Author's Notes:
Hey guys! I don't really have much to say this time so…enjoy chapter 11!
Chapter 11: Journey to Versailles
It had been 4 days since Saito, Shion, and Alexandre had departed Henrietta's palace to begin his mission. They had no trouble getting into Gallia, as they simply told the guards at the bolder that they were merchants. They decided to go to an inn on the outskirts of Gallia, far away from their destination, the Royal Palace in the city of Versailles.
Saito bought them a room for the night and then went upstairs. His two companions were already in the room when he arrived, sitting on two chairs. Saito sat on the mattress in silence for a few minutes, and then got up to speak to them.
"We need to create a plan on how we're going to do this. Getting into the Royal Place will be nigh on impossible, so if we're going to do this, we need to have a solid plan. We also need to discuss his familiar, Sheffield."
Alexandre pouted, looking like a spoiled child. "Why do we have to discuss all this?! Let's just kill them and leave!" He yelled at the top of his voice.
Saito hit him over the head, making him fall to the ground. "Shut up! We can't let people hear us!"
He sat back down on the bed. "Killing Sheffield and Joseph won't be so easy. It'll be much harder than last time."
"Last time?" Shion said.
"It's nothing." Saito said, nervously. He could tell that Shion wasn't buying it. "Look, the point is that it won't be easy at all. Joseph is a Void Mage who can use a spell called Acceleration. If he is aware that we are after him, we won't be able to kill him. Because of that, we have to kill Sheffield first. She is a familiar known as The Mind of God. She is probably monitoring the entire Palace 24/7."
"The Mind of God? How could you possibly know all of that?" Shion said, looking at Saito's left arm. Saito had begun wearing a black glove on his hand to hide his rune. Alexandre had already seen Saito's left arm in its entirety, but had never shown any knowledge about what the runes meant. Shion appeared to be more observant than Alexandre was, so Saito made sure to keep his arm a secret from them.
"I made sure to study before going on this mission, of course." Saito said. It was very obvious that he was lying.
"I know you're lying, Saito. If we're going to be working together, you should be honest with us." Shion said.
"You're one to talk about being honest!" Said Saito, angrily. "We don't even know what you look like. We don't know anything about you! We don't know if you're a boy or a girl! Hell, we don't even know if you're human!"
Shion was silent. Alexandre watched the two argue, with his eyes filled with intrigue. Shion eventually sighed. And began to take off their mask. Saito and Alexandre looked at Shion removing the mask with great intensity. With a little hesitation, they removed their mask entirely, revealing their face. It was a young girl, roughly the same age as Alexandre, with silver hair, dark purple eyes, and extremely pale skin. More surprising for Saito was that she was very obviously Japanese.
Saito was very suspicious. He had known that other Japanese people had gone to Halkeginia in the past, but their descendants looked mixed rather than purely Japanese. Just as Saito was about to ask her about her origins, Alexandre ran across the room and hugged Shion, rubbing his cheek onto hers.
"You're so cute! Why would you hide your face?! Your skin is so nice and soft!" He said. Shion was making a blank expression. Neither angry, nor happy. After a few minutes of his affection, she eventually moved her eyes to look at him.
"Get off of me." She said calmly. Alexandre got off and stared at her without saying anything. She got up and walked to the closet.
"I'm going to sleep." She said as she walked into the closet and closed the door behind her.
"She sleeps in the closet? Well, we are boys so I guess it makes her feel safer." Alexandre said. Saito didn't respond. He was lost in thought, wondering about her origins. Eventually, Alexandre pushed him.
"We should go to bed." Alexandre said. Saito nodded and laid down on the mattress. He and Alexandre had already agreed to sleep on the same bed, considering they were both guys. Alexandre blew out the candles and laid on the opposite side of the bed.
Saito couldn't sleep. He was too stressed out to feel tired. He was, after all, on an assassination mission with people he didn't know. As he thought, he was surprised when he heard Alexandre speak to him. They had been in bed for hours, so he didn't expect him to be awake.
"Hey, Saito."
"Yeah, Alex?" Saito responded.
