Suikoden VII

Chapter Three: Part Four

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Chapter Three: Part Four

He?

Astraea looked at David, but he looked just as confused as she did. She looked at Viki, who was wide-eyed. "I-I—I don't know," she said quietly.

The man's smirk faded. He advanced upon her. "You can't play dumb with me," he said sharply. "When you left he followed you. I tried to follow you as well but couldn't. He did something to prevent me from following you, didn't he?"

"I don't know," Viki repeated herself.

"Where is he?" the man's asked again.

"I don't know!" Viki wailed. "I-I haven't seen him!"

"You lie! He followed you! Do you think he would have left you alone?! Where is he hiding?!"

Astraea felt in that moment that she could interfere and stop this man from threatening Viki or continue watching their confrontation. After a moment she decided, and positioned herself between Viki and the man. "You need to back off right now," she said sharply.

"You are not part of this," the man hissed at her. "This girl is hiding him, and she WILL tell me where he is!"

"I'm telling you I haven't seen him!" Viki exclaimed, shaking her staff in frustration. "I-I last saw you both at the celebration dinner in Nagarea! After that I—" her voice suddenly broke off and she looked at Astraea and David. She lowered her voice as if to whisper, but Astraea heard her clearly. "I went—back. Not forward."

"Back?" the man shifted slightly. After a moment his posture relaxed. "Ah. So because you went—back, that was why I couldn't follow. And he couldn't follow either?"

Viki shrugged. "I...I haven't seen him."

The man was silent for a long moment. Then the smirk returned to his face. "Heh."

"Who are you?" Astraea demanded. "No one threatens my allies and gets away with it!"

The man shifted his attention to Astraea. Though she couldn't see his eyes, his presence was still intimidating. "The girl allied herself with you now?"

"Yes," Astraea said.

"Then I will join you as well," the man said bluntly.

"What?"

"He will come for her—" he pointed towards Viki. "—and when he does I will be ready for him. After spending all this time searching, I intend to remain close by to that girl until he does arrive. Then it can all be settled."

Astraea had so many questions. She looked to David again, and he wore a quizzical expression. "Your armor," he said. "The horns on your helmet. Are you a Black Knight?"

The man shifted his attention to David. "Black hair," David said. "You are Pesmerga?"

The man—Persmerga—seemed coldly amused by the question. "Heh."

"Well I heard Yuber has blonde—"

Pesmerga unsheathed his sword and pointed it at David. Without thinking, Astraea unrolled her knout and swung it. The whip cracked sharply against the center of Pesmerga's blade. "Back off!" she snapped. "Don't you DARE threaten any of my allies!"