Chapter 70: The way of the people
Subaru and Sora continued to dodge a couple of the woman's attacks while Todd and the others waited for an opening, all of them aware of how dangerous their shared opponent is. Larkin would assist the two keyblade wielders as best as he can, firing arrows the moment he saw an opening. Although Larkin was skilled in the way of archery, all of his arrows would get destroyed by that barrier the woman had placed around her.
"Shit. I can't do anything with that damn wind protectin' her. Can ya two do somethin' about it?"
As Larkin says this, he notices the woman throw a powerful wind attack at his direction. The archer noticed this and quickly dodged the attack just barely, feeling a piece of his hair cut off. While Larkin recovered his stance, Sora and Subaru both waited for the right moment before trying to close in on their shared opponent, with their goal being to destroy the wind barrier protecting their opponent.
"You ready?"
"Yeah."
The two keyblade wielders waited for a second before charging in together at the woman in white robes. As the two were closing in, the woman started to send her most dangerous looking attacks towards the duo. The two stopped on their tracks while creating a combined barrier, enough to counter the woman's strong attack. Both keyblade wielders were giving it their all in pushing back the attack yet they noticed that the barrier was starting to break.
"We need a plan, Sora. I can be a decoy while you take the finishing blow."
"No, I won't allow you to do that, Subaru. We will work together. Our combined strength will help us win."
Subaru paused for a moment, always admiring when his master shows kindness and strength yet he knows that they can't take on a threat like this together since they are constantly being pushed back. This prompted the boy to quickly turn towards his master while saying to him in a respectful manner,
"I appreciate the respect but we need to be smart about this. We can't keep charging at her together since we keep ending up in this situation."
Sora had a moment to process what his apprentice and friend had said to him. This lead him to analyze how the fight has been going, seeing that they have been on the defensive for a while now. Because of this, Sora sigh before reluctantly saying,
"...true. Alright, just be careful."
"I will. Just make sure to be ready because we might only get one shot at this.
"Understood."
The two nodded at each other before looking forward, waiting for the right opportunity before jumping out of the way the exact second the barrier broke. The woman noticed this and couldn't help but smirk at this, seeing that the two keyblade wielders were extremely skilled compared to their allies.
"You two aren't like the other ants. You both must be super ants."
"Okay, that makes no sense at all! Besides, we are humans! Not animals!" Subaru retorted, annoyed that his opponent was speaking of them as if they were animals. The woman just looked at Subaru for a second before sending a couple of wind based attacks. The boy waited for a second before managing to dodge the attacks with Larkin preparing to fire a couple of arrows. While this was going on, Jamal wished to join in despite being injured from one of the woman's attacks. Todd noticed this and quickly got in front of him, preventing the Vollachia warrior from joining in on the fight.
"The hell is the meaning of this?!"
"You are injured." Todd spoke in a calm tone.
"And?"
"Don't be stupid. We are just going to die if we go into battle right now."
"Get out of my way, Todd. That shouldn't concern you."
"What ab—"
"Don't bring her up in this. That ain't working on me again." Jamal said as he pointed his sword directly at Todd's face, not wanting to hear anymore from him. Despite being threatened by him, Todd still continued to speak.
"Let those two handle this. We should observe how our enemy fights. That way we can find an opening rather than risk getting killed."
Jamal stood silent for a moment before kicking the ground, seeing that his ally had a point. Jamal and Todd both turned to continue looking at the fight, seeing that Subaru and Larkin were continuing their distraction while Sora prepared to jump into the fight.
The woman continued to fire powerful of wind attacks, attempting to land a hit. Larkin used the trees around him to keep himself from being killed easily while Subaru used some of his skills from Starlight's formchange, managing to keep up with the woman. While things are getting heated, Todd couldn't help but pay close attention to the boy, finding it odd on how Natsuki Subaru managed to handle the one winged angel.
'This boy is pretty impressive. He as a strong will, just like us Vollachia warriors, but there is just something...odd about him.'
Todd thought this as he can tell that the current strength he is seeing wouldn't be enough to survive against the strength he saw in the one winged angel. Because of this, he is suspicious on the boy. Subaru and Larkin continued to distract the woman with the two going on the offensive the second they saw an opening. Larkin fired three arrows at the same time, causing Subaru to quickly point his two keyblades at the woman before firing a powerful light beam.
"Let's see you handle this! Crazy lady!"
As Subaru fired this beam, the woman looked at Subaru with slight anger in her eyes, having felt insulted. The boy's light beam hit the woman's barrier, prompting the woman to say in a tsundere like manner,
"Now hey! I'm not crazy! That's very rude!"
Just as the woman was about to counterattack, she noticed that Subaru's attack was surprisingly strong enough to do damage to her wind shield. This prompted Sora to take his moment to attack by switching into Shooting Star before going into its formchange. The second he did this, he had a large launcher. Once summoning this, he pointed it directly at the woman's direction before firing.
A large explosive bullet was send directly at the woman's position with Sora knowing this would hit since he has the element of surprise. The woman felt the power attack Sora had sent to her, causing her attention to shift towards Sora's attack. As she looks, the large bullet hits her wind barrier, creating a powerful explosion that was enough to both break the shield and sent the woman flying onto the forest.
The Vollachia soldiers were all shocked by this attack while Subaru couldn't help but be impressed at the power his master holds. Sora glides towards Subaru's direction before inspecting the area to make sure that the woman has actually been defeated.
"Your plan worked, Subaru."
"Yeah...true...something feels odd."
Subaru looked at the direction of the explosion, having a feeling that things are not what they seem.
"This was...a bit too easy of win."
The second Subaru finished saying that, the woman caused a couple of trees to explode all around. The vollachia soldiers, Larkin, Todd, Jamal, Subaru, and Sora were all startled for a moment before getting on their guard, seeing that this woman is a big threat. The woman turned her attention towards Sora with wind moving rapidly and dangerous all around her, seeing that the Keyblade Master is way more dangerous than she let on.
"You are more than just an ant...you are the alpha wolf here."
"Alpha wolf?" Sora said in a confused manner meanwhile Subaru and the others kept their guards up, not liking where this is going. The woman was prepared to attack with her most powerful attack but just as she was about to do this, Subaru shouted,
"Who are you anyway?! You aren't from around here!"
"I'm the beautiful Shinigami that will end all of your lives! Zarestia!"
The second she finished saying this, a powerful wind started to attack, sending many Vollachia soldiers flying off. Larkin was almost sent off flying until he used a couple of arrows to stick into a tree nearby. Todd used his axe to stay on the ground with heavy wind pushing towards him while Jamal grabbing onto a tree and holding his ground with all of his strength. Subaru and Sora were still holding their ground by using a barrier around the two, both of them trying to keep themselves from being sent flying off.
"She really is going all out...!" Subaru shouted as he can feel that this is her full power. Sora also took note of this and quickly analyzed the situation.
'This isn't good. The moment we let this barrier fall, me and Subaru will be sent flying off. There as to be something we can do to get out of this...'
While Sora thought of a solution, both him and Subaru noticed that the barrier was beginning to break apart. The two keyblade wielders attempted to summon another barrier in hopes of keeping their foothold. Before they could do this, Zarestia closed the gap between both herself and the two keyblade wielders. Once she closed in, she used all of her strength to punch the barrier hard enough to break it.
Subaru and Sora were both surprised at this, not expecting Zarestia to close in on them. She turned her attention towards Sora first, viewing him as the big threat to deal with. Subaru noticed this and did not hesitate to shove his master out of the way, not wanting him to get hurt. Sora noticed this and turned towards the direction he got shoved only to see that it was Subaru that did this.
"Subaru! No!"
