| The Free Site | vBuddy - social networking for webmasters | Cheap Web Hosting - starting at $5 |
Standard disclaimer: I t’nod nwo eht seires. (“I don’t own the series.” Hey I had to come up with SOMETHING a little more creative…)
AN: okiday! The third installment of the adventures of crazy kids fixing a lighthouse!!! Right… its been a long week. Ah, but I got a new computer chair! It’s soooo comfy!
Right, here are the reviews:
Anime Monkey: I got the review in what? an hour after I posted the last chapter. Wow, that was really cool! Oh, ho! Remember that I said that Yuki was that little annoying gnat thingy? Well, you get to see just how much she can annoy in this chapter… I almost feel sorry for Strife… almost. Glad you like the distraction! Seriously, who asks a person if they like beans??? I once had a couple of guys from my class ask me if I liked eggs. They really annoyed me with it. Oh, right. The plans. Maybe Deis got together with the fellows and is going to throw a huge party? Nah? Right. As for the disease… well, let’s just say that Childhood is almost over… so, finding a cure right now would be super hard. Heh, well… oh I wanna say what happens, but that’s like a huge spoiler! I can’t do that to you, ya know? See, my muse that’s on vacation told me to say something, but the flying monkeys told me not to. They are holding my action figures hostage and threaten to sell them on Ebay if I say something right now… (sniffsniff) Welp, here’s the update.
Nina Windia: Oh crap! I got your review right after I posted the last chapter!!! I didn’t get to respond to you before I posted!!! Wah! I’m sorry!!! Well, anyway, heh. This is the response for chapter 14. Glad you liked the chapter title. It was originally Of Bugs and Lighthouses, but ah… yeah. Nerds worked much better. The Red Ninja of LUV. I am still trying to figure out what possessed me to come up with that… anyway, I just realized that when I got up to typing out chapter 13. Oops… hm. Yup, the plot be divided. Originally, Childhood was going to last only a few chapters, 10 at the most. Ehheh… but I took a certain little bird’s advice and decided that character development was much more important than shorten length, so yeah. At one point I thought about completely discarding the Childhood story arc, but the story just didn’t work without it. important things happen during Childhood that become VERY important during the Adulthood story arc. (like whether or not they find a cure for the crystal disease, what was Deis’ plan, who is Sari, who’s real the main villain, who the creepy little ghost girl is, what is Yuki and Jin’s connection to the events in Lahan, why Nina has a weird power, etc.) Oh, you will definitely get to see the (ahem) mature side of the characters. Yeah, I like having Yuki and Nina work together. They are noisy (and nosy) aren’t they? It makes one wonder how they will be in the future…
It seems like I’m not the only one who didn’t like that part of the game. It just takes sooo long. Too long, in my opinion. It’s not like it mattered in the grand scheme of things… Just my opinion, though.
Well, here’s the next chapter!!!
“So, do you like beans? Would you eat beans in the winter or spring? Would you eat beans with a fox in a box? Out in the rain while riding on a train? Perhaps eat beans with green eggs and ham?”
Strife and Ryu merely looked at Yuki. Strife closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. He rubbed the bridge of his noise and opened his eyes and stared down at the twelve-year-old.
“Why are you asking me such… odd… questions?” Strife asked in a cool voice.
Yuki jumped from one foot to the other and placed her hands behind her back. “Because, because! Don’t you see? Don’t you see? Beans and green eggs and ham, what it be!” Yuki stopped jumping from one foot to another and gave Strife a big grin. “Don’t you wish you could rhyme like me?”
Strife shook his head and started past Yuki and Ryu. “No, I do not,” Strife uttered. “I have more important things to deal with than a psychopathic child that seems to have an obsession with bad poetry and annoying the ever-loving crap out of complete strangers.”
“HEY!” Yuki yelled as she placed her fists on her hips and stomped her left foot. “I am not… errr… what you said!”
“Um, I don’t think he heard you,” Ryu said. He pointed in the direction that Strife took off in. Yuki puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and crossed her arms.
“He could have at least…. Eh?” Yuki turned around as she noticed two Rangers walk by.
Ryu flinched slightly when he noticed that the two men stopped and glanced over in their direction. One of the Rangers leaned in and whispered something to his partner. The other man nodded and took out a small notebook. He looked at the notebook, then at Yuki and Ryu.
The two men started over to Ryu and Yuki’s direction with serious looks on their faces. One of the men held out a Ranger’s Guild badge and waved down at Ryu. “Ranger’s Guild! You’re under arrest!”
Ryu groaned as he looked over at the Ranger. “What for?”
