Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Mana, Secret of
Mana, and all of their characters.
Squaresoft does. ::glares evilly
at the Japanese Game Developing Company.::
Author's Note:
I'm sorry if any of you were confused with Chapter 3's beginning. In the game Secret of Mana, the game told
the story of the Mana Tribe, where the women became one with the Mana Tree and
the men fought using the Mana Sword. I
just thought I could take that and spice up Legend of Mana a bit. ^^;
Oh! And for those
who are wondering… the red-haired,
blue-eyed "Mana Knight" is indeed Randi, the main male character from Secret of
Mana ^_^. He probably won't make
another appearance in this story again.
Unless of course, you readers want him to.
Chapter 4: Greenball Buns and Living Dreams
For the first time in many, many days, Reia woke up from a
completely dreamless sleep. The
haunting dreams had finally stopped torturing her at night and the second she
opened her eyes, a smile crossed over her lips. Finally! A full night's rest
without a single nightmare! As she
lifted herself out of bed, the blonde Mana Guardian could faintly hear two
voices arguing in childish tones...
"I'm the Number One apprentice!"
"You?! You've got
to be kidding me. I'm the Number One
apprentice!"
"No way!! It's
definitely me!"
"Ha! As if Reia
would pick someone who tried to take over the world with pumpkins."
Reia shook her head a bit while she changed out of her
sleeping garments. Bud and Lisa were
already awake? Having those two
troublemakers around would take some getting used to... She had given them their own room within her
house. It was an old room she barely
used, with two beds and ancient, but sturdy furniture. The place was filled with dust and cobwebs
and Reia actually had to jumped back when she first opened the door because of
the clouds of dust bunnies that came spilling out. She and the elves had to clean the room out and replace the old,
moth-bitten blankets that sat on the beds.
When they finished sprucing up the place, the elves quickly settled in
and felt right at home, freely adjusting the room to their liking.
After changing, Reia peered at Li'l Cactus and it struck her
that she hadn't gone out and brought the little guy a gift like she
promised. Walking closer, Reia peered
at her friend apologetically. "I'm
sorry I didn't bring you anything yesterday.
Those two tricksters made me forget about why I was even traveling
around. I promise I'll bring you
something this time. Is there anything
in particular you want me bring you?"
Li'l Cactus pondered this question for a moment before he
answered in a sprightly fashion.
"Something green!"
Reia smiled and giggled a bit at the cactus' answer. With a nod, she promised the cactus that she
would indeed bring him something green.
Taking up her traveling bag and her spear, she gave each of the elves
some breakfast and told them to watch the "fort" while she went off
to shop for supplies.
The trip from her home to the town was a short one and soon
Reia was making her way towards the Dominian Market, humming softly as she
went. It made the her feel wonderful to
walk amongst the townsfolk. It felt
like a glorious privilege to have finally discovered Domina and to walk amongst
its people made her feel as if she was in Heaven.
Looking around at the buildings and houses around her, the
young Mana Guardian didn't even see the rock that was sitting so inconveniently
in her way…
"W-whoa!"
Panicking, Reia felt herself trip over the rock, lose her
balance, and fall forward as her arms flailed about for something to hold on
to. The traveling bag that carried her
artifacts fell from her side and spilled out the Stone Eye and the Firefly Lamp
as it hit the ground. Her spear landed
somewhere to the side and just as she was about to land face-first into the
dirt, someone hastily reached out and caught her.
Reia blinked, a confused expression lurking over those
delicate features. Someone... caught
her…?
A strong, powerful pair of arms held her protectively, yet
gently, as if she were something precious and fragile that should be handled
with care. She shifted a bit, realizing
that for some strange reason, she felt safe and warm in these arms. ...But why this person...? What about this person made her feel this
way...?
Reia gazed at the hands that caught her and her confusion
mounted…
Red gloves…? Where
had seen those before…? They looked so
familiar somehow...
