I´m sorry, I left some strange errors in this chapter when I first put it
in here! I´ve finished fixing them, I think, but if you see any please let
me know!
Not that anyone´s reading this...
I would like more reviews, but of course I´m happy and grateful that General-Beatrix666 has given her time to reading my stuff! Thank you! (
Chapter #6
//To Lindblum //
They had journeyed for three days now and the city of Lindblum was finally in sight. It was magnifficent and Veranda, who had never seen it before, had to stop for a second while letting the huge image of it sink in.
Blank was a little troubled by the fact that throughout the whole journey they had never had any encounters with enemies, not even wild beasts. He had been preparing himself for a day-to-day battle journey but that had not worked out.
'I agree!' Beatrix said as he told her his concern. 'This is very odd! We should have had many encounters by now!'
'Let´s just hurry up and get inside the city walls! Do we have a pass?' he asked.
'Yes, the Queen gave us one. We can use the same as we used at South-Gate.'
He nodded.
'Come Veranda!' he shouted and they headed for the city. But then it happened, the thing Beatrix and Blank had been waiting for. They were attacked by a pack of men, well armed and strong. They were about 15 and each bore a broad sword and a shield. Their clothes were all brown or black and each one of them wore a dark cloak. There were no women in the group.
The men formed a circle around the threesom and pointed their swords at them, their points aiming low, as so if they had to strike at the three of them the blow would not be fatal. The three of them closed up to each other, Beatrix and Blank reaching for their swords while Veranda drew a crossbow out of her backpack with a quick grab. Even at a time like this Blank had time to be surprised about the fact that he had not seen the bow before and Veranda had not told them she could use weapons. He himself had just expected that she could not.
A tall man emerged out of the crowd and moved towards them. He was quite big, much taller then Blank, and was wearing a brown shirt and black trousers and over it he wore a dark cloak. The color was not really a color, more just a combination of black, blue and brown and looked like the color of a heap of trash, not one but many. He was blonde and his hair was short, or so it seemed from under his hood. He walked straight up to Beatrix and addressed her.
'General Beatrix! It´s a pleasure!'
His voice was deep and rang through them like the sound of the alert horns back at Alexandria castle. It boded ill.
Beatrix only glared at him, like she had glared at Veranda and Blank for the past few days.
'We have been searching for you for a few days now, general! I´ve been sent here especially after you!'
'How flattering, sir.?' she inquired without changing her expression.
'I am sorry, but I am not allowed to tell you! Specific orders, you know.'
'How pleasant,' she said and gave him a big sarcastic smile. Blank, standing beside her, thought she was crazy acting like this to a man commanding 14 strong men, who were at that very moment pointing their swords at them. 'And what do you want with me?' Beatrix asked, dropping the smile.
'We have come here for the sole purpose of claiming your life!' he said, bowing sarcastically.
'And you cannot tell me your name, for I quite desire to know the name of the man who intends to take my life before I die.'
'I am sorry, but I can not disobey my orders.'
'Then could you tell me the name of your lord, who wishes me dead?'
'No, I am sorry. But believe me, my lord is powerful and it is quite an honor to die by his command!'
'I do not doubt that.' Beatrix answered. 'What about my companions?'
'We are to kill them as well,' the man answered and pointed his sword at Veranda, who pointed her bow at him with a quick swing in return, looking very angry. 'Interesting.' the man exclaimed and looked thoughtfully at Veranda. 'Very interesting indeed!'
He walked up to Veranda slowly and took her by the chin. He looked at her face from one angle and then another, swingin her head around as if she was a doll. She did not resist. Then he let go of her chin and grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.
'But this one we will not kill! We might want to have some fun, while we´re at it. She won´t be any fun dead!'
The other men laughed.
'Yeah, we want them squealing and biting!' one of them shouted.
And they lauhged some more. Veranda just bit her lip.
'Let her go!' Blank said sternly as he placed the edge of his sword at the man´s throat! His sword was huge and it seemed to be quite heavy, but Blank´s arms could easily manage to hold it up in almost upright position.
The man had not expected this and looked rather astonished that Blank had dared to threaten him in the postion he was. One of his men approached Blank, cursing in some foreign language, looking like he was about to kill him, but his leader gestured the man to stop and spoke:
'This one we are not to kill!'
'Let her go!' Blank repeated, as if he had not heard or seen the two men.
The man released his grip on Veranda´s hair and put his hands in the air.
'I was hoping I would not need to deal with you, sir, until later!'
'So sorry to break your hopes.' Blank answered. 'Now just get lost, will ya? We don´t know you and I just might let you go!'
