Chapter Nine: Of Nobility and Compromises
The next thing Guy was aware of, was that a tip of a sword was pointed at his face. He swallowed and froze as Ea, who was smiling serenely was holding the said weapon that she took from a nearby guard and held it in place. That entire scene made Guy want to run and hide from the woman, she was literally oozing with murderous intent.
"Hey that's my sword!" came the outraged cry of said soldier but Ea ignored it as she took a step closer making Guy do the exact opposite. "My, oh my, I'm afraid I'm going a bit deaf, could you repeat what you just said?" she asked with that smile still in place.
"Uh…" Guy sweat-dropped.
"What's the meaning of this?" Jade asked as he and the others made their way through the front. Guy was relieved that there was someone to back him up. "Well, you see-" he started but was cut off by an angry Ea, "He's a pedophile that's what!" she said, or shouting in this case as she held Arietta protectively in her arms and waved the sword wildly about.
"Wait, that's not-" Guy started.
"Is that true?" Natalia asked in shock.
"I can't believe it." Tear said.
"So you've shown your true colors at last Guy." Anise said darkly, in fact all three girls were showing deep hostility that Guy wanted nothing more than to run and hide.
"Ho ho, so all this time you were afraid of women because you preferred younger girls. That explains a lot now." Jade said, fixing his glasses in place. His face was devoid of all emotion but his eyes glinted with humor.
"That's not it!" Guy protested.
"Poor Guy," Luke said in the background, "You don't really think he's a pedophile right?"
"Hard to say," Asch said, "After all he did admit he liked looking at pretty faces even during his gynophobia."
"Not you guys too!" Guy cried.
"Mieue… what's a pedophile?" Mieue asked, floating next to Luke.
"Nothing you need to know." He answered quickly.
"Well that doesn't matter!" Ea shouted, cutting into all their ramblings. "You may be rich and famous but I'm not letting you have her you hear me!"
"Would you please let me explain first?" Guy pleaded.
"Explain what you baby-rapper!"
"Please enough with the synonyms." Guy said, sighing at the woman's antics.
"Yes, please explain Guy so that we could understand what's going on." Jade said. Guy sighed, feeling very relieved he had a chance to explain. "It's like this," he began, "Before the tragedy happened, my family made dealings with the Fenrirs in the past. They were close friends with my parents so they often visited us and us in vice versa. And so, after hearing that name after such a long time I remembered my father's words. He told me that I was to be engaged to their daughter who was just born recently. I was five back then, a little while more before my Score could be read, so I'm not sure if what he said became true or not."
"You're not sure?" Ea repeated, "If you're not sure then why the heck did you just say that you two were engaged?" she practically screeched.
"Well actually that's a pretty common method noble's use, especially if it concerns lifelong decisions such as marriage." Jade said matter of fact.
"Really? I don't think that matters though." Asch said, "Me and Natalia were already engaged even before our Score's were read."
"A-ano…"
Everyone stopped their bickering for a moment and stared at Arietta who spoke for the first time in awhile. "What does 'engagement' mean?" she asked and before anyone could react, it was Jade who answered, "Engagement," he began. "Is a form of contract where two people, a man and a woman, are promised to marry each other, in other words, they are to spend the rest of lives together until the day they die."
Everything was quiet for awhile as Arietta slowly processed Jade's words, and when she did, her whole face turned red, "Wait, you mean…me and him?" she stuttered as she pointed at herself and Guy. "Now look what you've done!" Ea screeched as she gripped Arietta tighter and covered the pink-haired girl's ears as well. "How dare you contaminate her mind with vulgar thoughts?!"
"I hardly think that marriage is a vulgar thing." Jade stated wryly.
"Arietta's innocent you hear! Well, not innocent in this certain situation but innocent all the same!"
"Is it me or has she gone hysterical?" Luke whispered to Asch.
"She's hysterical." Asch confirmed.
"Hmm…This is interesting news." The judge said. "Why don't we clarify the situation, shall we? Guards!" he called, "Go to the archives and fetch any documents concerning Hod and Feres. See if there were any dealings between the two island cities before the Fall."
Two guards that were present saluted him once and did as they were told, but not before one of them had to get his sword back, albeit a bit forcefully from Ea who still had it. The crowd had gone into frenzy since Guy's announcement and the room has been filled with nothing but gossip since then. Vespasian was fuming to one side and the others were waiting together with Ea. But the witch's mind was in turmoil, Arietta could feel the hands embracing her shake. She looked up to her, her face etched with worry. "Ea…"
Ea snapped out of it and turned to see Arietta's concerned gaze. "Don't worry Ari, I'll keep you safe." She smiled reassuringly as she tightened her hold around the girl in a more comfortable manner. "That's right, safe." She thought. "I've managed to steer Arietta away from execution, but now with this new piece of information it changes everything. If this turns out true then we have no choice but to see this group more often. Was this all part of your plan Sylph? To get us all working together in forced conditions? If so then you did a fine job in keeping this from me."
After what felt like forever the two guards finally came back with a bundle of yellowed scrolls in their arms. They placed them at the table and the jury set to work in examining each and every one of them. Minutes passed by and everyone was waiting in anticipation. Finally with a cry of triumph, one young jury member held a scroll and walked over to the judge and passed it over. The judge opened it and read it briefly until he nodded and placed it back.
"It's true." He announced. "Arietta and the Count of Gardios, are engaged, this is the proof."
There were a dozen gasps and chatter as the audience took in and began murmuring amongst them about the new development. Ea just looked to the side and cursed slightly so as not to be heard. "Tch." She said under her breath. "Not what I wanted, but we'll make do." She told Arietta in a resigned manner.
"Now that we've settled things, what is your verdict?" the judge asked.
"Me?" Guy asked, surprised he was being asked such a question. The judge however just nodded and continued to speak, "She's your fiancée but also a criminal, so it's your decision whether or not you still want her."