“For the kidnapping of Princess Nina Ashelia de Wyndia! There is also a warrant out for your arrest by the orders of Prince Demus Laurante of the Kingdom of Dragnier!” the Ranger said as he stopped in front of Ryu. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you. You have the right to an attorney…”
Ryu’s eyes widened as the man continued reading him his rights. The Rangers must have recognized him because of the Tournament of Champions! But, where did they get that he kidnapped Nina?
He didn’t want to stick around and find out. He made a grab for Yuki’s hand so they could run, but that other Ranger grabbed Yuki before Ryu could get to her. Ryu grimaced as the other Ranger grabbed hold of Ryu’s wrists and proceeded to handcuff him.
Before he could get the handcuffs on, however, a sudden flash of light filled the air. Ryu blinked and noticed a vague figure in the mist of the light.
The Rangers looked confused and just only for a moment let go of Ryu and Yuki. Suddenly, the figure sprang forth from the smoke and revealed a person in a black hooded trench coat. The person lunged forward and grabbed hold of Ryu and Yuki’s wrists, and in a flash of purple light, vanished with the two children.
The two Rangers scratched the back of their heads. What was that that made off with a convict?
One of the Rangers looked at the other. “Uh, so. How exactly are we going to write this up?”
The other one shook his head. “I say we don’t. We’ll be the laughing stock of the department! A… thing… took off with our suspect? They’ll ask us what we were smoking!”
“Duly noted,” the other man said.
Salla could not believe what she had seen. That man, Legence, had healed the prince with just one touch. She also couldn’t believe that the prince had been so taken with the man. He had wanted the man for his personal council.
That use to be her duty to the sole heir of the Brood. Council and protector of the heir to the throne of Dragnier.
She had once been the personal protector of the crown prince, but he had seemingly died four years ago during the Lahan massacre. Mortals were such an arrogant ilk. Messing with things that they did not understand.
Project FATE. That had been the name of the series of Link Experiments that the scientists had conducted. Led by a brilliant scientist and doctor that was only known as Aaron the Wise, they had trespassed into the realm of the gods.
To wield the power of the gods… that was what the team had originally been aiming for. Using ancient technology that dated back to the time of the beginning of the Techno Age, they had hoped to gain untold power.
But all that changed when the king of Dragnier approached Aaron’s team with a request. His wife had died with a strange disease that turned hybrid dragons to crystal, and now his son had contracted the disease by unknown means.
He wanted Aaron to save his son’s life.
A noble cause. One that Aaron found to be challenging. But, for all it was worth, Aaron was not able to find a cure…
Or more like he was unable to find a cure before Lahan was attacked.
Why she had been given the order to launch an assault by Dragnier was beyond her. But, orders were still orders. Her Dragoon unit laid siege to the burning city.
“You dare face me, as maimed as you are? Don’t make me laugh Uzuki!”
“I cannot allow you to stand in my way! I WILL take you down, if need be…”
“You never had the stomach to take a life! Hm. Very well then! Let us dance!”
Why she attacked him, she’d never know. Maybe she was trying to prove her worth to a man that had always seemed superior to her in every way. Maybe it was out of jealously. He had taken another for his bride, after all.
“Your king has lied to you! He is wanting to cover up evidence and you are doing his dirty work for him!”
She hadn’t listened to him and he fell her. He would always be superior to her.
After the fall of Lahan, Ryu had been reported dead. She honestly thought he had died. Then, Demus found him, four years later.
Then the nightmare started. She was forced to hunt him down once more. Only this time, the king did not know that his son was still alive.
Salla closed her eyes and placed her head in her hands. There was a knock at her bedchamber. She stood up and straightened out her red dress that fell to the floor. She walked over and opened the door.
She immediately fell to one knee when she saw it was King Gideon himself. The king looked to be in his mid-fifties with a graying midnight blue beard and short hair. He was dressed in red and blue royal robes and wore a long cape of gold and white. A crown of gold laid on his head.
“Rise,” the king said in a deep powerful voice.
Salla rose to her feet, but noticed that the king did not look all that happy. She also noticed Legence behind the king, a smug look on his regal face.
“Salla Treiba,” the king said. Several royal guards came into view, swords and spears held at attention.
“My King,” Salla said. She never took her eyes off her king. “To what do I owe the honor of your visit?”
The king signaled with his hand and the Imperial guards stepped forward. They roughly grabbed up Salla and dragged her out of her room. Salla looked incredible surprise. What was His Majesty doing?!
Salla didn’t have to wait long to find out, because Legence soon answered her unspoken question. “Salla, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Prince Demus.”
