![[Fanfic] Adventures in Madrigal Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
Hallo I'm writing a flyff fanfic, please read it for me, a writer without a reader is pointless. Don't worry you dont need to know shit bout flyff to read it.
Althea, Seir, and Crescent walk through the town of Flarine together. Small, rural style buildings and a plethora of trees make up the town, along with the mysteriously floating pieces of land and airships in the sky. After they cross the bridge from Northern Flarine to Central Flarine, they stop at the magic fountain in the middle of the town. Althea takes her water bottle out of her backpack and fills it up in the fountain, gulping it down. Seir splashes his face, then takes a handful of water and sips it, only to spit it right back in the fountain.
“That stuff is just as hot as it is out here! I will never understand how you can drink this stuff every day.” He says, dramatically scraping his tongue with his fingernails.
“Free stuff is free stuff. Can't complain about the quality of water when you're homeless. I drink water to stay hydrated and keep on living, not for the taste.” Althea says, then gulps down the rest of the water, filling the bottle right back up when she finishes.
“Well, that makes sense. I'm glad I'm not in your shoes.” Seir says, leaning against the fountain with his arms crossed.
“Don't fall for her trap, Seir. She's trying to play you into feeling sorry for enough to get her off the hook for her stupidity today. Nice try Althea, but you're still paying.” Crescent says.
Althea doubles over and starts coughing, as if someone hit her in the gut. “Ouch...it doesn't feel good being hit by a bus...How are you going to just throw me under like that?!” she complains, clutching onto her stomach.
“Whoa, what?! You tried to play me?! Not cool! Just for that, desserts on you too!” Seir exclaims with a balled fist.
“No, there's no way I'm doing that! You know I've been saving up for a new sword! Besides, there's no written rule that says anything like that!”
“Yes there is.” Crescent says, taking a small notepad out of her backpack and shoving it at Althea. “Rule #4: Anyone who tries to cheat their way out of paying after going full retard is required to pay for something extra as well.”
“Y-You can't be serious...this is seriously a written rule?” Althea says as she reads it for herself.
“You would've known that if you would actually read our group rule book. Knowledge is power.” Crescent says, sternly.
“But reading is so lame! You and Seir can handle it because you're going to be Classes that require book smarts!”
“Poor Althea.” Crescent pets Althea's head. “Don't worry, you won't be spending anymore than 800 Penya at most. You can make that back in just a few days of our giant hunting.”
Althea continues complaining and trying to protest her way out of it, but Crescent grabs her by the back of her shirt and drags her along. They stop at East Flarine, in front of a colorful building titled “Laleen Food Court.” Inside, the dry heat of the summer seems to disappear in an instant as they are relieved by the air conditioning. Seir and Crescent take their seats while Althea waits in the long line to place their orders. When she comes over to the table with their food, she notices that Crescent already started showing Seir her drawings.
“Hey if you were going to make me pay, couldn't you have at least waited on me?” she says as she sits the bag containing their food down on the table.
“Oh, I'm sorry, Althea. I just got a little excited...I feel like my drawing skills have gotten even better.” Crescent apologizes.
Seir closes his eyes, inhaling deeply, taking in the mouthwatering scent coming from the bag. “Time to dig in!” He says after exhaling, digging into the bag to take out his foot long chili cheese dog and tater tots. Althea takes out her extra spicy chicken burrito, then hands Crescent the cup noodles she requested. Seir and Althea quickly take huge bites out of their food, splattering sauce on the table, so Crescent puts her notebook back in her backpack while they eat.
“So.” Althea says while chewing. “What's the plan for today? Kick a Giant Bang's ass?”
Crescent chuckles. “The Giant Bang? We can barely handle the Giant Demian!” She says, trying to hold back her laughter. “Seriously, we need to stick within our boundaries.”
“Ugh, but there are so many weaponsmiths that would pay good for the Bang's hammers and blades! We would be making so much more money if we could kill it!”
“We're doing alright for beginners though, Althea.” Crescent says, placing her hand on her friends shoulder. “We've been making a good amount of money selling the daggers and knives from the PukePuke and Demian, haven't we?”
“Studying might be more important than giant hunting right now anyway. The graduation test is just two weeks away. If you blow it, you'll have to wait until next year to become a Class.” says Seir, licking his fingers after finishing his food.
Althea stares at him blankly with her head cocked to the side, blinking at him. “Are you being serious right now? Studying more important than money?”
“Hey, if you don't mind getting a 37% on the test and staying a Vagrant, that's on you. Just keep in mind that you will no longer be of any use to the CAS Giant Hunting Guild if that's the CAS e.”
Althea rolls her eyes. “Oh, don't get all high and mighty with me like that! The Guild isn't even official yet. Without me, it wouldn't even be CAS – Crescent, Althea, Seir. It'd just be a lame CS! And the minimum number of people a guild can have is three.”
“So you've got all your facts straight here, but not in the classroom?” Seir says, scratching his chin.
“I'm always smart when it comes to relevant things like Guilds. That's why I know for sure I'm going to ace the Mercenary test. There's not going to be anything irrelevant about it!” Althea replies, confidently.
Once they all finish their food, Crescent takes her notebook out again, flipping through the pages until she reaches four of her drawings and takes them out, sliding them towards her friends. Her phone then unexpectedly starts ringing. When she sees who's calling, her smile slowly disappears and she bites her lip. “I'll be right back. Tell me what you think when I come back.” she says, getting up and walking to the bathroom.
