Admissions

Summary: Ren and Coud, on their way to the Eldil Garden, stop at a town. The pirates terrorizing the town have Ren's cousin on their side. Can Coud defeat the pirates? M/F

Disclaimer: I did not create Elemental Gelade (Erementar Gerad.) This is not for profit.

Author's note: The main male character's name has several spellings. Some list him as Cou, some as Coud, some as Kuu, a few have Keudo. I have chosen Coud because it seems to be the most common one.

Ren, Coud, Cisqua, Rowen and Kuea walked onward as the reached the end of the forest.
"Oh Man, I am so starving! I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks!" Kuea said.
"You always feel like you haven't eaten in weeks." Coud noted. "And you had a huge meal less than an hour ago!"
"Calm down, everyone. There's a port town ahead. We should be able to get something there." Rowen replied.
"We can't get anything. We're broke, remember?" Cisqua said. They came to a sign that read: Port Kiwatsu city limit.
"Port Kiwatsu. There should be an Arc Aile branch here. We should report in." Rowen said.
"We'll report in. Meanwhile, Ren and Coud will go out and earn more money." Cisqua said.
"What? Why us!?" Cou demanded.
"We've been earning money for us in the last 3 cities! It's time you two earned some money!" Cisqua said. Truth is, she knew Arc Aile wouldn't give her any more money. They'd already burned over a million with little results. Cou and Ren parted company with the others.

Cisqua accosted a young woman in the street. This woman was carrying a load of laundry to be washed.
"Excuse me, we're looking for the Arc Aile office here." Cisqua said to her.
"The pirates burned it to the ground." The woman said.
"Pirates?" Rowen asked.
"A nasty lot that came in about two months ago. They call themselves the lion killers. If you're with Arc Aile, you'd best leave town." The woman replied.
"I won't let a bunch of scruffy hoods besmirch the name Arc Aile! They will regret messing with us!" Cisqua said arrogantly.
"Oh yea? Well, it just so happens that Captain Lion has one of the most powerful Eldil Raids known to man. He leveled the king's army with one blow. 20,000 good men wiped out in one foul swoop." The woman said. "We're their slaves now, and you will be too if you don't leave."
"Bring them on! I'm afraid of nobody!" Cisqua said.
"Cocky, aren't you? Don't come crying to me when they blow you away." The woman said. With that, she left.
"How rude!" Cisqua said.
"Perhaps we should keep a low profile here, sempai." Rowen suggested. However, like most of Rowen's good suggestions, that one fell on deaf ears.

There was a bar a few blocks away. Ren and Coud came into the bar, and them bartender came up to them.
"Whadaya want?" The bartender asked.
"We're a bit short on cash. Know someone who needs a few good people?" Coud asked.
"I had a waitress quit last night thanks to those bastards. Can your friend here do that?" The bartender asked.
"Yes." Ren replied.
"The job's yours. I should warn you about the pirates we get in here though." The bartender said.
"What pirates?" Coud asked.
"They call themselves the Lion killers. They roam the sea and plunder whatever they want. Rumor has it their captain is a pleasure of a Eldil Raid. They come in here, drunk like a fish and do what they want with whomever they want." The bartender said.
"Well, that's gonna stop starting now! I'll help you be rid of these pirates!" Coud said.
"You're a fool if you think you can take them on, kid. Those pirates once defeated the king's entire army. 30 men mowed down 20,00 men as if they were grass." The bartender said.
"Well, Ren and I have a little secret on our side." Coud said.
"Cocky bastard, aren't you? Fine. Don't come crying to me when they put your ass in a sling." The bartender said.

That evening, Coud and Ren were tending the bar when about 6 of the pirates showed up. They took a seat at one of Ren's tables. These pirates were mean, scruffy-looking, and had loads of attitude.
"What would you like?" Ren asked.
"Well, ain't you a hottie? Get us some ale, wench!" The pirate demanded in a condescending tone. Ren turned around and received a hard swat on the ass from one of the pirates. Naturally, Ren was very startled at this.
"Hmm... Nice and firm... Just like I like 'em." The pirate commented. Coud, of course, saw this and bolted over to the pirate.
"Hey! Keep your grubby meathooks to yourself!" Coud shouted at him.
"Ooh! Some little brat doesn't like the way we do things! We are the Lion killers, boy. We do as we damn please! If I want to feel her ass, I'll do it!" The pirate said arrogantly. Coud would not take this attitude one bit.
"You're just a pompous blowhard I know I can take you down!" Coud said. He then dodged the pirate's fist and struck with one of his own. Another blow to the head by Coud, and the pirate went down.
"You motherfucker! Kick his ass, boys!" Another pirate said. The rushed Coud and Ren, out for blood. Coud tried to protect Ren at first; however, against 5 armed pirates, they had little chance without merging.
"Coud, we should merge." Ren suggested.
"You're right, Ren." Coud replied. They held hands as the pirates closed in on them. Reciting the chant, they merged to form one person. The pirates were blown back by the merging. Coud took it easy on the pirates; he didn't really need to expend a lot of energy to flatten all of them. The pirates fell like lead one by one until they all were hurt and out cold. Unfortunately, a number of tables and chairs also were torn into pieces. Ren separated from Coud.

