Those words that Sonya had said echoed throughout the walls of Ansel's brain. He stared off into space as Sonya kept talking.

Those were the words I've needed to hear all of my life... He thought, and then his hands were grasped by Sonya's warm, soft hands. They made his heart momentarily stop.

"Ansel, did you hear my question? I asked if you wanted to go dancing after dinner." She said, with a smile on her face.

All of a sudden, the townsfolk started running in chaos to the left of the street. The sky got dark and Ansel saw warships streak across the sky.

"Help! It's Ido and the Sky Bandits!" A civilian yelled, and pointed up at the flagship of the sky fleet.

Ansel sighed. He had to face Ido once before, when he had plagued the mountain people of Rostheim and stole their livestock and women. The last time Ido and Ansel fought, Ansel cut off Ido's arm because he had held a little girl hostage.

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"So, the hero thinks he can vanquish the mighty Ido, hm?" Ido pranced around, keeping a little blonde haired girl behind him at all times. Ansel was only 16 when this happened, and it made him angry. No man should use a woman as a shield or a bargaining chip or an object. Ever.

"Ido, are you going to let this little girl go, or am I going to have to kill you?" Ansel said, impatiently, his rage starting to build up inside of him.

The mountains of golden coins surrounding Ido glistened in the candlelight. When Ansel observed Ido, he had noticed that Ido had a toothy grin and a scoundrelish look in his eyes. The irises radiated with a crimson light.

It made Ansel's skin crawl. He felt like everything had made him feel uneasy, and that both him and the girl were going to die, and his soul, his inner being, his heart and his mind could no longer feel anything. Just a morbid, empty feeling that leaves a soul cold, hollow, and rough and a feeling that made a man break at his innermost seams.

"H-help me, please!" The little girl screamed, her voice shaking in fear.

"Shut UP!" Ido slapped the little girl hard, and the noise echoed off the walls.

It made Ansel snap. He drew his katana vigorously. "If you hit that little girl again..." he said through gritted teeth, "I will end you. Do you understand?"

Ido laughed like a madman and then raised his hand to hit the little girl, who was unconscious, again. "Do you think you can stop me?"

As Ido's hand rushed through the air, Ansel's blade immediately went from the ground to where Ido's arm would stop. The blade chopped through the pirate's arm like a knife slices through butter.

The grown man screamed in anguish as he held the spot where his arm used to be, dropping the little girl on the ground. Ansel sheathed his katana and picked up the girl and rescued her.

Before he left the captain's quarters, however, Ido muttered a threat:

"If I ever see you again, Eighth Son, I will end your life. Believe it."

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Ansel shuddered at his memory, and got his weapon ready. "Sonya, go get people to safety. It doesn't look like the guard is going to be much help, so it's just gonna be you and me defending this town."

Sonya looked at Ansel for a moment, and then kissed his lips softly and breathed a prayer. "O Ancient King, look after this Eighth Son, and give him your prowess and skill. Amen."

Ansel watched as she ran to aid the civilians, and his heart fluttered and he sighed. In this chaos, he had hoped to stay focused on the problem, but now his mind was split in two at the thought of Sonya and the arising problem of Ido. He ran to the end of the now empty street, and his heart raced.

"Oh Eighth Son! Where are you?"

Ido's fiendish insane voice made Ansel tremble with fear, for the evil within the man had made even the most evil man shudder. He stilled his heart.

"I have to stop him, for if I don't, all these people will be hurt or lost." Ansel stepped forward with determination in his strides.

As he rounded the end of the street corner, he saw five pirates, one of them being Ido, who now had a mechanized arm. 

"Maybe he isn't here," one of the pirates muttered, "that guy you get your intel from is quite strange."

"It's the high king of Eos, for Pete's sakes!" Ido hit the pirate with his mechanized arm. "Plus, he gave me his daughter. She's on the ship, and I have to fulfill my promise to the king that I'll bring-"

Ido looked over at Ansel. "Well, speak of the devil. Well, mate, I came here for you, and I'm not leaving without you."

"Then you're not leaving at all, then. Are you here to uphold your promise?" Ansel said, trying to intimidate Ido.

"Yes, and I'm going to obliterate you."

Ido rushed Ansel and hit him in the face, and Ansel flew back and landed on the street.

"Y'see, I've gotten faster and more powerful ever since the last time we faced," Ido began his long, boring monologue. "The king of Eos, well, he found out I wanted you dead and came and sought me out. I went, and he gave me powers that are coursing through my veins..."

Ansel arose while Ido had his back turned to him. Even though he was powerful, Ido was dumb. Ansel ran and stabbed his katana through the heart of Ido.

"AAH! YOU STABBED ME AND I WASN'T EVEN DONE WITH MY SUPER AWESOME COOL MONOLOGUE! I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL, YOU PIECE OF CRAP WORTHLESS EIGHTH SON!"

Ido dissipated into black, and his men trembled. As the guard arrived, and Sonya in tow, Ansel had Ido's men on their knees.

"It's about time you got here!" Ansel shouted, his wound on his eye reopening. He held a bandage to the wound.

"What did Ido do to you? Where is he?" Sonya began to get troubled, and then got steaming mad. "I'm going to climb up his ship and kill him myself!"

Ansel raised a hand. "He's dead. But the princess of Eos is on that ship up there, and I have to go save her."

"Okay, hero, do what you want," she said, a little jealous, "I'll be waiting at the hotel after we throw these pieces of crap in the prison."

Ansel smiled. He already liked Sonya, and they were just beginning their journey together.