Name: Zero ( She usually writes her name in all caps. Her signature is literally ZERØ.)
Class: Gladiator (She uses both swords and clubs.)
Hair color: Very, very light blonde. Ezra believes that Zero's mother bleached it as a punishment. Zero confirmed it. Her mother also cut most of it off.
Eye color: Dark brown. Nearly black.
Blood type: AB+
Hometown: Zero lived in ruins next to a fortress city called Asgard. Asgard is filled with nobles and if one doesn't pay the taxes, the guards will personally evict them or kill them.
Notes: Zero's a short-tempered teenager. She was abused mentally and physically as a child. Her family was do poor they almost killed her and sold her. Ezra and Isi saved her from her brother. Isis killed her brother. Isi was only seven. Zero fears that the people she love will try to betray her. No one in Gears plans to. Zero doesn't have a proper education, and cannot read or count. She looks up to Marin, but acts like a doofus around her. Zero seems to like Kogageru a lot... And not in a sibling way. She loves the rest of the guild like siblings. Zero will immediately stand up for Gears if someone taints their name. The only thing that held her back when Hanasaku did was the fact that Ezra told her not to. That was shortly before the incident though. Zero may or may not have killed her mother. She doesn't even know if she did.
Height: 5'8 and 1/4
Pros: She's a strong Gladiator that is at master of both swords and maces. She is very loyal to Gears, and Zero seems to be very kind to kids.
Cons: She's very bitter around people, her temper is ridiculous and can easily get out of hand, Zero is very hostile around Fang and Lamia. She's a cocky girl. She doesn't see errors in her ways, and she never considers the consequences.
Hobbies: She's quite gluttonous and eats a lot, she plays with toys and is childish (Isis hypothesized that it was because she didn't have a good childhood.) ,she's good at jobs a carpenter would be good at, and has created bird houses for Ezra. (She knows that he secretly burns them when he's cold. She's happy he puts them to use.)
Oh, did I mention that the descriptions for the Narmer and the Furyhorn really happened to me. I cried when I beat the Narmer and Ryuu leveled up twice... And that Furyhorn really beat the crap outta me. Everyone wouldn't stop hitting Dove.
I've been playing this game a lot more often and writing down important dialog. I've recently destroyed the Wyrm. (That thing is the easiest dragon. The only thing you'll need to worry about is Howl. I killed it with Aoimi, Hana, Magnolia, Tsukiro, and Hari.) The "Dragon" is the hardest for me. Stupid Corrupt Howl screws up all my buffs.
Chapter Sixteen: Bittersweet
Zero was seated next to the labyrinth exit when RAGNAROK appeared at her side. That didn't startle her. She was waiting for them to return. They didn't seem to notice her there so she called out to them.
"I heard that you finished off the Narmer." She stood up. "Congrats, Ryuu."
"Oh, thanks." Ryuu turned off to the side.
Zero eyed Dove. Before she addressed Hana. "Hana, can I see you for a second?"
"Sure." Hana left the fraction of her guild. Zero didn't speak for a while. She was considering something. "Is this about what Hanasaku said? Because I've already apologized eight times about that... I didn't know that Hanasaku could even get like that."
"Nah, not really." Zero broke a random branch off a tree. "Did you get that letter from Marin yet?"
Hana nodded. "We got it yesterday. I haven't opened it yet."
"Good, that means I'll surprise you." She grinned. "Isis told me that it said Marin would halt all explorations to seventh floor herself."
Hana furrowed her brow. "Who gave her the right to do that? It's not fair... Does she expect us to wait until Dormouse to go exploring again?!"
"Yeah. Your guild needs to level up anyway." Zero pulled out a dagger and began to scrape the bark off the branch. "I'm impressed that you managed to get as far as you did. The only reason that Ryuu was left alone was because of that Lothair girl."
"We know that." Hana rolled her eyes. "I could have done way better than her."
Zero yawned and began to fan herself. "It's hot out here, isn't it?" She asked. "I wish we didn't have to make our own lemonade..." She complained.
Hana began to glow with excitement. "How about we make some for you and the rest of Gears?"
"That's not a bad idea." Zero had a scheming look on her face. "I'll make a stand for you."
"This sounds like good business!" Hana exclaimed. The rest of the guild exchanged stares. What were they dragged into?
Hanasaku was sitting in her room and staring at a wall. Why was she so stupid? She had lost everything she had hoped for. Hana took it from her. Hana took everything from her. Hana even took her pacifier. Hanasaku sighed. Hana claimed that she was there for Hanasaku, but it was clear that her main reason for coming was to become better than her mother. The worst part was that Hanasaku was constantly bothered about being in Hanami's shadow, and Hana's. She was always asked the same question.
"When are you going to get out of Hana's shadow?"
Aoimi, Hanasaki, Lazasia,Haruka, and even Ryuu asked her that cursed question. The problem was that she was never in Hana's shadow. She would come up with an idea, and Hana would have the credit for it since she enforced it. That was her fault though. She wished that she had more confidence so she could lead the guild, but that wasn't the case.
Hanasaku was on a higher level than Hana, but who did everyone praise? Hana. Hanasaku's mother died, but who did everyone worry about? Hana. Hanasaku's mother was the wisest person on the planet before she died, but who did they praise? Hanami. Hana's mother. Hanasaku's was the daughter of the smartest Zodiac in the world ,but who did they recognize? Hana because she was the daughter of the strongest Zodiac in the world. Why did all the reckless people get fame? Why didn't the people who were calm and collected get it? Hanasaku took a quivering breath. Why didn't anyone understand that? Why didn't anyone care about her? That was when she realized something...
Ezra cared for some reason. And he was quite famous for someone who was calm and a strategist. He manage to take in criticism about him killing another guild. He led his guild with precision, and found victory each time he fought.
She was wrong for accusing him for something as absurd as that. She felt really sorry for doing so. She wouldn't like it if someone had done that to her. She shook her head. Why would she even consider something Fang had told her? They were they ones who tried to pick a fight with them on their second day in that broiling town. She stood up. She was going to apologize right then. She walked out of her doorway.
