Normally I don't post out of date, but at this point I just want to post this story whenever I get the chance. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 49: Otto Suwen
Many years back, Otto Suwen was a young boy who was in a cradle of hell. He couldn't understand anything due to his divine protection, causing all the voices from all living things to be so overwhelming that he doesn't know what to do.
'How does everyone live in this noisy world like it's nothing?'
Otto held this question since he could only hear static noise, unable to tell what the sound is or what anybody was saying. Otto's parents s noticed their son's abnormality, and immediately took him to see a doctor. Wouldn't laugh, wouldn't anger, wouldn't cry. His absolute failure to foster any emotional expression owed to the fact that Otto perceived all external influences as being exactly identical. Thus, to the point that it worried his parents, Otto spent his infancy as an emotionless human being. Perhaps call it fortune that the Suwen household was a merchant family, and preserved a middle class standard of life, with more than enough savings to send their son to and from the doctor's.
But no doctor could find anything physically wrong with Otto. Of course not. If one were to name Otto's condition, it was assuredly deafness resultant from excessive noise. A brother two years his elder, and a brother two years his junior. Unlike Otto, his siblings passed their days as healthy children, growing up heartily alongside their parents' love. Their parents' attention toward Otto steadily thinned as love proportioned for three people was instead allocated to two, distancing Otto from his parents' warmth.
Otto held no grudge or jealousy for his brothers or about his parents. For one thing he hadn't
fostered neither the negative nor positive emotions of hatred or finding things enviable, but more so, even though Otto generally would not understand what they were saying, his brothers would interact with him patiently. He thought his parents' mental exhaustion inevitable.
Otto didn't know, had he been in his brothers' position back then, whether he would've been capable of being so insistently kind to such a strange family member. So in fact he was grateful to them.
Sounds may not reach him, but written word did allow for communication. It was his elder brother who both discovered this and attempted to read books aloud for Otto. Learning to read and write was naturally the ultimate in difficult tasks. He could not register the sounds needed to comprehend the words. For Otto to understand what a sequence of words meant took him ten times longer than ordinary children. But that said, he found no suffering in that. Quite sadly, the sensibility required to find things agonizing was absent in Otto, and children incapable of proper lifestyles lacked in daily activities.
"Thank you, for everything." Otto wrote this and showed it to his parents, causing the two to cry with his mother hugging him tightly. Otto started to cry, recalling this to be a turning point in his life. He still struggled for a few years but eventually when he turned ten years old, a light passed by him. He was unsure at first until he heard words coming from the Zodda bugs,
"Big...light...went...that way..."
This made Otto happy that the meaningless voices started to transform into sounds with meaning, allowing him to communicate with any animal. He eventually told his brother of this and even showed a demonstration which impressed him yet made him aware of how dangerous it is for Otto to have this power.
"Otto, that's an amazing power. And because it's so amazing, you shouldn't talk to zodda bugs when people are around."
"Why not?"
"Divine protections are blessings granted by this world, but there are people who would try to take advantage of it. You have to keep your power hidden."
Possessing a blessing meant being blessed by the world, but not everyone welcomed possessors of such powers. It was one thing if the blessing benefited many people, but Otto's ability only applied to himself, and his young mind could think of many ways to use it for misdeeds.
Indeed, Otto could agree with his concerned elder brother's opinion. After making a promise with his brother, whose face was pale and gaze averted, Otto resolved not to let those around him know about his divine protection. It wasn't just about him; this power could be dangerous for those in his vicinity, as well. Up sparked in the young Otto a sense of duty: he must protect his beloved family.
Three days after his promise with his elder brother his divine protection became common knowledge and all of his peers shunned him entirely. His younger brother caught him talking with the family dragon, and Otto reluctantly told him about his blessing. He also informed him that their elder brother was concerned about it, and that his powers were incredibly dangerous.
The next day his younger brother dragged Otto along into a huge group of kids in an attempt to brag about him, they witnessed him talking to a bug, and for the first time in years Otto saw hell.
The Divine protection of Soul language's flaw was probably that it needed to use the other party's language during communication. Put succinctly, when Otto spoke with ground dragons he would roar like a ground dragon, and when he spoke with bugs he would sound like a bug.
It took only an instant for the epithet 'the awkward zodda bug freak' to spread.
Otto henceforth sealed away his divine protection and determined never to use it again. Over several years he managed to undo his horrendously poor reputation, succeeding in erasing the mortifying memory from the minds of many people. He achieved it when he was fourteen. A delicate age.
Being fourteen, excuses about his mental maturity would stop having any effect. His physical
maturation was also steadily proceeding into adulthood, and once he finished growing, Otto
possessed rather decently attractive looks. Grey hair, and somewhat luckless, tender features. Mild eyes alongside a disposition to pour his best into his activities. Otto had grown to possess surprisingly many factors which tickled the maternal instinct, and just when he, like any boy his age, began taking interest in romance—He made an enemy of the most influential figure in town's daughter by using his divine protection, and was banished.
It was just before Otto's fifteenth birthday, during the cold season. Sparing the details, he had gotten dragged into some romantic drama affair. On the night of the most influential figure in town's daughter's birthday party, her boyfriend had come storming in enraged and claiming that his girlfriend had been together with another man. The crosshairs landed on, having been spotted talking with the girl immediately prior, Otto. Otto replied sincerely that he had just been asking her the time, but the red-faced man and his screams of "Zodda bug freak!" had no intentions of hearing it.
With this supposedly-erased history dug up on him, yes indeed even Otto had to lose his usual compunctions. Thus he unsealed his powers, did everything he could to clear away the suspicions cast on him, and after listening to every single creature across town, he discovered that the problem girl on the problem night had actually been with seven different men, and he cheerily conveyed to the poor guy,
"It would seem that you're the eighth!"
After the man punched him, the girl with her relationship statuses exposed hired an assassin on Otto, who scrambled to escape his birth-town. He relied on his father's connections to then wind up working for an acquaintance's company. He accumulated experience, setting out to journey as a travelling merchant when he was sixteen— this being Otto Suwen's establishment of his independence, as a man. Otto's journey as a merchant would safely be called a string of difficulties.
