The Guardian Blade
Chapter 2-Aftermath
Written by: Knight Blazer 88 (formerly Rpgmaniac)
A/N: HA! You thought this was DEAD, didn't you? Well, okay, you probably wouldn't think that unless you paid attention to my stories, which I highly doubt. Anyway, the reasons for such a long delay are in my profile. Look if you must.
A/N 2: I just realized the summary stinks, doesn't it? "A nobleman's daughter holds the key to victory?" It'd be mighty convenient if she did, wouldn't it? ;) Sounds like a plot for a 16-bit RPG. (Do you like rambling? I like rambling.)
A/N 3: I typed this up on my iBook laptop, and I'm not really sure how the formatting and stuff will translate into FF.net, so I just want to let you know *these words* are thoughts.
A/N 4: I'll stop the author's notes. They're annoying me too. :)
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His head slowly drooped down, his neck started straining, and his chin touched his chest. His companion did not mind this until he started to snore. Then he got annoyed.
"OW!" He rubbed his head where his companion had whacked him. "What was that for?"
"Let's just say you gotta clear up your nose." The other guard stood back up and put his spear back into position.
The first stood back up as well and grunted. "Anyone new?"
"You mean besides that nobleman dude? Nope. Why do you ask?"
"Uh...one, we're supposed to look for anyone suspicious, two, an attempt to make conversation."
"You failed miserably."
"I know."
"Such intelligent conversations we have."
"Very."
The two suddenly straightened up as they heard something in the distance.
"Footsteps?"
"Think so. From where?"
"...Uh, right in front of us."
"Those aren't human footsteps."
"Yes, they are."
"One pair are. There're two coming."
"Right. What's the second, I hesitate to ask?"
"...I could swear it's a mouse."
"How can you tell?"
"Those nifty little hearing-intensifier thingies I got a week ago."
"Ah."
The owner of the aforementioned footsteps blazed into view right there. They didn't get much of a chance to look, however.
"'Scuse me! Emergency! In a hurry!" the little mouse-like creature shouted as he shot past.
The two stared at the dust left behind by the faster-than-it-should-be creature.
"Was that Hanpan?"
"I think so. What's he doing here? And where's Rudy and Jack?"
"You expect me to know?"
"You ever hear of rhetorical questions, genius?"
"That didn't sound rhetorical."
"Stop clouding the issue with...oh, just shut up."
"Yes, Reverend Overlord."
"Did you say something?"
"Not a-wha?"
Their (not so) intelligent conversation was interrupted by another speedy visitor. This one was a blue-haired girl who looked to be almost eighteen, and she seemed to be chasing after Hanpan-which was confirmed when she called out, "Hey! Wait up!"
Guard two shook his head. "Lousy kids."
"Hey, you were one once."
"I know that...and shut up."
"Gimme one good reason."
"Maybe we'll actually have an intelligent conversation."
"How can we have a conversation at all if I'm supposed to shut up?"
"...just...shut...up..."
Hanpan sped past all the bewildered guards, all the fancy blue banners, all the stuff he normally would have admired and paused to take a look at. This situation was anything but normal. He realized it was probably not smart to leave Rudy and Jack in the middle of a plain that was still crawling with monsters...but at least the monsters in these parts were weak. They wouldn't hurt Rudy and Jack any more than they already were...dammit, he had to find Cecilia now!
He finally stopped at the royal throne, and it took a few seconds for his brain to register that Cecilia wasn't there. Minister Johan was sitting off to the side, however. He jumped over onto Johan's foot, which was more than enough to grab his attention.
"Johan! Where's Cecilia! I need to talk to her now!"
Johan blinked and cursed silently at his newly-stubbed toe, then realized who was talking to him. "Hanpan? What is it?"
"I'll tell you later! Where's Cecilia?"
"She's in her room. But-"
"Thanks!" Hanpan leaped off Johan's foot and sped towards the staircase.
