Algus smiled, an expression on his face that was impossible to read. "Right in one, I'm impressed old friend. I see that my memory has remained after all."
Ramza could not believe the sight before him. It made no sense! Algus had died five years ago! The memory of that horrible day was suddenly heaving itself out of Ramza's subconscious...
---
"C'mon! Animals are animals! I'll prove it to you!!" Algus was standing on top of a large hill, his crossbow ready for the charging assault of Delita. The rest of Ramza's men were charging at the Hokuten knights and wizards who Algus had called to support him. Only Ramza was staying back, yelling at his chemist in a complete panic. "YOU HAVE TO SAVE HER!"
The chemist looked up at the dead body of Teta and shook his head sadly. "I'm very sorry Ramza, but by the time I get to the bridge it will already be too late.."
Ramza shook his head, she could be saved! She HAD to be saved! He ran after Delita to help him, and together they would save Teta...
Ramza shouted as loudly as he could to the man who murdered Teta "Why are you doing this? Algus, why!?"
Algus shouted in reply, "It's your brothers orders, please don't ask why. Now if you will excuse me, I'm rather busy."
Delita was still charging at Algus, who had thrown his crossbow to the ground and had pulled out his mythril sword. "ALGUS! You murdered Teta! I'll kill you! I swear it!" Algus laughed, and shouted in reply, "I could shoot you, but I find the best way to slay an animal is by butchering them!" With that, Algus charged at Delita, and the two entered into fierce combat.
Both sides froze to watch the battle that unfolded between the two. Delita was stronger then Algus, but was in such a fury that he could not fight properly. On the other hand, Algus was quick, and was fighting tactically by dodging the strong blows without much of a problem. He continued to taunt Delita, trying to infuriate him even more until he became exhausted.
Ramza was running towards the two and could not make out what they were saying. Even so, he managed to hear Delita, as he shouted out in fury "you won't confuse me! Nobody uses me!!"
"Delita, are you all right? Let me help you!"
Delita jumped back from Algus's sword slash and screamed at Ramza, "Leave me, Ramza! After Algus, you're next!"
Algus laughed again. "Blaming Ramza for your failures are we? You could not be any more pathetic!" Again, Algus charged forward. Seeing an opening in Delita's stance, he moved in for a killing blow. Somehow, Delita managed to dodge the blow and smashed Algus in the face with a counterattack. Algus fell to the ground and tried as best as he could to parry the attacks of the incredible fury that was Delita. One of the Hokuten knights asked if Algus wanted help, but Algus shouted "I can handle him!" and continued to fight.
"Damnit, DIE!" Algus slashed Delita's right arm in a fury of his own. Delita did not even clutch the deep wound but howled out in an inhuman sound. Algus jumped up and tried to impale Delita in the chest, expecting that Delita would be in too much pain to get out of the way in time. Delita had incredibly managed to ignore the pain, and he jumped to the side, slicing Algus across the neck.
Ramza could do nothing but watch in horror as Algus's dark brown eyes light up in pure shock and disbelief. Algus muttered through gasps, "damn you... How could I lose to weakings like you?" He then fell over, dead before he hit the ground.
---
Ramza continued to look at Algus in pure and utter disbelief.
Before he could think of anything to say, Miluda had shouted loudly "YOU! Sold your soul to Lucavi have you? I should have expected as much from one of the most ignorant and petty nobles I've ever seen!"
Miluda had dealt with Algus before, and their meeting had certainly not been a pleasant one. When Ramza and Delita decided to join with Miluda and became angry at Algus for his ignorance and cruelty towards anyone who was not a noble; Algus had ran off, but not before uttering terrible profanities to Delita and Miluda.
Algus starred at Miluda, who he did not have any trouble recognizing. He held up his hand. "I see you remember me as well. Before you decide to attack me, know that I did not come here to fight you. I never sold my soul to Lucavi. It would have been pretty challenging to do since I never died."
"You can't be alive.. I saw Delita kill you..."
Algus turned to Ramza again and ignored Miluda, who looked ready to charge at Algus if he did even the slightest thing to provoke anyone. "You are right Ramza, by all accounts I should not be alive. I myself thought I was dead, having seen everything gone dark and having felt myself vanish from the world. Yet as soon as I felt myself leave, I felt myself return the next moment, back into the world in a great deal of physical and mental pain."
