I do not own Skies of Arcadia or any of its characters.
Desertion
Locke sidestepped the prince's blade, striking with his own. Prince Enrique deflected the strike, pivoting into a thrust expertly, only for Locke to knock the prince's wooden rapier away with his own wooden rapier's knuckle bow. Then, he drove the tip of his wooden blade into Enrique's chestplate, knocking him backward and onto his backside. Enrique sighed.
"I still can't beat you," Enrique smiled, pushing himself up.
"No, you can't," Locke agreed. "But you've improved."
"I lasted only four strikes between us," Enrique countered.
"That's because I know every move you can make before you can make them," Locke smirked. "I taught them to you."
Enrique shook his head. "My mother complained again, you know."
Locke shrugged. "If she doesn't like her twenty-five year-old son being trained to fight by a seventeen year-old immigrant, she shouldn't have appointed me as your personal bodyguard."
Enrique chuckled. "I suppose so."
"Your Highness!" a guard announced himself as he entered the room. "Your mother requests your presence in the throne room."
"Understood," Enrique nodded, handing his wooden sword to Locke, who tossed it and his own aside, picking up his own silver-handled rapier beside the door as he followed Enrique out of the room.
They headed through the palace to the throne room, Enrique quickly taking his place at the Empress Teodora's side, Lock standing a few paces to Enrique's left, close enough to react if needed, but far enough not to draw attention. A moment later, the empire's Grand Admiral, Galcian, entered, escorting a beautiful young woman about Locke's age with pale blonde hair, a simple yet elegant white dress and veil over her hair, and her hands bound. Galcian had his golden blonde hair neatly combed back, a neatly-groomed brown beard, and his powerful, well-trained body hidden beneath a bulky cape wrapped around his entire body.
"Lord Galcian brings good news, Your Majesty," one of the Imperial Guards spoke up.
"Indeed I do, Your Majesty," Galcian nodded. "I am sure you will be pleased. As you have requested, my forces have captured a Silvite."
Locke's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Ahhh," Teodora smiled predatorially as she gazed at the girl. "Excellent work, Galcian. You have yet to fail me. So, this is what a Silvite looks like. Hmm...Such a beautiful girl. Her clothes are...interesting. A nice specimen."
Locke glanced at Teodora, who was appraising the girl like a piece of property, not a prisoner. Something felt off. He had a bad feeling about something.
"Today we have taken another step closer to our main objective," Teodora announced. "Soon, the Valuan Empire shall rule the world." She surveyed the Silvite, who stood with her head bowed and her eyes closed. "You seem...sad, young one. Why do you not rejoice with us? You shall witness our finest hour. You have the knowledge that we seek. You can assist us." Teodora let out a wicked laugh. "All who oppose us shall fall! Their islands will be reduced to ash and dust! Anyone who stands in our way will be destroyed! And you, young one, shall help us."
"Mother..." Enrique hesitated before speaking again. "Ruling the world by force is not something that I am sure I approve of. An empire that does not listen to the plight of its people is destined to fall."
"Enrique, you still have much to learn," Teodora scoffed. "You cannot walk the path of an emperor and concern yourself with the petty worries of the people."
"But, Mother-"
"Now, now, Enrique," Teodora cut him off. "I am building an empire for you. Since you shall inherit the throne when I pass on, you should pay more attention." She turned back to the Silvite. "Well then, young lady. I know that there are six Moon Crystals and that they have been scattered all over the world. I also know that he who controls the Moon Crystals controls weapons of mass destruction. I believe your people refer to them as...Gigas! When the Gigas are ours, we shall rule the world!!!" She let out a terrible cackle as Locke's eyes twitched, narrowed, and then relaxed. "Now, young lady...You will tell me where to find the Moon Crystals."
"I will die before I tell you," the girl snapped defiantly, directing a stare filled with disdain at Teodora.
"What did you say!?" Teodora demanded.
"You do not understand how powerful the Gigas really are," the Silvite girl said. "The Gigas were great weapons of destruction built by the Old World. They are more powerful than you can imagine."
"And that is precisely why Valua must obtain these weapons," Teodora said in a sickly-sweet, patronizing tone. "Since we are the most powerful empire, we should have full control over them. And once we have them, we shall rule the world!"