"...she's...talking...with...someone...never mind."
Cecilia raised her head off the book she had been looking over for the past hour. "Mr. Valeria, I hate to say this, but...I don't think there's any other explanation of this prophecy other than the obvious..."
Ray sighed and threw down the book which contained the prophecy. "The obvious? The obvious is downright tragic! There's got to be a hidden message in there somewhere!"
"I don't think there is. The obvious may be tragic, but prophecies aren't always happy and optimistic."
"That's true, too, but I'm sorry I ever brought this up. I don't even believe in prophecies. I just thought this was too big to ignore." He picked up the book and turned away. "I'm sorry for troubling you, my Queen."
Cecilia was about to protest when she heard the shouting outside. "What the...the guards? What's going on?"
She was answered almost instantly when something small blew through her door so fast that it banged off the wall and moved back into place. The blur ran around the room for a while before getting a sense of it and stopped at Cecilia's feet. The little thing panted hard, as he had never run so fast in his life.
"C-Cecilia...It's Jack...and Rudy...they're...they're..."
Cecilia suddenly realized who was talking. "Hanpan?" She knelt down and looked intently at the little creature, and sure enough, realized it was the little blue mouse that always accompanied Jack. But if he was here, where was...
"Rudy and Jack? What happened? Are they okay?"
By this time Hanpan had recovered his breath. At the queen's last question, he glared at her.
"Are...they...okay? No, they're not okay at all! They just got attacked by a bunch of monsters that overwhelmed them like...like something! They're almost dead!"
The blood in Cecilia's veins pretty much froze solid. "What...how...?"
"Don't ask any questions!" Hanpan cried. "We have to hurry! They're going to die if we don't!"
Cecilia's blood start running again and she snapped to attention. "Okay! Where are they?"
"Just follow me! They're in the middle of the plains northwest of here!"
"What?" Cecilia cast a glance at Hanpan, and he didn't like the reproaching expression. "You left them in the middle of a wasteland?"
"What was I supposed to do?! Carry them all the way to Adlehyde? I'm good, but I'm not THAT good!"
"Okay, I get your point. Sorry."
Cecilia was halfway out of the castle with Hanpan on her shoulder when she realized Ray Valeria was following her.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "It's dangerous out there. Those monsters are probably still around..."
"No they aren't," Hanpan cut in. "They disappeared when something commanded them to."
"Huh?"
"I'll tell you later."
"Look, I have a bag full of ambrosias," Ray said. "And my daughter knows a few healing spells. I'll try to find her..."
"I'm right here, father!"
"What?" Ray whirled around, and jumped when he realized that, indeed, his daughter Anastasia was standing behind him, almost as out of breath as Hanpan. "Anastasia? What're you doing here?"
"The same reason you named."
"Oh."
Hanpan sped them all up. "We don't have enough time! C'mon, we have to move fast!"
*I've never seen any injuries so bad...* She shivered and her blood froze again as she looked over her two friends in the hospital of Adlehyde. *Leaving them in the plains wasn't smart, but at least they'll live...*
The doctor had proclaimed that Rudy and Jack were lucky they were as strong as they were. Anyone weaker would have been dead within minutes of the attack. Jack's broken bones would take a while to heal, while Rudy's lost arm was impossible to replace-the only way to do so was to find someone who could in the Elw Dimension, but for some reason, the shrines had sealed themselves from Filgaia a few years after the war against the Metal Demons.
Cecilia let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and put her head in her hands. *I wish I didn't come back to Adlehyde...maybe if I stayed with them, they wouldn't be injured as hard...if only this, I should've that...*
"Damn it!" She suddenly whirled around and punched the wall hard. "Why am I thinking like that?! I couldn't have made a difference...but...ahh!"
She dropped to her knees and stared at the ceiling. *If I couldn't make a difference, that makes it hurt even more...*
"But what if I could..." she whispered. "Would it not hurt?"
