"Hey, hand me that one would you?" I ask my best friend Bryan, pointing at the white case near his shin. He picks it up and flips it around to read the details on the back.
"Final Fantasy Three?" He asks in that adorable southern drawl of his, raising one blonde eyebrow.
"Yeah, I need something new," I reply. "Besides, it's five bucks." I snatch the game from his hand and bring it up to the counter to pay for it.
"So you're really gonna be a Final Fantasy geek now?" he asks as we exit. I pinch his cheek lovingly and he swipes at my hand.
"Of course not, I just need something else to play," I respond with a smile. "Being a Pokénerd is getting a little repetitive. Get your Pokémon, meet the bad guys, take down said bad guys and defeat Elite Four with the Legendary Pokémon." He shakes his head before climbing into his car to drive me home.
"Well don't get sucked into this one, okay? I swear you would've played Soul Silver all through MEA weekend if I didn't force you to go shopping with me." I snort with laughter.
"Not true! I would've had to eat at some point!" He laughs deeply as he pulls into my driveway.
"I'll see you tomorrow right?"
"You just want to cheat off my History test." He smiles impishly.
"You got it sweetheart!" He winks before driving away. I chuckle as I enter my house and I hang my jacket in the closet. I love Bryan, but too bad he's about as straight as a rainbow. I laugh once more and head to the kitchen. Brittany looks up from her homework and frowns.
"Another one?" she asks annoyingly. I stick my tongue out at her.
"You're just jealous 'cause you don't have a job to pay for whatever you want," I retort. She scoffs and returns to her math problems. I grab a Coke out of the fridge and head up to my room to do my homework. As I reach the stairs, a loud clap of thunder rattles the windows.
"I guess we'll finally get some rain," I mumble to myself and hop up the stairs.
After three solid hours of homework, mostly Pre-Calc, and dinner with my foster family, I can finally relax and play my new game. Upstairs in my room, the window flashes on and off with the lightning. Deep rumbles of thunder overlap until it's impossible to tell which is which. The window panes rattle with each successive boom and I wonder for a moment what it would cost to replace them, but they hold on.
I pull my broken and duct-taped DS out of my bedside table drawer and crack open my new game. I turn on my DS and laugh at the picture next to the game title. It looks like a deformed, featherless chicken! But I tap it anyway, skipping through the opening video.
Before I can tap 'New Game' a very bright streak of lightning strikes outside my window, blinding me and the thunder that follows is loud enough to be a freaking jet engine right outside my window. My lights flicker off and I can hear Brittany moan in aggravation.
"Willow!" Julie calls, "The power's out!" I sigh and stick my DS in my back pocket, grabbing my umbrella before I head back downstairs. Julie has lit a few candles already and is shaking out a match when I find her.
"Willow, can you please go look at the breakers and see what's wrong?" she asks with a heavy dose of puppy-dog eyes. Leave it to the adopted kid to be the only one who knows anything about electronics. I sigh again and grab my rain jacket and head out to the side of the house.
The fuse box is a charred mess on the outside, but luckily the inside has survived. I get to work replacing the fuses, quickly so I can get out of the rain and back to my game. I wonder what Final Fantasy will be like. I think Bryan's little brother has one of the games. I should ask him about them next time I visit.
"Done," I say to myself. "Now to guilt Julie into making some popcorn for me." I head towards the front door, not even knowing how much God hates me at that exact moment. The only thing I remember before blacking out is the searing pain of molten lava running through each and every nerve ending in my body.
"Owwww…" I groan as I come back to my senses. Everything hurts. My legs, my arms, my torso, everything! But my back feels like it's on fire. I roll over to my stomach and push against the dirt to leverage myself onto my knees. Wait, dirt? There's no dirt in our backyard, only grass. Shouldn't it be raining? What happened to the thunder storm?
I rub open my eyes and try not to scream hysterically. I am in a cave… A freaking cave! I don't like caves! I'm not claustrophobic or anything, but I still don't like waking up in strange caves. No one does! I take a deep breath and fiddle with my braid absentmindedly.
