Book VI: Prince and Assassin

Chapter XLIX

The funeral was pure melancholy. Sonata's song was absolutely beautiful, and the service was very respectable. Even the people who hated the monarchy system showed their respects, easing my spirits. What's more, the Helios Trinity watched from the back, letting us take our guard down during this. After Zeke and Mòrag were finally laid into the ground, people began leaving, and soon it was just us left.

Perceval, the blade from the Helios Trinity, approached Gabriel, wanting to have a brief word.

"Hello, my prince," he greeted formally.

"Hey Perceval," Gabriel replied glumly. "And please, any friend of my mother is a friend of mine, you can call me Gabe."

"I have a matter to discuss, a... testimony, if you will," Perceval offered.

Gabriel nodded. "Please share."

Perceval paused before continuing. "In my data, my very core crystal, is a killer. A merciless judge who assaulted any that I deemed guilty."

Gabriel stopped him. "If you're offering to take revenge, there is no need. I will do so on my own."

Perceval shook his head. "No, I'm warning you. Something I was taught, taking the law into your own hands, killing someone through your own judgement. That's not what a hero should do. Let him live, but let him live out his punishment. I have learned that this is the true proper way to punish criminals, living to understand and be punished for their crimes, to allow them to understand that the entire world knows of their crimes, is truly the most merciless punishment for those who violate others."

Gabriel stopped, not really sure how to respond. He put his hand on Perceval's shoulder. "Thanks, friend."

Right after this exchange, Kasandra bursted through the door, before stopping nervously and apologizing.

"Don't be so nervous silly," Sonata teased. "You're not great at confrontation you know."

Kasandra blushes before shaking her head. "Something's happening outside!"

Gabriel headed out first, with us right behind him. We arrived in the center of town to hear a voice over the microphone followed by large cheers.

"We will end the monarchy, and in return I shall bring my influence to enrich all of your lives with New Tornan technology!"

"What's going on?" I asked, but I caught the look on Acacia's face, and I knew who it was.

Adonis smiled as Pyra stood confidently behind him. "Are you all ready to end the corruption that comes with monarchy? We will step into a new light! A new future! For all of Tantal!"

"My parents did nothing wrong!" Gabriel shouted from the crowd.

"You tell him Gabe!" Rafi cheered on.

"Go go Gabriel!" Poppi added on, doing a cute little clumsy twirl.

Adonis smiled, and I noticed Canaan looking nervous.

"Even if they didn't, you're destined to take the throne, aren't you Prince Winston Gabriel von Genbu?"

"Of course, they are counting on me to lead these people to greatness!" Gabriel replied.

"This is bad Silas!" Mythra warned me.

"We need to get out of here, now!" Sheba added.

"What's going on?" I asked them.

Azami giggled. "You are so oblivious for someone so adorable," she said, flirtatiously as always.

"How can you say you want what's best when all you want is war, Prince Von Genbu?" Adonis asked convincingly, as if in a debate.

"What in the bloody hell are you getting at, General?" Gabriel questioned.

Acacia pushed through the crowd to meet us, KOS-MOS right behind her.

"You guys aren't safe we need to move now," she demanded.

"Will someone explain what's going on?!" I questioned.

"Currently in your company you harbor a criminal who stole the prototype for Pyra, a being capable of destroying continents, the traitorous former Colonel from the BCC and her blade, and the murderer of your parents," Adonis accused.

"That blade has a core crystal just like Pyra's!" a male citizen shouted, pointing out Mythra.

"Yeah! And that girl's the Colonel," a female citizen added.

"Detecting an increase in hostility in our surrounding area, caution advised," KOS-MOS stated.

"Glad you caught on...," Acacia said sarcastically.

Gabriel seemed aggravated. "What do you mean 'my parent's murderer'?!"

Adonis let out a laugh as he shook his head. "Is that how you intended to cover this up? Pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about?"

Gabriel looked confused.

"Come on, it's time to go," the female member of the Helios Trinity, the rock blade Agate, recommended as she started moving us out of the crowd.

