Chapter Five — A Generous Warning
"—and that's what happened," Crystal finished, explaining the events that occurred and how it related to Lyra.
"If that's all true, then your sister really was abducted," Green concluded. "I wonder where she could be though if she had escaped."
"Yeah—"
"—Hey guys!" Red's shout interrupted their conversation.
Crystal and Green watched the two aides approach them. Upon the look on their faces and coming back empty handed, Green frowned, already knowing that they had failed in capturing the intruder. Moments after he had thought that, Gold announced that the intruder ran away successfully.
"Lady Lyra, Prince Green, I apologize for letting him escape," Red told them. He looked at Crystal. "Were you harmed at all?"
"No," Crystal answered. She could take a punch from time to time.
"Don't worry Crys, I'll hunt him down and find him," Gold assured, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I've already sent the front guards to check every guest and look out for him."
"It's okay. Let him go," Green commanded, earning surprising looks from his guards. To answered their puzzled faces, he continued, "It seems that he was a special relative of the countess and they got into a minor argument. Countess Lyra would like to drop the matter and charges, right?"
Crystal immediately got the vibe Green was giving her and quietly nodded her head. "I don't want to make a big deal about it."
Red shot her a worried look. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, this was an attack that could happen again. It's bad to ignore it," Gold warned.
"I said to ignore it," Green reconfirmed for Crystal, authority present in his voice.
Red and Gold looked at Green then at Crystal then back at Green. In a unison robotic voice, they said, "Yes sir."
This somewhat shocked Crystal since she was used to the very chill guards to talk back or argue with Green like they were best friends. The vibes they usually had caught her off guard at their seriousness.
"Countess," Green called out to her. "Please return to your party and assure your guests everything is fine. I will send Gold after you when I finish talking to him."
Crystal nodded and bowed politely before walking back into the party hall.
A day haven't even passed since the incident from last night, and Green was already announcing another ballroom party. Well, the first one wasn't a party that contributed to the royal family, but it was still a large expensive party. The fact that nobles could easily throw these things and not care about the price made Crystal astonished. She could never relate with nobles on a spiritual level.
"I don't think you should go, Crys," Gold told her when she brought up the announcement.
Furrowing her eyebrows, she questioned him, "Why?"
In all honesty, Crystal didn't want to go, but it was just sudden for Gold to say that to her.
"Last night is an example. Someone can try to ambush another guest member again. With the these guys going through our security and harassing guests left and right, it would be bad if something were to happen to you again, especially since you're the type who likes to be isolated," Gold answered, placing a hand on her head. "It would be bad for me if my fiancée got jumped again. I can't save you if I'm constantly guarding Green during the party."
"Don't treat me like a child," she replied to him, taking his hand off of her head. It was the first time someone has ever treated her like this. She was used to taking care of others, so it felt strange for her to gain this treatment.
"Thank you for the concern, but don't worry, I wasn't going to go in the first place."
At that, Gold grinned. "Well, I'm glad you understand."
"Yeah, yeah," she droned on.
"Hey, it's almost time for Green to take up. I'm going to head over to his room. I'll see you later, Crys!" Gold told her, waving his hand in goodbye. "Make sure not to eat too much while I'm not around. It'll be a shame if you got fatter!"
Crystal's face turned red. "Shut up!"
She let out a distressed sigh now that he was gone. Why can't Gold be a normal gentlemen for once? She have met other guys that are lower rank who have more manners than that duke.
"Excuse me, Countess Lyra, are you almost done with your library trip?" Roxanne asked from the side.
Crystal had almost forgotten her surroundings and her existence when she was talking with Gold.
"Yes, I'm almost done. I just want to get another book that I can read for leisure in my free time," Crystal replied.
"I understand. I will be waiting at the tables near the entrance. If you need help with recommendations or anything, please do not hesitate to ask me," her tutor politely said, leaving her side.
