There was a point when I realized that both Machias and Jusis are friends with a couple of younger kids in their hometown. Then this happened. Enjoy!

The Bold and the Innocent

In which an unlikely alliance threatens to plunge the school festival into lawless chaos and the only ones who can stop it are tied up in the stables.

"This is your fault."

"What? How is this my fault?"

"They're your friends. Figures this is the kind of company someone as uncouth as you would attract."

"Oh and like your two brats have nothing to do with this? They're the ones who handled the rope! Where'd they even learn to tie knots like this?"

"Anette and Raby are good kids. It's not their fault they've been corrupted by some delusional punk who thinks she's a delinquent and her equally delusional underling."

"They're not delusional. Just a little…eccentric. And they're not corrupting anyone."

"Machias, the word "bondage" came out of Anette's mouth when she tied our hands together. She doesn't even know what it means!"

"To be fair, I don't think Patiry does either…"

"Raby said they were "makin' the school their turf" and called us "dorklords"."

"It's a contagious speech pattern."

"Are you seriously defending her right now?"

"No, I am merely pointing out that Patiry and Kargo were not the ones who dragged us to the stable and tied us up."

"No, they were just the ones barking orders before running off to cause terror somewhere else."

"…"

"…"

"…We need to stop them."

"Yes. Yes, we do."

"Any ideas?"

"Would we still be tied up if the answer was yes?"

"…"

"…"

"Jusis?"

"Machias."

"How the hell did we even end up in this mess?"

It was either coincidence or the designs of a surprisingly cruel and merciless Goddess.

While never one to dismiss the former, Machias was firmly starting to believe that the kind benevolent Aidios may have had it out for him. That was the only explanation he could come up with for his father getting chummy with Rufus Albarea and his neighborhood nuisances coming out from Heimdallr to mess with him. Patiry and Kargo hadn't seen him yet, but it was only a matter of time before someone would direct them his way, and Machias still intended to enjoy the school festival. If that meant letting his old friends wander around unsupervised in the courtyard while he explored the indoor attractions for a while, so be it.

"Enjoying the sights?" an unpleasant voice asked him mockingly and Machias' irritation deepened as he turned around to find himself face to face with Jusis Albarea.

"I was," he scowled. "You?"

"Yes, there are certainly some adequate displays worth my time," Jusis smirked, but then his expression immediately turned serious. "Have you seen Anette and Raby anywhere?"

"Who?"

"A couple of kids from Bareahard. You met them." As soon he said that, Machias briefly recalled the two siblings they'd spoken with a couple of times. Their faces were a blur to him though, their names even more so.

"You'll have to forgive me for not remembering someone I'd met twice for a total of five minutes," Machias snapped.

"So you haven't seen them."

"No." Machias passed by plenty of kids, so maybe he had, but he wouldn't have recognized them either way.

"Great," Jusis groaned. "I loathe to ask, but if you see them, could you call?"

"Are they lost?" Machias asked concerned.

"No, but Rosine said they were looking for me earlier. They came all this way so I want to make sure we meet up at some point."

"Alright, will do. Don't say I never do anything for you."

"And speaking of meeting up, I hear some of your friends are here too," Jusis said. "A couple of delinquents?"

Machias groaned. "Children is the better word. And yes I have heard. Repeatedly." Patiry and Kargo definitely stood out if nothing else. So many of his concerned and amused (mostly amused) schoolmates had stopped him in the hall to let him know they were looking for him. "Look do me a favor. If you see them, don't call me."

"Harsh," Jusis said.

"I'll catch up with them later. Just not now." And if Machias could have his way, later would be much later.

"Fine, whatever. Don't say I never do anything for you either."

And with that the two of them went their separate ways, with Machias hoping that brief encounter would be the last he had to see of Jusis Albarea that day. They were classmates, sure, and they were sociable enough for the ARCUS to let them form a combat link, sure, but that in no way meant they were friends or had to enjoy each other's company.

Unfortunately, Machias hopes were dashed shortly afterwards when his ARCUS rang and a very irate Jusis ordered him to the field.

"I don't care who you're with or what you're doing. Get over here now!"

Machias wasn't really one to follow Jusis' orders, but his tone made it seem urgent, and he couldn't help but be curious at what had the usually composed Jusis so agitated that he had to call Machias of all people.

