A/N: This is a long chapter! Bear with me here, I was inspired! lol
Rhea had been wondering about it, for a while now, the possibility of letting Pearl stay with her for a few weeks, and Elazul too, but this one seemed to need a shorter stay. Both Bud and Lisa were quick in agreeing, but it was her house, she'd make the final decision.
Her mind and body were cured from the recent stretch thanks to the bath provided by the healing temple. Whatever the nuns used in that lotion to clean their fur, it made wonders for Rhea's hair that was now soft and silky. Her muscles were fully healed, except for her arm muscles, they still felt somewhat uncomfortable with brisk movements.
But back to the topic at hand, Rhea knew she would say yes in the end. It was so like her to do that. Despite the clear differences and disputes between her and Elazul, she couldn't find it in her heart to deny Pearl a roof to shelter her.
She understood Elazul's reasons too. The knight wanted to find other Jumi and aid them, she could understand that, it was his personal quest. She wasn't quite sure where his guardian fitted in that quest, but she remembered Pearl complaining about the matter back in Leires Tower...
Basically, Rhea was going to babysit Pearl for a while.
The nuns had kindly washed and dried her clothes for her, which felt good, and once she was satisfied with the way her hair sticks looked on her, Rhea left the room. Outside, Bud and Lisa argued between them. Fenrir appeared out of nowhere to greet Rhea who replied with the same enthusiasm. She was glad his wound was hardly visible between all the fur. Pearl was leaning against the wall, seemingly concerned for the twins, and Elazul guarded the corridor, but turned around when he heard the door from her room close.
"What are you two arguing about?" Rhea asked the elf twins in a calm voice, as if she was used to that.
Bud frowned while scratching his nose. "Lisa wants to slow us down! I say we should take Pearl to the safety of our home immediately!"
Lisa replied by hitting her brother's arm and facing the disapproval look of Rhea. "He's lying! He just doesn't want to stay another day and learn about the healing potions and spells, because he's bad at it!" She continued the assault by pulling her tongue at him.
"Am not!" He mimicked Lisa. "I am simply too great to waste my time with silly potions!"
Their argument escalated into a tone Rhea could no longer distinguish the words. Her eyes met Elazul who approached them and he too seemed to be thinking the same as her – was that how they looked back in the tower?
"Where's Daena?" She was going to ignore the twins for now.
Elazul's thumb pointed behind his shoulder. "With a friend... Don't know the name."
"Matilda," Figures. "Are you two ready to head back?"
The knight seemed caught off guard by her words. "Just like that? You accept my proposal of taking in Pearl for a while?"
Her shoulders came up and down. "I'm so flattered you finally complimented me that I just couldn't say 'no'." She remembered Elazul using the words only one he could trust when he made the request.
The lapis knight stared away, shy all of a sudden. "Yes, well... You're part of a very small group that doesn't want to kill us. Should we go then?"
"No!" Lisa cried, leaving Bud talking to himself. "Please Rhea, stay just for another day! I just need another lesson to perfect one of the potions! Please, Bud and I heard some travelers talking about a strange monster disturbing Lake Kilma."
"And?" Rhea's eyebrow rose. "It's not my job to go after every single problem out there, Lisa. It usually comes to me."
The small child shook her head viciously. "Don't you remember? Professor Bomb asked you to find his defected golem and you promised you'd help look for it!" Rhea didn't like where Lisa was trying to get, but the elf girl spoke fast to avoid an intervention. "The strange monster in Lake Kilma might be the golem! Maybe you could just take a look at it? If it's not then you leave immediately!"
Rhea placed a few fingers in her head, rubbing it gently, those two gave her a headache. "I almost forgot about that... You're coming with me!" she pointed at Elazul who lost his amused smirk.
"Why? It's your problem. And someone needs to watch Pearl from Sandra."
"Leave her with Daena, I need an extra pair of hands and that woman won't leave her friend alone even if Armageddon day came," She acknowledged Pearl for the first time. "Do you mind? She's a formidable warrior and with a partner I could get the job done much faster."
