Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction ❯ Satin Blaze ❯ New and Old ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Illianaka 
Orphen arrives in Totokanta, where he meets a few interesting characters... And one very familiar face.
Anime/Manga: Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 12.01.2002 | Updated On: 12.01.2002 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 368 | Status: Work In Progress
Orphen arrives in Totokanta, where he meets a few interesting characters... And one very familiar face.
Anime/Manga: Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 12.01.2002 | Updated On: 12.01.2002 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 368 | Status: Work In Progress
:: Satin Blaze ::
Sorcerous Stabber Orphen
Sequel to Velvet Flames
Disclaimer: I don't own Sorcerous Stabber Orphen or any of the characters mentioned.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Orphen+Azari, Hartia+Krylancelo, Rai+Hartia, eventual Orphen/Majic
Warnings: AU, language, cheap excuse for a cliffhanger (^^;;; Please don't kill me...)
Notes: *claps* Fun fun fun! I'm inspired for this, with many thanks to Kat-chan, the Ultimate Muse-chan, and Ivy-san, who is also an excellent muse. They both gave me fantastic ideas for this. ^^
Don't worry, Alz-san. Cleao and others will show up. ... Eventually. ^^;;
And Tri, calm down! oO;; I'm going to have it eventually, but I'm not sure WHEN. This is turning out to be a lot longer and more complicated than I expected.
Oh! Remember in chapter fifteen of Velvet Flames how I mentioned that Morikubo Shoutarou-san plays Goh from Pretear as well as Orphen? Well, if you look hard enough for Pretear music, you'll be lucky enough to find that Goh has an image song. It's called "The Great Journey" and it's one of those fun songs that you just want to sing along to once you know some of the lyrics. I'm listening to it as I type this and am picturing Orphen singing. ^^;; A li~ttle weird, but he has a REALLY great voice!
I wish the Orphen cast had image songs. T_T
Spell Translations:
Ware odoru, ten no roukaku - I dance in thee, mansion of heaven
Ware wa hanatsu, hikari no hakujin - I release thee, Light's Unsheathed Blade (I HOPE you guys know this one; I'm only explaining each spell once)
Orphen raised a hand to shield his eyes against the rising sun, a soft sigh escaping his lips. After nearly two days of traveling both on foot and by hitchhiking rides on carriages, he had arrived at the town closest to Shaltanou. It was just down the hill, yards away from the rim of the forest he was standing at. Civilization. Hopefully this one would be more helpful than the last. In all honesty, he was tired of searching.
Ever since leaving the Tower of Fangs, Orphen had changed quite a bit. He was no longer fifteen years old, for one. In the past four years he had grown taller, hardship having transformed his childlike features into a face that was almost scary.
Of course, that was a matter of opinion. His slanted eyes were described as either frightening or beautiful. His cool expression was either off-putting or intriguing. His personality and mannerisms were either rude and disgraceful or pleasant and smooth, depending on the mood one caught him in.
He refused to don the regulated robes worn by students from the Tower; he had ever since the day of his escape. He still kept the pendant, his only keepsake of the one he cared about most, though he had gotten rid of the old T-shirt and pants once he'd gotten a hold of some money and found a town with decent clothes. Over time he'd eventually found the style he really liked, which was incidentally what he wore now. It was basically just hiking boots, leather pants, a dull brown shirt under a dark gray-and-white vest and a red strip of cloth he wrapped around his forehead once, tying it off in a knot and allowing the tails to whip around in the wind as they pleased.
Orphen stepped forward, leisurely making his way down the hill. The lush field grass was soft, folding easily and neatly beneath his footsteps. Dew still sparkled on the ground, soaking through the stitching of his boots and dampening his feet, making them a bit cold. Actually, it was a pleasant feeling. He'd been traveling areas that had been like deserts as of late, so cold dew in the morning was actually refreshing.
He came to a stop at some sign mere meters from the first house. His arm came to rest on the somewhat faded sign, his sienna-coloured eyes taking in the crudely painted-on words. "Totokanta," he read aloud, a faint smile on his lips. Perhaps here would lie what he was searching for.
