PO Box A.L.E.N.

[04.08.00] » by Middletails

General Teo was upset. Two of the Empire's Five Generals were defeated by

the Liberation Army and they had sights on obliterating his army. His men

were ready to defend themselves, but the power of the Liberation Army was

certainly a force to be reckoned with. He decided instead of going all out

and wasting too many lives, to call a temporary truce between his army and

the Liberation army. But visiting Toran castle was too risky, as it was

heavily guarded and surrounded by a vast body of water. Teo sat down by his

desk and began to write a letter announcing the truce between him and the

Liberation Army. He folded the letter neatly and placed it in a small brown

envelope. He then left his office to look for one of his right hand men.

Alen was slumped over the table outside the kitchen. A bottle of liquor

was in his hands. He had been drinking quite heavily, perhaps to relieve

stress from the nasty battles stemming from the Liberation Army's actions

against the Empire. Teo overlooked the fact that one of his closest guards

was completely pissed and attempted to wake Alen up.

"Alen...wake up." Teo said quietly.

The crimson caped guard did not respond.

Teo shook him lightly and whispered, "Alen, wake up. I have a job for you

to do."

He still did not stir.

Teo took the empty liquor bottle from Alen's hand and smashed it over the

young man's head.

"O-ow!!" Alen exclaimed rubbing the back of his head, "Masher T-Teo..that

hurt!"

"Alen, I have a small job for you. This won't take long."

"Aw...Masher...I'm sho tired, can't thish wait til tomorrow?"

"No. It must get this out today, or else the Liberation Army may strike at

anytime."

Teo handed Alen the large envelope. Alen tried to grab the envelope but

ended up grabbing the air instead.

"Here, take this."

"B-But Masher Teo...Whish envelope do you want me to take? There'sh shish

of them..."

Teo grabbed Alen's right arm and placed the envelope in his hand.

"Deliver this to the Liberation Army. Their castle is in the middle of

Toran Lake."

"Aw...gee...Masher Teo, I can't shwim."

General Teo smiled and lead the young guard out of his mansion. "Thanks

for delivering the letter. You'll get a small bonus if you come back

alive."

Alen stumbled outside the gate of Gregminster and grumbled. He already ran

into the palace walls ten times before he finally found the gate. Even

then, he had a hard time trying to figure out which gate to come out of,

since he saw four of them standing right before him.

"Why am I doing thish?" He mumbled to himself.

It was fairly long walk from Gregminster to Kaku. Alen had managed to walk

all the way there without running into trees, bushes, flying squirrels and

wandering dragons. When he finally stumbled into the entrance of Kaku, he

fell to his knees and passed out. A villager who happened by, saw the young

guard lying face down and checked to see if he was all right.

"Hey, sir, you alright?"

Alen looked up at the villager and replied, "No, I want to shleep. Can you

bring a pillow out here? No, better yet, could bring a bed out here?"

The villager, shocked at Alen's response said, "Y-you're...you're one of

Teo's royal guards."

"What'sh your point? Could you jush find me a bed sho I can shleep?"

The villager nodded and lead Alen to the nearest inn. Viktor, Flik, Mathiu

and Young Master McDohl happened to be at the inn enjoying a late lunch when

they spotted the villager and Alen entering the inn.

Viktor elbowed Flik and whispered to him, "Hey! Isn't that one of Teo's

closest guards?"

Flik nodded, "I think so. I hope they haven't found us!"

Viktor drew his sword and smiled slyly, "Hehehehe...shall we...get rid of

him?"

Mathiu grabbed Viktor's arm and shook his head. "We mustn't! If General

Teo finds out, who knows what he'll do to the Liberation Army. Our best bet

is to leave this inn undetected."

"I agree." Flik replied as he stood up from his seat.

Alen was at the desk of the inn, digging into his pockets for bits to pay

for the hotel room when the four members of the Liberation Army sneaked

quietly past him.

"Damn, that General Teo, never paysh me enough..." grumbled the crimson

caped young man.

"C'mon, let's scoot!" whispered Flik opening the door to the inn.

Suddenly, Alen turned around and glimpsed upon the four men swarming around

the entrance to the inn. Viktor had his hand on his sword, ready to strike

while the others stood frozen in their tracks.

