Another chapter that is being procrastinated upon due to life!. To be honest, this is a very non-serious project of mine. Therefore, this story will be slow, yet eventually (hopefully) will gain a proper schedule lol. Either way, if you are enjoying it, and really want me to hurry up, send me a review! Any idea's or plot points you want me to change, then send me a PM (if you don't know how send me a review). Just a note, if I can't or do not want to change a specific part, I WILL TELL YOU, so if your idea hasn't been responded to and I 'ignored' it, I probably missed it. Also for those who sent me arte ideas, i lost what i wrote them down on, so they won't be featured for a little while yet as I remake the list from my messages with you all.
I giggle at the testosterone filled scene before me. Most wouldn't consider someone bashing a sword against someone else's funny, but with these two, they manage to make it hilarious.
"Yuri, I'm happy to see you're finally seeing the world outside the barrier." He says, sword pointed towards Yuri threateningly. Yuri scoffs at him, but their eyes still hold fondness, so I step away to watch the magic. Sadly, the blonde knight notices. Flynn gives me a suspicious glance. Please no! I don't want Flynn as my enemy! He's cool!
"So, be a little more happy and stop pointing that thing at me." Yuri snarks at him. I cross my arms and lean against the wall, trying not to seem like even more of a super sketchy criminal in his eyes.
"Well I got a little less happy when I saw this!" He stabs the nearest wanted poster.
"Hey, it's up to 10 000 Gald, nice." Yuri drawls, I peek my head over, catching Flynn's attention again. Yuri nudges me with a smirk, but his eyes keep flicking down towards his blonde friend. "Yours went up too." I grin, giving a tiny cackle that makes Yuri shove me playfully.
"I didn't think when you quit the knights you'd take up a life of crime." Flynn scoffs. I roll my eyes. I've seen more crimes committed by the empire than by anyone else so far!
"A lot of things have happened Flynn, it's not that simple." Yuri waves him off. I casually move between them to see my own poster, which has also reached 10 000. If they decide to charge each other again, I'll pound both their faces in.
"Simple or not, a crime is a crime." I snort loudly, and Flynn gives me a glare. I close my mouth and look away, walking towards the opening to the alley way. I am not becoming his enemy no siree! Yuri follows close behind me, scoffing quietly.
"...Good to see you're as stubborn as always. I...uh-oh." I smile as I see a familiar flash of pink. Cavalry's here.
"Yuri, Tina, I heard something happened, are you alr-" She freezes at the entrance. Yuri smirks.
"Perfect timing." He says, before grabbing me by the wrist. I look up, and he gives me a smirk.
"Don't think you're gonna escape his gaze anytime soon, he's not gonna just forget about you." I sigh dramatically. He just keeps smirking at me, so I reach forward and give that tiny braid a tug.
"You seem like you're gonna be facing a mother eggbear with how he was acting earlier." He pulls the piece of hair out of my grip face in a scowl, but cheeks a light pink. I cackle at him, and he reaches out to mess my hair. I dodge, moving up into his face.
"How about you go get us some more supplies? Try to delay the inevitable." I tease. He chuckles back, before his face turns serious. What now?
"You tell me if it's too much again okay?" He says seriously. I take a step back in surprise. For that past few minutes, the silence had been almost completely unnoticeable. I give him a soft smile.
"I will." When I say those words, it takes me a second to realize they aren't some casual lie I usually tell, I actually mean it. Huh. Yuri nods, and gives me a soft pat on the shoulder, before walking off towards the store.
Maybe it's time for a bit of mind surfing...
I walk over to the railing, leaning against it and closing my eyes. I frown as I mentally shift through what I can remember. I hadn't been focusing enough on it, but my memories of future events are muddling, which is weird cause I have a pretty good memory. I can remember the girl with the boomerang, Nan, but I can't remember the big secrets with Estelle, or those talking monsters, but I remember the apatheia. My mind is honestly a mess, and I rub my temples gently. Not to mention I haven't had one 'I'm in an entirely new world' freak out session since I've gotten here. I mean, I'm in a brand new world and culture and I just, flow with it?! I'm starting to think that whatever sent me here is messing with my head. At least I know it isn't any enemy here, or otherwise they would have cut us off easily and ended any chance of us defeating them. Maybe.
I don't know how long I stand in the drizzle and mist, but long enough that my hair starts to fall flat and out of its natural wave. I breathe in the air deeply and sigh in slight relief. My brain isn't mush, I kinda know what I'm doing, and I'm pretty sure I'm crushing on someone. Now, how the hell have I gotten so strong?! Also my feet?! I mean we've been walking for days in forests and cities and they're still fine! I wasn't lying when I said my family had tough feet but, this is getting ridiculous. Not to mention that damn weird ass heat...
