Chapter 79
"We never really forget anything in our lives. The memories…are just there, somewhere inside our head. But, it is often that we have a hard time finding it"
Kanzaki Urumi (Great Teacher Onizuka)
The poem in this chapter belongs to Allison Chambers. I don't own Ragnarok Online, but I own this story and the characters inside it. If you're not down with that….well, just down with that, ok?
A good thing happened last night, at least for two people, a certain lord knight and a certain gunslinger. They, sitting beside each other, could be seen enjoying pancakes for their breakfast with a joyful face. The two let hears little humming almost all the time.
"Where are you going after the breakfast, El?" Now, Fio acts more friendly than she ever has to the purple glassed gunslinger.
"I will help Emilio practicing for his big fight with Tsukihime-sama" The gunslinger should have known what happened last night, "You know, battle and stuff"
"Cool"
"Where are you going, Alexandria?"
"I will ask Kenji to take me to The Legendary Whitesmith Hikari-san told me yesterday"
"Good luck on finding and asking him to forge a sword for you"
"Actually, that concerns me a bit" Fio admits what she has on her mind, "What if he asks for payment? I mean…an unbelievable amount of money which will bring us more problems"
"That's possible, but we can always pay for it"
"Well, that's the point, El!" The lord knight should have not forgotten how insensitive the black haired man could be, "I don't want to draw more money from your country's wallet if possible"
"Oh, I see" El rolls his eyes before stating another thought, "Putting that aside, do you know what sword do you want him to forge?"
"Well…you're right, I haven't think about it at all" The former princess taps her fingers on the table while she's thinking, and she gets the answer, "I think…I want Balmung"
"Balmung? Never heard of that name before"
"Well, only few people knew about the existence of that sword" Fiorentin starts telling a story, "My father once told me, in the history of Prontera Kingdom, there are three swords known as 'The Trinity Swords'. Three swords said to be crafted from the strongest metal in this world, Mithrill, and possess the ability to draw the true power of a knight. Many knights regard The Trinity Swords as the finest swords of the finest swords, and those three are Tegron, Tae Goo Lyeon, and Balmung. Tegron is The Sword of Beast, known for its merciless aura surrounding it. Tae Goo Lyeon is The Sword of Fate, known for its beauty of its craftsmanship. Balmung is known as The Sword of Light, known for its holy power. As we know it, Tegron has been long belonged to the Pendragon Family, and now Sir Alphard wields it. Tae Goo Lyeon is said to be located somewhere in the western hemisphere on earth. But Balmung existence is never clear"
"Wait a second, if that Balmung is nowhere to be found…" Elraven doesn't really want to say this, but he has to, "Why do you think that Legendary Whitesmith can forge it?"
"Because he is legendary, El. He needs to live up to that moniker and the hype surrounding him, right?" Putting a smirk, the lord knight responds, "Actually, many have said no whitesmiths have been able to craft Balmung before, because they don't have the necessary ingredient for it. Personally, I don't know what the ingredient is, but I still want to give it a shot"
"Is there any other reason?" Elraven smells another motive behind the request. Well, he is insensitive but he isn't stupid.
"Yes" Fio doesn't feel the need to hide it, "Around a month ago, Aunt Talia told me that she translated the first three pages of the Prophecy of Eisenheim. Something I kept secret from others due to her request"
"And what do those pages tell us?"
"The first told us about how the gods and the humans battled in the land of darkness. I assumed Eisenheim referred to our battle at Glast Heim. The second told us about how the humans begin to unite, which I assume to be…now, this moment. And the third told me something incredibly surprising"
"Carry on"
"It said, 'The Wielders of The Trinity Swords shall take their own paths. In the end, only one wielder would lead this world to its new age'. That means, there are three candidates to do the deeds for this world"
"Sir Alphard included?" Elraven sounds not believing how cruel fate could be.
"Yes, but the exact meaning? I don't know"
The two stops right there; staring at each other to express their 'disappointment' of a certain name. But, Fio continues nonetheless, "He wields Tegron, so there are two swords left. From what Marcus informed me awhile ago, Tae Goo Lyeon belongs to one of The Millenium's Triumvirate, Queen of The Sun, also known as The Lady Savior. That means, only one wielder left"
"The wielder of Balmung"
"Precisely"
"And you wish the wielder of Balmung to be no other than yourself"
"Maybe this would sound too egoistical, but yes" One thing you should note from Fiorentin Adler, she barely ever lies, "If I have to see three wielders race to bring this world into its new age, I want one of them to be myself. After all, I promised my late parents and myself that I would bring Prontera Kingdom and Rune Midgard back to its glory"
"That doesn't sound egoistical at all" El disagrees with one part of her speech, "That sounds great"
"Thank you"
"And I believe, Balmung, no matter what it looks like, would look great on you"
"Thank you, again" The lord knight smiles, finishing her story for today. But another story starts when El notices; someone has opened a communication line on his talkie. Grabbing it; El speaks,
El: Hello?
F: Hi, honey! How are you doing?!
El: Frea? Is that you?
The latter name makes Fio's face becomes sour.
F: Ow, I've wanted to call you from last night, but you turned off your talkie.
El: Oh, yeah. I've been busy all night long.
F: Me too, we got into a heated argument last night when we discussed our matters.
El: You mean you and the other gods?
F: Yes
El: What did you talk about?
F: I will explain later when we meet again. Right now, Sarkhan is focusing to help Felicia and Clyde.
El: Well, good luck to them. How's the condition there?
F: (Understands what El is trying to imply) Ifrit's or Randgris'?
El: Ifrit.
F: Well, he didn't do anything suspicious so far.
El: Randgris?
F: That's another story.
El: She seems to hate you so much.
F: That's understandable.
El: Why?
F: (Sighs) She is still disappointed in me for …siding with Loki instead of Odin.
El: After ten thousand years? She still hates you for that? She is a weird Valkyrie
F: I can understand her feelings, honey. Please don't call her weird.
El: (Figured the problem out) she loved Odin, didn't she?
F: Yes…most Valkyries did.
El: But, Odin was more into you?
F: (Chuckles) well, you can say it like that.
El: You're going to talk to her about this?
F: Yes, but not now.
El: Good. Although, I think Sarkhan should have done something about her.
F: He already did. Sarkhan and Randgris had a son, you know?
El: Whaaaaaaaaaat?! A son?! Them?!
F: Yup.
El: But, Randgris told me Sarkhan was only her best friend?!
F: Well, maybe they grew fond of each other after being together for so long. I don't know the details, but they never really married because Randgris could never forgotten Odin. It was just…one night thing, perhaps they did it to comfort each other, but it resulted in a boy.
El: And where is that boy?
F: Hm, Randgris had something to do with me in Rachel, but she didn't want to tell. From what I heard, she took off to Rachel after giving birth to the baby boy. Sarkhan raised that boy alone. Sarkhan knew Randgris would never stop loving Odin, so he chose not to let the boy knew his mother…to prevent further problems.
El: Shocking…
F: Sarkhan only implied their son went to Alberta to become a merchant. And he currently lives somewhere in the southern hemisphere of the world. Once a year, his son would come to Umbala along with his wife and kids to celebrate Father's day for Sarkhan.
El: What a story…
F: That's it from me. Now, it's your turn.
El: Me?
F: Yes, you. What did you do last night?
El: (Lying) Sleeping. I slept earlier.
F: (Sounds suspicious) For real? You're not lying, right?
El: No, no! (Glancing at the sour Fiorentin) Why would I lie?!
F: (Still suspecting) with whom did you sleep last night, El?
El: (Insensitively) Alexandria.
F: (Disbelieves) Who?
El: Alexandria.
Frea becomes silent, leading El to realize something isn't right.
El: Honey? Are you still there?
F: …
El: Frea?
F: Wuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! My boyfriend is a two timer!
El: Not again! You misunderstood me!
F: Silence! I have had enough of you two timing me all the time!
El: All the time?! Frea, listen to me!
F: I said silence! How could you do this to me?! I've been trying to be as faithful as possible! But you! You! Wuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
El: Calm down! We didn't sleep in terms of that 'sleep'! We just slept, you know sharing bed!
