Make My Own Options

Make My Own Options

(Chapter 26)

**

[<<]

He begins to walk away. She's not satisfied with his response and it's really not helping. She'll have to take the repercussions for her actions head on, but HE's going off with Tina again.

"{I don't get it. I just saved your life. I've known you for how long and yet you'd listen to her over me in a heartbeat. What's your business with her anyway? Why'd you form a Raid Unit with her instead? Where are you two running off to with her dressed like that—that you don't want me to tag along. What's she doing to your head Elmus? You always say that we're gonna talk but it never happens. You just—you make me feel like it's not meant to be.}"

A tear trickles down her face but he doesn't see it. How could he have when he didn't even turn around to wave good bye? She hopes that he would just turn around and say something even if it's just the smallest, meaningless thing. but he rather turns to Tina instead. Does she have competition?

[>]

"Eris."

"…I'm sorry Sir Alfonse."

"I know you wouldn't do such a thing so I'll let it slide. Look at what you went and did to your hand."

"But I saved them. They were really gonna die!"

"We thank God for that, but what about yourself? I guard the gates because I'm getting paid for it. There's one thing I want you to hammer into your skull RIGHT NOW. Humans don't appreciate what you do for them! Maybe those in your inner circle but that's it. You'll sacrifice an arm and a leg but that'll be it. You have to think about yourself or the future will be gloomy for you...You'll think that persons success will make you happy…till they forget you when you're leagues apart."

"…Has it happened to you?"

"It's happened to almost EVERYONE at the bottom."

"…I'll try to be more rational next time…"

"Now go back to your brother. I wish you a speedy recovery."

[Boundless]

"Hey."

"Would it hurt to learn my name!? 'Guy-lel-miss', how difficult is that?"

"I'll try…You know, you could've said something more if you wanted to."

"I must set my priorities straight. I won't let a single soul die again because I was incompetent."

"Anyway…What WAS that?"

"Was what?"

"Back there, you completely changed. You were nothing like the loser I heard about."

"Because the loser you heard about couldn't use magic."

"It wasn't about that. You were totally different from the Elmus fighting the Lancentaurus'."

"Well I didn't feel different at all."

"You sure?"

"I'm always the same, Guillelmus Harmonie."

"…If you insist. It would've been easier on all of us if you got serious from the starting."

"Let's climb here. We could monitor the region. It's close to the gates as well so that's a plus for us."

"Okay. Climb on up; I'll cover you."

"Could you please."

"Don't tell me your arms are weak again. You really like her, don't you?"

"She saved our lives. That was the least I could do for her."

"I don't know why you insist on denying it but whateves." She tosses him up but he misses the branch.

"OWW!"

"Oops! My bad!"

"That was on purpose; you could've caught me!"

"I was caught up in the shock of the moment."

"You are SO not gonna like it if I start to play tricks on you. Don't forget you're scared of the dark."

"No one's scared of the dark; they're scared of what can come OUT of the dark since they can't see beyond."

"Which means our current situation won't help you."

"Fine. Let me help you up."

"Forget it. I'll climb up on my own."

[Succubus]

"Wait a second! Did Cheetah say the Zombies were already heading inbound?"

"Didn't you hear her the first time?"

"I wasn't paying attention Axel. There's a village nearby."

"So what're you gonna do?"

"Arthur, Gelica's gonna wake soon. I'm hungry as well. What're you gonna do?"

"They're just Zombies right?"

"That's not the problem Sir Arthur. It's as if the Mal-Hecate was some sort of decoy. Right after you went missing, the rate of Emergence sky-rocketed. With the Necromancer supplying them with corpses wherever they may go, more will be able to survive out here. We could encounter anything."

"Arthur. Emily's right. You remember what happened with the Mal-Hecate? If we run into another ambush like that, we'll definitely be finished. I can't protect you us in this weakened state."

"Well, what do you think Axel?"

"My wife and I are fine. We can escape if it comes to that."

"Sir Arthur, if Daara hasn't tried to flirt with me since he woke, his condition must be serious."

"So in the end, it all comes down to your decision."

"…"

[The Twins]

They're cooped up in another carriage ride. Paz is literally flailing on the floor. Jedi's meditating as always. Tamar's just looking out the window.

"Paz, if you have so much energy, you could just run all the way there."

"Then I'd be putting money to waste. This is the last time we're picking up any zero combat quests."

"I'm not the one you should be speaking to hon. He's right there."

"I cannot be bothered," he says, maintaining his focus on his meditation.

"You cannot be bothered? This is all your fault—!"

"BRAINZ!"

"*gasp* Paz! Was that your best imitation of a sexy voice?"

"No! But…but I heard it too," she says quite concerned.

"Thank God! You would've needed some serious psychological help."

"…What do you think it is—?"

"Could you keep it down?"

"I thought you said you couldn't be bothered."

"No, but I can be irritated, and trust me—"

"Save it for later brother. Let us enjoy the ride for once."

