Re: World-Valencia

[Ulysses Septimus]

Once they returned to Cadiz, Ulysses, followed by his loyal puppet Sentus Optimus, walked with her into the throne room.

"Hail, Lord Kane, true king of Valencia and Supreme Commander of the Armada."Unlike most others, Ulysses simply offered a slight bow, "my lord, we've successfully wiped out the pirate menace: though I must mention, Commodore Underhill here also played a major role in their eradication."

"Very good,"Kane turned his pure black eyes on her, "well done, Commodore, I hope you will be bringing me more successful results like this in the future... As for you, Admiral, you once again proved just how incompetent certain someone is."

The Commander glared at Rooke, who stiffened but said nothing.

[Sydney Underhill]

Ah, so we rival the elites...? Sydney quickly dismissed this, for it was much too farfetched, as she too bowed her head in respect for the Supreme Commander.

"I will not disappoint you, Lord Kane. It is a great pleasure for me to serve such a cause." The same promise, the same oath, but true from her nevertheless.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Kane nodded, "I am glad to hear that... Return to me in a week with the Admiral for your next assignment."

He looked at Ulysses, "I will be expecting only the best results, Admiral Septimus."

Ulysses saluted his king, replying in a confident monotone, "Yes, my lord."

[Sydney Underhill]

Sydney raised her hand to her brow in an identical salute.

"Of course. I am prepared to accept any task that Lord Kane gives me."

[Ulysses Septimus]

As they left the throne room, Ulysses spoke again, "Commodore, remember that I've promised that I will help you purge your physical as well as any mental imperfections?"

[Sydney Underhill]

Sydney stopped walking abruptly then, remembering their conversation earlier about the topic.

"Yes...I do remember. You said this would apply to the useless emotions, such as fear?"

[Ulysses Septimus]

"Indeed,"Ulysses leaned against the wall of the hallway, "it's simple actually... Remembering a few things and a couple weeks of training, with ,ah, voluntary subjects."

[Sydney Underhill]

Seems simple enough, she thought, internally shrugging.

"Admiral, I can assure you that I will be perfectly compliant in the process of ridding myself of these flaws. After all, it is for the good of the Armada."

[Ulysses Septimus]

"I am pleased to hear that."The admiral tapped on the hilt of his sword, "the first part I can teach you right now: a warrior of the Armada has two 'friends' in the spectrum of emotions, that is, anger and hatred... Remember how I said before pirates are animals? Well keep in your mind this, Commodore: you are perfect and powerful, but the opposers of the Armada are trying to make you not perfect or powerful, those filthy animals are trying to stop you... They are trying to stop Lord Kane, our god who is making you strong... Don't they deserve to be hated for that? Don't they deserve the full spectrum of your wrath?"

His voice was unnaturally smooth, convincing even.

[Sydney Underhill]

"Scum like that..." Sydney said, her voice even at first, but as she spoke, it began to shake slightly, "they have brought the wrath of the Armada onto themselves with their disgusting ideas of power and success...they deface the words!"

[Ulysses Septimus]

"Not to mention their foolish idea of "freedom" without law, the baseless hope of peace and order without the perfect rulership of the Armada, without rule by perfect beings like you and me.."Ulysses whispered, "keep in your mind that, keep the hate, the anger you feel toward those scum... Let them fuel you in battle, aide your bloodlust..."

[Sydney Underhill]

"Anarchy...it cannot be tolerated. It cannot coexist with us, it shall not coexist with us. I do not have gears and I am not physically built as a machine, but this drive powers me as if I am one."

[Ulysses Septimus]

"It cannot and it will not..."The admiral murmured, "now the next part... You must learn to fear nothing and embrace the dangers of battle, for this, please follow me."

[Sydney Underhill]

Sydney trailed the Armada Admiral closely as he, once again, led her through the maze of hallways, attempting to mentally prepare herself for whatever was to come.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Ulysses lead her, still closely trailed by Decimus and Quintus, into what appeared to be a large training arena.