F: (Mishears) Sharing head?! You mean you made out with her?!
El: No, you misheard!
F: Wuaaaaaaaaaaah! My boyfriend is impure! I want a divorce!
El: Frea…we can't have a divorce! We're not even married yet!
F: Hey…that's right. We can't…have a divorce, can we?
All of a sudden, Fio takes the talkie from El.
Fio: Hey, Frea.
F: Eh? Is this you, princess?
Fio: Bingo.
F: What are you doing with his talkie?! Get me Elraven!
Fio: (Glaring at the surprised Elraven, disabling him) I have no obligation to do what you ask.
F: I want to speak to my boyfriend!
Fio: (Impolitely sitting on the table with a gangster style) and I want you to listen to me. Maybe you mean you want to break up with him? Then by all means go ahead. Break up with him, hope that would enlighten you.
F: Ukh! I'm not going to break up with him! Not after you advised me for it!
Fio: First you want to break up with him and now you don't. Don't confuse me, pick one.
F: (Ignores what Fio said) did you really share head with him?!
Fio: Share head? What does that suppose to mean?
F: Just answer me!
Fio: …No
F: For real?
Fio: For real.
F: (Glad) phew.
Fio: But, we shared bed, though.
F: Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
Fio: (Chuckles) He, you're jealous?
F: Of course!
Fio: No worries, we didn't do anything…yet.
F: Wuaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Stay away from my boyfriend!
Fio: Can't do. Bye-bye.
Fio turns the talkie off, and gives it to El; seeing how his face looks numb, she says, "Don't look upset like that. That's how you deal with a girl, El. Straight and sharp!"
"I know; I wasn't expressing my disappointment or anything" El's face suddenly turns bright, "I was enjoying a view"
"View? What view?'
"Your view"
"My view?" Fio doesn't seem to get his point, "Speak clearly, El"
"It's your underwear, Alexandria" A shocking reply from the purple glassed gunslinger, "Your underwear is showing"
"Whaaaat?!" Fio quickly covers the pointed direction, "You've been looking at it all the time?! You freaking pervert!"
"I wasn't looking at it all the time!" El insensitively defends himself, "I was disappointed when you took the talkie from me! When I looked at you sitting on the table, I noticed your underwear was showing! That's all!"
"That's all?!" Fio shows him her legendary fist, "I'm going to send you to the sky again!"
"Wait a second! You're mad at me because I told you something about your underwear?! I only warned you! You should have thanked me!"
"Warned?! You should have warned me earlier if you really meant it! And you want me to thank a pervert?!"
"I'm not a pervert! And shouldn't it be your fault?! You shouldn't wear a skirt that short!"
"Oh? Now, you're telling me what I should wear? Wow, you're brave enough to even argue with me?"
"No, no! It's not like that!"
"I believe you said you were enjoying it"
"Enjoying it?! No way!" El stupidly and insensitively defends himself.
"No way?" An opal fire starts engulfing from Fio's fist; El's statement really offended her, "Oh, so I'm not enjoyable?"
"You are…but compared to Frea's…no way" Elraven chuckles…to his death.
DUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHH!
"That wasn't my faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaault!" Elraven flies to Quasar thanks to another godlike uppercut from the angry lord knight.
"I hate you, Elraven! I hate you!" The young girl returns to her seat and finishes her breakfast before the insensitive gunslinger returns from the outer space.
Love is beautiful, but some things just never change…
Meanwhile, in Umbala…
Frea could be seen bawling while Fenrir is busy teasing her again.
"Your boyfriend did it, right? Your boyfriend did it, didn't he?"
"He didn't!"
"Ow, look at the former goddess of beauty. A young girl from Prontera just had her big time"
"Stop it, Fenrir!"
"I can imagine how Elraven did the princess last night"
"Cut it out!"
But Fenrir has defeated Odin, why would he fear Frea? To tease her even further, Fenrir starts impersonating Elraven, "Alexandria, it's a lovely night, isn't it?"
"He didn't say that!"
(Fenrir starts impersonating Fio) "It is, Elraven"
"Say, do you think we can make this night even lovelier by sharing our love?"
"Ow, you're a very bad boy"
"But you like this bad boy, don't you, naughty girl?"
"Like you? No, but I love you"
"Stop iiiiiiiiiiiit!" Frea kicks Fenrir right to his groin with full power.
"Aaaaaah!" Fenrir falls and starts rolling in the ground, "That hurts, Freyja! You don't have to do that! Ow!"
"Serves you right!" Frea putouts her tongue and then runs off.
From afar, Sarkhan, enjoying his pipe, can only shakes his head seeing those two, "God and Goddess they may be, but what a childish act they perform there"
"That's what you got for siding with Loki" Randgris unnecessarily adds. Sarkhan stares at her because of that, telling her not to go any further.
"But, they are fun to watch" Ty appears from their behind, "Pretty entertaining show"
"You're still here?" Randgris never seems to like humans at all, including now.
"I can't?"
"You can, but I think you might prefer to dwell with your humans friends"
"No. Felicia and Clyde are off to somewhere I don't know. Hugo and Martina are keeping their eyes at Vanessa even while they are playing poker at the moment. I can't really do anything with them"
"Felicia and Clyde aren't off to somewhere" Sarkhan sees a mistake on Ty's statement and corrects it, "They are having their training"
"Oh, the training you promised them?" Now, the gunslinger remembers, "Where are they? What are they doing?"
"They aren't here. I transferred them to Lutie" Sarkhan pout some more from his pipe.
"Lutie? The Christmas town?"
"Yes, Lutie is a quite place with no Valdomirs around, they can have a rather calm training there"
"What kind of training do you give them?" Ty leans on the nearest tree, indicating he wants to talk a lot more.
"Astral Projection" Sarkhan sits in front of him, "Using my magic, I created two clones using their souls and ordered them to face off with their respective souls"
"And the point is?"
Sarkhan pouts a bit more from his enjoyable pipe before glancing at Randgris, indirectly asking her to explain. Knowing the sign he gave her, Randgris explains, "Most humans are stronger than they can think of, but humans usually have a hard time realizing it. That's why it is so hard for humans to reach their own limit. Sarkhan's Astral Projection brings the soul of a human to become an existence, but different from their normal bodies, the souls Sarkhan cloned possess the strongest ability the respective human could ever have"
"Oh, so that's why you told them to fight their clones" Ty figures out the objective of the training rather quickly, "So, they would be able to see for themselves how strong they could be, and they would eventually figure out the easiest and the quickest way to match their own clones. That way, they will reach their full potential"
"Smart" Sarkhan chuckles, "And what about you, boy? Don't you want to train some more?"
"Me?"
"I can tell, boy. You haven't reached your full potential yet"
"Thanks, but no thanks"
"Is it because of your eye?" Ty isn't the only one who can figure out things rather quickly after all. Sarkhan is just the same, "You fear the eye would bring more pain to you, don't you?"
"Good deduction" The western graced gunslinger smiles, "Thanks to this eye, I never had a place to return my entire life. Thanks to this eye, I had to leave the orphanage. And then I had to lose my father. To be frank, I'm afraid my friends would experience the same things as any other people that were close to me, and it's only a matter of time before they got their turn"
"And you don't want to do anything to prevent that?" Sarkhan hits the jackpot. His question rings something inside the eye patched man, "Tell me, Ty. Do you want to be with them together for the rest of your life?"
"…Yes"
"That means you won't let your fear conquer your heart, right?" The grey furred Eddga wisely advises the young adult in front of him, "That also means, you have to master that eye"
Ty doesn't give any respond; his face looks like as if he wants to be enlightened even more. Sarkhan tilts his head to the blue sky before guiding him some more, "Why do you think your eye is a curse? Do you know both curse and gift is something we can decide for ourselves? In your case, you may think that eye is a curse, but do you realize all the time you fight alongside your comrades and use that eye for their sake, it becomes a gift?"
Ty stills; unable to come up with words to reply to the advice.
