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Chapter 2: Grounded
Arie Hallow can really only be considered a town in the last five years. It was originally founded as a research facility for mages and guilds to properly investigate the nearby ruins. But with less to learn from them, the researchers abandoned it and it was slowly converted into a village to meet the sudden flow of people migrating to Hypionia. While the town was bigger than places like Halure, it still gave off a very country side vibe.
When it was first settled, the area had been cleared of trees and plants. But since it started turning into a settlement, there have been work to regrow the trees inside the town. Small trees were starting to grow all over the place. It was like the magistrate was trying to turn this place into another Halure.
There was even construction for a stone wall to help better protect the town. But there were still plenty of places to sneak through to get out of the town without the guards noticing. Hence how Raiden and Rune got in and out without any of the knights noticing.
Both of their mothers would probably be home by now. They're best bet was to sneak in to their own rooms and act like they were there the whole time. Would it work? Raiden was almost sure it wouldn't. But he was still going to try.
"Well, well. It looks like I found a couple of trouble makers," a familiar voice said to them and it made both of them flinch as they had been walking causally through the town.
They turned around to see a man in his upper twenties. He had messy brown hair tied back and had an eye patch over his right eye that partially covered a large scar that looked like a clawed monster caught the right side of his face. He was wearing dark pants and a grey button shirt that wasn't tucked in and the top few buttons were open. There was even an unsheathed broadsword on his back which Raiden always thought it was interesting that he could wield it well considering he had a normal stature that was about the same size as Raiden's father.
"Oh, hey Paul," Raiden said nervously. "When did you get here?"
"A couple of hours ago," Paul said with a knowing smile.
There was a small uncomfortable silence between the three of them. Then Rune finally asked, "Did our moms send you to come look for us?"
"Yep," Paul answered.
"Are they mad?" Raiden asked so they could gauge how much trouble they were in.
Paul started to chuckle at that. "Oh yeah, Rita is ready to tear the whole place apart looking for you two."
And whatever mood they had been in immediately dropped knowing that they were doomed. In fact, Rune looked like he was about to get sick. They'd have to listen to Rune's mother angry scolding and Raiden would have to look at his mother's disappointment. Raiden was sure that he'd rather his mom just yell at him then having her look worried or sad because of him.
"Come on kiddos, time to face the music," Paul motioned for them to follow him back to their homes.
"How tempted are you to just flee?" Raiden asked Rune and not caring if Paul heard him.
"Just tell me when," Rune told him with his head down.
"Don't make me hunt you two down," Paul commented.
Both of the boys glared at the older man. The need to flee was high, but both of them went ahead to face their punishment. Plus Paul wouldn't be afraid to use force on them if they did run.
Eventually Paul led them to Raiden's house where he saw his mother waiting for them on the steps of their porch. She was wearing a short sleeve yellow dress. Her pink hair was resting over her shoulders with a ribbon tied at the bottom of it. "Raiden," she said as relief filled her face. She practically ran down he steps to them.
"Found them entering the town, Ms. Estelle," Paul informed her. He even pushed the boys so they were face to face with Raiden's mother.
Before any of them could say another word, they could hear Rune's mother coming. They saw the short woman with brown hair and wearing a long red mage robe walking from the center of the village to the house. "I couldn't find them Este-" But the mage's attention quickly fell on them and she stormed toward them. After she dealt both of them a swift strike on the top of their heads, she began yelling, "Where the hell did you two go?"
Both of them were cradling their heads. How could such a small woman pack a punch? Raiden glanced at his mother to see that she had no reaction to the punishment he had received. Then Raiden looked at his friend who was frozen with fear at his mother's anger. He couldn't handle anyone getting angry with him. It just caused him to retreat like a turtle.
So Raiden straightened up and answered her, "We just decided to go train by hunting monsters in the woods nearby." It wasn't a total lie. Raiden had hoped that he would be able to test his artes on some monsters while they were in the ruins. But their lecture would be even longer if their mothers knew what they had really done.
