Alright, here's the second to last chapter of this story. I'm gonna end the story for a few reasons. I'm going to work on the plot, and maybe a side story I have in mind, but the chapters aren't getting as much work as I'd like to give them, and I'm simply not enjoying writing this anymore.
To give you guys and myself better content, I'm gonna end this story here, and pick it up in a sequel in a bit. It'll continue after the next chapter, where I'll wrap this and Lillian's side for now.
So yeah... Also I feel bad about promising regular updates but never delivering on time D:
Okay, enjoy this chapter.
A few days had passed since the Valze and Mutiny incident. I had used the money I had saved up from years of boss battles and various training sessions to get a room in the Henesys Inn. It wasn't much at all, only 3000 meso per night, but the Inn had great service, and a great restaurant and bar downstairs.
I sat downstairs on a small table, with four empty chairs. I had been sending letters back and forth to four friends. I had gone rogue, in a way. Since the so called best-of-the-bests wanted to be so defensive, I'd take the offensive. I took a sip from the small cup of coffee I had gotten, and sighed as I waited for the four to show up.
As soon as things began to become quiet again, I heard the door to the inn slam open. I became more alert, and drew my weapons under the table.
"Luck, how the hell are you, buddy!" I heard from one of the two figures at the door say. I lowered my weapons and rubbed my forehead.
"Do you really need such an entrance Riley?" I said, shaking my head, but with a tiny smile.
The Buccaneer came over to where I was and shook my hand. Behind him was another person I was expecting, his best friend, Shay.
"Thanks for come too Shay," I said, standing up and giving the Corsair a hug.
"No problem, anything for a friend," she said, sitting down. Riley eventually sat down too.
I had met Riley and Shay a while back. They were basically attached at the hip and went everywhere together. We had met when they responded to an ad I put out to create a Zakum squad. We continued to keep in touch after that, but we rarely saw each other. I had become closer with Riley, but Shay was still considered a good friend to me.
"Alright Luck, so what are we going to do about this?" Riley asked, while simultaneously asking a passing waitress for a beer.
"I have two more people coming, and then we'll plan our attack, I'm sick of Mutiny just being passive," I said, drinking from the small cup.
"Why are you mad at them? I heard they're just protecting the cities?" Shay asked, in a small voice.
"Steph decided I'm not strong enough to even guard a city, so I'm taking matters into my own hands," I said, bringing my interlaced hands towards my mouth. Riley nodded with his eyes closed, and Shay stared at me with a mixed emotion.
"If you guys want to back out now, I'll understand, I should've been more in depth with my letters," I said.
"Like we could even read those things, I probably could've written better with my knuckles equipped," Riley said, chuckling. I smirked back at my friend, who had equally bad handwriting, as a waitress brought him his drink.
"So… who else is coming?" Shay asked.
"A bishop, and a night lord," I said, looking at them. Riley stared up from his drink and gulped down the beer.
"I don't trust night lords," Riley said.
"I don't trust most thieves either, but this one I know we can trust, you have my word on that Riley," I said, truthfully. Riley had told me a story involving night lord when he was younger and a newer Buccaneer. I understood why he didn't trust them.
Riley nodded, and Shay remained quiet.
I saw a light from behind me, from the opening door. A small girl looked around. Her gaze ended up on our table.
"Luck?" she asked, walking slowly towards us.
"Hey Ella," I said, turning around. The young bishop slowly walked over to where we were. I had met her from some guild friends, and had helped her get her Angel Ray book with Valze and Lucius.
"Luck, what the hell," Riley said, standing up. She was also Riley's little sister.
"She's the only Bishop I know, I had to ask her," I said, calmly.
"She's not going with us, it's too dangerous," Riley said, looking down at me.
"It'll be less dangerous without her," I said, truthfully. Riley walked over to me and lifted me up by my collar. I knew Riley had a bit of a temper with some issues.
"Just cause you don't have anyone to protect…" Riley began, before Ella grabbed him arm quickly.
"Riley, stop," Ella said, staring at her brother.
"You're not going," Riley said, putting me down slowly.
"I'm old enough to make my own decisions, and I'm going, I have to help," Ella said.
"No, I don't care, go home, I can't be babysitting you while I have to fight," Riley said, looking down at her.
"Good, I don't want you babysitting me, but like it or not, we're on the same team, so you can get over yourself Riley, you have your reasons, I have mine," Ella said, giving her brother a glare.
