Last Chapter, I was half-way through it when I began to listen to a song I had not listened to for a long while. It's funny, it's a dark song, but from the point I began to listen to it, the chapter lightened up in tone. I' m glad that I didn't scare anyone away with the last chapter. I was worried I might have. I promise I won't "tack on dark stuff" just because I can. So far I have tried to explain every single dark piece and why it was there, and as I am working off my memory of the game's storyline, I think that, so far; I have done a fairly good job providing cannon.
I was happy with last chapter, which is a rare thing to say. I knew it would be dark, but I was happy how it turned out. I hope I can say the same for this one. I hope I can be happy at it's turn out, and I hope you guys like it too.
I will take it as a good sign though, that the first three thousand words were written during the first twenty four hours after I had submitted the last chapter. XD
This chapter contains a few hints of a story arc that will come later on. I won't say more than that however, I don't want to spoil anything~Finalage.
Once again...I own nothing of Recettear franchise. Carpe Fulgur and Easy Game Station take full credit for their work.
+RT~
Lemongrass Stains: Recette's Annual.
Chapter Nine: Preparations
OvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvO
The candles guttered lower as the time passed, and the few vending machines that graced the shop, purely for storage of low priced items, cast a baleful and harsh white light that was eerie without any sunlight to counter balance it. The treasure of the room provided a glowing reflective surface, they shone with absorbed light as the adventurers organized the gifts that they had been given.
Charme winced as a hand closed, rather clamp like, on her arm. The skin that brushed hers was somewhat tough, the first, flaky callouses of hard work that would be doled on a hand before they hardened into the softer, if stronger; second type. The hold was shockingly firm. She turned and was surprised to see a set of large, chocolate eyes looking up at her.
"Please stay Charme. I want to show you something before you go."
Recette had just dismissed them all from her basement after handing them their new equipment. She had shepherded them into the first floor so that they all stood in a semi-circle around her, pressed in behind the teller's counter. She looked at each of them in turn before settling the candle she had carried down with her back into it's bracket on the wall.
Her eyes hovered a fraction of a second longer on mine before she spoke to us all.
"I want you guys to spend a month preparing. I want to make sure you guys are used to the equipment I have given you. I don't want anyone to be scared to use it. Louie, I don't want you fainting because you feel you don't deserve what I gave you. You do. Please use it..."
She cast him a slightly shy look, and I felt a little birdie nestle an idea in my brain. I grinned despite myself. Recette continued.
"I won't call you guys for any job at all for this month, but if you get a job from someone else, please take it, as long as it does not make you late for our appointment next month. I will spend the next month preparing stock for us to use once we get in there...and guys, be careful. I want you all to take it seriously...I have a bad feeling about this one...no one has returned yet, and I think there is a reason for that..."
Her eyes swept again at all of us, and for once, happy Recette's sober plea was taken seriously. Sure, we all were excited for the treasure and the money and the thrill, but we understood what this month was for. She had done everything she could to prepare us, and would continue to try and make a strong front for us. It was our job to prepare our own skills. It was a big difference from her usual style of rushing in to get the goods, and it showed how much she cared. I swore her eyes paused on Louie again, and once more that little birdie gave a chirp, but I wasn't sure if I was just imagining it. Still, I liked the concept my mind was cooking.
Tho' If I'm honest, I was never a good cook.
Recette dismissed the bunch, and I took a seat on one of her display counters. Tear glared at me, but I waved the fairy away, not that I could. The pixie just floated to my other side, still glaring. Recette however, looked up at me.
"I can't put a price on you Charme. You don't belong on a counter to be sold..."
Her face was confused as she said it, and I'm sure it was just her becoming a merchant so quickly that was the cause, but to me, the sentence seemed strangely profound. Recette was probably just somewhat broken by Tear and thought everything on the counter needed a price...but to say something like that...that she could not put a price on my value to her...it was cute.
I hopped off the counter and put a hand on my hip, surveying the girl. Well, here I was.
