Sup Guys? Okay, this is a short little chapter to introduce Ch 6 in game. Right now I have AP testings so I wanted to get one little thing done as a break from work. Anyway, please enjoy.
Tomovnikov- Thanks
Kirby- There is no need to be scared. SPOILERS: the good guys win in the end:)
All my other faithful readers who don't like to comment. Thank you for reading and again, please enjoy.
When we reached the battlefield, there wasn't much for Julian and I to do. Our surprise attack on the enemies flank cost them this battle. It appeared that many of the soldiers had retreated back into the castle walls, while those that remained outside were being picked off one by one.
Lena however, had her hands full. Once she arrived, she immediately slid off of my back and ran to the nearest soldier, healing his wounds.
"Here," Julian said as he handed me a bad, "give this to one of the injured soldiers, it should tie them over until Lena can get a look at them."
I transformed back into my human form and accepted the bag that Julian offered me. It was a bad full of vulneraries. I ran over to a soldier who had just finished defeating an enemy. His back was turned to me so I didn't immediately recognized who it was.
"Ogma!"
The mercenary turned to look at me, "Zero! You made it eh?"
"That appears to be the case. So, it's finally over."
"Don't be too sure," Ogma warned me, "if our tactician is smart, we will attack the castle as soon as we have patched up our soldiers. We want to attack the enemy as soon as we can so that they can not organize their defenses. The sooner we attack, the more likely we are to win."
"Ah," I said looking towards the castle, "when do you think that will be?"
"Whenever Prince Marth commands it I assume," said a voice from behind me.
I turned around to face none other than the prince himself.
"Did you just call yourself by your own name?" I asked, then realizing what I had just said, mentally drop-kicked myself for being rude to my prince.
Ogma left out a laugh but then quickly covered his mouth. Then he slowly lowered his hand and punched me on the shoulder, "Be polite." His serious facade however was ruined as he then began to smirk.
Prince Marth chuckled in amusement, "Yes, I guess I did...I mean, yes, I guess Marth did."
"Wow that sounds weird."
That one earned me a hard punch from the blond mercenary.
Prince Marth just raised one eyebrow but didn't comment on my comment. Then he turned to address Ogma.
"Ogma," Marth said, throwing off the air of joviality with a presence of seriousness, "We suffered surprisingly little damage during this battle and their leader is inside the fortress. As soon as Lena gives me the all clear on our soldiers, we will infiltrate and attack the castle. Be ready."
"Yes, Sir!" Ogma gave a small bow to the prince, which I quickly copied.
Prince Marth started to walk away before turning with a smile on his face, "So Prince Marth commands." Then, he turned and walked away.
"Wow, you lucky he doesn't offend easily," Ogma said.
"Sorry, it sort of...just came out," I replied.
"Well watch your tongue, you could get into some serious trouble with someone if you don't treat the prince with his deserved respect."
"Sorry."
"Just don't do it again."
I nodded and then remembered Archer...what a great friend I am.
I started to look around for his familiar face but I was not able to see him anywhere.
"Hey Ogma?" I asked.
Ogma was facing the other way apparently looking for someone as well, "Yeah?"
"Do you know where Archer is?" I asked, still looking for him.
"No, I haven't seen him since the beginning of the battle."
"Oh, ok. Thanks anyway."
I started to walk away when Ogma suddenly grabbed me by my robes and pulled me with him.
"Hey," I started in protest.
Ogma let me go and said, "We are starting the assault."
My eyes widened, "already?!"
"It appears that we have enough people in fighting shape to attack," said Ogma.
"Oh."
It wasn't long before the gates of the castle had fallen and we started to pour into enemy territory.
I had never been in a castle before to my recollection, granted I don't remember pretty much anything before a few days ago, but it was certainly impressive. Large stain glass windows, multicolored light filtering though them, creating shaped and patterns on the sleek marble floor. The entrance was vast and grand and was absolutely devoid of enemies.
