Author's Notes:
Hey guys! It seems like the story has been well received so far! I'm really grateful. Also, shout out to Mdhunter, who has left multiple reviews encouraging me to keep writing. Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy chapter 12!
Chapter 12: Compromised Circumstances
The trio of assassins were surrounded. Only Saito could clearly see the enemy, due to his left eye granting him some form of ocular prowess. There were dozens of Sheffield's wolves around them. He could see an aura coming off each one of them, emanating from one direction.
"She's that way!" He said, pointing in the direction he sensed the aura coming from.
However, as soon as he showed that he knew where the perpetrator was, they disappeared, along with all of the wolves surrounding them. The trio remained on edge for several minutes before finally relaxing.
"What was that, Saito?" Asked Alex.
"She knows we're here. No doubt she's alerted Joseph already." Saito replied. They all thought in silence for several seconds. As Saito thought, his eye began to ache. The pain became sharper and more severe. He held his face in pain for several minutes until, finally, it went away. When he opened his eye, he realized that his vision had returned to normal.
Shion and Alexandre didn't notice this small episode. They were sitting next to each other on a log, discussing how they'd complete their mission. All energy that Saito had in his body had disappeared, most likely, he thought, because of what his eye did. He chose not to discuss with them at the moment, as he was too tired to begin strategizing.
"Go to sleep." Alex said to Shion, "I'll watch guard over night." She nodded and stood up to go to her tent. Before she could leave, Alex gave her a kiss on her cheek, throwing her off guard. She was perfectly still for several seconds before quickly running away to her tent.
"Smooth move, stud!" Said a voice once she was far enough away. Alex pulled a dagger from his coat, startled.
"Relax kid. It's just me. Saito's sword." Derf said. Saito had left him lying on a log near the campfire. Alex put his dagger away and sat next to him.
"Well, I figured it was a good opportunity to make sure she knew how I felt about her." Alex said, sheepishly.
"No need to be so nervous, kid. You certainly did better than Saito." Derf said.
Alex looked down at Derf. "How did he do? Tell me!" He said, full of excitement.
"Well….okay. But you didn't hear these things from me, got it?!" Derf said. Telling Alex about Saito's romantic exploits was something that even Derf was frightened to do. Saito could be just as vicious as Louise when he wanted to be, so it was certainly a risk.
Alex agreed not to tell anyone, so he and Derf spent the rest of the night talking about Saito and Louise, much to Alex's intrigue. In the early morning, Alex began to fall asleep. He hadn't slept in 24 hours, so he was having a hard time staying awake. Shion woke up and saw him hitting his head against a tree to keep himself awake. She walked towards him and tapped him on his shoulder.
"Go sleep." She said.
He shook his head, refusing. "You need to rest more than I do. What kind of gentleman would I be to let you do that?"
She looked into his eyes, blankly. They were both silent for a little while, looking into each other's eyes. Alex subconsciously leaned in to kiss her, but she took this opportunity to hit the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious. She carried him to his tent, laid him down, and covered him with a blanket. She stared at him for a few seconds, then kissed him on his cheek. She walked out of his tent, to find Saito walking by the entrance. He paused when he saw her coming out of Alex's tent.
He put his hands in the air and slowly backed away. "I didn't see anything. Whatever happened in there is between you guys."
She turned red when she realized what he meant. "We weren't!" She said angrily. It was the only time Saito had seen her show any amount of significant emotion. He didn't respond to her, instead walking back to his tent to gather his things. Shion sat outside Alex's tent, waiting for him to wake up. She waited for several hours, before finally hearing him stand up. She heard a racket inside, as if he was panicking.
He suddenly ran outside, looking around frantically. When he saw Shion, he calmed down and gave her a hug.
"Sorry I fell asleep." He said quietly.
She didn't respond to his hug, neither pushing him away, nor accepting it. She sat there expressionless, devoid of emotion. When he finally finished his emotional outburst, he let go of her. She immediately put on her mask and walked to the campfire.
"We have to leave. The sun is up." She said, calmly.
