It was raining. No, don't say it should have been a bright and sunny day, with children playing and merchants raving. That would be the optimum weather for a happy occasion, but the trends of reality work well away from most ideals.

The blanket of pearly things suddenly decided to begin its usual raid across the city of Payon, quickly changing the minds of those who had thought it would have been a good day for mountain spelunking. (As it turns out, it was a Igreat/I day for mountain spelunking. Especially if you're out already) Children squealed gleefully in the now plentiful puddles as their much dismayed parents could only watch on helplessly.

Destiny's sadistic mechanism had kicked into play.

Chapter 2:

In which we cover

-Ungovernable weather (complete)

-Invisible weather

-The suspicious lack of population amongst cities

-The obviousness of stalking

-Relationships

-The basis of healing the undead

-Uncanny dodging prowess

-The bottomless inventory

-Gabriel: the little in the big

-----------------------------------

"So this is Payon," said Vermin.

"Yes," said Alex.

"And you mentioned it was raining," said Vermin again.

"Yes."

"Well?"

"…"

"I mean, if it's raining, where are those little sky projectiles you call 'rain'?"

"…"

"Right, now you're going to tell me you're in some alternate universe with high-rise buildings and you're living in a house sandwiched a hundred feet up in the air in-between two other houses atop each other, and you're going to go shut the windows to keep the rain out while your conscious body in this world freezes up as your soul performs a inter-dimensional leap into that other universe of yours."

"…"

"Wait, you've frozen up again?"

"No."

"Oh, good."

And here was Payon, in all its green glory. Traditional Chinese houses filled your sight the moment you walked in; or at least, after you've gone through the first city wall. A guard was there to greet them as they walked past, and a man here and there, but that was about it. No performers in the street, no kids leaping about, not a soul on the street. If you had to skim through the list of citizens of Payon to find a man called 'Wen Hei', it wouldn't take you a minute.

It had the usual people you'd meet though, the Kafra representative of Payon ("Hello, adventurer! The Kafra Cooperation will always be with you…" and that was all they heard as Vermin hurried them both away), Mrs Smile (though Vermin suspected she was a twin to the one in Prontera…or Izlude…or Morroc…or Geffen…), and the local smiths (funny how they'd always say and sell the same things in ever city, thought Vermin), and random groupies hanging out in the city square (some apparently inert).

And there was a funny thing about vendors. They have a cart about half a metre in length and things much smaller than it, but by some optical miracle Vermin was able to view every detail of the goods within the cart twenty feet away. Technology these days.

"I wonder what 'afk' means?" Vermin thought aloud. A few possibilities sprung up. 'Another Fill of Keg', 'Ain't Finking, Kay?' and 'Aww Fing Knaves' made up the majority of them.

"…"

"Ah," said Vermin understandably. Alex was the kind who didn't like answering too many questions; and Vermin's capacity of 'many' was slowly nearing the millions.

"So, who was the lady sniper that saved us just now?" Vermin continued, viewing more shops with his telescopic vision.

"…"

"The one you called your guardian angel."

"Gabriele."

"Who?"

"Gabriele."

"Oh," Vermin said nonplussed. Alex was a problem, saying things so simply. It usually took one of his restatements before you actually understood.

Vermin glanced into the bush on the far right of their position, and looked back at Alex, "You know, I think your Gabriele's stalking us, from those bushes over there."

"…"

"In fact, I saw her dodging from tree trunk to tree trunk, when we were still in the forest. And I remember seeing her rolling behind the buildings to avoid us."

"…"

"What's the deal with that? I mean…we don't bite…and she saved us once, so shouldn't we be the one following her around? And…how the heck did I see her anyway? I Idistinctly/I remember seeing her with my eyes looking the opposite direction. In fact, I think I got an aerial view of the entire place."

"Gabriele likes to stalk people," said Alex.

It was one of those times he actually spoke again. Vermin awed at this rare happening once more, before ending the moment, "A stalker, huh? But doesn't she know you pretty well?"

"She has a crush on me."

"You! Of all people. How did…wait, I have a feeling I don't want to know."

Vermin's mind flicked into self-confinement. Well, looking at it one way, this couple were much better off than beauty and the beast (needless to say), but there were a few things between you can't deny were...peculiar .

First would be their height. It seemed Snow White had cantered off with one of the seven dwarves. Alex's and Gabriele had such disproportional heights that any matchmaker would be driven insane by the sheer effort of how the two love birds (or love hummingbird and ostrich) could ever have the probability that they'd be coupled.

Second, anybody who loved Alex must have been paid to do so. It was one of those things in the world a person was allowed to like, but would be generally labelled a freak if he obsessed over it. It was just that he was too IsimpleI. Anybody in their right mind would be driven insane after a month of living with him. Every non-ordinary action he performed meant another point for your mind in regression.