Her crystal blue eyes averted over to the bookshelf. The only thing she actually liked about this place was the library and the amount of books she got to read for free. She had bookstores in town, but they always cost money to read, and in addition, the quantity was very little compared to this place.
While she was staring at the book spines in the history section, the sight of dark black hair entered her view. The color belonged to a girl, slightly taller than herself, her hair reaching down her back, nearly touching her bottom. The girl seemed to be concentrated in finding a book since she did not seem to notice that she was blocking Crystal.
"Um, do you need help with finding a book?" Crystal offered from behind, though she wasn't sure to find the book herself since she literally just came not long ago.
She twirled around and her blue eyes met Crystal's, and immediately, Crystal felt intimidated by how pretty she looked. It was then Crystal saw her full outfit clearly; the girl was a maid.
When the maid met her gaze, she seemed taken back. "... Lyra?"
Oh no, another person who knows Lyra.
"Yes?" Crystal piped an answer.
The maid studied her, and Crystal felt closely observed. After a short silence, she turned her towards the bookshelf again. "I'm actually trying to find a book about the legends of the priestesses that ruled this land. Do you happen to know where it is?"
"That book?" Crystal questioned, surprised that people were interested in such a tall tale.
Her eyes scanned the library shelf. She was pretty sure she saw that book somewhere around the bottom of the shelf when she was looking at the history books. The library here was organized by title alphabetically, but it was hard to find a book if you didn't even know the title of it. Once she saw the cover of a red book, the words 'The Three Priestesses' running down the spine, she reached out and grabbed the book then promptly handed it to the maid.
Upon seeing it, the maid smiled. "Thanks. I would've never thought to check there!"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
A booming voice made the two of them jump in surprise, catching them off guard. They turned to the source of that shout, only to see some guy dressed heavily in diamonds, something the prince would wear on special occasions.
The two girls looked at each other, wondering why he was addressing them when they've never seen him before.
He walked closer to them and tried to snatch the book out of the maid's hand, but the maid saw his hand coming and quickly invaded it. "Is there something I can help you with?" she asked in innocence.
"Why is a servant, like yourself, trying to obtain a book from the Noble's Library?" he interrogated, looking quite peeved at her response after she had just dodged him.
"What's wrong if someone just wants to read?" Crystal defended, blurting out her thoughts. This shocked both the maid and the guy.
"How dare you speak so insolent— hold on. Aren't you that commoner from the other day?!"
It was then Crystal realized that the guy who was chastising her was the same one who nearly ran over Kate the other day.
He grabbed Crystal's arm tightly, his grip annoying her. "Hey, let go of me—"
"What do you think you're doing to my fiancée?"
Crystal felt his grip ripped off of her arm and another firm one pulling her body towards another's body. She looked up to see who it belonged to, only to find that it was Gold. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he continued, "I came back to the library to see if my lovely daring wife-to-be is here, only to see her harassed by a noble. Is there a reason why you grabbed her so, Mister... Oh, I don't even know your name. You must not be so relevant to be remembered."
At this, the nobleman became unsettled, turning red in embarrassment. He changed his attention from Gold to Green when he noticed the spiky brunet in his presence. Immediately, he changed from an embarrassed and frustrated look to one with no emotions, and bowed as a greeting.
"My apologies for my impertinent behavior, your highness," he said, hanging his head low in shame.
Green only stared at him with his usual ice cold look and ignored him, simply as if he didn't exist in the first place. The nobleman didn't even see the response because after he raised his head, he quickly turned and left before he could be embarrassed further.
The battle of nobles get interesting each day, Crystal thought, venom sinking off her words. Ranks in society were ridiculous.
"Hey let go of me!" she said once she noticed where Gold's hands were.
"Wow, no thank you for me?" he teased. "Well, the humiliating look on that guy's face was enough for me."
"You're so unbelievable..." Crystal muttered, shaking her head in disapproval.
She turned to the maid, who she just remembered. "Are you okay? People like that just overreact for no reason."
