FOLKTALES OF THE DESERT

Standing just outside the southern border of the Skyfire Paradise was a rather peculiar party. Corners of Lynne’s lips twitched slightly as he glanced around. I always end up attracting weird, don’t I? He thought, sighing. Alongside Thalia and him, many others have tagged along onto this short journey; Parsia, Y’se, Fyre, Silo, Rena, Amelia, the monkey, the bird, the now panther-sized panda, and Thalia’s Junior Apprentice Sister, Yona who was clinging onto Thalia’s arm while staring daggers at Lynne. Oh well…

The group moved slowly on foot while broken into small parts, each immersed in their own little conversations. Lynne traveled alongside Parsia and Y’se at the very rear of the group.

“… why the hell did you two decide to join us?” Lynne grumbled.

“It sounded fun, what’s the problem?” Y’se said calmly.

“What she said.” Parsia added.

“Look, I understand that you guys love me so much and that you can’t bear to part with me,” Lynne said. “But I do need my personal space, okay? I’m a growing boy.”

“From what I’ve seen, I sure hope so.” Parsia lashed back.

“What he said.” Y’se added.

“Ah, how vicious your tongues are; it is fine, you know?” Lynne raised his hands flamboyantly as he spoke. “Be honest with your heart! Admit to the flames that burn for me! I shall take them all!”

“It’s a pretty big party, though,” Parsia said. “It will take us at least three months to get there on foot at this pace.”

“Of course we won’t be going there on foot, idiot,” Lynne said. “We’ll walk for a week or so, just to give kids some experience. Then it’s boom, bam, tras, our destination!”

“Wow, your storytelling aptitude is off the fucking charts.” Y’se said.

“… was it okay to leave the entire Kingdom to the Principal though?” Lynne asked.

“It’s not just him. While you were lazing off for a year, we did hire some people, you know?” Parsia added.

“Lazing off? Aye, it was all milk and titties for that year. I hope that, one day, both of you will also get to laze off just like I did. I bet you will love it.”

“Calm down lil’ bro,” Y’se said. “Anger isn’t good for your skin.”

“Anyway, you said you met the Dragon before, right?” Lynne said, changing the subject. “Will she smoke me alive?”

“I only met her a few times,” Y’se said, smiling. “She seemed lovely.”

“Well, let’s see.” Lynne said, stroking his chin. “You’re my blood. You’re smiling while saying something positive. Yup, she’ll smoke me alive.”

“Didn’t you already meet one True Dragon?” Parsia asked. “Why are you getting pissy now?”

“That was different,” Lynne shook his head. “I was a fucking kid back then. You think I knew I had met up with a Dragon? The hell I did.”

“You’ll be fine,” Y’se said. “Just… don’t be yourself. Got it?”

“Loud and clear! Wait, what do you mean don’t be myself?! Who am I then?!”

“… aah, why can’t you be one of those brooding, trying-too-hard-to-be-cool types?” Parsia said, sighing.

“I tried that once,” Lynne said, looking nostalgically into the sky. “Didn’t work out.”

“Why?” Y’se asked against her better judgment.

“I didn’t know what to brood over.”

“…”

“…”

The large party walked at a relatively leisurely pace until the nightfall, when they decided to camp for the night. As it was just sand everywhere, they chose a random spot atop a rolling hill and pitched a few tents while lighting a campfire and roasting freshly stored boar. Gathered around the bonfire in a circle, the group appeared more like a caravan of merchants rather than a traveling party. While waiting on the boar, some talked while some drank, with laughter occasionally echoing out into the night.

Lynne sat alone in silence, drinking Heavenly Ale as he watched over the scene before him. Calming, soothing, something he had lacked for a long time; for that night, he decided to abandon all worries and plans inside his mind and just relax, allow himself to join in the mundane for at least a little while. Especially so when the group of youngsters decided to start telling horror stories about this very desert, whereupon he immediately joined them.

“K-king!!” Silo, Rena and Amelia exclaimed as Lynne sat next to them.

“Ha ha, just call me Lynne when we’re outside the Kingdom,” Lynne said casually laughing. “Anyway, you guys were about to start telling some stories? Come on! I wanna hear!”

“I-it’s just some things we heard… I-in the Kingdom,” Rena said, forcing herself to calm down. “I don’t think they’d suit you, your Majesty.”

“… wow, you guys really live with a stick up your ass,” Lynne said, sulking somewhat. “Fine, if that’s how we’re gonna play: this is an order from your King. Tell. Me. Goddamn. Stories.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Your thoughts are correct,” Thalia suddenly sat next to Lynne, with Yona sitting next to Thalia immediately afterwards. “The King can, indeed, be childish at times.”

“Why don’t I open up with a story, then?” Y’se suddenly joined as well, shortly followed by Parsia and Fyre, and soon the whole group found itself focusing onto Y’se who took a deep breath before speaking.

