-Chapter 5-
Looming shadows fold over the rock formations in Ivory Peaks. The orange and pink sky bathes the plains. Gabriel doesn't have to be a mage to know that there is an air of magic misuse here. He keeps on his guard. It seems the Raptors aren't here today. Instead, Rush's team is greeted by Wyverns.
'Wyverns...like the ones that attacked Celapaleis...'
Allan wastes no time being the first to deadlock a few that were bunched up near the corner of a cliff. "Kill them aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!" He screams out. Using Retribution, he mortally wounds one of them. Gaou quickly follows his pace, with a proud sweep from his Obsidian, effectively subduing their group. Darien tosses everyone a red potion. "Bottoms up!" He yells out. They all drink the translucent liquid that amplifies their combat strength.
"You all owe me for making you almost as awesome as I always am!" Darien exclaims while readying his pitchfork. A few groans resound through the squads.
The avian fiends swoop in, quickly dealing some heavy damage with Whirlwind. The area of effect attack damages several other teams.
"Whoaaaaaaaaaa. What's gotten into them?" Rush gears his team up, encircling them with a barely visible prismatic bubble. The bubble is ready to activate at any time to shield against magic abilities.
"Rush...I believe they may be a bit more on edge than usual." Lord David quickly strikes one with a Cutting Lunge.
"But why?" Rush asks without giving any openings to the enemy.
"Well...If I had to make an approximation...the tablet of Marshall would be an excellent one."
"Huh? It's reacting? Why didn't you say that sooner?"
"I honestly...couldn't...tell!" Lord David pants as a Wyvern dives at him. His Superior Bluesteel is all that separates him from the beast's boney fangs.
Lord David activates his mystic arts from the handle of the blade. The hilt starts sizzling in the Wyvern's jaws, and it immediately unhinges its mandible from the blade. David then plants his sword on the ground, chanting the spell needed to cast Wildfire. Flaming balls descending from the sky rain down on the beast, critically striking the avian fiend. It shrieks in horror and finally collapses to the ground.
"The pulse from the Tablet was so faint...I'd only been able to detect it now." The Marquis of Athlum huffs as he finishes informing his friend. Rush goes to pat him on the back. David sets himself straight and smiles at Rush.
"Well then, guess we've got ourselves a scavenger hunt! First one to find it, wins!"
"...Wins what?" Nora crosses her arms as Rush dashes off.
"Rush, wait...I'm in possession of the Tablet. I carry the advantage..." The Marquis trails off. He takes a minute to recollect his thoughts, chuckling from the circumstances. "Just what am I going to do with him?" He signals his group to come along, and join in this hunt.
Allan runs past Torgal. He sneers at him. "You'd best hurry, Mitra servant. Otherwise you'll really taste defeat at my hands!"
"Allan! You...you're enjoying this, aren't you?" Torgal shakes his head, smirking.
"..." Gabriel looks at all of them run off. His group eyes him curiously, wondering what exactly he's doing, and why they haven't received any orders.
"C'mon man, what's the holdup?!" Loki mouths off.
"...We don't have to wander aimlessly for the remnant."
"What?!" Paris states.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sheryl's eyes start to sparkle.
"...We already know where it is." Gabriel informs them.
"We-we do?" Sheryl gasps.
"Are you serious, Gabriel?" Paris asks him.
"Oui. Isn't that right, Violet?" Gabriel eyes her. The rest of the team follow suit, making sure she really feels the pressure of answering them.
"Um...well...yes. We do, actually."
"Oh my god! Wow!"
"Go figure." Loki looks about as excited as the next guy.
"Let's go then guys! Altogether now! We got this!" Sheryl hypes up her team.
Gabriel still stands steadfast. A single sweat drop falls down his face. "Mon Dieu..."
Gabriel leads his team down towards the many naturally carved stone pillars of Ivory Peaks. He treads carefully next to the stone, using their height as a means of cover. He peers at the edge of the rock. A few wyverns, roseflies, and demons block their way to the transparent, stained-glass looking picture on the wall near the east side.
"But of course...you can't just let us have the easy way out, eh God Emperor?" He scoffs.
His team looks at him. He turns back at them to give them the 4-1-1.
