Wufei paced back in forth in the lab in the cold stone castle. His instructor was late, as usual. The old man that was helping Wufei enhance his skills in the ways of magic was turning senile, hardly fit to practice magic anymore. After all, he was getting close to over a thousand years old. Soon the old man would die and his fortune would be handed down to his only student, Wufei.
But Wufei could care less about who the fortune went to. He wanted out of the castle and away from the crazy old man. Although he insisted it was for the best, Wufei did not agree.
The old man's methods were insane. What was he thinking! Bringing back a legendary deity like that?
He kept pacing and waited for the man to get there. When he arrived he would express his views, and if he needed to, he would leave the castle and do things his own way. Even if the most legendary wizard of all time came after him. What did it matter?
The heavy wooden door to the tower laboratory swung open and the crazy old wizard stepped in.
"How are ya doing, Wufei?" He asked, pushing his shades up on his nose.
"Hn," Wufei grunted.
"Oh I see," He said as he stroked his pointed beard, "You're still upset about me bringing that deity back to Mythrill, aren't ya? Well listen, Wufei, it's for the best, trust me."
"How could it be for the best if you are bringing back the only person who can raise the Black Dragon from its slumber? Do you want the vampires to rule?" Wufei spat.
The wizard hardly looked hurt; instead he chuckled. "That deity is also the only one who can use the dagger and destroy the dragon once and for all. And if I didn't bring her here, the Dark Lord would have. I'm just saving us a little time."
Wufei snorted. "And what about the mistake? What have you done with her?"
"You mean the girl I brought here accidentally? Don't worry, I gave the vampires her location."
"YOU WHAT?"
"Relax Wufei, I don't think they'll be able get her, I set her up with some powerful allies."
"It’s still not right. I want to leave your instruction." Wufei declared.
His instructor nodded slowly. "Very well, I'll let you go quietly," He said, "Although I am strongly opposed. Goodbye, Wufei."
"Hn, fine. Goodbye, Master Howard." Wufei turned and stalked out of the room. He magically collected his things, mounted his stag in the stables and rode off towards the thick forest ahead. He would not permit the lunatic to continue with his scheme. He was weary of that man; perhaps he was a spy for the vampires. Wufei shook the thought from his head and rode on. He was getting paranoid.
"We need a room, please." Quatre said to the man in the inn, "Preferably one with three beds."
The innkeeper snorted and looked at the two people standing behind him. "For the three of yas?" He asked. He spewed saliva as he spoke and it nearly hit Lee and Trowa.
"Yes,"
"Sorry," The innkeeper chuckled, "But the rooms ain't get no bigger than two beds. If you want a second room..."
Quatre looked at Trowa, who shook his head. "No, just one will be fine then."
The man nodded and lumbered over to where the keys were kept, he selected a set and then came out from behind the counter.
"Follow me," He said roughly. He slowly managed to get his fat body up the stairs and down the hall to unlock the door.
"This here's yur room," He said. He opened it for them and let them in. The two boys nodded and thanks and Lee followed them silently.
The innkeeper smiled at her as she passed, showing her his crooked, yellow teeth. Lee was disgusted and slipped into the room as quickly as she could.
Quatre stood by the door and waited for her to get in before approaching the innkeeper. "Sir, could you tell us if there is a slayer in town?" He asked politely.
"Got yurselves a vampire problem, squirt?" He laughed.
Quatre blushed but continued, "Yes sir, has he come by?"
"He might have." The man said casually.
Trowa walked over and slipped a few gold coins into the man's hand. "If you could tell us anything..."
The man looked at the money in his hands and his eyeballs nearly fell out. "Y-yeah, he was here last night. I think he still is. Tough lookin' guy with messy hair. Threatened to kill about four of my customers. Nice fellow, gave great tips..." He paused, as if wondering if he had said too much. "I'm sure he was a slayer, had a bunch of stakes and vampire repellants in his bag."
Trowa smiled, "Thank you," He said. "You'll tell us right away if you see him again?"
"S-sure thing kids, enjoy yur stay..."
He closed the door behind him as he left. Lee sighed with relief after the repulsive man left.
"So why didn't you guys get another room, if you had so much money?" She asked.
"Too dangerous." Trowa said as he bolted the windows. Quatre was checking the room for anything suspicious.
"You don't mess around, do you?"
"We can't afford to. If we fail this mission..." Quatre broke off.
"All clear," Trowa said from the other side of the room. "What do you say we go explore this town? See if we can't find this slayer?"
"Good idea Trowa, no sense wasting time."
So the three of them headed out the door and back down the stairs. The innkeeper watched them go, and Lee was sure he was going to rush up and go through their things.
Quatre seemed to be thinking the same thing because he said, "Did you put the guard on our bags, Trowa?"
"Yeah, can't trust the people around here."
"Good,"
They wandered the town all evening, looking for the slayer, but didn't find anyone who fit the bill. Of course, they didn't stray too far from the inn; it was getting late after all.
Finally, at around eight, they decided to call it quits. They headed back to the inn. But instead of going up to their room, they went to the inn restaurant to get some food. They had hardly eaten all day and were all starved.
They sat down at a table and waited for someone to take their orders. Lee skimmed the menu, and didn't recognize anything there. There were items like 'basted phoenix' and 'griffin breast stew'. It was so strange that she was afraid to order.
Finally, Quatre recommended the 'grilled phoenix with redberry sauce'.
"It won't make me sleep?" She asked.
Quatre laughed. "No, it's just the roots that make you drowsy."
"Oh, OK then." She agreed.
When their meals came, Lee was too hungry to even care what she was eating. The sauce proved to be very good and tasted something like cranberries and blueberries mixed. She looked at the colorful food the boys were eating and chuckled as they grimaced.
