A/N: Sorry for the delay. Couldn't get by beta to read the chapter and...he still kinda hasn't. I went a head and tried to read through and catch as many errors as I could on my own but I was a little under the weather when I did. So...what I guess I'm trying to say is that there might be a few more errors than normal but I hope it isn't too bad. Feel free to let me know if you catch anything too crazy (By this I mean PLEASE DO, because I want to fix any major problems.)
Anyway, *coughs* don't own Tales of Symphonia *coughs and clears throat* Excuse me I must still be getting over that virus I caught. Anyway, I give you chapter three. Please enjoy and review.
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Ch. 3. Yet Another Begins
A sweet wave of relief washed over Luc as Triet loomed up over the hot golden sands of the Triet Desert. Hanging over the sandstone colored walls of the town were the long lushes leaves of the oasis towns beautiful palm trees, which had to be the only vegetation in this whole cursed section of the world. As they drew nearer to town, a steady babble of voices began to rise up into the dry air bringing the comfort of knowing the town wasn't just a mirage with it.
The sound of the group's footsteps beginning to clack on the stone walkway at the entrance of town renewed the excitement and relief Luc had first felt at the very sight of the town.
Walking into Triet was like walking into an explosion of colors, sounds, and smells after being stuck out in the monotone and barren desert that surrounded the tiny haven. People were standing idly in the shade provided by the sandstone buildings and palm trees, while others called from their stands trying to entice those passing by them, and still many others wandered around casually or went about their business. The people's bright clothing and the various colors of the merchandise in the stalls, the canvases pulled out as shades, and lettering on the signs came as a shock to Luc's eyes as she had grown use to the subdued shades lingering just out side the wall.
Out of habit, Luc paused, standing close to the center of a large circle made of stone bricks that seemed to serve as a center point for the front of town, to scan the immediate area for the inn.
The sudden disappearance of the beautiful mercenary the group had just met quickly grabbed Lloyd's attention. Lloyd tuned and walked backwards looking around for the woman. Upon spotting here he raised both his hands to his face, cupping them around his mouth.
"Hey Luc, we're heading for the inn! You gunna join us? It'll be cheaper for you if you split the cost of one of the rooms with us", Lloyd called out enthusiastically, cutting into Luc's silent search.
'Guess they already know where the in is then', Luc mused to herself grateful she didn't have to worry about locating one. She gave an exaggerated nod to the over energized teen and tiredly followed after him, which proved easy enough thanks to his bright red jacket.
Cool air rushed over Luc's lightly burned face brining the relief she didn't realize she needed. Well, the relief she didn't realize she needed or had forgotten about after having to put up with the tender skin for the past few days, unable to escape the source of the discomfort.
It took a few seconds for the mercenary's sharp eyes to adjust to the dim inn lighting. The main room of the inn was wide and open, but dimly lit. The small amount of lighting was attributed to small beams of natural light filtering in through slits in the walls that couldn't have been more than a few inched wide and two or three feet tall and long thin slits just below the ceiling. Barrels sat clustered in the corners of the main room as well as under the wooden stair case that led up to the second where Luc suspected the majority of the rooms were located.
Dead ahead was a long wooden counter manned by a middle aged woman wearing a bright blue head covering and a dark blue dress coupled with a vibrant red sash tied comfortably around here waist. At the counter stood Raine and Kratos discussing rooms and negotiating a price with the kind looking inn keeper.
Not to far off from the two adults stood Genis, Lloyd, and Collette talking leisurely about one thing or another. Lloyd spoke, a huge grin spreading across his lips, causing Genis to gain a light hearted smile and Collette to smile brightly with a slight giggle.
Luc approached the counter just as the professor and stern swordsmen finished discussing accommodations with the inn keeper. "Alright your fee is set at one –hundred and twenty gald a night. Here are the keys to your rooms. The first one is just through the door to the left, first room on your right. The second is just up the stairs, third door to your right from the stair case. Enjoy your stay and let me, my husband, or one of our two maids know if you need anything", the tanned woman explained with a smile.
Raine thanked her picking up the two keys and turning to flag down the three teens of the group. Luc stepped up to the counter and before the inn keeper could even turn back around from filing away a few papers, Raine turned the mercenary with a firm hand behind the shoulder and started leading her off to the side along with the rest of the group. Like anyone would expect from a seasoned teacher, Raine headed Luc off explaining, "You might as well room with us. The two rooms we're renting have three beds each. Besides it will be cheaper for you and for us if we split the cost. On top of that, I personally want to make sure you are recovering properly from your time spent I the desert. And I won't take no as an answer."