"Well…" he started but stopped upon seeing Ea's murderous stare. If looks could kill he would be six feet under. "I have nothing against Arietta, but seeing that we're old enemies it'd be pretty awkward for us to be forced to get along just because of our engagement. So I agree with Peony's decision in giving Arietta a second chance to live. I'll also watch over her progress and then I'll have my decision then."
"And what do you say to that?" the judge said to Ea. The latter only huffed, "Not what I had in mind but I accept." She grudgingly said. The judge nodded "Then it's settled, this trial is over. Bring in the next one."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sync woke up to the sound of the door opening, the creaking of the hinges grating loudly against each other and causing the young boy to cringe at the rude awakening. Finding no point in sleeping, Sync pushed himself up from his cot just as two guards came in.
"Get up, it's time to go." One of the guards said.
"What time is it?" Sync said, ignoring the guards demand and yawned. The one who spoke scowled and was about took a step towards the boy; meaning to strike him but the other guard stopped him.
"It's time for your trial." The other said, "Now get up before we make you."
"Alright, alright," Sync said nonchalantly, deliberately ignoring the glares he received and stood up. He raised his arms waiting for them to cuff him and they did, without any care whatsoever but Sync refused to show any pain. Outside, four more guards were waiting. Sync smirked at this.
"They aren't taking any chances." He thought as he allowed himself to be surrounded and led to the trial room like a sheep herded towards its den, or in his case, his final demise. Honestly speaking, Sync could take out all these guys even with his arms tied and powers sealed. But if he did, he somehow got the feeling that Sylph wouldn't like that. So he'll play along for now, but if something happens that he doesn't like he'll leave, to hell what Ea and Sylph thinks.
They were in front of the doors now; muffled voices could be heard on the other side. Underneath his mask, Sync narrowed his eyes as two guards in front opened them. A hush fell on the audience the moment the teenager walked in and watched as he was led to the podium where not too long ago Arietta stood. His posture was rigid and unseen to everyone his eyes roved around the whole room scanning the audience. There was an area where a group of finely dressed people sat, separated from the audience. He didn't know the faces of the politicians and nobles present but he guessed they were important.
A few feet up, was the king of Malkuth, sitting leisurely on an ornate chair with a good view of everything on the balcony. A sound caught Sync's attention and he turned just in time to see Arietta and Ea being led out by two guards. He caught the beast tamer's eyes for a moment before she broke contact and turned away. Huffing as she did so and stomped away with a confused Ea following behind. Sync merely raised an eyebrow at that and shook his head. She was still angry at him, that much was obvious but he could hardly bring himself to care what she thinks of him. Not that he cared, but seeing that Ea was with her meant that she was off the hook and that was something he did wondered about.
"Alright, the court is in session, let us begin." The judge said.
At the sound of the gavel hitting the mantle, Sync turned his attention away from the entrance and ended up staring. There, sitting on the judge's seat, wearing the judge's clothes and using the judge's gavel was the Sylph himself.
Sync's eye twitched and he felt a migraine coming as he looked first to his left then to his right. Seeing that nobody was paying much attention to the judge who was actually a Summon Spirit in disguise, Sync reluctantly returned his attention back to him. Sylph who was smiling happily raised his forefinger and brought it to his lips and winked. Just how wrong could this day get?
(A.N: We all know how badass Sync is so there's no need recount the crimes he did and frankly I'm too lazy to put this so I'm cutting this trial short.)
As the trial progressed with one of the jury recounting all the crimes he's done, Sync's mind was somewhere else. That or someone was invading it.
"Sync, can you hear me?" a voice resounded in Sync's head and immediately he knew who it was.
"Yeah I can hear you, you *****,*****,*****" Sync replied bitingly with his thoughts. In his chair, Sylph simply frowned and sighed. "You're just as foul-mouthed as Ea is."
"You think that's foul?" Sync raised an eyebrow, "Heh, I got more from where that came from."
He heard Sylph sigh, "Please Sync, I did not set this link up just so could fill it with vulgar words. I did it because I needed to talk to you in private and this was the only opportunity I could find."
"By dressing up as a judge?" Sync said dubiously, "Couldn't you have thought up a better idea like, a commoner or a soldier, instead of someone important."
"I'll have you know I'm quite important even if others don't see that."
"Yeah right." Sync rolled his eyes.
Even though Sylph appeared to be listening to the jury's council with a bored expression, his eyes were actually bright with mirth and when he spoke his voice was filled with amusement, "I know this appearance may irritate you, but it suits my needs for now so bear with it."
"If you're so powerful why can't you just command these people to do your bidding?" Sync asked.
Again he heard him laugh. "It's not as simple as that." Sylph explained, "It's true I can manipulate certain people, but controlling a thousand is taxing and it disturbs the balance that me and my siblings are trying so hard to protect. Not to mention that I find it quite dishonorable for my taste."
A sudden image of himself casting the curse slot on Guy suddenly inserted itself into his mind once Sylph was done speaking. That happened two years ago and he hadn't thought about it since, until now. Sync's eyes narrowed, knowing full well that it was Sylph's doing. At the same moment, the said spirit was looking at him through the corners of his eyes, his entire posture screaming boredom as he pretended to listen to the accusations made towards the teen.
"There's no such thing as honor for the likes of me." Sync said quietly.
At that, Sylph took a deep breath and sighed through his nose, closing his eyes in the process. "Just what is with these children?" he thought to himself, remembering Arietta's subdued form earlier. "I'll never understand how humans think, whether replica or not."
"What do you think your honor?"
"Huh, what?" Sylph asked, suddenly shaken out of his reverie and realized that every eyes were on him. "Oh, yes, well…" Sylph cleared his throat and composed his self. "Could you repeat what you just said?"
A bit miffed the jury member decided to continue on, "I said, the jury has decided to condemn Sync the Tempest, former God-General, for his crimes against Auldrant."
Sylph eyes narrowed slightly, "And could you specify what you have in mind?"
"Execution."