'I´m so sorry, but even if I´m ordered not to kill you I am to take you with us alive, even thought barely. Do not think that I will hesitate to knock you unconsious!' While he spoke he backed away from Veranda and took his place in the rows of his men, like he was finding himself a secure spot. 'Plus, you´re outnumbered. Don´t expect me to believe that you´re going to defeat us all!' and he laughed a sarcastic laugh, and his men joined in with him. Blank just plainly glared at him. Then the leader added;
'Take her out, Sinder!' he ordered one of his men and pointed at Beatrix. A very large and broad man approached the threesome, a smirk on his face and an evil looking sword (really the same kind of sword all the other men had, but still evil looking...), and pointing it at Beatrix´s heart he plunged forwards. He was not far from her when it happened and no one knew why it did. But it still did.
With the sword in his hands he jumped in her direction, shouting some kind of a warcry and bumping Blank out of the way. Veranda jumped back and raised her bow to shoot the man but she did not get the oppertunity before he exploded into a heap of flesh. The man seemed to burst from within, starting with his head, then his torso, and finally his limbs. It happened in about a fracture of a second so he did not even get the chance to yell out. It looked like he was somehow torn apart and his remains rained over the ground in front of Beatrix. His sword continued towards her chest but she easily caught it, now when there was no hand pushing it foward.
Everyone around them looked at it happen, amazed and frightened. They watched in awe as flesh and clothing ripped apart due to some force no one could see. The leader stood still, his eyes wide open and his face pale as snow. He gasped as the final piece of meat hit the ground.
'Who did it!?' he asked them after a few seconds, when he had, with difficulty, pulled his face together. 'Who did this?' and he pointed at the three of them one after another. 'It won´t do you any good denying it!' he announced angrily, but there was also a frightening sound in his voice, as he suspected that he would be the next to burst.
'And it won´t do us any good admitting either!' Beatrix shouted. Blank and Veranda were still gazing at the heap before their feet. 'But we´ll do it again if you don´t back off! And don´t think we can´t do you all in this way!' She gazed over the group of men with arrogance. Blank still gaped at the body, but Veranda seemed to have snapped out of it.
'Yeah! You think this is much!? Then you don´t want to see what else we are capable of!' she shouted and pointed at the dead man, or his remains, to emphasize. 'Get lost!' she shouted.
Their leader slowly backed away from them, looking very frightened and trying to conceal it, without any success, all his pride disappeared.
'Let´s go!' he shouted and waved his hand. His men seemed relieved that their commander had decided not to risk that they would all be torn apart one by one, by this evil looking threesome. They hastily ran to one side where their leader was, line up and then ran away, after their leader, in two perfect rows, with seven on each side. Their cloaks were dark, and since it was late in the afternoon it had begun to grow dark and theyr image blended with the surroundings.
The three of them watched them march away for a little while, completely surprised but relieved as well, big smirks on their faces. That is on Beatrix´s and Veranda´s faces. Blank was still staring at the pieces or stippes of what had previously been a man. The man's sword lay at Blank´s feet. When the men were out of sight Beatrix turned to him and spoke;
'You can stop staring at him now!'
'It´s not really a 'he' anymore,' Veranda stated. 'More of an 'it'!'
'Whatever!' Beatrix said. 'You know you almost gave us away, Blank! If I´d been in his,' she pointed after the troops marching away, 'position I would have thought it was kind of weird if one of us was staring at the victim like he had never seen anything like it! Not if we´re supposed to be used to this 'power'!'
Blank swung around and looked her straight in the eye. 'So you did this?!'
'Me? Noooo, I can´t say I did! But it would have been convenient.'
'Convenient? No, that´s not the word I would use to describe this. Effective´s more like it!' Veranda commented.
'So neither of you did it?' Blank asked.
'Hell no! What do you think I am!? I can´t use any kinds of magic, or whatever this was!' Veranda half-shouted.
'Me neither, except for my swordswork that is.' Beatrix answered calmly. 'Did you do it!?'
'No, I can´t use magic either..' Blank answered. 'And I highly doubt that one of them did it! It must have been someone else!'
They all looked around nervously. They could not see much because of how dark it had gotten, and there seemed to be nobody around for miles. At least they could not hear anything. The only sounds they could hear were those coming from within the city. Sounds of people skidding home, the railway cars running forth and back, and some sound from the wild, but that was mostly birdsinging.
Blank looked at Beatrix nervously.
'Let´s just get inside the walls!' he said, hastily. She nodded and they walked towards the gate, Veranda tagging along after them.
