A/N: Well, here is the first chapter of the multichaptered Iota fic I promised. It starts before the game, and goes on to a brief summary of Rita-Ioder meetings in-game – the next chapter will finish that segment up, and the real plot will begin. This is not a continuation of Third, though similar concepts will most likely be incorporated. If you want to watch the scene all of the dialogue was taken from, verbatim, in the third scene without replaying the game, the video is Tales of Vesperia – 37 Throne Candidate on YouTube, from KaddyGamer.
Rita was woken by a knocking on the door, which was somewhat of an unusual occurrence. A very, very unwelcome one.
One of the perks of living alone, in a small shack down a precarious path in an underground city full of irritable, antisocial academics was the ability to keep her own hours: Rita generally worked late, collapsed over her notes, woke briefly in the early hours of the morning, hauled herself to her bed, and slept later. Her first response to being woken was generally "Fire Ball!", which meant that nobody dared disturb her before two o'clock for a very, very good reason.
The only things that constituted a good reason were a new discovery they needed her to look at or a visit from Commandant Alexei, and, seeing as Commandant Alexei traveled most often in the fall, traveling in armor being markedly inconvenient in summer and winter, and getting a rather terrible case of hay fever in the spring, and the fact that her colleagues were all blithering numbskulls who generally didn't discover a doorframe until it hit them on the head, it was almost certainly Commandant Alexei coming to check on their projects.
The knocking stopped and then started again, more loudly. "I'm coming, so shut it before I come over there and make you!" Rita shouted. The knocking stopped. That's better, she thought, grimly satisfied.
She slept in her clothes, which were perpetually rumpled, anyway, so there was no real reason to change – if anyone cared how she looked, they could take it up with her Sash or her fireballs. Or her fist or her Burning Blood compendium, really – she wasn't picky.
Rita opened the door, expecting a mage, probably trembling, maybe even still clutching the short straw in their hand, or maybe even one of the Imperial Knights. What she got was a small, wimpy boy with wispy-looking blond hair and namby-pamby fancy clothes, who was not wearing a look of pants-wetting hair. Perhaps he was deaf. Or dumb. Or merely ignorant.
Well, there was ample time to rectify that. "What the hell do you want?" she snarled.
"Commandant Alexei sent me to fetch Rita Mordio," he replied, completely unruffled. "Is she in?"
"I am Rita Mordio, you idiot. Message delivered. Now get the hell off of my front step."
Now he looked shocked. "You are? Really? But you look so … young."
And there it was, the prejudice she had been fighting for pretty much all of her life. "What does age have to do with intelligence, moron? I told you to get out of my way."
"Er – sorry." He blushed and stepped aside. "I'm supposed to take you there? Miss Mordio?"
"Whatever." She stalked past him and up the rickety expanse, not bothering to ask for his name. The Commandant would probably insist on introducing them anyway, not like she cared. He was just another idiot disrupting her perfectly well-ordered life.
The Commandant was in the lab, surrounded by a cluster of anxious mages waving sheaves of notes and babbling on about the absolutely vital importance of their research. Rita rolled her eyes. Leeches, the lot of them. Lapdog leeches.
Now that would be an interesting pet.
Commandant Alexei noticed her – or, more accurately, Wispy Wimp, who had somehow moved from behind her to her side, and pushed through the crowd of mages like they were a particularly bothersome patch of grass, ignoring her, too, to place his hand on Wispy Wimp's shoulders and glare menacingly. "Are you harmed, Your Highness?"
"No," His Wispy Wimpy Highness, apparently, said, confused. "Why would I be hurt? This is a city of the Empire, isn't it?"
"You're alone, undefended. Assassins can be hidden in even the most guarded of locations. Where are your guards?"
"By the gate. They were performing a check-in and I went to the main square. There was a mage there, and he asked me if I wanted to go fetch a Rita Mordio for him. She lived in the little house that led off of the square. So I did." He frowned. "I thought you said there was nobody my age here."
"I said there was nobody appropriate for your age here," the Commandant said, glowering. "Miss Mordio is an accredited mage, as well as extremely temperamental. The last person to fetch her came away with third-degree burns."
"Really?" he asked, wide-eyed, before he turned to her. "How did you do it? Can you teach me?"
