Chapter 4: Espionage
Very soon, a group led by Lucia, consisting of Kasumi, Aiden, Brom, Nephenee, Heather, Nealuchi and Leanne, and even being joined by Lethe and Mordecai approach Castle Frelia.
"So, THIS is Castle Frelia." says Kasumi. "It's my first time, and I'm already getting bad vibes."
"You're not the only one." says Aiden. "Since I'm obviously not made for proper etiquette, I'll just stay out here. Let me know if you find anything on Ludveck, Lady Lucia."
"Are you sure about this, Aiden?" asks Lucia.
"Definitely." says Aiden. "Besides, with how far his head is up his own ass from what I've heard, Ludveck is sure as hell is hot that he's not the kind of guy I want to cozy up with. I'll see you when you get out of there."
And with that, Aiden walks off.
"He strange one." says Mordecai.
"Too me, he seems like another beorc with a chip on his shoulder." says Lethe. "But something tells me he's going to be a powerful ally."
"Belive me, Lethe, that boy has his reasons for being the way he is." says Nealuchi.
"I suppose we should greet the man, then." says Kasumi.
"Yes, and let's be careful about what we do here." says Lucia.
After that, everyone but Aiden walks in.
Inside, the group is talking to Duke Ludveck.
"Well, well... My dear Lady Lucia." says Ludveck. "Quite a way from home, aren't we?"
"Please do excuse the sudden visit, Your Grace." says Lucia. "Princess Leanne, Lady Lethe, Princess Kasumi... This is Lord Ludveck, duke of Felirae. I was thinking that our laguz guests and new visitor might enjoy the fine fruits this region is known for. We've traveled quite a long way... I hope it won't be too much trouble."
"Don't be ridiculous!" says Ludveck. "I could be nothing but delighted by a visit from you, Lady Lucia. Although I must admit... I would be all the more pleased if you had come a long way just to see me."
As Ludveck reaches for her hand, Lucia takes a step back.
"...You are too kind, Lord Ludveck." Lucia hesistates to say.
"Please, feel free to take your ease." says Ludveck. "You are welcome to stay in Felirae as long as you desire."
"We are your most humble guests, Your Grace." says Lucia with a bow.
As the group starts to head off, Ludveck stops Kasumi by saying, "So... you are a princess yourself."
Kasumi says, "That's right. Do you wish to know more about me?"
"If you would be so kind." says Ludveck. "I must admit, your attire is very strange to us here in Tellius. From where do you hail?"
"That would be Hazumo." says Kasumi. "It's a nation to the far east of your continent. My histroy there is... interesting. I'm sure it would bore you."
"I would greatly doubt that." says Ludveck. "You MUST tell me more while you stay here, Princess Kasumi."
"Of course, Lord Ludveck." says Kasumi with a bow. "If you wish to know, I will tell you later. In the meantime, I think I shall retire to my room for a bit."
"As you wish." says Ludveck.
Afterwards, Kasumi walks off, leaving Ludveck with a curious smile.
Later that night, Lucia, Kasumi, Lethe, Mordecai, Brom, Nephenee and Heather are in a storage cave while being joined by Aiden.
"...This is it!" says Lucia as she looks at a piece of paper. "This document is an order written by Ludveck himself, marked with his signet. If we show this to the royal assembly, we'll surely have the backing to indict him. Thank you so much... all of you. We have to quell this uprising before things get out of hand."
Mordecai says, "If there is no war, we are happy. But if there is war, it is good we came."
"Ludveck is poor prey." says Lethe. "He hides behind a shield of words, not realizing words can be seen through."
"Yes, and that's quite fortunate for us." says Lucia. "But we still have to get out of here without being detected."
"Which might be easier said than done." says Kasumi. "I imagine a guy like Ludveck keeps tight security on this place."
"Don't worry!" says Aiden. "If anyone comes our way, I'll smash right through 'em!"
"Let's not get too carried away, now." says Lucia. "We don't want to start a complete ruckus."
