A/N: How did you like that!
North of Darilsheid (Chapter 6) – Leon
Leon threw another piece of firewood onto the small fire. Chelsea had let it go out while he rested, but he'd managed to get it started again...a very irritating thing to do. He looked over at her - still sleeping.
At least one of us got some rest. Leon had not fallen asleep; he hated the second watch because he could never get to sleep at first, and then had to stay awake when he finally felt tired. He looked over toward the horizon and saw the sky was beginning to get a lighter shade of blue. The sun would rise soon, and they'd have to start walking again.
Spitting into the new fire, he looked over at his Swordian. "Why couldn't I kill him that night?" He asked Chaltier, not really expecting an answer. And why didn't he? The night...when Hugo had killed his mother...he was young then, too young really. Perhaps that's why.
I cannot answer that, young master.
He sighed; lying down on his blanket as he thought about what would happen once they got to the shop. Langer and his group had left shortly after the Sergeant had threatened Garr with his life. They were going to the shop to get some key or something to activate the main Oberon facility, which was located in the woods of Phandaria underwater. Leon had never been there, and he had no real interest in this whole amulet search so he had stayed home at the Castle. Langer was taking control of the mission anyway, and becoming a bit crazy.
The reason he was going with that girl was because the King had asked him to investigate, seeing that his soldiers had left without his permission. But also because the King had said he could take any measures needed. He could kill anyone, in other words...Leon had been thinking about his fate, realizing that Hugo was beginning to get really weird, always talking about his disgust for the world. How it could be so much better if only he could control it. Leon didn't think the man would to try to get in the King's position, but probably had other ideas in his evil mind.
Ever since he decided to collect those damn swords...Leon growled when he thought about it. His life had been fine as an infant, but once Hugo had gained possession of that evil sword, he'd changed. He knew Hugo was conjuring up a plan to fulfill whatever crazy ideas he had. And he knew the President was very capable of doing anything...nothing would persuade him to do anything he didn't want. Not even his own wife...Leon felt a serge of anger come over him as he remembered his mother. She didn't deserve the fate she received. Neither did his sister...anyone that was affected by Hugo's inhumane mind. And his plans...the boy figured once Hugo got the Amulet of Atamoni, he'd be one step closer to getting where he wanted to be. And since he was the President of the biggest corporation, people were jumping to be his minions.
Leon sighed. If only I could kill him, everything would be fine. But would he? He knew he was capable, but even though he had so much hatred for his father, he just could not ever muster up the courage to actually do it. Hugo was the only thing the teenager had left...the only relative.
He looked over to the skyline again, and saw that the sun was beginning to come up. He watched it for a few seconds, seeing the ball of fire make it's way out of the trees...inch by inch it slowly crawled up, spilling light over the vast area of Seinegald. As soon as it was fully up, he stretched and turned to wake up his companion—but then stopped. He hadn't fallen asleep at all that night, and he had witnessed her go deep in thought, then take her bow and point it at him. He found that very disturbing, even though he knew if she shot he could have moved...he wondered if she was crazy too?
He hadn't fallen asleep after that for sure. But he decided it was a late night thing; and let it go. He wouldn't talk to her about it; he understood random feelings of anger. Leon walked over to her and hesitated. He didn't know why...he knocked himself out of it and shook the girl. She rolled over, looking up at him groggily. "Hello..." she mumbled and sat up.
"We'll go now." Leon had already begun packing his sleep material into their pack.
He heard her yawn and stretch, then get up. He finished packing and went over to the fire, keeping up the usual morning small talk and throwing dirt over top of their campfire, spreading out the ashes. He didn't really want anyone to know they had been there, just in case anyone was around. He turned back to the girl and saw she had already packed both of their stuff into the bag. He approved of this, and then picked up the map and compass, figuring out their exact location.
As soon as they started to walk again, Leon saw something in the distance. It seemed to be moving, and as it neared closer he could see it was a person on a horse. Quickly, he turned his head to Chelsea, "Go hide in the woods over there, just until I find out whom that is."
