UNDERGOING MAJOR MAINTENANCE. MOVE ALONG UNTIL IT'S READY!

Enjoy my random story! Open to feedback and discussion! Hope you don't mind some of the silly moments! I'm using way too many exclamation points! Send help! Ah! They're taking over!

Each new post is a different chapter, first is a prologue, though-

Sometimes I go back and revise, last revision: 1/21/20

Chapter Count (excluding prologue): 6

Takes place in a dystopic video-game society where everyone must take the place of their 'predecessor'. In such a community, there's little room for anomalies such as rebels, who believe in outlandish and radical ideas such as choice in what you become. A group of these in close generational proximity is known as a 'Rebellion', and there's only been one formal Rebellion is years past. The other... well, we don't talk about that. Besides, we have this shiny new one, waiting just for you to join the fun!

Blurb V. 0.0.1: In times past, the Aristocrat's daughter, Oriana, drags an unwilling Raiden into adventures. It's his destiny, and the path he's intended to follow. But when he shows inclinations toward adventure, his parents worry he won't be able to fulfill his role as the game's Hero. Hoping to work some of that attitude out of him, he's allowed to go out on a journey of his own.

However, everything turns on its head when he meets Lilith, an ignorant girl with dreams and aspirations she seems to expect him to help her meet. Everything lies unconscious on the side of the road when he meets Meghan, a wise guy with no apparent purpose or meaning. And when a trap throws them into their first crazy adventure, rifling through Everything's pockets and ridding it of all its belongings, Raiden realizes there may be no turning back.

Anyway, without any further preface, have a story-

If you asked anyone in Saile'm Village to describe Lilith in one word, they would reply 'something'. If you asked what they meant by this, they would simply explain she sure was something. If you asked them to explain her in one sentence, it would be 'one confused, lost, lonely child'. And if you explained that this was a run-on, not a sentence, they'd say 'You'd best run-on before I introduce you to my switchblade."

Very few people actually like being told they are wrong, which makes the people of Saile'm Village fairly normal. When Lilith came to an age that she could decide what she thought was right and what she thought was wrong, many people in Saile'm Village found they could hardly stand being in the same room as her. So they often weren't.

Most of her ideas had to do with freedoms that just aren't allowed in a universe of video game characters.

Growing up experiencing nearly constant loneliness does odd things to the development of a child. Having more time to think, they experience difficult and dangerous things called 'ideas'. Eventually, when she reached an age where children usually start going to school, she started to express her ideas to her classmates. Their parents convinced them she was not worth their time. Luckily for Lilith, though, there was one student who had no parents.

No one actually knew what happened to Qehna's parents. All that was left of them was their daughter and a handful of rumors. Seeing as rumors are generally unreliable, there is no reason for them to be listed here. Qehna never understood Lilith's loneliness, nor her ideas. One thing she did understand was that Lilith didn't care if no one understood; she was all talk, and needed someone to talk to if she was to refrain from discussing existential matters with rocks and the occasional clay pot.

Lilith, unfortunately, did not listen to Qehna very often. When Qhena pleaded with Lilith to reconsider her idea to leave school, Lilith didn't listen. Not until several years later. When both of the girls had reached the age of nine, Qehna finally convinced her friend to come back, though it was just for one day.

Lilith enjoyed being in school again, except for one rough bit when the other kids locked her in the janitor's closet and she missed lunch because of it. She liked the learning. It helped her with her ideas, but if she told anyone else that, she had the idea they would force her to stop coming without her deciding for herself. She was probably right.

That day, Lilith had her most brilliant idea yet, during the last lesson, history.

"Take out your books and turn to page... oh, whatever, it's the fourth set of yellow pages."

After all the students turned the pages of their vast textbooks to the next lesson, he looked around the room. "This is a very sensitive part of our history." He tapped the book, and neon sticky notes fluttered out of its contents. "They almost removed it entirely, to avoid... dangerous circumstances. Now..." he looked evenly at the expressions of apprehension that had crept across his students' faces (the ones that were paying attention, that is. But school isn't exactly a requirement in video games, so he didn't care if no one listened as long as he was payed). "Does anyone know anything about the Rebellion?"

About half of the class silently shook their heads, others doodled, others read ahead, and two boys in the back failed to stifle a laugh at some inside joke. Some just stared.

Lilith thought.