When he got to the field it only took one swish of a familiar red ponytail standing beside the stable for Machias to understand the situation and immediately turn around.

Unfortunately, Jusis spotted him first.

"You!" He immediately pushed past Patiry and Kargo, marched over to Machias and squeezed his shoulder, hard. His expression was murderous. "Do something."

"Ow! Let go of me!" Machias shook him off and reluctantly turned around. "I thought I told you not to call me."

"That was before I saw what those little punks did."

Machias' glare turned into bewilderment.

"What did they do?" He'd known Patiry and Kargo for years. They were rude little brats who talked big, but ultimately, they were harmless. If they did actually cause some sort of incident that would disrupt the school festival, Machias would be surprised.

"See for yourself," Jusis hissed and stepped aside. For the first time, Machias noticed that it was wasn't just Patiry and Kargo standing by the stable with crossed arms and smug expressions. Beside them, copying their poses exactly, were a couple of younger kids, a girl and a boy, dressed up in fairly nice—

Oh no.

"No," Machias groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, starting to understand exactly what had made Jusis so angry. "No, no, no…"

"Aha! There you are Four-eyes!" Patiry yelled. "We' been lookin' all over for you!"

"Yeah! All over!" Kargo parroted.

"Hello Patiry. Hello Kargo," Machias said with a sigh and looked down at the other two kids. "And you two must be…"

"I'm Anette," the girl said politely, but then her eyes widened and she cleared her throat. "I mean, um, the name's Anette. My bro and I are visitin' from Bareahard…F-Four-Eyes." She glanced up at Patiry who nodded approvingly. Jusis' eye twitched.

"And I'm Raby," her little brother said in a rude tone, only without any of the awkward stumbling his sister had demonstrated. "You better watch yourself 'cause this is our turf now."

Jusis looked like he was going to strangle Machias.

That hardly seemed fair.

"I, uh, see you found your friends," Machias said awkwardly, pushing his glasses into place.

"I found yours too," Jusis said. "Fix this."

"What? How?" Machias sputtered. Sure they considered them friends, but he wasn't their babysitter (anymore). And Patiry was almost an adult. Couldn't Jusis just deal with her himself?

But his glare nerved Machias more than he cared to admit and it was really awkward to see two well-dressed, well-mannered little kids talking like that, so he sighed heavily and stepped forward.

"Alright Patiry, what's going on?"

"It's exactly what it looks like," she said proudly. "The old man sent us here to check on you."

"Uh-huh."

"And then we got ourselves a couple of underlings!" Kargo said happily. "I have an underling now."

"I'm so happy for you," Machias said dryly.

"We're members of Patiry's gang," Anette said sweetly, giving Machias the impression that the poor girl had no idea what was happening.

"We're gonna' leave our mark on the school," Raby explained. "We're makin' it our turf and you dorklords will be answerin' to us! Even you, Lord Jusis!"

"Hmph." Jusis's glare burned a hole in Machias' back.

Oh Aidios, these poor children.

"Seriously Patiry?" Machias said sharply.

"Dead serious!" Patiry answered boldly, then pointed to him. "And word 'round the fountain is you've been avoiding us."

"I would never," Machias assured her. "Look how about you break up your little gang and I'll show you two around."

"Too late for that," Kargo yelled. "We're gonna show ourselves around. Right Patiry?"

"Right! We didn't come all this way just to see your dumb mug. We checked on you and now we're free to do as we please. And you two ain't gonna do a thing to stop us."

"Uh-huh. Really now."

"Yeah!" Anette and Raby yelled and ran over to Jusis. "Lord Jusis, can you follow us into the stable?"

"No."

"Hey move it Blondie," Patiry yelled over them and began shoving him towards the door. "We give the orders here."

"Unhand me you uncouth urchin," Jusis snapped but he was starting to discover that Patiry was actually quite strong and his legs stumbled in the direction she wanted them to go lest he fall over.

Which ended up happening anyway once the six of them were inside, and Kargo tripped him. And then he did the same to Machias, because of course he did.

At least ending up on Jusis made the landing somewhat soft. That was one bit of small fortune.

"Are you alright, Lord Jusis?" Anette asked, before remembering she was supposed to be a punk. "I mean, get comfy Lord Jusis! You and Machias are gonna be in bondage for a while!"