"Sorry Master but—"
Before Subaru could finish his sentence, he received a powerful punch to the face, causing everything to go dark for the boy.
'Man, just as I thought I wouldn't be killed again, it seems like I wasn't careful...sorry Master Sora, I failed you again.'
Subaru thought this as he felt himself in a dark void, recalling the last moments before being punched in the face with enough force to kill him. While he was thinking on that moment, he noticed that he hasn't returned to a checkpoint. This caused him to worry that something else is happening to him.
"You are quite perceptive, boy."
"The hell?!"
Subaru jumped up as he heard the voice once again while also taking note on the fact that he is in some void.
"This place...it looks...familiar..."
As Subaru was looking around, he turned his attention to the ground to see that he was back at what seemed to be the station of awakening. He looked closely at the pillar he was in to see that it was him, or well a sleeping version of him with six circles representing the people closest to him. Emilia, Sora, his mother, his father, Otto and Garfiel sharing one, and lastly Rem and Ram sharing a circle as well. While he looked at the ground, a dark sphere approached him.
"I assume you are that annoying voice in my head."
"Yeah, who else?"
"Anyway, what am I doing here?"
"The better question is...how stupid are you?"
"Excuse me?" Subaru asked as he did not like the tone that he was receiving by this dark sphere.
"I'm still in shock that you managed to survive this long, you worthless excuse of a keyblade wielder."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Well...it should be obvious who I am but considering you have forgotten about me. I suppose I can reveal myself."
The dark sphere grew for a moment, creating a large dark sphere. Subaru was on edge by this since he didn't trusted it at all. After a few seconds, it started to shrink down into a human like form, one that Subaru could recognize.
"You have got to be kidding me..."
Subaru pulled out his keyblade, ready to fight the person that was right in front of him.
"How the hell are you still alive, Vanitas?!"
Vanitas looked at Subaru without his mask, showing a similar appearance to Sora, much to Subaru's distaste towards this.
"What?"
"I hate how you look."
"Oh? And why is that? Is it because I share the same face as your precious 'master'?"
Vanitas spoke in an antagonistic tone, wanting to provoke the boy he views as nothing more than a useless worm. Subaru caught on to this, causing him to take a deep breath to keep himself calm.
"You are just a prick."
"And you are just an idiot."
The two looked at each other with hostility, both disliking the other. As they stare each other down, Subaru sighed for a moment before asking,
"How the hell are you even here? What even is here?" Vanitas took note on what was being asked, causing him to laugh for a moment. This caused Subaru to prepare his sloth and wrath authority, having a bad feeling before seeing the threat look at him with distain.
"Don't you remember. The book of the dead?"
"Book of the dead? Well yeah but what does that have to do with..." Subaru paused has he replayed every moment he spend in the Pleiades Watchtower before Louis took control of him. Eventually it hit him that he read Vanitas' book of the dead prior to losing his memories. "...shit."
"Yeah. Now I'm here. Going to take over this pathetic body of yours."
"Like hell you are!"
Subaru begins to swing his keyblade at Vanitas, trying to land a solid hit yet his opponent was dodging each and every attack thrown at him. Subaru realized this and quickly used his invisible providence to surprise attack the Organization member, managing to barely land something on him as Vanitas was not expecting that attack in the place they are at. Vanitas was pushed back a bit with an impressed facial expression.
"Not bad. That one caught me by surprise."
"Well, you keep underestimating me, asshole." Subaru spoke with annoyance in his voice, disliking the fact that he had to deal with Vanitas all over again. Having recalled his many encounters, this specific organization member gave him hell, especially when he destroyed his keyblade back in the capital. Vanitas looked at the boy closely and could see that he was still wary of him.
"Come now, I'm not here to kill you...yet."
"What do you want?" Subaru spoke with hostility, making Vanitas smile maliciously.
"You see, I need a vessel to return back. Although you aren't the ideal vessel, your body as a strange darkness radiating from it. Making it a perfect enough vessel for someone like me to take over."
"I won't let you take over my body!"
Vanitas couldn't help but laugh at what he was hearing from the boy, finding it amusing that he has a say on the matter. Before he could respond, he noticed Subaru starting to look disoriented.
"Seems like someone is waking up."
"What do you mean? Ain't I dead?" Subaru asked in confusion as he struggled to stay up.
"You should be dead. Weaklings like you shouldn't stick around but I need this vessel, so consider yourself lucky...or unlucky, that I managed to heal this vessel before it was lost."
"What?!" Subaru was in shock when he heard this, seeing that this might be a problem later down the road. Before he could say anything more, he collapsed to the ground with his mind still fighting to be in the station of awakening. Vanitas looked at him annoyed before kneeling down to look at his vessel closely.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I'll help you but the moment I have full control of your body, the person known as 'Natsuki Subaru' will disappear and be gone for good. Keep that in mind."
"I...won't let...you get...away with...this..."
"Ha! And what are you going to do about it? Tell your 'master'? He won't be able to do anything against me. Face it, you will cease to exist."
"...I won't...!"
Subaru opened his eyes to see that he hasn't Return By Death this time. The boy wasn't sure if he should be relieved or scared since he doesn't know what the outcome of the fight with Zarestia was. As he was worried for Sora and the others, he noticed that the atmosphere around him is much calmer than before, causing him to be on his guard. While he thought about how off the situation he finds himself in, he also starts to think about the woman, Zarestia. The way she dressed caused him to be suspicious, on why someone with her kind of attire and power was there.
("You ants stick together...I envy that a little but I will get my sphere back.")
'A sphere...what could she be referring to?'
As Subaru was trying to think this, he felt something poke his back, causing him to stand still since he is unsure what is behind him. Just as he was going to turn around quickly, he felt another poke though this time was followed with someone saying,
"You are to choose each and every one of your words with utmost care. Do not forget that your life is within our...my hands."
Subaru was silent as he can tell that this voice behind him is one like the Vollachia soldiers, showing no mercy and ready to kill. The two stayed silent for a moment before finally the boy asked,
"Who are you?"
"Silence. Who said you could open your mouth? If you are to incur my displeasure next time, I would like to see you try speaking even after your head is separated from your body."
The man had no intention of engaging in the conversation. Subaru was forced to realize it when a shallow cut was delivered to his neck. Along with the pain from the prickling sensation, blood gradually spilled over the wound and trickled down his neck, but the man wasn't finished yet with his examination of Subaru.
"I witnessed you with those soldiers, you and that ally of yours. You both fought what seemed like a powerful spirit but you are the weakest of the two."
"..."
"Not to mention that weapon you both wield, it isn't from around this world, is it?"
"..."
"Why is it that you have fallen silent? If you would not explain yourself, would you rather die here?"
"Eeh!? I'm allowed to speak this time!? Isn't that unreasonable!?"
When Subaru protested against the man's unfairness, the stern gaze boring into the back of his head became sharper. Subaru stiffened, grasping that he said something unnecessary, but the rigidity of his body was finally loosened as the sword against his neck was drawn back.
"――Turn around slowly. If you try anything funny,"
"You'll lop off my head?"
"No. I will sever your limbs, gouge out your heart, and incinerate it in front of your eyes."
"A threat that's way too evil!"
Subaru got the message of the threat from its intensity, raising both of his hands, and started turning around bit by bit while proving he had no intention to counterattack. He took his time to set his eyes on the man that managed to get behind him.
"...Are you serious?"
He came face to face with the man in front of him, whose face was hidden behind a rag wrapped around it. The man looked at Subaru before setting the tip of the blade on his neck.
"What is it? With your idiotic face."
"Setting it aside if you meant "idiotic look" by that, I was born with this face, so doesn't it count as bad-mouthing me...? There's this and that, but my reaction can't be helped especially after looking at your appearance."