Those hands suddenly released her, as if embarrassed for
holding a complete stranger so intimately.
"Are you alright…?"
A smooth, quiet male voice came from this stranger. A voice that was calm and rather pleasant to
the ear...
-That voice... I
know I've heard it somewhere before.-
Lifting up those beautiful green eyes, Reia was almost
afraid to see who this enigmatic stranger was.
Thousands of thoughts were whirling around her head like a tornado and
nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to see...
-No, it... it
couldn't be...-
Standing before her, like some imaginary figure brought to
life, was the mysterious wanderer of her dreams. Reckless locks of light brown hair crowned his head and framed
his handsome face. Those wild tresses
of hair were a bit bleached from traveling out in the scorching sun and made
his hair take on a blonde color that was just a few shades darker than
Reia's. His icy, crystalline blue eyes
glowed and sparkled like precious gems, yet they were both empty and
emotionless.
It was that emptiness in his eyes that baffled Reia a
bit. In all of her encounters with him,
those eyes were always beautiful yet melancholy, continuously carrying within
them a tremendous amount of pain that Reia could almost feel just by looking at
them. Why were they so blank
now...? Did his emotions wither away to
dust...? Or did he finally recover from
the pain he felt?
Though they had their obvious similarities, this mystery
figure and Reia were almost like opposites.
While Reia looked like a sweet, loving girl that would never be found in
the middle of a combat zone, the blonde man had a very cold and battle-hardened
look about him. Muscles rippled through
his clothing causing the cloth to shift with each little movement. Armor was fit on his body here and there,
consisting of gold, steel, and leather.
He had on a loose pair of sparsely decorated, mist-blue pants that were
designed so that he could move about quickly with ease. Long, crimson, work gloves were on his hands
and partially extended up his arms.
Thick, white cord crisscrossed through those gloves so that they could
be tightened or loosened whenever he desired.
A simple red cap was on his head to warm his head in chilly weather and
keep his head cool in scorching heat.
It had very little decoration except for five white feathers that came
up from the center where a single green gem had been fitted in.
While Reia always tried to keep a smile on her face and keep
to a more jovial demeanor, this young man's face was like a blank mask, void of
all emotion and feeling. He didn't
smile or drop a single hint to how he was feeling. Reia was beginning to wonder if this truly was the same blonde
warrior who had softly pleaded with her in the land of dreams...
A heavy-looking, two-handed sword lay on the ground at his
side. The youth must have dropped it
there so that he could use both hands to catch Reia as she fell. Just by looking at it, Reia knew there was
no way she could even think about handing that such a weapon, much less fight
with it. To wield a two-handed sword
with skill and ease, one had to be very strong and while Reia was a pretty
powerful young girl, she still didn't have the strength to effectively use the
two-handed sword in a way that would help her vanquish monsters. The one this man carried looked extra heavy
and was made from a strange material that she couldn't even recognize. It was a quite impressive-looking
weapon. Shining in the sun like a
sparkling diamond, the blade gleamed in the sunlight and had a gem fastened to
its pommel. It was a bright green stone
that blazed with a purity cleaner than water.
All the materials that the sword was crafted from looked extremely rare
and unique. It was obvious that he must
have traveled far and wide to gain the materials for it.
"Are you alright...?" The stranger repeated his question again, snapping Reia out of
her train of thought.
Smiling brightly at the handsome young man, the Guardian of
Mana spoke in a friendly, amicable voice, struggling to keep her voice
steady. "I'm alright. I think my pride is a bit damaged, but I'm
sure it'll be fine. Thank you for
catching me. I should have paid more
attention to where I was going." As she
spoke, a part of her was trembling...
