Well... it does seem kind of awkward. You have that status quo since... forever. Then suddenly you try to make out and then D:
Male OC thoughts!
-He gets a call from Tatenashi cheerfully telling him to open a letter sent to him in the mailbox. That he should give it to the men in black who'll be at the house in five minutes and attend ISA. Should he not follow either, he'd be taken by the men in black and sent into a laboratory to be cut open. Ofcourse he chooses the former.
Festival. Ichika mentions tickets and they make various booths that would make no sense if it was a siimple anniversary.
Wait a second. I just took a look at Vol. 5 again, it said that it's the Academy's anniversary, not a Cultural festival. So that was a redundant question...
Yeah, Ichika died during the kidnapping. Chifuyu found him dead and broke down. She has issues with the word and implications of "abadnoning" someone. Something male OC unknowingly triggers... so she trains him personally
Eras mistook it, the festival happened in V4 and V6, I think.
A Summer Festival was held at Houki's family shrine in Vol. 4.
Cannonball Fast happened in Vol. 6.
I have a scene in mind that'll happen shortly after IS Academy's anniversary event. I'm thinking of posting it at a later time. Right now, I can't because it's very late... (2:09 AM PST)
Well initially she just does it so he can't say she's abandoning him like he accuses. At some point, Tabane confronts Chifuyu if she is using the OC as a crutch. Also, Tabane is really evil here.
I'm kind of troubled by OC's relation with Houki since there is no connection between them whatsoever. Houki is a lot more violent and the OC probably just hangs around her a lot because she keeps everyone away. The OC has to choose between uncomfortable 20 questions with a hundred or so girls, or face the raging Houki. He chooses the latter, mostly because he doesn't figure out that the places that are good to be alone are good to be alone in because Houki is there. Would that work?
"My name is Guiche de Gramont and my runic name is 'The Bronze'," He waved the rose in his hand and a petal fluttered down from the base down to the ground, "Accordingly, you will be fighting my bronze golem Vakyrie as your real opponent."
Whatever the Familiar was expecting, it certainly wasn't what he was seeing right now. The second the petal touched the ground, a bright light engulfed the small area in the shape of a suit of armor. The very next second he found himself face to face with a bronze knight, cloaked in a suit of armor made of bronze and wielding a spear that was at least half his body height. The Bronze being was also taller than him by a landslide, the top of its head reaching at least a foot taller than him. If it was trying to intimidate him then it was working.
He didn't get much of a chance to observe the weird creation before he was forced to move. With blinding speed, the bronze Golem raised the spear and aimed straight at his gut. Instinct once again took over and the Undead found himself rolling frantically to side and barely dodging the spear. The makeshift shield at his back bent slightly when he landed on it but he was unharmed.
"Well well, I wasn't expecting you to dodge so well," He could hear Guiche's mocking voice patronizing him, "Don't worry, I am not without mercy. The spears have been blunted so they will not kill you. I just hope you know how to take a few hits for your master's sake."
Once again the Golem turned and rushed to him, and once again he found himself dodging frantically to stop himself from being impaled. All around him he could hear the crowd laughing, pointing at him as if he were some amusement that came along to brighten their day.
What was going on? What were these things? Summoning magic was an impossibility in Lordran. Or at least the summoning of Artificial beings. The golem attacking him was no doubt lacking in sentience, and yet it moved like clockwork in its strikes and targeting. Was this why Siesta and his master were so afraid of facing him? Perhaps he should have kept his assumptions to himself.
Another hit and another dodge came and went. The Undead couldn't do this forever, "Come on..." He stood up as fast as he could and grabbed the shield stuck to his back, forming a makeshift barrier. The Golem took the tray as a sign of challenge and stalked forward, spear raised and ready to strike at him.
Just before the spear hit, the Undead turned the tray to the side. The spear scratched loudly against the metallic wall before before being forced away with a hard push. The Golem made to do another strike but the Undead was faster. Dropping the shield to one hand, he reared his right fist back before ramming the unarmed hand forward in a strong punch.
The sounds of bending metal resounded all over the field. Guiche watched with utter surprise as his Golem stepped back, it's face caved inward and it's spear held loosely in its hand. The Undead gave a grimace and shook his hand slightly. That hurt, but the question in his mind was why. Before he could punch armored knights and his fist barely shook from the strain. Why was punching armored copies so painful now?
Murmurs began to spread through the crowd. Vaguely he could see his master look up with a look of utter surprise on her face at the sight of her Familiar not being...dead, or at the very least heavily maimed. Siesta was there as well, even more shocked though he could see relief breaking into it as well.
"H-Hmph, so I see you have some skill," Guiche waved his wand and gave a strained laugh, "However, do not expect this duel to go your way simply because you damaged one of my Valkyries," To prove his point, the damaged Valkyrie jumped back and readied another stance, despite the damage to it's cranium, "Damage has no effect on my Valkyrie's, so a single punch will do nothing to stop it."
