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Chapter 6: Attack on the Empire
Mom, I am so sorry, Raiden thought grimly as he sat in a prison cell. He knew he was a trouble maker and that he caused his mom so much worry. But he never thought he would end up in jail. He didn't want his mother to have that image of him. There was no telling how sad that would make her.
Raiden was aware that his father had been had been in prison plenty of times. He may have wanted to be like his father, but not like this. This was the one thing he didn't want from him.
He was in a stone cell with a little bit of natural light from a high small window. There looked to be an uncomfortable cot and a toilet in either corner. Raiden remained on the cold stone floor because he didn't want to look like he was making himself at home.
There were some knights talking in the distance, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Hopefully they weren't talking about him. Raiden was truly praying his mother would never find out about this.
Not much time past before a knight came up to the ceil. "Get up," he ordered.
Raiden complied and the knight opened the door and slapped the shackles back on his wrists. Raiden winced bit at the pain, but he didn't want to show that to the knight. "Where are you taking me?" Raiden asked.
"Keep quiet," the knight ordered as he pushed Raiden out of the ceil. "You're lucky you're the son of one of the council. Otherwise you'd stay in the ceil longer before being judged."
Judged? Raiden started to feel panic. He had to keep himself calm though. Just listen to the knights, you did nothing wrong," he reassured himself. This was all just a misunderstanding, surely whoever was going to judge him will see that.
The knight led Raiden out of the prison and they were going through the rest of the castle (which never made sense to Raiden that the castle was built over the prison). They didn't go far before they before they were in front of an office just right outside the entrance of the prison. They must not want prisoners to go through the rest of the castle.
The knight opened the large door for Raiden and pretty much just pushed him through it. "I've brought him like you ordered," the knight reported.
The room looked like a waiting room with nice looking furniture and large window in the back with a familiar figure standing by it. When the man at the window turned to look, he frowned at the knight. "Take the shackles off, he's a kid," he ordered.
"Yes sir," the knight complied, but Raiden could tell he wasn't thrilled with the idea.
The knight took the shackles off and exited the room closing the door behind him. Raiden was left in the room with the man that started walking toward him.
"You've really grown Raiden. You could pass for your father," the man said with a smile.
Raiden was embarrassed to admit that it took him a moment to realize who he was. "Flynn," Raiden said in disbelief. It had been about three years since he last saw him. Flynn. He looked so much older now. He and his father were the same age. Raiden wondered if his own father would have looked this old or was this just how people who served the Empire looked?
Flynn's blonde hair was still as messy as Raiden had always known it to be. He wasn't wearing any armor, but just a causal doublet with his sword on his belt. Raiden wondered if he had been training some knights before now.
The older knight sat on one of the couches and started pouring a cup of tea. "Make yourself comfortable. Would you like a cup?" Flynn asked.
Raiden hadn't realized that he had tensed up. "Oh, no thank you," Raiden quickly said as he took a seat across from Flynn. Even though Flynn was best friends with Raiden's father, it had been so long since he had seen Flynn in a causal manner. Instead of seeing him as a family friend like Uncle Karol, Raiden saw Flynn for what he was; the Commander of Royal Knights.
"How's your mother and sister?" Flynn asked before he took a sip.
"They're fine," Raiden said plainly.
"I guess I should have guessed," Flynn said with a small chuckle at the end. "If it was a serious matter, I'm sure Estellise wouldn't have sent her children to deliver an important message."
Raiden gave Flynn a confused look and the knight went on. "I got word that Lady Estellise had sent word to Commandant Aurion through her children. Naturally I was worried it was something serious."
"Y-yeah," was all Raiden could say. He supposed he should have guessed that Flynn would find out about Elena having a fake letter from their mother.
"So do you want to tell me what brings you here?" Flynn went on to ask. "School isn't out yet, and I can't imagine that your mother would let you leave Arie Hallow unless it was something serious."
