Yet again just to say that this story includes characters of other very creative people. Thanks for reading and please comment!
Path of Revenge
Chapter 3
The next day brought no news from Zaledo. She just had to continue to be patient. He and his friends were moving around constantly trying to find the crystals. She would monitor them. If she had to, once they had all of the crystals, she'd attack them taking the crystals and forcing Zaledo to don the crown. She could then bargain with the crystals for the Shadow Lord's considering forgiving her destroying the crown. Of course she wasn't certain what she would do if she lived but ending with the upper hand was always the most gratifying.
Taking advantage of the time she had Tsumi decided to go out and seek a training group since her ninjitsu skills needed sharpening. After a long day of training she decided to head to the tavern for a meal and a good drink.
Turning on the pearl she heard that apparently a couple of members of Children Of Altana would be there; Xanadrielx and his new lady love a White Mage called Tryn. She didn't know very much about Tryn, the girl was a new member, but she had shared a drink with Xan once and had exchanged a few words with him over the pearl. From his comments to her and buzz on the pearl she gathered he seemed to be a ladies man. He was a rather handsome elvaan man, but he seemed to have a wandering eye. He said he wanted to see her fight maybe duel her, maybe she would if she was bored, but she definitely sensed he wouldn't mind adding her to his list of conquests. This was an attitude she didn't appreciate but as long as he kept his distance she didn't mind being around him.
Entering she saw them and Xan waved at her. "Hello Tsumi" he said with a warm smile.
"Hello Miss" the Hume girl Tryn said looking sheepish.
"Greetings" Tsumi said with a nod. She quickly ordered a drink.
"So is your brother coming Tryn?" Xan asked.
"He said he would when he finished training," the girl answered.
Luckily Xan and Tryn seemed pretty well absorbed with each other and only directed a few questions her way. Things were at least calm and they didn't insist on prying so it wasn't bad even if she didn't really want their company. Their conversation consisted of a lot of talk of Tryn's adoptive or foster brother who apparently was meeting them.
"Hello Trynny" came a voice.
"Hello Koge, Thank you for coming" a Tryn said smiling at the Hume man that had just entered the tavern. "Koge this is Tsumi."
"Greetings," Tsumi said to him with a nod.
"Greetings" the brown-haired Hume man said with a winning smile, and after clearing his throat he bowed. "Kogenai Windrunner, Gentleman Thief, at your service."
Tsumi raised her eyebrow at that display not saying a word. Fortunately, he turned his attention to Xan.
"I'm glad to meet you finally and I think we must talk privately," Xan said to the brown haired Hume man.
"We definitely have to talk. I won't give up my Trynny to jus' anyone," he said in a tone that sounded more like a jealous lover than protective brother.
"Koge, Xan is the man I love I'd like for you to get along."
"Oh I will try Trynny for your sake but you know I love you."
"You are Tryn's brother?" Tsumi questioned wondering if she had somehow stumbled into an incestuous love triangle.
"Well not really. We were jus' a group of orphans that helped each other, we are not related by blood."
"Koge took care of all of us," Tryn volunteered.
This was an odd situation to say the least. Kogenai bought a round of drinks and they chatted for the most part. Koge fired questions at Xan while he answered quite well and Tsumi merely observed. When their glasses were dry Koge ordered another round of drinks for all but Tryn, who bowed out.
Then Hume man bragged that he could most likely drink Xan under the table and illustrated by downing a full mug proudly. To illustrate she wasn't at all impressed with the posturing of the two males Tsumi downed the full glass in front of her and smirked.
"Think you can best me Tsumi?" Koge asked.
"I have nothing to prove and I won't play games."
"Lighten up Tsu" Koge said.
"Why should I?" Tsumi asked growing more irritated by the Hume by the minute.
Koge then smirked at her and then turned to Xan and Tryn. "This has been lovely but I must go." The Hume shook Xan's hand, hugged Tryn giving her a little extra squeeze and then he turned smiling at Tsumi. "It was nice meeting such a lovely woman," he said with a curious look on his face.
"I'm sure it was for you," Tsumi quipped back.