"Okay, Willow, you are in a strange cave when you were in your backyard two seconds ago. Logic, something happened and I am now hallucinating. I was hit by lightning, yeah, that's it! I was hit by lightning and now I'm dreaming away in a drug filled stupor! But aren't drugs supposed to take away the pain?" I rub my back slightly and wince when the burning sensation aggravates. "Where's this light coming from?" I look around and spot a staff leaning against the wall. It's a simple thing, just a dark mahogany staff shaped into a spiral at the upper end. It has a ball shaped lantern hanging from the spiral. I'm guessing this is my light. I reach for the staff but freeze when I see my arm.
Some weird part of my unconsciousness has decided it's funny to change my clothes. Instead of my Aerosmith t-shirt and faded jeans , I look like some Middle Ages merchant. I'm wearing a white blouse with long, poofed out sleeves and a pair of light green leggings. Over the blouse is a short-sleeved, umm… jacket of sorts. It reaches my knees and it is a deep green color with brown embroidery on the hemming. The last two accessories to my ensemble are a green sash wrapped around my middle and a sturdy pair of brown leather boots. The clothes seem made for travel, sturdy and warm, not like my usual apparel.
"Okay, who is fucking with me now?" I mumble to myself. "I guess I won't get any answers sitting around here." I stand up quickly, too quickly, and my head spins from the effort. I scowl and hug the wall until my head stops spinning and grab the lantern staff. It's not too heavy, but not light enough to make me want to carry it far.
The light falls onto a green backpack, a small thing really, but I'll take what I can get. Whatever drugs I'm on in the hospital, they're making my dreams incredibly detailed. I pick up the pack and dig around the inside. I find three apples, weird, and an old-fashioned flask of water. I might as well save those for later.
"Well, I'm off then." I set out in the only direction the cave leads, straight ahead. The cave is interesting, at least when I get over my initial panic it is. Stalactites drip from the ceiling and stalagmites scatter the floor. The ceiling is so high that my light doesn't reach it in some places.
As I go deeper, I notice little blue crystals growing in the walls. They're pretty cool, being a deep royal blue color. This cave seems to go on forever though. I'm getting bored by the time I'm scared shitless by a guy falling from the ceiling.
A patch of sunlight lights up a small patch of the cave ahead. I'm about to pass under it when the boy falls from the freaking sky! I jump back with a yelp and wince when I hear the thump he makes.
"Oww…" He groans "I didn't see that hole there… What have I gotten myself into now?" He quickly picks himself up and looks around. He spots me with his strange purple eyes and smiles hesitantly. "Hello. How are you?"
"Y-you just fell from th-the ceiling, and you're asking me how I'm doing?" I ask in disbelief. He smiles a bit more and holds out a hand to shake.
"I'm Luneth," He introduces. That's a weird name, I bet my subconscious is really kicked into overdrive right now. I shake his hand, stunned at how real it all feels.
"What'd you do to your hair?" I cock my head sideways as I take in his silvery white hair, gathered into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck.
"Same thing you did I guess," He chuckles. What?
"What are you talking about?" He looks as confused as I feel.
"Your hair is as white as mine." He remarks. I quickly pull the loose braid of my hair forward. No, no, no, no! My hair is supposed to be brown! I don't know exactly why this freaks me out. It's just a dream after all, but I'm scared just the same. Luneth gives me a suspicious look.
"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost or something…" I shake my head.
"I'm having a rough day. I was just changing fuses one minute, then the next I'm stuck in this weird cave with new clothes, a glorified walking stick and white hair." I ramble. Luneth just looks more confused, so I wave it away. "Let's just say I'm having one hell of a day." He nods and holds a hand to the side, gesturing in the direction I was going in the first place.
"Well, we might as well look for an exit together, care to join me?" I don't know why, but he makes me smile. Despite being in such a weird dream, it's nice to have a guide that acts like a normal person.
