Agh, I really meant to update earlier now that it's the summer holidays, but I ended up taking a vacation to Greece, France and Italy for the better part of three weeks. But, I'm back and... sorry this took so long if you all are still reading.
Ages:
Miyu: 22
Larva: 27
Sara: 22
Diana: 23
Garline: 28
Jacqueline: 24
Lilith: 26
READ THE SIGNS
CHAPTER THREE
BY:
Fantasy Girl (Saturn Angels)
Miyu, Sara and Diana reached the town expecting to see at least a little life in the area. But alas, the entire place seemed like a ghost town. As if it had been abandoned for years.
"So much for hiding in the crowds." Miyu mumbled dejectedly as there were obviously no crowds to hide in.
"Well we're definitely going to be found now." Sara said with a stomp of her foot, seconds away from throwing a tantrum, "Great going Diana."
"Well, we won't go down with a fight. You took a year of martial arts didn't you Sara?" Diana asked solemnly.
Sara gave Diana a look that clearly said, 'You're the one with the knife.' "Well yes, but you were there too. And I didn't learn anything really, I just goofed off and made fun of the instructor behind his back."
Diana scrunched up her face as she tried to recall those years, "Ah yes, I remember. And he caught you that one time and you had to clean the entire dojo with a toothbrush."
"No, that was that other girl Musume."
"Then what did you have to do?" Diana asked, her memory obviously failing her.
"She had to do the chicken dance in front of everyone by herself everyday for a week after class," Miyu mentioned seeing that Sara wasn't about to remind Diana of that. "But that's not important, we're wasting time- we have to figure something out."
"Always pushy aren't you Miyu?" Sara asked jokingly, but she did realize that the situation wasn't really in their favor and they couldn't waste any more time than they already had.
"We could hide in one of the houses." Diana suggested, running out of ideas before even having proper time to brainstorm.
"No, then it'd just be like hide and seek, we'd eventually be found." Miyu shook her head, but now that they'd practically cornered themselves there wasn't much they could do.
"Well there is hide and seek tag, you know where you run once you're foun-" Sara was silenced by Miyu's stern look. "I'll take that as a no, but what about the voices we heard from this direction earlier? Weren't there people here before?"
"It must've been in a different direction. Or perhaps we were delirious, but come on you two! Think!"
"I say we hide for now, it really does us no good to simply stand where we could easily be spotted." Diana pointed out.
"Two points to Diana for making the first useful suggestion!" Sara beamed. The trio looked around for the building with the least windows, and soon found one with a wooden sign hanging above the door. The sign was old, but one could just barely make out the word 'PUB' carved into it.
They hurried inside, hiding behind the bar where they couldn't be seen from the outside. "Are we even sure they're really dangerous?" Sara whispered quietly.
Miyu looked over at Sara and replied in a voice quieter than Sara's, "Oh, you can be the one to find out if you want. Look, they didn't exactly come waving a white flag saying they came in peace, now did they? Plus, why did they come looking for us?"
"To stop us, is what that Jacqueline person said." Diana pointed out, "Which obviously means she's out to harm us."
"Well, it could mean she's trying to stop us from hurting ourselves, or ruining our lives, or something."
"Do you even believe what you're saying?" Diana asked and Sara thought for a moment before shaking her head in the negative, "Then let's just figure out how to get out of this mess, or at least avoid it for a little while longer."
Miyu opened her mouth to speak before her eyes narrowed and she remained silent for a few seconds. Her two companions watched her curiously, Diana knew not to speak whereas Sara didn't get the hint.
"What is I-" before she finished her sentence she was shushed by Diana's hand over her mouth and the door to the pub swung open.
The three waited silently, holding their breath anxiously hoping whoever it was would go away. Because more likely than not they weren't there to help or buy them a drink (unless it was poisoned).
"I know you three are in here." the person finally spoke, and to their confusion it certainly wasn't a female voice.
But then again it could be a trick, this was a different world after all. Anything was possible. It was most likely magic of some sort.
They stayed still, willing their hearts to beat just a little quieter.
The footsteps seemed to be getting further away and finally they heard a masculine, "Hm.." and then the pub door opened and closed again.
Now, it was obviously a trap and Diana and Miyu knew it well so they remained silent not thinking to stop their friend before she sighed loudly, releasing the breath she'd been holding. "Phew!" Sara smiled sheepishly, "That was a close one wasn't it?"
Diana and Miyu both moved forward to muffle Sara's voice, hoping that it hadn't been a trap. But if it was they were considering leaving Sara as a peace offering.
It finally dawned on Sara what exactly had happened. Her face paled and she looked rather like a deer in the headlights, only... less animal-y.
Everything seemed to happen at once, the sound of quick footsteps and then there was a tall figure standing above them.
