The Soul Reaver

Chapter Seven: Journey to Arcadia Part 2

You know, maybe I was wrong. Maybe I'm just over-thinking this, but those two seem quite capable. Tech told me about his weapon as a wraith, and it sounds fairly useful. He uses these knuckle knives and with every hit, he makes his opponent more and more tired. Then there was Jay. He had decided to pull one of my sayings and just told me "You'll see." which I'll be honest, made me fell like a proud older brother.

Or I could just be bull-shitting myself. Either way, yay!

The trip was rather quiet, save for pinkie pie's constant yakking. I've caught some of the other ponies giving me some stares. They probably still don't trust me. Jesus, It's like dealing with cops! I shake off their glares and press onwards.

(Persona 4 - Heartbeat, Heartbreak)

"So Dean," Oh god what does Twilight want now? "Are you going to tell me how you died yet?" OF FREAKING COURSE!

I turn to her as we walked, or in her case, trotted, down the trail. "Dead men tell no tales." I tell her. Her eye twitches in annoyance and sighs. She turns towards the Noobs and asks them the same question.

Tech considered answering while Jay explained his death.

"Well, what happened was that I was driving home from a rather far off party. I brought a drink with me since I was bound to get a little thirsty on the way home. But then I ended up dropping it, and keep in mind I was under the influence of a couple of drinks." Of course. "So, when I tried to grab it, I didn't see a tree that was directly in front of me. I ended up crashing into it, flying through the windshield, and snapping my neck against a rock."  Jay recalled. He still had that grin on his face, even when talking about his own death. Tech and the ponies though were cringing as they imagined what he went through.

"Woodn't want to scare the others now Jay!" I say with a troll face. Tech glared at me, while Jay just laughed his ass off. Tech glared at me for a little bit more until he decided he would tell his story.

"Well, for me, it was a bit more... extreme. I was walking home from a tournament I was in with my little sister when we decided to take an ally way as a short cut." Oh my god you moron! Who takes ally ways! Wait... what city was he in?

"Hold up! What city were you in?" I interrupted. He tried to recall the name.

"Umm... Detroit I think." He answered. I felt myself twitch in anger. Seriously? WHY!?! Why would you walk in Detroit!? That's like saying 'here I am! Come take my wallet!' it never ends well! The only reason I could do it was because they knew who I was! I facepalm and tell him to continue.

"Okay... anyway, So when I take the ally, My sister and I end up getting cornered by these gang members who ended up mugging us." Well that escalated quickly. "I was able to fight off two of them, but the last one pulled a gun out on me and shot me in the chest. I had to watch him put a bullet to my sisters head until he killed me." He looked rather depressed. You know what? I think I'll lay off of him a little bit.

"Tell me," I get his attention. he seemed to already be glaring at me. He probably expects me to make a joke about it. "How long ago was this?" I ask him. That threw him off, because he actually looked surprised.

"About three days ago..." He trailed off. I nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear about that. But you have to get your head in the game if you want to fight those sentiments. They won't show any mercy just because you aren't thinking clearly." As much as I don't want to say that, I know I'm right. He nodded in understanding and the walk proceeded in silence. I'm surprised! Normally, Pinky won't shut up!

"Well duh, Dean! The author just decided to put in character development!" Pinky appeared right next to me and scolded me. Wha...? Fuck it, I don't care anymore!

We proceeded our trek through the forest, taking breaks to look at ruins that passed by at Twilights begging puppy dog look that she gave me.

"This is so amazing! I'm looking directly at Human architecture! Oh the history I could learn if there was some text I could look at!" Twilight absolutely loved it. I shook my head in amusement. I swear, at times she's just like a little kid.

"Come on now Twi. We're supposed to be heading to this big city that's hiding in this forest." Applejack told her. Twilight sighed, and begrudingly trotted away from the ruins. Rarity caught up with and got my attention by nudging my leg.

"Something you need?" I ask her.

"Yes, do you think we could stop here? It's getting rather late." She requests, sounding tired herself. I'll be honest, I thought she would have started to complain earlier. I look and see that the sun is actually going down much to my surprise.

