The following story is a Skullgirls fanfiction, i own nothing but my ocs, Skullgirls is property of Autumn Games and Lab Zero.
"I see…" Could be telling the truth? Could Pietro be hiding a parasite in his right arm? It seems farfetched, Mrs Victoria isn't the type to be pulling pranks on students though, but why would she tell me any of that? My mind is racing with question nobody can answer, except…
"I don't have evidence, but I have a witness, a man named Giovanni DeCapre, Pietro's so called father, why don't you ask him?"
Should I though, I don't want to seem rude, but if it is true, then it as to be worth a shot…
"Filia, you okay?" I seemed to have forgotten that Pietro was still present in here with me, I looked over him, his body all bruised and battered, it only made want to chase after those bastards and beat them senseless, but I doubt the school would be happy with me. Then again they would be probably too afraid to try something, so maybe…
"Hey, did you listen?" Right Pietro, I forgot about him… again
"Yes…well no not really, I fell horrible for leaving you guy's, with Carol's personality I should have guessed she would be an easy picking target, and with your personality you would probably get yourself in trouble and try to protect her… kind of like that time…" I still felt horribly guilty that I had let those two alone, I should have had just asked them to wait for me. And thinking back to "that" time didn't help.
"Hey, what's done is done, don't worry about it, I'll live right, that's what's important."
"You're too damn carefree! Look at you, you're covered in bruises imagine what could have happened to you if I didn't intervene, what could have happened to Carol, could you imagine how I would feel if they had their way with her?!" Maybe that was a bit too harsh?
Pietro was now staring at the ground, he had a look of guilt and sadness, then he stared at his right arm with that same look. Did I say too much? I didn't want to hurt him, I tried saying something, but my lips couldn't move and my brain couldn't formulate the correct words, much less sentences… I just hope Carol arrives soon, talking about Carol…
"Damn it were is Carol, she should be here right now." Wait, what if she ran into them again? Goddess damn it, im so stupid, what was I thinking sending her to look for a teacher? This is all my fault, I can't even properly protect my friends!
"Filia! Pietro!" A heard a familiar voice, it was Carol's, thank Trinity she's ok, rigth beside her was Mrs Victoria, seeing her made me remind of our conversation a while ago. "Sorry for arriving so late, im so, so, so sorry, IwasrunningandwhenIarrivedatMrsVictoria'sofficeIhadtoexplainwhat happenedbutbecauseIwasrunningIhadtoca…"
"That's alrigth Carol, you can rest." I said shutting off Carol's speech, "what matters is that you're here and safe."
Im so glad nothing happened to her, I wouldn't forgive myself if that accident ever happened again with Carol. I almost fell like shedding a tear knowing that she was okay.
"Sorry for being late, as Ms Carol was saying, she was explaining the situation," Mrs. Victoria apologized.
She then kneeled down near Pietro and began examining his body, taking a good look at his bruises, she then stood up still facing Pietro.
"Mr Pietro, I'll be taking you to the school's nursing facility, can you stand up?"
Pietro complied as he slowly but steadily got up, in a short time he was already walking like it was nothing, he seemed hesitant to follow Mrs. Victoria, as if he was scared of following her, or scared of something…
"Hold up, I don't have anything broken, look" he began jumping and stretching his arms, as if to prove he wasn't beat up just a few moments ago. Why was he so hesitant? Could he be hiding something? "See I can move well, it's just some bruises."
"Pietro, you expect me to just let you go out of school covered in bruises? Sorry, but I have to take you to a nurse." There was no escaping this one, and he seemed to know it, as he followed Mrs. Victoria, making their way to the nurse's office. I waved him goodbye and so did Carol, he returned the gesture by waiving goodbye himself, the he was out of our sigth, I looked over Carol, her face covered with sorrow and self-guilt, she released a silent crying.
"Hey, come on it's not your fault…"
"OF COURSE IT IS FILIA, WHOSE ELSE IS IT?! IF I WASN'T SO WEIRD THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, PIETRO SUFFERED BECAUSE HE WAS TRYING TO PROTECT ME! IM USULESS, GOOD FOR NOTHING, I ONLY BROUGTH YOU TWO MORE TROUBLE, I WISHED YOU HAD NEVER MET ME!"
Carol's screaming made me flinch, her word stabbed my heart like a knife, I had never seen her like that, she realized what she had say, and covered her mouth with both her hands, not long after she started running towards the exit, her cries hearable throughout the whole corridor.
