Part 16
The main door to the inn was kicked open by an angry demon lady.
"Where's Cyeen Flameber?!" she shouted.
Most of the employees had gathered up to watch whatever was going down. The inkeeper left his room later than everyone, hastily descending down the stairs. He didn't even have time to properly wake up. This was the biggest commotion White Poppy had for a while.
The innkeeper lifted his hands slightly, signaling the demon to calm down. "Please keep your voice down ma'am. May I learn the reason behind your disturbance?"
Jess towered over the man. She got up to his face before leaning into his ear, whispering:
"I said... Where'z. Cyeen. Flameber?"
"D-do you mean Chen Flanner?"
Jess took a step back.
"Probally. Where'z she?"
The poor guy felt the threatening tone right down to his bones. He gulped before giving the demon the spare room key for Cyeen's room.
The employees soon heard another door kicking as the demon went upstairs. That sound was accompanied by a few blasters going off with silence following it. A violet haired individual was then escorted out of the inn on top of Jess, wrapped around her neck.
***
Cyeen tried her best to struggle out of the demon's grip. And the result of her struggle was finding herself slammed against a wall the next second. Getting slammed against something was starting become clockwork for her. Jess stared at the noble for a while before licking her teeth and talking.
"Ya ar late. It's noon alreadi."
Cyeen was absolutely astounded by Jess's reasoning.
"Wait, that's it? That's why you barged into my room and kidnapped me?!"
Jess looked like she couldn't care less.
"Yeh? Pretty reasonabel isn't it?"
The noble lady was at a loss for words. She slowly seperated her body from the wall and walked towards their set meeting spot. She kept stealing glances at the demon just to be safe on the way.
***
Zoen was sitting at their designated table just like before. He waved at the two to get their attention and waited for them to sit down, fixing his hair right before talking.
"So, it's our last day here thanks to Cyeen's little trick back at the auction." he handed a travel bag to each of the girls. "I already bought us horses for cheap thanks to Cherry so we're ready to go whenever you are."
Jess's eyes expanded in shock.
"Cherey?! She'z here?! Where?!!!"
Both Zoen and Cyeen pointed at the herb store across the trading district, making the demon woman immediately leave them.
Cyeen observed the speed at which Jess was rrunnin which was actually pretty impressive. It made sense for demons to be this fast since they didn't have an inborn ability like teleportation. Better write this down later.
She met Zoen's gaze for a second. The noble rubbed the back of her neck before speaking,
"How about we go on a little stroll while we wait for her?"
Zoen nodded.
"Good idea."
The two were walking all by themselves again. They visited tons of stores but mainly entered ones that sold vanity items, just looking at things they would buy if they had extra money.
Half an hour had already passed when they sat down on some hill facing Bami. Cyeen took a seat on the grass next to Zoen before taking the first word.
"So how'd you buy the horses? You didn't take our part of the money today."
Zoen shrugged,
"We could have bought the horses last week. I just wanted us to have extra money at hand."
Cyeen put her hands on top of each other.
"Makes sense makes sense... And one more thing, I thought I told you to keep her under control. Did you see how she treated me this morning? In front of all those people?"
Zoen sighed, it was obvious he was trying.
"I'm terribly sorry Cyeen. It's just... Jess is like a wildfire, I can't contain her with a few splashes of water. She normally isn't this unpredictable, I should say. She just doesn't know how to deal with grief."
Cyeen laid down, signaling him to do the same.
"Hm? And why is that?" she asked.
His eyes focused on the clouds above.
"Jess has never been good at expressing herself." The guy reached out to the clouds, trying to catch one. "They took our childhood Cyeen. We matured up eight years earlier. We had to." He looked away. "They took our freedom and with that, our hope. They carved those days into our memories, our souls, our skins."
The noble lady felt a wave of similarity hit her in the face. For some reason unknown she felt included in their story. The words he uttered weren't that further from what she'd say to describe her own life.
"How exactly?" Asked Cyeen, this time with genuine curiosity.
Zoen turned his head back to the noble.
"As I said before in the herb store, ask Jess for these. I have never seen someone as aware of the world around her as she is. My words would fall weak in comparison to hers."
Cyeen nodded. Then I hope I actually receive an answer from her this time. The two watched the clouds pass by for a second before helping each other get up. There was a thick silence as they slowly made their way to the herb store.
There were five people around a table as Zoen and Cyeen entered the store. Four of them had two cards laid in front of them with a few silver coins next to them. It was obvious they were playing poker.
Poker shouldn't have been... invented?
Cyeen tiredly rubbed her eyes. This shouldn't have been invented, that shouldn't have been invented, you realise you're only running your mouth right? Still, the voice was right about this, it was way too early for people in this age to be playing poker.
