《Rouge》


 Chapter 1

    "Rogue, Dad!"


    "Yes, That''s how you say it, how did you spell it?"


    "Do I have to say it?"


    "If you want to get on my good side, yes."


    As I looked at my dad''s red face, the laughter already leaking from his lips, and the beautiful lady I wanted to become my teacher, I could only resign myself to what was about to happen.


    "Rouge, Dad." I sighed. I could already hear his boisterous laughter leaking out of his lips, so I just let it happen. The worst part wasn''t even the public humiliation of dealing with my dad, It was the slight smile that leaked onto my (Hopefully) soon to be teachers face. The one time I want to a good impression. The one time!


    "It should be the way I spelled it!" I said, in defense of my horrible blunder.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "So, as you can see, he wants to become a Rogue." My father said, after he finished laughing. "Can you help him along, or is his a hopeless dream?"


    "Well, I don''t think anyone''s hopeless, but some need a little more help then others. Have you done his Stat check?"


    "Yeah. He''s got an eight, the crafty bugger."


    She raised one eyebrow. "Eight? At his age? Quite good, is that his highest stat? And, If you don''t mind me asking, which side did he get it from?


    My dad chuckled. "Yeah, a stat point per year is pretty good, his highest stat is what it''s always been, wisdom, and he got his dex, from his mother, she was quite, how do you say.... flexible." He said, with a glint in his eye.


    I quickly hit him in the side, so that he would just shut up before he embarrassed us more.


    She smiled."I think that''s enough with the questions, come inside and we''ll get started."


    I gasped."Does that mean you''re accepting me?"


    I got perhaps the first real smile she showed that whole time."Youe gold is as good as any''s, why wouldn''t we accept you? Come with me."


    As she talked, the gates in front of the training school slowly opened to reveal....


    A janitor.


    My new teacher smiled at me."Welcome, my first student, to your training ground."


    "And by the way, my name''s Lisandre."


    She held out her hand.


    "Nice to meet you."

 Chapter 2

    "Wake up!"


    I groaned, knowing what was about to happen through the hard wrought experience of having this done to me every morning.


    "Please, not today Dad. Lisandre ran me really hard, and I''m still recovering. My legs hurt and m-"


    I was cut off by the bucket of ice cold water my dad threw on me, just like he does every single morning.


    "Come on, get up! Get up! Time''s a wasting, and there''s enchanting to be done!"


    I groaned, already drying off a little from the passive heat rune I snuck under my bed last year. Now that was one rune I didn''t mind enchanting.


    "I was getting up when you came in, you coulda just waited a few minutes and I would''ve been ready."


    "But where''s the fun in that?" My dad said, already turning to leave my room. "Holler for me when you get down and if I don''t answer, I''m dealing with a customer."


    I watched my dad close the door before I sighed and got out of bed. I stripped out of my damp pajama bottoms and put on the my rogue training outfit, which is the only thing I wear when I''m helping my dad enchant. Those morons that come buy my dad''s runes somehow still think I''m going to be an enchanter! It dosen''t seem to matter how many times I tell them I''m going to be a rogue, they still think I''m going to be an enchanter!


    I skipped downstairs, surveying the first floor of our house, which my dad used as his shop/workplace. It was super cluttered, as always. There were hundreds of runes lining a glass display case, which was located on one side of the shop, while a huge pile of runes waiting for an enchanters touch was on the other side. There was also the side room, which was housing my dads expermental runes and the custom enchanting jobs he got from the rich adventurers. Not a lotta rogues though. Apparently a lot of rogues use disposeable weapons, so enchanting them would be a waste of money and time..... At least, that''s what teacher says and she used to be an adventurer, so I guess she would know.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Michael, how good to see you!"


    I frowned for a second at the sweet voice that drifted to my ears.


    There were three kinds of people that came to dad''s shop. The casual kind, looking for a miscellaneous rune to improve their house or next tower dive, the hard adventurers, looking to get my dad to custom enchant a weapon.


    And last.


    Was the girls.


    Apparently my dad was a catch.


    He was the first person to prove that custom runes were not a theoretical science, and him being single and relatively handsome kept them coming back. Add on that rumors he resisted a succubus without any form of mental protection, just the pure force of his love, he was quite the package.


    At least that''s what they tell me. I think they''re all super dumb. All he does is play pranks on me, and fail to make his wild hair stay down. At least I inherited my brown hair from mom, while dad''s stuck with his ginger mop.


    I smiled at the girl who called out to me, quickly escaping from her before she could drag me into a conversation that would drag back to the conversation of what my dad wants in a girl.


    I sat next to my dad, and grabbed a rune from the pile sitting next to us.


    "You really love mom don''t you?"


    He jumped, the light rune he was inscribing flickering before he regulated the mana flow.


    "Where did this come from?" He asked, the sad smile slowly appearing on his face, the same one he always gets while talking about mom.


    "I was just, I dunno, thinking about things."


    "Of course I still love her. I''ll tell you what kid, me and you, we''re old blood. That means we fall in love slow, and fall outta love even slower. My mom for example, she married a right bastard, but wouldn''t leave him no matter how much I begged."


    He ruffled my hair. "Love makes fools of us all."


    I looked up at him. "Would you take her back if she came back?"


    He smile got even sadder. "I couldn''t. No matter how much I love her, I hate her even more for leaving you."


    His sad smile dissapeared, replaced with a real one. "Why, Lisandre isn''t giving you enough motherly love?"


    I laughed at him. "No! She keeps hitting me with stuff and telling me it''s training! She''s incapable of love, much less the motherly kind!."


    "I''ll show her when I get a class," I plotted. "I''ll make the rogue class beat whatver shadowwhatsit class she''s got. I''ll make her eat her words!"


    He laughed, and ruffled my hair again.


    "Just don''t grow up too fast."