Fanfiction: Experiencing Freedom CHAPTER 47 is a go! (February 7th)

Wow, 7000 reads! Welp, I can't think of a word to thank you all! I have an SAT exam tomorrow, so after the day, I'll be at full swing with writing!

 

Good luck with your SAT!

 

Thank you! It's done and I'll start writing probably today.

 

Chapter 43 Includes a new character that could be found in the mines! I'm sure you know who it is!

A worthy name, unlike that fat human that used to call me Dasher… Hyperion grunted Perhaps I may consider you as a… friend. It replied, gazing at the wide field surrounded by fences. I can also sense a bond between another Feral Deceiver.

“I do. Haven’t I told you about that before?” James asked.

I can truly sense now.

“What should we do, then?”

We shall wait for you accomplices to finish. James shrugged in response. Never have I ever met someone so determined for three thousand years. Hyperion said to itself. The horse and James galloped around the ranch a few times until they returned to where the three women were. Marnie struggled to keep Jade on the horse while Abigail was able to guide her horse properly in a pace faster than a trot but slower than a gallop. The ranch owner was in utter amazement as James and Hyperion approached her.

“H… how did you calm Dasher down?” Marnie asked.

“It let me trust it and… bam, a new friend.” James replied. Seeing that Hyperion wasn’t so happy looking at Marnie, James once again opened his mouth. “Oh, it’s Hyperion, by the way. I choose this guy.”

“But… but… you only have two stables! Where are you going to keep him?”

I don’t have to. Hyperion said to James, glancing at him.

“I’ll ask Robin for another. I’ll promise to take good care of him, Marnie. All he needs is some understanding and love. James’s words convinced the Ranch owner enough.

“Alright, then! Thank you so much for helping me with this! You know, I think I’ll give that horse to you for free.” Marnie concluded. Just as James thanked her, Abigail approached her husband with her horse galloping with an impressive speed.

“You look like you’ve gotten used to it.” James remarked as his wife stopped her horse, but she fell off due to the intertia.

Fool. Hyperion scoffed.

“I did, butg I need to learn how to steady myself!” Abigail replied as she stood to her feet. “I want to race you around the ranch.”

“Race? Aren’t you still trying to steady yourself on that horse?” James asked. “Besides, what did you name that guy?”

“I named him Excalibur. Marnie said that he’s the fastest horse in the ranch, so I want to beat you again!” Abigail chirped.

“…And I thought the wedding duel wasn’t enough.” James rolled his eyes. “Alright, then. Hyperion will do a good job at this. Follow me.” He said as he ordered Hyperion to where Jade is.


The married couple’s horses trotted to the building where Jade was still practicing how to stabilize herself on the horse. “Are you ready?” James asked.

“I’m ready.” Abigail replied as she prepared herself for the speed they were about to be in. She felt the tension in her heart despite having the confidence of having the fastest horse in Marnie’s Ranch. The same went for James, who’s willingness for competition spiked. He took a deep breath and began the countdown.

“Alright… get set… GO!” And the two were off. Abigail gave a shout of encouragement as Excalibur lurched forward. Excalibur sudden burst of speed surprised both Abigail as James as Abigail bolted ahead of her husband.

“Hyperion, give it all you’ve got!” James encouraged, patting Hyperion’s neck.

Let me see. Hyperion replied as he too picked up pace. The Feral Deceiver seemed to have responded as it suddenly started to gallop faster and faster. Soon enough, he was galloping so fast that everything became blurry to James. All he could hear was the air whizzing past him. All of this reminded him of his vehicle training when he was fourteen years old as he whizzed past Abigail. Instead of fear, joy and adrenaline rushed through his body as James gave a yell of happiness. Nothing could explain the dopamine rush that he was experiencing. He felt so alive and was glad that he had earned the trust of another Feral Deceiver. The dopamine rush of the immense speed seemed to dissipate after a few seconds when Hyperion slowed to a stop. James found himself at where he and Abigail started when he focused.

“We’re here already?” James asked as he saw looked around his surroundings. He saw Abigail had just past half of the ranch over the horizon. He looked at the other side to find Marnie flabbergasted.

“…I thought Abigail’s horse was the fastest.” Marnie stuttered. Smiling, the farmer dismounted Hyperion.

“I guess you’re wrong. Any news from Robin?”

“She said that she received your request for the third stable and is building it right now. She said that she’ll receive the payment for that later.” Jade approached the two and said. She seemed to have finally managed to stabilize herself on her horse to a trot.

“I see. Say, what did you name your horse?” James asked his roommate.

“I just named him Bullet because it’s best to keep things simple.” Jade replied. Just as she finished talking, Abigail finally arrived with her horse slowing down to a stop beside them.

“James, oh my god! Your horse was so fast!” Abigail said, hyperventilating. “Wasn’t mine the fastest?”

“Well, he’s a good guy.” James replied, patting the ribs of his horse. He stared at the sunset as he thought of the times that he will spend with this Feral Deceiver.


The three farmers bid goodbyes to Marnie as they headed back to Cerulean Farm with their horses. They were greeted by Sebastian, who was helping his mother build the third stable that James specially asked for. He greeted Jade with a kiss and a high-five to James and Abigail. As soon as Robin excused his son and the four young people entered the house, James immediately went to work in the kitchen. He knew what he wanted to make: chicken biryani. After washing his hand, he opened his refrigerator and pulled our three onions, a packet of rice, butter, chicken and ginger and placed it on the counter. ‘Now for the candle of the cake!’ James thought as he reached for the ceiling cupboard. He opened it and pulled out the box of spices that Abigail had gifted him during the Feast of the Winter Star. He opened the box to find all of the spices that he needed. Unable to hide his smile, James heated a saucepan with a bit of vegetable oil spread on its surface. He chopped the onions to bits and threw them into the saucepan, making it sizzle. As the heat of the fire turned the onion into juice, James threw in bay leaves to add the flavor followed by the spices and mixed it. It was eight o’clock at night when the door gave knocks as James checked on the rice. “Looks like it’s time to go.” Sebastian grunted as he walked into Jade’s room. James knew that he should open the door, but as he was cooking, he couldn’t.

“Abby, I think that’s Robin! Open the door!” James called his wife.

“Okay, Robo-Honey!” Abigail chirped as she rubbed Fenrir’s belly.

“You really have the nicknaming game on fire.” James replied, chuckling.

“Why? It’s so cute on you!” Abigail pouted as she opened the door, revealing Robin.

“Mrs. Callahan? James asked as he walked to the door, wiping his hands on his apron.

“James, your third stable is complete.” Robin said. James nodded as he handed her an envelope full of money.

“Pleasure doing business.”

“It smells spicy inside! What are you cooking?”

“Oh, I’m trying to make chicken masala. Would you like some?”

“Oh, I would love to, but I need to go feed Demetrius and Maru. I really hope that they didn’t start another fire like last year…” Just as Robin finished, Sebastian came out from his girlfriend’s room with his backpack. “Sebby, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, mom.” The raven-haired boy replied. James observed him to find dread and worry in his eyes. What was bothering him? The curiosity was unquenchable. James decided to tap into hi mind to find the reason.

‘Seb, what’s wrong?’ James asked with his mind.

‘I don’t want to go home.’ Sebastian replied mentally. ‘Please let me stay.’ He added as if he was begging for it. James knew from that point that it would be rude to dig into his friend’s mind, thus he nodded it away.

‘Alright.’ James said before returning to reality. “Robin, do you mind if Seb stays here for longer? He’s a really good friend and… I don’t want Jade to be jealous of me and Abigail.”

“I heard that!” Jade shouted from the living room. After a few seconds of thinking, Robin opened her mouth.

“Sure! I mean, Demetrius would get a bit upset, but I’ll consult him. Are you okay with this, Sebby?”

“I’m fine with that.” Sebastian replied.

“Okay then! See you tomorrow!” Robin chirped as she walked away. When James closed the door, Sebastian gave a loud high-five to him.

“Thanks, bro. I really didn’t want to see Demetrius’s dumb face.” The raven-haired boy said.

“All in a day’s work. You can count on me… and Jade.” James replied as her roommate walked to the two.

“Sebby, aren’t you going?” Jade asked.

“Aren’t you happy that I’m not?” Sebastian asked back. Jade nodded as she gave him a passionate kiss. Shrugging, James walked back into the kitchen to check on the food.


It was extremely late at night when James rose from his pillow. He couldn’t find even a trace of drowsiness. His mind was filled with so many unanswered questions. What is Project LIQUIDATION? Who were the dwarves? The biggest of them all, why would they give a cryptic hint about the Galaxy Sword? The questions tormented his mind, but James didn’t want to wake Abigail up. Unable to handle the stress, he silently rose from his bed and changed into his work clothes. He placed his Galaxy Sword hilt in his holster and took his backpack with him. He remembered to take his pickaxe with him as he crept out of the house. James noticed Hyperion gazing at the moon when he approached the stables. Excalibur and Bullet were sleeping, standing still. “Hyperion?” James whispered.

What is it? Hyperion asked back, turning its head to him.

“Let’s go for a run.”

In this time? Well, my muscles have been itching for movement. Very well. James smiled as he mounted Hyperion and gently guided him out of the stable.

“You gotta be very silent, got it?” James asked, ordering Hyperion to a quiet trot until they were out of Cerulean Farm from the northern exit. When they were out, the farmer ordered the horse to a gallop and they bolted away towards the mountains. Unlike before when he would reach the mines in about ten minutes, James arrived at the entrance in just thirty seconds thanks to Hyperion. “Stay.” The farmer said as he dismounted his horse. When utter darkness surrounded him inside the mines, James gave a big sigh. ‘Whoever thought that breaking rocks will relieve my stress?’ He thought as he walked to the lift. Just before he set foot on the metallic floor of the lift, he sensed something strange. He quickly turned around to find… nothing. ‘Am I just seeing things?’ He removed his foot from the lift. Something compelled him to not go deeper into the mines, but what? Just as he gave a sigh, tik... tak… Falling pebbles. There was no way for that to be natural. Water droplets from stalactites would make sense, but pebbles? No. James approached from where the sound might have come, only to arrive at a big rock that seemed to simply exist beside the walls. “Interesting…” James whispered to himself, inspecting it. As he looked below, however, he noticed a crack that seemed to make an arch. The arch was about one and a half meter in height. The farmer nodded in recognition. This rock isn’t supposed to be here. He pulled his pickaxe from his backpack and gave the rock ten mighty strikes until it shattered. As soon as the fragments of the rock fell to the ground, revealing what was behind it… KA-PEW! A large bright bolt of blue light zipped past James’s right shoulder. He quickly dove for cover behind the remains of the rock. ‘What the hell was that?!’ He thought as he took a peek up, only to have another bolt of blue light zip past the gap between his chin and his neck, making him quickly dive down again. Knowing what to do, James ignited his Galaxy Sword and stood up straight from his cover. KA-PEW! KA-PEW! Two bolts of the same light flashed out from an unknown source. James’s genetically modified senses made him deflect the bolts with his Galaxy Sword, sending them back to its source in different angles. James dove for the source, rolled on the ground and pointed his sword at whatever could have been emitting the bolts… only to find a small entity wrapped around by a tan-colored cloak. The bulge of what looks like the head had yellow glowing eyes on its ‘face’ and two smaller bulges on its top. It was barely a meter and a half tall.

“Lian, U niaan ozi hus sehh. Anoe na hu nnia huns u paa muis” The entity said.

“…What the hell?” James asked himself.

“Ni mi haetomgisle mgalekgolo paku naa mik.” This made the farmer even more confused. What the hell is this thing? Most of all, why was this thing here? What did he fire? The last question sparked something in James’s mind as his face turned into utter shock. Could this thing… be a dwarf?

“Uh… listen. I don’t know if you understand our language, but…” James hesitated.

“…Upah?”

“…I think I may know something from your origin.” He concluded, slowly reaching for his bag and unzipped it while still pointing the glowing sword at the speculated dwarf.

“Namka anoe. Vik nolphgren taa muis tarlani.” The dwarf said. James gave a grunt as he continued to rummage through his bag while trying to keep an eye on his opponent. His bag was so stuffed that he had to remove the contents such as an emerald, ruby and a topaz out just to look for what he wanted: The Dwarfish Translator tablet.

‘There it is.’ James thought as he pulled it out and switched it on. As soon as he turned back to where the dwarf was, its attention wasn’t at the farmer, but rather at the gems that he dropped.

“Hus nalgov lik ozi niaan!” The dwarf exclaimed.