Flynn gave off the feeling that he could see through a kid's lie. Raiden wasn't sure what he should say so that Flynn wouldn't ask any more questions. He knew the knight wouldn't help in his quest. It also didn't help that the last time Raiden had interacted with Flynn, he had yelled "You're not my dad" at him when he was just trying to help. Yuri's death had still been a fresh wound and Raiden had done something very dangerous that had caused his mother to cry for hours. Raiden could barely remember what he had even done. But he remembered getting angry at Flynn for scolding him like a parent would. Raiden knew better now. Yet back then he felt Flynn was trying to replace his dad. After that, Flynn didn't visit them as often and Estelle only saw Flynn when she visited the capital. Raiden was so embarrassed for that incident that he would avoid seeing Flynn when he did visit.
That's why Raiden didn't want to bother Flynn. He felt like he didn't deserve to ask something from him. He couldn't bring himself to ask for any kind of favor. Not that he thought Flynn would help him in this matter. Flynn would just send them home with an armed escort.
Flynn put his cup down. "Raiden," Flynn said with his head down. "I know I failed miserably at being there for you."
"N-no," Raiden quickly interrupted. "I mean, you're the commander of Royal Guard. It's not like any of us can ask you to stop protecting the Empress just to come check on us."
"I appreciate that you think that," Flynn said with a weak smile. "But Yuri was my friend, and you all meant the world to him. It's the least I could do for him to make sure you all stay safe. I know he'd do the same if it were reverse."
"Well we're fine," Raiden reassured him without looking at him. "Mom's busy with all the political stuff. But we're fine. Also Mom wasn't kidding when she said you really do hold on to a lot of guilt." Raiden knew from what his mother said that Flynn blamed himself for the death of Emperor Ioder. He had still been Commandant at the time and had been away on a mission when the Emperor was assassinated. Flynn's last act as Commandant was forming the Royal Guard with the sole purpose of only have obedience to the crown and laying their lives for the ruler. Then he stepped down so he could run the Royal Guard. He and some elite guard would stay with the young Empress and James Aurion would be in charge of the rest of the knights to carry out missions outside the city as Commandant.
A weak laugh escaped Flynn. "Some things never change, do they," he muttered to himself. Then he seemed to remember something.
"That reminds me," Flynn said as he got up to walk to a nearby table. He picked up a small bag and two swords and handed them to Raiden. He couldn't believe that he had missed that when he first walked in. "Here's your stuff the knights confiscated from you. I didn't have anything to do with you being thrown in prison. But there are still a few knights that still shudder at all the trouble Yuri caused. Since you didn't do anything wrong, we can keep this incident between us. No need to worry your mother." Flynn told him in a lighter mood.
Raiden felt a small smile form. It felt like old times. Before his dad was gone. "Thanks Flynn," Raiden told him. Even though he had been innocent, Raiden didn't want to give his mother the image of her son in prison.
Flynn sat back down. "Now, do you care to tell what brings you to Aurnion?" He asked again.
Raiden hung his head. He supposed he didn't have a choice. He couldn't learn any more without someone from the knights. "I..." Raiden started to say. He wondered if Flynn did know more about Yuri's death or if he would just be scratching at old wounds. Flynn had been there when his friend died and had been the one to tell Estelle that Yuri was dead. Raiden tightened his grip on his father's swords that were in his lap. "I want to know what happened to my dad," Raiden said honestly. "You were with him, right?" Flynn had never told Raiden what happened. He just told them Yuri was dead and brought his sword and blastia back. Flynn may have been saving the conversation for when he was older, but then Raiden said "that" to him.
Flynn had a pained look in his eyes. Raiden thought it would be easier to start with a question like that. But he could tell there was a lot of guilt. "I suppose your old enough," Flynn said with a tired breath. "I didn't see how it happened. But I do feel like it's my fault."
Raiden stayed seated and braced himself.