"All right, lead the way," I follow him down the cave tunnel and examine him from behind. He's kinda tall, but then again, I'm a little short. His outfit is similar to mine, though it seems better equipped for exploring. A thick leather vest over a black shirt with a hood and a purple turtleneck sweater. A small pouch hangs from a loose belt and boots, similar to mine, protect his feet, though his are black.
"So how'd you end up in this cave?" He asks.
"Lost," is all I say. He chuckles and nods.
"Me too, though it was less lost and more exploring." I smile and think about his grand entrance.
"You were exploring holes in the ground?" I tease. He turns back to smile at me. I like his smile, it's quick to arrive and slow to leave.
"I'll have you know I'm the world's best hole explorer," He teases back. I laugh lightly and swing the lantern forward into the next corner. A scuffling sound startles me, Luneth barely turning around before three goblins jump us.
I know they're goblins 'cause that's the only thing they could be. They're covered in wrinkled green skin and light brown leather armor. Their sneers reveal nasty yellow fangs and they smell like a garbage heap.
"What the hell?!" I yell, narrowly dodging a knife swipe from the one closest to me. Luneth yelps as one jumps at him. He pulls a large knife from nowhere and slashes back at the goblin. Distracted by Luneth, I don't see the first one lunge at me. It drags its knife along the back of my hand, barely missing my arm. I retaliate my smashing the non-lantern end of my staff into its face. It backs off quickly, only to try swinging its knife at me again. I jump back and hit it again with my staff.
And just like that, it fades away. Like, poof, gone! Just gone! But it seems to have dropped a few shiny coins in our fight. I ignore those as the last goblin decides to avenge its comrade. I smash it with my staff like I did the last one and it fades away… like the last one. My heart pounds violently in my chest as my knees give out. Th-th-those were m-monsters! They w-were goblins! And that scratch really hurt, why did it hurt? Isn't pain not supposed to affect dreamers? A hand on my shoulder makes me jump and lash out before I know what I'm doing.
"Whoa! It's okay, they're gone," Luneth says, after he catches my staff before it can clock him on the side of the head.
"Those, those were monsters!" I say breathily, not even believing what I'm saying.
"Why do I get the feeling this is not the safest place to be?" Luneth mumbles to himself. I use the staff to pull myself off the ground and dust my leggings off shakily. "You okay?" I nod silently and sigh out a big breath.
"We might as well get out of here while we can… before we become goblin food." He shrugs and starts leading the way again.
We encounter three more goblins, each by itself. Luneth takes care of them while I try not to have a nervous breakdown. He's a pretty confident guy, or maybe just brash, I can't tell which. A couple of times I've had to warn him about a goblin trying to sneak around him, but he took the advice graciously.
The next strange thing we come across is a pair of old crates. They almost look like treasure chests, but rotted through and deteriorating. I poke at one with my stick and it practically falls apart.
"Who left these here?" I wonder aloud. Luneth shrugs and opens the one he found. He pulls out a two foot wide, circular shield made of wood and leather.
"Neat," he says. "This will come in handy." He straps the shield to his passive arm, leaving the dominant one open for his knife. I pull out a dusty, oblong glass bottle out of my chest. It's the only thing in the whole crate, weirder and weirder.
"What's this?" I ask, holding up the bottle for Luneth to see. He plucks it out of my hand and studies it quickly and smiles.
"This is a health potion. They're for keeping people healthy," he explains. "Anytime anyone in my village gets scraped up or hurt, the Innkeeper usually brings around a potion to help them heal faster."
"Cool," I respond simple and store the bottle in my bag.
"Cool? Are you cold?" Luneth asks, confused. I giggle at his misunderstanding and pat his shoulder.
"No. Where I'm from cool also means something like 'neat' or 'impressive' or 'intriguing', I guess." I find it funny that someone doesn't know the meaning of cool. It's just a word people like me take for granted. Luneth nods and continues to lead the way down the cave. Not a minute after we stumble across a strange rock. It's lighter than the rocks around it.