And third, it seems any true relationship between the two would be impossible if one was stalking the other. Unless of course they had a long distance telepathic relationship; that would explain Alex's silence...

Nah.

"So," the voice of Vermin loomed behind Alex, "Why don't you call her over?"

"I mean, introduce Gabriele to me! I'd go spare if I couldn't meet the girl of my friend's dream! Besides, secrets are a girl thing, right?"

Morbid silence ensued.

"Okay..." Vermin mumbled, "So you're not the average Joe I know...wait, that rhymes..."

"She likes to stalk people," said a spontaneous Alex. His eyes never wavered away once, not that he was looking at Vermin anyway, "It keeps her happy."

"You like secret admirers?" Vermin teased.

"I like guardian angels," stated Alex. And that was all.

It was amazing, how impossibly simple or honest words could end a conversation right there and then. All you had to know was what they were, and you could stop a preacher from doing his sermons.

"Well, this is dandy," Vermin noted as a large purple falcon swooped towards the duo. It was the same one they saw in the forest, odd ornaments still adorning its body…plus a new one…

"Is that a IhammerI I see in its beak?"

The falcon dived.

The falcon exploded.

Beyond all fundamental laws of explosions, the falcon flew cheerily in the direction of Gabriela. (one of the laws was that anything directly within the explosion was obliterated (except trees))

"Did you just see that?" piped Vermin.

"Yes."

Vermin gave up. There was no reasoning with a simple man, because everything presented to him was immediately accepted.

"I wonder who that falcon belongs to? Blowing up like that. Curious that it was heading for Gabriele, though," said a Vermin with his hands cupped over his eyes.

"Gabriele's," stated Alex.

"Wha...oh," Vermin was getting used to him, at least. If Alex said anything, it meant that he was answering your question. Plus, if you ignore the logic behind his answers, that would be a bonus.

"It's…a cave," said Vermin.

And so it was. Behold, the blithering dim of forever darkness, winding determinately through the crust of the earth. Volatile forms of chiropterans spewed forth from the bowls of the cave, letting loose an eerie chorus of screeches before disintegrating their pyrophoric bodies in the warmth of the sun.

It failed to achieve the desired level eeriness.

"You know, it'd really help if your Gabriele could distract some of those hulking zombies over there. You know…throw rocks at them or something while we…throw more rocks at them?"

Vermin was good at thinking. He didn't suggest throwing his mace or Alex's sword at them. (Now Istones/I on the other hand were bloody brilliant. Ever seen an acolyte throwing stones?)

Alex looked from Gabriela to Vermin, then from Vermin to Gabriele. He gave an almost invisible nodding gesture to Gabriela.

Gabriele shied out from her hiding place obediently, eying Vermin conspiratorially as she stood by Alex.

Alex whispered something into Gabriele's ear, and she replied with a nod. She took a few steps toward the yammering zombies…

…and plopped onto the floor.

It was Vermin's turn to be suspicious of Alex. He jerked a questioning eyebrow at Alex's relative position, only to find that he had displaced himself five feet further from Vermin, and was seated too.

The zombies looked stupidly at the motionless sniper. It was human. It was larger than the other two mulling about behind her. It had more flesh to chew on. And so the zombies decided to lumber towards Gabriele, making the usual generic zombie sounds and anticipating lunch already.

"You know, that's wasn't what I had in mind…" complained Vermin.

"Heal them," beckoned Alex.

"Wha…wait, don't answer," Vermin considered this for a while. 'Them' was referring to 'those bunch of brain sucking zombies over there'. 'Heal' referred to the donning of healing powers upon chosen being. So healing zombies would undoubtedly be beneficial to them, as their already mortal wounds and decompositions would be revitalised if Vermin followed Alex's advice, and give them an extra edge in terms of muscle power, meaning Gabriele would be inflicted with more pain than necessary, and ending with a very dismayed Alex. (Though the thought was interesting)

All in all, Vermin surmised Alex's proposal as a 'bad idea'.

Meanwhile, the zombies were now surrounding Gabriele with zombie malice (in other words, 'urggghhh'). They lashed out with unheroic strength and invariable might. They managed the improbable (if not impossible). They missed Gabriele completely.

Gabriele had that '?' look on her face as the zombies produced arm after flailing arm before her, somehow landing only a few inches from her face but never actually touching or much less hurting her in any way. The zombies persisted to assault her with erroneous ignorance. (Much to their own glee, of course; every hit meant a hit closer to a meal, according to zombie theology)

As the zombies continued their endless crusade against the invincible Gabriele, Vermin turned back to Alex. "I don't think your idea's a very good one," he mused.

"Heal them," Alex repeated.

"Look, what good would that do…"

"Heal them."

This is why ignoring logic paid off. You weren't reward the Nobel Prize for debate and discussion if you cussed at Alex for half your life.

