~thoughts~
'..' Norris's subconscious inner voice, and you know the rest of the symbols..I hope.
Lord Viper let out a dreadful sigh as he noticed the mountain of paper work piled on his polished wooden desk. He looked up in surprise as he heard a soft rapping sound from outside his door.
"...Come in." he said. Glenn and a nervous Norris hesitantly stepped in. Lord viper arched his eyebrows as he saw the Porre commander, "What brings you here, Glenn, Norris?" Norris looked down, suddenly finding the ground very interesting while Glenn rolled his eyes at his friend's shyness.
"Lord Viper, you remember Norris, right?" Glenn asked. Viper nodded, "Well, recently, Norris has..well..why don't you explain it to him, Norris?" Glenn asked. Norris nervously nodded. (Try saying that 5 times fast. ^_^;;)
"You see, it all started...." Norris began as he was about to explain from when Norris found about the senshi, and up to he and Glenn rescuing them, but, Lord Viper cut in.
"Just a minute, if you please. I believe the Deva's should hear this." Lord Viper said, "Glenn?" he asked. Glenn nodded and ran out to fetch them. Norris nervously fidgeted about being alone with Lord Viper, who went back to signing papers, "no need to be fidgety, all will be fine." He assured Norris, not even looking up from what he was signing. Norris calmed slightly and waited for his friend to show up. Finally, Glenn came in with Karsh, Zoah, Marcy, and Riddel. Lord Viper gave Glenn a questioning look as he looked up from his papers.
"Where's Dario?" he asked.
"DARIO HASN'T SHOWED UP FROM HIS LATEST MISSION, BUT, THEY SAY THEY SAW HIM HEAD OUT OF TERMINA LATE LAST NIGHT. HE'LL PROBABLY BE HERE EARLY THIS EVENING." Zoah exclaimed. Everyone within a foot radius flinched at Zoah's voice while Lord viper, being the farthest away from Zoah, nodded.
"Thank you, Zoah, now then, Norris, you may start your story." Viper said. Norris nodded, avoiding the Devas' piercing glares and started..
*Flashback*
Norris was peacefully snoozing on his small bed in his humble room, and was startled awake when he heard an impatient and constant knocking outside his door. He curiously walked up to the door and opened it, surprised to see one the main generals.
"Norris! Come with me!" a big burly man ordered, ignoring the surprised and confused look on his face. Norris opened his mouth to ask a question, but decided against it, when noticed the sharp glare he was getting, and complied with the general's orders. They walked in silence until the blond commander noticed they were headed towards the winding stairway that led to the accursed (At least in Norris' opinion) dungeons.
"Uh..sir, if you don't mind me asking, why are we headed towards the dungeons?" Norris asked. The general shot him an annoyed glare.
"You'll see." he muttered as he kept on walking. He noticed they passed the usual cells that used to be full of Dragoons or mystics, before that small mission Porre and EL Nido joined together for, but, only for a short time of course. Instead, they headed toward a small hallway, with two soldiers standing guard on either side of the doorway. ~That's odd~ Norris thought to himself as he watched the general hold a whispered conversation with the two guards ~ That hallways usually never guarded unless they have someone IN there, but, that cells used for people like the Deva's, Lord Viper, Lady Riddel.or privates like...Glenn." He felt a sense of dread as he thought about it and quickly wiped it from his mind.
~Why would Glenn or any of the Deva's be wandering around here?...Then again just because they were captured doesn't mean they were captured IN Porre..
'But who said it was either one of them? It could be someone else, right?'
Bah, who else could it be other than important dragoons?!
'People liked Serge....'
But why would they capture Serge and put him there?
'They could have reasons for him. After all, he IS THE Chrono Trigger.....'
But no one except me know about the Chrono Trigger except me!....
'Are you sure?'
What do you think? How else could someone know?! ~ He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as the general got his attention.
"C'mon, Norris." The general growled as he walked through the doorway into the hallway. Norris quickly ran to catch up with the grumbling general while the guards got back into position, blocking the doorway and Norris mentally smacked himself. ~Great, I was having a debate with myself. Joy.~
"Hold it, hold it, hold it!" Karsh suddenly said, cutting into Norris's explanation, "You were havin' a debate with yirself?! Wha' kind o' psychotic freak ARE ya', and the hell is SERGE?! Pierre mentioned that name earlier! And what is a chrono trigger?!(Member folks, they lost their memories about the whole adventure) I say he shouldn't be in the Dragoon Army!" he sweat dropped when he noticed the glares he was getting from Lord Viper, Glenn, and Lady Riddel.
"Karsh, I'm sure it will explained later, right?" Glenn growled in warning. Karsh sighed while Norris got a uncertain look.
"Actually, I don't know who Serge is myself, or what the chrono trigger was. I think..I was having a 'subconscious' conversation and my subconscious somehow knew what the chrono trigger is and who Serge is....but I don't KNOW...ya' know?" Norris explained.
"..Nope." Karsh said. He sighed when he noticed the glares..again, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, you don't know, go on." He muttered. So, Norris continued with his story.
(Flashback again) The general seemed to be grumbling something about...monsters?
"Monsters? Monsters! Like, what kind?" Marcy asked. Riddel smiled pleasantly at the little blond girl.
"I'm sure it will be explained, go on Norris," Riddle kindly said.
"What?! I get threats and glares when I interrupt, but she gets nothin'! NOTHIN'!!!"
"Karsh!" Viper barked. Karsh went quite while occasionally mumbling about "injustice" and "if it was Dario who did it.", but everyone ignored him, while Marcy stuck her tongue out at him.
"Continue, Norris." Viper said. Norris nodded.
