III
"Now, Merrick. No matter what a lady says to you in the future, you must always remember to be kind to her, understand?"
----
The 7-year-old pouted, folding his arms angrily,
"Even if she said I smelled like cat pee and I eat glue for breakfast?"
The elderly woman smiled, ruffling his mud-brown hair with her fingers,
"Yes. Even then."
He sniffled, tears coming to his eyes,
"But...but I don't smell like cat pee...and I don't eat glue for breakfast....and she really was gonna pick her nose and wipe it on the floor!"
She chuckled at that, pulling him up onto her lap with a sigh,
"Yes, well...you don't need to broadcast every little thing you see."
Sucking in a wavering breath, he coughed, wrapping his arms around her neck,
"I don't get...why I'm the one...who gets in trouble....when she was the one...picking on me...! Why do I...have to be nice to her....? She's....she's nothing but....a spoiled....a spoiled brat!"
Smiling, she squeezed him tightly, giving him a soft peck on the cheek,
"Because that's what a gentleman does."
----
Merrick sighed as he swung his leg back and forth, the leaves rustling softly around him. The breeze picked up then, and he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. It was always so peaceful at sunrise. Opening his eyes, he smiled, the small, orange disk in the horizon filling the otherwise dreary sky with a burst of colour. Upon hearing a yawn, he glanced down from his perch. Eve was sitting up now, hair frazzled. He surpressed a laugh, grinning widely,
"Oh, hey! You're awake!"
He jumped down from the branch, his feet landing solidly on the compacted dirt below. Stiffening, he swallowed hard, his legs wobbling like jelly,
"W-W-Would you like some breakfast?"
The ruby-eyed girl blinked, straightening as he knelt down by a pile of sticks,
"Breakfast?"
He grinned again, pulling a lighter from his pocket to light the sticks,
"Yeah, I picked up some bacon while we were at the grocery store!"
"Did you pay for it?"
".......not exactly. I'd like to think of it as 'borrowing'. It's not like I won't pay it back..."
She stared at him blankly, her eyebrow twitching violently,
"Thank you."
"You're welcome! Wait....for what?"
"For making me an accomplice."
"H-Hey!"
~ø~
Train sighed deeply as he sat at the counter. The sun was coming up now, and Eve still hadn't come back. He growled, flipping open his cell phone. Annette yawned as she walked through the front door, raising an eyebrow,
"You still here, Train?"
"Yep. You locked me in, remember?"
----
"It's time you left, Train. Now...come...on!!"
"No! I'm not leaving!! Not until Princess comes back!!"
"She won't be coming here, you idiot! She'll probably...go back to the hideout...where she's been living for the past four years!!"
"She's still got time!! She'll be here any minute!!! Grrrrr....let go, Annette!!"
The middle-aged barkeep groaned, dropping his feet suddenly. His lower half hit the floor with a loud thud and he yelped, glancing back at her angrily,
"What the hell!?"
Folding her arms, she scowled at him,
"Fine. You wanna stay here so bad? I'll lock you in. Goodnight, Train! And be sure to say 'hi' to Lenny for me..."
The chestnut-haired man frowned, raising an eyebrow as she stepped outside,
"Lenny? Who's that? The janitor?"
"Like I could afford a janitor..."
She chuckled, her eye gleaming as she began to close the door,
"Lenny's the café's resident...cockroach."
She then slammed the door shut and locked it; much to his immediate protest,
"A-Annette! Annette let me outta here! I don't wanna meet Lenny!! C'mon, Annette, where's your sense of mercy!!!?"
----
She blinked, staring at him blankly,
"You didn't move from that stool all night, did you?"
"Not. An. Inch."
Shaking her head, she walked around the counter, sighing deeply,
"You're pathetic... you know that, Train?"
"I've been notified once or twice."
He scowled, putting the phone up to his ear. It rang a few times, giving him time to yawn before Eve's voice mail chimed in,
"I'm busy. Leave a message."
Growling softly, he drummed his fingers on the counter top, sighing at the tone,
"Hey, Princess! It's Train. Just calling to check up on you. Call me when you get this, all right? Bye."
He clapped the phone shut, stuffing it back into his jacket. Annette raised an eyebrow,
"Still no word from her?"
"What do you think?"
He stood, heading toward the door,
"I'm gonna go to the hideout and see if she's there. Maybe she overslept or something. I'll be back."
Annette sighed as the door shut behind him, placing both hands on the counter,
"You're that afraid...huh? That you'll lose them both?"
~ø~
Sighing as they finished up their meal, Eve glanced up at Merrick, who was stretching,
"Now, what?"
He shrugged, cracking his knuckles,
"I dunno. I take you home, I guess."
She lowered her head, her hair falling about her face,
"Home..."
Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at the skewered strip of meat in her hand, bringing it closer to her heart,
'A home...'
'"You can use the hideout as a home until I get back, okay?"'
