Maplestory time!
Well, finally we get on with some action!
Anyways, as usual I don't own MapleStory or Gurren Lagann. Have a nice day.
"Alright, here we go! Entering the flooded hills of Henesys!" Kyrin yelled from the bridge. What was great about the Nautilus that if it wasn't it submarine form, the top slid away and had a nice deck while keeping the bridge sheltered.
"Ma'am, underwater scans are clear for now. We shouldn't be dealing with any icebergs." One pirate reported.
"Good…" Kyrin nodded, "Akito, you hear that?!"
"Roger that! It should be smooth sailing from here if we don't encounter enemy resistance!" Akito leapt off the top of a few crates, "We'll be there by the end of the day guys."
"Wow Aniki… you look so amazing and confident!" Evan smiled, "You sure changed quite a bit!"
"I agree," Mir flew around with Seva on his back, "Plus this is tons of fun!"
Grinning to both of them, he turned around to notice Mercedes who was silent as she looked off the starboard side of the ship.
"Mercedes?" he asked as he walked up to her, "Is something wrong? You're awfully quiet… it's rather concerning."
"And what do you mean by that?" she replied in a hostile voice.
"I mean, usually you'd be hitting me or yelling at me or something. Seeing you all quiet doesn't suit you." he shrugged, "So something's up. Mind telling me?"
Oh sure, Mercedes grumbled mentally, You're the source of the problem and now you're asking me if you can fix it? Puh-lease, as if. At least you could start acting mature, I mean, you said you were seventeen! Can't you act like you've grown up a bit? Evan, I can understand, but Akito, why can't you just be more like him?
"…Mercedes? Mercedes? MERCEDES?!" Akito shook her to see if she was still there, "Okay, there. Seriously, you have to tell me what's up. I can't have you like this, it's just not right. Because the day you go without hitting me is going to be the time the world ends."
"As if! What would make you think that?"
"It's just an expression," he sighed, "Well, if you don't want to talk about it right now, fine by me. Just make sure to tell me at some point, will you?" Walking away to go talk with Evan, Mercedes sighed, At least he's a BIT like Cid. But that's only a tiny bit… Why did his successor have to be the complete opposite of him?!
"Aniki, what's wrong with Mercedes? She's not her usually cheery self." Evan pointed at the said elf as he laid out some cards to play Capitalism with Akito, Mir, and Seva.
"I have no idea. She just keeps staring off into the distance like that. I guess she's thinking about something…"
"Maybe she's thinking about Cid?" Evan offered.
"Cid? Who the hell is that?" Akito asked, taking his share of the cards, not bothering to think about how Seva would be intelligent enough to play cards.
"She didn't tell you?" Evan quirked an eyebrow, "He was like you. You know, with the drill spear, cannon, and I think she mentioned electricity powers."
"Wow, you mean a lot like me?" Akito chuckled, "Aww, and here I was thinking I was original."
"Weeeeeeeell, sort of. She made a lot of remarks about why you couldn't be more like him. Mature, and stuff like that."
"But I think I'm pretty mature." Akito played a Three of Clubs, "What else?"
"Hm, that's mainly it. She also says that you're pretty stupid compared to him."
"Well, I'm still young," Akito bit back a curse as he was skipped, "I don't think I'd know too much."
"She did seem into this Cid guy though," Evan played a Six of Diamonds, "I believe her terms were 'an unbreakable bond', if I recall correctly. Completion!" he threw down the Seven of Spades before Akito could play a card, prompting a, "Fuck!" from him.
"Hm, well, I guess I can talk to her about it later." Akito shrugged as he put down his double Fours to continue on Evan's double Threes, "I don't like it when she's like that."
"You mean you like it when she hits you? Never thought you'd be into that." Evan smirked while Mir fell over in giggles. Seva just maintained his game face.
"Oh quiet you." he glared, "I just meant it isn't normal for her to be like this. That's all."
"Whaaatever you say," Mir's eyes gleamed, "Whaaaaaaaatever you say."
