~Notes~
No, this does NOT mean the end of my hiatus. But I thought I could at least give you guys this. =P A couple updates: I’d like to rewrite the entire series from the ground up, but that will take a buttload of time. I may do it during the summer. Second, Paper Fragments and ToaLW will not die, I’ll get back into writing soon. SOON!
Third, I am still very, very busy and most likely it will be difficult for me to find time to write until at least mid-June, when school ends. Indeed, I’ve been caught up in this and that, and it’s just putting my nerves on pafryzzle. Anyway, enough of me blabbing, just enjoy the chapter. =D

Episode 70 Perion Roars!

“Shall I read your fortune, girl?”

“Huh?” Ayame glances over at a shady corner of the brightly lit Free Market, where a shabby little stand is set up. A very feeble, and very wrinkled woman sits behind it, and despite the heat of the canyon, she is wearing a cloak shrouding her entire face.

Only a pair of dark, beady eyes stares out from under the hood, beckoning Ayame to come closer in an almost entrancing way.

Ayame glides over to the booth, enchanted by the eyes of the fortuneteller. She comes to a stop just in front of the fortuneteller, mesmerized.

“Would you like me to read your fortune, girl?” the old lady repeats in a wispy voice.

Ayame suddenly snaps out of her trance, shaking her head a little in the sunshine. She glances down at the old woman, having regained total lucidity. “Uh—y-yeah, sure, why not?”

“Very well,” the woman smiles ever so slightly, revealing her yellow teeth. She peers into the crystal ball standing in front of her. She stares at it for some time, before her eyes widen readily.

“Things…look very grim for you, my dear,” the woman hisses, her eyes bulging. “Be careful where you tread. Beings naming themselves as the Fatalists—”

Ayame’s eyes, which had been focused intently on the woman, now suddenly pop with immense shock. “F-Fatalists?!” she gasps. ‘How can she know about them…? It’s impossible, unless…she really can foretell the…’

“…the end comes soon, my dear,” the woman finishes, her tone extremely grave. “Your time on this earth is limited. I advise you to protect that time. Be wary of the Wielder of the Black Sword.”

The fortuneteller finishes; however, Ayame remains standing still, completely frozen in shock. An answerless breeze scuttles by, blowing Ayame’s long purple hair gently along.

A soft pair of footsteps suddenly approaches Ayame from behind. Ryuu appears, grim-faced as usual. “Ayame,” he calls out, “are you going to stand there all day or what?”

Ayame slowly turns, as if struggling against an unseen force holding her back. She notices Ryuu standing behind her, and suddenly snaps back into cognizance. “Ryuu! What are you doing here?”

“I found someone with whom we might be able to cooperate with,” Ryuu replies, “thought you might want to hear about it after all.”

“R-Right,” Ayame replies, her voice shaky.

Ryuu raises an eyebrow, peering at Ayame suspiciously. “Is something the matter, Ayame?”

“No,” Ayame replies softly, glancing briefly back at the stand behind her. However, it sits merely in the bright sunshine, deserted by the fortuneteller. ‘She’s gone…was it just a hallucination?’

Ryuu shrugs, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he silently leads Ayame out of the quiet alleyway. Ayame follows hesitantly, still lost in her thoughts.

Ayame pauses in her tracks. “Uh…R-Ryuu,” she stutters suddenly, “about this person you met…can we trust them?”

“Yeah,” Ryuu growls in reply, “pretty much. He heads a small guerilla army of his own. It’s mostly comprised of just some rebellious friends of his, but they’ve got the right idea. It’s actually a pretty strong militia group, better than what I’d expected to find out here.”

“Plus, Sergeant-gorilla’s got a lady snail as a pet!” Otis squeals excitedly, popping out from under Ryuu’s collar.

Ryuu sighs exasperatedly. “I keep telling you,” he growls, “she’s too good for you. She’s a Red Snail, and you’re just some trash we picked up off the street.”

“You can be really cold sometimes, Redheaded Gorilla,” Otis replies, choking up.

A sturdy-looking Spearman, grasping a red Serpent’s Tongue in his hands, leans against the wall of a tiny one-room cabin, inspecting the six standing before him. A Red Snail sits on his armored shoulder.

Ryuu, Ayame, Tide, Silver, Sasha, and Lily stand uncertainly in line, allowing the Spearman to inspect every facet of their statures. Around them are the humble settings of a quiet mountain cabin. Beneath them is a soft, earthy floor. Behind them is the door, held slightly ajar, allowing sunlight to filter in.

