"-lous… Zeal-," The human teen could hear a voice calling him.
The young man grumbled as he tried to keep up his unconscious act. He was too tired to deal with anything, and he definitely wasn't about to let whoever this way take him out of his happy place. He felt a palm tap his cheek softly.
"Idiot, wake up already." Yep, that was definitely Siren.
The dark Seraphic doesn't usually wake him up so it was probably for something important.
Grumbling inside his head, he lifted his head up which was previously cramped into his book for a pillow and stared dumbly up at his brother.
"You're drooling," He said as he took out a napkin and wiped the tired boy's face.
"I… I'm… I'm tired," He yawned.
The Seraphic resisted the urge to facepalm himself. Idiot! Didn't I tell you not to read the book before bed?, He wanted to say. "Don't forget about your… 'guest'." He said dryly, adding air quotes.
"Oh right," He replied standing up quickly. "Is she still here?"
"Look for yourself." The Seraphic took a step to his side revealing the runaway princess sitting in a seiza position. "She's been cooking for you both." Though he tends to love when at least Zealous cooked, Zealous saw a sour look appear on his face. He wasn't sure if it was because of the fact that she's a human or what. "She's definitely can't make a career out of being a chef I'll tell you." Ohhh, that explains it.
Examine his guest further, he could tell from her position that she was in front of the cooking pot that they had in the middle of the house. The raging steam told that she either ruined the dish or was trying desperately to make a new one, probably to hide the old dish to hide her crime. Yes, Zealous and Siren consider messing up a dish… a crime.
Smiling, Zealous, walked towards the princess, "Good morning," He greeted.
"Ah!" She shrieked, dropping the wooden spoon she had in her hand.
"Scared you?"
"A… little," She sighed, "I… Tried to make you something." She said sheepishly as she poured some soup into a bowl and handed it to Zealous.
"Oh… uh… thanks." He said with a slightly forced smile as he accepted the offering and sat across from her.
"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to." She said waving a hand at him, "I'm… not much for cooking so…"
Zealous didn't want her to feel upset.
"I tried a bit of it earlier." Siren chimed in, "It's not poison, but it is terrible." He shivered.
Preparing himself mentally, Zealous dropped his spoon and chugged the entire bowl of soup down doing his best to ignore all of his senses that were currently pleading for him to stop before he'd kill his insides. Fighting gaps that were threatening to break out he placed the bowl down and look back at his guest with a smile trying to reassure that he loved her cooking.
"W-wow," He gasped raising a single hand over her mouth, "You actually liked it?" Her voice had hints of joy.
Not trusting himself to not have a hit of disgust he simply nodded.
The princess sighed and placed a hand on her heart. Closing her eyes she said, "Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me. I woke up pretty early so I thought, 'How could I possibly repay him? He seemed to really like eating so maybe he'll even like my cooking!', Oh and look at me telling you my thoughts like that, sorry."
What she failed to miss was that Zealous was only paying half attention to her, his other half was to drinking the water that his Seraphic brother had prepared for in advance.
Coughing into his hands Zealous asked, "So, why did you run away?" Doesn't your kingdom need you?"
Her cheeks blazed a crimson red as she pressed her pointer fingers together in embarrassment. "It's… complicated," She replied. "I just didn't agree with a decision that was made for me."
"You're being forced to marry someone right?"
Her eyes widened, "H-H-H-How did you know?!"
Zealous giggled, "It's just like in my book." He brought his history book to meet her vision. "A book that tells the story of the hero who met a princess and that set him up on his adventure with the legendary Seraphics."
"That book gives me a very nostalgic feel." The princess sighed in bliss. "I used the read it all the time when I was little."
"Did you lose it?"
"I just simply grew out of it."
"Yeah, I guess history isn't a subject everyone loves forever."
She cocked her head at his sentence but shrugged it off. "I feel bad that you've lived here all on your own."
"Oh don't worry about that. I get by."
"I just wish I could relate more."
"Hey, I said don't worry about it. Besides, we still gotta get you better suited in."
"Hm?"
