Ch. 14 ...Complications
(Yes! I finally got a chance to get on a computer to post up two more chapters for each story with the limited time I had on it. I'm so sorry everyone, I don't know when I'll get another chance but I will do everything I can to get chapters out. I managed to start a new story for MUL with 8 chapters complete for it but Sacrificed needs to end for it to start. I love your feedback guys. Please let me here it.)
(Newly edited to remove more mistakes )
{Rui's point of view}
"The entire village was destroyed?" I asked in shock.
"Yes. It's said that Gardeviors became extremely rare after the crusades. In fact, I can't remember a story that included one after the crusades." The woman told me.
"Oh..." I looked down into my hands and sighed, "Damn it..." I whispered.
The woman giggled a bit, "If you don't mind my asking, why were you interested in Gardevoir? Were you hoping one would..." I cut her off quickly.
"No." I then thought to myself, 'If they were anything like Silvia then they'd be more trouble than their worth.'
"Alright then." The woman smiled.
I picked up my head and flinched, "Oh my, how terribly rude of me. I never asked for your name. My name is Rui of Lucard Trading Association. You are?" I asked kindly.
"Zarah. Replace the S in Sarah with a Z and you'll have it." Zarah smiled.
"Zarah, that's rather unique. So, are you sure you don't have any other stories of Gardevior?" I asked.
"I do but they're all dated back before the Crusades. The only other story is the myth of the Traveling Gardevoir." Zarah replied.
"Myth of the travelling Gardevoir?" I asked.
"Yes, many years ago, A Gardevoir from Yardevia left her village. It is not known why she left but many believe she wanted to experience the world. Due to Gardevoir's long lifetime, it could be argued that she assumed she'd be able to return home. It was quickly made apparent that she was a drinker. Every town she visited, she would head to a bar and drink her fill to everyone's amazement. Many tried to bed her, only to get their entire being blown back. It was not wise to try and bed a Gardevoir, whether she be drunk or sober. Halfway through her journey, she disappeared. As time went on, many forgot or disregarded her story as a work of fiction." Zarah concluded.
"Hm. I may in fact have the other half of that story." I told her with a small smile.
"You do?" Zarah asked in surprise.
"Yes. It may not be perfect but I will tell what I know." I got up and cleared my throat, "Many many years ago, to the south, was a small village. The people there were mostly farmers know for their wheat. Due to the size of the town, no duke or king thought it profitable to protect. One day, the village was under attack of bandits. Only one child, fatally injured, was able to escape the village. As he crawled, A Gardevoir came before him. The Gardevoir never spoke her name but offered to save his life. The boy rejected it. He wished for the Gardevoir to save and protect his village at the cost of his life. The Gardevoir, unable to reject such a request, agreed. She walked past the dying boy and headed towards the village in order to save it. Once the bandits were dealt with, the Gardevoir lived nearby in a forest overlooking the village. Even to this day, no bandit has attacked the village in fear of suffering from the Gardevoir's wrath." I concluded.
Zarah and Kyle started clapping for me, "That was quite an enjoyable tale, although vague and short. What about you Kyle?" Zarah asked curiously.
"I feel as though there's more to the tale then he's letting on. Care to continue Rui?" Kyle asked.
"No, there's no more. That's all I know." I lied.
Zarah giggled, "These ears of mine can tell me many things. Including when a man lies."
I swallowed hard before sighing, "After many years passed, the villagers became widely popular and self reliant. The Gardevoir felt unneeded. Even though she protected them, the villagers feared the Gardevoir. One day, a travelling merchant visited the town. Taking the opportunity, the Gardevoir snuck onto his cart. When the merchant found out, he was dumbstruck. A mythical pokemon actually snuck onto his cart and wished to travel with him. What happened to them, no one yet knows but deep down, I believe the two became best of friends. Maybe more." I continued.
I was hoping that by being even vague and hypothetical, she wouldn't hear a lie. It appeared to have worked since they both clapped with a smile. I guess what I said was a fitting end to the story.
"I like that ending better. Do you think they were eventually wedded?" Kyle asked.
"I hope so. Travelling together has a way with bringing people close. In the end it was up to them. How can they be together if neither one will admit their feelings to the other?" Zarah asked.