(flash back) He shot the general a confused look, but didn't dare comment. Norris looked around the cells, but none were guarded, all were empty, he felt a sudden sense of relief wash over him before a thought entered his mind. ~Then why is this place guarded, and why are YOU here?~ He mentally cringed and decided not to celebrate yet. After all, Porre always had extensive underground dungeons to confuse enemies. Left, right, straight, right, right,..
"How can ya' go 'right right'?" Karsh asked. Norris's eyebrow twitched while Glenn drew one of his Einlanzers.
"Karsh!" Glenn snarled as he hit him on the head with the flat part of the blade.
"OW! That's no way ta' treat yir elders!" Karsh growled as he rubbed the painful lump on his head.
"Ignore him, Norris, please continue, and Karsh, no more interruptions!" Riddel sternly said. Karsh mutely nodded and Norris, once again, continued.
(flash back)..left, straight, where were they going? Finally, the commander stopped in front of a rusted steel door, a small window on the upper middle part of it. He peeked through and grumbled something about "damned monsters" again. Before he went in he warned Norris to stay put. Then, he walked in, and quickly closed the door before Norris could see what was inside. Curious, he peeked through the small window, then, his eyes widened as he gasped in surprise and instinctively pulled away from the window and slammed his back to the opposite wall, his horror filed eyes still fixated at the rusted steel door with the small window.
"What in the 7 hells was that?!" Norris mumbled as he subconsciously tried to back away from the door even more, as if he could walk right through the wall his back was pressed to.
"WHAT IN THE 7 HELLS WAS WHAT?" Zoah asked. Norris started to grind his teeth together while his eyebrow still twitched in annoyance.
"I'm getting to that, Zoah." Norris explained. Karsh scowled.
"No one hit HIM on the head with a certain EINLANZER!" Karsh growled as glared accusingly at Glenn.
"Yeah well, no one EXCEPT you interrupted numerous times!" Glenn explained. Karsh growled while Zoah and Marcy quietly snickered..well, at least Zoah tried to be quite.
"..Like, how can you try and walk through..a WALL?" Marcy asked, a puzzled expression on her face.
"It's a figure of speech, Marcy." Riddel kindly explained. Karsh growled, but didn't say anything when he noticed Glenn shoulder his Einlanzer and the glare he was getting from Lord Viper, "Ignore them, go on." Riddel said while Glenn and Karsh glared at each other. Norris sighed and went on, bracing himself for another inevitable interruption from the Deva's.
(flash back) The general came back out, slightly surprised to Norris with that petrified and terrified look.
"...You looked, didn't you." He said in more of a statement than a question. Norris just nodded dumbly, "Hmph, toughen up, they won't hurt you. They're our allies against El Nido and those Dragoons." He let out a harsh laugh, "not even the 'great' Sir Glenn or the 'legendary' Deva Dario can stop us with their inferior weapons and dumb 'elements!'..not even with their stupid leader, Viper." he snickered. Norris seemed slightly worried about this.
"Why?"
"Why what, Karsh?" Norris asked.
"Why were ya' worried, I mean, we're the DRAGOONS! We can beat ANYTHIN'!" Karsh said.
"...Karsh, please stop interrupting." Lord viper said as patiently as he could. Karsh flushed in humiliation.
"Sorry, Lord Viper. Go on...Norris." he muttered.
(Flash back) "If you don't mind me asking, what IS it that they're guarding?" Norris nervously asked. The general looked slightly surprised.
"What? Don't you mean, WHO are they guarding?" Norris nodded, "4 girls. Our new allies claims they have immense power and they're a threat ta' our cause, so, we decided to....thin the threats. We had one guy to, but, they took him somewhere else." Norris felt slightly nauseated
"4 girls? How old?" he asked. The general shrugged.
"I dunno, looked to be about 16 year old, they were pretty damn young!"
".Were they cute?" Karsh asked.
"..Ignore him and go on, Norris" Glenn said.
(Flash back)"....I see." Norris said, "What is it that you wanted with me?" Norris asked.
".Hm? Oh yeah, that, we chose you to make sure they don't escape. You have the brains and the brawns...weapon wise. We figured you'd be perfect, so, whaddya' say?" the general asked. Norris forced a small grin to his face.
"Of course!" he immediately agreed, knowing he would be labeled a traitor if he was to refuse, and, he didn't want to be labeled that....yet. The general grinned at him and heartily slapped the smaller commander on the back.
"Thatta' boy! I knew ya' wouldn't let us down!" He said with a grin. Norris weakly smiled back while a plan started to formulate in his head.
"Uhh.general, what if someone like..Sir Glenn were to get captured, would he be put in the dungeon, or the normal ones?" Norris casually asked.
"WHA'!? YA' BACK STABBIN' BASTARD! I BET THAT'S WHY GLENN TOOK SO LONG GITTIN' HERE! YA' TRIED TO CAPTURE HIM, DIDN'T YA'!!" Karsh accused.
"Karsh, he was making a plan, now, like I said, STOP INTERRUPTING!" Glenn growled. Karsh backed away from the aggravated teen, after all, he WAS Dario's little brother, and master of TWO Einlanzers.
"Sorry."
"..Sure you are. You're gonna interrupt in the next 5 sentences, I know it." Norris muttered. Karsh shot him a glare, but he ignored it and went on.
(flash back)The general seemed to be thinking it over.
"That's the guy with those 'legendary' swords, and the brother of Dario, right?" he asked. Norris eagerly nodded, "hmm..Yeah, I guess he would, but, it's not like YOU would try to capture him. You're to much of a softy to do that. One mission with him and your best friends, I tell ya'." He mumbled as they exited the dungeons.