"I hope you're ready, Mes amies. The expression 'grasping victory from the jaws of defeat' will never be more suited for any other endeavor we have as this one will be." He informs them.
"More demons, huh? Well it looks like I'm in luck. Let's clobber them already."
"Hold it, Loki. We need to strategize."
"Gabe's right. I kind of really hate those scaly things..." Sheryl frowns.
"Well? What's the plan?" Paris mentally prepares himself.
"Actually, we really don't need one."
"Huh? But you said-"
"Yes, I know what I said. However, my little star, we shouldn't rattle our brains over one. We just need to not rush in and get ourselves massacred."
"..." Loki flashes him a menacing look.
"We have a really, really versatile team. I expect everyone to provide the proper support or firepower we need should the situation arise. I trust your judgements. Just look out for each other and we'll be fine."
"..." Violet remains silent.
"Aha! So that's what you meant." Paris smiles.
"Well then company...charge!" Gabriel commands them to pounce on their enemy.
Gabriel, Violet, Paris, Loki, and Sheryl stand in the midst of battle. Gabriel aims for the small group of Rosefly first. It might seem idiotic, but getting rid of the pesky fiends first keeps the faction safe from silences and poison damage seeping away their fighting potential. Paris used Protection on his allies right off the bat. Hexagonal shields now surround all of the party members. His actions may seem confusing, giving that the flies mostly specialize in Mystic Arts, but Violet stepped in right after him, tossing a Flash bomb at the group, instantly knocking them out.
The next creatures to step up were the wyverns. The duo used basic attacks on the team, hitting Sheryl, and Loki. Thanks to Paris' ward, Sheryl took no damage and Loki evaded the attack through his fighting expertise. This time Gabriel struck first, swiftly executing a knee splitting slash with his rapier on the fiends and hitting them hard. Sheryl, equipped with her quarterstaff, whacks the beasts. Violet quickly moves in after her and hits them with a double strike. Loki finishes them off with a vertical slash upwards, a horizontal right slash, and a snarky remark.
"Better get home to mommy!" Loki looks at his Phalanx Mace all prideful.
"Focus, Loki, the real show begins." Gabriel tells his teammate as the demons stamp their pronged feet towards them. The clods send tremors through the terrain. The demons stare down at the mitras with their beady red eyes. They snort and smoke fumes out of their small, scaly noses.
One of the demons gets the first strike. They conjure up the 'Switch' move that depletes the group's health to below 75%. Gabriel reacts to the move and gives his teammates a Restorative Herb.
"You'll be fine now..." He tells them.
Paris casts Maledict on them, hopefully being able to curse them and render one or two incapable of action. Unfortunately, demons are hard to curse. The future leader of Royotia forgets that these creatures...are already damned. The spell does however, do a nice chuck of damage to the whole union. Sheryl moves in with her Quarterstaff to perform a powerful, cascading strike. She seems disappointed when it doesn't do as much damage as she wanted.
"Ugh! That sucks!" She cries out.
"That's okay, Sheryl, just keep doing your best." Violet gets her staff poised and ready for action.
The other demon goes to attack. It slashes at Sheryl, paralyzing her, and rendering her unable to perform combat arts.
"Ah!" Sheryl yelps in pain.
"Hang in there!" Violet and Gabriel both simultaneously say.
The last demon strikes. It sends a breath of blazing hot fire at them. However, thanks to their V formation, only Gabriel was hit. "...Cur!" He grimaces at the vile beasts.
Violet shifts her plan of attack to defensive measures. She casts the healing remedy, Revitalize on her team. Everyone gets back at full strength.
"ALLRIGHT!" Loki screams out, raring for more action.
Loki is so pumped, he jumps into the air, using the Dragon's Flight technique to do substantial damage to the demons. They become shocked, eyes filled with worry. Paris taps his staff on the ground and points towards Sheryl. Healing evocations flow from the staff to her body, easing away the paralysis. In a few minutes, she's back to her normal self. "Woohoo! Sweet!" She thanks Paris. He blushes a little.
