#imagine an nyot | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ecorin · 2 years

Text

radiant lights - chapter 5

summary: ringo gets captured by the royal guard! amitie, arle, and carbuncle go on a search for her, ecolo learns to pick locks without a kitchen knife, and ringo herself learns a little kingdom history from raina.

characters: ringo, amitie, minotaur, demon servant, ecolo, arle, carbuncle, schezo, raina, raffina, klug, nina

mentioned characters: silvana, ally, popoi, accord, rulue, aya, lemres

word count: 6.8k

ACONITE AND KITCHEN KNIVES

Ringo’s scream was much more terrifying than Amitie had previously imagined.

She’d heard her scream before. Ghost stories at Arle and Silvana’s place, tales of spirits from other lands from Ally, and the drunk idiots who parade around town from the Witch Doctor Tavern; she’d made some interesting squeals before, almost inhuman and not even sounding like screaming, but this was different. This time, it was painful to listen to, mixed in with the tall people in black uniforms and the cat dashing away at the foot of her dress. Amitie recognized one soldier as Minotaur, who was always by Her Highness’ side; the other was a shorter man with silver hair and a single horn.

Amitie shuddered, looking around. People noticed the source of the sound and stared at her and the soldiers moving upwards the stairwell, and didn’t do anything. Some were scared, some didn’t hear it, but no one came to help her.

The cat stopped and blinked. “I- I mean-” –the cat looked between Ringo’s red hair that disappeared around the corner, and Amitie’s just as red hat– “Well, nyot like I expected anything more from those clowns,” it mewed in its usual shrill voice. “I guess taking this girl works in the end. All still goes according to plan! Nyahahahaha!” The cat ran in the same direction, skipping steps to follow as Amitie stood frozen, her hands shaking as violently as her legs, and she stared at the sign at the base of the stairs, which read “restricted”.

They were after her, but Ringo took the fall…

By the Six, Amitie! Now’s not the time! Forget about yourself just go!

The feather-haired girl swallowed her fears and instinctively followed the two soldiers, sprinting as fast as her two legs could carry her without tripping. “Heyyyy!! Come back here!” she screamed, only to find there was nobody on the fourth floor . “What archmage? Why‘d you take her!? Take me! I’ll go in her place! Stoooooop!! …Is anyone there?”

No response. The two soldiers taking Ringo and the cat had completely disappeared. Amitie couldn’t even hear their footsteps on the cold, wooden floor. The sound of people“Ringo? Arle? Hellooooooo? Anyone?” she called out, to no one’s response. “No one’s here… I should probably look for Arle as ASAP as possible, then! Righty-o, then! Let’s gooooooAAAAAAAAAH!”

Stepping on the edge of her silk dress, Amitie fell face-first into the floor, a ringing sensation in her head. “Yikes… that hurt a lot,” she mumbled, rubbing her forehead. “Owowowowow…. Wood floors sure hurt a l-”

“Incoming! Out of the waaaaay!”

Amitie looked up to hear a high-pitched, masculine-ish voice in a woman’s body…? Or was that a man? She didn’t know, but it was probably a man–a stretch because he looked pretty young, maybe as old as Lemres. A whirlwind of green, blue, black, and white jumped down the stairs she was on her knees injured at the base at, and both realized the situation they were in.

Like it or not, that boy was right about to crash into her.

“Ow!”

The boy in black and blue–quite literally in clothing, and now in shape to some degree–landed on his side and his thin body rolled past Amitie before making a complete stop. Surprisingly, no impact was made between the two; that boy seemed to be in much worse shape. The girl stood up–thankfully her dress wasn’t damaged, but a few threads were coming loose where she tripped–dusted herself off, and approached the boy… girl… it was really hard to tell.

“H-Hey, are you alright?” she asked, outstretching her hand. “You look real beat…? Yikes, are you okay!?” Examining him further revealed reddish-brown leaking out on the side of his pants, from where he fell, and the stranger got up and stretched himself like it was no big deal.

“All good, thanks!” he replied with a sunshiny energy. “It’s just a scratch. I don’t have a sheath or anything, especially for a kitchen knife, so it can’t be helped.” He squinted at her with neon-blue eyes and raised an eyebrow before gasping. “Oh! I know you!”

“Say, did you see a girl with red pigtails that curl like thiiiiiiis?”

Amitie nodded fervently. “Wait, you know Ringo!? Get real!” she exclaimed. “How’d you know she’d be here? And how’d you know to ask me that?”