Karsh snickered, "If he wasn't Porre scum I'd probably like that guy." Karsh said. Everyone except the Devas glared at him.
"Karsh...." Glenn snarled.
".Woops, sorry, go on."
"...what is that, the 10th time you've told me that?" Norris mumbled. Karsh glared at him and opened his mouth to retaliate, but his words died down when he noticed the death glares aimed his way.
(flash back) Norris grinned to himself, and quickly left to his room to put his plan in action.
Dear Glenn,
How are you doing? I'm in need of your acquaintance immediately. Please, I beg of you. There's something wrong with the Porre army as of late, and, disturbingly enough, I think they've managed to get the top general to trust them, completely. I've had my suspicions for quite awhile, and, quite frankly, they have recently been proven. Meet me outside the usual bar, by the next full moon, alright? That should give you three days at the least. I'll be waiting, and I'll give you more detail then.
Sincerely,
Norris
P.S. BRING LOTS OF POWERFUL ELEMENTS!
"...You guys meet at a bar?" Karsh asked.
"Yes Karsh, we do. It's the only I can go in Porre without having people glaring at me." Glenn impatiently explained.
"Right, now then, where was I?" Norris thought to himself.
"you were at the like, letter." Marcy reminder him. Norris nodded in thanks and continued, ignoring Karsh's mumbles of "Can't believe he forgot where he was..." and "Whhat's takin' Dario so damn long.."
(Flashback) he put his quill down and examined his handy work.
"This will have to do" he murmured. He walked outside, and spotted a slim messenger.
"Excuse me, sir. Could you take this letter to Sir Glenn in Viper mansion, El Nido, as fast as possible?" the messenger nodded and took out his hand, palm facing upwards.
"Money."
"uhh..right. here." Norris said as he dropped some gold coins in his hands. The messenger counted them and nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, I should be able to get there, 2 days flat." The messenger said as he headed towards his boat.
"..How much did ya' pay him?" Karsh asked, ignoring the aggravated glares he got from the usual people.
"Does it matter?" Norris asked.
"Of course! I wanna' know if he ripped YOU off, or if you ripped HIM off!" Karsh explained.
"..Anyways.." Norris said.
(Flash back) Norris bided his time by occasionally visiting the prisoners, making sure they didn't see him. He visited the dragon stables and tried to learn how to tame one in case his original plan off escape messed up and he had to resort to dragons... he failed miserably.
All the Devas snickered at this, but didn't comment when they saw the glares.
(Flash back) Finally, after a good 4 days of waiting, Glenn arrived. Norris had been politely declining to drink anything when the young dragoon had snuck up on him.
"Ya' know, that's the problem with you Porre scum, you're so damn slow, and unaware. I tell ta' one of our trainees could out run ya' and sneak up to ya' fast than you can say Screw Porre." Karsh said.
"...Karsh, do I have to hurt you...more?" Glenn asked as he got in a sloppy battle stance with the Einlanzer in his hand.
"....Nah, that's all righ'! I'll jus' let good ole' Norris here finish his story, right?" Karsh asked as he did a fake grin towards Norris.
"....Yeah right, anyways.."
(Flash back) "Hey, Norris, what's the big emergency?" glenn curiously asked from behind. Norris jumped in surprise and quickly turned around with his gun pointed at Glenn.
"....Trying to kill Glenn won't help, ya' know." Karsh muttered. The usual people glared at him while Zoah and Marcy continued to snicker at him.
(Flash back) "Gagh! Norris!" Glenn exclaimed as he noticed the point of the gun aimed at his head. Norris quickly put the gun away when he realized who it was.
"Oh, sorry Glenn. Guess I was a bit paranoid." Norris apologetically mumbled. Glenn just grinned at him.
"Don't worry, now then, tell me about that problem of yours." Glenn coaxed. Norris sighed and explained everything about what he saw, the prisoners, and his plan.
"I think, we can at least STUN the monsters with some powerful elements, and maybe a few leveled up basic elements. Glenn nodded in understanding and took out a small pouch.
"Here, this is what I brought. Mostly yellow elements, but some green, red, blue, etc." Glenn said as he handed him the sack, "I've already equipped mine." Glenn added as he noticed the confused look on Norris's face.
"Hmm..." Norris mumbled as he rummaged through the pouch. Finally, he got a few Bushbashers, Aeroblasters, thundastorms,(Was that what the element spell with the big thunderstorm was called?) Curepluses, Earthquakes, Deluges, and one Thundasnake summon, just in case, "What do you have Glenn?" Norris asked. He shrugged.
"Aeroblasters, Bushbashers, Soja, Genie, tornadoes, and curepluses, Deluges, and magmablasts." Glenn said. Norris nodded.
"Good, looks like we have a well rounded assortment of innates." Norris said. Glenn shook his head.
"No we don't, we don't have any Blacks or whites. I never bothered to get any of those elements, most of the attack ones that non-white innate people could do were healing or weak attacks (I forgot if you can use holy as a non white innate color. I don't think you can.) and non-black innates could do some weak attacks, but that's about it. I never bothered to get much, except Photon beams and gravityballs"(The big black floating sphere, fell free to correct me people.) Glenn explained with a shrug, "and, Karsh is borrowing my only photon beam and my only gravityball."
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me. Here." Karsh said as tossed the said elements to Glenn.
"Bout time." He muttered.
(flash back) "So then, Norris, who has convinced you that they've..got the top general wrapped around their finger?" Glenn casually asked as he cast a side-glance to him.
