Today was the day.
I had manufactured everything for this very day.
“Avante, time.”
“9:01AM sir.”
Nora’s working, Zidane is training, Rumena is doing her own thing. And Laura is mine.
The RPG remained at Lorenzo’s workshop as I had him reproduce more ammunition for me and I also had him manufacture me a rather simple strap that would be held around my body, holding at least six warheads, with me carrying an emergency two in my pouch. The number of things I had to start carrying was growing tedious.
On my belt, a pouch attached with all my extra bullets. And another holster for my gun on my right side since I was right handed. My red coat was sowed with dozens of pockets, each holding sticks of dynamite and now I would have to carry a weightload of warheads around my body with an RPG stuck to my back.
I was athletic so I could endure it but it was getting problematic because all those things would slow down my movement if problems came about. Eventually, I would have to tackle that problem and look to make weapons far lighter and more practical.
But this was good enough for now.
I had spent eight days in Ballaad, with this being the ninth and thankfully, I had made a routine so surefire, that me being out of the mansion every day didn’t seem odd. Which gave me such a great timeframe to work with.
Leaving my room, I seeked out Nora for the first time. Walking over to her office, I entered with no knocks when she looked up at me with her expressionless face.
“Axure?”
“Nora. I’m slightly in need of your assistance.”
“You? In need of my assistance?”
As much as I hated it, I needed something off of her.
“You see, this new invention I have been working on, as you know, I have been going at it for a while. But the issue is, now it’s becoming slightly costly.”
“So you need some money? Why of course, you are one of my companions so of course I shall give you some. How much do you need?”
“Possibly a few gold coins.”
She raised a brow. “That’s quite excessive. Since when did carpenters charge so much?”
I may have fucked up there.
“Sorry, no it’s just I need him to buy certain metals and materials to get this going. And you know my inventions. They’re pretty crazy but they come at a cost.”
“Crazy they are,” she muttered as she looked down while holding her chin in thought. “Very well, I shall provide you with a few gold coins.”
She opened a drawer out from her desk and walked over to me. Pulling my hand out, she dropped five gold coins and said in a stern voice, “Don’t waste it.”
“I won't. You know how much I value my inventions. Thank you.” And with that, I left Nora to continue her work. Now, I had to get my final piece. Laura.
“Laura, we gotta go get the thing.”
“Oh really? But Nora told me I need to assist her with some-”“No listen. I spoke to her already, it’s fine.”
“Okay, let me go confirm-”
“No it’s fine I already told you. And look, you know I can’t spend too long on this.”
“You say you don’t have time but why don’t you have time?”
The question caught me off guard. She was unusually disagreeable today.
“Because if I don’t use it, the mechanics fail on me and then I have to start from square one again.”
I lied and lied and lied.
“Is that how it works?”
“Yeah, you see if I don’t use it at least once a day, the metal within begins to get clogged making the whole thing fail.”“That doesn’t seem practical though Axure,” she said, tilting her head as she looked to the ceiling with her eyes.
“Well alright. As long as you’ve told Nora, I know she trusts you,” she said.
Nora? Trust me? That woman does not trust me by any means. She knows how smart I am and she’s doing anything to contain me.
We set off as usual, right past Zidane who continued his usual training every day and then followed the same route. Reaching the workshop, I greeted Lorenzo as he waved at me with blackened hands. “Hey Axure! I finished all the warheads!”
“Yeah, perfect. Let me have a look.”
I examined everything, they weren’t all perfect but they were good enough.
“And the strap?”
“Got it right here for you!” He walked over to me holding it up, with six casings for the warheads going down.
“You fucking smashed it!” I exclaimed, taking off my coat. I strapped it around me, fitting in all the warheads as I took the remaining two, sliding them in my hidden pockets.
“Did you add the belt to the rocket launcher like I said?” I asked.
“Yep. Here she is,” he said, holding the rocket launcher like it were a baby. And indeed I saw the belt attached to it hanging down. I put my jacket back on and flung the belt over me.
Perfect. The RPG lay perfectly on my back.
Onto the next phase.
