Notes
Hi my friends.
First of all, i want to ask sorry to all of you.
One year. Much more than tolerated for a fanfiction to be upgraded. Many times I tried to publish this new chapter (which was half-ready since almost six months), but at the end I always ended up to do somehting else, and this is a not tolerable thing, so once again sorry.
By the way, with this chapter we finally enter in the second part of the story, "JOURNEY", which will speak about Sylvia and the others' travel to reach Rozenblum to hide Mary from the misterious Norma and obtain a strong enough force to protect what remains of Mitsrurugi against the same menace.
Since this story has been silent for a very long time, I'll add a little legend of the main characters involved in this story till this moment, so you'll not have to come back in search for them in the previous chapters.
See you soon^_^
Legend
Sylvia Mitsurugi: Ange's little sister, she's actually 15 years-old. After the Mana's disappearence, she created a little community of survivors among the ruins of the old capital, leading it firmly but fairly. When her town is attacked by a misterious group of Norma coming from the island of Reunion, and almost the entire population slaughtered, she joins to the few survivors in a dangerous journey to reach the north of the continent and obtain Rozemblum's help in protect her kingdom.
Ashley Asterald: A Norma (20 years old), and the sole one in history which has been able to complete an escape from Arzenal. She's a pro warrior both in melee combat and with firearms, and despite a lot of time is passed since she left Arzenal she's still very capable in driving a para-mail. She's been saved by Sylvia briefly after the Apocalypse when she was at the point of starve, and for this she has swore to protect her till her debt will be payed
Mayu Sayonji: A Human (19 years old), she's an exceptional warrior, trained for years by her father in order to become the perfect swordmaster. She was a member of the Shadow Knights, the secret order entrusted to protect Mitsurugi's Imperial Family, and for this she's extremely loyal to Sylvia.
Helen Kitami: One of Sylvia's personal maids, the sole one survived to the Apocalypse: she's 18 years old. She knows how to use a weapon, but she wants avoid fighting if possible, and always prevents Sylvia from become excessively cruel. She's entrusted with the care of Mary.
Ruka Mahadani: A mechanic from Verda (26 years old), she was working in Mitsurugi when the Apocalypse happened. After having been found by Sylvia she joined her community, using her skills to project and build the armored vehicle known as the Bulldog (similar to the "Land of the Dead"s Dead Reckoning), of which she's also the pilot. Cheerful and energic, she loves to smoke.
Hildagard "Hilda" Schlievogt: Hilda's little sister (10 years old), she's been divided from her mother after the Apocalypse. After having been kidnapped by a band of bandits she's been saved from the inhabitants of the Mitsurugi's village of Dolkin, where she remained to live with an adoptive mother. When Sylvia and her companions arrive to Dolkin, they find her as the sole survivor of the Norma's assault. She now travels with the girls in the hope to reunite with her mother.
Mary: A mysterious little girl appeared from nowhere shortly after Sylvia's escape from her destroyed settlement. Gentle and kind, she doesn't remember anything of her past. She's been find by Eric in a research center in southern Mitsurugi, and since then the two had travelled together in order to reach Rozenblum. Contrarily to all other people, she's still able to use the Mana, and her power is so great that it can hurt even the Norma. Her code name is "The Grail"
Eric: A mysterious warrior, entrusted by king Hindenburg of Rozenblum with the mission to recover Mary and take her to Rozenblum, when she'll can be kept in safe from the Norma's attempt to capture her. He's an extremely skillful swordsman, with exceptional and obscure powers which make him able to surpass the common human limits. In his first appearence he proves to be able to pierce and destroy even the biggest para-mail with just a simple katana. Among the Reunion's Norma is known as "Eric the Reaper", or simply "The Reaper"
Alexia: The Commander of the Reunion's detention center, a second secret island populated by detained Norma. After the Apocalypse, for an unknown reason, she has ordered to her warriors to attack the cities along the coast, exterminate the inhabitants and absorb their fluids, which are subsequently inserted into a mysterious mechanism in the Island's underground.
