"Did you enjoy the party, Mister hero?" She asks in a teasing voice.
"Why yes I did, Miss hero." He throws her teasing right back at her.
"Ughhh. Please don't remind me. I never would have imagine something like this happening. It all feels a bit overwhelming."
"Definitely. If you'd have told me a month ago that running away from home would lead to all of this, I would've called you crazy." Reid jokes around, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah." She pauses for a moment, building enough courage to ask the question on her mind.
"So Reid… Why did you run away from your home? I didn't think anyone would ever choose to be an orphan."
"Oh, well… I didn't really have much of a choice. I was an illegitimate child of a lower class noble in the capital. My father's only goal in life was to improve his status, so when he found out that my mother was not only pregnant with his kid, but had also run away with them, he took action. The mercenary's guild eventually found her, but at that point she had already given birth to me.
They brought us back to him. We were both supposed to die that day but the head wife stormed in, upset by the whole affair. She was especially pissed off because she wasn't the one to give birth to his first son. Apparently after she saw me, she found me cute enough that she convinced my father to spare me.
He agreed to let me stay as long as I had a good talent. Of course, it would be as an 'adopted' guard or servant, not as his son. If my talent wasn't good, however, he said he would keep me on as a servant and make my life a living hell... but that wasn't true. He couldn't risk having a loose end like me out there, so if he didn't approve of my talent, I was as good as dead."
As Reid takes a short pause to collect his thoughts, Anna reaches across the table to hold his hands.
"What happened next?" She asks.
Reid was slightly flustered as he continued. "Well, I grew up in that mansion. I was something between a servant and a guest, but never really belonging anywhere. None of the servants really talked to me, since they didn't want to risk gaining my fathers ire. None of my 'family' wanted to deal with me either since they considered me an abomination.
People only ever talked about me in whispers behind my back, but with my senses I could hear all of it. It was uh… pretty rough… Thankfully one of the maids was good friends with my mom and I was able to convince her to help me. Together, we made a plan. My father didn't want to risk people finding out who I really was during a normal ceremony, so he bribed a member of the clergy to bring the divination crystal to our mansion, so we could do the ceremony there.
That's when she helped me sneak in and get tested early, without my father knowing. When I found out my only talent was enhanced senses, I knew what I had to do. I had to run. Rosie helped me make my ID plate by using the divination crystal and a regular piece of brass. We decided to remove the last name so that I wouldn't stand out too much. Before I left she promised not to tell anyone about what happened, or where I went. After that I started to make my way here, and well, you know the rest."
"Reid, I'm so sorry…" Tears begin to fill her eyes as she hears his tragic story. "That must have been so lonely…"
"Yeah… but I'm here now, and I'm really glad that I met you all." The boy smiles gently while looking deep into her eyes.
Anna's cheeks turn ever so slightly pink as she moves her hand to wipe her watery eyes. "I'm sorry I made you talk about something like that… Geez, now I feel like a jerk. Are you okay?"
Reid gently moves his hand to her face, wiping a single streaming tear she missed. "Doing better than you it seems." He jokes.
"Haa haa…" She says sarcastically. "Seriously though, I feel bad now. Is there anything I can do to make us even?"
"Well." He starts slowly. "If you want to make us even, then you could tell me about yourself."
She hesitates for a while before she finally responds.
"Well two sad stories might be a bit too much for one night… Are you sure you want to hear it?" She asks, hoping for a way out.
"Definitely." There was no hesitation in his voice.
Anna sighs before beginning.
"Alright… Well to start, my mom and dad didn't know each other very well when they had me. I heard that my dad was really reluctant at first to take responsibility and start a family with my mom, but eventually he seemed to come around to the idea. For a while they seemed to be a happy couple, and they were even planning to get married, but that all changed after I was born. It wasn't obvious at first, but they eventually realized that I was a mixed blood.
That was when the fighting started. They were both extremely disgusted with what I was. My dad said he was a pureblood fox beastkin, while my mother said she was a pureblood human. They both claimed the other was a disgusting halfbreed, and that they were responsible for causing me to be born this way. I… don't really know what happened next.