*~*~*~*~*~*
They were sitting in the innroom. Beatrix had insisted that they stayed at an inn and not in the Tantalus hide-out. She thought it was a dump, and the Queen had given them a lot of cash to spend in food and other necessaries.
Blank was sitting on his bed and Beatrix standing by the door with one hand on her swordshilt. Veranda was kneeling and checking out the mini-bar. She had gotten quite comfortable around the other two over the past days, even though they were not speaking too much. They did not seem to hate her, and that was good enough reason for her to let herself relax a bit.
'Ooooo, see!? Whisky!! Now we´re talking!' she exclaimed dragging a green, wound bottle out of the bar. 'Now, who´s up for a good, long night of drinking!?' she said cheerfully, trying to bring the mood of the other two up a notch.
Blank shook his head. 'Not now Veranda!'
'Yeah, we have to talk!' Beatrix said.
'About what!?' she looked at them questioningly. 'That incident back there!?'
'Yes, that 'incident'!' Beatrix answered, throwing her hands into the air and sighing. 'Learn to take things seriously, girl!'
'How about you learn to have some fun for once! You´re stressed out, and it´s hard to have a conversation with you these days!' Veranda shouted in return, her hair falling over her face and the bottle almost swinging hard into the nightstand. 'Could we just forget that happened for one night, and just go out and have fun!! How long has it been since you´ve got seriously loaded!? Have you even ever gotten drunk!?'
'I happen to be the non-drinking type!'
'Why, then just have fun sober! Is it really so hard?'
'Shut up, and let us think! Get drunk if you want, just don´t drag me into it!'
'Blank?'
'Not now, Veranda! My headache´s back!'
'Ooooo, so we should all be shaking with fear now, ´cause you´re a psychic, right!?'
'Veranda!!' Beatrix said warningly.
'OK, OK! I´ll just be downstairs at the bar! But don´t think I don´t want to know the plan! I just wanna get crazy for one night!'
'Yeah, yeah, whatever...'
Veranda opened the door and started out through it, then hesitated, came back and looked at Blank;
'When did it start?'
Blank looked up at her with a surprised look.
'The headache!' she explained.
'Oh,' he said. 'Just a few hours ago! Just before we reached the gate.'
Veranda nodded and went out into the hallway, closing the door firmly behind her.
Silence.
Blank sat on the bed holding his head.
It´s not gonna burst, is it!? Beatrix thought to herself, remembering the insident outside the city, and shuddered. She sat down on her bed, keeping a close eye at Blank, who did not move, and drew her breath as silently as she could.
What is he doing? Is he just going to sit there all night? We need to speak about this!
'Um, Blank?' she started.
No response.
'Um, we´ve gotta talk, right?'
Why was she being so... shy?
'Come on!'
He looked up, even though it did not mean anything to Beatrix, except now she knew he heard her. It was not as if she could make an eyecontact. That cursed belt.
'What´s to talk about?' he asked with his, not deep but not either high, voice, placing one hand under his chin and leaning forward onto it.
'What? We´ve got to make some kind of a plan! We´ve got to find Mikoto, we´ve got to find out who sent those men, we´ve got to talk things through!'
'Please, Beatrix. Just not now!' He burried his face in his hands and let himself fall back onto his bed.
'Right!' Beatrix said, standing up and walking hastely towards the door. 'I´ll be out there trying to catch hold of Mikoto! I don´t need you to come with me, so I´ll just come back here afterwards!'
He just lay there and did not respond. Beatrix slammed the door shut and walked furiously out the hall.
Inside the room Blank sat up and waited. Then, when he was sure Beatrix was out of sight, he headed for the door, reaching for the buckle.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Veranda closed the door behind her and started out the hallway. She had never been much of a drinker, and was not going to start now, so she threw the green bottle in her hand into the nearest trashcan.
Now, where did he say the hide-out was.?
She had been watching him as it happened, and it had been frightening.
Theater district, ya?
She asked directions at the rail-way station and shortly found the big house Tantalus owned.
What am I doing here?
The lock on the front door was broken. Odd! she thought, but then she figured that in this part of town it was not rare that houses left unguided for a long period of time were broken into. And Tantalus had been out of town for over a month. Veranda had heard Baku say once that even the Zereno brother had gone for a vacation to Treno at the same time as the wedding had been held.
The wedding. She had been there. Only serving, but there. It had been beautiful, until the woman got killed and Veranda remembered it well. She had seen when Blank jumped out the window after the killer. She had even yelled his name in horror, but she guessed he had not heard her.
At least he had not showed it.
