What Binds Two Hearts ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Palace of Freiheit, Munich, Neo-Germany Saizaki ran steamrolling from one side of the training room to the other, with the Fire Cutter in hand and a fierce determination in his heart. The sword glimmered with flickers of flame as he ran to the wall on the left, then ran up, defying gravity in a horizontal stride. This lasted seconds, but was the perfect springboard for what he had planning. The young man rotated his body as he leapt off the wall, branching out his leg and screaming passionately, "Dragon's Fang!" The flying kick could not have been better timed. But as he descended towards a brick obstacle which was supposed to present a challenge, the Fire Cutter's magic reacted. Flames surrounded Saizaki's leg, imbuing it with furious magical force. Saizaki's flaming leg smashed straight through the stone build-up, shattering the feeble rock through the new raw strength he had acquired. The boy soon landed to the ground, and pulled the Fire Cutter back into attacking position, and ran towards a training dummy to practice his slashes. But Saizaki was not alone. On one other side of that room was Lilia. The young woman was quiet and calm, holding the fabled Wind Soul in her hands. She slipped her baby blue eyes shut, then swerved the sword in her hands up. Till it was parallel with her face. A robust wind blew into the training room, even though there were no windows. This gust was brought on by magic, the magic granted to those who held the Wind Soul. Power over the airstreams of the earth. Lilia's eyes opened, and in a slow motion, she swung her sword around her body in a horizontal swipe, and from that came a gust of wind with violent intensity. "Whirlwind Slash!" Lilia cried, as her compact burst of a zephyr tore into one of the many wooden training dummies located across the room. Lilia and Saizaki had a third warrior with them. Rainhande. The noble leader of the Special Mission Corps. In his hand was the sword, Lightning Tooth, the uncontested ruler of thunder and electricity. Rainhande breathed in slowly, drawing momentum into himself. His boots stomped into the stone-paved ground while his heartbeat broke into an all new high. Sparks of electricity began to flash around his body, up and down in continuous lines. That was until those sparks became streaks. Streaks which passed over Rainhande's body with a ardent quickness. Those streaks did not electrocute or hurt Rainhande, more of the opposite. They felt like a part of him. But soon this force was manifest in the physical air, as Rainhande gripped the hilt of Lightning Tooth and slashed downwards, screaming, "Thunder Shot!" His thick German accent emphasized the point, as a volatile cluster of lightning burned through the training room and smashed two of the training dummies, the following shockwave tearing three other dummies in half. Saizaki, Lilia and Rainhande all practiced hard with their respective weapons. This was it. This was there training. It had been almost three months since that mission to Tuatha De Danann had been undertaken. The Special Mission Corp were successful in retrieving three of the four divine swords but unfortunately, the remaining one (Shadow Edge) had been taken by the servant of Al Gul Jehed; the Machiavellian nymphet they called Esperanza. Though not a complete failure, the mission had not been received as a success. The Shadow Edge was the most dangerous of the four swords. It was a matter of priority for the Order of Light to somehow get it back from the Covenant. But at this moment, that was not on the mind of these three. They were focused solely on training themselves in use of the swords. They were, possibly, the keys to the future. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Great Hall of Ogma, Schrobenhausen, Neo-Germany "So... the council is not satisfied, is it?" This was not the first time that Aarin had been called before the council. In fact this was just one of many. A drop in the bucket, really. Though the situation behind his summoning was not so insignificant. The aging warrior stood in the middle of the dimly lit room, surrounded the full twelve members of the executive council of the Order of Light. Though Aarin was the commander of the Order, he had to be extremely careful when it came to the council. They consisted of some of Europe's finest nobility and aristocracy. The finance they installed into the Order of Light kept it going in these times of war. If any of them pulled out, the only way the Order could stay together would be to re-absorb themselves into the World Federation. And Aarin would not allow that. The old swordmaster looked from one side to the other, watching the twelve seated men as they observed him in kind. "That is the problem, is it not?" One of the council members