Disclaimer: I do not own Wild ARMs any more now than I did when I wrote the last chapter. I do own the original characters and concepts, however. Bwuahehe.
Chapter 3: For Love of Money
On the edge of the mountains of the Frontier was a fairly large city, as far as cities in the wide open plains went. This city's name was Coravent. However, it was known much more widely as 'Cross Rroads', for you see, Coravent was the center of four of the largest trade routes in the territory. To continue to the north through the mountains, one would find themselves in the territory of the sacred shrine of Grudiev, guardian of the earth. A large portion of Coravent's trade goods went there, to keep the shrine, and the village surrounding it, happy and healthy. To the west started the long road to the High Forest, where the village of Adalaskar was built in the very limbs of the ancient trees there, some older than recordable history would permit measurable. To the east was the long and boring dirt trail to villages such as Quill, and often traveling merchants would leave from Coravent to make the rounds through the small villages, selling their wares and making a hefty profit to boot. To the south was the main road, however. A popular route used by all travelers because it connected Coravent to Frontier Station, the unofficial "capitol" of Frontier and the only working train station in the plains.
So when looking at it logically, with so many roads leading to Cross Roads, it would not surprise anyone that a certain dream chaser and her wolf would have wandered in two days ago. After all, if Frontier Station was the unofficial capitol of the Frontier, then Cross Roads was the unofficial capitol of dream chasers and wanderers. By day the streets were filled with the honest, hard working folk that were resident of the town and the surrounding lands. However, by night the streets were filled with a variety of folk of all shapes and sizes, some less desirable than others. It was on such a night that Rayne and Luceid were wandering the streets, cloak pulled tightly around her shoulders and wide-brim hat covering her eyes as best as she was able. She tried to hustle herself through the crowd, but to do so at any faster pace than a leisurely walk would be to bump into someone, and people at night didn't take kindly to being bumped into. Down the street, Rayne could make out a large neon sign depicting a scantily clad woman holding a knee to her chest, the magical lights making her to wink at the crowd. This was the Temptress, a popular gentlemen's club, or strip joint if you don't enjoy covering up the truth. And strangely, this was Rayne's destination as she pushed through the large door of the building and into a smoky room that smelled of cigars and liquor. In the center of the large open room was a stage, where a young woman danced before a group of on-looking men who eagerly awaited each drum beat, which seemed to signal that the young woman would discard another piece of her clothing. It was like watching a dog mill around, bored and disinterested, and then to suddenly have them hear the dog chow rustle, sending them into a frenzy of barks and whines.
"Can I help you?"
Looking to her left was a small bald man behind a glass booth, with two very large and muscular men standing on either side, arms crossed over their black and grey suits. Rayne approached, looking around to make sure that no other customers were in earshot, then she leans down and said quietly: "I'm here to see One Eye."
"I see." The bald man replied, staring at her.
Rayne sighed, slipping out a small pouch and sliding it discretely into the booth. The balding man opened it, counting out fifty coins and a small red token, to which he smiled and nodded, motioning with a hand.
"Third door by the stage. You can't miss it. The word of the day is applesauce."
"…Applesauce?"
"Hey, I couldn't make this up if I wanted to."
Agreeing with the logic in that statement at least, Rayne nodded to the man and headed into the room itself. If the smell was bad by the entrance, it was suffocating in the middle. The men around her, some in formal suits, others in farmer's wear, were all hooting and hollering to the blonde woman on stage that was advertised as 'Ginger Snap'. Rolling her eyes slightly, Rayne briskly made her way through tables to the area behind the stage, approaching the third door as she was told, to find an iron frame with a small hatch for viewing from outside the room. Rayne didn't believe they could be any more cliché.
"Knock knock." Rayne muttered.
"Password?" said a voice as the hatch slid open, two blue eyes staring out at her.
"Applesauce."
The door opened up after the sound of many metal locks sliding out of place. The man behind the door was actually a skinny older gentleman, with suspenders and a bright red bow tie. Lucky that she wasn't trying to break in by force, she thought to herself. Proceeding down a hallway with Luceid behind her, Rayne caught a glimpse of a few rooms on the sides, each containing one manner of illegality or another: a gambling table, betting stall, and she could swear she saw a larger room with people cheering around what she assumed were two animals fighting. But no, what Rayne wanted was all the way at the end of this hallway. Beyond the door was a young man sitting hunched over an ARM, wearing a pair of glasses with tiny magnifying devices covering one another over the right eye. Rayne smiled a bit and knocked on the door frame, causing the man to turn and grin upon seeing who was doing the knocking.
