Hi everybody!

This is the first chapter of Illusions and Lies. It's finally here! I'm going to publish the next few chapters soon (once I get to typing them—they're still in my notebook).

I changed the title and edited the story a little…

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story! –kaylee ishtar

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok...Lee Myoung-Jin does.

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Chapter One- The Mayhem Begins...

Several years later...

An acolyte with long lavender hair and ice blue eyes was on-duty inside the church. She was trying to heal a brown-haired swordsman who just came from a dungeon mission.

"Heal!"

Her hands glowed a bit, but nothing else happened.

"Hikari, concentrate!" a priest shouted. "Try again!"

The acolyte nodded and tried her best to concentrate.

"Heal!"

Nothing came. This time, she closed her eyes tightly, in concentration.

"Heal!"

A few sparks came out, but nothing else happened. Now thoroughly annoyed, she shouted,

"HEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAL!"

There was an explosion (gave the swordie an ash-covered face), a mini thunderstorm came (drenching the swordsman), and a poring came out of nowhere and started bouncing on the swordsman's head (now thoroughly annoying the swordsman).

"Oops." The acolyte said, covering her mouth with her gloved hands. "Look, I'm—"

Unfortunately, the swordsman (whose hair was partly fried, now color black—thanks to the ashes) had enough. He exclaimed, "I asked politely for a heal, but what I get is a Heal Bomb!"

He stood up, cursing under his breath and strode off, out of the church.

Hikari, the acolyte, groaned. That person is such an asshole, she thought.

Shiroma, one of the nuns, came to her and said, "Hikari, you seem very out of focus today. Usually, you're one of the best acolytes we have. But now, you seem quite distracted. Is there anything wrong?"

The girl shook her head and replied, "Nothing. I'm fine. I think that I just need a rest."

She forced a smile and walked off toward their sleeping quarters, thinking about a dream that kept haunting her during the past few days.

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Meanwhile, in the Izlude Swordsman Association...

A chocolate-haired swordsman was drinking a cappuccino. He sank into one of the couches and thought, "Boy, I hate this day."

First, he has been assigned to save someone in the Prontera Culvert Sewers. That "someone" turned out to be a pet poring of a merchant, which got lost when the said merchant went exploring in the Culverts. Apparently, the poring was afraid of people, so he had to chase it around the dungeon for quite a while, since it won't go near him.

After finishing the dungeon, he got really tired and went to Prontera. Seeking some energy and a Heal, he went to the church. Unfortunately, a klutzy acolyte was the one who "healed" him. But instead of refreshment, he got a nasty hair burn, an ashen face (literally—as in ashes...), and a poring to keep him company (but it ran away afterward).

Now, he sought medical assistance from the Izlude First Aiders (who fixed up his burn and wiped of the ashes from his face). He got a fresh set of clothes from one of his fellow swordsmen and a steaming mug of cappuccino.

So, he decided to take it easy for a while when something jumped on him.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah! Geroff me!"

He jumped off the couch, his heart beating a hundred times faster.

"Relax, Akiru. It's only a Yoyo."

A swordswoman stepped in the room and smiled at him. She had short pink hair, which was topped by an Iron Helmet. Her green eyes glowed with pleasure as the Yoyo went up to her shoulder.

"Her name is Setsuna. I just got her from the wild. And she already likes me!"

Akiru groaned and said, "When you go in a surprise me like that, it means that you want to ask a favor from me. What is it this time, Midori?"

Midori sat down beside him and said, "Well, I need you to..."

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Hikari woke up, startled. She had been sleeping soundly until she had another nightmare, which kept on haunting her for several days already. Normally, she would go to Father Augustine and tell him about her nightmares, so that he could make it disappear. But something is holding her back from telling anyone. She didn't know why, but she didn't tell anyone about her trouble with that dream.

Then, someone knocked on her door. She got up from her bed and opened the door. It was Sister Lynna, the Mother Superior of the Prontera Sanctuary (note: "sanctuary" is another term for church).

"Hikari, I have something to discuss with you."

Hikari nodded tentatively and said, "Well, please take a seat, Sister." She gestured toward a chair.

But Sister Lynna shook her head and said, "Thank you for the offer, Hikari, but I will be talking to you for a short while only."

She took a deep breath and asked, "Have you reached a decision already, Hikari? I mean, about your life..."

Hikari suddenly remembered the other thing that was bothering her, before she started having nightmares.

When the acolytes "come of age", they make a big choice in their life, since they will be entering priesthood. They could choose to serve the church forever, or they could out into the world and help others. But unfortunately, Hikari hasn't thought much about the future. It was just a week ago since she turned eighteen.

