Chapter 4: Proof of Skill
With Noct and Alexander on the mission to train him of the ways of becoming a member of Organization, Stella looked down the corridors of the HQ, waiting for a friend of hers to come here and discuss about the happenings of the worlds. She stood there, waiting for her to come while she thought about Noctis appearing out of nowhere during the previous mission where she got lost and found by him. It would take some time until he returned so for now, she was free to do what ever she wanted until he returned. Then she heard it.
"Stella-Senpai!" An excited and cheerful voice exclaimed.
She looked, seeing a pale girl with an auburn hair tied into a ponytail. She had reddish brown eyes and she was of short stature with a slim build. On her hair were six hair clips styled into the Roman Numerals of twenty-two. She wore the same outfit like Makato but of the female variant of it with the same MP3 player but with red earphones instead.
She made her way to Stella, but she was so fast that she didn't see the wet sign beside her that caused her to stumble and fall face-first in front of Stella.
"Oh, are you alright, Mako-chan?" Stella bends down to help the girl up.
"Owie..." The girl rubbed her head in pain. "I didn't see the sign again." She then looked up with a smile. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Oh, let me start from the beginning..." Stella tells the girl.
She heard a growl. "Mmm...I'm hungry." The girl murmured.
Stella chuckled. "Already? Well, then... let's talk it over with food."
Some time later, they were at the nearby restaurant, having brunch. Stella stared at what Mako-chan ordered. Well, safe to say that this Mako-chan was a glutton, Stella stared at the giant stack of Quarter-Pound Burger that was larger than Alexander himself. She couldn't even see her as she ate it with a human-sized soda and a kilogram of french fries. Stella ordered a modest amount of meal of a small hamburger and medium sized fries and drinks.
"So, the Seven Deadly Sins and the new guy, Noct-kun?" Mako-chan asked.
"Yes, to summarise it all up." Stella tells Mako-chan. She could see the hamburger decreasing.
"Hm, I wonder about that." Mako-chan took a big bite: eating helped her to think. "Was he sent out from a world or did he come from a different time?" Two of the most possible choices with having different worlds around this dimension.
"For starters, we met him without any traces of memories from his past." Stella explains. "Though, it is surprising. Someone with two Crystal Powers is quite rare."
"Oh, he has two!? Amazing!" Mako-chan took a deep sip from her soda. "He's like you too! Could he be your destined partner!?"
"Oh, we just met..." Stella said with a light chuckle, internally contemplating of Mako-chan's comments about Noct. "...And I did deck him in the stomach in our first meeting out of reaction... Maybe I shouldn't keep wearing heels all of the time."
"Oh...That hurts." Mako-chan flinched, knowing how painful her punches could be. "Anyways, maybe we can visit Esme-senpai later. He may be from another timeline but gained amnesia from falling there?"
"...Well... One thing at a time." The blond lady said and she took a bite off her hamburger.
"But isn't this exciting!?" The girl cheerfully asked. "A stranger from another realm with amnesia and two beauties there to help him recover his memories! Talk about something that comes from a story!"
"Like I said... One thing at a time, take it easy and slowly..." Stella reminds, musing at how she can see Mako-chan's head right now from behind the burger.
"Mmm...I want to see more how you guys get two elements!" Mako-chan pouted, as energetic as a child and never lost her perkiness despite all things.
"I guess... that'll be a secret... that none of us will know so quickly." Stella comments. By now, Mako-chan only had half of the bottom bun and patty, the french fries with about 10 left and the drink feeling quite hollow.
She wondered why the auburn-haired girl was still slim and fit despite that appetite of hers and how many stomachs does she have? Any case, maybe a trip to Temporal Temple wasn't a bad idea.
Noct turns to Alexander after stepping out of the portal, taking in the surroundings. The area was surrounded by rocky walls extending quite high upwards. Turning his head up felt like trying to hurt his neck, so he stopped with that.
"So... huh?" He looks at himself. This isn't what he wore just before entering the portal. Turtleneck, cropped trousers, gloves, boots... "When did I...?"
"Your badge provides the uniform of your preference by looking at the way you fight." Alexander explained. "You seem to favor speed and agility so that's why your uniform is like that. Try moving around."
He did so. Alexander was right. He felt more mobile... He looked at Alexander again, but he didn't appear any different. He was technically naked.
"You... didn't really change?" Noct said.
"Oh, there's no need for me to wear any attire." Alexander claimed. "Besides, I don't have anything to cover like the rest of you. Now come on, let's check about your abilities in combat."