“I saw you with her and the other girl, at one of the back side entrances. Now speak up,” he snapped. “Where is she? I heard her scream and I’m super worried about my cute little Ringo!”

Amitie sniffed and broke into sobs, which made the young man jump in place before sighing disdainfully. “Ringo was kidnapped!” she screamed. “I-I-I- Waaaaaaaah!! She was k-kidnapped by these two guys and one of them was Minotaur the other has a golden horn andthecataimedfirmdbutRingogottakeninmyplaceandIchasedthemdownupthesestairsbutthey’regonenowandRingotooandIcan’tfindthemaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

The boy stood silent, expressionless as he was motionless. “But she’s still on this floor, right?” he finally asked. “We just don’t know what room she’s in. Easy! Check every room! I’m a genius!” He dashed off to the left, and before Amitie could protest the idea of the rooms being locked, he pulled out his kitchen knife to jam it into a padlock and effortlessly open the door. Then he moved on to the next room.

The way this was going was far too slow… What if Ringo has gotten hurt during the time he was searching each room, one-by-one?

“Wait, sir!” Amitie shouted, chasing him. “Can I help you? I’m also looking for Ringo, and I know someone who can speed up our search!” She reached to grab the side of his navy blue vest, getting his attention. “I mean… I’m really worried. She’s my friend. And I want to help as much as I can!”

His bright, shiny blueish pink–or something, the colors didn’t quite blend–eyes sparkled, and he dropped his knife to aggressively shake Amitie’s hand. “Of course, of course!” he cheered and pointed to the hallway ahead of which they came. “I’m Ecolo, by the way! Say, Miss Funny-Hat Girl, grab your friend who can help us right now, and search the other two hallways on this rectangular floor. I’ll take this one and the other around the corner to the right? Got it? You do know how to lockpick, right?” He picked up the bloodstained knife from the ground, red dripping from it and staining the wooden floor– not good, at all–and motioned his eyes from it and the broken lock of the room he was standing next to.

“Funny-Hat Girl…. Uh, I actually don’t, and if I did, I don’t have anything,” she replied anxiously. “U-Umm… Nevertheless! It’s alright because bestie Arle knows how! I’ll get her and help like you said, Mr. Ecolo!”

The petite little girl dashed off and ‘round the corner to search for Arle to help search for Ringo at the behest of this Ecolo lad. Flames in the candles flickered at the speed that Amitie’s hair flew as she ran past candelabras on the walls, down a set of stairs, and made a straight left-right turn before slamming open the door.

“Arle!?” she screamed, shocking the mage girl and her familiar before her. “I need help! Super-duper-duuuuuper! Like, really real, Arle! Ringo’s gone and she was taken by these two dudes when they were trying to get me! Don’t ask any questions and just come with me!”

“Gu!!” Carbuncle squeaked, hopping to Amitie’s side and bouncing up and down, and motioning for Arle to follow along. “Gugugu! Gugu gu gugu!!”

Schezo stepped up and went silent in thought. “Ringo… Ah, the little redheaded girl,” she mumbled. “I’m not surprised. Archmage Accord has been looking for her for a long, long time now. I’m not sure why or how, though. Wait, Arle, what are you-”

Arle grabbed the hilt of the man’s Dark Sword, chopped the boar in half with a single swoop, smearing it with blood, and threw both hastily onto a table, to the jaw-drop of the knight. “Sorry, Schezo, but solve your own problems,” she said, dashing away with Amitie and Carbuncle back to where she came from. “I’ve got life-or-death matters to attend to, literally!”

Schezo’s red face could not be seen by the three best friends running down the hallway and up the nearest stairwells, the shorter one dragging the other by the wrist up them with the yellow creature hopping along behind, and Schezo sighed, defeated. “By the Six, gods damn it,” he growled and looked back to the bloodied-up sword and the boar in worse shape. “I guess I really will have to cut this boar with my sword. I don’t know how to use a knife…” He picked up the shorter blade, weighed it, and threw it across the room, where it landed neatly into the wall.

“Though, that little girl raises a question. Why does Accord care so much about that pigtailed lass? It’s definitely got something to do with that Hallieu girl, that’s for sure…”

~~🌺~~

Ringo felt some kind of consciousness upon hitting her head against the wooden floor.

“Uh, oops. Didn’t mean to drop you so hard,” someone’s voice said in apology. “I should’ve placed her in bed. Rulue would hate me if I told her I injured an innocent civilian. I kinda think we got the wrong girl.”

