章節 23: From Strangers to Allies.
Leaves fall from the tall treetops, the sounds of twigs breaking resound over the echoing bark of the trunks, scrabbling of lizards on tree bark alert Belial, wind whistles around trunks, disturbing the leaves, and the melodic sound of the birds chirping fills all of their ears.
Asahi and Aletha silently standstill after the shout from the deep feminine voice. After a few quiet moments, the deep voice bellows again to the wanderers.
"Hey, over here, you dummies!"
They turn their heads to their furthest right and see a beautiful dark-haired woman sitting on a log with her bare legs gleaming from the scintillating rays of the vivid sunlight.
She has a tall adult figure, slightly above average height, dark amethyst-colored eyes, fair skin, and long dark hair stretching to the bottom of her hips. She wears an aggressive-looking chest plate, torn obsidian-colored shorts, a tight black leotard, imperceptibly torn leggings, which extend from the bottom of her knees to her ankles.
She crosses her arms and smirks at them under her mask.
"I think you already heard of me. My name is Drimi. I wouldn't say I like those who mess around and yap all the time. Best I better run away or shut their darn mouths. Ugh, so I heard that we are all going to introduce each other? Is that true, Be-be?"
Belial bites his lip, falls into a slight embarrassment, and clenches his fists. He shuts his eyes and releases a lengthy sigh.
"I told you… not to call me that Drimi. Yes, that is correct."
Drimi hardly chuckles and slaps her thigh across with her hand. She perks her head to Belial and replies with a friendly tone.
"Don't have to be such a snowflake, Be-be! I was callin' you by the nickname I use all the time! Anyways, since we're here all gatherin' up around a campfire, it's best if these two dunderheads introduce themselves first."
Belial chuckles and shakes his head. He mutters to himself as he backs up towards the wanderers.
"She does have a strong... accent. Drimi can have a masculine personality sometimes. It's because she wants to keep the personality of her dead father still intact, although he died a long time ago. She is just trying to preserve her father's personality and follow in his footsteps. Despite the way she acts, she still has femininity in her appearance,"
He takes a long sigh, thinking about his past experiences with her split personalities.
"When you hear Drimi like that, please… avoid her, or try not to anger her. She can be quite masculine and dominant with her broken mind as it is, and she can sometimes call you a bad nickname, too, just like me. To me, I like both of her personalities. After all, both of her personalities are friendly."
Asahi and Aletha turn their heads to Akwan. They see him muttering to himself while his head is tilted towards the ground and his fingers tapping on his bottom lip.
"No wonder why she is so powerful. I keep forgetting that her dead father's spirit resonates within her soul, thus making her extremely powerful. Heh, Wraileza is quite the fierce nation. Unlike all the other six nations, it seems Wraileza is the strongest one."
Drimi confusingly shouts to the wanderers while spreading her arms into the air.
"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourselves?!"
Asahi and Aletha slowly nod their heads. Asahi steps forward proudly while grasping his chest. His long white hair slowly sways back and forth, his gray eyes glisten with the sunlight, and he smiles confidently. As the breeze blows through his silk hair, Asahi conversably shouts to them.
"My name is Asahi! I am a wandering god... looking for the fragments of our sister!"
Drimi whispers to herself while her eyes glow for a moment.
"Fragments? Sister?"
As Asahi backs up, Aletha steps forward and introduces herself quietly.
"My name is Aletha. I am, too, a wandering god. I am also looking for the fragments of our youngest sister. I see that this place has changed; N-Nice to meet you."
The wanderers nod their heads and bow in front of them, showing that they have elegance and overall decent manners when it comes to strangers. After a few moments, all four of the strangers clap their hands, and the wanderers take a seat next to Drimi since that is the only spot available for them.
Immediately, Drimi wraps her arm and pushes the wanderers closer to her with brute force. Her grip and strength are firm and manly, not matching that her appearance is elegant and lovely.
These two forces don't seem to match up, at least to the wanderers' minds, but it looks like Drimi can defy that rule and create her own persona without obstructions. It's quite strange, but it is nothing peculiar for the wanderers.
As the sounds of the birds sound over the treetops, Drimi whispers to the wanderers with a friendly tone in her deep voice.
"It seems we two will get along just fine."
As they all stare at the campfire, the wanderers take a look at their surroundings once more.
Behind them are tall deciduous trees stretching from all corners, along a narrow pathway that expands through the forest and crosses a crystal clear creek, and a faint white mist lingering within the area.
They turn their heads back to the group and the fire.
"The wildlife in Nortmire is expansive among the forests..."
