Underground town - banquet hall - morning

The banquet hall has turned relatively quiet, but muttering and whispers do reach my ears. They’re speaking about what the man on stage named Walter said; uneasy from his statement. I share the same sentiment as my hand touching the leather scabbard on my waist. Mari

“Righteous, what do you speak of!?” I ask him.

“Simple, all too brilliantly simple! Those who are just must punish those who are evil. Is that not how things are meant to be?”

“Yes, and while I agree with you, what precedence does this have to do with the wounds on Vella’s shoulder?”

My hand edges closer to my sword as the unease in my gut continues to build.

“Absurdly simple, she is not an innocent maiden, I guarantee you that. But that has nothing to do with those lashings. She left the town with the person she was meant to escort, ergo, we punished her. I assure you, it’s totally okay.”

“I do not think it is ‘totally okay.”

“Oh, but it is, and quite frankly, what you think is wrong!” This man makes no sense. He’s going on about righteousness, yet he’s only coming off like a child; a man-child. “...Regardless, I think we should all dine together, maybe even make a toast to our meeting?”

Is he even sane? He’s done nothing but make me not want to have a toast with him.

“Brother, this guy is suspicious. I think we should get everyone and leave,” Marie whispers without leaning to me or looking at me.

“I concur, we must take our leave… Everyone, we need to have a meeting, please follow me and Marie back to the lounge…”

No one gets up from their seats, they’re all staring at the girls beside them.

“Hey, what are you all doing!? We’re going!”

“Oh my, it seems as if they all drank the beverages that were handed out. Isn’t that right, girls?

They all give a resounding “yes” to his questions, saying it with a musical tone behind it.

Drawing my blade, I get ready for whatever trouble is coming. “What does that mean?”

“It is overly simple, too simple! The drinks your friends drank is a special beverage mixed from a special plant that gives a lovely aroma but will also cause a drunken stupor on par with a hypnotic trance. In this state, you could say it's easier to suggest things, as one would likely put it.”

“What did you do to my friends!”

“Nothing wrong, we are simply going to use them for a time, that is all. Now, it seems that you two have not drunk the beverages. That is a problem, a really big problem! So we shall have to alleviate this problem, now. Girls, command the men to capture them!”

One by one, the men begin to rise from their seats in a dull, lifeless manner that mimics that of puppets being pulled along by a thin string. They move without emotion and menacingly march toward us.

"Now, I must ask the two of you to not resist, for you see, this is for the good of everyone. So would you very kindly surrender?"

Our allies edge closer to us as Marie and I step away from them. Even with my sword drawn, I can't bring myself to fight them off, and we're clearly outnumbered, so that means we must retreat.

"Sister, Nunnalé, Vella, let us retreat!"

"My master is at the tower! We need to regroup with him."

"Okay, then let us go!"

Grabbing Vella, we withdraw from the banquet hall, closing the door between us to buy us seconds.

"Marie, what is happening!?" I ask, doing my best to not waste too much of my breath on talking.

"How should I know! Our army is being used against us, that guy in there is acting like a lunatic, and this girl is acting strange! Damnit, how didn't I see anything wrong with this place!"

"There is no point in regretting things we couldn't foresee. At this moment, we have to go meet up with Proxy and Richard."

"Okay, but we need to hide first, then get over there. Let's hide in the alleyways."

We all rush into the nearest alleyway. Hiding in the shadows of this narrow pathway, waiting a while, we see all our companions run past us, unaware that we escaped them. I let out a sigh, relieved they didn't find us.

"Okay, we're gonna go fast here. They expect us to run to the exit since we're trying to outrun them, at least I think so. While they're looking for us, we're all going to be heading to the tower. Once we get the boys, we're gonna have to retreat outside."

"Just a moment, what about our allies?" I ask.

"I know, but we have to consider the consequences of staying here. Now, I'm not saying we abandon them. I'm saying we should get out, think of a new plan, then come back and save everyone."

"I advise against such a plan," Nunnalé raises an objection.

"We cannot leave them behind," I argue.

"Now that there is a danger factor to this place, we shouldn't stay here. Let us secure my master and Proxy so we can escape."

