Guardians' Tales
Chapter IX: Source of Knowledge
Era: Tranquil-Mystic Calendar
Cycle: June 25, 2548
Time: 15:13 Galactic Standard Time, 06:30 Resident Time
Star Cluster: HUB
Planet: Resident
Location: SOLDIER Institute, ARK Dorm
Roxas' POV
I woke up to my second day of school. Another nightmare plaguing my sleep. I've been having the same nightmare for nine years now. A loud, echoing, maniacal laugh followed by a man in colorful clothes and another with long blonde hair walking away, both with a disappointed and dissatisfied look on their face. I remember being left alone in the crystal forest as a Neo Shadow slowly encroached around me. The overwhelming fear that took over me as I huddled against the rocks and covered my head with my hands. I thought I was going to die. I suppose Cosmos saw my plight as I was saved by the girl I would call, Sister.
"Thundara!" A bright flash, teal bolts, and then black dust. "Are you okay?" The soft voice soon accompanied by a warm and gentle hand. Then I woke up.
My room's wall pattern was an amber sunset on an inlet with various ruined pillars scattered about. I got up and put on my clothes, minus the jacket, and left my room to take a shower and went downstairs where I was met by Isaac, who was eating another pear and drinking an orange soda. A book in his hand.
"Morning, Isaac. You get some sleep last night?" I opened the fridge and took out a thing of orange juice.
"Yeah. I went to bed at eight just to be certain."
"That's good. Wouldn't want you tired all the time." I took a seat and looked over my homework.
"You look like you could use a few more minutes."
"Huh? Oh..." I didn't think I looked that tired. "I just had a nightmare. That's all." I figured that shower would've woke me up.
Isaac just gave me a curious stare. "If you say so." He went to reading his book, the title reading Bounty Hunter. "Oh yeah. You have a package in the living room."
"Really?" I went to go check it out. The couches had a few packages on them. I approached the one that had my name on it and opened it. Inside was a pair of blades, about a meter and a half long and half as wide as my torso. I pulled one blade out and found that it held an hourglass figure. The inner portion of the blade being a snow white with a red grip and seven centimeter thick silver edge, the other carrying black on the inner portion of the blade and a red grip. The blades curved around the back and formed to a hook.
There was a note attached to the package. I could tell it was from Cloud by the hand writing.
Roxas,
I saw how you handled yourself in the simulation yesterday and noticed your growing skill with dual wielding. However, your defense is still too open to your opponent. That is why I have provided you with two double-edged swords. For every type of blade and sword wielding style, the wielder both gains and loses something. For my Buster Blade, Fenrir, I gained a more powerful swing and defense, but suffered lowered mobility. I had to work hard to compensate for this. In your case, with your dual wielding, you gained heightened mobility and dexterity, but your strength took a hit. You'll have to make up for this with heightened awareness of your surroundings. Using double-edged swords should help you to this end, allowing you to block better.
If you need help at all, call upon your teammates. They can help you in a wide range of combat scenarios. And if that doesn't help, I'm always ready to cleave your head off. And remember to name your blades. It will allow you to form a bond with your equipment and drive you to work even harder to master it.
Also, Aerith hopes you are enjoying yourself at school and looks forward to seeing you soon.
I just smirked and shook my head at the note. 'Thanks, Cloud.' I placed the blades back in their black and white scabbards respectively, the white blade in the black scabbard etc. and placed them against the wall.
I went back to the kitchen to see Isaac eating an apple. "What'd ya get?"
"A pair of double-edged blades from Cloud."
"Oh, finally got your own personal armament, eh?" The teasing in his tone was too reminiscent of an older sibling.
"Yeah. At least I won't have to rely on simulation weapons anymore. Now I can pull my own weight in missions." I took a sip of my juice, Isaac eyeing me out of the corner of his eyes.
"But you still need to break those blades in. Every blade is like a new pair of shoes, takes some time to adjust."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Of course I'm right." He closed his book and rose to his feet. "Now let's get to sparring!" He walked next to me and grabbed me by the arm and pulled me from the chair.
"Wait a second Isaac!" Too late, before I knew it, I was in the training dojo with my new blades in hand, both scabbards on my left hip.
"You'd better be ready." Isaac warned as he got into his reverse grip stance.
'I wasn't trying to have a sparring match this early in the morning, but I guess it can't be helped now.' I thought to myself and dropped into a fighting stance with my left blade held in front of me and my right blade at my side and pointed at Isaac and rushed him.
Isaac stood still and waited for our blades to collide before even flinching. I struck with my left blade of ivory and connected with his outstretched Star Killer. He countered by bringing his right hand forward in an attempt to uppercut me with his second blade. I side stepped to my right and stabbed forward with my black blade, he moved his left arm to the side and our blades grinded against each other. I had him on defense soon enough and kept his movements to a minimum.
'If my defense is full of holes, then I just need to keep my opponent from attacking!'
We fought for close to eight minutes and Isaac managed to block all of the strikes from my blades, but I managed to land a few punches and kicks on him until he eventually backed off. But instead of retailiating with his usual flurries, he put his blades on the racks instead, much to my confusion. "What's the matter?" I asked with my blades down.
"Just as I thought. Your defense is too open."
"What?" How can he say that when he only got to make one counter attack during the whole fight?
"Don't misunderstand me. A good offense is a good defense. You managed to keep me from attacking by laying on the pressure. A fairly standard tactic when dual-wielding. But what did you really achieve?"
"What are you-Whoa!" I stumbled forward and collapsed to a knee.
"See?" Isaac replied and walked over to offer a hand up. "If you use all your energy on attacking one enemy, you have none left for the others around you. In our fight, you left yourself so full of holes, I could've ended it before your second stab. Dual wielding isn't about being flashy and intimidating, trust me, I learned that lesson the hard way." He motioned to the two scars on his cheek. "You have to know balance and how to compensate for your faults."
"That's what Cloud told me in his letter. I still don't know how compensate for any of my weak spots."
"That's because you simply aren't aware of them yet. But that's what we're here for." He cheerfully responded. "Just keep practicing until you find a stance that…feels right. After that, everything should click." I guess that made sense, but I still don't know how to go about it. "Anyhow, let's head to the kitchen. I'm sure everyone is awake and breakfast should be ready soon."
I hung my swords on the rack and went to join Isaac in the kitchen. When I got there, Aqua and Xion were already cooking the breakfast. Kairi had her hand on Sora's face, who wasn't wearing his jacket at the time, while she ate the last apple, the brunette hopelessly flailing to get to it. Once again, Terra was trying her hardest to pet Asili, but the little wolf just wasn't in the mood. I didn't see Naminé, Shin, or Riku anywhere so I just went to take a seat at the table.
