The Fallen arc

The Azalea Forest

"My name is Arkin. And I am the guardian of this forest. What brings you here princess Ziera?" Arkin asked. Arkin then turned his head to Jayden. Staring at him with his piercing golden gaze.

"And what brings you here Jayden Cortez?" Arkin asked him.

What Jayden found the most strange about Arkin was not that he was a talking deer but that he wasn't speaking through his mouth. He could hear what Arkin was saying in his head.

"Wait! How do you know our names!? And why can I hear you in my head!?" Jayden asked while sounding freaked out.

"Telepathy. That must be it." Ziera said but then coughed roughly.

"Ziera! I need to get you back to the ship now!" Jayden shouted in worry.

"Your ship is gone Jayden. My comrades retrieved it earlier." Arkin said.

"What? But we need that ship to help Henro and Ziera! Why would you do that!?" Jayden shouted.

"Calm yourself boy. I have no intention of bringing any harm towards you or your comrades. Follow me. I will take you to them." Arkin ordered.

"Wait! Are you talking about Henro and Emilia!? What did you do to them!?" Jayden asked with anger in his voice.

"As I already said I have no intention of harming you nor your friends. But if you keep wasting time you'll surely lose one of them right now." Arkin said. He was referring to Ziera who was in really bad shape. Purple veins were begging to show on her body. The same as Henro.

"Jayden, it's okay. You can trust him. He's on our side." Ziera said. Jayden wasn't sure about Arkin but if there was one thing Jayden was sure about was that he could trust Ziera's judgment.

"Okay. We'll follow you. But what about the draugr?" Jayden asked.

"Already had fled. That creature is smarter than I gave it credit for." Arkin said.

"But shouldn't you go after it!?" Jayden asked.

"All in do time. That creature is only after the fallen known as Henro. It ignores everything else. Besides, there's another reason why I won't slay it yet but I'll discuss that later. Now make haste. Imperials took notice of your battle and are making their way over here." Arkin said.

"Right." Jayden complied. As he followed Arkin he talked to Ziera.

"I just hope Henro and Emilia are okay." Jayden said.

"Don't worry. If anyone can save that bum, it's Emilia." Ziera said with confidence.

***

Henro's POV

3 Years Ago:

"Who.....Who are you?" I asked. The girl before me gave me a bright smile that could light up the whole room.

"My name is...."

The Present:

"GAH" Henro woke up coughing and gasping for air. He was currently being carried by Emilia in the sky bridal style.

"Henro! Are you okay!?" Emilia asked with worry. Henro coughed up some more.

"Peachy." Henro said with sarcasm.

"Just hang on! We're almost at the ship!" Emilia shouted.

"Right." Henro groaned.

Goddamn. That bastard tore into me good. And now I'm back in this form. I swore I never wanted to ever turn into this thing ever again. Not after what happened. Henro thought.

All members of Ziera's team had the location of where their dropship was on their phones. So if Emilia could make it back to the ship, she could use whatever medical technology they had to keep him alive until they could find a way for Henro to use magic again to heal himself.

There was however the risk of catching the unwanted attention of the imperial warships above. Emilia didn't want to put Henro in more danger but she needed to take the risk to save his life now.

Emilia herself didn't have any injuries but Henro couldn't be any worse for wear. A huge bite mark on his neck and a large claw mark on his chest. Henro was losing a lot of blood, especially from his neck. If Henro were a half-breed or even a pure blood demon with his injuries he would have been most definitely dead by now.

Emilia picked up her speed and flew faster to where their ship was deep in the forest. She had finally reached her destination and landed on the ground.

"Okay we made it! Henro. You think you can walk a little? I'll support you." Emilia asked.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Henro stated.

"Okay." Emilia said. Emilia set Henro down on his feet and had his arm hang over her shoulder. "Don't worry Henro! I promise you'll be just....fine. Wait. Where's our ship!?" Emilia asked with worry.

"Well that's great. As if things couldn't go from bad to worse." Henro said sarcastically.

"Wha-What happened!? It was right here! Ziera gave me the coordinates and everything! So what happened!? Where is our ship!? Was it the empire!?" Emilia panicked.

"Calm down Emilia. Let's just think. This is a magic forest filled with yokai right? If I had to guess they're the ones responsible. If this were the empire, they would have jumped us by now." Henro said reassuringly. Emilia took a deep breath and calmed down.

