So here's the culmination resulting from the last couple
chapters. I told you there was a reason to this madness. FYI, if I
don't receive any reviews for this chapter I'll assume interest has
waned and act accordingly. It seems a shame though, as I just finished
Yuber's chapter. He's so cute when he's brandishing weapons!
Disclaimer: Really now. If I owned Suikoden do you think I'd be suffering through college classes?
Chapter 8: Another Strategist
"M...My Lady?" Rico woke Her from a peaceful slumber exactly three days after the abduction of Hugo.
"Yes?" She responded groggily.
"T...There's an army marching towards the gate…"
"Oh good!" She exclaimed, leaping out of bed and throwing on some decent clothes. She rushed out into the hallway, Rico hard pressed to keep up. "Who's awake?"
She stopped with a start as She reached the entrance to the building and was greeted by the sight every one of Her uneasy bishounen ready at arms…except for Caesar of course, who didn't need a visible weapon to cause damage.
"I hope, for your sake, that you have a really good plan." Percival's commented warily.
"Why's the army even here?" asked Hugo.
"For us," Chris sighed.
"Don't worry Lady Chris. I'll protect you," Borus straightened proudly.
"Who's going to protect you?" Nash mocked.
Borus' face turned rosy red as he suddenly lunged at the spy. "Why you…"
Futch, who had been standing in Borus' line of fire, deftly stepped to the side. "I'm going to check on Bright. Come on Sharon."
"indecent…"
"Borus!" Chris yelled in dismay, as the dragon knight and apprentice exited the scene.
"dishonest…"
She approached Caesar and bent down to whisper in his ear. "Everything's under control?"
"dirty…"
He nodded. "As well as can be."
"unsavory…"
"Geddoe's still in the iron room under Jacques' surveillance."
"scoundrel."
She nodded, Her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Come on Borus! Stop messing around."
"ME?" Borus protested, sitting on Nash with both hands on the spy's collar. "What about him?"
"He's coming too," She waved a hand at them distractedly.
Borus sighed in frustration as Percival offered him a hand.
"Come on Sir Lancelot." Percival rolled his eyes as pulled his friend to his feet.
"Jealous Percy?" She taunted.
His eyebrow jumped to his forehead. "You wish…and don't call me that."
She chuckled before clapping the strategist companionably on the shoulder. "Come on Caesar! Now's the chance to prove your worth!"
Caesar grimaced but followed Her without hesitation into the courtyard, the rest of the bishounen hot on Her heels. The strategist glanced back and suddenly scowled in a rare show of seriousness. "Rico!"
Rico snapped to attention. "Y…Yes sir?"
"Take Hugo back inside!" He turned to the boy. "It is imperative for the success of the mission that you not be present."
Hugo gave him a befuddled look but allowed Rico to lead him back into the building.
"Stay here," She commanded the group as She easily scaled the 30-foot wall surrounding the castle.
Nash looked at the wall cynically. "You can't tell me that Caesar is going to climb that wall on his o-." He stopped as Watari deftly transported the strategist to the top of the imposing structure. Nash smirked before lazily leaning against the wall. "So She's got the strategist and the ninja for Her main defense…This could be interesting."
And so they sat on the wall, the Girl and ninja on one side of the gate and the strategist on the other, facing the entire army of Firebringer who had just stopped at the gate.
"Hi-ho Salome. You're late," shouted the cocky Caesar from his perch. "Have trouble following the map I had Ace deliver to you?"
"You call this a map?" Lucia deliberately sneered while turning the map around and squinting at it. "How diluted the Silverberg blood has become if this is all you can manage."
Caesar puffed himself up at the taunt. "At least I didn't allow my Commander-in-Chief…nay three of my top Commander-in-Chiefs, to be kidnapped by some psycho stranger."
She glared at Her strategist while he smiled smugly at the resulting chaos his comment created within the army.
Nash turned to a smirking Percival with a raised eyebrow. "Not bad."
"Caesar," Salome interrupted calmly, holding up a hand for silence. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to inform me why you've kidnapped not only our two top commanders but also the Flame Champion himself?"
"Of course, my dear Salome," Caesar replied, still looking smug. "I thought you would never ask."
Salome's lips tightened fractionally at the other strategist's impudence.
"Oh, come now Salome…It's not like you're missing any important events, seeing as we have the only characters capable of furthering the plot."
Salome twitched.
"We want something from you…" Caesar began.
Lucia's raised her eyebrows with interest. "What could we possibly have of value to you that you haven't already captured?"
"Well…" Caesar's eyes brightened with mischief. "You see, it's something you don't actually have…as of yet."
"We don't need to negotiate with you!" Dupa shouted. "We sent our ninja into your impenetrable fortress to get us the Flame Champion back. She should be back any second now!" Just then, Ayame popped up from behind the wall next to Caesar and shot a death glare in Watari's direction.
Salome's face paled. "There's two things you need to remember about ninjas," Caesar remarked. "One," he held up a finger. "The ninja first and foremost works for himself...or herself, in this case." He paused. "And two," he held up another finger, "if rule number one doesn't apply, he…or she works for the highest bidder." His smile broadened. "It just so happens we not only have something Ayame wants, but we also have the potch to pay her."
"What kind of game are you playing, Caesar?" Salome asked with narrowed eyes.