“So you guys wanna annex my militia, huh?” the Spearman comments, gnawing relentlessly on a toothpick. He nods, frowning slightly. “This all the guys you have? Six?”

“No,” Ryuu answers. He glares uncomfortably at Otis, who is sitting on his shoulder and drooling at the same time. With one heavy swipe, Ryuu swats Otis off his shoulder and onto the floor.

“Redheaded Gorilla! No amount of physical abuse shall separate me from my love!” Otis shouts melodramatically. “Nothing, ya hear?!”

“Well, yes, at the moment, this is all we’ve got,” Ryuu continues, “but we have three more allies elsewhere at the moment, while both Ellinia and Henesys will probably join our union. We just need Perion to join as well.”

“Sounds good to me,” the Spearman replies, scratching his forehead, where a great red scar runs from the tip of his widow’s peak to the space just under his left eye.

“How ‘bout it, boys?” the Spearman says matter-of-factly, turning to the other three men behind him sitting at a round wooden table.

The three of them voice their consent in loud, grumbling voices. The Spearman nods. “All right, we’re set. Of course, we got a lot more Perion citizens on our side than this, but they prefer to join under cover of night, when they won’t be caught.”

Silver nods, bowing slightly. “We appreciate your help, Mister, um, Mister…”

“The name’s Red Bull.”

“R-Right, Red Bull!” Silver answers.

“And these guys,” Red Bull says, waving a hand over at the men sitting behind him, “are my three brothers: Brown Bull, Gray Bull, and Pink Bull.”

“Pink Bull?” Otis blinks, hardly trying to stifle a laugh.

“Great to meet you all,” Ryuu mutters. He turns back to Red Bull again, engaging him with a serious look in his green eyes. “The most important thing we have to discuss is the size of this militia. How many men do you have?”

“Uh…” Red Bull exclaims, rubbing his forehead thoughtfully. “Let’s see…we should have maybe two, three dozen men willing to fight for us?”

“Not exactly huge…” Ryuu growls under his breath. “But we’ll have to do with what we can. The problem is moving this large number of men out of Perion. It’ll definitely attract unwanted attention from the Myougun, which is what we least want.

“It’s going to take a deal of planning in order for us to pull this off successfully. If it comes to it, we may have to engage in warfare. In that case, it would be better for us to liberate Perion from the power of the town leaders first, rather than later. That way, we may be able to gain a foothold against the Myougun.

“The problem with that plan is that it would arouse too much attention from the enemy. Infiltrating Kerning City will become a pain, with the Myougun on high alert. This is too troublesome.”

“We’ll think of something,” Sasha replies, “we always do. Besides, in the end, we’ll probably end up attracting a lot of attention anyway. But we should still do our best to avoid getting into costly fights.”

“Yes,” Ryuu agrees, “the Myougun can afford to spare as many troops as they like in order to quash our rebellion. However, we can’t afford to lose even one. We’ll need them all for the bigger battle ahead against the Myougun.”

A single, piercing knock suddenly sounds at the door. All eyes within the cabin turn towards it. Tide, nearest the door, turns and opens it, pushing it open to allow the full rays of sunshine from outside to pour in.

At the doorway stands a single, slender figure, draped completely in black. A dark hood is drawn up well over the figure’s head, securing its face and identity from view. In the visitor’s pale hand is a letter in a white envelope.

Tide stares wondrously at the figure standing at the door, silently holding out the letter to him. “Take this,” it whispers gently, shoving the letter into Tide’s hands.

Tide takes the envelope, without even taking his eyes off the hooded figure. As he feels the rough texture of the envelope in his fingers, Tide takes a look at the address printed on it.

His eyes widen almost immediately in shock as he reads the letter’s address. Drawing his eyes away from the envelope, Tide looks back up, only to find the figure having completely disappeared from sight.

“Who’s the letter for, Tide?” Silver asks softly.

Tide holds the envelope in his hands, surveying the words written in black ink on it for a moment. “It says: ‘To the Rebels Against the Perion Government.’”

Next Time: Episode 71 Saving an Angel

Rill: I will definitely protect you, Ivy!

Ivy: Oww, oww, I fell in a hole!

Rill: …

Episode 71 Saving an Angel coming soon!