It's been a year since I posted the first chapter of Gamer Emblem Awakening.
One. Full. Year.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around how time has flown around me. And yet, when I look at how this story has progressed, it serves to remind me how far I've progressed as a writer as well. What started out as a simple medium to nerd out, has become a project that I spend more time on than I originally planned. Sure, there were some bumps and issues along the way, and there still are, but just sitting down and figuring out how I can mix together some of the craziest thoughts about animé, video games and all manner of stuff into a single narrative has turned out to be one of the most fun and rewarding forms of pastime that I've come to discover.
A large part of this discovery can easily be attributed to you, dear readers. Your reviews and reactions have both provided me with the inspiration to keep writing while enjoying the experience, as well as provide me with tips and advice that have been invaluable in my own development as a writer. Heck, even when I thought I had pretty much established the course of this story, some of the suggestions you included inspired me to go even further beyond the top for the sake of making my writing more entertaining (or at least more insane). So, as a writer and a fellow fan of a myriad of fictional media covering the internet, I humbly extend my heartfelt gratitude to you all.
And to celebrate the one-year anniversary of my entry into the world of story writing and fan site publishing, I present to you the latest chapter of Gamer Emblem Awakening.
As is tradition, let's address some reviews first.
1silvergamer2: Noire isn't quite as deadly as you feared, as will be explained in this chapter. For clarity, she can't use the Hiraishin kunai on her own. It serves another purpose.
warrior of six blades: The scene with the royal sisters and Lucina's baby self is basically an illustration of how babies do whatever they want, 'cause they literally do whatever they want. The scary part is that I sometimes suspect that they know they can get away with it due to natural cuteness and overprotective adults.
Sully waking Vaike like that is how I imagine how life with Sully is like. She's the Awakening epitome of tough love. Sully never pulls her punches – not even with her own daughter. Besides, Vaike's surprisingly resilient. He can take it.
And Robin won't have to worry too much about the circumstances where Jack finds Rose. Jack's methods for handling that kind of stuff yields…results.
Narharcan: That's indeed something I've planned for Rose, and that's part of her character design. This girl is something else, and the trailer when she made her debut doesn't even scratch the surface.
3-13 Sniper: You're not wrong on the keyblade part. With how often keyblade wielders can open any chest in their path simply by tapping it with their keyblade, it's practically a given that the have Locktouch as a built-in skill. I mean, it's a magical key.
Also, Noire kind of has a weakness, besides the infamous Archer's curse. Her fighting style is completely reliant on her MP, since she normally doesn't carry any normal arrows. This means dragged out fights can tire her out pretty fast unless she's careful. And running out of MP is the same as running out of ammo on her case.
Obsessive Reader: Well, Jack showing up in another story has crossed my mind a few times. How far I'll take that idea will be a question that I'll answer in the future, however. This fic takes priority. After all, I see no point in featuring Jack in any other stories until his own has been completed.
EpikPokBoi: Oh, ho ho ho. I see what you did there. Still, it'd take one heck of a crazy mini-plot device to pull that kind of reference off. Maybe I will, maybe I won't…
It should be noted that Anna's keyblade is a bit of a double reference. The first one comes up when you split its name into its two parts. Gil is the name of the currency used in most mainstream Final Fantasy games. This, alongside the overall design of Anna's keyblade, are a nod to her love for merchantry and money. Thunder is a nod to Anna being very good at using Levin swords right off the bat when she joins.
The other reference is that Gilthunder is the name of a character in the manga "Seven Deadly Sins". This guy is powerful enough to halt the flow of water from a well simply by stabbing a sword into the ground and can snipe someone with a spear from miles away just by knowing the target's coordinates. Despite this, he still only registers as average on the power scale of his world. Yeah, Seven Deadly Sins has some insane power levels in its own right.
Copyright disclaimer: I only own the plot of this fic. For a full copyright disclaimer, please read chapter 1.
Hah! I finally managed to hijack the script editor! – Rose
AN: What the- How did she get past security?!
Chapter 19:
Slave ring exposed!
Furious Reaper becomes papa bear!
With a flex of Telekinesis, I lift up several wooden disks with rings painted on them and levitate them around Noire. The Archer in question has a weighted practice bow in her hands and a quiver full of arrows attached to her back. A twitch of my fingers, and the disks start moving around. Noire takes an arrow out of her quiver, nocks it on her bow, and takes a breath. Her eyes dart between the numerous disks before she pivots, takes aim and lets the arrow fly.
*Thunk!*
Perfect bullseye.
The struck disk floats back to the ground. At the same time, the remaining disks speed up ever so slightly. Noire has another arrow ready within seconds.
*Thunk!*
The cycle repeats itself several times over. The more disks Noire hits, the faster the remaining ones move through the air through my Telekinesis. And despite the increase in speed, Noire still hits the bullseye.
I smile proudly at how skilled she's become. But…how about I switched it up a bit?
One of the disks flying around Noire changes course and flies towards her ankles instead. In response, Noire jumps over the disk and hits it dead center from pretty much point-blank range.
It goes a bit downhill from there, though. As I glance at the disks Noire hits form that point on, the point of impact tends to be slightly off-center. Guess she's reaching her limit.
"Not yet!" she shouts before I can voice my opinion.
I blink in surprise before I nod and continue the exercise. Before long, Noire sits panting on the ground, two dozen wooden disks with an arrow each shot into them lying on the ground around her. Some of the projectiles sit dead center on the disks, while others are a bit off.
I give an appreciative whistle as I glance over my student's handiwork. "I'm impressed, Noire. I never expected you to come up with such a rigorous exercise for your archery training."
Noire smiles shyly. "Thank you, Jack-sensei. I came up with this exercise after I watched how Laurent trains chanting his magic while he moves. So I thought; "Why can't I do the same?". It wasn't easy, though."
"I'll say. How would you even have those disks set up? Did you ask my future self for help as well?"
The Archer shakes her head. "No. I had the others help me out. They would stand around me and toss the disks between each other while I try to shoot them out of the air. Hitting moving targets like that is hard."
I smile at her proudly. "Yet you've shown me how good you are at it. I'm proud of you, Noire. You've grown skilled with the bow." I rub my chin. "But that leaves your ability to Trace weapons. How in the world did future-me teach you that?"
"Well, it all started when I saw you conjure a practice weapon out of thin air." Noire explains. "I was curious, so I asked you about it. That's when you explained the secrets behind conjuring weapon using only mana and your knowledge about the weapon you want. It sounded so fascinating. I felt I had to learn how to do that myself. Mother wouldn't teach me any magic, yet I've always felt in tune with the way my mana flows through my body. So if I couldn't learn how to cast magic, then how about using magic to make my own weapons instead?"
A sweatdrop forms on the back of my head. "And future-me just went with it?"
Noire nods happily. "Yes. You taught me how to channel my mana through a weapon and immerse myself into its structure and history. After I learned the channeling technique, I would often sneak into the castle's armories and Trace the weapons stored in there. The armory became my own little space, my sanctuary. I could do more than immerse myself in the history of the weapons inside – I found a place where I could be at peace."
I scratch my head. "The armory? But…what about your family, Noire?"
The Archer averts her eyes with a sad look. "Father would often be busy with missions, since he had such an important position in Lady Robin's spy network. I overheard him telling Mother that Lady Robin was busy investigating something, and they needed his help, but I didn't understand what it was because I was so young when it happened. The time he had left to spend with us was scarce, so we made sure it counted. As for Mother? Well… I'm not sure if we ever got along."
I look skywards and scowl. That's right. According to what I've learned from Noire's past, Tharja would often subject her own daughter to whatever experiments she conducted in her research. It would be bad enough if it were the arcane arts in general, but the dark arts are a different kind of beast. The effects those experiments had on Noire were plain to see during and after our battle against Ezra's band of slavers.
"I'll talk to her." I tell Noire.
The Archer blinks. "Huh? Talk to who?"
"Your mother. I don't know what reasons she could possibly have for using you as her own test subject, nor do I care to know. No child should ever have to suffer the way you did while growing up. You deserve better than an abusive childhood, Noire."
Noire gulps. "B-but…that means you'll have to confront her."
"Yes. And?"
"Aren't you scared?"
I shrug. "I know Tharja's dark magic is powerful, and I'm certain your father will fight tooth and nail to protect her, but I've faced worse. Besides, if I don't nip this in the bud now, who knows what Tharja will try on you in the future?" I shake my head. "Tharja may be my ally, but that's no excuse for what she's done to you or what she plans for you."
"Why would you go so far for me, Sensei?"
"Because I care for you, Noire. I don't care how private of a family matter they'll try to make this; no child will suffer abuse from her own parent if I have any say in it. And if that breaks whatever trust I have with Tharja and Gaius, then that means it was never built on any solid foundation to begin with."
"Please… Don't throw away the bonds you've built with them for my sake." Noire begs me. "They're good people deep down. I know it."
"Maybe they are." I concede. "But I won't turn a blind eye to your plight, Noire. At the very least, I'll speak with your mother and hear her out."
Noire stares at me apprehensively for a while longer before she nods.
I sigh. This family matter is more complicated than I thought it would be. Curse you and your lack of morals, Tharja! Did joining the Shepherds do nothing in helping you grow empathetic?
"On another note…" I begin. "…I've noticed that you seem to carry a curiously shaped holster on your thigh. What's in there, Noire?"
Noire eyes the holster before she flips it open and pulls out its content.
My eyes widen at what my student shows me; a Hiraishin Kunai!
"Wha- How in the world did you get your hands on that?!" I shout as I point at the tri-pronged dagger.
Noire holds the dagger up. "This is a dagger that you gave me while I was training under you, Jack-sensei. You told me how you and Henry spent weeks trying to make this dagger, and that you two finally succeeded."
I nod dumbly. "Huh… Never thought I'd actually crack the inscription on the handle and recreate the spell hidden within to use as my own." I'd better make a note to thank Henry in advance. "Still, did future-me ever explain why he gave it to you?"
Noire grips the kunai tighter on the handle. "Well… It's a bit embarrassing for me to tell you this, but I've always been easy to scare. Between growing up with Mother and the crazy antics my friends would get up to, just thinking of being with others made me uncomfortable. I spent many days just being alone, and I was fine with that." A small smile grows on her face. "But I was always happy to be with you. When I told you that, you gave me this dagger. You said it was called a hirai- something. I couldn't figure out how you said it, so you just called it a "flying thunder dagger". And you promised that if I was ever scared and wanted you to be there for me, all I had to do was throw the dagger into the ground."
I raise an eyebrow. "Wow… That's a big promise to uphold. So why didn't you just throw it into the ground while those slavers were chasing you? I could've helped you out of that mess in record time."
Tears start to pool in Noire's eyes. "Because… Because I was afraid you'd break your promise again."
"Huh? Again?"
Noire nods and averts her gaze while hugging the handle of the Hiraishin Kunai close to her chest. "The first time I tried it out was after the Fell dragon returned. Risen wandered the lands and attacked anything and everything. Father was gone, and Mother had left on a rampage against the Fell dragon's forces to exact revenge on them for robbing us both of him. When the Risen approached the town we lived in, we only had a small militia to protect the people living inside, with me being the youngest member." Noire starts to shiver. "I was so scared when the Risen arrived. A giant, black mass littered with red eyes as far as the eye could reach… And it was headed straight for our town. When we were lined up to fight back against those creatures, I remembered the promise you made me when you gave me this dagger, so I threw it into the ground and prayed that you would save us." Noire shakes her head as the tears spill over her cheeks. "But you didn't come! You broke your promise!"
I look at her stunned. "What? But…why would I just abandon you like that? Why would I abandon all those people?"
"Because…" Noire takes a moment to reign in her sobs. "Because you were already dead…"
The area we're sitting in falls silent.
I avert my own gaze. "Lucina wasn't kidding when she said every single one of us died. Still… Knowing that I died before I could come to your rescue makes me feel awful. But if I didn't come, how did you survive that battle, Noire?"
More tears spill out from the Archer's eyes. "You didn't come… Mother did. She returned to the town just in time to witness the Risen approach. I had seen her angry before, but never that furious. She rained down spell after spell on the Risen, shouting that they'd never let them take me away from her too. That's when I finally understood…how much she loved me." Noire breaks down crying. "She gave up her own life, just so I could escape! And when it was finally over, I waited for Mother to come back to me. She never did!"
I swallow the lump in my throat. By Yune's tail feathers… Tharja sacrificed herself to give her daughter a chance to live… Did she…always care? Does our Tharja care for Noire like that?
I shuffle over to Noire and wrap her in a hug. "Forgive me, Noire. I know it's not my place to say this in the place of my future self, but…I'm sorry I broke my promise to you. That I left you when you needed me the most."
Noire looks up to me with tear-stained cheeks. "But you did keep your promise."
"Huh?"
