[Chapter Five: Bizarre Bazaar]
Chapter Five: Bizarre Bazaar
Atemu made himself puzzle over Shimon's scrolls, which contained detailed, but extremely cryptic notes about the pieces of the Ultimate Dragon. All he could think about, however, was Mana. Dozens of horrible scenarios played through his mind by the time his magicians returned. No news, good or ill, did they bring. There ( Read more... )
Well, technically the girl wasn't even meant to be in the Dragon Kingdom! Surely they should be planning a way to take her back without getting caught and tried by the Magicians, who no doubt would think they had done something horrendous to the young apprentice. he paused and considered their options, but found that he was lacking any at all.
"Look Mana," he began to say, looking at the other with blue grey eyes and trying his best to sound serious, even though her ever spreading cheerful aura was threatening to take him over. "I know this isn't easy for you to understand but...you're not even supposed to be here. If you get caught by Dictator Seto or any of his followers we'll all be in big trouble. SO, maybe it's best you lay low here, until we can get you back home."
He hated spouting out such censored rubbish. The guilt Amelda felt of treating Mana so childishly hurt, but at the same time the harsh reality he feared would scare her too much. The fact was they would all end up dead if the magician girl was found, however, the mercenary couldn't stand the thought of seeing that happy smile turn into a look terrified, tear stained horror.
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"Hmm, yeah, that would be kinda bad," Mana mused. If ever there was an understatement! But it was good to hear him say that he would take her home. She really wanted to tell her Prince how Amelda had saved her and taken care of her. Thieves could be good people, after all!
Optimistic despite the young man's tone, she stood up and straightened her skirt. Her clothing was a bit dirty, still a little dusty from her accident in the temple. It was one of the traditional, female mage's clothing, and it had been one of her favorite outfits. Though saddened for a moment, an idea sparked in her head.
"Maybe they wouldn't notice so much that I'm a mage if I had new clothing?" she hinted heavily. Nothing would cover-up the telltale markings about her eyes, markings all magicians had, but there were other ways to blend in a crowd.
And she desperately wanted to see what the other Kingdom was like. Besides just getting out of the cramped, tiny attic.
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It took the bewildered mercenary some time to process the information. Did this girl know anything about WHAT the Dictator did to Magicians? And she was willing to go out in middle of the city, in broad daylight in front of his follower expect everything to be okay?!
'It must be nice being so carefree.' he thought to himself. Despite the warning bells ringing in his head, and the words of danger threatening to escape his mouth, one look in soft blue eyes of the little mage, at he found himself flushing terribly.
Why was he such a pushover for those kind caring orbs?
"You're not going to stop hinting until I say yes, aren't you?" he sighed, standing up and finding a shirt ot pull over his head, along with his belt, weapons and long cloak. "Okay, but you have to stay next to me at all times, NO wandering off by yourself, understand?" he continued, trying his best to look and sound authoritative.
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"YAY!" The thrilled magician did a few happy twirls on the tips of her toes before clapping her hands together in a fervent manner. "I promise I won't wander by myself, I promise! As long as you're with me, I know I'll be safe, won't I, Amelda?"
The geniune gleam in her eyes just couldn't be denied (only her teacher had enough practice to resist her charms). She took a sheet from the bed and fixed it with some magic so that she could wear it as a cloak. It looked barely convincing, but usable. After giving the small mirror in the room a mischievious wink, she turned back to the reluctant thief.
"We'll find some breakfast first! C'mon, let's go!" She took Amelda by the hand and began to pull him. For just a moment, she felt her cheeks go pleasantly warm before it returned to wherever flushes went to.
He was such a new experience. Not in a long time had she felt so much excitement!
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Unable to protest, Amelda smiled secretly as he followed the young mage down the steps through the trapdoor, heading outside. He had to admit, she looked so happy, full of energy. In fact, she was in such a rush she zoomed straight past Varon, who in turn was knocked backwards in her wake. Well, it was amusing to the cocky thief fall of his high horse, and flat on his back once in a while.
"What in the name of-Hey, wait a minute, why is she going outside?! We'll get busted for sure, are you nuts Amelda?!" the brunette yelled from his position on the floor at his friend on seeing their so called prisoner skipping along to the horse paddock, in plain view of everyone!
Blinking, the other mercenary looked back between his comrade and the girl outside, before answering the protests curtly. "We're just going shopping."
"SHOPPING?! Has the heat finally melted your brain?! She can't go out to the market!!" Varon screamed, while the redhead tried to prevent himself from going deaf by covering his ears.
"Well, she needs something to wear so she can blend in. Besides I have to go pick up something for our dinner, all my ingredients some how...vanished." Amelda said as he crossed his arms, grinning on seeing the guilty look on the others face. "Anyway, who said they wanted me to take responsibility for her? Meaning I can let her go out if I wish, and I don't need your approval."