Something about the name was tugging at the strings of a memory hidden somewhere in the back of his mind, but when he tried to pursue the thought it vanished, leaving him vaguely confused.
Ah, well. It probably wasn't important anyway.
It was early morning, so adults were just beginning to open their shops, getting ready for a new day. Orphen was one of the early customers, so he could enjoy the tranquility before the madness began.
"Excuse us, SIR!"
The last word ended in practically a screech, grinding the back of Orphen's teeth together in a most horrific way. He turned and glanced down, seeing exactly what he had expected to: a small child, staring up at him with large eyes. It took him a moment to realize there were TWO short children; one giving him a dramatic, teary-eyed look and the other cowering behind him, head bent as though embarrassed and eyes hidden by large, rather ridiculous glasses.
"What?" he asked, the question coming out more irritable than it would have been if he were more awake. Orphen was not a morning person.
"Please," the loud child begged in a scratchy nasal voice that only succeeded in making the older man cringe. "We're desperately poor. We need money. Could a wandering pilgrim such as yourself do so much good as to lend us some?"
Orphen looked them both over critically before he said in a somewhat tight voice, "If you can afford a fur-lined cape like that, I doubt you're that bad off." With that said, he turned and began to walk off once more.
The children (at least the whiny one; the other was oddly silent as he followed his brother) tagged along, right on his heels. Several times they literally threatened to trip him up. They continued to ask for money, sometimes making an odd remark such as, "Someday when I, Vulcan-sama, become ruler of the continent, you will wish on your dream's grave that you lent the poor children just a bit of money!"
While Orphen's line of patience had grown relatively longer since he'd first departed from the Tower of Fangs, it was wearing thin very quickly with this brat and his silent partner following him everywhere. He purposely tried to lose them several times until he finally caved.
"All RIGHT," he snapped, pulling out a few good-sized coins from the small travel pouch tied to his belt and resisting the urge to ram it down The Annoying One's throat. "Just take it and leave me the hell alone."
"Ah, the sir is kind," the nasal one said in what was obviously false respect, bowing.
Before the two could disappear from sight completely, an idea came to the sorcerer and he quickly grabbed a hold of the back of their capes, smiling what many would undoubtedly consider an evil smile. "Let's say," he said smoothly, but in such a way the two were clearly creeped out, "that you return the same amount of money I lent you in a time span of... Two weeks?"
At first the loud one had looked frightened, but then some confidence returned when Orphen set down the two-week time span. "Deal." Obviously, he believed the sorcerer would forget about the deal by then.
"Good," said Orphen calmly. "See you in two weeks."
While not entirely essential to his trip, the encounter HAD been briefly amusing. Shaking his head and straightening up, a flash of something golden caught his eye. Something clicked in the back of his mind as he whirled to see where that odd flash of colour had come from.
There... From some boy. He was dressed in rather warm clothes for what was progressively becoming a hot day, but from his expression he was clearly used to it. Orphen would have gotten a closer look, but by then the streets were so crowded that when he blinked he lost sight of him.
He hadn't lost sight of the two kids, though. Once again, he stopped them in their tracks, this time lifting them high into the air.
"You two," he demanded. "Do you know about any annoying blonde brats around here?"
The loud one that had called himself Vulcan-sama blinked. "Annoying brats..."
"Blonde?" the other one finally spoke up, sounding quite thoughtful for someone so young. It mildly startled Orphen. "Well, everyone knows of the Everlasting daughters..."
"Just daughters?"
"Yes, sir."
Somewhat disappointed, Orphen fairly dropped the two and blatantly ignored Vulcan's cursing. He couldn't be sidetracked with small problems. He had to find the Sword of Baltanders at all costs. It made HIM swear violently when he realized he could have asked the two brats about it. The one with glasses had seemed half intelligent at least, even though he couldn't be too smart if he was hanging out with children like that Vulcan brat.
He glanced around, grimacing slightly at the sight of so many people. This was a bigger town than it seemed from a distance. Finding the Sword was going to take a while...
Needless to say, the first few hours of his random asking around had gotten him nowhere. Once he'd accidently asked the same person twice even! There were just too many people to keep track of.
