Chapter 9:
Slight Deceit
As always I do not own Gakuen Alice or it's characters. They belong to the wonderful Tachibana Higuchi-san. Now, let's get back to the action!
Once the groups had been asked to leave the shop, much to Mikan's chagrin and embarrassment, they decided to have breakfast at one of the Inns. They traveled through the docks, following a winding street and paved shore path. Along the way, they noticed several exotic and interesting boutiques selling trinkets and baubles. While they perused passively, they made note to mark the stores they'd wish to see later on. Merely five minutes into the walk, and adjacent to the Broken Sail, the local tavern, stood the Inn with favorable remarks. The inn happened to be a single story, stone walled building. Many of the windows were leaded with stained glass and had a particular nice mezzanine for resting. In the back of the building had a fairly large cellar, mostly for storage of commercial goods and grub.
Upon arrival they were greeted by a slightly overweight male halfling. He stood behind the bar counter, cleaning a few tankards left over from a previous parties meal. Despite his fervent task to clean, he remained amicable with their large party choosing to sit by the front window. All of the males started to push together three tables, while some of the girls gathered enough chairs for them all to sit comfortably. Once seated, they were given a small leaflet from a young halfling girl. Her bright brown eyes and rosy cheek complexion looked similar to the older male halfling still cleaning.
"Why thank you dearie," Anna replied as the younger girl beamed at her praise. "Could you perhaps get us some waters, that would be lovely."
And with that the little girl ran off with her next task at hand. Mikan watched the Inn Keeper look over at the little one hustling to gather them clean glasses to fill and also smiled. A short memory, just a tidbit of a flash of when she was younger with her own father. They were playing in the kitchen, where her father cooked food, her mother played as a patron, and Mikan played as the server. The memory ended just as quickly as it began as a glass slid in front of her.
"Smoked Pork, Dried sausage, Boiled Shrimp and dried onions, roasted shrimp and leeks, boiled eggs and leeks, stewed Watercress… man!" One of their loudest party members, Koko, slammed his now empty glass onto the table. The shock of the impact caused some onlookers at other tables nearby to jump and look back in fright. "Would it kill someone to make chicken and waffles! I mean, come on!"
Sumire, who happened to sit next to the loud boisterous brunette, sighed into her maincured hand before plucking up her own menu. "Koko, quite being an ass and pick something."
Anna stifled her own chuckle before smiling to the slightly fuming brunette. Kitsuneme cheered his comrade on, thinking the exact same thing.
"Can you settle down so that we don't get kicked out from another establishment… again." Belle reprimanded with her stern expression. She had never been asked to leave a store before until earlier that morning.
R4DM4N, who hadn't properly introduced himself to the rest of the party, stayed quiet, enjoying his drink and looked intently to the side. He seemed to have found something that peaked his interest.
When the little girl finished delivering the last four waters out to the end of the table, she started collecting their orders with very slow, precise handwriting. Hotaru ordered dried sausage with barley bread, while Natsume ordered smoked pork and curd cheese. Mikan had been approached to order as well, and she hastily pointed to the boiled eggs and lentils option.
Fifteen minutes later, their food had been taken to the kitchen and now the parties discussed miscellaneous topics. It mostly was led by Sumire's party members while Natsume, Ruka, Mikan, and Hotaru listened. They had been able to pick up small rumors from townspeople whispering of ferocious monsters gaining grounds on the shore. In fact, Koko and Kitsune just that morning, talked with several townsfolk before leaving about the rare monstrous crab that reigned over the ocean waters.
"There wasn't any large monsters to be afraid of though." Kokoroyome replied after finishing the last of his drink. "We didn't find anything above level five. Just small piranha looking fish and octopuses."
Ruka went to stroke the bottom of his chin. He stayed deep in thought as Kitsuneme continued to talk about the crazy Octopus battle that fought. With grandeur and grace, Kitsuneme lifted his arms and hands in strong motions, hoping it would greatly impact his story. Also, he was slightly hoping to impress the girls at their table, but did not get so much as a wink his way.
Before he could pour any more affection toward them, the little steward girl had come by to slide a piping hot plate of food in front of him. Behind the young girl stood the Inn Keeper holding a majority of their food while she balanced a plate of food on her head. She walked slowly before reaching up and placing the plate in front of R4DM4N. He gave her a small smile and thanked her, which she gave an immediate flushed response.
A heavy chortle arose from what they assumed was her father, delivering the last of their food before beckoning her to his side. "Thank ye kindly fer yur pati'nce, this wee lass want'd ta welc'me ye all. Did 'er good, eh?"
