The Meeting of Destiny

Stahn Aileron felt really good about himself. He had just helped a man find out what happened to his missing passport so he could go home. Of course, he still needed to find a way out to Seinegald without a passport and by pretending the one at the station was his he could at least get out of town and find a ship at Phandaria's harbor…as his companion was scolding him for.

-Stahn you moron!- an angry male voice shouted from inside the sword at his belt, -If you had just taken that passport we could be out of town and on our way. But no, you had to be the nice guy.-

Stahn took the sword out of its sheath and stared at it a little. He had just recently discovered the strange, talking weapon on a ship he'd been on that was attacked by monsters. The sword called himself "Dymlos" and informed Stahn that he was one of the legendary Swordians from this ancient war. Not that what went on back then affected the youth in any way; he was a simple country boy farmer who longed to go on an adventure to become stronger.

"It's dishonest to take what isn't yours. Besides, we'd be going the wrong way since that passport was for Phandaria," commented Stahn.

Dymlos yelled, -We'd at least be out of this border town! With such a system in place, we can't go anywhere. It's not your fault you were on that ship and had to bail out in an escape pod.-

Stahn looked at the Swordian with annoyance as both the innkeeper and a girl who stood behind the counter stared at him. "I'll find a different way out that doesn't involve stealing!"

-You'd better,- commented the sword, -Because if it's up to you I shudder to think at how long we'll be stuck here. Now you'd better be quiet; it looks as though people are already staring at you for talking to yourself like that. Remember, only you can hear my voice.-

Stahn resheathed his sword and looked back. The innkeeper turned around to hide the fact that he had been staring at the young man's strange monologue. However, the young woman who was at the counter began locking eyes with him. He began running his right hand through his long blond hair with embarrassment at the situation. But suddenly, he saw the girl beckoning to him.

"It looks like you could use some help getting out of town," she said.

Stahn replied, "Yeah. And when I get nervous like I did, I talk to myself. If I can't talk out my problems, then I start to get really stressed."

He congratulated himself for a quick save before he could embarrass himself further in front of her. Stahn began to take in the woman's appearance and found her to be quite pretty. She had raven hair approximately the same length as his and these deep violet eyes that seemed to stare directly into his soul. Her garb consisted of a nice white dress and an overcoat to help keep her warm in the cold, Phandarian weather. He approximated her age to be 18, just one year younger than himself. There was something about her…something neither Stahn nor Dymlos could quite put their fingers on.

But despite that somewhat mysterious aura about her soul, the girl acted ordinary enough. "So, if you don't have a passport to either Seinegald or Phandaria, then how did you get to Janos? You seem too honest to have snuck across the border and you would have continue doing so if you'd gotten here that way. Besides, that's definitely the right outfit for this kind of weather."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Stahn informed her, "I've been through a lot."

"Try me! I've been around the block a time or two," she stated.

Stahn then began to relate the tale of his adventures thus far. How he had seen a strange draconic ship land near his home and had snuck onboard after hearing a crewman say they were bound for Seinegald because he wanted to be a knight. How he had been caught napping in a storeroom and force to swab the decks. And how the monsters had attacked and he was just lucky enough to make it to the escape pod. He purposely left out finding Dymlos because if he added talking swords to the mix she would definitely label him as crazy.

He ended with, "I'm only alive because some people living in the mountains found me and nursed me back to health. If I had known about the passport system in this town, I would have probably followed my savior back to Phandaria so I could at least catch a ship to Darilsheid."

Stahn could see the girl looking a little nervous, and he worried she didn't believe his words. But she didn't laugh and even seemed to know what he was talking about. "By draconic ship, do you mean the Draconis? It's a ship registered to Seinegald Kingdom but went missing not too long ago."

"Yes, that's what he called it," Stahn replied, "Draconis. We were attacked by monsters."

"Then you must come with me to see the king. He needs your story so he can piece together the events that led to this attack. We need to know what to tell the families of the victims," she stated.

Dymlos muttered, -Fiery woman, isn't she? I guess she's not really a desk girl.-

Stahn would have yelled at him to be quiet but he didn't want the girl to think he was talking about her. This was also his big chance to get to Darilsheid. What a fortunate turn of events this had been for him. "Then I will go with you to see your king."

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed, "We'll leave tomorrow when my shift is up; I'm covering for a girl who hasn't been feeling too well but she said one more night and she'll be ok."

"What is it that you exactly do here?" inquired Stahn.

She looked at him as if he had three heads and six arms. Then, she told him, "I'm a courier for the Oberon Corporation. I go all around Seinegald to pick up the Lens from each of the shops and take it back to the headquarters in Darilsheid." She looked at Stahn whose expression was just as clueless as before. "I take it you've never heard of Oberon Corp. or Lens before. Man, what an idiot."

"I am not an idiot!" Stahn yelled back, "I just never needed to know that stuff before."

"Oh well, then I guess I'll have to explain. Lens is the stuff you find inside of monsters and in ancient ruins. Round objects, about 2.5 inches in diameter. You sell it to representatives from Oberon Corporation for Gald, and in turn our company turns the Lens into useful products and medicines. The girl who usually does the Lens Exchange is sick so I had to send my partner back with the Lens while I waited here and covered her shift," the girl explained.

Stahn didn't think that completely explained everything, but he didn't want her calling him an idiot again. So he simply told her, "Then I'll get a room and wait for tomorrow to leave. Oh, by the way, my name's Stahn…Stahn Aileron. If we're going to be traveling together we should know each other's names."

The girl looked at him again and smiled. "That makes sense, then. My name's Rutee Katrea. Well then, better turn in if we want to get up early."

With that, she left the desk behind and headed to the employee rooms on the first floor. Stahn was left to go pay the necessary Gald to spend the night at the inn himself. But he took a little time to fall asleep because he couldn't stop thinking about the girl.

-Looks like you've got a crush,- teased Dymlos, -I knew you were the sort who wouldn't resist a pretty girl in danger.-

"Just knock it off; this it how we can go to Seinegald. Besides, I am the only survivor of that attack so I should report it, it's the right thing to do," he told his companion.

S...S

In her room, Rutee commented, "What an idiot that guy is. But, I've gotta take him back because he knows about what happened to the Draconis. I'm happy the messenger bird was sent with that information after it happened or else I might have let it slip me by."

Another voice, calm and female, spoke up to the girl. -But still, he's just like you…one chosen by fate. I'm sure hearing that voice alone would have clued you in.-

"You're right, Atwight," Rutee whispered as she picked up her sword, "I would have taken him back even if I didn't know about the Draconis…because the increase in monsters is cluing us in to something big, and we'll need as many Swordians and Masters as we can get."

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words...

The idea that wouldn't die. Literally, I've had it over a year before deciding what to do with it. I always wondered what would happen if the game still went on as normal and the adventure still happened, but there was a different person who was Kronos' pawn so Rutee and Leon could be raised as brother and sister. Then, I listened to the Drama CDs and heard that Leon would use the less formal "neesan" to refer to her...and not just in scenes where you'd say he was mocking her. Figured it might symbolize a longing for a closer relationship that couldn't happen. Anyway, so this is my interpretation. Next time, we head on out to Darilsheid and have some fun with our favorite leading man and lady.