7. Attempted Assassinations
Summary: Zael is attacked and Arganan ends up trying to help him prevent his own doom.
So I'm working with Asthar and Mirania to figure out more of the Outsider's link and how that all works. At least I'm another step towards hopefully avoiding my doom.
Arganan parted ways with Asthar and Mirania eventually to speak with the rest of the guards and make sure they were vigilant about any potential break-ins or thievery and the like. It would be bad if the Gurak did try taking Lazulis's technology, after all, to power up their own fortress further.
What about Zael? He hadn't spoken with the man since he activated the island into becoming the floating fortress that it now was. Maybe it would be good to check on him. Zael had his own room in the castle, since he was both the island's savior and also a knight-in-training, and Dagran had his own chamber as a knight-in-training, too. The rest of the mercenaries were still going back and forth between their place at the tavern and the castle, which was fine, but Arganan hoped to speak with the others more often as well. The better they liked him around, the less likely they were to hate him when the most crucial times came.
After speaking with a few servants about Zael's whereabouts, he learned that the younger man went to the courtyard to speak with someone else that wanted to talk to him.
By the time Arganan arrived in the courtyard, he saw Zael – and several other cloaked figures, rushing at him. Zael tensed, taking out his sword as one of the stabbed at him, just as another tried to hurl several arrows at him with a crossbow.
What!? Zael is…?
This wasn't supposed to happen! Not as far as Arganan recalled! And there were no other guards in the vicinity –
Which meant that he had to step in and stop them himself, didn't he? Now I have to worry about not just mine and Asthar's dooms, but Zael's as well!? Ugh.
Arganan knew he wasn't very proficient at magic other than minor healing. He knew that, if he took someone on in combat alone, he probably had a good chance of losing.
But no way was he going to let Zael die here and now, and Zael wasn't the savior of Lazulis for no reason! Lazulis needs him. And Calista would be devastated if he dies!
"Get away from him!"
The words tore out of his lips as he sent a healing spell Zael's way. Zael gasped, surprised at the sudden rejuvenation, but he looked towards Arganan with a surprised gaze before ducking one of the assassins trying to stab him.
"Behind you, Count!" Zael yelled, and Arganan turned just in time to see an assassin stab at him, only for another assassin to yell.
"You fool! He's not our target!"
I'm not their target? The Count frowned as he barely sidestepped the stab attack, before grabbing his cane and swinging it, whacking the assassin in the side of the head as hard as he could. The assassin staggered, and Arganan swung the cane again. Even if it was a blunt object, it was still metal, and the Count knew that it had to hurt at least a bit. The assassin crumped to the ground instantly, groaning as he held his head in both hands.
"Count!?" Zael called, and Arganan looked towards him. "You need to get back! I'll handle the rest!"
Unacceptable. There was no way Arganan was letting that happen! "You are not meeting your doom," A hiss left Arganan's lips, "And neither am I!"
He saw Zael's hand glow as he dodged another assassin, before taking them down with several swipes of his sword. As he continued fighting, Arganan noticed that all the assassins were deliberately drawn towards Zael.
That power…so that's what he can do with it? Lure the enemies towards him? He's protecting me? It was one thing to hear about what Zael could do with his power, but it was another thing to see it in-person. And even though he already witnessed Zael use it to activate this island and transform it into the floating fortress it now was, using it in a combat setting was much different.
Arganan winced as one assassin pushed him roughly, before swinging his sword at him. Arganan barely dodged the attack, sending another healing spell Zael's way after he noticed the younger man take a few hits from the corner of his eye. Seconds later, Zael downed the rest of the assassins, before taking out his crossbow and shooting the one that almost hit Arganan in the shoulder. The assassin dropped his weapon as a pained cry left him, before slumping to the ground.
Zael rushed over to Arganan's side. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, they just shoved me." Arganan managed quickly. He forced himself to take a deep breath – he was unused to battle, and rarely did he use so much of his magic in such a short time.
"Who hired you?" Zael asked, looking towards the assassin he shot earlier. The assassin didn't answer, before dark shadows surrounded him. "Hey!"
"They're gone." Arganan let out a quick breath, looking around as the shadows vanished, along with the assassin they covered moments earlier. All the assassins had fled as soon they came, too. At least Zael's alive. And so am I. "Are you okay, Zael?"
"I'm fine, Count." Zael's nose wrinkled as he placed a hand over his left forearm. "A little bruised still, but it's not much."
"Let me heal you." Arganan knew that it would be best to top up Zael with a little more healing if he could. But as he held a hand over Zael's injured forearm, nothing happened.
Oh, for fuck's sakes… He tried again, tried to will the magic to appear. He knew he was never the most proficient in magic, but couldn't it just work one more time? Please?