“That was a little odd, don't you think? Why'd she have to go to the bathroom to answer her phone?” asks Althea.
“Dunno, maybe she's got a secret boyfriend or something?” suggests Seir, picking meat from between his teeth with his fingernails.
“Pfft, Crescent? A secret boyfriend? No she doesn't! You're the only guy I've ever seen her talk too. Unless YOU'RE her secret boyfriend?!”
“Don't be dumb, there aint a chance in hell anything like that's going on between me and her. Just keep your trap shut and check out her art before you say something else ridiculous.” Seir replies, picking up one of the pictures.
The first one is a very detailed sketch of a woman's face with eyes that have no color, and long, flowy blue hair. It looked as if she was a transparent spirit made entirely out of water, with the reflection of the moon shown through her. On the top right corner of the paper read 'Herness' in perfect hand writing.
The second one is another woman's face, facing to the left, with long green hair that blew to the side as if it itself was the wind. Like Herness, her eyes lack pupils, and on the top right of the paper is wrote 'Ipuli'.
Third is a full body, very colorful picture of a man standing in the forest, with closed eyes and his hand placed on the bark of a tree, smiling. He seems to be wearing some type of armor made from plants and leaves up to his waist, stopping right under his ripped abs. Rabbits and squirrels surround him, some seated on his shoulder, while others nuzzle on his legs. “Shelid” it reads on the top right corner, like the previous two.
Fourth is another full body picture of a bald man kneeling on one knee, reaching his right hand out in the air. Above his hand is the sun, as if he's holding it in his palm, and he's wearing a very long, flaming cloak that seems to be fire itself. It's so long that it stretches all the way to the floor and rolls out several feet. “Raon.”
“Damn these are good. Surprised she drew something like the five Creators instead of demons for once.” comments Seir.
“There is no way someone with this much talent shouldn't be making any money off their work!” exclaims Althea as she sorts through them. “But isn't there supposed to be five? This is only four.”
Seir looks through them again and scratches his chin he realizes she's right. “Maybe she just forgot to take it out? I don't see why she would draw four and not the fifth.”
After several minutes, Crescent comes out of the bathroom. She no longer has her glasses on, showing her sky blue eyes more clearly. Her friends notice that her eyes look red and puffy while there's a single tear on her cheek, as if she's been crying. She flicks it away, then sits back in her seat. “Sorry for taking so long. What did you guys think, have I gotten any better?” she asks, as if nothing happened.
Seir and Althea stare at her in awkward silence for a short moment, not sure what to say to her. “Oh dear...they were terrible, weren't they?” Crescent says with a gasp, then quickly grabs the drawings and puts them back in her notebook.
“What? No, your art is amazing! It's like you're a professional or something! I was just wondering why you took your glasses off, that's all.” responds Althea.
“Oh, my glasses? I won't be needing them any more today, so I put my contacts in instead.” Crescent says with a fake smile. “Don't want another pair to break...” she whispers under her breath
“Another pair to break? What are you talking about, Crescent? Are you okay? Who were you on the phone with?” asks Seir, slamming his palms on the table and rising to his feet.
Crescent flinches at her friends reaction. “Why are you guys interrogating me? My parents told me I left one of my drawings at home, that's all.”
“Oh, that explains why there's only four.” says Althea.
“Yeah, sorry guys...I was really looking forward to showing you all five. How could I be silly enough to forget one...?” Crescent says, hanging her head with a sniffle.
Seir let's out a deep sigh of relief. “Ah gee, THAT's why you were crying? You really had me worried for a second there.”
Althea stretches her arms out and smiles. “Well with that out of the way, is everybody ready to kick some Giant masquerpet ass?”
“What? Didn't I already say we need to be studying? Are you trying to be the brick that drags us down?!” Seir asks, furiously.
“You can't take a break from making money! Our income has to keep flowing in and increasing every single day! Besides, Crescent is the leader, so it's ultimately her decision, not yours.”
Both of them then turn their eyes to Crescent, expectantly. A bead of sweat trickles down her forehead with her friends expecting a verdict from her. “U-Uhm, well, you're both right. We need to keep our money flowing in every day if we want to afford our Guild House, but we also need to make sure we're ready to ace our tests. So, basically, we need to decide how to fit both studying and hunting giants in our schedule for the next two weeks.”
“True, true. Being a BillPoster is all about balance between intelligence and physical strength after all. Guess I got a little too focused on the intelligence part. But how are we going to manage this? It'll be quite a tight schedule.” Seir says.
“Okay, then how about everyday after school, we hunt the giants, then on the weekends, we get together to study?” suggests Althea.
Crescent shakes her head. “No, that's not an even balance. You put five days on fighting and only two on studying. We need same amount of time on both.”
“Everyday after school, we spend the day hunting giants and trying to sell what we take from them, then we crash at Crescent's place to study at night?” suggests Seir.
“That sounds fine and dandy, but it's studying every freaking night! I say HELL NO to that!” exclaims Althea.
They continue to argue over how they should manage their time, and get so caught up in it that they don't even notice when a short girl with brown hair in pig tails, wearing a lavender dress with a heart on the chest comes over to their table. “Uhm, excuse me...” she says.
After several minutes, Crescent looks up and notices her. “Oh, sorry! You're the waitress, right? You can go ahead and take this stuff, we're finished.” she apologizes, sliding their dishes and trash to her.
“I hate to enter butt into your business, but were you guys just talking about fighting giants?” the waitress asks while taking their dishes and trash.
