chapter 11
Tired from riding all day, they had decided to rest at the most extravagant hotel in the city of La Rochelle, the Goddess's Temple. It was an expensive place place even for a noble. The dining tables and floor were both made from the same marble and the floor was so clean that one could see their own face on it. Zero was rather impressed with the amount of work that went into this.
Wardes and Louise came back from the pier. a short time later.
When Wardes sat down he said hesitantly, "The ship for Albion leaves the day after tomorrow."
"This mission is very urgent..." Louise pointed.
Guiche and the rest finally relaxed, knowing tomorrow they could rest.
"I have never been to Albion so I do not know why there is no ship tomorrow. Anyone willing to enlighten me?" Zero asked conversationally.
Wardes looked at Zero, his cold eyes focusing on him for a moment."I believe the two moons are overlapping tomorrow. If that is the case, then Albion should be closest to La Rochelle."
Wardes put the keys on the table, "Let's rest for now, take the keys. Tabitha and Kirche take one room, Guiche and Zero take another."
Guiche and Zero stared at each other.
Wardes continued, "Louise and I will be sharing a room."
Zero was about to object, but stopped himself. Objecting now could put too much suspicion into Wardes, and as it stood there were too many people who could get hurt.
"It is the obvious arrangement as Louise and I are engaged."
Louise looked at Wardes in shock and said, "B-but we can't! We're not even married yet!"
Zero nodded, That's right, she shouldn't sleep with him.
But Wardes shook his head and told Louise, "There is something important I have to tell you."
Wardes and Louise stayed in the best room in the hotel. They wondered who designed the room. There was an enormous four-poster bed with delicate lace hanging from the top. Wardes sat down at the table, opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a cup. He chugged it down and said, "Why don't you sit down and have a cup as well, Louise?"
Louise sat down as well. He poured one for Louise and refilled his own. He then raised his cup and said, "Cheers!" Louise however held hers in her hands and bowed down her head.
Wardes asked, "Did you keep the princess's letter safe?"
Louise patted her pocket and to make sure it was still there, I wonder why it is so important. What is in this letter? Does the prince already have a letter ready? I think I figured out a small part of it. Being Henrietta's childhood friend, I know how she writes her letters.
Wardes looked at Louise with wonder. Then Louise nodded and said, "The letter is still safe. Are you worried that we might not be able to get the letter from the prince of Albion?"
"Yes, I am very worried." Wardes answered.
Louise arched her lovely eyebrows and said, "Don't worry; it will be fine because I'll always be with you."
"That's right; if you're here there will definitely be no problems. It was always that way." Wardes sounded very distant when he said that.
"Do you still remember the promise of the day when we were at the lake?" Louise asked.
He nodded his head, "In the little boat that was floating in the middle of lake? You would always go there after being scolded by your parents. You were like an abandoned kitten."
"Really? You remember the weirdest things."
Wardes replied happily, "Of course I have to remember those things. You were always compared to your sisters in terms of magical power."
Louise lowered her head embarrassed and he said, "But I think that's wrong. You are worthless and a failure, but..."
"You are so mean!" Louise said angrily.
"You have an incredible power that nobody else has. I know this because you are a different kind of magician." Wardes finished ignoring what Louise said.
"That's impossible!"
Wardes replied, "But it is possible. For example whenever you use your magic..."
Louise's face turned red and said, "How I accidentally summoned Zero?"
"Those runes are legendary. If I'm mistaken, they glow whenever he picks up a weapon."
"Yes, they do. But how does that make him legendary?"
"Yes, those runes belong to the legendary familiar Gandalfr. The familiar that once belonged to Founder Brimir." Wardes' eyes shone with admiration.
Louise asked, "Gandalfr?"
"Not just anyone can control Gandalfr. You have the magic to control him."
"That's hard to believe." Louise tilted her head and thought that Wardes was joking around. She didn't really have control of Zero. He just had nowhere else to go. After all, she did steal him from his own world, and force him into the position of familiar here.
Louise shook her head, thinking about what Zero had once said. Zero had believed in her even then, even if he hadn't said as much. I am always a failure, there is no way I could have the power Wardes mentioned.
"You could become a great mage. Yes, like Founder Brimir, you can leave your name in history as a great mage. I believe so."
Wardes gazed at Louise warmly."After this mission, marry me Louise"
"Ah…" The sudden marriage proposal left Louise speechless.
"I am not satisfied to be just a mage captain of the Magic Knights... I want to become a noble that will move the whole of Halkeginia some day."
"B-but..."
"But what?"
"I... I am still... still"
"You are not a child anymore, you are 16 years old. You have reached the age when you can decide things. Your father agreed too. So..."Wardes abruptly stopped here. Then he looked up and brought his face close to Louise.
