Raiden leaves Saile'm, with new traveling clothes and fresh supplies for his journey. He isn't actually doing anything yet. The game hasn't even started yet; he's just wandering around, taking in everything. Otherwise, he'd be in the same place every game starts: a fishing hole, just sitting on the bank, waiting for a bite, until Oriana comes and talks him into another adventure.

Back on his grey and white gelding and away from the walls and people of the village, Raiden feels the air around him pull him back and burns with a strange belligerence as he fights it. It's just him, his horse, and dozens of miles of open road. Without even looking back, he and his horse sprint into the night.

Every one of his ancestors had tasted this isolated freedom. All of them resented being pulled from their little spot in the mountains and dragged into a lengthy expedition to save the world. His parents, seeing him develop a deep fascination of the land outside their home, had decided it was just a phase. In fact, they had supported his trip around the game in the hopes it would help this 'phase' pass faster.

Soon after his journey started, though, the aristocratic family that Oriana belongs to sent for him, asking that he visit them in a week or less. He now has less than two days to make it. He knows he can make it if tonight goes without incident and he stays up late riding.

After several miles, he stops to let his horse get some water, commenting that it must be far fatter than normal if it became tired so quickly. He slides off to remind himself his legs still work.

Something falls off of his horse behind him. "Ow!" It stands, about as tall as he is, and he leaps back, drawing his sword.

"What-" The thing lifts the hood of its traveling cloak off of its face to reveal a girl. She's vaguely familiar.... "Who... wait, you're... no, wait- what?" He can't place her and is too flustered to fake it.

"Hi! Do you remember me?" She looks at his sword, still drawn, and her face falls to a neutral expression. "Guess not, huh? I'm Lilith." She flicks her hood a little farther out of her face. "You saved me the other day." He was starting to put everything together. "It's strange and all... you keep days ex machine-a me."

He looks at her, trying his hardest to comprehend what she was saying. "Days... ex... machine... Deus ex machina?"

"What?" She looks mindlessly at his horse.

He pauses, then shakes his head vigorously as he catches up with his own train of thought. "How the heck are you even here?"

"So where're we going?" She carefully walks around the horse, stopping by the water's edge and picking up flat rocks.

"I asked you a--wait, we?!"

She sends a stone skipping across the water's surface. "Yeah, we." She jumps as the horse leans in to smell her.

Raiden waits for his head to process what's happening. He lets out a dry huff of a laugh. "You... you're funny, kid."

"We're almost the same age," Lilith protests.

"Look, kid," Raiden snarls, frustrated, "I don't take some silly stragglers like you around with me for a reason. I've got things to do, and you'll just be a hindrance!"

Lilith glares at him, gritting her teeth. She doesn't know why she's doing this, but since he's mad, they must be in an argument. "I ain't no hindracnin'!" Raiden's eyes widen and he recoils, appalled by her grammar. "I gots an mama withn' my village 'n' they's vendetain' alls the time tryna get me outta the village, 'n' Ise-a gotta gett'n outta there'n', they's ready fer a'tack'n' 'n' alls the times-"

Raiden walks over to her, then puts his hand over her mouth, and she relents her verbal assault. "I don't know where you went to school--" Lilith shakes her head and makes muffled conversation from behind his hand. "You-you didn't?" She nods. Raiden looks at her a few seconds, then nods. "Yeah, okay, well, don't talk unless it's in an actual existing language, okay?"

Lilith gives him a perplexed look. Raiden lowers his hand slowly and she puts her head to the side. "That was englishin'--"

Raiden puts his hand up as if to cover her mouth again. "Ah! That... was... English. Try that."

Lilith looks at him evenly. "That... was... Englishn."

"English."

Lilith crosses her arms and glares at him.

"Look, kid, if you want to stay anywhere near me, you're going to have to learn to speak actual English. Capeesh?"

Lilith glares at him a moment more before rolling her eyes with an impressive amount of drama and saying, "Fine... That was English."

Raiden smiles at her in spite of himself. He has to admit, she's determined, a lot more so than he'd thought she'd be. She finally breaks his gaze and glares at the ground, her face turning red. "So where are we going?"

"Fischmont."

"Fischmont?"

"Yep."

A dull fear creeps across Lilith's eyes. "Like... the capitol? That Fischmont?"

"Are there any others I'm not aware of?"

Lilith jumps back again as Raiden's horse nuzzles him. Raiden bites back a laugh. "You know, I've rarely known horses to eat people, especially defenseless village fangirls." He turns and pats his horse on the nose.