"No, that shall not do. We cannot abandon them."

"I do not understand, they are being controlled by the enemy, and will possibly detain, or kill us. Is the risk worth it?"

"Would you abandon Richard if he was under that man's spell?"

"No, I would save him, because it is my duty to protect him."

"Then you have my answer. As long as I can do so, I shall protect you all, even if it costs me my life." I get up from the ground. "...And I shall not leave an ally behind!"

I head to the end of the alleyway, checking both sides of anyone. The coast is clear, as they say.

"Let us head to the tower."

Stepping out of the shadows of the alleyway, we turn our attention to the tower in the distance. Right, let us venture forth.

"Hold on a moment." We collectively turn our heads to see Vezra behind us. She's just standing there in her usual white gown, but the cool expression she gave off is gone, being replaced with a serious yet tense expression. "...I need you all to listen."

Nunnalé pulls out her sword from thin air, taking a stance to intercept any attacks. "I suggest we strike her down."

"I'm not here to fight, I came to tell you all to leave."

As Nunnalé takes a step forward, Marie stops her. "What's going on down here?"

"Nothing you should be concerned about," she immediately deflects, not letting up on her current attitude.

"Bullshit, our army is being taken over by some crazy-ass guy. It has everything to do with us!"

Vezra holds her tongue for a moment, then lets out a sigh that voices frustration. "Listen, right now, you'll only get killed if you stay here. So if you want to live, get out while you can. That's all I can do for you."

"Why help us at all?" Marie pushes for answers.

"Because… If I can save somebody, anybody, then I'll try. So please, leave while you can, before it's too late."

There's agony written in her face, even as she tries her best to drown it. She turns her back to us, walking down the other end of the alley.

"...Vezra, we can't leave without them, we're not going to abandon anyone down here… That includes you all, if you need us to help you, then tell us." Marie says, fully confident in what she says.

"Why would you stick your neck out like this? You'll only get killed."

"Maybe, but we can't just go on and pretend like nothing happened. So we're not going anywhere!"

Marie runs off for the tower ahead of us at full speed.

"Sister, wait for us!"

As I'm about to run, Vezra coughs, catching my attention. "...Don't you want to run? You really will die if--"

"I don't wish to abandon anyone, so I shall not run away. If I did, then I wouldn't be able to call myself their ally. So there is your answer."

Finishing that up, I run after my sister, with Nunnalé, who drags Vella behind us. There is no time to idle around anymore, we must hurry!

Underground town - Tower - morning

Our opponent throws one end of the chain at us. It has a large metal ball at the end. The ball darts hones in toward my forehead. Naturally, I jump out of the way. My feet glide a centimeter over the ground. That was an easy dodge, mainly cause he’s using a weapon like a chain. Seems good on paper, but when used against someone like me, then it becomes useless since I have the reaction time and agility to dodge them, but most importantly, once you pass a certain point, their range grows smaller and smaller. For some reason, though, I can’t shake the feeling that this is too easy.

My hunch is right on the money, he spins his chain, clockwise, to quickly get the metal ball back to him. He changes the course of his chain to have it smash my head. Quick on my feet, the ball whizzes past me, dragging the air down along with it. Too easy, you can’t hit me, ya bastard! As if he heard what I said in my head, he adjusted the spins to go diagonal while it was coming around the back of his head. It'll wreck my legs if it manages to connect. Jumping to avoid it, my legs plant themselves on a pillar to avoid it. It misses the mark, carving out a piece of the ground instead as it speeds past it. However, as the ball goes around him, he changes its altitude to hit me on the pillar. You gotta be kidding me! I launch myself off the pillar, soaring right over the chain. It bulldozes through the pillar. Okay, all I need to do is land and I’m good!

"What the hell!?"

Despite my excellent evasion, he's still able to respond in the blink of an eye. The chain glides through the air as it makes its way to me. The crushing blow will hit my torso if I don't do something. Shit, I hope I can pull this off! Using all the momentum I have, I spin my body with pause, cutting through the air. My head is bouncing around in my head as I do this, and my insides are shuffling around inside me, but I restrain the urge to kinda puke. My body is out of the way, but it narrowly flies above my head by about a foot away from it. I perfectly land on my feet, despite the slight headache. Being on the ground again is a sweet relief to me, but now isn’t the time to kiss the ground. Before he can go for another attack, I do quick, consecutive backflips, to get away from him faster. I stop, landing in a crouched position next to Richard.

