~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 2:

~~~~~~~~~

Free!

Faustis had never felt so alive! He was once more on the move, traversing the dirt roads of Fa'Diel on his lazy pace and enjoying the fact that he was once more traveling around the world.

Smiling, he took in the sights around him. The sky was its unstoppable blue and the grass around him green and bright. The trees dotting the plains were brimming with life. Beside him floated his trusty and dependable Sea Dragon, Vapor. Faustis continued to feel his spirits lift higher and higher.

He wasn't depressed to begin with but he left the Tree on rather hasty terms. Thinking about it, he shuddered. He wasn't looking forward to coming back home. Hopefully, Lisa will have forgotten everything by then…

~~~~~~~~~

"Good morning!" Faustis jumped over the last two steps of the stairway. His Sea Dragon trailed down behind him, mimicking him in jumping over the last two steps and whistling a cheerful greeting.

As usual, it was afternoon when Faustis awoke but no one ever bothered to bring that fact to his attention since his habit was familiar and there was no real harm in it, anyway.

Farryn nodded to him on her way to the study. It was her daily habit to go there after lunchtime. Faustis himself rarely ventured unto that room; studying never really caught his attention; unless he felt like harassing the two crabs in there.

Faustis managed to glimpse her trembling hands before she ducked into the study. His twin sister looked rather pale and there were dark circles around her eyes. It was a sad thing to see on her face. She wasn't as happy-go-lucky as Faustis was but she was beautiful when she laughed. That was why Faustis often strived to make her at least chuckle. Seeing her in this state would sadden anyone greatly.

He was growing more and more concerned about her. He knew something was wrong. He was no fool; quite the opposite really. Except on occasions when he happened to catch sight of a pretty girl. And even that little foolishness was fading away.

He knew that she was having nightmares by the fact that she was his twin and he could read her exceedingly well. But he also knew because he would hear her cry sometimes at night in her lower bunk bed. She sometimes talked while she slept and none of her words were reassuring. She was afraid.

But with surprising insight and thoughtfulness (for someone like Faustis, at least), he decided not to mention it unless she mentioned it first. Unfortunately, both of them shared a wide streak of intractability so Faustis began to think she would never discuss it with him and attempt to deal with it on her own.

With an inward sigh, Faustis turned to the supper table where Lisa had cooked breakfast for them. Since he habitually woke late whenever he was at home, she earned to set aside some food for him.

"Hi Faustis!" the violet-haired mage chirped happily. "Bud is ouside tending to the Orchard.

"Good morning Lisa," Faustis replied, taking his seat and looking at the food in front of him. Lisa eagerly awaited his reaction. He smiled at her and started to eat, pretending not to see her flushing with pride. "Thanks, Lisa." He flashed her a smile.

Bud, who came in dragging a carton of fruits for the kitchen supply, shook his head in disgust. It was no secret that Lisa harbored a crush of enormous dimensions on the Fortunate Faustis. Or unfortunate, when one thinks about it. With women falling all over him wherever he went, it was no surprise that he was a clumsy fellow, forever blundering into situations which required more than what he possessed.

Lisa was still smiling at him when she did something totally unexpected. She asked him, "Faustis, do you think I'm pretty?"

Now, it takes a lot to stun our hero Faustis into speechlessness because he was usually talking a mile a minute per second, but this was so out of place that it immediately turned him mute. He knew that the little girl crushed on him but decided to brush it off, since, according to Bud, Lisa fell in love at least for times a day back in Geo before they were expelled from the Academy. In that way, Lisa sort of reminded him of Gilbert, the centaur poet.

He coughed, choking on the food. He grasped quickly for a drink of water. Bud snorted.

Faustis finally found his voice with great difficulty. He despised situations concerning matters of the heart, not because he thought they were gross but because he didn't care to know anything about it. He completely hated the time when he helped Gilbert out in selling Monique the Siren's lamps.

Although he *did* enjoy swindling the Dudbears…

"Ah," he began. "Um…" he felt a drop of sweat running down the side of his head. Bud snickered. Faustis shot him a poisonous look and turned back to Lisa. "Well, you certainly are no crone, my little friend."

"Really?" Lisa squealed. "That means you think I'm extremely pretty, right?" Bud stifled a laugh. His face appeared to be turning red.

