AN: I'm trying something new. I actually have every chapter planned in an attempt to actually finish a fic. Wish me luck.
Disclaimer: Not mine, and I won't bother with disclaimers in the future because it's obvious suikoden ain't mine.
oOOo
Chapter 1: Man Without Potch
The long bronze-haired, green-eyed, young man was in a pickle.
He had just arrived at Vinay del Zexay, expecting to catch a ship sailing to the far south. He was prepared too, certain that he had just enough potch to pay or bribe a captain to take him that far. However, he bumped into a homeless man, standing in the streets with his sick daughter. Seeing how the Zexens were not so kind to the poorer people of their city, he decided to be stupidly charitable.
Now he sat in the Guzzling Dove Tavern, drinking juice instead of ale like the other patrons. He leaned against the table, propping his head with his black-silk gloved left hand. It was morning, and not too many people were around. The bartender was quietly cleaning a glass with an unsanitary-looking towel while some chronic alcoholics were already clamoring for another drink. Some stared at him strangely, as his long breeches, heavy boots, long sleeved shirt and coat of Harmonian dress were too warm for Zexen mid-summer.
The young man ignored all strange looks, deep in thought. He had been here a few days, seeing sights and thinking about easy ways to make some potch. He did not have much with him, only a knapsack of his personal effects and a carefully wrapped antique. His money purse had only ten potch, not enough for a night's stay at an inn, much less getting him as far south as he wanted. He did not want to turn pickpocket again nor did he want to be out hunting for poor animals that incidentally had some potch with them. Commandeering a decent sailing vessel of some sort was the last thing he want to do.
I could work... he thought, then scowled, but I hate working, especially at a tavern. A server boy job was easy to get, but the owner usually treated him like a dog. There were plenty of times when he thought of murder in some darkened alleyway when no one was looking. Just because he was supposed to be some illiterate, stupid, ungrateful, screwed up scum of society doesn't mean that he wanted to be treated like one. Besides, he gave up that image a while ago. He preferred the highly sophisticated look of a Harmonian. While he understood that the Harmonians were generally hated outside their border, they were respected. Getting certain...services were easier if one was Harmonian.
Then, his eyes strayed upon a poster.
"Wanted. Caretaker for the auspicious Redrum family of Vinay del Zexay.
Preference will be given to potential caretakers who can also service as a tutor.
A caretaker will be provided with standard lodging, three meals a day, and 1000 potch per month."
That'll be interesting, considered the young man. A tutor...I used to train squires...and I haven't been a servant to a household since I was younger.
He smiled to himself. He was not in a hurry to head south, and he was fairly curious about the Zexens. Not to mention it was 1000 potch a month with meals and a roof over his head. With some time, he'd definitely have enough to sail south and maybe enough leftover to purchase some souvenirs for the Obel royal family. Yes it was the perfect plan.
And if one of those Rune hound dogs came after him again, he'll just send them on another wild goose chase.
oOOo
Borus yawned and drummed his fingers against the sturdy mahogany desk. It was the middle of the day. The lights shone from a large window behind him onto a solitary brunette, presenting her less than satisfactory credentials. He had already lost count of how many had come, and this one was just a bad as the last one.
"As I was saying, I have completed elementary education an' taught the Hilenberg's three sons how to read good," said the girl while batting flirty eyes at Borus.
Borus smiled, sending the lady's heart palpitating with excitement. "And why should I hire you?" he asked. "There were plenty of others who can teach reading."
The lady frowned. What more was there? All she needed to do was boss someone around, no? "Well, I can tell you about some dealings of the Hildenberg..."
The lady was about to say more when Virgil, the Redrum family's most trust and oldest servant cut her short.
"We'll consider you," said Virgil, with a hackling cough. "Thank you for coming."
"But I haven't..."
"Go," said Virgil sternly.
The lady pouted prettily at Borus and gave him a wink. She backed out of the room with a bow, hand patted her stuffed chest in faint sexy lure. She was even gracious enough to close the doors when she left.