She reached for the door and pushed it open. It creeked loudly. Inside it was dark and the air was foul. She moved stealthily by instinct, as her eyes got used to the darkness. The streets had been lit and there was absolutely no way that any light might get into this house, because the windows were all barred. She looked around, not dearing to draw breath, and moved onwards.
So this is where they live! She thought to herself. The Big Tantalus! But that was as far as she would get because all of a sudden a hand came out of nowhere and locked itself over her mouth. She tried to scream in terror, but the hand was barring it´s way. Then another hand came and grabbed her waist, forcing her to fall down on the floor. Then she fell unconcious.
The next thing she knew, Veranda was bound, lying on the floor and looking up at three men, one of which she had already seen once.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Beatrix stomped out.
He is SO STUPID! My Queen, can´t he ever stop this endless selfpity!? (A/N: Well duh, it´s endless....)
She did not know where she was going, but she had a faint idea. Cid was the man to look to if you wanted to know something, ANYTHING about Lindblum, because not did he just know most things about Lindblum but he could fix you up with someone who knew what you needed if he himself did not.
Beatrix entered the palace, chin held high, cocky and arrogant. She was used to being superior and wanted people to recognize her as someone that was higher positioned than them. She ordered one guard at the entrance to fetch a clearance for her from the regent. He was not sure if he was to obay her, but then he saw the look on her face and the furiousness in her eye and ran off to Cid´s chambers. She was allowed to enter and was escorted to Cid´s office.
'General Beatrix!' he exclaimed as she entered the room, swinging his arms in her direction. 'It´s a pleasure!'
This is the second time I hear this today... she thought to herself.
Beatrix, who remembered that she was still not as noble as Cid, bowed before him, and gave him a short and formal greating. The regent nodded and gestured her to sit with him in a sofa nearby.
They chatted for a while this formal chat. This 'How have you been?' 'Oh, fine, thank you!' 'How are everyone?' 'Just fine, thank you.' shit that courtesy requires.
'So, what brings you to Lindblum?' Cid asked after a short chat.
'I need your help, regent!' Beatrix told him bluntly.
'Now, really?' Cid asked her with a quizzical look on his aged face. 'What with?'
'I need to locate a person currently living here! How do I do it?'
'Now, there´s a difficult question. I have always felt that I needed to keep personal privacy in my regency and I haven´t filed all the residents. Plus, it´s always changing! So many are just wandering the streets, not having a home.'
'But is there any way for me to find a certain person, if you need to?' Beatrix asked sternly.
'What do you want with my people?' Cid asked dubiously.
'It´s just I´ve got to speak to this person!' she answered. 'I don´t mean her any harm!' she added when he still looked at her quizzically.
'So it is a 'she'!?' he said smiling. 'Well, I guess there is a way.' He said looking thoughtfully out into the air. 'There is a man in the industry district that knows most people in the city. He has been around for a long time and is a kind of dealer, mostly involved in unleagal things. But I would think he is the most likely the only one in the city capable of helping you!'
Beatrix nodded. 'So, where can I find him?'
'There is the problem!' the regent answered. 'He hides somewhere in the industry district, not wanting to be found, of course. He´s wanted, and has always made sure that nobody knows what he looks like. The thing he does he does without meeting anyone in person! He uses his personal assistant for those matters, and as often as we´ve tried to track him down or follow him to their hide-out he always manages to slip away. The only advise I can give you is to try to contact them and set up a meeting with his assistant. If you pay them, I´ve no doubt he will assist you!'
'Thank you! What name does he go by?'
'He calles himself 'Huginn'. His assistant is called 'Muninn'. (A/N: Huginn & Muninn are Odin´s ravens in the old skandinavian religion. You know, Thor, Tyr, Freyja and all that gang!) I think the best place for you to try to contact him is in the weaponshop in the industry district!'
'Thank you so very much, my grace!' Beatrix said, standing up and bowing with her hands in front of her.
'Glad to be able to help you, general Beatrix of Alexandria!' he said and nodded.
Beatrix bowed again and headed for the door. She walked hastily out of the palace, without the arrogance she had previously. She did not have the time to concentrate on such meager things as superiority right now.
'Huginn?' she said aloud to herself. 'Muninn?'
She headed for the nearest rail-way station, not looking where she was going, and there she walked upon another chopped up woman.
She paused for a while, not wanting to see what she saw. Hoping it would just go away, not be there, she blinked her eyes hard and long, but when she opened them again there she was. A woman with her head almost rolling down the street. Just like the other three.
Oh, no, not now! Not here! Beatrix thought to herself, kneeling beside the brunette and inspecting her body. Within a few minutes a guard saw her and ran towards her, but then Beatrix had already found the letter in the woman´s sock.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Not that anyone´s reading this...
