Orso Fiction 021

Orso Fiction 021-The One Where The Apostles Get Seriously Mistreated
“How…how did this happen?”, Severo gasped, bleeding from the wound in his chest. Slowly, he tried to stand, but couldn’t, and fell on his face. Malachi laughed a bit.

“How? Because, and I want you to carve this into your minds-You are below me. Your Hell Holes are in no way a match for my power.”, he said. He gestured to the six Skulls lying wounded around him. “This is the power of an Apostle of the Sky, Berenger Ferraro’s chosen warriors!”

“Berenger!?”, Arduino wheezed. “Impossible! The…the Orso are the ones Berenger chose…”

“Oh, who knows what those sneaky smiths are planning? Thinking on it, I should have told you that sooner…Ah well.”, Malachi sneered. “Well, I’m out of here. You’ve all disappointed me, in your own unique and equally pathetic ways.”

The Cloud Apostle turned to leave. Placido, who had been lying behind him, glared up at him.

“Oh, don’t give me that face. Fighting you has been…an informative use of an hour. My boss will be quite pleased with the intel I’ve gathered.”

“Why bother bringing back intel? You’ve clearly won the fight.”, Placido gasped.

“There’s no joy in killing a beaten dog that keeps whining, so listen closely.”, Malachi said coldly. “Just accept that you are, and have always been, a pawn in the games of men far greater than you.”

---

Adelina, unable to accept defeat, slowly got to her feet. Miriam, her foot on the fallen Ernesta, laughed.

“You’re a tough one.”, Miriam said. “What drives you, girl?”

“My pride.”, Adelina said through a mouthful of blood. “And my love for my sister. Those are what drive me.”

“Pride and love?”, Miriam laughed. “No wonder you couldn’t touch me. You girls don’t understand darkness.”

“Adelina, save your strength.”, Nerina urged from Adelina’s left. The Cloud Rose ignored her, and took a pained step forward.

“Just what are you after?”, Adelina spat at Miriam.

“Me? Well, I fancy myself a little old-fashioned, so…this entire town burning to the ground is a nice start.”, Miriam said with a smile.

“What…is Berenger after?!”, Adelina shouted.

“Hmm? Sorry, repeat that?”, Miriam asked, a devilish smile creeping up on her face.

“BERENGER!”, Adelina screamed. “Why are you working for him!?”

“Oh, did I say I worked for Berenger?”, Miriam asked with mock surprise. “I lied. I find the best time to draw out a person’s inner darkness is when they’re angry and confused.”

“No…no…what are you?!”, Adelina wheezed, now out of breath.

“I’m an Apostle.”, Miriam said simply. “I’m here to help my god remake the universe. All seven of us are.”

“Your…god?”, Adelina said, falling to her knees, feeling unconsciousness creeping up on her.

“That’s right.”, Miriam said with a little giggle. “My god. He’s quite merciful. Maybe, when all this is settled, he’ll let you become one with him. Oh, but I’ve stayed too long! It’s been fun, girls. Thanks for showing me your darkness!”

---

“Do you think Malachi and Miriam are back yet?”, Micaiah asked, to break the silence of the walk back to the woods outside of Century.

“I forget why they left.”, Hannah said with a smile. “Where were they going?”

“Oh, Hannah…”, Micaiah groaned. “You’re hopeless. They left to see the other two families the Ferraro chose.”

“Who were they? I wasn’t listening when Zeke told me.”, Hannah giggled.

“Oh my…Well, you know Berenger Ferraro chose the Orso to support. Osvaldo Ferraro chose the Seven Skulls. Sonia Ferraro chose the Seven Roses.”, Micaiah began. “Each one is giving the family they chose a weapon to support them.”

“Okay.”, Hannah said. “What did Katie get?”

“Katie will be getting an Arcoferro weapon. They’re very rare.”

“And I get it, after I beat her up?”

“That’s right. You get Katie’s weapon when you beat her up.”

“And what about the other two?”

“Well, that’s what Malachi and Miriam went to find out. When we find out, we’ll be able to sell Alex Carroll that information when he brings us more people to turn against Zach.”

“Oh, right!”, Hannah said gleefully. “I remember this, now! And when Zach loses everything, we win!”

“That’s right.”, Micaiah said with a smile.

“Do you ever wonder what the one you’re cloned from is thinking?”, Hannah asked suddenly.

“I…no. No, I don’t.”, Micaiah said, a little confused. “Do you?”

“All the time.”, Hannah said. “I always wonder what Katie is thinking about. It gives me headaches, sometimes. Like now, I can’t focus, because I’m thinking about if Katie hates me or not.”

