Tales of a Lost Sword 2

Episode 2 The Predator and the Ball
The sun dawns upon a clear morning. The sky is spotless and immaculate, swept clean by the passing rainstorms. Several morning birds chirp loudly in the distant mountains surrounding the forest.

Despite being still very early in the morning, the dining hall is already packed with students. Mira and Ophelia are sitting together side by side at a table eating their breakfast. Mira glances her uneaten plate, then at her sister. “Where is Mama, Ophelia?”

“She’s still in bed,” Ophelia murmurs, “she was asleep when I got up, and since she did just come off a long trip on the boat, I thought it’d be better to let her get some rest first.”

“Oh,” Mira mumbles, somewhat disappointed.

“Oh, did you want her to see you off before today’s test?” Ophelia asks, suddenly panicking. “I didn’t think about that! I can go back and get her, if you’d li—”

“No, that’s fine,” Mira answers sternly. “She should rest. I’ll be fine. The real test doesn’t start until dusk anyway, the morning is just a long briefing and prep.” She suddenly stands up.

“Aren’t you going to eat your breakfast, Mira?” Ophelia asks.

“I’m not feeling hungry, actually,” Mira replies. She gives her sister a quick hug. “I’m going to go to the prep room early. I’ll see you when I get back.”

“O-Okay,” Ophelia replies, slightly taken aback as she watches her sister depart hurriedly. She flashes a crooked smile. “That’s my sister. Always in a hurry.”

Ophelia glides down a narrow corridor, lined with the doors to classrooms on one side and windows on the other. The early morning sunshine streams into the hallway, warming the otherwise cool wooden floors.

She passes by a classroom with its door slightly ajar. A loud screech pierces the still air. Ophelia jerks in alarm and turns to peer through the classroom door.

A group of girls is gathered around a desk inside, muttering about something loudly to each other. Some are in tears. “Oh great,” Ophelia sighs to herself, “it’s the Rill Fan Club.”

“Ophelia!” one of the girls suddenly cries, noticing her at the door. “This is terrible news! Rill is gone! What are we going to do without him? The other boys in this school are so ugly!”

“This was the desk he used to sit at…” another girl says between sobs, almost groping the wooden desk.

“I-It’s all right!” Ophelia replies nervously. “He’ll be back soon. He’s a Senior Student! He probably just got assigned another mission from the headmaster. He’ll be back soon enough!”

“How do you know that?” a third girl growls accusingly at Ophelia.

Ophelia sighs loudly in frustration.

Two unmarked graves lie just at the outskirts of the school. Two tiny pillars of stone planted into the rich soil mark the existence of the graves. At the base of each rock is a freshly picked rose, lying sweetly in the dewy grass.

Mira stands over these two graves, watching them silently. She turns suddenly. A man with violent crimson hair is standing just behind her, watching her intently. A long rifle is strapped onto his back.

“Do y’know what those two graves there’re for?”

Mira shakes her head suspiciously. “No.” She turns back to look at them. “They’ve been here from the first day I came to this city to attend the Academy. I don’t know what they represent or who put them here, but I get a good feeling from them. I like to visit these two stones for good luck sometimes before a test or something.”

“They say t’headmaster of this school visits these graves every mornin’. He’s t’one that puts those roses there.”

“The headmaster?” Mira asks, her curiosity suddenly piqued. “Why would he…?”

“Who knows?” the man shrugs, a strangely twisted half-grin on his face. “But he does. Just thought I’d tell ya, since I seen you watching these graves a lot.”

“Who are you, exactly?” Mira questions, her back to the crimson-haired man. “You’re not a student at this school, are you? Are you…?” Mira turns, but finds that the man has disappeared without a trace.

A knock comes at the wooden door of the chamber. A muffled voice sounds from the other side of the door. “Sir, it is nearly time,” a woman speaks. Her footsteps echo loudly in the room as she departs.

The blue-haired mage inside the chamber rises from his seat on his rich feather bed. He wears an elaborate and finely woven gown of silk. The door of the chamber opens magically at the mage’s will. He steps into the winding hallway of stone outside, eventually reaching a massive open hall overlooking a fertile valley.

He continues along this hall, and soon emerges into an even larger room, with a ceiling seemingly reaching as far up as the heavens. A loud serenade of trumpets greets the mage’s arrival.

“Behold! The arrival of His Royal Highness, Arai Mage, the First Successor to the Throne!”

A crow caws. Several of its mates respond, their calls repeating throughout the forest. An orange glow engulfs the sky and the quaint town of Ellinia. Already, darkness begins to creep into the sky.

Mira emerges from a classroom with three other students and one older man, apparently exhausted. She follows the others to the edge of the forest.

The older man speaks to the students as they follow him. “Now, since this is merely a simulation, you obviously won’t face nearly the amount of danger as you would in a real such reconnaissance mission. But that doesn’t mean you should relax. This FRT is designed to test your will and endurance. Remember, in a reconnaissance mission, the ultimate goal you must attain is information.

