Arvis sighed as he looked out the window of his house. He could see the chaos in the streets, as guards were removing bodies of the dead. What he’d been fearing for the longest while, ever since the townsfolk had dug up that Esper, had come true.
The MagiTek Empire came calling....
‘At least it was only a small expedition party, and not an army,’ Arvis thought and thanked his lucky stars. If it HAD been an entire army, the whole city of Nasrhe would’ve been flattened. Instead, they had a few soldiers show the town just how inept their defenses were.
But that didn’t bother him. If they took the Esper and left, fine and dandy. But LINA was out there. She’d gone through the back-door and had yet to come back. And he had a sinking feeling where she went; the same place those MagiTek Soldiers were heading.
Moving away from the window, away from the sight of death and damage, Arvis went over to the stool by the fire. Sitting down on a chair, Arvis let out a pained sigh. He knew Lina had interest in that Esper and in the world round her, and now it might have gotten the best of her.
She was such a sweet girl. Why, he could remember her first morning with him earlier that week...
(------)
Sitting back before the fireplace, Arvis Picke smiled lightly as he continued to hold a large frying pan over the open fire in the fireplace, hand covered in a mitt to protect his hand. That poor girl he rescued the other day had been sleeping in, not that he could blame her. She seemed to be in the worst condition before he pulled her away from those guards and brought her in from out of the cold.
So it really wasn’t a hard decision to let her sleep in a bit. But now that it was reaching noon, he’d better wake her up so she didn’t sleep the whole day away. And what better way to wake someone up with than a nice hearty breakfast? The poor dear could use it too.
So thinking that, Arvis tilted the frying pan and snapped it back up, flipping the large pancake in the pan once more to cook the other side. Already the table was piling up with all sorts of wonderful HOT foods. Maybe then she could put some more meat into that thin frame of hers.
Grinning, the old man thought he heard the noise of foot-steps. That must be the girl now. Sure enough, the door to the bedroom he placed her in opened, revealing a rather petite and short redhead, yawning in a rather unfeminine but cute way. “Sleep well, dearie?” Arvis asked with a grin. The girl looked SO adorable in his bathrobe, which was a good size or two too large for her.
The girl let off another yawn, before stretching her arms off to the side. “Oh, thanks old man...” Lina said gratefully. “I don’t know what would’a happened if you hadn’t intervened when you did.” Her red eyes then widened, the girl seemingly coming to full consciousness as she saw all the food on the table. “Is all that for...” she pointed to herself. “Me?”
The old man grinned gently, as Lina could imagine a grandfather would, and pulled a chair for the small young woman. “You must be hungry.”
Nodding her head eagerly, Lina said, “I am, I am! Oh, thank you Arvis!” And with that, Lina said down, going straight for the fork and knife laid out at either side of the plate, and began digging in with her usual gusto.
As she ate, she made a mental note to thank the old man for all he was doing for her.
Arvis just continued to smile gently as he too took a seat and watched the redhead eat like a starving madwoman. If it bothered him in the slightest he gave no indication of it. It was an amazing sight to watch the piles of pancakes and plates filled with sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs just whittle down to nothing. Obviously, the girl must’ve been a runaway or homeless.
Just as Lina had about finished her meal, she stopped, realizing something. Looking up at Arvis, she asked, “Aren't you gonna have anything?”
The old man shook his head. “You require the food more than I could, child. Please, eat to your heart’s content.”
Lina would’ve gladly finished it off... but strange circumstances were making her think just as strangely. She offered the last piece of sausage to him. “Here. Just so I know you ate something,” the redhead said.
Yes, it was an amazing thing, Lina giving up food for someone else. The sorceress would’ve thought that would only happen when the Nine Hells froze over...
But then again, her situation was hell, and that’s exactly what this whole city was. Frozen over.
Arvis’ warm smile made Lina feel something inside that she couldn’t really identify right now. As the old man ate, at a more sedate pace, she felt that warm feeling spread inside of her.
Lina couldn’t help herself as a small smile graced her cherub features. “You gotta admit, you are a good cook,” she told the man seriously. “You ever think of opening a tavern?”
Arvis chuckled as he looked at the girl... no, young woman, in front of him. “A tavern is a lot of work. And in this town, who is there to attend it?”
