"What do you mean Volks isn't here?!" Yelled Gallows in frustration, slamming his fist down on the table.
"Hey, calm down, 'hon." Hannah, the owner of the Bell Star Inn responded with a lively smile, "He'll be back soon enough, in a few days, I think."
They had managed to reach Jolly Roger with haste, at around about the time the bright sun had reached it's peak in the clear blue sky, noontime. As the sun took its ascent, Clive began to feel much healthier, the strange frost that clung to him dissipating and leaving no lasting mark. If it weren't for the slight stiffness in his arm, he would have felt completely healed. Gallows had kept his word and bought him a fairly expensive drink, so he sat in the corner and tried to think about nicer things than what had happened recently in his life.
Gallows knocked back his long lock of white hair in irritation. "Where did he go?" He grumbled, his finger tracing little circles on the surface of the table.
Hannah brightened, pulling out a strip of lined paper from a pocket in her dress. "Oh yes! Volks gave me this before he left, in case you all came back early." She scanned the spidery writing thoroughly. "It says that he went to Claiborne for a few days to visit Martina and her mother. He's a friend of the family, you see."
"I guess he didn't expect us to finish so quickly." Said Virginia, adding her input.
Gallows turned to the rest of the posse. "So what do we do now? Leader?" He glanced at Virginia for an answer.
"We could go to Claiborne, or we could just stay here. It's a group decision." She rationalized, looking over everyone present, trying to be leader-like. "Who feels like a trip to Westwood?"
Jet quickly calculated that the train fare to Westwood would be decidedly cheaper than a stay at the Inn. "Sure, whatever." He deadpanned. He didn't really care, as long as he got a window seat.
Gallows's aggravation was replaced with a Cheshire Cat's grin, thinking about the cute little lady who lived there, Becky was her name, his most recent girlfriend. He was actually getting somewhere with this one, and wanted to see her again. "Alright!" He said with a tad too much agreeability.
"I would like to speak to Dessinsey over the behavior of Hasufel." Said Clive, "Visiting Claiborne would be mutually beneficial." He read the look Virginia gave him and added; "Don't worry, I am in a good enough condition to travel."
"Okay, so, hey," Announced Hannah, "Stay for lunch, it'll make up for the extra trip you need to take, my treat."
"Thank you very much." Replied Virginia gratefully.
Lunch was served. The three drifters ate their fill and then some, showing their very healthy appetites. Who knew Jet could eat so much? Probably because the food was free and no check would arrive to taunt him. He also ate Clive's share, because the sniper still had absolutely no desire to eat anything. He looked at the quickly disappearing sandwiches with distaste. Though he did like peanut butter, the food repulsed him in some way. Why didn't they have any… any…
Any what?
Clive blinked, mystified. He was starving, but he didn't know what he wanted. He hoped he hadn't developed some kind of disorder and was secretly glad when they had all finished stuffing themselves.
Before leaving, he refilled his empty canteen at a sink in the inn, remaining exceedingly thirsty despite all he had drunk in the day. He walked down the flight of stairs leading to the main area of the inn, seeing Virginia seated alone at a table, a bag of ARM maintenance tools unzipped and its contents scattered around her twin pistols, unassembled and pulled apart. With her tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth in intense concentration, Clive broke it by asking her what she was doing.
"The firing pin in my Rapier ARM is bent a teensy bit. Its been making me misfire, so I'm trying to fix it." Clive drew himself a chair and looked over the gun fragments with interest. Her ARM was certainly built differently, but he could see some small similarities in-between.
"Do you need assistance?" He asked.
Virginia held up the firing pin, it was indeed slanting a little to the left. "I don't suppose you have any replacements for this?"
"No," He replied negatively, "But I can repair the one you already own." Clive pulled off his gloves so he could handle the equipment better, he took the pin and inspected it closely. The metal wasn't made of any particularly tough alloy, so he thought he might be able to simply straighten it using brute force. He laid it on the edge of the table, its unusual shape preventing it from rolling off. He held out his hand for Virginia's other gun, which she passed to him helpfully.
But as soon as his bare fingers touched the handle, he pulled it away as if he had been inflicted pain, shaking his hand like it had been burnt. It felt as if the gun had recently been heated in a furnace. A reddish tinge appeared over the skin that had made contact with the weapon, a light scorch mark. "Agh… What is your ARM made of?" He moaned, hurting.