"Hm... If you say so..." Noct nods slowly. He's really walking around with an Eidolon who doesn't need clothes... He looked at his hand and rotates his wrist clockwise. All he hid was do a grabbing motion and he jumped when a sword suddenly materialized on his hand. "Wait, I used this sword just back then..."
"Oh, you summoned your weapon. Try doing some swings for we are about to fight some Dulleds ahead."
Noct did so and swung his sword around. He's getting a good form now with the swings. He started to do a swing to the right after bringing his sword to the left, then swinging back to the left and he did one more swing to the right with it more forceful than the first two.
"Hm...You seem to have some skill with handling the sword." Alexander deduced as he made his way to Noct's side.
Noct looked and spotted Alexander wielding a pair of armbands around his wrists. Now that he thought about it, Alexander had a large, bulky, and muscular torso and arms but his legs were...
"Your legs..." Noct see how Alexander's legs have such a design: Being large and when reaching to the knee areas, behind, the legs curve downwards to his feet. Still, the legs looked too short and feet looked too small to be able to hold... him up.
"Yes, is there something wrong with them?" Alexander asked rather nicely but...Noct felt dread from it.
"...Uh, never mind?" Noct decided not to push further onto the subject.
"Well then, let's now show the Dulled that it is not okay to skip leg day." Alexander quipped, going on ahead.
"O...Okay." Noct followed behind him. Ahead of them, a dark-skinned creature could be seen. The furred hide it has streak with visible dark black. It starts to gnaw onto the ground, bent down with it's relatively short arms under it's figure. It's rather quite short, roughly about Vivi's height.
"There's a Dulled over there." Alexander explained. "It is a low-leveled one so you can probably defeat it with little difficulty."
Wait, "probably defeat it?" What did he mean by that?
"...What... did you mean by those words." Noct said. He looked back at that Dulled.
"I meant if you aren't reckless enough to do it like what a Gallade had done before." He answered.
"...I see..." Noct said. The Dulled had stopped gnawing onto the ground, and had it's left leg spread by the side.
"I'll observe the way you fight... Have this." Alexander chanted and Noct looked as a circle appeared and felt his body get covered by some blanketing aura.
"What? What's this?" Noct asks, turning to look at the Dulled ready to attack.
"That's the spell, Protect." Alexander explained. "It will soften any physical attacks dealt to you. Now prepare yourself as it will try to maul you."
"What? Whoa!" Noct quickly sees the Dulled charging in to attack him. He evaded the attack, the Dulled missing him while Noct tried to find any weak points. Huh? How did he know this tactic?
He quickly refocused himself without asking about this and swung as the Dulled came back for him, making a cut against the creature.
The Dulled screeched in pain before falling to the ground. Alexander looked impressed. "Down in one hit, very good." He praised.
"That..." Noct scratched his head. "I did what my mind told me to do..." He looks back at the Dulled, blinking as its' unmoving body then fades off.
"Hm...Let me see your hand?" Alexander requested.
"Uh... sure." Noct showed Alexander his hand.
Alexander removed the glove and spotted that Noct bruised his hand. A sigh escaped.
"Xer, don't try to exert too much pressure in the way you handled your sword. Look at what happened." He scolded.
"Oh..." Noct looked at the bruise. He didn't even notice that...
"...It's alright, this is just training so you still have much to learn." Alexander encourages as his hand glowed and applied the light around the bruise. Noct watched as the bruise disappear slowly and felt a comforting aura when it was healed.
"...Hey, the bruise's gone." Noct looks at his hand again.
"Yes, I applied Cure to it." Alexander explained.
"Oh... appreciate it, Alexander." Noct nods.
"Please, call me Al instead." Al requested, he heard that before... "...Oh..." he remembers Terra saying 'Al' once and that he was visiting Etro yesterday...
"Alright then, let's go." Al reminded. "As soon as we wrap things up here, the sooner we can return back to Unita."
"Oh, sure, Al." Noct said.
"Also, I have to remind you, never leave my side for the Dulled here may be too powerful for you to take any form of damage." He cautioned. "I can take it so remember to analyze how a specific Dulled react and strike them if they're open for any attacks. That is the key to victory."
"Okay... got it." Noct listens to Al's advice, looking at the path ahead of them. It looks like a fairly long road ahead surrounded by walls. May take some time to walk through it, but...
"Hm...I've read about reports of someone able to warp by throwing a weapon like what Fleuret can do." He looked at Noct. "Have you tried doing it?"
"Me?" Noct said. He looked at his sword. "...Okay, sure." He looks a bit in front of him and threw his sword. It lands at a distance away from him, but he still remained at the same spot beside Al.