Seir and Althea now notice her as well. “Yeah, we go around beating the stuffing out of giants and selling what we can take from them. Why do you ask?” asks Althea.
“That's perfect!” the waitress exclaims. “You see, my big sister Losha, she's the owner of this food court. One day when she was little, she got lost in the middle of the Leren Mountains, where she found a cute little puppy named Yorn. When our parents found her, they let her keep the puppy.”
“That's a cute story and all, but what does it have to do with us fighting giants?” asks Althea, interrupting the waitress's story.
“Yorn suddenly disappeared a few weeks ago and Losha has been looking all over for him. She's so depressed...she won't eat, drink, or sleep until she finds Yorn. She's really falling apart. What's worse is, she hasn't been home the past few days. I think she went searching for him in the Leren Mountains, where she found him. I'm so worried...she must have gotten lost, and the mountains are guarded by the Giant Lawolf and it's pack!”
“Oh I get it, you want us to take out the Giant and find your sister and her dog? Sounds like quite the adventure.” says Seir.
“Yes! Please, I beg of you! I'll pay you however much you want!” the waitress pleads, grabbing Seir's hands and looking into his eyes with a terrified expression.
“HECK YES!!!” exclaims Althea, jumping to her feet. “Come on gang, we've got ourselves some over sized masquerpet ass to kick!” she says, and darts outside.
Crescent sighs. “That girl...she could have at least changed out of her school uniform before deciding to be a reckless idiot.” she shakes her hand and stands up. “Don't worry, we will find your sister and her dog and bring them both back safely. Come on Seir, CAS has a mission to complete.”
Last edited by Linda-Senpai on Sat Feb 06, 2016 9:58 pm; edited 1 time in total
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 :
Once upon a time there was five creators, full of different, infinite powers. These creators eventually got quite bored of it just being the five of them in the universe, so they decided to create a world, built up by parts of their own selves. Firstly, Herness decided that their world's inhabitants should require one main element to live, so she added water to the world. Second, Ipuli was creative enough to come up with the concept of breathing, so she added some of her wind to the world. Third, Shelid though that their world would need an endless cycle, so he added the land, plants, and come up with the concept of eating. Fourth, Raon added fire to keep their creatures warm and soothe their spirits. Finally, Ishirut added lightning, so that when their creatures, which they later named as Humanity, look up at the night sky, they are reminded that the creators are always watching and they are never alone.
With their creativity put together, they kept coming up with concept after concept, and eventually, their world was complete, and they decided to call it Roika. Their world came out perfect, just as they had envisioned it. The creators always watched over their world with a smile, but then the humans started to pray for the creators to give them friends other than themselves.
So they created the Drawpets: short, strange looking humanoid creatures with great intelligence and many secrets. The Drawpets and Humans lived happily together for centuries and together they manifested the rest of the world.
However, with everything so happy go lucky, the creators got bored of watching over Roika, so they prepared to leave. With tear-streaked faces, the humans and drawpets begged their creators to stay. Sadly, they refused, but they did realize they couldn't leave their world with no watcher, so they created the Goddess Rhisis. They shaped her in the form of a stunningly beautiful human girl with golden hair and brown eyes, and they clothed her in red, hooded robes. Then, trusting some of their knowledge with the Drawpets, and left Rhisis with the mission of watching over Roika for eternity.
Rhisis watched over Roika for thousands of years, just as she was told, but, being a powerful Goddess, she found it hard to get along with creatures so far beneath her. She had no friend, no one else in this world on her level of power to be her companion and occupy her mind. Then she came up with an idea. Why not create her own creatures? After all, she is a Goddess, surely she can create something of equal or close power to her so that she could have a friend.
Not only was she able to create one God, but she created three, all of which stemmed from her own emotions. First there was Bubble, who represented her happiness and love for the creators. Then there was Shade, who represented all her hate, sorrow, and shame of being abandoned by the creators. Finally, there was Iblis, who represented her apathy for the world of Roika. She decided to give these Gods the form of clowns, and call them the Three Clown Gods.
Acting just on what she represented, Shade took off on a mission to destroy Roika, as punishment to her creators for abandoning her. Using her all powerful magic, she severed a huge chuck of Roika and set it afloat in the sea. Then she used her mind magic to steal the knowledge the creators gave to the Drawpets, killing most of them off, leaving the species nearly extinct. Shade flew off, cackling, thinking her work here was done, expecting the humans to soon die off. But they worked together with the few remaining Drawpets to survive, rebuilt their land, and continued to live on. This chunk of land soon became known as Madrigal.
Shade's anger only made her even more angry. This time, she created a whole army of creatures known as Masquerpet, and sent them off to destroy Madrigal and all it's inhabitants.
Bubble heard the cries of the people, and knew Shade had to be stopped at all costs. He tried to convince Iblis the same, but he didn't care at all about what happens to this world, so Bubble confronted Shade himself. The two God's had a battle of epic proportions. Their battle got so intense that it split Madrigal into three continents, scattering Masquerpets all over the world of Roika.
While the God's battled, the humans also fought against the Masquerpets in an all out war. As the war raged on, humanity lost hope and began to give up, running in fear from Shade's ultimate Masquerpet, Clockworks. Eight brave heroes refused to give in, and sacrificed their lives to cage the titanic, mechanical arachnid.