For that, Raiden received another hit on the head by Rune's mother. "And I guess that was your idea, huh?" She yelled.
"Yeah I dragged Rune along," Raiden admitted as he nursed his head and hoped that Rune wouldn't get yelled at as much. Again though, it was basically the truth. Raiden practically had dragged Rune along.
Rune's mother groaned at that and rubbed her temple. "I don't know if I should be more mad at a trouble maker like you or my own kid for not being able to say no to you." She turned away from Raiden and stomped toward Rune who jumped when he was face to face with her. His mother grabbed his collar and started dragging him home. "Come on you. For making me worry about you, you're cleaning the whole lab. Then you have your punishment for skipping school."
She was dragging Rune home when she looked back at Raiden's mother and told her, "Estelle don't you dare go easy on him. He'll never learn."
"Alright Rita," Raiden's mother told her in a light tone. Raiden was a little concerned that his mother was smiling at her friend. "Have a good evening."
Rita continued dragging a terrified Rune back to their home. Raiden just waved at his friend who weakly waved back. No doubt Raiden will hear about what happened the next day at school.
So Raiden turned to face his mother to receive his punishment. However it startled him when his mother suddenly hugged him. Her arms were wrapped tightly around him like she hadn't seen him in a long time. "I was so worried when I heard you weren't at school."
It was strange that Raiden just now became aware that he was starting to get taller than her. He could see the top of her head now. And of course Raiden began to feel incredibly guilty for making her worry about him. "Sorry mom," he apologized.
His mother pulled away, but kept her hands on his shoulders like she was assessing that he was in one piece. "I'm just happy you're safe," she told him.
"Happy enough not to ground me?" Raiden asked with a bit of hope in his voice.
His mother smiled at him. "Nope," she said flatly. "But you'll get one free night since I need more time to decide on what to do with you."
Raiden let out a defeated sight. "Can't blame me for trying."
His mother then turned her attention to Paul and gave a small bow toward him. "Thank you. You helped put my mind at ease," she told him.
Paul scratched the back of his head. "Oh please. You shouldn't thank me. I owe you guys everything. So it's just part of my duty to check on you all," Paul told her.
"Then if you won't take my thanks will you at least accept a meal?" She asked knowing full well what Paul's answer was going to be.
As Raiden expected, Paul looked like someone who hadn't had a decent meal in a while. He tried play it off that it wasn't a big deal though. "Well, since you're offering, I can't really refuse."
"Come inside then and wash up," Estelle told both of them as she walked up to the steps to the house.
With Raiden's mother out of earshot, Paul asked Raiden in a low voice, "So where did the two of you really go?"
"Dwemer Ruins," Raiden answered.
Paul chuckled a little at that. "Yeah, good thing you lied about that. The two of you would have received twice the hits from Rita and a lot of crying from your mom," Paul told him.
Raiden knew Paul wouldn't tell on him. In fact, Paul had helped them sneak out to fight monsters in the past. Raiden always looked up to Paul like an older brother. The type that could get you into trouble. He was practically family at this point, especially since Paul was a member of the guild that Raiden's father helped create.
Raiden and Paul entered the cozy home. The home was two stories with three bedrooms. Their living area had a very comfy sofa and chairs along with several bookshelves filled with books that Raiden had never read. There was a fire place that had a picture of Raiden's father.
"I'm home dad," Raiden said under his breath as he looked at the picture.
His mother held out her hands in front of Raiden. He gave a sigh as he handed over his sheathed swords to her. She checked the condition of the swords. "Honestly Raiden, you need to be more careful with these. They're older than you," she said as placed them back on the weapon rack where they kept the few of things they still had of his father. They had lost a lot of things when they had to flee Halure. But Uncle Karol had given them a few of the spare swords his dad had kept at their guild's base.
Estelle then moved over to kitchen and started moving the food she had been making to the dinner table and they were about ask if there was anything they could do to help when a younger voice spoke up, "So you didn't die?"
