Okay guys, after a week taking a break from this story, it's time to go on Eirika's path! Let's go!
Disclaimer: Same thing.
Chapter 9: Distant Blade
Kurogasa was in the darkness. He couldn't see anything. That was until he saw two figures. He started to run towards the figures. But when he got close enough, his body suddenly stopped. He tried to move, but his body won't let him. He saw the two figures and gasped in horror of what he was seeing. It was Eirika. She was on the ground pinned down, helpless to do anything and on top of her, was Valter!
"Please, stop… PLEASE!" Eirika begged, as tears streamed down her face.
"That's it, scream! Call Kurogasa! He's not going to save you!" Valter shouted, laughing at her. He then did something to make Eirika scream even louder.
"Stop… PLEASE STOP!" Eirika screeched. "STOOOOPPPP!"
"Beg, Princess Eirika, beg! Beg for your innocence!" Valter yelled, continuing to laugh at her. "It makes it much more fun for me that way. I shall tame and make you become my bride!"
"EIRIKA!" Kurogasa cried in horror. He has to save Eirika! He just had to! "You bastard! Let her go!" He tried to run so he could save Eirika, but his body wouldn't let him go. 'I can't move by body! Move! Move! Move!' Then, at that point, the man stopped. Kurogasa saw why because when Valter stopped, Eirika screamed a very horrified scream and it made Valter laugh insanely.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"EIRIKA!" I shouted. I jolted up sitting up on the bed suddenly scaring the wits of Storm and the others. My heartbeat was fast, I was panting heavily, and ice cold sweat trickled down my whole face. Dang it, that dream again…
"Hey, buddy! What's wrong?" Storm asked me as if he's gotten a shock of his own before he rubbed his eyes. "You know you woke me up in the middle of the night, right?"
"You idiot!" Amber screamed angrily as she threw her pillow at my face. "Your scream startled me!"
"Now, now, Amber… Kurogasa might have a bad dream, right?" Melissa–sempai said worried while looking at me as Kurai didn't give a darn about it and continued on with his sleep.
"Big bro… why did you mention Eirika earlier?" Akira asked.
"I'm sorry, everyone…" I sighed panting wearily as I had a hand over eyes sitting down. "Dang it, of all the dreams, it had to be that one…"
"That dream?" Mikoto yawned.
"A dream that involves Eirika, huh?" Amber asked as she somehow had that mischievous look on her face. Can't she read the mood?! Melissa–sempai couldn't help it but feel worried about my condition.
Much to everyone's confusion, she walks out from her bed sits next to me and… hugged me at my side? "Melissa–sempai?"
"When my little brother has a nightmare, he always rushed towards my room and hugs me. You remind me of my little brother and I can't help, but calm you down." she said with as she let my head lean on her lap while she gently combed my hair, somehow making me feel safe. She's like the mother of our group due to her motherly nature as she always helped us out on situations that we had, even in a love situation. This is why I always looked up to her not only as my mentor, but also a mother figure too. Just when the rest of the team managed to calm ourselves down to get some sleep, Melissa–sempai suddenly sang a lullaby song she called Konoyo no Uta, which somehow… it's really calm and peaceful.
She sang the song from start to finish and one by one, they went to sleep as they went back to their wonderland. Kurogasa was the last one to sleep when she was just about finished her song. After finishing, Melissa noticed that everyone slept peacefully with smiles on their faces, thus making her satisfied. She gently placing Kurogasa's head off from her lap, back to his pillow, covered him in his blanket, and gave him a goodnight kiss on his forehead. "I hope you have a nice dream and sleep peacefully, Kurogasa." she said with a smile before she stood up and returned back to her bed. She laid back onto her bed and covers herself with her blanket before looking up at the ceiling muttering something in a soft tone. "I wonder… if my little brother is sleeping peacefully without a nightmare…" she said to herself before she closed her eyes and went back to sleep with a smile on her face.
The next day, I had woken up. Thankfully I was able to sleep thanks to Melissa–sempai's singing. I gotta thank her later on. I noticed that everyone but Storm had left the room for breakfast. "Oh, morning buddy. Sleep well?"
"Yeah." I answered. "I gotta thank sempai for singing." It was a silent for a moment. "Hey Storm, can you keep a secret?"
"Sure… man… that song really put me in childhood wonderland…" Storm said impressed for a bit before he got to the point. "I think you want to talk about the name that you screamed last night… Eirika, right?" he asked as he finished putting on his boots.
"Yeah… Do not tell this to anyone. Not even Eirika herself. Even if Amber tortured you for the answer, you. Do. Not. Tell." I was dead serious. In fact, I haven't been this serious in my entire life.
"Wow… this is the first time I've seen you this determined to not let this secret leak out towards the others and for me to call Fort Knox about it…" Storm joked for a bit before he got serious with me as well. "Hit me then."
"Alright…" I took a heavy deep breath before I started. "The reason I screamed Eirika's name was that I… I saw in my dream… her being raped by Valter."
Storm was stunned when I mentioned 'that' name, as he suddenly clenched his fist and I couldn't blame him. When we first met Valter, he toyed with and mocked us Kamen Riders, labeling us as weaklings. He even compared our strength to the injured Seth, which really hurt our pride. "Then… at that time, you tried to come to her rescue in your dream, right?" he asked as his tone was serious all of a sudden.
"Yeah… and that's the worst part…" I muttered sadly. "For some reason I couldn't move my body while Valter was raping her… I couldn't do anything to stop him…" By then, I was shaking a little bit. "Storm… I'm scared for her…" Storm was silent while looking down angrily. This was one of the rare times I've seen him to be this quiet. I couldn't help it as my whole body kept shaking, remembering the horror that I had in my dream… her scream, her cry, his sinister laugh… everything…
"There's only one thing you can do, buddy…" he finally spoke, breaking my trance.
"And that would be…"
"Face him… but not in your current form. You're going to face him in 'that' form." he said while glaring at me seriously. I understood what he was trying to say. "As long as you don't have 'that' form at your disposal, he'll continue to break loose, be out of control, and grab anything he likes on sight… even the ones that you care about the most…"
"Yeah…" I got out.
"But right now, you don't have 'that' Undead yet. We need to find and seal 'that' Undead if you're going to stand a chance against him." Storm added.
He's got a point… and we better hurry up and find it before it's too late to stop the loose cannon… I let out a sigh of relief after that. "I'm so glad I let it out of my chest and tell you about it…"
"It does feel much better once you've told someone you trust the most, huh?" he added before he switched back to his usual self in an instant. Why am I not surprised? Because that's just how he is… an airhead; but I can't hate him for being himself.
"Thanks man, but until then, promise me you'll protect her with your life if I'm not around during battle." I said putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You have my word, buddy." Storm assured me.
"UWHOAAAAA!" Storm and I jumped at the sound as we saw the door open to reveal… Amber, Mikoto, Akira, Kurai, heck even Melissa-sempai all piled on the floor!
Insert BGM: Tanoshii Ibento – Track 25 (Cardfight! Vanguard OST CD 2)
"Iteeeeeeeee!" Akira groaned in pain as he and Kurai were on the ground and Kurai only groan silently. Amber and Mikoto were piled on top of them and Melissa–sempai was on top of the other two, as both me and Storm sweat dropped.
"Oh dear… I think we've been discovered…" Melissa–sempai said in her usual tone with a sweat drop.
"See?! I told you too many of you guys would cause the door to crumble down!" Mikoto snapped.
"Well, it was my idea to eavesdrop on what the two were talking about!" Amber retaliated back.
"Originally, my only intention was to wake them up since they're asleep… I didn't know any of this before…" Melissa–sempai added.
"Yeah, but big bro's sudden scream caught my curiosity for a while…" Akira said.
"Tch… then why do you keep dragging me along something that I don't want to get myself involved in, cousin? Get off me! You're crushing me here!" Kurai retaliated.
"ARE YOU SAYING WE'RE HEAVY?!" Amber and Mikoto said in unison glaring at him angrily before delivering one of their hits on his head, clearly making him groan in pain before…
*WHACK*
"Yeouch!" Kurai groaned as a bump rose from his head with smoke appearing on it, courtesy of Melissa–sempai knocking his head with her staff.
"My, my… such words you've used on us…" Melissa-sempai smiled.
"I think the cat's out of the bag, buddy…" Storm said to me. I couldn't help but sweat bullets for the worst possible outcome from this mess…
"How much did you hear?" I sighed wearily face palming, and shaking my head.
"Pretty much the whole thing!" Mikoto chirped up as everyone got back on their feet.
Amber said with a mischievous smile on her face, "Aw~ Kurogasa really does care about Eirika! I'm gonna tell her!" Amber said happily before she was stopped by Melissa–sempai.
"Amber dear… you know it's a bad thing for you to do something that makes him embarrassed about it…" Melissa–sempai smiled at her and for some reason, Amber's whole body shook from her smile alone, which indicated she's also experiencing what Kurai and I experienced.