Mercedes didn't know what to think now. Yes, Akito was a bit like Cid but it wasn't enough…
Huuuuuh, she let out a sigh, Am I hanging onto the past? Cid always talked about the future we'd have but then we never did get around to it because he… she couldn't bring herself to finish the rest of that sentence. But Akito did seem genuinely concerned, a small grin appeared on her face, So I'm glad for that. Now if only he could act like that all the time… Aha! That's it! I'll just have to slowly train him… No, that wouldn't work. Akito is a too much of a free spirit and far too stupid for training. But then how the HELL did he manage to get to Second Job for Cannoneer, which is known to be notoriously hard in its use? Hell, the fact there were more Cannoneers on Empress Aria's side turned the entire war in her favor when the first Ereve Rebellion took place.
Why did it have to be so hard for her? Last time it was so easy because of the way things turned out. She then realized that the other two Heroes had been different people. Which meant so far, she was the only surviving Original Hero! The thought quickly ran through her head, what if all the other heroes were like this? She wouldn't be able to live with it!
With all her heart now she was praying, that any of the last two (preferably Aran, who was not a theatric fanatic and did not speak like a theater character all the time) had survived somehow. There was no way she could live with a bunch of rookie fighters! Evan could hold his own, yes, but the fact remained he was still untrained and naïve.
Akito, oh Hell, Akito was just a different brand of problem. Immature, rash, unprofessional, the list went on and on! At least he could fight for his life if need be, and maybe he could match up to Cid in a million years, but he would still be… well, Akito!
There had to be a way, yes, just as Cid always put it, there was always a way past your problems… However their problems had always been in wartime against the Black Mage. Cid's solution was generally run in there and just drill through everything like no tomorrow.
But that wouldn't work here. Heck, as far as Mercedes was concerned, Akito was too stubborn to die with how he acted at times. Not to mention he avoided death already! How is it that by getting caught on the Pirate Instructor's personal ship, Akito not only became a Cannoneer, secured free passage to Mushking Kingdom, also became their combat leader, and what sickened Mercedes the most is the fact Kyrin made passes at Akito who just seemed to laugh them off like it was nothing, even if she wouldn't admit the last one.
Okay, she wasn't one to talk, as there was a more than significant age difference between her and Cid, but that was true love and age didn't matter, right?
Not that Mercedes would hear otherwise though. She didn't know it, but she and Akito weren't all that different. Both were too stubborn at times, easily provoked, and were goal driven. Mercedes more than Akito on the last one but that was because Akito's goal was merely to see and explore while Mercedes was bent on reviving her race.
But it's not like either one of them would admit it.
"Hey Mercedes, brought you lunch. You seemed hungry." Akito offered her a sandwhich with what seemed like grilled fish, a small bottle of water, and an apple, "I'm sorry if it's not the royal treatment but it's the best I could get you."
"Thanks…" she said, sitting down.
"So… do you want to talk about him?"
"Talk about…"
"Cid, you know, my predecessor." Akito lay his cannon in his lap before starting to clean it, "Evan told me it's why you might be upset. We're all concerned for you."
"…Fine, yes, that's why I'm upset."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Akito grinned as he saw Mercedes hastily bite out of her sandwich, "I'm seeing that someone wants to avoid the question."
"Shut up!" she bopped her fist on his head.
"Ah, there we go. Status quo maintained," he laughed as Mercedes hit him again, "You know it doesn't hurt that much. But let's be serious… why is he making you upset… or the better question is, how am I making you upset?"
Widened eyes gave Akito the answer to who it was that was making her upset, "So he told you."
"I want to know. It's not fun seeing a friend like this." Akito said in a brief moment of seriousness, "I know you might just consider me as 'another one of the Hero successors', but I see you as a friend, despite the fact you hit me all the time."
Perhaps… they are not so different. Mercedes thought, But they're personalities are WAY off base from eachother. But they're both kind hearted on the inside, none the less.
"I guess… it might just be you remind me a little too much of him and when I see you, I see Cid." she grimaced, "And you act so stupid sometimes while Cid was smart, that I feel like sometimes my memories of him are being well, ruined."
She didn't know where she found the strength to admit it, maybe somewhere, deep inside her heart, she had finally come to terms with the fact they weren't the same person. But very deep. Veeeeeeeeeeery deep in her heart. Her entire mind and heart had yet to realize this, and that was a long and harsh road.
