3-5 The Half Broken Village

Collective, Dubious, Wakeful, Urban, Reminiscing
Mods: +50% STAM, lvl 1 Struggle
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When one comes out of the portal, they see a beautiful hilly landscape, covered in trees, and pastures for animal grazing. In the distance is a small farming village, with old world Wood and Stone houses, which are all rather nicely built for a small town.

Though there was something very off about this village, mainly that half of it was on fire, and faint screams could be heard from where they stood. The smoke climbed into the sky, ruining the serene picture of the small town

As They walked in, Val explained to them what kind of area she made "I wanted to show the 3 of you my home town~ it's not all that fancy, but-- " She cuts herself off when her eyes catch the smoke in the distance, and her eyes widen, before charging off at full speed without them towards the half burning town.

She walks through the zone and immediately notices Val looking over the village.

"V-Val what's going on, this doesn't look like a zone, Val!?"


She runs after her, panting the entire way.

"Wha-what the?!" She notices Val darting off into the distance, alarmed at the fire as well, but she decides to chase after, hoping not to lose her. She's reminded of some terrible things seeing the village on fire, but she's determined to make sure Val doesn't end up like someone she knew--!

"Wa-wait up Val! Careful!"

Lionel steps through the portal smiling but the instant he smells smoke and hears the screams every one of his instincts as a knight and the experience over the years kicks in and his paw goes for his sword, instantly taking in the situation. 
"D-Dame! Valinea!" he cries out as she charges ahead. Fearful for her safety he pursues at top speed.

Valinea just keeps sprinting towards the town, taking out her axe, when she suddenly stops, sliding on her feet a good 3 meters, ending up next to a shorter, older man. The Man looks about 5'4, and fairly young, barely 19. Dispite his shortness and youngness, he carries a massive presence, as his battle hardened gaze from his bright green eyes look at Valinea, almost dully. He's wearing the same Pauldron as Val, and rather heavy Medium knight's armor, with a few symbols on him that distinquish him as a very high ranking officer. On his back he has a Simple, but menacing Halberd, of quality amazing enough to be visable to even a commoner, at his side he has a Sheathed Vatican Sword, and a dagger on the back of his belt and with the Aura of Power and Control he gives off, it's a question of why he cant, and isnt just fighting this battle himself.

Valinea speaks up after a moment to catch her breath "Commander Zwingli! vhy arent yu on zhe battlefield!? Z-Zhe town... It's getting torched!" 

He responds simply, by taking out a decrotive Pocket watch "Vell Val, I hafent shown up yet, and I vont be here for anozher 10 minutes, according to zhe time line" he said, closing the watch.

she just gave a horrid look back, obviously confused "Vhat?"

"Yu know zhis place and time quite vell, Valinea. Zhis is zhe start of the raid on yur town, just before the Town Guard engaged the Warlock" He explained simply "vell, perhaps you vouldnt know zhat, yu vere still a veak, young girl at zhe time, and vas probably hidden avay, out of danger" he said, reaching over and patting her head

She blinked, and looked back at the town, and then back at the him "R-really?"

He simply nodded "yep, and if yu run along now, yu probably hafe a chance at safing yur parents, my lil knight-girl" he said, off-handedly, like it isnt that important

Valinea froze up, like something deeply urked her, that stopped her from continuing out her charge to save her parents

"Clocks ticking, Dame"

She catches up to Val and notices the knightly figure

"W-Whoa a human knight..." She shakes her head. "Val what does he mean? What's going on!? Is this really where you lived?!"


She seems really shocked by it all

Of all the ways to learn about her past, this must truly be the most horrific, Lionel thought to himself as he caught the tail end of the conversation before following her closely. 
Val was clearly incredibly stressed and he wanted to be there for her but he was still a firm believer in allowing one to conquer their own fears. He would not get directly involved unless there was no other choice or Val called on him directly, no matter how much he wanted to scoop her up and carry her away from this terrible nightmare.

She stares at the person Val is talking to, a bit in awe, but also confused. She's pretty surprised to see what's going on here all considering she never got to really know more about Val's past other than that she was a soldier. Then again, that was quite the thing about herself too. She was in the same position -- not giving much other than her position a long time ago and who she was.