"Morning everyone!" Tifa blared. She had Riku and Shin by the ears as she entered the room with Naminé following close behind. "Is the food done yet?"
"Almost." Aqua replied. "We still need to add the seasoning."
"Don't take too long. These guys need to get ready for their DATDA and Summoning classes today."
"What's a DATDA?" I asked.
"It stands for Defense Against The Dark Arts." Tifa replied as she dropped Shin and Riku into their respective seats. "You'll be taking it after your first elective classes today."
"Is it tough?"
"Not really. It's mostly study work. You won't be doing anything too extraneous until half-way through the year." Aqua told me as she placed a plate in front of me.
"As long as it's nothing like what we went through yesterday, I'll be perfectly fine." Sora said aloud and took a bite of his breakfast.
"I doubt they'll throw that at us again." Riku replied with a nonchalant wave of his fork. "I don't think I could deal with another Vashta Nerada infused Heartless."
"But you will be learning about beings of Darkness throughout the course." Tifa replied with a sly grin.
"You can't forget about creatures that are just plain dangerous, Tifa." Aqua added, sitting down with Xion. "There are some pretty dangerous creatures that we contend with on our missions."
"Don't remind me. I still can't stand fighting against Red eyed Ood." Tifa took a sip of her apple juice in annoyance. "At any rate. Get your food in your stomachs and get going."
Sora's POV
I'll spare you the description of us going through class again. We had our first bit of electives today, replacing our science courses in our time slots. My Aerospace teacher was a guy called Cid Highwind. A blonde guy with goggles on his head, a navy blue short sleeved shirt, and forest green pants with an oak brown jacket tied at his waist with matching leather gloves. He had a pretty mild southern accent with a tooth pick in his mouth with slight stubble on his chin, blue eyes, and a dog tag around his neck. The guy was interesting to say the least. Always loud and quick to hit you with a spear, the blunt end of course.
The first aerospace lesson was pretty basic, we just learned about lift and what not. So I'm going to fast forward to our Dark Arts class. We walked all the way to Merlin's castle again and entered into the chamber where an older guy with a hunch in his stance and a black coat stood by the book case on the far wall.
"Welcome, welcome." His voice was gruff and aged from many years of using his voice for who knows what. "Please take a seat I will be right with you." He motioned to the cushions we sat on before. I noticed that he was bald and had skin slightly darker than Isaac's. We took our seats and waited for the man to join us. He turned around and walked toward us with his face in a book. "You must be the ARK Dorm." He pulled the book down, revealing his amber eyes that looked like they stared right into my soul, and placed it on a table in front of us. A digital blackboard to his left.
"Master Xehanort?" Terra commented. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh yes, Terra. It's been a while since I last saw you." Xehanort replied with a welcoming grin, but his eyes were so chilling that the warm greeting felt lukewarm more than anything else. "I volunteered, if you must know. Even the Headmasters must review material so our aged minds don't forget it." Wait did he just say...? "Yes, Sora. I did just say Headmaster." That is just plain creepy! "It is not creepy, Sora. I just know how to read you youngsters."
…I seriously got nothing in response to that.
"Why would the Headmaster personally teach us?" Riku asked the aged man, not completely buying the explanation Xehanort gave us.
Xehanort gave a hearty laugh at the reply. "You are definitely sharper than Zack. If you must know, I have taught this class since I graduated from this institute. Before I was Headmaster. Go ahead, make your ancient jokes now. I assure you that you'll pay for them later. Whether I want you to or not." Cryptic much?! "Headmaster Xein should be your teacher one of these days when I have to be off on official business."
"Wait, isn't Terra's last name Xein?" I asked aloud.
"Oh. You must mean Eraqus' boy. Yes, Terra is the son of the Headmaster. A lot of pressure to live up to." Xehanort replied with a stroke of his bearded chin.
"I'll say." Kairi added. "Aqua goes on and on about how great a Keyblade wielder Headmaster Xein. Though she never mentions you. I know you're Keyblade wielder, but I never seem to hear anything about you, Master. Even from other people."
"That is too be expected. I haven't summoned my Keyblade in front of people since I fell to Darkness."
"You what?!" Riku exclaimed, mirroring our surprise.
"And that brings me to my first lesson." Xehanort replied and walked over to the blackboard and tapped on it, revealing a Heartless on screen. "Darkness is a dangerous and fairly unknown element that comprises our very beings as well as all worlds. It is raw, untamed power and very difficult to resist. This is where Heartless come in. Tell me, how much do you know about Heartless?"
We sat silent for a moment, not really knowing how to answer. I decided to break the silence to answer, despite Xehanort's beady eyes staring at us all. "I didn't know much about Heartless until yesterday, but I hear that they are born of Darkness and negative emotion that act purely on distinct."
Xehanort gave a disturbingly creepy smile. I'm sure he wasn't trying to do it on purpose, but the way his face was structured and the way his amber eyes glowed made it especially disturbing. "That is about what I was expecting, but more accurate than the answer's I usually get. Most people say that they are just beings of shadow. No one ever mentions being born of negative emotions. Your teammates are certainly knowledgeable." He tapped on the screen and showed a black portal, a pink and red crystal heart, and the Shadow. "Darkness exists in every Heart. Strong feelings such as Hatred, Jealousy, Envy, Lust, Greed. All the negative emotions of the heart. Now what do Heartless and Hearts have in common?"
"Um…Heartless feed on the negative emotions of the heart?" Naminé answered.
"Close, but not quite." Xehanort answered. "It is somewhat morbid."
"Heartless feed on…hearts?!" Riku shouted when he connected the dots.
"That is just sick!" Kairi added with a disturbed grimace.
"Sick, but true. It gets worse however. Not only do Heartless feed on hearts. They are born from hearts." He saw the look of absolute shock on our faces and he seemed to lament over something. "And if a heart becomes too filled with Darkness, they eventually become a Heartless themselves. These eyes are the mark of someone who was on the verge of losing himself to the Darkness and becoming a Heartless." He motioned to his eyes and that is when it all made sense.
"So our Dark Arts teacher was almost turned into a heart devouring monster?" Wow Shin, way to be blunt.
Xehanort just laughed at the reply with genuine amusement, as if a great-grandchild had just asked if he rode on a dinosaur. "Indeed. That is why I am teaching this class. My base affinity is darkness." He clench his hand and a dark smoke formed around it. "Which I'm sure young Riku knows very well."
"Yeah…" I'm sure Riku was probably anxious after using the darkness yesterday. I thought I heard thrashing from the other side of my wall last night and I hard time sleeping when I heard malicious whispers coming from Riku's room.
