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A/N: Blargh again. Good news though; a friend of mine, asheromega, has since started posting stuff on fictionpress again. If you're looking for a quirky adventure story, give Travels by him a look. It's a fun read. ^_^
The knight
Things were quiet and tense that day. I got a few odd looks from people, but it quickly became clear that people understood there was someone else that was capable of manipulation and indirect murder. And they didn't know who it was. Humans would have at least the reassurance that the psycho was on the same level as them, more or less. Sure, you could think the mystery man might have a gun or a knife, but you could improvise and prepare.
But with demons and spirits and the like, potential victims were at a tremendous disadvantage. If you were an elemental, well, the enemy would just have to take steps to counter any advantages you'd have. If you were a vampire or some other undead creature, there was a treasure trove of rituals and materials that would make you as weak as a kitten. Heck, aside from strengthened defenses, an incubus or a succubus was not that different from a human, complete with all the liabilities and minimal perks.
In short, our enemy knew nearly everything about us, and all we had to go on were a few intuitive guesses.
Tar was, really, not that hard to locate. We couldn't expect an entire crew to come down and fix a road when we were so distant from everyone, and there probably would be enough for me to work with once I got transferred to another room. In the meantime, one of the other ranked officers on the base was listing a broadcast, asking people to safeguard their rooms. They were really covering their bases, including stuff like salt for fully-fledged hellspawn and the like. They kept droning on and broadcasting it every half hour or so, just to make sure everyone was on the same page. I wondered how much of it was just plain misdirection so the hostile wouldn't know Atha believed she had him pegged.
I wasn't hungry, believe it or not, but I had to admit staying in a crowd was still a sound strategy. With that in mind, I simply found a seat in a lobby and decided to try to think through this all. There was pretty much no way to figure out this guy's identity without arousing suspicion and possibly tipping him off. At which point I'd probably be killed. So I really just had to wait until the mystery man struck again... and I hated that.
If Kerrigan were here, she'd no doubt have turned the situation to her favor almost immediately, or at least put the pieces together in a way that she'd have a tactical advantage in some way. But instead , I was stuck with-
A particular oni happened to sit down opposite of me before opening a large book again and continue to read it.
“You're shaken up about all of this, aren't you? Gregor's death and all?” The question was delivered in a surprisingly calm tone as he continued to read, occasionally turning the page. “That's understandable.”
The book was a dead giveaway. “Fudoh,” I responded, “What are you doing here?”
“Hmm?” The book was lowered a half inch and he looked at me before raising it up and continuing to read again. “Ah.” I had to admit, he was acting a lot more confident now that he wasn't the center of attention. “To be honest, there's a whole lot of information out there to read up on... and I'd hate to just up and die before getting my fill. So I thought we could discuss a few things.”
“Well,” I answered, “Put down the book and we'll talk.”
Fudoh turned another page. “When you make it worth my while.” Argh... weren't oni supposed to be really boisterous and outspoken? This guy was certainly arrogant, but he was otherwise totally different from the norm.
People were beginning to mill past us, but they paid us no mind. Likewise, we didn't really focus on them either; Fudoh just reading his unusual book while I tried to get on the same page as him.
“You know, you're attitude doesn't really reflect the fact you're here to help me. And besides... you could turn out to be the real spy,” I pointed out. “So why would you come down here anyways?”
Another page was turned. “Because you're the person least likely to be the one that controlled Gregor. Nobody in the shoes of that man or woman would be foolish enough to make themselves be the primary subject. So I can trust you quite a bit, Keston.”
“Yeah. And what about you?”
“I know I'm not the enemy. That's good enough. Besides...” he shrugged, “I could have a gun behind this book. Incubi have thick skin and hardened bones, but you're not that much tougher than a human. If I wanted you dead right now, I could do it. Or just distract you while I controlled another kappa or maybe someone else.” Yeah. Definitely arrogant. “But the fact is, you technically weren't the one attacked... at least not at first. Gregor was. And then for whatever reason he attacked you.”
Damn. He wasn't anywhere near as modest as Kerrigan, but he at least sounded competent about this all. “... You know... I'm going to be taking everything you say with a grain of salt. There is absolutely no reason I shouldn't rule out the possibility you're still out for my head.”
The book closed as Fudoh glared at me. “I just established the fact-”
“The last time I had to deal with a psychopath, she had a long and very convoluted scheme. One of her subordinates had a few opportunities to kill my brother's Tower, but she ended up not doing so for personal reasons. This could easily be another case of that.”
That got him, and Fudoh's eyes lost a bit of their confidence as he looked down at the ground again. “I-I...”