"You wanted me for something Recette?"
"Yep! Tear, I'm going somewhere with Charme, could you close up for me?"
As expected, the fairy nearly exploded. Her glare was like fire at me, and I was quite uncomfortable... I pushed a stray lock of hair from my face to avoid looking at it, but I still felt the burn. Her tone barely brooked argument, but it was still somewhat civil as she addressed Recette.
"At this hour? Charme could not possibly have agreed to handling any sort of business that has to deal with her skill set at this time Recette...and I do not approve of any other sort of... "activity" she may have agreed to."
Aww come on. Tear was probably still grilling me on the "I want to take you home with me." comment I had once made. I was just joking! ...Mostly.
I do feel that Recette would probably have been better off with me than with Tear, even now; I still feel the fairy is using her. Recette is a good kid, and Tear...was a loan shark. Even former, I feel she still needs to use Recette as a shield, maybe from her former employer, maybe from an enemy I know nothing about. I don't know. Recette however, waved her down.
"I just wanted to talk with her Tear. There is a part of the plan that I need to tell her."
Tear flapped her wings impatiently and rose a few inches in the air.
"...and you could not have said it earlier? Recette, you have orders tomorrow..."
"Aww, I know! I just need to explain this piece to her, alone. It's a surprise! I wont take long! Pleaase?"
Grumbling, the fairy seemed to wrestle with herself and the look Recette was giving her. I knew it was useless. Recette was like an open flame, and Tear was the moth. She flitted about and around, but she so desperately wanted to get closer. There was no point fighting the look. The look won all. The look was unconquerable. Tear admitted defeat with a sigh.
"Fine, but not too late. I expect you back before I'm ready to close up, otherwise I won't open the shop for you. You can then sleep outside."
"Aww, come on~! What if it rains?"
"Go Recette."
Recette took my hand and led me out of the shop and into the night. The moon was out in full force today, a big round milk colored drop, casting everything in a bright glow that made it easy to see. It reflected off the cobblestone roads as Recette lead me away and into the plaza. It was a good temperature too. Perfect night for a stroll with no plans at all in mind. Recette set a surprisingly brisk pace, but I was certain that threat of sleeping outside was fresh in her mind.
Sure, it was a beautiful night, but who would rather sleeping outside to sleeping in your own soft bed? Not me, and certainly not Recette it seemed. Though I admit, there are some crazy nuts who-
We arrived at the plaza rather faster than I thought, and Recette broke her grip on me to walk a few paces ahead. She stopped, but did not turn around. He voice floated back to me...
"I wanted to show you this."
I saw a glint of silver. It was my old weapon. She was holding it firmly as she spun around, took a position, and then, without much more warning than that, sprung at me. I backpedaled furiously, swinging out my new GhostBlade. The two weapons barely had a chance to connect before Recette drew back and attacked form another angle.
Why in hell was she attacking me? What was she trying to do?
I twisted away from her stab, and she pulled back. She looked at me with a leveling look.
"Please Charme, do this for me. I want to show you what I can do...I 'm not crazy..."
Suddenly, I understood. I had called her out on her plan to remain outside the barrier. I had called her insane. Now she wanted to let me be the judge and prove she was not insane, in the only way that made sense...
...by showing me what she could do.
She shot at me from the left, and I twisted away from her only to swing out my GhostBlade to deflect her sideways slash.
So, she swung out her weapons in an arc like I did. Had she been watching me as I fought?
Well it made sense with the weapon in her hand to be fair...not many different way you can swing that weapon properly...but I don't charge in like that...that was something more like...
I ducked under another slash and swung out my blade. She used her foot to knock it away and forced herself forwards again with her blade. I suddenly had a burst of understanding. That was Elan's style of play!
