Two chapters at once. I'm deciding to use The Rise of The Machine for the sub title since this is what it's about.
Please enjoy the 'first' chapter of the main plot.
~Alceus
Chapter 5
The Princess
The Princess
"Come in!"
A voice came from beyond the door, inviting him to enter before he could even knock. It was as if the Mistress of the Scout Guild knows everything. That didn't surprise him of course, but he found it unsettling to be one of the best Scouts of his rank and yet the Mistress could hear him perfectly even from miles away. It shows just how much skill gap between the two of them. The gap he always fought to bridge.
"So, what did you find?" said the female scout.
"Sorry, but I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary," Yust replied weakly. He really didn't want to disappoint her but he know better than to lie to his Mistress. It would bring him more harm than good. "The only thing I find strange is that there is a change in the area's residence near to where the light hit. No wolves are sighted, but yet I found a group of people fighting a Crimson Bawoo at Snov Fork."
The scout Master sighed as she took a paper from her desk. "I see, thanks for you work. I'd like to let you rest, but something urgent came up.. We just got a report that the Northen Kingdom were sending their princess to Acropolis. They departed at high noon yesterday and was supposed to reach here early in the morning and yet….we have yet to see them in person. The Mayor requested—"
"I understand. I'll look for her." Yust nodded, effectively cutting her off. He could already predict what the rest of the mission would be. In order to protect the good relationship between the Northern Kingdom and Acropolis, he must find their princess which they suspected had gone missing. And there's also a possibility that the 'light' had something to do with the incident….
"I see.." the Scout Master smiled, "it's a relief to have you in our ranks, Yust. You'll be rewarded handsomely if you finish this mission. I'll send you backup as soon as I can."
"Thanks, but it is our duty. I'll do it with or without reward." He nodded confidently."Well, if there's nothing else to say… I'll be taking my leave then."
Hearing his reply, the Scout Master smiled. The man in front of her had the necessary quality to become someone great in the future,and she's convinced that her eyes wouldn't disappoint her. "I got something else to tell you, a good news. From now on, you're going to carry your mission as an Assassin."
--
Heading out on the cold stormy night, the new assassin made his way to the North, following the path leading to the Northern Kingdom. In the darkness of that night, not even his sharp eyes could help him much. His instinct was the only thing he could rely upon.
But not too long after his departure from the North Gate, a quiet voice in his mind urged him to stop. There's that nagging feeling that made him change his direction, unto one beyond an array of humongous trees. There he saw something that's out of the ordinary... A masked man was riding on a large blue dragon, holding an unconscious girl on his hands.
"Leave the girl alone!"
The masked man turned to the voice. "Assassin?!" Seeing a few dagger were flying toward him, he used his dragon's tail to parry all of them. He watched the assassin silently. "To meet you in a place and time like this.. maybe is this what they call 'fate'?"
"Huh?" Yust frowned. Had he seen this man before? Why does he look so familiar? No matter how much he wants to prove it, he knew that the masked man wasn't someone he could beat the shit out nor force him to talk. He took out a small vial from his pocket and drank it in one gulp "You're not going anywhere with her."
"That.. a poison potion, isn't it?" The masked man said cautiously, "do you want to take me down so badly that you would sacrifice yourself?"
"No," said the assassin calmly. He began to feel an aching pain on various part of his body and yet it brings also an enormous strength with it. "I'm gonna defeat you and then return to Acropolis with her." As soon as he finished his words, Yust charged forward with an incredible speed, forcing the masked man to let go of the girl to parry his attack. And that chance wasn't wasted as Yust snatched the girl and leaped away from the man.
"You bastard.."
Undoubtedly, Yust's action made the masked man mad. But when he's about to jump off from his dragon, shadows leapt through the darkness of night, jumping from tree to tree and immediately surrounded him.
"The Assassin Squad is here. You have no chance of esca—"
"We'll meet again, Yust." Suddenly the rain above them turned into a downpour of laser beam, disintegrating everything they hit. By the time the explosion faded, no one was there anymore except the squad of the assassins.
"What the..?! He couldn't be dead.. Did he just vanish?"
--
"Fortunately, she doesn't have any fatal wound and should be waking up soon."
"Good job, Yust," praised the Scout Master after hearing the Alchemist's explanation, "Now may I ask who are those people behind you? I'm afraid this is a top secret mission and could not let just anyone know." she stated, pointing to two men and a girl behind the assassin.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce them. They're Alceus, Kaistern, and Latte," he pointed to the trio and then whispered to the Scout Master, "they're the people I met at the 'light' area so I thought you want to see them yourself."
"I see.. thanks for bringing them here," she said, looking at the blonde guy who's waving back to her, then to the other two who seemed to be calmer.
"Hey, Yust. So who is she?" Alceus suddenly asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to explain to you," he moved to the side so the trio could see the girl on bed clearer. "She's Princess Magdaleine, the next queen of Northern Kingdom. I'm sure you've heard of her, right?"
