Chapter 3 "Give me Luminaria"

"The city hall's right nearby," Perin exclaimed as they ascended the stairs, "It should only take us a minute to get there."
"And Lu's there?"
"No, the Captain is." Gripping the door handle, Perin turned to face Arles. "But, knowing him, it'll be there."
"She will be there." Arles corrected.
Perin rolled his eyes. "She, will be there." he pulled open the door and felt his jaw drop.
The bright flames dancing across the buildings and bodies in the streets; the smell of the houses he'd grown up in burning like wildfires; screams of the people he'd known his whole life as they fell before these strange creatures before him; the sounds of metal as it broke against the thick skins of the attackers; the searing heat of the flames against his face. The sudden stream of sensations almost overpowered him. He'd heard about towns being razed, entire populations wiped out, vanishing into memory, and he'd always thought himself strong enough to hear the stories that sent others from the room without their appetites; but he wasn't ready to see ruins in the making. The Knights were putting up a valiant effort, but they were far out numbered. He wasn't prepared for this, for destruction that was taking place before his very eyes. He couldn't move, couldn't think, and certainly couldn't help. All he could do was watch helplessly as his arms hung loosely at his sides and his home fell into desecration.
A hand fell lightly on his shoulder.
"We have to get to Luminaria, now!" Arles wore an intent, almost cold, look upon his face.
"B-but everyone's -" Perin stammered.
"I know... I know." Arles felt the sting of guilt as he imagined the lives that could be lost while he spent his time on this little scavenger hunt. Damned Imps! With Lu, they’d be little more than an annoyance to him, but in her absence they were deadly to the townspeople. "But things'll be worse, a lot worse, if they get to her before we do." Just thinking about it made his stomach tighten. No, that wouldn't happen, he wouldn't let it. “C’mon, the sooner we find her, the sooner we can get rid of those things.” As hard as it was he had to keep his cool and stay objective about the situation.  “Let’s go.”
Perin understood, as he set off towards the City Hall. This man clearly didn’t want to leave anyone any more than he did. But the man’s apparent sincerity in the issue wasn’t all. There was something else that had been bothering him. If this man really was the Cursed Wanderer, then why would he come to this town in the first place? It was no secret that the Knights had been occupying the town, searching everyone that came in and out. The Knights had a well known history of confrontation with these creatures, and while casualties were no rarity, they were never on a crippling scale either. The towns that had been attacked had been small with little or no soldiers guarding it beyond a simple militia. Furthermore, hadn’t the attack occurred while he stood there with the man, face-to-face, while his “sword with a blade made of pure light” was resting safely in the room across town that the captain had long since commandeered? No, the more he thought about it the more he was convinced that there was no way this man even could be the Cursed Wanderer that the rumors spoke of.
For that matter, if his story were assumed to be true then couldn’t it be that The Cursed Wanderer was merely a misinterpretation of what was truly happening. Could it be that the blade of light wasn’t calling the Demons at all, but fighting them off? Things seemed slightly more consistent when examined from that perspective. That Bartholomew had been directly involved in the event seemed a bit farfetched, but then there were few records of his life that existed as they had when written. They mainly stated that he had defeated a great evil, but specifics were few, obscure, and far between; and such an accomplishment would certainly be worthy of the Legendary Hero.
There was also knowledge a heretic-thief society, that had stolen numerous artifacts from The Knights in ages past, which had been met with a grudge that had been well kept, to say the least. Could The Knights have merely suppressed the fact that Bartholomew had been a part of this society as a way of striking back at their mostly unseen wrongdoer? They had all been marked as high-criminals and though the standing orders were to detain them so they could be brought before a tribunal it was well known that this was more an opportunity for public humiliation then any sort of unprejudiced trial, as all such gatherings thus far had ended in capital punishment for the accused. The Gate Keepers and the Heretic-thieves might very well be one and the same, which might explain why Arles would attempt to keep such a low profile when entering the town. Judging from the recount of the incident that he’d heard from Jimony, Perin could guess that Arles’ severe deficiency at bluffing was simply bad luck. He probably tried to remain inconspicuous in the other towns as well, including the ones that had been destroyed. However, this was mostly circumstantial, but there was something about the man that made Perin feel that he could trust him.