Niwa was in the hall again ,but this time Niku and Yoshiko were actually chasing after the ewe. She laughed to herself when Niku lunged for the sheep. She found the rest of Gears sitting in the inn's lobby, but Ezra and Zero weren't there. They were eating lunch and talking all at the same time. She was scared to approach them because what she did.
She floated over to them. "Hey... Um..." They all stopped and stared at her. Kogageru even stared.
"What brings you here?" Isis was eating a wrap with a foreign meat at the center. "Are you not finished accusing us of crimes that we haven't caused?"
"No..." Hanasaku murmured. "I'm sorry about earlier. I was so paranoid that I found a scapegoat..."
"You did not know any better." Mei Ling was eating rice and curry again, but the curry was oddly colored. Himi gagged each time she gazed at it.
"Do you forgive me?" She asked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No. You accused us of murder, and thought that we were going to do the same to you. You have to make up for that." Himi barged in.
"H-how would I do that?" Hanasaku questioned.
"I can't think of anything right now." Isis was grinning. She began to act strangely again.
"Please! If you won't forgive me, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself!" Hanasaku pleaded.
Kogageru spoke. "I few minutes ago, I heard Zero talking about a lemonade stand with Hana. I heard that you were an expert at using ice too." He smiled as he ate pudding.
"You heard all of that?" Hanasaku was amazed.
"He hears a lot of things." The three older girls spoke.
Hanasaku rubbed the back of her head. "Do you know where Ezra is? I need to speak to him personally."
Isis frowned at nothing. Her prediction had told her that Ezra was in her room. He was looking for something too. The Prophecy. Why would she be stupid enough to trust Zero with one of her secrets?
"Ezra is in my quarters." Isis finished her wrap.
"Thank you!" Hanasaku dashed away.
"I find it foolish that she thought any of us would murder someone who caused no danger. Gears doesn't do that." Kogageru poked his pudding.
"Not yet." Isis spoke in a very very low voice. She had a broad smirk on her face.
Kogageru flinched. "What was that?" He sounded worried.
"Nothing that is important at the present."
Hanasaku was halfway to Isis's room when she found Ezra with a book in his hands. Ezra wore a blank expression, and pretended not to see Hanasaku. When he walked past her, she felt like something was just in her head. It made her shiver. Ezra stopped.
"Hey, Ezra... I'm so sorry about earlier... I was..."
Ezra's face was still blank. "So paranoid that you felt the need to blame it on us. You needed a scapegoat."
"How did you know...?"
"That? It was written all over your face." He spoke. "I didn't even need to read your mind to figure that out." Ezra whispered. "Anyway, how long did it take you to figure that out? You should have realized right after you did it."
"I... I don't know. I just want to tell you that..." She hesitated. "You're a good leader. You've managed to do so much in such little time. You've defeated the Narmer with just one member. You've handled the other guilds that have insulted you without violence. You've picked teammates that would never leave your side..." She was envious while she spoke. "After I thought for a while, I started looking up to you."
Ezra sighed. "Haruka, what do you say to that?"
"W-what?!" Hanasaku froze up. Her teacher had been watching the entire time?
"I say that she has officially earned her title back." The woman suddenly appeared.
"That was a test?" Hanasaku was a bright shade of red.
"Yes, it was." Haruka placed her hand on Ezra's shoulder. "Ezra here was one of my first and finest students. So naturally, I had to do something when you yelled at him. Right now, Ezra is going through something, and no matter his expression... I can tell that he rues every second of it. You yelling at him did not make it better. Then I took away your leadership. Just so you could feel the same way as he does. And your test was to learn about your flaws and admit them to someone else. You've passed."
"Thank you..." She scratched her cheek with her fingers.
"Now, go make that lemonade, I'm thirsty!" Haruka shoved her forward.
"Uh... Yes ma'am!"
Hana stood outside with Zero, Luna, and Aoimi. The others had traveled back to the inn. Zero went with them ,but returned with at least ten birdhouses.
"You're going to build a lemonade stand with birdhouses?" Luna gawked at the sight.
"Hey, do you have any better ideas?" Zero dropped the branch that she had. "Now, let's get down to business!" Zero began to break the birdhouses with her hands.
"Why don't you use a hammer for that?" Aoimi inquired. "It's easier."
Zero began to put pieces together. "Do you want a stand? Or do you want a pile of wood shreds?" Aoimi did not reply. She began to put the stand together.
Hana felt useless. "Can I do something?" She asked.
"No, you're scrawny. Himi's taller than you. Go buy lemons or something." Zero pulled out a bag of metal nails and a hammer.
"What about me? Lemonade making seems fun. " Luna muttered.
"Go get a business permit. Marin's probably going to try to bust us with that." Zero and Aoimi were working very well together. The were nearly done with the project.
"Where am I going to find one of those? Who cares anyway? It's a lemonade stand." Luna tapped her foot.
"Fine, go with Hana already." Aoimi nearly exclaimed. Hana and Luna took off.
"Thank goodness they're gone." Zero muttered. "Do they bother you often?"
"Yeah, they do. It's mainly Hana though. I think she's jealous of my ability."
"Really? Those two remind me of Himi and Ezra. Hana's small like her and prefers a life that does not go past her boundaries. That's not what happens of course. Same thing for Himi. Just that her boundaries are a bit overboard."
"Hana's are overboard too! She expects everyone to tell her everything. Even if it's personal!"
"I honestly think that's the best way to communicate and understand each other. Hana might be pushing too hard for it."
"Like how the author wants reviews?" Aoimi coughed. "I mean like how Himi cleans everything even if it's not hers."
Zero cringed. "I guess." She put the last piece of the stand together. "Anyway, Luna... She's... She seems to be alarmed about something. I guess it's whether or not she can compare with her family members. Ezra suffers from the same thing..." Aoimi and Zero waited for the other two to return.
"So... What are you trying to tell me?"
"You'll have to learn how to deal with them."