"Hmm… There's something strange about that rock." Luneth mumbles, walking straight up to it. Okay, I may not be a creepy caves expert, but usually strange things in strange places mean strange things are going to happen if strangers mess with the strange things.
"I don't thi-" Luneth finds a catch on the rock and flips it. The seemingly solid rock wall to our left suddenly starts to drop into the floor, scaring me into grabbing Luneth.
"A-hem," Luneth coughs and pointedly looks at my arms. I blush and release him, striding forward quickly in embarrassment. I can hear Luneth chuckle behind me and I try not to bush harder. Another crate/chest thing pops up in front of me, though this one seems a little less decayed than the other two. I quickly prod at the clasp holding it shut and open it.
"Aaaaaahhh!" I scream and latch onto Luneth again. He peeks over into the box and laughs.
"What's wrong?" He teases. "Scared of a few tiny spiders?" I shake and make a disgusted noise.
"They're evil! Nasty, nasty little creatures!" I whine pitifully. He laughs again and pulls a long, silver sword out of the box, brushing off cobwebs and hordes of spiders.
"Well, they've been guarding a pretty 'cool' weapon." He smiles and hands me his knife. "You can use this if you'd like."
"What's wrong with my stick?" I ask, slightly offended.
"A knife versus a stick, which do you think would win in a fight?" he explains with a teasing smile. I grumpily accept the knife and try to find a place to put it. Luneth hands me its case which I accept just as reluctantly. I clip it to the inside of my sash and continue on, to a set of rough stairs leading upwards.
"I swear to God if there are any more spiders or cobwebs I am burning them with the lantern flame." Luneth just laughs in response and pushes me forward.
The next floor immediately splits three ways, left, right and forward. I stare back and forth between the left and right paths.
"So, which way?" I ask, pointing the lantern towards the right. Luneth ponders it for only a second before turning to the left.
"Far as I've seen, this cave isn't very big, so let's try each way we can." I follow him down the left hallway. Not a few hundred feet later, it ends in a small round room with another decaying crate. Luneth opens it and pulls out a large blue crystal.
"What's that?" I ask, poking it. It feels cold to the touch.
"I think it's an Antarctic Wind." He looks it over. "Yeah, it is. It's a magic stone that unleashes ice magic on whatever it's aimed at."
"A magic stone?" I ask doubtfully.
"Yeah. What's so weird about magic?" I shrug it off and grab the crystal to put it in my pack. I mean, come on, we were fighting goblins a few minutes ago, I'm going to leave my mind open, or at least try.
"Well, let's try the other way: the right pathway," I lead the way back to the crossroads and straight to the right path. It's longer than the other one. One crate pops up, filled with all of one potion, before another one appears with a dead end. Luneth pulls another magic crystal out of the box and places it in my pack.
"I'm getting tired," I whine, taking a long drink from my flask. I offer it to Luneth and he takes a drink gratefully.
"There's only one path left to try," He says oh-so-helpfully. I roll my eyes and return the flask to my pack and go back the way we came.
Down the straight path we find three new monsters. The first is a big ball of blue wispy stuff. I'm extremely surprised that our weapons do damage to it. It's almost like whacking a floating rubber ball. When it can't take damage anymore, it fades away like the goblins do.
The second monster reminds me of a Shelgon. It's like a big, blue, armored ball of freaky. This one takes forever to kill, but it fades away like the rest. Its only vulnerable spot is its single eye, but that is a little hard to get at when it keeps rolling in different directions.
The third one both scared the crap out of me (I've lost count how many times I've been scared today) and amused me. The first thought I had was, Ugly Ball evolved into Eye Flower. These stupid things roll down from the ceiling and smack the back of your head when you're not looking. Luneth fell flat on his face the first time one did that, and he glared at me when I giggled at the sight of his butt in the air and his face in the dirt.
The end of the path splits ways again, to the left and the right. We go right first, finding one more box filled with a potion. It's weird how each box only has one thing inside it. It's like some messed up merchant lost his stuff in this cave. One item per box… most inefficient way to store things ever.