Then suddenly he cast a Tonko-ichi disappearing from view. Tsumi shrugged wondering at why this Hume seemed to indulge in such childish displays until she suddenly felt a pair of arms come around her body and grope her breasts. Shooting up in her seat a wave of revulsion and rage swept through her as she realized the identity of the culprit.
"I'll kill you Rat!" she shouted as she heard a laugh.
The thief sped away laughing using the thief technique for super-speed.
"Damn!" Tsumi cursed angry he was obviously gone.
"You won't really try to kill my brother will you miss?" Tryn asked with a horrified expression.
Xan just simply was laughing extremely hard only further angering the elvaan woman.
"Of course I will. No one dares to touch me without my permission!"
"Come on Tsu," Xan said. "It was funny."
"Only a male would say that…" Tsumi fumed. "I'm going," she said no longer wanted to be in the same room as the others. Snapping a salute she stormed out onto the street her mind racing.
"No I will teach that little Rat not to touch me…" she grumbled the anger abating. The worse part was as this left the feeling of violation began to set in, a feeling she hadn't felt since she was 16 and this made her angry again. "No the thief will pay with his life for humiliating me like this," she swore.
Deciding to take a bath she chose to focus on other things, pushing the disturbing event from her mind. Perhaps it was time for her to go back to her home in Bastok for a few days she hadn't been there since she had ended her brief Dark Knight training.
Tsumi woke up the next day and trained her ninjitsu realizing her skills could use some further sharpening. When no note from Zaledo came she readied herself for her trip back to Bastok. Once she had checked on things at her mog house there, if she hadn't heard form Zaledo, she would track the amnesiac down again and pay him another visit.
Tsumi stuck the pearl in her ear and turned it on. She'd get a little more information on the do-gooders there and report it to the Shadow Lord before she returned home.
The first voice she heard was Xan's. He seemed to be angrily speaking to Cyranial.
"Why would you ask Ryu to kill Phin?" he demanded.
"Why would I ask him to kill one little weak Hume boy?"
"Ryu said you did."
"He must have been mistaken," the elvaan man said smoothly. "Besides if I had wanted to kill him I'd have used poison. No one would have ever known it was me and it's a lot less messy."
"You would have rather used poison than an open fight?" Tsumi asked. Tsumi had always felt that poisoning was a beneath her. "Poison is a coward's way to kill."
"I'm not very physical."
"If you were with him when he was poisoned everyone would know it was you," Tsumi replied.
"Not if I just poisoned the towns water supply."
"Don't you think all those needless deaths would cause an uproar and they would come looking for you?"
"Perhaps but they couldn't prove it.
"I've heard enough of this. Know that Phineas is in my protection and I won't let anything happen to him," Xanadriel declared abruptly turning off his pearl. Tsumi wasn't surprised Xan left since he seemed to take honor seriously.
One thing seemed perfectly clear; Cyranial was a madman.
"Perhaps I could buy you a drink later Tsumi."
Though by now having a drink with the madman was unappetizing she decided to take it. Most likely he intended to tell her about the job he mentioned.
"Fine, if I'm free" she replied.
"I'll be looking forward to it. Until then," he said turning the pearl out.
Tsumi left the pearl on though it was empty for quite awhile. People came and went and it was a diversion while she took care of the menial business of shopping for food and various supplies. As it turned toward evening Tsumi noticed most of the members turned on their pearls really. Reisner, Aeran, Reizo and many others slowly made their presence known and she listened not saying much until she heard Kogenai.
"Greetings Rat," Tsumi spat out viciously.
"Well hello Tsumi" Kogenai said sounding assumed by her anger.
"I will kill you for what you did I swear it…"
"What is going on?" Aeran asked.
"What did he do?" the samurai Ryu John asked.
"Nothing…" Tsumi said not wanting the others to know of her humiliation.
"I went invisible and coped a feel," he answered. "Although I'm not sure why you're makin' such a fuss. They were nice but they really aren't all that large."
"That's it! Meet me now and fight me coward I will teach you some respect!"
"Why should I fight you?"
"After what you did to me I demand you fight me Rat!"
"So much fuss over nothin'…."
"I swear it Rat I will find you and kill you!" she growled turning off the pearl.