“But she’s not innocent! She’s a high-bounty target, and I definitely heard the archmage’s voice call to get her- ugh, whatever. Leave her in there and let the archmage and the Princess decide what to do,” another voice replied. “We’re just Her Highness’ lackeys, after all. It’s not like we know who to capture, and it sure isn’t OUR problem if something happens, say, she escapes by some miracle.”

The door slammed shut, accompanied by a clicking noise, and the two voices—probably of the two soldiers that captured her earlier—got farther and farther away until there was nothing but cicadas chirping in the afterglow of sundown.

“What the heck…?” Ringo mumbled in a daze, rubbing her head, struggling to get up only to fall forward again, catching herself with the palms of her hands flat on the strangely clean floor. Maybe even spare rooms are cleaned often?

Spare room? Actually, where WAS she?

Her body sat limp as green eyes focused on the very pretty, very neat room and the belongings in it: there were books upon books in tall wooden shelves, a clean and almost unused curtained bed to her left, a burnt candle and a handbag on a table next to it, more books, not a speck of dust, and even more books…

As much as Ringo loved learning and reading, there were only books in this room!

No work desk, or any tools to carry out any sort of profession, just books, and more books, and more pages, and more books! Ringo loved learning and reading too, and would be able to read this had she any speck of magical capability in her but wasn’t this a bit much?

“You’re here too? Amusing. No one has visited for a good many years.”

A mature, feminine voice came from somewhere , something like Rulue’s but also not really, it sounded more like Raffina…?-

No way.

“AAAAAAASJGJHAGJDGJSSJAKAJJDKAAAAAAAUOAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! GHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“...G-Ghost? I’m not a ghost, though… Ah, but you probably can’t see me, can you?”

“Go away! Goawaygoawaygoaway!! I’m actually interested as to how ghosts work but right now I need some time!”

“I’m not a ghost, though? I’m still alive… I suppose.”

Ringo perked up, eyes narrowing in on the source of the voice. “You’re… alive?” she asked, turning to every wall in the room but seeing no one but herself. “I-I don’t see you… Can you um, show yourself?”

“I’m right beside you. You can’t tell, but I am. I see you. Miss Ringo, is it?” The voice called out again, and Ringo looked to her side. Was she in… a book, perhaps? Or really a ghost? That would just suck. Maybe she couldn’t see the ghost, and… Ringo shivered. What else was there? The candle, the handbag-

“Correct! Hello, can you hear me? You can’t see me exactly, but I'm here.”

Ringo stared at the handbag, carefully approached it, and opened it to find nothing inside–scarily enough, it was as clean as the room around here, not a speck of dust–and sighed happily. No ghost waiting to jump her, it seems. “Are you… really there, Miss?” she asked, green eyes peeking into the handbag, then its exterior. “Is this a trick? Are you going to scare me- and as it may turn out, you ARE a ghost in the end!?”

“Dear, I am in the handbag itself. One with it, and it is one with me,” the voice replied, confusing Ringo. “Imagine it has a pocket dimension inside. It’s not physical. And I reside in the pocket dimension, within the handbag’s existence. Understand?”

“V-Vaguely…” Ringo replied, taking a seat and searching for things she could use. There was nothing in the room that could get her out of here, such as anything sharp or anything that can be made sharp. “Hmm, I want to use one of those books to break the door, but they look really valuable and I don’t plan on getting myself arrested by the royal guard or either of the noble houses. Also, I think locks are stronger than books could break.”

“Noble houses…?” the voice asked quizzically. “So... Hm. Tell me, little miss, how is House Hallieu? Unless you are a commoner, then I do not expect you to have an answer.”

Ringo thought a little, making thinking sounds to herself, and moved closer to the bag. “Well, Nina is very sprightly. She’s the duchess, and might be getting married? She has a good eye for detail, but also picky and I think doesn’t do her job to sneak out and mingle with civilians like me,” she started, now trying to bring up memories of Raffina, or stories told by Amitie about her. What did she know about Raffina? Come to think of it, her quartet didn’t see her OR Rulue today. “And Raffina… I don’t know. Amitie told me she’s very hardworking and hates to associate with commoners, almost resenting Nina. They’re polar opposites. Also, something about her arranged marriage with the Marquis of Salwin? But if I recall right, Raffina doesn’t have an inch of magic in her body. And Raina, uh, is missing.”

“Raffina, married to the Marquis of Salwin? How strange,” the girl in the bag replied. “Wouldn’t Nina be engaged to him? I knew Aya long ago, and I don’t think he and Raffina are quite right for each other.”