"H–Hai…" she stuttered while looking down.
"I wonder why she's afraid of sempai all of a sudden." Storm asked himself.
"You don't wanna know…" I said.
End BGM
I then started looking solemn and serious again. "So now you guys know…"
"Yeah, and I don't give a da–"
*STOMP*
"Yeouch!" Kurai cringed in pain, courtesy of Melissa-sempai's staff on his toe. "Why do you always do that?!"
"Because you're going to use foul language on the boy…" she said to him with a smile. He went into silent mode in an instant.
"Big bro… I didn't know you had that kind of a bad dream…" Akira said concerned.
"As unbelievable as it is, it's the truth…" Storm replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry for throwing that pillow at your face last night." Amber said hugging me, now starting to feel bad. "I didn't know it was that bad…"
"Amber…" I muttered as I let her hug me. She teases me a lot all the time, but like a sister, she really cares for me too… but that doesn't occur a lot because of her teasing.
"And now, we got ourselves a new mission!" Mikoto said happily.
"A new mission?" I asked her.
"Yeah! It's to make sure your bad dream doesn't turn into a living nightmare, that's what it is!"
"Mikoto…" I got out smiling gently. She lets out that big smile of hers as the rest gave me a nod of assurance.
"Well, I guess we should get ourselves a good breakfast before we head out. Shall we?" Melissa–sempai said as the rest walked out of the room, leaving me and Melissa–sempai all alone. She was about to leave the room too, but I stopped her by saying something to her.
"Wait, Melissa–sempai…" I got out, as she turned around and looked at me.
"Yes, Kurogasa?" she said while looking at me with her smile and kind aura.
"Thanks for singing the song last night… I needed it." I smiled gently.
"You're welcome… whenever there are doubts you have in mind, I'll be sure to help out in any way I can." she replied before she headed back towards the door and started walking. "Saa, please hurry up and have breakfast, ne?"
"Hai."
At breakfast, everyone was eating in good health. Storm being Storm as he had his egg burger while me the others sat and ate in good manners and Tana practically clung to my arm sitting next to me. "So, when are you going to play a song for me again like last night, Kurogasa?" Tana asked cheerfully.
"T–Tana, please! Let him have his meal…" Eirika said trying to calm her down.
"I know you enjoyed it last night, didn't you, Eirika?" Tana replied with a happy smile, causing Eirika to have a slight blush as Innes sighed.
"Whatever he did last night is none of your concern, Tana. I suggest you let him be on his meal…" Innes told her as Tana pouted.
"Brother! Why is it that you always bring the mood down?" she said to him.
"Oh, Tana… always the cheerful one as you always will be…" Ephraim chuckled, causing her to have a little blush before she looked down shyly, sitting back quietly and took a sip from her drink.
"After we have this meal, we should all do our roles on warning the others and protect the Sacred Stones at all cost." Joshua said in a nonchalant tone.
"Agreed." I said. "Also, after this meal, I'd like to talk with Neimi, Artur, Ross, and Gilliam in private if that's alright with you four." I added.
"M–Me?" Neimi stuttered as she was about to take a small bite on her roasted ham.
"What's with the sudden call, Kurogasa?" Ross asked in confusion.
"Is something the matter that seeks my help, young man?" Artur asked me as Gilliam could only look at me with a stern face.
"Whatever it is, it must be really important, lad…" Gilliam added.
"Oh don't worry, it's something good…" I smiled.
After breakfast, I led the four to an empty room. "Alright, what's this all about?" Ross asked.
"Well, I've talked with King Hayden about something before breakfast and after talking to him and thinking about things for a while, I've finally come to my decision. We'll start with you Ross. You a good swimmer?"
"Are you kidding me?! I always swim at the lake back at home, just to build these babies!" Ross said as he showed off his muscles on his biceps. "It took me a while and plus, since I've swam so much, I can actually swim fast in water, like I run on dry land! Heck, I even fought a few crocodiles with a hatchet in hand in the lake. Sure, I started off with a baby crocodile, but eventually, I made my way up without my dad knowing I've fended off against a big crocodile on my own!" Ross boasted.
"Wow, r–really?" Neimi asked impressed.
"You betcha!" Ross said keeping a grin on his face.
"Well then, that makes things easier. How would you like to be a warrior of the sea? In other words how would you like to be a Pirate?" I grinned.
"Oh yeah! I always wanted to be a warrior of the sea!" Ross said happy.
"Didn't you want to become a Warrior like your father, lad?" Gilliam pointed out.
"Of course I want to be a warrior, but it doesn't have to be a warrior on land, right?" Ross replied back, as Gilliam looked at the boy before nodding in agreement, indicating he's got the answer what he was looking for.
"Then consider it done. From now on, you're a Pirate." I smiled.
"Yeah!" Ross cheered.
"Now on to you, Neimi." I said turning. "I've noticed that you've gotten better using your bow and arrow during these past couple of months."
"R–Really? M–My grandfather taught me all of the things about being an archer, s–so… I was hoping that s–someday, I can become as good as him…" Neimi said while looking down, stuttering.
"I'm sure you will. You've been working pretty hard and getting better and better. But now it's time I give you a bit a challenge." I then took out the Orion's Bolt emblem from my pocket which surprised Neimi.
"I–Is that–" Neimi stuttered.
"That's right. The Order of Orion's Bolt. The challenge I want you to do is shooting a bow and arrow while riding on a horse. And if you can, maybe you can learn the sword too. I'll ask Seth to teach you horseback riding and the sword as we journey on. So as of now, I'm going to promote you from Archer to Ranger. Congratulations." I said giving the promotion item to her.
"K–Kurogasa… I don't know what to say…" Neimi said getting teary before she wipes it off and gave me a smile on her face. "T–Thank you for this opportunity!"
"No problem." I smiled before turning to Artur. "Now for you Brother Artur, I would rather have a religious official of high status do this, but I guess I can make an exception. I apologize if this is rather unorthodox." I said rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment.
"Ah, it's not a big matter, Kurogasa. And I appreciate it. Even if it's the most little things, I have no trouble about it. Even in our religion, the Divine One always told us to appreciate any kind of gifts in modesty." Artur assured me.
"Well, if that's the case, then I guess you earned this one for sure." I said while I took out a ring, causing Artur to be a bit surprised.
"A Guiding Ring?" he replied.
"Yeah, and I want you to have it so that you are no longer a Monk." I said to him.
"Pardon?"
"You're now a Bishop." I replied to him, causing him to be surprised as I handed the Guiding Ring on my hand to his. "Will you accept it?"
"Kurogasa, it would be my honor to do so." Artur said as he wears the ring on his finger before he looks back on me.
"Thank you. And I'll ask Father Moulder to teach you how to use Staves."
"Of course. May the light continue to guide your path."
"Thank you, Your Excellency." I teased.
"Please, just refer to me by my name instead of my title. I insist." Artur waved off before I shifted my attention to the last man in the room, Gilliam.
"Let me guess, you wanted to promote me as well, lad?" he asked me.
"You guessed correct. King Hayden speaks very highly of you. You're very dedicated to your country."
"Of course. It's what I've done best, lad. And it would be my honor to hear such words from the king himself after serving in the army for a long time." Gilliam said as he felt proud at that moment.
"And I'm sure you'll be more honored when I reward you for such dedication by promoting you from Knight to General." I said taking out from my pocket a shield emblem called a Knight's Crest as King Hayden told me.
"Of course I would be honored, lad. It's the highest rank amongst the soldiers, like a Paladin or a Great Knight for the cavalries…" Gilliam said as he took the Knight's Crest with a smile on his face. "I will continue to serve the king and provide you with any help that I can to ensure our victory."
"I'm sure you will." I smiled. "Alrighty then that concludes our impromptu promotion ceremony! Normally we'd celebrate, but that'll have to wait. Right now, we prepare to head for Rausten!"
In Grado Keep, the six generals were having a meeting of their own as they discussed about the Sacred Stones to their Emperor. As they further explained the King wasn't satisfied. "Frelia's Sacred Stone has been destroyed. And yet you cannot locate the Stone of Renais." Vigarde said displeased before looking upon two of his generals. "Glen. Valter. Find the children of Renais. Find them and take from them the bracelets that they wear. Glen, take Eirika. Valter, take Ephraim. Find them. Conquer them."
"Yes, Your Majesty…" Glen replied with a bow as Valter had that sinister smile on his face.
"Ha ha… Eirika, eh? She's a ripe little peach." he smirked. "And her brother, Ephraim… He's better prey than I'd imagined." He then lets out a loud chuckle as things around him are getting interesting. "And even with those Riders that I toyed along… I'm sure I'll take away their lives AND their sources of powers with my Obsidian in hand! Yes, I can feel my blood rushing at the thought! This might be fun after all!" Valter said before the two walked out of the room.
"Caellach. Riev. Shatter the remaining Sacred Stones. Caellach, take Jehanna. Riev, take Rausten. Go. Crush the Sacred Stones they house."
