(Okey-dokey. Time to drive (heh...) the plot forward a little. And, apologies in advance, a MASSIVE expo dump is incoming.)
With everyone seated (though comfortably would be debatable), Fugo climbed into the driver's seat and fired up the van....
Ammy stole a glance at Leo's sword, propped up next to him. He hesitated for a moment, and then, awkwardly...
"So... Uh...Talking sword, huh?"
There was brief silence, and when Leo finally spoke, her tone was one of amusement.
In a sense. I did not always look like this.There was a pause, and Leo audibly sighed.
I am far older than you perhaps might think. I believe Xhai told me on the day I met him that, from the time I remember, over 1000 years have passed.Ammy's eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"Wait, if that's the case....I don't mean to be rude, but shouldn't your, um.....
body...be rusted by now?"
Xhai had stirred from his musings enough to watch the conversation from the corner of his eye, and though his attention was focused on the road it was clear Fugo was listening intently as well. Aaru, however, had fallen asleep, curled up behind the passenger seat. When Leo spoke again, it was with a melancholic tone.
It is as you say. You may not believe my tale, but I swear on my honour that I speak nothing but truth. Once, I was a knight, in service to a king whose name seems to have been forgotten..... She trailed off, seemingly lost in recollections of times gone by, but resumed speaking quickly enough.
I served loyally, and was held in favour both by my liege, and the people I had sworn to protect. One day, though, a sorceror appeared in the Royal Court, demanding that my liege swear fealty and surrender the kingdom to him. Naturally, my lord refused, and banished the sorceror from his lands. At the time, we had thought him nought but a raving madman, and dismissed his words from our thoughts. Eventually, we began to recieve word that some of the towns under our protection had been destroyed. Scouts were sent to investigate the stories, that we might learn the nature of our foe. None returned. Deeply disturbed, my liege sent a small company of my fellow knights, in hopes that their skill would save them from whatever dark fate had befallen the messengers. Nought but a few days later, one of them returned, gravely injured. Before he died, he claimed that the sorceror had returned, and was responsible for the destruction we had heard so much of. Fugo spoke up from the driver's seat.
"One man defeated an entire company of knights?"
If Leo could have shaken her head, she would've.
Aye. But he did not do so alone. According to the messenger who returned to us, the sorceror....he...had somehow found a way to reanimate the dead, and ensorcel them into doing his bidding.Ammy shivered at the mental image, and Xhai scowled despite himself. Leo continued.
At this news, my liege gathered all of the forces under his command, and set out at once to destroy this man who would dare disturb the rest of those who have already passed. There was only one battle, and it shall forever remain etched in my memory...For every one of the unliving we were able to dispatch, another would rise to take their place... Her voice grew heavy, and the mournful tone spoke greatly of how much it had affected her.
And, should one of my fellows fall in battle, they too would join the sorceror's blasphemous army. We lost many a good soul that day...Ammy had gone pale, and Xhai's scowl had only deepened as Leo continued her story.
It was clear that if the battle were to continue in such fashion, our defeat would be inevitable. So, I....I disobeyed my orders and charged headlong at the sorceror. I was badly wounded by the time I reached him, and yet somehow I found the strength to halt his evil ambitions. I do not know what eventually became of my fellows or the land I loved so dearly.Ammy swallowed, and spoke hesitantly.
"You died."
Yes. The next memory I have is waking next to a campfire with my sword in my hand, and Xhai and Aaru sleeping. Believing them to be enemies, I attacked and demanded an to know what had happened. I could not believe what I was hearing when Xhai explained everything to me. And, even now, I still do not know how or why I am...as you see me now.Xhai cleared his throat.
"From what I can tell, Leo's soul was somehow bound to her sword. I'm guessing the sorceror she mentioned had something to do with it. Some sort of curse, maybe. She's travelling with us because I agreed to help her find some answers, and....some closure, if I can."
A gloomy silence descended on the van, with everyone mulling over Leo's tale, until Ammy perked up again.
"Wait, you said you "woke up with your sword in your hand". How was that....?"
