Written by Mikaa
Chapter 4 - Oops, Indeed
"Oops, indeed," indeed. Imagine my surprise when I read Ky's review, when she claimed that Alex was the General. So much for being careful not to use his name last chapter... I had hoped to keep it under wraps till this chapter, but, as we all know, I used his name once last time. Oh well. At least I didn't fudge up another little "secret" coming up, and no, it is not the Emperor... Has to do with someone else... Heh.
SO! Chapter 4! Why the title? Was it to reflect the error I made? Nope. Sheba screwed up royally last time (if you began to think echii thoughts there, go away. NOW), and her errors only continue to pile up here. How could she, the great and mighty Jupitarian (where IS Ivan, anyway?), make such a huge error? Well, I care not to really dwell on that, for I might make another error...
So, BACK TO ADVENTURE! Ugh, why did I quote that? ACK! Now, "I HAVE FURY!"
Give you three guesses as to what I am quoting here. And to the story, because I have nothing else to soops, almost forgot: MIKAA OWNS NOT THE NINTENDO COMPANY, CAMELOT, OR GOLDEN SUN. FOR IF HE, HE BEING MIKAA, OWNED ALL THE BEFORE MENTIONED, HE WOULD RERELEASED A REMASTERED SOUNDTRACK FOR BOTH GAMES ON A SPECIAL PROMO CD FOR A BRAND NEW DS/GBA RPG IN THE SERIES. I MEAN, WHAT WITH LOST MAGIC, TAO'S ADVENTURES, IRON FEATHER, XENOSAGA DS 1 AND 2, Y'S STRATEGY, DYNASTY WARRIOR DS (WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THAT?), CHILDREN OF MANA, FINAL FANTASY III, RAGNAROCK ONLINE DS, RUNE WORKSHOP, TALES OF THE TEMPEST, WIZARDRY ASTERISK, WESTERN LORDS, ZELDA DS, DRAGON WARRIOR DS (SLIME THEMED), AZURE DREAMS DS, HARVEST MOOD DS, AND MAYBE TEN OR SO JAPANESE ONLY THAT I CANNOT RECALL RIGHT NOW, WHY NOT A GOLDEN SUN DS?
Now, to the fic!
(Side Bar: If anyone wants to see some screenshots of any of the above mentioned games, merely e-mail me and I will reply with the screens in my supply that I have for the given game. Some are only box arts and/or magazine scans with sample shots with Japanese texts, but I will be glad to send them if you really want to see them without fighting load times or slowness in posting screens (namely FFIIIDS...)
Sheba scowled again, not for the first time today, and certainly not for the last time. Alex had left to allow her to get into a ceremonial dress, one that, supposedly, aids to high officials wore when meeting other high-ups. If this was the case, she was almost ready to confess right then and there, torture and death be damned.
The dress barely hung on her shoulders, revealing her upper back and upper chest, clinging to her form enough to show off her bust moreso than anything else she ever wore. The purple fabric ended in a formal dress, with loose violet pants beneath the skirt. At least she did not have her legs revealed, though once she was free from both Alex and the damned Supression Band (which was disguised as a neckless), she would kill him. Painfully. Horribly. And maybe, just maybe, she would make HIM wear this damned thing before she seared him to a crisp.
Just as she finished with the dress, Alex walked in, making her jump. If he took any pleasure from suprising her due to her lack of powers, he did not show it. Though she did not doubt he enjoyed it, it was not like there was anything she could do. Maybe once he let her talk to her people...
Looking to Alex, she noted that he was wearing a formal outfit as well, though it looked more like a typical healer's clothing from Imil than an attire that one would expect from a General of a massive army. Before she could ask why they were dressing up anyway, another person entered:
Slightly taller than Alex, the light skinned, brown haired man wore a golden attire that revealed his positon faster than his face: The Emperor.
Completely ignoring Sheba, the Emperor moved to Alex, "I assume it is secured in here. There were rumors of infiltration again."
Alex favored the ruler of Tolbibi with a faint smile. "It was an error on my part. I will have a full report for the Emperor by the end of the current watch." Sheba blinked. What? "Tell him we are ready."
As the "Emperor" left, Sheba stared at Alex, confused. That man that walked out was known throughout the world as the Emperor, and not only had Alex not shown a sign of respect, he treated him like...
Realization passed over Sheba: it was so obvious. Why show your true identity when you could easily have a puppet deliver your messages, thereby keeping your identidy a secret? In short, the real Emperor might as well be Ivan or Garet, for all Sheba knew. Maybe that was giving Garet too much credit...
The sound of metal on limestone alerted her that someone was approaching, and as Sheba turned to face what she assumed to be the Emperor, all the blood drained from her face at what she saw. Well over eight feet tall, the figure towered to the point that his (it's?) head almost touched the ceiling. His head was roughly human-looking, though bald and with solid red sockets where his/its eyes should have been. His mouth, though was quite disturbing: a massive metal plate was where his jaw was, with thin metal bands in a vertical arrangement along the front. His body was concieled by a massive dark robe (either green or brown, hard to tell in the light), which covered his entire body sans his head and arms. A cloak covered the top of his arms, and seemed almost too small due to his barrel of a chest: his chest, if the robe and cloak were any sign, was massive and quite muscular, as was his back. Thanks to the looseness of his clothes, it was near impossible to tell anything else about his body, though his arms each had a pair of metal armor almost sewed onto his armors, mirroring the bone placement in a normal arm. His feet were not visible thanks to the robe, though the sound of metal against the floor led Sheba to believe that it, him, whatever, wore armored shoes.
