Welcome back everyone! Last time, Marta is in a tight spot. Let's see how our heroine gets out of this... right after we check on her in the Present.
Please feel free to leave a review everyone (as long as it's nice and/or respectful of Marta).
Grass Field Outskirts [Present Day]
"Whoa, to think you went through all that during the Blood Purge? You're something Marta dear, you know that?" Zelos said as Marta mentioned the tense events up to that point with the boat.
"Marta... I'm sorry I didn't stay behind to help you... and that I didn't save you than..." Emil said as he alone with Lloyd felt slightly guilty. It was true when Marta called for Ratatosk's help and passed out, Lloyd was the one who came in and defeated the Vanguard soldiers pursuing her before Emil came into being. It's because of that misconception that Marta believed he saved her and wanted to see him again. Even though Marta discovered this in her and Emil's Travel Journal, Marta took this revelation extraordinary well despite her intial surprise. Back than, she saw him as this flawless heroic knight, but after Emil grounded her, she began to truly become his friend and fall in love with who he really is. So, it didn't matter anymore as Marta is grateful that he checked on her well being and showed concern when she was down while thanking Lloyd for saving her life back than.
"It's okay Emil. You didn't know who you were back than as you just came back into being and I thought of you in a way that wasn't fair to you. Besides, the fact you asked if I was alright meant a lot to me to begin with, so don't feel bad. You too Lloyd, you have nothing to feel bad about." Marta said as she reassured Emil and Lloyd on the subject of the matter.
"Thanks Marta." Emil said as he smiled warmly at her. While Marta occasionally doubted herself, Emil always reassured her that she's better than she thinks she is, just like what she does for him.
"Same here Marta. Thank you." Lloyd thanked Marta as well for her words. Even though they were on opposite sides in the past, it makes Lloyd happy to have another friend in her and Emil as of now.
"So Marta? What happened next? You mentioned that Richter was heading over to the boat." Presea asked Marta, wondering what happened next. Granted, the fact Marta is here now meant she escaped, but the ax welding girl was in suspense. Not that anyone could tell due to her poker face.
"Oh right! *Ahem* Even though I didn't know about Aqua back than yet, outside of Tenebrae briefy mentioning her, she somehow sensed I was on the boat..." Marta began to continue her story.
"Wait, real quick! How did you hear Aqua anyway?" Genis interrupted as he was curious about that.
"I'm not sure... I guess it's because I came into contact with Tenebrae I guess?" Marta said, as she wondered about that as well.
"It may be due to all the stress and excitement causing your senses to be temporary enhanced, including you hearing." Tenebrae explained to everyone, as it made the most sense, but he couldn't deny Marta's theory either.
"That's true, all living beings have a fight or flight response that kicks in during intense moments of danger. That must be why you haven't succumbed to that headache." Raine added to Tenebrae's explanation as that did make more sense.
"Okay, thanks for answering and sorry for interrupting." Genis said as he then kept quiet and took another bite of his curry.
"Please, continue Marta." Emil gestured to his beloved to continue the story. He was curious to know how Marta got away from Palmacosta. He will admit that while it made him happy that Richter cared for her well being in the past, it also made him sad that the Half-Elf man couldn't be on their side. He thought it would have been better if he, Marta and Richter were all on the same side to begin with.
"Thank you. Anyway, like I said, Richter was heading over to the boat..." Marta said as she was continuing her story.
Palmacosta [Blood Purge, seven months earlier]
Marta's heart began to race so fast that she could hear it as Richter began making his way over to the boat she was hiding on. Eventually, she heard two more sets of footsteps coming, meaning Hawk and Alice were coming over too.
Meanwhile, at the front of the boat, Tenebrae was trying everything he can to start this stupid vessel, until he looked at one of those decorative side mirrors to see Richter, Alice and Hawk coming over and even though he can't see Aqua, he can sense she's there too. Good thing there's no open back view at the front of this boat or they would have seen him trying to get it going.
'Great! That's the last thing we need! What do I do!?' Tenebrae angrily thought. It was only than he noticed what appeared to be a key in the ignition near the stearing wheel. No wonder nothing happened when he pressed all the buttons and pulled the levers.