"Thank you", Luc began, looking back over at the counter, "but… you all really don't have to do this. Splitting a three bed room with me really doesn't save you all that much money and I have the funds to rent a room of my own. Besides, you have already helped me so much just by supplying me with water like you did. On top of that, even if I don't room with you all, I'll still be at the same inn. So, you would easily be able to check up on me."
Raine shook her head, "It really isn't a problem for us. Besides, if you think about it, it is either room with us or rent your own room and possibly end up sharing with people you have never met before since, like a fair few inns, this inn rents more by the bed than by the room. At least in rooming with us you know a little something about the people you are sharing a room with. In all honesty, I would prefer you ending up as the third person in our second room then someone we don't know at all."
Luc let the professor's arguments sink in. It was true that most inns rented more by the bed instead of by the room and this inn did look like one of those inns. So, it would mean either rooming with people she knows a little bit about and had spent some time around, or take the chance she rent a bed in another room and end up sharing with people she didn't know at all.
It wasn't like the odds of her rooming with a crazed psychopath were real high or anything. Luc had stayed at inns like this many times before and had quite often ended up sharing rooms with rather interesting individuals. It was, however, still nice to know a little something about the other people first, and considering something like that didn't happen often.
On top of the nice advantage of knowing the other people came the cost benefit that Luc was trying to make out to be less significant than it was. It was technically cheaper for a group to rent full rooms than it was for each individual person to rent a bed. Yes, looking at direct cost, a full room cost more than a single bed, but if you added up the cost per bed in a room and compared it to the cost of renting the whole room, the room was cheaper. Factoring it all out, paying a portion of the cost for the room, which was like paying for a single bed, except for she would end up paying less.
All of Raine's arguments made sense which meant that Luc had no real grounds for objection. With it all thought out, Luc did the only thing any other mercenary would do in a situation such as this. She gave in, and accepted the offer.
At the mercenary's nod and words of "Alright, I accept", Raine gave her a quick pat on the back, and Collette jumped up and down with excitement exclaiming, "I'm so happy you will be joining us Luc. You seem like a really nice person so I was hoping to get the chance to get to know you better."
Get to know you better. Luc didn't mind hearing those words, but they meant she would have to talk and depending on the person that wanted to get to know her, that could mean a lot of talking. For some positively strange reason, Collette seemed to give of the aura of one of those who would equal a fair bit of talking. Just as long as the blonde didn't ask questions about every little detail, Luc decided it wouldn't be all that bad. The blonde did seem rather kind, and understanding, so Luc decided that if the "getting to know you" sessions were getting to be a pain, the girl would understand.
The rooms were decided quickly. Collette being a female would stay with Raine in the first floor room, and Lloyd would stay with Kratos in the room on the second floor. Since Raine was Genis's older sister, and seeing as Genis was most comfortable staying with his sister, Genis would stay in the same room as Raine and Collette. That left the final open bed in the second floor room with Kratos and Lloyd. So, Luc ended up staying with the purple clad mercenary and the overactive teen in red.
The room was simple, clean, and had a rather comfortable feel to it. There were three beds extending out of the left hand wall spaced equally over the distance of the all. A small wooden night stand stood on either side of each bed, one of which had a plain white candle sitting upon its surface. At the end of each bed where simple wooden chests void of elaborate details, each with a simple bronze key sticking out of their black built in metal locks.
On the right wall was yet another piece of simple furniture. It was a long light colored wooden hutch. Three clay basins with tin pitchers sat spaced out on the surface of the hutch, which were obviously washing basins that a guest may use if they wanted to clean up a little as opposed to taking a complete bath.
Luc walked to the bed farthest from the door and almost dropped her pack on to the tan blanket draped over the bed. Stopping herself she remember just how dusty and sand ridden her pack was, and let the pack fall from her hand onto the floorboards with a soft thump. Tiered, Luc took a seat at the end of her bed and began to un-wrap her gray wraps from around her hands.
With energy that Luc didn't think could possibly exist after traveling through the desert, Lloyd jumped backwards onto the first bed, the springs creaking wildly for a few seconds from the unexpected impact. "Man, it feels good knowing we'll have a good bed to sleep on tonight. I was getting tiered of sleeping on the ground ever night", the youth exclaimed with a deep sigh, throwing his hands behind his head.
