Chapter 5 - Who am I?
A clear bottle dropped on the table.
“Feast your eyes, Gi,” Tea declared. “This is gonna make us invincible.”
The pixie hovered in front of the table, smiling from ear to ear as if expecting him to burst into applause at any moment. Giu swallowed his afternoon trout, wiping his mouth with the back of his paw.
“What is it?” he asked.
“What’s it look like, Gi? It’s a transformation potion.”
He stared blankly at the pixie. They sighed, paws resting on their hips.
“Always gotta take the fun out, don’t you? Look, it’s essentially a condensed version of your form change. Chug it all, and it’ll change you somehow.”
Giu sat up. “Really? We talking like a- ow!”
“Hands off, dummy,” the pixie chastized, still brandishing the wooden spoon. “It’s mine. You already got your stupid armored skin. Now it’s my turn.”
Giu rubbed his hand. “Stupid fairy.”
The wooden spoon disappeared, Tea lowering to scoop the bottle back up. The red liquid sloshed within. The label was marked with several small inscriptions and even a skull on the bottom.
“Now be ready in case this thing kills me,” Tea said.
Giu opened his mouth to respond, but Tea was already chugging the thing down. Their fur glowed red, liquid flowing through their body and spreading across their veins. When the bottle was clear, Tea let out a loud belch.
“Ah. Oh. Here it comes!”
The glow extended across Tea’s body like red tribal tattoos. Their face began to expand. As did the rest of them.
Pointed ears stretched out. Round eyes became flattened and wide. Their entire body elongated, the gown they’d been wearing shrinking to become more a shirt than anything. When the change finally stopped the pixie extended both arms out in a ta-da pose. 
Giu tilted his head at the new Tea.
“So?” the pixie asked. “How do I look?”
Tea’s voice was unchanged. Then again, the transformation wasn’t that drastic to begin with.
“You’re taller,” Giu said.
Tea’s smile dropped.
“That’s it?”
Giu scratched his head. “Yeaaaah…”
The pixie frowned. They quickly pulled a mirror from nowhere, gazing long and hard at their reflection. At once all the enthusiasm held seconds before turned into red-hot rage.
“That lying sack of-! This is a height potion!”
They tossed the mirror on the ground, the glass shattering into a million pieces. Tea snatched up the bottle, cursing and tossing it as well.
“Oh, I’m gonna kill that son of a weasel! Nobody double-crosses Tea and gets away with it! Nobody! I’m gonna wring his little neck! I’m gonna-”
“Paladins, T,” Giu said. “Paladins.”
He gestured towards the window.
The streets were still flooded with the armored soldiers as they had been ever since the incident at the bar. Nobody had come knocking on their door. Yet. But the last thing either of them wanted was for some nosy neighbor to hear threats of murder being declared and get the wrong idea.
Tea ignored that fact.
“Screw the paladins!” they shouted. “Gi, I gotta go kill a guy! You…do whatever you want. You’re off for the day. Stay out of trouble.”
Giu thought about trying to press the issue further but ultimately decided against it. Half out of laziness and half simply due to not wanting to risk being dragged into whatever business Tea had in mind. Plus, a break from odd jobs sounded nice enough. It would finally give him a chance to spend his hard-earned silver pounds.
“Break a leg,” Giu said.
“Oh, I’ll do more than that.”
With those final words, the pixie was grabbing a blanket to use as a cloak and flying out.
Giu shoveled down the last of his meal. He waited a few minutes before heading out as well. No need to get any further involved with Tea’s antics if he wasn’t getting paid.
***
There were dozens of paladins wandering Tullula Villa. Under the bright daylight, Red Frog looked even more tarnished than Giu remembered. He only gave it a parting glance, though. No way was he returning to a crime scene anytime soon.
Wonder what I should actually buy.
Giu raised his coin pouch, squinting at the contents. Last he counted he had about 400 silver pounds. Enough for a few train rides if he wanted. Or something more exotic, perhaps.
Maybe a sword or something?
Giu flicked his arm, imagining a giant blade swinging out and bisecting anything in his path. He also imagined the thing breaking the minute he came up against anyone else who could form change.
Nah. Probably better off with bare hands. Heck, do I even need armor?
Thinking about it, the only time he could remember getting hurt was when he was running low on energy. Maybe a stamina potion was a better investment. Did they sell those in the capital? Surely if they sold condensed magic, they had energy drinks.
Wonder if T knows- Nope. No, Giu. Whatever crazy they’re doing, do not get involved. It’s your time now. Time to do all the stuff you wanna do. Like…like…uh…
He scratched his head.
What do I do for fun around here?
As he looked around, his mind could only draw blanks.
He’d been in the capital for all of two weeks. He’d been aware for a little over a month. In that time, the only thing he could ever remember doing was fighting to survive. In fact, Tea was the only person he’d ever had a decent conversation with.
What do I do now?
He looked up from his thoughts, spotting a line of glass bottles in one of the store windows.
Shelves sat lined with different labels. He didn’t spot one for stamina, but he did find a section marked healing. A quick rummage through that, and his finger landed on a flask of green liquid. 
There was no skull, but Giu saw protection inscriptions written around the bottle. It was 100 sp a container.
Wonder what I used to do for fun? He picked up four bottles. Hunting is pretty fun, isn’t it? And fighting. At least when it’s someone good. Guess I must have did a lot of punching before.
He set the potions on the counter, pulling out both his Crystal license and his coin pouch.
“Oh, you’re a Type - Phys?” the cashier asked. “That means you get a discount.”