"T-this is where you bathe?" Her voice was shaky and had a tiny hint of fear. "Out in the open?! I thought you said you had a sauna?!"
"This is a sauna." He replied dipping a single hand to feel the warmth, "The heats really good too, The entire thing is connected with mana so it basically cleans itself." He demonstrated by picking up a lump of dirt and dropping it in the water. It was instantly cleansed upon impact.
"W-while that is quite impressive." She wrapped herself with her right arm and turned her head to her side. She didn't want to accuse him but she slightly felt as if he may be doing this only to see her out of her clothes.
"Alright," Zealous held out his hand towards her, "hand me your clothes, please."
"Gah?!" She screamed turning a darker shade of crimson, "W-w-w-w-what are you asking of me?!"
"I… asked if you could hand me your clothes?"
"I-I-I-I couldn't p-p-possibly do something so… so… so scandalous!"
"Oh, you're embarrassed." Zealous laughed, "How about I go hide behind a tree? That way you can place your dress against that log over there. I was hoping to fix the tears in your dress."
"F-fine! Just, just go!" She screamed making Zealous rush behind the nearest tree.
After waiting a few minutes Zealous heard her call him, signaling that she was done. He walked from behind the tree to see her in the water, lowering herself so that only her nose and above were visible. She was clearly waiting for him to leave quickly.
Getting the message, he picked up the dress carefully and left something new in it's place. "I also brought you a towel, just use this to walk back to the house." It wasn't far at all so she could make it. "Also you don't need to worry about any animals coming. They never come this close to us." He explained before taking his leave.
"I can't believe you're making me do this." The dark Seraphic complained as he used the needle and thread to fix the fabric.
"Have a heart, Sy."
"Why are you so helpful towards a girl who's name is a complete mystery to us?"
"Come on Siren, this is a sign. We're finally leaving the islands! It's just like the book said!"
"Zealous…" Siren sighed, "How do you even know we're ready."
"I'm the hero remember?" He laughed, "It's my job to be ready."
The seraphic couldn't stop himself from pinching the bridge of his nose. "Destiny or not, she can't stay here."
"We can't just tell her to leave."
"She's human, Zealous."
"So am I."
"You're different." Siren growled as his grip on the dress tightened, "Besides this is all too soon."
"Well, we aren't getting any younger," Zealous sighed, "Especially me."
"Ow!" Zealous saw the dark Seraphic grip his finger in pain.
"You okay?!"
"Y-yeah… just lost focused for a bit."
"Lost focus?" Zealous repeated. Sirenwas usually always on task so it was very surprising to him. Though he guesses that everyone was welcome to a misstep every once in awhile.
"Looks like she's here." Siren drew attention towards the knocking door.
"Z-Zealous…?" She said timidly, "Are you in there? Is my dress ready?"
Siren gave him a thumbs up.
"Yeah, I'm done." As he saw the doorknob turn he rushed to stop her from coming in. "I-I still need to hide myself!"
"O-oh! Of course! My apologies."
"Hmm," Zealous cupped his chin, there wasn't exactly another "room" per say. "I'll have to just sit on my bed. Don't worry, I'll cover my eyes." He reassured her as he stepped away from the door. As he got into place he said, "Okay, I'm ready."
She slowly opened the door, easing her way inside. She shifted her head left and right before finally stepping completely in with a hand delicately keeping her towel up. "Ahh," She breath a sigh of relief upon seeing her dress lying neatly in a chair in front of the door. She couldn't get her dress on quick enough for her liking.
Zealous resisted the urge to let out a laugh. With all her gasp and the sound of things falling over as she tripped several times did not help.
"I-I'm done," She announced.
She was finally looking a little more healthy. There was still dirt on her dress but at least the tears were gone and now she was clean. She was still very hungry it seems as she devoured the rice that Zealous had prepared almost as quickly as he had.
"Ahhh~!" Another sigh of relief escaped past her lips. After seeing an amused look from her new friend she covered her mouth and said, "S-sorry. I guess hunger has made me forget my manners."
"Here," He passed her another bowl.
She smiled as she took it into her hands.
"So how're you here?"
