Shout Outs...
Maxmagnus20019: Do keep in mind this 'hax0r' move still needs work, and so far neither Cliff or Fayt has fought anything that has required bigger attacks. That'll change though...
nightmare 8882: Well Albel will be less than pleased, you know that much.
Dragon Chyld: A lil' humour never hurt no one. And as for James, you'll have to keep reading to see it he's wind based or not.
As the elevator reached roof level we stepped out with weapons draw. Unlike the rushed run that we were under earlier ('We' in this casing meaning Nel and me) we moved at a paced walk, cautiously moving forward on the look out for booby traps.
"Whoa!" Cliff shouted out as a noose tightened around his foot, the attached rope lifting him up near the ceiling.
That's why we have a boob on hand.
Kneeling down James let Nel step up onto his shoulders. Once she had herself balanced she ducked down jumping up high enough to slash at the rope, letting Cliff fall to the ground.
Head first.
--Thud--
"Ouch!"
It seemed more than a little odd though. No rushing guards, no falling cages, no poison filled darts. What was the point of that?
"Get in position!" A guard said, as a bell rang attached to that trap Shelby had set up. "They're coming!"
If anything this oddly placed trap made me very nervous. After all I didn't see Cliff zoom up to the ceiling from one of these things when I was playing the game. If there was anything that stressed to me this wasn't just some game anymore this was it.
Other than that, it was damned amusing to watch.
"Look!" Nel called out as they stepped out onto the open rooftop arena. On the other side Tynave and Farleen were hung up on the wall by their arms, like living trophies. "Tynave! Farleen!"
"Man, this is just too obvious!" Cliff said, smacking a hand into his palm.
"I'm still looking for the sign that says 'we laid a trap, walk into it.'" James said looking about.
"Tynave, Farleen! We're here to help!" Fayt called out as the two women began to stir.
"What-- What are you doing here?" Tynave, the short blonde of the duo, asked as she lifted her head, watching as the four rescuers charged to the centre of the arena.
"We'll get you out of here!"
"No, run! It's a trap!"
"She's right..." Farleen weakly added, her purple hair framing her face. "They're hiding... Behind those pillars!"
"Damned woman!" A knight said as he and his three companions ran out from behind the pillars, charging Fayt and his companions.
"A surprise party? You shouldn't have!" James said cheerfully, blocking a knight's sword with his own. "You at least remembered to bring the cake right?" James added, spinning away with a wide swing of his blade, cutting the man's arm though his metal shell.
"Damn you!" He replied as Nel slid between the legs of another knight, slamming a dagger into his back with enough force to pierce metal, flesh and bone alike.
"What about presents, you got those right?" James quipped, sidestepping an overhead swing as Fayt stabbed past the third knight's breastplate. "Are they gift wrapped?"
"Shut up!" The taunted knight screamed out as the last knight cried out from the rapid fists of Cliff that caved in his armour. "I'm gonna, ARGH!"
Argh in this case means 'I've got a freaking sword in my eyeball, how am I gonna get a date now?' Poor guy.
"What, you're not gonna at least juggle?" James quipped tapping the fallen knight with his foot before joining his comrades in freeing the two spies.
Both women kneeled where they fell, Fayt kneeling down next to them. "Are you okay?" He asked as Cliff kneeled as well.
"Thank you so much!" Tynave replied.
"I'm okay. The pain's... not too bad." Farleen added.
"You faced incredible danger to rescue us, you should not have come!"
"Thank you so much!"
"Don't worry about it." Nel said. "If you're going to thank anyone, thank them."
"Forget about it. It was nothing." Cliff added.
"Just happy to help out is all." James said, tipping his hat as Fayt stood up.
"Our pleasure-- but we'd better get moving!"
"Right." Cliff added also standing up. "Our work is done here. Good riddance to this hell hole." A moment later Cliff stiffened slightly. "Huh?"
"Something's coming." Nel said simply.
"Yeah. I can feel the hairs standing on the back of my neck."
"So it's you!" A voice behind them called out. "The ones who were in that strange object that fell into Airyglyph!" The group turned to see a large and heavily armoured man wielding a mace in one hand and an axe in the other. Around him were at least sixteen men in full plate armour.
"So what if we are?" Cliff asked crossing his arms.
"Surrender peacefully and I shall spare your lives."
"Who the heck are you?" Fayt asked as James shook his head.
"I'd say the winner of the Airyglyph Idiot of the Year competition."