His nature to suffer misfortune, despite the passing of the years, had not loosed its grip on him. Horrendous weather would strike whenever he was transporting fragiles, whenever he thought to take shortcuts through the hills he'd be attacked by mountain bandits, and whenever he went camping in a joint venture with other merchants, Otto alone would be attacked by bloodsucking insects. That Otto somehow managed to survive despite this constant misfortune was because, quite sadly, he had been blessed with outstanding enough business ability to counterbalance his poor luck.
His poor luck would come when he made the mistake in buying oil in the wrong season, making his merchant life in peril. He quickly took a job where he needed to transport large quantities. The merchant leapt for it without hesitation and used his divine protection to reach the destination at top speed before anybody else could. Just as he was in the road, Frufoo stopped which caught Otto's attention.
"What's wrong, Frufoo?"
"My my my... where could you be destined with such... HASTE?"
Otto looked and realized that he fucked up, seeing a group of people with lunatic eyes. Just as he was going to be captured, a bunch of unknown dark creatures begin to pop up all around the group of lunatic people to attack them.
"What do we have here? They smell...like her love! But not her love...this makes no sense at all!"
As the one with green hair starts screaming like a maniac, the area starts to get destroyed with the dark creatures randomly start to explode. Otto and Frufoo were scared by this and just stood still until finally all of the dark creatures were taken care off. After this, Otto was taken captive by the witch cult until Ricardo and Yabuto both came to his rescue. He smiled when this happened and just as he was freed, he had tears in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" The knight asked with a concerned tone of voice. Otto looked up at the knight with short green hair and noticed that he was crying. Before he could say something, Ricardo gave him a tissue.
"Here, a man shouldn't show tears."
"Th-Thank you..."
Otto took this as the moment where his life takes a new turning point, one where he ended up meeting up with Subaru and Sora and being the key to helping them reach Emilia and take down Marluxia. These two Keyblade wielders are the friends he treasures the most which led to the events of Sanctuary, where he befriended Garfiel and becoming brothers through the fight against Elsa, Capella, Meili, Saix, and Replica Riku.
A few months after the events of Sanctuary, Otto managed to tell his story to his three brothers about his struggles in life to which the three did not take it well.
"Th'fuck! Fuckin' bitch deserves t'die!"
"Now calm down Garfiel."
"Why? Ya know t's'bullshit, Master!"
"I agree with Garfiel, that bitch screwed up poor Otto."
"Now hey, I ain't poor."
"Just an expression, Otto. Aside from that, Master Sora, we need to clear Otto's name."
Sora had thought for a moment on what he is hearing from his apprentice. He knows that they can't leave things the way they are for Otto but at the same time they can't go around without Emilia's permission as well since he doesn't want to cause trouble for her.
"I do want to help Otto but first we need Emilia's permission. Subaru, since you and Emilia are in a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship, you should be the one to talk to her about this."
"Right..."
Subaru turned around and walked towards the window as he heard this, still feeling a bit embarrassed when someone mentions that he and Emilia are now in a relationship. It makes him prideful but at the same time since it is his first girlfriend, he is nervous on how to do things. He nods before leaving the room, making his way towards Emilia's room to speak about the issue.
A few days later, Emilia gave permission for Subaru and Sora to help Otto fix his reputation. Although it was going to be the six of them with Beatrice and Rem included, Garfiel had fallen into a deep sleep after a hard training session with Sora. As Otto, Sora, Subaru, Rem, and Beatrice all five with Patrasche and Frufoo moving the wagon they are in leave towards Otto's birthplace, Otto alerts the group what they will be dealing with.
"You are very infamous, I suppose."
"I just had very bad luck."
"I pity you." Rem spoke with a serious tone and a blank facial expression, causing Otto to be unsure on whether the maid meant it or not.
"Aside from that, is there anything else we should be aware off?"
"Well..."
Before Otto could continue his sentence, they notice the wagon stop with Sora and Subaru both sensing danger. They all leave the wagon to see Otto's birth city being attacked by the unversed, making Subaru tense since he knows that these creatures are created by Vanitas, the one who destroyed his keyblade once. Sora noticed his apprentice being in slight fear, causing him to grab his arm to calm him down.
"Don't worry Subaru, I got your back. You won't lose to Vanitas again."
"Thanks Master Sora."
Subaru was able to calm down because of his master before they along with Beatrice and Rem followed Otto into the city with Subaru telling both Frufoo and Patrasche to guard the wagon. The two nodded at Subaru before watching the group entering the city, managing to take down a bunch of unversed that attacked them. As Sora took down the majority of them, he turned towards Otto to ask him regarding his family.
"Where do you think your family are at?"
"I don't know Sora-san, it has been a long while since I've seen them."
"Well just follow your heart."
"Huh?" Otto was confused on what Sora was saying.
"What Master Sora was saying is to follow your instincts to find your parents."
"Ah." Otto nodded before quickly thinking on where his parents and brothers are located. He stood silent for a moment before telling the group to follow him, having a hunch on where his family could be at. As they entered deep into Otto's hometown, the group noticed a large armor unversed known as Trinity Armor. Sora noticed this and noticed how the Trinity Armor had some resemblance to Guard Armor from Traverse Town. He turned towards the group and said to them,
"I will handle the unversed on my own, you all should help Otto find his family."
"Are you sure, Master Sora? We can all work together and take this thing down much faster."
"True but remember that there are people in need of help, Otto's family being included."
"But-"
"Sora-san makes a point, Subaru-san. He can handle this creature on his own."
Subaru paused himself for a moment, still afraid of facing Vanitas on his own yet he looked at Beatrice, noticing that she was holding his hand as she can tell that he was afraid. This reminded him that he is not alone this time, compared to the previous times he had encountered the Organization member. He smiled and nodded at both Otto and Sora before following the merchant's lead. As Otto and the group went deeper into his hometown, Sora looked at the unversed with a serious facial expression before charging towards it. He jumps high up and points his Kingdom Key towards the unversed Trinity Armor before casting Mega Flare in hopes of taking down the unversed in one hit.
