Chapter 10

The next day Ren-so was officially entered into the guild and the guild was having breakfast at the Bistro. Left to right Derith, Asunio, Sae, Rentos, Savilo, Hirt, Flom, Wel-lo, Ubu, and Ren-so. Hirt had wisely separated Savilo and Flom, and Derith was suffering from an excruciating hangover.

Missy approached Derith cautiously, "Is there anything you'd like, Derith?"

Derith looked up with a spiteful look in his eye, but it disappeared when he saw Missy's face, he spoke softly, "Just a glass of milk, please."

After he was served, Missy tended to everyone else. Hirt stopped her, "Thank you, Missy."

"For what, Hirt?"

"For taking care of Derith yesterday, I hope he didn't do anything stupid."

Missy smiled good-naturedly, "No, no, it was my pleasure."

Staring into her eyes sternly, Hirt asked, "Did he tell you anything?"

"He said he was having trouble handling something, but he didn't say what."

"Oh, okay."

Missy leaned closer to Hirt and whispered, "Is it… Woman troubles?"

"No, he's single, I think."

"Oh!"

Hirt looked down the bar and asked Ren-so, "Have you gotten settled in, Ren-so?"

In-between mouthfuls of an omelet, Ren-so nodded, "Yeah, Wel-lo gave me the lowdown, loot basket, four at once. I got the picture. I signed up for tomorrows excursion."

Hirt swigged some of his water, "Oh that reminds me, We're going to start doing full days, I changed the charts."

"Sounds good."

Wel-lo stared suspiciously at Ren-so, "You signed up for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, just that I'm going tomorrow, too."

"What a happy coincidence."

"Surely."

Missy walked over to Hirt, "Oh, right I almost forgot, someone dropped off a letter for you."

Hirt accepted the letter, "Yeah, who could this be from?"

"It's from Lagaard."

Putting it in his pocket, Hirt sighed, "Oh then it's my brother, Fyle-Lo. He must be done going solo."

Wel-lo coughed, "What?"

"Well Fyle has been going into the Lagaard Labyrinth by himself for the last decade or so, and he told me a while back that he was thinking of accepting more people into his guild."

Rentos thought for a moment, "Wel-lo?"

"Yes, Rentos-Chan?"

"Has your father seen you since you were little?"

"No, why?"

"Well, why don't we send a picture of you in your new dress to him?"

"Wha- what? Why?"

"So he can see how his daughter has turned out!"

"He'll think I'm a skank!"

Hirt laughed, "I don't think so, Fyle-Lo has mentioned how he'd like to see you again, why not give him the pleasure of seeing you again?"

"I don't know…"

Ren-so smirked, "Why not?"

"This is none of your business!"

Hirt shook his head, "Don't be rude, Wel-lo, he was merely egging you on for your own good."

Wel-lo squeaked, "My apologies, Hirt-Sensei. If you feel it is for my own good, I will do it."

Hirt got off of his stool, "Now we just need to find a painter to paint her."

Ren-so did the same, "I you don't mind me barging in, I am a painter."

"How convenient, can you paint her today?"

"It will take the rest of the day, maybe more."

Wel-lo stood up as well, "Wait, he's going to stare at me for the rest of the day? I feel violated already!"

Shaking his head, Ren-so sighed, "I assure you, my intentions are solely helpful! I have no ill intentions towards you or your… er…"

"Body."

"Er… yeah... body."

Ushering them out, Hirt chuckled, "Now shoo! I want the portrait done before tomorrow!"

Ren-so glanced towards Wel-lo's angry face, "Well, you can't rush art, mister Hirt! If you want it to look decent give me a little while, I could stay up late to finish it… But the poser would have to agree."

As they walked towards the inn, Wel-lo sighed heavily, "Fine, we should just get this over with. I'll stay up with you."

"If I had twenty en for every time a girl said that to me….

"You'd have twenty en."

"Exactly."

Rentos watched Wel-lo and Ren-so walk off, she had a worried look in her eye, "Uh, are you sure Wel-lo is going to be alright? She had a strange look in her eye."

Sitting back down on his stool, Hirt shrugged, "Meh, I'm more worried about Ren-so."

Sae laughed, " Yeah, Wel-lo looked ready to kill Ren-so on the spot!"

Savilo spun around in her chair, "I think I should go be a mediator, see ya!"