'Hang it all, Faus,' said the voice inside his head. 'You got yourself into this situation. I'd like to see how Faustis the Fantastic handles this…'

Faustis inwardly scowled at the voice, wondering why it sounded so much like Farryn, and cleared his throat, glancing at the Pine O'clock. He exclaimed, "Well, what do you know? It's actually afternoon." He paused. "I wake up *that* late? How come no one's ever told me that before? Odd. Well, anyway, gotta go off now. The life of a famous adventurer, you see."

He abruptly stood up and dashed to get his sword and several other weapons along with his travel gear. Among his travel gear was a beautiful little reed pipe which looked like a flute but was much smaller. Its tone was a lot shriller, too, thanks to the reed alignment. A complete accident.

He had been traveling with Niccolo when he found the strange coins with graphics of stars embedded onto their borders. They had a major argument over who would get to keep the coins, involving weapons and physical damage. Surprisingly, Faustis won thanks to his magnificent luck. He promised to name the instrument he would make out of them after Niccolo though.

So after he created a flute out of the coins, the reeds seemed odd. He decided that it didn't matter, so he named it "the Master Wind Master of the Starry Nebula Piccolo Wind Master" in a fit of excitement. Farryn had whacked him over the head and changed the name to "Star Nebula Piccolo."

Life is so unfair.

He hadn't tried the piccolo out yet though, so he had no idea how strong it could be.

"Say good-bye to Farryn for me, 'kay?" he yelled over his shoulder as he jogged down the path leading away from his house. Once again, he noticed that there were no Sproutlings taking up house at their steps, and the morning was beautiful.

"What do you mean?" someone called to him. "Faustis! Where are you going?"

It was Farryn. "I'm off on another adventure!" he cried, spinning around and walking backwards. He saw his sister through the window of the study. Her face was drawn and pale as she whispered, "Please…don't go…"

There was fear in her voice. Faustis stopped. "What? I'm going to help the world out, Farryn!"

She looked at him and, if possible, her face grew even paler. She shook her head. "Never mind. Come back quickly, brother." And she reached out and closed the window, pulling the curtains shut.

Faustis paused. There really was something wrong with her… should he stay?

He suddenly caught sight of Lisa running down the path after him. "Faustis!" she shouted. "Where are you going? Can I come along with you?"

He blanched and shouted, "'Bye, Farryn! See ya, Lisa, Bud!" practically running down the path. Could he get away any faster?

~~~~~~~~~

Faustis winced at the thought of his return. He was certain that Farryn would have a few words about that for him, irresponsible being the cleanest. Diffident or not, Farryn had a whole set of curse words she had learned from the inestimable Inspector Boyd.

He surveyed the crossroad signs before him. He could choose to go to Geo or visit Domina. He wasn't quite in the mood for untamed places like the Jungle or Luon Highway. Perhaps he could meet up with Niccolo in Geo. Together, he was certain that they could swindle the entire markets of Geo in a trice. Or maybe he could hop on down to visit the ladies in Domina.

No… the idea had lost its charm on him ever since that episode in the Tower of Leires. With Pearl.

Pearl. The very sound of her name made Faustis' eyes glaze over with dreams. He hadn't noticed that it happened to him until after he returned home from the Tower. Farryn had questioned him about it and had to knock him over the head to get any straight answer out of him.

It seemed that Faustis, the rogue whom all ladies loved, the scoundrel of the market, the best dice manipulator, the large-mouthed braggart, and not to mention the helpful adventurer with a towering reputation was head over heels in love.

What was only slightly more surprising was that it was the shy Jumi guardian of the Pearl order who had won his heart without knowing it. She was pretty, yes, but he had seen more beautiful women, starting with his sister (who was too self-effacing to notice this fact), although she never fawned on him like the others did. In fact, she turned it around, causing him to be her subordinate.

But he wasn't certain if she loved him. Pearl was a gentle soul (when she wasn't Lady Blackpearl) and he had a sinking feeling that she would prefer someone who was less of a rascal like he was. Perhaps it was her innocence and sweet personality that drew him toward her. He had no idea. He hated personal matters. He sighed.

A thudding of hooves on the dirt road alerted him and he spun around, ready to defend himself for the first attack. (Maybe Lisa's random springing attacks *did* help. After all, they seemed to improve his attentiveness and he moved forever alert.)

It was Gilbert, so Faustis put his sword down. Gilbert couldn't harm him. Just tick him off with his endless proclamations of greatness and flattery.

"Oh mighty Faustis!" the centaur cried. "The gallant poet of ardor needs your fathomless brilliance and your ever ready help!!!" He paused. "Why aren't you wearing girl clothes?"

Faustis sighed.

