Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

The Crystal Rule	By : QueenDraggyofSwords Category: Final Fantasy Games > Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Views: 956 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy: chrystal Chronicles, any of its characters nor am I making any profit off of them.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
Chapter Twenty Four

Keiss was up early the next morning working on repairing one of the Crystal Bikes with what parts he had. He was determined not to stop until he had two functioning bikes. He had already decided he'd give Layle the one in the best condition. He wanted the Crystal Bearer to be able to keep a good distance from the Mercenaries during the mission. He also didn't want Layle to have to rely on his powers.
The red head cursed slightly to himself, he was still so worked up over Layle and his powers. It was true last night Layle had proven he could use them again, but it was still only minimal control. Not to mention the pain. He didn't want to think of his partner in constant pain.
"As soon as all of this over, we're going to a hospital…"
"Who's going to a hospital?" Keiss looked up from where he was crouched next to one of the Crystal Bikes. At some point in time Layle had approached him while he was working out by the barn. The Selkie glared at his partner, the Clavat was balancing a plate of food over his hand in a small gravity field.
"You are. Stop doing that."
Layle rolled his eyes and let the plate drop down to his hand, "Lyra sent you something to eat." He sat down on the one working bike they had. "So how goes it?"
"Well enough…I know it will run, but I don't know about the weapons," The Selkie stood up and wiped his grease covered hands on his pants' leg. Lyra had lent him on old pair of overalls and a horrid plaid shirt to work in. Keiss had ended up using the shirt as a towel and didn't bother to buckle the overalls up over his chest. He sat down on the bike he just finished and sighed. "You're gonna ride that one," he pointed to the bike Layle sat on, "The weapons work on it. I was even able to give them an extra charge. And I'll ride this one."
"Does it run?" Layle handed him his food questioning the quality of the bike. It looked a little wrecked, with its crushed frame and exposed wires.
"It will when I am done with it," He licked his lips and picked over the food tossing bits into his mouth ravenously. It reminded him of when Layle first moved in. The Clavat had bought actual groceries with his money and made at least one real meal for himself each day. Keiss was so used to eating out unless it was breakfast. Because all the breakfast foods he knew were simple and quick to make. But he had to imagine, if he had lived on Lyra's cooking for all of his life, that he two would probably crave something homemade once and a while. "It will at least get me in and out of that camp. And that's all I need."
"Hmn…so when do we go?"
"After the second monster run." Keiss sucked on his fingers, too hungry to eat with a fork, "There seems to be a delay in time between the second monster run and the third. We'll use that time to poke around the camp. I get the evidence; we get in touch with the Lieutenant. Have these pricks arrested. And get home all in time for the Clavats to celebrate."
Layle nodded, "Sounds good." He stood up and snatched a piece of food off of Keiss' plate with his powers and the Selkie glared at him.
"Will you stop that!"
"What?"
"Using your powers. Didn't you say it hurt you?"
"Yeah, it hurts a little bit… I can still function, Keiss." Layle shrugged as the Selkie glared at him. It's true it did hurt to use his powers. It hurt a lot in fact. He wouldn't admit it, but every time he tried to lift something he would feel a sharp pain along the left side of his head. And the longer he held onto it, the greater the pain became. If he had to put it into words it felt like being poked at with a needle. One that was slowly pushing itself deeper with each passing moment. However he refused to let Keiss know how much it hurt.
Maybe it was because he was stubborn. Or maybe it was because he hadn't been told how or when to use his powers since he was a child. But it was probably because Layle himself didn't want to admit he could lose total control. They were his powers. He had had them since he was a kid. And yes, he fought with them for years not to react to every little emotion he had.
He learned that at six when he tossed Lyra into the stove over a meal.
He had fought to control them. To understand them. To master them. They were his powers. He was going to use them and get them back under control. No matter how much it hurt. No one was going to tell him to stop. Not Lyra, not Keiss, not even the splitting pain in his head. Layle was sure there was a way to work through this. He just had to find it.
"Well, rest of you functions just fine," The Selkie said finishing off his breakfast. So use that instead during the mission. Understand?"