As Sora was taking on the unversed, Otto led the group towards his old home where he noticed the unversed attacking it. This made him angry and he quickly went to check on his parents and brothers while Subaru, Beatrice, and Rem took care of the unversed. As Otto ran inside, he noticed a small unversed attacking his parents. Using his skills, he quickly grabbed a large stick nearby and used it to hit the unversed away before checking on his parents. As he got close to them, they looked and were shocked to see their son all grown up.
"Otto? Is that you?"
"Yes mother, it's your second born son. I'm here to help you all out with my friends."
Otto's mother and father both hugged him as they were happy to see him again after he was banished from the city due to the scandal. Otto wanted to cry yet he held his tears in, knowing that this isn't the time or the place to cry just yet. He waited before asking his parents on where his two brothers are at.
"You're brothers, Oslo and Regin, went to the city to buy some food together."
"Okay, I will make sure that they are safe along with this city. Despite having been sent away because of the people here, this is still my home. I still care for my hometown and wouldn't wish for anything bad to happen."
Both Mazeran and Framir Suwen looked at their son and nodded before giving him another hug before he left off with Subaru and the others in finding Oslo and Regin. As they leave, they hear a voice speaking in a hostile manner,
"So you have returned, no wonder this city is being attacked, Zodda bug freak!"
The group turned towards the voice to see a female who looks to be from a royal and powerful figure with the attire she was wearing. Otto looked at the woman and had recognized her as the one who caused him the most struggle and the one who sent an assassin after him for having revealed the truth to the whole town that she slept with eight different guys. As Otto was looking at her with a slightly annoyed facial expression, Subaru stepped up for his friend by speaking on his behalf.
"So you are the whore who was sleeping with eight dumbasses. Man, you must be super pissed at my insignificant friend here for having spilled your secrets."
"Shut it commoner, you look like shit!"
"Take that back, in fact!"
Beatrice was completely angry when the woman spoke ill and disrespect towards her contractor. The woman just gave Beatrice an ugly stare before turning her rage towards Otto, blaming him once again for everything going wrong.
"This all your fault, Zodda bug freak! I hope you die alo-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Subaru summoned his keyblade with Rem also getting herself involved, both of them no longer wanting to hear any more disrespect towards his friend. As Subaru pointed his weapon at her, a guy approaches the group with a sword. The keyblade wielder and the Oni maid noticed this and quickly got their guards up.
"What the hell are you two doing? Bothering my girl? You should-"
The man paused for a moment as he noticed Otto among the group. This caused the man to charged at Otto only for Subaru to get in the way to protect his friend.
"Get out of the way!"
"No! You are not harming my friend!"
"Friend?! With Zodda bug bastard?! Wow you must really be pathetic to consider that pathetic excuse of a man as a friend!"
Rem took this opportunity to punch the man in the chest hard enough to break one of the man's ribs. As he falls to the ground in pain, Rem turns her attention towards the woman and without any warning she slaps her across the face.
"Rem-san!"
"Nobody talks like that to our internal affairs."
Subaru and Otto were both slightly scared of Rem since she showed no restrains in putting the two people in their place. Before anything else can be said, three large unversed appeared near the city, attacking it and causing destruction. Otto, Subaru, Rem, and Beatrice all four turned their attention towards the large unversed attacking the city with Otto wanting to make sure his brothers were safe. As they were leaving, they could hear the woman threatening the group.
"You all will pay! I will hire every assassin in this world to make sure you all die painfully!"
Otto turned towards the woman that caused him so much trouble and started to walk towards her before rebutting what she said.
"Send any assassin you want, that doesn't change that you are a whore!"
Otto turned towards his friends and started to lead them into the city. As they entered deep into the city, they met up with Sora.
"How was your fight, Sora-san?"
"Nothing too hard. I'm glad I caught up with you guys. I can handle these unversed on my own, that should buy you time to help these people out."
Subaru and the others nodded and quickly started to help the others out with Subaru and Beatrice taking care of the unversed attacking the citizens, Rem helping any citizens in need of help, and Otto searching for his brothers.
He searched around for a bit until he found the two surrounded by unversed with one of the Organization members among them. This made him hesitate for a moment since he knows he isn't strong enough to do anything to Vanitas yet he knew that he had to do something. Using his divine protections of soul language, he called upon every living creature to give him strength, to help him save his brothers. This gave him an advantage when a swarm of Zodda bugs arrived at the scene to attack the Organization member.
"Stay away from them!"
Otto shouted as he sent the Zodda bugs to attack Vanitas. The organization member turned towards Otto for a brief moment before seeing the Zodda bugs all attack him in a large swarm. He stood standing and did not move, not feeling any kind of damage while Otto quickly got his brothers out of there.
"Otto?" Both brothers said in unison.
"Yes, Oslo, Regin, I'm here to help."
Both brothers hugged Otto for a moment, showing how happy they are to see him once again before quickly following him out of the area. As they were getting away from Vanitas, he managed to teleport in front of the three with his keyblade in hand.
"Where do you think you are going?"
Otto, Oslo, and Regin were paused in their track for a moment until Sora appeared on the scene and started to fight off the Organization member. As Sora and Vanitas were in a heated battle with both sides showing to be on equal terms of strength and skills, Otto took this opportunity to take his brothers to safety before it was too late.
"Sora-san, please be careful."
"You too, Otto."
Otto nodded and quickly with his two brothers went towards the middle of the city where the unversed attacked. As they arrive there, Otto notices Subaru and Beatrice taking on two large unversed on their own with Rem helping the people around.
"Oslo, Regin, help the blue haired maid in helping our fellow neighbors."
"Wait, what will you be doing?"
"I have to help my friend. He can only do so much before he gets overwhelmed."
"Now hold Otto-"
"Oslo, I know the dangers, I know I'm weak but I need you to put your trust in me."
