Well...onto the storyline where the party goes to St. Binah. But first...! The abuse begins!
CrystalYumemi: Never played ToL so I wasn't aware of that. Good to know that there are other people in other games with an obsession.
Miho: Abuse. End of story. XD
BEWARE! THE NEXT THING IS NOT FOR THE EYES OF PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 13. Nah, I'm kidding. This is a rated T for a reason. :D If you are under 13, what the hell are you doing on FFN?
Lastly I thank my beta, Mieu. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own ToA.
Chapter 9: To St Binah! ...Or not...
I gasped as Jade's hands pushed my shoulders down. The pain down there began to burn even hotter. "S...Stop..."
"I beg to differ," Jade declined, he was whispering in my ear sending shivers down my spine. "You were pretty sloppy in the beginning so this is the perfect place to start."
Another push and I gasped once more. My hands balled into fists, grabbing a handful of grass and dirt in my hand. I lowered my head as another wave of pain came up. This time it was more intense and I threw my head back with another gasp. "It...hurts..."
"Again, I beg to differ. You're almost there, I can tell." Again, another push. I grit my teeth together to try and hold out as much as I could. But then he spoke up. "Besides, haven't you heard? Women had higher pain tolerance then men. I'm sure you can do it just fine."
"At least let-ow-me get a break..."
"Like I said earlier, you can do it just fine." Jade repeated. I grit my teeth and just bore it, but another wave of pain hit me and I just couldn't handle it.
"Hurts..." Then...I just snapped. I swatted both of his hands away in a very irritated fashion. "Dammit! I said it hurts! Can we stop making me do the damn splits now? God, I would be crippled by the time the sun rises."
When he said practicing, I thought we'd be doing some mock fight so that my reactions were going to be better. But noooo...! We had to do self-defense first. My main idea of self-defense was throwing my hands in front of squeal, hoping that someone would come and save me. That didn't sound very appealing to Jade so he started with that...only to find out that my muscles were in pain from the earlier run. So instead of self-defense, we started stretching. And by stretching, he meant putting me in pain by doing the splits.
Worse. Day. Ever.
I probably say that very often but as of today, today was the worse day ever.
Jade sighed as he backed up. He pushed his glasses up. "Being a soldier means you have to be more flexible. Since you lack that, the splits were the perfect way to start off."
"Did you realize how long we have been going through this?" I asked, rubbing my back. "I swear it was over an hour."
"Actually, it was just half an hour." Jade quickly corrected me. "Also, Guy. How long are you planning to hide behind those trees?"
There was no answer, causing Jade to sigh and pull out his spear. "Guy, you have five seconds to come out before I use Sonic Spear. And don't think about fleeing at this moment."
"Okay, okay, okay!" The voice responded in fear before Jade even started counting. A rustle from the bushes and Guy came out with a very, very disturbed look on his face. His hands were held up and beside his hands as if he was caught red-handed. Well...he just eavesdropped on us, if he hadn't seen what we were doing; I believe he was assuming the worse. Guy was eyeing the spear. "For the love of Yulia, Jade, put the spear away before you stab someone with it."
Jade hadn't complied to put the spear away. Instead, he raised it, just over his shoulder as if he was intending to throw it. Guy and I raised our eyebrows as we tried to figure out what the hell Jade was up to.
"Uh...Jade...?" Guy cast a look at me to see if I knew what he was up to. I just shrugged back to him with a surprised look on my face.
Again, the calm look. Jade took a step back causing Guy's eye to widen in horror. "Jade...What are you up to...?"
Jade threw the spear with a shout of 'Sonic Spear', Guy immediately ducked, with his hands over his head making some sort of distorted noise. Right behind Guy was a large bee, ready to attack him. Well...It was about to attack Guy before he ducked. It met the end of Jade's spear instead. The spear impaled the poor bee and blue-green blood burst from the opened wound as both the bee and the spear continued soaring through the air and landed into a tree with a loud thunk!
Guy looked over his shoulder to see the spear and the dead bee. He let out a loud sigh. "Good grief, Jade. A little warning couldn't have killed you."
"Now why would I do that?" Jade asked, pushing his glasses up. "The look on your face was rather amusing, I just had to keep the charade up."
"You just had to?" Guy and I asked in unison. We were giving Jade our dubious looks while Jade gave Guy a sadistic smile.
"I knew you could dodge it anyway, Guy, so I wasn't worried at all."
The sadistic line. Not that Jade was worried but he just worries everybody around him...
"Aside from that, did you enjoy eavesdropping?" Jade asked as he gave Guy a fascinated look. Guy's face went from startled to disturbed and he looked away.
"Uh...er...What were you guys doing?"
"Making me do the splits," I answered, shooting Jade a glare. Thanks to him, Guy probably thought we were secretly having 'fun' while most of the group was asleep. Jade ignored my glare, of course. In fact, he wasn't fazed to any of my angry stares and glares.
"Rather, I was giving her some practice." Jade's smile spread even further and everybody that looked at him would just know he was up to something. "Speaking of practice. Guy, you came just in time."
Guy blinked twice, confused. "I did?"
"Yes, would you mind being Anh's sparring partner for now?"
"Why don't you do it, Jade?" Guy's brow furrowed.
"Oh, I wish I could but these joints of mine, they ache." Jade said with a droll look on his face. I had to do a facepalm at the side after hearing his obvious excuse. "Besides, you are quite young, Guy. A mock battle couldn't hurt, would it?"
