Alright, chapter three, I'll keep going, the Trimen's have arrived in Woodsy Village, will they get anything out of the villagers?
"Finally made it!" Hibiki gasped as they all stumbled off of the train. They'd arrived in Woodsy Village, it was late afternoon, and time for some investigating.
"Interesting town, huh?" Eve pointed out, staring at the tree's coming out of the roofs of the buildings and the buildings literally built into the trees.
"A wonderful place, it's like a hidden jewel." Hibiki said poetically.
Ren rolled his eyes, "I just hope this place has some grub!" He barked.
The kind citizen's, sort of like modern villagers, smiled and directed them in down the moss ridden streets to the villages only inn, but when they asked them about the castle, they simply tensed up, shook their heads, and walked quickly away.
I get the feeling that the entire town is hiding one big secret.
Hibiki thought as a grocer they questioned about the mysterious castle quickly went back to his tomato's after saying.
"That's just an old bedtime story my Granny'd tell me 'fore I'd go to sleep, course their ain't no castle in the Woodsy! Only thing you'll find back there is, well, wood!"
They arrived at the inn at last, which had an alarming large tree growing straight through the middle of it, and checked in. After they dropped their bags in the large two bed with a pullout room that they had rented, they headed back down and decided to speak with the hostess on the matter of the mysterious castle.
"Excuse me, Miss?" Eve called as they all came thundering back down the steps.
"Yes? How can I help you?" A shapely young woman with long light brown hair, wearing a form-fitting ethic patterned sundress and a large flower in her hair, came out from behind the hostess table to join them at the bottom of the stairs.
"I was wondering, we're wizards on a request to investigate the castle ruin nearby, could you point us in the right direction?" Hibiki asked politely. Normally, when faced with such a lovely young lady, they'd all instantly whip out their charms and, on occasion, their love seat couch. But today was for business, and Hibiki planned on keeping his teammates well in line.
The archive mage instantly noted how the woman seemed to tense slightly at the question.
Just like everyone else in the village when we asked.
Hibiki quickly filed this information away for later.
The woman fiddled with the flower in her hair before saying in a breezy voice.
"You mean the old castle myth? Yeah, that's the thing, every kid gets told the story of the wizarding prince fighting the monster and saving the princess at that same castle. When I was younger me and a few friends even went into the woods intent on finding it. We didn't get lost, heck, we're natives and we know these tree's like the backs of our hands, but we didn't find a thing. You guys are chasing an old village legend, alright?"
Ren wasn't sold, "Anyone else we could talk to that would know more about this 'myth'?"
She frowned and thought about it, "Well, my Mom and Pop run the tavern at the forests edge, they may have heard something more about it. Plus I know they know the myth because they told it to me as a kid. Anyway, good luck, and if you actually do find the castle, let me know, because I was looking for that thing first!" She called after the Trimen, who were already half way out the door.
They headed down the street to the forest's edge and found an amazing sight to behold. A tree, gnarled from age, with it's trunk worn and it's branches still thick and sprouting leaves, about forty feet by forty feet, they thing was massive. It had a door in the front, and when Hibiki, Eve and Ren walked in, they found a modern bar and restaurant.
"Cool!" Eve exclaimed excitedly, unconsciously straightening his tie as they walked in.
The walls were made up from the rind of the tree, several old relics, clocks, and shelves containing bottles of preserved fruit. Their were about twelve tables in the floor of the restaurant, towards the end their was a step-up to the bar. They walked up to the bar, which had ten stools, none of which were taken, it was an odd time on a slow day, so the place was empty. Save for a woman with curly light brown hair, wearing a simple black V-neck tee shirt and worn down old jeans, who stood behind the counter with her hair in a messy bun, currently cleaning. She quickly put her rag away as the three wizards entered.
"Welcome to Twisted Tree's Tavern! Why can I get you fellas, your new in town so I don't yet know your regulars." She said in an almost reckless sounding voice.
Hibiki deemed it to be most polite if they were to order something, and the trio was starving from the seven hour train ride anyway.
So they each ordered a large tavern burger apiece, and were digging in when the woman introduced herself.
"I'm Marisa, my husband is out at the moment, but he and I have been running this place for years now. So, you new in town, or just passing through?" She asked, leaning on the bar as Hibiki swallowed a large mouthful to reply.
"First I'll say that this is one of the best burgers I've ever had."
The fine haired Blue Pegasus wizard started off with a complement, and he wasn't kidding, the burger was juicy and stuffed full of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, and condiments.
"Well thank you!" She said, happy that they enjoyed her cooking.
"See, we're mages from the Blue Pegasus guild. I'm Hibiki and these two are Eve and Ren." he said whilst jerking his head in his companions directions. The two were currently stuffing their faces and struggling to empty their mouths long enough to comment.
"We're here because your daughter told us you knew about the old castle in the forest, she told us it was a myth, a bedtime story."
Marisa nodded, "Yup, I'd tell Claire that story at least four nights a week and she never got tired off it, honestly it's pretty cliché. The evil monster traps the princess in her own castle, which is the castle in the woods, the brave prince comes dashing heroically in on his white steed, uses his incredible magic to blast the monster away, and saves the princess, and they live happily ever after. Of course when I told Claire I'd elaborate a bit more, but thats pretty much the story."
Hibiki looked confused, "So no one believe that the castle exists."
"Oh it exists all right." Marisa said as she took all three of their plates, they'd all inhaled their meals.
"R-Really!?" Eve choked on his final bite of food and Ren had to slap him on the back to get him to swallow.
"Breathe, than talk!" Ren ordered.
Eve gasped in several breaths and continued his statement.
"But everyone we ask has said it's a myth."
Marisa leaned on the bar again after putting the dishes in the sink. She bent her head closer to them as she said.
"Now you three listen to me and you listen good, you hear? I won't lie because I'm no lier, but you don't go anywhere near that place, got me? It'll only end in pain for all three of you." She said darkly.
All of them blinked, she seemed awful serious.
"Well, I'm afraid we've no choice, ma'am. We were given a job and we have to do it, no matter what."
The brunette sighed, "If you wanna go than I won't stop ya, but at your funeral, all I'll be saying is 'I warned them!'"
With that she thanked the boys for their business, and they headed back out onto the street.
"Well that was ominous." Ren commented randomly as they headed down the street.
"Yup." Hibiki agreed, than he turned to his teammates.
"But still, we're not giving up on this quest, we'll find that castle, we leave at nightfall."
All done for this round! The way I built Marisa's character, I figure she'd be the sort of 'I ain't no lier' type. So I used that as an excuse to give the Trimen incentive to head for the castle! The Trimen's aren't giving up, and we'll see how this goes soon enough! Please favorite, please follow, please review! Thanks for reading!