"Impossible.. There was no way you could have survived such a deep wound.."
Algus snorted, "I'm surprised at you Ramza. Have you not figured it out? I DID die, but I was restored to life. By this." Algus held out his hand and revealed a very ordinary looking ring on his finger. "My father had given it to me long ago, telling me the ring seemed to have no defensive function but was very rare and valuable none the less. None of my family, not even myself, knew that it was an angel ring. It managed to revive me minutes after I had died, although I was brought back on the very brink of life. Luckily, I happened to have enough strength left to grab the single potion I held within my bag. My survival instinct took over, and before I could even wonder how I could possibly be alive, I used part of the potion to heal my fatal wound. As soon as the wound was healed, I heard a very loud explosion."
Ramza could not believe what he was hearing, but it all made perfect sense.. Suddenly, shock within him was replaced by fury. "You murdered Teta! How dare you show your face to us!"
Alma heard her brother's accusation and for the first time realized who had murdered her sister and best friend. It had been Algus!? The timid boy who had been with Ramza and Delita!? Alma felt an incredible anger within her (one she was not familiar with) and felt a part of her longing for Algus to attack them so Ramza would have a justified reason to kill him.
Algus looked down at his feet, showing an emotion Ramza had never seen within him. It appeared to be.. Was it guilt?
"Yes.. I did.. I could tell you that I never meant to kill her, that the death corps captain had shifted to the right at the last second in a reflex even he was not aware of, but what good would it have done? You would not have believed me then, and Delita would not have believed me either, just as I doubt you will believe me now."
"So you decided to taunt Delita and laugh at him after his sister had just been murdered because you thought it was funny?!"
"No, I did it because I wanted to survive. I admit I hated Delita, but I had nothing against his sister, even if she was from a common family. I knew Delita would try to kill me, and I had to defend myself. However Ramza, you cut me off before I could get to a very important aspect of my story. It happens to be a very important element involving Teta.."
Ramza was still infuriated but kept silent, he realized that it would take all of his will power not to charge at Algus and kill him, and he tried to hold back this urge for the moment.
Algus seemed to notice Ramza's fury, and returned to his story in a hurry. "Now then, as I saw the explosion of the fort, I could do nothing but sit there and watch, still too weak to attempt to run. I watched until the explosion ended, and saw that the entire foundation of the fort had been destroyed. I then watched as you, never seeing me, had walked away. I continued to sit there, marveling at my life being restored and how it had occurred. I then saw Delita, not too far from me, standing over the dead body of his sister. Somehow, he had managed to get out of the way of the explosion in time before it had incinerated him, and had saved his sisters body in the process."
"It was at that moment, while I watched him dig a small grave for his sister, that I felt a strange emotion within me. For the first time, I felt that I had been lied to. My father, my friends, other nobles, everyone had always told me that commoners were worthless, weak, and inferior creatures void of emotion. Yet, I realized at that moment that such an idea was false. Delita had showed emotion. He had shown fury at the death of someone he loved, sorrow for her loss, and he had shown that he had great power within him. It went against everything I had been taught! Was Delita an exception to the rule? I realized that it was impossible. All these years, common born people had been humans like the nobles.."
"Something within my mind concluded that it all made sense.. Common born men and woman were regarded as inferior so that it gave nobles an excuse to mistreat them. They were regarded this way so that we could take advantage of them without feeling that we were doing wrong! We justified mistreatment by saying it was God's will for them to be inferior creatures, only so that we would benefit! It had been so obvious, yet I had never seen it before.. For the first time, I not only felt I knew the truth, but I felt disgust, sorrow, many emotions I had never thought existed within me.. In only a moment, the world had suddenly come crashing down on me, quite literally.."
The only members of Ramza's party who had known Algus were Miluda, Ramza, Zalbag, and Alma, (though Wiegraf had seen him very briefly as well). All of them were feeling a shock even stronger then when they had seen Algus alive. Algus was showing insight into the system? Algus was regarding commoners as equals? Such a shock would have been matched only by Vormav pledging his loyalty to Ramza! Ramza was having trouble keeping on his feet. He was starting to wonder if this was some Zodiac demon in disguise, but remembered that with the defeat of Altima, the Zodiac demons were now trapped for eternity.