replied. "Yes, Highland. That is the problem. The mission you undertook three months ago was to bring back the four swords from Tuatha De Danann. You have not done that. You have only acquired three of the swords." "I have explained that," Aarin held back his frustration, "We were attacked by sentinels sent by the Covenant of Sorcerers to obtain the four swords. Neither myself nor mission leader, Rainhande Schaidler had prepared for a resistance by the enemy." Another of the council members spoke. "A soldier should always be prepared for resistance from the enemy, Aarin Highland. Has age finally eroded your mind to that fact?" "You dare question me about being a soldier?" Aarin spat. The previous council member spoke again. "We recognize your abilities, Commander Highland. But this is a problem. The Covenant have their hands on one of the swords. The one called Shadow Edge. That is by far the most destructive of them all. We cannot allow that sword's power to be used against us. Not now." Aarin could hear the desperation in that. "What do you mean?" "Most divisions of our armies have kept the Neo-Germany border secure. However, there is one border that is extremely close to being breached. The borderline with the Bavarian Alps, to the south. A small force has already broken through and occupied the town of Rosenheim. We suspect that they will remain there until the main armies of the Covenant push through our defences. We also suspect that this contingent is the one that imposed on the mission to Tuatha De Danann." "Why was I not told about this?" Aarin questioned. Another of the council members spoke up. "We thought it wise not to trouble you with this matter until we were sure of our sources. Besides, it was agreed within the council that we should let you focus your attentions on the four swords." Aarin scowled. "This council seems to have an annoying habit of making decisions without me. Which is slightly confusing being that I am the current leader of the Order of Light." "And without us, there would be no Order of Light." One of the members retorted. "You need only know this. We of the council would like you and the entire Special Mission Corps to make an assault on Rosenheim. They are dangerously close to Munich. And if they seize Freiheit Palace it could be very disheartening for the morale of our soldiers." Well, Aarin did agree that morale was important, but, "You do not fool me. You are using this as an excuse to test the power of the three swords we have acquired." A chorus of inane snorts and chortles were given from the council at that point, though one of them ceased their laughter to reply. "Please do not understand, Commander Highland. The Special Mission Corps is needed for this assignment. It is the closest full-scale militia to the town of Rosenheim. Seeing the strength of the swords... that is just a consequence of it." Aarin growled under his breath, with clear annoyance. "Quite a convenient consequence, don't you think? And as I have said before, I have grave misgivings about using the swords. They are dangerous! You have not seen their power in the same light that I have." "Exactly," One of the council members replied. "We are in the dark about their true nature. If we, as normal human beings, could use the swords to harness the power of magic, it would quite possibly give us a tremendous edge and change the course of this war. Surely you understand that, Commander?" He did. "Yes. But that does mean we are not at risk. Think of the current wielders of the swords. They are still in training. None of them have perfected their technique. Who knows what kind of damage the power of magic will have on them." "Random soldiers are irrelevant," The head council member said. "If they die, we will replace them with others. The lives of the few mean nothing in comparison to the lives of the many. If anything, they should feel honour from it. They will ascend to God knowing they gave their blood for our noble cause." Aarin couldn't believe that. These people saw life as nothing more than a means to an end. But then, after all, this was a war they were fighting in... "...Understood." The head of the council spoke again. "You can look at it anyway you want, Commander. It does not matter. Rosenheim has to be liberated from occupation by the Covenant of Sorcerers. If the three soldiers using the swords currently, prove themselves on the battlefield, they will become their official wielders. And you will be needed to train them." Aarin swallowed his chagrin to acknowledge them. "Very well." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Palace of Freiheit, Munich, Neo-Germany One last slash was thrown by Saizaki, right before he collapsed to his feet. The young man slumped to the ground, took in deep breaths, and laid the Fire Cutter down to rest. There were streaks of flame running up and down it but they dissipated as soon as the sword lost contact with Saizaki's gloved hand. The youth sighed, tilting his head back. He then rolled his eyes to the right, and watched as Lilia continued with her training in this dungeon of a training hall. The place was filled with broken training dummies, smoke and the smell of sweat. They had been working out all day really. But although their work was strenuous, it was most definitely paying off. When Saizaki wielded the Fire Cutter, he could feel himself being given that mighty power of magic. The sword was becoming an extension of his arm. The flames... were becoming a part of his heart. Saizaki's passion was already fiery and this seemed to allow him to better connect with the Fire Cutter. Saizaki released a breath and looked over at Lilia. "...Lilia... take a break. You're gonna wear yourself out, you know?" "Saizaki..." Lilia chided, lowering the Wind Soul, "We have to keep at this. We've been allowed to keep the swords until the council make a decision about them. We may never get this chance again." The older youth smiled from his sitting position. "And you'll never wave a sword again if your hand snaps off. We need to be taking it easy. We've got some time off. Wanna head down to the town, see what's shaking in Munich?" "Hmm." Lilia mused the idea, "Well, I really should train some more, but if we have some time off then it would be nice to get away for a bit. Just to take a break. Okay then, Saizaki. I'll go with you. Do you want to come, Captain Schaidler?" The Captain of the Special Mission Corps had not stopped practicing with the Lightning Tooth. He slashed and slashed in the air, pausing only answer Lilia. "No thank you... yah! I have to master this sword... yah! Before the deliberation of the council... yaah!!" Saizaki grinned, privately. He only wanted to go with Lilia, really. And if anyone had to accompany the two of them, Saizaki wouldn't have wanted it to be Rainhande. In the Japanese man's opinion, nobody was as stuck up or pompous as the good Captain was. "Probably for the best," Saizaki remarked. "Not really your scene." Rainhande stopped his actions when he heard that. His eyes flashed open, and he cast a glare over in Saizaki's direction, with stone cold eyes. "Is there something that you feel you need to tell me, Lieutenant Seisuji?" Saizaki loved the way Rainhande called rank on him. It showed that even wonder-boy could get annoyed. "Not at all, Captain. You just strike me as kind of an indoor-guy, you know?" "You need not hold my personal life in any form of regard," The silver-haired boy answered back. "And you should not make assumptions about someone. You might be surprised to know that you are mistaken. Is that understood?" "Crystal clear, sir." Saizaki answered with a hidden smile. Lilia was not oblivious to the tension between Saizaki and Rainhande. You didn't have to look very hard to see that they didn't like each other much. In fact they were a punch short of hating each other. Which was understandable in its own right, at least to Lilia. Saizaki was a loud, fun-loving young man, who enjoyed life though didn't seem to take it very seriously. Rainhande was the complete opposite in that respect. Rainhande was calm, quiet, dignified and well-spoken. He had been invited frequently to 'after-duty drinks' by his fellow soldiers, but Rainhande always turned them down, saying that he preferred to work on his sword-skills. This difference in attitude catered to a difference of opinion between Saizaki and Rainhande on many levels. About the war and life mostly. Though they both acted seriously during missions, Saizaki and Rainhande had trouble getting along anywhere else. "It's too bad you can't come," The girl decided to leave with Saizaki before an argument started between him and Rainhande. "Let's go, Saizaki." The two soldiers dropped off their swords in that very same training room, then exited the hall, leaving Rainhande behind to do what he needed to. Saizaki and Lilia happily made their way upstairs, to the main level of Freiheit Palace. It was a very large building to stalk around in, but a breeze to navigate when you've been their long enough. Eventually, they came to the courtyard of the palace, standing before the giant statue in the centre of the water fountain. Lilia stopped walking. "Wait, Saizaki." "Yeah?" The girl looked down at herself then over to Saizaki. "We're still wearing our army clothing. We might frighten or worry the people in the city if we turn up there dressed like this." She did have a point. Saizaki and Lilia both agreed to change into clothing that were a bit more comfortable and a lot less intimidating. It was quick process, one that took only about ten minutes. They both turned back, went into their private living quarters, got dressed in some casual clothing, then