"Aha! I know…" Akito smiled the creepy smile, "In order for you to differentiate us, you must learn our differences by heart! Therefore, every time we must partner for something or have to be in groups, we will be together!"
"E-eh?!" she stammered.
"It's perfect! Therefore by being by me nearly all the time, you will see every difference between us and will come to terms with the fact we are not the same person faster! This plan is brilliant!" Akito pumped his fist in the air, "Anyways- HOLY CRAP HIT THE DECK!" he dived down to the ground, brining Mercedes with him as an icicle came flying at his face.
"ATTACKERS OFF OF THE STARBOARD SIDE! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!" he heard Kryin yell.
"That means you're downstairs Mercedes, I don't want any of you guys getting hurt." he grabbed Mercedes' left wrist only for her to stop him with her right hand.
"I'm a Bowman, I can attacked long ranged targets with ease. Also, as royalty, I must see to it that innocents are not harmed."
"Yeah, yeah," Akito went into his stubborn 'I got this' combat mode, "Let's do this."
Checking over the railings he found three penguins hurling icicles at them. Muttering a few words, he got an odd stare from Mercedes, "Magic. Boosts all our stuff."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Yanno, speed, strength, agility, defense stuff, accuracy-"
"Yeah right-" Mercedes popped up and shot just a bit off but enough to miss the penguin… only to watch her arrow curve a little bit to hit said penguin, "Shut up."
Snickering, Akito leveled his cannon at the penguins and pulled the trigger, shooting out several bombs at once that scattered, not only dispatching the penguins but also melting the ice.
"Hell yeah!" Akito held up a hand, "C'mon Mercedes, don't leave a guy hanging."
Reluctantly she gave him a high five and added a comment on how Cid never bothered with such things.
"It's cause you guys had a war to fight," Akito offered, "I mean, of course you'd be serious. But now the world is quite safe so you can have fun and relax… after all, I'VE GOT A BOB BOMB FOR YAH!" Pulling the trigger again he launched a flaming fireball that was half as large as the Mega-Hellfire-Flare that he had used against all the small octopi, "See? Just let loose every now and then."
"Uh…" she hesitated.
"Well, I guess if you're not going to have your fair share of fun I'll take it," Akito had a winning smile on his face. Muttering a few more words he aimed his cannon at another iceberg and opened fire. Somehow the bombs came out twice as fast, or that may have just been Mercedes imagining things. There was no way Akito was shooting bombs out of a cannon that quickly, let alone shooting bombs in the first place! Automatic machine guns could shoot that fast, yes, but a CANNON? There was no way!
"HAHAHAHA! YEAH, I'M CRAZY!" Akito roared, "WHOOOOHOOOO!"
Mercedes had to wonder how he could take combat so un-seriously. Was he asking for death to come up behind him and cut off his head?
"Akito, we got large signals on both sides!" Kyrin yelled, "And we're taking hits from underwater!" The Nautilus shook violently, with Akito gripping the rails with both hands while Mercedes held her arms around him, all the while blushing… not that she'd admit to it or anything…
"What's hitting… holy shit." Akito's jaw hit the ground as a massive submarine made of ice rose above the water. Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, he was now sure what he was seeing was not an illusion. Behind him was another ice submarine, "Well, I guess things just got a little more interesting. Kryin, ready the crew for hostile boarding parties!"
"Got it!" she hit the PA System button, "ALL CREW, PREPARE FOR HOSTILE BOARDING PARTIES! BE READY FOR CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT!"
"Where's Evan?" Mercedes asked, worried for the young boy.
"Shit! Where is he… Evan?! Where are you?!"
"I'll go look for him." Mercedes assured Akito who was now freaking out. It slightly unnerved Mercedes that this was the first time Akito didn't look as confident. Obviously he was worried about Evan, but the fact that Akito cared for him enough that if he didn't know Evan was safe it would shake his resolve impressed Mercedes. Not many people were like that these days.
"Please. I'll fight these guys off," Akito nodded as a group of Pirates came running with knuckles and guns as their weapons, "REPEL THE INVADERS!"
