Suikoden VI

Chapter Ten: Part Four

Part Four

"...So," Caesar said softly. "This was Elenor's house."

Daunte glanced at Caesar and then glanced at the rubble before them. The roof looked like it had caved in at some point, though he saw that the far wall was still standing with a sturdy door. "Where does that lead?" He wondered aloud.

"If I remember from her diary, she had Lord Lazlo run a test in the area where that door leads," Caesar said, sighing heavily. "Wishful thinking, but I thought I would've found more of her things here. But I guess that was unrealistic given that it was over 150 years ago that she lived here."

"So you are a Silverberg as well?" Both Daunte and Caesar looked up as Lazlo approached. His expression was calmer but he still held his frown. "You look like her, though your demeanor is more relaxed."

"Elenor was a great-great-great—you get the idea—aunt of mine," Caesar confirmed. "I'm glad to be here where she lived, and to speak to someone who knew her."

"She helped me greatly," Lazlo said. "I wouldn't have been successful without her, and I wish I could have helped her as much as she helped me."

Caesar shrugged. "I'm sure she appreciated your sentiments."

"Ruggiero and Arisoto," Daunte said. "Are they all right?"

"They're with your comrades," Lazlo said. "They have been my companions for the last five years. There have been a series of murders in Middleport that the populous blamed on Arisoto because, well, he is a hippogriff. But I examined the bodies of the victims myself and it was impossible for a hippogriff to have killed these people."

"You are certain?" Caesar said.

"The victims were all stabbed," Lazlo said bluntly. "The wounds were 20 centimeters deep. Arisoto's claws are nowhere near as long and the wounds were far too narrow to have been caused by his beak."

"So Arisoto is innocent," Daunte said. "But the people of Middleport didn't care."

Lazlo shrugged. "I tried to tell them that Arisoto was innocent but they either don't remember who I am or they think I'm an imposter. They attacked us, and Arisoto defended Ruggiero from a killing blow. I honestly do not know how Arisoto managed to fly us all the way here, but he did and then he collapsed. I tried to heal him, and..." he paused for a long moment and then looked at his left hand. "I wasn't going to use my Rune on the mob," he said. "I couldn't use my Rune on them. I've managed to maintain the Rune of Punishment's Forgiveness Phase and I couldn't allow anything to jeopardize it. But in doing so I let one of my companions die, and..."

"Rune of...Punishment?" Daunte asked softly.

"May I?" Caesar asked. Lazlo shrugged stiffly. "I would rather not talk about it, but I will correct you if you're wrong."

"Lord Daunte, as you know the Rune of Punishment is a True Rune," Caesar said. "However the horrors of this rune are on par with the Soul Eater Rune. It is incredibly powerful, and the spells within the Rune have been known to cause absolutely devastating damage. However, It is a parasitic rune."

"P-Parasitic rune?!" Daunte gasped.

"The Rune of Punishment traditionally doesn't feed on its own power," Caesar said, glancing at Lazlo. Lazlo nodded in confirmation and Caesar continued. "It feeds solely on the life-force of the person who wields it. It feeds and feeds and feeds until there is nothing left of the wielder, and then when the wielder dies it attaches itself to another person and repeats the cycle."

"When he says the rune leaves nothing left, he's not wrong," Lazlo said grimly. "It swallows so much of its host's life-force that it literally destroys their body. This Rune was instrumental in helping me win the Islands Federation War...but it also caused me great heartache and suffering."