A roar of approval resounded through the audience signaling their agreement to the judgment. "I see." He said calmly and took out some papers from within the folders placed in front of him. He scanned each paper in turn while the audience waited for his judgment. After awhile he finally organized them back to the way they were and leaned against his chair.
"Tell me Sync, how old are you?" he asked.
"Your honor, what's the relevance of that question here?" one of the jury asked.
"I just noticed that aside from the documents that say Sync is a soldier and a general, there aren't any documents that pertain to his date of birth or to where he came from." He answered, "Now why is that?"
Sync raised an eyebrow at this, wondering where this was going as all the other officials and audience did as well.
"Hey the judge asked you a question." One the guards ordered, but immediately shut up when the boy threw a murderous glare at him. Even with his face covered Sync could still manage to intimidate other people with ease. Sync "Tsked" and turned away from the guard, feeling very pissed off. He knew exactly where this was going now and it made him furious, seeing as Sylph fully expected him to cooperate. "As if!" was what he wanted to say, but he couldn't, not with that all powerful being staring at him like that. So, clenching his fists, he managed to spit out the words that have been kept secret for years.
"The reason why I have no records of myself," he began with difficulty, "Is because I'm a replica."
Just like the news of Arietta being a noble, a series of gasps and whispers spread like wild fire within the audience. It was so hard to believe, but they had heard rumors. Rumors of the sacred church, the Order of Lorelei was doing something so blasphemous underneath the surface that it was hard to comprehend. But now with Sync's confession, everything was in the light now. "So it's true that the Fon Master was behind all this?" one of the jury members cried out.
At this, a lot of other people cried out as well, shocked that their beloved leader, the Fon Master, Ion, had possibly deceived them. Vespasian suddenly became nervous when the questions were directed at him. They demanded answers, and they wanted them now. However Sylph was having none of that and banged his gavel at the mantle gaining their attention once more.
"Order!" he said his face stern and everyone immediately complied. Once everything was quiet enough, he spoke, "This is trial about the crimes committed by this young lad, not some petty gathering where you can trade conspiracy theories. We are talking about the life or death of someone here people! Put your curiosity aside and let's focus on the task at hand."
"I agree with the judge." Peony said from atop his perch. No longer was he sitting in his chair but leaning against the banister as he watched everything from there. "This is no time to be dawdling, but that aside I am curious as to what your true age is." Peony said directing his question to Sync. "Because no matter how I look at you, you still look like a child."
Sync groaned in annoyance at that. "I'm sixteen. But I've only been alive for four years." Another round of murmurs resounded throughout the room.
"Well this changes thing." Sylph said.
"What do you mean?" the teen asked.
"It means we can't execute you." Peony answered.
"What do you mean you can't?" Vespasian said in outrage. "He impersonated the Fon Master and tried to kill us all! So of course we should execute him! He's a danger to us all!"
"As I've said before," Peony said with a hint of steel to it. "Whether it's human or replica, I don't kill children."
"But-"
"And the murdering of people who haven't reached the age of adulthood is considered a sacrilege." Sylph continued, blatantly ignoring Vespasian's outburst. "Wasn't it you people from Daath who made this rule?" he said with a raised eyebrow, "If you keep this up you'll be setting a bad example for the people and could ultimately ruin your image seeing as you are running for Fon Master, am I right?"
At that, Vespasian flinched and looked away, glaring at nothing at particular and seething with anger. Sylph hid his smirk behind his stapled fingers; he knew he won and that the battle was finally over. All that was left now was up to Ea. "Then this case is settled." Sylph announced. "Sync the Tempest, former God General of Daath and traitor of the world, because of your age you will not go through execution. But that does not excuse you from punishment, so I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment."
And with that, he banged the gavel unto the mantle signaling the end of the trial. A few people grumbled about the sentence given but didn't voice out their thoughts. Vespasian looked as if he was about to explode but quickly stormed out of there before it happened. Slowly, the audience decided to trickle out, leaving only Luke's group in the process.
"That was unexpected." Asch said, breaking the silence.
"So did I." Luke said, "Don't get me wrong, I didn't want either of them to get executed but still…"
"It was unexpected." Asch finished.
"Ha ha ha! The King and judge were on fire today!" Anise laughed. "You should've seen Vespasian's face when he left. That should teach him!"
"But it was awfully kind of Peony to do that." Miueu commented.
"Peony is a kind-hearted fellow so I can understand why he did it." Jade said. "But what I don't understand is the judge?"
"What do you mean?" Tear asked, as she and everyone else paid attention. Jade didn't look at them as he answered but instead he narrowed his eyes at the person of his interest. "Normally you would think a judge would just listen to facts and decide, but this judge was different. He asked questions that would normally be overlooked and he emphasized too much on the rules."
"So? Doesn't that make him a good judge?" Anise asked.
"Well, yes but he looks too young to be a judge." Jade pointed out, "And if it were any other judge, I'm sure he or she would be more inclined to executing the two with all the crimes and chaos they've caused."
"I've noticed that too." Natalia said, agreeing with him. "Because of my position as princess I've met with officials and politicians in the past but this is the first time I've seen him. Either he's new at this or that I haven't met him at all until now."
"Hmm…" Jade contemplated what she said, but decided to ponder it later. "Whatever the case is I'll look into it later. But by the way, do any of you remember what his name was?" he looked at the others, expecting an answer but only received blank looks. The others had looked at each other trying to see if any of them did but to no avail. After a moment of silence it was Luke who answered, scratching his head in slight embarrassment he said, "Sorry, but I can't seem to remember."
The others agreed.
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Evening:
"Haah, that was so tiring." Sylph sighed, as he massaged his shoulders.
He was floating in midair and since it was dark nobody could see him. This worked to his advantage, because he was in his semi-transparent form where he could freely release his power whenever he wanted. Being inside a small vessel wasn't good for him since he was a being made of pure and enormous power. One more minute and he would've exploded and destroyed everything in his path if he hadn't left that place.