Aoimi's face turned into a skeptical one. "Because I'm seriously going to take that from the girl who believes she's working with the gods and can't read, write or count." She muttered.
"What did you say?" Zero moved closer to Aoimi,and held her shirt.
"What?" Aoimi played it safe.
"What did you say about Gears?" She tugged Aoimi closer to her.
"Well, looks like you have Zero tolerance with people who talk about Gears." Aoimi jeered.
"Zero, put her down." Ezra was there with his arms crossed as he watched the scene unravel. Hanasaku was there too.
"Fine, whatever you say." She dropped Aoimi in the opposite of a gingerly fashion.
"Ouch." Aoimi glared at Zero. "A simple set of words would make me feel better."
Zero glowered back at Aoimi. "Go screw yourself."
"Zero." Ezra watched. His face did not change at all. That weird commanding sound in his voice came back.
"Gees, I'm sorry because I tried to stand up for my guild."
Ezra lifted his brow. "And...?"
"I won't do that to you again, Aoimi."
"Good, because I think I might have hurt you if that moment went on!"
"Ha! You hurting me? I don't think that's happening!"
"It already did, Zero reading ability! Remember Thursday?!"
"Aoimi, stop before I take your club and make you lick it again." Hanasaku threatened quietly. Aoimi shook her head. "Oh, do you want me to take the club and return it to the firm then?"
"No."
"I thought so. Say sorry."
"Sorry." She said with annoyance.
"It's okay. It's natural for someone to get that way around people they can't take." Zero stuck her head up.
"Zero, I am this close to taking away your spending privileges." Ezra peered up at her. Zero did not reply. She only gave Aoimi the stink eye. Aoimi returned that by sticking her tongue out at her.
"Idiots." Ezra narrowed his eyes at them.
Hana and Luna were at the market that Hana had met Kise in. They had found a basket of lemons that was only fifty en, and eagerly moved to buy it. They hadn't spoken to each other for the entire trip. Luna put her hand on the basket at the same time another ninja did. It was Setsuna of guild Satan. She stood next to Hari of Machaera.
"Excuse me, I'm trying to buy this." Luna scanned the other brunette before her. Setsuna had her hair covering her eyes. That was always how she wore her hair.
"I am too. Why else would I be attempting to grab this?" Setsuna tugged on the basket. Luna pulled it back.
"There's another basket over there. Why don't you get that one?" Hana tried to resolve something peacefully for once.
"Why don't you grab that one?" Hari interrogated.
"Because we clearly grabbed this first!"
"Hey, look. Our father's sick with scurvy and we need citrus fruit to help him!" Setsuna shouted. Hana made a face. She didn't know that Hari and Setsuna were sisters.
"Oh, I love the sob story, but why don't you go buy oranges for that?" Luna tugged on the basket again.
"Because that little girl, Kise, is hogging them all up!" Hari exclaimed. Hana looked a back at Kise. She was with Marin, and Marin literally bought the all the oranges the market had to offer for Kise's eating pleasure.
"Buy grapefruit, limes, or even strawberries!" Hana tugged the basket with Luna.
"They're too expensive!" The two brown haired girls pulled the basket.
"Limes are cheaper than cheap!" They began to play tug of war with basket. It seemed to be a deadlock. That was all up until Hari and Setsuna pulled with all their might. Luna and Hana fell on the ground, and the other two skipped away into the afternoon sun.
Luna and Hana lied there for at least fifteen minutes. They were soaking in the defeat. And they were upset about the scrapes they had gotten from falling. They rose at the same time and wore that same bland face. It suddenly changed into the deepest scowl possible. They made eye contact.
"You Kakaseis are weak enough to lose in a game of tug of war?! You nutsack!" Hana yelled at her.
"Well, I'm sorry, but a certain short person wasn't wasn't pulling hard enough!"
"I wonder who you're talking about because I'm not short!"
"Says the girl who's four foot and eleven point nine repeating! And all of you Zakis are even shorter than Hanasaku's temper these days!"
Hana's face darkened even more. "Take that back, you swine!"
Luna purchased some lemons. "I will once your lemonade stand beats mine!"
"You don't have a stand!"
"Now I do!" Luna stomped away with the lemons.
"Fine, be that way!" Hana moved to buy her lemons. She was surprised to hear another voice speak to her.
"You're still as disagreeable as ever, huh Hana?"
"What?" Hana turned around to see a tall pink haired woman in what would've seemed to be a Dark Hunter's clothing. She knew that face. "Hanasaki?!" Hana turned toward her and embraced her.
"I was going to say that you've grown, but that doesn't seem to be the case." Hanasaki was smiling.
"Shut up!" Hana punched her side. "What are you doing here, niece?"
Hanasaki pretended think. "I got a little worried when you didn't respond to my letter. I decided that I should check on you."
"As you can see. I'm very good at defending myself."
Hanasaki stuck her hand in her pockets and pulled out some en. "As if. I've heard that you've made the name RAGNAROK popular again."
Hana nodded. "We have. We beat some pirates, Ryuu got into a fight, we teamed up with the most popular guilds here, and we've just defeated the Narmer."
"If you came here on Sunday... That would mean that you did all of that in four days. Neat. And Ryuu got into a fight? I knew that kid would grow balls one day."
"Yeah, he even caused the fight! And he defeated the Narmer! He was by himself I'm the last few rounds, but he still did it!" Hana was very proud of Ryuu's feats. Before that had happened, he was sort of quiet and he didn't cause any commotion. He was small ,and the only things that he still had from before training were the ability to a scream very loudly, his cute face, his loving nature, and his extreme bravery.
"Wow that training really did something to him! Where is he anyway? He's usually following you all the time."
"He's resting until this evening." Hana stated. "The fight has done a number of things to his body. He went past his limit."
"Boy, I can't wait to see how much that kid has grown. Hopefully he's bigger than you now." Hanasaku bought a basket of twenty lemons that costed seventy en. "And here's a bonus for defeating those pirates." She handed her the basket.