"Ms. Montgomery!" he said, standing, "How good it is to see you again!"
"Hey there, Roger. How're the wife and kids?" Rayne asked as she stepped into the room, arms crossed.
"Still bleeding me for child support." Roger snickered, taking off his glasses. It was only then one might notice that Roger had a distinct lacking of a left eye, "So what can I do you for today?"
"Just need to restock some of my supplies…casings, powder. You know, the usual."
Roger nodded knowingly and walked over to a cabinet, opening up what would be an ARMs meister's dream come true. Stacks upon stacks of bullet casings, pouches of gunpowder, various small devices one would use to clean, maintain, or work on an ARM of any shape size or context. Slowly, Roger started to pick out various pieces from his collection, obviously taking the time to consider which were the best for his current customer. Rayne smiled admirably to him, appreciating the effort as she stroked Luceid behind the ear. As usual, the attention caused the wolf to look up, and then back to whoever else was in the room, tail thumping the ground now and then in appreciation.
"You know, I have a job you might be interested in." Roger mentioned, as he started to place the supplies he gathered into a leather case.
"What kind of job? And if it's any job involving your nether regions, I do believe I declined once already."
"Hah!" Roger said with a laugh, "No no, I learned my lesson, Rayne. This one is legit. "
"Do tell." Rayne replied. She could never have enough coin in her pocket, after all.
"Well, turns out there's some ruins in the base of the mountain nearby. Look pretty ancient, too. Maybe even from the Great War!"
"So what, you need me to walk around and find any salvage for you?" Rayne asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Well, that. But also, there's supposedly an ARMs lab in there! I'd like you to see if there's anything of note left. Could really help me out."
"Pay?"
"Fifteen hundred sound fair?" Roger asked, offering out the leather case.
"Done." She said as she took it. That was about as good as a handshake, after all.
So after working out the finer details of the location of the ruins, Rayne gave Roger enough money to cover the expenses of the items she purchased, which was not a small sum to say the least. She then proceeded back to her room at an inn near the gate to town, closing the door behind her and locking it. Luceid instantly went to the side of the bed, laying down, though keeping his head perked, staring off as if in his own thoughts. Rayne sat down and began the lengthy process of replenishing her equipment. The gunpowder was added to the bullet casing, which was then sealed shut and carefully weighed to make sure it had the appropriate amount of boom in it. After every bullet, using a small chisel, she would draw her insignia into the base of the bullets; a pair of wings intertwined around an ARM. Though she didn't ever expect anyone to ever use her bullets, let alone notice the insignia on them, she was still proud of her work, and like every artist, had to sign her masterpieces. She worked long into the night, producing a good twenty bullets before cleaning Desperado, loading up, and then sleeping herself.
The ancient ruins of the times long since gone by were awe-inspiring to Julian. After all, he had only gotten to see such things through books or hear about them in lecture. Running a hand over a half-broken tablet written in incomprehensible writing, Julian smiled to himself. This was like being immersed in history itself. It was too bad he technically was not allowed to be here.
Julian was a priest. Not just any priest, however. Julian was a brother of Grudiev, the guardian of earth. As such, he had spent the beginnings of his life growing up in the great shrine of Grudiev, which left little to no room for life outside the shrine. Learning crest sorcery was of course a huge endeavor and keeping up with constant studies, new discoveries, and protection of the sacred relic left little time for a life outside of the priesthood. However, to Julian, it was all worth it to further the cause of protecting the sacred rites of the Guardians. That was why he had left the shrine without telling anyone.
Julian had heard that these ruins were from the time of the Great War, when Guardians, humans, and elws all worked together to stop the demon race. So of course, he had volunteered to go research and catalogue the ruins. Strangely, however, his superiors forbade any of the priesthood from entering the ruins. In fact, the shrine had been put on high alert and security had been doubled. A strange way to react to an amazing discovery, Julian had thought. But it was no matter. He was sure when he brought back new revelations about the Guardians that the shrine wouldn't punish him for sneaking out. And so here he was, walking in the darkness of what seemed to be an entire city below the mountain range. This in itself was quite disconcerting, Julian admitted, but what was even more bizarre was the state of the ruins. The cave that lead under the mountain stopped on a ledge which overlooked the ancient metropolis. From what Julian could see, the ruins were obliterated in the center, with more and more debris and solid objects the further out one looked. It looked like a huge explosion had rocked the city and spread outwards, wrecking complete havoc. Once down inside the city, Julian felt as if he were walking in a grave yard, though no bodies were to be seen. Only the steady drip of water somewhere in the distance and the crumbled buildings were his company. Of course, and whoever was making those footsteps behind him.