"CAROL, WAIT IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" I tried to tell her, but she had now vanished from my sight, I wanted to run after her, tell her it was all okay, but I was afraid, I couldn't comfort her here, how was I going to talk to her? I guess I'll have to wait tomorrow, yes, tomorrow is a different day…
I don't know how, but I must be doing something to appease the goddesses, I have no idea how they didn't check my right arm for any sort of bruises, they probably thought it was better to leave it be, considering it was still bandaged, it was a relieve to, I almost sensed Akira's murderous tendencies going through my blood, but at least everything turned out well.
I released a sigh of relieve.
"Jezz that was a close call, to close if you ask me." Akira said also releasing a sigh of relieve." Look Pietro I don't know how long you can keep this up, I rather face my odds against the Egrets than having to be mummified every single day that you're alive, at least until we defeat the Skullgirl."
"Wow, wow, I never said anything about facing a Skullgirl, im not getting involved with that." I said shattering Akira's hopes of chasing a Skullgirl, no right minded person would want to do that, she was pure evil! "The last one Queen Nancy forced the three warring nations to sue peace just so they could defeat her! How do you expect me to defeat a monster like single handedly?"
"Look I understand your worries, but trust me, it will be…"
"Mr Pietro." A voiced called me, Akira knew what to do and shut himself up, much to his displeasure.
"Mrs Victoria, Miss!" I said shaping myself in a salutation stance, her voice had caught me off guard, and her presence was so dominating, that you felt like you were in a military school. She released a few chuckles before saying.
"The nurse say's that you're just covered in minor wounds, so you can go back to home now." Yes finally, this day has been hell, and to think this has only been the first of many.
"Thank you Mrs. Victoria!" I energetically said visibly excited that I was returning home.
"I was just doing my job."
"What about the bullies?"
"You need not to worry, Carol told me their appearance, and I already have a good idea of who it was. She a brave girl, shame she doesn't know…"
"Don't worry ill tell her if I run into her." I started to pack my things and started heading home.
"You know it's been seven years since the last Skullgirl, Our dear Queen Nancy Renoir …" I froze in my tracks, I remembered the conversation I had with Akira in the classroom, about the schoolgirl, I wanted to warn her about it, but I couldn't, it would raise too many questions ", were ever she ends up on I hope there won't be many casualties, especially on a city like New Meridian, but what would be the change that she would appear here?"
My blood was ice, the thought of the Skullgirl appearing right here in New Meridian, just like Akira predicts, the casualties, hundreds even thousands, my mind couldn't stop thinking, what if Carol, Dad or even Filia got involved, the sheer thought of seeing them as mindless zombies haunted me.
I said nothing to the teacher, as I ran for the exit…right here… in New Meridian.
What am I going to do? What should I do?
By the time I had reached the gate of the school I had to stop to get a breather, those haunting thoughts refusing to leave my mind.
"No, damnit…"
"She wasn't lying you know…" I heard the voice of Akira speaking through my right arm.
"Now's not the time." I said getting impatient at the parasite.
"Now's the perfect time, admit it, you want to protect them, if you want to then listen to me."
"NO" I screamed, I was now getting angry "I never asked for any of this, it's all you fault, you're the on who had mistaken me for another person!"´
"You're right, but right now there's no time, we have to defeat…"
"WE OR YOU?"
"…"
An awkward silence settled between us, I had decided to go back home, but something kept me from walking far, I looked back to see my right arm, enveloped in a post light.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Im doing this because i care okay!?"
"…Uh?"
"I know you, along with most of people think parasite are disgusting creatures, we ruin lives and were greedy right?"
"Well…"
"Right?"
"…yes"
"I thought so, well let me tell you something, sure there are parasite that are complete assholes, but don't judge us because of someone else's fuck up, we would still be referred as Theon's if it wasn't for Her!"
"Her?"
"…I didn't witness the event itself, but from what I could understand, Sekhmet did something, I don't know what, but it was enough to make all humans despise us, I lost everything, my position, my friends… my home. Sekhmet did as much wrong to us as she did to you."
"…"
"Besides, humans aren't that different, are they now?"