Oslo looked at his brother and could see that he has some plan to help the boy with the key and the little girl using magic. He nodded at his brother before going with Regin to help the people of their town. Otto looks at Subaru and Beatrice, seeing the two working together pretty well before he quickly started to use his divine protection to talk to all of the animals, asking for their assistance.
The citizens of Otto's hometown noticed Otto and at first they hated him and started to blame him for everything yet those feelings turned into fear when they noticed a large swarm of Zodda bugs approaching the merchant. The people were all hesitant until they noticed Otto sending all of the Zodda bugs towards one of the unversed giants, giving Subaru and Beatrice some assistance since Subaru can only do so much with his strength and Beatrice is limited by the amount of mana she can do.
As the Zodda bugs assisted them, Subaru and Beatrice both nodded at each other before both of them casted Minya. With Subaru and Beatrice using Minya to attack one of the large unversed alongside the Zodda bugs, together they managed to take down one of the unversed. As this happened, Otto ran towards the last remaining unversed threat with a couple of red crystals in his hand.
'Don't worry everyone, I won't allow this thing to keep attacking my home!'
As Otto throws five red crystals towards the large unversed before jumping away as a large explosion happened towards the large unversed. As this happened, Otto waited for a moment before seeing that the unversed wasn't taken down that easily.
"That was pretty foolish, I suppose."
"Yeah Otto, that was quite reckless but you did bought me some time to think of a plan."
"And what might that be?!"
Subaru smiled before quickly using what Sora taught him regarding formchange, channeling the power of the keyblade into himself until he finally was able to change into the second form. This was the first time he was able to pull it off, causing everyone to be amazed at how Subaru looked.
"Subaru-san!"
Otto was amazed by this and quickly stood side by side with his friend, ready to help in anyway he can. As Subaru, Otto, and Beatrice all three prepared to face the large unversed, the people of Otto's hometown started to respect the merchant. Although they still dislike how he speaks like the animals, they see him actually doing something to help their town compared to them. This causes everyone to cheer, including Oslo and Regin, for Otto and his group to win.
"You hear that Otto, they like you now."
"They are probably cheering for you, Subaru-san."
"Of course they would, Betty's Subaru is worthy of praise, I suppose."
"Not helping Beako. Look Otto, they are seeing that you are more than just someone who speaks with Zodda bugs."
Otto was hesitant by this but before he could say anything else, the three focused on the unversed as it charged towards the three. Subaru was the first to attack as he was close to the unversed, attempting to take the large threat down in one hit only to be send flying. Beatrice used her yin magic to push the threat back while Otto gathered the strength he had in him to use Dona. As Otto used the ground against the unversed, he noticed that it didn't do much, making him grab another red crystal, preparing to throw it until he saw Subaru return to the fight. He jumped high in the sky before pointing his keyblade at the threat.
"Let's see you survive this! Mega Flare!"
Subaru send a small fireball towards the unversed with Otto waited for the right moment before throwing the red crystal towards the large threat in hopes of helping his friend in doing enough damage to the large unversed. He waited and waited until he saw the fireball getting close to the unversed, giving him the opportunity to throw the red crystal towards it before the three gained their distance. As both the fireball and the red crystal touched the unversed body, the explosion was large that it almost caused the city to start going into flames. Beatrice using yin magic was able to create a force field with the last of her mana, protecting the city.
"Are you two stupid, I suppose?! You could've burned the city had Betty not used all of her mana to create a force field!"
"Hehe, sorry about that Beako. I guess that attack is still too dangerous to use."
"Hmph."
Beatrice crossed her arms and looked away with annoyance before her attention along with Subaru and Otto were taken away when the citizens all joined the group to thank the three for their help. Rem and Sora both joined with Rem noticed that Sora was a bit battle damage from his fight against Vanitas.
"Master Sora, what happened to that bastard?"
"He left the fight, it was weird since he really wasn't talking like usual but at least everyone is okay."
"Yeah, Otto here almost messed everything up."
"What?!"
Otto's expression caused Subaru and a few people to laugh with Oslo, Regin, Sora, and Rem giggling at this before the people all started to tell the merchant how cool he looked being in the fight. As people were praising the merchant, Sora noticed someone attempting to attack Otto from behind, causing him to quickly pull out Kingdom Key and used Stop to stop the person before they could hurt the merchant. Otto and the others all noticed this and saw that it was the guy Subaru, Otto, Rem, and Beatrice all dealt with earlier. They stepped away for a moment before he was able to move once again.
"What is your problem?"
"Shut it Zodda bug freak! You are the asshole who made my girlfriend look bad by spreading lies!"
"That was years ago and I wasn't lying!"
"Shut up!"
The man attempted to punch Otto just like before back when Otto exposed the noble woman yet the merchant having had little training managed to dodge the attack. All the people noticed this and were impressed as the man continued to try to land a hit on the merchant yet Otto was dodging each attack with ease. Otto waited for a moment before landing the deciding blow with one punch to the face, knocking the guy out.
"That was for punching me all those years ago."
Oslo, Regin, and the people of Otto's hometown cheered for Otto, all seeing the merchant as a hero for having help save the city. As they all cheered for a moment, the noble woman got everyone's attention by saying, "Why are you cheering for that bastard?!"
They all turned towards the woman to see that she isn't alone, next to her being Elsa Granhiert, the Bowel hunter. The people of the town including Oslo and Regin were all in fear in just seeing Elsa. Sora, Subaru, and Rem had a hidden smile in their face as they knew that Elsa wasn't going to do anything to Otto or the people while Beatrice just gave a blank expression. Otto looked at the woman and shook his head in disappointment.
"Are you serious? This is petty even for one that comes from a noble household."
"I don't care, you are going to pa-"
Before she could finish her sentence, everyone looked shocked since Elsa had sliced her stomach, having been annoyed of the situation.
"Elsa!"
"What? She was being annoying and boring, Sora dear."
Sora nodded disappointedly by this before casting Curaga on the woman to prevent her from dying. Elsa just started to leave as she did not cared for what was going on yet she did enjoy seeing the entrails of the woman. As she was leaving, the noble woman looked at Elsa with both fear and hatred.
