Disclaimer, I own nothing, don't sue me.
Chapter 6: The staff of destruction
"So… partner. Mind telling me why you're trying to break the world record for number of words muttered in a single breath? Just saying 'I'm doomed' over and over doesn't give me much to work with." Saito looked up from his paperwork at the frantic noble still busy pacing in circles.
"The familiar evaluation fair is in three days and we have nothing! AHHHH!" Louise paused her pacing to scream at her familiar before resuming at an even faster pace.
"Sorry, been a bit busy with the paperwork from your new estate. What's the fair about again?" Saito responded with a clueless voice. Truth be told, he already had everything planned out but messing with pinkie was one of the few forms of entertainment he had left to him with all the paperwork.
"Gah! All second years are supposed to present their familiars at the fair with a performance of sorts… and we've nothing planned!"
"Well… I could always beat up Guiche and Malicorne or fight a duel…" Saito let the suggestion hang in the air and the withering glare his partner shot his way made it worth it.
"How many times do I have to tell you, you can't just resort to force for all your problems. It's barbaric!"
"Nonsense, it is the tried and true problem-solving process for GDI. Step 1, identify problem. Step 2, apply military force. Step 3, repeat step 2 until problem ceases to be problematic. With the exception of that cockroach Kane, it's never failed."
The subsequent howl of frustration was music to his ears. "I don't care about how you did things back home! The princess will be there and I can't have you beating up nobles to showcase your talents! We need a solid performance and it needs to be good enough to win."
The fire in her eyes drew a small whistle from the general. "Nice of you to have so much confidence in me but I don't know how I'm supposed to be more impressive than a dragon."
"Grrr… come on, you must have some other talent. I don't know, can you juggle or something? Ahhhrghh! I'm doomed I'm doomed I'm doomed…"
"I am not a clown partner, so no, I don't juggle." The cloud of depression hanging over Louise was practically visible at this point to his amusement.
"But…"
Saito blinked as Louise suddenly appeared up in his face with an excessively eager expression. "What do have planned what is it tell me tell me tell me!"
"Ehem, I do have some skill with a violin and I could always play one for the showcase."
"A violin? Eh where are we supposed to get one at this time? I supposed we could…" Realisation dawned on Louise's face as she realised her familiar had set her up… again.
"You. YOU! You already had this planned out, didn't you!?"
"Guilty as charged." Saito sounded off nonchalantly before holding up his paperwork as a shield from the enraged mage.
"Ah uh uh! You blow me up and I'm taking the paperwork down with me. Then you can fill out the few hundred pages of 'lost paperwork' forms yourself. Wouldn't want that, now would we?"
Louise growled and reluctantly let go of the wand she had already half raised. "Stupid familiar! Do you have any idea how worried I was about the showcase!? Couldn't you have said something!?"
"Sure I could, but after you dumped salt in my coffee… no."
"That was an accident! And it was just one cup!"
"One cup of ultra-rare liquid gold that I can only enjoy once a month. I have precious little of it as it is and you went and desecrated a full cup of it. how could you partner! I thought we were friends."
"It was an accident! I didn't know the shaker would just topple over and dump everything inside the cup. And who asked you to stash it at the top of an unstable pile of books anyway?"
Saito waved a hand around to indicate the clutter that took up more than half of Louise's room. "You're the one who insisted I bring Mott's documents here instead of working on it at the mansion. Just so you know, this is only a fraction of the things I need to run through."
"W-well you're the one who went after Mott and took his title."
"I didn't hear you complaining when you were busy showing off your new title of count to everyone else. Bah, no use crying over ruined coffee now." Saito let out a small sob at the last bit.
"There's a violin in the manor that I could use. Haven't touched one in years so I am a little rusty, I'll head there immediately to begin rehearsing and I'll return the night before the performance."
"Alright, just… please don't embarrass us in front of the princess."
"Of course, I always aim to impress. Oh and just so you know, just because I'm not around doesn't mean you get to slack off on your training. That goes for Guiche as well. If I come back and I find that you haven't been keeping up with the regime, there will be remedial training."
Satisfied with Louise's gulp and nervous nodding, Saito did a mock bow and leapt over the balcony, making straight for the mansion.
