Chapter 8: People That Are in High Demand

x x x

When I reached Halure's entrance, I saw Yuri standing with his sword over the Tweedles, Adecor and Boccos, who were sprawled on the ground. "I'm sorry, I can't go back." Estelle was apologizing to them. I'm gonna tell her later that she apologizes too much.

Leblanc tried to encourage the men to keep fighting, but Rita threw a fireball at them. "She says she's not going back, so get lost!" Karol stared at her aghast, unable to believe she'd attack Imperial Knights.

"Yuri! It's them again!" The princess cried as she saw the Red-eyes up the hill. Wait, there's only supposed to be assassins on that hill, but there's another sneaking up from the other side!

"Damn it, I knew they were still after us," Yuri scowled. Shit, he doesn't see the other one!

"What is it this time?" Rita put her hands on her hips, focused on Yuri and not paying attention to the man. She didn't know the danger yet!

"Wh-what do you mean?" Karol wasn't looking the right way to see the one behind them either!

I ran towards them desperately, drawing my daggers. "Yuri! Behind you!" He saw me running at them from the bridge, and quickly turned at my shout. Just in time to catch the rippling curve of the blade on his sword.

"These guys are a pain!" I reached them just then and stood ready by his side, but Yuri was able to deal with the assassin without my help, smashing the hilt of his sword into the Red-eyes face. He looked at the others, "I'll explain later! Karol, which way is Nor Harbor?"

Flustered, Karol looked back at Yuri, "Uh, ah, it's west! West! You go over Ehmead Hill and Capua Nor is right there."

Yuri turned to me, "Find what you were looking for on your walk?"

"Nope, time for me to move on."

"Then come on!" We ran for the exit, Estelle and Rita lagging behind, but at least they were following. Yuri stopped by the knights to arrange a cover for our retreat. "Imperial Knight Point # 1: 'With this sword I shall protect the people,' wasn't it?"

Leblanc saw the assassins giving chase and understood Yuri's meaning. "Indeed! Come on boys, let's show them what the Imperial Knights are made of!" he roared and threw his arm in a commanding gesture. Adecor and Boccos charged, and I heard Estelle whispering "sorry" again as she paused to look back at them, then we were all making for the hills.

x x x

Going the Same Way

Rita: So why are you still with us?

Letha: Aw, Rita, and here I thought you cared about me after what happened in the ruins. You even fed me!

Rita: Why should I care? Weren't you going to go your own way once we got to Halure?

Letha: I am. Just happens that my way is the same as yours.

Rita: Well, at least you're more useful than the runt.

Letha: See! I knew you cared, somewhere deep, deep down inside! Real deep!

Rita: I take it back, you're still a pain!

*Rita leaves*

Letha: Wow, you're so gonna hate it when Raven shows up. And eventually I'll probably be the weakest one here...

x x x

Ehmead Hill, huh, nothing real bad happens here, right? Just some of Rita's shenanigans? I had been keeping near the back of the group while we crossed the plains between Halure and Ehmead. My boots may have been awesomely sturdy considering they were mostly for show, but they weren't the most comfortable things after running from assassins for hours.

Karol and Rita were bickering over whether there was a barrier blastia here, of course I knew there had been but Judith had paid a visit recently so it was busted. When Estelle picked up on the name Karol dropped into the conversation (heheh, I was kinda looking forward to teasing him about Nan, myself) the little guild ace was quick to run off and "find information." The genius mage couldn't resist going ahead with him to investigate.

"All right, never mind us, guys. I'm not gonna go look for them if they get lost," said our poor chaperon, Yuri. He'd probably lose half the kids on a school field trip.

"Shall we, Yuri?" Every time I hear that line, I half expect Estelle to take Yuri's arm in that formal lady being escorted by a gentleman fashion.

We followed behind the two youngest members and caught up to them as Rita exercised her genius status to get near the still smoking blastia. She brushed off the poor assistant and sent him running in confusion for someone with more authority.

"Huh, I could use some of her attitude," Yuri observed.

"I think you have plenty already..." said our favorite princess. Screw Peach and Zelda, they get kidnapped way too...oh, right, Estelle needs to be rescued later too. Ohh-kay, never mind.