“You really are a strange one, Hannah.”, Micaiah laughed. “You go from ditz to philosopher in a heartbeat.”

“You’re weird, too!”, Hannah protested, sticking her tongue out. “You act like you don’t have a heart, but I know you love me deep down. And Zeke! And Malachi, and Miriam, and Isaac, and even Sarah! I think you kind of love Maggie, too!”

“Don’t talk like that.”, Micaiah said coldly. “I respect that Maggie McClary is the set of blueprints I was built from. That is all.”

“Aww…You’re no fun, Micaiah.”, Hannah whined, but brightened when she saw a figure in the distance. “Oh, hey! Hi, Isaac!”

“Hello, Hannah.”, Isaac said, the slightest hint of a smile touching his lips. “How was gathering supplies?”

“Nothing special.”, Micaiah said, showing him the grocery bags of food they had collected. “Zeke insisted we bring back scones. And we saw some beef jerky, so we grabbed that for you.”

“Well, much appreciated.”, Isaac said, smiling a bit more now. “Zeke and Sarah are in, the other two aren’t back yet.”

As they walked a little further in, Hannah poked Micaiah in the side.

“You got him jerky.”, she teased. “’Cause you liiike him.”

“Quiet, brat, or I’ll drop a house on you.”, Micaiah growled.

---

“I don’t believe what I’m seeing.”, Allison Boyd said, looking at the scattered Roses.

“What…what happened here?”, Sabra Bushey asked.

“They’re all…they’re all bleeding…”, Nicole Roberts said sadly. “Paige, can you start on healing them up?”

“Already on it!”, Paige Lewis said, pulling out instruments to channel her Sun Flames through to heal their wounds. She began work on Adelina, because she seemed the most injured.

“Hey, you alright?”, Jessica Biemiller asked, patting Nerina on the cheek, because she looked the least gravely injured. “Can you speak?”

“What…what are you doing?”, Nerina asked hazily.

“Well, we’re trying to help you.”, Jess said, glad the girl could hold a conversation, so she could reveal what happened to them. “Now, what injured you guys so badly?”

“I…She…she came out of nowhere.”, Nerina said. “A blond girl, with Storm Flames. She ripped through everything we had.”

“Wow…”, Mike Fornaro murmured, looking around. “She must have been a real terror.”

“She was…”, Nerina said. “She was the strongest thing…I’ve ever seen.”

“And how did she do this?”, Jess asked.

“Don’t tell her anything!”, Adelina, now conscious, shouted. The other Roses began to stir, hearing Adelina. Adelina tried to push Paige away. “Nerina, don’t stoop to taking their help!”

“Sister…”, Raimonda murmured. “They’re only trying to help.”

“They’re the enemy!”, Adelina said breathlessly. “They’re the ones we need to fight! What are you trying to do, helping us?!”

“I’m…I’m just trying to help!”, Paige stammered. “You were bleeding a LOT, you psycho.”

“Well, stop.”, Adelina said curtly. “I don’t want to owe you anything.”

“You won’t.”, Paige said, amazed at the girl’s determination.

“The Ferraro is over there.”, Adelina said. “That’s what you’re here for. Take him and leave.”

Frediano, who had been sitting patiently, effortlessly broke the restraints on his hands.

“About time.”, the ice-blue haired smith said. “I would have helped, had I seen a chance to change the flow of battle. My interference would have done nothing.”

“Good.”, Adelina said. “We didn’t need you.”

“How dumb ARE you!?”, Paige asked, even more astounded. “I am literally holding up my hands, which have YOUR BLOOD ON THEM.”

“We don’t need your help!”, Adelina shouted. “We haven’t come as far as we have, counting on strangers!”

“I thought you took Sonia Ferraro’s help. Did you know her?”, Jess asked.

“That…that was different.”, Adelina said quietly. “Please, go.”

“How about this?”, Taylor Houston, who had been lurking in the background, said. “You’re injured, and you don’t want to accept any help. I get that. You also have an Arcoferro. Trade us the Arcoferro, and we’ll call these impromptu surgeries fair payment.”

“Are you…”, Adelina began to ask.

“Yes! We’ll take it!”, Nerina shouted tearfully. “Adelina, please, stop. We know you hate this. But this is the way we’ll save Princess.”

Allison looked down at Nerina’s finger, saw the blue flower-shaped ring on her finger, and bit her lip. It would be hard to fight with these girls, after this.

“I…FINE.”, Adelina spat. “Which of you is the Cloud Agent!?”

“That’s me.”, Jess said.

