Elise’s mouth hung open, her eyes massive with pupils in full dilation. Her eyes rested upon Holly, a slight prickling feel in Elise’s head. Her eyes narrowed, her mouth closing with teeth gritting, “You did what?!”
Holly stared back now, her hands together and her chin resting upon them. Half closed eyes, somewhat empty yet calculating. Elise slammed both hands down and stood, “I’m sorry but I thought you just said you brought me to Vulfax. Care to confirm that?”
“Elise, calm down,” Alto spoke quickly.
“No, she just said something I want to hear dammit and I want her to explain what exactly she meant by that.”
“You were an infant left in our care Elise, I couldn’t risk bringing you into things at the time. I left you with Vulfax because I felt you would be safe. I spoke to Azala about it myself and made a deal. So long as he toned his activities down and took care of you, I’d turn a blind eye to his underworld dealings.”
“Why… why Vulfax? Why him? Do you know what I suffered through? I went through hell every day in that damn clan! Haven’t you heard of an orphanage before?” Elise spat.
“I had little other choice in the matter.”
“How’s that?” came the growling response from Elise.
“Never mind that now. Surely you suspected something though while in Vulfax, right? You displayed no characteristics of the Drachen, you were very different.”
Elise looked down with quivering wide eyes, breathing in and out somewhat quicker than before.
“Azala sent you on death missions no doubt because he thought you were a spy of some sort even at the age of a toddler. I didn’t think he would do such a thing, I didn’t know what you would go through, I didn’t even know he worked with The Hive. Had I known in time I would’ve reversed my decisions, I could have done different. By the time I realized it it was all too late.”
“I went through so much and they weren’t even my people, do you know how that makes me feel? There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t want it to all just end for me. If I weren’t such a coward or frightful of what they might do to me if I said or tried anything, I’d have left my own way long ago. I hated everything!”
“But you had people who supported you didn’t you?”
“Many of those people died because of what Azala thought I was!”
Silence filled the room, Elise’s eyes locked with Holly’s, the tension swirling as their eyes seemed to clash. Alto looked back and forth, his arms twitching with worry flashing in his eyes, “Makes no damn sense, sticking me with those barbarians when I have no power. Clearly there’s more you know that you don’t want to say. So why am I here then anyways, huh?”
“Because I want you to join our ranks and combat the Hive.”
Everyone immediately shot glances to Holly; Alto, Dewy, Sora, all joined Elise in staring at Holly.
“Whoa, Holly, what are you-”
“Alto, it is obvious that she is a brilliant young lady. She’s come far from my understanding, she has the determination, and above all, she has the will to do the right thing. She’s already in on this and by helping us she can help her people and so many others.”
“Let’s rewind that. You, the person who stuck me as an infant with a bunch of fire breathing assholes for protection, want me to join you and fend off things that can blow up cities, people who are basically demigods.”
“You have the brains clearly, using Hemlock and Wolfsbane against Zaherian. You know how to plot a battle. You have compassion and care for your comrades. That’s enough for me to confirm you would be a major asset, especially once I train you to become one with the Celestial River like any Sillithian.”
Eyes shifted as a chair quickly shifted, the source being Alto who had shot up out of his chair, “With all due respect, Elise is just a human with sword skills and above average strength. How can you say we need to involve her in this? If it comes down to a battle like with Medontei she’ll fall. We can’t ask her to do that.”
“Times are desperate Alto. When I came to you over a decade ago, were you at all ready? No. You are able to turn into a wolf and nothing more, yet your skills as a secret agent are impressive.”
“So I’m a ninja among others, what about her? I’ve been here for many years on top of that and still haven’t learned to connect to the Celestial River.”
“For one, you’re more of a warrior. For two, you lack the focus and concentration. Three, you’re not one with nature or your inner self. And four, you’re not a quick learner. To my knowledge Elise is more in tune with herself, with nature, and is most certainly a quick learner. She might not be a warrior like you but she has the potential.”
“Picking up a sword is diff-”
“Alto shut up!” Elise spat now glaring at him. At once she continued as all eyes shifted, “Right now I’m pissed, I’m in shock, and I’m being asked to make a huge decision by a woman I trusted who has honestly lost all my respect with one god damn sentence. I don’t need the crap and belittlement from you, especially with how that fight against Medontei went. Why put a human in with lizard people? Why let the torture go on?!”
“But Elise I’m just-”
“But nothing Alto! I won’t stand for any more bullshit!”
“And you most certainly shouldn’t,” came a voice from a doorway.
All eyes shifted to two individuals as they walked in, one younger and the other older. Holly sighed with hands on her temples, “Ryuu, Zero, welcome,” Holly commented.
“We couldn’t help but overhear the situation while waiting to come in. Have to say the kid’s right, why did you stick a human baby in with Drachen?”
