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"You look tired...maybe you should kick back and let the rest of us handle things till you gain some strength." He said kneeling down. After being reminded of the dance he grew a little nervous again, beginning to think how it would go if they did get to dance. "Yeah...kind of a shame it was all a hoax." He felt bad not being able to give her some form of physical help. There was one way, but she probably wouldn't agree to it. Unless she wouldn't mind him becoming exhausted himself.
"Everyone's tired, we should find a place to rest." Enzo said. He figured that, since quite a few of them were noticeably worn out. Kyoya finally emerged from the fake Sorcerers, he had been in there for a while. "So, if that way is a dead end, we'll go the opposite of that direction. These islands are bigger then what you may think." Red explained. His arm felt numb, but he had turned his shirt into a makeshift cast for it.
"Alright. Let's go." Enzo seemed different then normal.
Silver stood up, wiping her face when she realized she was crying. Everyone had been fighting and she was sitting there being weak? She can't let herself do that. "I'm fine, sorry for not being here with you guys. I don't know what happened." She spoke in a monotone voice, making it seem like she probably didn't care about whatever had gone down. However, it was the opposite. She was upset with herself for not staying with the group and getting taken away by that man. She was also upset that without her swords, she was pretty much useless. Trying to ignore the whole situation before she got there, she turned to Eos and looked at her for a moment, as if she was about to break down. It felt like Eos was trying to comfort her, and Silver appreciated that more than she would ever let on. She stopped herself and simply smiled at Eos, trying to assure her that she was okay. In reality, she wanted to find that man again and ask him more questions about her mother, which just thinking about made her tense up.
But she couldn't let anyone else see that.
Despite Volitaire doing all he could to help, and making quite the considerate gesture, Eos found herself getting upset with his statement. She wasn't the useless type, and didn't want others to think they needed to fight for her. This was the type of misunderstanding most girls fell into, not realizing that Volitiare was just trying to keep her safe like JD had requested. It was the the red stone necklace began to faintly glow. "No... I... I'm going to help too!" The throbbing glow of the stone seemed to rejuvenate her somehow unbeknownst to Eos.
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"You ready, Silver?" She had yet to see the girl fight, but was sure she had power to offer as well. "We need to stick together, we are already down one person..." Her eyes glanced over to Enzo's arms where Sasha laid unconscious as she took Silvers hand and followed along with the group, she was always very quiet so by holding her hand Eos could make sure nothing strange happened to her again - not considering whatever pulled her away from them was something out of their control.
Silver looked at the ground. She wished to help, but she couldn't since she had been a bit off with her magic lately, not to mention the fact that she didn't have her swords. Before she could object, Eos grabbed her hand and was leading her along, following the rest of the group. She decided to just remain quiet and walk along with Eos, hoping she wouldn't become a burden to them.
"What happened... while you were gone? You don't have to tell me, but... something seems terribly wrong." A worried look washed over her, as she tried to keep her voice low. The aura around her was thickening and making it impossible for Eos to pretend it wasn't there.
Silver gave the girl a blank look. "...Don't worry about that." She really didn't want to talk about it, but at the same time she felt like she should tell her. Someone should know, she figured.
But she doesn't need to know right now.
"I-It's not really important."
And so, they walked down the path, in the realm known as The Gaze. It wasn't long until they came across a sign. It read: 1/2 miles to Anvil
Enzo stopped, his arm getting a little more worn from carrying Sasha, but he didn't complain. He read the sign. "Anvil.. is that a town?" "Yeah." Kenji replied. "Will we see any of those... spirits again?" Enzo asked. Red, who was leading the group, turned around and came back when he realized they stopped. "There are some spirits in The Gaze which are restless... Most are friendly, and just relieve their lives." Red explained. "Relived their lives...?" Red nodded, and started to continue walking. "Yeah, now let's keep going, we don't want to get ambushed by something new, do we?"
Making a good point, they continued on.