Emotionless or not, he still looked exactly like the person calling out
to her within her dreams… -It's a
coincidence... That's all... He couldn't possibly be the same
person. Dreams just aren't real.. Dreams never have any truth in them...-
As two of them crouched down to gather up Reia's things, the
blonde youth paused for a moment when he picked up the Stone Eye... He stared at it as if he knew of the great
power that the artifact held within it and then glanced over at the Reia with
his crystal blue irises. The male
warrior couldn't help but feel that there was something different about this
girl. He wasn't quite sure what it was,
but there was only one way for him to find out...
Handing the object back to its owner, the blonde warrior
spoke hesitantly. Carefully choosing his words as the both of them stood back
up again. "My name is Syrian. I don't believe I've ever seen you around
here before… Are you new to Domina…?"
The Mana Guardian nodded cheerfully, her sparkling green
eyes peering up at Syrian's brilliant blue ones. "My name is Reia. I
visited this town for the first time a few days ago. It was such an amazing experience that I keep on visiting
everyday. There are so many friendly
people here and the town itself is a beautiful place to walk around in."
A small smile appeared on Syrian's face as he nodded. He liked this girl. She had a sort of blaring innocence about
her and a positive outlook at everything…
Two things that he had lost a long, long time ago… "It's nice to see that someone appreciates
my hometown… I'm glad you like it
here."
Reia brightened and her eyes lit up with delight. "You live here?! It must be wonderful!" Suddenly a flash of green caught her eye and
she noticed the green tunic-wearing, rabbit merchant that she had bumped into a
few days ago in front of the Pub. He
was heading towards the market where most of the merchants usually sold their
wares. Green… Didn't Li'l Cactus say he wanted something green…? Perhaps the merchants at the marketplace
would have something for her to buy...
Looking back towards Syrian, Reia thanked him again for catching her and
waved to him politely as she started to head towards the market. "I have to be going now. It was a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps we'll bump into each other again
some day. Goodbye!"
Syrian nodded his head in a silent farewell as he watched
her walk off toward the market. For
some odd reason, he could feel some strange feeling stir within him. Reia was such a unusual girl… so happy and
optimistic... He had never met someone
quite like her before.
Lifting up his two-handed sword off the ground, Syrian
wondered to himself, as he sheathed the massive blade, just how long such a
brilliant happiness would last in the decadent world it was placed in…
* * *
Making her way into the market, Reia walked around slowly,
eyeing all of the objects and little trinkets set up within the booths that the
merchants had set up. All of the
merchants had interesting things to sell yet none of them had what she was
looking for. None of the objects were
entirely green. The sunny blonde girl
wanted something that was same color as Li'l Cactus and was unique only to the
world outside her property.
Finally she noticed the strange rabbit peddler again with
his long floppy ears and his huge straw sombrero. The jolly merchant noticed Reia as well and grinned as he bowed
to her extravagantly, hoping that his good manners would help snag him another
customer. "My name's Niccolo. I'm a traveling merchant. But the highway is full of bandits and it's
too dangerous to leave town. Don't you
think so?"
Shaking her head, the blonde fighter knew she could easily
decimate any shifty little bandit with her spear. She had battled monsters and huge, raging, cave beasts! Bandits couldn't possibly be much
worse. "Bandits are the worst type of
scum, but they don't pose much of a threat to me. I'd be happy to help you get rid of them if you like."
Niccolo brightened.
He needed to be able to pass through the highway to reach other towns
and villages. While Domina was a nice,
quaint little town, he knew there were bigger fish to fry. The city called Geo was a perfect example of
a place he could quickly rake in the Lucre.
The place was crawling with customers just waiting to have their wallets
drained. This offer of help was a
chance he couldn't afford to lose. "How
brave of you. I can't do business with
those highwaymen about. Let's go teach
those bandits a lesson."
After a moment, the merchant quickly added, just incase Reia
was having second thoughts about helping him out. "Once we're done, you'll be well rewarded. I'll make you rich. So what do you say?"
Reia was about to decline the offer for money and get rid of
the bandits for free when she noticed how light her money pouch was. Bud and Lisa had drained the Lucre out of
her yesterday night when they went on an all-out feeding frenzy.