"It's just like my place... Humans here too. Val...what's going on? Do we need to hurry? We should be careful, so we don't get attacked..."

The Man sighed deeply as Val froze up, and with his left, he 5-starred Val's back knocking her towards the village "I trained yu not to hesitate Soldier!" he barked "Yu need at least enough power to be able to safe zhis place, and I know yu hafe it, now go!" he said, looking back at the other 3

The 5-Star to her back made her visable wince, and with another moment she sprinted towards the town without another word. She didnt need another word, she just recived an indirect order from her commander, fend off the enemy and prove herself. 

The Commander looked between the other 3 "The show's about to start, yu sure yu 3 dont vant to sit a bit closer? Warlocks and their minions make harsh enemies alone yu know, and unless yu're going to support her, it'll be a fun zhing to vatch" he offered casually, like he doesnt care if Val fails on saving the town at this point

Lionel's eyes narrowed at the man but he was no stranger to the harsh tone of a superior. He said nothing to the man, knowing it was pointless to argue before racing after Val. There was no way he was going to leave her alone through this!

She bites her lip with a bit of a growl... "I don't know what shit you're pulling, but I don't like it..." She draws her guns and looks towards Val's direction -- or at least where she ran off and heads off there.

"Val, careful! It might be a ploy, don't get caught off by it! Stay careful about it all!" She yelled as she rushed after her with her teeth clenched and gripping her guns tightly.

"Rooty, come on, we need to stay by her in case something happens!"

"Y-You, you're no knight! I'll help Val like a true knight would, Reiko I'm with you, let's go!"

She chases after Val with Reiko.

The Man took out his pocketwatch one last time, and looks at the time "huh, zhey left too late" he said, closing it again.
---------------

The Town itself was in Chaos, Goblins and Colbalts were all over the place, there was atleast 100 of them nearby. Surprisingly, thanks to the work of the defensive force, there werent too many corpses in the streets, but there was a handful, and it was still very unsettling.

The Town Guard itself had finally took a Swiss Phalanx formation, A spearwall, with just enough room for each man to run at full speed, and was charging the creatures down the street with their crude spears, but a blast from the Warlock pierced through the chest of the male commander of the most immediate section of the Town Guard to them, and the other people in the phalanx looked shocked, but they couldnt afford to lose momentum, so they kept running.

Val looked on in horror, as she slayed the stragglers of goblins, while running towards the corpse left behind. If the others behind her could see her face, they could tell she wanted to scream her heart out, since it was her father that just took the first hit in the battle, and in that moment, she knew her mother was next to fall, on some other section of the guard.

After years of being the soldier, Lionel felt no immediate concern for the dead. They were gone and that was that. Even so he drew his sword and slashed through any of the enemy that got between him and her, judging by Val's previous attacks what needed to be killed and who needed to be protected. He was also aware that this was likely not real and it was more important that he be near her than winning a battle that had already happened. 
He immediately stood behind her, off to the side, all his senses on alert as he gave her some space.

"Val! Shit-- What the hell is going on here?!" She looks to the forces as they storm by, understanding they were some kind of defense force. She shot down all of the enemies in her way and shoved aside some of them to get to Val as quickly as she could.

"Val, we need to hurry! I don't know what's going on, but some serious shit is about to happen and you need to keep in mind how much of this is actually real!"

She rushes over to Val's side and tugs on her shoulder, worried about her condition and how she's faring internally -- she knew herself that something like this wasn't going to be too good on her psyche, but she knew that it was also important to her. She kept an internal objective knowing something was going to call her out.

"Hang in there--! Whatever is about to happen may break you but you need to stay fast and hurdle over it!" She shouted at her, trying to get her moving.

She shishkebobs the goblins in her way and rushes towards Val, tugging on her other shoulder.

"Val I...know who that was...but it has already happened! This is all some sort of trick by the upsets! Please stay with us!"


She looks over to Reiko


"Th-This is just like what happened to you isn't it!?"

"Yes, and no. But we can't idle. Come on!"
She gave her some space and raced over to Lionel.

"Lionel, you've figured it out, right? Do you know what's about to happen?!" She looked at him expectantly, also carrying a sense of urgency in her glare, her teeth clenched and ready to move based on what he says. She knew, for the most part, the two had spent a lot of time together, so it stood to reason he would know most about what this had to do with Valinea.