"You are going to pay for this Bowel Hunter! I will hunt you down with everything I have!"
"My My, you sound threatening yet you will not be the one to kill me. No matter what you do, I will easily take them down."
The woman looked angrily and just as she was going to try to attack Elsa, the Bowel hunter moved quickly towards her in incredible speed before holding one of her knives onto the woman's throat.
"I suggest that you stand down if you wish to live. I will kill you if you continue on this path."
The woman was afraid even after Elsa had left her alone. The Bowel hunter nodded at Sora to show the restrain she is working on before leaving into the forest. As Elsa left, everyone just started cheering for Otto and his group. For the next few days, Otto Suwen and his group were able to clear his name and get him a chance to return to the village with the man and the woman who hated him having been banished in his stead. As Otto was leaving his hometown, he turned towards the group and thank them.
"I know you guys didn't have to do this for me but thank you."
"Anything for a friend, Otto." Subaru said has he patted Otto in the back.
Otto Suwen thought about this as he was afraid of what might have happened to Garfiel Tinsel-Natsuki after having received such a deadly hit from Saix. He recalls how thanks to his friends, he was able to fix things up with his hometown, making him motivated to help his bro out no matter how weak he is. He charged towards Saix for a moment before throwing one of his red crystals towards the Organization member, preparing a plan to lure Saix away from Garfiel to give the demi-human a chance to recover his strength.
'This is reckless and it might get me killed...but I have to do this to help Garfiel-san!'
Saix looked at Otto with a serious and intimidating facial expression before throwing some of his claymore towards the merchant, forcing him to run away from the area to avoid being killed. As Otto was being forced back, Garfiel started to transform into his tiger form, knowing that it'll give him a better chance strength wise to take on Saix's peak strength. Before the transformation could be completed, both Garfiel and Otto heard a loud sound wave headed towards Saix. The Organization member noticed this and quickly jumped out of the way, seeing that the attack was strong enough to cause an explosion where he was at.
"What the?"
Garfiel and Otto looked up to see two short, twin beast humans wearing white robs and having orange fur. As they arrive at the battle, Otto quickly ran towards Garfiel to use the only potion he had been given by Sora to restore some of Garfiel's strength, allowing him to return to the fight. As Otto, Garfiel, and the two small beast human gather together, Garfiel looks at the two and questions them,
"T'hell r'ya doin here?"
"Mimi was getting food with Hetaro."
"Interesting, it seems like faith as brought us here together."
"That's right, housekeeper."
"Housekeeper? Why am I called a housekeeper?!"
Mimi ignored what Otto was saying regarding what she said about the merchant since she was looking at Garfiel and was impressed by how the demi-human boy is still able to stand despite the injuries he had received from Saix.
"Mimi likes you."
"Eh?"
"Sister, we should focus on the threat ahead."
Mimi looked at Hetaro for a moment before looking at Saix, seeing that he is approaching them with an angered facial expression. The two siblings prepared themselves to face Saix until Garfiel walked past them.
"I'll take care of 'em!"
"Garfiel-san, you are going to need some assistance."
"My sister and I can help you two."
"My amazin' self can handle 'em on my own!"
"Don't be stubborn, Garfiel-san. This is a good chance for us to take down that Organization member."
"Tsk."
Garfiel did not want to rely on outside help yet seeing that Saix is much tougher than before, he reluctantly nodded to Otto before asking Mimi and Hetaro for some assistance. Mimi smiled at this and quickly prepared herself for a fight.
"Don't worry, Mimi is here to help you!"
"J-Just don't overdo it, sister."
Mimi and Hetaro both were ready to fight Saix yet they were unaware of how strong their opponent is. Garfiel quickly charges at the man, ready to continue their fight with everything he has. Once he was close, Garfiel dodges a couple of Saix's attacks before landing a hit on his opponent's chest area. This gave Mimi and Hetaro time to create a powerful Resonance Wave towards Saix.
The Resonance Wave managed to hit with Garfiel just barely leaping out of the way in the nick of time, seeing that the Organization member took the blow. They all waited until Saix revealed himself to have barely taken any real damage, causing both Mimi and Hetaro to see that they are dealing with a much more tougher opponent.
"Th-This guy is tough!"
"Mimi and Hetaro will beat him together!"
Mimi cheers for a bit before getting ready to attack Saix until Otto quickly got everyone's attention by shouting,
"Hey! We need to work as a team!"
"What do ya got'n mind, bro?"
"Well Garfiel-san, I know Sora-san and Ram-san both mentioned for you to not use your tiger form but this is a situation where it is needed."
"What? My amazin' self's much better in a fight than'th form!"
"I know Garfiel-san but trust in me, I have a plan."
Garfiel hesitated for a moment, knowing that going into the beast form tends to always make his mind go numb while his instincts of an animal kick in yet knowing Otto, he trusts his judgement. Garfiel looked at Saix with a smirk for a moment before allowing himself to transform into the beast form. As he is mid-transformation, he begins to say to his opponent,
"Th's time, yer not getting outta here alive!"
"Hmph. Is that so?"
Saix looked at Garfiel unimpressed by this at first until he started to feel an immense power coming from the boy. This got his attention for a moment before quickly powering up as well.
"I call on the moon's pale light."
As Saix powers up, Garfiel is in his full tiger form with his mind started to lose itself into a berserk form since he hasn't had the chance to control the beast form. As he was about to go into berserk mode, he could somehow hear Otto's voice and understand what it is saying.
"Garfiel-san! Don't forget what you are here to do!"
As for everyone Otto was making odd noises instead of normal words, Garfiel was able to understand this and managed to gain some of his humanity before turning his attention to Saix. The Organization member knew that he had to prepare himself for a fight, not knowing just how strong Garfiel got. While the two opponents had a stand off, Mimi and Hetaro were unsure on how to assist while at the same time, Mimi was amazed by Garfiel's transformation.
"Um...hey you two, focus!"