Lilith stutters a bit before responding with an air of panic, "I'm not a fangirl!" Raiden laughs, and the panic in her voice fades as her expression hardens. "And I'm not defenseless, either." She draws a sword from its sheathe.

"Is it that old sword you were using before?" he asks, trying to get a good look at it in the moonlight.

"No, it's one I stole off the mantle when my mama wasn't looking." He nods slowly, taking in the weapon more than her words. It seems a bit over-sized for its wielder, but it's certainly well-made. "It's something apparently pass'n down in mine family--"

Raiden looks up at her sharply. "Passed down in your family."

"Yeah, that's what I said--"

"Say it in English."

Lilith sighs, exasperated. "Pass'n--Passed... down... in myyy family." She replaces the sword, careful not to accidentally miss the narrow opening of the sheathe.

Raiden thinks for a moment, then nods. "Well, you need a horse."

Lilith's face fell with cold dread. "A... a what?"

"A horse."

For a moment he's sure she'll back out. It' only a moment, but he sees the determination leave her entire demeanor. But just as fast as his hope for solitude had returned, she shakes herself and faces him with her chin up. "Fine. I'll get a horse."

He looks at her, keeping his gaze level. He sighs and then indicates for her to follow him, grabbing his horse's reigns and starting the few-mile hike to another nearby village, Rah'zatada.

------------------------

They had walked in silence for a while now, the outskirts of Rah'zatada pale blue under the night sky. Raiden has nearly forgotten why he is going there in the first place, consumed instead in his own thoughts, mostly of how much better things would be if he'd designed the universe. That stupid tree wouldn't have been in the way all those months ago and he'd still have his--

"Where do the trees come from?"

"Hmm? Umm..." Raiden thinks, his thoughts having completely scattered to the recesses of his mind like stones to the bottom of an ocean. "They come from seeds."

"Seeds?" Lilith skips a little to catch up and walk beside him, looking into the green eyes that refused to look back out of sheer spite.

"Please don't tell me you don't know what seeds are."

"What'n' is seeds--"

"What... are... seeds."

"Hmm? Yeah, that's--" Raiden turns his pupil to the corner of his eye, and she catches a furious and very impatient glare from it. Shrinking back a little, she takes the hint. "What're seeds?"

Raiden sighs. Of all the people who could have followed him out of Saile'm, it just had to be this one? "Seeds are... okay, how do you not know what seeds are? Wait--" Raiden stops, and his horse bumps into him slightly. Lilith takes a wary step back from it. "Okay, this is too stupid."

"Huh?"

"Your village is right next to a forest! How can you not know anything about seeds and... and trees!?"

"Well, that's because--"

"I mean, are you even ignorant at all?"

Lilith stops. Maybe that wasn't an insult? "Ignorant?"

This was actually believable. He hadn't met many people who seemed to fully understand the meaning of it, even kids his own age. "Yeah. Like, you don't know things." He puts his head to the side and his hands on his hips. "Are you just faking all the not-knowingness? Like, grammar? How to say deus ex machina? Trees and seeds?"

"No!--"

"Well kid, it seems like it." He shakes his head. He looks like he wants to say more for a moment, but then changes his mind and continues walking.

Lilith stands there, half-shocked, half-numb. She didn't go to school, and is now paying for it. He doesn't know, though. She runs to catch up with him. "I stopped going to school a while back."

"You already said that."

"I know, but--"

Raiden sighs with exasperation, well-contained fury, and resignation. "How 'while back'?

"What?"

"How long ago did you stop going?" Lilith recognizes the anger seeping through, and looks away from him, half-convinced the strange defiance that prowled like a caged beast behind his eyes would swallow her whole if it was allowed to escape into her mind.

"Since... the first day." Though she doesn't see it, Raiden looks up at her skeptically. "I mean... I went back... a few years back. But that was just a day. Then I didn't want to go no more."

"Anymore."

"Oh... anymore."

Raiden thinks over this. "No kidding?"

"None."

He thinks some more. In fact, he thinks so much more, Lilith begins to grow uncomfortable and worries he's softlocked and is just caught in an infinite loop of silently walking. But then he finally talks again. "Okay... why didn't anyone else teach you?"

"Qehna--she's my friend--she taught me some stuff."

"Like what?"

"Where the sun goes at night and why walls crack. Things like that."

"Ah... and your parents didn't...?"

"Naw, my--er, my mama didn't want to see me much."

Raiden feels a strange, sympathetic, and very minor uneasiness at this news. "Um... that's too bad. But what about your dad?"

