Marik woke up the next morning and stretched before getting up and getting dressed.  He contemplated his plans for the day and decided that getting some breakfast would be the best thing to have while thinking about it.  After finding a good empty table he considered what he wanted to get done by the end of the day and how to go about it.  Sai would be coming back sometime soon and he wasn't sure what kind of mood she would be in.  There was a chance that she would have her own plans that included Marik and he was willing to comply if that was the case, but if it wasn't then it might be a good day to work on arcane arts.  It could also be a good idea to bring Sara and have a portal opened for Kiara so that they could all have their own little businesses taken care of. 

Having determined his course of actions by the time he had finished eating, he went to the reception counter and left a note for his sister to meet him at the guild and headed that way himself.  He looked around a bit after entering the guild but didn't see anyone he particularly knew well enough to talk to other than The Bear, so he walked up to the reception desk and checked on a few upcoming jobs that would help fulfill rank up requirements for the three of them without putting any on reservation.  Once he noticed some people coming to the desk from behind him, he decided to move off and go sit in the bar area.  He ordered a mead to sip on while he waited and decided to put some more thought into the arcanistry that he wanted to create and what he might need for it.

As he sat there, mostly lost in his thoughts while occasionally glancing around to see if either of the girls had arrived yet, Derek showed up and sat down across from him.  They looked at each other for a little while before Marik sighed and stood up, leaving his drink behind, and went to the bar counter to order a second one which he took and placed in front of Derek before reseating himself.  Derek looked at the tankard of mead in front of him then looked back at Marik and smiled before grabbing it and taking a gulp.

"So?  What's with the rare situation of you actually approaching me instead of the other way around for once?"

"Well, that's not too friendly of you..."

"I'm an ass.  I did just go get you a drink, though."

"Fair points.  Really, I just saw you sitting alone over here and since I had nothing better to do I figured I'd come relax, too."

"Aren't you too free?"

"Aren't you the same?"

"No.  I'm waiting for the girls.  There's a small mountain of things to do but most if not all of those things either require them to be around or will at least make them angry at me if they're not."

"Huh.  I can leave if you want."

"Nah, you're good.  I was really just asking what wanted and not trying to force you away.  The story might change once both the girls finally get here but you can stay for now if you want."

"Well ain't that nice of you.  So, word in the guild is that you might be ranking up again so soon after making eighth."

"Let's be fair here, I spent a lot of time running around with D and Mer and kept doing plenty of work even after that.  I probably should have been eighth a long time ago.  I just never did the paperwork for it."

"Meh.  I wasn't complaining, myself.  So you gonna celebrate making seventh?  That's usually a pretty solid achievement for mercs around here."

"No.  Not yet, anyway.  I may not even do the paperwork for a bit just so that it remains unofficial for a little while.  If I get too far ahead of the others then it'll just turn bad in several ways with no real upside so I'd rather wait until they're at least hitting eighth themselves if not seventh as well."

"Ah.  Right.  Party thing and all that.  Think you'll make the group official?"

"We might.  Why?  Want in?"

"Pfft, nah.  At least not unless you can prove you got something I'd want from it."

"We might if and when the time comes.  Tell you what, I'll even hold a spot open for you.  Thinking about it real quick I bet I could actually offer you a pretty sweet deal that you may not actually be able to turn down so easily.  It might be you that has to have something to offer then."

Marik gave him a sly grin and took another sip from his drink.  Derek looked at him for a bit with a straight face before breaking into a full-faced smile while holding back a spurt of laughter.  He lifted his own drink in an acknowledging way and took a sip as well before putting it back on the table.

"If you really think you got something that can entice me that well then good for you, I guess.  But what makes you think I wouldn't have anything you want?  At the moment, as far as I know at least, I'm pretty much the strongest and most badass guy around even if I don't look it."

"Haha.  I think you answered the question right there.  'At the moment' is what you said, right?  Then if I can match or pass you at that time, that wouldn't really be worth as much, would it?"

"Oh?  Think you can actually pass me up, huh?"

"Pretty sure.  Eventually, anyway.  For now I'll just sharpen my claws and teeth."