Footsteps behind him? Julian turned around and ducked just in time to avoid something whizzing past where his head was. Standing not ten feet away was a tall figure dressed in a stark white cloak, wearing a golden mask depicting some great beast with open jaw and fangs bared. What caught Julian's attention more, however, was the fact that the figure's feet were not touching the ground, nor could they even be seen. Indeed, the figure was floating a good foot above the ground, the palm of his hand aimed at Julian.
"What are you trying to do?!" Julian exclaimed.
"You do not belong here, guardian's pet." The figure replied in a cool, effeminate male voice.
"These ruins aren't owned by anyone! You can't try to kill me just for coming down here!"
"I can try to kill you for whatever reason I deem worthy." The figure replied, a tone of laughter in his voice.
Then came the blades through the air. Somehow, this man had summoned three javelins of energy that whirled through the air towards Julian. Julian barely had time to put two fingers in front of himself and summon a wall of earth from below him before the javelins struck, shattering the wall, and sending him skidding back a few feet. Chanting again, Julian threw his hand out and a wave of earth rose from the ground, flinging a large chuck of boulder at the figure. To Julian's dismay, the boulder went through the cloth, smashing the garment and the mask against a cave wall, only to reveal nothing within them. Then he caught a glimpse of white behind him, and leapt to the side ad three more javelins punctured the ground where he was, causing an explosion of sorts. The figure, white robe and mask, was floating ten feet away again. How had he done that? Julian placed his hands on the ground, pulling up two large boulders this time and sending them whizzing towards the man. This time, the man simply disappeared before the boulders made contact. The last thing Julian remembered was seeing that and realizing his opponent was not human, before feeling something hit his head and falling into unconsciousness.
The entrance to the ruins were not something that inspired one to think that anything lied beyond them besides bats and guano. But, a job was a job to Rayne, and she proceeded through the cavern with Luceid at her side, coming to a halt upon a ledge that looked over the entirety of the ruined city below. There was something oddly familiar about it, though she could not put her finger on exactly was 'it' was, or why it was even familiar. Luceid looked down to the ruins, then up to Rayne expectantly. Rayne smiled and scratched behind his ear.
"Let's just have a look around and head back." Rayne said.
Luceid gave silent agreement, following Rayne down the natural staircase that lead through the back of a large building on the outskirts of the city. There were pieces of debris everywhere, though most of the main road seemed intact. And lucky for Rayne, the main road seemed to lead directly towards the crater in the center of town. If this town did have an ancient ARMs lab, then it would be towards the center of town. While walking down the road, however, a glint of gold caught her eyes from a wall. Approaching to investigate, she found the shattered remains of a golden mask and a white robe, buried under the rubble of a rock.
"You'd think it would have rotted away after thousands of years." Rayne said to herself, touching the fabric.
Luceid looked at the material, smelling it before growling low. Rayne looked to her companion then stood, her hand sliding instinctively over Desperado under her cloak. She had understood Luceid's meaning well enough through the growl. That cloak and mask were not old. They were recent additions to this ruin. With a new sense of alertness, Rayne proceeded down the main road once more, hazel eyes darting between buildings and alleyways to make sure an ambush would not surprise her completely off guard. Luceid's hair was on end and he stuck to Rayne's side as close as he could, his own amber eyes surveying the area. Luckily, they both saw it in time and at the precisely right moment.
Ahead was a horned creature covered in spines, sitting on all fours. It would almost pass for a cross between a wolf and a porcupine. Rayne recognized the breed instantly: Spine Hounds. Generally, they were forest dwellers and didn't come anywhere near human lands. It only took one look at its eyes for Rayne to understand why it was here, however. It bore the familiar red taint of a Frenzy. Ear perking, she looked to her left to see another hound on top of a building, while Luceid looked right to spot one climbing out of the ruined wall of another building. Three frenzies in one place? What had they stumbled into?
All three creatures pounced in unison, covering at least ten feet with their lunge. Rayne leapt back while Luceid leapt to the right to meet one hound head on. Aiming her ARM, she fired off a bullet that thunked into one hound's shoulder, but did very little to slow it down. Luceid narrowly avoided a vicious bite from the hound and swung his own over-sized claws at the beast. He tore through flesh and muscle, but also felt the sting of the spines left in his paw. The two hounds not preoccupied with Lucied leapt at Rayne, one going for her legs, the other for her arm. Rayne managed to leap above the leg attack, landing her boots into the hound's snout, and raised her arm to the other hound's mouth. She couldn't avoid it, but she would lessen the blow. The hound's teeth sunk into the reinforced padding of Rayne's cloak. It hurt, but while it was chewing, Rayne lifted Desperado to the side of the chewer's head and pulled the trigger, gore splattering out from the other side of its skull as it went limp.