Shade, acting in the fearful side of her, fled from Bubble, so he and the inhabitants of Madrigal won the war. More and more generations have passed, and humanity has grown strong once more. But peace has never been fully restored, as Shade's Masquerpets are still spread all over the world. But today's generation knows the legend of the eight heroes, and along with knowing that they are from safe and that Shade can return at any time, they prepare themselves for the worst.
“...And that concludes chapter three. Are there any questions?” the teacher asks, closing the book he's holding in the palm of his hand. He faces his class of teenage Vagrants all dressed in the same black uniforms. The hand of a magenta haired female student quickly shoots up. “You have a question? What?” the teacher asks with a raised eyebrow, and all eyes in the classroom turn to her.
“Yes!” she exclaims, jumping to her feet. “How long do you plan to talk us to death about boring crap no one cares about?”
The classroom suddenly feels awkwardly silent, with the only sound that can be heard being some of the classmates trying to hold in their laughter. Others, especially the white haired girl sitting next to hair, stare at her like she's a damned fool.
“Excuse me? Your history is something that all you little Vagrants should be eager to learn.” replies the teacher, glaring at her with an expression that would make any student sit right back down and shut their lips. Any student except sixteen year old Althea, that is.
“But I'm not here to learn history, I'm here to become a Mercenary! All you do is repeat stories we already know from our childhood! This class is pointless!”she argues back.
“Oh you think you're already so well educated, do you? Your test scores certainly aren't showing it. What was the score you got on your continents test? 37%.” The teacher says, walking towards Althea's desk with his arms folded behind his back.
Althea's face flushes red at the mention of her test score. She can hear a couple of the students behind her whispering about how they got a 100% on that easy test. “T-That's only because your multiple choice tests are dumb! There's always more than one correct answer, you can't blame me if the correct answer I choose isn't the one you wanted!”
The teacher chuckles. “Okay, in that case I have a pop quiz for you, 'Misses Know it All'. Why do we call the northern rivers here in Flaris the Rivers of Weeping?”
Althea flinches and takes a step back at his question. “U-Uh...that's not fair, I'm pretty sure we haven't gotten that far yet...” She says, scratching the back of her head.
“WRONG!!! Hundreds of years ago, a Drawpet told us one of the secrets the Creators gave his people. According to him, before humanity was created, there were beings known as the Caoins. Caoin means to weep, and they resided right by the rivers, which is why we call them the Rivers of Weeping! There aren't many tales of the Caoin's because only the Drawpets know of them. If you had been paying attention, you would have heard this in my lecture today!” The teacher scolds her furiously in his booming voice.
“W-What the heck does the name of a river have to do with becoming a Class?”
“With that attitude of yours, you will be a Vagrant forever. Now be silent and return to your seat!” He walks back over to the front of the classroom, opens his book, and continues reading to them from chapter four.
Althea slumps back to her seat, crossing her legs and resting her head on her fist, staring out the window. “This is so stupid.” she whispers with a yawn, completely ignoring the lecture.
“Come on Althea, if we can do this, you can too. It's actually really interesting when you think about it.” says the girl with shoulder length white hair, sitting next to her.
“Maybe to someone like you, but even you have to admit that this shit has absolutely nothing to do with us becoming a Class. How is knowing any of this going to help you achieve your goal of becoming a Psykeeper?” replies Althea.
“Well I suppose it doesn't. But even still, knowing your history is knowing who you are. You'll never know when you might need to know this type of stuff. Plus, it gives me so much more to draw. I can't wait to show you my sketch of Clockworks.” She says with a smile, pushing her glasses up.
The teacher suddenly stops talking, and turns his gaze to the two girls. “HEY, Crescent!!!” He shouts, and she quickly stands. What the hell are you doing talking in class?!”
“S-Sorry, sir...” she replies, hanging her head in shame.
“You're my top student, it isn't like you to do something so ignorant! Talk in class one more time, and I'll move you from my star student right down to the shit list!”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir...” Crescent says, sitting back down in embarrassment. The teacher then goes on with his lecture as if nothing happened.
Althea manages to endure the lecture until class is out, then moves onto her next classes for three more hours, until school is finally out for the day. “Ah, what a long day!” she says as she shuts her locker and puts her backpack on.
“We're only in school for seven hours a day, it's not that bad.” says Crescent, as they walk outside together.
“Cress, I swear, you're such a nerd. No sane person can actually enjoy the subjects that don't relate to the Classes.”
“Knowledge is power. Come on, there's only two weeks left until we can take the Class test! You can hang in there until then.” Crescent encourages, patting her friend on the back.
“Yo! Wait for me!” a male voice calls out to them. They turn around and see a boy with pale skin and black hair that covers his right eye. When he catches up with them, he rests his hands on his knees, panting.
“I thought I told you two to wait for me at the lockers from now on? You know my last hour class is all the way up at the third floor!” he complains.
“Hey, it's not like we left you or anything. You know we wouldn't do that!” replies Althea.
“Yes you would! You've done it several times this month already!”
“Poor Seir.” says Crescent, petting his head.
Seir rubs his stomach as it starts to growl. “Man, I'm starved! Let's go get some grub!”
Althea licks her lips at the thought of food. “You said it! All this learning has got me hungry like a wolf!”
Crescent nods. “Yes. While we sit down and eat I can show you two my latest drawings. The foods all on Althea, though.”
Althea staggers back in shock. “WHAT?! Who told you to go and make a decision like that?!”
“You were a complete, total idiot in history class today! Have you forgotten rule #3 already? Anyone who goes full retard must buy food for everyone! How do you get 37% on a test anyway?” exclaims Seir.