"Come this way, Your Highness," Commandant Alexei cut in before Rita could tell him that there was no way on earth he would have the skill and discipline to control aer, putting an arm around his shoulders and steering her away.
Huh. She still didn't have a name, and it didn't look like she would have an opportunity to ask anytime soon. Rita went up to one of the Knights in the corner and threw her sash around his neck, drawing him down to her level. "Hey. Who's the brat the Commandant's hanging all over?"
"H-His Royal Highness Ioder, candidate for the Imperial throne," the Knight stammered.
Rita released the sash and moved away, not bothering to thank him. Ioder. Huh.
What a weird name. Well, that made sense, considering how weird the kid was.
Rita looked outside the window of the inn and considered shattering it so everyone inside would be soaked, causing property damage and making everyone wet and furious. A fight would be nice right now. Yuri had already been in one, apparently – his bad luck was almost a preternatural talent. Perhaps it was some sort of aer distortion caused by his bodhi blastia. She'd have to study him later.
After the whole explanation bit, Yuri, Flynn, and Flynn's Number One Fan, AKA Estellise, had kicked everyone else out of the room to have their cute little "our journey has ended – friends forever" little powwow, Flynn's Other Number One Fan, AKA Lieutenant Sodia, had gone to inspect the troops, Applehead had finally been driven off with a few choice whacks from the compendium and was now in the corner, muttering and stroking his staff. The kid was … somewhere that was not here, and the mutt was curled at her feet, gnawing at a bone he had mysteriously procured. Lucky mutt. "Stupid mutt."
She glanced out the window again – blah blah blah, rain, boring – and then down at the mutt again. He looked so cu – almost tolerable – like that … Rita looked around, glaring, in what could no way be construed as a furtive manner, because everything Rita Mordio did was not to be commented on unless the person was talking to her fist. Or her fireballs.
There were two people at a table discussing something in low voices and the innkeeper, who was staring at his guest log forlornly, none of whom were looking. Okay, then. Rita Mordio slowly, cautiously reached down and scratched the mutt behind his ears.
… Only in the interest of scientific observation and discovery, of course. It wasn't like she liked the stupid dog or anything. His fur wasn't as shaggy and coarse as she had been expecting, surprisingly – it was softer than the blanket on her bed back home, though that wasn't saying much.
This was actually kind of okay-feeling, though if anyone saw it she would burn them to a crisp, especially the stupid kid. Or Yuri and his infernal smirk … or Lady Pink, Perfect, and Petal-Loving, who would think it was the cutest thing ever and couldn't even get close to the mutt.
Traveling with a group of people was … weird. Not necessarily in a good way, either. It meant annoying voices at every minute of the day, breaks only when the kid's stubby little legs couldn't take it anymore (which was actually a lot sooner than she took breaks, but whatever) and the constant stream of mingled cheer and sarcasm was ridiculously grating. Still, the mutt was a halfway-decent traveling companion, and fighting in a group was more efficient, excepting when the kid stumbled into one of her spells, which was funny, at least. Maybe Yuri wouldn't mind company, on his search for the blastia thief? Only for the blastia's sake, of course. He wouldn't turn down the hope of the greatest blastia mage currently living, on the off-chance any of them had been damaged in capture or in transit.
Apparently Estellise was a Lady as well, though anyone with half a brain could have guessed that. The mystery of her blastia-less healing was far more intriguing.
… A noble who used to live at the palace. Rita wondered idly if she knew His Wispy Wimpy Highness, and then promptly dismissed the thought.
"Who the hell does he think he is?" Rita spluttered, outraged beyond belief. If the Commandant hadn't been in the room, she would have fireballed that sleazy dung-sucking cur. In another second, she was going to snap and do so anyway. Searching desperately for something to distract herself, she settled on the foppish ponce still sitting at the table, who had been nodded to with some degree of deference by Ragou, and so was probably another evil council toady. "And who the hell is he?"
"Settle down," Yuri had the nerve to say. Maybe she'd fireball him, too. If it weren't for his criminal rep and skeezy reputation, their words would have had more weight – after all, she was an accredited imperial mage, and Estellise was a lady, right? So it was all his fault, really, considering he had gotten them into this in the first place.