I slowly walked over to the dirtied window, wiping it with my hand. “Lorenzo man, you gotta give this window a clean sometime,” I said, rubbing the dust off with my sleeve.
“Yeah, you’re right about that! I’ll give it a clean soo-”
“Lorenzo! Lorenzo!” I shouted, cutting him off.
“What is it?!”
“There’s trouble on the other side of the canal!”
“What?! How can you see?!” He replied as Laura shot out her seat with a worried look.
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“I have an ability where my eyes can zoom in on things. There seems to be a big fight kicking off.”
Lorenzo’s tone dropped. “It’s better not bothering wi-”
“Are you crazy Lorenzo!? Are you not a man?! You can’t let people die in front of you!”
“But-”
“Lorenzo! You’re the man of the town! And listen, did you see what we created!? If anything wrong happens, you know what my machines are capable of.”
“Hmm, in that sense it wouldn’t hurt to go check it out.”
“Come! Let’s go quickly!” I said barging through the door. Lorenzo hurriedly followed noticing my frantic plea but a rather annoying variable decided to follow too. Laura.
“Laura! Stay here and protect my things! If you leave this place with no one here, someone could steal everything!” I exclaimed.
“But you’ve taken all your things,” Laura replied with a look of worry as she spoke softly.
“Agh listen Laura. Just fucking stay here, you’ve been talking too much recently, “ my irritation broke out of it’s shell, breaking my character for a brief moment. But luckily, Lorenzo had saved me.
“Sorry milady, we shall be back quickly. We just need to check on what’s going on. And Axure is right, if we leave this place empty, I’m afraid of robbery.”
“Alright the-”
The moment I heard those words leave Laura’s mouth, I darted out slamming the door behind me as Lorezo followed. We ran and ran together, crossing the bridge to the other side until we came to a stop in the middle of the street. Lorenzo, confused, tapped my shoulder asking, “Where is it? Do you see anything?”
“Lorenzo,” I spun back, locking eyes with him as he held my shoulder, “The truth is, there is no fight. There’s nothing.”
“What?” Lorenzo said with a look of worry.
“Lorenzo. Please, I’m begging you for your help. As a fellow engineer who worked with you endlessly on this project. Please help me.”
“Huh? What? I-I don’t understand,” his voice broke as he spoke.
“I need to leave this place. I need to leave this city.”
“But why? What? You’re not explaining anything. What about Ms Laura?”
“Time is running out. Lorenzo, I have a sick brother I need to get to. And he’s in another city. Truth is, I’m just an average worker in the mansion of the royal family. I’m nobody of significance but work just ties me down and the royal family are scum. They don’t allow me to leave work and see my sick brother.”
“But-”“Surely you know! I’m a commoner like you. Everyone hates the royal family for a good fucking reason and I’m just another victim to them.”
I handed him four gold coins as I watched his eyes light up.
“Please, open up the makeshift gate you made and close it behind me. When you go back to Laura, tell her I was stabbed in the neck from the fight spiralling out of control. Just tell her you couldn’t do anything and ran back.”
“But what if the royal family turns to me?”
“Oh you know they won't. The royal family are not all powerful. Earlier I was with that failed Royal Knight and he was scared to even step in when murder happened right before him. All because he was scared of the numbers. If you don’t believe me, go ask the locals, they’ll tell you.”
Lorenzo looked at the gleaming coins in his hands when he balled up his fist. “This… this can keep me on my feet for a while…”
He paused. And spoke again, “Listen, I’m not sure if I can-”
“Please Lorenzo… Please. I’m begging you.”
He stopped to think for a moment, scrunching his face up.
“Okay Axure. I will help you. I hope you can reach your brother in time.”
“Thanks my friend. Thanks.”
After pacing down the roads, we reached the small gate. He pulled the lever down in haste and gave me a final goodbye. I took a deep breath and went on all fours, crawling through the narrow, rocky tunnel.
I saw it.
I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
I saw the rays of the sun beam through the hole.
I saw it.
I tasted the fresh air.
I saw my freedom.
How hard had I worked to get here?
How many times did I die excruciating deaths to arrive here?
I was prepared. Prepared for danger.
And most importantly.
I was free.
