Chapter ten: Flowers to Pick

"Vila..."

Another voice is calling my name, echoing through the darkness.

"Vila..."

Who is that?

"Vila..."

That doesn't sound like Sommi, it has a more-sinister demeanor to it...

"Vila..."

Yet somehow-it's soothing...

"Vila..."

Should I answer?

"... H-hello?"

A pause hangs over me while I stand in the abyss again.

Two eyes pop out in front of me with a glowing red iris.

I know who that is.

Vensen!

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"Vila, wake up."

My eyes suddenly open to see Reina over me while I lie on the matt.

With a giggle in her voice, she says to me sweetly, "Wake up dear, or you'll miss breakfast."

Realizing what she just said, I sit up straight.

"There we go," Reina responds with her usual smile, "Now go make yourself look decent before you meet us at the table dear."

"Y-yes Reina-kan." After getting myself ready for the day, I come over to the dining table to meet the others for a meal in one of Caru's outfit (she's letting me borrow some since Zaru cut up the only one that I brought). It's a simple red shirt and black shorts. They still kind of match my grey boots, in a way. "Morning everyone." I sit down on the floor next to Reina.

The blonde skootches closer to me in interest. "Hey there, I'm Haru!" Her glassy, blue eyes meet mine as her bright, yellow, and long hair flows down her back in a high ponytail. She bears a tan-ish hide that has a complexion between Zaru's and Caru's slightly darker tone.

I smile and reply to her, "Hello, I'm Vila." I then search the room to look for Zaru and fail to see him around. "Do you know where Zaru-kan is?"

"He already ate so he could attend to his other patients," Caru states professionally, "He's currently in the other room."

"Oh, he must be busy then."

Haru steps into the conversation, "Yeah, he is the only doctor here, but he's still pretty amazing."

I try to act interested as I shove food into my mouth. I'm very hungry after everything that's happened after all. "This stuff is actually pretty good!"

"Thank you," Caru says in a prideful manner, "I made it all myself."

I smile back at her and then notice that Reina is unusually quiet. "Hey Reina, what do you think?"

She immediately snaps out of her gloom trans and looks to me with her traditional smile. "Oh, I think it's wonderful! There's so much flavor and everything!" That sounds more like her.

Before anything else can happen, Zaru steps into the room looking stressed. "Oh boy, I hate to break up this party, but they need us back in Erekin."

"What!?" Caru shouts as Haru grunts. "What do they need us for this time; we just got back!"

He shrugs with his answer, "Don't know, but they said it was urgent."

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Reina and I were left with Ruus as the three head out for the main city. I feel sort of sad since I didn't really get to know them too well, but at least they seem passionate about saving lives.

Ruus thought it would be a good idea if I were to help with the crops and everything, so while he walked me over to the fields, I explained everything that I could to him about the event yesterday and Reina was left with helping the elderly. He placed me in the nupum fields to pick out the ripe ones for baked goods and such. We had a small garden in the back of our lav, so picking them out in a delicate manner is simple enough for me. As I'm doing this on my knees and in gear, though, the other women in the field gather around me and start asking questions about what the past two days were all about.

"You don't know anything?" I ask to the first lady who came up to me as I keep picking nupum flowers with the sun shining down on our straw hats.

"No, Ruus hasn't informed us yet. All we know is that there were these men who were giving your village trouble; is that right?" She answers.

I look at her and lay my chin on one of my hands with a slight sense of pity. "Well, that's an important piece of it, but there were only two people.

They sort of look amazed about this. I don't blame them. "How bad were they?" Another lady speaks up.

"Well-one of them only came yesterday for the battle."

"Only one?"

How do I break this to them? They're completely innocent to the situation. "Yeah-Reina, my friend who came with me last night, she speculates that..."

"What?" The women gather closer to me out of curiosity and suspense.

"Well-she says that this guy, the one who attacked us yesterday-is a follower of Beldor."

They all back up a little out of shock, some even place the tips of their fingers to their lips out of tradition.

"A follower of Beldor?" One asks.

I'm a little surprised here myself. "Wait, you know about this religion?"

The same lady looks at her fellow women and then back to me. "Well, we know that Beldor was a servant of Vindelos, but I think this is the first time we've heard of it as a religion."

I realize the danger I've just put them in. "Well, the whole thing is new to me as well, but I think it would be safe if we take the same caution as we would for any other demon."

All the women around me nod in unison to my warning.

"So then," another woman starts, "What about the other? Is he a Beldor follower as well?"