Noire shows me the Hiraishin Kunai again. "It's true. You never showed up on that day. But I kept the dagger anyway, because it was the only thing I had left to remember you by. And I… I hoped against all hope…that maybe, just maybe, you would be there for me when it really counted." A smile blossoms on her face amidst the tears. "And you did. Just when I thought I'd get caught by those slavers, you came to my rescue. You finally kept your promise."
I step back a bit and rub my chin. "Not exactly what I was referring to, but I guess that counts. Speaking of which, does the dagger still work for me?"
Noire blinks owlishly. "What do you mean? You're the one who made it."
"Correction; my future self made it. I'm not even sure if I have the same abilities that allowed him to use the ability tied to that dagger in the first place."
Noire gives the handle a closer look. "You mean the symbols inscribed here? How do we even test it?"
Let's see… Minato essentially uses his Flying Raijin jutsu by having that kunai act as a beacon when he teleports, and the formula inscribed on the handle is the key to how he does it. What makes the jutsu work is the fact that said formula is keyed specifically to his chakra. If I understand future-me right, that should mean he and Henry's future selves managed to reverse engineer the formula and key it to future-me's mana. If that's the case, the formula should react to my own mana by default, since it's essentially mana from the same person. Sounds like it's worth a shot.
"I think I have an idea." I reply after that train of thought. "Try throwing the dagger at…the tree over there." I point at the tree in question.
Noire takes a look, takes aim, and tosses it.
*Thunk!*
Hmm… The edges are sharp enough to stick to wood. Seems she's taken good care of it. All right, now for my part. Inhale… Exhale… I close my eyes and extend my mana outwards, similar to how I spread my mana with Mind's eye. If my hypothesis is correct, I should be able to sense where the kunai is with mana alone.
There!
Wow… The handle of the kunai reminds me of a star shining in the night sky, only brighter. Considering I've used a replicated version of the Flying Raijin jutsu before, the rest should be easy.
*Flash!*
A pulling sensation moves me towards were I sensed the kunai. At the same time, I hear Noire yelp in surprise. I open my eyes and find myself standing by the tree Noire aimed at.
But why is she so short?
…
Oh, wait. That's just me being above the ground.
What the- I'm off the ground!
"Whoa!"
Good thing I managed to activate Air shoes so quickly, or else I'd hit the ground with an uncomfortable impact.
I float back up to where the Hiraishin Kunai is stuck on the bark and pull it out. "Well, looks like it worked." I tell Noire smiling.
"Sensei, that was incredible!" Noire chimes in with an excited smile on her own. "Do you think I could do that too?"
I float down and rub my chin as I dangle the kunai form my finger by the ring in the handle. "Hmm… I'm not sure, Noire. The thing is, the symbols on the handle are what makes what I just did work. It's worth a shot, though."
I jam the blade back into the tree trunk and take a few steps back. "All right. Try pushing your mana out from your body and towards the dagger. See if you can sense it with your mana alone, almost like you're touching it, except you use your mana instead of your hand."
Noire nods, closes her eyes, and exhales. The area falls silent.
Noire frowns after a while. "I don't think it works, Jack-sensei. Am I doing something wrong?"
I shake my head. "No, I think you just lack the right tools. The reason why it works for me is most probably due to what me and Henry in the future managed to do to this thing." I pull the kunai back out and show Noire the handle. "Based on what I know about this technique, the key lies in the symbols inscribed here. It's basically designed to resonate specifically with my mana, and apparently no one else's. That's how I was able to pull it off, even though I technically never had any hand in making this weapon or the symbols inscribed here."
Noire looks at the dagger with a disappointed frown. "So I have a weapon that I can't use?"
I shake my head. "Oh, you can still use it like any ordinary dagger. But I think it could serve another purpose."
"Which is?"
I smile. "Now that I know I can move to this thing's location in an instant, that means I'm never too far away from you. All you have to do is throw the dagger towards where you want me to appear, and I should pop up there unless I'm busy with something – just like future-me promised."
I hand the Hiraishin Kunai back to Noire. "I may have broken my promise to you in the time you came from, Noire, but this time around, I'll be able to keep it."
Noire gives me another teary smile. "Thank you, Sensei."
Your relationship with Noire has improved!
Heading back to camp may have been a happy trip with Noire in a visibly better mood, but what I'm about to do will put a bit of a damper on my own.
And the reason why is right in front of me right now; Tharja's tent.
"Tharja? It's me." I call out.
"Jack?" I hear Tharja ask from within the tent. "Come in."
Walking in, I'm a bit surprised to see the inside of the tent being brighter than I remember the first time around.
"The lighting in here's a bit better than last time." I remark.
"That's because Tharja decided to let up on the gloomy atmosphere." Gaius explains as he pops up from behind me.
"Stuff it, Gaius." the Sorcerer hisses. "I have an image to uphold."
"Don't see you doing a mighty good job with it, hon." Gaius replies smiling.
I regard the married couple for a bit before I take a deep breath. This could either become awkward or snowball into disastrous territory real fast.
"Tharja, we need to talk." I tell the Sorcerer.
Tharja gives me a neutral look (which turns out to be a friendly look by her standards). "I'm listening."
"It concerns your daughter, Noire."
The Sorcerer raises an eyebrow. "Well, what of her? She's not causing you any trouble, is she?"
I shake my head. "No, on the contrary. She's a big help. Rather, what I came here to talk about concerns her relationship with you."
"I think there's not much to discuss there, Jack. We only met her yesterday, so there's not a lot that's happened between us." Tharja remarks.
I nod. "You're right – provided we're talking about this timeline. But remember; your daughter came from another timeline, one ravaged by the Fell dragon."
Tharja nods. "Yes, that's something we established ever since Chrom's children joined up. Could you get to the point, though? I still don't understand what you're getting at."
I narrow my eyes at her. "I probed a bit into Noire's past, specifically regarding growing up with you. And what I found disgusts me. Ever since Noire was a child, your future self used her as a test subject for her research in the dark arts. Ever wondered why she seemingly shifts from meek to violent at the drop of a hat? That's because years of living under that treatment has damaged her mind to the point that she's developed a dark side much like your own, only Noire keeps it suppressed for fear that she may hurt others."
Tharja scoffs. "I fail to see how that has anything to do with me. Remember, this is future-me we're talking about here, which means I technically didn't do anything. And even if I did, I'm pleased to see that my child at least isn't some weakling."
Winds start to slowly build up around me. By this point, Gaius is already tense, having crouched slightly and reaching into his robes, most probably for a dagger hidden underneath.
"This is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about, Tharja." I reply. "No child deserves to suffer under the cruelty that Noire grew up in. Different version of yourself or no, Noire basically sees the same person whenever she looks at you, which will only remind her of her upbringing."
"Buttercup, you might want to back down now." Gaius warns me.
Tharja scoffs. "What does it matter to you what I do to her? She's my daughter, and therefore, my responsibility. I may do with her as I please."
Oh, that's it!
I point my open hand towards Tharja and pull her towards me with Telekinesis. I have Tharja in a chokehold off the ground faster than either of the married couple can react.
"Unlike you, I genuinely care for Noire's well-being." I growl. "She may be your daughter, but she's also one of my students, and I refuse to let her relive the very suffering she grew up in before her family was torn apart by the Fell dragon."
I idly note the tip of a dagger against my jugular, courtesy of Gaius, who now stands behind me.
"Buttercup, I'm only going to say this once." Gaius tells me with steel in his voice. "Let go of Tharja. Now."
I briefly glance at Gaius before I lock his entire body under my telekinetic hold. The Assassin's eyes widen in surprise when he finds himself completely immobilized.
"Believe me, Gaius, I didn't want to do this unless there was any other way." I tell him. "But if Tharja plans to use Noire the same way her future self did, what will happen to Noire? She's your daughter as much as hers. Tell me, are you willing to let your wife treat your own daughter as a mere test subject?"
Gaius flinches back at my question. Seeing as he has nothing to say, I turn back to Tharja. "Well, what will it be, Tharja?"
Tharja grasps at my wrist as she struggles to breathe. "F-fine… I'll think…about how…I treat her…"
I hold my grip a bit longer before I let go and Tharja falls to the ground. While the Sorcerer coughs and gasps for air, I release my hold on Gaius as well.
I turn around and stop at the tent flap. "I'll let you off the hook for now, Tharja. But know this; as your commanding officer for the duration of this trip, I consider it my responsibility to assure the well-being of every member of this group, and that includes Noire. If I learn you went back on your word, I will have you court martialed for insubordination." I turn my head and glare at the two. "That means you will answer to Chrom. He may be understanding, but he's nowhere near merciful if you cross the line. And by what you've said today, you're practically walking on it."
"Then what…do you want me to do?" Tharja gasps out while rubbing her throat. "Unless you've noticed, I'm not the nurturing type. And growing up in Plegia at the time I did doesn't exactly show you what a happy childhood looks like."
"You should be able to figure something out. From what I've seen of when you're with Nowi, you know how to care for a child. And Noire needs it far more than Nowi does." I turn back to her. "If you can't figure out how you'll apply that for Noire, then just think of what you hated about your own childhood. Find what you want to spare your child from, and give her what you wished you were given when you grew up."
Tharja's eyes become downcast. "All I wanted…was for someone to accept me, dark side and all. Yet no one did. They only saw the witch. Or some easy girl with an attractive body."
"Then give Noire the acceptance you never got." I reply. I scratch my head. "Honestly, it frightens me how hard that girl can snap. In a way, she may be scarier than you when you're in a foul mood. If you scared others away on a normal day, imagine how alone she must feel when she loses herself in her rage."
Tharja's eyes widen upon hearing my words. I take that as a cue to continue.
"You two may be more alike than you think, Tharja. Try to see yourself in Noire. Then maybe you can find out how to treat her like a parent caring for their child."
I'm about to leave when Gaius speaks up.
"Crivens, Buttercup. Don't you think this was too extreme?"
I stop right as I'm about to grasp the tent flap.
"Maybe. But what other options did I have, Gaius? Simply talk it out? I hold little hope that it would be enough to sway your wife to treat Noire the way she needs to be treated. I simply thought this was the most efficient way to bring about the change I feel is necessary. When I say Noire is one of my students, I mean more than just someone I pass down my knowledge to. I may be overstepping my bounds as an instructor, but I've come to care for them a bit like they're my own children, and I'd rather die than watch something bad happen to them. Hate me all you want for what happened in here, but know that I'm doing this mainly for Noire's sake. And one more thing, Gaius; all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
I lift the flap of Tharja's and Gaius's tent and leave the married couple to contemplate my words.
Your relationship with Gaius has worsened! Your relationship with Gaius is now "Strained"!
Your relationship with Tharja has worsened! Your relationship with Tharja is now "Strained"!
Well, that could've gone better.
As expected, dinner at camp is a tense affair, what with me eating my stew in absolute silence while Tharja and especially Gaius send me an occasional glare. The worst part is that both Noire and Nowi have picked up on the tense atmosphere. Sigh. It's in moments like these that I wonder whether I did the right thing or not.
I decided to finish dinner early and retire to my tent to plot our next course. Just as I'm about to sit down, however, I hear the flap of my tent move. I turn around and spot Nowi at the entrance.
"Nowi? What can I do for you?" I ask curiously.
"Jack, something happened between you, Tharja and Gaius, didn't it?" the manakete remarks.
I scratch my head with a sigh. Considering Nowi's personality and her relationship with all three of us, I really should've seen this coming.
"You could say that." I reply after some pause. "We got into an argument. I won't divulge any details, but it concerns the way Tharja treats certain other people and my objections regarding that. In the end, I pulled rank on her, which upset Gaius."
Nowi frowns at me. "And you won't make up?"
I shake my head. "It might be selfish of me, but I have no intentions to apologize to Tharja or Gaius unless something changes with them. What happened between me and Tharja touched a topic that's very sensitive for me, and it's an area where I refuse to back down."
Nowi rolls her eyes. "I swear, I'm the child of this group, yet you adults are the ones acting immature. Fine, I'll talk to Tharja and Gaius and hear their side of the story. Somebody has to play the mediator in this mess."
I raise an eyebrow. "You sure you're up to the task?"
Nowi nods. "Sure I'm sure. I know fully well that I'm one of the few in the group that Tharja listens to, so if anyone can untangle this stupid squabble, it's me." The manakete winks. "You'd do well to never underestimate your elders, Jack."
I roll my eyes. "You're the one elder who I constantly debate over whether to take you seriously or not."
Nowi pouts. "Meanie. I'm trying to act as the voice of reason here, and you just insult me. Real mature, Jack."
Great… I'm being scolded by a child. Granted, she's a child who's over a thousand years old, but she's still technically a child. Ugh. When did my life hit such a low point?
I rub my temples. "You know what, Nowi? You're right. Maybe I am acting immature right now. Good luck in talking it out with Tharja and Gaius."