About that time he heard his name called and looked in the general direction of the entryway to see his sister start approaching.  As Derek turned around to see who Marik was looking at, she caught view of him as well and stuttered her steps briefly before continuing on her way to their table.  Derek turned back around but Marik heard the barely audible whisper of 'cute' that was spoken as he did so.  Keeping a passive look on his face, he decided to pretend that he hadn't heard it, for now.  Sara finally reached their table and contemplated about whether to sit next to her brother or Derek.

"Sai should be coming before too much longer.  Do you want a drink while we wait, as well?"

He hoped that the hint would be enough and saw a slightly pained look on her face as she realized that she really didn't have a choice of where to sit.  As she sat down she sighed and shook her head to Marik's question.  Regardless of her actions, he noted that she hadn't gone beet red in the face even while sitting near Derek so considered that his dumping of her onto him last night had actually made some progress come about.  Making sure he didn't reveal the smile he had in his mind on his face, he turned to Sara to let her know what his general thoughts on the day were.

"So there's a bunch of stuff I kind of have plans for but whether or not they'll work out today or not will be more on how Sai feels by the time she gets here.  Either way I think it'll be a good thing if we get you officially set up with us as a trio and reserve a job."

"Ah.  Right.  I forgot that I'm still not technically with you guys, yet.  So do you have some idea of what kind of job we'll be going for next or when, then?  I kind of want to hurry up and move inns, as well as get some new weapons.  That reminds me, you said you'd help with that, right?"

"Ya.  That's one of the things I want to do.  As far as jobs go, I asked a bit ago but didn't reserve anything because it all depends on Sai right now.  The rest of today and probably at least half of tomorrow will have to be a break but it could be a little longer if her mood isn't good enough."

"So we're mostly just waiting for her, then.  Okay.  What have you guys been talking about?"

"Hm?  Oh, you know.  Future plans and all that.  I was just saying that I would wait for you two to catch up before officially moving up in rank and was considering making an actual merc group.  We were right about at the point of making a bet on who's dick was bigger when you showed up."

"Wait, what?  Is that something guys actually do?"

"Figuratively, my naive sister.  I'm sure there are some vulgar few out there who do it literally, as well, but please don't pin that label on me."

"Oh, okay.  So, are we going to be splitting the money as a trio?"

"Well, ya.  Technically, at least.  You and I have some pretty big expenses that we need to take care of at the moment and I want that done with before we try to move into Edge Inn.  I don't know how good your math and planning skills are so I was going to take care of the money for the most part but if you're good with that sort of thing it would be a load off to have you do it instead..."

"Umm.  I'm not sure?  Maybe you can show me how to do it and I can try or something?"

"We might do that.  And there's Sai.  Think we should go meet her at the desk or let her finish up and come over here herself?"

"Well," interrupted Derek, "it seems my drink is finished so I'll let you guys do your thing.  I'll be waiting, lad, but not too long.  Who knows if I'll get a good offer before you can even make yours..."

Derek stood and walked off with his empty tankard in the direction of the bar counter.  Marik gave a wry smile and finished up his drink as well so that the girls wouldn't have to wait on him.  He saw that Sai had noticed him already so he gave her a light nod and went to hand over his tankard as well.  He went back to the table to wait for Sai but decided to remain standing next to it instead of sitting back down, which seemed to be the wise choice because as soon as Sai came back she jumped into his arms immediately.  He let her snuggle her face on his chest for a little bit before finally using a hand to lift her face so he could give her a kiss to welcome her back.

"I'm glad you two are happy with your reunion but it's making it awkward for me over here, you know.  Weren't we going to figure out what to do now?  I'm sure you guys can continue with that afterwards."

They both turned to give Sara a light scowl but Marik had to admit that she had a point.  He let out a small sigh and looked back at Sai.

"So what do you want to do?  There's things that need to be done, but..."

"Hmph.  I think we should get Sara laid.  She'd probably be nicer and more open after that."

"Not what I meant.  Also not necessarily true.  Do we start doing the non-merc work today or take a break today and do it tomorrow?"

