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Chapter 4: Let Our Journey Begin

"So are we really doing this?" Raiden asked Rune. It was lunch, but it was raining so they had to eat in the classroom. Which also meant they had to whisper their plans on running away. The good thing though was that Will was keeping his distance after the fight they had. There was still a light shade of yellow from a black eye Raiden had given him despite the healing his mother did. Raiden wondered if his mother did that intentionally.

Raiden had never seen Rune looked so spastic. Not even when he had broken one of his mother's tools. He kept bouncing his feet under the desk and gripped his knees. "I said we were going to, didn't I?"

"Well I'm not sure about having a traveling companion who's going to be this twitchy the whole time," Raiden muttered as he scratched the back of his head.

"How else am I supposed to act? We're in big trouble if we're caught," Rune said in a harsh whisper.

"With our moms," Raiden pointed out. "It's not like we're planning on committing any crimes. What do you think we're going to do?"

"I might as well be committing a crime," Rune muttered. "Why aren't youmore freaked out about this? This is going to be dangerous."

"I don't know," Raiden just said with a shrug. They were going to be looking for the man who killed his father, Raiden knew this was going to be dangerous. Especially if they confronted that person. But for some reason Raiden just didn't. If anything, he was more worried about his friend. "Look, Rune, if you don't want to come, then don't."

"Will you quit telling me what to do, I'm coming and that's final," Rune snapped a little too loudly and that made some of their classmates turn and look at them. Rune's face turned red and he dropped his head on his desk. "Are you sure you don't want to wait a couple more days?" Raiden was able to make out Rune's muffled speech. "Maybe we could go with Paul when he has to leave? I'm sure if we just explain-"

"He'd just try to talk us out of this," Raiden quickly told him. He would like nothing more than to travel with Paul, but he was sure the guild member wouldn't budge on it. Plus, Raiden wasn't sure how much more suspense Rune could take before he just blurted out that they were planning on sneaking off. The sooner they left, hopefully, the better Rune would get.

"So have you thought about where we're heading? Where do we even start finding an assassin?" Rune asked as he sat back up.

"Well I think it's best that our first stop should be Aurnion," Raiden told him. Instead of paying attention to class or really trying on their magi technology test, Raiden had been thinking about the incredibly risky journey they were about to go on. "When I overheard Paul, he said that the guy who killed my dad may have been a knight briefly. So surely they'd have records."

"I don't think they'll let just anyone look at those," Rune pointed out.

"But my mom's pretty good friends with the commandant, maybe I could convince him."

"I guess the only thing we could do is ask and see."

"Yeah, and we'll play it by ear then," Raiden further explained.

Suddenly they heard someone clearing their throat. "Mr. Lowell and Mr. Mordio," their teacher's voice suddenly said. "If you're done with your conversation, would you care to pay attention to the lecture?

Rune sat up straighter and pulled out his notebook for notetaking. "I'll meet you at your house at midnight," Raiden quickly whispered before he turned around to his own desk.

"Mr. Lowell, I would think you would want to pay extra attention seeing as you're grades leave much to be desired. And I'm sure you're test this morning won't be too different from the norm, will it?" The teacher went on say.

Raiden just ignored him and the rest of the class that let out small giggles. He was really debating if he should try sleeping through the rest of this class so he'd be well rested for tonight.

/~/~/

Before he left school, Raiden reminded Rune of when and where they were meeting before he raced off to Mr. Regis' book store. He was pretty sure he had never worked so fast before. He was hoping that Mr. Regis might let him go early if he got most of the work done. He wanted to get home and prepare.

Well Mr. Regis let him go home about thirty minutes early and he was pretty sure it was only because he forgot what time he normally closed the shop. Raiden practically burst into the house to see his mother and sister sitting at the couch going over whatever lesson she had for that day. Paul was probably doing a job or just out doing whatever Paul does with his free time.

His mother checked the clock. "You're back early," his mother said.