Saito was already prepared to leave. While Shion had been waiting for Alex to wake up, Saito had been busy trying to talk to Derf, who refused to come out of his scabbard. Alex nodded and prepared to leave. Within a few minutes, they had destroyed any sign that anyone had stayed there. After drinking several gallons of water, they went on their way.
As they walked, they discussed their plan for killing Joseph.
"This is no longer going to be a stealthy assassination mission." Saito said, "Sheffield knows we're here, which means Joseph knows as well."
He remained silent for a little while. "I think we should just storm the palace." He finally said.
"Don't be stupid." Shion said immediately, "That palace must have more than 1,000 soldiers in there. Not to mention Sheffield and Joseph themselves."
Alexandre nodded in agreement with her.
"Speaing of which," he said, "what's so bad about Joseph and Sheffield anyway? You seem to know a lot about it, Saito, yet you never talk about it. Why don't you inform me and Shion?"
Saito stopped walking. He wondered if he should tell them about everything. After all, he was entrusting his life with these people.
"Fine." He said, "I'll tell you while we make our way to the Palace."
For several hours on their way to Versailles, Saito explained everything that happened to him. From his first time setting foot in Halkeginia, to their current mission.
"So…you're Japanese?" Shion asked. Saito nodded, still moving briskly along the path they had taken. It was nearly night time and they could now see the shining lights of Versailles a few dozen kilometers away.
"Yes, I'm Japanese." Saito said, somewhat absent mindedly. "Now you know why Joseph must be killed. He'll destroy everything."
Shion was silent for a few moments. "What is your relationship with Albrecht III of Germania?"
Saito paused. "I don't really know him. One of Louise's classmates is his daughter, but we're good friends. I've only ever met him a few times, and we never talked much. It's an odd question though. Why do you ask?"
Shion thought about the secret mission Albrecht had assigned to her. After being with Saito and Alex for more a week, she began to feel more comfortable with them. She didn't really want to kill them, but she reassured herself that she had to do it when she thought about the amount of money she would be rewarded with.
"No reason in particular. I was just wondering why he contacted me to help you on this mission."
Saito and Alexandre alike were well aware that she was lying and was hiding the actual reason she asked Saito that question. Both decided to ignore it as they continued walking towards the city. When they finally reached the city late into the night as the moon was starting to set, they checked into an inn. They felt fairly safe, believing that Joseph wouldn't attack his own city. At least not yet.
Shion went into the bathroom to freshen up, leaving Saito and Alexandre alone in the bedroom.
"Saito…" Alex said quietly.
"Yeah," Saito responded, "she's hiding something."
Alex nodded. He was, of course, in love with Shion, but he also had come to grow quite fond of Saito, perhaps due to Alexandre's own childish nature.
"Should we confront her about it?" Alex asked.
Saito thought for a moment. "Yes, but not now. Let's wait until we finish the mission. It could put a strain on our chemistry as a team if we started asking her questions now."
Alex nodded in agreement and sat on a chair. He looked very serious, clearly thinking about the situation with Shion. Soon afterwards, she came out of the bathroom, no longer wearing her assassin clothes or her mask. She could sense the somewhat gloomy atmosphere.
"Suspicious of me?" She asked bluntly, catching both men off guard.
Saito, didn't say anything. He knew he couldn't lie about it, so he decided that he'd rather not say anything. Alexandre looked extremely guilty. He too was completely silent.
Shion sighed and sat down. "I was given a private mission by Albrecht III of Germania. If I fail my mission, know that he was the one who ordered for me to complete it. He has offered to vastly increase my pay should I be able to complete his mission, as well as kill Joseph and Sheffield. That's all I can tell you without revealing too much."
Saito thought about every detail.
"What could Albrecht possibly want with me?" Saito said to himself.
As he thought, Alex got up and held Shion's hands.
"I trust you, Shion. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt us." He said, smiling.
She felt both guilt and happiness at the same time. The warmth of his affection made her feel a little bit better. She held his hands, looking into his eyes for several. She then realized what she was doing and quickly pulled away, reverting to her normal, cold self. Seeing her try to reserve her emotions made Alex laugh, but he didn't tease her at all.
She turned around and sat on the sofa in their room. She chose to sleep there that night. Without saying anything, she covered herself with a blanket and turned so that they couldn't see her. She was thinking about holding Alex's hands, making her smile.