"You think we can trust her?" Alexandre said. Saito was surprised to hear Alexandre speaking rationally for once.
"I don't know yet. Why?"
"She's kind of cute, don't you think?"
Saito laughed at him, making Alex feel embarrassed. It was a much needed laugh as well, as it got rid of some of his stress.
"I guess." He said when he finally calmed down. "I wouldn't recommend falling for an assassin though, Alex."
"I haven't fallen for her! I just think it would be a shame if we ended up having to kill her too." Alex said, trying his best to defend himself.
"Look, I've been in your situation before. You don't really know her yet, but you can change that. I still don't think you should pursue her though. She could be dangerous and…" He paused for a few seconds. "we still don't know much about her."
Alexandre sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Get to know her, huh? But how? She seems so cold." Hearing this gave Saito horrifying flashbacks of when he first met Louise.
"It could be worse, Alex." Saito said, shivering.
"Is your girl cold like that?" Alex asked.
"She was really fussy and kind of brutal." Saito said, "But she changed, or rather, I changed her." He sighed and then looked at Alex. "She'll warm up to you if you try hard enough. I still think it's a little early to decide that she's the one for you, but whatever."
Alex chuckled a bit. "Thanks for the advice." He looked out of their window. There was a church in the distance with a clock on top of it. It was nearly 3 AM.
"We should get to sleep."
Saito nodded. "Good night, Alex." With that, he fell fast asleep.
They woke up a few hours later once the sun was already in the sky. Saito, fully rested, put on his clothes and waited for Alex and Shion to get ready. Alex was eager to wake up Shion. He opened the door to see her fast asleep. She had taken off her assassin clothes and was wearing a purple nightgown.
"She looks so peaceful." Alex thought to himself.
He turned to look at Saito, who was polishing Derf's blade with a towel.
"Hey Saito, is it okay if we stay a little longer? Just to wait for her to wake up?" He asked.
Saito was about to refuse, but he turned around to see Alex looking at Shion sleeping on the ground.
"Sure, why not?" He said, "But we can only stay for an hour. We have to get going."
Alex smiled and nodded. He quietly picked her up and laid her down on the mattress they had used. He stayed by her side, stroking her hair for several minutes. It was then that he noticed something strange on her neck. She had a large scar running along the length of her neck. It was as if someone had slit her throat.
Pain filled Alex's normally joyful heart. This reaction even shocked himself. Alex, as an assassin, had murdered several people before. Men, women, and even children. Not once had he ever felt remorse or pain for what he did, but yet at this moment, his heart ached for someone he hardly knew.
As he stared at her neck, slowly stroking the scar, he saw that her eyes were wide open. He jumped back in fear, landing on the ground. She didn't say anything to him. She went to the closet and closed the door. When she came out, she looked at Alex.
"Do not touch me when I am asleep." She said coldly. She turned and walked out of the door. Saito thought he saw her smile slightly on her way out, but he ignored it and walked over to Alex, who was visibly distressed. Before she left, Shion made sure to put her mask back on.
"Don't worry about it, Alex. Just keep going after her." Alex smiled and nodded. After a few minutes, they departed the inn and walked on the road towards Versailles. The road that they needed to take went through wilderness. There were no towns along the journey. It would take them up to 3 days to reach Versailles. Their day was uneventful. They only stopped occasionally to kill an animal to eat. Alex spent the whole time walking close to Shion. She didn't seem annoyed. She simply kept walking without saying anything to him.
They walked for several hours before stopping on the side of the road to make camp. They were in a thick forest with no sign of civilization anywhere.
"I'll go get firewood." Saito said. "You two go look for food and make us some shelters." He departed into the woods, looking for dry pieces of wood to use. As he was walking, Derf popped out from his scabbard.
"I see what you did there, Partner. Leaving those two alone. Is it safe though?"
Saito chuckled. "Well, I doubt there's anything out here that I can't deal with, so I'll be fine."
"I meant is it safe for Alex." Derf said.
Saito paused for a moment. "Well, if she's anything like Louise, then no. But she seems to be more laid back than Louise, so I'm sure he'll be fine."