Aletha shakes her head and sees a modest silver-haired boy with bright white cat ears resting on the ground near Belial's arm. He wears the same attire he did when Asahi and Aletha first met. She knows exactly who the boy is. Aletha faintly mumbles.
"Sadiki...?"
Belial inclines his head and pricks his hair once more. He lightly snickers and sighs, then replies to the wanderers.
"Indeed. We found Sadiki on the ground back when we were at The Great Fountain. He said that he knows both of you... so we took him with us. He says that he is a powerful ally... so... we gave him a chance. Please don't wake him up. He's resting."
Akwan raises his hand and questions Belial with a hasty tone.
"Can we have a moment to explain what the Wanderers can do to achieve their wishes? We only have so much time before it reaches dusk..."
Belial's emerald eyes widen, and he points his finger.
"Of course! Let me comfort the Wanderers first..."
Belial lightly grabs Asahi's shoulder and pulls him towards a long fluffy fur blanket. Belial then pulls Aletha to her blanket. She presses her bottom against the soft material of the fabric and turns her head.
Asahi is right next to her, just a few centimeters apart.
As they wiggle their toes, Belial begins to explain what happened.
"An evening ago, before The Ceremony, The Royal Meeting occurred. Every ruler in Gincad was there, celebrating and toasting to a new generation. However, when our Queen was chosen to speak, she spoke falsely about our actions. She made us look like dirt to the world. We have been heroes for this region,"
He clenches his fists and snarls.
"We saved lives, and we changed people's hearts; we protected the nation for almost fifty years. We worked with the Queen ever since we were young. Yet even after all the heroic and positive actions that we have done for the Queen and the city, she made us look like wretched mice to the entire world. We lost our respect when we didn't follow the Queen's orders for the first time, getting spat on and fooled. But we had enough of the Queen..."
Belial clenches his fists in anger and tilts his head. His lips quiver and his eyes tremble. He grits his teeth and bitterly speaks.
"We won't take such a decisive action from the Queen again. All of us hope that one day, we will find The God of Purity and overthrow the throne of Pladtioa. We will retrieve our respect from Pladtioa. The wanderers will have to work with us and nourish people with their dire requests. No matter how daunting the task is, we will find the greatest threat, and all of us, including the wanderers, put a stop to it. Once you have reached that goal, then... we will answer your deepest questions and lead you to your needs."
A long silence forms among the circle as the campfire blazes once again.
All of them stare at the blazing fire, except the wanderers. The scorching fire reminds both of them of the calamity.
The scorching cyclone high in the sky, the collapsing mountains, and the heaven-piercing pillars all fill their most profound memories. Abruptly, the wanderers turn their heads away from the fire and sigh.
Ten minutes of tense silence after, Asahi and Aletha stare at the fire profoundly.
All the wanderers assume is to discover what occurred during the meteor shower and possibly find out where their lost colors and memories are. Aiyana's fragments will have to regain The Four Knights' respect from the citizens of Pladtioa first.
Asahi and Aletha accept that they will be called Wanderers. After all, they love the term as it explicitly recites them.
The term itself is what precisely classifies them in the first place, 'lost souls trapped in a strange world with no memory or idea of who they once were, now wander the world to find what was now relentlessly stolen from them.'
After the long silence, the dark-haired woman introduces herself to the Wanderers.
"Now that you have your quest given, we can finally take the time to introduce ourselves. My name is Drimi. I am also a Wanderer wishing to seek the variety of this world. I come from the crystal country known as Wraileza,"
Drimi slightly pulls her dark mask over her mouth, then shows a smile.
"I will be happy to assist you in retrieving what you were. In the name of my family, an oath goes that 'No being who is standing on two feet, will never lose something neat.' That quote will always resonate within my beating marrow. Please, don't be alarmed by my second personality. I'm just doing it… for my father."
She grasps her chest and stands up tall. Her long silky black hair sways to her right, sun rays beam over her figure, generating a heroic and robust aura around her. Drimi then bows down and nods her head.
"This concludes my introduction..."
After her introduction, the platinum-haired girl that was short and small suddenly grows to her standard form. She stands up shyly and hovers her hand over her mouth.
Despite her height, the woman generates an adorable aura, just like when she was in her child form. The cute atmosphere surrounding this woman doesn't seem to change, despite her condition.
Aletha and Asahi fall into shock for a moment, and then they calm themselves down.
After the breeze blows over Sally's long silky hair, she momentarily shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath. A silence forms as everyone glares at Sally, waiting for her to speak and introduce herself. After a moment, Drimi yells at Sally while clapping her hands and cheering her on.
"You can do it, Sally! Just believe in yourself! Remember what I said."
Samantha nods her head and lightly smiles. She takes another deep breath and shyly begins to speak.
"My name... is Sally Brishment."