The maid smiled at her. "No, I'm fine. Thank you for coming to my aid even though I'm a servant."
"It's nothing," Crystal replied modestly. "I only spoke my thoughts."
"Well, I'm still very thankful," she said, placing a hand on Crystal's shoulder.
When her hand made contact, suddenly, images of individuals in a cave rushed through Crystal's mind and she felt her breath stop.
A girl with long chestnut brown hair was sitting on a rock in the middle of the cave, near a waterfall. She was dressed in a long white kimono with her bare feet kicking the air playfully as she swung it around. Crystal couldn't make out her face because her hair was covering her eyes, but she can see the girl moving her mouth. She was telling her something with a smile and giggling.
"—Hello? Lady Lyra?"
The visions stopped, and Crystal began to breathe again.
What the heck was that? she thought to herself. Her visions would be the near future or some event that happened in the past, but why was it showing some random girl with brown hair in a cave? Lyra had brown hair, but that girl obviously wasn't Lyra, and Crystal could tell even though she didn't see her face. Moreover, even though her visions are random, when it gets activated by touching something or someone, it usually shows something related to that person. Why was it showing an entirely different girl when some random maid with jet black hair touched her?
She looked up at the maid, whose hand was not on her shoulder anymore. Staring into her icy blue eyes, she felt a weird familiarity feeling, but she couldn't put her hand on it.
"Are you okay?" Gold inquired, thrown off by her daydreaming nature. Crystal wasn't really the type to doze off randomly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied absentmindedly, not really caring about Gold's presence at the moment. She wanted to ask the maid something.
"Um, if you don't mind, may we have a chat privately?" Crystal asked.
The maid blinked in innocence and tilted her head in inquiry. "Pardon? May I ask what it is about, My Lady?"
"I just wanted to ask about—"
"—Miss Ricci!" A young butler appeared before them, interrupting Crystal. He seemed interested in the maid only, not even bothered to look at the others present. "I have been looking for you everywhere. I need you to begin cleaning the garden like I had asked you this morning."
"Oh? Yes, at once," she replied. "I'm sorry for forgetting!"
The two looked at their company and bowed before them, excusing themselves out.
"Well, that was rare. I've never seen a servant set foot into the library unless it was to assist someone," Gold commented.
"Is it okay to let the maid leave with the book, Green?" Red asked, watching them exit out.
"I honestly do not care. Most of the servants are illiterate anyways, and if some end up reading and learning how to, then it could be used as an advantage," Green remarked. "However, that maid was quite bold for doing such a move, waltzing in here without invitation or permission."
"Is it really strange for them to come in here? Isn't this library for everyone?" Crystal inquired.
"Not really strange— just unusual," Red clarified.
"Aside from that mess, we came here to talk to you about security. Green suggested that it would be best if you were to walk around with a knight in case of an attack. Most nobles have a bodyguard one way or another, so it's best if you have one too for precaution," Gold told her, stating his reasons for coming back to the library.
"A knight? Doesn't that seem like overdoing it?" she inquired.
It was already annoying to keep up this act around Roxanne, but now she had to do it 24/7 when she's being guarded?
"If it makes your fiancé's mind at ease, don't you think it's best to do it?" Gold replied, pulling out the fiancé card in front of Red and Green.
Crystal resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Okay, I will consider it."
"Great! Follow us to the training ground then," Green told her, already walking towards the exit.
"It's quite refreshing to get the day off from Baroness Roxanne due to this. Consider yourself lucky," Gold started, looking at this optimistically.
"Um, I like studying though," Crystal muttered.
When they reached the castle's south field where the knights train, the knights were currently sparring and having practice matches against each other individually on three fields while the others speculated. It made Crystal think of the tournaments famous in town where strong people fight and duel. They stopped when Gold shouted to get their attention. Immediately, they dropped their swords and lined up side by side in front of them and bowed due to Green's presence.
"Raise your heads," Green commanded them, in which they did after being told to do so.