headed back out. Saizaki dressed himself in his favourite street garbs. A small dark brown bomber jacket, that was hung tight around his middle waist. On the back of the jacket was an image of a Phoenix, which had been his father's exclusively favourite mythical animal. His legs were swathed in denim, a sort of replica of the style of clothing that existed back in the 21st Century. Around his head was a pure white headband, and his chocolate brown bangs split over it to give him a sort of 'sultry mystique'. He threw his ponytail over his shoulder, strapped on his dark black boots and made his way back to the courtyard, at which he met Lilia. "...How do I look?" And the young man was life in wonder. "...Damn..." He was shocked when he saw her. She looked (in Saizaki's opinion) drop dead gorgeous. The girl was garbed in a long sparkling dress, split at the lower sides, to reveal flashes of her legs. On her feet were a small pair of open-toed high heels, and around her neck, a diamond choker necklace. Saizaki was shocked; for three reasons. One, Saizaki was at a loss to explain just how Lilia got dressed into something like *that* in the space of ten minutes. Second, he wondered just how Lilia could have snuck clothes that expensive-looking into the living barracks. Thirdly, Saizaki had NEVER seen Lilia like this. Though she was a very beautiful woman, Saizaki never really thought much of her beauty. It was the first time he saw it in her. Saizaki had never noticed it before, but, Lilia was really kinda... cute... "You look... wonderful..." Saizaki blinked. "I think this is the first time I've seen you in a dress..." Lilia giggled, then held Saizaki by the arm; her small, soft hand interlocking with Saizaki's larger one. "I'm glad you approve. Now lets get going." And so they did. It was the middle of the night, so getting down to Munich was going to be a little trickier than it would be during the day. Because of the ruination of technology, buses, trains, airplanes and cars were a thing of the past. Main forms of travel between towns were done with horse-drawn carts or on horseback in general. Technology had been re-cultivated in recent years though, so you could (on occasion) find people riding makeshift motorcycles, but because they were so expensive to build, only the rich could afford them. The two walked, a half-hour walk that took them all the way from the Freiheit Palace to the suburban areas of Munich. Lilia marvelled at the amount of people that came here to enjoy themselves or go out with their friends and spouses. It was refreshing to see places like this. The houses, shops and random buildings were all Pre-Comet in design, but had not suffered much damage. The people around all chattered and nattered to each other, with the occasional laugh added to that. Munich was one of the luckier cities. Other large cities didn't come off so easily. Places like Tokyo, Washington DC, London, Paris and Madrid had been severely damaged by the Genesis Comet. It had not escaped these people's notice that Berlin, the capital of Germany (before it became Neo-Germany) had been swept off the face of the earth. Thankfully, the German people had not let it get them down. Lilia and Saizaki strode through the streets arm in arm, until something caught Lilia's eye. "Hey, Saizaki, look over there." The auburn-haired man looked over in the direction Lilia was pointing at. Across the road, in a seedy looking corner of the street, was a small hut, made from withering blankets of what seemed to be Kashmir. It was large though, seemingly large enough to contain ten people at the most. Over the entrance inside was a signpost that said, 'MILDA'S SPIRITUAL CARD READING' Lilia looked up at Saizaki, her head against his shoulder. "...How about a reading?" "Humph." Saizaki snorted. "Sorry, Lilia. But I don't buy into any of that 'fate' crap. I'm my own guy, you know? I make my own decisions." That wasn't the answer Lilia wanted. "C'mon, it'll be fun. Trust me." "Lilia..." The girl gave a fake pout. "If you don't come with me, I'll be annoyed." A sigh followed the slumping of two shoulders. There was no way that he was going to find a route around this. Saizaki nodded in acceptance, then walked with a cheerful Lilia over the street and towards the reading tent. They lowered their heads a little, then walked inside. Inside the tent was an old, shrivelled up hag of a woman, a wrapping around her head and hair. She was sitting on a one of the many pillows tossed around the floor, in front of a pine wooden table, low to the ground. This woman was obviously Milda. "Take a seat, young ones." Lilia sat down quickly, while Saizaki did so more slowly, both soldiers collapsing onto a individual pillow for seating. Lilia was the first of them to speak. "We'd like a reading, if that's okay with you, miss Milda." Milda clapped