Yuko, Jamie and Ingrid: The Three Generals of Reunion's army, they're the ones that perform the attacks against the humans to steal their fluids. Yuko pilots the sniper-unit Lucifer, Jamie the Mid-Range-unit Mantis and Ingrid the melee-unit Lamashtu. All three of them know "Eric the Reaper", but if Yuko and Jamie are scared from him Ingrid at the opposite dreams to kill him.
1
Besides Jamie, also Yuko and Ingrid were called in the Commander's office, and all three provided to Alexia a detailed report of what had happened them in Sophia.
«I waited this day for a very long time» Alexia said when the report ended. «At this point, the Grail's capture is our priority. No matter how, but that little girl must be brought here as soon as possible.
She may be our last hope.»
«But as should we do with Eric?" Jamie asked. «He's not the kind of opponent we can face.»
«Leave that bastard to me» said Ingrid. «I'll turn him into pieces.»
«Do not be so full of yourself,» Yuko warned her. «Or have you forgotten what it is capable of already?»
«It's true, he's dangerous, but not invincible.» Alexia said «He hasn't probably taken the dragonium since the day he left, which means that his powers are now much lower compared to the past.»
« If you'd have seen him, you wouldn't be talking like this. » said Jamie.
«Whatever happens, we cannot do otherwise. From this moment the mana recovery will be entrusted to the other girls. Your job is just to find the Grail. You will have fuel, transports, rations and alle the weapons you need, and you can choose whoever you want as your companions, but do not come back to Reunion without that little girl.»
At that point the three girls left after having saluted their Commander, each of them with a different glance, taking the corridor that leaded to the refectory which was some sort of meeting place for the entire island.
«Do not come back without that little girl,» protested Yuko. «It's easy to talk for her. Almost all ones here have never tried something different from a flight simulator, so how could they hope to face Eric?»
«Do you have someone in mind?» Asked Jamie
«Francesca, Perrine and Lynne. They are the only ones expert and crazy enough to deal with that kind of monster.»
«But we have no idea where they are heading.» said Ingrid
«To the north,» Jamie suggested. «It's the only way they can take to leave Mitsurugi.»
«This means that we'll have to search along every single road and route which heads to the north. Sooner or later we'll find them.»
When they reached the refectory Jamie noticed an apparently twenty years old girl sitting alone in a little table, with not too long brown hair which partially covered her cute face and generous curves, which however she was almost try to hide under the dress to avoid being noted.
«Sorry, I'll be right back.» she said to her friends, and after a moment of uncertainty she approached the girl, finding her busy in look the photo of a young woman very similar to her secured inside her pendant in a very sad way.
«Commander!» she jumped noting of being watched.
She tried to stand up to salute her, but she was so awkward that she almost fell, and then Jamie invited her to stay quiet.
«You look thoughtful, Meyko. Is there something wrong?»
She looked at her for a moment in disbelief, and then she turned again to her big yellow eyes to the photo.
«Is it true what I heard?»
«Yes. Eric has appeared once again.»
«I thought he was dead.»
«We were all thinking it.»
Meyko at that point closed the pendant, grabbing it tightly in her hand while she turned back to Jamie with a fierce glance.
«Please, let me go with you. I want to make him pay for what he did to my sister.»
Hearing that request, however, Jamie replied by gently placing her hand on Meyko's head, making her blush.
«You're not made for such things.»
«But ... Commander ...»
«Do not misunderstand. I don't doubt of your courage or your skills. But if this world still has a hope of salvation, there must be the ones like you to rebuild it. Then, for no reason your hands must be covered with blood.»
«Commander…»
«Your task is not to kill but to rebuild.» and saying that Jamie went off, followed with the eyes by the young Norma.
Cause to all the damages suffered by the para-mail, the team selected to hunt down the Grail needed three entire days to be ready.
Alexia had given them almost everything: in addition to six brand-new para-mails, modified and improved right for the occasion, there were fuel, spare parts, ammunition and various types of additional weapons, all of them carried on two big helicopters ready to depart along with the squad.
Perrine, Lynn and Francesca had never taken part to one of the expeditions against the settlements along the coast, but nonetheless Yuko and the others had no doubt about their reliability for that job; they had experience, skills and cold blood in abundance, and more important they were not afraid to deal with Eric, for the simple fact that all three had more than one reason to want his death.
«What are you doing, Amanda?» Jamie asked seeing the dark girl jump aboard of one of the two transport units with a full staff of mechanics.
