Rhino600:
Thank you for your review! It's great to hear that people like both my original characters as well as my portrayal of the game characters! Writing fitting reactions and responses for characters I didn't create is a challenge, and I'm relieved that I seem to be doing something right. I hope to explore both the stories and characters in more depth as I get further into this project.
AccessBlade:
Figured I should thank you again since you review every chapter. And then have long chats with me via email. I always look forward to hearing your reactions! ^_^ Especially for this chapter...which is up so early mostly because of you.
x x x
Chapter 12: Scary People
x x x
Oddly, while chasing Ragou, my mind began chanting this weird singsong ditty my Dad used to say when chasing my brothers and me around in the pool.
Oh, the Slithery Dee
It came from the sea
It caught all the others
But it won't catch me!
No it won't catch me
That slithery Dee
It caught all the others
But it won't catch-! *silence*
Very weird. Thankfully, as I was using all my breath just to chase the old bastard up the stairs, I didn't start singing it out loud. I was already acting crazy enough.
I burst into the room with the weather controlling blastia and looked around wildly. A door slammed to the right, and I leaped on it. Unfortunately Ragou had already managed to lock it. When the group caught up to me I was still kicking at it and screaming curses (occasionally throwing in a few from other languages).
"-goddamned sunuva louse-ridden wh-"
"Woah! Settle down!" Hearing Yuri reprimand me (and belatedly remembering there were children present), I stopped kicking and screaming to fume silently at the door. "Damn, when did you become such a loose cannon?"
I forced myself to turn away from the door and walk away from it. "Always have been, cannon just usually isn't already loaded. Merde!" I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. And again. And again. Seeing me apparently calming down at last and doing breathing exercises, Yuri returned to where the others were inspecting the blastia.
Breathing in...ichi, nii, san, shi, go, roku... I imagined I could hear the blue belt instructor of my college Aikido club counting in Japanese.
Breathing out...ichi, nii, san, shi...gyah! Can't breathe! I started gasping for air past the pressure in my chest, and quickly spun away so no one would see. Shit, shit, shit why does this keep happening?
"Aaah! Damn it!" Rita screamed and began flinging fireballs around the room. Okay...pressure's going away...
One fireball landed near where Karol had his ax in mid-swing and knocked him off his feet. "Jeez! What got into you all of a sudden?"
"We've gotta give those knights a good reason to show up, don't we?" The pain was almost entirely gone huh, that was quicker than usual, and I could relax again.
"Yes, but I don't know if we should..." Estelle hesitantly objected.
"Really, what a way to behave in someone else's home." The arrogant and patronizing tone made my head snap around to the door I'd been trying to beat down. "The time has come for you to earn your keep. I want all of them captured." There was my favorite target of my own homicidal anger, Ragou! Too bad he was surrounded by muscled flunkies or I'd show him how much I missed him. "Whatever happens though, take care not to kill the young lady in white!" Huh, the line had altered from the game to make it obvious which "young lady" Ragou meant.
"No way! Are these guys from the Blood Alliance?" exclaimed Karol as he hefted his ax. Fights broke out as everyone engaged a Blood Alliance member, though Rita just kept throwing fireballs any which way and shouting. Why doesn't she get yelled at for being a loose cannon? I back pedaled away from the fights until I realized one of the thugs was using my dao, and another had my daggers in his belt.
Narrowing my eyes, I rushed the one with the dao. He struck at me, but I dodged and used a kotegaeshi based Aikido move to transfer the weapon from his hand to mine. While he still tried to figure out how I had become the armed combatant, I smashed the hilt into his face and chased after the one with my daggers.
I heard Yuri saying, "Enough, we're getting out of here!" and Rita snapping that she wasn't finished yet, or something like that. I was a bit preoccupied with trying to smash the Blood Alliance guy unconscious so I could get my daggers back.
I'd managed to iikyo the guy to the floor (surprised I managed to do that with a sword in one hand), and while I had him pinned with my knee I snatched up my daggers. Jumping up again, I saw Flynn at the door Ragou had used with several of his knights.
"Magistrate, I don't know what's happened here, but allow us to offer our assistance."
