::Experience::
Level Three (Part 1): Hot, Passionate… Battles?
I still didn't quite understand what that guy thought he was doing, trying to help me. Like I really need helping. If it hadn't been for him in the first place I could have been half way to San d'Oria by now.
But, instead, I was stalking the streets of Jeuno in search of my next meal.
Just like I hadn't slept in a few days, I hadn't eaten in just as many, if not more. My stomach was growling like nothing else, and my body was beginning to give out from the lack of nourishment. Maybe I could snitch some fish off a fisherman in training…
"You shouldn't worry about the bitch," A female voice filled the late afternoon air from around a corner, everything else relatively quiet. "If she's any kind of Mithra she'll be able to take care of herself. You're too soft hearted for your own good, Koi."
"Hey, don't be hitting below the belt now." … WHY!? I groaned inwardly and dove behind the nearest anything to hide. A moment or so later that annoying Paladin and another Mithra came prancing all happily around the corner.
Actually, they weren't prancing, but they might as well have been. Stupid rich bastards…
The Mithra lady was dressed in the formal, high ranking attire of a well-seasoned Red Mage, "Koi" in his shiny paladin getup.
"It's not like I did much for her. I just checked up on her is all… She's so tiny; it's hard not to fall in love with a little lost kitten."
"Lost kitten is right. Rookie thieves shouldn't be trying to stick their noses where they don't belong yet. Meaning your castle."
"It's not my castle, Prim. It's not my anything anymore, remember? I stepped down."
"I don't understand why you did that, either! You had the life, boy! Why would you throw such a nice life away?"
"She… Well… Lets just say I'm tired of civil life. I want to get back out there… Be who I used to be… Be who… we used to be…"
"We?"
"I was hoping you'd like to come with me. We can pick up where we last left off before you went back to the homeland."
I hadn't noticed they were getting too far off for me to hear as I listened, needless to say, interested in what they were talking about. It was me, for sure, but I was with Prim. I didn't understand why the paladin would want to give up such a nice life. After I snapped out of my day dream I sprung to life, following behind them a ways away, acting casual. Just another civilian… Hopefully.
"- are you doing this again?" I picked up just as the Mithra started speaking again. "Is it because of that stupid thief? Did she put some kind of idea in your head you could go back to being who you were?"
"In a way…" He paused in the middle of his sentence, and even though I couldn't see his face, I could almost feel the change in his aura. He was smirking at me! That smug little… "In a way she did. She was so feisty! Put a dagger to my throat, dang nabbit."
"Sounds like you have a crush." Prim's voice sounded strange with that phrase, as if she were trying to hide something.
"I doubt it. But she was fantastic. I was amazed she wasn't caught by the time she came back to the window." He turned his head ever so slightly, looking at me in his peripheral vision before smiling. "And I was also amazed she didn't notice me in the first place when she came through that window."
That ass hole…
"Hey, I'm gunna go check up on Rufus, alright? I'll meet you at the Inn." Prim waved to him before running off down a separate road, no doubt going to the stables. I followed Koi for a while before he turned into an ally. I turned in as well, but there was nothing but darkness when I stepped in between the buildings.
Two arms wrapped around my shoulders, elbows supporting my arms as I was yanked up into the air by silver clad muscle.
"Why are you following me?" His voice whispered softly into my ear, and again loose strands of his blonde hair blew into my face. "I don't like being followed. It makes me… tense." As he said the last word his wrap on my arms tightened, and I squeaked in slight pain.
"Put me down!"
"Why should I?" His voice was almost sinister, and as I turned my head to see his face his eyes were cold and dark, like a killer's. "There's no one here to hear you if you scream. Everyone's either on their way home or too busy to give a damn about a helpless little Mithra in the shadows…" His hot breath was on my neck and cheek, and I almost felt like crying. Was he really this mean? Was he really going to do what he was implying?
"P-please..! P-put me down..!" I whimpered. He smirked. "N-no!" I cried, but one of his hands simply clamped over my mouth.
She held the pan like a small sword, shifting back in just the right way so a shelf of everything fell onto the floor and on top of the trap door that lead to the cellar. She tripped over one of the items, however, the pan flying out of her hands and, rather comically, clashing into an armored warriors head before he crumpled to the floor, dent in his helmet.
"How cute…," The black mage laughed, and he reached down, snagging her wrist and pulling her up. He held her in the air by her wrist, turning her back to him so he could see the deep black mark. "It's amazing this hasn't killed you yet…" He murmured, reaching up and grabbing the back of her ripped shirt.
"N-no!" She cried, tears streaming down her cheeks, before he ripped what was left of her shirt off, tossing it down with the wreckage that was her house.
-----
"What the --- do to—She--- You bastard!" I could hear voices fading in and out of my head. They both were slightly familiar, but I couldn't tell if they were friendly or not. I was still watching myself fade away, shivering as the memory finally registered as a memory and not something that had just happened…
My eyes flew open and I sat up straight, screaming bloody murder.
"Good Lord, kitten!" Koi barked, taking his hands away from his ears before clamping them around my head and mouth. I looked up at him for a moment before starting to scream and thrash even more.