«Considering that you cannot go back to Reunion until you'll have completed the mission, I would say you need an expert mechanic. The commander told me keep an eye on you, so here I am.»
Before departure, Yuko spent one last time reviewing the three chosen one, which were standing at attention right next to each other.
Perrine was the one with less experience among the three, but only because she was the only one to have known a life far from Reunion in her first years. Nonetheless he was nicknamed the Blonde Demon, and although her favorite passion was going around asking for morality and respect of the rules it was said that many girls had known her bed.
At a first glance Lynn could appear to be anything but a danger, with those gentle face, the slender body with generous shapes and the brown silky hair; if it hadn't been a Norma, she would have been able to become a famous actress.
Francesca, however, was, and she had always been, the perfect portrait of pure apathy, at the point that the other girls of the base had fun keeping track of the time that they had heard her speak. Black and flowing here was the frame around an icy, expressionless face, and even if there was even a fan club of her no one was able to remember ever having seen her try to take advantage from her gorgeous body. Since she was born she had never known the world outside the island, and among the three she was certainly the most reliable.
«I will not cheat you,» Yuko told them. «You know very well the kind of opponent we are going to face.
In any case, I have no doubt that each of you will put all of herself into this mission, if only because you're very well aware of the stakes.
I expect that your duty with no hesitation, am I clear?»
«Yes, ma'am,» the three answered in chorus.
The six girls then reached the respective para-mail, and how even the airships were ready to depart the entire squadron took off, regrouping in defensive formation and departing immediately at full speed toward the continent.
After three days of travel, the bulldog and its crew were about to cross the mountain range that signed the border between Mitsurugi and Gallia.
Theoretically where was no need of such a long time to travel between Sophia and the frontier, but the trip had been slowed down both by high number the crewmembers and the need to stop in each settlement too close to the coast to warn them about the Norma's danger.
Fortunately, except a couple of failed attempts, the majority of the small agglomerations and villages that Sylvia and his companions had found along the road accepted to listen for their warning, immediately accepting to leave for the hinterland, even at the cost of sacrificing the few things they had.
Even that unusually bit village accepted their help, and Ashley and the others' aid the villagers were ready to evacuate in a couple of hours.
«You need to go as far as possible from the coast,» Sylvia told to the village chief. «The more you go west, the most you will be safe.
I will try to return as soon as possible with weapons and reinforcements.»
«We do not know how to thank you, Your Highness,» said that umpteenth that gentle old man with big respect. «Thank you for having warned us.»
«One more thing, please. Can you tell me the shortest way to cross the mountains and reach Gallia?»
The old man and his wife looked at each other in perplexity.
«Theoretically» said the old lady. «The shortest way would be the Sleepy Hollow, but ...»
«But recently some gangs of bandits have set a camp inside it» continued her husband. «They assault the convoys and kill anyone crosses it for a bunch of supplies. It's a bit of time that no one dares to pass through there.»
«Are there no other roads?»
«Well, here, it would be Grenview Pass, but it's quite far from here, not to mention that it's quite dangerous. The road is really narrow, and your vehicle...»
«Never mind, still better than the bandits. Now go.»
«Thank you. Thank you for everything, Your Highness. God bless you.»
So while the villagers were running away, Sylvia called everyone around the bulldog once again, ready to leave.
«Are you sure it's worth it?» asked Ashley helping her to get up. «I mean, three or four bandits shouldn't be a problem for us.»
«I will not take any unnecessary risk, not to mention that we do not know the enemy's force. Our purpose is just to reach Rozemblum as soon as possible.
So now, everyone on board. We depart immediately.»
«Yes, ma'am.» the girl jokingly replied.
Then, shortly thereafter, also the bulldog left, leaving behind only a settlement on flame, so to not leave anything to possible robbers.
Unfortunately Sylvia and her companions couldn't be aware of the fact that the bandits which was terrorizing the convoys between Mitsurugi and Gallia had recently diverted their attention from Sleepy Hollow to the Grenview Pass, less frequented but where at the opposite was much more easy to prepare an ambush, with that narrow road sandwiched between the forests and the cliffs.