"You are making assumptions. I am also looking at your face, currently being once again suspicious if you are an assassin or not."
"People don't get jobs assigned to them because of what their eyes look like! My role is just the exact opposite of an assassin in the first place. Rather than going on the offensive, I'm more of a defensive kind of guy."
"Defensive guy? Says the one that was fighting against a spirit."
"A spirit?" Subaru asked with a confused facial expression, something that the mask man took note of.
"Did you not realize you were fighting a spirit? How stupid are this you?"
"How the hell is Zarestia a spirit? Is she an artificial spirit?" Subaru asked in a slightly hostile tone, hating how this mask man was just insulting him. The mask man lowered his sword once he heard the name Zarestia.
"Hm. Well, that is useful information."
The mask man put away his sword before turning around, leaving Subaru alienated since he wasn't what to do. The mask man looked around the area before signaling the boy to follow him, wishing to know more of this non-threat. Subaru was hesitant at first but seeing that there is nobody nearby and he isn't even fully aware of what had happened when he was out, he reluctantly followed the mask man. As he started to follow the mask man, he asked the one question in his mind.
"What happened here?"
The mask man looked at Subaru for a moment, noticing the tone of voice the boy had asked. He looked forward with a serious glare while answering with,
"Before I answer, show me the weapon you wield during the battle."
"...okay."
Subaru stopped on his tracks, which also caused the mask man to stop on his tracks as well. As this happened, Subaru closed his eyes and moved his right hand up before summoning Starlight keyblade since it is similar looking to Sora's Kingdom Key. The mask man looked at the keyblade and proceed to grab the weapon to take a much closer look. While observing the keyblade, he could tell that this weapon is not only out of this world but it also emitted such a power that he could not ignore. This prompted him to point the keyblade at Subaru's throat while asking him in a slightly intimidating tone of voice,
"Where did you get this?"
"It was given to me." Subaru responded instantly with confidence and determination, something the mask man took note of.
"Who gave it to you?"
"The keyblade."
"Don't toy with me. Who gave you this weapon?"
As the mask man said this with an aggressive voice, Subaru summoned the keyblade back to his hand, slightly surprising the mask man as he did not expect something like this to happen. He observed the boy once again, seeing that despite the weak body he possessed, he had a very strong spirit.
"The Keyblade choose me to be it's wielder." Subaru spoke out with a determined facial expression. The mask man just gave Subaru a look before turning around to continue walking.
"What kind of weapon would choose a weakling like you?"
"Hm. Seems like he has the right idea."
Vanitas spoke out in Subaru's mind, wanting to add in his opinion while also wanting to remind the boy that he is still there. Subaru kept his composure yet he was angered by the reminder that the Organization member known as Vanitas is still around and is trying to possess his body. This reminded him of Petelguese, how he has possession abilities. He had possessed him in a failed loop before Puck put an end to the two. In the fight against the sloth, there was an attempt of possession yet Sora put a stop to it before it was too late. The mask man snapped his fingers to get the boy's attention before signaling for him to catch up. Subaru quickly ran towards the mask man's location while saying,
"Sorry about that. Anyway, I showed you the keyblade. Can I now know what happened?"
"You are right. I asked for something and you came through with it, so it is right you learned of what had happened."
The mask man paused for a second before explaining what happened while Subaru was knocked out by Zarestia's punch.
Subaru's body was sent flying off onto the distance, not seen by anybody on where the boy could've landed. Sora saw this and couldn't help but blame himself for having let his guard down. This causes him to turn towards Zarestia with an angered facial expression while switching his keyblade into Oathkeeper.
"You hurt my friend...I won't let you get away with that!"
"Pardon me but that ant got in the way. I was aiming for you."
"Then let's continue our fight!"
Sora charged at Zarestia to close the gap before starting his aggressive offense, seeing the woman has a threat. Zarestia was able to create a couple of wind barriers to keep Sora from landing a hit on her yet she knows this can only push Sora back for so long before he manages to land a fatal hit. Larkin and Todd both looked at the fight from a distance, both paying close attention to the way the two fight while Jamal was trying to see when he can step in and assist Sora in taking down Zarestia.
While this was going on, Sora continued on his offense before finally choosing to go into his double form, wielding both Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Todd, Jamal, Larkin, and the others were surprised to see this since they didn't expect Sora to show this amount of power. Zarestia looked at Sora with a surprised facial expression, not thinking that some boy like him could have this amount of power. She pointed her right index finger towards the Keyblade Master before saying in a kid like voice,
"You are more than what I thought, who are ya?"
"..."
"Come on, don't look at me like that. I know I'm beautiful but I still hold a maidenly heart."
"...?" Sora's serious gesture was completely thrown off the moment he heard this, not sure on how to actually respond to this. Jamal couldn't help but chuckle at this since he can admit that Zarestia was extremely beautiful. Larkin felt indifferent about this but he was curious on what the Keyblade Master would respond. Todd was the only one who was thinking of a way to attack the woman, seeing this as the best chance to stop this threat before she continues the fight.
He looked around and noticed that there was a chance if he moved through the trees undetected to reach the woman's back side. Despite this being a coward's way of winning, he knows that this is their chance in killing the threat through her being distracted while he delivered the killing blow in her back side. While he did this without any of his colleagues noticing, Sora started to have a feeling that Zarestia wasn't an actual threat. He lowered his keyblades while asking in a calm tone,
"Who are you?"
"Hm? Do you not know who I am?"
"No not really."
Zarestia had a moment of pause, dumbfounded that the boy in front of him didn't know about her. Then again, she figured that he was probably young and hasn't had the chance to learn about her. Before answering the boy's question, she looked at the weapons he was using and felt an odd power coming from it. She felt this power from the people that stole her sphere, making her suspect that this boy and his pal know something or were involve yet she needed to be sure by asking her question.
"...answer me this, what are those two weapons you are holding?" Zarestia asked while keeping her guard up. Sora took a closer look at Zarestia and could feel that she isn't evil or trying to trick him into lowering his guard. This prompted the boy to answer with,
"It's a weapon, one that should be used for the greater good."
"Greater good? What do you—?"
Before she could finish her question, she felt someone trying to attack her from behind, causing her to create a wind barrier around her body. Just as the barrier had been created, Todd's axe hit her body yet it got sent flying from his hand.
"Todd? What are you doing?" Sora spoke out, being against such tactics. Jamal and Larkin both noticed this and felt disgust as well, seeing that kind of attack as a coward's way of winning. Todd figured that this would happen and yet he doesn't care, all he knows right now is that this woman has to die for the sake of Vollachia. Zarestia saw this unacceptable as she now views Sora as a threat once again, believing that he and Todd had planned this at some point during her battle with Subaru and Larkin.
"I didn't think you for a snake but I guess I was a fool for not seeing that."
"Wait I—"
"Time for all of you to die!"
The moment Zarestia finished speaking, she created a powerful wind attack to throw at Sora and the Vollachia soldiers. Just as she was going to throw this attack, Jamal and Larkin both reacted to this with Larkin firing an arrow straight towards her head meanwhile Jamal closed in on the woman to land a fatal hit with his trusty sword.
Todd went to retrieve his weapon to use it against Zarestia yet he noticed that Sora also was reacting to the woman's attack by preparing his most powerful attack, hoping this would at the very least knock Zarestia out. This made the orange haired warrior to pause, wanting to see what Sora is capable of in this powerful looking form. With everyone preparing their attack on her, she quickly stopped powering her attack before creating the strongest barrier to protect herself from everyone's attacks.
