A Tale Of A Hero
She just stood there looking across the field, her eyes scanning over the dead bodies that littered the place. Signum hated war and when she had no choice she triples her effort into trying a peace treaty with the enemy or any other way to decrease the piles of corpses that would soon cover the area. Her team of knights would see her as wise but the rest would say she was a coward, trying to run from battle. She was definitely not a coward in any instance, just tired of seeing death. She would also pity the new recruits for its always a first for them. When they survive they vomit at the stench emitted from the dead as well as the sight of blood and when they don't survive, their families mourn their deaths with a grieve striken cry. These were the results of war, whatever it was even a small battle, death is always a sad thing and the feeling it gave off isn't a feeling anyone would like.
This was only a part of her worries. The king was beginning to become more and more vicious, waging battle after battle, wanting only victory and the power to conquer all worlds. It was a sad predicament. What of all the men and women that are sacrificed and the war orphaned children? So long as wars continue to ravage the universe no one is safe. Signum would sometimes come across a young child or two after battle. If they are alive, the harsh weathers and living conditions kill them and if they are not, she could never face them for the fact that she was incapable of saving them. The time has come to stop the king. She had already tried her hardest to convince the king of ending the wars with the choice of fighting only when enemy arms bear down upon them. She felt the sacrifice of good soldiers as well as the women and children unecessary. The king's court had merely laughed at her, the king only telling her one thing.
"My dear general, to obtain peace one must wage wars. There is no such thing as everlasting peace." laughing houghtily at her.
"Then your majesty, why is heaven always peaceful?" the king went silent.
"Tis not what we are thought that killing is a sin? Let the lord forgive us if it meant defending ourselves but what are we doing? We are uselessly wasting lives for the sake of power. May the lord forgive you if you could not tell the difference." without saying any more she left the hall, the king staring after her in pure anger.
She knew that she could be put to trial for treason but would the king actually have enough time to catch her before she put her plan into action? There was no doubt about the fact that she would have a head start and he would need time to rally his troops and send out an order. It would be far too late for that. The reason she decided to do this now was because the king had ordered the extermination of a so called rebelling village. The young men of the village were taken in a soldiers or else beheaded on the spot, the women used as prostitutes. The children were all killed when the soldiers had set the village on fire. Even from the castle Signum could hear the cries and wails coming from the village women. She had went down to see what the commotion was about and saw the lifeless bodies of the little ones lying about the remains of the village. She had cried at the sight of it, the king aimlessly killing people when he felt like it. She knew it was time to end his rule.
Signum and her team of knights were following in on her plan as well as those who wish to leave the useless king's side once and for all. Signum rallied them all after her meeting with the king and put her plan into action. She and her team would create a dictraction by setting a part of the palace on fire while on horseback to make escape easier and swifter while the rest of them grab whatever weapons they can and leaving the palace on foot or on horseback, depending whether there were enough horses. The plan went well and they made their escape but one of the knights had noticed it earlier and went after them. It was the king's trusted knight, evil and twisted as he was, Victor would give her weaker troops no chance of living. She pulled her steed and made a u-turn to face the knight one on one to give her troops enough time to escape.
"Well, well, how noble of you to want to protect your knights though I doubt that they would last very long without you." smirking evilly.
"Are you sure you do not wish to return to his majesty's side, after all you are his most trusted." telepathically telling her knights to move on as far as possible and that she would catch up soon.
"I don't need to, the others can handle that while I capture and kill you and receive and even bigger award for bringing back the traitor's head." bringing out his device. Signum followed suit by bringing out her blade.
They jumped off their horses and headed into the sky to begin their duel. He charged at her, his sword swinging recklessly at her. Signum parried and dodge and when he thought she was weakening she used her sheath to block his weaker attack. When he realised that it was too late, Signum had already hit him with Laevatein and sent him flying toward the ground. Signum took the oppotunity to fly after her troops and leave the wreck she had caused behind. Two weeks after that she had started a rebellion to be rid of the king. She had gotten quite an army by the time the week came to an end but she needed another set of special troops to aide her. Fortunately the heavens had smiled down upon her and had granted her the help she needed for they knew she had an honourable reason. She managed to find an attacker by the name of Vita, her device was Graf Eisan, a hammer type device as well as a healer, Shamal with her device Klarer Wind.
