Chapter Three
Yugo sat outside his adoptive father, Alibert's, inn. So much had happened on his birthday. His best friends abandoned whatever they were doing to visit him and his brother, Adamai the dragon, for their fourteenth birthday. Balthazar, his less direct dragon brother had contacted him to tell him that a new danger was raising and it was up to them to stop it. Plus his father had decided that he would come on his adventure, and he supposedly knew an Eniripsa in the village they were heading to. As it all swam through the boy king's head, he stared at the rising sun over the forest. All questions would be answered soon, as it was the day they would all set off in hopes of uncovering the unknown threat.
He stood as his friends came through the door. Amalia was sulking and Dally was unnaturally happy, as always. Adamai was excitedly flapping his little wings, Eva was unnaturally nervous, Ruel was checking his haven bag, and Alibert was grabbing his old Enutrof shovel off its stand on the door. Az flew out last, landing neatly in Yugo's pocket.
"Ready?" Percedal asked to no one in particular. He strode off in the opposite direction they were supposed to go.
"It's this way, Iop brain," Eva face palmed. She set off in the correct direction, east, and everyone followed.
"I thought we agreed not to call me that anymore," Dally argued as he caught up to the group.
"That's not going to stop them," Ruby stated. Then under his breath he said, "Iop brain." But Dally was too distracted to notice the Shushu. Eva had lagged behind, anxiously gripping her magic bow.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Percedal put a hand on her shoulder.
"What? I'm fine!" Eva grinned a fake smile, trying to offset the worry in her eyes. Percedal gave her a look that said 'I don't believe you. You can't trick me.'
She sighed. "If I tell you, you won't say anything to the others, right?" He nodded solemnly. "This town has a bad history for my family. We once traveled here, and lost everything. It's like the place is cursed for me." A tear fell down her cheek. "I swore I would never say what else happened there. That's why I can't tell you everything." She sniffed. "But I can't not go. I have a duty as a member of this team."
"Maybe, whatever happened, this quest will lead you on a path that will fix it." Dally wrapped his arm around Eva. "I'll always be there to help you."
"Thanks Percy." Eva wiped her eyes. "Let's just hope we don't encounter any repercussions."
"I have no idea what that means, but okay!" He took Eva's hand, and they ran to catch up to the adventuring group.
Leading at the front was Yugo, holding a metal compass. He wore his blue hoodless cloak that wrapped around his whole body. Balthazar had given it to him the year before, saying that it was Yugo's favorite in his past lives. Apparently, he had worn it all the time.
"Dad, how does a compass work again?"
"Were you leading us in a random direction?" asked a slightly aggravated Amalia.
Eva cut in before a fight broke out, "Actually, we are going the right way. Cras have a natural sense of direction." And she took pride in that.
Az flew above the tree tops as the Brotherhood entered the wood. To the north stood Soft Oak, the grand tree that rose high above the tallest trees. To the south was just a long expanse of woods. Behind the group, view of Yugo's home town of Emelka was rapidly shrinking as they made progress.
"I wonder what Az sees." Ruel pondered, "It must be nice, being able to fly and see the wonders from above."
"If you could fly, all you'd use it for would be some scheme to make money." Alibert laughed. Ruel remained silent, as that was true.
"How long will it take to get there?" Adamai asked impatiently.
"At this pace, by this afternoon," Alibert answered.
"As long as we don't run into trouble," Rubilax muttered.
…
Nila collapsed against a tree as tears streamed down her face. Everything looked bleak in her life. She made her twin brother hate her. She frightened several people on her way to the forest, most of them calling her a monster. She destroyed half of her attic bedroom. Some mysterious power was flowing through her body at that very moment and she had no control over it. And now she was utterly lost in the woods.