Once the most powerful wind barrier was set, Larkin's arrow was destroyed on impact while Jamal's attack did nothing except the tip of the sword breaking apart. The strongheaded warrior was dumbfounded by this yet he wasn't afraid to fight with his hands. Before he proceeded to fight the woman with his fists, Sora shouted to him,
"Watch out!"
"Eh?"
The warrior turned towards Sora to see that the Keyblade Master is about to do his ultimate attack. This caused Jamal to move out of the way, managing to avoid Sora's ultimate attack. Once out of the way, Sora smiled as he remembered that he first used this attack on Elsa. Although it was during a time when they were on opposite sides, he still recalls just how durable the Bowel Hunter is. This made him curious on just how strong Zarestia is, having an odd feeling that she isn't all human despite the looks. The keyblade master waited a second before firing the strongest beam, catching Zarestia's attention.
'This power is...no joke...' The woman said as she didn't think that a boy like Sora could proved such power. This forced her to use all of her power that she wielded to create the strongest wind barrier to avoid getting damage from such a threatening attack. After a moment, a large explosion occurred which attracted attention from everyone nearby the forest with even the sound being loud enough to reach the camp. There was a silence as all of the Vollachia soldiers, Todd, Larkin, and Jamal stood still, watching Sora as he was standing tall for a moment in his double form.
As they looked at the keyblade wielder, they turn their attention at the smoke where Zarestia was located, each of them curious to know if Sora's attack managed to take her down. They all waited until the smoke cleared. Once that happened, they saw her jump up on the air and began to fly away. They all saw this and were getting ready to throw things to attack with Larkin preparing his bow and arrow. Sora took note of this and quickly was able to stop them by getting in their way.
"What are you doing?" Larkin said with an aggressive tone. Sora looked at him for the briefest of moments before turning towards Todd.
"She isn't a threat."
Todd looked at Sora with a serious gaze, not liking this at all yet he knows that they aren't in any position to fight. After what they saw, they are going to need one of the divine generals to assist them. He reluctantly nodded before telling the other Vollachia warriors to stand down, seeing that this is the best outcome for all of them to survive.
"Todd." Both Jamal and Larkin spoke in unison, the two warriors aware that Todd is probably considering the Keyblade Wielder's side. Todd turned towards Larkin first, knowing he would be the tough one to convince.
"Larkin, you know that we were heavily unprepared for this fight. We were lucky that this boy managed to have the power to push back whatever that woman is. Even you know that continuing an attack will get us killed."
Larkin paused for a moment, taking the opportunity to think on what he was hearing from the axe wielding warrior. Although he dislikes having powerful opponents getting away to grow more in power, he also sees merit on the words being told by him. This caused the Vollachia archer to nod at the orange haired warrior, allowing Todd to now turn his attention towards Jamal, needing to convince him.
"Todd, you are being a real bitch, you know?"
"Jamal, we live for battle. Don't you want a chance to face this opponent again when you are much stronger?"
"That doesn't—"
"Trust me on this, we will face these woman again, only this time we will be ready to kill her."
"...fine."
As he got the others to stand down, Zarestia managed to escape. Sora noticed this and smiled since nobody died in the end. Jamal couldn't help but pat the boy in the back while saying to him,
"You are seriously one hell of a fighter. Glad you joined us on this mission."
"Hehe...yeah..."
Sora couldn't help but feel like he was talking to Garfiel, since Jamal acts somewhat similar to the demi-human boy. While he thought this, he looked around since he knew that Subaru must be around. He looked and looked but his strength was once again at its very limit, causing him to revert back into his normal form with his body wanting to collapse to the ground due to exhaustion. Todd, Jamal and Larkin all three took notice of this and quickly approached his location to make sure the boy doesn't fall to the ground. With the three helping Sora stay on his feet, the archer asked in a blank expression,
"You okay there?"
"Y-Yeah...just...out of energy..."
"Well kid, after the hell you gave that crazy ass woman, ya deserve a break." Jamal said, having found more respect for the keyblade wielder while also somewhat worried for him. He took note that the boy was barely able to keep up on his feet, having used all of his strength on a crazy attack. Todd and Larkin both looked around has they noticed that there was still Natsuki Subaru missing.
"...we need...to find...S-Subaru..." Sora said this as he was starting to lose conscious. Jamal started to carry the boy while responding to what he said,
"Don't worry kid, we will find your brother. Right Todd?"
"...yeah." Todd responded in a way that caused Jamal to be suspicious. Before the one eye-patched warrior could say anything, the Vollachia warriors all noticed a couple of arrows being shot at them. Larkin and Todd both got their weapons out and prepared to fight while Jamal realized that he had no weapon for now since Zarestia's powerful wind barrier broke it.
'Come on, where the hell is a weapon?!'
Jamal looked and looked until he noticed Sora's Kingdom Key on the ground. At first he was dismissive of it since it wasn't a weapon that looked worthwhile until he thought on how much damage it caused to the dark creatures and to the woman that attacked them. He goes to pick it up while continuing to have a strong grip on Sora. Once he picked up the keyblade, Jamal was caught off guard by the amount of strength he was feeling.
'Hell...this strength, no, this power...it's beyond what I could've imagine.'
Jamal couldn't help but be blown away by this power, finding it to be worthy. Before he could inspect Sora's weapon any longer, he could feel two arrows brush pass him, prompting him to get his mind back in the fight and to get Sora out of harm's way. He holds the keyblade with a tight grip and begins to deflect off the arrows while making sure none hit Sora and him. Todd and Larkin both looked around to see that there were too many arrows being fired at them to hold a foothold in the location they are at.
"Seems like we need to get out of here."
"Is that a retreat I'm hearing, Todd?" Larkin said with his hand on the knife on his belt. Todd could see this and quickly responded with,
"We can't fight in the dark. Call this a temporary break."
Larkin and Todd stared down for a moment, both prepared should the other try anything. After a few seconds of this, Larkin sighed before getting his bow and arrow ready to fire back at the enemy.
"You are lucky I see this as a better option than fighting what we would assume to be the Shudraq."
As Larkin says this, he fires a couple of arrows at the direction they were being attacked while Todd goes towards the remaining Vollachia warriors to tell them to retreat. Some wanted to stay and fight, remarking that they would be cowards to retreat. Before Todd could convince them, a few get killed by arrows. Larkin and Jamal both join Todd side with Larkin firing back while Jamal deflected away the attacks.
"Shall we get outta here?" Jamal asked, seeing that they need to leave to make sure Sora doesn't get killed in the fight.
"Yeah, let's go soldiers." Larkin said as most of the soldiers respect his decisions compared to Todd. Todd looks at this and just nods, seeing that things are going his way regardless. Before they leave, Jamal asks Todd,
"What about the other kid?"
"He'll have to fend for himself. Now let's go!"
Todd said this, figuring that Subaru can survive on his on considering the fact that he managed to hold Sephiroth long enough for him and the others to escape. Jamal didn't like this one bit yet he knew that there wasn't much they can do at the moment. They all started to make their way away from the area. While they were leaving, someone in the background was watching the fight, someone who wasn't involved in the attack.
'So, there is a power that equals if not surpasses the divine generals...hm.'
"That's what happened." The mask man said as he gave Subaru the details of what happened while he was out. Subaru crossed his arms, seeing that his master must've gone back to sleep in order to regain his strength once again.
'I need to go back to the camp then...and then I need to get all of them out of there. It is too dangerous staying here.'
While Subaru was thinking this, he knows that he needs to thank this mask man for giving him the information he needed. Since his master was still alive, it meant that he doesn't need to Return By Death but he also needs to be ready since the moment Todd and the others find out his family, his master, and him are all from Lugnica, they will turn on them. He turned towards the mask man to ask him for his assistance regarding getting his parents, his master, and reluctantly Louis out of the camp. Before he had the chance to ask, the mask man had stopped on his tracks which also caused Subaru to stop as well.