Suddenly, some voices are heard with Leanne speaking in ancient tongue saying, "(Great! We found them!)"
"M-my lady! You mustn't raise your voice..." says the voice of Nealuchi.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" says Lucia, her hand going to her sword.
Leanne and Nealuchi appear out of the shadows.
"Princess Leanne! Sir Nealuchi!" says Lucia. "I thought you both had returned to the royal palace... What in the world are you doing here?!"
"Oh ho ho... Forgive us..." says Nealuchi. "We just couldn't help but be concerned for you."
"(Sorry.)" says Leanne.
"Well, what can I say?" says Lucia. "This just means we'll have to be even more careful to get out of here safely."
Suddenly, everyone starts hearing sounds of footsteps and clanking armor.
"...Someone is coming." says Mordecai.
"Guards? The cave only has one exit..." says Lucia. "I guess that means we do this the hard way. We've obtained enough evidence to indict Ludveck, so there's no point in sticking around. Let's go!"
"Yeah! Time to crack some skulls!" says Aiden.
"I guess I better get changed." says Kasumi.
In a brilliant flash of light, Kasumi changes into her armor, shocking everyone but Aiden.
"So, THAT'S your armor?" asks Lethe. "Hard to believe it makes you so powerful."
"Looks aren't everything with this armor." says Kasumi as she draws her sword. Then she looks at her armor and says, "Surprisingly..."
"Let's move." says Lucia. "But be careful. No telling who or what's hiding in the dark."
Lucia leads with Kasumi, Aiden, Brom, Nephenee, Lethe and Mordecai following close behind. Leanne keeps close to Nealuchi, while Heather keeps a close eye in the dark areas of the cave.
"Seems the intruders are approaching." says a soldier. "Time for us to ambush them!"
Ludveck's soldiers wait in the dark.
Heather squints until she sees the figures of Ludveck's forces and says, "Seems they're waiting for us to flub up, the cheeky fools."
"Let's give them a proper greeting then." says Kasumi as she forms a glowing shuriken in her left hand and throws it.
As the shuriken hits the ground in front of them, a soldier of Ludveck's asks, "Did they miss or was that intenional?"
"Seems they're on to us." says a sword armor. "Fine! Guess we take the fight to them!"
After that, the two soldiers rush in, only to be taken down by the quick lance blows of Nephenee and the powerful axe strikes of Brom.
"Well, those two were pathetic." says Aiden. "I guess they're just the pawns."
"More than likely, the others probably heard that." says Kasumi.
Lucia feels the air around them start to electrify and says, "Everyone! Dodge!"
Doing as Lucia said, everyone jumps away from an occuring lightning blast.
"Seems they have mages." says Lucia.
"I'll take care of them." says Kasumi as she rushes forward.
She continues to dodge lightning blasts while using the flashes to locate the mage. Soon, as the thunder mage readies another lightning bolt, Kasumi slashes him down.
"I've got you, now, Intruder!" says a sword general rushing for Kasumi.
The foolish yell of the enemy is met with a powerful palm strike into his breastplate, the kanji for "force" appearing upon impact. The sword general gets sent flying, his armor greatly damaged and he himself unconscious.
A Halberdier charges for the mystic samurai, but as she's more than prepared for his jump strike, Aiden appears and smacks away the foolish lance-fighter with one of his axes.
"Don't think I'm letting you get all of the glory." says Aiden. "I've got my own reputation to think of."
Kasumi smirks and says, "Let's see how much it's worth."
"I guess those two are okay." says Lucia. "Let's contnue on our way."
Hearing more soldiers coming for them, Lethe says, "More fools approach. Ready, Mordecai?"
"Let this be done." says Mordecai.
Both Lethe and Mordecai call out as they shift into their beast forms before rushing in.
As the soldiers see the two laguz rush towards them, one says, "Sub-humans!"
"Down with you filthy bea-" says another soldier before he's immediately silenced by the mighty slash of Lethe's claws.