The violet haired noble looked at the people around the table. There were two shady men, an even shadier looking woman and a demon next to the table. There was also Cherry, who Cyeen couldn't make out for a second as the ex-pirate had been made into the dealer. Jess jumped up as the final card was turned, revealing her winning hand. The demon flipped all the people at the table off before sweeping the coins into her bag. She was only now realising the figures looking at her from the door frame. Jess leaned back to look at them and when she leaned forward again to ask for another game she realised the people had left.
Cyeen sat across Jess and glared at her.
"How much did you win?"
"Quadrupl'd a week's worth!" She exclaimed proudly.
Cyeen was taken aback. She knows how to multiply? A pirate like her? Her thoughts got interrupted by Zoen sitting next to her.
"I assume you knew the scolding you'd receive if you lost all your money, sister?"
Cherry budged into the conversation,
"She couldin't lose though. Obviously wi cheated! Right captain?"
Jess nodded, further disappointing her brother. Zoen spoke up once again.
"I assume you're done catching up then? We don't have all day, you know? So say your goodbyes and let's get a move on."
Jess and Cherry looked like little kids as they each said their goodbyes. Their closeness was as obvious as day and night.
After double checking everything, they went towards the place Zoen bought horses from. Upon arriving at the location they each jumped onto their designated horses, controlled their supplies one last time and started their journey once again.
***
Zoen was warning Cyeen about certain things. Now that they had horses and actual valuable items, they needed to sleep with a shift system, watch out for bandits and care for their horses regularly. While listening with one ear, she was noting all of these into her small book.
Cyeen felt herself be freed of the shackles holding her in place now that they had finally moved on from Bami. She hoped to come back for it someday though. It really was a beautiful town.
On the other hand, the demon woman was uncharacteristically quite and calm on the way, only interrupting Cyeen and Zoen's conversations when she wanted to ask something. Cyeen quietly noted that mentally.
Their first rest stop was inside a forest next to the path they were taking. Jess had returned to her normal self, actively messing with Cyeen. But it felt different than when they first met. It was obvious the demon didn't mean half of the comments she made and their training session felt more professional now that Jess wasn't trying to kill her.
When it was close to sleeping time, Cyeen went up to Jess and sat across her, putting the campfire they lit in between them.
Cyeen leaned forward.
"So, how did you turn your hands into claws that one time? Could you perhaps teach it to me?"
Jess looked confused.
"Well I cauld of cuorse, if ya are willing to change yar race that is. Whad I mean to say iz us demons have pritty good constrol over our bones. In fact I thinkg a demon's bones are partailly made out of muscle fibers?"
"I see, I see." said the noble, writing into her book. Now Jess had a question for the noble.
"That book—how d'ya even write in it? Ain't that a pure white feather?"
"Oh actually the feather is a bit grayer than the book so it allows me to barely see it."
It was now the demon's turn to say; "I see, I see." She looked at her sleeping brother before meeting the gaze of Cyeen.
"Cyee Flayberg, why are ya followin' us? Ya want revenge on me fo' beatink you at the ship?"
Cyeen sighed and laid back.
"Like brother like sister I guess. Well then, I'll tell you. I want to get stronger. Become someone even those 'players' fear, become someone who can decide the definition of good and bad. A noble aspiration you could say."
Jess scoffed.
"Ya just descriebed a dictator. Ya want to becom a dictator, Cyee." The demon cleared her throat. "Or rather, a queen would be more fittin' fo' ya status. Is that yar aspiration?"
"If I have to become one for people to take me seriously, yes, I want to become a queen." she said.
Jess looked away.
"In ya dreams, punk."
Cyeen completely forgot to ask Jess about her past as she got up.
"Get up, fight me. Hand to hand, see if you can beat me this time."
The demon didn't object. She simply got up. A moment later, they both had taken the same stance.
"Start" said Jess, rushing at the noble.
Jess quickly crossed the gap, faking a left hook again. Cyeen acted like she fell for the left hook as she got ready for the real attack that never came. Instead, the fake left hook was repeated twice, the second time actually being a real one.
The noble took the whole impact of the punch to her jaw but she still was standing up. Cyeen threw a sidekick followed by an attempt to sweep the demon's feet. This combo had led the girl to drop her guard which Jess noticed in an instant.
A side step by Jess that was followed by a strong uppercut. So strong in fact, Cyeen felt herself float for a second.
In the end, she had lost again but had actually stood her ground longer than before.
Cyeen spoke with a taste of blood on her tongue.
"Next time, I will win next time."
Jess was a bit proud of herself, not for beating the girl but because her lessons were actually showing their fruits.
"As I sait before, in ya dreams."