"Really? Thank you, Hanasaki!" Hana began to leave the market. She realized that her niece wasn't following her. "Hanasaki, aren't you coming?"
"No, I need to speak to some one real quick. I'll visit you later."
"Oh, okay." Hana bounded away with the basket.
Niku and Yoshiko were chasing Niwa the sheep down the endless halls of the Aman's Inn. They stopped to take a break ,and realized that the sheep wasn't baaing anymore. Niwa would usually baa when she ran away from them. After they looked down the hall, they saw Luna emerge with an abnormally large smile on her face. The sheep was in her arms.
"Oh... Luna!" Yoshiko shouted out to her. "Thank you for catching Niwa for us!"
"It was honestly a hassle. I think I deserve something in return..."
Niku frowned. "How was it a hassle if you caught Niwa in two seconds?"
Luna lifted Niwa far above both of the Farmers' heads. "I guess, I'll take this as my payment then." She began to strut away.
"F-fine... What do you want?" Niku said.
"I need you to build me a lemonade stand, and make lemonade. But you have to make more profit than Hana's lemonade stand. Or else I'm keeping little miss bo sheep to myself."
"O-okay!" Both Farmers ran outside after they grabbed some bags of wood and their equipment.
Luna smile was a bit crooked. "Let's see how the Zaki reacts to this." She spoke to Niwa. Niwa gave her the longest baa on the planet in response. Luna wondered what the ewe meant by that. She knew what she needed to do. Keiko was sitting in the lobby at the time. He was sitting next to Ace and Inki. Luna glared at Ace, but decided to talk to them anyway.
Keiko was eating an apple, Ace wasn't eating ,and Inki was staring at some pasta that she was supposed to eat. Luna assumed that it was about lunchtime and that was why everyone was eating something. That was the best time to sell lemonade.
"Keiko." Luna put her hand on the table. "What's a sheep saying when it baas at you for an extended period of time?"
The two darker haired people gave Luna funny looks. "What?" They spoke in unison.
"I'm a Wildling. I can understand animals." Keiko stated.
"What did it mean by that though?" Luna pointed to the sheep.
"It didn't say anything nice." Keiko mumbled. "The longer the baa the more profanity."
"Even the sheep thinks I'm mean? Great." Luna turned to her side. "Why's everyone mean to me? And they call me mean?"
"Well, you are pretty blunt and negative." Inki decided to start eating.
"I'm not negative, I present facts as they are."
"You kicked me." Ace added.
"You looked up my skirt." Luna stopped herself from hurting him.
"You are a waste of guild space sometimes." Keiko eyed the brown haired girl.
"Don't talk you are any different, Keiko." The three gave Luna the same stare. Luna knew that they thought she was rude. "How about this? I'll let you have the first cups of lemonade I make."
"Lemonade sounds good right about now..." Inki gazed at Ace. He nodded for some reason.
"Are you sure that it's not poisonous?" Keiko took another large bite from his apple.
"I'm very sure." She boasted. Niku and Yoshiko came back into the inn with a pitcher full of lemonade.
"Luna! We're done!" Yoshiko shouted. "Can we have Niwa back?"
That was when Keiko glared at Luna. "Did you seriously force them to do that? And you took their sheep?"
"Hey, wait... I can explain myself."
"And I don't care." Keiko crossed his arms.
"It looks like you do care."
"That lemonade better be good, Luna." Keiko stood up.
"Try it at the stand." Luna walked away with the five others.
"So~... How is it?" Hana asked Gears about her lemonade.
"Too sweet... Way too much sugar." Zero dumped the glass on the ground.
"I like it." Isis laughed like a madwoman.
"Like I said, too much sugar." Zero stared at the princess flail around.
"It's decent." Ezra tried to be nice. "The ice was so cold that it hurt my teeth."
Hanasaku apologized. "Sorry, my ice is always that cold. It has to weaken enemies."
Hana frowned. She had to see if the other three liked it as much as Isis. She doubted that they would like it if Ezra and Zero didn't. They were the most critical people in Gears. Kogageru had inhuman taste too.
"This has a very delightful taste. It's nice and cold too." Himi spoke quietly. "It reminds me of home." Gears turned around and gaped at her. If Himi was the skeptical one, why would she say that? They all felt bad and Ezra and Zero took another glass.
"Indeed. This isn't in my home country." Mei took small sips. Mei Ling spoke her opinion.
"The taste makes me smile." Kogageru wasn't lying. His smile was bright and charming.
"I think what I meant earlier was that it's very sweet!" Zero wore a guilty expression.
Ezra laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess that it's supposed to be cold!"
"Uh. Thanks?" Hana questioned how they thought.
Isis stopped moving around as quickly. "I sense a good profits. I say that you charge five en a glass."
"Oh... Okay." Hana took the basket that the lemons used to be in and labeled it.
"I see a first customer!" Gears quickly fled from the area. Ezra didn't move with his guild. He realized who it was.
"Lamia?" Everyone at the stand flinched.
She was next to her guild. "I want a glass." She didn't sound annoyed. They could tell she was out of breath.
"Five en. That's how much one costs." Hana pushed out a glass and Hanasaku produced ice from the sky. It plopped down into the drink. Lamia hesitantly reached for the drink and took a tiny sip. She appeared to be confused for a time. She then proceeded to drink the entire glass in a second. She threw six en into the bucket.
"That's six en..." Hanasaku muttered.
"Keep it!" Lamia had a big grin on her face. "That was really good!"
"Do you actually think that?" Aoimi asked from behind the two short Zodiacs. Fang seemed eager for the answer too.
"Yeah, I do!" Everyone gave Lamia strange gazes.
"I want one!" Yakusoku put down five en. Hana pulled out another glass and Hanasaku made more ice. Yakusoku drank down her glass. "This is so good..." She rubbed the back of her head. "It tastes like candy..."
"I demand demand a glass!" Flame put down ten en. "I want Aki to have one too!" Hanasaku presumed that Aki was him shortening his sister's name. She peered at his side to see a girl with the same flame colored hair as him. She was only up to his waist. Akiama was probably nine at the most.
