagos. It is the wolf that concerns me."
"I see, so what do we do about the ones with the books?"
"Nothing, they'll come to us. From there, fate will decide."
"Understood Cap'n."
"How many times must I say it. The moment our banner turned on the knights, I stopped being your Captain. You aren't even a member of the brigade."
"You saved my life, so in my eyes, you are my Captain."
"Join the club."
Its golden image tarnished and majestic feathers stained red, the Golden Griffin left its wings amongst Mount Temza. Now, through the ashes of that Great War, their embers still burn like coals. What path does the Black Brigade walk, and who is this man that leads them?
A/N: Cliffy, good with every meal haha. Anyway, more action next chapter and we get to see our next destination. Things will get a bit more original since I'm going off small things I noticed in the game. So please, do me a favor and review the World Map because you're going to need. Heck, follow along in the game if you want! Thanks for reading, please review!