Tsumi decided to channel the hate and aggression she felt into fighting, not training this time but actual slaughter. She went to her favorite killing grounds of late, Delfulkts Tower. After 2 hours she felt in control enough to turn the pearl back on.
To her delight she discovered that apparently Kogenai had been having a drink at the Merry Minstrel with Xanidrelx and Phineas. Now was her time to move, she'd show the perverted thief just what it meant to cross her.
Slipping down to the doors of the Minstrel she listened closely and grinned in anticipation when she heard the voice of Kogenai. Chanting and casting a sneak spell and an invisible spell on herself Tsumi waited by the door. If she went through someone might think the wind opened it but there was the chance it could tip off her prey who was also familiar with using invisibility. Patiently she stood until someone exited and slipped in.
Kogenai was standing with his back to her in the direct path to the door. He was oblivious evidently wishing Xan and Phin a good evening intending to exit. Silently she snuck up behind the thief and then placed the blade to his throat.
"Bloody Chains!" the thief exclaimed causing a look of confusion on the other's faces until Tsumi dropped her invisibility.
She wanted him to know who was bringing about his death so she started to speak but it was a mistake. The thief contorted his body sliding back and out from her before she could grip his shoulder. Saluting her briefly he once again used his technique for fleeing and was gone before she could prevent his flight.
"Damn that Rat I'll get him yet!" she shouted in frustration.
"M-miss Tsumi?" the boy Phineas asked in obvious shock.
"I was afraid something like this would happen." Xan said with a sigh. "Why are you like this Tsumi?"
"He violated me by touching me is why, and I will kill him to teach him respect."
"No I mean why do you insult and hurt people? Why do you insist on being like this," the elvaan continued.
"I'm not looking to make friends I don't need or want them."
"You don't have any friends Miss Tsumi?" Phineas asked in wonder.
Tsumi sheathed her sword smirking at the boy's naivety. "People like me aren't meant to have friends Kid," she began, "I'm meant to be alone."
"But nobody should be alone. Everyone needs friends Miss Tsumi."
"I don't. I only live for vengeance it's a means to and end. I don't need friends to do to accomplish that." Tsumi sat down as she stated this. She could see from both of their expressions they were feeling pity for her. "Your pity is wasted on me."
"That isn't true Tsumi. You aren't alone, you have a clan now, a family, just let us in" Xan said.
Tsumi chuckled at the irony. If he only knew the real reason she had joined the Children of Altana, as a spy, not to become fast friends in some cheap imitation of a family. No she knew what a family was, unconditional love and respect, and she would never find that among these people.
"I'm not like you," she told Xan absently noticing Phineas rise from his chair. "I'm a creature of shadow. I live on the edge of both worlds; I have too much darkness in me for those in the light and too much light for those in the darkness. I'm an outsider, an observer, and no one wants to accept an outsider."
"That's not true" the Hume boy said a gentle smile on his face. "I want to be your friend Miss Tsumi." Saying this he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Tsumi's reaction was instant and instinctive. Bristling she rose and violently slapped the boy across the face sending him stumbling back a look of hurt and shock plastered across it.
"Damn it Tsumi!" Xan exclaimed stepping between them. "What is your problem?"
"No one touches me without my permission," she said defiantly.
"This boy is under my protection" he said "I will protect him if you try to hurt him."
"As long as he doesn't try to touch me again I won't."
"I'm sorry Miss Tsumi" Phineas said rubbing his cheek breaking into a smile once more. "I promise I won't touch you again unless you give me permission. Please forgive me."
"Fine I forgive you, just don't try it again," the red mage said with a nod. "Now I'll be going. Farewell," she said snapping a salute.
As she left she could hear Xan's voice still. "Altana, wish I could understand that woman."
Tsumi paused outside the door.
"It's alright sir. Something must have happened to make her like that. Some of the orphans were like that back home. I won't give up."
Tsumi shook her head. Somehow the naive boy had stumbled on the truth life had molded her to become what she was and yet he thought he could bust through her guard and make friends with her. "Fool" she said under her breath walking away.
She had to get out of this Link Shell as soon as possible before being around these people made it unbearable. Hopefully Zaledo wouldn't dally in taking the bait so she could be rid of the do-gooders trying to "save" her and listening to their incessant babbling about truth, their ridiculous concept of honor, and Altana. If all that was true then why were there so many that were left to suffer at the hands of others?