Nila sat leaning against the tree. Now that I think about it, how did I get here? She thought. Did I portal? She looked at her paper white hands and they began to glow blue. She had gotten used to the glowing, but the sensation of power concentrated in her hand still shocked her. Gulping, she aimed her hand at the tree across from her and narrowed her eyes, focusing. A circle of cyan and blue materialized before her. Then Nila aimed her other hand at a spot a little farther away. Once again, a portal came into being.
Standing, the girl stuck her hand through the first portal. As expected, her hand was protruding from the other one, completely unharmed. What have I got to lose? Nila jumped through her first creation, only to come tumbling out her second portal. Not long after, they disappeared.
Looking around, Nila sighed. Having nothing else to do, she practiced her portals, using them to get high up in a tree. Nila looked into the sky through the green leaves. Was it morning? Was her brother looking for her? Probably not. Why would he? Plus she had been out all night, lost.
That thought sent her into another silent crying fit. Hopefully no one heard her; she wanted to be left alone.
…
At noon, the usual complaining from the boys started. And it was getting on Amalia's last nerve.
"I'm so hungry!" Dally moaned. Ruby rolled his eye.
"We'll eat when we get there," Eva replied calmly. Amalia tried really hard to not punch someone in the face.
"But I want another cupcake!" Dally sulked. This time Eva rolled her eyes, but said nothing.
"We can't be that far from wherever, right?" asked Yugo hopefully. His stomach growled loudly.
"We'll get there faster if you shut up!" Amalia shrieked. Even the boys' stomachs grew quiet.
Soon, the band reached a clearing. Unfortunately, this only made Dally, Yugo, and Ruel hungrier. And it made Amalia angrier.
"Ogrest's chaos, guys! We are almost there!" the princess seethed, "Can't you just deal with it for a little while longer?!"
Adamai stopped abruptly and waved his claw to silence the squabble. "Did you hear that?"
"All I can hear is the complaints of them!" Amalia shouted.
"Seriously, be quiet and listen! I can't place it, but it sounds like a person of some kind."
The Brotherhood did just as the dragon said. Eva nocked her bow and Percedal brandished his Shushu. The Enutrofs hefted their shovels, ready for a fight. Having nothing other than his natural abilities, Yugo held up his glowing blue hands, preparing to portal.
But nothing happened. Even when concentrating intensely, no one could hear anything. Adamai was insistent, though and followed his dragon ears. Defiantly a person, not an animal, he resolved, Almost like crying. He beckoned for the others to follow and they did so wordlessly. Deeper into the woods, off the original path to Prisima, but Adamai felt this was the way they were supposed to go. As if they were meant to discover something in these trees. Or he could just be hungry.
…
Alin held his sister's cloak as her ran through the forest, shouting her name, trying to find her. He had searched for as long as he could get away with before Mama said to come home last night. Even though she was worried for her daughter, she made her son get some sleep, though it only came with tossing and turning in restlessness. But now Alin had been searching since dawn tirelessly.
"Nila!" he called, "Where are you?" Once again he got no answer. Sighing, he ran on.
Suddenly, a twig snapped under someone's shoe. A sliver of hope caused Alin to run in the direction of the sound. But what he saw was not his twin sister.
A band of travelers stood, weapons drawn. An adult female Cra aimed her bow at him. Two adult male Enutrofs held their shovels, scowling. A teenage female Sadida stared in shock, gripping something in her hand menacingly. An adult male Iop, holding what looked like a sword with an eye. The oddest of all was the blue and white dragon brandishing its claws, and a teenage boy with glowing blue hands and an eared hat.
"You're not Nila," Alin said, greatly confused. Who diverged this far from the path to town?
"Ew, what is that?" the Sadida asked in disgust. Alin glanced around him, trying to see what she was talking about.
"Hey, she's talking about you, ugly," the Iop said. He charged straight at Alin, and he swore he heard his sword shout a battle cry. Alin decided that he didn't want to get stabbed with the talking sword, so he summoned two portals that turned the angry Iop back toward his friends. But instead of running, he dropped the sword, and puked.
