Dantega:Volume 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: First Contact

(PART 1)

The sun has risen and the dawn light shines on the grassland as the group continues their walk westward. After a couple hours the scenery is beginning to change into more of a hilly terrain.

“We should be there shortly.” said Rage with his usual stern look.

“Good to hear, hopefully we find certain people who are ‘aware’ so we can get some information on which way the five gates are located. And also, it looks like those guys are getting tired of walking.” replies Ubica with a sigh of exasperation.

The two of them are far ahead of the others, and looking back at the rest of the group it is quite obvious why. Fatigue has gathered on them with the exception of a couple, of course one of the energized royals is Napoleon. But the other is Xavier, who is resting comfortably on the back of his bodyguard Tsubiri, who normally wouldn’t be tired but the look on her face is pure anguish and her legs are shaking.

Ubica can’t help but feel some kind of anger at the sight and he begins to walk toward Xavier.

“Get your lazy ass off her now!” he hisses angrily.

Frozen in fear at Ubica’s words, he doesn’t move nor speak.

But an equally surprised Tsubiri shows a cute face that doesn't fit the assumed look of a battle hardened bodyguard when she says, “I-It’s ok, I’m fine... It’s my job and my duty to protect the prince.”

“This isn’t what I call protecting someone you idiot. It’s called letting a shitty brat walk all over you.”

Ubica grabs on to the collar of the stiff prince, lifts him to the air off her back and tosses him on the ground.

“Prince Xavier! Are you alright!?” Tsubiri shouts as she rushes to his aid.

But before she could reach out her hand to help him up, she is blocked by Ubica.

“Do you remember what Rage said yesterday?”

“Ehhhh!!? W-W-W-W-What are you doing!?”

Before she knew it, she is on Ubica's back.

”There is no such thing as royalty here, in Purgatory, you're just a normal girl.”

Tsubiri's face turns bright red. “B-But…”

“But nothing! No one deserves to be treated like an object, remember that. Your legs hurt right? Just take a rest, we’ll be there soon.”

Silent by his gentleness, Tsubiri gives in to his words and leaves Xavier on the ground alone; she wraps her arms around Ubica and rests her head on his left shoulder.

“...Thank you.”

After seeing the situation unfold, Trojia is truly impressed by how kind Ubica is; but she is also flaming with jealousy. She tries not to show it but when a pretty face like hers frowns it is completely obvious.

Niomyo sees this and with a wicked smile says, “Ohhh, quite the player that guy is huh? He is really handsome though, I wonder if he will hit on any of the other girls here?”

The frown of Trojia’s face progressively becomes steeper. “H-He’s not like that! He is just being nice to her!”

“Hmmm? I think I’m sensing jealousy from you princess.”

“I’m not jealous at all! Besides, why are you keeping an eye on me? Shouldn’t you be keeping your eye on that general? He looks like he’s getting pretty close to Prince Luke’s bodyguard.”

“Hah? Why would I be?”

Niomyo looks in Napoleon’s direction, but sees the sight of the dull atmosphere between Napoleon and Sora. They are walking next to each other but are not saying a word, it’s almost like they don’t even realize the presence of the person next to them.

Either way, whatever he does has no affect on her, it would seem that Trojia is trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill assuming that she had developed feelings for Napoleon since he had saved her the other day.

Ubica is once again with Rage in the front of the group, Tsubiri is still on his back and now fast asleep.

“Damn that punk kid, how can he wear out a girl like this?”

Rage looks at him dejectedly, “I don’t know what you’re trying accomplish, but just because someone has a problem it doesn’t mean you should be obliged to help them.”

“.....”

Rage turns his head and looks toward the fairly large hill that lies just a few hundred yards ahead. “No matter what you do to help them, none of it will be proper repentance for the sins you have committed. And besides, the majority of them will die here anyways, there is no point even wasting your time on being kind to them.”

Ubica frowns and shifts his gaze to the ground, “You don’t think I know that already? I have no plans on repenting my sins by being kind. It’s just that I am not the same as I was back then, I can’t help the way I act now. And I will do my best to make sure all of them make it back alive.”

