Pride x Familiar

by Albert Ruckholdt

  I felt miserable, really miserable. “Countess, I’m really, really sorry.”

  “Not flat anymore, am I?”

  “Ah…no. Definitely not flat.”

  She started to laugh wickedly. “Well, you won’t be forgetting me any time soon.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever forget you.”

  Simone’s eyes widened. “You mean that?”

  “I don’t see how I ever could. I’d have to suffer a head injury for me to forget you.”

  “You really, really mean that?”

  “Of course I do.”

  Were those tears glittering in her eyes?

  She drew back out of my hold on her. My hands and arms felt empty without her.

  I watched her run a fingertip across her eyes.

  “Is that so,” she muttered softly.

  I watched her take a moment to gather herself. She tidied up her blouse, then surprised me by reaching out and straightening my summer shirt.

  Damn, she could make my heart race hard.

  I had to swallow a few times in order to clear the tightness in my throat. But then I realized I had to say something to break the weird tension between us.

  I thought of something quickly.

  “Countess, would you tell me more about that day at your party? Would you tell me more about my sister’s friendship with your sister?”

  Her eyes searched my face for a handful of heartbeats. “I will but over that burger meal you promised me.”

  I nodded. “Deal.” I paused before asking one more question. “Would you tell me about the Familiar that has my Artifact?”

  Her face clouded and she looked reluctant. But after a troubled moment, she gave me a firm nod. “Yes. I will tell you what I know. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

  #

  (Caprice)

  Four Artemis.

  Four Familiars.

  That’s how Sunday evening’s mock training battle commenced, the second for the day.

  But ten minutes into the battle, I realized something was wrong.

  The two Artemis girls that Constance and I were stalking pulled back and avoided confronting us.

  Then we heard Rina’s call over the link between our Fragments.

  *Help.

  We lost contact a heartbeat later.

  Maya cried for help within a half minute.

  *What the Hell? Who is this guy?

  Using the effect-fields our Fragments generated to boost our speed and leaping distance, Constance and I raced over rooftop after rooftop. The training habitat might have been small in comparison to an Island habitat, but it still took us precious seconds to arrive at Maya’s location.

  Constance and I landed on a corner of the rooftop from where Maya had called for help.

  Across the open rooftop I saw Rina lying in an unconscious heap.

  But Maya was still awake and kicking.

  In fact, she was neck deep in a struggle against an opponent that was clearly a male Paladin, and not an Artemis.

  Constance snapped, *What the Hell? I thought we were only facing Artemis. Why is there a guy here?

  Maya yelled, *I need a hand.

  Both her okatanas flashed as her barrier fields clashed against the shield-blades of her opponent.

  I hesitated. Over-clocked as I was, it felt like an eternity went by as I found myself unable to move.

  We’d never fought an opponent two-on-one, let alone three-on-one. We were still learning how to operate as a team. I had no idea how to go about it. If we charged in recklessly we could end up taking each other out.

  But we had to make a choice.

  Maya cursed. *Damn it!

  She was barely keeping pace with the Paladin clad in a black skinsuit, and a Fragment that covered his arms, torso and legs. It was like a male version of my Valkyrie Armor.

  Constance gripped her jousting lance tightly. *What do we do? How do we fight this guy?

  *Just do it, Maya screamed in our heads.

  Constance growled, and then charged, but I couldn’t make myself move.

  That Fragment was too familiar. Those bladed shields were instantly recognizable. Why hadn’t Constance said anything? Hadn’t she seen them too? Didn’t she recognize them?

  I couldn’t move.

  I couldn’t make my legs move.

  I screamed out his name.

  “Caelum!”

  For one instant, one heartbeat, the Paladin glanced my way. He wore a visor over his face, making it difficult to recognize him.

  But in that moment I realized it wasn’t him – it wasn’t Caelum.

  That realization set me free, and strength returned to my limbs even as a single thought raced through my head.