The Cra rolled her eyes, "Never mind, I got it." A glowing arrow was planned to go through Alin's heart, but he held up his hands.
"Hold on! I'm not hurting anyone! I'm just trying to find my sister." The Cra put her bow down. The Iop was still throwing up, and the Sadida looked skeptical. The dragon and hat kid were giving Alin this weird look. They looked Alin's age, and he probably would have liked them, if they were more understanding of his strange features.
"How did you do that?" asked the dragon. The hat kid looked like he was conflicting in his head about something.
"What, this?" Alin summoned a portal by way of glowing hand. "I just discovered I could do that yesterday. Why?" The Enutrofs had said nothing throughout this encounter, now began to relax, holding their shovels with less threat.
"I can do that, too," the hat boy said quietly. He used a portal to blast a beam of Wakfu at a dead branch, destroying it.
"My sister can do that!" Alin smiled, and then frowned, remembering why she had run away. "And that's why I have to find her." He turned away, gripping Nila's cloak sadly and began to walk away.
"Hey, wait!" The hat kid ran to catch up to Alin. "We can help you find your sister!"
"What?" the Sadida shrieked, "I don't want to help that thing!"
Alin glared at the girl, "I'm no different from you than you are from a Pandawa. You just need to calm down." Deep inside, it really hurt Alin to be called names. He just really just wanted to fit in, but it was true that it would never happen.
The Sadida gasped, "I am Princess Amalia Sharan Sharm! You can't talk to me like that!"
"Something tells me that your friends here do that all the time." She said nothing.
"Well, I'll help, if they don't want to," the eared hat boy said, "I'm Yugo, by the way."
"I'm Alin." They shook hands.
The dragon walked forward too. "I'll go! I think maybe I heard your sister earlier. That's why we're so far off the path. I'm Adamai."
Princess sat stubbornly. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here if you need me. Eva, stay here with me."
Cra lady, Eva, shrugged, "I guess I'm staying as well."
Iop man wiped the puke from his mouth. "I'm staying." He barfed again.
The Enutrofs made no sign that they were leaving. The one with the smaller shovel spoke, "Yugo, maybe we shouldn't help, I mean we're almost to Prisima and…"
"Dad, something tells me that this is something Ad and I have to do. We'll be fine." Yugo said confidently.
Alin was confused again. But no matter; it was time to find Nila. They set off, weaving in between the trees, shouting. Adamai seemed determined. He had slowed, listening intently. "What are you doing?"
"I heard something from… that way." The dragon turned and stepped quietly toward a dense clump of bushes skirting a tree. "Here. This is where it came from," he said.
"Nila?" Alin shouted up the tree. "It's me, Alin. Are you up there?"
"Why would you care if I were up here or not?" a familiar voice answered. "I thought you hated me. Wait, who's down there with you?" An upside-down head popped from the thick canopy of leaves. Her hat was a little smudged and tear stains ran down her face. She sniffed.
"Nila! Ogrest's chaos, Mama and I were worried!" Alin grinned. Then he remembered his companions. "This is Adamai and Yugo, and they helped me find you." They waved weakly, shocked by the incredible similarity of the siblings.
Adamai recovered first. "Are you twins?" he asked. They nodded then continued their conversation.
Nila dropped from the tree, landed in her portal then came out feet first from another. "I thought you hated me," she repeated, crossing her arms.
Alin seemed unimpressed. "You practiced that portal thing," he said flatly.
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Nila said indigently.
Alin shrugged, "Anyway, I never hated you. I just got angry." Nila knew exactly the shame in letting one's emotions run wild.
"Sorry for trying to blast you," Nila apologized sheepishly. Adamai and Yugo exchanged a look of shock.
"Sorry for causing you to run away and get lost," Alin replied.
"Hate to break up the reunion, but speaking of lost," Yugo glanced around the forest, "Where are we?"
The twins had no clue.
