Chapter 34: Rose vs. Alisha
Rose stiffened and turned around to see Alisha at the sanctuary doors clutching her spear with one hand.
"Shaun, shouldn't you be at your store or perhaps Pendrago?" Alisha asked. "And please don't call me princess."
"My business was finished there and I just came back." Said Gilmore. "And besides Adam is taking care of the shop quite well."
"But what about you Sorey? Shouldn't you be making a delivery to Gilmore's?" Alisha asked.
"I took care of that before we came here." Said Sorey.
"You've been following us and not doing a good job on knowing what's going on?" Rose mocked.
"Watch it." Said Alisha.
"Were you too busy crying?" Rose mocked again.
"Rose what are you doing?" Dezel asked worried.
"Excuse me?!" Alisha snapped.
"Hey! Not judging or anything …" Said Rose with a shrug.
"Rose I really hope you're not doing what I think you're doing." Said Sorey.
"What do you think she's doing?" Mikleo asked.
"Watch." Said Senokir with a shit eating grin.
"Now now you two. There's no need to be up in arms here." Said Gilmore. "After all this is a church, and I'm pretty sure that starting a fight in here is very looked down upon as this is a place dedicated to Maotelus and not some long forgotten god of war and competition." Alisha sighed.
"My apologies." Said Alisha "You're right Shaun, losing my tempter won't do us any good. I'm going back to my duties."
"Yes it would be so uncouth for the pretty pretty princess to throw down with just a mere commoner." Said Rose.
"Oh that's it!" Alisha snapped. "You wanna fight? We'll fight! Right here, right now!" She grabbed the front of Rose's cloak and gritted her teeth. Sorey got between them.
"Don't! Both of you!" He shouted. "If you want to fight then take it outside." Alisha let go of Rose and straightened herself.
"All right." She said. "Meet me in the park."
"Fine by me princess." Rose said in a mocking tone. Alisha grit her teeth and stomped out of the church.
"What have I done?" Sorey said under his breath. "Rose why did you want to start a fight all of a sudden?!"
"Hey! I didn't do anything in those stupid ruins for a good week and we didn't run into hellions here!" Said Rose. "Plus all the talking got me bored so I needed to punch something."
"Then throw a rock at something don't start a fight!" Exclaimed Sorey. But it was too late for Rose to reconsider as she started walking out the door.
"Way to go newbie. You got Rose to make a stupid decision." Said Edna.
"Well I didn't think that they would actually go through with it!" Sorey snapped. "God we have to stop them."
"You can stop them." Said Gilmore. "I need to get back to my shop. Hope it all goes well." He said as he left the church while Senokir stayed behind.
"You're not going back?" Mikleo asked.
"Well this entertainment doesn't come by very often. I just wish to see what will happen between the Shepherd and the Princess Knight." He said.
"Gah! What are we doing here! We need to stop them before they do something really stupid!" Sorey cried running out of church.
At the park Alisha and Rose both drew out their weapons.
"Let's go!" Alisha snapped.
"Oh hell yeah!" Rose cheered twirling her knives.
"Do you ever shut up?" Alisha growled.
"What is it too distracting or something?" Said Rose. "Though I'm not surprised considering –." Alisha tried to slash down with her spear. "Whoa! Oh it's on Princess!" Rose shouted running towards Alisha. She thrusted her spear but Rose jumped to the side and threw one of her knives but Alisha whacked it out of the way. By then they were attracting a crowd who were curious on what was going on. Then a few bystanders left for a bit to grab any friends to check out the fight as Rose ran towards Alisha and she ran towards her attempting another stab but Rose rolled out of the way and then sprinted away from her skidding to grab her knife. However Alisha gave chase and swung her spear down on Rose who blocked the blow with both of her knives.
"Wow. You're pretty good. I mean not as good as Sergei is with his sword as he's been at this longer than you." Said Rose.