She didn't think anyone would hear her. But someone did.
"Don't...don't think like that...it just screws with your mind."
She jerked up and realized the voice had come from the bed to her right.
"Rudy?" She turned and looked down at his face. "Are you feeling better?"
"Y-yeah...I'm fine..." His eyes weren't open, but that didn't change Cecilia's doubts, especially when he smiled wryly. "You don't seem to be."
Even in the darkness, Cecilia could feel herself turning red. "I...well, I was just having a temper tantrum...I'm human too, right?" She winced when she remembered what Rudy was. "Sorry..."
"Nah...don't apologize...I was like that too, when I was younger...those darned angst trips...they really take it out of you..."
There was an awkward pause. Then Cecilia took a deep breath. "Rudy, I really don't want to ask you this, but...what were the monsters that attacked you?" She herself smiled wryly. "Don't tell me you were overrun by Balloons..."
Rudy's own smile disappeared. "No...they were something else. We've never encountered anything like them...not even Zeikfried could've beaten them..."
"What? Are they that powerful?"
"I don't want to believe it, but yeah...I used a Fury Shot Arch Smash...didn't do anything more than knock them down for a second..." He shook his head, but this only worsened his newly-acquired headache. "Jack tried like twenty Cosmic Waves...that didn't work either, they took every blast."
"What the...what were they?"
"No idea...we tried attacking them for a bit and then one of them ordered to attack, and they just mobbed us...that was hell...I couldn't remember anything of it except their strength...it was overwhelming...I can't even feel my left arm..." Realization suddenly dawned upon him. "I...lost my arm again...didn't I?"
Cecilia clenched her teeth. "...No use lying to you...Yes, they tore off your arm. The doctors have determined there's no way to replace it...I'm sorry."
Rudy let out a breath. "No use apologizing, Cecilia...but thanks for telling me the truth." He was interrupted by a violent burst of coughing.
She shook her head. "Sorry...are you getting tired?"
"Yeah, kinda."
"I'll let you sleep, okay?"
"Alright..."
She sat back and put her head in her hands again. *God, this is worse than I thought...if they could stand up to all that, what makes me think I could've helped?
No, stop it...he said all it does is screw with your mind...* She raised her head and glanced at Rudy again. *Dammit, he's suffered enough...he lost his grandfather, found out he wasn't even human...now being attacked by beings even stronger than the Metal Demons...?*
"Cecilia?"
Her gaze jerked the floor and she realized Hanpan was sitting there looking at her.
"What is it, Hanpan...?"
He tilted his head slightly. "Are you crying?"
She suddenly realized that she was, indeed. She wiped her wet cheeks with a hand and said, "Yeah, I guess...why?"
"I've never seen you this emotional since...well...since the Earth Golem sacrificed itself to save us."
She shook her head. "I...I'm scared. These beings could injure Rudy and Jack hard enough to keep them in hospitals for weeks, maybe even months...and we don't even know what they are."
Hanpan suddenly remembered what he promised her earlier. "Uh, Cecilia, about that thing I said before..."
"Hm?"
"Those beings...they're called Protoblazers." Hanpan shivered at the memory again. "They pulled back and were about to kill Rudy and Jack when a voice ordered them to stop...that voice said they were no threat to him anymore...and he called them Protoblazers...not sure if that helps, but it's something, at least..."
"That's true..." Cecilia suddenly stood up. "Wait...Protoblazers...? I think I saw that in one of the books I looked over today..." She drew in a sharp breath. "Does that mean...they're related to that prophecy...?"
Hanpan looked at her curiously. "What? What prophecy?"
She didn't hear him. There was only one thought going through her mind-*The prophecy's coming to life...*
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A/N (I know I said I'll stop, but I can do them at the end, can't I?): Hm, I'm disappointed in myself. I put this off for over a year and when I finally do it, it ends up as a filler thing. Oh well, you may express your own disappointment at will. (Just not too harshly, please...)
