Chapter 18: Nightmares & Surprises

Malty and Motoyasu ran across the illusionary world of Industrial Age London to escape from Jack the Ripper, who appears to be an abandoned little girl. They run as far as they could to the end of the River Tames while Motoyasu tries to piece together what the hell happened to him. Malty looks behind her and sees child-size shadowy figures reaching out to them with glowing red eyes.

Frighten, Malty casts her spell, "As source of thy power and future queen, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and obliterate my target! Zweit Hellfire!"

A burst of flames comes out and set a blaze the shadows.

Malty smiles in relief, "I did it!"

But something has grabbed her ankles. She looks down and sees the shadows grabbing her to prevent her from moving. She screams when she sees their red eyes. The children set on fire cry in pain and misery that can be heard echoing through the city along with Malty's scream. Yet Motoyasu yanks her and run off to see if they can escape. But they suddenly ended up in an alley. In a dead end of an alley, they see the children grabbing on to them. They all asks for help, begging for warmth or food or at least a single shred of love and kindness. Malty's mouth is covered by Jack the Ripper herself to keep her quiet. She is scared out of her wit as tears of fear fall from her eyes.

"Just hold on!" Motoyasu says to them, "I'll do what I can to help you all!"

They all keep asking for help as they keep on dragging them both down.

"I said hold on! Please, hang on! I promise I'll do whatever it takes to help! Just hang-"

They dragged them both down until they reappear in some futuristic corridor. Yet something is wrong. There is blood scribbled in some foreign scripture on it, the lights are dim or flickering, scratch marks on the wall, some blood on the metallic floor, and a window shows a starry sky.

"What just happen?!" Motoyasu asks while looking at the new surrounding.

Malty is scared and frustrated as she lashes out, "I don't know and I don't care! Let's get the fuck out of this nightmare!"

Motoyasu looks out the window, "Hang on. I need to see where we're at." and approaches the window.

"Does it FUCKING matter!? I want out of this...this..." She looks around and is a bit calmer, "What is this place?"

Motoyasu looks out the window and see nothing but stars. He looks up, stars. He looks down, stars, He looks to his right, nothing but stars. But when he looks to his left, he sees a familiar yellowish-brown gas giant planet with thick rings.

"Holy shit!" he says in surprise, "That's Saturn! We're on a space station!"

"A what?"

Before Motoyasu explains, they hear something being smashed and some inhuman roars with children screaming behind a thick metal door with a red holographic circle. The sounds of slashing, bloodcurdling scrams and blood gushing can be heard as the screams slowly die out. Motoyasu has his spear up and ready for whatever type of monstrosity that will come bursting out from the door. Malty hides behind Motoyasu like the pathetic coward she is. From the other side of the door, they hear some sort of bat-like screeching noise followed by something that sounds like flesh getting rendered or something like that. More silence came and Motoyasu is feeling uneasy by this uncomfortable silence as he stands firm yet his hands are shaking. Motoyasu started to have visions. Flashbacks of scenarios similar to the predicament he is in. In a game that he knows.

Motoyasu realizes, "Oh shit! We're in Dead Space 2!"

Malty looks at Motoyasu, "What?"

BANG! SHIV! The door started to get dents and sharp claws skewer through the metal as the holographic circle started to fade. Horrid child-like screams can be heard as the door gets destroyed and ripped to shred. From the door bursts forth the pack Necromorphs in droves as they howl and charge at Motoyasu.

"Lightning thrust!" Motoyasu unleashes a thrust of lighting from his spear that caused the heads of the pack to explode.

Yet the little monsters slash around and some even slash each other in vain in order to kill the one that caused their headless state. Lurker and crawler Necromorphs followed by more packs with a few slashers as they howl, moan and roar while charging at Motoyasu. Both he and Malty ran away and try to get away from the unholy flesh abominations. Malty screams in horror and Motoyasu does his best to not look back as he runs to get away. Yet Malty trips and reaches out for Motoyasu.

"Sir Motoyasu! Wait!" she cries out. Malty is scared for her life as her doom lurks closer.