Lilith thinks for a second. "He didn't like me too much." She looks at the ground. She hadn't spoken of him in a long time. "That's why mama says he left."

Raiden scratches his head. This was more depth to an NPC backstory than he was prepared for. "Agh... okay, so your friend taught you things?"

"Yeah."

"That she learned in school?" Raiden's voice is getting an edge, ready to strike down her argument.

"Well, a few times, but she don't usually talk about school'n. I'd just ask her 'bout stuff an' she'd tell me why things... are." Raiden drops his head and sighs and she quickly catches her mistakes. "About school!" About stuff! And! Umm...." She tries to think of any more errors.

"She doesn't?"

"She doesn't!"

Raiden laughs a little. "Things like ''bout' are fine, just get your grammar right!" He looks up at the rural town that now loomed about a hundred meters away. "So you really don't know? About seeds and English and things like that?"

"Not just English."

"Oh? Alright. Fine. Seeds... I'll show you some at some point, they make the trees."

"How?"

"Umm..." Raiden puts his head back a little and thinks. "I guess... the same way people are made?"

Lilith nods, thinking. "How's that?"

"I think... I don't actually know," Raiden replies pensively. "I guess... maybe they're coded by their parents? And like, their parents make the texture and render the 3D--" Raiden looks back at Lilith's bewildered face and realizes he'd been rambling on about things she just couldn't follow. "Erm, never mind, we can just ask someone else at some point."

Lilith nods slowly and stares at the ground moving beneath her feet.

Raiden breaks the silence this time, genuinely curious. "Why are you scared of horses?"

Lilith feels her face grow warm. "Umm..." she glances at Raiden's horse. "I... uh... it--it doesn't really matter."

Naturally, this really gets Raiden's interest, but as he glances back at her, he knows that she won't open up any time soon. And anyway, they had barely met.

"We'll stay here tonight, and get a horse for you in the morning," he says briskly. "Don't worry; we'll make sure it's nice." Without another word, he leads his horse into Rah'zatada. Lilith follows, and a shadow in a bush opens its glowing amber eyes before darting deep into the darkness of night.

"Don't act so scared of it!" Raiden buries his hands in his face. "It's just... a horse!"

"I'm not acting scared of it!" Lilith shouts back through her teeth. She still isn't quite sure how she ended up here, on a horse and all. She forces herself not to lean back away from its face and to loosen the reigns a little. She kicks it in the side and tries to get it to for forward. It turns to look at her instead.

Raiden peers at her between his fingers and sighs heavily. "At the feet of Librada sat a figure," he says, reciting an old story. Lilith yells in alarm as the horse starts walking backward. "And if it was this kid, I can see why Librada used her foot to kick her out of the beforehand and into the game." He drops his head onto the fence. "But do I really have to deal with her?" Does it really matter? She's here now.

"Haha! Yes!" Raiden looks up to see Lilith beaming at the white horse that is now walking forward. "I did it!"

"Great," calls Raiden wearily, "now turn."

"Umm... how?"

Raiden puts his arm out without lifting his head. "Move the reigns..." he swings his arm to his left and continues, "whichever way you wanna go."

Lilith nods, concentrating hard. She pulls the reigns to the right. The horse stops and starts backing up again. "No, no, no! Is it L? It's L, isn't it?"

Raiden laughs weakly. "It's forward... and whichever way you want to go." He sighs suddenly. "I have to make a two-day trip by tomorrow." He lifts his head to make sure Lilith is listening. "I'm supposed to meet with the aristocrats, you know."

Lilith pauses in her efforts and looks up at him for a second. "This is a weird time to bring it up."

"Yep."

"You have to meet with them already?"

Raiden nods and waves at nearby NPCs that had been trying to get a good look at him without being noticed. "I'd planned on at least three days to see Fischmont before I actually met them, but I think I spent too much time in Hallap'pa."

Lilith rides in steady left circles, but looks to Raiden, disgusted and shocked, at hearing this. "That... that's the DLC, right?"

Raiden nods, staring at the ground as if it were invisible and he can still see the city through it. "Yep."

"The... the big one?"

Raiden nods distantly before nodding a greeting to NPCs that scamper away at the sight of him.

Lilith nods. "Sounds like you, er... liked it there."

Raiden coughs. "Try going faster."

"Hm?"

"Speed up."

"Oh... o-okay."

------------------------------------------------

After Lilith learns to ride and the two repair a fence, processes that take until midday, the travelers set out for Fischmont. They go on at full speed, trying to make up for lost time.