Raiden scratched the back of his head. "Mr. Regis just decided to close up since there was no one there," Raiden answered and he sort of sounded like he was making it up. It was almost like he was expecting his mother to start questioning him.

But she didn't. She just stood up and said, "Well, I'll get you some dinner ready. I'm afraid the three of us didn't leave much left for you."

"No need, I'll get it," Raiden quickly told her and practically ran into the kitchen before his mother could move. He needed to get some food for their journey and now would be the best time to get it. His mother and sister wouldn't think twice about all the noise he was making in the kitchen if he was making himself dinner. If he waited until they were all asleep, he ran the risk of waking them up. Especially Paul since he slept in the living room. Why couldn't this have been the one time he actually had gald for an inn?

Thankfully his mother kept food satchels in the kitchen and he quickly started putting non-perishable food in them. There were plenty of apples. He even grabbed enough ingredients to make sandwiches. It would take two days to get to Aurnion. So he needed to make sure they got enough to make it to the city. Rune will probably bring more than enough food too. If he doesn't stuff his bag with research notes and magical formulas.

They would also need some gels. You couldn't go on a proper trip without gels. He had a couple in his room. But where did his mother keep the rest? He may have to borrow a couple from her. He really wished he had asked Rune if he had any gels. Hopefully his friend would bring them if he has them. Raiden also had some gald that should be enough for food and an inn when they reached the city. Of course he had no idea what would happen after they find out all they could from Aurnion.

"Raiden, do you need any help?" The voice of his mother said right behind him.

Raiden quickly tried to get his eyes to not look like they were about to pop out of his head and pushed the bag on the counter. He spun around to face his mother while looking like he wasn't planning on leaving home in a few hours. "I'm just deciding what eat," he told her and made sure that his mother couldn't see the bag behind him. "I've got it. You can go back to Elena."

He really sounded like he was hiding something. Damn it, stop acting like Rune,he scolded himself. He shouldn't be having this much difficultly acting like he wasn't planning anything. He was used to pretty much lying to his mother.

His mother held her hands in front of her and asked, "Is everything alright. You've been acting strange the last couple of days."

He should have known that she would notice that his mood changed when he learned about his dad. So he put on his regular smile and tried to act like he normally would. "I'm just ready for school to done with." If they went through with this tonight, it was basically already over for him.

"I know you could care less about classes," his mother began to say, "but you should try to enjoy it while you can."

"Un-huh," was all Raiden could say as he was hoping his mom would just leave so he could get back to preparing for his departure.

"Listen Raiden," his mother had a serious tone. "I know I haven't been around a lot lately because of council business. But I want you to know you can always tell me what's wrong. You shouldn't feel like telling me what's bothering you is just adding to my problems. Being a mother is my number one job."

"Mom, where is this coming from?" Raiden asked. Although he was pretty sure that it was just her mom sense. She seemed to know when something was wrong and would "unintentionally" guilt them into confessing what was wrong. Raiden says unintentionally because his mother would just let them know they can talk to her. But at the same time she made them feel bad because they didn't tell her. He'd seen it work on his dad a couple of times.

"Paul told me this morning what's been bothering you," she answered.

Raiden's face instantly dropped. "Paul told you?" She knew that he knew about what happened to Dad? He was hoping to avoid this and didn't want to try and upset his mother with unpleasant thoughts. He couldn't blame Paul for telling her. She probably guilt him into telling her too, all because she wanted to know what was wrong with her son.

Estelle quickly waved her hands. "Please don't get the wrong idea. I'm so happy you have Paul and tell him things. I'm sure it was much more comfortable talking to him than your mother about this."

She was taking this…well. This was not how Raiden thought this conversation would go. But he scratched the back of his head as he waited for this conversation to get uncomfortable. His mom might even tear up as they talked about the day they lost Dad.

His mother grabbed his hands. "Paul told me not to mention anything and that everything will be fine. But I just want to let you know that there is nothing wrong with you and that you'll meet the right person someday."

