~Chapter 21~

Answers At Last

"...And she's been trying to kill us after that." Esther finished telling Oliver.

The young wizard nodded, having been listening intently as his friends told him about seeing the drifter in Al Mamoon, and how she had been stalking them throughout their trip, tried to frame Swaine for stealing or cheating people (with no success), and had fought them twice now, the second time involving kidnapping Esther. "What is it she's looking for?" He wondered out loud.

"That's what we keep asking her, but she won't say a bloody thing. Only that she comes from Kaninesas- but that city's been in ruins for ten years now," Swaine answered.

"Well, th' only thing's this girl is finding is trouble- an' tryin' to kill you both jus' got her deep in it!" Mr. Drippy scoffed. "I ought to give her a what-for!"

"Lets try talking to her, a little more." Oliver suggested.

"We've tried that several times now! She won't say a word," Esther retorted.

"We should still try. Maybe she'll be calmer after getting the fight out of her system,"

"If not, I'd hit her with another spell- a Fireball would do the trick." Swaine suggested. "By the way, what kind of spell did you hit her with, anyway?"

"I struck her with an Arrow of Light. ...She's coming to!"

There was moaning, as the mysterious girl sat up on her knees, rubbing her head. "Ugh... what hit me?" she muttered.

"An Arrow of Light- Ollie-boy just said that, mun!" Mr. Drippy replied.

She gave a jolt, quickly getting to her feet, facing the group. "Please, don't be scared!" Oliver said quickly.

She sneered. "I am NOT scared! ...Who are you? Where'd you come from?!"

"My name's Oliver... and I want to know why you want to hurt my friends so much. They said Swaine stole something from you, but he can't remember what it was, and you won't tell them anything,"

"Why should I? Who would forget stealing something as important as the-" she caught herself, looking away.

"The... what?" Swaine questioned. "Give us some damn answers, or at least some sort of clue! My memory's a total blank outside of two facts: You've been stalking us, and you've just tried to kill us!"

Oliver slowly approached her, and she tensed. "Please." he said calmly. "We don't want to fight, and we'd like to help. But you have to help us out, too- if you could just tell us something that could help jog Swaine's memory, that would help."

The girl only glared at Oliver... yet, something about his calm approach and kind tone made her loosen up- only for a bit. Plus, he was a wizard, she could tell- and she had never fought a wizard before. Just standing next to him, she could feel he could match her level, maybe even be above it! Dammit, how could Swaine have such a powerful ally? she thought, then sighed. "Fine... I'll show you a picture, but that's it!"

"A picture?" Esther repeated.

"That's what I said, blondie- do you have cotton in your ears?" The drifter took out her pack, hidden under some bushes, and pulled out her journal, flipping through it until she came to a specific page, where there was an ink-sketch. "Here, this is what you stole. Remember now?"

Swaine looked at the picture. It appeared to be a jewel in a golden diamond-heart-shaped frame, the edges of the middle seeming to form a cross. It does look familiar... wait a minute... he thought. "I remember stealing a necklace like that- back when I was sixteen!" he said, as the memory began to surface.

"That long ago? Boy, no wonder you couldn't remember," Oliver replied.

"Yeah... I kind of remember... I was running down a beach, met a little girl who was wearing it, and tricked... her... into... giving it... to... me." He slowed down, turning and looking at the girl before him. "You?! You're trying to kill me over some necklace?!"

Mr. Drippy took a look at the picture, and jumped back in shock. "Blimey! That's no ordinary necklace, mun! That's th' Azen!" he shouted in alarm.

"The what?" Oliver repeated.

"How do you know about it?" The drifter questioned, shutting her journal.

"Who doesn't know about it?! That necklace has been passed down for centuries! It's a powerful gem that was used to seal away Senkrad!" he told them.

"Who?" Esther asked.

Mr. Drippy groaned in frustration. "Flippin' heck! Don't tell me you've never heard of th' legend of Senkrad!"

"Lets say we haven't," Swaine scoffed. "Who or what was Senkrad?"