Raiden looked over at the corner and saw his younger sister, Elena, sitting in a chair with her feet propped up on a stool. In her lap was a medium size dog and in her hands was a book that her nose was deep in, so she never even looked up at him. She was two years younger than him and had long hair that was the same color as his with bangs that nearly covered her eyes. She was in a baggy sweatshirt and baggy shorts.
"Is that your way of saying that you were worried about me?" Raiden asked her.
Without looking up from her book, Elena replied, "Of course not, idiots don't die easily."
"Your concern is touching as usual," Raiden muttered.
Paul walked over to Elena and like he was trying to see what she was seeing. "Gotta ask kid, did you even leave the house today?" He asked.
She actually glanced up from her book for a brief moment and looked really annoyed to see that it was Paul. Her attention returned to her book, but she moaned, "Oh great, the mooch is here."
"A mooch? I'm the star member of Brave Vesperia. I don't need to live off others," Paul rebuked.
"Do you even have enough gald for the inn tonight?" Raiden asked even though he knew the guild member's answer.
Paul was silent for a brief moment because they all knew that his wallet was empty. Like always.
"If you need a place to sleep then you know you are more than welcome to stay here," Estelle suddenly said as she entered the living area.
"Well if you insist," Paul said with a grin. He always stayed with them when he visited because he never had any gald. He also ate a lot of meals with them. Raiden tried asking why he was always broke, but he never gave a straight answer.
"Elena, get to a stopping point and come to eat," their mother told her.
His sister looked rather annoyed that she had to stop. Raiden was pretty sure she would read all day without eating if no one told her to. The dog jumped off of Elena's lap and Raiden swore the dog gave him a dirty look.
His mother then gently pushed both Raiden and Paul toward the bathroom. "Both of you wash up," she instructed.
"Yes ma'am," both of them muttered.
Afterwards, everyone was finally seated at the table, although Elena looked like she wanted to still read. Raiden hadn't realized how hungry he had been until he saw the food. He quickly took two bites before he asked Paul, "So what brings you to Arie Hallow?"
"Even people of the Empire still ask for help from the guilds sometimes," he answered. "I was in the area for a job so I thought I'd come make sure all of you are alright while I was at it."
"More like you just wanted a free meal and a place to sleep," Elena rebuked calmly as she took a bite.
Paul nearly stood up as both Raiden and his mother both sighed. "Knock it off kid. You're supposed to respect people who are older than you," Paul told her getting aggravated.
"The phrase is elders," Elena quickly corrected. "Unless you're wanted me to call you old man. But maybe I would start to respect you if you were actually a respectable adult." Elena knew just how to push Paul's buttons. Actually she knew how to push a lot of people's buttons.
Raiden wanted to tell Paul that he should just stop talking considering Elena would have a comeback for everything. But the guild member continued. "Says the introverted bookworm. I'm just in a bit of a rough patch with finances right now. It can happen to anyone."
"That seems to be a recurring thing with you," Elena said.
"Elena, that's enough," their mother said sounding very tired. Paul wore a triumphant smirk on his face for about three seconds before she told him the same thing. "That goes for you too Pauly."
He groaned at that. "Come on Ms. Estelle. I'm not a kid anymore," he told her.
"Then don't get into a verbal fight with someone almost half your age," she told him. Elena was smirking at that one.
"Plus you were kind of losing anyway," Raiden added and it caused Paul to glare at him. "Anyway," Raiden said to change the subject, "do you still have a guild job to do like hunting monsters in this area?"
"Yeah, a merchant lost a box of stuff on his way here during a monster attack. The knights won't do anything, so they asked me to look for it on the road," Paul told him.
"That's the kind of jobs "star" members get?" Elena questioned. "Sounds to me like you just pissed Uncle Karol off and you're doing grunt work."
"Elena watch your language," their mother warned before Paul could comment and fail to rebuke her.
"Since it doesn't sound too dangerous, could I tag along?" Raiden quickly asked. "You could use an extra set of eyes looking for someone."
