ARYSTAR KRORY III THE BOTANIST
—
"I'm bored!" Lavi collapses onto the wooden table.
"I know." Allen says. "You've said that a hundred times!"
"I know." Lavi pouts. "But it's still true!"
"Well, what do you usually do?" Allen looks up from his plate of food.
"I'm glad you asked!" Lavi perks up. "Usually, we get given quests! You know, killing dragons, finding treasure, saving the girl." He lifts his eyebrows suggestively.
"Uh, okay." Allen nods. "So, why are we just sitting around?"
"Because we need to be given them." Lavi slumps back down. "And Komui's in charge of that."
"Can't you just go and ask?" Allen wonders.
"Nope." Lavi shakes his head. "He'll tell us if there's something we can do."
"So, nothing, then?" Allen sighs.
"Nothing at all." Lavi sighs.
"Lavi! Allen!" Komui loudly appears, slamming his hands down on their table.
"Ah!" Allen drops his fork in surprise, causing it to clatter to the floor.
"Yes!?" Lavi jumps up, suddenly full of energy.
"Hevlaska wants to see you." Komui says, a glint in his eye. "Something about a quest?"
—
"Hevlaska!" Lavi slams through a large pair of black double doors, directly opposite the entrance.
"Where is this?" Allen quietly follows after. "Where are we going?"
"We're seeing Hevlaska!" Lavi happily explains. "We're finally getting some action!"
—
They finally reach a giant chamber, after climbing down a dozen flights of stairs. Inside sits a woman, completely obscured by swaths of white fabric covering everything but her mouth. A large golden goblet sits in front of her, filled with a black, bubbling mixture.
"Lavi." She smiles. "I'm glad to see you've returned."
"Yo." Lavi grins.
"And who's this?" She looks over at Allen.
"Oh, this is Allen." Lavi gestures. "Newbie."
"It's a pleasure." Hevlaska lowers her head slightly. "I've never met an Underwalker before."
"Huh?" Allen looks at her in shock. "How'd you know that?"
"Hevlaska's super cool." Lavi says. 'She's got the power to see into the future!"
"Really?" Allen looks back at her.
"Just glimpses." Hevlaska replies. "And, mostly, prophecies."
"Prophecies?"
"Are you ready?" She looks over at Lavi. "For your new quest?"
—
In that instant, everything disappeared but Hevlaska and the pale white glow hanging off of her. The goblet shakes for a second before toppling over, the contents spilling onto the ground, like liquid silver. As it settled, the surface turns to something akin to a mirror, but it doesn't show them, it shows…
A black castle looms above a thick forest. A full moon shines, tinted red, illuminating a figure on the frontmost balcony. Nearby, a village spawns a large riot. A mob of people with pitchforks and flaming torches approach the castle, disappearing into the forest. Seconds later, likely after a few passing minutes, the mob run back out, covered in bloody injuries and screaming for their lives.
—
"Cool!" Lavi breaks it, stunning Allen back into the dark chamber.
"Isn't it?" Hevlaska smiles, looking over at Allen. "I'm sorry for startling you."
"Ah, it's fine." Allen shakes his head. "Just surprised me."
"Aren't you excited!?" Lavi turns on him. "We're going questing, baby!"
—
"You're weirdly excited about walking." Allen watches Lavi skip ahead.
"I know." Lavi grins. "But, I haven't had a proper quest in ages!"
"Really?" Allen says. "You seem like you don't do much else."
"I mean, I'm usually with Gramps." Lavi says.
"Oh, right, him." Allen nods. "Why isn't he with us, then?"
"Because it's our quest!" Lavi smiles. "He's usually the one that gets them, so he bring me along. But, since Hevlaska gave it to us, we an do it by ourselves!"
"Ah, I get it." Allen nods again.
—
"Where exactly are we going?" Allen asks after a little more walking. The sun sits lower in the sky, threatening to disappear under the horizon.
"This way, obviously!" Lavi points directly ahead.
"How do you know we're going the right way?"
"I don't!" Lavi laughs. "Well, I kind of do."
"That doesn't make sense." Allen stops walking.
"Yeah, well…" Lavi stops too. "It's complicated."
"Then explain."
"Quests are pretty ambitious when you get them." Lavi says. "But, they rarely give details, it's up to us to find them."
"So we're just hoping to come across that castle?"
"Don't worry." Lavi grins. "We definitely will. That's how it works. We'll find the castle, probably once the sun goes down, and see that mob get chased out of the forest."
"We're so screwed." Allen mutters, but restarts walking regardless.
"That's the spirit!"
—
"It's been three hours!" Allen groans.
"We can't just stop here!" Lavi gestures to the barren path.
"This is why we shouldn't have left straight away!" Allen glares up at Lavi. "We should have planned! Packed properly!"
"Oh." Lavi stops. "I guess I was just excited…" He lets out a nervous laugh, looking sheepish.
"This sucks." Allen drops to the ground, bringing his feet up to sit cross-legged. "I need a break."
"…Okay." Lavi sighs and drops down next to him.
—
"Okay, are you ready now?" Lavi bounces on the balls of his feet.
"Yeah, but I'm not happy about it." Allen pats the earth off his clothes.
"Then, let us depart!" Lavi points ahead dramatically. "To adventure!"
"You're stupid." Allen can't help but chuckle as they start to walk.
"Why, thank you." Lavi grins.
"Let's get out of here." Allen shakes his head.
"Mm." Lavi looks upwards, where dark clouds have begun to emerge. "It'll probably rain soon."
"Then, let's hurry." Allen grabs Lavi's arm and pulls him forward. "I am not getting drenched because of you."
—
"Ah ha!" Lavi cheers in triumph.
"What?" Allen cranes his neck, eyes searching the thick barrier of trees.
"Lights!" Lavi points. "That means there's a town!"
"Finally!" Allen grins. "Come on."
Allen and Lavi head forward, dodging the black stumps and bristling branches. The town eventually comes into view, the handful of cottages and buildings appearing overwhelmed by the dark forest.
"Cute." Lavi grins.
"It's… really small." Allen says. "From the prophecy we saw-"
"Don't worry too much." Lavi says. "Prophecies are never completely accurate."
"Great." Allen rolls his eyes. "How helpful."
"Come on." Lavi smiles, continuing forward. "Let's see who's around."
—
Yeah, sorry this took a while, this one's harderto write than I thought :(
But, I shall prevail!
Thanks for reading!
-Cheese WIzzard (✿´ ꒳ ` )
