Title: The Truth-Seekers
Summary: Highlander Jarrett's mission is to seek the truth of the Yggdrasil labyrinth with his guild, the White Fangs. But his exploration becomes somewhat complicated when he meets an orange-haired, katana wielding medic, who looks like a guy but is really a sullen and aloof woman. She's on a quest of her own – find proof needed to stop a fellow medic, who is popular and adored, from poisoning anymore patients. Will he help? Will she let him help?
Story Notes: EO:Untold setting, Genderbend, Multi-chapters, mystery, romance, action and adventure, highlander's name is Jarrett in this story
Author Notes: Read a few EO fanfics and played the game, so I thought I'd try writing a story. I genderbent the orange-haired male medic from the classic version. Why? Because I wanted to. Besides, after reading a certain story I became obsessed with this character. Also, tell me if you want to see romance between Jarret and genderbent!Medic. There will be some moments between them, but let me know if you want them to get together as a couple.
Jarrett sighed as he holstered his harpoon onto his shoulder, trying his best to block out the bickering of his teammate and pay attention to the sounds and noises of the third floor of the Yggdrasil. He was still on edge after barely escaping those murderous Reaping Shades.
"Where's that mining spot already?" Arthur whined as he dragged his feet against the ground. "This is getting boring!"
Simon sighed with exasperation. "Your whining is not helping," he scolded.
"Think of it as training," Ricky tried to pacify. "Mr Merchant will be so happy when we tell him where to find a mining spot."
"He might even buy us a round of drinks," Raquna grinned.
A shiver racing down Jarrett's spine caused him to come to an abrupt stop, his body tensing. As a highlander, his primal skills were more refined than others. He was able to sense the presence of nearby monsters. "Something's coming," he hissed, his eyes narrowing.
"Eek!" Ricky suddenly shrieked. "It's behind us!"
Spinning around, a curse tumbled from Jarrett's lips as he reached for his weapon and tried to push himself between the back fighters and the black and white monkey that was charging toward them. It was a Zebratherium, dangerous and powerful. The last thing they needed to be ambushed by!
"Shit." He wasn't going to make it.
But before Jarrett could reach Arthur and Ricky, someone else did. Someone, who appeared male with orange-haired pulled back into a small ponytail, suddenly moved in front of Ricky and Arthur. By his side was a katana in a black sheath.
A split second later, the katana was out of its sheath and resting by his side. The Zebratherium came to an abrupt stop, towering over the mysterious, katana wielding young man. Then a small amount of blood spurted from the Zebratherium's neck. But it was not a huge amount. So the beast did not suffer from a cut to the throat, but by something else. For a few seconds, the Zebratherium did not move but then it started to tilt to the left before crashing to the ground in an unmoving heap.
Sheathing his katana, the young man stood up straight and used his hand to push back strands of orange hair that fell over violet eyes. The white coat and orange bag gave him the appearance of a medic. But the katana by his side also stated that he had some ronin skills. An odd combination.
Slowly, the medic turned toward them. His wide violet eyes held a sense of coolness as he looked them over, as if studying them.
Sensing no threat from the man in front of them, Jarrett relaxed and holstered his harpoon. As did everyone else. They approached the man to offer their thanks.
Turning her attention to the unknown man, Ricky beamed at him with gratitude. "Thank you for helping us!"
"Whew, that was close," Arthur said, his shoulders sagging with relief. "We managed to avoid the Reaping Shades. How embarrassing would it be if we were taken out by a Zebratherium?"
The medic glanced at Ricky before shrugging. "I was just passing by," he said, his voice surprisingly light and somewhat girly.
Shocked by his voice, Jarrett found himself studying him a little harder. The more that Jarrett looked at him, the more he felt that there was something odd about him. He had a surprisingly slender frame and large eyes with thick lashes. Despite the large, baggy blue shirt and dark brown pants, Jarrett could see that he had muscles, but they weren't well defined. He had a somewhat feminine feel to him.
"By the way, my name is Frederica, but you can call me Ricky!" The ever friendly Ricky introduced herself. "And these are my friends, Raquna, Simon, Arthur. And Jarrett is our leader."
Stepping forward as his role as leader, Jarrett offered his personal thanks. "I appreciate your help in protecting my teammates," he said.
The medic simply nodded, once against brushing away the strands of his hair that fell over his eyes. "My name is Galenia, but I prefer Galyn," he finally introduced himself.
Hearing him speak again, Jarrett narrowed his eyes in thought. Hmm…
"Do you have a sore throat or something?" Arthur suddenly asked, leaning forward to get into Galyn's personal space. "You have a girly voice."