"Beings like us were never meant to be caged." He said to himself as he stretched. "Well, I better tell Ea about this." With that, he swooped down, passed through the towers until he reached a certain balcony that lead to Ea's room.
Knock! Knock!
"Ea, are you in there?" he called and proceeded to open the door which he found unlocked. "I'm coming in." it only took him a moment to figure out what was going on before he slammed the door shut and not long after that a vase smashed into the very spot Sylph's head was in before it burst into pieces. Sylph waited for another minute outside before he opened the door once more revealing a very pissed off Ea.
"Someone's not in a good mood." Sylph remarked.
"You said you would take care of him." Ea said, dangerously low and her eyes narrowed to slits.
"And I did." Sylph said matter of fact before he had to duck down in order to avoid another flying projectile aimed at him. "Oh, really now?" Ea calmly said as if she hadn't thrown anything at all, "Then what's this news I hear about Sync being imprisoned for life?" she emphasized the last part.
"Oh, that…" Sylph sweat-dropped, "I was hoping she hasn't heard about it, but looks like I'm gonna have to wing it."
"It's just a minor setback." He said.
"Minor!" Ea repeated, outraged. "You were the one who issued the order!"
"It was necessary." He reasoned.
"How can that be necessary?" Ea said in disbelief, "He may be a soldier but he's just a boy for goodness sakes!"Sylph noted the tint of concern in her voice and raised an eyebrow at this. "It seems to me that you have grown fond of this so-called boy, Ea."
Ea bristled at that. "What I feel for Sync has nothing to do with this." She said vehemently. "It wasn't me who went on and on about how important Sync was or what a big role he had to play in the future. You did, you and you're siblings made all this happen. So why change your mind now?"
"I'm not." Sylph answered.
"That's not what I heard!"
"Trust me Ea the plan has not changed." Sylph tried to reassure.
"How?" Ea said in disbelief. "He's gonna be stuck in prison for life! Even I can't do anything about it since you were the one who forbade me to do anything illegal."
"Nor would I want you to." Sylph said with such nonchalance that Ea wanted nothing more than to pummel the guy death. Instead, she just let out a frustrated huff and clenched her fists, trying very hard to restrain herself. "You're a powerful spirit for crying out loud! Can't you do something about this?"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because we need them on our side!" Sylph roared, effectively silencing Ea. The woman was speechless, Sylph never shouted at her like that no matter how whiny or annoying she was to him, he never shouted. After taking a breath, the spirit realized what he'd done after he saw the look on Ea's face and sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment and then picked up the chair that was thrown earlier and sat on it. He motioned for Ea to do the same and once they were face to face he spoke:
"Forgive me, I didn't mean to raise my voice." Ea said nothing and Sylph continued, "But you are not the only one feeling the stress these days, even gods are capable of feeling pressure. But you must understand, if I do something even more out of the ordinary than what I've already done then that would most probably cause uproar among the people. Especially with the state of the world you can't be too careful. So it's important that we play by their rules, gain their trust and when the time comes, they'll fight on our side."
Ea sighed and leaned back against her chair. "So you're saying that in order for us to succeed we also need the people's support?"
"Exactly." Sylph confirmed.
"But what about Sync?"
"I made sure that he's safe for now." He answered, "But in order for us to get him out safely without incurring the people's wrath is to persuade a certain 'someone'".
"A certain someone?" Ea repeated. "You mean like the kings, Peony and Ingobert?"
"No." Sylph shook his head. "Although they are powerful they're not what we need right now. We need someone who's strong enough to control Sync and influential so that people won't dare ask any questions."
"Someone strong and influential, eh?" Ea muttered, rubbing her chin, "How about the princess, she definitely has the people's love." But Sylph shook his head. "Luke? Asch?" they were both strong and equally influential in their own right. "Guy?" she added the last part when she remembered that out of all of them the blond swordsman was the only one capable of keeping up with Sync. And even though he was just starting out as a noble he certainly had the support of both kingdoms. But to all of this, Sylph shook his head.
"No? Who then?" Ea asked. Sylph shifted in his seat looking very uncomfortable all of a sudden and cleared his throat. "There's still one more male person you haven't mentioned."
"Are you sure?" she asked, "I mean I can't imagine anybody else that-" she stopped suddenly when she realized who Sylph was talking about. "Oh no, no no no no no!" she emphasized the last part. "I am not going to beg that person to help me."
"Who says anything about begging?" Sylph said, trying to reason with her but she would have none of it. "Well can you imagine any other way to negotiate with him?" she countered.
"Well…" Sylph trailed off, realizing that she was right. "Exactly." Ea pointed out when he didn't come up with any and continued on, "That man would rather see me grovel before he decides to help our cause."
"Now Ea-" he began.
"No." she repeated, cutting him off. "He reminds me too much of you only he's ten times worse."
"Ea, we need him." he said in a tone of warning, reminding her of their purpose.
"Can't it be someone else?" she pleaded.
"There is no one else." He said tiredly. "You're busy taking care of Arietta and I'm trying to make sure everything goes smoothly, so unless you want Sync to spend the rest of his life in prison I suggest you start talking with that person." Ea's eye twitched as she glared at Sylph for a moment before giving out a gigantic sigh. "I hate it when you're right." She muttered. Sylph only smiled.
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"And this will be you're room from now on." Peony announced.
Arietta blinked but entered nonetheless. Stepping aside, Peony did a grand hand sweep at the room and gave her some space. Jade was also there but he stood to one side, observing the little girl as she took in her surroundings. The room was big but a bit barren; it had all the necessary things though like a bed, a wardrobe and a vanity. There was also a door that leads to the bathroom.
"It's not much but you can find everything you need in here and you can add anything you want so long as you let me know." Peony said.
"It's nice." Arietta said after she circled the room. "That's good." Peony smiled. "I have things to take care of so I'll be leaving you alone for now. I'll come back again to check up on you and later we can have dinner together. Does that sound fine to you?"