I ducked away from her charge and swung out my blade at her back. She spun around and parried with her own weapon. The two of us locked blades. She had a firm grip but...I twisted my blade and her grip slipped, but she broke the lock before I could disarm her. She stepped to the side quickly so that I would lose my balance, or at least the move was designed to do so. I was too quick however, and I tumbled into a roll to avoid the slash that came next. I popped up in time to side step her next slash, and stabbed out with the blunt of my blade. It hit her solidly in the middle and she took a few steps back, winded. I used this time to slash out again with the blunt, trying to knock her weapon out of her hand, but she recovered faster than I gave her credit for. She grabbed my wrist with her free hand and gave a punch to my midsection. It winded me some, but I could not escape as she still had my wrist. I couldn't backpedal, so I kicked her. She let go and took a few steps back, but she was able to parry my next slash.
"How long?"
She ducked when I broke the parry and swiped out for a slash, but she answered as she tried to get past my guard with a sweep kick that I jumped back to avoid.
"Two months. Elan had offered to give me some training before then, but I had been too afraid to accept at the time...but when Louie and I came back from the Lapis Ruins, I realized that I could not just rely on the barrier to protect me all the time...what would I do if I had to get one of you guys when you fainted, and the boss decided to target me? What would I do?"
She ducked another slash and swung out, only to have her hand caught and for me to kick her in the middle again, she wheezed a bit, but I had to admit, her endurance was good, she recovered quickly enough. So, she had used that time between then and now like this? That was all well and good but two months was not enough to make you think you could handle anything...
"You don't get enough endurance from two months, not like this."
I accepted a rush attack form her and twisted to the side to avoid her at the last second, dropping down so that I could sweep my leg and knock her off balance. She fell, but sprung up almost instantly before I could capitalize on her.
"Who carries all the stuff you guys find in dungeons, for hours while you guys run around?"
I ducked a kick of hers and then swept my foot again to knock her off balance. She fell once more but rolled to avoid me trying to pounce on her again. She came up quickly enough to block my next swipe. I had to admit she had a point. While Elan talking about running x amount of miles with a heavy pack full of rocks was scary to listen to, when you thought about it, Recette did exactly the same thing; almost every day. Running around with a pack full of merchandise in a dungeon. Two months to learn basic enough moves to survive, but her endurance came from herself.
Recette began stabbing out quickly, trying to drive me back. She was faster than Elan, but nowhere near as strong. Still, she was not that far off from me in speed... slower yes, but faster than Louie. Again; not as strong though. She had okay balance. If I wanted to knock her out, I could...but could the average monster or boss?
I knocked her with the flat of my blade on her wrist and she dropped her weapon, but her other hand snapped up and caught it as she backed up. She sidestepped my next attack and rushed in to shoulder me in the gut. It winded me for a bit, but Recette was swinging around her foot, so I ducked and swept my leg again at her, making her lose her footing once more. This time her roll was not as quick, so she was not fully up and around when I swung at her, and she staggered sideways. I made the mistake of continuing to attack the same side however, as since one foot was hopping on the ground, the other one in the air managed to kick me pretty hard. I took a few steps back, nursing a few lower ribs.
"OW! That hurt damnit!"
I swung at her with more speed now, determined to test this theory of mine. I did not have the punch most bosses did. They were usually slow but had a powerful hit. Could Recette handle getting hit once by them? I decided to test this by scoring multiple hits on her with the blunt of my weapon, trying to make the cumulative effect I wanted. Recette slowed up some, but she bore the onslaught reasonably well. Not how I wanted, but I reminded myself as I struck out another hit with the butt of my blade that the girl was unable to block...she only had to survive.
Recette took advantage of my distracted state and swung around, slamming her foot into me with a sweep kick that made me see a few extra stars. Yeeeowuch! Where did that come from? I had always managed to duck those kind of kicks from her, and now I knew I had to make that a priory! They HURT LIKE HELL!"
"YEOW! Tryina kill me?"