"To be honest… I'm not too sure myself." She said between bites, "I remember running, getting tired, then I took a nap…" Her eyes widened, "W-wait!" She dropped her bowl causing rice to spill to the floor. "I-I woke up… and… and there were pillars!"
"Pillars?"
"Could she mean the Olympic pillars?" Siren asked.
"Those might be your way of getting home." Zealous said. "Though I'm curious, I've been there plenty of times yet nothing happens to me."
"B-but I…" She paused looking to her side, "I couldn't possibly leave you here by yourself."
Zealous nervously tugged on his collar.
"M-maybe I… could stay here?"
"If you like-ow!" His leg was kicked.
"A-are you okay?"
"Yeah… just sat on my leg wrong." He coughed into his hands, "I couldn't possibly ask of you to downgrade yourself to living life this. I'm sure your family and people are worried about you."
"O-oh," She looked down in shame. "How selfish of me. I was about to use you as an excuse to stay away." She laughed but it felt as if she was doing so to hide her own self-pity. "You managed to live here by yourself for who knows how long. Maybe… you're someone who can help me."
"Help you how?"
"I-instead!" She raised her head, "would you like to come live with me? And I'm sure I could get you a room in the castle? And you wouldn't have to be alone."
"Well…" He blocked an incoming kick and gave his brother a look saying, "Saw that coming", then turned his attention back towards his guest. "First we should focus on getting you home."
She smiled, "Cora,"
"Hm?"
"My name, It's Cora."
"Nice to meet you… Cora."
Zealous made his way out the door and soon followed Siren, eyes daggering him from behind. Saying he was displeased was an understatement. He looked as if he was ready to burn down an orphanage of puppies.
Zealous stopped as he reached his destination. A couple feet behind their house was the edge of the island. Below the edge? You couldn't even tell if there was land or not. That didn't stop Zealous from using his imagination to picture one day going down to the world and having his own adventure. Saving the day and becoming a hero.
"You can't go with her." Siren interrupted, "And there's no way she's staying."
"Siren," Zealous sighed, "It's our chance, though."
"This is a bad chance." He argued, "What do we even know about her? That she's a princess? That she COULD be nice? What if her parents aren't so forgiving? Imagine the moment she brings you to them they freak out, accuse you of holding her hostage or something then off goes your head?"
"Well, that's what I have you for." He laughed, "I have nothing to worry about as long as you're here,"
The Seraphic groaned as he facepalmed, "You have no idea how much I wanna kill you."
"About as much as you wanna stay I bet."
"Look… we'll help her get home," He sighed, "Then that's it. No adventure, no flirting, no leaving Crete."
"Fine… I promise." He sighed.
"Coming from you that's not at all reassuring."He said with a slight frown as he walked off.
"Siren…" He said to softly to be heard by anyone other than himself. Then he called to him a second time, this time loud enough that he definitely could hear him. Siren only ignored him when he was really upset at him and he guessed now was one of those times.
“Grrr…” Zealous growled as he kicked up dirt. “What’s his problem?!” He screamed to the heavens.
He saw the door to his house open. Cora walked out surveying the area cautiously, apparently having heard him yelling. She began to walk towards him when she located his position and had a worrying look on her face.
“Are you unwell?” She asked with concern in her voice, she rested her hands on her ample bosom. “Is… someone here.”
Sighing, Zealous, rest his hands on his neck. “Was just… talking to Siren.”
“O-oh,” She looked embarrassed as she placed her fingers together. She probably didn’t want to bring up his ‘imaginary’ friend. She probably didn’t want to accidentally give him the idea that she thought that he was crazy or something. Might be a little late for that. He yells at nothing?
“Beautiful isn’t it?” He smiled as his gaze fell back to the seemingly bottomless below.
She took a step back seemingly afraid to step too close to the edge. Chuckling to himself, Zealous, offered her a hand. Gulping, she accepted and he slowly pulled her forward till she was standing next to him.
This didn’t make her any less afraid. She was basically refusing to open her eyes. Zealous wrapped his arm around her waist and said, “If you trip I’ll pull you back in a flash.” He assured.
