Sunset Symphony
: Verse II :
One Side Story
In the depths of the grand palace, Sora Shiryo is in an examination room due to the Princess' request.
Sora sat up right on an examination bed, anxiously waiting why he was sent here.
It has only been an hour and he has been thinking:
Why didn't anyone see the soldiers that night?
And
Where is this place?
It was then that an attractive woman wearing the same kind of clothes as everyone in the castle walked in. She had brown hair that went past her waist. She had green eyes but her brown bangs covered her right eye. Sora was in awe of her beauty and forgot all what he just thought about.
"You were the prisoner the princess released, right?" the woman asked sternly.
Sora nodded absent-mindedly.
The woman walked to a nearby desk, took out a clipboard and pen, then started to write notes down.
"Umm…" Sora starts, but was interrupted.
"Name," demanded the woman.
Her cold expression caused Sora to jump slightly. Thinking that it would be best not to anger her, he answered, "Sora Shiryo."
The woman's eyes slightly went wider, as if surprised at his answer, but continued to write notes.
Sora tries to speak up again but was interrupted, yet again.
"Age," she said in the same tone.
Sora almost whimpered, but restrained himself and said, "Seventeen."
She continued again then stopped, placed it on the desk, grabbed a small flashlight, and walked toward the young boy.
"Open your eyes wide," she said. Sora didn't refuse. How could he? It's a girl, after all.
After a few seconds of checking each eye, the woman distanced herself from him and asked, "Are they contacts?"
"Eh?" replied Sora, "My eyes?"
The woman groan, "What else?"
"No…" replied the now timid Sora.
As if on cue, the dark haired princess and a man with silver blue hair walked into the room together.
The woman faced the two immediately, placed her right hand above her chest, and bowed slightly.
"As you were," said the silver blue haired man.
Sora looked up at the red-eyed man who had similar clothes as every one and had an uncommon robe around him.
It was then that Sora got impatient that he jumpe up and asked in such a manner that could aggravate anyone around him, "Who are you people?! Why am I here? What did you do to those people?!"
He then felt something against his back. The woman had pulled out a staff and intended to use it against him.
"How dare you speak to them as if-"
She was interrupted by the other man who said, "It's alright, Tear, its just a misunderstanding."
"Tear, please tend to the soldiers now. They are at the dock," the princess says kindly.
The woman, apparently named Tear, hesitated a bit then answered, "As you wish, my lady."
She salutes and walks off, calmly.
"Where to begin," said the blue silver haired man, leaning against the desk.
"You can start by telling me who you are," demanded Sora.
"Sorry about that," said the man, "I'm River Crystallis. Order II."
'Order?' Sora thought.
"Please forgive our rudeness," said the princess, bowing slightly, "I am Michiru Lynseia Crystallis the III."
River looked to his right to see the clipboard that Tear was writing on earlier.
"So you're Sora Shiryo, it says here," states River, "Do you have a father?"
Sora fell silent, sat back on examination bed, "Like hell I would."
The Princess walked over, took a seat next to Sora, and said, "On that night, what were you doing there?"
"What night?" he asked not thinking.
"The night where you saw soldiers on the island," said the man named River.
"I heard an explosion," starts Sora, looking away from both of them, "No one was doing anything so I went to check it out. Then when I got there I blacked out."
"Riveeerrr…" threatened the younger girl next to Sora.
"Ok, ok, my fault," said River, "REAAAALY sorry."
Sora stared at River with confusion.
"I was the one the knocked you out," said River, "but only cause I thought you were the enemy!"
Sora twitched.
"THAT'S why I'm here?" Sora says, not believing a word.
"Basically," said the princess.
"But where exactly IS here?" exclaims Sora, still confused.
The two fell silent a while.
"We'll tell you only if you don't tell your town about us," said the princess.
"I guess, I DO deserve to know, don't I?" says Sora, suspiciously.
"I guess so…" said the princess, hesitantly.
"You're like a mimic pair," mumbled River.
The princess grabbed the pillow next to her and tossed it to River's face. River almost fell backward and nearly made everything on the desk crash down.
The princess cleared her voice and began, "This is the Azure Sky. A world where Orerines and Ferines live together in harmony."
'Alternate universe?!' thought Sora, 'Am I in some sort of fanfic or something?!'
"Where you live is the Shining Sky Region," continued River, "It's where Urerines live."
"Oleninys?" said Sora.
The princess chuckled and said, "Orerines are people of the land. And Ferines are people of the sea."
