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~ * ~
So far Feitan had killed eleven, no twelve, players and had acquired a decent selection of cards. Persuading them to hand over their cards was easy enough for someone with his skills, and he wondered if Phinks had been doing as well. Probably. Most of the players he'd found wandering around had been pathetic, and even the stronger ones had not managed to put up anything resembling an interesting fight.
Right now he was getting bored and there were still three days left until he was supposed to meet Phinks in Masadora. Feitan pulled out the map, there was a city not far ahead and it might be worth a visit. Besides making it easier to find players to ambush, he'd been roughing it for four days now, and the thought of a nice room with a bed and a shower was starting to feel very tempting. Not to mention a proper meal at a decent restaurant. The food and drinks he could get from the cards were...adequate, he supposed, but it would be nice with some real food as well.
Having made the decision he continued forward, quickening his pace and it wasn't long until he could see it. He stopped, frowning. The city itself, Aiai, looked decent enough, sprawled over a hill, giving it a castle-like silhouette. Above it, however, a huge pink heart-shaped balloon, or whatever nen made illusion it might be, was hovering. Feitan's eyes narrowed suspiciously. While he didn't have anything against the color as such, he did like both sunsets and Machi's hair for example, anything involving floating pink hearts was definitely not up his alley. He much preferred his hearts anatomical, dark red and bloody so he could observe their last shivering beats.
This city looked girly. And not in a good way.
Still, right now he'd take girly over spending another night uncomfortably perched up in a tree so he squared his shoulders and stomped ahead. After all, how bad could it be?
Once inside the walls of the city he soon reached what he assumed was one of the main squares. A fair amount of people were strolling around, idly sipping drinks and eating snacks or popping into one of the many shops that surrounded it. The atmosphere was actually pleasant, so he figured he might as well explore a bit. Perhaps find a shop where he could sell some of his cards, more to free space in his game book than an actual need for money. He already had plenty.
The smell of freshly ground coffee reached his nose and he promptly turned toward the small coffeehouse he had just passed. A girl somehow managed to trip over her own feet, falling on her face and spilling books all over the place. Feitan had smoothly stepped out of the way when he'd noticed her beginning to fall, now he frowned at her clumsiness as she blindly patted the ground around her in search of her glasses.
'Stupid,' he muttered, quickly turning his attention back to more important things.
While he had obtained a few cards for coffee, the liquid they produced had been stale, very bitter, and practically undrinkable. Now this, this was the real thing. He sniffed the air in the shop appreciatively, freshly ground and freshly brewed, their coffee smelled amazing. Feitan ordered a big cup to go, and carefully made his way back out, taking a long sip of his prize.
The clumsy girl was still on the ground, some fool had actually stopped to help her and was handing her the things she had dropped while she was gazing admiringly at him. Feitan shuddered and moved on.
Not long after he found a small shop dealing in books and game cards and he ventured inside. He sold off a fair amount of the cards he had no use for and placed his new currency cards, several 10.000 jennys, as well as some smaller ones, back in his binder. He also picked up a map of the city and a book featuring one of his favorite artists. It would be nice to have something to read later he thought. While he mostly enjoyed the game, it was terribly boring from time to time when there wasn't anything specific that needed to be done, or any players to interrogate.
The shopkeeper had recommended a few places where he could stay, so Feitan headed further up the hill as the man had suggested. Passing a narrow alley he noticed three men threatening a young girl, and he stopped briefly to take a look. Professional interest only, of course. While he himself was not interested in assaulting random women, it could be fun to watch a kidnapping. After all, he had orchestrated quite a few, usually to take the victim back to one of the Troupe's hideouts for interrogation, and, inevitably, death.
'Let me go or I'll scream,' he heard the girl say, not very convincing, and the men surrounding her laughed raucously. Feitan sighed. Pathetic amateurs. They should have had her either tied up and gagged, or unconscious by now. Whatever these guys were doing, they were doing it wrong. He shook his head and moved on.
The shops thinned out in favor of more residential buildings, restaurants, and hotels and it wasn't long until he found himself standing outside one, a pleasant old-fashioned wooden house, staring at the sign hanging over the door. 'Hearts to Hearts Inn' it said in huge merry and very pink letters. Feitan frowned, while the building seemed perfectly fine the name set his teeth on edge. Surely there must be other places, with more dignified names. He turned to leave when somebody bumped into him, hard, and he swore at his lack of attentiveness, spun around, aura gathered around his hand ready to take out this new opponent.