And that was how they were stunned into such silence that they missed their chance to actually stand up, dumbly sitting on their knees beside each other as Anette and Raby took their wrists.

"Where did you hear that word?" Jusis demanded.

Patiry waved.

"And where the hell did you hear it?" Machias sputtered. Kids these days!

"I heard all about it!" Patiry grinned. "So you and Blondie are gonna sit here tied up while we conquer your school festival."

"Tied up? Huh?" If they hadn't been so stunned maybe they would have noticed Anette and Raby wrapping a rope around their wrists in time. But they didn't notice in time, and when they did there was no way for Machias to swing his arms without accidentally hitting one of the brats, which would have been acceptable but Jusis' misplaced brotherly instincts kept his own arms firmly in place. And their frantic protests were drowned out by Patiry and Kargo's enthusiasm.

"There," Anette said happily. "We did it Patiry."

"Good work!" Patiry nodded. "Well, see ya Machias. Wouldn't wanna be ya."

"Bye Lord Jusis," Raby waved his hand. "Wouldn't wanna be ya."

And to Machias and Jusis' horror, they could only yell and uselessly wriggle their wrists as the doors were shut in front of them.

"I hate you so much," Jusis said for what must been the fiftieth time in…however long it'd been. Which probably wasn't actually all that long but it wasn't like Machias could move his arms to check his watch.

Although when you were sitting on your butt in a malodourous stable with your wrists behind your back tied to Jusis Albarea's, every minute felt like an eternity.

"Shouldn't someone notice we're missing by now?" Machias grumbled. "People saw us go in here."

"Saw us, maybe. Paid attention, no," Jusis replied. "The riding club's even is generating good turnout—far better than the chess club's—so there's too much happening out there for anyone to pay attention to the stable."

"I'm going to ignore that middle part," Machias snapped. "But that does explain why no one could hear us calling for help."

"Exactly."

Silence fell upon them again, as Machias tried to think of a solution. They had to get out and teach those brats a thing or do before they really did something stupid.

Stupider, that was.

"Jusis, can you stand?"

"I'm sure if we made an effort, we could lift ourselves. What's the plan?"

"The stable isn't locked right? Let's just get up and push the doors open. Then once we're out someone can untie us."

Jusis was quiet for a few moments then pulled himself to sit upright with his legs crossed. Machias flinched at the callous tugging.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No one may have noticed us going into the stable, but they are definitely going to notice two people stumbling out with their hands tied together. I refuse to be seen like this."

"For the love of Aidios, is this really the time for—

"My brother is here somewhere."

"So—

"And so is your father."

"…Oh."

"Exactly."

"Yeah, we definitely cannot go outside like this. Someone either needs to come in here and untie us or we need to do it ourselves." Machias sighed. "Can we bet on the riding club?"

"Not until the event is done," Jusis said wearily. "Lambert and Paula are busy manning the booth and watching the horses. They won't have any reason to come in here."

"Great. And who knows when Patiry and Kargo will check on us."

"If they check on us."

"They will. They may be brats, but they're not that terrible."

"I fail to be convinced."

Machias scowled. "Well your lack of faith in your kids fills me with plenty of confidence."

"They won't forget. But they're not likely to stand up to your bullies."

"Patiry and Kargo aren't bullies."

"I fail to be convinced," Jusis said louder, and shook his wrists for good measure.

"Shut up." Machias snapped.

Thankfully he did. For a few seconds.

"Machias."

"What is it?"

"Can you reach into my pocket?"

"Why?"

"Just try it. Left one."

It took a lot of squirming and turning and thanking every deity out there that there were no witnesses (even though a witness would make it all unnecessary), but Machias and Jusis were finally able to move into a position where Machias fingers could slip into Jusis' pants pocket and slowly pry out the contents inside.

Their prize was an ARCUS that slid onto the ground between them.

Machias brightened. "We did it."

"Now we can call someone over," Jusis smirked and leaned over so his fingers could open the device. "Just…have to…dial…Rean…" he huffed as he slowly worked the device as Machias breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the Goddess for Rean. If there was anyone they could count on to be discreet and understanding and not judge them for this, it would be—

"Hello?"

