Legacy of Hope
By: Chibi-chan
Chapter 6: “Regret”
*
The morning came, as mornings usually do, with little fanfare. The morning people were up, the night owls grumbled at any of them who woke them up.
Zed, among other things, was also cursed to be the bane of all night owls, the dreaded “Morning Person”. Up and about way earlier than his more night owl-ish companion, he decided to take an aimless stroll about Rosetta (where any townsfolk up at that hour looked at him with disdain, among other things, but being used to that sort of thing, he didn’t really care), eventually ending up at the home of the only known Elw on Filgaia again.
The Elw, who had been tending her garden, wasn’t quite happy to see him again. “You again?! What do you want from me?” she asked.
“Directions might be nice,” Zed answered, “I think I took a wrong turn somewhere…”
Mariel pointed west. “Just keep going; you’ll find your way back. Good day,” she said, turning away and taking a few steps toward the garden.
“Oh, all right. Thank you,” the Metal Demon said, turning towards the proper direction. However, he didn’t leave just yet. “You don’t have to be afraid of me; I wouldn’t hurt you any more than I’d hurt anyone in my city. Well, unless they were out to kill me, but that’s another story. You wouldn’t try to do that, would you?”
“… your city?” Mariel asked coldly.
“Saint Centour. They jokingly call me the other ‘Sacred Beast’ of Saint Centour,” Zed explained. He paused, then said, “I’m really not a bad guy, Miss Mariel. Truth be told, I’ve never been fond of the idea of hurting others.” A moment of silence ensued. “You said this way, right? Guess I’ll go now…” With that, he left.
Mariel turned to watch him go. He’s not so bad, really, for one of them… Guess he’d have to be decent if Rudy befriended him, she thought.
*
Another one of those damned morning people was awake in Sylik. Already dressed and ready to head out to see this “Elmire” he mentioned the other day, Bernard went downstairs to rouse his traveling companions.
They were less than cooperative. Bernard got a grumbled “fuck you” and a revolver blindly pointed at him in response from Ron. Mira, on the other hand, seemed to have mistaken him for an alarm clock and tried to shut him off by twisting his nose and pulling his hair.
“Promising way to start a day,” Bernard muttered to himself.
*
The Seal Sorceress was already not having a good day. First she lost track of Mira the previous day thanks to Luceid and Dan Dairam, which meant she had to pick up the trail again. Once she found it again, she followed the trail to one of the forests of Filgaia. That meant bugs. A lot of bugs. More than one would find elsewhere in Filgaia, outside port towns and their amazing amounts of mosquitoes. She didn’t like bugs, not one bit. They ranked lower than humans in her book, and that’s saying something.
So of course, the bugs had to enjoy swarming around her. Such is life. And since she couldn’t seem to be able to pinpoint exactly where Mira was, she had to search the conventional way, meaning more swarms of bugs.
Life can be fair sometimes.
*
“Well, I’m off, Princess.”
“You were always ‘off’, Jack.”
“Cute. Reeeeal cute.”
“You’re not going alone,
are you?”
“Well, yeah. It’s a rather personal thing I’m going there
about, so I’d rather be alone.”
“After you fussed about me
needing extra protection. You’re a real
piece of work, Jack.”
“Well, you’re important. I’m just the husband to the queen.”
“You’re a nitwit, that’s what
you are. If you get yourself hurt badly
or killed, I’ll never forgive you.”
“Gotcha, Princess. I’ll be back when I get back…”
“… idiot. Be careful…”
*
Some time later, Mira was gingerly poking a still-sleeping Ron in the arm. “Should we wake her up? It’s past ten already,” she asked.
Bernard shook his head. “She did suffer a nasty little injury back in Adlehyde and pushed herself to go with us when she still should have been taking it easy,” he told her. He muttered to himself, “Should have thought about that before I tried to wake her earlier; oh well, she made it quite clear she wanted to stay right where she was, in any case…”
“Dear, remember what I said about muttering to yourself?” Lovey chided lightly from the chair.
“Yes, yes, I know; people will think I’m crazy or something…” Bernard said with a sigh. He turned his attention back to Mira and said, “Well, it would be rude to see Elmire without her; how would you like to see our little libra-“
He didn’t even get to finish the word before Mira started to drag his towards the door. “-ry. I’ll take that as a ‘yes’, Sunshine,” he finished. Scientists… Mad, all of them. Oh well, like I’m one to talk; I’m the one always talking to himself, he thought.