Ringo fell backward, laying starfish-like on the sheets of the bed. “Yeah, well, I don’t know. Nina was going to be engaged to the Marquis—I think you called Aya—at the time, but he disappeared a few years after Raina,” she started. “Raffina’s being set up with the current Marquis, Klug. And Nina tried to negotiate with the prince of Lidyn, but nothing happened.”

The voice sighed and muttered something to herself. “Disappeared… Has it been so long? What a wonderful world you live in, miss,” the voice murmured. “Nina is the Duchess, Raffina is going to marry the new Marquis... It’s been quite the while, hasn’t it? I knew it the moment I cast this spell. No one could find me here, and in exchange, I’d never be able to meet anyone else. I do not know of current events.”

Find her where now?

The redhead tilted her head to the side. “I don’t understand,” she commented. “What’s your name?”

“Who else but Her Grace Raina, Duchess of Hallieu?”

Raina…?

“You’re Raina?” Ringo asked, startled. “But you went missing… that’s what Nina told me!”

“I sealed myself in here,” Raina replied, a twinge of sorrow in her tone. “The archmage at the time, Accord, wished to see if you could teach some types of magic to someone who cannot use it naturally, and I was her test subject… I escaped into here after a year or two of study.”

“It must have been really bad…” Ringo muttered, playing with her pigtails. “And now, here I am as well. Perhaps whoever wants me here is going to do the same; I don’t see any reason why not.”

“May I ask your name, first?”

“That was sudden… I’m Ringo. Ringo Ando. It’s um, nice to meet you."

“Ringo… I’m unfamiliar. A pleasure to meet you. Somewhat, I suppose. There was a girl who lived here who looked a little like you,” Raina continued, the only sound in the room her voice amidst the coming darkness outside. “Red hair, long and wavy that reached past her waist, and I never saw her face unless she went to get another book because it was always buried in a book in the first place. She never spoke, never talked back, and never smiled, and Accord practically forced her awake to keep reading and keep casting spells to manipulate light… She was a truly pitiable girl, if not a creature. Then, one day, she disappeared. I never saw her again.”

Ringo’s mind instantly clicked.

“How long were you… watching over her, I suppose you could say?”

“Three or four years, at most.”

Ringo was expecting a different number, so if her hypothesis of the girl in question was her, it could make sense, but she didn’t fit most parts of the criteria, nor did she know anyone that did. “You’re a good storyteller, Your Grace,” she responded slowly. “You’ve seen much, and learned more… Couldn’t you get out and tell people about the things you’ve seen?”

“My knowledge is abundant and I would like to be free. After all, I am most fit as the eldest daughter,” she said, breathing out an exasperated sigh. “Alas! I can’t. That is how I designed my sealing. Accord could not track me down, but I wouldn’t be able to get out. At least tomorrow, I will be able to support Raffina from the sidelines—that’s enough for me.”

“You will? That’s really good, Raffina is a little insecure about herself,” Ringo confessed, feeling a little bad she was talking about someone to her sister. She then fell silent in thought. “But if you cannot leave, may I ask how you’ll help her?”

Raina giggled lightly. “Hehe, by my enchantment, this handbag turns natural magic in the earth, the wind, and the sea into something more tangible,” she explained. “Raffina is not naturally talented like Nina, but she is a hardworking and resourceful girl. I’m sure she’ll be able to figure out a use for it, especially as she is very close with Rulue.”

Ringo widened her jaw and eyes in awe and grinned. “You must love helping people, Your Grace,” she commented. “You’re very kind!” She thought it was strange that she had mentioned Rulue–as Rulue was not related to Raffina’s growth as a mage in any sort she could think of–but discarded the idea.

“Indeed! Not one person has lost when I side with them. My support is enough, and my talent even more,” the former duchess proclaimed proudly, giggling to herself. “Of course, anyone would be happy to receive my help, or, in a more general perspective, from anyone. Likewise, helping others has a multitude of gains.”

“How about you, Miss Ringo Ando? Do you have someone you enjoy helping, or someone that has helped you?”

Ringo did not need to think to answer that question. “Of course! Arle and Carbuncle helped me get used to living normally and adapting to conversations, and Amitie helps make every day a little brighter for everyone! They’re my closest friends!” she rambled happily, smiling at the thought of them. “I hope they come soon. They’re both versatile in their own ways, and I don’t have a speck of magic in me. Of course, um, there’s this servant boy-girl-I don’t know I met two days ago, and they’re a little flirty but really kind t-”

Ringo jumped and caught herself falling forward as the lock on the outside of her door rattled and she screamed. “Aaaaaugh! Someone’s here! They’re back!”

