Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Mana and its many wonderful characters.
Quest 01: Legend of Mana
"Argh,"
She stirred a little in her sleep and tried futilely to brush away the sunlight dappling on her eyelids, like some butterfly that had found a nectary. After several sleepy attempts of this she resigned herself to the ruined afternoon nap and blinked lazily, still refusing to move just for self spite. She sighed quietly after the sunlight almost put out her eyes again and levered herself up from her corner of the enormous tree roots.
Overhead, the expansive viridian heart of the Mana Tree loomed, casting deep shadows and shades. She leaned her head silently to the barks grown over with moss, and listened.
There.
The darkness was moving.
Higher and higher, deeper and deeper into the heart of everything she hold dear.
She grasped her spear tighter and stepped onto the path.
There was no going back.
Tinuviel gasped and bolted upright, scattering the nearby basket's contents every which way.
"Master!" The twins' voices, one petulant and one exasperated, rang out, "If you won't help out with the harvest, at least don't get in the way!"
She looked down incoherently at the spilled basket, and around. There were the twins. How did she know they were twins? Yes, now that she looked at them, they were as alike as two peas in a lilipod. That still didn't explain her foreknowledge.
"Who are you?"
She raised her eyes from where they had returned to the upturned basket. The twins were staring at her.
"I don't know," She made to think, putting her hand absently on her chin. "My name is Tinuviel. Do you know who I am?"
The twins vigorously shook their heads. They started to slowly back away from her then, but their escape was hampered when they tripped on an out-flung foot behind them.
A man's cry startled her when the two elves tumbled down onto the foot's body. There was some minor chaos that followed, but it got sorted out quickly. The man, who was the owner of the foot and body, stood up, dangling the two children by the scruff of their clothes.
"What's the big idea…?" He caught her staring. He stared back at her. A few moments passed. He was still staring. The young elves squirmed and tried to catch his attention.
She cocked her head to one side, his staring was starting to disturb her, but more urgently…
"Hello, my name is Tinuviel. Do you know who I am?"
The man blinked and let go abruptly. The two twins quickly rolled onto their feet and darted behind him, peeking out a little to look at her strangely.
The boy said in a loud whisper, "You know who she is? She just, just appeared! Who is she? Master?"
The man took off his oversized red cap and scratched at his head. Somehow, the gesture seemed familiar to her. Then he shook his head.
"I don't know you…but I feel like I do. Isn't that strange?"
"Is it?"
He look taken aback, "Er…well, don't you think so?"
"I don't know," she looked at him calmly, "I don't know anything really. I was hoping you would. I just know my name and that was on the tip of my tongue. Everything else is…white."
He pulled on his cap again, carelessly, so that it flopped badly to one side. "That must be inconvenient."
"Yes, yes it is."
Suddenly he smiled, "Why don't you come to the house first? We'll have tea."
On the way up the incline to the house, he suddenly turned back toward her and stuck out his hand, "By the way, I forgot to mention. I'm Vitas, you can call me Vit. Nice to meet you,"
She looked at his hand curiously, uncomprehending, and then stuck out her hand too, "Nice to meet you too,"
He reached over and grasped her hand, shaking it vigorously. Again he grinned, "Pleasure's all mine,"
"You know, you also reminded me of someone I know,"
"Who?"
"A girl I met once in a cave. She was a bit absent-minded too."
"I'm not absent-minded! I just can't remember…"
They were sitting in front of the cozy fireplace, drinking tea out of hastily cleaned, mismatched cups. The homestead was actually a mess. There were things piled up, stuff knocked-down, and layers of grime on every surface.
He saw her glanced around and looked apologetic, "Sorry, if I had known there would be guests, I would have asked the twins to clean up,"
She raised her brows at him over her tea cup.
He grinned again. She liked his grin. It lit up his green eyes.
"Well, I just moved into this place, so not everything is up and running yet. We were just weeding Trent when…" He almost smashed his tea cups into his face, just in time she saved it from further damage, "Trent! Why didn't I think of him before! Let's go!"
She just had enough time to put the two cups on the table before he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the door. They dashed the short way to the orchard, tumbling down the slope to the grassy floor.
"Trent!"
He skidded to a stop, amidst the baskets of produce and weeds, shouting up loudly at the tree. The leaves stirred and parted way to a gentle face, that was tree, and yet not.
"Hrmmmm? Is that you, Vitas?"
"Yeah it's me! Trent, do you know who she is?"
He gestured toward her, and she stepped a bit closer to the face, who was peering down at her mildly.
"Hrmmmm, she was sleeping among my roots today was she not?"
"Yes, yes, she was, but before that? Did you know her before?"
"Hrmmmmmmmmm, no, can't say I have."
Tinuviel looked down. Before then, she was quite calm about her loss of memory. For some reason, she was sure that there would be a person who knew of her history nearby, but the tree's frank denial had shaken her more than anything else since the time of her awakening. If no one knows of her, then who is she? What was she doing here? The questions became more urgent as she goes on not knowing, and a strong tension filled her, what was going on? There was something nagging at the back of her mind, begging to be remembered...
Love me.
A pair of hands grasped her shoulders, shaking it lightly. "Tinu? Tinu!"
"Huh?"
She was somehow on the ground again. Vit's face was inches from her own and she had to push it away before sitting up.
"What happened?"
"You are on a crossway of Time."
She whipped around. A figure clad in brilliant colors stood before her, beneath his feet there was nothing.
She jumped and stifled a scream. Below her, only tiny pinpricks of lights pierced the dense darkness.
Tinu lowered her hand shakily, "What's happening Pokiehl?"
"Time,"
"Time? What do you mean? Where is the Mana Tree? I was just there!"
"Time. Time flows. It breaks. It mends. It convenes and divides. It slows down and speeds up. It is relative. It never ends. Like the Mana Tree."
She shook her head, "I don't understand. You said I'm on a 'crossway'? What's HAPPENING?"
"From here there are many possibilities and improbabilities. Which of these will you choose, Child of Mana?"
"What? Choose? Why? How?"
"Choose,"
A world opened up to her, a stark land, with no life, and endless in its monotony.
A pulsing glow from her hand caused her to look down. Nestled in her palm was a miniature mailbox.
"Choose!"
She screamed.
"Tinu! Sshh…Tinu, Tinu, it's alright, everything's fine, I'm here,"
Somebody's arms around her...
"You're safe, so just calm down, ok? Breathe,"
She breathed and slowly let go of the blanket she had been grasping, hard enough to rend it apart. Raising her head, she spied the red of the cap from the weak light filtering in from the window, "…Vit?"
He sighed and looked relieved, "Yeah,"
A shudder shook her and she cried out weakly. Putting up her hand, she found her face wet, with sweat, or tears?
"Are you alright?" his arms were still around her shoulders, supporting her up.
She sniffed and straightened, "Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you."
He smiled gently, "You sure scared the mana out of me when you fainted like that!"
She reciprocated the smile, albeit shakily, "Sorry, I didn't mean to,"
Vit's expression turned somber, and he shook his head, "Don't apologize. Whatever happened back there, something was obviously wrong. I just want to help you out,"
She looked at him, lost for words, and then leaned on his shoulder. It just felt like the thing to do, "...Thanks, Vit,"
"I didn't know you guys were this close!"