*
Outside Rosetta…
“So, Zed, are you going to get on the Gull Wing without driving me nuts first?” Rudy asked.
“Well, since you asked so nicely…” Zed replied flatly.
Rudy rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I’m sorry, Zed, I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just… Well, I haven’t been sleeping too well since I left Court Seim last. It was hit four times by monster attacks within the last month, so I’m worried about my daughter being there. If only Jane would stop being so stubborn and let me take her somewhere else, somewhere less hard hit by it all…”
“So that’s it. I’d probably be the same way if Laurie…” the Metal Demon said. He put a reassuring hand on Rudy’s shoulder and told him with a smile, “Ah, anyway, you and May are welcome any time in Saint Centour, OK? The people there are a little, er, ‘rougher around the edges’ than in other places since the first humans to come after… you know, had to be tough enough to get the monster problem under control, but they’re not bad people, generally.”
Hearing that seemed to relax the younger man a little. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Zed,” he said.
A thought struck Zed. “Hey, Rudy, I don’t think you’ve ever told me: what exactly did happen with you and Jane?”
*
“And just where the HELL
do you think you’re going?! I’m
not done talking to you yet!” Jane yelled at Rudy, who was at that moment
shouldering a duffel bag.
“Away,” he answered coldly.
“Away where?!” Jane
questioned, not lowering her voice a bit.
“None of your business,” was
Rudy’s response. “Why do you care?
It’s not like you want me here anymore anyway.”
Jane was taken aback by
that. “You… you…” She shook her head. “Fine, if you’re just going to be an
asshole, then fine, go! See if I care!”
“Fine with me. Goodbye, Jane,” he said.
“Fine! Goodbye to you too!” she yelled.
“Fine,” he sneered before
slamming the door behind him.
*
Rudy cringed slightly, then answered, “I’d rather not talk about it.”
*
Some time later, Sylik…
They must have worked on accumulating all these books long before they went into hiding, Mira thought as she sifted through a large pile of books that would hide her from view once she sat back down. Just imagine what’s inside these books… It’s gotta be mentioned in one of them, that and the seal…
“Trying to build a fort, little girl?” a somewhat familiar voice asked.
Mira let out a sound of exasperation and started to say as she turned towards the person, “Why, in a town full of people who don’t look anywhere near their age, can’t anyone believe I’m…” pausing for a moment when she realized she was now looking at the same Elw woman from last night. “… nineteen. Oh, hello again.” She looked nervously to the side and whispered to her, “Your, uh, ‘overly friendly’ lady friend isn’t here, is she? Slowly being suffocated by someone’s breasts, contrary to popular belief, is not a fun thing…”
Leti, the Elw woman from last night, shook her head. “No, no, she isn’t. I just wanted to apologize on her behalf. You have to understand, she’s not a bad woman, she’s just… ah…”
“Like Kiki the ferret after eating one too many Pixie Stix?” Mira suggested.
“Something like that, yes,” Leti said with a sigh. “She’s bored out of her mind here, so when anything new comes along, she gets a little… overexcited.”
Mira had to fight the urge to voice the thought, If the current string of events is any indication of what’s to come, her head might explode from all the excitement soon. Instead, she pushed her glasses up and said, “Well, how could she not get overexcited when the soon-to-be-famed researcher Mira Montoya walks into town?”
“Oh? Is that your blonde friend, young one?” the Elw woman asked.
The Crest Sorceress’s glasses slid down her nose as if to say what she thought about that statement for her. She put a hand over her face and groaned weakly, “I get no respect…”
*
After finishing some other business in town, Bernard returned home to see something he would never have expected.
Ron, arguably the queen of all tomboys, with her the ends of her shirt tied in a knot above navel level and her bandanna tied in her hair like a kerchief, was sweeping the floor. Not only was she sweeping the floor, she was singing, and singing pretty well at that. If not for the fact she still had her revolver in its holster, she’d look almost like a normal young housewife.
Bernard stepped back out, shut the door, and then reentered. “Nope, not seeing things,” he muttered to himself.
“… all I’m ready to do is have some fu~u~u~u~u~n/ What’s all this talk about loooove?” Ron sang, still sweeping away.
The bard, having no other ideas on what to do next, said, “I don’t know; you tell me!”
Ron froze for a moment, then slowly turned around and slowly pulled the bandanna off her head. “I-Illych?! How… How long have you been standing there?”