The day of battle came as Signum stood atop a hill with her team, Vita and Shamal, leading the attack. She had tried to reason with king at his court once and she had tried a treaty with him with several conditions this second time giving him a chance to surrender but had failed yet again when he refused to abide by her conditions. Now was the moment of truth as she will decide the fate of the universe where it would be either peace would soon come of will continue to be ravaged by war. The first line of troops descended upon them. Signum and Vita went ahead to be rid of the knights first and the ones on horseback. After the signal was given, Shamal sent their riders out first, the footmen right behind them. They lowered their spears and charged their weapon with spells, piercing anything that came into contact with the sharp point. While knocking away the weaker enemies, Signum finally came face to face with Victor once again. His expression was a chilling glare as he was obviously not happy having lost to her the first time.
"This time I will make sure you die!" swinging his blade upward. Signum dodged this and moved back a few paces.
"No, tis I who will make sure you drop dead." raising her blade as she said so, her face set in a cold expressionless look.
Metal clashed against metal, one charging the other defending. The battle was fierce, Signum pulling out all the shots and endlessly loading cartridges into her weapon. The blade was practically engulfed in a huge blaze as Signum's strikes were enhanced. Victor was being defeated but he fell back, his men falling in next to him. They hurriedly joined their sigils together, charging Victor with their magical energy. Signum, however, realised this a little too late. By the time she made to move Victor had already had his fill and swatted her aside. She didn't have enough time to deal with him and kill the king and luckily she had a back up plan. She sent Shamal the warning signal and the knight of the lake obediently flew off toward the direction of the king. If Signum couldn't make it at least some one else could do the job of disposing the imbecile.
"Tired already. This is a very bad advantage in battle." smirking coldly.
Signum said nothing and when he was in range she surprised him by charging suddenly. She managed to mortally wound him in the abdomen and the chest when he had let down his guard. He should have known by now the strength of her stamina. She decided to give him an easy death for she was not cruel. She made one swift movement of her hand as she stabbed him in the heart. She made to proceed and aide Shamal but by the time she sensed an attack heading her way she was a second too late. Signum was stabbed at her side but that did not flay her instincts to strike back. In the moment the enemy fell she cringed as pain shot through her body. She pulled out the weapon and hurried down the field, trying not to sustain anymore injuries. She arrived to see Shamal putting up her best but failing to beat the king's defences. The knight of the lake was panting heavily, cut and slashes all over her body.
Shamal had enjoyed serving the royals, healing and doing research to further better herself and to save lives but when the king had started warring endlessly without reason and using her research to construct deadly weapons Shamal decided it was time to leave. When she heard of a rebellion consisting of one of the king's generals she burned all her research papers and destryed anything that they may use to resurrect her old work, she left the palace with the excuse of wanting to do more research and joined Signum's army. She obviously didn't go back and this made the king furious. Shamal wasn't a fighter but her knowledge of the human anatomy and her skills of quick calculation and physics allowed her an advantage to constuct barriers and throw binds at unexpected places, either wounding, paralyzing or killing the enemy.
Shamal had tried endlessly to catch him off guard but getting past his defensive wall was almost impossible for someone of her capabilities though she had weakened him slightly. If only someone of stronger abilities came by the king would fall almost immediately. Then her wishes were granted, Signum came along, bloodied from battle but still abled. The pink knight took up her stance and charged at the king. He parried and dodged her attacks but Signum just hurried the speed of her attacks, enhancing the strength of her strikes. Finally, she swung her blade and sent the king flying into the ground. She walked up to him with a cold look in her eyes as the king shook in fear.
"You couldn't possibly kill me after all you've served under me all these years." he said with false courage.
"Yes I can, after what you've done. I served you because you were striving for a single goal, peace, but now no more. You have strayed from the path you chose and currently chase power and strength over the well being of your people. You don't deserve to be king anymore." raising her sword for the final strike.
"Laevatein!" he yelled. His blade threw up a barrier, knocking Signum backward slightly. He stood up to face her, obviously straining to wield the legendary blade.
"You can't even lift it, much less use it to its fullest." Signum boldly claimed, walking up to him fearlessly.
"I know this blade better than you do." swinging it at Signum but all she did was make a slight movement of her body to avoid getting sliced by the blade.
