Evenos's Wish
A/N: I wrote this when I was in 9th grade and have held on to it for a while. It may come off as a little childish, but it has been sitting in my documents for a while, and I thought I'd post it here. Not even I know what time it takes place. But I'll leave that up to you. The first half is humor, the second half drama, so you'll have to have a mood change in the middle there. Sorry. And my OC is just a 9-year old girl with no romantic connections, so please don't flame her/me. Implied Dist/Jade, but you can easily ignore it. Welp, here goes nothing.
Chapter 1
The forest was denser than ever as the team pushed through and around the thick copse. "Ugh, this place never ends!" complained Luke, stopping to take a breath. Mieu panted heavily on his shoulder and whined in agreement. "I swear, if you take your eye off him for one second..."
"Luke, don't blame the Colonel for this," Tear admonished, pushing her silky hair back between her fingers. "Although this is a rather inconvenient detour."
Luke straigthened and looked to his left, then his right. "Yeah, not to mention we're in the middle of nowhere." He sulked back to the forest's dark ground. "Uggh, I'm so tired, and hungry..."
Natalia stepped forward, taking the lead. "Honestly, Luke. Pick yourself up and stop being such a detriment for us all. You're truly pathetic." Luke shot her a glare. "Now then, if I'm correct, I believe we need to head west for a while and we'll reach a spring."
Guy sighed and shook his head. "That can't be right, we've been going east this entire time! We would've passed it." Anise giggled and raced ahead of the princess.
"Yeah, Natalia. Maybe you should stay in the back. You don't seem to know where you're going." Weak thunder overhead threatened the storm that the clouds above held. Natalia opened her mouth to protest against the little girl, but instead fell back.
They continued a while until they reached what appeared to be a clearing. "Hey, I see light ahead!" Luke shouted, immediately running ahead. "A clearing! Maybe there're people nearby!"
"I think he forgot that we were here to look for Jade," Guy said to Natalia, who nodded. "Luke, wait up!"
The clearing was very remote, and perfectly circular. As Luke rushed into it, he soon stopped abruptly. "Huh?"
The rest of the gang walked in, and saw something none of them expected. A small girl, about nine years old, was sitting in the very center of the clearing. She had innocent, round red eyes that shone with fear and worry. She wore a tattered white dress and had whitish hair that looked darker in the stormy atmosphere. Her face was dirty, her hands cut and her legs bruised.
"Oh my!" Natalia exclaimed, rushing to the girl. "Are you alright?"
"Wait, it might be a trap!" Guy warned, but he was ignored as Tear ran forward, too.
Natalia removed her archer glove and placed a delicate hand on the girl's arm. "Dear, what happened?"
Tear gasped and touched the stranger's ankle tentatively. "Natalia, look at her foot." Her ankle was twisted and swollen, bleeding and bruised, a serious fracture apparent. "I can't imagine how this could've happened."
As she began to heal, an owl hooted to their right. Luke cleared his throat and said, "Hey, you guys. It might be getting late, and we need to find Jade."
Natalia shot him an arctic glare and huffed angrily. "Luke, even a blind man could see this child is in trouble! Jade will be fine for another five minutes, just let me help this girl!" She immediately turned back to the girl, and Guy and Luke exchanged hopeless glances.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?" Tear asked when most of the wound had been mended.
The girl looked up with her crestfallen eyes, glowing crimson. "Evenos?" she asked with a soft voice.
Tear paused, looking at Natalia. "Evenos? Ion's original..."
"I'm sorry, but we're not Evenos. He's de-" Tear silenced Natalia in midsentence. "Tear?"
The girl's eyes were already welling up though, and she looked away from the women. "Evenos..."
The bushes left of them rustled, and something growled. Guy clenched his sword hilt and glanced to the girls. "Let's get out of here."
A short while after, a giant liger jumped from the bushes, into the clearing. It roared so loudly the girl screamed and buried her face in Tear's arms. The parent liger looked from person to person before lunging for Natalia and Tear.
"Aiee!" Natalia shrieked, jumping aside. Guy and Luke ran in front of it, swords drawn. "Let's retreat, now!"
"B-but the girl!" Tear stuttered, still holding her tightly.
"Look at her eyes!" Anise shouted, running to the forest's edge. "She's evil!"
The liger struck Luke, who paid the cut no mind. "Grrr! Just take her for now! We've gotta go!" As everyone stood, the liger prepared for another attack.
They dashed to the forest's edge and made a narrow escape from the jaws of the liger. "Is everyone okay?" Luke asked when they were far enough away.
"Yes, I believe so," Natalia said, looking at the strange girl. "Even she seems to have calmed down." Indeed, the girl was sleeping soundly.
Tear shifted the girl's weight in her arms and smiled fondly. "She's so cute..."
"What was that, Tear?" Luke asked. The woman blushed and shook her head vigorously.
Looking at the girl, Natalia gasped. "My, what a beautiful necklace." Around the girl's neck was a silver chain with a small pearly-blue gem on the end. It held a mysterious yet soothing gleam inside, and looked to be valuable.
"I'll bet that's worth a fortune!" Anise exclaimed, reaching for it. Natalia slapped her hand scoldingly.
"Boo, fine. What's some homeless girl like this gonna do with it?" she groaned, crossing her arms.
"Maybe she'll give it to you if you're nice to her," Guy offered. Anise grinned evilly, but left the girl alone so she could sleep quietly.
A couple of miles later, Luke yawned. "What are we looking for again?"