I would like more reviews, but of course I´m happy and grateful that General-Beatrix666 has given her time to reading my stuff! Thank you! (
Chapter #6
//To Lindblum //
They had journeyed for three days now and the city of Lindblum was finally in sight. It was magnifficent and Veranda, who had never seen it before, had to stop for a second while letting the huge image of it sink in.
Blank was a little troubled by the fact that throughout the whole journey they had never had any encounters with enemies, not even wild beasts. He had been preparing himself for a day-to-day battle journey but that had not worked out.
'I agree!' Beatrix said as he told her his concern. 'This is very odd! We should have had many encounters by now!'
'Let´s just hurry up and get inside the city walls! Do we have a pass?' he asked.
'Yes, the Queen gave us one. We can use the same as we used at South-Gate.'
He nodded.
'Come Veranda!' he shouted and they headed for the city. But then it happened, the thing Beatrix and Blank had been waiting for. They were attacked by a pack of men, well armed and strong. They were about 15 and each bore a broad sword and a shield. Their clothes were all brown or black and each one of them wore a dark cloak. There were no women in the group.
The men formed a circle around the threesom and pointed their swords at them, their points aiming low, as so if they had to strike at the three of them the blow would not be fatal. The three of them closed up to each other, Beatrix and Blank reaching for their swords while Veranda drew a crossbow out of her backpack with a quick grab. Even at a time like this Blank had time to be surprised about the fact that he had not seen the bow before and Veranda had not told them she could use weapons. He himself had just expected that she could not.
A tall man emerged out of the crowd and moved towards them. He was quite big, much taller then Blank, and was wearing a brown shirt and black trousers and over it he wore a dark cloak. The color was not really a color, more just a combination of black, blue and brown and looked like the color of a heap of trash, not one but many. He was blonde and his hair was short, or so it seemed from under his hood. He walked straight up to Beatrix and addressed her.
'General Beatrix! It´s a pleasure!'
His voice was deep and rang through them like the sound of the alert horns back at Alexandria castle. It boded ill.
Beatrix only glared at him, like she had glared at Veranda and Blank for the past few days.
'We have been searching for you for a few days now, general! I´ve been sent here especially after you!'
'How flattering, sir.?' she inquired without changing her expression.
'I am sorry, but I am not allowed to tell you! Specific orders, you know.'
'How pleasant,' she said and gave him a big sarcastic smile. Blank, standing beside her, thought she was crazy acting like this to a man commanding 14 strong men, who were at that very moment pointing their swords at them. 'And what do you want with me?' Beatrix asked, dropping the smile.
'We have come here for the sole purpose of claiming your life!' he said, bowing sarcastically.
'And you cannot tell me your name, for I quite desire to know the name of the man who intends to take my life before I die.'
'I am sorry, but I can not disobey my orders.'
'Then could you tell me the name of your lord, who wishes me dead?'
'No, I am sorry. But believe me, my lord is powerful and it is quite an honor to die by his command!'
'I do not doubt that.' Beatrix answered. 'What about my companions?'
'We are to kill them as well,' the man answered and pointed his sword at Veranda, who pointed her bow at him with a quick swing in return, looking very angry. 'Interesting.' the man exclaimed and looked thoughtfully at Veranda. 'Very interesting indeed!'
He walked up to Veranda slowly and took her by the chin. He looked at her face from one angle and then another, swingin her head around as if she was a doll. She did not resist. Then he let go of her chin and grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.
'But this one we will not kill! We might want to have some fun, while we´re at it. She won´t be any fun dead!'
The other men laughed.
'Yeah, we want them squealing and biting!' one of them shouted.
And they lauhged some more. Veranda just bit her lip.
'Let her go!' Blank said sternly as he placed the edge of his sword at the man´s throat! His sword was huge and it seemed to be quite heavy, but Blank´s arms could easily manage to hold it up in almost upright position.
The man had not expected this and looked rather astonished that Blank had dared to threaten him in the postion he was. One of his men approached Blank, cursing in some foreign language, looking like he was about to kill him, but his leader gestured the man to stop and spoke:
'This one we are not to kill!'
'Let her go!' Blank repeated, as if he had not heard or seen the two men.
The man released his grip on Veranda´s hair and put his hands in the air.
'I was hoping I would not need to deal with you, sir, until later!'
'So sorry to break your hopes.' Blank answered. 'Now just get lost, will ya? We don´t know you and I just might let you go!'