She nodded, and ran off to the right. Leon walked ahead casually, pretending he was your normal traveler. The man on the horse drew nearer, and the swordsman saw that it was General Isard, one of the Seven Generals. He looked injured, bloody and battered and stopped as he got near Leon.
Isard halted his horse, which was wheezing horribly and looked down at that boy in relief. "Leon!"
"General! What has happened?"
Isard patted his gagging horse and coughed loudly. "It's Langer...he's gone mad! His greed fer' that amulet has overpowered 'im, I'm afraid. We couldn't do nothin', he's left back there with Vims, Melina, and Hugo. Oh, and of course Garr. I managed to escape, and I'm gonna head back to the King fer' reinforcements."
Leon growled angrily at this news. "How far is it from here?"
"Ah, you'll make it in a few hours if yer' walkin'."
The young boy nodded and then watched the General ride off. Soon after the man was gone, Chelsea came out from the woods, running up to Leon. "Who was it?" She asked, catching her breath.
Leon continued to walk forward, "It was one of the Generals. I guess Langer went crazy...looking for that amulet of yours." The sixteen-year-old glanced back at the girl behind him. "Walk faster. We must get there sooner."
He heard her mutter something, but let it go. They walked ahead for about three hours when they saw the building in the distance. As they neared it, Leon saw it was bigger than the last time he'd been here. The building was old, since it had not been used for a few years and was built about thirty years ago. Made out of stone, it resembled his mansion with the same two doors in the front with Darilsheid's crest engraved on them.
The two approached the old store and Leon could hear shouting voices from inside. He guided his partner and himself around the side of the aged building, sneaking near the side entrance where no one could hear or see them.
"It's kind of shabby considering it's an elite Oberon building." He heard Chelsea mutter dryly from behind him.
"Shh!"
Leon crept up to the door, feeling Chelsea follow him and looked in the inside. He could see a long hall with little sections breaking off from it. It was probably a storage room, since there were a lot of empty crates. He noted a door on the right side near the end; probably where Garr and the others were. He looked at the door in front of him; seeing it was quite thick and heavy...it would make a loud noise if he were to open it.
There's got to be another way in...He looked around, but couldn't see anything from this side. He did not want to walk around the building, since it may attract attention where there were windows.
As he thought of a plan, he felt someone grab his shoulder and turn him around. It was Chelsea, looking at him curiously. "What are we going to do?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out!" He snarled. The fatigue from having no sleep was catching up with him, and he felt more irritable than usual.
"I have a plan..."
"Would you shut up for a minute?"
He saw her frown angrily and then step close in front of him. "I said I have a plan, bright one!"
Leon growled and stepped back, uncomfortable about being that close to anyone. "Fine, what's your moronic plan?" He asked, only out of amusement to see what the younger girl's idea was.
"Why don't we go inside?"
The boy rolled his eyes. He figured as much. "Obviously if we open that door it will cause a loud noise, disrupting the peace and creating general chaos. We might die."
Chelsea glanced around as did Leon, and then both of their eyes landed on the window that was to the northeast of the door. Chelsea walked over to it, and looked up. "We can try this..."
Leon stepped up beside her. "It may work. It will have to do, anyway." He took Chaltier from his waist and quietly asked the Swordian to create a flame around the blade. Chaltier complied, and Leon pushed the heated blade in the glass of the window, and cut a decent sized hole in it. He put away his sword and looked at Chelsea. "I will go first and then you follow."
He easily climbed through the hole since he'd had previous experience with tricky situations similar to this in his years of the military. As he got in, he could hear the voice of Langer in the room down the hall. The hallway they were in now was very dusty and dark, and Leon resisted the urge to cough and sneeze. He turned back to the window and saw the younger girl struggling to get in, since she was too short.
"Give me your hands." He grabbed onto them, and lifted her up to the window; she was heavier than he thought. But he had wielded far heavier things, and easily pulled the girl through the open window.
