Suikoden 2
By: Ami
Started this long time ago, and just managed to finish it. I decided to upload it to give you a sign that I'm still alive XD. The busiesttime in my college life is going to pass soon, and hopefully I'll finally update everything in about a month or so.Thanks.
Warnings: random spoilers, foul language, errors in the storyline, mild humor OOC-ness and hints of shounen-ai if you're sensitive (or homophobic) enough. Anyway, nothing's lethal inside.
Standard disclaimers apply.
XXX
It was another ordinary morning in Dunan warriors' headquarters. The sun was shining, thin clouds were floating, the sky was blue, the birds were chirping cheerfully (until Feather joined and ended up ruining the whole birdie song), people were up doing their usual morning activities and 'Beautiful Morning' was playing in the background.
Riou came to his senses as he felt the warmth of the sunshine on his unclothed shoulder. Inhaling the breeze that smelled like sweet greens, the young leader lazily yanked his blanket away and sat up. He still felt a bit sleepy, but such a beautiful morning should not be wasted in bed. The raven-haired boy just stayed in his place for a moment, pondering on how he should spend the wonderful morning with.
'Maybe I can help Hai Yo with breakfast,' Riou thought with a smile, 'I hope none of his past-time enemies would suddenly appear, yelling various incoherent things about the group, poisoning someone, stealing recipes, or doing anything that would ruin the moment this time'
Riou turned to the window, hoping that it wasn't too late for his plan. Hai Yo was used to prepare breakfast very early in the morning.
A flash of green, Riou blinked.
It took him a short moment to realize that he wasn't alone in the room. And it took him another moment to convince himself that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.
It was Luc.
It was really Luc who was sitting on his chair, staring at him with his usual stoic expression.
"G---Good morning," he stammered, "what an early visit. What can I help you with?"
Luc remained silent, as he slowly stood up and approached the bed. Riou reflexively pulled his blanket to cover his body defensively, staring guilelessly at the young mage who was closing the distance between their faces.
"It's missing," Luc whispered as they got close enough to be mistaken for kissing. Fortunately (and hopefully), Richmond wasn't around.
Riou blinked, still wearing his ingenuous expression.
"The stone tablet," Luc frowned, sounding more impatient than before, "it's missing. I can't find it anywhere in the castle."
XXX
The sun was shining, thin clouds were floating, the sky was blue, the birds were chirping cheerfully and 'Beautiful Morning' was playing in the background, although people didn't do their usual activities anymore.
Riou really wished that he could spend such a wonderful morning with more enjoyable thing; he meant, anything, other than arguing with 107 people about the missing stone tablet.
"I just don't get it," Victor sounded exasperated, "you said that you just left it for a while, and when you came back, it's just… missing? But it's big… and it's heavy… it can't just go 'POOF' and disappear!"
"Besides, there's no point of stealing something like that," Flik added, "the Guardian Deity, no matter how bizarre it looks, would sell better than it."
"It's not for sale," Jude glowered, "and I just created it based on our leader's draft. It looks wonderful to me, so sorry that it looks odd to you…"
Riou immediately felt guilty for making it the head dragon, the body rabbit, the legs unicorn and the tail turtle. He'd have to fix it in to a real dragon later.
"No offense." Flik held his hands up in defeat, or Jude would be kind enough to fulfill Nina's request to make his nude statue to be placed on the fourth floor balcony.
"Maybe someone with powerful magic stole it," Nanami suggested, "With magic, we can make something go 'POOF' and just disappear, nee?"
"It makes sense," Shu, who had been silent during the meeting before, suddenly commented, "but it must be a real strong magician, to have been able to steal something from Luc…"
All eyes were instinctively turned to Mazus, who was sweating at the accusing stares.
"Wait, isn't it too hasty to conclude that the thief is a magician? It could be someone with incredible strength…"
Eyes were turned to Gantetsu.
"…Or ninja…"
Then turned to Kasumi, Mondo and Sasuke.
"…Or someone who dislikes the stone, since the stone tablet is very picky. It won't list any other names but the 108 of us…"
"Right! That goddamn bigheaded stone tablet!"
All eyes were turned to Star Dragon Sword on Victor's waist.
"How could it list this big loser's name and not his master's! I demand justice!"
Victor glowered at his sword.
All eyes were turned away.