"Get away from her, you pervert!" Prim snarled, grabbed the back of his shirt and wrenching him away from me. He hit the far wall, hard, making the utensils and place settings on the table chatter. "Did he touch you, little Mithra? Did he hurt you!? I swear to god I'll-"
"I didn't touch her!! I was trying to scare her into fighting me! I didn't know she'd have a seizure and black out!"
"W-where am I?"
"You're at the Inn, sweet heart. Don't worry, Mama PrimRose is going to take good care of you now. That mean pedophile over there isn't going to touch you anymore."
"I didn't touch her!"
I looked up at Prim with dazzling hopeful eyes, as if she were really my mama. I had been so scared… I actually felt a little ashamed of myself. I could have fought him, or at least tried to get away instead of thrashing and passing out.
"… I believe you…" I finally said after a few moments of the two older people exchanging glares.
"What? How can you believe this pig?"
"I don't know… He just… He seems trust worthy… He could have raped me at any moment within the last day or so… Safer, too… Just seems strange he would in the middle of a city."
"See? I told you she was a smarty. I wasn't going to touch you, Kitten, I just wanted to fight you and evaluate just how good of a thief you were going to be."
"Still…" Prim looked over at me as I mumbled to myself, folding my hands in my lap after sliding my feet off the bed. "Please don't ever do that again… P-please… It's.. scary…"
"I'm sorry…" He mumbled. "I shouldn't have gone that far… I'm really sorry… To both of you."
"You should be, you perverted ass hole!" Prim stomped over to him, poking him in his soft chest with a claw. "Not only did you scare the shit right out of the young Mithra lady, you scared the shit out of me! If you really had raped her think of the trouble you'd be in! A former paladin! Stepped down from title the day he rapes an innocent little girl!" She glared up at him, and he looked genuinely scared. "And guess who'd have to clean that mess up, eh? Can you guess?! Well!?"
"I'm guessing you," I remarked with a smile. They both looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. "… What?"
"Quick recovery. That's a bonus." Prim smirked, and the paladin punched her in the arm, blushing as he spoke in a stern voice.
"That's not appropriate for the situation, PrimRose."
"Oh, pshhh.. You hungry, kid? Thirsty? You drink ale or anything like that yet?"
"Oh, no… I try and stay away from things that'll ruin my liver and kill me sooner than I need to be killed." The two older fighters smiled before laughing, and Prim left the room to retrieve food and drink, apparently, leaving me alone with Koi.
After the silence dragged on too long I spoke up.
"So is your name really Koi or is it something else?"
"It's Koigokoro. A mouthful, I know. That's why I usually go by Koi."
"What does it mean?"
"Awakening of Love."
We both were silent after that. He leaned against the wall Prim had thrown him against, and I reclined back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling blankly.
"… What about you? I haven't the slightest clue what your real name is. I've just been calling you Kitten…"
"It's Ayu-…" I stopped myself and looked over at him. He looked happy, like a little kid looking at the piece of candy he only gets once in a blue moon. "Aymid. My name is Aymid."
"Interesting name. What does it mean?"
"… You'll be all weird if I tell you."
"No I won't. I promise." I shook my head, but he persisted, coming over to the bed and kneeling down on his heels. "Pleeeeease?" He begged, giving me surprisingly cute puppy eyes.
"… It means Loveless."
"…"
"DRINKS ALL AROUND!!!" Prim's half drunken voice rang through the suddenly silent room, making me jump. Koi just looked over at her like she was crazy, though he was obviously amused. She was balancing any number of platters in her arms and hands and even a few on her head.
"Don't drop those now!" Koi laughed, rushing over to pick some of them off of her.
"I dun need yur' friggen' helpsss!"
"How did she get drunk in just a few minutes?"
"She may act like she can hold her liquor, but a half a tankard of any type of alcohol unless it's watered down will make her loopier than a Tarutaru on weed."
We both laughed at that, and it was her turn to look at us like we were crazy. Bad thing was, when her head snapped over to me she was taking a step, and thus missed the placement, where afterwards her foot slipped and she went crashing to the floor with whatever plates Koigokoro hadn't been able to save.
A while later Prim was curled up on one of the two beds in the room, crumbs still clinging to the fur of her cheeks as she slept. The paladin and I had been arguing about who was going to have the bed a few moments before, only… We were arguing about how the other should have it. He finally just picked me up off the ground by my shoulders and forced me down in the bed.
"Now go to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow." He reached back, pulling the covers over my body and up under my chin. Patting the creases out of the fabric, he smiled softly. "Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight…" I mumbled, wanting to ask him a few more questions as my blurry vision watched him grab a chair and sit between the two Mithras that were PrimRose and I. A few moments later I had passed out without even noticing.
My dreams were filled with shiny armor, blonde hair, and the soft, hazel colored eyes that matched the softness of a smile upon two perfect, light pink Hume lips…
Coming Soon: Level Three (Part 2): Hot, Passionate... Battles?
P.S.: To all readers, just so you know I don't own this game yet. So most of the settings I'm making up on my own with a little help from my boyfriend who both owns the game and introduced me to it. One of the characters in this story is actually his, can you guess which one? ;3
Love! From: The Aymid!!! 3