Fallen Angel Alicia
By: Orika
Orika: (Looking at Rufus who was repairing a broken table) Sorry Rufus but Silmeria said you'll have to repair all the damage.
Silmeria: Don't feel sorry for him Orika this is his punishment.
Alicia: But don't you think it's a little bit too much. He has to repair all of those. (Pointing at the objects that were damaged during there fight).
Rufus: Yeah why doesn't that guy also be punished?
Silmeria: He already has his punishment.
Orika: Well some pages from the manuscript were ruined. So his punishment was to rewrite it from the ruined parts. Although it's not appropriate since Riou a guest character but the crew says so.
Crew except Rufus: A guest character? What's that???
Orika: A guest character is what you call for a character that didn't belong to the game but has been hired or invited by the writer.
Crew except Rufus: Ohhh… So that's what it means.
Riou: Orika help me out here. Pleeeeease…
Orika: Coming… (Going to Riou).
Alicia: I'll help you Rufus (Taking a broken chair and going to Rufus).
Silmeria: Looks like we have some couples around here.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of VPS or any characters from any games. They are owned by Square Enix, Tri Ace and other video game co.
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Chapter 2: Onwards Castalle
Alicia and Rufus reached the Lost Forest. Alicia felt cold; something evil is lingering around or is it just her imagining things. Rufus walked but noticed Alicia wasn't moving.
"Hey what's wrong?" Rufus asked.
"Uh, nothing" Alicia said and they walked in the forest. "Silmeria do you feel anything?" Alicia asked silently so Rufus wouldn't hear.
"There's an evil presence, but I couldn't feel where its coming from. Be on your guard." Silmeria warned.
Alicia and Rufus continued on. Apparently they reached the Underground Path without any disturbance from any monsters.
"This is the Underground Path that leads to Castalle." Alicia said.
Rufus just nod and went in first.
"The evil presence is here." Silmeria said.
"Huh???" Alicia mumbled.
"What is it?" Rufus asked tightening his grip on his bow.
"Oh, it's nothing…" Alicia said looking at him and then looked at the path again.
Rufus raised an eyebrow and continued on walking. 'This girl is weird. It's as if she's talking to someone, but no one's there.' he thought.
"What is it Silmeria?" Alicia said silently.
"The evil presence is here. Be careful… We have to get out of here as soon as possible." Silmeria said.
"Right…" Alicia said.
"What?" Rufus asked looking back at Alicia.
"We need to find the exit and quick. An evil presence is lurking around here." Alicia said.
"Let's hurry then…" Rufus said since he could also feel it too but wasn't to sure so he kept silent. But now that Alicia spoke he feels they'll be in trouble if this evil presence finds them.
And they walked quickly avoiding noise without stopping or looking back. Then they saw light at the far end.
"There's the exit!!!" Alicia shouted.
And they both rushed to the exit but before they got out something fell and crushed to the ground blocking the way out.
They both stopped and backed away as the unknown figure walked closer. The smoke cleared and figure was seen. It was an armor of the upper body but no there was no person. It was floating in midair.
"What the heck?" Rufus said as he took an arrow from his back and aimed at the armor. He then fired the arrow, but the armor just deflected it. "The hell!!!" he exclaimed.
The armor charged at them.
"Look out!!!" Rufus yelled as he pushed Alicia out of the way.
Alicia fell on the ground. The armor then charged at Rufus.
"Silmeria help!!!" Alicia screamed.
'Silmeria?' Rufus thought wondering who Alicia is calling.
Silmeria took over and grab the sword from its sheath that was on her hip. She then charged the armor. The armor did the same. The sword clashed with the metal armor.
Rufus couldn't fire another arrow, he might hit Alicia, but prepares in case Alicia is pushed. His chance came, the armor pushed Alicia back. He then fired the arrow but it was deflected again.
"Darn it! That stupid steel of armor is just so hard my arrows have no effect on it." Rufus said.
"Then I'll have to do this." Silmeria said raising her left hand. Her hand then released a beam of light. When it hit the armor, the armor was then encaged in a crystal. "Now…" Silmeria said as she strikes the crystallized armor. The crystal shattered and the armor was split in half.
"Amazing…" Rufus said.
Silmeria returned her sword to its sheath. "Let's go, Castalle is just ahead." She said.
Rufus just stared at her. He looked at the armor that was cut in half. The armor then disappeared.
"What was that light? How did you crystallize that armor?" Rufus asked crossing his arms waiting for an answer.
"It's called a photon beam. It is an energy that comes from the tree Yggdrasil. It can stop a movement of a being but only for a short time. Other wise Purification is needed for me to stop that armor. No more questions Castalle is just ahead." Silmeria said.