The same technique followed again. The Valkyrie charged forward intending to skewer him and he dodged against the strike as best he could. Rather than use his hands again however, he kicked hard against the Valkyrie's shins and caused it to topple over from lack of balance. Immediately he made as much distance as he could from the bronze monstrosity. As long as it held the spear then it had the advantage in terms of power. And he wasn't even sure if any amount of damage could destroy it.
"Coward! Stop running away and face my Valkyries!"
More petals flew from the rose and two more Valkyries were summoned; one with a spear of similar design and the other with a longsword. He could see the damaged one get engulfed in a bright light before disappearing quickly. Shame, he would've liked to get a few souls from it.
The Undead once again detached the tray from his back. Fighting with two opponents was difficult, but he had faced worse in the past. First he needed to deal with the one holding the spear; longer reach and more piercing capability. Afterwards he would have to deal with the one holding the longsword before facing Guiche himself. The rose was obviously the catalyst summoning them and this would go on forever if he didn't stop him.
He charged forward, aiming at the spear wielder and preparing to strike again. The spear wielding Valkyrie seemed to read his mind as it charged forward again, spear raised and prepared to strike. Making a quick mental countdown, the Undead raised up the tray and held it straight as the spear pierced forward.
This time there was no parrying or scratches. The spear met barely any resistance from the metal tray before it pierced through, rendering the shield (though it was a stretch to call it even that) useless. Guiche gave a large smirk at the sight. Finally he was going to stop being humiliated by that commoner wielding a tray like some kind of warrior servant.
The spear continued to lurch forward, slowly but surely inching forever more inward...before suddenly stopping. The bronze Valkyrie seemed to pause in its advance before once again trying to nudge the spear forward. Again it was met with a lack of success. It took Guiche a few seconds to realize why.
He'd bent the tray inwards. Half the spears tip was already through the makeshift shield, but the large half was still penetrating when the tray was folded. As a result the Valkyrie found its weapon stuck and it wouldn't budge so long as the Undead held it in his hands.
'Now!' As the Valkyrie once again made to push forward he quickly pulled back. The spear was launched out of its hands and tossed into the crowd, all of whom avoided the spears path as if it was some cursed object. With the spear out of its hands the Valkyrie found itself woefully under-equipped and could do nothing to stop the Undead's fist from meeting it's face. Again and again his attacks hit before he felt the golem crumple beneath the constant assault. The pain from using his hand had already dulled.
Immediately afterwards a surge of power filled him. It was short and barely noticeable, but it was undoubtedly the one thing he'd been searching for: Souls, the energy that powered anything from the lowest Undead to the highest God. The crowd behind him began to murmur once again.
"Hey, did you see that bright light just now?" A rather plump blond pointed at the destroyed remains of the Valkyrie. The crowd winced in response when they saw how bent the metal had gotten simply by a few well placed punches.
"Wasn't it just the Valkyrie dispelling?"
"Can't be. The Valkyrie's still there."
As soon as those words came out, the Valkyrie immediately vanished in a flash of light. Much to the Undead's disappointment, the spear also disappeared with the Valkyrie. Shame, he would've liked to use the spear as a weapon in place of his fists.
"You are...strong, I must admit..." Guiche commented once again. Personally the Undead wondered why he didn't send the sword wielding construct to stab him from behind while he was busy dealing with the spear wielder. Perhaps he was trying to fight fairly? He did spout about honor and various other concepts that he never believed in earlier. Even the most fervent Darkmoon Blades had a sense of fairness about them.
The truth of the matter was that Guiche simply didn't think about it. When he saw the spear pierce through the flimsy tray he assumed he had won. By the time he realized he should mobilize the next Valkyrie it was already too late.
"...Last..." The focused on the sword wielding Valkyrie, which responded to his stare by going into a battle stance, 'If it's anything like the silver knights, then it'll charge forward and leave its sides and back open,' The Undead's eyes narrowed when the knight's- wait, he meant Vakyrie. Needed to focus on the present. The Valkyrie charged forward, raising the sword above its head and preparing to strike
Rather than roll to the side again, the Undead quickly hopped back and barely avoid the sword as it crashed down in front of his feet. The Valkyrie didn't bother giving him a chance to recuperate before slashing upwards. This time he did get slashed, though just barely. The loose shirt he wore tore open and he grimaced slightly as the burns felt open air. The bandage had been thinly sliced as well and parts of the reddish skin started poking out.
Another broad swing and the Undead found himself rolling to the side to avoid being caught. All around him the crowd started to laugh as he was forced to continue to roll and jump back to avoid being caught in one of the Valkyrie's wide arcs.