Dammit. I had heard some people would be shaken up if they lost their footing in a debate, but this was pretty bad. Granted, what I said had been true and I couldn't entirely trust Fudoh Zanki, but if I stayed cautious it couldn't bite me too badly, right?
Scooting up on the bench, I called him out again. “Fudoh.” Once I knew I had his attention I continued. “Let's make a little assumption here. Let's pretend you and I can be sure of our own innocence. And while we try to discuss and make sure we don't get ourselves killed, we try to work together, okay?”
The oni looked at me for a moment before almost laughing. I could almost hear his confidence crawling back as he spoke again. “You know... that's pretty smart... if two people have their backs pressed up against each others', then neither one can be in a position to backstab the other without tipping them off. Not too shabby of an idea, Mr. Intorrage.”
“Thanks,” I responded. For the moment, I'd just keep in mind that I could knock this guy down a peg or two if the need arose. “I spent time living with a psychotic, so you pick these things up.”
“Yeah,” Fudoh said as he used a spoon to draw my attention to a certain Frame's arm guards. “It's a new Arcane Frame that's getting limited release to higher-ranked officers. It's supposed to have all the weaponry built in, unlike these older models.”
“What kind of weaponry?”
Fudoh leaned back and took a sip of his drink before continuing. “Melee, from what the official reports say. Honestly... I don't care.”
“How come?”
Fudoh flipped to another page in his book and then showed it to me. Unlike the others, this one was a piece of sketching paper, complete with an unusual-looking Frame there. “I'm working on my own. Home brewed, built from parts I've convinced researchers to give to me since quality control at a lot of development bases consider 'good enough' to not be good enough. I've already got the weapon finished, and it's a bit of a doozy!”
So this guy was an amateur inventor? He kept distancing himself more and more from the oni archtype the more I talked to him. “Sounds cool. What is it?”
Fudoh's eyes lit up as he started to speak before promptly stopping himself. “Huh. Almost forgot... can't really trust you with too much, right?” The distant tone was back, and after a moment, I scooted away from him a little bit.
“... Yeah. You're right.”
When I was with Shot and Saori, I noticed there were really two types or horror movies when there were survivors stuck in a single area. There was the type where the killer was a threat due to be tougher and had access to weapons the protagonists didn't... and what are usually the “slasher” movies. What I was finding myself stuck in was the other type... with the enemy possessing a tactical advantage, and being capable of moving through Point Rubi undetected.
I wasn't the only one who was growing uneasy. Even with the periodic broadcasts the officers were making and assurances that safeguards would keep us safe, our enemy had some kind of charisma working for them preventing us from just calming down. A few of the kappas were really uncomfortable and considering what happened to Gregor, they were perfectly justified in those fears.
Fudoh and I went our separate ways, leaving me again to introspective thoughts and more hours spent doing nothing in a lobby. Not necessarily fun, but it was familiar territory It was getting late and Atha or any of the other officers hadn't gotten back to me, leaving me with no rooming at the moment. Time slipped by and I knew it would soon be lights' out. Depending on the enemy's strategy, I would be in the best or worst position in the entire facility.
“I saw you talking with someone else today during lunch.”
The sudden revelation I once again had human contact caused me to react in an unbecoming manner. I turned around, already expecting this would be the point in time where my luck would finally run out. Instead I just saw Sebastian there, holding up a tray with a pair of plain-looking mugs. Steam was rising from them, and the guy didn't seem all that perturbed by my reaction as I slowly made room for him.
“After your little outburst with Gregor yesterday, plus with his death... I thought it would be good to give you some space, you know?” He tried to smile at me, but gave up before long and we were just two trainees sitting down with cups of -by the scent of it- coffee. “Sorry about yesterday though... it's just... oh, I guess living up on Earth is just such an exciting concept when you think about it. Not many of us get summoned anymore, and I was wondering what it was like to wander among humans.” Sebastian laughed. “You know, they say every day a demon based on a human lives on Earth, the more human they become?” He reached down and picked up his cup before taking a sip.
“Not sure about that,” I responded before grabbing the other mug. This guy was still a little annoying, but by acting like this, at least he was curbing my irritation. As I was about to take a swig, I couldn't help but just put it down and laugh. “This is weird.”
“What is?”
“Nothing,” I said as I looked at the guy. “Just the last time I had tea, bad stuff happened to me. Let's just leave it at that.” My foolish stand up to the wielder of the Hallowed Prisms had ended without fanfare and had lead to a lot of headache and troubles for everyone... and it was one of the reasons I had come here in the first place. I reached down for the mug again to-
“Huh. We have a guest.”
