Armed

After Sara had shut the garage door behind her, Naval turned towards me with a smile as if everything was going as planned. Seeing his face made me realize that my reason for coming was just for his schemes. I sucked my teeth and stood up. "So, this is my real reason for coming here?" I asked with a serious look in my eyes, hoping to get a straight answer from this old fool.

"Yes, but no." His tone matched mine.

Finally, I can get some answers. It's been one hell of a day.

"The attack wasn't part of the plan." He resumed. "The moment you said some girl led you to our shop, I figured something was amiss, as nobody should have known. So we had you quickly find the book and attempt to use it. However…" He scratched his head with an awkward chuckle. "Neither of us expected you to bind your soul to the book. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you did because we did not know that woman had already snuck into our shop. By the time Sora found out, your blood was already dripping through the baseboard."

"How? It's a small store. How did someone just magically sneak in?" After hearing what I said, I cringed. 'Magically' had a whole new meaning for me after today. As the bright moonlight crept into the garage, Naval stopped to ponder. It was the first time I have seen him not bark back an immediate response. Seeing that he was at a loss, I changed the subject. "So if that wasn't part of the plan, was what I just witnessed the real reason?" I turned towards the door. "That strange interaction…"

As I turned back to Naval, he nodded. "I heard from your mother that you have a knack for mending broken souls. Knowing that, I wanted you to come here to help me out." His gaze turned distant. "Rin is one hell of an actress. But aside from that, I want you to mend her soul. I would love to give you the rundown about what I know~~~." His tone returned to his playful one. "But that would ruin the fun, and we are running out of time. Sooo, I wish you the best of luck." He then motioned me to follow him.

I followed closely behind. Along the way, I glanced at the machines littered throughout the garage. Many of them were small and had missing parts, while some vehicles stored near the entrance were almost fully built. The one that caught my eye was a motorcycle with what appeared to be scaled-down jet engines placed on either side. It gave the motorbike a bulky shape, but the thought behind its appearance was obvious. Naval gave his annoying chuckle, which dragged me back to seeing his annoying face. I gave a quick sigh as he laughed harder. Seriously, I hate this man who can find anything funny.

"Aye now lad, don't be like that. But what you see there is what Rin does in her free time when she has no clients. While most of her ideas aren't really practical, she still tries to make her ideas come to life. But I digress, here!" He tossed me an old-looking rifle with a 6-inch bayonet attached to the head of it. I looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Soo… what am I supposed to do with this old piece of technology?" I'm used to newer, more modern rifles.

"Appearances aside, that is a weapon based on Rin's design. If you look at the gun carefully, you'll notice that there is no magazine."

As I look at the gun again, I realized he was right. This gun has nothing attached to it besides a scope and bayonet. Yet despite this, the gun had a trigger. The bayonet then stole my attention as the small runes engraved into the blade called out to me. As I tried to touch the blade, the blade glowed a soft silver hue.

"This gun isn't normal, rather it's a modified staff. Until you gain the knowledge to create your unique weapon, you'll have to make do with that." As he said that, he muttered something. "Stones and Rocks; create my weapon of Earth."

A blinding light covered his hands. Once the light disappeared, Naval slammed two large gauntlets together. They were covered in thick purple scales that appeared to have small jagged teeth sticking off of them. The gauntlets seemed to be designed with the idea that if a punch somehow got into you, it would hurt even more on the way out. While I could not help but be amazed, something bothered me.

"How come you and Sara said a normal-like spell, kinda like what they say in TV shows, while Sora said a prayer?" I asked.

Naval pointed at my book. I opened to a random page that had a small depiction of a figure shooting a ball of darkness from a wooden staff. The runes were once again indecipherable at first glance, but after a moment of staring at them, their meaning flowed into my mind.

Assuming that this was my example to run by, I read it out loud. "Oh, forgotten one of the Void, use my strength and cast shadows upon this world-ugh!" A strange pain traveled through my body. I ignored the pain and looked at my weapon. The wooden base illuminated a soft purple as a thick shadow grabbed my hand.

I turned back to Naval, and he had an astonished look on his face. He gritted his teeth and spoke in his normal, playful tone. "As I said before, as an Apostle, you are granted the knowledge to decipher the old runes. Those runes are typically arranged as a payer. What sets them apart from normal spells is that they are used in tangent with a deity's power. So if you were to pray to the Earth Dragon, for example, you would have a fragment of his strength along with yours. Which also means that you have the luxury of creating new prayers, given that you have the willpower to confront the drawbacks."

"I see…" Still recuperating from the strange pain, Naval gave me a worried smile. His outward appearance seems to change a lot when something random happens. It's as if he has an agenda that he's trying to adhere to.

"You really shouldn't just read any prayer from that book. Prayers might be more powerful than ordinary spells, but they each have their drawbacks, as I said earlier. For example, your soul being bound inside that book, or the strange pain you are feeling as you just prayed to The Forgotten."

"The Forgotten?"

Naval nodded. "A name lost to time. As knowledge of this deity has been forgotten. But as you see, they still exist, which is odd. I thought they were killed…" He mutters the last part to himself, thinking I could not hear him. "Anyways, you know how to shoot?" He winked at me.

I nodded my head softly, saying nothing. He already knew, so I have no idea why he even bothered to ask. I once again looked at the gun and then at my book.

"Give that book to Rin." His proposal startled me. "She may be young, but she needs to grow her own wings. Sara is too protective of her. That's why I asked you to come out here. I want Sara to accept the fact that she needs to move on."

"So, you have two issues for me?" I asked.

"No, Sara's problem is my problem. As her brother-in-law, I will take responsibility for whatever happens after today. But promise me this, even if you have to sacrifice your body-"

"You want me to protect Rin, correct?" He nodded. "I don't like how you asked that of your grandson, but seeing that I am immortal, I will do it. Only one condition." After saying that, he has me that damn annoying grin.

"You want to find out the truth about her, correct?" He replied. I nodded, "Then get close to heart. Break down her walls for me."

I really dislike the way he phrased that, but I suppose what he's saying is that he wants me to do this on my own. While I am used to this, I have too much on my plate at the moment. As we walk towards the door of the garage, a certain thought crossed my mind. I understood Naval wants Rin to learn independence but:

"Isn't she like twelve?" I asked in a monotone voice. Naval, who was in front, stopped and turn with an annoyed face.

"And…?" He shrugged his shoulders. "If she gonna be a disciple of mine, then she needs to get her feet wet as early as possible."

But she can't learn magic… so what is your true agenda here? As much as I wanted to ask that, I can tell we wasted too much time. Naval was becoming restless. So I just rolled my eyes and he smiled. As he opened the door, Sara and Rin greeted us next to an armored vehicle with stiff looks on their faces. As I look into the night sky, the sliver moon hid behind a pillar of smoke. The smell of smoke and blood filled the air. I held my gun close and entered the vehicle.