Yep… Lucre would be nice right about now… Who knows?
With the extra money, she could by Li'l Cactus something really
nice.
"Alright, I wouldn't mind gaining an extra bit of
Lucre..." Reia nodded as she smiled at
the crafty little merchant.
"You're quite a mercenary!
I like people who know the value of money. I still need to stop and see Teapo. Come with me."
Following after Niccolo, Reia told the rabbit merchant her
name and found herself walking into the shopkeeper's home. It was a warm and comfortable place. Mark the shopkeeper was sitting rather
contentedly in his armchair and there was a toasty fireplace crackling in front
of him. Hopping about nearby was Teapo,
a magical creature that greatly resembled a giant teapot brought to life. It appeared to be female and when it saw
Niccolo waltz in with his usual cheer, the living teapot turned towards him and
called to the merchant in its loud, accented voice.
"Why, it's Niccolo!
'Allo guv! How 'ave ye
been?! 'Ave ye got anything good for me
today?"
Niccolo grinned cheekily, and was suddenly in full merchant
mode as he went to work, swindling his customer. "Actually, I have a splendid item today, but I just can't let it
go."
Teapo pouted as she frowned unhappily at the shrewd
peddler. "Oi, Niccolo, yore just tryin'
to rile me up!"
Flashing Teapo an extra merry smile, Niccolo pulled out a
plain-looking wheel from his pack.
There didn't seem to be anything special about it. It was made entirely of wood and looked as
if it had simply fallen off an ancient, broken-down wagon. "This is it. It's a wheel I picked up off the highway."
The magical teapot eyed the wheel, unimpressed. "Hmm…
It looks like a regular ol' wheel to me…"
Turning away, the merchant stiffly started to walk towards
the door as if he had been insulted. He
spoke clearly in a flat tone of voice.
"Fine. I'm going. You're right. This is just an old wheel.
Nothing special."
Reia felt relieved.
She was afraid that Teapo would actually be stupid enough to buy
the old wheel. It disgusted her to see
Niccolo try and con the strange creature...
Unfortunately, Reia's relief was shattered when she heard Teapo shout to
the sly peddler hurriedly. " 'Ang on
then, guv! Even I can tell it ain't no
regular wheel! I'll take it! How much do you want for it?"
Niccolo turned back towards the teapot and answered in an
insanely casual way. "50,000 Lucre."
Reia's jaw dropped and the room was enveloped in silence
before Teapo spoke to Niccolo in a soft, quiet voice. "Niccolo... you're a wee too proud for yore own good…"
Her voice rose a few notches as she shouted at him. "Nothing costs that much! S'truth!"
Niccolo simply shrugged at her as if the price he demanded
was only chump change. "Bring me 50,000
Lucre. Until then…"
The crafty merchant glanced around slowly until his squinty
eyes settled on Reia and he grinned broadly.
"I'll let Reia use it!"
Reluctantly taking the wheel into her hands, the Mana
Guardian was about to peg Niccolo in the head with it when suddenly her hands
tingled with a familiar magic…
-This wheel… is an artifact…?-
Teapo watched Reia take hold of the wheel and blubbered at
Niccolo in a desperate voice. "Niccolo,
you're the bleedin' worst!! I'll cop
the money, so please, let me 'ave it."
The sly peddler grinned broadly at the living teapot and
waved as he started to walk out the door.
"I'll be back."
Teapo pouted furiously and shouted at the merchant as Reia
and Niccolo left the house. "Bloody
'eartless!!"
As the two of them stepped out of Domina, Niccolo blinked
and surveyed the blank landscape. A
puzzled look was on his face.
"Hrm... that's funny... The
Highway was there just seconds ago..."
Smirking inwardly, Reia took one step forward, threw the old
Wheel a good distance away, and watched it plummet to the earth.
