Chapter 8
The other side of the mountains yielded more plains. Eventually, they'd come across civilization again, but until they did, they traveled on foot. Yet again, Raine wondered why, but didn't ask. The most obvious answer was that they didn't have any other means of travel. It made for a long, tedious trip, not that she wasn't used to those.
The sun had already begun to decline, though her thoughts remained glued to the miasma and Tear's fonic hymns. She'd never heard of such a thing before, though she felt reassured that Jade asked Tear questions about them. That meant the fonic hymns were not necessarily common knowledge, though it did bring up another question for her: why did Guy know more about them than Jade did?
The young man certainly had enough knowledge of Malkuth that even Jade asked him about it. To Raine, it made sense if Kimlasca had once owned the lower half of Rugnica. How often had Duke Fabre come this way? But Jade's doubt cast some of her own doubt onto Guy. Jade was smart enough to know this, too.
Not only that, but several days had already gone by since they left Saint Binah and the Fubras River. Guy assured everyone they had reached the Southern Rugnica plains and Kaitzur wasn't far ahead. Jade gave Guy a quip about knowing Malkuth pretty well. His answer piqued Raine's interest, but she couldn't decide what he meant by "looking up vacation spots."
And what was the fon slot seal Jade mentioned he had? It sounded like his magic was severely limited. If that were true, he was far more powerful than she originally realized.
Either way, she didn't believe they'd seen the last of Arietta any more than Jade had. Luke's insistence on leaving her alive proved a side of him that Raine hadn't expected, but reminded her strongly of Lloyd. Perhaps underneath all of the thorns and demands lay a caring heart after all. How long would that heart last once he found out what she was?
"Let's rest here," Jade said suddenly.
Raine surveyed their new camp. It looked like a decent enough spot. A few trees for cover and yet they could look out for threats all across the plains. They set about preparing camp, all except Luke and Ion who rested sitting up with his eyes closed. Tear set down a bag near Raine with the few food ingredients they had.
"Perhaps it's your turn to make the evening meal. Do you mind?"
Raine opened the bag to see some of the staples, bread, rice, seasonings, and meat. She looked up at Tear. Genis hadn't let Raine cook for years if he could help it. Even Kratos insisted that she cook just the once. After that, he quit eating when it was her turn, convinced he wasn't actually hungry enough.
"Are you sure?"
Tear smiled. "Of course! I know you'll make something delicious."
Raine nodded and sorted through what they had. There really wasn't much bread, but they had plenty of rice. They also had some fruit and fish. "Hm... no lemons."
"Lemons? Of course not..." Guy said with a note of disgust. "I asked them not to pick up any."
"But we have fish... Lemons and fish actually go really well together."
Guy puckered his face. "No thanks. I'll just take the fish."
"I don't mind fish," Jade said.
"Ugh," Luke grumbled. "Can't we just have some chicken?"
"I can do both," Raine said. She didn't notice the others' alarmed expressions. Tear leaned in towards Jade and Guy, the latter of which leaned away, nearly sweating despite the cooling temperatures.
"Is she serious?" she whispered.
"I'm not sure..." Guy said. "She doesn't seem like the joking type." He pointed a thumb at Jade.
Sure enough, Raine reached for the chicken and fish both. She found some miso in the bag and some strawberries. Guy didn't like lemons, Raine's favorite fruit, but the strawberries should make up for the missing lemons. Fruits are fruits, after all, right? The function should be the same; the only difference was flavor. She dumped the meat and miso into the pan and then wondered when the strawberries should go in. She shrugged and added rice, water, and strawberries anyway.
By the time the meat and rice were cooked, the dish had a strange color and texture, not to mention the smell of miso was a little strong. She tasted some of it. The spicy miso didn't quite marry with the strawberry, which felt like a lump of awkward mush on her tongue. The different meats didn't quite work either, with the fish lost among the miso.
"Hm... well, it's not the worst thing I've made." She called over her shoulder that dinner was ready. Everyone gathered around the pan with their silverware and cups. Luke wrinkled his nose at the fish and took chunks of chicken instead. Jade speared a mushy red piece and held it up.
"What all went into this?" He asked politely.
"Oh, that's likely a strawberry." Raine said. He lowered his fork and coughed.
"This... certainly smells..." Guy inhaled a little and turned away from her, "a little strong. Don't you think you were a bit heavy with the miso?"
