Holy Land - afternoon

The gray clouds are still hanging out in the sky, but no rain in sight. If this depressing atmosphere isn’t enough, then the sky is definitely bumming me out. Some rain would be nice to listen to right about now. At least I could distract myself.

“Proxy, may I pose a question?” Nunnalé asked.

“What is it?”

“Why is your gaze transfixed on that man?”

She means the dude that saved us. With brown hair turning gray, his rugged, tired face catches my eye. He has a barely shaved beard, appearing apathetic to his appearance.

“No reason.”

“Do you mistrust him?”

“Somewhat.”

“How odd. You would normally be thankful to someone for assisting us.”

“You’re right, but I just don’t like him. When I asked him to help Alex and Richard back to the bus, he said no, even though they’ve been banged up.”

“Is that so…?” Nunnalé places a hand on her chin, thinking about what I said. “...Master Richard sustained only minor injuries, but I can see why that man vexes you. Although, I cannot say I share the same ire.”

“You serious?”

“If he had harmed my master, then my reception of that man would change.”

I get where she’s coming from, but I just can’t see it like that.

“Speaking of Richard, you two doing okay?”

“Yes. My physical condition is at 100%, my master is still unconscious, otherwise, he is fine.”

“No, no, no. I meant: are you two getting along?”

“Getting along… Correct. my master and I are getting along. He and I held a 5-hour discussion on floral patterns and differentiating similar flowers with similar shapes, hues, and meaning.”

“Oh… That sounds…fun.”

“Fun indeed,” she says, voicing an oddly energetic tone to her otherwise mild voice.

I don’t have it in me to tell her that sounds like a pain in the ass. If he’s willing to do it, then why should I ruin her parade? But 5-hours…

“Proxy, may I ask you another question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Will Marie recover from her ailment?” She places a hand on her chest. “Her mental state has degraded, that much is known to me. However, I do not know how to confront this problem. If I am to understand, then please help me.”

“Why ask me?”

“Because I…”

A knock from outside the bus interrupts our conversation. Whenever me or Chip are acting as a lookout, we knock on the bus to catch everyone’s attention. Three knocks, followed by two more… Bandits are coming.

Nunnalé recognizes this warning too, leaping up to the top of the bus through the roof hatch. I follow behind her. Standing on top of a bus is a real killer. I need to keep close to the ground or I’ll fall off. Coupled with the wind and the bumpy roads, it isn’t as easy in the movies, but it sure is cool.

“Bandits! 5 motorcycles,” Chip, riding on Marie’s bike, warns.

“Alright, I got this.”

Road Burner has been traveling behind us on its own.

“Okay, let’s do this.” I jump off the bus, readying myself for the impact. Road Burner catches me, leading me to land on the nice leather I’ve gotten used to. Although, my landing was less than nice, but hey, at least I broke nothing. “Now, let’s get down to business!”

I hit the brakes, slowly stopping next to one of them. He tries to slam into me, but I beat him to it, throwing him off the road. One down, four more to go! Two of them tail behind me, taking out their weapons. Both of them catch up with me, leaning into me from both sides.

They timed their attacks to strike me, but I leaped from the seat, keeping my hands on the handles. Smashing my feet into one of them, he careens off the road, crashing into the ground. The last one readies himself, but a loud ass sound bursts in my ears. He goes spinning off the road. On top of the bus is that douchebag… Well, whatever, I ain’t gonna thank him.

“More behind you!” Chip yells.

More of them!? 10 more of them are riding behind me. Where did they even come from? I can’t take all of them at once, that’s crazy!

Driving on the bridge leading into Laguna, the bandits follow behind, yelling their lungs out, excited to catch up. The mystery man throws something toward me. For a split second, I saw sparks coming from whatever he threw. I speed ahead with a bad feeling forming in the back of my throat. Two seconds fly by, a loud ass explosion erupts from behind, blowing a large amount of heat at my back. That was an explosive! A freaking explosive! Crazy bastard almost blew up the bridge and me with it!

“Hey, you stupid bastard! I almost got hit!”

Instead of answering me, he just jumped back into the bus. Did he just… I’m gonna kill him!