"We need to have a word with the cook." Quatre said as he shoved some green and red stuff into his mouth.
"Not the best," Trowa agreed, "But not the worst I've ever had either."
"I guess," Quatre sighed,
"How's yours?" He turned to Lee.
"Fine, I think."
"Lucky you, phoenix is hard to mess up. Ah well, we'll live, I guess."
Lee laughed and finished off the last of her grilled phoenix. Funny, she thought phoenixes were big firebirds. Oh well, she must have been wrong.
When they finished, they went back up to the room and Trowa immediately checked the bags to make sure they hadn't been tampered with.
"Nothings gone," He announced.
"Good," Quatre said, checking out the bathroom. "Should we work out sleeping arrangements first, before we do anything else."
"Yeah," Trowa looked around the room. "Lee, you can have the bed by the window." He said. Lee nodded.
"I'll take the floor." Quatre offered.
"I think I will," Trowa said. "I'll keep watch tonight. We may not have lost those vampires yet."
"Ok," Quatre sighed. "If you insist." He looked at Lee, who seemed unsure of what was going on.
"You look like you could use a bath," Quatre chuckled. "You can have first dibs." He pointed at the bathroom.
"Thanks," Lee muttered. She ducked into the bathroom and looked at the tub, which was already full of warm water. She looked at it for a while, and then she pulled off her clothes and climbed in. She sank under the foamy bubbles and let them massage her body. She didn't know how long the water had been in there, but it was still wonderfully warm. She dunked her head under and rinsed out her hair. The water never cooled. It was the most luxurious bath she had ever had. She was starting to get out when there was a knock at the bathroom window. Suddenly, a boy her age broke the window in and jumped through.
Lee gasped, fell back down into the water and wrapped her arms around her chest. The boy only glanced at her and went into the main part of the room. Lee quickly jumped out and wrapped a towel around herself.
She was just in time, because as the boy left the bathroom, she heard Trowa swear.
"Who are you?" Trowa cried.
"Miss Lee! Are you alright?" Quatre called to her.
"I'm fine, Quatre," She gasped. She peeked out of the bathroom at the now three boys there.
Trowa and the boy both had knives to each other's throats, while Quatre stood to the side. Quatre saw Lee at the bathroom door and ran over to her.
"Are you OK?" He asked worriedly.
Lee nodded and looked at the strange boy in the room. He had unruly dark brown hair and cold blue eyes.
"Were you looking for me?" The boy asked.
Trowa raised an eyebrow at him.
"My name is Heero Yuy," Said the boy. "I am a slayer. My friend here the innkeeper told me you were asking about me."
Now Trowa smiled. "So you're the slayer we've heard about. Yes, we were looking for you."
"Want to ask my help?" Heero snorted. "Forget it."
Trowa's face dropped. "What do you mean?"
"I mean forget it. I'm not a mercenary for hire."
"We just need a little help." Quatre but in. "We ran into some vampires in an elfin village and we're afraid..."
"I don't care," Heero tucked his knife away and started to leave.
"Please help us!" Lee cried, taking a step forward. Heero stopped and looked at her, apparently not noticing that she was wearing only a towel. He stared straight into her eyes and made her nervous.
"You can't tell me you went through all the trouble of breaking in here if you just wanted to tell us you wouldn't help us out."
"Hn," Heero said, but he didn't move.
"The Dark Lord himself may be after these two, we need your help."
Heero looked slightly more interested. "The Dark Lord?"
She nodded.
"You're sure?"
"Yes, positive."
Heero nodded and said, "Very well, I'll help you. But only so I can kill this Dark Lord. And if you're lying..."
"We're not!" Lee insisted. She pulled her towel tighter around her body and stared him down. A talent she was glad she had. Heero stared into her, as if evaluating if she was lying or not. Finally he seemed satisfied. "I believe you." And then he continued speaking, directly to her. "You three will meet me tomorrow morning at eight o'clock sharp downstairs. We'll go from there."
Lee nodded in agreement. "We'll be there," She said. Somehow he had just become the representative of their little group.
Heero left and closed the door loudly behind him. Lee stared at where he had left for a while before snapping back to reality.
"Miss Lee?" Quatre said, blushing. Lee looked down at her attire and blushed as well. "I'll just uh...go change." She dashed back into the bathroom and picked up her clothes. They were very dirty and she hated putting them on after just being clean. That was when she was the nightgown sitting on the sink. With it were a note and a bag with a few more things in it.
The note said:
Deer Miss, I notised yu didn't hav any cloethes with yu so I got yu some stuff wit the money yur frends gave me.
Yur frend, Harold
(The innkeeper)
Lee smirked and read the note again. Disgusting man or not, being cute had its advantages. She picked up the nightclothes and put them on, glad to have something clean to wear. As she read the note again, she felt bad for leading him on, in a way, and that he was so uneducated that he couldn't even spell. She stuffed the dirty clothes into the bag, deciding she would check out the contents later and went back outside.
"Where did you get that?" Trowa asked as she emerged.
Lee smirked and then blushed. "The Innkeeper, Harold, left it for me."
Trowa almost smiled and Quatre chuckled. "He did seem quite taken with you." He laughed.
Lee blushed again and sat on the end of her bed. She poked at the tan bag and pulled it open. Inside were another change of clothes and a pair of shoes.
"Oh, how nice of him." She pulled out the clothes and looked at them. They looked like they would fit perfectly. How had he learned her sizes? She shrugged it off; figuring anything was possible in the world of magic.
Quatre watched her eye the clothes and shook his head.
"WHAT?"
"Nothing," Quatre sighed. He put out the light and crawled under the covers. Lee did the same to her own light and snuggled into the bed. She felt sorry for Trowa for having to stay up. But he had offered so it was his own fault.