"Anyway, we must find the stone tablet soon, before Lady Leknaat finds it out and punishes Luc," Apple said, trying to sound as concerned as possible, although most people didn't really seem troubled with the consequences, "first, let's hear Luc's testimony, then the eye-witnesses'. Maybe we'll be able to solve the problem after hearing the incident from different point of views… by the way, what are you doing, Nanami?"
Nanami sweated as she was caught scribbling something on the whiteboard, "Err… I am… writing down the main topic of this meeting?"
Apple pushed the little girl aside and saw 'WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WITH THE STONE TABLET' messy handwritings on the whiteboard. She threw Nanami a dirty look.
"H---Hey! It was Victor's idea!" Nanami defended. Victor whistled, wearing an innocent look.
All stars just sighed.
"Alright, Luc, please explain it to us."
Luc stood up and took Apple's place. Although he was the mattered one, he seemed uninterested. Or maybe he preferred Lady Leknaat's wrath than dealing with his troublesome star-friends.
"As I said before," he started, "yesterday evening, I left the stone for a while, then when I came back, it has already been missing."
"That's it," Oulan said, "You keep saying 'I left', but you never explain what makes you leave at the time. There might be some hidden hints in it you know. Try explaining it more detailed."
All seemed to agree, and were now glancing at Luc with demanding eyes.
"Alright, but nobody's getting angry to me for this," Luc sighed in defeat, "I was helping Koyu to carry the drunk Freed Y. to his room. Koyu told me to keep it secret from Yoshino, though."
Freed Y. blushed bright red in embarrassment, while Yoshino was starting to flush in anger.
"He had never done it before, but yesterday, Sir Victor talked him in to it. He just had a couple of drinks then he passed out. Nothing else happened. He really can't handle liquor. Even Lo Wen can do better." Koyu abruptly explained, as all eyes were turned to Victor accusingly.
Victor sweated, "Hey, hey! It was just a couple of drinks! It's not going to kill him! After all, he's a man!"
The people, especially Yoshino, didn't seem to accept his words.
"Oh man, seems like you'll be washing your own clothes for the rest of the war…" Flik commented with a broad grin.
Victor cursed.
"So, did you notice someone suspicious walking around at the time?" Shu asked.
"Oh, now that you mention it…" Luc turned his eyes to the certain couple of Matilda Knights, "…They are the last persons who asked for my permission to look at the stone table, I think."
"Camus just wanted to see the name of his star," Miklotov quickly explained, "he keeps forgetting it. What's the name again, Camus?"
Camus wore an apologetic grin, "…Err… Tenkai?"
All sighed and shook their heads.
"Alright, enough from Luc. Now let's go with the first witness." Teresa seemed excited about the problem. Even Shin looked slightly friendlier at his mistress' cheerful mood.
Luc looked relieved that he could finally leave the podium. He reached for an empty seat beside Riou and waited, as Hilda stepped up to replace him.
"Umm… about the stolen stone tablet…" the woman started, seeming a bit nervous at all the stares, "Last night, Alex and I were out looking for Pete… since he went out to pee and didn't come back for a long time…"
"Did you find him at last?" Leona interrupted. Some people were surprised to find that Leona actually cared a lot about kids.
"Yes… he was sleeping with Feather…" Hilda smiled, "He and Ayda took a really good care of him. Thanks, Feather, Ayda."
Ayda just smiled shyly, Feather squeaked happily in response.
"Umm… and then… I passed the middle hall… and I saw Luc, as he said, was helping Koyu to carry Freed Y. I wanted to ask him about Pete, but he looked so upset, so I changed my mind…"
"Don't be scared, Hilda! I don't remember having ever seen Luc with cheery, bright, happy face either. He doesn't even greet people 'good morning'!" Nanami laughed, breaking the tension. Luc glared at the girl threateningly.
"Was the stone tablet still there at the time?" Shu asked.
Hilda nodded, "I think I saw it there… but…"
"But?"
"I also saw another person lurking around the place near the stone tablet…"
"Who is it?"
Everybody seemed very certain that the suspicious man was definitely the thief.
"It's… Mukumuku."
The flying squirrel's eyes turned teary, as he started to jump around while squeaking various-toned 'MUMUMUMUMU!' hysterically.
"W—wait! Get a grip, Mukumuku! We're not blaming you!" Kinnison caught the poor, mentally abused animal just in time before he fell down on Riou's head (fortunately, his level wasn't very high to cause much HP damage), "Don't be ridiculous! Mukumuku can't be a thief! All animals are innocent!"