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Longueville stood behind professor Colbert as the man relieved the guards stationed at the vault of their duty before assigning them to their new positions.
"Is this wise professor? I heard rumours that the phantom thief Fouquet would be targeting the vault."
"Nothing to worry about miss Longueville, the guards are mostly there for show. The true defence of the vault lies in the walls itself, not even a square class mage will be able to breach them. If the vault really is breached… then it's just as well that the guards aren't here, anyone strong enough to breach the walls won't even be slowed down by their presence."
"I see. But what other safeguards are there to protect the staff of destruction? I imagine that with its power, there would be more than a few willing to try to steal it. What if someone figures out how to get past the wards?"
"Unlikely as that scenario is, there aren't any spells on the staff itself save for whatever was used in its creation. Only the headmaster has ever seen it in action and to date, no one has been able to get it to work again. For the time being, presenting a proper welcome for the princess in the number one priority… I really don't think any thief will try anything when the princess is arriving tomorrow."
"I see… thank you for your time professor."
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Saito scaled the wall before vaulting over the balcony railings and into Louise's room. Only reflexes honed by years of war kept him from being skewered by a rapier that materialised out of thin air.
Slapping aside the thin blade, he reacted on instinct and levelled his sidearm at his attacker only to pause as recognition sank in.
"Chevalier Agnes?" The general found himself staring at the blond musketeer he'd become acquainted with during the fallout of Mott's sudden downfall.
"Hiraga Saito? Pray tell, what exactly are you doing here at this time of night?"
"I could ask you the same. This is my master's room, it's only natural that I be here isn't it? If this is about the evidence from the manor, it's not ready yet."
"My, my, is this the familiar you've been telling me about Louise?" Before their banter could continue, an unfamiliar voice intruded and Saito's attention was drawn to a regal figure wearing a white dress and a travelling cloak.
"Unfortunately so your highness. Familiar! Put away your gun, you're in the presence of the princess herself!"
Noticing the loaded firearm was still in hand, Saito gave a sheepish smile as he holstered the pistol and saluted. "My apologies your highness, I meant no offence. Hiraga Saito, familiar of Count Valliere at your service."
"No need to stand on ceremony Mr Hiraga, as I've already told Louise, just address me as Henrietta."
"If you insist, and just Saito is fine, Mr Hiraga makes me feel old."
"Wha!? You can't do that! That's disrespectful! I'm so sorry for my familiar your highness, I'll be sure to properly re-educate him after this." Taken aback by Saito's informal tone, Louise began bowing and apologising profusely to the amusement of everyone else.
"Partner, it's a direct order from the princess. To do otherwise is to disobey a royal command. Are you suggesting I commit high treason in front of her highness herself? How very bold!"
"That's not! you- I- wuh?" Louise's brain promptly short circuited and it drew a small giggle from the princess. Even when they were children, Henrietta had never seen this side of her friend, it was refreshing and a welcome break from all the stuffiness she had to put up with on a daily basis.
"My my Louise, you just rose to a count and now you've already set your sights on the throne? Ambitious, aren't we?" The princess said with a smile.
"That's not… uuu… alright! I'll call you H-Henrietta!"
Saito faded into the background as the two friends continued catching up on old times. He retrieved a small stack of papers from one of the many piles and handed it over to the musketeer. "There's still quite a large amount I haven't sorted through yet but these are some of the more suspect financial statements. Should be worth looking into for now."
"Excellent work. You've done Tristain a great service, with this we'll be able to root out the corruption in our ranks." Agnes nodded appreciatively and slipped the documents into a small pouch on her waist.
"It's a little more than just regular corrupt nobles I'm afraid. Unless I'm mistaken, some of the more recent payments were from other nations. Mott didn't record much about the transactions but the name Reconquista shows up in more than a few of his letters. Could be something, could be nothing, I don't know enough to make a judgement yet."
Agnes eyes narrowed at the mention of the gathering of religious fanatics and power-hungry nobles. Now that she thought of it, the anti-Henrietta faction had been growing in boldness ever since Albion fell into chaos, their meddling had effectively stonewalled any attempt to send aid to the royalists.