The bartender was so stunned he could not do or say anything. He merely stood there, with a number of thoughts racing through his head. Were these two powerful enough to defeat Captain Lion? Will the pirates raze his bar in retaliation? What will happen next?
"We... We should clean up this mess." Coud said.
"Yes." Ren replied. They threw the guys out in a heap outside.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Caption Lion screamed. The rest of the pirates cowered in fear. Captain Lion was not a guy you wanted to piss off. He stood over his crew by the wheel of his ship with his Eldil Raid by his side. She was a hot babe named Fuma who followed his commands. Physically, she looked similar to n, only her hair was pink and her eyes blue. She was scared of Lion; he had become drunk on her power, and used it with impunity.
"Please forgive us, Captain. We ran into a brat who had a Eldil Raid." One of the pirates said.
"I DON'T WANT STUPID EXCUSES!! IF SOMEONE OPPOSES YOU, KILL THEM!" The captain shouted.
"We tried, Captain. His Eldil Raid was as powerful as yours. He called her Ren." Another pirate said. This made Fuma go wide-eyed and her jaw dropped slightly. Captain Lion noticed this.
"What's wrong, Fuma?" The captain asked. He wasn't prepared for the answer.
"Ren is my Cousin." Fuma said. Captain Lion knew he'd have to rely on Fuma. He'd become accustomed to her on his arm.
"We don't have to kill her, just her pleasure." Lion said callously. He didn't take into account the emotional aspects of this.
"That would make her sad." Fuma said.
"She can always get another pleasure! Captain Lion does not allow anyone to insult his crew!" Lion said pompously. "We do as we damn well please!"

Coud and Ren, meanwhile, were busy fixing the tables and chairs that got trashed the night before.
"I'm sorry I dragged you into that fight last night. I just couldn't stand to see him take advantage of you like that." Coud said to Ren.
"It's all right." Ren said soothingly. Coud hammered a nail into a table leg, affixing it back to the rest of the table. Ren swept the floor, pushing broken glass into a dustpan. She then took that dustpan filled with broken glass outside where the bartender was. The bartender was preparing the inn for trouble, reinforcing the roof supports. Ren dumped the broken glass into a waste barrel, and then sighed.
"Hey, what's wrong there?" He asked Ren.
"Coud..." Ren replied.
"Ah, boy troubles? Take it from someone who's been around the block. Guys like him have a hard time expressing love. He's been taught love is for sissies. Usually 'I love her' comes out 'I want to protect her' with guys like him. You have to let him know it's o.k. to love you." The bartender said.
"He has said he wanted to protect me a lot." Ren noted.
"Well then, he does love you. However, he's been trained to avoid tenderness and romance as much as possible at first. You have to show him that it's o.k. to be sweet." The bartender said. Ren nodded and went back to work.

A bit later, Coud was finishing everything and the bartender was busy setting everything up. Ren was feeling tired, so she was resting.
"You know, you are one lucky dude to have an Eldil Raid that hot love you." The bartender said. Coud sweatdropped.
"Yea, well, erm... Uh..." Coud stammered.
"So do you love her?" The bartender asked. Coud went into a nervous panic.
"Noofcoursenot!" Coud said in a rapid-fire manner, and obviously lying.
"You're really supposed to love her. That's why they call you a pleasure." The bartender said. "Eldil Raids who aren't loved by their pleasures end up either eating like a pig or sleeping all the time. Either way, they don't reach their full potential." Coud was very much torn now. All his training as a sky pirate told him that love was for sissies and that real men don't fall in love. Deep down inside, Coud loved Ren. He admired her athletic body that she kept in top shape; he felt more at ease with the world when she was around him. He saw something in her rich, penetrating eyes that he'd never seen in a woman before. She smiled rarely, but her smile gave him a warm feeling inside. However, Coud was too foolish to swallow his pride.
"I just want to protect her and help her reach Eden Raid." Coud lied. Truth was, he really loved her, but couldn't bring himself to say that.