Luceid backed up from a claw from the hound on him, sliding forward and biting up towards the hound's neck. Lucky for him, the underside of these beasts did not seem to be covered in spines, and Luceid's fangs sunk into the neck flesh enough for Luceid to easily tear out its throat, the beast lying still with only a twitch or two. Rayne kicked the last remaining hound in his face as it tried to lunge at her again, giving her some room to fire off two shots. The first hit its front leg, causing it to collapse…right into the second bullet, which pierced its head and ended its frenzied life. She breathed in heavily, opening her clip and replacing four bullets into it before snapping it shut and looking at her injured arm. The teeth just caused a minor wound through the cloak, but it still hurt terribly. Luceid padded up to her side, nudging her to make sure she was alright. Rayne smiled, and nodded.
"Just a scratch…someone doesn't want people down here." Rayne explained, slowly forming a grin, "That makes me want to explore it even more."
The same devilish grin could be felt coming from Luceid, who understood his mistress' intent without second thought. Keeping Desperado out in her right hand now, the two started back on their journey towards the center of the city. It was only an hour more until they arrived; standing on the edge of a crater caused by whatever had leveled this town. An almost perfect circle, Rayne surmised. Which meant that whatever had caused the explosion was either set in the center of town, or came from above. Looking up, it was hard to imagine that this city had ever existed in open air, now being covered by mountain. Yet, judging from the explosion, the city would have to have been outside. Perhaps the mountain was a result of whatever happened here? After all, a few thousands years is a long time.
Perking her ear, Rayne slowly started to make out the sound of voices. One was deep, muffled by something. The other was clearly male, but feminine and cool in melody. The voices seemed to be coming from a one story building near the edge of the crater that was, miraculously, completely intact. Sneaking over to a window, Rayne glanced through the glass window into the interior. This looked to be the ARMs lab she had been looking for, though she imagined it went into basement levels. Standing in the room was a tall man wearing a black cloak and wearing a jade mask depicting a nasty creature with fangs revealed. Standing, no, floating, next to that man was a figure in a white robe with a golden mask, not unlike the one she found in the city. Behind them, strapped to a chair, was an unconscious youth. He appeared to have dusty brown hair, and wore robes tinged with yellow triangles about it. She recognized the pattern, of course. He was a priest of the Guardians. But why would these two be holding a Father captive?
"Anything?" the man in the jade mask asked.
"I'm afraid not. Only a few ARMs that are not even operable anymore." The gold masked man explained.
"Damn. He is not going to be very pleased with this outcome." The jade masked man replied, "Kill the priest. I have other business to attend to."
With that, the jade masked man stepped backwards into a green mass of tendrils that sprung from nowhere, enveloping him then disappearing, he included. The gold masked man sighed, raising a hand to generate what seemed to be a javelin of energy. Luceid scuffed the ground nervously. He was right. Now was about time to step in. Taking a step back, Rayne rushed forward, cloak protecting her as she leapt through the window, rolled to her feet, and aimed Desperado at the robed man. Luceid was soon to follow, growling viciously. Though she could not see his face, Rayne got the distinct pleasure that he was caught off-guard.
"Drop the spear and back up!" Rayne commanded.
"A mortal trying to order me around?" the man laughed, "I'm afraid you have sealed your fate."
He threw the javelin forward towards Rayne, who narrowly managed to avoid it. The javelin struck the wall behind them and exploded, making this lab an open air facility. This more than surprised Rayne, and she now had the distinct displeasure that he liked that. Spinning Desperado up, she fired off two shots. They both pierced through the robes, and the robed figure staggered back, obviously having not expected them to strike. From beneath that mask Rayne could make out twin blue eyes glaring at her.
"How did those hit me…unless…" he said quietly, "ARMs."
"You sure like the sound of your own voice." Rayne commented as she fired off twice more, the arms of the robes now struck.
