GEOVRU: IV

Chapter 6

Me, Idius and Krystal were sitting on the deck of the Lonesome Wanderer out in the open ocean. That was back when Idius and her were still dating, and when she didn't know I was a guy. Things were so much simpler back then. Krystal was sitting on the railing of the ship with her feet dangling off towards the ocean. Me and Idius were leaning against the railing, with Idius directly next to Krystal. I was adjusting my pirate captain hat when Krystal opened conversation.

"So how long have the two of ya known each other?" she asked, exposing the paranoid girlfriend stereotype for the first time. I leaned forward a little farther and looked at her from the other side of Idius, who leaned back so we could see each other.

"About a year or two." I told her, seeing no repercussions as long as I told the truth. "He is in the army with my dad, you know. So we've known each other for a while."

"You've got nothing to worry about babe. Caedes is more guy than girl." Idius butted in.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I screamed at him, acting annoyed but giving him a face that said: 'Don't give it away!'. He was right though. We shouldn't have kept that secret away from Krystal, I certainly paid my dues for that lie later.

"Nothing Caedes, nothing!" he said quickly. "If anything you're more girl."

"Shutup Idius!" I yelled at him.

He laughed.

Krystal stood there awkwardly not sure whether or not to laugh.

I decided to change the subject as fast as possible and talk to Krystal again. "So how's Scotland this time of year Krystal?" I asked, leaning forward on the railing again after hitting Idius on the arm.

"It's nice, it's not too cold, not too hot. It just started droppin around ten degrees last week... sorry that's not Fahrenheit. What is that? 'Round fifty fer ya?"

"Sounds right." Idius butted in.

"I can't wait ta get back there fer Christmas. I miss tha open fields 'n as much as I hate ta say it, the smell of haggis."

I laughed. "Don't like it?" I asked.

"Nah, never liked it. Taste is fine, but the smell and texture are just awful I tell ya."

"Yeah well... just hang in there babe, little while longer and you'll be back home."

"I hope so." Krystal told me, taking a sip from her drink as we sat on the staircase of one of the buildings in Phoenix Estate. "The Crimson Hawks bein down fer tha count would make my job so borin."

"You've got a job now?" I asked her as I sat down at a sharpening stone to further increase my sword's damage. I was glad I got to keep all this property even though the guild was disbanded. I had put up another clan request but it wouldn't last until the end of the week, just like the three I made before this one.

"Of course! Tha whole reason tha Snakes exist is ta counter the Hawks. Without ya in the picture I've been losing members meself." She sighed, leaning on her knees. "This sucks."

"Well what else would you expect? It's getting to be the end of the year, and the main directive of the guild has been fulfilled. People are bound to leave. The only way I can see you keeping numbers is making a new directive, like meeting the endgame at the top of the mountains, but that's been done before and you're still going to be losing the people that hated the Hawks."

"Endgame sounds like a fun lil' adventure." Krystal noted. "You wouldn't happen to want to join us on that goal would you?"

I smiled a little and continued sharpening my sword. "No... you know me, I'm the type of man that sticks to his own guns. I've gotta tie myself down by my own rules, you know what I'm saying?"