"...Maybe there's something you're missing..." Al sighed, reaching down to help Noct retrieve his sword.
"I dunno..." Noct gets his sword back from Al. "But, anyhow..."
"Yes, let's continue onward." Al agreed.
Through the pathway, Noct got a better understanding of combat with the basics of attack and defense. When they reached one fork, Al warns Noct not to attempt fighting the large Dulled that was over by the left path with a gentle reminder that should the battle be too much, he could escape from battle instead.
"Nicely done, Xer." Al congratulated.
"Oh, you think so?" Noct said.
"Indeed... and it seems we're near our target." Al looked onward.
Noct followed Al's line of sight. He could see something. It looked like some bird? Wait... there is a bird as the head and torso, but the rest of it... it's a quadruped like... a lion?
"That's a Griffon." Al explained. "It has the grace of an eagle and a ferocity of a lion. Be careful, Noct."
"Oh, right." Noct readies himself just as the Griffon gets up from it's lying position.
The Griffon looked and roared, flying toward Noct in a quick and agile movement. Similar to how an eagle pounced toward its prey. Just as it was about to reach him, Al went forward and delivered a staggering punch. It caused it to fall backward and Noct knew that it was exposed.
He jumped to slash against the Griffon by it's torso, cutting off some feathers along with the slash. It staggered some more and glared at Noct. It then unfolded it's wings and fired pointy feathers at him. Noct quickly gets his sword prepared and swung to hit some of the feathers away. He flinches as one cut his cheek, leaving a line to seep out blood.
"Xer!" Al yelled worriedly, rushing ahead and shielded Noct from the next barrage, casting Protect on the both of them. He sneered when he took the blow of the barrage.
"I'm okay, I'm okay..." Noct quickly says.
"I've got to say, this Griffon got smarter than their actual species." Al added. "Going in for the range and I cannot attack at this range and the barrage prevents me from charging my cannon."
"I still have to beat it, right?" Noct looks back at the Griffon. It's starting to make more use of it's wings, flying above them.
"Yes, we need to." Al agreed. "Beat it and the mission shall be complete."
Noct nods back and looked back at the Griffon. "Still, flying up above us so that it can still hit us while we have trouble hitting it from here..."
"Either redirect the attacks or something else." Al explained, despite the attacks being weak, he could feel that they were getting stronger. "We need to end this quick."
"Got it, but... what..." Noct tries to think of ideas to down this flying enemy now...
'It's not your fight alone. Cooperate with your allies.'
"Huh? Who said that?" Noct could have sworn he heard someone speak. He looked at Al's arms. They were large and strong, an arm large enough to lift a single person on it.
"...Hey, Al! Throw me over to the Griffon!" Noct shouts.
"Huh? But it's too risky! You'll be a pin cushion!" Al objected.
"Trust me on this! I think I got an idea!"
Al looked at him silently as the feathers pierce his metallic body as he covered Noct from the barrage. He knew that doing this was risky but he knew that he couldn't protect Noct for long for how much damage he took. He needed to trust him. With a sigh, he nodded.
"Promise me that you'll be safe from this crazy idea." Al ordered.
"I have to, won't I?" Noct said. "Can't screw this up..."
Al nodded and looked at the Griffon again and noticed that the longer it continued the barrage, the lesser feathers that came out of it. He looked back at Noct and when the barrage fell to a minimal amount, he threw him up with one great pitch.
Noct shot towards the Griffon with the throw and grabs by one of the wings, turning nimbly to land on it's back, causing the aerial beast to start thrashing about in an attempt to throw him off.
"You need to...!" His vision was being moved everywhere, but he held onto his sword and stabs the Griffon. "...Pipe down!"
The Griffon roared in pain, causing Noct to cover his ears from the pain of the Griffon's roar near him. He held on tight, knowing that the Griffon wasn't still done. He needed to defeat it. He looked around some more and spotted something deep in the wound he made when he impaled the Griffon.
"What... there?"
There was a core in it. This was what made this Griffon tick.
Steadying himself despite the wild movements, he struck the core with his sword.
The blow was enough to shatter the core that the Griffon went limb and Noct found himself falling to the ground with the Griffon's corpse.
"Xer!" Al screamed, rushing in to catch him.
'Okay, I didn't think that one through!' Noct admits in his mind as he plummets down along with the falling Griffon. But as he fell, he looked and realized that Al won't reach him in time.
'Holy heck! Al's not gonna make it!' He thought. 'I'm going to be splat like this!'
Then, in a few seconds... he suddenly found himself lying on his back on the ground. He blinked once and twice, seeing Al standing close to him... and then heard something smash onto the ground.