Raiden just blinked at her. This really wasn't how this conversation was supposed to go. "Mom? What are you even talking about?" He asked.

"Paul told me the reason you seemed so down lately is because you asked out a girl you liked and she said no."

"What?" Was all Raiden could get out as he fought to urge not say what was really thinking at his mother. I'm kicking Paul's ass. That bastard must have made something up just so Estelle would quit guilting him into telling her what was really bugging Raiden.

"Look, you still have your whole life ahead of you. You should just focus on yourself for now," his mother went on. "And if you do ever get into a relationship, you need to make sure you are a perfect gentleman. You don't need to have intimacy to have a good relationship. Your father and I-"

"Mom," Raiden interrupted. He had pulled his hands away from hers and covered his face that he was sure was red. He really, really didn't want to continue where this conversation was going. "Trust me Mom, I'm already over it." He just decided to go with it. He didn't want to explain why Paul would lie about what was wrong with Raiden. He just hoped that she wouldn't continue this.

His outburst seemed to have startled her a bit. But she said, "Alright then. But if anything else is bothering you, you'll tell me, right?"

"Yes mom," he told her has he relaxed now that the relationship conversation was over. Now he just needed her to leave so he can get back getting food together.

"Are you going ahead and getting your lunch ready for tomorrow?" His mother asked as she reached behind him for the bag he had been trying to hide from her. He must have been squirming too much. He wanted to take the bag out of her hands, but that would be too suspicious. When she looked in it, she said in almost a laugh, "Are you going on an all apple diet? You've also got enough stuff to make a few sandwiches."

Raiden thought quickly of a reason and said the first thing that came to mind. "Some of the other kids don't seem to bring enough to eat so I thought I'd bring extras just in case."

His mother had a wide smile on her face. "That's so kind of you. You should put a few more apples in there. Oh, and I'll give you some cucumbers and tomatoes. Those will go great on the sandwiches." She started putting what she had told him in the bag for him.

He tried to keep his smile on his face, but it started to hurt because what he was doing to his mother. He was officially the worst son ever. His mother was packing his bag for running off.

/~/~/

It was well past midnight and Raiden and Rune were almost out of view of the village. They had paused to look back at it for a moment to silently say good-bye to it and their families. Raiden was use to sneaking out of his house even with Paul sleeping on the couch. There also wasn't as many knights out, so sneaking past them had been easy. Raiden had been grateful for that since Rune was a nervous wreck the whole time. He was pretty sure the young mage was about to run out and tell the knights what they were up to. But here they were. Yet Rune wasn't budging now that they were almost out of sight of the village they had spent the last four years in.

Was it home? The place wasn't. But there family was. This would be the first time they would be apart. So in a sense, they were leaving home.

"You want to go back?" Raiden asked.

Rune shrugged his shoulders. "Only if you go back."

"Fine, let's get go then," Raiden said and started walking off and Rune quickly caught up with him.

"So after we ask the commandant about knight records, what then?" Rune asked.

"I guess it'll just depend on what we find," Raiden told him. "Maybe after Aurnion we should just head to Dahngrest and ask Karol what he knows more about Circus of Anarchy."

"Going into the enemy's city, isn't that a bit too reckless?" Rune asked.

"Look, when we get there we'll act like we're visiting Brave Vesperia and that we're looking to join a guild. What better way to gather information on a guild."

There was a long pause from Rune. "Hopefully it won't come to that," Raiden heard Rune mutter. But he quickly added, "If we do go to Dahngrest, maybe all of Mr. Lowell's allies will want to help. He had more positive connections in the guild cities than in the Empire."

"Only one way to find out," Raiden said as he quickened his pace. "Come on Rune, we need to make more distance before we take a break."

Raiden could hear Rune rummaging through something in his large pack. Suddenly Raiden notice there was some light behind him. Now that no one could catch them, Rune pulled out a lantern.