The teacher, satisfied that no one knew what he was talking about, cleared his throat and began the story he had recited for years. "A long time ago, there was a group of characters who had a very dangerous idea." Lilith nodded. 'Dangerous' was how she'd always heard ideas described. "It was to go against their destinies and be whatever they wanted to be." As if he'd threatened to eliminate Battle Royale from the list of video game genres, the class fell silent and stared at him, gaping. The two boys giggled again. The teacher glanced at them before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Imagine, if you will, a Villain decides to be a Hero. An NPC a Princess. A Mentor a Henchman. Why do you think this would be bad?"

Lilith shook her head incomprehensibly. A new idea came to mind.

The teacher didn't allow his now-whispering students to answer. "Because," he started, and the class fell silent, "there is a very careful balance in the Universe. Librada forbid, if we were to disturb this balance..." he stiffened his hands into claws and put the tips of his fingers together. "The very fabric of our existence would just..." he jerked his hands away from each other "...rip itself apart. And it almost did." He leaned nonchalantly on his desk and fixed his glasses. "Imagine a game with two Heroes and no Villain. There would be no game!" He watched a student pass out and fought off a smile. He called the nurse and school counselor respectively as the students began shouting among themselves behind him. When he turned back, they fell silent after only a few moments. He stood, letting the tension mount to an intolerable scale.

"Now," he finally said, clapping his hands once before stepping from behind his desk and letting his arms swing aimlessly at his sides, "Who would like to read the first paragraph?"

The history of the first Rebellion is one that need not be recited here, but in a later time it will be written, though it may actually have the full truth of its time.

Lilith would have liked to return to school, but she knew on that day what she had to do. She wasn't sure why. She had no idea how. Since you are clearly smart enough to comprehend what you are reading (it can otherwise be assumed you would have moved to another story by this point), that intelligence will not be insulted by reciting the cliche stunt that Lilith was about to pull for whatever reasons she may have had or whatever reasons she decides on later.

No more background is needed. The story is starting now. Move along, then, or close this tab and let this story fall out of your memory like all other benign cliches that will have no effect on the path of your life in the long run.

Lilith tilts her head backward. It's been years since her previous visit to school. She whispers again to her friend outside the window, her voice ringing slightly in the cool nighttime air. "Qehna, where does the day go?"

She hears her friend sigh. It isn't out of exasperation for Lilith's lack of understanding, but out of thoughtfulness, knowing her friend won't comprehend the scientific answer. She spends many nights like this, outside of Lilith's open window and answering the questions that she will never learn without school. "It goes to the other side of the world for a while."

"But why?" Lilith's gaze traces the cracks on her ceiling's texture.

Qehna thinks a few seconds more. "Because without the sun, the people on the other side of the world couldn't see what they're doing."

"Oh." Lilith falls silent, but is not satisfied. "Why doesn't it jus' stay on both sides of the world?"

Qehna falls again into a short silence. "Lilith... when you look at a tree, can you see the ants on the other side?"

Lilith is silent for a moment, then gasps in realization. "Ooooh, so the sun can't see us when it's with th' other side 'f the world?"

"Yeah," whispers Qehna, shrugging to herself. The sun can't see.

The two are quiet for a while. Finally, Qehna asks, "Are you going to the place again tonight?"

Lilith closes her eyes. "Qehna... you know I am. I gotta go. I gotta..." She can never explain her motives. There's so much more to it than she just 'has to', but there's no other way to put it, so to everyone but herself, she just has to.

"They know about it now, though," Qehna says quietly, all thoughtfulness replaced by a fear that made her eyes sting in the thin fog that rises from her breath. "This isn't some cute game anymore, Lilith--"

"It never was!" Lilith clenches her teeth to control the volume of her voice, but her friend's calm, if frightened, words soothe her wild, underdeveloped temper.

"You and I know that, but do they?" She pauses to steady her voice so it doesn't break on her next words. "If they catch you, they'll stop you. They could lock you up, Lilith!" She hesitates, gazing imploringly at the moon that covers the swaying and clipping grass with a pale blue light. "This is serious stuff."

Lilith turns the words over in her head. "I can't jus' give in, Qehna."

"Not even for me?"

The question catches Lilith off guard and she opens her eyes. As much as she likes to believe her friend understands, she remembers once again that no one ever will. "I..." She loses the words as they come to her.