"Haha, so I see you have difficulties fighting against those who wield the sword!" Guiche chuckled as the Valkyrie continued to try and skewer him. Already he could feel his confidence beginning to bolster once again, "Why not step down and accept your defeat? I will grant you mercy in light of the struggle you've put up." The Undead didn't want to admit that the blond brat had a point: He had always had difficulty fighting those who wielded the blade more than everything else.
Not a chance! The Undead quickly scrambled back as another swing aimed at his neck barely hit against him. He wouldn't be able to fight against this thing if it continued to strike against him. He needed a way to distract it- Aha!
"Oh, what are you up to now?" Guiche gave another loud laugh as the Familiar quickly scrambled to get the folded tray, "Even if you get that pathetic tray back, my Valkyrie will simply tear it down!"
He wasn't planning on using it as a shield. With a hard grip, he picked up the bent metal again and observed it slowly, 'Durability's nearly gone. One hit and it'll be destroyed,' Rather than place it in front of him against as cover, the Familiar tightened his hold against the shield and raised it above his head. With a deep breath, he launched the tray forward and threw it straight at the Valkyrie's head.
Guiche stopped and stared, mouth open at a loss for words. The crowd as well, though some sputtering could be heard from them. The entire Valkyrie's head had been chopped clean off, cut off perfectly from the neck up. The Bronze creation gave no reaction before quickly dropping its sword and crumpling to the ground and disappearing. The tray that had been used for the act smashed against the ground before shattering into many pieces. Sham, it made a pretty good shield.
Once again he could feel a piddling amount of souls being added to his repertoire. Nobody bothered to comment on the spectacle; they were still shocked from the sight of a tray being used to cut off a a golem's head.
"Th-This is impossible!" For once, the over-dramatic statement wasn't followed by another twirl of his rose. The Undead gave a small smile at that. He always loved it when his enemies commented how impossible it was for them to be beaten and how insulting it was for them specifically to be beaten by someone as 'puny and mortal' as him.
The crowd's momentum immediately changed.
"Haha, Guiche can't even beat a commoner!"
"Your runic name doesn't suit you, Guiche. Perhaps you should change it to 'The Rust!"
The crowd immediately turned on him once he no longer had the advantage. The Familiar felt no joy or satisfaction from it. They would turn on anyone and side with the one who was winning, regardless if it was him or his opponent. Perhaps Gough was right; it was simply human nature to be selfish and only look out for oneself, damning all the rest.
"Guiche, stop this duel now!" He could see his master pushing her way to the front of the crowd, "My Familiar's proven to be more than your match. Stop it now before it escalates!"
The crowd added a few more jeers. Guiche tightened his grip on the rose wand and gritted his teeth. This commoner dared to insult him? Him, the only son of the House of Gramont and his father's only heir? He was not about to lose his honor against a commoner actor using a serving tray!
Much to the Undead's non-surprise, Guiche refused to surrender and another petal fluttered from the wand down onto the green earth. Another Golem was summoned, but this time it was different. While the previous golem's were obviously armored, they were lacking in detail and much protection.
The one in front of him was more detailed, with ornate signs and symbols on different parts of its body and thicker plating that needed either a strong weapon or warrior to pierce. Rather than the short sword or spears wielded by the previous three construct's, this one held an ornate longsword which glistened well under the midday sun on its right hand and a rather large kite shield on its left. The construct reminded him eerily of the Black Knight's he'd fought on his way to the Kiln: Stoic, focused, and extremely dangerous. He could feel his nerves shoot up nervously at the memory.
With a wave of his hand the construct rushed forward quickly, quicker than those who came before it. The Undead found himself frozen before he heard it, "Familiar,duck!" Instinctively he followed the command and not a second later as the golem cleaved a wide arc with the sword that would have no doubt left him lacking a head if it hit.
"Are you trembling at the sight of my powerful Valkyrie?" Damn it, his voice had gotten annoying again, "The ones you fought previously were simply imitations, frail copies that pale in comparison to the construct you see before you. No you will see the true power of the Gramont name!"
The Valkyrie gripped the sword tightly and lunged forward, aiming down at him with the intent of impaling him to the green earth below him. The Familiar had no choice but to roll to the side. He felt his breath momentarily hitch when the sword landed just a few inches from his ear. Another few inches and he would've been impaled by the ornate weapon.
Too much, it reminded him too much of his early days. When the Black Knights in the Undead Burg chased after him. Unfeeling and relentless they attacked, ignoring every plea or grunt of pain that passed from his mouth. Death reached him many times when he fought the loyal soldiers of Gwyn and, thoughthe Valkyrie was not the same, it reminded him too much regardless.
"Guiche, stop! You're going to kill him!" Louise once again tried to fight her way through the crowd, but none of them budged. Their interest in the conflict had renewed now that it was beginning to get exciting again.
