The Six Guns

"Why do you even want to help me get out there?" Siran asks, "I know you want me to get a job and all, but to go as far as to even make contact with people not only outside of the Ly'Lum jurisdiction, but in some sense, direct enemies of the military? It just doesn't add up."

"It's not my place to judge, nor is it my place to try and control what I can't" Alex says. "If you have hope of a life elsewhere, and I can help with that at least, then that's enough for me."

"Aw" Siran says. "That's too kind!"

"Don't go getting sappy on me" Alex responds, "I don't deal well with emotional crap. I'm just helping!"

"Whatever you say, big fella" Siran says as he laughs quietly.

The two get into Alex's car and make their way to the border. It doesn't take long for them to reach the checkpoint at the border. The guards at the checkpoint that check every person entering and exiting the country eventually stop at Alex's car, and after receiving his military ID, they stare at Siran, then at Alex, then back at Siran. Siran was feeling very uneasy, almost as if they just didn't like him in particular, but they eventually let them pass outside the country. They spend a couple hours driving through several remote, rural areas and small towns before finally approaching this bustling town that seems lively and full of shops and entrepreneurs of any and every trade. This town is located in Seeira. A neutral area, not governed by any country, and the economy run by the shops and trades made there. It's almost like a safe haven for people from any country. To declare war on this place would be to declare war on the world. While a lot of weapons dealers run their shops openly here, it's generally agreed upon that war will never break out here. So it's generally peaceful. Although it also holds many fugitives who ran from their old countries to start a new life. One would expect the crime rate to be too high here, but any problematic situations always seem to be quickly resolved here.

"Where's this shop?" Alex asks.

"I'm not so great at directions" Siran says, "but my photographic memory is really good, so just follow me and don't get lost"

"Hey, welcome to the Valentine Shoppe, nice to see you again, lovely day we're having. My name's Vivi!" Vivi shouted almost gleefully.

Alex seemed to smile at the politeness, until he noticed that Vivi's face stiffened into a face of disappointment and was holding a handgun in Siran's mouth.

"You damned idiot, what are you doing here again?" Vivi's tone instantly shifted. "Just when I was getting used to it being quiet around here... you know, I haven't had any commissions lately and I was kind of enjoying the peace"

"Not a fan?" Alex says.

"Who's asking?" Vivi demands.

"My name's Alex" Alex says.

"No" Vivi says, "which part of the military is asking?"

Alex seemed shocked. "How'd you guess?" Alex asks. "I don't have my uniform on or anything!"

"When you live here all your life" Vivi says as she lowers her gun, "you tend to learn a lot about a lot of people."

"Well" Alex says, "for the record, I'm not here on military business, I'm here with him."

"And what trouble did he get into this time?" Vivi demands as she stares directly at Siran.

"N-nothing!" Siran says "Honest!"

"Yeah right" Vivi says, "you attract trouble like a god damn magnet! Last time you were here, you got into a fist fight with some Ly'Lum soldiers and now you're all buddy buddy with one. I SMELL trouble, Siran. I don't need more circus acts around my shop, ya know."

"I'm sorry ma'am" Siran says as his head hangs in defeat.

"A fist fight with soldiers?" Alex asks. "What happened?"

"Nothing special" Vivi says as she crosses her arms. "They got into a fight while drinking. If I remember right, they got into a fight because they thought Siran was cheating during their arm wrestling contest prior to the fight!"

"They just couldn't accept that I'm stronger!" Siran says. "BWA-HA-HA-HA-"

Vivi interrupts Siran's laughter by smacking him over the head with a wrench.

"Ow!" Siran shouts, "hey, what gives? What the hell?"

"So you're here for more cleaning I'm guessing?" Vivi asks.

"If by cleaning, you mean the usual business, yeah" Siran says.

"What do you mean by usual business'?" Alex asks.

"Well" Siran says, "she doesn't pay me to clean or anything, she just beats me if I don't clean. She actually pays me for protection!"

Vivi hits Siran over the head again with a wrench. "Wrong, I pay you for cleaning up your own messes" Vivi shouts. "I let you live here so it's only natural that you clean at least a little! But your messes also include the trouble you're always dragging to my store, ya idiot! I swear, your brain must be damaged or something!"

"Well it definitely will be if you keep bonking me on the head with your damn tools, you psycho!" Siran shouts.

Vivi hits Siran over the head yet again and Alex just begins laughing. "You two are like siblings!" Alex says. Both Vivi and Siran both turn to Alex, both wielding a tool as a weapon and both say at the same time "We're not related!"

The three, after a fair amount of arguing, go inside and begin talking and catching up. Vivi makes tea for everyone as they all talk. "So what made you tag along with this misfit?" Vivi asks Alex.

"I was kind of pressured to help him by an old friend I guess" Alex responds.

"Well" Vivi says, "at least someone else is looking out for him. I was worried I was the only one who would help the poor bastard."

"I would hardly call beating me helping" Siran says.

"You're welcome" Vivi responds. "Truth is though, I really do care about the idiot, because he's been through a lot. I can tell from looking at him, let alone the conditions I first found him in."

"How did you find him?" Alex asks.

"Dying of dehydration and starvation, laying in the street" Vivi says. "When I asked about family, he only responded with 'I haven't had family for a long time'. The scariest part was, he was smiling while saying it. A kind of smile that's so forced that it makes you want to cry. I mean, honestly, what else are you supposed to do with a guy like that? I didn't know if I could help him or not, but I decided to try, at least. I did let him stay with me after seeing a little of what he's capable of."

"What do you mean?" Alex asks.

"Well I was going to give him food and water and then let him continue on his journey to nowhere, but around then someone was being mugged by a group a bandits. These people were very dangerous and despite his lack of energy, defeated them all with ease. I decided to let him stay around, seeing as how he was a protective kind of guy rather than a bandit himself. You could always hire a pair of hands like that around here, but not many of them are that skilled, friendly, or pathetic to be honest. You never know what might happen in Seeira, seeing as how many different soldiers come here to get custom weapons, so I figured it would help me as well with business. And for a few months, he cleaned around the store and kept trouble out. Trouble, need I remind you, that he often drags to my door."

"That sounds nice and all" Alex says "but what happened"

"Well, he eventually decided to move on" Vivi said. "I guess even this idiot can figure out how much trouble he's always getting into."

"I don't like burdening people with my own problems and I couldn't stand bringing more trouble to people who help me." Siran says quietly as he sips some tea. "Besides... Vivi really likes to hit people to wake them up!"

"Sleeping for 20 hours ISN'T necessary!" Vivi says as she jumps out of her chair and waves a wrench around.

"Oh yeah?" Siran shouts as he waves his fist around, "well hitting people with tools isn't necessary either!"

The two shout a little, probably throw around some furniture that should've been too heavy for those two to pick up, and eventually get tired and everyone starts to rest a little bit. Siran was the first to fall asleep.

"He's kind of like a little brother I guess" Vivi says softly. "One I've never had. One that's pretty fun to smack around!"

"You really shouldn't hit your little brother, you know." Alex says.

"I know, I know" Vivi says. "But he never stays out of trouble. I gotta think of some way to keep him in line. But I get the feeling that he's been through more than he cares to let other people know about."

"How so?" Alex asks.

"Well" Vivi explains, "the first night I had him here, he kept whispering in his sleep. I couldn't understand most of it, but the parts I could understand, was him just whispering over and over 'Naris, Naris, Naris' over and over."

"But he can't mean!" Alex's eyes shoot wide open.

"There's no mistaking it" Vivi says. "He must be referring to the Naris Catastrophe, with the dark beast, Naris himself"

"But that was over a century ago" Alex responded.

"Right..." Vivi says, "and I have no idea what his connection to Naris is, but he didn't seem happy at all. He seemed to really hate the name Naris in his sleep. I can never really figure this guy out."

"Well, whatever the problem is, we can only sleep on it for now" Alex says. "Besides, I have to leave first thing in the morning if I'm to make it to work on time!"