[Hrozun 30, 0100 A.R]
[Deiji Port]

Current in-game time 8:28 AM

As usual, Deiji port was busy as it was crowded. Ships came to dock at the seaport some to replenish their supplies, others were here to trade. Adventurers and Merchants were abundant in a place such as this, not to mention business was booming.

Buff men carried heavy-looking barrels over their shoulders, hauling everything their arms could lift out of the docked ships as new batches of ships docked today. Over the streets, soldiers could be seen patrolling the sidewalks, diligently making sure order was maintained. While Deiji port was indeed a peaceful place as it was a neutral zone, one could even argue it was one of the safest places in Zerundus as no monsters wander far to pose a threat with only the storms and rough seas being the serious concerns in these parts.

As a seaport, it was bound to have many establishments catering to the sailors. Blacksmiths, Inns, Pubs, and Brothels were everywhere and the competition was tight as the economy was rising every year, making Deiji one of the most developed regions. One of the said establishments was a pub/restaurant named 'Maiden's Pearl' a popular destination as it housed great alcohol, food, and not to mention good 'service'.

Today the pub was open once more and was filled to the brim with customers, even at this time of the day people went in and out of the tavern's doors. Each chair was occupied by hungry and drunk sailors filling the room with a lively atmosphere. Conversations here, chatting there, the entire space was a mess of voices speaking over one another.

Behind a wooden counter, a group of cooks made haste with cooking numerous orders, moving in an almost practiced pace brought upon by years of working here.

"Order up! Freshly fried squid! A tray of steak, soup, and boiled vegetables!" Yelled the cook as he went on with his other dishes not waiting for a server to come and pick the food up. It was just another daily routine for the workers here in the 'Maiden's Pearl' nothing too special as the money kept rolling in steadily.

The kitchen remained working like a well-oiled machine for a few moments until the doors leading to the kitchen opened, revealing an elderly woman dressed in a frilly cherry red dress that draped over the woman's surprisingly well-kept figure. The cooks stopped momentarily to gaze at the woman before continuing what they were doing as soon as they knew who it was.

The woman carried herself with hurried steps as she approached one of the chefs manning the stove. "Marco, do you have a moment?" The elderly woman questioned, certain slight anxiety in her words.

Marco, the man in question, stopped what it was he was working on and then wiped his hands on his apron, raising a curious brow as he glanced at the woman. "What brings you here ma'am? Anything I can help with?" Replied the chef while fixing his chef's hat.

"Have you seen the child? Did she happen to pass by here? I can't seem to find her anywhere since this morning," the old woman explained her woes, in response, the chef's brows came tightly together in deep thought trying to remember anything.

"I believe I haven't seen the kid. She's not in the mansion is she?" The man looked up and met the woman's gaze. She rested her head on her palm as the old woman shook her head.

"No, I've already asked the maids but all they told me was that the girl went here," with a sigh, her shoulders slumped slightly, the headmistress's face turning into that of worry. "Are you sure you didn't see here?"

"Nope, ma'am, haven't seen a hair of the kid since this morning." The woman's face contorted into concern as she worried more after hearing the man's answer, seeing her reaction, the chef quickly shot. "Ah! Don't worry too much ma'am! I'm sure she's just playing by the docks again like she usually does, that child seems to like spending her time there I was told."

"Thank you for your help, you can go back to work." She stepped out of them and walked out of the front door of the tavern, with worried eyes she looked over at the docks over yonder, whispering to herself; "How long has it been since that child began spending her time there? Haah, oh well, I'll just let her be, for now, even if I scold her she'll just go back even if she had to sneak out."

•∆•

The docks were especially crowded today as five more ships came to the dock, causing a lot of traffic in the ports as people hauled out trading goods off the ships.

Running among the crowds, however, were children playing a game of tag, ducking and weaving through the tight spaces and cutting between people earning some annoyed looks from the men carrying crates.

"Watch it! Damn kids!" A man scolded as the children merely laughed at the man's frustrations.

"Hahaha! You can't catch me, Pol! You're still as slow as a land turtle!" One of the children shot at the kid named Pol.

