Tales of Faith
Formation Arc – Luca Side
Chapter 34: The Girl and her Doll
Academia, Kite's apartment
"Nmmmnnn…" Luca groggily rubbed his eyes. "How long was I asleep…?" He mumbled loudly.
"A-About three days…" A soft and timid voice spoke.
"Huh?" Luca looked at his right. A small Ralts with a Banette doll around her arms stood beside the bed. "E-Eep!" The Ralts retreated to the other side of the room. Luca took a look around the room. Other than the bed he's resting on, the place is messy, stacks of books almost towering over the bed rested near the walls. There is also a wooden table, although that was packed with books on the top.
Noticing his hat resting on one of the stacks, Luca put it on and got out of the bed. Approaching the small Ralts, he spoke. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." Luca smiled. "Hello. That's a really… funny doll you have here." Luca pointed at the Banette doll. "So, what's your name?"
The small Ralts said nothing, looking down… and the Banette doll twitched. "…HELLO!" The Banette doll's eyes closed and the mouth suddenly zipped open and it shouted those words. "W-WHOAH!" Luca yelped as he stumbled backwards and fell on his back. His hat swayed in the air before it landed beside Luca.
"Whoops, clumsy little guy, aren't you?" The Banette doll said. The small Ralts looked down at her doll. "Th-This is Taro… H-He won't harm you…" She spoke softly. The Banette doll, Taro, nodded. "And this is Lucille! But you can also call her Lucy, okay? So, hello again!"
Luca stared at the girl and her doll, no, talking doll. "Err.. Y-Yeah… Hello… Both of you…" he said nervously. He has never come across a living doll before. So, it feels really awkward to talk to something that is naturally not supposed to be living.
"U-Um…" Lucille walked up to Luca. "Y-You're alright, r-right?"
"Yup… I was surprised, though…" Luca got up and dusted his hat before putting it on. "My name's Luca."
"Luca-kun!" Taro said. "Thank you for rescuing us with Kite-kun!"
"Th…Th-Thank you…" Lucille said softly.
"What were you doing in there, anyway?" Luca asked.
"H-Huh?" Lucille appeared to be confused.
"In the sewers. Wasn't it a dangerous place for a little girl like you to go there?"
"I…I-It was T-Taro's idea…" Lucille said. "W-We saw a strange guy…"
"Yeah! This guy had gigantic ears!" Taro continued. "A white mane too! And if I remember, he also had a spear!"
"Oh, I see…" Luca nodded. 'There's no doubt about it…' He thought. 'Who they saw… It must have been Elazul! But… why was he there…? If only I arrived there sooner… Maybe I could have met him…'
"I-Is something wrong?" Lucille asked.
"Ah, it's nothing." Luca said.
"Nnnnn…" Taro's head tilted to the left. "Bleeeaaaahhh!" He belched out something from his mouth. A small light-purple gem fell in front of Taro. 'Is that…?' Luca's eyes widened. He looked at Taro. The Banette doll appeared to be unmoving after it belched out the gem. Lucille bent down, picked up the gem, and put it in Taro's mouth. After a while, Taro started to move. "Ah, my belly's full again…"
'Dolls have bellies…?' Luca thought. 'What IS Taro, anyway?'
"So, let's meet up with the others, okay?" Taro said. Luca nodded as he left the room with Lucille and Taro. At the other room, the rest of the group were talking to one another.
Alvin noticed Luca arriving. "Here he comes." He said.
"Luca, you're alright." Arche said.
"Yeah, I am alright!" Luca nodded.
"Luca, you're alright!" Vanille said.
"Y-Yeah… I am…" Luca nodded again, this time his face reddening a bit.
"Okay…" Arturo said. "I believe that we should all brief Luca about what he needs to know."
"What I need to know?" Luca asked.
"Yes." Arche said. "As you know, Crystals are scattered around the world, where their respective owners will find them. Each Crystal can communicate only with their respective owner. This owner is known as a Crystal Bearer. There's an exception for the Crystallizer. The Crystallizer should be able to communicate with any of the Crystals. In addition, the Crystallizer can merge with one Crystal temporarily to a new form through a process called Crystallize. The final form after the process is called a Crystallus. Crystallus are very powerful forms able to incorporate elements of the Crystal regardless of their type. Their physical and magical strengths are greatly amplified, making them a formidable ally."
"Oh, that reminds me…" Alvin said. "Luca, you said you couldn't cast any spells. But, when you transformed into that new form…"
"Wait… I casted a spell!?" Luca exclaimed.
"Yeah, you did." Alvin nodded.
"Then…!" Luca grabbed his staff.
