A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 6

by Brandon Varnell

  “What’s the damage?” asked Alex.

  “Well, you do have a shit ton of seals covering your core and your mind (^_^), but if you are talking about whether or not you were injured during the incident with MacArt, then I would have to say that you are in perfect working order.”

  Alex sat up with a slight jerk and stared at the woman in shock. “Did you just say seals?”

  “That’s right. (-_-)” the woman, who went by the name Ēostre, said, frowning at him. He even heard the emote in her voice. “Did you not know about them? I could have sworn Gabs would have told you already…”

  “S-she did.” Alex tried, and failed, to contain his shock. “I’m just surprised that you know about them.”

  “Who do you think you’re talking to?” asked Ēostre, hitching a thumb at herself and smiling brightly. “I might not be an Angelisian, but that doesn’t mean squat. I know more about seals than any Angelisian alive.”

  Alex had no idea this woman knew about seals. Angelisian sealing techniques was the act of combining ancient Angelisian writings into a variety of sentences that held a specific meaning, and then infusing the Aura of Creation into them in order to create a certain effect. For example, if someone wrote, “create water” using ancient Angelisian writing, then pushed their energy into it, the seal would activate and create water.

  Well, that was the simplified explanation that Ariel had given him the other day when Gabrielle had brought it up during dinner. He was sure there was a lot more to it than that.

  “Do you know what these seals do?” asked Alex.

  “Of course I do (T_T). The seal on your forehead has sealed away some of your memories.” Ēostre hummed. “I suspect there are one or more memories locked away inside your head that someone doesn’t want you knowing. Perhaps they’re incriminating. The seal on your core has locked away your power. That seal is slowly crumbling, which is why you can use the Aura of Creation. I suspect that whoever sealed your power was unaware of how powerful you are. A seal this shoddily crafted was bound to break at some point in time. Now, the seal on your mind, that is a true masterpiece right there. (=＾● ⋏ ●＾=)”

  Alex ignored the pride ringing clearly in Ēostre’s voice. He had already assumed that the seals inside his head sealed away his memories, and it only made sense that the ones on his core sealed his power. If what Ēostre said was to be believed, then the reason he could use his Aura of Creation and that red power was because the seal around his core was weakening.

  He supposed that was a good thing since, if nothing else, the seal breaking meant his power was simply too strong for it to contain. On the other hand, he was kind of worried. There was no telling what would happen once the seal broke completely. Would he still be the same person he was now? What about those voices? Would they be set free, unable to be contained? Alex wasn’t sure he wanted that.

  “Is something wrong, boy? (0_0)”

  “No…” Alex slowly shook his head as he decided to shelf his worries for now. “Nothing is wrong.”

  Ēostre studied him with a surprisingly scrutinizing gaze. She leaned in close, until their noses were almost touching, and frowned at him from beneath her fringe of green hair, the long ears on her head twitching in what he supposed was curiosity. Alex tried to bear with her proximity until she leaned back.

  “Are you not going to ask me to break the seals on you?”

  Alex shook his head. “No… I might have the previous day had I known you understood seals, but Gabrielle asked Ariel to look at them, and she seems pretty excited about getting a chance to try and break them herself.”

  He would never forget the way Ariel’s eyes had been shining as she looked at the seals inside of him. She’d been so excited that she’d completely forgotten herself and began touching his face and stomach without any sense of propriety—at least, until she remembered who he was. After that she had tried to act annoyed, but she had also told him she would begin working on decoding those seals for him.

  “Ariel?” Ēostre’s entire demeanor suddenly shifted. She leaned forward, eyes like two shining beacons gazing upon him with a brightness that he didn’t think was possible. Her eyes were so bright they were nearly blinding. “How is she? (✿◠‿◠) Is she doing well? So, she’s interested in seals, huh? Yes, yes. That does sound a lot like her. ＼(^_^ ) Hahahaha! I had no idea she was on Mars! ~(˘▾˘~)”

  “Erm… do you know Ariel?” Alex asked, leaning back as far from this woman as possible. She was beginning to freak him out.