Orphen sighed as he leaned against the wall of what looked like a tavern. He scratched the back of his head, contemplating his next step. The most helpful hint he'd gotten was that the local rich family, the Everlastings, had many precious items. It might be best for him to start there and work his way down, supposedly.
The mansion should be easy enough to find. While the town wasn't exactly small, most of the homes were. A mansion should stand out like silver in a gold pile, right? Musing to himself, Orphen used one hand to gently push himself away from the wall. In doing so he nearly ran headlong into a couple of children running by.
Glancing in the direction they'd gone, he saw that they were the same two he had seen earlier.
"Stop!"
Orphen inclined his head slightly. A young woman was running after them, though it was clear she was far too close to catch up. Her wavy golden hair fluttered as she ran, her blue eyes widening in surprise when Orphen caught her by the arms, avoiding collision.
"Something wrong?" he asked calmly.
She blushed, turning her head away. Clearly she had been brought up learning proper mannerisms. "Ah... I... It's silly, actually, I just dropped my purse and then--"
Orphen scowled; he didn't need to hear any more. He'd lent money to thieves. Well, that could be amended quickly and easily.
"Ware odoru, ten no roukaku," he muttered. There was a very faint prickling sensation in his arms, legs and forehead and then a moment later he was within two feet of the running children. But he wasn't going to give them the chance to knock him over!
"Ware wa hanatsu, hikari no hakujin!" He made careful the blast was harmless; it should only have knocked them back a few feet.
"AH! N-Niisan!" the one with glasses yelped pitifully. Orphen blinked in mild surprise; it had only stunned them. They were tougher than he'd given them credit for. No matter; stunning was fine.
He quickly knelt before them, snatching the cream-coloured handbag from the spiky-haired one he knew to call Vulcan. "Thank you," he said with false cheer. "But I'm sure she could have handled it on her own."
He stood, plating one foot firmly on Vulcan's chest. "Don't go anywhere," he threatened. "Or the next blast will be sure to maim you both." The smaller one, of whom Orphen still didn't know his name, looked frightened as he automatically clutched Vulcan's cape for some sort of support.
Removing his foot from the strange child's chest, the young sorcerer calmly walked back to the pretty young woman and fairly tossed it to her. "Here," he said lightly, smiling to put her at ease. "They shouldn't cause you trouble again." And before she could respond he was walking away once again, clearly not wanting or needing thanks.
"Now," he mused. "What to do with the two of you, hm?" He smirked. "Ah, I know. You can point out the Everlasting manor to me."
The timid one chose to speak. "Ah, sir--"
"You idiot sorcerer," Vulcan interrupted vehemently, pushing the smaller boy aside and spitting out the word 'sorcerer' as though it were a horrible curse. "That girl WAS of the Everlasting ma--"
Orphen delivered a swift, sharp-knuckled punch to his head, not too surprised when it didn't knock him out. These children WERE hardheaded. "Who's the idiot?" he asked in annoyance. "How old are you two, anyway?"
"Niisan is nearly eighteen, sir."
"DORTIN!" The one with the ridiculously large glasses earned a kick in the face. Orphen, however, was having difficulty digesting the fact the loud, annoying, overly arrogant brat was almost eighteen. The smaller of the two seemed to be the most honest, though.
"Fine," he muttered, grabbing Vulcan by the ear and lifting him into the air. "I need to keep an eye on you two. I don't trust you to not run away now."
Vulcan was ignoring him, however, as he shrieked at his little brother. "Dortin, what are you doing?! Kick him in the balls or share the same fate as I! We are one in the same, do you hear me?!"
"All right then," said Orphen, grabbing the one called Dortin by the ear as well. He didn't feel a bit guilty; anyone stupid enough to tag along with this idiot deserved similar treatment. "You can BOTH come with me. Your information may come in handy at some point." The last statement was referring to Dortin, naturally.
Ignoring the bemused and shocked stares of nearby onlookers, Orphen carried the two back to the tavern he had been near earlier. It had seemed a decent place to stay at, and it was only going to be until he found out whether or not the Sword of Baltanders was at the mansion, right?
"Hello," he called, walking through the front door as though he lived there.