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"Holy shit, that guy is insanely good!"

“Yeah, I can tell. The way he uses that chain is not ordinary, he can adjust and change its course at a moment’s notice.”

“Shit is scary, man. Barely got through that one.”

Seriously, and my heart, which is racing a mile a minute, says so.

“I know, the way he uses that chain is surreal.”

“Pretty much. But damn, you gotta forgive me for this, man, but I’m having a blast.” Shit, I feel a grin creeping onto my face. “I know why we’re here, it’s just...I can’t help myself.”

I know what we’re here for, and I plan on getting it done, but there’s an aspect of me that just can’t help but get fired up from fighting, no matter how much I try to suppress it.

“It's fine, just as long as you don't forget about why we're here."

"Don't worry, I didn't.

"Good, but that being said, I think I have a plan to take him down.”

“What is it?”

“We both have to rush him. When he throws his chain at us, I’ll grab it, then you go for a decisive hit, got me?”

“I get you. Think you can catch it?”

“Sort of, but just in case, can I use one of your swords?”

“Go for it.”

I draw the blade, handing it to him. Richard rolls up his sleeves and puts his glasses away.

“Okay, let’s go,” Richard said as he ran for the enemy.

“You bet!”

Following behind him, we race off to reach the enemy. I’m letting Richard go ahead of me since he needs to catch the chain. Like last time, the big guy throws the ball in a straight motion, this time at Richard. The destructive force trains for his chest. While running, he turns his torso, moving out of the attack. Seeing a prime-time opportunity, he inserts my sword in the open space of the chain, then stabs the sword into the ground. The big guy, surprised by this, tries to pull his chain, only for it to be halted.

Richard is pushing the sword into the ground, keeping the chain and the sword from flying free. Meanwhile, I have to hit him somewhere where it hurts. Hitting the head hard enough might do, but what if he just tanks it? No, that won’t do, I need to hit somewhere more vital… The throat! If I hit hard enough, I can hit the windpipe, pushing the air out of his lungs and knocking his ass out. Perfect, let's do it!

Leaping forward into action, the air pushes past my face like an air conditioner set on high. The distance is quickly closed, the time I have to prepare an attack is minimal, but it’s more than enough. My fist fights against the wind, cutting through it to deliver a powerful punch.

His chin digs at my fist as the lower part of his neck sandwiches it tightly. His neck pushes back as my momentum carries me. He spits out saliva, letting out a painful groan. Landing on the ground, he hits the elder’s door as he collapses to the floor. Sure enough, that was too easy.

“Yo, Richard, buddy, we did it!”

“I know, way to go!”

“Give me some!” Linking up, we go for a high-five.

All right, now with that dude out of our way, we can go see the elder. First, we’ll need to move him though. Suddenly, Richard’s face turns to shock as he looks above me. Something pillars over us, casting a whole shadow above us. Turning to go for a punch, their hand pushes me into Richard. The force he hits me with is like a hammer hitting the lever for a high striker game at a carnival.

Our bodies collide, then skip against the floor as we go back 9 meters. We finally stop rolling, in the middle of the hall. The bones in my limbs are aching. I have a stabbing headache going on, and my back is throbbing.

Regardless of the pain, I climb to my feet, so does Richard.

"You okay, Proxy?"

His voice is lower than usual, probably from the pain.

"Yeah, you?"

"I'm good, but my back is killing me."

"I feel you. More importantly, how the hell is he still good to go? I decked his windpipe."

"Indeed, your attack did cause damage to me. However, it was not hard enough to penetrate my thick skin."

Thick skin? Did he tighten the area around his neck to avoid any major damage? Come to think of it, the impact did feel a little solid, and the way his chin was hitting the top of my hand, he must've hardened it right when the blow connected. Shit, then does that mean he was messing with me?

"Proxy, look!"

Around us, we're being surrounded by girls, except they're wearing black gowns with some armor over them. Each of them holding spears.