"Arthur…" Simon hissed in a warning tone.
"Girlish voice, hm?" Galyn muttered, sounding a little insulted. "Fitting, I suppose."
"Wait, you're a girl?!" Arthur yelled.
Galyn rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest, unwittingly revealing two telling bumps on her chest. Jarrett unwilling glanced at her chest, his expression remaining stoic, but inwardly he was trying hard not to blush. He was not all that shocked, really, that Galyn was a girl. He knew that there was something different about Galyn.
Those clothes, though, did nothing to reveal her figure. She was skinny, though. And she had boobs…
"Shocking, isn't it?" Galyn muttered.
"But you look like a guy," Arthur continued. "Oh, are you transgender or something?"
"Arthur!" Raquna finally shrieked before smacking Arthur on the back of the head to quieten him down before pushing in front of him and giving Galyn an apologetic look. "Sorry about that. He can be rather impulsive."
"And intrusive," Simon added as he pushed up at his glasses, glaring at a cowering Arthur as he did so.
Galyn didn't look all that amused. "I'm surprised that he knows what transgender means."
Ricky fidgeted from the uncomfortable tension. "So, um, how are you today?"
"Fine," Galyn answered tersely as she tightened her grip on her katana. "To answer your previous question; No, I'm not 'trans' anything, I'm afraid. I just prefer wearing men's clothing as they are more comfortable and practical than women's clothing. Since we're on the topic of personal matters, I am 17 years old, single, asexual, a medic and my favourite move is Severing Slash. If that is all, I'll take my leave."
Before anyone could say a thing, she turned her back to them and left, disappearing into the green foliage of the third floor. And Jarrett watched her leave, noting that she seemed at eased travelling alone. He could also see that she was feeling rather pissed off.
He hadn't seen her before, though. Was she a local? Crap, he should have said something to put her at ease, right?
Ricky stared at where Galyn disappeared in a dumbfounded manner. "She, um...She seems..." she stuttered.
"Guarded," Simon finished for her before once again turning his attention to their alchemist. "Arthur, you shouldn't ask such personal things like that."
"S-sorry," Arthur whimpered as he rubbed his head where Raquna hit him. "I was just curious, ya know...?"
"…She must be quite strong to be traversing the labyrinth alone," Jarrett mused aloud.
"Yeah," Arthur piped up. "Hey, why do you think she's down here?"
Simon twisted Arthur's ear and began to drag him off. "It's none of our business."
"Ow! Let go!"
"Raquna?" Ricky tugged on Raquna's clothing. "What does asexual mean?"
Jarrett immediately returned to the task at hand and moved to follow Simon and Arthur. "…Good luck," he said back at Raquna before scurrying off.
"Hey!" Raquna shouted after him before floundering in front of Ricky, who looked up at her with interest and expectation.
"Ah, Jarrett?"
Turning a corner, Jarrett was surprised by what he saw. Stern and cold, ronin warrior Ren was blocking their path, preventing them from venturing any further. Behind her was her constant companion, hexer Tlachtga. Seeing the two experienced warriors put Jarrett both at ease and on edge. Jarrett knew that he was somewhat socially awkward. But so were Ren and Tlachtga. But seeing them in the labyrinth, literally barring the way, meant that something was up.
"Ren, Tlachtga," Jarrett stated in some sort of a greeting as the rest of his guild gathered around him.
"Jarrett," Ren replied, her expression as stoic and her voice as cool as ever. "Still in one piece, I see."
"Hey, you're a ronin, right?" Arthur suddenly asked.
Ren's eyes narrowed further as she turned to look at Arthur, contempt clearly in her expression. "Clearly."
Totally disregarding the cold look, Arthur continued. "Then do you know Severing Slash?"
For a split second a look of surprise registered on Ren's face before she narrowed her eyes in a fearsome glare. "Severing Slash is a specialised technique that can only be learnt by increasing one's mental and physical strength," she answered sharply.
"So what does it do?"
Ren's eyes became colder as she answered. "Instantly kill all enemies with one slash."
Arthur broke out into a cold sweat. "O-oh, really?" he murmured, looking pale.
Ricky looked equally as surprised. "A-a medic knows how to do that?" she whispered under her breath.
"It's a grimoire," Jarrett said. "She's using a grimoire stone."
"But where did she get a grimoire stone?" Simon asked as he fiddled with his glasses again. "We're the only ones who have been able to use them."
Jarrett did not answer. However, his interest was piqued. They've discovered a grimoire stone in the labyrinth, so there was a chance that Galyn did as well. How far had she travelled and was she really travelling alone?
Maybe he should learn a bit more about her…