~~~~~~~~~

Faustis was eager to be home after having been gone for a week. He had a strange feeling that he had been away from home for too long, even though he was sometimes away for months. Farryn's odd behavior weighed heavily on his mind.

But what was strange all throughout his adventures, was that strange feeling he had been getting of danger and fear. He didn't worry at first—he thought that he sensed *his* danger and fear. He had gone through some of that before. But three days ago, he realized that it wasn't *his* danger and fear he had been sensing. It was Farryn's.

At first, he wasn't that worried. Farryn could manage well on her own and usually defeated monsters and evil far easier than he did. He often admired her warrior skills and amazing instincts along with her determination and belief that there was good in everything. The twinges of ungrounded worry just irritated him and he ignored them as he helped his centaur friend out with Monique.

The next day, it grew far worse and he became sick to his stomach as it pounded upon his head like a terrible hangover. This wasn't anything new to him—he'd had monster hangovers before, but what immediately got his attention was the news that armies of strange shadows were making their way south.

Where his home was.

Something was terribly wrong. Sick with anxiety for his twin sister, he traveled through unnatural lightning storms and sudden eclipses with only one thing in his mind: he HAD to get back home.

He reached Domina by nightfall and rented a room in the local inn. As he dressed for sleep, he couldn't help but feel that he should be continuing his traveling, even in this weather. He had done so in the past few days, but now he was at the end of his strength. It was all he could do to turn out the lights.

His sleep was tormented. After a few hours of tossing and turning, he finally drifted off to sleep, and even there, he found no rest from his unease, for ghostly visions of unyielding horror, dread and emptiness hounded him there.

A sudden image appeared to him. It was a long cord of pure light which gave him feelings of tranquility. He took serenity in its presence and slowly, his fear from the previous visions ebbed away as he basked under the innocence of it. He saw blinding white light shimmering at one end of it and a familiar shade of darkness glittered at the other end. Then the white light was suddenly tinged with streaks of black.

Gradually, the streaks grew larger and larger.

