Just thought I'd make something clear… *sweatdrop* I just recently got Grandia 2 and when I got to the part where Mareg shows up and they start mentioning the beast-men there smelling feeling I went "Oh holy crap…". I want to clarify that I did NOT base my version of Kevin on these fellows, I started writing this one year ago and as I said just recently got my hands on ze PS2 RPG.
Anyway… onwards!
Chapter 11, The new danger
Hawk hurried through Palo, trying to avoid eye contact with the townspeople. He had already found a few confused ninjas who had just awoken from the spell, and helped them to the last escape ship waiting in the harbor's most distant dock. But the thief had to go one last round to look for friends before he left town.
Of course he wasn't going to depart with the ninjas, he just had to help them now or they would surely be feeling the wrath of Palo's inhabitants. Most of those that he had found so far, only a handful, had been so confused after the spell that they hardly recognized him.
Primary he was searching for Nikita, even though he didn't know whether the cat had already left or not. But even though they probably still believed that he had killed Eagle in cold blood, Hawk couldn't leave the dizzy ninjas to face their fate. After all they had been controlled by Bigeau… no, chances were that they hadn't been too fond of her ideas at all, but lacked chances to protest. The thief couldn't just rush off, and it wasn't simply because he wanted to prove that he was innocent.
"This is all your fault!"
Hawk startled at the angry call, but realized in the next second that it hadn't been aimed at him. He looked in the direction of the shout and saw a group of men standing by the inn. They seemed to be surrounding somebody…
"Hey, stop that!"
The thief wasn't too surprised to see Duran, but he didn't bother much about the suddenly appearing mercenary and the two… ahem, ladies in his company. Hawk was too busy running in their direction. Even as he was still far away he saw the furry face that in fear looked at the fishermen surrounding it.
"Nikita!" Hawk shouted.
Blindly he dashed the mob and threw up his arms to protect his friend.
"Hey bro, help me here, will you?" the big cat weakly whispered.
"You recognize me?" Hawk said with relief.
The cat had fully recovered from the spell, then. Hawk grimly turned to the crowd.
"Alright everyone," he resolutely said, "everybody who wants to hurt this cat will have to answer to me."
For a moment it seemed like he had managed to get into another fight, one that would be hard to get out of. But one of the big fishermen happened to throw a glance at the three other foreigners, who simultaneously took a warning step forwards.
"Ah, to the hell with both of them!" the man grunted, catching the others' eyes and guiding those towards the entrance of town.
The fishermen growled a bit, but they reached a silent agreement and walked off. A big cat from Navarre was one thing, but a warrior from there plus a young but muscular man with a sword, a beautiful woman holding a staff menacingly and a child with a sour look and a twin morningstar, that was something else.
"Thanks bro," Nikita sighed with relief and rubbed his furry forehead with one hand while holding his big sack with the other, "I gotta tell you, so much happened since you left Navarre…"
"Let's talk inside," Hawk suggested and pointed at the inn, "it's safer."
Nikita tiredly nodded.
"Oh yeah," the thief said and turned around with a smile, "thanks for the help."
"No problem, cutie," Angela easily said and winked with one eye at him.
That woman was simply amazing. Hawk hadn't noticed her clothing before because of shock and poor light. And he couldn't remember when he last had been so close to blush.
Wow. Just… wow.
Duran was one lucky blighter…
"Ah… why don't you listen to Nikita too?" Hawk finally managed to offer, "after your interference Bigeau might be after you too."
He hoped that his voice didn't sound too weird.
"Sure, why not?" Duran said and shrugged his shoulders, "though I'm not worried about her, she can't beat my sword skill."
As one person Angela and Carlie rolled their eyes and sighed. It seemed so impossible that those two could agree on anything that the moment could have endangered the whole universe.
The five entered the inn and went into the dining room. The innkeeper said nothing, maybe he didn't dare to. Nikita heavily sat down on a chair and began to speak.
"After you left Bigeau cast a spell on everyone to keep them under control. Anyone who opposed was just killed! Then they fortified the walls…"
He sighed and shook his head.
"I couldn't do anything about it, the spell got me too," he bitterly continued, "the spell didn't affect Jessica since she was already cursed; Bigeau had her put in jail instead."
"Look, it's alright," Hawk said, trying to cheer him up, "you couldn't fight the magic and both you and Jessica are alive. That's the important thing."
Nikita tried to smile bravely, but then he shuddered and looked away.
"Then…" he said in a low, almost shivering voice, "she took in demons."