Hanasaku began to smile as Hana poured another glass. Aoimi stood behind them with a weird look on her face. Akihito and his little sister drank from their glasses at light's speed. Ezra eyed them and began to walk away.
"Hey! Ezra, why don't you stay for a while?" Hana asked.
Ezra stopped. He glared at the ground for a second. "Sure..." He came back to the stand.
All of guild Fang ordered seconds after that. Hana looked at her profits in the basket ,and Hanasaku and Aoimi began to make more lemonade. Ezra and Lamia kept on exchanging stares. Lamia called out to Ezra, and he walked over. The others kept on basking in the moment. Lamia dragged Ezra to a corner.
"Hey, Ezra." Lamia was whispering.
"What?"
"Look... I know you're worried and all, but I have everything under control with Fang." Her voice got louder as she spoke.
"I'm not as confident as you are about that. You know, you kinda lost yourself after what happened to Blue Sky... I don't trust your new guild members."
"What? You don't trust Herald or Amadeus? Well, you have no right because we aren't allies anymore..." She tried to make herself sound intimadating, but her voice didn't comply. She sounded quiet and mentally wounded.
"Lamia, if we aren't allies... Why are you telling me this in the first place? Anyway, don't you know about how Herald and Amadeus were involved with poisoning several explorers?"
"They were falsely accused, Ezra." Ezra shook his head as Lamia spoke.
"That sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Ezra mumbled a question.
Lamia glared at him, but it slowly softened. "Ezra... I don't know what to say about that... That moment was nothing more than a blur. The towering fish... They killed everyone except for Your guild, Flame,Yakusoku, and myself."
"That makes me wonder... Why did you blame that entire that fiasco on us?"
"I... didn't want to admit the fact that we had lost to the labyrinth. I'm sorry that my pride has caused this. We both loved Blue, but she's gone now."
Ezra brightened up. "This how you used to act like before all of this happened... I kind of missed you..."
Lamia made a strange face. "Do you think Fang has done this to me?"
"No. I know that."
"You're really nice to talk to." She laughed. "When was the last time we were like this?"
"Khrysaor eighth." Ezra looked off to his side. The two spoke for sometime before Lamia went to accompany her guild. Herald and Amadeus began to whisper to each other.
"That shrimp catches on quickly." Herald nudged Amadeus. "It's about time that we tried to exorcize our competitors." Amadeus laughed at the comment.
"You don't say."
"It's been twenty two years since we've last seen each other." Hanasaki waltzed into the Explorer's guild with a wide smile. "How's it going, Zefora?" She was suddenly at the Guildmaster's side. "Did you make any progress with Marin?"
The Guildmaster had a large frown on his face. "I don't have feelings for her."
"Sure, you don't. Anyways, what's been going on? I see that you and Marin have earned yourselves very high titles."
The Guildmaster sighed. "Why don't you ask Marin about this?"
"Fine, be that way. I'll leave you at this desk with these oblivious people that are most likely going to die soon."
"Do you even know where Marin is?" Hanasaki stopped in her tracks as Guildmaster asked her that.
"Course not! I'll just look for the only house with the door unlocked!"
"Don't do that, you idiot."
"Don't call me the idiot. We all know who the real idiot is."
"What? Are you talking about me?"
"No... I guess Marin hasn't told you yet. She didn't tell me either." Hanasaki put a thick book on the Guildmaster's desk. "It's a Prophecy. A Prophecy of the heroes of the Yggdrasil."
"That book can tell the future if the Yggdrasil? Where'd you get that?"
Hanasaki shook her head as she began to ruefully reminisce about her grandmother's demise. "My grandma gave it to me before she passed... I never brought it up to anyone. The problem is that this book doesn't even seem to be certain about the future. Anything can change the results. It could be at any time too." Hanasaki explained. "It seemed to use pseudonyms for the people within the stories. Sometimes it even points out the actual person, but that is past the halfway point."
The Guildmaster scanned around the room to see if there were any novices. For some reason there was no one around that area. They were all crowded near the beach. "What are you getting at?"
Hanasaki flipped to the tenth chapter of the book. "Marin's title is the Blue Dimond of Armoroad, right?"
"Yes, it is."
"The book says something about 'the Blue Dimond met her worst fear. The green woman was stronger than she could ever be. The demon had threatened her... But she refused to stay idle...'. There's only one green woman around here. You know her, right?"
"Why would Pandora show herself here?"
"I've read most of this book and it has probably well over one thousand some pages. Padora may be looking for a Philosopher's stone. To resurrect her daughter, Pangea. I'm calling Marin an idiot because she's hiding the fact that There's someone stronger than her in town."
The Guildmaster gave Hanasaki a look. "If she told the public about such things, they would surely panic. But... She should have at least told me."
"And you say that you don't have feelings for her."
"There's nothing between us."
"Zefora, don't worry she likes you to-" Hanasaki was suddenly hit in the side of her head with an orange. It was thrown at her with so much strength that she landed on the side of her head. Marin entered the building with her usual discontent facial exppression. "Hey... Marin... Long time no see." Hanasaki mumbled.
"How long has it been? Ten years?"
"Close enough. You were there by my side until Hana turned four..." Hanasaki got to her feet. She saw that Marin had two women at her sides. One was dressed in fancy red ettire and the other was in a maid outfit.
"If you're wondering who these two are... They are Lady Elizabeth of Jotunheim, and her compainion..." Marin paused and stared at Obi. "Her name is Sushi." Obi's face was indescribable. She wanted to kick a small puppy into the ocean.
"Sushi? You're kidding..." Hanasaki replied. "Marin, we're your friends. You don't need to hide anything anymore."
Marin seemed to be slightly affected by that. "If you want to know the truth, come to my house at eleven fifty nine tomorrow."
"But... Marin this is important..." Hanasaki gestured to the book. It was flipped to one for the final chapters.
"It can wait. I have other things I must deal with."