Luc glanced over her shoulder to look at the boy and watched as Kratos put his pack down on top of the wooden chest at the end of the second bed, shaking his head at the youth.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A warm bath did wonders for Luc. Layers of dirt and grit washed off of her delicately tanned skin revealing her more pale and delicate complexion. The water and soap stung all the scrapes and cuts ranging all over her body, as well as causing the burns across the bridge of her nose, over her shoulders, and along the backs of his fingers.
Once finished bathing, Luc pulled on a pair of extremely baggy dark gray cloth pants, which she tied securely, and a light gray, almost white, t-shirt. Thankfully, the clothes she had packed over top of, and tucked in around, most of her clothes and belongings, had kept the sand from infesting all of her things, leaving her with clean clothes she could now pull on.
From on the counter next to where her clothes had been, Luc picked up a small jar of gel cream Raine had given her to treat the light burns she had sustained while traveling. She unscrewed the lid and dipped her fingers into the cool gel. The gel felt extremely cold on the burned skin, but it offered an almost instant relief. Not only did the gel bring relief, according to Raine, it would help speed up the healing process, and since the burns weren't all that bad, Luc figured with the accelerated healing, the burns would be healed in two or three days.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Renewed and refreshed, Luc returned to the inn room she shared with the eccentric group she had been in the desert. She returned to find Raine and Kratos sitting at the small table situated in front of the window. With nothing better to do and with it being to early to sleep, Luc sat down in one of the two remaining chairs.
Luc quickly got to talking with the healer and the mercenary, and soon details about the group began to surface. It had dawned on Luc that she had never asked what the group had been doing out in the desert where they were. It wasn't like Luc had met them in a place where any mainstream traffic from or to Triet which was, now that Luc really though about it, was odd.
It turned out that two of the members, Lloyd and Genis, had not originally been with the group. They had in fact, set out after Kratos, Raine, and Collette after some troubles back home in Iselia. Unfortunately Lloyd had managed to get on to the bad side of the Desians and the Desians had decided to keep an eye out for him.
After Lloyd and Genis had made it to Triet, they were discovered by the Desians from the near by base and taken prisoner, deciding only after reaching heir own front gates that it wasn't necessary to hold Genis. They locked Lloyd up and let Genis go. Genis somehow managed to find Raine, Kratos, and Collette and brought them back to the base, only to find out Lloyd had escaped.
The group had been on its way back to Triet from their "rescue" mission when they came across Luc. Finishing her explanation Raine sighed stating, "and that is all that led up to us finding you in such an odd part of the desert."
Luc took a few moments think over the long and…unusual story. It wasn't like the two had any reason to lie to Luc about something like this, so she concluded it was the truth.
"That's uh…quite the story you two just told me. But I get the feeling it's all true. This means, I guess, that my initial impression of your group was correct. You guys really are an unusual group", Luc concluded out loud with a laugh, "However, I feel like there is something more to you all. Something else that makes you special. I understand if you don' want to tell me what it is but I am going to tell you what I have noticed that got me to this conclusion."
Kratos leaned back in his chair as if stating silently that "this ought to be good" and Raine just simply gave her a soft glowing smile. "You are more than welcome to fill us in on your observations and speculations. I my self am rather curious as to what your thoughts are. You seem rather astute so this should be interesting in its own right. I will also tell you know that we may end up confirming or explaining more than you think we will", Raine mused.
Luc gave a firm nod and began, "First thing I must admit that strikes me as odd, is the presence of such a serious and seasoned, I'm assuming anyway, mercenary. Not every group that travels has a hired mercenary with them. I am assuming he is hired of course, and it is the way he conducts him self that tells me this. On top of the mercenary, the young girl, Collette, has a rather interesting stone fixed to her chest. Not every day you see something like that. Now, you said you all came from Iselia right?"
Raine gave a nod of conformation and Luc continued, "Well, not to long ago, as anyone knows, the Tower of Salvation appeared which means the Chosen's trip for regeneration has begun. Word has it, that she is from Iselia. My conclusion is that Collette, based on everything I have observed and been told, is that Collette is the Chosen."
Kratos smirked and Raine nodded once more. "That is correct. It's not that we are trying to keep it secret that Collette is the Chosen, it's just we thought it wise we not go about flaunting the fact. In all honesty, I kept from explaining this sooner when you were asking questions because I was curious to see just how astute you were. It turns out your observation skills are rather remarkable. I mean, you put together various information to figure out Collette was the Chosen, and without being told you figured Kratos was a hired mercenary based on his actions and behaviors alone", Raine clarified.