"It is true, I never came to look for you, and I have to apologize. Marriage is not something to be spoken of easily, this I also know. But Louise, to me you are the most important thing of all."
"Wardes…"
Louise thought about it. Why did Zero's face keep popping in her mind? After marrying Wardes, will she have to leave Zero?
I don't understand why, but I constantly feel this is wrong. If it was a crow or owl type of familiar it wouldn't be so troublesome. If no one takes care this warrior from another world, what will happen to him? Who was she kidding. Zero had never needed her. She'd needed him more than anything. She had already figured out that Zero had been the one to deal with the bandits, but hadn't said anything since he had made a point to give the credit to Tabitha and Kirche. Kirche or… Siesta … They will take care of him right? I don't understand why but this is extremely annoying. Louise thought, just like a small girl she wanted to have Zero all to herself. Although Zero pushed her buttons, and didn't submit like he should have. He also had a warm laugh, a strong but gentle grip, and an awkwardness about him at times that was endearing. 'I don't want him to become someone else's property. He is mine.' she thought to herself.
Louise raised her head. "Still… Still…"
"Still?"
"That... that I am not a mage of your caliber yet, I still need to study…" Louise lowered her head, kept it low and murmured. "Wardes, when I was young, that is what I always thought, someday, I must make everyone recognize me, become a great mage, and make my mother and father proud." Louise raised her head, staring at the older man. "I, I still cannot reach that yet."
"Is it because someone already stole your heart?"
"It is nothing like that, there's no chance for that to happen!" Louise denied in a panic.
"It's not important, I understand, I understand. For now, I won't ask for an answer. But, after this journey is over, I will certainly lighten your heart."
Louise nodded in reply.
"In that case, let's go to bed, you are already tired right?"
Suddenly, Wardes came close to Louise, wanting to kiss her.
Instantly, Louise's body stiffened. Then she pushed Wardes away.
"Louise?"
"I'm sorry... But, things like...that..." Louise pridefully stared at Wardes. He smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I am not in a hurry"
Louise lowered her head again.
Why, even though Wardes is so gentle, handsome and strong, even though I longed for him for such a long time... Yet, I am not even happy when I am being proposed to.
Someone else had already caught her heart. But Louise's mind refused to think about the one that caught it.
Outside the window, Zero had his hand around the window bars, desperately looking at Louise and Wardes' room. Peeking through the curtains, Zero saw two figures sitting by the table. He couldn't hear anything, but he did notice that the older man kept attempting to kiss Louise, only to be denied. He somehow felt smug about that.
"Damn it, what are they talking about!" Zero whispered.
Derflinger quietly muttered from his back. "How shameful."
"Shut up."
"My partner sticks like a green caterpillar to the window, peeking at the girl he has a crush on and her lover having a cheerful talk. It is so shameful it hurts and almost makes me cry!"
"I don't have a crush on her! The man in there hired a group of mercenaries to kill us. No offense, but last time something like that happened, a lot of people got hurt. You think I'm gonna just wait for everything to go wrong?" Zero hissed at the sword.
"What are you doing here? Do you like to take strolls on the wall? It took me forever to find you." Someone said from behind him.
It was Kirche who landed on his shoulder, and our hero's eyes were blinded because his face was covered by the Germanian's mini-skirt.
"Hey, get off me!" Zero replied as he pulled his face out of Kirche's skirt.
"Why, is it not good? Hey, what are you looking at?"
Kirche took one look at the window, turned around to face Zero again and put her arms around him: "No, don't peek at newlyweds, we shouldn't care about them. This is what I think; a quiet date on the wall is so romantic. Look how beautiful the lights from the city are; don't you think they are cheering for us?"
"First things first, you get off. I need to keep them under surveillance " Zero said.
The two tried to wriggle their ways out when suddenly the window slammed open. Zero remained frozen in place and hugging the wall like a cockroach.
One look and we can see Louise with her hands placed on her hips. But, her lovely face twisted into a demonic mask, staring at Kirche and Zero.
"What are you two doing next to my window?"
Zero was clutching the window frame with one hand, his other trying to separate himself from Kirche. At the same time Kirche, with her legs around his shoulders, clung closely to him as if getting some weird piggyback ride. Without a question - this looked suspicious, but pretty amazing too.
"Can't understand it even after you see it? This is a date."
Zero tried to say something, but his lips were covered by Kirche's hands, making him look puzzled. Louise's shoulders started to quake in fury.
"Go, go, go, go have romance somewhere else. You, you, you two stray dogs!" Louise said, her face turning red in rage.
"But darling wants to have a date here." Kirche replied triumphantly.
In an instant Louise's foot flew in their direction, Kirche ducked then climbed on to the wall, so the shorter girl's foot connected straight with Zero's face, sending him flying.