"Four years ago, when Halure was attacked, I arrived just as the civilians were escaping," Flynn began. "I did everything I could to restore order to the knights, but there was so much chaos that it was too late to fight back. I gave the order to pull out and we did. I found Yuri as we were retreating. We were almost to Ehmead Hill when the surviving knights and other fighters rested when we confirmed we weren't being pursued. Yuri volunteered to be a look out while we all rested."
So it didn't happen in Halure, Raiden thought. He always pictured it happening during the attack. He wasn't sure why, but Raiden was glad that his dad didn't die in their hometown.
"But when it came time to keep going, Yuri was nowhere to be found. So I went looking for him. I found him not far from where we were. I hadn't been that far away when it happened." Flynn stopped and his eyes closed. He wasn't fighting back tears, but Raiden could tell how painful this story was to Flynn. Raiden never thought that the knight would blame himself for Yuri's death.
"I…I heard that it was someone posing as a knight…and that-" Raiden was choosing his words carefully.
But Flynn stopped him. "I don't know where you heard that, but there's no way to know for sure. I didn't see anyone commit the act or see anyone acting strange. So whether that's true or not, I can't say."
"I see," Raiden said with a bit of disappointment.
"Now answer me this," Flynn suddenly said. "What do you intend to do with this information?"
Raiden was silent because he wasn't sure what Flynn wanted him to answer or even what his answer really was.
When he didn't answer, Flynn sighed. "Okay, let me try this. What do you intend to do when you find the man that murdered your father?"
Raiden's head shot up at that. How could Flynn have figured that out? But it did dawn on Raiden that he still didn't have an answer for that. His goal was to find then guy. And then…he didn't know. He hadn't thought about it once.
"Raiden," Flynn said as he walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder. "You may not think this, but I do care about you and your family. Even if you don't think about yourself, remember that if anything happened to you, it would destroy your mother."
Raiden though back to his mother's reaction when Rune and he just snuck out to the ruins. How was she feeling with both of her children going after the person that killed Yuri Lowell? Has he made her cry more?
"I guess you're going to send me home, huh," Raiden said.
"If you're really Yuri's kid, then you're not just going to do what I say," Flynn said with a sigh. "All I can do is strongly advise you to go home."
As Raiden began to wonder if he actually got Flynn's blessing on this, the knight went on. "I know what it's like to lose your father. Please believe that me when I say revenge doesn't help." Flynn pointed to his chest. "It still hurts thinking about it. There is still a little bit of me that resents my own father and the ones at fault for his death. And that is with revenge already exacted."
Raiden knew that Flynn lost his parents at a young age. But it surprised Raiden to hear the rest. Flynn actually got the guy that killed his father?
As Raiden stewed over what he was just told, there came a knock at the door. Flynn straightened up before saying, "Come in."
The door opened and it was the two knights that had dragged Raiden to prison. But this time they had Elena and Rune with them. The mage looked horrified to have been escorted in by knights. Elena on the other looked like she could care less the way her arms were folded. The two knights stood at attention. But the taller one was holding a kerchief to a blooding nose. "Sir Scifo, we've brought these two like you asked," the shorter one informed Flynn.
"What happened to you?" Flynn asked.
"I say," the taller one said through his kerchief, "we were just telling them they needed to come with us and this girl attacked me."
Elena's expression didn't change. She just shrugged and said nonchalantly, "He touched me."
The two knights quickly went on the defensive. "I say, I did not," the tall one said.
"That is not what happened," the shorter one defended.
Raiden's sister still didn't change her expression or change what she said. But Raiden knew what must have really happened. "Elena isn't a fan of physical contact," Raiden briefly explained.
Thankfully that was the end of it and Flynn motioned for the knights to leave. They didn't seem to like they wanted to leave Flynn alone with them. Raiden wondered if they really thought the three of them would be dangerous to Flynn. Raiden wouldn't want to take Flynn on in a fight.
Flynn smiled at them. "All of you have grown so much. It's so hard to believe," he said.
The three of them didn't say anything and that left them in an awkward silence. Raiden was still reeling from the question Flynn had asked him. Rune looked incredibly intimidated from being in the knight's presences. Elena just looked bored.