"I can only assume the blade is crying in agony for its master is not fit to wield him." dodging another attack as she said so, the king swinging the blade in hopes of striking her down.
With a wave of her arm, Signum knocked the blade free from the king's grasp, snatching it as it flew in the air, crossing it across the king's neck in a death trap. The king shuddered in fear, begging for his life, accepting the treaty, wanting peace. His plea meant nothing now for it was too late. He had allowed this battle to go on, refusing her before, twice. Asking for it now was useless for she would not repeat her offer anymore and trusting the king at this moment was only risking the safety of the kingdom.
"May the lord forgive you for your sins. I would but I cannot trust you as I did before. Sleep well your majesty." she said in a tone barely above a whisper and in a flash the king dropped into the dirt of the ground, lifeless.
Shamal had watched the battle go on and watching the king plead for mercy was, well, making her hate him even more. If he had asked for it sooner, Signum may have considered it. Suddenly, at the same moment, the two received a distress call from Vita. The battle was not ceasing and she was cornered, their troops were falling at the hands of the more experienced fighters of the king's army. THe two rushed to aide their comrade, knocking away anything that stood in front of them. When they had found Vita a fresh group of knights appeared, surrounding them.
"Please tell me you killed that idiot already." the redhead pleaded. Signum and Shamal nodded but even so the situation was not getting any better.
"They are probably following the orders of those second to the king." Signum telepathically told the other two. Vita paled as Shamal was beginning to lose hope.
The knights charged, the three of them swatting them aside. Signum, now wielding Laevatein, the king's sword, had him in Schlagenform and was building cage after cage of steel to try and wipe out as many as possible. After two days of endless battle, the three slumped onto the ground with ragged breathing. Having run dry on their supply of cartridges, manual fighting had been hard. They were bleeding non stop, wounds covering the entirety of their bodies, Shamal having tried her best to heal all of them. Signum had wanted to close her eyes for just a second shot them wide open when she heard the sound of footsteps. She tried to get up but her legs were aching and as she tried to steady herself with her sword she shook in place for her right hand was exhausted. When she raised her head to see who it was she was halted by the feeling of a blade at the side of her neck.
"Stand down men. They are harmless now for they are too injured." she heared a female voice command.
Vita growled at the word 'harmless' and charged at the source of the voice, being knocked aside easily by the queen's guardian beast, Zafira. The redhead was the king's favourite frontliner, the leading charger at the beginning of any battle. She was trustworthy and smashed anything that got in her way. Unfortunately right now, she was too tired and weary from battle to do anything.
"My dear knight, there is nothing left to fight. I thank the three of you for getting rid of my insane husband. I have tried endlessly to show him the error of his ways but have failed. You are honoured for your bravery at ending the misery caused by him." kneeling before them and looking Signum in the eye.
"Our thanks your majesty but I doubt we will last long for our injuries have gotten worse and are irrepairable. We are on the verge of death though we are glad to have done you great service." the pink knight proclaimed through ragged breaths. The queen looked at the other two and realised that what Signum had said shows true.
"I can save you but you must sware allegience to me and only me, serving me as the guardian knights of my magical tome." pulling out a book and opening it before them. Seeing it as a better option than dying they did as ordered.
They were absorbed and embedded into the book as programs with only a single purpose, to protect the master of the tome and to do as commanded. They were joined by the guardian beast Zafira at the queen's command. They now begin a new chapter of their lives.
Signum went over the number of pages they had collected and knew that the amount they had collected was not going to please their master. She let out a sigh but stopped when she heard Vita shouting. She went over to see what the commotion was about.
"I'm not going to kill her! You can since you do it cleaner than I can!" the redhead shouted as Shamal shook her head ferverently, a sad look on her face.
"What is all this about?" Signum barked, silencing Vita and Shamal looked as if she would faint there and then.
"I ain't going to kill her and she's the only one left with a linker core around here." the redhead quickly said, her face set in pure anger.
Shamal shook her head and Zafira said nothing. It was one of those times again where neither wanted to do something they didn't like. Signum took a deep breath and started ordering them around. She had Shamal heal the wounds on the little girl and had Vita look for a nearby village. They were done within minutes and Vita came back with a location about a mile from where they stood.
