Chapter Four

Alliance

Valon, confused about Albel's outburst and his choice to participate in the tournament, shook his head and decided to ignore the outburst entirely.

"Maria and Ze-"

"I said me, fool!" Albel snarled, shooting a glare at Valon that would strip the varnish off of a wooden cabinet. The rookie commander of the Dragon Brigade faltered and cleared his throat, nodding his forced approval over this decision and pointed the quill in his hand to the northwest side of the arena. Albel again shook his head and drew his sword from its sheath, swinging it in a circle that forced the crowd of potentials too either back away or be slain. "Our battle will not be confined to some pathetic 6x9 sandbox. It will occur right here and will go as long as we are both physically able."

"Captain Nox, this is highly out of the sphere of your-"

Albel's movements were untraceable. All Valon knew in that moment was the appearance of the scuffed platform beneath his feet and the cold metal of a blade against the back of his neck.

"Do not presume to tell me what I can and cannot do, Valon!"

Hammer, who lived up too his nickname in every sense of the word, produced a ridiculously oversized mallet from anyone's best guess and took a heavy swing at Albel, who ducked the blow and sliced upward with his tarnished metal claw - apparently using his sword would have either been too cumbersome at that angle or Hammer was just unworthy of it. Regardless, the effect was achieved and the mallet-end of Hammer's weapon was severed from the rest of the pole. Combined with the great swing and the remaining velocity, the disembodied mallet head soared into the audience and rendered one unfortunate soul unconscious, possibly dead.

Albel Nox as he had been recently was gone then, replaced with the blood thirsty and pseudo-psychotic Albel the Wicked. He darted away from Valon's fallen form and performed a wild slash at Hammer, who raised up the wooden pole of his destroyed mallet as if that would be enough to stop the blade of the Crimson Scourge. It wasn't and immediately after Albel further maimed Hammer's weapon he delivered a powerful kick to the man's gut, doubling him over and giving him ample opportunity to deal the killing blow.

Valon, no slouch himself, kicked back to his feet and took a moment to fumble out a pair of razor-sharp claws from his pockets. Wielding them then like a hawk would its talons, Valon let out a battle cry and began a dizzying flurry of slashes, swipes, and martial attacks that even Albel was having a fair amount of difficultly keeping up with it. His own artificial appendage received a few new nicks during this battle as his sword was often ineffective to deflect such close-range strikes.

--

Nel saw this distraction as exactly that and turned to slip out of the crowd unnoticed. Surely no one would detect her when such a intense and thoroughly entertaining fight was going on only a few feet away.

Her chance for a quick escape was ruined then when the huge double doors of the arena swung open. Although the doors were opened by two armored knights, through the door stormed King Airyglyph who immediately commanded subservience into every occupant in the building sans the three warring combatants on the stage.

"EVERYONE OUT! You are too withdraw to your assigned barracks and await further orders!"

No one, especially not Nel, hesitated a moment in clearing out of the room. They all left with the sounds of King Airyglyph berating his three generals, though Nel also received a soft hand on her own as she rounded the corner towards where she knew the king's strategy room laid (she had, after all, been in Castle Airyglyph several times before). The hand belonged to a young man whom she did not know but his friendly demeanor and wide, obtuse grin was certainly nothing to react hostilely too.

"The barracks are this way, Miss Maria. I'll show you!"

'Thwarted again,' she thought bitterly, and was pulled down the opposite hall.

"Just between you and me, I'm kinda clad General Albel, General Valon, and General Terry got into that little scuffle-"

'Little!'

"-seeing as how we were next in line to duel." He grinned and looked up at her masked face. "No offense but I'm pretty good. I don't think you could have taken me."

Nel smiled under her scarf and shook her head. "I'm sure. And your name was?"

"Zeke! A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Maria."

"You can just call me Ma-"

"I wouldn't dream of it! It's very disrespectful and my father always told me to be respectful towards a lady." His hand still firmly intertwined with Nel's, Zeke pushed open the door that lead outside, having to work a bit harder with the snow falling and some already having piled up in front of the exit.

Nel looked out into the courtyard towards three buildings, which she assumed were the barracks.

"I'm not sure which barracks you're assigned too, Miss Maria, but if you don't know we can go check the registry."

"Two." She murmured, growing more than a bit impatient with this kid.

"Me too!"

'Yay…'

"We can look out for each other! It wouldn't be a bad idea, you know, as I'm sure plenty of the other people here will be looking too…ya know, 'get ahead'."

Nel knew that concept all to well. The competition that was involved in becoming a soldier in the Secret Legion was intense to say the least. Backstabbing and subterfuge were commonplace, and considering the occupation they were being fostered in it was encouraged. Nel was scrupulous and kind-hearted by nature but she quickly realized that that mindset would not be suitable for surviving this exercise and overnight became known as one of the worst pranksters the academy had ever known, attracting attention from all the right and all the wrong people. Though originally her antics were not meant to harm but to simply distract and dishearten, words both kind and less-than-so were whispered into her ears as she walked by some of the more influential people in the Secret Legion, seeing her as the breath of fresh air they needed. That bit of prodding stepped up her game and in record time with record marks she graduated and became the respected and feared assassin she was today.