I reached for the light, dragging myself out feeling the grass tickle my fingers. I got out of the tunnel, hearing the gate slam down behind me and I didn’t even get up. I just stayed there with my head down, still on all fours.
A tear rolled down my eye.
A tear turned into a sob and a sob turned into a cry. I continuously wiped off my tears with my hand, sobbing in joy as I did.
“I fucking did it. I did it! I did it! I finally did it.”
My voice faded away as I sat on my knees and looked out. As much as I wanted to rejoice in happiness, I had to throw away the momentary feeling and pull out my map. The one I had taken from Nora a while back.
“There’s a village not too far down from here. I got a gold coin so I can get by and it’s early in the daytime. Whoever those Aylanists are, they shouldn’t be active now. If they’re after the royal family, well that ain’t me no more. And they seem to be more active at night.”
I stood up, holding onto my strap and exhaled before setting off into my new beginning. Finally, a way to restart in peace away from all the madness.
I began to walk, memorising the route of the map and following a general direction. The village wasn’t far, it would possibly take me just a few hours to reach it.
“AXURE!” I heard a far too familiar voice screech in the air. I felt my heart drop to my feet as I slowly spun back.
No. Not you. Not you notyounotyou.
I slowly turned back, looking at the towering walls before me, but saw nothing. And that’s when it hit me. I flung my head upwards and saw the villainous sight standing high, with the wind battering his hair as his robe fluttered violently. The sun shone behind him almost making him look like heaven-sent.
Zidane Albetros had arrived.
And in spectacular fashion, he leapt down from the top, ramming his sword into the wall as he dragged himself down. Rocks were flying out as he descended onto the ground, and when he reached it, he yanked his sword back out. He glared at me, with a face far more dark than anything I had seen before. It wasn’t stern, no. It was blazing with animosity.
And killing intent.
“Axure, do you really take me for a fool?” He asked. I was unable to give a response. I was frozen in fear.
“Do you really think you’re the only one playing these games? I know you. I have watched you. Every. Single. Day. Everything you do is artificial. You wear masks constantly. You undermine everyone around you,” and then his voice suddenly roared in rage, “You think I’M A FOOL?!”
My breathing grew heavier. My steps grew weaker as I tried to walk back.
“As I thought. You are suspicious and always have been. You are a threat to Her Highness. And I shall finish you here.”
Nononononononono. Not now. Not fucking now!
He slowly trudged through the grass, holding his sword tight as he came to me. No-
I didn’t need to over react. I made fucking countermeasures against him. I fucking builT an RPG. I pulled out the RPG from my back in one swift move, and loosely aimed it at him as I fired a shot. Unable to have stable footing, I fell to my back as I watched the explosion burst before Zidane.
Smoke erupted everywhere leaving me unable to see what was left. I jumped back up, pulling out another warhead to put back into it. But something momentarily grabbed my attention away as I saw a shadow emerge from the thick smoke.
Zidane walked right through again. But he was vastly different. It worked. It was effective. This monster of a man was harmed.
Blood seeped out of a dozen cuts scattered across his face with burn marks painting him. His robe was tattered, his walk seemed heavier. But he still walked. And his glare remained on me like lasers.
Fuck! This takes too long to reload!
I threw the warhead away in anger as I pulled out my gun and in one swift movement, I took my shot. The bullet ripped through his shoulder as I watched his body jolt back.
But the man kept fucking walking.
Blood dripped from his face, a hole ripped in his shoulder and burn marks all over.
This man still walked.
And before I got to release another round on him, as fast as my bullet, he lunged toward me. Slashing my stomach, I fell to the ground in agony feeling my intestines crawl out. I curled up into a ball as I tried feeling myself. I looked up at him.
Why? Whywhywhywhy!? How!? How?!Howhow!? Wasn’t you supposed to be training?! What happened?! Was it Nora?! Laura? Did she say something?! Who said-?!
“You truly are dangerous,” Zidane cut off my thoughts as he stood over me. I rolled my weak eyes over at him, blurred with my tears of pain. All I saw was his shadow.
Just how much was you fucking observing me.
And with one mighty slash.
I died.