A middle-aged man turned, seeming not surprised. "Welcome," he greeted. "May I get you anything?"
'Well, he certainly LOOKS the part of a tavern owner,' thought Orphen in half-amusement. He was some good few inches shorter than the sorcerer himself, wearing a hat that didn't completely cover the fact he was balding underneath. What hair he did have was a dusty brown, and his eyes were so small they were hard to tell what colour they were.
"Sure," Orphen agreed, dropping the two. "These two need to do a little work for me--"
"WHAT?!" bellowed Vulcan, his outcry going unnoticed by everyone else.
"--To pay back a crime they committed earlier today. I'd also like a room, just for me; I don't care what happens to these two after they're finished, and maybe an ice cream soda while we're at it," Orphen finished.
"Not a problem," the man replied, not at all bothered by the younger man's requests. He walked over to a doorway that lead to a short hallway and a flight of stairs. "Are you busy?" he called to someone unseen.
"Not right now, Father," came the reply. The voice was a little girlish; probably his preteen daughter. The observation was made dimly in the back of Orphen's mind, barely noticed by his conscious thoughts as he took a seat at the bar, glaring at the two midgets as though saying, "I DARE you to run off."
"Could you set up a room and bring down some cleaning supplies? We have a little extra help tonight."
"Okay!"
Orphen watched as the man walked back behind the counter, grabbing a tall clean glass. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" the sorcerer asked, sounding almost bored. He got no response as the bartender fixed his rather sugary drink and handed it to him "I might be here a while, so unless you don't mind me calling you 'old man' all the time," the young man explained, stirring the scoop of vanilla-flavoured ice cream before taking a sip.
"Old man is fine, actually," the bartender replied. "But if you must, my name is Argus Lyn."
"I set up a clean room and got the supplies, Father!" the girlish voice said as someone walked into the room. Orphen, still startled by the mention of the surname Lyn turned and stared.
It wasn't a preteen girl but a young teenage boy that stood there. He was staring at his father, wide, innocent blue eyes puzzled until he glanced in Orphen's direction. For a moment he simply stared until recognition registered. When it did, his eyes widened and the pupils contracted, his face paling beneath the soft cap of dusty gold hair. The armful of mops and the empty bucket slipped from his hands as they both spoke at the same time, one shocked and the other frightened.
"Orphen-sama?"
"MAJIC?"
Sorcerous Stabber Orphen
Sequel to Velvet Flames
Disclaimer: I don't own Sorcerous Stabber Orphen or any of the characters mentioned.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Orphen+Azari, Hartia+Krylancelo, Rai+Hartia, eventual Orphen/Majic
Warnings: AU, language, cheap excuse for a cliffhanger (^^;;; Please don't kill me...)
Notes: *claps* Fun fun fun! I'm inspired for this, with many thanks to Kat-chan, the Ultimate Muse-chan, and Ivy-san, who is also an excellent muse. They both gave me fantastic ideas for this. ^^
Don't worry, Alz-san. Cleao and others will show up. ... Eventually. ^^;;
And Tri, calm down! oO;; I'm going to have it eventually, but I'm not sure WHEN. This is turning out to be a lot longer and more complicated than I expected.
Oh! Remember in chapter fifteen of Velvet Flames how I mentioned that Morikubo Shoutarou-san plays Goh from Pretear as well as Orphen? Well, if you look hard enough for Pretear music, you'll be lucky enough to find that Goh has an image song. It's called "The Great Journey" and it's one of those fun songs that you just want to sing along to once you know some of the lyrics. I'm listening to it as I type this and am picturing Orphen singing. ^^;; A li~ttle weird, but he has a REALLY great voice!
I wish the Orphen cast had image songs. T_T
Spell Translations:
Ware odoru, ten no roukaku - I dance in thee, mansion of heaven
Ware wa hanatsu, hikari no hakujin - I release thee, Light's Unsheathed Blade (I HOPE you guys know this one; I'm only explaining each spell once)
Orphen raised a hand to shield his eyes against the rising sun, a soft sigh escaping his lips. After nearly two days of traveling both on foot and by hitchhiking rides on carriages, he had arrived at the town closest to Shaltanou. It was just down the hill, yards away from the rim of the forest he was standing at. Civilization. Hopefully this one would be more helpful than the last. In all honesty, he was tired of searching.