  “Hmm! Know? Yes, yes, she and I are actually related. ヘ( ^o^)ノ That said, it’s been so long since I last saw her, I wonder if she’d even remember me.” Ēostre leaned back, a sudden melancholy overcoming her, though it left so quickly Alex wondered if he hadn’t imagined it. Her bright smile returned. “Well, if she wants to take a crack at those seals, then I suppose we should let her. This will be a good test to see how well she knows Ancient Angelisian.”

  “Um… okay.”

  “Oh!” Ēostre suddenly looked at him as though she had remembered something. “Please be sure to keep my existence a secret from Ariel. (^_-)” She winked. “I’d like to keep the knowledge that I’m living here to myself for a bit longer, and I would also like to be the one who reveals myself to her. It wouldn’t be appropriate if you were the one to tell her about me. ( ▀ ͜͞ʖ▀)”

  “Um… sure…”

  Alex had no idea how this woman was related to Ariel, but he supposed it didn’t matter; he could keep her presence on Mars a secret if she wanted. There didn’t seem to be any harm in it.

  As Alex began the process of getting the top half of his black and white Angelisian suit, which was currently pooled around his waist, to crawl back up his body and synchronize with him, the curtain surrounding the bed was pulled open.

  A girl who didn’t look much older than Alice, Alex’s younger sister, stood there. Her skin was a pale white, almost translucent. Contrasting with her skin was her hair. Darker than even the pitch-black of outer space, the girl’s hair trailed all the way down to her ankles, shimmering and beautiful. Crimson eyes like blood sat on a face that was too perfect, too beautiful, to be human.

  Nyx, the assassin who had tried to kill him at one point and was now a resident of his house, was dressed in a white, sleeveless gown. Armbands covered her arms, and more bands covered her thighs. They were weapons, he knew. Nyx could use alchemy, which was the ability to transmute one object into another object, allowing her to create a variety of weapons. Her powers were so strong that she could even transmute her own body.

  The reason for this were the nanomachines inside of her. Nyx’s body was made from billions of microscopic nanomachines. This gave her alchemical abilities unparalleled strength, but they also ran the risk of overheating and killing her.

  “Are you done?” asked Alex, shivering in pain as the Angelisian crisis suit he wore fully synchronized with his body.

  Nyx nodded. “Yes.”

  Like him, Nyx had come in for a checkup. Actually, she was the primary reason they had come today. Since Nyx had used her powers so much the day before, Alex wanted to make sure she wasn’t at risk of her body overheating. He still remembered what had happened when he had saved her from the police. Every moan, shudder, and cry of ecstasy remained seared into his soul. He didn’t want a repeat of that incident.

  “In that case, would you like to leave?”

  “Yes.”

  Alex stood up and wandered over to Nyx, who held out her hand for him to take. It was impossible to contain his joy as he slid his hand into hers. She used to shoulder throw him every time he so much as touched her, but recently, she’d begun initiating contact with him. He took that as a good sign. It meant Nyx was becoming acclimated to the peaceful life on Mars.

  Despite being a former assassin, Nyx’s hands were incredibly soft, to the point where descriptors like “softer than velvet” simply did no justice to describe the sensation. As held her hand in his, he guiltily enj
oyed the smooth sensation of her palm and fingers against his.

  “You two have become awfully close,” Ēostre commented. “I never thought I’d see the day when Nyx becomes close to a man, and to think it’s her former target no less. X3”

  Nyx glared at Ēostre as her cheeks turned a surprising shade of red. Alex was pretty embarrassed himself, but he knew that responding to the woman would only invite more teasing.

  “We’re heading off,” he said instead. “Thanks for your help.”

  “Anytime, boy.” Ēostre waved him off.

  Alex left the black-market hospital with Nyx, and together, the two of them navigated through the Lower District of Mars City. They went through several twists, turns, up elevators, and through a variety of allies before finally finding themselves in the Middle District.

  Mars City was divided into several levels. Lower. Middle. Upper. The lower level was considered the poor district, while the middle level was for the middle class, which consisted of office workers and small-time business owners who ran local businesses like restaurants, mechanic shops, and so on. Naturally, the upper level was where nobles like Jasmine de Truante and her brother, Jameson, lived.

