Chapter 5: At Thine Mercy

Previously:

"What the hell was that?!" Zastin asked hysterically, catching up to Gid on the dimly lit dirt road leading out of town. "Did you just quit your job to go beat up someone?!"

"That's one way to look at it." Gid answered absentmindedly, looking left and right before hiding behind a tree.

"This isn't the first time drunk people have done this, why now?" The thirteen-year-old asked. "This isn't safe… why are we following them?" Zastin asked.

"At the bar I overheard them talking. Those people belong to a service for delivering explosives to someone for the war. Turns out they've made deliveries through this planet before, the last one being four years ago, where one of them mentioned an 'accident'." Gid replied, moving into an alleyway.

"An accident… four years ago... here?" Zastin soon understood what Gid was alluding to. "Y-You don't mean…"

"Shhh!" Gid hushed, a hand over Zastin's mouth. "If we want to follow them, we have to be quiet." He said in a hushed tone. To the distance not so far from them, four figures could be seen loudly strutting about in the woods, walking out of the trading outpost.

Chapter 5: At Thine Mercy

"Look, there they are!" Zastin hushed. The two Devilukean teens were atop of a tree branch, surveying the small clearing within the forest. Below them was a campfire and a small spacecraft parked near it.

"Fucken Devilukeans… ruining our perfect night off." One man grumble, kicking rocks into the fire, which flared in response.

"That kid with the weird tail… and the other one with the sword… what the fuck is up with those weirdos anyway…?" The brute replied.

"Zzzzzz…" The forth brute was soundly asleep inside the spacecraft, his snoring could be heard from the open bay door.

"If you'd like to find out, we'd be happy to provide some answers!~" A much familiar voice announced as the three woke brutes turned to the side of the clearing.

"W-Who's there?!" One of the drunken brutes demanded, standing up from the log.

"Why it's the kid with the weird tail and the one with the sword, of course~" The voice replied, finally revealing itself before the light of the campfire.

"What the fuck are squirts doing here?" The biggest of the brute asked, irritated at the sight of Gid and Zastin.

"Well initially my plan was to make you four not-so-gentle men pay for what you did to Freya-san back at the inn. But I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about your previous trip to this moon four years ago." Gid elaborated suavely, edging closer to the three brutes. "You see, four years ago, right about that time when your mysterious accident happened with the delivery of your explosives were being made, there was a fire…" Gid stopped himself, his voice quivering slightly, much to Zastin's grim.

"…A huge… huge forest fire that burnt down half the forest on this side of the moon." And whilst Gid elaborated, Zastin took the chance to study the faces of the delivery men.

'Their faces… why do they look nervous…!' Zastin thought. 'Gid couldn't be right… could he…?'

"Look…Squirt." The biggest of the brutes threatened, waving an empty bottle around the air. "You're not welcomed here, run along or we will hurt you."

"Oooh… scary." Gid taunted, his hands up sarcastically. "Do you deny the connection of your accident with the forest fire?" He asked.

"Gid?" Zastin raised his sword warningly, seeing three drunken brutes sizing them up.

"If asking you won't work, then I'll just have to break you!" Gid yelled, fists clenched. Zastin gave a look of concern as he raised his sword as well.

"You're in for a beating kid!-" The three brutes charged.

The first came forward with a swing of a bottle, to which Gid ducked with his arm up beside his head. The Devilukean reached over to the man's forward leg and pressed outwardly from within, causing the man to tumble to the ground. Gid snatched the bottle from his hand and smashed it across his head, shattering the glass bottle.

"Why you-!" The remaining two said, each approaching one of the Devilukeans.

"Stay back!" Zastin warned, his sword raised and poised at the drunkard. And as the drunk took violent swings with his fists, the thirteen year old inched backwards, moving his head out of the way. That went on until the man took an overly large hook as he ducked snuck behind the man. Now in position, the boy placed his blade by the man's heel and sliced.

"ARHH!" The brute cried in pain as he sunk to the ground, grabbing his ankle in agony as blood oozed out from gaping wound. Zastin then turned his attention to the small spacecraft nearby, where he heard rumbling and stirring.

The brute that Gid faced was more aware however. As the red eyed Devilukean came in for several punches, the brute managed to grab Gid and put him in a full nelson lock.

"It's over kid!" The brute growled, applying more and more pressure.

Just as it happened, the remaining brute came out of the spacecraft, a handgun pointing at Gid.

"Put this crazy kid down!" The man chocking Gid yelled, turning to face the man with the gun.