Their attention immediately went to Crystal who stood out beside the three, being the only woman and unfamiliar face dressed in a puffy dress. She didn't know why, but she could feel they were appalled of her or felt some sort of disdain towards her. It wasn't visible, but she was good at reading first impressions. She shook it off though, thinking it was odd since there was no reason to be hated.
"Hello! This is Countess Lyra, the co-captain's wife-to-be!" Red introduced her.
After the introduction, they bowed once for Crystal, making her feel uncomfortable.
"We decided it was best to get her a guard, so I need one of you to be her knight," Gold announced.
At this, everyone was dead silent and looked straight, trying to avoid eye contact with the three.
"Countess Lyra," Green called her name suddenly, breaking the silence. Crystal felt chills go down her back. "Choose anyone of your liking."
Oh kill me now.
She looked at the knights, feeling extremely awkward. They didn't really seem to be so excited to do the job.
"Um..." Her eyes trailed around. "I would like the knight with bandanna over there."
Which is, of course, the only female one. If Crystal had to pick someone as a guard, she would at least pick a female one.
At this, she heard a sigh of relief from everyone else, making her annoyed.
The female knight's face fell, her jaw dropping. She stepped forward in the line, crossing her arms in an upset manner. "No way! I don't want to guard some random noble lady!"
Okay, it was official. Crystal was extremely irked.
She didn't really care about wanting a guard and stuff, but the fact that guard said that in front of everyone and to her face was too far.
Stay calm, you're Lyra. Stay calm, you're Lyra, she continued chanting in her head to keep her cool.
"Look I know you're upset to do this job, but trust me, my fiancée is real cool! Why do you think I'm going to marry her?" Gold told her.
"You didn't choose to! The prince did!" the female knight retorted.
"Calm down, Sapph," Red told her quietly to calm her.
"Hey." Green interrupted the whole fiasco, making everyone go silent.
"I don't remember anyone saying you have a choice. If you do not feel you are up to the challenge, then you must be a terrible knight with no confidence. A warrior with no confidence is a coward has no reason at all to be a knight of the castle and should be removed immediately. Now tell me. Are you a cowardly knight who should be banished and kicked out?"
Crystal wasn't the one being talked down to and he was somewhat defending her (or just on her side), but she felt fear rushing in her veins by the prince's icy glare.
The female knight was too, changing from bratty to scared then to stoic. "No, yer highness."
"Good. Then there's no reason to reject an offer to guard the countess."
The prince turned to Crystal, introducing the female knight. "Countess, this is the royal knight, Duchess Sapphire Maria Campagna. As chosen, she will be appointed as your guard. If she misbehaves, do not hesitate to tell me so we can quickly find a replacement and release her from her duties permanently."
What is with these people throwing rude words so openly and easily... she thought, thinking back to Sapphire's outburst and Green's word of 'replacement'.
Well, on the bright side, she felt Sapphire's glare simmer down a bit when Green stepped in.
She was wrong; the glare came back when Green and the others left her alone.
They were walking alone in town since Crystal wanted to spend the free day she had to go out and buy something. Every time she took a step, she could feel Sapphire's glare from behind, and she couldn't tell whether it was because Sapphire was dead serious about guarding her (which is probably most unlikely) or because the female knight just did not like her, which is probably why. After about ten minutes of shopping, Crystal finally turned around, surprising the girl.
"Why don't you walk beside me instead of behind me?" she questioned her.
Not only was it less awkward, but at least this way Crystal doesn't have to feel the constant glare pricking her.
Sapphire seemed to be taken back at this. "As a knight guarding ya, it's much better to stay behind ya a few feet to get a wider perimeter for yer safety."
"I see," Crystal mumbled, letting out a sigh. "Look, I will tell you straight because I feel like communication is best when it comes between two people. I don't want you as my guard. I don't need a guard. The three are overreacting in this decision. If you want to leave me be, you may if you want to. I will not mind."