“Really? Sweet.”
While the robin rang him up, Giu glanced out the window.
The idea of finding some random to pick a fight with was tempting, but the procession of law enforcement killed that idea dead. Maybe returning to the woods wouldn’t be so bad. He wasn’t hungry, but he could still hunt for sport. He never did catch that river monster. And if he didn’t eat it, maybe he could fight another rabbit.
“There you are,” the cashier said, handing Giu a paper bag. “Have a wonderful day!”
The canine muttered a “thanks” and made his way outside. But as his mind kept wandering, his legs took him in the opposite direction of the train.
***
No matter how much he tried to push them away, the thoughts came back with a vengeance.
What did I do before? Who was I, exactly?
Staring down at his hands, he felt the calluses under his fur. His palms were creased and worn, the backs of his hands slightly scarred. And his arms, while no trunks, were still hardy and defined.
Who was I before all this? Who am I now?
He stopped walking.
At some point, he’d wandered far past the stretch of Tullula land he was used to. Or at least the parts he’d visited in his short tenure under Tea.
In front of him, a large statue extended high into the sky. The white marble dwarfed him by a wide margin, the whole thing only really visible from the Tour de Villa, though Giu could see a hilt peeking beyond the clouds. 
A plague rested at the base of the monument, along with several white flowers. His stomach churned.
The Sword of Gustav. Lost, but never forgotten.
He stared up at the statue.
Something about the giant sword had always drawn Giu’s attention. It was hard to miss considering the thing must have been several stories tall. Every time they had a job outside the capital, they’d see the thing on the trip there and back. And every time he saw it, he felt the same odd sensation in the back of his head.
Even standing directly in front of it, his stomach felt slightly queasy.
“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?”
He instantly jumped.
At his left, he found a slender figure with sparkling red hair. Where he came from or how long he’d been standing there were both questions that flew out the window as Gui recognized the man. That celebrity-level face was impossible to forget, even if he’d only seen it weeks ago.
The former train usher flashed a smile.
“Sorry,” he said. “You looked so lost, I thought you’d dozed off.”
Giu was too stunned to speak.
The train usher. Now? No, he wasn’t just the train usher. Giu remembered clear as day how the man had wrestled a guy twice his size on their first trip to the Villa. No, this fox was a paladin. A train usher paladin!
“Giu, correct?” the stranger asked. “Giu Penhair?”
Giu felt his fur rise. And he knows my name? Crap crap crap. He glanced at the rest of town. Could he make the run? Probably not. Would he get far enough he could hide until the man went away? Probably not. Crap crap crap. As one idea left after another, he realized the paladin was waiting for a response. 
“A-and if I am?” he asked.
The man’s smile grew. He turned his gaze back to the statute.
“No need to be so stiff, Giu,” he said. “I’m not here to arrest you.”
The canine relaxed. “You’re not? Then why-”
“I pay attention, is all,” the man said. “I try to keep an eye out for all the new folk who enter the Villa. Especially my fellow canines. I know it can be difficult trying to adjust to life under the Paladins. Then again, most new faces don’t have a pixie looking out for them.”
As he said that, there was the slightest gleam in the man’s eye. Giu once again considered escape, but the memory of the train robber’s swift takedown kept him rooted to the ground. The fox extended a hand.
“I’m Captain Anome,” he said. “I hope we can get along, Giu.”
The man gave his most inviting smile, his brown eyes almost hypnotic in a way. Giu looked hesitantly at the hand. He took it if only to avoid getting impaled on the spot by the sword on Anome’s hip. 
For such a slim guy, his shake was shockingly strong.
“I can see why you’d be drawn to her,” the captain said, looking back to the statue. “People say all sorts of warlords and scoundrels came to her cause. No offense.”
Giu felt a twinge at the insinuation but kept the opinion to himself.
“Was she someone important?” Giu asked.
“That’s an understatement. Gustav founded the Villa. Without her, we’d all probably be flying Syndicate colors by now. Just like the rabbits.”
“Ah. That sounds bad.”
Once again, Giu decided against voicing his true opinion. Or more so, his lack of it.
In truth, Tea had only told him so much about the ongoings of the world. He knew they lived in Tullula Villa. He knew the paladins were in charge, essentially ruling over everyone in both the capital and the nation. And he knew the Ministry of Crystallization was its own thing. Anything beyond that seemed trivial.
“Still,” Anome said, “I sometimes pity those hares. I’ve known a great deal in my life. Their loyalty rivals that of us canines at times. But I’d still advise caution anyhow. As the Syndicate grows, so too will more fall in line.”
Anome shook his head at that.
Kneeling in front of the monument, he muttered some incantation and waved his hand over the plague. At the same time, the white flowers all turned a shade brighter, the fade in the petals washing away.
“Are the Syndicate that bad, captain?” Giu asked. 
“Anome is fine, thanks. And they have always been a concern. As they may always be. But don’t fear. My duty is to protect the citizens of the Villa. Right now, you are one of us.”
He smiled back at Giu. One that carried more than a bit of warmth. The way Anome spoke to him. How he was so casual yet honest. Were all paladins so easy to be around? The captain rose.
“But I should be going,” Anome said. “It was nice meeting you, Giu Penhair. Do be sure to behave yourself. And enjoy your stay in the Villa.”
The paladin gave a last wave, and then he was walking off, disappearing around a corner as Giu watched. He looked back at Gustav’s monument.
Scoundrels drawn to her, eh?
Giu smiled. After a few minutes, he decided to leave the monument as well.