"We will look into it. Again, thank you for your assistance."
"Just doing my duty as a familiar of Count Valliere."
Agnes suppressed a small snort at those words. "You aren't fooling anyone familiar, the Mott incident was entirely of your own doing, Lady Valliere just went along with it. Everyone can see that the girl doesn't have the political acumen to pull of a stunt like that on her own. Just what are your intentions really?"
"Appearances can be deceiving chevalier, Louise will surprise you yet… you can relax though, I have no ambition aside from helping Louise achieve hers… which is to be a great noble in the service of the crown, nothing more nothing less."
Saito shrugged and his eyes betrayed the weariness in him for a brief instant before steel replaced it. "I'm supposed to be dead, for better or for worse, she summoned me at the end of my last stand. Most people don't get second chances like that and right now all I want is to see her achieve her dreams in exchange for the extra time she bought me."
"That's it? What about your own desires? You can't honestly expect me to believe you don't have any ambition at all. You have talent but no desire to carve out your own legend?"
Saito glanced over at his partner and noted that she wasn't listening in. "Carving out a legend is overrated, it's lonely at the top. I've already lost everything and everyone I ever cared for once, now I'm just waiting to die so I can see them all again."
"You're not going to-" Agnes started only to be interrupted by a chuckle.
"Relax, I'm not going to go chew on a gun any time soon. The guys will never let me hear the end of it if I take the easy way out. I don't have any dreams left so I'll help Louise achieve hers… and maybe leave the world a better place than I found it."
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Saito bowed as he received a standing ovation for his rendition of a piece of classical music from before his world went to shit. Even in a foreign world Beethoven's ode to joy did not fail to impress.
Walking off stage, there was a burning sensation in his familiar runes, before he could question the occurrence, his vision wavered and a massive rock golem filled it. Its massive arm was raised overhead and about to smash down when it disintegrated under the firepower of a very familiar explosion.
"Aw shit, Louise!" As the vision faded, Saito broke into a dead sprint for the courtyard in his vision, already slipping on his knuckles.
As the explosions grew louder, he rounded a corner to find Louise breathing heavily while surrounded by a small army of human size rock golems. The giant one had half its upper torso blown to hell and one of its legs smashed to pieces but was already pulling itself back together by absorbing several smaller golems.
Louise heaved a sigh of relief as she caught sight of her familiar. "You're late Saito!"
"Sorry, busy trying to win you the prize." Saito called out while dashing into the throng of enemies. Ducking under a wide swing and knocked the offending golem's head clean off with an uppercut before roundhouse kicking another.
"What the heck's going on here?" Successfully tearing his way to Louise's side, he noted that the golems were of inferior quality to those Guiche could summon. Far slower and less durable than the Valkyries, they made up for it with their numbers.
"It's that thief Fouquet, she's broken into the school vault through the hole in the wall." Louise replied tersely as she blasted the giant golem back to the ground by removing its remaining leg.
"Hole in the…" Saito stared dumbly at the gaping hole in the side of the school building that was still belching thick black smoke.
"Why do I get the feeling you had something to do with that?"
"I… uh… I might have missed the giant with my first spell." Came the sheepishly reply.
"Missed. How the heck do you miss something that large at point blank range!?" The incredulity was palpable in his tone.
"I panicked ok! It's not like I get attacked by giant golems every day."
At that moment, a hooded figure leapt out of the smoke carrying a large case in their hands and interrupted their bickering. "Many thanks for your assistance girlie, you saved me a lot of digging. But now I must leave… have a nice day!"
Saito growled and drew his sidearm, firing as soon as he had a lock. His frustration increased when his bullets were repelled by a layer of rock armour that formed around the thief. Cursing his lack of foresight to load AP rounds, he was forced to return his attention to beating back the horde of golems trying to swarm them.
"Partner, how many explosions do you have left? We're going to be overrun if we continue like this."
"Just one large one I think. My willpower hasn't recharged from all the magic practice and I've almost burnt out my reserves trying to bring that golem down."
"Right… in that case dump everything you have into blowing that giant to hell once it's finished regenerating." Saito instructed as he beat back the approaching golems. Their numbers were thinning now as the giant absorbed their ranks to rebuild itself.
