Chapter 1: Meeting of the Shields
Garfiel looked at his surroundings to find himself in an unknown crowd.
This unknown crowd looked much fancier than him by a long shot.
This made him feel confused at first since he knows he doesn't belong there before turning into rage.
He was just at the small town near the mansion, going off to fetch the last thing on the list of groceries for his captain and his best friend only to be in some unknown location with people of high class from the looks of it.
'Huh? Where da fuck's my amazin' self?'
"Oi Cap'n? Where ya at?" Garfiel shouted to which everyone just looked at him confused, a couple whispering amongst themselves.
"Who is he?"
"What's with that demi human brat?"
"How vulgar of him!"
"What's a child doing here?"
"Is he lost?"
"Such an annoyance."
'Grr. Th's fuckin' people. They can fuck off.'
Garfiel thinks to himself while he began to glance around his surroundings, noticing that he's out of place both physically and socially.
This caused him to think back for a moment on what had happened back in the mansion to trigger this event.
'Well...My amazin' self was just gettin' th'stuff for cap'n...then...huh? Th'hell is going?!'
While he was thinking for a bit, he continued to glance for a little longer at the crowd.
Eventually he noticed the two guys that aren't much older than him, both having an odd aura that is different from the others around them.
'Hm. Somethin's off 'bout them.'
He observed the two closely before deciding to look around a bit more.
He noticed a guy with a weird white hat.
'Th'hell's th't? Looks stupid. Could be th' king, I guess?'
As he finishes his thought on the man in white, his eyes drifted towards the other man across from the man in white.
This one was not only much older but was wearing a more appropriate attire for a king. Wearing a purple cloak, a crown with a purple gem, and was surrounded by a few guards.
'Ah, th't's th'king. Looks like a jackass...wait, then who da fuck's th'other guy?!'
Garfiel thinks to himself as all the royal politics stuff tends to either confuse him or bore him. In this case, a bit of both.
While this was on his mind, he heard two doors open at the same time, catching his attention. He looks down to see that it is an arena of some sorts.
"This dual will take place in the presence of King Melromarc and the Pope." The announcer says to which Garfiel thinks to himself:
'So th't's th'King's name. Wait...the fuck's a pope.' Garfiel thought since he hasn't heard of such a position in Lugnica. The announcer continues to speak:
"Thus makes it legit and official."
Garfiel looks at the announcer for a moment before looking straight down to see the two combatants approaching each other.
From what he can see, one was wearing a green robe, as black hair, and appears to be older than his captain.
As for the other one, he had long blonde hair in a ponytail, red and white attire colors with what appears to be a spear in his left hand.
'A duel...th's should be fun t'watch.'
There was a pause for a moment before the one wielding the spear ready his weapon.
The other one looked at his shield, to which Garfiel smiled for a moment since another also uses a shield as a weapon like him but then something came into his mind.
'Now hold on, th't shield small. He doesn't look buff. How's he gonna win?' Garfiel thinks to himself with a bit of worry. As he finishes his thought, the announcer begins to speak once again:
"Ready. Begin."
The fight started, Garfiel's eyes widden as he watched the one with the shield quickly blocked strike after from the spear, holding him at bay for the time being.
The battle began to heat up with the shield taking the... offensive!
("Remember Garfiel, the best defense is a good offense.")
His eyes sparkled slightly seeing the shield being slammed into spear's chest. Garfiel was liking this man. 'No bars hold back, I like th's guy.' His mind wandered with his eyes to a woman, much older than 'princess', but for something tells him this woman isn't as kind. '...Bitch...'
Something caught his attention, hearing the gasp of the people around him.
Looking down, Garfiel could see orange balls with... teeth? Yeah, teeth and eyes and such.
'Th'fuck's th't?!'
They were attached to the shield man but not hurting him, but only one was attached to spear loser, who howled in pain from it.
'Th't's hardcore!'
Garfiel than witnessed something that truly surprised him; The shield transformed... into a shield with dog heads.
"TH'T'S SO FUCKING COOL!"
Eyes snapped over to the source of the outburst, even the man with shield took a glance in Garfiel's direction.
This prompted him to smirk this time. "Well, looks like I can't disappoint in this battle now, can I?" Garfiel was able to hear since the crowd was a bit stunned from his outburst.
"AIR STRIKE SHIELD!"
"SHIELD PRISON!"
Attack after attack thrashed the spear user, until he was trapped in a ball of metal. The screams from the man were music to his ears.
"THAT'S IT! GET HIM SHIELD MAN! WIN!" He began to cheer as people around him were just...dumbfound by this boy.
"Why is he cheering for the devil of the shield?"
"He must be just as brainwashed as that poor slave girl."
'Slave girl? What slave girl.'
This line caught his attention as he looked around, trying to find said girl.
'Is it her?... nah.' He looked towards the bitch, clearly she isn't a slave. 'so who is...?'
He noticed the two other stronger guys talking about something but couldn't make it out.
But his attention turned back to the fight at hand, seeing Shield guy was about to really mess up the Spear guy, talking about messing up his privates and face, which made the boy giddy for the torture, that asshole looks like he needs it.