"What the hell is going on?"

Richard and I go back-to-back, covering the other's back.

"Maybe? To be fair, we are on the attack."

"Fair enough."

As they close in, the big guy gives us a pitiful look. "It seems as though you both shall die, being skewered from all sides. I pity you both."

"Screw you, asshole! I wanna see the elder, now!"

"As I said, she is busy."

"Like I give a shit, I need to talk to her about Vella!"

"Ah, so you’ve seen her wounds."

"What!?"

"Yes, I too am aware of them. Such cruel punishment."

"If you know that, then why the hell aren't you letting me through, you piece of lard!"

"Because I am indebted to her. As long as I am, you shall not pass. I am truly sorry."

"Oh, shove it up your ass, you gigantic piece of shit!"

The girls close in on us, circling us with their spears. The weapons themselves aren't unique, but the blade will run us through if they get the chance. This isn't good, we need to get the hell out of here, asap.

I nudged Richard to catch his attention. “Yo, think you can break the floor below us?”

“I could, but who knows how far we would fall, and on top of that, I don't know if I'll be able to land properly."

"Okay, then…!"

"Master Richard!"

That voice sends a sudden shock to my nerves. Standing on my hind legs, I can see Nunnalé bursting into the scene from the stairs, her sword in hand. The girls surrounding us give their attention to Nunnalé's sudden appearance. This is it, we can escape.

Slipping behind Richard like a shadow, I latch myself onto his back.

"Hey, what the-- What are you doing!"

"No time, just jump over them!"

Richard's surprise fades, quickly understanding my idea. After getting a running start, he hops using one foot, not to jump over, but to use the explosive power he just built up to leap over them. Like clockwork, he leaps over the girls in one bound, going up about 3 meters. The landing however isn't perfect since we almost hit the ground, but at least he made it.

"Nice job, buddy, but your landing needs work."

"Yeah, yeah."

Nunnalé helps him off the ground as Marie and Alex, along with Vella, come up to this floor.

"Hey, boys, we gotta go, now!"

"What's going on?" I ask, confused by the sudden appearances.

"Some bad shit is happening here, don't think we can trust the people here! Just come on, we'll explain later. Now get over here!"

Yeah, no time to be sitting around with how things are going now. Between the girls with spears and that big guy, we’re never gonna see the elder. All we can do is run, even if I don’t want to.

We ran away from the enemies behind us, who weren't giving chase but stood in front of the elder’s room. Meeting up with the others, Vella’s face instantly caught my attention. All the pigment, the emotion is drained from her face, leaving nothing but a hollowed-out shell of a person.

“Vell, are you okay? You’re not…” She begins to walk forward, not making any eye contact as she hunches back. “Vella, what are you doing?"

"I can't leave them, I need to go back."

"Like hell, I’m not going to let you go back to her!”

Putting my hand on her shoulder, she stops cold in her tracks. Her skin is cold, matching with the hollow expressions she has now.

“Vella, you--” Electricity runs through my brain, sending me a signal. My sense just activated, danger is about to strike across my gut. On instinct alone, I jump back. Steel slices the empty pocket of air, but not without drawing a bit of my blood as compensation.

Tearing through my shirt, and slicing open my skin, Vella is holding a knife, coated in a bit of my blood. I barely felt the knife slicing my skin, but the wound is flaring as if someone made me eat chili peppers. It’s about 3-4 feet long with blood leaking out at a slow rate, with a somewhat moderate amount of blood coming out of me.

Shit, that was real close. If my sense didn’t kick in there I would’ve taken a worse attack from her. Still, this wound isn’t exactly welcomed either.

“Vella, why did you?”

“I can’t leave… I want to be a good person, so I have to kill bad guys like you. Sorry.”

“Bad guys?”

Before I can ask anything else, Alex grabs me, pulling me away from her.

“We must run!”

“What about Vella!?”

“We shall come back, but for now, we must retreat.”