"Tina." Damn, right when I was getting to the second part of my journey in my cranium. Wait that was Rita. Rita said my name?! I turn around, and she's staring at the ground.
"We're gonna head over to Flynn and Estellise now. They're at the Inn." I'm sure they are, but I have a very sad teenager in front of me, I'm not letting this slide.
"Rita." My tone is serious enough for her to look up at me in surprise. " I forgive you." I say quietly, letting a tiny smile show. She looks away, opening her mouth, but I step in before she can. I need to get this said.
"I can't say I know exactly how you feel, or the things you've gone through, but I can say I know what it's like to be lonely. I don't smile because I think it will make things better, I smile because I don't want to lose what I have. I've just gotten five new friends in less than a month, so you're fucking stupid if you think I'm gonna stop being happy. Life is too short to be upset." Then, I give her a smooch on her forehead and walk by towards the hotel.
Time to mess with Flynn's head.
"Are we done whispering secrets?" Yuri asks, and I bounce in with as much enthusiasm as possible without breaking anything.
"Let's get chattin'!" I chirp, and Estelle giggles at me. I'm glad I'm making someone happy. Flynn is just giving me a confused look, as if he can't picture someone so chipper being a 'criminal'. They turn away from me and start to chat, and I content myself with hanging out and listening. Until he gets to the 'but' part.
"Regardless of the circumstances, the imperial laws cannot allow the obstruction of officers, jail breaking-" I raise my hand. Flynn gives me a confused look, and I give him a grin.
"Look I get it, Yuri's a mildly sketchy criminal and you want to do the responsible thing and chuck him in jail to rot and such." Yuri is raising his eyebrow at me, while Flynn seems to have a bit of guilt in his eyes. "But, from when I was reading with Estelle we read about law, and one specific thing stood out for me. The act of jailbreaking requires there to be an initial crime to be written up before they can legally be held against their will. What I would like to know is why I fell asleep in my tent and woke up in a cell in the fucking capital." I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow at him. The others seem curious as well. I inwardly grin when Flynn flails. He might be used to Yuri and his ways, but I've been dealing with police since the first kid in our orphanage got caught pickpocketing.
"And Yuri." I say, keeping my voice serious. I meet his eyes. "You're both being bitches." Rita coughs out a snicker and both boys reel back in surprise. I cackle and even Estelle gives a tiny giggle. Then, the door bangs open, startling everyone.
"Sir Flynn, I have news...Wh-what is Rita doing here?!" Here come the orange haired knight and the apple Mage, who seems upset at Rita's presence. I giggle inwardly at his hair, but decide not to piss off too many people today.
"I heard you refused an imperial request for assistance!" He whines. Whoa. Was he this irritating in the game? Ten points off the cute-o-meter for whining. I give Rita a glance.
"Was your work at the time with the capital?" I ask. She shakes her head. I look down at the Apple like I would the kids at the orphanage. He gives me a startled look, as if he just realized I was there. Rude!
"Which means I was under no obligation to help. I'm hired to research, not to do their errands, they can only order the bare subjects, nothing more, nothing less." Rita snarks. I grin inwardly. She may be an angsty teenager, but she also has fire.
"Who's that?" Yuri asks, both eyebrows way up and I know he's holding back a snort. Rita pauses in her anger.
"No idea." I snort, and then sit back. I've spoken enough, but if that couple's child is gonna get saved, we gotta get a move on with this dialogue. I remember the boy, and I also remember a large, confusing basement filled with monsters. I doubt I've changed anything huge yet, but I'm not gonna drag out a conversation and risk it!
"So, what's the plan?" Karol inquires as we all nervously step out from the inn. Hearing the details of what has been happening here makes my stomach roll, but I force it down as much as I can. Stewing in our own gloom and doom isn't gonna help us save this kid.
"I'm going to go see Magistrate Ragou." Estelle says firmly.
"Not gonna work." I interject, and that little bit of naive hope in her eyes dies. I've done this before, giving kids that extra push out of their naivety to ensure they don't end up dead on the streets, and now I need to build that hope up into something better.
"Yeah, and with the harbor barricaded, we can't cross over to Torim Harbor." It doesn't matter if we could, we all have fire in our eyes. No one is leaving. I hum quietly, thinking about exactly what happened….oh!
