Travis had decided to come with us. He wanted to help, but it was mainly because Victoria had taken the note stones.

"I'll give it to you after the researchers in Wave have a look at it."

Travis had then groaned.

"Fine, but only under one condition."

"W-what's that?"

"You let me feel you up"-

Victoria had then delivered a swift kick to his stomach and that was the end of that.

"Baticul? Nope, never heard of it." That's how things were in the town of Verse.

Victoria had wanted to ask the Score reader, but I was entirely against it.

She had laughed. "You don't want to collapse again, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

The truth was that I got a horrid feeling in my stomach whenever I thought about the Score. There were always words emerging in my mind whenever it was mentioned.

Score…drug…

We were nearly at the capital when we saw two soldiers clothed in green jackets run towards us.

The military?

"Hey, slow down guys. What's the hurry?" Travis asked.

The soldiers panted and gasped for air.

"It's the Gerudas!" one of them responded, still panting. "They were trying to attack the capital, the bastards! We tried to stop them, only…only…"

Gerudas?

Victoria kneeled down. "It's okay. Is the capital safe?"

One of the soldiers nodded. "Yeah, they haven't entered it yet." He pointed off into the distance. "The rest of our force is still fighting them back there."

Travis sighed. "Those damn Gerudas…always screwing things up for us…"

I leaned towards Victoria to whisper in her ear. "What do you think? Should we help them?"

Victoria shrugged. "I guess…it might be dangerous though…"

Hm…well, I was itching for a challenge, anyway.

I unsheathed my sword. "All right, we'll help you."

Travis looked at me with surprise. "Are you crazy, Vinny?! There's no way we can fight those bastards!"
I scratched my forehead. "Why the hell not?"

Travis sighed. "They're Gerudas, some of the most deadliest fighters in the entire world."

"You're telling me," one of the soldiers commented, "We had to fight them head on."

I glared at Travis. "Come on, don't be a wuss. We can take 'em."

Travis frowned. "I swear, if you get me killed before I make it as a billionaire, I'm going to make you regret it…"

We followed the soldiers across the field. "There's our landship!"

A landship…?

It looked all too familiar…there were large, round wheels at the bottom, and a large spike at the front. Where had I seen it before? I just couldn't remember…

"Oh yeah! Take that you bastards!" the soldiers cheered.

The landship was driving its spike right through crowds of…creatures?

They were like human-sized crows, standing on two feet. That's the best way I could describe them. Their bodies were sleek, black, and full of feathers. They wore nothing but belts around their waists, and they carried staffs and lances.

"T-These Gerudas!"

Victoria turned to face me. "Huh? What's wrong?"

I jumped back, my eyes bulging. "They aren't even human!"

Victoria looked at me with curiosity. "Well, yeah…I mean, they've been at war with us humans for years now…"

War…

Travis laughed. "You're such a dumbass Vinny. Did you really think we could get along with those beasts?"

"S-shut up."

"Hey, come on!" the two soldiers were already climbing into the landship's opening.

The three of us ran up to it and went inside.

The entrance contained a round table at the center of the room and various maps on the walls. There was also a pale blue flag of a set of drums with a dragonfly in the center.

Rhythms' flag?

The soldiers saluted a man in a green suit who stood behind the table, facing a window.

"General Carmine! We picked up travelers while we were…um…scouting…"

He turned. "You mean while you were running away like the yellow-bellied cowards you are?"

This general was aggressive in every way. He appeared to be around forty, with a menacing snarl. He had a long cigar in his mouth and a sword scar on his cheek. His muscles bulged out of his suit, which had a wide assortment of badges on it. On his head he wore a green hat, with Rhythms' symbol on it. His voice was like a drill sergeant's, it being booming loud.

"You pieces of crap are a disgrace to the military! Get the hell out of here and go engage those feathery cutthroats in hand-to-hand combat! And do not come back until your bodies are littered with blood!"

"Y-Yes sir!" the soldiers saluted him and ran back out.

He turned towards us now. Victoria was standing behind me, shivering.

"Now, just who are you kids?"

I stepped forewards. "I'm Vincent. My friends and I"- I turned towards them- "were just on the way to the capital when we found your soldiers."

Carmine burnt his cigar out on an ashtray on the table. "Oh yeah? Well, you kids going to help, or are you just going to stand around here all day?"

Travis frowned. "W-well, we were going to go to Wave city"-

"There won't be a Wave city if those damn Gerudas get to it!" Carmine sighed deeply.

"Those bastards have been messing with us since the dawn of time. It's written everywhere in the Score about them, the vile beasts, it calls them."

The Score…

"You two got swords, don't ya? Go out and make heads roll!"

"Fine. Come on guys, let's go…"

Victoria nodded. "Okay." Travis slapped his forehead. "Damn it, I just want my note stones back…"

I jumped out of the ship and ran into the field. Travis and Victoria followed me, readying their weapons. "Okay guys, stay close, those bastards can- Wahh!"

Some sort of arte, which had left a gash against his arm, had hit Travis. "Damn Gerudas can use note artes."

There were soldiers all around us, fighting those creatures with their weapons. "Come on," I told Travis. The two of us ran towards several Geruda who were battling a single soldier with their staffs. I slashed through them, allowing blood to spill into the air. Victoria threw her daggers, striking as many as she could while Travis busily hacked his way through the horde. Note Artes zigzagged all through the air, hitting anyone in their path. I ducked a bolt of lightning sent my way by a Geruda with a staff, and quickly sliced his hands off. The plains very soon became a battlefield bathed with Geruda blood and feathers.

I stood panting, my sword almost completely red.

I had killed…

Why did I feel so guilty?

"Vincent…" Victoria put her hand on my shoulder. "You have barely any scars on you…I'm glad…"

She seemed well, too.

"Thanks. Hey, where's Travis?"

"Right here." I turned to see him carrying a soldier on his back.

"So you have a soft spot, after all" Victoria commented.

Travis shrugged. "Whatever, let's just go see the general."

Carmine slammed his hand down onto my shoulder. "Well done, kid!"

I winced from the pain. Man, his hand was heavy. "Yeah…well, do you think we can get to the capital now?"

Carmine's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me? Those Gerudas could be back any minute! We have to completely wipe out their hideout that's closest to here!"

"Hideout?"

Carmine frowned. "Yeah, hideout! Those bastards hide in these hills to the north of here, getting ready to attack with full force!"

Victoria sighed. "Don't tell me you…"

Carmine roared. "That's right! We're going to go annihilate those bastards!"