I flinched at that as I thought about what Silvia did last night. Zarah was right about what she said but I'm not confident enough to actually be with Silvia. Not to mention my... contract with Lucard Trading. Technically, I'm already married until I pay that contract off. Zarah got up and placed the book in my hands.
When she sat back down, she started to speak again, "I'm in a story telling mood. Would you mind if we all take turns telling tales Rui?" Zarah asked.
"I'm alright that." I nodded.
"You know I love hearing your stories Zarah." Kyle smiled.
Zarah smiled back at him before sighing, "I'll go first. My story starts when this town was first settled. A Zoroark from the south visited the town in the form of a beautiful woman. She was in search of a mate of any kind. Human or pokemon, it didn't matter to her. She just wanted someone to love and be loved back. It was in this town she met a Noble that became quite fond of her. They started talking and quickly fell in love. The two spent many years together in happiness. The Noble's popularity grew as well as the town. The only problem was the Zoroark. In all the time she was with the Noble, she never told him what she really was. It grew worse when she didn't age but he did. The Zoroark knew she had to confess and she did. The Noble wasn't happy but... after being with her for so many years... he couldn't bring himself to hate her. The Zoroark never revealed herself to anyone else, and stayed with the human until he died. She was saddened by his death. He was a truly good man, but life has to go on, and the Zoroark decided to stay in the town. What happened to her, no one knows. As a Zoroark, she can appear as anything, or not appear at all." Zarah concluded.
I grimaced at the name Zoroark, 'The Zoroark I met in Lucard Trading was female... could she be..?' I thought to myself.
"Something on your mind?" Zarah asked.
"Yeah, but it's not very important... oh crap!" I got up quickly.
"What's wrong?" Kyle asked.
"How long have we been here?" I asked.
"About an hour. Why?" Zarah asked again.
"I need to get back to my inn room. My companion may be awake, and if she is then I'll be in some trouble." I replied quickly.
I ran to the door, opened it, and ran out. I ran as fast as I could to get back to the inn. I really wanted to avoid this conflict. Especially with the recent information I received still fresh in my mind. When I got into the inn, I scared the inn owner and his customer. I sped up to my room and tried to open the door to find it locked. I knocked on the door.
"Silvia?" I asked.
I heard some stomping before the door was unlocked and opened, "Oh, who are you?" Silvia asked with a stern frown.
I groaned, "Silvia, please don't be upset." I begged.
"Upset? Oh, I wouldn't be if you had thought ahead and bought me a present." She growled.
I face palmed, 'It's always free shit with her.' I thought quickly, "Silvia, I went to look for information. You were still asleep so I took the opportunity." I told her.
"I wasn't asleep dumbass. I was awake. I was hoping you'd man up and try to talk about... never mind. Just get in here before I hurt you." She spoke bitterly.
She stepped aside and allowed me access to the room, "Thank you Silvia." I nodded towards her as I entered.
She stretched as she walked over to the window, "Whatever... so what did you find out?" Silvia asked.
I sat on my bed and slipped the book Zarah gave me under my pillow, "Well... you see..." I started.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Someone was at the door. I got up to answer it, earning a frustrated huff from Silvia. When I opened the door I was greeted with a fellow Trader from Lucard Trading. The man was about 26 standing at 6 foot 3 with white skin. His blonde hair was balled up in a ponytail on the back of his head. His eyes are a common brown with a thin mustache and beard. His lips were thin and straight with a pale pink complexion. He wore a heavy black jacket over a dirty grey shirt. A silver necklace hung around his neck with 6 bronze rings hanging off it. On his hands were large leather gloves designed to protect his fingers from the cold. On his legs were baggy blue jeans with another pair of pants underneath. For his feet were large boots for heavy snow. ...Why the hell is he here dressed like this? We're not in a snowstorm. I should know, I just came from outside.
"You know... the snow hasn't arrived yet right?" I asked.
His voice was deep and gruff, "Rui, I came to warn you that the road to Northpoint suffered from a blizzard recently. When heading up that way, be careful so you don't end up dying. That's the message our boss wanted me to tell you." He spoke.
"Yeah... You want to take that off? You must be sweating and if not, I'm sweating just from looking at you." I told him.
He looked past me to see Silvia, "Is that a Gardevoir?" He asked.
'Oh Shit.' I thought quickly, "Uh, no. It's just a Zoroark using its illusion ability to show me what a Gardevoir looked like. We were having an argument that no pokemon looks extremely human like. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. They do look rather... sexy?" I said that like a question because I didn't know what would sound normal for a guy to say about the subject.