Chapter 2-Aftermath
Written by: Knight Blazer 88 (formerly Rpgmaniac)
A/N: HA! You thought this was DEAD, didn't you? Well, okay, you probably wouldn't think that unless you paid attention to my stories, which I highly doubt. Anyway, the reasons for such a long delay are in my profile. Look if you must.
A/N 2: I just realized the summary stinks, doesn't it? "A nobleman's daughter holds the key to victory?" It'd be mighty convenient if she did, wouldn't it? ;) Sounds like a plot for a 16-bit RPG. (Do you like rambling? I like rambling.)
A/N 3: I typed this up on my iBook laptop, and I'm not really sure how the formatting and stuff will translate into FF.net, so I just want to let you know *these words* are thoughts.
A/N 4: I'll stop the author's notes. They're annoying me too. :)
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His head slowly drooped down, his neck started straining, and his chin touched his chest. His companion did not mind this until he started to snore. Then he got annoyed.
"OW!" He rubbed his head where his companion had whacked him. "What was that for?"
"Let's just say you gotta clear up your nose." The other guard stood back up and put his spear back into position.
The first stood back up as well and grunted. "Anyone new?"
"You mean besides that nobleman dude? Nope. Why do you ask?"
"Uh...one, we're supposed to look for anyone suspicious, two, an attempt to make conversation."
"You failed miserably."
"I know."
"Such intelligent conversations we have."
"Very."
The two suddenly straightened up as they heard something in the distance.
"Footsteps?"
"Think so. From where?"
"...Uh, right in front of us."
"Those aren't human footsteps."
"Yes, they are."
"One pair are. There're two coming."
"Right. What's the second, I hesitate to ask?"
"...I could swear it's a mouse."
"How can you tell?"
"Those nifty little hearing-intensifier thingies I got a week ago."
"Ah."
The owner of the aforementioned footsteps blazed into view right there. They didn't get much of a chance to look, however.
"'Scuse me! Emergency! In a hurry!" the little mouse-like creature shouted as he shot past.
The two stared at the dust left behind by the faster-than-it-should-be creature.
"Was that Hanpan?"
"I think so. What's he doing here? And where's Rudy and Jack?"
"You expect me to know?"
"You ever hear of rhetorical questions, genius?"
"That didn't sound rhetorical."
"Stop clouding the issue with...oh, just shut up."
"Yes, Reverend Overlord."
"Did you say something?"
"Not a-wha?"
Their (not so) intelligent conversation was interrupted by another speedy visitor. This one was a blue-haired girl who looked to be almost eighteen, and she seemed to be chasing after Hanpan-which was confirmed when she called out, "Hey! Wait up!"
Guard two shook his head. "Lousy kids."
"Hey, you were one once."
"I know that...and shut up."
"Gimme one good reason."
"Maybe we'll actually have an intelligent conversation."
"How can we have a conversation at all if I'm supposed to shut up?"
"...just...shut...up..."
Hanpan sped past all the bewildered guards, all the fancy blue banners, all the stuff he normally would have admired and paused to take a look at. This situation was anything but normal. He realized it was probably not smart to leave Rudy and Jack in the middle of a plain that was still crawling with monsters...but at least the monsters in these parts were weak. They wouldn't hurt Rudy and Jack any more than they already were...dammit, he had to find Cecilia now!
He finally stopped at the royal throne, and it took a few seconds for his brain to register that Cecilia wasn't there. Minister Johan was sitting off to the side, however. He jumped over onto Johan's foot, which was more than enough to grab his attention.
"Johan! Where's Cecilia! I need to talk to her now!"
Johan blinked and cursed silently at his newly-stubbed toe, then realized who was talking to him. "Hanpan? What is it?"
"I'll tell you later! Where's Cecilia?"
"She's in her room. But-"
"Thanks!" Hanpan leaped off Johan's foot and sped towards the staircase.