They both jumped, Vit's face was as red as his cap. Tinu just looked curiously at the brazen elf girl, who was plainly trying not to laugh.
"A-nyways, I brought you guys breakfast! You must be hungry. I'm Lisa. I'm Master Vit's apprentice, nice to meet you,"
"Lisa, shut up. She's still not awake, see? Hi, I'm Master's number one apprentice!"
"YOU shut up Bud! Where were you when I needed you in the kitchen?"
"I'm not doing a girl's work! Women are supposed to stay in the kitchen!"
"Is that what you think? Let me tell you right now-"
"Guys! Take it outside, why don't you?"
Vit shepherded the two squabbling children all the way to the stairways before turning back to her with a half-amused look. "Sorry, Tinu, you don't mind me calling you Tinu right? They really mean well,"
"Oh, I don't mind," She giggled, "You must really have a handful with those two,"
"You've no idea…You laughed! Guess those two should have stuck around then!"
She grinned at him, "Well, it's nice of them to leave the breakfast at least,"
"Yeah," He grinned back, sat down across the bed from her, broke into a fresh loaf of bread, and handed her half, "So…what will you do now?"
Tinu shook her head, accepting it, "I really don't know…"
Vit bit off his chunk and chewed thoughtfully, swallowing, he said, "You could…you know, stay around,"
She looked at him, startled.
He blushed lightly, "Uh, you know, I need some help around the house. There's a lot of stuff that still needs to be unpacked, the twins really are not much help, they'll just run around blowing things up and making a mess, and there's a lot of stuff, and, and-"
Tinu put down the bread and put her hand on his, stopping him shredding the bread into even smaller pieces, "I'd love to stay,"
He let out a sigh in relief, "I was hoping you'd say that,"
Quest 02: Home
Time passed quickly then.
There were always something to do around the house, like weeding Trent, taking care of the odd monster Vit seemed always to bring back from one of his roundabout trips to market, and cleaning, cleaning, the constant dusting and mopping after the twin's many hapless experiments. She was content most of the time really, but for…
It came, every time she closed her eyes. The sweeping blackness, the feeling of her falling and falling forever into it. She came to know the sensation, as scary as the thought is. It happened often.
Too often.
Sometimes, it would seem as if she dozed off in the middle of doing work, naturally caused by the perfect weather. Gradually, she began to realize its wrongness. There was no logic to explain it. One minute she was awake and lucid, and then she would blank out, as if someone had blown off her mind's candle. Matters finally came to a head one day when she almost fell into the open flames of the hearth.
At the last minute Vit had caught her. She shuddered at what might have happened if he hadn't decided to come in for the shade at that moment. She would have been well done at least.
Now she was confined to the orchard and to keeping Trent's company as he chatted about the weather and the many blessings of the Mana Tree, where the most harm she could do was to dent the ground a little when she fainted or overturned the produce baskets.
Trent was lovely, but she felt suffocated.
Too, it was because of that niggling feeling in her mind. She felt it sometimes, whenever she woke from one of her faints, a purpose she had forgotten in the crossing from dream to waking. She didn't know what to make of it. As days and weeks passed, she gradually became more reclusive, trying to recall…whatever it was, and on the days when she wasn't by herself, she was short with everyone, even Trent.
Vit was her constant source of support. Even when she was snappish, he never lost his good humor. She envied him his undisturbed sleep, but only a little. It wasn't his fault he didn't lose his memories.
"BUD!!"
"Uh oh,"
Tinuviel snagged him by the collar of his robes before he had the chance to dart around the table, "How many times have I told you not to bring monsters into the house!? Goddess…"
The guilty party, a tadpole, was currently wreaking havoc on their dinner table, overturning dishes and dumping the empty ones over the edge after it had finished licking the plates.
"But he promised to behave-!"
"And you're telling me you understand them completely?" She heaved a gusty sigh, "Just get it off the table and to the corral, please?"
He scrambled off to do as he was bid, leaving her and two incredulous pairs of eyes behind.
"Why ever would he want to bring a monster into the house?"
"Well, I bet it's 'cus he was lonely!"
The adults both raised their brows at Lisa.
"Hey, I'm not the guilty one!" Lisa pouted, scurrying away outside before she could be asked to help clean up.
Tinu sighed again and went into the kitchen to get the much-worn broom and dustpan. Coming back, she bent down to help Vit collect most of the big pieces of pottery before setting to with the broom.
After a period of silent sweeping, Tinu ventured, "You know, it is pretty boring around the house. I really can't blame Bud for doing things like this."
Vit nodded, "I know, I used to do stuff like this all the time too, before I could get out of the house,"
She nodded, not wanting to pry into his life before she met him unless he's willing to tell her first. It was only fair, he didn't ask anything of her, not that she remembers anything, but that's beside the point.
Instead, she said, "Maybe you could take him out? I bet there're lots of places where it's safe enough for a small trip, well, besides Domina,"
Suddenly Vit slapped his head, "Goddess, I swear, I'm the slowest guy in the whole multi-verse! Gato!"
"Gato?"
"The Gato Grottoes! It's a small village, built around the famous Temple of Healing. I've never been there myself, but I've heard it's a nice place. Maybe they can help you out! And, well, the kids can root around near the waterfalls, I guess, it's also pretty famous."
Tinu trembled, such a small thing to light up her hope!
"You, you really think they can…?"
Vit reached for her hand, she let him grasped it, and looked into his earnest eyes, "Tinu, I've seen what you're going through, and believe me, it really hurts me to know I can't do anything to help you. Especially after you almost…well, now that there's a clue, I'm going to follow through with it, no matter what!"
She felt her eyes filled, 'Oh no, I can't cry, not now!'
"Why are you doing this? We, we don't even know each other! I mean, I'm grateful for everything you've ever done, and, and, saving my life, and if there's anything, anything I can do to repay it, I will! But, but this is not-"
"Don't say that! You don't owe me anything! Alright? I'm just doing this because-" he swallowed, "Because I want to! Really! Tinu…"
She was crying, really, truly, nerve-wracking sobs that she had unconsciously never allowed herself to succumb to.
All through the long downpour Vit kept by her side. Thankfully, the twins seemed too busy outside to notice what went on in the house. Finally, she felt the torrent lessened.
Tinu leaned, exhausted, against his shoulder. She was weary, because her sleep was not sleep, and she never seemed to have any rest from them.
"It's not just the dreams is it?"
She shook her head slightly, "No. Vit, every time I closed my eyes, it's as if there's another me, with memory and everything, and she, I, was tasked with something…I've been trying to remember what, it just felt so important! But I couldn't recall it…not even once,"
"That's what you've been trying to do all this time? ALL the time you fainted?"
"Yes, I felt it was important to, to remember…I feel like I'm failing every time I can't…" She swayed, and Vit caught her, lifted her up, and headed for the stairs.
"Sorry…" she mumbled under her breath, her eyes already half-closed.
It was warm in his arms. She unconsciously nestled closer, her mind drifting. As she lost the final touch with reality, she felt a soft brush against her forehead.
"Good night,"
"…'night…"
After her breathing slowed and became regular, for a long time, Vitas stood over her sleeping form, his hand against his mouth.
Lil' Cactus watched his two masters, scratching his thorns. What was the matter with master Vit?
Vit turned and saw the small cactus staring. He put a finger to his lips and whispered, "It's a secret between us, ok?"