"I guess so." Raine sniffed the meal herself. "It really doesn't smell that bad, compared to the last time I made dinner."
"I find that hard to believe," Guy whispered to Luke who about vomited once he took a bite of chicken. He spat it to the grass.
"This is disgusting! Who taught you how to cook?"
"Luke! Don't be so rude," Tear said, though she, too, seemed hesitant to take a bite.
Raine threw a glare across the pan at him. It's not like she had volunteered for this. "Well, you asked me to cook. I did the best I could." She dipped a cup into the pan for her own portion.
"So this is normal?" Luke pondered his empty fork, obviously trying to decide how hungry he actually was.
"Hmm, perhaps it's best if we agree to a retirement from cooking duty," Jade said. "Just to spare our lives."
"Suit yourself," Raine said as she stood up. "But if you go hungry tonight, it's your own fault."
Luke turned to Guy. "Did she just do that on purpose? She's worse than Natalia..." Guy shrugged, seriously unsure.
"No insult to Her Highness, but she is pretty bad. I can't imagine someone being worse." Is she the kind of person who would starve everyone on bad food just so she wouldn't have to cook anymore? But he had an even harder time imagining Raine would be cruel enough to tease them like that. He supposed she really was just that bad of a cook.
They ate in silence, making the best of their meal, except Luke ate some rice Guy made for him. Raine sighed into her cup of unpalatable miso stew. It didn't deserve to be called stew per se, but it also wasn't really the worst thing she ever made. Too bad they wouldn't know that. After a few minutes, Guy wandered over to her shadowed perch where she sat alone. He settled down a few feet away from her, his elbow resting on one upraised knee.
"I'm really sorry about Luke."
"You have nothing to apologize for." She finished off what she had and held the cup more for reassurance than anything.
"It really wasn't that bad. I've had days where my food didn't turn out well."
Raine smiled at him. "Got used to the flavor, did you?" She could tell from his hesitant smile that it wasn't true. "Thank you for saying so anyway." She watched him, noticing how his eyes wandered to the sky, to the grass, back to camp, and sometimes flashing back to her, but he still stayed so far away from her. "You know, you can sit closer if you like. Despite my subtextual barbs, I don't bite."
He laughed nervously and took to scratching his head. "Nah, it's okay—I just. You know it's—it's nothing personal."
Really. She shook her head and set the cup in the grass. "Why are you so standoffish, yet you always want to talk?"
His head tilted down so he could stare at his wringing hands. Whatever was the problem, he didn't want to admit it. Of course, who would want to admit being prejudiced? People go out of their way to deny it but reveal themselves in their actions all the time. She just couldn't understand though. If he hated her species so much, why was he so willing to continue talking to her? But then he answered her.
"I've never met such a mysterious woman before. I must admit, between the past you're hiding and the Rheaird, you've got me curious." Ah, his curiosity is just that strong. Well, that's something I suppose. It's better than the reaction she usually got from humans. "I mean... from what I heard of the flying machines, the prototype was called the Albiore."
"Albiore?" Why does everything have a different name? She wondered, frustrated. "That's not what Sheena called it."
"Who's that?"
Raine sighed, sinking into her knees. "A friend."
"Well, she's not part of Class M, she probably doesn't know what they're really called."
She shifted so he couldn't see her looking away. She was so confused. He seemed to know a lot about Class M and Sheridan, but he never heard of Sheena. Why not? What was really going on here? He moved, shuffling to sit on her other side. "I'm sorry if I upset you," he said. She closed her eyes. "I've just never met anyone who actually got to fly with the hover drive."
"You're still interested in that, huh?"
"Of course!" There it was again, his excitement animated in his voice. Genis and Lloyd would've called it his mania. She buried her face in her knees to hide her smile. Oh, how she missed them. "Fon machine buffs follow Class I and Class M closely, so any major developments travel quickly. I just didn't know they finished a prototype that could actually fly."
Raine smiled at him. You know what? That doesn't matter. He might be prejudiced against half-elves, but his curiosity was stronger than that. For once, here was a human who could set aside his prejudices, at least long enough to share an interest. "Your eyes light up so much when you talk about fon machines. It must be a weakness of yours."
He raised his head, surprised. "You're not mad anymore?"
She shrugged. "If I never forgave, I'd never be happy again." Guy smiled, too.