Arietta nodded and Peony smiled brightly once more and left. Once his footsteps faded from her range of hearing Arietta turned to Jade who was just about to leave. "Why are you doing this?" she asked. The question caught him off guard as he was not expecting the beast tamer to be talking to him. So he turned around to see Arietta watching him. "The first time we met you tried to kill me." She continued.
Jade's eyes widened slightly at that before he pushed his glasses up and looked back at the girl. "I'm surprised you remembered that," he said. "If I recall you were unconscious then."
"My friends told me about what happened then." Arietta said. "On how you tried to kill me but Ion stopped you."
Jade took a deep breath through his nose and leaned against the door. "You must hate me for that, don't you?" he said fixing her a stare, "Just as much as you hate me for killing your monster friends and for making you alone in the world." Arietta said nothing, but a faint twitch in her hands did not go unnoticed by Jade. "But…" he continued on thoughtfully, "I can understand a bit how you feel though."
Arietta cringed slightly at that and turned away. "Why am I here?" she said, changing the topic. "You guys could've just let me be executed; after all I am at the age for it."
"True it would've been the smart decision to have you both be executed, but," he stopped for dramatic effect, "It wouldn't be the right thing now, would it?" he raised his eyebrow at this a tint of his usual sarcasm present. Arietta turned to him and glared. Jade's lips twitched slightly and he had to turn away as he did his best not to laugh. This girl's attempt to be frightening was just too cute, he couldn't take her seriously. "Alright, alright." He said airily, "I'm not gonna lie to you, there is a hidden agenda as to why you're here."
"And what's that?"
"You see the sunken island of Feres has risen once more and Peony wants to reclaim it. However Feres belongs to the noble family, the Fenrirs, so in order for Peony to get the island he needs your permission as heiress."
"So he's just using me." Arietta deduced. "It never mattered whether I was a kid or not, did it?"
"In a way, yes, he did use you, but only for the sole purpose of using that island as a safe haven for the replicas that were left behind." Jade explained. "There's been some trouble going around so we need to relocate them in a safer place. So far the island seemed like the ideal spot for it. I can't tell you much of the details but with you coming along it's like a stroke of luck. And in case you're wondering Peony does care, he always had a soft spot for children."
"Hmph! If he likes children so much why doesn't he get married and have some of his own?" she scoffed.
"Believe me he wants to, but he just can't." Something in his voice caught her attention. Arietta looked over at him and saw that he wasn't wearing his usual sarcastic smile. All traces of humor were gone and were replaced with something she couldn't identify. Before she could ask what he was talking about, the colonel straightened up and pushed his glasses back in place. "You should get ready now." He said turning to leave, "I suggest you wash up first before you're mentor comes."
"Mentor?" Arietta repeated. Before she could ask there was a crashing sound and a series of footsteps, followed by a high shrill voice. "Well? Where is she? Where's the little creature that I'll be training?"
"Speak of the devil." Jade muttered and moved aside just in time as a tall middle-aged woman barged in. Arietta jumped at the sudden intrusion and immediately stepped back, instinctively not liking this new person at all. Her features were sharp to the point that even her nose was angled in such a way that it was resembled a hook. She had graying dark hair that was pulled back into a bun and she had this no-nonsense aura about her. Arietta was reminded of a bird of prey hunting its target before it struck and killed it.
"So, is this she?" the woman asked.
"Yes, Madam Kate." Jade answered.
"Um, who are you?" Arietta asked.
"My name is Olivia Kate Sunderwood, and I'll be your teacher in Fine Arts and Proper Etiquette." She answered doing an elaborate bow while she was at it. Although she was stiff she did an elegant job of introducing herself. "You may call me Madam Kate."
"Teacher?" Arietta repeated in confusion.
"About that…" Jade said a bit sheepishly, afraid what the girl's reaction will be. "Peony figured that if we're going to turn you into a proper lady, we needed professional help so we hired her." He gestured to Madam Kate.
"Wait, what?" Arietta said, somewhat indignant.
"You heard the man." Madam Kate said, taking a step forward, causing Arietta to take a step backward in turn. The woman was more imposing then ever up close and Arietta did not like the glint she saw in those eyes either. "From today onward you'll be under my tutelage and I'll expect you obey me, understood?"
Arietta merely gulped, she knew this was going to be a long day.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"In you go kid." The guard said and roughly pushed him inside.
Sync stumbled and glared at the guard before the door was slammed in his face. Cursing under his breath, the young teen turned away only to scrunch up his nose in disgust. The first thing that greeted him was the smell of unwashed bodies; it was so strong that Sync almost gagged. Almost. And another thing he noticed was that he wasn't alone.
"Look at what we have here." A tall burly man said coming up to Sync while cracking his knuckles. "Fresh meat." His companion, a skinny pasty-faced guy said. Sync just looked at them blankly before sighing, "Get lost." He said flatly.
"What was that!" the burly man demanded, obviously he had a short-temper.
"You trying t pick a fight kid?" both he and his companion leaned in looking very intimidating but Sync wasn't affected, not in the least bit. Instead he coolly looked at them beneath his mask and crossed his arms. He was aware that the other inmates were gathering around the trio. The prospect of a fight breaking out seeming to excite them more and were starting to chant. Obviously these dimwits didn't know who he was.
"First off, the name isn't 'kid' it's Sync the Tempest." A few gasps and a murmur of recognition passed through the inmates. "Maybe they aren't all dimwits after all." Sync amended, "And secondly, I'm not picking any fight, you guys started it and frankly your breath stinks. So go away, you're making nauseous."
"Now you're asking for it." The skinny guy said. Sync just rolled his eyes.
The skinny guy took a step back and punched. Sync easily dodged grabbed the fist and pulled. Caught off guard, the skinny guy stumbled forward until Sync grabbed his head and slammed it into his knee. The skinny guy crumpled to the floor with a bloody nose and didn't get back up. His companion hesitated, but then the idiot thought he could take on Sync since he was smaller and charged. Just as he was about to reach him, Sync did a somersault, kicking the guy's jaw in the process. Dazed, the burly man swayed, seeing stars for a moment until he saw Sync's fist connecting with his face and everything turned black.