Algus noticed the look on Ramza's face. "I see you have trouble believing me? Well then, allow me to prove that I tell no lies. Teta, why don't you take off that hood?"
"TETA?!" Ramza and Alma shouted out in unison.
The hooded figure to Algus's left took off its hood, revealing a female face that also looked remarkably familiar..
Ramza and Zalbag stood gawking, too stunned to react or speak. On the other hand, Alma had run up to her adopted sister and hugged her, sobbing loudly. "Oh my God, Teta! Your alive!"
Teta was crying too. "I'm sorry Alma, I had to wait until Algus explained things before I showed myself. I'm so glad I'm finally seeing you all again!"
Alma had let go of Teta, just in time for Zalbag to run up to her and hug her himself. "Teta! I'm so sorry! I don't know why I allowed Algus to fire that arrow at Golagros! I tried to stop him at the last second but I was too late! Please, try to forgive me.."
Teta was somewhat shocked at the behavior of Zalbag, who she was used to showing very little emotion (and she was feeling a bit of pain at the strength of Zalbag's hug). "It's all right Zalbag.. I know you never wanted to hurt me."
Zalbag realized he was probably crushing her with his hug and let go. "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you alive.." Ramza then rushed in for a hug of his own, and Teta could not help but laugh through her tears at the reunion of her long lost family.
"Teta! How is it possible? Algus said that he saw Delita bury you!"
"It's true, Delita did bury me. However, Algus had figured out the power of his angel ring and decided to restore my life. It turns out Algus was not a bad person. He was just someone who, like many nobles, had gone along with mistreating others because they had knew of nothing else."
While the reunion was taking place, Algus had turned to Miluda and Wiegraf, both of who were still more then overly cautious of the boy. He walked over to the pair and held out his hand. "I owe both of you a very sincere apology for my behavior in the past. I made many mistakes long ago, and I hope you can forgive me for how I treated you and your men."
Miluda looked at her brother, unable to speak for herself (it seemed her mouth was incapable of movement at the moment). In response, Wiegraf looked at Algus and smiled. "I do not judge a person based on their past, Algus. The man of strongest character is one who can admit to his past wrong doings and learn from it, and it seems you have done so. I accept your apology, and apologize myself for the actions of Gustav and his faction of the Death Corps for kidnapping the Marquis. However, I cannot say if my sister accepts the apology." Wiegraf held out his own hand and shook Algus's hand.
Everyone present turned to Miluda, who still seemed to be having trouble speaking. Finally, she asked "are you really the person who told me I was a loser that had lost sight of life?"
"I'm afraid so."
"I'll agree with my brothers wise words. I forgive you for your past actions if you are willing to prove you have learned from them."
Algus bowed slightly. "I suppose only time will tell if I can fulfill the proof you need, but I hope I can do so. Thank you, both of you, for your honor and forgiveness."
Next, Algus walked back to Ramza. As he had done with Wiegraf and Miluda, he held out his hand. "Ramza, I also owe you a heavy apology. I hope that my explanation can at least allow you to understand why I acted as I did, even though I realize it is not an adequate excuse. Will you be able to forgive my past actions?"
Ramza stood there for a second. It felt like there was only one thing he could say.. He held out his hand and shook Algus's as Wiegraf had done. "I accept your apology Algus, and I believe that you really do understand the consequences of your actions. Though I still find all of this hard to believe, I am very glad we came across one another."
"Wait a minute Ramza, we have to be cautious here. Worker 8, can you use your scanners to see if these figures before us are human and not the undead or illusions?"
Orlandu, always logical, had asked the robot this question. Worker 8 emitted a few loud beeps before replying "scanners indicate that these are human beings. Heart rate is normal, indicating no sign of undead status."
Ramza smiled, "well, even worker 8 agrees with your story."
Algus grinned. "That's good to know. After all, I did not want to have to shout an old classic phrase to prove I was the real Algus if the need did not exist."
"What phrase is that?"
Algus laughed, "now we must fight. Eeaaaaaaagh!!!!"
Ramza laughed heavily for the first time in months with Algus, while everyone else present wondered what exactly was so funny. Algus was one of the few people who had been there when Ramza had uttered the ridiculous phrase during battle against the Death Corps five long years ago.
