An Asnean Odyssey: Bastien

Fifteen

Liet felt something fluffy and cinnamon scented brushing against his face. He had his arms wrapped around something soft and warm which he began to rub gently. His hand began to trail downwards until it reached a delicate lace cloth. Liet’s eyes shot open, revealing that his face was buried in the back of Skye’s head. He took a deep, cinnamon filled breath as he lifted his arm off of Skye.

“Good morning,” Gage whispered in Liet’s ear. Liet rocketed upwards and launched himself across the bed, grabbing his clothes on the way.

“W-what...Why are you...? Why?” Liet’s brain tried to put his thoughts into words.

“Skye said that if I got lonely, I could sleep with you guys,” Gage stated as he casually stood up and grabbed his clothes, which were neatly stacked beside Skye’s.

“Skye?”

“I got lonely, so I came to sleep with you. I didn’t think you’d mind. Then I saw Gage pacing in the main room, so I invited him to sleep with us,” Skye explained as she began to get dressed. “What’s that thing on top of the canopy?”

“It’s a moon,” Liet said as he began to dress. “Haven’t you seen one before?”

“Why’s it lit up like that?”

“The sun reflecting off its surface, or something like that...” Liet muttered. “Gage, do you sleep with your eye patch on?”

“Yeah, why?” Gage replied as he walked towards the door, already clothed.

“Do you ever take it off?”

“No.”

“What happened to yo-”

“Liet!” Skye interrupted. Gage ignored the pair and left the room. “That’s not the kind of thing you ask someone you’ve just met.”

“I’m just kind of curious why he wears an eye patch,” Liet defended himself. “What if he’s still got a fully functional eye, but he just wears it for show?”

“Then that’s up to him,” Skye said as she finished buttoning up her shirt.

“I suppose...”

“Come on, let’s get something to eat,” Skye said as she grabbed Liet’s hand and pulled him out of the room.

“I was kind of surprised that you were sleeping in the clouds,” Gage called out as Liet and Skye entered the main room. Gage was seated at the table and had already started eating. There was a small clouded purple sphere, about the size of a marble, sitting on the table beside his plate.

“What do you mean? I thought all of the rooms were the same.”

“Nope,” Skye chirped. “The rooms took the form of whatever thoughts were most prevalent in your head.”

“You probably had your head in the clouds after seeing my ship go up in smoke,” Gage choked out between bites of some kind of round, blue steamed vegetable.

“What was your room like?” Liet asked Gage, who responded with silence. “Ah, sorry...I...”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“What would you like to eat?” Skye asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

“Eggs,” Liet responded almost instantly.

“I could go for a nice steak,” Gage added.

“Anything he wants, and he chooses eggs,” Skye muttered to herself as she began to tap the symbols on the table again. After a moment of fiddling, the table opened up and ejected three meals: eggs for Liet, steak for Gage, and a fish-like creature with six legs for Skye. Each leg was encased in a solid shell and its dorsal side had several antennae with a large, singular scale between each one.

“Did you guys figure out the gravitation sphere thing?” Liet asked before he started shoveling eggs into his mouth.

“It’s that marble right there,” Skye said. “Gage wouldn’t even let me look at it.”

“Think of it like your pendant. You couldn’t part with it for even half a second,” Gage responded as he leaned back, having finished his meal.

“I just wanted to know what it does,” Liet sighed.

“It messes around with gravity,” Gage made circular gestures with his hands.

“But how does it mess with gravity?” Skye asked, to which Gage responded with a shrug.

“Okay. So, it messes with gravity...but you still hit the ground pretty hard,” Liet noted.

“Yeah, it felt like I belly flopped into a pool of solid rock. It knocked the wind right out of me,” Gage replied.

“Was that thing keeping your ship in the air?”

“Mostly, yeah.”

“But it couldn’t handle your weight?” Liet struggled to make sense of Gage’s claims.

“Serena was overworked, she couldn’t handle it anymore,” Gage explained. “And with the added strain of a battle, she had almost no energy left. I’m lucky she could cushion my landing as much as she did.”

“Serena?” Liet and Skye asked in unison.

“My gravitation sphere...her name is Serena...” Gage quietly said.

“See, I told you it was a guy thing,” Liet joked. Skye shot him an angry look as she finished eating her meal. Liet tried to avoid her gaze by looking at Gage. He noticed that Gage’s eye was a solid silver color, or perhaps it was alternating between two very similar shades of white or silver.

“I’ll be outside whenever you’re ready,” Skye stated as she got up from the table and ascended the stairs. Gage and Liet quickly followed her. Outside Liet could hear a soft melodic humming noise, almost like someone was singing very far away.

