You know how they say love is sometimes like a flash of light on your soul? Well, it's not really what I experienced, it was more like a warmth in my chest. More than attraction, just the simple pleasure of association. He's rather sweet for a guy. His eyes are soft and pleading, like a puppy's. I haven't seen eyes like those in ages. Poor fucker. I'm amazed he can still feel anything after the stuff he's been bullied for. He has these amazing powers, too. God. He just chants and, boom, you feel like you've slept and eaten well for months. It's like you instantly regain all your health. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it but I know he's probably gotten lots of shit about it at home.

Anyway, we beat up who we're supposed to beat up. After all, a job is a job. So we're going back to retrieve our payment and Cody offers us room and board for a night. For free. Hell, it's not a Pandora Inn but it beats sleeping on rocks. So yeah, we accept. The only downside is I can't watch Keylia sleep like I sometimes do when I can't sleep.

Lemme tell you something about Keylia. She's incredibly beautiful. Yeah. I know, I'm a woman, what the hell am I doing saying stuff like that about her? There's just something about her. An aura. It comforts me. I'm not even going to dwell on what it means to me when she looks at me. I'm not exactly stable enough to confront that. God, though, Keylia is stunning. She's also a mystery to me, despite the fact we've travelled together for a while. She basically saved my ass from death one day when I was so weak from not eating (yeah, I still don't eat usually but if I don't eat at all, she practically forces me to, so I have some dignity occasionally and shove some food down). We've been travelling together ever since. I often wonder who she really is underneath all that cockiness and sexual banter. Does she even know?

That was deep. I must be getting tired from all my thinking. Where was I? Oh yeah, I slept like a log, basically, and Keylia ate with Cody and his family. Scary people, his folks, even if they have good intentions. Hell, who am I to judge though? So I wake up in the middle of the night and the fucking Inn is under attack by deformed lawn gnomes or something. God, one of the jerks even swiped my sword and broke it. Good thing the room had one on display. It felt oddly comforting to take it. It worked real well on the freakish deformed bully who used to pick on Cody.

Who says there is no justice for the little guys?

After some panicking and running around, we determined that the water was poisoned. Gods. Who the hells would be that screwed up in the head to poison a whole town? And the bloody townspeople! They thought Cody cursed them or something! How idiotic! He's just a guy with an unusual talent! Hell, I can pick my teeth with a dagger nestled between my breasts! Does that mean I cast black magic and sacrifice rabites? Yeesh.

So they demand Cody leave the town and find a cure. Fine. We set off after gathering some supplies. Lo and behold where are we headed but Pandora! Wonderful, sleazy, slimy Pandora! City of Upper Class Hoodlums! Sigh. Maybe there is no justice for the little guys. What's sad is that as we camp out for the night, with Keylia The Wakeful snoozing against a tree to keep watch, some low two-bit thief comes in and tries to rob us! Augh, the bastard almost got away too! Oh but that's how we met the wonderful young man named Chrys.

Feh.

Chrys is all talk and no foreplay. Honestly, behind all his wit and meanhearted comments he seems like a simple perverted disgruntled farmboy. If he'd be nicer to, say, Cody for example, maybe I wouldn't feel like strangling him. Hell, I might even like him. The attitude has to go, though. I don't care if he was raised by foaming rabites. If Keylia doesn't smack him, I'm going to. Gods, another thing about Chrys, he keeps drooling all over Key's boots. What the fuck? She plays it to her advantage, of course, but I keep seeing glimmers of sparks between them. No, I won't even go there. Again: Not ready to deal with certain thoughts.

I pause briefly in my musing as I hear a soft grunt of what sounds like pain. Wonder who that could be. It wouldn't hurt to get up and see if everything is okay. After all, I am the second femme fatale of this group of misfits. With practice I grab my sword and go. Creeping down the hallway and down the stairs (nice wood, the singer must know her stuff), I find Cody curled up on the couch as if he's clinging to his own body. The moonlight is sort of framing him. It makes him look very innocent and sexy. Augh, I didn't just think that.

My first instinct is to reach out and comfort him but somehow I don't think that'd be appreciated. So I instead just grab his blanket that has somehow managed to pool around his feet and I gently place it back over him comfortingly. He seems to calm after that. I stand for a few more moments, gazing at him like an idiot. My mind tells me to get moving before anyone wakes up but my feet refuse to listen. Odd. He seems so trusting, even more so when he's sleeping. Is that possible?

Back upstairs I go. I pause at the door I know Keylia is behind, my ear gently resting against the wood. I hear soft breathing. She sleeps lightly so I keep moving. This night is so not the night to have a heart to heart, especially when I feel like just exploding in a fiery ball of angst. I pass Tori's room and consider briefly.

Tori is a bit of a wildcard. He showed up and basically said he was gonna kill Chrys. Frankly I really didn't see why that would be a bad thing at the time but hell, Keylia decided that it wouldn't be too helpful. Using her charm (sigh), she eventually calmed things down and he actually fucking joined us. So let's see: We have me (I'm not exactly playing with too full of a deck, y'know?), Keylia (the sexy manipulator), Cody (Mr. I-Have-No-Self-Esteem-But-I'm-Cute), Chrys (his attitude size makes up for lacking body parts, I bet) and Tori (lacking in social skills and apparently emotions). Kind of sad for a group of adventurers, huh?

Moving onward I pass kind hearted Rahne's room. I don't know her. I'm really not sure I want to. Something about her just really gets to me. It's like I want to be her friend but the way she and Cody make little googly eyed faces at each other makes me want to harf up my intestines so I can hang myself with them. We met her on the way to Pandora Castle. Yay. Did I mention how much I adore the city?

I really need to sleep soon.

I pass the two other doors with ease, one containing newcomer Niki, who seems like a psychoactive kid who has definately had one too many steroid pills, and Rhiana, who sings real nice but cracks a mean whip. I don't know them really so I'm not even gonna bother to think about them. It's late, I'm tired. The sun should rise soon. Maybe sleep isn't even worth pursuing.

But I'm pretty sure that Key would somehow notice my zombie-like state and prod me about it. So I guess I should at least try. It's bad enough I'm worried sick about being caught here again by....him....but I'm also worried sick about my fellow travelers. After all he never really liked me having any friends, really. I bet he'd think I was sleeping with Key, Chrys AND Cody. All at once.

The very thought of confronting him makes me feel like running outside and throwing up. As I sit down on the fairly comfortable mattress that is my bed for the night, I wonder if somehow Keylia made a mistake in saving my worthless hide. After all, what have I got to offer to anyone, really? Bitterness? Fear? The occasional smile?

I'm not worth it. I'm just not.

Aw, hells, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe things won't be as bad as I feel they will. I hope.

.......

THE END

Man, it's funny that you scare me so
Just enough to fuck me up again and again
Hard life is hard as hell
Better back the fuck on up
Cuz this is...
No kind of life! This is no kind of life!
(I've got to get out!)
It's no kind of life! This is no kind of life!
(You can't blame me!)