Nodding with her eyes still closed she inhaled deeply. Slowly she opened her right eye eye and making sure that she was still safe, she opened her left.
As her vision cleared completely, her eyes widen, “It’s… It’s beautiful,” She breathed out.
“Aren’t you glad you got to see it?”
“I’ve never got to see something like this before.”
“I bet there’re plenty of great sites back down there.” He sighed, “Crete can only give me so much.”
“Crete?” She repeated tilting her head.
“That’s the name of this place,” He explained, “Crete.”
“It’s a very nice name.” She grinned, “I’m from, Cilica.”
“What’s that place like?”
“Well there’s a lot of water. Sadly things aren’t so well. The tension of nobles and the townsfolk are reaching a peak. It looks like my quest for peace won’t be completed in my time sadly.”
“Of course it will.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you sincerely want it too happen right? That means as long as you work for it you’ll do it.”
“You’re a strange one you know?”
“I grew up on a falling island.”
She laughed, “That you have. My parents would hate you.”
“Do you… mean that literally.”
“O-oh no no no no no, I bet they’d love you. I was just making a joke… I’m not that good it seems.”
“Oh no it wasn’t your fault.” Siren!, He yelled in his head.
“A passionate, funny, strong person like you would definitely be welcomed. My mother, Queen Metra would love to meet you. My dad, king Lorain… well… he’s a bit protective so to say.”
“That doesn’t exactly fill my confidence.”
“I told you I’m bad at this.”
“Hey, how does some fletchling stew sound?”
“Fletchling stew?”
“Never had it? I’ll warn you it’s pretty strong.”
“Well if you’re being so nice to offer, how can I refuse?”
"And then my father," Cora fought through a fit of laughter to finish the story from her childhood. Zealous wasn't making it any easier as he too had a very humorous look on his face. "T-t-then… then he-!" Her face collided with the table. After a series of deep breath she said, "Then he said 'Hey, why are the lights still off?', then I said, 'Dad, you're still wearing your sleeping mask!'"
As she told her story she again looked less like a princess. Eyes half open, a flushed face, and drool trailing down her chin.
"Haha," Zealous laughed, "Your family sound pretty cool."
"Yeah, they really are-opps." She covered her mouth. Was family a touchy subject for him? "May I ask… if you've had any family?"
"Of course," He said eagerly erasing her stress, "well I used to know this woman named Gaia, she basically taught me everything I know." His gaze rose to the ceiling, "Hunting, cooking, not to mention kicking my ass on a regular basis… that was her way of saying training by the way."
"Hehe," She giggled into her hand, "She sounds quite difficult."
"Yeah, she left a long time ago. Said it was 'for the best'. But hey, I make due as I say."
"Have you decided to come with me?"
"Maybe-" On reflex, Zealous moved to block…. Nothing. Siren wasn't here. He must've still been out. And it was already dark. What was with him?
"I don't mean to pressure you. But I couldn't possibly just leave while you continue to stay… soaring beyond the cloud no less." A small yawn escaped her. "Oh my, how long have we been talking?"
Standing up with a smile, Zealous offered a hand to help up the sitting princess, to which she accepted.
"You should sleep," He grinned, "We have quite a bit to do tomorrow."
"Do you plan to sleep as well?"
"I'm… going to go hunt. To prepare for our walk tomorrow."
"Isn't that a bit dangerous?"
"Very much so," he says nonchalantly, "But I'll be okay. You will be too. Just stay here. Nothing dangerous comes close enough to the house."
"Alright," She giggled, "I shall wait passionately oh fair knight."
"I shan't keep you waiting." He laughed as he exited the door.
"Siren!" He called multiple times to the dark as he made his way through the dark forest. "Where are you?" Was he really that mad at him? He was just trying to help them achieve their goal, so why is he so mad at him? Maybe it was something he said?
"You can't be mad forever!" He placed his hands on his mouth to empathize his voice, "You're supposed to be the reasonable one! Don't ruin our dynamic!"
"Wait a minute," He said aloud as he observed his surroundings. "This is… too quiet."
“I’m up here.” Siren voice called from above him.