Raina could be felt shivering. “They…? Oh, the ones who threw you in here?” she asked somewhat nonchalantly. “I think it could be anyone. Someone might’ve heard you and wanted to free you.”

“How would they know to find me here?” Ringo cried, and ran towards the door. “Hello? Is anyone out there?”

“Ringo? Ringo, my darling beloved, are you alright!?”

“I’m not your darling be- Wait, Ecolo? Is that you!?”

~~🌺~~

“How did you get Ringo kidnapped? You didn’t think to use magic, at all?”

Arle and Amitie dashed through their second hallway, the former quickly picking every lock there was, and had found nothing in their first. Still, there was nothing. Where was Ringo kept, anyway? Unless she wasn’t at all?

“Uh, well, I- I’m not good at magic like you are, Arle!” she cried, following Arle around without doing much of anything. “What if I fail completely? And even if I did succeed, wouldn’t I just hurt Ringo?”

“Guguu guuu…” Carbuncle said dejectedly, hopping to Amitie’s side to comfort her before quickly hopping back to his best friend.

Arle sighed and moved on to the next-next room. “Carby’s right! I could scream at you to have more confidence in your talents, but now’s not the time,” she muttered, and jammed her lockpick into a lock and opened it with a *click!*, only to show the same guest bedroom they’re seen about six or seven times now. “Empty too? But this is the last one in the hallway. Those soldier clowns must be really good at hiding people in rooms…”

“Funny-Hat Girl! And uh… Ginger-Golden Duo!” The loud footsteps of a slightly-bloodied-up boy in blue rang louder as the four met up where the two halves of the floor they searched ended. “You didn’t find anything, I guess?”

Arle’s jaw dropped, her gold eyes darting from the beaten-up, large kitchen knife in the servant’s hand, to their very bright blueish-green hair, to the blood at the side of their body, and their tall stature…

“Who are you? ” the adventurer finally decided to ask. “Also, this sounds super insensitive but uh… are you a guy or a girl? You look like… kinda both?”

They strutted towards her and leaned in too close for personal space, cocking their head to the side. “What’s the difference? I don’t know anything about that,” they started and backed off to giggle loudly. “I’m a guy, a girl, I’m neither and both and all of the above, all at the same time! I kinda don’t know, so I don’t really have an answer for you. Why should that matter? On the contrary, we should be searching for my cute and clever darling Ringo, shouldn’t we?”

Amitie gasped in awe. “I-I always thought you were a boy! But you’re both? And neither and all!?” she exclaimed, jumping up and down. “That’s so cool!! You’re super-super interesting, Ecolo!” The petite girl and the taller servant shared a high-energy high-five, and Carbuncle jumped to join them.

Aside from the cute camaraderie, the first thing Arle realized was that this dude was a chaotic mess.

Ecolo, was it? Ringo, their “cute and clever darling”? Was she missing some context? Arle made a mental note to interrogate Ringo later—usually the latter’s hobby, but not this time. Also, the way they talked made it much more confusing to discern their gender; although they had a point, it didn’t really matter. At least, not to them and the situation they were all in. And plus, where did all that blood on their side come from?

“Right! Let’s get to finding her! Onward!” they cheered, dashing towards the nearest upwards stairwell. “My princess waits for meeeeee! I am, after all, preeetty fit for a hero, don’tcha think? Ahahahaha!”

“Wait a second there, Ecolo-I-think-your-name-is,” Arle shouted, and they abruptly stopped to look at her for a second. “I think we should formulate a plan of action fi-”

Keyword: second, as Ecolo quickly dashed up the stairs and their long turquoise hair tied up by a red ribbon with them and around the corner. “He- They- They’re right!” Amitie shouted, and followed them as fast as she could. “There’s no time for plans! We’ll make one up if we have to! Right now, we gotta find Ringo and save her!” The maid girl ran up the stairs, nearly tripping on one heel and losing the other, all while trying to hold up the edges of her dress, possibly to prevent tripping from that…

Man, why’d they have to execute a search-and-rescue mission in formal wear and heels?

“This is a very bad idea, but it’ll work itself out,” Arle mumbled to herself, tying the bottom edge of her dress into a single knot as she would a shirt, and taking off her heels to leave them at the stairwell’s base. “Let’s go, Carby! We’ll think of something on the way!”

“Gugu!” Carbuncle affirmed, bouncing up the stairs at her side.

...

~~🌺~~

Why did this all come to happen, anyway?