Flynn let out a sigh. "So this is the part where I tell the three of you to go home back to your worried mothers," he said.
"And you're really going to spend resources to have knights escort a few kids home?" Elena asked. "That seems like a real waste given the Empire's situation."
"Elena," Rune pretty much hissed in horror.
But that actually made Flynn laugh. He gave a smile when he said, "Well Ms. Lowell, I see you've really become your father's daughter."
"Yeah I get that a lot," Elena commented. "So can we go?"
"I-I'm really sorry," Rune quickly said with a quick bow. Raiden wasn't sure what the young mage was apologizing for.
"Listen," Flynn said as he sat back down. "It's admirable that you three want to find justice. But you are far too young to do something so dangerous. Plus, I'm sure Yuri would tell you not worry about him. You three should be living your lives."
That was what their mom and Paul said too. Raiden knew that too. His dad always just wanted them to live their lives to the fullest and with no regret. Yuri Lowell was the type who would tell them they are wasting their time getting justice for him.
I'm sorry Dad, Raiden thought, but I'll have tons of regret if I don't find the guy that took you away from us.
Raiden was just about to say something similar to Flynn when Elena spoke up. "I'm still mad at Dad for leaving," she said. "Since I can't tell him anymore, the least I can do is let my frustration on the reason why my dad never came home again."
"Elena," Raiden muttered. This was the first-time Elena had said why she wanted to come along. He never thought it was out of anger.
Flynn opened his mouth to say something, but the doors burst open. "Sir Scifo," a knight exclaimed. "There are intruders. They say they're after the Empress."
Raiden felt his heart stop when he saw the look on Flynn's face. It was a mixture of anger and fear. The old knight jumped to his feet and grabbed his sword. Flynn ran to the door and turned back at them. "You three stay here, board the door," he told them and slammed to door behind him.
Raiden quickly ran up to the door to see if he could hear anything. But all he could hear was people running and shouting in the halls. Why would anyone want to go after the Empress? She was just a child.
Raiden started to open the door, but he was stopped by someone grabbing his arm. "What are you doing?" Rune shouted at him as he was holding him back. "Didn't you hear what the knight said? The castle is being invaded."
"I am not about to just sit here and be scared," Raiden argued.
For a brief moment, Rune looked about as scary as Rita. "You idiot," Rune snapped. "We're not dealing with monsters. These are people. People who'll hurt us if we cross them." At the last sentence, Rune turned back into himself.
Raiden hadn't even considered that. If it were monsters, it would be no question. But these were people. He never crossed a real sword with another real sword. He didn't want to hurt anyone.
He let his arm fall and Rune breathed a sigh of relief.
However, it was short lived. At that moment, they could hear someone give out a cry just outside the door. Raiden didn't hesitate this time. He opened the door and saw a knight on the ground injured. And there was a man dressed as some kind of mercenary standing over him. He was about to stab his sword through the knight.
Raiden didn't hesitate to release an Azure Edge at the man. It fazed him enough so that Raiden could charge the man and tackle him into a nearby pillar. The force was enough to knock the attacker out.
He looked back at the knight and saw that the wound was bad. "He needs healing," Raiden shouted to his sister. At first, Elena acted like she didn't even hear him. "Elena," Raiden said as repeat to what he said.
"Fine," she said as she walked over to the knight. She knelt down, but was sure to keep as much distance as she could for the spell to work. Unlike their mother, her first instinct wasn't to heal other people. Raiden believed that she wouldn't have that hesitation if it came to her family.
The knight's wounds closed and he sat up. "Thanks," he muttered as he slowly got to his feet.
"What in the world is going on here?" Raiden quickly asked.
"Some kind of thugs snuck into the castle," the knight explained. "I'm not sure what they could be after."
"Why do you look like you are wanting to ask us to do something?" Elena asked bluntly.
