Happiness, Hugs & Home (The first part of the Bound trilogy) - by Shade
-disclaimer: I do not own such an exquisite game as Lufia 2 is. I do own this run-in-the-middle story, so ask permission to base anything upon it. Thank you in advance.-
The first person to welcome the three was Hilda. She hadn't aged much since Tia last saw her, a little over two years ago, but something about her was different nonetheless.
"Hello Tia! I see my ne'er-do-well brother managed to get you here in one piece?"
"He's looked after me like a perfect gentleman", the girl responded, "and so has Dekar. But I am a bit hungry, after walking for three hours straight in the early morning sun…"
"Say no more!", Hilda exclaimed as she led the three into the inn like only the sister of a fighter could do. "I'll make you a lunch that'll sustain you for days! Oh, Jessy, look who's back!", she shouted into the kitchen as she entered.
"Oh, nice to see you're back, dear…", sounded said girl's voice as she appeared from the kitchen, taking off her apron before going over to Guy and hugging him, planting a shy kiss on his cheek. "You need to shave!", she said after that, pushing him off his seat and out of the inn. "Don't come back until you look decent!"
"Huh? Doesn't Guy live in the inn anymore?", Tia asked, surprised by the whole scene. "At least you're still together. You're so right for each other."
"Oh, well, we're engaged now.", Jessy said with a blush, showing the younger girl the ring on her right hand (note: I don't even know if that's right - me not being engaged and all). "Guy's moving in with me. Or he's already moved in with me, depends on how you see things. He spends 2/3 of his day in my house, and 1/3 outside."
"Oh, so you're his fiancée now?", Tia said rather than asked. Jessy merely nodded, her blush growing more and more profuse. Just when Tia wanted to ask her another question, Dekar spoke up.
"So, Jess, have any other guests arrived yet?"
"No, you and Tia are the only ones up until now. I did get a letter written by a "Miss Terres" asking if she could come as well, but I don't think any of you guys ever met her."
"Terres? Don't think I have. But I have the feeling I will." There was no smile on his face, Tia noticed, nor was there a hint of interest in his voice. "That'll be the fourth person claiming to have known Maxim and Selan really well." He sighed, a deep sigh that left him looking helpless - shoulders sagged, face hidden behind wisps of blue and red hair. It was then that Hilda brought them lunch, fortunately, and they forgot all about the mystery lady while eating and talking.
"So, Tia, how have you been? I hope you were safe these last months, I was worried when the monster attacks intensified…"
"I've been fine, thank you. I worried too, what with Guy gone and no one left to protect Tanbel. But I figured you could manage. You survived being kidnapped, so why not survive a few monster attacks?" That made the two women laugh, and Dekar too chuckled. "No, seriously, I knew you're a tough cookie, so… By the way, how have things been around here anyway?"
"Quiet, when Guy was gone. Then, when he returned, there was this sort of happy sadness. Jessy cried - both because Guy was finally back and because he didn't come out of the battle with the Sinistrals unharmed."
"He didn't? B-but he wasn't wounded, or was he?", Tia said, surprised, right when Guy came in. The tall blonde fighter quickly figured out what she meant and sat down at his previous place again.
"I'm not hurt physically as much as psychically, Tia. It was my heart that was wounded, when I had to leave my two best friends in order to save myself. But there is a physical wound. Or do you mean to tell me the absence of two fingers had gone unnoticed to you?" He showed his left hand to her, and indeed, his pinkie and ring finger were missing. Tia gasped.
"Oh, Guy…", she said, truly not finding any words to express how sorry she was. "How awful!", she added after a while.
"Nah, I can still fight!", he answered, grinning. "The wounds closed fairly quickly, but the emotional scars may never go away. It wasn't guilt I felt, but helplessness. I couldn't save them - I wouldn't have been able to even if I had tried my hardest. I was unable to matter for the first time in my life." He smiled weakly in her direction. "Besides, everyone got hurt one way or another…"
"That doesn't make it any less awful. I mean, what could be worse?"
"Having a shrine collapse with you still in it…", Dekar said softly, and to his amazement, Tia had heard and looked at him incredulously. "It was the reason I got separated from Maxim's crew.", he continued. "I didn't even know when it collapsed 'cause I was out cold before that…" He stopped when he noticed Tia's eyes were glittering with withheld tears, and decided to give it a happier twist. "But if that shrine hadn't come down on me, I would've never met my whale friends!"
