Orso Fiction 031

Orso Fiction 031-Parthenon Battle
“Miss Head Agent?”, Tammaro Ferraro asked, the next morning, as he walked into her office. “I need to ask you a favor.”

“Go for it.”, Taylor said, rearranging papers. “But I won’t be able to promise anything. The message from your brother arrived just last night, and we’re headed out there today.”

“That’s what I’m asking about.”, Tammaro said. “My brother, Edmondo, is…how do I say this…rebellious? Hard to control? An axe-crazy maniac? It’s something like that. I’d like to ask you to bring me along, just…to try to keep him from getting us all into trouble.”

“Axe-crazy maniac?”, Taylor asked. “Well, sounds like we’re in for a lot of fun. Of course you can come along. I appreciate the kindness.”

---

Inside the lab the Ferraro brothers had taken residence, the four left of them were laughing.

“Oh, the poor bastard.”, Sansone said. “I’m so glad he got the short straw, and not me.”

“He really is in for a hard time, if he expects to control Edmondo.”, Arduino said. “Only Father could really ever keep that one in line. Well, Father, and Vincenzo.”

“We haven’t seen Vincenzo in ages.”, Frediano observed. “Of the seven of us, he was always the most adventurous. I imagine he’s somewhere in the Arctic, looking for rarities, fighting polar bears.”

“It’s a bad day to be a polar bear, then…”, Narciso interjected, with his mysteriously smooth voice. The others laughed again. “It won’t be long before the seven of us are working together. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah…”, Sansone said. “Oh, hey, look. Visitors. Narciso, I think these ones are for you.”

At the door stood Laura Wise and Sabra Bushey.

“I see.”, Narciso said. “Excuse me, then. Ladies, please, come in. We’ll talk in the other room.”

---

Adelina glared down at the ground from the helicopter. Not only was her sister deathly ill, but she had to waste time negotiating with the Orso. No. What she wanted now was to slay them all, take their Arcoferro, and be done with it.

“Calm yourself, Adel.”, Nerina said softly, next to her. “This is the penultimate Arcoferro. We’re almost there.”

“Two faced scumbags, is what they are.”, Orabella growled. “They poison Rosangela, and then they have the nerve to heal us when we’re injured, just to mock us.”

“I would have argued with you a few days ago…”, Raimonda said. “But I can’t see another explanation for this but their cruelty.”

“And so we’ll return it in spades.”, Malvolia said angrily.

“We’ll take the sixth Arcoferro, so both sides have three…”, Ernesta thought aloud. “And then crush them when we gamble our metals on the seventh. I don’t want to be the downer, but are we ready?”

“We’ll have to be.”, Adelina said sternly. “I’m going to fight that girl with all the power I have. I’ll be using the Darkness Box, this time.”

“The Darkness Box…”, Nerina thought, unconsciously touching her Rain Box, which held Tiamat, and her own Darkness Box. “Adelina’s never even used her regular box like the rest of us have. If she’s willing to use a weapon Osvaldo gave her, and throw away her pride like that…she’s serious about these fights…”

---

“I don’t have long to talk, but I have a few questions.”, Sabra said, sitting at Narciso’s desk. By the edge of the wood was a pair of tonfas, encrusted with pieces of cobalt.

“Ask anything.”, Narciso said, smiling.

“First off…what is Edmondo like? If Tammaro is coming to help us control him, something must be off about him…”, Sabra asked.

“Edmondo is…he is not one to be given orders.”, Narciso said, trying to put it pleasantly. “He has been known to attack those he doesn’t respect, who try to exert control over him. We feared that the Roses would find themselves in danger if he were to get angry at them.”

“I see…Adding to that, we saw your brothers fight, to scare Zeke off.”, Sabra continued. “All of them are exceptional fighters…so why have any of you been kidnapped by the Roses?”

“You see…Father…forbade us to fight. He said it would be simply…unfair, if we were allowed to help you too much.”

“So…if you were allowed to fight…”, Laura said.

“You would have five Arcoferro right now. The sixth would come into your hands today, and the seventh, as soon as it’s revealed. The threat of the Seven Skulls would be eliminated, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we could help with the Apostles.”

“You’re that strong?”, Sabra asked, laughing a bit in surprise.

“You have to be, after living with our father as long as we did.”, Narciso said solemnly. “But, I don’t want to discuss that right now. What else did you have to ask?”

“A few things.”, Laura said. “For one, can you tell us anything about the first Arcoferro that were made?”

“The first ones?”, Narciso said with a chuckle. “You want a history lesson? Or, from how time changes stories, a mythology lesson? There’s very little fact to be had, I’m afraid. The first Arcoferro weapons were made by the first Ferraro, as a service to the First Generation Devino Guardians.”

“I did research on that, yes.”, Laura said, trying not to be rude to the man telling her things she already knew. “But how did he know how to do it? From what we’ve heard, these metals are impossibly rare, and difficult to craft properly. How did he know the procedure?”