“Since about ‘When my momma says I’d look good in white’,” Bernard told her. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, Miss Derringer? I for one would have never pictured you as a domestic type…”
“What, just because I’m not the picture of femininity, I have to be a slob?” the gunner said, sounding slightly miffed. “Besides, I thought it’d be a nice gesture to help out around here for a bit. It’s not like I had anything better to do anyway…”
“You do now. Get yourself together quickly and we’ll go get Sunshine,” Bernard said, sounding strangely serious.
Ron picked up on that and asked, “Why quickly? Is there something wrong?”
The bard shook his head. “Not yet, but I just got this bad feeling for some reason…”
*
At the town entrance…
“TELL ME HOW TO GET IN!” the Seal Sorceress roared at the lone guard. The guard seemed to be in terrible pain despite showing no outward reason for it. “Tell me, or it will only get worse, creation of the accursed Elw!”
“I… *gack* cannot! This… this place is…!” the guard croaked.
“I don’t give a damn what this place is, I need to get in!” she shouted. With a wave of her hand, the pain increased for the unfortunate man. “Once inside, those weak Guardians can’t hide her from me any longer! SHOW ME THE WAY INSIDE!”
“I… won’t…” he said with a strained, weak voice before he could not take any more and passed out.
The Seal Sorceress looked at his limp form with disgust. “Damn, guess this means I’ll have to figure it out on my own. Honestly, I would have thought one of them would have been able to take more than that,” she muttered. A small swarm of gnats headed straight for her and flitted around her head. “And now there’s more bugs. This day just keeps getting better and better…” she grumbled.
*
Somewhere, Dan Dairam cursed and swore something furious before seeking out Luceid…
*
Bernard led the somewhat worried gunner and the researcher into the largest building in town and into a fairly large room with an old map, probably from the Demon War era, hanging on the back wall and a large rectangular table in the center. A few minutes later, a short, thin woman with gray-streaked vivid blue hair walked in. The woman turned to the bard and asked, “Which is the Child of the Seal, Bernard?”
“The little one with the glasses, Elmire,” he told her. “This is Miss Montoya,” (he indicated Mira) “And our other companion is Miss Derringer.”
Elmire looked over Mira. “I see…” She then looked over Ron. “… ‘Miss’?”
“Yes, ‘Miss’. Why is it I’m either groped or have my gender questioned by people?” Ron grumbled. With a sideways glance at Mira, she added, “Or both?”, which got Mira to blush a little and mutter something about the name throwing her off and adding another apology.
“Anyway,” Elmire began, “I have a question for you, young lady: are you, by any chance, a twin?”
Mira suddenly realized she was being talked to and immediately turned to face the blue-haired woman. “A twin? Well, yes, I have a sister named Claudia, but she’s been missing for two years now,” the Crest Sorceress said. She bowed her head a little and added, “I honestly don’t know if she’s still alive or not…”
“Hey, whoa, wait a minute, sister,” Ron said, narrowing her eyes at Elmire. “You haven’t even introduced yourself and already you’ve started an interrogation. Who are you, and why’s it so important for us to see you?”
“Veronica! Don’t be rude!” Bernard hissed at her.
Elmire raised a hand to silence him. “It is all right, Bernard; it was rude of me not to explain in the first place.” She took a step toward Ron and said, “My name is simply ‘Elmire’, derived from my model name ‘LMR-111X’. I and my late sisters were an experiment in the Holmcross Project in an attempt to make a less violent, more controllable force in the fight against the ‘Metal Demons’. I was hidden and smuggled here by one of the Elw who took part in creating the Seal in the first place. Their nearly complete elimination of my kind took place after they finished the seal. ‘One problem at a time, top priorities first’ was their line of thinking. I… miss him sometimes.”
“Was he… killed for helping you?” Mira asked timidly.
“No, incarcerated in a way for something else,” Elmire said, “But before he sent me here, he left me in charge of certain information relating to the Seal in case it was ever needed. He expressed concern about the occurrence of twins in the bloodline, you see, so that is why I asked.”
“Well, like I said, I’m a twin, and twins run in my family from what my mom once said,” Mira said.
Ron couldn’t stifle a yawn. “Yeesh, sorry I asked. So, what’s wrong with twins? They both try to use the sealed-away Guardians and the world goes ‘BOOM!’?”
Bernard glared at the gunner and hissed, “Veronica Derringer, show some respect!”
“Why should I listen to you? You ain’t my father, Elw boy,” the gunner replied casually, personally enjoying getting the bard all riled up.
Mira blinked. “’Elw boy’?”