“What?!” Salla growled. She turned to Gideon. “My King! Please!”
Gideon looked at her sternly. “You will be immediately sent to the dungeon to await your sentence.” And with that, the King and his remaining guard exited the hallway.
Salla glowered at Legence. “Was this your doing?” she said through gritted teeth.
The young man merely shook his head. “No, my dear. This is all your doing. The prince told me of you trying to murder him at the Tournament. We cannot allow one such as you to be allowed to get away with doing such a horrible thing. Guards, take her to the dungeon.”
The guards that were not holding Salla saluted and started off in the direction of the dungeon. Legence allowed himself a small smile. He then ruefully shook his head and headed off in the direct the king took only a moment ago.
All was going according to plan…
“What… is this thing?!” Nina yelled.
The weird eyeball that was being held up by the lizard thing flashed. A beam of light came surging out of the eyeball and was heading straight for Nina. Sari jumped forward and held her palms out.
The light was caught by Sari. She whipped the light around and flung it off to the side. Nina wasn’t sure what was going on. What she did know was that Sari just caught a beam of light and tossed it aside like it was nothing.
Okay, what was that suppose to be about?!
Sari timidly looked over at the monster thing and then back to Nina.
“You should try to use Eternal Session,” Sari said in a soft voice.
“Eternal… what?” Nina asked. Eternal Session. The name seemed to stick out in her mind. What could it be?
Then, she remembered. The bright green and gold light that had surrounded her back in the caves when she had fought the Seeker. The gale that was responsible for sending the Seeker shuffling off the mortal coil.
Nina realized that they had to do something. The eyeball was powering up again and Sari was starting to look tired. “Catching” that beam of light must have really tired her out.
Nina steeled herself and raised her wand high in the air. She focused on the energy and magic that was flowing through her and summoned it into her wand. The orb on the wand flashed and the green and gold light filled the room.
Nina’s wings grew in size as the light surrounded her entire form. She felt the energy build up reach it’s maximum and with a mighty battle cry released the energy and sent it straight at the monster.
The monster screamed in pain and vanished in a plume of light.
Sari grinned slightly and looked over at Nina as her wings returned to their normal size. “We should fix the lighthouse, so we can get on with our journey.”
Nina nodded in agreement and the two made their way outside. When they reached the top, they noticed the lighthouse switch had merely been turned off, not broken. Nina grumbled to herself as she approached the light and switched on the light.
The light shown brightly against the evening sky. Nina and Sari grinned at their victory, but it was short lived when a high pitched scream filled the air.
A bright light flashed and formed into a woman the size of a small child, dressed in a red and blue dress and with bright orange hair. What the odd thing about the woman was that she had a pair of blue and purple butterfly wings jutting from her back.
Before Nina or even Sari could say anything, the small woman summoned a huge hammer out of thin air and proceeded to beat the ever-living crap out of the light switch. The switch broke, causing the light to remain on and unable to shut it off. The woman screamed even louder and slumped her shoulders in defeat.
She then turned her attention to Nina and Sari. “What happened to our guard?! Did you destroy it? What have you done?!”
Nina shrugged her shoulders. “You were the one that placed that thing there? Why?”
The woman shrieked and waved her arms in the air. “You IDIOT! Do you know what you have done?! Now we will never be able to… huh?” the woman floated down and looked at Sari.
Sari looked like she wanted to shrink into the ground. The woman grimaced and eyed Sari. “Who are you?” the woman asked.
“Um… Sari?” Sari said numbly. She wasn’t sure what to make of this small woman. Then, Sari had a question for the woman. “Who are you? And… what are you?”
The woman nodded. “I am called Eos. And… I am a fairy.”
“A fairy,” Sari repeated.
“Yes!” Eos the fairy said. “The same as you!”
Sari shook her head. “I am no fairy… right?” Sari looked over at Nina.
Nina shrugged her shoulders. “So, uh… what was the deal with the monster thingy in the lighthouse? Why were you trying to keep people from turning the light on?”
Eos sighed. “Because a monster is threatening to eat us if we don’t turn the light off!” Eos’ eyes then lit up. She tossed Nina a flower wreath. “Because you turned the light back on, now you have to go defeat the monster! You can use the wreath at any Fairy Ring. Ta!” and with that, Eos vanished.
Nina looked over at Sari. “Great…”
The first thing that Ryu noticed was that they were on the other side of the city. Yuki looked as equally confused. They looked up at their… savior. Ryu noticed for the first time that the figure had a very feminine look to it.