"You're right. Of course. With any luck we can find our ship within this forest before the empire or the draugr catch up to us. Hopefully it's still in good use." Emilia said.

"By the way. Where's Ziera and that blockhead? And what happened with the Draugr?" Henro asked. Emilia's face dropped to worry and sadness.

"Ziera and Jay stayed behind to fend it off. I can't use magic and you got banged up really bad so I had to get you out of there. Magitech for the most part isn't affected by this forest so Jay and Ziera were the best two to handle it for us." Emilia explained.

"Goddammit. What's with this forest? If I could have used my magic then this wouldn't have happened." Henro said angrily.

"Henro, don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. We were both at a disadvantage. But next time, we'll face it together. Okay?" Emilia asked.

"Sure. Whatever." Henro said bitterly. Emilia flinched a bit at his response but chose to let it go.

"Henro, I'm gonna start flying us in the air again. Are you okay to continue?" Emilia asked.

"Fine. Though I'd do better if you stopped putting yourself in danger." Henro said rudely.

"Excuse me!?" Emilia frustratedly asked.

"You heard me. What were you thinking trying to charge at that thing on your own!? Do you know how reckless that was!?" Henro asked.

"Alright Henro. I understand that you are upset with me for almost throwing my life away and you have the right to be. But you do not have the right to stand here and baby me as if I'm your responsibility!" Emilia shouted.

Emilia tried to keep it together. She doesn't like to argue, especially not with Henro, but she was losing any amount of patience she had with him as they argued.

"What!? I'm not trying to-."

"YES YOU ARE!" Emilia shouted, interrupting him. "Ever since that battle at Lockwood you don't talk to me, you barely look at me and now you don't even trust me to handle myself in a fight. You shoved me aside like some damsel and took on that draugr by yourself!" Emilia shouted.

"No! I was just trying to-." Henro tried to explain.

"To do what!? Protect me!? I told you already I'm a warrior so I don't need your protection. Nor do I need your permission! And for your information I wasn't recklessly charging at the draugr. While I was in the air, I saw Ziera and Jayden coming towards us! So when they got close I made my way towards you to fly you out of there at the right moment. That was my strategy." Emilia explained.

"Emilia. I...I didn't mean to-".

"So why!?" Emilia interrupted him again. "Why were you so adamant in keeping me out of that fight!? Do you have so little faith in me now!? Do you think I'm a burden!? Please just tell me! Just for once please tell me what you truly feel! Please Henro!" Emilia pleaded with tears dropping from her eyes.

Henro looked at her with sadness and felt nothing but regret. He regretted treating her so harshly the past week. Regretted making her cry twice and regretting making her think that he thinks less of her as a warrior now.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

What...what am I even doing? I was angry with Emilia this whole time because she almost got herself killed. I wanted her to understand that what she did was wrong but I never wanted to hurt her. Emilia takes pride as being a warrior of the Garuda tribe, and I've just been spitting on that pride so many times.

I didn't even bother to actually sit down and talk with her about it. I just brushed her off because I was angry. Angry that she almost made the same choice as......as....

["Henro."].

Her.

"I...I don't know." Henro said still not facing Emilia. Henro couldn't see Emilia's face but she had a look of hurt and disappointment written all over it.

"I thought we made a promise to each other? That no matter what, we'd stay together forever and have each other's backs. But now it seems that you think I don't have your back anymore. Or rather, you think I never did." Emilia said sadly.

"No wait Emilia! That's not-."

"Shh! Listen." Emilia ordered.

"This way!" A voice called out.

Suddenly Emilia and Henro heard a voice from behind them. Their guard was up as they turned around to confront whoever it belonged to. What they were was something the two did not expect at all.

"What the hell?" Henro asked.

"Uh Henro, that's a yokai right?" Emilia asked.

"I think so?" Henro was unsure.

This was clearly a yokai but it didn't look like an animal nor did it resemble the appearance of a human. It was.......an umbrella. A huge red umbrella with one big eyeball and mouth with sharp teeth on it's center. It was smiling towards Henro and Emilia with it's tongue sticking out like a dog.

"This way!" The yokai said.

"It's a talking umbrella?" They asked in unison.

And it's speaking in demon-tongue. Emilia thought to herself.

"Wait, I know these things. I read about them in one of my books. They're called Kasa-Obake, the umbrella yokai." Henro stated.