Pol, the kid being teased, wheezed with a flushed face as the young lad shot a glare at the one in front of him, "Nggghhh...just you wait...*wheeze* I'll definitely catch you one day, Kurt..." His friend named Kurt simply shot back a sneer at his exhausted friend.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you over all the wheezing you're making!" Kurt snuck out his tongue taunting his friend.

"Hey, don't be like that, he's already trying his best!" Another child defended, this time it was a girl with twin blond tails over her head, as the girl maintained the same pace as Pol.

"Oh come on, Elisse, can't you see he can't even catch up to us, why do you still bring him to play with us when all he does is get left behind?" Said Kurt who puffed his chest.

"And who was it, the one who can't even swim that I had to rescue them?" Shot the blond girl. Her words cut through Kurt like a knife as the boy's shoulders fell.

"T-that was one time!" He shot back, already faltering as his cheeks went red.

"Don't worry about that stupid Kurt, he's just like that because you're the only one he can beat, he can't even beat me in a swimming competition." With a prideful smile, Elisse turned to Pol who looked back with a small smile.

"Elisse...thanks..." Pol said, Elisse's smile faded as soon as she saw Pol's hand on her should. "And also sorry," the boy then dashed off with great speed, surprising Elisse as she was now it.

"H-hey! No fair!" Realizing that she was tricked, Elisse puffed her cheeks in a pout as she ran after the two who shot her teasing grins. "Argh, those two! Just they wait! When I get my hands on them I'll..." She trailed off as she turned to another girl who stared at her nonchalantly while riding and sitting on a cart. "Lisa!?" She let out in surprise albeit struggling to maintain a pace alongside the cart.

"Hey, Elisse, having fun running?" Lisa looked down at her blond friend with a condescending gaze as if running was beneath her whilst maintaining a monotone voice, wearing a smirk on her face. Lisa herself wore a gray beret on her head, an oak coat, a white shirt underneath the coat, and some black leather shorts. The girl's braided black hair bounced at every bump in the road.

"Hey, no fair! No riding carts! You get to run just like the rest of us!" Kurt shot as Lisa's cart passed the three easily.

"Yeah! How come you got to ride first!?" Pol shot, earning a glare from his two friends beside him.

Lisa shrugged, looking down at the three smugly as she took the lead, crossing her legs which dangled at the edge of the cart. "I am above such things such as running, catch me if you can maybe I'll listen!" She then let out a chuckle as the others tried to catch up to her. "Sigh, it's truly a pity seeing you guys trying so hard. This is why you guys try using your heads more and maybe you'll–ah?" before Lisa could finish, karma struck, and it struck hard.

The cart she was riding hit a large bump in the road causing Lisa to fall to the floor with a thud. "Oof!" She exclaimed as her body bounced on the pavement. There was an awkward silence that followed as the three stared at the girl on the ground. Then the two boys bust out laughing as they pointed at the girl.

"Bwahahahahaha! Serves you right!" Kurt cackled clutching his head.

"Pfft! All that big talk but look at you now! Hahahahahaha! Welcome to the ground princess, hope the landing wasn't rough!" Pol quipped holding his stomach as it ached from laughing.

Lisa looked up, tears swelling in the corner of her eyes as she glared at the two, her previous pompous demeanor nowhere to be seen. "Hnnngggg..." She puffed her cheeks with as much air as her face was red as a tomato from the embarrassment. Luckily, Elisse didn't follow the two's example and instead kneeled beside Lisa as she held out a hand.

"Are you okay Lisa? You're not hurt are you?" Elisse inquired. Lisa accepted her friend's offer pulling herself up with Elisse's help before dusting her clothes off and wiping her face making sure to get the dirt off.

The four of them eventually finished the game after Lisa's epic fail, Kurt and Pol continued making fun of Lisa for a while before calming down. Sitting on a wooden crate the four friends settled down in an alleyway where there was shade, cooling themselves down while overlooking the docked ships in front of them.

Lisa sat down on one of the crates along with Elisse while Kurt and Pol leaned against the side of the crates, sighing as they cooled off. It was usually by this time that the four shared stories, and today it was Kurt who had something new to tell the others.

"Did you guys hear? Those new large ships that arrived earlier were carrying crates of weapons," Kurt described making hand gestures as he did so. "The grown-ups were talking about it earlier, I heard there was going to be a war happening in Heavensgard."

