The train pulled into Dollet 3 hours later, Silvur looked at her watch, and saw that it was almost 3 a.m. She and the others exited the train, looking around the station as they stepped off. She looked at the other's, knowing they were thinking the same thing she was..What do we do now? She felt around in her pocket and found the money. "Well, let's go find us a hotel for the night..we've got a rough day ahead of us tomorrow."
Raijin, Fujin, and Seifer nodded. "You guys, what are we going to do, ya know? I mean, we're like, even more wanted than we were before, ya know!?"
"Shh..quiet. You don't want to draw attention do you? Dammit, you heard what Edea told us. We're going to be okay, now let's get out of here before we draw even more attention." Silvur motioned for the others to follow her, and they left the train station. While walking down the street, Silvur said to the others. "Okay, when we reach the hotel, let me get the room. They might recognize you guys or something." All they did was nod. They walked along the the streets of Dollet, passing mostly little item and junk shops, until they came upon a small hotel. Silvur motioned for the others to wait in the bar, and walked up to the front desk, the clerk a rather husky woman, who appeared to be in her late 40's to early 50's behind the counter. She saw Silvur approach and smiled. "Hello, welcome to the Dollet Hotel, 100 gil per stay."
Silvur pulled out 300 gil. "I would like a room for 3 nights, please."
"Ok. Name please?"
This made Silvur think. What if they check the hotels? Hmm..what's a good name? She quickly came up with one, using her mother's first name and her father's middle name. "Christian Lloyd."
The clerk entered the name in the computer and took the Gil from Silvur's hand. "Thank you, enjoy your stay. Here is your room key." She picked a key off a small rack and handed it to her, the number on the key being 27.
Silvur nodded to the clerk, then walked into the bar to get the others, and they headed up to the room. The room was rather plain, white walls with a forest green carpet. A small television was in the corner of the room, along with a sofa that converted into another bed, that way everyone had their own bed so they wouldn't be forced to share. Seifer locked the door behind them, and without another everyone settled down to go to sleep. Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin took the beds, while Silvur took the couch, not even bothering to convert it to the bed..she just plopped herself down on it. After they shut off the lamps next to each bed, it wasn't long before Raijin could be heard snoring, loudly. It didn't bother the others though, for they were too tired to even complain.
Silvur was the first to awaken the next morning. She got off the couch and stood, stretching, then quietly snuck downstairs to pick up a morning paper, and a cup of coffee. Then returned to the room and sat down on the couch once again, placing her coffee on the small table infront of her, and opened up the paper to, first of all, find out if there was any information about their escape. She sighed with relief when she didn't find anything, then started searching for the next thing she was looking for, which was an apartment.
After looking for over an hour, Silvur finally came across one that would suit them. The ad read...
"APARTMENT FOR RENT. 2 bedroom, 1 bath, kitchen and living area. Furniture and beds included for an extra 1000 Gil. Monthly rent is 300 Gil, must have a security deposit of 200 Gil. NO PETS! If interested, just ask for Frank at the Dollet Pub."
She whispered. "Yes, this is just what we need...now all we have to find are jobs." She turned the page to the job ads, which didn't offer much. After scanning the page she finally came across something interesting.
"BARTENDER'S AND BOUNCER'S NEEDED. The all new Ruby Dragon Bar needs bartender's and bouncer's in time for the grand opening next week. No bartending experience needed, you will learn what is necessary, but fighting experience is needed for bouncer positions. Apply in person"
She tore out the ads, and placed them in her pants pocket, then used a pen and a piece of hotel stationary and left a note for Seifer and the others. "Went to check out an apartment. Be back later....and do try and stay out of trouble. Silvur..." She placed the note on the table and quietly left the room and headed down to the hotel lobby. Upon entering the lobbly she spotted a couple of rookie SeeDs she had taken the field exam with and ducked behind a large plant. She watched them walk up to the front desk, and talk to the clerk. She heard her name mentioned and the lady immediately looked at the hotel register, then shook her head at the SeeDs. At that they turned and left the hotel. She stepped out from behind the plant, and looked around, trying to act casual, then walked over to the hotel gift shop and bought a baseball cap, placing it over her silver hair, she headed out of the hotel, and onto the streets of Dollet.