Growling under his breath, Varon finally struggled to stand up again and brush himself off, knowing he had been outwitted; with Amelda taking responsibility, it was really his choice, and couldn't complain, otherwise he could get landing with, what to him, appeared to be babysitting. So, all he could do was mutter to himself. "Oh, I hate it when you twist my words against me like that. It's so irritating."
In triumph, Amelda turned and walked out the door, heading towards Mana, who was playing around with the three horses in the paddock. Shaking himself, he soon realised it was going to be a lot harder than he thought to keep his mind off how cute she looked, and how nice it was to see her laughing and smiling at him.
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"Pretty, you're very pretty aren't you?" Mana cooed to one of the horses as she rubbed her hand up and down its neck. "Are you the one who carried Amelda and me through the desert? That was a long ride, wasn't it? Such a good horsey!"
One brown eye considered the magician girl for a moment before the horse shook his head, the dark hair of its mane tickling Mana's face. Then the animal nuzzled its nose in her hand, deciding somehow that it liked the little human's attention. She giggled and looked back to smile at Amelda. "Let's find some carrots for the horses, too!"
Beyond the paddock, she could see down the street the way to the beginning of the bazaar. Foriegn spices drifted on the wind towards them as a few of the locals made their way to the market, carrying their goods of fruits, breads, and various crafts. The glint of a bronze statue of a dragon caught Mana's eye, reminding her that the people here were supposed to belong to the enemy kingdom.
'It's no place for a magician,' Mahaado used to say. 'Our peoples have simply...given up understanding each other over time.'
Mana understood perfectly the importance and fun of shopping, though.
"C'mon Amelda, let's walk to the bazaar!"
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Chuckling a little at the girls bouncy behaviour, the thief smiled. He couldn't recall the last time he had actually been so lively, so optomistic and so...well happy. It had to have been a long time ago, in times of youth, naivety, when he still believed life was fair; good people led good lives and were safe and out of harms way, as they had done nothing wrong.
Now of course, he knew better. Still, there was no reason to push that harsh reality on this young mage yet. She would learn soon enough, unfortunately.
"As nice as that sounds, I have too much to bring back, so I'll need this fella's help to carry the load." he explained, adjusting the saddlebags onto the stallion, and strapping all the riding gear on tightly. "But don't worry, he'll get rewarded for the extra effort."
Carefully hoisting himself up, he swung his leg over the horse and settled into the saddle. Once he was comfortable, he offered a silent hand to Mana, hopefully making it easier for her to climb up.
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Naturally then, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Ever since she was a little mage, she had been afraid of falling from such a height, though never afraid of the horse itself.
Mana was trusting, however, that Amelda would never let her fall.
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As Mana made herself comfortable, the thief holding the reins felt very lucky she unable to see how red his face had become. Of course she had to hold on, it was the sensible thing to do, but it still made him go a nice shade of pink.
Trying to ignore such thoughts, he gave the horse a light tap in the sides, causing the animal to set off on it's way down the dusty road towards the town. Glancing at the girl briefly, he smiled slightly at how content and happy she looked. For some reason that Amelda could not understand, the thought of not seeing that bright expression once he returned her to her own Kingdom, something in his chest aching strangely.
Once again he tried to concentrate on the road as they entered the town, hoping the girl didn't notice his behaviour.
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When they entered town, they started attracting attention. Heads began turning almost immediately. Yet none of the townspeople could recognize Mana for what she was, though they did whisper to each other that seeing a girl they had never seen before was strange. Stranger still that she was with their Amelda, who wasn't known for that kind of thing. Even the merchants gave pause before advertising their wares in enticing voices.
"Would the pretty lady like jewelry!"
"Young man, buy this fine linen for your woman!"
Mana only giggled to herself.
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Unfortunately, Amelda wasn't quite as easy going about the comments. They thought he...and Mana...that they were...betrothed?!
Despite many attempts to calm himself down from the embarrassment, the mercenary was now sure his face was the same shade as his hair. All the poor man could do was walk as quickly was possible through the crowds in hope they could get away from the more insistent stall owners.
It wasn't too surprising though. He did come down a lot by himself. Only on the rare occasion when Varon wanted to look at the new riding gear, or when Raphael needed a new pair of boots (with big feet like his, he went through many pairs of shoes) did he have company on his shopping trips. However, he had to admit, being with Mana was different...nice even.
As they made their way down the street, he squeezed her hand tighter as not to lose her in the sea of people around them, even if it made the townspeople believe in their suspicions even more. thankfully the pulled into a less busy side street, so his grip slackened slightly.
They only walked a short way when they stopped in front of a small stall. It was decorated with may items from jewels and pottery to silk and leather. The man standing behind the counter immediately grinned in a sly manner at seeing Amelda in front of his little shop.