"I'd like to spend time with you.  Inside me.  But I guess I can wait until tonight if you really want."

"Let's do that, then.  Mostly because the sooner we can get everything done then the sooner we can move to Edge Inn.  Let's go ahead and get set as an official trio and reserve a job then we'll head out to the forest and spend the rest of the day out there."

---

"Here.  Master said she was surprised it took this long to ask for that bracelet for Sara.  I haven't gotten a whole lot of the spells yet, but this what I have so far.  Ah.  You can borrow these tomes for only a few days, by the way.  I can't actually give them to you, so..."

"That's fine.  Thanks, Kiara.  I'll make sure you get your reward before the day's out."

"What?  Why wait?"

"So you can spend time with us?  I mean, if you'd prefer to just be all business about it..."

"No, wait.  Okay.  I can wait."

"Awesome.  Then I'll step away for a bit and go over there to read through some of this so you ladies can have some girl talk.  Sara needs some advice and I'm sure there's some stuff you don't want me to hear."

Marik walked over until he was sure that he wouldn't be able to hear them as long as they talked normally and sat down to start skimming through the tomes he was holding.  He passively made some mental notes of things he saw that interested him but only stopped to read carefully when he saw something that he thought would either help with Sai's or his own new arcanistries.  After he figured about an hour or two had passed he looked over and realized that the girls were still engaged in their own discussion so he went back through the tomes he had already skimmed and started flipping back and forth with his hands and fingers as bookmarks so he could compare and cross-reference spells that he thought made sense for his new arcanistry.

He was about to finally start trying to put them all together and work on finally actually making something when he heard his name being called.  He looked over and saw Sara and Sai waving him over so he sighed and closed the tomes to bring them with him as he walked back.  Apparently it had been decided that they would be doing this whenever they could from now on, which was okay with him but he did kind of wish they had at least included him in the discussion first.  Since their main talks were over now, though, it seemed it was time for Sara to finally have the fight she had longed for all these years.

Marik handed the tomes over to Sai and moved away some while starting to stretch as he walked.

"Okay, sis.  Since we aren't actually trying to kill each other here, what's the rules?"

"Uhh...anything except killing?"

"Ya, no.  I'd rather not have the two of us coming out of this missing various body parts as well.  Also, since you have trouble with transforming still then it's probably best to leave that out, right?  I'm not sure how you feel about the mystical arts either.  If you just want a purely physical fight here..."

"I don't know?"

"Why is that a question?  I'll not be using the lethal stuff, so that kind of just has me down to two usable things out of that repertoire.  Honestly, as far as I can guess, in a fight to the death you'd have no chance at all but if we're trying not to risk death or permanent injury then you're most likely going to win as long as you can do that with those swords of yours."

"Oh, right.  I don't have practice swords either..."

"*sigh* Why don't you just go find a couple sturdy sticks or something, then?  I'll not use mystical stuff or transformation.  Just try not to make it end too quickly so I can also have a chance to see how you move and fight.  If you want my advice on new swords, anyways."

"Right.  I'll go find something.  Be right back!"

Sara sprinted off and came back after a few minutes holding some fresh branches that had been cut to the same size to be as identical as possible.  They were probably only about 70 centimeters in length and looked strong enough to make good substitutes for short swords.  He watched as she put her cheap real swords down and ran through a few light practices with her sticks.  As far as he could tell she was doing most of her work with her hips and arms but he held back judgement on her full fighting style until after their spar was over.  As soon as she indicated that she was ready, Marik entered his combat stance and looked at Sai briefly to indicate that she should give the 'go' sign.

Kiara and Sai both gave the signal at the same time and Marik rushed forward.  He tried to use his eyes and body movements to indicate that he intended to go for a flying tackle as he approached and as soon as he saw signs of Sara starting to move he dropped into a slide towards her legs instead.  She seemed legitimately surprised but still manage jump to the side and avoid getting tripped.  Marik slammed himself sideways in a roll away from the direction she had jumped and used the momentum to get back to a standing position.  Sara went on the offense next as she came in a twirling motion while using her wrists to make both sticks spin on circular motions while she kept her posture low, making it hard for Marik to find any opening to properly defend himself much less make a counterattack.  