"The soul eye is originally a tool made by Odin to see through people's souls" The origin of his eye surely catches Ty's attention. Focusing even more to the wise words of Sarkhan, he is all ears now, "After Ragnarok, the eye went missing. But, it suddenly appeared in you. Who knows what caused it? But, listen to me and listen well, Ty. As long as you use that power in the right way, for the sake of others, then it's a gift. What happened to you wasn't a curse; it was simply…something was destined to happen. But now, it's not too late. If you can master the eye, then you can use the eye as a gift, at least for yourself"
Ty isn't an emotional man, but what Sarkhan said really touched his heart, "If what you said is true…do you think other people would call this eye as a girt also?"
"Along the time, yes" The wise ensures the gunslinger, "Because they would need your help too. Especially with many warriors they have to face in Valdomir. Thanatos Phantom is a good example for that"
The latter name turns Ty's face serious.
"I see you have met him at Glast Heim" The same with Ty, Sarkhan also becomes serious, "He was once known as a brave warrior who sealed Satan Morroc away for a thousand years. But something turned him into what he is now…The Undead King"
"What happened to him?"
"A tragedy" Randgris cuts Sarkhan before the grey furred Eddga can explain, "Satan Morroc caused havoc and deaths wherever he steps. Thanatos battled him fiercely and sacrificed anything for the sake of mankind, even his own soul and his own life. After successfully sealed Satan Morroc, he was left wounded and beaten. He chose to return to his tower to recuperate himself, but humanity never takes the course he wanted to, they kept fighting and declaring war with each other. Feeling betrayed by mankind, he died with that grudge, realizing that his sacrifice was for nothing after all. His grudge was so deep that it turned him into what many would say The Undead King, the strongest undead monster on earth. When Beelzephir offered him to join the kingdom, he accepted right away so that he can spread his grudge on humans. It is unknown whether his power is the same or even greater than Lord of Death, The Ruler of Niffleheim, but he is definitely one of the worst enemies you want to face off in a battle"
"My Ecclesia didn't work on him. He doesn't have soul" Ty recalls the fondest memories he had with the monster.
"That's not the only power he got" Sarkhan takes his delayed turn, "He possesses two of the strongest darkness swords in Midgard, Tirfing and Bloody Eater. Bloody Eater is the black broad sword with the ability to absorb bloods and souls he carries on his back, it is his main weapon and also his strongest sword. Tirfing is his secondary weapon he carries on his waist, a merciless sword he uses to pierce and cut his enemies at the same time. He is highly skilled as a swordsman. And along with Satan Morroc, he is also the master of an old spell known as The Abyss Break, a magic spell which puts tons of pressure on its target. The spell would destroy your inside in a matter of second. Even the smallest impact of the spell is pretty dangerous"
"Challenging" Ty smiles, a rather surprising reply for Sarkhan and Randgris, "I'm in for the training, Sarkhan"
Looking at each other, Sarkhan and Randgris smile. "Come with me" Sarkhan asks Ty to follow him to the deeper part of the jungle.
Seeing the two walked away, Randgris could only think of the grey furred Eddga, "You really like humans, don't you? They are your hope after all…and maybe mine too"
Later that afternoon…
Elraven, heading towards Emilio's room, is limping because the earlier 'Fist of Steel', "Alexandria really sent me to the sky with all her might. The Spell of Dionysus cannot even heal the impact properly. Hopefully, I can still help Emilio with his preparation like this"
Stopping in front of his captain's room, he slowly knocks the door, "Emilio, come out. It's already 11 in the morning! We need to do the scheduled training!"
One minute goes, two minutes go, but no one answers from inside.
"Emilio!" Elraven knocks the door again, "Come out amigo. Do you want to train or not?"
KRIEEET
All of a sudden, the door slowly opens by itself, making an eerie scratching voice in the process. "Emilio?" Elraven putouts his head and looks inside the room, "Where are you?"
Although he receives no answer again, he could tell something strange is going on in the room. Although it's almost daylight, the room is somewhat dark and an unpleasant aura is seen feeling the room.
"What is this dark aura?" Elraven starts shivering, "This aura reminds me of Satan Morroc's..but no way he's in here"
All of a sudden, someone grabs Elraven's neck and slams him right to the hard floor. "Who's that?" The purple glassed gunslinger quickly recovers his stance and pulls out his double handgun, but he is surprised to see who attacked him, "Emilio?! What happened to you?!"
The current Emilio is different. Dark aura surrounds him, his eyes looks black and his face illustrates his anger. El could tell this is going to be bad, "Uh, amigo? What happened to you?"
"Your…fault…."
"Huh?" Elraven could swear Emilio was muttering something.
"This…is…your…fault…"
"My fault?" Another nonsense from Ropera Squad Captain, "What did I do?"
"It's your fault, Elraveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!" Emilio pulls out his Hyperion and shoots his fire blast right away.
"What?!" Elraven quickly dodges but the captain is quick enough to appear behind him and throws some more strikes using the Hyperion as a smasher. Despite that, Elraven firmly blocks every strike Emilio executes using Tristan and Lancelot. "What are you doing?! Is this how you want to do the training?!" Elraven feels the need to hold back no more and quickly pulls out his Inferno and Black Rose. Seeing how his sparring partner (or so it seems) got serious, Emilio charges five fire blasts to El's direction furiously. The black haired gunslinger didn't buy the trick and swiftly jumps to evade the blasts. Increasing his speed in the air, Elraven catches up with Emilio and strikes him using both guns on his hands. However, Emilio anticipates the attack by giving El a sliding kick from below and knocks him to the floor. Much to Emilio's dismay, Elraven quickly rolls at the back before charging back at Emilio with a hard kick right to his stomach, taking him down.
"Aaakh!" Emilio lands on the floor with his head first, getting him to his senses, "Ow, that hurts!"
"Well, don't blame me for that! You started it first" Elraven obviously doesn't want to take the blame, well, he didn't do anything anyway.
"You started it first, buddy!" Emilio rises again, seemingly eager to continue the fight, "Because of you, now I owe my father five million zenny!"
"Oh, that stupid bet"
"Don't call it a stupid bet!" It feels weird seeing him so offended, right? But, he is Emilio you know, "And because of that…I…I…"
"You what?"
"I did that with the girl I hate the most!" Emilio wails out loud, but that doesn't make El understand anything.
"What are you talking about? Are you insane? Wait, you already are" Elraven chuckles, but his chuckles stop right away when he sees Emilio turns back into his dark form.
"I will make you pay…" The Sphere of Death readies an Inferno on his left hand to complete the Hyperion on his right, "I will make you paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"
Assaulting Elraven with Ice Sphere on the Inferno and Thunder sphere on the Hyperion, Emilio creates three icebergs before blasting them with his lightning blasts and tear them apart into pieces right towards Elraven. Quickly changing his weapons with HAVOX, Elraven moves the big gatling gun and knocks all the thunder-ice blocks down.
Emilio quickly seizes this chance to shoots a Poison Blast using the poison sphere from Hyperion scarcely, right after putting a gas mask on his face to protect himself. "Good plan!" Elraven smiles and tries to get out from the room. He realizes, although he is impervious to pain, but the impact of the pain or poison cannot be ignored. Inhaling the poison would make his moves slower and slower. But Emilio is smarter than he looks, he already puts several lightning mines on the doorway, and Elraven, not realizing this, falls to his trap.
CRAAAANK!
"Got you, buddy!" Emilio proudly exclaims, but his happy face turns into a surprised one when he sees Elraven is nowhere to be found in the door way.
"Here, here" Elraven shows up from his behind. And before Emilio could do anything, El strikes him fiercely using his HAVOX as a smasher, hits Emilio's back and sends him flying right to the garden outside the room.
"Uaaaaaaaaaaakh!" Emilio harshly landed on the ground and uncontrollably hedges before he hits a tree, stopping him from hedging even more, "Damn! That's a good one!"
"That is, alright" Elraven slowly walks to the garden and prepares to carry the battle some more. From his room, Gen Ed is enjoying the battle, "Hm? It's been almost a year since the last time I see those two sparring. Emilio has never defeated El so far, that makes this more interesting. Thankfully, Ropera Squad are no ordinary humans. Just being thrown away all day long wouldn't kill them. But, Howard is going to ask for the compensation when he gets back here. Oh well, Emilio still owe me five million zenny, I'll tell him to pay on my behalf"
"Are you ready to get some more beatings, amigo?" Elraven advances to a stance.