"Wait!" Alvin shouted, realizing what Luca was about to do. But it was too late.
"Aqua Edge!" Luca called out.
Nothing happened.
"Ah…" Luca stared at his staff. "Looks like I still can't cast a spell after all…"
"What's wrong with you!?" Alvin sighed. "Are you seriously thinking of casting a spell in a confined place?"
"S-Sorry, I got carried away…" Luca apologized. He turned to Arche. "Was there anything else?"
"As I was saying…" Arche resumed her talk. "There are currently eighteen Crystal Bearers, one representing each "Type" of Pokémon. It is said that when the Crystal Bearers and Crystallizer unite, they will stop an imminent danger that will decide the fate of the world. At least, that is all the information that we have from Kite's books."
"The fate of the world…" Luca mumbled.
"Yes, and we can confirm the following Crystal Bearers: Me, Vanille, Arturo, Alvin, Kite, Lucille, Taro, Cress, Heart, Van and Elazul." Arche said.
"What about me?" Luca asked.
"Hmm… you did fuse with the Sapphire… So I assume that you must be… the Crystallizer." Arche answered.
"Yeah, that's right… the Sapphire said that I'm a Crystallizer…" Luca nodded.
"Wait… it did?" Arche said.
"Yes… And hold on… Lucille's a Crystal Bearer!?" Luca turned to Lucille.
"N…Nm…" Lucille nodded slowly. She reached for a pocket in her dress. She took out a beautiful pink sphere-shaped jewel. "M-My Crystal is a P-Pearl… and T-Taro's one is called… a F-Flourite…"
"That's right!" Taro said.
"Okay… that means… that there are other Crystal Bearers out there…" Luca nodded. "So… if we can get Kite, Lucille and Taro to follow us…"
Kite looked at the group, appearing unsure. He folded his arms while tapping his foot. "I don't… know…" Kite sighed. "You see, I have to prepare for school, and there's a lot that I have to study for the new term… Lucille's also very young, and I can't afford to put her in such dan-"
"P-Please… take me along with you…" Lucille said.
"-If Lucille wants to follow you, then I have to make sure she doesn't get into danger. So, yeah. I'll go along with all of you." Kite nodded.
"YEEES!" Taro cheered. "I get to go with Luca-kuuuun~!" The Banette doll flew to Luca and bit on his head. Everyone stared silently after Taro bit on Luca. "Mmmrphhhh!" Luca's muffled scream was audible as the young Politoed did all he could to pull the doll out of his head. Soon, he succeeded in yanking Taro out. "Bwah!" Luca shook his head.
"Hat… and skin… Weird…" Taro mumbled. "…But manageable!"
"T-Taro.. y-you shouldn't keep biting onto people's heads like that…" The little girl told her doll.
"So…" Luca sighed. "What are we going to do now?"
"There are many places we would most likely visit to find the other Crystal Bearers…" Arche looked at the world map on the wall. "I think that we should take the train from Academia to Dragsa."
"Dragsa, the Imperial Capital…" Luca said.
"Oh, yeah…" Alvin nodded. "Dragsa… I've heard that there's an incident going on there… Something about people suddenly appearing unconscious in the city…"
"That's more reason to go there, right?" Arche said.
"I agree." Arturo nodded. "It does seem suspicious. And possibly, a Crystal Bearer may investigate this incident."
"We'll all settle to go to Dragsa, right?" Vanille said. "But, first… check this out, Luca!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she sang.
"Riou rei croa riou ze rei va ze rei."
Vanille smiled. "I think that line I found in one of Kite's books is part of the Fonic Hymn!"
"Oh, yeah… the Fonic Hymn!" Luca nodded. "You have four pieces now! And you didn't faint this time!"
"I didn't! Maybe it's because I was still conscious." Vanille said. "But, I still don't know who manages to control me to sing those Hymns…"
"I guess we shouldn't bother about who's making you sing." Luca said. Vanille nodded in agreement. "Yup, looks like it!"
Kite watched the rest of the group talk with each other. 'Wow… Quite a series of events that I'm in, huh?' He thought.
Leaving the apartment, the group, consisting of seven Crystal Bearers and one Crystallizer, headed over to the train station in Academia. They took the earliest train that led to Dragsa. It would take them a day to reach there, but they were fortunate to have gotten on a train. It was already evening, so everyone decided to have dinner.
"Lucille, eat those stalks." Kite said. "They're good for you." Lucille is poking at the stalks on her plate while everyone else ate their food.
"I-I'm not hungry…" Lucille said softly.
"Lucille, you have to stop being picky." Kite said. "You won't grow bigger if you don't take your nutrients and vitamins."