"What do yo…"
"There are also humans who are greedy and give their race bad name, but there are also humans who are kind and loving. Like you." I stood there in silence, Akira's stated a good point, we allowed the action of one parasite define all of them, I stared to floor processing Akira's words, he…he was right, I wanted to protect my friends, my family, this city, and I need to defeat the Skullgirl to do that, and that requires Akira's help…
"Okay then let's do this."
"Uh?" Akira now looked confused at me, "Do what?"
"What are you an idiot? Aren't you the one who wanted me to chase the Skullgirl?"
"…Wait, you mean?"
"Yes, yes, let's go after a Skullgirl!"
"Alrigth kid, I knew I could trust you."
"Well let's head home."
"Not yet."
"What do you mean not yet?!"
"We only have a month until the Skullgirls arrives with her full power. We need to take advantage of all the time we have and train."
"Train, train for what?"
"Who's being the idiot know, uh? To train your body obviously, the stronger you get, the stronger I get, you already have a better body that other humans because of me, tell me how are those wounds?"
"Oh they are…" As I went through my body I was shocked to find that my bruises were all healed, I could have only been…" Akira did you do this?"
"Duh, who else?" Akira boasted, he must have great abilities to be boasting himself like that.
"Wow, amazing, what else can you do?" I was fascinated with Akira's abilities, I wondered what else he could do.
"A lot more Pietro, you must have noticed by now that I can shapeshift my body, not only that I can also change what material im made of, right now im made of a slimy substance, but…" Akira paused as my right arm began to feel weird, almost as if it was being bitten by multiple ants, I stepped back in surprise, but eventually Akira had finished his change "I can change into a more solid material, and even combine properties of both."
Akira's abilities took me by surprise, I didn't know a parasite could be this awesome, I felt like I judged him a bit too quickly, maybe this whole thing was a blessing in disguise, the beginning of a new friendship.
I was now standing in front of Pietro's house, his father should still be here, but Pietro could return at any moment, so I have to make this quick and efficient.
I walked to the front door, I knocked a couple of times. After a waiting a while, I heard a voice coming from the door, most likely Pietro's dad, Giovanni.
"Who's out there?" the voice asked, his voice was deep and strong voice, I paused a bit before answering.
"Mr. Giovanni? It's me Filia, can I come inside?"
"Filia?" The door was now fully open, revealing the man who was Giovanni DeCapre, he had black hair and a goatee, his green eyes seemed to be filled with friendliness, and he was indeed a very friendly man, all the times I came to his house he was very welcoming, he was also a funny man. "Sorry Filia but Pietro isn't here right now, the school contacted me saying that he had to go to the nurse's office, but he should have left school by now, if you go back you can probably find him."
"Actually I wanted to talk to you." He was raised one of his eyebrows and leaned towards the door frame, he had a curious look on him almost like if he wanted to let me talk to him. unfortunately, all he said was…
"Sorry Filia, but I don't think we have much time to talk, besides it is getting late and you should be going home."
He was about to close the door, but I couldn't let him, I had to know the truth about Pietro, then Mrs. Victoria's voice ran across my head.
"Ms Filia, do you know who the Vietri are?"
"Mr Giovanni, who really were the Vietri?!" the man paused, the door inches from being completely closed, he turned to face me, his face was now more serious, I hope I didn't press any wrong buttons.
"Come in…" he opened the door, I complied and entered the household, shutting the door behind me, the first thing I noticed when entering the house was that it was much smaller than mine, like always, I already went here a couple of time with Pietro so I was used to this, I also noticed the sofa, directly facing the TV, across from that room, was the kitchen, there were your ordinary culinary assets, there was also a particularly small table made of wood, it was big enough to have at most four people, right in front of me were a pair of stairs which led to the rooms, besides the stairs there was the bathroom, the lack of paintings and expensive vases gave this house a more, family like look, I very much enjoyed it, there was also shelf filled with book, I remembered always reading romance novels, they were my favorites, I also liked comics, Pietro also had some comics, I also enjoyed reading those, they felt like a real family, they spent time together and had very lively conversations at dinner, unlike my family, it made me very jealous, but I was always nice coming here, It felt like I had an actual family.
"Fila, are you just going to stand there? Come have a seat." Giovanni pulled one of the chairs so I could sit, I accepted the gesture and sat on the chair, he then handed to my seat a cup of coffee. "I know how much you like coffee, so I thought I would make you some."
"Oh, thank you very much." I thanked as I began drinking the dark liquid. He also brought a cup of coffee for him and seated on his respective seat, which was the one opposite from mine.