Lilith feels her mind drift off as the terrain around her becomes a blur. It was only yesterday she'd posed this insane idea to Qehna. Now she can feel the weight of a sword on her back, hear the rumble of horses' hooves on the earth, and smell Raiden's conditioner every time he stands near her.

She feels her face go red and reassures herself that she isn't being creepy, the conditioner just has a strong smell.

Raiden rides ahead, his thoughts occupied by why the aristocrats would want to see him so long before the game even starts. Are there preliminary missions to ensure he's Hero-worthy? Or do they just want to get to know him? Maybe it's something about his physical condition... he is, after all, to be older than any other Hero in the game's history when it starts. He still has another six years, though, and surely it's better to check on things like that closer to the game's release.

As they ride late into the night, neither speak, even when stopping to water their horses. At most, Raiden occasionally looks back and nods an order, the most common of which being 'speed up'. Don't lose her.... The game's code keeps him obligated to protect anyone he comes across... except for Villains, of course.

Raiden indicates again to Lilith to start slowing down. He isn't completely sure where they are, but he decides they're at least halfway there.

At the watering hole, Lilith dismounts and cautiously guides her horse by its reigns. She jumps a bit as she runs into Raiden's horse, scampering to get out of its... line of fire. She peeks around it to figure out what the Hero is doing, only to find him glancing around skeptically.

Raiden jumps and wheels around at the hand that touches his shoulder, huffing impatiently at the sight of Lilith and returning his focus to whatever disturbance had grabbed it in the first place.

"What's goin' on?"

"Shut up, kid."

Lilith is about to protest and probe for more information, but decides it's best not to. Instead, she tries to figure out for herself what has him so bothered.

For a silent minute, the two stare into the darkness, listening intently.

They both hear it this time. A snapping twig. Their gaze is drawn to the direction of the sound. Raiden snarls at the amber eyes glowing from the scarce plant life by the water's edge. "Katatanakas."

"What?" Lilith takes a wary step back.

Raiden looks back at her, the prospect of battle already glinting in his eyes. "Ninja gremlins," he says, stepping toward the foes and drawing his sword.

Remembering that she also has a sword, Lilith draws it and holds it protectively in front of her. She follows Raiden, taking caution in every step, careful not to get too close to him in case she gets in his way.

Then they come. Ninja gremlins is certainly the perfect way to describe the Katatanakas. Though they only come to about the knees, each wields two dangerous and elegantly crafted swords. Their large ears are plated with a shield-like armor, but the rest of their bodies don a light black material.

"Watch out, kid, these suckers are fast!" Raiden counts about five or six of them before he starts slashing at the first one to launch itself at him, blades flashing in the dim nighttime light.

Lilith holds her heavy sword at the ready, taking a swing at every enemy that becomes available, though their main target was clearly Raiden. They dodge her attacks easily, but find their armored ears their only chance against the Hero. He parries and arcs his sword with a wild grace, evidence of his practice. Before too long, he downs two of the ninjas.

Lilith indignantly marches closer to Raiden and stabs experimentally into the back of a Katatanaka that was ready to attack the Hero from behind. It screeches wildly and turns on her, small, pointed teeth bared, but not too badly injured. She takes a step back out of Raiden's range and engages in the most epic battle she's ever had in her life.

The Katatanaka lunges for her, swords aimed at her exposed midriff. She swivels her sword in an orbit around her wrists, blocking the attack. Without hesitation, the creature darts around to attack her from behind. Lilith whirls around on her heel, barely stopping the assault on her calves and knocking the attacker sideways, but only manages to hit its protected ear. It rolls for a few feet before leaping back into action. Lilith steadies herself for the next move. It darts past her on her right side.

She feels a pain shoot through her arm and stumbles back, growling from the hurt but not wanting Raiden to know. She does her best to use the weapon with only her left hand, but despite it being her best hand, the size of the sword is just too much for her to handle effectively. She turns her head to look the monster in the eyes. The cold orange spheres give away no emotion as it leaps into the air for a finishing blow.

A flash of light sweeps past the beast and it falls to the ground, twitches a bit, and lies still. Raiden stands panting for a few moments, looking first at where the entity fell before letting his gaze wander to Lilith. For a while, neither move, merely staring each other and catching their breath. Lilith finally sits, head down and forcing herself to try to steady her breathing.

Raiden draws himself back to the present, shaking his head and focusing on his surroundings. He nods, squeezes his eyes shut, wipes his brow, opens his eyes, surveys the scene, and nods again. "That wasn't too bad."