Badeaux nodded in agreement, glancing at the young archer proudly while Shiro whooped at his master's cool words.
"Yeah, but exclude the goddamn unicorn for only responding to maidens." Victor grunted, followed by a painful horse's kick on his bottom, "…So he also reacts at insults… then we should have just insulted him in the recruitment time instead of coming all the way back to headquarters to get a girl, Riou."
Riou only smiled in sympathy, while Luc, who was sitting beside him, muttered an almost soundless 'dumbass'.
"Then let's ask him what he's doing at the place at the moment." Shu said, "Badeaux, can you help us?"
The scarred man nodded, then approached the sobbing Mukumuku and started to communicate with him with his usual mysterious technique. He nodded repeatedly, and looked sympathetic at whatever things Mukumuku told him. Then he raised his head and turned to Riou.
Riou got his signal and approached him. It seemed that Riou was the only human he'd talk with.
"…Got… lost… castle… is too big… wants… to… ask… Luc… but… scary…" He whispered, "That's what he said."
Riou nodded, then turned to face the curious eyes of his friends, "Well… it seems that Mukumuku got lost. He approached the stone tablet, intending to ask the way to Luc, but Luc's face looked scary, so…"
Luc promptly turned to the terrified squirrel with an uncharacteristic smile and spoke with a totally out-of-character tone, "Well, I suppose Mukumuku and I can spend more time together starting now, so he won't be afraid of me again. Be sure to drop by when you have the time, Mukumuku. I'll serve tea and your favorite peanut cake, then we can chat together like close friends."
Mukumuku shuddered and immediately flew out of the room. Luc smirked in satisfaction.
Riou sighed in relief as Luc turned back to his stoic expression. He was less scary that way. "So… I guess it's clear that Mukumuku is not at fault. Besides, the stone tablet is too heavy for him to carry, even if his four friends were there to help him."
"And it also means that we're back at the starting point." Shu declared calmly, "Then, let's continue with the next witness."
Some males' jaws dropped as a certain sexy rune-mistress stepped on to the podium, winking at them seductively.
"Tee hee… good day, everyone… and Lord Riou…"
Riou blushed and bowed his head down sheepishly. Luc glanced at him with an unimpressed look.
"About last night… I went out to get something… I passed the middle hall for a few seconds… Sir Luc wasn't there… but the stone tablet was still there at the time… I heard some noise from the elevator… I went away just as it beeped and went up…" Jeane explained.
"I see," Apple coughed, snapping some gaping males out of their deep thoughts, "did you see someone suspicious around at the time?"
"Suspicious… umm… not really…" Jeane smiled, "…but I think I saw Captain Gengen and Gabocha passing by… they said hi to me then left…"
"We're practicing our combo attack!" Gengen explained, "And now we can make it three times more powerful! Riou! Be sure to sharpen our weapons and take us on your next mission! We'll show you our new moves!"
Riou smiled and nodded. Luc did another blasé sigh.
"No one else?" Apple continued.
Jeane made a cute thinking face, then widened her smile, "…Ah… I also met Sir Sheena near the bar…"
All eyes were immediately turned to the infamous playboy from Toran who stared back at them in confusion. Apparently, he hadn't been paying attention to the meeting at all.
Apple raised an eyebrow, still fighting to keep her smile sincere, "…Then, did he do something to you? I mean… like sexual harassment or something like that…"
"Gosh, Apple, never knew you know those kinds of vocabulary!" Victor laughed.
Ignoring the amused mercenary, Apple glanced at Jeane with a tense face, silently demanding an answer. Jeane smiled at her and shook her head with reassuring gestures, "No, not at all. After all, Sir Sheena is a courteous young man..."
Sheena grinned proudly, ignoring various mocking sounds his friends were making.
Shu noticed that Apple's face was slightly softened at Jeane's explanations.
"I think that's all… tee hee…" Jeane threw her swooning audience another wink before climbing down the podium, as Richmond climbed up to replace her.
"Well, first, I'd like to say that I also feel sorry for the missing stone tablet." The dandy detective turned to the snorting young mage deviously, "You know, if you're interested, I can help you to investigate the suspects' private life. My fee is pretty affordable, you can ask Lord Riou. It's only 100 potch for the first secret, 200 for the second and so on…"
"Could you please save your stalking business promotions for later and get straight to the point?" Apple cut impatiently.