“They say the spirits in the metal talked to him, and told him how to shape them into weapons.”, Narciso said. “It’s not a story I disbelieve, knowing what those metals can do. I don’t intend to break from my usual style when I craft the Arcoferro for…her name was Katie?”

“That’s right.”, Sabra said. “But what is your style?”

“My style is…oh, it will sound silly, but, to drown myself in confusion, as I craft. I flood my mind with paradox, aporia, antinomy. As I clear my mind and I act, the metal takes shape. The confusions are imbued into the metal itself. That’s how I see it. Tammaro’s persistant bashing, Sansone’s instantaneous design, Arduino’s reflexive changing, and Frediano’s cathartic release, are all valid strategies for them. This style is the one that fits me, with my mind. Father promised me that this metal, and serving you, would be the ultimate test of my mind. I simply could not resist.”

Sabra, suddenly realizing how late she was about to be, stood.

“I should be going.”, she said, as Laura joined her. “Thank you for your time.”

“Yes, thank you.”, Laura added. “It’s been very informative.”

“You’re welcome to visit at any time.”, Narciso said, a smile on his face. “I won’t be too busy for a day or two. Then, we will be working quite intently.”

---

“This is all of us, then.”, Taylor said, as Sabra joined them. “All aboard.”

The eight of them, including Tammaro, stepped aboard Bear Force One.

“I totally just got that joke.”, Mike Fornaro said, chuckling a bit. “Bear Force One. That’s kinda funny.”

Jessica Biemiller facepalmed.

---

“No kidding?”, Nick Seese asked, his hands full of stolen chicken wings. Tatsu nodded eagerly. “Well, then…that’s some pretty impressive information…You’ve earned this…”

Nick put a plate of the wings down, and opened his desk drawer, pulling out a dead cobra, and putting it on top the pile of wings. Tatsu squealed happily, and hugged Nick’s leg.

“No kidding…”, Nick thought. “Not only is Alex gone, but Matt Iannone is the next Head Agent…Interesting…”

---

Osvaldo sat at his desk, reading over yet another ominous looking tome.

“Busy?”, Sonia’s voice came, from behind him.

“Never too busy for a visit from my dear little sister.”, Osvaldo said, an evil smile on his lips, probably because he didn’t know how to make a normal one unless he was lying. “Are your girls on their way?”

“They are. Those Ferraro brothers do get around…Italy, Egypt, Japan, Australia, Brazil, and now…Greece…”

---

As the sun was beginning to reach its highest point, Bear Force One touched down.

“They want to meet us at the Parthenon?”, Allison asked. “They sure know how to up the drama…”

“We’re just here to talk, remember. Talk, and pick up a Ferraro.”, Paige reminded everyone.

“Are we ready for next time?”, Nicole asked. “When we WILL have to fight them?”

“Guess we have to be.”, Sabra said, patting the Mist Box on her belt. “I won’t be holding anything back.”

“Hard to believe we’re so close to this fight…”, Jess said. “And the Varia are just as close to their own skirmish, Laura tells me.”

---

“Let’s hurry, it’s almost noon.”, Adelina urged. The other five followed her, up to the front of the ancient building.

“It’s so weird, to be so close to this thing…”, Nerina said softly.

“It’s a fitting place for this…”, Malvolia said, trailing off. “Shall we enter?”

“Yes, we’ll be the first to arrive.”, Raimonda answered, stepping into the temple.

“Not quite the first.”, a man’s voice came, from the center of the temple. They looked to see a man with dark purple hair, a package sitting beside him on the ground. He yawned.

“Are you Edmondo Ferraro?”, Adelina asked.

“I am.”, he answered. “Are you the Orso?”

“We are not. We are-“

“Then I’m not interested in you.”, Edmondo said bluntly, and yawned again. “I was told to wait for the Orso Family here. If you aren’t with them, leave.”

“That’s not possible.”, Adelina told him. “I need that Arcoferro you have. We’ve arranged a deal with the Orso. They take you, we take the metal. When the seventh metal is revealed, we’ll battle over the entire set.”

“And you think I’m just going to hand you this Arcoferro, because of your words?”, Edmondo asked. “You’re not worth this, then.”

“Oh, you don’t want to anger us right now…”, Adelina growled. “We won’t take well to it. Behave, and surrender that metal to us.”

“Behave?”, Edmondo asked, drawing a small axe, covered in amethysts. “It’s been a long time since someone’s expected me to do that.”

“You need us to beat it out of your hands?”, Adelina asked, igniting her rose-shaped ring with Cloud Flames.

“It’s also been a long time since I’ve gotten to fight someone trying to get me to behave…”, Edmondo said with an increasingly larger grin. “I hope you can put up a better fight than they did…”

-

Next -->