Suddenly, the thread snapped in two and the light of purity coalesced with black threads of evil and Faustis started to scream.

~~~~~~~~~

Elazul jolted up from his sleep. What was that? It was night. He put his fingers to his gleaming blue core and felt the reassuring answering shimmer of Pearl's core in the next room.

He and Pearl had gone to Domina and rented two rooms in the inn run by the Chocobo Miss Yuka. They had left the Bejeweled City of the Jumi on the orders of Diana that the Jumi must know the world affairs which may concern them. They would not make the same mistake of ignorance again. There may come a time when the Jumi must take up arms against an evil common to man, Faerie and Jumi.

So he and Pearl went to Domina in order to learn information, although Geo was a more likely place to gather information because the scholars were always up-to-date with the current events of the world, as well as that of the past. But they had chosen to go to Domina because Esmeralda already held that post and because Pearl had forced Elazul to formally thank Faustis for taking him in and tending to him when his core was scarred.

What Pearl's reasons were, he didn't exactly know, but he was certain that she was rather eager to see the famous traveler. He rather suspected that it was along the lines of an infatuation, so, thinking that it would be rather amusing, he gave in.

And so, there they were, in the local inn, each tucked up in his or her bed in his or her room. Elazul had been lightly sleeping, as he had grown used to doing on the road (you'd never know when a Rabite might come and bite you were you definitely don't want to be bitten) when he heard it.

A scream.

It had immediately jerked him from his hazy dreams of someone mysterious he had been dreaming of for a long time. It had also woken up all the other patrons of the inn. It was loud, certainly, but there was something else.

Reaching deep into himself to search for a way to describe it, Elazul realized (through the delving into his more poetic side ([if he had any]) that it was a wail of unbearable loss. Unending, in continued through the minutes, crying out to the world of the screamer's terror and anguish.

But what caught Elazul's mind was that he thought the screamer sounded very familiar.

Elazul rolled off his bed and hurriedly dressed, running to the connecting door between his and Pearl's room. As he reached it though, it swung open and there was Pearl, as fully dressed as he was and looking doubly worried.

With a wordless agreement, they raced out of the door and down the stairs in the direction of the scream. They sped past a yawning Miss Yuka and came to a stop at the door where the screamer seemed to come from.

With a glance at Pearl, Elazul knocked the door down easily with a simple blast from his sword's Mana. Pearl rushed in as soon as the splinters stopped smoking and stood stock still as she realized who it was. Elazul followed her and stopped also.

"Faustis?" she whispered, as though not believing what she saw. Then she realized that he was real and he was screaming an incessant inhuman scream. "Faustis!" she cried and immediately went to his bedside.

Faustis' eyes were wide and unseeing as he thrashed about on the bed, his wail continuing all throughout. Pearl tried to hold him still but his thrashing was too rapid for anything else.

"Elazul," she cried.

He nodded and remembered how to move. He moved to the other side of the bed and firmly, he took hold of his friend's shoulders and held him still as Pearl poured a bit of bright blue liquid into a glass of water on the bedside table. Together, they managed to force the liquid down their friend's throat.

By then, a sizable crowd of people had gathered outside by the ruined doors, watching them. Elazul ignored them and set to watching Faustis intently. His screaming had died away and his eyes began to lower.

An improvement.

He was glad that Pearl took up healing lessons with the Jumi of the Clarius Fluorite, Florina. But on the side, she had also gone to learn about poisons and herbs from the stealthy Sierra, the dragoon of the White Forest. He wasn't too pleased with that (she got careless every now and then, and *she* was the one who cooked their food, since he was inept at culinary preparation), but what could he do? Learn how to cook, perhaps?

He stood and looked at the inn's proprietor. "I will pay for the door," he said to Miss Yuka in his quiet voice. "Now leave."

Miss Yuka wouldn't have normally stood for that behavior, he knew, but she was shaken up by the intense feeling in Faustis' scream and aware of the importance of their works. She turned around to the other spectators and ushered them away. She looked back and winked before bustling away.

Elazul nodded his thanks and turned back to where Pearl was tenderly holding the adventurer's hand.

"I wonder what he dreamed about," she murmured, stroking his golden hair.

"He will tell us when he wakes," Elazul replied, sitting down on a chair, resting his sword against the wall. Pearl nodded her agreement and sighed. Elazul then turned his thoughts inward. Faustis' scream sounded familiar to him. He had once heard the same scream when a Jumi Knight had lost his Guardian to whom his core was tied to.

He had always known that Faustis was hiding a secret. The first time he had met Faustis, he had seemed completely awed by the little rural town of Domina and looked like he was searching for someone.

When he met him again, to go to the Tower of Leires to look for Pearl, he was more quiet and quite shy, something he totally was *not* when they found Pearl in the Mekiv Caverns. His clothes were also *very* different and more…appealing. It was odd. Faustis had barely said anything to him then, but when they had first met in the tavern in Domina, it was all Elazul could do to resist pushing him off a high crag, preferably with extremely sharp rocks beneath.

It was like there were two different Faustises.

"Elazul!" Pearl shook him. He sat up straight, a little startled. He had fallen asleep? "Elazul!" Pearl shook him again. "Faustis is awake!"

Elazul got off the chair. Yes, he *had* fallen asleep. There was sunlight streaming through the open window and his back was stiff and ached slightly. Pearl had dark circles around her eyes. Slightly guilty, he realized that she had been up all night, caring for Faustis.

He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled before turning to look at Faustis.

The golden-haired adventurer now wore his clothes which didn't confuse Elazul and was staring out the window as though he needed to go immediately. Faustis turned to Elazul. There was no spark of familiarity in his amethyst gaze. "I must go now."

Elazul nodded. "Of course. But Faustis, I want to know what is wrong."

Faustis' cheery happy-go-lucky attitude was gone, replaced by a steely resolve and seeming emptiness. His manner didn't remind Elazul of the calm and composed warrior he knew, nor of the wild and talkative adventurer he had first met. His solemn eyes met Elazul's blue ones seriously. "Something has happened to her. I know it."

Elazul felt a stab of swift pain in his core. It was from Pearl. So she loved Faustis? Sad. It seemed that he had someone else.

Pearl murmured softly, "Who is she?"

Faustis looked at Pearl for a long time, not answering. His blank eyes didn't even seem to recognize her. Pearl looked back, her green eyes clear and wistful. Elazul felt like a third wheel for a moment, then shrugged that feeling off. It was better than going through emotional problems. At last, Pearl bowed her head. Elazul felt a little mad at Faustis for being so cruel.

Pearl then whispered, "We would like to go with you." She looked up, sadness apparent in her eyes. "Maybe we could help."

Faustis was silent for a few moments, and then he shrugged. "Just don't slow me down."

Elazul, for one brief moment, hated him.