A young woman was sitting on the ground in front of him, a half-eaten sandwich between her teeth. Despite the way she was glaring at him she looked harmless enough so he relaxed his aura again, better not to cause a scene right here on a busy street. He returned her glare with one of his own, then turned to leave.
'Hey, aren't you going to apologize?' she asked waspishly, and he stopped. The audacity.
'You hit me,' he snarled irritably, 'You apologize!'
Her face took on a shocked expression.
'I did not,' she objected, getting up on her feet, taking a step closer to him.
Like most people, she was taller than him, and he gave her an icy look. She had guts, he'd give her that, brave but clearly not very smart. He waved a hand dismissively in her direction.
'Go away stupid girl.'
Her enormous blue eyes widened and her hand moved toward him. He stared at it, surely she wasn't going to...then her hand reached his shoulder and she pushed him. He blinked, she actually pushed him. Instinctively he gave her a small shove back, he really didn't put any strength in it, but she still flew back and landed ungracefully on her behind, skidding further until a house stopped her momentum.
Huffing, he turned and continued up the street, ignoring the looks of the people who had witnessed their little scene. Perhaps he should find a hotel in a different part of town instead?
Somebody tugged at his sleeve from behind, surely it wasn't...but yes, there she was, staring at him like he was at fault here.
'Go away, idiot girl.'
'After that, the least you can do is buy me dinner,' she said, staring down at him. Feitan glanced around. Beheading her in front of all these people was probably a bad idea. He sighed.
'No will. You go, leave me alone.'
'I will not,' she claimed, standing with her arms crossed, blocking his way. 'Dinner. And maybe drinks after.' He stared at her, thinking he must have heard her wrong.
'What? You asking date?'
'Yes,' she beamed at him, and he pinched his arm, hoping he'd wake up from what was clearly a nightmare.
While he in no way was inexperienced with women nobody had ever jumped him like this, and he found he didn't like it. Definitely not. He glared at her, she obviously could not take a hint and was just standing there smiling at him. It was ridiculous, and anyway, she wasn't his type. She was too tall, too bossy, too stupid, and on top of all that, she was wearing some ridiculous pink dress. He sighed, what was it with this town and the color pink?
'Dinner,' she repeated, 'and maybe drinks after.'
He groaned, all he wanted was some proper food, a shower, and a quiet evening in a comfortable room with his new book. Still, his stomach was growling at the mention of food, and he looked at her again. She appeared to be well-fed and healthy, so if she was a local perhaps she could be useful after all.
'You know place?' he asked, 'Good food? Clean?'
The girl beamed at him again. 'You accept? You will take me to dinner?'
'Fine,' he grunted, 'If place good, I buy food.'
Her eyes glazed over for a second, then she smiled, 'I accept too.'
Despite his objections, she hooked her arm in his and dragged him with her.
'I know just the place.'
The restaurant she took him to was better than he had expected. The tables were scrubbed spotless, the food was fresh, beautifully plated, and delicious. The beer he had ordered with it was a good brand and served icy cold and foamy. It was perfect, except for one minor detail. He gave the girl sitting opposite him another hostile glare. She was chatting happily, obviously not caring if he listened or not. He was not, of course, but the constant noise was grating on his ears even if he was ignoring the words.
Why couldn't she just leave?
Feitan pointed to her almost empty plate, 'You done? I pay, so you go now.'
'No, no, we need more drinks, and then find a room.'
'No. Agreed buy food. No more. Can find room myself.'
'Dinner, and drinks after,' she repeated it like a mantra and he sighed.
When the waitress came to clear their plates, he ordered another beer, and the girl ordered a drink with a weird name involving beaches and sunsets. The waitress swiftly returned and Feitan stared at the monstrosity sitting next to his glass on the small tray. It was pink, of course, and seemed to hold more decorations than actual liquid. Everything from fruits, flowers, and heart-shaped ice cubes had been stuffed into the tall glass, together with a straw and a small paper umbrella. Both pink.
The girl slurped it up quickly and he ordered another for her. If she got drunk enough he could easily sneak away and get on with his evening. It seemed a better plan than to kill her. Unless she had any interesting cards that was, but he doubted that. She didn't seem the type to take the game seriously.