"Arrogant fool... I am Shelby... Lieutenant of the Black Brigade, soon to be Captain by the looks of things. You should curse your luck for falling into my hands."
"Can I just curse my luck someone gave birth to an ugly thing like you?"
"Be quiet James!" Nel spat out. "I don't care if you defeated Albel, take this seriously!"
"I am." James said quietly. "Just tickin' him off to cloud his judgement and all that."
"Is he dangerous?" Fayt asked, as he drew his sword.
"Yeah..." Nel started. "He's the Black Brigade's second in command, Shelby The Heavy Handed. They didn't leave him here for nothing."
"I can see that." Cliff added falling into a stance. "He looks way too powerful to be some watchdog. Not like the last bunch."
"Of course we will only spare two of the men." Shelby said grinning. "The women may die, and the man who kills him and brings me his head..." Shelby added levelling his mace at James. "Will be given a 500,000 Fol bonus."
"Gee, don't I feel special." James quipped drawing his sword.
"Over my dead body!" Fayt blurted out.
"If it comes to that, yes. Now come quietly." Shelby replied.
"How's 'bout we come loudly!" James said edging forward.
"And you, kill me?" Cliff quipped. "Hah!"
"You both will regret those words!" Shelby said as he tightened his grip on his weapons.
"Not before you do!"
"Tynave, Farleen!" Nel barked out. "You two should stand back."
"Yeah, Typhoon James is fixin' to rock this place!" James added, grinning widely.
"Well get ready, 'Typhoon'..." Nel quipped dryly as the armoured masses charged. "Here they come!"
"Then let's slam dance!" James shouted out, charging towards a lead knight. He leapt over him, grabbing his helm with his free hand, placing his feet on his back as he fell, flipping the armoured man over and into another guard. Then James shouted out as he rolled to dodge a pike slamming into the floor. Before he could get to his feet he had to roll out of the way of a sword.
Thanks to that armoured clad pile of lard called Shelby I had a dozen of the men trying to stab me as I rolled around on the ground, dodging stomps, pikes, swords...
Having a price on your head sucks... And I couldn't swing my sword high enough to get a good hit in. Well, if you can't hit'em high..."
A knight cried out as James' sword sliced into the back of his knee causing him to crumple to the ground. Two more swiftly followed as their knees took vicious cuts.
Then hit'em low.
Nel ran around a knight as she slashed at another who blocked with pike, swinging it about in an effort to catch her with it's end. The woman jumped, landing between the two knights. As one they charged, thrusting their pikes at the Crimson Blade who simply ducked, causing each man to impale the other man with his own pike. A moment later they both slumped over.
Cliff ducked under the sword swing, pushing the first knight aside before darting forwards and stopping the other knight's swing by grabbing his wrist. With a wordless shout he smashed his free hand into the knight's face with enough force to shatter the skull underneath the helm. The first knight tried to stab the Klausian in the back only to have him turn about and slap the sword from his hand. Grabbing the knight Cliff lifted him above his head before bringing him down over his knee, breaking the man's spine despite the metal shell.
Fayt frowned as he ducked a swing from Shelby's axe, rolling to the side to dodge the mace that flew past empty space and into the floor. Fayt came back with a swing of his sword, that Shelby blocked with his axe, pushing back hard enough to cause Fayt to stagger backwards. "Give it up, boy. You cannot win!" Shelby taunted as he swung his axe. Fayt sidestepped it swinging his sword only to have it deflect off the larger man's breastplate.
"I'm not giving up!" Fayt said back up. For a moment, a brief moment, Fayt looked past to see knights fall like pins, James' sword cutting into their knees. Eyebrows shooting up Fayt turned back to face his opponent. 'Of course! The joints are the weakest points in armour like that! Why didn't I think of that before?' Letting out a war cry and lifting his sword over his head Fayt charged at the huge man.
"Foolish boy!" Shelby called out, swinging his axe only to watch as Fayt performed a baseball slide under his attack. "Huh?" Managing to get up to a knee Fayt took a massive swing at the back of Shelby's knee, cutting past the armoured joints and into softer flesh. "AARRGH!" Fayt leapt back as Shelby fell to a knee, dropping both weapons to grip his injured limb. He looked up to see the boy's blade glowing blue. "What?"
"Blade...!" Fayt began, using an overhead swing that cut past Shelby's breastplate.
"What the...?"
"Of...!" Fayt continued using a back swing that sliced past metal and into flesh. Shelby stood up, hobbling away on his injured limb.