Zero kicked off the wall he hit, jumping up to the top of the building, "Are you trying to kill me again!" Zero demanded
"Someone like you who doesn't understand kindness deserves to DIE!"
Wardes sat in his room and watched the whole thing with amusement. Perhaps that familiar hadn't caught on to as much as he thought. Just a jealous, hopeless boy. Although he could probably make a living as an acrobat the noble thought with some contempt.
***Break***
The second morning, Zero woke up to someone knocking on his door. Since Guiche was still sleeping soundly on the bed next to him, without another choice the reploid could only climb out of the bed to answer.
There is no ship today, I wanted to spend the day sleeping. Need to analyze these weird diagnostics i keep getting and that's a bitch to do while awake Zero thought angrily as he opened the door.
Wardes with his usual hat looked down at Zero, who was about a head and a half shorter than the knight.
"Good morning, familiar."
Louise's fiance calling him like this made Zero angry. Zero looked at the knight and replied with a simple, blunt, "What?."
Wardes only smiled faintly. "Are you the Gandalfr of the legend?"
"I'm a number of things. I've been told that's one of them." Zero wondered just where the hell the man got his information.
Wardes looked at him with that false genial smile, and said lightly, "After that case with Fouquet, I hold a great interest in you. I asked Louise earlier, I heard you are from another world and I also heard you are the legendary Gandalfr."
Zero laughed,"And, what of it?" Zero wondered who told him. He damn well knew that Old Osmand hadn't told anyone. That left Colbert, and Fouquet. God damn it, Zero thought. If that woman shows up I'm going to solve that issue.
"I find history and warfare extremely interesting. When Fouquet was captured, I became very interested in you. Then I did some research in the Imperial Library. The result of that research is my discovery that you are the legendary familiar Gandalfr." Wardes said, sounding proud of his hard work.
"Oh, is that so. You are really a scholar." Zero said simply.
"I want to know how strong is the person who captured Fouquet; can you show it to me?"
"Show you?"
Wardes pulled out his wand from his belt, "Let me put it this way..."
"A duel?" Zero replied with an icy smile.
"Exactly."
Wardes and Zero smiled together. Taking one look at the still sleeping Guiche, the reploid wondered how long this would take. He is the Captain of the Magic Knights, and you don't normally become a captain like that without some qualifications. Zero would just see how this played out. Let's show this traitorous bastard what I'm really capable of Zero thought, an evil grin splitting his face.
"Where do you want to duel?"
"This hotel used to be a castle designed for repelling Albion's invasions, there is a parade ground in the center of it."
The two then left for the parade ground of the nobles together. The ancient practice ground was now a place for debris and refuse with empty beer barrels and crates scattered all over the place.
"Before, maybe you don't know, under the reign of Philip III, this often used to be a place to host duels between nobility."
Zero looked at him and took out Derflinger from his shoulder but much to Warde's sudden surprise, the rune was glowing before his hand had even touched the blade.
"In a time long ago, the king still had the power to duel, Nobles from the king's time… a time when Nobles were noble. Who risked life for fame and honor, we nobles fought with magic. But it is usually fought over boring issues, such as a lover or some minor disagreement."
"What?"
"There are certain rules regarding dueling, we don't have a witness here."
"Witness?"
"Calm down, one is coming" Wardes replied, and Louise appeared from nearby. She was dumbfounded as she saw the two.
"Wardes, you called me over and I came, what are you two preparing to do?"
"I want to test his abilities a little."
"Really, let's stop this nonsense. Now is not the time for these kind of stupidities."
"It is true, but the noble-born wants a duel, he really wants to find out if I am strong or weak." Zero said simply.
Louise stared at her familiar, "Stop now, that is an order."
"Louise. Since when have your orders ever effected me. I"ll protect you. I'll kill for you. But I'm not a slave and i never will be. Maybe when you're closer to me in age and have a bit more experience behind you, maybe I'll start listening to your orders." Zero said, as he looked at her. He could see the fear in her eyes. Again, it would appear she was underestimating him.
Wardes watched in puzzlement. They looked to be the same age. He shrugged at her familiar and simply continued "Since the witness is here, let us begin."Wardes pulled out his wand from his belt again, entered a combat stance, with his wand pointing at Zero.
Zero responded "Lets have some fun."
Wardes responded with a light laughter, "Hit me with everything you have."
"Sorry, but I'd rather not cause that much collateral damage." Zero said as he leaped forward with a slash. The magic knight parried the attack with his wand, and the two weapons rang solidly as steel clashed steel, sending sparks in all directions. While Wardes' weapon was merely a small wand, he was able to block Zero's long sword without a sweat.
One would have expected Wardes to retreat backward, but no one expected the hurricane-like wind that was caused when the two clashed, and Wardes' increased speed as he charged toward Zero. The reploid responded with a chopping strike that broke Wardes' advance with the black cape of the Magic Knights flipping in the wind. The captain in response leaped a few steps back, and then reversed back to his stance.