“Because I saw potential in her from the minute I laid eyes on her,” Holly spat back.
Eyes shifted, locked to Holly once more. Holly stood, hands down on the table, “Alright now call it selfish but maybe I just saw Elise day one and could tell there was something about her that had a lot of promise. Because of that I stuck her with warriors thinking they could beef her up until I could train her myself.”
“Zero, how about you talk to Elise outside for a minute,” Ryuu growled, “Everyone but Holly can leave the room. I… would have words with her.”
Elise swung her right arm, a vase flying straight off the table right into a wall. With a loud shatter it splashed upon the ground, a mark left in the wall just as much. With a sharp turn she walked out, followed by Zero who moved quickly. All others had already begun to stand and walk out themselves.
Feet shuffled for awhile until finally the room left only the two in it, both looking right at one another. Ryuu looked right at Holly with glaring eyes, his mouth already in motion, “What the fu-”450Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡycXn2YFaID
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“Holly did what she felt was right is what I’m getting at.”
“She put me with a pack of warrior dumb asses who mostly treated me like dirt for my entire life. How is that a good thing?!”
Zero stepped outside with her, right onto the balcony of the building overlooking the garden. A sigh left him, a shake of the head following, “I don’t get the thought behind that myself quite honestly, stupid reasoning. What I do get is that I know what it’s like being treated like crap your whole life, being just lied to because they want to turn you into a weapon.”
“How so,” Elise grumbled.
“My father did the same thing to me,” Zero sighed, his eyes closing for a brief moment, “From the day I was born he saw that I could be made into a weapon for our empire. From the age of three I was already being taught to kill, and I was not permitted many friends. In fact, most of the ones I did make he simply dismissed from the palace. Ultimately though, it made me stronger.”
Elise turned to him as his head turned to her, face forward with eye lock, “Sometimes bad things happen by hand of others when they thought it would be for the best, or by complete accident. I’m not saying what Holly did was right by any means. Yes she could have put you in a normal orphanage or at the very least raised you herself but maybe she just saw something in you from infancy. Sillithians are known for seeing that sort of thing you know.”
“Paths and fate are bullshit,” Elise grumbled, “Don’t bring up that prophecy sounding mumbo jumbo. There’s no way she could’ve told how I would turn out.”
“No, I suppose not. You still had to work to get where you are now with some relative dumb luck. Who knows, maybe she had no reason and just wanted to mess with you. I doubt it but who really knows. But Elise, if you leave now you’ll never find out,” Zero mumbled looking away.
“If I leave now? Oh don’t you start on that recruitment crap too.”
“If you truly want to find out, you should stay. If you truly want to help Vulfax, you should also stay.”
“To hell with them,” she growled.
“Oh come now, assholes or not, they’re still your people just as the people in Emerton are. Elise, I’m going to be blunt. Holly wouldn’t have mixed you up in any of this if she didn’t think you could handle it, especially if she didn’t think she needs the help. To put it bluntly, if the Tribe falls, this world as so many know it will forever end. Then everyone will be like you under the power of the Dharkanians.”
“Tch..”
“I’ll be back,” Zero concluded turning away, pacing himself back towards the door, “Think about it, all of it. Please Elise, give it a lot of thought for the friends and family you still have.”
His steps echoed back inside as he moved out of sight. Elise stood there, looking out at the plants, her hands digging into the railing of the deck, the wood itself splintering around those hands. Her teeth bare, her eyes quivering, her whole body had begun to shake apart.450Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ucQ8r0qSC
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“-and you who would be so arrogant as to,” Ryuu began.
“I know Ryuu, I fricken know!” Holly spat.
“So why!?”
“Because we’re desperate! I gave her to the sharks thinking they’d raise a warrior for our side. It was dirty, it robbed her of whatever life she could’ve had. But it was necessary. She’s not the first nor the last that the Tribe has attempted this with.”
“Why not tell her where she comes from then? Where does she even come from, and why her?”
“I don’t have that answer at the moment, I don’t know where. All I know is that it was a feeling, an urge. I made a gamble, it might not have been the right one but in the long run it could benefit our efforts greatly. That child, Ryuu, isn’t a prodigy. But you know what? She has guts. She has come far and that’s what it’s all about.”
“You’re no better than General Mud Bath, he murders Dharkanian children just because they’re Dharkanian. Hell I’m sure he’d love to execute all the Hive turncoats who joined up with us! And don’t even get me started on that one General, Midoridantei or Mirdora or whatever the hell his name was. That one is a bloody psycho-”
“Ryuu, just, just listen, alright?” Holly said with a sigh, walking around the table, “There is a reason for everything, k? And there is reason for this, for certain.”
“Then do tell?”
“Alright, it’s like this-”450Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnSPWJPoI3
