by Jeremy Gordon (gordon8_26@yahoo.com)
Note: Whoo! Plot twist! I had the idea of Lucia's betrayal from Chapter 1, and got the Neclord idea while I was writing Chapter 6. I decided to introduce Jowy for the hell of it, that'll be elaborated on later. Riou's backstory will be explained to the others in due time. The travelling cast right now is Hugo, Chris, Riou, Tir, and Pesmerga. It'll grow to seven by the end of Chapter 10 (at the very max), and I can see the cast becoming ten by the end of Chapter 15. Guess who the two characters that'll be introduced by Chapter 10 are. C'mon, just guess. This chapter will be somewhat of an angst/humor chapter. Usual disclaimers apply. Read and review.
As Hugo sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, he stared at the roaring fire in front of him, his eyes never leaving the burning flame. Thinking of the events that had transpired only a day before, he wiped a tear from his eye, while shaking his head. His world, his faith, his ideas had been shattered...he was truly alone in the world. All of his friends and family were either gone or dead. He heard a twig snap, as Riou walked up to him, and sat down next to the fire.
"Hey..." Riou said softly, while putting a hand on the Karayan's shoulder. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." Hugo said, while sniffing back the lump in his throat. "How are the others?"
"They're fine." Riou answered, his tone unfaltering. "Chris fell asleep some time ago, and so did Tir. Pesmerga doesn't sleep...he's probably patrolling the area. He's like that." Chuckling a bit as he thought of Pesmerga's weird habits, Riou continued to talk. "But really, how are you dealing?"
"Honestly?" Hugo said, with a sarcastic smile on his face. "I'm doing great! Great for someone who just found out that the one person I depend on the most is evil." Hugo brushed some hair out of his face, and shook his head. "I'll manage. Not to change the subject from my angsty feelings, but who was that guy that my mom was holding...Jowy, was it?" Riou stiffened, as he recalled his friend's face in memory. Sighing, Riou began his story.
"Jowy...Jowy was my best friend. My story is similar to yours. When I was battling in the Dunan Unification War, I found out that the enemy I was fighting was none other than him. My best friend. One of two people I had depended on most was evil. It killed me. As the war ended, Jowy's rule as an evil king ended. I confronted him...and he wanted to die. In desperation, he attacked me, and I had to kill him. That's how I have my true rune...by killing my best friend. And now, finding out he's a damn vampire? That kills me. I've been alone ever since Jowy and...Nanami....died. Forced to rule Dunan." Riou finished, an ironic smirk showing on his face. "It'll always be like that."
"Like what?" Hugo asked, in a questioning tone.
"We'll always be alone. It's our curse...heroes of today, nobody tomorrow. Me and Tir...we're both alone." Riou announced, tapping a finger on the earthen ground. "It'll happen to you too. You won't find love. You won't find happiness. You'll just find torment and anguish, thanks to your True Rune. You'll watch everyone you know die, and you'll want to die too, but you can't. You just can't." Hugo withdrew from Riou in minor shock, as the horrible truth dawned upon him. "You know how old I am? I'm thirty. You know why I look like I'm fifteen? Because in reality, I am. How old are you...fourteen? Thirteen? You'll be that way for the rest of your life. Tir as well...he's sixteen, and he'll always be that age. We're the only things in this world that will never change, and that's all that needs to be said." Riou let his words sink in, as he produced a flask of water, and began to drink. Wiping his mouth clean with his sleeve, Riou continued to talk. "Enough of that. We should get going early in the morning. Neclord undoubtedly has a lot of support, I'm sure of it. You should sleep now . Good night." Riou got up and walked over to a nearby tree, and sat down while leaning against it, his eyes already closed in deep sleep. Sighing, Hugo curled up next to the fire, his eyes awake, thinking of himself and what was to come.
"Come on Chris! Pick up the pace!" Hugo yelled, while glancing back at the silver-haired woman who was struggling to walk up the mountains.
"Oh c'mon! Where the hell are we going anyways!?" Chris yelled, in anger and frustration. Brushing some hair out of her face, Chris struggled to walk up the rocky road, her armor a heavy burden on you. "How do you do it Pesmerga? How can you walk up the mountain with all the armor on?"
Pesmerga 'hmph'ed, and continued walking. "Get stronger." Pesmerga said, leaving it as simple as that.
"Haha! We don't need heavy armor, right Riou?" Tir chuckled, lifting his arms over his shoulders in giddyness.
"Hell no! We heroes are invincible! We'll never need armor!" Riou shouted, mock-gallanting back to Chris, as he ran around her in a circle, laughing. Hugo giggled a little bit, and shook his head at the enthusiastic man running around like a little kid. "But Tir, where are we going?"
