The signature dance of the Garuda tribe known as "The Dance of Zephyrus" had come to an end. What lay on the ground were the defeated soldiers of the imperial army, the remains of drones that were cut down and a dismembered Cozar who had been single handedly been defeated. By a young girl of the Garuda Tribe, Emilia Sylphion.
"Oh wow! That was so much fun! Hey Henro, did you see me!?" Emilia cheerfully asked.
"Yep. I saw ya Em. As flashy as ever." Henro said.
Emilia rubbed the back of her head and blushed. "Oh stop you're making me blush!"
"That was awesome." Jayden said in awe.
"That being said, I almost feel sorry for that poor bastard over there. Poor guy can't even walk anymore." Henro said.
Emilia looked back down at Cozar and realized what she had done. "OH MY GOSH! I am so sorry sir! I guess I went a little overboard. Garuda instinct and all!" While Emilia panicked, Cozar began to regain consciousness.
"Ugh. What? What's going on? Where am I?" Cozar asked.
"Ya know Em, if you want to help the guy how about you take him with us and give him a makeover?" Henro snickered.
"Wait, what? What did he just say!?" Cozar asked.
"Oh that's a great idea Henro!" Emilia kneeled down towards Cozar and looked him in the eye with a smile. "Don't worry sir. We may be enemies but I don't feel good about leaving you dismembered like this. I don't know much about technology but I have super glue! You'll be all better I promise."
"Why? Why lord Zenal? Why is this happening to me? Where did I go wrong? Please. Please, TELL ME!!" Cozar wailed.
"And there goes the remains of the bastard's dignity. Heh. Serves you right." Henro chuckled.
"You are messed up dude." Jayden said with a sweat drop.
"Henro! Quit fooling around and get over here. It's Anna! She needs medical attention!" Ziera yelled out.
"Alrighty, duty calls. Yeah I'm coming!" Henro left the window and went over to check on Anna. "Alright. Jayden you stay here and Emilia you head inside too. I'll be right back."
"Copy that!" Emilia said.
"Wait Ziera! Where are you going?" Jayden asked.
"I'm going to go have a little chat with our esteemed guest over there. There's some questions I'd like to ask him before he escapes." Ziera explained.
"What!? But Ziera, you can't just go off on your own!" Jayden knew Ziera must have her reasons but he didn't like her going off on her own. She still wasn't at full power and the empire would no doubt retaliate even harder after this.
"Hey don't worry. I appreciate your concern but I can handle myself. All I need is a few minutes to get what I need from him and I'll be right back. Promise." Ziera said as she gave Jayden a reassuring smile. Jayden still didn't like it but he knew he couldn't stop her either.
"Okay. Just be careful okay?"
"Always am!" Ziera winked and went out the door. "Most of the time." She mumbled.
"Wait what?" Jayden asked.
Cozar lied there on the street feeling nothing but sorrow and contempt. He was defeated by some kid he considered a nobody, was later completely and utterly humiliated by a single warrior, no longer has any support from his fallen men, couldn't call for backup as the electricity from Emilia fried his coms and he was unable to even move at all due to the loss of his limbs. Cozar knew that he was completely and utterly helpless. "Could this day possibly get any worse?" Cozar asked himself as he looked up into the sky.
Suddenly someone came to his vision and blocked the sky. It was Ziera, grinning down at him. Cozar started sweating bullets. "For you? Yes. For me? It couldn't get any better than this." Ziera's grin grew wider as her green eyes flashed bright down at Cozar.
***
Jayden Pov
After Ziera left the shelter, I went and stayed by Anna's side at the medical bay. Anna was resting on the bed with Mom by her side as well. Emilia and the pale guy named Henro were there too. Henro wanted to check on Anna and do an examination.
"Don't worry Ms, I'm a doctor. Just let me check on her." Henro said. Mom wasn't completely sold. Henro had a bored expression and didn't really come off as friendly but he didn't seem like a bad person. Plus, if he was allied with Ziera and that girl Emilia then I guess he could be trusted. So mom gave in and Henro performed his examination. "Okay Anna right? How are you feeling? Do you feel any pain anywhere?" Henro asked sincerely.
Anna looked nervous but she nodded. She showed her right arm. It was a bruise she received from Cozar. That bastard. "Alright, this may hurt a bit but hold still. It'll only take a second, okay?" Henro asked. Anna just nodded.