“Hey, look at me!” James exclaimed. He aimed the tablet at the dwarf, hoping for it to translate what it spoke. “Do. You. Understand. Me?” James called.

“Une. Vik nalko initi naa?” The dwarf replied. What followed stunned James: The tablet screen displayed the speech in English! “Yes. Is that even a question?” It read.

“…You understand me?” James asked again.

“By the gods, this is taking too long.” The dwarf grunted. The tablet translated it. “Is that some kind of translator?” James nodded. The dwarf slowly approached him. As it approached, James noticed a metallic cylinder protruding from the cloak.

“Stop.” The dwarf did as James said. He moved his sword at the cylinder. “Give that thing to me.” Grunting, the dwarf gently threw the object to him, turning out to be some kind of energy weapon. It looked like a pistol. Retracting his sword, James picked the weapon up and inspected it.

“Are you impressed?” The dwarf asked. James looked at his tablet and calculated his answer. This was the weapon that the dwarf used to attack him. He nodded. “Now, let me look at whatever device you’re using.” It added.

“This?”

“Yes, now hurry up before I lose interest, you primitive alien.”

“Well, then how the hell am I going to understand what you’re going to say without this?”

“Just… give me.” Sighing in disbelief of how impatient the dwarf was, James handed it the tablet. As the dwarf inspected the tablet, it unfolded its fingers, activating holographic displays from it. It seemed as if it was used to thoroughly inspect the software of the tablet. “El pulk buu laki.” The dwarf said before handing the tablet back to James.

“What?” James asked, pointing the tablet at the dwarf.

“It’s stupid, that’s what. You humans really don’t know how to make machines, don’t they?” The tablet translated the dwarf.

“Hey, we’re not THAT advanced! Give us a break!” James exclaimed. “You know what? Why don’t you give me an alternative?” Hearing this, the dwarf gave a scoff and walked away from him towards a metallic door. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?!” James called, following the dwarf.

“If you want to become asphyxiated due to lack of oxygen, feel free to follow me in.” The dwarf replied, making James stop as the door closed behind it. He collapsed onto a rock.

‘What did I get myself into…?’ He thought as he rested his head on his cybernetic hand. A few minutes later, the door opened again, snapping James back to reality. The dwarf came out from wherever he wan and handed him what looked like wireless earpieces. “What’s this?”

“Just try it.” Shrugging, James placed the two devices in his ears. Immediately, a metal strip came out from them and made a band vertically around his head. Just as this happened, the dwarf snatched the tablet from the farmer’s hand. “HEY!”

“Don’t you notice anything strange?” Wait. He had no tablet. Could this…?

“…This is a universal translator or some sort, is it?”

“Looks like I’ve finally found a somewhat intelligent human.” The dwarf complimented. “How does it feel to have a grasp of advanced technology? Well, it’s not for me.”

“It’s… actually amazing, to be honest.” James replied. He was surprised that he could understand every single word that the dwarf was saying. “Do you have the same thing with you or some sort?”

“Look, I don’t want to remove my cloak.”

“…I’ll say that you do, then.” The dwarf nodded.

“Why are you here?” The dwarf asked.

“Stress relief.” James replied. A long pause followed before James opened his mouth. “Well, seeing that I can’t make awkward situations wanna talk?”

“Talk? With a foreign creature?”

“Hey, do your species ever do diplomacy with other races?! You guys literally travel through stars… I think!”

“Fine, you got me on that one. But I’m not doing this for free.” Hearing this, James collapsed his head on the wall behind him.

‘Oh. My. God.’ James thought in disbelief. He seemed to have lost determination to talk to this alien when… ‘Wait. It’s not looking at me.’ He noticed the dwarf’s attention was focused on the gems that he dropped while he was looking for the tablet. “Hey, interested in those?” The dwarf didn’t say anything. “Tell you what, it’s yours. Take it all.” Immediately, the dwarf quickly shifted its focus on James.

“Really? That’s more like it.” It said as it picked the gems up. “Now, what do you want to talk about?” With a grin, James started the conversation.

 

Chapter 44! Well, I had to think for a LONG time to make this chapter. It contains a fraction of the history of the Shadow People!

“…And that’s how I’ve survived 10000 years in this planet.” The dwarf said.

“I see.” James nodded. He was starting to understand why this alien was dwelling in this part of the mines, but he was curious of how he ended up on Earth, so he decided to ask just that. “Hey, may I ask you one thing?”

“Out with it.”

“How did you end up in this planet? Were you like in a… colonization mission? Or… a scouting…” The dwarf stopped him there.

“I’m not answering that. Don’t even think about wanting the answer.” The dwarf grunted. James gave a sigh. He would have easily got his answer if he had a few more gems. He was out of options. He had to give up.

“Fine. I guess I won’t be getting what I want for now. I’ll come back in another time. I need to fulfill why I’m here in the first place.” James said, standing up.

“Whatever. If you want to see me again, I want payment.” The dwarf said.

“…I’m starting to question how your species even communicate with each other, not to mention how your society can even exist.” James replied, walking out of the cave and to the lift. He was sad that he couldn’t get to know the origins of this alien. Just as he stepped out of the dwarf’s cave, the alien stopped him.

“Give back my plasma bolter.” It said.

‘Right.’ James thought as he turned back to the dwarf with its weapon on his both hands. Just as he was about to hand it to the dwarf, an idea sparked into his mind.

“Hey, you do know how tenacious humans are, right?” James asked, moving his hand with the gun behind him.

“Give my weapon back or I will reinforce the entrance of this cave as soon as you get out.” The dwarf threatened. “…and yes, I must admit, you humans are really sticky.”

“See? Then you know that I will keep asking for your backstory until I die, right?”

“Yes?”

“Let’s make a deal. I won’t ask you about your past…” The dwarf seemed to have been intrigued.

“Is this another deal?”

“You got me there.” James replied, snapping his fingers. “…but you need to go by the laws of equivalent exchange.” Realizing that he had used a reference to Full Metal Alchemist, he scolded himself in his mind. “…You know, like a diplomat!”

“I was an engineer, you stupid primate.”

“Hey, no need for vulgarity. All I want is an exchange, judging by how you want to keep your secret that bad.”

“What do you want?” The dwarf asked. James, giving a cheeky grin, nodded his head towards the bolter. “…My weapon?”

“If you don’t want to, I mean, I can nag you to death.” James shrugged. A long pause followed, making James think that the dwarf was thinking.

“Fine. I already have an entire container full of that, anyway.” The words made a smile on James’s face as he put the weapon in his bag.

“You do realize that I don’t have anything dark behind me, right?” The dwarf asked a the farmer headed for the elevator.

“Not a good idea to lie, dwarf! I swear that I’ll get your history out one day!” The farmer shouted one last time as the lift moved downwards.


The lift stopped at the 115th level. The area around James resonated with extreme heat. Veins of molten rock that leeched on the walls gave blight orange glows that gave dim lighting. The ground around him was littered with large rocks of various shapes including ones that contained precious ore. “Perfect. Just what I needed to relieve some stress.” James whispered to nobody as he struck a rock nearest to him with his pickaxe. The rock shattered into tiny pieces. Not enough. He struck another. That’s better. His stress seemed to very slightly dissipate. As he continued to smash his way to more rocks, he found a few ladders that lead to a level down. Seeing that there didn’t seem to be much stones on where he was, James took the level down. Level 116. As he stepped on the rocky floor, he heard several hissing noises and deep mumbles. Monsters. Placing his pickaxe back into his backpack, James ignited his Galaxy Sword. “I’ve heard something. Be vigilant, brothers.” A deep voice of a Shadow Brute echoed from a corner. James quickly hid behind a rock as seven Shadow Brutes with spears and what looked like staffs. The ones with staffs wore a rectangular mask and wore significantly less bone armor than the ones wielding spears and bows.

“Shamans, use your pure sights. No invaders, human or Orkrai-clan, must know of our entrance!” Another Shadow Brute said. Immediately, the brutes with staffs started chanting inaudible voices. While they still chanted away, the spherical gems that were embedded on their staffs started to resonate with red light. Soon after, aura of the same color started to orbit around the seven shadow brutes until it bolted across the cave until it approached James.

‘uh-oh.’ James thought as the red aura stopped right above him. He was spotted.

“There! Our foe hides behind that rock like a coward!” A shadow brute said. At this point, James knew that they were after him by just hearing their footsteps. “Archers, prepare!” Knowing that there was no time, James quickly rummaged through his bag.

‘Rocks, rocks, gold, iron, gold, iron… There has to be something!’ James scolded himself as he now hastily flipped his backpack upside down. Everything fell out, but on top of all the mess was what he was looking for: the dwarf’s plasma bolter. Seeing that charging to the archers would be a suicide, James picked it up, stood up from cover and aimed the firing piece at the shadow brutes.

“It’s a human!” a shadow brute archer said.

“Fire! Shamans, prepare the apothecary spells!” another said as tugged its bow’s string with an arrow. The archer fired, but it barely missed the farmer by inches. James retaliated by firing a few bolts of blue plasma.

KA-PEW! KA-PEW! KA-PEW!

One bolt missed a shaman while the other hit the two archer dead on their heads. The victims fell to the ground hard and slowly disintegrated into dust.

“Warriors, attack!” One of the spear-wielding shadow brutes bellowed as four shadow brutes wielding the same weapon charged onto James. Knowing that they were too fast for ranged weapons, James held his Galaxy Sword up and charged while giving a war cry. As the Shadow brutes struck their spears, James leapt high and performed a frontflip before striking down at one of the Shadow Brutes. However, his target managed to block his attack with its spear. Frustrated, James pushed himself away and swung at another brute, only to have his attack parried off, giving out sparks of plasma. Grunting, he charged at the same brute and struck vertically, only to be kicked on his chest, sending him a few meters away. James landed on his feet, however.

“As the great Warlord Kortuk said, you humans are futile against the Shadow Empire.” A shadow brute said, approaching the farmer with the spearhead pointed. The shamans chanted spells that seemed to wipe signs of exhaustion of their comrades.

“Warlord? Well, I never expected a civilization to even exist between you guys.” James replied, flexing his cybernetic arm. “Tell me more.”

“We Shadow People have been locked in the underground for far too long! It was the Heretic’s foolishness to trust our ancestors to achieve what ruined them!” It replied. “Enough with trivial mouth-flapping! It’s time to prove how unworthy humans are!” The shadow brute bellowed as it struck James, closing its eyes. “It is done.” It concluded. But as it opened its eyes, it saw that its attack was blocked by the farmer’s plasma sword.

“I see. I’ll record this and write a book about your society.” James said. “That was only a fraction of my strength. I’ve only activated a fragment of the sword’s energy.” He added as he pressed a button on the sword’s hilt. The plasma blade started to glow even brighter purple as the shadow brute’s spear started to slowly melt.

“Impossible.” It said in disbelief.

“It’s the power… of technology!” James shouted as the blade of the Galaxy Sword cut the spear clean off and struck the shadow brute. It fell to the ground, disintegrating to dust just like its past comrade. “Now THIS is full power.” He sneered as he swiveled his sword and his body at another shadow brute. Despite its attempt to parry his attacks, the high-energy blade of the Galaxy Sword simply severed the spear in half and decapitated the brute.

“Shamans! Empower me!” The last spear-wielding shadow brute said. Soon enough, the staff-wielding shadow brutes casted spells that created yellow aura that surrounded the spear-wielder. “Human, your hubris ends HERE!”

“We’ll see about that.” James replied, pulling out his plasma bolter and fired two blue bolts at the shamans, killing them. Immediately, the yellow aura disappeared. He ran to the monster and struck it, making it disintegrate. He took the liberty to look around. There was nobody else. It was his first victory of the day. James checked his phone clock. 3:23 AM. He was surprised that Abigail wasn’t contacting him. ‘Maybe she’s sleeping like a rock.’ He thought as he took another level down. He was happy that he traded secrecy with an alien weapon.


With the last shadow brute defeated on the 119th level, James found the ladder down. His stress of now almost gone from the rock-breaking, but his recent monster-hunting made him feel uneasy. In fact, he was ending the lives of living beings after all. Tightly shutting his eyes, James collapsed to the floor to refresh his mind. He has been doing this with Abigail when he was dating, anyway. Nodding, he opened his eyes and took the ladder that would lead to the 120th level. ‘Alright, James. This is the last level. After a few ones, time to go back home.’ He reminded himself as he set foot on the rocky floor. However, something in this area made him feel uneasy. A strange mist of darkness provided the farmer an unusual sensation that he had never felt before. ‘That’s weird.’ He thought has he let go of the ladder. Igniting his sword for impending attacks, he turned around to find…

Nothing.

