Fantasia
Arc4: Seeking the origins
Chapter3: A familiar face
And so Juan's second night after his departure had been passed peacefully in a bazaar fest, despite he was still annoyed by the fact that he paid for Nimmy's participation in a magic attraction contest fearing that the dumb girl will lose and waste the money.
By the time for the contest to commence, they all headed to a large green and white tent by the north borders of the carnival, and as the man who sells the tickets recognized Juan and Nimmy he spread his arms and smiled at them.
"Ah, if it's not Nimmy and her generous boyfriend, I see you brought friends with you" he said.
"I'm not her boyfriend" Juan blushed.
"Yeah his girlfriend is here" Zolu mocked carrying Tsuki who slapped him shortly after.
"He he, such energetic youths, so you came to watch your friend, hmm…I think I have some first class tickets for you with an extra discount, forty Muns per tickets" the receptionist offered.
"Count me, am in!" Zolu said snatching a ticket and paying for it entering the tent in a rush.
"Please forgive my friend's behavior, he's always like this" Juan apologized for Zolu.
"Yes, he's an idiot" Tsuki confirmed.
"So, young Nimmy, please this way" he took by the nymph's hand and walked with her to the back stages.
"Good luck Nimmy!" Juan shouted waving at his friend
"Yes, don't mess it up! Try not to forget how to do it!" Tsuki added.
…
After fifteen minutes, inside the large tent that was bleak dark, three spotlights emitted from the borders combined together to highlight a man who stood in the middle of the round red and white floor; a tall slender man, probably at his late thirties, he wore a stripped fancy green and white suit with a hat resembling to the tent's texture, he was playing with his thin mustache shortly before he looked at the audience:
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the first show of its kind, I Vector Sheen welcome you to Balio bros magic attractions contest, where young and promising talents of magic compete for the beautiful and unique mermaid armlets!" the man presented the trophies making the audience applaud and shout.
"Bring in the chicks!" Zolu shouted making Juan and Tsuki sink their heads into their collars of shame.
"And like our excited fellow here wanted, our first competent came from the highlands of Nanali, ladies and gentlemen I present you entry number1 the beautiful charming blonde: Mariana Warren and her sand charm!" Vector presented the girl projecting a large panel of magic carrying her picture.
The young woman approached the field with two large men carrying a big barrel of sand they spilled on the floor, as the girl started playing with her flute reshaping sand into many shapes; a castle, a woman, a couple of birds, and many other attractive forms leaving the audience in amazement.
"Hmm that Warren girl is indeed brilliant, I doubt Nimmy can win over that…when her turn will come?" Tsuki asked.
"She's the twenty fourth" Juan answered.
"If the entire participants were as good as this girl, then our dummy will sure lo…" Zolu said.
"Hey, let's put some faith in her, she's good too" the shepherd interrupted.
"And then the groom float away" the ragon mocked spiting Tsuki but Juan stopped them from fighting.
"Entry number 2: the handsome red headed man from Clavia, whom every girl wish to have as a boyfriend, I introduce the fire mage Dan Sunder!" welcoming the second participant.
And so the competition continued amusing the whole crowd; a man who can knead fire and make it viscous like slime, a woman who can summon different beasts and animals from her pocket gourd, a girl who can manipulate a hundred puppets with ease…and so many other different talents.
Each mage seemed better than the one he or she precedes, Juan and his friends were so stressed fearing that their Nimmy will fail in front of these people drawing a gloomy picture of her depression, Juan even prepared a consulting lecture for her.
"And last but not least, the girl with the hot body and the eccentric hair dye, her accent will impress you all, I present you the beautiful entry number 24: Nimmy and her…Flora magic!" Vector called for the nymph who walked shyly toward him.
But she stupidly tripped, making everybody laugh but her friends who had their palms over their faces of embarrassment.
Hearing those voices made her body shake in fear and her eyes drown in tears.
"We believe in you Nimmy!" Juan shouted among the audience.