At least he seemed tall, but that wasn't certain seeing as they were all sitting down.
"You three are lucky I'm not your enemy." the man said without even a proper introduction, "Really lucky."
"Who are you?" Diana asked, she had of course meant to say something which sounded a lot more intelligent but the words just didn't present themselves.
Probably because of how handsome the stranger happened to be.
The man flashed a charming smile and Diana nearly swooned, Miyu rolled her eyes, and Sara really didn't know what was going on. She was still in a bit of shock. "My name is Larva," he said, "and I'm here to help you."
"Look, we don't need a bodyguard." Miyu said, agitated for some reason she couldn't explain. She didn't think she was going to get along too well with this 'Larva'.
"We don't?" Diana asked, giving Miyu a strange look.
Larva gave Miyu a critical look, then seemed to understand a little too well. "Ah, well. If that's the case I'll just leave you three here to be found by Jacqueline and Lilith. Nice meeting you three, and I wish you the best of luck staying alive long enough for us to meet again." He gave a small salute-like wave and began walking away.
The footfalls were the only things breaking the dramatic silence.
"Wait!" Miyu called out which startled Sara into snapping out of her own little world. "Where did you plan to take us?" she asked nervously, standing up from their hiding spot.
Yeah, he was tall all right.
He looked amused, "Changed your mind have you?"
Miyu frowned, "I'd just like to know my options before blindly walking into something."
Diana stood up after Miyu as did Sara though she had a bit more trouble, banging her head on the counter top before standing upright, rubbing her scalp with a curse underneath her breath.
"Well, truth be told... ah, sorry I didn't catch your name?"
"Sara." "Diana." came the replies from the two he wasn't giving attention to.
He looked briefly at them with a candid smirk before turning his attention back to Miyu.
"Miyu..." she said slowly, she had considered giving him a false name but her companions had easily disposed of that option.
"Miyu," he repeated, "Nice name, foreign. But I already knew that. Now, what was I saying?"
"Where you were planning on taking us." Sara mentioned helpfully.
"Ah, yes. Truth be told, I am going to take you to the same place Jacqueline planned on taking you, only under different circumstances ." Larva said, waiting for the shocked exclamation or just general doubt.
"Why should we go with you?"asked Diana with a groan, just when they thought they were safe.
"Because I'm charming of course." he said with a smile which nearly made Diana swoon again,
Miyu, becoming annoyed once more, chose to ignore his stupid answer, "What are the different circumstances? Obviously that must be why you think we'd go with you."
"Well, either way you need to see Garline. Believe me, he isn't the bad guy. Far from it actually."
"Good and bad are simply points of view," Miyu said, "And you didn't answer my question."
"Pushy aren't you?" Larva asked in an amused way before becoming serious, "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" Before waiting for an answer from them he continued, "Let me ask you a simple question, would you rather be with me or two women who act exactly like jealous housewives?"
"I think I'd take my chances with the jealous housewives." Miyu said bitterly.
"Jealous housewives who want to kill you simply because Garline has been ordered to meet with you?" Larva asked.
Miyu frowned and all three of the girls wondered silently to themselves who Garline was, because he was being mentioned far too often to be a background character.
There was a moment of serious silence.
Larva watched them intently as they tried to understand the situation.
"Is your hair naturally that color?" Sara finally asked the question that had been on her mind as soon as she'd taken a good look at him.
Everyone else in the room facefaulted.
"Er, yes, it is." Larva replied, unsure of why he even chose to answer.
"It's pretty and very shiny."
"..." Now, he was proud of his features, but this wasn't the time or place to be complimented.
"So, will you come with me?" he asked again, "It won't be long until they get here."
It was obvious who 'they' were.
It didn't seem very safe to trust Larva, but then again they really had nothing else to do, no clues on how to get out of the strange situation they'd somehow gotten themselves into.
No leads to follow other than the one that kept presenting itself.
"Hold on." Miyu said before calling a huddle between herself, Diana, and Sara. "What do you guys think?"
"I think his hair is gorgeous." Sara said, and at the look the other two shot her she blinked and figured that was the wrong answer, "Well it is... but as for what to do, I'm assuming that's what you meant to ask, I think we should follow him."
"What, to find out what shampoo he uses?" Diana asked skeptically.
"Guys, we don't have time. What do we do?" Miyu asked, growing more and more impatient.
"I say we follow him." Diana said, "I mean... we can't really do anything else now can we?" she asked, voicing Miyu's earlier thoughts.
"We need to find a way home." Sara said worriedly, she had in fact been worrying about everything the entire time. She had just taken Diana's earlier advice and tried to think of it as a dream. She couldn't keep it up anymore though, she had to face facts... at least at a more conscious level.
They all turned to face Larva at the same time, "All right, we've decided. We'll go with you." Sara announced.