Saito watched them, smiling. It reminded him of himself and Louise. He looked at Alexandre, who was smiling and watching Shion sleep.
"Hey, Alex. Go to sleep. I'll keep watch tonight."
Alex looked at Saito, confused. "Keep watch? We're in an inn though. They wouldn't attack their own city. Besides, what are you going to be able to see from a room with 2 windows?"
Saito put his hand over his left eye. "I think I can figure something out. Just go to bed, okay?"
Alex nodded and laid next to Shion on the couch.
"Uh, Alex?" Said Saito, a little bit embarrassed at what he was seeing. "There is a mattress, you know?"
Alex smiled at him. "I know, but this is way more comfortable." He laid next to her, cupping his body to hers, and fell asleep.
Saito shook his head. He sat on the ground and crossed his legs, beginning to meditate. After a while, he woke up in front of Gandalfr's gate. The beast was already awake, somehow expecting Saito to arrive.
"Gandalfr, all humans possess the power to use magic, right?"
The beast nodded. "This human society has managed to fool everyone into believing that only those born into privileged families have this ability. They are wrong however. Why do you ask me this?"
Saito held his chin in his hand. "So that means I have my own store of magic right?"
Gandalfr nodded again, so Saito continued. "I ask because earlier in the forest, after my eye stopped using it's power, I felt extremely tired and weak. Is it because my magic reserved were depleted?"
"How very vigilant of you, boy. Yes, you are correct. Whereas the Gandalfr rune does not draw from your own magic reserves, the new runes you received seem to be unique to you. In other words, those runes are not simply given to you by magic, you seem to have somehow created them yourself, in the same way that I created the Gandalfr rune."
Saito smiled. "So I'm my own legendary creature now?"
Gandalfr chuckled a little. "Well, perhaps not legendary yet, but you might get there at some point."
Saito chuckled and continued questioning the being behind the gate. "So…how do I control my magic reserves?"
Gandalfr thought for a moment. "I can release the floodgates for you, I suppose. It will be…an experience for you. May I ask, why do you suddenly want this?"
Saito pointed at his eyes and his arm. "I clearly have some sort of powers that I don't know about. I have a feeling that if I feed my magic into my eye and arm, I might be able to control them eventually."
The beast nodded. "Very well, come closer to the gate."
Saito was hesitant. The last time Gandalfr had asked him to come closer, he had tried to kill him.
"I won't try to kill you, Saito. You've been offering me entertainment, so I'll be helping you for a while. Now, come closer."
Saito, still hesitant, slowly walked closer. As he was a few feet from the gate, a large black claw slowly made it's way out of the gate. Saito decided that it was probably safe to remain put, as if Gandalfr wanted to kill him, he wouldn't have move so slowly. The claw eventually touched Saito's chest.
"What now?" Saito asked.
"Take a deep breath, boy." The beast said.
Saito wasn't sure what he meant, but he did as he was instructed. He suddenly felt a large amount of heat radiating from behind the gate. The claw slowly entered Saito's body, making his chest glow a bright white. Saito began to panic in his head, but remained motionless. His chest started to burn immensely, followed by the rest of his body shortly afterwards.
Just as the pain became unbearable, as if he was burning in the flames of the sun itself, Gandalfr pulled his claw out of his chest, relieving his pain.
"It seems you had more than I expected, so I wasn't able to unlock all of it. You probably wouldn't have survived the pain anyway. Regardless, what you have is quite a lot, abnormal for someone your age. Do with it what you wish."
Saito, still panting from the pain, got up. There was a white aura emanating from his body. He felt as if he was much lighter than before. He looked up at the monster, who's glowing, fire orange eyes were staring back at him. Saito was smiling from ear to ear. He hugged the being's claw, repeatedly giving his thanks.
Gandalfr looked down at him. He felt somewhat strange within his heart to see Saito hugging him so affectionately. It was a feeling he recognized, but hadn't felt in years. He waited for Saito to stop before moving his claw back behind the door.
"So, how do I control my power?" Saito asked.
"Well, considering that as Gandalfr, you yourself are meant to be a weapon, it should come naturally to you. It will be hard at first, but you have an uncanny ability to pick things up quickly. You'll figure it out." The beast explained.