"You wish, buddy" Emilio does the same and the fight progresses….
At equally the same time, in the crowds of Amatsu…
Fiorentin is quietly walking in the crowds, accompanied by Kenji. As he promised yesterday, he would take her to the legendary whitesmith's place today, and he is fulfilling that promise. Luckily, Kenji seems to be a good mood today.
"You've been smiling all along, Kenji-kun. Did something good happen?" Fio notices the thief's smiling face and wants to know more.
"Yes, something good happened to me, princess. Although I cannot really remember it well"
"Hm? That sounds weird"
Shortly thereafter, the two arrive at a small shop on the corner of the street around a half a mile from Terrace Inn. Inside, Howard is seen sitting. His face is full of wounds.
"Mr. Howard?! What happened to your face?!" Kenji quickly asks, but if only he knows…
"Uh, I got some problems with Edward. But, it's settled for now" Howard notices Fiorentin standing behind the thief, "And who is that lovely lady waiting on the doorway?"
"Oh, he is the guest I promised I would bring yesterday" Kenji introduces the lord knight right away, "She is Princess Fiorentin Adler, Tsukihime-sama's guest who will participate in the play next month"
"Nice to see you" A proper and impolite introduction by Fio, as expected from a royalty.
"Nice to see you too, princess. I'm Howard, a normal whitesmith" Howard bows his head.
"He's being down to earth, Princess. Actually, he is known as The Legendary Whitesmith. The finest whitesmith on the southern hemisphere in the world or maybe even the word itself" Kenji wastes no time on revealing who the whitesmith truly is.
"Oh, people tend to exaggerate things" Howard acts humble in front of his customer, well if he doesn't he will never get customer.
"Well, I shall wait outside so I won't disturb your conversation" Kenji excuses himself, elaving the lord knight and the whitesmith to do business.
"How can I be of your help, Princess Fiorentin?"
"OK, I need you to forge a sword for me" Fio bluntly tells her objective.
"Is this by the order of Tsukihime-sama?"
"It is one of her conditions, but actually, I will need it for myself"
"I see" Howard shows his window displays on the wall, "Well, what kind of sword do you prefer? There are Executioner Sword, Saber, Claymore, and many others. Just tell me what you need"
"Balmung"
The request successfully silences the legendary whitesmith. "Well, that's one hell of a request" He says, "I'm recognized as The Legendary Whitesmith because the success of my business and my craftsmanship, but I never really recognized that moniker by myself because I haven't achieved anything worth a legend. Tell me, Princess Fiorentin. Why do you want Balmung of all things?"
Being a whitesmith all his life, it is only normal for Howard to know the legend of Balmung. Fio purposely locks her eyes with Howard's so that he will know, what she is going to say isn't a lie, "Because I have a promise to keep and people to protect"
Not even the slightest bit of hesitation was visibly seen on her eyes when she answered. She was being honest. Anyone, even a layman, could actually feel her spirit just by looking at her eyes. Howard doesn't have any kind of reasons to refuse her request, but he has limits, just like all of us.
"What an honor if can help you, Princess" Howard recognizes her bravery, "To forge Balmung, a whitesmith would need at least 28 days of forging, using a piece of mithrill and one light sphere as its ingredients. Luckily, I happen to have three pieces of mithrill from my journey across the world. But unluckily, I don't have a light sphere"
"I see" Fio cannot hide her disappointment. As much as she want to force Howard to forge the sword, she knows there's nothing she can do about it," That is alright; maybe I can choose another sword".
But life is a like a box of chocolate, you will never know what taste you will get. And so is Howard. His eyes widened upon seeing the feather on Fio's silver hair band and realizing what made that feather.
"Princess Fiorentin, pardon my rudeness…" Howard can't help but wanting to know, "But, what is that feather on your head band?"
"This?" The lord knight believes he was referring to her birthday present from El, "This is a birthday present, created by my friend. What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry if I start sounding so conceited, but that feather…" Howard sounds so excited, "That feather was…created from light, correct?"
Recalling her memories, Fio is sure El mentioned that he had to concentrate all day long to create one real feather from his light power. Different from his usual light feather or light wings, this one is a real feather, created of light.
"Yes, this feather is created from light" No hesitation on the lord knight's respond.
"Good god almighty…" Howard disbelieves the magic he is seeing, "Princess, that feather…can be used as a light sphere. Balmung…can be forged"
That's gotta be the greatest news Fio has heard so far in Amatsu. Her bet…she won it, "For real?"
"Yes! This is not a joke! A material created from light can be used as a light sphere!" Howard ensures the young girl.
The two cannot hold their smiles back, but the light pink haired girl quickly realizes something, "Wait a second, if you use this feather as the ingredient for Balmung…does that mean I cannot have it anymore?"
The feather is a precious gift from someone special to her, so it's only normal for her if she doesn't want to lose it.
"No worries" Thankfully, destiny is on her side as Howard tells her, "Do you mind to take the feather off of your hair band, princess? I will show you a magic"
Fio obediently takes the feather off and waits for Howard to tell her what to do next.
"Now, open your other palm and sway the feather above it"
Fio does exactly what she was told, and then the magic happens. The feather drops small glittering lights to her hand. The lights slowly gather and form a white sphere.
"That is the light sphere" Howard truly showed her a magic.
Fio gives the light sphere to Howard, but her eyes cannot be taken off from the feather.
"It's a wonderful gift you have in there, Princess Fiorentin" Howard feels that way when he observes the feather on her hand, "It's as if….the feather was created to make your journey easier"
"It's my good luck charm" Fio smiles and puts the feather back on her head band, "So, it's 28 days, right?"
"Right, and…I know this may sound impolite, but I have a condition if you want to receive the sword" Howard honestly tells the lord knight.
"Do you want a payment?"
"No, having the privilege to forge Balmung is bigger than any payment that I can think of" We obviously know Howard is stinking rich; he doesn't need much more money after all, "I can easily tell you are a trustworthy person, and an honorable figure. But, I want to see your quality by myself"
"So? Your condition is?"
"If my guess is right, the blue orb on your waist, could it be The Spell of Odin?"
"You knew a lot" Fio feels no need to hide the truth, not if the person she is talking to knows the thing just as much as she does, "What about the orb?"
"I believe, the condition of mastering its power is to be brave enough to see what resides within yourself" Howard names his condition, "Master it, princess. Master the orb. Master its power; that way, I will feel proud and safe knowing that I will give Balmung to someone who dares to see her own self"
"Deal" Fio smiles as she walks away from the shop, "See you in 28 days, Mister Howard"
With that thing settled, now they have two respective jobs to do: forging Balmung and mastering The Spell of Odin.
Several hours later, in the Poring Heaven Forest in Rune Midgard…
Different place, different time zone; this law also applies in Rune Midgard. Though it's still daylight in Amatsu, the moon is already high in Rune Midgard. Among the trees inside what was formerly known as the Poring Heaven Forest, dozen of figures could be seen quietly journeying inside the dark forest in the dark night.
"Halt" An armored figure, looks like a swordsman, orders eleven Owl Barons behind him to stop progressing forward, "Someone is here. All of you proceed carefully onward. Beware of a surprise attack from the bushes"
The Owl Barons obediently do as they were told. As they proceeding quietly deeper on the forest, suddenly a silhouette silently passes through all of them without them noticing. However, the armored figure notices and quickly prepares to sheath his sword. He knew someone just attacked his Owl Barons in a blinding speed, undetected by eye, unheard by ears.
His realization comes true when his owl barons' heads start falling to the ground, one by one. And in less than ten seconds, their bodies suddenly rots and scrambles into pieces. By that time, the moon stops hiding behind the cloud and shines its light to the forest, enabling everyone to see who the armored figure truly is; he is Thanatos Phantom.