Adonis sighed. "You hired Canaan, a known assassin, to kill your parents and ascend the throne. I can't believe someone like you would do this, your parents must already be rolling in their graves."

I grabbed Gabriel's hand and pulled him along.

"We gotta move NOW," I insisted.

"Don't let them escape!" people began shouted.

Mythra made her green core crystal and headband glow intensely. "Stay back! Or I'll sink the continent!"

They immediately stopped pursuing us and just watched us carefully.

We all retreated into the palace, locking the door behind us and making our way down into the depths, as far away from the entrance as possible.

Poppi began doing a headcount and Acacia began planning an escape route back to the ship. The Helios Trinity kept watch over the doors.

Gabriel immediately grabbed Kasandra's hammer and slammed Canaan against the wall.

"You tell me right now, and you answer honestly, did you kill them?" Gabriel demanded.

Acacia groaned. "Not right now! Adonis lies all the time, we need to move!"

"No," Canaan argued. "I did. It was me."

Gabriel let him go and took a few steps back. "You... You knew the whole time! How dare you even show up here?!"

"Gabriel calm down!" Kasandra cried out.

Gabriel changed at that moment. He wasn't someone I recognized anymore. ...He terrified me.

https/youtu.be/5w4bOYDNypc

"Raise your sword, assassin."

Canaan's expression didn't change. "I vowed to your parents I would protect you."

Gabriel couldn't even contain his rage. "DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT MY PARENTS, RAISE YOUR ARCHITECT DAMNED SWORD!"

Canaan nodded and motioned Finch to come behind him. He pulled out Finch's great hammer and held it up.

Gabriel did the same with Kasandra's club.

"Gabriel you're scaring me!" Kasandra whimpered out.

"Get ready Kass," Gabriel ordered.

Kasandra was too scared to confront him, so she held up her arms and connected the ether link between them. Finch did the same.

"You will die by my hand!" Gabriel shouted.

"I fell to neither Zeke nor Mòrag, both of which were exponentially stronger than you, you hold no chance Gabe," Canaan argued.

Gabriel was only more enraged by this.

"May the gates of Morytha open wide for you, Canaan," Gabriel stated.

Gabriel immediately charged through, slamming into Canaan and launching him in the air. He then jumped into the air and slammed the club into him again, smashing him into the ground.

Canaan's injuries hadn't completely healed from when we found him, he wasn't going to hold up well.

I wanted to step in, but Acacia stopped me. I understood why, but it pissed me off.

The raw power of that attack put Gabriel's emotion on display. While blade weapons and prowess came from a bond between blade and driver, the driver's pure emotion could also increase the power of a driver's attack.

The ether line in between Kasandra and Gabriel turned gold as their affinity maxed.

"Get up Canaan! I don't want to forget you again!" Finch shouted.

This seemed to invigorate Canaan, as he stood up and fought back. He went to hit Gabriel, but Gabriel slammed his club handle onto the ground and shielded the attack. Canaan jumped back and pulled his gun, shooting off explosive rounds. Kasandra jumped in front and used her shield to protect Gabriel.

"I didn't want to kill them Gabriel!" Canaan shouted.

"LIES!" Gabriel retorted as he swung through the air.

Finch jumped in front of Canaan, trying to shield him, but Gabriel broke through Finch's ether shield and slammed Finch into a wall.

Canaan ran at him, swinging from the left. However Gabriel jumped back, allowing Canaan to miss, but be left open by the sheer momentum. Gabriel then tucked down and let up a diagonal swipe from under, hitting Canaan square in the ribs and knocking him to the ground.

Gabriel went to slam his hammer down on Canaan's head, but Finch slid and used her ether shield to block the attack. It succeeded, but another hit like that would've broken through Finch's defenses.

Canaan threw Finch out of the way, pulled his sword, and sliced quickly at Gabriel, nicking his side.

This pissed Gabriel off more than anything else and Gabriel responded by passing the club to Kasandra, who covered herself in a dark aura as she hit his sword, shattering it to pieces. She then knocked Finch's hammer from Canaan's hands.

"He's defenseless! It's over!" Kasandra said nervously.