“You seem to have a knack for summoning trouble to you like a lightning rod,” the person said in a very feminine voice.
The person in question pulled the hood down to reveal a young woman with shoulder-length, dark purple hair streaked with blue and blue eyes and slightly tanned skin. There was no question as to who she was now.
“You’re the one from Wyndia!” Yuki shouted.
The woman nodded. She turned to Ryu and gave him a slight grin. “Feeling any better?”
“Not really…” Ryu said as he sagged his shoulders.
“Sorry to hear that,” the woman said as she started to walk off. Yuki and Ryu watched after her.
“Hey!” The woman turned back around at the call of Ryu’s voice.
“Hn?”
“We need to go back to the lighthouse!” Yuki said. “Our friends are in trouble! Some guy is after them.”
The woman shook her head. “Two girls, right? One with blond hair and dressed in green and the other with green hair dressed in blue? About yeh tall?” the woman made the appropriate sizes.
Yuki and Ryu nodded.
“Ah, I saw them earlier. They were heading out of the city. I didn’t see anyone chasing them, though.”
“I wonder what happened to Strife…” Yuki wondered out loud.
“Maybe that person had better things to do,” the woman mused.
“Who are you? Why did you help us?” Ryu suddenly asked.
The woman grinned and placed her hands on her hips. “My name is Manna Sphere. As to why I helped you? Let’s just say that I wanted payback at those Rangers. Let’s just leave it at that,” Manna said as she started to walk off again. She waved her hand in the air. “See ya later. Stay out of trouble now!”
“With our luck? Ha!” Ryu laughed. He got no answer though. Manna was no where to be seen. Ryu and Yuki merely shook their heads in disbelief. Such an odd day.
“I say we look for Nina and the others…” Ryu said. Yuki nodded in agreement.
The Fairy Ring was simple enough to locate. It was even simpler to active with Sari running the show. Soon, instead of standing in meadow, the two girls were in an odd looking village overlooking the sea.
Fairies were flitting around everywhere in a panic. The villagers soon stopped and merely stared at Nina and Yuki. Most of the young fairy girls floated around Sari and asked her questions about who she was and what was she doing with a human.
Sari merely stared at the little women. Soon, however, a young woman with purple hair, dressed in a flowing blue gown floated over to the two girls.
“So, you are the ones that turned the light back on?” the woman asked. The girls nodded. “Eos told me as much. I am Bloom, leader of this fairy village.”
“I am Nina Strife,” Nina said.
“I am Sari,” Sari said.
“Sari?” Bloom asked. “Hm, I see. After you defeat this monster, we shall talk child. The monster is located at the beach. Be quick about it.”
Bloom made a motion with her hand and the fairies followed her back into the small cottages. Nina and Sari groaned and made their way to the beach. The two didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and took to sitting down in boredom.
About two hours later, the two noticed what looked like a shark fin swimming in the water.
“Think it’s the monster?” Sari asked.
Nina shrugged and both girls clobbered it with all their might. As it turned out, it was merely a pink dolphin that had been swimming too close to shore. The girls looked sheepishly at the poor thing and apologized. The dolphin nodded.
“No worries,” the thing said. “We all make mistakes, though… I must say…” the dolphin changed into a massive beast. “You were right on the mark! How dare you break the light! Now I have to see that thing all night long! I need my beauty sleep and you ruined it!”
“I think plastic surgery would benefit you better,” Nina muttered.
And for the second time that day, Nina and Sari were forced to fight a monster. A massive tidal wave sent the girls flying up against the rocks. Sari groaned and jumped back to her feet. Nina merely lay against the rocks, unconscious.
Sari yelled for Nina to get up, but the girl didn’t respond. The monster-dolphin laughed and lunged at Sari. Sari screamed as she flashed green. A pair of green and yellow butterfly wings erupted out from her back.
“Another fairy!” the thing said. “I will eat you too!”
Sari shook her head and raised her hand. A small ring formed around her hand and flashed once. Several rings came flying out from the one around her wrist and looped around the dolphin. The rings then flashed once and then vanished, right along with the dolphin. Sari shook her head in confusion.
Had she just defeated that thing?
She shook her head and ran over to Nina, who was beginning to stir. She opened her eyes and stared at Sari in shock. Nope, nothing like seeing a pair of fairy wings from one of your buddies.
Wordlessly, the two walked back to the village and were greeted by a warm reception by Bloom and the other fairies.
Sari informed Bloom that they had defeated the thing and Bloom thanked them. She then motioned them back to the large house in the middle of the village. When they entered, she motioned for Sari to come forth.