"Uh? What was that housekeeper?"
"Stop calling me that! Anyway, I have a plan to take that man down, but I need you all to listen."
Mimi and Hetaro looked at Otto for a moment before looking at each other. They thought for a couple of seconds before nodding at the merchant, trusting that he knows what he is doing. As Otto was explaining them the plan, Garfiel started the fight by swinging his arm directly at Saix only for the Organization member to block it off barely.
'Hm. He is much tougher than before. I better end this now.'
Saix powered up his claymores around him before throwing them towards the demi-human, ready to finish it off in one hit only for two out of four claymores to have been destroyed due to having been hit by Otto's Ul Dona attack. The other two claymores were taken down with the combined efforts of Mimi and Hetaro, both using earth magic to block off the claymores. This allowed Garfiel to attack Saix once again. The organization member noticed this and quickly dodged the attack before charging towards the beast form Garfiel before attempting to knock him out with one hit to the face.
"Oh no you don't!"
Mimi spoke as she jumped onto Garfiel's long arm for a moment before jumping high to reach Saix's position. As she was closing in, she used all of her strength to deflect Saix's attack with her strength, just barely saving Garfiel from a possible fatal blow. As Saix turned his focus on Mimi, Hetaro joined his sister in order for the two to create a resonance wave powerful enough to push the Organization member back. Saix tried to block the attack but he wasn't fast enough and was force to take the damage. This surprised him since this attack was much stronger than the previous one. As he took the hit, Otto threw his second to last red crystal at him, hoping to do some damage only for Saix to brush the explosion off like it was nothing.
'Darn! This is bad!'
Saix looked at Otto for a moment and was about to attack him yet he let his guard down long enough for Garfiel to land a hit on him. As Garfiel hit Saix, the Organization member was sent flying into a building, having taken damage. Otto, Mimi, and Hetaro all three cheered as Garfiel started to charge at Saix, ready to finish him off yet the Organization member got up and quickly managed to move towards Garfiel before landing a couple of blows to the large beast. Otto noticed this and quickly told the twins to attack Saix the moment he lets his guard down. Mimi and Hetaro nodded and quickly got themselves ready to use their powerful version of resonance wave. Otto looked at Garfiel and waited before giving the twins the signal.
'Hang in there, Bro.'
Otto waited for a moment before telling Mimi and Hetaro to attack, seeing that Saix is going to finish off Garfiel with one final hit. As the twins send another Resonance wave towards Saix, forcing the Organization member to turn towards the attack to knock it away yet as he does this, Otto uses his divine protection to speak to Garfiel.
"Brother! Attack him with everything you have! Finish him!"
Garfiel heard what Otto said, causing him to open his eyes to see Saix having left himself open for one last finishing blow. Garfiel with all of his strength he moved his left arm back before with full force swinging towards his opponent. Saix saw this and quickly attempted to dodge the attack yet he wasn't fast enough. Garfiel's attacks was strong enough to create a fatal blow towards the Organization member, breaking his more powerful self and sending him towards the ground hard enough to create a crater.
"Good one!"
Mimi cheered as her, her brother, and Otto noticed Garfiel reverting to his human self, having used up all of his strength in that one attack. As Garfiel returned to human form, he fell to the ground with his body covered in wounds while he was completely exhausted from the fight. As Garfiel hit the ground with barely keeping his conscious up, Otto and the twins approached him to check if he is alright.
"You okay, bro?"
"Hehe...my amazin' self'll be okay, bro...I showed 'em...!"
"You were amazing!"
Mimi shouted as she was patting Garfiel in the back for his efforts, annoying the boy since his body hurt and Mimi patting him wasn't helping. Otto helped Garfiel back up on his feet and just as they were about to move, they look at Saix and can see him struggling to get up while he was starting to fade away from existence.
"Looks like you lost." Otto spoke confidently towards Saix, seeing the Organization member just looking at them with a serious expression.
"Seems like so..."
"How does that feel? Sucks, doesn't it!"
"Hm. It's not like I haven't lost before but at least I didn't lose the same way you have."
"Oi! Ya wanna go again!"
"Calm yourself bro, you are still injured from the fight."
Garfiel tried to move on his own yet he was still injured from the attacks Saix did towards him on his beast form. Mimi and Hetaro both stood in front of the two boys, both twins ready to attack Saix should he try to do anything. Saix noticed this and just smiled before giving advice to Garfiel.
"You are strong with others fighting by your side. Don't fight on your own...usually never ends well."
"Eh? Why should my amazin' self listen't ya?!"
"Hm. Up to you, not like I care."
Saix and Garfiel stared at each other for a bit with Saix having no expression while Garfiel looked at him with anger in his eyes at first before changing it to a serious look. Although he hated to admit, Saix was right. He recalls how his master and his captain both succeeded in their adventures because they relied on others, especially in the events of the Sanctuary. This gave Garfiel a chance to stand up on his own, ignoring the pain, and started to approach Saix before bowing to him.
"Hm."
"I will say dis, yer'n asshole...but thank you fer teachin me somethin important."
"And what might that be?" Saix asked in a genuinely curious tone.
"Da importance'f havin a team. People't rely on. It's a lesson Master had been tryin't teach me'n now I realize what he meant by it. So thank you."
Saix looked at Garfiel for a moment before smiling. Otto and the others noticed this smile and could tell that it isn't a malicious smile but a genuine smile. Garfiel noticed this and smiled as well before seeing Saix fully disappear. As the Organization member disappeared, Garfiel passed out with Otto quickly rushing to his brother's aid. As Otto began to carry him, he noticed a group of people arriving. Mimi and Hetaro prepared themselves for a fight only for Otto to tell them to stand down.
"Old Man Rom, good to see you...who are those three with you?"
"These three? Oh, they are part of Felt's camp."
"Yes, we are warriors under Felt's camp. Trained by the Sword Saint himself. Rachins Hoffman, relative to Rickert Hoffman. Call me Chin."
"My name is Gaston, my friends calm me Ton."
"And I'm Camberley, also known as Kan."
