Disclaimer: Tales of Legendia and its people and places belong to Namco.

Author's Note: Goodie, an epic/action type story. Action is another one of my weaker writing elements. Let's see how I can do with this one? Although this particular chapter doesn't have much action in it...

-----------

A young girl in a green dress rushed up to her father, Arnold Alcott in the hospital. She carried a pink flyer in her hand.

"Father, look at this!" she cried. "The Bantam Bouncers are holding a circus tonight!"

Alcott took the flyer from her hand and read the details on it. "Isn't this a little sudden? I wish I'd had more advanced notice."

"I'm sorry, Father. I just found out about it myself. So, can we go? Pretty please, can we go?"

"Elsa, sweetheart," Alcott said. "I'd love to take you, but I'm afraid I have so much work to do."

Elsa sighed with disappointment. "Oh..."

"However, you can ask Chloe and the others if they'll take you," Alcott continued. "They're all good people, and it'll be safer to be with all of them."

"Oh, thank you, Father!" Elsa hugged Alcott. "I will ask them!"

---------------

In Will's house, the heroes were discussing the circus themselves.

"Hah hah!" Moses yelled, squatting up and down. "Who's ready to go to the circus?"

"The circus would be the perfect job for you, Moses," Jay said. "You've got a clown, a monkey, and an acrobat all in one body."

"Hey, you!"

"That's enough, you two!" Will gave them both a bonk on the head.

"Hey, he started it, not me!" Moses cried.

"Well, I'm ending it!" Will told him.

"Yeah, you two squabble like a married couple!" Harriet added.

"Like hell!" Moses yelled.

"How can you compare us to a married couple?" Jay asked.

"Because you act like one!" Harriet said. "Say...are you two lovers?"

"No, we're not!" Jay and Moses yelled in unison.

"Harriet, that's enough," Will said. "Once you get these two going, it's hard to turn them off."

"Hey!" Jay and Moses cried.

They turned and walked over to the window, turning their backs to the group.

"You know, I think they're makin' fun of us," Moses said.

"You think?" Jay asked.

"Ooh, watch them kiss and make up," Norma chimed in. "You know, they really do act like a married couple."

"Norma..." Will raised his hand, preparing to bonk her. "Do you want some of this?"

Norma shrank back. "No thanks, Teach. I'm trying to cut down!"

Just then, there was a loud knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Chloe walked over and opened the door to see Elsa standing outside.

"Elsa!" Chloe said.

"Chloe...I'm glad I found you," Elsa said. "I've been looking all over the city for you!"

"What's wrong?"

"You know about the circus that's going on tonight, right?"

"Yeah, we were just talking about that," Senel said.

Jay glared at him. "Were we really, Senel?"

Elsa continued. "Father says he has too much work to do and he can't take me. So I was wondering if I could go with you."

The party members exchanged glances.

"Of course, we'd be glad to take you," Chloe said.

Elsa quickly hugged her. "Oh, I love you, Chloe! You're so cool!"

Chloe blushed. "Elsa, ou don't have to do that."

"All right, everyone," Will said. "It won't be long before the circus starts. Let's get ready to head out."

The group turned to him and nodded.

---------------

"Thank you, thank you very much!" Curtis called as the circus concluded. "We hope you enjoyed the show! Goodnight, everybody!"

The party stood up and began to leave the circus.

"Wow, that was a great circus!" Elsa cried. "I'm so glad I got to go! I can't wait to tell Father about it!"

"I'm sure he'll be happy to know that you had a good time," Shirley said.

"I have to use the restroom real quick," Elsa said. "I'll be right back."

She ran ahead of the group, where she disappeared within the crowd.

"Ha, that circus was great!" Moses exclaimed. "Don't you think so, Jay?"

Jay looked away. "Whatever."

"Oh, come on! Quit bein' such a sour puss!"

"What perfect balance..." Will gushed. "The gymnasts had perfect control on the high beams..."

"And did you see how the clowns made complete fools of themselves?" Norma asked.

"That was so much fun," Grune said. "I wonder if I should join the circus?"

"Oh yeah, G-Girl, you'd be the encore perfomance," Norma said.

Just then, they heard a loud female scream in the distance. "Aaahh!"

"What's that noise?" Moses asked.

"That was Elsa!" Chloe cried.

Let's hurry!" Senel called.

The group ran in the direction of the scream. Then they found Elsa on the ground unconscious with an Ere monster hovering over her.

"Elsa!" Chloe dashed at the monster, pulling back her sword to attack. However, the monster vanished long before she arrived.