Lilith nods, saying nothing.

"You alright, kid?"

Lilith nods and says nothing.

Raiden nods, but stops. "What's that?"

Lilith finally looks up at him. "What?"

"That." He points to her right arm.

She looks at it, trying to pretend she hadn't noticed. She feels her eyes widen. She'd not expected the blood to spread as much as it had. Then she shrugs. "I dunno."

Raiden moves his head up to nod again, but stops. He snaps his mouth shut and drops his head, then looks back at Lilith's arm. He looks at her eyes, which are apparently so busy examining the phenomenal occurrence that she didn't have time to return his gaze. "You... I'm sorry, you don't know?"

Lilith pauses. She turns her head slowly to meet his gaze. She shakes her head slowly. "No... I don't know...." She internally sends curses to Librada as she feels her face flush.

Raiden raises an eyebrow at her. She raises her left arm in a shrug, doing her best to pull the 'innocence' ploy for as long as she can.

"Alright, let me see it."

"See what?"

Raiden lets air out of his nose on a sort of huff, exasperated. He marches up to her and grabs her by her upper left arm, pulling her up to her feet. She doesn't protest and looks away as he puts a hand to his face, sighing heavily.

This is it. She looks like a total nincompoop in front of the Hero. He'll never let her make it past software development.

Raiden takes her chin and pulls her face around to look at him. "Kid... Lilith..." he pauses, fighting every urge to give her what-for and send her scampering back to Saile'm. He shakes his head, grasping for a more gentle word choice. "This... this thing that happened to you. I... you don't get it, do you? I can't go around, carting extra weight, just... on some huge escort mission! It... I can't babysit for you." He releases her from his grasp, taking a step back and putting his face in his hands out of frustration.

He forces himself to think clearly. "Okay. Okay." He turns to his horse and guides it to the water. "As soon as we get to Fischmont, I'll get one of the aristocrat's hired guards to take you home. Deal?"

Silence.

He pats his horse. Still silence. He raises his voice slightly. "Deal?"

Silence, then: "No."

Raiden whips around to face her. "What?"

Lilith crosses her arms indignantly, putting her chin down and widening her stance slightly. "I said, no."

Raiden raises both eyebrows, mouth open, eyelids lowered and adding a weary look. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I made myself clear." He walks back to Lilith, leaving his horse gulping down water. He approaches her swiftly, and her face and arms fall slightly.

He stops in front of her. "Maybe... no, clearly... you don't understand." He sets his hands on her shoulders, making sure she pays attention to every word he says. "I don't want you around, kid."

Lilith merely becomes more outwardly hostile to this idea. "Well, too bad. You're stuck with me."

"Why!?" Raiden almost leaps back.

"Because..." Lilith quickly decides on a reason. "You're-You're the on'y-un in this'n-n-n--" She stops and corrects herself. "The only one in this game who knows anything about... about bein' a Hero!"

Raiden feels his entire demeanor fall. He stands, staring blankly into nothingness, processing what he just heard. "Did... did you just say... you want to be a Hero?"

Lilith looks at him carefully, worried. "Er... somethin' like'n it. Ah, I mean--"

Raiden doesn't wait for a retry this time. In less than a moment, he has his sword drawn and pointed at her. She takes a step back, eyes on the blade. "Are you a Neo?!" Raiden shouts.

"Wh-what? A what?"

"Don't play dumb with me!"

"I-I'm not! I just--" Raiden aims the tip of the blade at her face, and she puts her hands up, falling to her knees and ducking her head. "Gosh dang and heck to Librada, I'm'n not a Neo'n! I don't knowin' what's a Neo!" she cries, almost pleading.

Raiden looks her over wildly for a few moments more. He licks his dry lips and shakes his head. He lets out a tight, bitter laugh and relaxes, throwing his sword into the ground. "Yeah... they wouldn't want someone like you, anyway."

He turns away from her.

Lilith sits, refusing to look up. She shakes her head numbly, letting it sway side to side. Here, miles from her friend and with a stranger that doesn't even want her around, she could suddenly feel the vast expanse of the world they inhabit, and how devoid it is of people who treat her like she's not some demented product of Seeley. She drops her hands, her left falling to the stolen sword. A product of her own shortcomings. Something she had taken, and she can't even use it.

Her hands curl into fists and, for the first time in a long time, her eyes sting and glaze over with tears.

"Come on. I've gotten your horse to the water. It's time we left. The guards aren't as useless as they seem; they should be fine as escorts back to Saile'm."