“I have ordered my assistants to disperse themselves through the forest. You will not see them, but they will see you. They will record for me how well you do. Recall that members of a reconnaissance team have to be extremely covert. You cannot be discovered. Therefore, you must avoid being seen by my assistants at all costs.

“I have told them to release some monsters into the forest to test you. Since this is only a controlled test, apart from the monsters, you will not encounter any assaults on you from my assistants. Your goal is to find the clues they have planted throughout the forest. There is a hidden message. Locate and retrieve the message. That is the test. You have until dawn to complete this test. Any questions?”

“No, Master!” the students respond.

“Very well,” the Master answers.

Mira glances nervously from side to side. Suddenly, a voice cries out: “Mira!” She turns joyfully to see her mother and sister running towards the group hurriedly.

“Mama! Ophelia!” Mira shouts, hugging each as they reach her. “Thank you for showing up. We are just about to begin the test. Wish me luck!”

“Of course, Sister!” Ophelia says warmly.

“Here you go,” Mira’s mother whispers, dropping a small bag of cloth in Mira’s hand. “Something to keep your spirits up on this long night.”

Mira looks inside the bag, and finds a couple baked cookies. “Thank you, Mama,” Mira whispers back.

“It is time,” the Master interrupts, staring at his watch. “Depart!”

“Yes, Master!” the students answer. The four of them leap into the woods, and all traces of sunlight are rapidly consumed by the dense forest.

“This is sure a pain in the neck,” one of the students, a mage, says as everyone falls silent. “I hate mission tests.”

“You can always choose to fail if you want, Clover,” Mira grumbles. “I want to pass this test.”

“Of course you do,” Clover sighs, “you’re Mira the Prodigy. There’s no need to hide it, all the Masters realize that you’re one of the best entry-level students. Pretty soon you’ll be getting assigned to special missions like that thief, whatshisname—Rill.”

Mira blushes profusely. “All the same, you could show a little more enthusiasm, Clover.”

The group comes to a stop at a clearing. Mira glances around. “Okay, at this point we should come up with a plan of attack.” She glances at the Hermit at her side. “Val, since you’re a Hermit, why don’t you go ahead and scout for us? Check to see if there are any of Master Baines’ assistants around. Make sure you’re not seen.”

“Ay, ay, Mira!” the Hermit named Val replies. He leaps onto a tree, and disappears with a rustle of leaves.

“The rest of us will stick together,” Mira continues, “since there are monsters about, we’ll have to stay on our toes and cover for each other in case we’re attacked.”

The mage and a sword-wielding Crusader nod in agreement. “Uris, since you’re always so restless, you can take the front.” The Crusader nods again.

“Clover, you take the middle since you’re an ice mage. If an enemy comes, you can cover for us by freezing them.” Clove nods as well.

“As for me,” Mira says, “I’ll take the rear.” She draws her sword, a Heaven’s Gate.

Val suddenly returns to the group, emerging from the darkened forest. “It’s pretty much quiet all throughout the woods. I found some footprints on the ground on the other side of these trees here, though. I think they might be the assistants’.”

“That’s not good,” Mira mutters, holding her hand up to her chin thoughtfully. “That must mean that some of them are around. We better strike off the forest path and go directly into the woods.”

“What? Are you crazy?” Clover shouts. “Haven’t you ever heard of Maladies creeping around in the Ellinian woods?”

“Be quiet,” Mira says impatiently, “we’ll be seen.”

Music from a string orchestra plays softly in the background. Arai peers around the ballroom at the dancing couples. The lightning mage sighs and strides past them, and arrives at a balcony. The night sky stretches magnificently before him. The night air blows softly against his face.

A blonde-haired girl joins Arai at the balcony. “Arai, it has been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

“Shirley, eh?” Arai mutters, gazing down at the valley below.

Shirley leans her back against the balustrade, staring at the couples inside dancing on the ballroom floor. Arai leans forward towards the railing, his elbows just touching the marble balustrade.

“Do you miss me?” Shirley asks.

“Of course,” Arai replies.

“How are the Fatalists?” Shirley asks.

Arai remains silent for a long time. Finally, he issues forth a long sigh. “You do realize we can never be together, right, Shirley?”

Shirley lowers her head, and Arai stares sadly at her for a long while.

The night grows darker. Storm clouds gather quite suddenly, and once again, the world falls into a gloomy whirl of heavy rainfall.

“Argh, I’m getting soaked!” Clover complains.

“Quit complaining!” Mira pants, nearly tripping over an outstretched tree root. She curses loudly. “Dammit, this rain is really putting a damper on our test! I don’t know how we’ll find anything in this mess!”

“Look!” Val cries suddenly, pointing just ahead. “There’s a note on that tree right there. That must be one of the messages Baines’ assistants left!”

“That’s right!” Uris agrees. “Val, you’re the fastest, go get it!”

Val leaps ahead, his outstretched fingers eagerly grasping for the piece of paper nailed to the tree. But just before he reaches it, several gunshots break the sound of the falling rain. Blood splatters on the ground in puddles, everywhere.