"Why isn't that guy using his magic? Zero thought aloud.
Derflinger mumbled in response, "You can't make him, he is looking down on you. You're just not good enough to force his hand"
"A Magic Knight isn't someone who only chants magic." Wardes answered with a tip of his hat.
Zero's fury rose within him. Look down on me? He felt rather than heard a high pitched whine, and all of a sudden everything was clearer. His body felt so light, he was surprised it was staying on the ground.
"The way we chant is fully specialized for battle, the way we hold our wands, the motion we use to charge… the way we use our wands as swords, complete with spell craft. This is the basic of the basics for soldiers."
Zero suddenly smiled. He spoke, but it was almost as if it wasn't him speaking,"Then I suppose that means I can show it to you, right?"
"Show it to me? What are you talking about?" The magician said, a puzzled look on his face.
"The hint of the true power of Zero" Zero's grin looked off for a moment, and a corona of scarlet energy enveloped him then faded. He brought Derflinger around lazily, and made a light series of jabs at Wardes.
"What the hell?" the mage knight cried, as he found himself under an assault he could barely see. He was being pushed back! "You are really fast; no one can mistake you for a commoner, truly the familiar of the legends. A sight to behold!" He said as Zero had pushed him back. "I suppose, familiar, that you have earned this. I shall fight you with everything I have!," he said, looking at the young man, who showed no signs of fear. "Dell yill soll la windy." With one hand waving the sparking wand, Wardes chanted with a low voice.
"Partner! Bad news! Magic is coming!" Derflinger screamed, when he realized the whisper chant was magic…
Suddenly the winds rushed together, creating an invisible force that slammed into Zero with the strength of a hammer, knocking him a good thirty feet away and into a pile of beer barrels, smashing all of them as he crashed down.
In the instant Zero landed on the wine barrels he dropped his sword. As Zero tried to retrieve the weapon, Wardes stepped on it, then struck Zero with the wand. Derflinger screamed "Get your foot off me!", but Wardes paid it no heed and spoke, "Did you find out who is the winner and loser? You can't protect Louise, so why even bother!"
"Well" Zero said, as his helmet started to glow, the runes on his hands became incandescent, and some of the wreckage around him started to get pushed away from him as if moved by some force. "As i understand it, you're standing within close attack range of one of the two most powerful weapons ever created!" the same corona of energy surrounded him, light bathing his form in power. This was... Zero shook his head, and knocked Wardes back just from the concussion of the released energy. His face turned up, and the look that met Wardes was nearly maddening. It showed a glee with this, an inhuman desire to destroy. "Well, I suppose i can keep going at just this level. Hopefully you don't push me much farther than this. Any more power than this and our battle will endanger the whole city!" He said, sounding as if on the verge of laughing. This felt like fighting Sigma again, all that time ago. Sigma had a saber, all he had was hand to hand combat. He'd still ripped that lousy bastards arm off! This was it. Zero started to laugh almost maniacally. "Its been too long since I've had a good fight. Lets keep this going right? Don't disappoint me now!"
Wardes looked fearfully at the familiar before him. He wasn't even wielding a weapon, but not just his runes, but his entire body glowed with an eerie red light."How are you doing that! The runes aren't supposed to glow unless you're using a weapon"
"Didn't I already say," Zero stated in a matter of fact voice as he showed his left hand, "I am a weapon. Don't make me repeat myself. Damned stupid nobles! You are no challenge to me. You say I can't protect her?" Zero drew his saber, its power filling the area with an incandescent green light. "Shall we begin again? We'll see just who's the most powerful here!"
"Partner, calm down! You're usin enough energy to destroy a few city blocks! I can feel it welling up from here!" Derflinger shouted.
"That ain't a problem Derf, long as I don't try charging my buster like this. It would taint my friend's name to use that weapon on him." Zero said, the smile never once leaving his face.
Louise fearfully came over. "Stop you two!"
"Very well. I yield to you, familiar." Wardes said, anger evident in his voice. Apparently he'd expected to teach the familiar a lesson. He looked at his fiance, "Do you understand Louise? He's a monster. Nothing like that can claim to protect." Wardes told her calmly.
"You're wrong! He can protect! Zero saved my life from Fouquet. Twice! If he feels something is right, he'll do it. He's put up with me being horrible. He's put up with me not understanding. He could have been rid of me, but no. He kept his promise to protect me!" Louise shouted
"True, but aren't you going to Albion? Might you do battle? When you are surrounded by strong enemies, what do you plan to do? He isn't a mage. He might be able to take one mage, but what of more?" Wardes questioned, pressing the point.
Louise became silent, and then looked at Zero with worry. The energy that had surrounded him was dimming slowly and the mark on his hand was fading back to its normal appearance.
