Thanks so much to you guys who reviewed! I really appreciate it! Also, special thanks to celebistar (AKA TFRiD Queen), who not only beta-ed this for me, but even wrote part of this chapter! Thank you!
As for the song, good guess, White-Winged Darkness, but it is actually "ChooChooTRAIN" by EXILE. And to Saddened Soul, the Wind Waker part I was referring to was Hollo from Forest Haven. If you give him 4 Boko Baba seeds, he'll give you a blue potion. The words are the ones he chants when he makes the potion. I'm not exactly sure if those are the exact words, but it's something along those lines.
And now, without further ado, chapter 2!
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Meemai woke up as a ray of sunlight hit her eyes. Quickly stretching, she hopped over the Xelha and squeaked lightly.
"Squeak, squ!" Meemai playfully nudged Xelha with her nose. Her effort was rewarded when Xelha rolled over and opened her eyes.
"Good morning to you too, Meemai." Xelha greeted cheerfully and patted the Greythorne on her head. Today was the day they were going to see Duke Calbren, and hopefully find out where the End Magnus was. Cheered by the thought, Xelha quickly got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.
-
"Good morning, Lyude! I'm surprised you're up so early." Lyude was greeted by Xelha as she made her way down.
"Good morning to you too, Xelha. Actually, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to just get up. No sense in lazing around." Lyude replied.
"Something on your mind?" Xelha inquired as they made their way into the dining room.
"Err, no. Just a bad dream." Lyude left it at that. There was no way he'd tell about the Fluffpups!
"Ah." Xelha took the hint and left it at that.
-
'Kalas. Kalas!' Kalas groaned as Talis's voice sounded in his head. 'C'mon, Kalas! I hear people getting up already. We don't want to be late!'
"Alright, alright. I'm getting up." Kalas sat up and stretched, and ran his fingers through his slightly disheveled blue hair. (All the while shirtless, mind you. XXD)
'Do you think Duke Calbren will be able to give us any help?' Talis questioned as Kalas got dressed.
"I dunno. We'll just have to see when we get there," Kalas replied and pulled on his gloves, "it's the only lead we've got anyway."
'True.' Talis said in agreement as they headed downstairs, and were greeted by Xelha and Lyude.
"Good morning, Kalas."
"Good morning, Kalas. Did you sleep well?" Xelha asked as he pulled up a chair to the table, where two cups of tea sat steaming.
"Morning you guys." Kalas replied, and grabbed his own cup of tea.
"So, are there any supplies we need to be picking up before we leave?" Lyude asked.
"Mm, no, I don't think so. You need anything, Kalas?"
"No, I'm good. Dunno about Gibari and Savyna though." Kalas shrugged and ate another slice of toast.
"Hey, speaking of which, where are the anyway? They're usually up pretty early." Xelha wondered. The entire group looked at each other and shrugged. Meanwhile...
-
Savyna groaned. Her arm felt like lead from pitching all those pillows, and her head throbbed from the lack of sleep. "Ugh." She made an attempt to get up but flopped back down instead. She wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, or, more accurately, passed out. Savyna was about to drift off to sleep again when her conscience woke her up. No, she mustn't! A hunter must not slack off! Biting the bullet, she was about to get up again when she noticed something strange. Her legs were hanging off the bed, and she was lying sideways. Furthermore, her arm was propped against something...that was warm...her eyes widened as her senses came back to her.
"What the?" Gibari woke up with a start as he heard a "thump" on the floor. Peering over the edge, he saw Savyna on the ground all tangled up in the sheets. "I was wondering why it got cold all of a sudden," he noted.
Savyna merely glared back at him.
"What?" Gibari tried to keep a straight face but failed.
"What do you mean 'what'? What was I doing on your bed!" Savyna countered, clutching the sheets tighter around her.
"How am I supposed to know? You were the one throwing pillows at me!"
Savyna grew quiet after that statement. Silently, she tried to remember what happened last night. True, she had been throwing pillows at Gibari for a long time, but how did she end up on his bed? Unless... 'I must've passed out on one of my trips to retrieve my pillow...I can't remember anything after that...'