When they stepped into the barracks she assumed the living condition were going to be rather poor from the outside appearance of the building. Upon entering she realized it was far worse. The room was huge but consisted of only wall-to-wall stripped racks with no indoor latrine. A single chair was positioned at the front of the room and another identical chair sat perpendicular to it on the other side. Other than this the room was empty, at least furnishings-wise. The room had more than its fair share of idiots running amok, however.

Most of the bunks had already been claimed and it was no surprise that when Nel found one that was unoccupied it was the top bunk - everybody hated the top bunk. Because of the incredibly low number of female enlistees of course it would be a co-ed barracks and it was nothing new to Nel, in fact it seemed the same conclusion had come to Zeke and he was visibly more upset at this prospect than she was.

Speaking of Zeke, he was in the bunk four rows away - also in a top bunk - and trying to spark up a friendly conversation with his bunkmate, a surly and tattooed man who said nothing as Zeke lectured him but looked more than ready to disembowel the little upstart whenever he got tired of his incessant jabbering.

Nel's bunkmate was the massive man whom she met in the arena crowd. So massive was he that his legs did not fit inside the confines of his bunk's frame and hung limply over the edge. Seeing his belongings had been stored in the small chest provided at the foot of the bed, Nel slung her own bag off of her shoulder and began to put her own clothing and equipment away.

As she did this, she instinctively scanned the room vigilant of threats and information, and other than having to occasionally duck under a wild swing from the now slumbering giant's wayward leg, she caught a few curious and beckoning glances from the men in the room. Most prevalent, however, was the only other female in the room, on the other side and quite a bit further down in the building, being harassed by a group of at least seven men surrounding her bunk.

Nel immediately stood up and began a quick and methodical march towards these people, whom she would make sure lived to regret this incident. It seemed, however, that her new friend Zeke had the same thought and was way ahead of her.

"Excuse me!" He shouted, holding up a finger as if to flag down a cart. "But I think you've all have had enough fun on that poor girl's behalf! Leave her alone this insta-irk!"

Not surprisingly, one of these roughnecks had separated from the rest of the group and snatched Zeke by the neck, lifting him up off the ground and just as quickly was forced to drop him when Nel planted the hilt of one Blade of Ryusen into his sternum, audibly shattering the bone and then gave him a lariat to the throat which drove him into the cold floor and into a deep sleep.

The now unconscious man's associates had drawn all manner of weapons and moved to encircle Nel and Zeke (whom was on the ground after being dropped rather unceremoniously); the latter looked positively terrified while Nel, calm as ever, simply spun her twin daggers on the tips of her index fingers and waited for the first move.

That move came from a man with a tongue surgically altered to resemble that of a snake who, with a chuckle, licked a dagger in his hand and took a single intimidating step forward. "Bitch, you've got alotta nerve steppin' into this game. Now maybe if you be a good girl and start takin' those clothes off I might think about not kill-irk!"

"That sounds familiar," Zeke snickered.

The man with the lizard tongue now had a garrote wire around his neck and was slightly hovering off of his flailing feet by a much shorter individual behind him. The other men participating in the panty-raid quickly converged on the unseen target but Nel took point and held them off, taking her own quick glance to see what the trouble was.

The girl the men had been harassing was now fighting back, strangling the lizard man with tears in her eyes though remorselessness in each of her ragged breaths. Her yearning for this mans life was apparent when Nel saw blood trickling from the wire slicing into his flesh. She wanted him dead.

Nel had every intention of talking her into releasing him, although he certainly deserved the punishment he was receiving, but the doors to the #2 barracks clattered open and in walked the determined and thoroughly pissed body of Albel Nox, bearing in his hand not his blade but a single piece of parchment.

"Maria…" Albel stopped and looked incredulously at the last name inscribed on the roster. With a disappointed sigh he continued, "…Dortray. Get out here now!"

Albel's sudden intrusion was all the girl needed to release her lethal hold on the lizard man who crumpled to the floor hacking up blood and wheezing painfully. Now that Nel could get a good look at her she was an attractive young woman with short dark blue hair and smooth, supple features; hardly what one would think of as a trained killer.

But Nel didn't have time to lecture her. She simply grabbed her by her forearm and pushed her against Zeke. "Watch her until I get back." She pointed across the room at the slumbering giant under her bunk. "If you need extra help wake him up." He nodded without protest and Nel left the group silently.

Albel stepped out into the snow and watched Nel follow him and shut the door behind her. The two squared off in silence for a moment, Nel inches from his face as Albel was hers, and neither gave any ground. Surprisingly, it wasn't she who first declared peace.

"Calm yourself, recruit. I mean you no harm. I simply want to talk." Albel spread his arms wide as a gesture of innocence and that he was not - at least readily - armed.

