Suikoden VII

Chapter Four: Part Five

Note: Sorry for the delay. I lost a third of this chapter while writing and had to rewrite a portion of it.

Sorry for the short notice, but all of the play polls at fanfiction.net will be ending next Saturday, 1/11, at 10:00 PM GMT. If you haven't voted yet, make sure to vote before then. If you cannot vote in the polls, feel free to leave your vote in a comment and I will count it towards the final result. In the eventt of any ties I will use a randomizer again to choose the winner. You can find all the polls for this fanfic here: https://www.fanfiction.net/forum/Suikoden-VII-Fanfiction-Polls/240701/.

—

Chapter Four: Part Five

"I killed him."

Those three words kept echoing in Astraea's mind as she lay in bed. She hadn't gotten ready and was simply lying on the back in the center of her bed, staring at the ceiling. After a few moments she sat up. She drew her knees to her chest and looked down at her hand. Down at the True Wind Rune.

Before David could elaborate they were drawn away and back to the castle. She had wanted to know more; exactly what had happened that led to him killing the previous wielder of the Shining Rune. David had tried to speak, but the words seemed to choke him. When he responded, it was a chilling answer.

"It was the only thing I could do for him."

"What does that mean?" she wondered. She didn't know if she was asking the True Rune, or if she was asking herself. "Was he...trying to save the previous wielder of the Shining Rune?"

But she knew one thing for certain; whatever had led David to kill that person, it wasn't cold-blooded murder. She could tell from his mannerisms earlier that whatever had happened had traumatized David. And she knew deep down that someone like Vagabond Viktor would not have agreed to travel with and look out for David if he had killed someone to steal a True Rune for their own greed. But whatever had happened...David didn't want to fully talk about it.

Or...he can't fully talk about it.

Astraea shook her head and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Their discussion had been left unresolved. Even though it was late, she wanted to to resolve it now. "I'll go and see him," she said to herself.

She did not stop to get Dawa. She descended the stairs of her tower to the first floor of the castle. The great hall was dimly lit and silent. Viki was standing beside her mirror, swaying slightly back and forth. Astraea knew that she had to be asleep, though she was puzzled as to why the other girl didn't want a bedroom of her own and was simply content with guarding her mirror all the time.

But at least she looks comfortable.

She exited through the front doors and nodded to the soldiers who stood watch at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm going for a short walk," she told them. "I'll be back in five minutes."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the two soldiers chorused, saluting her.

Astraea was moved by their loyalty to her and she managed a smile as she left the castle and headed down the path towards the city. She didn't intend to travel far; only to David's house. She was glad for the recruits that they had gotten for the Reformation Army, as she now heard murmurs of activity coming from the city at all hours. It had been...unnerving, to say the least, when they had arrived and the city was so quietly. But slowly but surely the Old Capital was turning into a proper inhabited city.

The cream-colored two-story house with a red-brown tiled roof still had a glow of light from one of the first-story windows. Astraea was relieved, as it meant that David was awake. But a sudden nervousness rose inside her. She tried to shrug it off as she stepped up to the front door. She knocked three times. "David?" she called out.