And they went ahead. They got outside of the underground path and where in the outskirts of Castalle. It was already dark.
"Just a minute…" Rufus said.
Silmeria looked at him." What is it?" she asked.
"Tell me what your business in Castalle is? What is so important for to have an audience with the king?" Rufus asked looking at Alicia seriously. He noticed that there was a change in her eyes.
"Why are you so eager to know?" Silmeria snapped back.
"You're very suspicious. You seem to be talking to yourself all the time. You're a Valkyrie aren't you? Only the gods in Asgard could use the power of Yggdrasil and a Valkyrie is the only one who descends here in Midgard." Rufus said.
"You –"Silmeria uttered but she didn't continue because she heard Alicia.
"Silmeria let me explain to him. He knows already so we have to explain. We can't keep anything from him anymore. I'll do it…" Alicia said.
"Alright then…" Silmeria said.
Rufus just looked at her. Silmeria let Alicia took over.
"Uhh… I can explain." Alicia said.
"Okay. Go right ahead, I'm listening." Rufus said.
"First of all the one you were talking to earlier was Silmeria not me." Alicia said.
"Wait! What do you mean?" Rufus asked.
"I mean, there's another soul that inhabits this body. Silmeria is a Valkyrie living inside of me." Alicia said looking down.
"A Valkyrie you mean there were two of you." Rufus said trying to figure out.
"Silmeria has been with me ever since I was little. She told me that she had a conflict with Odin. So Odin punished her by vanishing to Valhalla and reincarnating her as a human, and I'm that human. So there are two souls inhabiting this body." Alicia said.
"So then I would presume you really are the daughter of the king that was said to be dead." Rufus said.
"Yes, and there was a reason for that." Alicia said. "You see ever since I was little I could hear Silmeria's voice but that was all until I grew older Silmeria could take control of my body. That's when the problem started. Ten years ago a Valkyrie in a black armor came to the palace. It seems Odin have found out of Silmeria's awakening inside of me. So he sent Hrist the Valkyrie to take Silmeria." Alicia narrated.
"And…" Rufus said wanting to know what happened next.
"Father refused…" Alicia answered.
"Why?" Rufus wondered. "Is it because Silmeria is in your body." He added as the idea came in his mind.
Alicia nodded. "Since Silmeria is in my body that means Hrist will have to take me to Valhalla as well. My father couldn't allow that, he refused to surrender me to Hrist. Hrist left saying that she'll come back to take me, if not by own will, she'll use force. Father then sent me away before Hrist could come back, making the announcement that I have died. I've been in hiding all these time, but I suppose we could never hide from the gods for too long. A week ago Hrist came; we barely manage to escape from her. Silmeria said we should go back to tell my father. And that's that." Alicia said.
"I see… so that's how it is. There was a rumor going around saying that Castalle was planning a rebellion against the gods." Rufus said.
"That's not true!!! Father was only trying to protect me. Is such an act already called rebellion against the gods?" Alicia yelled at Rufus.
"Whoa… don't take your anger out on me." Rufus said.
"Sorry…" Alicia said looking down.
Rufus felt guilty for opening his mouth. "Well we should get going then." he said ending the subject.
Alicia smiled and they went straight to the castle grounds. When they got there, there was no guards' insight not even one.
"So strange, there are no guards. I wonder what happen; even the town is so quiet." Rufus said.
"I have a bad feeling about this. " Alicia said looking around.
They went inside as Alicia is worried that something might've happened in the Castalle. Hrist found her in their hiding place after all. She was worried that Hrist might've attacked the castle. Suddenly the doors were shut closed and it became dark. In a just matter of seconds Alicia and Rufus found themselves surrounded by soldiers with their weapons pointing at them.
"Damn, were surrounded. No wonder there were no guards outside. Were they expecting you, they have quite a nice way of welcoming you." Rufus said.
"But I came here unannounced." Alicia whispered.
"Princess…" one of the guards said. "Lower your weapons." He added.
The soldiers lowered their weapons upon order. One of them walked forward. The light from the moon that flashed through the window revealed who the man was.
"Dylan…" Alicia said upon recognizing who the man was.
"Princess Alicia it is you. You've grown so much." The Dylan said.
"Princess Alicia, but I thought she was sent away upon order." the soldiers started talking among the others.
"Dylan where is father? I need to talk to him." Alicia said.
"The king is in the basement princess." Dylan said. "I'll escort you to him." He added.
The soldiers gave way as Alicia and Rufus passed them. Rufus looked at the soldiers still talking to one another.
"Return to your posts then. I guess it's not today." Dylan said.
"Not today?" Rufus thought as he looked at Dylan. "So then they were expecting someone." He added.
"Who's he princess?" Dylan asked as he looked at Rufus as they were walking along the corridor.