“Your naivety makes you look stupid. I think I prefer the less fragile old you.”

“Think what you want Rage, it’s not going to affect my new way of life in any form.”

The two glare at each other maliciously, and without realizing it they have arrived on top of the hill that was once quite far away.

Rage looks out in the distance and says, “We’re here.”

There is a large city just up ahead at the bottom of the hill, the quaint houses and shops on the outskirts of the town don’t match the central area that holds two massive metallic looking buildings that are surrounded by a series of smaller structures.

Ubica looks backwards to see where the rest of the group is and sees that they are fairly far away, he thinks to himself that he and Rage must have left them behind by accident. He tilts his head to the side and bumps the head of Tsubiri, he has forgotten that he has the sleeping bodyguard on his back, in order not to wake her he whispers to himself his apologies.

Rage and Ubica are waiting for the rest to walk up the hill when Tsubiri begins to wake up.

“Oh? Are you feeling better now?” asked Ubica with a smile.

“Y-Yeah... Thanks.”

Ubica gently lets her down to her feet, she stretches for a little, yawns, and makes direct eye contact with him.

“Hey..." Ubica says, "I’m sorry about calling you an idiot earlier.”

She gives a shy face like a nervous child and replies, “N- No don’t worry about that. It’s okay really... So... Um, I was wondering.... How old are you exactly?”

The question catches Ubica completely off guard, his eyes turn from her to Rage who is staring back with a glance giving off the vibe telling him, ‘You’re on your own.'

Ubica responds with a question of his own, “Eh-uhhh... well how old are you?”

“I’m nineteen. You're not going to answer my question?”

Ubica frantically tries to find something to say when he decides to pick out the easiest answer, “Me too...”

Tsubiri doesn’t say anything in return and simply smiles; Ubica sees this and couldn’t help but think to himself, (Did she overhear our conversation?)

He shrugs and tries to shake his thoughts away and turns his head. That's when he notices that the rest of the group has caught up to them.

Trojia looks at the flustered face of Tsubiri and quickly harbors thoughts of jealousy, “What did you do to her Ubica?”

“What do you mean by that??”

“I’ve never seen a bodyguard blush before so you must have done something perverted to her!”

“What are you talking about!? I’m not the perverted one in this group!”

As soon as the two meet eyes the argument takes flight and branches off into random topics, it may seem hostile at first glance but after a while it really shows how well they get along with each other.

Rage and the others ignore their back and forth insults and focus on the task at hand.

Napoleon speaks with a somewhat monotone voice, “I assume we will go to that city to find a place to stay for the night. There must be a different currency between where we live and here, so I assume it will be more difficult than then we think.”

Rage responds, “You sure assume things a lot.”

“It’s my job to make proper assumptions and assess the situation at hand in a respectable manner for the best results.”

Napoleon truly impresses Rage with his attitude on life and his ability to manage chaotic and unreasonable circumstances.

On Napoleon’s fifteenth birthday he had met the minimal military age requirement and joined the La’Juutian armed forces for front-line combat as a swordsman. His talents were extraordinary from the beginning and as a result it grew into tremendous heroic acts that allowed him to rise up through the ranks at a fast rate. After a year of his triumphs, rumors began to spread about his accomplishments all throughout the world, he quickly became a celebrity and the pride of La’Juune.

When the former general died in a battle in which both Troy and Eiyalazo were just yards away from invading the city of La’Juune, Napoleon took command over the panicked army and led them to a miracle like victory which promptly saved the entire country. Naturally, he was christened as the new leader of the army and has made it into the leading superpower of the world.

Rage, who has gathered the souls of the dead in these battles for the past eleven years has seen his feats firsthand and watched him grow into the person who is respected even by death.

“Your armor and their clothes have gold and other precious metals, they will go for a lot of money in the town.”

Napoleon looks at the gold armor he has fought countless battles in, a bittersweet feeling is felt in his chest and with a strained smile he says, “Understood.”

The group has now entered the town; the outside of the buildings are very renaissance like, cobblestone streets intertwine the city and it gives of the feel of an Italian town much like Firenze.