Shion and Alexander walked through the woods, hunting for food. Shion had made a spear out of a piece of wood and was aiming at a deer to kill. Hunting was the last thing on Alex's mind though. He looked at Shion's neck, feeling a mix of pain and curiosity.
"Hey, what happened to you? Your neck…"
He had said this just as she was throwing her spear. The shock from the sudden question made her miss the shot, allowing the deer to escape. She recomposed herself and turned towards Alex.
"If you must know, the people in my old place of residence attempted to kill me for who I was. I survived, escaped, and was left with this scar as a reminder."
Alex looked at her with a look of pity. "I'm sorry to have asked." He said quietly.
She turned away and went to pick up her spear. "It doesn't matter to me anymore."
They continued on their search for food. In an attempt to impress Shion, Alex quickly dispatched a large buck. However, she did not seem impressed at all. She came to help him drag the dead animal back to their camp, but he insisted that he do it himself. He was extremely strong, able to drag the large animal with little effort.
By the time Saito came back to their camp, Alex had already skinned and gutted the animal. He had cut it into several pieces which he stuck onto sticks he had found, waiting to be roasted. Saito said nothing. He was tired and wanted to sleep without incident. He quickly started the fire and began roasting the meat. Shion sat on a log and stared at the moons in the sky, exposing the scar on her neck. Saito had noticed it, but chose not to say anything. Alex sat next to her, thinking of what to say.
"Hey, Shion."
She looked at him with a blank face. "What?"
"Do you have a…boyfriend?"
Her expression didn't change, but her face slightly filled with color. Before either one could say anything, Saito dragged Alex away.
"Hey, the food is ready!" He said as he dragged Alex away by his ear. When they were out of earshot, he sat him down on a log.
"What the hell, Alex?! You can't ask her that!"
Alex looked confused. "Why not?"
Saito put his hand on his face. "It's too soon, and kind of personal."
Alex looked interested to be learning about this subject from Saito. "Oh okay. I'll be more subtle."
Saito sighed. "Fine, whatever."
They walked back to her holding sticks of roasted meat. Her face was still slightly pink. They ate in silence for a long time. They all had voracious appetites. Saito had his appetite ever since he got his new runes on his arm. It was as if his body needed more fuel to sustain them. Although they all were capable of eating vast quantities of food, Saito easily ate more than they both did combined. When he was finally finished. He bade them goodnight and went to his makeshift tent, which Alex had made earlier.
Shion and Alex sat in silence. Eventually, Shion got up to go to bed. As she walked away, she stopped for a moment and looked back at him.
"I don't." She said. She then hurried to her tent.
Alex was dumbfounded for a few minutes. When he finally realized what she meant, he leapt into the air, filled with happiness. However, just as quickly as happiness had overcome him, it disappeared. A cold feeling overcame him, as if winter had come too early. He rushed to Shion's tent. She was already holding her sword, prepared for whatever was coming.
"You feel it too? There's a presence."
Alexandre nodded.
Satio seemingly appeared from nowhere, standing with his back facing Alexandre. He had felt the presence too, so he didn't bother asking them if they felt the same thing. Saito glanced at Shion. Her sword was exactly the same as his, only the jewel in the hilt was red instead of Saito's blue. It even had Japanese writing engraved into its blade. He wanted to mention it, but knew that now wasn't the best time.
After a few minutes, they couldn't feel anything anymore. Not a sound disrupted the eerie silence. As Saito looked around, his left eye began to burn, forcing him to close it. He fell onto one of his knees, holding his face.
Alexandre helped him up. "What's wrong, Saito?!"
Saito opened his eye. His vision out of it had an orange hew, but he could see clearly into the night. Beyond the trees, he could see several wolves circling them. He recognized them instantly, as they had the runes of Mjöðvitnir glowing on their foreheads.
"Back to back!" Saito said.
Shion and Alexandre immediately turned so that all three of their backs were facing one another.
"What are we dealing with?" Asked Shion.
Saito paused before responding.
"Sheffield. The Mind of God."
Author's Notes:
Well, that was chapter 11. I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry again for posting this so late in the day. Please leave a review and follow the story if you like it! Thanks for reading guys! Take care!