The other soldier tries to attack Mordecai, but the tiger's fangs tear through his armor like tissue paper.
Lucia rushes in and takes down the soldiers before the laguz can finish them off.
"Leanne, let's stay with Lady Lucia." says Nealuchi.
"(Sounds good to me.)" says Leanne.
"Nephenee 'n' I will go with Kasumi 'n' Aiden!" says Brom.
"Same here." says Heather.
"Guess we'll leave that side to those five." says Lucia. "Let's keep going."
Aiden leads a charge on his side, cutting down foolish soldiers and halberdiers in the way. Kasumi cuts through enemies with a darkness-charged sword like a hot knife through cold butter while she roundhouse kicks one in the face with her heel, the force like an avalanche.
As Nephenee and Brom bring up the rear, the axe general chops a halberdier's lance to splinters while Nephenee attacks with her lance, moving as if she's in an interperative dance.
Suddenly, a warrior appears, aiming his bowgun at Kasumi, whose back is facing him after she uses her palm to launch a blast of force at a sword general.
"Now, I've got you." the warrior says quietly.
Seeing what's coming, Aiden yells out, "Kasumi!"
Aiden jumps in the way as the warrior fires his bolt, the axe-fighting branded taking the blow into his gut, falling to one knee out of both pain and force.
"Aiden!" shouts Kasumi.
"Wasn't aiming for you, but I guess you can die first." says the warrior.
Just as the warrior is readying another bolt, Aiden stands up and ignoring the pain, yanks the bolt out of his ab while shaking very eeriely.
"Aiden. Are you okay?" asks Kasumi.
"Kasumi... you might not want to be near me right now." says Aiden.
"What's wrong?" asks Kasumi.
"Remember that berserk mode?" asks Aiden.
"You mean... it's happening?" asks a concerned Kasumi. "Nephenee, Brom, we might want to steer clear."
"Time for a trip to the afterlife." says the warrior perfecting his aim before he starts to fire.
Suddenly, without warning, Aiden gives out a raw-throated roar, rocks and dust being sent flying from where he's standing as if the very earth is cowering before him, and his only visable eye turning a frightening shade of amber.
As this happens, the warrior becomes filled with an unspeakable horror as he asks, "Who-what... IS this freak?!"
Just as the warrior tries to fire again, Aiden rushes with the force of a hurricane, and hits him with an axe swing so hard, his body impacts the wall of the cave, leaving him lifeless before he falls to the floor.
"Holy cow pies! What's that all about?!" asks Brom.
"He's madder than a swarm o' hornets!" says Nephenee.
"So that's his berserk mode." says Kasumi. "I have a feeling it's only going to get worse from here."
As more charge for him with their weapons drawn, Aiden smashes through them, shattering their armor like glass and sending them flying in different directions.
A thunder mage appears and attempts to strike Aiden down with a bolt of lightning, but Kasumi jumps in the way as she creates a barrier to stop the blast.
However, before Kasumi can rush in to finish the mage off, Aiden rushes for him and cuts him down before he could even take another breath.
Lucia hears this commotion and says, "I don't know what that is, but I assume it's not from the enemy's side."
As Lucia, Lethe and Mordecai cut take out more enemies while Nealuchi protects Leanne, the lady swordmaster encounters Maraj, who says, "Well, look what we have here... Lady Lucia and her pack of curs. How interesting. What cause could you have for roaming the ground at night, hmm?"
"Cause? Why, we've merely lost our way." says Lucia.
"Is that so?" asks Maraj. "In that case, I will gladly escort you back to the castle."
"That's quite alright. We should be going home." says Lucia. "But please do give Lord Ludveck a message... Tell him that his revolt will never succeed."
"...Tsk tsk." says Maraj. "I did try to warn Lord Ludveck, but it seems he is quite fond of you. If he knew of your little discovery... I'm certain he would have no qualms about eliminating you."