Lil' Cactus nodded confidently. He'll keep the secret that master Vit knocked over his neighbor plant pot on the way to the stairs. And stubbed his toe against the post. And slid down the first two steps. Was master ever this clumsy? It'll be embarrassing if master Tinu knows. So he'll definitely keep it a secret!
Yup.
There was nothing else to be done, for the moment.
She sighed, leaning back. Crying had helped, but all it really did was just to stave off the inevitable. Soon, she will lose her mind.
But if they, we, she, can find some way to retain this memory…then everything would be so much easier, maybe it'll all work out even, somehow.
If, if, if.
She wondered again how this predicament fell to her. Even when she is here, she couldn't remember what had happened to put her here.
Such irony.
Find me.
She sighed. There's no use sitting around with self-pity around her neck. There's work that needed doing.
Quest 03: Luon Highway
"Alright, here we are…w-whoa!"
Crash, bam!
Tinuviel coughed as she brushed away the smoke issuing forth from inside the smithy and called inside worriedly, "Vit? Are you alright?"
A red cap gradually rose from where it had been among a pile of odds and ends, "Yeah, I'm ok, good thing nothing stabbed me," he hacked and sneezed violently, "Goddess, it's been awhile since I've been in this place,"
She snorted, "Obviously," looking around, she picked up a helm that had rolled her way and stepped inside the dark room, "You sure have quite the collection here,"
Vitas scratched his head, a habit she'd noticed, and started rooting around the pile at his feet, "Yeah, it took years to accumulate…hmm…let's see what we have that you can use. Tinu can you stoked the fire a bit?"
She nodded, put down the helm on a nearby table, and went to strike up the furnace fire, adding logs to it until she had a good blaze going. When done, she took her time exploring around the place whilst Vit muttered under his breath behind her, sorting through potentials and discarding others into piles.
After a moment's silent browsing, she ventured, "Vit, are you sure it's a good idea for me to be armed? I mean, I don't even know if I will be able to use it!"
"Don't be silly Tinu, of course you should at least have something to keep monsters off! I'm a good enough hand with a sword but I can't be everywhere at once, unfortunately. Oh, speaking of…it should be around here somewhere…"
Tinu sighed, and went back to investigating. The workshop was still mostly dark even with the fire, but she had no trouble seeing. In a corner was the anvil and hammer, both well-used. Someone must have spent a lot of time here in the past. Along the walls were racks and shelves, stacked haphazardly with all kinds of equipments, a jumbled riot of colors. Among them were tall mage hats, helms in various states of rusting, assorted gloves with no pairs, hobnailed boots, dented hauberks, and even a squat jar full of rings and pendants.
She was looking through it when Vit shouted out in triumph, "Aha, I found it! Tinu! Come look!"
Abandoning the jar, she went to his side. He held up a dusty spear for her to see. It was as tall as her self, the point a short length of wicked metal, tempered to a curve where it met the sturdy shaft. Vit twirled it around carefully in his hand, testing the balance and checking its durability.
"I found this some years ago in the White Forest. It was just stuck there in the middle of a small clearing. I was little suspicious but…it just seemed a bad waste of LorimarIron, so I took it back it with me. The twins tested it for spells and such but nothing came up. It's good workmanship though, even without. I wonder who left it behind…but anyhow, I think a spear's good for you, it's not too heavy and you can keep the monsters away with it just sticking out in front of you." he handed it to her, "Here, try holding it,"
Tinu reached out, grasping it with both hands. The moment she touched its surface, she felt a violent jolt through her spine and she gasped involuntarily, "What-?"
"What's wrong?"
She looked up, carefully straightening, "I thought…no, I definitely felt it."
Vit looked confused, "Felt?"
"Yeah…" she experimentally twirled the spear in her hands, the way Vit had done. Then she switched to only one hand, increasing the speed, faster and faster, changing it from one hand to the other in a blur. Something in her body told her this was right, this feel of wood and weight. Soon, she was doing whole routines of exercises, weaving complex figures with her spear as if it were part of her.
Suddenly, she collapsed, heaving in huge gulps of air and coughing from the dust she had stirred.
After a moment of coughing and breathing, she felt Vit near her, his hand on her back.
"Guess I won't have to worry about you getting killed!"
She rubbed her face and shook her violently, as if to wake her self, "Vit, I don't-"
He cut off her reply, "No, it's obvious you're an expert with the thing Tinu, even if you didn't know it. I didn't even know spears can be wielded the way you just did! Tell me, can you recall anything else?"
She looked at him, into his green eyes. Such earnest eyes!
'He must be taken advantage of a lot,' she thought and shook her head slightly in surrender to his goodwill.
"I can't remember, Vit. That's the thing. My body just…reacts,"
"Oh," his expression fell, but he brightened up instantly, so that Tinu wondered whether she had imagined it, "Well, at least now we won't have to worry about the monsters biting something off you!"
She smiled. Vit's cheerfulness was so contagious, it was deadly to any depression she ever had.
"Unless I fall asleep!"
He made a face at her, "Don't even joke about that! But," he looked thoughtful, "you haven't fainted so much for the past days, maybe it's getting better?"
Tinu shook her head sadly, "I wouldn't hope for it,"
He patted her shoulder understandingly, "It's alright. We ought to find out more about it in Gato. Come on, let's go see what the twins are up to,"
Vitas helped her up and cleared a space through the clutter toward the door to the outside. She followed carefully, avoiding hidden sharp edges.
'I sure hope we find something,' she thought as she felt the dreaded rush of vertigo reaching for her, 'if not I-'
She didn't even felt the impact when she hit the ground.
Ah. So here and there are alternately related.
The things she has here, she will not have there.
That certainly clarified things.
But the time…the shape of its flows bends strangely between the two places.
Is it because of the Mana Tree? Or something else?
"Alright, off we go!"
"Master did you lock the door?"
"Did you lock the door? Close the windows? Make your bed? Wipe your face?"
"Ooooh! Bud! You're so going to get it today!"
The elf stuck out his tongue at his sister before dashing away down the front walk, "A hundred lucre if you can catch me! Bet you can't though!"
"BUD! Lisa!" She called despairingly as the two youngsters sprinted away, chasing each other.
"Aw, just leave them. They'll get hungry sooner or later," Vitas smiled, patting the pack he had slung over the pet chocobo, "they'll stop for lunch,"
Tinu just sighed in response.
The day was sunny and perfect, the ideal weather for traveling, but the Highway was almost deserted in contrast. They trudged along in companionable silence, Vit occasionally called out the sights as they passed by.
She was finally relaxing into the lull of the journey when a scream came careening down the road.
They looked at each other and set off in a headlong run.
"LISA!"
"Ahhhh!!!"
"Let her go!"
"Oh no," she breathed as they rounded the bend, instinctively clutching her spear tighter.
Lisa was struggling in the hold of a giant Mantis Ant, whose claws were as long as its height, and those dangerously near to crushing the small girl in two.
In front of them were two chobin hoods, pummeling the desperate Bud into the ground. The reason apparently was because the two kids didn't give them the 'toll fee' for the highway but a candy instead.
"Now wha' chu' gonna do eh? EH!?"
The chobin hood's last word was uttered in complete surprise as Vit barreled into it, whipping out his sword at the same time to strike the other chobin hood square in the chest, sending both flying in different directions.