“What are we going to do with the camping stuff?” Liet inquired

“We’ll leave it here for Sylvan.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if someone finds it?”

“Then they’ll know someone went camping. No big deal.”

“Er, I guess you’ve got a point.”

“Liet, I need you to promise me something,” Skye said as the trio followed the edge of the forest to a road, then began walking towards the city.

“And what’s that?”

“Promise me you won’t lose that device.”

“I don’t plan on losing my arm, so I think the device should be fine,” Liet joked.

“I need you to promise.”

“Alright, I promise I won’t lose it,” Liet replied. The group continued towards the city in silence.

“How are we planning on getting in?” Gage asked as they approached the city walls.

“I thought we were just going to walk in,” Liet replied.

“You think that’s a good idea?”

“It’ll be fine,” Skye said.

“We could go through the graveyard. There’s a-”

“It will be fine,” Skye’s voice was filled with annoyance. The group approached a large stone gate in the wall with a small, black door beside it. Two men wearing glimmering silver breastplates were guarding the door.

“What business do you have in this, the glorious city of Asnea?” the guards said in unison with monotone voices.

“We’re just here to do a little shopping. Got a nice bonus last week,” Skye chirped.

“Alright, go ahead.”

“Thanks,” Skye smiled.

“Wait,” one of the guards said. “Aren’t you...”

“No. Couldn’t be,” the other guard interrupted.

“Yeah, you’re right...sorry about that,” the guard said as he opened the small door.

The trio stepped through the door into the crowded city. The streets were mostly dirt and rocks, as there were very few vehicles driving around. The sidewalks, on the other hand, were paved and smooth, even though most people chose to walk on the road anyways. There were lamp posts every few feet which kept the main roads well lit, while the less used roads had less lighting, leaving them much darker.

“Visiting hours aren’t for a couple hours. Let’s head to a hotel and get off the streets for a while,” Skye said.

“Er, I’ll just...follow you guys,” Liet said nervously.

“Stick close, wouldn’t want you to get lost,” Gage joked as he jabbed his elbow into Liet’s side.

The group began walking down the sidewalk, Skye in front, then Liet, with Gage trailing behind. Liet looked around at the city as the group made their way to the hotel. Most of the buildings were very similar to Skye’s; black boxes arranged side by side with numbers engraved beside their doors. Every now and then one of the boxes would have a sign above the door which signified some kind of store or place of importance. Occasionally Liet would look back over his shoulder to make sure Gage was still with them, and every time it would appear as though Gage was talking to himself.

“How’s this?” Skye asked as she stopped suddenly, causing Liet to bump into her.

“Er, I don’t know. I guess it’s okay. It’s not like I’ve been here before,” Liet replied.

“You can tell a good hotel just by the name,” Skye remarked.

“The Rosefly Inn...” Liet read.

“Hey, I thought you said this was a hotel,” Gage butted in.

“Hotel, Inn, whatever, they’re all the same,” Skye responded.

“No way. An inn and a hotel are completely different.”

“How? They’re just somewhere you sleep.”

“You don’t sleep in one of them...” Gage mumbled as he walked inside.

“What was that?” Skye angrily followed Gage. “Were you mocking me?”

“I’ll um...okay...” Liet called out as he followed them inside.

The Rosefly had two floors, but the second was more like a catwalk that ran along the wall allowing access to a handful of doors. The first floor had a small carpet in the middle of the room with a strange pattern that resembled an insect’s wings. Aside from that and a large creature that looked like a fly which was mounted on the wall behind the reception desk, the building was pretty plain.

“How can I help you?” A lady with brilliant blue and white eyes asked from behind the desk.

“We’d like a room, please,” Skye said.

“With a balcony,” Gage added.

“Alright, that’ll be-”

Gage reached into his pocket and flipped a shimmering golden coin in the air with his thumb. He snatched the coin out of the air and placed it on the desk. “Will this cover it?”

“T-that’s more than enough.” The lady stuttered.

“If anyone asks, we aren’t here, alright? Keep the change.”

“Of course, sir,” The lady replied as she grabbed a small bead from under the desk. “It’s the farthest room on the second floor.”

“Thanks,” Gage winked at the lady, or at least Liet assumed it was a wink, before heading up the stairs, Liet and Skye following closely behind.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Skye said.

“Ah, come on. You let me sleep in your portable house. Luxury edition, too. Oh man, I haven’t slept like that in forever...” Gage reflected. “I figured I’d pay you back.”