Instantly Recette stopped and was by me with some ointment, all fighting and stance forgotten as she worried away at it's lid. I was reminded of the time we first met. She had offered me ointment at that time too...I grimaced and waved it away, and not a moment too soon either, for I heard a chuckle. Recette's head snapped up and I heard her call out a pleasant greeting to Griff. Oi. It was the demon. He seemed amused, and there was no genius around that needed to tell me why. He had probably watched the whole thing. I watched Recette wince as she continued to hold me up. I found that my sympathy was rather less than it should be though, seeing as my side was still throbbing.
"Lovely night for a spar...though forgive me, I did not know you had trouble defeating a mere shopkeeper Charme."
I fixed him with a look that clearly said; "Shut up."...one that would make most people back off from me in fear of losing an eye, but then I remembered this was a demon I was looking at, and too him, he just found the look even more amusing. I swear I have hardly ever seen the demon this amused. Recette though, was as chipper as ever.
"Oh, Hi Griff! Charme was just helping me practice!"
Griff's expression clouded some at this statement, and I narrowed my eyes at his stormier expression. Was that...concern on his face? His voice dropped the amused air and returned to it's colder drawl when he addressed her, and my suspicion hardened into certainty. The demon was worried about her! Ha!
Oh it was rich.
I sobered somewhat as Griff spoke though, because I had to admit...I wasn't happy about this plan either when I heard about it. That was kinda' the key reason we were here after all...I watched his red eyes flash.
"Practice? Is my service as an adventurer unsatisfactory to you? Are you planning to go and run in dungeons alone? Merchant and adventurer rolled into one? What manner of foolishness is this...?"
Recette's smile faltered some, but she hitched it up almost instantly.
"Oh no Griff, I just want to be...prepared. If one of you guys collapse near a boss, I have to get out of the barrier to bring you in it, and the boss or other monsters might decide they want to fight me instead!"
Griff huffed at this, but continued to pry. He picked another point to stab at.
"This had never occurred to you before. Or I should say you have never had this problem before. Why anticipate it now?"
Recette met his red, almost glowing eyes with her own deep chocolate ones...the red in his made hers reflect in a peculiar way... She blinked however, and the moment was lost. She looked up at the moon before answering him, as if she were weighing her answer.
"For one adventurer; yes. I can usually just run up to them in the barrier and collect. But doing that with more than one would take too much time. By the time I got to the others to help while dragging an injured around...the monsters could have finished them off."
Griff focused more intently on her now, and Recette shrunk some in his gaze. He then swung his eyes on me. I didn't allow his stare to cow me tho'. He clearly wanted to say something else to Recette, but instead seemed to think better and addressed me.
"...and you were doing what exactly? Sticking her with that bread knife?"
Bread knife?! I'll show him a bread knife...
"A boss hits hard. I wanted to try and see if she could take it."
His eyes glinted with some amusement as his own claws seem to darken and swirl. I did not have a good feeling about where this was going...Instinctively, I took a step back.
"So, you hoped to have a cumulative effect by drizzling her with smaller hits? Nonsense...if you want to see if she can survive, you have to do it properly..."
Without warning, Griff swung around and knocked Recette hard with the blunt edge of his claws. The girl literally went flying into the bushes in an arc that made my breath catch. She looked like a fish as it sailed out of the water as the fisherman yanked back to reel them in. She hardly had let out a squeak, and definitely had not even attempted to try to dodge... just vanished into the brush. I watched the bush for a split second before rounding on him, growling.
"The hell do you think you're doing! You killed her! You fraggin'...arrogant..."
Griff, to his credit, looked a little abashed. He had not expected the girl to fly so...he stammered somewhat, for Charme had gotten rather uncomfortably close to his face, looking to scream bloody murder.
"D-Don't be ridiculous...the girl is not dead...I hit her with the blunt of my claws. Now I admit I did not expect her to go flying-"
I cut him off, waving away his steadily deepening abashment. My voice was still a growl as I looked around.
"Cut it, help me find her! Damn it. You realize Tear will MURDER me if I bring back Recette looking like she got hit by a truck? This is YOUR fault! Where did she land? Ooooh if I get killed I am going to haunt you for the rest of your life!"