He turned his head and saw the griffon lying on the ground, dead. It's body faded, like how every Dulled does when they die. He looked at it for a few seconds before facing Al.
"That was reckless and thank Etro that you were able to use that ability at the right moment." Al scolded sternly.
"...Hey, we still made it out of that, didn't we? And what do you mean, by..." Noct trails off when he noticed he held onto... his sword, stabbed into the earthen ground.
"Teleporting to the spot where you threw your weapon at." Al finished for him. "You threw it down and there you landed."
"...Oh..." Noct pulls himself back up into a sitting position. "Well... griffon's slain, mission complete, then?"
"Indeed." Al answered, looking at his arm and pulled a feather off it. Noct looked and found traces of red blood leaking out of Al's arm from where it was removed.
"...Huh? Wait... you're... bleeding?" Noct said.
"Hm? Yes, I have a mechanical body but I still bleed like the rest of you." He answered, applying Cure on the both of them to heal each other's wounds.
"Oh..." Noct rubs his back as their wounds are gone now.
"Anyways, mission complete. Congratulations, Noctis Xer." Al praised, reaching out an arm.
"Call me Noct." Noct said, grabbing onto that arm.
"Understood, Noct." Al helped him up.
"Nothing!?" Mako-chan exclaimed as they left the Temporal Temple. "No one went time-travelling to get to this time so Noct isn't a time-traveller!"
"So, that's one theory debunked." Stella said.
Mako-chan pouted as they walked down the flight of stairs. "And we wasted an hour climbing these stairs." She complained. "Add another hour to make the trip back down."
"Well... Would you have preferred to have gone up and down the stairs halfway?" Stella says. "...Though..."
"Hm...I won't stop until I find out where Noct-Senpai comes from!" Mako-chan declared.
"You aren't alone in this, Mako-chan." Stella smiled with a reminding tone. "We're all here, working and finding out more. Give Noct the time to remember, and he will, eventually."
"Yes and you know, there is a new mystery to investigate."
"What would that be?"
"The black falling speck!"
"Hm... One step at a time, to repeat."
"Okay, Stella-Senpai." Mako-chan nodded.
Locke and Vivi sat around the HQ, waiting for Noct to return from the mission they were sent to. As they waited, Vivi was reading a book of spells while Locke read a book written by a great Summoner that detailed the history of Eidolons from millions of years ago.
"...Huh?" Vivi lifts his head from the book when he sees a flash.
There were Noct and Al returning back from the mission, safe and sound. Despite spotting some minor wounds that were easily healed, they appear to be none to wear. Noct looked at himself and saw that he no longer wore the uniform he wore in combat.
"Oh... I'm back in these clothes again." Noct realizes. Vivi hops off from the bench he rested himself on and trotted over to the human and Eidolon. "How... how was it? How did he do?" Vivi asks.
"He did it greatly." Al answered, kneeling down to Vivi's level. "I say that he got the skill for him to be an official member of Organization. He's a great addition."
"Oh... that's great...!" Vivi said, doing a quick jump in joy. Locke looked up from his book and closed it. "He really did it, then. That should get the queen to officially ensign him into the Organization." He said.
"Indeed." Al agreed. "Let us enlist him to our cause."
"So... Organization work is really going to be something like this..." Noct said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Count me in for sure."
"I conclude that Noctis Xer is a viable ally to our cause." Al concluded the report.
"...I see." Hilda nods. "And you witnessed his skills... Alright. I'll allow him to officially be part of the Organization's efforts to repel the Dulled."
Noct looked at Al, who held his shoulder and looked at him. He never had facial features like anyone else, but he knew that this giant was giving him a proud smile. The young man nodded and smiled back at him before looking back at Hilda, who gave him some keys, a phone, and the official badge.
"Thank you, Queen Hilda." Noct said. "I'm going to help out in this. We're all going to stop the Dulled from infesting the worlds here."
"As of today... You're now part of the Organization. Welcome aboard, Xer." Hilda announces. "You have much to learn about the Organization, so feel free to inquire about things you would like to know."
Noct nodded and accepted items handed out to him. From a distance, the same figure from last night watched as he was inducted.
"...Hmm... Interesting..." Their mouth had a small smile, the rest of their head concealed in a black mask with clear markings and a white hood.
This man is really interesting. Maybe stick around to shape the fate of this dimension.
"...Of course."
Well then, try to observe that man for me and...seems you have a visitor about to come in that dimension. I wonder how the fate shall change when this one enters the field...
"Hm... Quite interesting..."
Then observe of what they shall do in this dimension.
"...I shall. I am curious, myself."