"I honestly don't know them personally, no rumors either, but, whoever they are, they've managed to convince the Porre army to capture 4 16 year old girls from their village." Norris said, "I dunno' it's sounds fishy and like I said in my letter, I've had my suspiciouns it wasn't the general make half the orders for a few months now." Shrug, "Call it my intuition, or paranoia, but, it's made me decide this, I'm going to quite the Porre army under accusations of being traitor, so I can get them out. You know..go out with a...bang." Norris quietly finished. Glenn stopped walking and gave his friend a concerned look.
"..." For once, Karsh was silent and had a stoic expression on his face, as well as the rest of the Devas.
"...So like, is that why you're here? Because you've been..." She trailed off, knowing Norris would understand what she couldn't say.
".Yeah, it is." He said.
"Norris.." Karsh muttered, then, he grinned, "Well, whaddya' know, maybe there ARE exceptions in the Porre army." Norris looked at the grinning Karsh in surprise, then, he too gave Karsh a small smile.
"..Yeah, I like, guess Karsh is right, there are exceptions. Always has been, always will. So I like guess, I wouldn't mind TO badly if you like, joined the Dragoon army." Marcy said. Zoah nodded.
"YEAH, YOU HAVE THE QUALITIES TO BE A DRAGOON!" Zoah added. Norris grinned.
"Thanks." He said.
"Hey, hey, don't get all mushy! Just cause we accept you don't mean we're best firneds, like you and Glenn are, got it?" Karsh said.
"He's got it, Karsh." Riddel said while Glenn gave him a secretive wink. Norris just gave him a perplexed look.
"You see, Norris, Karsh is just saying that to keep his I hate Porre soldiers air about him. I mean, if he became friendly to quickly, people would think he was softy, right Karsh?" Glenn explained. Karsh nodded.
"That's righ- Hey! Waitta' minute! No, that's not wrong! WRONG! I just TOLERATE him!" Karsh exclaimed. Marcy scowled at him.
"Whaddya' mean 'I'?! you mean WE!" Marcy said as she pointed to herself and Zoah.
"YEAH!" Zoah agreed. Riddel just patted a confused Norris on the back.
"Dragoon's are a bunch of arrogant cocky soldiers." Riddel said while Glenn let out a "hey!" and the Devas snickered, "But the Devas are worse. They wouldn't dare have friendship like you and Glenn have, maybe a mutual agreement, but, nothing more." Riddel exclaimed. Now it was Glenn who snickered.
"Ahem, I think we can discuss this later. Now then, Norris, could you please finish your story?" Lord Viper asked. Norris nodded.
(Flash back) "Norris, you do know...you couldn't return to Porre once you do this, right?" Glenn asked. Norris nodded.
"Yeah, I know, but, those girls didn't do anything, it's just...not fair." Norris explained with some difficulty with putting his feelings into words. Glenn just gave him a sympathetic look.
"Alright then, let's go." Glenn said. Norris nodded and the two were about to sneak in when a thought entered Norris' mind.
"You know, instead of having to sneak and, we could pretend you were..oblivious to me...'capturing' you. We could act like I'm taking you on a tour through here, 'lure' you down to the dungeons, and pretend to have had captured you when we see the soldiers." Norris said, "It's much easier." Glenn seemed to think about it.
"Yeah, guess it would work. Alright, then, we'll change the whole sneaking around part, but the rest stays, right?" Glenn asked. Norris nodded.
"Right, the plan stays the same. We go in, you act oblivious, I act heartless I 'capture' you, you struggle, I knock you unconscious and drag you towards the people. Then we cast as few elements as we can to at least stun them, free the prisoners, and quietly sneak out of Porre and escape on the boat." Norris said. Glenn nodded.
"Good, then let's go!" he said with a grin.
"And so, we did our plan, but, it turned out once we saved the girls, we weren't able to knock the guards, who were guarding the hallway that was meant to hold the important and dangerous prisoners, unconscious in before they sounded the alarm. We ended up running like hell out of the military base, and Glenn herded the Dragons to stampede on the soldiers while we escaped on some other dragons. Went on the boat, stayed in Arni, ditched them in Termina, warned them not to go to leave El Nido, and left." Norris finished.
"...I see. Well then, Norris, in honor of your noble actions, I invite you to be a private for the Dragoon army, do you accept, or do you wish to just live in the manor and do something un-military? Or perhaps just live in Termina or Arni?" Viper asked.
"I...would love to serve you Lord Viper..but, I must ask one favor. I will teach the Dragoons how to use modern weapons like the gun, but, I won't give away military secrets unless it's absolutely necessary. I...still have friends who live there, ya' know?" Norris said. Viper nodded in agreement.
"Then, I will give the job of teaching Dragoon Trainees..and Devas and privates how to use guns, and I did not expect you to rely secret Porre information, and am grateful you are willing to give it to us if you deem it necessary. No one will force you to give it to us." Viper said with a small smile. Norris bowed in respect.
"Thank you." He said.
"Glenn, could you please go find him a room of his own?" Viper asked. Glenn nodded and lead Norris out of the room. The devas prepared to leave too, but Viper stopped them, "You all are ok with this?" he asked. They nodded.
"Yeah, he doesn't SEEM like much of a threat, and, I think Glenn's managed to convince Dario Norris is one of the good guys already." Karsh said.
"Oh yes, that reminds me. Karsh, could you tell Dario of what has happened?" Viper asked.
"Sure." Karsh said.
"Alright then, you all are dismissed." He said as he waved his hand to shoo them off. The devas and Riddel left Viper to his paper work again, "It seems things mightbe getting interesting." Viper said to himself with a small smile, "About time."
A/N:..wow, 12 pages. Now all my other chapters are gonna' seem short. Oh well, please R&R, thanks!