Caesar gave a dramatic sigh before answering. "We need your resources to help us capture someone. In exchange for this person we will give you back your commanders."
"And how do we know we can trust you!" shouted Dupa, earning encouraging cries from the army.
Caesar grinned. "As a gesture of good faith, we'll return the Captain of the Zexen Knights to you."
Borus gave a strangled cry from behind the wall.
Salome hesitated. "Who is it that you want?"
"Ah. Right to the point. I like that."
"I think we should just send the mantor trainers after them!" Dupa shouted, earning another ragged cheer from the army.
Caesar raised his eyebrows at Her and nodded slightly.
"Franz!" She called, catching the mantor trainer's attention. "So we all took a vote and…"
Franz fidgeted eagerly.
"You're in."
The mantor Commander's eyes widened in astonishment before he broke out into a huge grin and flew Ruby up to the top of the wall. "You won't regret this! I'll be the best bishounen ever!" he excitedly exclaimed before taking his mantor further into the ranch.
"Franz!" Iku shouted worriedly as She rushed to the gate and let herself in.
The unexpected loss of their Commander caused the rest of the mantor trainers to mill around in confusion before falling back.
Caesar glanced at Salome with feigned curiosity. "What mantor trainers?"
Salome sighed and closed his eyes. "Dupa. Might I suggest that you stop volunteering our forces to storm the gate before they have all converted to the other side."
Dupa's eyebrow twitched before he angrily stalked towards the back of the troops.
Salome sat quietly on his warhorse a moment longer before once again meeting Caesar's gaze. "I'm listening."
Caesar grinned.
"How long does it take to traverse across the continent, pick up one strategist and come back again?" She asked for the umpteenth time while soaking luxuriously in the hot tub.
Caesar sighed from an adjacent hot tub. "I told you…even using teleportation…or perhaps I should say, especially because they are using Viki to teleport an entire army not only through space but also through time, it's going to take a few days." He paused, thoughtfully. "They may arrive later today barring any significant complications."
"Miss, miss!" Rico came running up to Her, eyes glowing. "The army's back!"
Both Caesar and She leapt out their respective hot tubs, quickly donned t-shirts and shorts over their swimsuits, and dashed toward the ranch's gate. The rest of Her bishounen plus Geddoe were already there, waiting anxiously.
She flung the gate open while assuming an air of dignity as She walked towards the current head strategist of the Fire bringer army, Her bishounen and captives right behind.
"As you can see," Caesar gestured behind him at Geddoe and Hugo. "We are prepared to keep our side of the bargain."
Salome nodded and signaled two soldiers to bring forward a figure cloaked in black.
"Shu?" She asked, tentatively.
The figure removed his
hood to reveal long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. He raised
his eyebrows in appreciation as he took in the entirety of Her
establishment.
"Impressive."
She grinned broadly, pleased. "Thank you."
Shu glanced wryly at the army still assembled behind him. "Salome has informed me in no uncertain terms that this is my new place of residence."
She nodded slowly. "For a while at least."
He nodded in resigned acceptance. "I see. And what are your terms?"
"You will act as my ta…er…second tactician," She corrected Herself as Caesar's eyes suddenly assumed an expression of shock as if he just realized that he instigated the capture of a competitor. "And you will also be responsible for aiding me in trading for supplies. Barts grows a lot of our food here, but there are some other things we are in regular in need of."
"Hm." He smiled thoughtfully. It was a better arrangement than he had anticipated. "As my choices are currently extremely limited I graciously accept your offer." He shook Her hand to seal the bargain.
"Excellent!" Her grin became slightly devious.
Salome impatiently cleared his throat. "As much as I enjoy your company, I would appreciate it if you return the remainder of our commanders to us so we can be on our way. We are still fighting a war, after all," Salome reminded her.
"Is that what you call this?" Shu stated more than asked.
She grinned and signaled for the two prisoners to be returned to the Firebringer army.
Geddoe's shoulders slumped in relief as he was finally reunited with his mercenary team.
"Boss! Are you okay?" Ace hovered near his captain in concern.
"I bet he would be better if you hadn't gotten him trapped!" Joker countered.
"Hey! That wasn't my fault!" Ace retorted. "I was framed!"
"A fine excuse! What could She possibly have framed you for?" Joker shouted.
"None of your business!" Ace screamed.
"Hey guys?" Aila interrupted the bickering pair. "Where's Jacques?"
The mercenary group looked at each other wordlessly.
"I thought he was out catching a rabbit or something." Joker scratched his head.
"He's in there," Geddoe shuddered as he gestured towards the ranch.
"He's crossed over to the other side!" Aila shouted in indignation. "Jacques!" she shouted, while running to the entrance of the ranch. The mercenary group stared at the girl soundlessly as she glanced at the closed gate before proceeding to effortlessly scale the wall.
"You know, I could've just opened the…Oh never mind," She shrugged.
Hugo skillfully mounted the grassland horse Lucia had ready for him and gave his mom a reassuring smile.
"You okay?" She whispered.
He looked bewildered. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
Salome turned the army around with a sigh and pointed them in the general direction of Budehuc castle. He made it three paces before he turned around to look at Her once again. "Next time you need something…just ask."
"No problem." She replied before gleefully ushering Shu into the ranch.
:gets down on hands and knees: Not that I'm begging but please review!