“This is a story from long ago, so long actually that humans hadn’t even set foot onto this land,” she said as everyone else turned quiet and attentive. “A great battle took place between two majestic Dragons; they say that the two Dragons fought for nearly a century, washing away this land in blood. Finally, after such a long time, one Dragon fell the other, burying his corpse in sand. Ever since then, at exact intervals of 9999 years, they say that the desert awakens,” her voice deepened as she went on. “Every grain of sand, as though given a soul, becomes a small, scarlet worm, and then, in groups, they form countless Dragons in the image of the one that fell. Whoever sets foot into desert at that day dies without intact corpse. And… that event is just three years away from happening again!” there was a short silence after she finished, before Lynne suddenly burst out in laughter.

“That was great sis!” he exclaimed. “Uh, but, as you said, it’s just a story, right? It’s not like desert will actually turn into fucking worms, right? Right?!!”

“Who knows?” Y’se smiled mysteriously as she picked up the bottle from the ground and drank from it.

“My turn then.” Fyre suddenly spoke.

“Wait a fuck! Let me calm my heart first!” Lynne protested to no avail.

“This is something my Master told me, and it happened just a few hundred years ago,” Fyre begun, ignoring Lynne. “At the northernmost parts of the Wastelands, where the desert touches the sand, there exists a massive, underground tomb from long ago. Legends say that tyrannical Emperor Mu, alongside ten thousand of his most devout subjects, was buried there alive after he lusted over God Io’s daughter. As a punishment for his sins, God Io put a curse on him and his subjects. Removing their skin, flesh and muscle, and turning them into skeletons, he forced them to forever roam that tomb. However, once every year, Emperor Mu and ten of his subjects are allowed to leave for three days. As long as they manage to kill one hundred people in that time, it is said that their curse shall be lifted and that they’ll be granted ultimate power and eternal life! Last time they exited the tomb, they managed to kill 96 people, almost completing their goal…”

“… okay, that’s not so bad,” Lynne said, exhaling deeply. “Mental reminder: never go to the northernmost part of this godforsaken place. Okay, next.”

“I have a story,” the monkey suddenly spoke as he leapt onto Lynne’s shoulder, startling the latter for a moment. “It’s an ancient tale passed down orally in my family. According to it, at the very start of Magus Era, when humans had truly begun practicing Magic, there existed an Evil Sage Rao, at time the most powerful Magus humanity had seen. Not only did he kill, rape and raze wantonly, he built a castle in the sky from the bones of the children, and would have rituals of sacrifice daily. Hundreds of thousands… millions… not only of humans, but of all other races. His evil deeds seemingly had no end. Sick of his evil, the Source itself one day decided to act, punishing him through Thunder Tribulation, destroying his castle and his body. However, even the Source was unable to destroy his soul; according to the legend, he had sealed himself in the underground palace, waiting for the day someone finds him and unseals him back into this world. Although no one knows where this palace truly is, ruins of his castle can be found at the far East. Although, now, it is nothing but a mountain of bones…”

“… this place really has all kinds of tales, doesn’t it?” Thalia said, chuckling. “Ah, but that’s the case with anywhere you go, really.”

“Hm,” Y’se nodded. “It’s part of the folklore. What’s history and what’s myth… beauty lies in that line that marks it neither but either.”

“W-we,” Amelia suddenly spoke in a low voice. “H-heard the story about… about the King hi-himself.”

“Oh? About me?” Lynne said, arching his brows. “Please do tell!”

“It’s probably something along the lines of ‘I bet his palace houses ten thousand beautiful women that he can’t pleasure’.” Thalia sneered.

“Ah, right!” Silo exclaimed as though he remembered something. “We overheard it when we were having a diner in this small tavern, shortly after The Day.”

“The Day?” Lynne tilted his head.

“Ah, that’s how commoners call the day you tore the sky open,” Silo explained. “From what I remember, it goes something like this: the King is actually a child of a Dragon and a God, divined upon this World to protect it from the Demon King. However, in madness over losing his loved ones, his heart became corrupted, and he himself became the Demon King, just one capable of communicating with Stars of Heaven. The story goes that, when you turn one hundred, you’ll completely lose control over yourself and become mad, calling upon the Stars as you plunge this World into Eternal Inferno.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“I’m a beloved King, right?! That’s just a funny story, they didn’t mean it, right?!” Lynne cried out after a short silence. “You guys love me, you said so yourself! Do I look like a Demon King to you? No, right? Right?! I’m the furthers away from the Demon King that you can get!! Although I do love the sound of being a child of a Dragon and a God…”

“I-it’s just one spin on the story, Majesty,” Rena said, smiling lightly. “In one of them, you’re even a recently restored mummified remains of a Fallen Devil Eul.”

“… regardless of the version, I’m still a Devil, huh?”

“Suits you.” Thalia said, smirking.

“Indeed it does.” Yona added, sticking her tongue at him. “In my version, you’re a Perverted Devil!”

“… well, that I am,” Lynne said, puffing his chest out. “Thalia here can attest to that!”

“…”

“…”

“We have children here, you know?” Y’se said casually.

“Humph, what children?” Lynne snorted. “By the time I was their age--- okay, so who’s up next for some scary storytelling?”

“…”

“…”

Chatter echoed out deep into the night as, one by one, they fell asleep, resting for tomorrow’s journey further toward the south, a place said to only welcome living, for dead cannot die again.