"Hm... I'll agree with you on that. I was also instructed in giving you this." He pulled out a letter with Lucard Trading's symbol on it.
I took the letter, "Is this another notice?" I asked.
"No. Recently, we were able to set up a mini trade house in this city. I don't know what that letter says but it's probably important." The man answered.
"Alright. Thank you." I replied.
"Goodbye, I pray your journey is safe." He whispered as he turned to leave.
I closed the door and turned to see Silvia impatiently waiting with a frown. She had her arms crossed with one finger tapping her elbow. Instead of talking to her, I just opened the letter to see what I needed to do. Silvia walked over to me and grabbed my arm to get my attention.
"I'm hungry." She whispered.
"Silvia, this could be, Ow!" She started squeezing painfully.
"I said, I'm hungry." she repeated.
"Okay! We'll go get something to eat!" I yelled.
She stopped squeezing my arm, "Good." She crossed her arms again.
"Just let me read this okay?" I asked.
She nodded so I pulled out the letter and started reading in my head, 'Rui, we created a tavern in the top right section of the city to act as a miniature Trade house in hopes of expanding our business even further. We need you to head there alone to hear the details on what needs to be done. I'm counting you potential hubby,' left eye twitches, 'Oh, and you still owe us about 150 gold coins. Pay up by two weeks, get an extension, or hide in the deepest pit you can find. Trust me, you don't want to disappoint me like the others. Do you now?' I ripped up the letter and threw it onto the floor.
"Fucking bitch." I muttered.
Silvia changed from angry to worried, "What's wrong?" She asked.
"A lot of things, but lets get you some food. When that's done, I need to go see some people from my Association. Alone. Sorry. Think you have enough money not to get in trouble?" I asked.
"Sigh. Yeah. It feels like you're just trying to ditch me..." She muttered sadly.
That made me feel bad, so I gave her a hug, "I'm not trying to ditch you. If I did, I'd already be dead because you'd find and kill me." I joked.
"I wouldn't kill you... I'd just break your legs, Take your stuff, and LEAVE you to die." Silvia clarified with a giggle.
"Ah, that makes it all better. Maybe you'll teleport me to a desert next, that way, I could be picked apart by random pokemon." I groaned.
Silvia chuckled, "I wouldn't do that to you. Hey... Rui..." Silvia started blushing.
"Yeah?" I asked warily.
"Would you... could you... um... if we were to find my village... could you... stay there with me?" Silvia asked.
I was caught off guard, "You want me to stay with you?" I asked back.
"Well... since we've been travelling... I kind of... got used to you being around. And maybe I want to..." She shook her head quickly, "Just forget what I said." She grabbed my hand and started pulling me, "Come on." She smiled.
Silvia and I went to a nearby restaurant to eat. She started drinking, as usual, and I felt a bit happy. The more time we spend together, the more I feel... attached to her. As we ate, I remembered what Zarah said, but I couldn't tell her here. She might try to kill everyone, especially if she's drunk. In her drunk fit, she sat on my lap. She laid her head on my shoulder and kissed it before falling asleep.
As I sit there, I felt embarrassed, annoyed and strangely aroused. I paid our bill and picked up Silvia to carry her to our room. I looked at the sun to see it was noon high. Silvia snored cutely in my arms to my pleasure. It was nice to see her like this, asleep in my arms... When we got back to our room, I laid her on my bed instead. I pulled back but noticed her grip around me tighten. I lost my footing a bit and fell forward to have my face mere inches from hers. For a moment, I couldn't help but stop and stare before just letting my lips connect with hers. I felt her kiss back before I stood back up, breaking the kiss. I left the room wondering why I even did that when she's going to kill me later.
-1 hour later-
I was sitting on a fine wood chair in the middle of a large circular room dimly lit with candles. There were windows but large red curtains blocked the sunlight from coming in. In front of me was a large wooden desk with a man sitting behind it. Various books, quills, and ink bottles littered the desk. The floor was protected with a large carpet that depicted a frozen wasteland.
"So, you're Rui right?" A man asked.
"If I had a bronze coin for every time I'm asked that, I'd be rich but yes. I'm Rui." I nodded.
"Good. Zoroark, turn off the illusion." The man ordered.