~~~~~~~~~

They had been traveling for hours now. Elazul, Faustis and Pearl had left Domina shortly after they paid for the door Elazul had blasted down. Faustis didn't want to stop for any rest at all. Elazul would've knocked him upside the head if he hadn't noticed the look in his friend's eyes.

It was a look he himself had often worn many times when Pearl wandered off. Only with Faustis, the look seemed to contain more. There were undertones of fear in his voice and a broken look in his eyes. Almost half-dead. Elazul was awed by the intensity of feeling and desperation in those eyes.

Pearl was quiet throughout the entire journey. She looked lost in her thoughts as she walked sedately alongside them. She really did love Faustis, Elazul concluded as he watched her glancing sorrowfully at Faustis every now and then.

Faustis also looked at the Jumi Guardian frequently. The strange lack of recognition in his eyes whenever he looked at his two friends had vanished, although his gaze was usually hard and carefully blank. The observant Elazul noticed the softening of his hard amethyst eyes whenever he did so. Perhaps there was hope for them, after all. If Faustis was a Jumi, at least. It wouldn't be fair to Pearl if her lifespan was longer than his and he would die before she turned around twice.

Soon, they were walking up the path to the Tree where Faustis lived with the two little sorcerers he took as his apprentices. There wasn't a single living thing in sight. But there was something in the air…something felt wrong…

~~~~~~~~~

The minute Faustis saw his home, the feeling of dread (which seemed to ease a little whenever he looked at Pearl) returned twice as strong and urgent. As if to certify that something was wrong, he noticed that the Sproutlings were gone once again and the day was the beautiful type the little Plants loved. He ran ahead of the two Jumi, who seemed to have their hackles up as well. He vaulted up the steps and held the doorknob.

It was unlatched.

Faustis' stomach suddenly plummeted. They *always* kept the door locked. Each of them had their own key. Peering closer, he saw that the knob was broken. The sick feeling in his heart grew worse and he ran inside, hoping to see Farryn appear and tell him that the doorknob broke because of another of Bud's little yet explosively large experiments.

There was no one in the living room. The logs in the fireplace had burned to ashes with no one to tend to them. There was also a foul smell lingering everywhere over the thin layers of dust on everything.

"Farryn?" he called into the house. "Bud? Lisa?"

There was no answer.

He ran to the study and wrenched the door open. It was a mess with books strewn everywhere and pages crumpled up. The chairs were overturned and the desk's drawers were all randomly flung open.

"Farryn," he whispered. For some reason, he knew that whatever had happened here, it happened to Farryn only. Bud and Lisa would be safe. But where were they?

Like a bolt of lightning, he let the room and took the stairs three at a time and skidded to a stop at the room. Sweeping his gaze around, his fear intensified, shooting through him like spears of ice.

Everything was a mess. The table was overturned and its contents were flung all over the floor. The wardrobe was lying on its back and cracked horribly. There were red scratches upon it. Faustis realized with horror that it was blood. He looked around wildly. Everywhere, there were red marks. Farryn's blood.

But that was not the only thing which caused him fear. There was a strange dark aura floating from the air and chilling his soul horribly. It seeped into his heart and he let out a cry of terror. Someone very powerful was here and unleashed great amounts of Mana. The sense of it was overwhelming.

Faustis shook off the sense of fear and rushed in, jumping over the items on the floor. There was nobody around. Wait! Behind the table!

"Li'l Cactus!" he cried and leaped over the chair and hurriedly uprighted the table. And there, looking worse for wear, was the little cactus plant. Li'l Cactus looked very weak and sad as he drooped over in his pot.

"What happened?" he asked the plant urgently. "Where are Farryn and the two sorcerers?"