“Because the test was pointless! I do great in every subject that actually relates to the Classes! I'm sure you didn't do so much better anyway!”
Seir rolls his eyes at her. “I got a 95%! That test was freaking easy! Next time, don't try to talk smart to the teacher if you're failing his class!”
The two of them continue to bicker at each other for several minutes until they both run out of stuff to say. In the end, Althea agrees to pay this once, and the three of them walk outside together
With their creativity put together, they kept coming up with concept after concept, and eventually, their world was complete, and they decided to call it Roika. Their world came out perfect, just as they had envisioned it. The creators always watched over their world with a smile, but then the humans started to pray for the creators to give them friends other than themselves.
So they created the Drawpets: short, strange looking humanoid creatures with great intelligence and many secrets. The Drawpets and Humans lived happily together for centuries and together they manifested the rest of the world.
However, with everything so happy go lucky, the creators got bored of watching over Roika, so they prepared to leave. With tear-streaked faces, the humans and drawpets begged their creators to stay. Sadly, they refused, but they did realize they couldn't leave their world with no watcher, so they created the Goddess Rhisis. They shaped her in the form of a stunningly beautiful human girl with golden hair and brown eyes, and they clothed her in red, hooded robes. Then, trusting some of their knowledge with the Drawpets, and left Rhisis with the mission of watching over Roika for eternity.
Rhisis watched over Roika for thousands of years, just as she was told, but, being a powerful Goddess, she found it hard to get along with creatures so far beneath her. She had no friend, no one else in this world on her level of power to be her companion and occupy her mind. Then she came up with an idea. Why not create her own creatures? After all, she is a Goddess, surely she can create something of equal or close power to her so that she could have a friend.
Not only was she able to create one God, but she created three, all of which stemmed from her own emotions. First there was Bubble, who represented her happiness and love for the creators. Then there was Shade, who represented all her hate, sorrow, and shame of being abandoned by the creators. Finally, there was Iblis, who represented her apathy for the world of Roika. She decided to give these Gods the form of clowns, and call them the Three Clown Gods.
Acting just on what she represented, Shade took off on a mission to destroy Roika, as punishment to her creators for abandoning her. Using her all powerful magic, she severed a huge chuck of Roika and set it afloat in the sea. Then she used her mind magic to steal the knowledge the creators gave to the Drawpets, killing most of them off, leaving the species nearly extinct. Shade flew off, cackling, thinking her work here was done, expecting the humans to soon die off. But they worked together with the few remaining Drawpets to survive, rebuilt their land, and continued to live on. This chunk of land soon became known as Madrigal.
Shade's anger only made her even more angry. This time, she created a whole army of creatures known as Masquerpet, and sent them off to destroy Madrigal and all it's inhabitants.
Bubble heard the cries of the people, and knew Shade had to be stopped at all costs. He tried to convince Iblis the same, but he didn't care at all about what happens to this world, so Bubble confronted Shade himself. The two God's had a battle of epic proportions. Their battle got so intense that it split Madrigal into three continents, scattering Masquerpets all over the world of Roika.
While the God's battled, the humans also fought against the Masquerpets in an all out war. As the war raged on, humanity lost hope and began to give up, running in fear from Shade's ultimate Masquerpet, Clockworks. Eight brave heroes refused to give in, and sacrificed their lives to cage the titanic, mechanical arachnid.
Shade, acting in the fearful side of her, fled from Bubble, so he and the inhabitants of Madrigal won the war. More and more generations have passed, and humanity has grown strong once more. But peace has never been fully restored, as Shade's Masquerpets are still spread all over the world. But today's generation knows the legend of the eight heroes, and along with knowing that they are from safe and that Shade can return at any time, they prepare themselves for the worst.
“...And that concludes chapter three. Are there any questions?” the teacher asks, closing the book he's holding in the palm of his hand. He faces his class of teenage Vagrants all dressed in the same black uniforms. The hand of a magenta haired female student quickly shoots up. “You have a question? What?” the teacher asks with a raised eyebrow, and all eyes in the classroom turn to her.
“Yes!” she exclaims, jumping to her feet. “How long do you plan to talk us to death about boring crap no one cares about?”
The classroom suddenly feels awkwardly silent, with the only sound that can be heard being some of the classmates trying to hold in their laughter. Others, especially the white haired girl sitting next to hair, stare at her like she's a damned fool.
“Excuse me? Your history is something that all you little Vagrants should be eager to learn.” replies the teacher, glaring at her with an expression that would make any student sit right back down and shut their lips. Any student except sixteen year old Althea, that is.
“But I'm not here to learn history, I'm here to become a Mercenary! All you do is repeat stories we already know from our childhood! This class is pointless!”she argues back.
“Oh you think you're already so well educated, do you? Your test scores certainly aren't showing it. What was the score you got on your continents test? 37%.” The teacher says, walking towards Althea's desk with his arms folded behind his back.
Althea's face flushes red at the mention of her test score. She can hear a couple of the students behind her whispering about how they got a 100% on that easy test. “T-That's only because your multiple choice tests are dumb! There's always more than one correct answer, you can't blame me if the correct answer I choose isn't the one you wanted!”
The teacher chuckles. “Okay, in that case I have a pop quiz for you, 'Misses Know it All'. Why do we call the northern rivers here in Flaris the Rivers of Weeping?”
Althea flinches and takes a step back at his question. “U-Uh...that's not fair, I'm pretty sure we haven't gotten that far yet...” She says, scratching the back of her head.
