Ugggh... This chapter could have been done and up a few days ago, but I've been thrown off by a weird schedule. A coworker had his vacation this week (and I hold no grudge for that) but just when I'd get the ball rolling and was making good progress on the meat of this chapter, I'd realize I'd have to stop and sleep or not be able to get up in time for work. And just now fanfiction did weird shit with all the italicized sentences and removed all the spaces. I think I fixed them all, but if you find any I missed, they weren't my fault (and I think fixing those was responsible for the ridiculously high word count this chapter, because I KNOW the word count should be less than 8000!).
Okay, griping aside, let's get on with announcements. The contest closed with seven entries and the poll is up in my profile. The poll will, at the very least, stay up until the next chapter comes out. I want to encourage as many people to vote as possible to make sure the outcome is fair. Annnd, I'm probably gonna do something special for whoever gets second place, since I'm so giddy about all the entries~ I just need to figure out what...
Angelic:
My laptop as a whole hates me. As I told a coworker, if it had a personified human form, it would be a senile old bitch who swears at me all the time. Not even kidding. And SORRY but I can't go make your shipper dreams come true and declare "Father" as a canon future. Cuz you can't have an established ending/epilogue half way through! Glad you liked the dream omake, though. ;)
And whoever said I don't know who you are? I was being polite by letting you keep your anonymous nature. But there's only one person who has subscribed to and favorited FTaBV and me as an author with "Angelic" in their username (and you review way too fast to not be on one of those lists and, by the way, started reviewing when that name appeared on the Lists). But let's keep playing our little games~! Maybe we can mentally scar some readers. ;)
(*Cough* Alternative chapter title was referring to me bullshitting about how aer works. I DUNNO WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT, it just sounded good.)
The Smurfette Principle:
Seems you have your private message function turned off. You can turn it on if you want your review replies to be more private, or leave it as is and I'll keep up the author note replies. Some reviewers could tell you, though, that I can get very chatty over emails and drop little hints here and there.
The singing...we'll have to overcome the technology hurdles before worrying about the stagefright ones. Unless one of you tracks me down with a video camera or a microphone or something. (Please nobody do that. That's just plain scary.)
SomtinERanother:
As long as people are laughing and not sharpening their pitchforks. I was afraid posting this might make the serious shippers (like Angelic over there) rather annoyed with me. And it warms my heart when somebody admits they like the Chase ship, since he's such a nice boy who needs more love from everybody (to make up for the wrong place, wrong time stuff I keep doing to him).
And yeees! I will be returning to Ludwig and Sophia's relationship in the omakes, just as soon as a specific event occurs to me. I mean, there are some, but those need to have some more preceding stories to build on.
x x x
Chapter 41: Out of Place
x x x
They stared at me.
I stared right back at them.
Yuri pointed out the obvious, "Letha, you're soaked."
"I know." I said this a bit smugly. I was soaked and it felt damn good.
"Was it Rita 'gain?-yeow!" Raven bit off a yelp as the mage stamped on his foot again.
"No, it wasn't me!" she hissed at him, then spun back and looked at me with calculating eyes. "Were you practicing with using aer for magic on your own?"
"Nope."
Rita's expression turned confused, "Then...?"
"I jumped in the lake. It was calling to me." Well that was a bit of an exaggeration. I had rolled up my pants and waded in until I was in up to my knees. It was blissfully cool, but the heat of the sun and the dry air were still unbearable. So then I had dunked my head in the water (and probably looked absolutely absurd to anyone passing by). I got water down my front and forearms in the process, and since then my sopping wet hair had been dripping down my back.
It had felt so good I did it again after a few minutes. So the end result was that I could only have gotten more thoroughly drenched if I'd just jumped in.
Yuri blinked slowly at me. "You...jumped in."
I smiled dreamily, thinking how it might be a good idea to go back and dunk my head a third time. "Close enough." Then I firmly reminded myself that we had other business to attend to that fine, hot desert morning. "Sooo, what are we all doing?"
"Well, we were looking for you," the swordsman said in a tone that, while not actually sounding accusing, made one feel embarrassed for their actions. "It's pretty unusual for you to be up without someone having to bang down the door."
I coughed a bit and looked away, "It was, uh, getting too warm to sleep..." I'd woken up at some point to kick my blankets off and, so typical, felt too overwhelmed by the heat to fall back asleep. And that was early in the day, so I had the unhappy prospect of it getting even hotter.