Hanasaki grimaced as she examined the page. Hana wasn't the only reason why she was there... Marin was very important to her too. The page read...
Marin: Dies while saving the Elizabeth and the Obi in a battle against Pandora, and her close friend.
"This lemonade tastes too sour. It reminds me of you." Ace told Luna what the lemonade tasted like. She frowned at the Farmers beside her.
"At least you tried." Inki and Ace began to walk away, but Keiko stayed by Luna.
"What was your explaination?" Luna stared at Keiko as he brought up that question.
"You still want to hear that...? Even though the lemonade tasted sour?" Luna asked solemnly.
Keiko nodded. "Don't you know that I like sour things?" Luna thought back to when she spoke to Keiko ealier. He was eating a green apple...
"Well, I... Hana insulted my family. And-" Keiko stopped Luna mid-sentence.
"Burn down her lemonade stand."
"What?" Luna questioned that idea. That sounded like something that she would recommend. "I don't think that's right..."
Keiko shrugged. "Oh well, your loss. It's not like you'll burn her profits."
Luna kind of smiled, but she sort of scowled too. "Fine. It's supposed to rain in a few hours anyway."
Yoshiko and Niku were beaming at the two of them. Luna dropped Niwa and she ran away. The Farmers chased the sheep throughout the town.
"Thank you for your payment!" Hana waved to the guild that had bought seven glasses. Hana had already earned six thousand en in profits. They used one thousand of it to by a few dozens of baskets. They met some other guilds too. Some were novices and others could compare to Gears, Brawn, and even Fang or Satan.
Another guild, guild Edge, decided to buy lemonade after the other customers left. Hana happily served them with the beverage, and Ezra decided to spike some conversation with them. The fragment of RAGNAROK listened.
"Too bad you can't continue onto the seventh floor, Ezra. We know that you would have killed it down there." The leader of Edge spoke loudly. He had messy blonde hair and purple eyes. He seemed to be a Gladiator who mastered with clubs. "It's a really easy floor. We might find the Deep city down there."
"What?" Hana replied with a low murmur.
Ezra peered back at Hana. "Oh... Zero must not have told the whole story." Ezra sighed with annoyance. "Marin wants five guilds to get to the sixth floor. She's not including Fang or Edge for some reason. She hasn't even mentioned it to Satan."
"It's going to be a real bummer when we beat Fang and Satan. But they deserve what the get, right?" The boy directed that at Ezra. Ezra glared at the boy.
"You don't know what either of those guilds have been through, Ryota." Ezra replied.
The boy fell quiet. "Oh... Okay then..." He stared at Hana. "This is the leader of RAGNAROK? " He scoffed. He saw the way Hana stared at him and crossed his arms.
"Excuse me ,but she's the leader." Hana stood and gestured at Hanasaku.
"How cute." Ryota poked Hana's cheek. "How much did that cost?"
Hana slapped his face. "That's how much it costed." Hana snapped back.
"I should have known that you'd be a tsundere." His grin was wide. "I'm outta here. Bye, Ezra and short RAGNAROK tsundere." He disappeared with his guild.
"Idiot." Hana hissed. "Anyway... We really can't explore anymore? How come the others guilds do?" Hana asked Ezra.
"I'm unsure of that answer for right now. Marin claims that it's for our own safety, but I know that she's lying."
"How do you know that?" Aoimi began to make some more lemonade.
"The guilds that Marin has let proceed are weaker than our guilds. She wants to involve the stronger guilds that could easily take down the stratum. I don't understand why the weaker guilds would have more safety than us."
"Oh..." Aoimi nodded. "That is confusing."
Ezra looked around. "I doubt that anyone else is going to come the stand today... It's about five .P.M.."
"We'll start again tomorrow then!" Hana patted Hanasaku's back. "Good work everyone!"
"It's going to rain soon too..." Aoimi pointed to the sky. "I have to go."
"Okay. Bye." Hana waved to the tall green haired girl.
Hana and Hanasaku stood next to Ezra for a while. No one spoke in the silence. It began to drizzle some.
"Hey, Hanasaku... Do you still want to know the reason why I know so much?" Ezra was quiet as he let the rain get his hair wet. Hana peered at Hanasaku. She waited for her cousin's reply.
"I don't think that I deserve to know..." Hanasaku muttered. "I falsely accused you of something that you didn't even do. And I thought that you would hurt us."
Ezra shook his head. "That's fine. You didn't know any better." Ezra began to walk away and told the girls to follow him. They stopped in front of a pastry shop that had decent roofing that protected them from the rain. The lemonade stand was out of sight.
"Ezra... You don't need to tell us. It sounds personal." Hana said to Ezra.
"No... It's about you. I would be happier if you knew why." Ezra lowered his gaze. "Hana, I already told you that I was a god. Hanasaku... You know that now."
"Yeah. Isn't that why you know so much?" Hana asked.
"No. I was brought into this world by my mother and my father. My father was a great man and all, but his emotions overthrew him a lot. My mother was known as the blue goddess and my father was the red god. My mother... She died during childbirth. I was two and I was going to turn three soon. My father was so distraught by the event that he took me away from my little sister and forced her niece to raise her..." Ezra looked up at Hanasaku. "She was born on Dormouse third, and had a close resemblance to me..."
"That would mean that..." Hana observed Hanasaku and Ezra. "You're..."
"I am in fact Hanasaku's older brother." Ezra moved his gaze back to the floor. "I came here because I knew that your guild would arrive."
"Ezra... I'm so sorry..." Hana spoke quietly.
Hanasaku was speechless. She suddenly walked toward Ezra and hugged him. Hana grinned and began to trail away from them into the drips of rain. That was a private moment for them. Hana knew that she shouldn't intervine. Maybe she should have stayed. Ezra was her cousin after all.
Hana went over to the lemonade stand. Or what was left of it. There was a pile of ashes. In the center of it was a small note.
So... You're probably wondering how on earth I lit your stupid stand on fire while it was raining. Meru has some nice flame oil. It keeps the flame going even after contact with water. Anyway... I'm sorry I insulted you. But you started it. At least I let you have the money.