Ramza could not believe the sight before him. It made no sense! Algus had died five years ago! The memory of that horrible day was suddenly heaving itself out of Ramza's subconscious...
---
"C'mon! Animals are animals! I'll prove it to you!!" Algus was standing on top of a large hill, his crossbow ready for the charging assault of Delita. The rest of Ramza's men were charging at the Hokuten knights and wizards who Algus had called to support him. Only Ramza was staying back, yelling at his chemist in a complete panic. "YOU HAVE TO SAVE HER!"
The chemist looked up at the dead body of Teta and shook his head sadly. "I'm very sorry Ramza, but by the time I get to the bridge it will already be too late.."
Ramza shook his head, she could be saved! She HAD to be saved! He ran after Delita to help him, and together they would save Teta...
Ramza shouted as loudly as he could to the man who murdered Teta "Why are you doing this? Algus, why!?"
Algus shouted in reply, "It's your brothers orders, please don't ask why. Now if you will excuse me, I'm rather busy."
Delita was still charging at Algus, who had thrown his crossbow to the ground and had pulled out his mythril sword. "ALGUS! You murdered Teta! I'll kill you! I swear it!" Algus laughed, and shouted in reply, "I could shoot you, but I find the best way to slay an animal is by butchering them!" With that, Algus charged at Delita, and the two entered into fierce combat.
Both sides froze to watch the battle that unfolded between the two. Delita was stronger then Algus, but was in such a fury that he could not fight properly. On the other hand, Algus was quick, and was fighting tactically by dodging the strong blows without much of a problem. He continued to taunt Delita, trying to infuriate him even more until he became exhausted.
Ramza was running towards the two and could not make out what they were saying. Even so, he managed to hear Delita, as he shouted out in fury "you won't confuse me! Nobody uses me!!"
"Delita, are you all right? Let me help you!"
Delita jumped back from Algus's sword slash and screamed at Ramza, "Leave me, Ramza! After Algus, you're next!"
Algus laughed again. "Blaming Ramza for your failures are we? You could not be any more pathetic!" Again, Algus charged forward. Seeing an opening in Delita's stance, he moved in for a killing blow. Somehow, Delita managed to dodge the blow and smashed Algus in the face with a counterattack. Algus fell to the ground and tried as best as he could to parry the attacks of the incredible fury that was Delita. One of the Hokuten knights asked if Algus wanted help, but Algus shouted "I can handle him!" and continued to fight.
"Damnit, DIE!" Algus slashed Delita's right arm in a fury of his own. Delita did not even clutch the deep wound but howled out in an inhuman sound. Algus jumped up and tried to impale Delita in the chest, expecting that Delita would be in too much pain to get out of the way in time. Delita had incredibly managed to ignore the pain, and he jumped to the side, slicing Algus across the neck.
Ramza could do nothing but watch in horror as Algus's dark brown eyes light up in pure shock and disbelief. Algus muttered through gasps, "damn you... How could I lose to weakings like you?" He then fell over, dead before he hit the ground.
---
Ramza continued to look at Algus in pure and utter disbelief.
Before he could think of anything to say, Miluda had shouted loudly "YOU! Sold your soul to Lucavi have you? I should have expected as much from one of the most ignorant and petty nobles I've ever seen!"
Miluda had dealt with Algus before, and their meeting had certainly not been a pleasant one. When Ramza and Delita decided to join with Miluda and became angry at Algus for his ignorance and cruelty towards anyone who was not a noble; Algus had ran off, but not before uttering terrible profanities to Delita and Miluda.
Algus starred at Miluda, who he did not have any trouble recognizing. He held up his hand. "I see you remember me as well. Before you decide to attack me, know that I did not come here to fight you. I never sold my soul to Lucavi. It would have been pretty challenging to do since I never died."
"You can't be alive.. I saw Delita kill you..."
Algus turned to Ramza again and ignored Miluda, who looked ready to charge at Algus if he did even the slightest thing to provoke anyone. "You are right Ramza, by all accounts I should not be alive. I myself thought I was dead, having seen everything gone dark and having felt myself vanish from the world. Yet as soon as I felt myself leave, I felt myself return the next moment, back into the world in a great deal of physical and mental pain."