And then, like the sweet song of a siren, I had happened to look out the window in the direction of the oasis lake and saw the morning sun reflecting off the water.
I swear it was calling out to me again...
"Hey!" Raven called, waggling his fingers in front of my eyes. Which had strayed back to looking longingly towards the lake. "Sorry, darlin', but if we're gonna find that Phaeroh guy anytime soon we can't go swimmin' right now." He grinned absurdly as some new thought occurred to him. "Though I'd be happy ta join ya next time for a little moonlight swim, just the two of us~" My hand flew out and whapped his head while Rita's fist hit him in the side.
"Oww!" He groaned dramatically, one arm trying to wrap around his bruised middle while the other hand rubbed at his head. The archer looked piteously at Yuri, "They're double teamin' me now! Ain't ya gonna help me?"
"Well, I dunno," Yuri considered him for a moment. "I could hit you in the head and see if that knocks some sense into you, but I think that might already be a lost cause."
"Y'all sure know how ta show your elders the respect they deserve..." Raven grumbled.
"Yeah, whatever," Yuri dismissed him, deciding the time for horseplay was over. "Anyway," he returned to talking to (berating) me, "we were about to go talk with the innkeeper about the supplies he'd promised us. Though you turned up missing, so..."
"I'm touched that you actually sent a search party." Please don't tell me this is a regression to that period where I wasn't allowed to go out unsupervised... The four of us had been walking back towards the inn as we talked (and beat on Raven) and it was at that point we reached the main entrance.
Just inside, Estelle, Karol, and Judith were all standing by and observing as the innkeeper was absorbed in spreading things out on the tables (Repede was sleeping under one). Another employee stood meekly behind the reception desk, and she looked up sharply as we came in the door. When she relaxed upon seeing us I guessed she was apprehensive about the return of Observation Knight. Where is he, anyway? Out on a smoke break or something? (Interesting tangent here, most people who smoke on Terca Lumireis use pipes, some of the upper class smoke cigars, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was somebody experimenting with cigarette production somewhere. But for the most part, smokers smoked pipes.)
Chase, having no free table space to use, was sitting on a stool with his legs folded up and braced on the lower rungs. A tray of food was balanced in his lap, and he was giving it more attention than breakfast normally warranted so that he wouldn't spill the juice.
"Ah, good timing," Judith said upon noticing us. She waved us over, "Who wants to try these on first?" She made a sweeping gesture that indicated a mass of cloth covering the table in front of her. Which I had to assume were desert appropriate clothes, designed to keep a person wrapped up without overheating.
A moment passed without anyone volunteering, so with a sigh I stepped forward. "So how do I put this stuff on?"
Judith had been in the desert before, so she had some prior experience with these robes. Sure, she travels in a costume that resembles a bikini with a cape-sash-thing, but her conscientious care for fashion would make her sensible enough to cover up when in a desert. (A deep tan would not suit her.) She took me back to our shared room and helped me figure out how to get the ensemble on, the end result making me look like a minor background character from Aladdin. Yeah, basic concept similar to any image you'd see in Earth media covering the middle east, but combined with the colorful and fanciful feel of fantasy world culture.
You know, when I was younger I fancied the exotic harem girl look portrayed in cartoons. Put me off a little when I found out what a harem was. This was more practical wear, but the dyed cloth (green and red complements on white) was nicely patterned and didn't feel as heavy as it looked. I fussed with the headdress thing for a bit, trying to get my thick hair tucked away comfortably under it, and could foresee myself throwing the thing away once I was no longer in danger of my brains boiling.
Judith paraded me back out for the others to see. And discovered that during the interim time someone (probably Yuri) had talked Karol into his own robes. They were too big on him, trailing from his arms and pooling around his feet. Karol seemed particularly sour about how Rita was snickering about him looking like a 'brat in his father's clothes', which Estelle found adorable by the way. The innkeeper was expertly rolling and tucking ends away, until it magically seemed as if the robes shrank a couple of sizes to fit the boy better.
Apparently made more willing by seeing our example, the others gave in to wearing the robes. I could only guess the thought of wearing all those layers had seemed unappealing to them in the heat. Rita was grumbling something to that effect as she and Estelle were herded away by Judith for their own fittings. Pretty sure Judith would educate the younger girls about the dangers of exposing any flesh to sun, sand, and wind.
They were back in a few minutes, each sporting new outfits that fit some of them better than others...(Well, it was rather short notice.)