And there was one thing about Guy: he never said no. Anybody would ask him to do something and he would, sometimes reluctantly, do it. Except when it came down to touching girls, he wouldn't utter a no, but a 'yes' wouldn't be his answer either. An 'aaah' and fleeing said everything, however. Aside from that request, almost anybody could take advantage over Guy. Guy looked between the two of us and sighed.
"Oh, all right..." he muttered, drawing his sword. "This is a mock battle right? I don't have to go all out on her then."
"It wouldn't hurt if you did, Guy." Jade chuckled.
"Are you trying to get me wounded?" I asked with a shocked look. There was no way I could handle Guy at full force. He would cut me up into pieces before I could even pull the trigger. Speaking of trigger, I pulled my rifle out of my bag and placed a bullet into it. I guessed this was a mock battle of speed. Someone faster than Guy, like Legretta and Sync, would have taken me down before I even scratched them. So, right now it should be okay...
...I think...
"Whenever you're ready," Guy told me. He was already in fighting position, ready to charge at me anytime now. We were a good ten feet away from each other, hopefully that was enough time to shoot.
"I'm ready..." I said to him. Guy nodded to me and he darted towards me. I had to remember exactly what Jade had me do on the Tartarus...before it was captured and the whole delivering the letter event. Set the rifle against my shoulder and...
CLANG!
The rifle flew out of my hands and landed softly on the grass. I lost my balance and fell down to the grass on my butt. I didn't get enough time to pull out my other gun when Guy placed his sword at my neck. I froze in fear as I stared at the sword with wide eyes. My gaze followed up the sword and at Guy who was giving me a sympathetic look.
"Are you hurt?" he asked. I shook my head.
"You scared the living shit out of me, though." I responded to him- ...Why was he looking at my rifle...?
"Did I scratch you?" Guy asked as he walked up to the rifle and he inspected it. "I didn't mean to..."
I felt like smacking my head to the nearest thing here. My hand was the one that did the job. Facepalm. I repeatedly smacked my face as Guy continued to question the rifle. Obviously, he wasn't going to get a response from it but...! Why the rifle? Oh pssh! That was an obvious answer. It was a frigging fon machine! What about me? Had he ever noticed that he nearly killed me and all he did was coo the damn rifle?
His back was on me so I had a perfect chance to get my revenge. I stood up, rather upset. I marched over to where Guy was and gave him my best angry evil glare from behind.
"Guy..."
He immediately yelped at my presence as he ran over to Jade for cover, still clutching my rifle. Jade pushed his glasses up and stepped to the side, exposing Guy to me. Guy gave Jade a bewildered look before he returned his attention to me, holding the rifle closer to him.
"Dammit, Guy. Hands off of the rifle." I demanded, advancing on him. He dropped the gun right there, his hands held up. "I swear, I'm going to kill you before we leave for Saint Binah!"
"And how are you going to do that?" Jade questioned, with an intrigued look on his face. He was probably thinking of the many ways I could kill him.
"I'm going to give him a heart-attack by poking him to death!" I replied, making my way towards Guy. I was giving him my poking jabs while he was doing his best to avoid the pokes and watch what was behind him. "How could you? I have to say that was rude of you to ignore the fact that you nearly killed me and go right to the rifle! Submit to your punishment, goddammit!"
"A-ah...I didn't mean to...! F-forgive me...!"
Hands grabbed my shoulders, although a hand removed itself from my shoulder and enclosed itself around the gun I was waving around dangerously. I struggled in Jade's grip as Guy cowered behind a tree, shivering in fear. Since I was really short, he basically picked me up and walked me elsewhere. I kicked in the air hoping to force Jade to lose his grip on me. I wasn't successful, however, the man was an overpowered beast!
"Lemme go, Jade!" I hollered. "I'm going to give that fon-tech maniac a piece of my mind! When I'm through with him, I hope he gets castrated! I'm so chucking him into a place where there's full of goddamn women to tease him! A brothel would be a good ide-"
A hand covered my mouth, preventing me to spout more threats. Next thing I knew, Jade's breath was over my ear, causing me to stop what I was doing.
"If you wish not to explain about this 'God' to Guy, I suggest you stay quiet for now."
Ah, shit. Shit shit shitshitshit! Mother fudging sh- Okay...calm down. Breathe in and out... I was so in trouble right now but that was okay. It was Jade I was dealing with. Surely he would understand... Ohh...shit!
Jade had already released his grip from me and he turned around to talk to Guy.
"Thank you for coming, Guy. I know where to start Anh's training now."
"I can go now?" came the broken high-pitched voice of Guy's.
"Why, yes, of course. I see no problem with that."
And with that, Guy fled like the devil was right behind him. Well, he didn't really flee like that but he turned around and quickly made his way back to the campsite...in a very scared manner. That's right, Guy. Cower in fear that I don't do something to you in your sleep. Not that I would but there were always ideas like those to put into his mind. On another hand, a pair of crimson eyes were staring at me. Crap...!
Oh, how was I going to explain this? Give him a straight smile and go: 'Hey Jade, I came from another universe called Earth. It has no fonons and the technology there is advanced enough to make Guy go into seizures. I had no freaking idea how I came to Auldrant but no worries! I'm not a spy for someone like Mohs or anything!'