The monster had gotten away, but that didn't matter. The rest of the group arrived at the scene and immediately checked on Elsa. Will and Shirley knelt down beside her and began casting their healing eres. But Elsa would not wake up.

"It's not working," Shirley said. "Were we too late? Is she already..."

"No, she's alive," Will said.

"She doesn't appear to be injured," Jay pointed out.

"We have to do something," Chloe said. "I'll never be able to face Alcott again."

"Let's get back to my house," Will said. "We'll see what we can do for her there."

The group nodded in agreement.

---------------

When the group got Elsa back to Will's house, they immediately put her in bed in the upstairs room. She simply lay there with a series of slow, rasping breaths.

"Elsa! Elsa, please wake up!" Chloe cried.

"Oooh..." Elsa moaned. "Hatway appenedhay otay emay...?"

"Elly, snap out of it!" Norma cried.

"Loecay...leasepay elphay emay..."

"Now I see..." Will said. "That monster put her under a pig latin curse. That means that everything she says comes out in pig latin."

"I an'tcay elievebay itay!" Moses exclaimed.

The entire room stopped as everyone gave him a confused look.

"I'm just kiddin'," Moses said. "But seriously, this is unbelievable."

"Teach, you're the only one with the Recover spell," Norma said. "Why don't you try that on Elly?"

"All right. Recover!" Will released some more of his healing energy on Elsa, but she still would not wake up.

"That's not working either," Shirley lamented. "I won't know what to say to Alcott either."

Will scratched his head. "I just don't understand..."

"Ooh, now I remember!" Norma exclaimed. "This happened to my teacher once!"

"So how did he break the curse?" Senel asked.

"The Recover spell should work, but you need a rare eres stone found only in Crusand Castle."

"Crusand?" Moses asked. "Ain't that Vaclav's country?"

"It sure is," Jay said.

"Guys, have you forgotten?" Norma asked. "Vaclav is gone now. It should be a piece of cake."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Will said. "While Vaclav may be gone, he may have followers who are as twisted as he was."

"But we can't just leave Elsa like this!" Chloe said. "Coolidge, Raynard, we have to get this eres stone."

"It looks like we have no choice but to depart for the Crusand Empire," Will said. "I'm a little concerned, though. I was exiled from the mainland for my crimes, and the authorities have vowed to execute me if I ever showed up there again."

"Hey Teach...how long did you say you were on the Legacy?" Norma asked.

"Over ten years," Will said. "Why?"

Norma smiled. "You've probably developed a few wrinkles since then. No one would recognize you in your old age."

Will's face soured as he approached Norma and gave her a bonk on the head.

"Ow!" she cried.

Jay shrugged. "She just never learns."

Just then, Harriet came into the room. "Hey Dad, how's Elsa?"

"She's not looking good," Will said. "We just learned that we need to acquire a special eres stone from the Crusand Empire."

"The Crusand Empire? That's on the mainland!" Harriet cried. "You were exiled from the mainland, Dad! They said they'd execute you if you ever went back."

"We're only going to Crusand. I don't think the authorities there would know me."

"We may all be killed by the remnants of Vaclav's forces," Senel added.

"But we won't give up," Chloe said. "We shall obtain the eres stone no matter what it takes."

"Can I come with you?" Harriet asked.

"No, it's too dangerous," Will told her.

"Oh, come on, Dad!"

"Will's right," Shirley said. "We can't bring someone who will only be a burden."

"We can't afford to waste our time looking after you," Jay added.

"Honestly! The nerve of you people!" Harriet yelled. "Dad, you're an eren, and I'm your daughter! Do you think I could use eres, too?"

"You know, I never thought of that," Moses said.

"Come on, Dad!" Harriet continued to plead. "I'm tired of doing nothing while you guys do everything! I wanna help, too!"

Will sighed. "Harriet, it's very brave of you to volunteer to accompany us, but I still insist that it's too dangerous. However, you can be a great help by staying behind and looking after Elsa."

Harriet paused. "Oh...yeah, you're right. We can't leave Elsa all alone, can we?"

"Another thing I'm concerned about is that once we reach the mainland, we'll have no means of staying in contact," Will said.

"So we'll just have to obtain the eres stone and return as quickly as possible," Senel said.

"All right, everyone, let's get some rest," Will said. "We'll meet back here in the morning, and then we'll head for Port-on-Rage."

The group faced him and nodded in agreement, then left the room, leaving Will and Harriet alone with Elsa.