"She's going through some kind of memory here -- it's not looking too pretty though..."

She follows close behind Reiko.

"I-I know what's going on...I'm not sure about Lionel!"

She says as she runs over to them.

Lionel was quiet for a moment before swinging his massive sword and slicing an enemy in half one handed without even turning to look at it. 
"I have an idea of what is happening but I would rather we stay by her side and wait to get involved until we have more details. Encourage her yes, but as a knight she has to find inner strength to overcome what is clearly a traumatic memory. Stay near her, I will fight off the enemies so she can concentrate on what SHE needs right now. Just lend her support but don't push her too hard until that is the only option remaining." 
He slices another enemy. 
"Routier, if you know EXACTLY what is happening, tell us now." 

She fidgets a bit, but realizes they'll find out anyways

"This...is the day where Val's parents were killed...in the battle against the warlock, the knights were too late getting here and they were killed on duty and she was forced to run...I never imagined it could be this horrid though..."

She has a very grim expression, looking at the scene in person

"Then it's as bad as I thought it was... I never would've figured from someone so strongminded that this was tugging at her... Then again, I guess we all do have something to hide..." She cringed a bit thinking about it and what the solution would be to it, but she knew back in her mind that the only way for her to get over it was to move along with it and handle what's being thrown at her.

"You're right Lionel, we do need to stay by her...This is a struggle she has to overcome -- one of the ones I was told by Trace that we would eventually have to overcome in this game of hers..."

As they took a moment to figure out what was going on, she cut her way through and too her father's corpse, and she just knelt down next to him, letting the tears flow down her cheeks, before she just started giggling, and she got up, the giggle turning into a sad laugh "s-some father yu turned out to be... making me bury yu twice~" she continued the sad laugh, with the color of her eyes, having already turned red, as she surveys the area around them, finally turning back to her 3 friends. wiping away the tears, and cutting out the giggle.

"Zhe right is collapsing, the front vill hold another 40 seconds from zhe looks of it. Ve're going to do a Pincer movement, Reiko, Routi, take zhat street, and follow it around north, and attack zhe Warlock from zhe West" she said, pointing out the directions. "Lionel, go around zhat vay, and take out zhe flank in zhe East, and charge up North to take it from zhe East. I'm going to go replace zhe now failed Right" She said, as the last 5 people of the Gaurd's Right troop has killed off, and she knew fully well that her Mother was in that group "if we do this right, ve should be taking out zhe varlock together. Let go!" she said, before turning on her heel and charging at where the Right used to be, and cuts down a row or 2 of minions with her Grand Arc.

Lionel immediately turned to Reiko and Routier. 
"Do as she says, this battle may have already happened and fighting it now will be fruitless but she likely needs to fight this one out. I assure you, I will stay near to her to ensure she is uninjured just watch yourselves lest these enemies prove capable of doing real harm."
Lionel started East but he moved slowly so he could keep an eye on Val. He had seen knights go berserk before and they were surely capable of great power but it had the potential for harmful side-effects.

"Val...your parents...Reiko should we just go with it?"

She looks extremely worried for Valinea and is almost tempted to chase after her.

She grabs Routier by the wrist and pulls her with her, blasting out the enemies as they come out into her way! "We can't question it anymore. We have to play through it all the way, otherwise we can't see where we she has to stop at! Come on, don't lag behind!"

She, without hesitation, blasts through the crowds to the objective location. In her mind, she pictured some of her favorite FPS's to help her overcome the heaviness of the situation, though she found herself growing increasingly more aggravated by the situation. She quickly made her way to the location as asked.

She broke the front lines rather masterfully, knocking them back with with her Grand Arcs, blasting the stronger enemies away with her Iron Echo, covering her back with Ray, and using her Rage induced speed to slice through anything that got close. Though the horde of enemies was dieing around her, it was obvious, that she was over-exerting herself past a degree someone should, panting deeply as she broke through the routed enemy to charge at the Warlock

I was right to stay nearby. I have seen this in men enraged by personal vendettas which I now know is what this is.
Lionel immediately used Inflixi to clear a path, working his way towards her and fighting closer now, minimizing the number of monsters in her way so she would have less to worry about as she clearly fought on towards a specific goal. Despite being near her, he gave her space, staying within eye shot but not daring to get within range of her weapon, lest her blind rage cause her to turn on him.

