The Girasol Manor was an impressive building. Even in the middle of the night, its lights were turned on, reflecting the work ethic that Palo enforced in his home. Every one of his workers was still doing their part in maintaining his criminal business out of professionalism and under threat of death from their boss if he caught them taking unauthorized breaks.
Not even Palo was safe from his own work schedule. He didn’t like the idea of lowering his guard by slacking off. That’s how he achieved his power, by working his ass off to ensure nobody would fuck with him.
Right now, he was sitting on a couch talking on an Astral Com. He was the kind of man who was thorough, wanting to find out if his men had already captured Wilt. It would be an understatement to say that he didn’t like the news that he got from his gang regarding their target.
“Qué?!!” Palo asked angrily, shouting into his Astral Com loud enough to make the guy on the other side wince and rub his ear in pain. “What you mean?!!!”
“We had him, sir,” an unlucky member of the Girasol Gang, who was volunteered by the rest of the crew, was forced to explain how they failed to capture Wilt. “But one of those Sentinel assholes burned us, literally!”
“The hell do you mean that a Sentinel burned you?” Palo demanded angrily. “I don’t think Sentinels allow pyromaniacs in their ranks. Explain yourself right now.”
The Girasol Gang member explained the fight in Heartland to capture Wilt. Palo sat on his couch, listening to every detail about the fight. From what his underling told him, Wilt had a Caster bodyguard who used shadows to fight. And then a Sentinel came in and also turned out to be a Caster who used fire. Still, he felt that there was a hole in the story.
“What about Desert Scale?!” Palo demanded, feeling that Xan would have at least captured Wilt even if he was facing two Casters. “I told you to hire him!”
“He caught on to us,” the underling told him nervously. “He figured out that we were going to betray him and he switched sides when we confronted him. Any advantages we had went straight down the toilet when he left us. And then that Sentinel came in to burn us.”
“Damn!” Palo slammed his fist on a table, cracking it with the power of the blow. Despite his violent venting, Palo forced himself to remain calm. “Well we’ll deal with him later.” He made a pause as he took a deep breath to calm down before continuing the talk. “whatever…Still got our back up plan, so come on back. I know where they’re gonna go next…”
Palo hung up on the underling. Since the Girasol Gang was going to take a while, he decided to make another call. He checked the contact list on his Astral Com and then typed in the number of the contact that he chose.
“Standing By…” the voice of the Astral Com told him. Palo waited patiently, hearing a ringing noise that told him that the call was in process. Then he heard a noise that told him that the call was successful.
“Ayo Baron,” Palo smiled for the first time that night. “It’s me. I got a favor for ya…”
Sailing across the skies was a powerful airship. Its name was the Blazing Baron, and it was filled with Reavers waiting for their next job. With the cover of the night, they were able to sail across the world undetected, ready to act quickly when the signal was given.
As they were all doing their chores, their leader got a call on his Astral Com. They kept working on their duties, but they kept their ears open to see what kind of job they were going to get.
“It’s been a long time since you called me, Palo,” their leader laughed as he spoke into his Astral Com. It was hard to know if his laughter was because he was a friend of Palo or if he just loved doing jobs for him. Regardless of which option, it didn’t change the fact that the crew was going to get a job that was going to end with them getting paid a lot of money.
Their leader was a racoon named Baron. He was a mixture of gray and black fur. He wore a black and ride colored outfit. He had a black shoulder pad on his left shoulder strapped in with a black belt. He also had a black belt with a golden buckle across his waist. And he also had a black belt with black pouches across his hips. He wore blue pants with black boots and blue fingerless gloves. He had blue messy hair tied in a ponytail, lightning shaped eyebrows of the same color. On top of his head, he wore a pair of goggles that had the right lens cracked.
Baron listened to what Palo was telling him. Past dealings taught him that Palo paid good money to do jobs for him. And Baron always got a huge reward when he and his crew did a good job.
“A Florian you say?” Baron asked, not understanding why Palo would need him. All that he needed to know was how the Florian looked like and that was it.
“Yes,” Palo answered from the other side of the Astral Com. “But be careful. He’s got a strong bodyguard. I’ll tell you all that I know about it.”
Baron listened to what Palo told him about Wilt Lilister He smiled evilly as he realized how challenging the work was going to be and the amount of money that he and his crew were going to get if they completed the mission.
“Hihihihi,” Baron giggled as he imagined the recompense for this mission.
“Can you do it?” Palo demanded, annoying at Baron’s giggling.
“Sure!” Baron laughed. “I expect the usual payment for my services. Is that okay with you?”
“I’ll have your usual payment ready,” Palo told him. “Carajo! I’ll give you an extra tip depending on how you do the job. So surprise me.”
“Great!” Baron laughed and then checked a map that detailed his current location in the skies. “I’ll arrive at Ivor in five hours.”
“I’ll expect you to do your job, Baron,” Palo warned him. “Failure will not be tolerated.”
“This is me, Palo!” Baron boasted. “I’ll have your Florian soon.”
Having declared his victory, Baron hung up his Astral Com. He then walked across the ship to grab an intercom. and speaks over the intercom.
“Attention, ya sons of bitches!” Baron called out his crew. “Off your asses and listen up! We’ve got a job! A big time job! We’re going straight to Ivor!”
Baron smiled as he watched his crew work twice as hard as they normally did. That was the good thing about their raids. The promise of payment always gave them that extra kick of energy that they needed to get the job done.
Time to get some music for ambiance, Baron put on the radio of the airship. He turned on the knob until he heard the voice of his favorite opera singer. That’s more like it. I can’t do a job without a good opera.
Humming to the lyrics of the music, Baron sat down in front of the steering wheel and prepared the course to Ivor. He had a Florian to catch, and he wasn’t going to rest until he got his hands on him.
It was early in the morning when Kay and his group woke up. The quartet had a light breakfast and then went to the front of the ship to see how much it was going to take before arriving to Starkland.
“First time in an airship?” Xan asked Kay, noticing how excited he was at the idea of parking at Starkland.
“Second time,” Kay corrected him. “The first time, we were attacked by some bandits claiming to be Reavers. You should ask Trixta and Wilt for details.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Wilt smiled excitedly as he remembered the first time he met Kay. “I never met a Caster until that day, but seeing Kay defeat those Reavers made me realize that he would be an important ally.”
“You three had a good first meeting,” Xan joked.
“It was an…impressive meeting,” Wilt sighed.
“Not as bad as our first meeting with you,” Trixta gave Xan a slight glare, remembering all of the problems that he caused them at Heartland.
“Just doing my job,” Xan shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing personal.”
“It’s easy for you to claim that it was professional, but it was personal to me, Xan,” Wilt joined Trixta in glaring at Xan accusingly. “You have no idea of the kind of things that the Girasol Gang were going to do to me once I was in their possession.”
“Learn to move on, kid,” Xan rolled his eyes at Wilt before pointing at Kay. “Take a look at your friend. He’s the one who fought me in a life or death match and he’s not complaining about it.”
Wilt and Trixta groaned as they saw Kay focused on seeing the scenery. Despite being the most powerful member of the trio, or maybe because of that reason, he took Xan’s presence lightly. Neither of them could come up with a rebuttal for Xan’s argument.
“We’re landin’!” Kay pointed downwards. Down below, there was a Skydrome that was supposed to act as the landing spot for the airship.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE ARE HAPPY TO INFORM THAT WE ARE GOING TO LAND IN FIVE MINUTES. PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR ROOMS TO PICK UP YOUR BELONGINGS AND THEN GO TO THE LOBBY! THANK YOU FOR FLYING IN OUR AIRSHIPS! HAVE A NICE LANDING!”
“That’s our stop,” Xan smirked. “See you guys at the exit.”
The reptile left the trio alone.
“I don’t trust that guy,” Trixta grumbled.
“Get in line,” Wilt pointed out. “You’re not the one that he targeted.”
“We can worry about that when the time comes,” Kay put one hand on Wilt’s shoulder and the other one on Trixta’s shoulder. “Right now, we gotta prepare for Heartland.”
The fenger led the trio back to their rooms to pick up their belongings. They made sure to work fast since the landing was going to take place in four minutes.
The Skydrome airship arrived at the port, slowly descending until it touched the ground. A ramp was lowered to act as a bridge to allow the passengers to leave.
“THANK YOU FOR TRAVELING AT SKYDROME AIRSHIPS. WE HAVE ARRIVED TO STARKLAND! HAVE A GOOD DAY AND FLY WITH US AGAIN SOON!”
All of the travelers left the airship and walked out of the Skydrome. Kay and his group stepped outside of the port building and got a view of the quaint yet busy town of Starkland.
“Wow…” Kay was mesmerized by the architecture of Starkland. The first thing that caught his mind was how many of the buildings were made of brick, clearly admiring their masonry prowess. “This place looks pretty… bricky.”
“Not a real word, but yeah it is,” Wilt smiled at Kay’s awe for Starkland. “This is my hometown, one of the cities known for ship building and Magus Gear repair, smiting, repair and hobby shops, anything related to building and inventing is here. And birthplace of the amazing genius!”
“Who?” Kay asked, wanting to know said genius.
“Me!” Wilt rolled his eyes at Kay for not figuring out that he was talking about himself.
“Starkland,” Trixta smiled wistfully as she remembered an attractive guy that she met in one of her earlier adventures. “I knew a cute guy from here a long time ago…”
“Smiting huh…?” Xan raised an eyebrow, remembering that he used up his sword supply during his fights with Kay at Heartland. “Wonder if they make swords…”
All of them wanted to explore Starkland. However, time was of the essence. And Kay could see how much being in Starkland meant for Wilt.
“So, where do you live, Wilt?” Kay asked, wanting to find out more about Wilt’s life before he became a target to the Marisol Gang.
“I’ll show you,” Wilt beamed at Kay and moved forward. “This way. Just follow me.”
“First time I see Wilt this happy,” Trixta pointed out. “He’s normally very fidgety.”
“Guy’s been targeted by the Girasol Gang for a while,” Xan reminded her. “I guess this is the first time in a while that he’s feeling safe.”
As the group walked down, they reached a large alleyway filled with shops. Wilt stood in front of the group and spread his arms as if he was showing them the greatest wonder in the world.
“This is Fullmetal Alley!” Wilt grinned at his friends with pride as he showed them one of the main attractions of his town. “This is the main market place for all things hardware, beautiful isn’t it?”
“Quite an interesting use of the word,” Trixta raised an eyebrow sarcastically at Wilt. Then again, beauty was in the eye of the beholder. For someone like her, beautiful was a word meant to describe treasure and jewelry. So an engineer like Wilt probably found anything scientific to be beautiful.
“Coooool!” Kay was delighted with what he saw. “Never seen so much cool junk! It’s like the Wastelands, but cleaner!”
“Well some of this was lowkey salvaged from the Wastelands,” Wilt admitted bashfully. “Some still try to salvage there after Sentinel putting the area on lockdown.”
“Oh yeah, I think I heard about that,” Kay frowned thoughtfully as he tried to remember where he heard about the Sentinels and the Wasteland lockdown. “They got any good places to eat?”
“We just had breakfast,” Xan pointed up in annoyance. The feeling was shared by Wilt and Trixta, who gave Kay pointed glares for his bottomless appetite.
“I meant like for later…” Kay also responded with annoyance. “I do have a limit to how much I can eat.”
Liar! Wilt thought with annoyance at how much money he had to spend to keep Kay well fed.
“We can eat later,” Wilt groaned at the amount of money that he was going to spend to give Kay a meal large enough to satisfy his hunger. “First we need to go to my house. It’s just down the street and up the hill.”
“Been a while since a friend invited me over to his house,” Kay remembered wistfully how he used to visit Jecht and Tendo’s house to hang out and how they visited him as well.
They all headed up a hill slightly farther away from the town. A quaint little house with a large garage behind it, large enough to hold an airship.
“Well this place looks certainly…quaint,” Trixta frowned in confusion. Truthfully, she expected Wilt’s house to be larger and more technological rather than small and normal
“Yeah,” Xan deadpanned as he pointed at the back of the house being connected to a garage many times larger than it. “Makes you forget the huge ass garage next to it.”
“Friggin’ massive’s what it is!” Kay pointed out, his jaw nearly dropping as he imagined what the garage was hiding inside of it.
“You may say that the garage is my true home,” Wilt joked as he led them to walk around the house to reach the garage. “Let me give you a tour.”
They walked a lap across the house and the garage until they were back on the front door. The first thing that Wilt showed them upon opening the door was a fairly clean looking room filled with all bookshelves, metal pipes throughout the walls and ceiling connect to a larger furnace, with a small little kitchen plus a dinner table.
“Wow!” Kay was amazed with the interior decoration of the garage. “This is your house? So many pipes.”
“The lights are on,” Wilt pointed at the ceiling showing a lightbulb illuminating the garage. “So he should be here.”
Just then, an older Owl Korkin showed up wearing glasses. He paused when he saw four strangers at the garage. But his eyes sparkled with joy when he saw Wilt at the front.
“Ah, Mr. Hedges!” Wilt approached the owl with a huge smile on his face. “Figured you were here. Thanks for looking after the place.”
Mr. Hedges smiled at the Florian. He leaned forward and mumbled something to Wilt. The trio behind him tried to eavesdrop on the conversation.
“Ugh, I can’t hear him! Trixta thought with frustration. That owl is even quieter than a mouse.
“Oh, it’s here?” Wilt asked giddily. “Great! Thanks a lot! Give my regards to Ms. Hedges.”
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“Hmmph…” Mr. Hedges quietly nodded with a content smile before stepping out of the house.
“Who’s the old-timer?” Kay asked, curious about the who lived in Wilt’s house.
“Oh that was my neighbor,” Wilt replied cheerfully. “He and his wife looked after the house while I was away.”
Wilt approached a table, his working table, and put his things down on top of it. He walked towards a door that revealed a hallway behind it, gesturing at the group to follow him.
“Now before we settle in, let me show something you’ll want to see,” Wilt grinned as he entered the hallway. He imagined the surprise that his friends were going to have when he showed them the surprise.
The quartet walked through a hallway leading to the large garage. As he opened the door, he made sure to be out of the way to see the reactions of his friends.
The Florian was delighted to see their looks of surprise when they saw a large gray airship inside of his garage.
“Whoa!!!” Kay exclaimed euphorically. “So cool!”
“Asombroso!” Trixta’s tail twitched with excitement as she reached a revelation. “It’s not a garage…”
“It’s a hangar,” Xan chuckled, impressed at Wilt’s genius.
“A little bit of both actually,” Wilt spoke with an unusual confidence and pride. “This is my father’s masterpiece, the Accel Arrow! He commissioned ship engineers to help construct it. But it’s unfinished without the special engine.”
He pointed to a large nearby generator looking unfinished. It was the only flaw that was present in the ship. The group frowned upon staring at that generator, feeling that they weren’t going to see the Accel Arrow fly because of that flaw.
“You guys don’t have to worry about the Accel Arrow,” Wilt reassured them. “With these materials I got from my travels, it will be enough to complete the engine.”
“So we’re gonna see the airship fly soon?” Kay asked excitedly. “When will it happen?”
“I should have it done in two days,” Wilt frowned thoughtfully.
“Should be enough time,” Trixta smiled, happy that she’d get to have enough time to explore Starkland while she waited for the engine to be finished.
“Well you do that,” Xan pointed a finger at Wilt before exploring the garage in search for a bed or a couch. “I’m taking a nap. Anything to drink around here?”
“Yeah anything to eat?” Kay asked as his hunger returned.
“Oh boy!” Wilt groaned in annoyance. “Before you start raiding the fridge, I’ll go shopping real quick!”
“I’ll come with you,” Kay followed him, wanting to explore his friend’s hometown with him.
Despite Kay’s insistence to follow him, Wilt smiled as he got out of the garage, leaving it in the care of Trixta and Xan.
It’s good to be home, Wilt thought with a smile as he got out of the house and embraced the chance to walk safely around his hometown one more time.
Kay and Wilt walked down the market place that sold meats and other goods. Kay was carrying bags of drinks while Wilt was carrying a few bags of food. It was a deliberate choice as Wilt didn’t want to increase Kay’s hunger by letting him carry the grocery bags containing food.
It’s a good thing that Xan isn’t shopping for drinks, Wilt thought as he held two heavy bags containing bottles of beer in his arms. The last thing that I need is for him to drink all the beer that I bought for him and then ask for more.
“Thanks for helping with the groceries, Kay,” Wilt smiled appreciatively at the fenger.
“No problem,” Kay chuckled remembering his lifetime as a farmer carrying objects back and forth as part of his chores. “This kind of heavy lifting isn’t so bad for me.”
“Yeah, you’ve proven that pretty well,” Wilt laughed, remembering the many feats of strength that Kay pulled off in front of him since the two met.
“My is that you, Wilt?”
Wilt and Kay stopped walking when they heard a female voice talking to Wilt. They faced the one who spoke to them in curiosity. They were met by an older owl woman in front of them.
“Ms. Hedges,” Wilt smiled at the owl lady married to Mr. Hedges. “Nice to see you.”
“Looks like you gotten a little taller,” Ms. Hedges told Wilt as the two share an affectionate hug. She gasped when she noticed Kay standing close to Wilt. “Oh, and this a friend of yours?”
“Kay Crossroad,” he gave her a friendly handshake. “I’m an acquaintance of his. I’m helpin’ him with finishing his airship. But first, we’re havin’ lunch.”
“Oh well, that’s sweet of you,” Ms. Hedges gave the pair a motherly smile. “Well perhaps I can give you a hand in the kitchen.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” Wilt said a bit self-consciously, not wanting to force Ms. Hedges to do a chore after he had her and Mr. Hedges take care of his house while he was gone.
“Nonsense!” Ms. Hedges shook her head stubbornly. “It’ll be to celebrate your return.”
“I’d be up for that!” Kay chimed in.
“Kay!” Wilt shouted at him.
“Come on, Wilt,” Kay scolded. “This is your hometown.”
Wilt closed his eyes with frustration. He was happy to return to Starkland. But he also knew that he had to leave soon. He wanted to finish the Accel Arrow as fast as he could and leave. He had much to do and so little time.
He stared at Kay and then at Ms. Hedges. He felt guilty over having to leave in two days, forcing her and Mr. Hedges to take care of his house again. This only made rejecting her offer to cook for them very difficult for him.
“Well, if you don’t mind,” Wilt nodded politely at him.
“Marvelous,” Ms. Hedges cheered. “We can try to see if my husband is at your home.”
“I already met him,” Wilt explained. “He must be back at your home right now.”
“I guess I picked a wrong moment to go shopping,” Ms. Hedges chuckled.
“None at all, Ms. Hedges,” Wilt shook his head. “Let me take your bag of groceries with me. You shouldn’t work so hard at your age.”
“I’ll pick ‘em up,” Kay volunteered, causing the old owl lady to give him her bags.
“Your friend is a gentleman, Wilt,” Ms. Hedges smiled at him.
“My granny taught me to respect my elders,” Kay chuckled as they started walking across the market place. “And I’m not the only acquaintance that Wilt made.”
Wilt threw Kay an annoyed glare while Ms. Hedges was delighted.
“So wonderful,” Ms. Hedges chirped. “Tell me all about this.”
This is going to be an embarrassing walk home, Wilt thought as he, Kay, and Ms. Hedges walked their way back to his home. I just hope that Kay, Trixta, and Xan don’t make me look bad in front of my neighbors.
Many people considered the sky as the ultimate symbol of freedom. Those people were unaware of how dangerous the skies could be, especially when they were being sailed by Reavers who didn’t know the definition of mercy.
Several Reaver airships left wrecked and floating in the sea with the Blazing Baron flying pass them. A battle took place in the skies. That in itself was an understatement. It was more of a massacre as the Reaver airships tried to attack the Blazing Baron, only to be ultimately destroyed.
Inside the Blazing Baron, the crew of Reavers were celebrating their prowess. Baron walked down the main bridge of the ship to gaze down upon the wreckage. He saw over a dozen of airships that tried to take him down. A sense of scorn was evident in his facial features as he thought of the weaklings who dared to attack him.
“Pfff!” Baron snorted. “What weak trash! Clearly the Reavers of Ivor don’t know anything about the great Baron!”
Relishing on his victory, Baron watched his airship fly over the wreckage. Once he was no longer seeing the Reaver airships that he destroyed, he brought on his Astral Com and made a call.
“Is there anything that you want us to know, Baron?” one of the operators from one of the monitors asked.
“What’s our ETA?” Baron asked for the estimated time of arrival, hoping that they were going to reach their destination soon.
“Sir, we’ll be ready to reach Ivor in an hour,” the Reaver in charge of the monitors told him.
“Excellent,” Baron smiled as he pondered a strategy based on the information that Palo gave him. He hung up on the Reaver in charge of the monitors and then called out the Reaver in charge of his scouts.
“I’m ready for orders, Baron!” a second Reaver spoke to him. “What is the game plan for this target?”
“First, let’s get some of our boys to the town first and cope the place out,” Baron explained, wanting to ensure a way to find and trap the Florian so that he could be captured easily. “We won’t attack until we confirm the Florian’s there!”
“Yes, Captain!” the second Reaver replied.
“We’ll arrive to Ivor in about an hour,” Baron told the Reaver. “Make sure to have the group ready for this mission. I won’t forgive any screwups after I already came with a master plan.”
“Roger!” the second Reaver promised.
“Good,” Baron nodded his head and shut off the Astral Com.
Everything’s ready! Baron smiled evilly as he entered back into his airship, preparing to have a nap in the captain’s quarters. As long as my crew does exactly what I tell them to do, there won’t be any issue.
The first thing that Wilt did upon reaching the house was sit down and wait until the dinner was ready while Kay went to get Xan and Trixta. Once all the group was at the table, they started eating together with Mr. Hedges. There were already many plates of food served to celebrate Wilt’s return to Starkland. Ms. Hedges wasn’t sitting on the table yet. She was busy cleaning up the kitchen.
“Hope you all enjoy your meals,” Ms. Hedges smiled at the group, getting cheerier as she saw Wilt already in the house.
Giving her a curt nod, Wilt went to wash his hands with water and soap. Once they were properly cleaned, he sat at the table and prepared to eat. He wasn’t surprised to see that Kay was already eating, starting with the spaghetti that was in front of him.
“Hmhm!” Kay grunted happily with a mouthful of spaghetti. “It’s reer guh!”
“Eat or talk,” Trixta berated Kay angrily. “Don’t try and do both!”
“Sorry,” Kay apologized sheepishly. “I meant to say that this pasta is really good!”
“Thank you so much, dear,” Ms. Hedges beamed, happy that her cooking was complimented.
“So, how have you been doing?” Wilt asked, feeling motivated upon seeing the old owl lady’s smile.
“Oh, not so much since you left, so we’ve been doing fine,” Ms. Hedges sighed melancholically. “Things are so quiet since Charney left the roost.”
“Who?” Kay asked, wanting to know who was Charney.
“Ah, right, she went to the military academy in Heartland,” Wilt addressed Ms. Hedges before addressing Kay and the others to explain. “Charney’s the daughter of the Hedges, and a pretty good engineer.”
“Yes, she’s a talented girl,” Ms. Hedges swooned with maternal pride. “Hopefully, she’s doing well. I heard that she’s made a lot of friends. Speaking of which, seems like you made plenty of friends as well.”
Wilt blushed at the comment. Though he met the group in dire circumstances, a part of him was glad to have them by his side, at least Kay.
“You think we’re friends?” Xan asked, ruining the moment.
SMACK!
Trixta hit Xan in the back of the head.
“Gah!” Xan groaned in pain as he rubbed the back of his head. “What gives, woman?”
“Oye!” Trixta admonished firmly. “Be nice! They’re treating us to a free meal!”
“We aren’t exactly friends,” Wilt admitted, focusing only on Xan and Trixta. “But they’ve been helping me so far. Granted, I would’ve gotten it done myself regardless, but…”
“Hey!” Trixta and Xan shouted angrily, more than happy to remind Wilt that he needed to be protected in order to actually make progress with his airship.
“Yeah,” Kay chuckled a bit. “We’re more like work-in-progress friends.”
“Hoho,” Ms. Hedges chucked, amused by the banter between Wilt and his companions. “Finally going to finish what your father started?”
“Exactly!” Wilt beamed proudly as he got up from his chair.
Wilt smiled at the owl lady, staring at her with affection before focusing on his meal. She sat down next to her husband and they talked. It was the standard type of conversation of how he was doing. Wilt made sure to omit all the life and dead situations that he was facing. Fortunately, his companions understood his intentions to omit the dangerous details to avoid upsetting the owl couple, so they barely chimed in on the conversation.
“Thank you for the meal,” Wilt stated as he finished his plate.
“It’s always a pleasure to cook for you, Wilt,” Ms. Hedges gave him a motherly smile.
The Florian nodded at her as he got up to his chair, washed his dishes, and walked towards the exit to return to the garage. He then paused and turned around.
“If you excuse me, I’m going to get to work,” Wilt told Ms. Hedges and then faced his companions to address them. “You guys can relax here. Just please don’t wander around too far. Or touch anything delicate. Or eat anywhere else. Or…”
“We get it!” Xan and Trixta shouted, annoyed at his mistrust.
Seeing that Wilt was going to leave, Kay quickly finished his food. He then got up and followed him to the garage.
“Hey, wait for me!” Kay shouted after Wilt as he opened the door. “I wanna help!”
He closed the door shut and followed Wilt to the garage. With Kay and Wilt gone, only Xan and Trixta were left alone with Mr. and Ms. Hedges.
“That Kay boy is quite a friendly one,” Ms. Hedges remarked happily, glad that Wilt had a reliable friend willing to help him
“And too trusting,” Xan added, still finding it hard to believe that Kay accepted him into the group too quickly.
“Well, nothing wrong with trusting others, depends on how good a judge of character you are,” Ms. Hedges lectured him. “It’s just nice for Wilt to finally have some friends.”
“Hmm?” Trixta tilted her head quizzically.
As Trixta was talking with Ms. Hedges, Wilt was already working on the Accel Arrow. He was working on the engine, trying to weld some parts together.
“You know you don’t have to help,” Wilt told Kay as he focused on welding the parts.
“Yeah, but why not?” Kay shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, we’re partners. Plus, there’s gotta be some heavy stuff you need liftin’.”
“Well,” Wilt paused welding to stare at Kay, noticing that his eyes were sincere in his desire to help him finish the engine. “Alright, sure.”
As Wilt and Kay continued their conversation, Trixta was trying to learn as much as she could about the Florian from his neighbor. Since Wilt distrusted her, she hoped to find a way to earn his trust so that the job would be much easier.
“Wilt always had problems making friends,” Ms. Hedges explained wistfully. “Sure, he’s familiar with everyone in town, but he always seemed to keep people at arm’s length. He’s been like this after his father passed away.”
“Oh,” Trixta muttered, feeling sympathy for the Florian.
Xan said nothing. He was sitting on one of the couches, drinking one of the beers that Wilt and Kay bought when they went shopping. Regardless, he made sure to listen to what Ms. Hedges was saying about Wilt.
The duo just focused on the owl lady, who was telling him all that she knew about their Florian partner.
“His father Hud, was a pretty fantastic repairman and inventor who enjoyed making inventions,” Ms. Hedges smiled fondly as she remembered Wilt’s father. She went to the other couch and put a blanket on her husband, Mr. Hedges, who spent the entire dinner having a nap. “Wilt looked up to him, even made a habit to break devices down to understand them like his father. But then he passed away from illness. We helped him through it, but he spent most of his time in his room withdrawn, making inventions in private.” She stared at the wall as if she was seeing Wilt working on the engine already. “That engine is all he has left of his father.”
“I see,” Trixta muttered in sympathy for Wilt. She never expected him to have such a sad life. Now that she thought about it, with his father’s death, limited number of friends, and being chased by Girasol’s Gang, she could understand why he was so mistrustful of her.
As Trixta was pondering about what she learned, Kay and Wilt were sitting down on the garage for a quick ten-minute break. They were drink a few soda cans to recover their energy.
“Whew, just about done,” Wilt remarked, happy to finish the first of many steps to finish his engine.
“Pretty easy work,” Kay remarked, happy to have contributed on the engine.
“Well,” Wilt took a sip of his soda. “You did help out. Plus, all that was needed was to use the materials to create the outer frame of the engine. My dad did most of the work.”
“What was your dad like?” Kay asked, wanting to find out how much Wilt’s father affected his outlook on life.
“He was amazing,” Wilt had a childlike smile that one would put when talking about their heroes. “He always offered to help fix people’s broken devices. He’s built plenty of stuff too, but his biggest achievement was this special engine that would revolutionize airships forever!” Wilt pointed at the engine excitedly as he spoke about his father’s magnum opus, before frowning sadly. “But he never got to finish it. He died before it happened.”
“Oh,” Kay winced, sympathizing with Wilt as he also knew the pain of losing a father.
“But it was his dream,” Wilt stared with resolution to the engine and then to the entirety of the Accel Arrow. “So I’m gonna make it into a reality! By finishing this airship.”
“His dream, huh?” Kay asked with a smile. “What about you though? Got any dreams for yourself.”
“I do have a dream,” Wilt sighed. “But that’s for me to know, not really willing to say. Sorry.”
“Uhh right, sorry,” Kay apologized, not wanting to pry too much into Wilt’s past. “Guess that was too much to ask.”
“It’s fine,” Wilt took another sip of soda. “That reminds me, what made you want to be a Reaver?”
“Oh!” Kay perked up, happy that Wilt asked him about his dream. “You really wanna know? Don’t mind tellin’ ya.”
“Well, only if you want,” Wilt told him, feeling surprised that Kay was able to talk about his dream so easily whereas Wilt had difficulty explaining his own dream.
“Sure, I don’t mind,” Kay beamed happily. “Ever heard of a town called Mundaal?”
“Mundaal?” Wilt muttered, trying to remember if Kay mentioned it before when talking about his past with Tendo. He was too distracted to remember if the name was muttered. “Oh well, I think I know some people who moved from there. That’s where you live?”
“Yeah,” Kay smiled at him. “It’s a pretty far out town so people don’t know about it. But it has lots of nice stores and shops folks do not know about. Heck, I don’t think it’s on any maps. So that’s why I wanna be a famous Reaver.”
“To make your town well known?” Wilt asked. It sounded like a good idea. As someone who deeply loved his home, he could understand Kay’s desire to make Mundaal appear on the maps.
“To run a museum!” Kay declared his dream, stunning Wilt.
“Excuse me?” Wilt gave Kay a quizzical look.
“Yeah!” Kay shouted excitedly as he was able to share his dream for the first time with someone besides his old friends in Mundaal. “A big museum with all the cool stuff I collected on my adventures.” Kay spread his arms as if imagining how big his museum was going to be. “Plus, with all the money I’d be making’, it’d be easy to do. And my infamy will draw people to wanna visit Mundaal and check out all the stores.” Kay was getting more passionate as he expanded on his dream. “And they’ll end up makin’ more money, making the town prosper more. And once that happens, it’ll eventually be put on the map.”
Wilt stared at Kay, surprised at how elaborate his dream was. With the way Kay normally acted, Wilt expected him to just be someone with wanderlust and a thrill for danger. But he was surprised to see how much Kay wanted to do for his town and how it was actually a well-planned dream.
That’s the most elaborate dream that I ever heard, Wilt thought with amazement as he stared at Kay with newfound respect. I guess he must have thought of every angle to make sure that his dream doesn’t just fulfill him but the people in his hometown too.
“What do you think of my dream?” Kay asked, smirking as he saw the astonished look that Wilt had printed on his face.
“Wow,” Wilt muttered. “That’s…actually well thought out.”
“You think so?” Kay asked, astonished that the smartest person that he knew was congratulating him on expanding his dream from a mere fantasy to a plan that would benefit his town. “I have been thinkin’ about it for a while.”
“The best projects are not born in an instant, Kay,” Wilt told him, remembering a piece of advice that his father taught him. “The best projects are those that you think about so that you can make them work not just for yourself but the other people around you. And yours is the best planned dream that I ever heard.”
“Thanks a lot, Wilt,” Kay smiled, happy that the Florian was acknowledging his dream.
“Still, you say it so earnestly,” Wilt pointed out, amazed by Kay’s confidence. “You really believe you can do it. The Reaver lifestyle is hard, even if you are a Caster.”
“Well, if I don’t believe in it, who else will?” Kay countered with a very good question. “Can’t expect someone to accomplish my dreams for me.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Wilt muttered, wishing that his father had been able to achieve his dream before perishing.
“Oh!” Kay winced, realizing that he indirectly hurt Wilt’s feelings by reminding him of his late father being unable to achieve his dream. “But, uh, I think it’s cool you’re finishin’ what your dad started.”
“Well, thanks,” Wilt smiled sadly at Kay, happy that he understood how finishing his father’s dream was important to him.
“Haha!” Kay laughed as he patted Wilt’s back gently. “No problem, man! Welp, I think it’s time we get back to it!”
He finished his drink and got up.
“Right!” Wilt smiled as he also finished his drink and got up.
With their break over, it was time to return to work. It was going to be a harsh couple of days, but they weren’t going to stop until the Accel Arrow was flying in the air.
It was nighttime as a few members of the Girasol Gang were outside of a warehouse at Vertress Port, waiting for an Astralmobile to show up and pick up a shipment. They were all fully armed to prevent anyone from stealing from them.
“What’s taking them?” one member complained, bored out of his skull.
“Relax, will ya?” a second member scolded his partner. “They’ll be here in a few mins.”
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from inside the warehouse that caught them by surprise.
“What the fuck?” the second member shouted, losing all of the calm that he had a few seconds ago.
“The hell was that?!” the first member turned his gun at the warehouse. “Come on!”
The two of them kicked open the warehouse and were shocked at what they found inside. The warehouse was on fire, blue fire to be exact. A mysterious figure rose within the blue flames, intimidating the guards with their presence. The Girasol Gang members cowered in fear as they knew who the intruder was.
Outside, a large truck type Astralmobile arrived at the warehouse, already engulfed in flames. The five members inside of the Astralmobile got out of the vehicle in panic.
“What the fuck?” the driver of the Astralmobile shouted in horror. “What happened?”
“How did it catch on fire?” the copilot asked.
“Because I blew it up, stupid!”
The five gang members felt their blood freeze when they heard an obviously distorted voice coming from the entrance. The figure emerged from the blue flames, wearing a black coat and a dark blue mask that covered his face. He also appeared to have two tails.
“Sorry fellas,” the masked man apologized sarcastically. “This weapons trading business has been discontinued. Consider this your burn notice.”
He finished his statement by hurling two blue flames from both of his hands, causing an explosion in front of him that prevented the gang members from attacking him. As the gang members tried to clear the smoke from the explosion, the figure vanished.
“Damn it!” the driver of the Astralmobile complained as he saw the warehouse burning and the culprit gone. “Call Mahogany! Tell him the Lan Ye was here.”
Chapter 3 Act-A End