Chapter 3: Memories
At this point, Jaxen, Lyo, Liena, and Melanie are walking down the street, liking ice cream off their ice cream cones as they talk. Liena is not concentrated on the conversation, though. It seems that Lyo and Jaxen are doing most of the talking, with Melanie listening and Liena losing focus every second. Liena looks at Jaxen and smiles. She always seems to smile whenever Jaxen is enjoying himself. 'Hm…' Liena thinks as Lyo and Jaxen's voices begin to get even more distant. She looks at the sun, which is setting. Then she looks at Jaxen and flashes a smile at him, only to get responded with a smile of his own. 'I've got to admit… The best smile I've ever seen in my life came from you, Jaxen… and the sun helped… It must have been that day…'
Meanwhile, Melanie is looking at Lyo and Jaxen and smiling at them, thinking, 'These two… You wouldn't even believe that they weren't anything special at first glance… I learned that looks could be deceiving… that day… '
Now, Jaxen, Liena, Lyo, and Melanie were in one of the Inn's rooms. Due to the fact that there were two beds in each room, Lyo and Jaxen were to spend the night in the room across the hall while Liena and Melanie were to spend the night in the same room that everyone was in. Liena and Jaxen were sitting down on the marble floor as Lyo and Melanie were sitting on one of the beds. All of a sudden, the sound of a fist hitting against the door could be heard. Melanie walked over to the door ad opened it, revealing a boy, no older than thirteen, in clothes that somewhat was similar to Jaxen's garments. Melanie was paying more attention to the box that the boy had in his hand and opened the box, sniffing before nodding. "So, how much will that be?" Melanie asked.
The boy gave the box to Melanie before looking up at the ceiling, thinking, before he looked at Melanie. "I would say about twenty gil." Jaxen walked up and took the box from Melanie before Melanie took out two small coins, made out of silver and handed it to the boy. "Thanks!" the boy yelled out. "But, you don't need to give me this much!"
Melanie smiled, "Consider it your tip. Go out and buy yourself something good to eat, okay?" Melanie asked, closed her eyes and smiling.
The boy nodded before he rushed off down the stairs, saying, "Thank you!" on his way down.
Melanie smiled before closing the door. Lyo looked back at Jaxen before he looked at Melanie, saying, "You're pretty nice, Melanie."
Melanie looked down at the ground, playing with her hair, "Um… Uh… thanks." Jaxen placed the box on the nightstand, in-between the two beds before he opened the box. Inside was a perfectly intact cheese pizza. Despite the fact that Jaxen didn't particularly like cheese pizza, he wanted to make everyone else happy so he didn't want to order anything else and ruin their appetite. At the point that Jaxen had gotten around to cutting the pizza with a knife that was nearby, Melanie was seated at the footboard of the same bed that Lyo was sitting on and on the other side, Liena had gotten off of the floor and sat across from Melanie. Once he had cut a slice free, he nudged over to Melanie to grab the piece. Melanie stood up and said, "I don't need mine first."
Jaxen shook his head, "Come on, you're the one who paid for it," he said with a smile on his face. The sunlight shining in from the window behind him made his smile glisten as Melanie nodded and walked over to him. "See? You should at least benefit from helping us. I know this isn't a lot, though… So, I'll think up of something to really make up for helping, don't you worry!" Jaxen nodded.
Melanie shook her head as she picked up her slice. "It's nothing. I kind of owe you after I got you guys in trouble with the bandits. It really is nothing…" Melanie sighed. At this point Lyo had already helped himself to a slice giving reason behind the sigh that escaped Jaxen's mouth.
Jaxen shook his head before he turned t Liena. Jaxen smiled at her, saying, "Liena, you want one, right?" Liena quickly nodded before Jaxen passed her a slice. Jaxen sat on the same bed as Liena as Melanie went back to her seat at the footboard of the bed. Jaxen cut his own piece and while one of his hands held the pizza, one was below the pizza, just in case anything on the pizza was to fall. Jaxen bit the pizza and began chewing, looking out the same window on the nightstand, saying, Reminds me of the day when we first me, Liena… Lyo."