Before Paul could answer, Estelle did. "I believe you'll be too busy with your punishment to be of much help to him."
"Right," Raiden muttered. He couldn't believe that he had almost forgotten that he would be grounded for a while. Paul shrugged his shoulders in defeat. He would have let him, but there was no way he would have crossed his mother.
/~/~/
"I hate biology," Rune complained as his head fell against his desk in defeat. It was break time at school and it was the first time he and Raiden had a chance to talk.
"That's the project you have to do," Raiden said and his friend nodded. Rune was almost late to school, which had really worried Raiden, and the young mage entered looking like he barely slept any. "So how long did you end up cleaning the lab for?"
Rune turned his head to look at Raiden. "My mother is not a clean woman. I'm going to have to continue cleaning when I get home." The young mage sat up a little. "So what about you? What did your mom do to you?"
"She hasn't decided anything," Raiden answered. "She said she would meet me after school and let me know what my punishment is."
"That's kind of scary. I definitely wouldn't be able to sleep or anything if my mother said something like that."
"Yeah, it has me a bit worried too," Raiden admitted.
"You don't look all that worried to me," Rune pointed out.
Raiden just shrugged and instead just asked, "So when our moms let us out of the house again, what do you want to do next?"
"Something that won't get us in trouble would be nice."
"Our moms do seem to be running out of ideas for punishments for us," Raiden agreed a bit. He thought back to the day before and thought about the girl they had met. "Maybe when we get a break from school we could ask our moms if we can take a trip to Heliord by ourselves so we can visit Benji."
Surprisingly Rune didn't turn the suggestion down or look worried like he normally was. "Where did this come from?" Was all he asked.
Raiden just shrugged. "The girl Shea, she was about our age and she had come out here by herself just. I don't know, I just think it would be pretty neat to just travel around. Plus it's been about a year since we've seen Benji. I'm sure he's getting a bit lonely with all those other researchers."
Benji grew up with them. He was actually closer to Elena's age, but had ran around with Rune and Raiden when they were younger. Benji was really smart like Rune. However that didn't mean he didn't like playing monster hunt with them. But then he got invited to attend the research institute in Heliord. And he accepted it without hesitation. Raiden had been surprised that Rune hadn't been asked to join.
"I'm pretty shocked," Rune admitted. "That actually doesn't sound bad at all. It's rather sensible coming from you."
"So you're on board?"
"As long as we travel on the main roads. We've proven we can handle basic monsters with our teamwork and artes. But there are way more dangerous monsters in those deep woods."
Raiden was filled with excitement now and missed the last part of what Rune had said. He slapped Rune's back so hard that his glasses fell off. "Man this is going to be great. Benji will be so excited," Raiden exclaimed. Of course they needed to get their moms' permission first.
Rune was looking for his glasses, but they had already been picked up by someone else and Raiden's good mood was ruined. One of their classmates who was slightly bulkier than them was holding Rune's glasses. "Hey Mordio, missed you yesterday in class," their classmate said and Rune flinched when he heard him.
"What do you want Will?" Raiden asked and moved so he was next to Rune. Will tended to pick on Rune, especially when Raiden wasn't around. They've gotten into fights with Will and a couple of his friends. Raiden would give him this, he had balls to keep picking on Rune even after Rita threated that if she caught Will picking on Rune again no one would know what happened to him after she was finished with him.
"Wasn't talking to you, Lowell. I was asking your friend," Will snapped.
"Then give him his glasses back and ask him," Raiden told him.
Will dropped the glasses on the desk and Rune quickly put them back on. "We're having a test on magic and mana technology at the end of the week so I was wondering if you would help me pass it. If I don't, I can't get into the knight academy next year."
"I'm not going to help you cheat," Rune muttered as he tried to hide the fact that he was scared.
"Don't think of it as cheating then. Think of it as getting rid of me," Will rebuked and pushed Rune's head into the desk. "I know you'd like not having to deal with me. But if I get into the academy then you won't see me again."