"Hand me the weapon Kasandra," Gabriel demanded.

"What?! No! You'll kill him!" Kasandra argued.

"JUST DO IT!" Gabriel shouted as Kasandra whimpered.

She wrapped her body around her weapon, whimpered, and shook her head.

Gabriel sighed. "Sonata, your turn."

Sonata was concerned, but she was a newer blade, and more prone to following her driver's instruction to the letter than Kasandra.

She passed Gabriel her microphone dagger, which extended into a hand and a half double-edged sword as he held it. It also engulfed itself in fire, as she was a fire blade.

Gabriel began approaching Canaan, finally ready to end his life. Canaan seemed ready to accept his fate.

The glow of the sword illuminated the area between them. Gabriel raised the sword, preparing for the final blow. The blow that would avenge his parents.

However before he struck, Kasandra put herself between them.

"Get out of the way, Kasandra!" Gabriel ordered.

Kasandra squinted and flinched, but she didn't move.

"Kassy move!" Gabriel said again. "Is your hearing broken?!"

Kasandra shoved him back. "YOU'RE BROKEN!"

Gabriel wasn't sure what to say, but he looked pissed.

"I'm not moving! You're not yourself right now, and it's my job as your blade to make sure you're safe, and I've never seen you so reckless!"

"What gives you the right to stand in between me and him?! He killed my parents!" Gabriel shouted.

"I know that... But still! I won't move! I'm...," Kasandra stopped, remembering what Canaan told her. She needed to stick up for herself, and her driver! "I'm not moving from this spot until you've come to your senses!"

"Kasandra if you don't move I'll..." Gabriel started.

Kasandra interrupted him. "You'll what?" she challenged. She then pulled her fox mask off the back of her head.

"What are you doing?!" Gabriel questioned.

Kasandra spoke in a dead serious voice. "When I put on this mask, I don't know what happens next. Because when I put on this mask, I'm engulfed in pure darkness. Voices that aren't mine form, and curses unimaginable rain from it. If you take another step forward, you're really not going to like what happens next."

The mask eyes began glowing red and it rattled intensely. The entire room, even though it was underground, began shaking. The lights were flickering and we were all looking up. Wind was blowing around intensely and a thunderstorm began pouring inside the building.

"Kasandra stop!" Gabriel shouted.

She put the mask on and her voice didn't sound like hers anymore, but a deep males voice, it felt like a pissed deity, and it was terrifying. "You heard the terms, you have caused my mistress much pain. If you do not yield this instant, you will all meet your demise and she will be relieved of her pain. Winston Gabriel von Genbu, you will make your choice."

Gabriel stopped, clenched his fists, and then dropped the sword to the ground.

"I will do as she demands," he said.

The mask's eyes turned back to normal and it fell off of her face. The storm disappeared completely.

Kasandra reaches her arms out to Gabriel, she was crying. She took two weak steps to him, muttering "I'm so sorry..."

Gabriel ran to her as she collapsed, but he caught her and she fell into his arms. He lifted her up close to him.

"No Kassy, I'm sorry. I was being an idiot, thank you so much for doing that. You've always been here for me," Gabriel said.

Kasandra let out a smile. "I-I'm glad..." She then fell asleep.

Gabriel handed her over to me and I laid her down close to the wall. He then turned away and walked over to Canaan, pulling him up off the ground.

"You listen here and you listen well. My blade just saved your life," Gabriel said through gritted teeth.

"I deserve death," Canaan responded.

"I know what you deserve, but clearly she sees something I don't. So instead you'll be forced to live with a punishment," Gabriel explained.

Perceval was standing in the background, watching with crossed arms.

"You'll spend your days working for me and my group. Your job is to help us find Mythra's memory, and we're going to punish Adonis for what he's done."

"You... know he hired me?" Canaan asked, but he changed subject. "I'd rather die."

Gabriel nodded. "Good, then you understand the severity of your punishment. Make sure Finch is ok, nod if you understand."

Canaan stared blankly for solid ten seconds, but eventually he looked Gabriel in the eye and nodded.

We all took a minute to catch our breaths, but we knew we didn't have long.

