-Chapter 6-

Glenys sat down at Xiphos Way. Athlum's commune, on the cool stone wall surrounding a small garden of shrubs. She sighed deeply. Her left leg was crossed over her right, and her left arm was supporting her chin. She stared dully into the grayish blue skies. She was unsurprisingly more interested in the deep scar in the middle of the pavement in the commune that no one bothered to fix up. She had heard the townsfolk talking. The Conqueror had snatched away Athlum's symbol of pride and joy from beneath them—The Valeria Heart. No doubt, Lady Emma Honeywell took a devastating blow to her honor from such.

"She is indefinitely braver than I." Glenys absentmindedly mutters. "A strong-willed woman fights for her capital, but an even stronger one stays by it even after loss."

'Even after loss...' Glenys becomes dazed. She recalls how she had heard Violet and Gabriel's conversation from yesterday. She wanted to acknowledge him. How far he's come from carrying mere broadswords to Champion's Rapiers. She didn't expect to hear that Gabriel had lost his family. She feels like a nitwit. Gabriel's constant smiling made her assume he was blissfully unaware of the world at large.

Now she felt that she should apologize. Another piece to add to the list of things she wanted to say to him. Regrettably, he was meeting Lord David in his chambers, and would presumably be preoccupied the whole day. It also seemed to Glenys that he would probably prefer not to be bothered...considering the events that occurred yesterday. She decided she shouldn't dwell on it, and instead go spend her time at the Warrior's Honor.

Glenys thought this would be the last place she'd ever go. She would rather be out training, taking quests where vanquishing foes was a side job, or finding the necessary components to enhancing her Daimyo Katana. But today was irritably slow. Basically, a field day for everyone allied with Rush and his group. The bartender was incredibly nice though, and so was his apprentice.

"Hello dear, what would you like?"

"What do you have that's fermented?"

"Ah...well we do have quite the selection. We have the standard Beer, Ale, and Wine, but we also have Millet, Kvass, Chicha, Tesgüino..."

"Then I'll have a Tesgüino please." Glenys answers.

"Ooh, how interesting! Would you like anything special added?"

"Dude, don't scare away the customer like that." His assistant tells him.

"I don't think that'll be a problem, dear assistant. She looks like she could take on half the men in here with ease."

Glenys smirked for a few moments. "Just strawberry flavoring will do, thank you."

"Coming your way, sweetheart~."

Glenys takes this time to survey the bar. A few, small groups of Athluminian soldiers are seated at nearby tables. One Yama in particular seems to be chatting up a storm about guidelines. The others roll their eyes as if they've heard his tales a million times. A few Mitra are sharing information with a Qsiti, who appears to be a palace guard rather than a soldier.

"Hon, your drink is ready~!" The bartender waves at her.

Glenys pays the necessary amount of silver coins and adds a little bit extra for his friendly service. She walks over to the table she was eyeing earlier, the one placed closest to the back wall. She glances at the amber coloured drink in her hands with froth nearly pouring out of the glass. She sips thoughtfully and stares at the intricate cloth hanging over the cemented building.

The door opens. The loud chatter and banter turn into delicate whispers.

"Well, well, look who's here."

Glenys turns around, recognizing that voice as that of an ally. "Nora?" She looks at her curiously.

"Standing right before your pretty little eyes. I never thought I'd see you here, of all places. You must really have nothing better to do."

"Don't remind me. Having the day off means no work, which means no foes, which reap no profits."

"Heh. I know." Nora waves at the bartender. "Gimme a beer!" She yells out at him. "Oh, and slice me up a plate of fruit too."

The bartender rolls his eyes. "This isn't your personal eatery, dear!"

"Yeah but you make the best fruit salads man."

"Oh brother." The bartender sighs and smirks to himself.

Nora seats herself down at Glenys' table. "So what's up?"

Glenys takes another swig of her Tesgüino. "Ugh. I don't know anymore. All this unnecessary drama has been bothering me lately."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Well..."

"I'm all ears. And trust me, it's not good to keep things bottled up to yourself. Believe me, I've tried, and it gets you nowhere." Nora chugs down her glass. "Another one!" She belches.

Glenys exhales deeply. "It's all I've been doing my whole life. Hunting down a man that lay waste to everything I held dear to me."

"Yeah, Rush told me a bit about that, sparing the details that were not mine to know."

"It's been really weird." Glenys drinks some more. "I'd been isolating myself from anyone and everyone up until the point I met Rush. He accepted my ridiculous mission without a second thought. Even though I only was using him to speed my agenda of learning the best sword art to help me pursue my revenge."

"Ha! Revenge... I've been there too."

"Even when in assigned groups. I'd been keeping myself distant from them. Still doing my job, yes, but caring less about my teammates, and more about my enemies. And then all I had to do was exclude them from my life in order to give in to my hate. I told myself then and only then would I truly be able to find him and reach my goals." Glenys finishes her drink.