"And here are some canteens," the innkeeper finished packing our desert survival gear into the extra bags (which he'd provided) and passed out new canteens to each of us.
Someone even vaguely familiar with this part of the game knows there's some weird mini game involving using cacti to stay hydrated. And I was largely expecting the dialogue about how small our canteens seemed and how we could use natural resources to refill them and stay alive to play out.
Somebody should kick me in the head for getting too comfortable with 'I know the game!' and forgetting this was real life now.
The canteens we each got were not exactly small, but rather reasonably sized. He also gave us several extra ones that he tied securely to the bags. "Drink well!" he advised us, "Many people think that once you're in the desert, you have to carefully ration your water. And while you certainly don't want to run out, the water serves you better in your stomach than in a canteen."
"But what do we do if we do run out of water?" Karol asked in concern, eying the number of canteens we had.
"We should be able to get more water from certain types of cacti growing in the desert." Judith said calmly, not overly bothered by the prospect of running out. Not that much ever bothered her outside of Entelexeia or her father's brand of blastia.
"Right," Rita agreed, inspecting her canteen critically for any flaws or leaks. "They're not the best solution, but they'll do fine if we're in danger." She then transferred her inspection to Judith while stating, "You sure know a lot."
Judith just nodded a bit and shrugged, a silent reminder that she'd 'been there, done that'.
"Thank you very much," Estelle bowed deeply to the innkeeper, folded hands nearly lost in the white sleeves of her new robes. "You've been a great help." He assured her that it was no trouble and that he wanted us to have all these. And gave us directions to the lake (you know, just in case the out-of-towners hadn't found it yet) to fill up on water. But the thought counts.
Yuri nodded as he tied his canteen to his robes' sash, "Gotcha." It was very odd not seeing him in black, but even he had to concede that wearing black in a desert was an idiotic idea, so swapped for an odd sunburst patterned orange on yellow robe. It didn't really suit him...
"By the way," Rita was asking as I withdrew myself from my moment of fashion critique, "what was with the knight who was here?"
"He was guarding me all night. I was so nervous!" Raven whined in a childish voice.
Karol shook his head a bit, shooting the older man a glance, "One lie after another..."
The innkeeper and his employee shared a look, and she went over to peer out the door as he answered. "...That was a supervisor. The knights are here to make sure that townspeople don't talk freely to visitors from outside of town."
"Why would they do something like that?" the princess asked in bewilderment.
He crossed his arms and shook his head wearily, "I don't understand the reasons, but it's on the magistrate's orders." On Cumore's orders... "People other than merchants like myself aren't allowed out of their houses."
"I see..." Yuri looked over his shoulder towards the door slightly, "That's why we didn't see any townspeople outside."
Karol frowned thoughtfully, brows furrowing, "I wonder if there's a crooked magistrate here, too." He looked up to Yuri to see how the swordsman took the suggestion.
Yuri nodded slightly at Karol's look, a 'that could be it' kind of nod. Knowing myself what happened to the last rotten magistrate we encountered, my eyes darted down to the sword Yuri carried, as ever, in his left hand. Were his knuckles a little whiter from gripping it tighter? Or was I only imagining they were because I was looking for a reaction?
The innkeeper had been saying that the magistrate had only arrived recently, and how the knights were also moving into Nordopolica. "It seems they may've already gone in to arrest Belius." I blinked at the rumor, trying to remember...
Yeah, well, I knew the knights found some sort of excuse to go to Nordopolica. I hadn't remembered what the excuse was, as my mind more immediately recalled that Alexei was ultimately behind it and trying to get Belius' apatheia. So what was the official story again?
Karol's voice shot up, "The Imperial Knights are going to arrest Belius?" The employee at the door looked back at us nervously, and seemed even more anxious about her vigil at the door.
The innkeeper looked uncomfortable, "They say that Belius had something to with engineering the Great War behind the scenes."
And that got everyone's complete attention. Even Repede's head reared up, ears pricking forward.
"Belius did that...?" Judith's voice wavered a bit.
"Well, I don't think the empire will be able to do much so long as Palestralle's there, but..." The innkeeper was interrupted by the employee's hiss and shushing motions. She quickly crossed the room, taking Chase's nearly empty tray (ignoring his protests that he wasn't done yet) just as a knight entered through the door. Ducking her head, she quickly scurried off towards what I would guess was the kitchen. The knight looked around at the crowd belligerently before striding back to his Observation Post by the front desk and returned to glowering at the room in general.