She wandered the streets unsettled, thinking things through. Trying to decide if there was anything she could do to make her target move faster toward his fate. The thought struck her to use his friends, if they too prodded him then that might be enough. What did she know of his friends?
The taru was some kind of history student sending them places where the elemental crystals were supposedly located. If she were to go to Windurst, where they apparently were now, and either retrieve or say she had one of the crystals then maybe she could convince Zaledo's elvaan friend to betray him for it?
Of all of them, the elvaan thief Zhuvin was the mostly likely target. His constant talk of finding treasure showed that gil and greed were his downfall.
"Greetings Tsumi," A voice said startling her from her thoughts.
"Cyraniel, Greetings," she said looked up at the hooded figure before her.
"Perhaps we could have that drink we talked about." His face was hidden but she thought she saw a hint of an odd smile.
"Why not…" the elvaan woman answered. After everything she'd been through that day she still hadn't had a drink, which would definitely take the edge off her nerves.
She followed him silently through the streets into the Merry Minstrel where thankfully Xan and Phineas had already left from earlier.
"Let me get you a drink," he said smoothly.
"Why not" she said in surprise. She didn't mind not getting up. She watched as he ordered from across the room at the bar. When the mugs were set before him he stepped in front of them obscuring her view as he picked them up. Turning he brought the drink over to her and handed it to her which she took with a nod.
"So what is this job you have for me?" she asked.
"I'm not here, to talk business, just to have a friendly drink."
Tsumi raised an eyebrow at this as she took a drink of the brew. "And talk about what?"
"Nothing in particular," he said.
"Well I suppose I don't mind small talk," she said trying to gauge his purpose after taking another drink from the mug as he watched attentively. "So why do you crave power so much?"
"I have designs, you might say, to find some form of immortality," he said.
Tsumi chuckled taking a drink. "Why would you want immortality?"
"Why not?"
It was obvious to her he was playing games, but the reason for it, she didn't understand.
She took a large swig and noticed she began to feel warm and sifted uncomfortably.
"Feeling alright?" he asked an expectant tone in his voice.
"Yes," she said looking at him strangely downing the last of the mug wishing to get this interview over with.
Suddenly he began to laugh strangely. "Dear, dear Tsumi did you not even guess I had put something into your mug?"
Realization suddenly hit her as she rose flinging the drink to the ground. Cyraniel stood and she felt her head swim. "You poisoned me you bastard!"
"I can't believe you were so gullible after all your talk about not trusting anyone."
"I will never be so foolish again, this will not kill me…"
"Oh it won't, it just will make you very, very ill. After a few days it will lessen the only symptom being unbearable pain. Then after several days of that it might kill you if you are weak."
"And I will find you and kill you for this!" she said falling to her knees and she tried to reached them.
"I'll be seeing you soon Tsumi," he said warping away laughing maniacally.
Struggling to her feet Tsumi willed herself to walk through the door and down the stairs planning as she went. When she reached the Goblin merchant she bought the strongest and worst Goblin poison she could. She would somehow dose Cyraniel with it and watch him die in agony. Someone had to know what poison this was and give her a cure so she didn't need him alive.
Tsumi stumbled into her rent-a-room cursing as she felt the muscles in her legs give way and the bottle she held in her hand mercifully escaped shattering. Trembling and sweating she looked up at her alarmed moogle.
"Moogle shut the door and pick up that bottle. Put it somewhere safe" she barked.
The little creature obediently rushed and closed the door. "Master do you need assistance?" it asked with a note of apology and pity in its voice setting the bottle on a high shelf.
"You may need to be sure I have enough to drink and eat for the next couple of days I have been poisoned and must let it get out of my system" she said noticing how strained her voice sounded.
Tsumi concentrated and slowly her muscles obeyed her as she willed them to carry her to her bed. Collapsing on it she felt her Katana poke into her leg and weakly fumbled to detach her weapons from her person. The moogle wordlessly assisted her and for once Tsumi did not complain feeling the consciousness she had been fighting to keep slip away.