Ah, it seems I neglected to mention. I am not always restricted to this form. Whenever the sun sets and the moon hangs in the sky, my true body reappears as a shade. Regrettably, my sword is the only thing I am able to touch. It is....a cursed existence.Ammy shot a glance out the front window of the van. The sun was beginning to dip low behind the horizon, and already a small cluster of stars were visible in the sky.
"So, back in the shop, when you told Fugo you looked forward to greeting him in person..?
Yes. Once darkness falls, I will able to speak to you directly. Being able to see this world with my own eyes is one of the few pleasures I can still enjoy, even if it is only for a small time.Ammy fell silent again. There really wasn't a response he could give to something like that.
The ride continued in silence for some time, until Xhai turned his head towards the front of the van.
"Yo, Fugo. Could you tell us a little more about the guy you're fighting against?"
Fugo considered for a moment.
"You mean DrWilyII? Very well."
Xhai nudged Aaru awake as the ninja filled the group in on everything he knew about the mad doctor and his aspirations for world domination. Leo spoke up first once he had finished.
I apologise, but I must ask. You refer to our foe as "the Doctor". Some sort of title? I confess I am not familiar with the term.Fugo blinked, and gave a brief explanation of what the title meant. When Leo spoke again, she sounded confused.
He is a man of learning, then? What could drive one possessed of such intelligence to commit such foul deeds?There was an audible shrug in Fugo's voice.
"I suppose that's something only HE would know for sure....."
The van slowly ground to a halt, and Fugo turned to his passengers.
"Well, we're here. Welcome to St. Acidburg."
The group departed the van, but Leo's sword was left in the back. Ammy asked Xhai about, but the brunette just shrugged and jerked a thumb towards the moon hanging above them. Confused, Ammy was about to ask what he meant when Fugo tensed and stared at the sword.
As Ammy and Fugo stared in slowly dawning comprehension, the sword shifted, and seemed to levitate out of the van, coming to a rest in front of them at about hip-height. The air around seemed to shift slightly, and an ethereal figure materialised on front of them, appearing indistinct at first but quickly solidifying into the gently glowing figure of a person dressed in ornate looking white armour, one gauntleted hand wrapped around the hilt of the blade. A cape of deep-scarlet hung from their shoulders, and the faceplate of the helmet was patterned to look like a griffon, the beak forming between the eyes and hovering just over the exposed mouth. The eyeholes were currently glowing a solid, electric blue and seemed to pierce through the group.
The figure took a single, silent step forward (Ammy wondering for a moment exactly HOW a suit of armor managed to be silent. Then he mentally kicked himself when he remembered his previous conversation with Leo) and flourished their sword in a knights' salute, before planting it into the ground at their feet and removing their helmet, revealing a youthful, but still stern looking face framed by locks of pale blonde hair.
(I patterned her looks on Saber, so in terms of her face and hair, at least, she looks exactly like
this.)
Moving her gaze over the group, a small smile graced her features, and she bowed deeply to both Fugo and Ammy.
"I am pleased to finally be able to speak to you in person. My name is Leocadia. It is an honour to meet you both...."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, a group of Sniper Joes discovered the object their master had ordered them to locate. Lifting the skull-shaped pendant in one hand, and completely oblivious to the sickly aura emanating from it, the leader of the group turned and left the chamber....
(Whew. Okay, couple of points I just need to expand on, for everyone's sake:
1. Nobody needs to worry about following up on that last bit. That's the start of a plotline I've planned out, and I'll be handling all of the groundwork myself. It'll be a while before we revisit it, so don't sweat it too much.
2. When Leo is manifested, as she is now (at last!) she still moves like a normal human, so no levitation or anything. Her speech is still rendered in italics, but now it has regular speech marks, too. And finally, she isn't able to move more than a few feet from her sword, so she carries it with her whenever possible. Her body will fade at sunrise, and then Aaru or Xhai will reclaim the weapon.
Apologies again for the monster post. I get a little carried away when I get the creative side of my brain fired up.)