Nel's hands had been at her dagger hilts the entire time and his words did nothing to alleviate her paranoia. "What do you want? Why did you call me out today?" 'He might not know yet so I shouldn't be the one who gives it away.'

"Can we cut the nonsense yet, Nel? You couldn't have seriously thought I wouldn't figure you out, seeing as how you did everything but stroll up in here naked with your name scrawled on your forehead."

Nel nodded and moved her hands away from her weapons up to her scarf, which she pushed down revealing her face, streaked with black from the coal leaking from her hair, giving her a decidedly jester-like appearance. "I was hoping you'd figure it out, Nox. The only other thing I could have done to make it more obvious would be to walk here nude."

"Then I'm glad we've come to an understanding about your intelligence, or lack thereof." His insult warranted a minor frown from her, which he reveled in. "What do you want, Nel? I thought I made it clear that I didn't want anything to do with you people after we completed the mission. Or did I need to kill the blonde muscle head to drive that home?"

"You made it clear, but I need something from you and it wasn't like I could just write you a letter."

"So you thought it wiser to sneak into a Airyglyph recruitment draft instead!" He was now back in Nel's face, shouting rather loudly. "Has all that atrocious hair dye leaked into your brain!"

Nel pushed him back and like a bolt of lightning had her blade at Albel's throat. Likewise, his sharp iron digits were at hers. The two wrestled each other standing for a few seconds before Nel brought her knee up into Albel's groin and shoved him against the side of the #2 barracks. "You're going to get me what I want whether you like it or not, Nox! Now are you going to listen and remain out of further pain or do you need another reminder?"

Revealing the sadomasochistic side of Albel the Wicked, he had been laughing the entire time, even when his manhood had received a very painful hit. "Oh, I think I need another reminder, mistress."

"You just don't get it-"

"No, I get it just fine!" Albel delivered Nel a head butt and reversed their roles, slamming her against the side of the building and once more against her skull. "What I do not get is why you think I should help you? Why do you think I would betray my kingdom you miserable Daughter of Aquaria?"

Nel gasped, her head spinning, and in her pain she could only think of a single word to utter: "Promise."

That was apparently the magic word. Albel released her immediately and backed away, that nagging, obnoxious voice of a former child leader ringing in his ears.

\\I want you all to promise me something. We may be separated by great distances but we still have a duty to each other. Protect each other, watch out for each other, and we'll never really be apart./

"SHUT UP FAYT!"

Albel began to slam his clawed hand into the side of the building, straining the old pitted wood more and more with each blow until it simply gave way and his hand plunged through. He ripped it out and turned away, leaving Nel and everyone inside the barracks (and those in the other barracks who had heard his outburst) very confused.

Nel sighed and slid down the wall, her head still spinning and her eyes unfocused. Not long passed before Zeke, the nearly homicidal girl, and the massive man hovered over her, all clearly concerned.

The girl had a lucid, almost vacant expression on her face and stood there tapping her index fingers together timidly. "Uh, m-miss? Are you…a-are you okay?"

Nel nodded and accepted a hand offered by Zeke to help her too her feet. "I'll be fine." She patted Zeke warmly on his shoulder, the closest thing he'd get to appreciation, and looked at the girl and the monstrous man towering behind her. Nel stooped over a bit and smiled at her. "May I ask your name?"

The girl blushed and nodded slowly, still habitually tapping her fingers together. "H-Hina…miss."

Nel took her arm and pushed it into her hand, shaking it firmly. The girl only blushed, saying nothing more. When that introduction was finished, Nel corrected her posture and looked up at the giant, smiling albeit with a bit of apprehensiveness of her own. "And may I ask who you are, sir?"

The monstrous man, whom had so far only glared at the other three and stood with his barrel-thick arms across his barrel-thick chest, suddenly sprang to life with all the subtlety and stoicism of dragon's breath. "Name's Garland! A pleasure to meet you, little lady!" This time it was someone other than her who initiated the handshake, which completely eclipsed her much smaller hand.

"A pleasure too meet you, Garland!" Nel shouted and pried her hand out, silently cursing out much that had hurt.

"Oh, ha! I do apologize. Sometimes I don't know my own strength." He grinned a huge goofy smile and scooped up his three new friends by the shoulders, pulling them against his massive form. "And now that the introductions are complete, whataya all say we muscle some of these idiots out of a corner and get our bunks closer together? We gotta stick together, ya know?"

Nel smiled and used the hand that wasn't being crushed against Garland's hip to scratch her nose, which was no longer covered by her gray scarf. This was a startling revelation to say the least in that she had been so careless, but at the moment she couldn't seem to care. In the all-encompassing grip of Garland, the four newly found friends went back into the barracks and began clearing out some space.

Author's Note: I think maybe I'll continue this after all, with a few hidden cameos, fan-service slips, and other unique spices thrown in (three, in particular, are written into this chapter).