Virgil took a very deep breath as the lady left. Not even halfway through their interview, he noticed an irritated look on Master Redrum's face. Fearing some outburst from his master, Virgil cut the interview as short as possible.
Borus was dumbstruck after the lady left, as if he was incapable of comprehending what the lady had said. He sat there for one minute in complete stillness. Then, he stood up, picked his expensive dirk letter opener and threw it at the door.
The small knife imbedded itself in the hard wooden door with a light thud.
"Read good indeed!" exploded Borus. "No wonder the Hildenbergs are complete morons!"
"Now now Master Redrum," placated Virgil. "She did have many qualities. She has worked with many children and tutored many well known families." Virgil looked at her professionally written résumé. "She taught all the Pattersons!"
Borus looked at Virgil incredulously. "The Pattersons can't read."
"Well, the current head does work with legalized documents of Zexens...the difficulty would be..."
"He can't read a dinner menu," reminded Borus. "I need a caretaker, not a nymphomaniac."
Virgil just looked down. That was precisely the problem. Almost all of Vinay del Zexay thought that Borus was still unattached. Young ladies loved the five of the Mighty Six Knights of Zexen, especially Borus and Percival. Both were heroes of the Second Bringer war, both were handsome in their own charming way. Some ladies would even drool just at the mere thought of them. However, Percival had married right after the war and now lived mostly in Iksay with his wife and children. Borus...well, his case was bit more complicated.
"If it need to be, I can call my nephew back from Iksay..." started Virgil.
"No! He made it clear that he doesn't want to stay in Zexay. Besides, he's got that gossipy wife of his and six kids."
"Well...the rest of them are young ladies, maybe there's a chance one is a scholar," encouraged Virgil.
"Just send in the next one," said Borus in a final tone. It did not take a genius to figure out that most wanted to work for him because they had hopes that Borus would magically develop a romantic interest in them and bringing them into the luxurious life of a wealthy Redrum.
"Very well sir."
Borus slumped back into his chair. Finding a new caretaker to bark orders to the other servants was easy. Finding one that was not easily bought by prying councilors and gossip gazettes was next to impossible. The interviews this morning were an example of that. Past servants to prominent Zexen Counselors were more than willing to betray dark secrets of their past masters to become servants to Borus. Any intelligent Lord knew better than to hire a turncoat like that.
Virgil understood Master Redrum's predicament too. He himself had tried to look for a replacement without avail. Virgil's heart cringed at the very thought of leaving Master Redrum without a trusted servant. It was his idea to send out such a poster, and now, he would do anything to find an appropriate successor. Virgil went outside the study to call for the next person.
Borus grumbled as he calmed himself. He sat back down on the comfortable leather seat, mumbling, "If the next one tries to make a pass at me, I'll kill her."
Rakasvi, the young man thought to himself. That sounds like a good Harmonian name. Certainly better than Nell. I'll put that down. From now on, I am Rakasvi.
The same literally poor young man was roaming through the Redrum mansion. He had cleaned himself up for this. His waist length bronze hair was neatly braided. The long bangs that always fall into his eyes were trimmed. He even took a bath and donned on a fresh set of blue Harmonian garb.
This place looks pretty normal.
The mansion was about the same as every other mansion he had visited in his lifetime. Expensive nature oil paintings hung on every wall. Foreign urns and pottery, probably collected over the generations by the Redrum family, were placed on every mantle. The collection of antique weaponry impressed Rakasvi. Simple swirls and images of the sea, carved into the hilt of many of the blades, were reminiscent of designs on many objects from his childhood. Come to think of it, when he last pawned a dagger from his home island, he had enough money to travel for two entire months. The Redrums had many other priceless and invaluable ornaments. Certainly they would not care if a small speck of shiny metal went missing...
Stop...thinking...about...stealing! Rakasvi berated himself. I'm not THAT desperate for money.
Displeased with his inconsiderate thought, Rakasvi turned for a look at the hall where the other aspiring caretakers were waiting. Discouraged and annoyed at the still long line made up exclusively of females, Rakasvi decided to explore some more, this time, the garden.