Scary.
"Thank you very much for your business!" the rattled innkeeper said to us a bit louder than necessary.
"Wait...but..." Karol was obviously dying to hear more about the knights in Nordopolica and Belius, but it was useless.
Recognizing that to ask anymore would possibly even get the innkeeper in trouble with the knight present, Yuri went along with the businesslike exchange. "Yeah, thanks for the help." Turning away, he grabbed one of the bags packed for us and tossed it in Raven's direction, making the archer fumble in an attempt to catch it. "Let's go fill up at the lake," he picked up the other bag and lead the way out of the inn.
"Happy hunting!" Chase waved cheerfully as the rest of us followed.
On the way to the lake, I started to get the nagging feeling that something was off... It persisted as we filled each of the canteens, the annoying feeling that you forgot something important and would kick yourself over it once you remembered.
The feeling steadily grew as we followed the road out of Mantaic, and I found myself hanging back behind the others with my feet dragging through the sand. Chewing on my lower lip, I kept looking back at the too quiet town. What was it? I knew there were issues with Cumore to be resolved, but that's for when the group returns...
"Hurry up if you don't want us to leave you behind," Rita scolded me.
I wrenched my mind back to the matter at hand, "Right, sorry!"
x x x
A Day in the Sun
Raven: We keep goin', and goin', but all we get is more sand and more blue sky.
Karol: You're doing better than me if you can look at the sky, Raven. The only thing I see is sand.
Rita: ...How come an old fart like you has so much energy, anyway?
Yuri: Talking's only gonna wear you out. If one of us goes down, it'd be about all we could manage to get them back to safety. And I for one am in no mood to be giving out piggy-back rides.
Letha: I can't imagine you ever being in the mood to give anybody a piggy-back ride...
Karol: If I collapse, Raven, you can carry me.
Raven: Sorry, but this back's reserved for ladies only.
Rita: I'll die before I collapse.
Estelle: I won't let myself be a burden, either.
Judith: The same goes for me, of course.
Letha: All of the above.
Raven: Hey, there's no reason to go stompin on an old man's feelin's, is there?
Artful Coincidence
Letha: How weird...
Rita: What?
Letha: I once painted a desert scene, even though I'd never really seen one before. I just wanted to try something different for fun.
Rita: So what's your point?
Letha: It looked exactly like this. Sand, sand, more sand, blue sky, and annoyingly high dunes that are a bitch to climb...
Rita: And hearing about that just adds so much to the experience. Dammit, I knew this was a bad idea.
x x x
Good news, I remembered what I'd forgotten. Bad news, it was that pair of little children who hire the guild to look for their parents. In game, the group finds them near the lake getting in trouble with the knights for breaking curfew. From them we learn that the magistrate (Cumore) had been sending all the adults from Mantaic into the desert to search for Phaeroh. The children had been about to go out into the Sands of Kogorh to search for their own parents, but are convinced by Judith to let Brave Vesperia to do it for them.
Yeah...apparently they'd left earlier than that so we missed them.
If it hadn't been for Repede, those poor children probably would have died. A few hours into the afternoon, after a long morning of trudging through the sand (repeatedly slipping and falling until we got used to the way it shifted underfoot), Repede's hanging head lifted a bit as his ears twitched. With a bark, he lunged out of the ragged line we'd formed and ran off in another direction.
"Repede?" Yuri was the first to run after him.
Looking in that direction for the first time, I could make out shapes made dark and blurry by the need to squint against the sunlight. But it seemed like one of those dark shapes was attacking the other, which, once I was closer, I realized was actually two small shapes huddled together.
It was another one of those freakish crabs with a cactus on its back. It had been chasing two small children, who had just stumbled and were cowering in the face of danger. Fortunately for them, Repede leaped over their heads and directly for the monster. His dagger slashed powerfully, the power of the hounds neck and jaw demonstrated by how the crab monster was actually lifted into the air a bit. It flew up even further as Repede continued the attack with a spin that, in another situation, I might have described as a dog chasing its tail.
The monster crashed back down to the sand several feet back and away from the children. It landed right in front of Yuri, who used the chance to land Shining Eagle, the attack we'd seen Clay use in Nordopolica, on it from behind. As much as I would have loved to have landed the killing blow (I had a sore spot about these monsters since the whole spine in my arm thing), that honor went to Judith. 'Cause she was faster than the rest of us, and she basically landed on the thing from the air halberd first. It was very dead by the time the rest of us had caught up.