Luc shrugged replying casually, "Thanks, but it wasn't anything special. You eventually get good at pulling things together and making conclusions when your occupation is mercenary. I guess you kind of have to, to some degree at least, and, well…, you aren't going to make it far as a mercenary if you don't develop strong observation skills. At least, not as an all round mercenary. I guess you could make it if you were an all bronze person that worked as a bouncer or some officials muscle or something else like that."
"I wouldn't call them mercenaries then. Just muscle", Kratos added gruffly leaning forward to rest his arms on the table.
"I guess that's true", Raine nodded deep in thought, "That aside, I wanted to…ask something. You seemed rather indifferent to the appearance of the Tower of Salvation. Any particular reason why? Most people seem excited or hopeful, while a rare few have seemed pessimistic… or uncertain that the Chosen will succeed in the world regeneration."
Luc released a deep sigh. She should have expected a question like that after she so casually glanced over the appearance of the tower. She thought for a moment trying to figure out how to put her indifference into words. Not entirely sure of her indifference her self, she eventually responded dully, "Not to sure. Just don't feel all that moved by it. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great thing, the tower appearing in all, it's just…I don't see the point in getting all worked up and acting like everything is about to be resolved. Life still goes on, tower or no tower. Other than that, I'm not to sure. That's all the explanation I give really."
The professor took in the mercenary's explanation and gave an approving nod. "That's fair enough. I was just curious anyway."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lloyd and the others eventually returned from their exploration of Triet. The whole group sat and ate together in a small dining area of the inn and the "lets get to know Luc" sessions began. Lloyd went on and on with his questions about what it was like to be a mercenary and all the places she had been. Collette focused more on asking about Luc's experiences and the many places she had seen and all the wonderful people she had met. Collette also showed an intense interest in what is was like to travel alone so often.
Luc tried her best to answer the questions as she ate, waving a hand when she didn't feel up to answering a question. While attempting to a chew a rather large mouth full, Luc wondered why none of these questions had come up before. Not that she was thinking about it, the youths could have easily asked her every single one of these questions while they were traveling, but they hadn't. Luc simply shook the thought off deciding it didn't really matter and then realized it probable had something to do with the crazed healer that was known to have temporary lapses of sanity and normal behavior.
"Lloyd! It's not like all mercenaries do is fight, fight, fight you know? And it's not like they never studied either. The only way Kratos and, as far as I can tell, Luc know what they do is because they have studied and observed. The same is true for their fighting if that's all your going to think about it. They had to study fighting styles and techniques to get to where they are now", the young mage Genis exclaimed from next to his best friend.
"I know that Genis, but they don't get stuck studying all of the boring stuff. They get to learn what they want when they feel like it. I mean, they live the true life of freedom and adventure", Lloyd exclaimed jumping up out of his seat and placing one foot on top of the chair next to him a fist raised high.
"Oh brother", Genis muttered to himself before looking at Collette and whispering, "I still don't think he gets just how much hard work goes into being a mercenary."
Obviously, however, Collette wasn't listening because she too jumped up out of her chair, throwing both hands into the air chiming in with, "A life of freedom and adventure! That really does sound like fun Lloyd."
Genis fell forward, his head slamming into the table with defeat. It was obvious there was no getting through to his two easily excitable friends who were now off on a tangent about exploring the world and living the free life.
The tangent escalated to Lloyd and Collette marching back and forth next to the table as Genis repeatedly hit his head against the table in embarrassment at his friends eccentric behavior in front of the adults, while Kratos sat eyes closed and head tilted down, Raine releasing a great sigh while shaking her head, and Luc sat frozen in place, fork halfway up to her lips from her plate, and mouth slightly open as she took in the bizarre energetic behavior.
Luc set her fork back down with a smirk, while suppressing a laugh, when Genis suddenly ceased smacking his own head against the table yelling, before letting his head fall back against the table one more time, "Do you guys get how not simple being a mercenary or an adventure is! And do you have to march around like that?!"
Something through the window caught Luc's attention. She watched the window closely but she couldn't see anything but the black shadows of the night and the outline of a well that sat not to far from the inn. What could it have been? A trick of the light? Had someone opened their blinds, letting candle light spill out into the night for a moment? Or had someone extinguished a light causing shadows to dance and flicker for a moment? Or was it just exhaustion finally kicking in and taking its toll?
As Lloyd and Collette were preparing to parade by the window once again another movement, a sharper more abrupt movement, played out more directly in Luc's line of sight. Within seconds, Luc lunged from her chair pulling out a dagger she had always made a point to carry with her, throwing Lloyd back in the direction she came from. Meanwhile, Kratos had flown from his own seat grabbing Collette and puling her way from the window. Just as both youths cleared arms reach of the window, the window shattered as a metal tipped whip sailed in through the window frame.
