31. The Dermiti Rebellion
The room wasn't the most impressive he had seen but the people were surely interesting. Ten give or take Regulians stood in a circle around a circular table. That wasn't the thing that interested him though. A woman clad in a green cloak stood out among the others. She had pale skin and no signature antennae that are always present on a Regulian's head.
She was casually leaning on the wall behind her while the others looked like they had just finished an explosive argument. A bulky looking man glanced at us before promising, "I will take care of it by tomorrow sundown." He passed Rimor with a brief 'Excuse me'. The others said some similar things and left in a file until only three others remained standing around the table.
"Good afternoon rebel leaders. As promised, this is Rimor Elpis, the newest recruit," Shira presented him with a wave of his hand like he was a prize brought home.
"Umm, hey," Rimor said.
"He is the one who managed to salvage and save our previous raids?" a lean man with sharp eyebrows asked incredulously. The way he said it made Rimor bristle.
"Well, it definitely wasn't any of the cowards you sent on the raid," Rimor snarked back.
The foreign woman standing across from the man looking blankly at the wall turned to face him as a spark of interest flashed in her aquamarine eyes and Shira quietly snickered.
The man looking directly at Shira was certainly not expecting that reply and glared at Rimor. "Watch your words, recruit. I am one of the founding leaders of this rebellion. Your life would be very hard if you ended up in my faction."
It was a warning and a threat; he could see it and Rimor should back off but he had never been the one to play it safe. He had swum into the deepest oceans, trespassed on lands inhabited by the most dangerous creatures, driven head first into planets he knew nothing about and challenged the authority of gods. This arrogant rebel leader won't crush his spirit.
"You are as threatening to me as a catfish. In simpler words, not at all," Rimor sneered. "Your words mean nothing because I will never be under your command."
"That is enough," The woman at the end of the table announced. "No, Welch, I mean it. Enough," she said sternly as the man-Welch opened his mouth in what he suspected was a protest. Rimor concluded that the woman must be the ultimate leader of this rebellion.
"Mr. Elpis," she started. "First of all, welcome to the Dermiti Rebellion. Your help was much appreciated in our latest raids."
"Which I recall to be one of the groups in your faction," the foreign woman (Gods, he should really learn their names) interrupted with a curious smile directed at the man standing across the table. "Wasn't it, Welch?"
"Yes, it was," Welch said between his gritted teeth. "But rest assured they will not be going into another raid for a long time until I am assured that such travesty would not occur again."
"Good," the leader said. "Now, that that has been established. I think we should introduce ourselves. I am one of the founding members and the head of Dermiti rebellion – Trish Raxcofalapus II."
"Quebe Yeshnar, leader of the fourth faction of the Dermiti Rebellion," the foreign lady acknowledged them with a nod.
"Welch Raxcofalapus, a founder and the leader of the fifth faction of the Dermiti Rebellion," Welch grunted annoyed.
"Well... you know me, Shira Feroros, member of the first faction," Shira introduced himself cheerfully.
"Right," Rimor nodded. "My name is Rimor Elpis as you probably know."
Trish nodded and asked, "Now, we must discuss your recruitment-"
"Ah that," Rimor interrupted. "I do not want to recruited as a member of this rebellion."
"What?" Welch asked dumbfounded. The others were staring at him with wide eyes. Rimor smiled amused. "I don't want to be a member of the rebellion but I do want to help."
"You want to help? Join the rebellion. What else can you offer?" Quebe asked.
"I won't join as an official member. I would be a consultant like Darla. I know she isn't really a member or recruit, she is a financial supporter, isn't she? I can offer something like that."
"You? You can offer money for our supplies? From where? We already get the money from your workplace," Welch asked dubiously.
"Not money, no. I have a knack to get valuable information at the right times," he offered.
When they still looked doubtful, "Oh, come on. Two weeks on this planet and I have figured out where the top-secret base of the Dermiti rebellion is while half the planet including your tyrant king is doubtful of its existence. I know a couple other things too, but let's get into that yet. So, what do you say?"
Trish, Quebe and Welch look at each as if they are having a silent conversation. Shira was giving them no mind as if it were a normal thing and staring at him with a puzzling expression.
"Your terms are acceptable," Welch announces after they were done discussing.
"You will contact Shira and report your findings directly to Quebe, as soon as you get them," Trish ordered.
Rimor nodded amicably, "Of course, I can do that."
After a couple more hours of tense negotiations and arguments that he will or will not betray the rebellion, they dismissed him.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" Rimor asked exasperatedly.
There was that look again. Ever since Rimor and Shira exited the rebellion HQ, Shira kept glancing at him with a strange look on his face. They hadn't said a word to each other as they kept walking side by side but Rimor could not handle it any longer.
He had hoped that Shira wouldn't be too angry at him for not telling him earlier that he wasn't joining the rebels. Evidently, that wasn't the case.