"What's going on?"
"...stay still."
"huh?"
"Just listen."
Subaru stayed silent has he listened around his surroundings just like the mask man had asked. As he did this, he could hear some footsteps all around the area. This caused Subaru to be wary since he isn't sure who is nearby. The mask man and Subaru waited until they noticed a couple of strong women dressed in what seemed to be tribe like attire, minimal clothes. The two men stood still as the women closed in at them with their weapons pointed at them. One of the women pointed her bow and arrow at Subaru's face while saying,
"Who are you?"
There was a brief pause since Subaru was hesitant at first, not sure who these people were yet he knows that cooperating will keep him alive.
"Ah, ah, my name is Natsuki Subaru. As you can see, a pitiful, worn-out and miserable lost child! And next, the one here with me is… umm?"
"...Abel."
"Right, Abel! He wears a mask to hide his face and has an arrogant and disagreeable personality, but he also guides people who are lost. He's a playboy who's made many girls cry due to the gap brought about by that element of unpredictability, so at this time please go ahead and introduce yourself!"
"Oh, ohh...? I'm Mizelda but..."
Overwhelmed by the energy with which Subaru pressed for an answer, the lead woman, Mizelda gave her name. As Subaru took the time to look properly at the opposing party, starting with Mizelda, an extremely fitting word to describe the aura of the women came to mind. This description caused the boy to associate this woman to the amazons told in his world. Since he is comparing the two together, he eventually figured that these women are not only Shudraq but he also recognized the people of Shudraq as Amazons.
"To be honest, I was actually surprised that Mask Man's name turned out to be Abel but..."
"..." Abel stood silent as he gave a gaze at the boy.
"Let's put that off for now! Listen to me, Mizelda-san, and everyone of Shudraq! You already know this, but outside this forest an encampment of Imperial Soldiers is being established. A boy around my name, my parents, and a little blonde girl are being held captive there. Not forcefully but they can't leave without being at risk of dying. If I don't return immediately it could be dangerous! So please, let me go!"
"..."
"The soldiers from what a few told me, are aiming for the People of Shudraq. They said it'd be fine if they could talk but, in the worst case, they are also prepared for battle. If that happens, I..."
Subaru paused himself, thinking clearly on what he heard of the Vollachia soldiers' mission regarding the Shudraq people.
"Sorry, let me correct myself. The truth is the soldiers are targeting everyone in Shudraq. There are quite a number of people in the camp, so even if you fight..."
"――You saying we'd lose?" Mizelda spoke, not liking what Subaru is implying. The boy knew that he should've worded himself better and yet...
"About the Vollachian soldiers coming, we know. But there is an old promise between those guys and us. There shouldn't be conflict."
"What do you mean?" Subaru paused as this is something that doesn't make sense to him. "You guys didn't attack them?"
Mizelda looked confused at Subaru, not understanding what he means. The mask man also caught this information but he stayed quiet.
"We don't know what you mean. We wouldn't attack them. That would break an old promise between those guys and us."
"――hk, no, wait! I don't know anything about that promise but, even so, those guys are serious about you..."
"Enough!"
"――gh!"
Subaru tried to get closer but a warning arrow was shot near him, telling him to stop on his tracks if he wants to live. Subaru stood still with a bit of fear since he doesn't want to die, not when he made it this far on this loop. Before anything else can be said, a swarm of shadow type and soldier type heartless appear around the group, leaving them surrounded.
'Man, these heartless are relentless.'
"Considering that there is a large amount of darkness in this kingdom, of course they will appear more."
'Is that so?'
Subaru did not like interacting with Vanitas but the information he got from him did prove to be of some use, alerting the boy that there is some kind of power source that are bringing the heartless out. His first thought was immediately the organization, figuring that they would be responsible for something like this. Another likely candidate for this cause was Sephiroth, figuring that someone has powerful as him would generate a large amount of darkness to catch the attention of the heartless. Regardless, Subaru summoned his Rebirth Keyblade and started to take on the heartless.
While he did this, the mask man pulled out his sword and started to attack the heartless as well, seeing them as a nuisance that needs to be put down. Mizelda and her Shudraq comrades start firing arrows, assisting both Subaru and the mask man in the fight against the large amount of heartless. During the battle, the mask man observed Subaru's fighting capabilities, being the only ones that he hasn't seen yet.
He watched as the boy moved with a somewhat decent fighting style, managing to take down the heartless in around one to two hits. Although this was notable, what caught his attention more was the fact that the heartless taken down from Subaru causes random hearts to appear for a brief moment before disappearing in thin air.
This was a detail that needed explanation for sure but for now, he just focused on taking down the heartless. Mizelda and the other Shudraq continued to shoot down as many heartless as possible. With Subaru and the Mask Man's assistance, they were all able to eliminate all the heartless in the area. Once the heartless were taken down, a larger heartless appeared.
"You have got to be kidding me..."
The group looked as this large heartless as it began to combined both its juggles clubs before sending a powerful fireball directly at the group. Subaru quickly countered this by pointing his keyblade at the fireball and using blizzard.
Once the ice attack and the fireball clashed, the two countered each other by exploding in mid-air. Just as this happened, everyone scattered around with the Shudraq people starting their attacks with their bows and arrows while the mask man and Subaru approached the heartless. As the two men were closing in on the large heartless, they both noticed the heartless trying to hit the two with it's juggles clubs.
The mask man dodged the attack while Subaru attempted to deflect it only to be send flying away onto a tree. Just as this happened, the mask man gave the boy a glare of disappointment before turning his attention at the threat in front of him, having an idea on how to take the large creature down.
He manages to climb its leg for a moment with one hand while the other held his sword ready for a powerful strike. While he was climbing, Mizelda and her fellow Shudraq comrades noticed this and quickly continued to fire at the large heartless, attempting to do their best to keep it distracted. Subaru was disoriented for a brief moment before getting his head back on track.
'Well...that was—'
"—Pathetic."
'Oh shut up.'
Subaru got back on his feet before charging in towards the large heartless with both Starlight and Rebirth on his hands. As he was closing in, he saw that Abel was close to the face of the heartless. Seeing this caused Subaru to quickly point both keyblades directly at the head of the large heartless. Once this is done, a small ball of light on the tip of the two keyblades was beginning to be created before it fired a beam of light at the heartless.
Abel noticed this and waited for Subaru to attack first, wanting to see if the boy's attack will do any damage to their mutual enemy. The beam of light eventually hit the large heartless' head, landing critical damage which caused the large heartless got disoriented long enough for Abel to attack with everything he got. Once he stabbed through the head of the heartless, it was damaged enough for it to disappear from thin air.
Since Abel was high up, he started to drop quickly, prompting the Shudraq and Subaru to quickly run at his location to catch him. One of the Shudraq women managed to catch Abel in time before he hit the ground. Subaru, Mizelda, and the other women looked at Abel and the Shudraq warrior that saved him, seeing that the man in the mask was alright. Abel looked at the woman that saved his life briefly before bowing with respect.
"Thank you. What is your name?"
"...Kyda." The Shudraq woman said. Abel looked at her and noticed that she shares some of the same strength qualities like her fellow colleagues but like them, she differs in hair style. This woman's hairstyle was long with one eye covered, the hair being black on the tips while the rest is blue. Able gives a nod as he says to the Shudraq warrior,
"You will be rewarded by this action."
"..."