"Are you complimenting me or insulting me again?" Alisha asked through her teeth.
"It's a genuine compliment!" Rose claimed. "What did daddy give you the best tutor in the land and bribe the army to get you in?"
"Okay now that's just rude!" Alish said then sticking her speak in the ground and using it to spin her self around on it. Rose jumped out of the way before she got kicked in the face then smacked Alisha's plated foot with the handle of her knife when she tried the same thing again. She fell on her face then quickly got back up again. "Demon fang!" She shouted swinging her spear upwards releasing a blue light. Rose dodged the attack.
"What the …?! The fuck was that?!" Rose exclaimed. Alisha then tried another stab at her but Rose blocked it.
"An arte only taught through extensive training with the spear." Said Alisha then twirling her spear going for a diagonal slash. Rose dodged out of the way.
"Is it truly extensive or are you just bullshitting me?" Asked Rose. 'But bullshit or no I really do need to get that spear out of her hands.' At the same time Sorey was trying to make his way through the watching crowd cheering and placing bets on who would win the fight. However he struggled to make his way through. Senokir looked over to him and smirked walking his way through the crowd easily.
"Thanks…" said Sorey through his teeth. Meanwhile Rose was throwing one of her knives testing any weak spots on the spear wielding princess seeing if she would do anything other than swat the knife out of the air with her weapon. Then would try various ways to fake her out so she could grab the knife that she threw. She then threw a knife towards her legs however instead of the usual blocking she jumped out of the way.
'That might work.' Rose thought. She ran forward and grabbed her knife then charged towards her and went for a slice around the neck Alisha prepared to block her but Rose quickly dived and put away her knives. She grabbed Alisha's ankles and pulled them out from under her. Alisha fell back and landed on well her back.
"Ow…" She groaned before kicking Rose in the side of the head,
"Ugh!" Rose grunted then grabbing the area where she got kicked she let go for a moment to see blood on her hand. "God what are you trying to do? Kill me?!"
"I would if I was a complete sociopath!" Said Alisha. "So no, I'm not!"
"Well it sure felt like it!" Snapped Rose. Alisha tried scramble for her spear but Rose pinned her down. Though unfortunately for Rose, Alisha just pushed her off and tried to roll to her spear. Rose then got up and grabbed her ankles and dragged her out away from her weapon.
"Oh if you wanna be like that…" Alisha said through her teeth. She kicked Rose in the chest knocking her back. She then got up and tackled Rose to the ground just as she was getting back up.
"Oh come on!" Rose shouted then punching Alisha in the face giving her a bloody nose Alisha stumbled back then punched Rose in the gut. Rose grunted and spat up some blood. "Good god who knew a princess could pack a punch." Though unfortunately just as the adrenaline was pumping through her system a few guards came in and separated the two.
"Break it up you two." Said one knight.
"You two are under arrest for unsanctioned gambling, disturbing the peace, and assault." Said the other one.
"What?! Why am I getting arrested?" Alisha complained.
"You ran off on duty and you assaulted a civilian." Said the other soldier.
"Ha ha you're in trouble~!" Rose sang.
"You're getting arrested too!" Alisha snapped. Meanwhile Sorey looked on with the seraphim.
"… Why am I not surprised?" He sighed to himself.
"Pffff…" Dezel snorted. "Looks like I failed to keep her out of prison. But she will never let that promise down unless she forgot it." He started giggling to himself. "I expected her to go to jail for like the prison break but starting a fight? That's virtually how she became the Shepherd! The irony!" He burst out laughing.
"Come on." Sorey sighed. "We have to bail out our idiot." He said heading to the local jail where they were holding Rose and Alisha. He walked in to the sight of about four jail cells having people in them, likely for similar reasons as how Rose and Alisha were arrested. They mumbled about how and why they got thrown in was bullshit. While the two women shared a cell Alisha turned away from Rose looking pouty and pissed off while Rose looked smug and pissed off. There was a guard who approached Sorey.
