Disclaimers apply. I didn't create all the characters I used in this story, and I deserve no recognition whatsoever over them. Suikoden belongs to Konami.

Luca's Redemption – Chapter Three

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Invasion of the Undead

Location: Unknown Mountain/ Unknown City

When Luca awoke, it was morning. The Sun was shining, birds were chirping, a refreshing morning breeze blew through the trees. Luca just could not stand it. He looked around, but saw Maroux nowhere. He thought maybe he had gone. 'Man, I'm thirsty. I hear a river nearby, I think I'll go.' Though Luca was a little dizzy when he got up, he continued to the river.

If any ordinary person saw this river, they would never want to leave. The water was clear, and the river current was soft; it was a brook. Everything about this place was beautiful; the air wasn't as hot as the cities back in Highland/Jowston, you could see the ocean in the distance and the sun just above the horizon. Unfortunately, Luca is no ordinary person. He loathed this place. He drank some water from the river. Delicious Water. HP/MP Restored!

He turned around and saw Maroux. "What are you doing here? Come to die?!"

"Must you be so violent? I'm here because you weren't back at camp. I just went into town to get some breakfast. Why don't you go there? You don't seem to be enjoying this place much…"

Luca retorted, "You got that right. Fine, I think I will go into town. Which direction do I go?"

"Just follow this river down. And while you are there, could you pick up some fish? Here, I got some money. Don't spend it recklessly, now! This is all I got."

Maroux threw a bag of potch to Luca. He caught it and went down the mountain. Not long afterwards, some Kill Spiders attacked Luca. He took them out with ease; he didn't even have to use his Beast Rune. One spider spat out poison at Luca, but he evaded, drew his sword and cut it in half. The other two spiders were coming at him from his left and right. He leaped to one side and cut a spider's head off and lunged at the other giving it a mortal cut on its back. 'Damn! All this goo is ruining my armor! I'm gonna have to get a new one.' After a fair amount of walking and fighting, he looked back and noticed that the whole mountain was covered in trees. The good news was he was out. He saw the town nearby and continued towards it. Just before he could reach it, some green warthogs attacked him.

'I don't have time for this!' "Beast Rune! Give me power!" The Beast Rune on his arm emitted the Beast symbol in the air, and a two headed beast made of blue flame came from the sky. It encircled Luca in a blue flame, giving him power. He raised his sword, and swung. His slash created blue fire that burnt the warthogs to ashes. Luca grunted and continued into town. He searched for a tavern and noticed that the only tavern was in the Inn. Once Luca entered, he went to a table and ordered up some breakfast. "Oi! Give me the best breakfast ya got! And make it quick!"

The waiter nodded and gave the order to the chef. Luca had noticed that this town was actually more like a small city. Its buildings looked a lot like the ones in L'Renouille. Even the Inn was big, not to mention the tavern. Luca's breakfast came. It was eggs, bacon, potato porridge and some fried chicken. It was nothing like L'Renouille's royal breakfast, but it was quite good. And on top of that, Luca was quite hungry. He didn't really feel like complaining. He devoured the food quite quickly and left some money. He then searched for the Seafood store. He went inside and took some fish and tossed some potch to the Storekeeper. Before he could leave town, he heard the screams of the townspeople. He looked back and saw a horde of armored zombies. Luca sighed and decided to help. Since there wasn't much space between the buildings, Luca decided not to use the Beast Rune, since it would probably cause some damage to the town. He ran towards them. One armored zombie saw Luca and ran at him. Luca quickly drew his sword and took its head. Several more zombies came at him but they met the same fate. Zombie after zombie came at Luca, and he was starting to lose concentration. Just then, Luca heard some kind of small explosion that came from behind him. What he heard was actually a gunshot and it took down a zombie. A woman with orange hair pointed a gun at the zombie horde. She fired several times and they all hit their target; the zombies that were hit, as a result, lost their heads.

"Alright! You're all going to leave now before I change my mind and vanquish all of you!"

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Who is this mysterious Gunner? Who is summoning these zombies? Chapter 4 coming up!