Yay, another 'in Locke's past' chapter. It's so funny...I wrote this chapter so long ago...it's one of the first ones I wrote to be honest with you, and here I am...FOUR MONTHS after I wrote it! Lol! Well okay, I've edited it A LOT and I like the way it turned out, so it's only appropriate to post it now. Oh yeah, hopefully the posting will be a lot quicker now...knowing I have about 30 chapters fully written. (Seriously though, it's a good thing I waited this long because when the story gets more in depth...You'll see how things are so entwined.) Now that school is almost out, I'll have a lot more time to write as well, so I can put the finishing touches on some chapters, write a few more (but I already have ideas for them, so yay), then post them. God, I talk a lot. My apologies. Okay, here we go. Enjoy!

7. Vaughn's Challenge

Within three months, Locke's popularity with Vaughn soared and before he knew it, he was right up there with Xane. Whenever there was a new job, Vaughn always called upon Locke first to see if he was interested in looking for it. Although Locke was wary of why Vaughn would ask him and not Xane, he decided not to argue and instead, milk it for all it was worth. Nine times out of ten, Locke leaped at the opportunity to search different parts of the continent for lost treasures. The only times he refused was when he was too tired or worn out from previous searches and would spend the entire day resting and relaxing.

The continent that contained the Quantz hideout became his playground and every day he was able to learn more about it. He knew every part of the Western Continent that he could touch like the back of his hand and he used that to his full advantage. He became familiar with the fiends that roamed each specific part and honed his warrior skills along with his treasure hunting skills.

Now that Locke was a valuable member of Quantz, he was able to go on hunts on his own, but he wasn't able to possess the power to let himself into the hideout. Locke was still in mystery over how Xane was able to put his hand over the rock and form a door and he thought about it constantly. Magic… He thought to himself as he wondered how Xane acquired the power. He asked Vaughn repeatedly if he could learn the trick to that, but the man always replied, "there is no trick," and then quickly changed the subject. The only solution that Vaughn offered to Locke was the same one that he offered to the other men in Quantz; warp stones. Although it slightly bothered Locke that he wasn't filled in with the knowledge of how Xane could perform magic so naturally, he figured as long as he was able to get in and out of the hideout, that's all that mattered.

After another successful search, Locke walked into Vaughn's office to see him writing a letter at his desk. He carefully dipped his pen into the ink well before he looked up to see Locke with a beaming smile on his face. Without a word, Locke placed a small drawstring cloth bag on top of the paper that Vaughn was writing on and sat down in a chair in front of his desk.

"You're back so soon?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow. Locke nodded arrogantly as Vaughn pulled the drawstring loose and let several small relics fall into his hand. "Nice, Locke. And here we were thinking these baubles didn't even exist."

"Come on," Locke retorted as he wiped his hair out of his face and back into his ponytail. "We are talking about me here. If there is a rumor of some great treasure, I just can't let it go. It haunts me until I give in and find it. Call it a curse."

"I'd like to call it a gift." Vaughn tossed one of the relics up in the air and when he caught it, he started to laugh. "Locke, you've been a member of Quantz for only a few months and you've already proven your worth to me. That is incredible."

"Hey, I try," he replied with an overconfident shrug. "You haven't exactly given me any hard assignments so I haven't had a reason to let you down."

"Okay, then." Vaughn's lips twisted into a sly smile as he turned the relic around in his fingers. Locke could practically see the excited thoughts churning about in Vaughn's head. "You like challenges?"

"You better believe I do," Locke bragged as he leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet on top of Vaughn's desk. Putting his hands behind his head, he continued. "There is no challenge that I'm not ready to face."

"I wouldn't go saying that without hearing what I'm about to tell you." The dark haired man pushed Locke's feet off the desk with a chuckle. Locke almost lost his balance, but he luckily was able to grab onto the armrests of the chair and not fall over. "Have you ever heard of the Clemix Diamond?"

By the way Vaughn's eyes sparkled, Locke could tell that this was something that was not to be taken lightly, so he tilted his head upward and narrowed his eyes in interest. "I'm listening."

"Ha, you're gonna love this." Vaughn sat down, placed the relics back into the bag, and tossed it back to Locke. He waited until Locke put the gems away before he explained fully so he would have the young man's complete attention. "The Clemix Diamond has been passed down the VanLente family for a little over a thousand years now and it's worth a fortune. Somehow, one of the VanLente's were able to get their hands on it right before the War of the Magi ended and since then, everyone has been trying to find it and buy it. When you think about it, the more people that want it, the more valuable the diamond becomes. To elaborate even more, basically if you own the Clemix Diamond, you are rich enough to own the entire World of Balance as we know it."