"Leave him, Louise." Wardes said to her grabbing on to Louise's hands.
"But…" she protested.
"Let's leave him there for a bit. He obviously needs time to cool off, if a simple duel would make him go that far" he said.
Louise hesitantly bit her lips for a moment and, with another tug from Wardes, left.
Derflinger the sword demanded, "Partner, what the hell was that!."
Zero didn't respond. Losing it like that in front of Louise had hurt him. He didn't want her to see that much of his monstrous power. Where the hell had all that come from. Sure he'd fought before, but he'd never felt a lust for battle like that. Not that he remembered. He had to find out what was going on with him!
"Partner, I don't care how much power you have, but don't worry. Your heart is in the right place. And isn't that enough? Siesta, Kirche, Louise, Tabitha. You're always protecting people. I couldn't be more proud to have such a truly good partner. So don't be too upset," Derflinger said, for once dropping his snark and sarcastic comments.
Yet, even if this was true, Zero said nothing.
"Losing yourself in front the girl you have a crush on is truly a despicable event. But don't look so down, or I will cry as well... Hey, I remember something, what was it? It happened a long time ago… Oh that! Zero!" the sword shouted
"What Derf?" Zero asked, his voice sounding tired.
"I just remembered! Magic!" The sword cried out.
"You can do magic!" Zero asked, his voice confused. "How do you forget that!"
"No! I can't do magic. I can CUT magic!" Derflinger said happily.
"Wait, what!" Zero was bewildered.
"Well i guess its not cutting. But i can absorb it! If i absorb too much it takes a while to leave me, and i can't really absorb anymore, but its still one of the reasons I'm the Gandalfr's blade! I'm your guard against magic!"
"You just remembered that now?" Zero said, his voice grating.
"Hey, you try being old like me, and we'll see how you do!"
"I'm over three hundred and fifty years old. that old enough?" Zero said having trouble holding in a laugh.
"Not even close!" Derflinger said imperiously.
"Right. Well, good to know. I suppose having an ace in the hole against that bastard will be nice in case he thinks to try this again" Zero said. Zero wondered what that was. He'd felt an almost joy at the thought of killing the man. The readings on his body everything seemed messed up and he couldn't figure it out. His readings he was getting, were telling him that his body had surpassed his Omega state, even if it was only for a moment.
***Break***
That night, Zero stared at the moon from his balcony window. Guiche and company were drinking in the bar on the first floor. Tomorrow they were heading for Albion, so everyone was partying below. Kirche came with an invitation, but he refused.
Apparently, the group could leave with the two moon eclipses; it was the day in which Albion was closest to the world.
Zero looked up to the starlit night sky, in the sea of stars, the pink moon hid behind the white moon, and thus became one moon sparking with a peach color. That moon reminded him of the one of his homeland, the moon of Earth. He turned as a sound interrupted his musings.
Louise stood there, looking at Zero, "Are you alright?"
"Of course. I'm always alright" Zero said. "Even when I'm not."
"What?" Louise wasn't sure what that meant. She got no reply back from him. She stared at him for a few more minutes before he finally spoke.
"You once said you wanted to know more about me, right?" Zero said, as he looked up at the moon.
"Yes..." Louise looked at him.
"Would you like to hear the story of my first love?" Zero said, still looking at the moon.
Louise paused for a moment. First love! Then she wondered. How many had he had? And while she didn't want to hear anything about that, she wanted to know something about Zero. What was it that made him this way. "I would" she said timidly.
"Alright, this is going to take a bit of explaining, But do you see those moons?" Zero said, pointing up at them.
"Yeah" she said, looking at them.
"Imagine they're far away. Really, really far away. And that if you were to stand on them, this world would look like a moon." Zero said, "But would be far greener, and bluer, with the life and water it contains"
"Ok" Louise didn't understand that, but she thought she had an idea.
"The moons orbit the world correct?"
"Yes, everyone knows that"
"Well lets say you made artificial moons, to orbit the moon. Smaller, but with enclosed areas for living. A place to gaze out at the stars at all times."
"Is that really possible?" Louise asked in wonder.
"Oh yes. More than possible. There was a time where a great many of them surrounded our moon. You see, I used to be part of an organization called the maverick hunters. There was another organization called Repliforce, that was similar to mine. My love, Iris, was a part of that organization with her brother. Like me, she was a weapon, though she was only half a weapon. You see, her brother and her were a two part system. She was the caring compassionate personality, that could deal with the civilians, and calmly assess situations, and the Colonel, her brother was the combat side. Well, she worked for us as an operator, dealing with the information side of what we did, and i was her assigned hunter."
"What? Assigned hunter?" Louise asked curiously.