"A quick kill; smooth and soundless" The Undead King gives the nod to his enemy, "As expected from Frederick Miles, one of The Millennium's Triumvirate, or should I call you The Venom King?"
"Anything will do, Thanatos Phantom. But what surprised me more is the fact that you were able to notice my movement" The man named Frederick Miles shows himself from behind the undead monster. A Caucasian, green eyed with a short brown hair; stands around six feet tall, wearing a Guillotine Cross uniform with a pair of Double Beholder Jur on his hands. His charming face completes his well built figure.
"No surprise in there. Ever since I saw Alexandria's lightening speed on Glast Heim, my eyes are pretty much aware of any movement" Thanatos Phantom smoothly replies as he unsheathes his Tirfing, "Your speed is around her level, I can tell that much"
"Oh? The famous speed from the last princess of Prontera" Being famous makes you known everywhere by anyone, no exception with Frederick, "But she isn't the fastest being on earth. I've seen quicker movement"
"Are you referring to Queen of The Sun? Your Lady Savior?" Thanatos' information provider is just as good as Frederick's, "Millennium followers tend to be proud of her, or even…worship her"
"We wouldn't be here if not because of her" Frederick raises his tone responding, "She is stronger and faster than any warrior I've ever seen. Her majestic self will lead us to our glory. And not even gods in Valdomir Kingdom would be able to stop us"
"How arrogant of you for saying that; but it's hard to argue with her capabilities, I must give her that" As much as he is a bastard, Thanatos Phantom is also a gentleman, "Conquering Prontera Region after defeating Phelegethon Guild in just one month. Lord of Death was lucky to survive the battle. What an inhuman feat. Even Alexandria with her Sagramore couldn't do that much in a year"
"That's because we are blessed by her and by the future, unlike Sagramore" The answer Frederick gives start sounding like a dogma, "And I shall assist her by any means possible. I will defeat you, Thanatos. Right here, right now"
"The surveillance you put all over the place surrounding Prontera was good. No wonder you could find me and my men that fast. But…" Thanatos would like to point out one more things before the battle, "You cannot defeat me"
In a wink of an eye, Frederick turns up right behind Thantos with his Double Beholder Jur ready to attack. The Guillotine Cross smashes the undead right in his back and flung him away, crushing him into a nearby tree. Not wanting to throw away the opportunity to inflict more damages, the Venom King jumps and barrages Thanatos from above with more slashes and slashes. His attacks are so fast the monster couldn't even block a single blow from him, resulting in him buried even deeper and deeper to the ground. Finishing the storming he's in, Frederick gathers small green clouds around his jur and floats ten feet above, before unleashing the clouds which turned out to be an explosive type poison powder right to the ground where Thanatos was still in.
The blast echoes throughout the forest, waking every living things sleeping inside it up. Among the smokes, Frederick smoothly lands and carefully observes the result of his attacks afterwards, "Did I do it? Did he die?"
Bad for him, his wish doesn't come true when he notices a silhouette appearing from the smoke and jumps at him, trying to pounce on him. Frederick retreats before having a clear sight on the attacker, it was Odium of Thanatos. "He survived!" The guillotine cross prepares another round of attack, but his body suddenly froze as Thanatos Phantom calmly emerges from the smokes, unscathed, "What happened?! I cannot move!"
"What a great effort. But you missed three important points" Thanatos Phantom advances to a stance the moment Frederick tries to free himself from whatever spell confiding him, "First, I'm an undead. Physical attack wouldn't do much at me. Not to mention all your attacks were directly received by my armor. This armor is the ancient plate mail armor, you would need to hit this all day long to even crack it, let alone destroy it. Second, my body has been rotting for more than three centuries. That means explosions are not really good choices to attack me with. And third, look at your shadow"
Frederick slowly glances at his shadow, and realizes that Odium of Thanatos is standing on it.
"Odium is a shadow monster. If I apply a spell called Abyss Break to him and let him step in the shadow of someone, the target will froze, unable to move. Just like you" Thanatos lifts his Tirfing so Frederick could have a good look at it. The Tirfing is quickly surrounded with black shadows before forming a black sphere covering the whole sword, "And this is the other use of that magic. Abyss Break!"
The time Thanatos Phantom strikes the black sphere to his direction; Frederick creates a round aura poison barrier right in front of himself. The plan succeeded because the sphere explodes when it meets the barrier. The explosion also knocks Odium of Thanatos out. Successfully freeing himself, the Guillotine Cross advances to prepare a Sonic Blow. But his plan wasn't unpredicted; The Undead King already appears behind him and slashes him directly with his Tirfing.
"Aaakh!" The sword sends Frederick several feet away right into the bushes. His right arm is badly wounded; blood is visibly running from the cut. The wound is deep and that's just from one single hit. "What a dangerous sword! It cuts and thrust at the same time! The wound is this deep just from one blow, I have to be more careful" Ignoring his pain, Frederick quickly stands up and faces the undead monster again.
"You shifted away from my slash to avoid a direct hit right before I moved Tirfing" Thanatos Phantom easily guessed what just happened, "Not bad, but shouldn't you lived up a bit more to your glorified name, Venom King?"
"Who said I didn't?" The Guillotine Cross smiles, "Look at your left shoulder"
The Undead King quietly glances at the aforementioned point and spots one part of his armor in his left shoulder is rusting rather quickly.
"An unpleasant surprise" A rather simple comment from the monster, "When?"
"Right after you hit me just now"
"And I believe you used some kind of poison, didn't you?"
"Exactly" Frederick shows his right jur, so Thanatos can have a good look on the blood stain in it, "My blood contains the most powerful poison I got. It would rust any kind of metal it touches and rot any living thing it contacts with"
"Terrifying, this is the first time I've ever seen my armor breaks so easily like this. So, that is the true ability of The Venom King, Dark Acid" The Undead Monster grins, "I've heard that each of The Millennium's Triumvirate masters one Spell of Odin. Your ability allows you to master poisons, the ability to control more than thousand poisons in one single attack. That what makes even a normal hit from you is very dangerous. You would have killed me by now if I weren't an undead. No wonder you have a godlike power"
"You knew a lot. Only four Spells of Odin remained in this world, we used three of them. Too bad we couldn't find the only one left"
"How unfortunate of you…or maybe of us?" Thanatos explains the irony, "Alexandria has it. And needless to say, she has the quality to master it"
"That would be a problem" Frederick prepares a stance for Sonic Blow, "But, I would rather concentrate on my current problem right now"
Vanishing in a second, Frederick reappears right in front of Thanatos and throws him the Sonic Blow right to the air. Thanatos received a hundred direct blows to his armor in less than ten seconds and flew several feet above. The Guillotine Cross once again shows up above the undead monster and gives him a very powerful single blow by using a double cross slash. Thanatos harshly landed on the ground and found the torso part of his armor is mainly rusted.
Before Frederick could land and give him another round of merciless attacks, Thanatos summons four spheres of Abyss Break and cover himself with it. As he landed on the ground, Frederick prepares to welcome what is coming to him. His guess comes true when Thanatos slashes all four of the spheres and turns them into hundred little spheres of Abyss Break. "Stardust Launcher" The Undead King blasts the spheres in every direction possible, making life harder for Frederick.
However, the Guillotine Cross hasn't run out of idea just yet. Before a group of spheres could inflict any damage on him, he quickly backs out while cutting the trees surrounding him to protect him from the spheres. His plan worked when the object the spheres blow up when they hit was the trees, not his limbs. But one thing he didn't notice is Thanatos wasn't planning to hit him with the spheres in the first place.
The feared undead monster emerges from Frederick's behind all of a sudden. And wasting not even a second of this opportunity, Thanatos hits Frederick with the flat of his Tirfing perfectly on his back, to avoid further contamination from Frederick's blood if he were to cut or slash him. "Uaaakh!" Frederick can feel some bones on his back are damaged as he falls to the ground because of the hit. But before Thanatos can finish him off, the undead monster is surprised because suddenly the stomach part of his armor breaks into pieces.
"Couldn't it be?! He strokes my armor again when he fell?! Is that why it breaks?! What an amazing speed, I couldn't even notice it! So much for avoiding the contamination of his blood…" Thanatos quickly figures out what caused one part of his armor to break.
