Chapter 5: Evil Forest: Preparations

I can't get out. Fire…fire everywhere. I can't escape. It is too late. I have failed. Can't escape…I will die. Then there is a loud crack as I see a wooden beam break in the fire. I blacked out.


"W-Will he be o-okay" Vivi asked me, concerned, as he watched Michael's still unconscious body.

"He'll be okay Vivi. Just wait and see. He's a tough one" I said reassuringly to Vivi. They where back at the theater ship and had placed Michael in one of the rooms. The events that lead up to this flashed in my mind.

He had Vivi go back to the ship and get help while he tried to carry Michael and Steiner, who had breathed in the gas as well, back to the ship. Vivi came back with Blank and Marcus. Blank and Marcus carried Steiner while Vivi and I carried Michael. It wasn't an easy journey back, but luckily we hadn't encountered anything on the way back. Now I was here with Vivi waiting for Michael to wake up.

Suddenly, Blank walked into the room "Zidane, Boss wants to see you."

I turned to face Blank. "What does he want?"

Blank just shrugged. "I don't know. He said it was important though, besides you know what happens to those who don't follow orders" He said.

I sighed 'yeah, I know full well what happens when you don't follow orders.' I thought. "Alright, tell him I'm on my way." Blank left the room and I turned to Vivi. "Stay here Vivi, and keep an eye on Michael. Also make sure he takes that medicine Blank gave you."

Vivi nodded, fully understanding. "Okay." I turned to the door and walked out.


Zidane left the room, and now I was alone with Michael. I looked down at his sleeping form and wondered 'why did he save me?' I thought. It didn't make any sense to me. No one ever helped me out before, well, except Grandpa Quan.

'Why is Michael so nice to me? No one has ever been nice to me. He seems like such a nice person though, and he did save my life. Yes, he saved my life and not just once. He helped me in Alexandria, in the castle, on the theater ship, and, finally, in Evil Forest. It's all my fault that he's like this. He probably hates me now. I don't blame him if he does hate me now.' I thought. That's when Michael's body began to stir. I looked at him "Michael…"


My body was aching, and my mind was still reeling from that dream. 'What was that fire? I remember something about a fire, but I don't know what.' I thought.

I heard a small voice "Michael…"

I turned my head to the source of the voice, and saw two giant, oval, amber eyes starring at me with concern. "Vivi" I exclaimed as I tried to sit upright. It took some effort, but my body finally cooperated.

I looked around at my surroundings then I looked down at Vivi "were back in the theater ship, right?" I asked, still feeling a bit groggy.

"Yeah…Zidane and I brought you and Steiner here"

"So, Steiner was hit too, huh." I said. 'At least Vivi told me his name so I can say his name now' I thought. Then Vivi handed me something, a bottle.

"What's this?" I asked, holding the bottle in my hand.

He looked at me. "Blank gave it to me and said to give it to you when you woke up. He said it was like a seed remover." I examined the bottle.

'I hate taking medicine…well, better get this over with' I thought as I uncorked the bottle and experimentally sniffed it; the smell was horrid. I tilted my head back, brought the bottle to my mouth, tilted it, and chugged the whole thing quickly. I then brought the empty bottle away from my mouth and tilted my head forward. I began to cough, hard, after what I had done.

Vivi looked at me with concern "a-are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

I stopped coughing and looked at him. "Yeah, I'm fine, but this stuff tastes horrid" I said, with a grimace on my face. Vivi, to my surprise, started to laugh at the expression on my face. I started to laugh too, thinking just how ridicules my face looked with that expression.

Our laughter eventually died down. I looked down at Vivi and smiled "you know Vivi, that's the first time I have ever heard you laugh out loud." Vivi looked up at me, and I saw happiness in his eyes, but it was soon replaced by sorrow.

"I don't laugh very often. Besides, it's my fault your like this in the first place." Vivi looked down on the ground now, and refused to look at me.

I reached my hand out to him and touched his shoulder "Vivi, look at me" Vivi didn't look. I tried again "Vivi…please look at me." This time Vivi slowly looked up at me, and I could see how troubled he was.

I smiled at him. "It's not your fault, Vivi. I choose to help you in those situations because I wanted to not because I had to."

This confused Vivi "but why did you save me? I don't understand. No one has ever been this nice to me before."

I got out off the bed, knelt down to his level, and put both my hands on both his shoulders "Vivi I helped you because I care about you. Besides you also saved my life back there. I would have died if it wasn't for your black magic. Maybe I should say why did you save me?"

Vivi looked surprised at this response. "I don't know. I just wanted to help you that's all. I mean you seem so nice. I…I…" Vivi couldn't think of anything else to say.

I smiled "Vivi, don't worry about it. You saved my life back there, thanks."

Vivi still looked sad, but I knew he was feeling better. "You better rest, Vivi. You've been through a lot."