"...she's...talking...with...someone...never mind."
Cecilia raised her head off the book she had been looking over for the past hour. "Mr. Valeria, I hate to say this, but...I don't think there's any other explanation of this prophecy other than the obvious..."
Ray sighed and threw down the book which contained the prophecy. "The obvious? The obvious is downright tragic! There's got to be a hidden message in there somewhere!"
"I don't think there is. The obvious may be tragic, but prophecies aren't always happy and optimistic."
"That's true, too, but I'm sorry I ever brought this up. I don't even believe in prophecies. I just thought this was too big to ignore." He picked up the book and turned away. "I'm sorry for troubling you, my Queen."
Cecilia was about to protest when she heard the shouting outside. "What the...the guards? What's going on?"
She was answered almost instantly when something small blew through her door so fast that it banged off the wall and moved back into place. The blur ran around the room for a while before getting a sense of it and stopped at Cecilia's feet. The little thing panted hard, as he had never run so fast in his life.
"C-Cecilia...It's Jack...and Rudy...they're...they're..."
Cecilia suddenly realized who was talking. "Hanpan?" She knelt down and looked intently at the little creature, and sure enough, realized it was the little blue mouse that always accompanied Jack. But if he was here, where was...
"Rudy and Jack? What happened? Are they okay?"
By this time Hanpan had recovered his breath. At the queen's last question, he glared at her.
"Are...they...okay? No, they're not okay at all! They just got attacked by a bunch of monsters that overwhelmed them like...like something! They're almost dead!"
The blood in Cecilia's veins pretty much froze solid. "What...how...?"
"Don't ask any questions!" Hanpan cried. "We have to hurry! They're going to die if we don't!"
Cecilia's blood start running again and she snapped to attention. "Okay! Where are they?"
"Just follow me! They're in the middle of the plains northwest of here!"
"What?" Cecilia cast a glance at Hanpan, and he didn't like the reproaching expression. "You left them in the middle of a wasteland?"
"What was I supposed to do?! Carry them all the way to Adlehyde? I'm good, but I'm not THAT good!"
"Okay, I get your point. Sorry."
Cecilia was halfway out of the castle with Hanpan on her shoulder when she realized Ray Valeria was following her.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "It's dangerous out there. Those monsters are probably still around..."
"No they aren't," Hanpan cut in. "They disappeared when something commanded them to."
"Huh?"
"I'll tell you later."
"Look, I have a bag full of ambrosias," Ray said. "And my daughter knows a few healing spells. I'll try to find her..."
"I'm right here, father!"
"What?" Ray whirled around, and jumped when he realized that, indeed, his daughter Anastasia was standing behind him, almost as out of breath as Hanpan. "Anastasia? What're you doing here?"
"The same reason you named."
"Oh."
Hanpan sped them all up. "We don't have enough time! C'mon, we have to move fast!"
*I've never seen any injuries so bad...* She shivered and her blood froze again as she looked over her two friends in the hospital of Adlehyde. *Leaving them in the plains wasn't smart, but at least they'll live...*
The doctor had proclaimed that Rudy and Jack were lucky they were as strong as they were. Anyone weaker would have been dead within minutes of the attack. Jack's broken bones would take a while to heal, while Rudy's lost arm was impossible to replace-the only way to do so was to find someone who could in the Elw Dimension, but for some reason, the shrines had sealed themselves from Filgaia a few years after the war against the Metal Demons.
Cecilia let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and put her head in her hands. *I wish I didn't come back to Adlehyde...maybe if I stayed with them, they wouldn't be injured as hard...if only this, I should've that...*
"Damn it!" She suddenly whirled around and punched the wall hard. "Why am I thinking like that?! I couldn't have made a difference...but...ahh!"
She dropped to her knees and stared at the ceiling. *If I couldn't make a difference, that makes it hurt even more...*
"But what if I could..." she whispered. "Would it not hurt?"