"Ah, Amelda my boy, what can I do for you this fine day?" the man greeted, though his voice had a hint of mischief in it's tone. "Have you finally come to your senses and decided to accept my generous offer?" he asked, stroking his white beard skittishly.
"Sorry Hadik, not today. You've asked me the same question every time I come here, and I always give you the same answer, no." the thief spoke bluntly, completely unmoved by the older mans words. He had heard them all too often; it was only due to getting good deals from the aging salesman that he kept coming back to his stall. "I'm here because I need clothes for my...friend."
The cheeky old man finally noticed the hooded girl behind Amelda, smirking lightly ashe snapped his fingers, and two women appeared from behind the canopy of the tent.
"Oh, you have such a pretty friend don't you? You got with assistants dear girl, and they will find something for you." he smile,d ushering them away as the girls took Mana into the back of the shop to measure and fit her for her new garments.In the meantime, the crafty elder decided to continue his previous bargaining.
"Now my boy, I think I have something you may like..."
"Stop it Hadik, I've told you already." Amelda snapped back, rather annoyed now at the old mans constant babbling.
"But this is lovely, it would look so pretty around your sweethearts neck." the salesman baited, picking up a display tray that held a beautiful silver chain, with a tiny pendant with topaz stones, in the shape of a butterfly. "She would know then how much you love her. It's a great deal! I'll trade you this fine necklace for that old locket of yours."
Sure enough, a tiny bump could be seen underneath Amelda's shirt, just a few inches down from his collar.Scratching the side of his neck, feeling the chain press against his skin, the youth glared defiantly at the old man.
"She's not even my 'sweetheart', and I still won't trade with you, get it through your head!" he shouted, trying hard to keep his voice from reaching Mana's ears in the back of the tent. Nevertheless, Hadik was still persistent.
"Why not? I am offering you a great deal! This lovely item is worth much more than that piece of scrap metal you wear."
Subconsciously clutching the pendant with one hand through his shirt, Amelda's blue-grey gaze became icy and fierce.
"First off, if it wasn't worth anything as you claim, you wouldn't be so anxious to get your filthy hands on it, would you Hadik." he hissed. "And second of all, this means more to me than any money you can offer, so knock it off." he finished, still glaring as one of the female assistants came back to talk to the old businessman.
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"The girl is almost ready," said the woman, eyes adverted from Amelda in an attempt to politely ignore his outburst. Her expression was resigned since she was used to Hadik haggling with his customers so persistantly out of their possessions. "But she wants the opinion of her gentleman friend first."
Hadik grinned, as if he knew well that the implications would indeed further fluster the easily embarassed young man. "Come, come then, we wouldn't want to keep the pretty lady waiting, now would we?"
Without allowing Amelda to take breath for his newest protests, Hadik placed his arm around the thief's shoulders and pulled him along as they followed the assistant to the entrance of the tent. The businessman continued to chatter incessently about the success of his most recent ventures until the flap of the tent was pulled away.
There Mana stood in the dazzling blue and white colors of the Dragon Kingdom. She wore pants cut to the knees, and a top that revealed her graceful shoulders and neck. A cloth was wrapped around her head in the traditional style, a protection against the hot rays of the sun.
The magician girl fidgeted a bit nervously, but she smiled. "I hardly ever wear anything but skirts! But they wanted me to try this outfit, and I really like it. What do you think, Amelda?"
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It was in that moment that the thief had completely forgotten what he was fighting about with the shopkeeper beforehand. It didn't matter though; he was too taken in with the beautiful sight before him to care.
All the breath had seemed to have evaporated from his body, as he stared at the form before him. The light seemed to catch the edges of the fabric in such a way Mana looked as if she was glowing. Her eyes were glittering, the colour matching the blue of the outfit. Needless to say, Amelda was awestruck.
Unfortunately, he recalled the chuckling man standing nearby, and promptly glared at the elder. Thankfully, the salesman knew better than to test the young man, so he ushered his assistants out of the tent to the front of the stall, where he followed afterwards.
Once they were alone, Amelda tried feebly to fight away the bright warmth that causing his face to turn pink, while his chest seemed to tighten, but in a strangely pleasant way. Deep down he knew these emotions were escalating, for the moment he chose to deny the fact. It was unclear though for who's sake he was doing it though.
Slowly, he walked towards her until he was looking straight down at the girl, finally managing to let a smile show on his face.
"You look..." he hesitated, glancing back in case the nosy sales girls where peaking around the flap of the tent. When he saw there was no one watching, Amelda carefully brushed some of the stray bangs of hair from Mana's face, gazing at her with new found happiness he could not explain, before finish his sentence. "...beautiful."
And with that, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to her forehead in a gentle kiss.
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