"There, see?" Yuri had an "I told you so" tone... and Ragou muttered something under his breath.
Then Judith made her window smashing entrance on Ba'ul. Damn, wish I could have made a grand entry like that back in the Shaikos Ruins... Though I was looking forward to when she ditched the armor. It reminded me a bit too much of something like the Ku Klux Klan...
"Woah...! Is th-that the dragon rider?" Karol exclaimed in fearful awe. At this point I had always thought Ba'ul looked more like some kind of dolphin on steroids... The call he made even sounded like a whale with a higher voice.
Judith and Ba'ul soared across the room, dodging the magic attack Witcher aimed at them, and smashed the blastia with Ba'ul fin and Judith's spear.
Rita shrieked in rage. "You! What the hell do you think you're doing? How dare you destroy those blastia!"
"There really is a person riding a monster..." gasped the princess.
"Wait!" Our mage's voice was sharp enough to cut glass, as she gestured frantically to cast rapidfire fireballs at Judith. Ba'ul responded by blasting some energy at the floor that caused the area around the blastia to catch fire. Incidentally this also cut off Flynn and his knights, who'd been trying to get close enough to use their swords.
"Damn. He'll get away!" And Ba'ul was back out the window, leaving with Judith in style.
"So cool..." I sighed.
"Where do you think you're going?" Yuri shouted, chasing after Ragou. Oh, right, we're not done yet. I joined the chase with the others.
x x x
"Yaaay! The sun!" I crowed once we got outside, then quickly slapped a hand over my eyes, "Oww, it's blinding..." Rita, however, was still fuming over how Judith got away and re-dubbed the Dragon Rider as the Dragon Freak. I listened to everyone discussing what the Dragon Rider's purpose for destroying blastia could be, impatient to be on our way but knowing I couldn't go anywhere until my eyes adjusted to the light again.
"Do you think you can go home by yourself?" Huh? What's Yuri talking about? Oh, Pauly's still with us, I forgot...
"You're going to go get that bad Ragou person, aren't you?"
"Yeah, we want to hurry."
"It's okay. I can go home by myself." Then I felt a small pair of arms wrap around my waist. "Thank you for helping me, scary lady!"
"Jeez, do you have to call me that?" I complained, but I patted him on the head. "Whatever, I'll be as scary as I need to be to keep monsters away from you." Pauly smiled (I think, my sight was still a bit blurry) and ran off.
Dammit, Estelle was hesitating again. While everyone said a little something along the lines of "face the facts, some people that have power are scum" I had already started for Ragou's private dock, Rita right behind me.
I pounded down the dock, sprinting like I had always hated (dammitall, there was a huge stitch in my side from running around everywhere) to try and get as close as possible to the ship. "Shit, can I really jump on that?" Well the worse that could happen would be I'd fall into the water...and maybe get crushed under the ship... "Shit!" I jumped, trying to put all the energy I had left into my legs.
There was a flash of light, it seemed to be just behind my field of vision, and I felt a small surge of strength when I made that desperate jump. What? I crashed against the side of the ship, my hands grabbing the railing. "Ugh! I always sucked at chin ups!" The dao and daggers belted to my hips didn't help. Slowly I managed to drag myself up and over the side. "Agh! Don't make me do that again!"
Was that my blastia? Did I use it without thinking about it? Whatever, just all the more reason to be grateful to Ludwig and Sophia. Whether or not I knew their whole story.
I looked up in time to see Yuri and Repede landing on the deck, a rather shaken looking Karol tucked under the older man's arm. Rita was pulling Estelle up over the side, somehow the princess had also managed the jump.
Looking around the ship we'd landed on, I saw that the deck was loaded with various crates and chests. Rita didn't hesitate in ripping them open to see what was inside. "These are all blastia cores!"
Karol stood on his toes to look over her shoulder into a chest. "Why are there so many? And they're all just cores."
"I have no idea. We don't even have this many at the laboratory!"
"Could this be connected to the core thief?" Estelle looked to Yuri for confirmation.
"Could be," he said, stepping closer to look at the cores.
"Huh, if so many cores have been stolen, why aren't there more people making a fuss over it? They're important after all." I wondered aloud.
