Disclaimer: I don't own Louie the
Rune Soldier or any of its characters, and I never will.
PART ONE: MELISSA'S DEFIANCE
Louie swung his new magic
wand steadily at his side as he walked through the town of Ohfun. Iya stepped
over to the side when the wand came near the side of her leg.
"Hey! Watch it, Louie!"
Louie smiled sideways at her.
"Sorry, Iya."
Iya straightened her glasses out and frowned a
little.
"E-excuse me! Miss! Mister!"
Iya and Louie came to a stop and turned around.
A blonde little boy with torn clothes and a dirty face ran up to them.
He put his hands on his knees and bent down to catch his breath.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Iya asked him.
He looked up at them, panting.
"Are you two magicians?"
He gasped.
"Please. I really need
all of your help."
The little boy looked down at his hands. He was
standing in front of Louie, Melissa, Merrill, and Genie, who were seated
at the usual table in the town tavern. Merrill leaned across the table
toward him.
"So what's your name,
kid?"
"My name is Arion," he
replied quietly.
"All right, Arion. Whaddya
want our help for?"
He looked up at them with his big blue eyes.
"For several nights our
town has been attacked by these horrible monsters. They come in and take
our food and all the girls and ladies in the town. I was sent to find someone
to come and get rid of the monsters."
He paused and his eyes drifted downward again.
"We're afraid to…"
The group exchanged glances. Merrill smirked.
"We might be able to
help you…but we don't do charity work."
"My father has promised
to pay whoever helps us…"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large
bag filled with gold coins. Merrill's eyes widened and sparkled.
"Okay, we'll take the
job!"
"Man, we are in the money this
time!"
Merrill grinned greedily and crossed her arms
behind her head and winked casually at Arion.
"So much cash for such
an easy job!"
"Don't get too excited,
Merrill," Genie cautioned. "We don't know yet how strong these monsters
may be."
Louie puffed out his chest and grinned.
"Don't worry, ladies!
These monsters will be no match for my magic wand and me! Let me take care
of this!"
"That's the last thing
we'd ever do," Merrill grumbled to Genie.
Melissa sighed and a sweatdrop rolled down the
side of her face, hearing the comment. So her champion wasn't all that
trustworthy or humble. No one ever said he had to be. Louie…her champion.
She shuddered. It was so against her will.
They reached the town
a little before noon. The people there were very relieved and happy to
see them. Arion's father, who was the head of the town, had prepared a
big celebration in their honor.
"Please," he grinned,
extending his arms heartily. "Eat, drink, and be merry! We are very grateful
to have you heroes here with us! All we have here tonight is for you!"
The group exchanged smiles.
"All right! These people
sure know how to show someone they're welcome!" Louie exclaimed.
Late that night, the
town was covered in a feeling of nervousness. Louie, who had had a few
too many drinks of beer at the celebration, was passed out on the floor
of the house Arion's father had allowed them to stay in. Melissa was resting
beside Merrill, who was dozing lightly, her head resting on Genie's shoulder.
Genie's deep eyes watched outside the window carefully. After several minutes,
Genie saw the monsters appearing out of the night mist.
"Merrill, Melissa, it's
time," she spoke urgently.
Merrill woke up instantly and Melissa stood up
readily.
"All right. Shall I wake
up Louie?"
Merrill and Genie cut their eyes at her, giving
her their answer.
Outside, the monsters
were growling hungrily and grabbing all the women from the houses.
"Stop right there!" Genie
yelled, running towards them.
She jumped at one of them and drove her fist in
his ugly face. The monster stumbled backwards and reached up in surprise
to touch his bloody face. He screamed to the others and they began to advance
on them. Merrill smirked.
"Oh, so they wanna fight,
huh?"
She ran up to one and poked him in the eyes, then,
while he was momentarily blinded, she swung her leg up and kicked him hard
in the stomach. He doubled over, clutching his body. As Merrill and Genie
continued to beat the monsters up, Melissa put her hands together.
"Great Mylee, God of
war, I ask for your protection from these that wish to harm us."
She held up her hands and unleashed the holy power
on a group of the monsters. She smiled as they vanished, but her smile
quickly fell.
"Hey! Why didn't you
guys tell me the party started?"
The three froze and looked over their shoulders
to see Louie standing there, his magic wand in his hand.
"We've got this under
control, Louie! We don't need you this time!" Genie called to him.
Louie waved his hand at her dismissively.
"Genie, you don't have
to try and protect me. I can handle these freaks."
With these words, he gripped his magic wand and
raised it above his head. Melissa, Merrill, and Genie quickly ran out of
the way. Melissa turned to the two once they were at a safe distance.
"Maybe we should give
Louie the benefit of the doubt. He might actually do this right."
Merrill scoffed.
"Melissa, what fantasy
land are you in?"
Melissa looked back at Louie as he let out a battle
cry and slung his wand out towards the monsters. She held her breath and
closed her eyes at the blinding light that erupted from the wand.
When she opened her eyes, she began to wish she
hadn't. The monsters had been wiped away with the magic of the wand…and
so had an entire half of the town. She hung her head and groaned.
"Oh Louie…"
The townspeople were not happy, to say the least.
Arion's father was gritting his teeth, hands clenched, shaking angrily.
Merrill approached him sheepishly.
"So, uh…about our payment?"
He turned to face her slowly; with a look so cold
it could freeze Hell.
"What about your payment?"
Merrill smiled nervously at him.
"You keep it! Heheh…"
"I want you three…and
your idiot magician…to get out of my sight immediately!"
Melissa, head bowed in apology and shame, started
away from the town. Louie looked at Genie.
"Uh, say, did I do something
wrong?"
Genie gave him an evil look.
"Impudent peon."
"Huh?"
She followed Melissa. Merrill kicked Louie in
his side.
"You're such an idiot!"
She yelled before going to walk beside Genie.
Louie rubbed his sore side and followed them.
"Hey, Melissa!" He called.
The priestess said nothing, but allowed him to
catch up.
"What's the big deal?
I mean, I got rid of the monsters, didn't I? Isn't that what they wanted?"
Melissa scowled but managed to maintain her composure.
"They wanted to destroy
the monsters, not half their town."
"So I accidentally knocked
down a few houses… Like I said, I got rid of those creepy monsters. The
least they could've done is…"
"You better be glad that
making us leave without pay is all that they did! Louie! You destroyed
part of a well-built town!"
By now the group had stopped. Merrill and Genie
watched the angered Melissa as she glared at Louie. He stepped back a little
bit.
"Well, I…" he stammered.
"It was an accident!"
He held up his hands defensively. Melissa balled
her hands into fists.
"An accident? Louie,
everything you do is an 'accident'!"
Louie lowered his hands slightly.
"Hey, now, Melissa…"
"No, Louie! You couldn't
control your power enough to save half a town. I can't believe you're so
stupid!"
Merrill reached forward to touch her shoulder.
"Melissa…"
She shook her head roughly.
"Louie…you can't be my
champion. I just can't believe how against my will it is!"
"Melissa…" Genie started.
"No! Louie, you CANNOT
be my champion and I don't want to see you anymore!"
Louie's expression saddened but he dropped his
hands completely.
"All right, Melissa,"
he said softly.
He walked past her and the other two girls without
saying a word. Melissa closed her eyes and exhaled a ragged breath. She
turned back to the girls and started walking again. Genie and Merrill exchanged
glances and followed. The three of them walked back towards Ohfun in silence.
End of Part One