It all happened in ten seconds.
Stunned silence filled the room as all the inmates stared in disbelief at the teenager before them. Sync merely rolled his head, working the kinks out of his neck and then stared at them in turn. Smirking, he got into his battle stance and curled his fingers at them, taunting them.
"Who's next?" he merely asked.
It wasn't long before one of the inmates roared a battle cry and soon everyone joined in, and then as one they charged. Their instincts telling them that he was a threat that needs to be taken out. Sync smirked even more at this. This was exactly what he wanted.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Alright we're done for today." Madam Kate declared.
Arietta couldn't help but give out a big sigh of relief and slumped. Madam Kate gave a look of disapproval at this, but Arietta couldn't care less as she let her head fall on the table with a dull thud. She didn't notice when the other woman left nor did she sense that Ea had come in. Her brain was too mushy to register anything.
"What did she do you?" Ea said in mock horror.
"Ea!" Arietta straightened up in surprise.
"Hey there kiddo," Ea smiled, "How are you doing?"
"Horrible." Arietta groaned as she was reminded of the hell she had to go through. "Hey, don't say that, you're only just beginning." Ea tried to encourage her, patting the young girl's head.
"Feels like a nightmare though." She whined.
"Well anybody would find it difficult to learn a different way of life." Ea said, "How did your dinner with the king go?" she asked, changing the subject.
"It was fine." The beast tamer said. "He was nice and he even introduced me to his pets."
"The king has pets?"
"Rappigs, to be precise." Arietta clarified, "He names them after people he knows so that he could remember them. He even said that he'll buy a baby rappig and name it after me."
"Well…that's nice of him." Ea sweat-dropped, and saw the depressed look on Arietta's face. "Being a noble is hard, I know." Ea said, as she brushed the younger girl's hair. "But it gets easier."
"Have you ever done this before?" Arietta asked looking over to the older woman. "Not quite, but I did went through something similar." Ea said, with a small smile. "My training was a bit different from yours and it was stricter. Whenever I did a mistake I would either be smacked on the head or lectured to death."
"What happened?" Arietta asked.
"I learned that I could never be what everybody wanted me to be. So I left." She answered simply and shrugged.
"Wish I could do the same." Arietta mourned.
"I know sweetie." Ea said sympathetically. "I know, but there just isn't any other way." Arietta groaned once more and fell back to the table. Ea could do nothing but sympathize with her after all she went through the same process once, so she's knows what it's like. However this was harder for Arietta since she spent most of her time in the wild. So teaching her fine dining is the same as teaching a fish how to swim.
"Say, do you want to come with me for awhile?" she asked.
"Where to?" Arietta said, instantly perking up.
"Just a little trip, to help keep your mind off things." Ea suggested.
"Okay." Without hesitation, she followed.
As they were making their way through the halls, Ea noticed that Arietta had some major changes towards her appearance. Gone were the commoner clothes that she lent her but instead was dressed in a dress fit for royalty, obviously Peony lent it to her. Sparkling jewels adorned her neck and bobby pins held her hair in place. She was older now too, her chubby cheeks gone and replaced with much more sharper features. All-in-all she was beautiful. She truly did look like nobility, and yet if you look closely you can tell that she wasn't. Arietta struggled with the gown and kept fidgeting with her necklace, not used to having something heavy dangled over her neck and she looked quite uncomfortable with her new hairdo as she always catches herself from touching it. Learning how to be high-classed will definitely be hard for Arietta, but no matter, Ea thought, "Arietta will always still be the same person."
"Hey where are you guys going?" Guy said, bumping into them.
"Ah, Gailardia-san, sorry we didn't see you there." Ea said, breaking out of her reverie.
"Please, call me Guy." He said.
"Right well…" Ea cleared her throat looking very sheepish all of a sudden. "The other day…I'm sorry for calling you all those things. I was stressed out and I wasn't in the right mind and after hearing your confession, I just snapped. So I'm really sorry."
"There's no need to apologize." Guy said scratching his neck, also looking a bit embarrassed, "Actually I should've been clearer when I made that announcement after all you weren't the only one who made weird assumptions."
"Yeah but still I feel guilty." Ea whined.
"It's okay really." Guy tried to reassure her. "But you still haven't answered my question."
"Oh, we're going to see Sync." Ea said.
"Eh? I thought we were going somewhere special." Arietta said, she was still angry at the said boy. "We will, but I just want to make sure he's okay," Ea reassured, "After that I'll treat you to anything you want."
"The prisons huh, that's tough. Maybe I'll go with you." Guy said.
"What makes you say that?" Ea asked.
"Well I heard that the prison Sync was sent to be filled with the most dangerous criminals there is in the whole kingdom. So I don't know how he'll cope." Guy explained.
"You're right that is worrying, perhaps we should hurry." Ea said getting a bit concerned.
"Sync isn't weak." Arietta said, surprising the two adults. "I spent enough time with him to know that he won't let anything bully him."
Flashback: (Inside the Church)
"Don't cry Arietta, I'm sure there's reason for his actions." Her older Liger sibling growled, nudging her cheek. But Arietta didn't respond as she lay on her stomach, the sheets of her bed all rumpled up from her constant turning.
"But that still doesn't explain why he left me." Arietta whimpered as a stray tear shed from her eyes. It's been a week now since her transfer and she hasn't seen Ion since. Her uniform has changed and so has her room, but she wasn't allowed to see Ion at all, she just couldn't understand it. Why did he suddenly announce that he no longer needed her? Was she useless? She has been asking herself that over and over again and it still hurt. Why won't anybody tell her?
Knock! Knock!
Arietta jumped and immediately sat up and wiped her face. She was a God General now; she couldn't afford to show any weakness. "Come in." she said.
