Author: Liz Luthor (AKA Kiwi)
Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING. As long as ANYTHING includes Skies of Arcadia, then you can't sue me. :P
Author's Notes: Ta-da! I made it all the way to the first chapter! Just kidding... But here goes! :)
When something valuable gets stolen- and I don't mean Uncle Hoss's favorite plow; I mean something really valuable- it's everywhere in the news. So if you steal something like that, you're not gonna turn around and sell it to anyone, because then they'd know you stole it. You'd at least become a suspect.
Now, the black market is supposed to be a solution to that problem- a way for thieves and burglars to live happily ever after- but things have changed. An even bigger problem has arisen...a problem by the name of King Enrique. Possibly the most passionate upholder of justice that ever existed in Arcadia, Enrique's got his ever-watchful eye on the black market. Thieves are anxious to get rid of their goods, but nervous, thus accomplishing the King's objective.
I've found that sneaking around Enrique's grasp is easy enough, and the burglars are quite willing to pay a percentage of their earnings in order to avoid it themselves. So I am known as the black merchant in the underworld, selling precious stolen goods so YOU don't have to.
...It started out one night when I was looking for another way to earn some cash (aside from the store), and I found out about a weekly game of Heikins. Heikins is a popular game played with an odd-shaped board and a few different kinds of tokens. I'd explain it in more detail, but I've never really played much myself. I only went there to see if it was something I could make, since making swords wasn't getting me anywhere and this seemed like something people were more willing to buy.
Anyway, this particular game of Heikins involved gambling and some very high stakes, so I kept my distance and wore a cloak, telling everyone I was there to sell loqua (as I expected, most of them had brought their own). While they played, they made small talk about this kind of fish and that store one of them had stolen from. At one point, a bulky guy who looked like he was in his twenties said, "Hey, you heard about the set of Moon Stone figurines that went missing from that store in Valua? That was me." He grinned, satisfied. "Anyway, I need to get it offa my hands, but I don't think I can do it without gettin' caught." He laughed, "Enrique's lookin' everywhere for it! Anybody know where I can sell it without worryin' about bein' ratted out?"
I saw my chance and stepped out of the corner. "I can do it," I offered, stressing an Ixa'takan accent. The guy turned toward me and I continued, "for a price, of course."
"...How much?"
I thought for a minute before replying, "...Ten percent of whatever I can get for it."
Hence, I had my first job. That guy told his friends, who then told their friends, and suddenly I found myself wearing that cloak almost once a week. I used a different accent for each client and never gave out my name. It was a nice alternative to my dust-gathering excuse for a shop, and after a couple of months, I was able to buy myself a halfway decent ship (even though it cost me almost everything I'd earned up until that point).
Nearly six months later, I stood behind the sales desk amidst all my weapons and leaned forward on the counter-top. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. I had just opened up after telling Raine's kids about Vyse the Legend, and, as usual, the store was empty. Most people don't have any use for weaponry anymore, but fishermen always will. They travel all over the skies and are bound to run into more than a few monsters. Being in Nasrad, the biggest trade city in Arcadia, I thought my shop would get plenty of customers. I do get the occasional newbie, who either hasn't heard of Mr. Tane's shop or actually likes my merchandise, but this was quite the slow day.
Seven and a half hours later, it was closing time. I'd had one buying customer that day. Parents had already come to pick up their children from Raine's place upstairs, and she had just finished cleaning up when I turned around the sign which now read 'Open' on our side of the glass door. Raine descended a few of the steps, then stopped and leaned on her arms on the rail, giving me a look that said, 'We need to talk.' Her long red hair fell forward and her light blue eyes peered suspiciously into mine. I walked cautiously toward her and stopped when I was below her area of the stairs.
"...What?" I asked after a long silence. She started walking down the stairs again, talking to me in the process.
"Why are you still doing it? Surely you have enough money now to quit and live off of the shop." I cocked my head to the side confusedly and gave her a perplexed expression. "Your black market business! Why are you still doing it?"
I felt my jaw drop, my eyes widen. "H-how did you...?"
Raine was at the bottom of the staircase now. She crossed her arms over her chest and replied, "You told me!! You honestly don't remember?!"
"...I guess not..." I answered, stunned.
"I made you swear you weren't drunk..." she mumbled. "Okay, fine, I'll remind you. It was a little past three in the morning and you came into my house one night. I thought you were a murderer at first because you were wearing that idiotic trench coat of yours. Anyway, when I figured out it was you, I asked you what you were doing at my house at that hour and you...you started crying." Major blow to the manly pride. I let her continue. "You told me everything. About being the black merchant, about what happened that night...about the group of thieves that nearly beat you to death..."
I tried to remember what exactly she was talking about, but I had absolutely no memory of it. Raine was looking at the ground now, and I could vaguely see that she was blushing a little. There must've been something else I'd told her, but I didn't want to ask. I was still taking in the fact that I'd actually told her myself. Why didn't I remember?
"Anyway..." Raine looked up at me again. "You never answered my question. When you came that night, you were talking to me like you'd never get the chance to do so again... It scared me. I don't understand why you continue to do this to yourself."
There was only silence. I didn't know what to say. "Raine...I can't." I spoke softly, "Whatever happened that night, I'm sure it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Everything's running smoothly. If I quit now, how will I ever make any more money?"
"You've got your shop!! Y-you make swords! You could even sell the shop if you wanted, and maybe you could become a fisherman," she yelled at me. "You're being stupid, Talis!!"
Part of me thought she might be right and the other part didn't care. "I'm not gonna give this up," I told her. "But don't worry about me so much, I can defend myself! ...Besides, I don't think I can let myself quit... This is my life now."
Raine was disappointed in me. She glared at me for about a minute with those ice-like eyes, but then her expression turned to sadness. She walked forward slowly and put her arms around me. I hugged her back, smiling comfortably. "You're so stubborn..." she said quietly. After a few minutes, she let go of me and left the store.
I really was just being stubborn. And you'd think that finding out that I'd once been so brutally beaten because of my job that I couldn't even remember it would make me think it through a little more carefully. All I knew was that I didn't want to change. This was easy for me, and I couldn't afford to let it go.
Please review! Again! I'm going to say that at the end of every chapter!