Sheryl takes this opportunity to do a sweeping strike at the Demons. One demon sweeps its claws at Violet. She blocks its strike with her weapon gripped in both hands protectively. Using her Prismic Cudgel, Violet pounces on them and strikes at their underbellies three times. She does some heavy damage to them. Gabriel gets ready for his turn, when he notices something is amiss. In their state of panic, two of the demons prepare to cast Laserbreath, and Switch.
"Uh...Gabriel?" Paris looks at him nervously. "Not to put any pressure on you or anything...but..."
"If we get hit by that dreadful combination, it won't matter whether we live through the first attack or not, we'll just get taken out by the next one."
"And both our healers already made their moves." Sheryl announces.
'Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. It's not like I can't use potions, vivification, or anything...' Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Fine then..." Gabriel's Rapier glows. He grips his weapon as hard as he possibly could. Through sheer willpower, he makes his attack before the two demons get their chance to strike. He sprints straight towards the wretched creatures. Gabriel lifts his weapon above his neck, lining it straight up for a jab attack.
"I swear to God Emperor...this...had better work!"
He charges to the leader, intent on slicing through the underbelly. Gabriel uses Requiem―a mighty blow cuts through the Demon's skin. It hisses in pure agony. Gabriel twists his Rapier around, completely slicing through the right half of the creature. It stumbles, and falls with a giant THUD! Gabriel scrambles to get out of the way before he's crushed under it. The leader's fall leaves the other two demons disoriented. One of them is incapable of action, and the other kills both of them...by blasting its own teammate. The other demon lies in a pool of his own blood and the demon firing lasers everywhere hit the walls of Ivory Peaks, effectively causing a landslide to trample the demon over.
"..." Gabriel's colleagues stare in awe at him.
"So," He rubs the back of his head. "...Would anyone like some Demon Mane components?"
Everyone cheers for him. Violet claps moderately. Loki is impressed by his savagery. They walk towards the Remnant, which seemingly, cheerfully flaps on the wall.
Gabriel hears some low murmurs behind him. He turns around, seeing Lord David's group. Behind them.
"Ah! Gabriel. Already found the Remnant I see? Nice work." Nassau compliments. Glenys peers over to Gabriel and his group. Gabriel notices, but doesn't say anything.
"Thank you Lord David." Gabriel sheaths his steel. "...So shall we wait for-" Gabriel gets cut off from his question as Rush pants and wheezes from not too far behind them. He grips the rock pillar for balance.
"No-no way..."
"Gabe...and Dave found it first?" Rush pants some more.
He plops down on the field of green below him. Chuckling while Nora and Wyngale both stare at him strangely. Baulson, who is genuinely worried, kneels down; arms crossed and presides directly over Rush.
"...You alright there, kiddo?"
"Yeah, well, I lost at my own declaration." Rush sits up on the grass, smiling. "But...since Gabe did find it first, why don't you give him the honors, Dave?"
"Well put, Rush."
Lord David takes out Marsha's Tablet. He holds it out to Gabriel, gesturing him to take it.
Gabriel points to himself. "M-moi?"
"Of course! You earned it." Rush candidly states.
"Well...I..." Gabriel scratches his head. He carefully takes the Tablet from David's hands and directs it toward the Remnant. The Remnant happily peels itself off the wall to merge its energy inside the stone. Gabriel feels a wave of energy shift in as winds pick up and power courses through the mystical rock. He stares at the Tablet, feeling a strange attachment to it now. Fully grasping what it can do, his eyes widen. He hands it back to David promptly.
"Well now, Rush. You've had your fun. Shall we be heading back now?" David gleams.
"You bet! I'm absolutely starving Dave! I wonder what gruel Emma cooked up for us this time."
"Be careful Rush! She has the heightened senses of a Barbarossa. You shouldn't insult her cooking, or you'll face her wrath!" David jokes.
"You think I'm scared? Back when I first joined your posse, I fought her, and I'll have you know- I only face planted like twelve times during our swordfight. Emma praised me for not running away around the 10th beat down."
"I will admit, that does sound like her." David smiles. "Well then men. Athlum is merely a gate entrance away. Let's hurry on home."
Everyone cheers, eager to kick back and get some grub on. Gabriel looks at his parting members.
"Actually, Lord David...if you don't mind, I'll be staying here for a few more minutes."