"I-I don't want to eat s-stalks…" Lucille said.
"If you don't eat a lot," Taro said. "you'll never grow bazongas!"
"I-I don't want that either…" Lucille jabbed a stalk and brought it slowly to her mouth. She whimpered at the taste of the vegetable.
"What's a… 'bazonga'?" Vanille asked. "Is it something you eat?"
"I… don't think you should know." Arche told Vanille.
"Should I tell her?" Alvin whispered to Arturo.
"Hmm…. I would recommend not to." Arturo answered.
"What IS a bazonga?" Luca asked Kite.
"I have no idea." Kite said before he resumed eating his food.
"What should we do now?" Vanille asked everyone. They were all in one of those sleeping rooms where the older Pokemon of the group slept. Kite, Lucille, and Luca shared a different room, but they gathered here just to talk with each other.
"How about… we play poker?" Alvin suggested.
"Po…ker?" Vanille wondered. "…Do you poke someone?"
"Ahahaha." Alvin laughed at Vanille's literal-mindedness. "Wrong. Poker's like… a luck-oriented game. You have these cards and…" Alvin proceeded to give Vanille the basics of this gambling game. Vanille nodded attentively. "Oh… so, that's how you play poker…" She said. Alvin nodded. "Yeah. You wanna give it a try?"
"Of course! This sounds like fun!" Vanille said.
"Count me out." Kite said. "Let's go, Lucille." He took Lucille and Taro out of the room, most likely not to let Lucille be influenced by gambling.
"I would like to try this game out." Arturo nodded. "So, I'll join the game."
"I'd just watch from here." Luca said.
"So will I." Arche said.
Alvin took a deck of playing cards from a nearby table and he shuffled the deck swiftly. "Okay… let's get this started."
"I swear, this is beginner's luck!" Alvin's eyebrow twitched as he stared at Vanille's cards. Alvin himself is a veteran player in poker… and for six straight games, Vanille kept winning. Alvin didn't even get a chance to savour victory.
"Did I win again?" Vanille said. Arturo took a look at Vanille's face-up cards. "Hmm…" Arturo looked at the flop, turn and river. "Three 6's, and two 5's… A full house… That beats my three-of-a-kind 6 and Alvin's two pairs of 6's and Aces'."
"Yay! I won again!" Vanille pumped a fist in the air. "Let's play another round!"
"Okay, okay…" Alvin gathered the cards and shuffled them before distributing the cards to Vanille and Arturo. "Hmm…" Alvin looked at his hand. Two Aces of Hearts and Clubs. That's a fair hand to begin with. Arturo looked at his hand. 'This is bad…' Arturo stared at his 2 Spades and 7 Diamonds. "Here comes the flop…" Alvin took out the top three cards from the deck and placed them in the centre.
"Oops!" Vanille accidentally dropped her cards and they fell in front of everyone to see. It was Ace Spades and King Spades. And the flop that was just revealed… are Queen Spades, Jack Spades and 10 Spades. In other words… Vanille got a royal flush.
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Alvin shouted.
"I won again!" Vanille cheered.
"VANILLE! YOU AREN'T CHEATING, RIGHT!?" Alvin shouted in disbelief.
"No, I am not!" Vanille said. "…What is "cheating", though?"
While an argument took place between Alvin and Vanille, Arche got off from the bed and headed out of the room. Luca noticed that and he too, left the room after Arche. Luca looked around the train corridor, heading to the left, where he was sure Arche went. While he walked, he passed by the room where he would be staying with Kite, Lucille and Taro. He could hear faint voices from the door.
"I don't know whether this is right…" Kite's voice mumbled. "But, I think that even young people like us have a part to play as Crystal Bearers…"
"I-I think so too…" Lucille's volce followed. "Th-That's why we have these, right…?"
Luca sighed. He actually wasn't on board with taking children with them for Arceus' sake. But… if they had the Crystals, then, those three had something to do with the imminent future…
Luca continued on the corridor until he saw Arche looking out of a window. "Arche." He called out.
"They look happy, don't they…?" Arche said. "Vanille, Alvin and Arturo. They enjoyed themselves during the game… Like they are a family…"
"Huh…?" Luca said. He didn't get what Arche is trying to imply. Arche brought out a flower from her dress. "This… is a memento of my mother…" Arche said. "This flower is all I have to remember her… It is unique… It has never withered for the past eighteen years I have held on to this…"
"A memento…?" Luca said. "Then… what happened to her…?"
Arche didn't say anything.
"O-Oh! I'm sorry for asking…" Luca said.