Gibari, seeing as how Savyna was silent for a good while, thought she was thinking of other things. "Hey, just for the record, nothing happened, so don't go saying I tried to seduce you or something." He waved his hands innocently.
"What! You thought I would!" Savyna grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it at Gibari.
"Hey! I thought we're over this already!" Gibari protested and threw another pillow back. Pretty soon, pillows and whatnot were flying around the room, and the maids were starting to wonder what all the noise was about. One of them headed down the hallway to investigate as the noises got louder.
"Um, excuse me, but some of our patrons are starting to comp-" the maid was cut off as she saw Savyna on top of Gibari about to strangle him with the sheets. They both looked up at the sudden intrusion. There was a long silence. Then, "Um, I'msorryforinterruptingpleasekeepitdownthankyou!" The maid slammed the door and left. Savyna and Gibari blinked.
"How about we just call it a truce and go down to breakfast? Kalas and the others must be wondering where we are by now." Gibari offered his hand. He didn't really see the point in continuing, and besides, he was hungry!
Savyna stared for a moment, then grudgingly took his hand, shaking it in agreement. She got off of him, and they silently went to their separate sides of the room.
"You know," Gibari said as they headed down, "I hope that maid didn't get the wrong idea about us." He was met with a dud bomb to his head.
-
"There you guys are! We were about to send someone up to get you two." Kalas greeted them.
"Is everything alright?" Xelha asked. Savyna looked miffed and Gibari was rubbing his head.
"Everything's perfectly fine." Savyna answered cooly.
"Well, we're all here now, so why don't we finish our breakfast and head out for Duke Calbren's mansion?" Lyude suggested.
'I second that!' Talis's voice rang out and everyone, even Savyna, had to let out a little smile.
-
After an uneventful breakfast, the group set out toward the mansion. The road was well-beaten, although monsters occasionally came out from the woods that lined both sides of the road. It was during one of these encounters that Kalas finally realized the extent of the curse that had been cast upon him.
"Alright, Kalas! Finish it off!" Lyude shouted. Kalas nodded, and reached for his deck, only to find that the card was blank.
"What!" Kalas drew another, and another, only to find that they were all blanks.
"Kalas, what are you doing?" Xelha's voice sounded.
'It's true! We're cursed! I knew you shouldn't have have gotten him mad!' Talis cried frantically.
"Damn it!" Kalas growled in frustration. His entire deck was blank!
"What's wrong, Kalas?" Xelha asked, but Lyude just said, "Forget it. We don't' have time for this right now. Sfortzando!" After beating the crap out of the monster, the rest of the group ran up to Kalas.
"What happened out there?"
"Yeah Kalas, you're usually the guy who kicks some major butt. Is something wrong?" Gibari and the others asked. Kalas's eye twitched slightly. He knew that Talis was right, but there was no way in hell he was gonna admit he was cursed.
'Great situation you've gotten us into, Kalas. Now how are you gonna get us out?' Talis whispered sarcastically in his head.
'Oh, shut up!' Kalas thought back.
"Heey Kalas, you in there buddy? Gibari waved his hand in front of his face in an attempt to snap him out of his reverie.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry guys." Kalas rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, I dunno what happened back there, but I'm sure it's nothing. Let's continue on our way, shall we? Wouldn't want to be late!" Kalas laughed nervously and started walking on. The rest of the group just gave each other confused looks, and then shrugged. Xelha ran up to Kalas before the others could catch up.
"Hey Kalas, are you sure you're all right? If something's wrong, you can tell us, you know. It's not like we'll bite your head off or anything," she smiled at him. Kalas flushed.
"Uh, trust me Xelha, nothing's wrong. I'm fine. Really!" He added at the end to assure her and himself. Xelha frowned slightly, but didn't push the subject any further.
"If you say so..."
'Ha, I bet she WOULD probably bite your head off if you told her what happened. Why can't you just lie about the situation but tell her your cursed anyway?' Talis asked.
"Because, there's no way I'm telling. It's...embarassing. Besides, how do we know that this curse thing won't wear out by itself sometime later, huh?" Kalas shot back. Talis heaved a sigh.