"Prepare for an attack," Perceval warned, however he was a bit too late.

Adonis walked in with a smirk, tossing two gem-looking ornaments at Perceval. Perceval caught them carefully and looked to be in utter shock. I then realized those were Corvin's and Agate's core crystals.

"Proof that my creation is, in fact, worthy to be called an Aegis. She caused enough damage to force those blades back into their core crystals, just as the Aegises of old did," Adonis said with a smirk.

"Why didn't you kill them?" Perceval questioned.

Adonis laughed, a deep cackle that chilled me to my core. "If I wanted to start a war with the BAP I would've done so already." He then shifted to a more serious tone. "Go home blade, this doesn't concern you."

Perceval looked ready to fight, so I looked at him and shook my head. "Go Perceval!"

"You're relieved of your duty," Acacia added in a more professional manner.

He nodded and left through an alternate exit, so that he didn't alert the people raging outside.

"Where's Pyra?" Mythra asked, clearly pissed off.

"She's addressing the people," he said with a smile. "Just by talking to them, the people get this idea that her creator must be all wise and all powerful to creat such an intelligent AI."

"Oh please," Malos, who had been completely quiet up until this point, interjected. "Anyone would half a brain wouldn't buy into that cheap shit."

"You're right," Adonis agreed. "However if you put on a good enough show then people are willing to believe anything you throw at them."

"I'm more interested in how you intend on fighting five drivers without a blade," Acacia said, butting in.

Adonis began cackling again.

"What so funny?" Rafi asked, completely confused.

"My apologies, but I find it so entertaining that poor Acacia can't seem to recall what I'm capable of." He turned and looked at Mythra. "It seems you're not the only one who's memory has been tainted."

"What are you on about?" I questioned, inserting myself as well, and positioning myself between him and Mythra.

"Waylon... he... was a phenomenal hero," Adonis stated.

Mythra winced, as if hearing those words stung.

"Something the matter?" Adonis asked, before turning away. Sword in hand, he began pacing as he waved his arms dramatically. "A hero who did everything he could to become your driver!"

Mythra... almost seemed guilty.

"You're the very reason I decided that trying to become one with a blade was worth nothing!" he said angrily.

"What are you talking about?!" I shouted.

Adonis stopped, and looked me dead in the eyes with a menacing grin.

"The man who was able to resonate with any blade he touched, who fought a demon, and became a god! This man did what no other man could do."

He turned his head, looking sad.

"...And where is he now?" he asked in a quiet, serious tone.

Mythra looked as if she could cry. Had she remembered something?

Adonis looked her dead in the eye. "He's dead, isn't he?"

A single tear went down Mythra's cheek.

I remembered what she told me earlier... about people she loved dying. About how living for hundreds of years meant watching as loved ones died. I'd decided that I'd had enough.

"Shut up!" I yelled. "She's been through enough!"

"WHO KILLED HIM MYTHRA?!" Adonis shouted, much louder than my own.

"Who... killed him?" I thought to myself. What was he saying?

Adonis laughed. "You know what I'm talking about, and still you refuse to admit it. Admit that you took his sword, inherited the power of a god, and murdered your own driver with that sword. After he had done everything he could to be your driver!"

"N-No... I...," Mythra stuttered.

"Mythra that can't be true!" I argued. "Don't listen to him! Say... something! Anything!"

"She can't argue with you boy," Adonis said. "She can't argue because she knows I'm right."

Mythra hid her face from me.

"How long Aegis?" Adonis questioned. "How long are you going to ruin the lives of every driver you meet? You destroyed Addam's country, Rex's livelihood, Waylon's life! How long until you take from poor Silas next?"

Even I didn't know what to say...

https/youtu.be/-eU9N59CkkA

"You're a scourge you know...," Adonis accused. "A cruel angel in every regard! You find some poor boy, show him beauty, power, things he can't possibly comprehend! You throw him into your own goals he'll never truly understand and watch him waste his entire life when you don't even care about your own! You offer the sweetest of wines, only for them to find all too late that in it was a poison they had no hope of curing."

As Adonis wrapped up his monologue, Malos interrupted.