"Impossible.. There was no way you could have survived such a deep wound.."
Algus snorted, "I'm surprised at you Ramza. Have you not figured it out? I DID die, but I was restored to life. By this." Algus held out his hand and revealed a very ordinary looking ring on his finger. "My father had given it to me long ago, telling me the ring seemed to have no defensive function but was very rare and valuable none the less. None of my family, not even myself, knew that it was an angel ring. It managed to revive me minutes after I had died, although I was brought back on the very brink of life. Luckily, I happened to have enough strength left to grab the single potion I held within my bag. My survival instinct took over, and before I could even wonder how I could possibly be alive, I used part of the potion to heal my fatal wound. As soon as the wound was healed, I heard a very loud explosion."
Ramza could not believe what he was hearing, but it all made perfect sense.. Suddenly, shock within him was replaced by fury. "You murdered Teta! How dare you show your face to us!"
Alma heard her brother's accusation and for the first time realized who had murdered her sister and best friend. It had been Algus!? The timid boy who had been with Ramza and Delita!? Alma felt an incredible anger within her (one she was not familiar with) and felt a part of her longing for Algus to attack them so Ramza would have a justified reason to kill him.
Algus looked down at his feet, showing an emotion Ramza had never seen within him. It appeared to be.. Was it guilt?
"Yes.. I did.. I could tell you that I never meant to kill her, that the death corps captain had shifted to the right at the last second in a reflex even he was not aware of, but what good would it have done? You would not have believed me then, and Delita would not have believed me either, just as I doubt you will believe me now."
"So you decided to taunt Delita and laugh at him after his sister had just been murdered because you thought it was funny?!"
"No, I did it because I wanted to survive. I admit I hated Delita, but I had nothing against his sister, even if she was from a common family. I knew Delita would try to kill me, and I had to defend myself. However Ramza, you cut me off before I could get to a very important aspect of my story. It happens to be a very important element involving Teta.."
Ramza was still infuriated but kept silent, he realized that it would take all of his will power not to charge at Algus and kill him, and he tried to hold back this urge for the moment.
Algus seemed to notice Ramza's fury, and returned to his story in a hurry. "Now then, as I saw the explosion of the fort, I could do nothing but sit there and watch, still too weak to attempt to run. I watched until the explosion ended, and saw that the entire foundation of the fort had been destroyed. I then watched as you, never seeing me, had walked away. I continued to sit there, marveling at my life being restored and how it had occurred. I then saw Delita, not too far from me, standing over the dead body of his sister. Somehow, he had managed to get out of the way of the explosion in time before it had incinerated him, and had saved his sisters body in the process."
"It was at that moment, while I watched him dig a small grave for his sister, that I felt a strange emotion within me. For the first time, I felt that I had been lied to. My father, my friends, other nobles, everyone had always told me that commoners were worthless, weak, and inferior creatures void of emotion. Yet, I realized at that moment that such an idea was false. Delita had showed emotion. He had shown fury at the death of someone he loved, sorrow for her loss, and he had shown that he had great power within him. It went against everything I had been taught! Was Delita an exception to the rule? I realized that it was impossible. All these years, common born people had been humans like the nobles.."
"Something within my mind concluded that it all made sense.. Common born men and woman were regarded as inferior so that it gave nobles an excuse to mistreat them. They were regarded this way so that we could take advantage of them without feeling that we were doing wrong! We justified mistreatment by saying it was God's will for them to be inferior creatures, only so that we would benefit! It had been so obvious, yet I had never seen it before.. For the first time, I not only felt I knew the truth, but I felt disgust, sorrow, many emotions I had never thought existed within me.. In only a moment, the world had suddenly come crashing down on me, quite literally.."
The only members of Ramza's party who had known Algus were Miluda, Ramza, Zalbag, and Alma, (though Wiegraf had seen him very briefly as well). All of them were feeling a shock even stronger then when they had seen Algus alive. Algus was showing insight into the system? Algus was regarding commoners as equals? Such a shock would have been matched only by Vormav pledging his loyalty to Ramza! Ramza was having trouble keeping on his feet. He was starting to wonder if this was some Zodiac demon in disguise, but remembered that with the defeat of Altima, the Zodiac demons were now trapped for eternity.