30 minutes passed, the sky was getting dark, and fast. Though the small, light orbs lit the way in the forest, and they eventually ended up walking into a small town. http://i48.tinypic.com/33urcxg.jpg
The villagers there were spirits, but held full, physical bodies. Here, they lived on as if they were still alive.
"Ahh~ The Gaze is beautiful.." Enzo said in amazement. "There's an Inn down the road, over there." Red pointed to it, and thankfully, the lights were on. "You guys go ahead, i'll come in later." Red walked off into a nearby alleyway. Enzo shrugged, still amazed at the sight. He carried Sasha into the Inn Red pointed out.
Taking the hint, Eos kept quiet most of the way back. She hoped that in time, Silver would share but assumed that if she were to - it would be when they were alone. She didn't seem the type to like attention, and knew that if it was something that was really bothering her she wouldn't feel comfortable telling everyone.
"We should probably get Sasha to the Inn." Stating the obvious, she looked around - knowing the Inn was priority but she couldn't help being filled with questions. "What kind of spirits are here? The good one's or the bad one's? Or... both?"
Kenji stopped beside Eos. "Well, if they were evil, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this place, and they wouldn't even seem so homely." He adjusted his fedora a bit, to look at the moon, or was it really the moon?
Enzo walked into the Inn, the door was unlocked, and some casual music was playing in the background.
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At the desk was an old man, who didn't give off any ghostly vibes at all. "Come on, son." He beckoned him. Enzo quickly walked over to the desk, and the man saw the girl he was carrying. He switched glances between her and him, raising an eyebrow. Then, he spoke. "You aren't from around here, are you?" He asked. His old face curved an innocent, aged smile. "N-no sir." Enzo replied. "Well, the price for a medium sized room is 50 gold." Gold? He wondered. "I.. uh. .don't.." He stammered, not sure what to do if he couldn't find a safe place for him and his friends to rest. The old man saw the rings on Enzo's fingers, and his eyes opened like blinds. "You're.." The aged man stammered as well. He wiggled his finger at the stairs. "Free.. free for you and company." He said, with a large grin. Enzo blinked. "O-oh! Thanks!"
Enzo quickly made his way up the stairs and took a vacant room. It consisted of only a bed, a drawer, a table, some chairs, a chest, and a few candles. He laid Sasha down on the bed, sighed, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He wasn't too tired, just sore from combat. He went back downstairs, and the old man presented him to a chair. a large feast had been prepared, seemingly from nowhere. He sat down, and the old man sat across from him.
Two days. They had been at Sorcerers for two days- and already the twins had found themselves in quite a bit of trouble. Everything about the Gaze made JD uneasy; from the floating islands, to Sasha’s madness, to Silver’s quietness, and Voltaire’s power. Even Enzo seemed to be not of his usual sorts, or at least that is what he could fathom as they walked.
JD rolled up his sleeve as he strolled along. He unbuttoned the cuffs and pulled the grayish dress shirt’s sleeves upon to his elbows. There were long black lines on the underside of his arms, or at least it looked to be so; but in truth it was small words written in Latin that had been compacted so tightly it looked like lines. Where had they come from? Eh- that was another story for another day. Either way they slid up his flesh and into his shirt giving the idea that they kept going for the entire length of his arm. He seemed nonplussed that they were out there and casually rammed his hands into his pockets as they strolled.
The town was a welcome sight, but at the same time insanely alien to him. JD paused in his step as he looked at it, and then he set his lips into a fine line. Red peeled off and JD just shrugged at the motion, “don’t get your arm ripped off again- that first one was a freebie.” He called after the boy before following the group into a quaint looking- well- tavern. While JD had come from what many would say a more rustic civilization- nothing he had visited had ever looked like this intentionally. There were many themed pubs, but never one to go so far as to truly give off the air of authentic fantasy.
Everyone had their fatigue, wounds, and soreness to deal with- except for JD. He sighed. Maybe if something attacked them in the middle of the night he could deal with, but otherwise he wasn’t looking for a nice place to rest by the fire and get warm. Truth be told he had an odd feel of excitement roll over him- it was like there was something electric in the air.