The children were crying, the girl burying her face into the arms and chest of her older brother. "Ma-mama!" she gasped between sobs.
Her brother looked as if he wanted to cry for their parents too, a few tear tracks even stood out in the sand stuck his cheeks when they'd fallen, but was holding back for the sake of his sister. "Th-thank you," he told us, tripping over his words as he couldn't entirely mask his shock.
Yuri nodded to accept the gratitude, but fixed them with a stern look. "Just what are a couple of kids like you doing out here on your own?"
"We're look-" the boy broke off as his voice rasped a bit and he began coughing.
Estelle was quickly kneeling in the sand next to him, holding out her own canteen. "Here, drink some of this." He took it and drank a long gulp. Judith was already sharing her water with the little girl, and cautioning them both not to drink too fast.
Once refreshed again the children, Alph and Layla, told their story. The others learned the bare details about Cumore sending people to look for Phaeroh, minus the fact that it was Cumore's doing, and shared the concern over what the empire's purpose could be.
But we couldn't linger over the things we didn't have enough information on to figure out (ah ha, yes, well never mind me...). The more immediate problem was what to do with the children.
"They need to go back. They'll die if they stay out here any longer," Judith said bluntly.
"But what about mom and dad?" the boy, Alph, protested, his voice rising in shrillness from panic. Layla began sniffling again, and Estelle reached out to hug the little girl. She was giving Judith a torn look, as if she was appalled at the krytian's words but knew she couldn't disagree. But clearly she wanted to find a solution to help the children without endangering them.
And Judith came through, "We'll look for your parents. You two should go home so you'll be there when they get back."
The children's eyes widened, "Really? You'll do that?"
"I don't lie," her head tilted a bit, and then she looked to Karol, who was taking a sip from his canteen. "...You don't mind, do you Karol?" As it was nominally his decision, being our guild boss and all.
And he thought hard, weighing the pros and cons and the responsibilities of the situation like a good guild boss should. Heck, no, he immediately said, "Nope. Fine by me."
Rita rolled her eyes at him while crossing her arms, "You're surprisingly agreeable."
Estelle, however, was beaming at him. "His guild is guided by justice, after all." Rita sighed a bit, as she couldn't deny it would be a despicable thing to just ignore the situation.
"Thanks, everyone!" Layla squealed, hugging each of us in turn starting with Estelle and Judith. When it was my turn, I found myself remembering the last time a child had hugged me. It was Pauly, back when we'd both been trapped in Ragou's basement and finally been rescued... Layla squeaked a bit as I hugged her back with a squeeze. It's always saddest when the children must suffer, and can't do anything for themselves.
When Layla squirmed out of my arms, Alph was holding something out to Judith. The krytian's eyes softened a bit as he dropped a glass bead into her palm. She recognized it as a child giving his favorite treasure in payment.
"Alright then," Yuri drew our attention. "So we've got another job. But we can't take these guys with us, or leave them to fend for themselves on the way back either."
"Should we go back with them?" Estelle asked.
Struck with a sudden fear, I sharply said, "No!" The others all looked at me in surprise. "I mean...we don't want to have to keep making trips into the desert, right? After all, we need to get back to Nordopolica in time for the new moon." Because if we miss this new moon and the chance to talk to Belius, the knights and the Hunting Blades will make their moves without us. We'd never get another chance, and it could throw everything off track.
Yuri raised an eyebrow at my words, before switching his attention briefly to Raven. "How about that, Old Man? Do you want to just go back without us?"
"Not a chance, not all by myself," the archer answered easily. "There's always the next time if I'm late. The Don'll just have ta live with it." Not what I wanted to hear him say. I gripped my left hand tightly in my right, frustrated that I couldn't think of anything to say that would convince them to not waste any extra time. Not that I considered helping the children a waste, but still!
"We don't really need for all of us to escort the children back." My head whipped around to look at Judith, my unexpected ally. "It should be fine if just a few of us went."
"That's true," Yuri nodded slowly, "And we really don't want to waste any time in finding their parents. There's no guarantee they won't be attacked or run out of any provisions at any time." Oh yes, of course. I slipped into gamer's logic for a moment, and forgot that they can't be found and helped at our leisure.
