A Knight's Duty (Alvin's Awakening)

After riding the ferris wheel, Alvin glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost time for the family to regroup. He slid past the waves of people and found his parents standing in the plaza. When Alvin ran into view, they grew a bit concerned.

"Alvin, where is Kelsia?"Simon inquired

"Kelsia? I thought she was with you, Mom."

"She was. But a little while ago, she said she was going to play with her friends. I've look everywhere, but I can't find them."

"Shoot... Fine. I'll be right back."

He broke away from his parents and ran outside of the city, silenting hoping that he could get back to see the Maiden. Wandering the outskirts of town, he spied a group of kids playing in the flower bed. He ran over to them and saw Kelsia among them, a crown of flowers resting on her head.

"Kelsia, there you are! Everyone's waiting for you. Come on, we don't want to miss the Maiden."

Kelsia quietly got up, said goodbye to her friends, and walked with Alvin. As they walked to the town's entrance, a sudden boom shook the earth and blasted the sky with a blinding light. Dark clouds rolled over the sunny colony...

"Almond, I'm scared..."

"It's alright. Let's just get back to the plaz- what the?!"

Alvin stopped dead in his tracks as he saw spheres of dark metal fall from the sky and bombard the earth around him. They began unfolding into metallic creatures with masks covering their faces. One word rang in the thoughts of both children... Sfalma.

"Kelsia, piggyback. We need to run!"

Kelsia immediately jumped onto her brother's back as Alvin made a mad dash for the town, only for spheres to fall in his path. The creatures rolled after him, the sounds of whirring machinery hot on his heels. Alvin lead them away from the city and back to the fields.

"What do I do? I can't fight back, but I can't let them wreak havoc in the city. I... I can't do anything but run!"

Something was wrong. Geoff checked his three watches, humming to himself. He felt strange, as though something was pulling on him from within. Within the Velvet Room, he stared at the exit, tapping his foot impatiently. Was he supposed to wait? Was he supposed to rush in?

"This is stupid," he grumbled to himself, standing from the chair and crossing over to the door. He'd been given no instructions from his long-nosed master to wait, so he decided that was as good as him giving the okay.

He pushed the door open, unsure where he was going to end up. It seemed the door thought that out in the middle of a field was the most advantageous spot to place him, and who was he to argue?

Immediately, his eyes fell on a young man being chased by a number of spheres. While there wasn't anything particularly interesting about the kid himself (other than the fact that he was carrying a girl, how odd...), he couldn't argue with the door for dumping him here. Clearly, he was meant to intervene.

Geoff broke out into a sprint, catching up and running alongside the kid. "Hey!" he greeted him, the Guide tucked under an arm. "You seem to be having some trouble!"

He looked back and waved at the metallic spheres. "I can distract them for a second, just long enough for you to run away. Or we can fight them and die. Your choice!"

Alvin could feel himself running out of energy, his pace beginning to slow. These Sfalma were very fast, easily keeping up with him. His sister was tightly gripping the sleeve of his coat, frightened to let go for even a moment. Alvin was determined not to stop running, but he knew it couldn't last forever. He felt like a coward for running, but he didn't have his sword to defend himself.

"Almond, look out!"

He turned his head toward where Kelsia was yelling. There seemed to be a pale man running in their direction. He kept Alvin's pace, running alongside him as the metal creatures continued their pursuit.

"Hey! You seem to be having some trouble!" The casual man shouted to him. He appeared to be totting a book in his hands.

"Yeah, I could use some help! The town's under attack! I gotta find Da- I mean, Simon Armonia."

"Is Daddy okay, Almond?"

"Yeah... He's going to be fine."

"I can distract them for a second, just long enough for you to run away. Or we can fight them and die. Your choice!" The casual man offered.

Alvin felt conflicted; he could run and get Kelsia to safety, maybe even find Dad, but he was worried about what would happen if he simple abandoned the man. He thought it over.

"Well, how about-"

Before he could finish, Alvin suddenly felt something stop his right foot, causing him to fall over. He landed on the ground face-first, Kelsia tumbling onto the grass. Alvin quickly scrambled to his feet, only to realize that the creatures were beginning to circle them. He pulled Kelsia to her feet, keeping her away from the sfalma. He turned to the man.

"Looks like we don't have a choice. I don't suppose you have a weapon on you, do you?"

Though he did not respond, wishing to save his breath for important things like running, he considered the boy's response. He gave the girl a glance, wondering just how scared she was. This situation was not ideal.

Things only got worse as the boy bit the dust. Geoff skidded to a halt, watching as the mechanical monstrosities circled around them. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and growled to himself. No, things were going very poorly indeed.

That did not, of course, justify the boy in being defeatist. Geoff took no time to shove the boy toward the rapidly closing escape route. "You idiot! Get her out of here!" His normal sarcastic tone had been abandoned in favor of an urgent commanding tone. Hopefully the boy responded well to the suggestion.

Holding his end of the plan up, Geoff opened the Guide, a picture of a cloaked man appearing on the screen. "HEY! SPARKLE FACED NERD BUTTS! LISTEN TO ME! I AM DOING THINGS THAT ARE STUPID AND DISTRACTING!" Geoff began to dance around, stomping his feet and generally trying to attract as much attention from the robots as possible. To top it all off, he swiped along the screen of his Compendium, causing a card to fly out of it, hover in the air for a second and then shatter.

A moment later, a bald man with a visor and a long, billowing cloak that concealed his body appeared from nowhere. "VALTYR AND I ARE THE BEST OF FRIENDS AND WE ARE GOING TO RUN THIS WAY! FOLLOW US! LA LA LAAAA~!" Geoff, now singing very loudly and poorly, and the summoned Persona began to run and fly respectively the opposite way of the boy and girl, hopefully causing the robots to follow.

Before Alvin could react, he felt the man push him out of the path of the spheres.

"You idiot! Get her out of here!" The man shouted to him.

Alvin wasted no time and pulled Kelsia with him, running away from the spheres. While he didn't appreciate the man's tone, he understood the urgency of his demand. Since the town was likely under attack by those creatures, there was only one safe place to hide in.

"Where are we going, Almond?"

"Home, Kelsia. It's the closest place we can hide in safely. This way. We need to cut through the woods."

""What about him? Can we bring him with?"

"H-he didn't want to come with- wh-what?!"

As Alvin was running away, he could see the man hold his book aloft, shouting in a distracting matter. Suddenly, what appeared to be a tall, bald man wearing a body-covering cloak apparated from nothing. Alvin was surprised but decided that it wasn't his time to ask. He turned back around and ran into the woods.

As Alvin began to turn tail, he suddenly felt the shockwave blast the area. Surprised he hadn't been disturbed by the force, Alvin turned back around to see a tall woman donned in black attire whipping her... bladed gun at the robots. Alvin began to wander back to the group, wanting to look closer. The woman now summoned a glittering card of sorts, destroying it with a single strike. Summoned to her side was what appeared to be a ghostly white figure wearing a butterfly mask. Two golden portals appeared at her command, obliterating the beasts with intense beams.

Staring at the white figure, Alvin felt a twinge of pain in his mind, as if somebody pinched his forehead. A calm, powerful voice echoed in his mind.

"Do you desire to flee, young one? Will you leave these people to fight your battles?"

The pain was becoming intense as Alvin fell to one knee, gripping his head. Kelsia ran up to her brother, trying to pull him back into the brush. He struggled to stand up but returned to their hiding place.

"Did you hear that, Kelsia? What was... ughh... that?"

"Almond, you're scaring me... Please, be quiet."

The two children hid in the brush, keeping an eye out for any incoming Sfalma.