"Darkness is a hard temptation to resist. I know, I lost to my emotions. That is why I teach all the students about caution and restraint. It is hard to go one's life without at least contemplating using dark powers. I have taught many students. And only one had fallen to Darkness."
"Who…was he?" Riku hesitantly asked.
Xehanort looked at the ground for a moment with a solemn look on his face. "They say that you never get anything right the first time. I wished that my first student was the exception to that rule. Due to my inability to communicate my past experiences, he was twisted by his own emotions."
"That's horrible." Terra commented.
"Tragic, yes. A fine youth, but he had to be stopped in the end. I still remember his face, but I would prefer to forget. I have taught a number of dark affinity students since then. Eraqus' son being one of them."
"Really?" Riku asked.
"Yes. But that is neither here nor there. Now for the lesson."
Unknown POV
Walking through Cocoon is always a wondrous sight to behold. The towering skyscrapers, the flying vehicles of elegant designs. Truly amazing. But now is not the time to marvel at such sights. I need to report my findings to the Monarch. I should thank Lieutenant Colonel Rosch for his help in the investigation.
I entered through the large doors of the Sanctum, my long green lieutenant Colonel robes. My black high heels clicking against the floor. The gold trim of my robe and golden belt shining against the high flying sun, my gold framed glasses glinting in the light. The large room allowed one to look over the entirety of Cocoon, the glass ceiling giving a clear view of the blue sky.
At the edge of the room was the Monarch in his grand white robes with a blue mantle hanging off his arms and down to his feet. The large blue crown on his head and transparent veils on either side of his face. The shining pearl white scepter in his hand that was as tall as the Monarch himself, the gold trimming on the tip of the scepter with wing shaped appendages and gold pendulums dangling between.
I clicked my heels together and saluted. "Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat reporting."
The Monarch turned to face me. His aged face looking at me with little interest. "What have you to report, Jihl?" He asked me with seeming disinterest, his mind probably preoccupied with other matters I'm sure.
I pulled the clipboard from my arm and held it in my brown leather clad hand, adjusting my glasses with the other. "There was a break in at 09:00 in the Archive this morning. The security camera shows a figure in a long black coat with silver pendulums on the collars. It was tall, about two meters, with broad shoulders and a confident stance about it, suggesting that the figure was probably male."
"He would have to be confident if he broke into the Archive." The Monarch replied. "Did he act alone?"
"Yes. The PSICOM soldiers stationed there were...incapacitated with little effort." I hated to admit it, but I was impressed with his skill. Taking on the PSICOM soldiers with only hand-to-hand combat and never using any form of magic besides teleportation. Any other time I would be marveling at the spectacle, but right now I was just annoyed that my PSICOM troops were dispatched in less than five minutes. They weren't even killed just knocked unconscious! It's downright insulting!
"Was he armed?"
"...No, sir." I did my best to mask the irritation I felt.
"Am I to conclude from this report that over forty of Cocoon's finest was defeated by a single cloaked man using nothing more than his bare hands?" The way he spoke showed no sign of anger or disappointment. It was kind and sincere, as if he were expecting this outcome, but I couldn't help but feel like he was extremely disappointed with the situation.
"Yes…Monarch Dysley."
"That's impressive." That man. I loathed that man. I didn't even know he was here. He was sitting atop a platform at the top of the room, so I couldn't see his dress. Though knowing him, I'm sure he is in that chaotic mess of a clown suit. "Forty of PSICOM's finest soldiers reduced to whimpering dogs by one man?" He laughed that twisted laugh that always managed to make my skin crawl. "Remind me to get his autograph!"
I just ignored the idiot. He was just trying to rile me up. Make me lose my composure in front of the Monarch…again.
"I see." He turned to face the city again. "The only reason one would assault the Archive, is to acquire information from the Master Computer."
"Yes, sir. The files show that there was a large download from the database."
"Maybe he wanted to get our top secret apple-pie recipes." Ignoring him.
"The files that were retrieved pertained to a few subjects. Most of which even I have never heard of."
"Such as?"
"The Light of Kingdom Hearts." The Monarch nodded at the name. It is a fairly common myth that has perplexed scholars for millennia. "The planet of the Dead." He seemed to focus his gaze on something with his hand on his chin. "The Astral Archive." He turned to look at me with caution in his eyes, as if he were scared of the next answer. "And something called, The Dahaka."
I saw his eyes widen in fear at the last answer. "I see. Kingdoms and the Planet of the Dead are one thing. But the Astral Archive and the Dahaka. Whoever this man is, has a plan most foul indeed."
"Sir! Should I send out a search party for his arrest?"
"I wouldn't bother if I were you." The clown sung from his perch.
"I was asking the Monarch, not some bumbling fool." I replied, trying to keep my calm.
"Yeow! Watch where you're pointing those words." The sarcasm was all too transparent in his tone.
"He is right." Monarch Dysley replied with a sternness I had not heard before. "Whoever infiltrated the Archive was not a citizen of Cocoon. They are long gone from Cocoon. Focus on helping those who were injured and increase security at the Archive."
"You should just let the soldiers die. If they can't live up to the title of 'Cocoon's finest,' then why should you bother wasting time to heal them?"
"Because they are my men and I need all the able bodies I can get!"
"Calm yourself, Jihl! Now is not the time for quarrel."
"I'm sorry, Monarch." I shot that clown a glare out of the corner of my eyes and saw him fidgeting in laughter. I gritted my teeth in frustration. I can't believe I let him get under my skin again!
"Send word to SOLDIER. The Headmasters should know about this turn of events."
"Right away, Monarch!"
"And one more thing. Until further notice, the culprit who broke into the Archive will be known as the Enigmatic Man."
"As you command." I gave a bow and turned to leave.
As I left, I heard the Monarch mumble something. "Could he be after the Cradle?"
'What's the Cradle?'
Sora's POV
"…When a Heartless devours a heart, it is trapped within the Heartless…"
Xehanort has been going on about Heartless and their origins for most of class. While I will admit that the information is helpful, it was boring just sitting here and listening to a lecture for seventy five minutes.
"Sora!" He suddenly called me.
"Yes!" I replied quickly, feeling multiple pairs of eyes on me.
"Can you tell me what happens when a Heartless devours a heart?"
"Uh…it becomes trapped inside?" I answered, unsure if I was right.
Xehanort just released an annoyed sigh and pinched his nose. "If you are going to be half right, at least sound convincing with your answer."
The rest of the guys just laughed at me. I just chuckled nervously. "My bad."
"Can anyone else tell me what happens when a Heartless devours a heart?" Kairi raised her hand. "Kairi."
"When a Heartless devours a heart it has a chance to evolve."
"Very good, Kairi!" Xehanort turned and tapped on the board.
"Show off…" I said under my breath.
"No, I was just listening. Unlike you."