The chipper voice that answered their call definitely did not belong to Rean.

Machias and Jusis paled.

"Helloooo?" the chipper voice asked again.

"What did you do?" Machias demanded. "You were supposed to call Rean!"

"I didn't misdial," Jusis snapped.

"Jusis? Machias? That you?" the voice called. "Why do you sound so far away?"

"Millium, that's Rean's ARCUS isn't it? Why are you answering?"

"Oh, Rean can't come to the phone right now. He's busy doing fetch quests." Millium explained.

"What?"

"You know, the usual. Something about some kids doing graffiti—

"Graffiti?" Machias frowned, an ominous thought forming in his mind. Surely not, right?

"—and booth takeovers—

"Booth takeovers?" Jusis had a similar worried expression.

"—and Coarse Rock Salt—

"Coarse Rock Salt!?" Machias yelled out in alarm, before realized he had no idea what that had to do with anything. "Wait what?"

"One of the merchants needed it. Becky, I think."

"Oh." Machias chuckled nervously as Jusis rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, can you put Rean on?" Jusis asked. "He's there, right?"

"Nope. Actually, I'm looking for him myself. I jumped on him earlier and his ARCUS fell out of his pocket. He didn't notice."

Could anything else go wrong today? Machias would have buried his face in his hands if he could.

"But what do you need? I'll pass along the message. Where are you guys anyway? You sound really distant."

"Look, just find him and—

"We're in the stable," Machias cut him off, to Jusis' horror.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Do you want to get out of here or not?" Machias snapped. "Millium, we need a favor. We need you to quietly come over here and let us out."

"Huh? You're trapped inside? Is the door locked?"

"Not exactly…" Jusis said, forced to concede that, yes, Millium was going to be the one to save them. "Let's just say we're a little…tied up. Literally."

There was silence.

Then,

"Ookay. This I gotta see."

She was never going to let them hear the end of it.

Machias supposed they were lucky the entire school hadn't rushed inside when their savior finally opened the stable doors and immediately burst out laughing at the sight of a disheveled Jusis and Machias sitting back to back with their wrists very much tied together. All that wriggling and the rope hadn't loosened up even a little. Seriously who taught those kids this?

But after getting the worst of it out of her system, Millium did go over to them and started working on the ropes.

"What the heck happened to you two?" she laughed.

"Don't ask," Jusis grumbled.

"Please," Machias said. "Just hurry up and untie us."

"In a minute. These are really good knots. They must've been pros!"

"Uh, yeah, something like that."

"Professional pains, maybe," Jusis muttered.

"I know who that was aimed at and I am going to remind you again that it was your brats that did this."

"And I am going to remind you again that it was only under the corrupting influence of your little hellions."

"Wait, wait a couple of kids did this?" Millium asked just as she undid the final knot and rope slid off their wrists and onto the ground, letting Machias and Jusis finally pull apart.

"No!" they snapped together as they inspected the damages to their hands. Other than a little redness and soreness, Machias' wrists were fine. He would have no trouble wringing Patiry's neck once he found her anyway.

"You coming?" Jusis asked him, the same thoughts running through his mind.

"Lead the way."

As they finally stepped out of the stable and took in the fresh air, Millium bounded after them.

"Hey wait up, I'm coming too. I wanna meet these kids."

"No way," Jusis said. "You especially need to stay far away from them."

Machias nodded emphatically. All Anette and Raby got from meeting Patiry was a new, easily correctable, speech pattern. If Millium met her, she would get ideas.

"Don't you have to find Rean or something?"

Millium stopped.

"You're right," she said, then smiled. "Oh well, guess I'm just gonna have to find him and tell him aaall about—

They grabbed her wrists.

"Stay," Jusis said.

"The skills of an intelligence agent will surely come in handy," Machias added.

Millium beamed.

"Happy to help!"

The skills of the intelligence agent did not really come in handy. Mainly because the targets left such an obvious trail that one would have to be blind not to see it.

Or deaf rather, as everywhere Machias and Jusis went, students talked about a group of rowdy kids. Not in a bad way though, as Machias found out the first time he and Jusis tried to apologize for whatever disaster Patiry and her gang brought forth. They talked about them in an endearing way, laughing at their odd mannerisms and attempts at talking like rude delinquents only to keep slipping back into polite pleasant conversation. They were good kids, most of their schoolmates concluded. But they weren't really sure what to make of them for the most part.