The two of them started walking on the road and it wasn't long before some nearby bushes started rustling. Rune quickly got behind Raiden and grabbed his arm. It surprised Raiden that his friend didn't practically jump on him.

As Raiden tried to shake Rune's hold on his arm off in case it was a dangerous monster, a poliwiggle wiggled out and bounced across the road. Rune hung his head low as he realized what got him so spooked. Raiden rolled his eyes at him and said, "This is going to be a long trip if you're going to be jumping at your own shadow." Then he started walking again.

"C-come on," Rune started to pout as he caught up. "That could have been anything."

Suddenly Raiden could hear more rustling. Only this time it sounded like something bigger was hiding. He stopped to try and figure out what it was, but Rune, remarkably, didn't hardly noticed. "It could have been critis wolf or even an eggbear. Both species wouldn't hesitate to attack us."

"Shut up," Raiden urged in a low voice.

The two of them were very still, but the creature didn't wait long. It slowly emerged and walked out like it was trying to block their path. It was a giant tortoise that had a very flat shell on it back. At first Raiden thought the monster would be something easy to avoid and they could go around it.

But the monster planted its feet then charged at them. It surprised Raiden that it could move as fast as it did. He barely had enough time to get both him and Rune out of the way. Raiden had pulled on Rune's collar and both of them tumbled to the ground in order to avoid the monsters.

Raiden was quick to his feet and pulled out one of his swords, while Rune struggled to stand back up with his large pack. "A-an erdas," Rune cried out.

"Doesn't look like it wants us to leave," Raiden quickly said. "I'll distract him while you get a spell ready." Raiden glance back and saw his friend get up and clasped his hands together that caused the charms on his wrist to glow.

Knowing that his friend was in the fight, Raiden charged at the monster. He swung his sword at the erdas' head, but it felt like he hit the shell. Raiden figured that he wouldn't have done much damage, but at least the monster's attention was on him now.

Raiden quickly circled around it to further distract the monster while Rune finished his spell. However, Raiden moved too fast because the monster lost interest in him and just turned back to Rune. The turtle was slow, but Raiden still wouldn't be able to make it to Rune in time. His feet were moving as fast as they could toward his friend.

"Rune, move," Raiden shouted and hoped he'd be able to hear him instead of concentrating on his spell.

Rune looked up and quickly stopped his casting. But he wasn't moving. The mage was frozen in place. Raiden could try using an arte on the monster, but that wouldn't stop Rune from getting hurt. He wasn't going to make it.

But then there was a flash from behind Rune and Raiden could hear a familiar voice call out "Impact". Suddenly the erdas reared up a bit and then fell to the ground. It stayed still for a moment before it got back up and instead of attacking them again, it started walking back into the bushes.

What Raiden saw was Rune on the ground and Elena standing in front of him with her fighting gloves on and in her boxer fighting stance. Her hair was in a ponytail. She was in a pair of lose shorts and a dark striped shirt that went to her elbows. She also wore a sleeveless dull yellow hoodie that was zipped up. Not far behind them was Sable wagging her tail as she caught up.

"Elena," was all Raiden could manage to say as he stared at his sister. Why was she here?

"Figures you idiots would already be in trouble," Elena said matter of factly. "Good things Sable and I got here when we did."

Raiden shook his head and marched over to his little sister. "Elena go home," he ordered even though he knew she wouldn't listen to him. "It's way too dangerous for you out here."

His sister but her hands on her hips and just looked mildly amused at his attempt to threaten her. "What? You going to tell mom I snuck out while you and Rune were also sneaking out?" She asked.

"Elena, for once will you listen to me," Raiden pleaded in a harsh tone. "This is something I have to do. Just trust me on this."

"Finding out who killed dad?" She asked.