The Mantis hissed angrily and let go of Lisa, who was thankfully still lucid and able to roll out of the way of oncoming battle.
Vitas stood over the unconscious Bud, in a defensive stance, eyeing the Mantis warily, "Tinu, take Bud!"
She swooped in, moving in a speed she didn't know she could muster, snatching the elf away from the eventual clash. Lisa had by then came around to her side, trembling badly and with hands twisting on her broom till the knuckles showed white, it was a miracle the frail household equipment didn't break.
Tinu put her arms around the two children, angling her spear in front of them in a protective precaution against the Mantis and the two elves unless they try something stupid. She watched the ongoing scuffle with nervous attention.
The Mantis was absolutely furious, and it showed that by sweeping its claws about wildly, creating sharp blades of air. Vit kept his calm as he dodged and ducked about. Suddenly he lunged closer under its wide swing and sword thrust in between the armored shell on its chest.
Tinu watched unblinking as the Mantis screamed its dying trill, bursting into fragments of shells and wings, astonished at the speed at which Vitas had moved.
"Wow…Master, you're the coolest!"
Bud, apparently, had forgotten all about his pummeling from a little while ago, rushed up to inspect the remains of the foe.
Vit carefully sheathed his blade before landing a heavy knuckle onto Bud's head.
"OW!!!"
"There! Now, I hope you've learned your lesson! Don't go rushing about outside where we can't see you!"
Tinu seconded Vit's lesson by dealing one each on the heads of both Bud and Lisa, before holding her hand out to them, "Now, let me see those wounds,"
Chastised, they meekly submitted to inspection.
"You know what? That was still pretty cool!" Bud piped up when he was turned loose.
Vitas sighed and rubbed his face, "Yeah well, it was scary for me. Anything could've happened to you guys,"
"Tell me about it," Tinu said as she finished smearing the poultice onto Lisa's bruises, "Alright then, it's early but let's go find somewhere to make camp for the night. You three need some rest."
"Good idea, here Lisa, Bud, get onto the chocobo,"
"I get to ride in front!"
"Hey, no fair!"
Tinu secretly exchanged a worried look with Vit, as they watched the two young elves wriggled around on the chocobo's back, to the creature's great discomfort. It'll take awhile for the lesson to stick, that's for sure.
Quest 04: Gato Grottoes
They set off again at first light, the twins bouncing along with energy as the group followed the Highway. Occasionally, they would trade good-natured bickering; eventually Bud would take it too far and they'd end up chasing each other up and down the road, shrieking childish insults. Fortunately they seemed to have taken something from yesterday's lesson and stayed in sight of the two adults, who kept going at a steady pace beside the chocobo.
At midday they reached a crossroad. Tinu was about to suggest lunch when she spied a cat-person pacing down one of the branched-off roads, an air of distress in all of her lines.
Vit followed Tinu's eyes, and with an expression of curiosity he went toward her. "Hello."
The cat-person started and whipped out the flails that hung at her sides, aimed precisely for his head. Just barely, Vit ducked and jumped back, both hands raised in a pacifying gesture. "Whoa, hold it! I come in peace!"
The cat-girl lowered the flails after a moment of contemplating his appearance, saying ruefully, "I'm sorry about that, I really…should have noticed your presence."
"Ah, well, you did seemed to be deep in thought, no worries."
"I do apologize again." She put her flails away. "I'm Daena."
"I'm Vitas, Vit. The others are Tinu, Bud and Lisa."
Daena looked toward the trio, who stood unabashedly staring a little way off. "Pleased to meet you." She nodded to them before again looking off down the road she was pacing on, obviously distracted.
Vit followed her gaze, and after a moment turned to her. "Do you perhaps…have business with Gaeus?"
Again he startled her. "You know the Wisdom? So he really does live here…"
"Yeah, he does. I go see him sometimes, to ask about the orchard crops."
She didn't seem to hear that bit of information about the unusually good harvest Vit always garnered from Trent. "I'm afraid to see him."
"Don't be afraid! He's just a bit large that's all, actually he's quite the softie…if rocks can be called soft, that is."
"Oh no, it's not that. I-I just want to ask him something, but I'm afraid of the answer..."
Daena looked at him again, almost as if for the first time. "Would you come with me…to see him?" she asked, half-hoping.
"I wanna see him too! I'll ask him how I can be a great wizard!" Bud interrupted, not able to hold his excitement back any more.
"Alright then, let's all go!" Vit said cheerfully. "But after we have some lunch! Why don't you join us, Daena?"
She accepted after a little cajoling, and Tinu laid out their victuals on the mat the twins had spread under a roadside tree, giving Daena generous portions of homemade bread and dried meat smoked with cherrybombs. Some pear o'heels and applesocks followed, accompanied by the noise of Bud and Vit crunching into them noisily. Later on, they passed around a skin of water, flavored with heart mint leaves.
During the meal, Daena gradually lost some of her tension, even laughed sometimes at the antics of the twins. When they had all finished and packed up again, the party set off down the road Daena had been on.
"So where are you from, Daena?" Vit asked, after he had digested a little in the process of motion.
"The Gato Grottoes. I'm a monk in the service of the Temple of Healing. It's my job to protect the Temple grounds."
"Really!? Actually, we were heading to Gato ourselves, to visit the Temple."
Daena pricked her ears, jingling the bells that hung from them, suddenly alert. "If you don't mind my asking, what is your business there?"
"Well…" Vit looked reluctant, not knowing whether to tell her the truth or to lie, which wasn't in his nature.
Tinu interjected mildly, saving him the trouble of making up his mind, "I've been having some problems sleeping you see, we were hoping the Temple might have some kind of cure for it."
"Uh, yeah, that's right," he seconded, relieved.
Daena still looked doubtful, but she didn't pressed the subject. "I suppose this will mean our roads won't be diverging for awhile. I will be heading back to Gato once I've finished business with Gaeus. May I also accompany you?"
"You're coming with us? That's great!" Lisa suddenly appeared beneath Daena's elbow. "It's sooooo much better when there's a lot more people."
Tinu cocked an eyebrow at her. "You're just glad to have someone else to bother, aren't you?"
Lisa giggled behind her hand and dashed off before them again, catching up to Bud.
Before long, Vit signaled a halt. They were standing before an unremarkable cliff side.
Tinu looked at him questioningly. "Why are we stopping?"
Vit just grinned. "Wait."
Welcome my children.
Tinu jumped almost out her skin when the cliff rumbled, melting into something that resembled a…face, a rock face.
She groaned aloud. 'A bad pun. Mana Goddess forgive me my moment of weakness.'
Vit was laughing behind his fingers, apparently amused at their expressions. Tinu looked at him disapprovingly and shook her head, elbowing Bud to close his slack jaw.
Come closer.
Vit motioned for Bud and Daena, who had the questions, to step into a ring of encircling rocks, pushing up straight from the ground nearby. They did so, a bit nervously. Apparently the rocks were Gaeus' hand, and when they entered the ground rumbled as he raised them up nearer to his strangely mobile face.
So what can I do for you?
When the two were asking their questions, Tinu looked around, curious as to how the earth could actually move. However, there was nothing of particular significance around, and she felt a little disappointed.
'I wonder if I'd known him before I lost my memory...' she wondered, but it was just a passing thought. Surely the Wisdom would have said something if he recognized her.