'I´m so sorry, but even if I´m ordered not to kill you I am to take you with us alive, even thought barely. Do not think that I will hesitate to knock you unconsious!' While he spoke he backed away from Veranda and took his place in the rows of his men, like he was finding himself a secure spot. 'Plus, you´re outnumbered. Don´t expect me to believe that you´re going to defeat us all!' and he laughed a sarcastic laugh, and his men joined in with him. Blank just plainly glared at him. Then the leader added;
'Take her out, Sinder!' he ordered one of his men and pointed at Beatrix. A very large and broad man approached the threesome, a smirk on his face and an evil looking sword (really the same kind of sword all the other men had, but still evil looking...), and pointing it at Beatrix´s heart he plunged forwards. He was not far from her when it happened and no one knew why it did. But it still did.
With the sword in his hands he jumped in her direction, shouting some kind of a warcry and bumping Blank out of the way. Veranda jumped back and raised her bow to shoot the man but she did not get the oppertunity before he exploded into a heap of flesh. The man seemed to burst from within, starting with his head, then his torso, and finally his limbs. It happened in about a fracture of a second so he did not even get the chance to yell out. It looked like he was somehow torn apart and his remains rained over the ground in front of Beatrix. His sword continued towards her chest but she easily caught it, now when there was no hand pushing it foward.
Everyone around them looked at it happen, amazed and frightened. They watched in awe as flesh and clothing ripped apart due to some force no one could see. The leader stood still, his eyes wide open and his face pale as snow. He gasped as the final piece of meat hit the ground.
'Who did it!?' he asked them after a few seconds, when he had, with difficulty, pulled his face together. 'Who did this?' and he pointed at the three of them one after another. 'It won´t do you any good denying it!' he announced angrily, but there was also a frightening sound in his voice, as he suspected that he would be the next to burst.
'And it won´t do us any good admitting either!' Beatrix shouted. Blank and Veranda were still gazing at the heap before their feet. 'But we´ll do it again if you don´t back off! And don´t think we can´t do you all in this way!' She gazed over the group of men with arrogance. Blank still gaped at the body, but Veranda seemed to have snapped out of it.
'Yeah! You think this is much!? Then you don´t want to see what else we are capable of!' she shouted and pointed at the dead man, or his remains, to emphasize. 'Get lost!' she shouted.
Their leader slowly backed away from them, looking very frightened and trying to conceal it, without any success, all his pride disappeared.
'Let´s go!' he shouted and waved his hand. His men seemed relieved that their commander had decided not to risk that they would all be torn apart one by one, by this evil looking threesome. They hastily ran to one side where their leader was, line up and then ran away, after their leader, in two perfect rows, with seven on each side. Their cloaks were dark, and since it was late in the afternoon it had begun to grow dark and theyr image blended with the surroundings.
The three of them watched them march away for a little while, completely surprised but relieved as well, big smirks on their faces. That is on Beatrix´s and Veranda´s faces. Blank was still staring at the pieces or stippes of what had previously been a man. The man's sword lay at Blank´s feet. When the men were out of sight Beatrix turned to him and spoke;
'You can stop staring at him now!'
'It´s not really a 'he' anymore,' Veranda stated. 'More of an 'it'!'
'Whatever!' Beatrix said. 'You know you almost gave us away, Blank! If I´d been in his,' she pointed after the troops marching away, 'position I would have thought it was kind of weird if one of us was staring at the victim like he had never seen anything like it! Not if we´re supposed to be used to this 'power'!'
Blank swung around and looked her straight in the eye. 'So you did this?!'
'Me? Noooo, I can´t say I did! But it would have been convenient.'
'Convenient? No, that´s not the word I would use to describe this. Effective´s more like it!' Veranda commented.
'So neither of you did it?' Blank asked.
'Hell no! What do you think I am!? I can´t use any kinds of magic, or whatever this was!' Veranda half-shouted.
'Me neither, except for my swordswork that is.' Beatrix answered calmly. 'Did you do it!?'
'No, I can´t use magic either..' Blank answered. 'And I highly doubt that one of them did it! It must have been someone else!'
They all looked around nervously. They could not see much because of how dark it had gotten, and there seemed to be nobody around for miles. At least they could not hear anything. The only sounds they could hear were those coming from within the city. Sounds of people skidding home, the railway cars running forth and back, and some sound from the wild, but that was mostly birdsinging.
Blank looked at Beatrix nervously.
'Let´s just get inside the walls!' he said, hastily. She nodded and they walked towards the gate, Veranda tagging along after them.
*~*~*~*~*~*
They were sitting in the innroom. Beatrix had insisted that they stayed at an inn and not in the Tantalus hide-out. She thought it was a dump, and the Queen had given them a lot of cash to spend in food and other necessaries.