After stopping and asking for directions to the Dollet Pub, she finally found it and entered. Silvur looked around, admiring the simple design of the pub, then walked over to the bartender, and asked. "Umm..I came to talk to a guy named Frank, about the apartment he has for rent?"
The bartender looked at her, and said in a gruff voice. "Yeah, he's upstairs. Probably trying to find someone to play cards with him."
"Thanks." Silvur turned to head upstairs when the bartender called back to her. "Hey! Kid! Whatever you do...don't play cards with that guy...he'll whoop you bad."
Silvur smiled. "Thanks for the advice." Then went up the stairs.
She found Frank sitting at a card table..Dude, ol'gruffy was right. And walked over. "Are you Frank?"
"Yeah, that's me. What can I do for ya?"
She pulled out the ad about the apartment. "I came to ask about the apartment you have for rent. It is still available, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. You wanna take a look at it?"
Silvur nodded. "Sure."
He nodded and motioned for her to follow, then lead her outside and across a small bridge that lead to the building across the street, and entered through another doorway. "Well, here it is. It's not exactly Deling City style or Esthar, but it's not that shabby.
The apartment wasn't all that bad, the walls were painted white in every room, along with the same blue/gray carpet that covered every part of the place except the kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen had a stove, oven, fridge, a couple of cabinets, and a table that seated exactly 4 people. And the bedrooms were the same, 2 beds and a closet, with a night stand in-betweent them. The living area had a couch, an old recliner that barely reclined, a lamp next to the couch, also a small table, which had a television placed on top of it, that was placed in the corner of the room. The bathroom was nice and clean, with white tiled floors, a shower, toilet, and sink.
Silvur turned to Frank. "We'll take it."
"We?"
"Yeah, me and my friends. They just sent me to look at it."
"Oh, ok. Well, do you have your security deposit? And for an extra thousand Gil, you can have all the furniture."
Silvur reached into her pocket and pulled out the Gil Edea had given her and counted out the amout, then handed it to Frank. "There you go."
He nodded. "Enjoy your new apartment." He turned to walk away, then turned back to Silvur and asked. "Oh, by the way, I need your name."
She gave him the same name she gave the hotel clerk. "Christian Lloyd."
He handed her the key, along with a spare. "I have the third key, for emergencies and such." With that he turned and headed back to the pub.
"Yeeess!" She whispered, then ran out of the apartment, and back to the hotel to tell the other's the good news.
She entered the apartment to find everyone up and sitting on the sofa, watching TV. After closing the door behind her, she walked over to the TV and switched it off, and smiled.
Raijin and Seifer whined. "What did ya do that for?"
Silvur rolled her eyes. "Stop whining, I've got good news..I found us an apartment, and maybe, just maybe...jobs too."
Raijin jumped up, his eyes wide, while Seifer and Fujin just looked up at her. "DOING WHAT?" Fujin asked.
"As bartender's and bouncer's at a new bar opening up next week."
Seifer stood up. "One problem..we don't know how to bartend."
"Ah..my dear cousin. The best thing is..no bartending experience is needed. But they do need people who can fight. You'll learn what is necessary for the bartending job."
"Alright! C'mon, let's go apply now, ya know!?" Raijin grinned.
They were just about to leave when Silvur suddenly remembered the SeeDs. "Wait!"
They turned around to face her. "What is it?", Seifer asked.
"I forgot to tell you, but I saw some SeeDs in the hotel lobbly when I left out this morning. I think they were looking for us. But it's all cool though, I gave the lady at the desk a different name, so they didn't know we were here. But I don't know if they left town yet, so stay alert."