her hands together. "That's fine! That's fine! But first I need a slight fee... five credits for the both of you would be enough..." Saizaki went into the pocket of his jacket, and fished out a note worth ten credits. "This better be worth it, grandma." "Don't be disrespectful, boy," Milda snatched the money from his hand with a grin forming from her wrinkled lips. "Everyone has a destiny. Some are more significant than others. So lets begin. I think I will start with the un-believer." The old German woman went for a deck of cards on her table. She shuffled them, right before explaining how this worked. "I will shuffle the cards. Then you will select one of them. I will analyse the card, then give you a fable which relates to your destiny..." She stopped shuffling, spread three cards over the table, looking up at Saizaki. "Pick one." The lieutenant sighed, snatching the middle card from the table. He took a look at its picture, then turned it around to show the old woman. "...There." "The lumberjack..." Milda grinned with amusement. "It seems I have stumbled on someone who will make waves on the face of the earth... I shall tell you the fable that relates to you. Many years ago in ancient times there once lived a man called Gally. Gally was a lumberjack who lived in Schwarzwald, the Black Forest. He was known for years as the best and only lumberjack who had the strength to cut down the thick trees that were there. One morning, Gally left his cabin go get some firewood. But he became lost, and he stumbled into something he fell in love with. A magical axe. That had the power to cut down any tree. Gally took this axe and tested it out on some of the toughest trees in the forest. He was amazed with the speed at which he could cut down the trees. So in his happiness, he chopped down every tree he came across. Until the whole forest was destroyed. When he realized what he had done, Gally was stunned. He had become so drunk on the axe that he finished the forest single handed. Gally went back to his cabin in sadness, realizing what a terrible act he had committed. But what Gally didn't realize, was that forest not only supplied the village with wood, but served as protection from a two-headed demon. The demon smelled the flesh of the villagers and attacked them, killing many innocent people. When Gally heard the screams, he grabbed the axe and ran to the village. Gally proceeded to slay the demon, but was heartbroken when he realized that it gotten through the dead forest that he created. In his misery, Gally apologized to the villagers and killed himself with the axe. The magical axe then dissolved and up from it sprung the demon! Which proceeded to kill all those people left in the village. It had tricked Gally into cutting down the forest for him! And so the two-headed demon claimed all of the region, putting its humble inhabitants into many years of fear and suffering." By now, Saizaki had his face in his palm from boredom. "...And the morale of that happy little story is...?" Milda grinned. "Power does not equal justification. Strength is never necessarily used by the right person. And that which someone believes to be right, might not be correct. Power must be given to those who have good judgement. And your destiny is to see that those who lack correct judgement will never lay their hands on power. Keep that in mind and you will have a brilliant future." That went straight over Saizaki's head. "Uh... okay...?" "What about me?" Lilia asked eagerly. Milda motioned to the two remaining cards. "Pick one." To that Lilia nodded, then took the one on the right. She looked at it, then showed it to Milda. The old prophet smiled at the card, casting a glance from Lilia to Saizaki, then back again. "Hmmm." She pondered. "So you have drawn the Scarlet Truth, hm? That is very interesting and very easy to decipher. You need no tale. You need only this message. You have a great hidden wind sleeping inside you. Soon that wind will awaken... you can be consumed by it... or you can control it with the love of another at your side." "The love of another?" Lilia repeated absently. Milda cast a sly grin in Saizaki's direction. "...Him." "What?" The Japanese man turned beet red as Lilia and Milda eyed him over. "Are you out of your crusty old mind? Look, thanks for the what-cha-ma-call-its but we should be going." The young man immediately hoisted Lilia to her feet, and strode with her out of the tent, leaving Milda behind. She was smiling softly to herself. "...You can't run away from your destiny, my boy..." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Shrine of Quetzacoatl, Cath Maige Tuired "So... this is the shrine in which the might Quetzacoatl is housed?" Ursula watched from the strong shoulder of Gram, the walls that enclosed the weapon they were searching for. The reason they came to Cath Maige Tuired. The sacred nightmare weapon of old, the Quetzacoatl. She sat upon Gram's shoulder while Gram stood across from the shrine. This area of Cath Maige Tuired was just towards the outer layers of the city. Thus it was far more grassy and rough here than anywhere else on the island. And the Shrine of the Quetzacoatl was built ahead of them by about twenty or so metres. A not so tall structure but large from wall to wall. Decorated with statues and lanterns, made of gold-brown colour bricks and adorned with windowless openings. Though the actual shrine couldn't have been more than twenty years of age, it had a haunting feeling of time connected to it. As though it had been there for longer than it obviously was. The Quetzacoatl was entombed inside. Now that three months had passed since word got out about the weakening of the seal on the old weapon, it was the perfect time to finally shatter the spell. And free its ancient power. But first they had to deal with the Order of Light. Ursula and Gram had seen the troops arrive three months ago, so they knew just what to expect. The soldiers summoned from the Order had been put on patrol. Not all of them, about four or five on the outside. But Ursula could feel that no more had been stationed there. Probably they were hoping to save the cream of their forces for the sealing ceremony, which would be taking place soon. Gram nodded, Ursula sitting on his usual right shoulder. "Yes. The magical seal that binds the weapon is focused inside that place. I would have thought that they would be putting more guards here by now... but they are completely unaware of us in the long run." Ursula looked down at her guardian and smiled. "Oh Gram. You're so destructive. I can tell you're already thinking of how you'll get inside that place. And how you will deal with the troops that have been stationed here." "It will not take much effort, Mistress Ursula," Gram answered, "Not with Fafnir beside me. Your magic has strengthened it beyond even my own wildest dreams. It would take little time to deal with those people." Ursula nodded. "Of course it would. I have every confidence in you, my brave, strong knight. But I think I'll give you a little hand before you make the attack. After all, I am a magic-user. What good would that power be if I didn't use it to bring about my own aims?" The bell earrings attached to Ursula's ears jingled as she leaned forward. She stretched out her hand and concentrated, slipping her amethyst eyes shut. Then things began to happen. A glistening glow appeared around Ursula's hand. The colour of bright silver. It deeply grew in brightness and strength as the seconds passed by, until that light began to take shape. The silvery light forged itself into a shaft. A curved one. One that made the grooves of a handle at the point where Ursula's hand would surround it. The silver light had transformed itself into the shape of a bow. The post-adolescent magic-user gripped the light bow and she brought her other hand to the middle. Another ray of light appeared and turned itself into the luminous light string of the silvery bow. Ursula pulled back the string and took aim, opening one of her eyes and aiming towards the doors of the shrine across from her. As she parted her lips to speak the name of the attack, an arrow of silver power appeared upon the bow, drawn all the way back to her shooting arm. "Seraphim Ranger!" In that instant, Ursula's body jerked backwards, along with Gram's, as she shot the Seraphim Ranger attack straight for the guarded doors of the Shrine of the Quetzacoatl. The silver light of the arrow homed in on the door with thundering speed and impact. The soldiers guarding the opening to the shrine all cried out with shock the minute that the blast made contact. A huge explosion burst across the locked doors and boomed throughout that small area. Those guards were hurled into the air along with dismembered limbs, smoke and stone. The rock that made up those heavy doors was smashed apart in that instant, collapsing into itself and crashing down into the dusty floor. Revealing the chilled innards of the shrine. Gram held his free hand to the chin of his steel mask and observed. Three of the guards were dead. Two were alive, but wounded. Ursula had held herself back a bit. "What do you think?" Ursula asked, her silvery light bow fading away. "Graceful." Gram replied. "I wouldn't call it graceful," The powerful youngster corrected, shutting her smooth eyes with a smile, "I don't like conserving power for anything... but I don't want to waste my magics on opening shrines. It took a lot of power for us to teleport all the way from the European mainland. I need to save as much of myself as I can for our return. So from now on, most of the work will be up to you, Gram. Can you handle it?" "Of course." He answered. Ursula