Virtue

Chapter 3: Weapon of Choice

Outside of the library Jinn stopped to think about what had just happened and how the device on his arm would affect his life so much.

"Hey look if you need some time to think over this stuff I get it. It was tough for me when I first heard it too but it's going to be okay trust me." Jinn was staring out into nothing and brought his gaze to Rem as he spoke his words of encouragement. He felt a little better but there was another feeling in the back of his mind, something was familiar about the situation but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"It must be the memory loss." He thought to himself. He looked up ahead and said "So how's the food in this town?" Rem smiled and said "It beats cooking meat in the forest"

Jinn and Rem walked through a series of maze like streets that were packed together, they were headed towards the market and food district on the western side of town. The buildings they passed were mostly made of stone and wood and looked to be very sturdy. Red roof tiles were a common theme among the buildings. After a while they came to an opening that led into a circular plaza that had many food stands. On the outside, there were many restaurants all of which served various meals. Jinn could smell all the wonderful food that was being cooked. His stomach began to growl in anticipation of the coming meal. Rem began to walk through the center of the plaza and Jinn followed closely behind, he could see steaks being roasted, fish being grilled and even bread being sold. When they reached the opposite end of the plaza Rem turned right and walked towards one of the outer restaurants. The sign above the entrance read: Sally's Pub. Jinn followed Rem inside and they both sat down at a circular table that had two chairs. A young girl approached them with two glasses of water. She placed them down on the table and looked at them both. She was thin and about the same height as Jinn with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"What'll it be boys?" She asked with a smile. Rem looked at her and just as he was about to speak a loud crash came from the other side of the restaurant. Everyone looked over to see where the noise had come from. Two brutish looking fellows were standing and sizing each other up. An older looking girl yelled at them from behind the bar area.

"HEY! You knuckle heads better knock it off before I call the guardians to come and kick you out." The two men sat down and glared at each other. There was a visible tension between them but it seemed that they were not going to engage in a fight. The waitress looked back a Jinn and Rem and apologized.

"I'm sorry about that." She said politely "What'll it be?" She was quite calm considering what had just happened.

"Can we get two steaks, some mead for me and some cider for my friend?"

"Sure thing." She said bubbly. The waitress turned around and walked back towards the bar and into the door that was next to it. The restaurant was not very well decorated and lacked personality; the walls were white and had wooden floors to match the wooden tables and chairs. Jinn couldn't complain though it's not like he needed a fancy restaurant to have a good meal.

"So whadya think of the waitress?" Jinn was surprised by the question and looked at Rem who was leaning back in his chair and smiling impishly.

"I don't know I mean she's cute I guess." Jinn didn't know why he was embarrassed but he didn't want to continue the conversation any longer.

"Hahaha, its ok Jinn there are some cute girls in this town I suggest you get to know of few of them." Rem still wore his impish smile and was enjoying making Jinn uncomfortable. Jinn looked down at his glass of water and proceeded to take a drink nervously. For the next few minutes the two were silent, Jinn sat and drank his water while Rem was looking through the various interfaces of his DCT. The waitress from earlier came through the door with a tray that had two steaks and their two drinks. As soon as the food was on the table Jinn instinctively grabbed the utensils and started devouring his steak. The waitress was surprised at how hungry Jinn seemed. She looked at Rem then back at Jinn.