Chapter Two
When they arrived in the town, Lina could tell that they were in for some trouble.
"Hey, Naga, isn't this the town where Jeffrey lives?" Lina asked, looking a little nervous.
"Uh……………..It sure looks like it……………." Naga said, suddenly realizing this and paling at the thought.
"What're you two whispering about?" Lantis asked, knowing that they were behind him.
"Erm……………..I think we should tell you later." Lina said, getting an upraised eyebrow from Lantis as a response. Then they heard the voice of someone they (Lina and Naga) didn't want to hear; the keening wail of a certain, very ugly woman.
"Lina Inverse! Naga the White Serpent! It is so good to see you again! Have you returned to teach my darling Jeffrey how to become a knight?" Josephine asked, ignoring Lantis for the moment.
"Uh……………Yeah………….I guess so…….." Lina said, then gave Lantis a 'Get out of here if you value your life' look. Lantis looked down at the ugly woman, then back at Lina, then started moving, knowing that a moment of indecision could be costly.
"Wait just a moment, young man! You're new! Are you with them?" Josephine asked, stepping on Lantis' cape and preventing him from walking away.
"No, I am not." Lantis said, with a somewhat irritated look on his handsome face.
"Oh, then I beg your pardon." Josephine said. Then Naga had to say something.
"Of course he is! In fact, he's been traveling with us for quite some time now." Naga shouted. Once again, Josephine trapped Lantis' cape beneath her feet.
"I really should punish you for lying to me." Josephine growled, hoping to intimidate Lantis.
"Do you believe what everyone tells you?" Lantis asked, exasperation showing plainly on his face.
"I believe what I want. Now, what is your name?" Josephine asked, becoming a little bit angry when Lantis didn't cower away from her. Lantis didn't answer, instead he merely gave her an icy glare. Lina could almost see Lantis' power levels rising to almost the point of seeing electricity crackling around him.
"Uh…………..Josephine-san, I think you should move……….." Lina warned. Josephine looked up at the angered Kailu and immediately agreed. In fact, she leaped back about ten feet from the Kailu and stood watching as Lantis quickly calmed down.
"Whoa…………………..Now that was close!" Lina thought, as the usual calm expression returned to Lantis' face.
"Lantis?" Lina asked.
"Come on, I'll buy you and Naga some dinner." Lantis said, as he led the way to the local tavern, ignoring Josephine completely.
"Oh thank you! How could we ever repay you?" Naga gushed, while Lina rolled her eyes.
"For one, you could explain what that was all about." Lantis said, shortly. Lina and Naga looked at one another, then nodded as they sat down at a table towards the back of the establishment.
"Well, you see, the last time we were in this town, we were paid to train Josephine's son, Jeffrey." Lina explained.
"It was a disaster." Naga added, shuddering as memories flowed into her mind.
"I see. How long has it been since you were last in this town?" Lantis asked, taking a sip of the hot tea he'd ordered.
"About a year." Lina said, with a sigh.
"Hmm…………..so this woman has been trying to get her son into the knighthood for over a year? What kind of person is this woman's son?" Lantis asked, quietly.
"He's a real 'mama's boy'" Lina whispered, hoping that Josephine wouldn't hear. She heard Lantis sigh and saw him put a hand to his face.
"No wonder he's not a knight. Even Madoushi Clef would have had problems with that kind." Lantis muttered.
"Don't say things like that if you value your life!" Lina warned, when she saw a masked woman appear behind the Kailu. Without even looking behind him, and just as the woman brought down her steel hammer, Lantis uttered one word that stopped the attack.
"Cresta." Lantis murmured, before taking another sip of his tea. The woman's hammer impacted on his barrier and shattered into a million pieces.
"Whoa……………." Lina and Naga muttered, shocked that the Kailu had known that the woman was behind him.
"Amazing! Incredible! Where did you learn that?!" the masked woman asked, getting sweatdrops from all those involved.
"What's it to you?" Lantis asked, coldly. Lina could tell that he didn't like the woman.
"I was thinking that my darling Jeffrey could learn something like that!" the masked woman said, ecstatically.
"Nothing doing." Lantis replied, his face going deadpan.
"Come now! I'll pay you!" Josephine said, coming unmasked when she said that.
"No." Lantis replied.
"Then at least teach him to become a knight! Pretty please?" Josephine begged, but dangled a bag full of gold coins in front of his nose.
"YES! WE'LL DO IT!" Naga shouted, before gleefully snatching the money away. Both Lantis and Lina gave her a dirty look.
"Excellent! I shall tell Jeffrey right away!" Josephine said, practically skipping out of the tavern.
"What have you gotten us into, Naga?" Lina asked, exasperated.