Layle grumbled and stood up, 'I'll use what I need to use to get the job done.' He took the plate from Keiss and shook his head at his partner. "Just come get me when you're done messing around." Out of spite he twirled the plate over his hand as he walked away. He could feel the red head glaring daggers into his back. Layle kept it up long after he was out of sight and nearly made it back to the house spinning the plate higher and higher; until the pain became unbearable and he had to let it go.
It broke right on the steps.

For the first wave of Behemoths, Keiss was on his own. He had purposely left Layle back at the ranch. He did not bother to tell him he was leaving. He didn't even go check on him. The Selkie proved he could be spiteful too. But at least his was out of concern.
However he needed Layle to get back into the Mercenaries' camp. So by the middle of the afternoon, they boys sat on the side of the road. Keiss was leaning up against the patch job of a Crystal Bike he had made this morning, while Layle sat on his across from him.
There wasn't much talking. But there were a lot of angry glares back and forth. They had just dispensed with the second monster run of the day. And Layle had used his powers to lift a Behemoth and toss it like a ball into its friends. Had a perfectly good working cannon on his bike and he didn't use it. At all. If his head wasn't busted Keiss felt he would bust it for him. Layle on the other hand was doing his best not to show pain. So he focused on showing anger. Twisting his lips angrily at his partner and refusing to talk to him kept his mind off of how stupid it was to lift something so large so soon.
It felt like the barn had dropped on him all over again. He really wanted to put his head down. Or put ice on it. Hell he would even eat some of that terrible soup right now. But he kept his mouth shut and his eyes cold. Keiss might be worried about him, but they were partners. Or at least they were supposed to be, and now the Selkie was trying to do everything without him. He could have said he was going to go out alone in the morning, rather than just up and leave.
It annoyed him. Was Keiss always going to do this if there was a problem? Just take over and leave him?
It almost made him worried. Worried about what this partnership was going to boil down to if he lost control. Is Keiss going to just ditch him? Just take his missions solo because he felt Layle was useless? Thinking about it more and more only made him angrier. If the Selkie thought he was just going to abandon him over this situation, Layle would make sure he did the walking out first.
The Clavat crossed his arms and looked away. 'I'm really considering this? Just walking out on a partnership that's lasted me four months? Four months and no problems. No problems. Why is it a problem now? Is this really all just about my powers? …This is just like the first day…I can't stand this guy…'
Keiss finally stood up from his bike. He was tired of waiting. He knew there was a delay in the monster attacks, but if he and Layle sat around being angry all day, they would miss there chance. "Alright, Crystal Bearer, I think I've given your head enough time to rest. Let's get going."
"Is that what we were waiting on?" Layle looked back over at Keiss with disdain. "You were waiting on my injury? What did I tell you yesterday?"
"Layle. Let's just argue about it later, okay? All I want right now is to get into the camp and get out before the next monster run." Keiss watched as the Crystal Bearer started up his bike.
"Fine. Get going then." The Clavat took off down the road without another word. Keiss shouted at him to make sure he gave him twenty minutes, but he was sure Layle didn't hear him. The Selkie scowled and pushed his bike into the bushes and covered it with branches.

"Stupid Layle…Messing up plans…Why can't he just…Behave!" Keiss started into the woods after making sure his bike was hidden from view. The entire way he grumbled under his breath about his friend and his stubborn attitude. It was driving him crazy. "That Crystal Bearer... I know he loves trouble, but does he have to cause so much of it himself?" Keiss kept muttering as he approached the camp.
The Selkie made his way through the familiar path toward the Mercenaries hidden base camp. Once he had it in sight all that was left to do was sit and wait for the Crystal Bearer to distract the mercenaries. The entire time he was hiding in the bushes he cursed to himself about his partner and how unreasonable Layle was being. 'He's just going to keep using his powers until he breaks them. That's going to be the end result. He's going to become powerless and then what will we do? He never considers what other people are thinking…That…That Clavat Brat.'