'..' Norris's subconscious inner voice, and you know the rest of the symbols..I hope.
Lord Viper let out a dreadful sigh as he noticed the mountain of paper work piled on his polished wooden desk. He looked up in surprise as he heard a soft rapping sound from outside his door.
"...Come in." he said. Glenn and a nervous Norris hesitantly stepped in. Lord viper arched his eyebrows as he saw the Porre commander, "What brings you here, Glenn, Norris?" Norris looked down, suddenly finding the ground very interesting while Glenn rolled his eyes at his friend's shyness.
"Lord Viper, you remember Norris, right?" Glenn asked. Viper nodded, "Well, recently, Norris has..well..why don't you explain it to him, Norris?" Glenn asked. Norris nervously nodded. (Try saying that 5 times fast. ^_^;;)
"You see, it all started...." Norris began as he was about to explain from when Norris found about the senshi, and up to he and Glenn rescuing them, but, Lord Viper cut in.
"Just a minute, if you please. I believe the Deva's should hear this." Lord Viper said, "Glenn?" he asked. Glenn nodded and ran out to fetch them. Norris nervously fidgeted about being alone with Lord Viper, who went back to signing papers, "no need to be fidgety, all will be fine." He assured Norris, not even looking up from what he was signing. Norris calmed slightly and waited for his friend to show up. Finally, Glenn came in with Karsh, Zoah, Marcy, and Riddel. Lord Viper gave Glenn a questioning look as he looked up from his papers.
"Where's Dario?" he asked.
"DARIO HASN'T SHOWED UP FROM HIS LATEST MISSION, BUT, THEY SAY THEY SAW HIM HEAD OUT OF TERMINA LATE LAST NIGHT. HE'LL PROBABLY BE HERE EARLY THIS EVENING." Zoah exclaimed. Everyone within a foot radius flinched at Zoah's voice while Lord viper, being the farthest away from Zoah, nodded.
"Thank you, Zoah, now then, Norris, you may start your story." Viper said. Norris nodded, avoiding the Devas' piercing glares and started..
*Flashback*
Norris was peacefully snoozing on his small bed in his humble room, and was startled awake when he heard an impatient and constant knocking outside his door. He curiously walked up to the door and opened it, surprised to see one the main generals.
"Norris! Come with me!" a big burly man ordered, ignoring the surprised and confused look on his face. Norris opened his mouth to ask a question, but decided against it, when noticed the sharp glare he was getting, and complied with the general's orders. They walked in silence until the blond commander noticed they were headed towards the winding stairway that led to the accursed (At least in Norris' opinion) dungeons.
"Uh..sir, if you don't mind me asking, why are we headed towards the dungeons?" Norris asked. The general shot him an annoyed glare.
"You'll see." he muttered as he kept on walking. He noticed they passed the usual cells that used to be full of Dragoons or mystics, before that small mission Porre and EL Nido joined together for, but, only for a short time of course. Instead, they headed toward a small hallway, with two soldiers standing guard on either side of the doorway. ~That's odd~ Norris thought to himself as he watched the general hold a whispered conversation with the two guards ~ That hallways usually never guarded unless they have someone IN there, but, that cells used for people like the Deva's, Lord Viper, Lady Riddel.or privates like...Glenn." He felt a sense of dread as he thought about it and quickly wiped it from his mind.
~Why would Glenn or any of the Deva's be wandering around here?...Then again just because they were captured doesn't mean they were captured IN Porre..
'But who said it was either one of them? It could be someone else, right?'
Bah, who else could it be other than important dragoons?!
'People liked Serge....'
But why would they capture Serge and put him there?
'They could have reasons for him. After all, he IS THE Chrono Trigger.....'
But no one except me know about the Chrono Trigger except me!....
'Are you sure?'
What do you think? How else could someone know?! ~ He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as the general got his attention.
"C'mon, Norris." The general growled as he walked through the doorway into the hallway. Norris quickly ran to catch up with the grumbling general while the guards got back into position, blocking the doorway and Norris mentally smacked himself. ~Great, I was having a debate with myself. Joy.~
"Hold it, hold it, hold it!" Karsh suddenly said, cutting into Norris's explanation, "You were havin' a debate with yirself?! Wha' kind o' psychotic freak ARE ya', and the hell is SERGE?! Pierre mentioned that name earlier! And what is a chrono trigger?!(Member folks, they lost their memories about the whole adventure) I say he shouldn't be in the Dragoon Army!" he sweat dropped when he noticed the glares he was getting from Lord Viper, Glenn, and Lady Riddel.
"Karsh, I'm sure it will explained later, right?" Glenn growled in warning. Karsh sighed while Norris got a uncertain look.
"Actually, I don't know who Serge is myself, or what the chrono trigger was. I think..I was having a 'subconscious' conversation and my subconscious somehow knew what the chrono trigger is and who Serge is....but I don't KNOW...ya' know?" Norris explained.
"..Nope." Karsh said. He sighed when he noticed the glares..again, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, you don't know, go on." He muttered. So, Norris continued with his story.
(Flashback again) The general seemed to be grumbling something about...monsters?
"Monsters? Monsters! Like, what kind?" Marcy asked. Riddel smiled pleasantly at the little blond girl.
"I'm sure it will be explained, go on Norris," Riddle kindly said.
"What?! I get threats and glares when I interrupt, but she gets nothin'! NOTHIN'!!!"
"Karsh!" Viper barked. Karsh went quite while occasionally mumbling about "injustice" and "if it was Dario who did it.", but everyone ignored him, while Marcy stuck her tongue out at him.
"Continue, Norris." Viper said. Norris nodded.
