(Quick question! So, spoilers, I'm planning on making a sequel to this story! And then a third book! Solely because I like having Abyssa in there, plus my character from the next book! BUT! And that 's a big but!
Swaine: Like your's…
Me: Shut it Swaine! Anyway, BUT! I have an idea for a Ni No Kuni and Doctor Who crossover that I am so hextremely hexcited about, you have no idea! Ni No Kuni and Doctor Who are my two favourite things in the world and the fact that I was able to combine them made me SO happy! But I want to know this… Do you want Abyssa in it? And if so, should it go along with the series of Ni No Kuni stories! If you have any questions or want to talk to me about it, because I feel there's a lot of explaining that I don't want to do right here, leave a review letting me know and I'll pm y'all! Now read on, you clever fangirl. And remember…)
They hopped around the Vault of Tears, using their familiars if they had to fight. All of a sudden, they hopped across a circle, and turned back to human!
"...Woohoo! We're back to normal!" Oliver exclaimed.
"Phew… The novelty of being a frog wears off pretty quickly, eh?" Swaine said, shaking his head. Esther nodded.
"I know! And having to speak in that awful frog language was just so tiring!" Abyssa nodded as she smoothed down her frizzed up hair, trying to pull it back into the jasmine braid in normally was.
"I was just tired of hopping around this place! Goodness, I haven't felt this grungy since that time I took a mud bath after that fight at the Cat King's banquet." Drippy nodded.
"Too rarebit, mun! Er, I mean, too right!" Swaine chuckled.
"Heh. Looks like Drippy misses old froggy form… Anyway, we should get back to searching for that stone."
"Wait! What if…?" Esther wondered out loud. "I think that rainbow-coloured frog was trying to lead us here!"
"So why hasn't it changed back into a human like we did? Maybe it was just a normal frog all along." Abyssa shrugged.
"Perhaps, though it's definitely a strange looking frog. If we find it again, I might take it as a pet! It's rather pretty looking. Something to keep the spirits up." Esther tapped her chin.
"Hmm. I don't know. But it is curious…"
"Well, I'm sure we'll bump into it again before long, en't it?" Drippy told them. "Now then, let's start looking for that stone, shall we?" Oliver nodded.
"Sure thing! Let's take a look around these ruins!" That was when they turned around, and saw the rainbow frog sitting on one of the stones.
"There's the frog!" Abyssa shouted, and they ran over to it. It didn't move.
"Maybe it's hurt?" Esther suggested. Oliver cast Nature's Tongue on the frog.
"Help him, please!" It said in a woman's voice.
"Help him? Help who?" Abyssa asked her, then looked behind her. There appeared to be some sort of dungeon. "I've never seen that place before. Come to think of it, I've never really been down here before. There were always… strange noises. Come on." Then she headed down the hole. The other's followed after her into a really dark area.
"Where are we…?" Oliver shuddered, wrapping Abyssa's cloak around him tighter.
"Crikey… This place is a bit blinking grim. Must be a prison or something…"
"Is there… someone there?" Said a low voice. Then Swaine gave a yell.
"Wh-Who's that!?" he exclaimed, and pointed into a cell. There was a giant frog inside wearing human clothes!
"It's a f-f-flipping frog! Another one!" Drippy shouted.
"...Another one?" The frog asked. "Do you mean someone else has been blighted by my curse…?"
"A-Actually… we were cursed and turned into frogs ourselves. But we didn't look like you do…"
"Are you hurt?" Abyssa asked her, going to the cell and bending down a little to be level with him. "How long have you been in there?" He shook his head.
"...Leave, now! You must leave this place! It is dangerous!" Abyssa's eyes widened, a little taken back. Oliver jumped.
"Huh!? B-But you-"
"Do not waste time worrying about me. Nghhh…" He groaned.
"What's the matter!? Are you hurt?" Esther asked again. "Oh, Oliver! We've got to do something!" Oliver nodded.
"Yes! We have to help him! I guess I can use magic to get this door open… Let's give it a try!" Then he cast Spring Lock on the lock and the door swung open.
"Nghhh… What are you doing!?" The frog demanded. "Leave me alone, I beseech you!" Abyssa's eyes widened and Esther gasped.
"Wait a minute… Are you…? Are you the Frog Prince!?" She asked. Abyssa looked at her, then back at the frog, then gasped.
"Oh my goodness! He might just be!"
"You know who I am!?" The frog asked. "But how!?"
"The Frog Prince of the Desert…" Esther said. "That's you isn't it. The one who left his kingdom, abandoning his princess!"
"Ngh! How do you-!?"
"So you admit it!" Abyssa shouted at him, now angry. "How could you!? Abandoning her like that!"
"What are you two going on about!?" Swaine demanded of them. "Are you trying to confuse us or something?" Esther crossed her arms.
"Hmph! It wouldn't take much to confuse the likes of you, Swaine! I'm just a bit shocked, all right?"
"Yeah, it's not like we knew we were going to bump into a prince from a fairy tale, did we!?" Abyssa told him.
"A fairy tale!?" Swaine exclaimed.
"Ngh… I see… So that is how you know of me…" Abyssa looked to Esther.
"Story time!" Esther nodded.
"Now let me think… Ah yes! I remember. All right, listen carefully…
"Once upon a time, before the fathers of our fathers' fathers were born, there was a magnificent desert kingdom.
"In that kingdom lived a handsome and courageous young prince who was much loved by all his subjects.
"Then one day, the kingdom was attacked by a monstrous serpent. A beast so hideous that it struck fear into all who saw it. A terrible, evil creature…
"The prince decided that, in order to defeat this serpent, he would have to drink a certain mysterious potion.
