Chapter 5: The Village
A few days later.
Marwin was standing in the tallest structure in the village a statue that resembles him but is wearing a samurai armor.
Marwin is still saddened by the death of his Master, after informing the others about their Master's death, Markus being escorted by Joshua is on their way to the Village.
Markus was sitting inside a jet that they are using to go to the Village.
"Umh Mr. Aquino? who's Shiroi?" Markus asked
Joshua removed his cap and said "He's our Master, he thought us how to use our authority and how to fight the right way" Joshua said
"Is he a Titan?" Markus asked again
"No, but he has a connection to the Will of Avalon, the Village that we're currently headed is the birthplace of the Excalibur, in that Village one person is chosen every once in a while to be the bearer, and the last bearer is Shiroi, the job of the bearers is to guard the birthplace of the Excalibur, as it is where the Excalibur can be summoned" Joshua explained
"Oh, I'm sorry about Shiroi, too bad I couldn't meet the person responsible for training the 7 legendary heroes" Markus said
"How's your head? did the procedure had any negative effect to you?" Joshua asked
"Not really, I've been having a lot of headaches recently but it's not really that serious, Mr. Noah and I tried to spar a day after the procedure, somehow I was able to fight with him, though not as effective as you all do" Markus said
"Well, it wouldn't be that hard since Curl trained you with Marwin's fighting style, have you ever wondered why Marwin's Fighting style kinda like something you've seen before?" Joshua asked
"I wonder that it feels like something but I couldn't put my finger on it" Markus said
"because Marwin invented it, all it's attack is from a sport, Badminton, it can cover many sides and it focuses in one point, that every hit should deliver a spiking force" Joshua said
Markus' eyes widen "Really! so that's what that is I wondered why it looks silly it's from a game!" Markus said in excitement.
"Yeah, Marwin you see is full of ideas, I've known him since we were little, Marwin used to be the most loud and most cheerful person I know, though he's not like that now? his unweavering sense of justice stays the same" Joshua said as he looked down.
A few hours later Joshua's ship arrived in the Village, they saw Marwin waiting for them, with a dreaded look in his face.
Without a word, Marwin walked away as Joshua, Markus and the UNAF soldiers followed him.
Marwin sat on the top of the stairs leading to the Shrine.
"Everyone stop" Marwin said
"What's going on?" Joshua said
"They're gonna return here, I've seen this kind of move before, they're going to attack, this is war" Marwin said.
"War? what the fuck do you mean? Markus isn't ready yet? there aren't any other Knights yet, just us" Joshua said
"I know, but they're about to declare war on Japan, not just this village, Josh? contact the Japanese Prime minister through Amerie, we need the Japanese Self Defense Force to Mobilize and evacuate every people in Tokyo, that's where they're attacking next" Marwin said
"How'd you know that?" Joshua said
"Because they're after Dratos' essence, and tokyo is where I hid it" Marwin said
"What? you hid Dratos' essence in a city full of people?" Joshua said visibly upset.
"Tokyo has a very dense natural Aura in it's atmosphere, it has enough aura for me to make the seal" Marwin said
"God dammit!" Joshua said as he face the soldiers he has with him.
"Take the Ship, return to the UNAF base and tell the Vice Commander to mobilize enough soldiers and proceed to Tokyo, I'll go to tokyo myself" Joshua said.
Joshua took a smaller ship attached to the ship they used to get to the village and made his way to Tokyo, while Markus is left there with Marwin.
"What can I do?" Markus said
"Well, do your job, save people, smile while doing it, we need soldiers to see that they aren't alone, but first we need uniform for you" Marwin said.
Marwin and Markus walked to Marwin's ship, inside Marwin Opened a storage in the side of the haul and revealed a Titan Armor.
"This is my old Armor" Marwin said as he open another storage besides the Armor, which revealed a sword
Markus looked at the sword recognizing it.