"Another round!" Nora instantaneously shouts.

The assistant brings over Nora's food plate and her renewed drink orders. He places Glenys' drink to her right side. He nods at both of the ladies.

"Thanks." Glenys gives him a wry smile.

Nora devours her plate as Glenys decides to keep speaking. "Then...he just had to show up!"

Nora stops mid chew. "He? There's a 'he' in all of this pursuit for payback?"

Glenys plops her head onto the table. "Yes." She grabs her drink.

The conversation halts. Nora continues chowing down her food and drinking her beer. She finishes both, and waits for Glenys to speak up again.

Glenys shrugs. "It's Gabriel." She too, gulps down her drink.

"Really..."

"Gabriel?" She questions. "I mean; I can see why. He has that alluring...explorative look about him." She contemplates. "Another round!"

"He messed with my moral compass. I swore I wouldn't think anything great of men anymore. I swore I would keep conversations to a minimum. I kept repeating that they're all the same, and always will be. But he just had to waltz on in, talk to me like it was an average, everyday thing and ruin my pact of silence!"

"I hated how flimsy I was around him. I freeze up. Everything I stand for gets thrown away the second I see him. I at least had the decency to give him a hard slap on the cheek when he made an advance on me."

"Niiiiiiiiiice. Didn't know you had it in you."

"I just...don't know what to do anymore." Glenys runs a hand through her short, straight locks. The bar's part-timer brings them their round. "I guess I was wrong to think that they're all alike, but honestly, it helped me fight on. At least, that's what I kept telling myself."

"Hmm..." Nora takes a sip of her drink. She stares at the half empty cup for a few minutes. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from. It's hard to not get blindsided after being physically and emotionally scarred by another's actions. Especially when that heartless pursuit was for nothing but instilling fear and pain to unsuspecting innocents."

"Yeah. You would know all about that kind of heart-wrenching agony..."

"Okay...so...this might sound really ignorant to you, but here's what I think."

"..."

"I think...you should go after Gabriel."

"And pray tell why?"

"Because this whole 'revenge plot' has been eating away at you for...Valeria Heart knows how long. And all this swearing off men has gotten you frustrated when all you really want is some good old fashioned lovin'." Nora clicks her tongue.

Glenys sips on her 3rd drink, and she starts to feel a bit lightheaded. "But...what about my reason to live?"

"You've been chasing a phantom for most of your life. You haven't really been living for yourself...living, at all."

"Buhhhh..."

"You should get your priorities straightened out. Go get that charmer and show him who's really the boss. Then you can go chase down that enigma. And once you finally do...you'd better believe all of your comrades will be giving him a piece of our minds. Me and my ladies will make sure he wishes he was more of a phantom...and less of a menace."

"Allrighhhh, I zee your point. I geddit." Glenys slurs.

Nora pats her on the head. She moves upfront to pay the bill. "Do you think I could get another plate to go? Oh, and can I have some beer put into some small flasks/jugs?"

"Nora, do you want me to go out of stock for the rest of the day?"

"Well as long as I'm here, you'll never go out of business. Might as well personalize this bar just for me."

"Hmph. You're just lucky you happen to be one of my favorite customers."

"You're the best. Also...if Glenys over there has anymore drink orders, just put them on my tab."

"Right~."

"Okay." Nora walks back towards Glenys and rubs her shoulders. "I'm going to go and scout around for Gabriel. You can stay here and drink to your heart's content. Promise me you'll at least think about telling him."

"I promiz."

"Good." Nora lowers her voice to a whisper. "If you don't see me but see Gabriel, the mission was a success."

Nora walks out, all-the-while grinning to herself.

Gabriel cautiously walks down steps from Athlum Castle. Today's strategy meeting was standard, nothing unusually difficult or hard to wrap one's head around. However, Gabriel couldn't really focus on that. He was thinking about Violet's words before he was out of earshot. "You're just too afraid to try." It had been pissing him off all day; how right she was and how much it stings. He tried to take his mind off it by visiting Athlum's various shops. He went to the armory in Xiphos Way for a quick patch up of the chip damage his blade received from the previous battle. Then he went to the square, hoping some of the commotion would bury his thoughts in the gravel rock underneath him. He picked up a few measly components and browsed through Martha's on-display items.

A quick tap on the shoulder averted his attention from Martha's pretty face, to a different kind of beauty.

"Hey there."

"Oh hello...uh...Nora?"

"You got it."

Gabriel tries to keep focus on her, but instead lowers his eyes towards her chest area. Nora snaps her fingers. "Hey, hey, up here buddy." She points to her own face. Gabriel comes to.

"Do you need something? Oh! Perhaps I am in your way of looking through the merchant's belongings?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could do me a favor."

"Ah...sure. As long as it doesn't involve turning me into a frog."

"Ha! Good one." Nora grins. "No alchemic processes are involved, sell-sword. I just need you to watch over a friend for me."

"A friend."

"Yep."

"And why is that?"

