Ever The Contrarian

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN 

"They should be over here. By the way, we'll need to sneak you out as a slave too. Looks like you got that part covered, though." Yeah, but it was very uncomfortable. "Anyway, here we are. In you go." Sulfur said, and Mercury frowned. "If you dare double-cross me, you're going to eat my sword." 

"Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of it. Especially since you paid." Sulfur said, and Mercury finally let her frown slowly turn into a grin. "You know, if you're helping us, then I don't know why anyone was disappointed in you. You're not so bad after all." She said, before stepping into the cage. Sulfur stared at her for a minute, and then finally shut the door. "Thanks." He said, and Mercury sighed, sinking to the floor. All the people eye her wearily. "Oh, chill. This is like that ID room all over again. Don't worry, my friend the elf sent me. Nox. Maybe you know him?" 

The elves all stared at her slowly, and Mercury blinked. what? an eye staring contest? well, bring it on. Mercury stared right back. "Are you really… here to help us?" One of the elves, a smaller kid, asked, and Mercury held out her hand. The elf was the same age as Fluorine. "Of course. My other friend is going to get us out. You have no idea how long Nox waited for you all." Mercury said gently, patting the kid on the head. "Oh, sorry. I don't have anything to give you. I should have brought crackers or something." Mercury said, and the kid suddenly grabbed her hand. "Guys, she's pure!" the elf said happily, holding Mercury's hand (which was the size of her head) above her with two chubby arms. the elves all gaped at her, and Mercury tilted her head. "Hmmm? Who's Pure, now?" 

"Pure! Elves can sense whether a person is good or bad! You good, pretty person!" The kid said happily, and Mercury frowned. Nox had hidden something like that from her for such a long time. "Oh, this says Gael. Is that your name?" Mercury asked, pointing to a tag in the girl's clothes. Now all the elves were laying it on thick when it came to gaping at her. "Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention, But I can read Elvin Runes. I needed an advantage when I was applying for a scholarship at school. But, anyway, just hold on. It should be any minute now.' Mercury said, and Gael plopped down in her lap. "Where are your parents, dear?" Mercury asked Gael, who looked up at her. "They're up there!" Gael said cheerfully. "In the sky!" Mercury sighed. That was too cheerful a tone. Well, still, it would be a fine friend for Fluorine. Too bad they had decided to leave her back at the hotel. Sulfur walked up to them, opening the cage. "I'm coming in. Scooch over." He said, also dressed in common clothes. "Huh? What happened to your suit?" Mercury asked, and he sat down, cross-legged before her. "Nothing. its folded up. Once we get you out, I'll grab my payment and use it to buy a new one to change into before going back to headquarters." Sulfur said, and the cage suddenly started moving. "We're going. its going to take about an hour to reach the outskirts of the village where your friends are." Sulfur said, completely relaxed, leaning against the steel bars. The elves were all murmuring among themselves now, and Gael was hugging her tightly. "It's fine. You trust me, right?" Mercury asked Gael, and Gael slowly let go. "Huh. who's this?" Sulfur asked, and Mercury patted the small kid's head. "This is Gael. Cute, right?" 

"You can read Elvin runes?" Sulfur asked, and Mercury nodded. "You know the usual. I had to get an edge on my scholarship application, so I learned Elvin runes. How painful that was too, but look at it paying off." Mercury sighed, and Sulfur chuckled. "Anyway, I assume you're not here under the name Mercury?" 