The knight got flustered and tried to recompose. "Look I hate to even ask this from children, but with your healing artes you would be more beneficial for you to be near the Empress. Not that I'm trying to tell you to do anything dangerous."
Raiden wanted to help out. It was better than just waiting in a room. But he couldn't just bring Elena and Rune into something dangerous.
"Fine," Elena muttered as she started walking in the direction to where the knight asked them to.
"Elena," Raiden called out to his sister. He quickly looked back at the knight and the attacker that was passed out.
"Don't worry about him, I'll take care of him," the knight said.
Raiden then nodded and quickly caught up with his sister. No doubt that she would just keep going regardless if he was with her. She must have hated the thought of waiting more than Raiden.
Just then he felt someone grab his arm to get his attention rather than stop him. "Raiden, what do think you're doing?" Rune asked.
"The least we can do is help Flynn out," Raiden told him.
"But these people look dangerous," Rune said with worried eyes.
"So are some of the monsters we fought on the way here."
"They're people," Rune tried to get Raiden to understand. He stopped and so did Raiden and surprisingly Elena too. The mage was shaking as he forced himself to say, "I…I don't think I can cast a spell on another person and hurt them, even in self-defense."
It then clicked with Raiden. This wouldn't be like fighting monsters. Yeah, he wasn't afraid to throw a punch. But to use his swords on a person who was trying to hurt him or anyone else suddenly made his swords feel heavier. He may have knocked out the other guy, but that was pure luck and the element of surprise that it worked well enough that Raiden didn't have to swing his sword at them. Idiot, why didn't you think this through,Raiden thought bitterly.
"We're just going to heal people," Elena pointed out plainly. "We're not fighting and you two would just be keeping me safe while I use my healing artes, right?"
"You're going to go even without us," Rune said with a sigh.
"Yep," she answered. "I want to make sure Flynn's okay. He is getting on in years."
Raiden understood. "Alright, we're just going to help any wounded," Raiden said.
Rune closed his eyes and groaned. "I can't say no to that."
"Then come then," Elena said sounding annoyed.
/~/~/
It didn't take them long to find Flynn by following the noise. They were in the main hall and Flynn and his knights seemed like they were having no problem fighting back the thugs.
The Commander of the Royal Knights noticed them as soon as they came in. But so did some of the thugs. One thug broke off from the rest and ran toward them. Maybe he thought he could use them as hostages or something.
Raiden didn't hesitate to get in front of Rune and Elena and pull out his swords. He didn't want to, but if it was either that or let the man hurt Elena and Rune. The choice was simple. But that didn't stop cold sweat from forming on his brow.
Just as Raiden was about to block, Flynn jumped in front of him and parried the blade with his shield. He then quickly cut the attacker down and turned his attention to them. "What in the world are you all doing here?" Flynn snapped in a scolding tone.
"We just wanted to help," Raiden told him.
Elena then walked over to Flynn and began casting a healing spell. The knight did have a nasty cut on his arm. With that Flynn must have understood their intentions. He gave a sigh and quickly said, "Stay behind the knights. Do not go past the knights. This will be over shortly."
Raiden nodded and grabbed his sister's arm to pull her with him. Rune pretty much stayed on his heels. There were a few knights that had a few minor injuries. They may have taken any that were seriously wounded to the court healers.
Elena went to work on healing some knights without any prompting. Rune stayed right next to her looking very squeamish with all the blood and not knowing what to do to help. Raiden stood in front of his sister at all times with one sword out. He didn't wish for any kind of confrontation, but he hoped that seeing him with a sword would make the intruders think twice about attack the healer.
"Leave some alive," Flynn shouted once the numbers were dwindling. A few knights already had a few of the rogues disarmed and had surrender.
When all the enemy was either dead or captured, Flynn walked over to one the rogues. "Why did you attack the castle?" Flynn asked.
The intruder that Flynn address spat on the ground. "That little girl pretending to be the Empress is nothing but blasphemy incarnate," he answered.