Luc slashed at the whip with her dagger severing the tip from it as Kratos darted forward to try and get within reach of the assailant. Unfortunately, the assailant had reacted quickly to their botched attempt to either attack Lloyd, capture Collette, or both and had fled he scene, dropping the whip as they ran.
"Damn", Kratos cursed under his breath.
It was decided that it was too dangerous to let Collette stay on the first floor of the inn elders of the group had Lloyd and Collette switch beds. Lloyd would stay on the first floor, although the Desians could be after him, with Genis and Raine, and Collette would stay on the second floor with the two mercenaries. Collette would be harder to reach and more protected on the second floor with the mercenaries, and Lloyd, unlike Collette, was able to defend him self more easily making it less dangerous for him to be on the first floor.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The sun was barely over the horizon, the town only just succumbing to the light of day when Kratos awoke the next morning. He sat up in bed, leaning back against the plain headboard with his arms folded across his bare chest as he let himself to sink deep into thought.
It was insane. He had only just met Luc a mere few days ago, and yet, he still couldn't help but trust her fully and completely. He felt as if he could place his life in her hands, and anyone who knew him at all would call that odd in deed.
Normally, he would be weary of a person he had only known this long, still observing them and analyzing their every move carefully. But here he was, Kratos the cautious, prepared to let this woman watch his back, trusting her to cover him, and protect him, if anything happened.
Kratos shook his head, tufts of reddish-brown hair waving carelessly in front of his eyes. He shouldn't trust her like this yet, but he did. And…there was absolutely no denying it.
Since this frame of mind refused to budge, Kratos went ahead and allowed his thoughts to proceed. The truth was that the woman could actually be quite an asset. She was a well rounded fighter, alert, perceptive, seemed highly educated or at least well studied, and appeared to be rather adaptive to situations which would make her good in a tight spot.
After playing the list through his head, Kratos realized there was no denying that Luc really could be an asset to the group. The fact that the next place the group would be going was the Triet Ruins, not that anyone but Kratos knew that little detail just yet, made Luc sound more and more worth while to have join them. The place would hardly be well maintained, riddled with monsters, and there was no knowing exactly what awaited them. There could be hundreds of monsters, or a small handful. For all anyone knew monsters may not be the problem but bandits who made the surrounding area a base of operations or a hideout.
On top of enemies, one also had to consider the state or repair. Walls or doorways could be ready to give out, or spots in the floor could be weak and ready to go. If one wasn't attentive, one could easily fall victim to a cave in, fall to some unknown section of the dungeon, or become severely injured just because one wasn't paying attention and paid for it with a bad step.
If monsters or bandits turned out to be an issue, another well trained and practiced fighter would be invaluable, and if opposition was not a problem, they would have at least come prepared. And being prepared, as Kratos believed, could be the deciding factor in many things, so being prepared and having something you ended up not needing was far better then reaching a point where you needed it and didn't have it.
If poor conditions where a problem, which they most certainly would be, having one more person to pick up on possible dangers would be an immense help. Luc's alertness and well developed senses, as far as Kratos had seen in terms of reaction time and picking up on small details, would certainly make proceeding through the ruins much easier and safer. Between him self, Raine, and Luc, they would probably be able to catch most anything before things became disastrous.
He would have to bring this up with Raine, leaving out the part about their destination of course considering no one knew where they were going just yet. There was the minor problem of Luc being a mercenary. This meant she hired out her skills and blade, and that meant money would more than likely be required. Money…could be a problem, but perhaps between him and Raine, they could find a way to convince Luc to join them, by promise of pay at a later point in time down the road or by other means.
That being the case, all Kratos had to worry about currently was convincing Raine Luc was trust worthy. Then again, that shouldn't be a problem, seeing as the professor seemed to trust Kratos's judgment, and he judged Luc as trust worthy.
Mind made up, Kratos pushed back the covers reaching for the black shirt he had left sitting out on his bedside table. He pulled on the shirt stiffly as he stood, stretching soon after to work out his tense muscles.
A warm pleasant breeze brushed by Kratos's bare arms. He carefully looked back over his shoulder to find that Luc was awake and sitting on the windowsill taking in the morning air. He hadn't noticed her get up, so…perhaps she had been up for a while now? Well it was also a possibility that she had gotten up while he was thinking since he had been rather deep in thought with his eyes closed as well for a short time.