"Nope! Rue! Look!" Mercury said, taking out her ID and waving it in front of her face. "Oh, it's pretty." Sulfur said, taking the ID from in front of his face and looking at it. "Would you look at that? That's a pretty rare signature you've got right there. I've never seen it before - the seal of the noble house of Eur. Their only heir went missing a while ago." House of Eur? that one famous house that was rumored to have a hereditary curse of solitude?

~~~ The curse of solitude was a curse that made people alone. As in, whenever you tried to socialize with someone, fate would come in the way and cut you two off. It was a natural phenomenon - within 10 years, the friend died mysteriously of a heart attack. Because of this, Not only had a few scientists become increasingly confused, but the House of Eur had completely cut off contact with the outside world. The last heir had decided to cut off the bloodline completely by disappearing 10 years ago - and no heir had taken its place. Since then, the house of Eur had become famous by name only. ~~~

"Huh. well, whatever it is, wake me up when we get there." Mercury sighed, shuffling the ID into her bag and handing her sword to Gael. "If you don't see an elf outside within an hour, stab him with this." she instructed, and Gael smiled at the sword. "Yes, pretty lady!" 

"Pretty lady?" Sulfur echoed, and Mercury sighed. "Don't even ask, I have no idea." "Oh well. Goodnight." Sulfur siad, trying not to laugh, and Mercury pinched him. Then, she cradled her head in between her arms and casually drifted off. 

"Rue. Wake up." came a voice, snapping Mercury out of her dreamless sleep. "Pretty lady! Open your eyes!" came another voice, and Mercury nodded. Right, that's what was happening. "Hiya, Mercury." came yet another voice, and Mercury drearily squinted against the harsh afternoon light to see Nox, smiling at her. Iodine was there too, and she was pulling a cart chock-full of teleportation scrolls. "Me and Nox teamed up to make 800. That's enough, right?" Iodine said, and Mercury nodded. It was more than enough. "What are we going to do with the leftovers?" Mercury asked, and Iodine made a money symbol with her hand. "It'll be good for quick cash. Now, let's see what condition the elves are in." 

Not good, it turned out. Most of them hadn't eaten for weeks, and a lot of them had barely pulled through and were in desperate need of medical help. Luckily, though, Mercury and Iodine were able to get a lot of the uninjured elves to help them. I mean, 50 heads are better than 2, right? Mercury used the last few coins they had to buy food, and Iodine cashed in the extra teleportation scrolls. "Cha-ching! Look, Mer! A full restock of 20 million. We'll be good for a while." Iodine said, hefting yet another sack full of coins - like Nox had originally gotten for them. She was back from cashing in the scrolls and was now standing next to the crates that Mercury and Nox were sitting on. The elves had even managed to pitch a few tents, so the outskirts of town were starting to look slightly more lively. Mercury dismissed the coins with a roll of her eyes. "That's cool, But, Iodine, do something. Look at this guy's hands!" Mercury said, holding out Nox's fingers. Iodine sighed. She had been prepared for the worst. "I know, I tried to stop him, but he said, 'It's the least I can do if it means I get to meet the elves again' and just continued. He dripped blood all over the scrolls." Nox's fingers were worn and bleeding from hundreds of tiny papercuts. Blisters filled his hands from writing all day, and his wrist bone itself was sticking out at an odd angle. "How could you do this to yourself?!" Mercury demanded, and Nox apologized sheepishly. Together, Iodine and Mercury carefully mummified Nox's hands with ointment and bandages. 

"Ahhh, what would I do without you guys? thanks." Nox said, opening and closing his hand. "More like, what are we going to do with you," Mercury said, playfully bonking him on the head. "But, more importantly, we have an audience. Do they want a speech or sumthin?" Iodine said, sitting down beside Nox, Mercury plopping down on his other side. 

all the elves (the ones that could walk at least - 100 or so were bedridden) were gathered around in a circle, holding empty bowls of food in their hands. They were ready to hear the price. "Wait, what do you want?" Mercury asked and they all fell silent. Then Gael came up to her, wrapped in bandages. "Oh. Gael, I didn't know you were hurt. Idiot, you should have said something." Mercury said, kneeling to tighten her bandages. "Pretty lady," Gael said, with a serious face, and Mercury smiled. "Yes?" Gael squeezed her eyes shut and seemed to be fighting herself for a minute, and she blurted, "Why did you help us?!" 