Nowi turns to the exit of my tent with a confident smile. "I don't need luck. Just some good old-fashioned life wisdom."
The flap closes, and my tent falls silent.
I'm still debating with myself whether what just happened was Nowi acting her age, or just me being an irreconcilable brat.
Bah! I'll handle that at another time! I've got plans to make.
As I study the map and possible travel routes, I hear some shuffling at the edge of my tent. Oddly enough, it's not coming from the entrance.
I narrow my eyes. If it's a thief or assassin, they're doing a terrible job at sneaking into my tent.
So imagine my surprise when Mind's eye reveals that it's a squirrel trying to get into my tent through the gap between the ground and the canvas.
I walk towards where the little critter struggles to squeeze itself through the deceptively tight gap. Aside from wearing the familiar robe of black moss (though mysteriously missing the red leaves), this squirrel has a swirl-patterned mask made of bark sitting on its face – and the mask only has one eyehole.
I crouch down and help the squirrel get into the tent. "Tobi? What are you doing here?"
The squirrel dusts himself off before he waves up at me. "Finally found you, Jack! Boy, do I have some news for ya!"
I blink at the critter owlishly before I sit down on my bedroll. "All right. How about you take it from the beginning?"
The masked squirrel nods. "Okay, so I've been scurrying around all over the place lately for all kinds of odd jobs for the clan. Gotta work hard to make the A-team, right? Anyway, while I was busy checking the southern forests, I stumbled upon something really cool!"
I sweatdrop at Tobi's story. "We're up north, Tobi. How the heck did you go from the southern forest to here without noticing?"
"Anyway…" the squirrel continues unperturbed. "…there I was, minding my own business while checking out the area when a bunch of humans passed through. And that's when I sensed it! One of the humans in their group smelled like you, Jack!"
I blink. "Me? How come?"
Tobi shrugs. "Heck if I know. All I know is that this human, a female, smelled like you. And if I understood the situation right, she was a prisoner in the group."
I frown and rub my chin as I process what Tobi tells me. A female that smells like me? Robin's already known by the clan, so it can't be her (thank Naga). But it's not her, then who is that mysterious female?
I pull out the map and get ready to jot down notes. "Did you find out where that group of humans were headed?"
Tobi nods proudly. "Sure did. I followed the group until they stopped. If I remember correctly, they shouldn't be that far away from here. About five hundred maple trees in that direction."
I look in the direction Tobi points me at and check the map. If my geography matches up, Tobi's pointing east from here.
"There was something else that smelled strange with the human." Tobi adds. "Aside from smelling like you, I also smelled ashes and rotted flesh. But it didn't seem like her own. It was more like she's fought against something that smells like that." The squirrel shrugs. "As if. Who in the world fights a walking corpse while everything around you is burning?"
My eyes widen at the last comment. In fact, I know quite a few who used to do it on a daily basis. And if my deduction is correct, this girl Tobi speaks of may have some common ground with said people who've fought corpses.
I nod as I run the conversation in my head one last time. "Well, this sure is an interesting piece of information."
Even with the mask on, I can sense Tobi beaming at me – as if his exuberant movements didn't already give it away. "Yay! I got praised by our client! Deidara-senpai will be so proud when he hears this!"
"I doubt it." I reply bluntly before I hand Tobi an almond. "At least you've earned this. Enjoy."
Tobi eagerly accepts the treat. "Oh, yummy!"
I do a doubletake as he slowly reaches for his mask while lifting up the almond. I know he's just a squirrel, but I'm still intrigued by what's behind the ma-
Tobi turns around, eats the almond, replaces the mask and turns back to me – all in the time it takes for me to blink. What…the actual…heck…?
"Thanks for the treat, Jack!" Tobi chirps happily. "But I've gotta go back and report to the chief now. Tobi's a good squirrel, and good squirrels are always on time. Unlike that jerk Kakashi!" *Poof!*
Tobi vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving me on my own inside my tent.
Hmm… The location Tobi pointed out isn't too far out of the way, considering where we are right now. This might be worth investigating.
Quest alert:
Side quest: Enslaved legacy
Reports from one of the squirrels on patrol indicate that a girl has been captured by local slavers. This may be your best chance at tracking the slave ring down and strike at its heart. You'd better hurry, though. Should this information prove accurate, it's only a matter of time before that girl is sold off.
Objectives: Locate the slave trade headquarters, Defeat the ringleader, ?
Rewards: 8 000 EXP, 8 000 gold
Bonus objective: ?
Bonus rewards: 1 000 EXP, 1 000 gold
Failure: You may not know it now, but failing this mission will result in a deep personal tragedy that you may never recover from.
I exit my tent and have about half a dozen clones spread out through camp to gather the others. We're all soon in front of my tent, where I've set up a desk with the map on top and a lantern floating above, courtesy of Telekinesis.
"Meeting very sudden." Gregor remarks. "Why Jack call in so late?"
"There's been a slight change of plans, everyone." I reply. I place my finger on the new location. "Turns out the squirrels have pointed out a location I hadn't considered before. If their reports are accurate, someone with some kind of connection to me should be there."
Sully raises an eyebrow. "Sounds pretty vague. Ya sure what you're getting' into, Jack?"
I shake my head. "It's a longshot at best, but I think this is important. According to what I heard, this person in question is supposedly a girl who was taken prisoner."
Vaike scratches his head. "Wait a sec… People don't just take others prisoner for no reason. You said it was a girl, right?" His eyes widen. "You don't think…"
I nod grimly. "Considering where all the leads line up to this point, it's safe to assume the squirrels have picked up a trail that leads to those slave traders Anna mentioned back when we defeated those bandits. And even if it's not the slave traders in question, it would probably be someone who knows where the head-honcho for the whole operation has set up shop."
I notice the others around me tense up. Looks like we're all on the same page now.
"In other words, we just got a lead that can lead us straight to the ringleader of this whole slave business. And since someone potentially important to me could be in their grasp, I have all the more reason to pay them a visit." I conclude.
"You don't expect us to just go with you on this wild goose chase, do you, Buttercup?" Gaius asks me tersely.
One glance at him and Tharja tells me how bad things are still between us. I may still outrank them, but their trust in me is severely strained. I'd better tread carefully.
"*Sigh* Look, I understand if this doesn't sit well with neither you nor Tharja, Gaius. In fact, I'm ready to go out on this particular excursion all by myself if need be. I don't know what awaits me there, but I get the feeling it's something I can't afford to miss. So I will go. Whether I go alone or with company doesn't matter to me. If you don't want to go with me, I might as well leave a copy of myself to lead the way to the next planned destination and catch up with you guys on the way there."
"Nope." Sully interjects. We look at the Paladin in surprise at her sudden response. "Look, I don't know what beef ya suddenly have with some of us, Jack, but that shouldn't be so big we can't even work together." Sully smirks at me. "You ain't doin' this alone, 'cause I'll be right behind ya."
"She's not the only one." Vaike adds with a grin. "This whole "slave trade" thingy just sounds like a pile of horse plop to me. I say we go there and clean up the mess."
The others nod and give their consent one by one, even Noire (albeit very nervously), until only Gaius and Tharja are left.
Tharja shrugs. "Well, someone needs to keep an eye on you while Robin's not around. I may not view you the way I used to, Jack, but that's not reason enough to just give you the cold shoulder."
Nowi taps her foot with a disapproving glare.
Tharja rolls her eyes. "And I had a chat with Nowi about how important it is to cherish the people in my life, even if I get in an argument with them." The Sorcerer glances at the manakete. "Satisfied, Nowi?"
Nowi keeps her glare for a few more seconds before she nods smiling. "That works for now. Next time, you have to be nice and mean it."
"What are you, my conscience?" Tharja mutters as she averts her eyes.
The rest of us look at Gaius. The Assassin takes a glance at all of us before he reaches into his robes, pulls out a chocolate bonbon and pops it into his mouth. Then he chews… And chews… And chews…
Nowi stomps her foot on the ground. "Oh, come on, Gaius! You can't stall us forever!"
"Father, please…" Noire begs him.
Gaius chews a few more times before he rubs his temples. "*Sigh* Fine. Sign me up. I'll run out of candy before you guys give up anyway, and that just spells bad news for everyone." The Assassin scowls at me. "Just remember this, Buttercup; we're nowhere near chummy with each other."
I shrug. "After what happened earlier, I'd be surprised if we were. I'll…try to tread carefully."
Gaius nods. "Guess that'll work."
I glance at my teammates before I nod. "All right. The course for our next destination is set. Considering the late hour, we'll retire for the night and set out early tomorrow morning. Make sure to get as much rest as you can…" I grin. "…because tomorrow, we hit the slave market."
Timeskip: The next morning
Considering the urgency of this mission, I have a group of clones clean up the entire camp while everyone else gets ready for the day ASAP. Within half an hour, we're all gathered in a new square of clones, breakfast to eat on the go and ready for some swift transport across the landscape.
"Friend sure knowing where to go, yes?" Gregor asks before he tears into a loaf of bread.
I glance at the mini map in the upper left corner of my vision. The arrow marking the right direction flashes a bright yellow.
I nod back at the Hero. "Yeah, I know exactly where to go." I point in the direction. "Full speed ahead!"
"Yes, Boss!" my clones reply and slap the ground. And we're off!
Even as we speed along the Feroxi plains, it takes all my willpower to suppress the urge to go faster. I know it's unreasonable of me to speed up when we're clearly making good time, but a part of me just wants to be there already. Heck, that part of me wanted to be there the moment Tobi delivered his report yesterday.
It's strange, though. Going by what I could figure out from Itachi's initial report, I should already have the location of every future child of Lucina's generation pinned down as far as the ones on this continent are concerned. And yet, Tobi's report indicates that there was at least one more who joined Lucina and her friends on their trip back in time. It's not like I could dismiss it as an impossibility either. The mission parameters I set for Itachi when I first hired him for that task were based on my own knowledge of the Awakening cast, so it's only natural that the squirrels would keep an eye out for individuals matching the descriptions of characters in the game. But who's to say there can't be more?
That line of thought becomes possible due to my own relationship with every single future child we've run into up until this moment. In every instance, I was an instructor of sorts for Lucina and her peers, which means I existed in her timeline as well. Is it possible I took another pupil besides the future Shepherds under my wing? It sounds plausible, but it doesn't explain that detail about Tobi catching my smell from that mysterious girl – assuming she's from the future at all.
I shake my head in frustration. This speculation leads me nowhere. I have to find that girl and get the answers myself.
"Ya look troubled, Jack." Donnel remarks. "Somethin' eatin' at'cha?"
I sigh. "You could say that, Donnel. The more I think about this mysterious girl, the more I want to find out who she is. It's like an invisible force is pushing me to do this, or else I'll never get any peace of mind."
Donnel looks in the direction we're traveling at. "Well, ya ain't gonna find out about her until ya find her, so there ain't no point in thinkin' 'bout her now."
I chuckle at the wisdom in his simple advice. "Those are probably the wisest words I've heard all day. Thanks, Donnel. I needed that."
The Fighter tips his brass pot. "Happy ta help."
Some twenty minutes later, my clones stop the stone slab from moving any further. I zip up a nearby tree and squint into the distance.
There. A lone fortress-like building by the coast. By the looks of it, this one seems intact, unlike the ruins where we found Noire yesterday.
"How does it look, Sensei?" Noire asks as I get back down from the tree.
"Looks like we found the location. It not only looks big, but heavily fortified as well." I reply as I look in that direction. "We need to approach the building carefully."
Sully raises an eyebrow. "You? Careful? You'd have better chances stormin' the d-mn thing head-on and tear through whatever gets in your way."
I give the Paladin a flat look. "And have my wife laugh at me for using such obvious tactics while she's not around? I think not, Sully." I shake my head. "The landscape around here is pretty open, so sneaking into the place under cover is pretty much out."
"That only leaves storming the place, right?" Anna asks.
I smirk. "Not necessarily. There's one more option; hide in plain sight."
The others blink at me owlishly.
A grin spreads over my face. "Can you guys say "disguise"?"
It's a good thing we hired Anna before this whole thing started. Being the crafty merchant she is, Anna has all sorts of useful and odd stuff in her cart. Sure, most of it is merchandise, but who said that's the only purpose? In this case specifically, who said the clothes she has in store have to be bought before worn?
Of course, it took some serious negotiating before the redheaded merchant even agreed to this plan, mainly because she doesn't want to run the risk of getting the clothes ruined before she can offer them on the nearest suitable market. The promise that she can loot the whole place by the same rules as back in the bandit hideout made for a good enough compensation for what we're about to do.
At the moment, I lead the group dressed in an elegant purple jacket with matching grey pants, a silk cravat tied around my neck (I really need to thank Virion for those lessons), silk gloves on my hands, polished shoes on my feet, my hair pulled back in a ponytail and a monocle over my left eye. And I carry a fancy cane in my left hand for good measure. If this doesn't make me look aristocratic, then I don't know what does.