"Right." Sucking in a deep breath, Louise focused her tired mind and dug deep to draw out every last scrap of power she had left. Entrusting her protection to her familiar, she closed her eyes and stood still, ordering her volatile magic into a spell that came to her in that instant.
Hearing the soft chanting behind him, Saito redoubled his efforts to hold the line, swinging his bloody fists without rest and sending rock chunks flying with every blow. He ignored the pain from wherever he'd been forced to eat the blows for Louise and sunk into a familiar battle trance that served him through his years of fighting.
Duck. Swing. Uppercut. Dodge. Right hook. Roundhouse.
His perception of time began to slow as he sunk into a comfortable rhythm. Pushing aside any unnecessary stimuli, his emotions faded into the background as logic ruled in its place, becoming more machine than man.
When several golems were pierced by ice spikes before vanishing in a torrent of flames, he merely nodded in the direction of Tabitha and Kirche without slowing his melee rampage.
With the reinforcements, they began to make headway against the waves of golems until all that remained was the fully repaired giant. Not missing her cue, Louise pointed her wand at the golem and shouted. "EXPLOSION!"
The giant was engulfed in a sphere of white light and once it faded, not even ashes marked its passing. Silence reigned in the courtyard after that, broken only by a small 'I did it' from Louise as her legs gave out under her, unconscious before Saito caught her.
The sound of stampeding feet reached their ears and Saito shot a withering glare at the teachers and guards who picked this moment to show up.
"You're late."
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"Are you sure you're up for this?" Saito questioned as Louise lay resting against the cart.
"I'm fine! You don't have to worry so much you know."
"You collapsed from exhaustion and now you're on a mission to hunt down a wanted fugitive with less than 24 hours of rest. I think I have the right to be worried."
"Hey! Don't look down on me Saito, I've been following your sadistic training up till now haven't I? I'm not weak anymore!" Louise shot back petulantly.
"…Just don't push yourself too hard alright? You don't have to prove anything."
Louise shook her head before speaking again. "This isn't about my pride Saito. You heard them in the headmaster's office. The nobles are blaming Henrietta for Fouquet's attack. They're saying that Fouquet only succeeded in stealing the staff of destruction because she selfishly demanded that the guards be reassigned to guarding her."
"Anyone who believes those words are either fools or traitors. You saw Fouquet's little army, exactly what do you expect a bunch of commoners with swords to do against something like that? Get stepped on?"
"It doesn't matter. Henrietta is the first friend I ever made. I won't let her down, not now, not ever. None of the teachers are willing to go after Fouquet except professor Colbert but he's still injured, so we'll just have to retrieve the staff of destruction on our own."
"Heeey! Don't talk like we're not here zero. We're not letting you go in alone right Tabitha?" Louise twitched as Kirche's obnoxious voice assaulted her ears. Tabitha merely nodded in greeting before returning to her book.
"And why are you here Zerbst? This is a Tristainian issue, Germanians aren't required… unless you're here to spy?"
Kirche nearly facefaulted as the accursed 'S' word reappeared. "FOR THE LAST TIME I AM NOT A SPY! Really, I go out of my way to offer my help and I get accused of spying!?"
Kirche sank to her knees and hugged Flame, letting out several loud sobs in an exaggerated manner, drawing sighs from the other passengers.
"Will you please keep it down? We're trying to sneak up on the thief's hideout, at this rate she'll know we're coming." Longueville hissed from the driver's seat as she increased the horses' pace.
Before long they came upon the supposed hideout. An abandoned house in the middle of the woods exactly as Longueville's information had described. Saito frowned as his instincts screamed that he was missing something.
"Something's wrong." He muttered to himself before noticing that everyone was staring at him.
"Right, I'll go in first just in case this is a trap. Tabitha, do you mind keeping watch from the skies?" The quiet girl nodded and mounted Sylphid, taking to the air immediately.
"Louise, be ready for anything, especially if that giant golem shows up again. Zerbst… just keep her safe." Upon receiving two nods, Saito took a deep breath and sprinted for the house.