"He was a dark creature, who mastered in th' darkest magic- they say he was th' one who created th' manna-spell! An' worst, his power was so strong, he could get into th' minds of others and corrupt 'em, like, and was out to turn all nations against each other! One day, all the Great Sages and rulers of every kingdom came together against him, an' one ruler, Lady Alpha of Kaninesas, had created th' Azen- which held a power mighty enough to defeat Senkrad, as it was powered by matters of the heart: love, hope, an' faith, see? Using it an' comin' together, they managed to seal Senkrad away in a prison where he could no longer use his evil spells."

"Well if he's been sealed away, what's there to worry about with the Azen?" Esther asked.

"The Azen was used to seal Senkrad away... but it can also be used to unleash him," The drifter answered, clenching her fists. "Lady Alpha passed it down to the most trustworthy of her people after her passing... for thousands of years, it was passed down amongst the citizen's of Kaninesas, only to those most trustworthy... I was the keeper of it, to make sure it would never fall into the wrong hands," she glared darkly at Swaine. "And YOU stole it!" She then lunged, but Oliver and Esther managed to grab her by the arms, holding her back. "You bastard! Because of you, I lost everything, and now... arrgh, would you brats let me go?!"

"Calm down, already!" Swaine snapped. "Look, I didn't bloody know anything about that necklace! I just thought it was some trinket! ...But I'll get it back for you, I promise. I remember trading it for something back in the Rolling Hills,"

"Why should I listen to you?!"

The thief gave her a hard look. "Because I'm the only chance you've got. And if you'd rather kill me, fine- go ahead... But it won't help you get that gem back. The choice is up to you. You can either work with us and get the Azen back, or risk Oliver shooting you with another spell in battle and forget ever getting it back."

The girl glared intensely at him for a minute or so. Finally, she jerked out of Esther and Oliver's grips, then stormed past Swaine, down the beach. She turned and looked back at them. "Well, c'mon! You want to find the Azen, or are you wanting to unleash darkness upon the world?"

The others followed her, heading back to the ship. As they walked, Swaine couldn't help but feel angry and guilty. This girl was just now telling them that some necklace he stole was actually a powerful amulet... and because of his petty thieving, he probably put the world at risk.

I wish I just stayed home... the thief thought, regretfully.

*0*0*0*

So, this is Oliver, the Pure-Hearted One, huh? The drifter thought, giving a glance at the young wizard as they walked. I didn't expect him to be a kid. I guess they're right- heroes do come in all shapes and sizes.

"So where have you've been all this time, Ollie-boy?" That fairy, Mr. Drippy, asked him.

"Yeah, what took you so long to come back?" Swaine joked.

"I... kind of got caught up in a few things back in my world," Oliver replied, and from his tone the drifter sensed he was hesitant in giving a full reason. "I didn't realize it had been so long until I really started to miss you guys. ...I've actually been looking all over for you!"

"Ya should've come an' visited ME first," Mr. Drippy said.

"I know... That's actually how I ended up here. I would have sooner, but I got caught up in helping out a few people with some favors, then I went to Hamelin to see Marcassin- I was actually hoping to run into you guys there. We practiced a few spells, and I asked him if he wanted to come along when I decided to continue travelling, but he said he wanted to stay and take care of his kingdom, but he'd tag along after he got done with some trading business."

"Well, we'll go see him as soon as we wrap up our stalker-business," Swaine replied.

The girl gave him a glare. "Watch it, thief..." she sneered.

"By the way, what's your name?" Esther asked her.

"Why should I tell you?"

"It's either tell us, or we can keep calling you 'stalker', 'crazy', or 'necklace-girl'. Again, your choice." Swaine commented.

The girl sneered. "Fine. My name is Abyssa. Happy now?"

"Abyssa? That's a nice name," Oliver said, politely.

"Whatever. C'mon, pick up the pace!" She stormed ahead, the group following, and she could feel them giving her vicious looks.

The sooner she got the Azen back, the sooner she could ditch that thief and his friends.

*0*0*0*

A/N: Well, we got a little of the mystery solved, and finally I can have my OC go by her name rather than calling her 'the girl' or 'the drifter'! ...And how do you like my new set-up for the plot? Hope it makes the story a little more interesting.

Reviewer Thanks, Once Again!

Mike AZ 2: Thank you. Actually, I couldn't think of a good sound-effect for casting a spell, so I just put 'zap'. (Lame, I know); Yeah, sorry I didn't give enough detail on Marcassin's part, but don't worry, he'll be back ;)

Review, nit-pick, don't flame... you know the drill.