Richmond looked a bit offended at the 'stalking business' part, but did as he had been told to, "Last night, when I was stalk---I mean, taking a walk in the middle hall, I saw Koyu coming with a very drunk Freed Y clinging on his waist. It seems that he had mistaken Koyu for Yoshino, cause he kept saying 'honey… I love you…' and kept trying to kiss Koyu…"
"Stop describing it!" Koyu shrieked hysterically. Freed Y could only cover up his face in shame.
"Oh dear, our Koyu is no longer a virgin!" Lo Wen laughed loudly, followed by Gijimu and the rest of the stars in the meeting hall. Even Luc had to fight a smile.
"He seemed very desperate to find someone who'd help him. Well, of course I'd love to help him, but I mustn't get caught---I mean, Luc was the first person he could see, so he called for Luc to help him," Richmond continued, "then Luc immediately helped him to get Freed Y off and carried him to the elevator. Then I left. That's all I saw."
"I see," Shu smiled, "It seems that we've revealed something important."
"That Luc is actually a very nice guy to help Koyu right away?" Riou suggested half-jokingly. His comrades glanced at him with an unimpressed look. Luc just snorted with the similar expression.
"I mean, Hilda was there when Luc was helping Koyu, Richmond witnessed everything that happened before Luc left, and Jeane saw the stone tablet for a moment after Luc left," Shu continued, "So, I think that the last, and next witness will make everything clear."
As Viki stepped up the podium, lost her balance and almost dropped her wand to the audience, everybody moaned, knowing that the mystery might never be revealed. Luc looked like he was ready to leave the room right there, received Lady Leknaat's punishment and got over with the problem.
"Alright, Viki. Could you please tell us what you saw last night?" Apple asked, trying to sound as clear as possible.
"Huh? Who? Me?" The clueless girl blinked her wide eyes in confusion.
"Yes." Apple smiled, hiding her exasperation.
"Uh… what did I see? I saw a lot of things! I saw the wall, I saw the ceilings, I saw stairs, I saw…"
"I mean," Apple tried really hard to not yell, "when you were in the middle hall last night. Did you see Luc or the stone tablet?"
"Luc? Luc? Who is Luc?"
The audience moaned again. Luc twitched. Shu sighed. Riou smiled in sympathy.
"Luc is, you see, the green-clothed magician who is used to stand in front of the stone tablet. And in case you're going to ask what the stone tablet is, it is a carved stone Lady Leknaat gifted us to place our names." Apple was still smiling, but Shu knew that Apple only crossed her arms when she was getting impatient, "and in case you're going to ask where exactly the stone tablet was, it was right under the guardian deity. And in case you're going to ask who created the guardian deity---"
"Ah! Luc! I remember him! He's the one who refused to have the strawberry candy I offered a few days ago!" Viki clapped her hands in realization, "So his name is Luc!"
"She shared her strawberry candies to us without knowing our names?" Ellie sweated.
Rina just smiled in silence.
"Viki! Viki! I like Viki!" Bolgan wore his usual oblivious face. Apparently, he had had the biggest share of the strawberry candies.
"I heard that the candy was delicious. Why did you turn it down?" Riou asked.
Luc grunted, "…She got them from Sheena."
Riou gasped, then nodded understandingly.
"Then, did you see him at the time?" Apple asked.
Viki wore another clueless look and went catatonic, much to the others' impatience. Then Apple declared a break-time while waiting for Viki's slow brain to respond.
Rikimaru started to doze off in his place, standing. Amada was staring at Rikimaru in amazement, muttering how manly his Benkei sleeping-style was. Millie asked for Shu's permission to leave the meeting hall for a while to feed Bonaparte. Adlai followed right after Millie, telling Shu that he needed to make sure that his precious elevator hadn't been stolen too. Shu twitched as Tony replaced Adlai, saying the exactly same thing about his precious veggies. Yuzu decided not to annoy the strategist more by staying silent.
While waiting, Annalee, Pico and Alberto offered to perform some songs. The other stars gratefully complied. After all, being able to listen to Annalee's voice was a rare occasion. Barbara clapped the loudest after one infamous song, L'orrizonte. Gilbert immediately declared that he was becoming one of Annalee's fans, that the song was indeed stunning.
