A Knight's Loyalty | Food Fantasy AU Fanfic

Chapter 39 - And Milt

"It seems you've half succeeded Seaweed Soup. Although, you could also call this a total victory." Seaweed Soup shrugged.

"Just because you win a battle doesn't mean you win the war. Caviar is just half the team. He isn't as powerful as he has the potential to be."

"I'm aware of that, of course, which is why I kept the two of you back with the healers, Rs, and Ms. The crowd is large enough with just SRs anyways."

"Of course, Spaghetti. Now what about Caviar?"

The mentioned Food Soul was currently giving both of them a death stare, and hadn't spoken a word since he had so mercilessly ended Seaweed Soup's life, ending his own in the process.

"Wasn't he injected with twice as much as was necessary? Borscht!" The female Food Soul whisked into the room. "What happens if someone gets twice the dose? Is the hold twice as strong or something?"

"If that were the case, everyone would be injected with twice the dose. After all, it's not like the ingredients are rare or anything. Sure, there are some from Palata, but the Kingdom of Nevras as the most of them, and the more necessary ones."

"So then, what happens? Does the effect just not change at all?"

"Actually, it's slightly less strong. But you can't strengthen it back to full until the hold is broken."

"Well, that's not very good. Will a Food Soul like that still listen to me?"

"They should. In the heat of battle for sure. Sending in Caviar should be safe."

"Understood. Then, Seaweed Soup, you and Caviar go and take out Milt. She's the first priority. Then follow the rest."

"I'm not doing that," Caviar spat back. "I don't care about your stupid medallion either."

"Well, nor does the 'stupid medallion' doesn't care about you," Spaghetti retorted.

~

The Throne Room was chaos. When the enemy first arrived, tanks rushed in and attacked, backed up by their linked partners in crime. Gingerbread and Steak were with Red Wine. Apple Pie burst in with the assistance of American Corn Bread. Crab Long Bao was inherently missing from the conflict.

Kuri and her squad arrived just in time to partake in the battle, and took the outer ring, followed by some backup from Ryouri's squad. Any Food Soul were pushed through hardly made it to the URs in the center.

In the heat of conflict, Milt almost forgot her own worries. Or at least, she almost forgot, until his lingering shadow threatened her.

She noticed his silhouette, but was hardly fast enough to stop him when he took a fistful of the clothes she was wearing closer to her neck, and then vanished from the conflict altogether, dragging the two of them outside. The sudden change left Milt a bit dizzy.

"That was fast Caviar. Good job," a familiar voice spoke. Milt recognized it as the woman Food Soul from before. The one who turned Caviar.

Caviar refused to speak, instead, more focused on keeping Milt were she was, held against the wall midair by one fist. His eyes were extremely sorry.

"I'd like it if you spoke more, but just keep her there and I'll finish this off, okay? I won't make you do anything gruesome to her, I promise." As she moved closer, everything but Caviar's arm shook crazily. Milt seemed quite sad to realize he was doing this against his will.

Seaweed Soup had the syringe pulled out and ready to inject in a person, or in this situation, a Food Soul. Milt didn't say anything in response - quite frankly, she hardly seemed to exist.

Then, she tilted her head down to look at Caviar, one more time, before they were to surely never be themselves again. Seaweed Soup seemed to realize this and covered her ears.

"Say what you must. I won't invade," she spoke. Milt was a bit relieved at this, and somehow, Milt and Caviar made eye contact.

"Caviar . . . I'm sorry. I should've just listened when you told me. You always seem to know what's best for protecting the two of us, so I apologize for not listening." Caviar spoke nothing.

"I also just want to say, well . . . It's been a while, since back then, shortly after joining this team, but . . . Well . . . I care about you more than anyone else, you know? So, I just want to say that I love you. I love you so much, you know?"

Despite what crying she had done earlier, she still had a silent tear left that dripped down her face, and Caviar seemed to have cried a bit at these words as well.

"Alright, back to business, before we wait too long. I'll be quick," Seaweed Soup said, moving her hands back to the syringes she had selected. She held the first like a knife, and jabbed it straight at Milt's neck.

~

The attack missed. The attack missed and Caviar had never been so happy in his entire life - or lives, for that matter. He hadn't realized what he was doing until he felt himself again.

Milt had a bit of shock on her face once it had ended, and Caviar pulled his mask back up, covering his lips once more. He stood between the two girls, staring daggers into Seaweed Soup.

"You made a mistake choosing to tangle with us. Be sure to pass the message to Spaghetti."

"I have syringes. You're clearly at a disadvantage." Seaweed Soup spoke dauntingly.

"You clearly don't understand how I fight," Caviar spoke back. He turned his head to Milt for a second. "Stay behind me and don't get in her range, understood?"

Milt appeared to be having a mental breakdown, which Caviar did not find very useful, but adorable nonetheless. He shifted his attention back to Seaweed.

"Then, let's fight, you weed." He threw his arm forward, a school of fish appearing at his shoulder and shooting out past his arm, swarming to where Seaweed Soup stood. Then, he pulled his arm back.

Seaweed Soup sidestepped the attack, throwing a syringe in Caviar's direction. Caviar twisted his waist and caught the attack with the same arm that had summoned the fish, and he broke the needle off the syringe, rendering it useless, then dashing towards Seaweed, turning match into close range.

Seaweed Soup switched the syringe in her left hand into her right, and swung at Caviar, but Caviar ran past her and the attack, before twisting on his foot and kicking her onto the ground. Seaweed picked herself up and swung the syringe at Caviar, hoping to strike before he could get into his neck attack.

Caviar semi-circled around her to the side Milt was on, and then kicked Seaweed's back so that she'd knock into a wall. By the time she could turn around, Caviar had his fingers around her throat, and she was against the wall, midair.

In an attempt of desperation, Seaweed Soup dropped the syringes and tried to pull Caviar's fingers away, but to no avail. Finishing off the conflict, Caviar placed his free hand on her hand.

"If you think you've lived a long time but still lost that fast, you haven't lived long enough," Caviar spoke calmly, having hardly broken a sweat. Then, he snapped her neck.