Frederick takes this chance to regain his composure and prepares another stance.
"You're not good at anticipating moves, but throwing deadly counters in the middle of an attack seem to be your cup of tea. You have done it two times tonight" Thanatos Phantom lets out a small praise for his adversary.
"And you're good at deceiving your opponent. I must give you that" Frederick does the same, although his back aches right now.
This battle is pretty much balanced. Thanatos wins in defense when Frederick has the edge for speed. Thanatos hit the Guillotine Cross twice and Frederick managed to destroy some part of The Undead King's armor.
Perhaps the next strike will decide the winner. Frederick knew that Thanatos already realized the fact that he could throw his blood anytime he wants, so his next attack won't be using the flat of his Tirfing anymore, but the sharp part of it. And Thanatos also knew, if he were to get hit by Frederick's blood one more time, his body will rot faster and more than it already is. Concentrating so they won't take the wrong move, both men are standing still, prepare to finish this battle. But their focus doesn't last long; an Asura appears from Frederick's behind and interrupts the fight. "I've been wondering what would take a Triumvirate so long in a battle, Fred" The Asura slowly comments, "And it turns out it is one of The Twelve Swords of Pandora who is troubling you. Now, everything is clear"
"You shouldn't have said that, Dray" Frederick sounds irritated, "Rather than letting out an unpleasant comment, why not helping me instead?"
Dray Vetter, an Asura, one of The Millennium's Triumvirate; a towering muscular man, way over seven feet tall, widely known as The Colossus, a very fitting moniker for his stature. Black haired, dark skinned and black eyed completed with a strong face.
"Fine, I'll help" The Asura notices the wounds on Frederick and the cracks on Thanatos, "You did a great job against one of Beelzephir's most trusted allies anyway"
Dray putting both his palms on the ground while concentrating to his target. His eyes are focusing in Thanatos as his primary target. The Undead King feels the air around him slowly changes, leading him to believe this must be a magic Dray is planning to unleash, "Putting both his palms on the ground, this must be an earth magic. I'm sure he is Dray Vetter, The Colossus. I heard his power is called Apollo. It allows him to use stones and grounds as his weapons. There's no guarantee The Venom King won't do a quick sneak attack on me. Facing two of The Millennium's Triumvirate at the same time disadvantages me"
"Heaven's Drive" The Asura finally unleashes his magic. Giant Heaven's Drives, more than twenty feet tall, emerges from the ground furiously in an unbelievable speed, knocking down the rocks and tress above it. If the magic were to hit normal men, they would have been crushed in no time.
Thanatos prepares to welcome the merciless spell with his Abyss Break, but all of a sudden someone warns him from his behind, "STEP ASIDE, THANATOS!"
Thanatos knew who it was. Without even bothering to look back, the undead monster shifts away, leaving Great Demon Baphomet on his behind visibly seen. The behemoth already lifts his Giant Scythe high in the air, preparing to sway it away. "BLACK SCYTHE" Great Demon Baphomet sways his precious weapon in the air and creates a giant wind impact from his slash, splitting every inch of the ground it touches and cutting the trees it passes.
And with nothing to hinder their way, the giant earth spell meets the enormous wind impact.
DUAAAAAAAAR!
Trees, rocks, and winds are blowing everywhere in the poring heaven as the immediate impact. The result of the titanic clash is no other than a giant crater, around fifteen feet below the ground. The four fighters are still alive despite the impact.
"You should have come earlier" Thanatos maintains his composure among the dusts, "But, thanks for your assist nonetheless"
Great Demon Baphomet glances at the smaller monster before replying, "NO NEED TO. I CAME FROM THE CHECK POINT TO HERE BECAUSE I PRESENCED ONE OTHER SOUL APPROACHING, AND I BELIEVED THAT WASN'T ONE OF US. TWO AGAINST ONE WOULD BE UNFAIR"
On the other side, Frederick and Dray are having a rather same conversation. "You came in the right time, Dray" Frederick regains his standing, "Those two are hell of a challenge to fight with"
"Get used to it. We have yet to meet Beelzephir, Satan Morroc, and Ifrit" A rather not so relaxing reply from the Asura, "And of course…him"
"Oh, him"
When the smokes and dusts are cleared, the Valdomir can finally have a clear sight on the Millennium and vice versa. "It's been a good fight tonight" Thanatos informs The Triumvirate, "We're here only to obtain any information regarding Millennium's human resource. And we got more than we wanted"
"You're not going to continue?" A small challenge from The Guillotine Cross, "I can still fight you know"
"WE ARE AWARE OF THAT FACT. BUT SURELY TWO AGAINST DOZENS MORE TO COME HERE WOULD BE A BIG DISADVANTAGE FOR OUR SIDE" A wise responds from Great Demon Baphomet, "WE WILL RETREAT FOR NOW. WE SHALL MEET YOU AGAIN, SOONER OR LATER"
Before The Triumvirate got to say anything, the two godlike monsters already vanished from their sight. "Good thing they chose to retreat" Dray mutters, "Some of our men will be killed if we insist to fight longer than this"
"So, you really called reinforcement? You ordered Lobera to come here?"
"True, because we have to protect our Neo Prontera at any cost" Dray reassures Millennium's objective before crossing his hands, "Against anyone or anything, at any cost"
The cold night wind slowly blows in the forest. Millennium, the conqueror of the land of Rune Midgard; with Neo Prontera as their headquarters, they are definitely a big threat right beside Valdomir Kingdom.
Back to Amatsu, around five in the evening…
Elraven has just finished helping Emilio with his so called training. Wanting to take a rest before going to the bathroom, the gunslinger spots Helen walking across him. "Good evening, Miss Helen" A polite greeting from the gunslinger.
"Good evening, sir. Did you enjoy your time last night?"
"Well, sort of" El notices a piece of paper in Helen's hand, "What is that paper? A notification for the guests?"
"This? No, it's a poem" Helen embarrassingly admits, "I…kinda like to read poems"
"Oh, really?! Me too! Can I see your poem?"
"Well, don't expect something great, alright?" Helen hands El her poem.
El quietly reads the poem afterwards. "Wow, this poem is beautiful" There are some sparkles on the gunslinger's eyes, indicating he is being honest, "The words…the meaning…did you write this by yourself?"
"No, it belongs to my…late son" Helen answers in a very sad tone. She looks outside to the sunset; inside her very gaze she is remembering something unpleasant...or rather, painful.
"I'm sorry to hear that" El apologizes for bringing up a sad topic.
"Never mind. Why don't you recite the poem, sir?"
"For real?"
"Yes, didn't you say you like to read poem? Give it a shot, but that's only if you don't mind to"
"Oh, no worries. I'll recite it" Elraven takes a deep long breath before reciting the poem, just like he usually does. And then, he recites the poem:
The Angel lay in silence, cold and broken on the ground;
when carried on a distant breeze she heard a soft sweet sound.
A song danced 'cross the night sky past the moon and past the stars;
A song of new beginning touched the Fallen Angel's heart.
Helen obviously enjoyed the deep charming voice El always uses whenever he reads a poem, But, the gunslinger stops right there. The poem kind of reminds him of something, something far away. And those words silently encourage him to keep reciting. Somewhere, something inside his heart tells him not to stop.
What was a song of sorrow with no beginning or no end,
Was now a joy filled melody as she listened to the Wind.
A song of inspiration poured forth into her soul,
Her tattered wings were lifted; the Wind 'neath them made her whole.
Having read hundred of poems his entire life, El can easily tell whoever writes this poem was hoping for the happiness of someone dear to him. The boy Helen mentioned must love her so much. He wonders what has happened to the boy. Somehow, the words and the sentences look so familiar to him. It's as if he has seen this poem before somewhere.
Laughter danced around her head in a sparkling brilliant light,
And with the Wind to lift her wings the Angel took to flight.
Flying through the twinkling stars she spiraled and she soared;
Spinning, swirling gracefully for her heart had been restored.