"Heh heh heh…" Riev cackled as he rubbed his hands together. "As you will. I'll begin making arrangements for Rausten's downfall immediately…"
"Bah!" Caellach scoffed. "Why am I stuck with Jehanna? Accursed ill luck. I became a mercenary to escape that wretched place, and now I must go back?" He scowled before he and the old Bishop left as well.
The king then focused on his remaining generals. "Duessel. Go to Frelia. Take the Frelian army and punish Ephraim."
Duessel was a bit worried for a moment but due to the order of the king, he has no choice but to obey it as he bowed towards the king. "At once…"
"Selena. Remain in the capital. Soon, I will have new orders for you."
"Yes, sire…" Selena obeyed before they left the room as well.
"Soon… everything will become what it was, once again… a world full of darkness…" Vigarde said to himself as he sat on the throne with an evil smirk on his face.
As the caravan was being filled up with supplies and being funds of an additional 10,000 gold for the journey, I was at the steps thinking over the dream that I had that night. Sure, I told the rest of the riders as they promised not to tell Eirika in any way possible for her sake but whenever I think about it, I can't help but be extremely worried… if Valter somehow gets his hands on her and I failed to stop him… I–
"Kurogasa?" a voice called as I snapped out of my fantasy and returned to reality as I noticed Eirika riding a white horse looking at me with concern on her face. "Is something wrong? You look pale…"
"Oh, no… I'm fine." I lied putting on a smile.
Even though I smiled at her, she can't help it but to feel worried about me. "Kurogasa… if there's something that bothers you… please, te–"
"Princess Eirika!" A voice called as both of us looked to the side to see both Kyle and Forde riding on their horses and gallop towards our direction.
"Is your departure time near?" Forde asked, as she nodded in agreement.
"Yes. Kyle, Forde, I'm traveling to Rausten. I ask that you two serve my brother well." she said to them.
"Actually, there's been a slight change of plans." Forde said with his smile on his face, causing both of us to be confused.
"We're going with you, Your Highness." Kyle replied. Well that's surprising.
"What?" Eirika gasped. "But…"
"Prince Ephraim rides with Frelia's finest at his back." Kyle explained.
"And this was a personal order from the prince himself." Forde continued. "He said, 'I don't need you loafing around here. Go keep Eirika safe.'" He said then crossed his arms in annoyance. "Since when is battling all of Grado loafing about? Honestly!"
"You're right!" she immediately agrees with them. "My brother's mission is far more dangerous than mine! I will go and speak with him…" she said as she tried to get to her brother, only to be stopped by both of the knights.
"Princess Eirika. Prince Ephraim said he's not concerned for his own safety. These are the words our prince gave us, and we believe he means them." Kyle said sternly.
"That's the truth of it." Forde shrugged "There's no cause for worry, Princess Eirika. We can all attest to the prince's tenacity. No matter how close death comes, the Pale Horse will not catch him." he assured her.
"…Kyle, Forde…" Eirika breathed out. "I understand. Thank you for your service and your bravery. You are my brother's most trusted and most valiant companions. I would be honored to have you ride at my side."
"The honor is ours." Kyle replied. "We ride for Renais and Princess Eirika!"
"Let's not work ourselves into a frenzy right now." Forde replied. "When the time comes, I will be there to handle things."
"Of course." Eirika said with a smile. "I'm depending on both of you."
"Looks like we got ourselves new cavalries at our disposal… I just hope you guys are up for a bumpy ride…" I warned them as Forde had that smile on his face while Kyle looked at me with a rather stern look.
"As long as I will become useful for the Princess's sake, I will do my best…" Kyle replied first.
"And after fighting with that Undead, according to you, I bet things would be more interesting right after that." Forde followed suit as I noticed Neimi also riding on a horse, followed by Storm and he held… another rope with a horse?
"Hey, buddy! Seth told me to give this one to ya since he rides on one of the good ones." Storm smiled.
"Cool. Thanks man." I said.
Storm let out a smile before he turned his horse around. "Well, what are you waiting for?! The adventure awaits us!" Storm said happily as he galloped his horse towards the caravan, as Kyle sighed and Forde chuckled.
"The boy's right. We better get a head start if we want to get to Rausten." Forde said before he followed suit.
"I can pretty much tell this is going to be one rough journey…" Kyle complained.
And so we began our journey towards Rausten. Along the way, Seth and I have been teaching Neimi horseback riding and swordplay. Like all beginners, she was wet behind the ears. Even her shooting and bow while the horse was moving was gonna take time. "Well, look on the bright side; at least she's a fast learner… just as long as she doesn't cry again…" Colm shrugged as he looked at Neimi.
"Ross, since you've been pledged a warrior of the sea, I guess you can use them now…" Garcia said as Ross was testing out dual axes on his hand.
"Yeah, and with that, now I can use dual axes at my disposal! Sure, it may be difficult at first but I'll get the hang of it!" Ross added.
Natasha looked around as Artur look at her with a confused look. "What brings you trouble, sister?"
"Did you all… hear that?" Natasha asked them as everyone in the caravan looked around to find the source of the sound.
Amber looks out from the caravan and noticed something on the sky. "Hey~! There's a Pegasus flying over there! And it's heading towards our direction!"
"A Pegasus Knight?" Vanessa said as she, Eirika, Neimi, the rest of the knights and I looked up and boy… I can't believe what I'm seeing here…
"Heeeeeeey~!" Tana… great… wait, what is she doing all the way out here? "Whoa, slow down! Slow down!" Tana cried frantically trying to get her Pegasus to stop but couldn't! And it's heading straight for me! "Waaah!"
"Oh, crud…" I muttered out before-
*CRASH!*
In a split second, everything went black for a moment and as I was coming to, I noticed that I can see the sky on my view, I laid on solid ground and not on my horse, and let's not forget that I felt something heavy on me… it was then Tana slowly pushed herself up and noticed the situation we're in. She's right on top of me and I was on the ground, feeling pain all over my body from her crash alone. It took a while until she muttered out the very first thing she had in mind… with a big smile on her, no less… "Thanks for taking the crash for me!"
"Uh… sure…" I groaned. Wait a minute… something's wrong. Why do my legs feel stiff all of a sudden? Oh crap, my hormones are acting up! This isn't helping!
Eirika and a few people ran towards our direction and had a slight panic. "Tana?! What are you doing here?!"
"Your Highness! You were supposed to remain in the palace! It's for your own safety!" Vanessa exclaimed as Tana crossed her arms while not budging an inch from where she was sitting.
"You left so abruptly, without any warning or farewell." Tana said angrily. "You and Ephraim have only just arrived, and already you leave on another quest? Well, I'm your friend Eirika, and I won't let you go into danger without me." Tana said determined as Eirika got worried about her.
"Does King Hayden know of this?" Eirika asked.
"No." Tana said bold shaking her head in disagreement. "He'd just say 'I forbid you to go on this foolish errand!' like always. But I'm so worried about you." she said worried.
"Thank you, Tana." Eirika said. "I appreciate your concern, but King Hayden would–" But Tana immediately intervened her speech.
"You and Ephraim, my father and my brother…" she said while looking down, as I noticed her expression hinted pain in it. "You're all fighting together, fighting for a noble cause. I cannot be left out." she said shaking her head lightly before looking at her friend with a glare. "I will not be left out. Please, Eirika!"
Eirika could only let out a sigh of defeat before she came to a conclusion. "…Oh… all right. I never could refuse you anything." she replied to her, causing Tana to be extremely happy.
"Oh, thank you, Eirika!" she said happily. Akira approached her as she looked at him. "Yes?"
"Um… mind getting off of big bro, big sis? I think he's suffering down there…" Akira pointed out as she hadn't realized that she was still on top of me. She had that cheeky smile and laid her head on my chest, surprising everyone.
"Can't I stay like this a little bit longer? I kinda like it already!" Tana said to him, as I felt my legs going numb… literally.
"No… please, my legs are going numb… literally… oh crap, oh crap, my legs are falling asleep! My legs are falling asleep! Get off! Get off! Get off!" Tana pouted before Eirika and Vanessa helped her out by getting her back on her two feet and Tana went on to check the condition of her Pegasus. Storm and Kurai knelt down as the latter sighed.
"To think you take one for the team, and it knocked you out from your horse; and you could've caught her properly… what an eyesore…" Kurai scoffed.
"Wow, buddy. Your bad luck that involves crashes sure hasn't change much, huh?" Storm sweat dropped.
"Urisei…" I got out.
The journey continued on and I was carried back to the caravan because my legs were still asleep. Storm and Akira were moving my legs in circles so I can try and get feeling back in my legs. "Is he going to be okay?" Natasha asked concerned.
"According to Human Physics, Chapter 3.1," Lute began. "It is said the cause of numbness is from the lactic acid that was built up from the pain as it requires minimal mechanical movement in order to make it work once again." Lute told them.