"Eh~?" Lisa nonchalantly replied, leaning back to the wall as she listened with her eyes closed.

Pol was the next one to speak up as he revealed a story he heard, "I heard from my father that the people of Noxamir, the Myrken especially, were making plans into expanding into the holy lands of Heavensgard."

"Eh? Those Myrken, really? Seems like those pointy-eared gits are up to no good, as usual," Kurt shook his head as if already expecting this to happen.

"Why would they want to expand to Heavensgard? Isn't that place like a holy place of the saints? Don't they know that it's bad?" Elisse joined in on the conversation, earning a scoff from Kurt who shook his head pitifully.

"You seem to not understand, the Myrken worship the saint of dusk, saint Axton, so it's only natural for them to do something like this." Kurt snorted then continued, "Besides, I heard from my older brother who is a soldier that the Myrken and people of Noxamir, in general, are monsters who eat each other and use terrible magic to curse people."

"Ehhh...that's scary, I hope they don't succeed, I don't want to get eaten." Squeaked Elisse in a trembling voice.

"Haha! Don't worry about that! Deiji port is a safe place, we won't be affected as much, plus Atherion, Luxenheim, and Throndrheim are all rallying to make sure it doesn't happen." Pol proudly reassured the trembling Elisse. "Those people from Noxamir won't stand a chance since Atherion still has its Golden Knights to protect us. I hear knight captain sir Harvey can cut mountains with a single slash from his blade!"

"Oh yeah! I hear he's also part of the eight unsheathed blades, he's supposed to be around rank six from what I heard," Kurt added as Pol nodded beside him. The two boys went into deep detail going on and on about that and this, Lisa barely understood what they were talking about. So instead of listening to their bickering, the girl looked at the ships docked at the port, her copper-red eyes scanned the crowd for any signs of them yet it was in vain. Lisa sighed at this, unsurprised.

"Lisa? What are you looking at?" Snapping out of her thoughts, Lisa turned and saw Elisse locking her eyes with her, beneath her she noticed that Kurt and Pol stopped bickering and were looking at her strangely. Lisa forced a smile and then shook her head to not make them worry.

"It's nothing, I was just checking something," she reassured them hoping they didn't press further, and luckily they didn't, yet, Lisa was surprised to hear Pol and Kurt sighing loudly.

"Haaa~ there she goes again, lying at us," Kurt began.

"You don't need to lie to us, we already know who you're waiting for. You're waiting for those Marked Ones who brought you here, right?" Pol let out catching Lisa off guard by their response.

"Ho...how did you guys know? For how long?" Surprised, Lisa stammered to ask them as she sat straight.

"Elisse told us," Kurt shot, Lisa instantly turned to Elisse beside her who looked back at her apologetically. Instantly Lisa felt a sharp pang in her chest as if she didn't feel safe.

"Elisse? How?" Lisa gazed incredulously at the blond girl.

"My older sister works for the 'Maiden's Pearl'. She told me about you and how you were abandoned by two Marked Ones and left you aboard one of the ships," Elisse placed a hand over Lisa's trembling one before finishing, "Don't worry Lisa, you don't have to wait anymore. Marked Ones are known for being liars and for being selfish. You can just stay here in Deiji port, those two Marked Ones who brought you here aren't coming back."

"That's right! You don't have to wait anymore! Those two aren't coming!" Pol added.

"Mhm, my brother told me once how Marked Ones don't keep promises and how greedy they were. There was this one time when..." As Kurt continued to talk, Lisa's ears seemed to go deaf as a perpetual ringing noise went inside her head.

"Eh?" Lisa shot a confused look at her friends, her head becoming hazy as if a fog set over her vision. She started seeing her friends' faces as nothing more than blurs as their voices melded into background static. Her mind traveled far from where her attention was and she looked down at her palm feeling a certain degree of numbness.

"...isa...Lisa...Lisa!" It wasn't until a voice snapped her out of her trance that the sounds she thought she had lost, suddenly came rushing back into her like a waterfall along with the disappearance of the numbness she felt.

Lisa, still feeling hazy, slowly turned next to her to see Kurt standing in front of her. The boy's arms were crossed as he cast a look of annoyance and concern her way. "Huh?" Unsure of what to say, Lisa wore a confused look.