Mikan nodded, smiling to the small girl. "My compliments to you and your staff sir."
"Aw shucks," he muttered, rubbing his index finger under his nose. She could see he was also appreciative of her kind words "ye all enjoy now. Le' m'know if ye need 'nything."
They finished their breakfast with little to no issue. It was only after they finished eating that something had begun in the background. R4DM4N, who had been watching from previous, elbowed kitsuneme to direct their attention inconspicuously to the racket being made.
The clattering of chairs alerted the rest of the inn guests of the possible scuffle about to occur between a stout older man with silver hair and blue eyes. The scale mail he wore was shined with peculiar detail, but the large bastard sword sheathed behind his back drew most of their attention. His hand rested evenly on the hilt as if to pull it out. Quarreling with this man stood a tall couple, the female dressed in exquisite clothes and numerous rings adorned on her hand had wavy brown hair with bright green eyes, and a sharp nose. Her partner dressed in plainer clothes with simple tools dangling off his belt had white long hair pulled back into a pristine low ponytail, but his dark grey eyes blazed in anger.
"Quit acting high and mighty! If I didn't know any better Hogi, I'd say you're robbing this dock of its revenue for your useless services!" The taunt had been directed to the stouter male, who huffed in indignation. His face flush, possibly from the tankards of ale he drank from early on, turned a crimson red now as he tensed.
"Oh yeah? And yet here you are checking in daily to gather your supplies. It seems like you're just as useless Eled!" In this moment, the woman stepped in with her nose held high. She glared down at the older male with disgust.
"Save the excuses, we hired you to acquire the materials we need for our art shop and you haven't fulfilled your end of the bargain. I want compensation for this perpetually terrible experience. If not, I wouldn't mind going to the dock guards." The woman gripped her hand onto Eled's arm, hoping to bring him back and also avoid a fight indoors. "I expect the materials by the end of the day. And our money back for this costly waste of time."
"Your words are wasted on this drunkard Cleo, let's just go to the guards." Eled all but hissed. He then steered his partner away from the stout man to the inn keeper. He tossed his several gold pieces to pay for the food and left without further incident.
The door to the inn slammed shut before a chorus of ringing alerted the large party sitting up front to look at their wristbands. A notification popped up notifying them of a new quest. Kokoroyome jumped at the new lead while Anna read in greater details what was needed.
The only ones who didn't seem to be reading their wrist bands happened to be Mikan's group, who awkwardly waited for some sort of loud beep or notification to pop up.
It never did.
Sumire gathered all of their attention back to her. "Alright guys, it looks like we found a good quest. Let's get started as soon as we pay for breakfast!"
Almost as if programmed, the Innkeeper came by with the bill. "Before ye take off, here's yur bill. Thank ye fer yur bus'nuss."
Natsume started to pull out his money pouch to pay for his food, but had been stopped by Belle's hand. She smiled sweetly as she explained. "Didn't you all arrive last? You probably don't have any funds yet, so don't worry we'll pay this time."
Anna also interjected, "Yeah! Before we all met at the store, we were battling all the monsters in the area for an hour or so. This area is great for grinding for money!" As soon as she finished, she immediately slapped a hand over her mouth. She didn't want to appear like she had gloated about that, and explained so afterward. "Not that you all wouldn't know! I mean, we're all beta testers!"
Mikan opened her mouth to say they were good on funds, almost a little over seven thousand gold pieces, but a swift kick underneath the table to her shin silenced her protest.
She squeaked in pain as Hotaru gave her a narrowed expression.
"Yup—no funds." Hotaru faked as she shrugged. "We'll manage somehow."
Mikan rubbed her sore shin under the table with a hand as the group with green cards started to move.
"Well, we won't bug your progress anymore. You all still have plenty of stuff to find in Bellcester before attempting to fight the monsters." Sumire said as she easily procured 90 gold pieces for the Inn keeper.
"Check out the weapons and armor store! They have rad collections!" Kitsuneme offered what he thought was the best advice he could think of.
Koko nodded in agreement. "Oh, and check out the boutiques for those beginning tasks. I think I remember Shadow saying we needed to fill out our tutorial help page a bit before getting the first quest."
R4DM4N silently nodded over to Natsume and Ruka, giving them a firm acknowledgement.
"Bye!" And before Mikan and the rest could stop or warn them of possible dangers, they were gone in the blink of an eye.
"And they're gone." Hotaru remarked as she tapped her finger on the oak table. The little girl had started to come and collect their dirty dishes around them.
"Should we have told them about the—you know—everything?" Mikan asked with concern looking out the window at how happy the six green card players were.
Ruka crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.