That's if you get in, Raiden thought bitterly. He'd like not having to see Will's smug face again, but he also didn't like that he would be in line to become a knight. That is if he passed the academy, of course.
Raiden shoved Will's hand away from Rune's head and the young mage hesitantly looked up. "Just study like the rest of us," Raiden told him. "If you're going to be a knight shouldn't you be able to do something as simple as pass a test on your own?" Raiden also thought the idea of asking Rune to cheat was almost funny enough to laugh at. There would be no way he could keep the composure and Raiden would be willing to bet he could keep it for about two minutes before going to the teacher and apologizing for it.
"You're one to talk Lowell," Will spat. "Someone like you, who has no chance of getting into the academy, shouldn't be judging others who can."
"Like I'd want to join the knights the way they are now," Raiden muttered. Raiden wanted to roll his eyes. This guy's dad was one of the knights that guarded the town, so obviously he thought he was some big shot because of family. In fact, he first tried to be buddies with Raiden considering who his mother was. She was related to the royal family, a member of the council, and she was the magistrate of Arie Hollow. But then he found out who his father was and Will no longer wanted any association with him, which was a relief for Raiden. He just wished he'd leave Rune alone. Then he wouldn't have to deal with him at all.
Then Will waved his hand in a dismissing matter like he would a servant. "So why don't you go join one of those savage guilds like your dad and let Mordio and me finish our talk."
"Was that supposed to be insulting or something?" Raiden almost laughed at Will's weak attempt to get under his skin. "Come on Will, you can do better than that."
"Raiden," Rune seemed to warn. He knew where this was going to lead before Raiden thought that far ahead.
"I'll gladly join a 'savage guild' if my only other option is joining the knights who don't seem to do a damn thing when there's trouble." Raiden had raised his voice at that, most of the class was looking at him and so was the teacher.
"Then I guess your life goal is to cause more problems for the Empire because someone pays you and die in a ditch somewhere like your old man," Will said with smirk.
Raiden couldn't stop what he said next. "I guess your goal is to be a drunk fat ass who spends more time harassing people rather than helping them like your old man."
Raiden saw the punch coming, but didn't do anything to stop it or avoid it. Honestly, he wanted Will to start a fight. That's why he purposely provoked him. It gave him an excuse to punched Will square in the jaw next.
/~/~/
"Why am I not surprised you were in a fight?" Raiden's mother said in a tired voice. She was still looking him over to make sure he didn't have any injuries. He told her five times that he was fine. Will had an arm on him, but never got another hit in after the first one. In fact the only other hit Will got in was to the teacher when he tried to stop their fighting.
"He started it," Raiden defended. He was exhausted after hearing lectures from his teachers, Will's knight father (who was surprisingly not drunk then), and now his mother. Of course he felt he deserved one from her. She had bowed in apology to his teacher and the knight for his sake. Raiden wished she hadn't done that for him.
His mother sighed. "You do realize that if you were anyone else's kid, Captain Kamal would have demanded you be thrown in jail for the assault on his son."
Raiden stayed quiet. He hadn't thought of that. It should have been obvious that if he beat up the son of a captain of the knights that they would want him punished. He supposed he should be lucky that his mother was a member of the Imperial Council and magistrate for this town.
"What was going through your head?" She asked.
"He was picking on Rune and he was bad mouthing dad's guild," Raiden told her. He was sure that if he let Will talk more that would have said something more about his dad. It wouldn't be the first time Will said something about his dad.
It was his mother's turn to fall silent. "Come on," she said after a brief and uncomfortable silence between them.
Raiden gladly followed her as they left the school grounds. The sooner they left, the sooner the uncomfortable air Raiden caused could leave. He regretted telling her that. Maybe he should have just said Will was pissing him off.
They weren't taking the normal route home. Raiden was pretty sure they weren't heading home. He was going to find out what his punishment was.
To begin, his mother asked him, "Have you given any more thought about what you're going to do?"