Blank was sitting on his bed and Beatrix standing by the door with one hand on her swordshilt. Veranda was kneeling and checking out the mini-bar. She had gotten quite comfortable around the other two over the past days, even though they were not speaking too much. They did not seem to hate her, and that was good enough reason for her to let herself relax a bit.
'Ooooo, see!? Whisky!! Now we´re talking!' she exclaimed dragging a green, wound bottle out of the bar. 'Now, who´s up for a good, long night of drinking!?' she said cheerfully, trying to bring the mood of the other two up a notch.
Blank shook his head. 'Not now Veranda!'
'Yeah, we have to talk!' Beatrix said.
'About what!?' she looked at them questioningly. 'That incident back there!?'
'Yes, that 'incident'!' Beatrix answered, throwing her hands into the air and sighing. 'Learn to take things seriously, girl!'
'How about you learn to have some fun for once! You´re stressed out, and it´s hard to have a conversation with you these days!' Veranda shouted in return, her hair falling over her face and the bottle almost swinging hard into the nightstand. 'Could we just forget that happened for one night, and just go out and have fun!! How long has it been since you´ve got seriously loaded!? Have you even ever gotten drunk!?'
'I happen to be the non-drinking type!'
'Why, then just have fun sober! Is it really so hard?'
'Shut up, and let us think! Get drunk if you want, just don´t drag me into it!'
'Blank?'
'Not now, Veranda! My headache´s back!'
'Ooooo, so we should all be shaking with fear now, ´cause you´re a psychic, right!?'
'Veranda!!' Beatrix said warningly.
'OK, OK! I´ll just be downstairs at the bar! But don´t think I don´t want to know the plan! I just wanna get crazy for one night!'
'Yeah, yeah, whatever...'
Veranda opened the door and started out through it, then hesitated, came back and looked at Blank;
'When did it start?'
Blank looked up at her with a surprised look.
'The headache!' she explained.
'Oh,' he said. 'Just a few hours ago! Just before we reached the gate.'
Veranda nodded and went out into the hallway, closing the door firmly behind her.
Silence.
Blank sat on the bed holding his head.
It´s not gonna burst, is it!? Beatrix thought to herself, remembering the insident outside the city, and shuddered. She sat down on her bed, keeping a close eye at Blank, who did not move, and drew her breath as silently as she could.
What is he doing? Is he just going to sit there all night? We need to speak about this!
'Um, Blank?' she started.
No response.
'Um, we´ve gotta talk, right?'
Why was she being so... shy?
'Come on!'
He looked up, even though it did not mean anything to Beatrix, except now she knew he heard her. It was not as if she could make an eyecontact. That cursed belt.
'What´s to talk about?' he asked with his, not deep but not either high, voice, placing one hand under his chin and leaning forward onto it.
'What? We´ve got to make some kind of a plan! We´ve got to find Mikoto, we´ve got to find out who sent those men, we´ve got to talk things through!'
'Please, Beatrix. Just not now!' He burried his face in his hands and let himself fall back onto his bed.
'Right!' Beatrix said, standing up and walking hastely towards the door. 'I´ll be out there trying to catch hold of Mikoto! I don´t need you to come with me, so I´ll just come back here afterwards!'
He just lay there and did not respond. Beatrix slammed the door shut and walked furiously out the hall.
Inside the room Blank sat up and waited. Then, when he was sure Beatrix was out of sight, he headed for the door, reaching for the buckle.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Veranda closed the door behind her and started out the hallway. She had never been much of a drinker, and was not going to start now, so she threw the green bottle in her hand into the nearest trashcan.
Now, where did he say the hide-out was.?
She had been watching him as it happened, and it had been frightening.
Theater district, ya?
She asked directions at the rail-way station and shortly found the big house Tantalus owned.
What am I doing here?
The lock on the front door was broken. Odd! she thought, but then she figured that in this part of town it was not rare that houses left unguided for a long period of time were broken into. And Tantalus had been out of town for over a month. Veranda had heard Baku say once that even the Zereno brother had gone for a vacation to Treno at the same time as the wedding had been held.
The wedding. She had been there. Only serving, but there. It had been beautiful, until the woman got killed and Veranda remembered it well. She had seen when Blank jumped out the window after the killer. She had even yelled his name in horror, but she guessed he had not heard her.
At least he had not showed it.
She reached for the door and pushed it open. It creeked loudly. Inside it was dark and the air was foul. She moved stealthily by instinct, as her eyes got used to the darkness. The streets had been lit and there was absolutely no way that any light might get into this house, because the windows were all barred. She looked around, not dearing to draw breath, and moved onwards.