Otto looked at the three and can immediately tell that they were thugs back before they were recruited into Felt's camp. As he gives them an unsure look, he looks at Old Man Rom as he notice the giant ask him a question.
"What happened here? How is tiger boy doing?"
"Garfiel-san will be fine, he defeated one of Sora-san's enemies with his strength."
"Impressive."
Old man Rom looked at Garfiel and nodded with a prideful look, happy to see a fellow demi-human showing immense strength. He took a moment before telling Otto to take Garfiel towards the building they had met a few days ago.
"Take the boy there, he should be safe. These three and I will continue looking around the city to see if anybody needs help."
"Alright Rom-san, just be careful."
Old Man Rom nodded and quickly took the three thugs with him towards one of the alley, in search of anybody in need of help. As the four left, Mimi and Hetaro both looked at Garfiel before Hetaro gave a suggestion to Otto.
"You could come with us. We are heading towards Anastasia and the rest of Iron Fang. We can definitely find someone to heal him. Right sister?"
"Yes! Housekeeper, join Mimi and Hetaro."
"I'm still not a housekeeper, I'm a merchant...how far is Anastasia-sama?"
"Not too far."
"Okay then, let us go."
Otto held Garfiel on his back before following Mimi and Hetaro, trusting the two that Anastasia could help his bro in getting healed. As they were going around with Mimi and Hetaro taking on any nobodies or heartless that come on their path, the merchant starts to think about the time after the Sanctuary incident all the way before leaving to Priestella city.
'My luck was so horrible, always leading me into trouble but then meeting you two, Subaru-san, Sora-san, changed my life. You two are the reason I didn't die by the Witch cult, you two saved me when dealing with the issues created by the Margrave, you two even helped me become the hero of my hometown when I was so hated back then...I'm so blessed to have you two into my life...my closest friends.'
Otto looked up at the sky and smiled as he has people he can rely on, making him more determined to help the two out, knowing that they are going to need all the help they can get. He continued to run with Mimi and Hetaro covering him and an unconscious Garfiel until the merchant found himself surrounded by dusk type nobodies. Mimi and Hetaro attempting to help the merchant yet a couple of Samurai type nobodies appear and force the twins to be distracted. Otto noticed this and saw that he was trapped.
"Darn...seems my luck is back down again...but I won't let it push me down!"
Otto grabbed his last red crystal and quickly waited until one of the Dusk charges at him. Once one charges at him, Otto quickly throws his red crystal at it and manages to take it down with the explosion from the red crystal. This gave him an opening to try to escape yet he was stopped when a random dusk nobody got in front of him. The merchant tried to punch the dusk yet he was unable to do any damage.
"That was to be expected."
Otto looked at the dusk with fear and just as he was going to get attacked, Ricardo quickly jumped behind the dusk and landed a fatal blow to the dusk with his sword, destroying it in one hit.
"Haha, good to see you again! Seems like I am saving your life once again."
"Ricardo-sama! Good to see you too."
"Here, get behind me. I will cover you."
"Thank you."
Otto ran behind Ricardo while he got his sword ready for the dusk nobodies to start attacking him. As the dusk charged at the dogman, he easily was able to take each of them down. As Ricardo took down the group of dusk that surrounded Otto, he quickly turned his attention on the Samurai nobodies that were attacking Mimi and Hetaro.
"Merchant boy, keep going forward. You should be able to meet up with Lil Ana and the Iron Fang. Once there, Ferris can heal tiger boy."
"Okay Ricardo-sama, thank you for saving my life again. I will make it up to you someday."
"Just don't get yourself killed, then we can call it even."
Otto nodded at Ricardo with a smile before following Ricardo's instructions in running forward, giving it his all in hopes of getting Garfiel to the best healer in Lugnica. As Otto was running towards safety for Garfiel only for him to notice some mercenaries in front of him. This gave him hope as among them he saw Felix, causing him to ran faster as he knows that Garfiel needs to be healed soon. Felix noticed this and quickly approached the merchant, having noticed how injured Garfiel looks.
"What happened tyo him?"
"He defeated one of Sora-san's enemies."
"Pretty impressive!"
Felix looked at the demi-human boy and was impressed by how strong he is, causing him to quickly heal him as fast as he can in hopes of getting Garfiel to return to the fight. As Felix was healing Garfiel, Otto looked around and noticed Anastasia approaching them.
"Anastasia-sama, it is an honor being in your presence. Mind if I ask what brings you here?"
"Merchant boy from the Emilia camp, interesting to see you unscathed. I'm just doing the same thing you are, leading the group without fear."
"B-But I'm not leading."
"Well of course you are, that boy wouldn't have survived without your guidance, after all you are the Internal affairs of Emilia's camp. That gives you a leadership role."
Otto paused for a moment, having started to think back during the one year since the Sanctuary incident. Sora would normally be asked about the training side of things while he is asked by the members of the Emilia camp of personal opinions. Subaru would ask him opinions of things related to Emilia, vise versa with Emilia as she wanted help in making things for Subaru. Rem would come by to give some opinions on how to act with Sora since she is unsure on how to act due to not having her memories. Ram would ask for some assistance with things which usually lead Subaru getting more work. Elsa would occasionally ask Otto to listen to her crazy fantasies, which would make him nervous yet he listened only because he is afraid of her.
'I was helping them...I was leading them to the solution of their problems. Even The Bowel Hunter...'
Otto was beginning to realize how important of a member he is. Although he wasn't as strong as Sora, the main head of the camp like Emilia, or even the most important person that keep everyone together like Subaru, he himself was important to the camp in his own right. As he was lost in his thoughts, Anastasia could see the realization the fellow merchant had in front of her. This caused her to pat him in the back while reinforcing what she was saying to him.
"Compared to me, I'm the superior merchant but I will acknowledge that you are an important person, you are the Interior affairs of the Emilia camp. That is something you should be proud of."
Otto looked at the little merchant girl, not expecting the royal candidate for the throne to acknowledge him and show him a lot of respect. He looked at her and bowed with respect before speaking in a respectful and grateful manner.