The blond noble ignored her pleas and complaints. He was initially satisfied with simply beating the poor commoner; to make an example of him to ensure that crimes against nobility would not be punished. He wasn't even going to continue to press charges on the maid if he had his way. But now, now that the upstart commoner had refused to take his rightful punishment and had the gall to embarrass him in front of everyone, he didn't care. This commoner might or might not die, but he didn't care. If he did pass from this world then it wouldn't be much trouble for him to not get in trouble.
The Undead stood up quickly and aimed a low kick at the construct's shins, which was met with a general lack of success as the metal barely dented from the strike, "Dance, commoner, dance!" With every wave of Guiche's hands the construct continued to strike. Also unlike it's former brethren, the strikes the Valkyrie put out were balanced and professional. The Undead could see why he was proud of it.
He needed to aim for Guiche directly. With that plan of actions in mind the Undead rolled forward and began rushing straight at the blond summoner. Unfortunately for him the Valkyrie sensed his intent and blocked his path, pushing him back with a smash of its shield and a swipe of its longsword. Behind it Guiche smirked at his simply strategy.
Fleeing was the only option he had. Immediately he backpedaled as far as he could go and took deep breaths. He needed to find a way to distract the knight long enough for him to take a shot at its master. Even if he ran at full pelt the construct's enchantments ensured that it would still be able to beat him in both overall speed and agility.
'...I need to disarm that thing,' There was nothing for it; he had to attack the knight directly if he had any hope in getting to Guiche.
Closing his eyes briefly and muttering to himself that this was a horrible idea, he charged forward. Some of the nobles in the crowd laughed at his bravery (or as they called it, recklessness) and started guffawing quite loudly. The golem met his charge with the same stoic focus and readied its shield, "Look out!"That was Siesta's voice. Up he looked and he found the large golem holding its sword with both hands and preparing to strike down at him. It was too late for him to dodge it.
The sounds of metal cutting flesh resounded over the large courtyard. Louise, Siesta, and various other nobles in the crowd looked away and closed their eyes. None of them wanted to what had happened.
"W-What in the void!?" Guiche's shocked voice was the first to reach their ears. Hesitantly they all looked up and saw a sight most fascinating and morbid: The sword had been blocked, but by no shield. The Undead Familiar grimaced and resisted the urge to scream as the blade pierced against his left arm before stropping. No blood poured from the wound and the sounds of bones cracking were also eerily absent. Undead had naturally stronger bodies than most and it wasn't uncommon for swords, spears, and maces to be blocked by their limbs and bones alone.
The Valkyrie gave no reaction to his struggle and continued tying to press down. Not even an inch did the sword move downward, though the shaking of his hand continued to increase.
"F-Familar..."His master staring at him, somewhat surprised but mostly in fear. The Undead felt somewhat hurt but he knew he didn't have time for sentimentality right now.
"...Die!" In an unprecedented move, her Familiar leaned his head back before rushing forward. A headbutt, though nothing professional, was extremely painful for both the receiver and the giver. The Undead instantly felt a wave of dizziness spread across his head but the Valkyrie was even worst off. It stumbled back, sword dislodging rather audibly from the the pale young man's arm and its shield dropping with a dull thud against the earth.
It was now or never. Ignoring the pain in his arm, he gripped the ornate sword with both arms and pointed the tip straight at the chest before pushing as hard as he could. The sounds of bending metal once again echoed over the large field and the Undead kicked the stunned Valkyrie away with a well placed shot to the stomach.
"No...No way..." Guiche stared down in disbelief as the Valkyrie landed at its feet. One arm bent inwards and the other was missing its shield, like a marionette that had gotten its strings cut. Desperately it tried to move its arms and legs to try and get back up, but the sword ensured it would remain stuck to the ground unless a miracle were to somehow happen.
The Undead choked back a cry as he felt his arm flare up in pain. This was odd. Why was it hurting so much? Was his lack of Estus so debilitating that wounds he could usually ignore were now causing problems for him? Still, he had won. All that was left was to kill the sorcerer and he would be able to claim victory.
"S-Stay back, commoner!" Guiche started waving his wand in a panic, urging the marionette to stand up and defend him once again, "I-I will not allow you to make a fool of me! Stand down now!"
He was the one giving demands now that he'd lost? Truly pathetic. The Undead walked forward, slowly at first before he started rushing forward across the field and to the sniveling Gramont. One punch would be enough to injure him and then he could snap that catalyst in half.
"I said stay back!" With that last demand passing from his lips, he waved his wand around frantically and prayed for a miracle.
Louise and the entire crowd closed their eyes as the Undead was literally a breath away from smacking the poor boy back into the abyss. But no sound came, no cries of pain from Guiche as he begged for his life. Slowly and hesitantly they all opened their eyes, expecting the worst for the poor Gramont boy.