"That wanted poster says you have five thousand gald worth of attitude," I quipped. "Hell, after Heliore it might go up!"

"You think so?" the swordsman asked me hopefully. I shrugged, rather than tell him the price on his poorly drawn head doubles. Is he a good influence on the kids, or a bad one?

"Hey! Listen to this!" Karol came flying in from behind. Huh? When did we pass him? "It was like bam! A spear went thunk! The blastia went bang! And he flew off into the sky like whoosh!"

Yuri blinked at the rush of disconnected thoughts. "Who did what how... huh?"

"I think someone gave the boy too much sugar..." I mumbled. Even knowing what he was trying to tell us, it went by so fast I hardly caught any of it.

"Someone riding a flying dragon," he said again a bit slower, "threw a giant spear at the blastia! And then just flew off!"

"A human riding a dragon?" Yuri scoffed, "No way." I noted the knights running by us. Weren't those Captain Schwann's colors? They were browner looking than I thought...

"I've never heard of anything like that before." I have, Estelle. That sort of thing is popular fiction material back home. Another researcher (I'd say judging by the robes) ran by.

"That's what I thought too, but a bunch of people here saw it happen! They say it was a 'dragon rider.'"

"Uh, guys?" I tried to point out the little parade to them. Dang me for having a quiet voice.

"A dragon rider... Hmmm. Well, the world's just full of surprises." And there goes Yuri, accepting off the wall stories again.

Rita's angry shout got their attention, "Hey! What do you think you're doing? Let me go!"

"There she goes again," Karol said in a sing-songish voice.

"Something is definitely strange with this blastia formula!" How can she tell? And did she ever explain what is strange about it?

"There's nothing strange at all. Perhaps you are..."

"Just who do you think I am!" Rita cut off the nameless man in robes. As sharped tongue and sure of herself as ever, despite having knights menacing her to either side.

"I'm well aware of who you are. The famed genius mage, correct? But surely there are some formulas that even you aren't familiar with!" Such a patronizing tone!

"Shouldn't we do something?" I asked.

"What do you suggest we do?" Yuri looked away from the drama to ask me.

"Umm, throw rocks at them?" I shrugged.

"You can't use a weird formula like this! Think of the poor blastia!" She probably means the formula makes the blastia unstable or something; putting it, and incidentally any bystanders, in danger of the explosive sort.

"H-hey! Stop gawking and help us catch her!" another nameless man demanded. Other knights started to converge on the scene.

Yay! Now Karol jumps into action, since we seem to be disregarding my rock throwing suggestion. The boy ran into the middle of the road to yell at the knights, "Fire! Hey, fiiiiire!"

Instead of running in circles panicking the knights turned to look at us. "What's with that kid?"

"A fire? I don't hear anything or smell anything..." No offense Karol, but I'm glad to see that old trick pony not working for once...

"Hey! You little liar!"

"Crap...they caught on that fast?" The boy looked surprised that the obvious trick didn't work.

"Maybe we should have lit a real fire first," I mused. Karol didn't bother responding to me as he was already running away from several knights. A couple of them stopped just before passing us by.

"Hey! You're with that kid..." said one looking at Yuri. His friend grabbed me by the wrist. Crap, probably 'cause I made that joke about setting a fire. "Wait a minute... You—there's a warrant for your-" He didn't finish as I had created a lovely distraction by using kotegaeshi on the knight very rudely grabbing me. In simple terms, I used some interesting foot work and moved his arm and wrist in such a way that he found himself flying over backwards. To the uninformed observer, I'd just taken a step or two forward while turning away and then back again.

Yuri used the opening I'd made to charge the knight still holding Rita and give him a chop to the back of the neck with his hand. "It's now or never..." he told her and they both ran. The knight that had recognized Yuri tried to get in their way, but was jumped from behind by Repede.

"I'm sorry," Estelle called back at them as we all made for the bushes on the side of the trail.

"Hey! Stop goofing off and help catch that kid!" was the last thing I heard before we got too far to hear the rest of the commotion we'd caused.

"Phew, looks like we lost 'em."

"Rita, you should really think more before you act!" Estelle gasped.

The mage was panting with her head lowered, "...That barrier blastia was just so strange, I couldn't help myself..."