Algus noticed the look on Ramza's face. "I see you have trouble believing me? Well then, allow me to prove that I tell no lies. Teta, why don't you take off that hood?"
"TETA?!" Ramza and Alma shouted out in unison.
The hooded figure to Algus's left took off its hood, revealing a female face that also looked remarkably familiar..
Ramza and Zalbag stood gawking, too stunned to react or speak. On the other hand, Alma had run up to her adopted sister and hugged her, sobbing loudly. "Oh my God, Teta! Your alive!"
Teta was crying too. "I'm sorry Alma, I had to wait until Algus explained things before I showed myself. I'm so glad I'm finally seeing you all again!"
Alma had let go of Teta, just in time for Zalbag to run up to her and hug her himself. "Teta! I'm so sorry! I don't know why I allowed Algus to fire that arrow at Golagros! I tried to stop him at the last second but I was too late! Please, try to forgive me.."
Teta was somewhat shocked at the behavior of Zalbag, who she was used to showing very little emotion (and she was feeling a bit of pain at the strength of Zalbag's hug). "It's all right Zalbag.. I know you never wanted to hurt me."
Zalbag realized he was probably crushing her with his hug and let go. "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you alive.." Ramza then rushed in for a hug of his own, and Teta could not help but laugh through her tears at the reunion of her long lost family.
"Teta! How is it possible? Algus said that he saw Delita bury you!"
"It's true, Delita did bury me. However, Algus had figured out the power of his angel ring and decided to restore my life. It turns out Algus was not a bad person. He was just someone who, like many nobles, had gone along with mistreating others because they had knew of nothing else."
While the reunion was taking place, Algus had turned to Miluda and Wiegraf, both of who were still more then overly cautious of the boy. He walked over to the pair and held out his hand. "I owe both of you a very sincere apology for my behavior in the past. I made many mistakes long ago, and I hope you can forgive me for how I treated you and your men."
Miluda looked at her brother, unable to speak for herself (it seemed her mouth was incapable of movement at the moment). In response, Wiegraf looked at Algus and smiled. "I do not judge a person based on their past, Algus. The man of strongest character is one who can admit to his past wrong doings and learn from it, and it seems you have done so. I accept your apology, and apologize myself for the actions of Gustav and his faction of the Death Corps for kidnapping the Marquis. However, I cannot say if my sister accepts the apology." Wiegraf held out his own hand and shook Algus's hand.
Everyone present turned to Miluda, who still seemed to be having trouble speaking. Finally, she asked "are you really the person who told me I was a loser that had lost sight of life?"
"I'm afraid so."
"I'll agree with my brothers wise words. I forgive you for your past actions if you are willing to prove you have learned from them."
Algus bowed slightly. "I suppose only time will tell if I can fulfill the proof you need, but I hope I can do so. Thank you, both of you, for your honor and forgiveness."
Next, Algus walked back to Ramza. As he had done with Wiegraf and Miluda, he held out his hand. "Ramza, I also owe you a heavy apology. I hope that my explanation can at least allow you to understand why I acted as I did, even though I realize it is not an adequate excuse. Will you be able to forgive my past actions?"
Ramza stood there for a second. It felt like there was only one thing he could say.. He held out his hand and shook Algus's as Wiegraf had done. "I accept your apology Algus, and I believe that you really do understand the consequences of your actions. Though I still find all of this hard to believe, I am very glad we came across one another."
"Wait a minute Ramza, we have to be cautious here. Worker 8, can you use your scanners to see if these figures before us are human and not the undead or illusions?"
Orlandu, always logical, had asked the robot this question. Worker 8 emitted a few loud beeps before replying "scanners indicate that these are human beings. Heart rate is normal, indicating no sign of undead status."
Ramza smiled, "well, even worker 8 agrees with your story."
Algus grinned. "That's good to know. After all, I did not want to have to shout an old classic phrase to prove I was the real Algus if the need did not exist."
"What phrase is that?"
Algus laughed, "now we must fight. Eeaaaaaaagh!!!!"
Ramza laughed heavily for the first time in months with Algus, while everyone else present wondered what exactly was so funny. Algus was one of the few people who had been there when Ramza had uttered the ridiculous phrase during battle against the Death Corps five long years ago.