Up ahead a blue light glows, shifting shadows every second to create a dreamy effect. Luneth finds the source first, yelling happily when he sees it. A large, deep pool of crystal clear, turquoise water stirs at the edge of the room.
"Wow! What mystifying colors," Luneth marvels. I am wary of the glowing water. Because really, who the hell trusts water that glows? Luneth, no!
And just like that, Luneth takes a deep gulp from the spring. I mean, come on! It's glowing! Why would that translate into 'Drink Me'? Is he as stupid as Alice?
"You realize that this could be extremely poisonous to us in any way, right?" I ask sarcastically. Luneth grins and flicks a bit of it at me.
"Relax, it's just spring water."
"It glows. That is no ordinary spring water." Luneth laughs and takes another gulp, making me cringe.
"I feel fine. Actually, I feel better than fine. I feel revitalized" I lift an eyebrow at him but say nothing. Something about this water has to be weird. "Here, allow me." He stands up and approaches me.
"What?" I ask before he reaches into my backpack to grab my flask. "Hey!" He chuckles and fills it back up with the water. I begrudgingly accept the thing back, but I'm still not keen on drinking it. At least once it's in the container, it stops glowing. Maybe it's just some funky rocks at the bottom or something.
"You know, you're a strange person," Luneth remarks offhandedly.
"Oh thank you. That makes me feel so special," I reply, sarcasm just dripping from my tone. Luneth simply laughs a little more and gestures for me to follow him back down the path to the other path. This time, we finally find the doorway leading to a new part of the cave. It's almost too tight a fit for me and my backpack to fit through, but I suck in my gut and shimmy out of the narrow space.
The space we enter is like nothing I've seen before. The ceiling soars out of sight, supported by blue-white stone pillars. Dull blue tiles coat the floor underfoot and crunch a little as we walk across them. It looks like some ancient temple to a forgotten deity.
"Woah," Luneth calls as he peers over the edge of the platforms we are walking on. "I can't see the bottom." I shuffle over to him and grab his hood, pulling him back from the edge.
"I'd rather you not fall into the bottomless pit." Luneth takes one glance at my shaking hand and steps away from the edge.
"Afraid of heights?" He asks.
"Extremely." Luneth makes his way back to the center of the floor and looks around lazily. "Where do we go now?"
"I don't know," He answers. "Hey, look at this." He points at a large, jagged rock. It's practically a mountain it's so huge. Luneth starts to climb the side of it.
"Do you ever think before you do anything?" I ask. "Why am I asking this? You fell through a hole in the ground!" Luneth smiles and continues climbing. "Just for the record, I think that's a bad idea. If you get hurt it's not my fault." Out of the corner of my eye, I see something move. I turn to look and see a giant flat piece of jagged rock draw towards the mountain of rock. "Luneth! Down, NOW!"
"W-what?" As he turns to look, the mountain of rock roars and rumbles. Luneth tumbles head over heels off the giant creature. The creature roars again, obviously pissed at Luneth's intrusion.
"Wh-what is that?!" Luenth yells over the noise. The creature rises to its full height and turns an angry face towards the two of us. I gulp involuntarily and take in the whole of the mess we're in. The monster looks like a giant turtle with a razor sharp bill and motivation to kill us to bits.
"Luneth!" I shout, unable to move from my spot in sheer terror. The turtle immediately focuses on me, its dark eyes quickly sizing up my threat level- which I'm sad to say, is very, very tiny. In the corner of my field of vision, I see Luneth draw his longsword and run towards the monster. He slashes at its side, the shell, continuously. "Luneth, that's not going to work." Do I need to tell him everything? Common Sense should have kicked in by now, but I'm starting to think he has none.
Luneth hears my shouting and goes for the flippers instead. I would have chosen the neck, but whatever works. The monster turtle finally realizes he had bigger threats to worry about and starts snapping at Luneth. Each and every time it does, I have a mini heart-attack. Luckily, Luneth is faster than the monster and bounces out of the way each time.