I was content to let them have their conversation while I worked to steady my breathing without falling over. I'd been doing too much running lately, I have terrible stamina for that...

"Strange? Something fishy about it?" the swordsman questioned her.

"I have a feeling that may be an understatement." Ooh, I'd call that foreshadowing.

"Well, our hands are already full as it is, so could you please keep us out of it?"

Not liking Yuri's tone, Rita turned away, "...It doesn't concern you regardless."

Then Leblanc's bellowing voice came from nowhere, "Yuri Looowell! Where have you run off to now?" Glancing back towards the road we got a glimpse of him through the bushes.

"Hey, Mr. Famous, sounds like you've got a fan out there." The grudge holding mage was certainly quick to get back at people.

"Again?" the infamous man sighed, "That guy gives a new meaning to the word 'workaholic.'"

"It's just that much fun to yell Yuri's name at the top of your lungs." He gave me an unamused look. I'm starting to feel like Raven's place holder. It probably means we'll hit it off great when he joins, but I should try harder to establish myself as a useful and intelligent team player. Easier said then done, when I was afraid of giving away something I wasn't supposed to know yet.

Tweedle A for Adecor went by next, yelling for Estelle almost as loudly as Leblanc, "Lady Estelliiiise! I say, do come out of hiding!"

"You guys have a lot of problems!" Rita gave the fugitive pair an incredulous look, "Just who are you, anyway?"

"Umm, well, I'm..."

Tweedle B for Boccos next, "Yuuuri, come out, come out, wherever you are!" God, must not laugh! Must not laugh at grown men yelling "yuri!"

"You can talk about that later!" The swordsman tried to urge us deeper into the woods, but before we could follow his lead Repede snarled at something.

"Waaaah! Wait, wait! It's me!" Karol jumped out the bushes and joined up with us again.

"...Ack, Karol...don't frighten us like that!" Our princess scolded the boy and Rita lowered her defensively (or should I say offensively in her case?) raised arms.

"Anyway, let's get our butts to Nor Harbor before things get any more complicated," Yuri said, trying again to get us moving. Ugh, they're taking too long... I zoned out while waiting for us to finally get somewhere.

We eventually moved on, picking our way through the narrow beast trail while occasionally fighting off giant ladybugs, more giant bird monsters, and some kind of hermit-crab-monkey things. I always did like hiking.

x x x

Who is Nan?

Karol: ...Hey, Estelle. I noticed you keep looking in my direction—what's up?

Estelle: You don't mind if I ask? All right, well then...here goes. This "Nan"... Are you in love with her?

Karol: Ack... *hack* *cough* *choke*

Estelle: Nan is a girl's name, right? Is she the girl you wanted to show Halure's flowers to...?

Karol: Waaaaaa! No, no, no! You got it all wrong!

Estelle: I do?

Karol: Man, she'd be so angry if she heard you say that...

Estelle: Karol, good luck with her! I'm rooting for you!

Karol: Uh, yeah...well, thanks. That's encouraging.

A Girl Knows These Things

Letha: Something wrong Karol?

Karol: What? Nothing!

Letha: ...Let me guess, afraid you'll get jumped by Estelle again?

Karol: H-how'd you know?

Letha: She has a good sense of women's intuition. I'm not surprised she's excited, most girls like stories about young lovers.

Karol: Y-young lo—that's not it! A-and you're a girl too! Why haven't you been asking me anything?

Letha: Meh, Estelle's better at getting answers out of you than I am. Must be because she seems so innocent.

x x x

When we found the giant flower thing (that I uneasily thought looked kind of carnivorous) Rita played her little prank on Karol that left him stunned and confused for awhile.

While we waited it out, Yuri snapped his fingers as if remembering something. "Hey, Letha."

"Mm-huh? Wha?" I turned away slightly in order to discretely hide the notebook I'd been scribbling in. I like to carry one around to keep ideas in, or just to occasionally draw something, but it's embarrassing to show the raw ideas to people. Just then I'd been trying to sketch what the piece of the fairy heirloom looked like.

"What was that move you used on that knight? I haven't seen something like that before."

"Oh, that was a kotegaeshi." I tucked the book back into my bag. "It's one of the more basic moves of Aikido." I grimaced a little, "But I didn't do it quite right..."