[Boundless]

They're high up a tall tree, on opposite branches. They have their backs leaning against the trunk and their thighs tied to the branches via rope. Her concealers are back on.

"Hey, why're—?"

"If you don't know my name, don't bother calling me."

"Guy…guy…just answer my question, sesame street!"

"…What was your question?"

"Why didn't we just tie our backs? Won't we just fall over?"

"You won't want your back tied when you wake up to an Emerged that can fly or climb trees. This gives you the opportunity to flip around the branch. It's not much but it'll give you the chance to draw your blade and defend yourself."

"…How long've you been in this business?"

"Quite a while. I'd say since I was a kid. I used to help my mom out with flowers…That's until I saw a Raid Unit."

"And anything that's labeled 'protector' interferes with your brains."

"More or less. It had good pay as well. I wanted to make it better for mom and I."

"How was it like when you started?"

"No one wanted a kid like me in the business. They reported to mom but she couldn't stop me. I went in with a kitchen knife. It looked like I'd die on my first Raid if I got the chance, so all of them wanted me to sojourn with them. It was quite tough. Without being able to use mana, you're basically a prey. I got injured when I shouldn't have and had others get hurt covering for me. So I decided I was gonna bulk up on muscle so I'd be similar to an I.M.U."

"But you look quite normal to me."

"Yeah. It's a genetic gift. My muscle volume barely increases, but the density does. If I were normal, that Flaming Lancentaurus would've killed us… It was still hard. Then later on, Arthur joined the Guild. We didn't really have anything going. Our encounter was actually quite stupid. I was saying something about mom's infirmities and he thought that I was insulting his mom. His mom's name was Evelyn apparently."

"Did you fight?"

"Nah. He remains a gentleman even when provoked. Although, he DID get terribly aggressive though. Once it was cleared up, he felt awful. He came up to me and offered that I sojourn with his Unit. He was darn persistent about it, so I had to bury the hatchet and agree. Apparently, he had asked about me and found out that I couldn't use mana in addition to being a loser, and it was HIS form of noble charity."

"And how'd you find out?"

" Pluto Saturninus."

"What?"

"One of the Guild's 3 sociopaths; HE told me."

"To spite you or something?"

"Probably. The Raid Unit: Saturnine, they're the worst. They probably don't even value human lives…It was the team leader, Pluto Saturninus. He told me everybody wanted me to tag along because I was so pathetic they thought I'd die on my own. That's when I went lone wolf."

"But it's not like they did anything wrong. They were just concerned about you."

"That's not it. I was a deadbeat in their eyes. I'm not gonna live off of people's pity...I took on Common Emerged all the time. It enabled me to foot all the bills. If things got dire, I sojourned to take on an Epic, but that was it. It's good you came along. You pushed me to the point of finally using Mana."

"{I never needed that…You just had to remain the way you were.} And what about what happened when you identified your girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend…There's nothing special TO me either. If I want something dead, I just make it happen."

"{So he's still gonna deny it…At that moment(When he struck them down), I wasn't hearing him say Synchronized; it was like it was echoing in my head…Maybe I'm just over thinking things.}"

"{Elmus.}"

"{Yeah?}"

"{What do you mean by there's nothing special TO you? We both know that's not true.}"

"{I don't understand how you ended up with me. I AM a lowlife.}"

"{For now.}"

"…Hey Tina."

"Yeah?"

"Your head still hurt?"

"A lot. I feel like I just might throw up. What about your body? Sorry about that."

"You did do a number on me, but I'll be fine. My body's used to sustaining damage, so I heal up very fast."

"Good night then. Keep an eye open if you can."

[Succubus]

They've gone further inbound. A civilian rushes out and Emily catches her. The Zombie soon follows but Arthur slays it. She flails around for a bit but they let the little girl know that they aren't Emerged. She's all tears.

"Sir Arthur."

"What's it gonna be, great rival?"

"…Whether they're fugitives or not, they're still human. We have to protect them. I'm assuming the village is in the direction from whence she came. You guys should stay behind. I'll go in on my own."

"Go in on your own; are you crazy?"

"Gelica is your priority."

"No way Arthur."

"Head back without me. If the weather's favorable, I'll catch up."

"Axel,"—holds his shoulder—"he knows what he's doing. I for one would just hold him back. Let's take her and continue along the way before you have to carry me too."

"What do you say Emily?"

"…Better to head back with 2."

[Arthur]

He's progressing stealthily through the woods. The shadows serve as his shield. There's a great tumult coming from his 2 o'clock. Now our perspective rotates about his axis so we're no longer looking at his back. His eyes are closed.

"Now that they're gone, I can use it without limitation."

His left eye opens and it's all black with a tiny glowing yellowish-orange pupil. There is literally depth in his eye. The other's normal however. He rushes into the village.

[/]

There are Zombies which he quickly dispatches of. He would search the area for survivors right away but, something's off.

"{These bodies…}" He gets down on one knee to analyze the body of the dead woman critically. While doing so, he remains alert.