"Yeah get up and kick their sorry asses!" Zolu yelled vulgarly.
"Nimmy is a good girl! Remember!?" Tsuki added.
Those cheers from her friends restored some courage inside her, so she stood tall and suddenly disappeared into one of her pink flower portals, making her friends think that she ran away.
But no she didn't…because shortly after, a larger flower portal opened again beneath Vector who jumped away, from this beautiful gate a giant lily emerged, its pink petals with violet highlights and the raw green color of the leaves was a really sight catching scene.
"Nimmy says this is not all!" the nymph's voice echoed.
Then she made the flower bloom, revealing dozens of crimson roses that emitted arcs of rainbow colored beams that filled the tent with her magical dust impressing the audience to amaze them by emerging from the rosy bed.
She spread her butterfly wings and materialized for herself a charming garment; a princess dress made of lilac petals, bracelets of red berries, rings of raisin, a necklace of pale thorny vines decorated with a dark rose, and finally a crown made of a lotus, topped by a basket of purple grapes, a pumpkin, and a large red apple, to finish all this by a sign from her fingers that made every spec of rainbow dust pop out transforming into a beautiful flower blowing the flowering structure up with a sign of her hands into an explosion of pink glowing petals…
"What the hell?" Zolu said with his mouth widely open.
"She's…amazing" Tsuki commented dusting petals off her hair.
"You are amazing Nimmy!" Juan shouted.
"Wow! This is simply impressive" Vector announced, shortly before the receptionist joined him and whispered few words in his ear.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the arbiters had finally agreed to a result!" the suited man announced calling for two attractive girls who pulled a small cart carrying the three pearly bracelets followed by the participants catching the attention of the crowd who followed him in silence.
"In the third position we have: the sand charmer Mariana Warren!"
"In the second position we have: the beast mistress Clara Nightling!"
And then silence reigned waiting for the first position to be announced, all eyes were pinned on Vector's hand waiting for him to cast the panel that'll show who was number one…
"And for the first position, I honorably call…the woman without a surname…the queen of gardens…the charmer of flowers…Nimmy!" he shouted leading the crowd to roar and applaud in joy cheering with the name of the nymph.
As the girls gowned Nimmy with the beautiful jewel, the nymph called for her friends who jumped out of their seats to join with the winner in an indescribable happiness.
"Nimmy you were awesome girl! The flowers and the lilies, and the crazy rainbows! When did you learn all that?" Zolu asked.
"Nimmy doesn't know" the girl answered naïvely.
"Anyway you were great, Nimmy is a good girl after all" Tsuki commented.
"Hmm I see a great future for that girl, she has an impressive talent, and a unique magic" Vector complimented the nymph approaching the group.
"Yes she is despite she sometimes tends to…" Juan was about to say but the moment he looked into Vector's face, the scar over his right eye triggered the young man's memory toward an unpleasant moment.
"I'm sorry guys I got to go the bathroom, excuse me!" the frightened shepherd apologized rushing out of the tent driving exclamation.
Minutes later, at his wagon Juan was sitting thinking of what he just saw, he knew who was that guy, but he couldn't believe what he's doing now or how coward he acted upon seeing him, he feared that his friends are in danger, so he jumped out of the van but hearing their voices coming closer calmed him down.
"Seriously Nim, who was your teacher?" Zolu asked.
"Nimmy says that Nimmy doesn't know" the nymph answered.
"Either way you won yourself a nice piece of jewelry, I think we should sell it" Tsuki suggested.
"No way! Nimmy wants to keep this jewel, Nimmy should thank orange boy for paying ticket!" she said holding the trophy.
"Speaking of him, where's Juan?" Zolu asked.
"He said that he wants to go, I guess it can't be helped" the imp answered.
"Um, Hi guys…" Juan welcomed his friends appearing from behind the wagon.
"Orange boy!" the nymph yelled before jumping at him giving him a kiss.
"Lucky bastard" Zolu commented.