“I meant the bribe,” Skye said bluntly as the group headed across the catwalk. “No one’s going to come looking for us.”

“That guard recognized you. Do you really think he’s just going to forget about it?” Gage asked as he slipped the bead into a small slot next to the final door. The door shook for a moment before emitting a loud click, after which Gage pushed it open and the trio entered the room.

“He didn’t recognize me, alright?” Skye replied before biting her thumb, causing a bit of pink fluid to spill forth. She pressed her thumb into a depression beside the door as she pulled the synthetic out of her pocket. Gage also bit his thumb and pressed it into the depression. “Besides, even if he did, we’re only going to be here for a couple hours, tops.”

“Do I have to...I mean...That groove...” Liet stuttered.

“Do you plan on leaving this room in the next few hours?” Gage asked.

“No... probably not.”

“Then no, you don’t,” Gage responded as he took one of Skye’s synthetics and rubbed it onto his thumb.

“How do you know he didn’t recognize you, Mr. Pirate?” Skye asked.

“I’ve got a sort of...understanding with those men. To be honest, I’m probably the reason they didn’t arrest you right there,” Gage responded.

“Whoa, wait. Why would they arrest us?” Liet tried to understand.

“Oh? You mean Skye didn’t tell you?” Gage seemed to be amused by this. “She’s Leinhardt’s daughter.”

“Oh, yeah. Okay,” Liet tried to pretend he understood. “What’s so special about Leinhardt?”

Gage rubbed his eyes gently. “He was the king before Oscar.”

Suddenly the gears in Liet’s head began to slowly shift as all of the pieces began to click together. “If Skye is Leinhardt’s daughter, that would make Oscar her brother...”

“Now do you see why they’re after her?”

“But...if I killed Oscar...”

“What?!” Gage took a step back.

“Is that why you wanted me to kill him?!” Liet yelled at Skye. “You want his position? Is that it?!”

“Liet, no. I-” Skye tried to explain.

“No. You lied to me!” Liet began to back out of the room. “I... I’m...”

Liet ran down the stairs and out of the Rosefly. Gage and Skye chased after him. Gage jumped over the railing on the catwalk, while Skye took the stairs. Liet ran through the streets with no real idea where he was headed. He kept bumping into people who would tell him to be careful or scream obscenities at him. After what seemed like forever, he ran out of breath and ducked out into an alley to rest for a moment. He leaned against the wall and watched the people walk by, keeping an eye out for Skye and Gage. As he was about to finish catching his breath, someone grabbed him from behind, restraining his arms and preventing movement.

“What’s a guy like you doing down here?” The man holding him asked as he turned him around. Liet could see two other people in the alley with him. One of them had a small makeshift knife which he was scraping along the wall and carving crude phrases.

“I was just...out for a walk...” Liet struggled to say. He was being held in an awkward position which made it hard to breath.

“Oh yeah? Us too!” The man holding Liet said. “What are the chances?”

“Yeah, yeah,” The second thug said.

The third thug walked up to Liet and placed the blade of the knife on his cheek. “You’ve got some interesting eyes.”

“W-what?” Liet responded.

The thug lifted his knife to Liet’s right eye. “Those eyes…”

“What do you...want with me...?” Liet barely managed to choke out.

“Mmm...I don’t know...” The thug said as he dug the knife into Liet’s skin just below his eye. The other thugs laughed and cheered as Liet cried out and tried to break free from his captor. “Don’t move around so much or I might just mess up.”

“You wouldn’t want to lose an eyeball now, would you?” The second thug asked.

“P-please...just...” Liet stuttered.

“How about we play a little game, eh?” The third thug said as he pulled the knife down Liet’s face, removing it when he reached Liet’s mouth. “If you-”

“Is something wrong here?” An unfamiliar voice called out from behind Liet.

“Yeah, yeah there is,” The third thug said as the first thug shifted his hand over Liet’s mouth. “We’ve got someone who doesn’t want to mind his own business. Now, if you turn around and go back to playing pretend, I might just forgive your intrusion.”

“I’m sorry,” The voice laughed.

“Don’t apologize,” The second thug smiled. “You’ll probably be more fun than this sniveling lump of flesh anyways.

The first thug turned around and released Liet, who fell to the ground and clutched his face. Through his bloody fingers, Liet could make out a slim man wearing a deep blue shirt with gold accents around the sleeves and white pants. The first thug stood about ten feet away from the newcomer, while the second thug had started sprinting at the man. The man shifted his weight a bit and adopted a strange stance. He threw his right arm behind him before plunging it forward to meet the second thug’s face, which sent him rolling down the alley way. The first thug dashed at the man, while the third thug ran towards the man, then jumped onto the wall, launching himself off to gain some extra air. The man performed a low sweep with his legs, tripping the first thug, then launched himself into an aerial uppercut which connected with the third thug’s stomach, causing him to fall to the ground and collapse in a pool of vomit.