Ever since leaving the Tower of Fangs, Orphen had changed quite a bit. He was no longer fifteen years old, for one. In the past four years he had grown taller, hardship having transformed his childlike features into a face that was almost scary.
Of course, that was a matter of opinion. His slanted eyes were described as either frightening or beautiful. His cool expression was either off-putting or intriguing. His personality and mannerisms were either rude and disgraceful or pleasant and smooth, depending on the mood one caught him in.
He refused to don the regulated robes worn by students from the Tower; he had ever since the day of his escape. He still kept the pendant, his only keepsake of the one he cared about most, though he had gotten rid of the old T-shirt and pants once he'd gotten a hold of some money and found a town with decent clothes. Over time he'd eventually found the style he really liked, which was incidentally what he wore now. It was basically just hiking boots, leather pants, a dull brown shirt under a dark gray-and-white vest and a red strip of cloth he wrapped around his forehead once, tying it off in a knot and allowing the tails to whip around in the wind as they pleased.
Orphen stepped forward, leisurely making his way down the hill. The lush field grass was soft, folding easily and neatly beneath his footsteps. Dew still sparkled on the ground, soaking through the stitching of his boots and dampening his feet, making them a bit cold. Actually, it was a pleasant feeling. He'd been traveling areas that had been like deserts as of late, so cold dew in the morning was actually refreshing.
He came to a stop at some sign mere meters from the first house. His arm came to rest on the somewhat faded sign, his sienna-coloured eyes taking in the crudely painted-on words. "Totokanta," he read aloud, a faint smile on his lips. Perhaps here would lie what he was searching for.
Something about the name was tugging at the strings of a memory hidden somewhere in the back of his mind, but when he tried to pursue the thought it vanished, leaving him vaguely confused.
Ah, well. It probably wasn't important anyway.
It was early morning, so adults were just beginning to open their shops, getting ready for a new day. Orphen was one of the early customers, so he could enjoy the tranquility before the madness began.
"Excuse us, SIR!"
The last word ended in practically a screech, grinding the back of Orphen's teeth together in a most horrific way. He turned and glanced down, seeing exactly what he had expected to: a small child, staring up at him with large eyes. It took him a moment to realize there were TWO short children; one giving him a dramatic, teary-eyed look and the other cowering behind him, head bent as though embarrassed and eyes hidden by large, rather ridiculous glasses.
"What?" he asked, the question coming out more irritable than it would have been if he were more awake. Orphen was not a morning person.
"Please," the loud child begged in a scratchy nasal voice that only succeeded in making the older man cringe. "We're desperately poor. We need money. Could a wandering pilgrim such as yourself do so much good as to lend us some?"
Orphen looked them both over critically before he said in a somewhat tight voice, "If you can afford a fur-lined cape like that, I doubt you're that bad off." With that said, he turned and began to walk off once more.
The children (at least the whiny one; the other was oddly silent as he followed his brother) tagged along, right on his heels. Several times they literally threatened to trip him up. They continued to ask for money, sometimes making an odd remark such as, "Someday when I, Vulcan-sama, become ruler of the continent, you will wish on your dream's grave that you lent the poor children just a bit of money!"
While Orphen's line of patience had grown relatively longer since he'd first departed from the Tower of Fangs, it was wearing thin very quickly with this brat and his silent partner following him everywhere. He purposely tried to lose them several times until he finally caved.
"All RIGHT," he snapped, pulling out a few good-sized coins from the small travel pouch tied to his belt and resisting the urge to ram it down The Annoying One's throat. "Just take it and leave me the hell alone."
"Ah, the sir is kind," the nasal one said in what was obviously false respect, bowing.
Before the two could disappear from sight completely, an idea came to the sorcerer and he quickly grabbed a hold of the back of their capes, smiling what many would undoubtedly consider an evil smile. "Let's say," he said smoothly, but in such a way the two were clearly creeped out, "that you return the same amount of money I lent you in a time span of... Two weeks?"
