The Laughing Swordsman

Eden sat in her room. She began thinking about the tiny stuffed bunny that her mother gave her so long ago.

After taking a deep breath, Eden walked over to one of the walls of her room and pulled on a plank. That was because it was a hidden drawer.

She slid it open and inside was a stuffed bunny.

It was incredibly dusty. Not just the bottom of the drawer, but the bunny too. Eden gingerly picked the bunny and lightly blew on it, getting rid of the dust.

Her mother had made this hidden drawer for her, to hide the bunny. Yet, the last time Eden interacted with it was when she first put it there all those years ago. It wasn't that Eden didn't like the stuffed bunny, she actually thought it was cute.

However, it also reminded Eden of her father who was taken away. Because she wanted to forget, she never opened it up again.

Yet, even though it was not in front of her, Eden always thought about the bunny hiding away in her wall. It was to the point she remembered the exact location of the hidden drawer despite how long it had been.

Eden brought the bunny a little closer to her face. There was a tear where one of the ears connected to the head, making it droop. Not wanting it to tear any further, she held onto the ear gently.

But as Eden lifted it, her eyes caught onto a strange glimmer within.

"What?"

Eden furrowed her brows and pulled back the ear. The shine became a little bigger, revealing a tiny bit of yellow metal. She pulled on this strange object, but it remained lodged inside.

Eden pressed her lips together and pulled harder.

The rabbit ear that she was trying to save earlier was getting torn off more and more. Until it came off altogether.

Eden's breathing got a little heavy. She then slowly removed the metal object.

It was a fairly small golden key.

"What is this?..."

...

Hare kept asking Apollo a few questions after a few awkward breaks, trying to get more 'lessons' out of him.

"Do you have any more lessons to impart?"

Except Apollo wasn't really cooperating.

"Not really."

Hare cleared his throat. He tried to take a different approach.

"Could you further explain what you meant earlier?"

Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"I meant I don't really have any more lessons."

Hare laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry, I meant when you said some people are good and some people are bad. But since they change, it doesn't really matter."

Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

"It just means that how good or bad a person is shouldn't change how you feel when you k-"

"Stop right there!"

A guard called out from behind. Apollo and Hare turned around to see a man with a thick beard leading several guards.

The man pointed his sword at them.

"You have unlawfully freed the angel from their cell! Hand over the angel immediately, or there will be consequences!"

Hare smirked and let out a quiet scoff.

"Whether we hand the angel back or not, it's not like you are going to let us go. Why even pretend at this point?"

The leader of these guards narrowed his eyes.

"So you choose to make us use force?"

Hare sighed and shrugged his shoulders sarcastically.

"I just told you that we never had a choice, you guys already made it for us. Why do you even pretend we had a choice?"

Apollo pouted.

"Can you all do this later? I want to check out the city right now."

Hare put his fist in front of his face and coughed.

"I apologize Apollo. We also do not wish to fight but there is nothing we can do if they do not share the same sentiment."

Apollo rubbed his temple with the palm of his hand.

"Can you do it quickly then?"

Hare nodded.

"Naturally."

The leader of the guards snorted and said nothing more. He led the charge forwards, with his sword pulled back. The other guards quickly followed up, doing the same.

All of the guards had the same weapon, a reasonably sized sword. Along with that, they had a set of armor. There were no shields or bows. It was a fairly big contrast compared to the rabbit people with a large variety.

Those with wooden shields and spears hurried to the front, holding it down. From the back, several loaded their bows with an arrow, aimed, but did not fire.

As the leader of the guards charged forwards, several spears shot towards him. However, they all slammed against the metal armor on his abdomen. While the leader felt the impact, other than a bit of soreness, there was no real damage done to his body.

With a grunt, he slammed his shoulder against one of the rabbit people's shields, making the stumble backwards.

The guards behind quickly followed up, imitating their leader by slamming into the shields as well.

At the end of the day, the thick metal armor that covered the soldiers was very effective. The only reason they were able to win the last fight so easily was the panic from the traitors within the group.

Once the formation was broken, the fight immediately became a messy one.

One of the rabbit people lunged forth with his spear, but the guard tilted his head to the side, letting it bang against the helmet. Then, the guard retaliated by slamming his sword down on his foe's shield.

The rabbit person groaned in pain and let go of the shield. From there, another guard slashed at the now exposed person, slashing through their chest. The rabbit person collapsed to the floor and slowly bled out.

Like this, the spearmen attempted to attack at the gap in the guard's heads as that was the only way they could inflict lethal damage. However, it was much easier to move one's head compared to other body parts.

They needed something to turn the tables.