Motoyasu looks back at her and is face with an ultimatum. If he leaves her, he won't have to deal with her bullshit anymore. Yet he would be in big trouble with the people of Melromarc. After making a quick decision, he leaves her. Malty was shock. So shock that she didn't realized that the Necromorphs started to pile on her and kill her.

People Reading This: YAAAAAY!

Motoyasu runs for his life and continues to do so as he tries to remember the layout of Titan Station. The space station that orbits Saturn. He runs and tries to remember which part of the station is he in as he looks at the signs to see where he was and sees a tram sign. However, he sees that the tram is busted, still on fire, and a few burnt corpses in it. But there are more Necromorphs coming after him so he has no choice but to jump down and runs for it. He runs into the dark as fast as he can despite the fact the Necromorphs stop chasing him. Motoyasu hasn't noticed as he is too busy running and never looking back. He run and run as fast as his legs can carry him as he is surrounded in total darkness.

As he runs, a bright light burst into existence in front of him and blinds him. Motoyasu covers his eyes because of how bright the light is. Once he can see again, he sees Filo smiling at him with her eyes close.

Motoyasu gasp in delight, "Filo, is that you little angel?!" He's ever so grateful to see Filo again.

"Hey, Motoyasu?" Filo says with a happy tone.

"Yes, my angel?!"

Filo opens her eyes to reveal that they are black and vacant with blood streaming as she says in a demonic voice, "GO KilL Y0urS3lf, yOu FuCk3R!"

Motoyasu turns white as a ghost and faints backwards from the horror he saw and completely devastated by what Filo said. Once he lands on the ground, he is back in reality. It was all just an illusion... Oh yeah, Malty is still alive.

People Reading This: BOOOOO!

That One Guy: You asshole fucking tease!

Malty is all crunched up in a ball as she cries because of what happened to her.

"My lady!" the captain runs up and sees the passed-out Spear Hero and the sniveling princess. He runs up to the princess and tries to help her out. "My lady, are you okay!? Princess Malty!"

Malty stops crying and sits up. She looks around and realize that she is back in the forest and the nightmares are gone. "I'm alive." she breathes in relief, "I'm alive! Thank god!" she looks up into the sky to thank whatever god that Melromarc has.

"My lady? Are you okay?"

Malty stands up in anger as she orders, "Set the forest on fire!"

"My lady?"

"I want you to burn out the Devil of the Shield along with his companions! Leave nothing to chance! Burn it to the ground!"

The captain smiles and kneels, "As you wish."

Over in the forest, Jack the Ripper returned to Arthur's party.

"I'm back!" she smiles.

"That was...actually quick." Arthur is astounded by how long it took.

"Yeah, well, I am in the assassin class, so it was easy for me to track you down."

"Very good. But I'm afraid I have to switch you out."

Jack waves goodbye, "Bye-bye!" and is swapped out with Gwen.

Gwen shivers in disgust, "I just saw what Jack did through her eyes and let me tell you: You're almost as sick as the raiders."

Arthur chuckles, "Whatever. At least that will keep her and Motoyasu away for a bit."

"But she still might burn down an entire forest just to get rid of us even though we are far away from that bitch."

A bright, orange light is shining over the horizon along with smoke that can be seen from the source of the light and the full moon that got both of their attention.

"Right on cue."

The next day, the trees on top of the mountain have been burned to ash which can be clearly seen for miles. Arthur is wearing a disguise as he asks one of the shop keepers. He is currently wearing a blonde wig and hazel colored contacts to get some info to see if there are anymore changes like what has been happening.

"The checkpoints are closed." says the shopkeep, "There has been emergency security forces along the border. It'll be tough to get over to Siltvelt for a while, that's for sure. Seems to be 'The Devil of the Shield' abducted the little princess, Melty, and is hold up somewhere around here."

Not too far, two guards asks one of the local farmers if he has seen Arthur and his party.

Arthur pays the man for the supplies, "Hope this is enough." and takes them.

"Sure, let me get your change." the shopkeep looked away for a moment to get the change yet Arthur disappeared. "What the-? Where did he go?"

The two guards approach with one of them holding a poster of Arthur as he asks, "Have you seen this man around here?"