Yeah right...Like that was going to work. Jade turned around and pushed his glasses up.
"Now, would you kindly explain why you keep mentioning about this 'god'? I never heard you spoke of Yulia nor Lorelei."
"Like...God from 'God-Generals'?" I asked, trying to feign innocence.
"Nice try, Lieutenant Colonel," Jade's expression was NOT impressed. "I'll have you know, you used the word 'god' at least six times-"
"Whoa whoa whoa," I held my hands up. "Six? You counted? Two or three I know from today. I think I used it once yesterday..."
"Twice, actually," Jade corrected me. "One during the battle with the Oracle Knights and one later in the evening. The latter was about a spider."
Okay that made sense... "And what about the sixth time?" I asked him. Jade pushed his glasses up.
"That would be the time when you first arrived in Grand Chokmah." He answered. "You were not being very subtle about your choice of words."
Double crap. What was he? He must have been a monster to have heard that.
"Now, I want an explanation, in full detail."
"Uh...I plead the fifth...?" Not that I was from the United States, but it was worth a try. It didn't work when Jade gave me a look saying he was still Not Impressed. I gave him my own stare, not choosing to give in to his wants.
We had a long/short standoff. I was hoping he would just give up some time, but the man was relentless. Finally, I heaved a sigh, giving up. "Don't blame me in the aftermath..."
I did my best with the explaining. I was a crap explainer. I mostly go 'and then and then and then'. Yep, I was crap. Jade, however, was at least being understandable. He had me paused for a bit and elaborate, and when I couldn't, we just moved along. I never said anything about the game though, that would be very awkward of me if I did. Earth, on the other hand, was a must have. After I said what I had to say...Well...Jade was pondering for quite a bit. He then opened his mouth and I braced myself for what he had to say.
"Colour me impressed."
"Ha...?"
"Your world. It sounds...plausible."
Plausible? Plausible? Please tell me this was a dream. My hand reached over to my other hand and I pinched the skin on the back of my hand. Ow! So it was not a dream! I could die happy right now. Wait...No. I shouldn't die happy at this moment. I should do that when Guy was completely cured of his gynophobia. Now that was something any fangirl would die of happiness from.
"You're not going to question me about the lack of fonons?" I asked him. He gave me a devious smirk.
"Well, we'll see about that later." He looked at the horizon and nodded at it. "The sun will rise soon. We'll have to leave for St. Binah soon. I expect you to be up and early in the next morning for more practice."
Way to change the subject, asshole.
Jade was already making his way towards camp. I had to hurry and gather my rifle and bag before catching up with him. I had a not-very-happy expression on my face. Jade...It was Jade. He had a calm expression in which no one can read his mind.
Well, he was probably weighing his options or something. I should be the one weighing my options. What happened if Jade decided to frame me because I seemed very suspicious? If that happened, what would I do then? Go to Luke? No, that was too risky. The Oracle Knights was not an option since they could be up to something. If I went to the Oracle Knights, the group might see me as a traitor. Okay...Well what happened if Jade decided to say nothing at all? My life would be a shit load better, but now that he had my number... No. I don't want to think about it, rather I shouldn't think about it.
Instead...I should be cautious.
"So...how long were we up?" I decided to ask him. "It sure didn't feel like an hour of practice."
"It was surely not an hour of practice." Jade replied, calmly. I narrowed my eyes at him. "It was two and a half hours of practice to be more exact."
"Ha? Didn't you say that it was one hour before sunrise?" I asked him.
"Did I say that? I meant two and a half."
With the campsite in view, I just stood there on my spot while Jade continue his lovely stroll.
Was I mad? Yes.
Did I really want to wring that bastard's neck? Yes.
Choke the living hell out of him? Yes.
To a point where I forgot that he was my financial provider? Most likely.
Forget what I said earlier. This man went from asshole to pure asshole!
"Welcome back, you two!" Ion greeted us. He saw us coming into view, Jade first then me. Daww...He was soo nice. In comparison to another asshole I was very well aware of. Tear was polishing her weapons while Guy was packing the equipment. Luke was still asleep, in a very odd position. He was lying on his side, using one of Mieu's ears as a pillow much to the cheagle's dismay, one leg was stretched out while the other was hunched up to his chest with one arm wrapped around it.
...Was that a half-fetal position or something? It was weird nonetheless.
Tear's gaze followed mine and she caught sight of Luke in sleeping form. She looked at me and sighed. "I should wake him up."
"Hm?" My wondering mind went to Tear and she sighed once more. Then I nodded furiously. "Oh, right. Yeah you should do that, Tear."
Tear nodded before she walked over to Luke and tried to rouse him from his sleep. Guy, having already finished packing the equipment, walked up to me. He eyed Jade who was speaking to Ion then back at me.
"About earlier..."
"Guy, no hard feelings." I told him. "I know you were told all out but...I'm not experienced. But...lay off the Fon Tech Mode until later."
His eyes narrowed in puzzlement. "Fon Tech Mode?"
Oh right, he never heard of that term before, and the only time I spoke about it was to Luke. Riiight...
"Guy. Anh." Jade spoke up before I was able to explain to Guy about his Fon Tech Mode. We turned towards Jade who was motioning for us to go over there. When we got near him and Ion, he pushed his glasses up and placed his hands behind his back. "About the battle formation."