Klug’s head was held high, and he only glared up at the pretentious failure of a noble before him.

“For someone whose bloodline is soooooo esteemed and so noble, especially for raising mages, you’ve not a single drop of magic in your veins, do you?” he asked, snickering in between to the Raffina’s very apparent disgust. “How do you possibly handle all that negative stigma? A Hallieu descendant having no magic? How will they ever cope with their honor? A miracle you have two sisters before you.”

“Silence, you disgusting wench,” Raffina snarled, eyeing him down the same way. “Look at you, not a single drop of nobility in your veins, hmm? You are respected by nobody of this class–or your own, frankly–except for trusting-to-a-fault Amitie and that florist’s girl who dares not talk back to anyone.”

Klug scoffed, daring not to meet eyes with her. “At least I have talent, and it’s far more powerful than you would have ever imagined,” came his reply, seething with a sort of venomous pride. “After all, I was tutored by the Comet Warlock Lemres himself, so I’m only getting better! And you? No magic to speak of? No skill? Imagine that! Uhyahyahya!”

This brat…

Raffina flipped her hair to the side ignorantly, trying to tune out the boy’s words. “You place a lot of worth on talent and magical skill, don’t you? I, for one, hear I am inheriting a family heirloom right around tomorrow that will make my magical prowess something for you to fear. And plus, I wonder how you have any sort of social life, thinking all the time about skill,” she shot back, half-smirking. “Oh, but you did have friends, didn’t you? What a shame you pushed them all away the moment you threw yourself into study. Remember when the four of us exchanged all those flowers?”

“I recall no such thing, nor do I recall ever being friends with you,” Klug responded passive-aggressively, pushing up his glasses and neatening his blue, collared suit. “Frankly, I don’t recall having to or needing to be associated with someone such as you. And I seriously oppose this arranged-marriage thing. I’d think you and I are alike in that respect, madam?”

“In some ways, perhaps. In some ways, perhaps not. Why should you care?” the little lady snapped, crossing her arms and turning the other way. “It’s not something in my control. I shouldn’t be the one at fault, nor do I have the right to change it.”

Poor Raffina, if only she actually opposed it. She knew Klug had a kind heart–and frankly, a weak and immature emotional constitution–below all the arrogance, and felt this childhood need to protect and love him. But dealing with the boy in front of her, who acted more like a court jester than a marquis, started to convince her she was going insane.

She probably was.

~~🌺~~

There was a throne at the center, and seats at the side, but that was about it.

Blue silk and gold thread adorned every seat, decoration, and curtain, but there was nobody but them to observe it—if, at this moment they even wished to.

“There’s nothing here! We’ve reached a dead end!” Arle shouted, surveying her surroundings. “You don’t think we’re searching the wrong floors, right? Maybe we should backtrack to the third, or split up.” A miracle that the castle was five floors tall; House Hallieu’s was only three not counting the keep, and Salwin’s two not counting the cellar, but each paled in comparison to the sheer size of the royal palace. On the contrary, that could also mean Ringo could be anywhere…

“If they carried Ringo to the third floor, wouldn’t they have just run off to another hallway, or wouldn’t we have heard something about it? You know these nobility fools love to talk,” Ecolo pointed out, and put their hands in their pockets. “Though, you make a good point. Where else would my Ringo be, if not here?”

Amitie shivered and looked around as well. “What should we do? If we yell for her, maybe she’ll respond!?” she suggested and inhaled loudly. “RIIII-“

Arle quickly shut up the blonde by shoving her palm to her mouth. “We can’t do that, Amitie!” she cried. “If we scream for her, we’ll draw too much attention, and if we cause too much trouble Nina will have all our heads!”

Amitie backed off and pointed to two doors at the side of the throne in the back. “We can check those weird rooms to the side first, if there’s nothing, we can go back,” she started again. “O-Of course, if there IS a wild Ringo in there, then, um, we should probably get out of here as soon as possible! I’m getting scared staying here!”

Carbuncle bounced to the side room on the right side with a spring in his step and jumped up and down at its base. “Gugugu gugu!” he cried, pointing back and forth between both rooms with his small limbs. “Gu gugu gu gugugugu gugu gu!”

Amitie and Ecolo stood motionless for a moment, not understanding a thing before Arle dashed to Carbuncle. “You’re right! Let’s check these rooms, find Ringo, and get the heck outta here!” she shouted, spinning her lockpick in her hand. “Amitie, you come with me! Ecolo, you pick the other door!”

