Citrine Earth

Chapter Two

Stella was the first to wake up. Because of the summertime, the sun came up early. Renee soon wakes up afterwards. After getting dressed, they knock on the boys' room. Florian opens up after about three knocks. Renee is mad that he took too long to open. Jasper is hit by Renee since he heard the knock, but didn't open the door.

Stella and Renee are to observe at the cafe while Florian and Jasper are to wait at the river for the fisherman. That is the plan.

At the river, Jasper immediately sees the same girl from yesterday. He approaches her with a smile on his face.

"Chloe, right?" Jasper asked.

Chloe is collecting water with a bucket. She stops and looks up. "Oh, you're from yesterday. Yester, was it?"

Jasper frowns. "It's Jasper."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I was probably thinking of someone else."

"Speaking of someone else, where's that fisherman from yesterday?"

"Oh, you mean Jason? He'll be here soon."

Jasper stops and his eyes bulge. "Jason? His name is Jason? Not Galen?"

Chloe laughs. "Yeah, the fisherman is Jason. If you're looking for Galen, you can come with me. I'm collecting water for his goats."

"Give me one second, okay?" Jasper said and walked back to Florian and pulled him away, so Chloe can't hear them. "The fisherman is not Galen. His name is Jason."

Florian sighs. "I was hoping it would be Galen. Guess we can't be lucky, huh."

"No, we are lucky." Jasper turned to see if Chloe were still present and not within talking distance. "She just said she's collecting water for Galen. And she also said if I want to meet him, I can go with her."

"Whoa! Alright, you go and I'll let the girls know."

Jasper smiles. "Once again, we found the target. Haha!" He walks back to Chloe. "About Galen? When are you going back to him?"

"I just need to fill this bucket and then I'll go." Chloe answered.

Chloe leads the way and Jasper follows from behind.

Florian goes to Stella and Renee and explains to them about the current situation. Jasper will go with Chloe to meet Galen. Stella, being cautious, is concerned.

"How do we know this is not a trap?" Stella asked.

Florian shrugs. "We don't. We just have to follow Jasper and see what happens."

Renee notices Jasper is walking further away from them. "Whatever we decide, we need to do so now. They're getting away!"

Stella looks at Jasper and then at Florian. "Just stay at the river and see what information you can get from this Jason guy. Renee and I will follow Jasper and this girl."

Florian agrees and goes back to the river. Stella and Renee follow after Jasper.

Florian decided to go for a quick swim. After about ten minutes or so, someone shows up. It is the fisherman whose name should be Jason. Instead of focusing on swimming, Florian slows down and focuses on secretly watching the fisherman.

Jason is still shirtless, barefoot, and only wears swimming trunks. He steps into the river and slowly looks around, possibly for the fish.

While watching the fisherman, Florian has to pee. Instead of going back onto land to urinate, he decides to do so while in the river.

The fisherman, who was further south from Florian, makes a confused face. He quickly turns to Florian. "Hey, you! Did you just pee?"

Florian laughs nervously. "Haha! I was holding it in for the longest time."

The fisherman gets angry. "Your pee just traveled down and touched my legs!"

"Well, it wasn't on purpose-" Before he was able to finish his sentence, a yellowish Water Spellbomb exploded on him.. Florian falls into the water.

The fisherman transforms into a stone loach Fish and swims directly at Florian. When the Fish is within punching range of Florian, he quickly transforms back into the fisherman. With both his fists, he makes several punches at Florian.

With great desperation, Florian punches the hips of the fisherman with Sludge Punch.

The fisherman takes the damage and backs off Florian who uses this chance to stand up and fight back. He attacks with a move called Water Wave.

Florian runs for the land to avoid the attack. The fisherman transforms back into his Fish form and swims towards land. When he transforms back into his human self, he is met with a Sludge Spellbomb and several Sludge Punches. These attacks were enough to knock out the fisherman. The fight is over. Florian can finally catch his breath.

The fisherman quickly regains consciousness. He is still mad at Florian. "Here to pee on me while I'm down?!"

Florian quickly shakes his head. "No! I didn't mean to do that. Sorry!"

"Tsk! It's fine. What are you doing here anyways? I come here everyday to catch fish. This is the second time that I have seen you."

"Oh, just travelling around, you know. Oh, I'm Florian. What's your name?"

"Jason. I would say it's nice to meet you, but your piss got on me."

Florian laughs nervously. "How did you even know?"

"It was the temperature. I have been at this river for a long time. I would know when the temperature changes."

"Oh, you catch fish here? Are you the only one?"

"Yeah, nobody wants to fish anymore. The goat business is picking up."

"Goat? Who handles the goats?"

"Galen. He's been getting more business than before."

Florian gets curious. "Galen? You know where I can find him?"

"Why? You're thinking of joining the business? Whatever! You can find him on the northwest hill."

Florian thanked Jason and went back to the cafe to find the girls.

Chloe had led Jasper inside the house, presumably Galen's house. They make their way to the living room and into the kitchen. A young man about thirty years old stands up from his chair. He wears sleeveless yellow shirt, jean shorts, and black boots.

"Is this the new recruit?" the young man asked Chloe.

Chloe nods and introduces the both of them and then excuses herself to go give the water to the goats outside.

At close distance, it is clear that he has curly blonde hair and dark brown eyes. "Nice! You want to join my operation?"

"Oh, yeah! How do we get started?" Jasper asked.

"First, you need to prove yourself. Everyone wants in on the goat business ever since I made a deal with Orphea. And you can start by taking out the fisherman Jason."