Entering the tavern, her eyes scanned the patrons meandering around the Inn. "These are all... spirits?" She said in astonishment, as her heart began to patter, a hope springing out inside it. As that feeling rose up in her stomach, the stone on her chest began to dim - falling dormant once again.
Following Enzo up the stairs, she examined the rooms. All of them were singles, "I hate sleeping alone..." It was true, one of the reasons she wished she actually had a dorm mate back at Sorcerers. She had grown so accustomed to falling asleep alongside her brother, being alone made her uneasy.
Letting go of Silvers hand (finally), she nodded a smile. "Go on in and relax, I'll find us... some kind of drink and snack and come back up." Maybe then she would be able to unwind.
But first she made her way over to JD, pulling him away from everyone else to whisper in his ear. "We have to look for Mum and Dad." Pulling away she gave him a stern look, emphasizing her seriousness. If Sasha could encounter her deceased brother here, why wouldn't they be able to find their parents? Perhaps they were members of this peaceful village!
Little did Eos know, there was no way her parents would be anywhere inside a serene place such as this.
She laid there, still unconscious for the the next five minutes or so. The tattoo had subsided, and curled only a little bit around the corner of her eye at this point. The girl stirred, slowly blinking herself awake. Sasha immediately sat up, " Who, what, where?!" it took her a moment to remember what had happened, " ...Right...brother..." She touched her left eye; it no longer burned, but it was still red in color. Sasha shook her head, " Now is not the time to think about this...Where the hell am I, and how'd I get here?!"
A sudden flash rippled through her mind; Sasha remembered being carried by someone...someone warm? She couldn't seem to put her thumb on who it was, but she did feel safe with them. Sasha flushed a little at the memory, then shook it away again, " Che, can't think about that either!"
Sasha stood up, looking down on herself, " Tch, still in this idiotic dress...Wonder what I'll do about that..."
Sasha's eyes flitted from one place to the next, and finally landed on a dresser. She opened it, only to find one lousy frilly outfit, to her dismay. With a sigh, Sasha began to undress, " S'not like I'll find anything better..."
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Silver sat in a nearby chair after Eos finally let go of her hand. She said she was going to get some drinks and a snack and come back, meaning she probably wanted to know about what happened before. Should she tell Eos about her family?
She looked around the room, searching for Voltaire. He seemed to know her uncle, so maybe he would know something. When she couldn't find him, she leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling in defeat.
"Uh, Innkeeper sir?" Enzo spoke. He didn't know of a name, and he didn't want to say Mr.ghost, either. "Yes?" "Why the food, and the free rooms?" The man laughed. "Well, you are royalty, are you not?" "Royalty? Not at all." The man took a sip of whatever liquid beverage he had with him. Strange, everything there felt real. "Mm, your memories are not back, yet." Enzo looked around, and saw his friends lingering around the Inn normally.
"Do you not wish for your peers to know?" Looking back at the man, rather patheticly, he shook his head. "Very well - You look sore, there is a hot spring in the back which some of our soldiers go to after their patrol. Feel free to use it anytime." "T-thanks.." Enzo replied. "As for now, I'll get some herbal tea ready, enough for you and your peers." The man got up, and walked over to the stand, there, he started preparing tea.
She groaned after gazing into a mirror, " Geez, I look like a damn idiot," Sasha gritted her teeth, " I guess I should go find the others...Not that I want to see them or anything, I just think it will be more helpful.." She nodded to herself as she slipped out the door, and began to wander the halls, " Hmm..."
JD glanced to his sister and let his brow rise slowly. “E, do you think that is a good idea?” JD whispered back. Not that he didn’t want to see them as well but he didn’t honestly know where to start- much less what they were looking for. He knew the gist of what his parents had looked like through pictures and fading memories, but who knows how they would appear before them now. Maybe nothing would have changed, or maybe everything would have. JD knew so little of the Gaze that he was unsure of venturing off to find their parents. Usually he was the gung-ho reckless one, but he was finding himself a bit more cautious given the statute of ‘life’ here. “Hm- maybe later- I don’t really want anyone following us or anything.” JD figured thousands of questions would arise if they tried to back out now, and so he just left their exploration up to a later date.