While Keiss kept himself hidden, Layle sped along the dirt road, making sure to inspect the area where he was to make his distraction run before actually starting his mission. He half wanted to use his powers to do it and half of him knew he should not. Considering the splitting headache was still suffering from since he tossed that Behemoth; he figured he would just use the bike's cannon as Keiss instructed. So after zipping up and down the road a few times, Layle turned the Crystal Bike to the forest.
He put one foot down to steady the bike, and with a smile on his face he fired the bike's cannon into the trees. Keiss wasn't kidding about tuning up the weapons system. Layle felt the bike jolt back slightly as he fired. The shot that came from the cannon was just as impressive. A bright blue light was hurled into the forest; it was about the size of his torso. The Crystal Bearer watched as it disappeared from view, but he could still hear it breaking limbs and destroying the bark of trees as it continued on into the woods.
The smile on Layle's face grew. He didn't wait very long before he fired again. And again. And once more for good measure.
It was the same sound of trees being smashed to bits that alerted the Mercenaries to the fact something was wrong. The idea became reinforced when a bright blue orb of energy crashed into their camp and tore up the ground around them. The men started shouting can calling for their leader. Keiss peeked out from his hiding spot to see the man leave the mobile bunker. His men were pointing out beyond the trees just as another shot came hurtling into the camp.
This one made it a bit farther, probably because the shot before it had cleared away most of the forest in its path. It crashed right into the middle of camp destroying their little fire and cooking set up. Enraged the Lilty started barking orders, commanding his men to get on their bikes and find who was shooting at them. Keiss kept his head low as he watched the men mount up and start to leave, but the Lilty in charge stopped one man. He pointed the opposite direction of the road and seemed to be giving him different orders.
'What are they up to?' Keiss watched as that one member of the group took off the opposite direction, on foot no less, as the remaining five Mercenaries left to go find out who was shooting at them. As soon as the coast was clear Keiss left his hiding place and made his way into the camp. He wanted to follow the man that had rushed off the other way- but he had a limited window of time.
'Not to mention, Keiss, you have no idea where that guy is going. And your partner doesn't have his powers to aid him if he gets into trouble.' The Selkie made his way over to the mobile bunker. He had to search in here. Especially if it was where their leader was staying. He approached the long metal car attached to the back of the tank and inspected the door.
"Did he have time to lock it?" The Selkie put his hand on the door handle and turned it. He heard the soft 'click' of it releasing and pushed it forward with a smile. "Guess not." He looked around before ducking inside. The bunker was divided into two sides. One side was a long desk with a control panel built into it. There were control for operating weapons and a display screen for readouts. Along with what looked like a graph currently up on the screen. Keiss glanced at it trying to understand what it was for.
"Result data on Monster Movement and Modification…" The Selkie looked over the desk and saw a few papers printed out. It was more paper work. "More of the monster readouts…" He pulled out his camera and started to take pictures. "They're tracking the monster patterns? And these are logs of the numbers, strength…stability…" Keiss filled through the papers taking pictures and stopped when he reached the blue paper work for a contract.
The Selkie slowly reached down and read the paper over. It was in fact a contract, with a request from Professor Piper. "To Colonel Malvaceae…Test Commission… M. D. F. C. field test and report…" Keiss frowned as he read over the request. It was made two months ago. He set the papers down and looked to the wall behind him. It was covered in printed out charts and maps of the area. They were marked as Miasma Stream pattern maps, showing which way the streams typically flowed and when. There were also monster charts, diagrams, techniques on how to handle them and-
Keiss stopped scanning the wall; underneath everything he could make out a familiar looking chart. He pulled off a few of the tacks holding up the other maps and slowly pealed back the paper. "M. D. F. C. Operations and System management guide…" He looked it over, his mouth slightly agape. "This…This is…the Miasma Directional Field Controller…" He ran his fingers over the writing, all of it very poor Lilty short hand. But the diagram itself helped greatly. There were instructions for operation, how much time it needed to recharge and how to repower its energy source; with an image of the purple crystals drawn under that section.