Despite his imposing appearance, the creature (or whatever it was, it was clearly not entirely human) strode forward at a fast pace, arms outreached, "General!" The voice sounded quite simmilar to the gibberish that one heared from a Fenrir, though the tone was one of great pleasure and pleasantness. "It is good to see you are well!"
"My Lord!" Alex strode past Sheba to embrace the titantic being, releasing him to shake his hand. "Good to see that Anjol still lacks that friendly, knowing aura that you have!"
"Too true, too true. I have thought of replacing him, but who would stand in? Maybe if we found someone honest, eh?"
Alex was trying not to laugh: "Someone honest? Maybe the rocks would do better, eh?" Both laughed at that, maybe a private joke that Sheba had no clue about. Suddenly, the Emperor seemed to notice Sheba. "Ah, and who is this angelic creature? One of our servants, or has the army seen to try to please you after that Lighthouse trouble?" A brief pause, "After that slaughter, I half expected you to exterminate those responsible for that bloodbath."
Sheba was blushing from the compliment, but immediately began thinking on their chat: she knew that the Tolbi Lighthouse Incident was a nasty one, but what did they mean? As far as she knew, the army had slaughtered about two hundred civilians who were digging the site for ancient ruins, only because they were disobeying a vague order of policy. The army (it was never clear if it was Elite or Master soldiers) slaughtered them ruthlessly, and was one reason so many smaller cities on the frontier and island cities were supporting the resistance. If what the Emperor said was true, was it an accident, with only a few soldiers responsible? No, it had to be a play, a trick to send disinformation to her group.
Right?
"No, she is not a gift from the army, though they will have one hell of a time trying to convince me that sending those soldiers to scout out Lemuria without aid was humane. You and I both know what is out there."
"Indeed." The Emperor turned to face Sheba again, looking her over. If he recognized her... "So, if not a soldier...?"
"A new servant, recently aquired from Contigo as a piece offering from their leader. Hama claims that Enmi here would be a nice asset, and, if needed, would be good at bearing children if needed."
Barely hearing the new name she had been given on a spur of the moment, Sheba turned beet red at Alex's remarks, quietly planning his death at his description of her. "Good at bearing childrenn..." Ooh, he was going to die.
"Is that so?" The rough voice noted. The Emperor took her hand, "kissing" it with his metal jaw. Oddly enough, the metal was far from cold, actually warmer than it should have been. Odd. "I trust, being that she IS from Contigo, that you have her under suspect, no?" Sheba did not need to know why the Emperor said such; Contigo was barely on speaking terms with Tolbibi.
"But of course, my Lord. And, naturally, should I suddenly find her carrying any heirs, you will be the first to know." Both men had a laugh at her expense, and could only cringe with hidden rage. Alex was a pig!
The Emperor and General said their farewells, and the Emperor left. As the sound of metal on stone ended, Sheba turned to face Alex. "Enmi? GOOD AT BEARING CHILDREN? ASSETS? BEARING YOUR 'HEIRS?'" She lunged at him, missing him as he easily dodged her, resulting in her slamming onto the bed. Whirling around, she glared at him. "You are such a bastard, you know that? Just what did Mia see in you!"
His face became redder than if Sheba had actually slapped him. Maybe she had struck a soft spot. By all rights, she should make his life as miserable as he made hers, hurting him as he hurt her. But, she mused, what had he actually done to her to warrant such an emotional spot? "Sorry." Did she say that? Why would she be sorry about Alex, anyway? The son of a bitch led one of the most despised armies in the world!
Or did he? What if the Emperor spoke the truth about the Lighthouse, one of the biggest incidents that the rebels used to bring support to them? Why did the Emperor (or, rather, that puppet head) not state the truth behind the incident? Would that not hurt her cause if they publically tried and punished the soldiers? Was there more behind this, or was it a hoax?
She stared at Alex, slowly realizing that he was still standing at the edge of the bed, her laying on it with her arms supporting her back. "Don't worry about it," he spoke, gently grasping her hand, pulling her up. He turned to leave, speaking as he left: "Feel free to change out of that. Trust me, I hate the damned local high class choices of clothes as much as you must. I will be back in an hour, and I will assist you in prepping for our trip. Thanks to your timely arrival, we now have no reason to hold off on visiting Kalay to open trade relations."
Sheba watched him dissapear into the common room, not noticing the door silently close (how did she not hear it, anyway?). Nevermind the bizzare Emperor, the Lighthouse problems, or why they suddenly needed to go to Kalay; She had wounded him, just as she had planned. She had hit him as bad as if she had stabbed him with a knife.
So why did she feel guilty about it?
End Chapter 4 - Oops, Indeed
More innuendo, but I think it was nowhere near as bad as last time (with Alex right on top of her, with Sheba in a TOWEL). I'll probably get more "amusing" feedback on the Emperor than I would normally expect on a new character, though I assure you, there is a reason behind this.
Oh, and if you wonder why I have not met the requirements of the "Action/Adventure" genre (we have angst and a touch of romance, but no real action outside of last chapter), do expect some in the near future. Maybe the very, very near future. Who can tell? (Evil Grin)
Anyway, I must go now, as I have to clean house and begin guesses as to how many people will pick up on the name joke in this chapter...
Mikaa, Lord of Stupidity, Master of Wierdness, Doomed by the Insanity, Dragging out his Stories, Rushing to Avoid Death