Following my lead is Anna, dressed in a green dress covered with lace bands embroidered on the bottom half in an elaborate pattern. Sully and Gregor walk beside us in their usual attire, posing as bodyguards. The rest have stuffed themselves inside Anna's cart, seeing as she owns the fancier one.
The entire purpose of this garish getup is to fool the guards into thinking Anna and I are a pair of aristocrats looking to do some…unconventional business with whoever's in charge of the building we're about to infiltrate.
"Halt!" one of the guards at the front gate shouts as we approach. Hmm… Definitely a hired mercenary, but he's quite well-dressed. Whoever owns the place either swims in gold, or is very concerned about keeping up appearances.
His companion points his lance at our traveling party. "State your name and business."
I plant the tip of my cane on the ground and clear my throat. Time for my snobbiest tone of voice – complete with ridiculously rigid posture and my face angled upwards juuust a little bit.
"Count Jack of Ylisse, traveling with the company of my sister, Countess Anna, and our two retainers." I reply. "We recently heard that the master of this establishment conducts business of the – How shall we put it? – exotic variant. We wish for an audience with him to discuss possible business relations."
Guard # 1 glances at Anna. "Truly? And what do you have to offer?"
Anna gives her best merchant smile. "Oh, we have brought a wide selection for your master to look through at his leisure. For instance…" Anna snaps her fingers, prompting Gregor to walk to the back of the cart and soon return with a roll of fine silk dyed red. "…our family has established good contacts in the silk trade. Not only do we have access to silk of top quality, our relations have gone so good that we can buy this luxurious fabric at prices no merchant could ever hope to match." Anna gently sweeps her hand over the top of the roll. "Why not try feeling it for yourselves?"
The guards hesitate for a bit before guard # 2 walks up to us carefully. He removes his gauntlet and slowly drags his fingertips across the finely woven fabric himself.
"Hey, this stuff's smooth." he remarks surprised.
Anna beams him another charming smile. "Why, of course. Only the finest quality will do when discussing business with a potential partner."
The guards trade glances with each other before # 1 shrugs. "Seems good enough for me."
Guard # 2 nods. "Agreed." Then he turns to us. "You may pass. Please follow me, Count Jack and Countess Anna."
We follow the guard through the front gate and into a courtyard of sorts. Anna's cart, our two horses, Sully and Gregor are led to what I presume are the stables.
"We will meet up here after we are done discussing business." I tell Sully and Gregor. The two nod and follow another guard towards a room.
For mine and Anna's part, we're led into another part of the building. As we walk the corridors, I mentally map the inside for when we'll eventually shed our disguises and raise some hell.
We stop in front of a pair of double doors after a few minutes of walking.
"Wait here." our guiding guard tells us and walks in through the door.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Jack?" Anna whispers when it's clear we're alone.
I nod. "Considering the fortified structure of this building and the surrounding terrain, nothing short of an army could storm this place with a high chance of success. From what I could gather while walking around, the guards here are all hired mercenaries, and several of them wield bows. They're more than equipped to defend this place, should we attack from outside. Sneaking in here was the best way to slip past their defenses."
Anna adjusts her dress. "Well, we're in. Now what do we do? And how are you sure those guards won't peek into my cart? The others are in there, remember?"
"Sully and Gregor can buy us time for that, since they pose as our retainers. They should be able to push away any prying eyes long enough until it's time for us to strike. Until then, we keep up the act a little longer, at least until we know where they keep their prisoners here."
Our conversation grinds to a halt as the guard from earlier returns. "You may enter."
I nod in thanks and walk in with Anna right behind me.
Huh. This room is really big. I think it even stacks up to Emmeryn's throne room. Except there's no throne by the end of the room – just a desk.
My eyes widen slightly in surprise when I see who sits by that desk. Gaston Ferros.
Gaston. Mother freakin'. Limp-as-a-wet-noodle. Ferros.
"Greetings." the sleazy noble begins as he rises from his seat. "I was informed I had guests who wished to discuss business with me?"
I nod while keeping a tight grip on my cane. What were the odds I'd run into this Casanova here, of all places?
Gaston raises an eyebrow at me. "Hm? Pardon me for asking, but have we met before?"
I keep my expression neutral. "I am certain I would remember having ever met a notable aristocrat such as yourself, ah…"
"Gaston." the noble supplies, thankfully unaware of my ruse. "Gaston of House Ferros."
I nod. "Count Jack of Ylisse."
Anna curtsies. "Countess Anna, Count Jack's sister."
Gaston's face lights up when he spots Anna. "A pleasure, my dear. Would you care for a cup of tea after we are done discussing business?"
As flirtatious as ever, I see. It's a good thing I have a cane to near-strangle, because I'm very close to punch this pansy in the face.
Anna waves off the offer. "Well, I'm flattered by the offer, but I believe we have urgent errands to tend to after this meeting."
"Oh, surely you can find some way to rearrange your schedule." Gaston insists. "It would be such a shame if someone as charming as you had to leave so soon."
I clear my throat. "*Ahem* As interesting as this conversation may be between you and my sister, I believe we have other matters to attend to, do we not?"
Gaston throws me a condescending look and straightens out his suit. "Hmph. Yes, quite. And between the two of us, you remind me of someone most vexing that I had the misfortune to run into some two years ago. A commoner of the worst kind."
I allow a small, wry smile. "Truly? Quite a small world we live in."
Gaston huffs as he sits back down at his desk. "Like you could never imagine." The aristocrat laces his fingers in front of his face. "Now, then. What exactly did you two wish to discuss?"
I take a moment to select my words carefully. Gaston might be a wimp, but he's well-guarded. I count two dozen armed guards spread out evenly along the walls of what I now know to be his office. Sure, I might be able to take all of them, but I still need to think about Anna and the others.
"A business acquaintance to our family mentioned in passing that he had been in contact with a trader in, ah, an unconventional business avenue. When I asked for further details, he merely pointed at one of the servants accompanying him. Quite a beauty, she was. And garbed in an unusually revealing manner at that. I found the prospect of such a servant most fascinating, and therefore asked for directions."
A glint sparks in Gaston's eye. "Ah, I see. And as such, you found your way here."
I nod. "Indeed. I take it this is the place to search in case I wish for female servants for attending…certain needs, is it?"
Gaston nods pleased. "Yes, yes, it is." He raises an eyebrow as he glances back at Anna. "What about your sister? Does she consent to this endeavor?"
I glance at the disguised merchant as well. She's hiding it well, but I think her right eye is starting to twitch.
"My sister- How do I put this? Ah, yes. She has quite exotic tastes. In fact, she found the prospect of such a female servant as intriguing as myself, if not more so."
When this is over, I think I'll try to reinvent the toothbrush. Keeping up this act leaves an absolutely terrible taste in my mouth.
Gaston blinks bemused before he hides it behind an amiable smile. "Well, that's certainly…unexpected. Though, who am I to question the tastes of a fair lady?"
The aristocrat claps his hands. A mercenary guard leaves the wall and walks up to us.
"Take our guests to the dungeons. They may select any one of our current tenants and bring her up here." He directs his gaze at us. "We will discuss payment after you've made your choice. Now, if you will excuse me."
I nod. "Of course."
I hide my scowl as Anna and I follow the mercenary guard out from Gaston's office. Judging by how he reacted to our act, it's safe to assume he's the ringleader in this local slave trade. And we've managed to sneak right into his headquarters. Best we find the girl we came looking for and then bust this place wide open.
At one place where no other guards are currently patrolling, I make a Shadow clone while the leading guard rounds a corner and temporarily loses sight of me. The clone transforms into a mouse and scampers off towards the stables. The task is simple; find the others, and get ready to fight their way to the dungeons where we'll rendezvous. T-minus: 2 minutes.
A few corridors later finds the three of us walking down a set of dark stairs, lit only by the torches lining the outer wall. Considering how much we've walked, this means we're underground now.
The lead guard stops in front of a massive oak door. "This is where you'll find what you were offered. Take your time."
I nod. "My thanks. Shall we?"
The guard nods and pulls out a ring of keys. Right as he's about to push the right key into the lock on the door, the sounds of some loud commotion echoes down from above.
The lead guard turns around in shock. "What the- What's going on he-" *Whack!* "Ow!"
The guard stumbles back from the blow I delivered to his face, courtesy of the cane in my hand. I rush him before he can do anything else and release a flurry of jabs in his face until he slumps down against the wall unconscious.
"Hey, watch what you're doing with that!" Anna shouts indignant and points at the cane. "I'll have you know that cane is expensive! Do you realize how fast its market value will plummet if people learn that it was used for violence?!"
I roll my eyes. "Oh, stuff it, Anna. I already promised you the loot in this place, didn't I? Consider that payment for everything we'll do here."
Anna glares at me. "This place better be loaded with valuables, or I'll shove an invoice in your face."
I wave the redheaded merchant off. "Relax. I can cover it. Speaking of which."
I unequip all the fancy clothes and accessories and replace them with my ordinary clothes and good old Harvest Moon, all with a simple mental command. The fancy stuff goes right into my inventory.
Anna gapes at me. "How did you-"
I place a finger on my smiling lips and wink. "It's a gift."
I crouch down and pick up the key ring from the unconscious guard. Though now that I think about it, it might be a moot point.
"Hey, Anna? You're good with locks, aren't you?" I ask my partner-in-crime.
Anna smirks and summons Gilthunder with a flick of her wrist. "The best there is. Why do you ask?"
I unlock the massive oak door and swing it wide open. A long corridor stretches in front of us, each wall lined with doors with small barred windows at eye height.
"I figured there will be a few locks that needs to be opened, and finding the right key for each lock is too much of a pain."
Anna pouts at me. "What am I to you, a human lockpick?"
I count off on my fingers. "As well as our new quartermaster, main healer for the time being, resident expert in merchantry and miser."
Anna huffs. "That's not how you make a girl feel appreciated."
I grin at Anna. "Hey, at least you're not a one-trick pony. That'd be boring."
Anna gives me a flat look. "And you need to learn how to give compliments."
I place my hands behind the back of my head and walk in with an air of nonchalance. "Nah. I mainly reserve those for my wife and my friends."
"And I don't count as your friend?!" Anna asks indingant as she follows me inside.
I shrug. "I count you as a hired ally – for the time being."
Anna puffs a stray lock of hair from her face. "Way to be blunt with me, Mr. I-only-have-eyes-for-my-wife. Would it kill you to learn some tact?"
I grin back at her. "Nope. I just don't feel like it."
Anna slumps forward and gives a frustrated sigh. "I can already tell, it's only a matter of time before I want to strangle you."
"Oh, don't be like that. You're lucky to have met me, and you know it. We'll both be better off by the time this little trip is over. Trust me."
"You've yet to give me good enough reason to believe that."
"I let you keep some of that loot back in the bandits' hideout, didn't I? On top of that, I got you a stable job for the foreseeable future."
"My pile would've been a lot bigger if you didn't cut in on it, you jerk!"
"Hey, I'm trying to do the locals some justice here."
"…And you just had to pull the goody-two-shoes card…" Anna grumbles. "Why can't you be this nice to me?"
"I am. You're just being too picky with nice moments." I conclude. I stop in front of a particular door and rub my chin. "Strange… I can tell this corridor is lined with prison cells, but this is the only one that's occupied. As morbid a thought it may be, I expected there to be more captives here."
"Just be happy there isn't." Anna replies. "Besides, it makes it easier for us to get out of here, right? The less girls there are here, the less dead weight we have to lug around."
I raise an eyebrow. "I wouldn't exactly call them "dead weight" unless we get involved in a fight." Loud noises echo from the staircase before a mercenary guard stumbles down the stairs. "Speaking of which…"
Judging by the hollow look in his eyes and his smoking, unmoving body, he probably got blasted by Nowi's dragon fire or Tharja's magic before he tumbled down here. Right on cue, the others join us in front of the cells.
"Right on time, guys." I tell them smiling. "Nice work in finding your way down here."
Gregor shrugs. "Finding way easy with Jack copy leading. Getting here? Not easy."
Vaike nods. "For real. The moment we made our way here, guards kept coming from all directions. If it wasn't for Noire, we would've taken even longer before we found the stairs."
I blink in bemusement before I face my student. "Really? How exactly did you find the way here, Noire?"
A small smile grows on Noire's lips. "Well, I just took a wild guess, and blasted my way through any wall that got in my way until now. I think some of those guards got caught up in the blasts as well."
I sweatdrop at Noire's explanation. Something tells me she's got a lot of repressed anger. Here's to hope her rampage won't bring the whole place down.
"Uh, hello? I can hear voices outside." we hear a female voice call out from the other side of the door. "What's going on? I heard tons of commotion upstairs, and now it's gotten quiet."
