“A foster father?”
The day had faded into an
ominous night, the moon doing little to clear up the rising darkness. Lania
pulled the curtains over the windows and continued doing a sloppy job of
preparing fried fish. Evan had more than once offered to help her with dinner,
but she had waved him off, every single time. She was her guest and she was NOT
going to let him prepare dinner for both of them.
In the meantime, Evan had
asked about just now and asked her what else it was that she lost and what
happened to her kitchen window. Lania was hesitant to answer his questions at
first, but she even though he broke in and helped himself to her butter, she
trusted him, and decided to tell him about Luminous and all the great things he
did while he was here, and how rotten it was that he left and the picture was
gone. Evan listened without interruptions, but he did ask why he had such a
funny appearance, with the red and blue eyes and whatnot. Lania felt ashamed
that this person was saying – no exactly insults, but still bad things – about
her foster father, and she refused to tell him his name in case it led to more
insults.
“It really is bad that ‘cha
picture got stolen though,” Evan said, wincing as a loud ssssssssss sound
erupted from the frying fish. Lania jerked the pan away and lowered down the
fire, then turned to Evan. “Yes, I know I suck at frying fish so wipe that
stupid grin from your face before I slap it off.” Evan wanted to laugh at her
remark but forced himself to be quiet, so he made little pffft noises
now and again. Lania rolled her eyes but couldn’t help a grin from spreading
across her face. This person was fun.
“The glass was broken
when I went into your house,” Evan said, biting his lip. Surely, he did not
want to be reminded of his bad deed, but he felt Lania ought to know. “I saw
bread strewn over your table and the bloody bread knife. Freaked out a little,
so I just grabbed the butter and ran. Didn’t make it far until you caught me in
the head.” Lania sighed. She didn’t want to admit it, but she wished he did
take the picture. Then he would have handed it over to her, and she would be
happy.
“Mew….”
Lania jerked her head to see
Penny sitting in the corner of the kitchen, her golden eyes flitting to Evan,
and back to her. Penny was nervous about Evan’s sudden appearance because, as
all would know, they didn’t have many guests, this far from civilization. Lania
tried her best to reassure her, but nothing she said would change Penny’s
suspicious thoughts about Evan.
“Say, you wanna
know somethin’?” Evan said in that funny Henesys accent of his. Lania looked up
at him and blinked. Was there something she ought to know, or is it another one
of his endless babblings? Evan leaned back in his chair, smiling. “I’m…uh, one
of the heroes.”
Lania jerked her head up in
surprise and almost dropped the fish she was trying to dump onto a plate. The
‘heroes’ were a small group of fighters that, hundreds of years ago, sealed the
infamous Black Magician away, sparing the world a few years of his wrath. But
they said that the Black Mage, before he was sealed away, set a curse on the
heroes and they disappeared. Nobody can remember them, nowadays, but Lania
loved those stories about them, and Luminous always told her bedtime stories
about the heroes, which he strangely knew so much about.
“Wher…..” Lania’s mouth
dropped open when she realized Evan wasn’t joking. She bit her lip and said:
“Th….That’s impossible! You have to be at least a thousand years old to be a
hero….” She trailed off when her voice started to crack. Talking about the
heroes reminded her too much of the old days with Luminous, something the
wanted so much to just leave behind. She swallowed hard, wetting her dry mouth
with some water from the sink.
“Well, I’m…not really the
‘real-deal’,” Evan laughed, enjoying the dumbstruck expression on Lania’s face.
He grinned and said: “I’m the descendent of the previous hero, the Dragon
Master Freud. So I…um, I have a dragon.” Lania was at a loss for words. If it
wasn’t for the look in his eyes, she would have pronounced Evan as mad.
Dragon’s existed, yes, but the nice dragons from the dark days had all but
gone, and the few remaining dragons in the world of Maple were evil and
menacing. There was no way ANYBODY could tame them, much less this strange boy
of Henesys which looked like he could be taken down with a flick of a finger.
“So, where is it then?” Lania
said, challenging the grinning boy. Evan told her he was back in Henesys,
probably snoozing somewhere in the shade of the trees. Lania huffed, still not
really believing him, but not really thinking he was lying, either. She
remembered when she had first found Luminous in the forest. At that time, he
seemed really jumpy, and even said some things maybe Evan might think weird. Oh
well. Not like he stayed a nutcase for long.
Evan stopped
grinning and stared off into space, probably remembering some silly memory of a
dragon or something. Lania sighed and turned back to scraping the fish off the
frying pan with her spatula. Suddenly, Evan said something that took Lania by
surprise: “My mom and dad are missing, you know.” Lania turned back to look at
him, an expression of astonishment frozen on her face. Evan was biting his
lower lip and staring at the ground, so Lania KNEW he wasn’t lying. He wasn’t
the type to lie about these things, anyway.