Niccolo was about to question why she had just chucked his
50,000 Lucre Wheel when suddenly the wheel bounced as if it were made of
rubber. Reia and Niccolo watched as the
wheel bounced up and down, higher and higher, causing a black and grey mist to
whirl outwards like a thick, dark blanket.
In mere seconds the Luon Highway erupted where there was once
nothingness and one could hear the chimes of magic as tiny purple sparkles
began to float down towards the earth.
Niccolo turned and stared at Reia for a moment before throwing up his
hands and shaking his head. "I'm not
going to ask... Let's just go."
Giggling, the Guardian of Mana nodded and headed into the
highway with Niccolo. The whistling of
a strong wind could be heard blowing against the rocky canyons and the dusty
roads that made up the Luon Highway.
Blinking, Reia noticed a familiar person standing in the middle of the
path where the Luon Highway started.
She wore a sparkling white dress, had long, light brown hair… and
appeared to have a shimmering pearl core on her chest…
"Pearl…?" Reia took
a step towards the gentle little Jumi, realizing that she was probably lost… again.
Pearl glanced about fearfully, not noticing Reia standing
beside her. "W-where am I? Elazul…?"
She turned and blinked, seeing the Mana Guardian alongside her instead
of the Lapis Lazuli Knight. It took her
a moment to recognize the blonde girl and when she did, the Jumi Princess
flushed with embarrassment. "Oh,
Reia! Um, I…I got lost again… I wonder where Elazul could be…"
Niccolo snorted and shook his head. "I bet that troublemaker is causing an
uproar in Domina by now."
Pearl cringed and pulled back when she heard Niccolo's words
and then turned towards Reia again. "By
the way... What is this place?"
"It's a highway."
The Guardian of Mana answered.
She silently decided that it would be best for her to take Pearl back to
Elazul rather than let the Jumi Princess wander off on her own again.
Glancing around curiously, Pearl spoke in her soft, shy
voice. "A… highway? Oh…"
The lost princess started heading further down the road as
she spoke to herself quietly, getting lost within her thoughts again. "Maybe I should go see what's over there…"
The princess then paused and turned around to walk out of
the Luon area instead, continuing her soft, inward talk. "Or…maybe over here…"
"Pearl! Wait! Stop!"
Reia called after her only to see that the Jumi had somehow vanished
without a trace... -No wonder Elazul
told her to stop thinking! She's so
involved with her thoughts that she doesn't notice anything else and wanders
off.-
Giving up on the idea of bringing Pearl back to Elazul, Reia
resumed her hunt for the bandits along with Niccolo. Duelle the Onion Warrior was wandering around and Reia managed to
have a little chitchat with the tiny boy about battle skills and tactics before
continuing down the rocky path.
The highway was crawling with monsters of all kinds. Black chocobos, rabites, lullabuds, spiny
cones… all sorts of strange creatures
danced around, attacking the two travelers in groups of three or four. Reia easily cleared the monsters out of her
way and was surprised to see that Niccolo was exceptionally good at battling
off monsters as well. Together, the
both of them cleaved their way through the highway of fiends until they hit a
fork in the road.
Reia had stopped to look at a strange golden statue of a
sprite that had been on the side of the road, when she noticed a female warrior
standing around where the highway split into two different paths. The warrior had a cat-like appearance was
dressed in a protective outfit that was common amongst female temple
guards. Her well-groomed fur was a
dusty brown that was a few shades darker than Niccolo's and her eyes were a
deep shade of sapphire blue. A rather
large, round object that closely resembled a cat's bell, dangled from her neck
and onto her chest. Her velvety feline
ears had earrings with tiny little cat's bells on them as well and in her hands
were two flails that looked like they had gone through several battles with
her. The feline fighter canted her head
a bit, watching Reia with a slightly hopeful expression on her face before
introducing herself.
"Hello, I am Daena of Gato.
Did you come to see one of the seven wisdoms?"
Before Reia could answer, Niccolo dashed over to the feline,
starry-eyed. "WOW!! What cute ears!! We were meant to be together!!"