  Why?

  In a heartbeat I had leapt across the rooftop, charging with my forearm blades fully extended.

  Why? Why is he using Caelum’s Fragment?

  Constance cut in between Maya and the Paladin, stabbing through the Paladin’s barrier-field, forcing him to back off and give Maya some breathing room.

  *Check on Rina, Constance cried out. *I’ll hold him off.

  Maya ran across the rooftop toward Rina.

  I jumped to a spot a few feet from the Paladin, then pushed off again. My armored toes flew mere millimeters off the ground as I slashed toward him.

  Constance darted back at that moment, giving me center stage.

  My piercer-field was narrow yet extended a foot ahead of my right blade. It struck his barrier-field, warping it then splitting it. But he was already countering, thrusting his right shield-blade into me. I managed to block his scything cut with my left forearm blade.

  Barrier-field met piercer-field.

  Mine gave way, and I twisted my body in order avoid his Gauntlet. I felt it strike my left blade, and I was knocked aside.

  What strength!

  It was abnormal.

  Was this the power of a Fragment when drawn to its fullest?

  No—something told me he had held back.

  I touched ground, both my feet gouging shallow furrows along the rooftop.

  Then Constance joined the fray again, driving him back with her jousting lance reconfigured into a bladed tuning fork. The weapon blurred in her hands as she met each attack with a stronger one, and drove the Paladin back.

  Constance crossed my field of vision, blocking him from me – and me from him.

  I leapt low, and when Constance stepped aside I slashed at him with everything I had.

  My piercer-field cut through his hastily erected barrier and my right blade sliced into him.

  Or so I thought.

  At the last moment, I watched him hook his right shield-blade between my blade and his chest. He flicked my right arm up, and I had an instant to block with my left.

  This time he didn’t go easy on me.

  But this time I had expected his counter and gathered my barrier-field into layers.

  His right shield-blade cut through layer after layer, slowing down as it did.

  Now both my feet were on the ground and I anchored myself to rooftop, bracing hard against his incoming blade.

  Blade struck blade, no barriers between us and a loud screech filled the air.

  I heard a cry inside my head, and realized a heartbeat later it was my Fragment warning me of the damage incurred.

  Wincing against the ear splitting screech, I swung my deflected right blade in an arc, using the momentum to come up and under his left arm. The blade was on course to bite into the left flank of his skinsuit when I felt his left arm come down hard on my forearm.

  I screamed, feeling as though my arm had been broken.

  I lost my balance and my legs buckled, dropping me to my knees.

  Expecting him to follow through and stab with his left shield-blade that was now aimed perfectly at my chest, I tried rolling to my right, and barely managed to avoid his thrust.

  Again, I realized he’d held back.

  Why?

  Was this still
a mock battle?

  If so why was he coming at us so hard?

  In my over-clocked state I had time to think my moves through, and the hesitation in his thrust was there for me to perceive.

  Was he just prolonging the battle?

  Constance leapt over my rolling body, slashing downwards with the bladed tines of her six foot long tuning fork, turning a chunk of the permacrete rooftop into powder when she cut into the ground.

  My right arm had grown numb, but my Valkyrie Armor told me it wasn’t broken. The forearm blade was attached to a gauntlet that covered my hand, wrist and forearm. The gauntlet had weathered much of the kinetic energy, dispersing it with a hastily thrown up barrier-field. However, my muscles and tendons had taken an impact that would have shattered bone had my arm not been protected.

  I grit my teeth and bided my time to come at him again.

  Constance whirled her tuning fork, sweeping it under his feet.

  This forced him to leap back, but Maya was there waiting for him.

  I watched the raven haired girl unleash a flurry of strikes that would have easily backed me into a corner.

  Yet the Paladin fended them off, and even succeeded in landing a kick to her midriff that knocked her back twenty feet or more.