Mercury gaped at her for a minute and then burst out into laughter. Suddenly, the stares and silence made sense. Oh, she was so dumb. How could she not have expected something like this? "Ah, well. I'll tell you. Nox, move your hair back a bit." Mercury said, plopping back down on the crate, and Gael sat on her lap. Nox moved back his hair to show everyone his elf ears. Mercury couldn't help but stare at them too - were they a bit longer than the last time she had seen Nox's ears? Yeah, probably. The elves all gasped, and Nox looked away uncomfortably. "Um, My name is Nox. And, formerly, I was the last surviving elf on the planet. But not anymore. If you'll have me, that is." Nox said, nervously fidgeting with the bandages on his hand. Mercury sighed. He never hesitated to throw rocks at her (refer back to previous chapters) so what was this sudden nervousness? It was almost comical. "Wait, Mister Pretty, you did all this for us?" Gael asked, and Nox gently patted her on the head. "Of course. You're my family, after all."

Well, I guess that's all they wanted to hear because the elves all instantly shifted into a kneeling position. "We swear to pay you back one day." they all chorused, and Mercury whispered, to Nox, "Is this Elf Culture or something…?" She could read Elin runes, but that was pretty much as far as her knowledge about Elves went, even though she had known one for almost 10 years. "I don't know either," Nox whispered back. Oh, okay. "Uhm, you can stand up now. Also, we need to head back now, but we'll make sure to visit often, and you guys can set up a base here." Mercury instructed, and the elves, who had sagged back into a sitting position, all raised their bowls in agreement. Mercury stood up to stretch, setting Gael down on the ground behind her. Mid-stretch, a thought suddenly popped into her head. "Hey, Nox, You're coming with us or staying with the elves?" she asked, and Nox suddenly froze. "They need you more than we do. It's fine, really. I'll understand if you say you want to stay." Mercury pushed, settling her sword back into her belt. Internally, she wanted to ask him to stay. After ten years, huh? But she couldn't do that. She knew it too. In her mind, she already knew how this was going to turn out. But even so, her mouth just couldn't form any more words. "We'll stay here for about three days. We can afford to. I need to train anyway, and the wood here is perfect for that." Mercury drawled, swishing her arms around a few times in practiced strokes. "Mer! Your tents over there." Iodine said, emerging out of her tent in her Pajamas. "Oh. Thanks, Io, but Im going to see where I can train and spend the first hour there first. You head to sleep first." Mercury said, walking off down the first trail she saw. Arghhhh, she didnt want to think anymore. This was all getting too complicated, and she was nearing her breaking point. But whatever happened, it would be thanks to her. Which meant that she had to do her absolute best. She stared at her palm, shining in the moonlight. Then she closed it into a fist. Yes, that's right. Whenever she had been faced with some stupid obstacle, she had pushed through with sheer willpower. It was all she had going to her, after all. 

A long time ago, the very idea of being free from the shackles that were the orphanage had seemed far away. But how she had pushed through? by juggling school and the peach plantation for a year until she had saved up money. And look at how it had paid off. Mercury smiled, looking back. That's right, she was pushing through for them. Gael, Fluorine, Nox, and Iodine. Suddenly feeling an adrenaline rush, she grabbed her sword out of her bush and started hacking at the wood. One move after another, flowing into each other, like clockwork. 

Yeah, like clockwork. That's how the entire night passed for Mercury. By the morning, when Iodine came out of the tent, rosy-eyed from sleep, she saw Mercury, drenched in rain, covered in mud and specks of grass. Her hands were covered in blisters, but her eyes blazed with a weird sort of determination. "Oh, Mer, did something happen while I was asleep?" Iodine asked, sitting down on the log next to the tree and watching Mercury continue to hack at the wood. Her strokes were not practiced, every inch of it, and in a single lunge, her sword went straight through the thick trunk of the tree. "Late-night training?" Iodine asked, and Mercury nodded. Iodine had seen this side of her best friend a lot - at the peach plantation while studying, and a few other times. Whenever it happened, her friend never seemed to tire until she got what she wanted done - a sort of fiery determination to do what was needed. And, of course, whenever she had told her friend to stop, she had gotten dragged into it too, so nowadays she just tried to help out as much as she could. "Good luck, Mercury. I believe in you. Now, tea?" Iodine asked, getting up and dusting off her pajamas to pick up the tea kettle. Mercury nodded, and Iodine smiled. Sometimes, she wished she could have that same fiery grit as her friend, which was ironic because her friend often wished to be like her too. "I'll join you in a bit, Mer. I need to practice my archery too, so I can shoot arrows at you and you can deflect them." Iodine mused, walking down the path. "Alright! bring it on!" Mercury called from behind her. She was stained in mud and absolutely filthy, and covered in nicks and splinters, but her smile lit up the whole clearing, her eyes shining brightly. 

She had never been more alive.