Liena smiled as she looked at the sunset, "yeah, you're right Jaxen. It does bring back memories." Liena nodded to Lyo before se thought, 'Even then, even before I knew his name, I was still his damsel-in-distress…' Liena sighed.
Melanie was obviously confused as to what Jaxen and Lena were talking about so she was about to open her mouth to ask them a question. But soon she decided against it and just took a bite out of her pizza. Jaxen looked back at Melanie and laughed slightly, "I'd bet you're lost as to what we're talking about." Melanie reluctantly nodded. "Well, it must have been around a couple moths ago. I found both of these people in the desert…" Jaxen started to remember the day as he continued:
A younger Jaxen was walking down the road ad arrived at the opening to another part of the Sakaboku Desert. The young Jaxen put his hands behind his head as he walked somewhat casually to the sand of the desert.
"I can remember that I was feeling bored and lonely. Bored because nothing really happened in my village ad lonely because it was the anniversary of my mom's death."
The younger Jaxen just looked out at the sand, sighing.
"I always seemed to go out there and just randomly look out at the desert. I didn't really talk much back then. I didn't know what I was looking for, I still don't know. Or even why I was looking for it in the desert," Jaxen said. "But, I have a theory, though. The desert reminded me of myself, desolate, alone, and despite the fact that I wouldn't admit it to myself, lonely."
"Jaxen..." Lyo, Liena, and Melanie said in sadness.
"I know, get on topic, right?" Jaxen asked.
The younger Jaxen heard a scream from the distance and rushed towards the source. After traveling past one of the sand dunes, the younger Jaxen looked to see two people on the ground and rushed over to them as a sand worm appeared. Jaxen yelled out, "Flame!" as a ball of fire flew into one of the eyes of the sand worm. Jaxen shot another ball of fire into the other eye of the sand worm. At once, when the sand worm's head lunged within a few feet of him, Jaxen grabbed one of the bodies before rushing towards the next body. At this point, the sand worm was unaware of where Jaxen was and out of rage, kept digging its head into the ground. Once he reached the other body, he began dragging them through the sad, knowing that he couldn't carry them.
"You see, I wasn't really thinking when I did that so, yeah," Jaxen simply said. "Well, anyways…"
Liena sighed, "I think I can take over from here, Jaxen. Thanks."
The younger Liena woke up in a tent. For a split second, she was afraid but, soon enough her fear evaporated once she looked at her wounds, all covered with bandages. Liena laid down, just looking up at the top of the tent as Jaxen walked in. While she probably would've lunged at him at first chance, she could barely move. "So, how are my patients doing, today? Oh, one of you is awake. How're you doing?" Liena tried to move but it proved to useless. Jaxen sighed, saying, "That's what I thought." Liena sighed before Jaxen continued, "You both were doing pretty horribly when I found you…" Liena gasped and Jaxen smiled. "You remember now, huh? Well, anyways, disregarding the fact that I dragged you here… You were in pretty bad shape to begin with. You must have been asleep for two days. It's kind of lucky that my elder took care of you two so well." Jaxen nodded. "So, what were you two doing out there in the desert?"
Liena gulped before she opened her mouth, "We're on vacation and we went outside to explore and got a little bit sidetracked…"
Jaxen sighed. "The closest place to here is Flamar, which is at least a week's walk from here."
Liena groaned. "Can I just rest, now, please?"
Jaxen quickly nodded. "That was what I was about to suggest. I'll come in and check on you two later, okay?" Jaxen walked out of the tent. Now, the whole tent was silent besides from Lyo and Liena's breathing which could barely be heard.
Lyo sighed, "'We were on vacation and we went outside to explore before we got sidetracked'? That was your clever explanation!"
Jaxen laughed, "That's what I was thinking. What kind of nutcase would even think that was true, huh?" Jaxen flicked his hair up before looking back at Liena. "But, you didn't stutter or anything… You're a good liar. I wonder what else you must have gotten out of in the last few years…" Liena raised her hand to hit Jaxen before she gasped and put her hand down on the bed, next to Jaxen's, just simply looking at him. Jaxen blinked before he asked Liena, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
Once Jaxen blinked again, Liena's eyes returned to normal before she said, "Nothing important…" Liena looked away from Jaxen. 'His eyes… They turned white for a little bit there… What was that all about?' Liena thought as she tried to turn her attention back to Jaxen's statement. "Just surprised that you would accuse me of lying… You know that I'm as truthful as can be!"