"Um, just dragon fossils," Said Virginia, looking in sympathy at Clive's burnt hand, "And a plating of silver as well."
"Are you sure?" He continued, putting his gloves back on to hide the red mark. Well, that had never happened before.
"Yes, I am. I'm sorry, it looked like it hurt you." Apologized Virginia, moving the weapon away so Clive couldn't harm himself again.
"Just for a second. Here, I'll fix it now." Said Clive, trying to change the subject. He picked up Virginia's weapon again, protected this time by his gloves against whatever had injured him, and banged the metal handle on the length of the bent pin, straightening it out into a flat state. It was not the best repair, but a good one for the price, nothing.
"Wow, thanks Clive. You're a lifesaver!" Virginia reconnected the parts of her gun to a whole, spinning it around with her finger before slinging it back into its holster, decorated with a floral pattern. Clive merely hid his scalded hand behind his back, ignoring the pain.
"Are you all done yet?" Virginia and Clive jumped at the unexpected comment, radiated from the young drifter in the corner, leaning against the wall. Jet smiled evilly, amused at succeeding to startle Virginia.
"How long have you been there?! Don't sneak up on us!" She fumed at him, Clive falling silent.
"Hey, I was in the room before both of you came in, you're just half-blind, that's all." Jet sauntered over to the exit, a small smirk playing on his features. "Gallows is waiting outside. He kept rambling on about his girlfriend until I had to come in here before I die of self-inflicted causes." He jerked his thumb outside. "Go out there and shut him up."
"Yes, we should go." Affirmed Clive, leaving the building. That left Virginia and Jet alone together.
"You're worried about him." Jet stated bluntly.
"What, jealous?" Smiled Virginia playfully.
"No," Said Jet, shaking his head solemnly. "I am too."
Virginia had to do a double take. "What?" She did not expect to hear that coming from Jet, of all people.
Jet walked up to Virginia, close enough to whisper quietly and still be heard. Virginia took a step back, not expecting him to move so close. "I am what I am, even if I hate it, I am an android." He chuckled at this, it just felt so weird to admit out loud. "So I get hunches sometimes, unexplainable ones. There's something different about 'im, and I don't know if it's a good thing. I think lover boy out there sees it too, that's why he won't shut up his prattling."
Virginia placed her hand on his shoulder, which Jet shrugged off immediately. "I'll keep an eye on him."
Thinking that the mood was becoming too dark for her liking, Virginia grabbed Jet's bandanna roughly and dragged him outside, laughing at the protests and threats he made. "C'mon! C'mon! We can get to Claiborne before dark if we hurry!"
"That's no reason to- ugh- Let go of me dammit!"
His cries went unheeded.
xxx
She sat on the empty and sepulchral altar in the Fallen Sanctuary, swinging her slender legs off the edge of the steep staircase, the whispering wind her only comfort. Behind her lay the great clawed emblem of the Desire Guardian, crumbling, but still regal in it's splendor. Her long violet hair fell in a cascade down her back and trailed the floor, ending in a vibrant pinkish colour. She wore a grey flowing robe that caught the wind in certain key places, augmenting the quiet sorrow that emanated from her spirit. She was, in the deepest of truths, ethereally beautiful.
"Epoch after epoch, you hung in the void, to be denied life, a punishment for your deeds. I thought I would never see you again, love, but then…" With fine tapered fingers she stroked an extraordinarily aged tool, probably older than the sanctuary she sat in herself, "You came back. You promised you would, and you did. I have waited for far too long for your return…"
Her eyes misted over with tears, so she rubbed at them, the ruby iris of her eyes sparkling through the crystalline liquid. She shook her head, as if to clear away her sorrowful thoughts. In a sighing wistful voice she added, "So your name is Clive now. How strange, it fits you somehow… Please Clive, I have planted in you the seed of desire, unblock the link to the past and come, come back to me. I will be waiting."
She looked up in the sky, to the burning light of day. It felt as if her own light had burnt out, and it would never come back, not as long as Filgaia remained the way it was. One of the most powerful beings on the planet she was, but, her frailty exceeded her strength more often, as long as people fought their desires and denied their true self. Luceid watched the fluffy voyages of the pure white clouds flit across the horizon and smiled, soon enough, it would be a full moon tonight.