Wild ARMs: Last Ignition
Chapter 14: Revelations
The castle was packed with wounded civilians and soldiers when Elena led them into the great hall.
Doctors and healers were scattered around the hall attending to the injured.
But among the chaos Elena spotted a familiar face.
"DAD" she yelled as she ran towards a cot close by
The five followed her quickly towards the stretcher, where they found a man in his late forties, maybe early fifties laying on a cot with a bandage wrapped around his forehead, a red spot of blood showing through the white fabric near the mans greying hairline.
As Elena crouched down next to her father as the King of Neo Adlehyde and a healer approached.
"He has suffered severe head wounds Elena" the King said "The Healer has to induce a coma to save the higher brain functions and repair the damage"
"Elena…" Minister Cyan whispered "There is something you must know…"
"What is it?" she asked
The Minister seemed to hesitate for a few moments "…I am not your biological father" he whispered "I'm your uncle…when you were born you father…my brother and I decided that it would be safer if you and your cousin, my daughter…who died a few hours before your birth were switched in order to protect you"
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Elena asked as she looked up at the King.
"Before you were born there were several groups vying for the throne…your mother and I thought it was the best decision in order to protect you…no one knew of your uncle's relation to me"
"What will happen now?" she asked
"Nothing" her father replied "We will continue to allow the people to believe what they believe and in a few years you may decide if you wish to take the throne"
Elena nodded as the Healer began to chant a spell and her uncle whispered "I love you Elena" then a sapphire sphere surrounded him and after a moment the sphere faded and the Minister was still except for the steady rise and fall of his chest.
Zack being closest to her placed a hand on her shoulder.
As Elena stared silently at the man she had known as her father Zack asked "What do you want to do now?"
"What I want" she hissed "Is to find the bastards responsible for this and make them pay"
"I'll do anything I can to help Elena" Alex said "If Caina and Cypher work for Garret Xander then it's my responsibility to finish what my dad started"
Glenn nodded as Zack said "I just had a thought Glenn"
"What's that?" Glenn asked
Zack folded his arms and spoke "If they do work for Xander like Alex said…then that means your parents never found the woman Bryce was talking about…which means that your parent might still be out there"
Glenn's eyes opened quickly as he contemplated this. Was it possible? Were his parents still alive? Still wandering the wilderness trying to track down Xander.
"Interesting as this is" Serena said "What in the pits of Hell happened today?"
"More or less a bunch of psychos who were supposed to be dead 25 years ago have decided to resurface and want to send Filgaia straight to hell's front door" Glenn grunted as a pair of soldiers carried the Minister's stretcher out of the hall, the King, Elena and Zack following after.
"What now?" Alex asked as she rested her newly acquired Bayonet ARM against her shoulder
"I'm not sure" Glenn sighed
"It's been a rough day" Zed said "How about we get some rest and pick this up later"
"I agree" Alex said "My back is probably bruised from the fight with Cypher so I'm gonna get some rest and find the foreman to see if I can buy this Bayonet from him, and at the same time try to find my Multi ARM"
"You mean this?" Serena asked as she unslung the familiar weapon from her shoulder
"That's the one" Alex said "It's slagged though. I think the bastard cut into the cartridge"
"I know the guy who works in the ARMsmith here" Serena said "He'll fix it for me if he knows what's good for 'im"
Alex chuckled as she shouldered the Bayonet and followed Elena and the king to the guest quarters "Glenn, I'll need to see your Godfather later to see if he can teach me how to use this thing properly"
"I'll see if I can track him down tomorrow" Glenn grunted as he hung his sword belt from the post on the headboard. Then he lay down and closed his eyes.
The next morning at breakfast in the dining room Zack sat next to Serena and Zed discussing how they acquired the power of the guardians of light and darkness.
As Glenn listened to their story of the ascent through the Twin Towers he had a thought.
"Zack" he said
"Yeah?" the priest asked
"When was the last time the power of the Guardians of the six primary elements were brought together in one place?" Glenn asked
Thinking for a moment Zack replied "It hasn't happened in 1,500 years, when the Dream Demon Beatrice tried to destroy Filgaia"
"So if the Elemental Guardians are back together" Elena said "Then there's a chance that some major threat is here"
"That's a possibility" Zack said "Which means that the six of us need to get to Baskar ASAP"
"Why do you need us?" Serena asked "Me and Z are just common Rangers, why don't we just give you the Mediums?"