"Because I have to go help out my girls. The Ladies of Bloody Alice have called me in, and I already agreed to go meet up with them."

Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Great. So, where is this 'friend'?"

"At the bar."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, you'll recognize them easily. Impulsive, at little shorter than me, dark, beady eyes and black hair."

"..."

"I'm not that religious, but I pray to the God Emperor for safety."

"You'll be fine. If everything goes well, you'll be commemorated for your efforts."

"Gee, I can't want to have my face sketched on some plaque that reads 'Gabriel- the foolish one who thought man and monstrosity could be allies'."

"All right then." Nora laughs. "See you later."

Gabriel frowns. He walks back towards Virtus Parish, and hesitates before opening the door. He frowns some more. Deciding to get on with it, and hurry inside.

The bartender raises an eyebrow at him, nodding to himself and continuing his duty of cleaning glasses. Gabriel looks around the room with the dim candle lighting in place. He doesn't see anything grotesque looking. Just people talking, Yamas ranting and slamming the tables. But off to one corner...he sees a slouched person at one table by their lonesome. Gabriel walks closer to their table to realize it's...

"Glenys?"

Glenys whips her head around too quickly, causing the table to shake and her drink to nearly fall. "Oh! Itzzzz Gabriel! Hi Gabriel!"

Gabriel looks at her table. On her end are 5 glasses of empty cups, while the other seems to have been for a guest, who sloppily ate some food and drank 7 mugs of beer. A hunch tells him that Nora was at the other end.

"Glenys, what are you doing here?"

"I waz bored since we had nothing t' doooo."

"But the amount you drank is..."

"I s-said bored, not...chooozzing the best way outta that boredom."

Gabriel squints to himself at his sudden realization. "Nora...you crafty wench."

"Hey! Don't diss my friend. She's realllly nice and not mean spirited like I thought she would be."

"Okay, sorry. Let's just take you to your dorm at the castle."

"Ooookay. Les go."

Gabriel wraps her arm around his shoulder for balance. Glenys takes slow, cautious steps so that her wooziness doesn't cause her to misstep. They exit the bar and the light reflecting from the insides of homes illuminates the pathway for them.

"Hey!" A thought jumps into Glenys' head.

"Yes?" Gabriel answers her.

"Yesterday...I wanted to applaud you for how far you've come along in s-s..." She slurs.

"..."

"S?"

"Swordssplay. You've really grown."

"Thanks. Weird how my mentor isn't bashing me harshly and is instead praising my progress." He chuckles.

"And I also wanted to do something else."

"And what might that be?"

"I wanted to apologize to you."

"Hmm? What for?"

"On my way to congratulate you, I accidentaallly heard your talky with Violet."

"Oh?"

"Yeah..." She scratches her head. "It wazz at the part where you lost your family. I ran away after that cuz I felt bad and didn't want to bother you or hear anymore of it."

"I see."

"So... I've been thinking, that it was kindaaa unfair."

"What was?"

"That I stumbled onto a secret of yours and you haven't discovered any of mine to get even at me with."

"Oh...well...nothing can be done about that." Gabriel muses.

Glenys puts on a pouty face. It vanishes quickly when a fantastic idea pops into her head.

"Heeeeeeeey!"

"Yes?"

"Whaaa if I let you 'stumble' upon a secret of mine right now?"

"Oh?"

"Yeah. That way, you and I both have some dirt on each other that can get buried immediately."

"That's quite all right, no need to dig up past inflictions just because you innocently walked into a heated discussion."

"But I'll feel guilty if I don't tell you anything."

"All right, you can tell me something trivial then. Like a small fear of yours or something."

Glenys gasps like Gabriel had just told her all of Athlum's secrets. "That's Geniussss!"

"Okay then. You can tell me whenever you're ready."

"Ooooh! I'll have a really good one ready too!" Glenys is practically hopping up and down while they continue their hobble towards the castle.

After minutes of awkwardly shuffling to the castle, the two finally make it towards the hallway full of bedroom chambers. Glenys pointed out which one hers is since Gabriel never actually knew.

"Bonne, well, here you are Mademoiselle."

"Thankies. You're the best Gabriel."

"Non, non, the pleasure was all mine."

"Oh! Before you leave, I thought of a really great secret to tell you!"

"Oh you did? What is it?"

"Lean a bit closer please?"

He does so.

"A bit more, pleaseeeee?"

Gabriel leans in even closer, arms to his hips in anticipation of this 'news'. Glenys then tip-toes upwards, places her hands on Gabriel's cheeks, and puts her lips on his own for a good minute.

Once she's finished, Gabriel staggers back a few steps. His cheeks burn with a heat he never knew existed inside of him. His brain starts replaying the moments over and over in his head. Her leathery gloves on his skin. Her rose-colored lips brushing hard against his own. Those same lips tasting sweetly of strawberry that he can now feel on his. He looks Glenys dead in the eye.

"I like you." She giggles.