"If you say so," shrugged a Vermin in a 'whatever' mood.

Green tendrils of energy sprung forth around one of the varying zombies around Gabriele, and healed it.

Of course, the zombie didn't flex its newly grown muscles of anything. You can't, because technically, if your arm was alive and you're undead, you'd lose control over the thing because it had lost its undeathlyness. It's like life, really; you can't control a part of your body which doesn't have life in it, can you?

Interesting, thought Vermin. It became apparent that the mechanics of the world didn't work idealistically. God doesn't hand out freebies to you even if you pray to him five times a day. Cows don't actually go 'moo', contrary to popular belief (they make a 'nyuuuuu' sound instead. You could even hear the 'u's extending out)

And apparently, zombies don't become stronger once you've healed them.

So off Vermin went, healing the poor lads. They were still enticed by Gabriele, who was lying down in a lazy sort of way, oblivious to the invalid omen of doom before her.

And soon, all the zombies became healthy individuals once more; meaning they were dead. (no longer undead, to put it another way)

The blare of trumpets erupted above Vermin as his guardian angel bounded off his head with karate-like force and leapt up above him, wings arced wide. 'Level up!' she said. '!#$' said Vermin. She soon vanished in her mysterious way, and fizzled out of reality.

"There she is again," Vermin muttered ominously, "IMy/I guardian angel. You're lucky to have a non-violent Cherub flaunting you with praise."

"…"

"Anyway, what mystical expulsion of random items do we have this time?" Vermin kneeled beside Gabriele, who rose up to observe Vermin keenly, "Looks like…a few decayed nails, a bit of goo, a pair of shoes…sandals, by the looks of it and…hmm, an opal."

Alex had snatched the shoes while Vermin studied the opal, stuffing it into a small pouch hanging from his belt.

"Say," Vermin cited, "Didn't you already have a potion in that pouch?"

"Yes," replied Alex.

"So…how do you stuff a pair of shoes twice the size of that pouch…wait, don't bother answering, I'll have to see it to believe it."

Vermin trotted over to Alex, and yanked the pouch into his face. What he saw was not a pair of smelly shoes, or a bottle of potion.

What he saw was Ihundreds/I of gleaming potion bottles, with the shoes lost somewhere in-between the potions. He also spotted a cutlass, a full set of plate armour, greaves, various headgears and a butterfly.

The bag was practically a twelve foot pit, by the looks of it. Vermin didn't bother looking back down again.

"Okay…so that's how you've been carrying all those stuff around."

Vermin decided that this was one of those times when logic didn't play a very big role in the situation.

"Well, I guess I'll just pick off the rest of the loot here and…yup, I think the local merchant would appreciate our efforts and…ahem…pay a bit of bounty for some of the goods," Vermin was gearing into his economic state of mind now. A merchant trait, if you will.

Gabrielle was only a few inches taller than Vermin, but she made all the height she wanted with her status as a sniper. A very Ipowerful/I sniper, one might add, but that'd only make whoever was facing her go into shock much faster. She stood like a giant beside Vermin, looked from his stricken face to the bag of items…then…

"Gimme, gimme, gimme, GIMME!" squealed a very young spirit. It appeared that Gabriele was Ion/I Vermin. Squrming. Arms held out for Vermin's bag. It was daunting, to be flung to the floor by quite a large woman, and of great authority, and pressed against various body parts best not mentioned. She was also quite heavy. (not that acolytes had much strength to lift things)

"You know, Alex!" Vermin yelled to the impassive persona sitting smugly away from the scene, "This situation would be really funny if it weren't me in it! Get my drift! If you wouldn't mind getting your oh-so violent guardian angel off me, my dear friend!"

Vermin swore. Vermin should be laughing, dreading, anything with regards to emotion. But he wasn't. He had a blank face, unmoved by the sudden chain of events, and more importantly, oblivious to Vermin's many ensuing cries of pleas/pain/struggle.

Finally, Gabriele had a hold on Vermin's bag. That was probably because she was sitting on him now, causing Vermin to be breathless, and moreover, unconscious.

"You didn't have to do that," Alex stated.

"Mmm…but these should be your items!" squealed the very young spirit. She branched out her arms (while sitting on Vermin) to present the bag to Alex (while sitting on Vermin), hoping a smile and a little gift would let her get away with it. (while sitting on Vermin)

Alex took Gabriele's hand, but pulled her up from Vermin rather than take the loot from her. He patted her back (Gabrielle's shoulders were a tad uncomfortable to reach for a man of Alex's height) and swept Vermin onto his shoulders. (he still retained his knightly strength)

"This was the deal," Alex whispered to Vermin, who acknowledged him with a gentle snore (apparently, he woke up and slept almost instantaneously), "You let me see your Guardian Angel, I let you see mine."