Flynn-the-Armor-Bound-Blockhead seemed to be answering, luckily, albeit in an awkward, clumsy manner. "This is …"
He trailed off, and Estellise stepped forward, turning around to face them. "This is His Royal Highness Ioder, candidate for the Imperial throne," she announced.
Wait. His Wispy Wimpy Highness? Him? Rita would have gaped, if such an idiotic expression were allowed within five miles of her facial features. Instead, she glared even harder, if such a thing was possible. The hair was the same, she conceded grudgingly, and the clothes had grown fancier, if no less namby-pamby. It was him, alright.
While she was ruminating on the subject, the kid decided to step forward and put his foot in his overly large mouth. "Huh? Hah hah, yeah right, Estelle, good one … Hah hah hah … What?" Idiot.
Then His Wispy Wimpy Highness actually opened his mouth and spoke, in a voice that actually sounded more feminine than the kid's, wonder of wonders. "I am only one of the candidates." Great, he was modest, too? The brat still had absolutely no redeeming qualities.
Captain Simpleton felt a need to elaborate, as if anyone in the room actually cared what he was talking about. "It's true. With the passing of the previous Emperor, Master Ioder is a rightful heir to the throne."
"R-really?" The kid again. Forget the mutt – he was the one who needed the muzzle. No, this was just a really big joke and someone had grabbed a boy off the street, dressed him up, persuaded the straight-laced Flynn Schifo and the utterly sincere at all times Estellise to go along with it, and was currently snickering behind the flimsy curtains.
"Yes," His Wimpy Wispy Highness answered anyway, sincerity shining through his watery blue eyes. Ugh. Sickening. There was, apparently, an illegitimate lovechild of Captain Simpleton and Lady Pink, Perfect, and Petal-Loving from the future in the room. Rita fought the urge to gag loudly, retch, or incinerate him on the spot. He was, after all, a candidate for the Imperial throne. There were probably plenty of assassins she could frame from the murder if she waited and killed him privately.
"An alleged imperial heir captured by a so-called magistrate. That's interesting." Yuri's sarcasm was more entertaining than anything else that had been said so far, at least. Rita decided that she wouldn't fireball him unless he did something even worse, which he would, eventually. She could wait.
"I see. Then this incident means that I …" Estellise looked at the floor.
"A little too juicy for public consumption, huh?" Yuri taunted.
Estellise avoided his gaze, stammering. "I … I just …"
"It's got something to do with your decision to leave the castle, doesn't it?" Yuri asked, outwardly relaxed, eyes burning a hole in her pretty pink skull. Rita resisted the urge to tell them to get a room.
"…" Very articulate. Rita rolled her eyes, and saw that His Wispy Wimpy Highness had trained his watery eyes on Estellise with an expression of concern. How touching. On the floor, the mutt extended his muzzle and yawned silently. She agreed completely with the sentiment.
Yuri turned his back on her, literally, escalating the drama level from seven to thirty-five and also doing something completely stupid, in a room with two-to-three potential foes and a window. "Do whatever you want. I've got no interest in an empire that just sits and does nothing while people suffer in plain sight."
"Yuri," Flynn said softly, as if they were clandestine lovers, making this more like the performance of a five-gald admission traveling acting troupe. "And what have you changed by turning your back on such an Empire? We need just laws laid down by the government to ensure that people can live lives of stability and peace."
"Those same laws just let Ragou walk out the door."
"Which is why you and I became knights, Yuri. To change things like that. If we couldn't make it happen by yelling about it from below …" He clenched his hand into a fist. "… then we said we'd gain honor and trust, and fix the empire from within. Remember?"
Yuri turned around, slowly, lazily – which, of course, meant he was utterly furious and this close to snapping. Rita was ready to join in when a vengeance when it happened, and between the two of them and the mutt, they could take out everyone else in the room without breaking a sweat. "… So in order to get ahead in life, I'm supposed to stand by while somebody feeds little kids to monsters? Is that it? You want me to look the other way when our people in the lower quarter are being bled dry by taxes? It's because I can't do those things that I quit being a knight."
"I know," Flynn admitted, face pained. "But has anything changed because you quit?"