With her consent, Henro gently grabbed and lifted up her right arm. Anna grimaced in pain and closed her eyes but she stayed strong. Henro then closed his eyes and a bright glow emitted from his hands. He chanted something in a language I couldn't understand. But after he was done, the bruise from Anna's arm, along with any scratches she had prior were completely gone.
"Alright, finished. How do you feel, Anna?" Henro asked.
Anna looked at her right arm and was in awe. "My arm! It doesn't hurt anymore! I don't feel any pain anywhere else either! I feel much better now! Wow, you're amazing! Thank you Mr!" Anna was overjoyed. Mom hugged her and was tearing up a bit. She was so glad that Anna. I was too. Wow. This guy, he healed her like it was nothing.
Henro just nodded. "Nah don't worry about it. It's my job. Though I don't get paid so that's neat I guess."
That being said, as great as he is at his profession he could really lose the attitude.
"That's our Henro for you! If you ever need medical attention, he'll hook you up with no extra fee!" Emilia said with a wink and giving a thumbs up.
He just said he doesn't get paid though.
"Oh yeah, what she said. Hey newbie, pay me. That'll be two hundred bucks with interest. Make it snappy." Henro said, holding his hand out to me.
"I'm not giving you shit! And she just said "no extra fee!" I yelled.
"Language!" Mom shouted. Dammit forgot Anna was here.
"Cursing in front of a child? How crude, and what do you mean you won't pay me that's mean. After everything I just did for you? A guy's gotta eat ya know?" Henro pouted.
"200 hundred dollars for healing an arm though is crazy! I don't even have that kind of money!"
"Huh? I thought you were at least middle class but you're just flat out poor aren't ya greenhorn?" Henro sneered.
"I'm not poor! I'm just not giving you a dime! Also, stop calling me names man what is your problem!?"
"So you're not poor or middle class, you're just a stingy bum then. Gross. I don't like this guy Em. He's giving off a weird vibe I don't know." Henro said, pointing his finger at me.
I swear to Christ this motherfucker is pissing me off. I felt like going off on him but then Emilia smacked him upside the head.
"That's enough Henro! Stop being mean, it's not nice." Emilia lectured.
"Ow. Hey, he started it." Henro complained. I literally didn't asshole.
"No, he didn't, you're just picking on him. You won't make any new friends with that attitude ya know?" Emilia said, reprimanding him.
"Whatever." Henro shrugged. Emilia sighed then approached me taking my hands in hers. Giving a warm smile.
"I'm sorry about him. He's not usually like this I promise. Let's start over okay?" Emilia giggled. I felt kinda embarrassed. Now how could I say no to a face like that? Never had much experience with girls and yet I end up getting greeted by two cute ones in the past two days. Not that I would make a move on Emilia or anything. She could be this jerk's girlfriend or something.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
"Uh sure. Why not?" I smiled back. "My name is Jayden Cortez. This is my mom."
"Maria. It's a pleasure. Thank you both for what you've done for us today." Emilia nodded her head excitedly. She stepped back and spun around.
"Alrighty allow us to formally introduce ourselves to you all! Presenting yours truly, Emilia of the Garuda tribe!" Emilia posed and did a peace sign over her face while winking. Silence filled the room. We all just stood there waiting for introductions to finish but no one was saying anything else. "Cough cough, Henro!" Emilia whispered. Henro was just standing there daydreaming with his hands in his pockets.
"Huh? Oh yeah. Hi, I'm Henro. Can I go now please?" Henro asked nonchalantly. Emilia's arms fell as she sighed again.
"Couldn't you at least try to show some team spirit whenever we meet new people?" Emilia asked.
"Why does that matter? It's not like we'll see these people again." Henro retorted.
"It's manners and it shows character! First impressions are everything, that's why you gotta be genuine and stick the landing so people don't think we're weirdos!" Emilia exclaimed.
"No offense Em, but between the two of us you seem more like the weird one here." Henro said. Emilia weeped and sat on the floor making a circle on the floor with her finger.
"Why can't he just understand? All I want is for people to not get the wrong impression. Is that so wrong?" Emilia said. Anna got off the bed and went over to Emilia to pat her on the head.