"Umbrella yokai!?" Emilia asked with shock. She looked at its big wide smile.

"It's adorable!" Emilia said with stars in her eyes.

"It's creepy as hell." Henro said bluntly.

"I wanna keep it!" Emilia demanded.

"Emilia, focus." Henro said sternly.

"Oh right. Sorry hehehe." Emilia giggled with embarrassment.

"Anyways don't let your guard down. These things don't seem like much but they can cast illusions on their victims. I even read that Kasa-Obake can show their targets their worst fears and the victim will be plunged into an endless nightmare until they pass out. Or worse." Henro said.

"No way!" Emilia said nervously. She looked back at the Kasa-Obake but it wasn't attacking them. Emilia didn't sense any hostility from it either. "But it's not attacking us. Maybe it doesn't mean any harm?" Emilia questioned. Henro wasn't convinced just yet.

"Come! Come! This way! This way!" The Kasa-Obake repeated.

"I'm not so sure. Hey! What the hell do you really want from us? What's your angle?" Henro asked in demon-tongue.

"No angle! No angle! Just want to guide! Yes!" Kasa-Obake stated.

"Help huh? And where to-gah!" Henro coughed out blood.

"Henro!" Emilia shouted with worry. Henro was sweating as he wiped the blood from his lip.

Shit! My condition is getting worse! If this keeps up I'll...

"Henro." Emilia said. He looked back up at her. "Let me do the talking. You already taught me how to speak in demon-tongue, so let me put it to good use." Emilia said with a serious look.

Good grief. When Emilia has that look there's no changing her mind. I swear this girl.

Henro didn't say anything but nodded. Emilia nodded back and then turned to face the yokai.

"My name is Emilia. And this is Henro. What is your name?" Emilia asked in demon-tongue.

"Rudy! Rudy!" Rudy said cheerfully. Emilia smiled.

"Rudy. That's a nice name. Listen Rudy, if we go with you, will you be able to save my friend? Please. He's dying. Emilia begged in demon-tongue. Rudy's smile grew.

"Yes! Yes! This way! This way!" Rudy said cheerfully. He happily jumped up and down. Then he hopped towards the direction of the forest.

"Deeper into the forest huh? This could be a trap." Henro said.

"Even so we don't have a choice. But no matter what happens I won't let you die Henro. Whether you want me to or not." Emilia said in a serious tone. Henro looked down at the ground again.

"Right." Henro complied.

"Good. Now come on. With any luck they'll have the medicine we need to at least fight off the poison." Emilia said.

With Henro's arm still hanging over Emilia's shoulder, she helped him follow Rudy deeper into the forest. Leaving Henro to his thoughts.

Dammit. Why did things have to turn out like this?

***

Fury's Imperial Warship

The Bridge

Fury sat in his chair at the bridge looking at the holographic screen in front of him. What lies before him were recordings of Jayden, Ziera, Emilia and Henro fighting the draugr from the draugr's point of view. When Silas sent the draugr after Luca, he had small drones implanted within the draugr's dome.

These drones acted as cameras for Silas to use to study the draugr's way of hunting and fighting. Along with gathering any research on the yokai within the forest. Ziera luckily hadn't detected them due to interference from the forest but the drones of course being magitech weren't affected and recorded everything.

Unfortunately, during it's fight with Ziera, when she pierced the draugr's head with her Omni-Blades she took most of them out. But Fury didn't mind though as he still got to see what he wanted to see as one member from Jayden's group caught his eye.

To be frank, it wasn't Jayden. As if this moment Fury didn't care about Jayden at all. His mission was to kill him and retrieve Ragnarok, but from what he's seen of him so far, Fury was not impressed nor interested. The same goes for the other two.

But there was one amongst them that had Fury's full attention. Her performance pleased Fury. Pleased him so much he began to lick his lips with satisfaction and hunger for battle. That person, was Ziera. For even though she lost, she impressed Fury all the same.

"Hehehe good. You could have done better but gotta say Ziera, you're definitely your father's daughter. No. You're more than that. I've known since that day." Fury said with a smirk.

***

3 years ago

The Imperial Royal Palace

Fury was walking through the halls of the palace he had just finished his mission in wiping out insurgents. He came out fine with no injuries as there weren't that many of them. Which left him all but disappointed. He wished to be out hunting their leader, but that mission was given to princess Zariah, leader of the crimson knights. Her and...

"General Fury! Sir!" A soldier came and approached saluting him.

