Disclaimer: I don't own it. A Witch's Tale belongs to Nis America
I haven't been able to update for a while; sorry about that. I had trouble thinking about what would happen next. I haven't been able to update anything in a while, actually. I hope no one's mad about that. School has begun once again...School...*sigh* I don't think I'll be able to update as often as I would want too. Anyway, I'll just get on to the story. Hope you like it~
Chapter 9
"The Eld Witch?" Liddell practically screamed the name of the terrible witch.
"There's really no need to shout," Tsuru sighed, annoyed, "It's not really that impossible to think about."
"But-How? I thought all the daughters of the Eld Witch had been sealed away."
"Hehe, that's a secret." Tsuru replied a cat like grin on her face, "Sis would kill me if I told you."
"You mean you all escaped?" Loue inquired, his crimson eyes glaring at the girl.
"You know you're cute when you're angry, Liddell." Tsuru commented ignoring Loue completely as her attention fell onto Liddell. With a quick movement vines appeared from her hands, lashing out at the two tenkus holding her down. Liddell took a step back as the girl leaned up to her face, and licked the wound on Liddell's cheek; a smirk held onto her lips as she pulled back to stare up into Liddell's face, "Let's play some other time, Liddell."
"You-!" Liddell swung out her fist at the girl, only to miss as the girl leapt away.
"Bye-bye for now, Liddell! We'll play again soon!" with that Tsuru was engulfed by vines, disappearing after they cleared.
"That-that-I'm going to beat her to a pulp next time I see her!" Liddell yelled, furiously rubbing a hand on her cheek.
"Liddell, stop that. You're only going to make the cut worse if you keep rubbing it like that." Loue commanded, grabbing hold of Liddell's hand.
"B-but-" Liddell tried retorting back, until she glimpsed at the calmness in Loue's eyes. The anger subsided when she gazed into those eyes, and she sighed in frustration, "...Fine..."
"Good," Loue said letting go of Liddell's hand, and quickly patted her on the head before he turned towards Kaguya-who was watching the two with intent eyes, "Princess, has anything strange happened lately in Florin that might explain how Tsuru escaped her seal?"
"Yes, something did happen recently," she replied, sitting down onto her throne with a puff, "A slight tremor was felt throughout Florin, but we thought nothing of it because it was small and had not caused any damage to the kingdom."
"That must have been the seal breaking..." Loue commented, a hand to his chin in thought.
"But how did they escape after all this time?" Liddell questioned, knowing full well that the seals on the daughters of the Eld Witch have been in place for over a 1000 years.
"That is a good question..."Loue replied thinking, "Someone else must have broken the seals. But who would do it?"
They were all silent as they thought of who would be powerful enough to break Alice's seals on the 6 daughters. "Arggh! I can't take this!" Liddell cried frustrated, "I don't' care who did it! All we need to do is defeat the daughters and beat the crap out of whoever released them!" Liddell turned on her heels to march out of the room, but ended up tipping over as she suddenly felt dizzy, "What?"
"Liddell!" Loue cried out. He caught her as she fell forward and held her close as he examined her; his face full of concern, "Liddell, are you alright?"
"I'm alright, just a little dizzy." She replied with a weak grin. She tried standing up again only to fall back into Loue's arms after another dizzy spell, "Or maybe not."
"Liddell you need to rest your wounds still haven't healed yet."
"I don't need any advice. I can take care of myself..." Liddell grumbled in response.
"Liddell..."
"You should listen to Loue in this matter, Liddell." Kaguya suggested from her throne, "It would be better for all of us if you were in your best form to fight the Eld Witch's daughters."
Liddell thought for a moment, then sighed in defeat, "Fine, I'll rest...But only because Kaguya said so."
I guess that's good enough, Loue thought as he effortlessly lifted Liddell bridal style.
"H-hey! P-put me down!" Liddell cried, her face becoming a dark crimson.
"Nope, you need to rest and I'm not letting you walk in the condition you're in." Loue replied, heading towards the exit.
"Put me down!" Liddell kept on crying, while hitting Loue on the head with a fist.
"Oww!" was all that could be heard as the two exited the throne room. Leaving Kaguya to laugh freely as she was holding it back when they were present, "They'll never change will they?" wiping tears from the corner of her eyes she turned to the guards who had been holding down Tsuru, "You two were not hurt, were you?"