-Luna
Hana narrowed her eyes. She picked up the baskets that had the profits in it. She guessed that it was good that she had the money. And burning that stand was better for them. She didn't want to run into Ryota again. He was irritating. She turned toward the Aman's inn. Ryuu was going to wake up soon. She moved toward the inn and wondered about what Luna did to her lemonade. Hana felt a tap on her shoulder and faced where it came from. Marin was behind her. She was wearing a sadistic smile.
"Oh, were you the one selling lemonade?" Marin asked. Hana nodded slowly. The smirk on Marin's face grew wider. "Do you have a business permit?" Hana shook her head.
"No." She began to walk away.
Marin began to laugh hysterically. "Hana, why are you walking away?"
Hana turned around. "I dunno." She really didn't understand why she did that. "When did I even start to walk away?"
Marin's smirk turned into a more genuine smile. "You used to do that all the time as a child. You haven't changed at all."
"What?" Hana gave Marin an oblivious stare. "How would you know that?"
Marin looked to her side and stared at Hana once more. "I helped Hanasaki raise you. And after I left... My sister just so happened to step in my place."
Hana gaped at the woman. "It's no wonder... You remind me of her... Her name was Mary, right?"
"Mary is her middle name. She has nearly twenty middle names for some reason. Her actual name is Sapphire." Marin blinked and stared at Hana. She was still walking away. She brought that up on purpose. Hana was just like Hanasaki at times. Bits of Hana reminded Marin of herself too. "Hana, I'm not finished with you."
"Dang it." Hana stopped.
"Fine, be that way." She seemed to be a little offended. "I was going to let the fact that you didn't have a business permit slide, but now... I'm going to make you give all of your profit from that lemonade stand!"
Hana had some scared expression on her face. "No! You can't do that!"
"Yes, I can." Marin took the money from Hana. "The usual punishment is about a month or three in jail."
"The laws here are ridiculous!" Hana cried out. "Flowdia's the only senator here! That means Armoroad is a dictatorship!"
"Stop shouting, you dull brat. Go home or something." Marin began to walk away. Hana furrowed her tiny eyebrows. She felt awkward after that. She felt like there was someone staring at her. She kicked a rock. She then realized that she would get a cold if she stood out in the rain for any longer. She ran to the inn.
"When are we going to get rid of her, Amadeus?"
"Sometime today. It would be easy to do it to both Hana and Ezra. No one will notice. They are in the rain. And Hanasaku just recovered from a cold. It's unlikely that she would 'catch' one too" Amadeus replied to Herald. The two did not notice a figure that appeared while they were talking. When they did it ran away. It left a very important piece of evidence. A long green strand of hair.
"It looks like we'll have to end her ourselves then." Herald had a twisted smile on his face.
Hanasaku and Ezra sat in front of that store for about ten minutes before they began to talk again. Ezra exposed the book that he had earlier, and Hanasaku suddenly had one last glass of lemonade in her hands.
"Here." Hanasaku pushed the glass toward Ezra. "I saved it for you. It kinda cold out now, but I left this in the sun all day because I figured that you were sensitive to cold. We are like opposites... Just that... I hate lightning."
Ezra took the glass and handed the Prophecy to Hanasaku. "Father told me to give this to you. Don't let anyone else have it or look in it."
Hanasaku rubbed the cover with her hand. "A Prophecy? Why would I need this?"
"The book will tell you why." Ezra looked at the lemonade. "Was this out when Fang bought lemonade?" He had a nervous sound to his voice.
"Yeah. Why?" Hanasaku asked. "Do you think it's too warm?" Hanasaku reached for the glass.
"No, no... It's perfect, Hanasaku." He mumbled. He put the glass up to his lips and slowly drank from it. Hanasaku watched.
"When should I read this?" Hanasaku murmured to Ezra.
"Read it in your room. I'd say... Right before you go to bed."
"Okay, Ezra. I... Should I call you brother?"
"No. Ezra's still fine." Ezra gritted his teeth. He should have seen that coming. He had a terrible migraine and felt more than lightheaded. He saw Hanasaku's expression.
"Ezra... Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He lied. "Go ahead." Hanasaku peered back at her brother a few more times before she trotted back to the inn. He stood still. He knew that Amadeus and Herald were up to no good. Who would believe him about that? He was having trouble supporting himself. Before he could get upset with himself he felt his consciousness slipping away. He would have fell to the ground, but Aoimi managed to catch the Zodiac.
"Those bastards!" Aoimi growled. "Why are they trying to kill fellow guilds! They are no different than Midori!" She lifted Ezra up into her arms to make the position he was in more comfortable. She teared up slightly. Fang was heartless. She held Ezra tightly and dashed to the inn. If she was too late, Hana would be next.
"There you are you friggn' nutsack!" Hana ran to the table Luna was at. Luna was drinking Hana's lemonade with Keiko. "Why the heck did you do that to me?"
Luna finished her glass of lemonade. "Revenge is a glass served cold!" Luna moved the glass around in her hand. The Ice slid around in the cup.
Hana crossed her arms at that terrible anolgy. "I'm gonna make some bread, and you two aren't going to get any!" Hana floated to the Innkeeper boy and asked if she could use the kitchen. He let her, but told her she'd have to share with Edge. She groaned and walked in the kitchen.
She was impressed to see that Ryota was cooking for his entire guild. He didn't seem to notice her. Hana began to make dough for her bread, and realized that she had forgotten to get a new bag of flour. She didn't have anymore extra money that she wanted to spend on flour. She figured that she could ask Ryota about it. He was sautéing some onions and sausages on a pan. He seemed to be very concentrated on the pan. Hana was watching with awe. He finished sautéing the food and put it all on a plate.
"You're good at cooking." Hana complemented him.
He laughed and glanced to his side. "Yeah... My dad was a great cook, but he passed away recently. I was gonna go replace him, but... My mother and I went bankrupt after my dad died. I liked the idea of exploring because I would get good money fast."