"Jade suggests that Anh and Luke should stay in the center along with me," Ion said, "Anh is understandable but, Jade, is it really necessary to pull Luke into the center?"
"Is it because of his fear to kill people that you don't want him in battle?" Guy asked him. "I know he was speaking to everyone about the killings. He...didn't take too well with most of the responses. I know that he can set his fear aside, just give him more time."
"I know I lack experience in battle," I spoke up. "But putting Luke on the sidelines of battle? Come on, Jade. You know just as well as I do that he's more capable than that!"
Jade doesn't appear to be very moved by either of our words. "If he doesn't show his resolve, then it is for a naught. Besides..." He stopped his sentence as Tear walked up to us. It seemed she was fully aware that Luke was going to stay with Ion and I when a battle arises. It looked like Luke was up. He appeared concerned about Tear, seeing as he was still staring at her, though she was giving him the cold shoulder.
Ouch.
"Tear, Guy and I will take up a triangle formation," Jade told Luke when he was with us. Mieu was hopping happily at Tear's side before he hopped into Ion's open arms. "You'll stay in the center with Ion and Anh and defend yourself if necessary."
Luke, shocked by the sudden news, stood there frozen on the spot. His eyes were weird with shock. "What?"
Tear tapped my shoulder, signaling for me to come with them. I nodded, giving one more glance at Luke before coming with Jade and Ion who were already taking the lead. While everybody began making their way over to the road, Guy stayed behind. He was staring at Luke for a few seconds. "In other words, you don't have to fight, Luke."
"Guy! We're leaving now!" I called to him. He looked in our direction and nodded. He uttered a few words to Luke before he followed us. I caught up to Ion, who was looking behind him and at Luke.
"I still don't think it was a good idea..." he sighed.
"Ditto..." I muttered.
"W-wait a minute!" The sound of Luke's footsteps came closer.
I sighed. Good, he had already made his resolve. We all came to a halt. Guy and Ion had their full attention on Luke while Jade and Tear stood there with their backs on him. I had also turned around to see Ion already up in front of Luke. He tilted his head to the side with curiosity.
"What is it, Luke?" he asked.
Luke opened his mouth to give Ion his answer, but he hesitated a bit. He looked sheepishly to the side before he looked back at us. "...I'll fight, too."
"Oh? Aren't you afraid of killing?" Jade questioned him. He was standing at my side; one hand underneath his chin while the other arm was supporting his arm. His face appeared taunting but his eyes were dead serious.
"...Of course not!"
"You shouldn't force yourself, Luke," Tear said. She had also turned around with her arms crossed. She wasn't very convinced by his words, either. Anybody could tell he was hesitating with that answer.
Luke stomped his foot. "I'm serious!" he exclaimed. He then looked at the ground again. "I mean, okay, yeah, I'm a little scared but... If I have to fight to survive, then that's what I'll do. I'm not going to hide in the corner while everybody else is doing the fighting!"
"Well, most of us are going to do the fighting," Ion corrected with a smile. Mieu nodded happily before jumping out of Ion's arm and at Luke's feet. He was tugging Luke's pants happily.
"I'm so proud of you, Master!" he chirped. Luke kicked the cheagle away in a very irritated fashion.
"Would you shut up!" he yelled at the kicked cheagle. Ion ran over to Mieu and rubbed the spot where he was kicked. Luke huffed before he turned his attention back at us. "Anyway, I've made up my mind. From now on, I fight. Without hesitation."
Tear didn't seemed very convinced. She walked up to Luke to a point where Luke had to lean back. At this distance the two of them were really close in height. And how tall was Tear? Taller than me that was a given. She was tall enough to block out Luke's face.
"To kill someone means to rob them of their future. Even if it is to protect yourself."
"...And it can earn you the hatred of others." Guy added. Tear looked back at him and nodded. She turned back at Luke, her hands were on her hips now, leaning even closer to Luke.
"Are you prepared to deal with that?" she pressed on. "Can you face that responsibility? Without running away? Without making excuses?"
Luke tsked. "You said so yourself. You aren't killing people because you want to." He shoved her out of the way and walked up to the rest of us. His head was lowered to the ground. "...I've made up my mind. I'm not here just to be a burden. I'm gonna take responsibility, too."
Jade nodded thoughtfully, placing his hands behind his back. "I don't see any problem with that. We'll give Luke a chance to show us his resolve."
Guy gave Luke a small smile before patting him on the shoulder. "Just don't push yourself too hard, Luke."
Luke's only response was to nod. Guy patted his shoulder once more before releasing it. And to think we would just keep going on in silence, Jade had to break it.
"Well, this is such a lovely conversation, but I fear that our battle formation will have to change now that Luke is joining the battle." Jade sighed, sarcastically. Tear facepalmed while Guy laughed nervously. Luke glared at Jade and I rolled my eyes. "It's just so hard to make up a formation..."
"So? Do a box formation!" Luke's hand flew up in the air. "What's so hard about that?"
"But would you prefer the left or on the right?" Jade continued his questions.
"Does it really matter?"
"Yes it does, I wouldn't want you to be the one to have to defend me while I'm casting my spells."
"Fine! I'll take the corner in front of Tear!"
"But to leave you to defend our only Seventh Fonist..."