So this is where they live! She thought to herself. The Big Tantalus! But that was as far as she would get because all of a sudden a hand came out of nowhere and locked itself over her mouth. She tried to scream in terror, but the hand was barring it´s way. Then another hand came and grabbed her waist, forcing her to fall down on the floor. Then she fell unconcious.
The next thing she knew, Veranda was bound, lying on the floor and looking up at three men, one of which she had already seen once.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Beatrix stomped out.
He is SO STUPID! My Queen, can´t he ever stop this endless selfpity!? (A/N: Well duh, it´s endless....)
She did not know where she was going, but she had a faint idea. Cid was the man to look to if you wanted to know something, ANYTHING about Lindblum, because not did he just know most things about Lindblum but he could fix you up with someone who knew what you needed if he himself did not.
Beatrix entered the palace, chin held high, cocky and arrogant. She was used to being superior and wanted people to recognize her as someone that was higher positioned than them. She ordered one guard at the entrance to fetch a clearance for her from the regent. He was not sure if he was to obay her, but then he saw the look on her face and the furiousness in her eye and ran off to Cid´s chambers. She was allowed to enter and was escorted to Cid´s office.
'General Beatrix!' he exclaimed as she entered the room, swinging his arms in her direction. 'It´s a pleasure!'
This is the second time I hear this today... she thought to herself.
Beatrix, who remembered that she was still not as noble as Cid, bowed before him, and gave him a short and formal greating. The regent nodded and gestured her to sit with him in a sofa nearby.
They chatted for a while this formal chat. This 'How have you been?' 'Oh, fine, thank you!' 'How are everyone?' 'Just fine, thank you.' shit that courtesy requires.
'So, what brings you to Lindblum?' Cid asked after a short chat.
'I need your help, regent!' Beatrix told him bluntly.
'Now, really?' Cid asked her with a quizzical look on his aged face. 'What with?'
'I need to locate a person currently living here! How do I do it?'
'Now, there´s a difficult question. I have always felt that I needed to keep personal privacy in my regency and I haven´t filed all the residents. Plus, it´s always changing! So many are just wandering the streets, not having a home.'
'But is there any way for me to find a certain person, if you need to?' Beatrix asked sternly.
'What do you want with my people?' Cid asked dubiously.
'It´s just I´ve got to speak to this person!' she answered. 'I don´t mean her any harm!' she added when he still looked at her quizzically.
'So it is a 'she'!?' he said smiling. 'Well, I guess there is a way.' He said looking thoughtfully out into the air. 'There is a man in the industry district that knows most people in the city. He has been around for a long time and is a kind of dealer, mostly involved in unleagal things. But I would think he is the most likely the only one in the city capable of helping you!'
Beatrix nodded. 'So, where can I find him?'
'There is the problem!' the regent answered. 'He hides somewhere in the industry district, not wanting to be found, of course. He´s wanted, and has always made sure that nobody knows what he looks like. The thing he does he does without meeting anyone in person! He uses his personal assistant for those matters, and as often as we´ve tried to track him down or follow him to their hide-out he always manages to slip away. The only advise I can give you is to try to contact them and set up a meeting with his assistant. If you pay them, I´ve no doubt he will assist you!'
'Thank you! What name does he go by?'
'He calles himself 'Huginn'. His assistant is called 'Muninn'. (A/N: Huginn & Muninn are Odin´s ravens in the old skandinavian religion. You know, Thor, Tyr, Freyja and all that gang!) I think the best place for you to try to contact him is in the weaponshop in the industry district!'
'Thank you so very much, my grace!' Beatrix said, standing up and bowing with her hands in front of her.
'Glad to be able to help you, general Beatrix of Alexandria!' he said and nodded.
Beatrix bowed again and headed for the door. She walked hastily out of the palace, without the arrogance she had previously. She did not have the time to concentrate on such meager things as superiority right now.
'Huginn?' she said aloud to herself. 'Muninn?'
She headed for the nearest rail-way station, not looking where she was going, and there she walked upon another chopped up woman.
She paused for a while, not wanting to see what she saw. Hoping it would just go away, not be there, she blinked her eyes hard and long, but when she opened them again there she was. A woman with her head almost rolling down the street. Just like the other three.
Oh, no, not now! Not here! Beatrix thought to herself, kneeling beside the brunette and inspecting her body. Within a few minutes a guard saw her and ran towards her, but then Beatrix had already found the letter in the woman´s sock.
*~*~*~*~*~*
