Tales of a Lost Sword 39

Episode 39 Intermission II: Fire and Mage
Only the gently waving leaves of the highest trees cover the bright blue sky above. It is a bright, sunny day, cool with a gentle breeze. Arai leans against the pillar-like trunk of a tree, several of which surround the tiny clearing in the middle of the Ellinian Forest. An open book is held in his right hand, as he holds it over his forehead, gazing up at the clear sky.

The soft breeze whistles through the leaves of the forest and caresses his cheek, causing the blonde curls around his head to sway gently to and fro. Arai looks around as the sound of footsteps interrupts the peaceful scene.

He narrows his eyes as the man enters the clearing, dressed in a brown trench coat that goes all the way up to his neck. A well-worn brown hat hangs low over his eyes, obscuring his face.

“Well, what is it today, Fain?” Arai says casually, glancing at Fain from behind his book.

Fain smiles, though it is a sneer that does not show any light. “I’ve been mentoring you secretly for six years now. It is amazing how dramatically you’ve changed from the timid boy I first approached.”

“I’ve come to expect nothing else from you, Fain,” replies Arai, lowering his hand with his book and turning to gaze directly at the Fatalist. “You were the one who opened my eyes to the reality of the world. I just don’t want to see anyone in our home country suffer, so I’ll do anything to make that happen, even if it means fighting.”

“You will be graduating from the Joukai Academy soon,” Fain growls. “I will not be able to train you and watch over you after then. You will have to take the lead of the Fatalists and control the movement of events in this world from the shadows. From this point on, it will be your responsibility to ensure that the Fatalists’ goals are met.”

Arai nods, smiling pleasantly. The light of the sunlight splashes across his face, illuminating his bright blue eyes. “I understand all that. I must make the Myougun seek out the Three Phonemes and retrieve the Sword of Nexon in order to defeat Grandfather. Now, what is the lesson for today?”

“There will be no lesson for today,” Fain answers sternly, “only a warning. I have already taught you everything I know. You have all the tools needed to complete your mission. However, you must beware of sympathizing too much with the people of this world. They are trash, mere tools for the use of the real dimension we live in. Do not allow yourself to be swayed by pity for them. They were born to be our tools. Remember that.”

For the first time, a frown crosses Arai’s face as he gazes at Fain. Finally, he nods, though slowly. “Very well. I understand.”

“Do take care that you do,” Fain says, turning and walking away from Arai. He continues speaking as he departs. “I have been carefully watching you. Remember, those ‘friends’ of yours at the Joukai Academy are not your true friends. They are your enemies. Bear that in mind, and keep the truth close to your heart. We the Fatalists are the only ones you can trust.”

Silently, Arai watches as Fain disappears once again into the forest. Only the warm sunshine and the distant chirping of birds remains, as Arai watches the now empty forest.

The rain falls, slowly at first, but then picking up speed, upon Ryuu’s shoulders. He stands at the crest of a hill, looking down upon a dark valley down below. It is midday; the gray sky looks down on Ryuu from overhead, rain pouring from the clouds veiling the entire sky.

A drop of rain lands on Ryuu’s head, slides down his forehead, his nose, hangs for a moment on his chin, and then falls to the ground. Ryuu closes his eyes meditatively. A pair of footsteps sounds behind him.

“Ayame?”

The purple-haired girl behind Ryuu nods, though Ryuu is not facing her. “I was wondering where you were, Ryuu,” she says softly.

Ryuu turns to look at her, years of experience in warfare already carved into his young teenaged face. His face suddenly softens as he looks at Ayame, who is shielding herself from the rain under an umbrella. Tentatively, she steps forward, motioning as if to offer to share her umbrella with Ryuu. He allows her to do so.

The two stand together at the top of the hill now, looking down below. Meanwhile, all around them, the rain continues to pound the grassy ground softly but mercilessly. Distantly, a low rumble of thunder sounds.

“Grendel surprised me yesterday, when he assigned this mission to us,” Ayame whispers.

Ryuu puts his hands in his pockets, staring forward stoically. “It wasn’t that surprising… I had a feeling he’d been planning this for some time. Still, though…we’re going to have to kill Kimura.”

“I know he’s been acting up politically, but is that enough to try and kill him? He hasn’t even done anything wrong yet…” Ayame wonders out loud. “I wonder why Grendel would order us to do something like this. It’s not like him.”