“It has been a long time, child,” Bloom said. She touched the tip of Sari’s wing.
“Do… you know me?” Sari asked.
“In a way child,” Bloom said. “All the Fairy Rings are connected, after all. If I am not mistaken, you were from the one close to Tantar.”
“I… don’t remember anything about that…” Sari said.
“I would doubt you would. You are still just a baby, after all.”
“Eh?” Nina asked. “I thought Sari was at least ten or eleven.”
“No, in your terms of counting age, she is only three years old. Time passes much differently in the realm of the fairies, as it does in the world of the humans. That is why we usually do not allow humans to come here. Time here ages us very rapidly, after all. But now,” she turned to Sari. “Do you remember anything about what you are?”
“Only that my mother called me Sari,” Sari said. “She was killed by… someone who called himself the Seeker.” Nina solemnly looked at Sari. “It didn’t seem like all that long ago… a year maybe? A group of orphans found me and I stayed with them, but… Seeker killed them, too.”
Bloom nodded in understanding. “I heard about you. You were the hybrid child, Saria. Your mother, a fairy, fell in love with a mortal man and had you. I do believe the man was a Brood nobleman named la Crosse. I could be mistaken, though. The fairies do not like outsiders, you see. Your mother left the village with you so you could live a normal life. But…” Bloom lowered her head. “Killed by a human…”
“I took care of Seeker,” Nina said. Bloom looked at Nina and nodded.
“I understand. Thank you from ridding us of that menace. Now that Saria is back here with us, she has nothing more to worry about.”
“Um…” Sari looked at the woman. “Saria? Is that my real name?”
“Saria la Crosse. That is what your father called you. Sari was the name that your mother, Lily, gave you. Child, do you know about your powers? The magic of chaos we fairies can cast?”
Sari nodded. Bloom smiled. “Good. We can teach you to use your powers wisely and effectively.”
Sari shook her head. “No, I am on a journey with Nina and her friends and I am going to help them.”
Bloom nodded. “I understand. When you are finished, you are more than welcome to come back and live here. As a fairy, you can naturally enter the Fairy Ring and come here. And Nina? Thank you for protecting Saria. You are welcomed here anytime.”
“Thank you,” Sari and Nina said.
As the two began to leave, Bloom cleared her voice. “Child, I know what that vile human did to you.”
Sari paled slightly, but Bloom merely smiled. “It will not cause you harm. You might be the key that is needed to help the one that you are trying to save.”
Sari smiled all knowingly as she and Nina exited the village. When Nina questioned her about what Bloom said, Sari merely grinned and brushed Nina off with it was nothing. The two soon reentered the city and after a short while, caught up with Ryu and Yuki.
“So,” Yuki said. “What took you so long? We saw the light come on, but we didn’t see you guys.”
“Long story,” Sari grinned.
“Heh, us too,” Ryu said. “You tell us your story, and we’ll tell you ours!”
“Deal!” Nina said.
Ryu nodded. “Well, for starters, that Strife fellow was going to go up to the lighthouse looking for you, right? Well, Yuki came up with the most annoying questions about whether or not he would eat beans and green eggs and ham. He just ignored her and walked off. Before we could go after him, the Rangers tried to arrest us. Some lady appeared and warped us to another part of the city. The lady from Wyndia, remember? The one from the Angel Wing Nightclub? Yeah, here name’s Manna Sphere. She told us she saw you guys, but not Strife. She also said you two left the city.”
Nina nodded. “Yup, we did. We defeated the monster thingy a fairy put there to keep the light off. She said that since we turned the light on, we had to go defeat a monster thingy that was eating the fairies. Well, we go and it turned out it was a mutated dolphin and it just wanted to sleep. Well, Sari finished it up and we went back to the village. Apparently their leader said Sari was a fairy, too. And she’s only three years old.”
This got a look from Yuki and Ryu. Nina continued.
“Apparently, Sari’s real name is Saria la Crosse.”
Ryu blinked. “la Crosse? But… that means…”
“Bloom said that I am not affected by it,” Sari said. “I don’t know what that exactly means, though.”
Yuki looked confused. She wasn’t sure what the inside joke was, but she didn’t like being left out of the loop.
“Sounds like you all had an interesting day!” Deis said from behind the group. Deis and Garr walked up to the quartet. “The lighthouse is working again and I got us VIP tickets on a luxury cruise ship! Let’s get ready to ship out!” Deis said as she waved the tickets in the air.
Garr merely rubbed his snout and shook his head. The rest didn’t know whether to cheer or join Garr in looking vaguely annoyed.
To be continued…