  Alex led Nyx to the nearest shuttle stop, where they hopped on a shuttle that would take them to the Outer District. They sat down side by side. Nyx still gripped his hand in hers.

  “You know, Gabby and the others aren’t going to be home yet, since they still have school,” Alex said.

  “Indeed. Princesses Gabrielle, Michelle, and Ariel are attending their first day of school today,” Nyx agreed.

  “Right.” Alex nodded. “So I was wondering…”

  Nyx looked at him, her eyes containing silent permission to continue. He took a deep breath.

  “Would you like to spar in the simulator with me?”

  Nyx continued to stare at him, but then, quite suddenly, she smiled.

  Alex shuddered.

  Asking her to spar probably wasn’t the best idea. That said, he really needed to get stronger. The incident with MacArt had made that clear.

  Ugh. He could already imagine the pain he was going to be in once they arrived home.

  1

  Gabrielle’s heart was beating in her chest, exhilaration mixing with nervousness, congealing within her and making her every step hesitant.

  As per the usual, Alex had made them all breakfast and then walked her, Alice, Michelle, and Ariel to school. The difference lay in the fact that she had not gone back home with him. Instead, she, Michelle, and Ariel had entered the school with Alex’s sister, Alice, and their friend, Jasmine. Everyone had left her after that. Michelle and Ariel were the same age as Jasmine and Alice, and they even shared classes, so they had traveled off together, leaving her alone.

  It’s not fair.

  Gabrielle felt lost as she wandered through the hallway. Alex had been going to show her the way to class, but Gabrielle had told him not to worry, that she could find her own way. She hadn’t wanted to rely on him. Alex was already doing so much for her, so the least she could do was find her own way around school. Plus, Nyx had a checkup that day, and she knew Alex was worried about the assassin.

  Unfortunately, Gabrielle had no idea where she was, or where her class was. She regretted not asking Alex for help. She shouldn’t have been so hasty.

  “Gabrielle?” a voice said behind her.

  Whirling around, Gabrielle was greeted by a girl with flaxen hair that was long and shiny. Light brown eyes. A small nose. Pink lips. The girl before her was around the same age, wore the same knee-length checkered skirt, dark blue jacket, and white-collared shirt that Gabrielle had on. She was also very familiar. This was Alex’s friend, the girl he’d gone on a date with, and someone who had rescued Gabrielle and her sisters just a few days ago.

  “Kiri-kiri!” Gabrielle greeted with a smile.

  “It’s Kazekiri!” the girl snapped, paused, and then sighed. “Anyway, Gabrielle, what are you doing wandering around like this?”

  “Ah…” Heat rose to Gabrielle’s cheeks. “I was… trying to find my classroom, but I don’t know where that is.”

  Kazekiri frowned. “Shouldn’t Alex be showing you around? He knows the school well enough.”

  “I told him to go with Nyx to have her checkup.” Gabrielle rubbed the back of her neck and smiled sheepishly at Kazekiri, who merely sighed once more and rubbed her face.

  “What’s your class number?”

  “Um… two-two-six-five.”

  “That’s the same class as me.” Kazekiri turned around and gestured at her. “Follow me. I’ll guide you there.”

  “Thank you, Kiri-kiri!”

  Grunting, Kazekiri turned her head to look at Gabrielle. Her right eyebrow was twitching. Gabrielle watched the twitch and was tempted to touch the other girl’s eyebrow, but she didn’t because Kazekiri spoke seconds later.

  “Look, I have a name, okay? It’s Kazekiri. Don’t take after Alex’s bad habits and use my real name, got it?”

  “Ka-ze-ki-ri. Kazekiri.” Gabrielle smiled. “I’ve got it.”

  “Good. Now come on.”

  Gabrielle followed Kazekiri as the other girl led her through a series of hallways that were brightly lit, covered in blue tiles, and had doors on either side. There were no windows. Alex had told her it was so no one would get distracted by people walking by during classes. That said, there were several people standing outside the hallways who stared at them as they passed.

  “Um… Kir—I mean, Kazekiri?” Gabrielle asked as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

  “What is it?”