Their leader, Dorian, was a guard of the nearby prison of Alamut before the Apocalypse, and like many others he had seen in the sudden disappearance of the mana an opportunity to show off his true nature, turning from an inflexible and sadistic soldier, but respectful of the rules despite everything, in a psychiatric problem, able to slaughter anyone for mere pleasure.
Paradoxically, among the members of his gang there were also many of the criminals and cutthroats that he had surveilled for a long time as a guard, and that once again they were at his mercy, cannon fodder to throw in the battle with no problems.
But they were not alone.
Recently in fact the party used to travel in company of a little girl, probably fifteen years old, constantly locked in a special wooden cage like an animal; her clothes, even if soaked in mud and dirt cause of the long jailing, were surprisingly well made, and with a very curious and unusual shape, while her dark-blue hair perfectly done in two long tails gave her a martial aspect.
Like every evening, a gang member went to take her something to eat, throwing in front of the closed cage a smelly and disgusting portion of meat that she doesn't even took the trouble to look.
«Sorry boss, is it really necessary to take freak with us?» that bandit asked coming back close to the bivouac. «She creeps me every time I look her.»
«Are you crazy?» Dorian replied caressing his straw-colored mustache. «Things like her worth like a treasure. If we find the right buyer, we'll have enough money for the rest of our life.»
«But it's been a long since we moved here,» objected another one. «And it's almost two weeks that we don't have someone to assault.»
«Trust me, it's just a matter of time. If the news about the attacks against the villages are true, soon a nice bunch of yokels will begin to cross the mountains in an attempt to reach Gallia, or what remains of it. And of course we'll be here waiting for them.»
They were all so half-drunk that none of them had noticed that their prisoner, noting the presence of a large and curved bone between her supposed dinner, had surreptitiously recovered it.
She could have wait until most of them were asleep, but the thirst for freedom was too big; so, taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching her, she slipped the tip of the bone in the lock and begun to silently work on it, constantly looking behind her to avoid bad surprises.
She needed many attempts, but finally the lock cracked, and the girl, walking low, was finally able to feel earth under her feet after an incredible period of time.
But the legs were soft, the muscles weakened for the long captivity, and when she tried to get up she almost fell, and the branch which she grabbed to remain on foot broke, making more noise than necessary.
«Hey you!» Dorian shouted noting her, and immediately sending all of his men behind the prisoner. «What are you doing here, fucking jailbirds? Run behind her!»
Not far from there, along the road which passed along the pass, Sylvia and her companions had stopped at the end of a long day of journey, and also taking advantage from the peaceful evening they had prepared a makeshift table in front of the bulldog, finally taking a dinner worthy of this name for the first time since they left Sophia.
Despite everything, the atmosphere was quite cheerful, and for a moment the girls almost forgot the situation in which they had come to find, alone and lost in a world in decay.
The only one to miss this unusual cheerful atmosphere was Eric, who a few hours after the departure from Sophia had fallen into a sleep from which hadn't awakened yet since that time.
«He's still asleep,» said Mayu returning to the table after having gone to check
«I'm starting to consern,» Sylvia said. «He's sleeping since almost four days.»
«Onii-chan, strong," Mary said while biting a piece of cheese. «But strength make him tired. When fight, he tires a lot, so he needs sleep.»
«His skills are undoubtedly beyond common humans,» said Mayu. «But after all he's still a man. I wonder how he can do what he does.»
«Mary, it's been you to provide him such powers?» Ashley asked
«No, no. Onii-chan already strong before meeting Mary. He tells he special. No human being.»
Ashley had seen the most absurd and incredible things during her life as a fighter to Arzenal, yet Eric's prodigious skills were a mystery even for her; and as a good Norma, she had learned to be suspicious about anything that couldn't be understand or explained, some sort of self-defense.
A strange noise coming from the forest dragged her and all the others out from their own thoughts; someone was running in their direction.
«What was that?» Helen said
«Ruka, turn on the headlights!»
The dazzling lights lit up the trees all around, just in time to reveal the slender and dirty figure of a little girl that came out from the forest and run toward the group, throwing herself into the arms of the first person who happened to meet, which was Ashley; touching her, the Norma had that strange feeling once again, but this time it was much more stronger, so as to make her bones tremble inexplicably.