"Hey...hey guysh..could you lend me a couple hundred bitsh or two? I sheem

to be short.."

Mathiu leaned over towards Flik and whispered, "Give him the two hundred

bits. While you are doing that we'll make a run for it."

"B-but..."

Before Flik could protest any further, his comrades where already gone.

The Blue Thunder reached into his bag and pulled out a small sack of bits.

He threw the sack towards Alen who attempted to catch it. The small sack

hit the guard right smack in the middle of his forehead.

"Ciao!" said Flik as he raced out the door.

Alen smiled smugly as he handed the innkeeper the small sack of bits.

"There ya go shweetheart, enough to cover the cosh."

"Um..sir, I'm a guy."

Alen leaned over and gave a drunken look to the innkeeper. "Sho you are.

Shorry, I'll be going to shleep now."

Alen took off his cape and threw it on the floor as well as his armor and

other things made of metal that weighed him down. He jumped into bed and

closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then it dawned on him.

"Aw, man!!! That wash the McDohl kid and hish followersh!!! Crap. I misshed

my chance to deliver that letter to them! .......No matter, I'll jush take a

boat to Toran cashle after I get forty winksh."

He was soon out like a light.

When Alen woke up, he felt a lot better. He was sober and ready for

anything. Before he left the inn, he asked the innkeeper what time it was.

"It's nine in the morning sir."

"N-nine?? You mean I slept for the entire day yesterday?? Aw, gee, Teo's

gonna kill me! The Liberation army is probably on their way to Kirov border

now..."

Alen sprinted out the door and ran to the dock where several ships where

parked. He noticed the motorized boat close by and jumped in.

"I have no idea how to drive this thing, but who cares, I need to get to

Toran Castle!"

Running into rocks, sharks and other things that protruded out from the

lake, Alen managed to make it Toran Castle in one piece. When he got out of

the boat, he noticed that the castle dead silent.

He entered the castle and saw that everyone was gone.

"Crap...everyone's gone..probably out attacking OUR army!"

Alen jumped into the boat and headed towards the Kirov border. He saw a

large group of soldiers standing in the distance and the familiar figure of

General Teo.

"Alen's got a lot of explaining to do when he shows his sorry face here."

mumbled Teo as he and his army was face to face with the Liberation Army.

"The Liberation army are wielding those orange fiery things, sir, " said

Grenseal who was standing straight up and staring at his opponents with

disbelief. "Is that bad?"

"I don't know..." replied Teo. "But let's see if we can talk this over.."

He walked several steps forward and stopped dead in his tracks. Members of

the Liberation army slowly raised their fire spears.

"Please put those down," said Teo, "They're hurting my eyes. We will not

attack you if you don't attack us first. I just want to talk with you."

"Rubbish, don't believe him!" exclaimed Viktor as he held his fire spear

high, "Let's crush his army, guys!"

Realizing that the Liberation army meant business, Teo backed away and

ordered his army to attack.

"Grenseal, crush the Liberation Army! Take no prisoners!"

Grenseal ordered his troops to charge forward. Luc ordered his group of

men to counter Teo's army with a powerful magic attack.

"Wind Rune, show me your pow-"

"Wait, wait! Don't attack yet!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks and stared at the crimson caped young man

sprinting and waving his arms in the air. Teo rushed past his army and

grabbed Alen by the collar.

"You! You're late! What the hell happened?"

"General Teo....Grenseal....uh..Members of the Liberation Army...I have an

important letter to deliver to you."

Flik stepped out of the crowd and glared at Alen suspiciously. "Give me

the letter."

Alen looked into his bag and began to fumble around. He looked up at the

Liberation Army, to which certain members were beginning to look bored, and

smiled sheepishly.

"Heh...It...appears that I dropped the letter somewhere..."

"I hope you're a fast runner, Alen."

Alen backed away slowly as both the Empire and the Liberation Army began to

gang up on the young man.

"C-C'mon guys, can't we just all get along? None of this rebel army,

corrupt Empire crap..."

In the distance, you could see a scarlet caped man being chased by a large

mob of angry soldiers.

The End ^___^

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