Lania - Path to Light (Part 4)

“Mew, mew!”

      Lania cracked open her eyes and was greeted by the sight of Penny sitting on top of her bed, her head cocked as she studied her mistress with her glowing golden eyes. Glaring daylight filtered through the open window by her bed, pouring in the light that illuminated her room. Lania groaned and sat up, stretching her hands to the sky. She slid off the bed got dressed before setting off to see how Evan was doing.

     Lania crashed into Evan’s temporary room, like she did everyday with Luminous, to see him still snoozing like a pig. Lania stuffed her fingers in her mouth to muffle her laughter. Evan was full out sprawled onto the bed, legs entangled in the blanket, mouth wide open and snoring like a person’s great grandpa. Lania pulled the curtains and sunlight poured into the room. Evan stirred and turned away, and soon enough, Lania heard his snoring resume.

    “EVAN!!!” Lania roared in his ear, tugging at the white sheets that were wrapped around his body. He mumbled something unintelligible, then grabbed the sheets and yanked it above his head, keeping out the sun and Lania. Lania rolled her eyes and slid off the bed, then took a few steps back, and charged at the sleeping Evan. She crashed onto the bed and knocked the wind out of him, but he just stirred and mumbled: “Ma…..I dun wanna go to school….”

     “Wake up!!” she thundered and whacked at his head with his pillow. Lania really wanted to get a move on. The more they waited, the further the burglar would run. They already gave him so much time to get a great distance away, the whole night sleeping, and the earlier they went, the closer they would get to the burglar, so she wanted to set off NOW.

      Lania then set off to the bathroom and came out heaving a large bucket of water with her. With one large push, she flung the water bucket at him. Jets of freezing cold water crashed onto Evan like an enormous tidal wave and he was up in an instant, dripping wet, breathing ragged, shivering. He caught sight of Lania’s laughing face and the water bucket in her hand and tried his best to look angry, but it seemed that Lania’s laughing was contagious.

      “What did you do that for?” Evan said, sliding himself off the soaking bed. He kicked the cold sheets off his legs and took off his red jacket, flapping it against the desk beside the bed, trying to clear off as much water as possible. Water droplets crashed everywhere, and soon enough, the desk was as wet as the bed. Lania grabbed his wrist and yanked him outside, him still complaining about how cold he was and that he needed new clothes.

       Soon, they reached the kitchen. While Evan was flapping his jacket at the dining table, Lania yanked open the refrigerator door and fetched out two apples. HE threw one at Evan, which caught it with ease. “Breakfast!” Lania said, taking a big bite. “Don’t expect anything fancy from me. Sorry, but my supplies are limited, so I can’t provide you with anything more than a single fruit.”

      “No, no, its fine,” Evan gave her a smile that showed the bits of chewed apple wedged between his teeth. Lania sucked in her cheeks and tried her best not to laugh at how pathetic Evan looked. By noon, the two had finished their breakfast (As they woke up quite late) and decided now would be the best time to scout the world for the burglar and the mysterious fifth hero.

      “So, what’s the name of Mr. Mystery?” Lania asked, filling Penny’s food bowl with dozens of tiny little fish-shaped biscuits she liked so much. She could be gone for quite some time and did not want her cat to starve. Evan was pulling on his still-slightly wet jacket and cast a glance down at Penny, her golden eyes boring into his. He shuddered and said: “Sorry, um, what were you saying?”

       “The fifth hero,” Lania said, standing up, the packet of cat feed still grasped in her hands. She turned back to face the Henesys farm boy. “What’s his name?” Evan grinned and said: “That’s an easy question! His name is…..” Evan trailed off, and his grin went slightly crooked. Lania waited patiently for his answer, her crystal eyes shining of excitement. Evan licked his dry lips and knocked his forehead with his fist. “Hold on!! His name is….”

Lania sighed. This is so not what they needed now.

        “His name is….” His voice faltered, and he leaned against the wall, clearly pressing himself for the name that was surely lost to his memory. Lania heaved the huge packet of cat feed back onto the shelf and dusted her hands on her dress. Then she grabbed hold of Evan’s wrist and dragged him to the door. “Never mind that,” Lania said, thrusting an old, rusted key into the keyhole and turning it. A click could be heard as the door opened and Lania yanked it open. Cool, morning air washed into the house, blowing their hair into tangles. “I’m sure you’ll remember sometime later. Let’s just get a move on.”

       Evan opened his mouth to protest, but then he saw the desperation and ferocity in Lania’s eyes, and he knew this picture, this father of hers, must be very precious and she wanted to get moving right away, so he kept his mouth shut and allowed himself to be dragged out into the cool morning air. The ferocious noon sun shone down on the earth and the heat threatened to dehydrate you in seconds. Lania had thrown all the necessary things for their trip into the backpack that now thrummed against her back as she took a step.

       “So,” Evan said, the grass crunching under his feet. “Where do you think we should go?” Lania bit the inside of her cheek and pondered about that. Where would they go? Victoria Island is already considered a small continent, yet it still has SO MANY TOWNS and maps. The burglar could be ANYWHERE. Lania filled her cheeks with air and let it all out in a sigh. Perhaps she was just thinking the impossible, going after the thief. But she was determined to get her picture back, even if it took her a lifetime.

       “Hmm….” Evan said, scratching his chin. “There are a lot of thieves and burglars in the world of Maple. Are you sure you want to do this? It’s just a picture, isn’t it?” Evan shut up after Lania whirled back to look at him, growling that it was NOT just a picture, it was a memory, and if he wanted to help, he should shut up RIGHT NOW. Evan’s shoulders sagged as he sighed. This girl might look like an angel, with those crystal blue eyes and silver-blonde hair and whatnot, but she was really strict, or perhaps she was just grouchy about losing her picture.