Sneaking in through an open window, Saito carefully surveyed his surroundings. A thick layer of dust covered everything, completely undisturbed save his footprints. Drawing his pistol and thumbing the safety off, he carefully advanced through the deserted building, not liking what he was seeing.
As he cleared the rooms one at a time, the sense of disquiet eating at him increased in intensity. The house had been abandoned for a long time and the only indication that Fouquet had been here were two sets of tracks leading inside from the main door.
They were recent, very recent. Saito couldn't see how this was supposed to be a hideout at all, the tracks indicated the Fouquet entered the building and left in short order without doing much else. Unless the thief was trying to make it look like the place was uninhabited with magic, the dust would have told a different story if the hideout was lived in. And if it was magic, there was no explanation for the tracks not being covered up.
'Right. Definitely trap. Time to spring it.'
Following the tracks while being wary of an ambush, he entered the basement. There on a pedestal lay the metal case he'd seen Fouquet carry off the day before. Checking around for traps, he again found nothing, bereft of any other option, Saito sucked in a breath before kneeling to take a closer look at the case.
'Ok… what the hell is going on? Why go through all that trouble to steal a staff and then leave it in an abandoned house? Let's see what's inside the box shall we?'
Keeping one eye on his surroundings and gun at the ready, Saito used his free hand to pop the seals on the case and lift the lid. As he beheld the treasure within, he found his breath taken away and he was unable to stop his awe filled voice from sounding out.
"No fucking way! This is… this is… holy shit. Holy shit! Ah… hahahh…. HHAHAHAHAHA!" Picking up the shoulder mounted weapon, he hefted it and found the weapon's weight to be perfectly suited for him as the familiar runes lit up the dark basement.
"Oh this explains so much! I get it now, our thief doesn't know how to use this baby so he left it here in the hopes of finding someone who could use it… sucks to be them. It's mine now."
Leaving the case behind, he stood up and marched back out the front door, waiting for the inevitable onslaught.
He wasn't disappointed.
A thunderous roar scattered the birds roosting in the trees as the earth began to shift. The giant rock golem from before clawed its way out of the ground and towered over the landscape. He could hear the panicked shouts coming from Louise and Kirche but paid it no mind.
The golem wasn't after them at the moment. No, it was after him. "No better place to field test something than in the actual field itself yes? You want me sumbitch? Come get some!"
Raising his new favourite toy, Saito lined up his sights with the golem and squeezed the trigger. A blue beam left the barrel and struck the golem, blowing it to pieces in one shot. The beam continued and cut a line through the sky.
There was a brief pause as though the world was trying to figure out what the heck just happened before a dozen of the smaller golems rushed out of the trees trying to get at them.
A small tornado formed in the centre of the mob and a fireball struck it dead on, turning it into a firestorm from the depths of hell that melted all the golems. A second group that tried rushing out after the first was promptly terminated by rushing into a ball of light that left nothing behind. The third and final group attempting to flank them met their end when Saito fired through the trees to reach them.
The general's grin stretched from ear to ear as he regrouped with the others, the soft whine coming from his weapon only improving his mood. "Today is a good day."
"O-oi Saito, what the heck is that?" Louise was the first to voice the question in the minds of all the nobles as they stared at the silver-grey cube thing on his shoulder.
"The staff of destruction of course. What else would it be. And it's all mine! ahhhahahhahaha!" The demented laughter drew sweat drops from the nobles.
"What do you mean yours? We need to return it to the school to hiik!" Louise's words were cut off when several earth spikes erupted out of the ground and their pointy ends stopped just short of impaling her neck. A quick glance told her that both Tabitha and Kirche were likewise disabled, only Saito had managed to leap away in time to avoid them.
"I'm afraid it belongs to me. Hand the staff over familiar or your master dies." Longueville tapped her wand against her leg, a smug smile painted over her visage.
"M-miss Longueville! What are you doing!?" Kirche questioned in a higher pitched voice than normal.
"Ah… so that's what I was missing. Not much point complaining, Lady Zerbst, Longueville is Fouquet." Saito shook his head and let out a small self-deprecating laugh at his failure to spot the threads.