"Now then, you are probably wondering what I mean by Heartless evolving." The screen showed a Shadow and a Soldier side by side.
"The Shadow and the Soldier have one feature that distinguishes them. The emblem on the Soldier's chest. This makes it an Emblem Heartless as opposed to a Pure Blood. This happens when they devour enough hearts." Xehanort looked off to the clock at the end of the room. "It appears we are out of time for today. Thursday, we will go more in depth on the Emblem and Pure Blood Heartless."
We left the castle and made our way to the fountain. "I'm glad that's over. I was never good with lectures." I leaned against the fountain and just slumped my shoulders.
"That's because you're a lazy bum, Sora."
"Oh thanks, Xion!" She just stuck her tongue at me with her eyes closed.
"So where is our Summons Class taking place?" Roxas asked, refocusing the group.
"It is to be held on a small island off the coast of the Institute." Terra replied. "We need to head to the west end of the island, past the dorms on the coastline."
"Let's get going then." Riku told us and started walking toward the dorms.
As we moved across the island Naminé stirred up conversation with Terra. "Do you know anything about our teacher? Terra said you two grew up together."
Terra seemed to flinch at the question, but answered none-the-less. "Our Summons teacher is a green haired girl named Rydia Mist. She is twenty-one in age and currently engaged. She's my older sister, but like Terra, she is my sibling in name only. She found me in a…orphanage when I was very young. She's raised me like a mother ever since."
"Oh…What happened to your parents?"
"They aren't around. The orphanage told Rydia that they were killed during a house fire. I was found amongst the ashes of the house, under my Mother's body. My hair was emerald green when they found me. They believed it was the mark of the culprit, but I don't know."
"Was the guy ever found?" Shin asked.
"No…" Terra solemnly replied.
"So there is a pyromaniac running around. Great~." Isaac sarcastically added.
"I don't see how sarcasm is appropriate in this situation, Isaac." Roxas sternly told our dorm mate. That comment was kinda uncalled for.
Isaac just shrugged. "Sorry. It's a habit."
"One that you should break." Kairi replied with a nonchalant tone.
"I'm working on it."
"Have you heard of this happening to someone else?" Naminé asked again.
Terra just shook her head. "Nothing comes to mind."
"Maybe he got caught." Riku suggested. "I doubt a psycho would only do this once and then disappear."
"Maybe. But something tells me otherwise." Terra placed a hand over her chest, a worried look on her face.
Not being one to let someone feel down, I decided to cheer her up. "I wouldn't worry about it too much." That seemed to get her attention.
"You wouldn't worry about a murderous pyromaniac?" Roxas asked me with a raised brow. When he put it like that, yeah I should be worried. But I'm trying to cheer Terra up, so yeah.
"I'm just saying. This happened well over a decade ago right? The way I see it, the psycho is either locked up, dead, or insane beyond cognitive function."
"Oh, cognitive function. That's a pretty big word, Sora." Kairi tried to tease. I could honestly care less at this point. She is either semi-friendly or just plain edgy.
"That's right, I have vocabulary. Six year Spelling Bee champ, right here."
"So you can study?"
I heard Terra giggle at our quarrel. "Sora's right. I'm sure whoever was behind the fire is long gone. Let's just focus on getting to class."
We made it to the dorm and went through the building, grabbing our newly gifted weapons from our siblings. Squall gave me a single double-edged sword, nothing special, just a single sleek blade with a bronzed guard that curved up towards the blade with a brown leather grip. A single note from him that read: Don't get expelled. Thanks, Squall. Real encouraging.
I'll spare you the other descriptions for later, right now we just went out back to cut through the forest path leading to the coast. Asili tagged along since she wanted to come and Isaac didn't want to leave her cooped up in the dorm all day.
We reached the coast line, our dorm located behind a rocky cliff about ten meters high with a long sandy coastline. On the edge we saw the small island where our class would take place. And coming toward us was a woman decked out in green. Let's start with her face first. For one thing, she was all at once beautiful, elegant, mystical, and mature. Her misty blue eyes radiating joy with long flowing jade green hair.
She wore an emerald green leotard with various gold ornaments on the center of her stomach to connect the dark green cloth, gold trimming around her cups and branching through them. The leotard had connecting emerald green sleeves at her bicep that faded to jade and formed to a point at a gold ring on her middle fingers on the back of her hand. The leotard itself had patches of jade green cloth on the curves of her torso and down the center of her body till it connected to the gold piece in the center. There were two emerald green strips that wrapped over her hip from the bottom of the leotard and one around each thigh that was covered by a green mini-skirt. Her sleeves had patches of jade where one would think it was torn. Her legs bore emerald green knee high stockings with gold knee guards with various holes to give it a vine like design and, like Terra, had gold footwear except they were simple pointed heels instead of heeled boots. The most mystifying thing about her was the draperies that fell from the tops of her sleeves to her ring on her middle finger. They were a transparent jade green and flowed on the wind in such a way that it looked like green mist was emanating from her person.
If I had to describe her I would say she was beautiful and mysterious. A true lady of the lake. Yeah, I can get poetic when I'm not being hounded by monsters. The reason why I say she was a lady of the lake is because when I said she coming towards us, I don't mean she was flying or using a boat. She was gliding on the water! Yes, she was pulling a Jesus.
When she reached the base of the cliff, she looked up at us with blue orbs of excitement. I also could've sworn that the water was shifting on either side of her. I just passed it off as the water bouncing off of the cliff face.
"Hello there my students!" She beamed with a wave of her hand, the drapery flowing with her movements. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting!"
"We just got here, Rydia!" Terra replied back.
The green haired woman leaned forward and squinted her eyes when Terra called her by name. "Terra?" She asked. "Terra, it is you!" Before I knew it, the woman was rising up out of the water and the water itself was distorting and breaking apart revealing a very, very, VERY large sea serpent. Its silver blue-scales glistening with water in the afternoon sun making it seem as though crystals were falling from its form. Its large blue eyes looked as though they stared deep into the depths of my very being. Its large mouth looked like it could take a fifteen meter long bight out of the cliff we were standing on. I wasn't sure how long the thing was. If I had to guess, about twenty meters of it were actually out of the water, accounting for the curve in its slender neck which had large fins with long black bones. The long ears jutting away from its head gave it a streamlined look.
Rydia leapt off the creature and glomped Terra. "How have you been?! I was worried you'd be lonely here at school." Rydia hugged Terra so tightly that it looked as though she was going to snap Terra's spine, if Terra didn't run out of air first. Upon closer inspection Rydia had a silver Tiara with a gold fume design and a red ruby nestled in near the side on her head.
"I'm fine, Sis." Terra replied, having no apparent problems with the tight hug. "I made a lot of friends already."
