Warren and Lucy

Warren fell a few meters from her after being sent flying by Lucy’s bulky robot. She managed to dodge him by crawling out of the way, and got a big scare when he saw him go pass by her.

“Lucy, can you be more careful with your robots?!” that, and how in the hell does she have robots? Where did they come from? “Hey, Warren, how did she-”

When Marika turned to face Warren, she found the barrel of his gun aimed directly at her forehead, and he was looking down at her with an expression that made her skin crawl and her breath hitch. Both ears went back, leaning against her hair.

“You better answer some questions, lady,” Warren said, his tone of voice shifted and felt more serious and urgent, demanding even.

“What are you doing?!” Marika asked, trying to look defiant even with the fear she was feeling creeping up her back.

“You work for the Snake Twins.” He pressed the barrel harder against her, it was cold against her skin. “So tell me, where is their hideout?”

“How should I know that?!” She said, “Stop aiming that thing on my face ya goof! Or I will...” she tried to come up with something, but nothing came out of her mouth,

“Do what?” he insisted on her answering.

Marika looked at the gun, then at his hand. It had a tight hold on the gun, holding it in by he carved handle, that is when she noticed something.

“Pull the trigger,” she said, smiling.

Warren held the gun, aiming at her, squinting his eyes at her demand. He pressed the barrel harder against her, causing her to get pushed and complain while letting a growl out. When her ears went back up, aiming at him, he pulled the gun back.

“You got lucky,” he said, placing the gun back on its holster.

“The hammer was not cocked, you were not going to shoot me” she slowly stood up, and Warren helped her. With a huff, she accepted by holding his hand to prop herself up. “And no, I don’t work for them.”

“Then what were you doing with them? All tells me is that you have ties.”

Marika walked towards the control console and leaned against it, her red dress ruffling in her way and dropped a bit of sand from outside onto the platform.

“That is what I wanted to talk to you about,” she crossed her arms. “I need your service.s”

Warren shook his head.

“I ain’t taking jobs.”

“Even if I offer you a million mulars when we finish?” she said.

There was a deep silence when she dropped the offer. Marika knew she was making an almost empty promise when she did, but if everything went right, if everything worked as intended, then she would recover herself.

“You are a bounty hunter, aren’t you?” she asked, trying to hide her doubt by controlling the movements of her ears and tail, smiling to keep her anxiety hidden. “I am literally offering to pay you to help me.”

“You don’t seem to have one million of anything.” Warren crossed his arms, “And, as I said, I am not taking jobs, I have my own business to attend to, at least until you decide to steal my knife.”

“The knife is in the past,” Marika tried to brush it off.

“It happened less than an hour ago.”

“And your business is with the Snake Twins, isn’t?” She said, taking a step forward, “I have business with them, three in fact. I want to help you, and you help me get back at them.”

There was a moment of silence. Warren seemed to have been thinking about her proposal as he inspected her. What Marika was wondering at that point is what the mystery is behind him, what is it that made him travel through the desert for 12 days without having a simple bite of food.

It was clear that Warren was not a normal person. He had the skills of an experienced fighter and user of the System, and in the couple of moments she had seen hesitation, something that he was keeping deeply within himself. Both times he found himself in danger, he politely asked his enemies to lower their guns, seeking for a peaceful solution to the conflict, only to something incredible happen afterwards.

But could he be enough? Marika wondered, as her plan was simple to say but hard to execute. First, she wanted to make sure both Max and Cinthia were safe, then, out of pure spite against the Malton City Gang for trying to hurt the people that she cared about, she was going to steal the slab once more and sell it for a profit.

“Look, help me with the first part of the job, at least,” she commented, getting closer, keeping her tone serious for at least this much, “It involves localizing the Snake Twins' hideout. You can do whatever you want to them there, but I want to rescue two people they kidnapped, and find out what happened to the people that lived around us.”

“Once I find them, I am going to kill them,” Warren warned, dry and clear.

“Do as you want,” Marika said, “If anything, you pull them out of my tail.”

“Then what was that show you made right at the end?”

“They wanted me to work for them,” Marika started to explain, “and they kidnapped two orphans I live with and took the slab you saw me with earlier. All I want is to recover both, but I need them to think that you kidnapped me against my will instead of not following their order.”

Warren stared at her once more. How annoying? Cannot he just say yes or no, at the very least? She thought to herself, feeling tense and annoyed at how he was basically just stopping to think.

“Look, how about this? I will give you a clue for free, something that occurred to me” Marika said, with a smirk on her face, and when she mentioned her clue, she saw how Warren’s eyes were paying more attention to her now, “They somehow figured out quickly I stole the slab, helped to get Dale killed and they managed to set an ambush fast… how do you think they figured it out?”

“The receptionist…” Warren said after a couple of seconds of giving it a thought.

“Bingo!” Marika said, with a smile and giving him a thumbs up, “That guy must have been the one that tipped them off when we came with Dale’s bounty, and the Malton’s gang must have your description too! That means that we both have a target on our backs!”

Warren immediately made his way to the console of the platform and opened the system of the carriage. There, he chose the option to talk to the person outside.