For a few seconds, neither talk. Qehna, with the perceived confirmation that she will always come second to Lilith's schemes, gets up, wishing Lilith a quiet good night, and leaves to return to the home of the family that currently cared for her. Lilith stays for several minutes more, nearly falling asleep, but forces herself awake and stumbles to her bed, where a chipped and tarnished sword is hidden under the mildewed mattress.

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Lilith soon finds herself in the clearing where she always practices sword-fighting, using the trees as dummies to practice with. Village NPCs like herself are forbidden to learn anything pertaining to attack or defense, skills left instead to the Hero in her game. However, since she's never given a valid reason to stop, she continues her practice.

Unfortunately, her activities have slowed down since a tree she particularly liked to practice with had fallen during one of her sessions, alerting the other people of Saile'm to her activities. She was now on nearly constant surveillance, but the guard at the front door of the house never catches her sneaking out of her side window.

She practices all through the night, reviewing what she'd done before. All she has to work with is made-up sword-fighting techniques that the years had taught her to do with finesse. By the time dawn has nearly arrived, she's carved a dent in an ancient tree and cut back encroaching branches, leaving ragged mulch scattered among the long grass and bright indigo flowers. She smiles at herself, leaning momentarily on her sword and finding shapes in the clouds.

"Having fun?" asks a high, yet most certainly male, voice behind her. She wheels around, finding a single village NPC behind her.

"Umm..." she looks around, finding a place to run to. She edges to the left slowly, dropping her weapon so it won't hinder her escape.

"Don't even try it," he says, gesturing to the trees. She glances in the direction of her travel, and deep in the forest, she sees a slight glow of flame. She looks all around, but all she finds is distant fires. The man smiles genuinely. "Now Lilith," he says, opening his arms in a friendly gesture, "You know we're not cruel people here. It's just not how we're designed! Just like how you're just not coded for this... Hero's work! Haven't you learned the dangers of this?"

Lilith shakes her head, but not in a way that says "no". It's more like she's trying to move things into the right place in her head, hoping to make sense of them. For some reason she can't place, it never makes sense that any part of what she does will endanger the universe. "Yeah, I've heard 'bout it--"

"Then why--WHY-- do you keep doing this?" The man puts his head to the side in polite concern.

"I don't get it," Lilith says through her teeth, as the approaching firelight becomes torches in the hands of courteously angry village people.

"You don't have to get it," says the man with sickening charisma. "Just stop. If you would have stopped, we wouldn't be here now."

Lilith recognizes with a slight panic the glint of pitchforks in the light. Then she feels disappointed, realizing that she wasn't worth getting creative over. She takes a deep breath. She can fight fire with fire and charge the villagers with her sword... or....

She looks up. It's something she's never done before, and a bit of a risk. Well, a lot of one.

"Do you understand yet?"

She looks down and around. There's bushes. Thick ones. She can already see her skirt getting caught in the thick of them.

"Lilith, I want you to listen to me."

Ignoring him, she looks up again, at a loss. She spots low-ish branches. Not a perfect option, but the best she has so far.

"Lilith, we can't let this happen again."

She looks back down.

"Do you understand what we have to do?"

She begins inching back toward her sword.

She can make out the outlines of the villagers now, approaching at a steady march. She hears the grass rustle as they stride onward, sometimes clipping through the edges of trees to keep from bumping into each other.

"We're going to get rid of you, Lilith,"

She picks up her sword, figuring out how she should hold it. She finally abandons it, deciding instead upon one of the downed branches. She formulates a new plan.

"We can't be the reason that the universe collapses. You understand, don't you?" She looks the man in the eyes, his apologetic smile not promising any verbal escape from her situation. She picks the stick up and leans on it, testing its strength. It will have to do.

"Ruamus!" shouts one of the village people, and the high-voiced man looks around, searching for and finding the owner of the voice, a man of larger stature. The faces of the people are now clearly visible. "We're ready at your word!"

Ruamus, governor of their settlement, rocks onto his heels before resting on the balls of his feet, causing him to appear an authoritative figure despite his short appearance. His warm smile is transformed into a cruel, victorious sneer in the torchlight.

"I hate to do this to someone with such... potential," he says with a new edge to his tone. "But we have no room here for kids like you."

With that, he nods to the deep-voiced man, and as he approaches, Lilith holds her stick in front of herself, running at the NPC. She flings the stick at him, and though he does his best to fight it, the codes of the game override his orders, and the stick phases through him, leaving him cowering and covering his head. Lilith dodges around him, running for the dent he left in the circle of NPCs.

