[Nightengale]

Oh yeah, I am high today.

Part 3.5, fresh from the oven. :P

Spoiler for Part 3.5 : Meeting:

~Part III Verse 5 : Meeting of Fates~

Generia… A typical village secluded from most parts of the main land. There exist what is necessary for life, and nothing more. People were weary from the turmoil of war, but life still goes on. Struggling for survival, making do with what they can…it’s not just the knights; everyone is fighting to continue living.

I stayed a distance from General Saga, guarding his back, but never to pass his breathing space. Anyone can tell…the mood was gloomy. Even without our armors, weapons or identities known, we stood out. 2 young men… amidst children no older than 10, females and the elderly, it was only natural. Even those who are not magically adept, most young people would’ve fled such locales for safer places like the capitals, rather than a potential war zone.

Reaching the outskirts of the village… a small plain of tombstones lay. However, Saga walked to the far-end of the plain outside the bordering to a dressing of 3 rock formations, kneeling down in offer of prayer.

“This is…”

“Yes…my adoptive parent’s grave. They themselves were outcast…with no family names, nothing. Despite that, they took me and raised me, and showered me with all they could, even when they were suffering.”

“And that small rock beside?”

“That…will be mine.”

“Saga!”

“I’m sorry, Isdera, but leave me alone for a while. Even if it’s you, I don’t want you to see me like this now.”

~~~

“… I should’ve kept a closer eye on the Princess. I was distracted for a second, and she disappears. How shameful!”

The princess just instantly teleported away with Zafira…Maybe I was too naïve. The princess had been forcing herself taking up the throne of the late queen even when she, by nature is far from a warrior princess, despite her unnatural talent. I understand that she wants to carry out her duty strongly just like any daughter would, but...

Forget it. These kinds of things are not my concern. I believe in the princess, and that is all that matters. Right now, I’ve got to find the prin-
I feel something…familiar. A magical presence that is strangely…twisted, in nature…like a vortex of black as I looked in front of me. I saw him. The knight I once let go in battle, the Sword Knight of Vauxhall, Saleen.

Both of us were silent, gazing at one another. 2 enemy knights meeting like this in a half-neutral zone, what word would be more fitting, fate or irony? Although the princess needs to be found, she has Zafira with her, and without knowing what Saleen is doing here… we both walked slowly, not letting each one out of eye’s view.

Neither spoke, as we eventually reached a hill outside the village. Halfway through the forest plains of the hill, he spoke.

“It’s been a while, Signum.”

“Likewise, Saleen. I never expected to meet you in a place like this though.”

“Same here… You haven’t changed. You still look the same way you did one year ago.”

“You however…have changed. Had I not fought with you before, I wouldn’t have remotely suspected that it was you. Your magical energy…”

“I know. A lot of things happened after our fight. I am not the same man I used to be.”

“Regardless, you understand…right?”

“Of course.”

~~~

Both of us materialized our devices, mine forming the same blade I once used against her, though it was reinforced by Saga, while she…the same as she was before. A blaze red armor knight, along with her chain-blade, Leavantine. I had no armor though due to my Linker Core’s crippled state.

[ Schlangenform! Load Cartridge!]

Her blade, like a burning rattle snake, rips the air with the heat of her fangs, and the sharpness of her claws…However, despite that, the speed of her sword was…a little, almost unnoticeable, but very slightly slower than the speed she once fought against me.

Is she not at her game? Is she underestimating my lowered capabilities? Is she going easy on me?

Don’t fuck around. Just who the hell do you think you’re messing with, Signum!
I held on to Zulfiqar strongly, and with a precise aim at the bend of Leavantine’s chipped snake-blade’s neck, I slashed my blade with perfect timing, with an overhead raw attack, both wild and overbearing, pushing Signum back to a tree with that shock of a blow.

“Just who the hell do you think I am, Signum?”

“I am Isdera Saleen, the Sword Knight of the General you know as Saladin.”

“My blade has lost its luster, and I am a mere shell of my former self…”

“But the fact that I am the greatest swordsman under Saladin, has. not. changed.”

Signum looked at me, and smiled. The flames I repelled from her earlier attack…has now spread over to the forest, slowly turning the forest into a hellfire.

This is going to be a long fight.

~~~

I looked at their graves and pondered. War… how long more will it go on? How long more before I can pursue who I truly am?

“Is that your family’s grave?”

A solemn, voice, quiet with a sense of demeanor awakened me from my thoughts. I turned around…and saw a beautiful young woman, with silver hair and crimson red eyes.

I didn’t know then…that meeting would shake the fates of young ones…generations…aeons to come.

No one could’ve possibly known.

P.S There was a blue wolf by the young woman's side too, but who cares. :P

The next part may be a little slow, since I'm a total loser at doing the "meeting of fates" kind of thing, unless it involves ANGST, and cheesy stuff that no one uses in real life.