I began casting about for some clue as to where the girl had landed and then whipped around to see Griff still standing there, dumbstruck.
"Don't just stand there; you useless berk! Help me!"
I dove into the bushes looking for a telltale splash of red anywhere. No, not blood, at least I hoped I would not see any, but her apron. Griff finally appeared next to me after what seemed like way too long, looking like he was trying, (and failing) to look bored with what he was doing. He pointed behind himself over his shoulder.
"She's over there."
I stopped mauling the set of bushes near me and pushed past him hurriedly to get to the indicated spot. Griff came up behind me, but I paid him zero mind as I looked over Recette.
Well, she wasn't dead, that much was clear from the slight steam that escaped her lips periodically. But her eyes were glazed over in the kind of way that signified no one being "home" in there. She was knocked out, and I scolded myself for almost expecting to see her eyes turn into cinnamon like spirals of brown and white any second now, like some sort of demented washing apparatus. I gently felt her face before shifting my attention to the rest of her. If I was honest, the most damage was caused by me, the blunts of my knives left some bruises on her arms from what I felt and there was a single thin cut on her cheek. Griff's hit had simply knocked the wind outta her, and her senses, but the girl would recover fine, and that cut was thin enough to leave no lasting scar.
I bent and picked her up. She was surprisingly light for a shopkeeper. Then again...
I shift Recette on my shoulder a bit as her slight weight reminds me that Recette is still very much a little kid. She's hardly a teenager. A child. Recette had built an item shop that had a fast reputation for reliability and quality. She had cultivated a mini empire and groomed it enough to afford funding five adventurers for an indeterminate time into a high class dungeon, and by funding I meant their fees, gear and essentials. Give her any item and she would be guaranteed to not only know what it was, but what it did, who could use it and how much it was worth, all with a casual, practiced glance. She could count change just as fast as a vending machine...and she had just proved she could take a few hits to defend herself if needed... all at a tender age at which I was still being pampered. Recette had done all of this under the threat of losing her home, when most children would break down and cry or run away from home...
I shifted Recette from over my shoulder into a better position in my arms and carried her form out of the bushes and into the light. It reflects off her hair and lets me see that, knocked out as she was, she lost a large portion of her charm. Her face, usually quirked in some degree of happiness, was blank, just as her eyes were dark and clear, there was no spark of awareness... even as I saw some stars reflected in them. She looked even younger than she was this way and far, far more vulnerable. Griff looked at me as I stood there with her.
"She is most likely in no fit state to survive a hit in The Crystal Nightmare."
I shot my head up to lock eyes with him. Who said anything about the Crystal Nightmare? How did he know?What kind of...I opened my mouth to retort at him, but he smiled and shook his head knowingly. He had decided to take shelter near a plaza building, so his figure was shadowy.
"Humans. Easy to bait. Far too easy to bait. I did not know, but now I do."
I shut my mouth with a snap, narrowing my eyes at his shadowed form. I suddenly felt some bile raise in me. I'd prove him wrong. I'd wipe that secret grin of his face.
"Bull. She was taking hits from me before you butt in...but I'll make you a bet if you're so sure."
"Oh?"
His face turned towards mine, allowing me to see it fully as it caught in the moonlight. He still looked amused, but more curiosity ruled his expression now.
"One month. You have never beaten me in a game of tag have you, Griff? Give me a month. I swear you'll lose a game against Recette. You lose, you have to pay Elan's tab at the bar."
His eyebrows shot up at this, and his amusement returned. He smiled knowingly at me. He knew as well as I the mountain of a tab Elan possessed. I was going to get myself in some hot water here if I was not careful...I had to play my cards right, and maybe Elan would be begging me in thanks as well as Griff pining for mercy. I liked the thought. I grinned to match him.
"Ahh? Is that so. What of if I win?"
I shifted Recette to my shoulder again and held up my GhostBlade and my brand new ring. They twinkled between the two of us.