"What is it?" Fury asked.

"Princess Zariah has returned from her mission. She and her unit had completely crushed the insurgency." The soldier stated.

"What already?" Fury asked.

You gotta be kidding me! I barely got to hunt anyone worth killing. All I got were a bunch of appetizers while the princess got the main course. Fury thought to himself.

"Yes sir! And that's not all! Second Princess Ziera had vanquished X, the leader of the insurgency herself!" The soldier stated.

"What!? Princess Ziera? Are you serious?" Fury asked with shock.

"Very much so, sir! It was confirmed by Princess Zariah and countless other soldiers there!" Said the soldier.

I kept hearing that the leader of the insurgency was dangerous! So dangerous that even Princess Zariah was ordered to hunt him down personally. Yet Princess Ziera managed to kill him? At her age and experience? Fury pondered.

"Princess Zariah has also requested your presence at the war room sir! She wants a meeting of the Crimson Knights later tonight to review everything that has transpired. And to plan our next move!" Said the soldier.

Oh so that was probably what she was calling me about earlier. I usually never answer my communicator unless it's from Lord Zenal.

"Right. I'll be on my way then. But before I go, tell me, where is Princess Ziera now?" Fury asked.

"She's in the medical bay! They're treating her injuries now. It's nothing fatal but...". The soldier stopped talking.

"But what?" Fury asked impatiently.

"Sorry sir! It's just right now Princess Ziera may be suffering from post traumatic stress. And as such, Princess Zariah has ordered that no one shall disturb her while she rests. No exceptions." The soldier stated.

"I see. Well I'll be on my way to the war room then. Thank you for the report, soldier." Fury said.

"Of course sir!" The soldier saluted and left.

Fury however didn't plan on going to the war room just yet. He had another destination in mind first.

***

The Medical Bay:

Fury had made his way to the medical bay and was walking his way towards the room where Ziera was staying. But he stopped at a corner because stationed at her door were two imperial guards that belonged in Zariah's division.

Great. Even with my rank I can't order them to leave. They answer only to Zariah and no one else. Well that's fine I didn't plan on talking to the princess personally. I just wanted a peak at the killer of X. But I guess that's not happening tonight. Fury thought.

"Hm?" Fury hummed to himself as he peaked from the corner without getting the attention of the guards.

As fate would have it, Fury got what he wished. The doors to Ziera's room opened and who began slowly walking out of the room was none other than the princess herself. She slowly walked out hunched over while staring at the floor. The guards took notice of this.

"Princess Ziera!" Said one of the guards.

"What are you doing out of bed?" The second guard asked.

Fury didn't know what was going on but from where he stood he saw Ziera in her state. In short, she couldn't be any worse for wear. Her head and arms were bandaged up, she had scratches on her face, bruises and her left mechanical eye was cracked. But her injuries aside, Ziera's face caught his attention the most. She didn't look well at all. She looked sad. Worse than sad even. She looked tired.

It was just as that soldier had said. Ziera had ptsd written all over her face. She looks almost..broken. Empty even. Just a zombie trying to walk out of her room.

"Princess Ziera please. Your sister, Princess Zariah, has ordered us to keep watch over you while you recover." Said one of the soldiers.

"She would want you to stay in your room for the night so that you could rest. Princess Zariah will return shortly so please return to your room, princess." The soldier pleaded.

Ziera didn't look up at the soldiers and just began whispering something to them. Fury couldn't make out what she was saying but whatever she said made the soldiers taken aback for a bit.

The soldiers were wearing their helmets so Fury couldn't read their expressions but he could tell from their body movements that Ziera said something that surprised them. The soldiers looked at each other in confusion and then back at ziera.

"Um princess...". The soldier began.

The soldier began talking to Ziera again but he was quieter now so now Fury couldn't pick up what he was saying to her.

"Tsk. What I would give to have enhanced hearing like Aurora." Fury thought.

But whatever the soldier was telling Ziera made her open her eyes completely wide. And slowly, tears began to fall from her face.

What is she crying for? She just came back from a battle and killed the leader of the insurgence. Earning the empire a huge victory. Tsk. Pathetic. This is what I came here to see? A cry fest? What a waste of my time. Fury thought.

Fury was about to turn his sight away from Ziera when the expected happened.

Ziera was glaring right back at him.

Fury was shocked. Stunned even.