Again, Sapphire seemed to be caught off guard. "Yer kind of weird for a noble lady, ya know," she commented bluntly.
"Well, you're kind of weird for a knight too," Crystal shot back. "Now walk beside me."
Sapphire wrinkled her nose and stepped beside Crystal at her command. She couldn't read or predict this girl at all.
Crystal gave her a small smile when she followed what she had ordered and held out her hand for her, which again, confused Sapphire. "It will be bad if we were to be separated and it's faster. Take my hand."
Reluctantly, Sapphire did as told and as she reached out her arm, Crystal grasped her hand with a firm grip and began to drag her. Sapphire followed along quietly, letting her pull her along.
If she won't leave me and we have to be here, I should at least become friends with her, Crystal thought as she made her way through town.
Suddenly, Sapphire ripped her hand off of Crystal's and jerked around, unsheathing her sword in a swift motion, catching people's eyes and making gasps go around.
"What's wrong?!" Crystal asked in a panicked tone.
Sapphire's face hardened, her eyes scanning the area. "Stay back. I sensed a presence watching us."
Crystal tensed up, edging closer to the girl. "What?!"
The female knight sheathed her sword again and straightened her back with relaxed shoulders. "It's gone. I don't sense it anymore."
"Are you sure you felt someone?" Crystal asked. It seemed impulsive and based on a hunch to actually call it a real danger.
"I'm pretty sure I did. My senses are never wrong," Sapphire assured confidently. "The person must've been afraid and fled."
"What should we do?"
"For now, we must be on our guard. I can't sense them anymore or find them, but I had a feeling towards that alley way," she said, pointing towards that direction.
Crystal's eyes trailed in the direction of her finger. "Should we pursue them?"
"We can't pursue them. I can catch them alone, but there's a chance someone will attack ya when yer by yourself. Let's go back to the castle after we quickly buy what ya came for and report back to Gold and the prince."
She nodded her head, agreeing with the knight. However, before she realized it, the world around her stopped once again and the familiar habit kicked in. Although this time, her settings didn't change at all. She looked around in her vision, unable to move her body. From the right side, a knife came flying straight at them, specifically Sapphire. After witnessing that, the world resumed again, and Sapphire's face was close to Crystal.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sapphire asked, shaking her when she saw the girl freeze up.
"Y-Yeah," Crystal replied, looking around frantically in paranoia. She looked in the direction where the weapon had came from and pointed at it. "Sapphire, about the enemy, he's—"
She stopped when she saw something shiny come towards them in the distance. Quickly, Crystal used all of her might to wrap herself around Sapphire and shove the girl onto the ground. Caught off guard with Crystal's unusual attempts, Sapphire actually fell, preoccupied with something else. The knife Crystal witnessed her vision came flying straight, but when they had fell to the floor, it ended colliding with a nearby fountain and dropped into the water.
"He's over there—" Before Crystal could actually finish her sentence, Sapphire shoved the girl aside and quickly started sprinting towards the direction the weapon had come from. From behind her, Crystal imagined the girl as a wild animal running towards its prey since she displayed animal traits such as running on four feet.
"Hey~! You there on the floor!"
A shadow loomed over her body, blocking the sun from her vision. When Crystal looked up to see who it was, her eyes were met with soft azure colored ones. The vision of the girl with long brown hair dressed in a white kimono in a cave flashed again in her mind for a second. It was then Crystal realized that she was the maid she encountered in the library earlier, but instead, she was in a skimpy black dress and ditched the glasses. Her jet black hair was a chestnut shade of brown instead too.
The girl held her hand out for Crystal to grab. "How long are you going to lay there?"
Absentmindedly, Crystal took her hand and was pulled off of the floor. However, the girl didn't let go and her grip was strong. Instead, she leaned her body closer to Crystal and her eyes started to turn into an icy shade of blue, much lighter than the original color Crystal saw.