(flash back) He shot the general a confused look, but didn't dare comment. Norris looked around the cells, but none were guarded, all were empty, he felt a sudden sense of relief wash over him before a thought entered his mind. ~Then why is this place guarded, and why are YOU here?~ He mentally cringed and decided not to celebrate yet. After all, Porre always had extensive underground dungeons to confuse enemies. Left, right, straight, right, right,..
"How can ya' go 'right right'?" Karsh asked. Norris's eyebrow twitched while Glenn drew one of his Einlanzers.
"Karsh!" Glenn snarled as he hit him on the head with the flat part of the blade.
"OW! That's no way ta' treat yir elders!" Karsh growled as he rubbed the painful lump on his head.
"Ignore him, Norris, please continue, and Karsh, no more interruptions!" Riddel sternly said. Karsh mutely nodded and Norris, once again, continued.
(flash back)..left, straight, where were they going? Finally, the commander stopped in front of a rusted steel door, a small window on the upper middle part of it. He peeked through and grumbled something about "damned monsters" again. Before he went in he warned Norris to stay put. Then, he walked in, and quickly closed the door before Norris could see what was inside. Curious, he peeked through the small window, then, his eyes widened as he gasped in surprise and instinctively pulled away from the window and slammed his back to the opposite wall, his horror filed eyes still fixated at the rusted steel door with the small window.
"What in the 7 hells was that?!" Norris mumbled as he subconsciously tried to back away from the door even more, as if he could walk right through the wall his back was pressed to.
"WHAT IN THE 7 HELLS WAS WHAT?" Zoah asked. Norris started to grind his teeth together while his eyebrow still twitched in annoyance.
"I'm getting to that, Zoah." Norris explained. Karsh scowled.
"No one hit HIM on the head with a certain EINLANZER!" Karsh growled as glared accusingly at Glenn.
"Yeah well, no one EXCEPT you interrupted numerous times!" Glenn explained. Karsh growled while Zoah and Marcy quietly snickered..well, at least Zoah tried to be quite.
"..Like, how can you try and walk through..a WALL?" Marcy asked, a puzzled expression on her face.
"It's a figure of speech, Marcy." Riddel kindly explained. Karsh growled, but didn't say anything when he noticed Glenn shoulder his Einlanzer and the glare he was getting from Lord Viper, "Ignore them, go on." Riddel said while Glenn and Karsh glared at each other. Norris sighed and went on, bracing himself for another inevitable interruption from the Deva's.
(flash back) The general came back out, slightly surprised to Norris with that petrified and terrified look.
"...You looked, didn't you." He said in more of a statement than a question. Norris just nodded dumbly, "Hmph, toughen up, they won't hurt you. They're our allies against El Nido and those Dragoons." He let out a harsh laugh, "not even the 'great' Sir Glenn or the 'legendary' Deva Dario can stop us with their inferior weapons and dumb 'elements!'..not even with their stupid leader, Viper." he snickered. Norris seemed slightly worried about this.
"Why?"
"Why what, Karsh?" Norris asked.
"Why were ya' worried, I mean, we're the DRAGOONS! We can beat ANYTHIN'!" Karsh said.
"...Karsh, please stop interrupting." Lord viper said as patiently as he could. Karsh flushed in humiliation.
"Sorry, Lord Viper. Go on...Norris." he muttered.
(Flash back) "If you don't mind me asking, what IS it that they're guarding?" Norris nervously asked. The general looked slightly surprised.
"What? Don't you mean, WHO are they guarding?" Norris nodded, "4 girls. Our new allies claims they have immense power and they're a threat ta' our cause, so, we decided to....thin the threats. We had one guy to, but, they took him somewhere else." Norris felt slightly nauseated
"4 girls? How old?" he asked. The general shrugged.
"I dunno, looked to be about 16 year old, they were pretty damn young!"
".Were they cute?" Karsh asked.
"..Ignore him and go on, Norris" Glenn said.
(Flash back)"....I see." Norris said, "What is it that you wanted with me?" Norris asked.
".Hm? Oh yeah, that, we chose you to make sure they don't escape. You have the brains and the brawns...weapon wise. We figured you'd be perfect, so, whaddya' say?" the general asked. Norris forced a small grin to his face.
"Of course!" he immediately agreed, knowing he would be labeled a traitor if he was to refuse, and, he didn't want to be labeled that....yet. The general grinned at him and heartily slapped the smaller commander on the back.
"Thatta' boy! I knew ya' wouldn't let us down!" He said with a grin. Norris weakly smiled back while a plan started to formulate in his head.
"Uhh.general, what if someone like..Sir Glenn were to get captured, would he be put in the dungeon, or the normal ones?" Norris casually asked.
"WHA'!? YA' BACK STABBIN' BASTARD! I BET THAT'S WHY GLENN TOOK SO LONG GITTIN' HERE! YA' TRIED TO CAPTURE HIM, DIDN'T YA'!!" Karsh accused.
"Karsh, he was making a plan, now, like I said, STOP INTERRUPTING!" Glenn growled. Karsh backed away from the aggravated teen, after all, he WAS Dario's little brother, and master of TWO Einlanzers.
"Sorry."
"..Sure you are. You're gonna interrupt in the next 5 sentences, I know it." Norris muttered. Karsh shot him a glare, but he ignored it and went on.
(flash back)The general seemed to be thinking it over.
"That's the guy with those 'legendary' swords, and the brother of Dario, right?" he asked. Norris eagerly nodded, "hmm..Yeah, I guess he would, but, it's not like YOU would try to capture him. You're to much of a softy to do that. One mission with him and your best friends, I tell ya'." He mumbled as they exited the dungeons.