Turning back to head for the door her noticed Colette still out cold, soft snores of breathy air passing through her parted lips. For some unknown reason after seeing that the happy-go-lucky Chosen was still sound asleep, Kratos turned back to take in the sight of the mercenary sitting in the windowsill, the steadily growing morning light casting a gentle glow across her form.
Luc's fair complexion looked even softer than it had the night before after Kratos had seen her for the first time cleaned up instead of coated in desert residue. Her hair seemed to glisten as the morning light reflected off if it as it danced from the balmy gentle wind. On the back of her moderately tanned left hand sparkled a ruby red exphere set in its gold shaded setting.
It was odd, for some reason the exphere just didn't seem entirely right to Kratos. It wasn't the fact that she had an exphere or anything, because it was fully plausible for a person who travels, especially a mercenary, to come across an exphere and equip it. It wasn't that the exphere looked fake, damaged, tampered with, or modified. In fact, the exphere looked completely normal.
So, it wasn't necessarily the exphere itself that didn't seem right. It was more a feeling that the exphere didn't suit the mercenary sitting before him in the window, like the exphere wasn't natural for her individually. But…the very benefits an exphere brought were benefits any mercenary could find useful no matter how exceptional they were, since they sold their skills, and Luc clearly used the gem.
Kratos forced himself to shake the thought and feeling, turning away before Luc sensed that she was being stared at and pulled herself from her thoughts to investigate like she had that first night she spent with the group out in the desert.
In attempt to change what he was thinking about, Kratos declared internally that Colette would be safe left alone with the woman and in more than capable hands. Mind frame successfully changed, for the most part, he slipped his bare feet into his shoes and strode towards the door.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The sound of footsteps over the wooden floor boards penetrated Luc's morning meditation. She looked back into the room over her shoulder to discover the source of the footsteps, and found quickly that it was only Kratos. He was dressed only in his black sleep shirt and dark navy blue sleep pants. But where was he going at this hour, and dressed like that?
Considering he was wearing his sleep clothes, he probably wasn't going outside the inn. He probably wasn't going to the bathroom since they had luckily gotten one of the rooms with its own bathroom, and going to breakfast was completely ruled out because the inn wouldn't start serving breakfast for at least another hour or two.
Luc lingered on the question for a few moments before she simply shrugged it off. The stern mercenary's business was his own and she wasn't about to waste time fretting over it. Besides, for some reason or another, the mercenary's early morning departure for some unknown destination didn't surprise Luc in the least.
Without another thought for the matter, Luc returned to her meditation, gazing out over the slowly waking desert town. The gentle wind was soothing and watching the town come to light like a painting slowly being filled in, slowly coming to completion, helped her relax and prepare for the new day.
The answer to the question Luc could care less if it ever got answered was answered that same morning over breakfast through a series of questions and proposals. "What are your plans now that you have made it to Triet, Luc? Do you have any jobs lined up", Raine questioned casually after testing her oat meal and determining that it needed tie to cool.
Luc shook her head in response, still chewing the last bite of toast she had taken. Raine waited patiently for Luc to finish chewing and swallowing. Mouth now vacant of food, Luc expanded, "You could say I have plans. I mean, I plan to take on any jobs as a mercenary that I can. If I can't get any mercenary work, I'll just take on a few odd jobs, like working for a shop or something, to support myself, and I'll move on from this town if no real jobs for me turn up. So, you could say I have plans, just not real definite ones."
She finished with a shrug, picking up her glass of juice and taking a sip. Raine and Kratos simply nodded at her explanation. Genis swallowed his mouthful of eggs and asked, "It can't be reassuring not knowing when and where work will come up? I mean, it just sound like your life has a lot of room for uncertainty."
Luc smirked at the young boy's question and observation. He was right. There wasn't a lot of certainty in her life, and she didn't know when and where work would pop up. "True", she started taking another sip of her juice, "There isn't a lot of certainty in my life, and my work, whenever I don't have a job, is always up in the air. But it has never bothered me really, and I don't really give it much thought."
Genis cocked his head to the side, unable to comprehend how anyone could live not really knowing what would come next or living without a spec of clarity to their life. Genis concluded that it would take a care free person to live that kind of life and Lloyd obviously fit that one bit of criteria for being a mercenary or adventurer. That decide he looked back at his usually energetic friend to discover Lloyd practically face down in his cereal, an out stretched hand limply placed around his glass of juice.