I don't know when I made the choice, but my feet are already moving forward to bring me towards the monster. Without it glaring me down, I can move again. I have to help kill this beast before it makes lunchmeat out of the both of us. Luneth may be strong but he can't last forever. A yell rips itself from my throat as I run at it. I don't even know what I'm going to do. Hit it with my stick? Lamest rescue plan ever. Then I remember the knife Luneth gave me. I draw it from its case on my sash and slash forward, hitting the back of the monster's head.
The monster roars in pain and swings its head back around, hitting me straight in the stomach. All of my breath whooshes out of my lungs in one puff, leaving me floundering on the tile floor. Right before the monster can snap my head off in its mouth, I roll to the side, barely able to avoid my death. As the air re-enters my lungs, I crawl to my feet and try to get at its head again.
Luneth distracts the beast by slashing at its flippers again, annoying the monster more than anything. Though it's moving slower than at first, it has to be wearing out.
I quickly slash at its head, careful to duck when it swings it around, slashing at the underside of its neck for good measure. What bothers me is its bleeding. It bleeds very little, and what comes out isn't normal. It's thick and black, almost like tar.
Before I know it, Luneth is beside me, slashing at its neck with me. The creature bellows one last cry and slumps to the ground, defeated. As with the monsters before it, this one fades away into nothing. Both of us stand there, breathing heavily and shocked into silence. I look at Luneth and he stares back at me. Our faces hold the same expression of outright disbelief.
"We just slayed a giant turtle," I say quietly. "A giant… freaking … turtle." Luneth starts to laugh.
"We did!" he says joyfully. "And we lived to tell the tale!" I laugh with him, the adrenaline still singing in my veins. My back is starting to burn again, probably from the battle with the turtle. I rustle through my pack and grab my flask, taking long gulps until it's half empty. I hand it to Luneth who finishes the rest. He was right though, the water really does make me feel rejuvenated, though the burning stays.
You have been chosen.
I quickly turn my head back and forth to find the source of the voice, but I see nothing. It almost sounds like it's inside my head. Luneth is bewildered as well, gripping his sword harshly as if readying for another attack.
"Wh-who's that?! Who's there?!" he yells. "Willow, do you hear this?" I nod. He turns in a wide arc to scan the cave. I do too, and my eyes widen to the size of dinner plates when I realize where the voice might be coming from.
Warriors from the land of darkness… you have been chosen as bringers of hope.
"Luneth," I whisper, grabbing his sleeve. He stares at me, confused, before I point out what I found. His jaw drops for a second, then he composes himself and pulls me forward.
Resting before us is an enormous crystal made of turquoise stone, so bright and luminescent, it must be the source. Luneth pulls me up the steps with him to stand directly in front of the thing.
"Is this crystal… talking to us?" He wonders aloud. I simply start to shake, wondering when this painful dream will be over. I just want to go back home, back to my foster family, back to wonderfully gay Bryan, back to normality. All the stress and the adrenaline and the danger are starting to drive me crazy. My knees wobble and I flop to the floor in a heap.
Darkness is threatening to engulf the world… When light is lost, the equilibrium will be no more.
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Luneth asks the crystal, not noticing my tiny breakdown behind him. I grip the sides of my head. I don't need this right now! I don't need some ancient rock speaking gibberish in my head!
"Get out of my head!" I scream at the rock. Luneth jumps at my sudden outburst, but is too shocked to do anything.
There are others who share your destiny. You must seek them out. Once you find them, I will bestow upon you our last light… our last hope. Now go!
"Whoa! Wait! I don't understand!" Luneth shouts as the both of us are enveloped in a warm light.
"Wait!" I shout before my surroundings turn white. It feels like I'm falling, just for a split second, right before I feel grass under me. I open my eyes and find a field of wild flowers and bright green grass spread out before us. "Damn it!" I pound the grass with my fist. "When will this make any sense?"
"We're back on the surface… what was that? Light? Darkness? Our last hope?" I can hear Luneth mumbling to himself. "What was that all about?" I sit there silently as Luneth mumbles to himself about what the crystal said. I can't deny it anymore. This isn't a dream. It can't be. There is no way I could dream this all up or feel this much ache in a dream.