I froze and put down the drink. Sebastian didn't act surprised, but I decided not to risk it and slowly, slowly inched away from him. Without even needing to look back and confirm my suspicions, I spoke.
“He was the guy that manipulated Gregor?”
“Yes.” It was Atha. “And you are, sir, a lich, correct? It's not exactly out of your powers to use control people.”
“Oh, I know,” Sebastian sighed. “Of course, I knew the game was up since... oh, when everyone was starting to safeguard their rooms. Before I'd know it, I'd be locked out and in the open. Such a shame too...” Learning forward and resting his chin on his hands he just laughed again. “So much for seeing the strengths and abilities earned from living on Earth in action!”
“What?”
Sebastian's eyes lit up in innocent amusement as he looked at me. “Oh, come on, Keston! Incubi can pass for humans so easily... I wanted to see what kinds of skills you could've picked up! It's a philosophy of my boss Nagask...” The lich almost immediately took on an infinitely more insidious while changing absolutely nothing about his appearance. “'Do as you please. Anyone and everyone who opposes you forfeits living'.”
At this point in time, I realized Sebastian viewed me as a non-threat. The temperature was quickly dropping and his only real concern was living through the next few moments and taking things from there. And to do that-
Sebastian lunged at Atha Sido, the woman expecting it and swinging her right arm up to counter. I was surprised, I mean, it was armored but it couldn't do much of anything if Sebastian put his all into attacking.
The heated chain struck again, distracting and warding off Sebastian for a few moments as I finally noticed a long, thin blade protruding from the top of Atha's right forearm.
Built in weaponry... a sword and some sort of heated chain. Come to think of it... the Frame's design wasn't too different from one of the Algol's that Fudoh showed me earlier.
Atha was quickly moving in to try to box Sebastian further into the room, the lich prancing around her attack but still unable to get away. Once again, I was finding myself on the sidelines, utterly incapable of pitching in when someone had to pick up after me. The stupid and infantile part of me wanted to run in there and finally end my civilian status... but that would be stupid. Atha was doing fine and the absolute worst thing to do would provide an unnecessary distraction.
Sebastian was all but cornered now, with nowhere to go and the burning heat of the chain preventing him from using the cold to incapacitate Atha. Without even trying for anything theatric, Sido ran straight at Sebastian with her Frame's blade ready to run him through.
Wait- NO!
“ATHA, GET-”
Screaming out to her was useless. Maybe that's why my still-honed “don't distract the people saving you” skills weren't stopping it. By the time I had shouted her name, it was over. Sebastian's hand had brushed up against the Arcane Frame's left gauntlet, instantly freezing both it and the chain that came from it. Clever... attacking the coldest part of the weapon to disable the hottest part.
With unparalleled speed, Atha was blown backwards by attacks I couldn't follow. She crashed into the wall, her much of her armor shattering from the impact. She... she wasn't getting up...
“Hmm... not much of a fighter,” Sebastian took on a sing-song tone again... the room temperature low enough that I could see the vapor from his breath. “Oh well. That was awesome how you fought off Gregor though! Totally like-”
“Shut up.”
Sebastian did shut his mouth, but more out of amusement and interest at what I was going to say before hypothermia got the better of me. The lich himself seemed to be doing just fine all the same... but then again... something undead like him wouldn't mind the cold much.
“You're a disgusting manchild, Sebastian. I'm not your goddamn entertainment!”
“Says you...” he pouted. Dammit! This guy didn't view me as a threat at all! Atha was as good as dead and if I joined her here then there'd be too many unanswered questions for my spirit to ever get over. Sensing my frustration, his deceptively childish looks returned to join in with his tone of voice. “Come on... can't even think of anything else to say? What about a rousing speech or something? Don't they teach you people how to fight up on Earth?”
Sebastian threw his arms up in the air in annoyance. “Jeez! You're a completely worthless piece of crap, you know that?”
Dammit. J-just... dammit! I was out of my league and as such, I wasn't of any value to Sebastian. He was just going to charge at me and-
But then something in my head clicked. Sebastian was the kind of guy who would do that. He wasn't going to leave me to the cold, he was just going to end this stupid mess and move on in his infantile search. And since he was going to be impatient... for these few moments, I could do something.
“Oh well... time to end this.”
A lich is, in terms of raw offense, much, much more capable in a fight than an incubus. Being a cold entity of undeath, freezing its surroundings at will was one of the more basic things it could do and one it shared with many other types of undead. There were other things he could do... but I wasn't worth it. He'd just end this with a few punches and end when my body gave out on me.
… Heh. I guess I did pick a few things about fighting from Shot and company, Sebastian.