"Can't believe I missed the obvious. Commoners spotting a hooded figure retreating to a house in the middle of the woods miles from civilisation? Yeah… not bloody likely. And of course, you called Fouquet a 'she' when everyone else thought she was a man. Well played Fouquet."
"Yes, you bought the helpless secretary act completely. Now drop all your weapons and back away slowly… that goes for you girls as well. I'll stab those spikes into your skulls before you get even a single spell off so drop your wands."
"Do as she says, no point throwing away your lives for nothing." Saito said as he himself complied with the demands. Without making any sudden movements, he slowly placed the staff of destruction on the ground followed by his sidearm and knuckle dusters.
Emptying his pockets to show he had nothing left, Saito raised both hands in the air and stepped away from the pile. "So why the charades? You had the staff and nobody even suspected you. Why go through all this?"
"Ah… really I didn't want to either. But my client's instructions were clear. Retrieving the staff nets me half the payment, figuring out how it works gets me the other half. Of course, there's the problem of no one knowing how to make it work which is where you come in. The legendary gandalfr is perfect for it."
"Gandalfr? What the heck is a gandalfr?" Saito questioned.
He was met with a peal of laughter from the thief. "Oh this is rich, you don't even know what you are. The gandalfr is a familiar with the ability to use any weapon instinctively, you're the perfect person to figure out how use an unknown weapon."
Fouquet confidently strode over to the pile of weapons and picked up the staff, struggling slightly under its weight. "Many thanks again brat, you just made me a very rich woman."
"You don't seriously think you'll get away with this do you? Up till now you were just a thief, now that you've gone and threatened a count and two foreign nobles, you'll be hunted down wherever you go… all that money won't save you."
"You forget boy, I'm the trusted secretary of the headmaster. All I need to do is tell him how the lot of you fought valiantly against Fouquet before falling to his superior skills and the staff of destruction was lost in the process. Such a shame you have to die here but I need that money."
Raising the staff and pointing it at Saito, her finger found itself at the trigger. "Nothing personal brat. It's just business."
Ignoring the cries emanating from the captured students, Fouquet squeezed the trigger… only for nothing to happen. Staring dumbly at the weapon, she started hitting it as though that would cause it to regain its functionality. "What!? What's going on!? Why won't it work!?"
She was distracted from her rage by a small metal rectangle bouncing off the staff and into the air in front of her. Directing a questioning gaze at it, a quick 'huh?' was the only thing she got out before her world collapsed in a deafening cacophony when the rectangle detonated.
Dropping to her knees, the staff and her wand fell to the ground as she pressed her hands to her bleeding ears in pain. Looking up in disbelief, her vision was filled with the sight of Saito's boot approaching her face.
She blacked out briefly from the pain of the boot meeting her chin, a coppery taste filled her mouth as she awoke. Trying to get to her feet, she found herself securely bound and her wand nowhere in sight. Looking up, she was surrounded by three very free and very pissed nobles, with Saito standing in the background with an amused smile.
"How?"
"I'm ZOCOM that's how. Normally this is the part where I conduct field interrogations… but, they want their pound of flesh first." Fouquet turned back to the girls and gulped when Tabitha stared at her with her usual emotionless expression while cracking her knuckles, a sight somehow more terrifying than the rest.
"Um… m-mercy?"
Her screams echoed through the forest as the girls made their frustration regarding her betrayal known in no uncertain terms.
-line break
"Excellent work all of you! You've made an old man very proud. But uh… miss longuev-Fouquet was in pretty bad condition when she arrived. What happened exactly?"
"She resisted arrest so we took her down using minimum necessary force. After that she kept trying to escape and her injuries were caused when she accidentally fell off the cart." Saito answered smoothly, smiling innocently at the dubious look the headmaster sent his way.
"Right… in any case for your services to the crown, there are talks of her majesty awarding the title of chevalier to the three of you. Although… since Tabitha here already has that title, she might get a medal or some other award instead."
The three mages looked up cheerfully at that. Louise was practically bouncing on the spot, Kirche carefully stroked her hair, trying not to seem too pleased by the turn of events and even Tabitha couldn't supress a small smile.
"Wait… what about Saito?" Louise paused when she realised Osmond didn't mention anything about her familiar. The headmaster coughed lightly before turning a sheepish gaze to the person in question.