I watched as he transformed from a man into a Slaking. He snorted as he sat straight and held his hands on a desk. To be honest, I knew he had to be a pokemon but I was expecting a Zoroark.
"So, before we talk business, do you mind my asking?" He spoke with a gruff heavy voice.
"What exactly are you asking?" I asked.
"Our boss could have turned you into one of our breeders. Instead, you're selling shit for us. What's going on?" He asked.
"To be honest, I don't know. Maybe she saw something in me and knew she'd make money off it." I replied.
"Well, if you're going to be honest, then so will I. I'm amazed you even lived from our bosses... fun. I heard she broke your legs and hips." The Slaking spoke with one brow raised in interest.
I grimaced, "Yeah. It sucked..." I looked down, "Actually... every time it happened sucked. I hate it. Why are they so painful?" I asked.
The Slaking laughed a bit before sitting back, "As a human you're not... fit enough to take it. Pokemon don't have maternal roles. We share it equally. How we act isn't based on our gender. It's based on how we act as an individual. For humans, you have males on top with females being naturally submissive in most cases. You're not used to the thought or action of a female dominating and harming you. Not to mention, how little your kind actually like pokemon. Our leader raped you, is it going to be easy for you to fall for a pokemon now?" Slaking asked.
I looked down thinking of Silvia before sighing, "I guess not."
The Slaking shrugged, "It doesn't really matter. Now, onto our business. Our boss wants you to help us set a definitive foothold in this city. To do that, we need to make our leading competitor lose quite a bit of money." Slaking told me.
"Alright, so what should I do?" I asked.
"That's simple, we need you to use your special thieving skills." Slaking told me.
I looked at him curiously, "Who told you about that?" I asked.
"Our leader did. She says you're extremely skilled in this regard. It should be a piece of cake right?" Slaking smirked.
I sat back and sighed, "Right... so what am I stealing?"
"Gold. Our competitors have a shipment of pure gold coming in. We need you to steal the real gold while replacing it with this." He signaled for a brown haired woman to enter the room.
I looked at her to see she had a box on her hands, "What is it?" I asked.
She placed the box on Slaking's desk and opened it, "It's fake gold. We used Zoroark's Illusion ability to make fool's gold into real gold. Unless they hit it, they'll never notice the difference." Slaking explained.
"Wait, won't that mean they'll make a profit still?" I asked.
"Exactly! When people sell gold, they usually test it out. By selling our fool's gold, their good name will be ruined. Then we sell our gold, the gold you stole, and gain social points along with a large amount of money. Out of the profit, you'll get paid 35 gold coins." Slaking explained further.
I sat back, letting my head fall a bit, "Ugh, alright. When should I steal the gold and where?" I asked.
"Right now. The Gold already entered the city. It's on its way to our competitor in the northwest part of town. Put the fool's gold in your pockets and run there." Slaking instructed.
I groaned, "God damn it. I should have know this was going to happen. What if I get caught?"
"It was nice knowing you." The Slaking smiled.
"Wow, thanks. That gives me so much confidence. Well, wish me luck." I told him.
-Flashback-
I woke up in a prison cell after the Lucario raped me. I was on my back, and I started screaming from the pain. My legs and hips were burning as agony, causing me to scream until my voice was hoarse. Amidst my screams, I found my mouth covered by a cloth. Since there were tears in my eyes, I couldn't see. The mysterious person started healing me.
"Sh, you'll be okay. It always hurts on your first time." The person, clearly a woman by her voice, cooed.
I tried my best to blink my tears away, but she laid her hand on my eyes. I felt the pain start to die down as a wave of comfort entered my body. My legs and hips went numb, causing me to feel nothing. Her hand stayed over my eyes as I laid there.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"In a prison cell for now." she whispered.
"Am I going to die?" I asked.
She whispered, "Sh. Don't worry, sleep. When you wake up, you'll be able to walk but for now, sleep." She gently ordered.
Taking her advice, I closed my eyes and calmed myself down. Before I knew it, I fell asleep without ever finding out who this woman was. She had to have been a pokemon though. What else could she have been? When I woke up, my legs and hips were completely healed. The Lucario came to my cell herself in order to tutor me in the ways of a merchant. I'll be honest, I was fucking terrified but... it's because of her, I'm a successful merchant. Sometimes, I hate how life works out because half of mine is Tauros Shit.