We pull into Laguna. The city's a mess, debris sprawled everywhere, and the buildings are worse for wear. The further we go, the worse this place looks. Being in one should feel good, but this place feels depressing. I follow the bus into a lot between two buildings. Jumping off my bike, I stomp up to the bus. The asshole who nearly killed me comes out, watching me come up to him.

“Hey!” He meets me, void in expression. “You’re starting to piss me off! Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I am Garrick .”

“Well, Garrick, you almost got me killed!”

“But you are not dead. I don’t see why that bothers you?”

I grab his coat. Our height difference is blatant, looking down at me, towering over me with those blank eyes. They tell me nothing about this guy, not if he’s good, evil, nice, mean, cruel, kind, or even suspicious. Everything that makes up a person is nowhere to be seen in this guy.

“Let go,” he commands, lacking strength in his voice.

Richard had those eyes at one point, but he had a bit of warmth in him, even if it was buried. This guy, I can’t see that… Like at any moment, he could do anything and it couldn’t contradict him as a person.

“I don’t like you.”

This isn’t about him almost killing me, or even almost leaving Richard and Alex without helping them, but something in my gut is telling me this guy is no good.

“Proxy! What are you doing!?’

Alex jumps out of the bus entryway.

“He almost killed me. Thought he needed to learn not to do that.”

Zell exits the bus with some ‌others. “Alexander, we should do some scouting. Just in case there are some bandits around.”

“A sound idea,” he complied. “You lead a team to check the perimeter. I’ll lead another to check around the city.”

“Sounds good. You take most of the men, I’ll–”

“No, I’ll go alone.”

“You crazy?” I throw a rhetorical question at him. “I’ll go with you.”

“I can–”

“Too bad. I’m going with you.”

Tension builds between the two of us, heat builds around my face.

“Then I’ll come with you too,” Garrick volunteered.

“Sorry man, you can’t come.”

“Proxy…” Alex’s voice turned rigid, chastising me‌ without another word. “I would be honored.”

Chip, from the back end of the bus, shows himself. “Then I’ll come along. I’m good at recon, so I’ll be able to spot anyone ready to take a pot-shot.”

“I’ll come with you guys.” Gil from inside the bus, looking out the window, says. “I don’t like sitting around doing nothing. Walking around is good exercise.”

“Then that’s it. We’re going with you, Alex.”

Alex takes on a bothered and pained expression, averting his gaze from us.

Garrick doesn’t bother with, instead, walking out of the lot. “Then let’s not waste time. Let’s go.”

We follow him out of the lot. The air carries a familiar sea breeze that NewPort had around the docks, minus the ships coming in and out. This city looks like one of those European medieval cities, sort of like the Kingdom, but not as modern. Though, the buildings are all messed up, worse than any other run-down village.

“What’s up with this place?” I ask, letting the thought slip from my mind.

“What do ya mean?” Chip asked.

“Dunno, but this place looks like it has history, some sad history at that.”

“You aren’t gonna start crying, right?”

“Bite me!”

“7 years ago, during the march to Borghulda, the Kingdom’s army came through here,” Garrick suddenly joined in

“You were a part of the march, yes?” Alex asked.

“I was. There were 100 of us when we set off. Only 34 of us came back from the march.”

Damn, steep number. We haven’t lost any yet, but that’s kinda scary.

“Cars weren’t a thing back then, so travel was difficult. Meeting heavy opposition every which way, losing men who gave their lives for the kingdom. Then, we came here… 5 days. We battled for 5 days and 4 nights. Blood filled the air of the sea breeze, and death hung over us all like a dark cloud. In the end, we won.”

“Dude, that’s heavy. Glad we have the bus. Traveling on foot sounds like a real pain in the ass… Actually, where did the bandits get their rides from? Last time I checked, doesn’t the kingdom keep their rides to themselves?”

No one answers, leaving the question in the air.

“Probably from the kingdom’s leftovers. Heard they just dumped prototypes in the south. Bandits must’ve gotten those working.”

That makes sense. We scrapped car parts to make the Starbus.

“Sir Garrick, may you ask a question of mine?”