"It…Moves…Miasma Streams…" He slowly lowered the papers and stuck the pins back in. "They're…Using this machine, to change the streams patterns…" He took another step back and shook his head. 'And they're testing it on the town-' Keiss' thoughts abruptly stopped. He could hear someone coming. That guy…The one mercenary that didn't head for the street. He was on his way back. Keiss looked around for a way out. He hadn't been planning on someone returning so soon. However the only exit from the bunker was into the tank. And he knew that was no way out. Quickly he climbed up onto the control panel and grabbed onto one of the steel beams running across the roof. He pulled himself up and hooked his legs on another beam just as the door was pushed open and the man entered.
Keiss held his breath as the man stopped at the computer and started to type in a new read out. The Selkie turned his head to see what was coming up on screen. The control panel was giving a read out for a miasma stream: Arriving in ten minutes; Monster type: Bloodbones; Number: Three. The Mercenary smirked, "Let's see them deal with this!"
The Selkie let his legs drop and he swung them down to connect to the mercenaries head. He sent the man hurtling into the opposite wall before he dropped own and ran out of the bunker. From behind he could hear the Mercenary starting to shout at him as he tried to give chase. But Keiss was not going to be stopped. Bloodbones were huge. And Layle was on the road they were coming down. Layle, with no powers. That man wouldn't be able to catch him no matter what.

Along the road side the Mercenaries had discovered Layle. It was too bad they could not keep up with him. The Clavat was riding circles around them, weaving the Crystal Bike in and out of trees, up into the brush, and back down into the road. All the while he would fire the bike's cannon at them, tearing up the road. At one point he charged them head on, dodging their shots and shooting at their tires.
He had to admit, he used his powers to quickly flip one. But it was just a flick of the wrist. Nothing that caused him too much pain. However he knew Keiss would never let him live it down.
Layle was about fifteen minutes into giving the Mercenaries a headache when he noticed they started to trail behind him. The Crystal Bearer stopped the bike and looked back up the road, "Why the hell did they stop?" He watched as the men seemed to cheer and turn their bikes to retreat back to camp. "What the hell!" Layle started after them, "Where the fuck do they think they going!" The Clavat fired his cannon at the men but they were already backing up into the bushes and gone by the time he reached the edge of the road where they had retreated.
Layle scowled. Had something gone wrong? Maybe Keiss had been caught? Just as he was getting ready to charge up into the woods after the men, Layle noticed the sunlight was fading from the sky. The Clavat looked up to see the edges of purple clouds entering his field of vision. "Great, more Behemoths…" The Crystal Bearer backed up and turned his bike to face the oncoming monsters. They were earlier than planned, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Even with his powers on the fritz beating up a few lumbering monsters was no problem.
At least that's why he told himself, until he heard the noise coming down the road. It didn't sound like Behemoths…It sounded like clanking bones. The Crystal Bearer tightened his grip on the bikes handles. Behemoths don't make the clangy sounds of bones coming down the road. Was it a batch of Skeletons? That would be a step backward in difficulty, and he somehow felt his luck was just not that great.
And he was right. Just over the bend in the road Layle could see the head of the first approaching monster. A giant red skull with a helmet. Attached to red skeletal body…Holding two swords…And it had friends. Bloodbones. Wonderful.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. However it would also be a lie if he didn't admit that his heart was racing with anticipation. He revved up the bike and took off toward the new enemy. As he sped toward them something in the back of his head was trying to warn him about Bloodbones. Something he had read once, but he couldn't recall what it was. Layle raced to the monsters and weaved in and out of their legs as they brought down their swords trying to smash him. Luckily, Keiss had given the bike a good enough boost to keep the Crystal Bearer one step ahead of the monsters.
Layle zipped out behind the monsters and turned his bike to face the giant skeletons. Two of them turned but one continued toward the village. Layle fired the bike's cannon into their knees as they charged at him. It caused the two monsters to fall into each other. Their bones clanged together, but rather than falling to the ground they started to swirl together like small twister. The Clavat eyed it as he raced by, "The hell….Whatever, they're stopped for now."
He left the two monsters mixing together to catch up the third Bloodbones. The monster was running as fast as it could for the village up the road. Layle cursed under his breath and tried to shoot its legs out from under it. However the bones would just reconnect as soon as they were taken apart. "Damn it!" He revved up the bike trying to catch up; he couldn't let it get to the village. But how to stop it? The Clavat scanned his brain trying to remember what he knew about this monster.