"I wasn't-" Shira was cut off by the pointed look Rimor gave him. "Alright. I just do not understand why you through such hard measures to make them accept you as a consultant when you could've joined the rebellion quite easily."
"Was it because of Welch?" Shira asked quickly not giving Rimor a chance to respond. "It may have seemed like he was threatening you but he was never going to sabotage you or something."
"Shira," Rimor interrupted before Shira could come up with any other conclusions. "It wasn't Welch. I was never going to join the rebels in the first place. I always wanted to be an outside help."
"But why?" Shira asked confused.
Rimor looked away collecting his thoughts, trying to decide what he should say. "I...it has been a long-time since I worked with a team of others. I'm used to...travelling alone. It works for me." Rimor shook his head to clear unwanted thoughts when Shira looked even more confused. "What I mean is that I have some trust issues. I prefer to not work in a group or team."
Unknowingly, they had already reached Darla's shop. Rimor came to a stop and glanced at Shira to see his reaction. He was looking at Rimor with a calculating and saddened expression.
"So, I'll see you tomorrow." With this Rimor sharply turned and started walking away.
"Wait," a shout came from behind him. Rimor slowed only to raise an eyebrow at Shira.
"I don't come here on third days," Shira stated in confusion.
"I know but the superiors have demanded that I tell you whatever information I find sooner rather than later, yes?" Rimor threw behind his shoulder.
"Tomorrow it is," Shira said with a stunned look on his face and sprinted around the block.
The next day started out just as the previous one. They made a lot of sales. Other than one curious customer that snuck up into the house to steal any valuable in sight, it was slowly becoming his normal routine on this planet. The thief was only an eleven year old living in a shack with his family of four, so they took pity on him and gave him the coins they spare.
Rimor enjoyed living with Darla. She was a very smart woman who made wonderful food. Ever since he came around, she mostly stuck to the backroom to do the financial paperwork and business with the rebellion. Something he had come to notice was that Darla was very dedicated and invested in the Dermiti rebellion. It could just as well be her sense of justice and want for freedom but he had a feeling it was something more. She had a personal connection to them that he hadn't discovered yet.
Rimor pondered on these thoughts and stacked the shelves with Knick knacks while humming. The day had brought just as many profits as his nights. Last night he had done something very risky. It was worth it since he got what he was looking for.
He stopped humming as soon as he saw the shadow jump in through the window. "You understand that you could have used the front door, right?" he commented.
The shadow whose face he could clearly see now as Shira hummed noncommittally.
"Let's go," he said as he grabbed the discarded cloak on his chair and they headed out.
This time they used a different route than yesterday. It was shorter but it went through some rocky hills. They didn't talk much. Instead, they walked on in companionable silence. Rimor hoped that their talk yesterday won't drive Shira away. He may have trouble trusting others as he did before but that did not mean he did not trust his friends to a certain level.
They reached the headquarters just as the two suns started setting. Shira led him to a different room this time. This room was located much deeper into the underground levels.
Right outside the wooden door which Rimor assumed was where he needed to be in Shira stopped. "This is where I leave you. These meetings have to be confidential," he said with an apologetic look.
Rimor nodded in understanding and entered the room without knocking. The door was open so, any conversation happening should not be that important.
He took a seat in front of the two rebel leaders. Trish looked unassuming while Welch had adopted an irritated expression on that arrogant face. Quebe was nowhere to be seen today. Rimor mentally took a note of that.
"What is it? What possible valuable information could you have gained in such little time?" Welch questioned.
Rimor tilted his head and observed Welch's face more carefully. He may have been arrogant but today, it seemed like something had him immensely prickly. Trish also had a twinge of annoyance in her eyes. Curious, so very curious indeed.
"Alright. Let's get started then," he said. "This planet was sealed off years ago. The time here has always been slower than the rest of the universe so you don't know the exact time it has been out there. I can tell you that it definitely wasn't enough to be noticed by the big news reporters of the universe. I would have noticed that. But I believe it was enough time to alert Lord Chaos of something fishy was going on here."
"Fishy?" Trish asked in confusion. Oops, he had forgotten that earth slangs aren't used in planets this far away.
"My bad, I meant he must have noticed something was wrong here," he corrected.
"Are you suggesting that Chaos is sending a troop of warrior to aid us?" Welch suddenly said looking interested despite himself.
"No," Rimor said. "I am certain that he already has."
A/N: Hello, my wonderful readers! I am so sorry for putting off writing this chapter but this month has been very hard for me and my family. I just did not feel motivated to write anything.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I got a brilliant idea yesterday about how to move this story forward. So, I am very excited to incorporate it. I am although struggling to decide who Percy/Rimor's significant other will be. I would appreciate any ideas you guys might have.
Leave a review of what you guys think.