Everyone nodded and left the hotel, walking around Dollet until they finally reached the soon-to-be Ruby Dragon Bar and walked in. The bar itself was simple, kind of like the Dollet Pub, but much larger. It had the bar, with various bottles of liquor on shelves behind it, and the stools of course. The total number of tables came up to a total of about 50 to 60, each of them sitting 4 people, not to mention the booths that lined two of the walls. The wall opposite the bar, and the wall opposite the stairs that led up to the second floor. "Hey, you guys must be here to apply for the jobs, right?" They turned towards the bar to see, who they were guessing, the owner cleaning and stacking beer mugs on the bar.
Silvur nodded. "Yes, sir. We sure are."
He nodded, then motioned for them to walk over and have a seat. They did what he said and each of them took a seat at one of the stools. He then stuck out a hand for them to shake. "I'm Jackson Trepe, just call me Jack, and I am the owner of this bar." He put down the last glass and placed his hands on the bar, and leaned against them. "Well, you all looked qualified for the job. Hmm..", he looked them over, then pointed to Seifer and Silvur, "you two will be my bouncer's", he then pointed to Raijin and Fujin, "and you two will help me back here. You will be paid up to 2000 Gil a week, depending on how business is, not to mention tips you might get. Is this acceptable?"
Silvur looked at the others, and they all nodded. "Yes sir. So, when to we start?"
"First, I need your names. If you're going to work for me, I have to know who to make the checks out to."
Silvur pointed herself. "I'm Christian Lloyd, and this is my cousin..", she pointed to Seifer, "William Lloyd."
Jack nodded, and looked at Raijin and Fujin. "And you two?"
Raijin and Fujin followed Silvur's lead. "I'm Jay Rand, ya know?"
Fujin answered, surprisingly in a normal voice. "I'm Janey Lockston."
Silvur, Seifer, and Raijin looked at Fujin, their mouths hanging open, but they quickly shut them when she glared at them.
"Ok. Well, the bouncer's can just go upstairs and play video games or something, but you two..Jay, and Janey..will stay down here and learn what you need to learn."
For the next week, Raijin and Fujin had stayed from dawn til dusk, learning the tricks of the trade. Raijin was the one who started off a clutz, but slowly became better at bartending that Jack himself, while Fujin continued to talk in a normal voice, which still surprised the others, but not as much as it first did. Seifer and Silvur practiced their kickboxing upstairs, since they couldn't use weapons, and even if they could, their gunblades had been confiscated. While sitting downstairs at the bar with Raijin and Fujin the day before the grand opening, the phone rang and Jack answered it. "Hello, Ruby Dragon Bar, this is Jack." Silvur and the other's didn't think nothing of it, until he practically screamed, causing them to almost spill their beer. "Quisits!?"
Seifer almost spit out his drink while Silvur almost spilled hers. They all looked at each other, then looked back to Jack, who was still talking on the phone. Fujin leaned over to Silvur and whispered. "What was his last name again?"
She thought for a second, then understood where Fujin was heading with this. "Oh my god...why do I get the feeling that Quistis is his daughter?"
Jack answered that feeling they were all having when he hung up, then turned to face them, a smile on his face. "That was my daughter. Her and some of her friends are coming to the grand opening tomorrow night."
Seifer asked. "Who's your daughter Jack?"
He smiled with pride. "Her name is Quistis, she's an instructor at Balamb Garden. Oh, and did ya know, she was one of the six to stop Sorceress Ultamecia. And guess what...she's bringing those same people to the opening tomorrow night, so we need to get this place spotless."
Silvur and the others looked around the bar, then back to Jack, and Seifer smirked. "What are you talking about..this place is already spotless."
Jack looked around. "Yeah, I guess you kid's have got a point. Well, go home and get as much rest as you can. You're going to have a busy night tomorrow night."
Silvur thought to herself. Dude, "busy" is an understatement! How in the hell are you gonna get us out of this one Silvur?....DAMMIT!