  “Do you love Alex?”

  Gabrielle winced when Kazekiri’s left foot struck her right leg, which caused the girl to nosedive into the floor. Her wince came from the loud crunch that echoed across the hall. That had to hurt.

  “K-Kazekiri!” Gabrielle knelt down as the girl pushed herself up. Kazekiri’s nose had turned a dark red and blood trailed down it. “You’re injured! Hold on. I’ll use Mr. Healer to fix that.”

  Gabrielle swiped her finger through the air, opening a rift to access her D-space and summoning Mr. Healer. It didn’t look like much. Long and shaped like a tube with buttons, Mr. Healer’s primary feature outside of being bright pink was the nozzle on the end.

  “Let’s see. The nose doesn’t look broken, so…”

  Pressing a button, Gabrielle waited until a small bulb on the other end of Mr. Healer turned green, and then pressed it against Kazekiri’s nose. The other girl issued strange noises, like she was talking, though her words were incomprehensible. However, she grew silent when Mr. Healer went to work. The redness and swelling around Kazekiri’s nose soon vanished and the bleeding stopped.

  “T-thank you,” Kazekiri mumbled as Gabrielle put Mr. Healer back into her D-space.

  “You’re welcome.” With a bright smile, Gabrielle helped Kazekiri to her feet. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks.”

  “So… about Alex…”

  “W-why do you want to know whether or not I like Alex?”

  They began walking again, more slowly this time. Gabrielle remained by Kazekiri’s side instead of behind her. She placed her hands behind her back as she walked.

  “Because you went on a date with him a little while ago, didn’t you?”

  “D-date—who went on a date with Alex?!”

  “You did. I saw you and Alex coming out of a café one day.”

  “T-that wasn’t a date,” Kazekiri said. “I was just repaying Alex for helping me with something.”

  “Oh…”

  Gabrielle felt the strange knot in her chest lighten. She had naturally believed Alex when he said that he and Kazekiri hadn’t gone on a date, but hearing it confirmed by the other party made her feel a lot lighter. How weird was that?

  Kazekiri glanced at Gabrielle out of the corner of her eye. “So… um, why would you ask me something like that?”

  “I love Alex,” Gabrielle declared. �
�I love him so much that my heart feels like it’s going to burst whenever I think about him. Selene said she doesn’t love him, but I think she does. I just wanted to know if you felt the same way.”

  “Well, I… it’s not like I hate him or anything.” Kazekiri looked at the floor. She didn’t speak until after they had turned a corner. “Would it bother you if I said I did like Alex?”

  “No, why should it?” Gabrielle smiled. “I think it would be great if you loved Alex. That would mean we could both love him together with Selene. We could even become a family!”

  “Huh?”

  Gabrielle beamed at Kazekiri, thinking of how nice it would be if this girl also loved Alex. One of Gabrielle’s dreams was to have a big family. She wanted to have a lot of sisters to spend her life with.

  Of course, she loved Michelle and Ariel, but if she could have even more sisters to have fun with, that would be the best. They could go on adventures together, travel the galaxy together, and take baths together. It would be amazing.

  It wasn’t long before they entered the classroom. As the sliding door closed behind them after they had stepped through, Gabrielle looked around at the interior she found herself in. The classroom was built in a tertiary style. One row of desks sat at the front, while a second level sat behind and above it, followed by a third, a fourth, and a fifth. All the desks sloped in a gentle U-shape. At the front of the classroom was a platform with a massive screen that was currently black.

  Several people were already inside, either sitting or standing. Gabrielle looked at all of the unfamiliar faces that stared back at her. Barely a second had passed before she spotted three familiar people amongst the crowd.

  “Selene! Ryoko! Serah!”

  Gabrielle darted away from Kazekiri, ran up the steps to the third level, and almost tackled Selene to the floor in a hug.

  “I’m so glad you three are in the same class as me!” she laughed.

  “G-Gabrielle?” Selene stuttered. “What are you doing here?”

  Grinning, Gabrielle took a step back and gave them a victory sign. “I’m now attending Atreyu Academy. Pretty cool, right?”