"We're headed to Caleria at the moment. We'll rest there, then head to Tinto by way of Le Buque. It'll be a while...we then might head to Gregminster and regroup there, and maybe we'll go to Dunan and see if Riou still holds any office power." Tir explained, eliciting groaning from Hugo and Chris.
"I'm tired of this. Can't we just stay in Caleria? Besides, this damn sword is wearing me down too much." Hugo complained, grumbling slightly.
"What damn sword?" Riou asked, his eyebrow rising up in question. Tir and Pesmerga looked at Hugo, who began to explain.
"This damn sword." Hugo said, hoisting a giant sword off of his back. "A friend of mine gave it to me before he died back at Budehuc. He said to return it to Viktor...but you guys said you couldn't find him. Right?" Hugo asked, not noticing Tir, Riou, and Pesmerga staring open-mouthed at Hugo. Tir and Riou slapped their foreheads simultaneously, while Pesmerga cursed to himself.
"You idiot! That's the Star Dragon Sword! That's what killed Neclord in the first place!" Riou shouted, now slightly pissed off. "Screw this whole Dunan slash Tinto slash Gregminster thing! We'll go to Caleria to get some info, and we'll find Viktor and Flik. Damn kids..." As the four continued walking uphill, Chris ran up to them, panting.
"What happened?"
Hugo walked into the Calerian bar, his eyes glancing around the dingy room, looking for familiar faces. Spotting Tir at the bar, Hugo walked over to the man, to find him arguing with the bartender.
"I'm thirty-seven years old! Give me a damn beer!" Tir shouted, slamming his fist into the table in slight anger. Hugo sniggered a little, holding back to see what would happen. The bartender rolled his eyes, and pointed to a sign that said "No One Under 21 is Served a Drink". Grumbling, Tir settled for a soda, and sat down on the bar stool. As Tir saw Hugo, he raised a hand in recognition and gestured for the young boy to go over to him. Hugo did so, sitting down next to Tir.
"So, where are the others?" Hugo asked, ordering a water to cool him down a bit.
"Chris went to sharpen her sword. Pesmerga...no idea. He always disappears. Riou went to the Defense Force HQ to look for information. He'll show up in a few minutes." Tir answered, drinking noisily from his glass. "So, get what you needed?"
"Yeah, I did." Hugo said, looking at the yellow stone on a ring that was on his finger. "So, what are we here for?"
"Well, we're looking for Viktor and Flik. Viktor originally defeated Neclord fifteen years ago...you'll find out his story. News of Dunan travels as far as Caleria, so hopefully Riou has some influence in getting what we need. Once we find Viktor, we'll give him the sword, and accompany him to kill Neclord. Now we're just waiting for Riou, and we're good to go." As if reading Tir's mind, Riou walked through the doors of the bar, in a confident stride.
"Beer me." He called out to the bartender, and caught the incoming glass with one hand.
"What!? He's younger than I am!" Tir shouted in disbelief, as Riou began drinking.
"Master Riou is a great leader. You are not." The bartender said haughtily, as Hugo gestured for Tir to let it go. Tir agreed, and turned to the "master", as he finished his drink. "So, find anything?"
"Not much. They did say that Viktor and Flik are in the area. Hopefully, we'll find them soon. Don't know where they could be." Riou said, placing the empty glass on a nearby table.
"Same old blind Tir, and blind Riou." A voice came from behind Riou, and it was familiar to both him and Tir. Riou chuckled, and as he closed his eyes, he spoke.
"Well, I was wondering when you'd show up...Viktor."
Crimson Rogue: In due time. =P
Osiris Centauri: The people you think are dead aren't as dead as they seem. All will be explained.
Ayee33: Figured it would add a twist. Did I succeed?
FEEL-THE-MYSTIC: Chris wouldn't let herself be captured so easily, but I might do something in that idea. Chris will be paired up with someone else, although her and Hugo will be very good friends by the end of the fic. Be patient.
tidus2529: Write something, then criticize my writing. Just because I didn't make it "OMFGZ!1 TEH HUGO AND TEH CHRIS SLAYED TEH LUC AND TEN THEY HAD TEH SEXORZ IN DA CASTLE!111ONEONEONEONE" doesn't mean my story is bad. It just means you're unable to accept a new idea, and that isn't my problem.
Ice-God: Geddoe is my favorite S3 character...no way would I kill him. =)
This chapter was hard to write...it was hard to bring in Viktor and Flik, and I didn't want to write five chapters of the crew looking for them. Flik will be introduced next chapter, and I'll go from there. Read and review.