Chapter Ten: Sacrifices

Quite suddenly, Haru's alarm clock started going off. She groaned, and reached to her right to silence it. But her hand only felt air.

She shot up straight, looked down, and laughed at herself. She had fallen asleep at her desk while writing. Good thing it was Sunday, she'd have to work out a schedule of some sort so that she wouldn't be exhausted for school. Her mom would be back tomorrow too, unless there's another quilting convention between Tokyo and Kyoto. Knowing her mom…

Finding herself to be ravenous, she stretched once before coming down the stairs to the kitchen. Wishing to get back to the writing as soon as possible, the girl skipped the eggs and just made herself a thick ham sandwich with a glass of milk.

Just as she was about to bite into it, the phone rang. Haru regretfully set the sandwich down and answered the phone.

"Hello, Yoshioka residence."

"Hey, Haru! Why weren't you home yesterday?"

The slim brunette sighed a little, ignoring the accusatory tone in her best friend's voice.

"I was, Hiromi. But chances are that I was locked away in my room with the phone off the hook."

"What? Were you avoiding calls from Machida?"

"Not exact-"

"You don't have to worry about that," Hiromi said anyway, cutting off her friend. "I saw him yesterday walking out of the hospital with his mom. He's got laryngitis."

"You don't say," Haru said absently, eating her sandwich while listening to the blonde go on and on, knowing that her friend just liked to hear herself talk.

"I do say. But there are some mixed feelings about this. You know he was going to try out for the part of Beast in the play, but unless he gets his voice back by Monday, he'll have to sit back and watch someone else get the part. There's surprisingly more interest in the play than one would expect, at least from the boys."

"Why would you say that?" Haru asked before downing her milk.

"Well, I may have mentioned it to one or two people that you would be playing Belle."

Haru nearly jumped out of her skin, and came close to coughing the milk back out of her body.

"Hiromi! That's false advertisement!"

"I don't think so. Come on, Haru, you'd be perfect for the part!"

"Too bad I don't want it. I completely intend to ask Takima-sensei for a small or behind-the-scenes role. One that will require as little of my free time as possible."

"What?! What could be more important than the play that will get you out of school, or more importantly, one that makes guys literally compete for the chance to be with you?!"

Haru took a deep breath for courage.

"I'm writing a book, and I want to finish it as quickly as possible without compromising the story."

There was silence over the phone.

"Since when were you interested in writing a book?" Hiromi asked curiously.

"Since Friday. Someone else started it, and I'm going to finish it."

"Why can't the first person finish it?"

"He died before he could. Listen, don't get too offended if I start bowing out of social activities for the next month or so. I have no idea how long writing a book takes."

"My uncle says it takes years. Are you sure you want to do this, now of all times?"

"Absolutely, but I refuse to let it take until after we've graduated. Two months maximum is my goal, if I don't run into any writer's blocks."

Her best friend sighed.

"All right, if that's the way you want it. I was going to invite you to come with my family to that new water park, but if writing the book is more important, I guess you'll have to skip out."

"Thank you so much for understanding, Hiromi. You have no idea how important this book is to me. Have fun soaking your brother!"

"Thanks, I will," the blonde said, wondering if her friend hadn't caught the real gist of what she was trying to say.

ooOoo

Haru cracked her knuckles, and picked up her pen once more.

"After three days of travel in this manner, the princess and bureau arrived within Brimstone's domain. When they were but an hour from the palace, Toto landed and resumed his true size, since few things can alert an enemy of an invasion like a giant crow. As stealthily as possible, the company eased their way close to the monstrous castle in which the evil wizard resided. How to infiltrate the castle in itself would prove to be a challenge, since Brimstone could smell out magic with ease, and they had no clue where to even begin looking for the sword of Rowan.

"Striking on a flash of brilliance, the good Baron decided to display his unique gift of manipulating lights. Since the castle was dark, even at midday, everyone within the walls became startled as light flooded the castle like the sun was within its stones. Brimstone immediately suspected the princess, who had long sworn to defeat him, but alas for him, the light was so evenly distributed throughout his castle that he could not pinpoint the source.

"Throughout the chaos, the bureau and princess swiftly but surely slipped past the guards unnoticed, as well as countless demons, for the minions had been permanently blinded by Baron's display, being creatures of darkness. Under ordinary circumstances, the demons would have been able to easily sniff out the quartet that didn't belong in their circle, but truly, they were so distressed by their blindness that all the princess and Bureau had to do was step around the guards as they madly ran the halls and collided into each other. Having a slightly malicious nature, Muta couldn't restrain himself from intentionally stepping in front of a few demons and allowing them to trip over his impressive girth. Baron did not dare reprimand his friend, since doing so would certainly attract their enemies' attention. Nor could Toto offer his usual sarcasm, for the same reason."

In her head, she could hear Muta's smug purr. Her heartbeat quickened, wondering if he had known she could hear him. Would Baron try it, if he knew there was a way for him to contact her?

'No, don't worry about that now. Worry about the task at hand.' Haru sighed at her own foolishness and turned the page. 'Strange, I thought that there was only one more page after this.' Then again, that's what she thought three pages ago. Would the book keep giving her more paper to work with, or was there a limit? Shaking her head to clear it, she kept writing.

"Brimstone kept his sight, though it was now weak. Shadow alone seemed to be the same as ever, for he had always had the aura of a puppet, only moving when his master wished it. Together, Brimstone and Shadow began to hunt the halls, searching for the ones responsible for this catastrophe. But Baron's keen ears allowed the small company enough time to hide, whenever one of them approached. Noticing how they kept circling a certain wing within the palace, Rosemary reasoned that the sword must be kept in there.

"As carefully as the quartet could manage, they checked the rooms of the wing one by one, sometimes hiding in them when Brimstone or Shadow came down the hall. Rosemary amused herself by mixing up the dark wizard's potion bottles in his lab, although she was partially aware that she shouldn't."

Haru could clearly hear Rosemary ask why would the brunette include that in the story, but she was apparently answering Toto. Oh, how she wished Baron would say something, but for some strange reason, he was staying silent for now. Haru grinned, hardly waiting for the princess to find out what the brunette had in store for her in the story.

"Then, at the fourth door, they saw it. Brimstone's treasure hold."