They reached the room at the end, and to their luck there was a window on the door so that they could look inside. Leon cautiously peered inside and saw Langer, and the other two Generals at a table, arguing profusely. Garr was sitting in the corner, looking beaten, his face marred by bruises and cuts. He was alive, though, looking around wearily.
Leon focused his attention to what the two Generals were arguing about. He couldn't hear them too well, but he picked out a familiar name, one he had heard Hugo mention many times at meetings. "...Mumble, amulet... mumble, Lydon knows." Lydon Bernhardt? He remembered the priest; he'd met him once in Calvalese. Leon strained to hear more, wondering where Hugo was, but felt a tug at his sleeve.
Annoyed, Leon stepped away from the door, and looked at Chelsea, whose eyes held the obvious question. "He's alive and in there," Leon whispered, seeing relief smother her green eyes. "But so is Langer, Melina and Vims." He then witnessed disappointment cloud the relief.
Suddenly, a noise broke the silence, and they both gasped when they heard the door being opened. Leon grabbed Chelsea quickly and pushed her in one of the sections that broke off from the hall. There were a bunch of boxes and crates in the little room, so he pushed her behind a stack and stepped in beside her. It was a bit weird since he had to press close against her, but neither of them said anything since they were too pre-occupied wondering if whoever had left the room heard them.
The boy heard a pair of hasty footsteps and a female voice mumble something. He imagined it was General Melina, probably with General Vims. He strained to listen to any other clues, but could only hear silence. The two Generals had probably stopped, then Leon could hear them talking.
"Vims, we'd better get out of here before that man goes crazy..."
"Yeah, you saw what he did to Isard...Holy Atamoni, that was uncalled for. The poor guy."
There was a brief silence. "Hey-- what's this?"
"Don't know. Looks like an arrow. This wasn't here before."
Leon heard Chelsea gasp from beside him. He turned to her, looking at her questioningly. She whispered very silently, "I must have dropped one!" He heard a lot of panic in her voice, and hushed her.
"Hmm... Black feathers...that's Alba's arrow." Melina sounded really suspicious, and Leon cursed softly under his breath.
"Is someone here?"
"Couldn't tell ya. Let's check it out." The sixteen-year-old reached for his sword as he heard General Vims searching behind other section's boxes. He waited, figuring keeping silent and waiting for the last second would be the wisest thing to do. Chelsea was squirming beside him out of fear, and he raised a finger to his lips, silencing the girl.
To the teenagers' utmost luck, the door re-opened and someone else stepped out. "Hey! What are you two doing out here?" It was Langer. Maybe not their luck.
"Well we found this..." Another brief pause. "And we were looking for its owner."
Leon heard Langer let out a laugh. It was different than his other laughs before, though. It did sound insane. "Look, why don't you two get lost? I'll deal with this."
They heard the pair of footsteps get further and further away, and felt a bit of the tension release, but then Langer's footsteps grew closer to their hiding spot. Leon knew there would not be a second chance this time, so he stepped out from behind the box, Chaltier in hand.
"Hello, Langer."
Langer's eyes glowed with fury when he saw the young swordsman standing in front of him. The boy could almost see the angry memories of the King calling out his name for the promotion flash in his mind. Langer stepped back, pulling out a sword and took a deep breath. Leon glanced to Chelsea quickly so that the man in front of him wouldn't see it. She came closer, and Leon muttered without looking at her, "Go save your love; I'll deal with this fool."
She nodded, and waited for the appropriate time to exit to the room.
"Leon...Magnus..." The hatred was very distinct in the older soldier's voice as he spat out the boy's name. Leon stepped out of the section and into the hallway. "Perhaps today..." the Sergeant's detest for the boy clouded his mind, as Leon quickly moved to the left so Langer's eyes were not on the young girl who slipped by unnoticed.
"Perhaps today we'll find out who the real Master Swordsman is!"