'Forget it, I give up. Man, being your spirit guardian really sucks sometimes...fine, I'll go along with your "plan" for now, but if this curse doesn't wear off by tomorrow, we are going back to Reverence and finding that guy, got it?'
"Fine," he said. "but not now." Unfortunately for Kalas's prediction, he kept drawing blanks during battle, until finally they had to let Savyna take the front lines.
'It's not getting any better! I vote we turn around right now and head for Reverence.'
"And just what are we gonna say to the others?"
'I don't know! Make something up!'
The rest of the group didn't bother Kalas. They knew that he was talking to Talis whenever he became silent like that. They were halfway through the forest when night fell.
"Well, I guess we'll be camping out tonight," Gibari announced. "I'll go and get a fire started. Wanna help me, Lyude?"
"Sure, I'll be right there." Lyude replied. Xelha and Savyna started sorting through the deck of camp Magnus, leaving Kalas alone with his thoughts.
'This isn't going to get any better, you know.' Talis said. The sarcastic tone was gone, replaced by a gentle suggestion.
"Yeah, I know. But what's my excuse gonna be?"
'Hmm,' Talis fell silent for a moment. "Well, just say you forgot to do something back at Reverence. Don't worry, I'll back you up.'
"Well, I guess if we're gonna go, I suppose we better go now, so we can come back soon." Kalas stood up, and walked over the the rest of the group, who were situated around a nice campfire.
"Hey guys, you think you can make a little detour from our trip?"
"What's wrong, Kalas?" Xelha asked, confused by the question. "Are you planning to go somewhere?"
"Well, I need to go back to Reverence...for something..." Kalas trailed off, hoping for Talis to finish his sentence.
"For what?" Gibari asked, raising an eyebrow.
'It's personal. Don't worry we'll be back be morning.' Talis's voice rang in everyone's heads.
"Well, alright. Be careful Kalas." Xelha said. She was curious as to just what he was going to do, but if Talis seemed to approve, then she would too. The rest of the group exchanged glances but didn't say anything. Talis's word was good enough for them.
"Take care of yourself, kid." Gibari said as Kalas walked off towards Reverence.
-
'Hey, Kalas?'
"Yeah?"
'You know, walking like, sucks. Let's fly.'
"Hm, I suppose you have a point. There shouldn't be anyone around during this time of night. I don't need another 'one-winged freak' remark." Kalas replied and spread his wings, one snow white, the other steel gray. Taking a leap, he launched himself into the sky and toward Reverence. The landscape flew by, and in no time at all they were at the edge of the village.
"Where do you think he'd be?" Kalas asked as they landed and walked into the village.
'Well, maybe he'll be in that club again. It's worth a shot.' Talis suggested.
"I hope so. As much as I hate doing this, I don't want a wild-goose chase on my hands." Fortunately for Kalas and Talis, their target was right by the door, and they quickly spotted him.
"sO, YOU'vE COME baCK," he greeted them, before Kalas could say anything. "YoU want The CuRE, Yes?"
"Alright! Just tell me what to do. I want this curse gone as soon as possible!" Kalas said, trying to keep his temper in check. He was silent for a while, and Kalas thought he might refuse. But finally, after a long time, he said, "BRIng Me a FEatHeR FroM EAch oF YOuR comPANionS. TheN I sHaLl bE AbLe tO hELp yOU."
"What? But not all of them have feathers!" Kalas exclaimed. This sounded like a weird request.
"tHeN a STrAnD oF hAIr sHall DO," he replied, "nOW Go. YOu KnOW whAT You NEed." And with that last bit of advice, he turned around and walked onto the dance floor. Kalas blinked for a moment.
'Well, you heard the guy, er, man, er...thing. Odd as it sounds, we're gonna have to do it if you wanna return to normal.' Kalas sighed.
"I guess. Well, we better get going if we want to return before day." Still a bit puzzled, Kalas walked out of the building, spread his wings, and took to the sky.
-
Sorry if there's a bit of OOC-ness in this chapter. I tried to make everyone as IC as possible, but I needed a bit of artistic license to make it funny. Gibari and Savyna are just so fun to write about. Can you tell which part was written by celebistar? The next chapter will be very interesting, as we'll see just how Kalas will obtain those items...