JD walked with Eos back to Silver, and waved a bit. “Everything copacetic?” He inquired as he tilted his head a bit to the side.
The ceiling, unfortunately for Silver, wasn't very exciting. Her focus on the ceiling was broken when she heard a familiar voice, looking to see that it was JD. She looked down to her hands. "Everything is fine," she said quietly. Perhaps a bit too quiet, she wasn't even sure if he heard her. She was still unsure if she wanted to talk to other people about her family at all, but she also thought it might make her feel better after keeping it all in for all her life.
She was disappointed at first, but Eos understood her brothers caution. "Alright, I'll look for you once everyone is asleep." Walking with her over to Silver she smiled and elbowed JD in the side, "Everything is perfectly fine over here! Oh - right, the snacks!" She was on her way down the hall to run downstairs but stopped suddenly when Sasha popped out of her room.
"Sasha?" Screeching to a halt she squealed happily. "You're alright!" Wrapping her arms around her she pulled back and giggled. "Nice clothes?"
She looked startled, " Wh-"
Sasha wasn't used to being welcomed with such...vigor, " U-Uh..." She looked around, searching for a way to escape. When she found none, Sasha groaned inwardly. The groan transferred out of her mouth when she heard the next comment, " Pff, no, I wish I could get out of this stupid looking dress."
“What?” JD leaned in and pressed a cupped hand to his ear. “I can’t hear you! What did you say?” He stated in a strained voice as if he really had had some issue listening to her words. She seemed to want to say she was alright but act entirely opposite. “Oh you said you want company and want to talk about where you had run off too and how it negatively impacted your emotions-? Sure I would love to listen.” JD ignored his sister's jab and felt the urge to prod. She always wanted to make people happy, and dear lord sometimes it got to be a bit much.
It was then he pulled a chair up to hers and sat there with a coy smile on his lips awaiting whatever she might say (or might not say considering her legendary silence).
Silver couldn't help but smile a little at his actions. She sighed and opened her mouth to talk, but closed it for a moment. After a couple seconds she opened her mouth again.
"Just some family issues, is all."
Family issues? Could they be considered family issues if you don't even consider those people family?
Enzo stood up after drinking his herbal tea. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, and it helped clear his thoughts, but the idea of a hot springs sounded way more effective. Back in Italy, there were no hot springs, none like this, anyway.
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On the side of the Inn was a set of towels. Thank god. Enzo thought to himself. The springs seemed empty, so he could relax in peace. He had the sudden urge. After some fumbling, his clothes hit the floor, and Enzo dropped into the hot springs like a cannonball. The water was just as it was advertised. Hot. Enzo quickly pulled his head from under the water. "Haaah! IT-IT-IT-IT-IT-IT-IT-" He held his burning face. Another bad move by him. He had only managed to splash the water in his face more, causing him to flail about the water until it cooled. Once he gained control of himself, he acted as a submarine and kept only his head and shoulders visible, even though the water glowed, it was too cloudy to see through. "So this is what a hot spring feels like.. My.. my..." He said.
So caught up with Sasha, Eos completely missed what JD had done - and the fact he was now pursuing what was bothering Silver. In the long run, this was a good thing. Although Eos wanted to do her best to help her new found friend, JD and Silver had an automatic connection that seemed to work well. Even though she would hate to admit it, Silver was better off talking with JD than the female twin.
"Have you even looked in a mirror? These kind of soft colors suit you - despite your unmatched personality." Sticking out a tongue, she teased. "Come on, Enzo will be really happy to see you!" Pulling her down the stairs, she grinned, anticipating the look on his face when he saw that Sasha was recovered. (It was now apparent that Eos had quite the attention deficit, seeing as now she wasn't even thinking about snacks. It was also even more apparent that she enjoyed tugging people along.)