She shifted one of her wrists just as she got to him and adjusted that stick from spinning on a vertical plane to a horizontal one as she twisted her hips to add more power to it.  Marik barely managed to drop low enough at the last moment to dodge but saw her back in mid spin with her other arm bringing the other stick straight towards his new position.  He tried to leap forward to make a tackle while dodging over the 'blade' but her body spin was completed faster causing him to miss his tackle.  He shifted his landing into a shoulder roll and spun as soon as he got his feet under him again only to see both sticks coming at him again already.  He managed to duck enough to dodge the one aimed at his head but the other one from the other side caught him in the thigh before he could stop it by knocking that hand away with a palm strike.  At this short range they proceeded to start unleashing quick blows on each other but Sara managed to hit him two to three times for each hit he landed even with him trying to knock them away but hitting her wrists when possible.  Each over blows was relatively light and he figured that even with normal swords that he might have some deep cuts at best but once one of the blows managed to catch him in the neck he backed out and threw his hands up in surrender.

"I yield.  That would have been a killing blow."

Sara looked at him with a smile of triumph even though she was breathing somewhat heavily.  Either her stamina needed a lot more work to be able to fight for longer than a few minutes or she had put too much effort in the spar to keep a steady pace.

"I won.  I really won..."

"Yes.  Yes, you did.  I told you that you probably would.  That said, even though this should be more in your field of  expertise, I defnitely noticed some things you should work on."

"Huh?  But I'm stronger, right?"

"No.  Not necessarily.  Like I said before, if this had been a real fight and to the death then you would have lost before you even knew what happened.  But if we're talking about a purely physical fight where you're armed and still fresh, then yes."

"Still fresh?  But wait, I won."

"Okay.  Let me prove something right here so you don't accidentally get too far ahead of yourself."

In as smooth a movement as he could manage from all of his practice Marik lifted his hand, pointed at one of her sticks, and snapped to cast his arcanistry.  The stick exploded in her hand and she was left holding only a small part of it while the tip end flew off a little and landed on the ground.

"Now imagine that was your heart, or head, or any other body part I so choose.  If we had been fighting to the death then me snapping my fingers would have been the first and last thing you saw once the duel started."

She gulped as she glanced down at her hand that was now holding a tiny stick and then looked back at him.

"I'm not saying I'm stronger, either.  Just that it's dependent on the situation.  In a physical fight or a fight where there's no killing then yes, you're stronger.  Or at least better.  Your stamina is definitely lacking some, though.  You're breathing that heavily after that little.  Since that's an easy fix then I'm not counting it right now but I highly suggest you work on that by running around a lot more or something.  That's what I was talking about when I said fresh, by the way.  Right now you'd only be able to fight for maybe a couple minutes at most before becoming useless."

"So.  Which one of us is stronger, then?"

"Sai.  Without any doubt in my mind, Sai could kick both our asses.  Probably at the same time, no less.  Between just us two?  Both of us, I guess?  Like I said it would all depend on the situation.  Not everything is just set as black and white, stronger and weaker, or right and wrong.  I'm a...hmm...I guess we could call it a generalist?  My skills and abilities are spread around all over the place.  You're a specialist, specializing in one thing and mastering it.  That makes you stronger in your strong points but weaker in all others whereas I'm just kind of in the middle of everything."

"I see.  So, I should learn to do other things, too?"

"Sure.  If you want.  That won't change how it is, though.  At this point you already specialize so trying to move over and generalize would make you actually weaker for longer.  Keep most of your focus, like we talked about, on blade dancing and improve it along with your mastery and you'll always be stronger than me when it comes to physical fighting.  As long as you can also adapt it into your transformation, at least."

She gave him a light scowl at the last part but nodded anyway.  She sighed and looked down in thought for a while but soon raised her face with a smile again, seeming to have come to a conclusion of her own.

"So.  I'm stronger than you because I still won.  Only in this way, maybe, but I'm stronger, right?"

"Yes."