"It's okay… Everyone in the castle helped to raise me…" Arche said. "In the end, I thought I was special… But… on that day… I found out that Van, Cress, Arturo, Vanille and Heart grew up without any parents…"
"All of them… did?" Luca mumbled.
"Van's an adopted child, Arturo's parents passed away when he was young, Cress and Heart's parents died in separate incidents… and Vanille was raised in her home village when she lost her memories." Arche said.
"Arche…" Luca said.
"That's why…" Arche turned to Luca. "I want you to have this."
"Me…?" Luca asked.
"I'm afraid that I might drift away from my path… and I don't want to put anyone into more danger…" Arche said to Luca. "You're a reliable and great ally, Luca. I trust you. That's why, I feel that you can hold on to this…"
Arche passed the flower to Luca. "Please, take care of it for me, Luca." Arche said.
"If this is a mission granted by the Princess of Namdiascar…" Luca nodded. "Then, I'll do my best in fulfilling that mission!"
"Thank you…" Arche smiled. "I'm going back to sleep now, I suggest that we should turn in for the night." She headed back to her room first. Luca looked at the memento of Arche's mother. "Arche didn't state the name of the flower… I think I should just call it "Mother's Memento" for now…" Luca said. He headed back to his room, finding Kite soothing Lucille to sleep. Taro is already snoozing lightly beside Lucille.
"…And thus, that's how the first moon became white… it was because of the compassion of the moonlit maiden…" Kite said.
"Nnm…" Lucille smiled softly at Kite before her eyes closed and she slept. Kite sighed as he got off Lucille's bed. "…Oh." He noticed Luca. "Be quiet. Lucille's sleeping." He spoke in a whisper.
"Right…" Luca whispered back to Kite. "So… you're like a big brother to Lucille, aren't you?"
"Yup. I found Lucille when I was heading back home a few months ago… she didn't look like she had any place to stay, so I took her in my care. Even until now, I still wonder whether Lucille's parents will find their lost child… and I didn't have any siblings. So… it feels a bit weird to be taking care of her, at least that's what I think… But I enjoy spending time with Lucille and Taro, although the doll's annoying and kept biting my head…"
"Ahaha…" Luca chuckled softly.
"Oh… look at the time." Kite whispered. "Let's go back to sleep." Luca nodded as the two went to separate beds to sleep for the night.
Chapter 34 End
Current Party:
Luca R. Ezperanda – Sealed Child (What could have happened for this child to be unable to use magic…?)
Weapon: Oak Staff+1 (Staves)
Cloudia Vanille – Upbeat Girl (Hmm... I am really good at a lot of things!(According to her))
Weapon: Custom Bowsword (Bowsword)
Archelain Til Namdiascar VII – Namdiascar Princess (The princess of the Kingdom of Namdiascar.)
Weapons: Gladius (Shortsword), Round Shield (Shield)
Arturo Carpaice – Reunited Traveller (It may be fate, that brought him to their group.)
Weapon: Fonic Lute (Sword Lute)
Alvin – Experienced Mercenary (This skilled warrior shows no quarter, he means business.)
Weapon: Revolver (Dual Gunblades)
Kite Maxwell – Graduate (A talented student who has gone through education to come this far…)
Weapon: Brass Boots (Greaves)
Lucille Ostend – Timid Girl (This girl may not have much to say, but it seems that she has her own thoughts…)
Weapon: Pink Wand (Wand), Taro
We have Lucille and Taro joining the group! The group is now heading to the Imperial Capital, Dragsa. It's actually easy to tell how I 'came up' with the city's name. If you want to, you can just answer this 'question'. Moving on to Dragsa, they'll meet two certain characters… can you guess who they will be…? (They already made appearances in the past chapters.)
And.. I believe that a certain group will be familiar with the term 'bazongas'…
Skit: A proof of newborn love
Taro: (joyful) "Luca-kun~! I feel so good being with you~!" (chomp)
Luca: (shocked) "*muffled screaming*" (pulls Taro out)
Luca: (depressed) "Bwah! Come on, why does Taro keep biting into my head?!"
Taro: "It's a proof of my newborn love, of course!"
Lucille: "Th-This is the first time ever Taro has gotten so attached to someone…"
Arche: (smiling) "Oh, so it's like a kiss!"
Taro: (shocked) "EEEEEH?! Th-Then… my first kiss was stolen by… Kite-kun?!"
Luca: (shocked) "That's what you care about!?" (pauses and becomes depressed) "No, wait… why am I saying this to a plushie?"
Arche: (looking away) "You need to face reality, Luca…"
Lucille: "Pl-Please… t-take responsibility…"
Taro: (blissful) "Luca-kun~…"
Luca: (shocked) "Awawawawa… what do you mean by take responsibility?!"