The man moved to get up, despite the thick red liquid pouring from his wounds, but Luceid quickly made sure that was not an option, pouncing him into a wall, claws digging deep. After all, this man had attacked his mistress. There was no mercy for those who committed such a transgression. Luceid felt odd, though. This was not an ordinary man. A point made as Luceid was flung back by an explosion of light, slamming into a desk and laying on his side, smoke rising from his form. Eyes narrowed, Rayne fired off her last two shots into the neck and leg, or at least what she assumed was his leg, of the man. Blood gushed, but still he didn't seem too affected as he conjured two javelins, throwing them both at Rayne. While she managed to avoid the first, the second touched down too close to her to avoid. The explosion sent her out the building, rolling along the ground cursing. She knew he was floating up to finish her. And she knew Desperado was empty. She needed a distraction. Anything. The man was above her now, javelin in hand…
…And then slammed by a fist that flew from the ground. She looked up to the building to see the priest conscious, chanting. She only assumed he created the fist. The floating man turned to the priest quickly, conjuring a javelin – or would have. Rayne reloaded Desperado with a well-practiced flick of the wrist, snapping the clip shut and aiming. Her hand slid over the top of the ARM, and with a large amount of satisfaction, whispered: "Bang." Gatling raid fired off with its usual whirring of bullets, all six shots flying out of the top barrel and tearing a huge whole through the center of the man…and the wall beyond him…and probably the wall beyond that. The javelin instantly dissipated as he looked down to his wound, his blood pooling below his hovering form, staining his white robes. He turned back to look at Rayne – how was he still alive? – and say softly:
"You won this round, mortal. But it shall be Kelvar that drinks victory from your skull."
With that, golden mist surrounded Kelvar and he slowly disappeared into it, gone in a second. Standing up, Rayne winced and held her side. He had gotten her good in that tumble she did, and she was not up to doing too strenuous work. At least for now. Luceid was already up, shaking himself of the dust from his own collapse. It always amazed Rayne how that wolf could take a beating then get up a few moments later like nothing had ever happened. She threw the wolf a proud grin, who returned the gesture with a tail wag.
"Umm…excuse me?"
Oh yeah. Rayne had almost completely forgotten about the priest tied up to the chair. Reloading Desperado, she holstered it and walked into the building, drawing a small dagger from her boot and cutting the ropes binding the fellow.
"Sorry about that, Father. Was kind of distracted." Rayne explained.
"It's…it's alright." He said, as he rubbed his wrists now that they were free, "Father?"
"That's what you call a man of the cloth, right? My parents taught me a little respect." Rayne said with a chuckle.
"Oh, it is, just…not a lot of people pay respect to manners anymore." He explained, bowing, "Thank you for saving my life."
"Anytime. What were you doing down here anyway?"
"I had heard these ruins were from the time of the Great War, so I came to see if it offered any insights into our history." The priest explained sullenly, "All I found was that man assaulting me."
"Yeah, I hear ya. Never seen anyone pull the tricks he did." Rayne said, moving over to examine a few broken ARMs pieces strewn about, "I'm Rayne Montgomery, by the way."
"Brother Julian. A pleasure, sister Rayne."
"No sister. Just Rayne."
"Very well, Rayne…" Julian said, pausing a moment, "Was that...that thing you wielded…was it really…?"
"An ARM? Yup." Rayne replied, picking up a few salvageable pieces and tucking them into her pack, "Listen, I pretty much got what I came for, so I'm going to head out. You want to come with, or you staying here?"
"There's nothing for me down here…thank you."
So the three vacated the city ruins and ventured out into the light of day once more. Strangely, Rayne noticed, Luceid didn't seem put off by Julian. Usually he hated other people, but this priest had managed to walk with them without as much as a protest from the picky wolf. Taking it as a sign, Rayne let herself relax a little for the remainder of the walk into Cross Roads. It was early afternoon, so the streets were mostly deserted. This was fine by Rayne for now, since it meant she could get a drink in peace and relax until the evening when she could go get her payoff from Roger. The priest seemed a little unsure what to do once they got back, turning to Rayne and bowing again.
"Thank you again for helping me."
"Like I said, don't sweat it, Father." Rayne replied, "I think this is where we part ways. Good luck with your fact finding and such."
"Indeed. Grudiev guide your steps, Rayne."
With another bow, the priest was off down the road, assumedly out of town. This didn't bother Rayne much, as she headed right back to her room after with a bottle of whiskey and some ice for her side. There she spent her day with Luceid, trying to get a little strength back so she could head to Roger's that evening. As such, it was unexpected for a knock to come at her door only fifteen minutes before she was to leave. Picking up Desperado, she approached the door, Luceid by her side…and opening the door, she found none other than Julian.
"Father? What're you doing here?"
Julian's voice was deserate, matched by the look of dread in his eyes. "Please, Rayne…I need your help!"
Author's notes: I'm not sure why, but I enjoyed describing the adventure in the city. I have a really cool image of it in my head, and I hope I portrayed it correctly. Please, review the story so I can know what I'm doing right or what I can improve on!