Vivi looked at me before responding "o-okay." I helped him up onto the bed and then I sat next to him, and that's when I noticed his hand. He wasn't wearing one of his gloves. I could see his hand. His hand was as dark as his face.

"Oh, that reminds me Vivi, I have something for you."

Vivi sat up a little straighter on the bed and looked up at me showing interest at what I could possibly have. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a brown, leather glove. "I believe that this is yours." I said, handing him the glove. Vivi took it and looked real happy about it.

"My glove!" he exclaimed as he put it back on his ungloved hand. He looked at me with a questioning look "how did you-" before he could finish I answered.

"When you fell off the theater ship I still had your glove in my hand. I kept it in my pocket to give it back to you when I found you" I said.

Vivi looked up at me, much happier that he had his glove back. "Thanks, Michael."

I reached out and placed my hand on his back "anytime, my friend."


Suddenly the door opened and Zidane walked in. He immediately noticed I was awake. He smiled at us "ah, Michael glade to see your up. How are you feeling?" he asked.

I smiled at him. "I'm fine Zidane. Thanks to the medicine Vivi gave me."

"Good to hear." he said, but there seemed to be worry in his voice and I think I knew what it was from.

"What are we going to do about the Princess? You don't intend to abandon her, do you? Steiner would never let you hear the end of it."

Zidane laughed a little at this. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't, but Boss won't allow us to look for her. It's too dangerous."

I looked at him questioningly. "Do you always listen to your boss?"

Zidane looked at me with a mischievous grin. "No" he said.

Then I added "well then, I guess we better get the tin knight and go look for her."

Zidane shook his head in submission. "Boss is so going to kill me."

I knew what was going to happen, so I gave him some advice. "Just be sure and bring a couple of potions when you tell him, alright?"

He laughed at this and nodded. "You're probably right. Anyway I'll see you, Rusty, and Vivi outside when I'm done okay." Vivi's eyes opened wide at Zidane's last statement, but Zidane had already left the room before he could say anything.


It took a while for Vivi to find his voice again "m-me? H-He wants m-me to g-go w-with y-you g-guys" he said, stuttering badly.

I looked down at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Vivi. With your magic you have nothing to worry about."

Vivi didn't look too convinced. "B-but I couldn't do anything when that monster attacked her. I was so scared."

I held onto Vivi's shoulder, yet again. "Vivi, don't worry you'll have Zidane, Steiner, and myself to look out for you, and we have you to look out for us. Can you do that?" I asked, still smiling.

Vivi seemed better now. "O-okay, I'll give it a try."

I was very pleased. "Excellent, now we better go see Rusty."


Vivi and I walked to the room that Steiner was in. Marcus let us pass and we entered to face a depressed knight. I started things off. "Hey Steiner, how you doing?"

He looked up at me and his face went red with anger. "You, what are you doing here, and how did you know my name!" he yelled.

'That's right he never told me his name; Vivi did. Oh well I can easily make up for that.' I thought. I decided on a more flattering approach to calm him down "well you are Captain of the infamous Knights of Pluto after all."

Steiner seemed to beam with pride at this "yes, I am Adelbert Steiner, Captain of Alexandria's Knights of Pluto" he said, with pride. I tried my best not to laugh at this, with his big, rusty, cheap looking armor it was hard for me to picture him as anyone with such high stature, but as I have learned in life appearances can be misleading.

I decided to continue. "Yeah, that and Vivi here told me." I said, motioning to Vivi who stood slightly behind me.

Steiner looked a bit crestfallen but regained his composure. "Anyway, what are you doing here you rogue!" he said.

My eyes opened wide at that insult to my honor. "How dare you insult me! If your trying to say I steal I want one thing to be perfectly clear…I never stole anything in my life….okay maybe one time when I stole a piece of candy from a store, but I was four years old and I didn't know any better. I have lived an honest life so far and I refuse to be degraded by someone who barely even knows me, so there!" I finished, crossing my arms over my chest and giving him a challenging glare.

Steiner was stunned by my sudden outburst no doubt thinking about what I just said. He regained his composure and looked me over "if what you're saying is true why are you here with these thieves? Tell me that!" he said, triumphantly.

I didn't drop my posture or lose my glare. "Gladly, Vivi and I were watching the play when your two knights started chasing us all over the place. We had to run onto the stage and then ended up getting mixed into that big brawl on stage. So frankly, Vivi and I are just innocent bystanders who just happened to come along for the ride" I finished, still not losing my posture or glare.

Steiner looked taken aback by this response and nodded to me. "My apologies, it seems I judged you wrongly."

I lowered my posture and stopped glaring. "It's alright, no harm done. By the way, Vivi and I were going with Zidane to go and rescue the Princess. You can come along too, as long as you don't cause any trouble for us."

Steiner's face grew red again as I mentioned Zidane's name. "That accursed monkey! He's the reason we're here in the first place! I will not work with him! I will find the Princess on my own and bring her to the castle!"