"So who's gonna go back with the kids?" Raven asked.
"I-" Estelle started, but was interrupted by Judith.
"You're still looking for Phaeroh," she reminded her. "There would be no meaning in us finding him if you weren't with us." Estelle bowed her head.
"I want Repede to go back," Yuri decided unexpectedly. "He's not doing well with this heat." Indeed, Repede had been panting heavily the whole time, head and tail both hanging low with exhaustion. He whined a bit when our attention was brought to him. "I hate to say it," and the swordsman sounded highly reluctant, "but it might be better if he stayed there too."
"Right, so Repede and who else?" I looked around at the group. Is this okay? Splitting everyone up? What'll happen if someone misses the events at Yormgen? "I'll go with them," I found myself saying. That could be the solution, since I already know everything we learn there... Estelle needs to stay with the group, as Judith established. Judith would probably prefer staying just in case they actually managed to meet Phaeroh (not that they will), and Rita's carrying the apatheia right now, so plot would unhinge if she weren't there.
Yuri...well, it's better if he's near Estelle in order to protect her. And learning about the apatheia firsthand. Otherwise it might not make the right impact on him. He had, after all, freely admitted he learned better from experience than books and such. Though for Raven and Karol... Well, Raven gets to see what an apatheia really is, which to him seems important since he was ordered to look for it. BUT, Alexei wants them. Derailing Alexei's plans was something I didn't think I'd mind too much. Karol. Yeah, won't make a difference if he's there or not. Ah, that sounded mean. But honestly, in Karol's case, any path he took that encouraged him taking responsibility would probably do him good.
While my mind was whirring through its analysis and calculations, the others seemed to be considering the issue themselves. Though their thoughts probably took very different directions than mine.
"If that's what you want, then it should be alright," Judith was the first to say. "And one more should go, so it won't be a problem if any monsters attack."
"In that case, the other person should be..." Yuri paused and looked around one last time, but before he could say anything-
"I'll go with 'em and make sure nothin' bad happens," Raven cut in.
...Huh?
That was odd, I wouldn't have thought Raven would volunteer. Wouldn't it make more sense for him to stay in the group that had Estelle and Judith? So that he could keep an eye on the princess and flirt like a perv?
"If I do a good job, will ya reward me, Judith darlin'?" he crowed.
...Ah. Totally a moment for sweatdrops and blank expressions.
Yuri shrugged a bit, "Then it's settled. Repede, Letha, and the Old Man will take them back."
We started dividing some of the supplies into my bag to use in emergencies on the way back, and gave both children one of the extra canteens since they'd already run out of the water they'd brought in their own, toy-like ones.
And then I realized...Shit! What if there's an heirloom piece in Yormgen? And as the possibility sank in, another occurred to me, And what about the apatheia? If I leave things as they are, Duke will just destroy it! I want to try and save Belius...but it would be a waste if we just had to go back to her down the road and ask her to die for the greater good like the group has to with the other Entelexeia. It was more complicated than 'asking them to die', since there was the whole reborn as a spirit aspect, but still...
That aside, what should I do? "Uhh," I started, as I slung my now heavier bag back over my shoulder (why didn't we make Raven carry the stuff? Though I wouldn't give my bag to him if I could help it...), "It'll only take a day or two at most to see them back, and unless you guys get really lucky, you'll probably still be looking." If not for the kids' parents, then for Phaeroh, my words should have hopefully implied. "In that case, is there some kind of landmark where we could all meet up again?" I looked to Judith while asking, hoping she knew about the small oasis somewhere deeper in the desert. If it was there. Like it was supposed to be. ...Hopefully.
"If I recall," Judith said thoughtfully, "there is a spring where we could also refill the canteens. Here," she got the map from Karol's bag (Yes, Karol is in charge of maps. He seems to have fun looking at them and making notes as we travel) and pointed out a spot closer to the western side of the desert, "I think it's somewhere in this area."
My unease was somewhat relieved. So that's the same... Okay, things will go the way they're supposed to for a little while longer, and I can still follow my own agenda. Everything'll work out.
With a tentative meeting point set, Raven and I had no more reason to dally. With a wave, Raven going, 'Judiiith, I'll be back soon~!', we parted with the others and headed back in the direction of Mantaic with two children in tow.
x x x
Backtrack
Letha: Are we theeere yet?
Raven: No, not yet.
Letha: Agggh, how much longer?
Raven: Ya know it won't be any faster than it took ta get out this far.