"We should get moving, more of those things will appear along with those soldiers from before." Subaru said as he took the attention from Abel to himself. The Shudraq people didn't really cared on what the boy had to say but they were curious on what Mizelda will choose to do. The leader of the group stood silent as she took note on what Subaru had said. Having dealt with the heartless before, she knows that they will get overrun if more keep appearing, prompting her to listen to the boy at least once. She turned towards her people and nodded before turning back to Subaru and Abel.
"You two are still not to be trusted."
"I get it, which is why I along with this jester of a boy will undergoing the Lifeblood Ritual."
"..." Mizelda and the other Shudraq stood silent by this, not having expected the mask man to say something like that. Subaru looked at Abel while questioning him in a low tone of voice,
"The hell are you doing?"
"You want to save your family. Then do what I say."
"...alright."
Just as Subaru said this, the women turned towards Abel with a more determined tone of voice. The two men noticed this and quickly had their guards up and ready in the case a fight breaks up. Mizelda approached Abel in a hostile manner as she had some questions to ask the mask man.
"Where the heck did you find out about the Lifeblood Ritual? It's supposed to be a rite that's passed down only for us Shudraq."
"Do not make me laugh, young chief of the Shudraq. Do you seriously think that no one knows about your traditions in this day and age? Two people, that is all it takes for a secret to leak out. Abandon your pipe dream of thinking that you are all as one."
"..." Mizelda continued to stay silent, allowing Abel to continue speaking.
"Your precious "Lifeblood Ritual" is no exception either. In actual fact, I know both what kind of ritual it is, as well as what happened in the past."
Mizelda's gaze turned stern as Abel's response grew in zeal. Subaru could tell that the Shudraqians' expressions,not just Mizelda's at that, were growing more and more tense, faced with Abel's lofty words. Subaru took a sizable heavy gulp himself.
Right now, Subaru was the only one being left behind, not knowing anything about the details of this "Lifeblood Ritual" that had been mentioned by Abel. Nevertheless, the fact remained that the ritual was an important one to Mizelda and the others, and that Abel would not welcome him making light of how they felt about it. Subaru spoke out to calm the tension,
"Sorry to interrupt when your discussion was starting to become more lively, but can you tell me more about this "Lifeblood Ritual"? I'm probably not unrelated to it, right?"
"Why do you think so?" Mizelda asked.
"Ah, I just got threatened by this masked prick a while ago. Stuff like asking me whether I could sacrifice everything or not. "Hell no" was my answer, though."
"Then..."
"All I can put on the line is myself. That guy's overestimating his influence a little too much."
As Subaru said this, he looked around and noticed that the atmosphere was extremely tense. Abel's words put the two on edge with the Shudraq, making it that only Subaru can keep the situation from escalating.
"But, just as Abel said, it'll be difficult for us if you won't listen. It's going to be a repetition of what I previously said, but I'll keep saying the same thing as many times as I need. At worst, I need you to at least let me out, so I can protect what's precious to me, else I will be stumped on what to do."
"...I see. It seems like you're qualified to undergo the Lifeblood Ritual."
As Subaru made his appeal to her, wanting to keep their conversation going, Mizelda muttered with a hushed tone. Subaru widened his eyes at her answer while Abel had made a small noise in his throat. Eventually one of the Shudraq lowered her weapon and approached Mizelda to say,
"Sister! Are you sure? Believing the words of these men..."
"It's not like I believe them, Taritta. I just thought it would be a waste to disregard their words."
"Sister..."
The woman called Taritta hung her head, listening to Mizelda's response, who she had referred to as "Sister". It seemed like they were sisters, related by blood. Once their connection had been pointed out to Subaru, he realized that they were actually quite similar, especially the fierce impression given off by their eyes. Then, after Mizelda had rejected her younger sister's words, she looked at Subaru once more to tell him,
"You've heard about the Lifeblood Ritual. It's a ritual to make the tribe acknowledge oneself, passed down to us Shudraqians since ancient times. You can call it a coming of age ritual."
"Coming of age...ah, it's that kind of thing. But, we aren't really..."
"A part of the Shudraq. It is needless to say that, as everyone is aware of it. Do not waste any time with your foolish antics. What matters most is the true nature of this ritual."
Subaru had made Abel seem exasperated, the former perplexed by his newfound knowledge of the ritual, that it existed so that those who completed it would be treated as an adult. Subaru's cheeks stiffened from Abel's callous words, but he understood what the masked man wanted to say.
"A rite of passage...To ensure the Shudraqians would listen to us as their equals..."
"Exactly."
Affirming Subaru's belief, Abel folded his arms, glancing over at Mizelda. Soon after receiving his gaze, Mizelda drew back her chin, and then,
"If you are challenging the Lifeblood Ritual, then you must prepare yourselves."
"We will." Subaru jumped in, wanting to make sure Abel doesn't say anything that could make the situation anymore tense. Abel took note of this and just glared at Subaru. The boy took note of this glare and for some reason he thought about Priscilla oddly. He hit his head for thinking this before turning his attention back to Mizelda. "The only problem is if the ritual's going to take a few days..."
"That's true. We do not want that, either. If that's it..."
"Sister, won't the Elgina be enough, then?"
"I don't mean to interrupt but should we get going. More of those creatures will arrive soon..." Kyda spoke out as she felt that something was heading their way. The Shudraq looked around for a moment before agreeing with her, even Mizelda. They turned towards the two boys before telling them to follow. Subaru and Abel both listen and begin to follow Mizelda and her people. While they did this, Subaru pulled out his keyblade for a moment before looking forward. A small child with brown skin and green eyes approached Subaru, having noticed the keyblade earlier.
"Uu is curious. What is that weapon? Looks weird."
Subaru looked at the girl and couldn't help but have a smile on his face, reminding him of Petra. He allowed the girl to hold, watching how amazed she was by the keyblade.
She swung it around as she felt its power, making her feel both excited and powerful even if it brief. As she swung the keyblade for a bit, Abel took note of this before looking forward, having a serious expression underneath the mask.
He dislike the way the boy was allowing his weapon to be used as a toy by some little girl. Although it shows that the boy himself is kind-hearted, this action also alerts of how easy the boy can fail.
"You should keep that weapon to yourself."
"Huh?" Subaru turned towards Abel, having noticed what he said. Abel could feel that he got the boy's attention and could also tell that he doesn't understand what he said.
"You seriously are a hopeless buffoon."
"Excuse me?" Subaru asked as he disliked what he was hearing.
"Hm. I like this guy."
'Shut up you!' Subaru said in his mind, not wanting to hear a word from Vanitas. Abel looked at the boy for a brief moment with a stern look before looking forward.
"That kindness of yours, it gives access for betrayal and death. Only fools would try to be this kindhearted, even to children."
"And? At least with children you should be nice with them."
"That's not what I'm saying. That kindhearted nature will get you killed one day. Mark my words."
As Abel had said this, he walked forward to keep his distance from Subaru. This caused the boy with the key to just look at Abel with some distrust, getting Priscilla vibes from him.
"He is right. You guardians of light seem to stay kindhearted only to end up in worse situations."
'And despite that, you seekers of darkness always fail. I saw your memories. Taken down by the one called Ventus in his heart while the one called Aqua took you down on the surface. Having lost to Master Sora and the group during the Keyblade War. And then there is the fact that you lost to me and Master Sora.'
"Don't get cocky now, Natsuki Subaru. You will lose this body and I'll make sure you see when I kill your friends in front of your eyes."
'You son of a...'
Subaru calmed himself down as he realized instantly that his anger was showing in the outside. While he was calming himself down, he had a lot of hatred for Vanitas, seeing that he is a threat that will eventually be dealt with after he reunites with his master. He turns back towards the little Shudraq girl to see that she is still playing with the keyblade. This brings him back to a smile before looking forward, following Mizelda's lead.