And now he regains all the confidence, but I saw the worry in him, Mercedes thought as she ran through the halls to find Evan and Mir.
Ducking and rolling to the side, Akito brought up his spear to drill through ice chunk thrown at him. After he was safe he pulled out his cannon and fired a fireball back at the penguins that were preparing to board the ship, "Keep them off as along as possible!"
"We're surrounded sir! We can't hold on for too much longer!"
"…Hmmm…" Akito thought for a second, "Okay, just stay out here as long as possible and then if you have to fall back, funnel them through the hallways using chokepoints. That should make it easier-" He ducked under another icicle, "As for me…"
He ran at full speed and jumped, turned around to face the pirates who gasped as he leapt off the ship and pulled the trigger on his cannon, launching him onto the ice ship. Sliding into three penguins, he found himself surrounded even than before. Well, it's a good thing Akito liked it when the odds were against him.
A small brown blur suddenly found itself on Akito's shoulder, which was Seva, Akito's new pet monkey. His eye glowed with an awesome power as a barrel suddenly manifested with a fuse… that was lit.
The penguins looked at the barrel with great curiosity, and what happens with curiosity? Those penguins soon found out as Akito leapt up in the air at the last second, the explosion propelling him upwards as a large hole was made itself at home in the ice ship. As he handed, a stabbed another penguin then flung it off his spear, making its corpse crash into another, taking both out.
"Yeah, come get some!" Another barrel appeared in Akito's hands and he hurled it, flattening several enemies then exploding, putting another fine hole in the ship.
"AKITO!" He turned around to find Mercedes screaming, "FOUND EVAN! I'LL KEEP HIM SAFE!"
"YOU DO THAT!"
"ANIKI, BEHIND YOU!"
"Hu- SHIT!" he grunted as an icicle lodged itself in his left arm, "Fuck, that'll put some of my moves out of comission, especially my spear." Slowly removing it with a yelp of agony, he spun around and implanting the same icicle in the same penguin that hurled it at him right in the eye, "How's that for eye-rony?"
"Shut up Akito!"
"Dammnit Mercedes just let me have my fun!" Akito growled, "Hey, if you finish defending over there, get those pirates to push for a counterattack!"
"Got it, Aniki!" Evan nodded before running off with Mercedes and Mir.
"Well, Seva, let's go." Akito jumped down into the hole and began exploring the ship. Hustling and bustling of penguins could be heard throughout the icy walls, with an explosion every now and then which was Akito launching a few bombs at unfortunate groups that crossed his path, "Wait, why the hell am I walking through the halls? I can just blow this place to smithereens."
Even more explosions were heard at this point as Akito decided to blow a hole in every wall and door he found, causing panic throughout the penguin crew.
Seva was cheering on Akito with small pom-poms that came out of nowhere, with a massive smile on his face the whole time, "E-eeep!"
"Huh, Seva?!" Akito turned around and jumped back, avoiding a nasty slash wound but had a bit of his coat cut off, "What the-"
"So you're the scoundrel that's been blowing up my propertay!" a blue penguin in royal looking robes growled from the shadows followed by a one eyed penguin, "How dare you do that to my propertay!"
"…" Akito leveled his cannon, but hesitated when Seva was put in front of the penguin, "Son of a bitch."
"Haha, you won't hurt him, huh?" the penguin smirked, "Bring me my hammer, I'm going to enjoy this. On second thought, no. I'll kill him slowly, but first we'll bring him onto his ship that we've been attacking. Watch his friends die in front of him while I slowly cut you open. I heard there was the elf girl and that redhead pirate on there too, so I guess I'll have my fu-"
BOOM! A bomb flew straight into the mouth of the penguin, who somehow ate it.
Akito's spiral eyes were glowing red instead of green this time around, "Oh, you can ruin my day, nearly kill my friends with an icicle, put my arm out of commission for a while, and interrupt a good moment with my friends." The wound in his arm suddenly stopped bleeding and healed itself, "But once you involve my new friend Seva, threaten to kill all my friends and crew, insinuate that you are going to abuse and rape two of them, and cut my brand new coat, you are dead to me."