“WRONG!!! Hundreds of years ago, a Drawpet told us one of the secrets the Creators gave his people. According to him, before humanity was created, there were beings known as the Caoins. Caoin means to weep, and they resided right by the rivers, which is why we call them the Rivers of Weeping! There aren't many tales of the Caoin's because only the Drawpets know of them. If you had been paying attention, you would have heard this in my lecture today!” The teacher scolds her furiously in his booming voice.
“W-What the heck does the name of a river have to do with becoming a Class?”
“With that attitude of yours, you will be a Vagrant forever. Now be silent and return to your seat!” He walks back over to the front of the classroom, opens his book, and continues reading to them from chapter four.
Althea slumps back to her seat, crossing her legs and resting her head on her fist, staring out the window. “This is so stupid.” she whispers with a yawn, completely ignoring the lecture.
“Come on Althea, if we can do this, you can too. It's actually really interesting when you think about it.” says the girl with shoulder length white hair, sitting next to her.
“Maybe to someone like you, but even you have to admit that this shit has absolutely nothing to do with us becoming a Class. How is knowing any of this going to help you achieve your goal of becoming a Psykeeper?” replies Althea.
“Well I suppose it doesn't. But even still, knowing your history is knowing who you are. You'll never know when you might need to know this type of stuff. Plus, it gives me so much more to draw. I can't wait to show you my sketch of Clockworks.” She says with a smile, pushing her glasses up.
The teacher suddenly stops talking, and turns his gaze to the two girls. “HEY, Crescent!!!” He shouts, and she quickly stands. What the hell are you doing talking in class?!”
“S-Sorry, sir...” she replies, hanging her head in shame.
“You're my top student, it isn't like you to do something so ignorant! Talk in class one more time, and I'll move you from my star student right down to the shit list!”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir...” Crescent says, sitting back down in embarrassment. The teacher then goes on with his lecture as if nothing happened.
Althea manages to endure the lecture until class is out, then moves onto her next classes for three more hours, until school is finally out for the day. “Ah, what a long day!” she says as she shuts her locker and puts her backpack on.
“We're only in school for seven hours a day, it's not that bad.” says Crescent, as they walk outside together.
“Cress, I swear, you're such a nerd. No sane person can actually enjoy the subjects that don't relate to the Classes.”
“Knowledge is power. Come on, there's only two weeks left until we can take the Class test! You can hang in there until then.” Crescent encourages, patting her friend on the back.
“Yo! Wait for me!” a male voice calls out to them. They turn around and see a boy with pale skin and black hair that covers his right eye. When he catches up with them, he rests his hands on his knees, panting.
“I thought I told you two to wait for me at the lockers from now on? You know my last hour class is all the way up at the third floor!” he complains.
“Hey, it's not like we left you or anything. You know we wouldn't do that!” replies Althea.
“Yes you would! You've done it several times this month already!”
“Poor Seir.” says Crescent, petting his head.
Seir rubs his stomach as it starts to growl. “Man, I'm starved! Let's go get some grub!”
Althea licks her lips at the thought of food. “You said it! All this learning has got me hungry like a wolf!”
Crescent nods. “Yes. While we sit down and eat I can show you two my latest drawings. The foods all on Althea, though.”
Althea staggers back in shock. “WHAT?! Who told you to go and make a decision like that?!”
“You were a complete, total idiot in history class today! Have you forgotten rule #3 already? Anyone who goes full retard must buy food for everyone! How do you get 37% on a test anyway?” exclaims Seir.
“Because the test was pointless! I do great in every subject that actually relates to the Classes! I'm sure you didn't do so much better anyway!”
Seir rolls his eyes at her. “I got a 95%! That test was freaking easy! Next time, don't try to talk smart to the teacher if you're failing his class!”
The two of them continue to bicker at each other for several minutes until they both run out of stuff to say. In the end, Althea agrees to pay this once, and the three of them walk outside together
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 :
Chapter 2
Althea, Seir, and Crescent walk through the town of Flarine together. Small, rural style buildings and a plethora of trees make up the town, along with the mysteriously floating pieces of land and airships in the sky. After they cross the bridge from Northern Flarine to Central Flarine, they stop at the magic fountain in the middle of the town. Althea takes her water bottle out of her backpack and fills it up in the fountain, gulping it down. Seir splashes his face, then takes a handful of water and sips it, only to spit it right back in the fountain.
“That stuff is just as hot as it is out here! I will never understand how you can drink this stuff every day.” He says, dramatically scraping his tongue with his fingernails.
“Free stuff is free stuff. Can't complain about the quality of water when you're homeless. I drink water to stay hydrated and keep on living, not for the taste.” Althea says, then gulps down the rest of the water, filling the bottle right back up when she finishes.
“Well, that makes sense. I'm glad I'm not in your shoes.” Seir says, leaning against the fountain with his arms crossed.
“Don't fall for her trap, Seir. She's trying to play you into feeling sorry for enough to get her off the hook for her stupidity today. Nice try Althea, but you're still paying.” Crescent says.
Althea doubles over and starts coughing, as if someone hit her in the gut. “Ouch...it doesn't feel good being hit by a bus...How are you going to just throw me under like that?!” she complains, clutching onto her stomach.
“Whoa, what?! You tried to play me?! Not cool! Just for that, desserts on you too!” Seir exclaims with a balled fist.
“No, there's no way I'm doing that! You know I've been saving up for a new sword! Besides, there's no written rule that says anything like that!”