"It's okay Ms. Emilia. I don't think you're weird. I think you're really cool and nice." Anna said sincerely.
"Really!? Oh Anna you're such a sweet girl. Come here!" Emilia cried out hugging Anna. Mom just stood there witnessing the whole event.
"What in the hell am I even looking at?" Mom asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine mom." I answered.
"Anyways. There's one more but he's busy on another mission right now." Henro said.
"Oh right Tenjin! I sure hope he's okay! What am I saying of course he is he's strong!" Emilia said still crying and holding Anna. Henro smacked his head. "Oh whoops". Emilia said.
"Tenjin?" I asked. Why does that name sound familiar?
"OH HE'S NOBODY DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!" Emilia screamed. "Okay I mean he's not nobody he's our leader and my mentor. He taught me everything about fighting. He's really, really strong and can even cut imperial warships in half!" Emilia said excitedly. An imperial warship!? I've heard only dragons take down those things but this guy can do it too!? With just his swords!?
"What even warships!? That's insane! This guy sounds crazy! Can you do that Emilia?" I asked. Emilia blushed and rubbed the back of her head.
"Oh no! I'm still training and not that strong. I'm actually the weakest on the team right now. I still have a lot to learn." Emilia said humbly.
"Not that strong? I saw you take down fifty soldiers like it was nothing! Not to mention how you handled those drones and that bastard Cozar, you're badass!" I wasn't exaggerating I mean if you could see what I saw you'd feel the same.
"Oh stop Jayden you're just buttering me up!" Emilia said eating her arms embarrassed and laughing it off. She's really modest huh? Well not that I minded but she should give herself more credit then that. Still this Tenjin guy sounds crazy. B
"If this comedy routine is done can we cut to the chase? We're on the clock here Em." Henro said. Emilia stopped fooling around and got serious.
"Right. Maria, would like to both you and your son privately for a moment if you don't mind? It's regarding our mission and Jayden's future."
***
Ziera Pov
I dragged Cozar's dismembered body to a nearby alley. Making sure there was no one around or any surveillance, I felt this would be the perfect opportunity to ask this worthless scumbag some questions.
"Gah! Now see here traitor! I underwent intense and grueling training at the imperial academy and graduated with flying colors! No amount of torture could ever break me! Nothing! So do your worst, because there's nothing, and I mean nothing that could ever break me wil-gah!" Cozar grunted as I stomped my foot down on his face, crushing him down on the dirt. I had no time for his bullshit today.
"Guardians, do you ever shut up? After the beatings you took recently I'm surprised you can even still run that mouth of yours. You must be either crazy or just stupid. Or both." I began crushing his head harder with my foot.
"Gah! God damn you!" Cozar choked out.
"Alright listen up. I'm only going to say this once.You're going to answer all my questions without fail. Fail to do so and I'll kill you. Well I'm going to do that anyway so not like it matters." That seemed to have gotten his attention.
"WAIT! Wait! Let's not be hasty here!" Cozar screamed. So much for that academy training huh?
"Oh? But you said you wouldn't break right? Let's test that theory shall we." I said gleefully. I crushed his head harder and harder. With more pressure I put on his face, it began breaking apart.
"Argh! Okay! Okay! Fine! I'll tell you what you want, just stop!" Cozar begged. Well that wasn't hard, and after all that talk too.
"Good. Now here's my first question. I know that it was my older brother, first Prince Ziren, that sent you to kill me and don't try to deny it. You mentioned getting help before so this would definitely be something he would do. He had a feeling I'd get injured trying to retrieve Ragnarok, so he wanted you to finish me off. That part I understand. What I don't understand is this. Trying to kill me is one thing, but trying to kill Jayden, taking a child as a hostage, and threatening to harm even more civilians. None of these things should have happened in this town. Not while it's under her control. You know who I'm referring to right?" Cozar began sweating bullets.
"That's right. This town belongs to my big sister. The First Princess of the Machina Empire, Zariah. This town is one of her domains so why? Why is Ziren wreaking havoc in her domain and why isn't she stopping him!?" I yelled.
Cozar grunted and didn't stop sweating. He was hesitant to answer but he finally gave in. "This town doesn't belong to Princess Zariah. Not anymore. It belongs to Prince Ziren now." Cozar begrudgingly answered.