"Actually..." I spoke up. "Wouldn't a 'V' formation work? Like...Guy and Luke in the front, Jade and Tear in the middle and I'll be in the far back. Since Luke is fighting, I should be too. I'm not experienced in fighting and a rifle was meant for range so having me in the far back would work...I think."
"I like that idea." Guy nodded in approval. "That way, all of us are in battle. If one of us is taken down, Anh could grab gels or whatever is necessary from the Wing Pack and race up to whoever is hurt. That way, no one else had to bother shouting at each other to grab the Wing Pack. Also, if one wasn't able to defend one of our fonists, she should be able to give us more time with her rifle."
"But that leaves Fon Master Ion unprotected." Tear pointed out. "What if something happens to him?"
"I could defend myself when the time comes." Ion spoke up. "I may be fragile but that doesn't mean that I can't defend myself."
"However, Styx wouldn't be very pleased if he knew that you were using Daath Artes." Jade's eyes narrowed.
...Who was this Styx person?
Ion looked at Jade. "I would deal with him when that time comes."
Jade pushed his glasses up. "Very well. We should be going then. St. Binah would take two days now that we have wasted enough time. Guy and Luke take the lead while Tear and I take the rear. Anh and Ion will stay in the middle as planned, however, when a battle arises, you two will move to the back immediately. Understand?"
We walked for who knows how long now. All we were doing was follow the trail that was apparently leading us to St. Binah. Jade said that if we continued on the way, we would make the checkpoint before nightfall. I sighed. So we came up with a battle formation but I wanted to rest so badly now. My feet were getting sore. Ion tugged on my sleeve and I looked to the side.
"How are you doing?" he asked. I blinked at the question.
"My feet are sore and that's just about it." I answered him. "I should be asking you that question, Ion. You have lower stamina than I do."
Ion laughed. "I'm holding up. I don't want to be a burden to anybody right now." He looked in front of him as his eyes narrowed in concern. "I'm more worried about the letter."
I nodded. It was understandable. We were no longer in possession of the Tartarus so the traveling will be much longer than expected. "Anise is taking care of it right now, you shouldn't be worried. It's in good hands."
"Yes, you're right. Anise can take care of it until we catch up with her." Ion looked in front of him, and I did, too, where Guy and Luke were exchanging their own conversation. Both of them were grinning and, if things weren't being really tense right, easygoing. I looked back at Ion. His face appeared to enjoy watching the two of them but his eyes said something else.
"What's up?"
Ion tore his eyes away from them and stared at me, looking a bit bewildered. "I'm sorry?"
"You look..." I paused to find the right word. "...conflicted... Is it about that Styx person?"
Ion's gaze warmed up. "I shouldn't be worried about him. The one who should be more worried about him is Jade."
I looked behind me and at Jade. He was giving us an intent stare. He was probably listening in on us. Then again, we're not that far away from him and Tear, so it was probably the case of him eavesdropping. "Oh really? Why's that?"
"Styx is a acquaintance of mine," Jade explained. Not a friend...? "He's also Ion's personal doctor."
"Styx agreed to allow me on this mission on the condition that I don't force myself too hard or use Daathic Fonic Artes." Ion chuckled a bit. "He also said that if anything happened to me, he's holding Jade responsible."
"Not a friendly doctor..." I murmured. Well...he maybe he was, he just hates Jade's ass. I mean...who doesn't? All right, maybe not hate his ass since it was a really nice one-NO! Stop thinking about that thirty-five year old man's ass! That was nasty thought. Bad, bad Anh!
"Oh no, he's rather friendly," Ion corrected me. "It's just that, when it comes to him and Jade, they just like to mess with each other."
Now that got my interest. An eyebrow rose at Jade. "Such as...?"
"Oh various things," he answered. Great. As if that wasn't vague enough. "Aside from that, Anh, have you heard of Capacity Cores?"
"Uh...no..."
"Myuu~! Mieu knows!" cried the cheagle as he jumped from Ion's arm to my shoulder. "Mieu has a good example: The Sorcerer's Ring!"
"Thanks Mieu," I laughed. "Should I also remind you that Guy thought it was a Fon machine and he went all Fon Tech Mode on you?"
"Myuu?"
"A capacity core or C. Core for short is an accessory with a fonic arte applied to it." Tear explained, revealing her own C. Core that was an arm bracelet underneath her glove "Depending on the capacity core, you can gain abilities that will aid you in battle."
"They could increase your speed or let you learn new techniques in the middle of a battle." Guy added. I turned around to see Guy and Luke joining into our conversation. So now the whole gang was in on this.
"So everybody has their own C. Core on them?" I asked, looking around. Luke, Guy, Jade, and, surprisingly enough, Ion nodded. I blinked at Ion. "Ion? You, too?"
"Yes, you may not be able to see the fonic verse but..." Ion's hand moved to the symbol of the Order around his neck. He flipped it to its back to show that there was a fonic verse written along the sides of it. "It amplifies my fonic artes."
"Mine's here." Luke stated, showing his wrist bracelet that was hidden underneath his glove. If memory served me correctly, Ion gave him that bracelet. I nodded, turning to Jade.
"Please tell me those glasses aren't a C. Core..." I murmured. Jade pushed his glasses up.
"Why...yes, yes they are..."
Tear's brows rose as her eyes widened, Luke made a noise while Guy coughed nervously. My eyebrows flew straight up, surprised that I hit the mark. And then he decided to finish his sentence after seeing everybody's reactions.