"…" It was Yuri's turn to look away. Assuming he and Captain Simpleton weren't a couple, he and Lady Pink, Perfect, and Petal-Loving were absolutely perfect for each other.
"How is anything different than it was before you joined the Knights?" Flynn continued, emboldened. Yuri just turned around and headed for the door.
"W-wait, I'm coming too …" the kid stammered.
Captain Simpleton dropped his head into his gauntleted fist. Moron. "I've done it again… I only want him to move on with his life. To quit sitting around."
"Flynn, I …" Lady Triple P began.
Too late. The moment of emotional vulnerability had vanished. Friend Flynn was locked up again, and Captain Flynn was more than willing to reassume the wheel. "… My apologies for such an embarrassing scene."
"What do you intend to do next?" His Wispy Wimpy Highness asked, walking around the table.
"Would it be all right if I go with him?" Estellise asked, tone practically pleading. Geez. Did these people even realize she was still in the room?
"Why?" Captain Simpleton asked, as if he couldn't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to travel around in a company of Imperial Knights or spend all their time sitting in a decorated room in the palace, discussing the latest fashions. This idiot was Yuri's best friend? This imbecile had grown up in the lower quarter?
Estellise's chin performed the Noble Tilt. Damn. Her delicate lips opened, and it began: "I feel like so much has changed during my travels with Yuri. The Empire, the world … I've changed as well."
Rita tried to inch out of the room as quietly and quickly as she possibly could, but bumped into the kid, who was apparently the slowest-moving follower in existence. Lady Pink, Perfect, and Petal-Loving finished her speech, thankfully, and Captain Simpleton fell for it hook, line, sinker, and filet. "Lady Estellise … Understood." Gag. He turned to the kid abruptly. "You there. Young man."
"Who … m-me?" the kid stuttered. Really? There was no way on earth Captain Simpleton was talking to her. Or the dog.
… Unless he wanted to lose his family jewels.
"Tell Yuri to take good care of this young lady." Wow, condescending much?
"O-okay!" Was there a messenger guild, by any chance? Maybe it would be a good fit for him.
"Is it really all right …" Estellise asked, eyes shining like it was Christmas and the mutt had presented her with a litter of cute little puppies that all adored perkiness and petting.
"I would rather do the job myself, but I'm afraid my current duties won't allow it," Captain Simpleton told her in the voice of a Big Strong Man doing Important Work. Honestly. As if any other Imperial Knight would have let her go off with a wanted criminal, busy or not. She swooned anyway. "And as long as you're with him, I can be certain you'll be safe." If he knew anything about what had happened in the Shaikos Ruins …
"You believe in him, don't you?" As if this conversation couldn't get any more sappy. Now they were back to discussing Yuri again. Surely there were only a few steps to the door … or she could just kill everyone in the room, excepting the mutt …
"I do," Captain Earnest Simpleton declared. This was ridiculous. She had been silent long enough, dammit.
"If you guys are finished, can we get going?" Rita growled, infusing every inch of the irritation she felt into her tone. "We'll lose him if we don't hurry." She stormed out of the room and through the brightly-lit inn, not waiting for a response. The mutt walked beside her. She opened the door and looked around, but he was gone already.
Damn.
She walked in the direction that led further into town anyway, because there was no way she was going back inside, and it would be smart to explore a new city. "Wait for us, Rita!" Estellise cried. Begrudgingly, she slowed, and they walked on together. The mutt slunk away.
"Yuri, over here!" the kid shouted, and Rita saw him, too, and with him was that refuse-ridden scummy crusted-out barnacle husk of an old man. "Argh. I'll get you, old man!"
She ran for him, but he raised a hand to Yuri and slunk away – damn! Next time, she'd cast Fire Ball first! "Wait, damn it! I'm gonna beat you senseless!" She ran after him, but he had disappeared around a corner, and now he was nowhere in sight … Rita resisted the urge to beat her hands against a wall in frustration and stalked back to the group. "He got away. I'll catch that bugger one of these days …"
"You should leave him be. Going up against that kind of guy is just a waste of energy," Yuri advised. Okay. He was back on the Fire Ball list.
Estellise finally arrived, and Rita wondered whether Captain Earnest Simpleton or His Wispy Wimpy Highness had stopped her to tell her one last thing.
…Not that she cared at all, of course.