“Hey, are you alright?” The man gently asked Liet as he extended a hand to help him up.

“I... yeah...” Liet mumbled as he reached up to grab the man’s hand. Liet stopped himself, realizing that his hands were covered in blood, and picked himself up on his own.

“What were you doing out here all by yourself?”

“I was just...looking for my hotel...”

“Out here? What’s it called?”

“The Rosefly Inn.”

“That’s on the other side of town!” The man laughed to himself as he began to walk out of the alley. “Come on, I’ll take you there.”

“Thanks...” Liet quietly said to the man as he followed him out of the alley and down the streets. Liet was still clutching his face, hoping that it would dull the burning pain in his cheek. “Why did you save me?”

“Are you really asking me that?”

“Yeah...” Liet said. “I don’t understand why you would put yourself on the line for me.”

“Maybe I didn’t do it for you,” The man said. “You should never put yourself first. Always think of another reason, always put others before yourself.”

“That doesn’t really explain...”

The man laughed aloud for a moment before slapping Liet on the back, knocking the wind out of him. “Come on, boy, lighten up. I can’t just ignore someone right in front of me who needs help. I was trying to...ah, never mind. Is this the place?”

Liet’s eyes rose to the familiar sign hanging above the doorway of the Rosefly. “Yeah.”

“Go on, then. And don’t go picking fights you can’t win,” The man chuckled.

Liet walked towards the Rosefly, stopping at the door. “Thanks again.”

“No problem!” The man shouted as he was already a decent way down the street.

Liet pushed the door open and walked up to the reception desk. “Could I get a key for the room on the end of the second floor?”

“I’m sorry, that room is undergoing renovations right now, could I interest you in another room?” The lady behind the desk replied without looking up from her work.

“No, I’m in that room, I just forgot to-”

“Oh my god!” The lady shrieked as she looked up at Liet’s bloodied face. “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t know. I’ll get you the key right away.”

The lady fumbled through her desk, eventually producing a small bead and placing it in Liet’s hand. “Thanks.”

“If you need anything, let me know and I’ll be right there.”

Liet nodded and climbed the stairs to the second floor and made his way to his room, clutching his face the whole way. Once he reached the door, he slipped the bead into the small slot next to it. The door shook for a moment, then swung open. Liet slogged into the room and looked around, searching for a bathroom, as he hadn’t paid much attention to the layout the first time he had been there. There were two beds to the right of the room, and a desk which was covered in drawers. It even had a couple of drawers on its surface. There was one door to the immediate left of the entrance and a stairway straight in front of it. Liet chose the doorway and pushed it open. Inside was a sink with a pristine mirror above it and a toilet. Liet twisted one of the handles on the sink and looked into the mirror. About three quarters of his face was covered in blood, most of which had dried aside from the area around the gash. He splashed some water on his face, slowly removing the dried blood. He kept splashing water on his face afterwards, but blood just kept spilling out of his wound.

“You should probably stop the bleeding.”

Liet rushed out of the bathroom to find a man sitting on one of the beds. “Come on, you’re going to get blood everywhere.”

“Who are you?” Liet asked. The man ignored his question and walked over to the desk of drawers.

“Hmm, I’m sure there’s one somewhere in here...” the man said to himself as he rapidly opened and closed the drawers from top to bottom. He pulled a small tube out of one of the drawers on the surface of the shelf and handed it to Liet. “Rub that on it.”

Liet took the tube and popped the top off. He squeezed all of the contents, a bluish odorless cream, onto his hand and raised it to his face, cringing as the cream made contact with his gash.

“Who are you?” Liet repeated as he gingerly rubbed the cream on his face.

“I’m a hero from the past, y’know?” The man said. “Or the future, I suppose. It depends how you look at it.”

“Alright Hero, why and how did you get in my room?”

“You can call me Guy,” the man said. “And you left the door open. I thought you might need a hand.”

“That’s not your real name, is it?” Liet asked as he splashed water on his face again, washing the rest of the blood away. He turned off the water and began to examine his wound, which had stopped bleeding, in the mirror.

“Of course it is.”

“Oh, well, alright Guy. Did you see any synthetic in that desk?”

“You can’t let that heal.”

“What?”