What? What did he just say? This town doesn't...no! That's impossible! "Don't...don't you lie to me!" I began crushing his head harder. He grunted in pain as cracks were beginning to form in his mechanical skull.
"I-I'm not lying! Princess Zariah temporarily handed over control of some of her domains over to Prince Ziren! I swear on my life!" Cozar begged. No. This doesn't make any sense. My sister...she would never hand over even one of her domains. Least of all to our brother. But I wasn't getting anywhere losing my temper so I calmed down and eased up on cozar's head. He sighed in relief.
"Why did my sister hand over some of her domains to Ziren?" I asked with a venomous tone.
"Well, you are probably aware of the ongoing war between our nation and the fire dragon Kingdom of Ifrit, yes?" Cozar asked. I nodded. I knew Ifrit and Machina were never on good terms ever since I was born. The war only started a couple of years ago but the fire dragons never broke through our borders until after I had left. Me and my allies could never find out how they were able to do it with the Omni Barriers online.
"Ifrit has been relentless lately. They've been sending their armies from the southern continent trying to invade our territory for years but have never made it even close to our borders. Thanks to the awesome power of our Omni Barriers that block off any invasions from foreign lands. Not even a fly could sneak through it and would disintegrate on touch. However, they finally did. I don't know how, but someone or something must have tampered with the shields using strange magic."
"Strange magic? What do you mean?" I asked. What is he talking about?
"I don't know. All I know is from what the guards stationed at the borders said. They said a strange red glow began to emit out of thin air. It sparkled and began to shine so bright that it was blinding until it exploded. After the explosion, the shields began to disintegrate. Yes But not turn off, but the energy from the shields actually disintegrated. They all disintegrated into tiny red sparkles that flew into the air. Neither the guards or scientists had any idea what happened. Though that wasn't the worst part, somehow Ifrit caught wind of this and they invaded immediately. It's like they knew it would happen. Thus, the fire dragons reached our borders and the war truly began. Our cities were being attacked, burned to the ground along with our citizens. Emperor Zenal wouldn't stand for it so he sent Princess Zariah along with her guard and legion to exterminate the enemy without mercy."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Someone or something destroyed the entire Omni barrier blocking entry from the southern continent? I already knew my sister was fighting the dragons off but who could have done this? No, that's not important right now. Guardians, I only had left the empire for a year and all of a sudden hell breaks loose? "Okay but what does this have to do with her handing over her domains to my brother?"
"As you're well aware Princess Zariah is easily the empire's strongest warrior under Lord Zenal himself. She can wipe out thousands of dragons herself no problem. However, when Prince Ziren approached me with this mission, he had informed me that she was distracted from her daily duties."
"Distracted? What are you-." He interrupted me.
"Yes, that's right. He told me that Princess Zariah had been feeling the weight of your absence Ziera." Cozar said while smirking. What? No. "I never realized you two were that close but apparently it is so. The princess had been trying to get permission from Lord Zenal to go find and bring you back to the empire for quite some time. But Lord Zenal had denied her at every turn. He needed her there at the empire to fend off the dragons otherwise our nation would continue to burn. As she tried to look over her domains and fight the dragons but with her worrying over you on top it was becoming taxing on the prior princess. So Prince Ziren had come to her and gratuitously offered a solution."
"No." I said. Hoping this wasn't true.
"Yes. He offered to look over her domains while she was busy fending off the dragons from our borders. Taking some of the workload off of her. But the princess was no fool. She didn't trust the prince so he compromised and asked if he could take a few of her domains off to make her life easier. The princess from what I hear begrudgingly agreed and handed over the reins of three domains to him. Obviously this isn't public knowledge, Prince Ziren had taken care of that."
"Also, as you're already aware, both the prince and princess have 10 domains they control, while Lord Zenal has the rest. Prince Ziren couldn't have all ten of her domains but three apparently was enough for him. One of those domains of course being, Lockwood. I think you know what happened next right, Ziera?"
I began to shake. Images of Jayden getting hurt, Anna being in danger, and Maria scared for her family. All of it flashed through my mind. My sister handed over those domains because she was too busy worrying over me. If I hadn't left...
["It's your own fault for being born Ziera"].
["He died because of you. You have no one else to blame but yourself"].
["How many more have to die in order for you to live, Ziera? Do you really think your life matters!?"].