Nothing also happened.
Zael frowned, staring down at his wound before looking up at Arganan. "Are you…?"
"I apologize." The words left Arganan's lips in a mumble more than anything else. "I think I spent it all in one shot with the earlier healing I gave you. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly the most proficient in magic, despite the family blood."
He should've known better than to constantly cast healing spells on Zael during the battle earlier – I should've saved my energy, for sure. How embarrassing…
"It's alright. It's not that bad." Zael offered him a light, reassuring grin, a light chuckle leaving him as Arganan lowered his hand to his side. His expression changed as he looked up at him again, brows furrowing lightly. "Er, Count? Your eyepatch…"
"Oh." Arganan fumbled with his eyepatch – it must've been messed with during the battle earlier at some point – before setting it in its proper place, hiding most if not all the scars he had. "Thank you."
"If you don't mind me asking…" Zael paused, swallowing, "Were they from a past battle?"
Light laughs left Arganan at hearing his question. "I wish it was. They're what's left of the affliction I suffered years ago, long before I started ruling Lazulis."
The illness. Arganan had hazy memories of that time, but it was painful. Many thought that he wouldn't survive, considering all the amputation his left limbs went through, on top of losing his eye – but he survived.
He saw Zael frown. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories."
"It's fine. I've gotten used to it." Arganan had years to get used to it – the prosthetic limbs, wearing the eyepatch daily, the whispers of the court either pitying him for having the scars he had post-illness or scorning him for how it marred his appearance, despite his best attempts to cover them. "We should get you healed, as fast as possible."
The two started heading back inside the castle, and he heard a slight hum leave Zael. "I wonder…"
Arganan's gaze drifted towards the other. "What is it?"
"Well," Zael swallowed lightly, "There was something else I forgot to mention, when we spoke to you about infiltrating the Gurak base while we were out at sea with Lady Calista."
Arganan frowned. He left out something? "And that is…?"
"Dagran tried to go after Zangurak alone, after we got deep enough in the base to face Zangurak ourselves and Zangurak fled." Zael swallowed. "When Zangurak left…he made the rest of us face one of the beasts he had on hand. Dagran managed to run ahead to try to slow down Zangurak while the rest of us fought…but by the time we finished with the beast and caught up with Dagran, Zangurak was already gone."
Dagran tried encountering Zangurak alone? A shiver ran through the Count's bones at that. "Was he injured?"
"He didn't look nearly as bad as I thought he'd be, but I was worried for him." Zael shook his head. "He didn't want to talk about it much. I doubt the encounter was any good."
It didn't take them long to get to mages with healing magic to tend to Zael's wounds – Mirania and Asthar were, coincidentally, both just leaving the castle library when Arganan and Zael saw them.
"Zael!" Mirania rushed forwards, eyes widening. "What happened?"
"Almost got assassinated, that's what." Zael rasped, just before Mirania used her healing magic to quickly heal him up completely. Arganan watched the wounds fade away, as if they never happened in the first place.
"Assassinated?" Asthar repeated, frowning as he looked towards Zael, then Arganan.
"I was in the courtyard when I saw Zael being cornered by several assassins." Arganan quickly explained to the General. "I tried diving into the fight myself to help him out, but I ran out of healing magic."
He noticed Asthar frown. "I see. And the assassins?"
"Gone. They ran away." Zael managed, before thanking Mirania quickly for healing him. Arganan watched Asthar tilt his head to the side lightly, lost a bit in thought before speaking.
"It doesn't sound like the Gurak would do such a thing."
"They weren't wearing the same armor as the Gurak." Arganan noted, frowning. At least the assassins weren't, to his recollection. "I think it's someone else that tried this."
Political assassinations were not uncommon. Arganan knew that he had guards for a reason – or else he and Calista were at heavy risk of being killed at some point.
Mirania frowned, shaking her head. "I was worried this might happen. Do you have any sign or proof of someone who did this?"
"No physical sign, but…I have a few ideas about who orchestrated it." Arganan shook his head lightly. Jirall probably did it. Out of jealousy! I wouldn't be surprised…but I don't have proof because all the assassins ran off. Damn. "Without tangible proof, unfortunately, we can't do much other than stay vigilant. And that goes for all of us."
"I think I'll head outside to the city," Zael managed softly, looking between the others. "I need to clear my head after everything – and I want to warn the others, too."
"Of course." Arganan swallowed. What if Zael's other companions were targeted next? What then? "I should inform my niece of what happened. Just," His gaze snapped towards Zael, "Please. Be careful. And the same goes for the rest of your friends!"
"Understood. And…thank you, Count." Zael hastily bowed, before rushing off. Arganan sucked in a breath as he watched the younger man leave. Would he be okay? Would he stay alive through all of this? What if Jirall sent more assassins after him? What if someone else did?