"Anyway, where were you?" the imp asked.
"Um I just had a stomachache, and…I couldn't hold myself, so sorry" he apologized.
"I guess it's late we should be sleeping we still has a long journey" the ragon suggested.
And so they settle for another slumber, noticeably for this night everyone set his bed away from Juan which left him wonder, but he cared less because of his weariness.
His mind was still wondering what that man was doing here; and is it safe to trust him? But this chain of thoughts was broken by e screams of his nymph friend that woke the three of them out of their beds to look for her.
They exited their tents where they saw her struggling to save herself from a veiled man who seemed like a thief trying to forcefully pilfer her newly won bracelet.
"Leave Nimmy alone!" the girl screamed.
"Gimme that bracelet!" the thief shouted at her.
"Let her go slowly, move and you are dead, talk and you are dead…" Tsuki coldly threatened him when she suddenly appeared behind the burglar pointing a sharp blade to his neck.
The thief didn't feel anything until the cold sensation of steel pecked his skin, he felt the gruesome killing intention coming from the imp behind him, so he slowly let the nymph go, then he raised his arms in the air and kneeled.
"Are you alright Nimmy?" Juan asked.
"Um, Nimmy's okay, the bad guy wanted to take Nimmy's bracelet" she answered.
"You got some nerve to hit on her like this dude!" Zolu flouted.
"The bracelet! Make her take it off now!" the thief told them, but it was late because Nimmy suddenly disappeared in front of her friends.
"What the hell!" was the ragon's reaction.
"What happened to her?" Juan asked the man in worry.
"Speak human!" Tsuki pressed her blade even more in the burglar's neck.
"Barth?" Juan wondered after looking closely at the man's eyes.
"You betcha, boy!" the thief answered.
Zolu and Tsuki were wondering about what's going on, so the imp cut the veil revealing the man's face who was actually Vector Sheen; the contest's presenter.
"You know each other?" the ragon asked.
"In a matter of fact yes, he's actually a thief who saved me and the princess before, I owe him my life" the shepherd answered, remembering his first night when he was trying to get to the tower of Grimoires and confronted the gang of rogues.
"Yes, I'm his friend, so please lemme go, lady!" Barth murmured.
"But what happened to Nimmy?!" Juan asked.
"I'm sorry I wanted to help her, I was doing my job, and I didn't know she was your friend, but you interrupted me and now she had been teleported to…" but the man suddenly stopped talking.
"Speak! Where is she?!" Zolu yelled at him grabbing him from the collar.
Then Tsuki noticed a small black line going from the left side of his neck "It's not like he doesn't want to talk, but because he cannot…" she explained and the man nodded confirming her reasoning.
"What do you mean he cannot?" the worried Juan asked.
The imp then shredded the man's shirt off his left shoulder revealing a strange snake like tattoo that covered the left side of his chest "The man is cursed, and as long as that tattoo is on his body he cannot tell us anything useful" she explained.
"Exactly! I'm sorry lad if I talked the curse will torture me, I'm sorry, I'd like to help you though" the thief confirmed.
"So you're saying that Nimmy had been kidnapped magically by some rogues, and our only clue to find her is a nice thief who cannot talk about it!" Zolu mumbled.
"No there's a way, I can get him to talk" the imp suggested with a sinister glare from her red eye driving Barth to sink in his sweat as she slowly lifted a metal cup and walloped him in the head with it knocking the man off his conscious.
"Take his clothes off, I'll sap everything he knows" the imp ordered cruelly while cutting her fingertip.
To be continued
Well, whad'ya think guys? I know I know, you've expected the magic contest to be longer than this, but trust me this is the best for the story (you've seen how I love to make extra long descriptive phrases) anyway be ready because in the next few chapters you'll know a character I personally didn't create (it was my classmate's idea in my high school days), you've seen already how Tsuki can be cruel sometimes so her latter act wasn't a surprise...and hey Barth made a return! (I know you thought he was just a "filler" character :P)