"Oh?" She looked around at all of us. "I see that." She released Terra from her grip and turned to face us. "Hey there you guys. I am Rydia Mist, Terra's big sister and I guess your Summons teacher."
"It would appear that way." Roxas replied.
"I hope I do a good job, this is my first day teaching."
"You'll be fine, Sis." Terra reassured. "Just worry about the lesson for now."
"You're right. Well, what are we waiting for?!" She jumped onto the serpent's head. "Let's get going!"
"You mean we're riding on that?" I asked.
"Of course, silly. It's not like any of you can fly." She had a valid point... for the most part.
"Um, Sis?" Terra replied by leviating off the ground for a moment.
"Oh, yeah. I forget that you learned to do that." I hope this forgetfulness is more of a temporary short term-thing than a character flaw. "Come on Levi. Let them on board." The serpent turned around and hunched its long back for us to ride.
"All aboard the calamari express." Riku commented.
"I prefer sushi myself." Kairi replied and hopped on the serpent's back.
The serpent leaned down and began swimming through the water as a snake slithers along the ground.
"I guess we should start with the basics while we wait to reach the island." Rydia began and sat cross-legged on the Serpent's head. "When we refer to summons, we usually refer to the spiritual beings that come forth to aid us. There are three types of spiritual beings to summon. Espers, Eidolons, and Aeons. Espers are feral in our world when first introduced to our realm and can only gain stability if their consciousness recovers or if a proper mediator summons them. Eidolons are more mechanical in appearance, think of them like transformers, except ten times more destructive. Aeons are more monstrous and intimidating in appearance, but are as friendly as cute, fluffy, bunnies."
"Where do these spirits come from?" Roxas asked our green teacher.
"I'm glad you asked, Roxas. These spirits come from a world called the Feymarch. It is rumored that all spirits originate from the most powerful of summons, Bahamut. The Father of Spirits. Sometimes known as the Dragon King. All Summoners are able to summon this Great Father, but only if he deems them worthy. As with the King of Espers, Leviathan. The Esper who was gracious enough to give us a ride to the island."
Once Rydia said that we were LITERALLY riding on the back of royalty, I just had to state the obvious. "The King of Espers? We are riding on the King of Espers?"
"That is correct." The serpent spoke and turned its head to face us, its body still moving toward the island. Its voice was low and full of countless years of wisdom.
"I suddenly regret saying a few things." Riku commented with wide nervous eyes.
"You aren't the only one." Kairi added with a nervous chuckle.
Leviathan just chuckled at the comments. "I am not offended by the comments of the uninformed. I expect that you will think before you speak next time. Most Spirit beings have very short tempers. Especially Ifrit and Odin. Those two are ticking time bombs sometimes." Note to self, avoid asking those two for help. "We have arrived at the island. Good luck with your class, Rydia."
"Thank you, Levi." Rydia replied and the serpent disappeared in a flash of light. "Let's go." We exited onto the island and moved to the center, through some trees, where there was a clearing for us to stand in. "Something to mention is that you can summon other things besides spirit beings. Your weapons for one thing, if you are experienced enough to seal it in your own pocket dimension, and animal's."
"That would sure come in handy." Roxas commented. "It would certainly make running away much easier."
"At least you don't have to deal lugging a scythe around." Naminé replied back. "I'm starting to wonder if I should've learned to use a whip."
"You did, Naminé. You just couldn't stop hitting yourself with it." Kairi replied.
"It's better than the reason why you never learned to use a sword, Kai."
This I had to hear. "Why did Kairi never learn to use a sword?"
"None of your business!" Kairi shot back, putting me in a snake hold. That hurt a LOT!
"Kairi thought it was too much effort to swing a piece of metal when she thought punching was just as effective."
Riku and I just laughed at the explanation. I had a hard time considering my lungs were currently being crushed. "Naminé!" Kairi exclaimed in response, letting me go in the process.
"And you call this numbskull lazy." Riku pointed at me when he made the comment. I didn't care, it was just too funny to see that miss diligent was too lazy to bother swinging a stick to learn how to use it.
"Now, now children. If anything you should hear about how Terra tried to summon a chocobo when she was younger."
"Let's keep that to ourselves, shall we Rydia?" Terra asked hoping that her sister wouldn't embarrass her.
"What kind of sister would I be I didn't embarrass my baby sister." She did that cutesy tone most people do on the word baby.
"A good one?!" Terra suggested, again, trying to stop Rydia from embarrassing her.
"Well we can't have that. That would be boring." Rydia replied with a wide conniving grin. "Especially since you cried for a whole day because you couldn't summon a chocobo."
"What happened?" Roxas asked.
"When Terra was younger she tried to summon a chocobo to play with. Unfortunately for her, in order to summon any kind of creature, spiritual or not, you have to establish some kind of bond. Be it a social contract or, in a chocobo's case, share a deep friendship with the animal. Terra thought that no chocobo wanted to be friends with her because of that."
"I was only six years old!" Terra told us, trying to stop some of the snickering she was getting from Xion, Riku, Shin, Kairi, and Isaac. I have to admit, it was kind of funny. Reminds of the time I thought I couldn't catch fish because I thought they hated me. But mom cheered me up by telling that I just needed to wait for them to come to me and before I knew it, I was catching fish like it was going out of style.
"At any rate, we still have a class to get through. So enough story time."
Unknown POV
'Why do I have to do the boring jobs?' That is the same frustrated thought that coursed through my mind. 'Why not send that trigger happy goof ball? He's better suited for this reconnaissance crap.' I looked through my binoculars at the island from afar. The boat I 'borrowed' from that fisherman was bobbing on the surface of the water, just outside of the reach of the Institute's sensors. 'I still don't know why they forced me to wear this black cloak all the time. I could blend in better if I could actually dress to look like the common rabble. I should be lucky this boat has a top over it so I can't be seen unless someone is right next to me.'
I zoomed in on the binoculars, trying to spot my targets. "How goes the search, Relena? Is our target enjoying their time at school?' And there goes this idiot.
"What do you want? And don't call me, Relena. That's not my name anymore."
He just laughed in my ear, and I didn't think a laugh could be boring, but he somehow managed to prove me wrong. Then again, he is a scientist. I've never met one that was interesting. "I just want to know what condition my specimens are in before I start tinkering."
"If you must know, the girl the client wanted seems to be fine. I also saw that reject walking around. He's apparently in the same dorm as our princess." I heard the idiot groan at the mention of his ultimate failure being near the girl.
"Don't remind me. Because of that bumbling fool's mix up, I was brought the wrong child for my research!" I heard the banging of metal. He probably hit his desk in frustration and that instantly made my day better. "We needed the child that had enough darkness to summon Oblivion!" He groaned again. How I so enjoy ruining someone's day. "It doesn't matter. We lost track of that child a long time ago. For now, I have a new assignment for you from the Director."