"You know there's nothing better than a cup of coffee after a hard day of work." He said as he began laughing in his cheerful tone.
"Yes I agree…" Damn it Filia snap back to reality, remember why you're here! "Mr. Giovanni?"
"Who were the Vietri, yes I heard you back at the door." He said, he seemed to know why I had come here, because his expression changed a bit, he was still smiling, but his eyes showed pain in them. "This is no secret, but Pietro isn't my son, he was an orphan from the Great War."
"Yes, he told me that."
"I said that his parents were killed in the accident evolving Queen Nancy, and well, I wasn't lying, but at the same time, I was hiding the truth." He's smile now vanished from his face, he let go of his cup and put down both hands at the table. "I never told him who his parents were, not because they were bad people, but because I had hoped to spare him from their fate, it seems to be working until now."
"Wait, you mean…" My eyes were fully opened know, could it be really, could the Vietri actually be real?
"Yes… my son, Pietro DeCapre, is actually called Pietro Vietri and he the last surviving member of that family." I didn't know what to say, Mrs. Victoria was telling the truth! But why? Why didn't Pietro know this.
"Well to clarify who were the Vietri, they were like the stories involving them, they were a family who battled against the Canopy Kingdom in the Great War, even battled against the Skullgirl, they all had white hair, and every single member until know… had a… parasite, which made them highly controversial. But what you may not know is that some Vietri hosts were more powerful than others, so powerful they could be host to two parasite, while that would normally led to the host dying of soul contamination, the Vietri were different, nobody know why, but they had a much higher affinity with parasite then regular people, Pietro's real father was cut from this cloth, he was host to two parasite, and he was the reason the Chess Kingdom could stand their ground against the Canopy Kingdom, I know this because I have seen it myself, he was amazing, throwing soldier left and right like it was nothing, dodging bullets like they were paper, it was inspiring, but it was also terrifying and that man's name was Tomasso Vietri, but when the King of Canopy Kingdom came to the capital to talk about surrender terms for us, that's when it happened… Queen Nancy Renoir turned into the Skullgirl, the attack came unexpectedly, and took many live, including the Vietri, the remaining members tried their hardest to defeat her, but they stood no chance, not even Tomasso, and that's how the Vietri became a myth, that was until I found Pietro… when we were analyzing the damage done to the city, we found a woman, she seemed to still be alive but barely, right beside her was a child, he seemed to be much healthier than his mother, we tried saving both of them, and we saved the child, but the mother died, before she died she told me Please keep my child, protect him from others, his name is Pietro… and that's how I met my son, shortly after I was granted permission to resign, and then I moved here, to the peaceful land of Maplecrest, in hopes of dragging Pietro away from his families burden, parasites."
I was now speechless, all this time, Pietro was a Vietri, not only that but he's whole family was killed by the Skullgirl, and he didn't even know.
"I…Im so sorry…"
"Don't be sorry for me, I mean, I got a son, you should be feeling sorry towards Pietro…"
"I…I know; can I ask one more question?"
"Well, I already told you this much, I don't have much more to hide."
"Why did you tell me this? You cloud have just denied it and I would have believed you, but you chose to tell me the truth, why?"
Giovanni didn't respond, instead he looked at the window, and sighed, then he finally said mothing.
"Im not so sure myself, I guess I just had to let it out of my system."
If all this is true, then it is a possibility that Pietro has a parasite in his right arm, should I tell him?
"Giovanni?"
"Hm…What is it?"
"I…I…I think Pietro may have a parasite in his right arm."
Again there was an awkward silence, this time Giovanni looked at the ground and smiled.
"Don't be preposterous Filia, do you think a parasite would appear here in Maplecrest? That's insane, I know he's whoel family had parasite, but he's different."
"But Mr. Giovanni, don't find it weird that he's whole arm is bandaged?"
"Filia… he's not a host to no parasite."
"Mr. Giovanni…"
"Filia stop!"
"Are afraid about Pietro's wellbeing, or are you afraid that you failed!?" I said, now standing up from my chair, shen I realized what I had just say, I looked at Giovanni, with an apologetic look, again there was nothing but silence, but unlike other times, this one was more uncomfortable and darker, "Mr Giovanni, im so sorry I di…"
"Get out…" He only said, the cheerful Giovanni was now a darker man, almost has he was an entire different person, I wanted to say sorry, but my lips couldn't move, I was frozen.