I rolled my eyes at this. 'Typical, just great.' I thought. I had to solve this fast. "Look Steiner, you wouldn't last two minutes in this forest on your own. You need help. Zidane has already gone to his boss to tell him that he is leaving with us to go rescue the Princess from a cruel fate." Steiner still looked red in the face and looked like he'd like nothing better than to kill Zidane with his own two hands. I tried a different approach. "Steiner, for the Princesses sake, help us out, please."

Steiner seemed to calm down "Alright, for the Princesses sake I will cooperate with the thief, but as soon as we get back to the castle I will have him arrested for his crimes!" he declared.

I sighed. 'I guess that will have to do for now.' I thought. "Okay Steiner, but I want you to promise me…on your honor as a knight… that you won't cause any trouble for us, okay?"

Steiner gave me a curious look at this request but nodded in acknowledgement "Very well, I promise not to cause any trouble for the group." I gave him a look. He got the message and continued. "On my honor as a knight." he finished, solemnly.

I smiled at this "good, glad to here it, but there is just one final thing to cover."

Steiner looked at me cautiously "What would that happen to be?"

I turned to look at Vivi. "Vivi, remember how you enchanted my sword with your magic" Vivi nodded his head. "Good, I want you to do the same with Steiner's sword. Can you do that?" I asked.

Vivi looked worried but nodded. "O-okay, I'll give it a try."

I turned back to Steiner. "Is that alright with you Steiner?"

Steiner looked a bit surprised at what I asked Vivi to do but he nodded his approval. "Yes that would be fine, thank you Master Michael, Master Vivi" he bowed to each of us.

'Whoa, no one has ever called me Master before. It feels strange, but not in a bad way' I thought. I nodded to Steiner "great now that's settled let's go outside and wait for Zidane."


We didn't have to wait too long for Zidane to show up. He had a bottle in his hand which I guessed was the seed remover he got from Blank. He also had a few cuts and bruises. 'I guess he talked to Baku' I thought.

He smiled at us "good work Michael, I didn't think you'd be able to convince ol' Rusty to join us."

Steiner immediately turned red in the face. "I'm only doing this for the Princesses sake. When this is over I'll deal with you personally!" he said as he shook his fist at Zidane.

Zidane wasn't the least bit fazed. "Sure Rusty, whatever" he said, playfully.

This only pissed Steiner off. "R-RUSTY that's it-" I quickly intervened.

"Steiner!" I yelled as he was about to draw his sword. He looked at me with anger in his eyes. I wasn't fazed. "remember… your… promise?" I said, slowly. Steiner half-heartedly removed his hand from his sword hilt.

Zidane looked at me questioningly "what promise?" he asked.

I smiled at him. "None of your business" I said. I could only imagine how much he'd push Steiner if he ever found out about THAT promise.

Zidane broke the silence. "Come on, we have a Princess to save" then he noticed something about me. "Michael, aren't you missing something?" he asked questioningly, looking down at my legs.


I was confused and looked down at myself, and suddenly realized what he meant; I didn't have either of my swords. I ran back into the ship and retrieved them both, and quickly got back outside to meet the others. All of them had stunned looks on there faces "what?" I asked, slightly confused.


Zidane was the first to speak up "do you know how fast you were running?" he asked a bit shocked.

I thought about this a minute and remembered. 'Oh right, I never told them about my godlike speed.' I decided now was the time to tell them. "It's a result of my training. I can move at a very fast speed. It's called godlike speed and it is essential in using my techniques." They were still a bit stunned, so I continued. "My fighting style is known as the Hiten Mitsurugi style. This style teaches the wielder techniques that won't fail to kill your human opponents in a single blow."

Zidane finally regained his voice. "Then why didn't you kill Rusty with it? No offense, Rusty." Steiner grew slightly red in the face at Zidane's comment, but thought better about retaliating.

I decided to answer Zidane's question. "Because I didn't use any of my lethal moves on him and even if I did I couldn't kill him with this sword." I unsheathed my top sword and showed it to them.

Steiner was the first one to speak up. "The blade is on the wrong side of the sword."

I nodded to him. "Yes, this is a reverse blade sword. I can't kill anyone unless I flip the blade. I use this sword to fight my human opponents because I don't believe in killing my opponent regardless of what they may have done."

Steiner spoke up again. "That's quite noble of you. What about the second sword?"

I sheathed my first sword but didn't draw my second sword. "My second sword is a real sword. I only use it on animals and monsters. If it's an animal I try not to kill it, but sometimes it can't be helped. Monsters, On the other hand, I will kill without hesitation." There was a small silence that followed.

Zidane spoke "I have never heard of this Hiten-Whatever-style."

I nodded. "I'm not surprised. It's very secretive and only a select few are given the opportunity to learn it. So it's no surprise that you haven't heard of it."

There was a longer silence now. Zidane broke the silence however. "We better get going. We've wasted enough time already." We all agreed and marched together back into the depths of the forest.