Looking overhead Zealous saw the dark Seraphic sitting in the tree as if he was waiting to be found. “Took you long enough.” He replied as he jumped down. “Hope I didn’t interrupt your time with your girlfriend though.” He rolled his eyes.
“Yep,” Zealous laughed, “You’re pissed.”
There was no need to apologise for anything. This was a usual thing for them. They’d piss each other off, then they just forgave each other.
“Look,” He pointed a finger at his brother, “I decided that… I’ll go with you. But as soon as this decision bites us on the ass, which it will, I’ll prepare a hot steaming pot of ‘I told you so’s’ when we get back.”
“W-wait… you’re serious?”
The seraphic nodded, “To be honest… I knew that one day you’d have to have at least one human friend.” He looked at the ground, seemingly in guilt. “I may not know about my own kind, but I do know that… I’ll most likely live a ten-fold of your lives. Who knows? Maybe I’ll discover a new side of myself.”
“I knew you’d see reason!” Zealous wrapped his arm around Siren’s neck.
Unknowingly to his brother, Siren looked back cautiously at the forest as they walked back home.
“Shhh,” Zealous warned as he slowly opened the door and tiptoed in.
First thing he noticed was the foreign beauty sound asleep still, looking even less princess-like than ever. Her hair was sprawled all around her, her mouth was opened in a large “O” shape as her shores filled the room, and she manage to drown Zealous favorite/only pillow.
Zealous couldn’t help but poke her cheek earning a groan from the sleeping girl. “You can’t lie,” He turned towards Siren, “That’s fricken cute.”
“We should get prepared to leave tomorrow.” He ignored.
Zealous groaned as he started to rise up from the floor, “I might be getting too use to sleeping here…”
“Oh, you’re up.” Cora greeted with a smile. She was currently sitting on his bed using her knees as a table to hold Zealous’ book in place. She was still a little flushed it seemed. “Good morning. She tilted her head down to continue reading the book.
“Oh, you’re reading it?” Zealous smiled as he sat next to her.
“I guess you made me a bit nostalgic.”
“It’s a great read.”
“That it is,” She nodded, “The story of Delano Streak, the Titan to take on the strongest of Cryptics,”
“With the powers of the Seraphics and other at his side he managed to save the world.” They said in union.
They laughed.
“It’s great to have someone to talk to about it.” Zealous admitted.
“I must admit, I too wished to have someone to discuss of this topic with when I was little.”
“Well we’ll have plenty of time now.” Zealous said causing Cora to look at him with confusion. “I decided to come with you.”
“Really?!” She smiled as she jumped up to her feet. An awkward paused fell between them as she realized she may have overreacted a bit. She coughed into her hands as she sat back down. “That’s a… load off my mind.”
“Heh,” he snickered. “I bet,”
Her face flushed in embarrassment. “W-well as a princess, of course I couldn't just leave you without a guilty conscious.”
“Well I hope you haven't gotten to comfy here because we are going to find out way out.”
“Are we starting today?”
“Yes, but first,” he stood up, walked away then tossed her a rag. “you still haven't cleaned off your drool.”
“You saw that?!”
“Please never inform my parents of my… behavior.”
“Deal,” he laughed.
“So what should we do first?”
“I'll pack a light meal.” he informed, “like bread and stuff.”
“I like bread.” She smiled, “Do you need me to show you the way?”
“No,” He shook his head, “I've been there before.”
“So… what about your house?”
“I guess I'll leave it here. I'll be back one day maybe.”
“If we can leave.”
“If there's a door there's an exist.”
“Your optimism is quite a rare sight to bare.”
“I’ll pack up.”
“I never got to appreciate how beautiful the trees looked.” She commented as the duo(Technically trio) walked through the forest. Holding her backs behind her back as she turned her head left and right to take in the scenery. “It’s heavenly how the leafs dance as they fall.”
“You two didn’t get off on the right foot.” Zealous joked.
“I did use to cut baby trees down.” She held a hand over her mouth as she giggled, “Maybe they’re out to get me.”
“Sorry but I can’t protect you milady.”
“Oh I say, whatever shall I do without a brave knight?”