They had certainly been everywhere. They visited all of the booths and stalls, leaving an impression (for lack of a better word) in their wake. But while everyone could point Machias and Jusis in the direction they went, no one seemed to know where they currently were.

"They're everywhere," Millium remarked in a mock-sinister tone when they reached the roof and stopped to gather their bearings.

"Yeah, like ghosts," Jusis agreed. She immediately wilted at that response but recovered moments later.

"Sounds like they're having fun though. I'm jealous."

"Don't be," Machias said. "When I find those two…"

"You'll what?" both the last and the very voice Machias wanted to hear suddenly spoke behind him in her usual snide tone.

Patiry stood as smug as ever with Kargo hiding slightly behind her, probably realizing that Machias was not happy with him and getting rightfully worried. Anette and Raby on the other hand just brightened at the site of their beloved Lord Jusis.

"Lord Jusis, you got out!" Anette exclaimed happily. "I mean, heh, those ropes were no match for you, huh?"

"I thought we tied them up real good," Raby said.

"You did." There was no humor in Jusis' tone. "We need to talk."

The bright smiles instantly vanished as they moved behind Patiry, frightened.

"Anette, Raby, come here now." Jusis' tone was even colder this time. Machias heard Millium mutter that she would hate to be in their shoes right now, and he was inclined to agree.

"I'm counting to three. One."

"Hey! You don't scare us Blondie!" Patiry jeered.

"Two."

"Um," Kargo looked at the kids and the Jusis uncertain.

"Two and a half."

"W-we're coming," Anette squeaked and took her brother's hand, timidly pulling him behind her. Raby looked like he was about to cry.

Machias almost felt bad for the two of them now. However blunt Jusis could be with them, he probably never actually raised his voice at them.

When they approached, he pulled them over to the side so they could talk in private. He crouched down to be at eye level with them and all Machias could see was two pairs of wide frightened eyes and heads nodding along at whatever was being said.

He would leave Jusis to it. He had his own brats to deal with.

"I hope you two are very proud of yourselves," he said crossing his arms.

"What'd we do?" Patiry demanded though her smug expression had faltered and she had the decency to look uncomfortable.

"Look over there," Machias gestured towards Jusis. "You think he lectures them like that on a daily basis? What were you thinking dragging them into your schemes?"

"We were just having fun," Patiry grumbled.

"You can have fun without tying people up and leaving them to rot in a stable."

"It was a harmless prank."

"W-we would have come back for you," Kargo added, the usual attitude gone.

"Why did you even think to tie us up at all?" That was the real question Machias wanted answered.

Patiry shrugged. "I didn't think you'd mind."

"How the hell did you ever come to that conclusion—No, don't answer that!" That worrisome word Anette had used that she'd learned from Patiry could have only come from one source. If Machias' hunch was correct, he really didn't want to know.

"Look if the four of you just wanted to hang out without us around, you could have just said so," he said instead with a sigh.

"I didn't think that blond guy would have let us."

"And you would have been correct. Tying people up is still not a solution."

Patiry crossed her arms and stared at Machias angrily.

"Look we met up while they were looking for Jusis. We started talking and realized they knew you too somehow. So we formed a gang and decided to conquer the school festival together. I don't see what the problem is."

Was she purposely ignoring the whole "You tied us up and left us in a putrid stable" part of the conversation? Then Machias remembered that phone call with Millium (who he suddenly realized had wandered off somewhere).

"Oh yeah speaking of your gang, I heard some interesting rumors."

"Yeah?" Patiry perked up. "Have we made a name for ourselves here?"

"Oh yeah," Machias nodded. "I'm told you were taking over booths?"

"Yep!" Kargo said proudly, apparently deciding the serious part of the conversation was over. "We beat all of them!"

"What?"

"Scores, dumbass." Patiry rolled her eyes. "We set all of the high scores on the games…except for the horse racing one. Dunno how to ride. But it doesn't count."

"Uh-huh." Machias was pretty sure it counted but that was beside the point. "And the graffiti? Are you insane?"

"It was on paper!" Patiry yelled. "Do you think we're petty vandals or somethin'?"