An angel, he is commonly associated with that. El has mesmerized many people with his poems, but this is the first time he feels like being mesmerized by a poem. He cannot take his eyes off the poem. Each words of the poem, like a magic, make him or rather forces him to remember something. Something so important but he just forgot. Something so close but yet so far.
Stardust sprinkled from her wings as she soared into the night;
A glittering path her laughter left as she floated 'cross the sky.
Then gently from the Angel's heart a song began to sing;
The same song of undying love for the Wind beneath her wings.
An undying love for the Wind beneath her wings. The last sentence got him dearly. That's it, he is captivated by the deepness of the very poem he holds in his hands. The melody of the poems dances and mingles inside his mind, reaching to his soul.
The notes sang of forgiveness and floated through the air,
mingling with the song of the Wind as they danced in beauty there.
As stars shine in the heavens, two songs 'cross night skies ring;
A song of the Fallen Angel and the Wind beneath her wings.
El is left still by the magic of the poem. He's in lost words, cannot find the exact right words to express his feeling at the moment.
Even when he returns the poem back to Helen, he returns it quietly. His face seems to indicate that his mind is somewhere else. And of course this catches Helen's attention, "What is wrong, sir? You seem confused. That was a good reciting, I must tell you that"
"No...it's just..." El isn't good at lying, so he won't lie, "That poem...I felt really attached to it when I read it just now"
"Attached?" Helen asks herself when El excuses himself to go back to his room, maybe to get some clear thinking. But being the kind of woman she is, she cannot help but feel sorry for him, "Um, sir?"
Helen successfully catches his attention the moment El looks over his shoulder at her.
"Maybe…do you want to read some other poems my son wrote?" Helen offers something El finds hard to refuse.
"Really?" There's a bit of disbelieving in his tone, "I can read them for real? Why?"
"Because you said you feel attached to his poem" Helen kindly answers, "He liked to help people when he was still around. To him, seeing people's smiles and laughs were the best thing he could give to anyone living around him. That was his spirit. If I can help you by letting you read his poem, then at least for me, his spirit is still alive. That means, even until now, he keeps helping people….in this life or the next"
For the second time today, the purple glassed gunslinger is left speechless. As insensitive as he could be what Helen said to him just now truly shows him how much Helen loved his son. And not only for himself, maybe if he can gain something from the poems she had kept, he can also help her a little, "Thank you. I…really appreciate your help, Miss Helen"
"Never mind; meet me here again tomorrow evening, sir. I will bring you some more poems of his. Now, I shall excuse myself" Helen politely takes her leave.
Being left alone in the corridor, El still doesn't feel like moving somewhere else. His mind is still captivated by that poem. The poem that makes him feels so close to something he forgot for a very long time," What is this feeling? It's like...I miss something that belonged to me, what was it? A song of the fallen angel? That sounds...so dear but yet so far..."
With those thought inside his minds, the night greets Amatsu once again.
2nd Story: GTO (Great Teacher Olivia)
Twelve hours after Olivia woke up in the Assassin Guild…
In the main hall of Assassin Guild, groups of assassin crosses and children are waiting for Eremes to introduce the long awaited priest from Sagramore. Eremes has declared that he will properly introduce Olivia to them today. Right now, they are waiting for Olivia to make her grand entrance to the hall room.
The children sit on the floor while Eremes and his co sit behind them. Eremes is sitting beside two assassin crosses that happen to be his adjutants, one dude and one chick. The dude, spiky black haired lazy eyed Caucasian around Eremes' height is called Billy D. Kid. The girl, long green haired blue eyed Indian around Felicia's height is called Calamity J. Ann. They are the two most prominent members in this guild other than Eremes. Let's say, they are his second in commands. Other assassin crosses look up to them. Both are also Eremes' childhood friends, and of course both are at the same age with him.
"Eremes, I'm not trying to argue with your decision. But, do you think this high priest you chose is the best there is out there?" Ann feels like ensuring herself about a certain girl named Olivia.
"Ann, don't you ever question Eremes. You dig?" Kid gives the answer on Eremes behalf, although that not the question the grey haired assassin cross wanted.
"No worries. There's one main reason why I chose to get her" If only Eremes knows how wrong he is, "She is Alexandria's childhood friend. She's been with her all her life and we all know what kind of lord knight Alexandria is. That's why; I believe she has the same quality as a high priest just like Alexandria has as a lord knight. And she seems so eager to do this job"
"Hopefully, you're not wrong" Ann is still unsure, "I hope she is the perfect one for the kids"
"He's not, Ann. You dig?"
"Stop saying 'you dig?', Kid! You've been saying that for twenty years! Stop it!"
"I won't. You dig?"
"I dig!"
"Are you sure you dig?"
"Shut up!"
"I won't. You dig?"
"Ukh, whatever!"
Grow weary of the useless digging, Eremes tells them, "Quiet, both of you. She is coming"
The entrance door is slowly opening, and then, the figure of a young not so charming high priest emerges. Wearing two rosaries on her neck, sunglasses to cover her eyes, poring hat on her head, three earrings on each her ear, and ten rings in each her finger. The last but not the least, she is smoking a cigarette.
Eremes and the whole audience gasped, stunned and silenced.
"Yo, what's up y'all?!" Olivia fancily greets the silent guild after pouting some smokes, "The name's Olivia, kiddos! I'm a freaking high priest, and I'll freaking teach you how to worship god properly! If you have something to say, you can say in front of my freaking face or your leader's freaking face! If you are not down with that, I got two words for you, suck it!"
The kids and the assassin crosses look at each other, wondering if they are on the wrong room or maybe this girl is on the wrong room. One of the kids, a little girl around ten years old with long blue hair and blue eyes, raises her hand, politely asking the high priest, "Uh, miss…why are you wearing those jewelries? Isn't high priest supposed to be down to earth?"
"This isn't jewelries, kiddo! This is accessories!" A rather lousy reply from Felicia's sister, "And who said high priest supposed to be down to earth? You want us to be high and down at the same time?! What do you think we are?! Magician?! We are no wizards, kiddo!"
"Hehehehehe" Some parts of the audience laugh thanks to that.
"I'm not kiddo, my name is Dee" The girl introduces herself.
"Well, I don't care if your name is King Kong! I'm not here to remember names; I'm here to tell you what God wants you to do!"
"Wahahahaha!" Another part of the audience laughs.
"And what does God want us to do?" Another kid, an eleven years old boy named Billy, brown haired with green eyes, asks Olivia with an alluding tone.
"God wants you to shut up and sit down like a good little brat you are! Or else, he will smite you till you cannot even recognize your own ass!"
"Pffft!" Some snorts could be heard from the kids.
"By God's name, are you referring to The Almighty or yourself?" A ten years old boy, bald with black eyes, named Joe braves himself to ask.
"I'm referring to last saturday's game between Brazil and Argentina where the Samba boys kicked Tango's ass!" Olivia smirked.
"For real?" Joe asks again.
"Of course not, Bruce Willis! I'm referring to The Almighty!"
"Wahahahahahahaha!" Now, even the assassin crosses join laughing.
"If you're really a high priest" A twelve years old girl named Jenna, yellow hair with brown eyes, stands up against the tyranny, "Can you tell me why God sheltered us here instead of a luxurious palace?"
"Because there is no luxurious palaces left in Rune Midgard, smarty! Valdomir destroyed them all!"
"So, why didn't God destroy Valdomir?"
Olivia is left still; she doesn't know what to say, "Crap, I have no idea how to answer this one! Think, Olivia! Think!"
"Well?" Jenna crosses her arms, signaling her victory.
"What's your name, girl?" Olivia grins, finally knows what to say.
"Jenna"
"Jenna, are you purposing God?"
"…No"
"Good, then don't ask why he didn't do this and he didn't do that. God wants us to think and solve our problem by our own!"
"That is it!" Eremes loses his patience and quickly grabs Olivia's hand, bringing her to the corridor behind the main hall. Inside the main hall, the kids and the assassin crosses start muttering,
"She is funny!"
"I like her!"
"I want her to be our teacher!"