"No-!" The thirteen year old called out, making a bee-line for the man with the gun aimed. Just as the man was about to fire, Zastin came forth with his Morningstar swinging. In one fell swoop, the blade came up, cleaving the man's hand clean off. The gunshot misfired as the bullet went up in the air, and the hand fell to the ground.

It took the gunman several moments to register the pain as he locked eyes with Zastin's heterochronic eyes.

"Auhhhh! Ahhhhghhhaaa!" The man screamed in pain as he clutched his now non-existent hand with his other one. Zastin watched with horrified eyes as the man sunk to the ground, backing up to the side of a tree. The brute looked down, shaken at his wound, blood dripping from the exposed innards of flesh and bones. But the pain had seemed to have bested the man as he passed out. Zastin's sword hand quivered at the sight.

Meanwhile Gid was still struggling with the man's lock. The boy's trident tipped tail flailed behind him, and whacked the man by the groin.

"Gohh-!" The brute gasped as he felt the force down below. With the lock released, Gid elbowed the man in the gut and backwards headbutted the man in the face, hard. The man tumbled to the ground, his hand covering his nose.

"Now…I have just one burning question for you…" Gid trailed off with a growl, his tail how pushing itself against the brute's throat, his devilish red eyes piercing his soul. "What happened with the fire… four years ago?" He commanded.

"Al-alright… I-I-I'll talk!" The man quivered, swallowing a gulp as he felt the three prongs by his neck. "T…The fire… what we di-did… it was inevitable…-" But the brute didn't get to finish his explanation when Gid grabbed the man by the collar. And with an unnatural display of brute strength, the sixteen year old Devilukean picked the brute up with one hand, slamming his body onto a tree trunk.

"Why did you do this!?-" Gid questioned, his grip now on his throat.

"I… We all made the decision!-"

"Why?!"

"B-Because we-"

"Whyyy?!"

"WHY?!" Gid exploded, his grip reducing the man to gurgles.

"Gid-nii…." From the corner of his hearing, he heard Zastin's plead. "Stop…please…"

"…" Gid remained conflicted, his pained eyes flickering between Zastin and the man choking. He clenched his jaw as his facial expression twitched. Decisions decisions.

"Stop… Gid-nii!" Zastin pleaded, his hand now on Gid's shoulder.

"Gahh!" Gid exclaimed, releasing the grip as he brought his arm down.

"Gaaaaasp! Ahhhh...ha….ack…haa…" The man coughed on the ground. Zastin gave a sigh of relief while Gid turned away, huffing in frustration.

"How did you cause the forest fire?" Zastin asked the man.

"-!" The brute flinched at the sight of the sword in the boy's hand, a small trickle of blood dappering the soil underneath it. "F-Four years ago… my crew and I… we were delivering cargo- ex-explosives- to one of our distributers…" The man explained, coughing once in a while. "We were flying over this moon's airspace because it was the least patrolled of the channels. But that's when…"

"When what…?" Gid asked icily, still with his back turned.

"*Gulp* when our cargo ship experienced an engine failure." The brute reluctantly replied. "Something went wrong with the left engine, it couldn't sustain the weight of all the cargo we were carrying."

"So how did you pull through?" Zastin asked.

"In order for the ship to remain airborne, we had to…"

"We had to dump cargo."

"What?..." Zastin breathed.

"We had to dump just enough weight for the damanged engine to sustain its flight while we worked on a solution, or else we all would've crashed and burned!- ahhk!-" The brute was silenced as Gid's tail swung and whacked him across his face.

"Perhaps you should've." Gid stated coldly.

"W-We're just delivery men! We knew the forest was burning, hell we smelled the smoke from up there!" The brute argued, a sizable scratch across his cheek. "The people we work for and with, if they had found out that we d-dumped their cargo, we may have as well crashed with our ship and die."

"We had no choice but to cover it up, said it was lost during a confrontation with pirates!"

"A quater of the forest woods on this hemisphere turned to ash, because of you." Gid said, his tone shaky.

"Just let me go, please!" The brute pleaded. "I'm sorry alright?!-" But his words were shortened when Gid's tail coiled itself around the man's neck, buckling against his skin.

"You dare apologise?!" Gid screamed.

"The orphanage… burned to the ground… because of you…"

"Those children burned alive… because of you…!"

The brute choked in slight confusion and fear. "I…ack- don't know nothing about no children…!"

"How could you possibly have, when you dropped fucking explosives on their heads."