“When we fight, I will crush you, with all my power.”, Adelina said bluntly, lying on her back, staring determinedly up at the clouds. “That’s how I’ll avenge today.”

“Can’t wait.”, Jess smirked in return.

“Jess, stop.”, Paige said. “We’re here to help them, now.”

“So you’re the Sun.”, Orabella said curtly. “Good to know you’re such a wimp.”

“Are ALL of you going to keep being nasty to me?!”, Paige asked. “I am literally sewing your sister’s skin back together, and you’re calling me a wimp!”

“Don’t mind them.”, Raimonda said. “They’re always a little angry when things get tough.”

“Shut up, Raimonda!”, Malvolia called. “Don’t forget that these seven are not our friends!”

“How awful…”, Nicole said, seeing Raimonda’s green ring. “Whatever they’re fighting for, it’s important to them.”

“Don’t forget…”, Sabra murmured, seeing Malvolia’s indigo ring. “We’re fighting with lives on the line. We can’t let ourselves put them first.”

“Who was she?”, Ernesta asked, able to stand, supported by the car’s hood. “The girl. You must know who she is.”

“I have an idea.”, Mike said, seeing the girl’s red ring. “Her name is Miriam.”

“And?”, Ernesta urged.

“She’s tough. She’s part of the reason we need the metals.”, Mike said. “Our Storm Guardian is off training to get strong enough to beat her.”

“Is that so?”, Ernesta asked. “And what is she after?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”, Mike said, shrugging. “But we’re going to use the metals from Berenger to defeat her to keep her from causing any more destruction.

“She…mentioned wanting to see this town burn…”, Ernesta said. “I…know how that feels. I understand.”

“And what are you fighting for?”, Mike asked.

“We…we’re fighting for-“

“Revealing that wasn’t part of the deal.”, Adelina said, now standing. “Come on, if you’re healthy enough to stand, you can get in the car. We’re leaving.”

She put her hand in her pocket, and withdrew the blue Arcoferro, throwing it at Jess.

“We’re even.”, she said. “Let’s go.”

In what felt like seconds, the Roses were gone.

“What just happened?”, Allison asked, looking at the reflective blue metal carefully.

“Things just got more complicated.”, Taylor said simply. “Come on. We’re done here.”

---

“My feet hurt.”, Rebecca Kresge said, trudging through the woods.

“It’s not too much farther!”, Dana Kobylenski said cheerfully. “Wow, how long has it been since we’ve been back to base?”

“We were in Paris for…two weeks.”, Paige said. “We’ve been gone a while. When we were walking out, I heard Charlie mention something about Bradley and Rachel going on a mission to get back some intercepted goods.”

“Wow, it has been a while.”, Dana said. “It’ll be good to see everyone again.”

“Going somewhere?”, came the voice of a big man, who stepped out from behind a tree.

“Yes!”, Dana said brightly. “We’re going back to Century!”

“Oh…I see.”, the man said, as though he had been expecting a more fearful reaction. “Come with me.”

He led them through some trees, until they came to a clearing where four more people were sitting around a fire. One of them, a blond man, looked up first.

“Hello, there. And who are these? Did Alex send you?”, he said invitingly. “Have a seat, have a seat!”

“Should we really be here?”, Rebecca warned Dana. “This seems a little suspect.”

“Oh, hush.”, Dana said. “We get to make friends today. Hello! I’m Dana! And these are Paige and Rebecca!”

“I see.”, the smiling blond man said. “I am Zeke. The one who escorted you in is Isaac, the one on my left is Micaiah, the one across the fire is Sarah, and the one on my right is Hannah. What brings you out so late?”

“Oh, some family stuff.”, Dana said, jokingly. “Are you camping?”

“Camping…is a way to word it.”, Zeke said. “So, ‘family’? I assume you mean the Orso?”

“Ooh, so you know about us!”, Dana said. “Oh, then you must be new members!”

Before Zeke knew what to do, she flew across the campground at him, and pulled him into a hug.

“Everyone gets a hug from me.”, Dana explained, now hugging Micaiah, who didn’t move in the slightest. “It’s my thing.”

“Charming.”, Zeke said, without a hint of insincerity in his voice. “Zach certainly has assembled quite a group.”

“Yeah, he did a pretty awesome job.”, Dana said, now hugging Isaac, who was as stony-faced as Micaiah.

“Shame about some of his top men, though.”, Isaac said, as Dana moved on to hugging Sarah.

“Isaac, hold your tongue.”, Zeke said sharply, then easing his tone. “Please pardon Isaac. He had a…well, a run-in, with Charlie Steiger.”

“Charlie?”, Paige asked. “What did you do?!”

“What…did I do?”