Immediately, the sweet aroma and brilliant colors of summer blooms indulged his senses. Flowers, as small as a raindrop to as large as a bell, neatly grew by the stone paths. Blossoming trees, two stories tall, canopied and lightly shaded the paths. A fountain bubbled clear water in the middle of the garden. Strangely charmed by the sight, Rakasvi found himself wandering the paths.
Suddenly, a small blur sped past him. Rakasvi looked in the direction of the blur's escape, only to have his foot caught on a yellow yarn and he tripped.
"What time?" Rakasvi's moved his arms forward just in time to prop himself with the palms of his hand. Then, with a quick push of his arm, he propelled himself back to a standing position.
"Take this, you grassy barbarian!" yelled a sharp voice from behind.
Instinctively, Rakasvi turned to face the attack. A wooden toy sword thrust directly at his stomach. Rakasvi's quick reflexes parried the attack away with two fingers. His other hand reacted to catch the sword and gave it a forceful pull.
"Hey!" cried a little girl as she was pulled and consequently fell into his arms.
Rakasvi blinked. His attacker was a three feet tall little midget in a homemade straw armor and she was glaring at him with the angriest violet eyes she could muster. She immediately stepped away from him, not even bothering to retrieve her toy sword that was on the ground.
"What are you looking at? You never seen a Zexen knight maiden before?" she yelled, spluttering spit onto his shirt.
Rakasvi wondered if he should be laughing or raging. This little girl was very serious about play-acting the "Zexen Knight Maiden," though she looked nothing like it. Her upper armor was made of old moldy straw. Her knees were terribly scabbed and her hair was disheveled like a freshly piled haystack. There was mud on her face and her nails were caked with dirt. She was the complete opposite of what one would consider a knight in shining armor. Yet, she was also the one who tripped him, something he wasn't happy about.
"Well," began Rakasvi calmly. "If you want to be a Zexen Knight Maiden..." he picked up her toy sword by the hilt. With a flick of his wrist, he swung the sword up in the air and caught it by the blade. He respectfully offered it to the child. "...you should keep track of your sword."
The little girl looked at her toy sword suspiciously as if it was a live snake. She stared at it for a good half a minute before snatching it back ungratefully.
Seeing that the child was satisfied that her toy was not cursed in any way, Rakasvi decided it was probably best that he return to the waiting room with all the others.
"Who are you?" the little girl asked. "The others just scream and Virgil usually yells at me and spanks me when I play..."
"Rakasvi," the young man introduced himself with a bow. "And you are?"
"I'm Morgan the Golden Knight Maiden," said the little girl with brimming pride.
"Well, Lady Morgan." Rakasvi reached for her right hand and before Morgan could react, he kissed it. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Morgan was speechless. No one had ever treated her that way. Everyone just told her to study, dress pretty, and be silent when adults were around. Virgil always looked at her attempts to play as frivolous and always told her to study hard to be a lady. Morgan always thought /studying/ wasn't the word to use for looking pretty. She longed to be a knight just like her father, if only her father would allow her to join the squires in training...
Rakasvi released her hand, noticing the reddening of her cheeks. "I best be returning now," he said, turning toward the mansion.
Morgan just stood there, watching him go.
oOOo
"Next," came Virgil's polite call from within the study.
Rakasvi watched another frilly dressed female come out of the study. Seeing the number of fancy dresses, Rakasvi was beginning to wonder if he went to some ball by accident.
After the little incident in the garden, Rakasvi had settled for the boring wait in the hall. There were others in the hall, mostly females. They seemed to talking nervously and excitedly about this "Borus" person. Being a newcomer to Vinay del Zexay, Rakasvi found all the usually despised gossip refreshing. Apparently, this Borus person was one of the heroes of the Tinto Border Clash and the Second Fire Bringer War.