"I'm glad you finally decided but I'm afraid it might be harder now than it would have been." Larva said.
Before Diana had the chance to ask why the doors swung open again and in stepped Jacqueline and Lilith.
Out of breath but trying to look composed.
"Hah! You all make so much noise I could have found you... in... " Jacqueline trailed off unable to think of a metaphor, "Well, point is we found you and are going to take you to Garline now."
"I've got it covered Jacqueline." Larva said with an exasperated sigh.
Jacqueline's expression immediately changed as she saw who was with her victims. "Larva!" she said giddily, suppressing a squeal of delight. Her face became a bit more flushed as she fanned herself with a cloth fan she'd seemed to have pulled out of thin air. "I didn't know you were on the mission too! How long has it been since we've spoken?"
"Not long enough," Larva said but Jacqueline showed no sign of hearing.
"Too long, I say." she said reaching out and pulling his hand into hers, "It feels like an eternity."
"Jacqueline, you spoke to Lord Larva this morning." Lilith said from the doorway.
The redhead paid no attention and instead continued speaking to Larva, seemingly forgetting about what she was supposed to be doing, "Larva... you never visit me anymore." she pouted prettily, her gray eyes shining with pure adoration.
"Sorry, I haven't had the time lately. Now, if you'd please go back to the palace I have it all taken care of."
Jacqueline shot a heated glare towards the three girls, a warning sign. "Oh, why don't you go and rest Larva dear? You've had a long day and I can take it from here."
Pulling his hand from her grasp and running it through his light blue hair he repeated his previous statement, "Jacqueline, I have it all taken care of."
She seemed upset to say the least and the cold look she gave to the trio could have frozen a sea of fire, though her expression changed completely as she addressed Larva, "As you wish. I'll wait for you at the palace."
With one final, fleeting look Jacqueline disappeared and Lilith, who looked really annoyed that she'd wasted her time in pursuing the three foreigners rolled her eyes, slammed the door, and presumably disappeared as well.
"Now, shall we be off?" Larva asked with a gallant smile.
Miyu was in an exceptionally bad mood, and the most annoying part about it was she couldn't quite pinpoint why. All she knew was that she couldn't stand Jacqueline and her ... clingyness. It was obvious Larva had no interest in her.
Not that she cared who or what Larva had an interest in.
It just annoyed her to see such a desperately open display of affection which was obviously only one-sided.
Diana clapped Miyu on the shoulder, and the only words she offered were, "I know."
Which only confused Miyu further. What was she talking about? Pushing confusing thoughts away for the moment she looked up at Larva, "Well?"
"I was just waiting for your friend." Larva said politely as he motioned back towards where they had been hiding previously.
Diana sweatdropped at the sight of Sara digging through the cabinets, scavenging and finding half empty alcohol bottles, brands she'd never even heard of before but by the smell of them there was no doubt that they were strong.
Sara took another whiff of the obligatory lime green bottle. Oh yeah. They were most definitely strong.
She didn't usually drown her sorrows, but circumstance was different.
And it was all free too.
"Sara!" Miyu shouted, Sara stood bolt-right, her pockets full of bottles as well as her arms.
"What?" she asked innocently. "They won't miss it, now will they? And there's no reason to be wasteful." Sara trekked slowly to the others. "Are we leaving now?"
Larva nodded, "If you're all ready."
They all nodded and without any warning Larva picked up Miyu bridal-style and told the other two to hang onto him. "If you let go there's no telling where you'll end up." he said, "So... try and hold tight, for your sake."
"How long are we going to be at this palace anywho?" Sara asked as she happily clung to Larva. Diana did the same.
"I don't know." he answered truthfully.
Before anyone could make a smartass comment, which was to be expected, they were moving at an alarming speed. Everyone clung tighter to Larva, even Miyu who had been upset by how she was held. None of them wanted to fall into oblivion.
Never to be seen again.
That'd be a real shame.
They barely had time to get themselves reoriented before they were ushered into a rather expensive looking waiting room, well furnished with gothic-looking furniture and ornaments. Some of it gave off an aura of 'Dangerous. Don't touch.'
So they didn't.
Larva left them in the room and told them to make themselves comfortable as he went to find Garline.
Moments later another man entered accompanied by Larva not too far behind, they assumed (correctly) that this was Garline.
"Sorry to keep you ladies waiting," he said and proceeded to kiss their hands in a very gentlemanly fashion. "If you'll please step inside my study there's something you need to know..."
-
Fantasy Girl: This was absolute crap, I know. But I just felt like I should give you guys something. It has been... well, a really REALLY long time after all. Please review with comments, thoughts, anything really. I promise to try and not slack so much. Next chapter will be a lot better I promise, I just have to get back in my groove so to speak.