"The Guardians chose us for a reason Serena" Zed said "They want us on this path for a reason and we have no choice but to follow the road they lay out and do what we can along the way"
"Alright" Serena groaned "But I get to keep anything I find along the way. This Multi-ARM included"
"It's all yours" Alex said "I like the Bayonet better. It's not as sleek and streamlined. Which makes it good, it's…worn. A weapon for battle, not adventuring"
"Life is an adventure" Shiro said from the table "And the death that follows is the next step of the journey"
"Maybe" Alex said as she drank the rest of her coffee "I know one thing for sure though. My dad isn't going to be pleased if Xander hasn't taken that next step"
"Maybe he can tell us something" Glenn said "We need more information on this Xander guy and a Marshal, even retired, may have access to info that Elena's dad doesn't"
"Your uncle might have some info too" Zack said "We could check on our way back to Baskar"
"Yeah" Glenn nodded
"When do we leave then?" Alex asked
"How are the repairs going your highness?" Glenn asked
"The damage was mainly restricted to the festival grounds" the king replied "There was nothing more than some structural damage in the city"
"Then they were looking for the Teardrop" Elena said "But I don't understand why"
"The same reason the demons have wanted the Teardrop twice before" Zack said "It's an energy source of unmatched magnitude"
"We really need to talk to someone in Baskar" Glenn said
"Why?" Serena asked
"Because the Baskars are the only people on the whole of Filgaia who have a complete history of this planet" Zed replied "Every major event and battle where the Guardians have been involved in the last four thousand years has been recorded by the worshipers of the Guardians. And on two occasions a Priest of Baskar has stood with the warriors of the Guardians"
"My grandmother told me stories about past encounters with the Demons when I was little" Glenn said "But my favourite story was the second battle with the Lord Blazer and the encroaching parallel universe"
"I liked that story too" Serena said "Always liked the bad ass with the ARMs, Brad Evans"
"Nah" Glenn shook his head "I liked Winchester and the Bounty Hunter woman…Kanon"
"I always thought that little kid from Baskar…Tim was pretty cute" Elena said
"Didn't the history books say he became the chief after his Grandfather died?" Zed asked
"That's what the family history says" Zack answered "As far as I know my family is related to him somewhere down the generations, but the details from that era are very fuzzy. I could ask dad when we get back to Baskar if you want"
"Nah" Zed muttered "Just introduce me to some of that famous Baskar Dragon Whiskey"
"Later" Glenn said "I want to get on the road before noon; it's a long drive to Blue Ridge"
"Drive?" Zack asked
"Yeah" Glenn nodded "I am pretty handy behind the wheel, I know a guy in town who'll loan us a truck to take us to Blue Ridge and we can walk to Baskar from there"
"OK" Elena said "I'll arrange the supplies and we can be underway by noon"
Glenn simply nodded as he stood up and strapped on his katana and left the dining room.
A short time later Glenn was standing in the ARMs master with the technician looking over his destroyed Quicksilver.
"Aye" the ARMs Smith said "It's slagged; no way I can fix this. But I can salvage some parts from the trigger and loading mechanisms, how much you want for it?"
"I need some replacements" Glenn said "Take the money off that"
"OK" the ARMs Smith said "What're ye after?"
"I need a pair of ARMs with a good fire rate for fire fights" Glenn said "And I need something that I can use from a distance, something that'll explode and hit multiple targets without having to take too much time to aim"
"How wide a range are we talkin here?" the ARMsmaster asked "I got ARMs that can clear a room, and I got ARMs that'll take down a full rank of solders"
"Not wide" Glenn said "Just enough to clear a path…a shotgun or a rifle'll do if you have one"
"I do" the ARMsmaster said "Gimmie a second" then he walked towards the back of the shop as he said "The ARM you have now, you been using it long?"
"'Bout a year" Glenn said "I ran into a rather nasty creature in some Ruins near Blue Ridge and the son of a bitch slaged my Quicksilver when I shot it"
"Damn" the ARMsmaster grunted as he returned to the counter with two boxes in his arms. Opening the first box the ARMsmaster said "The Mark II Quicksilver Enforcer…accurate up to three hundred feet, light, and designed for dual use"
"I'll take them" Glenn said as he ran his fingers over the sleek design of the silver dual ARMs "And shoulder holsters"
Then the second box was opened to reveal a two foot long Lever-action Riffle ARM, with a brass casing, a dark wood stock, a silver barrel and a scope on the top.
"The Winchester Mark III Dual ARM, this puppy has two effects, designed around the twin cartridges built-in, the first is designed for a high accuracy shot that'll blow a hole in a man the size of a dinner plate at two hundred and fifty yards, the second function is a grenade blast that'll rip any targets within a ten foot radius and up to one hundred yards, but past one fifty you'll have to elevate the rifle or all it'll do is piss off who ever you're aiming at"
"I'll keep that in mind" Glenn nodded "I'll take it and a hip holster, right side and as much ammo as you can get me for both"
Doing the numbers as he got the holsters the ARMsmaster said "That'll cost twelve thousand Gella"
"Done" Glenn said as he put the money on the counter and removed his jacket.
He put on the brown leather shoulder holster and after loading two clips and chambering a round, Glen holstered the weapons, then he attached his new hip holster to his belt at the right side, loaded an ammo clip into the weapon, set it for the Grenade Blast cartridge and slid the weapon into the holster.
After testing the feeling of movement with the holsters and trying a few quick draws, Glenn was satisfied that he was ready to rock.
It was just coming up to noon when Glenn met up with the others at the entrance to the city, where a midnight black 4x4 was waiting.
Alex and the others were also waiting at the jeep.
"We ready to go?" Alex asked
"Yeah" Glenn nodded as he drew the riffle and set it in a catch next to the drivers seat while Alex climbed onto her bike as Glenn and the others piled into the jeep and started the engine.
"Let's hit it" Alex yelled as she strapped her Bayonet across her back and gunned the engine of the bike, shooting forward onto the planes.
Glenn smiled slightly as he sped after her. The noon son shining overhead as the jeep and the motorcycle turned southeast.
Done.