Liena's comment followed a small and nervous laugh as Lyo smirked, "I'm sorry, Liena. Maybe Melanie and I should go to the other room across the hall… Just so you and Jaxen could have your way with each other…" Lyo closed his eyes and nodded. On the last nod, though, Jaxen and Liena's fists thrust his head down. Almost immediately afterwards. Lyo held the back of head, groaning. He looked up to see the angry, not to mention embarrassed faces of Jaxen and Liena and the partly worried face of Melanie.
"Anyways, while Lyo takes a good amount of time thing, Liena, how about you continue the story?" Jaxen asked. His face had already returned to its brimming smile. With a smile and a wink that seemed to be even more significant with the setting sun behind him, Liena's eyes glittered before she smiled and nodded.
Liena was lying in her bed until sunset. She sighed as she remembered what happened to her. Nevertheless, she couldn't even tell her brother what had happened, let alone a stranger. Once she looked to the side, she saw a shadow near the tent's entrance. Not knowing who it was, she turned her head and closed her eyes, trying to deceive them into thinking that she was asleep. She opened one of her eyes to see Jaxen and tried to hide her face. However, she heard the words, 'Come on, I know you're not asleep…' before she turned her head to meet Jaxen's smiling face. She looked down to see a small bowl in his hand with a wooden spoon. He sat down on one of the stools and smiled at her before he took a little spoonful of something and tried to put it in her mouth.
When her mouth denied entry, he sighed and said, "Come on, open up. Come on; just let me help you out, okay? Then once you get better, then you can leave, kay?" Jaxen smiled at Liena before she slowly but surely opened her mouth. Once the liquid had entered her mouth, she swallowed while in her mind she was thinking, 'This is really good… I should at least say thanks…' She couldn't help flashing a smile before he said, "Thank you… Um… What's your name?"
"Jaxen. Jaxen Mihuru. And if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" Jaxen asked, smiling at Liena.
"Liena… Kingstrope!" Liena bit her lip and laughed nervously before she continued. "Uh… sorry. Liena Kingsthrope is my name. Over there is my brother, Lyo. We're traveling around after getting captured by bandits… when you found us, that is."
Jaxen nodded, "Ah, so that's what you two were doing out there. Yes, bandits do turn out to be a problem here… So, Liena, where do you come from?"
"Wardling… Phoro, Wardling. It's not in this country," Liena said solemnly.
"Probably would've guessed," Jaxen said. "It's not like we don't know about our own continent, y'know?"
"Uh… yeah," Liena nodded quickly as she slurped up more of the liquid. "This is really good… I guess you aren't like those bandits, huh?"
"Probably not," Jaxen said solemnly as he stood up and walked out.
'I guess I shouldn't have said that… I would say sorry…' Liena tried to get up but she struggled. Eventually, to stop herself from spilling her soup collapsed back on her bed. "Damn it…" she said. She stayed there for another few minutes; well at least that's what it felt like. By the time she had bothered to look at the crack in the tent, the sunset was about to end and yet Jaxen hadn't returned. Liena looked at Lyo, who seemed to have not spurred ever since they came here. The only way that she was sure that he was alive was the rising of his chest and his loud snoring. Liena laughed. 'I guess you're not like those bandits, huh?' and with remembering that, her laugh was stifled.
Suddenly, she arrived at the decision to try to get up again. She did not know the reason why she cared so much about what Jaxen thought. All she knew was that he was one of the first boys her age that wasn't concerned with making her "bear their children" or "give them release." If he did, he hid it, unlike other boys that she knew. 'Possibly if he ever went to Wardling, he would be the same,' Liena thought. Then she remembered his smile; so carefree and innocent. She had been around too many men who had a seductive smile or a smile that made her feel as if she was inferior. Jaxen's smile, though, was too much like what she always wanted to see from her dates, a smile that could never be tainted, no matter what could happen or no matter what temptation would approach them. She thought all of this as she attempted to get up. This motivated her more on her goal: to apologize. Since she was distracted as to actually getting up, she was that more amazed when she ended up on her feet, taking a slow few steps that led her out of the tent.