The people that are simply going about their daily lives are all shocked to see something so unusual and are staring at the group with wary eyes, one can’t help but feel awkward by this.

“Geez! Do we really look that weird to them? It’s like we are a group of people with leprosy!” Daey exclaims, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Ubica laughs, “Well if you really look at our group we are pretty odd looking.”

Daey ganders at the difference between them and the other townsfolk and slightly chuckles as well.

“We do stand out like a sore thumb, of course the most noticeable one is that fellow.”

She points at Rage who is clad completely in black and is holding a large scythe well over six feet in length.

“Haha yeah no kidding! I’m surprised the people of this city haven’t thrown rocks at him and ran away.”

Ubica and Daey share a laugh together and walk down the street towards their next destination.

After a half hour of walking, the group finds a large brown building with about fifteen windows, there’s a sign that says something in a foreign language.

‘OSTELLO’

“Eh? What does that mean?” Daey asks.

To which Ubica replies, “It's Italian..It says hostel.”

“Hmm? What’s Italian?”

Ubica gives her a facial expression like, ‘Are you kidding?’ But he then quickly realizes that there hasn’t been an Italy for over a thousand years.

So he tries to explain, “Italian is the language of an old country called Italy. Most of Purgatory is occupied by all the people that weren’t sent to Heaven or Hell. So I’d figure that the remnants of cultures that once existed in the past would be carried on in this place.”

Daey raises her eyebrow in confusion which makes Ubica smile as if he has just said something completely asinine.

“Well... You will get it more the longer we stay here.”

“So how do you know so much about this whole mess Ubica?”

Ubica jumps a little and tries to find an answer, “Eh-Um I... It’s a long story you see I-“

He is interrupted by Rage before he could get a chance to finish, “Let’s find somewhere to sell the armor and clothing so we can check in.”

“R-Right!” Ubica takes a sigh of relief.

(Saved!) he thinks to himself as he and the group heads off to the local flea market.

After selling off and buying some casual clothing, the group checks into the hostel; they take four separate rooms to fit the party of fourteen.

Niomyo and Trojia have one room. Luke, Xavier, Sora, Phoenix and Tsubiri, have one. Daey, Niera, Rudo and Cyrus share one, and the last is occupied by Ubica, Rage and Napoleon.

Night is beginning to fall, the royals are restless but after bathing, the fatigue of the circumstance catches up to them as they ready for bed.

“So what brought you into this room? Shouldn’t you be with the rest of your group Napoleon?” Ubica asks as he leans up against the wall of the hotel room.

“I have no reason to be there, as far as I am concerned, this is the most Important room to be situated in. I still need more accurate details.”

Rage lets out a harumph as if he knew his reason from the beginning.

Napoleon looks at the two with a serious face and asks, “What kind of enemies will have to go through in order to get back?”

Rage and Ubica glance at each other and then back at Napoleon when Rage replies,

“Since you don’t know much about the bible, you’ll find this hard to understand... Our enemies will basically be all of Hell. Damien will likely send numerous demons to keep us from returning to Earth.”

“Couldn’t he just have sent them to kill us all on Aires? I don’t see why he would go through the trouble to send us here.”

“That's because of Rage and I..." Ubica answers, "If I were to die on Earth, I would simply end up in Hell and after a certain amount of time I would easily be able to escape. And if Rage died he would be sent back to heaven for a certain amount of time and then he'd also be allowed back to do his job. But here is completely different, if a deity such as Rage or myself dies here we get sent to Limbo. It’s a place where escape is absolutely impossible. In other words, if we die here, we are gone for good.”

Rage concludes his statement, “We’re at an extreme disadvantage, with a certain amount of work, Hell has almost complete access to Purgatory. It would be a complete disaster if the any of the 7 Demons of Hell come to kill us, or even worse, Damien himself arrives. I don’t think you or the rest realize how bleak our situation is here.”

Napoleon doesn’t seem fazed by the words of the two and sternly says, “I’ll find a way to victory.”

Ubica and Rage both show a wry smile, both have respect at his words but they know that he still doesn’t comprehend the true evil of the reality that awaits him and the rest.

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