Of course a mercenary or adventurer needed to be disciplined and hard working because of the level of uncertainty in their lives, and those were two traits Lloyd most certainly lacked a majority of the time. Genis shook his head and went back to breakfast, giving Lloyd a firm kick in the leg and watching him shoot upright almost spilling his juice as he bellowed, "the Church of Martel, professor!"
Colette giggled, Genis gave a heavy sigh, and Raine only smirked shaking her head. Why couldn't Lloyd wake up with an answer when she was teaching a class?
With a sigh Raine returned to her original goal before Genis had chimed in with a question, which she certainly hadn't been about to interrupt. Curiosity and the pursuit of answers were important and needed to be allowed and encouraged.
"Well, as you know, we are on a journey to regenerate the world. This entails Colette, as well as the rest of us", Raine paused gesturing towards the three teens and Kratos before continuing, "to visit…altars at which she offers up her prayers to the Goddess Martel. Unfortunately, these altars can be located in…less than populated and safe locations. One such altar happens to be the first one we are trying to reach here in the Triet desert."
Raine paused to allow Luc to fully absorb what she had said. Once, Luc nodded Kratos, picking up where Raine left off, continued, "As you could guess, having experienced fighters and competent individuals in the party is highly beneficial. As far as we have seen, you are a skilled and competent fighter as well as an intelligent individual. It would be a great benefit to have you around."
"So…do you want to hire me or something?"
"Perhaps", Raine smiled, "Do you have any interest in helping us or accompanying the Chosen on her journey?"
Luc gave a shrug coupled with the tilt of the head to one side, "I'm intrigued. Care to give me any details?"
Raine nodded explaining, "As I said, the first altar id here in the desert. All we would expect of you is that you help in the defenses of the group, protect the Chosen under all circumstance, and help ensure the safety of the entire group."
"Escort and guard, sounds reasonable and easy enough. Alright, and my fee?"
"And this is where things become a little less…standard for a mercenary", Kratos smirked sitting back in his chair.
Luc tilted her head to the side listening carefully. "You see, we don't think we have the funds to pay you outright at this time. We would, however, like to reach an agreement on payment at a later date. On top of that, we would like to offer covering all expenses while you travel with us. These expenses would include lodging, food, travel fees such as boat tickets, and basic metal supplies", Raine informed the mercenary, placing her elbows on the table, hands folded so that she could rest her head on them.
Raine and Kratos watched the young woman for clues as to if she was leaning towards agreeing or not. Realizing there were a few more details the mercenary might be interested in or might want clarified, Raine added, "Yes, this contract is fairly open ended. You can choose to stay with us as long as you see fit. At least, up until the end of the journey that is, if that is what you choose to do. The soonest you can leave us and still get paid is upon return to Triet after we have finished with the first altar. Payment amount is up for negotiation."
The job hunting mercenary sat silent as she considered the offer. The job was fairly open ended, leaving room for Luc to act as she saw fit. It didn't tie her down and wasn't forcing her to make a large commitment. It was an escort and guard job, which would be made easier by the fact every member of the group was able to protect themselves to at least a minimal degree, including the one she would be primarily protecting. This made the job easier simply because Luc wouldn't be attempting to run the defense of the party singlehandedly.
On the down side, it didn't sound like she would receive a very large down payment, and, to her, it sounded like payment may not even be delivered when she chose to leave the party if she left early enough on. That made making the offer a long term investment more beneficial, but caring that a client was able to deliver on their payment was second nature for a mercenary considering mercenaries didn't work for free.
Any normal mercenary would have walked away from the offer all because payment was, for the most part, up in the air. But Luc felt she could trust the party and believed that they would see to it that she get paid no matter how long it too them to get the funds. "So far, I'm still interested in the offer. Whether my final decision to take the job or not now revolves around the settlement of payment", Luc conveyed with a nod and continued, "Now, what price are you willing to put on my services? However, I must inform you, though you probably already know this, but offer too little and then refuse to raise the price and I will walk away from this. But I get the feeling that isn't going to be a problem here.
"No, it shouldn't be a problem, unless we find that the minimum amount you demand is too excessive", Raine responded with a sigh. She was now two for two on mercenaries making the biggest issue out of payment amount. 'Mercenaries really are about the money, though I'm sure they aren't heartless. But…I guess this should be expected when your main source of income is the undertaking of jobs offered to you, normally, by people you know little about and probably will never see again', Raine concluded.