Some people say that she killed him and was thrown in jail. Others say that he made her 'disappear' before running away himself. And some say that they both refused to accept me as their child, saying that they never l-loved…"
Anna begins to get choked up. Tears threaten to fall once again, but she forces them back.
"It's fine, take your time. If it's too much you can stop. You don't have to force yourself." His voice was soft as he tried to comfort her.
Anna silently nods at his kind words.
After a few minutes of silence she begins her story again.
"That's when I got taken in by the other… by my moms coworkers. They all lived in one big house so they took turns raising me. They were a really weird bunch… but I loved them all. They were like a bunch of big sisters to me.
Once I turned 10 however, the owner said they could no longer keep me at the house. Everyone tried to fight his decision but nothing could convince him. That was when they brought me here. Its not too far away from my old home, but it's a little complicated trying to see them again."
"It's unfortunate that it's not easy to see them again, but I'm glad that you and your family still seem to care for each other. I'd like to meet them one day, if that's possible."
"Umm, well, uh, I don't know about that." She immediately panics, trying to think of some sort of excuse. "They're always super busy, so I don't know if they can…" She trails off.
Reid realized there was something odd about these 'sisters' of hers, but decided not to push her on it.
"That's fine. I wouldn't want to bother them if they're that busy. Don't worry about it."
"Thanks… sorry." Having to lie to his face hurt her deep down.
"Honestly the whole reason I became a hunter was for them. They did so much for me, that I just wanted to be able to repay the favor and get them out of…" She pauses, almost giving away the secret she so desperately wants to hide.
"I just really want to help them." Her voice was slightly panicked.
"I think that's a great reason to become a hunter, much better than mine at least."
"Well what was your reason?"
"It's a bit embarrassing, but after we met, Amadeus wanted me to make some goals for myself. I couldn't think of anything at all. Most of my life, I had been so focused on trying to survive and keep a low profile that I don't really know what I actually want. That's when he suggested seeking recognition, something to prove to the world that I'm here and that I belong. Being a hunter just happen to match that goal." He said while trying his best to hold back his embarrassment.
Anna giggles a bit at his reaction.
"That's nothing to be embarrassed about. I think all of us mixed bloods can understand that feeling. Honestly just hearing you say that makes me think the guildmaster got lucky when he found you. Maybe I did too." She said in a sultry voice.
Before Reid's could even process that comment, she stood up.
"Well, I'm getting tired, goodnight Reid."
"Ah, uh, yeah! Goodnight!" He awkwardly fumbles through his words.
"So close. You almost held it together the whole time. That was a marketable improvement though." Amadeus remarks.
"Shut up Amadeus." Reid says, not realizing he had spoken out loud.
Anna giggles to herself as she leaves the room.
⁘⁘⁘⁘
The mood inside the hunters guild was as jovial as ever. Lighthearted conversation and smiles were seen throughout. The only difference between today and any other day were the stares and whispers about one specific individual.
The individual in question didn't look particularly powerful or experienced. He was young, not too tall, and not very muscular either. By all accounts he was quite unremarkable, however there was one thing that caught everyone's attention; two bronze tags hung from his neck.
As a merchant town, rumors spread incredibly quick in Alcacia. In just a single day the story of some newbie hunter roughing up the vice guildmaster during his rank up exam had been told countless times. As with most rumors, the story got more over the top with each telling.
Some stories told of a boy raised by assassins, who ran away from that life to become a hunter. Others described the boy as the final student of a great sage. A few even went as far as to suggest he was an avatar for a minor diety. At the end of the day, there was only one thing that remained consistent throughout the stories; the boy had been given two bronze guild ID's.
Reid was quick to notice the curious gazes of his fellow adventurers. While he found it odd, his main concern was elsewhere, mainly on the young dark elf he had brought with him.
Faerie held tight to the hem of Reid's shirt. She tried everything she could to hide herself behind him. She was never good with crowds, and all the attention being pointed in her general direction was overwhelming.
Noticing her distress, Reid tried his best to push straight through to the staircase behind the tables of hunters, but he had no luck. At the very last table, a veteran hunter with graying hair stood up. He had a gold card around his neck.
The veteran casually walks out and stands in front of Reid, blocking his path. The boy gets a little nervous in front of the powerful hunter, but the man pays him no mind.