"Nobles don't notice the loss as much, and no one else can do anything about it," Yuri explained to me, "Especially if there's someone high up who's responsible."
"But I thought the one behind everything was a huge guy with one eye. That doesn't fit Ragou at all."
"Then he might not be the only one pulling the strings," Yuri answered the boy thoughtfully. He hopefully looked around at all the opened boxes full of shining cores. "I wonder if the core from the lower quarter is here someplace."
"Sorry, none of these are big enough," the mage told him as she finished her quick check of the last chest.
Repede started growling. Ah, break time's over. The crew of Blood Alliance guild members were coming out to surround us. I hope I don't just pass out from exhaustion while fighting Barbos(sa) or Zagi. I'd probably drown once the ship sinks.
Crap, I'd almost forgotten about that. I glanced at the others with me. ...Do they all know how to swim? Estelle's been in the castle her whole life, so it would make sense if she didn't know.
"I knew it. These guys are with the Blood Alliance. They're one of the five master guilds," Karol informed us grimly.
"They seriously look like pirates wearing armor," I observed. I was ignored. Apparently everyone was learning to overlook the random stuff I say. The "pirates" all jumped to attack us at once. Two rushed me, maybe planning to try some sort of tag team. Wanting to get things over with quick (sooo exhausted...) I dodged one and Aikido'd the other. Too bad I don't remember the name for that move. It's nice and simple: sidestep*, grab their arm, and keep them moving the way they were going. He did a dive right over the railing into the water.
I turned to his buddy and grinned. "Nice day for a swim?"
"Crazy bitch!" he spat at me.
"Woah. I've been called lots of things, but no one's ever called me a bitch before!" Seriously, never. "I think we need to wash your mouth out, young man!" (He was probably older than me...) The thug didn't look like he'd make the mistake of charging me again, however, so I pulled my daggers.
I really didn't want to have to kill someone though... Which made me wonder, were the others killing their opponents or knocking them out? I couldn't spare the time or attention to check. Well, if you can, knock this guy out or make him swim.
For the next few minutes, I did a lot of dodging. I was really afraid of seriously hurting the guy if I attacked, so I was left to defend myself while waiting for a good opportunity to use something Aikido inspired. Unfortunately he seemed to realize I wasn't going all out and began attacking with more vigor. Ugh, you know, maybe if I hadn't drawn my daggers I'd be having better luck finding a way to use Aikido on this guy and get him over the railing... Too late for that.
I hadn't been paying attention to what was going on around us (which is bad, I should try to learn to pay attention so I don't get knifed from behind one of these days) so I didn't realize we'd been getting close to where Rita was casting spells. The thug might have done this on purpose, or he might have just noticed it before I finally did and decided to capitalize on the situation as an opportunity to off the mage who was barbecuing his comrades.
He aimed a particularly nasty swing at me, which I had to jump back to avoid (not trying to block a sword half my size with two little daggers), then turned and raised his sword to stab Rita through the back.
"Shit!" I lunged forward, maybe partly intending to just grab his shoulders and pull him away, but I was holding daggers in my hands. The practical and realistic part of my mind automatically took over and stabbed him in the back. He made a strangled sound as the sword fell from his hands and he fell to his knees. I stared at him in horror. WHAT THE FRICK DID I JUST DO! Dammit, I'd never thought I was the type who could stab someone in the back!
But my strike hadn't been well aimed, so the man managed to grab his sword again, and swung around as he stood up to face me. His face was twisted with pain and fury. I felt frozen by fear and my own internal shit fit. With a roar (flecks of blood flew out of his mouth, my practical and realistic part noted coldly) he tried to run me through with his sword.
The chances that I would have stood there and watched him do it were pretty high at that point, but Practical and Realistic side of me would have none of that. On instinct or reflex or whatever, I dodged his sword. But instead of going to the side and slightly behind him for safety and control (Aikido), I took the daring route and stepped in closer, where I was right in his face when I stabbed him again.
He fell down again, dead or dying, but either way he wouldn't be getting up again. The cold side of me settled back down since neither my team mates nor I were in anymore danger of imminent death. I don't scream when I have mental breakdowns, not audibly. Instead I go crazy inside. Nothing coherent enough to explain either.