Oh yeah. Gotta open the door.
I step aside and gesture to the door. "Anna? If you would?"
Anna raises Gilthunder and taps the lock on the door. Sparkles fly from the lock as we hear the telltale clicking sound of a lock open. I grasp the door handle and open the prison cell. I find a lone silver-haired girl inside, garbed in a pink and purple jester's outfit and…is that a skirt made of books around her hips?
Rose Lvl 27 Class: Dark Mage
Huh. This girl bears a striking resemblance to Magilou from Tales of Berseria. Only difference is the color of her hair, which happens to be silver, and her eyes, which happen to be brown.
I gesture Anna to follow me inside, seeing as the girl, Rose, is chained to the wall. A few scuff marks here and there on her body tells me she's been involved in a scuffle or two before she ended up here. Poor girl.
"You'll be fine." I tell Rose in a comforting voice as Anna gets to work on her restraints. "We're here to get you out of this prison. Say, you wouldn't happen to know of any other maidens trapped down here, would you?"
Rose shrugs. "Nope. As far as I know, I'm the only one down here. Isn't that convenient?"
The cuffs soon come off her. Rose rubs her wrists gingerly. "Phew. Man, those cuffs were tight." The Dark Mage gives me a happy smile. "I'm happy you got here to pick me up, Dad. Last I heard from the sleaze running this circus, he'd sell me off to someone else in about two days."
I nod as I turn to leave. "Think nothing of it. I'd hate to imagine you being sold off as a slave." I freeze mid-step as Rose's words finally register in my brain. I turn around robotically and look at her with wide eyes. "Wh- What did you just call me?"
Rose raises an eyebrow. "Oh yeah. Forgot you're technically not my father. Well, long story short, I'm Rose, your daughter from the future." Rose reaches behind the collar of her shirt. "I even brought proof. Check it out."
The breath hitches in my throat as Rose reveals the object tied around her neck with a leather cord. Observe only confirms the undeniable. It's a Mysterious medallion – identical to the one I'm wearing around my own neck right now.
Seeing the green accessory in Rose's hand brings up a memory from the beginning of my travels through the Outrealms.
Flashback
I showed Hubba a Traced replica of the medallion I left in Robin's care back in Ylisse. "Well, Old man Hubba? What do you make of this?"
Hubba accepted the replica with an annoyed comment regarding his age and examined the object from different angles. The old gatekeeper rubbed his chin after a minute.
"Huh. Well, I'll be, sonny. Ya got me stumped on this one. Never seen anything like this before in my four hundred plus years, and believe me, I've seen stuff."
I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? But I thought someone in your position and with your experience should be in the know about it."
Hubba shook his head. "Sure, I've been around the block fer a while, but I never said I've seen everythin', sonny boy. The Outrealms're a big place. There's no tellin' where they end. Fer all I know, this lil' trinket could be from a galaxy far, far away." He shrugs. "Yer guess is as good as mine."
Anna took a look at the Traced medallion herself. "Yeah…no. I'm pulling a blank too. I've been to markets just about everywhere since I got hired here, but this thing is unlike anything I've ever seen. At this rate, I'm willing to bet it's completely unique – to the point that you won't find any one more of them, no matter how hard you search the Outrealms."
Flashback end
True to Anna's word, I never stumbled upon a medallion like that one during my travels, no matter where I searched or whom I asked. For all the effort I put into finding another such medallion, the only conclusion I've been able to draw is that my medallion is, in fact, one of a kind, kind of like Falchion. But like Falchion, here's a person sitting in front of me, with a medallion exactly like mine in her hands.
The only people I would ever entrust something as important as my medallion to would be people that I hold very dear to my heart, like Robin – or my own child. My mind works at supersonic speed as I process my thoughts. Considering everything I've learned up to this point, there's only one explanation where all this makes sense.
Rose is telling the truth, and is, in fact, my daughter from the future.
And that, in turn, leads to another realization. One that makes my blood boil.
BGM: Vim and vigor, Kingdom Hearts 2 music
Winds begin to whip around me as I shake with barely contained fury. "Those…scum…"
Anna fearfully backs away. "Uh… Jack?"
The winds turn into a small storm. "They dare…make a slave…out of MY DAUGHTER!"
Rose places a hand on my shoulder. "Dad!"
Rose's voice cuts through my anger like a ray of light in pitch-black darkness. The winds die down a bit as I release a shaky breath and pull her into a hug. "We'll talk later, Rose." I tell her as gently as I can at the moment. "Right now, there's something I have to do first. I'll finish up quickly. I promise."
I release her and point at Anna. "Anna, heal her wounds and make sure she stays in good shape at all times." I then turn to the others and delegate orders as I exit Rose's prison cell. "Gaius, secure an escape route for our party. Sully, Vaike, clear the path Gaius shows. Donnel, Gregor, guard Rose with your lives. Nowi, Noire, you two bring up the rear. Provide cover fire wherever you're needed. Tharja!"
"What?!" the Sorcerer snaps at me irritably.
I glare back at her. "If any slavers stand in your way…fire at will."
Tharja blinks before she smiles with a sinister giggle. "Oh, I could get behind that."
"Wait! But what about you, Sensei?" Noire asks.
I stop right at the door and draw Harvest Moon. "Me?" The winds pick back up in strength and get tinted black. My eyes flash yellow as my voice goes arctic. "I'll teach those lowlifes what happens when you harass a bear cub."
"Hey! The intruders are down here!" some guards shout as they run down the stairs. No, not guards. They're slavers. Every last one of them!
I point my sword at the slavers as they come into view. "You angered the wrong father." I declare darkly. I dash straight at them.
*Shing!*
I slide to a stop behind the slavers. A moment later, the top halves of their bodies slide off from where I cleaved them clean in half through the torso.
"This place is about to get hectic!" I shout back to the others. "Get outta here! Now!"
I ascend the stairs as the winds keep howling around me. Stealth? Subtlety? Screw all of that! There's a new goal I intend to achieve in this building, and I'll destroy anyone who gets in my way!
More slavers attack me as I stalk the corridors of the slave headquarters. I parry the lance thrust of the first and behead him with barely a thought. The next has his axe cleaved in half before I grab his face and slam him through the wall. The third one I pick up with Telekinesis and throw into the courtyard below through the window.
I eventually arrive at my destination; the double doors of the ringleader's office. I take a deep breath and reel in my wind magic. The thought of who's still sitting on the other side of these doors makes my fury go from blazing to bone chilling. I won't be satisfied by merely killing him. I will END him!
With my composure restored, I raise my foot and Sparta kick the door clean off its hinges.
*Ka-Bram!*
BGM ends
Aside from all the commotion outside – no doubt due to the others making their grand escape – the ringleader's office is so quiet that the sound of my footsteps are clearly heard.
"You…" Gaston growls as I come to a stop a few dozen steps into the office. "So you are the one responsible for all this noise coming from outside. You have put me in a foul mood, and you will pay for that. All of it." Gaston's bodyguards point their weapons at me at the snap of his fingers.
"That's my line." I reply coldly. "Two years ago, you had the audacity to force yourself onto my girlfriend despite her repeatedly asking you to back off. And now, you have the gall to not only imprison yet another person dear to me, but also sell her off as a slave. It was bad enough the first time we met, but you've crossed the line this time, Master Gaston."
Gaston blinks before he glares at me. "Wait… I recognize you now. You are that meddling commoner who I had the displeasure to run into during Prince Chrom's wedding! How dare you meddle in my affairs again?!"
I narrow my eyes. "Just as I thought. You're the ringleader of this slave trade. What? Helping in the family's mining business wasn't glamorous enough for you?"
"Silence!" the aristocrat shouts. "You think you know it all, don't you, you ignorant mongrel?" Gaston makes a sweeping gesture across the room. "Take a moment to take all this in! This is a business that I alone run independently of my father's iron mines. And I will have you know this trade fills our family coffers far better than any find in those dirty old mines ever could. I have been regarded as a rascal merely coasting on my family name long enough! With this business, I shall make a name of my own, and no one will stop me."
I scoff. "Really? Last time I checked, slave trade was abolished and outlawed in Ylisse generations ago, and the rest of the continent followed soon after. The only contribution you make to your precious family name will be the role of the black sheep."
Gaston sneers. "And you think the law alone is enough to stop me? Hah! There are nobles and others in power from all corners of the world who are involved in my web of contacts. Every last one of them has bought themselves at least one maiden to bring home and treat as they please. Not that I particularly care about that. So long as they pay handsomely and swear to keep quiet, what they do with those slaves is no concern of mine. Besides, who would speak out against them? Anyone who does soon finds themselves stripped off their home, their family, and their freedom."
The fact that Gaston's guards laugh along his smug smirk tells me exactly how they feel about this sickening business.
If looks could kill, my glare would send the entire room to the grave. "I thought you were an intolerable sleaze the first time I laid eyes on you, but now I realize that was just the surface layer hiding a heartless coward. You say the law can't stop you? Then I'll take its place and give you the sentence you so rightfully deserve!"
Gaston growls. "How dare you speak to me in such an insolent tone?! I care not if you are some war hero of Ylisse. I shall have you killed here and announce your death as a tragic accident. And then, Lady Robin will be mine. Kill him!"
A General charges me at full speed with his lance ready to impale me. As he thrusts the polearm forward, I grab hold of it and stop it cold before it can reach my chest. The General looks at me confused before he tries to pull back his lance – to no avail. No matter how much he struggles, the lance doesn't budge.
"Hmph. Pathetic." I scoff. I yank the slaver towards me by the lance and slam the hilt of Harvest Moon right in his face.
*Krang!*
The General gets knocked off his feet by the impact and lands hard on his back. I flip the lance still in my hand in a reverse grip and impale him in the gut right through the armor plate with enough force to pin him to the floor in the process. His anguished screams ring through the entire room as he desperately tries to get loose. Those cries get silenced as I stab Harvest Moon right in his face in the same manner.
The other mercenary guards flinch back at the violent death of their ally while Gaston himself pales at the broken and bleeding man.
I redirect my glare at the remaining slavers. "This is the fate that awaits all of you." I point at Gaston. "As for you… For the suffering you've caused for every maiden you sold off, and for scheming to steal my wife, I sentence you to death by agony beyond your imagination!"
I spread my arms with my palms facedown. Blue flames of mana appear in the air all around the room.
Gaston looks at the flames apprehensively. "W-what is this?"
Life, death, and the border between.
My craft reaches beyond what is seen.
Pain and toil was all I could feel
as I stood, day and night, forging my steel.
Yet those hardships were a small price to pay
to make these creations see the light of day.
They will slay my foe, peasant or lord,
for I am the bone of my sword!
Unlimited Blade Works!
The flames spread through the air until reality itself burns away. As the flames dissipate, we find ourselves standing in the sunset hills of my reality marble, with all manner of weapons stuck in the ground everywhere. The mercenary guards and Gaston look around the place.
"Hey! What gives? How'd we get here?" one of the guards asks confused.
"This place is a manifestation of my soul." I explain to them. "And soon, this shall be your grave. Your fates were sealed the moment I pulled you all in here."
The slavers look back at me with fear now visible in their eyes.
"I care not how you do it, just kill him and get me out of here!" Gaston shouts and runs for the, well, hills. The mercenary guards ready their weapons in response.
"Fight back all you want. Nothing you do can delay your impending demise." I declare as I put my hand in front of my forehead. Black mana gathers and swirls in my palm. "When Death comes to claim your souls…" I swipe my hand down my face. When the mana disperses, it reveals that my face is now covered by a bone-white tengu mask with holes where the eyes are meant to be. My eyes glow yellow in those eyeholes. "…tell him you've already met a Reaper."
BGM: Crisis city: Whirlwind, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) music
I stretch out my right arm as sparks dance along it. "Trace on."
The hammer and axe combo of Kabutowari fly into my hands – the axe in my right, and the hammer in my left. The moment they're in my grasp, I dash straight towards my first target; a Hero. I swing down the axe with a battle cry. The Hero raises his shield and blocks the blow with visible effort. He brings up his Silver Axe to retaliate, but that's when I bring up the hammer and slam it right at the blunt side of the axe before he can wind up a swing.
*Ka-bram!*
The force of the hammer concentrated on the sharp edge of the axe allows me to cleave right through the slaver's shield and slice his arm clean off. The Hero drops his axe and screams in agony as the pain registers. I swing the hammer and break his kneecaps to force him on his knees, and then I finish him off with an axe chop that splits his skull in half.
"You- You monster!" a Swordmaster shouts as he rushes at me with his Killing Edge ready. I discard Kabutowari and Trace my next weapon; the blastsword, Shibuki. The sharp edges of both our weapons meet in a shower of sparks. But since my strength exceeds his by a wide margin, I push him back easily. I run in for a follow up, which the Swordmaster manages to block. But he doesn't expect me to disengage and spin around to hit him with Shibuki's other side – the one covered in paper bombs.