"Oh."
"Weren't cha going to say something else?"
"Nevermind that."
"Speak your mind. Your name was Hana, right?"
"Umhm." Hana nodded. "I was wondering if I could borrow some flour. I ran out of it."
"I have some. It should be in my room. I'll go with you."
"Okay." Hana and Ryota left the kitchen. They walked past a window and saw the thunderous weather outside.
"Hm... It was so a sunny out there earlier..." Ryota straightened his purple headband. "Hana, what do you plan to make?"
Hana seemed surprised by his question. "I'm not making anything special. It's just bread."
Ryota lit up. "You can bake? I can't... I have to learn how to do that... Can you teach me?"
Hana scowled. "No."
"Who's getting you flour right now?"
"Fine." Hana looked down. She had a bad feeling in her stomach, and it wasn't hunger. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she didn't realize how close her mouth was to it.
Aoimi was panting by the time she made it to the inn's door. She was soaked with rain water too. Ezra's pulse was slowing down. He would surely die if he didn't get help soon. She opened the door casually. She didn't want to cause anymore problems. No one noticed her ,so she sprinted over to Ezra's room. That moment was an unfortunate one for Aoimi. Most of Gears was gathered within there. Isis was not there.
Zero noticed first. "Aoimi, what happened to Ezra?!" She was sitting on the floor when Aoimi entered, but rose quickly.
"That's not important right now!" Aoimi put Ezra on his bed. "Mei Ling, do you have anything that could get rid of poison?"Mei Ling and Himi appeared to be shell-shocked. "Answer me!"
Mei Ling shook her head. "If Ezra is being effected in in such a way... I have no cure for him..."
"No, think of something! Kogageru can't lose anything else during a thunderstorm! He has already lost enough!"
Aoimi glimpsed back at the boy. He was cowering in a corner with his eyes closed. He must have lost a lot during a certain thunderstorm because he was downright frightened to death. Aoimi felt hopeless. There wouldn't be time to go get Dove. She could feel her jaw tighten greatly.
Fang had treated Ezra in the same fashion as Midori treated everyone in her village. Aoimi glared at Ezra for a second. She then proceeded to look at the ground. There was no shadow. She removed her left glove and peered at her hand the scar remained there. She thought in two seconds again. She pulled out a medica from Ezra's knapsack. She poured the bottle on her hand and the black spot dissappeared. It stung her, but that wasn't important.
Midori poisoned everyone in that village, and Aoimi healed them. Aoimi knew that she could heal Ezra as long as she did it before Midori returned to her. She put her hands on Ezra's chest. She spoke in an illegible language and chanted the same words over and over again.
"Aoimi, what are you doing! He's going to die if you waste time like this!" Zero shouted.
Aoimi ignored her and continued her ritual. She felt tingling inside of both of her hands and Ezra suddenly woke up. Aoimi stumbled away from the bed after that. Hana was next.
"Ezra!" That fraction of Gears hugged Ezra tightly.
Aoimi could feel herself becoming noxious, but she didn't stop. She ran down to the kitchen because she saw Hana leave that room beforehand. She heard Herald and Amadeus. She crept in the room.
"What are you two up to?" Aoimi asked. They froze up.
"We're free to use the kitchen too, String been." Herald stated.
"Are you sure that you're allowed to insert poison into bread?" Aoimi showed her usual toothy grin.
The two men grimaced as they walked away. But they knew that they were covered. No one in that town would believe just Aoimi Midori's words.
It was ten fifty eight when Hanasaku opened the book Ezra had given her. The first page only had one sentence on it. It seemed to be directed at Hanasaku.
Beware of the red eyed mad woman.
She didn't know what that meant. She flipped through the book and stopped at the end of the sixteenth chapter. It was an interesting ending.
The green woman knew that some one was in the game. Some one more powerful than she would expect. She then realized that she was in the same room as that person. The red eyed mad woman appeared. The mad woman knew everything. She convinced the green woman to join her plan to make the chosen flower wilt. The green woman had her Puppeteer with her ,and the Puppeteer figured that it wouldn't be bad to have some one in charge of the show.
Hanasaku stopped reading at that part. She did that for two reasons. She saw a green woman in Haruka's dream, and the book had completely changed format. It was thicker. The back of the book grew in size. She flipped to the back part. It was called death count. The book used everyone in Armoroad. Every name was one she had learned. She read through it with a revolted face. She hoped that none of it was true. The names were not in order.
Yoshiko: Dies when Inki pushes off a nearing cliff.
Meru: Dies while saving the girl Kise.
Ryuunosuke: Dies when Isis deceives him.
Hanasaku: Dies because Hana murders her.
Keiko: Dies at the hands of the demon Pandora.
Marin: Dies saving-
Hanasaku stopped there. The description for Marin was unfinished. It seemed to be rewriting itself. She put the book away. That was enough. She would figure out the truth within the book sometime soon. She hoped she would. She would definitely figure out who the red eyed mad woman was.
Longest. Chapter. Ever. Nearly 10,000 words. Now, I have to friggn' proofread it. But I like it. I'm only typing this to tell you this.
And... I'm actually really surprised right now. Yeah. This story has three favorites. Like... That isn't much, but... I've looked at the other fanfictions here and they have about 4 to 7 favorites and/or follows. But they gained that amount in six years. So three in less than a year... That touched me for an unknown reason. If you make it this far... I want to thank you. I didn't think anyone was going to read this. And I thought that no one would read past the errors. And I'm very glad that you were able ignore whatever the heck you thought was wrong.
Enough! I really shouldn't make this chapter longer!
Next time: Ezra is a god, but now he's an ill one with magic sneezes. He may or may not rip through space and time with that power. Himi clones will appear, Kogageru will see, but not hear. Isis will not be there. Zero will bother Marin. And RAGNAROK will have their very own summer Olympics! This all happens next time in Chapter Seventeen: Bohimian Rhasody!
P.S.: I am The pun goddess! *Gets hurt by flying object*