"Thank you for your kind words, Anastasia-sama. I will live up to my role."
"Of course you are, I see much potential in you."
Anastasia winked at Otto before walking away, leaving the merchant uncertain for a moment before just accepting the interaction between himself and Anastasia, having earned the respect of a high class merchant. As he accepted the conversation, Felix approached him to inform the merchant about Garfiel.
"He is doing fine nyow, just let him rest for a bit before sending him to fight."
"I would but I doubt he would let Sora-san, Subaru-san, and the rest of us take on the Witch cultist and the Organization without him."
"I'm just giving nyow a warning, he is healed but not ready for a fight like his previous one."
Felix left Otto to go check on the injured, causing the merchant to check on his brother, wanting to make sure that he is alright. As Otto approaches Garfiel, he can see the demi human boy sitting down and resting for a bit. Garfiel looks at Otto and gives a slight smile before saying,
"Glad yer aight, seem like we beat that yerk."
"We sure did though you were the one to beat him."
"Wish that were true bro, but yer the reason my amazin' self won'th fight. I owe ya one, bro."
Otto smiled and just nodded at his brother, having seen the humble side of his. The two just watch has mercenaries went around and facing off the nobodies that were closing in on them. As the fighting seems to be on the nobodies favor, Garfiel got up and prepared himself to join in on the fight. Otto noticed this and quickly told him to stay put.
"You need to rest, Garfiel-san."
"My amazin' self can hold out!"
"I know this but if you push yourself too far."
"I ain't but I gotta help."
"I know you do. (After all, you have a good heart.)"
Otto took a moment to think before allowing Garfiel to rejoin the fight with the condition he doesn't go too reckless since he still needs to recover. Garfiel understood this and nodded, appreciating that he is allowed to join the fight. The two fist bumped before Garfiel went on his own to face off the nobodies with the mercenaries of the Iron fang while Otto stood still, knowing that this is as far as his assistance can go.
'This is as far as I can go...I have faith that everything will turn out well for you two, Subaru-san, Sora-san.'
Otto smiled as he looked at the sky, hoping that his friends are able to save Emilia and the city of Priestella. As he smiled, Anastasia approached him once again to request that he stay with her, knowing that he is an important person for the Emilia camp and knowing that this will make her gain some good faith with the Keyblade Master. As the two were heading towards Anastasia's guards, they hear a familiar voice yell out towards the two.
"Anastasia-sama! Otto!"
The two merchants turned towards the voice to see Julius and Rem both approaching them. Otto was happy to see his two allies nearby, making him confident that should they encounter another Organization member, they should be fine. As Rem and Julius join the two, the four of them notice that something is wrong.
"Anastasia-sama, what happened to your mercenaries that were fighting those creatures."
Anastasia looked and noticed that the only people from her iron fang aside from her personal body guards and Tivey were Ricardo, Mimi, and Hetaro. As they were running, they noticed someone walking behind them, someone that gave a threatening vibe to the group. Garfiel noticed this and quickly regrouped with the others, not liking the person approaching them. As they were all in a group, a second person approached the group.
"W-Who are they?"
"I...do not know, but we must be on guard." Julius says as he gets his quasi spirits ready for action.
"Mimi, you and your brothers get Lil' Ana out of here."
"Will do! Let's go!"
Mimi, Tivey, and Hetaro with Anastasia's bodyguards all started to leave with Anastasia herself, knowing that she is top priority. Anastasia looked at Otto and quickly signalled him to follow her and those protecting her.
"You are not going to help in this fight, Merchant boy. I suggest you come with us."
"I know Anastasia-sama and I appreciate you looking out for me but this is my fight as well. I have to help them as best as I can."
"You do realize you are weak, you might end up getting yourself killed."
"I am aware of this, Anastasia-sama, but I will not back down. I will help them with whatever I can do. Even if it is minimal, I'm willing to fight with everything I have."
Anastasia was taken aback from this, seeing the merchant boy being foolish in wanting to fight alongside his knight, the demi human boy, and the others despite being the weakest of the group. Although she did found this foolish, she ultimately respected his wishes. She turned towards one of her guards to ask them if he could hand him the bag of red crystals, having a feeling he is going to need them. As he is being handed the bag, Anastasia gives her opinion to him.
"This is very foolish and reckless but I respect your determination. I hope these prove useful to you."
"T-Thank you, Anastasia-sama."
Otto bowed at the royal candidate before joining the others, seeing that the fight hasn't started just yet. Anastasia smiles at the merchant before leaving the area with her guards, all of them determined to make sure that she is not around. While they leave, Otto and the others all get themselves ready for a fight with Julius pointing his sword at the two threats in front of them.
"Who are you?"
"Ah yes, you all look very Gourmet...wait..."
The one that appears to be short looks at Rem, having recognized her for a moment before smiling with joy.
"We never thought we would cross paths again, Rem. Pleasure to see you once again, if you are Rem still."
"You know...me...?"
Rem looked at the boy confused and with some fear in her, somehow having an instinct that this person is much stronger than her. As she was in fear, Otto stepped in front of her to protect her while speaking in a serious tone.
"Who are you? Answer Julius-san's question!"
"Ah yes, We are with the Witch's cult, representing Gluttony, Lye Batenkaitos~TSU!"
"And We are also with the Witch's cult, representing Gluttony, Roy Alphard!"
The group all got their guards up when they heard this, realizing that they are in a lot of trouble now. Ricardo and Julius nodded at each other, knowing that they have to give it their all if they wish for Anastasia to be safe. Rem got her horn out, knowing now that she is facing the person that is responsible for taking her memories away. Garfiel prepared himself, knowing that he is going to have to push himself if he wants to survive the fight. Otto looked at the two Gluttonies with a serious facial expression before grabbing one of his red crystals given to him by Anastasia.
'Don't worry Sora-san, I will make them pay for what they did to Rem-chi.'
Otto promised himself before throwing the crystal at the pair, beginning the fight between Otto's group and the Gluttony duo.