"What was wrong with it?"

"For one thing I've never tried it on someone wearing armor before and I hurt my hands a bit. For another I didn't have as much control over him as I could, and probably hurt him more than I intended. So sloppy of me..."

There was a moment of silence, I think they were trying to process how odd it sounded that I was mad at myself for hurting someone with an attack. I shrugged, "Aikido is almost entirely defensive counters, designed to protect yourself without causing your opponent damage. After all, you never know when today's enemy will be tomorrow's ally."

"I guess that makes sense...could you show me how to do it?"

I stood up and slipped out of my jacket and vest, "Sure thing, though I don't think it really suits your style much." The rest of the time we waited for Karol to snap out of it I spent surprising everyone by demonstrating how easily I could toss the bigger swordsman around.

"Though if we were in a real fight, you'd probably beat me anyway," I assured him.

"I think it might be more trouble than it's worth," he winced at the surprising strength in my grip. I smiled sweetly at him.

x x x

The Dragon Rider

Yuri: Man, some people have some weird hobbies. I mean, who goes around destroying blastia?

Estelle: I wouldn't really call that a hobby.

Rita: If we ever come across whoever's doing this, I'll destroy him!

Karol: But what if he has some reason for what he's doing?

Rita: They can have any reason they want, destroying blastia is unforgivable! Period!

*Rita rushes up to Karol and grabs him by the handkerchief around his neck. Makes a rubbery tightening sound*

Karol: Ack, my, my neck! My neck! Waaaaaghh! Ack, heeeelp meee, Yuri!

Yuri: Meh, that'd take effort. Just play nice with each other, kids.

Karol: Estelle...

Estelle: Umm...do your best, Karol!

Karol: Letha...?

Letha: But then she'd be after me...

x x x

It wasn't until the ground began shaking that it occurred to me. You know, probably, just probably, Ehmead Hill had a monster boss we're supposed to defeat. Dammit, I was hoping that since it's technically not a game anymore we wouldn't have to fight an epic battle at every new place we find. Of course I wouldn't be that lucky.

"Gyaaaah!" Snap. Karol was looking up on top of a cliff to our right. "Th-that's one of the monsters that attacked Halure village!" It looked like a big purple dog to me. A really big dog. With really big teeth.

"A survivor, huh?" Yuri concluded. Those really big teeth looked kinda nasty and yellow...and so did the really big claws...

"If we leave it here it'll surely go back, and try to attack Halure again..." said Rita. I think it's planning on chewing on us first...crap, we've invaded its territory.

"But Halure has the barrier protecting it now." Karol pointed out, trying to remind us that the point of the barriers was to deal with monsters like the big doggie.

"Even so, how are the people of Halure supposed to sleep at night with beasts like this crawling around just outside the barrier?" The swordsman was pressing for us to do something reckless for other people.

I opened my mouth, wanting to make some objection of my own, when I remembered Ludwig's voice telling me something. "Just make sure you use it and the skills I taught you to help people while you travel." "Ah, shit." I drew my daggers.

The Giant Doggie roared at us and jumped down, a pack of smaller nasty doggies right behind it.

One of the smaller ones went directly for me. I tried jumping to the side and slashing at it with a dagger. The blade cut deep, so deep it caught on a bone and was wrenched out of my hand. Uh oh. Unfortunately, though it was a terrible wound it wasn't a fatal one. The wounded monster turned to me and snarled furiously.

"Uh, nothing personal?" Not appeased it lunged at me. I was knocked off my feet, but somehow managed to raise my remaining dagger to stab it in the throat before it could savage me with its fangs. I was buried under its dead weight, with its still hot blood dripping on me. Oh God, I don't think I'll ever manage to forget this!

I pushed the dead monster off me just enough I could wriggle out from under the carcass. When I stood up, I was looking into the dark red eyes of Giant Doggie. And I had just realized I'd lost my other dagger.

"I blame everything on you, Nevi."

x x x

Nyahahaha! I love being evil!

A cliffhanger. I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't leave you all with a cliffhanger. It's my promise that I'll come back with more~ Just I want to rework the chapters I have for after this, so I'm not sure when I'll put them up.