X-X-X-X
Chapter 38
X-X-X-X
X-X No One's POV X-X
"WHY IS IT YOU DON'T LISTEN TO ME?! TELL ME WHEN YOU GO OUT!"
"Ow! That hurts, bro!"
"Shut up! I swear, I got enough problems with Yui, I don't need you screwing around too." The man with long black hair turned to Syaoran and the others. His silver eyes are sharp, almost like a cat's. In both his ears are piercings of a wide range of designs. "Sorry for the problems this idiot put you through. Hey, bow your head."
"Don't wanna!"
"Just do it."
"A-Ano, it's fine, really!"
"Still, this idiot is impolite. Did you at least give your name to them?"
"I hate it..."
"Seriously...Celes is a proper girl's name." No one, except Kurogane, noticed how Fai flinched at the name. "It's cute, just like your old name."
"I like my old name better! Seriously, this tribe..."
"Ano..."
"Ah, right, you guys are travelers, huh? You're sure dressed oddly. Since this idiot troubled you, we'll take care of ya for a while."
"So your name is Celes-san?" Sakura smiled at the girl, Celes, who seemed bitter about it. "It's nice to meet you."
"Hmph! My proper current name is Celes la Rainn."
"Your name is a bit odd."
"Shut up!" Celes glared up at Fai. "That's why I hate it!"
"Hey, you got adopted into the clan properly. Just wait until you're an adult to change your name back."
"So that would make you?"
"Ah, the name is Cl-ah, wait, I changed it back. Sorry, the name is Rei. Let's see, so we're going to be cooking for four more people, huh?"
"You didn't count Mokona!"
"Mokona, huh?" Rei leaned down examining the rabbit on Syaoran's head. "A type of faerie?"
"Mokona is Mokona!"
"Alright, alright, cute little guy, huh?"
"I apologize for the intrusion. My name is Syaoran. The young lady beside me is Sakura. Then there is Kurogane-san and Fai-san behind us. I hope we won't be a bother, Rei-san."
"No bother, we don't get travelers often and we make it a point to offer people a helping hand." Rei turned to Celes. "Hey, Celes, take them to see Hydra. They need suitable clothing."
"Okay, got it. Come on."
"So, Celes-chan. What's this about your names?"
"It's because I lost my family. It's tradition that an orphan must be renamed to prevent the deceased spirits of our loved ones from holding us back. Only when we are adults are we able to obtain it once again."
"Then Celes-san..."
"My parent's aren't actually dead, they're in the forest...but they might as well be." Celes shook her head. "Rei and his wife take care of me, but I'm not a little kid. I can take care of myself."
"Is Rei your brother?"
"No, it's because we were raised like we were siblings. His parents was close to my parents. Hydra-san!" Celes opened the door to a large wooden home. "I need some clothes!"
"Hu-wahhh!"
"Not again..." Celes stared at the person buried beneath a pile of books...after slipping. The person named Hydra is someone they were all familiar with...as it is Fukushima Misaki. "All-nighter again?"
"Five days straight. Clothes, right?" Hydra stared behind Celes at the group behind her. "Travelers, rare. Going to sleep. Do as you like."
"Thanks."
"Celes-san, is that really okay?"
"It's fine. Come on, let's get you some clothes."
Celes entered one of the side rooms, the room lined with shelves and folded up clothing and various accessories. The girl began muttering to herself as she pulled things off the shelf one by one. Once everything was picked out, she handed it over before directing them to another room to change in. Kurogane is dressed in a dark green shirt with black pants, a large brown scarf loosely tied around his neck along with a heavy brown coat. Fai is dressed in a grey shirt and dark green pants, a long dark green scarf around his neck. Syaoran is dressed in a green shirt with dark grey pants, a dark brown bandana around his neck. Sakura is dressed in a plain white dress with a green leaf pattern at the bottom, along with a loose green coat.
"Sorry for the lack of colors. We normally wear colors found in nature to help us blend in with the scenery." Celes said shrugging her shoulders.