Savilo walked off and Derith grumbled sourly, "You're not going with her, Flom? You two have been stuck together like glue since you've met."

In mock surprise, Hirt swiveled his chair to face Derith and loudly whispered, "It speaks!"

Derith glared at Hirt and Flom shrugged, "I don't know, absence makes the heart grow fonder, I guess."

Grunting, Derith got off his stool, "I wish that was true. I'm going to try to sleep off this hangover."

Hirt watched him go, eyeing him carefully. Emptying her bowl, Ubu let out a small burp, "Something is wrong with Derith. You should talk to him, Hirt."

Glancing to the side, Hirt sighed, "I know, but he is in no shape to talk. I'll wait till he is."

The throbbing had gone down now and Derith rolled on his side. He opened his eyes slightly and he saw the form of Hirt sitting across from him. Derith closed his quickly. In a stern voice, Hirt spoke to him, "Sae tried to do the same thing on the work days, pretend she was asleep, so that she didn't have to work."

Derith groaned, "It's still Sunday, isn't it? You said we don't have to work on Sundays."

Hirt stood up and picked up Derith's club, "Usually, but today is different. You and me."

Hirt dropped the club next to Derith's head. Derith opened one eye, "What, you want to do some sort of bonding thing? Forget it."

Hirt walked to the side and picked up Derith's buckler, "Get over yourself and get up."

Derith pushed himself into a sitting position, "Ugh… We're going into the Labyrinth?"

Placing the buckler on the bed next to Derith, Hirt nodded, "Yup. We have to talk," He grinned, "And might as well shed blood while we do it."

A brief grin crossed Derith's face, "Might as well."

In a clearing on the first floor, just after a petty battle with several Durians, Derith and Hirt stood, scavenging around. Hirt examined a Durian's thorn, "Tell me, Derith. Why have you been so depressed since I told you about my power?"

Derith nudged a Durian with his club, "Might as well tell you. As I told you, I was apart of a gladiatorial team in the past. On that team were two other guys and two girls. We were close, you have to be in the arena. In my city the arena was the centre of commerce, economy, hell, even government. One day it became apparent to the Kingpin of the arena that we were doing too well on our own, and he wanted to 'sponsor' us. Sponsor, ha, that was a laugh. He wanted to control us. Dictate our wins and losses."

Placing the thorn in his bag, Hirt nodded, "No one likes being controlled."

Derith pushed the dead Durian over with his foot, revealing a broken thorn. He let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, neither did Sorenow. She was always too outspoken. She told the Kingpin exactly what she thought. We forgot about the incident and it seemed like the Kingpin did too. Several months later, just before an important match between our team and another famous team, the Kingpin approached us again and told us that if we threw the match, he would pay us handsomely. Again, Sorenow told him off, and he left. After we had won the match he had gone to the bar, and we all got wasted, well, except for Sorenow, she didn't feel up to it that day. She left us in the bar and went on a walk or something, I don't know. The next morning she didn't show to the Arena, so we went out looking for her, after we stood down from the match. We looked for a couple hours, and eventually, my teammates figured she was just sleeping in an empty hotel room, and stopped looking. But I didn't. I looked around some more and eventually…. I…. Found her. There she was… in the alleyway, broken and bruised…"

A tear fell onto the Durian's shell, changing it's shell from light green to a dark green, "The crows! Dammit the crows! I could barely recognize the body… Across from her in the alleyway was the Kingpin, her sword in his chest, pinning him to the wall. I don't know what had happened in that alleyway, but Sorenow had killed him, and he had killed her. Why couldn't I have your power then, Hirt? Why couldn't I have saved her? She… She could be alive if I had had your power!"

Wiping his eyes, Derith stood up tall, " I quit the team and several years later agreed to escort the prince to Armoroad."

Hirt stood in silence, staring at Derith, "Derith. Don't hate me for what I can do, or hate me for the power I was given. You know why? Because that's my job. I hate the fact that I have been given this power. It…"

Derith clubbed the dead Durian, sending it flying, "Shut up! You know what I wouldn't give for that power? Shut up! Just shut it! Use your ability to bring back…"

Hirt raised his voice, "Can it, kid! The person I want back is too far gone and so is yours! I can't use my ability on someone that far gone! You may know what it is like to lose a friend, but not your wife! I can't have her back… So don't act like the victim here. You are pissed that your friend died and my power wasn't there to save her, imaging how I felt, how I am feeling, eh? In my old age, know how many people have died that I want to bring back? Your friend is why you are here, it may not be by the best circumstances, but you're here for a reason, so be grateful to your friend that you get another chance to do something worthwhile because of her."