Looking around she pouted, "Where is Enzo?" Without another word, the man from earlier pointed toward the door out back. "Thank You~!" Running out she stopped suddenly - "Oooo! Look! A hot spring! And it's Enzo! Hi Enzo!" She waved rapidly.
She nodded, " Yeah, and it looked horrible," Sasha muttered, " I look like a wuss. " She appeared to shake off the blonde girl's comment, instead feeling a slight warmth reaching up to her cheeks when Enzo was mentioned, " I-I don't need to show that idiot!" Sasha protested, but was pulled along anyways, " H-hey!"
Sasha and Eos found the guy at the hot springs, and immediately, Sasha felt a self conscious emotion float up again. She tugged at the bottom of the frilly dress, and tried to look anywhere but him, though she was used to seeing half naked male bodies, from being with her siblings all day.
She managed to find her way back to the others, but not without some difficulty. It was hard to go exploring on her own with her sensing abilities compromised. She ended up in the back, behind the Inn and near the hotspring.
"Hey, guys." Maya hummed as she approached, sitting down beside the spring. She let her feet dangle in the water, having taken her shoes off long ago. She looked back at everybody and smiled."Damn, it is pretty warm." After approaching, she realized her presence was probably unwanted. Enzo's sudden change of expression signified that. "Oh, I'll go away. Sorry." She said weakly, feeling as if the whole day was just a long series of mishaps and rejections. I was never a social person, anyways. She began to get up, looking around quickly.
“Family issues?” He offered a dower frown. “Why does family have to be the bane of the students of Sorcerers?” JD sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he let those blonde locks fall back into his face. He glanced over Silver’s face for a moment as he tried to find the right words to say. Different people elicited a need for different responses. Silver was a bit harder than most considering her reserved nature, but he hoped he could continue to charm her.
“Sorry family has to bring you down like that Silver- buddy ole pal. But that is the biggest of your worries you can rest easy knowing that most everyone here shares that pain. So- when- you- feel like talking about it: talk away. I blather everyone’s ears nearly off on a daily basis- I could use a good ole lesson in listening.” It was the he slowly stood, and offered a long stretch which caused his shirt to become a bit un-tucked. When he relaxed back downwards he finished the job and looked back to Silver. “And if I can help in any way, form, or fashion do let me know; even if that way, form, or fashion is kicking ass and taking names.” It was then he considered it and added a quick addendum- “unless that is a little sister of some sort. I don’t think I could take on a younger, tinier, but just as cute version of yourself.”
Enzo quickly turned around and saw Eos. "EOS?!" He shouted. "SASHA?!" He quickly stood u- Enzo stopped himself just in time, and submerged completely underwater, his face was red, not from the heat of the water, but from embarrassment. He could see Maya, leaving with a frown on her face. Do something about this. You'll kill yourself under here. His flame said to him within his mind. Suddenly, Enzo's flame appeared underwater, he was under enough emotional abuse to automaticly switch his form. Hyper Enzo stood straight up out of the water. "Where are you going, Maya?" It was then that he realized that his clothes were missing.
Silver looked up at him as he stretched, smiling little. He was being so sweet to her, but why? What reason had she given him? It could have been simply because he was that kind of guy; a charming guy who just likes pleasing others. Whatever it was, she did enjoy it.
"Sister?" She had never thought about that. What if she did have a sister or brother somewhere? The thought made her uneasy. "N-No, I don't think so.."
Alright, she decided to briefly explain her situation to him, if not just because she didn't want him to leave her yet.
"It's just, well.. I don't know my family.. Because they abandoned me shortly after I was born. N-Needless to say, I don't really like them too much.. The reason this is upsetting me now is because I.." She paused for a moment. "..Apparently, I just met my uncle."
"Just over-" Maya fell silent as she turned to look at Enzo. She stayed silent. Keeping eye contact with Enzo, she tried to opress a smile and said, "Well, nowhere now." That was all she could do before she turned red and began giggling uncontrollably, her moment of self control vanishing. "Sit down," she managed to make out inbetween giggles, shaking her head and turning around, away from Enzo.