I knew that line. Every time I hear that, it just means more boring busy work. "Tell him to get someone else to it. I'm busy doing this boring reconnaissance."
"Oh? And here I thought you would like to go on an infiltration mission into the Institute." What did he just say? "But if you don't want to. I can just get our Rock Star to do it."
"No!" I unknowing exclaimed. "I'll do it. Just tell what I need to get." I'll be damned if that loser gets this job. The last job he had set us back fifteen years!
"Good. The Director wants you to retrieve some information from the Institute's database. It appears that Cocoon's Archive Computer was also limited on the information we needed. We did learned that there might be more information in the Institute's database. We just need you to get us some of it. I transported a drive to your coat pocket."
I checked the inside pocket and sure enough, it was there. A black drive with our white emblem on the front. "All I have to do is get the info and leave?"
"Yes, but we want you to gather some information on the Celestials. We believe they may have a link to one of the items we are searching for."
"Can do." I went to the steering wheel of the boat when he decided to blare in my ear again.
"And be careful. I heard there are snakes in the database."
"Whatever. Just let me do my job."
Kairi's POV
The lesson passed by fairly quickly. I actually enjoyed this lecture for the most part. Rydia certainly knew a lot about Summon Spirits. We tried our hands at summoning and sealing our weapons in a pocket dimension, but it wasn't all that successful. Only Naminé could successfully seal her weapon away and summon it again.
When the lesson was over, Rydia summoned Leviathan to ferry us back to the shore. Since it was our last class and our dorm was literally right there, we had an easy time getting back to the dorm. Rydia tagged along so she could see where Terra was staying. We entered the dorm to see Tifa sitting on the couch watching women's wrestling on the television. I noticed Sora and Roxas seemed to particularly stare at the television. At least Riku was being discreet about his staring.
"Come on, Tina! Knock that tramp on her ass!" Tifa blared.
"Tifa!" Rydia exclaimed to which Tifa shot up and fell off the side of the couch.
"Oh, hey Rydia. Didn't see ya there." Tifa flipped and landed on her feet, clicking the television off temporarily. "How long were you listening."
"Long enough." Naminé said with one of those smiles that you give when you know you saw something you weren't supposed to.
"Oh…I see." Tifa replied, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, you would've heard it sooner or later. So what's up?"
"I just wanted to see where Terra was staying." Rydia replied.
"Ever the busy bee, eh Rydia? What with your engagement and all."
"Oh yeah!" Naminé beamed, going full on girly. "What's your fiancé like?" She is such a glutton for these romantic things.
"Well, he's kinda loud and boastful, but he's sweet and caring and-BEEP!" That was not an awkward censor used for comedic affect. That was the sound of a beeper going off in Rydia's pocket. She retracted the source revealing a green phone from her pocket with small golden stars on the casing and I noticed her eyes shift from bright and joyful, to serious and deadly. She placed the phone back in her pocket and that smile came back into her features. "I'm sorry I can't stay and chat, but it appears that I am needed in the teacher's office." She quickly moved to the door and gave a brief wave. "See ya, Terra! We'll have to hang out eventually." Then she closed the door and we were left in silence…mostly.
"What was that about?" Roxas asked.
"She seemed to be in a hurry." Naminé added.
From the look on Rydia's face, I'd say that she isn't heading for the teacher's office. I noted that Riku seemed to be thinking the same way.
Narrator's POV that's right, you get to ride with me for a bit
The cloaked figure stood before the screen, her drive in the port as she typed furiously on the holographic keyboard for the information she sought. 'Come on! Where is this damned information?' She angrily thought as she sifted through file after file of information that served her no use. Finally she found what she was looking for and something she did not expect. 'Oh?! This is interesting. A Celestial on campus? The Boss will definitely want to know this. It should give us a leg up on the client.'
She suddenly felt a cold object be placed against her head and the familiar click of a gun's chamber. "Do you know what happens to careless rats?" A gruff voice asked from behind her.
She raised her hands up in a surrendering manner. "Not really." The hooded girl replied. She slowly turned to see a Caucasian man in a gun metal gray muscle suit with various black straps, knee and elbow guards, and bullet proof vest with multiple pouches of ammunition. His black pistol held in his right hand with a knife clasped in his left hand against the pistol's handle. His black gloves bore metal plating on the back of his hands. The man stood at a hundred and eighty-two centimeters tall with stern blue eyes that spoke of his veteran experience. His brown hair, signature forest green headband, and beard adding an extra edge to his build.
"They get eaten by Snakes." The man stated.
"I'll keep that in mind." The man kept his eyes on the girl as he edged closer to her. He quickly removed her hood from her head using the tip of his knife with his pistol trained on her. Her cyan eyes staring into his blue orbs with a playful, almost childlike, excitement. Her peach lipstick covered lips pursed in a giddy smile. Her blonde jaw length hair slicked back with two strands sticking up in an antennae like appearance.
'She looks old enough to be a freshman in the college program here.' The man thought to himself.
"Nice going, Snake!" A voice called in his hidden ear piece. "Reinforcements are on their way. Do you think you can get closer to the computer? I want to see what she was trying to download."
"Step to the side. And don't try to be clever." His voice was stern as he spoke the command.
"As you wish." The girl all too happily complied with a chilling giggle that put the veteran on edge. She moved to the left, Snake shuffling cautiously with her, peeking quickly out of the corner of his eye locate the drive. He took note of the strange white emblem on its black surface. "You're pretty handsome for an old guy." She tried to egg the soldier on.
"You're a little young for me." Snake replied, unfazed by the comment.
"Aw, curse my youth." The girl playfully feigned disappointment as she struck a mournful pose with the back of her hand on her forehead. A bullet suddenly whizzed past her face.
"I said no sudden moves." Snake warned again.
The girl stood stunned for a moment, a look of annoyance and irritation flashing briefly on her face before returning to a childlike demeanor and standing with a lean, her left hand on her hip and her right hanging lazy at her side. A change that did not go unnoticed by the veteran soldier. "I didn't mean to startle you." She glanced to the monitor and saw that the download read 98%. "I was just showing my drama skills."
Snake just scoffed at the notion. "Your acting needs some work. Maybe you shouldn't focus so much on your breaking and entering skills."
"You wound me, kind sir." The girl placed a hand on her chest to indicate her metaphorical hurt. "But not as much as I'll hurt you!" She flicked her arms and flung four daggers of yellow and cyan at the soldier, yellow sparks of lightning trailing behind as the daggers flew at impossible speeds towards the soldier.