At first the loud one had looked frightened, but then some confidence returned when Orphen set down the two-week time span. "Deal." Obviously, he believed the sorcerer would forget about the deal by then.
"Good," said Orphen calmly. "See you in two weeks."
While not entirely essential to his trip, the encounter HAD been briefly amusing. Shaking his head and straightening up, a flash of something golden caught his eye. Something clicked in the back of his mind as he whirled to see where that odd flash of colour had come from.
There... From some boy. He was dressed in rather warm clothes for what was progressively becoming a hot day, but from his expression he was clearly used to it. Orphen would have gotten a closer look, but by then the streets were so crowded that when he blinked he lost sight of him.
He hadn't lost sight of the two kids, though. Once again, he stopped them in their tracks, this time lifting them high into the air.
"You two," he demanded. "Do you know about any annoying blonde brats around here?"
The loud one that had called himself Vulcan-sama blinked. "Annoying brats..."
"Blonde?" the other one finally spoke up, sounding quite thoughtful for someone so young. It mildly startled Orphen. "Well, everyone knows of the Everlasting daughters..."
"Just daughters?"
"Yes, sir."
Somewhat disappointed, Orphen fairly dropped the two and blatantly ignored Vulcan's cursing. He couldn't be sidetracked with small problems. He had to find the Sword of Baltanders at all costs. It made HIM swear violently when he realized he could have asked the two brats about it. The one with glasses had seemed half intelligent at least, even though he couldn't be too smart if he was hanging out with children like that Vulcan brat.
He glanced around, grimacing slightly at the sight of so many people. This was a bigger town than it seemed from a distance. Finding the Sword was going to take a while...
Needless to say, the first few hours of his random asking around had gotten him nowhere. Once he'd accidently asked the same person twice even! There were just too many people to keep track of.
Orphen sighed as he leaned against the wall of what looked like a tavern. He scratched the back of his head, contemplating his next step. The most helpful hint he'd gotten was that the local rich family, the Everlastings, had many precious items. It might be best for him to start there and work his way down, supposedly.
The mansion should be easy enough to find. While the town wasn't exactly small, most of the homes were. A mansion should stand out like silver in a gold pile, right? Musing to himself, Orphen used one hand to gently push himself away from the wall. In doing so he nearly ran headlong into a couple of children running by.
Glancing in the direction they'd gone, he saw that they were the same two he had seen earlier.
"Stop!"
Orphen inclined his head slightly. A young woman was running after them, though it was clear she was far too close to catch up. Her wavy golden hair fluttered as she ran, her blue eyes widening in surprise when Orphen caught her by the arms, avoiding collision.
"Something wrong?" he asked calmly.
She blushed, turning her head away. Clearly she had been brought up learning proper mannerisms. "Ah... I... It's silly, actually, I just dropped my purse and then--"
Orphen scowled; he didn't need to hear any more. He'd lent money to thieves. Well, that could be amended quickly and easily.
"Ware odoru, ten no roukaku," he muttered. There was a very faint prickling sensation in his arms, legs and forehead and then a moment later he was within two feet of the running children. But he wasn't going to give them the chance to knock him over!
"Ware wa hanatsu, hikari no hakujin!" He made careful the blast was harmless; it should only have knocked them back a few feet.
"AH! N-Niisan!" the one with glasses yelped pitifully. Orphen blinked in mild surprise; it had only stunned them. They were tougher than he'd given them credit for. No matter; stunning was fine.
He quickly knelt before them, snatching the cream-coloured handbag from the spiky-haired one he knew to call Vulcan. "Thank you," he said with false cheer. "But I'm sure she could have handled it on her own."
He stood, plating one foot firmly on Vulcan's chest. "Don't go anywhere," he threatened. "Or the next blast will be sure to maim you both." The smaller one, of whom Orphen still didn't know his name, looked frightened as he automatically clutched Vulcan's cape for some sort of support.
Removing his foot from the strange child's chest, the young sorcerer calmly walked back to the pretty young woman and fairly tossed it to her. "Here," he said lightly, smiling to put her at ease. "They shouldn't cause you trouble again." And before she could respond he was walking away once again, clearly not wanting or needing thanks.