*Boom!* "Augh!"
The Swordmaster flies back from the violent explosion. Quite a bit of the left side of his torso is covered in burns, and everything from his left shoulder and down are just gone. He barely has time to reach the ground when I zip in front of him and slice him from shoulder to hip. I pivot and glare at two Warriors step back in caution. I tense my legs and Gale step right towards them with Shibuki already in mid-swing. Explosions rock the area as I swing the bomb side at the two slavers over and over, quickly turning them to charred, mutilated husks.
As the two Warriors fall, I notice five more slavers attacking from a direction each in a coordinated strike. Good, but not good enough!
The moment my next weapon flies into my hands, I channel a massive amount of mana through it. The bandages wrapped around the blade fly off from the intense pressure of the mana flow, revealing the flat form of the great twin blades, Hiramekarei. As I grab Hiramekarei by both handles and raise the sword up, the mana surging through the weapon expels from the blade and takes the shape of a gigantic mallet head. I swing Hiramekarei down with a distorted war cry. The impact on the ground is so powerful that the resulting shockwave scatters the attacking slavers.
I twist the blade along its length to split Hiramekarei in two, thus revealing the reason behind its namesake. With mana coating both blades, I dash at the nearest slaver and deliver a brutal double-bladed assault. One by one, four of them suffer the same fate. I turn to the remaining of that group of five, now standing at a relatively long distance with a bow trained on me.
"Your sword won't reach me from here!" he shouts nervously as he releases the arrow.
I reunite Hiramekarei's two halves and block the arrow with the flat of the blade. Then I rear back the blade and swing horizontally while I spike the mana surge. The mana surrounding Hiramekarei's blade grows to immense proportions as I swing, which catches the slaver completely off-guard as he finds himself well within my range one split-second, and bisected the next.
I cease the mana flow and stab Hiramekarei into the ground. "Yes it will."
As I dash towards the next set of opponents, I Trace my next weapon: the needle sword, Nuibari. An Assassin meets me head-on and swings his Silver Sword at me. I bat the sword aside with my free hand and then stab him through the chest with almost no resistance. In fact, Nuibari slides through the Assassin's body so easily that I can run past him, catch the sword on the other side and continue my assault. I ramp up my speed and dart through one slaver after the next. Each one gets pierced through the chest until seven of them find themselves with a hole through their upper body.
I skid to a stop, grab hold of the wire extending from Nuibari's hilt, and pull!
"Get over here!"
The slavers that I pierced through earlier all get pulled towards me, starting with the Assassin. Soon all seven get bundled up and fly helplessly towards me, all connected to the wire. As they get closer, I toss Nuibari aside and Trace the massive executioner's blade: Kubikiribōchō. I roar, swing the massive sword and cleave the entire bunch in a single fluid motion.
"Don't let up! Form up and strike!" a General shouts as he rallies together another group of five slavers, himself included.
The sparks that dance along my arms do so for a good reason this time. Within seconds, the twin boltswords Kiba reach my hands. I channel mana through the blades, causing them to light up a brilliant blue-tinted white with the mana now converted to the lightning element. I settle in a dual-blade stance and take a deep breath before I dash towards my next set of adversaries, lightning trailing in my wake as I move. My arms become a blur as I swing all around me, sending both lightning coated swings and literal thunderbolts every which way as I assault the slavers. One Paladin tries to lock the dualblades against his lance by the prong, only to find that Kiba's cutting power is absolutely ridiculous while they're coated in lightning mana. The blades cut through the lance like hot knives through butter, and the Paladin gets pierced next, quickly followed by a violent electrocution. I notice the other four slavers try to attack me while I'm still pulling back and have yet to settle back in a stance. Abandoning that plan, I instead flip the left Kiba blade in a reverse grip and stab it into the ground. Right as the slavers are about to get on top of me, I slam the other blade on the first so they meet hilt-to-hilt.
*Krzz! Ka-BRAM!*
A massive surge of lightning mana explodes from the Kiba blades with the sound of a literal lightning strike and fries all four of the slavers within the blink of an eye.
I stand back up and look around. Only two more to go. They both back away, having witnessed the insane devastation I wreaked upon their comrades. I scoff as I Trace my seventh weapon for this fight. Samehada may be beyond my reach, seeing as I'm unable to Trace living weapons…
"Hraa!" *Ka-Bram!*
…but a Traced replica of Arlong's Kiribachi makes for a nice substitute!
The massive, sawtoothed sword swings vertically over and over as I tear up the ground in my frenzied chase after the two slavers. As much as they struggle, it's just a matter of time before I catch up to them, even as I cartwheel with the momentum of swinging the sword so violently into the ground. One of those slavers, a third General, realizes the futility of running away and decides to stand his ground instead. Big mistake.
"Orah!" *Kra-bam!*
"Aaugh!"
Not only are the sawtooth-patterned blades on Kiribachi sharp, the sheer size of the weapon means each swing has a frightening amount of weight behind it. The General just learned that the hard way, as a massive swing tore right through his shield, his armor, and into his body all at once. I rip Kiribachi out where the blade stuck in his flesh, tearing up his body further and make armor and blood alike fly in a red shower. The General collapses on the ground from the pain, which gets a brutal end as I slam Kiribachi across his back and make another ripping pull that no doubt tore his spinal cord to shreds.
The last slaver to face me is a Sniper. The guy is so terrified of me at this point that he can't even keep his bow still as he takes aim at me.
"The effort needed to kill you almost doesn't feel like it's worth it at this point." I tell him impassively. I zip in front of him with Kiribachi raised in the air. "Keyword being "almost". You're going down like the rest."
The Sniper screams in panic as he releases the arrow at me. I catch it by the shaft between my left index and middle fingers before I twirl it in my hand and snap it in two.
"Gotta admit. That was a nice shot." *Shrr!*
His pained scream rings out across the hills of my reality marble as Kiribachi bites into him, one sawtooth blade after another. By the time my slash ends, he collapses on the ground with his torso torn up from having effectively been shredded by a saw.
BGM ends
I dismiss Kiribachi as I look out over the plains of my UBW. There's still one more to go, and last time I looked, he won't be any problem. Time to give that sleazy aristocrat what's coming for him.
I manage to find Gaston and catch up within a minute. I can hear him gasping for air even from so far behind him. Guess my mask scared the wits out of him. And now I'm about to confirm his fears.
I slap my hand on the ground. Sparks race along it and overtake Gaston before they stop in a circle. A stone slab rises up from the circle, making him stop in his tracks. Gaston does the mistake of turning around, and that's when he finds me just one pace away from him.
"End of the line."
I grab hold of the front the aristocrat's shirt and slam him against the stone slab with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs. Before he can catch his breath, I slam my other hand against the stone and Transmute restraints around his wrists and ankles to secure him against the stone.
"You… What do you want with me?" Gaston wheezes out, even as he struggles against his restraints. "What are you?"
"When I declared your sentence, I was your judge. Now, I'm your executioner." I reply. "But unlike with your bodyguards, I won't soil the ground here with the filth inside your body that you call your blood. No. Your death will be a different level of pain." I grab the top of his head and turn it up so we have eye contact. "You will suffer the agony of having your very life force drained through your head, and your soul ripped right out of your body."
I activate Soul drain and proceed to drain Gaston's HP. It takes some concentration, but I manage to slow the draining down a little bit, all for the sake of prolonging his agony. The effects are immediate, judging by how his scream becomes more panicked and painful by the second.
"Please… No! Spare me! Have mercy!" he begs as his agony becomes palpable.
"How many maidens did you sell off to a living hell, even as they begged to you with those exact words?" I ask coldly.
Gaston's eyes widen at my reply. Guess I struck right at home.
"You showed them no mercy, so expect none in return."
Gaston's screams slowly die down and his body begins to shrivel up as his HP approaches 0. The moment it hits that number, I pull with a grunt and yank his soul out through my grip on his head.
What first looks like an ethereal form shaped like the aristocrat quickly shifts and eventually stabilizes into a white sphere roughly the size of an orange. A blue, shifting substance radiates around it in a manner that reminds me of a flame, giving the soul the shape of a teardrop.
The mask on my face dissolves into pieces that fade into the atmosphere. At the same time, my eyes return to their original color. I sigh in relief before I examine Gaston's soul closer. Soul drain's Observe log told me that I can view his memories if I manage to pull the soul out, and I'll try just that. I close my eyes and channel some mana through the soul.
The first memory that comes up is the memory of Gaston's slavers bringing Rose in. The hairs on the back of my head stand on end as I view how he grabs hold of her face and inspects her like she's some prize. A sensation of pain erupts at that moment, which reveals to be caused by Rose managing to aim a kick right at his crotch. A pleased smile spreads over my lips upon realizing this. Atta girl, Rose! Though that's all the resistance my daughter manages to put up. She immediately gets restrained and shoved away, most likely to be locked away in the dungeons.
An odd part of this memory is that I see one of the slavers hand something pink to Gaston. The slaver explains that Rose had it on her, and that she protected it fiercely, even as they restrained her before she was brought to Gaston's headquarters. Gaston gives it a quick glance before he walks to a chest hidden behind a bookshelf and places it in there.
Deciding to check that out later, I decide to dig a little deeper into his memories.
Images of dozens of young women flood my mind. Each one of them begs Gaston to let her go, and each plea falls to deaf ears. Instead, they all get shackled and pulled away by some grinning, fancily dressed man – most probably the people who bought them as slaves. What's disturbing is that the faces of each woman who was sold off is blurred. If this is Gaston's memories, that can only mean that he showed them so little regard that he didn't even bother with remembering any of their faces. He just saw them as commodities to earn a profit.
I open my eyes and glare at Gaston's soul with pure loathing.
"Death is too good for you." I growl.
I clench my hand and shatter Gaston's soul into thousands of pieces. As the pieces dissolve in the air, the sound of his pained scream echoes one last time before my reality marble falls completely silent.
Gaston has been killed! You gain 100 EXP! You gain 150 gold!
Due to moving accurately at high speeds in battle, DEX increases by 1!
It makes me wonder. Will his soul pass on to whatever afterlife there is after what I did, or has his very existence just been erased? I honestly hope for the latter.
I don't care if I go to Hell for this. What Gaston has done to all those women is beyond redeemable. There may well be people who disagree with me on that matter, and I know I acted a lot on emotion here, but the moment I realized that he tried to sell off my daughter to such a fate, Gaston made it personal.
"Huh. It's been a while since I saw you go all-out, Jack. Guess that pretty boy really pissed you off." a voice sounding like my own, yet also distorted, comments behind me.
I turn around to face the owner of the voice. He looks like me in a lot of ways, though there are several key differences. For starters, his skin and face are colored like ash and his hair is pure white. His eyes are black with yellow irises. A black tengu mask hangs off the side of his head. And instead of a purple robe, he wears a blood-red one.
This is the Hollow spirit residing within my own soul; Sparrow.
I nod. "Well, you know me, Sparrow, so you should know exactly what made me react the way I did when I realized that Rose is my daughter."
The Hollow spirit raises an eyebrow. "Ain't that the truth. You were pretty annoyed when you realized that sleaze was the head-honcho of this place, but what happened after you found the girl was just crazy. I mean, Unlimited Blade Works and my mask at the same time? And you keep saying I'm the one with no restraint."
I narrow my eyes. "In my defense, those slavers had it coming."
Sparrow shakes his head with an amused smile. "Sure. You keep telling yourself that. But we both know that the real reason why you flew off the handle like that is because you're a papa bear – and a savage one at that. Had she been anyone else, you'd just get her out of her cell and be done with the whole thing."
As much as I hate to admit it, Sparrow's right. Though I suppose it should be expected. Sparrow was originally formed from my own soul. Simply put, Sparrow is essentially me, with all my abilities, wants and desires, but with no inhibitions. Have you ever felt like there's this mysterious voice in your head that keeps whispering and telling you to do stuff that you want, but you refuse due to what the consequences could be? Yeah, it's literal in my case, and Sparrow's the source of that voice. What's more, due to the connection we share on a spiritual level, Sparrow experiences everything I do, and I mean everything.
"Though I've gotta say…" Sparrow muses as he rubs his chin grinning. "That daughter of yours is kinda cute. Definitely got her looks from your wife. You wouldn't consider letting her meet me, would you? I'm game."
I glare at my Hollow spirit and point in the air above his head. With a mental command, I Trace an anvil and drop it right in top of his head.
*Wham!*
"Ow! Sheesh! It was just an idea!"
"One better left ignored and untouched." I warn him coldly. "If I ever learn that you look at my daughter with less than pure intents again, I'll drop an even bigger anvil on your head."
"Fine. I'll be good." he grumbles.