"Anywhere, like a city or a town. If Jade left purposely, he probably headed for civilization," Tear explained calmly.
"And if he didn't leave purposely?" Luke inquired.
"Then...look for a creepy-looking abandoned house or a shed. If he didn't leave purposely, that means only one thing." Tear stopped there.
"You mean you...think he got kidnapped?" Tear nodded, and Luke shivered. "Then let's just look for a city."
Anise put a finger on her lips in thought, looking at the girl. "Red eyes, white hair, pale skin..." Guy looked at her questioningly. "You know what I'm thinking?"
"Uh, that she's an albino?" Anise fell in disappointment. Guy shrugged. "I don't know, what?"
"Well, who has red eyes?" she asked.
"Jade," Luke said, attempting to follow the conversation as they fell back from the girls.
"And who has white hair?" the little devil continued, raising an eyebrow with each question.
"...Frin-"
"Dist!" Anise corrected with a harsh whisper. "And they're both really pale, so...if they had a child-"
"Uh, that's impossible!" Luke pointed out loudly, only to be hushed by Anise. "Is this what you spend your time thinking about, Anise?!"
"Hey, doesn't it seem like it though? They're both so smart, they probably found out a way to have a child themselves." Anise grinned maniacally, a plotting look in her eyes.
"You mean book smart, don't you?" Luke asked hopefully.
"I mean whatever you mean," Anise said evasively.
Guy sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I sure hope you don't mean what I'm thinking."
-- -- -- --
"So, Jade. Tell me, how do you feel right now?" Dist's eerie voice said through the thick blackness.
"I..feel...like I'm tied up to a chair," Jade said flatly.
"That's because you are!! And how does that make you feel?!" Dist continued, obviously very pleased with his capture. Somewhere in the dark, someone rolled their eyes.
"It makes me feel inferior, like a cornered animal. I feel totally helpless, completely and utterly under the control of your overwhelming brilliance..." Dist clapped his hands in delight, grinning broadly. "Is what I would say, but that would be giving you too much of what you want." The maniac's face fell in defeat, and stifled laughter was heard.
"Don't laugh at me!!" Dist commanded in frustration.
After a one second silence, a woman sighed. "I told you we should've bought that special on candles yesterday."
"Hey, then we wouldn't have 20 items or less," an arrogant voice said. The woman sighed again, louder this time.
Suddenly, the door swung open, a wintry breeze prevailing the room, along with a small yellow-orange light. A blank expression was lit by the light, green eyes switching from person to person in the room. He raised an eyebrow cautiously. "What?"
"Nothing! Sync, get in here! You're letting the heat out!" Dist ordered, and the boy closed the door quietly.
"What heat?" Sync asked, watching each person in the small space squint at the light.
"The heat...of this intense moment!" Dist slammed a hand on the back of Jade's chair in emphasis.
"You're losing it," Sync said blandly, setting the light on the wooden table in the center of the room. "But I didn't see her anywhere."
"See who? Someone tell me what's going on," Jade protested. "And why am I being held captive like this? It would be more reasonable to just talk to me-"
"It's more fun this way!" Dist said, cutting him off. "Now then, Jade. We know you know where she is. So tell us! Spill the beans!"
"Where who is?! I don't know anything!" Jade yelled back.
Dist paused, eyes wide. "Say that again."
Jade thunked his head on the back of the chair, closing his eyes. "No."
"Yes!" Dist screeched, holding the lantern up to Jade's face in intimidation.
"I don't know anything!" Jade gave up, blocking the light with closed eyes.
"Hahahahahahahaha! Blackmail!"
"Dist! You're wasting time!" the arrogant voice from earlier said from the back of the room.
Sync nodded. "Asch's right. We don't have much time before she's found, and then we'll have to start all over."
Sulking for a second, Dist continued, "So Jade, where is she? You wouldn't be in this forest if you didn't know."
Jade opened his mouth to explain that he was lost, but stopped. Biting his lip, he looked at the floor. "Alright, I'll admit it. I know where she is." Everyone in the room stood. It was like a badly choreographed film. "But I'll only tell you if you untie me."
His bonds were gone in a flash, slipping to the wooden paneling. "That's better."
"Now tell us!" Dist, Asch, and Sync demanded at the same time, leaning forward.
"Hm, I don't know. That wine over there looks pretty good..."
"Don't push it," the woman said, one hand pulling the bottle closer, the other on her revolver. (If you haven't figured out who this is yet...shame on you)
"Oh all right. Let me think..." While the others twitched with anticipation, Jade only stood in deep thought. "Well, beats me," he finally said with a casual shrug.
Asch and Sync stared in bewilderment as Dist lunged for Jade. "You just said you knew, you liar!" Jade drew his spear and raised it horizontally to block Dist's punch, using the bar so as not to draw blood from his friend.
"Ah, Saphir. If you've learned anything about me over the years, it's that a) I'm a very good liar, and b) I'm far more clever than you when it comes to getting out of traps." This only increased Dist's rage and force, which Jade used to disengage the block, sending Dist sailing into the wall.
Twirling the spear proficiently, he leered at the others with a confident smile. "Anyone else want to fight?" The God-Generals drew their weapons, eyes focused on him. "Er..."
As Sync prepared to attack, the door again burst open. "Hello, anyone here?!" a voice said obnoxiously. All eyes turned to the door.
Before the figure was visible, Asch dropped his stance and stepped back. "Oh no..."
Luke stepped into the building rashly, but froze when he saw the inside. "Oh no..."