He took a sip of beer and sighed happily, licking the foam from his lips.
His opportunity came earlier than expected when she suddenly got up and excused herself saying that she had to go and 'powder her nose', whatever that meant. From what he could see there was absolutely nothing wrong with her nose, in fact, it probably hadn't been broken even once. If he was honest with himself, he'd have to admit that he actually found her rather pretty. Still annoying, of course. More annoying than pretty.
As soon as she turned around the corner Feitan acted quickly. He gulped down the last of his beer and paid their bill with a rather large note, not bothering to get any change back. Then he bolted.
Making full use of his impressive speed Feitan sprinted across the rooftops, and soon found himself in the other end of town, stopping in a narrow back alley. He took a deep breath, he was finally alone again. A rattling sound behind him made him spin around quickly, half expecting to see the girl standing there, but to his relief, it was only a big orange cat that had managed to pry off the metal lid of one of the garbage bins lined up against the tall building.
Almost wishing some stupid sod would try to rob him he started walking, trying to shrug off the evening's events. Since when did he run away from silly girls?
Embarrassment filled him, he was part of the Phantom Troupe after all, a master thief and expert torturer and not in the habit of running from anyone or anything. He sighed, he'd probably feel better if he killed someone.
Another sound, a soft meow made him look down at the big cat from before, it was staring at him with huge golden eyes, almost luminescent in the weak light. Despite himself he smiled and squatted down, holding his hand out toward it. The cat gave him a suspicious look, then bravely stepped forward, butting its head against Feitan's hand.
'You good cat, no scared,' Feitan said, scratching a furry cheek, enjoying the steady purr coming from the animal's throat and chest.
Something smooth and cool touched his neck, going under his bandana, and he immediately spun around, hand instinctively gathering its nen claws, thrusting them deep into the chest of the attacker. The cat gave a surprisingly human scream and darted off, its tail puffy in fear, while Feitan dumbly stared into a familiar face, now slumping to the side, long blonde hair falling over it.
'Stupid,' he muttered. Why the hell had she tried to sneak up on him like that? How had she even managed to find him? She must have some form of tracking ability, he thought. Or, she must have had one. Now he watched her body dissolve in small flashes of bluish light that blinked and disappeared.
Oddly, her death left a bad taste in his mouth and he wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if he'd liked her, in fact, he had wanted to kill her several times already. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now, so he continued walking until he reached a major street. Surprisingly, quite a lot of people were still out and about, and some of the small shops were open despite the late hour.
He strolled down a cobbled street until he reached another square and noticed a huge gray building. While it might not qualify as ominous looking, it was blessedly free of hearts and anything even remotely pink. 'The Aiai Best Hotel' the modest wooden sign read. Feitan grinned, it would be perfect. He eagerly climbed the stairs to the door and pushed it open. Minutes later he had the key to a pleasant room with an attached bathroom in his hand, and he sighed contentedly. Shower, book, a comfortable bed. He was looking forward to all three.
Feitan stepped out of the bathroom, wiping at his hair with a towel, when he froze. The girl from earlier was sitting on the bed, his bed, looking at him with big eyes, twirling her blonde hair around a finger. He immediately moved the towel further down to cover his private parts, glaring at her. Even if he ignored the fact that he had killed her only an hour ago, how the hell had she gotten into his room? He was certain both the door and window were locked, and anyway, he'd have heard if either had been opened.
'How you get here?' he demanded, trying to wrap the towel firmly around his hips.
'You have an unfinished quest,' she smiled at him in what was probably supposed to be a charming and seductive way.
'Have not!'
'Dinner and perhaps drinks after.'
'Already do that!'
'Error. Evening not completed.' Oh, no, as far as he was concerned their evening was very much completed, she just needed to get the hell out. He opened the door and pointed,
'You leave. Get out. Now!'
She got up from the bed, but instead of leaving she closed in on him, reaching out with both arms as if to embrace him. Feitan panicked and shoved her into the hallway so hard she made a dent in the opposite wall. There was a crunching sound, and for the second time, he watched her body dissolve into light and disappear. He quickly closed the door and leaned against it, tucking the towel tighter around him. What the hell? If he had believed in ghosts he might have thought that she was one, but he didn't.
Then orbs of blue light materialized right in front of him and the process reversed until the girl stood before him again, looking just like before, pink dress and all. She gave him a big smile,
'You have an unfinished quest.'