     Sunlight pierced through the canopy of twigs and leaves and filled the forest with light. Squawks of birds and growls of different animals filled the green world of the Ellinia forest. Evan had no idea where he was going. He could be walking in circles, for all he knew, but Lania seemed to know the place like the back of her hand. They walked all through the day, the forest giving them cover from the notorious sun. Soon enough, since the two were BOTH physically weak, they stopped after 3 full hours of walking for a break under a huge, tall tree.

       Lania dropped to the ground and leaned against the trunk, her forehead beaded with sweat and her legs screaming of exhaustion. She set the heavy pack onto her lap and closed her eyes, her head resting against the trunk. If they were walking through the forest for any other reason, she would have gave in to sleep entirely. But she knew she couldn’t sleep; she had a burglar to catch, and as soon as they found enough energy to walk again, they would keep going. The end of the forest was not far away, anyway, and they could take another break in Ellinia.

        Evan was not any better than Lania. His legs felt like they would snap with the slightest touch and his head pounded with a headache. He had to fight the urge to throw up. He hadn’t walked this far before, and even though he was a farmer’s son and was used to standing below the glaring sun for hours, that didn’t mean he was used to walking. He wondered whether the others were having this much trouble. Probably not.

        “Hey, Lania,” Evan panted, and Lania opened her eyes the merest crack, giving him a look that said what do you want? Evan licked his dry, cracked lips and asked for water. Lania sat up and rummaged through her back, pulling out a bottle of water, but it wasn’t until she drank at least two liters until she gave it Evan. And so, for the next half hour, the two just sat at the tree, listening to the wind ruffle the trees and shake leaves loose. Evan asked whether she wanted to play a game to lift their spirits a little, and so they played I spy for the next ten minutes.

“I spy, something that begins with…..B,” Evan said.

“Bushes?”

 “No.”

 “Bumbling Idiot?”

“N – Hey wait, what?”

“Gimme more clues, Evan!!”

 “Um….its flying in front of you right now.”

 “What? I see noth – A BUTTERFLY!!”

 “Exactly!”

       After awhile, Lania had proclaimed that they had rested enough and it was time to get a move on. Evan was hesitant to leave the shade of the tree, but he knew that the sooner he found this hero guy, the sooner he could leave, so he forced himself to stand up and they walked for another grueling hour until they finally reached the forest edge. There, monsters were hopping around, mostly slimes, and Lania had shuddered at the sight of the slimy creatures that roamed the world in front of her. She swallowed hard and clung on to the tree next to her.

     Evan caught sight of her and said: “C’mon, Lania, they’re only slimes,” but that didn’t change Lania’s thought of them. Though she sometimes acted though, she was still only a thirteen year old little girl, and sometimes, her heart still acted like it was five. She DEFINITELY wasn’t the type to kill monsters, what with her being so WEAK and stuff. Luminous could! He could massacre though a huge mob of monsters, and Lania looked away because she didn’t really want to think about Luminous now.

      “Hey, if you’re so tough,” Lania mumbled, her nails digging into the bark. “You fight them.” Evan paused then, and Lania realized he COULDN’T. He only had a low opinion about them because he trained with his DRAGON and the HEROES, but secretly, he wasn’t that much stronger than she was. Lania rested her head against the tree and sighed. Here they were, afraid to move on because of Level 6 SLIMES. Pathetic wasn’t a strong enough word for what she was feeling.

       “Um, okay,” Evan mumbled, and drew out a wand from his pocket. Lania was shocked because she wondered how he had fit it in there. The wand was small, with a gold handle and a purple orb drifting above the handle. Two gold dragon wings protruded through the gold handle, adding a nicer effect. However, she wondered how a simple WAND like that could plough through a huge mob of slimes.

      Lania hid behind the tree as she heard the splish splash of slimes as a wand ploughed through them. More than once she heard Evan say: “Hey! God, I’m starting to hate slimes,” and she would take a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. She wondered how she was EVER going to find the burglar with her hiding behind trees at every prospect.

      Soon, Evan’s face emerged from the back of the tree. His face was smudged with sticky green slime and his clothes were no better, but at least he managed to fend off the slimes. He grinned and Lania, who grinned back at him and struggled to force down the urge to barf. Honestly, that slime stuck to him was not very appealing, but she guessed that was a Mapler’s life for you. Evan proudly announced to her that he had killed all the slimes, but they had to hurry if they didn’t want the slimes to RESPAWN.

      With that in mind, the two hop-dashed through the sticky, slimy area, the green gel sticking to the back of their boots. More than once Lania gagged, and clamped her jaw tightly together to keep her insides in. Honestly, slimes could be cute, at times, but their gel was just gross. Soon enough, they reached the town of Ellinia, a small town of Pixies and Fairies deep in the heart of the forest. Maplers of all ages littered the landscape, selling, buying, or just chilling out with their friends. Fairies flitted past the trees on their papery wings, and pixies leaned against houses, chatting with others.

      “You wanna rest now?” Evan asked, cocking an eyebrow at Lania, but with one glance at the girl, he knew she wasn’t in ANY shape to go on. Her skin had paled to almost white, and she was shivering. Surely, the meeting with the slimes couldn’t have shaken her up this much? What was wrong with her? Lania could just manage a nod and Evan helped her to a nearby hotel; a hollowed out tree made by Fairies. He had mesos with him, but not much, and hopefully it would be enough to rent a room.

      As soon as they reached a room at the first floor, Lania collapsed.