"Alright. We'll set up camp here for the night!" I yell to the others. Various sighs of relief came from them.

"Oh thank goodness! Now I can fix my mane! Its been absolutely dreadful ever since we entered this ugly forest!" Rarity exclaims in exasperation. There it is! There's that complaining I was waiting for!

Eveyone goes about their business, setting up tents, creating a fire pit. Off in the distance I can hear running water.

I pull out the folded map from my coat and begin to look it over. From what I understand about Arcadian culture, They use rivers as a means of trade and as an aqueduct. In other words, It was like Venice in its lay out. That means, that the best thing to do is to follow that river.

Satisfied with the course I picked out, I fold the map back up and put it in a hidden pocket in my coat. I then reached into my bag that I lugged with me and began setting up my tent. After some trial and error, I managed to get it right. With a sigh, I was ready to turn in until I felt someone tugging on my pant leg. I looked down and saw that it was Rainbow dash of all ponies. She never talked to me, so why is she starting now? She also looks rather nervous about something.

She took my silence as a signal to talk. "L-look... I talked to twilight about what happened when you first appeared, and I'm sorry." that threw me off guard. Shouldn't I be the one apologizing? Oh well, best to let her continue. "It... was just so sudden when you ran off with twilight, I assumed the worst. Then there's the fact that you saved her from a hydra..." She said nervously. She was looking at the ground, not daring to look me in the eyes. With a sigh, I started to pet her mane. She looked up in surprise.

"Look, I'll admit, most of it was my fault." I thought about that for a minute. "Okay, all of it was. I was thinking mostly on assumptions at the time and didn't know the full story. For that, I do apologize." I said solemnly. She smiled a little bit. A devious thought came to me. "I also apologize for the ass kicking I gave you and Applejack." I say with a smirk. She gave me a flat look, and punched my arm with her forehoof. She laughed a little bit as she did that. I'll admit, it was all fairly adorable. These ponies seem to have that effect on me.

"You're alright Dean. Want to start over?" She gives me her forehoof. "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria!" she introduced herself with a flare of her wings. I laughed at her arrogance.

"And I'm Dean Marcelo, Agent of Death." I say with a grin, and she grins back.

Well, today is just full of surprises!

We talked for a little bit, getting to know each other, with me of course avoiding all questions of my past. I wasn't ready to answer those just yet. The hours flew by, everyone was talking to each other. Tech to Applejack, Jay to pinkie, and Twilight to rarity. Dash was the only pony talking to me. As time drove on, I began to realize something.

Maybe I labeled these ponies wrongly. When I get to know them, they're actually pretty decent. Rarity loved my coat for some reason, Twilight loved talking to me about human culture, Pinkie just talked to me, and Rainbow talked to me about where I learned my moves.

Applejack though, was the only pony that doesn't seem to trust me fully. Now, believe me, I couldn't care less. But it was starting to get on my nerves.

I'll try talking to her after the assignment.

After saying goodnight to everyone and Twilight placing wards to keep the animals away, we went to sleep.

(Location: Arcadia Time: Night)

Nex was strolling through the streets of Arcadia. He was going over his plans inside his head. He would lure the wraiths to the plane first, than the castle for the final spirit. He extended his sense to find their location, and felt a presence that brought about an uncharacteristic bestial hatred.

The elements of harmony were with them.

Oh how he despised those dreaded stones. They were what sealed his master last time, He only hoped one of them was lost during the fight. He tried sensing the wraiths that were with them, and registered three.

Except... One of them felt familiar. He tried extending himself even further to figure out who it was, and his eyes widened in horror, recognition, and surprise.

It was him. the one he cherished as much as his lord.

"No..." Nex muttered to himself. He couldn't believe it. He had hoped he wouldn't become a pawn to death. That he would live a normal life.

But no matter how much he wished it, It had happened.

Dean Marcelo was a wraith, and he was coming to Arcadia.

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter. I just wanted to get this out while I still could. Like any other time, leave review on what you think!