"So you're looking for the Arc Aile place. Follow me." A male voice said. Cisqua, Rowen and Kuea saw a man beckoning them to follow. They did do, and he led them to a hut outside of town, surrounded by thick forest.
While they went there, Cisqua repeatedly asked the guy to identify himself.
"Patience. All will be revealed in due time." He said.

Once there, he identified himself as commander Kore. The hut was small, cramped, and had some electronic equipment in it.
"Man, I ask for a huge task force, and I get three people. There's no way we can dive Lion out with his puny a force." Kore said.
"Just how powerful is Captain Lion's Eldil Raid?" Rowen asked.
"She's one of the most powerful in the world. Lion single-handedly killed 20,000 of the king's best forces with one shot from her. They leveled a part of town because there was a girl there who killed herself rather than be raped by one of the pirates." Kore said.
"We're going to need Coud and Ren if we hope to defeat them." Rowen said.
"I agree. This sounds serious." Kuea added.
"Coud and Ren sound like they're no match for these guys. They're still learning how to work with each other. We need the big guns." Cisqua said. Little did she know what was about to take place....

Ren and Coud were outside when the pirates came in. Coud immediately stood in front of Ren as to protect her.
"So, you blowhards didn't learn your lesson last time, did you? I'll be happy to teach you again!" Coud said arrogantly.
"You'll change your tune when you meet our captain!" One of the pirates said. Captain Lion and Fuma stepped forward. Ren went wide-eyed at seeing Fuma.
"Fuma-chan..." Ren said.
"Hello Ren-chan." Fuma replied.
"You know her?" Coud asked.
"Fuma-chan is my cousin." Ren said.
"Well boy, you're not so big without your Eldil Raid, are you? Get 'im, boys!" Captain Lion said.
"Hold it right there! Anyone who wants to kill Coud is going to have to answer to me!" Lion spun around to see Kore, Cisqua, Rowen, and Kuea there. Kore and Cisqua had machine guns at the ready.
"So you want to join in the losing side? Then join them all in death!" Lion said. Everyone started a melee of fighting. Coud ended up fighting the captain.
"Even without my Eldil raid, I can still beat you to a pulp!" Lion said. The fighting was intense on both sides. Even though Rowen and Kuea merged, the rest of them barely stopped the pirate horde, at the cost of having most of them fall unconscious. Ren and Fuma merely stood opposite each other as the carnage raged.
"It has been a long time, Ren." Fuma said.
"Yes." Ren replied.
"I do not wish to fight you." Fuma said.
"Nor I you." Ren replied. Behind them, however, the battle raged on between Captain Lion and Coud. Neither side was able to get an advantage. They fought for several hours. Sometimes Lion was on the defensive, other times, Coud was on the defensive. At long last, Lion and Coud struck each other at the same time, sending the other to the ground. Both had near-fatal wounds.
"Coud..." Ren said in dismay, as she went to his side. Fuma went to Lion's side as well.
"Outta the way! They need help!" Cisqua said. Having a medical kit in hand, Cisqua set about to save Coud's life. Rowen and Kuea helped some, and Ren held Coud's hand in a loving manner. Coud was unconscious the whole time, but after about 30 minutes of working on him intensely, Cisqua announced she did all she could, and only Coud could save himself. They took him to a bed and let him rest there. Captain Lion, however, was not so fortunate. He died from his wounds, leaving Fuma heartbroken.
"He didn't want to hurt Lion." Ren said to Fumo.
"I know... Lion was drunk from my power... He thought nothing could touch him... And I loved him despite that." Fumo said. "I could not stop him from abusing my power."
"Nobody blames you, Fuma. The instrument is not what is bad, it is what people do with it. By itself, a gun cannot kill; someone has to pull the trigger." Rowen said.
"Thank you..." Fuma replied.