Sigh. This keeps happening. Due to the deal Sparrow and I have made, I'm the one between us in control. Which is good, since letting Sparrow assume control would cause all kinds of trouble. Any time I want to eat a certain kind of food, Sparrow's practically drooling at the prospect. If I want to buy something at a market, Sparrow would want it before even considering haggling down the price or trying to look somewhere else in the hopes of finding something better or more fitting. And if Robin's involved, the only thing Sparrow can think about is trying to get me to take Robin to the nearest bedchamber and get steamy with her, no matter how many other things take priority.
All in all, it's for the better that I'm the one in charge. And if Sparrow ever steps out of line, I just need to Trace an anvil on the mental plane and drop it on his head. Doesn't matter how much he tries to dodge either – the anvil always finds its mark. It's not so much abuse as it is keeping my desires under very tense scrutiny.
Okay, maybe I'm a little bit abusive to Sparrow. But really, he deserves it, what with all the crazy ideas he comes up with and keeps shoving into my thoughts.
Sparrow rubs his still aching head. "Ah, screw it. I'm going back to my nap. Wake me up next time you're about to go on a rampage, will you? I almost missed the show."
"The only fights worth your attention would be the ones when I summon your mask anyway." I reply.
"Yeah, if you even remember to summon it. Seriously, you can be so scatterbrained sometimes, Jack."
"Better a bit scatterbrained than obsessed with wanting to bone my wife every waking second."
"Hey, you want that just as much as I do. Robin's hot!"
My glare returns full force. "Yes, she is. But unlike you, I also consider everything happening around her and know how to hold myself back until an opportunity presents itself when it works for both of us. Now drop the matter, or I'll drop an anvil on top of another anvil on your head."
Sparrow huffs. "Freakin' prude. Fine, I'll shut up. Later."
Sparrow vanishes into the distance of my UBW, making the inside of my soul go silent.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. Having the ability to summon a Hollow mask may be a great boon, but good grief, if my tenant can't be a massive pain in the neck.
Urahara, if I ever see your goofy grin and bucket hat again, I'll go so Vasto Lorde on your ugly mug that the Gotei 13 will believe the Espada have returned. This is all your fault! Harmless experiment, my foot!
My UBW shatters like glass, bringing me back to Gaston's office. The only evidence of any violence is the General that I killed before I dragged the rest of them into my reality marble. All the other corpses are left inside. Speaking of which, I see Harvest Moon remains stuck in his head. I yank my sword loose, flick off the blood, and put it back behind my back.
Now to examine this place. I walk over to the bookshelf that I saw hid Gaston's little treasure chest and pull it out from its hiding place. A quick slash on the lock opens the chest with no problem. The insides mainly consist of…night clothes? A set of adult size pajamas with ducks embroidered everywhere? A night cap with a sheep motif?
What the heck? What is this chest for, his personal sleepwear when he's off traveling somewhere?
Wait, that's not important right now. I need to find the pink object that he stole from Rose. Let's see…
Ah, there's something pink underneath another set of pajamas- Huh? What's this thing?
Kirby, Doll, Base damage: 50, Unique
This plush toy is a life-size replica of the star warrior hero of Pop Star, Kirby. While simple in design, the attention to detail makes this toy almost seem alive. But there's more to this adorable plushie than meets the eye. Deep within the pink fabric and soft stuffing, an intricate web of threads made of mana-conducting metal has been woven, making this seemingly harmless looking toy an excellent medium for channeling mana for spells and even general combat.
Skills available when equipped: Hypernova
…Rose had this on her when she arrived here?
Now that I take a closer look, this stuffed toy does indeed bear a striking resemblance to HAL:s most iconic character. And the fabric's high quality as well. What's most eye-catching is how clean it is. If Rose had this in her possession before traveling back in time, that means she had a means of washing it, even amidst a zombie apocalypse.
I put the plush toy in my bag and continue my search, this time at Gaston's desk. With what I could glean from his memories, he kept records of every maiden he sold off to slavery. If he at least has that quality of an aristocrat, he should keep those documents somewhere in his workplace.
An examination of his desk soon leads me to a locked compartment. I try to fiddle with the lock a bit before I give up and simply smash the thing open. There's quite the stack of documents inside. I pull the stack out, place it on the desk, and get comfortable in Gaston's former chair.
Just as I suspected, these documents are all copies of the various slave contracts Gaston has made since he started this slave ring. As disgusting as I feel when I read the way he describes the ones sold off, I have to commend the now deceased noble with how meticulous his note taking is. These documents give me pretty much everything I need to know about what happened when selling those women off; how much money was exchanged, transaction date, the name of the client, basic physiological information of the woman-turned-slave. They even bear a wax seal that I suspect belongs to House Ferros. The only thing missing in every document is the name of who was sold off. It makes sense in a twisted way. The women Gaston sold off had their faces blurred in his memories, which indicates that he never bothered with their identities. That's reflected in his wording. They weren't humans in his eyes, only merchandise.
I'd better keep these documents. Chances are news of Gaston gone missing will spread quickly. And if his family somehow learns that I'm involved in this incident (which would be correct), they'd more than likely drag me to court, if for no other reason than petty revenge. These documents should serve as evidence to show who the true culprit was.
…That's strange. I've gone through the documents that describe all transactions made while Gaston was in charge of this slave ring, but there's still more documents in the stack I retrieved from his desk. And yet, these other documents are of the same character as the ones signed by Gaston.
Hmm… These documents date back to before I met Gaston for the first time. A glance at the documents at the bottom of the stack show that the first transactions took place while the sleaze was still an infant. That can only mean one thing; Gaston didn't establish this slave ring – he inherited its business. And judging from the common wax seal on all the documents, this slave ring was strictly a family business. It seems House Ferros has more to answer for than just their crook of an heir. Better keep these older documents as well. I can only imagine the expression on the head of House Ferros, should his old crimes be exposed to the public.
While going through the older documents, a word on one of them makes my blood freeze.
Manakete.
To my knowledge, manaketes are extremely rare on this continent. The only one I know of is Nowi, who is also the only manakete I know who's been captured by slavers. In fact, the more I read about the manakete described in this document, the more it matches Nowi's description.
A dreadful realization dawns on me. This is the very slave ring where Nowi was first sold off as a slave! No wonder she looked so worried the whole time ever since we fought the slavers around here. All this business with slavers must have made those horrible memories in captivity resurface in her mind. Poor girl.
It takes all my mental restraint to stop myself from shredding the document to pieces in anger. This document might be the most important of all. With this, I can finally bring Nowi's original captor to justice. Nowi may have already moved on, but exposing the slaver at that time for the criminal he is should serve as a long overdue reparation for the young manakete.
I take a deep breath before I gather the remaining documents and put all of it in my bag as well. All right, that should be everything here. All that's left is to reunite with the others.
"Hey! There he is!" Nowi exclaims as she spots me approach from the now deserted slavery headquarters.
"What took you so long, Jack?" Sully asks as I finally arrive.
But I ignore her, much to her confusion. I instead walk straight to Nowi, crouch down to her level and embrace her.
"It's all right now, Nowi." I tell her gently. "Your captors are all gone. Your past will no longer haunt you. I made sure of that."
Tears start to well up in Nowi's eyes before she hugs me back.
"Thank you, Jack. Thank you so much…" she cries out between sobs.
Your relationship with Nowi has advanced! Your relationship with Nowi is now "Friends"!
The bond you've nurtured has given birth to a new ability! You can now perform the Union Strike "Dragon Rage" with Nowi!
I gently caress Nowi's head as she cries in my embrace. Maybe this excursion was more worth the effort than I originally thought. More importantly, there's one more person I need to see – one who I didn't even know until today.
BGM: Flowers blooming in the church, Final Fantasy 7 music
I slip out of my embrace and approach Rose.
…I had such high hopes to talk with her after I was done with the slavers, but now that I'm here, I find myself at a loss. How do you talk to someone who you had no idea existed, and suddenly reveals herself to be your daughter from an apocalyptic future? I could really use some help from Chrom and Cordelia right now, seeing as they've gone through this twice.
Rose puts her hands behind her back. "So… What's up?" she asks tentatively.
I scratch my cheek. "Honestly, I'm shocked. To think Robin and I had a daughter. Or, well, will have a daughter. And yet, that medallion you showed me back then could only be explained by us being part of the same family."
Rose nods and pulls it back out. "Yeah… This medallion is a memento of you, you know. You're the one who gave it to me, Dad."
I blink in confusion. "Uh, I get that I could entrust it to you, but why did I even give it to you in the first place?"
Rose shrugs. "Beats me. You were kinda vague when you did. Never managed to figure it out."
I shake my head with a smile. "Eh, we can leave it be for now. The important part is that you're here with me, Rose. Starting a family has been a dream of mine for years. The fact that you're standing here in front of me shows that my dream came true."
Rose rolls her eyes. "Yeah, there were quite a few times while growing up when you told me that. And you always did while hugging me like I'm some plush toy." She rubs her arm. "But I admit, I liked those times. It shows that you cared. You always did."
I raise an eyebrow. "Did?"
"Seeing as you've run into Noire, I guess you know what happens in the future. Everyone in your generation dies, including you. So I had to fend for myself. Luckily, Henry and Miriel trained me enough for me to stand on my own two legs. I figured out a lot of the stuff on my own as I went though."
"…Henry and Miriel? Didn't I have a hand in training you?"
"Nope. We tried a bunch of stuff, but you eventually figured I'd learn more if I trained under someone else. Turns out I was so good with magic that you had me train under some of the best magic users of your generation." Rose grins. "Heh. I still remember the days when you clung to Miriel's leg, begging her to train me. You told her you wouldn't let go until she agreed. And you made good on your word."
I shake my head in disappointment at myself. "I couldn't even assist my own daughter in growing stronger. Some father I am…"
"Hey, it worked out for the best." Rose protests. "Like I said, I learned a lot under those two. Honestly, you couldn't have found me any better teachers. So, thanks. You helped me in every way you could, and I'll always be grateful for that."
Hearing Rose's reassurance lifts my mood a bit. Then I remember what I found out went I looked through Gaston's memory of her. I rummage in my bag and pull out the plush toy I picked up earlier.
"By the way, does this look familiar?"
"Kirby!" Rose lunges for the pink plushie with a big smile. She hugs the toy tight and rubs her cheek against the pink fabric. "Oh, I've missed you so much! I'm so happy to have you back!"
I look at Rose with a sweatdrop. "Huh. Didn't expect you to be so fond of a plush toy."
"Well, of course I am." Rose replies. "You gave me Kirby when I was still a child. You told me to always treasure him, so I did. And…when you died, I could still always hug Kirby and find comfort in that. Doing so reminded me of all the happy times we spent together as a family, or maybe when it was just the two of us." Rose tosses Kirby around between her hands. "Besides, I later found out that Kirby was crafted in a way that let me channel mana through him. He's not just my friend, he's also my partner when I fight. And it's all thanks to you, Dad."
Hearing Rose's backstory with the plush toy hits it home for me how hard she had it, right alongside Lucina and the others. A tear forms in the corner of my eye as I avert my gaze.
"I'm so sorry, Rose." I tell her.
Rose tilts her head to the side. "Huh? For what?"
"For not being there for you when you needed me. There were nights when you didn't have anyone to hold you when you were scared, did you? Nights when I was supposed to be there." I shake my head remorsefully. "But I wasn't. You had to learn how to sleep on your own, no matter how scary it looked. You had to press on, no matter how much you just wanted to sit down and cry."
Rose averts her eyes and kicks the ground. "Hey, I don't blame you, Dad. You did what you could. You always did. And before you died, you always made it clear that you love me. For what it's worth, I couldn't have asked for a better parent. Well, maybe besides Mom."
She doesn't resent me… Thank Naga…
I walk up to my daughter and hug her.
"Huh? Dad?"
"Thank you, Rose." I tell her as the tear slips out. "Thank you for accepting me. For becoming a part of our family. For telling me how I truly was in your life. I know you're technically not my daughter, but I don't care. I love you all the same."
Rose squirms uncomfortably. "Oh, stop it, Dad. You're embarrassing me."
I pull back a bit to look her in the eyes. "Hey, what's wrong with me wanting to show my daughter some much-needed affection?"
Rose rolls her eyes. "It's the amount of affection I have a problem with." she replies bluntly. "Between you and Mom, you were always the doting one. I've lost count on the number of facepalms I've done because you wouldn't stop gushing over how I'm – you said, and I quote – your "little angel"." Rose sighs before she smiles at me. "But deep down…I liked it. You were always there for me. I always felt safe, yet you also encouraged me to explore and learn new things every day. I got to live in a happy family, and you played an important role in that. So…thank you. Oh, and, Dad?"
"Yes, Rose?"
Rose returns the hug. "Happy birthday."