--Four Years Prior--
She frowned, her eyes welling up with tears,
"Where...where are you going?"
Train sighed, turning to her with a solemn look on his face,
"I think I may head back to Cannes to gather more information. Somebody...somebody had to have seen something. There had to be a witness."
"What about the GPS?"
He glanced up at her, his heart sinking as she wiped her eyes of tears. She swallowed hard, shaking her head,
"Sven... he had his phone with him, didn't he? His signal...it would appear wouldn't it? Wouldn't it...?"
He sighed again, pulling out his phone,
"Don't you think I checked that, Princess?"
He flipped it open, handing it to the tiny blonde,
"But...there's nothing. The signal disappeared shortly after I went to go look for him."
Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at the empty screen, and she fell to her knees, holding it close as he continued,
"It's almost as if he intentionally turned it off...or if maybe...maybe someone else did...so that we wouldn't find him."
He knelt down next to the sobbing child, wrapping his arms tightly around her,
"I swear, Eve...I swear to you I'll find him. I won't give up."
The chestnut-haired man then stood, Annette stepping up behind him,
"You'd better get going. The train's leaving in a half hour."
"Right."
Sighing, he started for the door, the woman kneeling down beside Eve,
"Annette?"
She glanced up at him, her cigarette hanging loosely at her lips,
"Yeah, Train?"
"Take care of her while I'm gone...okay?"
She nodded, silently, sighing as he closed the door behind him. Wrapping her arms around Eve, she shook her head; stroking the trembling child's hair,
"It's just not the same, is it? It's not a home if he's not here with you."
----
Eve gasped softly, her eyes widening,
'That's it....!'
"No."
Merrick blinked, stopping in his tracks as he reached the motorcycle,
"No, what?"
Eve stood, dropping the piece of bacon as she started over to him. He straightened as she halted in front of him, reaching into her left arm pouch,
"Uh...what're you?"
"Here."
It was a small wad of cash. The boy raised his eyebrow at her gesture,
"What's that for?"
"You said you needed a job, right? Well, here."
She shoved it into his hands, his curiosity rising as she began to explain,
"I need to travel. There's someone out there who's waiting for me to find him...and I can't do it if I'm stuck here."
"And what does any of that have to do with me?"
The tiny blonde looked him square in the eye, her aura intense,
"In order to find him, I need someone to help me search...someone who knows their way around. You are the only one who wouldn't object to it. I will pay you with money from whatever bounties I collect."
Merrick yawned, his eyes watering a little,
"So, what you're saying is...I'd be your driver?"
"....I suppose it could be put that way, yes."
He stared at her blankly. Her eyes were so earnest.
Sighing, he shrugged, sitting down on the bike,
"I don't see why not. It's a job, after all..."
He turned his head away at her joyful gasp, trying hard not to blush,
"W-Well? You comin' or what? We ain't got all day, y'know..."
Nodding shortly, Eve climbed onto the bike and wrapped her arms around his waist. As he revved up the engine, she smiled, closing her eyes as she rested her head against his back. She could see him now, standing far away from her...somewhere in that beautiful horizon,
'Sven...I'll find you. I promise!'
~ø~
Train sighed as he stepped through the door, frowning. Something wasn't right. He reached into his coat and grabbed for Hades, narrowing his eyes as he walked into the living room,
"Hello? Princess? You home?"
As he walked through the darkness, he became more tense. The air was too still in this place...too quiet. Suddenly, his phone rang and he jumped, his heart pounding. He answered it quickly, his voice a tad shaky,
"H-Hello? Oh, hey Annette. What's up? Is it Eve? Did she come back?"
"Not exactly. Train, you'd better get down here. There's something you need to see."
"Something I need to see? What is it?"
"Are you near a TV?"
He glanced over at the set against the wall to his left, raising an eyebrow,
"Yeah, why?"
"Turn it on and go to the criminal updates station. They've been playing it all morning."
His eyes scanned the surrounding area, searching for the remote. He growled, checking under the furniture, and even the cushions, grumbling to himself,
"Where's that damn...?"
Groaning, he sighed, jogging around the coffee table. It looked as though he'd have to do this manually. He knelt down, hastily flipping through the stations until he finally came upon the right one. His eyes widened at the report,
"Witnesses say that a young man, around the age of 19 or 20, ransacked Noga's Grocers at around 9:52 last night. He took several food items, and when confronted by police, was said to have grabbed a hostage. He fled with the hostage after hijacking a motorbike from the back parking lot. He is said to be armed and dangerous. Two sketches have been made, one of the man and the other of his victim. In the event that they are sighted, we advise against direct confrontation. The bounty for this criminal has been set at $50,000."
He promptly shut the television off then, his blood boiling.
"Did you catch the sketches?"
Teeth grit tightly in a smile, he forced a laugh,
"Yeah..."