Feitan stared at her, keeping a tight grip on his towel, then it dawned on him what she must be, and he felt like a fool for not realizing it earlier. She wasn't a player, not even a real person. She was an NPC. And on top of that a malfunctioning one it seemed.
Feitan cursed. He wished he could speak to Shalnark, this was his area of expertise after all, but even if he had joined the game, he wasn't in Feitan's game book yet so contacting him was impossible for now.
That left Phinks, who knew much less about games than Feitan did, but perhaps could offer some sort of advice anyway, or at least some moral support.
He chuckled, who was he kidding? Phinks would be howling with laughter and make too many, too bad, highly inappropriate jokes.
But, didn't NPCs usually remain tied to their area? Then perhaps Phinks could be useful after all. But first things first.
'Book,' he said, and when the game book appeared in front of him he quickly leafed through it until he found the card he assumed was for doing laundry and took it out. Holding it over the pile containing all his dirty clothes he said, 'Gain', and the card immediately transformed into a soapy ball of bubbles surrounding his clothes, lifting them in the air and spinning them, filling the room with a pleasant scent. Not a minute later the clothes were neatly folded, sitting on the small table next to the bed. Feitan picked them up and went into the bathroom to get dressed.
'I go out,' he announced when he was done, sighing as she brightened up and headed to the door.
'Wonderful, a romantic late night stroll in the moonlight,' she chirped and he groaned. Well, what had he expected?
Once out on the square he summoned the book again and chose a new card. He smirked at the girl, 'Bye now,' then held the card up and barked,
'Magnetic Force, on. Phinks Magcub.'
There was the by now familiar feeling of being hurtled through the air, then he suddenly stood in a small meadow, seeing Phinks standing next to two bodies.
'Oi, Phinks,' he called.
'You're early. Got bored already?'
'Missed you,' Feitan grinned. The meadow was blissfully free of girls, and it was good to see his friend again. He stepped closer and looked down at the bodies as they started to dissolve into orbs of flickering light.
'Have good cards?'
'No, not really, mostly basic ones.' Phinks narrowed his eyes, 'So these make ten for me, how many do you have?'
'Hah, I win, have twelve,' Feitan smirked.
'Nah, game's still running for two more days, I have plenty of time to catch up.'
Phinks's eyes suddenly focused on a point next to Feitan, a surprised look on his face.
'What the...'
Feitan didn't even turn, he knew what he would see.
'Dinner and drinks, check. Must make the evening complete.' She took a step closer to him, 'You have an unfinished quest.'
'No, no. We done.'
'And just who is this?' Phinks let his eyes roam over her body, unashamed.
'She nobody. Keep following me.'
'And you couldn't shake her? Man, you're getting rusty.' He chuckled, and winked at him, 'Or perhaps you want her to catch you...'
Feitan threw him a murderous stare.
'She NPC. Glitching. Keep come back,' he sighed. 'Kill her twice already. Always come back.'
'NPC?'
'Non-playable character. She no real person, she made for game.'
'Really? She looks real enough.' Phinks kept looking her up and down, while she smiled at him.
'Did Shal come yet? Want ask him what to do.'
'They should be here, but I haven't seen them, so I guess we'll have to wait until the rendezvous in Masadora.'
That would mean two or three more days. Feitan groaned.
'But I met Hisoka, and told him that we almost have the nen-exorcist pinpointed, so he should be ready.'
'Hisoka,' Fei huffed, 'Still no like him.'
'Well, soon we won't have to deal with him anymore.'
Phinks suddenly laughed, 'He was traveling with a girl too, just like you.'
He smirked, and poked Fei's shoulder.
'He actually claimed that she was the best nen healer he'd ever met. Machi won't be too pleased when she finds out. She's making a lot of money from him and his injuries.'
'Humph, who cares?' Feitan really didn't want to hear anything about more girls right now.
'Don't worry. I'll help you out.' Feitan looked dubiously at Phinks as he turned to the girl.
'So this quest, could you tell us what it is?'
'Of course,' she beamed at him,
'Our humorous meeting led to romantic feelings, which intensified over dinner and drinks. To finish the quest the evening must be completed,' she chirped happily, then turned to Feitan, 'You have a quest in progress.'
Fei groaned again, 'See she no shut up. Did food, did drinks. Quest finished!'