"Sorry for the intrusion." The soldier said as he opened the door and immediately jumped back when he saw the Liger. "T-The Commandant has requested for your presence in the training hall." He managed to say, while keeping his eyes on the wild beast. "I see." Arietta said, trying to even out her voice, "Tell him I'll be right there." The soldier nodded and quickly left.
When the soldier's footsteps faded Arietta sighed. "We should get going then." She said and got out of bed. She still felt emotionally drained but she would never disobey the Commandant's orders, after all he was one of the few people who were kind to her. A few minutes later she was walking down the halls with her hand gripping her brother's mane and the other holding her doll. They were only a few yards away and that's when they heard it. Cries of anguish and pain filled the air and banging sounds echoed throughout the halls. "Were they under attack?" Arietta wondered, "If so I better hurry." Sharing one glance with her brother, Arietta jumped on his back and together they sped down the hall and into the training room.
But what greeted them was not what she was expecting, far from it. The training hall was crowded alright, filled to the brim with cheering or screaming soldiers. A few were actually lying on the floor either injured or unconscious. "What's going on?" Arietta thought as she jumped off her brother's back. They were all watching something; that much was apparent as they crowded over the arena blocking whatever it was from view. Curios, Arietta decided to see what it was that got everyone so riled up. Being small made it easier for her to squeeze through until she made it to the front. And what she saw took her breath away.
A boy, a masked boy, standing in the center of the arena with five grown men surrounding him, it was clear that they fighting. He wore the standard training uniform except he had gloves and his hair was extremely spiky. He looked no older than she was, except he was taller. One of the men made a step forward and the masked boy quickly reacted. He turned to the one that moved and gave him a swift kick to the stomach, sending the poor man flying through the air, clearing a path through the crowd until he smacked right towards the wall causing it to crack.
It wasn't long before a second man flew from the arena, missing Arietta by a few inches before he hit the wall. Arietta watched all of this in stunned silence as the boy beat up the rest. But that wasn't enough, more soldiers came forward challenging the boy to a match. Some took him on in threes, or two, or even in fives, but nobody could land a hit, they were simply no match for him.
Thirty minutes passed and even more bodies laid on the floor and only a few remained standing, none of them wanting to challenge him it seems. Arietta observed the boy from where she stood, unable to move as she watched him pant slightly and wipe the sweat off his face. She couldn't understand why, but she was so transfixed with him. The boy was unbelievably strong and she couldn't take her eyes off.
Then the boy suddenly turned his head in her direction, making Arietta flinch but she didn't turn away. Even when every instinct told her to run away she stood her ground. Underneath that mask she knew he was looking right at her judging by the way he tilted his head. Heart beating fast, Arietta realized that the boy was regarding her the same way she did to him not too long ago. But whatever spell they were under was broken when a pair of hands clapped.
"Well done." Van said.
The masked boy broke eye contact with her and turned towards the Commandant. He stopped his clapping when he noticed Arietta present as well. "Ah, there you are Arietta; did you watch the spectacle just now?" Arietta nodded. "Good, let me introduce you, this boy will be joining us from now on. His name is Sync the Tempest." He gestured to the boy.
"And this girl is Arietta the Wild," Van told the boy, "She's also a fellow God General and since you two are both young and new at this I want you two to pair up and support each other for a little while. Arietta you're more familiar with Church's inner workings so please show him around."
"No!" Was what she wanted to say, but before she could, the boy beat her to it. "Che." Was the first thing he said, drawing the two's attention to him. Looking quite irritated, he crossed his arms, "Pair up with this weakling? No way."
Arietta's mouth dropped opened as she and Van watched him go away, one from shock and the other in indignation. Once he left, Arietta felt this overwhelming rage consume her after being insulted.
"What a jerk!" she shouted.
End of Flashback:
That was four years ago, around the time when Arietta was first made into a God General and also the first time she met Sync. And now a similar scene was being displayed in front of them.
"What the hell happened here?" Guy said in shock.
"I can only guess." Ea said wryly.
"Told you so." Arietta said matter of fact.
The prison guards had allowed them access inside the prison and what they found was slightly amusing if not disturbing. Sync was sitting atop a pile of chairs like a throne while the other inmates cowered before him. Some of them were actually tall and scary-looking yet they were serving the teenager food and water and even did as he asked. It was truly disturbing.
"It was already like this when we came in." the guard that escorted them said. "It's a bit creepy, but it does save us from a lot of trouble so we let it be for now."
"Thanks, we'll take it from here." Ea said and bid the guard goodbye. "Sync!" she called.
The mentioned boy stopped in mid-sip of his drink and turned his attention to the trio at the bottom. He raised an eyebrow at this. "What are you doing here?"
"Just wanted to make sure you were okay." Ea said but then surveyed her surroundings, "And I can see I had nothing to worry about after all."
"Hmph, you just wasted you're time coming here." The teen said and jumped down from his perch until he was face-to-face with them. "What do you want?"
"Nothing much," Ea said, "Just wanted to let you know that I'm doing everything I can to get you out of here." Sync burst into laughter at this, "What's so funny?" Guy said.
"You guys came all the way here just to tell me that?" Sync said.
"What's so wrong about that?" Guy said, getting a bit irritated by the boy's attitude. "Ea's doing everything she can to help you and yet you treat it as if it's nothing."
"Oh please," Sync scoffed. "I don't need your pity or your help, I'm going to die anyway so why prolong it?" this question was directed to Ea, "I'm nothing more than just a mere pawn so I'd rather die than spend another day in this sick and pathetic thing you call life."
"Sync…" Ea said, but could find no other words to say.
"And who's that?" Sync said pointing.
"Eh?" Ea was caught off guard by the sudden change in topic and turned to see that it was Arietta that he was pointing at. "Sync, this is Arietta, don't you recognize her?" Sync frowned and did a double take at the girl in front of him. Her hair was pinned up and she wore an extravagant dress and jewelry, but again just like what he felt when they first met in the circus it felt wrong on her.
"Are you sure?" he said addressing Ea.
"Of course I'm sure." Ea said, taken aback.
"Hmph, she doesn't look anything like the Arietta I know." He said.