Dashing forward with a war cry, no one noticed the small core drills enveloping his hands that began spinning as he began to drill holes everywhere in the commander's body. It was a death that would've made several people sick just by hearing the screams. The maniacal laughter and screams of torment were no help to the already panicking crew onboard. Kicking the commander up on his feet, who was barely standing, prompting one to ask just how he managed to live, a sinister smile crept upon Akito's face as the drills on his hands vanished only to be replaced by a rather large drill on his right hand. The drill began to spill very quickly, disorienting the commander as he tried to keep up with its spinning, hoping it was all just some game that if he kept up, he would be spared. Akito proved him wrong by diving drillfirst and making a large hole in his stomach, "Die."
The commander did as he was told, slumping over like a man shot a few hundred times.
Akito produced another barrel bomb and left it to explode on the body, "Seva, let's go."
Seva nervously got on Akito's shoulder as his eyes turned back to their innocent blue, "Well, let's find the engine and get out." Seva held back a curious look as he mentally shrugged, somehow knowing that it was safe now.
It didn't take long to find the engine since he could wander the halls unopposed as those who had witnessed his slaughter of their commander quickly told the others onboard. They quickly scattered and ran as Akito strolled down the hallways, "Wonder what they're so afraid of? I know I started to get a little bit angry at that commander penguin but then I don't remember what happened… Seva, do you remember?" Seva gave him a curious look but then decided to reassure Akito it was alright, "Ah well, blast it. Now, just to make another barrel bomb," he felt more magical energy drained out of him as the barrel materialized, "Light the fuse… and RUN LIKE HELL!"
Sprinting through the destroyed corridors, Akito cursed as he realized blowing up all the walls, doors, and other assorted objects wasn't a good idea as said objects were now part of accidental blockades in his path.
Wait, why don't I just blow up all the blockades? Akito facepalmed as he ran, taking out his cannon, "Huh, when did my arm heal? Ah well, not thinking about it now!" Blowing a hole in several collapsed walls, he made it up to the deck of the ice ship.
"Here goes nothing!"
"Akito, jump! Hurry!" Mercedes called out, sounding rather concerned.
So she really does care, Akito smirked as he sprinted as fast as he could with Seva still on his shoulders, however the ice made it hard to get a good footing and he mistimed his jump, "FFFFFFUUUUUU-" Closing his eyes and mumbling prayers, he pulled the trigger when he felt it was right. Daring to open his eyes he caught a glimpse of a hand grabbing his wrist, "Mercedes?"
"You… you absolute moron!" she admonished him while still blushing at the contact, "You nearly fell into the ocean there!"
"Huh?" he looked behind Mercedes to find her holding Evan who was holding Kyrin who was holding several other pirates, and lastly as the anchor was Mir, who had seemed to grow again, "How many guys did you take out?"
"The whole ship, and the commander." Mercedes said inbetween sniffles, "You had us all worried when you hadn't come out after we finished cleaning them up."
"Alright everyone, HEAVE!" Kyrin yelled as they yanked their co-captain up, "Good work today everyone! Unfortunately we're rather damaged and will have to be repaired for the time being but I can still move us over to the small island over there, so we can rest up!" A huge sigh of relief was heard, "But if we all work 150% tomorrow, we'll be good in no time!"
Everyone was too busy sighing to notice the two friends who were in a rather compromising position. Akito groaned as he opened his eyes, as his head had hit the deck rather hard, "A-ack!" Closing his eyes, he quickly tried to act like he was asleep.
"Akito? What's wrong?" Mercedes shook her head as the sudden yank had disoriented her, "A-ah!" Akito had opened his eyes, which was a big mistake as he stared right into Mercedes sky blue eyes. As they realized what exactly was going on (which was that Mercedes was lying on top of Akito and while pushing herself up had put a hand on his chest. Minor details.), the two suddenly had deep blushes on both of their faces. A split second later they were already arguing.
Which was helpful as they didn't notice Evan snapping a picture and Mir snickering, which was odd considering his voice had gotten rather deep with this growth, "Those two can't see the plainly obvious, correct, Master?"
Evan raised an eyebrow at Mir's sudden speech change, "Uh, when did your suddenly become so… uh…"
"Mature in speech? I suppose it has to do with this but I think I can still have the fun we used to have before this, right, Master?"