The room was empty, other than thin veins of molten rock and pillars with slate serpents twirling around them. Their eyes glowed red. Behind the pillars was a metal gate. Not just a regular gate, but a colossal one approximately ten meters in height and thirty meters in length. The gate was decorated with runes and untranslatable scriptures written on drawings of Shadow Brutes. “What the hell is this?” James whispered to nobody as he slowly approached the gate. As he approached, however, he heard low but faint voices behind it.

The Heretic’s Clan shall fall to the might of the Deliko Clan!

Down to the Orkrai Clan and the enemies of our empire!

Forever shall the blade of Kortuk of Deliko hunger for the blood of humanity!

James quickly stepped away from the gate. Something was happening behind this gate. Just as pulled out his phone to take a picture…

“I see that you have come down here.” A voice interrupted. Startled, James pointed his sword at the source…

“Krobus?” James asked.

“Indeed, James. Honestly, I have never expected you to come this far.” The armless Shadow Brute replied.

“…What are you doing down here?” The farmer asked, lowering his weapon.

“Glad to know that you have not identified me as a threat. As always, I ask for no hostility. Anyway, I have come here to take a painful look at...” Krobus turned to the gate. “…My home.”

“Home? Then…”

“That is right. You may have heard my fellow shadow people who showed hostility boast about it. This… is the entrance to the Shadow Empire.”

“Shadow Empire?”

“Indeed. After the war between the Dwarves and the Shadow People, the previous emperor was overthrown by a tyrant and renamed himself as ‘Warlord’. Ever since, my people… The Orkrai Clan, have been hunted down by his most elite warriors, The Dark Legion.”

“The Dark Legion? If they were like the ones I’ve killed, then I won’t have much challenge.” James boasted.

“Do not underestimate my kind, James! The Dark Legion is not a group to be underestimated! They were responsible for the integrity of the Empire. Should you boast like now, you will not see the light of day.” Krobus warned. All of this talking sparked curiosity in James’s mind.

“Krobus, I…” James stuttered. “I… I don’t understand what’s going on here. I came to this Valley to start my life all over again and forget my past and… and… Here I am, stumbling in an empire that seemed to be insane over killing humans. Now that I am seeing the entrance an entire underground empire, I feel uneasy.”

“Uneasy, you say?” Krobus asked, analyzing the farmer’s words. “Hmmm… You are curious. Curious of what happened here. Curious of… me.”

“Damn, it’s really hard to lie in Stardew Valley.” James surrendered. “You’re right. I want to know. I want to know what happened here.”

“Very well. Meet me at the sewers where I stay as a merchant.” Krobus replied as he turned into smoke and flew up the hole from where James came from. Hearing metallic noises coming from the gate, James hurried to the ladder and quickly climbed up.


When he was out of the mines and greeted with fresh air, James saw that the moon was already setting at the west, but the sun wasn’t still up. He walked back to Hyperion. “Missed me?” he asked.

Started to think about deserting you. Hyperion replied.

“Hey, I like your rebellious style.” James replied. “Anyway, let’s go to the town! Hup!” He gently cheered as the Feral Deceiver bolted down the mountain and eventually to Pelican Town. Soon enough, the farmer stopped Hyperion near the sewer entrance at the near-center of the town. He dismounted Hyperion, told him to stay and climbed inside the sewers while making sure to close the lid tightly. James remembered the foul odors of the sewers and the dimly lit surroundings. It reminded him of his first venture inside here with his wife. He walked to where he first met Krobus to find him here as usual.

“Ah, I see you have kept your promise. I was anxious that you would go back home.” Krobus said.

“Hey, I just can’t get the things off of my head.” James replied, pulling out his phone. “This is for recording.”

“Recording? Well, I don’t recommend doing so. There is no point of recording when no human would believe it.”

“Well, I have other uses. Now, should we begin?” James asked. Nodding, Krobus opened his mouth.

“Long, long time ago, the dwarves attacked the Shadow Empire to seek shelter from their unknown threat. They sparked the war after slaying one of our high-ranking officers. The emperor, whom which I forgot his name, lead his finest warriors of the Dark Legion to battles and swore to defend the empire from this new threat. Despite the empire’s efforts, however, the dwarves outmatched us with the use of technology. For centuries, the war raged on the underground and the surface during nights to slay off each other to either protect or seek shelter. During the early decades, the dwarves pushed the Shadow People further and further into their land. However, the emperor of the Shadow People, knowing that the knowledge of our ancestors was the key to victory, figured that the very enemy that he was fighting against was the answer. He ordered his warriors to take the weapons of the dwarves to study its abilities. His high-ranking officers from the Delico Clan thought that he was mad.

It was during the late times of the war when the emperor was captured and the warriors of the Dark Legion that was around him were slain by a dwarfish ambush. He was taken prisoner in a camp, sparking despair and sedition across the empire. However, vowing to save his people from destruction, he started an uprising with his fellow prisoners to be free and return to the underground with a help of a renegade dwarf. They succeeded, but with the cost of the emperor’s health. He was crippled and was sent to the apothecary for years.

The war ended with a treaty between the Shadow People and the Dwarves after one thousand years of war with nothing gained by either side. The Dwarves swore not to interfere with the Shadow People while our kind promised the same. However, soon after, an insurgence by Kortuk of Delico overthrew the emperor believing that he was too weak to rule and claimed the throne for himself. He reclaimed himself as ‘Warlord’ and swore to eradicate the dwellers of the surface and slay every last Shadow People of the Orkrai Clan. I have escaped the tyrant’s grasp and wandered around the lands until I have settled in this Valley.” With the story over, Krobus gave a sigh. “I hope this has solved your curiosity.” He said.

“Wow, that… that was really interesting.” James replied, saving his document. I never knew that you had such sophisticated society just like us.”

“Yes, but I am afraid that my people will revert to tribalism should the tyrant continue his rampage. Honestly, I am surprised that Kortuk has kept the Empire together as of today.” James simply nodded after hearing this.

“Why do you think the Dwarves attacked your people in the first place, anyway?” James asked.

“That, I know not. The emperor was willing to grant them peaceful sanctuary if they haven’t exerted violence.” Krobus replied, but started at the farmer as if he noticed something. “I can sense drowsiness in your eyes, James. You should go now. Your wife and friends might be concerned.”

“Thanks, but they’re sleeping. I don’t have to sleep that much due to… these.” James replied, tapping his cybernetic arm. “Anyway, thanks, Krobus. It was really nice hearing from you. Maybe if I have money, I could buy a thing or two from you.” He said as he walked to the ladder back up to Pelican Town.

 

HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY FEAST OF THE WINTER STAR! (It's December 25th, 3:13AM here)

 

Eight THOUSAND views! Thank you so much for reading! I'm preparing for SAT subject tests, so I can't upload that frequently. I'll still try posting for you all, so stay tuned!

 

Here comes Chapter 45! I hope you'll be tensed about the cliffhanger!

He knelt on a land of black red. Heaps and heaps of corpses laid everywhere around him. The sky was corrupted with the ruddiness of blood and the smoke of the fires across the distance. He heard gunshots ring through the area followed by familiar screams of plea and pain. Between every gunshot, he could hear masculine laughter from the same places the gunshots were heard. This was hell. Hell on Earth. He painfully stood up with his assault rifle in hand.

‘Where am I?’ he thought as he looked around. He took a few steps which made splotches of blood. He checked if he had a full magazine inside his rifle as placed the stock on his shoulder. He remembered his over rigorous training to throw away fear and carried on the valley of corpses. As he continued walking, he noticed that the faces of the corpses… were familiar.

Oh no.

He saw the face of the little girl of Graceful Mercy that informed people about the submarine. The face her mother. It tormented his mind. Every time he looked at each individual blank faces, he heard them whisper pleas to him.

SAVE US!

GIVE OUR LIVES BACK!

IT HUUUURTS!

LET IT END!

He collapsed back on his knees on a pool of blood with a wet and bloody splat. The pain they felt… it tortured his mind. He grunted and gritted his teeth while covering his face in fear. They were bloodthirsty. They wanted revenge. They wanted…

“HEELP!!”

A familiar feminine cry! It was close to him.

“Shut your pie holes and remove your clothes NOW!!” A harsh masculine voice rang. It was powerful. Threatening. James immediately stood back to his cybernetic feet, ignoring his mental pain and started to run for the sound. As he made his way, however, he saw pitch black smoke come in his way and form countless entities that resembled soldiers. They too held rifles and aimed at him. He quickly took cover as they fired and he returned fire. Thanks to his augments, all of his bullets hit their mark and the entities disintegrated back into smoke and eventually thin air. There was no time to waste. He bolted as fast as he could to the source of the screams while firing at everything that got in his way.

Eventually, He reached a corpse circle with veins of blood and fire. He saw his worst fears: Everybody that was close to him was laying dead. Abigail, Sebastian, Sam, Alex, Leah, Elliott… it made him break down into tears. He fell back to his knees on the corpse of the purple-haired girl, a bullet tore through her head and her clothes torn, showing her bare skin. He heard two more screams of plea.

They were different.

They were too high pitched to be teenagers or adults. He looked around to find a young man with spiky brown hair wearing a brown shirt and a blue jacket. He stared at him with a disturbing smile as he held the wrists of Vincent and Jas to the point where they bled.

“You caused all of this, 24. You’re responsible. You deserve to die.” With that, the man pointed a pistol at his head and pulled the trigger.


James screamed as he bolted up from his pillow. He hyperventilated frantically as he looked around his surroundings. He was in the navy blue of his bedroom. The sun wasn’t up yet, but the warm and friendly atmosphere of his bedroom was welcoming enough for him. He looked to his side to find his adorable wife Abigail sleeping peacefully on her underwear. He turned to the window and sighed. What was that dream all about?

“What’s wrong?” Abigail grumbled, rubbing her hand on James’s cybernetic arm.

“Hmm?” James hummed. “It’s nothing, Abby. I’m fine.”

“You screamed yourself awake.”

“Abby, it’s nothing. I told you. I just had a nightmare.” James assured her. But in reality, he was scared. The nightmare felt too real. He felt genuine pain in there. It pained his mind just by thinking about it. Just as he drowned himself in thought, Abigail dragged him back to the bed.

“Robo-Honey, I know that something’s not right, okay?” Abigail said worriedly as she pecked his forehead. “I’m always here for you. If you can’t contain it, spill it on me, okay?”

“Okay.” James sighed. “Thanks, Abby. I love you.” He planted a deep kiss on her lips and left the bed to wash up.


The morning of 4th of Spring was normal as usual as James watered his crops. The Junimos has granted him the greenhouse repairs for helping them with their bundles in the Community Center. He opened the transparent door to find himself in a sunny room filled with fertile soil. James wondered why Robin didn’t have the blueprints to this wonderful building. He called Jade to him, having a question in mind.

“Jade, do we have any… uh… non-Spring seeds?” He asked.

“Non-Spring?” Jade repeated, fumbling with the harvested eggs. “Well, I remember you putting a box of pumpkin seeds in one of your chests…”

“That will do!” Thank, Jade!” James replied.

“Anyway, how the hell did we get this building? Were you hiding this from me? Wait… Don’t tell me. It’s one of those magic shenanigans again, isn’t it?”

“Well, it is. Believe it or not, it happened.”

“Whatever. I’m going to go get your seeds.”

“Thanks.” James thanked his roommate before seeing her walk back into the house. Soon enough, Jade returned to him with the orange box full of pumpkin seeds. Abigail had accompanied her, making James smile by how his wife was upsessed with pumpkins.

“I love you so much!” Abigail cooed.

“Wanna help me sow them?” The purple-haired girl nodded almost violently by her husband’s question.


“James!” Leah’s voice called the farmer when James had finished his daily work.

“What’s up, Leah?” James called back.

“Um… Remember during New Years Eve that I’m going to set up an Art show in town?”

“Well, that I do!” Indeed, James remembered how much Leah prepared. Her sculptures and paintings were amazing. “What about it?”

“Well, um… I-it’s going to be held today.”

“Really?! Wow, that sounds good!” Abigail replied. “What time is it?”

“It’s going to start at 3 in the afternoon. And that would be…” The artist checked her watch. “…in three hours. I really hope you three will be there. I mean, I’ve never showed my work to anyone but you and Elliott. Also, I’ve never stood in front of a crowd.”

“Leah, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Your art portfolio can fascinate even Pablo Picasso! If I can give you an advice, all I can give is for you to take a deep breath. Sure, you might be nervous, but don’t let that be the weapon that’ll be used against you. Second, don’t get scared by crowds. Try to look confident. It’ll make you less hesitant. Third, remember that we are always there for you to support you every time, especially your boyfriend. Got it?” James said.