"...a good accessory for others to think that they are a capacity core." Jade continued, grinning. "But I hate to inform you that they are not capacity core."
"Then where is your capacity core?" Luke asked.
"I am not obliged to answer that question."
...Great. Now I was getting weird ideas where it should be. Like that time in that Tales of Symphonia manga omake where Raine's exsphere was apparently on her right thigh while Sheena's was underneath her left boob. Now where would Jade's C. Core be? A necklace? A bracelet? Or maybe those glasses were his C. Core, he just doesn't want to say it out loud. Turning my attention to Guy, I gave him a quick scan. There was no sign of any accessory aside from that pendant and the two ropes at his right side.
"What about you, Guy?" I asked. "Is that pendant a C. Core?"
Guy laughed, shaking his head. "Nice try, but mine's not as evident as everybody else's." He removed his glove on his right hand to reveal a silver ring on the middle finger. He smiled down at it. "It was...a gift."
"A gift?" I repeated. "A gift from who?"
"Pere?" Luke guessed.
Guy shook his head again, placing his glove back on. "Not from Pere. I got this when I was young."
It must be from his sister...He doesn't mention her until much much later. "Well...I guess I'm the only one that doesn't have one..."
"With all that jewelry you have, I'm surprised you don't have one." Luke said. "Maybe someone could etch it into your ring. Or those earrings."
My hands flew up to my ears, covering my earrings. "Oh no. No no no no no. Nobody write anything on these earrings. They are a gift from my boyfriend. It's off limits for any capacity core etching or whatever on these."
"Okay, how about the ring?"
"Ring's off limits, too!" There was no way I was going to get any of my belongings of Earth turned into a capacity core. No way. Absolutely no fricking way! When I come back to Earth, people would be asking why I got those weird etching on my ring or earrings. Yeah, no. I don't want to be the one doing the explaining.
"The choker could be turned into a capacity core." Jade suggested. "I could personally do it myself."
Now everybody gave Jade a dubious look.
"There was a capacity core on the Tartarus," Jade explained. "I hate to see that capacity core go to waste."
"...Fine! Fine." I sighed, taking off the choker and passing it over to Jade. I waved a hand at him. "Do what you want with it." I don't care what he does to the choker. As long as my other two jewelry stayed out of the capacity core topic. Nobody touch the 14K gold. Nobody.
"You can have it back now." Jade's hand flew past my hand, choker in his hand.
"Eh? That was fast..." I took the choker from him and placed it back around my neck. It didn't feel any different than it was before. Didn't he say he was going to turn it into a capacity core...?
"The strap was changed." Jade explained. I turned around to see the 'original' strap in his hand. Same black colour, same shade, same...length...? Now that was freaky. "Lucky for you the strap was the capacity core."
...Okay then. This just got freakier. What was next? Little cute monsters with huge ass fangs about to bite a huge chunk out of me?
We made it to the checkpoint. And by checkpoint, I meant a giant ass wooden pole with two signs pointing in two different directions; one at the west and another in the east. Both of the signs were written in the Fonic Alphabet, and at that very moment, I completely forgot how to write and read the alphabet. I believe at some point in the past, Anise and Ion were teaching me but now...Crap. I completely forgot now.
Jade walked up and pushed his glasses up. "St. Binah is now to the east. We'll have to move out of the road now and near the forest in case the Oracle Knights uses the main road to search for us." He turned in a different direction, still in the east, but we were not staying away from the main path. In front of us was a forest, and we just walked right into it. Jade was leading the way, creating a clear path by moving some tree branches and loose ferns.
"Are we going to camp out in the wild, again?" Luke whined, his shoulders slumped. Guy laughed, patting Luke's back.
"The wilderness doesn't bite. I think we got enough holy bottles to stave off the monsters for the night."
Luke's shoulders straightened as he gave Guy a puzzled look. "Holy bottles?"
"They are items that fends monster attacks off," Ion explained. "Monsters doesn't like the smell of the holy bottle so they tend to stay away. The holy bottles, however, don't last forever. They last for at least three to four hours at most."
"There are some cases where the monsters still attack travelers even though they used the holy bottles," Tear spoke up. "And there are cases where the monsters gets angered by the scent and they just attack. Those cases are really rare though, but it's still possible. We all should stay close to each other in case there's an attack."
I nodded, agreeing with Tear. But then something caught my eye; it was another shade of green except it was a moving shade of green. Curious, I stopped just to have a closer look at it. Tear had noticed that I stopped.
"Anh, didn't you hear? I said stay close." She called over to me. I nodded, waving a hand at her.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there in a sec." I called back to her. I moved the leaves to see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at me curiously. And...was that a purring sound coming from it?
The little monster hopped out of the bush it was hiding in, startling me. I fell on my butt but I hadn't made a noise to alert the rest of the group. Again, the purring sound and the large pair of yellow eyes still staring at me. Once I was one hundred percent sure that it wasn't going to attack me, I got to my knees. I examined the monster. It was green, with a pair of large leaf-like ears. If I didn't know any better, it was one of the most adorable monsters I had seen up close as of yet.
"Tear...!" I whispered eagerly for the fonist. "Tear...!" Hopefully she heard me, the monster looked so cute!