"Zafira, you are the least suspicious, take the girl and drop her off at the village. She'll be safe there." carrying the said girl and handing her to Zafira.
"You do know the consequences of our actions do you?" he asked her telepathically and Signum just nodded.
"I know, just do as I say and I will handle the rest." her tone changing to a much softer one. Zafira raised a brow in curiosity but they were low on time and he needed to finish his part of the job, leaving him no time to ask her.
Signum watched as he dashed off in the direction of the village. She turned around and ordered Vita and Shamal to make one more round before Zafira returns to make sure they've missed nothing. Shamal was as pale as a white piece of paper while Vita was already showing her tantrum. They knew what punishment awaited them when they return, moreover with their poor performance on today's raid. When Zafira had rejoined them they went back. True, their master was unpleased and for that they were absolutely sure he would punish them all but before he could say anything Signum spoke up again. She did it everytime he was like this.
"Allow me to take the blame master for I have failed to lead the team well thus resulting in our failure. They merely followed the orders I gave them and because I gave them the wrong orders we failed to obtain more pages." he glared down at all of them but nodded and a simple, short, sharp 'fine' was uttered.
He beckoned Signum to stay and sent the rest out of his room. When the door had closed behind the rest, Shamal cried silently while Vita started shouting curses and prayers of mercy. Zafira was speechless as he was just as shocked. She did it again, Signum took the blame for all of their actions again and neither one of them were brave enough to go against her will. Suddenly Shamal and Vita stopped crying when they heard their leader scream in pain. Zafira froze as Shamal cried some more. Vita sat there in utter silence, not sure what to do as it was either let Signum suffer for her failure or to kill the ******* that was hurting her. THe screaming stopped for a long time as silence creeped through the walls of the dungeon, their quarters. Suddenly, they heard footsteps down the corridor, stumbling and yelping out in pain. Shamal ran out and carried Signum in. She looked worse than last time, her hair in a mess, her clothes torn, bleeding all over as cuts and slashes filled her body. The knight of the lake laid her head on Zafira's back as she began healing Signum. The pink knight was panting heavily, sweat slicked from strain, eyes shut in pure pain. This was a torture, to Signum and the rest of them. It was a nightmare and nothing that any of them did would change the fact that they were to continue on like so long as their master is cruel like the one now. They can only hope for a better master next time round.
Everyone in the room was in tears by the time Vita was done with her tale. They were fighting off a group of wanted mages, Signum and her. The shot was meant for Signum because her unison with Agito allowed her more firepower and they were desperate. Vita took the full blow of it instead and was now in the infirmary with a bunch of crybabies, so she said. Signum had been furious and almost killed the lot of them, Agito too had wanted just that. Hayate had complained about this and that's when Vita decided to bring up the old granma's tale to get to understand why she did it and it was true. She owes Signum a hell of a lot of favours while she owed Vita nothing. She bet with the whole group that Signum was most probably doing her paperwaork for her to make up for it which caused Hayate to burst into another fit of tears. Indeed, Signum was doing just that when Fate went to check.
These past few days, Signum had noticed change in the way her family and friends were treating her and found it very out of place. Vita, Shamal and Zafira were the only ones treating her normally. She couldn't take this act of stupidity any longer. They were acting nice, too nice to her and unlike always, Fate laughed nervously instead of genuinely and was very stingy with her words, especially the way she chose to use them as if trying to avoid hurting her. Fate should have known by now that she would not easily be offended by her jests. She demanded it to stop and was at the point of shouting at Fate during their sparring session for she was holding back and didn't fight like before. Vita had known this to be going on for a while and felt a little guilty in telling them something Signum should have said herself. The red hammer knight told those who knew to stop the weird treatment and treat her like normal or else tell her why they were acting that way. All of them decided to avoid picking the latter. Eventually, things slowly went back to normal, Signum knowing nothing. Everyone now had every reason to want to protect their beloved leader of the wolkenritter because of her act of self sacrifice for her comrades in the past and present.
I hope u like this one n sry for not updating this.... running low on inspiration.... a new Signum fic is in the process n no its not realated to this fic. pls review...... note, for the everyone in the room line, u may happily imagin whoever u wan in that room. yea, i'm a little on the angsty side these days. a gud cry never does any harm. ^^
Diclaimer : I do not own MGLN in any way whatsoever.