"Yes, actually."

"Rude!" Kargo pouted.

"We've got class, you jackass!"

"Delinquents with class. Well, there you go!" Millium cut in, reappearing behind Machias. "Guess that's all the mysteries solved."

"Wait so you really weren't doing anything shady?" Machias was confused now.

"No!" Patiry yelled. "We were just going around the festival."

"We were playing," Kargo clarified.

"Not playing, expanding our turf," Patiry corrected. Whatever. If all that actually meant was playing games and drawing on paper rather than walls, she could call it as she pleased.

Machias felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Oh thank Aidios," he breathed out running his hand through his hair. He could still show his face around the academy tomorrow.

"Oh yeah, Jusis!" Machias was still mad about getting tied up, but he supposed it was only fair to relay what Patiry and Kargo had told him before he reduced those poor kids to inconsolable hysterics with his terrible attitude.

"Oh, I don't think you need to worry about that," Millium assured him and gestured over to his still crouched form. But Anette and Raby no longer looked on the verge of tears. They were laughing and smiling now.

"As long as you two understand, it's okay," Jusis said as he stood up. As soon as he did, they immediately attached themselves to his waist in a tight hug. He muttered something and pat their heads.

"All good now?" Millium asked, tilting her head side to side as she took in the sight.

"Yeah," Jusis said, and peeled the two kids off. "They promised not to repeat any of the words they've had the misfortune of learning, and not to talk like delinquents to anyone other than those two."

"And not to tie people up ever again," Anette added. "We're really sorry Machias."

"Sorry," Raby said sincerely.

"Apology accepted," Machias smiled then turned to Patiry and Kargo expectant. "Your turn."

"Keep dreamin' Four-Eyes," Patiry snapped.

"Yeah! Keep dreamin'," Kargo parroted.

Jusis smirked knowingly. Machias just sighed. It was worth a try.

"Alright, you two are free to go now," Jusis told Anette and Raby. "I'll be at the riding club's booth later, so come find me if you need anything."

"Okay," Raby said.

"Thank you, Lord Jusis," Anette smiled and the two of them ran over to Patiry and Kargo. Machias stared as the four of them went off to defend their turf or whatever once again.

"After all that you're letting them hang out?"

"Why not?" Jusis asked. "They're having fun."

"Seriously?"

"Machias, in case you haven't noticed, they're not actually my kids. They can do as they please," Jusis said with an exasperated sigh, as though that should have been obvious. "Or what? You disapprove?"

Machias felt his face heat up. "Shut up!"

There was still one problem.

"You know all that talk of gangs and turfs got me thinking. I wanna form a gang too," Millium said as the three of them descended from the roof.

It was just as Machias feared. She had ideas.

"You two can be my underlings!"

"Millium why are you even still here? Aren't you supposed to be looking for Rean?" Machias said, eagerly hoping she would take the hint and go conscript Rean for her gang instead.

"Oh that subplot's over and done with," she said. "I spotted him while you were lecturing those kids and gave him back his ARCUS. Poor guy didn't realize it was gone this whole time."

"Hmm," Jusis grunted. He'd been oddly quiet for some time now.

"So come on, let's do it! We gotta go beat all those high scores. We can start a turf war!"

"Or we could not," Machias suggested instead.

"Oh, oh actually I'm really hungry. Buy me something sweet!"

"Buy it yourself," Machias snapped at the same moment that Jusis said, "Yeah, whatever."

Machias stopped. "Wait what?"

"Yippee!" Millium cheered and attempted to throw herself at Jusis who skillfully ducked.

"Seriously? What the hell?"

"You're coming too, of course," Jusis said calmly.

"Like hell I am! Don't volunteer me for this nonsense."

"You don't have a choice, I'm afraid," Jusis said. "Though frankly, indulging her for an hour or two is a small price to pay."

"Pay for what?" Machias frowned.

Jusis rolled his eyes. "Hey Millium, what if we refuse?"

Millium grinned. "Weeeell, I guess I'll just need to tell the others aaall about…"

"…Oh."

"Exactly."

Aidios really, really hated him.

A/N: Fun Fact: This idea started as a hurt/comfort story...I don't even remember what that was going to be anymore. It turned into a comedy. I blame Millium.

Thanks for reading!