As he pulls back, Vella looks back at me, facing me with a smile on her face. One that’s not malicious, or smug, or even condescending, but the usual, cute, innocent smile she’s been giving me all this time. It’s a smile that made me think she was an airhead, but kind of nice to be around when crazy stuff wasn’t happening. But now, it sends shivers through my whole body, and even my soul…

…

I watch as Marie and her group make their escape. The warning I gave them fell on deft ears, but it seems like one of the boys is holding his stomach. Did he get hurt? Possibly. I told them that it was pointless, they all charged forward to go save their allies, even though they were likely to run into enemies, and now they have to care for an injured person. But the one to hit me harder was Marie. Even though she’s a girl like me, she still ran off to save her allies and is even running away with them. She must get to fight on the frontlines too.

“How lucky of her.”

And from that luck, I can’t help but feel jealous, boiling with rage, and spiteful toward her. How come someone like her exists? She has a build that isn’t like me, even Vran is bigger than me and the other girls… It's not fair. I want to be strong, I wish I was as strong as her, then I could’ve fought with my people.

Her existence, their existences annoy me, they’re eyesores to me, yet, I can’t help but be jealous of them. Their existence is such a damn irritating one!

“Marie, if you ever come down here again, I’ll kill you myself.”

This one-sided hatred is one that’ll be unleashed on her the moment she comes back because let’s face it, she said she would, and people like her will come back; because they think they can do whatever they want with the strength they have. I’ll show her.

Underground town - the banquet hall - morning

Alone in the banquet hall, Walter stands, looking over the desolated hall where there were rows of men and women enjoying themselves, talking merrily as they drank beverages. Now, the possessed members of the anti-bandit army chase after their non-possessed comrades.

He doesn’t enjoy large crowds or noisy rooms, let alone anyone noisy, so when he can, he basks in the silence that is granted to this hall. His thoughts are empty, he feels nothing but bliss as he closes his eyes.

“Alexander,” he whispers.

“Well, that is a name I did not suspect of hearing ever again. How surprising, truly surprising, oh so surprising.”

“Do you like repeating yourself, or do you think it sounds better to enhance your positives?”

Opening his eyes, he sees a young man in front of him, Zell, who is not frowning, or even furious. Instead, he has a neutral expression that could be mistaken for disinterest.

“Zell, was it?”

“Are you familiar with me?”

“Of course I am, how can I not be? You were a Flame Wraith, such a large role in the bandit. It is such a privilege to meet you.”

“You are a good actor, but your character betrays your words.”

His eyes narrow in, giving him an intimidating glare. “My, what a truly presumptuous observation, a really presumptuous observation… Did you not drink the beverage?”

“Obviously not," he answers in a monotone voice.

“What of your brother?”

“I told him to wait in his room until we meet.”

“Then do you seek an audience with me? Do you wish to subdue me, or perhaps, you wish to be forgiven for your sins as a bandit? If so, then you needn’t worry, for you have no sins.”

He raises an eyebrow at the bizarre statement. “Excuse me?”

“Sin is accumulated by killing or doing wrong to innocent people. But you see, there are no innocent people outside the kingdom, so it is greatly okay, no, it is super okay!”

One would mistake his words for arrogance, but it doesn’t come from such a place, but from pure, unbridled confidence in his convictions of right and wrong; seeing everything does in black and white without a shred of gray.

“As I suspected, this was a waste of time,” Zell says, showing disappointment.

“As you suspected?”

“I knew it would end like this, or at least with a confrontation, but the way you’re acting is too childish for my liking.”

“Nothing childish at all, you know why, because I am always right, I know because I never lose.”

“If that is how you see it, then I shall speak no further. I’ll be leaving for now, but I will be back with the others.”

“Then I shall be awaiting your arrival.”

As Zell walks away, he turns his head slightly, not even wanting to face Walter. “By the way, I am someone who has sinned, but not in your sense. No matter where they’re from, if you hurt someone innocent, then you are a sinner.”

“Then do you seek forgiveness?”

“No, I shall carry these sins, and besides, I don’t need a manchild to cleanse me of sin.”

With that, he leaves Walters to himself without any other word. Walter stands, shocked by his final statement. It confuses him, how he’s able to grips with his wrongdoing. Sorting out his thoughts on them, he closes his eyes and basks in the silence again.

“What a filthy soul you have, all of you. No matter, I shall be the one to abolish such grimy souls.”