"I can't be... Not while..."
"FURY!" Fayt finished stabbing forwards, sword piercing metal, flesh, and then metal again as it went through Shelby's body.
"I was so close... to greatness..." Fayt placed his foot on the man pushing on him to dislodge sword from man, and causing the man to fall backwards to the ground.
"Not close enough..."
"Man, hope Airyglyph has a good insurance policy." James said, scratching his head at the pile of knights who clutched their knees, some passed out from pain or blood loss, others in shock, others still moaning in pain. "Or at least a lot of desk jobs."
"A lot of compassion..." Nel began as she walked up to him. "Considering they all tried to kill you."
"Meh, whatever." James said, sheathing his sword and turning to walk towards Tynave and Farleen.
"Ha!" Cliff began as he joined Nel and James near the two women, Fayt right behind him. "He wasn't as tough as his talk."
"Pitiful." A new voice added. Cliff fell into a stance looking for the voice's owner. "Over here." It said.
Guess who?
"Another one?" Cliff asked, as they all looked up to face a man with a sarong and a metal arm standing upon the wall.
Albel...
"So this is what Shelby was up to. How pathetic. Always strutting, preening his feathers, but to lose to the likes of you? Huh. Once a maggot himself, now he's food for the maggots."
"Geez..." James said, crossing his arms. "Nice to see you too."
"That gauntlet..." Nel began.
"Let me save ya the trouble. Albel Nox..." James said drawing his sword again.
"Ah, you again... Worm..."
"I've got a name ya know... James Jennings, figured you'd like to know it."
"Who the heck is he, James?" Fayt asked, turning to his friend.
"Albel, AKA Albel The Wicked, Captain of the Black Brigade. We had a couple of tussles outside of Arias. The second one I sent him packing."
"Bah! You just got lucky with that little 'Tornado' attack of yours. It won't happen again!" Albel stated.
"Riiiiiight... And you complained that Shelby was preening his feathers."
"Bah! Mock me at your own peril, Worm."
"Hey!" Cliff shouted. "I'm gonna smack that cocky look off your face!"
"Bah! The maggot talks big." Albel said, leaning forwards. "You might have some potential, but you're no match for me."
"What did he just say?"
"I'm not interested in fighting a bunch of tired fools. Easy wins have never been my style. And unlike Vox, I take no joy in trouncing weaklings."
"Who you callin' a weakling?"
"Go back to your own lands. This is your only warning, fools. And as for you... James... I will repay you for my defeat... in spades!"
"Come down here and say that!" Cliff said, rushing forwards only to be blocked by Nel.
"You're gonna let us slip away?" She began. "That's pretty nice for a guy like you."
"Don't get me wrong-- I just can't be bothered. And taking hostages isn't the way I do business."
"What do you call this, then?" Fayt asked.
"Those maggots did this without my consent. I knew nothing about it. Besides, your escape is his blunder. I've no obligation to clean up his mess."
"But he was your subordinate! You have to take responsibilities for his actions."
"I tire of your lectures fool. Now leave or I will kill you." And with that Albel simply walked away.
"What?" Cliff shouted out as Albel left. "You've gotta be kidding me! He acts like he's doing us a favour!"
"Well... I'm relieved to tell you the truth." Nel said. "It would have been foolish to face him in our current condition."
"Damned straight." James added, sheathing his blade. "I know, I fought him and beat him, but only by pulling out my ace in the hole. Trust me, he's not to be taken lightly."
"Let's hurry up and get back." Fayt added. "I'm sure everyone's worried about us."
"Yes. Let's go." Nel replied. With that the three women and three men turned to leave.
"So, you beat Albel? That is so cool!" Farleen said, smiling at James.
"Ah, don't act like it's such a big deal." He replied, stopping as Nel turned to glare at him. "What?"
"You... beat the best swordsman in the land..." She began. "And it's no big deal?"
James crossed his arms before replying. "Look, Albel was tough. And he damn near beat me twice. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tad lucky." He moved his hands to his hips before continuing. "But I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. My head couldn't take the swelling." Cliff chuckled a bit before patting him on the back.
"Atta boy!" He said. "Don't get too cocky. But if you go up against him agian, give him one for me!"
"Count on it!"
Soon we were back on the Granah Hills, moving slower than the way to the old fort, but that was because of Tynave and Farleen.