"I thought I told you not to call me that. It's just Evan."
"O-oh! I'm so sooooo sorry Mas, er Evan! I'm so sorry oh man how can I make it up to you-"
"Yup, same old Mir." Evan chuckled as he stroked Mir's wings, continuing to watch the scene unfold.
"Moron!" Akito yelled, butting heads with Mercedes.
"Idiot!" Mercedes yelled back.
"Same thing!"
"I know!"
"So why didn't you come up with a different insult, miss I'm-so-smart-everyone-else-is-wrong?"
"Because you said it first! You stole my insult!"
"What the hell? How would I steal an INSULT?! Besides, it was a different word!"
"I-it doesn't matter! You stole the general idea!"
"Well, if you're thinking like that, we're of equal intellect then if we're both thinking of the same thing to say to eachother!"
"You take that back right the fuck now." Mercedes seethed.
Off to the side, the pirates (including Kyrin) were placing bets on who would snap first.
"My bet's on our new captain." one chimed in.
"He can hold in own in combat, but words? Nah, my money's on the blonde elf there."
"You know what Dave, I'll take you on with that! Week's worth of deck scrubbing duty." All the bickering stopped as the key six words were said. It was the ultimatum. Only if you were so sure that you'd win would you ever put a week's worth of deck scrubbing on the line. Kyrin had ridiculously high standards when it came to cleanliness, so when your turn came around for scrubbing duty, you wouldn't be getting much sleep unless you did it right the first time around… which meant you didn't sleep much either.
"Oh, you're taking it that far Roy? Alright, let's do this. You win, I do your week. I win, you're doing my week."
"Then let's do this!" the two glared at eachother before turning back to the two arguing friends. Afterwards, more bets were exchanged, friends became enemies, enemies became friends, and soon the entire ship was at war about who would win this epic clash of words.
"Spoiled royal!"
"Hey, that rhymed. Slightly."
"Nah, it wasn't a real rhyme though… which shows your intellect!"
"That was a cheap shot!"
"I'd make a mom joke but-"
"Oh that's you why you little-!" Mercedes tackled Akito and began trying to punch him.
"Fuck!" Dave growled.
"Have fun, scrubby." Roy laughed as he grouped with several other winners, who were now counting their newly earned mesos.
"Wait, they're fighting physically now-"
"Nope, not gonna take it. Double or nothing for deck cleaning duty? Nah, I'll play it safe."
"Asshole." Dave grumbled as he watched the fight with the rest of the losers. Little did they know that Kyrin would be pushing them extra hard for doubting their new co-captain. The winners were now making bets between themselves (with money only) about who'd win the fist fight. Akito obviously had strength and Mercedes had speed, but Akito's 'forced' natural training allowed him to dodge with ease and yet his own slow punches were easy dodges for Mercedes.
It went on for a few minutes, with neither getting a clean hit on eachother when Mercedes fell on top of him from sheer fatigue. No one noticed Akito's eyes glowing green as Mercedes quickly covered his eyes with her figure. Both were breathing heavily… as if something else had just been done between the two on deck.
"You… idiot…"
"Shut up… cracker."
"What?"
"I just thought of a parrot 'cause we're on a pirate ship, and parrots like crackers… right? Huaaaah…" Akito lost consciousness at the same time Mercedes did, both of them laying with eachother in peaceful bliss.
"And here's another picture." Evan smirked as he snapped a pic.
"Are you sure we should be doing this, Evan? I totally am like super supportive of this relationship but still…" Mir's brain was obviously getting adjusted to the massive leap of maturity, as he jumped between maturity and youthful mindsets, which Evan found rather endearing.
"I'm sure it'll help bring a smile to a few faces," Evan grinned, "Besides, it'll be useful if they do get together, you know, tell the love story from the beginning and whatnot."
"I… I suppose so. Very well, let us carry on." Mir yawned, "But for now we should rest… it was a long and hard battle we fought today."
"You're right…" Evan undid the coat he had received from one of the pirates before counterattacking which revealed a massive bloodstain, and thankfully the wound was mostly healed, "Let's get this checked out."