"I don't like this," Ogma muttered before wandering off, his sword at the ready.
He and the other soldiers started to make their way down to a branching corridor. I was about to follow when I saw Julian heading in a slightly different direction. He was alone so I decided to follow him.
Stopped after we had walked around a corner and stopped at a door, with his ears pressed against the wood.
He saw me looking at him and held up a finger to his mouth, which I recognized as the universal sign of "Shhhhhhh."
He pulled a small device from inside his clothes and mouthed to me "there is someone in there."
I nodded and willed the energies of my stone into me, if there were enemies in there I had to be ready to fight.
With a small click, Julian replaced his apparatus back within his clothes and slowly pushed the door open. Thankfully, the door did not creak but just opened slowly, without a sound.
When Julian had a good glance into the room, he groaned and ran into the room. Not knowing what was happening, I positioned myself in front of the door. It was a slight miscalculation as it turns out that doors were not made for dragons or people of my size, who would have guessed?
I looked inside the room and saw Julian trying pick a lock on some chains that bound a boy to a chair. His hands quickly popped open the lock before he moved to farther in the room, to a place where my vision did not reach.
I saw the boy stand up and stretch. Then he turned around and his jaw dropped.
"J-j-ju-Julian!" The boy screamed in terror and pointing at me, "There's a big eye! An evil eye!"
Julian had rushed over to the boy and followed his finger, his dagger at the ready. When he saw it was just me he sighed and lowered his weapon.
"That's just Zero," Julian said, "he is our ally."
"But he is a manakete!" the boy said, "they're the whole reason the world is in this mess."\
Ouch.
"Not him," Julian assured him, "this is one of the good ones."
The boys narrowed his eyes, "How can you be so sure?"
"Because I have fought and talked with him, he is a decent guy," Julian said.
"Hmmm...I don't trust him" The boy put his hand on his cheek and just stared at me.
Hey. I am right here.
"Hey," I rumbled, "what's up kid?"
"Oh, nothing, just chillin' in a cell," the boy responded, paused, then added, "stupid ugly-akete."
Wow, I thought, that one was really bad.
Julian slapped him upside the head.
"Ow!" the boy complained.
Julian slapped him upside the head again.
"Ow!" the boy explained.
Julian slapped him upside the head again again.
"Ow!" The boy proclaimed.
Before the boy could ask why Julian hit him, Julian explained why he hit him, "The first one was for being rude. The second one was for being dumb. The third one was because the first two made me feel better and I thought why ruin a good thing. I thought I told you not to be reckless when I left you. Now look where you are! Stuck in a cell, being captured by the enemy. You did exactly what I told you not to do: get involved with this war."
"But bro, there was so much trea-" the boy tried to justify his actions.
"Is treasure worth your life? You would die for an attempt to make a small profit?" Julian lectured.
"But you do it," The boy argued.
Julian sighed, "That's because I'm actually good at what I do."
OOOOOOOHHHHH BURN, I think.
"Look," Julian continued, "you got caught, that means you are not good enough. When you get to a certain level, you know that you can finish a job without being caught. The risk is just an added bonus. It was stupid of you to try and rob a stinkin' castle!"
The boy lowered his head, "Sorry."
"Just don't do it again," Julian said before rubbing his hand over the boy's head,
"We are in the middle of an offensive, stay close to me. You over there, can you fight?"
Julian looked towards the part of the room that was out of my vision. From that side came a female's voice, "Just give me a tome and I'm on you're side...but first, please finish getting me out of these chains."
Bloopers:
Julian slapped him upside the head.
"Ow!" the boy complained.
Julian slapped him upside the head again.
"Ow!" the boy explained.
Julian slapped him upside the head again again.
"Ow!" The boy proclaimed.
The boy got stabbed
Yes, the boy was maimed.
The boy had a girlfriend.
Wow, so he's claimed.
After the boy was caught stealing,
Ha, the boy was enchained.
RHYMING!
Ciao,
SeaJade