"We could talk over long distances. With that, it was nice to get information as the people at headquarters got it, rather than having someone run it to us. Made for a lot better tactical decisions. The job was very important and my life was in her hands."
"I see..." Louise said.
"Unfortunately, Repliforce ended up being manipulated by Sigma. He was the leader of the maverick revolt, that wished to destroy the humans. By pitting us against each other, he hoped to get rid of the people who were standing in his way. He also attempted to fire a weapon that the Repliforce had on their colony into the earth, my home world. If they had succeeded, the world would have been uninhabitable for humans. This would have ended with the death of all of the humans, and the Repliforce and Maverick hunters weakened or destroyed." Zero said.
"I, see" Louise didn't think she liked how this story was going.
"Well, I was able to confront and defeat Iris's brother in battle. I didn't want to, but I had no real choice. When it came down to it, we fought, I won. he died." Zero said, sadly.
"What happened then?" Louise asked despite a growing unease in her chest.
"Iris felt her brothers death. She knew that i had done it. She, kind of went crazy. Using her brother's abilities, she confronted me in combat. She was too powerful for me to stop without lethal force. I defeated her. I ended her life." Zero said sadly. He didn't think that explaining the program failings she had because of this would be important to the girl.
"What?" Louise looked at Zero's face as he stared up at the moon. It looked blank.
"After the fight, she was her old self. As she lay dying in my arms, she asked me to run away with her, to a place where people like she and I were the only people. To a place where there would be no fighting or hatred. My only answer i could give to Iris, was that it was a dream. No place can exist like that."
"Why are you telling me this?" Louise demanded, tears were streaming down her face.
"Simple. I have free time, and we are alone, and the moon tonight reminds me of it. You did say you wanted to learn about your familiar's past right?" Zero asked.
"Of course I do!" Louise said.
"Then be warned. Its not a particularly happy one," Zero stated.
"You can make a happier future!" Louise said,"Kirche fell in love with you. Siesta has fallen for you too you know. You can live a happy life here!" Louise stood and marched up to Zero. "If all you've had in your old world is tragedy then I'm not going to let you go back, no matter what!" she yelled at him. "I won't let you go back!" she yelled as she hugged him.
Zero was shocked at another girl throwing herself into him. He realized she was crying. For him?Wrapping his arms around her he tried to soothe the younger girl. "Its okay Louise. Life has tragedy. What really matters is that you come through it stronger, right?" Zero looked at her, a smile on his face. He really hadn't meant for this. he'd just wanted to humanize himself to her a little more. So she'd be less focused on the amount of power he released in his duel. He absolutely hated it when people could only focus on the extent of his power. He hated the looks of fear, or the jealousy of power.
"I am not going to marry Wardes." Louise said to him slowly.
"I didn't think you would" Zero said, as he continued to hold her,"You're a live wire. You need someone to let you be that live wire"
"Live wire?" Louise asked curiously. She'd never heard that before.
"Ah. Um. You have a forceful personality one could say. It would easily be one of your greatest traits. To mute that, would be a terrible shame." Zero said. While she'd been abusive at times, there were a number of times he'd purposely provoked her, and it was fun to watch and listen to her go off at times. She had passion if nothing else.
Just at that moment…
"The hell!" Zero shouted. Louise turned her head around, and to her surprise, something appeared that swallowed the moon, and it was nowhere to be seen.
Beneath the moon's shadow, there appeared to be a giant. If we looked at it closely, the huge shadow turned out to be a golem made of stone. The person controlling the golem turned out to be…
"Fouquet!" Zero and Louise shouted in unison.
The figure above them sat on the golem's shoulder, cheerfully answered, "Oh, it is such an honor to be remembered!"
The sword on Zero's shoulder asked, "Shouldn't you be rotting in jail?"
Fouquet shouted back, "Somebody had a kind heart, a beauty like myself should be contriving to the welfare of the world, so they let me escape."
It was dark so not many people could see it, but there was a figure in the black cape of nobility standing next to the woman. Was that guy the person who helped her escape? The noble supported Fouquet's actions, but remained silent. Because the figure wore a mask, no one could see anything clear, but it appeared to be a man.
"Fouquet, I showed mercy once. I will not again. You are fighting in a populated district of a city with a large and very clumsy weapon. If you do not leave now I will kill you." Zero pulled out Derflinger in his right hand, and grabbed his saber with the left. "You've seen what my blades can do. It is your choice!"
"I am simply here to thank you for the long vacation you gave me, I am here to send you my appreciation!" Fouquet howled in laughter, as the huge golem pulverized the fence on the balcony with one hit. The fence was carved right out of solid stone, so it appeared the power of the golem had increased significantly.