Ecolo motioned a bright OK with their gloved hand, and Amitie followed up after Arle. “Arle, you should be careful! We don’t know if there’s something scary waiting,” she cautioned, “Also, I think you’re missing shoes! And your dress is all wrinkled- Those don’t belong to you! I’m gonna get in massive trouble!”

“Yeah, well, Raffina can blow off some steam and I don’t care,” the mage countered, turning her lockpick around and opening the door with ease. “Ringo’s safety is ten times more important than some fashion item-“

“Aaaaaugh! Someone’s here! They’re back!”

…?

It could only be her!

Amitie, Arle, and Carbuncle froze in place to turn around to see Ecolo also flinching in shock. A bout of silence followed, and her voice repeated itself again. “How would they know to find me here?” she cried out, footsteps bearing the other side of the door. “Hello? Is anyone out there?”

“Ringo? Ringo, my darling beloved, are you alright!?” Ecolo shouted, knocking on the door and placing their face right up to the door.

“I’m not your darling be- Wait, Ecolo? Is that you!?” Ringo’s surprised shock was apparent even without seeing her—though, it was also quite obvious nobody but Ecolo was accustomed to hearing her being called “darling beloved”—and she hastily knocked on the door. “It’s locked from the outside. You’ll need to find a key of some sort-”

“Don’t worry, Ringo,” the valet cried, jamming their kitchen knife into the lock. “Your prince is coming to save you… Huh? This one won’t open. That’s really weird.”

Arle dashed towards Ecolo, flashing her thinner lockpick, and they moved to the side. “You see, Ecolo, a thinner lockpick with jaws at the end is more versatile. You can make one out of a hairpin,” she started, shoving her pick in and with a little struggle, clicked it open as a faint crack bridging both rooms made itself clear. The servant’s jaw dropped in awe, and their smile widened. “Bam. Perfectly done, kinda.”

Ecolo ran into the terrifyingly neat room to jump up and embrace Ringo in a sort of spinning hug, one of which the latter found both surprising and unwarranted. “E-Ecolo!? How’d you get here? And Arle? Carbuncle? Amitie?? How’d you find me here, or know how to?!”

Amitie giggled nervously and stepped inside the room slowly to approach the very neat girl and the androgynous servant clinging onto her. “Hehe… We actually got kinda lucky,” she admitted, scratching the back of her head. “But I’m glad you’re safe, Ringo! That makes me really happy!”

Arle was third to enter the room, failing to coax a strangely hesitant Carbuncle to follow. “Ringo, I think you owe us an explanation,” she started, thinking a little before speaking. “Why’d they kidnap you? And also, who’s this Ecolo guy who’s so interested in you?”

“They were trying to get me, Arle! The cat’s instructions were so vague they got the wrong person!” Amitie shouted, and chuckled nervously. “Of course, I’m not sure how the cat could talk, or where it’s from, so don’t ask me. On the contrary, who IS this guy, Ringo!?" Olive-green eyes sparkled a shade of saturated lime, and she peered at the two of them expectantly.

Ringo shuddered and forced off Ecolo’s grip on her arm. “I’m- uh- Um, this is Ecolo. A friend of mine, I guess.”

“Yep, yep! Ringo’s my best friend, hehe! She’s such a cutie~”

“Gugu… gugu guuu gu!”

“What’s that, Carby? That sounds like bad news…”

“So are you two dating or something!? Eeeeeeee!!!!”

“!? No!?!?!? We’re just friends!!!”

“Whoa- Okay, Weird Hat Girl, as much as I love your sense of imagination, maybe we could take it down a notch?”

“Umm, Amitie? Ringo? Ecolo? We really should-”

“Aw, fiddlesticks. It would’ve been cute! I’ve met so many romantic people today-”

“Freeze! Don’t move a single step!”

The five stopped their banter to turn around to see a silver-haired, horned man and a minotaur ready in a battle position. Between them, strutting to the front, in a black dress and pink hair tied in a bun…

“I-It's those soldiers again! And Nina!? I can explain! No- Wait- We can explain!! It’s not as bad as you think!” Amitie pleaded. “There was this cat or something and they tried to take me but got Ringo instead!! It’s not her fault!!”

Nina stopped the two soldiers with a wave of her hand. “Stand your ground. These girls seem guilty, but I’d like to ask questions for now,” she ordered. “Now why would a cat of all things—unless you mean Popoi—want to capture you, unless you committed some heinous deed? You’re a cute and wonderful young lady, Amitie, and so are Miss Silvana and Ringo as well, but I don’t see why to send the royal guard unless something really extra serious has happened.” She folded her arms and eyed each one specifically, her last falling to Ecolo.