There it was: City Hall. Right in front of them! At last, Arles could get his sword back and the real counterattack could begin… or at least Perin hoped it would. If those Eidolons were as effective as Arles had said they were then the town might yet be saved. He would have to hope… Someone was coming out of the building? It was The Captain, with his armor and sword… and a sack?
The Captain’s head turned as he noticed them. The strange grin he wore along, coupled with the shadows cast on his hard features from the light of the flames made his nothing but an eerie visage.
“Ah, Perin, there you are!” There a slightly delirious hint to his voice. He then noticed Arles, and his contemptuous glare returned. “What is this man doing out of his cell?”
Arles stepped forward with his hand outstretched. “Give me Luminaria and Koyadan! I know they’re in the bag!”
The Captain was only half-surprised this time. He’d seen the man’s assertive side, but, “How did you know they were in there?” he asked, a little confused. You think your following this guy, and then he throws it right back in your face!
“I can talk to them when they’re near, now hand them over!”
The Captain felt as if those red eyes would burn a hole right through him! But he wouldn’t let his victories go so easily. “I think not! I’ll be taking them to the Great Capital where they’ll be taking me to a rank I deserve! Now stand aside, I should very much like to find my carriage and leave this wretched town for good!”
Perin couldn’t believe his ears. The Captain was just going to abandon this town, whose population he had conscripted to find these artifacts that would help him ascend the ranks?
“What about my home?” He cried.
The Captain stopped a moment to ponder the question. He smiled, “It was useful.”
“I’m taking those swords.” Arles said firmly, as he stepped forward.
The Captain followed in suit, edging away. “I wonder,” he said reaching into the sack, “What would you do if your own sword was turned against you?” He drew the silver wand from the bag and, holding it by the thin end, gave a stout flick of his wrist. “Holy Avenger, loose your blade that I may destroy this man who stands before me!”
Nothing happened.
“Lu, zap him!” Arles commanded.
The Captain felt a piercing jolt shoot through his arm. He felt the pain of a thousand knives piercing it from all angles all at once, and then his arm went numb as the wand fell to the ground.
Once more Arles shifted from focus as he rushed at the man. A powerful kick sent him sprawling, just as before. As Arles bent over to pick up the wand, he heard a familiar voice in his head.
“I was gonna hit anyway, ya know?”
Arles gave a slight laugh as the adornment on the opposite end opened up creating a cross-guard and a glowing blade, seemingly made of light, extended from between the two pieces for nearly a meter. “I’m just glad you’re ok.”
The ecstatic feeling of being reunited with his counterpart faded as Arles felt his senses returning to the world around him. Screams ahead of him, past where The Captain lay. He could see them, the screamers. They were carrying injured people out a building with a black cloud emanating from the top of it. And something else, just off to the left, barely in his peripheral vision. As he turned to look, he hoped it wasn’t what he thought it might be.
Unfortunately, it was. There were several of them. These demons were short, with coarse grey skin, long boney arms terminating in sharp claws, short stubby legs, and elongated heads with two eye-stalks at the mid level. The scampered towards the people, and they were fast approaching.
He had to stop them!
“Lu, I can’t get there in time! Halo Cannon!” Arles cried out.
The blade began to shine with a brilliant light. Arles shifted his stance backwards, cocking back his arm, with the blade pointing at the crowd of Demons, his other hand also pointing at his targets.
“What are you doing?” Perin exclaimed. Things were starting to get really weird.
“I’m not gonna let them die!” Arles shouted as he thrust the blade forward in one full motion.
With a loud, ethereal bang, a stream of bright white energy shot from the tip of the blade towards the Demons, blasting a large gap through the front end of the crowd and striking the building behind them, and releasing a large, obfuscating, cloud of dust into the air while the people dove to the ground.
Arles breathed a sigh of relief, at least they were safe.
“Damned Imps! Man, those things piss me off!”
At least those people were safe… if only for a minute.
Several Imps burst from the smoke and resumed their frantic scurry towards the crowd.
“Oh shit!” Arles cried. He was too far away to help them and Luminaria needed to recharge. What was he going to do? What could he do?
And then he heard Luminaria. “Arles, Luxelorg’s nearby!”
“What? Zaku?”
A man’s voice echoed through the air.
“Whiteflame Surge!”