Zero ran at the golem, piercing the arm of it with his saber, as he removed the first half with a single slash and continued running up the remainder. Suddenly he noticed a movement from the man in black, and he saw a powerful cloud of electricity come at him. He lifted his sword into a guarded position, and swung Derflinger at it, absorbing the energy, some of it hitting him. "Got anything better than that? If not this is gonna be a disappointing slaughter" Zero said as he ran at them again, his sword slamming home into Fouquets gut, severing her spine. The shocked look on her face, truly showed she didn't believe this was possible. She let out a gasp as he pulled Derflinger from her abdomen and kicked her off the golem in the direction of the hotel. He smiled chillingly as he looked at the man in black, then as he looked at it he realized, "Soul body!" He dashed up to it, and slammed Derflinger into it, as it readily collapsed, the robe and staff dropping to the ground.
Suddenly a group of soldiers stormed the front of the inn, to assault Wardes and company who were drinking.
Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha and Wardes were using magic to defend themselves. However, there were too many people. It appeared every soldier from La Rochelle came attacking.
Kirche broke one of the table's legs, and decided to use the table as a shield against the coming foes. The attacking soldiers were used to fighting magic-using foes already. While they were fighting, they observed Kirche and her allies range and style. Then moved out the magic's range to attack with bows. The soldiers hidden from the dark had the advantage of the field, leaving those inside the room a bitter battle. If anyone stood up to chant magic, they were answered with a torrential volley of arrows.
The other nobles and guests were hiding under the counter and shaking in fear. The fat innkeeper called out to the soldiers, "What are you doing to my establishment?" But one arrow slammed into his shoulder, leaving him slumped on the ground.
"This is really troublesome." Listening to Wardes' words, Kirche nodded.
"It appears that there was more than one band of mercenaries."Kirche said simply.
"Maybe Albion's nobles are behind this?" Guiche guessed.
Kirche raised her wand, and mumbled, "…Those guys are planning for us to use our magic, exhaust ourselves then come in with a charge, what can we do?"
"My Valkyries will protect us."
"Guiche, your Valkyries are only a small squad, these are seasoned mercenaries."
"If we don't try we will never know."
"But Guiche, if it comes to warfare I am a far better expert than you are."
"But I am the son of General de Gramont, how could I lose to this band of idiot soldiers?"
"This is intolerable, the nobles of Tristain are only tough with their words, but their actual combat capabilities are pretty weak."
Guiche stood up, preparing to chant his magic. But Wardes stopped him by grabbing on to the young noble's shirt.
"Everyone listen carefully." Wardes whispered. They quieted down to listen."This mission counts as complete if one half of the group arrives safely at the destination."
At this moment the cute Tabitha also closed her book and looked at Wardes' direction. The girl used her staff and pointed at herself, Kirche and Guiche and uttered one word, "Bait."
At that moment, a crash resounded as Zero made his entrance , Sword in each hand, impaling and slashing at the mercenaries, cutting arrows that were being sent at him, and creating a general sort of chaos, causing the mercenaries to break
"What the hell?" Wardes demanded, as he saw the younger boy doing all this, and the damnable part of the matter was, his hand wasn't glowing at all!
As the arrows being fired stopped, Zero stopped chasing. The mercenaries had retreated across the street, so Zero put his swords by his sides and said loudly enough for everyone to hear, "My name is Zero. I have been called the Ancient God of Destruction. If you so choose to attack any that are under my protection, I will end your lives without a second thought. This warning is the only mercy you'll get from me. Be aware of that"
"Aye, and you'll just leave us in peace?" one of the mercenaries demanded.
"I will. Leave and never come before me again, or not one of you will survive. I do not enjoy killing. But as I'm sure you saw. I'm the fucking best there is. This is the only warning I'm giving you" Zero said, pointing his green saber at them. "Do not confuse mercy with softness as one other has. You get one chance. Ask Fouquet, the mage you were working with. Last i saw, she had a hole in her stomach. Same for that mage that was with her. Its your choice."
"Aye, we'll go, we'll go noble. They didn't pay us enough for this..." the mercenary said.
Zero watched them go, then when he was sure there was none of them hanging around, he walked back to his group. "Is everyone okay? I'm sorry it took so long dealing with Fouquet. But there was another mage up there as well. And if I had to make my guess it was a damned powerful one."
"Oh, what makes you say that?" Wardes asked curiously, almost pridefully.
"Simple. He used something close to one of the techniques i used to use. Its called Soul body. I can't use it because of some conflicts with some of my other abilities though. So its something that's been lost to me. It creates a minor clone of yourself, that is weak in most people who use it, but can often still attack. To think of one so strong as to allow it to do that... I"ll have to kill them if i meet them in person. The damned thing nearly did me in." Zero said, lying through his teeth at how closely matched the power had been. "But that's not important," Zero continued as he looked around the room at each person in turn inspecting them,"Is anyone hurt?"