"Take all the time you need, Gabriel. I believe you have earned it."
Gabriel sits down on the grass, idly staring at the wall where the Liafort was mere hours ago. The sky is turning a dark blue, shadows are settling on the ramparts and columns around the field. Gabriel stretches his arms out, laying them both towards his back.
"Family treasure eh? I wonder what it's like, to have had such a caring family that you'd go risking your life just to get it back."
"...It's worth cherishing the memories of what made you so close in the first place."
Gabriel reels his head back as much as it'll go. He sees Violet walking upside-down towards him, her Cudgel still in hand.
"...Mind if I sit with you?"
"C'est un monde libre, mon amie. Do what you like." Gabriel looks back to the wall.
Violet sits a few inches apart from him staring directly at the wall like Gabriel is. Gabriel doesn't understand her intentions, so he decides to break the ice first.
"Exactly how much did you hear?"
"Just what you commented about my family." Violet answers.
"...Je suis désolé."
"You don't have to be sorry. It's only natural to wonder what having a family is like when you don't have one of your own."
"..."
"They meant the world to me. It wasn't just them spoiling me or making sure I got everything I wanted――they made sure I knew right from wrong. They cherished me, made me feel like I belonged. Made me look forward to coming home every day from a private academy so I could hug my mother or embrace my father in my arms, and tell them...I loved them. That they were the best parents. That I hoped we could stay like this forever."
"..."
"Childish dreams. Foolish imaginings that you never really know are foolish until the scale tips in such a way that regaining balance is impossible."
"...It's not foolish to wish for happiness."
"Perhaps...but life teaches you to be prepared to understand what it takes to reach that happiness."
"And... What did it cost you?"
"A month of rampaging. A month of defiance. A month of deluding myself that my husband was my enemy, that Celapaleis was my enemy, and that the only way to restore my family's pride and honor back was to go to Ivory Peaks and take back what was rightfully mine...and conspire against the Duke of Qubine."
"..."
"That's when you used the mystic evocation Stealth and suddenly appeared in my life."
"I..." Gabriel doesn't know what to say.
"The first thing that stood out about you was that you understood loss. You knew what it was like to have something taken away from you. We adhered to that as if we were kindred spirits. We fed off each other's wounds as if festering would let us heal."
"But Rush and his team...helped me see the error in my ways." Violet says. "I wasn't allowed to take the Liafort from my own land. The Remnant rejected me. In my rage I hastened my plans to have fiends assault the Duke of Qubine, however Baron Nielson was two steps ahead and craftily caused a mishap in security detail to allow monsters to gain access to Celapaleis. My plan was in shambles. I had just given up when you showed up with that boy. Ironically, I saved the Duke with you on my team."
"Violet, I-"
"I finally understood then what I did was wrong, Gabriel. You don't have to apologize for deserting me. You tried to convince me to turn back, but I wouldn't listen, and I almost let my pure hatred consume me. To the point of doing something unspeakable and merciless."
"I couldn't see that I had everything I wanted right in front of me. He was staring me directly in the eye, never able to get the right words out, but caring all the same. I took his silence as mockery. His position as treachery. I couldn't see him as he was because I couldn't see myself as I was."
"..."
"But Gabriel, that's over now. I've changed. You and Rush helped me break the barriers I had with Nielson, and realize what I was truly meant to do. I'm just sorry it took me so long to appreciate that."
"..."
"And Gabriel, I'm sorry for throwing you away. It only deepened your wound. I only realized this a few weeks back. It's partially my fault you can't move on." She stares directly at him.
"I..." Gabriel clenches a clump of grass in his glove. "..."
"I... refuse to move on."
"Gabriel...I-I don't understand, why-"
"So you got your happy ending? Well congratulations. Life doesn't work itself out conveniently for everyone like that."
"Gabriel, what-"
"So is this what you're calling it?" He mocks. "A little 'I found happiness, and you can too' sort of charity event?"
"No, it's nothing like that!"
"Well, sorry to disappoint you, M'lady, but I have no inclinations of ever putting that much faith in someone ever again." Gabriel gets up and turns to leave.
"You're just too afraid to try." Violet murmurs. Gabriel is no longer in view. "And I'm the only one to blame..." She whispers.