  Again, Constance charged in, and I saw her Fragment had reconfigured into a twin-bladed lance. Even over-clocked I had trouble following it as it struck the Paladin’s shield-blades over and over, working him step by step back across the rooftop and to Maya who had regained her feet.

  I was out of position so I gained my feet and ran forward to rejoin the battle.

  Constance succeeded in locking one of his shield-blades with her lance.

  Maya aimed her okatanas at his other shield-blade.

  And I ran a bee line for his chest, with the intent to leap upwards at the last moment and land a blow against him with an armored knee.

  Then it all went wrong.

  Both his shield-blades vanished into the black mist that chilled the air.

  Constance and Maya lost their balance.

  The Paladin kicked Constance in the stomach with the flat of his armor shod foot, sending her flying through the air and into me. I had no choice but to catch the girl with my body though I managed to extended a barrier-field over my chest and torso an instant before she crashed into me. Though the impact was cushioned, I had been brought to a stop.

  I heard a scream, and saw Maya neatly flipped through the air. She landed bodily on her back onto the rooftop. The air blew out of her lungs with a whoosh.

  Then a bolt of crimson light flashed across my vision, blinding me for a moment.

  I knew it was Rina that had fired her gun-blade.

  In my over-clocked state I watched the Paladin take the shot to his back. The barrier-field protecting him flared brightly and he pitched forward over Maya’s body supine on the ground. But he rolled and came up crouched with both his shield-blades manifesting in heartbeats.

  Now he deflected every shot that came is way.

  I had to do something. At close range Rina was hopelessly outmatched. The girl had little close quarters combat training and lagged behind Maya, Constance and I by a long, long margin. Hell, even Caelum would have overwhelmed her in mere seconds.

  Against this Paladin she was as good as defeated.

  *Go! Constance yelled.

  I hesitated for half a heartbeat.

  *He’ll tear her apart, she screamed.

  I pushed Constance off me and onto the hard rooftop, then I gathered the barrier-fields around my legs, using them to boost the power of my leap tenfold. My bones would have fractured if not for the Valkyrie Armor encasing my legs. I leapt the instant the Paladin did, and for once something went right.

  I crashed bodily into him, barrier-field against barrier-field, and we both sailed at a forty degree angle away from Rina who squeezed off one more shot. Luckily it went wide otherwise it would have struck me.

  By some happenstance my arms locked around him, and we tumbled madly across the rooftop, coming to rest against the parapet wall.

  By good fortune I ended up on top and quickly raised my right arm, aiming the blade at his chest.

  A sudden chill surrounded me. The black mist clouded my vision. I expected him to try some trick but instead I watched his Fragment fade away into pocket space, leaving him clad in his black skinsuit.

  The visor he wore vanished as well, revealing the rather handsome face of a young man with mesmerizing violet eyes.

  His lips curved into a playful smile.

  “Hey, if you wanted to hold me that much all you had to do was ask.”

  His smile turned into a roguish grin.

  “I never say no to a beautiful girl.”

  I lowered my right forearm blade until the tip pressed against his throat.

  His grin wavered and he swallowed lightly.

  I sensed Maya and Constance step up to either side of us. I didn’t doubt for a moment they were glaring down at him as I was.

  The Paladin only moved his eyes as he gazed up at all three of us. Then he swallowed again and said, “Well, I could never say no to three pretty ladies.”

  Maya laughed and I heard clear anger in her voice. “Go ahead, Caprice. Stab him.”

  Constance growled like a wounded beast. “No—I’ll be the one to stab him.”

  I swallowed hard while still breathing hard. “Before I cut out your throat, answer me one question.”

  He frowned but didn’t dare to nod. I took his frown for a ‘yes’.

  “Why—why do you have his Fragment?”

  The Paladin’s frown deepened, then reversed as he understood what I’d asked. “Promise you won’t stab me?”

  “No promises.”

  Before he could reply the rooftop was bathed in light that overwhelmed the evening light provided by the simulated sky overhead. In surprise, I pulled my arm back.