She must be talking about Kakashin. "No, I don't think so. He seemed more like a guy who just got caught in the wrong group really."

"So he seems like a nice man then?" Another inquires.

"Yeah, I guess. He was actually trying to protect me from the other guy. He also had the same traits of someone who would be from Zemfen somewhere." My mind starts to wonder off with all of my theories and such as I say them out loud. "But he could also be from somewhere else in Fupum*, I only met him for a few minutes, so who knows."

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Later that day when the sun was beginning to reach the end of its journey, Ruus girds everyone around the stage area where announcements are supposed to take place. "Everyone, I need your attention please." He stands on the stump as he projects his words as clearly as he can. "As you may know, our neighboring village, Kai, was being threatened by a group of Beldor believers. They had a great number compared to us."

A whole group? It was only two men!

He continues, "Their numbers and power were more than we expected so there were only three survivors consisting of Kai, Elana, and ourselves."

The women from the fields look to me in disgust, thinking that I lied about the headcount of the people we faced.

"You damn liar!" An angered voice shouts from the crowd. Reina forces her way through the mass easily with her burly frame and confronts Ruus as he stands on the wide speech stump. "We faced only one man and you know that!" She turns and gives the gist of the story to the people with her rage. "Yes, he's a follower of Beldor, but he still managed to decimate all three troops that went against him, and he did it all in a matter of minutes!"

The entire crowd hurls their gasps and whispers amongst each other.

Maybe Ruus was being a good leader when he lied about there being multiple people involved. It is hard to believe that one man did all of that, but still.

"I believe you!" Crevsa Vielm speaks up as a supporter.

The surrounding people spread out to make a circle around him.

"I've been a part of the lives of these two long enough to know that they aren't liars, or crazy enough to make up a ridiculous story like that. Everything Reina says is true."

Suddenly, another bane of silence kills the insides of everyone.

"So then-what should we do?" A villager calls out.

"Well my dear," that deep and smooth voice explodes from the very back of the caucus.

Everyone around the body who controls that unexpected voice jumps back and gives Vensen room with a path straight to Ruus so that both may see each other lucidly.

Vensen continues as he takes his time walking to the decently large stump, "Dealing with such a terrifying 'man' would be difficult in itself." When he approaches Reina at the stump, she refuses to move out of the way for him. He stares down at her almost with full pride. "Hello Reina, I must apologize again for what happened yesterday."

How does he know her name, and what does he mean by "again?"

He then looks up to Ruus. "I suppose apologizing to you as well up there would be a smart move on my part, what with watching me devour my little snack while you had nothing to eat."

My body tenses up from his sick words.

Again, with his swift speed, he appears in front of Ruus on the stub. "I also completely forgot to introduce myself, please, allow me to do so now that it's almost over." He grabs Ruus by the shoulder and throws him to the side towards the ground.

Reina finally leaves her post to attend him while he lies in the dirt and grass.

Vensen turns to the crowd and lifts his arms halfway like a cross to give a dramatic effect. "People of Kai village," he projects while looking to our villagers, then faces the other residents, "And people of Erekin, my name is Vensen, Vensen Stuki of the Burraku clan; and it is my great pleasure to inform you that tonight-I will slaughter you all."

"Now wait just a minute," Reina cuts in as she jolts up to call him out, "That's going against our deal!"

He puts on this mockingly innocent act with a surprised look on his face. "My dear, you're right, this is completely out of terms!" His attitude changes slightly into a blaming tone and pushes further with a toothy grin. "Then again, you were willing to let me demolish a whole village, plus two more people."

I run up to Reina with uncertainty in my heart. "Reina-he's lying-right?" He has to be-Reina would never do something like that!

She doesn't answer, she won't even look at me.

"Reina?"

Her attention goes back to Vensen. "You're supposed to leave us alone." I've never heard her say something in such a glum tone...

As his usual self, Vensen goes on with his dissembling and irritating act. "Ah, but my dear, how can I leave all of you alone, when you've promised me two souls for your own family?"

She drops her head in anger as she forces the words from her lips again, "You said you would leave us alone..."

A disappointed sigh emerges from Vensen's mouth before he explains it to her again in a sweeter tone that's even more sickening than before, "My dear-sweet-Reina... Haven't you ever heard of a lie?"

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Fupum- This word actually comes straight from the ancient language, Crenhis. There’s no direct or legitimate translation, but it supposedly means “Core,” or “Heart.” It’s believed that this word is referring to the concept of the planet’s cornerstone. This is the name of the spherical planet that Vila lives on.