"{The caliber of Zombies we've seen would take a while gnawing them to death. However, most of these bodies haven't been scratched.}"

He frisks her body in search of clues. The only visible bleeding was out the mouth, probably from internal damage. There's a bruise spawning from her cleavage so he presses it lightly; her ribs crackle within.

"{Oh my God! There is most likely another Emerged in the area that bludgeoned them to death. These Zombies can't use mana. I thought it was a good thing, but now, I can't tell whether I have a Legendary on my hands 'cause there's no Dampening distortion of inferior mana-crystals). I've gotta tread careful—"

The draft he was picking up comes to a sudden halt so he leaps out of the way. A giant Emerged takes the hut off the ground with a powerful kick. Once Arthur's set his gaze upon it, his seeker-eye flashes light like the shuttering of a camera. Taking it from Arthur's perspective, there's a giant Emerged before him, barely illuminated by moon light. It's silhouette is similar to a giant knight with what seems to be antlers proceeding from not only it's crown, but it's gauntlets as well. It opens it's wings and roars. Those are definitely the wings of a beetle.

[Erin]

He's still up and at it. He doesn't notice his sister come in. She's hoping that he didn't notice that she left.

"Erin."

"So you're finally back hunh."

"…It's not like I—" He just took a look at her and realized she's still in her normal clothes.

"What the hell were you thinking?! You didn't even put on armor?!"

"Because I thought you'd catch me if I was too slow."

"This is outrageous!" He learnt his lesson from before. This time, he bangs the wall and the lights flicker. Seems like it'll be dangerous to vent your anger on ANYTHING in that room.

"Calm down. I won't do it again."

"Won't do it again? This is the last time you're"—he forcefully confiscates her ring—"ever going out there again."

"What? Why?"

"I'm sick and tired of you following Elmus around like a puppy dog."

"I'm not following him around. If I got there even one second later HE WOULD'VE BEEN DEAD."

"…For how long are you planning to do this? Just take a look at your hand. He's gonna be the death of you. I can't let you follow him even if you hate me for it."

"I never followed him around. I only admired him…he couldn't use mana but he did everything he could to help his mom out. I admired what he was doing, and that was Raiding. That's why I did it; it's not to follow him around. If I wanted to do that, I could easily walk over to his house."

"You have to find something else that you like to do. You were so eager to help me out; what happened?"

"I still like to strike metal with you, but…this is what makes sure that people are safe. You know that I was gifted and I can't put that to waste."

"If I could turn back time, I might not have gotten you this ring…Nevertheless, if you insist, you're grounded."

"What?"

"I'm gonna hold onto this until you can walk without those crutches. Even after that, you're gonna have to prove to me that I can trust your judgement. I'm not gonna let you throw your life away for ANY BOY, even if it were me."

[Arthur]

This is Arthur's Seeker Mode. He has some relations in his field of view that emerge from the enemy. The vulnerabilities relation enlarges and the only vulnerable part(which glows orange) is it's eye sockets.

"{That shouldn't be possible}"

He enlarges the defenses relation over it. It states that it's armor(glows blue) overlaps at points, so even the slits in it's armor don't lead to flesh. That's all he can get analyzed before it comes at him. It leaps and slams down with it's gauntlets. He jumps out of the way but the shockwave catches up with him. Another vulnerability appears. It has to pause for a second or two to accumulate energy for special actions like that.

"{This is useless when you're fighting a monster like this.}"

It flails around in an attempt to mash him but he eludes it's attacks. The chief of defense is it's crested chest. When it leaps, the wings flap open to expose it's back, but that's unexploitable. Arthur can't prolong the fight, trying to analyze it further in order to take the best course of action. He needs to land a strike now, even if he fails to kill it. He charges up his mana and waits for it to make that pause. He fires a bluish bolt of lightning that turns purple towards the point of impact. The Emerged reacts in time and flicks it's head back. The bolt goes through the socket in the armor but fails to take out it's eye.

It roars with a force that knocks Arthur down to his feet. Arthur quickly recovers but instead of leaping at him, it leaps ahead of him and leaves the scene. It might not consider him to be something worth fighting.

"{*gasp* It's heading further inbound!}"

He gives chase and fires another lightning bolt just to the left of it. He repeats it several times. Something's wrong with it. That lightning bolt that tweaked purple—it must've had some sort of hidden attack. It rockets forward and swipes at Arthur. It's too fast to evade so he's compelled to guard. It breaks some of his ribs.

"GAAAHNN *breathing*"

Seems like it can't fight anymore. It heads off to the right instead; got the idea that he doesn't want it to go there. He doesn't need to act tough anymore and drops down on a knee, holding his chest.

"{I want to chase after it but I can't defeat this thing without a decoy.}" His vision's blurry. He waits for it to get out of sight before he spews out blood and passes out. Rib must've pierced his lung.

"{It has to be a Legendary}"

-------End of Chapter 26-------

Chapter 27 Teaser

It's Day 2. Since yesterday was Thursday the 12th, it could only mean that today's the dreadful Friday the 13th.

To be continued…