“Um…” Leah hummed as she wandered around the farmland. “Okay, I can do that…. But with one exception.”

“What is it?”Abigail asked.


“Help me set up the thing. I don’t want people to come to an unfinished art showcase.”

“I’m in.” James immediately replied.

“Count me in!” Abigail chirped.

“Um… sure. If Seb comes in.” Jade hesitated. Just then, the house door opened, revealing the groggy Sebastian from behind.

“Mmm… where’s everyone…” Sebastian groaned. “Oh, hey guys. Hello, Miss Kjellsten.”

“Hello, Sebastian! What are you doing here?” Leah asked.

“Sleepover.” James answered in behalf and Leah nodded. “Bro, wanna come help Leah in setting up in her art show?”

“Art show?” Sebastian grumbled. “I… I don’t know anything about that. Sorry, but I don’t think I can help.”

“Well, it’s okay. Jade you’ll have to stay with him inside. Leah, let’s go.” With James’s words, he, Leah and Abigail set out of Cerulean Farm and headed for Pelican Town.


The preparation went smoothly with the aid of Elliott. James used his robotic strength to carefully move heavy sculptures from Leah’s cabin to the Pelican Town square. Abigail stuck around with her husband while carrying painting with the help of Leah. Elliott stayed at the Town Square decorating the area with tables for placing his girlfriend’s work and chairs for people to sit. In just one hour, everything was prepared.

“Do you think it’ll work out well?” Leah whispered to Elliott. As a gentleman he is, Elliott kissed her forehead.

“Of course, dear! Everything will work out well like a children’s book! I’ll always be cheering for you!” Elliott assured.

“Why, thank you dear. I’m more than lucky to have you.”

“…and I’m lucky to have you, Robo-Honey.” Abigail whispered to James.

“How flattering.” James replied, kissing her forehead. He and his wife observed Leah practicing her speech from a chair as the clock struck 2:50. The townspeople started gathering on the town square one by one. They all greeted Leah with smiles and waves. Leah returned the wave, but James saw the fear in her eyes. She was afraid, but she was trying her best to remember the farmer’s advice. As more and more people came to the show, James noticed a man leaning at the wall of the General Store.

‘Strange.’ James thought. He looked so familiar. In fact, it seemed too clear. The man was wearing a blue jacket and brown shirt. He had brown spiky hear… It all snapped in.

He was the man who taunted James in his dream.

‘I should eye him.’ James concluded when Leah began her showcase.

“Okay! Attention everybody!” Leah called. The crowd focused on her, including James. “Thank you everybody for coming to my show! As you all know, I am Leah Kjellsten, the artist that lives in the cabin down the forest river!

“I would like to thank you all for coming, as said previously. For me, the Valley is a great place for the wonders of art to bloom! I hope that many future artists will come here and maybe feel the same as I do!” Leah exclaimed, but stuttered for a bit. “Without further ado, let’s begin!” She said, walking to each and every sculpture. She explained every piece of art with detail including the reasons behind creating them. Although the one that she made when she was in a ‘trance state’ made James feel weird, everything went smoothly and perfectly. James, in the other hand, never let his sight on the mysterious man out of sight. He snapped back to reality when a storm of compliments showered Leah.

“Amazing!” Gus said.

“I liked the ‘Trans-Universe’ sculpture! Also that painting over there!” Demetrius added.

“Well, thank you all.” Leah blushed.

“Now, now. We should save the compliments for later! It’s time to start the auction!” Lewis said. Thus, the auction began. People started to place their price which each price higher than the preceding one. The prices went so high that Leah’s biggest painting was sold at a whooping 10,000 Galleons. With the auction over, Leah stepped back to the center for a speech.

“Ah… I would like to thank you all for appreciating all of this art, not to mention buying it!” Leah was responded with nod and smiles. “I… I would like to give special thanks to James, our local farmer and my boyfriend Elliott for motivating me to starting this art show.” As Leah paused, she started to blush heavily as she pulled out something from her jeans’ pocket. It was blue. Shiny.

A Mermaid’s Pendant.

“Uh… Elliott?” Leah asked, and her writer boyfriend approached her. “W-Will you… Marry me? I can’t stand a day without you and… and…” Before she could finish, Elliott had thrown himself to her and planted a kiss deep on her lips.

“Of course, dear!” Elliott yelled, tears streaming from his eyes. The crowd cheered as James and Abigail clapped for Leah bravery when…

“Well well, what do we have here?”

The voice came from outside the crowd. Everybody turned around to find the man that James was eyeing.

“Kel?!” Leah exclaimed, releasing herself from Elliott.

“Don’t you remember? I saw your Facebook message and came ALL the way from Gracefield to see you!” Kel shouted.

“Why?!”

“I’m here to get you back, Leah. I miss you. I want to start all over, baby.” Kel’s words disgusted Leah.

“Ew! Get lost, Kel! You never appreciated what I wanted to do and pushed me to do things I didn’t want! Now here you are, wanting me back because I had some success!” Leah screamed. “Elliott, let’s get out of here!”

“Hey, get back here!” Just as Kel stomped his way into the crowd, Elliott blocked his way. “…And just what gave you the permission to take my girl, Fabio?!”

“Sir, you should understand that she is not something that you can simply claim. I have heard the stories that Leah told me. You treated her like a pleasure device and never appreciated her work. Thus, it makes sense that she would leave you. She wanted to chase her dream to be an artist, sir. Besides, she has proposed to me. So please, I tell you to stop getting in her way.” Elliott consulted. A long pause followed with everyone being silent. Suddenly, Kel started to hyperventilate. His eyes dilated as a grin of rage formed. With all his might, he punched Elliot on the face, making him fall to the floor.

“ELLIOTT!!” Leah screamed, running to his direction, but Kel simply shoved her out of his way. Kent and Pierre tried to apprehend the man, but he pulled out something from his pocket that scared them away: A pistol.

“TAKE A STEP AND THE TWO DIES!!” Kel shouted as he pointed the gun at Elliott’s head. James was flabbergasted. He had just realized that the nightmare that he had dreamt was trying to tell him something. He remembered the feminine scream. It was from Leah’s. He had to do something. He was unarmed, but he knew that this factor shouldn’t stop him. He was trained to press on despite being shot. Just as he was calculating how he would apprehend Kel, he shouted something. “You know what? I think my father will do better to this stupid farm than any of you lots! But first, let me get rid of these idiots!”

“NOOOO!!!!!” Leah screamed as Kel’s trigger finger tightened. The hammer fell. The flash rang from the barrel. The booming gunshot exploded through everyone’s ears. Screams of the townspeople corrupted the calm atmosphere of the town. Kel grinned as the gun’s barrel smoked. It was over. He had stuck a bullet on Elliott’s head….

...Or did he?

 

Chapter 46! Sorry if It took a whole month! I had the main plot in order, but I had a hard time thinking about the side plot.

In other words, I'm running out of ways to continue the flow of the story without making the fanfic looking like I just jotted down the main parts of the story. If anyone can help me out here, I'll be the most thankful person in Human history!

CHAPTER 46: THE HUNT

…Or he thought that he had.
Upon inspecting closely, Kel was shocked to see a blue bubble surrounding the downed writer. The bubble rang with energy as fragments of the shattered bullet that failed to penetrate it fell to the ground. He traced a string of plasma to James, who had used his magic to shield Elliott from his lethal demise.
“Just what the hell do YOU think you’re doing, bumpkin!?” Kel shouted, pointing the gun at him.
“Doing what’s right, Kel Padelaski!” James shouted back.
“James, watch out!” Abigail screamed as Kel shot another bullet. However, James used his cybernetic arm to shield his head from the bullet. The bullet ricocheted and fell harmlessly to the ground. Shocked, Leah’s ex-boyfriend started to fire rapidly as James charged and tackled him to the solid ground.
“WHO GAVE YOU THE PERMISSION TO HARM MY FRIENDS?!” James boomed as he punched the arm that had the gun. Kel howled in pain as he dropped the pistol. “TELL. ME. NOW!!” He shouted between every punch in his face. James stood up, grabbed Kel by the neck and hoisted him in the air, leaving him choking. His face was covered in blood by now.
“Please… Please… I’m sorry…” Kel gagged.
“Coward.”James scoffed as he grabbed his neck tighter. The brown-haired man started gagging in pain and his eyes started to grow veins.
“James! Stop!” Leah shouted. Although this made James question her, he did as she said and loosed his grip.
“Now listen, you coward. You’re going to learn a lesson that you have to fix yourself before even trying to talk to another girl, understand?” Kel nodded. “Now, make sure you NEVER COME BACK HERE. If I see even a single molecule of you step forth in the valley, I will rip your intestines apart, chop your body into fifty pieces and use your blood to make my pancakes. Do you understand me?”
“y…yes.”
“Good. Get out of my face.” James sighed and threw Kel forward, sending the unfortunate man tumbling down on the hard path and crashing on the Stardrop Saloon’s wall. He painfully stood up and ran away from the crowd as fast as he could. When he was out of sight, James picked up the dropped pistol, placed it in somewhere safe and turned to Leah, who was helping her now fiancé up. “Are you okay?” Leah simply nodded.
“I’m worried about him.” Leah said, facing Elliott. His nose was bleeding heavily. “Dear, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, dear. It’s just a nosebleed.” Elliott assured, wiping the blood off of his face. “James, I can’t find more words to thank you. You’ve saved me and Leah’s life. That is something I may not be able to pay you back.”
“Elliott, life is hard as an escaped supersolder. Especially when there might be assassins hunting me down and have a wife.” The farmer replied, quickly glancing at Abigail and back to the writer. “I think I know how you can repay.” Elliott’s eyes locked onto his mouth, awaiting his words.
“I want you to finish your book and publish it. That’s the only way.”
“O- of course! I- I- I can do that! I will publish my story and…” James stopped him there, nodding as he turned to the crowd, still fear struck.
“Is anybody else hurt?” He was returned with murmurs of negativity and shaking of heads. That was good. Pelican Town is safe… for now. He just hoped that Lewis won’t commence a town lockdown where the townspeople will be banned from going outside.
He just hoped.
“Are YOU hurt? You’ve been shot like a dozen times!” Caroline asked, running up to him. James thought for a while. He heard eight gunshots ring against him during the unwanted skirmish against Kel. He may have taken some hits but couldn’t feel it due to the adrenaline surge of the fight. He looked down to his body and touched everywhere to find…
…nothing.
He was uninjured. He checked his cybernetic arm. Upon inspection. He found eight bullet holes, each revealing the metallic skeleton of the cybernetics.
“I’m fine.” James coolly replied.
“Oh, thank Yoba! I thought you would have to be treated again!” Jodi exclaimed. However, her words simply passed through the farmer’s ears. He was just staring at the bullet holes, mind blank for some unknown reason.
“Just how fast is this thing’s reflexes?” James asked himself.
Despite the lethal commotion, Leah’s art show was a success. All her artwork including her paintings were sold through auction and the artist had earned a total of thirty thousand Galleons plus a wedding proposal. It was everything she could ask for. James and Abigail stayed behind to clean up the mess including the blood dropped on the ground. Before the previously wed couple left, Leah and Elliott invited them for a dinner for tonight. The farmer couple agreed without hesitation and walked back to Cerulean Farm to prepare for the event.

A week flowed by without anything negative happening. James continued his duties as a farmer while Abigail and Jade provided moral support. Of course, when they were free, the three played online games with Sebastian and Sam. When the farmer was alone with his wife, they would go down to town on the bed. However, due to how much they act, it made James wonder how Abigail didn’t seem to show strange signs. Maybe he should give her a bit more time.
Three days after Leah’s art show had passed. The entire Pelican Town was invited to the town square for Elliott and Leah’s wedding. James came as the writer’s best man. The farmer was secretly armed with the Dwarf’s weapon and his Galaxy Sword however, as the past incident was engraved in his mind and he thought that he was responsible for the security of Pelican Town. Fortunately for everyone, the wedding proceeded without anything wrong. James ended up releasing his tension and enjoying the buffet party after the official kiss. It was strange as everything there had no meat whatsoever.