"Aw, man! And I was asleep through all of this?" Lyo yelled out suddenly, interrupting Liena as she was telling the story. "Man, do I just miss everything?" Lyo's sudden reaction was taken full-heartedly as the other three people began snickering, which developed into laughter. "Yeah, just laugh at me, why don't ya? Don't you think I have more feelings than I'm letting on?" Melanie stopped laughing and was about to say something as Jaxen and Liena began laughing loudly. Lyo grumbled, "Man, you two are so perfect for each other…"
Jaxen and Liena could easily hear what Lyo said but they still asked, "Lyo, did you say something?" before Jaxen glared at Lyo, showing a ball of fire that he was holding in his hand. When Lyo quickly shook his head, Jaxen and Liena said, "Didn't think so," before Jaxen and Liena nodded towards each other. Soon, Jaxen's fireball had disappeared and so did Lyo's face of fear. Jaxen looked at Lyo with an intimidating face, telling him that he could easily make another one before Liena continued with the story:
She walked out of the tent and looked around for Jaxen. Seeing him on the ground near the entrance to the village, she casually walked towards him, drawing the attention of some of the people in the village. Once she looked at herself, she noticed her tattered clothes and grinned, rubbing the back of her head. 'Man, I shouldn't have come outside… My clothes are so messed up; I'm surprised that they can hold up right now.' Trying to avoid drawing and unneeded attention to herself, she hurried to where Jaxen was. Before she could open her mouth to talk, she looked to see that Jaxen was sewing. Beside him was a pair of sandals, while they were not extravagant and such, Liena seemed drawn to them as she saw Jaxen sew. She took another step forward, catching Jaxen's attention as she sat down beside him. Jaxen knew that she was there; but he did not act upon it, his eyes paying close attention to what he was sewing.
When Liena looked at what Jaxen was sewing, she opened her eyes and gasped, 'That's a…' She gulped as she saw Jaxen's hands, well bloodied and bruised from what he had done today. 'He seems so… nice…' When he held up his finished product, he smiled, finally paying attention to the girl beside him. "So, you sew?"
Jaxen nodded, "Yeah, I do. I'm usually busy trying to fend for myself. That's when I learned how to sew. This dress is for someone in the village. But, those sandals…" Jaxen closed his eyes and smiled at Liena, "those are for you." Liena looked at the sandals. She smiled back at Jaxen, about to forget the reason why she had come out of the tent. Jaxen looked at the sun, which was sinking below the horizon at this point.
"The sunset… It's nice out here, Jaxen," Liena said.
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Jaxen asked. It was rhetorical question so he didn't expect Liena to answer it as he felt the breeze and put the dress that he just sewed on his lap. "My mom ad I… We'd always watch the sunset together. My dad was never around and… well, I grew up the last six years by myself." Jaxen nodded.
"Oh…" Liena said, remembering what she had said to Jaxen before she exclaimed, "I'm sorry!" Then Liena covered her mouth out of embarrassment. Jaxen, looking at Liena, removed her hand from her mouth and just simply smiled at her. Liena looked down at the ground, continuing her statement with a soft voice, "For everything. I didn't want to make you feel bad. Just… this country wasn't pleasant to me before I ran into you." Liena used her index finger to make symbols on the ground, waiting for Jaxen to say something in response to what she had said.
Jaxen winked at Liena, raising her spirits as he said, "No problem! As for this country treating you badly, then I'll work harder to make your visit here more pleasant!" Jaxen nodded.
"Then, after that, Lyo and I stayed at Jaxen's village for a little bit. As we stayed, we told Jaxen about our home country of Wardling and that made him want to go to Wardling as well. So, that's how we met and how we ended up here," Liena said, looking outside. The sun had sunk beyond the horizon and everyone was showing traces of falling asleep. "Well, anyways, let's go to sleep, kay?" Jaxen, Lyo, and Melanie nodded in confusion before Jaxen and Lyo went to their rooms. Melanie and Liena, on the other hand, just laid down on the bed that they were sitting on. Liena waited until she could hear Melanie's faint breathing before she mutters, "Man, that was different…" Liena blinks as she remembers the day before. "Does that have something to do with what I saw yesterday? Maybe Jaxen has something wrong with him…" Liena grips her blankets on her bed as she turns to the other side.