Sora nodded, pretending to understand when he really had NO clue what she was saying.
"So why were there soldiers? How come no one else heard the explosion?" asked Sora.
"First off, the explosion wasn't meant to be heard," said River, "I don't know why you were able to."
"The killed off soldiers were the soldier of our enemy," said the princess.
"What enemy?" asks Sora.
"The Scarlet Sky," stated River, "It's the 3rd world parallel to these other two."
"We've been at war with them for over a hundred years," says the princess, sighing, "Now I really wish the savior was real."
Sora fell silent and said, "Didn't you suspect me of being the 'savior'?"
"Maybe," said the princess, "It must be fate that River knocked you out."
River twitched, but regained posture again and said, "Well, we'll prepare a ship to take you back then."
Sora didn't say anything, he tried to but the words he wanted to say didn't want to come out.
"It'll take about a week though," said River, "Considering the amount of fonim we have to use again to go back there."
"Yikes," says the Princess, "I guess he has to stay here for a while."
"In that case," starts River, "in exchange for his trip back, you guard the princess."
"GEH?!" exclaims Sora, blushing furiously, "WHY?! I DON'T FIGHT!"
"Then learn to!" exclaims River, glaring at the boy.
"Umm…" starts the princess, "About…Lu-"
"I'm going off," I won't be back till night fall."
"ke…"
Before she finished her sentence, he had already walked out and to the other part of the palace.
"GRRRRRR…" the young princess growled, "DAMN HIM! I CAN'T DEAL WITH THAT SELFISH NO-GOOD-"
"Princess…" starts Sora, quivering.
The princess calmed down a bit, faces him, and says, "Call me Skye."
"Eh?"
"Skye," says the young girl.
"W-why…?" he mumbled.
"Cause no one else will," said she.
"I-If you wish…" said Sora.
"What are you so nervous about now?" Skye asks, placing her arms on her waist.
"I can't fight…" he mumbled in a small voice.
"Ha?"
"I can't fight," he said a little louder.
"… You honestly need to speak louder,"
"I said I can't fight," said Sora in slightly louder voice from his normal tone.
"Are you serious…?" Skye asks dumbfoundedly.
He could only nod his head in shame.
"No problem," said the energetic girl, " I know a place where you'll learn the basics."
Sora looked up at her in confusion.
"Meet me in the front of the castle, makes sure no one sees you," she instructed.
Without having Sora respond, the young princess ran out the door and elsewhere in the castle.
Sora blinked a couple of times until he realized what he had to do. As he walke out the door, he looked his left… then to his right. And found only long hallways.
At the front of the castle was a young blonde female, closing her eyes. She leaned against the palace wall, hands behind her back. She wore a long sleeved dress with a stripe on the edges of her sleeves and on the bottom of the dress. The belt around her waist had a small bag on each side. She wore long, dark socks so that none of her leg skin showed. She had on short, white boots that matched with her dress.
It was then that our hero, Sora, walked out of the castle, exhausted.
"What in the world happened to you?" asked the young girl, opening her eyes to reveal light blue eyes.
"Ehh?" was all Sora said out of exhaustion.
He collapsed on the ground and sat up right.
"I don't know who the hell you are," says Sora, "but you better get out before guards see you…"
The girl glared at him and said, "Really now? I guess we're only strangers."
Sora looked up to the girl who had a sarcastic tone toward him.
"You really know how to make a lady wait, don't you?" the girl said, crossing her arms.
"Princess?!" exclaims Sora.
"HUSH!!!" screamed the girl.
"Y-y-y-y-you're BLONDE!" exclaims Sora in a quieter voice.
She didn't answer, instead she grabs his arm and dragged him into town.
"Where is this?" asked Sora moving along with the crowd and following Skye.
"The town square of Sylvarant," says Skye, "This the capital of the Azure Sky. It's the basic reason why it's so busy."
"So… Princess…" starts the brunette.
"Skye," said the other teen, "You can't address me like that out here in public."
"R-right…" says Sora, "Why are you blonde all of a sudden? Is it a wig to hide yourself?"
When they finally reached a more secluded area, the young princess says, "Partially… This is my natural hair color."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" exclaims Sora.
"Yea, I have to dye it every day," says Skye, "I have to look like an Orerines."
Sora only stared at her in confusion.
"River's my cousin," she continues, "his father was an orerines who had a ferines sister. That one's my mother."
"So you're a 'ferines'?" says Sora, "What the difference between the two?"