“Robo-Honey! Wake up! WAKE UP!!” Abigail screamed James awake, but her voice was mixed with happiness rather than panic. The farmer groaned as he sat up, looking around his surroundings. He was in his room, just like usual. What was unusual, however, was that his wife was awake… earlier than him.
“Mmm... early bird?” James groggily asked.
“It’s the Egg Festival!” Abigail squealed before planting a kiss on his lips. Right. It was the 13th of Spring, the day when Abigail becomes the best prospector of hidden eggs. “I’m going to win again this time!” The purple-haired girl said before running out of the room. Chuckling, James petted Fenrir before getting up too and prepare for the day.
When he was washed up and in his work attire, he went outside the farmhouse to find that all of his crops were watered. Strange. Jade normally only tends the animals.
Could it be his wife?
He turned to his left to find his wife gazing at the stretches of farmland on the porch. She noticed her husband’s gaze and gave a smile.
“I already watered the crops without sprinklers.” James was amazed at his wife’s love for him. He was so thankful. So thankful that he ran up to the porch and threw himself to her.
“Thank you so much!” James mumbled.
“It was fun, Robo-Baby.” Abigail replied. “Normally I would do this.” She giggled.
“I know.” James replied when Jane walked up to the porch with her usual basket and bucket of eggs and milk.
“Eew.” She frowned.
“No Sebastian to do this, eh?”
“Shut up.”
“Jade, are you going to participate in the Egg Hunt today?” Abigail asked.
“Well, I think I may.” The female farmer replied. James smirked. His wife had new competition. He could see Abigail tense just by hearing Jade.
“Alright, it’s almost nine o-clock. Let’s get ready to go.” James said before entering the house. Abigail changed to a black tank-top and purple shorts while James wore a black trainer pants with green vertical stripes. For his torso, he wore a long-sleeved training shirt that had matching colors with his pants. When the couple was ready, James let Abigail leave first so that he could secretly get his Galaxy Sword and holster it in his pocket.

The environment of Pelican Town was the same as what James saw last year. The town square was covered with a large white carpet and there were long tables with food laid down on it. The houses and lamp posts were decorated with lines of fabric and eggs laid in baskets. The townspeople were gathered around either chatting away like they normally do or regulate the Festival.
Sebastian and Sam greeted James, Abigail and Jade to the group. It was still eleven in the morning, thus nobody was hungry.
“So, participating on the Hunt?” Sam asked.
“Why do you think I wore these?” James asked back, pointing at his clothes.
“Jesus, you look like you're ready to go against Usain Bolt!”
“You’re gonna have to see Jade, then.” The farmer replied, looking at his roommate. Jade was with her boyfriend while talking with Abigail about the Egg Hunt. James could see that she was slightly nervous unlike last year when she was the most confident girl in Pelican Town. “She’s faster than me. Maybe she could win the hunt?”
“Hell if I know. I know I can’t win against you three, so I’ll just be my own moral support.”
“Morally support YOURSELF?” James chuckled mockingly.
“Hey, I need some self-esteem!”
“I know. It’s stupid to think that you’re cheering for a losing team.”
“HEY!” Sam yelled, but James was no longer near him. He was now next to his wife, having a hearty conversation.
“Hey Abby, you would like to know what Sam said to me.” James said.
“Mhm?” Abigail replied.
“He said that since he can’t win us, he’ll just cheer for himself.”
“Are you serious?!” Abigail burst into laughter. Sam flipped them off before walking to Penny. “Sucks to be you, Sam!”
“Don’t judge me!” Sam yelled. James couldn’t help but to laugh along with his wife.
“So, the Hunt’s at two, so what should we do? Wanna hunt together?” The farmer suggested.
“Together?” Abigail repeated.
“Is there a problem?”
“We’re adversaries until the hunt! I’m gonna win! I won you last year, remember?” Right. She did win last year, but could she win James and Jade combined? They were fast and nimble, and Jade was faster.
“Okay, Abby. Let’s uh… wanna take selfies with some people?”
“Sure!” Abigail chirped as she followed her husband.

Two o’clock flew into place as if it was like five minutes. Lewis called the contestants to the town square. Maru, Sam, Penny Vincent, Jas, Abigail, James and Jade gathered to the center where Lewis briefed. Vincent and Jas begged their teacher to be part of
“My, eight contestants! This reminds me of thirty years ago when there were twelve!” The mayor said.
‘Wow, there were that many people in this town’ James thought. For a small town, it seemed to have an impressive history.
“Anyway, are you all ready for the 2020 Egg Hunt?” With Lewis’s question, Vincent and Jas hopped with joy. Just like last year, huh?
“Of course you are! However!” James’s eyes snapped wide by the mayor’s sudden raising of voice. “This year’s Hunt will be different! You will be divided into four groups of two! As there are more eggs than last year and are more discreetly hidden, you will have to be cooperative to win!”
‘This is new.’ James thought.
“Alright! Make your groups!”
One minute later, the eight contestants were content with who they were paired with. Sam was with Penny, Vincent with Jas, Jade with Maru and James with Abigail. For some reason, James found Jade and Maru standing together awkwardly funny. Sure, Jade was Sebastian’s girlfriend, but James wasn’t sure if she was friendly with Maru. He hoped she was, though.
“Looks like everyone is ready! Get warmed up, everyone!” Lewis shouted. Everybody did as he told. Everyone except James and Jade stretched their bodies and limbs for the upcoming competition.
“Hey, Abby.” James quietly called his wife, who was reaching her ankle.
“Yes, Robo-Baby?”
“Didn’t you say something about adversaries?” Hearing this, Abigail giggled as she stood upright.
“Maybe not. We can settle this back at home!”
“Sure. We’ll be unbeatable.” James concluded before Lewis started counting down.
“Ready…” One of the two people of the four groups grabbed a basket. On the farmer couple’s team, Abigail was the one.
“Set...:” The contestants took their stances as if they were ready to run. James was bending his knees for a jump.
“GO!” They were off. James leapt up in the air, performed a backflip and landed next to the river. He found an egg right next to him.
“James, wait up!” Abigail huffed as she ran after her husband. She was laughing, though. “You already got an egg?”
“No time to waste!” James replied, dropping the egg in Abigail’s basket and ran off. He jumped over the graveyard's fence and found Jade running while Maru was falling way behind due to Jade’s tremendous speed.
Holy cow, she was FAST.
No, there was no time to waste. Due to Jade, should James waste a second, he and his wife will lose. Plus, he had no idea how Abigail would react if she lost. He looked around and found two eggs at the graveyard and threw them in his wife’s basket.
Forty seconds remaining.
“I’ll climb up and look for more, okay?” Abigail nodded at her husband the the farmer vertically ran on the mayor’s manor and stood on the angled roof. It took him a few seconds, but James found three eggs hidden near the General Store.
Uh-oh. Jade was going for them! James leapt from where he was and landed on the stone road. He ran as fast as he could to the General Store to only grab one out of three. Jade had taken the other two and had sped away.
“Jade! I can’t run that fast! Ugh, if only I could make an exosuit…” Maru called. The farmer ran around and jumped over and dived under obstacles to grab one more.
Twenty seconds left.
“You're awesome!” Abigail whispered as her husband dropped his two eggs in the basket.
“We’re the dream team, Abby. Come on, let’s get some more!” James replied, holding his wife’s hand and ran at the same pace of her. They had a dozen eggs by now.
“Shouldn’t we worry about Jade? She’s so fast!”
“I know, Abby. I don’t want to leave you hanging unlike Maru.” The farmer said.
“It’s okay. I can find the eggs myself.” With Abigail’s words, James nodded, released her hand and sped away. He saw Jade running at a speed that would leave Usain Bolt cry, pausing only when she found an egg. James did the same as the timer reached zero. Lewis blew the whistle, and the contestants stopped on their tracks.
“Alright! Time’s up! Come back to the town square!” The mayor exclaimed.

Soon enough, everyone was gathered at the town square. Vincent and Jas was chattering about how many eggs they had gathered. Sam and Penny were checking their Egg basket over and over again. Jade seemed to be alone until Maru caught up, hyperventilating by the lack of stamina. James gave a motivational high-five to Abigail.
“Ow! Your right hand hurts!”
“Sorry.” Jane apologized, hiding his cybernetic hand.
“Look at all these eggs!” Lewis remarked. “I could see the cooperation of you eight from afar! It would be better if you all cleaned up after you, though. James, Jade, please try not to climb my house next time or dirty the walls with your feet. I understand that it’s faster, but it ruins the painting.”
“Sorry, Mr. McLengst.” James apologized. Jade did the same.
“Enough of that! Let’s count the eggs! Jodi, Caroline, let’s begin!” With that, the mayor and the two housewives began counting.
James took the liberty to look at his wife. Unlike last year, however, she was anxious! “Babe, what's wrong?” He asked.
“I usually won alone. I'm not sure about this year's one because of the rules.” Abigail replied. James chuckled and rubbed his cold metallic hand on her back. “It’s chilly.”
“I know. We’ve did good, Abby. Even if we lost, we lose together! The most important part was that we were together, not as adversaries.”
“...I guess you’re right.” Abigail smiled.
“...eleven, twelve… twelve! That’s twelve eggs for Vincent and Jas!” Lewis exclaimed before moving into Sam and Penny. The adults counted. Ten eggs.
‘Less than his brother? Looks like I’ve found a new way to make fun of Sam.’ James thought as the mayor moved to Jade and Maru. As Jodi and Caroline counted the eggs one by one, something seemed to tighten in James’s heart. Could competition be overwhelming inside him?
“Nineteen, twenty… twenty eggs!” Caroline said.
“We have the current first place here!” Jodi exclaimed before moving to James and Abigail. This was it. The couple hoped that their cooperation paid off. Abigail’s fist clenched in anticipation as the mayor counted the eggs. James did his best to hide his anxiety.
“Nineteen, twenty…” they reached the equal amount as Jade and Maru. “...twenty one!” As soon as Lewis said the number, Abigail leapt in the air, squealing with triumph. James laughed along by his victory along with his wife’s happiness. “We have the winner! Congratulations!”
The townspeople clapped at the Suh couple. James received his prize of two thousand Galleons and a straw hat. It looked like as if it suited the farmer. A few minutes later, people started cleaning up, and James and his wife was no exception. They stayed behind and helped Gus and Pierre clean the town square up.

“Father?” A young man called from phone in his limousine.
“Speak, son.” A confident voice replied from the speaker.
“I found him. Him and his friend.”
“Is that so? Son, I do know that. They’ve been staying at this dreaded place for an year.”
“Why didn’t you just send more people?”
“Let them have their false hope, son. Soon, their friends will be our targets.” By the voice, the man was confused. What was he talking about?”
“Father, I don’t understand.” He said.
“You want revenge, hmm?” The voice asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, you will have it. Did you see any… cadets?”
“Cadets, Father?”
“You know it, son.” The young man thought for a while, then something clicked in his mind. The cadets. He understood. “Yes, father. I found two juicy ones.”
“Exactly. That’s my boy. I’ll send a team to hunt them down. Meanwhile, we’ll track the insubordinators down and kill them too. You’ll also have their revenge, son.”
“Thank you, father. I have arrived at the airport. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Any time, son.” The voice concluded before ending the call. The young man gave a menacing grin. Revenge was at hand.

 

FUN FACT! So far, this was the longest form of literature I have EVER written! @Kid Absurdity , as promised, here's some death and blood the I've promised!

“Grandson.” A voice called from behind. Startled, James turned around…

No. It can’t be.

“Grandfather.” James said behind his breath. Just be fore he threw himself to the old man, he stopped the cybernetic farmer. “Th-this is a dream, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” Grandfather calmly replied.

“...then is this some kind of… lucid dream?”

“You are wary of it. That is more than enough.” James took his time to look around him. Everything was white. The background seemed to go on infinitely and the ground… there was not even a speck on the ground, giving an illusion of a bottomless pit.

“Why is this happening?” James asked.

“Grandson, I am here to warn you of the imminent danger.” The old man’s tone became serious. James focused his entire willpower to his grandfather’s words, giving a look of readiness. “Do you remember the nightmare?” Nightmare? James had them almost every night. What could his grandfather possible be talking about?

“What nightmare?” James asked.

“Do you remember the nightmare you’ve had the day you’ve saved your friends?” With grandfather’s words, James closed his eyes to think. To remember.

Then, the memory flowed in.

He remembered the nightmare of blood, of corpses, of his dead friends, of a man taking two children…

Could it…?

“Yes, I do.” The farmer finally replied.

“Good. What did you see? What did you face?”

“I… I saw a river of blood. I saw… the sky… red as the blood. A valley of.. dead people of… of… people I’ve saw die in my eyes. I heard screams of help…” as words spewed out of his mouth, James’s heart tightened. It pained him just to say what he had faced.

“Grandson, it is okay. You must endure, or oceans of blood will spill.” Nodding, James went on.