What they saw instead was the exact opposite. Guiche stood there, cowering and blubbering but completely unharmed. Louise's Familiar, on the other hand, was not so lucky.
A blade had impaled itself onto his stomach, the Valkyrie wielding it somehow managing to stab him despite its bent appendage. The Familair stared down in disbelief as the kneeling Valkyrie impaled the sword deeper against his stomach before stopping halfway. It's command to protect its master was complete and it would stab deeper only when he ordered it to.
No one was as shocked as Guiche himself. He felt many things at the moment: Relief that he didn't die, surprise that his Valkyrie managed to follow his command, and disgust at the sight in front of him. Now that the anger and adrenaline had disappeared did he truly realize what happened: He'd killed someone in cold blood. Spell or not, it was by his command and his command alone that the commoner's life was extinguished. His bravado from earlier was replaced with fear. He had killed someone, and there was nothing he could do to change that.
He felt sick. Wasn't this nobility? To duel with honor and to accept the death of the opponent when they came? Why did he feel so sick? His confidence and smug superiority eroded away.
The Familiar stared down at the Valkyrie once again before a coldness started to spread across his body. He was dying again, this familiar feeling was too unique for there to be another explanation. His knees buckled beneath him and with his fading breath he tried to pull out the sword. He could only reach the Valkyrie's shoulders before his life began to ebb away from him and he found himself too weak to retaliate.
"M-Mister Familiar!" Siesta tried to rush forward, only to be held back by some of the sympathetic nobles. Servant or not, staring into the face of a recently deceased friend as their life faded from them was a punishment that no one deserved.
Louise just stared forward, wide eyed and trying to form coherent thoughts and words. Her Familiar just died.
Guiche bounded forward slowly, hesitantly walking towards the barely breathing Familiar and the Valkyrie kneeling in front of one another like some kind of twisted statue. Once again there was no blood that poured forth from the wound, and yet he was obviously dying. He crouched down when he got close enough and couldn't stop the look of disgust that reached his face; the commoner was dead, his lips parted open slightly but no breath came out of his mouth. There was nothing that could be done for him now.
In a rather uncharacteristic fashion, Guiche separated the Commoner's hand from the Valkyrie's and let it slide down as a show of respect. With a solemn nod, he dropped the hand from his grasp and let it fall slowly to the hilt of the sword. As his father taught him, the dead needed to be shown some respect no matter their social class.
As soon as the pale hand touched the hilt, the runes atop his knuckles started to grow a bright blue. Guiche didn't have time to check what was happening before he felt a hand close around his neck and the air being choked out of him.
"...The darksign...brands the Undead..." The entire crowd stepped back as the recently deceased Familiar stood up from the ground. His left hand gripped the hilt of the longsword tightly and his left hand continued to choke Guiche as he stood up, "All humans...wish for death...but it shall never come to them..." He continued to intone in an emotionless voice.
Sensing its masters life was in peril, the Valkyrie once again stabbed the sword deeper into his stomach as hard as it could. The Undead gave a cry of pain and removed his hand from the struggling noble, who immediately backpedaled away from his attacker the first chance he got.
The Familiar gripped the sword with both hands before loudly kicking the struggling Valkyrie away. Unlike his previous efforts, this time the armor tore away from his attack and shattered into many pieces once it hit the ground again. Ignoring the larger intakes of souls he received, the Undead grabbed the hilt of the longsword with both hands before pulling as hard as he could against it.
The cocky noble could only blanch as the Undead Familiar pulled the sword out of his body before depositing it for use in his right hand. Guiche's reaction to the scene in front of him would have been comical if not for the fact that he was most likely going to get very injured from the rather angry and now recently armed Undead.
'What's happening?' The Undead felt lightheaded and he gripped the sword in his right hand. An unfamiliar power continued to surge through him and he felt...good. Better than good, he felt powerful. It was the same feeling he got when he received a massive intake of souls from killing a particularly powerful and stupidly cheap monster (Bed of Chaos).
Guiche waved his rose wand and three more Valkyries were summoned. These ones wore crude armor and even cruder weapons, worse than even the first ones he'd summoned. Magic required focus and calmness, so it wasn't a surprise that he couldn't do much in his panicked.
The first construct sloppily charged forward, raising the spear it held in a clumsy attempt to impale him. The Undead didn't even bother to take his sight off Guiche and simply grabbed the messy golem's hand mid swing before snapping it off with some slight movement. He kept the spear in his left hand before stabbing the construct with the sword on his right.
The second construct used a mace and attempted to attack him from above. The Undead gave a slight look up before slashing the entire arm clean off its hinges, taking making the mace fall down rather lamely. Before the construct could hit the ground he impaled it with his spear before nonchalantly tossing it aside like a doll.