North of Darilsheid (Chapter 6) – Leon
Leon threw another piece of firewood onto the small fire. Chelsea had let it go out while he rested, but he'd managed to get it started again...a very irritating thing to do. He looked over at her - still sleeping.
At least one of us got some rest. Leon had not fallen asleep; he hated the second watch because he could never get to sleep at first, and then had to stay awake when he finally felt tired. He looked over toward the horizon and saw the sky was beginning to get a lighter shade of blue. The sun would rise soon, and they'd have to start walking again.
Spitting into the new fire, he looked over at his Swordian. "Why couldn't I kill him that night?" He asked Chaltier, not really expecting an answer. And why didn't he? The night...when Hugo had killed his mother...he was young then, too young really. Perhaps that's why.
I cannot answer that, young master.
He sighed; lying down on his blanket as he thought about what would happen once they got to the shop. Langer and his group had left shortly after the Sergeant had threatened Garr with his life. They were going to the shop to get some key or something to activate the main Oberon facility, which was located in the woods of Phandaria underwater. Leon had never been there, and he had no real interest in this whole amulet search so he had stayed home at the Castle. Langer was taking control of the mission anyway, and becoming a bit crazy.
The reason he was going with that girl was because the King had asked him to investigate, seeing that his soldiers had left without his permission. But also because the King had said he could take any measures needed. He could kill anyone, in other words...Leon had been thinking about his fate, realizing that Hugo was beginning to get really weird, always talking about his disgust for the world. How it could be so much better if only he could control it. Leon didn't think the man would to try to get in the King's position, but probably had other ideas in his evil mind.
Ever since he decided to collect those damn swords...Leon growled when he thought about it. His life had been fine as an infant, but once Hugo had gained possession of that evil sword, he'd changed. He knew Hugo was conjuring up a plan to fulfill whatever crazy ideas he had. And he knew the President was very capable of doing anything...nothing would persuade him to do anything he didn't want. Not even his own wife...Leon felt a serge of anger come over him as he remembered his mother. She didn't deserve the fate she received. Neither did his sister...anyone that was affected by Hugo's inhumane mind. And his plans...the boy figured once Hugo got the Amulet of Atamoni, he'd be one step closer to getting where he wanted to be. And since he was the President of the biggest corporation, people were jumping to be his minions.
Leon sighed. If only I could kill him, everything would be fine. But would he? He knew he was capable, but even though he had so much hatred for his father, he just could not ever muster up the courage to actually do it. Hugo was the only thing the teenager had left...the only relative.
He looked over to the skyline again, and saw that the sun was beginning to come up. He watched it for a few seconds, seeing the ball of fire make it's way out of the trees...inch by inch it slowly crawled up, spilling light over the vast area of Seinegald. As soon as it was fully up, he stretched and turned to wake up his companion—but then stopped. He hadn't fallen asleep at all that night, and he had witnessed her go deep in thought, then take her bow and point it at him. He found that very disturbing, even though he knew if she shot he could have moved...he wondered if she was crazy too?
He hadn't fallen asleep after that for sure. But he decided it was a late night thing; and let it go. He wouldn't talk to her about it; he understood random feelings of anger. Leon walked over to her and hesitated. He didn't know why...he knocked himself out of it and shook the girl. She rolled over, looking up at him groggily. "Hello..." she mumbled and sat up.
"We'll go now." Leon had already begun packing his sleep material into their pack.
He heard her yawn and stretch, then get up. He finished packing and went over to the fire, keeping up the usual morning small talk and throwing dirt over top of their campfire, spreading out the ashes. He didn't really want anyone to know they had been there, just in case anyone was around. He turned back to the girl and saw she had already packed both of their stuff into the bag. He approved of this, and then picked up the map and compass, figuring out their exact location.
As soon as they started to walk again, Leon saw something in the distance. It seemed to be moving, and as it neared closer he could see it was a person on a horse. Quickly, he turned his head to Chelsea, "Go hide in the woods over there, just until I find out whom that is."