'How did I not notice that...?' Tenebrae thought in annoyance as he facepalmed his face with his hand-tail before cracking the key to turn the boat on, hoping it would turn on softly, but sadly...
*KA-SPUT!*
The loud sound coming from the engine started everyone nearby. Richter and Alice stumbled back a bit while Hawk fell onto his rear end while Marta nearly yelled but managed to keep her mouth shut.
"What the!?" Hawk yelled as he didn't expect the boat to suddenly do that. On the other hand, Alice was confused herself. Hawk just said a moment ago that Marta doesn't know how to operate a boat, so how did it start? If Marta was on the boat, was she just messing with every button?
*KA-SPUT!*
The boat's engine sputtered again as Richter had a good idea what was happening. If Marta didn't know how to use a boat, then it must be Tenebrae that's trying to get it going.
"Come on out Marta! I know you're on that boat! We're not here to hurt you." Richter called out to the young girl. While he's upset with what Marta did in stealing Ratatosk's Core and freeing Tenebrae, she's still a child and even though Brute wanted her unharmed, he personally didn't want to harm her. He only hoped Alice wouldn't do anything to ruin it.
'Damn! What do I do?' Marta thought as she knew Tenebrae was trying to get the engine going, but than she remembered getting a favor from Decus. A special 'weapon' that she was planning to use, but she hoped that Richter and the others would listen to her first. Surely they wouldn't want to use a dangerous weapon like the Mana Cannon, right? Marta took a deep breath before slowly but cautiously coming out from her hiding spot to meet them in the eye, but didn't move from were she stood.
"Lady Marta! What are you doing there!?" Hawk said as he got up to his feet, expressing surprise that Richter's hunch was correct.
"Richter, Hawk, Alice! Listen to me! You guys seriously can't be okay with this, are you!?" Marta shouted from her position while the three Vanguard officials looked on and presumably listened.
"I may not be happy with how Tethe'alla's been treating the Sylvaranti either, but trying to kill them in cold blood won't solve anything! Don't you feel ashamed!?" Marta continued as she gazed over the three. Richter looked down, Hawk looked nervous and Alice... just looked at her curiously. At least a minute passed before Richter, as if steeling his heart, looked back at her.
"We're not here to question our commander, your father. You are in a lot of trouble, so you better come down here now young lady or I'm coming up there to take you back by force." Richter said in a calm but cold tone, as if he's scolding her.
"Don't make this any harder Lady Marta. Commander Brute knows what he is doing for our people!" Hawk pleaded with Marta as he didn't want her to do something he thinks she'll regret.
"Besides MartMart, why would you care about the people who would love nothing more than to make you a slave the first chance they get? Why care if they get blown up?" Alice said is a cheerful tone, but was laced with cold venom all the same.
Marta couldn't believe it! Sure, Richter and Hawk looked remorseful, but why are they so determined to carry out orders they aren't sure with. Especially in regards to Richter, since his actual goal is to kill Ratatosk, which would ruin Brute's plans to begin with. And Alice... Marta at least hoped she would have some reservations considering she never killed anyone while out on her missions before... maybe Alice decided not to be so merciful anymore, which upset Marta at the thought. However, Richter noticed Marta wasn't holding the Core anymore. Did she pocket it on her person or hide it somewhere on the boat?
"Where's Ratatosk's Core? If you're hiding it, pull it out and hand it over first!" Richter demanded. This was perfect! Marta kept her exictment to herself as she reached into the pouch attached to the back of her shirt.
"Okay, I'm getting it out now..." Marta lied with a straight face as she felt around for a moment, first she felt a metallic weapon in her pouch, a bladed spinner she took from the Vanguard Armory, which she had no idea how to use... yet. Then she felt a glass bottle, which was what she wanted.
"Alright, I'm going to hand it over." Marta lied again. Tenebrae overheard this and while he'd be worried about giving back the core, he knew Marta's lying as it is currently attached to her forehead. What was she planning? But then, just as Richter held his hand out to catch it, he noticed a determined look on Marta's face...
"As if I'd help out in committing mass genocide!" Marta yelled as she threw a thin purple bottle to where Richter's feet is at while covering her nose with the sleeve on her arm, slowly backing up on the boat. Suddenly, a purple mist rose and spread around the three Vanguard officials. It then slowly dawned on them what this was familiar mist was as the three suddenly began to cough and recoil in disgust at the foul smell entering their noses and mouths...