"I sell these and you take the profit, that leaves me weaponless. I'll let you take my spot in the five man band we have for going into the Crystal Nightmare too. Sweetened Pot. Your play Griff."
His ruby like eyes glinted to match the wagers I had put up, and I saw his teeth shine in the night as he stepped forwards. He was still far to amused for me to like it. He held out his hand and I gripped it with the one whose shoulder was occupied by a certain shopkeeper.
"Consider it a deal then."
+-~P~-+
I started as I shook myself from my half slumber, looking at Recette to see why she had stopped. Then I sat up straight, and a coverlet fell off me. I stared at it like it was some foreign object of which I had no idea it's function. Gradually,I managed to tear my gaze from it and look about. I spotted Recette and saw that she was on top of a stool that had been designed to look like a spotted red mushroom with beady, black eyes. The glinted with a rather spooky manner when I locked eyes with it, and I shivered.
She SLEPT with that THING staring at her like that? I swear the thing has a face like it's going to come over here while I sleep and...I don't know what an armless/legless mushroom can do to me as I sleep, but I don't want to wake up with that...thing... STARING over me. I reasoned it was probably bought or made by one of her parents, probably her father.
I guess I fell asleep, and Recette carried me over here into her bedroom. Then maybe she continued the story, or maybe she stopped it when I fell asleep and went to stare out the window, which was how she was turned...she faced the snow encrusted window as she slept...wait...she carried me?
I ran a hand over my face and stifled a groan. I did not want to wake the younger woman up. She had carried me up a flight of steps and I had just slept on like some five year old who fell asleep near the fireplace.
I noticed that she had a thin blanket wrapped around herself, and that she had changed into a simple light blue night dress. It hung loosely on her as she breathed. I blinked as I recalled earler, and almost groaned again.
I had burned the paper. God, I had burned the paper. I could have given it to her and walked out, and I would have been comfortable in my inn's bed until the morning when I would return via a called coach to give news of success to my boss and then I would take his good report and use it as leverage to prove I could be trusted to run executive duties on my father's advertisement company. I'd be more than a heir, I'd be a business woman. I would be able to do whatever I pleased...but no. I just HAD to burn the FREAKING paper.
Even as I silently raged against myself I knew it was pointless. I could not have been that heartless. I just could not. I watched Recette breathe.
She's been through enough already.
I settled myself down to sleep again, and soon the snow, peace and soft breathing lulled me back to sleep with a natural lullaby.
+-~E~-+
I think I forgot how to use the word "to" and "too" honestly.
I honestly did not originally plan for Griff to come in. He just...did. So when I found myself thinking it would be nice for him to come in and show Charme up, I allowed him to do so. Griff has so few affiliates in Recettear, but since Charme and Griff both love to come into your store when it's late at night, and the atmosphere is dark...(at least form what I remember they did.) I thought it would make the most sense that they had met each other before/are familiar with one another.
I could have updated on April 1st...only if I did, I would have only been up to the part where Charme tells Griff: "You killed her!" Which would have actually made a nice joke chapter when I came to think of it, but I decided not to. It would have been too cruel, and I have waited too long to tell this story to you all. Incidentally, the fact that Griff and his part in this story was not an original design means that to me, that part of the chapter seems less in quality to the others. It seems kinda forced, and was difficult to write...but I hope it still keeps to a generally tolerable standard.
In other news, hello to my new + favorite for this story. I'll try to continue to provide.
I planned for this to be a longer chapter, but in all honesty I did not feel like putting more here, though I admit, precious little happened here. Charme and Recette had a fight, Griff interrupted, blasted Recette into the sky. Charme and Griff find Recette and make a bet. I can describe 5000 words of text in three sentences. Lovely. *Rolls eyes*I find the more I edit a document, the less happy I am with it. I hardly edited last chapter at all, this one I mutilated... However, I did get that hint in there. I wonder if anyone will catch it?
Those who do, will you know what it means?
Promising more next time.~Finalage.