Raiden's whole demeanor fell more. He had and hadn't come any closer to choosing a career path. In fact, he was less sure now.
"I see," his mother said. "You know you can always join Brave Vesperia. Karol and the others would be happy to have you. When people say those horrible things about the guilds it's just because the state of the Empire. You know Karol and the others nothing to do with that business."
"I know Mom," Raiden reassured her. He knew the guild cities weren't terrorist or any of the other garbage people said about them. What would that say about his dad and the people they considered practically family. It's just that Brave Vesperia was his dad's guild. Anything he did with the guild would just be compared to his dad. When he had been younger, he had told his dad that he was going to join the guild with him. It seemed different now that he wasn't here.
"And there will be nothing wrong if you wanted to be a knight," she quickly added. "Your father would be proud of you regardless. As long as you're trying to help people."
"I know Mom," Raiden repeated. Although he was sure it would have taken some time until his dad was okay with the idea of his son being a knight. But he'd eventually warm up to the idea. "There's just a lot going on right now. The knights aren't really doing their job in helping people and just seem eager to start a fight with anyone. The same with most of the guilds. Neither side seems better than the other." Besides, either side I choose I'll probably end up fighting the other.Raiden thought. He didn't want to sadden his mother by reminding her that war may break out any day.
"That is true," she admitted. "Neither side is really living up to their full potential or thinking of others for the most part. But maybe you would be able to do something about it."
Raiden really fought the urge not to groan or roll his eyes. He'd heard this speech dozens of times from her. How change can be made by working on the inside. Just like what a friend of hers and Dad's did. He was just getting tired of hearing it over and over. It was something his mother was trying to do now by being on the council. She was trying to keep relations between the Empire and the guild cities good. It was just a difficult fight for her when she was one of the few trying to prevent war. If the commandant of the knights wasn't on her side, war may have already broken out.
Then she startled him by quickly adding, "Of course if you wanted to do something like run a business, or anything else you have my full support." She sounded like she had forgotten there were other career paths he could do even though Raiden had never shown interest in anything other than the guilds and the knights. Then she added the catch and the main reason Raiden had no interest in those fields. "Of course you'll have to improve your grades and go to school longer."
"I know Mom," Raiden groaned. But he tried to give his mother a weak smile at the end to reassure her.
"I just want to make sure you know you can anything you want to do and that I'll be rooting for you," she explained. But she sounded more excited with what Raiden was going to do than Raiden himself. She'd probably be happy when he stopped causing her worry. "Oh, here we are," his mother suddenly said.
It made Raiden realize where his mother had brought him. They were at Mr. Regis's bookstore. It was surprising that it was still in business considering he was like eighty, half-blind, and Raiden was pretty sure the old man was slowly losing his ability to remember. Raiden started to feel like Rune when he was about to receive his punishment. Raiden still asked, "What are we doing here?"
His mother wore a smile when she said, "Where you will be spending your time while you're grounded. You're going to be helping Mr. Regis organize all his books and help him take in inventory."
"For how long?" Raiden asked. This was going to be so boring.
"Each day until closing and this will continue until Mr. Regis thinks everything is in order."
Another thing about the book keeper, he was very meticulous. There was only one way to do something. This wasn't the first time he had to do this. The last time he was helping the Mr. Regis for two months and that was only because the old man got tired of telling him how to do inventory. But with his memory getting worse, he'll probably forget that he had told Raiden how to mark something down or where to place the books. This was going to be a long punishment.
His mother patted his shoulder. "I'll keep your dinner warm when you get home," she said and left him there for his punishment.
It was at moments like these that he wished he took after his mother or sister more. Elena would probably love doing something like this.
/~/~/
Raiden returned home late because Mr. Regis forgot what time he closed the shop. The only good thing was that the old man seemed to have relaxed some and wasn't as picky about things. So he might not be there for as long as he thought. But it was still boring as hell. He would have much rather done homework for once or maybe even help Rune with one of his research projects.
