Day Two
Viktor woke at the crack of noon that day. There was a song in his heart and pounding in his head. A light tap on the door told him it was time to get up. He does his usual morning routine of washing his face and slipping into some clean clothes. Then he goes to open the door. It creaks loudly and it leaves ringing in his ears. "Must you be so loud this afternoon?" Viktor hears his drink companion whisper. "Do you know how much my head hurts right now?"
"Nobody told you to match me drink for drink last night." Viktor whispers back. "There was no twisting of the arm. Now hand over the stuff."
"Here." Jason hands Viktor the small vial of purple stuff and holds another in his hand. "Cheers." They both raise the vial up and downed the contents.
"You're late in waking me up." Viktor tosses the vial behind him and it hits Tuta on the head.
"Ow." Tuta rubs his head as he comes over to the two men, with the vial in his hand. "I believe this is yours."
"You camped out here again last night?" Viktor takes the vial back.
"Yeah." Tuta points to the brown mummy sleeping bag folded by the door. "There hasn't been any movement this morning."
"Heh, it worked." Jason gives a thumb up to Viktor. "The stuck up couldn't rise up early with a heavy head."
"Well, it time to get up now. Camus and Miklotov must wonder where he is." Viktor pounds on the door of Flik's room.
"Oooowwww." A muffled voice cries. "Go away."
"Get up in there Clik." Viktor shouts. "It's time to get up."
"I don't feel good. Go away."
"It's just a hang over. It'll go away. Staying in bed with nothing to eat won't make you feel any better."
"Stop yelling, you making my head worse. I think I'm going to throw up."
"But I'm not yelling." Viktor opens the door, Jason stand behind him. "It just sound that way, cause of your head."
"PERVERT!!" Clik shouts suddenly and throws a pillow at Viktor. "GET OUT!!" He winces with the shout.
"What?! What did you say?" Viktor is stunned.
"You heard me." Clik quiets down, because the yelling was too much. "How dare you come into my room uninvited." He pulls the sheet up over his chest and reaches for something else to throw.
"Now what just a minute." Viktor say, waving his hands in defense. "Don't you get…" He ducks as a book goes flying at his head, Jason dives out of the way. "…wrong idea."
"Out, out!" Clik grabs a lamp and throws it. Viktor pulls the door close with a slam as lamp comes at him. The lamp hits the door and crashes on the floor. "Owwww." Clik cries. "My head really hurts now."
"We can help you, if you just let us in." Jason says, after peeling himself off the floor.
"You can help me, by going away." Clik sobs.
"We have something that will make your head feel a hell of a lot better." Viktor creaks the door open a crack. "Believe me, it's worth taking. I've had many mornings like you're having right now." A book hits the door, telling him that Clik knew the door was open and he closes it quickly.
"What is going on here?" Camus yells from the stairs. "Miklotov, Lord Justin and I have been waiting for Sir Flik for an hour now." He walks over to the three people.
"We're just having a hard time getting him out of bed. That's all." Jason tells him.
"Well, just go in there and shake him up." Camus was annoyed on the fact that he and Miklotov were kept waiting by the stables for so long. He grabs the doorknob and threw the door open.
"Wait! You didn't want to do that." Jason says frantically.
"Why not?" Camus steps into the room. "Now Sir Clik, it is time for your riding review." He says sternly.
"PERVERT!!" Clik screeches once again. He was now up splashing water on his face when Camus walked in on him.
"Sir Clik?" Camus is confused. "Sir Clik…put that down. Sir!" Camus had to duck as a water basin was hurled at him, along with the matching pitcher. Jason found himself on the floor once again as he had to jump out of the way. But this time he wasn't alone as Viktor had to hit the deck also. The basin and pitcher flew through the air and hit the wall across from Flik's room. "Quite an arm you have there." Camus says as he straightens himself up in time to receive a kick to the chest, causing him to fly back and the door slams shut once more.
"Go away…" Clik sobs once more. "You all are not helping."
"Maybe we should leave." Tuta said, after writing every event down in his book.