The cactus croaked in reply. Faustis realized that he was probably dehydrated and then he heard footsteps behind him. "What happened in here?" Pearl's voice was startled and afraid.

"Pearl!" Faustis glanced up at her. "Please get a pail of water!" he begged her. He *had* to know what had happened to his sister and why her blood was so liberally smeared through the room. "There's a water pump at the back of the house."

Pearl saw the desperation in his clear eyes and nodded, running past Elazul, who had been looking in the study. Elazul looked around the room in silent dismay. He identified the red streaks as blood immediately and closed his eyes. Whoever had been here must be terribly hurt.

When Pearl returned, Faustis poured the water gingerly into the cactus' pot. At first, nothing seemed to be happening. Soon enough, though, Li'l Cactus began to straighten slowly and spoke.

"Dark came with dead. Dead surrounded mistress and she fought. Lost. Taken away. So much blood…" He lowered his head.

Faustis' throat closed up. "What? How? What do you mean?" His heart pounded painfully with fear for his sister, his twin, his other half. Where was she? She was hurt? "Do you know where she is, Li'l Cactus?"

The cactus spoke again. "Evil voice says they will hurt two children. Bud and Lisa. Mistress gives up. Very weak now. They disappear." The plant looked devastated. "Farryn gone."

A little tear trickled down the plant's face. Faustis gently brushed the tear from his little face. "Don't worry, Li'l Cactus," he said softly. "We'll find her. But do you know where Bud and Lisa are?"

"I don't know," Li'l Cactus whispered. "Scared."

Faustis bowed his head. After a minute, he stood up and gave the plant more water. "Thank you little Cactus." He glanced at the two Jumi warriors. They saw that his face was drawn into a look of pain and unshed tears brimmed in his eyes.

"Will you help me find the two mages?" he asked quietly. His voice sounded nothing like the boisterous tone they were more familiar with.

Pearl and Elazul nodded. "We will help you find them and your friend," Elazul answered. Pearl smiled sadly. Elazul continued, "It is the least we could do to repay the great debt we owe to you for aiding us so many times and saving the Jumi race."

"No," Faustis said, shaking his head. "You do not owe it to me. Not to me. Someone else. But thank you."

They smiled gently at him, yet wondered what he meant.

And so they began to search the house for any hints that the sorcerers might still be there.

As Faustis looked through the rooms and hiding places, he mulled over what Li'l Cactus said. Dead? Did Lil Cactus mean Death figuratively or dead as in zombies and monsters? And what was that evil voice? Could it be that Larc's master had somehow returned from the dead?

Whatever it was, it had taken his sister, and he would get her back, no matter what.

"Faustis!" someone yelled. It was Elazul. Perhaps he had found something! Faustis stumbled down the stairs hurriedly and nearly collapsed with overwhelming relief when he saw Bud and Lisa.

Only Bud was unconscious and Lisa had a large nasty bruise on her forehead. He gaped.

Since they saw that no words would come out of his mouth, Elazul rolled his eyes (as uncouth as ever) and spoke up. "You should have looked around more before coming to the conclusion that Bud and Lisa were dead." He glanced at Pearly before adding, "By the way, who is Farryn?"

Faustis stopped. Should he tell them? What would their reactions be? He decided not to. If they were to be angry with him for not telling them, they might leave him and he knew that he would need their help. It would take a lot to subdue a great warrior like Farryn. She had nearly given her life to defend her charges, he could tell. A look at the room and all the blood stains on the walls were enough explanation. The enemy was dangerous.

He went over to the cupboard and started rummaging through it. "Farryn is…" he hesitated. He didn't want to lie to them, especially to Pearl. "Farryn is a friend. No. She's more than a friend."

~~~~~~~~~

Silently, Lisa cursed him. Why did he bother going on with his lying about Farryn? She was sure that Elazul and Pearl wouldn't mind that he had been lying to them. They truly cared about him, so a little lie ('OK, maybe it's not that little', she thought) wouldn't immediately isolate him from them.