"NOOOOO! NOT DUMBO DECUS' DISGUSTING COLOGNE!" *COUGH* *COUGH* Alice cried out in dismay as Marta just used that awful smelling cologne Decus mail ordered against them. She thought she told Decus to get rid of every single bottle of it.
*COUGH* *COUGH* "Where did she get that!?" *COUGH* Hawk yelled in confusion as he's always hated that awful excuse for cologne, even more so than Decus himself. Besides, he recalled that Marta didn't like this "Eau De Seduction" either, so what was she doing with a bottle of this junk?
*COUGH* *COUGH* Was all that Richter let out as the three fell to their knees. He didn't expect Marta to pull a fast one, let alone lie to their face as if she was being honest. He had to admit, she was clever then he gave her credit for.
*COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH* Which Came from the voice Marta supposedly heard. So Marta wasn't hearing things as there is another person there. Was it this Aqua that Tenebrae mentioned? Marta would have to ask Tenebrae when she has a chance.
*KA-SPUT!* *KA-RUMMMMMMMM*
With that last sputter the boat began to move and slowly made it's way out of the dock. Marta's plan paid off! While she's sad that Richter, Hawk and Alice couldn't understand the morality of the situation, she hoped that she stopped this terrible plan to kill thousands.
'Yes, we made it. Tenebrae, thank you.' Marta thought to him, but she planned to thank him personally. She was also greatful for Decus' aid as well, even though she betrayed his trust in doing so, which made her feel regretfull for taking advantage of his kindness. She then took one last look at her burning hometown and with tears in her eyes, thought one more thing that no one else could hear...
'Goodbye Daddy... I'm sorry...' Marta knew her father's plan was wrong and she knew running away was not a good choice deep down, but she couldn't let him do this, not to mention that she's now afraid of him. She still loved her father, but the kind man he once was is gone and it hurt her just as much when her mother, Lily Lualdi, died two years ago. Now, she was truly alone in this big world, with no one to love and comfort her, which made more tears come out. However, just as she turned her back to meet Tenebrae at the front...
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THAT CORE!" Richter yelled at the top of his lungs as he, Alice and Hawk started to run across the dock to the boat with Marta turning around in shock. She was surprised that they managed to recover that fast and then, as if in slow motion, the three leaped off the dock to land on the boat, with Richter landing on the deck with Alice grabbing and holding on to the edge of the boat. Hawk however...
*SMACK!* *SPLASH!*
Wasn't so lucky as he smashed face first into the boat's metal hull before falling into the water with an embarrassing splash, which caused Marta and even Alice to wince while Richter felt a bead of sweat go down, most likely at Hawk's blunder. After Hawk regained his bearings, he quickly swam back to shore, which brought relief to Marta as she didn't want him to drown, but now she was dealing with Richter, who stood before her, and Alice, as she climbed up onto the deck. She noticed the two take a deep breath before exhaling out, getting in fresh air after that "Eau de Seduction" tactic.
"W-well MartMart, I don't know why you had one of Dumbo Decus' putrid cologne bottles, but I didn't expect you to pull a fast one on us!" Alice angrily stated, not even trying to emotionally harm her with words like how "Your Daddy will be disappointed in you for lying to others", she just glared hard. Richter gave a glance back before pulling out his sword and axe. He wasn't intending to use his weapons on Marta, but he hoped it would at least intimidate her into backing down at least.
"Enough is enough Marta! Now hand over the core and make Tenebrae turn this boat around!" Richter demanded as he slowly lost his patience, but made sure not to let it make him do something he would regret. Marta knew she can't give up yet and reached into her pouch again and pulled out something that Richter and Alice didn't expect to see. Marta pulled out a weapon, a bladed spinner.
"I... I won't! If you want the core, you'll have to come and take it from me when I'm unconscious!" Marta said as she flicked her arm, causing the spinner to extend. Richter looked stunned as it now meant that he needs to be rough with her. Marta still couldn't get why a man like him would feel this much remorse and still try to go ahead with trying to kill Ratatosk. Alice, however, seemed to like the idea of fighting her.
