"Oh wow. Sand and heat...Just great." Aisha mumbled to herself while walking along with the two men in front of her. They heard her mumble to herself and shrugged, only looking at her with a smile.
"Didn't you prepare AT ALL, for what you might find in an adventure like this?" Adol said to himself in the most quiet whisper of a voice, and smiled at Dogi. Dogi only nodded and smiled back, shrugging and telling Adol not to mind the girl.
After a long journey through the Segram Desert, they finally reached a peak where they saw Segram Village just up ahead. The travellers ran up to the town immediately, and then they stopped. A cutscene was supposed to happen now.
"So uh...Let's go meet the Elder! Stuff and stuff about stuff...I forget my line." Dogi said, looking at Adol who sighed and rolled his eyes. Adol nodded and then explained the whole thing to Aisha, who just nodded and pondered.
"Well, I'll go see the Elder to. Off to the Elder I go, follow me!" She said, walking in front of them. Adol and Dogi just looked at each other and shrugged, shaking their heads. The cutscene was over.
"Okay then Adol, you know where to first." Dogi said and then Adol nodded seriously. They then suddenly burst out laughing as they ran towards the weapons shop, startling Aisha and making her jump. She just turned around and rolled her eyes, following them into the weapons shop.
~ A while of choosing weapons and buying almost none for Aisha and getting her mad ~
"You guys are REAL greedy you know that? You won't even buy a weapon for me?! After all I've done for you too..." Aisha scolded them and then shook her head.
"Hey, you want it, you buy it. Me and Adol used our money to buy our weapons, after all." Dogi said and then Adol nodded, laughing to himself in his head.
"Did you calculate your change correctly? Because I think Red-face here used YOUR money." Aisha snapped at Dogi and then he pondered for a while. He looked at his wallet and calculated in his head.
"My weapon was 1000...but now I only have...500!? ADOL!" Dogi screamed at the red-haired adventurer who was now some yards ahead of them, running for his life. He and the two others entered a house said to be the residence of the Elder of Segram. And cue in cutscene that saves Adol's life from his angry and broke friend.
"Uh...Is-Is this the Elder's residence?" Aisha said looking around warily at the common looking house. Adol and Dogi also looked around wearily, it appeared no one was home at the moment.
"Is someone there?" Came a very cute voice from the room upstairs. Just then a cute little girl came from upstairs and greeted them. They asked if the Elder was home and if this was his house.
"My name is Cruxie...And you must be looking for my brother, he's not home at the moment." She said and then Adol and Dogi nodded at each other. Aisha only rolled her eyes at them, she still had no idea what this nod always meant. Nor did she have any idea how they got so close they were practically telepathic to each other.
"Sorry Cruxie. We were told by General Dreisen that we could see him here." Dogi said laughing a little. Cruxie only smiled a cute and innocent smile and then Adol gave her the letter from Dreisen. Her face immediately lit up at the sight of the writing in the letter.
"It's from Dad! Ehehehe! He's still the same as ever..." She said to herself, eying the letter.
"You're the General's daughter?" Aisha asked, confused.
"Yep. Although we haven't seen him since his appointment as General. Make yourselves at home. My brother should be..." Cruxie suddenly stopped talking and collapsed on the floor. They ran to her and then crouched down by her side.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Dogi asked, and Cruxie couldn't answer.
"Let me take a look...You're burning up. Do you have Iskan Fever?!" Aisha asked and Cruxie still couldn't answer.
"What's Iskan Fever? Did you invent it? WHAT DID YOU DO AISHA!?" Dogi frantically yelled and Cruxie couldn't help but laugh at the scene, albeit she could only muster a smile while coughing.
"NO YOU IDIOT. It's an illness endemic to Altago. We need to stop the attack or else she'll...! Water...W-We need to boil water and then the medicine!...! H-Hey do you have any medicine? If you don't then..um.." Aisha said, trying to stay calm, but obviously panicking. Cruxie tried her best to answer but could only muster a few mumbles.
"Shelf and kitchen! Got it! Adol go get them!" Dogi said and raised his arms like he was summoning Adol. Adol rolled his eyes and slapped Dogi in the face, and then another awkward silence filled the room for a good 5-8 minutes. Aisha suddenly came back with the medicine and a pot of boiled water and ran upstairs.
"Oh wow, was it that long? Did we really miss Aisha carrying Cruxie upstairs?" Dogi suddenly broke out, breaking the silence. They followed Aisha upstairs and didn't help her treat Cruxie. They figured it'd be best left to someone who knew how exactly to treat Iskan Fever...Well, fine. I'll tell the truth, they were too lazy to help out.