"Tina? You got something?" Karol asks, tugging at the side of my dress.
"We just need a reason for him to let us in!" I say excitedly, before realizing most of them haven't caught on. Until Rita's eyes light up.
"The horn!" She exclaims and I nod excitedly. My memory was getting better! Well, if I focused hard, but still!
"I get it!" Estelle joins in on the excitement, eyes bright. "If we show the front gates that we have the horn from that monster…"
"Then they have to let us in." Yuri smirks at me and I grin widely.
Skit: The Magistrate's Evil
Rita: A city where the magistrate can do whatever he wants really leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Yuri: Looks like there's bound to be a few power-mad imperials no matter where you go.
Yuri: What we saw on the way into town here; that happened all the time back in the lower quarter.
Tina: ….
Karol: I'm glad I live outside the empire. I don't think I could stand this very long.
Tina: ….
Estelle: Why would the magistrate do these things…..
Yuri: Hey we don't need to let the bad vibes of this city rub off on us.
Rita: Exactly.
Estelle: Alright….
Tina: …..
Yuri: ….Tina?
End of Skit
Skit: Witcher and Rita
Yuri: Hey, Flynn said that mage Witcher was from Aspio, didn't he?
Estelle: Did you know him from before Rita?
Rita: ...hmm
Karol: What do you mean 'hmm'?!
Rita: I get the feeling he might have passed through my vision once or twice.
Rita: It's nothing more than a vague memory though.
Karol: I think I know why Witcher had such a chip on his shoulder…
End of skit
Skit: You're Doing it Wrong
Tina: …..
Rita: Ok what's up with you?!
Karol: Yeah Tina, you're being pretty quiet.
Tina: ...heh
Estelle: ?
Tina: He's doing it wrong.
Yuri: What do you mean?
Tina: The taxing, the monsters, and the weird weather….he's doing it wrong.
Estelle: How would he do it?
Tina: ...raise taxes slowly so no one is the wiser, let them continue to make revenue so his own money pile grows, pick off people he doesn't like subtly through monsters attacks and such…
Tina: So he's doing it wrong. Not to mention he involved children.
Yuri: Oh?
Tina: So I'm gonna punch his face in.
Yuri: Sounds like a plan!
Estelle: Yuri! Tina!
End of Skit
Skit: Opinions on Flynn
Karol: I don't usually get along with knights, but Flynn was different!
Karol: He seemed like a serious, capable sort of guy, you know?
Rita: Really? He seemed like a stubborn, by-the-rules kind of guy to me.
Estelle: Flynn's a good person who'll give anyone a helping hand when they have a problem!
Tina: He seems like a bit of all of it, honestly.
Tina: I think he hates me a little bit though.
Yuri: He may seem all proper now, but he raised some hell in the Lower Quarter back in the day.
Tina: I should call him 'post-sketchy' next time I see him.
Estelle: I can hardly imagine Flynn like that….
End of Skit
"You notice all the guildsmen hanging around?" I drawl as we make our way out of the barrier. Yuri hums in question.
"This blastia thing has to be getting under the radar somehow, and they can't if they're using knights, someone like Flynn or a captain would catch on." I say casually. Yuri stops walking, looking over at me.
"You think the aque blastia was taken by guildsmen." I shake my head, no way would they risk guilds in the capital when there's been no recent conflicts or incidents.
"No, I think the person who wanted the blastia core was a guildsmen. Think about it, nobles have a lot of power from what I've seen. They wouldn't need to steal the lower quarter's unless there was no feasible way they could be in the capital unnoticed. Not to mention the fact that the Red Eyes are hunting down Flynn…" He catches on, and rushes to catch up.
"And Flynn is the only knight who's blatantly looking for the blastia thieves…" Yuri finishes, giving me a look.
"This is big." I nod.
"Yeah." I look off into the rain.
"This is big."
This is a BIG chapter update as well, thank you Tina. I'm very proud of this intense ending. So yeah, Tina's causing some changes. It's gonna be a doozy. Kris is gonna be getting some material eventually though I keep forgetting how much I actually need to write before I get to the point that I can reveal things. So, I'm sorry I keep teasing you nerds so much, I'll keep it to a minimum. Maybe. Probablyyyy not. A special thanks for those that have included me in their communities! I was so flattered I blushed for like three hours when one of them was labeled 'Best OC Fics Ever'. Thank you for those who wrote me reviews during my long hiatus, I'm sorry for taking so long. Review, follow and favourite!
From: Dragon S.W.K.