"Is that? the Excalibur?" Markus asked in excitement
"No, this is the Protoburn, I made it years ago for Curl, I just altered it's appearance after you started training to look like the Excalibur, I need the people of the world to know that you are Lord Arthur but since I don't have any Idea where the Excalibur, use this for the mean time, it has the ability to channel your aura, but don't rely on it to much, once you activate this sword, your senses will be dialed to 10 everything will feel slow, it can even predic 1.5 secs, but do not rely on it so much, this is just a prototype, I havent used it in a real battle yet, do your best and don't get yourself killed" Marwin said.
Marwin led Markus to a huge field and took out a tablet which he operated to cover the field with a force field cutting both of them around the village.
"Markus, a war is coming I need you to be the best of the best" Marwin said as without a warning Marwin charged towards Marwin with his Katana with all his might in his Titan Form.
Markus was shocked and wasn't able to dodge or block the attack which made him plummet into the air and landing on the ground meters away from Marwin.
"A titan's job is to protect other people! how do you expect to protect others when you can't protect yourself!" Marwin said as he continued to attack Markus, but this time Markus is a bit prepared, Markus was able to block the attack but Marwin's strength is to much for him, even though he was able to block he was still knocked back faced down.
Markus' eyes changed color to crimson red which indicated that he was able to activate his Titan mode.
Marwin continued to attack Markus with devastating blow, everyone from the village watched them fight from outside the forcefield.
an attack after the other, Markus kept being knocked back but slowly he started to grasp Marwin's attacks.
"You are chosen to be the greatest leader of the greatest heroes, I know you didn't choose this! but Curl believed in you!" Marwin said as he continued his attack which Markus was able to block and still stood.
"I don't want his sacrifice to be in vein!" Markus said as he counter attack but with a fire trail as he attack. Markus was shocked to what has just happened.
"What was that?" Markus asked
"The embers of the King, every titans have their unique power and you have the power to conjure fire at will" Marwin said.
Marwin charged at Markus, Markus countered his attack once again but this time with no flame.
"Channel your aura! Make it yours!" Marwin said as he continued the attacks.
Marwin then charged for a full strength attack, Markus was ready for it but after Marwin delivered the attack Markus was not able to stand the might of the Cold Titan throwing him away returning to his normal mode.
as Markus lays on the ground defeated Marwin offered a hand to help Markus up, Markus accepts his defeat and said.
"God damn, a titan's power is no Joke" Markus said
"Well, I'm still holding back a lot, but you did good, you learned much Faster than me when I was your age, your fighting style? that's mine, did Curl Teach you that?" Marwin asked
Markus smiled and said "Yeah! plus the thing we did in the Titan base was able to amplify my knowledge and skill about that fighting style" Markus said
"What thing?" Marwin asked confused.
"Noah said that procedure will feed my mind with the skill of a 20 years old you" Markus said
Marwin sighs and said "The Bleeding edge, it's a very dangerous and risky procedure, under normal circumstances that could permanently damage your brain, but then again you're not normal your body and mind is that of a Titan so yeah, but still, it's risky what the fuck are they thinking? anyway, beware of some mirages and memory overlapping, that Machine is not perfect, the donor can also pass down his traumas which in this case mine, so please do be careful and do not over use the skills you've got from the bleeding edge" Marwin said.
As Marwin walk away leaving Markus grasping for air he grasps the grip of his katana tightly as he whispered to himself "20 year old me huh...it's good that I modified the machine not to transfer my memories, that will break him"
Markus walked around the village with his Armor on with the protoburn on his back, everyone he came across would look at him with relief as they can recognize the sword, though it's not the Excalibur it's resemblance to it caused the people to believe that he is the new Lord Arthur.
As he is walking around the town he saw a group of kids playing and a girl who fell down, Markus quickly run to the girl and aid her, He reached for the pocket in his back which contained a medical Kit, which remind him of what Marwin said earlier when he was given the Armor.