In the middle of the Arena stood another Armada trooper, a female, for once: she resembled a Dragoon in appearance, though not as buff and the armor was colored black and red, and her mask was a volto style instead of the regular bauta.

" Commodore, meet lieutenant captain of the Royal Guards Quintia Presidios."Ulysses walked over to the far wall, leaning into it, "she has gladly agreed to aide in your training... Now, if you may, watch."

[Sydney Underhill]

Sydney walked to the middle of the arena, slightly apprehensive of what would happen next, but not exactly afraid.

"Quintia," hmm? Her names are flipped...I've heard of such clockworks before. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at Quintus, who seemed slightly confused and a little tense, and resisted the urge to laugh. Oh, he must think he has 'competition'...for goodness' sakes, they almost have the same name!

However, she would not allow herself to smile, and stood up straight, matching the female trooper's gaze.

[Ulysses Septimus]

Quintia looked at her once, and repeated Ulysses' words with a silk smooth monotone, "Watch."

Then, out of almost nowhere, she whipped out a throwing knife and flung it toward Ulysses...

[Sydney Underhill]

Biting back her human urge to yell in shock and fear, Sydney thought quick, leaping to the side of the room and snatching the gun that Quintus held from his hands, shooting the dagger out of the air just in time.

She cursed herself internally, her heart was beating out of control already and they had just started!

[Ulysses Septimus]

Ulysses, on the other hand, showed no emotion, and simply said, "You must learn to not react to your human emotions, Commodore, learn to calculate and not act upon witnessing... Now, shall we try this again?"

He gestured to Quintia, who prepared another blade.

[Sydney Underhill]

Handing the gun back to Quintus, Sydney nodded and stepped back to the middle of the training arena, this time paying close attention to every movement Quintia made.

What is she telling me?

She held this dagger with her left hand, and with the point of the blade away from her torso. Quintia's right foot was slightly back, and the way that she was leaning showed that most of her weight was on it.

Sydney's heart instinctively skipped a beat when she realized: She would aim for Quintus.

She knew what to do, but she didn't know what this was.

This wasn't fear, no, it was a little different. It was more of a protective instinct than anything else.

Is this really a weakness?

[Ulysses Septimus]

With a flick of her hand, the blade sailed through the air, narrowly missing him by maybe a millimeter at max before burying itself into the wall.

"Commodore,"Ulysses said calmly as he walked from the wall he stood at, "I hope you would understand: no, to feel protective toward someone is not wrong at all... You could have used that moment to come up with a plan to stop her, though the fact you didn't react immediately to what you've felt is a big step forward and I applaud you for that."

[Sydney Underhill]

"I see..." Sydney said, temporarily relieved that her protective - and at times, almost possessive - nature was not deemed unworthy, as she rather liked it.

She faced Quintia once again, determined to purge the inhibiting emotions from her once and for all.

At the side of the room, Quintus glanced at the dagger that had buried itself in the wall directly next to his face and took a decent sized step away from it.

That had been way too close.
They speak of purging the emotions from my Commander, yet, what if she re-discovers them through me?

I had to. I had to adapt to her.
He had been able to keep it hidden, buried deep down, way down, completely invisible, but just for now, just for now.

[Sydney Underhill]

((I have to sleep now so I guess I'll be back tomorrow morning ))

[Ulysses Septimus]

((k no prob  sleep well))

[Ulysses Septimus]

Quintia readied another blade.

After taking her stance, she flung the knife at Ulysses.

And this time, her aim was true and the knife struck his shoulder.

Ulysses, however, showed no sign of pain or anything in his face. His ruby eyes simply narrowed as his lips thinned into a line, his hand reaching up and swiftly plucking the blade out of his body.

Blood trickled out of the wound as the admiral spoke, "Pain tolerance, that's the next lesson, Commodore... But, have no worry, we start with purging fear first."

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