"Letha...hey, are you okay?" I shook myself a little and came back out of my own head a bit. Karol was in front of me, looking up into my face with concern. Apparently I'd just been standing there staring at nothing for some time.
"Yeah, Ace, I'm just fine," I said, with barely a waver in my voice. It was there, but he didn't seem to notice it.
It was not the time for breakdown or hysterics, that could wait until later when I wouldn't be in danger of getting killed while agonizing over having killed someone else.
Don't think about it.
Don't think about it.
I kept that litany going in my head for a long time.
With the crew taken care of (I did not look to see how many were dead and how many were out cold) Yuri and Karol started looking for...I dunno, anyone hiding in the cabin or overlooked chests of blastia cores? The cabin door flew open and Karol was flung across the deck with a startled yelp.
"Out of my way!" Barbos(sa) came swaggering out of the door he'd kicked open. "Hah. Was that spineless worm Ragou running from a bunch of kids?" he sneered at us. Barbos doesn't really look like Barbossa from Pirates of the Caribbean at all, but the name always results in that automatic connection in my mind.
"One-eyed giant... So you're the one getting people to bring you all these cores?" demanded Yuri, making his presence behind Barbos(sa) while pointing his sword at the man's back. A dagger in a man's back...
Don't think about it, don't think about it, DON'T think about it!
I snapped out of it when Barbos(sa) spun and tried to hit Yuri with his (FUCKING HUGE) sword, and the black haired man demonstrated amazing acrobatic skill (maybe his blastia helps?) jumping out of the way and back to where we watched.
Barbos(sa) and Yuri exchanged a few semi-conversational, semi-pissed off words with each other when Ragou made his displeasure with everything in general known. "Barbos, what are you waiting for? Dispose of these brats!" Urgh, I still wanna kill that bastard-
A man lying in a pool of his own blood...
DON'T THINK ABOUT IT, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT-
"Next time we meet, you kids won't be getting off so easy." Oh, Barbos(sa) was leaving. Guess we didn't actually have to fight him yet.
"Wait! He's still inside...! Damn!" Ragou cursed at Barbos and followed him to the smaller boat (that kind has a name, but I couldn't remember it) for going to shore. "Zagi! We'll leave the rest to you!" Barbos cut the ropes and the boat fell into the water.
The insane assassin came out from where ever he'd been taking a nap or something. "Who is it? Who do I get to kill this time?" Damn the look on his face was scary and demented. About as scary as I had been in Ragou's basement, and he wasn't even covered in blood or killing things with bones.
Covered in blood... I was still covered in blood. Mine, that of the monsters, and of the Blood Alliance man...
AGH! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! My knuckles were bloodless white with how tight I was clenching my fists.
Estelle and Yuri of course recognized Zagi, and looked very unhappy to see him again.
The ship was rocked by some explosions below deck -what the crap was that?- but Zagi hardly seemed to notice as he did some writhing dance thing while cackling, "My blade, it aches to kill... I've got to kill something!" Another demented look, and he launched himself at Yuri, who barely dodged in time. Of course, Zagi hit something else which exploded some more. I threw my hand up to try and filter the smoke with my sleeve, but couldn't cover my watering eyes for fear Zagi would gut me.
"Woah! Go easy on me this time." Yuri shook off his surprise and prepared to take on Zagi. Zagi turned back to him with yet another demented look. Is the guy tripping on something or what?
Unlike in the game, the rest of us couldn't hope to keep up with the two fighters. They were darting and jumping all over the place, sparks flying everywhere whenever their swords clashed. Zagi kept screaming "Die for me!" and Yuri yelled at least once "What the HELL is wrong with you!"
Karol and I ran to hide behind a few crates (screw being labeled as a coward, nobody would want to take on Zagi!). Rita looked like she really wanted to roast Zagi but couldn't cast a spell that wouldn't either miss or hit Yuri too. Estelle was the only one of us who could be even slightly useful, using First Aid whenever Yuri was a bit slow and got cut. Despite Rita's restraint, there were fires breaking out everywhere from the explosions.
