"You worthless boy! Get a move on it! The joust is about to start!" The angry voice rose above the roar of the crowd and Fiaval winced. He knew that his master was going to be angry at him for being a slowpoke and not paying attention to his work.

The teenage boy gathered up his parchments from the ground beside him, and began to deliver them to their respective owners.

"Ah, there you are lad! I was wondering when you would arrive! I began to think you would never deliver these!" A big burly man glanced over the parchment, "I can not tell the knights apart if I do not know their coat-of-arms!"

Fiaval felt the wind change, and the breeze ruffled his sandy brown hair. A little aways he could see the knights getting suited up for the tournament. How he had wanted to be a knight!As a young page he had trained night and day with his sword and bow, it made him a veritable fighter, but the lady he served under had liked him so much, that she did not want him to go into battle.

"Fiaval, war is not all glory," the Lady had said, "and I do not wish to see you harmed, maybe one day you will understand," So his knightly training had ended, and instead Fiaval had become a herald, serving under the master herald.

Instead of chivalry and jousts, the boy who would have been a squire by now, spent his days ruefully learning which knights wore the red paw and which ones wore the Fluer-de-lis. There was a good side- all the girls would crowd him at the jousts because he knew which knights were which (and which ones were good-looking), but the downside was definitely his master.
His master spent his nights drinking the King's wine, and beating Fiaval for the smallest things, such as forgetting to sweep.

"FIAVAL! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"You better get a move on, lad," The burly man said, "He's right across the field, so just run before the jousts start!" Fiaval thanked the man, and set off at a run across the field. He was so set on getting to his master before he would think of hurting him, that he did not hear the yells of the people, or the shrill whinny of a horse.

There was a sharp pain in his head, then everything went black.

"Good Lord Lata! You killed him!"
"I did not! He's breathing!"
"But he's bleeding!"
"Some one call an ambulance!"
"No! Don't! He'll be fine!"

Fiaval awoke to see a bunch of people standing above him. The first person who came into focus was a girl, but she did not look like any girls that he had ever seen! Her hair was bright purple, and it was in many small braids.

"Well, Lata-kun, at least you kill good-looking guys. If he's not dead, I could date him!" The girl grinned, and spoke to someone that Fiaval could not see.

"I told you he's not dead! Look, he's opening his eyes!" Another female voice came, and Fiaval turned his head despite the pain in his back. Her clothes were very strange, and rather risque for a lady, he thought, but her hair was an outrageous color like the other girls. Aqua-blue! Perhaps she was a mermaid of sorts...

"Hi there!" The girl leaned over towards him, "I'm very sorry, I hit you with my bicycle."

"Wh...what??" The dazed boy sat up, and looked around. He was surrounded by three of the strangest looking people he had ever seen. In addition to the two girls, there was a boy who's hair was very close cut except for nearer to his forehead, where it was all fluffy. He seemed to be a bit disgusted, and had his arms folded.

"Lata-kun hit you with her bike," Purple-hair informed him, gesturing to Pink-hair, who he assumed was Lata-kun, "She wasn't paying attention again. I swear she is a such a klutz sometimes!"

"Your one to talk, Reisu-chan! I recall that last semester you bowled over about six guys!"

"What makes you think I didn't do that on purpose??" At this the boy spoke.

"Stop arguing and find out if the guy is okay. Maybe he escaped from the mental institution..."

"Helor! That's not nice!" Lata smacked the boy, and Fiaval was aghast! It was unheard of, a woman hitting a man in public! "Forgive Helor, he's just an meanie. So, where you on your way back from a Renaissance faire perhaps?"

"A what? What..." Fiaval fainted, and the trio looked at each other.

"I know!" Reisu said, "We take the stranger back to the main house, and let him rest there!"

Lata looked at the boy who was lying on the ground, then up at her friends, "Do you think that's a good idea? What if he finds out..."

"I say we leave him there. I don't like guys who wear tights."

"It will be fine! He'll be on his way by tomorrow morning, and the chances of....anything
happening so soon are very slim." Reisu was a stubborn girl, and she was going to get her way no matter what they said, so that they decided to bring him to the main house.

As her friends began to decide on a way to get the boy back to the main house, Lata went over to her totaled bike.

Something just didn't make sense about this. She had not seen the boy until she had hit him, and he was someone who was sure to stand out. It just didn't click.

Sighing, she looked up at the moon that rose over the city, and wondered just when the madness would end.