"Oh, I definitely get that. But let's not talk about that." He faced her, full body and sitting with his legs folded beneath him. "Actually... can I ask you about something?" Oh crap. Raine checked the cup again. Was there anything left in it after all? No, nothing to stuff her mouth with this time. She let the cup tip over in the grass.
"Very well."
Now that he was given permission, though, he looked away. What, now he didn't want to ask? Or did he not know how? He did seem reluctant and he ended up shaking his head. "You know, it's nothing important. I just..." then his face lit up and he looked at her. "What is your brother like?"
She raised a skeptical eyebrow, but somehow she felt much better about this question than the one he didn't want to ask. "Actually, he's brilliant. A little obnoxious sometimes, but he has a good heart."
"Sounds a bit like Luke."
Raine smiled, genuine this time. "About that... How does Duke Fabre raise such a spoiled child? Didn't he discipline him?"
Guy didn't answer right away, but looked down at her cup in the grass and frowned. "Duke Fabre didn't have much to do with him since he returned from his kidnapping."
Understandable, she supposed. A child that needed to learn everything all over again, he must have been embarrassed by him. "I'll bet that was hard for everyone."
"You've mentioned Genis and Lloyd," he said suddenly, "do you have any other students? Or friends? It can't just be you three."
She laughed. "Why not? We travel. It's not like we can collect friends as we go."
"Why not? Isn't that how you make friends?" He gestured to the others back at camp.
"Oh, so you're privately cordial with that Malkuth soldier over there? I thought he was just tolerating you."
Guy laughed. "Maybe so. What about you? You're not going to disappear forever when you come to Baticul, are you?"
Maybe... Raine stood up her cup again and followed its rim with her finger. Really, dinner wasn't that bad. Maybe she should get more before he asked too many questions. "What's the matter? Afraid you'll lose your contact with Class M?"
"Nah, I can go to Sheridan if I want to and talk to them directly."
Then why did he want to talk with her? Puzzled, Raine sank into thought.
"So it seriously was just you, Genis, and Lloyd?"
"Hm? No, we had Colette, too. She was Lloyd's friend. And a mercenary who traveled with us for a while but..." she paused, now caught in the memories of the Tower of Salvation. Seeing wings materialize from the man's back was startling and to find out he was part of Cruxis...
"But...?"
She cleared her throat and straightened. "Well, he went his separate ways. And Sheena. We also had her."
"Ah, the friend."
She bit her lip. "She's just a woman we ran into. She's the one who knew about the flying machines."
He could tell there was more to the story, but when she didn't continue, he let it go. "So, three students, two women, and a mercenary," Guy said. "Interesting group to travel with. Kind of like us."
Wait until you find out she was an assassin and that Kratos betrayed us. She flashed a fake smile as he watched her, but she didn't acknowledge anything else. She stared ahead at the plains, not quite relaxed. When he followed her gaze, he didn't see anything to worry about. A couple of owls crossed the sky and some grass waved, that was it. "Something on your mind?"
She shook her head, but of course, that was a lie. Kratos was supposed to protect the Chosen, Colette, and he certainly had, though not for the reasons she thought. She couldn't help but wonder who in this group would betray her like he had. That depended mostly on their reaction to finding out she was a half-elf. The more that they traveled, the more she wondered if Guy and Jade really knew because they certainly didn't treat her any differently than they treated Tear or Ion. They didn't seem disgusted with her; in fact, Guy trying to converse with her, even though he still kept his distance. He sat several feet from her, but he still seemed to enjoy talking with her. Would that change if she confirmed she was a half-elf?
"So what are the Highlands like?"
Time's up. "Arid." Raine stood and wandered back to camp. How would Jade react to her being a half-elf? He seemed to be the most powerful person in the group, despite Ion's status.
"Okay, we're done talking," he quipped.
That night, her paranoia made it hard to sleep.
A/N: Wow, so long time since the last update. I'm so sorry about that, but what happened is that I wrote the chapter for Kaitzur and Choral Castle and realized I can't make it work the way I wanted to. But I intentionally reworked the plot and finally came to terms with the fact that I can't avoid a conversation with Van and the party. So, I reworked that scene until I finally figured out a plan that worked. Now, I am cleaning up that chapter and the update should happen in January 2021. Yes, it really did take me this long to work out all of the plot problems. :) Thank you so much for your patience!