Chapter 5: Monsters

"You don't need to worry," Sheena said. "He should reach Iselia by nightfall and then go straight to the coast. If the boat is ready by the time he gets there, Genji will have the antidote in Luin by tomorrow evening."

"That fast?"

The woman winked at her secretively. "We have better ways to travel than on foot. Your father has seen to that."

Marille looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why don't I let the boys explain. I have plenty to occupy my time and now that the most pressing matter is resolved I can get back to the inconvenient ones. You two take her to the stables."

Sheena glanced with distaste back at the table littered with papers then herded them out the door, handing Marille the tray of food as she did. Geo and Leo started pulling her toward the darker area at the far end of the canyon, snitching bites of her lunch as they went. She had to stuff what was left into her mouth to keep from losing it all.

The stables looked more like a small fortress with its tall, solid walls and a huge padlocked gate. There were indistinct noises coming from within.

"What do you keep here?"

"Monsters, of course!" one twin laughed. He pressed his face against the fence to see through a hole, then he gestured to the others. "Leo, your favorite is still here."

"Emil usually takes the new ones with him places until they get used to taking orders instead of relying on pure instincts. Once they're settled enough he drops them off here and it becomes our job to tame them, but at first they usually try to wreck everything in sight, so we have to make sure they can't get out. Take a look."

Geo stepped back and Marille put her eye to the peephole, seeing a pen with several creatures inside. An orion was rubbing its back against a post covered in small spikes and two fenrirs were playfully fighting over what looked like a trough of scraps with two other black wolves.

Geo grinned at her astonished face. "We have two corrals, each holding about a dozen. The more dangerous ones are isolated in stalls until they're able to put up with us. There are just a few left since our people are using most of them right now."

"We also have a couple manticores," his brother added. "They're a lot less friendly and so far only half a dozen of us can even touch them. It's still in the experimental phase, really. The wolfies are all we can use right now, and mainly just the big ones. Mom's entertaining some ideas about training orcas, but we can't even give it a try until we find a cove big enough to house them and still be able to close it off."

Marille continued to stare at the creatures with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "I didn't know this was even possible. I've never been able to get close to any of the monsters around Luin without Dad there."

"You mean he never told you about our stables?" Geo asked, nearly shocked. "That's why he comes every couple weeks. They get antsy after a while if they don't see their real master. He's the one who made pacts with them, after all. We're just their caretakers."

"No, I've never heard him mention..."

But she trailed off as she recalled a conversation he'd had with her mother last time he was home. Vaguely she remembered him saying he had high hopes for a couple of gentle wolves he'd made pacts with. Now she wondered if he'd made no secret of it and it was in fact her own obliviousness that kept her from realizing what was really going on. Marille had never been very interested in his travels, more resenting them than anything.

"I guess he did, actually. I just never picked up on it. Are they good mounts?"

Leo jabbed his thumb toward the monsters. "You kidding? They don't mind the saddles a bit and they can carry us fast enough to outrun just about any monsters out there. They're a lot better than horses because they don't spook easily and can fight alongside us. The only problem is that they'll run off to go find Emil if they don't see him often enough. They're fiercely loyal to him."

"Has he ever tried to get flying monsters tamed?" she wondered.

"Ha! As if we would even be stupid enough to try that!" Leo snorted. "It would make all our lives easier if it was possible, but Emil learned a long time ago that birds are just too unpredictable for anyone except him to ride."

They spent most of the afternoon catching up with her and Marille started to realize how much she really didn't know about her father. But the twins did what they could to cheer her up. A few hours after she arrived, they hatched a new idea.

"Marille, do you want to go on a trip?"

She looked at Geo incredulously. "What do you think I've been doing for almost a week?"

"Yeah, but this time you'll be with us."

"And we won't be walking."

They jerked their heads meaningfully toward the stables and the Castagnier girl couldn't keep back a grin. She always did want to try riding one of her father's monsters by herself. Making sure no one was about, they grabbed what they needed from the tack room.

"You don't think your mother will mind if we took a ride?"

"Well..." Leo started. "She did want us out from underfoot..."

Geo nodded in agreement. "And it would be quite educational for Marille. I don't see why not."

The saddles and harnesses didn't seem to faze the monsters when they saw the three teenagers stride into the pen. In fact, one of the fenrirs nearly scampered over to Leo and rubbed its head against his shirt.