"Damn it… I despise this… not knowing…" Liena said before she stood up and slowly tip-toed out of the room. She closes the door before she notices a figure going downstairs. Noticing the clothes, she automatically assumed him as Jaxen as she rushed towards him just find herself to be blocked by two people. 'Damn it… Where did those two come from!' She looks to her hand to see a third person walk past her, forcing her to drop the shuriken that was in her hand. When she bent over to get the shuriken, she heard someone say, 'Damn, nice ass!' before she felt something touch her butt.
Liena's expression went from a calm and carefree one to an embarrassed one, filled with murderous intent. When she picks up her shuriken, she quickly walks past the three people before her anger erupted, like a volcano. As she prepared to throw her shuriken, she sees a hand force her hand down. "Hey, let me go!" she shouts as she looks to see that it was Jaxen. 'But… I could've sworn that he left… I…' Despite the fact that she was in control, she couldn't help but blush at Jaxen, not only for her intent to do a rash act but also because she knew that Jaxen knew what happened. 'I… I… I can just tell… in his eyes.' Liena put her shuriken back into her pouch before she softly said, "Thanks Jaxen… If you hadn't come, then maybe they would be-"
Jaxen shakes his head before he opens the door behind him, pointing at Liena before he winked at her and did a motion with his finger, slowly flicking it back and forth. Liena knew what this meant and followed him out of the door. Feeling the cool breeze of outside, Liena walked forward a step but stopped as soon as Jaxen turned around. Jaxen smiled at Liena before he says, "You shouldn't have tried that…" Jaxen wagged his finger as he smiled at Liena. "We don't want you to be turning into a bad girl, now, do we?" Jaxen flicked his hair up.
"No… We don't do we?" Liena says, smiling back at Jaxen. "I guess you always seem to be my hero, Jaxen. Can't say that I'm surprised… At least, not as much as I probably wish it to be…"
Jaxen sighed. "You need more confidence, Liena. How can you be so confident about everything else besides from this topic?" Jaxen closed his eyes and shaked his head. At the sound of someone else coming, Jaxen opened his eyes to see Melanie. "Melanie…" At the sight of her sweating body and her rapid heartbeat, Jaxen couldn't help but ask, "Is everything okay?"
Melanie took a deep breath. The whole area fell silent as she did that. An "I'm fine," barely escaped from her mouth. "I was just worried when I didn't see Liena in our room and I…" Melanie's voice was trailing off at this point. At the sight of Jaxen and Liena's worried looks, Melanie's voice was also getting a tinge of uncertainty. She was uncertain that they believed what she was saying. Melanie breathed out again before she said, "I… No, everything is not okay…" Melanie runs her hand through her air before she continues. "I… used to have a teacher, back when I was a mercenary… I mean, a mercenary-in-training, I guess… and my friends and I were training under him… Well, you see, all of those people are…" Melanie suddenly broke out in tears before she attempted to continue, "de-"
"I get it… and you want to…" Jaxen partly had a clear idea on what she wanted to do but he wasn't completely sure.
"I want to see them again… Just one more time before we leave…" Melanie looked down at the ground. "So, will you just let me go?"
Jaxen laughed. "What? We're not allowed?" Melanie looks at Jaxen strangely but mostly in astonishment. "I know that you won't go and run off on us but… I want to see that you're okay. How about it?"
Melanie's face turned from one of astonishment to one of happiness. "Yeah, of course! Thanks, Jaxen!"
Liena sighed, saying, "What am I now? Chopped liver? Lyo and I are going as well. Lyo will probably follow you anywhere and I want to help you out!" Liena tilted her head slightly, closed her eyes, and smiled at Melanie.
Melanie nodded, saying, "Yes, ma'am!"
"Good. But we can't travel on no sleep, though. We'll go tomorrow, okay?" Jaxen asked, receiving nods in response from both girls. "Good! Now let's head to bed! Again!" Jaxen rushed into the hotel.
Melanie and Liena laughed before they both nod to each other and entered the hotel as well.