No! I can't start thinking about this now! This isn't the same! It's not! IT'S NOT!
["She's right Ziera. Like I told mom earlier, it's the empire's fault not you. You didn't do anything wrong." Ziera however didn't look convinced and looked down at her feet].
Jayden...I.
"Oh and you asked why I wreaked havoc across this backwater town? It's because Prince Ziren had given me the order of not only killing you, but also to make a mess of things. A big enough mess that would impact the princesses reputation. No one other than the prince, the princess, Lord Zenal and his elites, the Crimson Knights knew of Zariah turning over her three domains. So who do you think the public would blame if life became so much harder for all the poor citizens living peacefully in said domains hmmm?" I began gritting my teeth and balling my fist.
"Yes. Prince Ziren can do whatever he wants to these domains. While Princess Zariah takes all the blame for his decisions. If I had killed you and that brat Jayden, we would have made it public and Zariah's reputation would take a bigger dive and since you would be dead her will would be broken! Then Prince Ziren would swoop in and correct the mistake made in Lockwood and officially make it prosper himself. Not only that, but Prince Ziren assured me that he would protect me from any consequences! Gahahahana!" My blood was boiling and my eyes began to glow bright green again.
You see now Ziera!? This is what happens when you betray the empire! You should have just bowed your head and said yes sir! No sir! Like the good little princess you were! But just had to be selfish and rebel against your family! Your nation! For what!? Nations that have nothing to do with you!? Pieces of shit like that brat Jayden Cortez!? Why it's so pathetic it's laughable! But if it helps I truly pity Princess Zariah! But if that wench is too stupid to lead then she should just step down or di-." He didn't get to finish as I picked up my foot and stomped down on his head so hard it cracked the ground. He couldn't talk anymore because I broke his jaw. He just grunted in agonizing pain.
"Thank you, Cozar. I'm truly grateful to you. You knew more than I thought you did and provided it all so quickly just like I wanted. You pass with flying colors." Cozar was sweating again as he stared at me petrified. "But now I no longer have any use for you. There are more questions I have but I don't need your head for those. So this is goodbye." Cozar began panicking. He couldn't talk or scream very loud but he tried and was trying to shake his head profusely in resistance.
"Sorry I can't quite catch that. Oh! You want me to spare you? Show you mercy? Just like how you were going to show mercy to me? Or Jayden? Anna? Maria? Or anyone else in this town?" Cozar shook his head even harder. He began crying and snot came pouring from his nose. "Yeah, okay. I'll show you mercy." I lifted my foot up high. Cozar continued to try to move but couldn't. Begged for his life but it all fell on deaf ears for me.
"Here, let me remind you how the empire shows mercy." Cozar muffled screamed as I stomped my foot on his head, shattering it to pieces. Not a trace of head left. With that done, I removed his shirt and dug my head into his chest. I ripped out his core, the life of all androids. I'm going to need this for my other questions I need answering.
"Thank you for your time, admiral." I looked back at his corpse and then turned around walking away. "Oh and you're fired." I said back to him as I left the alley.
Truth be told, I didn't feel good doing that. He deserved it but he was just a pawn. A dumb one at that. No way my brother would ever protect him, he hates loose ends. Still even after everything Cozar told me I still have so many questions. Who or what destroyed the Omni Barrier? Why did they do it if they knew it meant a bigger war between Ifrit and the Empire? Were they from Ifrit? Unlikely. My brother? No. He's a lot of things but he's no fool. A war between the two nations wouldn't benefit him in the long run. Then there's my sister and Lockwood.
Gah. It's too much all at once. One problem after another, right Ziera? Sigh. Well first things first, we have to get Jayden out of this town fast. I'm just glad Jayden and the others didn't see that side of me. I hated seeing it myself. Suddenly I got a call. It's from Tenjin!
"Ziera"
"Tenjin where have you-."
"No time. Listen up, it's the empire. They've sent three warships heading toward your location. Tell Emilia and Henro it's time to move. I'm almost at the town. I'll send you the coordinates of where to meet me."
I turned my scanner on and he was right. Three imperial ships were just outside of Lockwood and heading towards us fast. Shit! Well no better time to leave then now. "Copy! We'll be right there!"
"Good. And Ziera, don't forget to bring the next wielder of Ragnarok with you. Their journey is starting now."
HYBRID