Blinking at the strange peddler for a moment, Daena looked
at Niccolo only for a moment before saying rather indifferently, "Excuse me, I
wasn't talking to you."
"……..." Niccolo
immediately clammed up and turned away, trying to salvage his damaged
pride.
"Daena of Gato…?
What is Gato?" Reia looked
questioningly at Daena, ignoring Niccolo's soft grumbling about how cruel
people were.
"I come from the Gato Grottoes. It is a small town that's only few days walk from here. There is a ancient temple there that is
famous for healing the wounded." The
feline temple guard answered softly, reminiscing over the painful events that
had just occurred in her hometown.
Daena loved the Gato Grottoes.
It was a peaceful area, carved into stone and filled with the blessings
of the Mana Spirits. No matter how far
she traveled or where she went, Daena always carried a love for her home within
her soul…yet lately… things were not running very smoothly over there and now
she had come seeking Gaeus for advice...
Reia nodded slowly at the answer before switching her
thoughts to Daena's question on meeting one of the seven wisdoms. Reia had once read about the Wisdoms who were
basically described as immortal beings that with intelligence unsurpassed by
anyone else in Fa'Diel. She didn't
really believe they existed, but since Daena spoke of them... maybe they did exist after all. "You said something about a wisdom... There's
a wisdom somewhere around here?"
Daena nodded and then turned towards the path that led to
the right. "Yes, Gaeus of Earth is what
he is called, and he should be near here… but I feel as though I shouldn't ask
him the truth…"
The Mana Guardian was about to ask why when Niccolo nudged
her from behind. "Hey! I think the bandits are over this way!"
Saying their goodbyes, the two female warriors wished each
other good luck as Reia followed Niccolo to the "Great Rift" side of the
canyon.
It wasn't long before the two of them met with a two
money-grubbing bandits, screeching for money.
One of them jabbered on in a hyperactive, greedy voice that made Reia
want to nail him with her spear.
"Hey hey hey!! Hand
over da cash! Cash cash cash!!!!"
Smirking at them, the Guardian of Mana pitched a piece of
candy at one of them instead of the expected Lucre. This only made the two bandits absolutely furious and one of them
howled at her insanely.
"RRAAARRR!! Oh yeah!? Oh yeah?!
Oh yeah?!?!!!?! GRRRRR!!!!!!"
Niccolo shook his head at the bandits scornfully. "These guys are mad for money. I can't stand them…"
"MASTER!!"
The two bandits started to hop about wildly as they waved their bows and
arrows over their heads. "Come get
rid of these guys!!"
As if on cue, a huge Mantis Ant swooped down from above,
knocking the two brigands off their feet and clear off the highway. Niccolo gulped and stepped back meekly,
taking notice of the Mantis' massive size and sharp, pointy claws... "He... doesn't look very friendly does
he...?"
*CRASH!*
Thrusting down its razor sharp limb, the savage insect
hissed loudly as it pierced its claw into the earth just inches from where Reia
was standing. The blond girl stared at
the claw wide eyed, before hastily leaping back to get away. Niccolo blinked and mused as he backed away
some more. "Nope, not friendly at
all."
Narrowing her eyes at the vicious creature, Reia clashed her
spear against the Mantis' hard, armor-like skin... only for the spear's blade
to bounce right off the monster's rock-hard shell. -Uh oh...-
*VOOSH!!*
Reia let out a small cry as the insect-like creature smashed
its limb down against the earth and knocked her off her feet with a blast of
blue energy. She landed flat on her
back and found herself staring at the razor-sharp edge of the Mantis'
claw. Raising the jagged claw upwards,
the Mantis Ant was about to slice its victim into pieces when Niccolo came
springing in from out of nowhere to sock the monster in the face with his
powerful hind legs. The crafty merchant
then back-flipped and landed a good distance away from the beast as he flashed
it a mocking, taunting smile.