"In English, please…" Mikoto complained rubbing her head from the explanation.
"With exercise, he'll be alright." Joshua translated while leading the caravan.
"Sucks to be you, huh?" Amber teased.
"But, if it wasn't for his crash, we wouldn't have met at the hospital, Amber. I can still remember that day. You were crying…" Storm countered with his casual tone, which made Amber look away with a slight blush.
"U–Urusei…" Amber muttered as Melissa–sempai giggled.
"Man and I thought Ryotaro Nogami had all the bad luck…" I groaned.
"I feel your pain, buddy…" Storm replied with a sweat drop.
"Yeah, me too…" Akira followed suit.
"What an eyesore…" Kurai muttered under his breath, scoffing.
*STOMP!*
"Iteeeeeeeee!"
"Kurai… have you forgotten about what we've discussed?" Melissa–sempai warned with her smile as only a few noticed her dark aura rise up from her back, causing Kurai, Amber and I to shudder.
"Che…" Kurai hissed as he rubbed his toe.
"Sometimes… I admire you, Melissa…" Natasha said to her, as Melissa-sempai looked at her with a confused look.
"Yes, you were able to calm down a situation with just a glance. What a miracle indeed…" Artur praised her.
"A cleric with a capability to fight… it is one of a kind indeed…" Lute added while flipping the next page of her book as Melissa–sempai waved it off having a slight blush.
"Please, everyone. I don't deserve those praises…" she tried to deny, as she has always been a modest person.
Finally, we've reached a town after a few days and having my legs have feeling again. From what Seth told me, this was a port town called Port Kiris. "Waa~! The sea looks beautiful! It really reminds me of back home!" Mikoto chirped as she looks at the horizon of endless blue sea from afar with a few boats and ships on it.
"There are some things that will always stay the same, ne?" Akira asked.
"Yep! And that's just the way I like it, Akira–kun!" Mikoto told while looking at him with a big smile of hers, causing Akira to have a blush.
"If we can find passage across the North Sea, we will reach Rausten in 10 days." Seth explained to Eirika.
"It smells of the tides…" Eirika said as she looked around and saw many people come and go. "This is a busy place, isn't it?"
"It's a trade center. Peoples of all nations pass through here." Seth told her. "However, do not become so enthralled with the sights and sounds that you forget your mission."
"I won't." Eirika replied, shaking her head. "I'm a mercenary by the name of Erina. I'm traveling to Rausten to receive a commission."
"And I'll go by the name of Kira." I added.
"And all of us are traveling to Rausten to receive a commission." Eirika concluded as Seth gave a firm nod.
"Let us look for a ship then, Erina. The docks are this way." Seth said as he guided the rest of us, but all of the sudden, Eirika looked to her side as she spotted someone from afar.
"Something wrong, Erina?" I asked her.
"That woman over there? Isn't that…" she said Kurai also noticed the three familiar figures as well.
"Well, will you look at that? It's the three amigos… and I'm not referring to the wrestling move…" Kurai joked as the three approached towards our direction.
"Oh, these dainty sugar pastries!" The yellow-green haired woman cried out. "They're delightfully scrumptious! Flavorful without being overwhelming, refined without being banal…" The woman cooed.
"Gwah ha ha! Right you are, Lady L'Arachel!"
"You look familiar…" Eirika said trying to recall as L'Arachel suddenly perked up looking at Eirika.
"Oh! Aren't you–"
"We've met before, haven't we? You arrived with your companions when we encountered those creatures…" Eirika replied. "Your name is L'Arachel, is it not?"
"A wonder and pleasure that we should meet again so soon!" L'Arachel said happily. "It is providence!" she added as she looks at Kurai as well. "And Kurai as well?! My, such luck have brought upon us, right?"
"Ugh, you're the last thing I want to encounter…" Kurai muttered under his face palm.
"Bad luck is the only thing the Divine has ever provided you!" the rogue tried to retaliate to L'Arachel.
"I agree with ya, Rennac… what can I say? She's just being her ditzy self…" Kurai deadpanned.
"Oh, and if you have not yet tried one, these pastries are also divine." L'Arachel said, holding one out for Eirika to see. "Would you care for one?"
"Uh, thank you…" Eirika said beginning take the offer until she realized something and stopped halfway. "No, wait… That's not why– We're actually on our way to the Theocracy of Rausten. We're rather in a rush and need to find passage on a ship…" she replied back as L'Arachel let out a sigh, which tells me something bad happened.
"Oh, dear. I'm afraid you'll find none to assist you. No ships are leaving port." L'Arachel informed us.
"Pardon?" Eirika blinked a few times.
"What's with that reply, L'Arachel? You didn't screw things up again, didn't you?" Kurai teased, making L'Arachel puff her cheeks at that comment.
"If you must know, Kurai! I didn't do anything silly at all!" L'Arachel replied back, causing the Berserker of her team to let out a laugh.
"Gwa ha ha! Lady L'Arachel always do what she does best, young man!" Dolza heartily laughed.
"If that's the case, Dolza…" Kurai replied while shifting back his attention to her. "What's the cause of it this time?"
"You see, I find myself heading home once more to my beloved Rausten as well! And actually, I'm quite well known with the powers–that–be in Port Kiris. So I ordered them to ready the finest passenger vessel for me. But both merchants and passenger ships alike are too frightened to set sail. It seems a giant ghost ship has been sinking every ship it finds… Would that I could confront it, I could stop its foul villainy in a moment. Alas. It's such a shame."
"Riiiiiight…" I said raising an eyebrow at that.
"Yes, yes… Uh… That is troublesome." Eirika pondered. "Still, I must get to Rausten somehow."
"You needn't worry too much. After all, if the sea is closed to you, simply follow the overland route!" L'Arachel assured her as she perked up with her idea.
"The overland route? I've heard that's a terribly roundabout path to travel." Eirika said concerned.
"Nah, don't worry about her. Any path she'll take, most of the monsters would end up running away from her… I'm sure of it…" Kurai joked, which L'Arachel flustered at.
"Oh, Kurai! You still haven't changed one bit since the day you've been following us!" She replied. "…but don't you see? The hardships of the road, they are truly blessings! They will toughen you and strengthen your resolve when you need to face great evil. For example, I have been tasked with a great trial in order to better myself." she said as she held her hand as if she was praying while looking down with a smile. "I understand my path, O unknowable forces of providence! I, your faithful servant L'Arachel, shall overcome! With faith and divine strength!" she declared, causing Rennac to have a bad feeling about it.
"Now, listen, L'Arachel!" Rennac began. "You might be thrilled about going the long way, but–"
"Come now, we're leaving." L'Arachel declared. "Dolza? Rennac? Don't fall behind!" She said as she began to trot her horse away.
"Gwah ha ha!" Dolza laughed. "Wait for us, Lady L'Arachel! Come on, Rennac! We run 'til we drop! The first one to collapse from exhaustion is the winner!"
"Help…" Rennac let out as Dolza ran off, "Why is this happening to me?" He asked before giving chase. Man, I feel bad for the guy.
"It's a good thing I left that group… you have no idea how bad it was to travel with her…" Kurai muttered.
"What makes you say that?" I asked as Eirika noticed something about it.
"Isn't Rausten in the other direction? Aren't they heading toward Frelia?" Eirika asked Kurai.
"That's because she has a bad sense of direction on foreign countries instead of her beloved Rausten, according to herself…" Kurai added.
"That bad huh?" I said to Kurai.
Kurai could only nod. "Even so, it's nothing you need concern yourself with, everyone. Our only concern now is to decide our next course of action." Seth explained. "An overland journey would be very long. However, it seems that may be our only choice at the moment…" he added.
"If we can't find any shortcut that will lead us directly to that country, then, it would be the only way to get there…" Akira said. "Just as long as we don't encounter any more of those Undead and monsters along the way…"
"I agree." Eirika sighed. "Whatever shall we do…?"
While we were thinking about it, we were approached by a man with green messy hair, with brownish yellow tattered armor, shirt and pants, brown boots and most of all; he wields a huge axe behind him. "…You're Eirika, the princess of Renais, ain't ya?" he asked her, causing a surprise look on her face.
"What?!" Eirika replied as I tried to cover for her.
"We're just mercenaries on the road to get our commission…" I tried to bargain, but he seemed to see through me with a smirk on his face.
"Nice try, lad, but those kinds of tricks won't work on me, Binks; as I can notice a princess from a mile away! And besides, it's pretty much clear that a mercenary never wields such weapons like a rapier!" he deducted.
"Dastard!" Seth snapped. "Away with you!"
"No need to get personal!" The man chuckled, "You know, there's a pretty price on your pretty head. Sorry, but I need that gold." He said as a number of men began to swarm the area. "Bring her alive and that jewelry to me!"
"Great… So much for our cover…" I groaned.
"Well, it can't be helped… sooner or later we gotta have to face some trouble along the way…" Akira said as Tana rides her Pegasus next to me.
