After my mother happened to read upon this story, she asked what happened next... and well, I hadn't planned out a next, so it took me a few... weeks? Anyway, I guess enjoy!
I don't name the towns or where they could be because I'm yet to play the game as I said before. But I try and work out little details to show where they are. Just to add, I do try to keep this in the main story line, but that is bloody hard sometimes when you haven't played the game xD
Swaine carefully drunk his coffee the next morning, swirling the hot drink around his mouth as he sipped at it again, letting the bitter liquid set for a minute before swallowing. Looking down at his cup with a slight glare.
"You slept well, Swaine?" Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow, his head cocked to one side as he starting eating his pear, taking a quick splash of water, a neat smile fitted upon his face.
Swaine looked up, watching as the fairy took a bite of his honey-bread. "Yes, thank you for asking." He muttered, taking a bite of his sandwich. "And yourself?"
"Blimey! Where did 'ya find those manners?" The fairy laughed. "Esther been fighin' with 'ya 'bout it? 'Ya two sound like an ol' married couple!" He added, chuckling louder.
Swaine, all of sudden, sat up, straightening his back and doing a quick look around the room. "No. I was just tryin' be nice." He said, lifting his cup to his lips and drinking once more.
"Nice? Swaine? Did I miss something?" Swaine felt his heart skip a beat and a lump growing in his throat as Esther entered the room, feeling the warmth from her body as she took a very close seat next to his, he swore he felt her arm hit his.
Oliver looked up, smiling. "Oh, nothing really, Esther, Swaine just asked how I slept and Drippy wanted to make a big deal out of it." The boy laughed. "Anyway, I slept very well, thanks, how about you Esther?"
Swaine noted that Esther had a slight blush upon her cheeks. "Yes, I slept fine, little nightmare, but nothing I couldn't... uh, wake up from and forget."
Swaine let out a slightly obvious sigh. Oliver's face turned sad. "Oh! I'm sorry to hear that, what was the nightmare about, have you any clue?" The young boy asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
Swaine coughed, turning his head to look at Esther. "Yes, what was it about, hm? I heard you yelling all the way from my room and you're a good, two, three doors away." He said.
Esther glared back. "Oh, aren't you one to talk." She muttered, shaking her head and turning back to Oliver and the fairy.
It was then Swaine saw her hair was undone, the waves of golden flowing down her back. "Huh, she doesn't have her hair down most days." He thought, gently drawing lines on the table with his hand, trying to hear what they were saying while still in his own mind of thinking. Because...
He had kissed Esther.
Esther had kissed back.
Even just thinking about the sweet taste of her lips made him smile slightly. He wondered what had gone through Esther's mind, were his lips bitter? Had she enjoyed it? Had she even wanted it?
"Maybe we should move on again? There's another battle up ahead, I can feel it." Oliver told them, rising from his chair.
Esther quickly got up, bringing Swaine back to reality. "Hm?" He asked, looking around. "We off? Alright." He nodded, getting to his feet fast.
"What's up with him?" Swaine heard Oliver ask Esther, the boy was a bit cocky now and then, but his heart was in the right place.
Esther seemed away, it took her a good minute to see Oliver had asked her something. "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing, he's always been a bit jumpy, his background and all."
For once, it made Swaine slightly pleased to have the background he did. If he was at all jumpy, it was easy to use that to blame for it. "Are we going?" He muttered, pushing past Oliver and Esther, and stepping over the fairy.
"Sure, mun, let's go Ollie-boy!"
"Where are we?" Esther asked as they walked along the water, dipping her feet in now and then when the waves came up.
"Well, we aren't in Al-Mamoon, and we aren't in Ding Dong Dell, but we happen to be in a dark, watery-ish place." Swaine muttered. "Where in the heavens do you think? We're in Hamelin, princess." He said.
Oliver walked ahead of their little party. "Maybe we should rest for a bit?" He asked, trying to bypass what they were speaking about.
"Sure, Oliver! That sounds like a good plan." Esther said, smiling at the younger boy. "Why are we here again if I may ask?"
"I'm not sure, Mr. Drippy said it would be good to come here." Oliver told the girl as he sat down on the darkish sand.
Speaking of that little...
Swaine sighed as Drippy jumped along, taking a seat next to Oliver. "Oi, why not go in the water and have a little' swim, eh?" He pointedly said these words to Esther who was watching the slightly dark waters.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea..." Swaine said, remembering back to oh so many years ago. Back then, the waters had been slightly clearer, but even then it was dark as hell.
Esther was already pulling off her shoes. "Oh, shut up, Swaine, I'll be fine." She said, walking down to the water edge and dipping her foot into it.
"And what happens when I have to come in and save you? How many flipping times have you even been in water?" Swaine asked, shaking his head slightly as the girl padded into the waves, letting her hair down as she jumped within the waves. "This is Hamelin, Esther! Not Al-Mamoon! That water is deep and deadly, it is not a children's pool!"
Esther laughed as she swam around the waves. "I'll be fine Swaine. I've been in water about... five times in my life? And I know it isn't a children's pool... but I'm no child." She said, hands on her hips as she swam under the waves.
Oliver watched her. "Esther! Didn't you want your swimming suit?" He yelled over the slight breeze that always came with the water.
"No way! I am not going to take off my clothes and put that on with you boys here, no way." She said, standing up in the water that went just above her hips. "I'll dry off." She said, hands crossed over her chest.
Swaine sighed, seeing he'd lost this small war by a long shot. "Alright... just be careful." He muttered, not daring to sit down. He'd gone hours without sitting down when he was younger, running down streets and climbing over gates. He smiled, remembering his slightly younger days.
After all he wasn't that old, right?