The three adults moved into a peaceful negotiation on payment amount and delivery. First, Raine and Kratos briefly discussed how much they should offer initially for the woman's services quietly between themselves, since they hadn't had the opportunity to discuss the matter fully yet because of how recent the idea to hire her had been. Next, the initial proposal was made and Luc began the process of trying to edge the price up at least a little higher to better the return on her time investment to the party.
Once the two representatives of the party and Luc had reached what they both found to be a fair price, they moved on to negotiating the down payment. Of course this matter didn't have as much room for negotiation since it was based on the amount of gald the party now currently possessed, and this meant a definite limit to the amount that could be given.
After less than an hour of the calm friendly negotiation, the three came to their final agreement. Luc would be paid 3,000 gald now and 7,000 after the party's return to Triet as soon as the party had that much to spare. Raine also agreed to, one; pay an additional fee of 5,000 gald per week after the return to Triet, and two; to leave the additional fee flexible. The flexibility of the fee, which Luc found necessary and Raine saw as reasonable, was to insure that if the difficulty of the journey increased, Luc would get paid accordingly. This also meant that Raine could move to lower the price after the difficulty decreased, or if she felt the amount of work Luc was putting forward was equal to the fee she was being paid. Lastly, Raine agreed that the fee could not be any lower than 3,500 gald a week, and Luc allowed Raine to reserve the right to terminate her contract with the party at any time.
"Alright, it's all settled then. I, Luc Kaiden, hereby agree to accompany the party of the Chosen to the altar located within the Triet Desert, and to continue to accompany the party until I chose to leave the party, my contract is terminated, or the Chosen completes her journey of world regeneration. In accompanying the party and the Chosen, I vow to protect all in the party to the best of my ability, act to ensure the general safety and better interest of the group, and to, above all, protect the Chosen", Luc formally declared taking her dagger, still in it's sheath, from her belt and holding it to her chest as a sign of swearing her blade and services to the party.
"Very well then, I expect you to keep to that vow and your end of the agreement", Raine accepted sincerely, "Formalities aside, thank you for agreeing to join us. I understand that your acceptance with payment being so uncertain is generally not something a mercenary would do, and I assume that it is something you normally would not have done. I speak for all of us when I say that we are honored you trust enough to join us under such uncertainties. Again, thank you, and welcome to our group."
Luc grinned at the welcoming. It was nice to be treated more like another living being as opposed to be treated like a meat shield. If all these pleasant aspects of the group kept stacking, it was going to be disappointing when her time with the party came to a close. This party was a rarity and she was going to revel in this refreshing change of pace for as long as she could.
Returning to her breakfast of ham, scrambled eggs, and bread, Luc solved the mystery of where the other mercenary had disappeared to earlier that morning. Based on the events of the morning, Kratos had walked down to the party's other room to discuss hiring her with Raine.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kratos smirked in amusement as he watched the teens of the party greet the newest member of the group, with the exception of Lloyd whom Kratos swore he heard snoring softly. Colette giggled happily, clasping her hands together in front of her in delight saying, "I look forward to you traveling with us Luc, honestly. I think it will be fun having you around."
Genis gave the new member a smile. "I'm glad you joined us. Maybe between you, Raine, and Kratos, you all can finally talk some sense into Lloyd", the youngest boy stated with a shrug at the second half of his remark.
The others at the table started up idle conversation as they continued with their breakfast. While Colette and Genis were going on about the desert and what the monsters they had encountered were like, Luc temporarily blocked out the conversation she had been pulled into and stole a glance at Kratos un-expectantly making eye contact with the man.
Eyes still locked, Kratos gave the woman a brief nod and smirk as welcome to the party, even though he knew she probably hadn't been looking for a welcome. The corner of her mouth turned up in a half smile and returned the nod. "Welcome", Kratos whispered more to him self after the blond broke eye contact and was pulled back into the conversation.
"Another person joins the journey for world regeneration, and yet another soul begins down the road that is not as it appears to be", Kratos whispered under his breath, letting his chin fall to touch his chest and closing his brown eyes in deep thought.
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A/N: And that concludes chapter three. I hope you liked it and I also hope you will click the little button below that says "Review this Story/Chapter". I will love you that much more if you hit that button. *nudge nudge wink wink*
Unfortunately chapter four is still has a ways to go before it will be ready to be posted. I must also sadly say that I don't know when I will be able to get the time to work on it, which means I can't give you a strong time span in which I will post it by. That said, I would like to apologize...and now I am proceeding with promising you that I will have it up eventually. There is only so much my professors can throw my way and their all almost out said..."things". I can feel it...I think....
Happy reading till next we meet!