"No!" the girl snapped, stepping forward. "Humans must never control the Moon Crystals and the Gigas ever again! Power hungry dictators like you are the reason humans must never control them!"
"You dare insult me!?" Teodora seethed. "The Empress of the great Valuan Empire!? In my own palace!?" Her voice jumped to an enraged screech as she brandished her scepter. "Kill her! Kill her! Kill the little wench! Off with her head!"
Enrique rushed to try and calm his mother. "Mother! Think about what you are saying! You cannot kill her, she's done nothing wrong!"
"Are you saying that this girl is innocent, Enrique...even after she insulted me so!?" Teodora demanded. "Kill her! Kill her now!"
"Please!" the Silvite pleaded. "You must believe me! The power of the Gigas is not to be underestimated!"
"Silence, wench!" Teodora spat. "You will pay for you insolence!"
A guard stepped forward finally, slamming the steel shaft of his spear into the back of her head, knocking her out.
"Lord Galcian, I bring urgent news!" a guard shouted, running into the throne room. "Someone has broken into the coliseum and freed the Blue Rogues!"
"What!?" Galcian snapped, then growled in frustration. "I am on my way! Take the girl to the ship and bring her to the Grand Fortress immediately!"
"Yes, Lord Galcian!" the soldier that had brought the bad news saluted.
"Your Majesty, I request permission to deploy the Armada," Galcian bowed. "I will take the girl with me and she will guide me to the Moon Crystals."
"Very well, then!" Teodora huffed. "Use the power of the Armada and bring the Crystals to me!"
"Of course, Your Majesty," Galcian accepted his orders. "However, I have but one humble request. I would like to request that a new addition be made to our highest ranking officers. I would like to recommend my Vice Captain, Ramirez, for the position."
"Do as you wish," Teodora said dismissively. "In return, I want you to give me your word that you will bring me those Crystals."
"As you wish, Your Majesty," Galcian bowed.
"You heard the Admiral," the soldier said, stepping up over the Silvite girl. "Get up!"
She forced herself to her knees, staring at the floor hesitantly, muttering under her breath. "Ramirez?"
Locke watched as she was led out of the room, Galcian following her and the soldier leading her. Enrique sighed, looking over at Lock.
"Come on," Enrique said. "It's late. We should get to bed."
Locke nodded, following Enrique to Enrique's bedroom. He looked around the room carefully for a moment before stepping out of Enrique's way, letting him enter the room.
"I know it's your job, but you don't have to worry so much," Enrique smiled. "You're my friend before you're my bodyguard."
"I know," Locke smiled. "Sleep well, Your Highness."
Enrique nodded, smiling, and closed the door. As he did, Locke turned, walking a few meters down the hallway to his own bedroom, which was considerably smaller than Enrique's. It possessed only a shabby bed, a small wardrobe, and a writing desk and chair. He took a slow breath before walking to the wardrobe and opened it, pulling out his several sets of matching, immaculate, pure white suits.
The suits were comprised of white pants, a black button-up shirt, a white vest with gold buttons and gold highlights along the seams, a white tie, and a white, military style jacket. The jacket had gold highlights along the edges of the breast pockets, the sleeves' cuffs, gold epaulets on the shoulders with a single black chevron arrow on each, pointing toward the jacket's collar, and black along the inside of the collar, visible where it was folded over. While wearing the suits, he kept the jacket open and had his black belt over the vest, his rapier hanging on his left. With each suit, he wore his black, leather boots, which reached halfway up his shins before folding outward, a pair of black gloves, and a Moon Stone Monocle eyepatch. Instead of blocking his eye, it instead had a thin Moon Stone carved into a lense which, due to the type of Moon Stone is was made from, allowed him to see further away, see through objects to see if there was someone hidden behind an object but at the cost of also seeing through their skin and only seeing skeletons, and a few other things.
"I'm sorry, Enrique," Locke sighed, sitting at his desk and picking up a pen. "It looks like you'll be needing a new bodyguard."
He quickly wrote out a message to his prince. He couldn't remain in Valua if they were going to be trying to destroy the world. He wasn't going to be a part of that. So, he'd help the Silvite girl escape and find and protect the Moon Crystals. Once the message was finished, he stood, neatly and carefully folding his extra, identical outfits and storing them in a knapsack before securing it and slinging it over his back. Then, he pulled out his last possession from under the bed.