Saito nodded, looking at his no longer glowing runes on his left arm. "One last question. Why does my body hurt every time I use these powers by accident?"
Gandalfr closed his eyes, thinking about this question for several moments. "It is most likely because they were forcefully taking magic from your body's reserves, which were still naturally sealed at the time. You shouldn't feel any pain now as long as the runes aren't forced to tap into the magic that I couldn't unlock."
Saito bowed. "Thank you so much, Gandalfr! For everything!" He was about to leave, but was halted by Gandalfr.
"There is one thing that slightly troubles me." he began, "I don't know how your runes were able to activate on their own whenever you needed them. It's as if they have some form of consciousness, or at the very least, awareness. Be careful and watch for anything strange, Hiraga Saito."
Saito nodded and waved goodbye to Gandalfr before waking up in the room he and his companions rented in Versailles. Only about an hour had passed in reality during the time Saito was having his conversation with Gandalfr.
"Right!" Saito said to himself. He could feel something within him that he had never felt before. Almost as life there was a large fountain of water dwelling within his chest.
"This must be my magic. It feels…overwhelming. But I still feel in control of it." He thought.
His runes on his arm were no longer glowing. He was no longer constantly aware of their presence. He reveled in this new feeling for several minutes before finally becoming serious. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his magic into his left eye. It was extremely difficult at first, but it soon began to feel natural. After a few minutes, he could feel his eye change.
When he opened it, the world around him was tinted orange. He focused a little more, and was eventually able to slightly see through the wall of the building. He could see little bright white lights dotted around the city, some smaller than others, which he soon identified as the magic reserves of different people. They looked like perfectly round orbs residing within people.
"Now I'll be able to keep an eye out for Sheffield and Joseph a little more easily." He said to himself out loud.
"How?" Said a voice behind him, scaring Saito into a corner of the room. It was Alex. He had woken up to drink water a little while earlier and had noticed Saito sitting cross legged with his eyes closed.
"You scared me, Alex!" Saito said as he turned around.
Initially, Alex smiled, but his face soon turned into one of intrigue. "Saito, your eye is being weird."
Saito got up and looked into a mirror. His eyes was glowing more brightly than it ever had. His iris now had a distinct black outline separating it from his sclera. Something else that he could see that Alex couldn't was the flame like aura emanating from it.
"Does this have something to do with all of that Gandalfr stuff?" Alex asked?
Saito hadn't informed him that the runes on his arm were different than the ones on his hand. "Sort of." He said, "Go back to sleep. I'll be able to keep watch all night. I can see everything now."
Alex shrugged, still confused. Saito looked at him, his visual prowess showing him the reserves of his magic. Saito was shocked to see how massive the orb within Alex was. He didn't mention anything. He waited for Alex to go back to sleep, and then sat back down.
In the distance, he could see to extremely massive sources of magic. He knew immediately who they were. It was obviously Joseph and Sheffield. Only a Void Mage and their familiar could ever be so powerful. The only other people who could possibly compare were square class mages, and even they paled in comparison.
Saito sighed, dreading having to fight those two again.
In Joseph's Palace
"Lord Joseph, I have returned from my scouting mission." A woman said.
"Speak, my familiar." Joseph replied.
"I found three suspicious people on their way to the city. All three seemed to be skilled warriors, as they sensed my wolves the second I summoned them." Said Sheffield.
"Nothing you can't handle, my familiar. You may deal with them at your leisure." He said as he prepared to go to bed.
"That is not all, my lord." She continued, "One of them was able to trace the wolves' magic back to me. I made a hasty retreat, but…" She paused.
"But what?" Joseph said nonchalantly.
"The one who was able to track me bore the rune of the Left Hand of God on his hand." She finished.
Joseph was now more serious. "Are the firestones ready?"
Sheffield nodded. "Bidashal was already here, my lord. I informed him that you were busy and could not meet with him." She pulled the three red orbs from underneath her robes.
"What can I say? I needed that nap." Joseph said, chuckling. He thought to himself for several moments. "Do you think you can kill those three?" He asked her.