"No, no. He'll be ok." Viktor says. He helps Jason to his feet. In turn Jason helps Camus to his feet. Camus rubs his chest and coughs a bit to get wind back into his lungs.
"I think…I'll go back to waiting for you at the stables." Camus says as he stumbles to the stairs.
"Look, just get dress and we'll give you something that will cure your hang over." Viktor talks to the door.
"There's no such thing as a hang over cure." Clik's muffled voice says back.
"Yes there is." Viktor runs his fingers through his hair and shoots a confused look at Jason.
"What do he mean, there's not such thing? He help prefect the stuff." Jason shoots the same look back. The door opens to a very sloppily dressed Clik. His cape is lopsided, hair's a mess, and he has bags under his eyes.
"What is this cure you talk of?" Clik demands. Jason holds out a vial of purple stuff. After taking the vial, Clik looks at it before giving it a sniff. He scrunches up his nose. "Stuff smells nasty."
"Hold your nose and shoot." Viktor says. "Don't sip it. Makes things worse." Clik raises an eyebrow and then does as he's told. In almost an instance, his face turns green. The vial drops from his hand and shatters on the floor next to the broken lamp. He does a full body shake and his eyes looked like they would come out of their sockets. Viktor and Jason can't help but laugh at the pour guy's misfortune.
"What…what is that stuff?" Clik manages to choke out after some heavy breathing. "It…it's horrible."
"It's call 'Praiser." Jason says through choked laughter.
"Why is it called that?" Clik proceeds to wipe his tongue, in the hopes to make the taste go away.
"Because you start to praise everything under sun when the hang-over is gone and that you don't need drink a lot of the stuff to make it go away." Viktor wipes some tears from his eyes.
"You guys drank it, like it was nothing." Tuta points out. "How can you take the stuff?"
"When you've been drink it for years, you get use to the stuff." Viktor says in a matter-of-fact voice. "First time drinkers can't get over the taste."
"Wouldn't have to take the stuff if you guys didn't slip any liquor in my drink." Clik says coldly. He readjusts his cape and smoothes out his hair.
"Never mind that. It's all in the past." Viktor puts a hand on Clik's shoulder. "Come on now. We've left Camus and Miklotov waiting long enough." He tries to lead Clik to the stairs.
"Why do I need to go see them?" Clik brushes Viktor's hand off.
"For your riding review." Jason says, pushing Clik along.
"Stop pushing, I'm going. But I don't see why I have to have a riding review." Clik grumbles.
"You need it, cause you're in the Calvary." Viktor points out.
"I'm in the what?" Clik looks at him confused. "Let me get this straight. I just get here and already I've been given positions. Are you guys that bad off that you would do that?"
"No, you were assigned those positions because of your skills." Jason says.
"Then if it's for my skills, you guys have not done your homework. Especially if I need a riding review." Clik says.
"Don't forget that today, Ridley starts the leadership review also." Tuta comments.
"Leadership review?" Clik raises an eyebrow. "What kind of army is this?"
Later that nightThere was an emergency meeting in the Meeting Hall that night about Flik's condition. Camus, Miklotov, Nanami, Justin, Ridley, Shu, Apple, Dr. Huan, Tuta, Teresa, Kinnison, Shiro, Freed Y, Viktor, and Jason were all there. "It is only day two…" Shu begins and the pause before he starts up again, "but I have the feeling that this isn't really Flik."
"What do you mean?" Viktor looks surprised at Shu. "It's Flik, I know it is."
"According to this." Shu opens one of the notebooks. "He's been seen raising in the early morning. Earlier than usual and jumping out windows?"
"Well…"
"He not only has he taken up gymnastics and martial arts, but he seems to have mastered them also."
"Maybe he's been practicing on the side to better himself."
"He jumped off the balcony and up a tree to run away from you."
"Well, anyone would do that when they see a bear-man come at him." Jason joked. Viktor shot him a glare.
"His marksmanship is equal to Kinnison's, when before he couldn't even keep up."