Evan stared
back up at her and said in a low voice: “You’re lucky you never knew your mom
or dad. The heartbreak would be much worse, if you had.” He bit his lip and sighed.
An awkward silence followed which only the whistling howl of the wind broke. It
seemed like a lifetime before Evan spoke again: “My mother’s Anna. Kind woman,
never gave in without a fight. My father’s name was Grid. He was a master
farmer and breeder. He bred so many animals, the house smelled like a zoo. He
was hardworking, as well. Brother was Utah
“When I
struck ten, a found the egg of a dragon. Soon, it hatched and I set off on an
adventure with it, training to harness even more powerful skills. Met up with
the other heroes not long after. I trained so much with them; time seemed to
pass so fast. It was two years later since I last saw my family.” Evan faltered
a bit, but didn’t stop: “I missed them, ya’ know? So I asked whether I could
visit them. Naturally, the other heroes agreed and I went home. Only…..”
Evan’s shoulder’s
sagged, and his face twisted into a pained expression. Lania could tell the
worst part was yet to come, and she was right: “….my house looked ransacked. My
family was gone. Even the animals were dead. I couldn’t find my mom, my dad, or
my brother anywhere. And that was when I realized the Black Wing insignia on my
door.” He sighed after that, finally relieved he got the whole thing over with.
It must have been years since he last saw his family, and Lania felt connected
to him like she never felt with anyone else before.
“Evan,” Lania said softly. “I’m really, really sorry.”
Evan nodded
and gave her a brief smile. Lania felt really bad for him. He must have lived
through hell when he realized they were gone. Lania looked at Evan’s face, pale
and pinched with tears, and knew the best thing to do was to try and change the
subject, to get his mind away from is horrific past, so she asked him a
question that had been nagging at her: “Other heroes? There are other heroes
out there? Are they descendants too?”
Evan smiled then, and shook
his head. “No, I’m the only descendant here. You see, the curse that the Black
Mage put on the heroes was one where they were frozen in ice. They only woke up
hundreds of years later, now, really. However, the previous Dragon Master Freud
could not handle the Black Mage and passed away, so I’m the only descendant.
However, before the heroes were frozen, they were scattered throughout the
world, so when they wake, they might be miles from each other, and therefore we
have to find each other and group together and plot for another fight with the
Black Mage as the seal is weakening.”
Lania’s head spun. This all
seemed like a fairytale to her, like the stories Luminous told her before bed.
She couldn’t believe it was real. “So, you met the other heroes? The
‘real-deal’s? Tell me about them, pur-LEEAAZE!!” Lania was trying really hard
to remain calm when on the inside she was more excited than a kid before
Christmas. Evan hesitated for a moment, then began:
“First off, there’s Mercedes, the queen of the
elves and the archer hero. She specializes in the crossbow, or the ‘Dual
Bowguns’, as she calls it, because she carries two. Her town, Eurel, was frozen
by the curse as well and she is determined to defreeze the elves of her town by
defeating the Black Mage. She’s really smart, and is known as the prettiest elf
woman in the world.
“Next, there’s Aran. She’s the
warrior hero and uses a giant axe with a soul of its own, Maha. She was the
most powerful warrior in her time, but she lost her memory when she was frozen.
She’s a bit of a prankster at times, and when she plots, she goes big, not just
some silly put-a-pail-on-top-of-the-door prank. She goes extreme. She’s fun to
be with, really.
“Then, there’s Phantom. Phantom was
an infamous thief which was really good at thieving. He uses cards, or most of
the time, a cane which can actually help him steal skills, even skills that are
not his. However, a loss of a dear friend caused him to join the heroes to seek
revenge towards the Black Mage. He’s seriously committed in what he does, I’ll
give you that.
“And of course, there’s me,
the Dragon Master of today. I’m a big of a help sometimes, because I’m the only
one who really knows the world of today, with the other heroes frozen and
whatnot. But I’m physically weak, and, well, I hate to admit it, but without
Mir, my dragon, I am nothing.
“And then there’s the fifth
hero…..” Evan trailed off. Lania expected him to continue, but he didn’t.
“What’s wrong?” Lania asked, the wind from the broken kitchen window blowing
her long blonde bangs into her face. She blew them away and blinked, her
crystal blue eyes boring into his. Evan hesitated, then sighed, leaning onto
the chair. “Nothing to say.”
“What?” Lania said, blinking. A hero
with nothing to say about? What did that mean? Suddenly, their stomachs rumbled
in unison and Lania realized that with all the news, she had entirely forgotten
about the fried fish just lying there on the table gathering flies. She smacked
the flies away with a fly-swatter by the door and yanked open a cabinet,
fetching out two pairs of spoons and forks. She tucked her hair behind her ears
and dumped the forks and spoons on the table with a metallic clang. Evan winced.