"I-I didn't know- AHkkkk!-" The man was now silent, the snake like snake tightened its coils around the neck, shaking and buckling against itself.

"Gid…" Zastin warned his brother. "That's enough…"

"Gid-!"

"Raahh!" The boy seethed, releasing his tail, much to Zastin's relief.

"Thank you… thank you… thank you… thank-" The man thanked profusely, and was then promptly knocked unconscious with the butt of Zastin's blade.

"Why did you stop me?" Gid demanded, clenching his jaw and fist.

"Sometimes it's better to show injustice with mercy."

"And where did you get that load of crap from?" Gid asked irritatingly.

"'The Song of Knights', chapter five."

"To think... The orphanage... Burnt to the ground over an accident." Gid trembled, looking up at the starry sky. "Their dreams of going to Planet Deviluke... Burnt to ashes..."

"Their dream lives through us." Zastin said.

"... You're right." Gid replied, wiping his eyes. "There's nothing left for us on this moon, not after everything that has happened."

"These four represent a larger problem." Gid said. "The delivery of explosives wouldn't have happened if not for the War." The Devilukean duo walked around the campfire, feeling the warmth of the flickering fire, Zastin took the time to wipe his sword with a cloth tied around his waist. "Which begs the question..." Gid spoke inquisitively.

"How do we get off this planet now."

Then came upon them a moment of silence as they observed the scene around them. Four unconscious drunks, beatened and bloodied. The sound of campfire clicking beside an empty cargo ship.

The two teenagers looked to one another.

"We're breaking the law here!" Zastin warned as he followed Gid into the abandoned cargo ship.

"We just beat down two guys outside, you maimed one and crippled the other, and stealing their ship is where you draw the line?" Gid asked incredulously.

"Point." Zastin sighed, slowly exploring the cargo spacecraft. It was a simple design. A large and empty hull with dark and rusty skid marks, presumably from cargo loading it's done. The hanger soon converged into the nose of the ship, where seemingly complicated panels and seats laid before their eyes.

"Well… we have ourselves a ship. Now what?" The thirteen year old asked, looking at the intricate panel screens and buttons before him.

"Errr… Don't suppose you know how to fly one do you?" Gid sweatdropped.

"Crap…" Gid and Zastin groaned at once. The pair explored the small craft, looking around curiously.

'Wonder if any of these buttons would work…?' Zastin pondered, touching the buttons on the blank panels.

'That chair sure looks comfy.' Gid noticed, falling onto the captain's seat. He placed his arms on he handles and noticed a cube of some sort on the left end. Curious by its bluish glow, Gid's eyes furrowed as he touched it.

"Welcome back, captain." The cube lit up, and a strange metallic voice echoed throughout the ship. The Devilukeans jumped at the sudden vocals bouncing around the ship.

"G-Gid what did you do?" Zastin asked nervously.

"I…I don't know, I just touched the cube." Gid said, pointing at the cube next to him. "A-Ah… who is speaking?" He called out nervously.

"My name is Atlas, I am a Virtual Intelligence responsible for navigation and telemetry on this Freighter." The off-putting voice. It possessed no human qualities, there was no indication of gender or distinct accent.

"V-Virtual intelligence?" Zastin asked. "Like one of those self-aware robots?"

"Incorrect. I am a VI codenamed Atlas- Automated Telemetry / Location Actualising Superior. Model number 21.1A.17. I exist for the purpose of the safe navigation of this vessel. I differ from Artificial Intelligence as I do not possess free will."

"O-Oh…" Zastin said, puzzled.

"Atlas can you get us to Planet Deviluke?" Gid asked the VI.

"Ship inventory: 90% available. Guidance systems: operational. Fuel cell: at 50%. Hyperdrive: 30% remaining." Atlas replied monotonously, to which Gid and Zastin looked at each other with perplex.

"Gid, I think it wants us to give it a command." Zastin suggested.

"But... I don't know the command." Gid replied. "Ahh fuck it." He told himself.

"Com-Command to Atla-s!" Gid broke out experimentally.

"Command to Atlas, captain's orders?" Atlas replied.

'it worked!' Zastin cheered inwardly.

"...Set course for Planet Deviluke…?" He tried.

"Is the captain issuing a formal flight plan for Planet Deviluke?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Certainly." The voice replied. Gid and Zastin shared a look of anticipation.

"All officers please secure yourselves in your assigned seat. Standby... Commencing autopilot sequence in ten...nine...eight..." Atlas. Begun the countdown.