He shows a very crude drawing of Arthur as he looks more like a cat-man in a cowboy hat.

Not too far away, Arthur takes off his disguise, "Good. Things haven't changed much so it is now time to see the queen." Yet there is some doubt in his expression, "But how much will change from the anime?"

Arthur and his party are lurking in the trees as they come across some sort of farm being run by demi-humans.

"Guess we found a safe place, right Melty?" Arthur asks Melty, "We should be in Lord Seyaette's territory, right?"

"You're right." Melty realizes.

Raphtalia knows about this territory as her lower lip quivered as memories come back.

"What is it, Mel?" Filo asks.

"We're in Seyaette's Territory." she explains, "Here, demi-humans are treated more equally in order to-

Gwen interrupts, "To improve relationships among nations and species. Yet after the First Wave, many nobles that sided with Seyaette were banished by the king's orders."

"How do you know that?"

"I read it in a book." Gwen lies. "But Raphtalia grew up here one time."

Raphtalia is startled to hear how much Gwen knows about her past.

"I heard that after the First Wave, the Seyaette Region was hit by rioters."

Raphtalia looks troubled, "I'm afraid it was. My village was attacked by Melromarc soldiers who were totally out of control."

"Yet only a few nobles still support the rights of the demi-humans here in Reichnott Territory." Arthur says as he looks behind Melty and Filo, "Because now it is under the protection of Van Reichnott. Is that right, Lord Van?"

"My, the Shield Hero is perceptive." Van Reichnott approaches. "Greetings, Princess Melty. Shield Hero and company. Welcome to my home."

Melty smiles, "It has been too long, hasn't it Reichnott."

Arthur walks by, "We'll discuss more on the way to the manor."

Along the way, Raphtalia tells her story to Melty as Filo holds on to Raphtalia's hand to make her feel better. Melty promises to find these soldiers and bring justice to them once things have settled down.

Gwen whispers to Arthur, "Changing things a little too much, don't you think?"

Arthur whispers back, "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can actually eat something. I'm starvin'." Arthur's stomach grumbles so loudly that everyone can hear it and much to his embarrassment.

Everyone laughs and Raphtalia feels a little better thanks to that interruption.

"We'll have lunch once we get there, Sir Shield Hero." Van Reichnott said.

"Just call me Arthur. I don't want anymore titles."

During lunch in Van's manor, the five explained everything that had happened up to the point where they are now. Gwen admits that Arthur has a bigger appetite than Filo the way he scarfs it down. Unlike everyone else, she can't actually eat but only do so to replenish her mana. Drinking water does the same, but not as much. So she only has a cup of water with two rolls.

"I see." Van has a further understanding of the situation. "So you reach my domain after escaping Melromarc's forces. Is that it?"

"Mm-mh." Arthur confirms despite having his mouth full.

"The knights have informed me that you were the one that started the wild fire in order to cover your tracks. Is that part true?"

Arthur swallows his food and drink his water to clear his throat before saying, "That is a lie! That bratty first princess is behind it as we were nowhere near the mountain when it was set a blaze!"

"I thought so. In fact, when I ran into your party in the woods, I've been patrolling the area out of concern for Princess Melty."

Arthur asks Filo, "Can you pass the biscuits?"

But Filo already ate the biscuits and took a chunk out of the basket they were served in.

Arthur jokingly says, "Are you really a Filolial and not the Cookie Monster?"

"Hey!" Filo takes offense to that and pouts.

"The who?" Raphtalia asks.

Gwen explains, "Some fictional children's character known as the Cookie Monster who was highly addicted to cookies. However, not only does he eat cookies, he eats everything else too. Things like the plate the food was served on, the utensils, the napkins, the table mat, even the table itself."

"Sounds like he has a eating disorder. Or worse yet, the embodiment of famine."

"But we're leaving as early as tomorrow morning." Arthur says, "We don't won't to impose on Van's hospitality, or even worse, get him into trouble because we are around. Someone might be working for that pig lord, Idol Rabier."

Raphtalia dropped her glass and shivers in terror when she heard that name. Completely frozen in fear.