“You staying the night?” Lania asked,
cocking an eyebrow at him. Evan shrugged and said it depended on what she felt,
and she responded with an “its okay if you do, you know. It would be nice to
have another human being in my house, once in awhile” and so Evan agreed (Much
to Penny’s distress). They ate in silence, Lania pondering over the fifth hero
and Evan just unable to find a good conversation starter. Penny ducked under a
chair in the living room and curled tightly up into a ball. She wondered what
her mistress was doing, inviting the filthy human here. Maybe the best way to
solve this was a nap.
Lania ripped the crunchy, fried
flesh of the fish with her teeth and tried not to wince. Obviously, she was
horrible at cooking and it showed, plain and simple, on Evan’s face, even
though he tried (without success) to hide it. He even tried to mask it by
saying: “Wow, this fish is very…..interesting,” in which Lania shot him a look
that made him shut up.
Soon enough, the clock struck ten, the
time when Lania went to sleep. She stretched her arms into the sky and yawned.
It had been a tiring day, with Evan and her stolen picture and whatnot. She
still hadn’t given up on searching for the horrible thief, but that could come
later. Right now, sleep was the top priority. She offered Luminous’s previous
bed to Evan and since it hadn’t been used in awhile, it was musty and chock
full of dust.
Lania flickered on the lights of the
room and helped Evan tidy it up a bit. An uncomfortable silence followed as
they swept up the dusty floorboards and tidied up the bed. While Lania felt
sleepy, Evan was wide awake. He had actually been invited to a house by a GIRL.
Oh, if only Utah saw him now……
The eerie silence made him uncomfortable,
though. But when he tried to pick up a conversation, Lania would just say:
“Mm-hmm” and the conversation would end right there. Evan sighed and swatted a
pile of dust with his broom. Dust billowed up from his broom and he coughed,
wiping the dust from his eyes. Suddenly, Lania started up with a question he
was not prepared for: “So, who is this mysterious ‘fifth Hero’?” Evan jerked
his head up and blinked, the question taking him by surprise.
“You’re actually interested in this stuff?” he asked, blindly
swiping with his broom.
“Of course I’m interested,” Lania coughed, slightly offended. “Why
wouldn’t I be?”
“Um….well, you don’t seem to be the type that care about stuff
like this,” he replied
Lania huffed and batted the
ground with her broom. The floorboards creaked under her feet as she swept a
huge pile of dust into the dustpan. “So, who is he?” Lania asked slowly,
walking towards another dust-filled corner. Evan hesitated, than coughed and
replied: “Um, I don’t really…know.”
Lania whipped around, her eyes wide. What
did he mean, he didn’t really know? These are his comrades he was talking
about! How could he not know? She asked him this, but he just shrugged and said
that this was the reason he was here; he and the other heroes split into
different towns to search for the last hero, as they just managed to unite the
four of them together not too long ago, and therefore, the fifth hero has not
yet been found. Evan, being the ‘new’ hero he was, never met the guy, so he
didn’t know ANYTHING about him, not even how he looked.
“The others just gave me a name to
follow,” Evan said bitterly. Lania pursed her lips tightly. Obviously, the four
others did not really think about the trouble Evan might be having. Otherwise,
they would have told him his appearance and stuff, but obviously, being
the descendant he was, they did not think much about him. Lania’s
gaze shifted to the doorway of the room, where Penny was watching, curious, her
golden eyes lifting up to meet hers.
The curtains billowed up like
snow-white wraiths and shook Lania out of her thoughts.
She hadn't even realized the window was open. She shoved the curtains
aside and shut the window with a bang, the stars of the night
sky winking at her, glittering like diamonds. Immediately, the curtains
fluttered down and fell onto Lania’s shoulders as gracefully as a cape. Lania
pushed them away and resumed cleaning.
Soon enough, the room was clean enough
to sleep in without you going: “Ha-choo! Ha-choo!” as you did so. Lania
gathered up her cleaning supplies and began to leave the room when Evan called
out after her: “Tomorrow, you want me to help you catch the burglar that stole
your picture?” Lania froze, turning her head slowly to meet Evan’s gaze. The
expression he wore was of sweet happiness, a goofy smile frozen on his face.
“It would help, you know. I mean, I’m searching for a person, and you’re
searching for your picture. That way, we can cover more ground, and kill two
birds with one stone, or something.”
Lania tightened her grip on the doorknob
and replied numbly: “Yeah that would be great.” Evan smiled, a genuine smile,
and Lania returned it. There was something about that smile that made her
comfortable around him. A smile, she was sure, that reminded her of Luminous.
*******
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