"I feel like I've just had my soul sold to the devil………………….." Lantis muttered, now looking like he didn't want to eat.
"Aw, don't worry about it! What could possibly go wrong this time?" Naga asked.
"Plenty." Lantis muttered, as he placed his head on the table. A few hours later, they met up with Jeffrey outside of the town.
"It's so good to see you again, Lina-san, Naga-san! But who is this guy? He looks evil!" Jeffrey said, pointing up at the tall Kailu.
"I beg your pardon?" Lantis asked, his expression again going deadpan.
"He's a friend, Jeffrey. That's Kailu Lantis." Lina said, noticing the slightly chagrined look on the Kailu's face as she said that.
"Kailu Lantis……………what a cool title!" Jeffrey amended, enthusiastically. Lantis inwardly and outwardly winced; this was going to be a long week.
"But every title has weight. Even the title of knight is a heavy burden to bear." Lantis said, softly.
"I know that! But I want to give it my best shot! My mommy had said that I could do anything if I tried hard enough!" Jeffrey said, while Lantis sighed and shook his head.
"Persistence will not be enough to get you into the knighthood, Jeffrey. It takes endurance, strength, skill, and some degree of intelligence to get into an elite group like that. Now, show me what you can do with a sword." Lantis said, as he pulled some practice swords from his glove-gem and tossed one to Jeffrey, keeping one for himself. As usual, Jeffrey flailed around in a semblance of a vicious sword fight, never once even striking Lantis' blade. It all ended with Jeffrey falling backwards onto his butt.
"You didn't even come close enough to touch blades, Jeffrey. Who was your teacher before?" Lantis asked, but knowing what the answer would be.
"His mother." Lina and Naga muttered before Jeffrey could reply.
"Why am I not surprised? His mother didn't even want him to experience a real sword master." Lantis mumbled, shaking his head in frustration.
"Jeffrey, if you want to learn, then you will have to pay attention." Lantis said, as he did a simple sword drill. Lina could tell that Naga was drooling. She had to admit, Lantis wasn't a hard man to look at; he was the tall, dark, handsome man many young girls dreamed about. A cool and confident warrior, who was as fearless as he was mysterious. Jeffrey also watched, mystified. When Lantis was through, he turned to Jeffrey.
"Now you try." Lantis ordered.
"Me?! Try that?! But that looked so hard!" Jeffrey whined.
"Everything in life can't be easy, Jeffrey. You must face the facts sometime. And now is better than later." Lantis replied, harshly. Naga swallowed hard and looked at the woods behind them, they could almost hear Josephine's approach. With grumbles and whimpers, Jeffrey started trying the sword drill, but making it so much more difficult than it really was.
"This is so hard!" Jeffrey complained. Lina heard Lantis mutter something under his breath and shake his head. She could tell he was getting frustrated.
"You're only making it harder on yourself by saying so." Lantis said, as calmly as he could.
"Huh?" Jeffrey asked.
"Where I was raised, all things were dependent on the will. If you wanted something to be so, then it would be so. I don't think this world is any different. If you will yourself to accomplish this task, then it will become simpler for you. If you do the exact opposite, and say that it is impossible, then it will become impossible. Am I making myself clear?" Lantis asked, trying his best to remain patient with the younger man.
"I guess so…………" Jeffrey said, uncertainly. Lina was amazed by how much patience Lantis had for teaching difficult students. Yet, before they could get back into the lesson, they found themselves surrounded.
"So, if it isn't the man who killed our friends with one blow!" a bandit sneered, as he took in the sight of Lantis, Lina, Naga, and Jeffrey.
"I am he. What do you make of it?" Lantis asked, coolly.
"We're gonna kill ya. Make ya pay for what ya did!" another bandit growled, this one almost the size of Lantis.
"We'll see about that." Lantis said, as he put his practice sword away and got his real sword out. Since they had gone quite a distance from the town (so Lina's spells could not effect the town itself) they were not within running distance of help. Not that Lina, Naga, or Lantis cared, but Jeffrey, being the untrained one of the group, was of major concern. Within seconds a battle broke out. Lantis found himself surrounded on all sides by the largest bandits in the gang. He quickly found that one of them was magically adept, and could avoid his most precise of swings.
"Irazuma………………..!" Lantis began, only to get stabbed in mid-invocation in his side by an unseen bandit.
"Huh, some Kailu! Let himself get killed like that!" the bandits sneered, but weren't counting on what happened next.
"Tamashi Shuurai!" Lantis cried, releasing an even more powerful electrical spell than before.
"Eaaaghhhh!!!!!!!!!!" the bandits wailed as they were consumed by the Kailu's lightning. With equal ease, Lina wiped out a third of the bandits, while Naga wiped out the rest.