He ran straight at me. He thought this wouldn't even be a fight. Stupid, stupid lich.
His fist shot out and I dove for the ground. Sebastian would interpret it as the last act of a coward because he'd given up on the idea of me being a solid fighter. His loss.
The blade protruding from the Algol's right gauntlet was my best option. All I had to really do was angle it up and know my enemy would take care of the “running through it” part. And Sebastian didn't disappoint, getting the weapon through the gut and stopping his offensive instantly.
… Gotcha.
Demons, the undead, gods... we all had our own little weaknesses and liabilities. Certain metals, protective charms, a quick little chant... heck. Even Matei Jun's Dai Makai was limited by the Rule of Invitation. Atha came into this fight using an Algol. She came in it because she knew she could win with just this Arcane Frame... so even if a weapon was damaged and frozen, it wasn't useless.
Sebastian's over-anxious desire to finish me off was his undoing as he stared down at his impaled body. I was almost expecting him to shout out “COOL!” and spend his last few moments gushing frantically about my amazing comeback. Instead... he just started crying. Like the little boy who never really grew up, death was a non-issue for him all the way up to this point. And now that it was the most important thing to worry about, he didn't know how to react to it.
… Good riddance.
“With the lich dead, any influence he might've had on anyone's also gone,” Atha sighed. We were in the hospital or... well, whatever Point Rubi's equivalent to it was. “I think it's safe to assume he was working alone as well. Otherwise he wouldn't have acted so soon after the first incident. And being dead and all will put a stop to any other planned manipulations...”
I felt sorta naked in that room. Aside from the fact that Miss Sido was seriously injured, one of the Algol test model Frames was ruined, and I was again responsible for killing someone, all the other officers at Point Rubi were in the room.
Whatever Atha was, she was made of tough stuff and had walked away from that battle with Sebastian with little more than a few broken bones and a concussion. Everyone seemed relieved now that the threat was dealt with and Sebastian's body had been disposed of via salting and then getting reduced to cinders. After his last stint, taking risks was just plain stupid.
“You had a pretty good grasp of yourself during that fight, Keston,” she said with a smile. “Not to mention I owe you my life... and you probably saved Point Rubi a lot of headache in the long run.”
I sighed. “Well, you saved my life first, so let's just call it even.”
“As you wish. Oh, and incidentally...” someone handed me some paperwork, “A Mr. Fudoh Zanki's offered to be your new roommate. We've run through his background twice to be sure he's clean... and we'll be doing it for everyone else here for some time in the immediate future.”
“Will that be all?” I asked. I hadn't slept in a while, and I just wanted this to be over and done with.
“Almost,” one of the other officers said. “As you probably know already, the Algol Arcane Frames are being tested here for mass production and their performance in mock battles would make or break the possibility of them being mass produced. You've shown a lot of guts on two separate occasions when you could've very easily froze up. You could do very well as a a handler for one of them.”
“You... really mean it?” This wasn't what I had really expected, and I wasn't really that enthusiastic about the actual reward... but the genuinely considered me worthwhile here at Point Rubi.
“Sure,” Atha Sido said with a smile. “Why not?”
“Hey, Fudoh.”
“It over?”
“Yeah...” I said as I moved past him into the room. “Sebastian's dead and Point Rubi'll get a little bit safer now as a result.”
“Pleased with yourself?” Fudoh asked as he pointed to the bed on the left side of the room. “That one's for you.”
Nodding in thanks, I sat down there and then looked at him. “Not really. But I'm starting to pulling my own weight. I need to grow up sooner or later.
“And... thanks too.”
“Oh?” Fudoh asked as he raised an eyebrow. “What's the reason?”
“For letting me room with you.”
“Oh, it's no problem.” Fudoh reached over and once again started to look at the Arcane Frame designs. “You'll get to see my custom machine when it's all done too. Who knows?” He laughed. “I was planning on painting it blue. The Algol's red. And I'm an oni. Too bad we don't have the trope down just right, eh?”
“Sure...” I said before falling into the bed. This guy could be weird if he wanted to. “So when are things going to go back to normal here with scheduling? Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow afternoon, although the officers will still be on the lookout for anyone acting suspicious,” Fudoh said. “I highly don't anyone will, but hey. They run this place, after all. Until then... well, I guess you'll just have to live with the reputation that you killed a lich and saved Miss Sido's life.”
“... You say that like it's a bad thing, Fudoh...” I said before falling back into the bed and looking up at the ceiling. Hopefully this would be the worst of my experiences at Point Rubi... if not, I'd just have to suck it up and keep fighting.