Gwen hugs her, "Hey! Shh, shh. It's okay. It's okay. Shh." Gwen tries to calm her down as she pets Raphtalia's head. "Everything's okay."

AN: Okay, I'm gonna skip Raphtalia's origin story and I know that people are gonna be angry with me, but I'm doing it to save time. Plus we already know about Raphtalia's backstory at this point. For those that don't, watch episode fourteen.

Back at the Castle, the king scolds his soldiers, "YOU STILL HAVEN'T FOUND HER!?"

The soldiers are bowing their heads in regret.

"Whatever happens to Melty, I will have your miserable heads on a pike!"

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers sire.

He sits down as Malty makes a false pledge.

"I swear father, I'll do whatever it takes to bring Melty back."

"Do what you must."

"As you wish." and Malty leaves.

Aultcray grits his teeth in anger as he says, "I cannot allow it to happen again. I won't let you take away my family." He slams his fist on the throne, "Accursed Shield."

Later that night; Gwen, Malty and Filo share the same bed with Raphtalia to make sure she doesn't get any nightmares as Arthur keeps an eye out. Everything is quiet as he looks out the window. Yet he looks up at the moon and wonders what will happen since things have gone off-script to the anime. He wonders if Idol, once he actually kills him, will stay dead. Or worse yet, he will come back alive by some unknown means. Is the goddess, Medea Pideth Machina, truly intervening? Or is there some other supernatural force messing about?

"Hey, Nephalem?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it possible that Medea is toying with us? From the books that I read and anime I watched, The Rising of the Shield Hero, she never actually interacts until certain parts of the story. Yet things have changed a lot since then which I created certain butterfly effects that were supposed to be good, but some came out negative. The wyverns, the timing of everything, the Gila Dragon. Yet I also been keep on wondering if I took some drug from the book and been taken to some experimental VR pod or something."

"I'm not sure. But you might be right. She could be, since it is her style to mess with people. Not only that, it could be Ark testing you to be another god to defeat Medea."

"Ark? Oh yeah, the one god that has the power to create and destroy other gods yet can be kill by a mortal infant. I read that a long time ago. Almost forgot about it though."

Nephalem chuckles, "Typical mortals. In any case, best that we do what we can for the time being."

"Alright."

The next morning, as the sun rises, Raphtalia wakes up and sees Arthur still on guard. Yet she notices that Arthur's face looks serious.

"What's happening?" Raphtalia asks.

"Take a look."

Raphtalia gets out of bed and looks outside as she sees Van in chains as he is being escorted by soldiers.

"Oh no."

Then one of the maids came bursting in, "Sir Shield Hero! Lord Reichnott is being charged by another lord from another territory for crimes against the crown!"

"Knew that was coming." Arthur says, "Alright, time to hide and rescue Van once the coast is cleared."

"Sir Shield Hero?" the maid is confused on what Arthur just said. "How are you gonna do that?"

"Just take us somewhere to hide." 'Hope Melty still has those bombs I gave her.'

Last night, Arthur gives Melty three soda cans that are painted with stripes. One has blue stripes, one has orange, and another has green.

"What are those?" Melty asks as she takes them.

"Very special bombs in case of an emergency." Arthur answers. "If you are cornered by that Idol bastard and he attempts to do something to you, pull on one of the tabs slightly and throw. But I recommend that you use the orange one first. Just make sure you clear out of the way when they explode."

Melty examines the orange stripped can, "What kind of weapon is this?"

"I just recycled whatever the hell I could get my hands on, combine some chemicals, and among other crap that I had to do."

The soldiers are searching the entire mansion from the first floor to the top. They later come across two soldiers as Arthur, Gwen, Raphtalia and the maid stopped at a corridor.

The maid whispers, "This way, quickly."

Arthur and his party hid in the kitchen as two soldiers come bursting in as the maid pretends to prepare breakfast.

"Hey! You there!" one of the soldiers interrogate her, "What are you doing?!"

"I was preparing breakfast." the maid replies.

The other soldier says, "Forget that!" He grabs her arm, "Come here!"

Arthur, Gwen and Raphtalia are hiding in the pantry and about ready to bust a move. But Melty comes in.