There are two layers to the circle, three in other areas, but not behind where the man was. Nearby villagers move their arms in the way to stop her, but as they moved their feet to close the ring, Lilith dodges between them from under their hands and slides between the legs of the village person behind them.

Stumbling to her feet, Lilith runs back to the village, where she at least knows there are places to hide. Through the sound of feet pounding behind her, she can hear the governor's remark: "I suppose she didn't understand."

When she reaches the village entrance, she realizes that she doesn't know where she's going. Still unsure, she dodges into an alleyway, hoping to deter the villagers behind her.

She hears a slight pause in the steps behind her as the mass of NPCs struggles for a moment to sort out who should go first into the relatively narrow corridor. Veering back onto a main road, she finds the street lined with bakers and farmers setting up shop for the morning that would soon be upon them. She ducks behind an unattended booth and waits, trying to control her breathing, as the people file into the road, figuring out the way to go. After several moments of confusion, they split off from one another and search nearby alleys.

Lilith uses her newfound time to catch her breath and sweep the dirt off of her skirt. The sun is nearly rising now, touching the tops of the tallest buildings. Lilith smiles in spite of herself, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. Though she can't sleep, she uses the murmuring of the village in early morning as ambiance to let her mind wander through.

She's the Hero of her game, and she's fighting a villain. No... she's fighting in the War against Seeley of ages past. She pictures herself fighting valiantly next to a commander of the armies... no, she IS the commander of the armies! Yeah! And now she's....

She hesitates, but a nearby conversation gives her inspiration.

She's the code, the puppeteer behind the commander. She's spinning the character at just the right time to avoid an enemy's attack....

No, that was me. She imagines with a smile receiving the remark from an actual being and smiles. Is that how gamers see our world?

She feels a hand on her shoulder and is pulled from her thoughts with a start. She looks to the owner of the hand, feeling a fleeting hope that it might be Qehna. It's not, and her hope that the un-Qehna shaped and un-Qehna weighted hand was Qehna's was dashed. The gruff-looking, bearded man stares at her for a long moment with shiny black eyes. The only action she could muster was stuttering "Kkhhh-whaa?"

The man leans down. Lilith leans back from his foul breath, focusing on his other hand.

"I'd like to set out my goods," he rumbles politely. "Could you please move elsewhere?"

Lilith looks up at his face, her eyes widening. The light reflects off of his eyes in a kindly manner. Shaking, she nods and stands. She steps out into the busy street of the marketplace. Behind her, the man rumbles appreciatively and starts placing trays of homemade cookies from his cart onto the counter of the shop.

"There she is!" Lilith takes a second to process the words, then whips around as the voice continues, "Get her!"

The man with the deep voice was coming at her with what looked like half the village on his heels. In a panic, she sprints in the other direction. Though the angry mob calls for others to assist in her apprehension, the people of Saile'm's daily commutes go uninterrupted by the chase. The man with the gruff voice, however, suffers and unfortunate disappearance of an entire plate of cookies.

Lilith runs back toward the entrance to the town, hoping to find other options for escape. However, she rounds a corner only to come across, heading down the street in her direction, Ruamus with another posse of angry villagers. She swerves left, scraping for options, but is cut off by yet another swarm of villagers.

She skids to a halt, falling to a sitting position as she does so. She pulls one of her knees in front of her, lifting one of her hands in a silent plea for mercy. As she does so, a strange new feeling washes over. This is it, this is the end, there's no continue button, there's nothing after this. Her hand falls as she accepts her fate, her gaze following it.

She closes her eyes, hearing the crowd's relief from having finally finished the pursuit.

"What in the name of Librada is going on here?"

Lilith opens her eyes and the villagers fall silent and face the visitor. Lilith stands, not able to completely straighten her legs for the scare she just had. Before them sits a sad bundle of tattered rags on a horse. But under the soft hair that looks like it has never missed a day's wash are a pair of green eyes that flash with an authoritative ferocity. The tight frown and disapproving eyebrows give him a feral look. They all know him. They don't even have to ask his name. His name is Raiden.

The Hero of the game.

Raiden stares down at the NPCs. Tired of just watching them gape and blink, he asks the question again: "What is going on here?"

Lilith is dumbfounded. This level of plot convenience is usually reserved for Heroes. The silence stretches a few seconds more, and she feels her cheeks and the bridge of her nose grow unusually warm as she realizes she might have to be the first one to speak.