"So, what's da plan?" Garfiel asked as they were closing in on the gates to enter the Vollachia Empire. Otto and Beatrice both turned towards the demi human boy for a moment before looking forward. Having heard this question many times on their few days in the road had annoyed the two.
"We are close but you have to be patient, Garfiel-san."
"I know but it's borin'..."
"You are very annoying, in fact."
"Haha I know."
"Hmph."
Beatrice was annoyed at the fact that Garfiel just brushed the insult while Otto just looked at the two, seeing that things are going to get worse if they don't arrive at the gates of Vollachia. Frufoo and Patrasche continue to move the wagon quickly towards the location of the gates to entering the Vollachia Empire, almost arriving. After an hour or so, Otto looked ahead closely to see that they have finally arrived at the borders of both Vollachia and Lugnica.
"Garfiel-san, we have finally arrived."
"Really?!"
"Yes. Now stop asking the same question, I suppose."
"Hahaha aight aight." Garfiel brushed Beatrice's comment aside, seeing that he might have annoyed her to her limit the past few days. Oto couldn't help but chuckle at this, seeing Garfiel and Beatrice act like siblings for a moment.
As he had this thought in mind, he looked at the gates leading into Vollachia once again to see that something was wrong. He turned towards both Patrasche and Frufoo to ask for their input.
The two ground dragons looked at Otto briefly before looking at the gates, seeing that there was something off about it as well. This prompted him to turn towards Beatrice and Garfiel to warn the pair of what he and the ground dragon see.
"Beatrice-sama, Garfiel-san, we might be in trouble."
"What da ya mean, Brotto?"
"There might be something wrong at the gate."
"Let us see."
Both Beatrice and Garfiel got to the front of the wagon to see what Otto was seeing on the gates. As they were looking closely, they saw that something was indeed wrong. Beatrice could tell that a fight was brewing while Garfiel could sense that there was some powerful darkness around the gates.
"Not even inside yet and we are about to be involve in a fight, I suppose."
"Ha! That's why my amazin' self's here. T'take care of th'threat."
As Garfiel says this pridefully, he smashes his fists together with Otto and Beatrice somewhat ignoring this since their focus was on how to deal with the immediate threat.
The three with their two ground dragon allies got closer to the gates to see the guards of Vollachia being attacked by a swarm of shadow type heartless and by a larger heartless that had a massive creature with black skin.
Its entire body is wrapped in teal thorns, possibly a reference to the Beast's rose, and both of its wrists and ankles still have manacles on them.
"Seems like th'fight came t'us!"
"Agreed. Beatrice-sama, can you fight?"
"Hm. I can but I will not, I suppose. Using up too much mana would leave me defenseless."
"Understood. Then stay here. Allow Garfile-san and I to handle this."
Beatrice just gave Otto a stare which put the merchant to be nervous for a moment before going off with the demi-human boy to go take out the heartless. As the two boys were charging in towards battle, Garfiel turned towards Otto to see what the plan is.
"Yo, Brotto, what's th'plan?"
"I'll use magic crystals to draw their attention. Your job is to take down the ones that charge at me."
"Got it! My amazin' self won't let ya down!"
Otto nodded at Garfiel before turning towards the direction of the fight, preparing one of his crystals. While getting them ready, he looked at the bag to see that he only has 12 magic crystals in his arsenal. This made the merchant slightly wary since these crystals have put him out of many situation.
'Okay, I'll make do.'
He grabs one crystal and throws it with all of his strength, managing to land in between a large horde of heartless before setting off an explosion. As many heartless were destroyed by the explosion, others noticed the direction of the magic crystal having been thrown. As they all turn towards Garfiel and Otto's direction, the larger heartless turned towards them and started to charge at the duo.
"This isn't good..." Otto said as he did not expect the large heartless to attack them first. Garfiel was also surprise by this yet he was excited since he gets to go all out on his fight, not having been on a fight since the Witch cult and the heartless attacked Priestella city. He put on his shields before charging at the large heartless.
"I got ya!"
Garfiel smiled as he was closing in on the large heartless, his heart racing with excitement, his blood boiling with a burning passion for battle. After a few seconds, the two got close enough to each other to swing their fists. Within a second, their fists clashed with both having given their all, sending the two back. As this happened, the shadow type heartless began to charge in to attack both Garfiel and Otto.
"El Dona!"
As Otto shouts this, he conjures a swarm of earth mana and pinpoints it at the swarm of shadow heartless approaching them. This swarm of earth creates a burst of spikes, expanding long enough to destroy most of the shadow heartless. The large heartless felt a sting but it was not too damage by Otto's attack. It turned its attention at the merchant and prepared to attack him, seeing that he was the one that had attack it.
Otto noticed this and quickly made a run for it, knowing that he doesn't stand a chance in a head on fight against the large creature. Just as the merchant began to run away from the large heartless, Garfiel quickly manage to recover before jumping in between his best friend and the creature. Once he was in the middle, he turned towards the large heartless while saying in a serious tone of voice,
"Hey! I ain't done with ya yet!"
Garfiel charged at the large heartless and just as their fists were going to clash once again, the demi-human boy quickly transformed his entire right arm into its tiger form. Once this happened, he took the opportunity to dodge the attack which allowed him to grab the large heartless' head.
Once accomplishing this, with all his strength he smashed the heartless onto the ground before throwing it away from him and Otto's location. As the large heartless gets send flying a few feet away from the duo, the shadow heartless all attack in unison at Garfiel, attempting to get him while his guard was down.
The demi-human boy noticed this and quickly managed to block their attacks with his left hand. Although he was able to block a few hits, some were about to land on him until a red magic crystal appeared in the middle of the group of shadow heartless.
Garfiel noticed this and quickly was able to evade the explosion just barely. As Garfiel was away from the radius of the explosion, a few shadow heartless jumped up to try an attack the boy while he was on the ground yet Otto managed to close in on them to punch a few away while grabbing one's body to throw it at another. Garfiel quickly got up and with his superior strength, he was able to take the shadow heartless down with just one punch.
While this was going on, Beatrice and the two ground dragons watched from a distance, all three having a blank expression as they expect the two boys to be fine since Otto's intelligence and Garfiel's strength are a good combination in situations like this. Beatrice also found this useful since it meant that she doesn't need to use any of her mana. Otto and Garfiel both turned towards the large heartless as it begins to charge at the duo.
"Seems like th's one's askin' fer a beatdown."
"Seems like it. Let's give him one."
As Otto finished speaking with a confident tone of voice, the two boys charged at the common threat, the duo prepared for a fight. Otto was confident in the amount of mana he had in him to use Dona once again while Garfiel took off his shields in order to rely on his transformation to win the battle. As the two sides were closing in, Garfiel was the first to act by quickly transforming into his golden tiger form.
Otto followed this by using Dona to hit the heartless in its stomach side, lifting it in the air long enough for Garfiel to follow this attack with one of his own. Garfiel's attack was powerful enough to cause a fatal blow to the heartless, destroying it in the process.
Otto looked to see that the heartless was destroyed, allowing him to let Garfiel know using the Divine Protection of Soul Language that he can return back into his human form. Garfiel nodded before turning himself back to human form, with a lot of his strength and stamina having been depleted. The merchant looked at the demi human boy to notice that he was barely able to stand.
"Are you okay, Garfiel-san?"
"Yeah...my amazin' self'll be alright...guess I'm still worn out from th'fight in Priestella."
Otto got a little worried by this and was about to go assist his friend only for Garfiel to move his head.
"My amazin' self'll be fine Brotto. We should check on them gates."
Otto paused for a moment before nodding at what Garfiel said, agreeing that they should but also trusting that his friend will be alright on his own.