"Willow, are you all right?" Luneth asks, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You're crying." I swipe at my eyes and my sleeve comes away wet. I hadn't even noticed the tears.
"No, Luneth, I'm not okay. I was trying to believe this was all fiction, that it was all in my head. But it can't be. There's too many aches and pains, too much life around and too much… just too much. My legs ache, my stomach is trying to eat itself at the moment and my back burns for some stupid reason. I want to go home, but I can't even tell if this is the same universe, let alone the same world or continent. Now, we've got a magic crystal giving us orders, goblins and flowers with eyes around every cave turn and I don't even have my own clothes. I'm just… I feel lost and I feel scared." My voice cracks on the last word, but I feel a little better having let it all out. Luneth plops onto the grass next to me and just sits there.
"I'm not going to pretend I understood some of that, but I know how you're feeling. I don't know exactly what just happened, but we'll think of something. As for getting you home, I'm sure there's a way. For now we can go back to my village and rest for the night. I bet people are wondering what kind of trouble I've gotten into now."
"That sounds… like a start," I smile sheepishly. "Sorry for breaking down." Luneth waves it off.
"I think you deserved it. Come on, let's get there before the moon comes out," he pulls me to my feet and I grab my staff. He guides me south to his home, the village of Ur he says it's called. I pull out two of the three apples from my pack, handing the first to Luneth. We both chow down quickly, our stomachs reminding us of the calories we burned earlier.
It's not long until the village rises out of the horizon. Next to the mountains around it, it looks even tinier than what it probably is. Despite the late hour and the size of the village, there are a surprising amount of citizens mulling around. When Luneth walks by, most people wave and say hello, which he returns with an equally polite smile and wave. Everyone knows who he is, it seems, but then again, it is a small village. A few people ask where he picked me up or who I am, but he just says 'a friend', or 'around'.
"Luneth!" a small boy shouts. "Where'd you go explorin' today? You've been gone since this mornin'." Luneth bends down to whisper into the boy's ear.
"I found some old tunnels that ran just beneath the surface," he stage whispers. "I even brought back a guide spirit with me." I scoff after he shoves a thumb over his shoulder to indicate me. The boy's eyes widen in awe and I just roll mine.
"Don't lie to children Luneth," I chide. Luneth looks confused, but the tricky grin on his face returns momentarily.
"See? She's even trying to guide my actions right now." I tap him on the head with the butt of my staff, just hard enough to teach him a lesson. The little boy snickers at Luneth's pained face and runs off to do something else.
"Remind me never to make you cross," he says, rubbing his head.
"Luneth!" another person yells.
"What now?" I mumble, much to the amusement of Luneth.
"Whatcha need Claude?" Luneth asks the man who is now trying to regain his breath.
"The Elders are lookin' for you," he informs us. "Topaba says he wants to see you."
"Okay, I'll be there soon," Luneth answers and steers our path to the west side of the village. On the way I overhear a pair of ladies talking about somewhere named Kazus, saying something about ghosts. I want to stop and ask what that could possibly mean, but that would mean leaving Luneth, and I'm not sure that's a good idea. I don't know where I am or anything and I don't know how these people would react to a total stranger hanging around.
When we reach a tall stone building, Luneth walks right in with me on his heels. The first floor is divided into two large, open areas, each with a fountain sitting in the middle. Luneth directs me to the stairs upward, and I follow him without question. The second floor contains three people, two old men and an older woman. All three look up at our arrival and the woman instantly crosses the room to hug Luneth. She must be his mother or relative or something.
"Luneth, I'm glad you came," the darker skinned old man says. "So… you have been chosen…" He sounds like the crystal… 'chosen' they both say. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
"Topaba, you know about this?" Luneth asks only to receive a hand held up for patience from Topaba.
"You must understand that your meeting with the crystal was not happenstance. It was the crystal's will. You have been chosen." There, the same line from two different mouths.
