Disclaimer: LIEAL NO OWN! OKAY! DO YOU GET IT YET! I'M SORRY! I DONT OWN THE GAME! I WISH I DID, BUT I DONT!
Anyway. Anwar, why dont you greet them to the next chapter?
Anwar: ...
Anwar?
Anwar: ...
Anwar, what's wrong?
Anwar: *leaves*
Hey - Anwar! Sorry guys, enjoy the chapter - Anwar, wait! *chases after* WHAT'S WRONG?!
The afternoon sky beamed down on the town from over head, however, only a warm layer of heat draped itself over the buildings and streets. Said streets were busy preparing for the festivities that would follow the tournament. Inns filled with travelers, all eager to get a good place to stay while awaiting the tournament. The town was alive with chatter, and Lieal found herself in the middle of it all.
She had always enjoyed the festivities, no matter what they were for. The lights, the extravagant foods, the new faces and stories to see and hear. Everyone had something to tell or sell, and she was always looking for more things to learn, more things to fill the Book of Prophecy with.
Her first stop was at Fana's house, where she greeted the grandmother politely before heading upstairs. As always, her friend was sitting in bed, looking out the window, trying to spy as much of the activity as she could.
"Fana," the Kaleilan hero called, a smile on her lips.
The brunette girl's attention shifted to her friend as Lieal approached. She returned the smile the friend offered her, "Lieal, you came. It's good to see you."
Lieal took a seat at the edge of the other's bed, "It's good to see you too, Fana. Guess what? I have another story for you!" Even before the book wielder had received her task of creating a new world, she had always visited with stories to tell her sickly friend. Fana had always enjoyed hearing her tales, and they always left a smile on her sweet face.
"Really?" Right on cue, the girl's interest perked and she straightened in her bed, eager to hear her friend's new tale.
"Just a few nights ago, I was kidnapped!" Lieal started, making her friend gasp. "A strange boy had walked right up to me and knocked me out – I didn't even see it coming! When I came to, I was headed through the desert in the back of a carriage! The people took me to see the evil desert witch Olly. The witch made me a deal – she needed to get to something in a dungeon in the desert, but the spirit I needed was in her way. She promised to grant me passage to the desert the dungeon was in so long as I removed the spirit, so she could get the item she needed." Lieal paused for effect, watching her friend's facial expressions, "So there I was, I could either do it the easy way…or the hard way. So, of course, since I needed to get the last spirit the protected the book, I had to accept her offer. She then told me that to help me in my task she would teach me the technique of her school, but in order to so that, I had to battle her to prove my worth…"
"Oh my, you had to fight the desert witch?" Fana questioned, her hands rising to her mouth. She was captivated by her friend's story – yet worried about what her dear friend had to go through.
Lieal nodded, she still felt sore from that battle. "It was really hard. I'd never had to fight someone who'd used projectile weapons before. The knives bounced off the walls and came from every angle. Most of the fight all I could do was dodging. I waited until there was an opening and took a chance – then jumped back to avoid her attacks. It was difficult, and tedious, but eventually, I managed to block an attack as I attacked and countered. I knocked her back – and that was it. She declared the battle done. The witch Olly gave me a set of my own knives, and showed me her special move, and that was that."
Fana clapped her hands together, applauding the feat Lieal had overcome in her talk, "Amazing! What happened next?"
The orange-haired girl smiled, happy her friend enjoyed her story. Even if the girl didn't fully believe it had happened to her, at least it was some form of entertainment for Fana. "So after I got the hand of her secret move, I left her abode and entered the desert town. There was hardly anyone outside – and it was really super hot out there. And guess what? Right there by the well was the boy who had kidnapped me! Can you believe it?"
"What did you do?" Fana asked, her hands fiddling with the blanket on her lap.
"Well, I did what I'd do to any stranger that intrigued me; I went up and asked him his name," Lieal replied.
Fana blinked, as if confused by Lieal's statement, "Just like that?"
"Well, not 'just like that'. He walked away and ignored me three times before he actually gave me his name, and then I had to pester him even more so just to get him to talk to me a little," Lieal laughed, recalling how ridiculous she had acted just to get the boy to speak to her.
"So then what was his name?"
"He said his name was 'Anwar'. Apparently it means 'desert wind' in their native language or something."
"How cool!"
