on the road to st. binah

Later...

	   Guy: ...So, you're an emissary on a mission to prevent war. But why
		would Mohs wants to start a way anyway?
	   Ion: I'm afraid that's confidential to the Order. I can't talk about
		it.
	  Luke: Oh, come on.
	  Jade: Whatever his reasons, this war must be avoided. We won't let
		Mohs interfere.
	   Guy: You've sure gotten yourself wrapped up in a mess here, Luke...
	   Ion: By the way, who are you?
	   Guy: Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Guy. I'm a
		servant in Duke Fabre's manor.

Guy smiles and shakes hands with Jade and Ion. When Tear tries to shake hands
with him, Guy freaks out.

    Ion & Jade: (...)
	  Tear: (?)
	  Tear: ...What?
	   Guy: Aaaah!
    Ion & Tear: (...)
	  Luke: Guy doesn't like women.
	  Jade: I'd say it looks more like a phobia.
	   Guy: S-sorry... It's nothing personal... It's just...
	  Tear: If it helps, you don't have to think of me as a woman.

Tear walks closer to Guy to try again. Guy matches her step for step in backing
away, still scared.

	  Tear: (...)
	  Tear: ...Fine. I'll be sure to keep my distance. Will that take care
		of it?
	   Guy: Sorry...

Later...

	  Jade: If you serve House Fabre, you must be from Kimlasca. Did you
		come looking for Luke?
	   Guy: Yes, under orders from Duke Fabre. We knew he'd disappeared into
		Malkuth territory. I went by land from Chesedonia, while Dorian
		General Grants crossed the sea and started searching from
		Kaitzur.
   Luke & Tear: (!)
	  Luke: Master Van's looking for me too?!
	  Tear: ...My brother's here?
	   Guy: Your brother? You mean...

Soldiers appear. Jade pulls out his spear.

	  Jade: Oh, dear. It looks like we've run out of time to chat.
	  Luke: Th-those are people...
	  Tear: Luke, stay back! You know you won't be able to kill them!
       Soldier: You won't get away!

Battle ensues. The party wins. Luke is faced with the last one.

	  Jade: Luke, finish him!

Luke attempts to kill the soldier, but pauses.

	  Luke: ...Ugh...

The soldier uses the opportunity to knock Luke's sword away, gaining advantage.

	   Guy: Luke, snap out of it!

The soldier tries to kill Luke. Guy and Tear try to stop it. Tear gets there
first and gets grazed by the soldier's sword.

	  Luke: Tear...I-I...
	  Tear: ...You idiot.

Luke received the Frightful One title.

The scenes fades to nighttime. The party sits around a campfire. Luke can talk
with each party member.

Guy...
	   Guy: It must have been tough for you, suddenly thrown out into the
		world like this.
	  Luke: I...I had no idea things were this bad outside of the city.
	   Guy: Sometimes, you can earn bounties for killing monsters and
		bandits. Outside the towns, killing people isn't considered a
		crime, as long as it's not proven to be for personal malice.
	  Luke: How many people have you killed?
	   Guy: Who knows? Less than that soldier right there, I imagine.
	  Luke: ...Aren't you scared?
	   Guy: Of course I'm scared. That's why I fight. Because I don't want
		to die. I still have things to do.
	  Luke: Like what?
	   Guy: ...Revenge.
	  Luke: Huh?
	   Guy: ...Just kidding.
Next morning...

	  Tear: Luke, wake up. It's time to get going.
	  Luke: Are you all right to be moving around?
	  Tear: ...Yes. Thank you for your concern.
	  Jade: Tear, Guy, and I will take up a triangle formation. You'll stay
		in the center with Ion and defend yourself if necessary.
	  Luke: What?
	   Guy: In other words, you don't have to fight, Luke. Come on. Let's
		get going.

The rest of the party starts to walk onwards.

	  Luke: W-wait a minute!
	   Ion: What is it?
	  Luke: ...I'll fight too.
	  Jade: Aren't you afraid of killing?
	  Luke: ...Of course not!
	  Tear: You shouldn't force yourself, Luke.
	  Luke: I'm serious! I mean, okay, yeah, I'm a little scared, but... If
		I have to fight to survive, then that's what I'll do. I'm not
		gonna hide in the corner!
	  Mieu: I'm so proud of you, Master!
	  Luke: Would you shut up! Anyway, I've made up my mind. From now on, I
		fight. Without hesitation.

Tear walks over to Luke. She looks him in the eye and speaks gravely.

	  Tear: ...To kill someone means to rob them of their future. Even if it
		is to protect yourself.
	   Guy: ...And it can earn you the hatred of others.
	  Tear: Are you prepared to deal with that? Can you face that
		responsibility? Without running away? Without making excuses?
	  Luke: You said yourself, you aren't killing people because you want
		to. ...I've made up my mind. I'm not here just to be a burden.
		I'm gonna take responsibility, too.
	  Tear: But...
	  Jade: I don't see any problem with that. We'll give Luke a chance to
		show us his resolve.
	   Guy: Just don't push yourself too hard, Luke.

+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Skit `Is Anise Safe?'                                                  [SK029]
|
|	  Tear: I hope Anise is all right...
|	  Luke: Yeah, it sounds like she fell from pretty high up...
|	  Jade: She'll be fine. This is Anise we're talking about.
|	   Ion: True... I can't imagine Anise not being safe.
|	   Guy: This "Anise" sounds pretty incredible.
|	  Jade: Hah hah hah... She's indeed a very cute and perky little girl.
|	   Ion: Yes. She's very dependable.
|	  Luke: Really? She sure didn't look it to me.
|	  Jade: Well, as they say, you can't always judge a book by its cover.
|	  Luke: ...Why does that sound like it's pointed at me?
|	  Jade: It's just your imagination, Luke. Anyway, enough chitchat for
|		now. Shall we be going?
|	   Ion: Yes, let's go.
|						 [Luke, Tear, Jade & Ion leave.]
|	   Guy: ...So why is everyone assuming this Anise girl is all right?

+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~