  Then I heard a woman’s voice boom loudly over the building.

  “That’s enough. All trainees stand down. This mock battle is declared over.”

  Maya complained angrily. “What the Hell does she mean stand down?” In my peripheral vision I saw her turn about a full circle.

  Lying on his back, the Paladin said, “I suggest you do as she says before she gets angry.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because that’s Commander Selena Alucard, and she’s one lady you do not want to piss off.” He smiled guiltily. “And she’s the one that instructed me to drop in unannounced.”

  Constance muttered in a tone that simmered with rage. “What the Hell is going on? Who the Hell are you?”

  I stood up as smoothly as my legs could manage, which left me standing astride the Paladin’s supine body. He wasn’t bothering to hide the way he admired my body. I could tell he was undressing me with his eyes. If he dared to whistle I was going to ignore orders and stab out both his eyes.

  “Can I get up?” he asked.

  I stepped away from him. He rose to his feet a few seconds later. His Fragment armor had completely returned to its Pocket Space. I noticed he was taller than Caelum by at least a few inches. His body was more slender, more tightly packed, with longer limbs. I didn’t want to admit it but the manifested Fragment armor fit him better than it did Caelum.

  I swallowed tightly and repeated my question. “Why do you have his Fragment?”

  The woman’s voice I’d heard from overhead now reached my ears from behind me.

  I half turned to see a rather attractive woman in her mid-forties stride across the rooftop. She wore a dark grey uniform with strokes of red to highlight it. From her manner and appearance I assumed this was Selena Alucard, Commander of Special Interventions.

  I studied her face as she approached us.

  So this was Simone Alucard’s mother.

  I could see the resemblance to the Countess, and to Silia Alucard.

  Despite her age she was quite attractive, with a taut, trim body, and breasts that made me
envious. She must have been a beauty on par with both her daughters when their age.

  Rina limped in her wake, overtaking Alucard when the woman came to a stop a few feet away from us.

  Alucard smiled a satisfied smile. “All of you pocket your Fragments.” She saved the last look for me, a hard shine in her eyes that promised repercussions should I refuse her order.

  I concentrated my will, and triggered the sequence that would return my Valkyrie Armor to Pocket Space. The wispy black mist surrounded me, and the chill it accompanied made my breathing stutter. A few heartbeats later I was standing clad only my customized skinsuit, and a good ten inches shorter.

  Alucard spoke in a commanding voice. “Well done. Rather interesting, but hardly disappointing considering you’ve been training as a team for less than a week. Young man, come over here.”

  She waved the Paladin over, and he took a position a respectful distance to her left.

  I noticed him standing at ease rather than at attention.

  Selena Alucard Raynar.

  Head of Special Interventions and the Artemis supreme commander.

  She swept her gaze over us then briefly locked eyes with me. “I will answer your question later, Trainee Steiner.” Then she addressed us as a group. “Allow me to introduce Jaxon Deneve afil Raynar.”

  The cold glance she gave me made my innards tighten in fearful anticipation.

  “I would like you to welcome…the fifth member of your team.”

  I clenched my jaw in denial.

  No, this couldn’t be. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t how it was meant to be.

  My fellow Familiars inhaled sharply, and I was certain Constance swore under her breath.

  I thought I heard the tendons in my fingers pop as I clenched them into fists.

  Jaxon gave us an embarrassed smile. “A pleasure to meet you all.” He grinned sheepishly. “No hard feelings…right?”

  I felt like slicing that grin clean off his face.

  Reflections – 14.

  I asked Caprice about her Valkyrie Armor.

  I did this a few weeks after I began training at the gym under the nightclub owned by Arisa Imreh.

  At first Caprice was reluctant to talk about it.

  I didn’t get a reply to my question until a few weeks later. I’d chosen not to ask her again. My policy is to ask someone once, do it clearly, and if they don’t reply then drop the matter.