"Morning kid! I'm Keith Freese, B-ranker, nice to meet you!" He says while holding out his hand.
"Hi, I'm Reid. Can I help you?" He was confused, but still reached out to shake the mans hand.
"Ah, well I'm sorry to bother you, especially since it seems like you're in a rush… but you see, the youngsters 'round here are letting their imaginations run wild. They're bored and making up all these crazy rumors 'bout the new kid. Figured I'd come say hi and stop them before it gets out of hand."
"Rumors? About me?" He feigns ignorance.
"Yep. Must be something they get from the merchants, but young hunters 'round here love their gossip." He says while looking around the room.
Many hunters who caught his eye looked away in embarrassment.
"So how was the rank up exam?"
"Pretty terrifying. The vice guildmaster was holding back a ton and I still couldn't do anything against him." He replied earnestly.
"Haha, I know what you mean. He's like a completely different person when he's testin' ya. The first time I saw it I thought I was hallucinating." The veteran laughed.
"By the way, what's the deal with the two ID's? Is it like a memento or something?" He asked.
The idea of carrying around another Hunters guild ID was fairly common. It's often done to remember a fallen party member or family. It would be easy enough for Reid to make up a lie for the situation, however that wasn't the plan this time.
Against Aron's advice, the guildmaster had decided it was best not to hide the dual-souled talent or the fact that he and Amadeus could switch (unless they were in the presence of elves, then that becomes a whole different issue). He even went as far as to insist they show it off when the opportunity arises. This was a dangerous gamble, but the guildmaster insisted that it would speed up their plans significantly.
"Oh, that's because of my talent called dual-souled. There are actually two of us in here, so I have two ID's."
"Really? That's quite something. I've seen a lot talents in my day, but never one like that. That's really something." He was so surprised he ended up repeating himself.
The rest of the crowd, however, didn't quite believe his story. Whispers calling Reid a liar could be heard around the tables.
Reid understood their disbelief, thankfully he had an easy way to convince them.
"Here, I'll show you."
"Hmm?"
The veteran barely had a chance to speak before Reid's body changed right before his eyes. The boys hair turned white while his iris' disappeared completely, even his aura was completely different from before.
"Greetings. My name is Amadeus, pleasure to meet you." His monotone voice was in stark contrast to Reid's more animated speech habits.
"Whoa! Wasn't expecting that." The whole room went quite at the unexpected change.
"Understandable, our situation is extremely uncommon after all. Now if you'll excuse us." He says as he switches back with Reid.
"Oh, uh…" Reid wasn't expecting to be switched back in so quickly.
"Seems my friend is in quite a hurry. Sorry, but I gotta get going. C'mon Fairie." He looks back as the girl gives him a small nod.
"Oh no worries, sorry to bug you." Before he leaves, however, the veteran adventurer leans forward and whispers quiet enough that only Reid could hear him.
"Sorry for making you do this. Varen asked me to make a scene and talk to you when you got here, even wanted me to ask about the two ID's. I know having to talk about it out in the open like this was part of his plan, but as a word of advice from your senior; keep your cards closer to the chest. Hunting is a dangerous profession, and that isn't just because of the monsters."
"Thanks, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Reid understood exactly what he meant. He was all too familiar with how dangerous some people in this world could be.
With their conversation over Reid dragged Faerie along as the two quickly ascended the stairs to the second floor library.
As soon as they were out of sight, the guild hall erupted in noise. Reid, with his enhanced hearing, could tell that the rumors about him weren't stopping. If anything they might be even worse now.
"Thanks, guildmaster." Reid says sarcastically.
As they reach the top of the stairs they are greeted by a quant library. On the right-hand wall were three decently sized bookshelves, stocked with books of all sizes and colors. On the left was a small shelf that held a number of scrolls labeled with various locations. Directly above that was a map of the region sprawled out and framed on the wall. In the center of the room were two solid wood tables with four well made chairs surrounding each.
In spite of the well made furnishing, there was a small layer of dust throughout the room, evidence of how little the room was used. Upon noticing the state of the room, Amadeus couldn't help but comment his disappointment.
"What a shame." He thought.