�FIREBALL!� The psionic flames ravaged the town square of Meung, not only destroying a small fountain and a few merchant carts, but causing somewhat severe physical damage to the pair of insolent fools who had been calling insults only a moment before.
The cause of the disturbance in this normally quiet town stood with her hands on her hips, glaring impartially at the onlooking crowd. As both the recipient of the fools� insults, and the caster of the Fireball, she received quite a bit of attention.
Lets take a moment to paint for the reader a picture of this person. Short of stature, yet large on confidence, the apparent girl wore a black cloak over her faded doublet. The color of that doublet once aspired to be a vibrant burgundy shade, but now seemed to settle for a dusty magenta, as did her matching trews. Were her cloak to be set aside, one would see that the cuffs and collar of her white shirt bore the stains of long travel, as did her black boots. Affixed to the pair of black belts at her waist hung a magnificent sword and a pitiably limp money pouch. On her head sat a garish hat, bright yellow in color, with a plumed black feather.
Unfortunately for her detractors, her physical being was the point of contention. Though it�s been said she had the appearance of a young girl, upon closer inspection, one would see that in fact, she was a young woman somewhere between 16 and 19 years of age. Her short stature misled the casual viewer, but her flaming hair and snub nose indicated a Gascon. Even if those indicators were overlooked, the aggressive and confident glint in her ruby eyes should have been warning enough that Lina D�Inverse was no simple country girl. Gascons were known throughout France for their utter lack of patience with negative remarks.
Unaffected by the recent uproar, Lina adjusted her hat and walked on through the town of Meung, just one of her pitstops on the road to Paris. The citizens of the town made way for her, amazed at the power contained in so small a package. Noticing an inn, Lina made for the entrance. Pausing to allow her eyes to adjust, she surveyed the interior, selected a table, and sat.
Cautiously approaching, a waiter asked for her order as she examined the menu.
�Hmm. I�ll have this, this, this, and that. Triple portions.� In awe, the waiter didn�t hesitate to prepare the order.
Having painted a visual image of this unusual hero, allow us now to depict the personality of this remarkable person. Like all Gascons, Lina D�Inverse bore herself with supreme confidence. Also like all Gascons, she accepted no insults. She made her way to Paris to find fame and fortune, though preferably in the reverse order, with only three virtues and three gifts. Her three virtues were as follows: Intelligence, Over-Confidence, and Stubbornness. In her the latter two became virtues, for she never backed down from a challenge, ever sure in her ability to triumph, and she never gave up, no matter how dismal the odds or dark the situation. Such was her intelligence that she often succeeded where hundreds had failed. Her three gifts were as follows: the sword at her side, the magic in her hands, and the letter in the inside pocket of her doublet. All three were bestowed one way or another by her elder sister, the Lady Luna D�Inverse, though not in the usual affectionate manner of sisters. The sword had been Lady D�Inverse�s cast off, for she had found yet better, the magic had been Lina�s only defense against the domineering and violent Lady, learned as necessary for survival, and the letter had been Lina�s invitation to the world from the Lady. Lady D�Inverse had called Lina before her with these words. �Get out of here. You�re in the way. Here�s a letter to Monsieur de Treville, head of the King�s Musketeers. He�s the man, after the King and the Cardinal. Go make something of yourself. Or else.�
With this inspiration and these kind wishes did Lina D�Inverse make her way through France, headed for Paris with plans of becoming a Musketeer and claiming fortune and fame for herself. That, and the unpleasant knowledge that did she fail, she�d have to face her sister again.
Lina removed her hat and waited for her meal. A pointed murmur of voices from another table caught her attention, and turning, she found herself under scrutiny from a seeming gentleman and his two companions. She sneered in response, and turned back to her own table as her meal began arriving. Distracted by the bounty before her, she began to eat with a single-mindedness that astonished.
After several plates, the words of the neighboring diners began to penetrate.
�I�d imagine that�s the style in Gascony. Such a backwards province cannot be expected to teach proper manners even in it�s bourgeoisie.� The speaker was none other than the gentleman Lina had marked before. Ignoring him only long enough to finish her meal, she replaced her hat, stood, and approached the other table.
�Tell me, sir, what�s so amusing?� she asked, in a deceptively pleasant tone.
�I beg your pardon?� replied the gentleman with an expression of disdain.
�As well you should, for I heard you laughing, and I�m certain you were laughing at me!� declared Lina.
�I never laugh,� the man replied, �though I may have expressed astonishment that so small and young a child could so quickly consume a meal large enough for several men, and in such a disgusting manner.�
�Disgusting! So you were insulting me! I demand you either retract your insults, or else!� Lina cried, angered at this gentleman�s insults.
The gentleman rose, placing his green hat on his long black hair, and replied, �I haven�t the time to teach manners to insolent little Gascon runaways.� With that, he walked past Lina and out of the inn.