giggled and floated from her seat on Gram's shoulder. She hovered through the air until her sandaled feet landed upon the ground. Gram rolled his head around, cracking the bone there, as well as cracking his knuckles. Then reached for something at his waist. It was a bladeless sword. It had the hilt and butt, however no blade. And the hilt was carved with the name Fafnir. Gram gripped it tightly and growled in one moment. Then the sword began to show more of itself. Magical energies sprang up from the hilt of the sword. Azure energies that took on the perfect shape of a sword-blade. But far larger. The energy blade of Fafnir was graced with the great length of a German Zweihander sword but was much thicker. It gave a pure blue glow to the body of Gram. And he then charged straight ahead at the smoking opening to the shrine. The two surviving soldiers of the Seraphim Ranger stood up with urgency as they fearfully watched the bio-tech man rush at them. They quickly withdrew their swords but it would have made no difference in any case. Gram laughed menacingly at them and performed two quick slashes, running right past them through into the shrine. Three seconds later; the pair of them collapsed to the ground, dead. Their heads rolled from their carcasses and spewed out blood as freely as water. Gram ignored that meaningless victory and stepped inside that large hall. Its sandy brick design was just the same inside as it was out. And there was one giant platform in the centre of the hall. Upon that was an altar. And on that altar was a steel quarterstaff, surrounded by compact shield of sealing magical energy. It flickered every few seconds, showing its weakness. The weapon inside it was none other that Quetzacoatl. Gram pulled back Fafnir and sneered at the weapon. "So. This is the tool that Ursula and I have come to Cath Maige Tuired for. I can feel its power from here. Maybe it actually can rival the strength of the Four Sacred Swords... Now all I have to do is shatter what was left of that trembling seal." "Baleful Incise!" Gram's attentions quickly acknowledged danger and he jumped straight out of the path of it. A downwards slashing energy came from above in the grim colour of black. The violent slash ripped upon the stone floor with an echoing cry, tearing apart stone with frightening ease. That black slashing energy vanished in the blink of an eye, and Gram stepped back. Knowing now that he was not alone in this shrine... "Hmm... 'Baleful Incise'..." Gram mused, "I've never even heard of a magical technique by that name before..." The mystery fighter pulled his head up from that crouched position he had landed in. His whole body with enveloped in a large black trench coat, darkening his appearance. The only thing about him that was light in nature was the sandy blonde of his lengthy ponytail. In his hands was an odd weapon of choice. A scythe. The blade was the colour of black... following his whole trend. "You're wrong," The mystery scythe-wielder answered, "That was not magic energy. That was the overflowing power of the one thing mankind has against magic. The power of Chi." Gram snorted. "A Western Chi-Master? How delightfully interesting. So who might you be?" "The name is Leignitz..." Said the Chi-user, "And I am the Guardian of the Quetzacoatl. I don't know who you are... or for whatever reason you want the staff... but you will have to go through me to get to it..." The cerulean glow of Fafnir became brighter with that being said. "Stupid boy. You must be begging for death if you have the gall to challenge me." Leignitz gave a double grip of his scythe. "This weapon speaks differently, freak. If you don't want the Plague to start slicing you into bits then you'd better start running." Neither of them was willing to back down in this issue. Gram grunted and then ran straight towards Leignitz. Leignitz tilted his scythe backwards and did the same. The two titans ran straight for each other in powerful charges that would have signified the beginning of bloody combat. However it was not to be. Before Gram and Leignitz collided with each other, a thin but VERY powerful field of invisible magical power. The two were rebounded from each other with brutal force. They skidded backwards and looked up to the caster of the magic. Floating above in the air was the young mistress of Non-Elemental Magic, Ursula. Leignitz scowled. "Another one, eh?" "Mistress Ursula." Gram spoke to himself. There was a small smile on the girl's face as she looked down at Leignitz. "Amazing. I sensed that there were no others in the shrine aside from the outside forces. Yet somehow I could not sense you. That Chi of yours seems to block some of my magical powers." Leignitz sneered at her. "That's why Westerners like myself call it Fake Magic, kid. But I have no time to be explaining myself to you. No one will