“Right,” Ryuu growls, “I was wondering about that too. And to order our platoon to do it, even. You’d think he’d assign an assassination mission to a group that’s more experienced.”

Another set of footsteps coming towards them draws the attention of both Ayame and Ryuu. They turn as one, but not quickly enough.

A large cookie suddenly flies through the air and crashes into Ryuu’s face, causing him to lose his balance. He stumbles about and waves his arms wildly for a moment, trying to regain his balance before falling off the edge of the hill to the ground below.

Ayame bounds forward, dropping her umbrella on the wet grass. She grabs Ryuu’s arm with both hands before he falls, and helps him maintain his balance.

Ryuu quickly leaps back to his feet, dashing down the hill towards his assailant, a smiling and grinning Arai. He throttles Arai, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“WHAT THE HELL’S WRONG WITH YOU, ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING?” Ryuu howls, spit flying from his mouth.

Arai merely continues to grin foolishly. “You guys were ‘stumbling’ into a pretty depressing conversation back there, Ryuu, so I thought you could use a cookie to make up for it!”

“‘Stumbling?!’” Ryuu’s eyelid twitches. “Why you…”

Ayame stares at Arai. “Do you even know what we were talking about, Arai?”

“Of course,” Arai replies, peeling Ryuu off of him. “You were talking about Gramps.”

A slightly tense silence follows, as Ryuu, Ayame, and Arai all stare at each other. The rain continues to fall.

“You don’t need to worry about Gramps’ motives,” Arai says suddenly, in a rather serious voice. All trace of humor has disappeared from his face as well. He strides past Ryuu, joining Ayame at the edge of the hill. “I probably know Gramps the best after the other members of the Four, and I know he wouldn’t assign us this kind of a mission if he didn’t have a deliberate reason to. He may have his reasons for keeping those reasons secret. All we can do is trust in his judgment. If we can’t trust in him, who can we trust?”

“I guess you’re right, Arai…” Ayame mutters. A roll of thunder grumbles ominously. “We weren’t thinking when we said those things.”

Ryuu turns, glaring at both Arai and Ayame at the top of the hill. He nods. “Yeah…I guess I should apologize too for questioning Grendel. We were out of line. Sorry.”

Arai bursts into a sudden grin. “No need to go that far! What’s said is said. I mean, sometimes I think Gramps is off his rocker too…”

“How so?” asks Ryuu.

“Like,” Arai chirps, raising his index finger, “one time, I showed him my tuna chocolate chip cookie and he said it was the most awful thing he’d ever tasted! How horrible is that?!”

“No, I would say any perfectly sane person would say that…” Ryuu mutters under his breath.

“Anyway,” Ayame sighs, bringing a serious tone back to the conversation, “Kimura is supposed to show up here in Henesys tomorrow night. That’s when we’re supposed to strike…”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get through this all right,” Ryuu growls. “It wouldn’t be the first person we’ve killed…”

Arai looks away suddenly, staring at the ground, his blue eyes darkened. Ryuu notices, turning to glance at Arai. “Something wrong, Arai?”

Surprised, Arai looks up, shaking his head and attempting to laugh it off. “O-Oh, no! I guess you were right after all as always, Ryuu. It wouldn’t be the first person we’ve killed.”

A sickle moon leers like a silvery sliver in the dark black sky. The rain has cleared up, though the rainclouds remain. All remains still and quiet outside Henesys in the dead of night. Most of the windows of the buildings in town still glow with a warm yellow light.

Five figures emerge in the trees outside a particularly large residential building. The windows of this building are lit up, and the sound of speech and laughter can be heard even outside. Shrouded in darkness, the five figures shuffle about through the shrubbery, spying upon the household.

Fayvard glares at the house from behind a tree. Behind him, four teenagers only just a couple years younger than him are gathered: Ryuu, Arai, Ayame, and Yttrius.

“Is that the mayor’s house?” Ryuu hisses.

Fayvard nods in reply. “Yeah.” He glances at his four comrades. “All right, the place is gonna be filled with guards. It ain’t gonna be easy. You guys know the plan. I’ll go in from the front and disable all the innocents with a poison, and then you guys come in and take out Kimura. We’ll make this quick and easy, so that they don’t recognize our faces.”

The four younger teens nod in unison. Fayvard glances at them again, a slight hint of hesitance in his eyes. Finally, he nods. “Right. Let’s get this show on the road, then!”

As one, the five Joukai members disperse to begin their mission.
–END THIRTY-NINE—
School sucks.