"GO FOR IT! MAKE SURE HE CAN'T WALK AGAIN!" Garfiel was caught up in the moment, the fight, the excitement of it all.
The next moment, his hair stood up, he looked down to see that bitch of a woman charging something.
In that spilt second, she cast a spell, wind magic... just like Ram... but not as powerful as her.
His body moved before his thoughts did, launching himself from where he was in the stand, finally noticing the slave girl as he took a brief moment to look around, but he couldn't worry about her just yet.
His reaction gained the attention of the crowd as they watched him leap into the fight... and protect the shield.
"TH'HELL ARE YOU DOING!? IF TH'S'S A FUCKIN' DUEL, RIGHT? WHY'S TH'S BITCH TRYIN' T'USE A DAMN SNEAK ATTACK FROM BEHIND LIKE A COWARD!?"
Garfiel became irritated with this situation, and it was shown with his visible frustration with people seemingly ignoring it.
The eyes of the crowd widen from the stance he just took, defending the cursed shield.
"IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET IN THIS, THEN I'M GOING TO JOIN IN TOO FOR THE SHIELD DUDE!"
Said Shield dude was completely dumbfounded as well for a moment.
For the first time, someone willingly stand up... for him.
"HEY, YOU CAN'T DO THIS, AND MALTY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
"YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS TOO, COWARD!"
Spear guy looks at Garfiel with anger, disliking the way this boy was speaking to him, the spear hero. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE KICK MY ASS KID-!?
"AIR STRIKE SHIELD!"
Spear guy was caught off when he was slammed in the face with one of the Shield's attacks.
Garfiel watched that happen in almost slow motion, seeing the spear get launched across the arena and slammed into the wall headfirst.
This caused the spear guy to fall towards the ground, losing his conscious in the process.
The crowd just stood silent, completely stunned at the fact that the Shield hero won the fight.
The shield man took this opportunity to point his finger towards the king while saying:
"Looks like I won, now give me back Raphtaila!"
'So that's the name of that girl.' Garfiel thought as he was starting to learn everyone's names.
The King just looked with anger as not only did the spear hero lost, but to the shield hero no less.
This caused him to have such anger in his eyes but before he could say anything towards the Shield hero, a voice could be heard saying:
"The Shield Hero has been disqualified."
"WHAT?!"
"Huh?"
Both the Shield hero and Garfiel turned towards the voice, seeing that it was the pope speaking.
The two were looking at him with anger as they know this is bullshit since the spear hero is knocked out and the Shield hero is still standing.
The Shield hero spoke out to this by saying:
"Th'hell do ya mean I'm disqualified, I fought fair and square."
"You brought in outside help on a one on one duel!" The king spoke as he wanted the opportunity to antagonize the shield hero.
Garfiel was steaming when he heard this and quickly responding with:
"EH?! HE DIDN'T CHEAT! IF ANYTHIN', TH'T WOMAN OVER THERE TRIED TO FUCKIN' CHEAT FER TH'SPEAR JACKASS!" Garfiel shouted as he found this situation stupid. Malty looked at the boy for a moment before responding to the accusation in a calm and playful manner:
"I don't know what you are talking about—"
"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME, BITCH! I SAW WH'T YA DID!"
Taken back by how brash this boy was, Malty had to regain herself before speaking again.
"Well you must be as brainwashed as that poor girl-."
"TH'HELL DO YA KEEP GOIN' ON ABOUT TH'T BULLSHIT! I AINT BRAINWASHED OR WHATEVER! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TH'HELL'S REALLY GOIN' HERE! I JUST MET TH'S GUY!"
Malty facial expression changed into one of annoyance, seeing that this boy is nothing but a stubborn brat.
Before anything else can be said from either of them, a voice spoke out in defense of Garfiel by saying:
"He has a point. Aside from his vulgar words, he stepped in only to block your attack, Malty."
"Agreed."
Garfiel and Malty whipped around as they heard two voice speak.
The demi human boy noticed that it was the same two boys with the weird aura around them.
The Shield hero crossed his arms as he was annoyed at seeing the two.
The one with the sword looked at him and tried to keep things calm.
"In other words, Naofumi is the winner."
"So your name is Naofumi?" Garfiel finally had a name with a face.
Naofumi looked at Garfiel for a second before looking at the king, smiling as he knew that he was the victor here.
"You hear that? Even the others agree with me. Now give me back Raphtalia!"
The King was silent once again, not believing the fact that the Sword hero and the Bow hero would allow the Shield hero to be the victor.
He got up from his chair and turned towards his guards.
He then gave them a signal to follow him while also bringing the slave girl with them.
They nodded before doing exactly as he commanded, following him with Raphtalia, all of them making their way towards the arena.
The place went silent for a brief moment before finally the king himself appeared with his guards holding Raphtalia. Naofumi was happy to see Raphtalia yet that happiness was short lived when the king opened his mouth.
"The Spear Hero is the true victor of this fight. In accordance of the sacred dual, this poor girl will be freed from the Shield Hero's grasp."
"What?!"
"That wasn't part of the agreement."