lay their hands upon the Quetzacoatl while it is under my guardianship. So if you wish to join this thing in death... be my guest." Ursula giggled at Leignitz. "Well you're certainly determined. But although all that bravado will serve you well against normal people, my servant Gram and I are very different to the average brood. You see, Gram is a production of the former Shougatsu Financial Group. Have you heard of them?" "Of course I have." Leignitz replied coldly. "Well they created a project called Second Origin," Ursula began, "The plan was to gather the Four Sacred Swords together and then use their combined magic to annihilate what was left of the world. Then the bio-engineered race of theirs, the Deities, would take over and start a new world. It was a tacky and tasteless plan that eventually proved fruitless. However, the Shougatsu did create their desired super race. Only one of Deities exists in the world today. And she will prove to be more important to the future than anyone can imagine. But with every success comes its flaws. And my Gram here was considered a flaw. He was a sort of prototype for the Second Origin Project. Three of these prototypes were made. And they were called Genocide Weapons. Those of Gram's kind were powerful... but not quite as 'humane' as the Shougatsu would have wanted. So production of the Genocide Weapons ceased at the third. There are only two Genocide Weapons left of the three in this reality. Gram being one of them. Even if you trained for decades, you could never match up to his powers." Leignitz growled impatiently. "Are you just going to talk? Or do you plan on fighting any time soon? I couldn't care less about the origins of your little pet or what mistakes the past has made. I am the Guardian of the Quetzacoatl. All who threaten to take it shall die!" "Now, now," Ursula waved him off, "Death comes to everyone. But it doesn't have to be now of all times. I'll just settle for seeing that the Quetzacoatl has better defences in its fortune than I would have first imagined. But don't get too confident. The next time we see you... we'll kill you. Bye, bye!" And like a flash, Ursula was gone. Gram too. The pair of them vanished with a very fast form of magical teleportation. Leignitz sighed with a scowl and lowered his scythe, Plague. From the looks of things, protecting the Quetzacoatl was going to get a lot more tricky. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The night after the reading was tough on Saizaki. Usually when he and Lilia went out together during time off, they couldn't stop smiling and laughing together. Now it was sort of awkward. All thanks to that crazy old hag, Milda. It wasn't like Lilia was a total downer though, she just wasn't saying anything. Which was strange. Very strange. Because Lilia had started out so confident tonight. The two walked back through the long grass path that lead outside of the suburbs. This path went towards Freiheit Palace. As they walked, Saizaki cast a gaze down at Lilia. She was so quiet now. "You didn't take what that old bat said seriously, did you?" "N-No... of course not..." She responded. Saizaki nervously continued. "G-Good, because... that's a crazy idea. You and me... like that. I mean, we're friends. It's completely crazy... right?" "..." Lilia said nothing. "...Right?" Lilia finally managed to speak again, though her eyes remained on the ground as she and Saizaki walked back to Freiheit Palace. "Saizaki... what do you... think of me?" Now where the hell did that come from? "...Huh? Do you really need to-" "I'm just curious," Lilia looked at the older boy. "What do you think of me?" It wasn't like Saizaki had to wrack his brain to come up with a response to that. But the fact that he was talking this way about one of his best friends... "Well... you're a great... sword fighter, I guess. And you're the smartest person I've ever met. You're a laugh, too." "Saizaki... I mean..." Lilia cast her eyes back downwards as she walked. "...As a woman..." The Japanese boy blushed even harder. "Uh... well..." "...You can't say anything, can you?" And at that point, Lilia's disposition switched from being quiet and nervous to vocal and annoyed. She glared at the ground as she walked forward, though her glare was intended for Saizaki in every possible way. "You didn't seem to have a problem telling Esperanza that she was cute." "Esperanza?" Saizaki's disposition also switched, from embarrassment to confusion. "What's she got to do with this?" Saizaki could have sworn that a flash of anger passed through Lilia's lowered eyes, but he could not enquired about it. Lilia was quickening her pace as Freiheit Palace was became a palpable sight on the horizon. The French girl stomped onwards, at a faster pace than him. "Just forget it, Saizaki."
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