I do not kid you. Farleen had a red handprint on her cheek where she had been slapped. And Tynave was worse off; she had a gash on her forehead. Once out of the fort we stopped briefly to clean and bandage it. Both had small cutsand bruises along their arms and legs that had to be cleaned and wrapped. Nel patched up Tynave and used some healing spells who was much worse off as I tended to Farleen while Fayt and Cliff stood watch.
Must have been a hot day, Farleen's cheeks were kinda pink.
We carried on, but by the time we neared Kirlsa Farleen was leaning on me for support and Tynave on Fayt. It was pretty damned clear they needed a rest due to their ordeal. So we went to the Iron Maiden Inn at Kirlsa.
James set some Fol down on the counter before walking up the stairs in time to hear Nel speak. "Still... I never thought you guys would end up helping me." James stepped in, looking at Tynave and Farleen as they napped in the warm beds.
"I never had a doubt in my mind." He said, sitting down in a chair.
Nel shook her head before continuing. "You guys were supposed to be indebted to me. Funny how things go sometimes, eh?"
"I suppose." Cliff began. "Of course, I was thinking we shoulda made a run for it. But this guy wouldn't hear of it." He pointed a thumb towards Fayt.
"I see. You may think it strange to me to say this after you helped me, but... I think Cliff is right. Whether you wanted to cooperate or not, there isn't a whole lot you had to gain from helping Aquaria. No... The truth is you have absolutely nothing to gain if you consider the time you'll lose and the danger you'll face. But agree you did... why?"
"Why?" Fayt began. "Well, you know... You can't expect us to abandon you? Do you really think we could do that, knowing you'd be killed?"
"Listen to me, Fayt. I only saved you two because I thought you two could help save the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. That is why I risked my life and infiltrated Airyglyph Castle to save you. Putting your lives in danger just to save one person is absolutely pointless. On one hand you have the life of one person, and on the other, the fate of an entire kingdom and all it's people. It's a very simple choice. Even a child would know which is more important."
"You cannot place a value on human life. Abandoning a life that could be saved is wrong, no matter how you look at it!" James nodded, taking his necklace into his hand as Fayt continued. "Life is too precious to reduce it down to your two simple choices."
"Ideally that would be so... But we are at war! It's just not possible to save everyone who needs saving. My only choice is to do my best to help as many people as possible by ending this war."
"Then let me ask this Nel: do you plan on teaching that to your children, too? Will you tell them to abandon somebody they could help in order to save even more people?"
"That's..."
"Alright already." Cliff said, cutting Nel off. "I understand what you're saying. Both of you that is. Logically speaking you should try to save as many people as possible. I agree with that, but I also agree that each life should be treated equally. The fact is it all depends on the circumstances at the time and the person who has to make the decision. I guess you could say it's the most difficult choice you could make."
"You don't have to agree with me." Nel replied. "There really is no other way."
"What about you James?" Cliff asked turning to the man in question. "You've been kinda quiet. Anything you'd like to add?"
"Honestly... I think Nel is a hypocrite." James stated.
"What? What do you mean?" Nel asked stepping in front of the hat wearing man.
"You talk about how you shouldn't try to save someone if you could save even more people. Ideally if you continue to survive you can do so by competing more missions." Seeing Nel nod he continued. "And yet you ran off to save those two." James nodded towards Tynave and Farleen, the latter of which rolled over in her sleep. "Chances are you would have been killed, even with me backing you. Hell, if those two didn't arrive we'd both be pushing up daisies." James stood up, looking down at the slightly shorter woman. "But yet you ignored all of what you just said to rescue just two women. So, think you still ain't a hypocrite?"
Nel growled slightly balling a hand into a fist before calming slightly. "You're... You're right... I know it goes against what I said, but..." She stopped as James put a hand on her shoulder.
"We know. It's why I went with you, and why I knew Fayt wouldn't be too far behind. Right buddy?"
"Of course." Fayt said nodding.
"So, chin up Lady Nel!" James said, crossing his arms. "Cause you got a pair of troopers over there that look up to ya."
Nel smiled softly turning to look at the two women. "Yes. You're right."
"Course I am!" James said, moving to a free bed and laying down, putting his hat over his eyes. "Now, wake me up when we get movin' again."
It was an hour before Nel woke me. Once I was up we all exited town and crossed the Aire Hills on our way to Arias.
Strangely that room at the inn smelled of jasmine...
That's all for this chapter. Next up, Peterny. What could happen in a place like that?
C&C, and R&R folks! Please?