“I… fought my way to the scream to find… to find my friends… dead. My wife was raped… and… and… I saw a man… a young man holding two children by their wrists…” then it hit him. “Vincent and Jas!”

“Good. That’s my grandson.”

“Grandfather, I don’t understand. Why would you want me to think about it?” James asked, but grandfather seemed to continue with his words.

“Do you remember the prophecy?” He asked. James nodded. Of course he does. The farmer recited it.

“Ah, I see through my orb… the grimmest of all futures of the fabled valley.

Soldiers of metal and horses of fire will death they carry,

Leaving a trail of blood and fire.

In the shadows of the enemy spark a light of dire,

Three knights wearing the armor of the enemy,

Dashing through the valley with hopes of spreading legacy.

The first, the smart, born from the heresy filled with fear

The second, the skilled, betrayed by love for the valley that she dear,

The third, the swift, serving the enemy but saved with salvation,

Together they shall bring the war to cessation.

However, the first needs preparation as his fears shall make him tarry,

It is for someone he dearly loves to make him not wary.”

“Very good.” Grandfather nodded.

“What does this have to do with all of this?”

“That is, the prophecy is taking its shape, my grandson. There is little time. The next phase is about to begin tonight.”

“...next phase…?”

“James, you must act quickly. Your nightmare has told you something. Do you remember when you were taken away?” Taken away? What did it mean…

No. It can’t be. James’s eyes widened in shock. This couldn’t be happening.

“That is right. The ones who took you away are now after the two children. Do whatever it takes to protect them.”

“Yes, grandfather. I will do whatever it takes, even it means to kill them.” James nodded.

“Good. Your determination is genuine. We can trust you.” Grandfather said before walking away. James, however, was still curious some more things. He decided to ask them.

“Grandfather, I have one more question.” The old man stopped and turned back to the farmer. “How am I going to alert my friends about it?”

“You’ll see.”


James bolted up from his sleep. Panting, he quickly got off from his bed and threw water on his face. The dream was very clear to him, although there were some questions that revolved around him. What did his grandfather talk about when he said ‘you’ll see’? Did he say the future of today? He needed to think. He stepped in the hot shower and fell into deep thought.

His thought train was interrupted by a flush of the toilet. James peeked through the curtain to find Abigail brushing her teeth. How long was he in the shower?

“Abby?” James asked.

“Mmm?” Abigail hummed by her foamy mouth.

“...you’re up early.”

“Earry? It’th theven in the morring!” Seven?! Oh dear. The farmer didn’t remember what time he woke up. Perhaps he was in here for minimum one hour. He gave a sigh.

“Damnit, always happens when I have a nightmare.” James grunted. Abigail then spat her saliva into the sink, washed her mouth and approached her husband.

“James, I’m worried.”

“Why?”

“You keep having nightmares ever since Leah’s ex attacked us. You also never talk about them. I… I… I’m concerned about if you might be depressed to do anything.” James could see true worry in Abigail's eyes. She was right. He had been keeping too much negativity from Abigail. Due to this, he felt like he couldn’t accomplish anything.

‘Perhaps I should spill it out.’ He thought. “You’re right. I… I’ve been keeping too much from you. I’ll tell you everything when we finish farmwork, okay?”

“Okay.” Abigail nodded with a faint smile as she leaned to the falling water for a light kiss.


Farmwork ended quicker than usual days due to James’s anxiety. All the crops, eggs and milk were harvested even before noon, which confused Jade very much. While the farmer’s roommate entered the house to take care of Garfield, James and Abigail sat on the porch, with the wife rubbing her hand on the husband’s back.

“Robo-Honey, can you tell me now?” Abigail asked. James gave a sigh. Now was the time, I guess.

“It all started when I had the nightmare before Leah’s art show. I was in a valley of dead bodies of everyone that died because of me. I was walking on a river of blood when I heard your scream. Some things stopped me but I pushed on to find… to find… you. You were dead, along with all of our friends. I… I saw a man… taking away Vincent and Jas… oh god, this is so hard…”

“It’s okay.” Abigail assured, wiping James’s tear.

“... he said that it was all my fault.”

“W-what about last night?”

“...grandfather appeared before me. He asked me about the prophecy… and asked me about the nightmare. He… he told me that it was a warning… tonight…”

“Tonight?”

“...Abby, remember how I became what I am?” James faced his wife, giving his cybernetic hand to her hands. She nodded. “...Vincent and Jas are next.”

“...What do you mean?” Suddenly, James bolted up, his sadness overwhelmed by worry.

“We have to act now. Should the kids be taken, Sam and Shane’s family will surely die. It’s worse as there’s a losing war going on. Abby, call Jade and all our pets in. We have to plan this out.”

“B-but how are we going to prove them? We can’t just tell them and expect them to believe straight away!” Abigail said. A good point.

“Right. That’s the problem. We don’t have evidence. Jesus, what do we do…?” James grunted and sat back down. “We’re going to have to do what we can. I’ll get everyone in this house. Meet me at the living room.” Abigail nodded to her husband and ran into the house.

Jade, Fenrir and Garfield were sitting on the couch after receiving James’s note. They waited for five minutes until Abigail sat down next to them and James stood next to the TV looking very serious.

“Are we here for a game party?” James shook his head in denial in Jade’s question. “A pizza party, at least?”

“Jade, be serious. We have a red alert in our hands.” James hissed. “Remember how we got turned into super soldiers?”

“Yup.”

“Good. Can you tell me how it happened?”

“I was walking with my friends and family through the streets of Vancouver until two men in black with green eyes shot them dead and took me away in a helicopter.”

“There you go. That’s what happened to me thirteen years ago.” James pointed. “Now! Jade, you’re not going to believe what I’m going to say. I’m going to point that out, okay?” Jade nodded. “Alright.” James took a deep breath.

“They’re coming to get Vincent and Jas.” With that, the roommate’s eyes opened wide.

“Do… do you have proof?”

“My grandfather told me through my dream. You know how I use magic.”

“I know, James. The question is, do we have evidence?”

“Unfortunately, no…”

“Then how are you going to prove their families that the Empire’s after them?”

“I don’t know. Grandfather said that we’ll see. For now, we need to do what we can do. What weapons do we currently have?”

“A shotgun, Revolver, my guns, a few swords and… your sword.” Abigail replied.

“That’s not enough. Those bastards are gonna come with assault rifles. Besides, our firearms are crude.” James shook his head, rummaging through his mind. What can he make…? “That’s it! We need a sniper rifle.” He exclaimed, snapping his fingers.

“Do you know how to make one?” Jade asked.

“I have the entire Gotoro arsenal’s blueprints in my head. I think can make a bolt-action rifle with what Maru has in her scrap storage. All I need is some metal pipes, a strong power source, a telescope, a rivet, some wood, copper wiring… yeah. That’s all I need.” James suddenly bolted from his couch. “Fenrir? Garfield?”

What is it? Fenrir asked.

“I want you two to scout all across the Valley. If you see anything strange, come back to the farm and report.”

Sounds easy enough. Garfield huffed.

“Now, remember that if one of you reports something, the other must continue watching the anomaly. If both of you come here, we might lose track.”

I got it. The puppy replied.


As soon as James burst out of his house, the two Feral Deceivers dashed out of the house and leapt into the forest. The farmer mounted on Hyperion and gave their destination.

“To the Carpenter’s Shop!” James yelled. The horse scoffed before galloping at unfathomable speed up the mountain.

The stationary air whipped James’s face as Hyperion galloped. He usually enjoyed it, but now wasn’t the time to do so. He arrived at the Carpenter’s Shop only twenty seconds after they’ve departed from Cerulean Farm. He dismounted and burst in.

“Oh, hello James! Are you… James? James!” Robin greeted, but James ignored her and dashed straight to Maru’s door. He punched the door three times, not wanting to waste time.

“Maru! MARU! I need your help, quick!” He yelled. The door quickly opened, revealing Maru.

“...James? Is there something wrong?” The teen engineer asked.

“VERY. There’s no time to explain. Take me to your scrap storage!” James replied, grabbing her shoulders.

“Whoa! Chill! I’ll lead you. Geez.”

Soon after James gathered the materials he needed, he dashed out of the Shop, but just as he was about to leave on Hyperion, Maru and Robin stopped him.

“James, what’s happening? Why are you panicking?” Robin asked.

“Ma’am, you won’t believe it even if I say it.”

“...but…” James was already gone, shedding dust from the ground just before the carpenter had a chance to ask.

“He’s becoming stranger and stranger.” Maru muttered.


For the past two hours, James concentrated on making his project. He welded part after part, connected wires with power scope, tested quality and carved the rifle. After some testing by Jade, the masterpiece was complete. The rifle looked like the biotic rifle from Overwatch, which Ana uses. It had the same pull-type bolt and it fired anything ranging from screwdrivers to poisoned needles.

“If we ever run out of ammo, we can load in anything is this magazine and we’re set.” James explained.

“I’m surprised that you were the worst super soldier when you can make stuff like this.” Jade wondered.

“Good point. Maybe the just preferred other engineers like me.”

“Maybe.”

“Okay, now what else do we need?” Both James and Jade sat down on the soil to think. Abigail joined them and thought too, until something in the purple-haired girl snapped.

“Healing stuff?” She suggestion.

“Right!” James replied. “I’ll go to Harvey right now. The only problem is about how I’m going to explain him. He’s not just gonna let me take boxes of painkillers and antiseptics. There has got to be a way. You may follow me if you want.” He said before mounting Hyperion. Jade and Abigail stared at each other before nodding and mounting their own horses and chased the farmer.

“Doc? DOC?!” James yelled as he burst open the clinic’s door to find nobody. That’s strange. It’s barely one o’clock in the morning. Harvey should be working.

“Uh… hello James.” Maru greeted him from over the counter.

“Maru, have you seen Harvey?” James asked.

“He’s in his dorm. James, I wanna ask you something that I couldn’t ask before.”

“Make it fast.” The farmer’s voice was filled with urgency.

“Why were you so frantic about getting my scrap?” Uh-oh. He couldn’t just say that he needed scrap for his rifle. Even if he did, how was he going to explain the reason FOR the rifle? The farmer calculated his best answer before opening his mouth.

“Maru, I promise, I will tell you EVERY. SINGLE. Detail. I’m really in a hurry right now, so…” James looked at the dorm entrance and then back to the nurse. “...I’ll explain to you later.”

“Wait!” Too late. James was already climbing the stairs to where the doctor lived. “Geez” Maru sighed.


“...this is Stardew Valley civilian radio to aircraft 56-18 at altitude 428 meters, over?” Harvey called. He was surrounded by radio equipment and models of fighter jets of different era littered around the tables. The doctor fidgeted with the frequency adjusters as static noise surrounded his headphones.

“Copy that, uh… is this TACCOM?” A voice rang through the headphones. Harvey couldn’t believe it; he received a reply! He tried his best to hide his glee.

“N-negative. This is a civilian radio frequency, just testing equipment and… saying hello.”

“You do realize that you are talking to a military craft without authorization? In fact, we are not authorized to listen to civilian frequencies, either.” Harvey’s heart froze. Was he screwed? Will the Ferngill military arrest him? “...I’ll let it slide for now. Next time, just try for civilian aircraft, over.”

“U-understood.”

“Good. Coronet 1 out.” Static. Harvey collapsed back on his chair. That was close. Just as he was about to go get coffee. A cold metallic hand tapped on his shoulder. James.

“Doc?” The farmer asked.

“Oh, yes James!” Harvey stuttered. “What brought you here?”

“I’m about to ask you something that might make me look like a idiot.”

“Speak.”

“I need painkillers, bandages and antiseptics.”

“What?” The doctor asked, making sure that what James said was right.

“Painkillers. Bandages. Antiseptics.” The farmer repeated.

“...why?!” Oh dear, here came the hard part. Just as expected, James had no evidence to show him.

“Look, doc. I’ll explain you everything after the day is over. For now, please give me the stuff.”

“I can’t do that if you don’t have a prescription or if you're trying to make some kind of narcotic drug.” Harvey shook his head.

“Jesus, this is going to be hard…” James muttered. “Just give me the stuff, doc.”

“I want to know why.” Harvey simply asked. James couldn't take much longer he knew that Harvey won’t believe him if he told him about his dream. He decided to go for the hard way, although it would risk him trust.

“I SAID I NEED THE STUFF!!” James bellowed as he tackled the middle-aged doctor.