Lieal smiled, "I thought so too." She adjusted herself, making sure she wasn't sitting on her friend's foot or anything before continuing with her story. "So after talking to him and stuff, I went looking for the dungeon the desert Witch had told me about. I got lost the first time, but after a little bit, I managed to find my way." She decided to leave out the gift giving part, she wasn't about to tell Fana about such embarrassing behavior. "The dungeon was full of traps and monsters, but it was no problem for me – not with the spirits helping me and the book supplying me with the weapons I needed. Finally, after all that fighting and hard work, we all got to the final chamber where we found the last spirit Ur – who's really smart and nice, by the way."
Behind her she heard Rempo scoff and Ur clear his throat. Mieli giggled, and Neaki – obviously – remained quiet.
Fana found herself laughing as well, "So that's it? Did the Witch get what she needed too?"
The other female shook her head, "That wasn't quite it. See, when Ur was released, it triggered an alarm and a giant robot came after us! Ur said I should aim for the weak point, Rempo pointed out it was at the center, so that's what I did. But the thing wouldn't die! It just kept shutting down for a while, and then restarting – over and over! So then Mieli suggested I try pushing it over the edge of the platform we were on, so I waited until it shut down again and pushed it. I just barely got it over the edge in time, but it came back! So I did it again and again, until finally it stayed down. Man was I exhausted when that was over."
"I can imagine," Fana giggled, "It was a giant robot and all."
"Hey, Lieal, I don't think she believes you," Rempo pointed out, a little agitated at the thought.
"I don't think that's the point, Rempo," Mieli replied as Lieal continued on with her story about how the desert Witch showed up.
"Then what is the point? Why should she waste her time on telling this girl of her adventures if she doesn't even believe Lieal did all this awesome stuff?" the fire spirit retorted.
"The girl is sick, Rempo," Ur explained, "She probably can't get out a lot – or maybe even at all. Maybe Lieal is telling her stories because that gives her something to look forward to until she gets better…or until she passes on…"
The fire spirit was quiet then, recalling how Lieal had reacted when he had told her Fana didn't have much time left. "Yeah…all right…"
"…so then the desert Witch's twin, Elle, told me I only had seven days to live before I turned to sand if I didn't get an antidote before then!" Lieal exclaimed, using her hands to help her story gain more life. "Elle gave me a bottle, and I found the recipe. So with the book's help, I made the antidote and cured myself. Then Elle let me use her key, and I got us out of there. But then! Then – just as we were escaping – Anwar showed up!"
"Oh my!" Fana exclaimed, "What happened after that?"
"Well, at first, he wasn't going to let me escape – I was heartbroken! I mean, I was so nice to him, but he wasn't going to return that kindness – I wanted to just give up right there, you know? But then Elle stepped in and said some stuff and changed his mind. So then I came back home, and here I am," Lieal concluded with a grin, "Pretty awesome adventure, huh?"
"That was wonderful!" Fana complimented with a smile. "You always tell the best stories, Lieal."
Lieal then stood, stretching her sore muscles, "Thank you. Well, I gotta go say hi to Rex before it gets too late, so I'll see you later, okay?"
Fana nodded, "Sure thing. Good bye, Lieal, come back soon."
The book wielder was soon out the door after a quick goodbye to Fana's grandmother. The sun was a little further in the sky, indicating she had spent an hour or so in Fana's house. She let her hands rest on her hips, looking at the sky for a moment. "Well, might as well take the short cut," she declared more to herself than the spirits around her.
Lieal took off in a run around the corner. There was a segment in the fence on the next street that Rex had broken as a shortcut to get to his house faster, and Lieal often took the pleasure of using it to get around when needed – now was one of those times. She rounded the corner and dashed straight for the opening in the fence. However, before she got there, a glimpse of a familiar-looking violet-haired boy distracted her. Lieal tripped over her own feet and came crashing to the ground hard. "Ow, ow, ow, ow….that really hurts…" she muttered.
"Are you alright?" a familiar gruff voice queried.
Lieal looked first to the tanned hand outstretched to her, then lifted her gaze to a pair of golden brown eyes.
Author's note: Yeah! Another long chapter! I really liked writing this one. The story telling was something I felt should be done, dont you?
Thank you again to my lovely reviewers.
I know there wasnt much of Anwar -- oh....oh I get it!
Anwar: ...
Omg! Anwar, I'm so sorry! I hardly had you in this chapter at all - I'm really sorry! I didnt mean to focus on Lieal so much, it just got out of hand!
Anwar: ...well....I guess it's okay.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just - I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Your'e going to be in the next chapter right off the bat, that's why I ended it like that...
Anwar: It's alight I guess...
...Alright... well, so long as you say it's okay...
See you all next chapter!