"His name is Rufus. He accompanied me through the underground path." Alicia said.
"Thank you for what you have done. You see there's a monster lurking in there." Dylan said.
"You mean the armor…" Rufus said.
"You've encountered it." Dylan suddenly asked.
"You can say that. Alicia has taken care of it." Rufus said.
"Actually it was Silmeria." Alicia butted.
"Well then that's good news. Now we can travel without having to sail." Dylan said.
They reached the stairs leading to the basement. They started to walk down.
"You said something about traveling without having to sail. Now that you mention it, the ships in Lorda been ordered to stop sailing in the sea." Rufus said starting the subject.
"That's right Dylan, there a lot of people troubled by it." Alicia added.
"Well you see there's something happening at sea. Many ships have been reported to have been missing without any trace left behind. We have no idea how it happens but, we do have a guess." Dylan said.
"The gods…" Rufus said guessing what Dylan was thinking.
Dylan nodded.
"Well the thing is Hrist Valkyrie found us." Alicia said Dylan looked at her. "We manage to escape from her. Silmeria said we should come back here and tell father." she added reassuring Dylan that she wasn't hurt.
They reached the basement. Alicia looked at an open door of a room and saw a crystal at the ceiling and at the floor was some kind of crest but it was unreadable.
"Dylan what is that?" Alicia asked going to the open door to have a good look.
"I don't know princess. The court mages are the ones working in here. Only they and the king know what's in here." Dylan said.
"It's some kind of machine…" Rufus said having a good look at it. "But what does it do? And what is it for?" he added.
Dylan then approached a door with the crest of the kingdom on it. He knocked.
"Who's there?" a man's voice was heard from the other side.
Alicia recognized the voice. "Father, father it's me." Alicia said almost crying.
The door opened. A man came out; from the looks of his clothes he appears to be royalty.
"Alicia is that really you?" the man asked looking at Alicia.
"King Barbaross, it is Princess Alicia." Dylan said.
"My daughter it is you. How much you have grown, for ten years." Barbaross said and hugged Alicia.
"Oh father…" Alicia said. Her tears fell on her eyes running down to her fair colored cheeks.
She couldn't hold the tears back. For ten years she hasn't seen her father. Rufus and Dylan smiled.
"Alicia why are you here? Your mother is going to be so happy to see you." Barbaross said.
"Father this is Rufus he accompanied me in getting here." Alicia said as she looked at Rufus.
Rufus bowed.
"Thank you very much. Well we should head upstairs it isn't pleasant to have a reunion here. Dylan, go and summon the queen. We'll have a little feast. I'm sure your both hungry." Barbaross said.
And they all walked to the stairs.
"So that's Princess Alicia, the one who holds the Valkyrie's soul. This should be interesting." a man said as he watches Alicia from the door of the study room.
End of Chapter 2
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Orika: Okay that's it of chapter 2. I would like to thank the readers who have submitted me some reviews and suggestions. Also I would like to apologize if chapter 1 was too short. I'm an inexperienced writer so please bear with me if some chapters are short. Also there was a request from a reader; I'll do what I can to grant your requests. It might be revealed in the up coming chapters.
Alicia: The ending was a little bit touching. (Sobbing)
Orika: Well, I pitied you at the game being pushed away by your father in order to protect you. So I made it tears of joy in here.
Alicia: Thank you Orika… (Wiping her tears)
Riou and Rufus: Were done!!! (Catching their breaths)
Silmeria: Yes finally. I can't believe you two and considering we were on the starting chapter.
Dylan: Yeah you're giving our writer a bad reputation.
Orika: Now, now please guys no more fighting I want my crew to be getting along.
All: Sorry Orika…
Orika: Now you two should get some rest. I know your both tired.
Riou and Rufus: Thanks Orika and sorry. (Falls on the floor and snores)
Crew: Awww… (Watching the two)
Orika: Okay this just came into my mind, instead of giving the readers previews. I'll be giving what I call a guessing preview.
Crew: A guessing what?
Orika: Guessing previews. In here we'll be giving the readers a mysterious character or any mysterious events at the end of probably every chapter. The readers will have to guess the question we give them. We'll see if they can guess it right. Then we'll tell them who got it right at the next chapter.
Crew: Ohhh…
Alicia: Wow Orika you seem to have a lot of ideas on your head.
Orika: Not very much. Okay time for Guessing Preview. (Gives a paper to Alicia and Silmeria)
Alicia: Ahem… Who was the mysterious man at the study room? (Looks at Silmeria)
Silmeria: And what was the strange mechanism at the basement?
Orika: And that's it please submit a review, suggestions or any violent reactions. I want to know what my reader thinks of my story. I won't be able to write anything without a single review thanks.