"W-What is that supposed to mean?" Arietta bristled, but Sync was already walking away, whether he heard her or not he didn't show it. The other inmates gave him a wide berth as the teen walked passed heading to who knows where. Once he was gone Ea let out a breath, "Well, that didn't go as well as I expected."
"He's a jerk." Arietta huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. Ea just smiled and wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulders. "Come, let's go." And the girl immediately complied.
Evening:
Ea was standing in front of the door of the person whose help she badly needed and was debating whether to knock or not. She's been standing there for nearly five minutes, thinking up scenarios that could possibly happen and cringed at the thought that almost all of them ending up disaster. Once another five minutes passed Ea decided, "To heck with it." She thought and knocked.
She waited for a few moments until she heard some shuffling on the other side and then the door was opened to reveal Jade Curtiss. He blinked in surprise when he saw the woman in front of him and smiled. "To what do I owe the pleasure in seeing you?"
Ea's eye twitched, just one smile, it only took one smile to get her all riled up. All sense of pretense was dropped. "We need to talk." She said flatly and without waiting for a response she let herself in. Jade raised his eyebrow at this but followed her in. Once inside, he found her leaning against his desk where his documents lay unfinished, Jade shrugged at this and decided to lean against the wall facing her.
Ea took a deep breath; there was no going back now. "I need your help." She said.
"I see," Jade said, pushing his glasses back in place. Ea tilted her head at this; surprised that he didn't show much reaction. "You were expecting me?" she stated more than asked.
"It was only a matter of time." Jade said matter of fact. "One way or another, your actions tell me that you're protecting them. You can't afford to do anything illegal since that would revoke your free citizenship contract and make your case at trial void, and I doubt Arietta's engagement with Guy will be enough to keep her out of prison. You're not one to care about the public's opinion of you and yet you haven't even tried to break Sync out of prison like what you had originally intended. So something must've happened that changed your mind and now that you're here my suspicions are correct."
"Oh? And what's that?" she asked.
"Ever since we met you've always had this air of tension around you, as if you were always in a hurry. And now for reasons unknown to me you want Sync out of prison, fast, am I right?" Ea didn't answer, not that he was expecting her to and continued, "But since you can't do anything illegal you'll have to go through the more conventional ways, meaning: early parole. But for you to do that you need someone who's powerful and influential enough to control Sync and keep the public at bay."
Ea stayed quite the whole time but once Jade was finished she smiled. "Very good." She said, clapping her hands, "You've done your homework, I'm glad because that saves me a lot of time. I won't beat around the bush so here's the point, I want to make a deal. I won't ask for parole on Sync's behalf because I know that's too much to ask for and that no amount of money can get him out. So all I'm asking is for you to change Sync's punishment into something else, like community service to both kingdoms, I don't care, as long as it gets him out of prison."
"And if I do this, what will I get in return?" Jade said.
Ea didn't say anything at first; instead she turned her attention on the documents that were on the desk. She picked one document up and began reading it, without really understanding it. "I spent most of my time in remote places," she began, "Far from the empires reach but I hear things. Things that could either make your skin crawl or make you rich, news or rumors that take months, even years to reach the kingdoms ears. The point is I have lots of resources and I know that there's been some trouble brewing and that you're in the heart of it all."
Jade regarded her skeptically, "You're saying that you're willing to help me? All for the sake of a child?"
"Not one, two." Ea corrected putting the document down, "But what can I say, they're just kids, Sync never had a childhood and it's about time someone taught Arietta how to live like a proper human. They both been used and treated badly, they deserve a second chance."
"But it's still strange." Jade commented causing Ea to look up and face him, "You say you sought us out because of Lorelei's request and then you took advantage of the situation and got us to help you in return to get Arietta. And now you're offering you're assistance in exchange for Sync's freedom. Just what kind of game are you playing?"
"Well I don't expect you to believe me," Ea shrugged, "But it's the truth. My real goal was Arietta, Sync was just a boy I picked up on the way. I had no intention whatsoever in meeting you guys again. Whatever happened in the past was just coincidence."
"I have no reason to doubt you since the events that happened in Madoras were mostly our fault." Jade reassured her, "But still…a criminal with a good heart and has connections to almost every part of the world and willing to help, a girl that can communicate with animals and has the unexpected origins of nobility and a lastly a boy with extraordinary powers that are still growing. It's almost too good to be true. There are far too many coincidences for my taste, it's like we were all meant to meet, to be here just as a crisis is fast approaching."
Ea narrowed her eyes slightly and swallowed, Jade didn't notice and continued on, "If it's not you, then someone else is definitely playing us from within the shadows and I don't like it." He stopped and sighed, looking at her with renewed determination, "Manufactured circumstances or not I am in no position to turn you away."
"Really?" Ea said, surprised that he'd actually agreed.
"Yes." Jade said. "I accept your offer Ea Falrion. In condition that you won't keep any secrets from me and if you show any signs of betrayal I won't hesitate to take back my words."
"That won't be necessary." Ea said, "I always keep my promises."
"Then we have ourselves a deal." And with that they shook hands.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ea's heart was pounding and her hands clenched into fists by the time she was out of Jade's room. The colonel had almost given her a heart attack by the way he spoke. "Can't believe there's a shrewd one among them," She muttered, "Looks like I need to be careful around him."
She looked up and stopped walking when she noticed a figure hidden among the shadows. She stepped a bit closer and upon closer inspection it was Sylph. He was leaning against a pillar, almost hidden in the darkness, if it weren't for the power radiating off of him Ea would've never noticed him.
"Everything is complete." He announced, causing Ea's heart to skip. "All the main characters have gathered, but that doesn't mean everything will go smoothly. No, the real hardship is about to begin."
Ea swallowed hard at that, she didn't say anything because there wasn't any need for it. He was only there to deliver that message, meaning that Ea needed to pick up her pace if she wanted to prepare the others for the war ahead.
Wooh i almost didn't make anyway pls review.