The Devilukean duo looked at each other in bewilderment as they heeded Atlas's suggestions, sitting in their respective seats.

"We're finally getting off this moon!"

'King Davo… your heir is one step closer to the throne… and stopping this war!' Zastin thought in silent triumph, feeling the increase gravitational pressure pushing in the back of his neck.

"Here we GOOOOOO!-" Gid exclaimed as the ship took off with a loud rumble. The metal inside the vessel rattled and shook. The nonsensical blinking lights from the control panel only add to their confusion.

The dark green scenery of trees and campfire changed through the window pane before them. Now falling away for the dark skies, which slowly, as they ascended higher into the atmosphere, became brighter. The frost that had crept around the windshield during the ascension had now faded.

Minutes of violent shaking and loud noises later, the freighter eventually settled down, mellowing out into an eventual glide.

"Wh… what happened? Did we make it?" Gid asked worriedly.

"Current location: 100km above Moon Endurance's higher orbit. Telemetry: stable. Caution- Hyperdrive power: 10%." Atlas reported.

"…" Wordlessly, Gid slid off the captain's chair and promptly disappeared into the hanger bay, looking out to the large window pane.

"Wait up!" Zastin called after the sixteen-year-old.

"Za-Zastin... We're out..." Gid said, hands on the glass pane, his red eyes glued to the unfamiliar scene unravelling before him. The pair found themselves at the helm of their destinies, looking out at the majesty of space, there they saw the glow of Moon Endurance, right up against them.

Gid then panned to their right, looking beyond the small moon they had once called home. The dark space that they were now traversing across. White red and blue sparkles lit up like fireflies across his field of vision, with the brightest one large and red.

"Look there... Planet Deviluke..." The celestial giant stood amongst the largest of them all, blur and green, with tinges of red like clouds scattered all over. And surrounding the planet were its remaining six moons. "It's beautiful..."

"Atlas, how long until we arrive?" Gid asked.

"Ceterus paribus: twelve hours and seventeen minutes." The VI replied.

"Damn~" Gid whistled. "Guess we're gunna be here a while." He said, approaching the messy table and benches by the side of the hull. "They must have some food on this ship right?..." Gid muttered, disappearing into another room to the side.

*Short while later...*

"Ahh, would you look at that!" Gid cheered from the other room, emerging into the hanger with a boxful of items. "Look what I found."

"Mhm." Was the soft sound that escaped Zastin's mouth.

"Hey..." Gid noticed the boy sitting alone by the hanger bay, looking down at the sword in his hand, which seemed to be shaking. "What's wrong Zas?" Gid asked.

"I-it's nothing…" Zastin waved off, rather unconvincingly.

"You shouldn't need to hide anything from me." Gid said, walking up to his little brother. "Now, what's wrong?"

"Back there... Where we took this ship..." Zastin began as his trembling increased. It took Gid almost no time to figure out the cause. "That was your first time using the Morningstar against people, wansn't it?" Gid realised.

The thirteen old remained silent, looking at the stained edges of his blade. "Ever since I first got this sword... I had known that one day... I'd eventually have to use it against real enemies... But now..."

"Zas, calm down." Gid knelt down before the boy, a reassuring and firm hand on his shoulder. "Breath..."

"I severed the tendons in one of their ankles... And chopped off another's hand. Oh god... What if they're dead...-"

"Zas! Calm down!" Gid interrupted. "None of this is on you." He tried to reason. "I'm the one who decided to attack them for answers."

"But still, I held the sword."

"Only because I told you to." Gid said. "Listen... They may be dead, they may not be. Regardless, I understand the feelings you're going through."

"Yo-You do?" The shakened Zastin asked.

"Mmhm." Gid offered a smile to the thirteen year old. "Years ago, back at the orphanage... When I saw the caretaker's body lying cold before me. I went through the same thing you did. I didn't know what to think. But d'you know what kept me sane?"

"Wh-what?" Zastin asked, now calming down, looking at Gid.

"It's that no matter what you do, however heinous the action, do it to protects the ones you care about."

"My...own reason?" Zastin repeated, now appearing to be in deep contemplation.

"Think on that a while. I'm gonna go find supplies on this ship." Gid gave Zastin a casual pat on the head before standing up, disappearing into another room of the ship.

Zastin stared holes into his sword, pondering upon his brother's words. Everything started when he met the ghost of the first king of Deviluke, the Morningstar and the pendant around Gid's neck is a constant reminder to those aware.