That was two down, and now he only had one to go. What was happening to him? Power kept flooding his system and the runes on his left hand continued to brighten as he held both the spear and sword in tandem. He could also feel his wounds healing rapidly; the holes on his stomach and arm started to heal and the burns on his skin slowly disappeared from view till they were no longer there. It was like a healing miracle or multiple Estus flasks thrust upon him.
The third one was hardly any more of a challenge that its last two brethren. It tried to lunge forward and attack his chest, but a dodge to the side and a single arc from his new sword later and it found itself missing most of its upper body before crumpling rather anti-climactically against the ground. Now there was only one left.
"Stay back!" Guiche waved his hand in order to summon more golem's, but none came. He tried again, this time trying to dispel the weapons he created in order to buy himself some time, but his grip on them remained strong even as the discarded golem's were dispelled with the wave.
The Familiar didn't need two weapons for this. He threw the spear close to the young man's foot, causing him to let out a yell as he stumbled back trying to avoid it. Keeping the momentum, the Undead charged forward and grabbed the young man's neck with his left hand and placed the sword against it with his right. One slash, one movement and the sorcerer would find himself having a hard time breathing.
"Please..." Guiche held his left hand frantically and stared at him eye to eye, "Please...don't kill me...I'm sorry..."
He was sorry? Apologies weren't enough to erase the grueling fight he had just been put through. Death came for them all, and subsequently death left them all once they revived in the nearest bonfire. Why was he so scared of dying? It was painless and a minor annoyance at most.
"Don't kill him!" His right hand was pulled back forcefully by the ringlet haired girl from earlier. Where did she come from? "Don't kill him! He may be a womanizing pervert, but he's still my fiancee! Don't kill him, please! I'm begging you!" Try as she might, she couldn't move the Undead's grip for even a single inch, "Please, I'll make sure he apologizes to you and your master for what he's done. So please don't kill him!"
"M-Montomrency..!" Guiche choked out at the sight of his fiancee.
Again this girl confused him. She was angry and violent with him earlier, but now that he was in danger she suddenly feared for his life? If she was so worried then she should just stay in the nearest bonfire and wait for him to revive there, maybe with a humanity on hand to stop him from Hollowing and retain his boyishly handsome appearance intact.
"Familiar, let him go right now!" Louise stomped forward and grabbed his left hand, "You've won! You don't need to kill him!"
His master as well. All three of them feared death so much that they were willing to beg that even their enemies be spared? Why? He couldn't understand it. Why were they so scared? Why did his master want to stop him? He would be alright even if he did kill him. His choice in the Kiln practically ensured that the bonfires would remain powered for thousands of years to come.
"A-Ah...Montmorency, run..." With his free hand, he grabbed his fiencee's hand and held it tightly, "Remember that nickname I got you," Montmorency nodded rapidly, "At least...I get to see my Sun one last time before I go."
"Ahhh, the sun! Finally, I have found it!"
"Aaaarrrgggh!" The Undead's grip on his sword loosened and a terrible pain began to spread across his head. Montmorency took his careless loss of grip as the chance to grab her Fiancee's hand and pull him away from the struggling Undead. The two stared at the Undead as he flailed against the ground and screamed.
"I have...I've found my very own sun!"
He saw it again. The cramp passageway leading to Lost Izalith, the giant bugs that impeded his way with every step, and then the door. The shortcut that would allow him to skip passing the lava-beds and go directly to the Bed of Chaos.
"I...am the sun!"
Solaire stood there, smiling as he entered. On his head stood a maggot burning brightly than anything he had ever seen before. Solaire laughed as he pointed it out before trying to impale his friend, a manic grin on his face and a a bolt of lightning on his left hand.
"Yes, I did it...I did!"
"Solaire...please stop..." Louise frantically gripped her Familiar's shoulders as he continued to spout out words she didn't understand, "Fight it...please...I don't want...to kill you!" The burns from his body started to re-appear again as the runes on his hand continued to dull. Louise felt herself sicken at the sight but she continued to grip her Familiar tightly. She wasn't going to let him go.
"Rejoice! I have found what I've been seeking!"
He struggled against his friend. Blow against blow, shield against magic. Solaire continued to attack him despite his pleas and the Chosen Undead had to face him as a true enemy. He didn't know how long their struggle lasted, but he found himself the eventual winner of their match. Even as the life continued to ebb away from him slowly, Solaire's smile never left his face.
"Ahh...it's over. ...My sun...is setting...it's so dark."
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Pain started to overwhelm him again. His power was gone, replaced only with the hollow feeling of emptiness at his victory. He had won against his friend and proved the better champion...but he felt no joy at the inevitable conclusion. All he had was the life of his friend, the life he had taken because he wasn't good enough to protect him.
His regrets were the last thing that passed through his mind before everything turned to black.
Good enough, although... that's one sharp tray there. Maybe the undead just stronger than human, or maybe it's the golems that are fragile than they look.