"Really?" Locke rubbed his chin with his hand, deep in thought as he listened to Vaughn speak. "The entire world? That's quite the expensive little jewel they have there. How can it be worth that much?"

"Supply and demand," he said simply as he grabbed a cloth to wipe the mud off his desk that fell off of Locke's boots.

Locke thought about it for a second, and though he was intrigued, he couldn't help but have a suspicious feeling about the entire situation. "If it's worth that much, why hasn't anyone else been able to work their way into the VanLente family and steal it? Why do we have the perfect opportunity?"

"The main reason is because the Baron VanLente, who is the rightful owner now, likes to show off his wealth," Vaughn stated with a chuckle. "His ancestors knew the worth and importance of the diamond, so they kept it locked away and hidden so no one even knew they had it. When I said that people wanted to buy it, I meant that they were trying to find the owner of it so then they could buy it. Its whereabouts remained a secret until the Baron decided to be ostentatious about it and brag about how it's been in possession in the family for that long."

"That thing has been hidden for that long?" Locke questioned as Vaughn nodded. "I don't understand. How can someone keep something like that a secret for a thousand years? People are greedy in this world. You would think that the VanLente's would've leaped at the opportunity to sell it. You have to be shitting me here."

"I shit you not," he said with a chuckle. "The VanLente's were very wealthy to begin with, so they didn't need the money. Plus, they knew the importance of it and didn't want it to get out of their sight."

"What do you mean, 'the importance of it?'" Locke quirked an eyebrow at his boss' statement. "What's so special about it?"

"Wealth equals importance, I guess," Vaughn replied with a shrug. Ignoring Locke's confused look, he continued. "Anyway, the Baron, he…well, he just likes to show off what he has. He decided to show off his stupidity and let the entire world know that he is presenting this wonderful little diamond to his daughter for her 19th birthday tomorrow night. It's going to be some big to-do in Jidoor and I don't think we should overlook this one just because we didn't get our invitations."

"They must've just gotten lost in the mail," Locke quipped as Vaughn nodded and chuckled.

"Yep, that's exactly what I thought." Vaughn looked at the paper that he was writing on and saw that the writing was smeared from when Locke threw the small bag on it. He crumpled up the paper and figured that he would just have to rewrite it. "Damn."

"Oh, sorry about that," Locke apologized as he slightly winced in shame. "I should've thought before I threw my findings at you, but I was so excited that I couldn't hold myself back. What were you writing anyway?"

"If I wanted you to know about it, I would've told you." Vaughn's voice wasn't harsh, it was simply matter of fact as he threw the crumpled paper in the trash bin next to his desk. Locke knew that when Vaughn spoke in that tone of voice, it was better stay out of it and let him do his business. "Anyway, back onto my point."

"Before you finish, I have a question. Now, I'm just curious here; what would a 19 year old girl want with a diamond worth that much money?" Locke tapped his lip as he spoke, causing Vaughn to chuckle again at his observation. "No, I'm serious. That's one hell of a diamond and she's still very young. I'm thinking that she wouldn't want that kind of responsibility, so taking it off of her hands would be the best thing in this situation."

"Locke, your ambition astounds me." Vaughn watched as Locke stood up and bent over to rest his hands on his desk for support. "However, I don't think you realize what a big deal this is. Now that VanLente made the unintelligent decision to let everyone know that he has possession of the diamond, there are going to be a million treasure hunters there tomorrow night. Not to mention that there will be more soldiers at that gathering than there are at Vector, so you will have to be extremely cautious. You'll basically have enough time to get in, steal the diamond, then get the hell out of there before you're caught."

"Am I going alone or with someone on this mission? I'm assuming that some kind of a diversion is going to need to come into play with this one," Locke said as he tapped his fingers against the wooden desk. "I have a feeling that this isn't going to be the easiest task that I've come across."

"You better believe it. However, you're the one who said that you like challenges, therefore, you're going to do it." Vaughn walked over to the table was set up across the room and poured both he and Locke a shot of liquor from one of the bottles. He handed the shot glass to Locke and as Locke was about to put the glass to his lips, he continued. "I'm assigning Xane with you on this one."