"Well, Richter. It seems like we have to be forceful now, not that it would be a challenge. She doesn't even know how that Iron Spinner works." Alice said, as she has been waiting for a chance to finally make Marta cry out in pain and agony. Marta couldn't deny that Alice was right though.
"I'm afraid you're right... but remember, we are to take her alive and we must face punishment for harming the commander's daughter." Richter said in a mix of remorse and anger. Marta didn't know what to think of him as her feelings toward him are now mixed up, while she's starting to get concerned about how Alice is ecstatic about hurting her.
"What!? Grr... fine!" Alice said in annoyance. Now this really worried Marta, was Alice actually planning to kill her!? What for!? Sure they didn't get along and hated each other, but Marta would NEVER wish death on someone she didn't like as she'd rather they leave her alone!
A moment passed before Marta gripped the strap around her hand to make the spinner run while making sure not to cut or hurt herself. She also needed to make sure to not any land lethal injuries on Richter and Alice by accident.
"Hyahhh!" Marta yelled as she swiped her spinner at Richter's sword, forcing him to back up slightly while trying to keep on the pressure despite it not doing much. Alice decided to rush in and kick her onto the floor, but as soon as Marta noticed her coming, she instinctively backflipped away before Alice could kick her, surprise both Alice and Richter as she did so.
"WHAT!?" Alice shouted as Marta avoided that. She never saw her do that before! Marta surprised herself for a moment until she remembered that she has one of the best physical scores in school, as she always had good reflexes and skill when it came to physical activities like jumping, swimming and dancing. She than remembered something Brute once said to her.
"Marta, when you try something new for the first time, it sometimes helps to take what you know and apply it to what you are doing in that moment."
Remembering her father's words, Marta had to admit that while her athleticism is great, she doesn't have the strength of a grown adult like Richter and Alice do. So that swipe with that Spinner didn't do much to push Richter back, but maybe if she combined it with her athletic abilities and the dances she knows how to do, she might hold her own and wear them down.
"Here I come!" Marta shouted as she charged Alice, with the combat captain swinging her crop with an intense swipe, only for Marta to jump over her and land her own kick to Combat Captain's back, knocking her down on to the floor.
'NO WAY!' Alice thought to herself in disbelief as Richter decided to put his reservations away for now as Marta is easily dodging Alice. As soon as he swung his axe at her arm with the spinner, Marta performed a pirouette to the side and swing her spinner at Richter's arm holding the sword.
"Tch...!" Richter grunted at the sharp sting the spinner caused, nearly dropping his sword. He didn't see that coming, but he could tell Marta was green, especially sense Marta winced at hurting him like that. At that point Alice shot a shard of ice at Marta, with her doing a side flip, dodging and weaving as she closed the gap between herself and the Combat Captain. Marta now knew Alice was aiming to kill her while Richter only wanted to subdue her. Too bad for Alice, as Marta intends to knock her out and turn her into the authorities when this boat lands. Preferably away from Palmacosta.
"ALICE!" Richter yelled at Alice as he saw those ice shards. She really has no intention of listening to him, so he decided to charge Alice as well. Alice dodged both Marta and Richter. Suddenly, they found themselves in a three way fight. Marta is trying to knock out Alice and Richter or knock them off the boat, Alice is keeping Richter at bay while trying to kill Marta and Richter is trying to subdue both Alice and Marta. Thoughts of confusion raced through the three as they landed and blocked attacks left and right, even Marta got slapped by Alice's crop on her right arm and a slight nick from Richter's sword over her left shoulder, which really hurt, but she wasn't willing to give in. She's gotten hurt on previous journeys before, so this was nothing!
Tenebrae peeked out to see something he didn't expect! Marta was fighting both Richter and Alice, but he could tell Richter wasn't trying to kill Marta while Alice is. He wished he could help out Marta, but Centurions can't fight as they rely on monsters to do so, but he currently doesn't have one to command. It was than Tenebrae noticed what appeared to be a half eaten sandwich.
'Seems like somebody didn't finish their lunch, but this may help...' Tenebrae thought as he used his tail to pick it up and carefully aimed it at Alice, who than used a leg sweep on Marta and aimed an ice shard at her chest.