"Sorry but you lost, now acc—" Before the king could finish his sentence, the Sword hero stepped up and began to defend the Shield Hero.
"Pardon me your highness but Naofumi clearly won this fight."
"He did, with interference."
"Not exactly. Your daughter was going to interfere with the fight." The Bow hero added as he also defended the Shield hero.
'Daughter?' Both Naofumi and Garfiel thought as they were surprised by this information, with Naofumi completely enraged now since he sees that everything has been a set up from the very beginning.
Garfiel looked sharply at the king, blaming him for his daughter's actions.
"Of course, th'daughter gotta shitty part from her father."
"Excuse me?!" The King spoke with anger as he disliked how disrespectful the boy has been to him. "You dare talk that way to the King?!"
"Ya ain't my king, so I don't give a fuck for some nobody." Garfiel spoke out with a boastful attitude, standing his ground against someone he dislikes.
"You little shit...!" The king was shaking his hand with rage, angered by the disrespect he was receiving by the demi human. Before he could react, someone spoke out:
"Enough already." The Sword hero said as he wanted to keep things calm. "Naofumi clearly won the fight, now return him his slave."
The King looked at the sword hero with clear disappointment in his eyes, hating how they are defending the devil of the shield.
"...Very well." Having a brat was one thing, but having not just one, but two heroes against his word is very problematic for him. He couldn't risk too much with them, not now. Although he hated this, he did have some pride in his voice as he said to the two heroes: "But, we already removed her slave crest in the expectation of Sir Moriasu's victory."
"Eh?!"
"What?!"
Naofumi was shocked if not angry at hearing this. Garfiel himself was completely in rage since this wasn't part of the contract of theirs, causing him to hate the king even more.
The Sword and Bow heroes were not only stunned by this but had lost some respect for him.
"ARE YA FUCKIN' SERIOUS?! YA'RE A FUCKIN' COWARD!" Garfiel shouted in rage, hating just how unfair the king has been to Naofumi. The king's guards prepared themselves for battle while the king said:
"What are you going to do? Attack me?"
"I'M GONNA BREAK YER FUCKING FACE! I AIN'T AFRAID!" Garfiel spoke as he wanted to beat the shit out of the king.
The guards got out their swords, ready for battle with Garfiel preparing himself for a fight only for him to be stopped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder.
He turned to see that it was Naofumi's hand, surprising him.
"Thank you...I owe you a lot there kid." Finally, a smile graced his face. Garfiel instantly felt himself relax, as if Naofumi's hand was really calming him down. "...Yeah, alright..." Garfiel says this, finally having calmed down. As things were calming down, Raphtalia took this opportunity to approach the two, wanting to be with Naofumi once again. Once she was close enough to them, she turned towards Garfiel first to tell him:
"Thank you, for helping Master Naofumi."
"Eh, it wasn't a problem."
Raphtalia smiles at the boy before turning towards Naofumi. Raphtalia wanted to hug her master yet Naofumi stepped back for a moment, contemplating on something.
"Raphtalia...Do you want to be free?"
"No. I don't ever want to be without you Master Naofumi" She said it so promptly and almost if it hurt her to even suggest that.
"You took me in, fed me good food, used medicine on me to nurse me back to health. You took me, a dying slave girl, in and taught me how to defend myself, and defended me when I needed to."
She spoke with passion in her voice, making sure to make note of things that he did for her.
Garfield took this moment to voice his thoughts after hearing what Raphtalia had to say.
"Oi! Ya see ya old fuckface! She wants to stay with Bro here, so fuck right off with yer nonsense!" His voice lashed out as once more, Naofumi placed his hand on his shoulder, giving Garfield a feeling that only Subaru gave him
"Again, thank you." It was just a good feeling for Naofumi, the feeling that someone wasn't going out of their way to antagonize him, to punish him for no reason, to believe lies spread about him. This boy... gave him a bit of hope.
"Umm...Master Naofumi, who is he anyway?" Raptailia asked
"We'll worry about that later." Naofumi turned from Raphtalia and Garfield to address the king and the other heroes. "Well, if our business here is down, we shall take our leave. Ren, Itsuki, thank you both." It was a rare moment of politeness from him. The Sword Hero gave him a slight smile and a nod.
Ren began to think about something; Was Naofumi the bad guy in the situation he was... but was there something he was missing...
Turning to Raphtilia and Garfield, Naofumi motioned for them to follow. Garfield didn't have anywhere else to go so he figured why the hell not go with them. As the new trio walked down the toward the exit, Naofumi finally stopped and turned to Garfield.
"I never asked you for your name."
Garfiel pauses for a moment before having a confident smile on his face. He smashes his fists together while saying in a prideful tone:
"Garfiel Tinsel, The Shield of Sanctuary!"
Authors' notes:
GreenWarrior291: Sorry this took long to post, we have been busy with life and other stuff, me and KoolKen have been working on.
Kool: Yes, Yes I have. Anyways, welcome to end of Chapter one. Hope you all enjoyed it and are asking yourselves 'What are these two thinking?'
GreenWarrior291: Yup, until the next time.