"Ah, no. I don't think anyone is." Guiche said, "You came at just the right time. Although, why are you so concerned. If we really did get hurt, we'd probably need to go see a water mage or something. No offense but I'm not sure what you could do"
"Eh, where I come from, everyone who takes to the battle field has training on at least the basics of human anatomy and how to treat wounds, create splints, different categories and types of injuries. All the things to help recover and aid people who are injured in a fight, be they allies, civilians, or in some cases enemies." Zero stated simply.
"Why?" was Tabitha's query.
"Because even though I'm a warrior. I still value life. I'm not exactly a physician. But I know how to patch people up long enough to get to someone who can do more than me." Zero said, smiling. Let Wardes think he had a bleeding heart. Cold people like that always looked down on them. Just like Sigma had always looked down on X's own compassion. Even that fool Double had looked down on X's supposed naivety as weakness. Both of them were dead now because of it.
"Um, darling. Is there anything you can't do?" Kirche asked, looking at Zero through new eyes. Powerful, compassionate, destructive, bold. He was everything fire and passion could want.
"Use magic, and sing. Damn Alia, and damn X for letting Alia drag me to those damned Karaoke bars she liked along with them, especially when they brought Layer! Always trying to set us up!" Zero said, shaking his fists, then sighed. "Those were the good old days," he laughed.
"Zero," Wardes interrupted him, "I must ask. Why didn't your runes glow when you were fighting the mercenaries?"
"Oh. I wasn't resolved to fight. I simply chose to kill them because that's the only thing they were going to understand was a large and quick loss of numbers to break the morale given by the money they were undoubtedly paid. A sound tactic, no?" Zero asked.
"Very sound. But why let the rest go?"
"Everyone, deserves a second chance if its possible. I was not boasting. If they return i will slaughter most of them, then i will take whatever leader they have and find out just who sent them. As it stands now I'm betting Albion's nobility" Zero paused for a moment, and said," So Wardes. You couldn't even protect Louise. I protected all of you. I may be a monster. I may not be a monster. But I'm stronger than you even if you can't understand it. At least I was able to protect those who I am responsible for. You simply sat behind a table. I must commend your bravery though. You didn't soil yourself or anything, so that's points there, right?."
"Now you listen here!" Wardes said, unable to take such slander, his hand reaching for his wand.
"No, you listen to me!" Zero had Wardes pinned up against the wall. "Say what the hell you want about me. I don't care, but do not ever get in the way of my duty or I swear you will regret it. Do you understand me? I held back in that duel. I could tell more than a few of your strikes were made to be fatal. That didn't matter. I didn't aim in kind. So what the hell does that say about you, friend?" Zero demanded in a harsh voice.
Wardes looked down into the eyes of the familiar. Something wasn't right about them. He shook his head. "I admit. I was out of line. My pride took a beating at your hand and I am sorry to say, that I lost my composure because of it. It is a deep shame, and I apologize. Can you forgive me?"
"Everyone gets their second chance Wardes. This is yours" Zero said coldly as he turned around and walked away. Zero knew for a fact the man would ignore the warning. But without true proof he couldn't act.
***Author's notes***
Oh my god. Fouquet is dead. Dun dun dun. Apparently Zero doesn't realize that unlike Sigma, most reoccurring villains can't come back if you put large holes in them. I guess we'll have to address that with him at the next staff meeting.
Zero: Or maybe I've just had enough with the reoccurring villains with Sigma. We killed that god damned bastard how many times? I've filled my damned reoccurring villain quota a hundred years ago thanks! And if that bastard Wardes makes any stupid moves he's gonna be the first Human hackey sack this world has ever seen!
Well, that clears that up I suppose. Apparently we can blame Fouquet's death on Sigma. Good job, ya bald dick.
Zero: Did you just try and work Sigma into the story line?
Of course not. You're imagining things. I'm just saying we can blame Sigma for your hatred of reoccurring villains... Moving on
Yes, I can see X and Alia dragging Zero out of HQ and trying to hook him up with Layer at every opportunity, because as friends they don't want him to be a shut in, especially after what happened with Iris. Giving him some time to heal sure, but they probably felt he had to move on. And on the Iris story, i tried to tell it fast, without losing too much, allowing Louise to grasp some things that to her are impossible(like Zero has to grasp when he sees all this weird crap daily).
I'm probably gonna need to play the games again soon because some of the details are getting all blurry from the X series. Things are getting all mixed up in my head with the smaller details. Even some of the larger ones. And with the grand scheme that i have planned, that can really break the story. I appreciate the help as always of people pointing out my failing memory, and have corrected the instances that were wrong.
Thanks again for all the positive reviews. Also looking for someone to bounce some ideas off of. If anyone sends me a message I'll take the first who does. Spoilers will be given, since that's mostly what I need to bounce some ideas about.