I can't actually believe I'm writing this much. Seriously unnatural.
Must be my complete love for Vesperia. 3 Not to mention tweaking it. It's such a challenge and I LOVE challenges~
…I seem happier than normal. Today is abnormal.
Taking StarGuy's advice (I'm thinking of everyone's advice, don't worry) I've attempted to make this chapter a little longer. Hopefully, I managed.
Chapter six, they FINALLY leave the castle. NO MORE DESCRIPTIONS OF HALLWAYS AND EMPTINESS, DEERGOD YESH.
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6 – Secret Passage
Estelle couldn't help but hold back a giggle anytime Yuri asked about the goddess. It made her feel accomplished to know something he didn't. Given, she had no idea why. 'But as the saying goes "ignorance is bliss"'.
Someway or another, the two managed to wander their way on to a balcony like structure. It curved around the top of a circular room. Feeling relieved, Estelle was glad it wasn't another empty hallway. She had to wonder to herself, 'Is it a law to make a castle big for no reason…?'
Opening her thoughts again, a blast of sound came rushing to her ears. Yelling, battling, feet running, words here and there finishing others' sentences…It was so loud Estelle had to cover her ears. This attracted a look from Yuri.
That often happened when she did that. Somehow she developed a habit of blocking out all sound when she was thinking. When she stopped thinking, it all came in at once. She had tried to get better at letting the sound in gradually, but that was one thing she never did achieve.
Ears recovered, Estelle moved her hands only to hear Leblanc shout, "Estellise Heurassin! Show yourself!" voluntarily, she put her hands back to her ears. Not now. If he shouted her name now, somehow, by her absolutely horrible luck, she'd get blamed for the fight. 'Add that to the list…'
Behind her, Yuri smiled. "Today just isn't your day, is it?"
Blinking, Estelle realised that last comment she had said aloud. "Um…well. I guess you could say it's 'one of those days.'" Blushing, she quickly changed the topic. "Do you think this commotion was caused by that Zagi character?"
Nodding, Yuri agreed. Estelle waited for him to say something, but nothing came. It was strange just how quiet he actually was. To her he seemed like the loud type. 'People make mistakes, I guess.'
Breaking the silence above the commotion, Estelle turned and suggested that they get a move-on before they were noticed. Yuri nodded again. Starting to leave, one of the torn bits of his clothing got caught under his foot. Tripping, he caught himself, one hand on the floor. …One hand over another torn piece of cloth.
Noticing this, Estelle said, "That's not good. If we were to be chased I don't know how I'd feel about leaving you behind. After you trip that is." She felt like she was being a bit harsh, but with the way he was, Yuri wouldn't change if she said anything else. After a slight pause, she added, "Not to mention you look indecent."
Quickly getting up and taking a few steps, Yuri quietly stated, "My room's just up ahead. I have some other clothes there." When he passed by, Estelle swore she saw a tinge of red in his cheeks.
With the nearly identical hallways, it took awhile to final find the white door to Yuri's room. "Here it is." Taking the door handle, he looked back and said…something. Estelle wasn't paying attention. She was too busy looking at all those books that lay beyond the door.
Books were her life, she read one everyday. Nothing was as fulfilling as closing the back cover on to the last sentence on the page. Another story told, another to be opened. There were at least 40 books in the shelf she glimpsed at. No doubt there was more. Before she could search with her eyes, the door closed.
They were probably books she hadn't even read. A new story was the best story. Good books were fun to read again, but nothing could beat being surprised. Forgetting what else, or who else, was behind the door she went up to it. Surprising her, Yuri opened the door, nearly hitting her face.
He looked slightly started himself, rosy in the cheeks again. "Um, hi. Flynn warned me that you often wander off. Just…don't do that here." Closing the door, he left Estelle to wonder why he'd blushed.
Going over what had just happened, she realized what it had looked like. She felt the blood rush to her face as she thought of her conclusion. 'He…he thought I was…'
'…peeking.'
Leaning against the wall, Estelle had a small conversation with herself. 'No…oh no. That's not what I'm like…Maybe I was just too close…and…and he was so startled that…' shaking her head, she knew she was wrong. 'No…it definitely looked like…but he knows…he doesn't…Stupid, stupid, stupid.' Mentally she counted. 'Around five. Five things today I've been blamed for…'
She heard the door open. She had been thinking. 'What do you know. I'm getting better.'
Yuri glanced at her when she looked at him. He looked different. His hair was in a lone pony that hung low. His sleeves were long and almost covered the blastia he was wearing on his left wrist. Wearing a somewhat tuxedo over a black coat it looked…noble. Estelle felt the need to be polite.
Holding out her hand, Yuri reluctantly took it. Shaking it, he said, "Nice to meet you, too." It didn't sound like he meant it, but it was a start.
Smiling, Estelle turned to face a nearby exit. An exit of the chamber of course. "Time to find the goddess."
They had made a lucky choice. Leading straight to it, the hall they had just walked through was now Estelle's favourite. Would she ever find it again? Probably not.
The 'goddess' was right in the middle of the room. Estelle had been confused about what the Krityian had meant by 'goddess', but it made sense now as she stared at the statue. Made of a blue substance, it really was beautiful. It did feel godly. Whoever had made it really knew their trade. Only one more confusion remained: How to get beneath it?
Walking over to the statue Yuri examined it. Estelle went over and joined him. Coming up with nothing, she asked him, "How do you think we can get beneath it?"
Thinking for a while, Yuri finally walked up to one of the statue's sides. "Maybe we could move it and there'd be a…secret passage, or something."
Estelle looked at the statue. It didn't seem like it would hold a secret like that. But the chances were high. "You don't think…"
Grabbing the side, Yuri finished. "We won't know until we try." Estelle stopped him, much to his surprise. She felt like she had to prove herself. As she did with any guy. They all had to realise that she wasn't 'just a girl.' "I'll move it!"