"Alice! Don't do it!" Richter shouted as Alice's boiling anger and bloodlust consumed her, but before she could execute Marta...
*SMOOSH*
Alice got petted in the face with a half eaten beef sandwich, causing Alice to shoot the ice shard into the wall, cutting a few stands of hair off Richter, barley missing him. After getting over the shock of the ice shard nearly hitting him, Richter looked at Tenebrae and while the two did not like each other in regards to Ratatosk, he gave an appreciative nod before resuming the battle. Marta quickly rolled away from Alice before getting up, giving a thankful smile and a thumbs up to Tenebrae for the save. Marta realized that even though her family's not with her, she's not really alone after all, with her even hoping that maybe they could be friends.
As the fight raged on, while the boat slowly pulled away from Palmacosta...
*KA-SPUT!*
The engine gave out and the boat stopped, causing the three to stop fighting to notice it. They looked at the distance and saw they were halfway away from Palmacosta as the smoke over there began to die down.
'Why did the boat stop!?' Marta thought to herself as she tried to figure out what went wrong here while catching her breath, but she noticed that Richter and Alice were out of breath too. Even though this is the first fight Marta participated in, she was actually holding her own.
Richter didn't know what to make of this, but he figured he needed to end this battle quickly before the boat starts up again, hopefully without fatalities from all three people on this ship. Alice is blinded with rage and Marta's starting to wear down as she's not used to fighting, but before Richter could do anything to incapacitate the two girls...
"AGH!" Richter shouted as his legs and upper body became frozen except for his head, surprising Marta and Tenebrae. They turned to find Alice casted a freezing spell on her own ally!
"ALICE! What are you doing!? Stop!" Richter shouted as Alice began to charge a sphere of lightning and aimed it at Marta, with the intent to kill her in the most painful way possible as she flashed an evil smile.
"I'm just getting rid of an annoying pest before it becomes a problem. I'm certain that Commander Brute would understand." Alice said in the most cold, evil tone possible and then, as if in slow motion, she fired the shot toward Marta, whose legs gave out at the worst possible time as her fight or flight response finally ran out, with her headache coming back at full force. Believing this to be the end, she closed her eyes and braced herself for what would be her death.
'N-no! I don't want to die like this! Stay away!' Marta thought to herself as her whole life flashed before her eyes. Her parents, her old friends, Tenebrae, even the boy who saved her life. Suddenly a shadow flew in front of her, causing Marta to open her eyes to see that Tenebrae jumped between her and Alice's attack.
*BZZZZZZT!*
"ARGHHHH!" Tenebrae let out as he was knocked across the hull into rim of the ship. Thankfully, he wasn't knocked overboard, but he remained still as his body cracked with electricity.
"Tene... brae... TENEBRAE!" Marta cried out in disbelief as Tenebrae just threw himself into harm's way for her. While Richter didn't know what to make of this as Tenebrae was his enemy, Alice just laughed in triumph instead, clearly satisfied. Hearing that, Richter finally had enough and slowly struggled to break free.
"Looks like you get to live for a few more seconds MartMart. Enjoy it while you can!" Alice said as she prepared to use the same spell again, but then...
*CRACK!* *CRACK* *SHATTER*
"ALICCCCCEEEEEEE!" Richter yelled as he broke himself free and charged toward Alice locking his weapons with an ice shard Alice hurriedly made.
"Richter!? What are you doing!?" Alice demanded as Richter stared daggers at her.
"Don't give me the innocent talk! You were trying to actively kill Marta this whole time when that's not what we're supposed to be doing! Attacking Tenebrae is one thing, but this!? Commander Brute will have your head for this!" Richter argued as Alice was trying to play innocent.
"So what!? MartMart will NEVER amount to anything! Always relying on and manipulating her "Unit" to help out people instead of doing things herself! I'm doing Commander Brute a favor!" Alice yelled in bloodthirsty fury, attempting to justify her murder attempt.
"Who are you to judge one person's worth!?" Richter yelled back as he found Alice's words and reasons to be inexcusable what so ever."
"How dare you...?" Marta said in the lowest voice possible as she stood up as a faint red glow emanated from her forehead, causing all source of anger that Alice and Richter were feeling to look in awe as the bright light shined bright.