Rather irritably, she accepted the balm Faustis handed to her and glared at him. He shrugged apologetically and winked.

Once a liar, always a liar.

Faustis could tell a lie and you could believe him completely without a doubt, even if you knew his tendencies toward extravagance (except for Farryn. He *never* was able to get past her.). But here he was, telling the truth, and he was completely horrible at it. Didn't he know that the most important rule in lying was also applicable to telling the truth? Keep it simple.

The first part where he called Farryn a friend was fine, true enough, but why did he have to add the next part? One look at the Jumi Pearl's face practically screamed that she was in love with him. And being the stupid braggart he was, Faustis completely missed it.

The thing was, Lisa knew that Faustis loved Pearl. She had come upon a certain box when she had been straightening out his and Farryn's room. A box full of sketches. Sketches of Pearl. Faustis was a pretty good artist.

She rather quickly got over her crush on him. It was rather obvious that he was smitten with the Guardian of the Pearl Order. The look in his eyes was so emotional that it scared her.

She glared at him one more time and rather gently sat sown on her seat, wincing from the pain above her right eye. With Pearl looking like she was trying not to cry, she decided to change the subject when she saw Elazul trying to wake her brother with a little water.

"You won't wake him up that way," she announced.

"It always worked well before, little girl," the Knight replied.

Lisa stewed slightly at the "little girl" part but continued, "Maybe. But I doubt that it ever woke anyone up when the person has been 'persuaded' to sleep." She said this as nonchalantly as possible.

After a few minutes, Elazul turned to her and said irritably, "You have an annoying habit of keeping these little things to yourself."

Lisa shrugged and caught Faustis' eye. "I've had a good teacher."