Derith sat down on a rock and rubbed his forehead, "You know, you're right, Hirt," Derith looked up at Hirt, "Did you know I have a child?"

Hirt breathed heavily and sat down as well, "No. Where is he?

"She," Derith corrected, "My daughter is still in my home city, being raised by my old gladiatorial teammates."

"How old is she now?"

As if he didn't even need to think about it, "Fourteen."

"Jeez, how old are you?"

"Thirty something, I think."

"Sorenow's child?"

"Yup."

"What does she know?"

"Mommy's dead, Daddy is far away. I failed at being a father, didn't I?"

Hirt stood and slung his bag across his back, "Up to now, yes. Who knows what will happen in the future."

Following Hirt down the paths back to town, Derith thought about what Hirt had said. Halfway back, Derith spoke up, "You think… I'll ever get to see her again?"

"I don't know. But tell me, where was your daughter when you were out in the arena?"

"Er… I think… I don't actually know. Actually I didn't know about her until several years after she was born."

"How? Didn't you see Sorenow pregnant?"

"Well, yes, but I just assumed she got drunk and…

"I see."

"Hirt?"

"Yeah?"

"If, by any chance, I see my daughter again, you think… you think she could… join us?"

"If she has the skills and if she can find you, then yes, I suppose we can accept her."

Across the Seas

"Tell me, Bawkanow! Where is he?"

Bawkanow backed up against the wall, terrified of the pink haired maiden in front of him, "He told me not to tell you, Serinew! I can't betray his confidence!"

Serinew drew her sword and held it against Bawkanow's throat, "Tell me where my father is!"

Bawkanow stared into her eyes, "You couldn't kill me, Serinew, even if I didn't tell you where he was!"

Serinew growled, "Tell me!"

"Sheathe your sword!"

"Fine!"

The sword entered it's sheathe again and Bawkanow sat down in a chair, while Serinew watched him closely. Bawkanow sighed, "You really want to meet him?"

"Yes! I need to know my father!"

Bawkanow raised a finger to his lips, "Quiet or you'll wake Daena and Tymnus."

Daena entered the room, wiping sleep from her eyes, "Too late, Bawk. What's all the commotion?"

Bawkanow grimaced and turned his head to face Daena, "I think you know."

"You mean…?"

"Yes, it's the time we have all awaited." Bawkanow said dramatically.

Daena stared at Serinew. Serinew was still a child, really. She dressed in the normal gladiator fashion, scraps of armour littered about her body, and a lot of exposed skin for ventilation. She had her mother's pinkish hair and almond skin, and her father's determined eyes.

Daena groaned, "It was another dream, wasn't it? You dreamt about meeting your father again and that's why you're so damn hell-bound to meet him."

Serinew nodded energetically, "Yes! I'm tired of these dreams and I'm ready to meet him!"

Bawkanow rubbed his temples, "What do you think, Daena, should we tell her?"

Grinning, Daena ran her fingers though her hair, "I'm fine with it. She would just interrogate the city and nag us till we die if we don't tell her."

Bawkanow nodded, "True, she got that from her mother." Bawkanow turned to Serinew, "Okay then, I'll tell you, Serinew."

Serinew shifted weight from one leg to the other, "Finally!"

Bawkanow stretched his arms, grinning mischievously, "Last I heard, your father was in… Er… What was the city's name?"

Daena snickered, "Don't be a dick, Bawk."

Smiling, Bawkanow finished his stretch, "Your father is in Armoroad, a week by ship, north east, I believe. He has joined a guild, called, um… RiftRunners or something, I don't know. But you'll find him in Armoroad."

Serinew grinned widely, a wild look in her eye, "Finally! I can find you, father!"

Daena gazed at Serinew, "You remember those eyes, Bawk?"

Bawkanow closed his eyes and leaned backwards, "All too well."

Daena smirked, "I hope he'll will be able to stand her."

"You mean withstand her."

"Yeah, that too."

"Really, I feel sorry for Derith."

"Yeah, the poor guy."