Second Fire Bringer War... thought Rakasvi with guilt. During that time, he had been in the Nameless Lands, determined to stay out of that war at all cost. He could have prevented it, but the chances that he could have worsened the situation were just as plausible. He shook his head. Thinking about the past gave him reasons to regret, a feeling that he avoided when he could.
Another lady came out, looking miffed and angry. Rakasvi stood up, ready to go in.
"Excuse me, but I was here first," said a snotty looking lady with dark freckles to Rakasvi. She did not wear a frilly looking dress. Instead, she wore something close to the black uniform of a warden. Her iron gray hair was tied back so tightly, pulling at her scalp. He knobby old fingers had sharp blood red nails that looked like talons of a recently fed beast. Hot pink rouge on spread on her cheeks looked like some scary killer happy doll. A large mole, the size of a moutainman's toe grew on her neck. And her yellow teeth seemed to have been sharpened deliberately to add on the effect of being the monster under the bed.
She looked so mean, even Rakasvi felt a little threatened.
"Um..Go ahead," offered Rakasvi, resisting the urge to shrink away. Man, what a scary looking woman. He looked at the rest of the people in the hall. They were trying hard not to look at the woman.
"Humph!" She stuck her nose high up in the air as she passed by him, trying to look down on Rakasvi but only coming up to his chest. Rakasvi's whole attention was on her gigantic mole; he could imagine the black sore barking insults to him. She went around the corner to the study that was futher down the hall. Everyone heard the door she slammed.
"Who was that?" muttered Rakasvi to himself.
"That's Victoria," commented someone from the crowd. "She's the old lady of crotchety fat Zexen Councilor Marcus."
"Hush! Do you want her to hear you?" said someone urgently. "She can make you disappear if you make her unhappy."
"I'm just saying, that's all."
The common people chattered some more, mostly about Victoria and her vileness in acquiring assets of the Marcus's enemies. Rakasvi regarded all of the talk with simple curiosity and nothing more. He had no money for this Victoria person to get anyways.
As it turned out, that snotty looking lady was inside for a minute before she came out, looking pleased (which was even more scary looking).
I guess it's my turn Rakasvi thought. Then, some old man with a huge pudge and no hair came about shouting. "We have found our caretaker. The rest of you may leave, thank you all for coming."
A common "awww" rang throughout.
Victoria came out to the hall. "Scram! All of you!" she ordered triumphantly in her glass shattering vulture voice. Then she started laughing like some insane harpy, obviously pleased that she got the job.
People winced at the sound of her voice. Forgetting their desire to be Borus's lady, many of them even started to run for the door.
Rakasvi grimaced. Victoria must have had the most aweful voice he had ever heard and he had heard a lot of voices in his lifetime. "Geez, woman!" he shouted over her laughing. He shut his eyes in pain. "Quit your screeching. You're hurting my head."
His words had an immediate effect on Victoria. Her blood shot yellow eyes became wide and it looked like they were about to pop out their sockets. "That's LADY Victoria to you."
"No. You are more a hag than a lady," he said mildly, looking at her up and down.
"What? What did you call me?" she shouted, causing everyone in the hall to stop his or her movements. They all turned to watch the scene developing before them. They would have stayed longer if Virgil hadn't shooed them away.
"I called you a HAG? Can't you hear? A HAG?" shouted Rakasvi back, keeping a good distance from her.
"How DARE you call me that, you..you...you...common, garbage gnawing Harmonian knave!"
Unknowing to her, Borus had come out of the study and was staring at the scene from behind her. The blonde-haired knight crossed his arm, studying their interaction. He never knew anyone insane enough to call Victoria names.
"See, that's why you are not a Lady," countered Rakasvi. "A Lady doesn't curse!"
Victoria looked livid. She glared at this young twenty-years old looking man, thinking of a way to best him.
"You must be a third-class Harmonian!" she said with a sudden chilliness, looking at the young man. He had the nicer dress of a Harmonian, but his skin was too dark to be first or second-class citizen. Victoria automatically assumed that he must be one of the conquered nations of Harmonia. "I'll have your carcass dragged from here all the way back to slaving hell pits of Crystal Valley!"
