Arc 4: What families entail
Road to a hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 15. Losing sucks
Leo runs back to the beach, trying to look for Soku. Soku tries her hardest to blow the rubble back inside the collapsed cave.
Soku {COME ON, COME ON!}
She takes a deep breath, plants her feet, and gets into a stance similar to the stance of the dragon's fist attack. She steps forward using her mark of providence to boost her power and blasts a great gust of wind at the entrance of the collapsed cave, the wind pushes through the ground, hitting the ruble and pushing the small gaps in the ruble open, she then follows up the blast of wind with another. This fully blasts the rubble away, opening the cave to her escape.
Soku {I DID IT! Took a lot out of me…but I did IT!}
Soku runs out of the cave to see smoke clouds arising from the sand, due to the cannon fire. The Bodies of pirates and Red Arrows played on the ground covering the sand in blood. A horrifying sight to be seen by a mature child but still a child.
Soku: “ROSEMARY, EDWARD, LEO WHERE ARE YOU!?”
Leo runs up to Soku, hugging her from behind. This reassures them both, but still, Edward is nowhere to be found. Atop the ship, Moro stands holding Edward's unconscious and injured body.
Leo: “GIVE HIM BACK, OR I’LL KILL ALL OF YOU!”
Moro: “AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE KIND!? THIS BOY HERE IS DEAD! YOU LOST HERE TODAY AND I WON, SO I GUESS I PICKED THE RIGHT SIDE HAHAHA!”
Leo hits the spear on the ground repeatedly, using his mark of providence he laid his body and spear in strong yellow lightning. He starts to chant, scaring the pirates but Moro strands proud, throwing Edward's unconscious body back on the ship.
Leo throws the spear at the ship, and it carves through it creating a large hole in the hull. Water starts to flow into the ship, and the waves push and pull the ship back into the sea.
Pirate: “THEY BUSTED THE SHIP CAPTAIN! WE’RE GONNA SINK!”
Moro: “DON’T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!? REPAIR IT FAST AND HEAD OUT TO ANOTHER SHORE! Oh, what do you want, Ju'stone ?”
A giant fish man, the same one that was with Moro at the Inn, approaches Moro.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Ju'stone: “*Whispers* He sir… aren’t you gonna sell this guy, why did you tell them he’s dead?”
Moro: “Because they won’t try and stop us from selling him.”
Ju'stone: “Are we gonna head to the southern Islands and get a good deal?”
Moro: “No that would take too long and we aren't desperate for any coin, you go and grab some crew members and try and sell him at the Walgonia outpost.”
Ju'stone: “Got ya, sir. I'll send them out tomorrow.”
Moro: “Alright, go patch him up so he doesn't die.”
Soku: “Leo, are you gonna fight all of them?”
Leo: “I might be able to win but if I do, all of the Gravestone pirates may show up and try to kill us and I don’t want that…it would end the war in a landslide.”
Soku: “Then let’s run back to the tunnel in the cave…we’re gonna have to close it so they can’t use it to get to the hideout later.”
Leo: “Yeah you’re right…now let’s go!”
They walk back to the tunnel's entrance, walking for a bit before Leo uses the spear to collapse the tunnel. Once the tunnel is unusable they walk back to the hideout to inform the other Red Arrows of the loss.
Leo: “Soku…are you gonna be okay.”
Soku: “I…He…HELL NO! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED GOD DAMMIT! I KNEW IT…I FUCKING TOLD YOU, IDIOTS, THAT HE WAS UNTRUSTWORTHY AND WHAT HAPPENED? OH YEAH, WE FUCKING LOST!”
Leo: “It was either we lose or we win and we lose…we HAD to.”
Soku: “Why…WHY DO YOU EVEN NEED TO DO THIS, YOUR BROTHER IS DOING FINE RUNNING THE COUNTRY, WHO CARES IF HE DOESN'T LIKE DEMI-HUMANS NOBODY CARES! YOU COULD HAVE JUST LEFT WITH US BUT NO! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT YOUR BROTHER WHO IS MORE QUALIFIED THAN YOU!”
Leo: “Look don’t go there…you wanted to help ME! Not the other way around, I didn’t come to you YOU came to me!”
Soku: “I…I DON’T EVEN CARE ABOUT WALGONIA! I JUST WANT TO MAKE MY FRIENDS HAPPY AND THEY WANT TO DO THIS…WALGONIA AND THE PEOPLE THERE AREN'T MY FRIENDS I DON’T LIKE THEM!”
Leo: “Then tell them, why do you feel the need to try and help it?”
Soku: “BECAUSE…I NEED TO…It’s the only thing I can do…if I don’t do something then I’ll just exist…doing nothing…And I just want to make the Sect hurt…THEY TOOK ME HOME AND MY SISTER…NOW I HAVE NOTHING…NO ONE!”
Leo: “Then make my brother hurt…he took your friends..my friends…not don’t sleep…don’t just exist…TRAIN YOUR ASS OFF EVERY DAY UNTIL YOU WIN!”
Soku: “I…it’s the only thing I can do…so I’ll do it…but one more loss and I’m done…”
Leo: “Then let’s go…I have to tell all those people that we lost…that I lost, and our friends died because of it.”
Soku: “Okay then…let’s go.”
They make it back through the tunnels, reentering the hideout. Once the Red Arrows see that they have returned everyone goes quiet.
Leo: “We…lost…the pirates turned against us. And some of our men have been captured and others have been killed.”
The room's normally happy and fun tone has turned into a mix of anger and sadness.
Red Arrow: “So…what do we do now?”
Leo: ‘YOU ALL HAVE COME HERE BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT! THIS WAS A SETBACK BUT WE DID NOT LOSE HERE, NOW WE HAVE MEN ON THE INSIDE, AND THEY’RE GUARANTEED NOT TO BE KILLED! THIS IS THE BEST NEWS WE HAVE HAD! DON’T GET SAD, DON’T GET SCARED, MORN YOUR FRIENDS BY ENDING THIS WAR!”
The Red Arrows scream and roar with excitement, some grab their weapons and start to walk into various tunnels to train themselves, while others drink, and continue to have fun, raising morale.
Soku wanders into Peter's workshop. She walks in to see tables stacked with random scrap. Magic crystals were everywhere, along with open books laid everywhere.
Soku {This place is a mess.}
Peter walks in behind her, scaring her.
Peter: “What ya doing in my workshop?”
Soku: “Looking around…did ya hear?”
Peter: “Of our loss…yeah…but I believe in Leo!”
Soku: “Why? What makes him so great? I know he’s strong, along with his family…but is that all you need to put trust in him?”
Peter: “For most people? Probably…but for me? It took me a bit…but since he picked me up I’ve just
END OF: Chapter Fifteen.