Red Roses

Chapter 2 (Introduction Arc)

Or so he had thought, his face was covered by a piece of paper affixed to his forehead by tape. Removing it reveals a letter sent by Ares, he rubbed his eyes and read it in his head. "Yo, Ardit? Thanks for saving me yesterday, well, it was today at the time of writing this, but for you it's probably the next day. Anyways, as a thanks I wanna tell you of some rumors going around about some old signed documents from the government back when it was first formed! You're probably thinking, why should I care about some old paper? Well that old paper goes for a boat load of Bristles! I've attached some coordinates on which locations it might be in, I'm not doing it myself because, I'm not trying to make myself a target you know? Anyways, peace."

There's only one thing Ardit loves more than realizing he isn't blind, and that's being blinded by money. After using the pen in his small hip bag to place the paper on the floor and write the word "Idiot!" on the back of the paper, he put the note into his small hip bag as he made his way towards the different locations it could be in. The efforts were long and tiring, even involving a quick pickpocket to be able to afford food to sustain himself. Eventually, walking into a nature park he overheard someone talking about the documents, he moved more into the park to eavesdrop. He heard a female's voice, "what do you think the files are even about? You think they're cool government secrets?" This question was followed by silence, she eventually responded to her own question, "Actually it's probably just some boring political stuff, but hey, I just wanna know if it's there you know?"

Ardit took the opportunity to approach the two. He mentioned, "If you want to get those files you should just go home, it's too dangerous for people like-" He went silent, there was only one girl here, her hand in an awkward position, as if she was holding onto someone. The woman looked younger to an extent, however she seemed to have more scruffs and healed wounds than Ardit did. Her hair was a gentle pink and was only slightly longer than his. She looked at him and asserted, "Oh, what, because I'm a human I can't find it myself?" Looking up and down at him, her smile formed. She exclaimed, "Oh! You're a human! Me and my friend were just looking for the old papers, you heard the rumors, didn't you?" Ardit took a moment to think and process, he eventually came to what should have been a very obvious conclusion. This girl is insane.

He gave a warning, "Well yeah, but you'll definitely be a target when you pick those documents up, people will kill to get their grubby hands on anything they can see as valuable. I would know, I'm doing this for the money." He explained to her, she rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah, you adults only care about money, that's all it is to you isn't it?" She teased. This comment made Ardit flustered and upset, not because of the fact he was called greedy, this much he knew. He was upset because he was called an adult. "Hey! I'm only 22!" He stated. The girl snickered to herself and gave a response, "you're only 5 years older than me? That says a lot!" Then she thought of something and decided to share her idea with him, "Alright, why don't we go with you then? If we go with you, we'll see if the files are real! If they are, you can take them for the money and we won't be targeted!"

Ardit was considering letting this person tag along with him, but realized he could benefit from this. He proposed a question, "What do I get out of letting you tag along with me?" This made her think for a bit, her free hand moved into her pocket. After a small moment of pondering she pulled out something from her pocket and announced, "200 Bristles!" He nodded and tried to grab the money immediately as if taking money was an instinct for him, as he did so she retracted her hand. "You get the money AFTER we're finished looking!" She chided.

He started looking for the documents in this location since he hadn't started yet, the girl helped. He paused a bit and looked in her direction, realizing he hadn't introduced himself. "Oh, I'm Ardit by the way-" He introduced with an inelegant pause between his words. While searching for the files, she excitedly perked up her head. She returned, "Ardit huh? That's a nice name! I'm Zolio, and this is my friend! Uh- well, I don't know her name yet but I'll figure it out!" She looked over at the empty space beside her, Ardit shrugged off her insanity as they continued searching.

A male ganyma stood right outside the nature park, knowing that the documents were somewhere in the park. He waited for someone to find them for him so he could take it for himself and get the money for it. Setting up a foldable chair, he waited for the right time to claim his prize.

Ardit heard a voice from a nearby distance, "Hey! Is this it?" Zolio continued to dig into the ground in a certain spot, grabbing a black and cracked folder from the ground. Ardit's eyes widened, "Yes! You found it!" He responded eagerly as he grew a sense of excitement, she was excited too until she looked into the folder's contents. She seemed upset, "it's just a bunch of boring political stuff.." She gloomed. Ardit grabbed the folder, "This boring political stuff will make me a lot of money!" Zolio looked to her left and rolled her eyes at her friend with an exaggerated motion. She turned her head back to Ardit, reaching into her pockets and handing him the 200 Bristles she had previously promised. Ardit took them happily, he then took the papers out of the folder and put the papers in his small hip bag, taking out the paper that Ares gave him and turned it to the backside, putting it into the folder and closing it.

As they left the nature park, they were stopped at the entrance by a ganyma. His figure was taller, sporting two formidable horns on the sides of his head. The ears under those horns pointed outward and he wore a septum piercing. Behind the back of the ganyma lied a slim tail. The man spoke up to them, "Well, I thought I was gonna have to fight for the folder, but it's just being taken away by some weak ass humans?" Ardit held the folder tightly under his arm as Zolio walked backwards somewhat. The man approached Ardit and leaned over him, the man whispered, "Give me the folder and I won't hurt you or your little fr-'' in the midst of his short speak, he was cut off by a surprising punch to the face by another ganyma. The ganyma touched her hand again to turn off her magic, cracking her knuckles. The ganyma had her hair in a large ponytail, her ears were covered in feathers and she sported a mask over her mouth and nose. She seemed to wear a gray linen robe with a light green pattern on its opening. The most important thing Ardit noticed was the jester's cap on her left hand.

Zolio smiled and exclaimed, "Friend!" Ardit realized that Zolio wasn't crazy, her friend had just been cloaking this whole time! The man looked incredibly frustrated however, stumbling onto his feet and tapped the symbol of a black ball with an "8" on his hand. He fumed, "you're gonna regret that kid!" As the man's sharp fingernails began to give off a purple glow, Ardit, Zolio, and her friend felt the ground less and less beneath their feet. Soon enough, none of them were touching the ground. He scolded, "As for you!" He lifted the friend high by raising his hand; he threw his hand down beneath his waist. She felt herself hitting the ground. Zolio let out a shriek, "No! Don't hurt her, please!" Ardit looked around. He felt as if he only had one option. "Fine! Take the folder, just don't hurt us!" He cried out.

The aggressive ganyma lowered them all to the ground. Ardit handed over the folder to him and the man shoved Ardit aside. He felt his legs stumble as he kept his balance as the aggressor ran off with the folder before they could call for the authorities. Zolio's eyes locked onto Ardit and she questioned, "Why did you give him the files? You could've had the money you wanted.." Her friend listened in, still attempting to get back on her feet after what happened.

He eagerly responded, "You mean these files?" Ardit grinned and opened his small hip bag, the other two looked surprised. Zolio exclaimed, "you kept them! Wait, then what was in the folder you just gave him?" Ardit was giddy at the thought of his reaction right now. "Oh, just a little message for him!~" He teased. Ardit took a deep breath and stretched his body. Despite the excitement, he truly was drained from the experience. He was getting ready to make his way out of the park to sell the files off. Zolio's mind could only think of how he technically saved their lives. She chimes in, "Hey.. meet us back here in a week, okay? We really appreciate what you did for us and maybe we can see you again soon?" Ardit felt startled, never being asked something like this before. He nodded, separating from the two.