"Practice. He's been practicing." Viktor tries to sound convincing. "And you have to admit, that archery contest was pure genius."
"Yeah, special the part where you had to dress up like a bear." Jason laughed. Viktor this time, smacked him upside the head.
"He can't stay on a horses." Shu continues.
"Ok. Now that was funny." Viktor laughs. Everyone looks at him, Camus, Miklotov, Jason, Justin, and Tuta. "Ok, you see." He chokes back the laughter. "They put him on the horses, see and Flik looks at them like he hasn't got a clue. The tell him to make the horse go. He shrugs and kicks it. The horse goes all right, but Flik's not on it any more. He's flat on the ground looking at the sky. Then he asks, 'What did I do wrong?'"
"Oh, don't forget about how he had to make the horse go over the fence." Jason butted in. "See, once Flik got use to making the horse go and not throw him, Camus thought it would be alright to have him make the horse jump. So he tells Flik to head the horse at a gallop for a low fence. They come to the fence, the horse comes to a complete stop and throws Flik over the fence into a mud puddle." Both Jason and Viktor are in fits of laughter now.
"Moving on." Shu says sternly and the two men stop laughing. "When giving a one-handed sword and shield to spar with Freed Y, he throws the sword away and hides behind the shield. But when allowed to fight with the weapon he brought back with him, best Freed Y, Viktor, and Jason in three one-on-one battles."
"So he's move up to a better sword. So what?" Viktor looks at the strategist.
"The sword didn't have a name on it." Shu looks straight back. There were gasps heard throughout the room.
"Maybe he hadn't had time to get the name put on?"
"Then there's the running of the Nina." Shu looks at Chaco and Nanami, they looked back at him nervously.
"Well, we thought if we told her, she might stay way from him." Chaco says with nervous laugh. "Who knew she would just want to hunt him down even more?"
"But he can get way from her fast and better than before." Nanami added in hastily.
"He jumped up on the ceiling and walked the cross-beams of the theater. Then he jumped out another window, causing fifteen girls to faint." Chaco and Nanami laughed nervously. "Then there's the fact that his hearing has heighten and is unnerving other people."
"What do you mean?" Jason asks.
"Every time someone walks into the room, he knows exactly who they are and says hi, without even turning around. Justin and Tuta can't follow him around anymore, because he knows they're there and demands to know why."
"Uh…"
"Then there's his attitude." Shu adds as a last thing.
"I admit that he's been rather cold at times." Viktor rubs the back of his head.
"Not that one. He's been acting a little feminine of late." Shu slams the book closed. "He called you and Camus a pervert?"
"Well…"
"He thinks squirrels are cute."
"Um…they can be."
"He screams like a girl, hold his clothes like a girl, he some times even walks like one."
"Maybe his hung out with Simone and Vincent to much." Jason says.
"Ok. So he's a little off. But you said so yourself. It's cause he had a blow to the head or a shock to the system. He'll get better soon." Viktor looks at Dr. Huan for an answer, but all the doctor could do was shrug.
"A little off. He's the complete opposite of what he use to be." Shu looks to the others to see them nod in approval.
"It's him. I know it's him."
"How do you know that person is our Flik? How do we that it not some Highland spy among us, stealing valuable information?" Shu looks at Viktor, then turns to look at Justin with concern. "Lord Justin, we must to something about this."
"I agree with Shu." Justin looks at Viktor gravely. "Unless you have some hard evidence that points otherwise."
"I do." Viktor brings out, what looks to be a golden locket and fob. "I admit, I was having my doubts too, but then I snatched this from him." He pops open the locket. There is a small portrait of Flik making a peace sign and Odessa squeezing his neck. Their smiles were bright and warming. "He doesn't think anyone knows about this, but I do. He carries this on the inside of his vest, over his heart. This and his sword are the two things he cherish most, cause they remind him of her." Everyone in the room is silent.
"You know, when he realizes you stole that from him, he's going to kill you." Jason pointed out.
"If it brings our Flik back, so be it." Viktor says as he closes the locket and put it back in his pocket.