"I..." Pearl felt confused. Hardly anyone allowed her to make any decisions on her own. Her timid eyes met Elazul's disapproving ones. "I... I'd like to stay... If possible. Maybe attend the class Lisa was talking about..."
Rhea noticed the short guardian cower, something she really hated seeing. She walked in front of Pearl when Elazul threatened to yell something at her. "She's safer here than she is with us. Plus, it's her decision."
"But not yours to make decisions for me!" He snapped. "I'm not agreeing to go with you!"
Rhea shut him up with a hand, something that seemed to anger him even more. "Look, I'm still not myself here, and I'm not going home until I take care of this matter. All I'm asking, is for you to give me a break here and help me. A favor for a favor."
"I knew I was going to regret this..." Elazul said with great distaste.
X
They still had time to lunch before setting out to Lake Kilma, learning of an easier and quicker path by Daena. They searched deep into the lake's woods, with Elazul leading the way since he'd been there before. Their search led them back into the lake's entrance when they heard a ruckus. There, climbing an upper path, they found what Rhea wasn't expecting to find – the golem. The creature laughed and spoke nonsense. A defected creation no doubt.
Rhea dropped her empty backpack into the ground, unsheathing both her weapons. "Take his right side and I'll go left. We should be able to..."
The knight's great sword easily sliced thru the golem like cutting bread. Another quick cut finished the job and the golem fell into pieces.
Elazul confidently rested the sword on his right shoulder, his stare provoking Rhea. "Is this all?"
Rhea closed both hands into fists, but she wasn't about to give into Elazul's cocky smirk. Instead, she returned her daggers and picked up her bag, walking as confidently as she could to the dismembered golem.
After filling her bag with golem parts, Rhea asked for Elazul's bag and filled his with the rest. "Well," she still refused to eye the knight. It was ridiculous how easily he had defeated the golem. "That's that. Now I just have to return the pieces to professor Bomb. That sure was fast!"
"You're welcome." Elazul allowed himself to a laugh, swiftly sheathing his sword.
Rhea rolled her eyes, but still thank him. She had to recognize the man's skills with the sword. As they went down the path to exit the lake, a group of penguins and a walrus were hard to miss.
"The scouts ain't back yet..." The walrus had a surprisingly strong voice and thick accent. "Could the faeries have taken them?" Rhea grabbed Elazul's wrist when he was ready to simply leave. She was focused on the conversation between the penguins and their captain, as they had called them. Something about the faeries intrigued her. "Aarrr, shut up! Back to the ship before the faeries find us!"
And with that they slid away. Elazul was actually amazed at how well they moved considering the earth beneath them. What he didn't like was Rhea's expression. He knew that look, she'd used it before with him, back in Domina.
"Don't even think about it." He called the girl back to reality. "Just because trouble tempts you with a bone, doesn't mean you have to bite it. Besides, faeries live in a different dimension from ours."
"I know that but..." She returned her attention to the direction the group went. "Faeries hate all creatures from our dimension. Could we..." She shook her head. "I mean, I'll go ahead and take a look. Just to make sure they reach their ship safely."
The knight let out a rather exasperate sigh. "As soon as they enter their ship we leave straight for Gato, agreed?"
Rhea smiled. So gentle and pure that made Elazul nervous. "Agreed."
Once again they crossed the now familiar paths of Lake Kilma. The wind was a bit chilly, but the view that surrounded them was beautiful. The trees, the grass, the local animals and sounds, everything was peaceful and relaxing. A perfect place for a quick getaway.
But there were no paradises in Fa'Diel. As the two made a curve to the left, Rhea took both hands to her mouth but the scream came anyway. Three life-like statues of the penguins they saw earlier stood in their path. One never saw it coming, but the other two were frightened.
Elazul used his core, feeling no other presence nearby. He carefully reached out a hand and knocked twice on the head of the nearest statue. "Stone cold..." He noticed Rhea still in shock. "Something turned them into stone. A monster?"
"What kind of creature would do this?" She allowed anger to take over her. "How cruel!"