The two siblings stared at each other, until Riley walked forward, and put his arms around the short girl.
"Alright," he said, sitting, and leaning back on his chair. "Just don't get in my way… monster," he added, closing his eyes.
"Don't call me that!" Ella said, kicking the foot of his chair, causing him to fall.
Shay and I quietly chuckled to ourselves, as Ella sat down, and Riley picked himself up with a smile. Before anyone could say anything, a steely knife flew in from behind me, and hit the center of the table. Ella and Shay's hands rushed to their sides, Riley's hands tightened as he raised them, and a smile slowly came to my face.
"Thanks for coming," I said, pulling out the chair beside mine.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, darling," said my best friend, and ex-wife, Katie.
I treated everyone to whatever they wanted to eat, since the food here was cheap, but good. I wasn't hungry, but I did take time to look around at the friends I hadn't seen in a while.
Riley's body hadn't changed much. His arms were well defined from his years of physical training, and he was easily the strongest of the group. He was also the tallest, but not by much, only outgrowing me by maybe two inches. We had a similar hairstyle, commonly referred to by stylists as cabana boy hair. The one thing that seemed weird was that he wore his trademark Spectrum goggles on his forehead, showing of a rare view of his light brown eyes.
Shay was the tallest girl, being just a bit under my height. In contrast to our other pirate, she was smaller, and more agile. Her skill set involved many gun techniques, ways to distance herself from her opponents, summoning skills to assist her in battle, and her battleship, which allowed her to use some of her more deadly skills at the cost of a bit of mobility. She had long, brown hair, held back by a red hairband that matched her holstered pistol, a Peacemaker which looked as deadly as any sheathed sword.
Ella was the smallest, and the youngest out of the group. Shay was the oldest at 24, Riley and I were both 23, and Katie was a year younger than Riley and I at 22. Ella was only 19. She had only been a bishop for a year, but spent that time training on her support skills to near perfection. She carried a rare Doomsday staff, which she had enhanced using various scrolls she had found herself. It wasn't anything near Valze's or Bray's staff, but it got the job done nicely.
Finally, Katie. She was shorter than most of us, excluding Ella, but was, without question, the fastest. She prided herself on her ability to easily hit vital points from no matter what position she was in. I knew where most vital points where on the body, since that was basic thief knowledge, but assassins were trained on how to easily hit them, where as bandits learn to strike faster and use mesos and thievery to our advantage. She had straight, light blue hair that went to her shoulders, curling at the end, and big blue eyes to match.
"Luck, snap out of it," Riley said, snapping his fingers near my face. I shook my head and stared at the four people looking at me.
"Sorry, thinking about stuff," I said, stretching my arms a bit.
"You always think too much," Katie said, tapping her right cheek with her index finger.
"Anyway, what are we going to do," Ella asked. Everyone slowly nodded in approval of her question.
"First, we cut all ties from our guilds, I need your dedication to this," I said, looking around.
"Done," Riley said, easily tossing his pin away.
"Seriously Riley, they haven't done anything to you," Shay said, staring at her friend.
"Exactly, I never got attached to any guild," Riley said, shrugging his shoulders.
Shay said goodbye and apologized for Riley's rash exit, and took her pin off. Ella said that she would be back, but that she had some stuff to do on her own and took hers off. Katie remained quiet, as she didn't have any affiliation to a guild.
"I know that Steph knows where the Black Mage is, I'm sure that's why he's being so cautious. I'm going to have to break into Mutiny's headquarters and find out where, and then we'll strike, once and for all." I said, interlacing my fingers, and putting them near my face.
"I'll go with you, you'll probably need backup," Riley said, smirking.
"You're too loud Riley, if I had to take anyone, it'd be Katie, but I'm not risking it. If I get caught, they might have mercy on me," I said.
"So what are we going to do while you do that," Ella asked.
"Enjoy yourselves, and tell your friends or families you'll be gone for a while," I said, standing up. "I'm gonna go now, since it's getting dark. While the guards trade shifts is my best shot, I'll see you guys tomorrow," I said.
I turned around and began to walk, and as I reached for the door, another steely knife hit the wooden door, with a note attached to it. I grabbed the knife, and threw it back with a smile. I slowly opened the note as I stood in the cold.
'Don't get killed, I know how stupid you are. –Katie,'
More bold text here.