Forget It
Chapter 14: Why him?
Jill entered the Blue Bar. It was still early in the morning, and she still wasn't good friends with Muffy, but the call had sounded urgent.
The teen yawned, swaying slightly on a stool. "Muffy? Griffin? I'm here."
The blond barmaid appeared from the back room. "Jill, thanks so much for coming!"
"So, what happened that made you call me at 5 AM?"
"We got a note from Phantom Skye!"
"What does it say?" The brunette leaned forward, her loose hair dusting the counter.
Griffin came out of the back room. Apparently he had been listening in on the conversation because he just launched into reading the note. "'I'm going to bless your bar with my presence at midnight for a drink. Phantom Skye.' He sure seems to love himself."
"And sending a notice of his arrival makes me think he's quite confident. I kind of like that." Muffy stared into space for a moment before being nudged back to reality by Griffin.
"Anyway, he is a thief, so we gotta corner him."
"That's right! We'll make him pay gold for that drink!"
"That's not what I meant, Muffy."
The blonde threw her hands up. "I'm kidding. Do you have some time tonight, Jill? We could really use your help to catch that arrogant thief."
Jill nodded. "I'd be more than happy to." Time for some revenge for Lumina.
"Thanks, Jill. We're depending on you."
"I hope you don't mind. I appreciate it. We need you here from 10 to 12 tonight." Griffin gave Jill a small smile. It kind of creeped her out, but she gave a half-smile anyway.
The brunette backed out of the bar and, as soon as the door was closed, threw her hands into the air. "That… moron! Jerk! Uh… Idiot! I can't wait to beat him to bits. He is sooo going down."
She put her hands on her bag and headed straight for the mines, for advice from Carter.
"You should bring some rope, Jill, so you can tie him up."
"Yeah, that sounds good. I'd still rather beat him up, though."
"Harris would come and take you to jail for that."
"For beating up a thief? How come?"
"There's not supposed to be fighting in Mineral Town or Forget-Me-Not Valley. Strict rule."
"But there's supposed to be theft? I don't get that."
"There isn't. But he is a lot harder to get a hold of, and you would just return to your farm after the fight."
"Thanks, Carter. I think. I need to mine; I'm just so frustrated right now."
Jill took off into the mine for a time, taking her frustration out on the rocks. At about nine that night, she headed home, bag full of ores and gems. She tossed most of them into the shipping bin, keeping only the prettiest for herself.
Soon enough, it was ten. The brunette picked herself up off of the chair and ran for the Blue Bar. Muffy and Griffin weren't there yet though. They were in the back, doing…. Something Jill didn't want to think about.
They finally emerged. "Thanks for coming, Jill!" Muffy seemed sincere.
The brunette walked to the counter, looking to both sides. "Where is he?"
"He's not here yet."
"Mmm, do I smell curry? I love curry! C'mon, Griffin, let's go have some!" Muffy pulled him out of the bar forcefully. Jill tried to stop them, but Muffy was too intent on the curry.
"Aha! So we meet again, my darling Jill. Do you believe that fate has drawn us together?" Skye strode in, undisturbed that he had come to steal.
Jill rolled her eyes. "Could it be fate?" she asked sarcastically.
The sarcasm was lost on Skye. "It makes me happy to hear that from such a beautiful maiden. Anyway, I wonder if you could just hold still for a moment?" Jill lunged at him.
A white light flashed and she couldn't move. "What did you do?" she screamed.
A small smile lingered on Skye's lips. "Just relax. You'll be able to move again in a while." He strutted behind the counter.
Utterly frustrated, Jill asked uselessly, "Why are you a thief?"
Skye looked up at her and smiled again. "I don't know why."
"So you steal for fun?" Jill asked incredulously.
"That might be it. And that might not be it."
"You're making no sense, pretty boy."
"You want to know more about me, don't you? But if I simply tell you, it would take all the mystique out of our relationship. I know, if you can catch me, beautiful, I'll tell you anything you want."
Outside, Muffy and Griffin could be heard talking. "That's odd. I could have sworn that great smell was coming from here."
"Yeah. Let's go back to the shop."
Skye flinched. Jill smirked at him. "Get out. I want to catch you myself. I can't do that with this cheat of yours."
"Thanks, beautiful. I owe you one." Skye fleetingly gave her a kiss on his way out.
"I'll catch you myself!" Jill screamed at him.
Muffy and Griffin burst into the room. "The Phantom was here?"
"Yeah, and I couldn't move the entire time. He paralyzed me."
"Oh Jill, I'm so sorry. Thanks for the help anyways."
"Bye." Able to move at last, Jill walked away, fuming about Muffy's ineptitude and Skye's annoyingly sweet attitude.