"Count?"
Arganan forced himself to look at Asthar. "Apologies, General Asthar, I was…lost in thought."
"Given what recently occurred, I understand." The General paused, before asking, "Would you like me to accompany you back to your chamber? Just so you don't collapse on the way back, of course. I'm sure you'd need some rest if you went as far as using up all your magic."
Arganan figured that he might as well take it – even with his cane, his legs were sore from all the running around during battle, and using up all his magic drained him more than he expected. "I would appreciate that, General. Thank you."
Mirania parted ways with them after deciding to head to the tavern to join Zael and let the others know what happened, and Arganan and Asthar started on their way back after Arganan told one of the servants to let Calista know what recently occurred. Arganan found that it was easy to lean into Asthar's side a bit, with the General having one arm slung around him. It felt…nice, and Arganan looked away from Asthar briefly, face flushed, until he heard the other speak.
"I admit, I'm surprised."
"Hm?" The Count looked towards him. "By what?"
Asthar's brows furrowed together as he looked towards him. He seemed intrigued, or at least as far as the Count could tell. "You dove into battle along with Zael against a group of assassins, knowing that you had little combat experience to back you up and risked your life in the process. Why do that instead of calling for other knights to assist him immediately?"
"There weren't any in the courtyard as far as I saw – it was deliberately empty. Someone must've arranged for the courtyard to be empty in advance for the assassins to corner Zael. And I knew I could heal Zael with what magic I had, so…" Arganan closed his good eye lightly, taking a deep breath. "I didn't want him to meet his doom. Even if he wasn't the savior of Lazulis, I still would prefer him alive than dead."
A low hum left the General at hearing that remark. "It's not often I hear of one's own employer rushing in like that to save the other's life."
"Really? Because Dagran commented something similar a while back." The way Dagran looked Arganan made him nearly shiver. "I just want to do the right thing." Even if it's because I want to prevent my own death in the end.
"Not many are like you. I admire that." Asthar chuckled lightly, and Arganan opened his eye and looked towards Asthar as he continued speaking, a smile playing on the edges of his lips. "And I think Lazulis benefits well from how you've been running it."
"That's good to know." Arganan murmured. "Though I'd like to think I'm just doing the bare minimum."
"You have a good heart in there, despite the power you hold."
"It's called being responsible."
"Perhaps." The two of them made it to the door leading to Arganan's room, and Arganan straightened himself as best as he could, before asking.
"Did you…learn about anything?" Arganan breathed. "About the Outsider?" If there was a good chance to know more, now was good – they were alone, just outside his chamber, and maybe Asthar and Mirania had found something of note.
To Arganan's disappointment, Asthar shook his head. "Miss Mirania and I found nothing but dead ends so far. But we'll keep searching."
"Just–" Arganan reached towards him, his right hand touching Asthar's forearm as he looked him in the eye, "Be careful. I don't want you, or her, or anyone else here to get hurt if I can avoid that."
"I understand. But you need to take care of yourself, too." Asthar's gaze flickered down towards Arganan's hand on his forearm, and Arganan instinctively pulled his hand back.
"Apologies," He managed quickly. "I didn't mean…"
"It's quite alright." Asthar offered him a soft smile, and there was something so sweet about his expression in that moment. "If you ever need to lean on me again, Count, you need only ask."
"Thank you," Arganan breathed out, and that was the only thing he could manage. Asthar soon parted ways with him so Arganan could rest in his own chamber. As the Count entered his room and closed the door behind him, he leaned back against it with a sigh.
Why did he smile like that? Has he ever done that before?
The Count wished he had his journal on hand to write this down, but it was back in his office, in the locked drawer of his desk.
Asthar…never interacted with me in that way back then. Then again, I didn't interfere with Zael's attempted assassination back then because I wasn't physically present with Zael at the time when it happened.
And…I think I've spoken more with Asthar during this time than I did with what I saw in my visions…same goes for Dagran, too.
Are both of them falling for me because I've done so much to alter my own doom?
He had been talking with both men more often. Dagran and Asthar had their charming qualities – but was this worth it?
I have been talking to my niece more, to Zael even, and Dagran and Asthar and even all the other mercenaries a little more than I did in my visions. To think it affected developments to the point of potential romance is…
A light chuckle left him at that.
Maybe…that's a chance I might be able to take in the future.
Author note: For those unaware, in the post-game/epilogue of The Last Story, you can read Arganan's diary and find out how he got the scars – which is through illness. It doesn't go into details about what type of illness it was exactly, but it does discuss that it was the reason why he became an amputee and had all the scars all over the left half of his body, including his face and neck.