"What?!" Duran, Angela, Carlie and Hawk shouted, causing the innkeeper to jump.
But nobody cared for the man by the counter and he couldn't possibly have heard what Nikita said.
The cat grimly nodded.
"Real demons," he said in a low voice, "winged, horned green lumps of muscles and claws."
He shuddered again and grimaced. Then he looked at Hawk, bitterly.
"I'm sorry bro," he said, "I couldn't protect Jessica."
Demons…
"Don't mention it," Hawk grimly said, "it wasn't your fault. And don't even think of going back for her, too dangerous."
Did he tell Nikita or himself that? He didn't know.
Clenching his teeth tightly Hawk stood up and nodded to Duran and his troop.
"Later," he said.
"Good luck," Carlie said, her sudden graveness completely out of character.
Angela and Duran glanced at her in surprise, but then they grimly nodded at the thief.
"The same to you," Hawk said.
Then he walked out, followed by Nikita. They began walking towards the dock.
With slight worry the thief noted that the men that had harassed his friend earlier hung by the stairs leading down to the underground pub, and they were glancing coldly at the two now lonely Navarres.
"What are you going to do now?" Nikita carefully asked.
"I don't know!"
Hawk clenched his fists in frustration as he and his friend stepped over on the harbor area.
"Demons… are you sure?" he demanded in a low voice.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so," the cat replied, rather nervous because of his friend's anger.
"I have to do something… I have to help Jessica!"
The thief didn't notices that his voice got louder as his frustration grew.
"You go with the others on the ship," he growled at Nikita, the snarl soon becoming almost a shout of anger, "I'll go back for Lise, she's after Bigeau too. We'll have to find Kevin and see if he wants to help, dammit…!"
He realized that his irritation had made him call out things that shouldn't have reached everyone in town, and that made him even more frustrated.
"Damn it all…" he growled and held back an urge to slap himself.
How could he allow himself to be so careless?! It wasn't like Lise would want the whole world to know that she was going out into it again!
"Calm down, I don't think that anyone heard you now that we're this far from town," Nikita tried.
"Yeah, you're probably right…"
Hawk sighed and looked around. No, they had gotten pretty far on the dock, hopefully his idiotic mistake hadn't been noted by any inappropriate ears.
And there goes another chapter in good ol' "Things the heroes should never ever say", or in this case ponder. Why don't they study harder? Well, it wouldn't be as fun then, would it?
A couple of the ninjas that Hawk had retrieved stood on the ship, seemingly waiting for the thief's return. On this distance and with the sun sinking behind them it was impossible to tell whom they were, but they seemed more alert than earlier. It made Hawk nervous, since he didn't know their thoughts of him.
"Look, just get aboard," he told Nikita, "I have to go and find…"
"Hurry up, you two!" one of the ninjas suddenly called, "the townsfolk are coming!"
Nikita and Hawk spun around. The mob was back, this time it was bigger and the population of it were more determined.
"You can't stay here, bro," Nikita said in a stressed and sad voice, grabbing Hawk's arm, "we have to leave, now!"
"I can't go, I can't leave her too!" Hawk snarled and tried to free himself even as the townspeople came closer, "I already did that to Kevin, I can't… ugh!"
He fell with a glassy look and would have crashed on the harbor's wood if the ninja that hit him hadn't caught the thief's waist. Nikita looked at the man with nervous pain.
"Karan, please listen to me, he didn't kill Eagle of own will…" the cat desperately said, glancing at the approaching mob.
"I know!" Karan interrupted and threw the unconscious Hawk over his shoulder even as he started to hurry back towards the big boat, "after all that's happened we all understand that he's innocent, now come on and run!"
Nikita rushed after the ninja and they jumped onto the ship. It drifted out of reach just as the mob was about to reach it.
As the distance between ship and Palo became more and more safe Karan carried Hawk into one of the few cabins and placed him onto a bed. Then the ninja turned to Nikita and shook his head.
"Sorry about that, but I saw that he wouldn't listen."
"I understand," Nikita said.
He looked at his friend and sighed.
"Sorry Hawk, we had to bring you away from there…"
"Dammit, they got away!" one of the fishermen growled.
The angry crowd waved with their assembled fists at the leaving ship, not gaining anything by it but still trying.
After a while they returned to town, grumbling among themselves.
A shadow under the harbor's planks thoughtfully looked up at the humans moving past. Light spilled into the dusk beneath the upper world as the wood slightly bent for each heavy step. But the rays seemed unable to touch the hiding creature. Even as the sun itself now touched the ocean it couldn't reach into the deepest darkness which shrouded the spy.