They stop advancing if you remove the head.
Layle stopped the bike, "Remove the head, eh…" He flexed his right hand and stretched it out. "I can handle that!" The Crystal Bearer extended his powers to grab the monster's skull. A gravity field encased the head and it stopped moving forward. The Bloodbones twisted its body around and started to charge at Layle. The Crystal Bearer smirked as he yanked his hand back to behead the monster. But just as he did, felt a twinge of pain run down the left side of his body.
The gravity field grew to encase the entire monster and when he pulled his hand back he entire creature flew upward. It arced over his head and into the air. Layle turned his body to follow it and see where it landed. The falling creature landed right into the other two twisting bodies. There was a bright flash of light, and suddenly Layle remembered.
"…Right! Don't let Bloodbones combine…They turn…into a Legion…" The light dimmed away and new monster stood up. A large, red, skeletal monster roared at him and clanged its six swords on the ground. It started to run, charge in fact at him. "Okay, new plan…" Layle turned the bike and took off down the road trying to out run the monster.
He could hear it behind him. Banging the ground with its weapons and calling his name. Wait, monsters don't talk. Layle turned his head to see Keiss riding up from the forest. The Selkie skid out onto the road and his bike weaved to fall in line next to him. "Layle! Layle are you alright!"
"Yeah…More or less!"
Keiss looked over his shoulder at the approaching monster and frowned. "Layle! Did you use your powers!"
"No!" The Clavat glared at him, and Kiess continued to frown, "…Okay. Maybe just a little."
"I'm going to kill you when this is over."
"Whatever! Just think of something! That thing can't reach the village, it will destroy everything."
Keiss looked ahead, he could already see Denthe coming into view. They had to take the Bloodblones apart. The Selkie turned his bike and started to fire at the Legion. He ordered Layle to do the same. The Monster used its weapons to deflect the shots as it continued to advance. Keiss shook his head; shooting at it wasn't going to work.
"Layle!" Keiss turned to his partner and got off his bike. "Give me your bike, you're gonna toss this one!"
"I thought I wasn't supposed to use my powers."
"Shut your mouth and do it!" The Selkie got on the bike and took off for the monster. Layle put his hand on the broken down bike wondering what the hell eh was supposed to do with this. However as he watched Keiss zip around the monster firing the Crystal Cannon, it dawned on Layle the six arms were too busy try to smash the Selkie to block any on coming attacks.
The Crystal Bearer took hold of the bike using his powers stretched out from both hands and lifted it over his head. He could already feel it starting to send pain through his skull and down his arm. He held the bike in place and waited for his shot, Just as the monster turned to hit Keiss, and the front swords connected into the ground he let it fly from his hands. The bike spun forward, turning over and over until it collided with the monster's front skull. It knocked it off and shattered through the body breaking apart its upper half.
As soon as the head hit the ground Keiss turned the bike and shot at it. Destroying it. The crumbing Legion roared, it was unable to support itself without its third head. The remaining two Bloodbones attempted to break free and put their own bodies back together. Keiss drove around the scrambling monsters shooting at limbs and blasting them out of reach. Layle ran up and took hold of whatever he could with his magic and started yank the monster further apart. The duo tore away bones and blasted bones until there were just two bouncing skulls left.
As the skulls bounced off the storm came to an end, the monsters fleeing with it.
Layle came to stand next to Keiss, slightly panting and his head killing him. Too much magic in two narrow an amount of time. The Selkie leaned back on his bike, he hadn't noticed it before but his heart was racing. Not from the fight, but from worry.
He looked over at Layle and smiled, forgetting he was mad at his partner. He was just happy to see the monster hadn't managed to rip him apart.
"Come on…Let's get back so I can tell you what I found…"

The ride back to Lyra's ranch was quick. Maybe that was just because Layle was tired. Or maybe that's because the day was going by so quickly. The entire ride back, the Crystal Bearer kept his head down resting on Keiss shoulder. He didn't care about what it implied; it hurt too much to keep his head up at this point.