"Right… about that. Because he's not a noble and there aren't any records about where he came from. It's… complicated."
"I'm ok with that." Saito said to forestall any complaints.
"I don't need any titles or rewards. Doing my job and bringing everyone home alive is enough."
"Well… I'm glad that you are agreeable to that… but would you mind returning the staff of destruction now? The vault has been fixed and we really should put it back in."
"Sorry, but that's not happening. The Merlin belongs to me."
"E-excuse me?"
"The staff of destruction is property of GDI. As the only operative present, control of it defaults to me. I am curious though, how did this end up here anyway?"
"Um… well, thirty years ago when I was strolling through the forest, I was attacked by a massive two headed dragon. The beast was too powerful for me to defeat and would have eaten me if it wasn't for a stranger. He was already badly wounded by the time we met and he used the staff of destruction to kill the beast. I brought him back to the academy for treatment but it was too late… I didn't understand the language he spoke and in the end I could only give him a proper funeral. As for the staff, I had it examined but no one could figure out how to use it and I had it sealed in the vaults out of respect for the stranger. C-can you explain what you mean by the staff is property of GDI?"
"The staff of destruction isn't from this world, it's from mine. Back home, it's known as the Merlin personal ion canon, one of the most powerful man-portable weapons in the entire GDI arsenal. Very few were ever built and most were destroyed in combat… except this one. I'm the only one who can use it anyway since the weapon won't work for anyone who doesn't have a GDI identification chip."
"You told me you were a general of this GDI… haah… I guess I can't fault you for trying to retrieve a weapon of your own military. The nobility won't be happy about this."
"If they are loyal to the crown, they have nothing to fear. My dear partner aims to become the arm of the princess, when she succeeds, I will be the blade. If the Merlin is used against a noble, it will be because they're traitors and I've been ordered to deal with them."
"I… see… well I suppose I don't have any reason to stop you, the only alternative is leaving it to collect dust in the vault. Ah right, since Fouquet has been caught, tonight's ball of Frigg will continue as planned. I won't keep you any longer, enjoy yourselves, you've earned it."
The nobles filed out first and Saito motioned for Louise to go on without him. "Headmaster, this… stranger, where… where was he buried?"
"…You wish to pay your respects then." A nod. "Come with me, I don't know how you conduct your funerals in your world but I gave him the best one I could think of. It's just outside the school grounds.
Following behind the headmaster, their journey didn't take very long at all. In a fenced off area of the forest, there was a peaceful clearing with a small lake in the centre. A tomb made out of solid diamond stood at its shore, the waves lapping at it gently.
"After he… passed, I had his wounds cleaned and entombed him in his strange armour. After that I used magic to turn the rocks into diamond to serve as his memorial… you… you don't mind, do you?"
Saito approached the tomb with shaky steps and knelt before it, staring blankly at the body within. Unbidden, several tears fell and stained his jacket.
"No. I appreciate what you've done… I think he would have too."
"Did you know him?"
"…Yes. I knew the colonel. Can I… can I carve an epitaph?" Saito asked while doing his best to keep his voice steady.
"Tell me what you want written and I'll use my magic."
"Alright… here lies major general Nick Seymour Parker, who died as he lived, saving others and never backing down from a fight. And… and was like a father to me." Saito closed his eyes as he couldn't hold back the tears anymore, he saluted until Osmond was done with his magic.
"Who was he?"
"One of the greatest commandos to ever serve, and my inspiration for joining the commandos myself. I met him just over fifteen years ago after I lost my family to tiberium poisoning." Saito answered as soon as he trusted himself not to lose control over his own voice, he would not show weakness here, not in front of him.
"I would have died then but he took me in, gave me a home in GDI, gave me purpose. He wasn't good with people or kids but I was grateful all the same. Then one day he just vanished. Came out of retirement for one last job… never came back. I spent years searching to no avail… at least now I have an answer."
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"Don't be, he's in a better place now. I'll still do my best to live up to his memory…" Trailing off into silence, Saito snapped off another salute as he felt his self-control breaking.
'Wherever you are now, I hope you're proud of me.'