Letha: It feels like it's taking longer!
Repede: *Whine!*
Raven: Aw, now ya've got the pooch whinin' too! Ya both gotta have more spirit, and then we'll be there before ya know it!
Letha: How the hell do you still have so much energy...?
x x x
Alph and Layla had tried very hard to keep up with us adults. I thought it probably had something to do with the fact that since they'd failed to find their parents on their own, they at least didn't want to come off as a burden. But they were, in the end, only children and had been alone in the desert for most of the day. It didn't take long for walking to be too much effort for them.
Layla had been leaning against Repede's shoulder, the dog nobly supporting her. Her brother looked like he needed help too, but wasn't in order not to overburden Repede or appear weak in front of his little sister.
Now that's all sweet and cute for a big brother, but not really helping right now. I pulled ahead of the group and stopped in front of them, so they all had to stop as well in order not to run into me. "You," I pointed to Raven, "carry him," my finger dropped to point at Alph.
"What?" they both exclaimed at once.
"I-I don't need to be carried!"
"I already said, I only wanna carry girls!"
"No way," I punched Raven in the shoulder, since Rita wasn't there to do it. "Besides, you wouldn't ask a delicate girl to carry the heavier one, would you?" That part I said while scooping Layla up into my arms. She wiggled around until her arms were wrapped around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder, too tired to complain.
Carrying Layla also gave Alph an excuse to stop being tough. What boy could live down being carried while his sister walked? His protests lost half their effort, and Raven had to give into the demands of chivalry and boost the boy up onto his back.
And that's how we'd been traveling for the last hour. Unfortunately, while we weren't slowed down the pace of tired children, having to carry those children made the trip seem to stretch out. I tried to bear it in silence, but dammit! It was hot, and I was tired, and Layla had fallen asleep, and Ravenwastoodamnedenergized!
"Heeey..."
"Now now, Letha," he drawled in a patronizing tone that made me bristle a bit, "if yer just patient a bit longer, ya can take another swim once we're back in Mantaic." Oooh, he'sright! I perked up immediately at the prospect. Which he noticed, and he grinned rakishly, "Be sure ta tell me so I can join ya, m'kay?"
"OLD PERV!"
"Nyahaha!" Raven took off at a run with me chasing behind him, intent on kicking him in the shins til they were black and blue.
x x x
"Damn that geezer," I grumbled, collapsing on my bed at the inn. It was hard to believe that just that morning, I'd left this room and expected to be gone for at least a week. The innkeeper had seemed pretty surprised and a bit confused to see us so soon, but we explained that we had just stayed back for one night and would go after the others in the morning. It felt like the knight was glaring at us...
I'd been in for a bit of a scare when we returned to Mantaic. Raven and I had returned the children to their home, and the archer had gone back to the inn saying he wanted to sleep. And 'not ta go swimmin' without tellin' him first.' Irritated by the heat and exhausting day, I hadn't been in the mood to get into any witty jokes or insults.
No longer in the mood to swim, I had headed back to the inn at my own pace. It was then I'd caught a flash of powder blue hair. The glimpse had my head practically spinning, trying to find it again. And sure enough, at the end of another street I'd seen Cumore in all his posturing glory. A couple of sycophants (they were both nodding like bobbleheads, what else could they be?) were tripping along at his heels as he crossed an intersection.
I about faced again, shoulders hunched a bit. Sure, he'd only seen my face once back in Caer Bocram, but wouldn't it be just my luck if that was enough for him to remember me? It would be just like him to hold a grudge against anyone who trash talked him and insulted his misplaced sense of pride. Eeh, don't be ridiculous... A pompous ass like him won't remember a "common rat" like you, as he said, so leeet's just go back to the inn all normal like...
...Lying in my room is no good, I decided, I'm only thinking of annoying things, and can't get comfortable enough here to calm down. It wasn't as hot at the desert at noon, but the chill of night hadn't completely set in yet either. My room just felt stifling.
What I need is a walk by the lake. Without Raven.
Quietly, so that the archer and professional spy wouldn't notice (and Cumore, if he'd deigned to sleep in a building that housed the common rabble), I slipped out of the inn. Unlike the night before I didn't bring any lights with me, instead walking slowly and trying to remain aware of my immediate surroundings. This is...nostalgic?