Lilith doesn't move. She doesn't speak. She just does her best to force herself to stop crying.

"Come on, then." Raiden's face appears in her line of view. "Agh... oh, no," he sighs, disappearing again. "Er... I-I wasn't programmed for this. Look, um, whatever's wrong, it's okay, okay? Uh..." He pats her awkwardly on the shoulder before deciding that's not the best route and backing off again. "Look... hey, what's wrong?"

Lilith doesn't move.

Raiden sits there, waiting. He sits back, tilting his head to the stars, seeking inspiration. "You know, we have to get going again soon." Then something else hits his mind like an arrow. "Ah! I almost forgot, your arm... I bet that hurts, huh?"

Lilith turns her head a bit to look at it, then nods dully, going back to her moping. She was starting to rather like moping.

She feels Raiden lift her arm, and holds it up to let him look at it. "Do you mind if I take off your gauntlet here? I just need to roll up the sleeve on your undershirt to get to your cut here." Lilith shrugs, and he removes it before carefully rolling up the sleeve and washing the injury with a cloth. She tries not to think of where else the cloth might have been at some point. "Hey... it doesn't actually look too bad."

Lilith looks up at it, wrinkling her nose and facing the other way. Raiden laughs. "I don't mean it's pretty. You're lucky if you get a really nice one. It just doesn't look too deep." He wraps it in a bandage before replacing the sleeve and handing Lilith her gauntlet. "Tell you what. Let's stop here for tonight. I'll explain everything to Oriana tomorrow. It'll give me an excuse to be late." Lilith smiles a little, hoping to hide it.

"But isn't it dangerous?" Lilith looks up to face him. "We were just attacked."

Raiden looks at the sky and puts on an exaggerated thinking face. Lilith smiles, but covers her mouth to hide it. Raiden pretends not to notice. "Maybe. We'll see."

self reminderp

gonna do some pretty heavy editing on this one.... it's still in the process, so the end of this one doesn't make any sense yet


When Raiden and Lilith finally make it to Fischmont, it's the afternoon of the next day. After the guards wave them through and they're within the city's walls, Raiden dismounts and starts down the brick street. Lilith does the same, getting closer to several horses than she's comfortable with. Raiden stops in a relatively calm area near a side road and turns to her.

"Wait here with the horses, I don't know how long I'll be gone."

"W-what? I wanna be comin' with you, though!"

"With that grammar, the aristocrats'll send you straight back where you belong!"

"That's what you wanna do anyways!"

Raiden glances nervously around at the heads that are starting to turn towards them. "Look, kid, I'll be right back anyway--and tell you what!" he adds quickly, cutting across her protest. "I'll... I'll tell the aristocrats about you, okay? Make sure they get the whole story, and maybe..." he continues, seeing her growing more indignant by the second, "they'll want to meet you in person!"

Lilith's mouth drops open, ready to argue, but her eyes widen little and she snaps it shut, thinking. "Alright, fine."

"Okay." Relieved, Raiden heads into the crowds to the aristocrats' housing.

Lilith waits, bored, trying to discreetly shoo the horses away so she can say she'd lost control of them mysteriously and they would have to go without them. She gets to the point of trying to just will them away with sheer mind power when a soft voice catches her attention.

"Oi, kid!"

Lilith perks up, looking into the masses, expecting to see Raiden. The thought that it didn't sound like him nags at the back of her mind, but she ignores it.

"Kid!" the voice hisses. Lilith jumps and turns to the side road. She jumps again.

The origin of the voice smiles, its every feature far simpler than anything in her world. It looks like a kid, but much... much... taller.

"Oi, kid!" he says again, "I thought you'd never hear me!"

Lilith stares, dumbfounded.

"What's your name?"

Lilith stares, dumbfounded.

"I'm Meghan."

Lilith stares, dumbfounded.

"You're from around here, then? Like, this game?"

Lilith nods, dumbfounded.

"Ah, you actually reply to something!" He laughs, and it seems unnaturally enthusiastic. "I almost don't believe you, though." He looks her up and down. "Most people here are super fashionable, and you just... aren't." In one smooth movement, he glides to her side and lifts the end of her cloak, scrutinizing it doubtfully. "This color clashes terribly with your shirt, and none of it even matches your skin tone!" He drops it, looking closely at her face. Lilith knows she should be blushing right now in such embarrassing circumstances, but his grey eyes make something inside her feel colder than the air around them.