"No, Princess!" they replied in unison.
"That's good," Kaguya sighed in relief. Turning towards her dragon (who had shrunk once again) she picked up the creature and cradled it in her arms, "Now if you'll excuse me. I am going to retire to my room to sleep."
"Yes, Princess." they replied bowing in unison, as Kaguya walked past them.
Kaguya walked past the throne, towards a small door. When she reached the door, she slid it open, but paused and looked at the guards, "Oh, one more thing. Are the preparations done for the festival yet?"
"Yes princess, all of the preparations are done for the festival." the tenkus answered.
"Good. Now, I have a favour to ask of you two. Listen closely..."
A few days passed as Liddell's strength returned. She had a couple of bruises but nothing that couldn't heal over time. Right at the moment, Liddell was standing in Kaguya's room a confused expression on her face.
"This is what you called me here for?" she questioned looking at the object hanging from Kaguya's hands.
"Yes, I thought it would be nice for you to relax and celebrate the Tsukimi festival in Florin before you go. I had this made for you for the occasion." Kaguya replied matter-of-factly.
"Okay, I get the festival part, but do I really have to wear that?" Liddell asked, pointing at the object.
"What is wrong with the yukata?" Kaguya questioned, examining the material in her hands. The yukata was a dark violet and had patterns of golden butterflies dancing across it, "Does it not suit your tastes?"
"No, it's not that..."Liddell answered, scratching the back of her head, "It's kind of embarrassing. I've never worn a yukata before."
"You don't need to be embarrassed Liddell. Here, I'll even help you put it on." Kaguya said coming forward; the cloth outstretched, "Now get undressed."
"Nuh-uh!" Liddell said backing away from the princess, "I can do it myself. You don't need to help me!"
"No, you will need my help putting this on. Don't be so embarrassed Liddell all I'm doing is going to help you dress."
"No way! I'm out of here!" Liddell turned to leave but noticed that her escape route was blocked by three female tenku foxes, "Get out of my way."
"Sorry we can't do that. It's the Princess' orders that we help you get ready for the festival." One of them replied with a wide grin on her muzzle.
Help! was Liddell's last thought as they all pounced on her.
Loue stood outside the castle under a sakura tree, gazing up at the full moon. In his hands were a small stone dish and a bottle that a tenku had given him for the Tsukimi.
The moon looks so bright tonight...
He thought, taking a sip from the dish. He liked it when the moon was bright. That's why he enjoyed the Tsukimi, a festival where it was about the day the moon shone brightest. The silence felt calming as he relaxed against the tree he was under.
I wonder what Princess Kaguya wanted Liddell for.
Earlier, when Liddell had been summoned by Kaguya, Loue had questioned why the Princess needed to see Liddell. He was only told that "he would see later" and was given the sake and dish and was forced to wait for Liddell outside.
"Loue..."
His head turned and he almost gaped at the sight of Liddell. She was wearing the violet yukata, a gold obi tied into a bow to keep it together. Her blond hair was done up into a bun on one side, some strands of hair were framing her face, "So how do I look?"
"You look beautiful." Loue answered a smile on his face.
"Well, thank Kaguya for that," she said, coming to stand beside Loue, "She's the one who forced me into this."
"That's not very nice, Liddell." Loue chided looking at the girl, "Princess Kaguya probably worked very hard to make that yukata for you."
"Humph, it's not like I asked her to do it."
"Come on Liddell; be a little honest for once."
"...Okay, I'm a little grateful to her for making me this yukata." Liddell admitted, looking away from Loue.
"There you go. Now that wasn't so hard now was it?" he commented placing down the bottle of sake on the ground and used that hand to pat Liddell on the head.
"Stop doing that!" she immediately yelled, hitting Loue on the head.
"Oww!" he cried, holding his wounded noggin.
"I told you already that I'm not a kid! Stop patting me on the head like one!"
"But you didn't say anything about it earlier!"
"You're right..." she said remembering about what he did after they had seen each other again. Also how he had patted her head in the throne room, "Here's two more hits for those times too!"
"Ow! Ow!" he cried out as Liddell hit him two more times on the head. Reaching down Loue grabbed the sake bottle and held it out to her in nervousness, "I'm sorry! Here have a drink!"
Staring at the bottle and dish in Loue's outstretched hands she decided it would be better to have a sip than continue her assault on Loue. Grabbing the bottle and dish from him, Liddell poured herself some and took a sip, "This tastes good!"