Rakasvi rolled his eyes. "At least the pits will be prettier than your face!"
"Barbarous scoundrel!" Victoria's temper flared. No one had ever dared call her ugly.
"Calumnious old bag!"
"Wretched miscreant!"
"Foul lout!"
"What are you blabbering about?" came a soft but familiar voice from behind Rakasvi. He turned.
"Morgan?" queried Rakasvi. The same little girl who tried to stab Rakasvi was there in all her scabbed knees and dirtied glory. She tugged on Rakasvi's coat, trying to gain his attention.
"What is a scoundrel?" she asked innocently.
Virgil gasped, he tried to run to the girl, but Borus held his servant off with an arm.
Victoria seized the moment of Rakasvi's distraction to add more words. "I see you brought a wench with you..." her yellow eyes narrowed speculatively on the child. "Terribly filthy! Just look at her hair..."
Rakasvi quickly covered Morgan's ears with his hands. He silently berated himself and hoped that the child had not heard most of the words. Good thing the little girl spoke up before he dove into his extensive colorful langauge. It was against his nature to speak such words in front of a child.
Virgil's eyes became wider and wider with the woman's each sentence. The things of which Victoria was accusing the child and the complete stranger were ridiculous. And to think this woman was mother to five girls, each of the girls married off to good families.
"...And isn't she a little young for you? You Harmonian scum sure like to deflower the innocent!" finished Victoria, taking a breather.
There was complete silence for a good ten seconds. The tension in the air was so stiff that one could slice it with a hot butter knife. Virgil was left speechless, never hearing such words coming from a highborn woman.
Rakasvi calmly took his palms off Morgan's ears. He kneeled down so he was about her height and said, "Lady Knight Morgan, will you please turn around?"
"Of course, Ra," chirped Morgan. She turned around and even stuck her fingers into her ears so she wouldn't hear anything.
"That's a good girl."
Then Rakasvi stood up, walked over to Victoria, and slapped her on the cheek with his left hand.
Victoria's head whipped to the side like a rusty gate. She touched her cheek, shocked that anyone dared to lay a hand on her. Angry tears started to form as her mouth parted, ready for another blistering mud-fling at Rakasvi's forefathers.
"That's enough Lady Victoria!" boomed Borus from his hiding spot, effectively ceasing a word from Victoria. "I think I heard enough. You are to leave my property, now."
As if caught by her husband while with an adulterer, Victoria turned and gasped. She never knew the all mighty Swordsman of Rage heard her entire conversation.
"It's best that you leave now, Lady," suggested Virgil.
Never having so infuriated in her entire life, Victoria spat at Rakasvi's boot, only to miss the target by a few feet.
"You are dismissed!" said Borus, firmly.
With an angry glare, Victoria turned and stumped all the way to the door, swearing that she would "make that Harmonian bastard pay for this insult!"
"That lady...is not nice," commented Morgan after the little earthquake of the front door slamming had passed.
Rakasvi was shaking his head, wondering why in the world did he went into shouting match against a complete stranger. He was usually much more patient with people. "I've honestly have never met such a crude woman..." was his justification to himself. He looked to Morgan. "And what are you doing here?"
Morgan smirked. "I live here," she pointed to the old bald man with a pudge. "That's Virgil."
Rakasvi nodded politely and extended a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Rakasvi."
Virgil reached out and shook the young man's hand.
Then Morgan pointed to Borus. With obvious pride, love, and respect, she said, "That's Sir Borus Redrum. My Papa."
oOOo
Phew, that took a bit to write. I actually wrote this before the prologue...Come to think of it, I never had the prologue 'betaed.' I'll get around that in a bit. I probably didn't write enough descriptions, I'll work on that.
The young man is suppose to be Hero 4. Yes, I changed his appearance and personality. Really OOC, I am sorry, I can't help it. But a person is suppose to change after 200 years, don't you agree?
Suikorin.