"Oh I'm so sorry..." Cruxie said, smiling weakly.
"Don't be. We were the ones who barged in your house." Dogi said, laughing a little. "No need to thank us really." He said.
"I DIDN'T thank you." Cruxie said sternly, making them a little wary at how her tone suddenly changed. "Besides...blondie-I-I mean...Uh...this...this girl...here, is the one I should be thanking." She said, smiling her innocent smile. Adol knew too well she was hiding under a mask, he did it daily.
"N-Not really...I just know a thing or two about it because someone close to me is also suffering from it..." Aisha said, her voice drifting off towards the end. "You know, you shouldn't be getting up when you're so sick. It'll only make things worse." She said to Cruxie who only smiled and laughed a little.
"W-Well I...did hear someone's voice downstairs so..." Cruxie laughed and then smiled. Then suddenly they heard someone downstairs.
"Cruxie, I'm home. Sorry I'm late its—" A buff man said coming upstairs. Noticing the strangers in his home, his expression changed from happy to nothing short of pissed to see them there. "Who are you? What are you doing to my sister? Taking advantage of my absence are we? Dirty thieves...I'll make sure you pay!" The buff man said, unsheathing a giant hammer and readying a battle stance. Before they could even speak, the man rushed at them and started to swing the hammer.
~ You can guess what happens next ~
"STOP IT!" Cruxie yelled and rushed at her brother, catching the hammer right before it swung down on Adol's face.
"WOW. What the hell? You're THAT tiny and yet...I couldn't even stop him!" Adol thought to himself, jealousy flooding his mind. Cruxie suddenly looked around her and then threw the man off balance in one flick of her hand.
"Uh...Ahem. OW! OW!" She said, collapsing to the floor. The man just smiled and got up. Holding his hand out to his sister, he helped her up. Cruxie then whispered something to his ear and he looked at the three people who were badly beat up because of him. He only smiled and sheathed his weapon. Then Cruxie handed him the letter and Dogi explained everything to him.
"Hmph. Maybe next time you should think twice about coming to my sister like that." The man said, standing beside his sister.
"Did you hear that Adol? Don't just come on to Cruxie like that! I know you get all the girls...ALL THE TIME, but I mean, she's like...what...fifteen?" Dogi whispered to Adol and sighed.
"WHAT THE FAK?! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Adol yelled at Dogi in a voice you could barely hear.
"You used my money!" Dogi exclaimed and then Adol opened his mouth, but then pondered for a while and closed it. Dogi was right, he did steal some money from him. Adol only smiled in an irritated manner and looked forward to the two siblings in front of him.
"You win this one, pal..." Adol thought to himself.
"AHEM!" The man shouted and Adol and Dogi immediately snapped back into the world. "My name is Mustafa, and I'm the Elder of Segram. This as you know, is Cruxie, my little sister." The man said, patting Cruxie on the head like she was a dog. Cruxie just happily smiled at the travellers.
"I don't know who you are, but you say you want to enter the Flame Shrine correct? No. I won't let some outsiders enter our Sacred Shrine." Mustafa said sternly, and the two adventurers were shocked beyond belief. They couldn't go to the Flame Shrine? Of course they could! Dogi and Adol would make sure of that.
"What?! Even after we showed you the letter of the General?" Dogi yelled at Mustafa, who was unaffected by it.
"Precisely my point. That Shrine is sacred to the Segramites, and I will not allow anyone, let alone some outsiders, enter as they please. Besides, there's PLENTY of DANGEROUS MONSTERS THERE. If you went in, you probably wouldn't make it out alive. Give up and go home." Mustafa snapped and then Cruxie rolled her eyes secretly, turning to the window so no one could see.
"W-what?! B-but he's your father!" Dogi said, trying to convince Mustafa who only shook his head.
"I have daddy issues, leave me alone." Mustafa snapped again. Dogi and Adol just lay there shocked and wide-mouthed.
"B-but Adol and his friends came all the way here...It would oh..." Cruxie said with a innocent and fading voice, trying to convince Mustafa by coughing a little as well. Mustafa immediately turned towards her with a shocked and worried expression. Pondering for a little while he finally spoke.
"F-fine, they can go as long as I'm with them I guess...B-BUT! If, and only if, you DO NOT DAMAGE ANYTHING and YOU DO NOT WANDER OFF BY YOURSELVES!" Mustafa said commandingly, making them jump again. Dogi and Adol's faces light up and they almost jumped for joy. Although Dogi knew that Adol probably wouldn't obey the don't wander off by yourselves part.