Soon Gaeus lowered his hand and the two stepped off; Daena remarkably calmer than before and Bud just quivering with excitement.
"So shall we go?" Vit questioned Daena.
"Alright," she said and smiled, at ease. "Let's go. I'm looking forward to showing you guys around."
Sometimes, she wonders if it's all just a dream.
Someone said to her once that dreams are just reality through a filter.
But which is reality?
Where does the dream end, and reality begin?
Which is she, the reality or the dream?
Is she the one dreaming, or is this someone else's dream?
Is this…the Mana Goddess' dream?
Tinu gasped and bolted upright, for a moment disoriented by half-remembered memories. In them there were too many familiar scenes, and as many unfamiliar, superimposed on each other so she could not tell which were her forgotten memories, and which were not.
How long would it last, this uncertainty?
Gradually, gradually, the dreams were lessening in intensity and frequency, but she still couldn't remember anything from them. Instead of relief from the subsiding dreams, all she was granted was increasing anxiety.
She rose off the pallet, filled with the need to go somewhere, clutched the blanket around her frame and carefully stepped around Lisa's softly breathing form, heading for the door of the inn. The silent click of the door was the only hint of her passing.
They had parted with Daena at the village's entrance, and the monk had suggested the party rest up for the night before attempting the precarious paths up to the Temple in the fast fading twilight. Having pointed them toward the inn, with a promise to be a guide for them on the morrow, she had loped up the paths on all fours with the surety of one who traveled on it often.
Tinu didn't much care for her own safety at the moment, so she followed the path up Daena had taken, by impulse turning toward the right at the junction. She found herself on a terrace, opened to the wild elements and chose a sitting spot where the ledge fell away to the vista below.
The night was cool with mist from the distant waterfall, miles below her perch. The wind that always circled the heights of Gato had calmed to a gentle whistle, tugging playfully at her hair and chasing the wisps of clouds across the night sky. She dangled her dusty feet out into thin air and watched the wavering moon dance on the water's ripples, humming absently.
It was good to not think sometimes, but only feel the whispering air around her.
"Hymn to the Moon Gods." Vit sank down next to her. "Right?"
She looked at him and shrugged, not in the least bit affected by his appearance. "If you say so. I heard Diddle played it once."
He took out a small flute from his belt pouch. "Bet you didn't know I was musically inclined."
Tinu smiled at him. "Will there ever be a day when you won't surprise me?"
"I doubt it." He blew a few experimental notes. "I'm a pretty amazing guy."
"With a very big head, hidden beneath an equally big cap."
He raised his brows. "I'll thank you to leave my headwear out of this."
A few more tries on the flute, a series of random notes, before he launched into the first opening bars of the sorrowful Hymn, mourning the loss of the beautiful Moon Gods who created the many creatures of Fa'Diel.
She sat unmoving, her eyes on the dancing moon far below.
The song lasted an eternity and a moment, but Vit at last breathed the final trill, the sound carried away by the wind.
"That was lovely."
"Thanks."
A long sigh was heard behind them; it made Vit jump up before her, arms outspread.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."
Vit lowered his hands, a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry too ma'am, for thinking…well, I'm an idiot sometimes."
"He means all the time," Tinu corrected, as she stood and walked around to face the old lady. "Would you like to sit, ma'am?"
"I would love to."
Tinu went and helped the lady maneuver herself onto a stone seat, close enough near the edge to see over it but far enough to be safe.
"Goodness, where are my manners? I'm Matilda."
"I'm Tinuviel, but just Tinu is fine. The idiot is Vitas," Tinu told Matilda, as she sat down next to her.
Matilda smiled at him, face wrinkled into a map of wisdom. "Oh, I'm sure Vitas is all but that, Tinu."
"Of course I'm not! Some people just don't appreciate what I do." He sat down next to Matilda, on the other side from Tinu. "You can call me Vit."
"You play wonderfully on the flute Vit, perhaps you might like to try playing the organ in the Temple sometimes?"
"Ah, wouldn't that be something? I tried playing an organ once or twice in the Mana Church in Domina, but I heard the Temple's organ is huge! Imagine what it'll sound like!"
"But the Temple, Vit? I'm sure they've rules about random people just barging in to play the organ."
"Well it won't be a problem if the abbess approves, won't it?"
"The abbess?"
"Yeah, the lady in charge of this place."
Tinu looked at him incredulously. "And you think you can just breeze in and ask her too, do you? I might not remember anything, but at least I remember manners!"
Matilda giggled, albeit a little wheezily. "I'm sure she'll approve of it Tinu."
She still looked disbelieving, but she shrugged it off to indulge Matilda. "Say, why are you out so late at night, Matilda? I don't think it's safe to walk around these paths when it's dark, since you're uh…" she trailed off, embarrassed at what she was implying.
"Oh, I know my way around very well, Tinu. I've lived in the Grottoes my whole life, but thank you for worrying. Now then, it seems you've come to Gato for a reason?"
"Huh? Ah, yes," she stammered, surprised.
"Would you mind telling me about it?"
Tinu looked uncertain, and glanced over the aged, bent head of Matilda toward Vitas, who gave her an imperceptible nod.
'This sure is a strange night,' she thought, and she began to tell the old woman of her troubles, how she woke up one day in Vit's orchard, not able to remember anything of her past, how she continuously fell into dead faints at random times, and how shethought she dreamt her memories in those times, but woke up without remembering them, left in waking with only a feeling of unease. The story tumbled out of her, and by the end of its telling, she was feeling a good deal calmer about the whole predicament, even if only by telling it will not just go away.
Matilda sat through her explanation in an attentive silence, only nodding sometimes in understanding. When Tinu had finished, she still sat quietly, contemplating the younger girl. Tinu had no idea what was going on behind the kind face, but was sure somehow that Matilda would be the one to help her through this.
After a moment, Matilda seemed to have come to a decision. She stood, a bit creakily due to her joints, and patted Tinu on the cheek. "Come to the Temple tomorrow, Tinu, we'll talk more then. Right now, I think it would be best if you go back and get some more sleep."
Tinu nodded, suddenly tired, and stood up. "Good night Matilda."
"Good night Tinu. Now, off you go, the both of you, you're falling off your feet."
She watched as the two made their way down the sloping path, ruminating.
"What do you think, Daena?"
The said girl materialized out from the nearby shadows, green cat eyes having no trouble seeing in the semi-dark.
"She didn't seem to be lying, if that's what you mean."
The aged abbess shook her head. "No, no, I meant what you think of those two, together."
That took Daena off-guard. "Huh?"
Matilda eyes crinkled. "They would make a nice couple, don't you think?"
Her tone of voice didn't fool her friend of many years. "Matilda…you-" Daena started, ears drooping.
"No, Daena." Matilda looked at her friend sadly. "I'm content with what I have. I just hope I will be able to do something for them."
Daena became quiet then nodded. "They're nice people," she said at length, as she was leading Matilda down the path toward the Temple, keen eyes picking out potential hazards.
"Yes," Matilda agreed. "They are, aren't they?"
Quest 05: Dreamweaving Room
"Go on in. She's expecting you."
Vit gulped visibly and turned back to Daena, who stood a pace behind him. "Uh…you sure this is alright?"
Daena smiled, showing incisors. "Sure it is. Actually, you've met her already."
