Extra 8. Marx

"...Where is she?"

"I'm not going to tell you that."

In the dead of night, a man and a woman stood beside a rushing river that only a feeble railing separated them from. As the man took a step closer, the woman took a step back. Her back was covered in sweat as her heart beat frantically. She tried to hide the fear on her face but up against someone twice her size, it was like a mouse before a lion.

"I know you've been hiding her somewhere so you'd better tell me before I get angry."

She quickly grabbed her phone out of her purse, "Take another step and I'm calling the police-"

A pair of hands wrapped around her throat, squeezing without compassion. She choked as she kicked her legs, but nothing helped her get out of that snake-like grip.

"You are NOT going to keep her from me!"

In the blink of an eye, her back was shoved against the railing. To her confusion, his face entered her vision and started to get smaller and smaller. Before she realized she could breathe, she was plunged into water. The night was dark, but as she sank, she could still see his face peering over the railing at her.

He was watching.

With eyes as dark as night and as dead as the Grim Reaper, he watched her sink without any remorse or urgency to help.

She was all alone.

There was no one to help her.

Her legs kicked frantically as she tried to resurface, but she only seemed to sink no matter how hard she tried to swim up. Fear completely set in as she realized what fate had in store for her. She let out a scream, filling her mouth and lungs with water.

The strength left her limbs as the last bit of air bubbled up and to the surface. She floated through the quiet empty space, yet her mind still raced.

She thought of her sister who had drowned years before her.

She thought of her brother who dabbled in crime, but always ensured she and her friends were taken care of.

She thought of all her friends and family, but her final thought was of a single person.

After her sister had died, she could barely get out of the house. She was so scared to leave, it became a problem…

All of that changed the day she met the person who had become her best friend.

Now that she was gone… What would happen to her?

If her friend found out what happened, with her personality and compassion, how could she not feel like it was her fault?

It wasn't anger that settled in her soul as her consciousness started to fade. Rather it was a deep sadness at knowing she had failed her best friend who had saved herself.

With her eyes dulling, she made one last wish.

-I hope she can find happiness-

….In a distant park, a light slowly rose over the trees illuminating a pile of trash. The pile of trash gradually started to move until the chin of a man appeared. He smudged the dirt on his face as he tried to remember how he got there to begin with.

As he scratched his greasy head, he was suddenly reminded that he had collapsed face-first after drinking too much. With a shrug of his shoulders, he looked at the ground and saw flashing lights beckoning him forward.

He let out a heavy sigh and started shuffling along, following the lights dancing in his vision.

Eventually, it ended at a bench that was glowing with magnificence.

Years and years ago, this same path led him to the Academy then kept him there. He could easily ignore it, but it was one of the few things that kept him motivated. It's how he found Rebecca, and it was how he found a lot of other people.

He sat on the bench and quickly started to doze off, using his own hair and mismatched clothes to shield himself from the sun. He was alone for a while, until two pairs of footsteps approached him. However, he didn't really care to open his eyes and figure out who.

As soon as his body glowed, the dirt was removed from his skin and the grease from his hair.

He already knew who had used a cleaning spell on him before anyone ever spoke.

"I figured it was you instead of a pile of trash."

Marx glanced through the wisp of his bangs and could see Reika staring at him with an innocent expression and Cyrus behind her with love-dripped eyes, never once glancing in his direction.

"I'm glad I found you." Reika sat down next to him and cleared her throat, "Um… I don't know quite how to say this… But... Sorry..."

"...What for?"

"Sorry for pulling you into the past…"

"Ah, the banshee."

"Yeah… The banshee." She coughed uncomfortably, "And thank you for using your body to save me from Maupin."

"Hmm…" The bundle shifted slightly, "Unnecessary."

"Ah… Well. Still." She looked him up and down, "But how did you survive that attack?"

"...Your friend."

"My friend?"

"...The one who started it."

She was taken aback, "You mean Moni? He saved you?"

"Yes…" Marx slowly lifted his head to one side, "He thanked me for saving you."

She smiled as she stared down at her hands. Her cheeks were warm and pleasant as she thought back, "I knew he was a good boy."

As he stared at her, he noticed the slight light glistening off her hair and then glanced over to Cyrus who was standing directly beside her. Seeing as they were both covered in a light visible only to Marx, he knew he had been led here for a certain reason.

"..Did you have anything else to say?"

"Oh! Right. I wanted to see if you could create the opposite amulet you made for my mother."