"Well, aren't you a little cutie." I smiled at it, rubbing its head. It made a purring noise, and opened its hidden mouth, revealing a set of fangs. My smile immediately turned into a frown when I saw the fangs. The cute yellow eyes that was staring at me curiously turned into a menacing glare. Instead of the cute purr I heard earlier, it changed to a growl. It leapt, intending to bite the hand that was rubbing its head.
I yelped, moving my hand away. I scurried back, trying to get away from it as fast as I could. I didn't get too far when my back smacked against the tree. The green monster continued it growling and pursuit. It leapt at me and I moved my hands in front of my face, kicking my legs in the air. One of my foot met with the monster, kicking it away from me. It didn't stop it from continuing its attack. It leapt at me again and a purple fonic glyph appeared right underneath it. The monster stopped attacking it and looked around it.
"Nightmare!" Bubbles appeared around the monster, popping in front of it, and then, it fell to the ground limp.
Tear appeared right behind the tree I was leaning against and she sighed. "Honestly. And right after what I said, too."
I got up, striding after her. "Sorry, Tear, but it was so cute! Why can't cute monster stay cute? Like Mieu, for example!"
"Myuu?"
"Whoa, are we that close to the group?" I asked her when I heard the cheagle. Tear nodded. "That makes me feel soo much better now..."
"Be careful next time." Tear warned. "Even some monsters can appear harmless but they really are dangerous. The cheagles are the only example of harmless monsters because they are herbivores."
"Lucky them..." I muttered.
"We are about a day's walk from St. Binah." Jade said, pointing at the map that was set in the middle of the entire group. We had already set camp since the sun was about to set. The cooking today was already done; the meat was just being cooked as Jade called us for a small meeting about tomorrow. "If we cut through the forest, we can make it there by midday. Most likely the Oracle Knights are guarding the area."
"Why would the Oracle Knights be there?" Luke asked.
Guy nodded thoughtfully. "I get it now. St Binah's the closest city to the Tartarus. They probably expected us to stop there."
Jade nodded. "For a Kimlascan, you're certainly familiar with Malkuth geography, Guy."
"I like reading about vacation spots," Guy stated simply.
"Oh I see. How nice..."
"So how are we going to enter the city then?" Tear asked. "With the Oracle soldiers surrounding the area, it would be difficult for us to just simply sneak into the city. Attacking them is not an option."
"Considering that there are at least three God-Generals to meet us." Ion nodded.
"And they would take us all down since two of our members are very lackluster." I pointed to Luke and to myself. "The God-Generals could us either of us as a weak point."
"So what are we going to do now?" Guy asked, he crossed his arms, looking at Jade. "Tomorrow's when we arrive."
"St. Binah is surrounded by a numerous amount of trees." Jade pointed to the town's surroundings. He tapped a certain corner of the dot. "Over here is the location of a large tree called the Soil Tree. Guy, how good are your tree climbing skills?"
Guy blinked twice at that. "Pretty good since I had to climb trees to get to a certain master of mine."
"Guy!" Luke whined. "That was not necessary!"
Guy chuckled. "Aside from that, when it comes to climbing trees, I can do it."
"Good," Jade nodded. "We only need to see if Anise is there. If not, then the military should be in possession of a letter. All you have to do is gather the letter and return."
"Sounds easy enough for me." Guy said.
Jade pushed his glasses up, and he folded the map up. "Well then, that aside. Shall we have dinner?"
"Time to eat!" Luke cheered as he grabbed his plate of steak, sliced a piece of it up, and bit into it. He then spat out that piece of the steak and made a disgusted face at the remaining piece. "Ugh, this steak is dry! Who was cooking today's dinner?"
"I was." Tear stated simply. She was giving him a glare as she ate her steak. "If you don't like it then don't eat it."
Luke tsked. "I didn't say I didn't like it. I just said it was too dry. Do we have some sauce for this?"
And then he received the glare of death.
Morning came, and that guy had to wake me up for training/practicing/whatever. I sat up groggily in my makeshift bed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I had to comply since the last time; he stripped me of my bed so I didn't have much of a choice. The six foot something soldier stood there watching my every move like a hawk. I stood up, stretched and followed him with my bag sliding on the ground.
We ended up at some area that wasn't very wide open like the area we were at yesterday. This one was condensed with trees and moss, very similar to the Cheagle Woods. I looked around me and sighed.
"What're we doing here?" I yawned tiredly. My days of sleeping in changed to wake up around the same time I woke up for university thanks to this man. Does he have an internal clock that wakes him up at midnight or something like that?
"Depending on the situation, we could be ambushed in a tight space such as this," Jade explained as he pushed his glasses up. "This would be a very good start with self-defense. Now then, if an Oracle Knight comes up to you, what is the first thing you would do?"
"Kick him in the groin and run." I answered instantly. There was a minute of silence before Jade sighed.
"Well, let's pretend that I am that Oracle Knight."
I wasn't given much time to react when Jade was already up in front of me. I instinctively tried to kick him, only to have him block my attack with one hand, the other hand was free so it slammed into my shoulder, forcing me back and he ended up throwing me to the ground. I hit the ground, the impact caused me to groan, and, before I was able to recover, a spear was already right next to my neck. My gaze fell to the weapon before it went up to Jade. He pushed his glasses up before backing up, allowing me to sit up.
"As you can see, that was not the right tactic." He said as I stood up. "When it comes down to self defense, you shouldn't be acting with the first thing that comes to mind."