I could hear the water nearby, and then saw it reflecting the stars in the sky. I stopped to pull off my boots and socks, leaving them off to the side, then walked forward again until I felt the water lapping at my feet. Smiling to myself, I sat down and left my feet to soak in the water. Also, I withdrew my mp3 player, which I had put inside one of my pants pockets before going out. Holding it close to shield the blue light from its screen, I turned it on and stuck my ear buds in, happy for a chance to listen to the music I missed.
"D' you breathe the name of your savior in your hour of need,
And taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed?
Of implication, insinuation and ill will, 'til you cannot lie still,
In all this turmoil, before red cape and foil come closing in for a kill
"Carnival of Rust"...I could remember playing it on my computer, back in my door room. It had made a place on my list of favorites, and...
"Come feed the rain
'cause I'm thirsty for your love dancing underneath the skies of lust
Yeah, feed the rain
'cause without your love my life ain't nothing but this carnival of rust
...And I'd often listen to it while walking around campus, or when I went out at night in good weather to stargaze.
"It's all a game, avoiding failure, when true colors will bleed
All in the name of misbehavior and the things we don't need
I lust for after no disaster can touch, touch us anymore
And more than ever, I hope to never fall, where enough is not the same it was before
That was where that nostalgia from a little while ago had come from. At night, I would walk without light. Nearly everywhere you could go on campus had more than enough light to see by, but the good places to see the stars had very little. There was that clearing in the trees, for example. I'd almost gone there instead of to the lakeside that night.
"Come feed the rain...
'cause I'm thirsty for your love dancing underneath the skies of lust
Yeah, feed the rain
'cause without your love my life ain't nothing but this carnival of rust
Yeah, feed the rain
'cause I'm thirsty for your love dancing underneath the skies of lust
Yeah, feed the rain
'cause without your love my life ain't nothing but this carnival of rust
I had memorized all the words to this song, and followed along with the ending out loud.
"Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the world is burning
Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the heart is yearning
Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the world is burning
Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the heart is yearning."
There was the crack and rustle of wood snapping and foliage being pushed aside.
...Please tell me I haven't been overheard again.
Slowly, I turned to look over my shoulder. Behind me I could only see the dark shapes of the palm trees and plants growing around the oasis. I stared hard at them, looking for movement or anything out of place.
Slowly, something large detached itself from the surrounding darkness. It turned it's head in my direction, and looked at me with orange eyes with a fiery glow. What-? How did a monster get inside the barrier? My hand flailed to the belts at my hips, grasping for a dagger. But before I could scramble to my feet two more shapes, smaller and like pale dogs, emerged. They were arranged in a formation that showed deference to the larger, darker one, and when it continued walking past me they followed without showing any interest in the girl shaking at the water's edge.
I could see them more clearly now, and I recognized the description of white dogs with, I could see now, red ears. "Fairy dogs...! Cù Sìth!"
On Earth, there are dozens of stories about supernatural dogs. It's like every culture has at least one. Typically huge and dark, some even described as being a mass of vines and grass, and nearly all bad omens. Cù Sìth just happened to be one of the names I could recall easiest, as it was similar to the Cat Sìth that was the namesake of the Final Fantasy VII character.
And these fairy dogs were wounded. I could see the brilliant red blood standing out clearly on their white fur, and deep gashes along their flanks. "What...what are you doing here?" I whispered as they passed by and off into the night. "What the hell are the fairies even doing in Terca Lumireis...?" There was, of course, no answer but my player softly crooning into my ear.
"The wolves, my love, will come
Taking us home where dust once was a man
Is there life before a death?
Do we long too much?
(And never give in)
"Howl! Seven days to the wolves
Where will we be when they come?
Seven days to the poison
And a place in heaven
Time drawing near as
They come to take us."
x x x
Graaaah! Awkward parts I'm not entirely satisfied with. In my mind, I can justify them, but don't know if they come across alright. Raven's volunteering being chief among them. My logic: in the omake I have established that he's keeping an eye on Letha as well. Estelle is his priority, but she's not about to run off without finding Phaeroh or the kids parents, so he can safely bet she'll stay in the desert. Letha, on the other hand, still has some mysterious things going on about her, so staying close and keeping an eye on her would be the best course of action for a spy. But his excuse of getting Judith to praise him sounded weak to me...
But I got to some sneaky things that have me chortling evilly to myself.
Songs:
"Carnival of Rust" by Poets of the Fall
"7 Days to the Wolves" by Nightwish. Only the first verse and chorus.