Sure, the years had taken a toll on him, and he'd never look like 'Gascon' again, not that he ever wanted to. He still had his stubbornness and leadership, but over the years he'd become more clam he liked to think, even if he put up walls around himself.
Which were being slowly broken down every day, a little sunlight shining through the holes made by these silly children. A smile twitching at his lips every now and then. It was fun, and he'd be sad when it's over.
Swaine looked up, blinking away what he'd remembered of his old self. Oliver sat next to him with Drippy hiding in his cape. His eyes were slightly shut, as if he were trying to sleep but also trying to stay awake. The oldest man looked over at the waves where Esther was playing in the dark water.
"That girl is going to get into trouble one of these days." He muttered, shivering from the cold. He wasn't used to it any more, the cold that his old home carried through the wind and breeze, but it would hardly ever snow. And Swaine was ever-so-pleased of that, he had never liked the cold, and after seeing the frosty snowflakes, he'd told himself that one time was good enough.
Swaine coughed, shaking his head as he looked back at the water, blinking as he saw no Esther playing in the water. "Esther?" He called rather loudly, walking down to the edge and looking out into the waves that had started to become rough. "Esther!" He yelled, awaking the fairy and Oliver from their dosing.
"Eh? What's happenin'?" Drippy said, jumping to his feet as Oliver quickly got up, seeing something must be wrong. "Where's Esther?" The fairy added.
Oliver ran to the waters edge, standing next to Swaine as the water ross higher and higher. "Esther?!" He yelled, seeing a slightly panic-like look cross Swaine's face. "Where's Esther?"
"I don't know!" Swaine shouted, shaking his head as he looked over the waves again. "These waters were always bad this time of the year! Damn that silly girl!" He yelled as he saw a hand come out of the water.
"Help!" Esther shouted, trying to swim back as a wave crashed over her. "Help me! I can't swim this deep!"
Swaine growled, he watched as Oliver started pulling off his cape. "I'll get her, stay here, I do not need more people bloody dying on me!" He yelled, pushing Oliver away from the water and quickly running in to the dark waves, ducking under the water as a wave crashed over him.
Esther tried swimming closer to Swaine, but was pulled down by the water as she tried, sending her down into the deep. "Help me!" She shouted, her head just above the waves as she screamed, a wave crashing over her again.
"Esther!" Swaine blinked, hearing another voice as he swam closer to his friend. "Esther, swim up!" The same voice called. Swaine stopped, trying to see where the voice had come from.
He heard the sound of splashing and Esther screaming as a wave went over him, sending him back to the shore. "I've got you, you're fine!" He shock away the dizziness from his mind, patting his head to get the water out of his ears as Oliver tried helping him up. "You're safe now."
Swaine knew that voice, he'd grown up with that voice, heard it in his nightmares as it slowly faded away with his father's dying words.
"Marcassin."
Esther started spitting out water along with the name as she shock her head. "Please, Miss Esther, lie down, you're going to be slightly dizzy after what you've just been through." The prince said, pushing the girl down by the shoulders and quickly looking her over.
And weirdly, this upset Swaine, a lot.
"How on Earth did you find us, Your Majesty?" Oliver but in before Swaine could say something.
Marcassin looked up, shaking the water from his long blue hair slightly. "I was walking, as weird as it may sound to you, I was simply taking a walk when I saw Miss Esther being thrown around in the waves." The prince said, smiling lightly at the group. "The waves are very bad this time of the year, Miss Esther, you must be more careful."
"T-thank you so much, Your Majesty." Esther said, gently sitting up, her wet hair falling down her back. "I-I would have died if you hadn't saved me."
Liar.
Swaine glared at his brother's back, watching the prince with hard, purple eyes. "I'm sorry, did you say something, Gascon?" Marcassin said as he turned to look at the older, his childish gaze watching the older. "I didn't hear you brother."
A blush lit Swaine's cheeks as he looked at his younger brother and Esther, Oliver raised an eyebrow as well. "Uh, nothing, just, yes, well done." He muttered the last part, sighing once he saw his brother grin. "Also, my name is not Gascon." He muttered.
"You'll always be Gascon to me, you can have ten new names and all I'll remember you by is your birth name." Marcassin said, helping Esther to her feet. "Miss Esther, Sir Oliver, brother, Mr... Drippy?" He slightly asked, sighing happily once he saw the fairy nod. "I would be very honoured to have you all stay in Hamelin with me, there is a storm setting in for a few days and being out here alone would never be a kind thing to do to such a wonderful family of mine." Marcassin said, bowing to them, his wet hair falling over his face. "Miss Esther, I'm sure you can find some dry clothes from mother's room and Gascon, I'm sure there's something in your old room you can fit into." He added.
"We are the ones who should be honoured, Your Majesty!" Oliver said with a proud smile.
"Please, call me Marcassin, we're family, it's fine to call me by my name." Marcassin said, bowing once again as he started to lead the group away. "Miss Esther? Would you like to walk up here with me? The faster we get you some dry clothes, the better." He added.
Esther blushed slightly, padding quickly up next to the prince. "Why thank you, Marcassin." She smiled, placing her hand over her heart for a minute before walking next to the younger of the brothers.
Swaine growled slightly, walking next to Oliver as he pulled his jacket around him, feeling the chilly air on his wet skin. "The faster we get there, the faster we can leave." He muttered.
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you happy to see your brother?"
"Yes and no." Swaine said, not wanting to carry on, he walked past Oliver to walk behind Marcassin and Esther, sighing as he heard them talk about what they'd been up to. "The sooner we get there... the sooner we can leave."
I am very sorry for any and all mistakes! There will be more, this story is far from over! It isn't a one-shot anymore!