Karsh snickered, "If he wasn't Porre scum I'd probably like that guy." Karsh said. Everyone except the Devas glared at him.
"Karsh...." Glenn snarled.
".Woops, sorry, go on."
"...what is that, the 10th time you've told me that?" Norris mumbled. Karsh glared at him and opened his mouth to retaliate, but his words died down when he noticed the death glares aimed his way.
(flash back) Norris grinned to himself, and quickly left to his room to put his plan in action.
Dear Glenn,
How are you doing? I'm in need of your acquaintance immediately. Please, I beg of you. There's something wrong with the Porre army as of late, and, disturbingly enough, I think they've managed to get the top general to trust them, completely. I've had my suspicions for quite awhile, and, quite frankly, they have recently been proven. Meet me outside the usual bar, by the next full moon, alright? That should give you three days at the least. I'll be waiting, and I'll give you more detail then.
Sincerely,
Norris
P.S. BRING LOTS OF POWERFUL ELEMENTS!
"...You guys meet at a bar?" Karsh asked.
"Yes Karsh, we do. It's the only I can go in Porre without having people glaring at me." Glenn impatiently explained.
"Right, now then, where was I?" Norris thought to himself.
"you were at the like, letter." Marcy reminder him. Norris nodded in thanks and continued, ignoring Karsh's mumbles of "Can't believe he forgot where he was..." and "Whhat's takin' Dario so damn long.."
(Flashback) he put his quill down and examined his handy work.
"This will have to do" he murmured. He walked outside, and spotted a slim messenger.
"Excuse me, sir. Could you take this letter to Sir Glenn in Viper mansion, El Nido, as fast as possible?" the messenger nodded and took out his hand, palm facing upwards.
"Money."
"uhh..right. here." Norris said as he dropped some gold coins in his hands. The messenger counted them and nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, I should be able to get there, 2 days flat." The messenger said as he headed towards his boat.
"..How much did ya' pay him?" Karsh asked, ignoring the aggravated glares he got from the usual people.
"Does it matter?" Norris asked.
"Of course! I wanna' know if he ripped YOU off, or if you ripped HIM off!" Karsh explained.
"..Anyways.." Norris said.
(Flash back) Norris bided his time by occasionally visiting the prisoners, making sure they didn't see him. He visited the dragon stables and tried to learn how to tame one in case his original plan off escape messed up and he had to resort to dragons... he failed miserably.
All the Devas snickered at this, but didn't comment when they saw the glares.
(Flash back) Finally, after a good 4 days of waiting, Glenn arrived. Norris had been politely declining to drink anything when the young dragoon had snuck up on him.
"Ya' know, that's the problem with you Porre scum, you're so damn slow, and unaware. I tell ta' one of our trainees could out run ya' and sneak up to ya' fast than you can say Screw Porre." Karsh said.
"...Karsh, do I have to hurt you...more?" Glenn asked as he got in a sloppy battle stance with the Einlanzer in his hand.
"....Nah, that's all righ'! I'll jus' let good ole' Norris here finish his story, right?" Karsh asked as he did a fake grin towards Norris.
"....Yeah right, anyways.."
(Flash back) "Hey, Norris, what's the big emergency?" glenn curiously asked from behind. Norris jumped in surprise and quickly turned around with his gun pointed at Glenn.
"....Trying to kill Glenn won't help, ya' know." Karsh muttered. The usual people glared at him while Zoah and Marcy continued to snicker at him.
(Flash back) "Gagh! Norris!" Glenn exclaimed as he noticed the point of the gun aimed at his head. Norris quickly put the gun away when he realized who it was.
"Oh, sorry Glenn. Guess I was a bit paranoid." Norris apologetically mumbled. Glenn just grinned at him.
"Don't worry, now then, tell me about that problem of yours." Glenn coaxed. Norris sighed and explained everything about what he saw, the prisoners, and his plan.
"I think, we can at least STUN the monsters with some powerful elements, and maybe a few leveled up basic elements. Glenn nodded in understanding and took out a small pouch.
"Here, this is what I brought. Mostly yellow elements, but some green, red, blue, etc." Glenn said as he handed him the sack, "I've already equipped mine." Glenn added as he noticed the confused look on Norris's face.
"Hmm..." Norris mumbled as he rummaged through the pouch. Finally, he got a few Bushbashers, Aeroblasters, thundastorms,(Was that what the element spell with the big thunderstorm was called?) Curepluses, Earthquakes, Deluges, and one Thundasnake summon, just in case, "What do you have Glenn?" Norris asked. He shrugged.
"Aeroblasters, Bushbashers, Soja, Genie, tornadoes, and curepluses, Deluges, and magmablasts." Glenn said. Norris nodded.
"Good, looks like we have a well rounded assortment of innates." Norris said. Glenn shook his head.
"No we don't, we don't have any Blacks or whites. I never bothered to get any of those elements, most of the attack ones that non-white innate people could do were healing or weak attacks (I forgot if you can use holy as a non white innate color. I don't think you can.) and non-black innates could do some weak attacks, but that's about it. I never bothered to get much, except Photon beams and gravityballs"(The big black floating sphere, fell free to correct me people.) Glenn explained with a shrug, "and, Karsh is borrowing my only photon beam and my only gravityball."
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me. Here." Karsh said as tossed the said elements to Glenn.
"Bout time." He muttered.
(flash back) "So then, Norris, who has convinced you that they've..got the top general wrapped around their finger?" Glenn casually asked as he cast a side-glance to him.