"Didn't you hear me… GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!" He was now shouting, I didn't say anything I inly complied with him and left the house, closing the door on my way out, before going back home, I took one last good look at the house, after all it may be my last.
"You know Akira, when you said we were going to train I didn't think it would be in the middle of the forest."
"Well, were else should we go where we won't be spotted then?" Akira sarcastically said, we were at the forest that surrounded Mapplecrest's vicinity the trees were big and thick, so it was hard for anyone to spot us here, so I guess we really didn't have a whole lot of places to go to.
"Alrigth then, you win, so were should we start, resilience, speed, strength?"
"Well… maybe we could try a bit of everything. What do you think?"
"Everything? I don't know Akira, im not very athletic."
"Don't worry about that, I'll start easy for you first time, besides thanks to my abilities, you'll be far better than the regular human being" Akira comforted me, he was trying to make me listen to him, I couldn't complain, he is the expert on these knd of things, maybe I should just listen to him.
"Alrigth the, let's do this!"
"That's the spirit kid, I like that. Now… we will start with five hundred pushups, following that you'll do five hundred squats, after that just do a 5km…no a 50km race around the forest, after that find the nearest tree, which shouldn't be hard, and punch it with all your might until I tell you to stop, we will do this cycle five times every day, no breaks!"
Is he insane!?
"W…WHAT, I WON'T SURVIVE THAT, ARE YOU CRAZY!"
"Nope, just very demanding, after all, we don't have a lot of time before the Skullgirl makes her presence known."
"Oh noooo…."
"Don't worry, you'll be okay just believe me."
"….Alrigth then…" What other choice did I have anyways? Besides this isn't for me, it's for my friends and family.
(Timeskip)
I take it back this is hard! Very hard!
"Damnit Akira, I thought I said this would be easy."
"Nooooo, I said you would do better than a regular human being! Look mean you're already in your fifth cycle, just a bit more an you'll complete this days training session"
Again, Akira tried to cheer me up, but I was proving to be hard, I was a living fountain of sweat, and I felt like my arms would give up on me at any given moment, I didn't want to continue, but the images of my friends, Filia, Carol, dad, they kept me from going further and further, I have to get strong, and if this is the only way to do so, the be it. But to think that i have to do this for a whole month... nevermind that.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I sent back to the pushups.
"That's it kid just keep going!"
And so we continued, determined to complete our quest, I have always dreamed of being a hero, but actually trying to be one? It sounds insane, but im not doing this for fame.
(Yet another Timeskip)
I was now lying in the ground, I couldn't mive my legs, I checked my cellphone, it was 19:40, I had left school at 16:30, and arrived at this forest at 17:00, so basically, I spent two and forty minutes doing this training, I was actually expecting it to be more late.
I picked one of the apples from a tree, the fruit from these places was very good, one of the best in the whole country, so much that when me and Filia were younger we used to go here and see who collected the most, it was fun. Remembering those moments made me smile as I looked upon the sky, the stars looked beautifull and you could see some constellations.
"It's pretty isn't it." I looked upon my shoulder were Akira talked.
"Hey now I remember, how do you know when the Skullgirl arrives?"
"I can feel her."
"Feel her?"
"Yes you know, like some sort of living Skullgirl radar."
"How does that work?"
"I don't know; I guess it's like how the humans trust their guts."
"I see…"
I started to get up and make my way back home, dad must be worried.
Meanwhile in the streets of New Meridian, one man appeared from the shadows, the night light gave a better look onto the man's face, he had spiky black hair, and red eyes, his pale skin gave him a look of a vampire and he's face was always covered in an emotionless state.
He roamed the streets searching for prey, when he felt a power, one to rival his.
"What is this, a familiar presence? Could it be you Akira, have you returned to claim my throne?" The man said, as he made his way to the vicinity of Mapplecrest were he intended to crush his competition, after all there could only be one king of the jungle.
Another week another chapter, there isn't alot to say this time, i just want to thank all of you who showed suport towards this story, it has been a while since i was so motivated to do something, so thank you.
I would just like to give a special thank to ThatOneGuyFromThen, (sorry for not replying to you, im just a lazy bastard so i though i would do it here), he also has a story called "Another One In The Ditch", if you haven't read it yet, i would recomend you to do so.
All aside, please don't giving your opinions and criticism on the story, until then, peace.