“Um...” Lina looked down. “Sorry, I didn’t know. I am kinda new here....” Not to mention she was new to an entirely different reality, but she wasn’t about to go into specifics about that. She didn’t want to blow the poor old man’s mind.
Again the man chuckled, waving the apology off. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m flattered that you think my food is good, and it warms this old man’s heart to see a pretty thing like you enjoy it so much.”
Lina blinked her eyes, before blushing a little. She couldn’t help it. There was just something about this dirty old man that really warmed up to her. Granted, he was being nice to her and had probably saved her life, but there was just something else about him...
“Hey, Arvis?” Lina spoke up, calling him by his proper name. “There was more I wanted to ask you last night, before I fell asleep. You told me about the War of the Magi and the Espers, but...” she frowned. “You never really went into this Gestahl Empire...”
Hey, she was curious. All she got out of the old man was that they were a group of people with an ‘unhealthy’ interest in magic. If anything, they might possibly be the threat she and her friends were sent to subdue, or at least they might possibly be her ticket home.
“The Empire is a... difficult subject,” Arvis started.
Lina frowned a little. “Sounds like they’re a group causing trouble...” she didn’t want to give Arvis the idea that she was clueless, so she was trying to go for an approach that they were just something she heard of in passing and never really effected her. “I’ve heard some bad things already... like... they’re actually attaining the power of magic already.”
Okay, it was a shot in the dark, but she didn’t want to seem out of the loop. She just hoped she wasn’t completely wrong and didn’t seem like an ass to her gracious host.
“They are... and in doing so they are obtaining power much faster than anyone should ever do,” Arvis explained somberly. “That power has corrupted what once started as an idealist organization.”
Lina sat forward, wide-eyed. So they DID have magic.... “What are they doing with magic now that they have it? You mentioned the War of the Magi before. Is it starting all over again?”
“All we can do is hope it isn’t, child,” Arvis said, though Lina could tell the old man was hiding something.
Still, Lina wasn't about to pressure herself. Stress and a full stomach weren’t something to combine. “One more question Arvis.”
The old man looked at the redhead and smiled. “Anything.”
Lina smirked. “Are my clothes dry, yet? As much as I know you like seeing me in this thing, I do prefer my own articles. This,” she said as she motioned the bathrobe she was wearing, “Is just a bit too loose fort my tastes.”
Arvis laughed loudly at that. “They should be dry already. I placed them by the fire in the room you were in.”
“Oh,” Lina blushed. “Guess I didn’t notice when I woke up. If you’ll excuse me....” And with that, she got up from the table and made her way back to the room she'd been using.
The old man sat back and enjoyed the rest of his breakfast. It was nice to see the energy of youth, even in the days of the Empire....
(------)
Throwing another log of wood into the fireplace, Arvis frowned deeply. He hoped Lina was okay. It would have been a shame to have such a bright, young, intelligent woman to leave this mortal coil all because her interests coincided with that of a ruthless imperialistic magical regime.
“Lina...” Arvis spoke her name softly as he looked into the fire. He’d never forgive himself if she were hurt. He knew it was probably in the girl’s nature, but he felt responsible for getting her riled up and interested in all this talk about magic and Espers. Oh, if only she came back to his home, he’d feel so relieved....
*Click*! Went the lock on the door, followed by the feminine cry of, “Arvis!”
That practically made Arvis rocket off from his stool. “LINA!” He shouted and went towards the door. “You’re okay! Oh, I’m... so...” he trailed off as he saw the state Lina was in. The redhead was trying to support a taller woman over her, the green-tressed woman’s head hanging down forward, arm around Lina’s neck, and feet dragging across the ground like a rag-doll.
“Please,” Lina spoke up as she looked directly at Arvis. “She was one of the soldiers that came here on these... magical metal statues, but she’s injured. I couldn’t leave her there to die.”
Nodding his head slowly, Arvis understood all too well himself. “Get her into the bed, I’ll get my first aid kit.” He told her seriously, already eying the weird headband she was wearing. That looked like something he’d been told about by an associate of his.
And then his eyes widened as he took in the woman’s appearance, and the fact she was WITH the Imperial Soldiers... Was she the one he’d been told to keep an eye out for?
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(Posted Fri, 07 Jul 2006 18:47)
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