Farewell

Once back in town, Megami returned to the Maxwell residence, to pick up Lilka and Ashley. She found her children on the floor, playing with modeling clay. Shalte was making some lunch for everyone in the house, while Tesla was reading a book. Both were taking peeks at the children every so often, so not to lose track of them. But since they were so immersed in their project, neither child would get into trouble.

"You're back, Miss Megami," said Tesla, "So what treasure did you find? You seemed to be in a real hurry to finish up, if it only took you a few hours." When he saw the pained look on Megami's face, he was sure she'd run into a problem. The last time he'd seen a look like that on a person, it was right after his brother had died, and his sister-in-law had finally given up hope. Ekatrina had looked just like that before the woman ended up passing away of her sorrow. Virginia looked like that for several weeks after her death too.

"The only good thing I found was this Extended Radar Tool. There were some gems, and Gella, but I found nothing of great value. It appeared as if the whole ruin is dedicated to looking into the souls of those who traverse it. It's 'Ultimate Treasure' was a photograph of me and the children's father, and a map that led to an already cleaned out ruin that I went to years ago. There is no value in all of that, I can't eat by paying for my dinner with a photo and a worthless map," she stated. Megami had turned from extremely sad and depressed looking, to being very much annoyed in two seconds flat. Tesla wondered what was her problem.

Lilka and Ashley exclaimed, "Mommy's home! Mommy's home!" Then, the two of them ran to her, and she took them in her arms. Even Ashley, who wasn't as big on emotional scenes as his sister, liked it when his mother showed them how much she cared. Especially when she was open about it, usually the woman only hugged and kissed her children when there was no one else around to tell her she was soft.

Tesla looked at the family, smiling. 'This woman, she is truly a kind soul deep inside. Just like Jet, she seems to have something in her past that makes her cold and distant. But her children are her only solace, I wouldn't be surprised if her pain comes from whatever happened with the father of her children, he might have caused her pain. If only she would find someone to care about her, to be willing to help her in raising her children, then maybe Megami's heart can be unlocked once more. No one deserves to be left in the dark, having their heart sealed away. Just like Ginny helped Jet, I'm sure someone can save Megami.'

"Well, I must be going then," Megami informed him, "It has been nice spending some time in a town like this, since I can actually get some peace and quiet, but I must move on. After all, I can't feed my kids if I'm staying in an area with no ruins to search out. Without treasure and Gella, all three of us will starve." It was starting to get to her, how she was being so soft in front of this man. What was it about this town that gave her such a strange feeling. It was almost as if she'd been here before. But she'd never seen Boot Hill.

"Don't be so hasty. If you would like, I can give you room and board, as well as help you to find a job in this town. If you like it here, there's no reason you should have to leave. I'd be happy to help out a young mother trying to give her children a good life. We're a small farming community, and I can see you have a knack with the horses. So maybe you can get a job working the horse plow, or breeding horses to sell. There's a lot to do around here for someone with your phenomenal strength," Tesla told the Drifter girl.

Megami replied, "I can't do that. Since I was a Drifter in my past, I must be one in my future. The life I lead is just too exciting to give up. If you were a Drifter, you'd understand. Besides, I made a promise to go somewhere, and I must find exactly where that is. It may be your town, but it may be across the land in a town that you've never even heard of. So the only thing I can do now, is to search it out, to find out what I must do now." She gave a look to Lilka and Ashley, telling them that it was time to get going towards their next destination. Megami was planning on going to Jolly Roger once more, as Filgaia's 'Rumor Capital' it was a good place to start searching out a job of some sort to get some Gella and treasures. Or hear about a town that was recently found out about after having been lost long ago due to some incident or another.

Shalte looked up. "At least stay for lunch, you need to eat if you want to get your strength up. I wouldn't want to send away a starving woman into the harsh Wastelands in order to look for a treasure, she might just pass out from hunger and die. And don't tell me I'm acting like this because you're a woman, I tell the same thing to my nephew, he's a little too eager sometimes. I swear he'd rather die than fail to save the woman he loves. That's how tight their bond is, even though they've been apart for over three years." The woman gave them a small smile, telling them not to worry about anything. Shalte really enjoyed the art of cooking, she always loved to make something special for Virginia and the rest of her team in the past.

. . .

Megami and the children each had a good sized sandwich, Shalte packed it full of various meats and vegetables, just so they wouldn't go hungry. Then, she gave them some Beef Jerky for the road, as it was one of the few non-perishable foods that a person could bring with them while on a trip of some sorts.

Packing her bags, and thanking her hosts, Megami began to leave with the children after lunch was finished. She returned to the stable, where the woman saddled up Hikari for the long journey. Although she had a Teleport Orb, Megami loved to go by train. So did the children, they'd taken one once for the heck of it and all found that it was relaxing. Now that she was getting better, knowing a wide range of tactics to use in battle, and her children were older, Megami didn't feel so worried about them getting hurt if monsters in the fields attacked them. So, she had complete confidence that she could reach Southfarm without trouble.

But on the way, she happened to pass another horse. It was a golden brown color, and on top of it sat a man with silver hair and purple eyes! If she didn't already know he was dead, Megami would have sworn it was Ryu, his horse looked exactly like that. Her good eye was looking straight at him, as he had passed her on the right side. It appeared as if he was on his way to Boot Hill for some reason, but she was not informed of what it was. Then Megami remembered, apparently the nephew of Tesla and Shalte looked like that. Probably back from another fruitless search. He didn't concern her, she had to get to the station and catch her train right away. If she'd looked back, she might have seen him stop to stare right at her.

'She looked like Virginia,' thought Jet, 'But it couldn't be, if it was Ginny she would have stopped to talk to me, to make sure it was me and not just an illusion. And she would have been waiting in Boot Hill, since Shalte and Tesla would have told her that I came home every weekend to see if she'd managed to come back. Ginny wouldn't leave on the day I was supposed to return to her, I guess I'm just imagining things now. How much I must miss her to start doing that.' He held onto his head, and turned around once again. Then, the young Drifter began heading towards Boot Hill. He would meet the woman named Megami again, when that time came he would be drawn up into an adventure to find the woman he loved more than life itself was right there before his eyes, waiting for the time when he would come back to awaken her.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

Sorry I'm late with this; the login kept being down whenever I was ready to post. I wanted to tie this into "Looking For Her", to tell about how Megami and Jet passed one another, not realizing their lover was right before them. I know I forgot the Grenade. Here's how she get's it. In her next ruin forray, somewhere on the Gunner's Haven Continent, she comes across a cache of explosives left by Alfred Schroedinger on accident. One of them is the refillable grenade. Case closed.