Paige rolled her eyes.

“Charlie wouldn’t have gotten angry at you if you hadn’t messed up somehow!”

“Oh…Um…Right…”, Isaac said, totally taken off guard. Zeke began to laugh, despite himself. By now, Dana was hugging Hannah, who for her part, was hugging back.

“Guys, we should be going.”, Rebecca said.

“Oh, hush, Rebecca.”, Dana chided. “We’re making friends. We should get to know these guys, anyway.”

They were interrupted by Malachi and Miriam entering the clearing.

“You might just be the worst guard possible, Isaac.”, Miriam chirped.

“They’re guests, Miriam.”, Zeke said to the girl, his eyes attempting to tell the whole story. There was no way they could, however, convey ‘This girl is going to hug you.’, and so Miriam was taken aback by the girl’s embrace.

“These are Miriam and Malachi.”, Zeke explained. “They’re the last of the seven of us.”

“Dana, can we go yet?”, Rebecca asked. Dana sighed, finishing up her hug with Malachi.

“Fine. Well, Zeke, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around base. Drop by any time to say hello!”, Dana said.

“Oh, I’m sure I will.”, Zeke said, then considered her wording. “And I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And you better apologize to Charlie!”, Paige warned Isaac, who could only nod and lie, assuring her that he would. The three walked off, and the Apostles all looked at each other uneasily.

“That…was special.”, Malachi said.

“Remind me why we weren’t actively killing every one of them?”, Miriam asked.

“Because, my short-sighted left hand…That would be breaking the rules. We will not injure any Orso that didn’t come to us of their own knowledge.”, Zeke said with a smile.

“Doesn’t mean we have to get along so well with them.”, Isaac grunted.

“Oh, they’re not so different from us, Isaac…They’re just…on the wrong path.”, Zeke chuckled.

“Speaking of, did you get a bearing on the darkness in those three?”, Micaiah asked/

“I didn’t give it much effort, but…about average amounts in the one excited to get back and the one that gave Isaac an earful…Incredibly little in the huggy one.”, Zeke laughed. “The Orso…They’re full of fun characters, aren’t they? Now, did you get that intel?”

“Got it.”, Malachi said, throwing Zeke a folded up piece of paper. Miriam did the same.

“You beat every detail out of them?”, Zeke asked, reading over them. “That’s odd…There’s only six, on each list. The organizations both have ‘Seven’ in the name. Did you both perhaps miss one?”

“Couldn’t say.”, Miriam said. “They only had six members.”

“My group never suggested that they had a seventh.”, Malachi agreed.

“Curious…”, Zeke said. “Very curious.”

---

The girl laid in her bed. They shouldn’t be gone this long. Adelina said they would only be gone for fifteen minutes or so, but it had been an hour now. She coughed once, and the effort racked her body with pain. She leaned back in her bed and sighed. She was worrying. That was funny. She was the sick one, the little sister, and she was worried about the big sisters that doted on her so much. She sighed again. She missed them. And it was getting dark. Adelina promised she’d read to her for a little bit before bed, and she had been looking forward to it. Now, she just wanted to see her face again.

“Come back soon.”, she murmured to the window. Even a visit from the old lady with the mean eyes would be better than being this lonely.

---

“They shouldn’t be gone this long.”, the tall boy said. The darkness obscured most of his features, but it was clear that he was very handsome, with blond hair, blue eyes, and a mouth used to smiling. On his finger was an orange ring with a skull and crossbones design.

“No, I suppose not.”, Osvaldo said absentmindedly, hunched over some ominous looking book. A few moments past before the boy said anything else.

“So, tell me again…What are you going to do, when we get these rings from the Orso Varia?”, he asked. Osvaldo groaned.

“It’s a little known fact…but rings, used to bring out Dying Will Flames, have spirits within them. The stronger the spirit, the better the ring. A metalsmith of my ability can draw out the spirits, and channel them into other purposes…”

“And you said you need the Orso’s Agents’ rings, too.”

“Well, I can only do so much with each ring.”, Osvaldo said dismissively, trying to return to his reading.

“So that’s how you’ll do it?”

“What’s that?”

“Cure that little girl. You’ll take the spirits out of the rings, and make a potion or something, to cure her?”

“Hmm? Yes, that’s right.”, Osvaldo said. “I’m surprised, though…You’re so concerned with that little girl, Faustino, and you only met her the once.”

“It’s just how I am”, Faustino laughed. The cloud that had been blocking the sun drifted away, letting more light through the window he was sitting by. The sunlight made the metal on his wheelchair sparkle. “It’s such a shame…I wish we could do this without violence.”

-

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