They didn't plan for it, but their swords were unsheathed at the same time. Elazul pointing to a path that the penguins seemed to be following and Rhea followed him promptly behind. The path led to another statue. A brave penguin that wanted to go back for his friends but suffered the same fate.
"Excuse me, young'uns..." The deep, trembling voice scared them into battle stance. "Hello. I'm just a turtle." It seemed to want to assure them that it was harmless.
"That's Tote..." Rhea whispered to Elazul once she managed to take a closer look at the fallen wisdom.
"I have a favor to ask you..." Tote began.
There was no need for him to say a word, they both saw clearly that the turtle needed a little boost. And that was what they did. Carefully the two brought the wisdom back on his feet... or whatever those were. He began dusting himself before smiling ever so tenderly at them.
"Oh, thank you, young'uns!" He spoke in a mild manner. "The pirates did this to me. They trampled me on the way to look for the treasure."
Elazul and Rhea eyed one another. It was the first time they heard of any treasure. "You make it sound as if it doesn't really exist."
Tote smiled, seemingly pleased with the lapis knight. "That's because it doesn't. By the way young'uns, can you see the faeries right here?"
Once again they exchanged eye contact. It was strange to talk to a wisdom. "No, we can't." It was Rhea the one who spoke.
Now the turtle seemed proud. "Faeries don't show themselves unless they feel threatened. I will cast a spell so you will be able to see them."
Rhea remained motionless, only Elazul protested such an unwanted gift, however Tote ignored his rants and placed the spell on them anyway. Their eyes itched for a second, and once they rubbed it off, they saw them. Faeries, three of them and so close. They seemed angry at Tote for casting the spell, shooting looks of disapproval to both Rhea and Elazul.
"They're so... small." Elazul managed to say. "And not how I imagined they'd be like."
Rhea had seen one before in Gato, so she was no longer surprised, nevertheless, Elazul's remark earned him to be called a stupid human by one of the faeries. They squealed protests at them, calling them names, how there was no treasure, how they were bond to their master and how he would petrify them all for their intrusion.
This last statement enraged Rhea. "Elazul, we should hurry."
The Jumi didn't seem to protest. They left Tote behind and ran down their path. On the way, they learned a few more things from the mystical faeries. They seemed to be using a gift from their master to turn the humans into stone themselves. Apparently they thought penguins were a type of human. The more she heard, the maddened Rhea became.
Finally, they reached their targets. Only a few penguins left. The captain warned his crew of the danger that followed them and suggested immediate retreat. The penguins objected, for they didn't want to leave their stoned friends behind. What followed was the silliest conversation in the worse of time between the penguins and their captain. Before Elazul could say anything at how idiotic they sounded, the crew made a run for their ship.
"Goddess..." He managed to spat out.
Both kept running behind the sea crew. Finding a few more stoned penguins on the way. Which meant they weren't the only ones after them.
The duo kept running along the path, fighting away a few monsters that were brave enough to face them. Finally, the two reached a cliff – but not on time. The remaining four penguins jumped to the bottom, most likely trying to save their lives from the faerie standing in front of them. Only their captain stayed behind.
"You must sacrifice yourself to the master too!" The faerie began. A peculiar round item in her hands.
The walrus shook his fins in defense. "Wait! The penguins started this!" So much for the brave captain.
"Look out!" Rhea yelled.
Running towards the faerie that beamed a light from the item in her hands, dagger in one hand, Rhea made a quick swift at her target but to no avail The faerie vanished to its dimension as the now petrified captain fell down the cliff as well.
"Oh my, this is getting worse..." It was Tote's voice.
The sudden appearance from the turtle made Elazul jump in his feet. "How the heck did you get here so fast?!"
The wisdom promptly ignored the Jumi knight and did the same with Rhea as he passed by her towards the edge. The turtle's neck stretched, scanning down the cliff. He seemed to give it a thought before looking down again and back at the two warriors.
"Once you go down, you can't come back up by yourself." He warned them. "But they will surely be killed by the lake monster if we leave them there."
Tote's words seemed to signal Rhea into suicidal mode. The two bladed warrior dropped her bag, ran and leaped down the cliff without much as a warning. Tote's fuzzy eyebrows rose in astonishment. The girl was either very brave or very stupid.