"Retrieve that knife from the fountain and kill yourself for me, okay~?" the girl said in a singing song voice, acting as if her words were as light as her tones.
The fact that she said with a cute innocent smile sent chills down Crystal's back.
Crystal's eyes flashed her, getting sick of the fear she's been constantly getting lately. She looked straight in the girl's eyes, her own eyes showing its own aggressive nature. "Get the hell away from me."
Ripping the girl's grip off with her own original strength and gaining some room, Crystal quickly swung her leg up and towards the girl's head. Unfortunately, the girl herself saw it coming and dodged it flawlessly. She backed up, adding more space between them. The girl still kept her smile, oddly satisfied with Crystal reaction. Then peculiarly, she relaxed her body and stood straight, putting her hands on her hips.
"Haha, I knew it! Thanks for confirming my thoughts, Miss!"
"Who are you?" Crystal growled. Is it that guy who disguises himself again? No, he has an entirely different presence.
"Don't worry, I'm no one suspicious! I just wanted to test something!" the girl reassured, though she was totally suspicious in Crystal's point of view. "Ooh, I have another thing I'm curious about. Why are you parading around as Lyra?"
At the sound of her question, Crystal's heart stopped. When she opened her mouth to ask her how she knew, the girl cut her off. "I happen to know the real Lyra, and you're not her, so I know for sure you're a fake in her place."
"You know Lyra?!" Crystal managed to say in the middle of her panic, not caring about her blown cover.
"Let's just say I saved her from a little trouble in the past," the girl hinted vaguely, shrugging it off. "So, anyway, why are you pretending to be her?"
Crystal gulped, staying silent for her reason. There was no way she was going to answer a total stranger who just threatened her.
"When you said you helped her in the past, you don't happen to mean you helped her escape that guy, do you?"
Crystal's assumption made the girl drop her guard, surprised that she had guessed it correctly. Her mouth curved into a bigger grin, amused with her inquiry.
"Ah~! Your power to see the past and future really is remarkable!" she commented, making Crystal's heart drop even more.
She's never told anyone— not even her mom, and yet, she knew it.
"I want to stop bullying you, but your reactions are totally the best!" she remarked. "But don't worry, I'll stop. I had my fill of fun and my partner can't keep your guard away forever. She's already on the way back; what an amazing and loving guard you have! I'll just say one more thing to you, Miss Fake Lyra."
The girl stepped forward, making Crystal tense up. She wanted to back up as well, but she couldn't because the fountain was directly behind her.
When the girl was about two feet away from her, she raised her hand and lifted her index finger to her mouth. "Because I'm so nice and you remind me of an old friend, I'll give you a warning. Make sure to keep this warning a secret as well because I don't want so many annoyances in my way. You are targeted by a huge organization for that power of yours. You might not realize it now, so I'm telling you. As long as you have that face and parade it around as a famous duke's fiancée, you will continue to get attacked by many people from that organization. Your best bet is to stay down under the wraps or to run away from your current life as 'Fake Lyra'. I have to go now; your special guard is coming back."
When the girl turned around to leave, Crystal grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"Wait!" she called out. "Who are you? What's your name? I need to know about everything you just said! I need to know what happened to Lyra!"
"I already told you enough to let you survive." The girl leaned in closer again, her face inches away from Crystal's. Her azure eyes turned icy blue once again. "Don't miss me or wonder too much. Knowing us, we're fated to meet again."
"Wha—"
The girl quickly ripped the grip off her wrist and began to run away from Crystal quickly. Crystal ran after her, unsatisfied with how she left things. Unfortunately for her, because they were in a crowded place, it was much harder to get around and chase the girl. Unlike Crystal herself, the girl seemed to move in agile way, swiftly running around the people to make her escape. Crystal tried to catch up since she had a lot of power in her legs, but the crowd of people would block her way and move too much, letting the girl get a successful escape.
Crystal stopped running once she realized she had lost her.
"Countess! Hey Countess!"