“Anyway,” Elmire began again, “You’d have to ask him yourself for more details, but while the outcome would not be ‘BOOM!’ outright, as you put it, Miss Derringer, the twin being able to use the power was of concern to him. From what Bernard has told me before your arrival to this building, it was a very good concern. If your sister is indeed behind this-“
Mira’s jaw dropped. “Claudia?! Behind this?! You think…?! No, I won’t believe it! Why would she want to do this?! And Luceid even said in the trial…!”
“She also said the Seal Sorceress broke through the defenses, Sunshine, and she didn’t affect my trial,” Bernard reminded.
“Mine neither,” Ron added, shaking her head. “You were about to say you saw the Seal Sorceress and were told it wasn’t your sis, right? Ol’ wolfie could have meant that she wasn’t the same person you remembered her to be.”
The Crest Sorceress stamped her foot and shouted, “No! This can’t be right! Claudia would never do such things! She WOULDN’T!” She stormed out of the room, poked her head back in, said, “I’m going back to the library. I will not just stand there and let you say such things about my sister!”, then slammed the door shut.
“That was… remarkably clichéd,” Ron commented.
“Veronica…” Bernard said disapprovingly.
“Well, it was!” Ron protested. “Anyway, I’m going after her. You get the name of this guy Elmer’s talkin’ about and where to find him and catch up with us, OK?”
“Elmire,” the bard corrected.
“Whatever. Bye,” the gunner said before following the upset girl.
“Humans… oy vey,. I do not understand how you can handle a whole world full of them, Bernard,” Elmire muttered.
“I wonder that too sometimes, Elmire, I wonder that too…”
*
The library…
“Solus-tap-dancing-Emsu, how could I have lost her? I saw her go into this building…” Ron muttered to herself. She walked by what appeared to be a mini-fortress made of thick, heavy books when she heard something sniffle inside its walls. “Montoya? That you?”
“Go away,” the choked-up voice of the researcher said from inside the fort of books.
The gunner sighed. “Look, I know you’re upset, and with good reason, but there’s good chance your sister is-“
Mira cut her off. “Yes, I know there is, I just don’t want to believe it! Ronnie…” she said, sniffling, “One morning, back in the abbey, I woke up to find my glasses snapped in two. No explanation, they were just snapped in two with one of the lenses cracked. It was about that time Claudia started acting different. I never put two and two together before, but now I think the events may be related. We looked enough alike to pass for one another if we put a little effort into it; we made an effort to look different, you see, so there’d be no trouble telling who was who. And I… wasn’t exactly popular. Goodie two-shoes, teacher’s pet, and I got some people in trouble for breaking some serious rules… She may have taken something meant for me…”
“Montoya…” Ron started. This time it was a commotion outside that kept her from saying more. “What the hell…?”
*
Outside, part-bird part-humanoid Harpies were attacking. One of them was somehow able to talk, for it said, “Bring us the Child of the Seal and we will spare this place! Do not bring her to us in twenty of your minutes and all will perish!”
Ron, now standing back to the wall and ARM drawn next to one of the library windows grumbled, “Harpies. I hate harpies.”
Mira, who had been made to stay low as not to be noticed, whispered to Ron, “Harpies? As in the brown ones, right? Not the blue Siren-class or white Valkyrie-class?”
“Yeah, brown ones, why?” Ron answered.
“They’re mainly seen in the mountain pass between Adlehyde and Milama and the Baskar region! And we’re in a forest… We must be near an Elw Pyramid!” the researcher concluded, raising her voice a little from the whisper. “We have an escape route!”
“What about Illych? He was still talking with that Elmer chick when I went after you!” Ron said in a harsh whisper. “He’s the one who knows how to get outta this weird city, ya know.”
“We have twenty minutes; we’ll just have to hope he’ll find a way to get to us…” Mira replied.
Ron looked less than pleased. “We have to depend on that idiot… Heavens help us all…”
*
End Chapter Six
Chibi’s notes:
Yes, I know why Ron’s singing “Ready to Run” by the Dixie Chicks. You will too, soon enough. (That is, if you know what the heck the song’s about, anyway.) >)
I also know why she keeps using Solus Emsu’s name; it’s the Guardian the kids saw once upon a time falling from the sky over Court Seim. Yeah, I’m the queen of obscure WA facts (or the “Guardian of WA Details”, as I’m called sometimes). Worship me! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!
Rudy: I’d rather fear you, thanks. Scary fangirl… O_o;
That works too. *evil grin*