"What do you think you're doing!?" she demands an explanation. "I am Melty Melromarc, second princess of Melromarc, let her go immediately! I command you two to stop this right away!"

The Idol comes in, the fat pig fancy-dressed bastard. "My, my. If it isn't Princess Melty."

Raphtalia recognize the voice as she grits her teeth in anger and her tail sticking out with its fur standing up.

Arthur and Gwen stop Raphtalia.

"Not now." Gwen whispers, "Wait."

"I'm so glad to see you're alright." Idol gives a bow and eyes on Melty. "I rushed right over here because I was worried for your safety."

Melty recognizes him as well, "Idol Rabier? I heard rumors that in the past had disagreements with my father."

"True."

She looks at the soldiers, "Maybe I assume that these soldiers are with you."

"They are, indeed."

Melty looks back at Idol, "Then have them withdraw from this premises, immediately."

"Before I do something like that, tell me where the Devil of the Shield is hiding."

"All I can tell you that the Shield Hero is gone."

"Really?"

"I encouraged him to escape. There is no way your men will ever catch him. He's too far away."

Arthur eyes out through the pantry, 'Exactly like the anime. So far so good. He takes Melty away, we rescue her and Raphtalia's friends. The ones still alive of course. Poor Rifana.'

"I intend to tell my father everything. And I will do everything in my power to clear the Shield Hero's good name. Now you will take me to the capital as soon as possible."

"Oh, I understand perfectly." he lies, "We'll discuss the arrangements at my mansion, you'll be more comfortable there." He orders his soldiers, "All right, take her."

Melty is being escorted out by the four soldiers. Melty makes eye contact with Arthur in the pantry and gives him some sort of signal before leaving.

In the pantry, Raphtalia's rage rises as she breathes heavily and wanting to kill Idol.

Gwen stops her, "Hold on now. Melty is gonna give us time. Don't worry. You'll have your revenge soon."

Raphtalia calms down and puts her sword back in its sheath.

Arthur and his party headed over to the attic where Filo is hiding.

"There you are." Arthur says as he spots Filo.

Filo says in excitement, "Big bro!" as she runs up and hugs him. She looks up at him, "But where's Mel? We were supposed to be playing hide and seek."

Arthur sighs, "I'll explain as we head out to rescue her, Van and some of Raphtalia's friends."

Raphtalia gasps when she heard that. "Wait. You mean..."

"Yup." Arthur nods.

Raphtalia starts crying as she hugs him a little too tight, "Thank you!"

"Gah!" Arthur is being squeezed by Raphtalia as he can hardly breath. "Too tight." Arthur tries to say with whatever breath he has left and taps her to let her know that he is suffocating, "Can't...breathe..."

Raphtalia lets go, "I'm sorry!" as Arthur gasp for air.

Arthur coughs a little before speaking. "We'll do a rescue mission tonight."

It is now nighttime over at Rabier's Territory as many demi-humans slam and shout at the gates outside of the mansion to demand Van Reichnott's release. Many of them are armed with hoes, pitchforks, and other farming and smithing tools as they demand Van's release. While the demis are providing a distraction, Arthur and his party sneak in on Filo's back by jumping on the rocks of the cliff face.

In Idol's mansion, Idol can see the protestors outside through the window of one of the rooms.

"Bleck!" Idol says in disgust, "Look at those damn demis!"

"What are they doing out there? Why are they protesting?"

Idol turns his attention towards Melty, "Just some flies buzzing around. Nothing to worry about."

Yet Melty is looking a bit upset.

"We'll get rid of them at once. And since we are mentioning annoyances my dear, I believe you tell me where the Devil of the Shield is."

Melty looks mad, "I already told you several times! I do not know!"

A guard comes in. Two more guards are there while holding the poorly beaten Reichnott.

"Reichnott!?" Melty is shocked to see him beaten up.

Idol grabs Van's hair and raise his head, "Where is the Devil of the Shield?!"

Van just smiles and acts innocent, "I have no idea who you're speaking of." Then he opens his eyes to show his resolve, "The only shield I ever know is the Shield Hero."

Idol punches Van in the gut. Causing him pain.