"No, I don't think we should. I'd hate to make a panic in the middle of town full of potential game players without fully understanding what is going on. Maybe this is only happening to our group? And if so, maybe we can see if we could alert VRGE. I mean, our situation could be nothing more than a bug."
"Okay, but that doesn't explain that Persona person." Hotaru added, she played with her tankard of water in her hand. "That thing he did to Hyuuga is definitely not something I would consider a game bug."
Natsume remembered the feeling. He could recall the pained prickles of agony trickling out from his body as the sand got sucked out from his hour glass. "Persona couldn't be a bug in the program. He seemed too real."
"Did'ja say Persona?" Another voice, gruff, and familiar from earlier perked up beside the four. Looking up, the group came face to face with that same stout, red-faced man who possessed the Bastard sword.
"What would that name mean to you stranger?" Hotaru asked with a pointed gaze. She peered with keen eyes at the drunken man who set up their friends latest quest for who knew what.
"Ohh terrible things lass—I reckon he's long gone now—but they say he's a troublesome fella." With the mention of his possible presence, all four straightened up. A tinge of fear seeped down Mikan's spine as she remembered their first encounter now.
"He was here old man?" Natsume pandered for any type of response, and was given one. The older man huffed at the nickname.
"Hogi's the name, halfling. Get it right."
Ruka interrupted, hoping to get the man back on track. "You mentioned that he's long gone now? Do you know what his business was?" The blonde waited as the older man thought, he quirked his head up to look up at the ceiling.
"I don't really remember, but McKinnon might know. She's a mystic who has a small makeshift shop down the winding road. Can't miss her, she's old and has a giant clear orb."
Deciding it best to leave, the four thanked him for his intel and went to scour the streets for this McKinnon.
Not far down the winding road did they come across an older woman fitting the short description Hogi had given them. She had a lean, thin body, crouched Indian style on a fluffed carpet sitting idly on the cement. Her cracked, rough brown hands were circling over a giant clear orb sitting on the pillow between her legs. With her head bent down, the party could gather her short, white wavy hair dried from the humidity, and one brown eye. The other, her right eye, had been covered by what seemed to be a makeshift eyepatch. Huffing under her breath, she muttered as she focused his attention on the orb below.
Mikan, attentively approaching the older woman, attempted to start a conversation with her, but was startled when the woman's bony hand instantly moved. Her wrist was ensnared by the woman's sudden grasp, and Mikan slightly jumped in fright. "Ahhhh—yes, I've been waiting." The older woman crooned before lifting her head up for the group to see. Her sharp, but slightly pockmarked face greeted them as she dragged the Feline halfling down in front of the Mystic.
"Come Halfling child, come! I do not bite." She released Mikan and then turned back to her orb. "Ahhhh yes—I see it. Your future is quite—spectacular." The slight pause in her assessment caused Mikan some cause for concern.
"Enough old hag." Natsume, tired of seeing Mikan being dragged into everything, yanked the girl back up by her forearm. "Are you McKinnon or not?"
Hotaru stood on guard as Ruka tensed.
"Yes, I am." She slowly replied, looking up at each and everyone one of them. Her brown aged eyes trained equally on each before smiling a crooked, yellow toothed smile. "What can this old hag do for you then Halfing boy?"
Natsume ignored the quip, "Answer, did you meet someone by the name of Persona?"
The old woman crackled, heaving some heavy breaths in between her laugh. "No, I don't know the name."
"That's odd" Hotaru narrowed her eyes, "a man named Hogi stated you did meet him."
As if calling her out on her lie, she heavily breathed some shaky breaths. Though not deterred, she continued as if she always had spoken the truth. "I did meet him then, I did. Interesting fellow, wanted to know more about the shrine."
Ruka jumped at the opportunity hoping the old lady wouldn't lie again. "Shrine? What shrine are you talking about?"
The old mystic yawned into her rough skinned hand. "Who said anything about a shrine? I don't know of any shrines." She made it very apparent with her other free hand by rubbing her index finger and thumb up and down. If she was going to tell the truth, she was going to need some gold.
Natsume pulled out two gold coins and dropped them unceremoniously onto her carpet. "Here's two to start, and if I like your answers old hag, I'll give you three more."
She greedily accepted the gold coins and cackled. "Yes, yes, yes, I do remember there being a shrine now. The Shrine of Istishia. But terrible things have come from within the shrine." She tsk'ed as if upset by the whole ordeal. "Couldn't seal the beasts in, I had t' stay away. Misfortune was on my side that day when I ran into that man. Bad man, he interrupted my cleansing ritual and made the shrine into a dilapidated old fixture."