"?"

"I want an amulet to bring a ghost out of my body." Her hand drifted to where a strong floral scent was coming from with a saddened expression, "Priscilla is the reason I was even able to return to the future alive. I have no idea what happened to her, but I have this feeling she is still here. I just need a way to talk to her and figure out what is keeping her stuck here."

Marx gave her a sleepy look, "What's in it for me?"

She scooted closer to him with a devilish look in her eyes, "I will cover your tab at Rebecca's bar."

He didn't need to hear anything else.

Marx closed his eyes and focused his energy on his mind. "Then I need an apoor flower from the Alpine region."

She blinked slowly, "Uh… Where is that at?"

"It's a mountainous wooden area on the border of the Orien and Longez."

"I-I…" She glanced over at Cyrus, "Were they part of the alliance?"

He nodded, "Orien was."

"So it shouldn't be difficult?"

Cyrus leaned his head side to side as he thought, "With your ice chunk it shouldn't be so hard to get there, but we would have to travel in secret. The Orien and Longez haven't been on the best terms since the war ended."

Marx spoke up, "I can teleport you two there and back."

Reika looked at him a bit cautiously, "It's not going to take another one of my toes, is it?"

"...Probably not."

"Okay then!"

Marx fished in his many pockets, pulling out jewels and trinkets from the many pockets lining. Reika and Cyrus both watched in slight surprise as he kept pulling out more and more items, stacking them up on the bench.

Cyrus frowned, "Is that one of our gems from the palace treasury?"

Marx paused for a moment before swiftly shoving the gem back into his pocket, "...No."

"..."

Reika leaned over and whispered, "I think it is."

As Cyrus let out a heavy sigh, Marx handed over a single coin, "It can handle a round trip."

Reika quickly took it with a nod, "So what does this flower look like?"

"I don't know."

Her eyebrow twitched, "Then how do we know it's correct?"

He waved her off nonchalantly, "Just ask a local."

Reika and Cyrus shared an unsure glance between the two of them before looking back at Marx who was shoving everything back into his pockets. Seeing how offstandish he was, they knew it was better not to ask more questions.

Reika put the coin in her pocket and grabbed Cyrus's hand, "Alright. We will get your flower."

Marx ignored her as she walked off and gathered the rest of his things. He didn't wait before rushing back to the very place he had just crawled out of. He arrived in front of a tavern that was currently closed. On the archway above the door were the carved words: 'Arrivers'

Marx threw open the door and strut in, catching the attention of Rebecca who was behind the counter cleaning dishes and preparing for the night. She raised an eyebrow as he sat down, "I see you ran into Reika."

He tapped the counter, "Please give me some of your sweet nectar…"

"Isn't it too early to start drinking?"

"If I am awake, then it's not too early." He rested his head on the tabletop, "Pleaaaase."

She chuckled and poured some water. With a single touch of her finger, the liquid instantly changed. She slid it over which he quickly chugged. Once satisfied he put down the drink and requested another to which she obliged.

He looked around, "Do you get a lot of arrivers?"

She nodded, "Yeah, not many though. I guess there were only a handful that could survive Vira's hunting."

"It was a good thing they could survive either in the Odalis Kingdom or on the Vanishing Island." He took another swig, "If not for that, there would be less."

Rebecca laughed, "Except Reika destroyed the Island so we all had to come here."

Marx licked his lips, "Eh. It happens."

Rebecca refilled his glass with a soft smile. As Marx drank at the bar, Rebecca leaned over the bartop, "I consider you one of my best friends, yet I don't know a thing about you."

Marx held his glass out to the light and watched the liquid move like a river that had once swallowed him whole. "It's a long story."

She leaned onto her hand, "Tell me the important parts."

"You remember how I died?"

"Drowning, right?"

"That's right."

"How exactly… Did that happen?"

"In another land, there was a woman who lost her older sister to a ferry incident. When things got hard, life introduced her to someone who became irreplaceable. This person was precious, her best friend… But unfortunately her friend was in a bad relationship. Despite the danger, she helped her friend break free."

The glass slowly went to his mouth as he took a big gulp.

"Her friend's ex wanted revenge so he found that woman and pushed her into the water to kill her. As she drowned, she only felt sadness…"

Rebecca patiently filled up his glass with her own power, "So… What exactly is your ability?"

"...The gift of seeing how to make people happy."

"Huh." She leaned back, "I thought it was making random trinkets."

"That's just a bonus."