"Well what do you want?" They asked.
"I wish to get my friend there out of jail." Said Sorey.
"Which one?" They asked.
"The redheaded woman in the cloak." Said Sorey bluntly.
"Aaaaw you came for me!" Rose cried in an overly dramatic tone.
"All right then can I see your identification?" the soldier asked. Sorey pulled out the paper that got him through the inspection.
"Would this work?" He asked.
"… I'm afraid not." Said the soldier. "We need something like a birth certificate to be able to bail someone out other wise they're stuck here for the next twenty four hours."
'Crap!' Sorey thought.
"Welp we tried. Let's just wait till nightfall to bust them out." Said Edna. Sorey looked over to Edna then looked back at the guard. He took out some gald and handed it over.
"So how do you feel about this?" He asked. The soldier gave him a blank stare. Sorey pulled out more gald and gave him a nervous smile. The soldier continued to stare blankly at him then confiscated his stuff and threw him in the same cell as Rose and Alisha. "Goddammit not again." He growled.
"Wow …" Said Rose snickering "was this how you got arrested last time?"
"Shut up Rose." Sorey hissed.
"Wait. You were arrested?!" Exclaimed Alisha "For bribing a soldier?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Said Sorey. Alisha, for the first time to Rose, started snickering.
"Oh wow … this is better than the time I caught you doing reconnaissance!" She laughed.
"Oh! Oh Tell me more!" Rose begged.
"Well it was actually how we met actually." Alisha started "Sorey was doing some of his … work spying on me and then I caught him." Sorey curled up into a ball. "I asked him what he was doing and he panicked so he started crying and told me everything and I mean everything."
"Smooth." Said Rose sarcastically.
"Please don't Rose, I was twelve." Said Sorey through his teeth.
"However he did save my life so in exchange I decided to not throw him in jail to quite possibly be put to death and keep his secrets." Said Alisha.
"Aaaw so nice to have a good friend to keep you out of trouble." Said Rose.
"Rose if this is supposed to make me feel guilty it's not working." Said Dezel. "You brought this on yourself."
"Oh fuck off man." Said Rose. Alisha looked at her confused for a moment before her eyes lit up.
"Oh! So you can speak to seraphim!" She exclaimed. "My apologies if I was rude to you gentle Shepherd." Sorey snorted at gentle.
"You know you don't have to act all nice to me because I'm the Shepherd you know." Said Rose. "In all honesty I'm a total jackass."
"It's true." Said Sorey.
"Oh nonsense." Said Alisha.
"No. It's not." Said Sorey. "She's honestly just a jackass who would start fights just because she wants to. You're free to punch her if you like."
"Oh thank god." Alisha sighed then going over to Rose and decked her.
"Crist!" Rose shouted after spitting out some blood and a tooth.
"Yep. This is either the beginning of a beautiful friendship, gay romance, or a bitter rivalry slash arch nemesis deal." Said Edna.
"I thought anything with Sorey in it would make for the gayest of romances." Said Rose.
"Hate to break it to you but any romance with me in it has so far ended with death or is heavily one sided." Said Sorey.
"Oh we'll work on that." Said Edna.
"Good." Said Sorey.
"Hey wait, my mom, or your boss, is here and who's that?" Said Mikleo. Sorey and Rose looked up to see Muse with a redheaded woman in a different fancier uniform indicating her rank.
"Boss?!" Sorey exclaimed.
"Wait a minute you two I just need to fill out these forms." Said Muse. Alisha then looked up.
"Ah! Lady Maltran!" Alisha exclaimed.
"In a minute Alisha." Said the woman doing the same as Muse. A little while later the soldier looked through the paperwork and went to the cell and unlocked it.
"Well there you go." Said the soldier. "Now don't go causing any more trouble. That includes you Princess Alisha."
"Understood." Said Alisha.