A loud beep popped up from their wrists as a new notification popped up on their screen. Ignoring it for now, Mikan knelt by the old woman. She gazed silently at her, gauging her for truthfulness.
"The beasts flow out still, more powerful as they come. I am unable to do the deed—but you!" McKinnon snapped her attention back to her. "I sense a great power within you. You can seal the beasts once and for all. Save the shrine. I beg you." She then pulls out a slip of parchment rolled and tied together with a twine rope.
Natsume tossed three more coins at the old woman as Mikan accepted the parchment with some concern.
"This purification ritual will only work for Clerics and Mystics. You know what you must do. Don't you?"
Hotaru grabbed Mikan by the arm and they immediately left the heavily breathing woman. As soon as they were out of earshot of her, did they stop and examine the parchment and their notification.
Main Quest 2: Shrine of Istishia
Your party has met with the mystic Kittra McKinnon. Eerily, she has informed you all of the troubles that have been ongoing within the Shrine of Istishia after Persona had tampered within. She mentioned further that monsters have been continually getting stronger, and the only way to stop the fleet of monsters is to purify the irregularity that has affected the once beautiful shrine. Giving a purification ritual over to their Cleric, McKinnon begs them to clear the shrine of its evils and stop the monsters from pouring out into the shores of Bellcester.
Subquest: Bellcester Shore
You've learned from Hogi that he is lacking in materials for his customers Cleo and Eled. He desperately needs five crab claws, several packs of crab and shark brains, about 20 reef shark teeth, and a dorsal fin of a reef shark.
Subquest: Bellcester Shore 2
The Innkeeper is in need of several ingredients to update his menu for his customers. He wants to include pineapple, coconut, papaya, plantains, and mangoes into his menu but is not sure on how. Inquire further with the Inn keeper to help him create a brand new menu.
The four read through all of the notifications and wondered why it decided to wait until now to deliver all of their quests. "No use in wasting valuable time." Hotaru remarked as she gauged the time. Making an educated guess, they all figured it was around ten or eleven in the morning.
"We should gather supplies." Ruka countered. "We don't have too many potions left, and our other items in inventory should be saved for future lunch or dinner preparations."
Natsume agreed.
"Why don't we go hit the main street then? We should be able to gather the items in that general area." Mikan offered to the group, and they hurriedly went.
The purchasing of the items happened without any issue. While the boys went to buy their items, both Mikan and Hotaru entered another shop full of trinkets and baubles. Inside they stumbled upon a group of four others chatting in the background, but it didn't seem too important in Mikan's mind. It seemed like they were mercenaries from somewhere far. But again, she didn't pay it that much attention. Mikan asked simple questions to the clerk, and gathered small bits of information where she could. Nothing of real value or interest popped up in their tiny quest for potions.
Hotaru checked their group funds after they met back up in the main square, and they managed to only spend 550 gold pieces. Ruka and Natsume found two greater healing potions and bartered down the seller to buy two greater potions to get one common healing potion for free. Then they decided to buy five more of the common healing potions to have as back up.
It appeared luck was on their side as the owner of the apothecary shop loved anything to deal with animals. Seeing both Natsume, as a Feline halfling, and Ruka, a Eagle-Bird Hafling all but swooned at the sight.
"Good job procuring the goods." Hotaru gleamed with excitement as she stared at the red liquid inside the glass bottles. Whenever they were shaken, a slight sparkle of dark red enveloped in the middle of the bottle. The magical enchantment definitely seemed to be there.
But Mikan stood silently between the party, quizzically tapping her clawed finger to her chin. Something seemed to have escaped her, and she felt it was something they desperately needed.
"We should be ready for this shrine, let's head out." Natsume collected their belongings and that's when Mikan yelped in surprise. She now remembered what they were missing.
"We forgot to ask that Mystic about where this shrine was located! How are we going to find it?!" Mikan explained with great haste. She almost made a bee-line back to where they had found the Mystic, but Hotaru grabbed her wrist.
"I don't trust her to give us valuable information. Let's just check with the guards. They won't lie without too much reason." The black haired sorcerer replied and Mikan calmed down.
"Alright, alright let's go!"
Asking around, they finally came upon two guards chatting by the front entrance. The short partner had a scruffy rustic colored beard, and the other stood a head taller than his partner. His own mustache was a sight to behold as the blonde hairs curled into delicate curled tips on the side of his face.
The group looked between each other before Natsume shoved Mikan ahead to the guards. "You do something useful for once." He smirked, and she hissed at him in response.
"Don't push me," And with a slight scream, she instantly face planted into the ground. Both of the guards stopped mid-speech before looking at the fallen auburn.
