2?

Yesterday had not been a great day for Sami Locke. Because of a sudden rainstorm on the assigned date for her group’s job, the conditions were totally lousy. The two mages in their team were able to provide charms that kept them from getting soaked in the rain, but the job itself was a total bust.

She, Hera, Mari, and Lea had only barely escaped the fight with the Hydro with their lives. In the end, Lea and Mari managed to save everyone’s hides using the former’s quick swordplay and the latter’s powerful hidden magic skill…

But none of that mattered, because whoever had posted the job had somehow snuck it in without providing a reward! Even with the reward, it still wouldn’t have been worth the danger.

Hopefully today would be better, because right now the four of them—plus Claudia—would be tracking down this anonymous employer. Maybe they’d be talking some sense into the jerk who had tried to pull one over on them, or maybe they’d be “talking some sense” into the jerk… with their weapons.

* * *

“Huh, ladies, it’s getting rather crowded in here, don’t you think? Not that I mind,” joked Hera, vaguely flirty as usual.

“I did say that perhaps we shouldn’t all enter at once,” Mari retorted, but calmly, as if simply stating a fact rather than trying to prove a point.

They were all packed into a suspicious-looking storeroom, which they had found by following the address given to them by Gina at the mercenary hiring desk yesterday. Claudia had agreed to stay behind outside, but even with just the four of them it was a little much.

“Should I leave for now?” the tall woman with the long, silvery hair asked apologetically, in her usual sharp but quiet voice.

“No Lea, you’re fine, stay with us,” sighed Mari.

Even in the short time the others had known the two of them, they could already tell that the healer had a soft spot for this girl. Apparently they had only just met on their journey to Spira City, so they must have become fast friends… Or maybe, there was even something more going on between them?

As they carefully studied the shelves at the back wall for a secret entrance, Lea murmured at them to step back. Quick as a flash, the boards covering the downwards staircase fell apart into several pieces, and she had already returned her blade to its sheath before a single splinter touched the ground.

Hera made a show of applauding for Lea’s display of skill, impressive as always. This wasn’t the first time Lea had demonstrated this blinding speed of hers. But, even when Sami asked her where she had learned to move like that, she could only say that she didn’t remember. It was always one enigma after another with this woman.

They descended the staircase and entered the neglected sewers below. It was dark, but of course Mari was able to provide light with her magic—

“Wait, Mari, dispel the light,” Sami spoke in hushed tones, “I see something ahead.”

Mari quickly complied, willing to trust the Lady’s judgement. Peering into the darkness, she saw it too: several figures a ways down the sewer tunnel, silhouetted by a magical light of their own. Sami’s group weren’t the only ones down here.

“These are probably the people we’re looking for, and they’re moving away from us. If they’re using a light, their eyes won’t be adjusted to the darkness. They won’t be able to see us, so we can get the drop on them,” Sami continued to whisper.

The others nodded—or at least they seemed to, it was difficult to see—and the four of them moved forward quietly but quickly.

Lea, always the quickest, had silently moved ahead of the other three. Sami, Mari, and Hera held just far enough back that their footsteps wouldn’t be heard, but close enough to move with Lea whenever she decided to strike.

That moment came quickly, as Lea darted out of the shadows and into the light, drawing her blade and holding it to the neck of the figure who seemed most likely to be their leader.

Mari and Hera stepped forward next, spell and mace at the ready… but Sami held them back. “Hey! What are you doing, who are you?” the leader of the trio of supposed ruffians protested. Seeing him now up close, Sami saw that he wore a noble cape, and had blue hair...

Moreover, Sami recognized that voice instantly, confirming her suspicions. “Mark, what are you doing here?”

“What, Sami? I could ask you the same question, couldn’t I?”

* * *

Mark Locke, Sami’s brother, had assembled a group of his own to take care of a job that had been posted for this area. Himself, Lance the archer, and Sue the mage; just about as rag-tag of a bunch as Sami’s.

“More importantly,” Mark berated his older sister, “Shouldn’t you be home? We agreed that you would stay with our father today, remember?”

Sami had forgotten. She felt bad, but sometimes these things happen.

Since they had already come this far, Mark and his group agreed to let Sami’s group tail behind, but only if they agreed to act as backup and nothing more. This was their job, after all, and there wouldn’t be nearly enough space for all seven of them if a fight broke out.

However, it turned out they needn’t have bothered with the arrangement, because there was nothing here. Sure, there was a room at the end of the sewers, with a table and recently snuffed out lights indicating someone had used it as a hideout, but whoever it was had already made their escape.

It was a remarkably unsatisfying conclusion, but there was nothing more that could be done. In a city this size, anyone who made it out into the streets could be gone in seconds if they wanted to hide. Sami’s group decided to cut their losses and head home, while Mark’s spent a little bit more time searching the surrounding area.

Another total bust of a job. How could this have gone any worse?

* * *

As per her promise, Sami went to her father’s side. He seemed to have been getting noticeably worse since yesterday, and she wondered why Mark hadn’t stayed home as well rather than galavanting about with his mercenary work. Hypocrite.