"Haa~ took you long enough to wake up!" Kurt sighed exasperatedly first before scoffing at her. He examined Lisa's face, seeing only the bewildered gaze she gave him. This made Kurt's shoulders slump as he shook his head. "If you didn't want to hear my story that much, you should've just told me! Now I feel dumb talking to you when you weren't even listening!"

Taking into mind what Kurt said, Lisa assumes she must have dozed off while in the middle of their conversation. Looking around, Lisa noticed a few things, first was that Pol and Elisse were already gone, and Kurt was the only one left with her. And to make things interesting, she must've been dazed for a while since it was already a little past noon. The docks in front of them were already filled with new ships as people busily walked through and fro.

"I-uh, sorry, I kinda spaced out," she skittishly scratched the back of her head, showing Kurt an apologetic smile of her own. Luckily, the boy didn't say anything and just nodded at her. "How long did I space out for?"

Scratching the top of his head, Kurt responded; "About a half an hour ago, I think? You didn't even respond when we tried asking you," he pointed out before sighing. "Sadly, Elisse and Pol had to go since they had to go home early. Now it's just the two of us here," Kurt let out a loud disappointed sigh for Lisa to hear.

"Ehehe..." Unable to respond, Lisa, feeling guilty, just laughed awkwardly while scratching her cheek. "How come you're still here, Kurt?" With a cough to recompose herself, Lisa looked at her companion, curious as to why he chose to stay when he could've left her.

"Are you seriously asking me that!? How can I leave you while you're spaced out!? Oh brother, if I hadn't stayed you would've ended up getting swept up by some creep." Kurt eyed Lisa with a look that said, 'Are you crazy or just dumb!?' slightly irking the girl, her brow twitching. After calming down, Kurt and Lisa shared a moment of silence, and at that moment, something must've happened that Lisa didn't notice as Kurt suddenly turned his face away before saying. "Well, since you're not spaced out anymore, what do you want to do? Are you going to go home too?"

Lisa opened her mouth to reply and in doing so she suddenly remembers the things her friend told her. Most of them weren't things she liked as they mostly depicted all Marked Ones as bad people from her friends' point of view. She hesitated, forcing a fake smile as she looked at Kurt, "Ah, I think I'll stay here a bit longer, you can go on ahead if you want. I'll be fine, don't worry."

Kurt gave her a silent stare, silently pondering about her words. But after seeing Lisa's smile, Kurt sighed and chose not to press further. "Fine, you do you I guess." He turned and started walking away but before he left, he turned back to her, "I think you should just head back to the pub instead of waiting for those Marked Ones, I don't think they'll be coming back." The boy then marched into the crowd until eventually, Lisa couldn't see him.

Once he was gone, Lisa's smile faltered. Hanging her head low, she looked at her dangling feet with a sad frown. What Kurt told her seemed to strike a chord within her as she felt a tad bit annoyed. Well, they didn't mean anything bad or had any ill-will when they said those words to her, but still, she couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed.

While it is true that most Marked Ones weren't the best of people, Lisa knew for a fact from experience that Yuna and Muzui were different. They saved her and took care of her, in fact, their leaving was also done on her behalf to gather enough money for them.

Then again, she had no idea what would happen once they do get the reward money, would they take her along with them as they go adventuring? Or will they find a new home for her? Whatever it was, Lisa trusts it was for her. Waiting for them to come back was the least she could do after everything they've done to protect her.

"Alright!" Hopping off the crate she was sitting on, Lisa felt energized after finding her resolve. She then walked towards the port, heading to her usual waiting spot.

•∆•

Hours passed and the sun has already gone down, drowning the world in darkness, leaving the stars above to guide the people. Streetlights were lit up as night kicked in, illuminating the many streets of Deiji at night.

The docked ships at the port silently sat, now unattended as no one went on or off of them. Silence befell the port, the lively port from earlier had fallen eerily calm at this time. A few people walked to check on the ships and the ropes binding them to land, making sure none of them were loose before going out to do their own thing.

Lisa let out a disappointed sigh as she stood next to a streetlight. She had expected this much and already knew how it was going to end, but still, she didn't want to leave until she saw them. "Ah, nuts, grandma's gonna scold me again for staying out late." Lisa quipped to herself, chuckling lightly as she looked at the row of ships. "Haah~ today's another