"That's all the information I need," he said. "So now that you've come here with a death wish, allow me to grant it for you."

Adonis almost laughed out loud. "Ah he's, history's weakest, most infamous Aegis thinks he can stand up to me, how quaint!"

Acacia and I both had flashbacks to our time in Mor Ardain when he murdered all of those guards without a second thought.

"Contain yourself, Malos," Acacia warned.

Malos laughed as he pulled his sword, the Monado of Destruction.

"Actually, I do what I want now. And I personally want to shut this one up," he said with his half-smile.

Adonis readied his sword. "Come then, Aegis."

Malos smirked. "Thought you'd never ask."

Malos moves faster than any human eye could hope to see as he slashed at Adonis.

He lifted it up and sliced down at an angle, aiming at the the point Adonis's shoulder met his neck.

However, his sword landed with a thud, as Adonis caught the blade in his hand.

Malos immediately stopped and pulled back.

"How?!" Malos said, completely caught off guard. "My Monado decays anything it touches..."

Adonis smiled as he sheathed his sword. "I already gave you your answer. You're weak."

Malos frowned as he disappeared into a puff of black smoke and reappeared behind Adonis, hitting much faster this time, however Adonis simply blocked each strike with just his fingers.

Malos went for a much heavier strike. This time Adonis caught his sword with both hands and flipped Malos over his head, pulling the sword from Malos' hands.

Adonis then broke the sword over his knee like it was a stick.

Malos slowly got up off the ground.

"YOU WON'T MOCK ME!" Malos shouted as he summoned another Monado and launched himself at Adonis.

"MALOS STOP!" Acacia pleaded, but she was far too late.

In the time it took for her words to even reach his ears, Adonis had caught him by the throat and slammed him into the ground. He then picked Malos back up and began beating his face into a pulp.

"LET GO OF HIM!" I yelled as I grabbed Mythra's sword and rushed him.

He laughed and threw me into Mythra. He didn't even touch me, just the force of the wind coming from the wave of his hand was enough to throw me back.

He then placed Malos' skull in his hand and began crushing it firmly. Malos let a bunch of screams into Adonis' hand until Adonis turned Malos' head sideways and then punched him directly in the temple, knocking Malos out of commission.

"I will be taking the Aegis of Light now," Adonis said as he turned toward me.

"Leave her alone!" I said, standing in between them again.

"Silas, stop...," Mythra said to me.

"Mythra... what?!" I questioned, not taking my eyes off of Adonis.

"Didn't you hear him?" she continued. "Do you want the same fate as my previous drivers? Just leave me be."

"I can't do that!" I argued. "I still think he's lying!"

Adonis smiled. "Then how about I prove it to you right now."

I was confused. "Prove what to me?"

"She's told you that you may be the reincarnation of Waylon, correct?" he said.

"She said I inherited his power!" I corrected.

Adonis shrugged as he pulled his sword again, a two-handed, double-edged longsword.

"She lied to you," Adonis stated. "You couldn't have possibly inherited his power."

I eyed him cautiously. "And why's that?"

Suddenly, the air went still as Adonis' eyes and sword began glowing a bright teal, and before I could blink he was behind me.

"Because, I inherited Waylon's power," he said finally.

He then slammed the hilt into my face and slashed me straight through, hitting me with pure ether damage.

"Stop!" Mythra cried.

"What are you going to do about it?" Adonis yelled back.

Her core crystals began glowing very brightly. "I'll use Siren, I'll have him blow a home through me right now. That power... will kill me, and you'll be left with nothing."

He wasted no time in planting his hilt in her jaw before she could even say another word. Just like that... she went unconscious.

"I'm not falling for that," he said as he picked her up, he then looked at everyone else in the room. "Anyone else care to take a swing at me before I leave?"

I could feel myself losing consciousness.

He nodded. "Good. Remember this the next time you feel like being a hero. Also if I ever see any of your faces again, I will make sure that it's the last time. Goodbye."

Those were the last words I heard from him. I then heard Acacia running to my aid, but I passed out before she ever reached me...

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 5 Hours