Siren groaned, “For the record, the ‘no flirting’ rule is still active.”
“Here we are!” Zealous cheered as they stopped in front of stone stairs leading up to a collection of stone pulled. They looked to be who knows how many years old and the stairway looked as if it would crack from the slightest touch.
“Race you up!” Zealous declared without giving her time to collect her thoughts.
Siren sighed, “You know she's wearing a dress right?” he informed him as he caught up.
“W-wait!” she called as she tried to keep up. “This dress… doesn't make this easy!” she held the front end in an attempt to keep herself from tripping down the stairs.
Zealous grinned as he turned his head towards his brother. “We just gotta lend her a hand.” he slowed down his pace so that he was now running alongside, Cora.
“Tired?” he asked.
“K-kind of,” she breathed out.
“Just keep your head up,” Zealous said as he grabbed her hand. “and run!” he said as he increased his pace basically dragging the poor girl alongside him.
“Waaaaaaah!” She screamed, feeling as if she was being lifted off of the earth. “Slow down!”
“Just keep your head up.”
“That's advice doesn't work if I can't touch the ground!” Her wails went unnoticed as they passed by Siren.
“Sigh…” he… sighed?
Cora took a series of deep inhales as she crashed on her knees to the floor.
Zealous chuckles. “Was a pretty good exercise right?”
“If I say ‘yes’... can I be assured that you'll never do it again?”
“Nope.”
She lowered her head in defeat.
“Hey, check it out.” Siren said, walking over to the stone altar in the middle of the pillars.
“Hmm?” Zealous tilted his head as he followed.
As Siren keeled down to observe the altar he said, “This is blood.” He dragged his fingers across the red substance.
Zealous scratches his chin, “It’s dry.”
Siren inhaled. “Just as I thought.”
“Hmm?”
“Ask her if she can remember exactly how she got here.”
“Sure thing,” he nodded as he made his way to the still collapsed princess.
He couldn't help but chuckle. “Let me help you.” he picked her up bridal style.
“T-t-that's a bit better…” She breathed out.
“Cora,”
“Hmm?”
Can you remember anything else about how you got here?”561Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuxQB82uJc
(NOTE: if you don't want future characters spoiled turn away now)
Skit- Junk
“Siren,” Citrine called to the dark Seraphic.
Said Seraphic turned back to her with a bored look and said, “Oh no. I know where this leads. You can forget it.” He turned away from her to try and escape a further conversation.
“I’m not here to insult you.” She replied to ease his cautious.
He turned in a ninety-degree angle and looked towards her with one opened eye. “You promise?” He said as if he was a lion tamer easing his way to see if the lion would pounce.
“A proper lady never breaks her promises.” She reassured him with a smile.
A deep sigh escaped his lips, “I’m going to regret this but… what?”
“I simply wished to inform you that your weapons appear to be of a very insufficient material, making it an unholy choice for choice for anyone’s particular favor in combat that only a fool like you would seem to actually think it has any use.”
Visible dots appeared over Siren’s head as he stared confusingly at her seemingly overlong explanation. “H,H… huh?” was all he could muster.
“To put it simply from your apparent, shallow head,” She began to twirl her bow around her finger. “Your weapon’s a piece of Junk.”
“J-Junk?!” That seemed to have struck a nerve. “How is my weapon a piece of junk?!” His left eye started to twitch, “And wait! You just said you wouldn’t insult me.”
“I was simply pointing out the flaws that are your swords.” She corrected him, “You dope.” She added.
“Y, You just insulted me right now?!”
“No comment.”
“Grrr…” The dark Seraphic started to grit his teeth. “Well how are my swords junk but not your stupid bow?!”
“My bow is a weapon of class and dignity.” She began to hold it like it was a baby. “It was made out of pure mana and spent a hundred years in lava, than in water, and finally on land.”
“S, Seriously?”
“Of course not you, Butt, how could an arrow possibly survive any of that? Even with a little mana?”
“...That didn’t answer my previous question…”
"A lady has the right to refuse."561Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vCocMpQOs
561Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEcWAHqKAJ
