The Things That Matter Most

[Marianne Greire]

Marianne entered Oak Town. She still didn't know head or tail on what she was trying to do and she didn't care yet. All she had heard was that help may be needed around. But still. No help she could offer was going to be liked by anyone in Shadow Heart. She didn't even know if she actually wanted to help. In fact, she was struggling to find reason in whether Shadow Heart actually was a bad guild. As of late she just couldn't tell. And she didn't want to sort it out just yet. Her position actually sucked quite hard. Mari sighed and kicked a stray pebble on the road. It skittered a few miserable metres before coming to a halt as it bumped against the leg of a wooden bench. Seeing that she had nothing to do, the girl sat herself down on the bunch, eyes fixed on the floor. She kicked around the dirt for a bit before finally succumbing to the heat. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the bench's back.

She could feel the hard wood pressing against her bare back, courtesy of her clothing choice for the day, and relished the coolness seeping into her skin. It was nice for once, to not have to do anything. Mari could feel herself beginning to succumb to her drowsiness when a voice rose her gently from the haze of sleep.

"Mari? Mari, is that you?" The young man's voice caused her to open one sleepy eyelid. Who was calling her name? Her vision blurred and she blinked both eyes to get a clearer vision. "Mari," The voice came again, more commanding in tone this time. A hand placed itself on her shoulder and she jerked, wide-eyed, facing the young man's face with terror. And then it changed into shock. "Pieter?"

301

[Marianne Greire]

Her brother shook his head in amusement. "No, I'm Sabby, of course I'm Pieter, what are you doing here? You're not..." His voice trailed off leaving Mari to fidget uncomfortably. When was the last time she saw her family? Ever since she changed the locks in Shadow Heart she guessed. At that point in her life she was more concerned with getting away with her mischievous deed rather than keeping watch on her family. Not her highest point exactly but something that sort of enabled they didn't die. As of now she couldn't even remember what that man was doing anymore. Some kind of... Holiday routine check? It was as close enough to a holiday that Shadow Heart could get. At any rate, Mari guessed she should say something. She took a deep breath and looked at Pieter in the eye.

"No, I'm not," She said hoping he'd get the message.

And then he did something that surprised even her. He laughed. "I meant sleeping on the job you idiot!" He said amiably, patting her on the back. Mari looked at the floor, blushing some in embarrassment.

"Well." Internally she was giving herself a reality check. He knew she was in Shadow Heart right? If he did, she wasn't so sure whether he would be joking to her about her occupation. Pieter obviously could tell her internal dilemma because his expression darkened some.

"If you're thinking about me not liking you're in Shadow Heart... well I dunno anymore... I keep on thinking it's not, I mean they took you away from becoming good... but then again, the most widely recognised good guild in Fiore right now is... well Shadow Heart. So that leaves me in some debate. For now though, I've decided to ignore it. Sabby definitely still hates Shadow Heart with a passion!" He laughed nervously, not meeting her gaze. Mari sighed. So even her own brother wasn't denying her un-goodness. Great. Pieter noticed her sigh too. Damn, he was perceptive. "You haven't... killed anyone in the previous month have you?" He asked with an exasperated sigh "I thought Shadow Heart was now considered good and don't 'good' people not kill anyone?" Mari kept silent which probably gave her brother more ideas than what she'd consider necessary. "Okay, Shadow Heart isn't good."

They fell into a silent lapse after his decision and Mari wondered what on earth she could say to him. 'No brother dearest, I haven't killed anyone! They ran into my psychic magic!'. Promising, but it wouldn't cut it. She could feel Pieter studying her like some lab experiment which made her uncomfortable. To be fair to him she was a sort of lab experiment. To be fair to herself he could have chosen to study her like that all those years ago. He seemed to come to some conclusion because minutes later he stood up, dragging her up on her feet soon after. She looked confused at him. He simply grinned at her.

"Follow me! I've got something for you to do!"

808/1000

[Marianne Greire]

Mari followed blindly after Pieter unsure of where he was headed. After a while he told her to stop moving so of course, she did. She trusted him. It was a funny thought to be having. Pieter moved away from her and out of her sight. Despite her straining to hear what he was saying she couldn't seem to make it out. She only caught one name, George. Either than that nothing. After what seemed like forever Pieter came back.

"Okay! I got a good old job for you to do! Something to keep you from snoozing! My old pal George the Requestor for the Magic Council is having some trouble with the bandits on Hosenka... well going to Hosenka from Oak... neverthelesss, we got you a job!" Mari tried to avoid looking horrified at his new job for her. Councilman? Was Pieter crazy? Obviously she wasn't doing a very good job at hiding it since he laughed at her facial expression. "Don't worry! I'm tagging along so I'll hand it in and you just do the butt kicking!" She wondered how he could feel so optimistic. Oh well. She guessed she didn't have much to do anyways (other than her Shadow Heart motivation that brought her there in the first place)

"Fine, fine. What exactly do I have to do?" Pieter grinned happily at her compliance to help and he merrily got busy with telling her the details. Mari simply nodded and asked questions when she was confused. All in all, her job was pretty easy. Rounding up bandits. And then he dropped the bomb. "Oh yeah! We'll be going with George too!" Mari didn't bother hiding her horrifiedness this time. "With George? I'm not Magic Council! I'm not even close to Magic Council!" Being honest was surprisingly refreshing.

1108

[Marianne Greire]

Pieter was grinning like a wolf after her outburst. It didn't serve to make her any less uneasy. "What... did you do?" She asked finally. Pieter continued grinning. Mari shook her head. She had to trust her brother. If she didn't, who could she trust? "Okay let's go," She gestured forwards with Pieter taking the lead. He turned back to face her.

"Well, so how's life been?" Mari stared at him with her eyebrow raised.

"Um, aren't we meant to be doing a mission?" Pieter continued grinning.

"Isn't like you to turn down a little fun, I've heard the rumours little sister! Locks in Shadow Heart? Golden! Also did you know..." And on and on he talked. Useless chatter just to fill the silence. Mari sighed. Pieter could never tolerate silence. She simply smiled and nodded along, responding when necessary. Finally they reached where George was waiting.

"I'm assuming you are the one Pieter was talking about to help?" Mari nodded stiffly. "You're not from the Magic Council but...oh it'll just have to do," Mari bit back a sharp comment and stayed silent. She didn't want to speak with this George. "So follow me no-"

"I'd appreciate it if you just showed me the directions," She cut in. So perhaps her conviction wasn't that strong. George nodded hurriedly and showed her the directions anyways. She smiled and granted him thanks before pulling Pieter away in the said direction. Meanwhile Pieter was looking at her with amusement.

"Woow, you're quite the bright sunshine aren't you?" His tone was certainly sarcastic no doubt. He managed to still sound light-hearted though. Mari rolled her eyes.

"Business is business. Aren't you supposed to be older than me thus more mature?" She stuck her tongue out at Pieter. Her brother simply grinned.

"Ooh, for the first time she cracks a joke. And I thought my sis was now all sullen!" Mari chose to ignore that comment but allowed herself to smile anyways. She missed talking to Pieter. It had been far too long. It made her think about how bad she was too which was good, she had to. The girl was about to open her mouth to respond when a flicker of movement caught her eye. By instinct she pushed Pieter to the ground. She stood up immediately and assessed the situation. There were three bandits all using daggers.

"We heard you're here to mess up our business," One of the bandits sneered at her. Mari smirked in response. She'd let them try and talk to her. She wouldn't bother responding - too much of a waste of time. This was also an easy fight. Three bandits, three daggers. Where were the odds? Very much in her favour. She noticed they were all glowing red. She tilted her head to the side and smiled at the bandits.

"Well yeah," Mari decided to respond then, just to take their attention off their daggers. They looked at her madly and for a second she could sense their grip relax. That was all she needed. The girl feigned confusion and looked with a puzzlement on her face at their daggers. "I'm curious..." She begun slowly "Does your daggers usually float in the air? Or point themselves at you?" The bandits looked warily at each other.

"We don't know what you mean," She looked again. They followed her gaze. They widened their eyes. "Son of a..." Mari would never tell what that particular bandit's response was because she stabbed him with his own glowing dagger. The others tried to run when they realised the magic was activated but too late, she already stabbed them too. For a split second Mari wondered what the daggers would do - and then they all started developing third degree burns. Mari shrugged. Well now it was time to arrest them. That probably meant handing them in to Pieter.

"Okay well that's done now. Your gonna turn them into the Magic Council now right?" Pieter looked as if he was in shock before blinking twice and nodding.

"Yeah," He said before hesitating. She could feel him wrestling in his mind whether he should ask her something or not. She decided to save him the trouble.

"What's wrong?"

"Well... seeing you fight. I didn't realise... no never mind." He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "We really need to team up again some day. I mean I know I did nothing but hey, it could change." He stayed silent for a moment before her eyes. "You know... I don't know whether you like Shadow Heart... but please, don't feel obligated to stay in Shadow Heart just because of me and Sabby... we can fend for ourselves you know... Sabby's training in magic and she's becoming real good. I'm learning Holder Magic too so I'm not entirely defenceless either. I wish I could say Shadow Heart is actually good but I dunno... there's something fishy about it. I just... I guess I want you to know that I didn't think you were bad for joining Shadow Heart. And you're still my sister and I'll love you no matter what. Not in a creepy romantic sibling fetish way but in a I'm your brother way. I love Sabby too." Mari struggled to avoid crying. She already knew that. She just wasn't strong enough. She turned away and continued walking.

"Let's go now... return to George and tell him we've completed," Pieter simply nodded in response and walked alongside her. They walked in silence till they reached George. She told him the news while Pieter took the opportunity to make George hand in the bandits on his behalf. And then it was back to just them again. Mari turned to face Pieter. She knew he probably would want to catch up with her a bit more but... She took a deep breath. "Look. I'm sorry about everything I've done to you and Sabby. I didn't want to hurt you guys... especially Sabby. I love you too and I wish, I just wish I could be strong enough to quit Shadow Heart. But I can't. I don't know why but I just can't seem to. I can't yet anyways. At least... I don't think so. Not just yet. I have promises to upkeep," And not just the one to that man "Anyways, I wish we could talk longer but I do have things I need to do. I hope I see you again, both you and Sabby." And with that she turned around and walked. She didn't trust herself enough. Only when she was further enough away did she let the tears come.

2209

[Sponsored content]