"So how come you hate being referred to by your actual title?" Rose asked.
"It has to do with the fact that she and the rest of the royal family really don't get along well." Said the woman.
"Sibling favoritism?" Rose asked.
"… Something like that." Said Alisha through her teeth.
"That bad huh?" Said Rose. "Well … sorry. I was just trying to poke a little fun at you, I didn't think that it would wander into touchy territory." Alisha looked at her shocked.
"…Really?" She said.
"Yes! Is it so hard to believe?" Rose shouted.
"Well … I mean. Considering you were away from your mother for a big chunk of your life who should've taught you about basic manners …" Said Alisha gesturing to Muse. "Yes!"
"Oh my god she actually believes it!" Dezel exclaimed.
"Congratulations Meebo you now have a sister." Said Edna. Muse looked confused for a moment then went back to a nonplussed look. The woman looked over to Muse for a moment really confused.
"Well all that aside Rose really is sorry for making fun of you." Said Muse. "Right sweetie?"
"I'm not a child mom. But yes I am." Said Rose.
"Then … I'll let it slide." Said Alisha.
"And we'll talk about the scene you two created later." Said the woman. She then turned to Rose. "I apologize if we gave you any trouble Shepherd, usually my soldiers are better behaved."
"It's no problem, really." Said Rose. "But … who are you?"
"My apologies. I am Maltran, captain of the Platinum Knights." The woman introduced herself. "I am her mentor and her boss."
"I see…" Said Rose.
"However I do wish to talk with you but I rather be it in Pendrago if you would." Said Maltran.
"Um … okay …" Said Rose. "Oh and I want to ask you about something too." She looked over to Sorey who pulled the Flamestone Firecracker out of the absurdly roomy jacket. "Do either of you know about this weapon?"
"Um … not really." Said Alisha, "All I really know about it is that it was only given to the best bow and crossbow men."
"Most of the same stuff except there was one for each platoon and there were somewhere between five and seven of these and only two survived the battle with their weapons presumably destroyed." Said Maltran. "The two that survived are in different platoons and you might want to talk to them though you need to make arrangements with Goudman of the Blue Storm regiment and Ia of the Red Bull regiment. Though … you might want to be careful about mentioning the Platinum knights to Ia."
"Why?" Rose asked.
"It's a long story …" Said Alisha nervously while looking to the side.
"Anyways Shepherd I'll be off to Pendrago as soon as I can but I will tell the guards stationed here and in Pendrago to let you through." Said Maltran.
"Um … okay." Said Rose.
"Oh and Muse, are you free tonight?" Maltran asked. Alisha gasped happily while Sorey rolled his eyes and Rose looked at the two women confused.
"Wait … are they dating?" Mikleo asked.
"Yes I am." Said Muse.
"Great!" Maltran exclaimed. "Great." She repeated regaining her composure. "Tonight then."
"Tonight." Said Muse. Maltran nodded and started to walk off.
"Let's go Alisha." She order.
"Uh … yes mam!" Said Alisha following her tutor. Muse started walking towards the inn with the rest following.
"It's complicated." Said Muse. "We tend to get requests made to off either members of the knights or the church frequently. So I tend to go out with her because I can get information out of her to see what she knows as well as a nice dinner. In exchange, she gets companionship, sex, and protection from us."
"So you're effectively using her to get information out of her." Said Edna.
"It's not completely like that though yes. In a way I am using her but it's not entirely one sided." Said Muse. "It balances out. I get my information and she gets my protection."
"You know you're sounding a lot like you don't care about her." Said Mikleo.
"Don't get me wrong, she is a good woman but I don't see what she sees." Said Muse. "I'd rather look out for you, Sorey, Zenrus, and the rest of the Scattered Bones. Now get some rest, you have a long trip ahead of you."
No the Red Bull regiment was not a typo. And yes there were three soldiers that Rose spared ... if you remembered after several months, one of the three just died in the battle.