At that moment, she weighed her options. If she stayed in the Sanctuary, she will not have to worry much about her future. But then, her life would be quite monotonous and very boring. If she ventured out in the world, she would get to meet a lot of people and enjoy life. But the problem is, she doesn't know anyone else outside the Sanctuary (with the exception of the store clerks and the milk man).

In the beginning, she wanted to stay in the church, but with her recent dreams, she was now confused.

But she made up her mind. She knows it would be dangerous and filled with trials, but she replied anyway, "Sister, I think that I would like to go out into the world. Explore the vast lands of Rune-Midgard. I know that it would be hard, but I want to do it. Really. I'm pretty sure."

Sister Lynna was about to contradict her, but she thought better of it. Instead she said, "Well, I understand, Hikari." She paused for awhile and asked, "You're really very sure about this, Hikari? I mean, once..." she trailed off.

Hikari nodded and firmly replied, "I'm pretty sure, Sister Lyn. Really sure."

Sister Lynna then said, "You could stay here for the night. Then, you can go tomorrow." She sighed and said, "If you change your mind, just feel free to tell me. But first..."

She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and a moneybag. "Hikari, here's the shopping list."

Hikari looked at her, dumbfounded. She stammered, "B-but..."

Sister Lynna shook her head and said, "Despite your leave tomorrow, you cannot slink off your duties as an acolyte of Prontera Sanctuary." She saw the confused look in Hikari's face. She then explained, "Technically speaking, you're an acolyte of our church until tomorrow morning, when we initiate the priesthood ceremony. Despite the fact that you still have to pack your things, you can't escape your scheduled tasks for today."

She gestured once again to the piece of paper in her hand. "That duty includes this. And besides, they have a sale on dairy, meat and fruit products today."

Hikari took a deep breath and took the piece of paper and the moneybag from her hand. "Okay, sister. I'll do it."

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"We're here now!"

Akiru and Midori walked to the town square of Prontera. Akiru groaned and said, "Midori, of all the POSSIBLE times you could go shopping, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE NOW?" He moaned and said, "I'm really tired, you know. After going through that fucking dunge—"

Midori ignored all of his complaints and called out excitedly, "They're having a sale on dairy, meat and fruit products today. I figured out that I could—"

Akiru looked at her as if she was crazy. "In the swordsman association, we could get as much food as we want and drink almost anything! What's the point of buying food that we could easily get for free? You're wasting your zeny, man!"

Midori looked down at her feet, like it just dawned on her right now. But anyway, she smiled at him feebly and replied, "Well...we could use them for the future, you know...I mean—"

"But then, the food would be spoiled already!" Akiru pointed out.

"Oh...yeah," Midori said, looking at him sadly. Then suddenly, she perked up again. "Well, I still want to buy them, anyway. Besides, it's my zeny, not yours!"

Akiru could not argue with that. But he said, "But why do I have to—"

That's when he saw her.

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Hikari went into the bustling town square of Prontera. She looked around for directions, but she can't see anything because of the many people.

She decided to review her list again:

5 Dozens of Eggs

50 Meat

50 Boxes of Milk

1 Box of Apples

1 Box of Bananas

1 Box of Grapes

1 Box of Carrots

1 Box of Sweet Potato

As Sister Lynna instructed her, the boxes and the meat are to be delivered to the church. But she has to carry the eggs.

So far, she has gotten everything except for the boxes of milk. She was now holding her basket full of eggs. It weighed about a ton (in her point of view). She thanked the Egg Seller for giving her a discount (despite the fact that the eggs were already on sale; she knew all the store owners in Prontera and she was friendly with them).

She was about to head to the milk section when she nearly dropped her basket of eggs. Not because they were heavy, but she saw a certain person that she disliked.

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Akiru gaped at the acolyte he met in Prontera Church.

She stared at him intently, her eyes showing intense dislike for him. But after a while, she broke eye contact with him and moved on to the milk section.

"Akiru! Get a move, will 'ya?"

Midori was waiting for him impatiently. "What in the whole of Midgard is taking you so long?" she inquired.

Akiru looked at her guiltily and replied, "Well, you see, there was this acolyte..."

And the story of his unlucky day came out.

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Well, this is the end of chapter one. Most of my chapters will be pretty short compared to other fanfics (about 4-6 pages only when printed). But I promise that I'll finish this story! I swear!

P.S. If there are any typos in this chapter, please send me an email, or notify me through a review.

P.P.S. Please review!

P.P.P.S. I promise to type the next chapters soon!