His hand shook fiercely as he gripped Hades, his entire arm beginning to tremble,
"So...the little bastard thinks he can make a clean get away with the princess, does he?"
"Train...what are you going to do?"
His eyes narrowed and he raised Hades, firing a single shot into the wall nearby,
"Isn't it obvious, Annette? I'm gonna kill him..."
~ø~
"If that little punk thinks he can get away with what he's done...he's sorely mistaken."
Merrick sighed as they reached the outskirts of Elsida City, slowly bringing the bike to a halt. Eve frowned as he ushered her off of it, and pushed the bike into the bushes nearby,
"What are you doing?"
"I figure it's probably not a good idea to take this thing any further. It's bound to have been reported missing. We don't want to be arrested for stealing it, now do we?"
"So, what will we do when someone finds it?"
The muddy-haired boy smirked, wagging a finger in the air,
"Well, for one thing, we're not going to be here when they find it. And two..."
He tugged a sheet of paper from the bag slung over his shoulder, a pen as well,
"I'm going to leave a note thanking them for letting us borrow it. I'm sure that'll be good enough to keep us in the clear."
"Are you serious?"
He nodded, slipping a bill inside as he folded the letter,
"Giving them $100 for their trouble also helps..."
The blonde sighed, a beat of sweat trailing down her face,
"I hope you know someone wealthy who can bail us out when we're in jail..."
"Hey! We're not goin' to jail, all right!?"
Letting out a sigh, he stomped back over to the road, shielding his eyes from the sun as he glanced down the road towards town. Eve folded her arms as she walked up behind him, frowning,
"So what do we do, now?"
"Well, we stand out here and wait for someone to pick us up!"
"You mean...hitchhike?"
He glanced over at her with a beaming smile, nodding shortly,
"Yep."
She stared at him blankly, calmly starting down the road past him,
"If I'd known you were just going to throw the bike away, I wouldn't have hired you..."
"H-Hey! We've barely been at this for a day and you're already doubting me!? Jeez, are you a tough one to please, princess..."
Eve gasped and turned back to him, her eyes wide in surprise,
"What....what did you call me?"
Merrick blinked at her, scratching at his cheek,
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
Before she could reply, a truck sputtered up to them, the driver tipping his hat,
"It's quite a ways to Elsida from here. You folks need a lift?"
The muddy-haired boy grinned, nodding furiously,
"Yessir!"
He then glanced back at Eve, waving her over,
"What did I tell you? Just leave it to me, kiddo, and we'll get to where we're goin' in no time!"
The girl's eyebrow twitched at that, her fists tightening at her sides,
'Kiddo?'
They both climbed into the truck bed, the driver pushing open his back window as Merrick laid down across the bed,
"So, what brings you folks all the way out here? You gettin' eloped at the carnival or something?"
The muddy-haired boy shot up quickly, swivelling around to face the driver,
"Like hell--!!"
Eve narrowed her eyes at him, seething,
"And just what is that supposed to mean?"
He squeaked, coughing as he cleared his throat,
"I-I mean...no sir. It's nothing like that..."
The driver shrugged, chuckling to himself as he started on down the road again,
"Kids these days..."
Merrick laid back down after a few moments, yawning deeply,
"Man, I'm beat! How about you, Eve?"
The blonde sighed as the wind tousled her hair, her legs curled up under her chin. She remained silent. He glanced up at her from where he lay, his eyes darting back to the puffy, white clouds in the sky above them,
"You nervous?"
She sighed again, absently gazing at his chest,
"I...I don't know."
"Well, you shouldn't be. I know my way around pretty well."
"Hmm? You do?"
He nodded, closing his eyes as his bangs fluttered about his face,
"Yeah..."
They were silent again, the only sound being the whir of passing cars.
"So...who's this guy you're looking for, anyway?"
Eve straightened as she glanced down at Merrick, blinking quietly,
"What?"
"This guy you're looking for. Who is he?"
"None of your business."
The boy grit his teeth then, shooting back up into a sitting position,
"Like hell it is my business! You're the one who hired me, missy!! You at least oughta tell me if the bozo we're tracking down is a criminal or not--"
"Shut up!"
He straightened, staring at her silently. Her face...it was contorted with sadness. Her fists were clenched tightly on her lap. She glared at him angrily, her ruby eyes beginning to shimmer like glass,
"You don't even know Sven..."
She then took to staring out at the scenery to her left, her lip visibly quivering. Merrick sighed deeply, rolling over on his side away from her,
"Whatever."
Laying on his arm, his gaze lowered, and he blankly stared at his hand for a while,
'Dammit...'
~ø~
He sighed as he stepped out of his car, taking off his sunglasses as he headed toward the building. He carefully shoved them in his pocket as he headed up the front steps, his smirk widening as he entered the building. His trek down the long, carpeted corridor proceeded in a confident, drawn-out stride. He supposed they'd be informing the agents now...