"Great! We got ourselves some trouble…" Tana complained.
"But for now, we can't leave this town due to the bounty on our heads… the only way to get out of this mess is to just get through with this stuff…" Storm said while looking at the anticipated mercenaries that were ready to take our heads off as Binks walked away from our view.
"Alright, we got work to do, let's do this!" I said taking out my card and buckle with the rest doing the same.
"Henshin!"
TURN/OPEN UP
CHANGE
As 7 projectiles of holograms shot out in front of us, it surprised the mercenaries before we started to run towards the hologram; thus donning in our armor, as well as putting our opponent in a defensive state. "Ikuze, minna! Let's show them why they can't mess with us!" I shouted as Garren had something else in mind.
"But, Blade, you can't just charge through the battle like you always do! Look, there are some pirates on the sea too!" Garren pointed out, as his tactician skills are far better than mine. I noticed there were a few more pirates heading towards our direction.
"Well, we got our own pirate for that. Ross, deal with them!" I said to him.
"You got it!" Ross said happily before heading towards the sea.
"Ne, big sis!" He said to Vanessa. "Mind tagging along with Ross? It's not that I don't believe in him or anything, but I think he can't handle this on his own with an overwhelming number of them…"
"Yes, I'll see what I can do. Come, Your Highness, he needs our help." Vanessa told her, as Tana gasped in shock.
"Eh?! B–But I wanna stick with him!" Tana childishly complained, pointing at me as Leangle stepped forward while taking out a card of her own.
"Now, now, princess. We should help him out as he is a part of our group." Leangle kindly explained before she roused a card on her Rouzer.
FLOAT
In an instant, a hologram of Float Dragonfly appeared and was absorbed into her armor, causing Tana to be surprised as she can fly without any wings at all. "Now, let's go help the boy now." she told them as the girls dispatched to their destination. At the same time, Garren patted Lance's shoulder, catching his attention as he extended the common card that he had on the other day, the Trial A card.
"Eh? Why are you giving me this, Garren?" Lance asked him.
"I was thinking… maybe big bro can use these common cards since us main riders can't use it at all…" Garren pondered. Lance took it from his hand and looks at it before he roused the card on his Lance Rouzer.
TRIAL… A
In an instant, his whole armor glowed radiantly and when it dimmed down, he– no, even I was surprised to see something like this before… while he's still donned the same suit, the only difference was that his armor had some decoration with the insignia of a fox in silver, having horns mounted on his shoulder pads and most of all… he had a pair of silver butterfly wings on his back! "Whoa!" I gasped.
"Sugei na~!" Lance said happy as he has gained something that never happened in the Blade series before, neither in the story nor the movie. "That's it! From this point on, if there's any Trial card I've used, I would declare to be Missing Ace – A Form!"
"If that's the case, that means even I can use it to!" Larc chirped before I caught their attention back.
"For now, we should take care of them…" I said pointing towards the direction of an angry mob heading towards our direction.
"I'm gonna soar the sky and take some of the pirates out on the sea!" Lance said before he flapped his wings and fluttered his way to where Ross and the Pegasus Knights had their battle.
"Yeah, let's take down some of them for now, big bro!" Garren said to me.
"If there's any Trial around here, I'll be sure to have it at my disposal!" Larc said ecstatic.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the port…
A young girl, who had short blonde hair, brown eyes accompanied by a bright smile, wearing a smaller version of red plate armor with a white skirt, greyish long socks, shoes, and black fingerless gloves, was marching along with other soldiers towards the direction where the battle was held. The leader of the group began to give his speech. "Attention!" the leader yelled, causing the whole soldiers to straighten up from his command. "Carcino's mercenaries will arrest the princess of Renais shortly. Our duty here is nearly ended, and I expect no further hostilities. If you must fight, however, remember that the whole empire fights with you!" he told them, as the rest of the soldiers cheer as the girl began to ask him.
"Um, Commander? What should I do?" she asked, catching the leader's attention.
"Huh? Who are you?" he asked her as she lets out a salute to him.
"Sir! I'm Amelia of Silva, sir! I'm new. I was only assigned to your command today. I wanted to fight for the Empire!"
"I don't need your life story, fool!" The man barked out, "Recruits are in front! Grab your lance and move!"
"Sir, yes sir!" The girl replied. 'This lance… Stab the enemy." She said to herself, nodding once. "I'm not afraid… I'm a citizen of Grado. It's my duty to fight. And I'll fight my best!"
Two figures entered the port as they heard the sound of battle happening in that area. One of the Undead which consists of a head that resembles a bull, its horns representing a magnet having multiple rings all over his body, spikes that shoot out from his left shoulder and half of the trench coat covered his right side. On both of the back of his hands, it consists of a sharp claw and he wears an enforced boots with multiple numbers of rings around it. This is the Buffalo Undead.
"Did you hear that, comrade? That's our calling to terrorize the people as you can feed their energy, while I use their corpse as one of my minions… isn't it interesting?" another Undead said to him after it pats the Buffalo Undead's shoulder. It has a face that resembles a wolf that spreads outwards and a sharp set of teeth with a grin, have a spike rose all on the edges of its left side of his upper body and on the lower part of its body and a shoulder pad mounted on his right side, have a slight fur on his right arm, a chest armor that resembles a rib cage and finally it is fully equipped with sharp claws on its fingers. This was the Wolf Undead.
"Should we enter the fray, comrade?" the Buffalo Undead asked.
"Let's." The Wolf Undead said and they now unleashed their DarkRoaches.
"Take this!" one of the mercenaries yelled as he tried to slash his sword onto Gilliam's new reinforced armor, causing the blade to not only affect him with no injury at all, but also cause his blade to crack. "W–What?!"
Gilliam doesn't respond to the mercenary's panic as he twirls around his lance before lunging it forward, stabbing the enemy all the way to the back of his body, causing it to be a fatal kill before pulling it out and let the corpse slump on the ground. "Never underestimate the true strength of a general…" Gilliam reminded him before he shifted his attention to the next one.
As Garcia and Colm fend off with a few axe men, one of the mercenary's snipers took aim and released a shot, hitting Garcia's shoulder right on cue, causing him to grit in pain. The mercenary saw the opportunity for the kill as Colm was still busy from fighting with another axeman. As he tried to cleave down his axe onto the injured man, Glaive was able to intercept and block the attack entirely before she managed to push him back and deliver an uppercut with her Rouzer in hand letting out a gush of red blood from his chest before he slumped down and stay motionless.
"Mr. Garcia! Are you okay?!" Glaive asked slightly panicked as Garcia snaps the arrow off from his shoulder and slowly tried to pull out the head from his shoulder.
"Y–Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about me…" Garcia assured her before Moulder came to his direction and noticed the wound on it as he started to heal him. At the same time, as the sniper wanted to take aim again onto the healer, it was him to get shot by an arrow on the head instead, courtesy of Neimi's shot on a horse.
"Nice work, Neimi!" Colm praised her, as she smiled and gave him a nod.
SLASH
With the power of Slash Lizard, I was able to cut down many of their axes in hand before letting Kyle, Forde and Seth swing down their swords on them, taking them out in an instant. Without warning, a few slashes were felt on my back. When I turned around, I noticed a swordsman giving me a downward slash, followed by a thunder crash down on me from a mage, causing me to tumble down while leaving smoke on my armor.
BULLET
I heard the announcement nearby as gunshots were heard and put a few holes on his body before he collapsed on the ground and Garren ran straight ahead as he continued to shoot what's in front of him. Chalice casually walked towards where I landed before giving me a scoff. "Hmph, you're losing sight of your focus just because of that 'nightmare' of yours and becoming a bit distant than normal, Blade… what an eyesore…" he said before he took out a card from his side deck and roused it onto his Rouzer on his Arrow.
TORNADO
"If I were you, I would simply let that stupid nightmare of mine go, to not let it affect my focus… you truly are an eyesore on my view…" he said harshly before he lets down a downward cut, causing a gust of wind to take down a few soldiers in line to be dispersed in an instant.
"Geez, cousin! Stop mocking him already! Not everyone's perfect, y'know?" Larc told him before she roused a card on her Rouzer.
MIGHTY
"Besides, the only one that can tease him about his heart's desire is yours truly!" Larc said before she unleashed a few shots onto the mage out from our range.
"No… he's right…" I said. "As much as an arrogant jerk your cousin is, he's right. I can't let this nightmare get to me."
"Blade…" Larc said worriedly before she flicked my helmet.
"Hey, what gives?!" I complained while I rubbed my helmet's forehead.
"You just need a wake–up call! Look, there's no point if you keep worrying about your nightmare, just leave it behind and focus on now, silly!' Larc giggled trying to cheer me up, despite the situation we're in right now.
"I guess… thanks Larc." I smiled under my mask.
Larc giggled before she held her Rouzer tightly. "C'mon! We got some more bad guys to wipe out!" she said before both of us began to head out onto the battlefield.