"Mushking Kingdom… wow I can't wait to see it, Evan! It'll be so much fun and stuff and we'll get to see the princess when we rescue her and stuff…" Mir's mindset changed back to his childish side, "But we need to get stronger! You're already kinda strong but we need to keep training! That way we'll be invincible!"
"Yeah… let's do that, Mir." Evan smiled through the pain he felt as he walked to the infirmary, "We'll protect Mercedes and Aniki. Whatever comes our way, we'll get through it… just like Aniki."
Nighttime
Plenty of tents had been set and they had all had their fair share of food (complete with a food fight), and Akito was patrolling along Mercedes.
"So why'd you decide to take the longest watch duty?" Mercedes asked as they watched the crackling fire.
"The men first. Always," Akito threw another dry stick in the fire, "They never teach you that as a queen? That's always what you do. It's not just about loyalty and stuff… I mean, these guys followed me even though I'm new, inexperienced, and all that. The least I could do for them is to watch over them. They're like the family I never had."
"So… how was your family then?"
"They… they wanted me to stay on the farm my whole life. I wanted to explore the world, like my grandfather." Akito smiled as he took out his logbook and his grandfather's, "I might not be as good of a writer as he his, but I want to be like him. Not a care in the world, just going out and doing whatever I want. Sure, Evan's there which limits me a bit, but it's good since I won't get carried away."
"I see…" Mercedes shivered as a cold breeze blew, "G-geez it's cold…"
"Here…" Akito took off his coat and put it on her, "Keep warm. Wouldn't want Her Highness to be get a cold now, would we?"
"You know… you've never actually called me that."
"I wanted to try it out. Just doesn't have the same ring as Merc though," Akito stroked his chin, "Is it alright if I call you that?"
"I… I s-suppose so…" Mercedes buried her head in the coat as she blushed, but it didn't help as Akito's scent was all over it, "N-nyegh…"
"Eh? What's wrong?"
C-crap! He noticed… ermm… Aha! "Do you ever wash this thing?" she asked in a faked angry tone, even though she knew he had only been wearing it today.
"Oh… eheheh, that's a good idea," he laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of his head, "Er, I guess staying out so long in the sun wasn't too good of an idea now, huh?" His answer was a coat to the face, "Well, excuse me for trying to be funny with you." He slipped the coat back on.
"S-shut up…" Mercedes tried to hide her shivers again Akito noticed.
"Mercedes, you need to actually rely on others every now and then," Akito said, irritated.
"F-fine… come over here…" Mercedes said forcefully. Akito sat down next to her, leaning his back on a log, very confused.
"So…?" a searing blush came on his face as Mercedes shifted and rested her head on his chest, "E-eh?!"
"Y-you said to rely on others… I'm r-relying on you t-to be a good p-pillow and blanket," she stammered.
"F-fine." Akito nodded, noticing the others had gotten up for their night watch shift, "G'night Mercedes."
"Good night to you too…" she closed her eyes and began to relax.
Akito looked upon her sleeping figure, "Mercedes… No, good night… Merc."
And while he quickly fell asleep, he didn't see the grin creased upon a certain elf's face.
ALRIGHT! Whooohooo!
And yay we have Mercedes being a Tsundere on the ship. I think so at least.
Plus, mooooooore ship teasing between the two. But will Mercedes actually be… the one for Akito? Or perhaps his heart will be won by another?
Anyways, you saw Akito's Red Spiral Eyes this chapter. Yup, I will leave you to wonder about that until it is all revealed! But we'll just go over a few things about it. YES I know it is sorta a Deus Ex Machina sort of thing because it came out of nowhere… until you look at Gurren Lagann, where Simon's crazy part was him puking out Spiral Energy if I recall correctly. This was Akito doing so in his own way but caused by something else. You'll also notice that he doesn't remember what he did during that time. I will let you draw your own conclusions on that.
If you want to provide some criticism, please make it at least constructive. Flames are rather unappreciated.
But if you really liked this chapter, review, follow, favorite, all that jazz! Tell your friends! Tell your family! Spread the word! Okay, I'm done being silly now!
Have a nice day!