"Yeah, he made quite the entrance on the back of one of them.", Guy clarified to the others. "When we were suddenly surrounded by monsters in Portravia and out of time and options, guess who came crashing the party by sea? He wiped out all the monsters with a single attack, clearing the way for us." Dekar grinned his broadest grin as he heard the most unlikely words come from Guy, the one that was supposed to hate him for it. "Hey, but don't go thinking you're the man because you wiped out a few monsters!", Guy continued as he saw the taller fighter gloating. It was then that Tia started to laugh.
"That is so unlikely, it has to be true!", she managed to say in between fits of laughter. Dekar joined in, and so did the others. When the laughing had subsided, Guy cleared his throat and spoke again.
"Yep, but Mr. "Muscles for brain" here had his funny moments all right. Like that time in the tower north of Narsysus. Remember that, Dekar?"
"Uh… yeah…", Dekar said as he recalled the event. "But only vaguely… that thing with the cage? Yeah… Idura had caught himself some young women to steal their life force. He held them in a cage - of course, it was down when we arrived - Maxim, Selan and Guy over here rushed right to the girls. Then, the cage came down around them… Idura thought he had caught all of us, but I was still out… I scared off Idura, or so I thought, and the cage lowered. But, concerned for the safety of my friends…"
"…and more so for the girls…", Guy mumbled, interrupting Dekar.
"…I went inside. Cage came back down and I was trapped with them." Dekar paused for a while, drinking a glass of water mainly to hide his blush of shame. "But you know me, eh, I don't give up THAT easily! I asked the girls to step aside and started to break the cage open. Idura laughed at my attempts, said brute force wouldn't matter, but then it broke, and Maxim and the others were able to come out and fight the gas bag. Of course, he fled again, but hey! You can't expect an evil bastard to stand around and get beaten!"
"Yeah, and after that, the ladies wanted to thank Dekar… luckily for them, their boyfriends came to get them right at that moment. Dekar was, shall I say, hurt."
"Yeah… the warrior's only love is his sword!", Dekar said while touching the handle of his blade, which was shaped like a dragon, almost lovingly. Tia frowned at that.
"If that's true, I don't want to be a warrior!", she said loudly. Hilda nodded, agreeing, and Jessy looked at Guy affectionately. But right after that, she said:
"Don't worry, Tia, it's a male thing. Guy still polishes his halberd at every possible time of the day! …Seriously, darling, I'm starting to think you love that piece of metal more than me!", she said, pouting. Guy rolled his eyes and rose from his chair.
"Sorry to leave you with the dirty dishes, Hilda, but I've got to go now. Polish my halberd and all…", he said before running out, followed by Jessy. Hilda sighed and picked up the empty plates, aided by Tia.
"Are they always like that?", the girl asked. Hilda shrugged.
"I guess they love each other enough to live together. If they were fire and ice, I wouldn't have let him move in with her, but they get along fine. Oh, are you sure you want to help me, Tia?"
"Absolutely.", she said as she picked up another glass and brought them to the kitchen, followed by Hilda. "Oh, wait… Dekar?", she said as she went back outside the kitchen for a second.
"Yeah?", the blue-and-red-haired fighter asked.
"You… don't have to wait, you know… I'll carry the suitcases myself."
"Oh, no worries, I'll just ask Hilda where you're staying and I'll drop the suitcases off there - after a short nap, that is. Hilda, where's our lovely guest staying?"
"She's staying in Greg's house, Dekar, he's gone back to Aleyn and said we could use his house. Oh, that's right, I haven't asked Guy where you'll be staying! …Never mind, I'll ask him when he gets back."
"Allright… say, Hilda, call me if you need any help, I'll be taking that nap upstairs if you don't mind…"
"Of course I don't! But don't mess up the bed like you did last time, okay!" Tia giggled at that comment and returned to washing dishes. After a while, Hilda rushed off, leaving Tia to stack the plates and put them back into the cupboards. She hummed a tune while putting the glasses back where they belonged, a wordless song she had learnt while travelling, to which she had added words in her mind.
"I wish it was my home I came home to every day
but that's the hero's life, always underway
I wish it were my friends that on these roads I'd meet
But that's the hero's life, enemies to defeat"
She was still humming when Hilda came back.
"Thanks for helping out, Tia, you have no idea how much help will be needed over the next week! …By the way, is Dekar awake yet?"
"No, he's still sleeping, why?", Tia asked, curious all of a sudden.
"Well, since Guy said he had promised Artea to stay here, and since the other empty house we can use is fit for Lexis, his daughter, and Selan's aunt - with Jeros, of course - Dekar will have to stay with you, in Greg's house."
"Oh, okay, I'll just go tell him, Hilda…", Tia said, not knowing what to think of the fact that she'd have to share a house with the tall fighter. Silently, she wondered what the outcome of the party would be for her.