It was a long, sleak, black rifle with a handle made by a smooth curve where the rifle widened into the buttstock and a thumb-hole. Along the sides of the all-black rifle were a pair of gold dragons carefully etched into the metal. He carried the rifle on his shoulder at all times, but if necessary, the rifle had an integrated sling usually concealed inside of one side of the rifle. He unsealed the sling and hung his rifle from his right shoulder, beside his knapsack and with the barrel to the floor. Then, he picked up the letter to Enrique and walked back to the prince's door, slipping the note under it before leaving the palace.
He walked quickly, boarding a rail car, only for another to slam into the back of it. He stumbled to the side, catching himself, then quickly climbed onto the top of the car to see what was happening. Behind him, one set of rail cars was shoving his set forward rapidly, while behind that one, another was slamming into its tail end. Within seconds, the third rail car had fallen back, but it had left someone behind. Galcian, now free of his cape to expose his armor and uniform, as well as his massive sword, now stalked along the top of the rail car after a pair of Air Pirates, one a male in a blue shirt and black pants wielding a pair of cutlasses with Blue Moon Stone blades, and the other a girl with a yellow dress, short shorts under the too-short dress, her orange hair in a pair of stiff, braided tails sticking out to the sides of her head, and a large boomerang with one end a brown handle and the other end a Green Moon Stone blade. The pair were being swarmed by Valuan soldiers as they ran along the train, but were making quick work of them. Even so, Galcian was catching up to them quickly.
Locke unslung his rifle from his side, the sling all but vanishing into its hidden compartment again, then brushed his pale, white-blond hair, which was closer to white than blond, out of his eyes before shouldering his rifle. He did a split-second calculation for bullet trajectory, wind call, and distance, then squeezed the trigger. A glowing, miniscule, white ball of light flashed out of the rifle, streaking through the air and reaching Galcian in barely three seconds, only for Galcian to have predicted its flight and deflected the shot off of his sword. Locke narrowed his eyes as Galcian continued along the train.
He sighted in again as the female Air Pirate shouted in pain as one of the guards managed to graze her side with a bullet from his lance rifle. Locke huffed, then squeezed off a second shot just as his monocle began to shimmer slightly. A second later, the bullet punched through one soldier's helmet, curved left slightly into the other soldier's helmet about two feet past him, then flew in an unnaturally sharp arc that was aligned perfectly with the rail car as it rounded a corner. Finally, the bullet slammed into Galcian's sword, sending him skidding backward a couple of feet, but it failed to leave a mark, much less penetrate the sword to kill Galcian. Galcian narrowed his eyes as Locke did the same, their gazes meeting from the roughly quarter mile between them. Then, as Galcian began to sprint, Locke began to fire rapidly. As they flew, the blasts curved, arced, and spiraled, raining toward Galcian rapidly from too many directions to count, even as more flashed across the distance in perfectly straight lines. However, despite the sheer number of shots, or the multitude of angles from which they struck, Galcian's sword whipped around and around in a blur, deflecting them all.
Some of the blasts hit more effectively than others, slamming into his blade instead of glancing off of it, but none of the bullets, every single one of which was aimed perfectly, got past his sword. The shots did, however, slow him down, allowing the two Air Pirates to reach the front of their rail cars and then return with the Silvite girl. Just as they did, an air ship, one that looked like a modified fishing vessel with six deck-mounted cannons and a Harpoon Cannon, flew down beside the rail car, allowing the Air Pirates and the Silvite Girl to jump onto it before it began to pull away. Locke glanced up at the ship as his next wave of shots reached Galcian, meeting the gaze of the Silvite girl, and nodded a farewell, then turned back to his target, sending another barrage of shots at Galcian just as Galvian reached the back of Locke's rail car, halfway to him and closing faster now. The less distance between Locke and his target, the less Lock could curve his shots, making it easier for Galcian to block. Within seconds, he was at a full sprint.