'Helping Gid become king... That should be enough reason...' Zastin suggested in his mind, holding his sword tight.

*Short while later..*

"Would you look at that!" Gid exclaimed from the other room.

"Wh-What's in the box?"

"A full case of Devilukean sweet wine, tucked away in boxes!" Gid announced excitedly. "They might look ordinary, but don't be fooled, these cases are some of the most expensive wines in our cluster."

"Don't suppose there's any real food on this ship...?" Zastin sweatdropped. 'How does he manage to find alcohol in every situation...'

"Ehh there's some in the other room." Gid waved off, pulling the cork on the new bottle."

"Sigh..." The heterochromic teen huffed, walking into the other room. "Don't drink yourself to death!" He warned.

"Bummer..." Gid mumbled as he downed the bottle.

*Four hours later…*

"Mhmm...-!"

"W...K...P..."

"WAKE UP ZASTIN!"

"E-Eh?!" His blue and grey eyes snapped open at Gid's urgent plea. "Wh-Whats happening?-!" But just as he asked, the ship rocked violently, shaking the bottles and maps off the table.

"Multiple electromagnetic pulses detected! Electron shield capacity at 30%!" Atlas reported, it's voice becoming static.

"Yea we detected that too..." Gid mumbled, rubbing his aching head as he stood up next to Zastin.

"What are we going to do?" Zastin asked the boy worriedly.

"I... I'm thinking..." Gid stuttered as he froze. "S-Ship status!"

"Due to unforseen electromagnetic interference from a nearby planet, The ship has drifted off course from Planet Deviluke and has entered the gravitational field of a nearby planet."

"W-Well... Any chance we can get out of the field and keep going?!" Gid asked worriedly.

"This planet's gravitational field is disproportionately stronger given its mass and density. This gravitational field could be artificially amplified. As such, our freighter has no capabilities of escaping it. Recommended action: emergency planet fall-zzz...zzzzt!" Atlas voice buzzed and paused, becoming static by the second.

"Emergency planet fall... What does that mean?"

"It means... We have to land." Gid said, looking at the planet closest to them.

Cloudy and brown, the planet seemed to be covered in rocks. "O-On that?!" The grey haired teen shrieked.

"Command to Atlas!" Gid called out for a the VI, but silence and static chatter was the response.

"How are we going to land this ship now?"

"Luckily for us, I've been reading some of the control manuals that came onboard this ship." Gid said. "At least we'll have our hands full before we crash and burn."

"Is this really a time for jokes?!'" Zastin retorted as another tremor shook the ship sideways.

"There's no better reminder of life than the face of death!" Gid said, hopping onto a seat before the control panel. "All hands on deck Zastin,

"Let's land this thing!"

*As time passed...Planet surface...*

"A thunderstorm…?" A figure stood up from the log by a small campfire, pink eyes shot wide awake at the loud 'BOOM' that had clapped in the skies moments ago.

The skies above her were grey, clouded with purple lightning.

The figure paced up the rocky cliffs, walking out of her shelter, a sizable sack over the shoulders, but that didn't stop her. She looked up towards the night sky. But that was when she saw it.

'Is that a satellite…no. A comet perhaps…!' She pondered the possibilities, when suddenly, a small ball of fire seemingly burst through the thundering skies.

Alas, the figure in the red hooded cowl chased the unidentified flying object till she reached the edge of a tall cliff. She looked up at the night sky, pulling her cowl down, exposing her pink hair.

"What..." She breathed, her face glowing red and yellow as she watched the burning heap of a spacecraft glide over the skies above her.

"A spaceship…?" She breathed in shock, watching it as it entered the atmosphere. 'This could be it!'

AUTHOR'S NOTES: SO MANY IDEAS… SO LITTLE TIME… HOPING FOR SOME FEEDBACK/COMMENTS FROM READERS! REVIEW MEAN A LOT! :D

WHO COULD THE GIRL WITH PINK HAIR BE... I WONDER :P

LORE FACT #3: 'THE SONG OF KNIGHTS' IS COLLECTION OF HYMNS AND RULES SET OUT BY THE FIRST ORDER OF KNIGHTS, LEAD BY THE GREAT ARCHKNIGHT VELOTH, SERVANT OF THE FIRST KING OF DEVILUKE.

AND AS ALWAYS, MORE CHATPERS STILL TO COME!

REVIEWS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED AND LOVED!

CRITICISMS ARE ALSO ACCEPTED.