“Who’s Silvana…? I don’t know a Silvana here,” they asked innocently, stunning the quartet into shock. “I mean, I’m not great with names. But I’m pretty sure that’s Arle, right? Not Silvana?”

Yiiiiiiiikes!

“Arle… Arle Nadja? Arle Nadja of Islen District? You? ” Nina hissed and smiled warmly in stark contrast, her eye twitching. “It’s a pleasure meeting a troublemaker such as yourself, and it would be an honor, but given the circumstances, I’ll have to detain and question you and your friends. After all, things are serious when four idiots who don’t know their place sneak in to cause unwanted trouble.” She turned to Minotaur and the other man and stepped aside.

“You may capture them.”

The two charged towards the open door and slowed down as the five were backed to a wall. “Don’t resist and we’ll make it easier for you,” the horned man said. “Rules are rules, and I gotta throw you in another room for a while.”

Amitie whimpered, nearly breaking into sobs, Arle comforted her, looking just as apprehensive as the rest of the five.

“I’ve got it,” Ecolo whispered, and pushed three girls plus Carbuncle aside to break the window and its frame behind them at the wall they were cornered at with their heel and back of the kitchen knife in hand. Shards of glass and wood crashed down into the room, cutting their bare arms and grazing Ringo’s, and they jumped up from a stack of books to the windowsill. “Shut up and follow me! We’re jumping out this window!”

“That’s insane!” Ringo pleaded. “We’re almost fifty feet up! We’re not going to surv-“

“Ringo, just trust me on this,” Ecolo replied, taking her hand in theirs. “I’ll keep you safe. I know I will. Follow me.” The redhead hesitated, but eventually gave in to jump out the window, part of her hair getting stuck in the broken frame.

“Wh-what now, Arle?” Amitie stuttered. “Do we jump out the window too? I’m scared, and it’s so high up…”

“Well, we have no choice. If Ecolo’s plan sucks I’ve got one ready,” Arle responded, grabbing Amitie by the hand to dash up and out the window. “Ready, steady, go! We’ll figure out a way!” The two girls disappeared out the window, chased by the soldiers who reasonably did not follow, and Nina screamed.

“Aaaaaaagh! They jumped out! They’re going to die! ” the Duchess wailed, and turned to the two soldiers. “They’re not going to survive. Find your captain and get him to prepare to find the bodies of three teenage girls and a teenage boy-“

“Accelerate! Fairy Fair!!”

Nina ran towards the broken window, pushing Minotaur to the side, and stared appalled. The four of them plus the yellow creature were high in the sky, in one pair and a group of three, speeding towards the harbor in view, lit by lanterns and stars. But even with all this height, they were going to crash into the sea…

“Change of plan!” she declared, leaving the room and not bothering to look. “They’re mages, which I somewhat expected. Pretty impressive; they’ll survive if they value their lives. I mean, I didn’t even accuse them of anything yet, and they dare escape me? Hmph, how dare! Find them, and when you do, capture all four alive! ”

…

“Yeah, so I don’t have a plan.”

The three girls stared blankly at the giggling server’s silhouette as the four-plus-one of them were about to tumble into the dark sea, with no bottom to stand on. “Guguguuuuuu!?” Carbuncle cried, fluffy ears flaring up expressively.

“I didn’t hear that right, but basically everyone for themselves,” Arle mumbled dejectedly, and held the shivering Amitie’s hand tighter. “I have an idea, and it’s probably gonna work. Amitie, could you…?”

…

Ecolo held Ringo’s hands, one in each of his, and smiled. “You know, you do look rather lovely under starlight,” they commented, holding her in a tight embrace. “I would ask if I could have this dance… if we were not about to fall into the sea.”

“You don’t have a plan, Ecolo! We’re not going to survive!” Ringo cried angrily, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. “Amitie and- and Arle are too far away to find us and it’s too dark to know where they are. What were you thinking!?”

“Of protecting you. I told you to trust me, Ringo,” Ecolo responded, holding her tighter. “I promised I’d keep you safe, didn’t I? So ready up, because things are about to get reeeeeeal weird!”

The world seemed to spin around Ringo, as Amitie and Arle’s figures in the distance faded away into a blur, the light of ships and lanterns faded to nothing, the castle lights seemed to dim-

The last thing she saw was Ecolo’s usual drooly, mischievous-yet-kind smile, before everything faded into deep darkness.

#puyo puyo #radiant lights #ecorin fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic

0 notes