"No sooner had he swallowed the diabolical draught than he began to turn into a frog-"
"What!?" Swaine interrupted. "Why would he drink a potion that turned him into a frog? A frog doesn't stand a chance of beating a snake!"
"I haven't finished the story yet!" Esther shouted, stomping her foot. "I told you to listen carefully, didn't I- not ask stupid questions!"
"Continue please!" Abyssa told her, slapping a hand over Swaine's mouth. "I'll keep him quiet!" Esther nodded approvingly.
"Now, where was I? Ah yes! The reason he decided to turn into a frog was-"
"To lull the serpent into a false sense of security by becoming one of its favoured footstuffs… if I recall correctly." The frog interrupted. Esther cleared her throat.
"Y-Yes!"
"My apologies. Please continue." Esther nodded, then continue.
"And so, the prince turned himself into a frog. For he had a plan.
"He knew the serpent would not be able to resist eating him, and that this would allow him to attack the monster from within…
"The plan worked. The serpent swallowed the prince, and received a mortal blow from inside for its trouble.
"But alas, the prince could not return to his original form.
"No matter what he tried, he remained an ugly frog.
"This caused him great distress. He could not stop thinking about how foolish he had been.
"So he vowed to hide himself away from the world…
"Now the prince was married to a beautiful young princess.
"Though he had promised her that they would be together forever and ever…
"...She had not seen him since he left to face the serpent. It began to seem that he would never return…
"Despairing the princess went to the tomb where the prince had slain the serpent, and wept for her lost love.
"And there she remained, waiting for her prince, though she knew he would never come…
"...Waiting until the end of her days."
"Hm. She waited, you say?" The frog asked. "I see that it truly has become a fairy tale." Oliver nodded.
"Gee… That's a pretty sad story…"
"Every girl in Al Mamoon is told that story when they're young, and everyone cries the first time they hear it…" Esther told them, Abyssa shook her head.
"I didn't. I don't cry. That, and I was sitting on the roof of a woman's house and listened to it, but I couldn't cry because then I would have been caught." Esther stomped her foot.
"That's not the point!"
"You speak of it as if it were a work fiction…" The frog mumbled.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Prince Ali…" Esther said quietly, and Abyssa gave a short curtsy, almost falling over. The frog's eyes softened and he looked sad.
"Prince Ali… It has been a very long time since anyone has called me by my name…" I can relate to that. Abyssa thought to herself as Prince Ali stood to his feet. "Well then-shall I tell you the final chapter of your fairy tale?" Esther tilted her head.
"The final chapter…?" Ali nodded
"So, the prince left his princess behind, and turned his back on his kingdom. The princess's name was Yasmina, by the way. She was the love of the prince's life, and yet… he abandoned her!" He looked down at himself. "Man years passed, and the prince remained a frog, only to find, that he was unable to die. Yes, he was destined to live as a frog forever… Even after his kingdom had been razed to the ground…"
"That's just terrible…" Esther murmured. Abyssa reached her hand out and patted Ali's shoulder, comfortingly.
"I'm very sorry for your loss."
"Ha!" Ali exclaimed. "I may have suffered, but is nothing compared to the pain I caused my beloved Yasmina. Indeed, I feel sometimes that this is just punishment…"
"But… why are you in this cell, Your Highness?" Oliver asked Ali.
"It is the serpent, Aapep…" Ali told them. "He has returned. Someone brought him back to life…" Esther shook her head.
"I don't think there are many people who could breathe new life into an ancient monster…"
'Yeah. I can only think of one…"
"You mean… Shadar!?" Oliver exclaimed. Ali looked like he was trying not to cry.
"Aapep wasted no time in taking his revenge. That is how I came to be imprisoned. Who can say how long he intends to prolong my agony? Have I not suffered enough? To remain in this form… To live without my beloved…"
"Oliver! Isn't there a spell you can cast to bring Prince Ali back to normal?" Esther begged, looking nervous.
"You mean something to lift the curse that turned him into a frog? Hmm…" Oliver looked just as nervous.
"Hang on a flipping minute, mun!" Drippy exclaimed. "Why don't we use that magic circle that lifted ouer froggy curse?" Swaine nodded.
"You're right!" He told them. "It worked for us- maybe it would for him!"
"But… surely you did not consume the same shape-shifting potion that I did?" He asked. Esther shook her head.
"Well it wasn't a potion, no… But that's not important right now. Come on, Your Highness, let's give that magic circle a try!" Ali looked like he still couldn't quite believe it.
"Could such magic truly reside in this temple? ...And what if I were to become human again? What new torments would Aapep devise for me then…?" Abyssa shook her head quickly.
"You mustn't think like that! You have to just forget the past and focus on what's right in front of you! And what is right in front of you is an opportunity to truly live again!" Ali's eyes were wide, but he nodded.
"You are right. This is truly the opportunity of a lifetime. I shall try this, magic circle."
(Oh! And before I go! I want to let you know I am out of prepared chapters! *covers ears as fangirls die screaming* I am working as fast as I can, but I've also really been into working on another book for the series and I just haven't been writing this one. But I will update it as much as possible! It's just that I also need to watch videos so that I can remember what everyone says, and it takes forever to type each and every line! But it's totally worth it when I see how many people I see liking and reviewing my story! So thank you all for understanding! Also I'm planning another Ni No Kuni story other than the one I mentioned above! It's going to be The Tales of Wonder, but more than just the ones from the Wizard's Companion. I've got a few of my own I'd like to share with you! So let me know what you think of that, and I'll get back to you! Later skaters!)