He even managed to look slightly sheepish.

~~~~~~~~~

The Jumi pair was glad to see that Faustis' good humor had returned upon seeing his two charges again. He began to chatter again, exaggerating his fussing over the little girl.

As soon as Lisa finished applying the salve to her bruised forehead without any help from Faustis, she was encouraged to tell her account of what had come to pass while Faustis was gone. It appeared that a day after Faustis left. Farryn had fallen ill and was suffering from some unnamed disease. She was cold, yet sweating, and her skin had become almost transparent. Her eyes were changing color. She wasn't able to do much physical work because she always became dizzy.

Faustis felt his eyes tear up when he heard that. He *knew* something was wrong with her, but instead of staying to find out what, he left just because he was afraid to answer Lisa's question. He should have stayed with her. She suffered but had no one there to hold her hand. No one to make her smile. But then he had to leave for selfish purposes.

Foolish.

He forced himself to listen as Lisa went on. The two sorcerers did all they could, and one night, she got better. She was almost herself again, but there was a haunted look in her eyes and she seemed almost sad. Like she was dreading something. Lisa assumed that it would go away once Faustis returned. That he would make her smile again.

But then, the next day, this enormous mob of Dead marched up to the house and broke in. The pet monsters in the shed rioted and broke free, attacking the Dead with such fervor that it was unbelieveable. They took care of nearly a fourth of the army, but they all suddenly fled.

Unfortunately, Farryn had just passed out, so they couldn't get her to safety. Bud and Lisa tried their best to defend the ailing Farryn, but they were failing. Just as they were about to go down, Farryn came to and defeated most of the dead. Alas, she had become almost drained through her powerful blast.

A man suddenly came in and said some things to Farryn in a language Lisa didn't recognize. Abruptly, Farryn's disease came back and she threw up blood. She still managed to fight off several new reinforcements and Bud and Lisa sprang to her aid. The man said more unfamiliar words and Bud then dropped down, asleep.

Lisa had sensed what he was doing through the gathering of Mana and threw up a shield which warded off most of the spell but a particular lassitude came over her. She felt to the floor and watched helplessly as Farryn was overcome by the Dead.

Lisa's words were shaking. "There was so much blood," she whispered. Faustis hugged her, hiding his own tears.

Lisa went on, though. The Dead had started to destroy parts of the room that they hadn't wrecked yet. Luckily, though, Li'l Cactus was hidden underneath the overturned table.

Out of the blue, an evil voice said that if Farryn would not come would them, the Dead would make Bud and Lisa one of their number. That was a fate worse than many other things one could think up, so Farryn gave up and allowed herself to be taken captive. One of the Dead saw Lisa awake and, even though she was paralyzed, it dragged itself over to her and swung his club. Just before Lisa blanked out, she heard screaming.

"And so I was unconscious for the next few days," Lisa finished. "It was a really mighty blow and I'm pretty sure that it cracked my skull back then. Luckily, though, Bud and I are fast healers. My problem's healable, but his isn't."

"Do you know how to wake your brother up?" Pearl asked her urgently.

Lisa looked unsure. "Yes and no."

Faustis sighed and gave her an exasperated glance. "'Yes and no'? What do you mean, Lisa? Speak straight."

Lisa gave Faustis a glare incredibly reminiscent of Farryn's irritated look whenever Faustis would break into her little sphere of happiness whenever she was reading some book. "I know several waking spells, but I'm not sure what effect they'd have on him because I don't recognize which spell the man used." She tapped her head. "I managed to memorize it, though."

Pearl mused, "Isn't there a general waking spell?? You know, one which would wake anything up? It could be used because you memorized that man's incantation. That might help."

They all looked at Lisa. Her face was pensive and her eyes were scrunched up thoughtfully. "It's…it's possible," she murmured. "But it's very powerful…I can't do it by myself. We'd need a professional to wake him up."

Faustis puffed up his chest, preparing to volunteer himself for the job, when Lisa glared at him Farryn-style again, causing all the air he inhaled to be released. Lisa nodded and said, "We go to Geo. That's the city where the strongest mages are."

"We can't go to Geo!" Faustis exclaimed.

"Why not?" Lisa shot back. "Don't you want Bud to wake up? Are you still afraid of that clingy excuse for a woman from the inn? Don't worry about her, I heard she finally got married to some poor fool."

Pearl and Elazul raised their eyebrows at Faustis. Faustis coughed sheepishly and kicked Lisa's foot under the table. "Ahem, Lisa…*cough-cough* crushes *cough-cough* the little onion boy *cough-cough*."

Lisa turned bright red and glared at him. "Shut up. Now, why don't you want to go to Geo?"

"Because Faustis wants to go to the Underworld," Elazul said quietly.

Pearl wrinkled her nose. "Whatever for?" she asked, puzzled.

Faustis regarded Elazul and spoke up. "The Dead attacked Farryn and stormed my house. I would need to know who has the power to command them and the breeding ground of the Dead is the Underworld. There must be something wrong down there for the Dead to be able to roam free in herds. Olbohn, the Keeper of the Underworld, ought to have a good excuse for this outrageousness."

Elazul nodded. "I will go with you."

"But what about Bud?" Lisa cried.

"I will stay here," Pearl announced. "Faustis has an extensive library. Therefore, I'm certain we can find a useful spell. Besides, I'm not going to the Underworld for any reason. Bud needs our help."

"It's Farryn's library," Lisa muttered mournfully.

Faustis continued, "If you find nothing, then we will all go to Geo after Elazul and I get back from the Underworld." Faustis looked at all of them. "Hopefully, by then, we'll have a faint idea of who had released the Dead."

Lisa raised her head, eyes narrowed in thought. "Hmm…I recall in one of Farryn's books a summoning spell. I think I can modify it enough to call a mage from Geo. But I need to look for it first. It's been ages since I've seen it."

Faustis shrugged. "Magic was always your department, Lis," he drawled, grinning. "You were always better at it than Bud."

Lisa grinned back at him. "Don't let him hear you say that or he'll be on your back about it for weeks."

Faustis chuckled. "All right." He glanced at the green-haired Jumi. "Elazul, we'll leave tomorrow. It's an hour's ride to get from Lumina to the Underworld. If my calculations are correct, we'll arrive at the Underworld in the morning if we leave tomorrow at dawn." He puffed up his chest again, knowing that he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

Elazul nodded, keeping his face passive, "Sounds reasonable. But from experience, I've come to realize that your observations are usually wrong. We'd arrive there at noon. Morning if we leave now."

Faustis made a face. "Bah. Details."

~~~~~~~~~

So, that's it. I've woven the basic story plot (Faustis' journey to get his sister back) and brought in some of our favorite characters. That's not all, though. Next stop: the Underworld!