“W-what are you doing?!” Harvey yelled as he stumbled to the ground. His hand accidentally slid on a knob of the radio. Just as James was about to shout again…

Beep. Beebeebeep. Bebeep. Bebebeebeebeep.

James’s eyes grew wide as he slowly turned to the radio. Was that…

“Harvey, may I use that radio?” The farmer pointed at the machine.

“Uh… okay.” Harvey replied. James quickly sat on the chair, put on the headphones and started listening.

Beebebebebeeep. Beep. Beebeep. Beep. Beep. Beebeebebebebeeep.

It didn’t take long for the farmer to realize what this was. Morse code. He could hear a strange noise in the background that resembled a helicopter rotor. This was the signature noise of the Gotoro Intelligence Agency.

“Harvey, pen and paper. NOW.” The doctor nodded and handed James the said items. Just as James started jotting down the dots, lines and spaces, Abigail and Jade arrived at the clinic dorm.

James didn’t care about the conversation happening behind him; he only concentrated on the Morse code message.


It was done. The paper was filled with dots and lines. All he had to do was decode it. Fortunately, all GORGON super soldiers were trained to decrypt Morse. With the help of Jade, James decided each Morse alphabet without much difficulty.
--.. --.. --.. --.. --.. --.. / -- -. --.. --.. .--- - -. / -.- --.- -- -. .-.. ..-. ...- -- .-.-.- / .-.-.. -- -. ...- --.. .--- -..- / ... - .- . .--- --.. ---... / ..--- .-.-.. -- -. ...- --.. .--- -..- / .---- ---... / -.- ..-. --.. -.. .--- -.. -- / -. ...- -.- ..-. -. -... -.-. / .-.-.. -- --.. .--- ---... / ---.. / .-.-.. ..-. .-. .-.. -- -- ..-. -.-. ... ---... / ...- - ..-. .-- -. -... .-. / .-. ..-. -.-. ..-. -... .--. --..-- / .... -... .-- -.. --.. ..-. -... ..- / .-- -- --.- - .-.. ..- ..-. --- / .-.-.. -... --.- -..- -... .-.. -..- -... -.- / ...- .-. -.-. -- ---... / -. .-.. -.-- .-.. ..- / .-.-.. .-.-.. -..- ..-. .-- --. -... ..- / ..--- ---... / .... ..-. ...- / .-. -... .-- -.-. ... ..-. -.- -.-- / .-.-.. -. -.- -... ---... / --... .-.-.. -.-. -.-- -.. -. -..- -..- --.. --.. ---... / -. ..- --.- --- -.- .. .--- / ... --.- ..- -.-. .. .... --..-- / .. -- --- .- --. -..- -.-. ..-. / --- .--- -..- .-.. -- ..-. -..- .-.. / .-.-.. .. .. -.-- -- -.. ..- .. -.-. / .-- -.-. ..- .--- ---... / .- -... -.- .. -.. / .-.-.. .-.-.. -.- .. ..-. ..- .--- / ..-. .- --. -... -.-. / -.-- --.- .--- -.- -..- -. ..-. / .- --.. ...- -.. .--- -.-- / -.-. .--- -..- ..- --.. ... -... -.- / .-.-.. .. -- -. / -.-. .- / .-.. -- --.- ..- .-- --- .--- ---... / .... -... .-- -.. --.. ..-. -... ..- / ..- .. - .--- / ..--- ----- ---... ...-- ----- / .-.-.. .... .-. .-- / -..- -.-- .--- / .. - -.-- .. --- .---

“What is it?” Abigail asked.

“It’s Morse code. From the Gotoro Intelligence Agency. I’m lucky to find their frequency with this radio.” James replied.

“What does it say?” Harvey asked. James tilted his head as he held out another piece of paper that had the decrypted form.

ZZZZZZ mnzzjtn kqmnlfvm.
Mnvzjx staejz: 2
Mnvzjx 1: Kfzdjdm Nvkfnbc
Mzj: 8
Frlmmfcs: Vtfwnbr Rfcfbp, Hbwdzfbu Wmqtlufo
Bqxblxbk Vrcm: Nlylu

Xfwgbu 2: Hfv Rbwcsfky
Nkb: 7
Cydnxxzz: Nuqokij Squcih, Imoagxcf Ojxlmfxl
Iiymduic Wcuj: Abkid

Kifuj Fagbc Yqjkxnf Azvdjy cjxuzsbk
IMN ca lmquwoj: Hbwdzfbu Uitj 200
Hrw xyj Ityioj

“It’s still encrypted. The Agency must have some kind of encryption protocol back at Gotoro.” Jade said.

“Right. Hey, look at this.” James said. Pointing at the six Zs. “Don’t you think it’s weird for an official military document to have this kind of thing to come out from encryption?” Everybody nodded.

“There is no way for a encryption to have the same letters more than four times.” Harvey added. James, Jade and Abigail turned to the doctor in surprise.

“Correct. How did you know?”

“I… I look up encryption books for fun. You can find them at the library.”

“Want me to get them?” Abigail asked.

“No, but thanks, Abby.” James refused, then turned back to the paper.

“There could be only one way of encryption that allows this repetition.” Jade said as if something flashed in her mind.

“Yeah.” James replied.

“Vignére encryption.” They both said.

“The question is, what's the passphrase?” The farmer asked.

“Uh… Robo-Honey, I’m sorry but what’s Vignére?” Abigail asked.

“Vignére is a type of encryption method where you use a pass phrase… say, like ABIGAIL. The encryption method will determine how each letter of your message will be encrypted judged by what letter of the passphrase is.” James calmly explained.

“...I see.”

“This is going to take too long, James. We can’t do this by hand. I remember taking like… thirty minutes just to decrypt a sentence back at GORGON.” Jade said. She was right. They were running out of time. James would need the power of technology to speed things up. He searched through his pocket to find…

Nothing.

“Damnit, I left my phone in the farm.” James snarled.

“Wanna use mine?” His wife asked. Oh, how thankful was he.

“Thanks.” The farmer took Abigail’s phone and surfed through Google. He searched ‘Morse Encryptor’ and tapped on the first website of the list. There, he struck gold. “There!” James exclaimed as he tapped on the Vignére decryptor. All he needed to do was think of the passphrase. Without thinking, James typed ‘GORGON’ on the passphrase box as it was the first thing that came up in his mind. Within a second, the website showed the decrypted message.

TLITLM gzitvgh wzgzyzhv.
Gzitvg mfnyvi: 2
Gzitvg 1: Ermxvmg Zierwvo
Ztv: 8
Olxzgrlm: Hgziwvd Ezoovb, Uvimtroo Ivkfyorx
Vckvxgvw Ilov: Hxlfg

Gzitvg 2: Qzh Evilmrxs
Ztv: 7
Olxzgrlm: Hgziwvd Ezoovb, Uvimtroo Ivkfyorx
Vckvxgvw Ilov: Nvwrx

Wvzgs Zmtvo Hkvxrzo Ulixvh wvkolbvw
VGZ lu xzkgfiv: Uvimtroo Grnv 200
Uli gsv Vnkriv

“Still?!” Jade exclaimed. She seemed to have lost it.

“Don’t you remember, Jade? The Gotoro always encrypts their messages three times before sending it!” James replied. “All we need now is one more. There seems to be a lot of methods on the main menu here.” He added, looking at the various encryption methods on the screen. He first tried Caesar. No success. Cryptogram. Nope. Gramsfield? Still nothing. Finally, James tapped on Atbash and pasted the message on the ‘write message’ icon.

“Listen, our Vignére passphrase may be wrong. We might be falling into a deeper…”

“James! Look!” Abigail exclaimed. James turned to the phone, only to be horrified.

GORGON targets database.
Target number: 2
Target 1: Vincent Arvidel
Age: 8
Location: Stardew Valley, Ferngill Republic
Expected Role: Scout

Target 2: Jas Veronich
Age: 7
Location: Stardew Valley, Ferngill Republic
Expected Role: Medic

Death Angel Special Forces deployed
ETA of capture: Ferngill Time 200
For the Empire

“Oh my god…” James said behind his breath.

“What is it?” Harvey asked.

“They’re coming…”

“What is?”

“They’re coming to turn them into monsters like us.”

“What?” Harvey was totally confused. Jade turned to the doctor to explain.

“You know how we became what we are, right?” She asked, raising her cybernetic arm.

“Y-yeah.”

“Well, the message is a authorization protocol to capture children. Vincent and Jas are the next targets.”

“What’s Death Angel?” Abigail asked her husband.

“They’re the special forces of the Gotoro Empire… or at least the public special forces. I’ll let you find out who the secret ones are.” James replied. He remembers them very well. They were the very military unit that killed his family and took him to GORGON. He remembered the disturbing inorganic green eyes that faced him whenever they brought new children to the base, ready to mutilate them with cybernetics. Just thinking about them haunted his very soul.

“...is this why you wanted the medication so badly?” Harvey asked. James nodded in response. The farmer looked at the phone clock to find that it was 4:50 PM. He had less than two hours left.

“We don’t have much time.”

“Then take them! I’ll allow it! You must protect them! I remember that you two told me that your family was killed in your kidnap process! Hurry! I’ll tell you where everything is!” Harvey exclaimed, pushing the three out of his dorm and following them back into the clinic.


With everything they need packed, James, Jade and Abigail ran out of the clinic.

“What do we do now?” Abigail asked.

“We need to split and inform Vincent and Jas’s families. You go with Jade, okay? I’ll inform Marnie!” James replied, mounting on Hyperion.

“Got it!” Abigail nodded as she mounted on Excalibur. She then followed Jade’s horse to Sam’s house. Meanwhile, James bolted towards the Lannister Ranch. He pounded on the door until Shane opened it.

“What do you want?” The man grunted. James suddenly grabbed Shane’s shirt and shook him. “Whoa, what the hella re you doing?!”

“Shane, take me to Marnie and bring Jas here IMMEDIATELY!” James snarled. “There is something you MUST listen!”

“Why should I? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Do you want Jas to die? Do you want her to become something like ME?” Shane hesitated by the farmer’s words. after a short pause, he gave a sigh.

“Fine. It better be worth it.” The man walked into the Ranch followed by James. “Marnie? James wants to talk with you. Apparently it has something to do with Jas!”

“What? James?” Marnie’s voice asked.

“Hello, Miss Lannister.” James bowed.

“Hello, James! What’s wrong?” WIth this, James suddenly turned serious.

“Miss Lannister, there is something that you MUST know. It’s for your safety, especially Jas.”

“What are you talking about?” Just as Marnie asked, James held out a piece of paper to her. It was the decrypted message that he and Jade worked on one hour ago.

“Read it.” Marnie and Shane leaned closer to read. When their eyes reached Jas’s name, their faces turned into a shock. “See what I mean?”

“Oh my Yoba.” Marnie gasped. “What is this?”

“Remember I told you about how I became… this?” James replied, pointing at his cybernetic arm. “They’re after her. If we don’t act now, you two will be dead and Jas will be taken away to Gotoro Empire along with Vincent.”

“This is terrible! Why would they do such thing?”

“To make new supersoldiers, Miss Lannister.”

“What do we do?!” Shane asked. His voice was concerned with fear, telling James how much he loved his goddaughter.

“You all will go to my farm. We’ll defend your goddaughter there from the Death Angels, who are the public special forces of the Empire.” James replied. “We have no time. Take Jas and run to my farm! Take horses if you need to. GO!”


Two horses entered Cerulean Farm from the southern entrances and sped to the farmhouse. James dismounted from Hyperion while Marnie Shane, who was holding Jas dismounted from their horse, too. The farmer quickly escorted the Ranch family in the house and shut the door behind him. There, he saw Jade confronting the Arvidel Family.

“...I can’t believe this.” Kent mumbled.

“Do you think the two can hold them off?” Jodi asked her husband.

“I don’t know. I’m more concerned about our sons.” Just as Kent finished, Sam turned to James and stood up.

“Bro, what the hell is happening?” The blonde boy asked.

“Didn’t Jade and my wife tell you guys?” James asked back.

“They did, but I still don’t understand.”

“What part?”

“That… um... why would they target Vincent? What did my brother do wrong?” James nodded. There was no specific reason of why Vincent and Jas was chosen as forced cadets. Every year, twenty random children from all around the world is chosen to have their family killed and taken to GORGON base to become supersoldiers. Perhaps coincidence became a douchebag and chose Vincent and Jas as the program’s next victims.

“I don’t know. It’s completely random of who gets taken away. To be honest, I’m suspicious of why specifically Vincent and Jas.”

“Yoba, this is hard.” Sam sighed.

“Hey, farmer?” Kent called.

“Y-yes, sir?” James replied.