Maraj prepares his wind tome and conjures a blast, but Lucia dodges and goes to attack. However, Maraj is too swift and does another attack, for which Lucia holds up her sword while getting pushed back.
"Nealuchi! Leanne!" says Lethe. "You two stay back! This beorc is using wind magic!"
As Lucia is still reeling from the vaccum she guarded against, Maraj prepares another blast and says, "Well, I'm afraid this is good-bye, Lady Lucia. I'm sure your treachery will give Lord Ludveck more of the motivation he needs to carry on with his plans to dethrone the queen."
As Maraj fires a massive blast of wind magic at Lucia, Kasumi rushes in and puts up a barrier, guarding her from the onslaught.
After a while, Maraj ceases the attack and says as he looks at Kasumi, "Hmm... you weren't wearing that before. I can tell there's something very off about you."
Kasumi goes into a stance while breathing heavy and sweating, though her look of determination keeps others from noticing right away and says, "I see no reason to explain to you. All you are is another obstacle."
"Same goes for you." says Maraj.
Just then, Aiden's roar sounds out.
"What was that?!" says Maraj.
"You think I was going to face you all by myself?" asks Kasumi. "That was just a distraction."
Aiden rushes out of the dark like bat out of hell at Maraj. The wind sage tries to attack the berserked warrior, but the cuts from the wind blasts only serve to anger him more.
Maraj look at the sword general and axe general next to him, and says, "Don't stand there, you fools! Protect me!"
Both of the armored knights charge at Aiden, and prove to be a match for him. However, their skills are put to the test against Aiden's fury.
As Maraj is worried about the berserked Aiden, Kasumi charges for the wind sage. Maraj tries to counter attack, but Kasumi proves too fast and she slashes his tome into pieces.
"Now, Lucia!" says Kasumi over her tiredness.
Lucia rushes in and cuts down Maraj in a fell swoop. As he begins to die, Maraj says in his final breath, "My death... means nothing... Our plan... is perfect... There is... nothing... nothing the queen... can do..."
After Maraj dies, Lucia approaches the exit and says, "This way!"
Aiden cuts down the two generals. Though still in berserk mode, the many attacks he suffered from begin to affect him and show his fatigue.
"Aiden! We have to go!" says Kasumi.
Aiden begins to calm down, his eye returning to its original color and says, "S-sorry. Guess I flew off the handle there."
"We can talk about that later." says Kasumi. "Right now, we need to go before more of Ludveck's men show up."
"Right." says Aiden.
As everyone begins to escape, Aiden notices Kasumi's breathing and sweat, though she still pushes forward.
Back at Castle Crimea, Kasumi is back in her kimono as she drinks some water.
"I'm still not there yet." says Kasumi. "Using that almost drained out my spirit. I need to get stronger."
Aiden comes in and says, "Heya', runt. You okay?"
Kasumi just gave an unconvincing nod.
"What happened there?" asks Aiden. "The first time I saw you fight, you pretty much cleaned house. Now, you're all tired and everything."
"As I've told you, that armor is my spirit in physical form." says Kasumi. "And using a good bit of it will leave me tired. Barriers are especially draining for me right now. I told you back then that, when I protected Hazumo from being flooded, I fell into a coma for centuries and didn't wake up until a couple of years ago."
"I know you're far older than me, but may I give some advice?" asks Aiden.
"What would that be?" asks Kasumi.
"Don't over-exert yourself." says Aiden. "I don't think the people of your country would be very happy if you fell into another coma for that long."
"I'll try not to." says Kasumi. "No guarantees, though."
"Yeah, you seem like the type to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders." says Aiden. "But remember, you've got us to help you."
"Same goes for you, Mr. Berserk-Mode." says Kasumi.
"Yeah, we have our own problems." says Aiden. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Sure." says Kasumi. "I'll try."
Aiden leaves.
Kasumi then thinks to herself, "Don't worry, I won't fall into another coma. Not until I accomplish what I'm REALLY after. And that's the destruction of the Dark God."
To Be Continued in Chapter 5