On his end, Elazul cursed a few words. Tote noticed the young Jumi become visibly filled with anger, but it only lasted him a minute. He proceeded for the cliff's edge, also dropping his heavy bag while cursing another word at the height. "This girl will be the death of me..."
The knight then left Tote's vision. The wisdom smiled and laughed at himself. "Young'uns these days... I shall go, too."
As soon as Tote landed, and recomposed himself from the fall, all he could hear was the young Jumi quarreling with the female warrior. Both yelled at one another very loud and very fast, so Tote was unable to understand their words. Not that he was interested either. As for the penguins, these made a protective circle around their petrified captain. They also seemed to be bickering at each other as to what to do next – fighting seemed to be the solution nowadays. Tote managed to control the penguins after only a short talk, and adjusted his voice to become as wise as he could for his next suggestion.
"Well then, how about if you penguins become live bait, and..." a cheap smile drew his face. "That couple over there brings down the monster?"
"We're not a couple!" They yelled in perfect unison.
Only Rhea shook her head when she realized Tote's intention. "Wait, what?"
"Figures..." Elazul complained, his arms folded. "We're the only ones with actual weapons here. Not even these damn 'pirates' carry a single sword!"
But the penguins were distracted by something that was starting to trouble them. They asked the wisdom about the size of the monster, since they apparently were the ones that had to lure him in, and Tote's answer did not loosen them up one bit. The monster was big, very big.
The penguins began to protest, however Tote, being the wisdom that he was, knew how to activate his plan. "At least I will start this for you."
Fins firmly grabbed the statue of the walrus, up it went and away into the lake's bottom. This caused some mouths to drop.
"Hey!" "Cap'n!" The penguins yelled, immediately jumping into the lake after their captain.
"Forget everything I said. I like this turtle." And Rhea had to agree with the knight.
Said turtle ran away to hide as the penguins swam out and inside the lake again, obviously running from something and that was Rhea's and Elazul's cue. Weapons drawn, the two watched their opponent rise from the lake's depths. Its shape not what neither of them was expecting. It was big, no doubt about that. The lake's monster was nothing more than a giant eye ball protected by a spiky shell armor. Both Elazul and Rhea felt confident in their skills to defeat it.
Rhea made a dash to her right, catching the monster's attention with her. His enormous eye immediately locking her. She moved in for the hit, only to just as quickly back-flip away from his incoming spikes. Elazul took the opportunity to slice one of said spikes away, and Rhea knew she'd made the right call in bringing him along.
The monster was unfazed by the injury. His gaze still pretty much set on Rhea. The eye closed for two seconds and when it opened, Rhea had to jump to the side to escape a beam. Only, one of the penguins was in the path of the ray, being struck by it. To everyone's surprise, the beam had not injured the pirate penguin, but rather turned this one into solid stone. Cold sweat came to both Rhea and Elazul.
"This is not good..." Rhea eyed Elazul standing at her side. "What do we do?"
The knight kept his fierce face, but had become clearly concerned. "We need to kill this thing as quickly as possible. Aim for the eye, if he doesn't have that, then we might have a chance."
It was easier said than done. The creature's spikes kept expanding and trying to pierce them, preventing the two from reaching the cursed eye. On the brighter side, they discovered that Rhea's fast movements were an excellent distraction for the monster, while Elazul's broad sword easily sliced the spikes away from the armor.
The monster, however, picked up on their scheme. He had to take the stronger one out. His eye locked on the lapis knight, who had nowhere to run with a giant rock behind and the lake to his side, and fired the beam.
"Azul!"
Rhea, agile as she was, managed to tackle the knight away from the beam and inside the lake. A mix of feelings invaded Elazul. The fright of the attack, the surprise with Rhea, the shock of the cold water and the desperation of swimming out – so much that he actually managed to swallow some of the water. Once he emerged, he coughed violently and still felt the sword on his hand, his instincts told him to get out as quickly as possible.
He pulled himself up to where the battle was taking place, only to notice that the monster wasn't around and... Rhea.