Tinu gasped, "Don't tell me it's-"
"Just go! It'll be fine."
Tinu and Vit both stumbled forward, pushed by Daena and the nun who was in front of the door, into the Dreamweaving Room. Before they could lose their courage and turn back, the door was already swinging slowly, but firmly, shut. There was nothing else for them but to advance.
"You go first." Tinu elbowed Vit, whispering, "You were the one who wanted to ask her to play the organ yesterday."
Vit mock-scowled at her. "You thought I was serious? YOU go first!"
"Vit, Tinu."
The two peevishly turned toward the raised dais in front of them, placed below a canopy of the same crafted stone the whole Temple was made of. Above, the stained glass window broke the harsh sunlight into many soft shafts, all exquisitely colored. The rays drifted softly down into the sparse room, alighting like feathers wherever it touched. The torches in the various sconces burned steadily, but no smoke came from their pale fires.
On the dais was Matilda, propped up by an avalanche of cushions against the unforgiving rock. It was her who had called out.
They approached quietly, subdued by the stillness of the air. The wind which blew ceaselessly through the grottoes was hushed here, but it was the poised silence of an impending storm. It made Tinu feel small and her troubles insignificant.
"So the Abbess really is you, Matilda," Tinu said quietly, and bent down next to the dais, resting her head on her hands.
"I'm sorry I didn't say anything, Tinu." Matilda raised her hand slowly and stroked the girl's cheek. "I just wanted to know you, before titles got into the way."
Tinu shook her head at Matilda's apology. "It's alright. We understand." She felt Vit nodding, behind her. "It wouldn't have made a difference, you know."
Matilda smiled, and exhaled softly. "If only Escad and Irwin would be like the two of you…ah, but I digress. Tinu, you wish to know about your affliction, is that so?"
Tinu nodded, not trusting her voice.
The older woman sighed again, and looked sad. "I have consulted many books, and a good many nuns with vast experiences, but, sadly, none has ever came across an affliction such as yours. But," she held out her hand, to stop Vit from crying out in dismay, "I do have some…hypotheses."
She paused a little, as if unsure of to how to explain it, and then continued softly, "Do you know what dreams are?"
"Reality through a filter," Tinu replied automatically, and frowned at herself. 'Where did that come from?'
Matilda was nodding, as a master to her student. "Yes, that is what many believe and I also." She turned her hand up, cupping Tinu's chin gently. "The mind is not like a bowl, Tinu, which once you have filled to the brim, and add more, will overflow. It is more like an everlasting sponge, absorbing memories and events constantly, even if you are not aware of it. But the mind can become tired too, after a period of time.
"So, the memories and events you have experienced during the day are sorted out and put away at night, when sleep comes, to relieve that burden. Dreams are a part of that process. It is when the mind is trying to make sense of events it has seen, which did not logically follow each other in the day. Many say 'new solutions' may be found in dreams…but oft times the dream only 'represents' the truth of the events that have happened."
Here Matilda paused a little and took a steadying breath. "Some, however, argue that dreams are just that: dreams. Dreams of hidden desires and wishes, wealth and power…or that dreams are when the soul takes leave of the body and flies…or…" she trailed off, lost in thought. Tinu and Vit waited patiently, enraptured.
Eventually Matilda came back to her self and resumed, "Well, nothing can be determined for certain when speaking of the mind. The core of this may lie in your mind's lack of remembrance. Or the memory itself isthe problem. I would not presume to say that this is the final answer to your affliction, Tinu. To find out exactly, you may have to…" she lapsed into silence. Matilda was breathing too deeply for it to be normal, her breath whistling in and out with an almost audible rattle against her lungs.
Tinu twisted her hands together, her heart pounding because of frustration and anxiety, and also worry for her aged friend.
"I have to do what, Matilda?" she coaxed delicately, after a time had passed and Matilda had not resumed.
Matilda replied, after a few more breaths, "Perhaps…perhaps it would be better to seek out another's opinion, Tinu. I am educated in the ways of healing, but the mind is more complex and vast than anything humans have ever created. I would be foolish indeed to attempt to help you when I am not even sure of my own mind."
"I see…" Tinu looked down, biting her lip.
She had hoped.
Despite the voices in her head that warned her against it, she had hoped desperately that this would be the end of it.
'But, what is wrong with hoping?' one traitor voice in her asked.
A thought struck her. Was she this determined to have some solid certainty in her life, before all this? Was this fretting really just about the 'important thing' she had forgotten? Why couldn't she enjoy the 'now' instead of always feeling lost without her past?
She got along fine enough. She knew how to eat with spoon and fork and knife, wash clothes, tidy the house, and to an extent, protect herself. Why was she hanging around Vit acting like a…a lost child?
'Because he's your only anchor and harbor which protects you…without him, you would have died, many, many times over.'
A chill went up and down her, when she recalled the incidents over the past months. Too many times she had fallen, heedless of where or when. It was only because Vit was near that she had not succumbed to worse fates than a bruised forehead. Thinking of her own dependence on him made her shiver disgustedly.
Why was she so damnably weak!?
And why did she have to have amnesia and this weird imposition on her consciousness?
It didn't make sense.
Vitas looked down at Tinu, dismayed at the slight tremor of her shoulders. Trying to find a way to distract her, he asked, "Matilda, you said to seek another's opinion…do you then have someone in mind?"
Matilda nodded and started to say, "I know of one-"
"Who do you think you are!?"
A sudden commotion was raised outside the door of the room. TInu sprang up, instinctively backing against Matilda's dais protectively. Vit stepped in front of her, frowning worriedly.
"What's going on?" She was getting nervous as the door began to shake and the voices became louder.
"Shh." Vit lifted a finger, eyebrows stitched together in concentration. "There's something familiar about that tone…"
"You can't go in there!"
"Shut up!" The heavy doors burst open with no more resistance than wooden boards, despite it being made of slabs of stone. "This is the welcome I get after being away for so long?"
The man who strode arrogantly into the room stopped at the sight of the two of them, his eyes narrowing into suspicion. "Who the heck are you two?" He slipped out a two-handed sword from his back scabbard without another word, holding it menacingly as if it weighed nothing. He growled, "What have you done to Matilda?"
"Escad! Wait!" Daena came pelting up the corridors, stopping in horror at the sight of his drawn sword.
The man didn't look back toward her at all. "Your lack of security disgusts me, Daena. Where is Matilda?"
"I'm right here, Escad."
Tinu stepped back from the dais as Matilda motioned her to do so, eyes still watching the sword warily. It looked as if the stranger knew how to use it very, very well.
"Please put the sword away, these people are my guests. She is Tinuviel and he is Vitas."
Escad's eyes flickered a moment between the two and Matilda, before he finally lowered his guard and sheathed his weapon.
The icy blue eyes lit a little in recognition as he swept it again toward them. "You…you were the one in the Jungle."
Vit nodded assent silently.
"Just don't butt in," Escad warned as he swept pass.
As he advanced toward the dais, Tinu shrank back toward Vit, finding comfort in his presence. The sight of Escad's effortless strength and lack of hesitation in its usage had scared her more than she would like to admit.
Escad stood at the dais, a complicated expression on his face, half way between distress and rage. "Matilda…you've aged."
"I have, and you…you are alive. Escad, I'm so glad…" A faint delight could be heard in her reply.
