Chapter Six: False Advertising
Flash chanted and gesticulated, his tunic blinding passers-by on the street as he programmed the last elements of the new Cainson House. Inside the spacious parlor of the house, Zero and Iris exchanged words.
"It doesn't fit." The crimson warrior folded his arms across his chest and sat back in his leather easy chair. His tea sat cooling in front of him.
"I see your point, sir, but consider our position. We are new here. We need your strength with us, not just your service." The young lady of the house wore a full length, pastel green morning dress with a slit up to the knee and a classic rounded neckline, as well as long white gloves.
"I can't live as a houseguest. Either I serve you as a hired sword or I find my own domain."
Iris' eyes narrowed a tiny fraction of an inch, and she too sat back in her chair. "I am sorry that our company is so poor you feel you must distance yourself from us." She crossed her legs and took a sip of tea.
Zero's eyes popped wide at this new tactic. "What?"
The brunette turned away. "It is a sad measure of my limited wisdom that I mistook your feelings towards us of the house of Cainson for something they were not. Please accept my apologies for the misunderstanding."
The blond warrior sat speechless for a full minute, his combat-oriented processor working furiously to figure out a counterattack. He choked.
"What?"
"I will have your share of the bounty from the river bandits wired directly to your Zephyr Bank account. I am sure Flash would be willing to find you an apartment. He's very talented."
Zero floundered like a man dropped into a glacial stream. He found himself clutching the strap of his duffel bag, which currently held his few non-combat possessions.
"What?"
"Now, don't dawdle around here just to be polite to me. I'm sure you have a lot to do, with finding your own domain and all of that." Her eyes lit on his with cool indifference. "I think there's a nice hotel just a couple of blocks away. You should be able to find it easily enough."
The blond gripped his luggage, frozen in place. Iris inspected her nails. "Please, don't let me detain you."
Finally Zero stood. Bowing in a jerky, uncertain movement, the warrior retreated out into the front hall. Rubbing his forehead, he emerged into the crowded street with his duffel bag slung over one shoulder.
"What?"
He turned to Flash, but the mad programmer didn't seem to notice his friend's presence. Neither did most of the crowd, who were either watching the lunatic finish his programming or shielding their eyes from his tunic as they walked past.
One person seemed to notice the crimson warrior, however. A redhead with voluptuous curves and suggestive clothing split off from the crowd and gave Zero a friendly hello.
"Need someone to show you around, handsome?"
The young warrior blinked and started to smile, but abruptly his expression froze. "I'll find my way, thanks." He moved off into the crowd, no longer smiling, but the redhead tagged along.
"Now you're lying to me. I'm hurt." She pouted at him.
Zero shook his head again. "Don't waste your time. I'm not your type."
"What, the rude bully type?"
"Stop following me."
Finally the devilishly attractive redhead complied, and watched him go. Once he was out of sight, the woman sidled into an alleyway and switched forms. Her exaggerated curves shrank to more ordinary feminine proportions, her hair darkened to black, her eyes faded to grey, and the provocative clothing gave way to a plain traveling outfit. Finally, the structure of her face changed slightly. Malon, disguised in another illusion, stepped out of the alleyway.
"Time for plan number two," she muttered.
Zero strode down the street towards a large building marked by a sign that read, "Stormy Hill Domain Registry, LOW LOW RATES" in big flashing letters. Not that big flashing letters distinguished the building from its neighbors. In the light of day, the streets looked garish with advertisements. At night, looking too hard at the panoramic view could probably cause blindness. The crimson warrior had his hand on the door when a shriek split through the noise of the ever present crowds.
"Don't touch me!" Malon, still disguised, pushed herself away from a male warrior with orange and black scale mail armor. The warrior gaped at her in surprise. His problems instantly multiplied as Zero appeared before him faster than thought.
His eyes wide and his face pale, the unlucky male warrior looked up at his doom. "I'm innocent! I don't even know her!"
Zero regarded the man's trembling face through sapphire slits. "Keep it that way."
He turned to Malon. A dark look appeared on his face as he beheld her apparent terror, but the young man sensed without looking that the warrior with the orange armor was gone. He forced himself to smile at the raven-haired young woman. "He won't be troubling you anytime soon."
Malon sobbed, and she gave her friend a tight hug. Zero's smiled faded at this display of emotion from a complete stranger. He patted her shoulder and waited for her to unfasten herself. After a good ten seconds, during which the young man began to wrinkle his forehead and blush, the young woman looked up into his face, crying still.
"He'll be back once he sees you're gone," she managed between sobs.
Zero shook his head, his face returning to its typical placid expression. "No. I won't allow it."
"H-he knows where I live! What'll I do?"
Looking down at her, he sighed. "Come on. You need your mind taken off things." He pulled her through the crowds to an expensive theater he'd seen earlier. "What's your name, by the way?"