But on the corridor, Eremes starts bashing Olivia, "This is not the thing I expected from you! Almost all the audience laughed! This is not a comedy show! And what is with this attire?! I couldn't note a difference between you and a rapper! Are you a high priest or are you on high?! Do you even know what you were doing back there?!"
"Listen to me, Eremy!" Olivia makes a new nickname for Eremes, "You told me I could do it with my freaking style, and this is my style! Don't worry about the teachings; I know what to say and what to do"
"You just bashed all of them!"
"No, I owned them!"
"That's it; I'll take you back to Gonryun! I abducted the wrong priest!" The assassin cross decides and heads back to the main hall.
"Wait, don't do that!" Olivia chases him to the main hall, because she doesn't want to go back just when she got the people that might need her. But the two soon got a big surprise from the loud cheers from both the kids and the assassin crosses.
"Way to go, girl!"
"I like your style! You dig?!"
"So, she is the perfect one after all"
"We like you, miss!"
"Tell us some more jokes, high priest!"
Eremes couldn't help but stare to the smiling high priest. "Thank you! All of you! Hopefully we can have a good time here!" Olivia cheerfully thanks the audience back; leaving Eremes still not understand why there are so many cheers for the rapper.
"How? She just bashed all of them?" The leader of the guild mutters, but thankfully, Ann heard him.
"Because she is funky and funny, Eremes" The girl explains, "At first, I was worried, or even, the whole guild was worried if the high priest turns out to be a polite stoic square girl who doesn't know how to catch the attention of the kids and the guild. But, I was wrong. She got her own style and she's not afraid of the kids at all. Of course the kid and the guild automatically like her. Instead of some goodie-goodie high priest, we got the great one"
Eremes finally understands the reason, "I almost forgot…those kids are orphans. They have no parents anymore, and they haven't been able to have fun for a long time. But, Olivia showed them how to learn and get fun at the same time. I was wrong about her; she truly knows what she is doing"
Eremes notices, amidst the euphoria she created, Olivia manages to look at him and smiles, indicating, "Don't forget to teach me how to become a fighter, alright?"
And with that, the life of The Great Teacher Olivia in Assassin Guild starts!
Oooooooowmake!
AOC: Hellllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooo! Meet u again in the fifth edition of the omake! Our guest today is The Captain of The Ropera Squad, The Sphere of Death, Emilio Barragan!
Em: (With a boring face) Hi
AOC: OK, I got a lot of sayings that you add more fun to this story, congrats! You're a very funny character regardless of your skill. But, without you the last chapter would have been boring.
Em: I knew that.
AOC: What? Alright, let's start with the usual suspect, Kogane1089. He said, "I bet you don't know how to use the true form of Hyperion!"
Em: Wait a second! This Kogane guy is the one who gave Ecclesia to Ty instead of me, right?! Now he said Hyperion got a true form?! Unbelievable! Tell me about that right now!
AOC: Can't do that, he isn't even here.
Em: Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Grrrrrrrh! I demand to know the true form right now!
AOC: Well, I gotta wait for his PM to that matter. Say, what if he doesn't want to tell?
Em: I'll blast him right to the sky!
AOC: OK, yet another threat for Kogane-kun. Tsk, tsk! I pity you, bro (LOL). The second question is from…Samurai Cowgirl, "Are you sexually attracted to Elraven?"
Em: (Jaw dropped) What?! This is a scandal! I'm not attracted to El by all means! I'm normal, I'm straight!
AOC: OK, OK. Calm down, so you only see El as friend, right?
Em: Hell yeah, I do! He's like a brother to me, that's all!
AOC: You like girls?
Em: Yes!
AOC: Have you ever been on a relationship before?
Em: Err, no.
AOC: But, El has been staying in your house for the last six years, right?
Em: Yes
AOC: So, you're close to him.
Em: Yes.
AOC: And you like him?
Em: Yes, but as a friend! I'm not gay!
AOC: Chill out, just wants to straighten things up. Third question is from Allen In The Dark, "Do you think you will ever win a bet against Gen Ed?'
Em: I will! I freaking will! My father is a ****, he is always ****! Someday I will make him **** and then **** to my greatness! I give no shit even if I have to take a hundred years to defeat him in a bet! I will win someday!
AOC: For god sake, you shouldn't have said things like that about your father! The next question is from Beautiful Zombie Slayer, "Do you have siblings?"
Em: Yes, I got two older sisters. They are twins, and they are 3 years older than me. The first is Maria Winston. She married the second son of the Winston family, Charlie Winston, who also happen to be her childhood friend around five years ago. The Winston family is the long time ally of the Barragan family. She got three sons already, Franklin, Delano, and Roosevelt.
AOC: Three sons in five years? Wow, that's gotta be one hell of a marriage! Not to mention their names sound familiar.
Em: Well, they both are 25 years old by now so they are full of passion. But, their sons are train wrecks! They like to forelock my hair and that is soooooo painful! Whenever they see me they will start begging for piggyback like crazy! But when I give them piggyback, they will do the forelock. If I don't give them piggyback, then Charlie will come and force me to piggyback him and Maria at the same time! And then when I'm down to the floor, they will forelock my hair!
AOC: What the hell?! Poor you, Emilio. What about your second eldest sister?
Em: Marie Walden. She married also married her childhood friend just like Maria, the fourth son of the Walden family, Ben Walden, one year after Maria's wedding. Walden family is also Barragan's ally. She got one daughter, Janet. But, my father received a message around two months ago telling him that Marie is three months pregnant. So, another train wreck will be born into this world.
AOC: Train wreck? So, Janet is also a brat?
Em: Yeah! Guess what?! She watched too much 'Million Dollar Baby' and became a big fan of Hillary Swank's character. She wanted to become a female boxer like her, and guess what poor thing she decided to be her sandbag?
AOC: What?
Em: My balls.
AOC: What?!
Em: You heard that right! Whenever she sees me, she couldn't help but giving my balls an uppercut! That hurts like hell, but she just won't stop! The last time I met her, she gave my balls a roundhouse kick! She said, she wanted to become like Chuck Norris! And what will Ben and Marie do if I tried to stop her?! They will try to feed my balls to the watchdogs!
AOC: (Jaw dropped) Wow, you got one hell of a family! Alright, the next question is from Slave Leia, "Tell us about your mother!"
Em: Mikoto Barragan, forty four years old. She is known as the goddess of gambler in Einbroch. Owner of three casinos, two bet houses, and a five star hotel. She likes to bet with my father, although she never won against him either.
AOC: Haha, you got her talent from her, huh? The next is from Aya, "Would you cry if El dies?"
Em: Unquestionably. He's the best friend a dude can ever have.
AOC: Friendship is in the air. The next question is from Castle43, "What is your opinion about possible El-Fio relationship?"
Em: They almost got laid in last chapter. They eventually will, it's only a matter of time.
AOC: OK. The next is from mikamika, "In the last chapter, you mentioned about El and Fio being five years apart. Although age is only a number in love, Fio is still underage. Why did you encourage him to make out with an underage? Don't you have a shame at all?'
Em: Well, I know not all of us can be stars, but I will be god damned if I will settle for the bronze!
AOC: Uh, maybe he means, he doesn't care as long a he gets money. He won't back down. The next question is from Doflamingo, "Have you ever buy Ty's product?"
Em: No. I got better things to do, like betting.
AOC: Tsk. The next question is from Tia, "Would you face Ifrit for a billion zenny?"
Em: Mam, due all respect, I'll face the whole Valdomir Kingdom for that amount of money; regardless of my life.
AOC: OMG! The last question is from Willy, "How did it feel spending one passionate night with Hikari?"
Em: …
AOC: Hello? Earth to Emilio? What's your answer?
Em: (Bawls) Wuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! Nooooooooooo! My life has been destroyed! Wuaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
In the midst of breaking down, Emilio runs away from the studio.
AOC: Well, his feeling is pretty much clear. Since Emilio has run away, the omake section is finished for now. Next omake will present Frea! You know what to do if u have some message or question for her, just PM me! If anyone wants to know, Frederick is 23 and Dray is 25. I hope u guys enjoy the battle on this chapter. We will have grand battles in the next three chapters, c u again! (^^)