Snake rolled out of the way and brought his gun up to shoot the girl, only to find her face mere inches from his as she whirled around and kicked him in the chin with her black heeled boots with silver trim around the top and heeled soles of the boots. The girl jumped back to the computer, the download status now reading 100%, and retrieved it from the port. Before darting toward the exit. "It's been fun, but you got boring near the end there. Au revoir!" She darted through the corridors, leaving a dazed Snake behind.
"Ugh…" Snake placed a hand on his codec. "Raiden. She's headed your way."
"She?"
"Don't ask questions just get after her. I'll catch up soon."
The girl exited out of the main facility on a low standing inlet where she had moored her "borrowed" boat. She retrieved her drive and examined it briefly with a satisfied smirk. 'I'd like to see that fool do that.' She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and promptly pulled out a dagger to block a strike from a long, straight, gun metal sword. Blue sparks of lightning surging up its length. "A man after my own heart?" She flirtingly suggested as she eyed her assailant, replacing the drive back in her coat.
The man was covered in light weight black armor plating and a tight fight fitting gray muscle suit that looked too attached to his skin to be a simple piece of combat clothing. His hair was a silver shade of white. He wore a single headband of a black fiber mesh over his left eye, leaving his right eye exposed so she could see the natural blue in his iris. She noted a single pistol in a holster on his right thigh.
"You have something that doesn't belong to you." The man replied.
"Oh? I hadn't noticed. I was just heading back from the library. I needed some information for a book report." The girl replied and repulsed the blade, flinging a dagger at the plated man.
"Sorry to tell you this, but your card has been revoked." The man sliced the dagger in half, absorbing the electrical energy from the weapon.
"Now's not the time for one-liners, Raiden!"
"Relax, Otacon." Raiden replied under his breath. "She's not that tough."
'Don't underestimate me.' She called forth more daggers in a bolt of lightning and held then between her fingers, eight in total, and dashed towards Raiden at top speed.
Raiden raised his blade and blocked the initial strike. The girl flicked her wrist and trapped the sword between the daggers on her right hand. She smirked and kicked Raiden in his stomach, shocking the sword wielding soldier by sending him sliding on his feet seven meters away from the girl.
Raiden regained his composure and eyed the woman quizzically. 'Wasn't expecting that.' He dropped into his sword dance, his blade drawn close to his face. 'I won't hold back in that case.' His one exposed eye glowed blood red and he charged at the girl again, blue electrical energy discharging through his feet and into the ground to increase his speed.
The girl smirked and did the same, but instead of moving her feet quickly along the ground, she opted to take long leaping strides towards her opponent. She threw one set of daggers at the man and attempted an uppercut with her other set.
Raiden slashed at the daggers and threw his blade in the air to the confusion of the blonde girl and dodged over her attack, catching the blade with his artificially articulated toes and slashed at the girls back, cutting her coat open and drawing blood from her back. "Agh!" She stumbled and fell to a knee with her hand on her shoulder in an attempt to reach her fresh wound.
She looked over her shoulder to see Raiden standing tall with his blade dripping with her blood. Her eyes flared in anger, but she kept still at seeing a grating get kicked open with Snake slithering out of the opening and landing his on feet with a crouch before standing to his full height, Raiden being a few centimeters shorter when stood next to the veteran.
"Good going, Raiden." Snake complimented.
"Wasn't that hard. I am surprised that the Enigmatic Man was actually a teenaged girl." Raiden replied, flicking the blood off of his blade
"Otacon." Snake called over his headset. "Let the Headmaster know that we have the intruder and are about to put her in custody."
'Damn, that stings! He almost severed my spine!'
"Larxene. How goes the mission?" The scientist called through the blonde's earpiece.
"Little busy at the moment." Larxene whispered. She turned to rise, her back in searing pain from the deep cut Raiden had delivered. "Just get a return portal ready for me."
"You still want to go another round?" Raiden commented, crouching back into his sword stance. Snake bracing his legs as he dropped into his trademarked CQC stance.
"I got the portal ready and locked on your position." The man called in Larxene's ear.
'Good…' "Sorry, but I think it's time I take my leave." A black-purple void opened on the far end of the rocky coast they were standing on. 'Damn it, Vexen! Couldn't you have placed it closer?!' She cursed and ran for the portal.
"After her, Raiden!" Snake shouted as the two made chase.
'Almost there…' Larxene encouraged herself.
"Oh Queen of Ice! Come forth and chill mine enemy's heart!" A chant drew Larxene to a woman in green on a cliff as she summoned an Amazon of a woman with three strands of thick three meter long blue hair, as long as she is tall, and frostbitten blue-purple skin with minimal tribal clothing as her wardrobe. With eyes closed, she raised her hand and summoned a hail storm of ice shards towards the fleeing blonde, stopping her momentarily and making her jump back from the portal.
'Damn it!' She cursed again. "Can things get any worse?" Clink, clink, clink. She looked down to see a cylindrical object land at her feet. "Of course!" She rushed the ice wall, summoning more daggers, charging them with lightning and punched the wall, the ice shattering as the cylinder exploded and hit her with a shock wave of force, propelling her forward and into the void, landing on her stomach. The portal closed just as Raiden reached it.
"Damn! She got away." Raiden stated.
"Yeah, but at least that drive wasn't lead lined. That EMP grenade should've erased any data she may have gotten from our computers."
"Nice thinking, Snake." Rydia called as she floated to the ground.
"I bet they are probably pissed by now." Raiden mused, pulling his headband up to reveal his other eye.
"I certainly hope so. That girl had a mean kick." Snake replied. "Let's get back to the mainframe. I want to see what she was after and why our man turned out to be a woman."
Terra's POV later that evening
'Biology is tough. Chromosome pairing and cell division is simple enough. The vocabulary is where things start to get tricky.'
I sat at my desk, placing my pencil on the wooden furniture. I looked around my room. The simple bed and walls, the one window overlooking the ocean we were surrounded by. I like the idea that our rooms suited our likes. I especially like the amethyst blankets with the floral patterns of various nature colors and chocobo pattern. Even my pajamas held the same pattern so it was cute how it matched my spaghetti strap top and long bottoms. My wallpaper was an open field with various animals and my imagination went wild whenever I looked at it. All the animals that could frolic and play with me in the meadow, oh the tingles!
'Back to studying there's no time to fawn over your décor…' Five minutes later~… 'Argh! I can't concentrate!' I grabbed my head and ruffled my hair in a cartoony fashion. 'It wouldn't be so hard if I was just solving a problem, but why did it have to be memorization?!' Just when I was about to give up, a thought hit me. 'Maybe he can help me!'
I got my homework and exited out of my room and went next door to get some help. I lightly knocked, not wanting to disturb anyone, and waited for the inhabitant to answer, luckily he did.
