Up and up and up arced the fireworks, streaks of light exploding high
above Deling City. The great float on which I stood began to move forward,
its advance heralded by the primal stamp of the dancers' feet as they
leaped and capered before my path, and by the massive cheer that arose from
the throats of what seemed like every man, woman, and child in the city.
From my position, I felt as if those cheers were all meant for one person. Me.
Oh, I knew better on an intellectual level, of course. But emotionally. it was certainly an intoxicating feeling. They may not have been directed at me, but at the spectacle that I was part of, and that was still just fine!
My smile broadened. Certain others had despised it and called it a "sneer".
Let them.
I was the one being cheered, not them.
No more chicken-wuss. No more messenger-girl. No more Instructor Trepe. For that matter, no more of those stupid Balamb Garden faculty members, with their constant chiding and petty nettling and restrictions. oh, and their greed. Most of all. no more Leonhart.
I was meant for greater things. I was at the vanguard of a tide of change. I was going to be the midwife at the birth of a New World Order. Let them be cast on the ash-heap of history!
Below, the dancers parted to both sides as the float began to traverse the city gatehouse. A clock-tower rose, and I dimly noted that it was midnight.
CLANG.
The gate slammed down in front of us. To my side, Matron rose and narrowed her eyes. What was happening? Stupid Galbadians, bungling the gate control at a vital time like now. Someone was going to pay for thi.
CLANG.
The gate behind us, now. We were trapped. No coincidence. Someone was going to hurt Matron. I could feel it. I couldn't allow that. She'd raised me up from 'head of the discipline committee' - just another student, languishing and unappreciated, plagued by idiots, and turned me into her right hand. She had made my dream come true. the dream I'd always harboured since childhood, and not confided in anybody other than Fuujin and Raijin.
I could not allow her to be hurt. I owed her my loyalty, even unto death. I'd pledged myself to her service when I became her Knight. And no Knight, especially not a Sorceress' Knight, goes back on his oath. I didn't intend to break that precedent.
I rushed the short distance to Matron's throne, bringing up Hyperion, but she waved me back just as.
CRACK. TCHING.
A corona of blue light appeared around her as she raised her arm - I dimly recognised the first sound as that of a gunshot, evidently deflected by her. No time for relief yet. we were still under threat.
A figure approaching. Leonhart. Speak of the devil. I smiled and hefted Hyperion as I stepped forth to meet him, my smile - sneer, whatever - broadening. He was going to kill the woman who was now the centre of my life. The woman who was the closest thing I'd ever had to a mother, and the mother of a new dawn. And I was going to stop him. How noble this was. the hired killer, the paid gun, the soldier of fortune, the freebooter, the dog of war. fighting the heroic Knight, bearer of the Fire Cross, the hero. It was a case of black and white, literally; his black bomber jacket and my white trenchcoat.
"So, it's come to this."
From my position, I felt as if those cheers were all meant for one person. Me.
Oh, I knew better on an intellectual level, of course. But emotionally. it was certainly an intoxicating feeling. They may not have been directed at me, but at the spectacle that I was part of, and that was still just fine!
My smile broadened. Certain others had despised it and called it a "sneer".
Let them.
I was the one being cheered, not them.
No more chicken-wuss. No more messenger-girl. No more Instructor Trepe. For that matter, no more of those stupid Balamb Garden faculty members, with their constant chiding and petty nettling and restrictions. oh, and their greed. Most of all. no more Leonhart.
I was meant for greater things. I was at the vanguard of a tide of change. I was going to be the midwife at the birth of a New World Order. Let them be cast on the ash-heap of history!
Below, the dancers parted to both sides as the float began to traverse the city gatehouse. A clock-tower rose, and I dimly noted that it was midnight.
CLANG.
The gate slammed down in front of us. To my side, Matron rose and narrowed her eyes. What was happening? Stupid Galbadians, bungling the gate control at a vital time like now. Someone was going to pay for thi.
CLANG.
The gate behind us, now. We were trapped. No coincidence. Someone was going to hurt Matron. I could feel it. I couldn't allow that. She'd raised me up from 'head of the discipline committee' - just another student, languishing and unappreciated, plagued by idiots, and turned me into her right hand. She had made my dream come true. the dream I'd always harboured since childhood, and not confided in anybody other than Fuujin and Raijin.
I could not allow her to be hurt. I owed her my loyalty, even unto death. I'd pledged myself to her service when I became her Knight. And no Knight, especially not a Sorceress' Knight, goes back on his oath. I didn't intend to break that precedent.
I rushed the short distance to Matron's throne, bringing up Hyperion, but she waved me back just as.
CRACK. TCHING.
A corona of blue light appeared around her as she raised her arm - I dimly recognised the first sound as that of a gunshot, evidently deflected by her. No time for relief yet. we were still under threat.
A figure approaching. Leonhart. Speak of the devil. I smiled and hefted Hyperion as I stepped forth to meet him, my smile - sneer, whatever - broadening. He was going to kill the woman who was now the centre of my life. The woman who was the closest thing I'd ever had to a mother, and the mother of a new dawn. And I was going to stop him. How noble this was. the hired killer, the paid gun, the soldier of fortune, the freebooter, the dog of war. fighting the heroic Knight, bearer of the Fire Cross, the hero. It was a case of black and white, literally; his black bomber jacket and my white trenchcoat.
"So, it's come to this."