The bug-like monster stood dazed for a moment before it
roared with anger and came rushing towards Niccolo snarling. The sly merchant simply grinned broadly and
pulled out a rather large treasure chest.
"You seem like a sensible monster.
Why don't I just give you this chest of Lucre and we'll call it a truce...? Consider it a gift from me to you."
Setting the chest down, Niccolo bolted away as rapidly as he
could while the Mantis Ant prodded open the "gift"...
A loud, thunderous booming sound ripped through the air and
nearly deafened those who heard it as it resounded off the sides of the canyon
sitting next to the highway. The earsplitting
explosion sent the monster reeling backwards, with a roar. It's hard, rock-like skin was now greatly
weakened and it didn't take long for Reia to dart forward and teach the dear
monster a thing or two about what happens when you accept gifts from strangers...
After a few skillfully executed special attacks, Reia drove
her spear deep into the monster's body just as Niccolo vaulted off the ground
and thwacked the monster in the face again with a lightning-packed kick. The Mantis persisted, madly swinging its
claws toward Niccolo as it struggled to survive. Reia jerked her spear from the monster's battered body and
whirled it expertly over her head before dealing it a destructive finishing
blow to the chest. The Mantis Ant stumbled backwards in defeat and after a loud
moan of pain, began to vanish in a blinding flash of light.
Niccolo smiled merrily at Reia as the monster
disappeared. "Wonderful... I knew you could do it."
He took a step closer, rummaging through his wares to find
something appropriate to award the Mana Guardian with. "Thank you. You really are something else.
I'll make you rich. Just a
moment."
Pulling out a few objects, Niccolo gave Reia his usual,
cheesy-merchant grin. "An iron
pot, a greenball bun, and a tako bug... Normally costing 3,000 Lucre, it can be
yours for only 300."
Reia blinked down at the objects in her hands as Niccolo
handed them over to her.
That was it...?! She
had fought a giant, hulking beast and almost lost her life for an iron pot, a
bun and some little bug?!
The Mana Guardian sighed.
Well what did she really expect from a merchant like Niccolo?
The peddler continued to rummage through his things until he
pulled out a strange medallion and an unusual object that resembled a blazing
fire. "Oh, and take this
too... I don't really know what they
are, but I'm sure you'll find a use for them."
Taking the other two items, Reia was glad to know that they
were both artifacts, but she still felt quite cheated. Where was the Lucre?
Niccolo blinked at Reia and then flashed her a radiant
smile. "What are you frowning
at? Smile! Let the world know you're happy!
After all, I am a merchant. I
want to make my customers happy. I
enjoy life, and you should too. Well...
adios!"
Walking away slowly, the merchant paused for a moment to say
"Smile!" before dashing off speedily, realizing he could finally
travel to other towns now that the highway was clear.
Shaking her head, the Guardian of Mana unhappily started to
walk back to her home. She was too
tired to go shopping again and it appeared that she would have to go home
without a gift for Li'l Cactus again... or would she?
The second she entered the house and walked into her room,
Li'l Cactus was waiting for her. He lit
up like a little light bulb and dashed towards Reia happily as he reached
towards her with his spiny arms.
"Green Bun!"
Reia gave the cactus a blank look. "Green Bun...?"
Looking down at her hands, the blonde warrior realized she
was still holding the Greenball bun that Niccolo had given her.
It came from the outside world.
It was green.
And it was...
"Perfect!"
Li'l Cactus nodded joyously as Reia gently handed over the Greenball
Bun...
Author's Note:
Sorry this took so long to come out!!
I didn't like this chapter at all.
There was always something wrong with it and I just know I'll find
billions of mistakes when I post this up.
-_-;; If you find any errors
please tell me! Thanks for reading!!
Oh... and did you ever notice that the male character is
NEVER smiling in ANY of the pictures of him?
The female character is all smiles while the male character isn't a very
happy camper.