She was silent for a moment. "Perhaps I could kill the other two with ease, but defeating Gandalfr will be challenging."
"I see. Take one with you." Joseph said, only taking two of the firestones. "I have no doubt that you will defeat those three, but on the off chance that you find it too difficult, do not hesitate to use that firestone."
She bowed. "Understood, my lord."
He laid in his bed and took a deep breath. "You are dismissed. Do not come back until your mission is complete or the firestone is detonated."
"Yes, my lord." She said one last time.
She left him in his room and departed the palace. She summoned several of her gargoyles.
"Find them!" She ordered. They immediately dispersed into the city, searching for the three assassins. It was a large city, so it would take hours or possibly an entire day for them to be successful
In Saito's room
Saito saw the large number of lights flying around the city in the distance. He knew immediately that they were Sheffield's, as there were white string like lines attaching them to a large reserve of magic. Saito knew it would be a long time before they could be found, so he let Shion and Alexandre sleep.
A few hours later, the sun began to rise. Shion woke up first. She tried to get up, but realized that someone's arms were wrapped around her. She turned her head and saw Alex fast asleep, his arms tightly wrapped around her. She started to blush and smiled slightly. She chose to stay in bed until he woke up, not wanting to disturb him.
He woke up a few minutes later. He was calm at first, but then quickly jumped off of the sofa they were sleeping on and bowed to Shion.
"I'm so sorry!" he said, "I couldn't help but hold you. Please don't be mad!"
She softly lifted his head off of the ground, as he was bowing extremely lowly. She looked into his eyes for several seconds before very softly kissing his cheek.
"Thank you for keeping me safe at night." She said softly, blushing more with every word. Alex slowly began to smile. He hugged her tightly. This time, however, instead of not responding in any way, Shion slowly hugged him back.
"What a touching thing to watch." Saito thought to himself. "Hey, guys!" he said out loud. Startled they quickly let go of each other and looked at him, blushing.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, really I am." Saito began, "We don't have time for that right now. Sheffield is after us now. She'll be searching this part of the city any second now."
"How could you possibly know that?" Shion asked.
Saito slowly touched the left side of his face. "I'll explain later. For now, I think we should leave the city. There are innocent people here that could get hurt if we were to fight in the city.
Shion, who by this time was staring directly at Saito's shining left eye, nodded. They quickly gathered their possessions and ran out of the city as quickly as possible, eventually stopping when they arrived at a secluded area of woods.
"This is far enough." Saito said. "Now, we just have to wait."
They sat there for several hours. Saito had deactivated his eye, as he was tired of everything having an orange tint to it. After the 4th hour, Alexandre pointed up at the sky.
"There!" He yelled.
In the sky was a gargoyle with glowing runes on its chest. A was quickly flying down at them. In an instant, Alex leapt up into the air, at least 25 feet, to meet it in mid air. With a single kick from his legs, he decapitated the monster. He landed safely on the ground. Saito was shocked to see Alex do this. He had never seen anything about him, other than his magic reserves, that would suggest that he was any kind of powerful. Shion as well smiled with her mouth wide open, finally impressed by one of Alex's feats.
Alex smiled at them rubbing the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. They praised Alex for several minutes before finally becoming serious again.
"No doubt there are more on their way." Shion said.
Saito turned his eye back on. Sure enough, hundreds, if not one thousand, gargoyles were flying in that direction.
"Around one thousand." Saito said to his companions. "Not so bad. I've dealt with worse." He said as he stretched his limbs and pulled Derf from his scabbard.
"Time for some action, Partner?" Derf said, his voice filled with excitement.
"Yep." Saito replied. He looked at his two allies. "Ready guys?"
Alexandre pulled his dagger from his coat and nodded. Shion put on her mask and pulled her sword from her scabbard. "Ready." She said.
With that, they prepared for battle as the first wave of gargoyles attacked.
Author's Notes:
Well, that was the longest chapter I've ever written, but I enjoyed it. I hope you guys liked it too! Again, leave a review and tell me what you think. What would you like to see? What do you like so far? What do you dislike? What don't you want to see in the future? Make sure to tell me in some reviews. Also, don't hesitate to ask me questions too. I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks again for reading guys! Until next time!