Chapter II: Keria
LES: I've made some changes to the game to fit my needs. #1: Sandover still exists, it is located a ways from Haven City. #2: Erol lives in Sandover. #3: Sandover is quiet a bit bigger. #4: All of Haven City was deserted when the Prince was cursed. Also, I tried to get the songs right, but I had to change some words so some lines won't rhyme anymore. Also, the words may be wrong. Okay, on with the story...
A beautiful day dawned in Sandover village. A young woman with sea green hair walked out of a house that was on an island, connected to the village with bridges. She carried a small basket, with a single book inside. She began to sing in a lovely voice:
"Little town,
It's a quiet village.
Every day,
Like the one before.
Little town,
Full of little people,
Waking up to say:"
At that moment, people began to come out of their housed, greeting their neighbors,
"Hello!
Hello!
Hello!
Hello!"
The young woman began to sing again:
"There goes the baker with his tray, like always,
The same old bread and rolls to sell.
Every morning just the same,
Since the morning that we came,
To this poor provincial town!"
She stopped to talk to the baker,
"Oh, Keria, how are you" the baker said. "Where are you headed to?"
"To the bookstore." Keria answered. "I just finished the most wonderful story. About a beanstalk and an ogre..." But she was cut off by the baker's yell of:
"Marie, the baguettes, hurry up!" Keria rolled her eyes and walked away.
Some off the women that had been watching this scene started to sing as Keria walked away:
"Look, there she goes a girl that's strange
No question.
Dazed and distracted, can't you tell?"
Some more towns people joined in on the song:
"Never part of any crowd,
For her head's up on some cloud.
No denying she's a funny girl, can't you tell?"
Some random towns people happen too be talking, but they keep in tune with the song:
"Hello!"
"Good day!"
"How is your family?"
"Hello!"
"Good day!"
"How is your wife?"
"I need six eggs!"
"That's too expensive!"
Keria began to sing again as she walks into a bookstore:
"There must be more that this Provencal life!"
Keria is greeted by the bookseller, "Hello, Keria!"
"Morning, mister." Keria curtsied politely, "I'm returning this book."
"Finished already?"
"Oh, I couldn't put it down!" Keria exclaimed, examining the bookshelves. "Got anything new?"
"Not since yesterday." The old bookseller laughed.
"That's alright. I'll barrow this one!" Keria pulled a book off the shelf.
"Again!" the bookseller asked, "You've read it twice!"
"Oh, but it's my favorite!" Keria said, "Far off lands, magic spells, daring sword fights, a prince in disguise--"
"If you like it all that much, than it's yours!" the bookseller said.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you very much!" Keria said as she walked out the door, completely oblivious to the fact that a group of men were staring at her. They began to sing:
"Look there she goes, that girl is so peculiar.
I wonder if she's feeling well!"
A group of women began to sing:
"With a dreamy, far-off look,
And her nose stuck in a book!
What a puzzle to the rest of us,
That girl!"
Keria sat on a small fountain in the village square. She was reading her book, but she sang:
"Oh, isn't this amazing?
It's my favorite part because, you'll see,
Here's where she meets Prince Charming!
But she discover it's him 'til chapter three!"
Keria got up and walked past a woman and a man singing:
"Now it's no wonder that her name means 'Beauty.'
Her looks ain't got no parallel!"
The man began to sing:
"But, behind that fair facade,
I'm afraid she's rather odd.
She's different from the rest of us."
The towns people join in with the man:
"She's nothing like the rest of us,
Yes, she's different from the rest of us,
That girl!"
There was a flock of birds flying overhead, all of a sudden, and blast from a Blaster killed one of the birds. A small servant tried to catch the dead bird in a sack, but he missed. He picked up the bird and carried it to a man waiting, holding a Blaster.
"Wow! You didn't miss a single shot, Erol!" the servant said. "No beast can stand up to you! And no girl for that matter!"
"Yes, and I've got my eyes set on that one!" Erol pointed though the crowd, straight at Keria.
"The Sage's daughter?" the servant asked.
"Yes, she's the one! The woman I'm going to marry!" Erol said. "The most beautiful woman in town, and that makes her the best! And don't I deserve the best?"
"Yes, but..." the servant began. But Erol wasn't listening, in fact, he was singing:
"Right from the moment that I met her, saw her!