“Yes there is.” Crescent says, taking a small notepad out of her backpack and shoving it at Althea. “Rule #4: Anyone who tries to cheat their way out of paying after going full retard is required to pay for something extra as well.”
“Y-You can't be serious...this is seriously a written rule?” Althea says as she reads it for herself.
“You would've known that if you would actually read our group rule book. Knowledge is power.” Crescent says, sternly.
“But reading is so lame! You and Seir can handle it because you're going to be Classes that require book smarts!”
“Poor Althea.” Crescent pets Althea's head. “Don't worry, you won't be spending anymore than 800 Penya at most. You can make that back in just a few days of our giant hunting.”
Althea continues complaining and trying to protest her way out of it, but Crescent grabs her by the back of her shirt and drags her along. They stop at East Flarine, in front of a colorful building titled “Laleen Food Court.” Inside, the dry heat of the summer seems to disappear in an instant as they are relieved by the air conditioning. Seir and Crescent take their seats while Althea waits in the long line to place their orders. When she comes over to the table with their food, she notices that Crescent already started showing Seir her drawings.
“Hey if you were going to make me pay, couldn't you have at least waited on me?” she says as she sits the bag containing their food down on the table.
“Oh, I'm sorry, Althea. I just got a little excited...I feel like my drawing skills have gotten even better.” Crescent apologizes.
Seir closes his eyes, inhaling deeply, taking in the mouthwatering scent coming from the bag. “Time to dig in!” He says after exhaling, digging into the bag to take out his foot long chili cheese dog and tater tots. Althea takes out her extra spicy chicken burrito, then hands Crescent the cup noodles she requested. Seir and Althea quickly take huge bites out of their food, splattering sauce on the table, so Crescent puts her notebook back in her backpack while they eat.
“So.” Althea says while chewing. “What's the plan for today? Kick a Giant Bang's ass?”
Crescent chuckles. “The Giant Bang? We can barely handle the Giant Demian!” She says, trying to hold back her laughter. “Seriously, we need to stick within our boundaries.”
“Ugh, but there are so many weaponsmiths that would pay good for the Bang's hammers and blades! We would be making so much more money if we could kill it!”
“We're doing alright for beginners though, Althea.” Crescent says, placing her hand on her friends shoulder. “We've been making a good amount of money selling the daggers and knives from the PukePuke and Demian, haven't we?”
“Studying might be more important than giant hunting right now anyway. The graduation test is just two weeks away. If you blow it, you'll have to wait until next year to become a Class.” says Seir, licking his fingers after finishing his food.
Althea stares at him blankly with her head cocked to the side, blinking at him. “Are you being serious right now? Studying more important than money?”
“Hey, if you don't mind getting a 37% on the test and staying a Vagrant, that's on you. Just keep in mind that you will no longer be of any use to the CAS Giant Hunting Guild if that's the CAS e.”
Althea rolls her eyes. “Oh, don't get all high and mighty with me like that! The Guild isn't even official yet. Without me, it wouldn't even be CAS – Crescent, Althea, Seir. It'd just be a lame CS! And the minimum number of people a guild can have is three.”
“So you've got all your facts straight here, but not in the classroom?” Seir says, scratching his chin.
“I'm always smart when it comes to relevant things like Guilds. That's why I know for sure I'm going to ace the Mercenary test. There's not going to be anything irrelevant about it!” Althea replies, confidently.
Once they all finish their food, Crescent takes her notebook out again, flipping through the pages until she reaches four of her drawings and takes them out, sliding them towards her friends. Her phone then unexpectedly starts ringing. When she sees who's calling, her smile slowly disappears and she bites her lip. “I'll be right back. Tell me what you think when I come back.” she says, getting up and walking to the bathroom.
“That was a little odd, don't you think? Why'd she have to go to the bathroom to answer her phone?” asks Althea.
“Dunno, maybe she's got a secret boyfriend or something?” suggests Seir, picking meat from between his teeth with his fingernails.
“Pfft, Crescent? A secret boyfriend? No she doesn't! You're the only guy I've ever seen her talk too. Unless YOU'RE her secret boyfriend?!”
“Don't be dumb, there aint a chance in hell anything like that's going on between me and her. Just keep your trap shut and check out her art before you say something else ridiculous.” Seir replies, picking up one of the pictures.
The first one is a very detailed sketch of a woman's face with eyes that have no color, and long, flowy blue hair. It looked as if she was a transparent spirit made entirely out of water, with the reflection of the moon shown through her. On the top right corner of the paper read 'Herness' in perfect hand writing.
The second one is another woman's face, facing to the left, with long green hair that blew to the side as if it itself was the wind. Like Herness, her eyes lack pupils, and on the top right of the paper is wrote 'Ipuli'.
Third is a full body, very colorful picture of a man standing in the forest, with closed eyes and his hand placed on the bark of a tree, smiling. He seems to be wearing some type of armor made from plants and leaves up to his waist, stopping right under his ripped abs. Rabbits and squirrels surround him, some seated on his shoulder, while others nuzzle on his legs. “Shelid” it reads on the top right corner, like the previous two.
Fourth is another full body picture of a bald man kneeling on one knee, reaching his right hand out in the air. Above his hand is the sun, as if he's holding it in his palm, and he's wearing a very long, flaming cloak that seems to be fire itself. It's so long that it stretches all the way to the floor and rolls out several feet. “Raon.”