"Yeah, I think I already know that since I was thrown down to the ground..." I rubbed my back. "So, acting rash is out. What next?"
"First you need to access the information quickly," Jade told me. "Take everything into consideration, weapons, fallen parts, the land itself. After you have clearly access your surroundings and your viable options, you may proceed with an attack. Now then, to recap earlier. Pretend I am the Oracle Knight about to attack you."
Again, he ran at me. Access the area, he said? That was easier said than done. However, he did mention weapons and my bag was still in my hand and not over my back. I gripped my bag tighter and tossed it at his face with all of my strength. He blocked it with the shaft of his spear. He threw me back and I fell back onto my back with a groan.
"That...didn't go too well..." I uttered, getting back up.
"No, that was perfect." Jade pushed his glasses up. Perfect? I got my ass whooped...still! "Your surroundings was flat, there was no time for you to run for cover, your weapon, in this case your bag, was the right thing to use."
"Great...That's...great..." I muttered, straightening my uniform. There was a rustle in the bushes that caught our attention.
"Ow...! Guy...! Could you be any closer...!"
"I can't help it! Tear's too close to me."
"Fine, I'll move away from you then."
"Sorry about that..."
"Will you two stay quiet? I can't hear what the two of them are saying!"
"Everyone...I don't think they are talking right now... In fact...Jade is coming in this direction."
"What are you talking about, Ion? They are-"
Jade stood right in front of them, cutting Luke off. I stood there with a raised eyebrow as Ion stood up and walked over to me. Jade allowed him to pass, as for the other three... Well, I think they were going to get something that was the closest thing to scolding.
"My, what naughty children we have here. Eavesdropping during a practice."
"Sorry about that, Anh." Ion whispered to me. "Everyone was curious and Guy seemed to know what was going on. We didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"Since everybody is up, I suppose we can head to St. Binah." Jade spoke up before I had a chance to say anything.
Well, now we were moving...
The Citadel: St Binah. Not much to say about the large city except that if Grand Chokmah never existed, this place would probably the capital. It was grand and the walls looked medieval, lined with bricks that had aged. Okay, so maybe it shouldn't be the capital but it sure looked like one. All of us tracked through the forest and towards the very large tree that stuck out of the walls of the citadel. I looked at the side and what Jade had guessed last night was right. There was two or three Oracle Knights standing guard in front of the entrance of the city. Well, it wouldn't matter anyway; we were heading towards the Soil Tree and-
"Colonel," Tear spoke up, pointing towards the entrance. Jade turned around to see a wagon come up towards the entrance. Jade signaled to us to the bushes so that we listen in on them.
"We're from Engeve. We're here to fulfill a purchase order for food supplies." The man in the wagon stated to the soldier. The soldier just nodded, the other two soldiers that were standing in the entrance stood out of the way to allow the wagon in.
"You may pass," the soldier told the wagon.
"Oh, there is one more wagon after this one." The man said before he was ushered into the city.
"Well well, how convenient." Jade muttered, his hand underneath his chin. "This saves Guy some climbing."
"Instead of me sneaking in, we're going to stop the second on and hitch a ride, then?" Guy asked.
"Indeed. Let's go back down the road toward Engeve a little way." Ion suggested. "We could still catch up to that second wagon."
Tear nodded. "Yes, let's."
We all nodded to each other and began trekking our way back to the checkpoint. Everybody except Luke, he remained at the spot he was in.
"Hey! Quit making plans without talking to me first!" Luke shouted at us.
Tear sighed, turning around. I looked back only to have a blue glove turn my head towards the other direction. I pouted, following everybody else. Next thing I knew, Tear had already caught up to us, with a grumpy Luke tailing her. He was looking in another direction but he was still trailing the group.
Well, Fate must be on our side. The wagon we were stopping just happened to have Rose inside it. A little convincing to her and we got the ride into St. Binah. The only problem here was...It was too tight! I had heard of the term lie low, but this was taking it to another level! Rose and her companion moved some boxes out of the way for us to 'lie low'.
"I must say, this is rather uncomfortable," Jade spoke up. I felt heat rushed to my face. Oh, Karma, why do you hate me so?
"I-It's not like I want to touch it!"
"Yes, but I do not like the idea of my Lieutenant Colonel groping me."
"Would you two shut up?" Luke hissed. "You two think you're in an uncomfortable position? Look at Guy and I!"
I'd rather not describe what position those two were in. To put it simply, it took gayness to a whole new level...
"It's either you or Tear," Guy protested. "And you know I can't touch women!"
"Sadly enough, Tear and Ion are the only ones that are pretty comfortable..." Jade.
"Anh's cloak can hide Ion and I pretty well..." Tear admitted. She was wearing my cloak and she was also draping it over Ion. The hood was up and her head was hung low so that if the Oracle Knights caught sight of her, they would think she was from Engeve. Both Tear and Ion were sitting on the boxes. I would have taken Tear's spot but she said that I would be better for Jade since I know him better. In her mind, she was probably glad since she wasn't the one touching her superior's ass.
The wagon started moving and we all stayed quiet. Now we were stuck like this until we got into St. Binah.
Dammit...! Awkward...!
Oh ho ho ho~ Awkward indeed! And Jade found out earlier than expected, but it's Jade.
Now we really get into St. Binah in the next chapter!
Review please! And see you all in chapter 10!