She didn't think anyone would hear her. But someone did.
"Don't...don't think like that...it just screws with your mind."
She jerked up and realized the voice had come from the bed to her right.
"Rudy?" She turned and looked down at his face. "Are you feeling better?"
"Y-yeah...I'm fine..." His eyes weren't open, but that didn't change Cecilia's doubts, especially when he smiled wryly. "You don't seem to be."
Even in the darkness, Cecilia could feel herself turning red. "I...well, I was just having a temper tantrum...I'm human too, right?" She winced when she remembered what Rudy was. "Sorry..."
"Nah...don't apologize...I was like that too, when I was younger...those darned angst trips...they really take it out of you..."
There was an awkward pause. Then Cecilia took a deep breath. "Rudy, I really don't want to ask you this, but...what were the monsters that attacked you?" She herself smiled wryly. "Don't tell me you were overrun by Balloons..."
Rudy's own smile disappeared. "No...they were something else. We've never encountered anything like them...not even Zeikfried could've beaten them..."
"What? Are they that powerful?"
"I don't want to believe it, but yeah...I used a Fury Shot Arch Smash...didn't do anything more than knock them down for a second..." He shook his head, but this only worsened his newly-acquired headache. "Jack tried like twenty Cosmic Waves...that didn't work either, they took every blast."
"What the...what were they?"
"No idea...we tried attacking them for a bit and then one of them ordered to attack, and they just mobbed us...that was hell...I couldn't remember anything of it except their strength...it was overwhelming...I can't even feel my left arm..." Realization suddenly dawned upon him. "I...lost my arm again...didn't I?"
Cecilia clenched her teeth. "...No use lying to you...Yes, they tore off your arm. The doctors have determined there's no way to replace it...I'm sorry."
Rudy let out a breath. "No use apologizing, Cecilia...but thanks for telling me the truth." He was interrupted by a violent burst of coughing.
She shook her head. "Sorry...are you getting tired?"
"Yeah, kinda."
"I'll let you sleep, okay?"
"Alright..."
She sat back and put her head in her hands again. *God, this is worse than I thought...if they could stand up to all that, what makes me think I could've helped?
No, stop it...he said all it does is screw with your mind...* She raised her head and glanced at Rudy again. *Dammit, he's suffered enough...he lost his grandfather, found out he wasn't even human...now being attacked by beings even stronger than the Metal Demons...?*
"Cecilia?"
Her gaze jerked the floor and she realized Hanpan was sitting there looking at her.
"What is it, Hanpan...?"
He tilted his head slightly. "Are you crying?"
She suddenly realized that she was, indeed. She wiped her wet cheeks with a hand and said, "Yeah, I guess...why?"
"I've never seen you this emotional since...well...since the Earth Golem sacrificed itself to save us."
She shook her head. "I...I'm scared. These beings could injure Rudy and Jack hard enough to keep them in hospitals for weeks, maybe even months...and we don't even know what they are."
Hanpan suddenly remembered what he promised her earlier. "Uh, Cecilia, about that thing I said before..."
"Hm?"
"Those beings...they're called Protoblazers." Hanpan shivered at the memory again. "They pulled back and were about to kill Rudy and Jack when a voice ordered them to stop...that voice said they were no threat to him anymore...and he called them Protoblazers...not sure if that helps, but it's something, at least..."
"That's true..." Cecilia suddenly stood up. "Wait...Protoblazers...? I think I saw that in one of the books I looked over today..." She drew in a sharp breath. "Does that mean...they're related to that prophecy...?"
Hanpan looked at her curiously. "What? What prophecy?"
She didn't hear him. There was only one thought going through her mind-*The prophecy's coming to life...*
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A/N (I know I said I'll stop, but I can do them at the end, can't I?): Hm, I'm disappointed in myself. I put this off for over a year and when I finally do it, it ends up as a filler thing. Oh well, you may express your own disappointment at will. (Just not too harshly, please...)