She nodded, and ran off to the right. Leon walked ahead casually, pretending he was your normal traveler. The man on the horse drew nearer, and the swordsman saw that it was General Isard, one of the Seven Generals. He looked injured, bloody and battered and stopped as he got near Leon.
Isard halted his horse, which was wheezing horribly and looked down at that boy in relief. "Leon!"
"General! What has happened?"
Isard patted his gagging horse and coughed loudly. "It's Langer...he's gone mad! His greed fer' that amulet has overpowered 'im, I'm afraid. We couldn't do nothin', he's left back there with Vims, Melina, and Hugo. Oh, and of course Garr. I managed to escape, and I'm gonna head back to the King fer' reinforcements."
Leon growled angrily at this news. "How far is it from here?"
"Ah, you'll make it in a few hours if yer' walkin'."
The young boy nodded and then watched the General ride off. Soon after the man was gone, Chelsea came out from the woods, running up to Leon. "Who was it?" She asked, catching her breath.
Leon continued to walk forward, "It was one of the Generals. I guess Langer went crazy...looking for that amulet of yours." The sixteen-year-old glanced back at the girl behind him. "Walk faster. We must get there sooner."
He heard her mutter something, but let it go. They walked ahead for about three hours when they saw the building in the distance. As they neared it, Leon saw it was bigger than the last time he'd been here. The building was old, since it had not been used for a few years and was built about thirty years ago. Made out of stone, it resembled his mansion with the same two doors in the front with Darilsheid's crest engraved on them.
The two approached the old store and Leon could hear shouting voices from inside. He guided his partner and himself around the side of the aged building, sneaking near the side entrance where no one could hear or see them.
"It's kind of shabby considering it's an elite Oberon building." He heard Chelsea mutter dryly from behind him.
"Shh!"
Leon crept up to the door, feeling Chelsea follow him and looked in the inside. He could see a long hall with little sections breaking off from it. It was probably a storage room, since there were a lot of empty crates. He noted a door on the right side near the end; probably where Garr and the others were. He looked at the door in front of him; seeing it was quite thick and heavy...it would make a loud noise if he were to open it.
There's got to be another way in...He looked around, but couldn't see anything from this side. He did not want to walk around the building, since it may attract attention where there were windows.
As he thought of a plan, he felt someone grab his shoulder and turn him around. It was Chelsea, looking at him curiously. "What are we going to do?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out!" He snarled. The fatigue from having no sleep was catching up with him, and he felt more irritable than usual.
"I have a plan..."
"Would you shut up for a minute?"
He saw her frown angrily and then step close in front of him. "I said I have a plan, bright one!"
Leon growled and stepped back, uncomfortable about being that close to anyone. "Fine, what's your moronic plan?" He asked, only out of amusement to see what the younger girl's idea was.
"Why don't we go inside?"
The boy rolled his eyes. He figured as much. "Obviously if we open that door it will cause a loud noise, disrupting the peace and creating general chaos. We might die."
Chelsea glanced around as did Leon, and then both of their eyes landed on the window that was to the northeast of the door. Chelsea walked over to it, and looked up. "We can try this..."
Leon stepped up beside her. "It may work. It will have to do, anyway." He took Chaltier from his waist and quietly asked the Swordian to create a flame around the blade. Chaltier complied, and Leon pushed the heated blade in the glass of the window, and cut a decent sized hole in it. He put away his sword and looked at Chelsea. "I will go first and then you follow."
He easily climbed through the hole since he'd had previous experience with tricky situations similar to this in his years of the military. As he got in, he could hear the voice of Langer in the room down the hall. The hallway they were in now was very dusty and dark, and Leon resisted the urge to cough and sneeze. He turned back to the window and saw the younger girl struggling to get in, since she was too short.
"Give me your hands." He grabbed onto them, and lifted her up to the window; she was heavier than he thought. But he had wielded far heavier things, and easily pulled the girl through the open window.