Hearing the name of the famous royal family of the Magic Kingdom of the North, the Vates and the Swordsman exchanged a baffled look while the ranger simply said, "Nope. So, is this so-called Magic Kingdom that great? I mean, Kai showed me Acronia map before, and the Northern Promenade seems smaller compared to that of Morg, Iron South, or Fareast."
"Well, that's—"
"Can't you be quiet? You've waken me up because of your incessant babbling ," intoined the girl on bed sharply. "Especially you, commoner. Your ignorance really made me pity you," she jabbed her finger at the blonde ranger as she slowly got up.
"Tsch, your arrogance encompasses your beauty. I guess you're just another one of those brainless snobs I heard about."
"Wh-what?! How dare you!" Alceus' words made the princess' face a bit red from both blushing and anger. "So-someone, explain to this brat!"
"What? You can't even explain your own kingdo—"
"Umm, Al, I'll explain it.." Latte cut off before her friend made everything worse. "The Northern Promenade is just part of the Northern Kingdom. The 'real' people of the kingdom live separately on a hidden place that no one knows where. They don't interact directly with people outside their kingdom and usually sent a representative for that."
"Yeah, and that's when I was attacked by those androids.." added Magdaleine with a sigh, remembering all her knights who died protecting her.
"Androids?!" Alceus shouted surprised. That one word made him recall the event with the angel he met. "DEM?!"
"DEM?" A newcomer to the room dropped the medicines intended for the royal but dropped them as she heard the name. "Are you saying they're here? In this era?"
"Masha?" Yust turned to the girl. "what are you do— No, more importantly, do you know anything about this DEM Al mentioned?"
The girl called Masha closed her mouth that clued the people in the room that she had said something she should not. She glanced at the Scout Master who nodded at her, before hesitantly lowered her hand. "They're the most advanced of robot army from Machine Age. They shouldn't be here. We.. we have.. I have to tell him!" she said as she ran outside the room with tears on her eyes.
"A few years ago, an unusual case such as this happened. The DEMs were brought back to this plane. We managed to hide widespread panic by sending a battalion comprised of the best of each race. The battle was a close call but we saw it through. The nightmares those androids brought….I would never dare to imagine those DEMs being resurrected once again," continued the Scout Mistress.
"Did you.. win?"
"We once tried to do it ourselves, but it ended disastrously"
"No.. this doesn't fit what Tita tell me.. She said they were.." Alceus' brain worked hard, trying to put the puzzle pieces together, but it's useless. The information he had were contradicting each other. "Then only one person who can answer this. And if he is the person Masha is going to see.."
"Tita?" The Scout Master was surprised hearing the familiar name she thought she'd never heard again, "Did you meet her? Where is she?!"
Ignoring the questions, Alceus ran outside the room, heading to where Masha headed to.
"Al, wait!" Kai tried to follow him, but suddenly the Swordsman Master came and stopped him. "Sir?"
The Swordsman Master looked at the ranger who ran passed him for a few seconds, before shifting his attention to the vermillion eyed boy before him, "Sorry, lad. I need you and the fighters here to do something since I have a feeling that I'm going to need every possible hand in the future. "
"What is it this time?" asked the Scout Master uninterested. "Sorry, but the assassin over here has a special task from me, so he can't go with your army."
"Special task?" Yust asked curiously.
"Yeah. You're going to escort Princess Magdaleine back to the Northern Kingdom. We don't know why they're after her, but we can't let them get their way."
"I understand. I'll prepare everything right away." Yust bowed to the Masters before retreating to his own room.
Kaistern watched as Yust left the room, and then looked at Latte who left his side to comfort Magdaleine for the loss of her men. Latte shot him a questioning glance which he returned with a nonchalant shrug and a subtle nod at the direction of the Swordsman Master. Latte smiled wryly at him before turning to the depressed royal, murmuring some comforts all the while. The spiky-haired boy walked out of the door and closed it to give the girl's privacy. For some reason, he had a strange feeling that nagged him as he watched his comrades disappear from his sight, busy with their own roles. It made him feel ….alone...
Shrugging the alien feeling from his mind, he turned his Master. "So, what do you need me for, sir?"
"There are reports of huge numbers of enemies seen gathered in the Light Tower. I won't be surprised if the one pulling the string behind this is also behind Princess Magdaleine's attempted kidnapping." Heaving a loud sigh, he continued on tiredly. "Morg has fallen to their grasp this very morning and it's a given that Acropolis would be their next target. We can't afford to let them happen and have set up a counter of our own. We are planning to engage them in the Cliffs of Mothgue. This will be our hardest battle to boot and I'm sorry to say that this is your first mission… But I know somehow that you're going to see this through safely and return as a great man." The Swordsman Master patted Kai's shoulder, "We will depart tomorrow morning. I wish you and all of the army the best of luck.."
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