"Nice," Locke responded with a scoff as he brought the glass down. He was thankful that the liquid wasn't in his mouth because he was positive that he would've spit it out in shock. He couldn't help the sarcasm that was in his voice, but he knew that he and Xane did not get along. Although Xane saved his life on their first mission, they were always competing against each other to be the best treasure hunter in Quantz. No matter how hard either of them tried, if one came back from a successful hunt, the other wasn't far behind. No matter how many efforts Locke put in to be civil with him, Xane just detested him more. Eventually Locke just stopped associating with him all together to avoid the problems between them. "Every time Xane and I work together we almost come to exchange of blows."

"That's exactly what Xane told me when I explained the mission to him, and I would be lying if I said I haven't noticed the tension. It's sad, really," Vaughn admitted with a sigh as he pointed to Locke with his forefinger. "However, you two are the best I have, so you better not disappoint me."

"I don't know the meaning of the word." He raised his eyebrows then drank the hard liquid, feeling it burn his esophagus as it went down. He tried not to make a disgusted face for he rarely drank, but he figured it was a celebratory drink and decided not to think anything of it. "I'll just ignore Xane and talk my way into that little girl's heart."

"In the three months I've known you and from what I've heard about you, you've got the suave to do it," Vaughn agreed as he took the shot and placed his glass down. "Just remember, you're there to get the diamond then get the hell out of there. That leaves no time for romance."

"What are you talking about? I already know that," Locke said as he motioned for Vaughn to give him another shot. "Anyway, what's the dress code on this? I'm assuming it's black tie for he is the richest man in this world."

"Of course it is," he said, pouring more of the liquor for Locke. "Several kings and queens are going to be there as well, so you better look your best for royalty."

"Kings and queens?" Locke restated as he held his glass up near his mouth. "Ooh, that sounds promising. Are any of them going to have anything with them that I should look out for while I'm at it?"

"Damn, Locke!" Vaughn stated with a hearty chuckle as Locke drank the liquid. "What am I going to do with you? Always striving for more."

"It was just a simple question," Locke said, exhaling as he put the shot glass down. "Besides, I don't like to lead a mediocre life. I tend to live on the slightly wild side."

"That is a perfect reason to why you are an excellent addition to this group." The blond haired man gave Vaughn another smirk as he sat back down. "You and Xane will both need to go by some kind of an alias. Your name isn't incredibly well known yet, but we don't want to take any chances. Xane's is a little more known, and there are certain people who shouldn't be aware of his presence. Make up something believable between the two of you, I really don't care."

"That's workable," Locke shrugged as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Anything else I'll need to know before I jump right in?"

"I don't think so," he said as he sat back down in his chair and thought about it for a second. "No, I think that's about it. I guess I could tell you to be careful and not get caught, but you know all of that already, correct?"

"Of course," Locke responded with a shrug. "I pretty much figured that was a given in any assignment."

"All right then." Vaughn dipped his pen in the well and started to rewrite the letter that he was writing when Locke came in. Without looking up, he continued talking to him. "You have a day to prep. Is that enough time for you?"

"Vaughn, come on!" He couldn't help but scoff at him. "Me, prep? Please. I'll get restless if I don't do something between now and then."

"Dedication is an amazing thing, Locke, but overexertion can kill you." Locke sighed at the older man's warning. "Go get some sleep tonight, you had an excellent day today."

"Night, Vaughn." With a nod of his head, Locke left Vaughn's office and started to walk to his own room. On the way, he saw Xane standing against the wall inspecting his sword with his finger. "Hello, Sunshine!"

"Go to bed. You're going to need your sleep for tomorrow," he replied without looking up from his weapon.

"Oooh, someone's testy tonight," Locke teased as he crossed his arms. He couldn't help but mock Xane with a smile. "What's the matter? Have an unsuccessful hunt today?"

"Like that would ever happen." He inserted a chuckle at the end of his statement and put his sword back in the holster. With a glare he looked back up at Locke. "Now go fuck off."

"Look, just because you're jealous that you're playing my second hand man on this mission when you're used to being the star doesn't mean you have to get all pissed off," Locke snapped as the smile fell off of his face.

Xane laughed sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "I'm in no way your 'second hand man,' thank you very much. Vaughn just knows that you can't do this mission without me."

What do I have to do to get this asshole's approval! He thought to himself as Xane harrumphed. "Fine, whatever. I'm going to bed."

"See ya in the morning, Precious," Xane said with a smug smile as he opened up Vaughn's door and stood in the doorway. "You better be up and ready by seven o'clock tomorrow night or I'm leaving you behind."

"I'll be ready," he replied confidently as Xane walked into the room and shut the door.