His facial muscles twitched involuntarily at her quavering voice, as though Matilda had slapped him with it.
"It's been ten years since I was cast down to the Underworld…how is it possible for you to age so much in that time? Damn it!" He abruptly pounded on a stone pillar nearby, raining a shower of dust into the room. "Irwin's the cause of this, isn't he? After he took away your elemental powers… just what is that demon up to?"
"Escad, please. I'm overjoyed that you are back, and to know that Irwin is alive as well. Why do more harm? Weren't we all friends, once?"
He scowled blackly. "I was never friends with that demon!"
"That's enough," Daena cut in, slipping in between him and the dais. "You're tiring Matilda with your shouting, Escad."
"Daena," he acknowledged offhandedly, his eyes on Matilda's face, as if she weren't at all between him and the abbess. As silence fell, Matilda's labored breathing became more evident. Escad unbent his frown, which seemed eternally etched onto his face, when he heard it, but only a little. "…I'll leave for today."
As he was about to go out the door, Matilda called hoarsely, "I really am glad you are back, Escad."
He glanced back once and then away. His swift departure was as abrupt as his entrance had been, and only slightly less chaotic.
Daena sighed, tension dropping from her stance. "This is exactly what I need. Another troublemaker around the Temple grounds."
"Don't say that Daena. He's been through a lot."
"'A lot' you say? Whatever it was didn't even put a dent in his attitude."
Forgotten in the corner, Tinu glanced at Vit and whispered, gesturing toward the dais, "Shall we make ourselves scarce?"
Vit looked back at her and then at the two friends debating softly. "Might as well. We'll just have to come back later when the dust settles."
On the climb back down the path, Tinu suddenly thought of Escad's reaction to Vit. "So have you two met before?"
"I wouldn't say 'met' exactly," Vit replied. "It was more like 'stumbled upon'."
"And?" she asked, when he didn't elaborate.
"It's a long story."
"I figured that much out, thanks. We've got a long climb down, you know," Tinu pointed out.
Even though he was a few paces below her, she could tell he was smiling from his voice. "Alright, you win. So there was this penguin called Selkie…"
"Wait." Tinu hurried to snag on Vit's elbow, head turned distractedly. "Can you hear that?"
"What? Oh, now that you mention it…" His head cocked, catching a distant alarm being sounded above the rising wind.
"…this can't be good. Something's happened at the Temple."
"I'm worried Vit…what should we do?"
He frowned. "I'll go check it out, Tinu. I might be able to help somehow. You go to the waterfall where the twins are and keep them away, please. I don't want them involved in this."
She nodded. "I will. Be careful, Vit."
"When have I never?" He grinned reassuringly at her before he dashed off, heedless of the strengthening gusts from off the cliff side.
Tinuviel watched his retreating form for a while, before she hurriedly scrambled down herself.
"I've come for you, Abbess."
"W-who are you?"
A sinister laugh, from behind the pure white veil. "Just a servant, a servant to the greatest of masters."
"What do you want from me?"
"I am simply fulfilling my orders. Now, please be unconscious for a while."
"Wh-" a soft gasp, uttered before oblivion.
The nun bundled up the aged abbess and hoisted her up, murmuring under her breath. A final syllable sounded with an accompanying draft of air, rushing to fill a void. The Dreamweaving Room was empty, as if its occupants had never been.
"Goddess," Vit breathed, staring at the unconscious bodies of the nuns who were guarding the Dreamweaving Room. He didn't need to look inside to know that its sole resident was gone.
A slight stir at the edge of his vision made him drew his sword.
"Ah…"
"Daena!?" He rushed over to the young warrior monk and helped her up.
"Vit…?" she gasped. "Matilda! Where is she?"
He shook his head regretfully.
She bit her lip, drawing blood. "It must've been that fake nun!"
Daena then noticed the crowd and the din of the alarm that was ringing outside the door and shouted into their midst, "Close off all the exits! Don't let anyone outside of the Grottoes!"
As others rushed to carry out her orders, she sprang up and gestured for Vit to follow her. "The alarm means the perpetrator used some kind of magic in the Temple grounds. He couldn't have gotten far, limited by the ward like that."
She loped toward the outside, Vit following close behind. "Let's see if we can root out this mouse. Are you up for a chase?"
He smiled grimly. "Oh yes."
Quest 06: Two Torches
"Hey, Lisa! LISAAAAAA!"
"WHAT!? Can't you see I'm trying to get a tan?"
"Wanna climb up to the Cancun's nest?"
"No,"
"Why not? Come ooooooon sis!"
"I said NO!"
"You're not fun at all. Girls are such wuss-"
A small splash sounded against the humongous roar of the Gato waterfall, and dissolved soon after into a water sloshing match between the two apprentices.
"Take this!"
"Wait, Bud-!"
Lisa slipped as she dodged and fell down into the shallows, water lapping up to her shoulders. "Now look at what you've done! This is my best dress!"
"It's your only dress sis," Bud reached out a hand after an amusing moment of watching her flailing in the water, "Here,"
The girl's hand snaked out and latched onto Bud's in a vice grip, "I've got you now!"
"Ack-!"
SPLASH!
"Geez…"
Lisa giggled at his bedraggled expression and clambered up to her feet, pulling Bud up with her. "Let's go to that place we passed by earlier. Maybe the nuns will have some towels,"
"Riiiight. They'll just conveniently have some spare towels laying around their elixir brewing chamber just in case somebody falls into the pond," Bud drawled.
She ignored his tone, "Well, it's worth a try anyways. C'mon,"
The two children trudged up the Aesthetic Pathway, leaving in their wake a trail of muddy footprints and damp.
As they neared the cave opening where the Grottoes keep their barrels of elixirs and holy waters, Bud pricked his ears.
"Hey, you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
Bud slowly revolved on his feet, "Ummmm…sounds like an alarm or something…"
"An alarm…in a temple? You're imagining things."
He shrugged after listening awhile more, "Well, whatever it is, it's pretty far away. Let's go get those towels of yours."
After Bud's initial surprised at the nuns' supply of soft, fluffy towels, they dried off and had a good time bugging the nuns at their work, coupled with not quite a few cups of bellgrapes juice and cookies.
Soon, after her third cup of juice, Lisa stood up, "Thank you so much for the cookies, ma'am! We'll have to go now or our masters will be angry,"
The nun's eyes crinkled in a smile, "You are welcome anytime children. Be careful on the way up,"
"Don't worry, I-the Great and Magnificent-Bud will be protecting her,"
His sister snorted and pinched him covertly. Bud yelped and glared at her. She looked away in the other direction.
"Anyways…thanks again!"
The nuns came out to send them off as they climbed up the Pathway, and waved all the while they were in sight. As their youthful energy kept them bouncing along and shoving each other in the usual siblings fashion, they didn't noticed the other party that came rounding the next corner of the trail. The resulted crash was a loud affair.
"OW!!"
"Hey, watch where you're hobbling!'
Lisa was the first to notice their collision partner, "Uh oh. Are you alright ma'am?"
The nun managed to recover her veil and composition enough to nod.
"Hey, is the old lady ok?" Bud asked, hand pointing toward the unconscious elder that laid on the ground between them.
Again the nun nodded.
"Do you need help ma'am?" Lisa inquired politely, guilt-ridden, "She might be too heavy for you to carry far on your own,"
"Yeah, we'll help out!" Bud said brightly, then added in an undertone, "Our master we'll have our hides if we don't."