"Ano...about Lucy..." Sakura said holding Mokona in her arms.
"You'll have to wait until morning to talk to the expert. Hydra-san is an expert when it comes to the Forest of the Forgotten...she's been researching it for years...Come on, for now, you guys can stay at my place. Well, we'll be having dinner with Rei and Yui." Celes said walking out of Hydra's home.
"Can Mis-Hydra-san really help us?" Syaoran asked looking at Celes.
"She knows the most about it...after all, she lost her parents to the forest. Actually, everyone in this village lost someone to the forest...some even join to be close to loved ones trapped..." Celes said with a sad smile.
"Celes-san, can you tell me more about the Forest of the Forgotten?"
"Like?"
"Was it always like that? Has there ever been a case where people return?"
"I'm not sure about how long the forest has been around...but it's been around for a long time. Longer since the elder has been alive. There also hasn't ever been a case of someone returning..."
"Then..."
"Sorry, but maybe...maybe not now..."
"Not now?"
"...Yui!" Celes slammed open a door to a decent sized house. "Dinner!"
"Ara, Celes-chan." A young woman with long dark hair turned and stared at Celes with a smile. Her amber eyes are cat like and were gleaming. "Guests of Celes, right? Come on in, come on in~!"
"By the way...eat whatever you're served. Yui gets offended if you try to leave anything behind even it does look strange..."
"I heard that!"
"Geh!"
"Really..."
Celes entered first, taking a seat beside Rei. She slung her bow around the back of her chair before taking a seat. Fai helped Yui set the table with the last few remaining dishes, something the woman seemed to appreciate...considering she shot her husband and Celes a certain look. The woman shook her head before taking the empty seat beside her husband.
"Then let us offer a short prayer before breaking bread." Rei interlocked his fingers in front of him. When Yui and Celes did the same, the others quickly followed suit...although Fai did elbow Kurogane lightly when he didn't do it at first. "We give our thanks to the goddess of the wind and water for our daily bread. May we be forever blessed under her protection." Rei said with a small smile.
"Amen." Celes said silently.
"Well, let's dig in everyone. I already heard a bit about you from my husband earlier. Please, just call me Yui." Yui said cutting some pieces of bread.
"Yui-san is quite young. Have you been married long?" Fai asked with a smile.
"Last year. We tend to marry young due to the nature of this forest." Yui answered handing Sakura a slice of bread.
"If you don't mind me asking, but do you know a lot about the Forest of the Forgotten?" Syaoran asked causing Yui to drop her knife.
"Careful." Rei caught it before it could hit the table. "Young man, that topic isn't something to be discussed at the dinner table." Rei said giving Syaoran a small frown.
"I apologize...I didn't mean to offend you..."
"They lost someone today...to the forest. That's why they asked."
"I see...but still, not a topic to have during dinner. If you wish to know more, best to ask the elder. Celes, they are staying with you, are they not?"
"They are."
"Then make sure they don't anger the elder. She can't handle much excitement nowadays."
"I know, I know, geez."
"I say this because you don't know sometimes. Really..."
"I apologize for these two." Yui smiled at the others. "Rei practically raised Celes when she was a small child. A few years after, he took her in as his own sister once she lost her mother to the forest."
"Then..."
"Don't worry, despite the forest being cursed...the people inside don't ever seem harmed in any way. You probably met Celes on one of her usual runs...She tries to catch a glimpse of her mother at the forest's edge."
"Are there many people trapped within the forest?"
"Who knows at this point...Our village is only protected as we are located in a section of the mountain valley where the ocean wind pours into the mountains. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't even be able to settle so close to the forest." Yui gave the princess a sad smile. "We've all lost someone dear to our hearts to the forest."
"Is our friend going to be okay?" Sakura nervously bit her bottom lip. "She...She's our friend and someone we love..."
"Isn't there a way to get someone out of the forest?"
"It's impossible. There have been times where we pulled someone out of the forest, but...they struggled and fought against us...eventually returning to the forest. After that, we stopped trying to pull them out."