"So your goal was the Empress," Flynn clarified. "Who sent you? Who are your allegiance?"
But the intruder ignored Flynn and seemed to either be addressing his comrades or the even the knights. "The Empress is the deceiver," he shouted. "She is our downfall."
The Empress is a child, Raiden thought. Sure a child might not make the best ruler. But to cause the downfall of the country? It really seemed like they were just overreacting.
Just then one of them broke loose of their bindings and tore something off their chest, Raiden couldn't tell. The knights next to him tried to restrain him, however what the intruder did almost made Raiden drop his sword.
The intruder stuck at the knight and caused them to hit the wall that was a few feet away. Raiden blinked when he saw the knight not moving. What in the world kind of arte was that and how was it so strong? He had never seen such power from an arte since they weren't as strong without blastia.
And more importantly how could they stop it?
A couple other knights tried to restrain the man, but the same thing happened to them. Now Raiden had a better view and could see that the man's arm had changed. It had grown bigger and longer than normal that hit had ripped itself out of the sleeve. But it looked grotesque. The veins were prominent and the skin looked greenish. It also seemed to be growing toward the man's head because the same thing was slowly growing on the side of his face. One of his eyes were starting to turn red.
The man no longer sounded human as he lunged for one of the knights and pounded the knight into the ground. It was a horrifying sighting that Raiden was glad that this man/monster had punched the helpless knight further into the ground that it obstructed his view. He did it with such little emotions that really must had turned into some kind of monster.
Rune had given a startled cry from the sight. And that seemed to catch the monster man's attention. And he charged toward them. He was now foaming at the mouth like he was some rapid dog.
Raiden could hear Flynn yelling at them to run, but Raiden's legs felt like iron. He couldn't run. So his only option was fight. He had to protect his sister and friend. He sent out an Azure Edge so it could phase him. Maybe then he could use the back of his swords to subdue this foe.
To his dismay, the monster man barely flinched at it and was now in arm's length of Raiden. Flynn was still shouting. Raiden couldn't really tell who he directed it toward. He had to protect Elena and Rune. That was the only thing that went through his mind.
Raiden planted his feet and was about to fight back when he suddenly felt someone kick him in the back on the knee. He started falling backwards toward the ground which ended up being a good thing because the monster man's arm was right where Raiden's head had been.
Next thing he heard was his sister shouting "IMPACT!" and followed by the monster man's painful grunt. Raiden quickly sat up to see his sister had punched the monster in his solar plexus and he was now curled up in pain. The target and the arte, Elena definitely broke some of the monster's ribs.
As Raiden jumped back to his feet to get his sister away from such a dangerous creature, Elena turned around with a board look. "It wasn't even that tough," she said with the roll of her eyes. Some of the knights were running over to secure the monster man.
Raiden was fighting back the groan. Even in a dangerous situation, his sister was still as cocky as ever.
"Look out," Rune shouted.
Raiden didn't notice until it was too late. The monster man had raised its arm and struck Elena in the head and sent her toward the wall just like it did those knights. Elena hit the wall and fell to the ground. She wasn't getting up or saying anything snarky.
"Ellie!" Raiden shouted and ran over to her form. She was so still. Raiden's heart would have stopped if he wasn't running so hard. He heard people shouting. But Raiden didn't even care if the monster was chasing him. He had to get to Elena.
He slid next to her and gently went to touch her face. He moved her hair out of the way and lost his breath with what he saw. His eyes swelled with tears and he could no longer see because of his tears and all the blood coming out of his little sister. He found her hand and gripped it tight. "Ellie," he muttered in a shaky voice that was fighting back sobs. He gently touched the spot where blood was coming out from her head like he was trying to stop the bleeding. But he felt so much liquid between his fingers. "You're…you will be fine," Raiden forced out between his whimpering.
She'll be fine, he was telling himself. But she had never gotten hurt like this. But she had to be okay. She had to. Please, please be okay, Raiden begged.
"Get the healer, now," Raiden could hear Flynn shout.