What!? How did she know I was here? Even with her scanner I masked my presence!

Fury was shocked. Stunned even. But it wasn't Ziera finding him that shocked fury. It was impressive but that was just an excuse. What caught his attention were...

Those eyes!

Fury is as he describes himself to be, a ruthless cold blooded predator. He will kill anyone who gets in his way. Regardless of how strong they are compared to himself. He's faced many fearsome and dangerous foes in the past. Some even came close to killing him. But there was one, no but two that not only had defeated Fury. But left their marks on him as he laid bloodied and defeated by their hands.

Marks that can't be erased by magic, magitech, curses, or even gods themselves. Marks that left an impact on his mind. No. His very soul. What they left in Fury was a feeling he never thought he would ever feel in his entire life.

Fear.

Those eyes! That look! It's just like before!

[An image of Zenal went through his mind].

And before that!

[Another image of a person flashed through his mind].

It made Fury all the more nervous. His instincts started to go off like alarm bells. His eyes were wide open. Sweat began pouring from his head, started shaking a little and his fingers were starting to dig so hard into the corner of the wall it started to bend.

Ziera! You! Your eyes! That look! It's the same as theirs! Zierw, are you actually!? Fury thought to himself.

Ziera continued to glare at him. Then she said something to him in a threatening tone. Fury couldn't hear her. But that was a lie he just told himself. He heard her loud and clear which made Fury grit his teeth and step back instinctively. The guards heard Fury and finally noticed him.

"General Fury?" The soldier asked in shock.

Fury was still sweating and didn't move an inch from his spot. He was still looking at Ziera who continued to glare at him. As if he was waiting for her to do something.

"Uh sir? Are you okay?" The soldier asked. Fury finally snapped out of it. He couldn't look like this in front of the soldiers there so he regained his composure and coughed as if nothing happened.

"Yes I'm fine. How is Princess Ziera?" Fury asked.

"Oh. Princess Ziera is okay but she needs rest so we'll be returning her to her room now." Said the first soldier.

"We're sorry sir. We mean no disrespect but Princess Zariah has ordered us to not let anyone see the princess at this time. That includes you sir." The second soldier said.

"Right. Of course. Carry on then." Fury said. He turned and began walking away from Ziera's room. The soldiers turned their attention back to Ziera.

"Come along now Princess Ziera. We promise Princess Zariah will return shortly. So please go back to your room." The soldier said gently.

"Yes. And if you need anything we'll be right outside your door." The second soldier said.

Hmph. Those soldiers sound genuine. Princess Zariah sure had selected some kind hearted men for her ranks. If only they knew who they were being so kind towards.

As Fury kept walking away, he turned his head back at Ziera and the soldiers. Ziera hadn't taken her eyes off him for a moment. Fury's eyes were wide open again. If this were some kind of staring contest, he would easily lose. That look had remained in Fury's head till this very day. It was at that moment he knew what he had to do.

Ziera. I know what you really are! Fury thought to himself.

***

Fury's POV

The Present

It's my belief that you can always tell exactly what kind of person someone is just by looking them straight in the eye. And I've seen many types of people. Cowards, greedy folk, the lazy types, the ones that hunger for more, the sad sacks, the soulless types, the vengeful types, the arrogant types and of course the heroic types.

They each had their own strengths sure but they never really caught my attention. There are only two people who did. Two people, no, two monsters who I'll never get out of my head for as long as I live. The ones who had defeated me and had instilled this feeling inside of me. It wasn't just their strength, but also their presence. And it all came from just their eyes. Those cold lifeless eyes that stared down at me as if I were an ant.

I knew from that day that her eyes, Ziera's eyes, were the same. They glowed green, but behind those green eyes was something more. Something dangerous. Worse. It was something familiar. And it wasn't just fear. It was...

Death.

A look you can only obtain, from staring at it yourself. I should know. It was then I smiled showing off my sharp bloodied teeth.

"Hehehe. How long as it been since I've felt that? Three years now? Ziera. Who are you? Are you just the 2nd princess of the Machina Empire? Or are you something more? Well until I find that out I hope for your sake, you won't disappoint me. In fact, I actually pray to the Guardians that you are what I think you are." I said to myself.

I continued to look at the recordings of Ziera fighting the draugr. I then froze the image to see her face.

That look. Those eyes. As cold as ever.

"Yes I hope you too are indeed a natural predator." I said with vicious grin.