She turned around when she heard Sapphire's voice calling her, only to see the girl rushing over to her, her armor covered in dirt.
"What happened?" Crystal asked. "Did you catch him?"
Sapphire growled in frustration. "I was chasin' him in the alleyway, but in the end, he got away. I have his scent in case I meet him again."
Crystal was taken back with the whole scent stuff, but chose to not mention it out of politeness. She didn't even plan to mention the fact that Sapphire abandoned in the middle of the streets where she could've been killed or kidnapped either since she didn't acknowledge her as a guard in the first place. She barely saw the girl as a noble knight with the attitude and manner less behavior she's been acting out with. However, in the end, it worked in Crystal's favor since she would've never gotten that information from that girl if Sapphire had been around.
Just who is that girl? Crystal asked herself, wondering what actions she should take and whether to follow a stranger's warning.
First, the stranger tried to kill her. Then, the stranger told her to kill herself. And after, she told her to disappear from Lyra's position. Not that Crystal can do that easily anyways. She still had that deal with Green to fix up the orphanage, and using Green's resources was the best way to find her sister. All in all, she cannot trust that stranger, nor could she really follow her warning. There was too many red flags in that girl's character, and even if she said she saved Lyra, it could be a lie. Not to mention, she knew about Crystal's powers for some reason. Just trying to sort out her next actions was hurting her head.
"Hey Countess, ya there?" Sapphire waved a hand in front of her face to get her focus. "Ya space out a lot huh?"
Crystal ignored that comment and continued the conversation. "Right, let's report this to the prince right away."
I'll just think about what to do after I get back to my room, she decided.
Brushing her brown locks behind her ear, she flopped onto the bed when she entered her own inn room. She was used to running away from people and her stamina was high and sturdy, but she was tired going around in disguises and clashing with others.
Staring at the ceiling, she started to think about the current situation now that Crystal's in the picture. She didn't really get much thought in because she heard the door crack open and interrupt them. From the opening, a red headed boy entered, his face full of sweat.
"Sorry I couldn't keep that girl occupied for long," was the first thing he said when he saw her.
She sat up from her position and smiled at him nonchalantly. "It's okay! I ended up gaining useful information in that short time."
"So your instinct was right?" he asked.
"Yes!" She leaned over and grabbed the book she took from the library when she was dressed as a maid. Flipping through the pages, she opened it to drawing of three girls in a white kimono. "I was right! She's one of the three priestesses. With what I gathered she is able to predict the future and see the past. I was bluffing when I told her that I knew, but it seems that it was true because she reacted in a panic."
"What are you going to do now that you know?"
"Well, I haven't really thought about it through. I originally planned to kidnap Miss Fake Lyra, but then I think it'll be too complicated so I'll let it slide and let her hide herself. I haven't really thought of a full battle plan yet, but I have a general idea of my next action."
"Really? What's the general plan, Blue?" he inquired.
Blue's mouth curved into a sweet but mischievous smile. "I heard there's a masquerade party coming up soon at the castle. Want to come with?"
Author's Note — For now, although it seems slow, I wanted to introduce more characters in that will be the build up for more action! I haven't decided how big of a role the Hoenn trio will play because it revolves more of the Kanto/Johto characters, but I'll try to add them more hehe. Gotta keep Blue as a mystery still XD
Anyways, addressing a review I've received concerning deliveryshipping (sunxmoon) and whether I will write a fic about them, I have to say: I don't know? Honestly, I haven't really read the sun and moon arc fully yet to know their true personalities, and when I was asked this, I didn't have time to. Because summer is hitting around and I'm off three months, I will try to read it and catch up with Pokespe, and decide then! It'll be so fun to write about new characters! Lastly, thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! You guys are super sweet with welcoming me back and I'm glad to be back for awhile! Thank you again! I've finally finished the school for this year and had time to go around and revise and even write more chapters (yesterday was my last day of school)! Hopefully, I can get more updates out while I'm still back in my pokespe phase!