“Listen, boy. I’m trusting you to keep my little boy safe. I will tell you what I know about the Death Angels.”

“S-sir? How do you k-know about that?” James asked, surprised.

“Boy, don’t you remember that I was a general? I’m allowed to know this.” Kent smirked, but returned to his serious face. “The Gotoro’s special forces are armed with assault rifles and three sidearms. Two of which are pistols and one which is a pump-action shotgun.” James nodded. He noted everything down in his head. “They’re pretty nimble and my men told me that they have serious martial arts training. Since you’re part of their secret military program, I’m sure you know how to counter that.”

“Yes, sir.”

“There is one important thing that you must remember. Death Angels are known to have longswords as their melee weapon.” What?! James’s eyes grew wide. He didn’t know that.

“p-pardon me, sir?”

“Should they run out of ammo, they’ll charge with their swords and… you’ll know from there.” Kent replied. “What, you didn’t know that?”

“N-no, sir.” Just as James spoke, Fenrir and Garfield leapt into the house from an open window, startling everyone.

“Jesus, I thought that was a grenade!” Sam yelled.

“Sam, don’t say that!” Kent ordered.

“What’s up, guys? Did you find anything?” James asked.

I saw four strange people heading towards the town. Fenrir replied.

They had suspiciously green eyes. Pathetic, but aesthetically impressive. Garfield replied. This was it. The Death Angels were coming to Pelican Town.

“Thanks, guys. Get ready for battle. It will be HARSH.” James commanded, then turned to the people. “Everyone, move into the rooms! Jas’s family and Abby, you go into Jade’s room while Vincent’s family get in my room! Kent, you have your weapons, right?”

“Right.” Kent nodded, holding his M4 Carbine.

“Perfect. It’s now or never. Go in! HURRY!” James commanded. With that, everyone entered the said rooms and locked the doors tightly. Only James, Jade, Fenrir and Garfield remained in the living room. The farmers were inspecting their crudely made weapons while the Feral Deceivers looked at each other in anticipation.

“You ready?” James asked, handing the shotgun to Jade.

“I’m ready. Time to kick some ass.” Jade replied, loading the shotgun with thermite.

“Just don’t burn the crops.” James said as he loaded his rifle with a screwdriver. He took forty-five with him as extra ammunition. “Fenrir, Garfield, go outside and hide behind the trees as monsters.”

Got it! Fenrir complied as she and the cat jumped out of the window. All the farmers had to do was wait.

Just waiting for the Death Angels was a torture. James became anxious every second as he peeked at the eastern entrance for signs of any strange movement. Jade wasn’t faring any better, as she nervously looked around her, focusing on the southern entrance. Their hearts raced in unison until…

rustle.

“Jade, I heard movement from the south.” James whispered.

“I heard it.” Jade replied. “I think I see silhouettes there.” She aimed her shotgun at the said figures. James peeked to find his nightmare. The silhouettes had green glistening eyes. Oh boy, is this a painful sight.

clop. clop. clop. clop.

The sounds of boots! James saw two figures approaching Cerulean Farm from the east.

“Here they come.” James whispered. He aimed his rifle at one of the figures. After waiting for three more seconds, he couldn’t take it any longer. He fired his rifle.

BANG!

The screwdriver ripped through the air as it zipped towards its target. It hit the figure’s shoulder, causing a scream of pain to be heard.

“God damnit! Gah, it hurts!” The injured figure screamed.

“Is that a screwdriver?!” Another yelled.

“Take cover! We have enemy contact!” The two figures moved right towards the bushes.

‘If only I had an incendiary grenade…’ James thought as he pulled the rifle’s bolt, letting another screwdriver pop into the barrel.

KA-BOOM!

Jade’s shotgun went off. Fiery fragments of thermite shot out of the barrel and landed near the Death Angel personnel on the farm’s south, engulfing their surroundings with fire.

“Incendiary rounds?!” A soldier yelled.

“Move! Move! The targets must be here!!” Another yelled. “Contact the other team to move!”

“Here they come!” Jade yelled.

“On it! The guys on the east are taking cover!” James replied as he pulled the trigger. Another screwdriver shot out from the rifle, only to miss its target. The soldiers were moving close under the shadows of the trees. The farmers activated their cybernetic eye’s thermal vision to pinpoint them. With them full revealed, James fired another screwdriver, planting it straight in the head of a soldier. He fell to the ground with blood splattered on the tree.

“Man down! Man down!” The soldier adjacent to the downed man yelled.

“They’re coming closer!” Jade said. “Duck! They’re opening fire!”

Tatatatata!!

Assault rifle bullets tore through the air. The farmers ducked under the windows which shattered by the bullets. James heard Jodi scream of terror. He raised his head to aim at the soldiers only to find that they have already taken cover on the stone fences that surrounded his crops.

“Jade, of we are to take them out, we’ll need to get out of here and take them on head on.” James suggested.

“This shotgun’s not gonna help, so yeah.” Jade replied, reloading her gun with metal scrap.

“I’ll support you from here. Rifle’s not good in close combat.” Jade nodded as she bolted out of the house. She took cover behind a furnace and fired a shot against an exposed soldier.

“I’m hit!” He groaned.

“Cover fire!” Another yelled as he fired his assault rifle at Jade. She quickly hid her head behind the furnace. This wasn’t good. The farmers were outnumbered 2 to 1. They needed to use his trump card.

“FENRIR!!!” James bellowed. Just as he shouted, the monstrous wolf-like creature leapt from the woods and lunged at the closest Death Angel with open jaws shining with teeth. A gargantuan black feline creature with a rocky spine lunged at another.

“What the hell?!” A Death Angel yelled in confusion.

“Watch out!” Another yelled.

“We need air support! Bring the chopper!” Chopper? This wasn’t good. James knew that they he didn’t have any anti-aircraft weapons on his side. He saw a helicopter with a spotlight mounted on its belly fly to his farmhouse.

“Jade, get inside! Enemy helicopter inbound!” James yelled at his roommate.

“What?! How are we going to counter that?!” Jade yelled back. She was right. How were they going to? Unless… that’s right!

“Fenrir! Garfield! Divert the helicopter’s attention!”

Understood! Fenrir replied.

Pathetic. Garfield scoffed as the two creatures ran around the farm. The helicopter’s spotlight followed the Feral Deceivers as the aircraft chased them.

James fired another screwdriver at a Death Angel. It hit him, but not where he expected. The tool impaled the assault rifle, rendering it inoperable.

“What?!” The special forces personnel said, inspecting his gun. “My gun’s out!” He said as he dropped the gun and pulled out a shotgun.

“I think I broke his gun!” James said.

“It doesn’t help when you’re not supporting me!” Jade scolded.

“Vincent, don’t look into the window!” Sam’s voice called.

“I’m scared.” Vincent’s sobbing voice replied. James nodded. He understood the little boy’s feelings well. Deep in his head, he was also scared. He pushed the emotion away. He had to concentrate on the firefight.


Ten minutes of brutal fighting continued. Nothing was gained on either side. The helicopter that was chasing Garfield was still tenaciously flying around Cerulean Farm. Its rotor blades roared loudly as it kicked up the loose dirt on the ground.

“We need to do something about that chopper!” Jade suggested, reloading her shotgun.

“I know! Not only has a minigun, it’s super annoying!” James replied, pulling the rifle’s bolt. “Any ideas?”

“You’re the engineer, Enji! You know how that helicopter works!” Right. The farmer searched through his mind to find the right schematic. No, that’s for the attack gunship, the bomber wasn’t what he’s looking for…

That’s it! He found what he was looking for. The schematic of the helicopter that was near him had a single bolt that held the entire engine together. If he could fire a heavy caliber round in it and break the bolt, the entire rotor mechanism will fall apart. The only risk was if the blades will hit the farmhouse.

James aimed his rifle’s sights at the helicopter. The bolt was just below the main rotor. This had to be a lucky shot, and he hoped that the screwdriver is strong enough to penetrate the plating that surrounded the engine. Taking a deep breath after taking his aim, he heard no sound resonating around him. The gunshots became muddled, shattering of broken glass and the impact of pulleys on the stone and wood were non-existent. He pulled the trigger. The screwdriver zipped past everything like a spaceship breaking the barrier of space and time. He tool sped to the helicopter and hit just where James wanted it to hit. The screwdriver shattered the mentioned bolt. Everybody saw with different individual feeling as they saw the helicopter’s rotor fly away south towards the Gem Sea and the aircraft spiral down to the ground just outside the farm’s border. The helicopter crashed on the ground without an explosion, something that would have been common at movies.

James suddenly found himself knocked onto the porch. A Death Angel personnel had fired an assault rifle round on his cybernetic leg, rendering it inoperable temporarily. He had no choice. He channeled plasma through his right arm and shot the magical bolt on the soldier, knocking him down to the ground and his guns flying far away from him. He turned to find Jade in a hand to hand combat with another Death Angel personnel.

He was losing.

“Go find the kids! I’ll take care of the deserter!” The downed soldier yelled at his comrade as she stood up. Just as what Kent told, he drew a long sword that shone by the moonlight and charged at the cybernetic farmer. James quickly stood up and blocked the sword with his arm. The soldier struck again and James blocked, which impact point gave sparks. Unexpected by James, the Death Angel had the strength to not be flung away by his cybernetics. Thus, a fight for strength ensued where James pushed with all his might to prevent the sword from entering his body while the Death Angel tried to go for the kill.

“Bastards. Going for kids as your soldiers?!” James snarled.

“Deserting the empire is a crime no better than slaughtering a city!” The Death Angel replied.

“Have. You. No. Morals?”

“I only serve the emperor.”

“Inhumane bastard!” James snarled as the sword inched closer to his throat. The very green eyes of the Death Angel’s goggles that stared at the farmer when he was seven glared at him sadistically. The facial expression hidden behind the emask resembled a smile which made James feel disturbed. If only there was a way to get him off…

Magic! James almost forgot. Although if he would remove one of his hands, the Death Angel might overpower him, but he had no choice. He retracted his left arm and channeled magic in the form of a blue aura. Streams of plasma trickled through his fingers, ready to strike. With his full mind power, James shot the plasma to the soldier in the form of lightning. The Death Angel screamed in agony as he lost his balance and fell to the ground, dropping his sword. Lightning continued to torture the soldier as James stood up and intensified his magic. When is magic stopped, he took the long sword and pointed at the unfortunate enemy, smoking from the lightning attack.

“I’m sorry. It didn’t have to end this way.” James said, raising the sword

Ka-shink!

“Forgive me.” He apologized after drawing the sword in the soldier’s heart. He looked front to find Jade had neutralized the soldier attacking her, too. He heard screams of pain and agony resonating from the helicopter's crash site followed by Fenrir and Garfield’s snarls and the ripping of flesh. Just as the farmer thought everything was taken care of…

Bzzzt! Pow! Tsss!!!

“The other guy!” James exclaimed as he ran inside the house to find Abigail engaging the last Death Angel in a sword battle. The farmer’s wife was wielding his Galaxy Sword, but something seemed off. The energy blade wasn’t melting through the steel blade! Abigail was losing badly, as there were gashes all over her stomach. The blade’s glow was dark, signaling James that the Galaxy Sword wasn't in full power.

James didn’t hesitate to charge at the Death Angel. Just as he swung the long sword vertically, the Death Angel turned around and blocked the attack. The two steel blades met, grinding at each other with great strength.

“James…” Abigail called weakly.

“Do it, Abby! Use the scroll to maximize the power!” James yelled. His metallic feet slowly slid back.

“...but…”

“DO IT!!” The farmer continued to yell. He was becoming overpowered, once again, the green eyes taunting him to give up. He couldn’t his determination ordered him otherwise.

‘I could have taken care of this if I didn’t use my magic.’ He snarled in his mind. Behind the Death Angel, James saw his wife panting heavily as blood dropped from her wounds and onto the wooden floor. Suddenly, the soldier kicked the farmer on the chest, sending him tumbling down to the floor. It was the end. The soldier raised his sword horizontally, ready to strike the killing blow…

Psshhhtt!!

“Arrrghh!” The Death Angel screamed. What James saw was out of his league.

Two blades of glowing bright orchid provided from the soldier’s heart. Any blood that escaped the skin immediately coagulated by the blades’ heat. The blade skimmed through to his hip, and the Death Angel fell sideways lifelessly, revealing Abigail holding the Galaxy Sword humming with energy hyperventilating. Jade, along with the Feral Deceivers with their mouths dripping with blood ran towards the couple, who were staring at each other without uttering a word.

It was done.

 

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