When they got back to the ranch, Keiss took them straight to the Acote. He dug around in the wrecked ships cockpit looking for some of the files he had copied from the Research Lab. Layle sat outside the ship on the ground rubbing his sore head, "Keiss…What are you doing? I thought you were going to tell me what was up…"
"I am!" The Selkie climbed out of the cockpit holding up a file. "This! Is what's going on!" He sat down next to Layle and opened up the folder for the Miasma Direction Field Controller. "They have…a prototype of this- somewhere. This, M.D.F.C. …It moves Miasma Streams."
Layle stared at the paper, "Keiss…didn't we do a mission to find the crystals for this thing?"
The Selkie's lips twisted, "Yeah…we did…" He closed the folder, "I'm still not sure how it works, I took plenty of photos on the files they had. I just need to study them, and then we can go shut it do-" he stopped talking as Layle stood up. "Where are you going?"
"I don't need to know how it works! I just need to destroy it!"
"Layle!" Keiss stood up, "You can't just go charging back down there. Not like this. They know we're on to them. Why do you think Bloodbones came instead of Behemoths. They're trying to kill us!"
"So what then!" He rubbed the side of his head, "We just wait for tomorrows round? What if more Bloodbones come? What if something worse comes! What if- What if they get a King Behemoth here! What then, Keiss! We need to act now!"
"We need a plan, Crystal Bearer. Just give me time to think of one," Keiss reached out and grabbed Layle's arm pulling him back to him. He hugged his partner and kissed the side of his head, even though he knew he hated that. "Besides, I don't want you to get hurt again."
Layle sighed and put his head on Keiss' shoulder, "I keep telling you-"
"-Not to treat you with kid gloves. Yeah I know. I know." Keiss smiled and pulled back from Layle to look him in the eye, "But your head is bothering you, right? You were tossing around parts of a giant monster with your powers," The Selkie leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. "So you just rest for the rest of the afternoon. Even if you hate it, let me take care of you."
Layle started to grumble and Keiss leaned forward to kiss him again. He wasn't going to let him say no today. No resisting. No stubbornness. None of it. The Selkie took hold of his partner's arms and held him still as he deepened the kiss. Not that Layle was really resisting him at this point. The blow to the head really did make him a bit more docile. It usually took a good four attempts to get Layle to the point of kissing back. 'He's resistant as hell about everything, isn't he?'
Keiss felt Layle part his lips, probably in an attempt to breathe, but the Selkie took that as in invitation to push his tongue into the Clavat's mouth. He felt Layle's hands grab onto his hips as he tilted his head to the side and pushed forward. The Selkie felt his partner waver a bit; probably a little off balanced from the pain. Keiss tightened his grip on Layle's arms to keep them up right.
He had just meant for it to be a little kiss. A little heart filled kiss. And then he was going to take Layle back to the house and make him sleep. But his mind was quickly deviating from that plan. What was a little kiss was becoming a ravenous one. He couldn't stop trying to push their mouths together harder and harder with each passing second. And his mind was going over how this could become more than kissing, and where. The Acote seemed like a good idea. They could do it in the Acote. It was enclosed enough.
He let go of Layle's arms and wrapped his arms around the Crystal Bearer's neck and parted their lips for a second. "Layle," The Selkie licked his tongue over the Clavat's lips, "I know…Your head is hurting…But, uh…"
The Clavat rolled his eyes, "Really, Keiss? What happened to 'relaxing'?"
"Sex is relaxing…" The Selkie kissed him again. "You're always really relaxed afterward…"
Just as Keiss was moving in to kiss his partner again, the heard another voice from behind, "It really is a proven fact that people that have sex often are a lot less stressed." The Selkie jumped. Jumped back from Layle and grabbed his chest. The Clavat seemed less shocked as he turned to see Constance just standing there. She was holding a blue envelope in her hands.
"C-Constance!" Keiss shook his head, "When did you-How did you-Look it's not what it looks-"
The shop girl laughed and handed Layle the letter, "You know, if you do that out in the open, Lyra is going to catch you."