Being dragged along with Reiko, she gets nervous a little

"Reiko this is so different from last time, a-are you sure this is safe? I'm really worried about Val!"


She says as she stabs a goblin lunging at Reiko

She cleared the path and held her position, ready to strike at once when the time was right. She kept firing with a [Flurry] all around to make sure a safe radius was maintained from where she stood and she kept a stern look on her eyes.

"I can't say for sure, but come on...."

"Y-Yeah, let's just get to Val and end this!"

Her care for Val is at an all time high right now, their hands still stay together out of love, but she's not being dragged anymore.

She took a moment after getting through the line, to look at the Warlock, who was leading his minions, then too Lionel on her right, and then Reiko and Routi on her far left. She gave out the signals that said 'Confirm. Ready.' meaning she was making sure they were ready to charge in and take out the Warlock and his 3 Guard minions, which looked stronger, but not that much stronger than the others

She uses her teachings to signal that she's ready, really determined to help Val through this.

Lionel was uneasy by a long shot but he also knew that this was probably what Val needed to finally be at peace for the tragedy. So he signals back that he is ready.

"On me! Let's get Val an opening!"

She spins her guns and tosses a couple [Hollow Point] Magazines in both of them, then with a determined grin, she rushed in with a [Reverb Strike] Against all the enemies to give the signal for her to come in and the rest to follow up!

"Get 'em Val! Kick his ass!" She jumped into the air with a [Blitz] to draw attention to herself, allowing Val to come in and to let the other two take their part.

Lionel didn't have time to process what was happening but he heard the command and charged in, taking the minion closest to him and using Consurgo to launch it before spinning in Inflixi to keep it occupied.

"This is for you Val, I'll be your loyal squire til the end, we'll get through this!"

She lunges at the minions with a [Vital Strike], clearing a path for Valinea!

She drew her Axe back, and it glow a brilliant white, to the point where the light seemed almost to bleed off it slowly as she charged at the warlock. The warlock half distracted by the other 3, looked at Val, and his apending doom in surprise, as Val sliced her axe down through the ground, and then Straight up, slicing the warlock and sending the 2 halves flying into the air with a brilliant white arc showing where the centerpoint once was.

Holding her axe up for another moment, she then collapses backwards onto the ground, panting really really hard, looking a bit weak after overdoing her part in that battle.

"V-Val! Hold on!" She was surprised Val managed to get through the trial so quickly, but she wasn't doubtful at all that Val would be able to do it. At least, she thought the trial was over. She rushed to her side and dropped on one knee, checking to make sure if she was still conscious.

"Jeez, trying to give us a run for our money, huh? You might've overdone it there, but that was pretty badass..."

She tries to help her out and checks one of her pouches for a bottle of water, putting it into her hands...

She rushes over with her, really worried about Val.

"Val! Are you ok!? You were amazing out there!"

Lionel didn't immediately rush over. He was incredibly worried but he was a soldier and knew that there were still enemies about. He walked slowly towards them, fending off strays.

She panted a bit more and giggled, taking it "Over-done it is an understatement, I'm exhausted" she said, taking the water and drinking it down quickly.


The backdrop of fire, war and death fade away, as the Commander from earlier walked over casually, looking at her watch "Gud Vork, Valinea, yu finished off the bulk of the zhreat a minute and a half before zhe knights vould'fe gotten here" he commented simply, putting the pocketwatch away "yu're at about zhe strength yu died at now."


She breathed slowly and nodded "Zhank yu, commander..."

With the enemies gone, Lionel finally took the time to come to her side as he sheathed his sword. He knelt down slowly and picked her up, holding her close to his chest, in a firm but comforting hold.
"I think you have earned your rest," he tells her softly before standing up.

"Let's bring her back then... This was definitely quite the encounter here...."

Thinking about something like this... what if it counted where it really mattered in time...? Where would she be?

She was relieved, but she seemed a little unsure if there was anything else on Val's mind that she didn't know about. It proved to her though, that Val was as strong as she figured. It was a reassuring thought for sure.

"C'mon then, yeah...? " She gestured the group towards the direction of the portal, looking around in case anything else was on its way, perhaps wary if there was more.