Suddenly the boat was rocked again by more explosions, and one shock wave hit Zagi. He was put off balance and unable to block Yuri's sword, getting a deep cut up his left arm to his shoulder. He grasped at it as he stumbled back and fell to his knees, "Graaah! That hurts...!"
"You put up a good fight." The black haired swordsman conceded, able to relax a bit at last.
"...I-I retreated..." the assassin mumbled and then laughed maniacally. I wonder if he'll give lessons...he sounds really freaky. Definitely way scarier than I was before. "You're tough! Yes tough! You're definitely tough! I certainly won't forget that, Yuri!" The birth of the psychotic Yuri Lowell fanboy. "I'm going to kill you, Yuri! Gonna carve you into little pieces! Don't move a muscle...!" As he was laughing something exploded again, and the rocking ship threw him off into the ocean.
"Woah...Yuri, you're just all the wrong sorts of popular, aren't you?" I said, trying to hold on to the spark of my returning sense of humor to keep from freaking out again.
He made a face, "Feel free to take my place as a celebrity."
"The ship's sinking!" Karol yelled.
Quickly assessing the situation, Yuri ordered, "Everyone into the water!" Before any of us moved, there was coughing from the ship's cabin.
"Is anyone there?" Crap, during my whole mental breakdown I'd forgotten Ioder was here too. Why the hell did he wait until now to speak up? Yuri ran for the cabin door, while Rita and I pulled Estelle back (she'd tried to run through the fire to help him) and practically wrestled her into jumping over the side.
Karol had already abandoned ship, and was furiously trying to keep his head above water. His oversized weapon and the bag he wore must have been weighing him down. Rita was treading water just fine, but Estelle's flower-gown dress thing absorbed a ton of water and nearly dragged her under. Being the oldest, strongest (not counting Karol who had enough problems at the moment), and having the least trouble keeping myself afloat, I struggled to help support both of us. Not easy, especially when the princess nearly panicked and dragged me under at first.
"Estelle-dear-please don't cling so tight!"
Damn, Flynn better pick us up soon, I'm tiring fast! Then I would have smacked myself in the face if my hands weren't already occupied. I should have just hitched a ride with Flynn to cross the ocean and hook up with the others! Fuck!
...The ocean had monsters too, right? Like those mermen or whatever?
When something started coming up from below, I actually shrieked, "It's the Slithery Dee!" and making Estelle wince and earning weird looks all around. Of course, it was just Yuri coming up with an unconscious Prince Ioder.
"Yuri! Thank goodness!" It was my turn to wince at Estelle's voice in my ear.
He coughed out some water, "Man, that's salty." His voice sounded raspy from the salt water. "I must've drank a bucket full."
"Who's that?" Rita tried to point at Ioder and nearly floundered for a moment.
"Ioder...!" the princess exclaimed, recognizing him now that she wasn't worried about Yuri.
"What, you know him?"
"Look, a boat! We're saved!" Hey, wait a minute, why was Karol's bag floating now? Dammit, how come he gets a flotation device? "Heeey! Over heeere!" Damn...I never found my bag again back at Ragou's... Ah, shit! My stuff from Earth! I'd have to see if Flynn's knights could find it for me, or if Kaufmann heard about it with her connections.
Flynn's boat slowly came up alongside us, and he expressed his relief at seeing us alive. Until he saw Yuri's armful of missing noble. "Master Ioder!" Recovering from his momentary lapse of composure, he began throwing orders around to get things done. "Wait, I'll pull you out. Sodia, give me a hand!"
The knights got Ioder into the boat with Yuri's help, and then I helped boost Estelle as she climbed up. Once it was my turn to be pulled on board, I heaved a sigh and slumped against the railing. "Oh my, there goes all that adrenalin that's been keepin' me on my feet all day..." With that I promptly fell asleep.
x x x
...It was bound to happen sooner or later, and Letha won't be able to hide from that reality very long.
*I've been referring to it as sidestepping, but it's actually footwork called Ten Kan (not sure about the spelling). But it's a bit too complicated to explain at length when in the middle of a fight. Nor do I want to stick an explanation here. Someday I might write a sidestory/one shot thing of the scene where Letha was teaching Yuri some Aikido. I'll describe the moves she uses the most better there.