"You idiot!" He ran up to her, throwing his soaked head piece away for it weighed him down. He coughed when he reached her, still feeling some of the water in his throat. "Rhea..."
His hand was shaky as it grazed her stone cold body. Admirably, even knowing what was coming to her, she still managed to remain in battle position, her face determined as ever. She was definitely a strong willed girl, Elazul had never met anyone quite like her.
Elazul yelled into the air, his all too familiar anger coming to him. "Show yourself! This fight isn't over yet!"
It was odd. Elazul could feel the presence of the monster still hovering around, but his eyes could not pick up a material form.
"Young'un!" Came the voice of the old wisdom, peeking from his safety spot. "The master of the lake has the power of invisibility. It can not move while in that state, but come too close and he will reveal himself by impaling you with one of its spikes!"
Elazul cursed his luck. Firmly holding the hilt of the sword in his right hand. Tote noticed this one starting to glow. It was harder to use his core in non-jumi things, but he tried anyway. Elazul closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to calm his anger. He could feel it, Rhea was still alive behind him. There were unquestionably no other Jumi nearby, too. No. He had to focus. He felt the wind whisper to the grass beneath his feet, he felt the calmness and wisdom of the lake and there, in front of him, just slightly to the right – the lake master.
His eyes flashed opened. "You're dead!"
Now holding the sword with both hands high over his head, the blade glowing ever so brightly, it came down in a swooping beam of light. It struck the lake master dead on, revealing the body. Its eye was wide open in shock, slowly tearing apart in half and falling to the ground.
Tote and the remaining penguins left their hiding spot to inspect the dead monster. The penguins cheered while Tote admired the gruesome work. "The young'un did it..."
Only, Elazul couldn't care for the victory cheers. His eyes were on Rhea and her statue form. Why had she done that? He was the one who had been careless enough to be in the way. He hated that. Having to see others die because of his mistakes. He touched her face and allowed his arm to slowly wrap around her neck in what was for him a good-bye hug.
"This is why we don't get others involved. You shouldn't have to turn to stone... Rhea, I'm sorry."
"My... first you compliment my skills and now you're apologizing to me? You must be in a very good mood today!"
Elazul backed away alarmed. Rhea's mesmerizing crimson eyes facing him with a smirk. He had to rub his eyes and stare again. Her smile became wider. Behind him, he heard a ruckus of fins clapping and yells filled with joy. The captain and the other penguin had returned to themselves too.
"The curse was lift when you defeated the monster!" Tote answered the clear question in Elazul's face. "The others must be back to normal too. We should leave now. Penguins, make a ladder will you?"
"How in Fa'Diel did you do that?" Rhea caught his attention again. She was inspecting his bloody work. "You sliced the monster perfectly in half! That's just... wow, beyond amazing!"
"You... are an idiot!" Rhea frowned her nose at the description. "A moron! A complete half-wit!"
"Ah, there's the Elazul I know."
The two bladed warrior was startled when the knight grabbed both of her shoulders tightly and locked his gaze on her. "I'm serious, Rhea. Don't you ever do that again!"
"Do what?" She was genuinely confused.
Elazul exerted some more pressure. Never realizing he was starting to hurt her. "Don't sacrifice yourself for me... or my kind!"
She seemed bored as she rolled her eyes. "I thought you'd be mad at me for tackling you that hard, but for saving you? That's what friends naturally do... and you're the idiot you hard headed Jumi!"
Her words both alarmed and scared the Jumi knight in more ways than one. For once he was speechless. His hands finally let go of her, and his eyes never met her face again for the rest of that day. He went on to grab his head piece from the ground and walk towards Tote who had devised something for them to climb out of the cliff.
"I'll repay you for this favor you're doing with Pearl. But after that, we'll leave your sight for good. You understand?"
He couldn't see Rhea shake her head. The female warrior placed a comforting hand on his arm and smiled tenderly. "Thank you, Elazul. I'll be fine."
Only, she could not understand what she was getting herself into, and Elazul could not decide if involving her into his world was such a good idea anymore.