Locke braced himself to have to fight Galcian to the death up close, only for a rope ladder to thump down behind him. He leapt on instantly, the Air Pirates aboard the ship, likely those freed from the Coliseum, quickly reeling the ladder back in. As they did, Locke fired one final shot, this one into the front of the rail car. The shot punched through the outer layer of the car and into the controls. The engines along the sides may be durable enough to survive his shots, but the controls exploded apart instantly, the safety systems on the rail car immediately shutting it down and applying the emergency brake. Galcian slowed to a stop just before the burning control car, glaring at Locke as Locke slung his rifle again and climbed up the ladder, reaching the deck of the ship in seconds. As soon as he did, one of the Air Pirates had a pistol to his head.
"Nice Valuan uniform," the pirate said. "I'm Dyne. Who are you?"
"My name is Locke," Locke said calmly. "Until today, I was the personal bodyguard of Prince Enrique. But I've now officially retired from my post in Valua."
"Why should I trust you?" Dyne asked.
"Because he saved us," the Silvite girl spoke up.
"Fina?" Dyne blinked, then shook his head. "He could have only been fooling you, or he could simply bear a grudge against Galcian."
"When I was first captured and held prisoner at the palace, he swore to me that he would save me," Fina lied. "And he did. Vyse and Aika would have been caught by that man if not for this man slowing him down."
"That's true," Vyse admitted, wearing a monocle similar to Locke's own but more basic.
"He also protected us when I was hit," Aika added. "He shot the two soldiers we were fighting."
Dyne considered for a few more seconds before nodding. "Fine. By the way, that's an interesting trick you pulled, curving those bullets."
"I don't fire bullets," Locke said. "My rifle is made with Moon Stones, so it fires blasts of magic."
Dyne nodded. "That explains it."
"Hate to break up the party, but we're approaching the Grand Fortress," an aged, heavy-set man with an eyepatch and a copper, artificial arm announced.
"Everyone, be ready!" Dyne shouted instantly, then looked back to Locke. "I don't trust you, but you saved my son and two members of my crew. We can at least get you out of Valua as repayment."
Locke nodded, then turned, looking forward and frowning.
"What is it?" Dyne asked, looking ahead.
"There are three ships in front of us, blocking out escape," Locke said, then looked toward the helm, where Vyse was taking the controls. "Vyse, greet the center ship with the Harpoon Cannon, then pass over it so that the other two shoot each other!"
Vyse nodded, gripping a lever beside him. Then, a moment later, he fired the Harpoon, which drilled through the center ship and blasted it apart. It then retracted to their ship on its massive, braided cable just before they sailed over the falling wreckage. As Locke had estimated, the smoke obscured them entirely, and when they other two ships fired, only one shot hit, just grazing the front of the ship below the Harpoon while the rest of the shots missed, slamming into the Valuan Airship opposite them. Then, they left the smoke and sped toward the Grand Fortress's gate, just barely slipping through before it closed.
Locke looked back, smirking. The Grand Fortress was, in and of itself, an impenetrable gate, as the bulk of the fortress could turn to allow passage through, and both sides of the gate were lined with massive cannons powerful enough to obliterate any ship unfortunate enough to be hit. When Valua and Nasr had been at war, Nasr had been crushed by the Grand Fortress. And now, it had its first successful escape.
"Thank you," Fina spoke up as she stepped up beside him. "You gave up your whole life to rescue me. Thank you."
"I gave up my position in Valua in order to stop Valua from getting their hands on the Gigas," Locke corrected her, dropping his voice to a whisper near the end to prevent any of the Air Pirates from hearing what Valua was after and Fina was protecting. "I won't allow Valua to destroy the world."
Fina nodded, smiling appreciatively, then frowned, staring at his monocle. "What kind of Moon Stone is that?"
Locke glanced around, seeing Vyse and Aika approaching. "Ask me later."
Fina nodded, then smiled at Vyse and Aika.
"Thanks for the help," Vyse smiled. "You saved us."
"And that rifle's incredible!" Aika grinned. "I'll bet it's worth so much money!"
Locke chuckled. "You don't know the half of it."
Aika stared at it, nearly drooling, but then got herself under control again. Vyse and Aika needled Locke for information about himself for hours as they sailed, but eventually, Locke, who had revealed very little about himself to them beyond his name, managed to convince them to talk about themselves instead. Then, finally, they had reached a floating island named Pirate's Island, and docked the ship, everyone disembarking.
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