"I honestly don't know them personally, no rumors either, but, whoever they are, they've managed to convince the Porre army to capture 4 16 year old girls from their village." Norris said, "I dunno' it's sounds fishy and like I said in my letter, I've had my suspiciouns it wasn't the general make half the orders for a few months now." Shrug, "Call it my intuition, or paranoia, but, it's made me decide this, I'm going to quite the Porre army under accusations of being traitor, so I can get them out. You know..go out with a...bang." Norris quietly finished. Glenn stopped walking and gave his friend a concerned look.
"..." For once, Karsh was silent and had a stoic expression on his face, as well as the rest of the Devas.
"...So like, is that why you're here? Because you've been..." She trailed off, knowing Norris would understand what she couldn't say.
".Yeah, it is." He said.
"Norris.." Karsh muttered, then, he grinned, "Well, whaddya' know, maybe there ARE exceptions in the Porre army." Norris looked at the grinning Karsh in surprise, then, he too gave Karsh a small smile.
"..Yeah, I like, guess Karsh is right, there are exceptions. Always has been, always will. So I like guess, I wouldn't mind TO badly if you like, joined the Dragoon army." Marcy said. Zoah nodded.
"YEAH, YOU HAVE THE QUALITIES TO BE A DRAGOON!" Zoah added. Norris grinned.
"Thanks." He said.
"Hey, hey, don't get all mushy! Just cause we accept you don't mean we're best firneds, like you and Glenn are, got it?" Karsh said.
"He's got it, Karsh." Riddel said while Glenn gave him a secretive wink. Norris just gave him a perplexed look.
"You see, Norris, Karsh is just saying that to keep his I hate Porre soldiers air about him. I mean, if he became friendly to quickly, people would think he was softy, right Karsh?" Glenn explained. Karsh nodded.
"That's righ- Hey! Waitta' minute! No, that's not wrong! WRONG! I just TOLERATE him!" Karsh exclaimed. Marcy scowled at him.
"Whaddya' mean 'I'?! you mean WE!" Marcy said as she pointed to herself and Zoah.
"YEAH!" Zoah agreed. Riddel just patted a confused Norris on the back.
"Dragoon's are a bunch of arrogant cocky soldiers." Riddel said while Glenn let out a "hey!" and the Devas snickered, "But the Devas are worse. They wouldn't dare have friendship like you and Glenn have, maybe a mutual agreement, but, nothing more." Riddel exclaimed. Now it was Glenn who snickered.
"Ahem, I think we can discuss this later. Now then, Norris, could you please finish your story?" Lord Viper asked. Norris nodded.
(Flash back) "Norris, you do know...you couldn't return to Porre once you do this, right?" Glenn asked. Norris nodded.
"Yeah, I know, but, those girls didn't do anything, it's just...not fair." Norris explained with some difficulty with putting his feelings into words. Glenn just gave him a sympathetic look.
"Alright then, let's go." Glenn said. Norris nodded and the two were about to sneak in when a thought entered Norris' mind.
"You know, instead of having to sneak and, we could pretend you were..oblivious to me...'capturing' you. We could act like I'm taking you on a tour through here, 'lure' you down to the dungeons, and pretend to have had captured you when we see the soldiers." Norris said, "It's much easier." Glenn seemed to think about it.
"Yeah, guess it would work. Alright, then, we'll change the whole sneaking around part, but the rest stays, right?" Glenn asked. Norris nodded.
"Right, the plan stays the same. We go in, you act oblivious, I act heartless I 'capture' you, you struggle, I knock you unconscious and drag you towards the people. Then we cast as few elements as we can to at least stun them, free the prisoners, and quietly sneak out of Porre and escape on the boat." Norris said. Glenn nodded.
"Good, then let's go!" he said with a grin.
"And so, we did our plan, but, it turned out once we saved the girls, we weren't able to knock the guards, who were guarding the hallway that was meant to hold the important and dangerous prisoners, unconscious in before they sounded the alarm. We ended up running like hell out of the military base, and Glenn herded the Dragons to stampede on the soldiers while we escaped on some other dragons. Went on the boat, stayed in Arni, ditched them in Termina, warned them not to go to leave El Nido, and left." Norris finished.
"...I see. Well then, Norris, in honor of your noble actions, I invite you to be a private for the Dragoon army, do you accept, or do you wish to just live in the manor and do something un-military? Or perhaps just live in Termina or Arni?" Viper asked.
"I...would love to serve you Lord Viper..but, I must ask one favor. I will teach the Dragoons how to use modern weapons like the gun, but, I won't give away military secrets unless it's absolutely necessary. I...still have friends who live there, ya' know?" Norris said. Viper nodded in agreement.
"Then, I will give the job of teaching Dragoon Trainees..and Devas and privates how to use guns, and I did not expect you to rely secret Porre information, and am grateful you are willing to give it to us if you deem it necessary. No one will force you to give it to us." Viper said with a small smile. Norris bowed in respect.
"Thank you." He said.
"Glenn, could you please go find him a room of his own?" Viper asked. Glenn nodded and lead Norris out of the room. The devas prepared to leave too, but Viper stopped them, "You all are ok with this?" he asked. They nodded.
"Yeah, he doesn't SEEM like much of a threat, and, I think Glenn's managed to convince Dario Norris is one of the good guys already." Karsh said.
"Oh yes, that reminds me. Karsh, could you tell Dario of what has happened?" Viper asked.
"Sure." Karsh said.
"Alright then, you all are dismissed." He said as he waved his hand to shoo them off. The devas and Riddel left Viper to his paper work again, "It seems things mightbe getting interesting." Viper said to himself with a small smile, "About time."
A/N:..wow, 12 pages. Now all my other chapters are gonna' seem short. Oh well, please R&R, thanks!