Idol look at Melty, "As you can see, we're having a difficult time getting him to cooperate. I would like to avoid getting rough with you if it's all possible."

The guards took Van away and close the door. Melty realizes that she is in great danger and can sense something horrible about Idol. Despite being scared, she remembers the soda can bombs Arthur gave him as she has one tucked in her right sleeve just in case.

Idol pulls out his rosary, "As a humble servant of god, my dear, I have taken a sacred vow to punish anyone who sides with the devil. That is my holy duty, dear princess."

Back outside, Filo jumped over the walls and landed inside the mansion grounds.

Two of the guards noticed as one of them tries to shout, "It's the-"

The guards were gun down by Gwen who is holding a SCAR gun with a silencer as she shoots down the guards to prevent raising any alarms.

Melty is being cornered as Idol approaches. So, Melty pulls out the soda can bomb, opens it slightly with the tab and throws it while screaming, "STAY AWAY!"

Idol grabs it and looks at the can. "Huh?" he is confused on what it is, "What is this?"

SPLORK!

The can exploded as orange and white foam covers his body. What is covering him is a fusion of mentos, baking soda and orange soda with some sort of acid. Melty watches as the foam covers the revolting governor along with smoke coming from the foam. A few moments of silence follow before a muffled scream can be heard from the foam.

"AAAAAHHH!"

Idol comes out of the foam yet his eyes have dissolved, patches of his skin reveals some of his flesh, some of his clothes have dissolved along with his tongue. Melty stood there horrified by what she sees.

"IK URNS!" Idol cried out, yet with his tongue gone, it is hard for him to speak properly. "RI REK! RI ODY!" He is in serious pain and suffers. "YO ITTI AT!" he pulls out his whip, "I ILL ILL OU!"

Melty pulls the blue another can and throws it as she runs away.

BOOM!

The second can exploded as white smoke with the smell of burning salt is ignited. Idol screams as some sort of salt bomb sprayed salt all over his wounds that sting like hell. Without thought, Melty tosses the green striped can at him to stop him from flailing around. The can landed next to his feet that exploded with some sort of pink slime that holds him in place as he falls down. Melty watches as Idol is in great pain and suffering which is more than what he deserves for all the horrible things he has done. Then Filo comes crashing in through the wall.

"MEL!" Filo comes in, "Are you alright?!"

"Holy shit." Gwen notices the state Idol is in.

Idol is now a bloated excuse of a human being with his flesh torn, eyes and tongue gone, and covered in hot salt while his legs are trapped in some sort of goop.

"Damn, girl." Arthur says, "I never thought you would use all three at once."

Melty just ignores what Arthur is saying and runs up to hug him.

Raphtalia is gripping her sword very tightly as her tail is sticking straight up and the fur standing up. She is having a hard time trying to hold back all the resentment and anger she has held since she was sold away.

Arthur notices Raphtalia wanting to kill him. "Do it." he says, "But make sure his head is completely off. We don't want to deal with anymore trouble when we rescue the others."

With Arthur's approval, Raphtalia approaches the crying miserable pig as she draws her sword. She looks down at the man that caused a lot of misery at her village and those around her. She tightly grips her sword with both hands as she takes a few steady breaths. Idol couldn't see, but he can sense someone close to him as he looks up. His face is all disgusting with parts of his muscle fibers and parts of his jaw bone revealed while his eyes and tongue are gone. Idol stares back with his vacant eye sockets looking at Raphtalia.

Raphtalia raises her sword, "This is for everyone at the village!" and chops his head off.

The head of Idol rolls only a few inches away from his body as Raphtalia drops her sword. She is shaken by all the rage and anger she has kept towards this man for a long time that she has unleashed. Raphtalia breathes heavily after unleashing everything she has bottled up for so long.

Gwen approach and hugs Raphtalia, "Everything will be okay now. You can rest easy."

Raphtalia hug back Gwen and cries.

"We'll leave you two alone for a bit." Arthur says with a serious look on her face. "We'll go rescue the others in the dungeon."

"I'll be fine." Raphtalia lets go of Gwen and dries her eyes. She shows a determine expression on her face as she looks at Arthur. "Let's go save everyone."