Flik was hectically trying to pry Nina off his waist, while Victor was laughing at him. Bob and Zamza had another argument about who was a more valuable fighter to Riou between them, while Alex and Killey started arguing about the Sindar Ruins. Chaco was frantically flying around to avoid Sid and his scary story. Teresa was busy trying to convince Shin that she was strong enough to pull the rod and catch a tuna, although Shin didn't seem greatly persuaded. Fitcher was talking to Connell, saying that he wanted to change his sound set in to the animals one. Yoshino was scolding Freed Y. for his previous night's behavior. Kahn and Sierra looked calm in one corner, chatting animatedly about their recent victory over Necklord. Futch and Humphrey were in another corner, keeping their silent, mental conversation.
A few hours later…
"I remember!" Viki blinked in realization.
All eyes were turned to her, then in another minute, everyone was back at their previous seats, getting ready for the final conclusion of the problem. Maybe.
"Yes, at the time…"
---FLASHBACK…---
"Huh? Huh? Why am I here? I intended to go to my room, why did I end up in the main hall?" Viki looked around in confusion. Then she turned to her side and saw Luc and Koyu were dragging Freed Y. to the elevator.
"Mister! Mister! What happened to him? Is he dead? Let me teleport him to the graveyard in the basement?" She immediately approached the group.
Luc, sensing the trouble coming, quickened his pace and succeeded closing the elevator door before Viki had her chance to 'help' them with 'the corpse'.
---END OF FLASHBACK…---
"Nee, I intended to help, but I failed to reach them in time."
Everyone, especially Riou and Nanami looked relieved at the story. They almost lost one star and failed the 'happy ending'. It was lucky enough for them that Viki hadn't killed anyone by her misplaced 'Set!'
"Then, did you see the stone tablet at the time?" Apple asked.
"Stone tablet? What is it?"
Apple's face was now as red as her name. As she was about to shout out the explanations, Shu took over the distressing job.
"Well, Viki-san, it's the big stone that was previously placed in the center of the main hall, just below the staircase." He explained patiently, "you gave the candy to Luc, right? That guy was used to stand in front of the stone."
"Oh, that dirty-looking big stone?" Viki giggled, although everybody hardly took her statement as a funny joke. The stone was still an important gift from Lady Leknaat, despite its common look.
---FLASHBACK…---
"I can't remember where my room is… guess I'll just sleep in my place, like yesterday, and the day before yesterday… and the day before the day before yesterday…" Viki mumbled as she climbed down the stairs to go to her usual standing spot. As she passed the stone tablet, she quickly realized that something was missing.
"Eh, no one's guarding this time…" She approached the stone tablet. Luc had always glared at her whenever she had tried to approach or touch it. It was just the chance she always wanted: to be able to get near the stone tablet without being glowered at.
"Ah, there's Lord Riou's name here! Yay! My name is carved here too! But why is my name so far away from Lord Riou's? Mou…" The girl touched her carved name on the stone, "Well, I'll tell Sir Hai Yo tomorrow to remove my name and place it closer to Lord Riou's name… now's time for… for… for… a… a… ACHOOO!"
---END OF FLASHBACK…---
"So you SNEEZED!" Everyone shrieked, ignoring the fact that Viki had mistaken Jude for Hai Yo.
"Yeah. And when I opened my eyes, the stone wasn't there anymore. I wonder what happened…" Viki replied innocently.
All stars let out a deep, deep breath.
While everybody was murmuring and contemplating the situation, Riou was clutching his hands nervously, desperately hoping that the stone tablet wasn't somewhere in Highland. Jowy would have something to laugh at him forever if it really happened. Luc seemed to be thinking about the same thing regarding Sasarai, and Shu regarding Leon Silverburg.
Then suddenly Apple sat up, approaching the whiteboard with a scary face.
"W---What are you going to do, Apple?" Shu asked.
All the people looked at Apple, horrified. Who on earth knew what would the usually calm strategist do when she's frenzied?
Nanami could have sworn that Apple looked like she was about to kill someone until she realized that the thing Apple was holding wasn't sword/knife/Fire Spear. It was just a board marker.
A moment later, Nanami's messy handwritings were replaced by Apple's neat ones.
"WHERE THE HELL IS THE STONE TABLET…" Riou murmured as he read the writings on the white board. He cringed. It was not slightly better than the previous one, but at least it was more readable.
"So," Apple forced out a smile, "Shall we restart the meeting with this new topic?"
Everyone moaned.
XXX
A few hours later, a soldier reported that he had found the stone tablet among the thick bushes at the entrance of the headquarters.
XXX
OWARI