As promised, Raiden did have a hot meal waiting for him and he was grateful to his mother for that. Elena was in her usual spot with book in hand and dog in the lap. Paul wasn't back yet from his job request. His mother sent them both up to bed before the guild member returned, much to Raiden's disappointment.
He was asleep for about two hours when he just suddenly just woke up. He still felt sleepy and just kept tossing and turning. It was around midnight, so Raiden decided to get up and get a glass of water. He had trouble keeping his balance since he was so drowsy. It would be his luck that he would fall down the stairs and wake up the whole house.
As he was rubbing his eyes, he noticed that there were still some lamps burning downstairs. That was enough to wake Raiden up some as he took extra precaution not to make a noise. He could hear his mother's voice. She was casting a healing spell.
Raiden walked down the stairs and stopped midway so he would still be out of sight. It sounded like his mother was in the dining room.
"Since when are you this careless?" He heard his mother ask.
There was a small flash of light that came from her healing artes followed by Paul's voice. "Sorry, I guess I got distracted. Thanks for fixing me up Ms. Estelle."
Was Paul just returning? That was odd that this mission would take this long and that he would have gotten so hurt that his mom had to heal him. There weren't that many strong monsters in this area that Paul couldn't handle. Raiden felt worried for him.
Raiden heard his mother sigh, "What on earth could cause such a distraction from you. You're like Yuri and Karol when you fight."
There was a long pause from Paul. Finally he said, "I just got to thinking about what happened to Yuri."
Raiden felt his eyes widen after hearing that. What was Paul thinking that would still bother him after four years?
"Paul, I really don't want to talk about it," Raiden's mother said and Raiden felt similar. A part of him wanted to retreat back to his room to keep from remembering that day four years ago. Why was Paul bringing it up now? But the other part wanted to keep listening.
He heard what sounded like a fist slamming against the table. "How can you not? Yuri stayed to fight with the knights so more people could get away and one of those damn bastards still killed him."
What? Raiden felt himself freeze. His father had been killed four years ago during a boarder skirmish with a group of mysterious renegades that took over the ruins of Zaphias as their own. Then they looked to expand their region. It happened so quick that the knights were in disarray. A couple of comading officers fled seeing they were being attacked by humans. With chain of command broken, the knights had no idea what to do. Raiden's father stayed behind to help buy time for citizens to escape and he never came home afterwards. Raiden had thought he was killed by the enemy. But if what Paul was saying was true then-
"It fills me with anger just thinking about it," Raiden's mother suddenly said, somehow keeping her voice from shouting. "There isn't a day that goes by when I wonder why my children have to grow up without their father." She was fighting to keep her voice steady. She sounded on the verge of tears. "He was trying to help people, and the knights just…" Estelle couldn't finish the sentence.
"I think I know how to track them down," Paul told her and Raiden felt himself lean more forward like he thought that Paul would whisper it. "According to my sources, he guy that killed Yuri wasn't even a knight. He was just posing as one. Rumor is that the killer was really a member of the guild Circus of Anarchy. They've been causing so much trouble with the guild cities and the Empire. I can get a few guilds together and with your resources we could find them."
"I don't want to know," Estelle said sounding very tired all of a sudden.
"Why? Don't you want to know? With your connections with the Empire, you can even try and get this guy arrested or whatever you want," Paul tried to urge. "You know Flynn wouldn't hesitate to bring this guy down."
"But he shouldn't be spending his time and effort chasing down a rumor when we're trying to avoid a war," Raiden's mother argued. Raiden wanted to jump down the rest of the stairs and join Paul's argument. But he didn't when he heard his mother say, "You know Yuri, he wouldn't want us to focus on him when we could be trying to save the lives of many. Besides, I don't know what I would do if I found out who he was."
There was a very brief moment before there came a very weak laugh from Paul. "I can hear Yuri now. 'What the hell are you all doing? You really could have done something better with your time.' Damn it all."
Raiden couldn't believe what he had just over head. It wasn't enough that his father had been killed. He had been murdered by someone he thought he could trust.