“Damn these are good. Surprised she drew something like the five Creators instead of demons for once.” comments Seir.
“There is no way someone with this much talent shouldn't be making any money off their work!” exclaims Althea as she sorts through them. “But isn't there supposed to be five? This is only four.”
Seir looks through them again and scratches his chin he realizes she's right. “Maybe she just forgot to take it out? I don't see why she would draw four and not the fifth.”
After several minutes, Crescent comes out of the bathroom. She no longer has her glasses on, showing her sky blue eyes more clearly. Her friends notice that her eyes look red and puffy while there's a single tear on her cheek, as if she's been crying. She flicks it away, then sits back in her seat. “Sorry for taking so long. What did you guys think, have I gotten any better?” she asks, as if nothing happened.
Seir and Althea stare at her in awkward silence for a short moment, not sure what to say to her. “Oh dear...they were terrible, weren't they?” Crescent says with a gasp, then quickly grabs the drawings and puts them back in her notebook.
“What? No, your art is amazing! It's like you're a professional or something! I was just wondering why you took your glasses off, that's all.” responds Althea.
“Oh, my glasses? I won't be needing them any more today, so I put my contacts in instead.” Crescent says with a fake smile. “Don't want another pair to break...” she whispers under her breath
“Another pair to break? What are you talking about, Crescent? Are you okay? Who were you on the phone with?” asks Seir, slamming his palms on the table and rising to his feet.
Crescent flinches at her friends reaction. “Why are you guys interrogating me? My parents told me I left one of my drawings at home, that's all.”
“Oh, that explains why there's only four.” says Althea.
“Yeah, sorry guys...I was really looking forward to showing you all five. How could I be silly enough to forget one...?” Crescent says, hanging her head with a sniffle.
Seir let's out a deep sigh of relief. “Ah gee, THAT's why you were crying? You really had me worried for a second there.”
Althea stretches her arms out and smiles. “Well with that out of the way, is everybody ready to kick some Giant masquerpet ass?”
“What? Didn't I already say we need to be studying? Are you trying to be the brick that drags us down?!” Seir asks, furiously.
“You can't take a break from making money! Our income has to keep flowing in and increasing every single day! Besides, Crescent is the leader, so it's ultimately her decision, not yours.”
Both of them then turn their eyes to Crescent, expectantly. A bead of sweat trickles down her forehead with her friends expecting a verdict from her. “U-Uhm, well, you're both right. We need to keep our money flowing in every day if we want to afford our Guild House, but we also need to make sure we're ready to ace our tests. So, basically, we need to decide how to fit both studying and hunting giants in our schedule for the next two weeks.”
“True, true. Being a BillPoster is all about balance between intelligence and physical strength after all. Guess I got a little too focused on the intelligence part. But how are we going to manage this? It'll be quite a tight schedule.” Seir says.
“Okay, then how about everyday after school, we hunt the giants, then on the weekends, we get together to study?” suggests Althea.
Crescent shakes her head. “No, that's not an even balance. You put five days on fighting and only two on studying. We need same amount of time on both.”
“Everyday after school, we spend the day hunting giants and trying to sell what we take from them, then we crash at Crescent's place to study at night?” suggests Seir.
“That sounds fine and dandy, but it's studying every freaking night! I say HELL NO to that!” exclaims Althea.
They continue to argue over how they should manage their time, and get so caught up in it that they don't even notice when a short girl with brown hair in pig tails, wearing a lavender dress with a heart on the chest comes over to their table. “Uhm, excuse me...” she says.
After several minutes, Crescent looks up and notices her. “Oh, sorry! You're the waitress, right? You can go ahead and take this stuff, we're finished.” she apologizes, sliding their dishes and trash to her.
“I hate to enter butt into your business, but were you guys just talking about fighting giants?” the waitress asks while taking their dishes and trash.
Seir and Althea now notice her as well. “Yeah, we go around beating the stuffing out of giants and selling what we can take from them. Why do you ask?” asks Althea.
“That's perfect!” the waitress exclaims. “You see, my big sister Losha, she's the owner of this food court. One day when she was little, she got lost in the middle of the Leren Mountains, where she found a cute little puppy named Yorn. When our parents found her, they let her keep the puppy.”
“That's a cute story and all, but what does it have to do with us fighting giants?” asks Althea, interrupting the waitress's story.
“Yorn suddenly disappeared a few weeks ago and Losha has been looking all over for him. She's so depressed...she won't eat, drink, or sleep until she finds Yorn. She's really falling apart. What's worse is, she hasn't been home the past few days. I think she went searching for him in the Leren Mountains, where she found him. I'm so worried...she must have gotten lost, and the mountains are guarded by the Giant Lawolf and it's pack!”
“Oh I get it, you want us to take out the Giant and find your sister and her dog? Sounds like quite the adventure.” says Seir.
“Yes! Please, I beg of you! I'll pay you however much you want!” the waitress pleads, grabbing Seir's hands and looking into his eyes with a terrified expression.
“HECK YES!!!” exclaims Althea, jumping to her feet. “Come on gang, we've got ourselves some over sized masquerpet ass to kick!” she says, and darts outside.
Crescent sighs. “That girl...she could have at least changed out of her school uniform before deciding to be a reckless idiot.” she shakes her hand and stands up. “Don't worry, we will find your sister and her dog and bring them both back safely. Come on Seir, CAS has a mission to complete.”
Last edited by Linda-Senpai on Sat Feb 06, 2016 9:58 pm; edited 1 time in total