She said it in such a flat tone that Raiden wasn't sure if he heard her right. He tired to play it off. "I don't know what are you talking about. Rune and I are just-"

But he didn't get to finish. "I overheard you and Paul. You idiots were right outside the window that was open. Obviously I heard you," she said in the same tone. "It also doesn't take a genius to figure out that you were planning on leaving. So I stayed up and followed you out here."

Raiden just stared at his sister. She knew. And she didn't seem to be acting any different. This was not how he expected her to react to the news. He was honestly expecting her to crack any minute. But Raiden quickly ignored all of that. He couldn't bring his little sister in all this. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you can't come," Raiden told her. "What about mom? We both can't just leave her like this."

"At least I left a note for her," Elena argued. "Were you planning to just let her worry about where you were or why you left?"

"Wait, you didn't tell her we knew, did you?" Raiden quickly asked. He was hoping to spare his mother of that.

"Yeah, it's not fair to her to be the only one left out," Elena told her. "Mom and I aren't as fragile as you think. We don't need you to protect us."

That…actually kind of hurts,Raiden thought bitterly. Maybe he should have talked with his family about this. He probably still would have come to the same decision to leave though.

Rune moved to the middle of them. "Elena," he started to say weakly, "We both knew this was a stupid, dangerous idea. We just didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of this."

"Stay out of this Rune," Elena snapped and it caused Rune to back away. Raiden had been a bit surprised that his friend would even try to stand up to Elena since she always scared him a bit. When they were younger Elena seemed to make it her hobby to torment the older boy.

His sister then turned back to him and showed real anger. "I have as much right as you to go and figure out what really happened to dad. Plus neither of you know healing artes. I do."

There was a brief moment as the Lowell siblings just stared at each other. But then Rune spoke up again. "R-Raiden, I understand why you don't want your sister coming. But she does have a point. Having someone who can use healing artes as well as Elena would actually help."

And Raiden knew there was only some much he and Rune would be able to accomplish. And if either of them got hurt in a fight with a monster. Gels and seeing healers were expensive. And that was if they could get the injured to a city in time.

Raiden let out an irritated sound. "If I agree to letting you come, will you promise me you'll do what I say?" He asked.

Elena's smug look returned. "No promises. Besides, I don't need your permission. I'll just follow you like have been," she told him.

So that's why she didn't reveal herself till now. But that would be too dangerous. What if while she followed them she was ambushed. Because of her own stubbornness, she would be safer traveling with them. She wouldn't listen to Raiden. Maybe even Elena knew that and was planning for Raiden to be aware of that.

Raiden let out a sigh. "Fine," he said. "But I'm serious about listening to me."

"Sure Raiden," Elena said as she rolled her eyes. She even started walking without them.

"Elena, I'm your older brother, so that means you have to listen to me," Raiden called after her as he ran to catch up with her.

"Doesn't mean I'm going to," Elena replied. Sable even barked in agreement.

Rune just hung his head. "What have I gotten myself into," he muttered. Then he quickly ran to catch up before the two of them left him behind.

/~/~/

Skit: Bookworm

Rune: With Elena and Sable here, will we have enough food to make it to Aurnion?

Raiden: Well I packed extras. So we should be able to make it to the city.

Runelooking relieved: Good.

Raiden: However if we take any longer than two days or get lost we'll be in trouble.

Rune: What? Elena, please tell me you brought some extra food in that bag.

Elena: It wouldn't fit in my bag.

Raiden: What do you mean it wouldn't fit in your bag. What'd you bring?

Elena: Books.

Raidenstartled: Seriously? That should have been the last thing you packed.

Rune: She-she filled it with books…

Elena: I brought the ones about monsters and plants. We'll be able to tell what's edible and what we could gather to sell for high prices. Much better for a long-term journey.

Raidenlooking a bit annoyed: Okay, you justified these two. But what about the other ones?

Elena: Let's face it, I'm going to get bored with you two idiots and your conversations. So I'll need something to occupy my mind.

Raiden: Yep there it is. *Sigh*

Runefreaked out: This was such a bad idea…