STAB
BLIZZARD
As Leangle got used to the weapon, she came up with a solution using the said cards. As she absorbed the Blizzard Polar and Stab Bee into her armor, a gust of chilly wind suddenly blew towards the pirate's direction as Lance managed to get Ross out of range so the whole place was covered in frost, the sea turning into a giant chunk of ice. At the same time, the remaining unlucky pirates on the sea were trapped and frozen solid, turning them into sittings duck as Lance puts down Ross on the slippery ice.
"Nice thinking, Melissa! This way, we don't have much trouble about these guys throwing their axes on us!" Tana praised her.
"Oh, please… it was just a thought about using these cards to the fullest, that's all…" Leangle told her before Vanessa dived down with her Pegasus and pierced her lance through the solid man, causing it to be shattered in an instant. Tana, Leangle and Ross joined in and took down the rest of the pirates with a swing of Ross's dual axe, a thrust from Tana's lance and multiple rapid stabs from Leangle. Lance spotted something from afar before he turned to where Blade is and shouted something to him.
"Oi~! Incoming 'mail' at 2 o'clock!" I heard Lance shout from the sky as I looked to the direction and Joshua took a few steps back, while the rest of the soldiers were confused. From out of nowhere, the DarkRoaches swarmed in and began to terrorize the whole place in an instant.
"Sister, please stay back!" Artur told Natasha who was healing Lute as Joshua joined them.
"Great, we got Undead around here somewhere. Everyone find the Undead!" I shouted as I took out my Rouze Absorber and equipped it onto my left arm. Need to find those Undead fast. I can get better view from the air. I took the two cards and did the sequence.
ABSORB QUEEN
I then slid the Fusion Eagle through the card reader.
FUSION JACK
The Fusion Eagle plaque covered the Absorber and I soon went into Jack Form. "Alright then, time to play hide and seek where I'm the seeker." I said as I flew up high in the sky scanning the port area to where the Undead were. "Alright Undead, where are ya?" I asked myself. After a while I found one. This one was the Buffalo Undead, Eight of Spades and… Uh–oh, that Undead's about to hurt that girl! Not on my watch!
"W–What is that thing?!" the girl cried out as she took a few steps back while pointing her lance towards the Undead, much to its likings.
"Yes, struggle more… it would only makes it better for me to savor your life!" the Undead said before it let out a roar, causing the girl to be slowly pulled towards his direction. Much to her surprise, his roar didn't attract any object, other than her and some of the corpses lying around.
"E–Eh?! What kind of sorcery is this?! Why am I being pulled?!" she asked herself as she was being forced towards its direction. It was only meters away before it could get its hand on her, but with the interception from my blade, it suddenly canceled off and the said girl was being rescued by Franz, catching her off guard. "Eh?!"
"Are you one of the locals?" Franz asked her, leading her to more confusion. "This is a dangerous spot. You should hide. Here, come with me." he convinced her.
"But… But I'm…" the girl stuttered.
"What is it?" Franz asked.
"May I know who I'm talking to?" she asked.
"I'm Franz, a Knight of Renais. What's your name? What are you doing here?" he asked her.
"I–I'm Amelia. I'm… Actually, I'm a Grado soldier. I'm supposed to be fighting you." she told her as total silence accompanied them.
"Really?" Franz blinked scratching the back of his head. "So, uh, you're my enemy?"
"…I guess…" she muttered before she realized something. "Are you… Are you going to make me your prisoner?!" she exclaimed, causing Franz to panic a bit.
"Imprison you? Why would I do that to someone like you?" Franz asked incredulously.
"Because I hear that Princess Eirika takes prisoners." Amelia told him. "I heard she's a ruthless, cold–"
"Hold on, hold on, those are completely false accusations." Franz said immediately waving it off. "I don't know what Grado soldiers have been telling you, but Princess Eirika is clearly not of those things, I assure you."
"Hey! Franz! A little help here would be nice!" I urged trying to hold off the Buffalo Undead
Franz noticed as he puts Amelia down and turned his horse around. "Please forgive me, but for now, we should clear up the mess from these Undead…" Franz decided before he rode off towards my direction with a sword in hand, slashing it to force it back before reinforcements arrived. Kyle and Forde threw their javelin onto it.
"That's the most hideous fiend I've ever witnessed…" Kyle said displeased.
"You took the words right out of my mouth…" Forde agreed.
"I'm not going back into that card, Blade!" The Buffalo Undead yelled. "You'll never take me alive!"
"I can and I will!" I said as I roused two cards.
SLASH
THUNDER
The holograms of Slash Lizard and Thunder Deer appeared behind and went into my Rouzer as I flew towards the Undead, the Rouzer announcing,
LIGHTNING SLASH
The wings behind my back spread wide open as I soared the sky once again. Flying passed him, it continued to looked up at me as the distraction was enough to let Kyle, Forde and Franz deliver another cut on its back with their blades, causing sparks to be created before I immediately descend down and slashed with my shocking Rouzer onto the Undead in half, causing the explosion to occur and at the same time, the DarkRoaches that it commanded disappeared in an instant.
"Looks like we've manage to defeat the fiend…" Kyle remarked.
"But… why is it still burning and all in one piece?" Forde asked with interest.
"They're called Undead for a reason. They can't die." I told them as I took out a Proper Blank and threw it at the Buffalo Undead, sealing it up before the card went back to me and I caught it.
After the battle, as the DarkRoaches suddenly disappeared, Larc, Garren, Chalice, Eirika, Joshua, Artur, Lute and Natasha let out a sigh as they took this time for a little breather. "Well, that's the last of that…" Joshua said as Gilliam and Neimi entered the fray.
"Yes, it looks like Kurogasa and his group may have sealed an Undead up…" Gilliam added.
"I–Is everybody okay?" Neimi asked them as the rest gave her a smile of assurance.
"Yeah, don't worry about Colm and Ross. Mikoto took care of them by bringing along Father Moulder to heal them up." Garren informed her.
"It may have attacked the rest of the Grado soldiers without warning, but at least the damage it done around here has been minimized…" Seth informed as he approached towards them, along with Amelia next to him.
"Eh? Who's the girl?" Larc asked him as Amelia approached the group.
"Are you from around here? You should find someplace to hide as it is still not safe…" Eirika told her.
"But… But I'm…" Amelia stuttered before Chalice lost his patience.
"Out with it!" he exclaimed, causing the girl to straightened up.
"I'm a Grado soldier. I'm here to stop the princess of Renais…" she told them. Silence once again surrounded the whole area.
"Uh huh… right…" Larc said.
"You're with Grado?" Eirika asked her.
"A–And you're Princess Eirika? But the commander said Eirika's a cruel and merciless fiend…" she told her as Eirika was in a bit of disbelief.
"Okay, clearly you've gotten your facts wrong." Larc said crossing her arms. "Princess Eirika is no merciless fiend; she wouldn't even hurt a fly."
"R–Really?" Amelia asked, as the rest nodded in agreement.
"Yep, what she said…" Joshua told her.
"I'm from Grado as well and she saved me from the danger that I had with a friend of mine, young lady." Natasha assured Amelia as the latter started having doubts about what the soldiers from Grado stated earlier.
"…I don't know what Grado's officers have been telling you, but… Our two countries are at war, so I suppose they can say what they want." Eirika replied softly. Amelia noticed her smile is as pure as white. It was then she decided to do one thing she knew best.
"…Mistress Eirika… I, uh, I surrender. I won't fight you." Amelia said as she puts away her lance.
"Huh?" Eirika asked confused.
"I became a soldier because I admired General Duessel's sense of honor. But the generals have been very opposed to this war from the beginning… And now I see you, and you look so sad about all of this. I don't know what's right anymore," she was clearly hurt from it as she looked down. "I'm just a soldier, but I want to decide for myself. I want to understand the truth myself, to see it with my own eyes." she said looking at them with determination.
"…Well said." Chalice said.
"Incoming!" Garren yelled.
The group noticed the Wolf Undead makes a mad dash towards their direction. Everyone dodges to the side as Eirika helped Amelia by doing the same thing before the Undead turned around and at the middle of corpses of Grado soldiers lying around the area.
"T–Thank you!" Amelia thanked.
"Think nothing of it… and I haven't heard your name yet…" Eirika said.
"I am Amelia of Silva!" she told them.
"Welcome to the pack then…" Chalice told her as Larc stepped forward.
"With just one of it, we can take him down with ease!" Larc said confident, but Garren noticed something was off…
"No… we're not alone…" Garren pointed out, as the rest look at him while the Wolf Undead chuckled.
"You are correct, Garren… I am not alone… I have friends to play along with you!" it replied as it slowly let out an aura from its body and sent it towards the corpses. One by one, they slowly stood up and from once a human appearance, now replaced with a vicious wolf appearance, wielding their lances and swords together.
"T–That thing revived the fallen soldiers and they… mutated!" Amelia stuttered getting scared.