He didn't care about the humans leaving even though he seemed to look up at them.
Sharply yellow eyes with pupils like thin, standing lines scanned the dark planks above while the waves of the ocean whispered their way below two bare feet. Instead of nails there were sharp claws on the toes.
As the last fisherman was gone, the creature still watched the planks.
So, she was still left in Rolante. How sad that her friend had to leave… leaving her all alone on her quest.
The creature smirked coldly. Perfect.
Still…
The thoughtful look returned.
"We'll have to find Kevin and see if he wants to help," the traitorous thief had said.
And later he had mentioned the same name again, just before he got knocked.
Kevin.
No, it couldn't be him… what would he ever have to do with the thief and the princess?
But if there was the slightest chance, it was worth taking it. After all, rumors had it that the prince had left his kingdom.
The creature pondered his options.
His mission was to take care of princess Lise, and he should really do that as soon as possible. But if it was indeed the son of Beast King and Arceia… maybe the thief could lead the way to the prince. On the other hand, it had sounded as if the princess would like to find this Kevin as well. Maybe she could do the same thing. It would be sufficient.
He bent down and painted a few glowing runes on the water with a clawed pointing finger. They glowed and the liquid boiled around the signs, but the waves couldn't erase them.
"Yes, Rakadra?" a dry, cold voice said.
The sound came from the runes themselves, impossible for a human ear to sense.
"I heard Bigeau's loverboy toy talk," the creature said, "princess Lise is still in the country. He also mentioned the name Kevin, it seemed like that was a friend of both the thief and princess but not present for the moment."
"Kevin?" the runes said, thoughtfully interested.
"Should I look into it?"
"By all means."
The cold voice smirked.
"How delightful if he should be the right one," it said, "we could use him for another stone but… no, you can have him, my dear disciple. After all he's always been yours by birthright."
"Thank you, master Jagan," the creature said with a cruel smirk.
He waved with a hand, and the runes disappeared.
The princess was bound to come to Palo sooner or later if she wanted to leave the country. He'd have a better view somewhere else; miss Lise was far too precious for chances of losing her. Especially if she could bring him to the accursed Beast King's son…
The only reason he had hid under the dock was that he didn't like sunlight very much. Sure he could survive it, but that was not the point.
He had planned to stay under the harbor, waiting to see if princess Lise came by. Sleep was not a problem, he was patient and needed no rest. Sooner or later she'd come for a ship going somewhere since her cute little brother still was missing… Rakadra knew that he could easily abduct her without help, the ninjas he had brought out of Rolante and still kept controlled were simply in case of allies.
It would be fun to just leave the Navarre toys where they were hid now, to drown in the tide.
He liked the thought of that.
But first he had to wait and see if he needed them or not.
"It seems like I'm cornered," Bigeau had told him in the northeaster tower of Rolante's castle, smirking and rolling her eyes.
They had been watching Bill and Ben fight the three strangers, on a safe distance noticing that the twins were a hopeless case.
"Should I interfere?" he'd offered, with the blood thirst that had earned him an honored name among the darker side of his two people.
"I have a much better idea," the lady had smirked, "we'll let them think that they've won and give them the castle back. Since the path to the Wind stone is now open, all we need is a… suitable sacrifice."
"Ah, I see."
He'd known what she meant. His cruel mind was also a source of respect; he had a natural ability to think in the same way as the one he was talking to. Well liked, and respected.
"Let them think that she's left," Bigeau had instructed, smiling coldly, "there's no need to rush. Let her go somewhere else, and when she's out of human sight then let her disappear. Send Jagan a message when you're done and he'll meet you by the stone. That way nobody will interfere."
"Yes, my lady."
"Take a few ninjas too. Just in case. There are some survivors on the lower floors, you'll find them."
"Certainly."
The princess wouldn't have been able to pass the harbor without him noticing it, but now he wanted a change of plans. It was childish, but a chance of revenge on the old werewolf emperor lit a cold excitement in Rakadra's heart and he choose to move.
He smirked as he chanted a prayer to the underworld.
A few seconds later a completely normal cliff raven left the harbor and soared up above the town. Children were laughing and dancing, everyone was smiling in triumph.
Ah, humans… let them have their fun now.
Rakadra smirked, succeeding even though he had a beak and not a regular mouth for the moment.
Soon enough their happiness would turn into horror.
He landed on the roof of the inn. There he would have a perfect view of everyone entering the town.