"Now," he mused. "What to do with the two of you, hm?" He smirked. "Ah, I know. You can point out the Everlasting manor to me."
The timid one chose to speak. "Ah, sir--"
"You idiot sorcerer," Vulcan interrupted vehemently, pushing the smaller boy aside and spitting out the word 'sorcerer' as though it were a horrible curse. "That girl WAS of the Everlasting ma--"
Orphen delivered a swift, sharp-knuckled punch to his head, not too surprised when it didn't knock him out. These children WERE hardheaded. "Who's the idiot?" he asked in annoyance. "How old are you two, anyway?"
"Niisan is nearly eighteen, sir."
"DORTIN!" The one with the ridiculously large glasses earned a kick in the face. Orphen, however, was having difficulty digesting the fact the loud, annoying, overly arrogant brat was almost eighteen. The smaller of the two seemed to be the most honest, though.
"Fine," he muttered, grabbing Vulcan by the ear and lifting him into the air. "I need to keep an eye on you two. I don't trust you to not run away now."
Vulcan was ignoring him, however, as he shrieked at his little brother. "Dortin, what are you doing?! Kick him in the balls or share the same fate as I! We are one in the same, do you hear me?!"
"All right then," said Orphen, grabbing the one called Dortin by the ear as well. He didn't feel a bit guilty; anyone stupid enough to tag along with this idiot deserved similar treatment. "You can BOTH come with me. Your information may come in handy at some point." The last statement was referring to Dortin, naturally.
Ignoring the bemused and shocked stares of nearby onlookers, Orphen carried the two back to the tavern he had been near earlier. It had seemed a decent place to stay at, and it was only going to be until he found out whether or not the Sword of Baltanders was at the mansion, right?
"Hello," he called, walking through the front door as though he lived there.
A middle-aged man turned, seeming not surprised. "Welcome," he greeted. "May I get you anything?"
'Well, he certainly LOOKS the part of a tavern owner,' thought Orphen in half-amusement. He was some good few inches shorter than the sorcerer himself, wearing a hat that didn't completely cover the fact he was balding underneath. What hair he did have was a dusty brown, and his eyes were so small they were hard to tell what colour they were.
"Sure," Orphen agreed, dropping the two. "These two need to do a little work for me--"
"WHAT?!" bellowed Vulcan, his outcry going unnoticed by everyone else.
"--To pay back a crime they committed earlier today. I'd also like a room, just for me; I don't care what happens to these two after they're finished, and maybe an ice cream soda while we're at it," Orphen finished.
"Not a problem," the man replied, not at all bothered by the younger man's requests. He walked over to a doorway that lead to a short hallway and a flight of stairs. "Are you busy?" he called to someone unseen.
"Not right now, Father," came the reply. The voice was a little girlish; probably his preteen daughter. The observation was made dimly in the back of Orphen's mind, barely noticed by his conscious thoughts as he took a seat at the bar, glaring at the two midgets as though saying, "I DARE you to run off."
"Could you set up a room and bring down some cleaning supplies? We have a little extra help tonight."
"Okay!"
Orphen watched as the man walked back behind the counter, grabbing a tall clean glass. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" the sorcerer asked, sounding almost bored. He got no response as the bartender fixed his rather sugary drink and handed it to him "I might be here a while, so unless you don't mind me calling you 'old man' all the time," the young man explained, stirring the scoop of vanilla-flavoured ice cream before taking a sip.
"Old man is fine, actually," the bartender replied. "But if you must, my name is Argus Lyn."
"I set up a clean room and got the supplies, Father!" the girlish voice said as someone walked into the room. Orphen, still startled by the mention of the surname Lyn turned and stared.
It wasn't a preteen girl but a young teenage boy that stood there. He was staring at his father, wide, innocent blue eyes puzzled until he glanced in Orphen's direction. For a moment he simply stared until recognition registered. When it did, his eyes widened and the pupils contracted, his face paling beneath the soft cap of dusty gold hair. The armful of mops and the empty bucket slipped from his hands as they both spoke at the same time, one shocked and the other frightened.
"Orphen-sama?"
"MAJIC?"