She rolls her thumbs and swiftly turns her head away from them. Her chest moves in and out, her legs tremble, and the pace of her breathing grows rampant.
Drimi hastily approaches Sally and forcefully turns her head towards all of them. Her two faint eyelashes glimmer. She shuts her eyes and fiddles with her hair. Drimi hovers her mouth over Sally's soft ear and whispers.
"Please don't feel shy. Speak up... you're a tall woman, after all! You can do it if you know how to do it."
As Sally twiddles her thumbs, tries to relax, and sees the wanderers, she quiveringly responds.
"I c-can't. I don't know how to--"
Drimi swiftly covers Sally's mouth with her palm and stares directly at her light pink eyes. She firmly grabs Sally's chin and whispers with a small smile.
"Just say what is in your mind. Don't slump into shambles. Be proud of yourself..."
After a few moments of stillness, Sally parts her eyelids and takes a deep sigh. She steadily steps in front of Drimi and lifts her voice.
"M...My name is Sally Brishment. I am one of the newest of the Four Knights. I am the younger sister of the Queen of Astait's family a-a-and I am seeking to grow prideful about myself, a-and I want to become just as brave as my sister."
She pushes her feet against the dirt and tries to sprint away from them. Sally trips on a twig and falls straight into the ground. Belial covers his mouth and tries not to chuckle. She lifts her head with dirt scattering all over her face. Tears slowly slid down her cheek. Sally squeals with a red look.
"I can't do it! I'm too scared. I don't know how to speak to people anymore..."
Drimi shakes her head and facepalms. She slowly approaches Sally and grabs her hand with a smile on her face. She quietly mutters to Sally.
"It's okay, Sally... you did it already. It's fine…."
* * * * *
After the 'incident' that occurred, Belial stands up and coughs, eager to introduce himself. His dark braided hair sways left and right once more, and his legs stand up straight. He softly shakes his head and claps his hands. As Asahi and Aletha watch him quietly, Belial speaks.
"My name is Belial. I am from a rural town in the nation of Zomrack. In the past, my parents treated me poorly, and I had little to no experience with living freely. I would always steal from them and save for something better. Zomrack had limited amounts of water. It was enough to satisfy only three people in my town,"
He recollects his memories of him fleeing away from the dry, suspended sandhills of Zomrack. The nation's landscape is different compared to everywhere else. The purest form of water runs through the mixed, divided sandhills of Zomrack and the lush forests behind the massive bordering wall.
He gives a faint sigh, then continues while remembering the giant pyramids.
"So, when I had enough money saved up... I fled to the region of Linux and entered the city of workshops. I asked a man to craft a water tower for me with the ten thousand Gincoins I have…."
He shakes his head, then stands tall, giving a small smile to the wanderers.
"Fortunately, he accepts but goes the extra mile for construction. Two days later... he crafted a limitless water tower that would satisfy an infinite number of people. Surprisingly, the price I had to pay was half of what I had. He saw... a needing town in my eyes..."
He briefly grins and tilts his head to the blue sky. Belial resumes in his soft voice.
"When I returned from Linuxinia with the water tower, my parents were angry, saying that I deserved punishment for stealing their money. But then they saw the water tower, and the citizens saw it too. Their minds shifted almost immediately. I am known for making bad things turn into good things. I commit sins and crime, but change them to virtues, and deeds afterward..."
They all sit still as the fire burns rapidly. The sun slowly sinks from the noon sky and brings with it the time of Afternoon. As he smiles with a trance, Belial tilts his head up and scratches his head.
"Heh Heh... That was a long time ago. Now that you know who we are, I think this is a great opportunity to go to Milmoor. It's a town next to a forest..."
Belial approaches the snoozing Sadiki and swiftly pushes him off. Sadiki's eyes swiftly open, and he yells in a soft tone in his voice.
"H-Huh? Where am I...? Who are you--"
He sees Aletha and Asahi standing up next to the Four Knights, Akwan, Sally, Drimi, and Belial. Sadiki swiftly smiles and asks in a gentle, cute tone in his voice.
"Are we leaving...?"
Drimi swiftly nods her head and tilts her long leg a few degrees.
"Yes, we are leaving! Get your lazy butt up and follow us! We are going to travel towards Milmoor. They have plenty of weak slimes and training dummies for the Wanderers to practice. Do you want to come with us?"
Sadiki nods his head and sprints back to the group.
Sally extinguishes the fire with her swirling water and ice magic. Nothing but the rising steam remains.
Asahi and Aletha jump up and sprint behind the group, gazing at the strangely alien environment surrounding them. And all of them advance on the trail then begin walking up the hill to the peaceful village of Milmoor.
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