"Where are you headed?"
The nun motioned toward the nearest cave mouth.
"Ok, I'll take this side. You go take the other Lisa,"
With the awkward arrangement settled, they set off. The darkness of the cave swallowed them, and they were no more.
She arrived panting at the edge of the water, but to her dismay the twins were nowhere to be seen.
"Oh no. Where did they go? We couldn't have missed each other…"
Tinu clung tiredly at a boulder nearby, waiting for her breath to slow, the world to right itself, and her mind to start working again.
"What are you doing here?"
She jumped, 'I know that voice…'
"Uh…nothing?"
Escad frowned, making her cringed even more, "Don't lie,"
"Um…" she stalled, trying to sound like she wasn't half of out her wits, then her mind finally caught up to her, "Oh! I'm looking for my apprentices! Have you seen two elf children around here?"
"No,"
"O-okay…uh…I guess I had better go look for them somewhere else! See you!"
"Wait,"
She froze mid-bolt, and turned to look at him slowly. Fortunately, he wasn't looking at her any more.
"There are tracks." He pointed. She followed his gaze. A faint trail of damp spots wound its way up the trail, the size small enough to be the prints of children. If Escad hadn't pointed it out, she would've missed it entirely.
"Ah! They must have been playing in the water, then went somewhere to dry off," Tinu smiled, jumped up and impulsively hugged Escad in relief. "Thanks so much!"
"What the-! Hey, let me go!"
"Ack! Er, sorry. I forgot my self," she bowed hurriedly in apology before turning and dashing again up the hill, shouting as she went, "I think you should go to the Temple! Something's happening over there!"
"Wait, what do you mean 'something'?" He yelled back, but she was already around the corner.
He scratched his head, flustered, and for once without his frown, "Weird girl," he muttered.
A moment later the frown was back, "The Temple? …Matilda, I hope you're alright,"
After some fruitless searching around the village at the foothills, Daena agreed with Vit that the kidnapper probably took Matilda somewhere in the direction of the Aesthetic paths. Since the whole place was like a warren with caves and dead ends every second turn, she mobilized most of the Temple monks and knights for the hunt.
Vit fidgeted with his sword hilt as Daena was giving out her orders, 'Tinu and the twins are near the waterfalls. I hope they're not caught up in this…'
"What's going on Daena? Why are the knights and monks mobilizing?"
The chilly voice made him turn, and sure enough, Escad was striding up the pathway from the dungeon proper.
Daena frowned, distracted from her orders, "The abbess has been kidnapped," she held up her hand when Escad visibly swelled up with rage, veins popping included, "I know it's my fault, so stop right there. The exit's been closed and the barrier is still up, so she is somewhere in this area. The knights and monks will be doing a systematic sweep. I'll head out my self later on when I'm done here."
Escad swore with words no holy knight should know, turned, and hurried into the nearest cave mouth.
Daena sighed, "It's not as if I don't know what he's feeling…but really! I'm already set to beating my self up after this."
Vit shrugged, "I suppose he's just a bit too straight-laced, as are you. Beating your self?"
"Figure of expression," Daena replied in a tone which didn't convince Vit to believe in anything she said.
"So, shall we get going?" she asked when the last of the troops had marched out.
"Right,"
'Goddess, please watch over the twins…and Tinu,' he prayed silently as he followed Daena into the seemingly bottomless dark.
"AH!" Tinu screamed as something landed on her back. She flailed wildly and managed to dislodge the slime that clung there, "Gross!" She stuck her spear into what seemed to be its brain, or stomach, you can never tell with these things, and watched it disintegrated in disgust.
"Oh…they're so going to get it when we're home!" Tinu muttered as she batted her way through more and more slimes.
She didn't learn anything useful from the nuns in the elixir chamber, save that the twins left around an hour before her arrival. After firmly refusing the offers of refreshments and snacks, even though it looked good enough to kill, she set off again, this time following the scuffled marks of their footprints. Bud's stone-kicking, Lisa's broom-twirling, and their mock-fight shoves left visible marks to eyes already used to their dust laden antics. The corner after the chamber, she found confused tracks of collision and a trail leading off from it to the nearest cave mouth, seemingly carrying something heavy between them. She didn't know what to make of it, but the tracks were definitely theirs. So she followed.
And now she's lost.
Tinu cursed, "Stupid! Should've remembered caves would be dark and dank and bring a torch!" She swiped savagely at the slimes that plopped into her path at the last syllable, 'I hope they're not getting into trouble while I'm stuck here…'
'Goddess…I'm not your most grateful believer…but please, let them be alright,'
"Hey, watch it!"
A clanking resounded throughout the cavern. Tinu carefully peeled back her eyelids, afraid she had run somebody through with her careless spear switching. To her surprise, and relief, she didn't.
"VIT!" Tinu threw her arms around her knight in dusty armor, "I'm soooo glad I found – well, somebody!"
"C-can't br-breathe-" Vit gasped, mortified, and unreasonably happy, at the same time.
Daena giggled at his torn expression and helped him pry Tinu's arms away. "I did wonder where you went Tinu. Keeping some slimes company?"
"Eck! Don't even mention them Daena!" Tinu moaned, "I've been lost for the past half an hour!" She stopped when she saw the strained expression in the cat's face, "What happened? Did something happen to the Temple?"
Daena shook her head, the bells that hung from her ears jingled sadly, "No, nothing happened to the Temple…Matilda's been kidnapped,"
"WHAT!?"
Vit nodded gravely, "We have searched all the other surrounding areas but this one already. Since they can't get far because of the barrier for magic and the watch on the road, we're having the monks and knights combing every inch of this place."
"I see…oh!" Something clicked in her mind, "Vit! The twins! We've got to find them!"
"Huh? Wait, they weren't at the falls?"
"No! And I think the kidnapper's got them too!"
Tinu hurriedly explained about the tracks and the one thing that has been puzzling her since she found the collision mark, the slight dimple of the soft dust in the middle of the collision and the deeper imprints of their footsteps.
"That must've been Matilda!"
Daena bared her wicked incisors, "If it's from that direction…the Meditation Chamber! Let's go guys, we're closed now!"
But before they had the time to get going, a yell came echoing from some distant caverns and made them jumped, followed closely by the feel of the earth trembling underneath their feet.
Tinu's eyes widened, "Don't tell me…Escad!?"
Vit gnashed his teeth and took off in the direction of the sound, caution thrown into the wind, overcame by his instincts. Daena and Tinu followed not far behind.
The Chamber wasn't far from where they were, and Vit had no problem recognizing the entrance from the dust billowing out.
He drew his sword, tried to stifle his coughs, and survey the scene inside at the same time. Daena caught up to him first, and with a brave nod to Vit, plunged straight into the dust-filled cavern.
Tinu arrived, knuckles already twisting against the spear's haft.
"Till the dust settles," he whispered, and even though the echoing sounds from somewhere within made him anxious, Vit tried to sound calm for her sake.
She nodded understanding, but still her eyes roamed futilely against the dark and smoke, searching for the shadows, or any signs or sound that will tell her the twins were safe.
Heart-shatteringly slowly, the dust settled. And they looked inside.
A/N: I'm afraid my imagination dried up here...thank you for your time.