"You alright miss?" The one with the blonde hair asked, and Mikan lifted her face up. The dirt that speckled her cheeks covered the redness she knew was there.
"Uh—yeah, lost my balance for a bit." She nervously chuckled before looking back to her party. "We were on our way to find a shrine. Would you happen to know where one is?"
The scruffy beard guard placed both his hand on the belt of his breeches. "Yeah, the Shrine of Schiltia is about a two days trip from here, past the mountains."
Mikan's arm was grasped with firm hands from the taller guard as he helped hoist her back up to her feet. "Thank you," she replied, "but we're actually looking for another one. Uh—the Shrine of Istishia? I believe that is it."
At the mention of Istishia both the guards froze. She could see the innate fear in their eyes as they gathered their wits.
"Istishia… lass, you'd best avoid it if you can. That shrine became a hellhole about several weeks ago. Parishioners went missing, guards were found slain, monsters have been streaming out endlessly for days. You'll have to wait until they've been cleared out. Some mercenaries are on their way, so-" he flicked his hand up and down to the auburn indicating she head back into town.
Hotaru took this opportunity to step in with a slight smile to her porcelain expression. "Sir, happen to be those very mercenaries you speak of. Mikan, show him the blessing scroll."
Surprised by the sudden assistance, Mikan pulled out the scroll. She didn't unravel it, but she did handle it gently. The guards seemed skeptical of this response, but Hotaru cleverly went on. "We are hired mercenaries from Heliene. Sir Tarmik sent us to resolve the monster exploitations around Bellcester Shore. Won't you grant us a map or suggestions to aid our endeavors?"
Mikan would have asked her about that random place and name drop, but the guards immediately straightened up. "Sir Tarmik sent you? I could have sworn the envoy said another three days."
Natsume popped in right next to Mikan. "We arrived earlier than expected." Ruka nodded.
Both the guards perceived them intently, before the shorter one pulled out a piece of parchment from his utility belt. He looked at the written envoy and then back up to the four. "Sir Tarmik did say he was sending four individuals. They definitely have a cleric and a fighter with them."
The other guard didn't bother with the descriptions anymore. It seemed to fit the bill in his book. Shuffling through his knapsack, he produced several items. One happened to be a map of the area, as well as some items for exploring the shrine. "Glad to know you're not imposters. We have been getting plenty of those types recently." He begrudged, and then happily handed the items to Hotaru.
"Thank you all for kindly taking care of the problem, we're really grateful for Sir Tarmik to help us with this unsettling issue."
Hotaru smiled, accepting the items with grace. "Yes, we will be sure to send him your regards as well."
"Time is short, let's move." Natsume replied, and hurriedly moved their group forward. Mikan was almost dragged away by an excited Ruka who held up his finger to his lips.
"Hurry before they realize it's not really us." He whispered into her cat ear.
All Mikan wanted to know is how that even worked. Who was this Tarmik person, and how did Hotaru know about that city? They were only there for a day!
They sprinted into the sands of the shore before Mikan looked over her shoulder. She saw four more individuals approach the guards they had just been talking to, and the guards became more aggressive. Instead of their jovial stances from before, they seemed suspicious of the four new people talking to them.
"Mikan, do you remember those four from before?" Hotaru yelled ahead to the running auburn. "They are the real mercenaries. So we better make like a tree and leave."
Natsume shook his head at the subtle deceit. "Good thing you picked up that information. It looks like Mikan wasn't able to understand."
Mikan frowned before recalling the four people talking in the background. "Ahhhhhh!" She yelled out as they continued their sprint. "You overheard them in the baubles shop! But it didn't sound interesting at all to me!"
Ruka sighed, but was glad they got away without getting caught. Too bad the true mercenaries were being handcuffed by the guards.
"Just keep running, don't look back!" Hotaru called, and they made their way to the shrine.
Dried Sausage and Barley Bread
A seasoned, plain dish with dried sausage and chewy barley bread
+5 Dextrity bonus for 4 hours
T.K. here!
Wow, thank you so much for reading this far! This marks our ninth chapter of Origin! I'll probably be adding little descriptions of food and bonuses to the end of chapters if I don't have time to place them into the story. I think it's cool to know what effects certain items do after all! And Persona has been here... what could happen? Dun dun dunnnnnn Sumire and company seem pretty excited for their quest, hopefully they do well :)
Some have asked about Tsubasa, well-lets just say he's in the works. We're working toward him, so we're getting there haha.
I enjoy reading each and every one of your reviews! They mean the world to me! Thank you and I'll hope to see you next chapter!