"Hmm..." his face contorts in thoughtfulness. Something about his expressions are so much more exaggerated than anything she'd seen before, and she smiles at the absurdity of it all. "Yeah, I can help you with the colors if you like," he chirps, gesticulating grandly. Before she can respond, he grabs her wrist and drags her down the side road.

Lilith protests wildly. "No! Stop! Er, horse, and... aristocrats! Game! Raiden!"

"Now now, don't let my fabulousness get you flustered, er... what did you say your name was, again?"

"I-I gotta be takin' care'f horses!"

"Ah, don't worry about them, they're just dumb AI anyway, they won't go anywhere. Now what's your name?"

"I... Lilith," she says finally.

"Ah, yes, so you actually have one!" He pushes Lilith into an abandoned shop. "Hmm... Lilith... I'd call you Lillie or something, but I already know one of those..." He rummages through various buckets, checking the labels on them.

"Um... what'n is you doin'?"

Meghan turns his head to her and raises an eyebrow. "Umm... sorry, come again?"

"What?"

"What did you say?"

"I said what."

"No, before that."

"Er... what'n... I mean, what... are you doing?"

Meghan looks at her for a few moments more, not saying anything. "Anyone ever tell you that you look like a Palooka?" He turns back to the cans. "I think I'll call you Palooka."

"Say what now?"

"Okay, Palooka," Meghan says, facing her with a can held daintily in his long fingers. "I'm thinking this color with that shirt. I don't want to change the shirt's color, though, I think it's cute."

"C-cute?!"

"Yep. Definitely cute, pink on a kid like you is always adorable." He nods vigorously, walking toward her. She backs up, terrified.

"I-I'm not 'n want'n that color! I" she runs to the other side of the room to avoid him "I like th' dark color 'cause it's a help to hidin'!" She ducks to avoid him catching her.

"Oi, Palooka, I'm the epitome of fashion! I know not everyone can understand art, but if you'd at least try a little, that'd be fantastic!" He finally catches her by the hood of her cloak and drags her backward, knocking her off balance and onto her rear.

"Ack! No!" She rolls onto her hands and knees and crawls away, but Meghan just holds her back.

"Don't worry, I've done this a million times! Works every time!"

Before anything can be done, he tips the can over her, sending pale blue paint sailing across her travelling cloak.

Meghan looks at what he's done, not understanding something. "Huh, weird, it works different in this world, I guess..."

"Ack! What've you just been done!?"

"Oi, it's not my fault your world's weird!"

-------------------------------

Raiden leaves the aristocrats' house in a huff. Nearby NPCs, upon seeing him, part like the divide between PC and console gamers. Staring dead ahead, the Hero marches across town where he left Lilith.

Unlike the NPCs on the side road stopping outside a certain abandoned shop, he cannot hear the heated shout-fest between his companion and her strange new acquaintance.

------------------------------

Meghan leads Palooka outside of the shop. He jumps from surprise before trying to act like he doesn't notice the townspeople staring at him. Palooka is rubbing the last of the blue paint off of her eye, the rest of it either washed off or on her traveling cloak.

"I look like a candy," she grumbles.

"Shh, I just made you adorable." He heads back to the horses.

"I don't wanna be adorable," she complains.

"I can't help it if you can't understand art, Palooka."

"I'm not an art," she mutters.

Meghan rounds the corner where the horses were left and jumps backward. Startled, the approaching Hero does the same. Palooka peeks around the corner, catching Raiden's attention, who glares at her disapprovingly. She points an accusing finger at Meghan, who, in an indignant fit, points at himself before pointing at Palooka. Palooka points at Raiden and Meghan follows suit. Raiden points a questioning finger at Meghan before pointing, confused, at himself. Palooka shakes her head and points at Meghan again, who points at both Raiden and Palooka. Raiden points at Palooka, then Meghan, and she nods a confirmation.

"Oh, I see now," both boys say at once. They glare at each other suddenly. Meghan sniffs and crosses his arms and Raiden puts on what he thinks to be an interrogative expression.

"Who are you," says Raiden. It's more of a demand than a question. His Hero-ish composure is lost, the height difference giving him more the appearance of a snobby little kid. People on the street stop to stare at the confrontation.

Meghan looks idly at a stone building. The lightning that had hung in the air between them suddenly seems to surround Raiden, threatening to suffocate his cold demeanor and make room for a fiery one. Meghan answers coolly, in a way that would be polite if the circumstance was different. "Meghan. And you?"

Raiden sucks in his breath and closes his eyes. Meghan glances down at Palooka, who is looking up at him, between shock and holding back laughter. He looks back at the building, counting bricks.