They reached the room at the end, and to their luck there was a window on the door so that they could look inside. Leon cautiously peered inside and saw Langer, and the other two Generals at a table, arguing profusely. Garr was sitting in the corner, looking beaten, his face marred by bruises and cuts. He was alive, though, looking around wearily.
Leon focused his attention to what the two Generals were arguing about. He couldn't hear them too well, but he picked out a familiar name, one he had heard Hugo mention many times at meetings. "...Mumble, amulet... mumble, Lydon knows." Lydon Bernhardt? He remembered the priest; he'd met him once in Calvalese. Leon strained to hear more, wondering where Hugo was, but felt a tug at his sleeve.
Annoyed, Leon stepped away from the door, and looked at Chelsea, whose eyes held the obvious question. "He's alive and in there," Leon whispered, seeing relief smother her green eyes. "But so is Langer, Melina and Vims." He then witnessed disappointment cloud the relief.
Suddenly, a noise broke the silence, and they both gasped when they heard the door being opened. Leon grabbed Chelsea quickly and pushed her in one of the sections that broke off from the hall. There were a bunch of boxes and crates in the little room, so he pushed her behind a stack and stepped in beside her. It was a bit weird since he had to press close against her, but neither of them said anything since they were too pre-occupied wondering if whoever had left the room heard them.
The boy heard a pair of hasty footsteps and a female voice mumble something. He imagined it was General Melina, probably with General Vims. He strained to listen to any other clues, but could only hear silence. The two Generals had probably stopped, then Leon could hear them talking.
"Vims, we'd better get out of here before that man goes crazy..."
"Yeah, you saw what he did to Isard...Holy Atamoni, that was uncalled for. The poor guy."
There was a brief silence. "Hey-- what's this?"
"Don't know. Looks like an arrow. This wasn't here before."
Leon heard Chelsea gasp from beside him. He turned to her, looking at her questioningly. She whispered very silently, "I must have dropped one!" He heard a lot of panic in her voice, and hushed her.
"Hmm... Black feathers...that's Alba's arrow." Melina sounded really suspicious, and Leon cursed softly under his breath.
"Is someone here?"
"Couldn't tell ya. Let's check it out." The sixteen-year-old reached for his sword as he heard General Vims searching behind other section's boxes. He waited, figuring keeping silent and waiting for the last second would be the wisest thing to do. Chelsea was squirming beside him out of fear, and he raised a finger to his lips, silencing the girl.
To the teenagers' utmost luck, the door re-opened and someone else stepped out. "Hey! What are you two doing out here?" It was Langer. Maybe not their luck.
"Well we found this..." Another brief pause. "And we were looking for its owner."
Leon heard Langer let out a laugh. It was different than his other laughs before, though. It did sound insane. "Look, why don't you two get lost? I'll deal with this."
They heard the pair of footsteps get further and further away, and felt a bit of the tension release, but then Langer's footsteps grew closer to their hiding spot. Leon knew there would not be a second chance this time, so he stepped out from behind the box, Chaltier in hand.
"Hello, Langer."
Langer's eyes glowed with fury when he saw the young swordsman standing in front of him. The boy could almost see the angry memories of the King calling out his name for the promotion flash in his mind. Langer stepped back, pulling out a sword and took a deep breath. Leon glanced to Chelsea quickly so that the man in front of him wouldn't see it. She came closer, and Leon muttered without looking at her, "Go save your love; I'll deal with this fool."
She nodded, and waited for the appropriate time to exit to the room.
"Leon...Magnus..." The hatred was very distinct in the older soldier's voice as he spat out the boy's name. Leon stepped out of the section and into the hallway. "Perhaps today..." the Sergeant's detest for the boy clouded his mind, as Leon quickly moved to the left so Langer's eyes were not on the young girl who slipped by unnoticed.
"Perhaps today we'll find out who the real Master Swordsman is!"