"A hero's job isn't just fighting, you also need to rescue and amend first aid to civilians, your armor contained a back pocket with Medical kits, though it would not conjure by itself, you need to think about what you want and the Armor will automatically synthesize it in that pocket, including Medicine, it can only do so for a few times as it will need to gather some materials in your surrounding, I made this for the purpose of saving everyone including people with mild illness" Marwin said.
Markus tended the girl's wounds, he is amazed to the technology of the Armor.
"Are you okay?" Markus asked as he smiled.
the Girl smiled back at him and said "Yup! thank you! mister"
Markus stayed the afternoon to play with the kids, people in the town saw him and just glad to have the King Once again with them.
Marwin watched the entire thing from the top of the Samurai statue in the middle of the town, smiling by himself.
Noah appeared in Marwin's back and said "Kinda remind me of you when you were younger, playing with kids and tending them"
"Holy shit! where the fuck did you came from!" Marwin shouted in shock.
"Oh yeah, I arrived about a moment ago after Joshua told me the thing" Noah said
Marwin then continued Watching Markus playing with the Kid.
"A hero must also have a heart not just strength, that's what Shiroi used to tell us" Marwin said as he looked down Markus smiling
"Yeah, and I think Markus has that, he got that from Curl I guess, and Curl got that from you, I don't want to blame your absence to Curl's death, but please dude, don't leave us again, where were you those years anyway?" Noah said
"Finding answers, to why my life became what it is today" Marwin said
"Well, don't forget we're always here for you, I never been able to tell you this, But I'm sorry about Rei, I loved her as much as you do, her loss was also devastating to me, to everyone, stop blaming yourself for it, we're the titans, we can face anything" Noah said
Marwin and Noah just stayed where they were, Marwin sitting and Noah standing as they both look at Markus with Relief.
"May he be able to fulfill THE WISH we failed to fulfill" Marwin said
"The wish? yeah, may he did" Noah said.
"So? do you forgive me?" Marwin asked
"Not yet, without you the Titans broke up, After Leonel's death we almost did but you made us believe that you can be the leader, and you did, do you want to know why the wish was never fulfilled? because you bailed on us, you were the only one who has the capability to keep us together, but you left, I may not be able to fully forgive you now but it doesn't mean I don't care about you, you're my bestfriend, I care for you, and I trust you now to do the right thing, and after that maybe then will I be able to forgive your absence when we needed you the most" Noah said
"Fair enough" Marwin answered
Noah then took out a pack of cigarette and handed it over to Marwin.
"Thanks dude, wait? you smoke now?" Marwin said as he light a stick
"Nope, it's just that you're a heavy smoker but I haven't seen you smoke lately so I thought you must've been so stressed out that you even forget about it so I brought one on my way here" Noah said as he smile at Marwin
"Haha, yeah thank you" Marwin said as he smiled back
"So? about the coming war, do you have plan?" Noah said
"Yeah, We need to find candidates for Markus' Knights" Marwin said
"Huh? we only have so much time, do even have some people in mind? I mean those people need to connect to Markus in personal ways have you talked to him about it yet?" Noah said
"No, but I know 2 people, both are his childhood friends, one of which you already knew and is very fond of" Marwin said
Noah looked at Marwin, confused at first but then he realized who Marwin was talking about.
"Oh no, she's kill you, you know how much she detest her daughter joining this fight, have you forgotten the incident about 10 years ago? when we tried to teach her daughter? she snapped" Noah said
"I know, but we don't have much time, I mean, I don't have much time, you know why" Marwin said
"God Dammit, okay, you get her here, I heard she's somewhere here in Japan working as a researcher, I'll talk to Amerie about it" Noah said as he jump down and get to his ship leaving Agent Q behind.
Marwin Called for Markus, Markus ran and jump up the 10 meter tall samurai statue surprising Marwin.
"You've gotten good at this!" Marwin said loudly
"Yeah, A bit" Markus said
"Anyway, I'll introduce you to someone from your past, she can be your knight" Marwin said
"My knight? a person from my past? you mean we're going to gather people now?" markus asked
"Yes, anyway stop asking questions we need to go, we'll leave next week" Marwin said