As you see, unfamiliarity (pun intended) makes me hard to comment properly, sorry. But I can at least digest what happened and understand it completely.
I lost, however, the moment montomercy come into rescue, just... WUT.
Sorry, I'm pretty bad at fight scenes Anyway, the tray thing is a joke on the fact that one of the starting shields in Dark Souls is a fricking wooden plank Seriously, it was hilariously stupid fighting the God of Death with a plank shield because my awesome shield broke by accident.
The Undead is definitely stronger than a normal human being. He punches the bronze golems and uses a tray as a disc of doom This chaper was the most convoluted since he has no gear on and simply has to make do with whatever he can scrounge up.
Anyway, I'll be deleting the draft. Thanks for reading
Ichika sat tensely on the chair as he faced Chifuyu and Yamada, while the rest of security team. They’ve been kind enough to lend him a yukata, and the female who claimed by his friend to be Ichika kept her words that he’s mostly unharmed, so he will cooperate fully.
“So, you claim you’re Ichika Orimura, the only one man who can pilot an I.S.”
“I have no reason to lie” Ichika replied with a monotone “If it wasn’t for your influence, I might be somewhere around as guinea pig for God knows what experiment, coupled with Japan’s own curiosity and willingness to protect their only unique asset, I was sent to I.S. academy as the only male student, to protect me from foreign influence”
With all the motherly care, the more petite teacher pulled his armored arm and examined it throughoutly “And this I.S., it’s quite a unique frame”
Ichika could understand what she meant, as she remembered, everyone’s I.S. are mostly human sized, and he already knew what to say afterward.
“Tabane-nee… she never revealed the secret of I.S. at all, and thus, it depends to everyone else to replicate the system from existing White Knight frame, put it short, the reverse engineering is what caused the size to increase exponentially. I only learned this recently myself after digging something from the I.S. core network as ByakuShiki undergo second shift”
Chifuyu kept silent, however, her expression changed, for better or worse. Ichika has been jury rigged into an Uchigane using multiple connectors, using it as impromptu lie detector.
She finally open her mouth “He’s not lying, but either way, it don’t make any sense. Professor Shinonono DID reveal the secret of I.S. construction”
Ichika bit his lips, anger resurface again. Chifuyu always been cold, but she by no means uncaring, once or twice, but this time, she don’t see her brother, she saw a stranger that claimed to be her brother, a brother she never had.
If Ichika don’t know better, he really wanted to cry. When the last time he’s crying anyway? he didn't remember, and he shouldn't have cared.
“The only possible explanation is that he’s sleeper agent” Chifuyu said “Better safe than sorry, we will hid your presence, however… you are not allowed to use your I.S. until we told you so. Should you try to use that without our clearance, we’ll resort to brute force”
“I understand”
With his friends and the only family not knowing about him in the slightest, he has nowhere else to go.
“Now, as for the accommodation, we’ll escort you to I.S. academy while I contact people from government, don’t expect to be treated like a VIP, but we’ll try to make you comfortable without compromising security”
Ichika smiled and bowed as thanks, Ichika never felt this glad that Chifuyu treat him as he deserved. He’s no one, nothing. He’s just a stray dog clad with walking weapon of mass destruction, and treated just like that.
Ichika followed silently, his gaze is set to the starry summer sky. This place, this place is not where he does belong, but he’s not the kind of person who thinks deeply. He’d rather enjoy this as much as he could.
Moments of reprieve lasted quite long, until Yamada stopped on her tracks. And quickly put her hand on his shoulder.
She is sobbing.
“Ya-yamada-sensei”
“Uuu… Why aren’t you complaining? *sob* Why aren’t you crying? Does that means you’re really a pretender”
“Maybe I am, that’s up to your judgment” Ichika sweatdropped.
“The why you look like that? Your eyes told me everything”
Ichika aver his gaze, avoiding eye contact in the process. His face stay unmoving, but Yamada was right after all. No normal human completely emotionless.
“I don’t remember my parents and they abandoned me, I always been the bottom of all social injustice because of them, and the influence of I.S. made it even worse. I don’t even know how to cry”
Yamada’s large, round eyes widened even further, and she shook her head to waste the tears away. Her gesture, her expression, she’s trying to be serious but fail miserably. She’s halfway between curious little sister and concerned mother.
“Orimura-kun, Chifuyu-sensie also said the same thing when we met years ago”
Ichika thought, maybe things aren’t that much different at all. But still, she’s not the Chifuyu he knew and loved. For her, he is not her Ichika.
“Ano…”
“Ah, is that Orimura-san”
The meek girl now look even subdued than before, looked at them shyly. She twitched when Ichika approached her.