“Every cut and every scrape is a lesson. Most cuts heal, and you forget the lesson you learned because you have nothing to remind you. If you let that heal, you’ll forget what you’ve learned today,” Guy explained as he walked across the room and began to ascend the stairs. Liet chased after him, almost tripping on the steps. The two of them emerged on a balcony overlooking a small alley, since most of the buildings were the same height.

“What did I learn today?” Liet asked as he gazed down into the darkness of the alley.

Guy let out a small chuckle and said, “Just another reason for it not to heal.”

Liet looked over at Guy and really examined him for the first time. He was a little bit taller than Liet and had charcoal hair with a few gray strands here and there. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with black buttons which were carved out of some kind of strange stone. His plain black pants were tattered and torn at the bottom. There was a small bump protruding from his knuckle where his pinky should have been on his left hand. His most outstanding feature had to be his right eye. It was pure white, with a small black outline around the iris. A deep circular slash ran around the middle of his sclera and he had a large scar below his eye.

“What happened to your eye?” Liet asked.

“Nothing. I was born this way,” Guy replied. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Not at all.”

“Do you trust Skye?”

“How do you...”

“I know a lot of things,” Guy smiled. “Do you trust her?”

“She hasn’t done anything to lose my trust,” Liet replied hesitantly.

“She hasn’t done anything to gain it, either, has she?”

“I... No...”

“So, do you trust her?”

“Yeah...”

“Why?”

“She’s taken care of me...and I mean...she did save me from...”

“From what?”

“She saved my life...”

“I see.”

“Why do you want to know if I trust her?”

“Curiosity.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I didn’t think you would,” Guy laughed as he turned around and headed back down the stairs.

“Skye...” Liet stood for a moment longer gazing out over the city before following Guy down the stairs.

“Would you die for her?” Guy asked as Liet entered the room. He was leaning against the wall beside the closest bed with his arms folded.

“I... I want to say yes...but to be honest...I don’t know...” Liet responded.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Why?”

“It means you’re thinking,” Guy smiled. “Now, had you been thinking before you ran into the streets, you might not have that nasty cut.”

Skye and Gage pushed the door open, interrupting Liet’s conversation with Guy.

“Liet!” Skye cried as she ran across the room and wrapped Liet in her arms. Liet instinctively hugged Skye back, but his eyes were trained on Guy, who was still leaning against the wall.

“I’m sorry...” Liet whispered into Skye’s ear. He could feel her tears soaking into his shoulder as he rubbed her back.

“What happened to your face...?” Gage asked.

“I was attacked by some thugs...but someone saved me. I think he must have been a guard or something.”

“Here...” Skye sniffed as she wiped away some of her tears. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her synthetic. “Let me take care of it.”

“No,” Liet said as he backed away.

“Why not?” Skye asked, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

“I made a mistake...and I don’t want to forget it...”

“That’s stu-”

“No. If that is what he wishes,” Gage’s voice was solemn. “Then let him do as he pleases.”

“Thanks Gage...” Liet said as he stepped forward and hugged Skye again.

“I’ll see you around, Liet,” Guy said, putting his hand on Liet’s shoulder, before walking past Gage and leaving the room. Liet’s eyes were following him the entire time.

“What are you looking at?” Gage asked.

“I was...You...I think these lenses are playing with my eyes again...” Liet replied.

“You must be exhausted...” Skye whispered in Liet’s ear. “Let’s get some sleep...you can go talk to Oscar tomorrow, alright?”

“Alright...thanks Skye...”

“I want to look at the city for a while,” Gage stated as he headed for the stairs. “Don’t worry, I won’t wake you guys up.”

Liet let go of Skye and pulled the blanket off of the bed, throwing it onto the ground. “Could you turn around, or go to the bathroom or something?”

“Why, don’t you want to see my underwear?”

“I’m glad to see you’re still making jokes,” Liet chuckled as he wiped a tear off of Skye’s cheek with his thumb.

“I’m just glad you’re not dead,” Skye said as she walked into the bathroom. Liet began to undress, folding his clothes and placing them on the desk. When he was finished, he sat down on the floor in front of the bed and ran his finger along the gash in his face.

“Sweet dreams, Skye,” Liet called out as he wrapped the blanket around himself and curled up on the floor.

“Good night,” Skye said as she came back into the room and placed her clothes beside Liet’s on the desk. Liet opened his eyes slowly, making sure Skye was still turned around. He managed to catch a glimpse of her lace underwear, which was a bright pink that matched her hair, before she turned around and he closed his eyes again. He heard Skye giggle as she jumped onto one of the beds. The image of Skye’s butt stuck in Liet’s head as he drifted off into the dream world.