"Yes, it does, doesn't it? It's sake that is only found in the kingdom of Florin on Tsukimi," Loue explained. He was silent as he watched Liddell eagerly take more sips from the dish, then commented, "...Umm, don't you think you're drinking a little too much, Liddell?"
"Hmm?" Liddell hummed, taking a gulp straight from the bottle, "Nah! I've drunk much more than this and haven't gotten drunk on it before!"
"Yes, well Florin's sake is very strong and I still advise you not to drink so much of it."
"Oh, relax! Come on this is a festival Loue, live a little!" she commented sitting down on the grass beneath the tree, her gaze towards the moon, "sit down and enjoy the view!"
"Fine..." he sighed sitting down beside her. He gazed up at the moon as Liddell kept on chatting away, So much for the peace and quiet...
Kaguya strolled out towards the sakura trees where they had sent Liddell and Loue to go to. She was smiling on the way, thinking about what the two might be talking about at that moment. When she got there she stopped as she gazed at the scene before her.
Under a large sakura were Loue and Liddell. They were both sitting, and Liddell was sleeping quietly on Loue's shoulder. He was still gazing at the moon when he saw Kaguya approach, "Good evening, Princess."
"Good evening, Loue," she whispered, as not to wake Liddell, "I see Liddell fell asleep."
"Yeah, she seemed tired, anyways. The whole bottle of sake she drank probably had something to do with it as well," he said, brandishing the empty bottle, "She wouldn't stop gulping it down and soon fell asleep."
"Well, that's Liddell for you." Kaguya laughed, keeping it quiet as to not wake the girl, "I'll be going now, I just wanted to check on the two of you before going to bed."
"Here I'll walk with you," he said standing while gently picking up Liddell in his arms, "It's probably about time that we head back anyways. It's not like Liddell can moon watch while asleep."
"I guess you're right," Kaguya commented as they headed for the castle, "Let us hope that Liddell does not wake up on the way, or we will have one cranky witch to deal with."
"Yeah..." Loue replied, shifting Liddell carefully in his arms fearing to wake the girl.
The two walked away from the sakura trees and towards the castle, whispering to each other as Liddell slept soundly in Loue's arms.
"God, my head hurts..." Liddell groaned cupping a hand to her throbbing head.
"I told you not to drink too much." Loue remarked, earning a glare from Liddell.
"Well I didn't think I'd get such a hangover from it." Liddell retorted back, angry that the vampire had to be right.
"You brought this upon yourself Liddell." he stated, earning himself another glare.
"Fine, whatever..." Liddell grumbled, "So are we leaving or not?"
They were standing before the exit of Florin. The next world awaited them and they had decided that the day after the festival would be the best day to go. Kaguya stood with them as she wanted to say goodbye to them at the exit instead of at the castle.
"In one moment Liddell," Kaguya responded. Moving towards Liddell she grasped the younger girl's hands into her own, and gazed at her with an intense gaze, "Be careful on your journey Liddell. Do not underestimate your opponents, and use my sigil and doll wisely. You will need all the help you can get."
"I will." Liddell curtly replied, nodding her head. Turning she gave one last smile to the princess before rushing through the exit, "See you soon, Kaguya!"
"Liddell, wait up!" Loue called following her through the exit.
Kaguya watched the two disappear. She turned her back on the gate and proceeded to head back to the castle, her dragon following her. However, she paused a few steps away, and turned back to the exit of Florin, whispering, "I wish you the best of luck..." before she turned back to the castle continuing on back to it.
Haine-of-Winter: I know nothing really happened. I just wanted to add this chapter in for the hell of it before I bring in the next stop on Liddell's journey. Poor Liddell got a hangover. I thought it would be cute to have her get drunk and end up having to be carried by him in the same chapter twice. I'm not saying that Liddell is an alcoholic or anything, but she is of age, so it's okay if she drinks.
The journey has officially begun!XD Liddell will now start her epic quest to stop the Eld Witch's daughters while remembering what happened before at the same time. Can she do it? Of course she can!XD Next world that they will be going to is...*epic pause* Al'Sahra!3 Why Al'Sahra you may ask? Well that's a secret.*insert creepy laughter here*
Reviews and comments of any sorts are welcomed. So please review if you read! They help me with getting more chapters out Review and you shall recive!X3