"W-what is that?" Alice questioned, as she didn't anticipate this. Richter however, went pale as he knew what that light was...
"That's... Ratatosk's Core!? It's on her forehead! Marta, why has that thing bonded itself to you!?" Richter demanded as things just got more complicated for him now. Marta however, ignored the question as her eyes began to leak tears, something that didn't go unnoticed by the two Vanguard officials.
"How dare you... HOW DARE YOU!?" Marta shouted as light elemental magic swirled around her and in the blink of an eye, every injury she took started to heal.
"Healing magic!? But that's impossible! She's human!" Alice said in surprise, not knowing what to think of this sight. Sure, there are humans who can use magic, but they either had Aionis injected into them or had some form of elf blood in their ancestry, at least as far as she knew.
"It must be Ratatosk's Core! Either it's letting her use magic from the core or the core itself must have unlocked some latent elf blood in her!" Richter speculated as he can't dismiss either possibility. Before he can think of running up to Marta, suddenly, two balls of white light charged in Marta's hands, the sheer power forcing Richter and Alice to hunch down to avoid being blown off. This is...!
"That's chi! A life source that's natural to all living things! There are some people who can weaponize it!" Richter shouted as Alice couldn't believe what she's hearing. Tenebrae slowly awoke to see Marta enveloped by this light. He didn't expect her to use magic and chi. He also wonderd if it was Ratatosk's Core giving her these powers or if it awoke some dormant elf blood too. Taking advantage, he slowly walked to the front to get the boat moving again. As soon as he entered the front of the boat, Marta began to step forward...
"LEAVE... TENEBRAE..." Marta said as hot tears streamed down her face and she combined to two white spheres into a giant sphere of chi, intending to unleash it at Richter and Alice, who are both frozen in shock at what's going to happen next.
"ALONNNNNNNNNNEEEEE!" Marta yelled in a rage filled cry as she unleashed a powerful Arte at the two, sending them both flying over and far away from the boat.
"ARGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Richter yelled as he was sent flying by the girl who foiled his plans.
"MARTMAAAAAAAAAAART!" Alice screamed as she was sent flying by the girl who she thought to be an easy kill.
*SPLASH!* *SPLASH!*
After that, the light and chi dissipated with Marta breathing heavily. She took a long good look out at the sea, to see two figures bobble out of the water, meaning that they survived. A few minutes passed before Marta faintly heard something.
*KA-RUMMMMMMMM!*
The boat began to move again as while this was going on. After Tenebrae got it moving again, he limped back to Marta to check up on her.
"Lady... Marta... are you okay..."? Tenebrae asked while struggling through the electric injuries, but noticed that she wasn't responding.
"Lady Marta?" Tenebrae asked as Marta began to fall back onto the hard wooden deck, shocking Tenebrae as he didn't anticipate this.
"Lady Marta!" Tenebrae shouted as he ran over to her to see she fell unconscious.
It was all too much for Marta. The stress, the headache, dealing with a near death experience and seeing Tenebrae get hurt protecting her. Not only that, she was now using magic and some strange energy before retaliating in cold vengeful fury. This terrified her as while she felt angry at Alice for trying to kill her and harming Tenebrae along with feelings disappointment at Richter for not doing the right thing like he should have in addition to trying to murder Ratatosk, she didn't want to kill the the two Vanguard officials. That thought of that alone proved to be the last straw as she blacked out as the ship sailed to parts unknown.
To Be Continued...
With that, Marta and Tenebrae escaped the Blood Purge and are now beginning the Journey that would eventually tie her with Emil.
Where will she go now? What will she do going forward? Find out next time as we meet up with Marta later.
Also, something to note. At the beginning of each chapter, we'll have a short portion dedicated to present day while the rest is Marta and Tenebrae retelling the story about what happened.
Lastly, Marta is NOT a mind reader. While the other characters have their own thoughts and feelings, Marta is not retelling those parts as she doesn't know how they feel or what they think.
Additionally, she's not playing up Richter and she's not demonizing Alice to the extreme. What Marta and Tenebrae say are the truth to their knowledge and experience. Hopefully this will clear up some doubts about what's going on here.
See you later and please feel free to leave a review.
Update: Grammer and Spelling errors fixed along with updated dialogue.