«Help me, please! They're chasing me!»
A few moments later a group of much more threatening men appeared from the forest, and the two groups found face to face. Seeing them the newcomer grabbed Ashley stronger, and this for Sylvia was more than enough to have a bad impression of that sinister group of brutes.
«What do you want?» she asked
«Give us back that girl, sweetheart!» one of them menacingly shouted
«Which what title?»
«The title of this!» and he immediately raised his machine gun.
His companions, but the girls too, did the same, and everything turned into a dramatic Mexican standoff.
Unfortunately a couple of the bulldog's operators were still inside of the vehicle, so in the blink of an eye the bandits will found themselves with also a couple of tank cannons pointed against them.
«Don't try it.» Sylvia threateningly said.
A hilarious laugh broke the dramatic silence which had fallen in the area, and after a while Dorian appeared from the trees while clapping to the princess.
«It was time for this nation to finally be ruled by someone worth of the title.» he said placing himself between his man and Sylvia's. «It's a pity that unfortunately there's not a nation to rule anymore.»
«You're the bandits that are assaulting the convoys in the last months, right?»
«What a bad way to print us. We're simply… adapting to this new world. After all, adaptations is the key for survival.»
«Not if it's done at the expenses and the life of someone else. What do you want from this little girl?»
«We don't want anything from her. But see, she's a bit… special. We spent a fortune to keep her alive, and there are a lot of people well-disposed to pay an high price for that little girl.»
«This is slavery.» Mayu replied «You're nothing but beast.»
«Do you allow to all of your servants to speak like this?»
«This is the difference between us. They're not servants. They're my partners. I'm not forcing them like you, they spontaneously decided to follow me.»
Dorian smiled, but he was clearing running out of patience.
«Listen. As I said, I'm simply aiming to earn a big prize for that girl. She's expansive, but if you want to buy her I'll be more than happy to oblige you.»
Sylvia tried to reflect for a moment: the idea of pay such beasts was more than enough to make her feel hate for herself, but if this was enough to avoid a fight maybe it was still a good compromise.
«What do you want? We have money, gold and food. Take what you want.»
«Money and gold have valueless in the world we find» Dorian replied in a sarcastic way «And for the food, we have plenty of it already.»
«So, what do you want?»
«Well, let's see… you have a plenty of fine weapons, I see. More than enough to provoke a little war. And unfortunately for us, our job forces us to make a big use of such things, so we never have plenty enough of them.
I say, that girl for half of your light weapons and the ammunitions. A fair purpose, don't you think? After all, you'll be able to find more of them along your journey.»
That was more than enough.
«We should give you our weapons so that you could use them to slaughter and robber other innocent bastards?
Never!».
Dorian appeared to be stunned for that firm and severe answer, but he tried to preserve his self-control and friendly behavior.
«In this case, I think I'll take the girl back with me.»
But in the moment he tried to approach the girl, pursuing her to grab Ashley even stronger, Sylvia immediately raised her gun against him, and the Mexican standoff was restored. This time, however, the noise of the shells pushed inside the bulldog's cannons became perfectly hearable, not to mention that in the meantime Sylvia's man had reached all of the vehicle's assault weapons which were now pointed all together against the bandits.
«In this case, I think the girl will stay here» the princess replied. «And you and your scum have ten seconds to disappear from my sight.»
There were all the premises for a bloody battle, and all the children, together with the civilians, were so scared that they couldn't neither cry nor scream.
However, for the same Sylvia's astonishment, Dorian decided for first to avoid such massacre, ordering to his men to lower down their weapons.
«As I said, finally we have a ruler worth of her name» then he ordered to leave. «Have a safe night, Your Highness.»
Sylvia and the others stayed firm to look them till Dorian and his men vanished into the forest, then the princess approached the little girl, which looked her with her eyes covered in happy tears.
«T… thank you…»
«Are you all right?» she asked, receiving a subtle head not in response, before turning to Ruka with the most worried expression. «We leave. Immediately. Prepare the vehicle.»
«Aye aye, boss.»
«Why, my lady?» Helen asked. «You showed them your power. How can they hope to defeat the bulldog?»
«Did they seemed reasonable people to you?» replied a worried princess.