"That's my Roxy. Such a good girl..." he murmured soothingly as he fed it a slab of dried meat and slipped the harness on. He lifted up a double-rider saddle and put it on the monster's back which it ignored because it was too busy nosing his pocket for more treats. "They only carry a pair at most, so we'll need another. Do you want to ride with me or by yourself?"

"I can do it," she replied confidently.

The other monsters continued to pay no attention until the wind shifted and they caught a whiff of the humans. The orion whipped its head around and went up to her, the long snout poking almost directly into Marille's face. It seemed almost confused, but it made no aggressive moves.

Geo looked at her and snapped his fingers. "I'll bet you smell kind of like Emil. I'm sure it won't give you any trouble. Do you want to take Duchess here or Byron?"

"I guess this one. Hey there, Duchess," she said, reaching out to stroke the huge creature's neck.

The orion calmly stood still while she eased the harness on and fastened the saddle. They had barely gotten the gate open when one of the female ninjas approached carrying saddle bags. The Irving twins nearly panicked.

"Hyou! We didn't know you needed a—" Geo started, but the woman tossed one of the bags at him.

"Your mother said to be careful if you're going all the way to Izoold. Also, you need to take the trip slower since you have a tenderfoot along. Marille, your things are in here and I restocked your supplies." Hyou helped tie it securely to Duchess's saddle and gave the monster a friendly pat. "Take care, and don't forget to send a message by one of the usual channels if you need to."

They left Mizuho a few minutes later, the boys on Roxy's back looking rather more glum than Marille expected. When she asked about it, they both huffed. Geo started grumbling,

"Mom knows us too well. We can never get away with anything."

"I'll wager fifty gald she knew we'd take forever to show Marille the way home," his brother added. "Which means she was itching to put us on harvest duty anyway."

She couldn't help smirking a bit at that, feeling they deserved it. "So are we really going to Izoold for the World Reunification-fest? I forgot it was only three days away, and I haven't been there in...gosh! Five years, I think."

"We go there every other week." Leo raised an eyebrow. "You don't get out much, do you?"

"Dad just doesn't like me traveling. I think he considers me too soft or something. He always says I won't be ready until I can go three months without needing a healing from Mom."

They had to break off their conversation long enough to spur on their mounts and get away from a group of nasty monsters, but when they were relatively safe again Geo took up right where they left off.

"You mean you still haven't gotten over it after all these years? I think you really need to have Raine take a look at it or something. It's just not normal that it hasn't healed in all this time."

The Castagnier girl looked over at him, somewhat confused herself. "I know, but Dad insists that whatever it is can be kept under control for now, so there's no need to worry. Mom respects his judgment and that's all there is to it."

Leo exchanged another look with his brother. "That doesn't seem like something Emil would say. Remember the time I sprained my wrist at your house? He was all over me for days to make sure I didn't do anything to make it worse and to this day I can't stand lemon gels! He's just not callous about those things. Are you sure there's not something else going on?"

"I don't see what it could be. But if we're passing by Iselia I might as well stop and ask Raine if she can make an educated guess. I'd like to make sure the antidote is on its way to Mom anyway."

%*%

They were thankful for Sheena's foresight in supplying provisions. The twins considered this a camping trip and used it as an opportunity to tell ghost stories. But since they were such bad storytellers, Marille wasn't bothered. Roxy and Duchess were the perfect night watch. Their mere presence warded off any curious monsters and the teenagers were able to get a full night of undisturbed sleep. The following afternoon they neared the outskirts of Iselia.

"Hey, isn't that a roc?" Geo wondered, pointing at a monster flying low over the town but gaining altitude quickly.

"No, I think it's a simurgh," Leo said.

Marille stared after it, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Please don't let that be Valour..." She looked at the boys. "Let's get to Raine's right away."

"Sure."

They took her directly to Raine's home, and once it was in sight she leaped off the orion and ran inside. The half-elf was sitting at a desk surrounded by books and samples of dried leaves. She turned to see who had burst into her house and her eyes widened when she recognized the girl.

"Marille, what are you doing here? You're father was just—"

"It was him!" she cried. "Why?! Why couldn't he stay just a few minutes longer? What is wrong with him?"

Marille has gained the title Bad Timing
This title is given to those who appear cursed to forever miss the object of their search by a short amount of time.

A/N: Riding flying monsters would just make everything too easy, but it would be really neat to have a pet orion. Anyone care to share their favorite monster?