Shin opened the door wearing only a pair of gray shorts that stretched past his knees and a white t-shirt. "Evening, Terra."
"Hi, Shin. Can you do me a favor?" I tried not to be too pushy with the question.
"Depends on what it is." He replied, coming off a bit apprehensive.
"Could you to help me with my biology homework. I'm having a hard time concentrating."
Shin gave me a curious look at the request. "It's just a few labeling problems and some memorization."
"I already did the problems. I'm just having a hard time memorizing some of this new vocabulary." I raised my notebook in front of my face to show that I've already done most of the work.
He released an amused breath. "Alright. I guess I can help out. Come on in."
'Yes! Thank you, kitty cat eyes.'
I entered Shin's room to see six dragons on his walls. Two on each of the three walls, not including the door, and a seventh one on the ceiling that looked extremely different than the other six. The other six looked to lack any forearms and only had hind legs for landing. The dragons themselves were covered in spikes along the wings leading up to the bend, its knees, head, and their long tails that resembled a flat mace.
The two on the far end of the room were volcanic red with black streaks across its person and forest green respectively. The red dragon was flying above a grassy grove and appeared to dominate the skies with its deep blue eyes. It looked passionate and ferocious in its design. The green one was hunched low to the ground with a stockier, less aerodynamic build and appeared to challenge anything that drew near with its amber eyes. It looked intimidating and aggressive.
The ones on the left were azure blue with sea green wings and appeared to swoop down on its prey with the same blue eyes as the red one, but had an air of brilliance to its look. Below it was a pink one with a stocky build and blue eyes. It was very pretty and looked deceptively innocent.
On the wall that held Shin's desk was a sterling silver one that was landing on some stone ruins. Its big blue eyes and black streaks and wide spread silver wings accentuated its look and made it appear truly majestic. Below it was a dragon, shining of gold, perched at the drop off cliff where the ruins once extended, its amber eyes surveying the land before it with its wings closed. I noticed that the wings of the flying dragon held an aggressive fire pattern that shouted power while the ones below held many alluring circular patterns that seemed to mesmerize and deceive.
The one above I could not see because of the light from Shin's desk, coupled with the moon lit night made it hard to distinguish any definite features.
"Here." Shin pulled the seat to his desk out for me and sat on the bed and pulled the desk lamp so we both could see the homework. "Where do you want to start?"
"How about the Polymerase?"
"DNA or RNA?"
"You already lost me." I replied with my tongue out in a playfully dumbfounded pose.
He just mused and leaned over the bed post. "We'll start from the top and learn how they relate to each other. That should be easier."
"That would be fine." I'll spare you the hour and a half we did of studying and jump straight to the end.
"And that's all there is to it." Shin said as we finished the homework. "Any more questions?"
"Nothing immediately comes to mind."
"Then it looks like we're done here." He stretched his arms out, stiff from laying on the bed for so long.
I was getting ready to leave when I saw that Shin had a second light on at the right end of his desk. Under the light was a white egg, no bigger than my stomach cavity. It was surrounded by twigs and hay with a desk lamp shining directly on it to act as an incubation light.
On the wall in front of me were two blades. I didn't notice earlier due to being awestruck by Shin's room design. One blade was Shin's Claíomh Solais, still sheathed in its cerulean blue scabbard, the gold vine like pattern swirling around it till it reached the midnight blue wing shaped hilt and turned into a silver pattern with its beautiful gems shining against the desk light. Above it was a silver scabbard with a black streak down the center, almost like a fissure, and looked scale like in appearance.
Above it was the blade that fit inside it. A long silver blade that had three black spikes jutting forward near the base as a guard. The gold hilt was a slider that allowed the wielder to adjust properly in order to use power and speed strikes. It looked strikingly similar to the silver dragon on Shin's wall.
My curiosity was piqued and I had to ask. "You're hatching an egg?"
Shin looked to the egg and simply shrugged. "Yeah. I've had it like that for a while now."
"How long till it hatches?"
"Who knows? Could be a week. Could be a month. It will hatch when it hatches. I haven't even thought of a name for it yet."
Ever the easy going type. I disregarded the answer as Shin being too bothered to give specifics. I just stared at the egg with growing interest. "I wonder what will hatch from it." I asked aloud without meaning to.
"It'll either be a Rathalos or a Rathian." Shin replied with little interest, but I could hear some slight excitement in his tone.
"Huh?"
He pointed to the dragons on the walls. "The flying ones are the Rathalos, a male dragon of that species. The ones on the ground are Rathians, the females."
"You're hatching a dragon?!" I was shocked to say the least. Why would he hatch one of those monsters? More importantly, how did he get permission to bring it on campus?!
"Yeah. It was the egg of the Rathalos that saved me when I was younger. I found it by coincidence before I went off to school. It was half dead with its wings and tail severed by hunters who didn't even bother to carve it. They just wanted its Gold Rathian mate." The way Shin described the scene, it was like he detested seeing the monster hurt the way it was.
"You mean the Silver Rathalos you talked about?"
"The one in the same. I even carved a sword out its scales and a grip out of what was left of its mate."
"But aren't they ferocious predators? Why wouldn't it just try to attack you? Why would it save you and entrust its egg to you?"
He looked towards the wall, the silver dragon catching his attention. He knew I had a point. Most predatory animals have no sense of compassion for other species. "That is the one question that has plagued me to this day. I don't think I will ever get an answer now." He rose from the bed and moved toward the egg. "All I know is that the look in his eye told me he wanted his egg taken care of."
It was a lot to ponder, I guess. Being saved by a monster at a young age, meeting it again when it's close to death and saving its children. I stared at the sword he forged from remains of the dragons. It was beautiful yet radiated power, like the dragon from which it was forged.
"Why have you not used this blade before? It could've given you an edge in the exams."
"I'm not that good with dual wielding. If anything I would've used it to make my opponent back off. And I don't plan on using it until this egg hatches."
"Okay, I guess." I rose and got ready to leave. I still have class tomorrow after all. I was going to leave, but I had a slight urge that was nagging at me. "Can I… can I hold that sword for a moment?"
Shin just looked at me with a curious glance, but relented and went to pick the sword off the wall, you could hear and feel the hum of the blade. He held it out to me, holding it by the hilt and blunt end of the blade. "Be careful. It's incredibly sharp."
I cautiously took hold of the sword. As I stared into the blade I felt a raging fire inside of the cool steel that felt like it heated me to the core. Beauty and violence all in one elegant package. It was a truly magnificent blade.
"It's an incredible blade." I handed the blade back to Shin. "Thank you, again, for the study session."
"Anytime."
I went back to my room and hopped into bed, ready to welcome tomorrow.