Zed, Boomerang, Lucid and Rudy arrived in Saint Centour that night. The same day as theyd been exiled from Adlehyde. Zed and Boomerang had accepted it, even seemed to expect it. However Rudy was depressed. Though he wouldnt admit it, it was clear from the look on his face, and the way he was walking. The other two didnt know what to say. Theyd never had anyone back stab them like that before. At least, not a good friend. Rudy knew it was right, and Cecilia had no choice, but it was still very hard for him.
Boomerang had his first look around Saint Centour. "Zed, you live in a dump! This place is a mess. I never noticed that before."
Zed laughed. "As I recall, we had other things on our mind at the moment. But do you have any idea how hard it is for one person to keep a place this size clean? Especially with the odd monster showing up all the time? Impossible!"
Boomerang shook his head. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us, dont we Rudy?"
Rudy said nothing. He hadnt said anything since theyd left Adlehyde that morning. He didnt even look at the others. He just kept staring down at the ARM he held. The arm cannon that the Guardians had infused with their power. The ARM that hed used to defeat the Forsaken with, during the battle that had injured him. And the final time he was to enter Adlehyde. "Exiled! We save them, and this is the thanks we get. Was it worth it? Was anything worth it? The fight, the pain, the fear All that, for this. Exiled by my friend! Why?"
Those were the first words Rudy had spoken all day. And none of them knew what to say. Rudy took one look at the three, then turned, and went off on his own. The others made no move to follow. Zed turned to Boomerang. "Maybe we should leave him alone for a while. And start cleaning up."
Boomerang rolled his eyes. "Trust you to suggest that. But I guess it cant hurt. Where should we start?"
Zed looked around the town. "I guess with Lauras house, and the inn. Those two will be in the best condition. Then, we can figure out what to do from there."
Lucid started to laugh. "One good thing about being a wolf. I cant help! No hands."
Boomerang grinned. "Im sure we can find something for you to do."
* * * * *
The three headed over to Lauras house. As Zed had predicted, it wasnt in bad shape. It only took them an hour to finish cleaning, and making a few minor repairs. And even though it was getting very dark out, the three felt no urge to stop. So they headed over to the inn to work. However, the inn wasnt in as good a shape as the house had been. It took several hours of work, and cleaning to make the inn habitable.
As Boomerang had promised, they even found some odd jobs for Lucid. Who wasnt happy about her new position.
"Achoo! Im a Achoo! Wolf, not a walking duster! It will take days to Achoo! Get this dust out of Achoo! My fur."
Both Zed and Boomerang began to laugh. Lucids coat had gone from blue to grey. And every time she moved, clouds of dust shot out. Lucid saw nothing humorous about the situation. "How about I Achoo! Move boards, and you can Achoo! Dust this place Achoo!"
Boomerang fell over laughing. "Ive never seen you in such a gray mood before Lucid!"
This only made Lucid angrier. She walked over to the laughing demon, and shook. Before Boomerang could react, he too was covered in dust. Zed fell over laughing. "Like leader, like follower. You two are a mess!"
Boomerang looked at Lucid, and the two nodded at each other. Boomerang picked up some dirt off the floor, and threw it at Zed. Before anyone knew what was going on, and all out war had erupted. This lasted for several hours, and dawn had long since come, and gone. The fight was suddenly interrupted by an unexpected sound. More laughter.
"Hey Jack, I just found our missing demons! Theyre over here. At least, I think theyre demons. They could be walking dirt piles."
"Were coming Jane."
The three looked up, and there was Jane standing in the door to the inn. It was an embarrassing situation, to say the least. Zed quickly tried to cover up what theyd been doing. "Its not at all what is seems to be. We were just trying to clean out the inn "
Jane nodded, smiling. "Of course. You just had terrible aim, and were hitting each other, rather than the door. I believe that."
Boomerang quickly nodded. "Youre right. See, its such a small door, and "
Jane just shook her head. "Ill never understand why you demons have to act so tough all the time. Anyone could clearly see you were having a dirt fight. I mean, you're far dirtier than the room. So dont bother trying to deny it."
Just then, Jack and Emilia entered. Jack looked around, his face unreadable. "Somehow, I think I dont even want to know. Wheres Rudy?"
Zed, thankful for the change in topic answered. "I dont know. He took of just after we arrived the other day, and I havent seen him since. He took the news of our exile really hard."
Jack nodded. "I can believe that. He took his first exile hard too. He was exiled from the village hed been living in, because of his ARM. Thats when we met him. He never spoke about it much, but we found out from the villagers. They wouldnt let him back in. And all he did, was to use his hand cannon to save a boys life, then the town "
Jack shook his head. He couldnt help but winder how hard it must be for Rudy to go through the pain of being cast out again. The others were silent, incapable of imaging how Rudy could have taken it so well at first.