Coud took four days to heal. In that time, the town was grateful enough to let everyone stay there. Cisqua, Rowen and Kuea went back to the hut that Arc Aile used as its headquarters. From there, they were able to contact Arc Aile's main headquarters.
Cisqua's commander was not very happy.
"WHY THE HELL HAVEN'T YOU BROUGHT BACK THAT ELDIL RAID YET!?" He shouted at her.
"With all due respect, sir. She is leading us to Eden Raid. When we find it, we can send all the Eldil Raids there to live in happiness." Cisqua said.
"THAT WAS NOT YOUR MISSION! YOUR MISSION IS TO RETURN HER HERE! IF YOU DON'T DO THAT, YOU WILL BE DISHONORABLY DISCHARGED! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?" The commander bellowed.
"Sir, with all due respect, if we don't find Eden Raid first, our enemies will. Then we could have millions of Eldil Raids in the hands of our enemies." Rowen said. While he talked, the commanded was handed a sheet of paper. After reading the paper, he then looked up.
"These are your new orders: find Eden Raid and secure it from our enemies. Establish a base there as soon as possible and contact us!" The commander said. The others at the other end snapped to attention and saluted.
"Yes sir!" They said in unison. With that, the screen went blank.
"But we haven't asked him for more money yet!" Cisqua said in dismay.
"We're out of power." Kore replied. "It'll take a week or so before we can get recharged."
"Damn." The others said in unison.

Back at the room, Ren was watching over Coud. She held his hand and hoped he would get better.
"Coud... I... I would love you... If you let me..." Ren said.
At that point Cisqua, Rowen and Kuea entered.
"Has he gotten better?" Cisqua asked. Ren merely shook her head no.
"More bad news." Kuea said. "As if being hungry too wasn't enough."
"We'll get something later. Right now, we really should figure out where we should go next." Cisqua said.
"Yea, we don't know what lies ahead of us." Cisqua said. They then heard the sound of a crate breaking outside.

Upon rushing outside, they saw two young bishonen men looking very angry. Nearby, Fuma was looking downhearted.
"I'm gonna Be her pleasure!" One of the men shouted.
"No way! I am!" The other said.
"Stop this right now!" Cisqua demanded. Her ultimatum fell on deaf ears. Cisqua then pushed her way between the two men.
"Fuma-san decides who will bond with her! Stop this fighting now!" Cisqua said as she brandished her gun.
"I feel that I should bond with neither of you." Fuma said meekly.
"She doesn't want either of you, so go away!" Cisqua said. After a few tense moments, the men backed down.
"Fuma-san, please come with us. You will have fights like that until you bond with a man again." Kuea begged.
"I need to mourn my loss." Fuma replied.
"Still, it will be safer with us." Rowen said.
"True... Well, I will be with you until Coud is healed." Fuma said. They took her back to Coud's room.

Once there, Cisqua tried to break the ice.
"So... How long has it been since you two met?" Cisqua asked.
"We met yesterday." Ren replied tersely. Cisqua sweatdropped.
"Erm... I meant before yesterday." Cisqua said.
"A long time." Fuma said. She really didn't want to be there; she was torn between a desire for revenge against the death of her pleasure and her sense of duty to Ren. Ren, of course, sensed this. Neither of them wanted their pleasures to fight. Both of them wished this never would have happened. However, the clock cannot be turned back.
"Man, screw this. I'm hungry, damnit!" Kuea said.
"You never stop with that, do you? Jeez, you are a bottomless pit when it comes to food!" Cisqua admonished.
"Listen, being an Eldil Raid is hard work, especially when you have to mere with your pleasure as much as I do!" Kuea snapped back. "Besides, when was the last time you earned us money!?"
"Hey, I do my fair share of work!" Cisqua retorted.
"Could you keep it down? I'm trying to rest." A voice faintly said. Everyone spun around and saw Coud there, with his eyes open.
"Coud... You're all right..." Ren said.
"Ren..." Coud replied.
"Just what the hell were you thinking!? You damn near got yourself killed!" Cisqua said.
"Someone had to do it." Coud said.

Private Yoro, Commander Kore's son, was the most bishonen of his training class. Smart as well as good-looking, he graduated at the top of the class. He was sent with about 4 other people to Port Kiwasu.
"It'll be good to arrive back home again." He said. "I haven't been here in three years." Their plane came upon the landing field all messed up, and the plane had to go to the next town to land. They arrived there the day Coud was injured, and then they trekked to the city. They arrived there the day Coud was healed.

"My goodness this place has changed for the worse..." Yoro noted. The Arc Aile team arrived to find Kore trying to keep about 25 guys away from Fuma. They were fighting and Yoro joined in. He fought hard, and was eventually knocked into Fuma. They landed on the ground with her on top of him.
"Are you o.k.?" Yoro asked.
"You alone are worthy..." Fuma said. They held hands as they stood up.
"Worthy of what?" Yoro asked.
"Chant with me." Fuma said. They performed the chat, and now Fuma had a new pleasure. Cisqua and the others arrived to see Yoro use Fuma to defeat the guys around them. When Fuma separated from Yoro, she collapsed into his arms.
"Oh no!" Sore said.

-Continued in part II-