Whatever, Sami thought, wasn’t there meant to be another one of those doctors from another town visiting today? They must have gotten held up on the way here, maybe the rain slowed them down. She sure hoped that this one, whenever they got here, would have some insight as to what was going on.

Growing tired of standing and waiting in the hallway, she entered her father’s room and pulled up a chair. He nodded to her from where he lay in the bed, but didn’t say anything for a time. However, after several minutes of silence, he finally spoke.

“Sami… I understand that you and your brother have grown to be rather strong individuals. I regret that I have not done much to prepare you to take over for my position when I am gone, but I am sure that you will do well. You are not alone, and do not be afraid to ask Claudia for help.”

Sami could only look at him like he had lost his mind. “Father, you don’t need to be so serious! You’ll get better soon, and then you can teach us anything you feel like you need to.”

The middle-aged man chuckled despite himself. Sami didn’t see what was so funny about what she had said.

Sami’s father returned to the book he had set down by his bedside. Normally, Sami might have started to suffer from her usual boredom, but it was different this time. How could she worry about that when her father had been saying such ominous things, as if he was sure he would die?

Later, a maid entered with a tray of food for the Duke, and an extra one for his daughter, and they ate quietly. The day passed uneventfully in this way. There was no further word about that doctor who was meant to arrive… or other news about anything else.

No news, for instance, about an attack from Loma, which never came. No invading soldiers, no blue flames, no death or destruction on that day.

* * *

Mark could only heave a sigh as he entered the manor, leaving his boots and his weapon at the door. He and his group had made another attempt at tracking down the supposed criminals they had only just lost track of yesterday, but as expected they had no luck.

He suddenly noticed that Sami was also in the entry hall, and she was glaring at him. “Father’s condition has been getting even worse today,” she said, “We may have agreed that I would be the one to stay with him for now, and I know I might not have the right to say this after my own forgetfulness... but shouldn’t you be more worried about your own family than chasing down criminals?”

Of course she was right. Mark supposed that they would just have to call it even, then. The two of them met up with Claudia, and they all went to the Duke’s chambers.

Today, he was no longer in any shape for talking or reading, he only lay in bed, his face gaunt. Mark and Sami both thought the same thing: for things to suddenly get so much worse so fast, it probably wasn’t an ordinary illness. Something was wrong.

“Are… are we sure that none of the healers were able to detect any sort of poison, or curse?” Sami asked Claudia, though she found it hard to say this, as if voicing the possibilities aloud somehow made them more real.

Morose, Claudia shook her head, “It doesn’t seem possible, but… neither detection spells nor healing spells had any effect.”

Mark pounded a fist on the dresser. Not forcefully, but in this quiet room the thump made Sami start. She recognized the expression on his face, she’d seen it many times growing up together: he was trying not to cry. He may have been twenty years old now, but it was still a reasonable reaction, given the situation.

Sami felt the tears welling up in her own eyes, too. Their mother had been gone for as long as they could remember, but it was impossible to imagine life without their father. He was quiet and unsociable, often not even appearing for mealtimes, but if either of them had something they wanted to talk about he would always listen.

Sure, Sami and Mark still had each other, and Claudia was practically a surrogate mother to them at this point, but it wouldn’t be the same.

* * *

Tomorrow never came for Duke James Locke of Spira City.

The coroner’s final examination turned up a shocking, terrible result: traces of what was unmistakably poison was found in his body. But how? How could a poison so deadly have escaped so many attempts at identification until now, when it was already too late?

Sami and Mark worked tirelessly to find the cause. Many of the healers who had examined him were brought under interrogation, but they were unable to uncover any signs of foul play.

Consulting with Mari, the most proficient healer Sami knew, only brought up a single, vague clue: “It’s possible that the assassins used a spell or ingredient in their poison that disrupts identification magic. Not even the most powerful of healers can cure a malady that they’re not aware of.”

This gave them only one lead to go on: the fact that Mari had noticed the same identification-disabling effect the day they had tried to find the anonymous employers who cheated them out of a reward.

“I am so, deeply sorry that I didn’t tell you about this until now,” Mari had said as they discussed, “I hadn’t even thought it would be worth mentioning, I didn’t know that the situation with your father could be connected.”

Mark’s mercenary group tried their best to do their part. Lance was a street-savvy individual, and Sue, while still a novice, had begun dabbling in tracking magic. Their investigations turned up the worst possible result at about the same time as the poison analysis results arrived:

The connection between the two results was made terrifyingly clear. Assassins from Loma, who had been hiding in the city but managed to escape. Venomous Hydro blood, which Sami’s group had provided for them.

Sami had been directly responsible for her own father’s death, both in failing to stop the killers right under their noses, and in unknowingly aiding them in their plot.

* * *

Sami understood that what she did next was cowardly, but she felt like she had no choice. She was next in line as the Duchess, but there was no way she could take that position now. So, without telling Mark or Claudia, she fled the city.

She left for the southern border, the frontline where the Spira Alliance kept Loma’s attacks at bay. She may not have the right to protect Spira City as their Duchess, but she would instead do whatever she could as a soldier, in disguise if need be.

She might be running away, but she was not turning her back on the enemy.