BGM ends
Quest alert:
Side quest: Enslaved legacy
After following the lead of the squirrels, you not only managed to strike at the heart of a large slave ring – you also found and rescued your own daughter from the future! While unexpected, this event calls for celebration. More importantly, make sure to help her have the happy family life she once lost. Better let your wife know.
Objectives: Locate the slave trade headquarters, Defeat the ringleader, Rescue Rose
All objectives cleared!
Rewards: You gain 8 000 EXP! You gain 8 000 gold!
Bonus objective: Gather evidence on the slave ring's operations.
Bonus objective cleared!
Bonus rewards: You gain 1 000 EXP! You gain 1 000 gold!
To be continued
Rose's character sheet
Rose Lvl 27 Class: Dark Mage
Jack's daughter from the future. This young woman bears a striking resemblance to the prodigy witch, Mazhigigika Miludin do Din Nolurun Dou, also known as Magilou, right down to her attire. Like the prodigy spellcaster, Rose has a very cheerful, if sometimes nonchalant personality, though anyone who manages to gaze underneath the rock-solid façade can find hints of the same emotional wounds that she shares with everyone else of her generation. She also has a strange tendency to refer to a mysterious entity whom she calls "the Author". The most self-aware.
Rose's note: He's basically saying that I'm an expert at breaking the fourth wall.
Born on December 21st.
Titles: Arcane prodigy (Grants Arcane mastery)
HP: 3 650 / 3 650
MP: 2 550 / 2 550
STR: 21
VIT: 19
DEX: 24
INT: 53,3 (48 * 1.11)
WIS: 34
CHAR: 16
LUCK: 17
ITEMS:
Kirby (Equipped)
Book skirt
Mysterious medallion
Skills:
Doll mastery, Lvl 38 [41 %], Passive
Conventional weapons are overrated! With proper crafting, a seemingly mundane doll can become just as effective in combat as any other weapon wielded on the battlefield. Since a well-made combat doll can serve as a conduit for mana channeling, they make surprisingly effective tools for spellcasters to use. As an added bonus, you can use the dolls for their original purpose when outside of combat. I mean, have you ever heard of someone snuggle with a spiked mace?
Passively increases INT by 11 %. Increases attack speed and attack power by 190 % when attacking with a doll. Damage is determined by the wielder's INT stat.
Arcane mastery, Lvl 42 [42.0 %], Passive
Fire? Ice? Lightning? Eh, you're not picky. Why decide on only mastering one element when you can master all of them? With the unusual talent for all things magical that you've been born with, this opportunity is well within your grasp, and you've taken it. Just make sure you have your stuff in order. Getting the elements jumbled up can cause some serious mishaps when casting spells. It should also be noted that spreading yourself so thin over so many elements tends to decrease the overall potency of individual spells. You know what they say; jack of all trades, master of none.
Increases damage dealt with magic of any element by 105 %. The cost of all magic based skills is reduced by 13 %.
Magikazam!, Lvl MAX, Active, Cost: 100 MP
The ultimate spell! What does it do? Nobody knows. The only way to find out is simply by casting it. And if nothing notable happens, just pretend it's part of your grand master plan, and act like a dove.
Causes a random effect when cast.
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Rose's note: Hey! The data on this entry's all corrupted! What gives?!
Preview of the next chapter:
*Risen wander the halls of a dark mansion*
Nowi: There are Risen everywhere here. We'd better be careful.
Nah: Don't worry. I'm not scared of them.
Donnel: I'll keep ya both safe, so just stay back an' ol' Donny'll protect ya.
Nah: No, really, I'm not scared of these things.
Vaike: Aw, li'l girl's trying to act brave. No worries. Teach ain't lettin' those things frighten ya.
*Nah unleashes a massive torrent of blue fire on the Risen*
Nah: I SAID I'M NOT SCARED!
Jack: Guys, I think she's made her point clear.
Next time on Gamer Emblem Awakening:
Maximum cuteness overload! Burn the undead with FIRE!
Anna: Please tell me there was nothing valuable in that direction…
Omake: How Jack tamed Sparrow.
Craters litter the plains of Jack's UBW. Broken weapons of all kinds and shapes lay strewn across the hills. And in the center of this mess are Jack and Sparrow, both panting from the exhausting battle of trying to best the other through constant switching between Traced weapons, skills, wit, and pure willpower.
"Okay…" Jack huffs out between gulps of air. "No matter what we've tried, it always ended in a draw. I think we've established that we're equal in nearly every aspect."
"Yeah? Well, I'm not accepting this." Sparrow replies wheezing. "We've tried all kinds of weapons, barehanded fighting, arm wrestling, heck, even chess. This battle is too important to let a draw be the decision. There's gotta be an aspect where we haven't squared off yet."
A smirk grows on Jack's face. "Well, I said "almost". There is one important aspect we still haven't tried yet."
Sparrow huffs. "Honestly, I'm willing to go for anything at this point, just to prove I'm the better between the two of us. So, what's the plan?"
"An endurance contest."
30 minutes later
Sweat drips down Jack's brow from the sweltering heat. A few paces in front of him, Sparrow sits in the same predicament. The source of their suffering? The countless torches and bonfires burning around them while the two combatants sit on top of a raised stone slab. Neither have any intention to yield in this contest of enduring the sweltering heat from all the fires.
"Ya feel like giving up yet?" Sparrow taunts with a tired grin, even as he's panting from the heat.
"Look who's talking." Jack replies. "You look like you could keel over any second."
"Fat chance. I could sit here all day. You?"
"I'm almost freezing here. What do you say we turn up the heat some more?"
"Bring…it…on…"
Sparrow finally collapses from exhaustion in the heat. Jack summons a few clones to put out the fires and vent some cooler air around the two immediately. As this happens, Sparrow spots something behind Jack that he couldn't see from his previous position. Stuck in the ground right behind Jack's is the Mysterious Abyss keyblade.
Sparrow's eye widen as realization dawns on him. "You…" the Hollow growls. He points at Jack. "You cheater! You planted that keyblade behind your back from the start!"
Jack crosses his arms. "So? We never stated any rules that forbid us from bringing any weapons to this contest. I'm still the winner. As per our agreement before we began, that means I'm the one who calls the shots around here."
"Like h-ll you are!" Sparrow shouts as he gets up. "If you think I'll accept this, you've got another-"
*Wham!*
Sparrow's tirade gets cut short as an anvil falls right on top of his head.
Jack smirks at the Hollow cradling his head in pain. "I simply outwitted you, which proves I'm the superior one between the two of us. That was the condition to decide the victor in the battle, and I have fulfilled it. Deal with it, Sparrow. Of course, I'm not going to enslave or suppress you."
Sparrow glares up at the Outrealmer. "Yeah? Then what do you want?"
Jack crouches down and offers his hand. "I want a partnership. I let you reside within my soul as a tenant, and in return, you let me call upon your power whenever I wish it."
Sparrow looks at Jack in shock before he grins wryly and takes the hand. "Heh. Not a bad deal, I suppose. Fine, then. I accept."
New skills
Hollow mask, Lvl 28 [66 %], Active, Cost: 72 MP per second
Having tamed the Hollow spirit within you, you have gained the ability to manifest its mask and add its power to your own. But be warned. The mask of a Hollow may grant immense power, but merely wearing it puts a heavy strain on your own spirit. Only summon this otherworldly power in dire situations, lest you risk exhausting your mana pool at the worst of times. Might also work for intimidation purposes if you can maintain the mask long enough. The empty glare through the eye holes and the distorted voice can be quite fearsome.
Increases all damage dealt by 140 %. Increases movement speed by 44 %. If the mask is destroyed, this skill automatically enters a cooldown state. The cooldown lasts for 10 minutes.
Jack's encyclopedic corner
Book skirt, Accessory, Very rare
This leather belt is a must-have for any book enthusiast. Harnesses for holding books have been added along its length, allowing the wearer to carry their books by the hip. What's more, each harness is adjustable, so they can be adjusted to each book's size and thickness. Or you could just load a bunch of spell tomes of various elements into the harnesses and turn yourself into a Swiss army knife of elemental magic. It's a matter of preference, really. It should be noted that the front harness is especially built to hold layer cake.
Can hold up to six tomes or other kinds of books. Books held in this accessory do not take up any slots in the inventory.
Arcane prodigy, Title
You posess a talent for magic unlike anything seen among spellcasters since many generations back. With proper cultivation, this talent has blossomed into a magical prowess several times greater than a spellcaster your age would be expected to achieve. Your understanding of how mana flows not only makes you highly knowledgeable when practicing magecraft, but also it translates into giving you access to more avenues in the arcane arts than most pursue in their entire lifetime. Your talent is a gift. Use it wisely, and mankind's understanding of magic may reach a great breakthrough in the future.
Grants the skill "Arcane mastery".
Kiribachi, Sword, Base damage: 103, Unique
The signature weapon of the ruthless Fishman pirate, Arlong the Saw. This massive weapon is a heavy steel pole with several blades shaped like saw teeth attached along the length. The sheer size of this weapon and the density of its materials makes it very heavy, and its swings become equally heavy. Due to how each blade is aligned, getting hit with a swing from this will be more akin to being sawed or torn apart, rather than cut. What's more, the weapon is still usable, even if a blade or two would break. And even if all six blades would break, the metal pole is still heavy enough to deal some painful blows.
Dark Mage, Class
Practitioners of the dark magic arts. While these spellcasters are fully capable of casting magic of the more common elements, the dark is undoubtedly their forte. Not only are they at their best when channeling dark mana through their tomes and even bodies, they are also known to conduct many rituals and experiments of sinister nature. Because of these practices, Dark Mages are often shunned by the masses in general and more traditional magecraft practitioners in particular. And while these beliefs are justified from time to time, far from all practitioners of the dark arts are truly evil. On the plus side, they often prefer to be alone, which the social stigma provides them with in spades. Nevertheless, they long to be part of a fellowship just as much as anybody else.
Damage dealt with melee weapons of any kind is reduced by 10 %. Damage dealt with dark-element magic is increased by 10 %. Damage dealt with magic of any other element except for light is increased by 6 %. Damage taken from light magic is increased by 10 %.
As shown in this chapter, not all of Jack's relationships go smoothly. The friction between him, Gaius and Tharja is meant to show how Jack's love for children and his students can both be a major source of motivation for him, but also cause him to act recklessly. In a way, Jack's sometimes reckless behavior can become a weakness, as has already been demonstrated a few times before.
You readers didn't think I introduced some no-name noble just to bash him for the duration of a single scene, did you? I had planned Gaston's role in this fic ever since his first appearance during Chrom's and Cordelia's wedding reception. And as you can see, his family has a hand in more than just the mining business.
So there you have it; Jack's daughter, Rose. I admit, basing her so strongly on Magilou's character isn't the most creative idea I've had, but this template is an important part of what I had in mind for Rose's role in this fic. It also helps that I think Magilou is one of the most well written characters I've ever seen, from her backstory, to her complex personality, her hilarious dialogues, her expressive gestures, and let's not forget her unique fighting style and skillset. If you have no idea how Rose acts, just look up some videos that show skits in Tales of Berseria when Magilou is involved. If nothing else, you'll get to see some brilliant writing and some of the most entertaining interactions I've ever seen in a video game. As for the skill with the corrupted entry in Rose's character sheet; that one's a secret until a future chapter.
And here's my answer to the Jack Sparrow reference; Jack has Hollow powers. All those times when Jack's eyes flashed yellow? That was him unconsciously drawing on his Hollow powers. Now, before you point out that giving Jack a Hollow mask but not a zanpakutō seems unreasonable, know that those two are completely different kinds of power. Jack may be unable to Trace living weapons, but Hollow masks are based on a Hollow spirit living inside the user's body, kind of similar to the jinchūriki in Naruto. If you're curious of how Jack's Hollow mask looks, it pretty much looks like the face of Madara's perfect Susanoo.
The reason why I chose a tengu mask is a nod to Jack's character. Depending on your source material, tengu are depicted either as war mongers or fierce guardians in Japanese folklore. In Jack's case, it's a nod to the latter, since the point of Sparrow's Hollow mask is to showcase Jack's protective nature.
One of the things that I realized as I read about tengu is how much inspiration Masashi Kishimoto draws from Japanese folklore and myths when he made the various story elements in Naruto. This covers everything from the relationship between the Sannin, to Naruto's experience as a prankster, to the entire Uchiha clan. Dear me, the entire Uchiha clan is a treasure trove of cultural references towards the tengu. The fan in their clan crest, their nigh obsession with conflict and power, their martial prowess. Heck, by the time Madara reveals his perfect Susanoo, Kishimoto doesn't even try to be subtle anymore. The man just whacks us over the head with his tengu references. Say what you will about Masashi Kishimoto and how he handled the latter part of Naruto, but the man is a brilliant storyteller who clearly did his homework when it comes to the cultural heritage of his homeland. My hat's off for you, Kishimoto-san.
That's all for now. Until next time.
VipeR out.