Infuriated, Lina made to follow, but the gentleman�s companions leapt up to block her. Lina quickly drew her sword and lunged, but the two countered her attack, even scoring a wound on her shoulder. Her blood boiling, Lina raised a hand to blast them out of her way, but before she completed the spell, the innkeeper himself knocked her over her head with a wine bottle.
The innkeeper, convinced that the man in the green hat was a great lord, whereas the youngster in magenta and yellow was a commoner, begged forgiveness for the uproar from the gentleman and his companions.
�It is nothing,� said the gentleman, but secretly he felt some concern. Rarely did anyone challenge him, but the place and time of this particular incident worried him, and he kept glancing towards the Paris road as if waiting for someone.
Back in the inn, Lina struggled to consciousness and her feet. She shook off the restraining hands of the inn�s staff and stormed after the gentleman. As she reached the street, a carriage came down the road, stopping before the gentleman. A moved curtain revealed a lady, dressed in the highest of court fashion, who leaned forward to address the man. Before Lina could reach them, they had exchanged words, and the green-hatted gentleman had passed the lady a letter and a small bag.
�You there! You think you can just walk away from me?� Lina called to the gentleman, drawing his attention.
�What is this?� asked the lady in the carriage.
�Nothing, Milady. A Gascon brat who thinks I owe him some satisfaction.�
�HIM??� cried Lina. �I�m a woman!! A woman who will kill you for your insults, sir!�
The gentleman deliberately turned back to the lady in the carriage. �Until we meet again, Milady.� She nodded, casting a disdainful eye over Lina. Milady called a command to her driver, and the carriage drove off.
�Now, no more distractions, sir, or evasions!� Lina challenged. She raised her sword, intending to skewer the gentleman, but his companions again intervened. Faced with three enemies, Lina tried to even the odds with a Bomb Di Wind, but one of the companions countered it. The other leapt forward, slashing at Lina�s face. But as she evaded the strike by leaping backwards, she came in contact with another of the good innkeeper�s empty wine bottles.
�My lord!� cried the innkeeper to the gentleman in the green hat. �Why, that Gascon girl must be the Devil himself in disguise! You are not injured?�
�No,� said the gentleman, who�s name was Count Zangulus de Rochefort. �I didn�t even fight her. It would not have been a challenge. Yet, she seemed quite intent on killing me��
�You do not think she is an agent of �� began one of his companions, but the Count cut him off.
�What shall you do with her?� he asked of the innkeeper.
�She has not yet paid for her meal. I�ll put her in a room, and when she comes to, I�ll give her a bill,� answered the innkeeper. Fitting actions to words, he had his waiters carry Lina into the inn, and to a room where the innkeeper�s wife checked Lina�s rooms.
Following, the Count asked the wife, �Has she any valuebles or papers on her? Has she said anything?�
Unaware of Lina�s animosity for the gentleman, the wife answered, �Only a mutter that Monsieur de Treville will hear of this.� She then left the room. Sneakily, the Count checked Lina�s pockets. There he found the letter of introduction from Lady Luna D�Inverse to Monsieur de Treville, commander of the King�s Musketeers.
Upon seeing the address of the letter, the Count de Rochefort became concerned. Perhaps this Gascon was in fact an assassin. Quickly, he pocketed the letter, and gathering his companions, mounted his horse and left Meung.
Lina�s forced sleep lasted for several hours. When she finally awoke, her first thoughts flew to her purse. Seeing that it remained untouched, she next checked on the precious letter, which in her mind was the key to all the fortune and fame (in that order) of France.
�It�s gone!� she shrieked, ensuring that noone in the inn would miss her awakening. Donning her doublet, cloak, and drawing her sword, she charged out of the room, calling for the innkeeper. Cornering him in the common room, she demanded the return of the letter.
�I know nothing of your letter!� wailed the unfortunate innkeeper. �Is it so important?�
�Vitally important! Fortunes revolve around that letter!� Lina declared, thinking of the fortune she herself pursued.
The innkeeper immediately imagined royal bonds or important letters of state, and panicked. �Allow my people to search the inn!� Graciously, Lina did so, demanding a glass of wine while she waited. As the search proceeded, the wife of the innkeeper confided in him that the lord in the green hat had checked in on the girl. �Ah-ha,� thought the innkeeper. �That lord stole this Gascon�s letter. There is some dangerous business going on, but at least this absolves us!� Hurrying to the common room, he humbly told Lina that the green-hatted lord must have taken the letter.
�What!?! Infamous! That devil! And you let him? MEGA BRANDO!�
Lina stormed out of the now ruined inn and resumed her journey towards Paris, muttering to herself that should she ever meet with the gentleman in the green hat again, she would have her vengeance on him for the theft of her letter, and the humiliation of the fight in the street. Behind her, the poor innkeeper cried to heaven for protection from Gascons in general, and redheaded female ones in particular.
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