"Are you all right?" Lantis asked.
"We're fine………….well, Jeffrey looks like he's about to throw up. What about you?" Lina asked, noticing and gasping when she saw blood oozing from between Lantis' fingers as he held his side.
"Blood………………..oh…………" Naga moaned, before fainting.
"Why did she faint?" Lantis asked.
"No clue. Do you think you can make it to town, Lantis?" Lina asked, becoming concerned when she saw a look of pain cross Lantis' face.
"I should be able to." Lantis said, as he stubbornly started walking, but first took off his cape, wrapped it around Naga, picked her up, and carried her.
When they'd gotten back to the inn, it was definitely apparent that Lantis was not at all well. Something was wrong, other than the mere stab wound. Once in their room, Lantis set Naga on the bed and sat down in a chair so Lina could see his wound.
"Ceipheed, Lantis! This wound looks awful! Why didn't you tell me it was this bad?!" Lina asked, as she cleaned the wound and bandaged it.
"I didn't want to worry you." Lantis replied, wincing slightly when Lina tightened the bandages so that it was firm around his waist.
"Shit, Lantis! I'm sure you could worry more people by just hiding your injuries!" Lina shouted, as she checked Lantis for a fever, and found one that was steadily climbing.
"Since you seem so intent that I tell you what's wrong with me, I will tell you; that knife the bandit used to stab me with was coated in some sort of poison." Lantis muttered, feeling himself becoming lightheaded and ill, but fought it in order to tell the young sorceress.
"Oh hell…………….you need a healer. But I can't leave you while Naga is still passed out! Waitaminute! Jeffrey!" Lina said, as she looked at the rather dejected young man in the corner.
"Yes, Lina-san?" Jeffrey asked.
"Listen, Lantis needs a healer. Can you go and get one for us?" Lina asked. Jeffrey looked uncertain.
"I guess so…………….but my mommy will be furious if she found out that I went out at night by myself!" Jeffrey complained.
"Jeffrey, Lantis' life is depending on you." Lina said, seriously, knowing, that if she played her cards right, she could get him to do what she wanted.
"I will do what I can!" Jeffrey said, determinedly, as he walked out the door and into the night. With a shove, Lina cleared the bed, and had Lantis lie down on it. By the time Lantis was settled, Lina could tell that he was suffering; cold sweat beaded his brow and his breathing was becoming harsher. It suddenly occurred to her just how quickly things had happened; she and Naga had only just met Lantis that morning. They'd had no idea that this was going to happen! With expert gentleness, Lina bathed Lantis' brow with a cool cloth. Moments later, Jeffrey reappeared with the town healer.
"Good work, Jeffrey." Lina said, as she showed the healer Lantis' wound and explained what had happened.
"Poison? I should be able to take care of that." The healer said, as she started working on the injured Kailu. As the healer worked, Lina bathed the Kailu's brow. She could tell that the poison had been potent enough to bring the Kailu down quickly.
"But what kind of poison could do this to a Cephirian? Those bandits couldn't have been smart enough to realize that Lantis is a kailu from Cephiro! I wonder just who is really behind this and why?" Lina wondered, as the healer finished purging the wound and completed the healing, leaving nothing more than a scar on Lantis' side to prove that he'd been wounded.
"He'll be a little sore and weak tomorrow, since that poison was destroying his blood's clotting ability. Don't let him do anything strenuous until his strength returns. If he feels any worse, come and get me." the healer said, before disappearing out the door.
"Lina? Wha' happened?" Naga asked, as she picked herself up from the floor and looked at Lantis.
"I think we've stumbled into something more serious than we'd thought it was." Lina said.
"What do you mean, Lina-san?" Jeffrey asked.
"What I mean is this; that poison dagger that made Lantis so sick, how could those bandits have known which poison would do that unless someone told them? We need to figure out who is doing this before we all end up dead!" Lina said, her rising voice rousing Lantis.
"Lina, he's awake." Naga said, as Lantis looked up at them, silently.
"How do ya feel, Lantis?" Lina asked.
"Tired…………….I haven't felt this tired since I fought a whole den of monsters back in Cephiro." Lantis murmured.
"You fought all those monsters by yourself?" Naga asked, enthralled by the thought.
"Not by myself…………..Zagato………….he was with me." Lantis said, before sleep finally reclaimed him.
"Zagato? Who is that?" Naga asked, exchanging curious glances with Lina and Jeffrey. Lina shrugged.
"Probably a friend from his homeland. He's certainly not going to tell us." Lina said, as she looked at the Kailu, who now slept soundly, oblivious to what was being said.