Layle was not at all startled his cousin had seen him making out with the Selkie. Instead he became focused on the letter, "What's this?"
"A delivery for you…A girl came to the shop and said it was for you. Oh! And Lyra needs help with the laundry."
Keiss looked at Layle as he opened the letter and started to read it. He then looked at Constance who was smiling at him, "You-uh—You're pretty…okay…with what you just saw all things considered."
Layle didn't look up from his letter, "The only thing Stance is good for is playing look out…"
The shop girl rolled her eyes, "You're going to have to tell Lyra one day."
The Crystal Bearer frowned and folded up his letter. "Sure, but not today—Uh, Keiss!" He pointed at the Selkie, "Will you, help Lyra with the laundry. I need to…go to town."
"What!" Keiss frowned, "Why are you leaving so sudden- Layle, what's that letter say. Who wrote it?"
The Clavat shook his head, "Just help Lyra, I'll be back soon." Keiss turned to Constance ready to question her but Layle grabbed her arm and dragged her off with him.
The Selkie frowned. There went Layle. And his chance to get laid. What was on that letter…?
And why did he have to do laundry?

Layle dragged Constance away from Keiss and away from the ranch. He didn't say a word until they were on the road. He was paranoid the Selkie would be listening in on his conversation with his cousin.
"Alright, Stance." Layle let go of her arm, "Who gave you this letter?"
The Shop girl rubbed her arm and glared, "That hurt you know!" She sighed "I didn't ask her name…It was just some Lilty girl. She said she was your friend and to take you this letter."
The Clavat frowned harder. He opened up the letter and glanced at it again.
I heard you have a monster problem. Come to the General Store, and let's work this out together. 'Clockwork'.
'Why is she here?' Layle folded up the letter, 'How did she even know I was here!' The Clavat lead his cousin all the way back to the shop. Form the steps he could hear the sound of James and a familiar voice laughing and carrying on. Layle instructed Constance to stay outside as he opened the door.
Sure enough, inside the room, Clockwork was there laughing it up with his uncle.
"These really are the best Star Carrots I've ever had! And I don't usually like them, but I'm willing to buy everything you have on the shelf!" Clockwork chuckled and bit into a carrot just as she turned around to see Layle. The Lilty smiled at him and waved. "There you are, Layle. You took your time to get here."
The Crystal Bearer crossed his arms, "Clockwork. Are you stalking me?"
The girl chuckled, "My, is that anyway to say hello? You could learn a thing or two about manners from your uncle here."
Layle glanced at James who gave a slight nod to him, as if to tell Layle he was indeed being rude. The Crystal Bearer sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked across the room. "Clockwork…I believe you came by to discuss business. So let's you and I got outside and talk about it shall we?"
"I'd rather we talk right here," She took another bite of the carrot. "James was just telling me all about the monsters. I can't believe you and Keiss would take on such a challenge without your third teammate."
Layle snorted, so that was the game? "Well, Clockwork, we know you're often busy with your solo missions. So we thought we would handle this without you."
The two Crystal Bearer smiled at one another; James studied them for a moment. Not sure what to make of their interaction, until finally Clockwork spoke up again, "Layle, I am sure by now you and Keiss have found out about the M.F.D.C. …And knowing you two, you plan to destroy it."
"Of course."
"Well I am here to tell you that is a bad idea. You need to shut it down… Destroying it while it's on could bring in a huge storm. And who knows what kind of monsters."
"And why should I trust you know about this sort of thing?"
Clockwork smiled and took another bite of her carrot, "Because, Clavat, I know all about the Militaries Research. My work depends upon it."
There was another pause before Layle nodded to her, "Fine. I'll let you handle the machine."
"Excellent!" She turned and put some money for the carrots down on the table. Layle took note of the fact her gunshot seemed to be fully healed. That was awfully fast. "So now you and I will head to the camp and-"
"No. We go and get Keiss first."
"We don't need Keiss…"
"He's my partner. He comes. Or I don't either."
The female Lilty bit into her carrot with a sneer, "Yeah…I bet that happens a lot doesn't it?"
- 23
- 24
- 25
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Crystal Rule