I said, 'She gorgeous!' and I fell!
In this town there's only she,
Who's as beautiful as me!
So I'm making plans to woo and marry her!"
He stalked off after Keria; a group of 'Erol Fans' were at a water pump. They were singing:
"Look there he goes!
Isn't he dreamy?
Monsieur Erol,
Isn't he cute?
Be still my heart,
I'm hardly breathing!
He's such a tall, dark, strong and handsome brute!"
All the girls faint, Keria looks up from her book to sing:
"There must be more than this provincial life!"
Erol sang:
"Just watch, I'm going to make Keria my wife!"
But the rest of the towns people drowned him out:
"Look, there she goes,
A girl that's strange, but special!
A most peculiar Mademoiselle!
It's a pity and a sin,
She doesn't quiet fit in!
Cause she really is a funny girl!
A Beauty but a funny girl!
She really is a funny girl!
That girl!"
Keria seemed to notice that everyone was singing, but as she turned around, they all went back to their business. Erol came up to Keria.
"Hello, Erol." She said politely. He snatched the book out of her hands. "Erol, may I have my book, please?" Keria asked, trying to keep her patience.
"How can you read this?" Erol asked, flipping though the book, "There aren't any pictures!"
"Well, some people use their imagination." Keria answered.
"Keria, it's time that you take your head out of the clouds," Erol threw her book aside, it landed in a mud puddle. She tried to get it, but Erol blocked her way. "It's time that you start thinking of more important ideas. Like me!" The group of Erol Fan-girls sighed. "The whole town's talking about it. It's not right for a woman to read. Then she starts getting ideas, and thinking..." Erol said as if these two things were the worst things possible. Keria had managed to retrieve her book. She was wiping the mud off it.
"You are positively primeval, Erol." Keria let lose an insult.
"Why, thank you!" Erol said, completely missing the insult. "Why don't you say we go down to the tavern and take a look at my trophies?"
"Maybe some other time." Keria said as Erol dragged her past the 'Erol Fan Club.'
"What's wrong with her?" one asked.
"She's crazy!" Another said.
"He's gorgeous!" The last one said.
"I can't." Keria said as she pulled away from Erol. "I have to get home to help my father..." She turned around and walked away. The servant started laughing.
"That crazy old loon! He needs all the help he can get!" the servant laughed.
"Don't talk about my father that way!" Keria yelled.
"Yeah, don't talk about her father that way!" Erol said, he hit the servant on the head.
"And my father is not crazy, he's a genius!" Keria said, however as fates would have it, an explosion rocked the small town. It came from the old Sage's house. Keria turned and ran for her house while Erol and his servant laughed themselves silly.
Keria ran up to the hut and opened the basement door. Smoke billowed out. "Daddy?" She called. "Are you alright?" She found her father on top of some crates, he let himself down.
"I've had it!" her Father yelled. "I'm giving up. I'll never get this bone-headed contraption to work!"
"That's what you always say." Keria said.
"I mean it this time!" The old Sage said.
"Oh, Daddy, you'll get it working. Win first place at the county fair, and become a world famous Sage." Keria said.
"You really believe that?" the old Sage asked his daughter.
"I always have." Keria said.
"Well, what are we waiting for, I can fix this contraption in no time!" the Sage disappeared behind the machine. "Hand my that tool over there." Keria handed him the tool in question. "Did you have a nice time in town?"
"I got a new book." Keria paused. "Daddy, do you think I'm odd?"
"My daughter, odd?" the Sage came out from behind the machine, wearing a strange pair of glasses. "Now, where would you get an idea like that?"
"I don't know." Keria admitted. "I just feel like I don't fit in here. There's no one I can talk to..."
"What about that Erol, he's a handsome fella..." the Sage said.
"He's handsome alright, and rude and conceited. Oh, Daddy, he's not the one for me." Keria said.
"Well don't you worry, cause this invention will be the start of a new life for us." The old Sage said, "There, I think that does it. Now, lets give it a go!" He pulled on the lever.
At first the machine just rumbled, then it began to glow with Green Eco energy. A beam shot out at an old, hurt rat, which was the guinea pig. The rat was suddenly healed.
"Yes! It works, it healed the rat!" the old Sage said, "It's off to the fair!"
LES: Okay, next chapter...