“Anyway, thanks, you kept your promise” Ichika smirked as wide as he could “It wasn’t half bad compared to what happened daily with Houki and the girls”
She shook her head “I don’t understand… I don’t know if you’re a part of conspiracy or what, but you don’t deserve it”
“I wish everyone can agree” Ichika replied with a wry, as image of Charlotte’s proper introduction crept into his head once again “But it always like that, men take all the beatings, deserving it or not”
She pouted, read that, POUTED. “Maybe you did deserve it after all”
He frowned in response “Oi, no name calling”
“You did ask them to stop but you didn’t stop them”
“It’s called chivalry”
“And that’s stupid”
Ichika is loss at word, she doesn’t really make sense. All she said contradicted what he said. However, this ‘Ichika’, so to speak, is saying what his heart always wanted to say.
Although Yamada was unsure whether to squeal or feel ill on the scene, she just let that happen and called “Orimura-kun, we’ll wait near the lighthouse, be sure to attend”
“… You know, if I want to blame anyone, I’d like to blame Tabane-neesan and her stupid invention” Ichika softly smiled
“But I don’t want to be a burden, I’m not the only man who suffered this kind of pain, and frankly, sometimes I don’t even feel the need to care about them… I’ll just do whatever I think right, and I truly care for my friends… maybe yes, I’m too stupid to call out my own friends and deserved that”
The girl blinked, she blinked again when he left her. What he said, all of it, are exactly what she always thought.
She doesn’t want to be a burden, especially to Chifuyu. She could be careless about people she didn’t know sometimes, but…
She, who had been betrayed by the world, will salvage and treasure everything she could reach.
“…Uh, wait!” She quickly pursued him “But what if they made others suffer?”
“Houki think leaving the illegal ship to sink is okay, I didn’t, so I stopped her” Ichika replied lightly “Or not, this Houki is not the Houki I knew… although they’re similarly violent”
She clenched her fist in front of her chest “I did the same actually… I knew that to protect, you need strength. But what she did is pure, shallow violence”
It was silent, and then she spoke again “You did participate in gospel retrieval mission?”
He furrowed his eyebrow in response, “…You’re torn between believing my story and calling it stalker hoax”
She huffed and then retaliated “And you’re still not decided whether you shall try to convince people or gave up and stay as suspect”
Their eyes met, drilling as deep as they could into each other’s ego, before cracking and bursting into chuckles. They simply can’t believe it; they understand each other so much that it feels like they’re talking to their own selves.
They began to share their story.
Everything is mostly identical, though, there’s vast difference as well. He told her how he ended up as the only male pilot, beginning with how he’d lost in the hall and unwittingly taking an examination that should be female exclusive.
She lost as well, and she would admit, the disinterest on the examiner side is quite aggravating. Although she also added that by that point, she already trained as Cadet Representative.
“Annoying indeed, she doesn’t even look at me, I’m a man as I can get… at least physically”
She gawked, horrified “You tell me, and you said you didn’t even check if you’re female?”
“Yeah, when I touch that Uchigane, I felt like diving into world of knowledge. It felt abstract”
“I felt the same when I first touch I.S.” she made a cat smile.
She then reverses the flow of story, back to her kidnapping that happened three years ago, when she’s still first year in Junior High.
“Which cause Chifuyu-nee to forfeit her match by technicality, right?” Ichika pointed “Then she decided to retire from being a gladiator…”
She nodded “I was sent to be with Houki, for the sake of governmental protection program… how about you?”
He replied enviously “Meh… I go to school like usual… she went to German to repay her debt since German Army Intelligence managed to find me”
She nodded that was when Laura’s story rolls downhill.
“Then we found her being a teacher in I.S. Academy, and yet we felt ignored because she treat us like a stranger” they concluded at the same time “Awesome”
“We should talk more” she tugged his yukata innocuously, and he wasn’t bothered by that either. In fact, he felt a sense of comfort he never feel with any other girl, and without him knowing, she too, think the same.
“Assuming I survive being a lab rat, we have all the time you need… assuming I didn’t get killed by Houki, Rin, Laura… maybe Cecilia and Charl too… you have seen how defensive they are when it comes to you”
He slumped and black aura began to crept over his body, she straightened his back forcibly, but not maliciously and deliver THE brightest smile she ever remember “If it’s about them, then I’ll hold them at bay for you”
Going to use this for inspiration/ideas for the Minerva-class battle suits.
__________________
"You cannot be bad at watching a movie. You cannot be bad at listening to an album.
...But you can be bad at playing a videogame, and the game will punish you and deny you access to the rest of the videogame."
Since shifting is specific to pilot and IS experience and growth, Ichika's 1st shift with Byakushiki isn't necessarily the same as Aries' 1st shift with Byakushiki right?
2013-01-12, 04:43
Anyway, the tray thing is a joke on the fact that one of the starting shields in Dark Souls is a fricking wooden plank
This chaper was the most convoluted since he has no gear on and simply has to make do with whatever he can scrounge up.