“Lucy, take us back to the Bounty Hunter’s guild,” Warren asked, “We got a new lead.”

“Okay dokey, Warren!” Lucy answered through the intercom.

Marika was happy, it seems that they did manage to strike a deal.

Warren threw himself on the bed and placed the hat over his face, as I trying to keep himself from having to interact with Marika or anything else on the platform. Although there was not much there.

“You could put a table and some chairs,” She mentions, noticing the only place to sit was on the bed where Warren was and the console.

Warren did not answer, causing Marika to pout and grunt.

“So… who are you exactly?” She said, removing her pout and making a catlike smile on her face, “I think I deserve to know the motivations of my partner in crime!” She proceeded to sit on the side of the bed, causing the soft cushion to dip under her weight. It was softer than what she was used to at that point.

“Associate,” Warren said, not moving from his position.

Warren was a hard shell to crack, Marika figured out. Whatever was happening in his mind was going to continue being a mystery for her and it seemed just talking was not going to yield any answers. She was about to ask about who Lhana was, a name that Lucy had mentioned moments before, and he made her shush, but that would probably going to cause more problems.

Defeated, she stood out of the bed and made her way out through the front door to speak with Lucy. Even if she could not get answers from Warren, maybe the little girl could offer some information.

The moment she stepped outside, it became obvious the difference between the inside and outside of the PDTU. Her body reacted in surprise the moment she felt movement and the space was smaller, but all she had to do was hold on to a handle on the side. Then, once she took a breather, she sat right beside Lucy, who was directing the carriage.

The streets they were passing through had people walking by. They were moving out of the area that had buildings falling slowly in the ones that lived on them, but they were still extremely under-maintained. She knew they were going back to the Bounty Hunter’s guild, Lucy seemed to have managed to learn the way back just by moving once through town.

“Hi, Miss Marika,” Lucy said when she noticed her presence.

“Hi, Lucy!” Marika said while plopping herself right beside her. Although she felt a bit exposed there, where she could be seen by any gang member. “Warren was being annoying and decided to come here to speak with you instead.”

“Yeah, he is like that sometimes,” she answered, smiling and keeping her attention on the horse, “He has been like this for a month, though.”

“What happened a month ago?”

Lucy looked nervous, like she just said something she shouldn’t have,. She lowered her face, trying to hide it from Marika and keeping her attention on her task of directing the cart.

“I-I cannot tell you, sorry, miss Marika” Lucy answered, cut and dry.

“Is it because of Lhana?” She insisted.

Lucy seemed like she wanted to answer for a moment, but then she shook her head.

“Miss Marika, if Warren has not told you, then I need to respect his choice,” she answered, “but it is something that is hard to explain, and hurts a lot, even to me…”

Then, whatever is happening to Warren is affecting Lucy too. Who is Lhana? A lover? Family? Whoever it was, with how he reacted, it must be someone very important for him and Lucy too.

“But it has to do with the Snake Twins, right?”

“Y-yeah…” She was minding her words, clearly, not wanting to reveal too much information to the demi-human, “But… well, maybe you will see. The Twins are a step in what he is trying to do.”

The way Lucy spoke was interesting for someone her age. What kind of education was she going through? She was well-mannered and had good pronunciation, at least to her, she was yelling and pouting at Warren earlier. Although, she had freaking robots on her arsenal, and who knows where they were at that moment.

“Lucy, have you chosen a Class for when you grow up?” She asked.

Normally, you are trained in the class you want to attend. There is a period during your growing phase where you can get special preparation for your Class so your stats are prepared to work in tandem with the skills that came with your choice, and that you met the requirements of each Stone. And that was, if you were given the choice. Marika had to snatch hers, and luckily she obtained one that used her Dex stat. After that, stat growth became slower, and was dependent on doing actions that dealt with that stat and THEN you had to gain a level.

“Oh! I already have a class!” Lucy said, smiling proudly.

“What? But you are 10 years old, right?” Marika was surprised, “Shouldn’t you be studying or preparing for that?”

That is when Lucy made her Status Screen appear for Marika, and she was surprised.

[Class: Mechanomancer]

[Level 1]

[HP: 215/215]

[MP: 212/212]

[Strength: 100]

[Dexterity: 123]

[Intelligence: 289]

[Endurance: 104]

[Luck: 135]

Her intelligence stat was way too high for a level 1! Especially for a 10-year-old who is meant to be developing! Who decided to give this little girl a Stone at such an age? She could be a bigger genius if she was given the chance to grow more stats. But it is impossible now for her, once you choose a class it was impossible… but once she gains a couple of levels, she will be unstoppable.

“Y-you shouldn’t be showing your Status screen like that, Lucy!” Marika decided to say once she recovered herself. And it was true, it was screaming to tell someone what your weaknesses and strengths were as every class had them. “Even less to someone you just met!”

“Oh!” Lucy’s eyes went wide at the realization, and made her Status Screen go away, “S-sorry… Warren scolds me for the same reason…”

Nevertheless, they were arriving at their destination, the sign of the Bounty Hunter’s guild was just up ahead. “Warren!” Lucy yelled at the intercom, pressing a button that was in the hand in front of her, “Wake up, dummy! We are here!”