Mira, Clover, and Uris watch the scene frozen with horror. Val falls to the ground motionless, a massive puddle of blood pooling in the mud around him.

“Val—!” Clover shouts, before Mira rapidly comes to her senses and clamps a hand over Clover’s mouth.

“Shut up!” she hisses into the mage’s ear. She crouches down among the bushes, dragging her two comrades down with her.

“Gunshots…what the hell’s happening?! This wasn’t supposed to be in the plan!”

Mira peers at the clearing where Val had fallen ahead, but there is no sign of an enemy. “How can this be…?”

“Val…Val is…!” Clover whimpers.

“SHUT UP!” Mira howls suddenly, her frustration boiling over as she slaps Clover across the face.

The second round of gunshots comes at last. Mira raises her sword just in time, blocking the bullets with the blade. She leaps backwards, scanning the forest for the enemy.

“This wasn’t in the plan…” Mira murmurs, glancing desperately around. “Where are Baines’ assistants?!”

The bloody carcasses of several men lie motionless in the rain, the rainwater mixing with their blood. One actually falls from a tree branch somewhere above, startling Mira.

The body lies in a crumpled heap on the ground. Mira turns her attention back to the enemy at hand. “I see…so that’s how it is!”

She keeps her sword raised, knowing the enemy lies just somewhere ahead. “Clover! Uris!” Mira howls. “Get outta here! The enemy is—”

Another round of bullets soars at Mira. She blocks them once again, glaring at the direction they came from. Uris and Clover emerge from beneath the bushes.

“Get outta here my ass!” Uris growls. “I’m not going anywhere. They killed Val, we have to get our revenge!”

Clover teleports to Val’s body. He keels over, tearing up over his comrade’s death. “Clover!” Mira shouts. “For the love of God, what are you doing?! If you’re not gonna fight, get out of here!”

“Dieeee!” a bandit appears out of nowhere, placing a dagger straight through Clover’s heart. He freezes, eyes widened, as a thin trickle of blood runs down his chest. In the next second, he falls to the floor dead.

“CLOVERRRRR! Mira cries, tears now running down her cheeks as well. “Dammit!”

She runs forward, and cuts down the bandit in rage. More bullets come from the darkness. In her fury, Mira misses them, and one bullet just scrapes her shoulder. She falls to her knees, grasping her left shoulder.

“Mira!” Uris shouts in alarm.

The sound of footsteps running through a maze of puddles sounds from behind him. Mira’s eyes widen suddenly, as she points. “URIS! Behind you!”

Uris turns, but not in time. The crimson-haired man from earlier cackles gleefully, as he breaks Uris’ skull with the butt of his rifle. The unlucky warrior falls.

“So you’re behind all this!” Mira yells. “But why? Why?!”

“Hmm, I wonder,” the man says, coming to a halt quite suddenly. He raises a hand, and snaps his fingers. Five more dagger-wielding bandits emerge from the shadows.

The man stands still as the rain pummels the ground. He watches Mira triumphantly. Mira merely lays gasping on her knees, her right hand clutching her sword desperately.

“If…if you’re going to kill me…” Mira stammers, real tears now flowing uncontrollably, “then…do it quickly! Hurry! I’m not going to struggle! I’ve lived plenty enough! If this is to be my fate, then…then at least I die knowing I am loved! At least I die knowing I enjoyed every moment of life!”

“Even this moment?” the gunman asks tauntingly.

Mira freezes, and the two fall into silence once more. Only the sound of the rain falling on their shoulders makes any noise.

The gunman cackles loudly again. “I guess not. Y’really are something. Philosophizing on yer death. Ya think you lived life t’its fullest, don’t ya? You’re too young fer that. Tells ya what. Just for that, I ain’t gonna kill you.”

“Wh-what?” Mira gasps, not believing her ears.

Arai stretches out his hand, and Shirley takes it. “Come, let us dance.”

He leads the girl back into the ballroom, as a soft, melodious, but agonizingly lamenting song breaks out from the orchestra. Arai takes both of Shirley’s hands and they dance, spinning round and round, their eyes locked on each other.

The gunman crouches low, so that his eyes meet Mira’s. He reaches forward, touching her chin and raising her face up to his. “Not yet, anyway,” he hisses so that only she can hear. A maniacal grin stretches across his lips.

Mira’s heart stops for a full moment in complete horror. “What are you going to do to me?” she barely manages to whisper.

The gunman rises again, gesturing a motion of weariness with his arms. “I grow tired of talkin’ with little girls. Silence her.” He waves Mira off, allowing the bandits to approach her.

Silently, they bind her arms and legs. Mira struggles, but fails to do anything against the might of five bandits. She stares wrathfully at the red-haired gunman, his hair the color of her comrades’ blood.

“Oh, yeah,” the gunman says, “I always forget.” He raises his rifle casually, and fires a single bullet at Mira.

The song stops. “I must go,” Arai mutters, kissing Shirley softly on the cheek.