"Yui, stop bringing it up."
"But..."
"Stop."
"Yes, dear."
Dinner was eating in a somewhat stiff silence. On occasion, Rei would question Celes about her plans for tomorrow and whether or not she'll be helping Hydra with her research. Celes only grunted, too busy shoving food into her face...something the man seemed to want to smack her upside the head for. Yui only shook her head indicating this was a daily occurrence.
"Thank you for the meal, it was delicious." Sakura said helping Yui gather the dirty dishes.
"If you think that was good, you should try my quiche. It's Celes' favorite." Yui said giving her a small smile.
"Celes, make sure to take this when you get home." Rei got up, picking up something on the shelf. A box filled with small circular glass bottles. "Hydra-san asked me to pick this up on my last trip to town. I hadn't had time to go see her though." Rei said placing it on the table.
"Oh, yeah..." Celes said picking up one.
"I'm heading down again tomorrow. Did you want anything?"
"Some new string for my bow."
"I'll make you one when I get home. Anything else?"
"A whetstone."
"I have an extra one I don't use."
"Ink."
"Got it." Rei grabbed a few glass lanterns, putting it on the table. "If you plan on going out after night, you'll need these. Celes, they're your responsibility."
"I know that."
"Ah, Celes, I'll drop breakfast off in the morning so be up."
"Okay, I got it. Thanks as usual, Yui." Celes handed a lit lantern to each of the male members of the group before heading out. She took them a bit further away from the village, at the outskirts where a small two-story house is located beneath a large tree with full leaves. "This is my place. You guys can take the guest room. Sakura, you can stay with me in my room. Mokona...can stay with either group."
"I wanna sleep with Celes-chan!"
"Thank you."
"Hm."
"Oh, is this your mother?" Fai was staring at a painting. He lifted the lantern up to get a better look and he was a bit surprised to see a woman that looks almost like Lucy. Her brown hair long, but her eyes are a pitch black. Beside her is a man with short black hair and warm brown eyes. "She looks like our friend."
"That's what surprised me at first...My mother...her name is Nico. Beside her, my dad...Jack."
"Do you have any siblings?"
"No, I'm an only child."
"Hm..."
"Get some rest. Tomorrow, I'll take you to meet the elder."
Celes headed to her room, Sakura and Mokona in tow. While the young girl went to bed right away...in the men's room, they were talking about Lucy and her situation. It seems that the girl has quite a string of bad luck. The serious ones being the time she got kidnapped by Kyle after sneaking out to chase after the children, the time she ended up 'killed' by Seishirou, the time she almost got killed by a tiger and rescued by Yasha, almost kidnapped twice in the previous world, and now her ending up stuck in a 'cursed' forest. The girl seems to constantly attract danger which seems to annoy Kurogane to no end.
"I swear, that kid is a magnet for trouble." Kurogane muttered glaring outside the window.
"It's not Luc-chan's fault." Fai said glancing at the man.
"No, but it seems every time she ends up disappearing or on her own, she ends up in some kind of trouble." Kurogane stated crossing his arms.
"You're quiet, Syaoran-kun. What's wrong?" Fai asked turning to the young boy.
"Celes-san...I felt like more than once she wanted to say something."
"What do you mean?"
"Something about the forest."
"What do you want to do about it?"
"Let's wait until morning to talk to her." Syaoran shook his head. "I just hope whatever it is...will be good news."
X-X-X-X
Chapter 38 Ends
I shall say this now...Celes is not a version of Lucy! While similar...I did mention her before...who Celes is. Also...without the same protection as Sakura, it's obviously Lucy would end up more often than not in danger or trouble. Now then...I'm almost done with writing about this world and I must admit, the hints I'll be giving out might end up a bit confusing at first, but bear with it. After all, it all ties into the ending...and who Lucy is. If you want to confirm a hint or something, I don't mind answering if it is. Still, I'm really interested in what kind of conclusions you might end up drawing~! That's all for today! Bye-bye~!