Moving back, he silently agreed. At least that's the way it seemed. Before attempting to move it, Estelle took another look at the statue. Secrets like this were always outside the box.
…Box.
She looked down at the box shapes on the floor. They were all three colors each, having two borders each a different color and then the square in the middle. All of them had that design. All, but one.
Standing on the one different square, Estelle grabbed the statue as Yuri had just a few seconds earlier. Pulling, the statue was lighter than she had thought, and it slid into place. On top of the square, beside the hole.
Looking at her accomplishment, she kneeled down and checked the ladder. Getting up, she glanced at Yuri. "I'm going down, how about you?"
"Do you even need to ask?"
Feeling confident, Estelle headed for the hole, stopping when Yuri grabbed her left arm. "Huh? Is something wrong? …Not coming?"
Shaking his head, he looked at her arm closely. She realised he was looking at the wound from before. It had stopped bleeding and wasn't as bad as before, but it still wasn't good. Noticing the wound, the pain came back. Biting her lip wasn't necessary this time. Calmly turning it, Yuri said, "Just a minute. I'll take a look at it."
Saying that, a magic circle appeared under him. It was the same as before. This time, however, he wasn't chanting. Recalling something she read, Estelle remembered there was a reason for that. Battle often required more concentrated magic, that required saying the chant aloud. Out of battle, the user could simply think.
Slightly in awe of the display again, Estelle wanted to see the blastia's process of this feat. The magic circled disappeared and light surrounded her wound, healing it completely. She continued to stare at the blastia. '…Huh?'
Instinctively she grabbed his arm trying to get a better look, but Yuri pulled it back surprised and stuttered, "H-Hey!"
Flustered, Estelle quickly replied. "I-I'm so sorry! I just never saw a blastia like that…I-I wasn't thinking."
Seeming to believe the lie, Yuri replied, "…If you say so."
Desperate to get off the topic, Estelle took a few steps toward the hole. "My arm feels better though. …Thanks." Accepting his nod as a 'You're welcome,' she looked at the hole again. "A-Anyway, we should be going."
Climbing down the ladder, Estelle looked around what seemed to be sewers. The looked much like the castle halls. You could see the entire layout, however, making it easier to navigate the winding paths.
Yuri drew his sword. Wondering why, Estelle noticed a pack of monsters headed their way. The monsters looked like inflated mice. Not very threatening, but she remembered to not judge a book by it's cover, and books were her life.
Taking in her surroundings, Estelle noticed more of the rodent creatures off to the side. "Yuri, look out! They're coming this way, too!" by this time, she herself had drawn her sword and shield.
The monsters somewhat surrounded them, but that didn't matter. This was one of those cases where the cover tells everything about the book. In this case, a simply weak monster.
It didn't take long at all to get rid of the monsters. Neither of the two was very hurt either. Barely even a scratch.
Continuing on their way, every now and again they had to situate boxes so they could get through. This wasn't hard in the least. A few more mice attacked as well. Estelle felt a bit bad for them. Monsters weren't easily knocked out, they usually had to be killed. She felt bad because it was so easy.
Finally arriving at the ladder, Yuri showed some courtesy and let Estelle go first. "Ladies first." He'd said, smugly. Estelle frowned at him. 'Catches on fast…' they'd only known each other for a few hours, and he already knew her pet peeve.
Shining down, the sun had just made it's way between two clouds. It was already morning. She'd wasted a whole day just getting out of the castle.
Her mood wasn't all bad, however. They had made it out of the castle. They could finally go and find Flynn. She couldn't help but feel happy at that fact. Feeling so happy, she raised her hand and faced Yuri. "It's good to finally be out."
Staring at it quizzically, Yuri questioned her, "What's that?"
"Huh…? Oh, it's a high-five. It means, 'Way to go! We did it!' …Or something like that. All depends on the situation."
Walking up to her hand, he raised his. Poking her's with his lone index finger he asked, "…Like this?"
She was quiet for a few seconds before failing to suppress a laugh. "Y-Yeah…hehe…Exactly like that."
Turning and sighing, Yuri mumbled. "This is why I hate new things."
Heading down the road, Estelle beckoned to Yuri. It was time to leave home. Time to leave the capital.
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…1,921 by word count
DARN, so close.
Well, here's some skits since Yuri has technically joined the party. If there's any 'conditions' for upcoming skits, I'll post them.
Yuri is normal, Estelle is italic.
Not so Noble
Yuri? Can I ask you a question?
Sure. What is it?
Well, you seem different from other nobles I've met. You seem…friendly.
Friendly? …do I really come off like that?
Yes. I think you're very kind.
Is that so? Well, I guess it's because I've met nobles and residents from the lower quarter before. The nobles seemed pretty stuck up. I just didn't want to end up like that.
Really? So…You've been out of the castle before?
I can't have spent my entire life here, could I?
N-No…I guess not.
Misunderstanding
Um, I'm…sorry about before.
Sorry about…what?
Well…back at your room.
I'm still not getting where you're coming from.
Huh? Well…I mean…When I…
Just spit it out if it's eating you.
When…When I was…
Huh? …I didn't hear that last part.
PEEKING! When I was peeking! I-I!
You were peeking…? –scoots to the side- And here I thought you were just looking at the door's design.
The door's…? Wait! I mean…! It only seemed like I was peeking! I thought that's what you thought!
Um…Sure, Estellise. –leaves the skit area-
No! Things aren't supposed to end up like this!
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Hope you enjoyed the skits and chapter~
A little note, I probably won't update so much for the entire story. At the beginning I just write like crazy, so…Yeah. And also, for skits, the max per chapter is going to be three.