Phinks stared at him, doubling over with laughter.
'You seriously don't know what...what she wants?' he wheezed while gasping for air, 'Really, Fei? I'm disappointed in you.'
'Baka!' Fei punched him on the arm, 'What you mean?'
Phinks straightened, struggling to keep his face straight, then gave Fei an encouraging pat on the back, 'You really don't...'
The look in Fei's eyes would have brought a lesser man to his knees.
'Oh, alright,' Phinks stopped laughing for a second, 'Just fuck her already and be done with it. Might get an interesting card out of it as well.'
'Heh, you funny,' Feitan scoffed, then realizing that Phinks, in fact, was not joking he buried his face deeper behind his bandana, feeling heat rise to the tips of his ears.
He supposed it made sense, dinner and drinks followed by sexual activities was probably a normal thing. His own activities however usually came after handing over some money or jewelry, neither food nor drinks were involved, and he knew it was the same for Phinks. He glared at his still sniggering partner, then at the girl. She was looking at him with those big eyes, twirling her hair again, one hand resting on her chest.
'No will. She no real.'
He turned his back to them, crossing his arms stubbornly in front of him to make his point, ignoring the fact that a certain part of his body obviously found her much more appealing than the rest of him did.
'So? When was the last time you got some action?'
'Last month at brothel. Same as you.'
'Then it's about time. She's pretty cute. And definitely willing.'
'No!'
'Just think about it as a fantasy. A very real, full-bosomed fantasy.'
Feitan's eyes involuntarily moved to the girl's chest. Her breasts were fairly big and they did look very soft.
'Think of it like this, do you really want her trailing after you, looking at you like that, when we meet up with the others?'
Feitan froze. He could imagine it all too well, Shal for one would have a field day with it, and the others...he shook his head in dismay...he'd never hear the end of it.
Phinks had been eyeing the girl with a naughty look on his face,
'So where did you meet her to begin with?'
'Stupid city. Aiai. All pink and hearts everywhere.'
'And girls?'
'No real, but yes. All romance.' He shuddered at the word, remembering the other clumsy girls he had seen, they were probably quests too. 'You no want go there.'
'Oh, but I think I do,' Phinks grinned, 'In fact, I'm certain of it. It sounds even more fun than randomly killing players.'
He pulled his eyes away from her and turned to Feitan,
'You have some Accompany cards I assume?'
Fei nodded, and summoned the book again,
'You sure?' he asked, doubt all over his face.
Phinks's grin just widened in reply, and Fei sighed, he knew when he was defeated so he held the card up without arguing further, 'Accompany, on. Aiai', and moments later he and Phinks were standing in the square he had just left.
'I have room there,' Fei pointed to the “Aiai Best Hotel” and Phinks nodded.
'Great, I'll get one too, after I have a look around.'
The shining orbs appeared in flashes of blue light next to them, and Phinks laughed again, patting Fei on the back.
'I'll give you two little love birds some time first, so if you can point me in the direction of any other “quests” I'd appreciate it.'
Fei rolled his eyes at him.
'They everywhere, just walk around, they find you.'
'Right,' Phinks said and strode off, humming to himself.
'Error. You have an unfinished quest,' the familiar voice repeated next to his ear, the girl was leaning down so her hair fell forward touching his bandana. This time he didn't flinch from her being so close. Her hair was soft and it smelled really nice and flowery he noticed.
'Fine,' he said, not as resentful as he'd thought he would be, 'You win.'
She gave him the biggest smile yet, and hooked her arm in his again, starting to walk back to the hotel. They reached his room and he closed and locked the door behind them.
'You're stubborn but cute,' she said, laughing softly, and he looked suspiciously at her. What kind of programming was that?
'I not cute.'
She laughed again, 'Well, I think you are,' and she slowly began to unbutton her dress.
'You stubborn too.' He removed his bandana and coat and looked at her again, 'Very stubborn, but very pretty.'
~ * ~
Later, after another shower, Feitan pulled on the, thankfully black, not pink, dressing gown provided by the hotel and settled down in the armchair in the corner with the book he had bought earlier. He opened it, then immediately closed it again.
'Book,' he said and the game book appeared in front of him. He leafed through it until he reached the last card he had placed in it, stroking it gently with his fingers, a small smile hovering on his lips.
Perhaps not all glitches were a bad thing.