00000
Two and a half hours later, the two of them emerged from the theater with a mob of people. Laughter bubbled through the afternoon air.
"Come on, what was it like?"
"Yuki, it was a chess match. There's was nothing exciting about it." Zero laughed at Malon's petulant expression.
"Not the chess match, you big silly. I mean after! You beat a college chess master your first time playing the game, that had to be a riot."
"I'd been staring at the board strategizing for twenty-six hours straight. No one was there to see when I beat him and neither of us felt like talking about it. I went to a more advanced course the next day." He drew in a big breath and let it all out. "How do you get me to talk so much?"
She giggled and linked her arm with his. "I'll tell you later." Malon, a.k.a. Yuki, pulled the warrior along like a virgin leading along a great, muscled unicorn lassoed with a strand of hair. Zero allowed himself to be steered toward the Heavenly Wind hotel, and within a few minutes they stood in the lobby.
"My room's up this way, number 442," the young woman said. She tried to lead the crimson warrior over to the stairs, but he didn't budge. The young man looked down at her, his expression somber.
"I'm sorry if I misled you. I'm not the type to share a bed so casually."
He began to turn away, and Malon slapped at his face. "How dare you! You beast, you filthy beast! Don't try to tell me I'm some kind of slut!" She cradled her throbbing hand. His ever present helmet had thwarted the traditional female sign of outrage.
Zero stopped in midstep. The crimson warrior turned to face Yuki squarely and removed his helmet. His long blond hair, when hanging freely from his unprotected head, fell all the way to his waist.
"Here. You deserve another chance." He turned the other cheek.
Yuki gritted her teeth as tears sprang to her eyes. Her face burning red, the black-haired beauty dropped to her knees.
"That man from before, he'll be back if he knows I'm a-a-alone," she sobbed. "I j-j-just need to…to make him think someone stronger already has me…"
Zero crouched down and put his arms around her. "I get it, I get it. I'll put on a show for the fool. Don't take this the wrong way," he whispered.
The young man pulled Yuki to her feet and kissed her lips.
After a long moment, he broke off and led her upstairs, his helmet held under one arm. His face totally placid, the warrior beamed a private message to Iris and Flash Cainson. We have a problem. We've been followed.
You sound worried, Zero. Do you need Flash's help to dispose of them? Iris' voice sounded in his head. A stream of gibberish arrived from the mad programmer himself.
Not that kind of problem. It's Malon Haolin, but she's calling herself Yuki and she's trying to get me alone.
Woo hoo hooo!
That's very dangerous, Iris beamed to the warrior. Her brothers will arrive to protect her honor. She paused. How, sir, did you figure out that it was Malon? She is very adept with personal illusions. Usually the only way to discover the truth is by feel.
Never mind that.
Woo hoo hah hoo hah hoooooo!
Zero entered the cramped hotel room and Malon shut the door behind him. The young woman looked at the ground. "Zero, I have a confession to make."
He sighed. "I know. You're not named Yuki. You're Malon Haolin." Flash, hack into the system registry and run a search for her brothers and father.
Dooly dooly done, Casanova.
She gaped at him. "How long have you known?"
"From the beginning," the warrior lied calmly. He set his helmet on the single table in the cramped little room. If either of you find them, watch them. If you have to, stall for me. I'm on the fourth floor of the Heavenly Wind hotel, and I'll need some time.
00000
In another part of the city, Flash collapsed to the floor of his workshop with laughter. Iris, putting on her shoes in the entry way to the house, frowned deeply.
00000
Malon's emotional subprocessor skipped a beat. Grinning up at the warrior, Malon dispelled the illusion that masked the appearance of her face. In a moment, her skin tanned slightly, her nose became more slender, her chin strengthened marginally, and the dimples left. A tiny scar appeared in the very corner of her forehead. As the rest of her returned to normal, however, the young woman's hair remained iridescent black and her eyes grey.
"And here I thought I was such an actress." She stared into his crystal blue eyes. "What are you going to do now?"
"First, tell me why you followed me." He folded his arms across his chest.
"All right." She gestured at a chair in front of the little table. "Well, take a seat already. I'll have room service send up some tea."
00000
Zero sipped the hotel tea and tried not to make a face. It was barely even lukewarm. "So. Ghost men are looking for me."
"I know it's hard to believe, but—"
"It's not that. I'm just not worried about that kind of thing right now." Zero put down his tea and stood. He stepped around the table and pulled Malon up to him, stroking her face. Her features froze as a totally secure message passed into her communication buffer from his hand. I'm sorry to get you mixed up in my problems, Malon. Don't take this the wrong way, either.
"What—"
"Don't speak. Everything's going to turn out fine." He kissed her again and again, and she returned the favor. Passionately. Then the walls exploded.