"U-um..." she stutters.

"N-nothing of any importance, I... I can assure you... sir," Ruamus says, abandoning his usual charismatic atmosphere for something more on the side of panic or anxiety. "Just making this town the best it can be! And, er... might I ask... what you might be doing here?"

Raiden ignores his question and nods toward Lilith. "You. What's going on?"

Ruamus stutters indignantly before glaring at Lilith, as if daring her to speak. Lilith looks back at him uncertainly, not sure whether to obey his silent command.

"Hey." Surprised, her attention snaps back to Raiden. Why is he still here? He needs to be... Hero stuff. "Don't worry about them. What's going on?" He moves his head to the side, the middle pieces of his dark brown bangs falling over his right eye. He doesn't look at her like the village people do, but it's not like Qehna does, either. He seems angry, but that anger is going over her head to some unseen target far above her.

"Um... well, they was going to kill me, sir."

"Kill... you?" Raiden raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"No!" Ruamus leaps forward, blocking Raiden's view of Lilith. "Don't listen to this child's foolishness," he hisses, gesticulating grandly all around, invoking nods and agreements. "She's well known for the trouble she stirs--"

"SIR," Raiden interrupts, with more authority than the governor could ever muster. "I was listening to a rather interesting story before you so rudely interrupted--"

"And that's all it is!" Raiden dismounts his horse as Ruamus cuts him off. "A story! A story from a lying little--"

Raiden raises his hand in the air and the man is silenced. Raiden is only a little taller than the governor, but still shorter than most townspeople. "I believe I can choose for myself what is true."

Ruamus looks as though he's about to say something, but instead lets out a huff and walks stiffly away, arms crossed, stopping not too far from the group.

Raiden stares after him for a few moments before walking to Lilith. He puts his hand out as though offering to help her up, but she staggers up on her own and dusts herself off quickly.

Their eyes meet, at the same height. In his eyes, Lilith is reminded of the grassy clearing she practiced swordfighting in. In her eyes, Raiden recalls a mud puddle his horse waded through on his way to this village.

After a pause that is longer than either intended, Raiden asks quietly, "Were they really trying to kill you?"

Lilith nods sheepishly.

"Why?"

Lilith looks around, then nods in what she guesses is the direction of her clearing. "I been practicing... using my sword..." she turns back to see him frowning thoughtfully. "They don't like that."

Raiden shakes his head slowly. "Why don't they like it?"

Lilith feels her face grow warm with something between anger and embarrassment. "Because I'm no Hero, not like you are, sir." She turns her head away. Not sure what to do with her hands, she grabs her right elbow. Now what will her right hand do?

"Was this your first time doing it?"

"No, I been doing it for a while." She dusts off her skirt lightly with her right hand. Yeah, that seems natural.

Raiden is absorbed in his own thoughts. They always know he's the Hero. This is nothing new to him. This is, however, the first time he meets a villager that's so clearly under-educated, but also so strong-willed. Maybe this is a story, though. Maybe she's making it up to cover up a childish prank.

No. I'll go see.

"Show me the clearing."

Ruamus whips around. "There is no-"

"Okay," says Lilith, walking to the town entrance.

____________________________________________

When Raiden enters the clearing, the first thing he sees is several inexpertly attacked trees. He stops at the edge of the trees, watching the girl in front of him--she called herself Lilith, didn't she?--walk near the center of the grass. He hears the sniveling man behind him mutter insults under his breath. Anyone else in the crowd was dismissed by Raiden himself. Too big of a group would just cause problems.

He watches as the girl pulls a sword out of the grass. "Let me see that," he calls to her, and she looks to him and nods.

"She could turn against you here," Ruamus says, but it was in a way that made Raiden whip his head around to make sure he was the right guy. Ruamus had said it nearly as if he were talking about the weather. Sure enough, it's the right guy. "She could point that blade at you and take your life at any time."

Maybe it's a twin.

Raiden shakes this ominous threat off of him as the girl nears him, holding the sword out to him like an offering.

Lilith feels her brain go numb. Raiden was here, but it doesn't make sense. Oh, gosh, what's he even doing here?! This is nowhere! And what does he want with me and Ruamus, anyway--

Raiden points the sword at Ruamus, having looked at it and disguising his disdain at such a neglected piece of weaponry. "You feel threatened by a dull sword and an amateur owner?" He spins on his heel, throwing the sword at the village girl's feet as he does so and, facing the governor again, points at him and says, "How weak does a town have to be to need a village to stop a child?"