"Chosen? For what?" Luneth continues to question. "I don't understand. We don't understand." For the first time, the elder man seems to notice my presence. His lips twitch in an emotion I can't read but he turns his attention back to Luneth.
"A long time ago, a traveler came to me carrying a newborn child. His face was covered in soot and his clothes were burnt to tatters." Topaba looks lost in nostalgia. "The child he carried in his arms… was you." Luneth visibly jumps at this, his mouth flopping open.
"To think, even as a newborn, you were already destined to be chosen by the crystal… you must now set forth on your journey. Take your power, the light you hold in your heart, and use it well." Topaba clasps a hand on Luneth's shoulder and I feel like this is a personal moment I shouldn't intrude on.
My back still burns a little, though I've gotten used to the ache, kind of like how you can ignore a headache after a while. But I'm concerned as to why it's not going away. I scratch at it and pull my hand away with a hiss because it burns worse. Topaba notices my discomfort and his face wrinkles in concern.
"Are you all right, young lady?" he asks.
"My name is Willow, and no, I'm really feeling not all right." I shrug off my jacket thing and set my staff against the nearest wall. It feels like my whole back is on fire and it's crawling up to my shoulder.
"Here, let me see," the other old man says, offering a hand. "I used to be the doctor around here and I don't believe I've lost my edge." I look pointedly at Luneth and Topaba. The old man gets it but I have to twirl my finger at Luneth to get him to turn around.
I lift at the edge of my white shirt and draw it over my shoulders, momentarily thanking whatever brought me here for the wide piece of cloth acting as a bra. The old doctor sucks in a surprised gasp and Luneth's mother gasps much more audibly.
"What's wrong?" I ask. "Did I get dirt burn from sliding around on the cave floors?"
"Young lady, these markings," the old doctor breathes as he runs a dry finger down the epicenter of the fire in my back. "These markings I have seen only once. You've been struck by lightning."
"Oh… umm… okay." I fail to find the right words to express the jumble of emotions I feel. I was right, in a way. I did get struck by lightning, but I guess I just didn't get sent to the hospital.
"You were struck by lightning?!" Luneth yells, turning back to face me. I blush bright red and pull down my shirt, rudely cutting off the old doctor. "How are you even still alive?!"
"Luneth!" the doctor reprimands. "Don't go jinxing the good luck she's had surviving. Now be a gentleman and show her to Rikko's Inn. She's probably exhausted after running through those caves with you." Luneth's face falls but he nods obediently and offers his arm.
"Shall we be off then?" he asks, just the slightest mischief at the corner of his grin.
"Please," I reply, feeling incredibly drained now that the old man decided to point it out. I grab my jacket-thing and my staff before I gratefully take Luneth's arm. We head down the stairs and out of the building.
We don't have to walk far to make it to the inn. Rikko is a kind woman with grey streaks in her dark hair and laugh lines around her eyes and mouth. She offers me an open room and I stall before I accept it, even though all I want to do is pass out.
"I don't have any money to pay for the room," I tell her. Luneth jumps in before Rikko can respond.
"This should be enough for the night, yeah?" He hands her a small piece of silver and three bigger copper coins. "That's your fee for the mountaineers that travel through, right?" Rikko smiles and picks up the silver piece and hands Luneth back the coppers.
"If she's a friend of yours, then I trust her to be nice to my room. It's upstairs and at the end, on the left. Enjoy your stay!" Rikko smiles at me before she leaves to tend to something else.
"Well that was nice of her," Luneth remarks. I nod in agreement and stumble a bit on the stairs. "Careful! I don't think falling down the steps would make you feel any better." I shoot a glare at him, silently asking him to shut up.
Once we find my room, I collapse onto the bed, sinking into the feathery mattress and sighing into the pillow. My joints ache and my back still burns, but at least now I can sleep. I don't notice Luneth setting my staff against the wall, blowing out the flame inside the ball lantern. I don't notice as he neatly places my dropped bag by it and I certainly don't notice as he leaves. I was already asleep before he could have done any of that.