He turned his attention at the gates to see that the guards there were still facing off against the shadow heartless, though it seems like his and Garfiel's interference gave them a fighting chance compared to when they arrived.
The merchant pulled out a knife he received from Ricardo back in Priestella when he and Garfiel stayed and helped out the people there. As he did this, he could remember the words the mighty dogman had told him.
("Take this, it'll help ya out should ya get into anymore trouble.")
("Th-Thank you...I'll put it to good use! I promise!")
Otto smiled as he recollected the memory of this. This genuine smile turned into one of determination, seeing that he along with the other Emilia camp members will need to save Subaru and Sora from the threats that approach them.
'Natsuki-san. Sora-san. You two do everything in your power to save us time and time again. This time, it is our turn to save you both.'
The merchant made his way towards the gates to assist the guards there in order to assure some kind of deal to allow him and his group passage into the Vollachia Empire. As he was closing in, Garfiel looked at Otto charging into battle.
He couldn't help but laugh at this, having recalled his first impressions of the merchant. He had thought of him as a weakling, someone who needed a warrior just to save his own ass but thanks to his time with the Emilia camp but also the events of the Sanctuary, he saw that Otto was more than just a mere merchant, he was a strong friend.
One who can be relied on. This thought eventually caused him to think about both his master and captain, how they are both in trouble from what he heard from Roswaal.
'My amazin' self'll save Master n'Cap'n! Nothin'll stop me!'
This self-motivation allowed the demi-human boy to gain strength to run into the fight to assist not only the guards but his friend. Using his Divine Protection of Earth Spirits, he stomped on the ground which caused a few heartless to explode all of a sudden. Otto and the guards noticed this, surprising them for a brief moment before returning back to the fight.
Otto used the knife given to him by Ricardo to take down a couple of heartless on his own while the guards with their skills and strength were able to easily finish off the remaining shadow heartless. Patrasche and Frufoo both looked at Beatrice to see if they can move towards the gates. Beatrice had a bank expression while she nodded at the two, alerting Frufoo and Patrasche to make their way towards the gates to catch up with Garfiel and Otto.
While this happened, Garfiel with his new found strength managed to make his way towards Otto's position. Once the two friends were standing side by side, the guards turned their attention at the duo.
"You two really saved our asses."
"Yeah, thanks for the assist."
"It was no problem." Otto said in a respectful manner. Garfiel could only smile with confidence as he didn't had anything to add. Before the guards could say anything, the group turned their attention towards the wagon approaching them. The guards got themselves ready for another fight but both Otto and Garfiel calmed the situation with Otto being the one to say,
"They are with us."
The guards noticed what the merchant had said, prompting them to lower their weapons but still be on their guard. As the wagon approached Otto and Garfiel, the guards approach the two boys to figure out what they are doing there.
"As much as we appreciate the assist, what brings the two of you and your group here?"
"We need t'go into Vollachia."
"Into Vollachia? Do you all know what's going on there?" The guard paused as both Otto and Garfiel looked at each other, keeping a blank facial expression yet the two seeing that the situation as gotten worse. They turn back at the guard as he continued to say, "Those dark creatures have not only increased in there but they engulfed one of the cities. Y'all should turn back while you can."
"Sorry but we have someone important in there to meet."
The guards all looked at one another, each of them processing on what Otto had just said. They stood silent before looking back at the merchant and his demi-human ally with one of the guards being the one to say,
"You should turn back. It isn't worth going in for whatever reason."
"We understand but someone important's countin on us, we can't let them down."
The guards looked at Garfiel's determined facial expression along the tone of voice he was giving off. The guards stayed silent for a bit before all of them agreeing that Garfiel, Otto, and their wagon can go through.
"Go ahead. We owe you this much but remember, it is more chaotic than before."
"Basically a death trap."
"...understood." Otto said as he figured that the information he along with Beatrice and Garfiel were told was correct, too correct. The two boys got on the wagon with Beatrice just giving the two a blank stare.
"You two make quite a mess, I suppose."
"Eh? What? Would you have done better?" Garfiel asked. Beatrice just looked at the demi-human boy before looking forward, not giving a response. Garfiel was a little annoyed by this but at the same time, he expected this. Otto sat back in the driver's seat and started to guide both Patrasche and Frufoo into Vollachia. As the group finally made their way in, the guards just watched for a moment, making sure that they weren't trying any funny business.
After a couple of minutes, the wagon had entered the forest with Otto on his guard, not knowing what he and the two ground dragons might encounter. While the wagon had gone in a complete silence, Garfiel decided to break this momentary silence with his thoughts on the situation.
"If things're as bad's they say, Master'n Cap'n'r in trouble."
"Natsuki-san and Sora-san should be able to hold their own...the only problem we have to deal with is the witch."
"Right..." Garfiel said as he sat back to rest his body, knowing that this witch that is bothering his captain and master might be a bit much for him to deal with even in full strength. Beatrice and Otto both noticed this yet they stood silent, both of them also worried about dealing with the witch. The wagon once again was silent with the atmosphere being much heavy than before. While the three stood silent, Patrasche roared at Otto, wanting information on Subaru's whereabouts. This prompted the merchant to turn towards the loli spirit to ask,
"Are you still connected with Natsuki-san?"
"Hmph. Of course I am, I suppose! What are you implying?!" Beatrice said as she doesn't like the question at all. Otto noticed how sensitive asking that specific question is to the little spirit girl.
"Apologies, I did not mean to anger you. I just wanted to see if you can tell us how far Natsuki-san is."
"..." Beatrice stood silent for a moment, having recollected her composure before looking away from the merchant. "We are on the right track, in fact."
"Thank you, Beatrice-sama."
"..."
Beatrice stood silent while Garfiel decided to get up from his area and to join his friend in the front, in the case they are attacked by any heartless or other threats. Otto noticed this and was about to say something about it, but he didn't. He enjoys the company and would rather have a small chat with his friend than be on the front on his own.
Not long after Garfiel did this, Beatrice moved close to the two where she can hear the two boys speak clearly. The duo noticed this, prompting the two to smile before looking forward, starting a conversation about how Natsuki Subaru and his group will be alright.
During the ride, two threats looked from a distance as they saw the wagon go deeper into the Vollachia Empire. The one with shoulder-length silver hair wore a familiar dark mode attire while the other was a young woman with long straight platinum hair.
The two watched as they were looking over the situation, seeing that Sora is weakened, Subaru is now with a group of warriors, and that the heartless in the Vollachia Empire will eventually attract the attention of the Organization. Replica Riku turned towards Pandora to ask her,
"Shall we intercept them? They might make it hard for us to get to Sora."
"No. Let them go. Allow them to pave the way for us."
"...I don't mean to question you but how exactly will they do that?"
"Patience. All will be revealed within time."
"Understood. Pardon me."
Replica Riku said as he understood that he really needs to be patient if he wants to see his goal be achieved. Pandora looked at her pawn, seeing the loyalty he has for her by kneeling down. This surprise her for sure but she allowed it.
"There is no need for that. You are driven by emotion. That is understandable for someone with your status now."
Replica Riku got up and awaiting for Pandora to teleport them to the next area to observe the events, seeing that he needs to learn a bit of patience. Just as Pandora was about to manipulate the world to move herself and Replica Riku back to the boys with keys, she wanted to assure her pawn of something.
"You will get your revenge on all of those that refused to give you a chance at being yourself. With the power granted by the Witch of Vanglory, you will do amazing things, my pride."
Replica Riku looked at his hand has his body began to glow with a powerful aura, mixed of darkness and the witch's scent. This allowed him to have a smile on his face.
'I'll show you, Sora. This is true power. This will make me be better than Riku. I'll be my own person!'