“What is it?”

“Did you know Siegfred, or rather, did you know of him personally?”

A long pause follows. Our footsteps fill in the silence between the two. “I did.”

“Really!?”

“Why does that excite you?”

“Because I am… an admirer of him.”

“An admirer?”

“Yes. He was truly a gallant knight. His heart was true, and his sword fought for justice. A knight beyond par.”

That dude must be one hell of a guy if Alex is fanboying over him.”

“Funny.”

“Hm? How so?”

“Because…”

Garrick stopped talking and ceased moving. He fixes his mug toward an alleyway. A knife rolls out of his sleeves. “Come out.”

Footsteps echo from the alley. There are several coming from there. A bunch of guys wearing flame-clad clothes strolls out of the alleyway. All of them wearing shit-eating grins on their faces.

“Fire Wraiths,” Chip points out, backing behind us, readying his bow gauntlet. Gil and I get ready to throw hands. Alex whips out his blade.

“Been a while, hasn’t it?” That voice!? Barbaric, gravely voice. Yeah, I know that voice anywhere! He swaggers out of the alley, wearing a disturbing smile on his face. “...Those goggles on your forehead. How do they feel? Must suck not to get those back yourself, huh?”

“Not at all. I know my buddy wrecked your punk ass with just his head, so what does that say about you?”

Standing across from me, he snarls, growling like a damn dog. “Cocky ass! Wanna say that again!?:”

“Sure do, umm… Oh, shit, I forgot your name.”

His face turns red. He squeals as loud as a hog, stomping his feet on the ground. “Wildcard! My…name…is…Wildcard!”

“Oh, yeah.”

Weird name, if you ask me. Probably thought it was cool or something like that.

“Whatever. You have my trophy, so you better give it back, and this time, I’ll be–”

A sudden popping sound, followed by dense black smoke, obscures my vision, wrapping me in its embrace. Before I could wrap my head around this, I’m pulled away from the scene. Chip leads me to an alleyway, trailing behind the others.

“Hey, I was gonna fight him!”

“Too many of them. We need to run!” Garrick dispelled my claim.

“I can take them!”

“Trust me, kid, you wouldn’t last a second.”

“Don’t side with him, Chip!”

“Wouldn’t be so bad, I’d beat at least 10 of them,” Gil unintentionally gloats. “What about you, Chip?”

“Oh yeah, I’d take out all of them!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and I would’ve beaten them with no sweat. Heck, I could’ve beaten the bandit leader while I was at it.”

“Wow, never knew you had it in you.”

“I don’t!”

“Coulda fooled me,” I replied, hitting him with another stinger.

“Whatever!”

“But why are the bandits here?” I ask. “I know we got chased by them into the city, but there weren’t that many of them…”

‘Is it that hard to tell? It was a trap,” Chip exclaimed.

“A trap?”

“Probably figured out our route. Since we have a former Flame Wraith captain, they must’ve deduced how we were approaching.”

“You gotta be kidding me!”

If they figured that out, then what if they were following us!?

“Guys, we gotta circle back to the bus!”

“Going back is no good,” Garrick rebuked.

“But they might know where it’s at!”

“They’ll drive away.”

“Screw that, I’m going back!”

I break off from the group, heading my own way. Footing is key, with rubble all over the place. I don’t know if this is a good idea, but I’ll come back for the others as soon as I can. Zell and Zeal are there, as well as Nunnalé, but worried about Marie. We didn’t go too far, so–

My sense goes off, throwing me out of my head. From my right! The window to a house shatters forward. I block the incoming attack. It was strong enough to push me, but I kept my feet on the ground.

“Damn, was I that loud?” Wildcard stands in front of me, frustrated.

“Come on, man! I don’t have time for you!”

“Make time now, or are you afraid of what happened last time?”

He just had to go and say that, didn’t he? A tinge of anger builds up in my forehead, my eyebrow twitches in response.

“Fine, I got time to show you up, fur coat-wearing freak!”

“That’s what I’m talking about! Let’s see what a few months gave you.”

Running away isn’t an option, and I don’t plan on it. This time, I’m gonna whoop his ass!