"Such horror I've witnessed…" Artur said in disbelief.
"And yet, they suffered even further with this fiend's black magic…" Natasha implied.
"Truth be told, it is quite interesting, really; as this magic reminds me of Darkness's Pulse of a Shaman, page 66: The Resurrection of the Dead." Lute told them.
"Save your lessons for later, we gotta take out that Undead!" Chalice snapped as he roused some cards.
CHOP
TORNADO
"Don't forget me!" Larc said rousing her card.
MIGHTY
"And me too!" He said as he equipped on his Rouze Absorber and did the sequence.
ABSORBQUEEN
He then slid the Fusion Peacock over the card reader.
FUSIONJACK
The Fusion Peacock plaque appeared over the Queen card and Garren assumed his Jack Form. He then took three more cards and roused them.
BULLET
RAPID
FIRE
"Let's take down these fiends!" Joshua said happily.
"Yes, let us put them in peace!" Artur said determined before the rest of them charged forward, leaving some room for the three riders to commence their finishers, while Amelia witnessed the true strength of the Riders firsthand as she saw holograms projected from their Rouzers earlier.
"Grr… I'll have your heads off for my meal!" the Wolf Undead declared before it dashed straight towards Chalice as he got into a stance while swirls of wind covered his body.
SPINNINGWAVE
"Get out of my sight!" Chalice declared before delivering a devastating chop onto the Wolf Undead as it tried to pounce towards his direction but backfired in an instant. Garren took aim at the sky while Larc also took aim from her position and Garren's holograms entered into his armor to perform a move.
BURNINGSHOT
"Take this!" both of them shouted in unison as they shot multiple volleys of fireballs onto the unprepared Undead all the way back to a wall. Eventually when the shooting stopped, the Undead exploded on impact as the corpses laid back on the ground, motionlessly.
"You're finished… Chalice muttered coldly before taking out a Proper Blank and sealed the Undead.
Everyone soon met up at a dock where Binks was waiting for us. "Alright Binks, the game's over! You lost!" I shouted.
Binks was impressed as he looked at us and the group. "Nope, you're the one that lost! You see, while you're all busy with fighting with some monsters and such, I managed to let loose, all the sails. Most of them are now at sea with no one guiding the ships…" Binks laughed.
"Crud…" I muttered. So much for getting to Rausten by sea.
Chalice was at his limits as he suddenly dashed forward with his Arrow in hand as he tried to cleave him in half… only to be stopped by a man in a formal business suit… wait, what?! "Nani?!" Chalice asked, surprised to see his attack blocked by that man with his own dagger in hand as he sets his glare on Chalice.
"I will not let you harm him as it is one of my priorities… Rider." the man in the suit said before he parried it off and delivered a diagonal slash, followed by a back kick, causing Chalice to stumble a few steps back.
"Hah! With his presence, I have nothing to fear of, not to mention I'm getting my 5000 gold for your heads…" Binks mocked as the man in suit looked at us with a stern face. "I don't know why he's helping me out in the first place, but after seeing what's he truly capable of and demanded to protect me at any cost free of charge, how can I decline that kind of offer?"
While Binks muttered to himself, Garren seemed to be processing the data for a moment as Gilliam looked at him confused. "Something bothering you, lad?"
"Somehow… that lines he said was really familiar…" Garren said as Lance also began to brainstorm too… no pun intended.
"Yeah… but, where did we hear it before?" Storm asked.
I was thinking about it too. It sounded really familiar. Think, Kurogasa, think! Where have you heard that line before? It was then I realized it when I widened my eyes and got a better look at the man. "Sonna bakana! Hirose?!"
"Eh?! Hirose?!" Garren and Lance shouted in unison before the man in suit chuckled.
"That is correct… but, that's my true originator's name…" he said. "Ever since coming to this world, I've been looking for a purpose in life… a purpose to protect someone… and then…"
"By pure accident, he found me of all people! Sure, I was scared out of my wits from his true appearance, but when he said he'll be serving me, heh… you know what happened next, right?" Binks said as Hirose finally revealed its true colors consisting of a white skull with black linings that resembled a brain of some sort and a pair of fangs. Its fully black bodysuit had a pair of blades that mounted on his shoulders, wrists, thighs, and greaves. It also had white plate on its chest and a chain of some sort wrapped around his left wrist. This is Trial B: An Electric Type Undead with one purpose and one purpose only… to protect its owner from harm.
"Now then, Trial! Put them out of their misery and give me their heads, but leave the princesses alone as I have my own plans with them…" Binks chuckled as the Trial Undead slowly walked towards us.
"Blech! That creep really is rotten to the core!" Tana said displeased.
"Agreed." Eirika told her friend. Somehow, those words from his mouth triggered my nightmare again as I feared for the worst to happen in reality.
I felt a nudge from Lance as he elbowed me on the side to get my bearings back to reality. "Hey, let's show this guy why he can't mess with us in the first place."
"Yeah! We gotta make sure we put it out of its misery for good, for your sake, Blade!" Glaive pointed out, as Eirika heard from what she just said earlier.
"The sake of what?" Eirika asked.
"I–It's nothing." I got out. "C'mon Riders, let's go!" And with that, all of us charged at the Trial B Undead.
Amelia wanted to lend a hand, but Seth blocked her path, confusing her. "Let them be… this battle is for them and them only…" Seth told her as Eirika got concerned more than usual.
"Kurogasa… what is it that you've been hiding to yourself?" she muttered under her breath.
"C'mon, Kurogasa! Kick that thing's butt!" Tana cheered for me.
The Trial was fast, no doubt about that. And let's not forget the offense and defense is also top–notch as it managed to parry every single blow that we gave it. Binks could only laugh at us while he seemed to be entertained watching the battle in front of him. "What a show! What a show!" Binks said with his big smile as Garren pointed the gun. It was at not the Undead, but onto Binks instead. From the looks of it, it looked like he had a plan. As expected from our Rider's Tactician…
"No! I will not let you harm him!" the Undead yelled out as it dashed forward and tried to stop his advance by pushing him aside.
Garren rolled around a few times before getting onto his feet. "Big bro, sis! Aim for Binks! That's his weak spot! The one he must protect is the one he's most vulnerable at!"
"Right! I'll take care of this though; you guys keep the Undead busy! And Larc, just as a warning, you might wanna get out of the area now because I'm gonna take Binks to the sky and it's gonna be raining blood!"
"Eh?!" Larc asked a bit surprised before she got hit by a tackle from the Trial as Leangle immediately roused a card on her Rouzer. The same goes for Chalice as he roused a card while Lance got to Larc to check on her condition.
BLIZZARD
BIO
In an instant, both holograms appeared and it absorbed into their armor. All of the sudden, vines started to sprout out from where the Trial was standing, before it completely wrapped it, binding it in its place before it was accompanied by a chill of wind that froze it in its place. "Hah, you want to get me? Come and get it!" Binks challenged me as he picked up his battle axe and wanted to swing at me, but due to my speed from Jack Form, I was able to tackle him high even before he could swing down his axe and took him for a ride to the sky. "O–oi! Let me down!"
"Sorry, not happening." I said as I roused a card.
MAGNET
The hologram of the Magnet Buffalo went in the Rouzer and fired an orb of magnetism in the sky. It stayed there until I got Binks in it and Binks floated around in the magnet orb just like in Kingdom Hearts 2. And then… the bloodbath began.
"For those who don't like to see some blood festival, please turn away right now…" Glaive reminded them in a cheery tone like a flight attendant as Larc's face immediately planted on Lance's chest, causing her to have a blush under the helmet.
"Daijobu, I'll make sure you won't get scared again…" Lance assured her.
"I feel safe already… with you around…" Larc muttered quietly as she let his arm wrapped around her for comfort and the blush under the helmet become more obvious.
"May the man up there be ended in a good way…" Artur said as he finished the Last Rite for Binks.
"I agree… but at the same time, I'm curious about the Undead's power… and I got to see it firsthand…" Lute said as the trapped Undead shook the barrier it had been placed on as cracks started to appear on it.
"Whatever he tried to do, this thing would be too late to stop it from happening…" Chalice scoffed as the rest just watches the view at the sky. And then at that point, red raindrops started to fall. It was then some of the girls noticed they're going to be covered in red sooner or later, especially Natasha, due to her cleric dress all white. Also, since Artur also donned in white clothing, it's no wonder he began to make a move.
"Wah! I don't want to be covered in blood!" Tana cried out as she immediately rushed towards a safe area where red droplets is out of their reach; followed by the rest and eventually the Riders. Natasha was also trying to avoid getting her dress dirtied by blood but due to her slow pace, Joshua covered her body by lending her his trench coat, which surprised her for a moment as her headdress was also being put down to avoid it from getting dirty as well.
"T–Thank you, Joshua…" Natasha thanked him.