"You're kidding," Raiden says finally. Meghan sees from his peripherals that Raiden's eyes are open again, and snaps his head around to face him. Though the effect is not as grand as he imagines, it gets his point across. "Okay, smart alack," Raiden continues, "what were you doing with... the kid?"

"What's it to you?"

"What, you go around snatching kids and turning their clothes blue? This is a... normal thing?"

"Nah, usually it's red."

"Get out. This isn't your game."

"Oi, my game's not due for release for another few years, and neither is yours."

"Sounds like you have work to do, then."

"A side character? I wish. What about you, Hero, you're not busy pining for every female protagonist the world has to offer?"

"Ew, gross."

"Oh, I guess you're pretty young. Trust me, it changes."

Raiden looks at Palooka, and Meghan follows his gaze. She mouths to a townsperson, who just shakes her head slowly before returning her attention to the argument.

Raiden carries on, "The kid and I have places we need to be." Meghan turns back to him. Though the young Hero keeps his voice dangerously level, his hands shake slightly at his sides in fists and the glare cast by his eyes would have sent any other NPC into a silent, remorseful retreat.

Meghan merely crosses his arms, his easy smile now forced. "Yeah? Where's that now?"

"It doesn't concern you. You're being a hindrance!"

Meghan's smile widens, and he lets his eyebrows shoot up. Raiden looks around nervously. "Hindrance... now that's a big word! Where'd a kid like you learn that one?"

Raiden looks around, now visibly uncomfortable.

After several seconds, Meghan feels himself grow uncomfortable, too. Where did this kid learn it? "Er, oi, kid?"

"Was it in Hallap'pa?"

Raiden talks through his teeth, trying to keep his voice down. "Lilith, we don't... talk... about that."

Several townsfolk widen their eyes and take appalled steps backward. Some just leave entirely, covering the ears of their children.

Meghan raises an eyebrow to unnatural heights. "Hot dung beetles. You really go there?"

"No," Raiden says defensively.

"Hey, no judgement, just... isn't that pack eighteen plus?"

"Can we please just talk about something else?"

"How about that place you and Palooka here are headed to?"

"Palooka?"

"Actually, I'd be likin' knowin' that, alsoes. I'se likin' to--"

"Lilith! I don't have patience for deciphering right now! English, please!"

Lilith glares at Raiden like he ate the last waffle before she could get seconds. She bursts into a short rampage too intelligible to be neatly legible. Raiden stares coldly, Meghan watches concernedly, and passersby pause before passing by a little faster. After about minute, she's red in the face and showing no signs of stopping. The casual looker may think she's fed up, but any expert will tell you they know she's fed up.

Raiden begins to take an expression a bit more like Meghan's. He uncrosses his arms and opens his mouth as if to say something, but decides against it and just stops, still watching.

After about another minute of going at it, she slows down a bit, but only because she's running out of breath. Water hangs on the lower rim of her eyes. Meghan finally decides it's time to interrupt her enraged rambling.

"Oi, Palooka, you need to settle down." He takes a step forward and crouches down five feet in front of her. She calms down a bit and looks at him like he's from another developer. The tears that had been desperately hanging on slide slowly down her cheeks. "That's a bit better," he says gently. Lilith looks angry again for a second before looking down, her expression unreadable.

"Okay," Meghan sighs, relieved she listened, "now just tell Raiden what you were going to say."

She looks off to the side and takes a deep breath in. "





"No, you don't need a horse. Lilith and I need to drop them off at a stable, though. We're taking a train."

"Ooh, a train!" Lilith skips ahead of Raiden. "Train to where?"

"Oppressors game. They have something they need help with, I'm supposed to see what I can do."

Meghan whistles. "Seriously? Kicked out of your own game? Harsh."

Raiden shrugs. "They say they don't need me here right now, so I guess I'll take what I can get."

"What'n did th'aristocrats say 'bout me?" says Lilith.

"Oh, yeah, you have to go with me. They said they could do with all the help they can get over there." He gestures up and down the street. "See, there's hardly any soldiers? Apparently there's been a huge issue over there lately, and they've been sending people to help."

"Oh."

"Mind if I call you Rei?" Meghan asks Raiden.

"Yes, don't."

"Eh, it'll grow on you."

"Librada I swear if this is my fate finish me off now," Raiden mutters. "I'm going crazy, aren't I?"

Okay, thanks for your feedback, this is great :D I'll revise those parts, I think I know how to change them
Also, I'm splicing an entire character out of chapter 6, so it's gonna be very... very... different 0-o