"A ferines always has gold or blonde hair with blue or brown eyes," says Skye, "Orerines can have any."
"I…I see," Sora says, who still haven't grasped the idea of the people of the sea and land.
"Here we are!" exclaims the young blonde.
In front of them was an old, rundown, dojo. Sora could only stare at it in almost full disgust. How was he supposed to learn anything here?
"CLOUD!" screams the princess.
Sora got startled by her action and fell backward. He didn't think anyone was living in there still, but he decided to restrain his thoughts so as to not hurt the princess.
She screamed the name again.
"I heard you the first time!" exclaims a voice from inside.
'Someone lives in this dump?!' thought the surprised Sora.
Out came a man around the age of 25 wearing dark attire. His blonde hair was spiked… heavily… would that be the word? His blue eyes reflected off the sky. And to Sora, his first reaction was: 'A ferines?' At least he got the basic idea of it…
"Skye?" says the man, "You decide to show up after all these years?"
"Sorry," says the princess scratching her head, "Er… my folks grounded me."
"For 3 years?"
"… School!"
"Even the weekends?"
"Did I not say I was grounded?!"
The man gave in, knowing he won't be given a straight answer anytime soon, and sighed. He turned to Sora, who was behind Skye the whole time.
"Who's the kid?" he asks.
"Ah," starts Skye, "This is Sora, he's you're new student."
"You don't tell me what to do, young lady," says Cloud, "besides, I've retired."
"EHHH?" says Skye, "A young, handsome, attractive man like YOU? Retire?"
'This isn't going anywhere,' thought Sora.
"Sora, from now on, address this man, Cloud Strife, as your sensei," says Skye triumphantly.
"How much are you willing to pay?" the man named Cloud says.
"How much ya need?" inquired the female ferines.
"Depends," says Cloud, "How much experience does this kid have?"
"Zilch."
"500,000 Gald."
"Don't I get a discount?"
"499,999."
"C'mon be serious!"
"499,998. Final offer."
'A princess looking for a discount…' thought Sora, almost in a state of shock, 'Aren't they supposed to be uverly rich? … I've seen it all.'
Skye groans then says, "C'mon! This is Sora Shiryo! The next hero of Azure Sky! He'll be the one to kick Scarlet Sky's ass!"
"Shiryo?"
'Why is every one twitching whenever they hear my last name?' thought Sora silently, almost suspiciously.
Cloud hesitated for a while then said, "1,000,000 gald."
"EHH??!!" exclaims both Sora and Skye.
"CLOOOUUDD!" exclaimed Skye again.
"I'm just kidding," says the elder ferines, "100,000 gald. Final. I'm not doing any lower."
"Good enough," said Skye.
"That's expensive!" exclaims Sora, "You won't ANY lower?!"
Cloud only glared at him saying, "Are you complaining already?"
"N-no… of course not…" says Sora.
Back in the palace, a young ferines teen with blue eyes around the same age as the princess ran across the hallways, as if she lost something.
At the same time a silver haired 19-year-old male was running around as well.
At an intersection, the young girl tripped and without looking, the young male tripped over her, face first.
"OWIEE!" exclaims the ferines teen.
The male sat up, holding onto his forehead, and said, "Dammit, Colette, don't trip at the corner…"
"I'm sorry…" says the girl named Colette, "Have you seen the princess, Faroush-sempai? She skipped study session…"
"I was looking for you!" exclaims Faroush, "I though she slept in your class! She hasn't come to her training sessions!"
"Th…that's not right," said Colette, brushing herself from the floor, "I just spoke to Fenimore, her highness isn't in her room… Maybe she's at the fountain?"
"Impossible…!" exclaims the platinum haired male, "I just came from there!"
Just as they thought of more possibilities, a male ferines teen ran in.
"IX! IV!" he shouts. It was the male the princess was with early this morning. (A/N: refer to chapter 1)
"Walter-sempai," starts Colette, "What's going on?"
"A member of Scarlet Sky's Order was spotted in the town," states the ferines named Walter.
"Which one?" asks Faroush.
"There's two of them," says Walter, "It's Asch and Emelious."
"Aren't they…?" inquired Colette.
"The traitors…" continued Faroush.
"Commander River and Major Tear are out of the city as is Kratos," says Walter, "What are your orders, prince Faroush?"
"They wouldn't be much of a threat, but the princess isn't anywhere in the palace," says Faroush, "Search for her, if you run into the two traitors, try and drive them out."
Tsuzuku