"Think nothing of it. It would look bad on you if your dress was covered in red… besides, white does look good on you." Joshua said as he grabbed her hand and both of them ran together to safety, causing her to have a blush. Leangle noticed it and the only thing she can do is have a smile behind her helmet. After a while it stopped and a figure descended down from the sky. It was Blade. He landed on the ground, but then suddenly dropped to his knees and hand as his transformation cancelled out. He look… terrified.
"Kurogasa!" Eirika gasped as she ran up to him. "What happened?" Kurogasa looked up to her and she gasped when she saw his eyes full of horror. He slowly got up not saying anything at first walking shakily to Moulder.
"F–Father Moulder…" Kurogasa got out his voice all shaky, heck it almost sounded desperate. "W–We need to go somewhere private. I–I think exercising the Sacrament of Penance is in order."
Father Moulder had a worried look when he saw Kurogasa's expression before he lets out a nod. "Very well…" he said while looking at everyone else. "Everyone, please remain calm as the boy has something to say to me… and it will be a private matter…" he told them as some of them nodded, while the riders and princesses seemed worried for him as both of them head towards the nearest church.
"Kurogasa…" Eirika murmured.
"I wonder what's wrong with him." Tana said concerned as the Riders just kept quiet.
"From the looks of it, it seemed like something must've bothered him…" Melissa said to herself. "I hope everything would be alright…"
Father Moulder and I went to the nearest church in Port Kiris. And I confessed everything to him. Normally, this is confidential between Priest and penitent, but what I can tell you is that something made me not myself. As if I was some… untamed beast. After telling him everything, Father Moulder, doing his dutiful role as Priest gave me absolution and forgave me of my sins. The two of us then walked out of the church after. I felt mostly better, but it was still bothering me. "Are you okay now?" Father Moulder asked me as we walked back to the group.
"Well, a little, I guess… but at least I managed to calm myself down." I told him heaving a sigh.
"I see… no wonder the raindrops occurred… and I thought you wouldn't do something merciless…" Father Moulder said. "Listen, young man. I've listened to countless confessions from other people in my entire life and according to my experience, you might have went through a traumatic nightmare from that man you've told me about… the dreams that projected into your mind caused you to do this kind of action, as if you have some kind of bloodlust. The only way to cure this disease is to confront it and be mentally prepared for it. Because once you face it, your actions will be affected your decision… For the time being, I suggest you clear your thoughts on this matter so the light can guide you on the right path…"
"I will… thank you Father Moulder." I thanked.
He nodded as we continued to walk forward. "Should you have that feeling again, be sure to tell to someone that you trust most, alright?"
"I will." I said. Before long, we were back with the group.
"Kurogasaaaaa~!" Oh boy…
"OOF!"
Tana was the first one to run towards me as she tackled me to the ground rubbing her cheeks on my chest, much to my embarrassment as Eirika slightly panicked as she approached to Moulder.
"Father Moulder, what seems to be bothering Kurogasa?" Eirika asked him, as Moulder just let out a smile on his face.
"It's nothing much. It was just a confession about going overboard earlier today…" Moulder told her, leading her to sigh in relief.
"I'm so~~ worried about you!" Tana said as she continues to rub her face on my chest, as I felt my hormones starting to act up again…
"Tana! Please, get off of him!" Eirika cried out as Tana pushed herself up and pouted.
"Why? He doesn't seem to complain about it, right, Kurogasa?" Tana asked as she looked at me with her pretty eyes. Eirika look worried and felt jealous at the same time… I wonder why?
I soon got up from the ground. "I'm sorry to have worried you guys. I'm alright now." I smiled sadly.
"I'm glad to hear that…" Eirika told me as I noticed at the far corner of the port, a surviving mercenary and both Seth and Kurai is playing good cop, bad cop on that culprit.
"W–Wait! I give up! I don't want to fight anymore! We were just doing a job." the mercenary said as he puts down his ax to admit defeat.
"That was easy…" Kurai scoffed.
"Who hired you?" Seth asked him.
"I may be nothing but a hired blade, but I have my honor. I won't say a word." the man said firmly.
"I admire your professionalism. I guess we have no use for you." Seth implied as Kurai looked happy.
"Well now… what should I do with you?" Kurai said sinisterly voice as he pulled out two cards from his side deck and began to threaten him since he's playing bad cop. "Should I 'chop' you in half with my blade or should I 'drill' a hole in your stomach?"
"Wow, I've never seen him so… evil before…" Colm shuddered.
"Don't ask me… this is just one of his drills to get information. He even does the same thing back at home at a student, just to fight those bullies who did it to his junior…" I explained.
"No, wait! I'll talk! Carcino! It was Pablo of the Carcino Council of Elders!" he admitted.
"Councilman Pablo?" Seth asked.
"That doesn't make sense!" Eirika exclaimed. "Carcino and Frelia are allies. Why would they target me?"
"I don't know…" The mercenary said, hands in the air. "Could be they've decided Grado's going to win. They want to be on the winning side. Some of the others opposed Pablo, but I heard he had 'em silenced but quick. That's all I know, I swear it."
It was then that Seth put his sword back to his sheath while Kurai folded his arrow and puts it on his back. "I believe you. Go." Seth told him and that was all the mercenary needed to her and did so running.
"And don't even let me see your face again!" Kurai shouted as the man continued to run away.
I then suddenly remembered the Trial Undead as I shifted my attention to Akira. "Akira, what happened to the Undead?! I almost forgot about it!"
"Oh, don't worry; big bro. That thing has been settled already…" Akira assured me.
"Yeah, right after that blood festival, it managed to destroy the trap we made and due to its goal of protecting its master has failed. It voluntarily let us seal him without a hassle." Storm told me.
"I guess that Trial really stays loyal to its master…" I muttered before Kurai and Seth went towards our direction.
"Kids, we got bad news…" Kurai spoke.
"What of bad news you're referring to?" Kyle asked.
"We were careless. We should have seen this coming." Seth told us. "Carcino's a young and ambitious nation ruled by power–hungry merchants. And Grado grows more powerful with every passing day. So it's no surprise Carcino's merchant lords would throw in with Grado now." he added.
"Wait!" Eirika cried out. "Prince Innes… Prince Innes was to pass through Carcino on his way to Jehanna… If Carcino has betrayed us…"
"Then he's in big trouble…" I muttered.
"No kidding, Sherlock…" Kurai muttered out as Forde noticed something from the sky.
"Oh, Princess Tana, I think someone's looking for you…" Forde joked as he pointed at another Pegasus Knight at the sky and landed right in front of us. Tana quickly hid behind m… as if she doesn't want to get caught and brought back to the castle.
"Princess Eirika! I bring dire tidings!" the messenger said in an urgently.
"I know you… You were a messenger riding with Prince Innes." Eirika recalled as the messenger nodded in agreement.
"Yes, and I have news of him. Prince Innes is in danger!" the messenger told us. Some of us that haven't been informed yet were surprised as some of us already figured it out. "Carcino's merchant army struck and cut through half our men. The prince is trapped in a siege." she added, causing Tana to be worried all of a sudden.
"Brother…" Tana whimpered.
"He has no means of escape, and–"
"No more!" Eirika intervened. "I understand. Return to Frelia and deliver your message!" she commanded.
"What of Prince Innes?" The messenger asked.
"Leave him to us." Eirika declared. "The prince's troubles should burden you no more. We will see him to safety." She said as the knight nodded, before guiding her horse to fly once more.
Tana went out from her hiding as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness she wasn't here to bring me back to the castle. You have no idea how boring it is to just stay there and do nothing!"
"Yeah… but for now, we better save your brother as he is in peril…" I told her as she immediately nodded and gets on her Pegasus in a quick manner. Wow, she sure knows her way of mounting her horse…
Just as everyone was going back to the caravan, Kurai spotted Rennac as he was calling him at a nearby house. He let out a sigh and walked towards Rennac's direction. "Oh, it's one of the three amigos…" Kurai acknowledged.
"Amigos?" Rennac asked confused.
"Never mind… so, what's with you hiding anyways?" Kurai asked him.
Rennac got closer to him and whispered, "Have Lady L'Arachel and her man, Sir Stubble–chin, gone yet?"
"Oh, those two amigos? We haven't seen them since the battle, so yeah, they've gone somewhere…" Kurai told him.
Rennac let out a sigh of relief before he stepped out from the house. "Whew… I'm finally free! No more getting bossed around by that witless ninny!"
"Yeah, I understand how you feel, man…" Kurai added.
"Well, as a token of gratitude, I want to give this to you since I'm free again…" Rennac said as he handed him a robe but not just any robe… it's one of the softest robe he ever held, dubbed as an Angelic Robe.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Kurai tried to ask, but Rennac was nowhere in sight right after he gave it to him. Kurai just shrugged before went back to the carriage.
And there you have it people, three more Undead sealed! Hope everyone liked it! So review!
Spades: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q
Diamonds: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, J, Q
Hearts: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, J, Q
Clubs: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, J
Trial: A, B