Lilith had stopped paying attention, instead contemplating if the sword now coming out of the ground was actually in her foot or just under it. Her mind eventually recognizes the sound of arguing, and she turns and walks away without another word. Ruamus calls angrily after her and gives chase, but Raiden just stands, watching them leave.

He looks tiredly at the sword he'd left at the girl's feet.

No town is worth the fight anymore.

He returns to town to finally get his traveling clothes patched up by their renowned designer, Braxton.

Lilith sat in her room, watching outside. Qehna was by her side, sitting on the floor and staring at the ceiling texture. Lilith had decided it would be best to hide out here while things calm down, and Qehna had caught wind of what had happened and came to check in on her friend.

Lilith watched the townspeople. She could always tell where Raiden was, even if she couldn't see him, because some people would run from the trouble that follows him while others went to him expecting protection. She sighs.

"Okay, that's nine times you've sighed like that, what's going on?" Qhena picks up a rat and pets it absent-mindedly.

"Hmm?"

"There you go again!" The rat squeaks and she scratches its ears. "What's going through your head?"

Lilith looks at her friend, smiling. "What if I ran away with him?"

Qehna stops mid-pet, her mouth dropping open. The rat chews at her hands desperately, but she takes no notice. "Leave with the Hero?"

"Yeah." Lilith's smile takes a mischievous turn.

Qehna rolls her eyes, wrapping her fingers in the rat's tail. "No."

Lilith laughs a little.

"It's not a joke, Lilith!" Qehna smiles in spite of herself.

"I know," says Lilith.

They stare at each other and their smiles fades slowly. Lilith takes a serious expression, and Qehna looks down at the ground, her features giving way to a sad acceptance. She sighs.

"Now you're doing it," says Lilith, sliding down the wall to sit under the window.

"Doing what?"

Lilith realizes she forgot the word, so she sighs to show her friend what she means.

"There you go again," Qehna mumbles, gliding two fingers along the rat's spine. The rat is now hyperventilating, which is the only thing giving any evidence it was still alive.

The girls sit in silence for several minutes, each weighing Lilith's question. Lilith decides Heroes can still have peanut butter and banana sandwiches, so it might be worth the risk.

"Why do you look so sad?" Lilith asks her friend.

Qehna shakes her head. "I dunno... I guess I've just been, y'know, waiting for this to happen, but now that it has... I dunno." She shakes her head again and realizes she has a rat in her hands. She scratches it lovingly behind its ears. It thrashes again, but to no avail.

Lilith thought about this response. "So... did you mean it when you said 'no'?"

Qehna is silent, stifling the tears she knows are coming. "I can't decide this for you, Lilith." Lilith tries to interject, but Qehna continues, "I know you've always come to me for the answers, but there are some things that... they just don't have right answers." She puts a hand to her face, wiping her eyes.

Lilith stares at her friend, contemplating the words. So... Qehna knew this would happen... what was 'this'? Nothing had happened yet... this decision?

But, what about this decision is making her sad? Lilith thinks again about the choice she's about to make. She thinks about staying, and she feels sad. So she thinks about leaving. She feels happy... right?

So it's the right choice?

She looks again at her friend. Qehna is alternating between rubbing the rat's snout and booping it on the nose. She smiles. Then she thinks about she and Qehna, and when she--

Lilith feels sadness like a stab to her everything. "Qehna... you're not coming with me, are you?"

Qehna looks up. Lilith had never sounded so small and squeaky in her life. "No, Lilith," Qehna says softly, her voice breaking.

Now Lilith understands. She thinks again about staying, and is happy that Qehna will be there.

So now which is right? They're both good and bad at the same time. "Oh, gosh," she squeaks, falling forward and crying.

Qehna starts crying as hard as Lilith, but forces herself to stop. Rat in hand, she goes to Lilith and forces her to sit up. Sniffing, she says, "Straighten up, now." She helps Lilith wipe her eyes. "You've gotta act like a Hero now."

Lilith shakes her head, grabbing the muddied end of her own skirt and getting the leftover saltwater off of her face. "I'm not sure I want to go!"

"Yes, you are," Qehna replies sternly.

"I am?"

"Yes."

"Going?"

Qehna starts to talk, chokes, sniffs, swallows, and then says, "Yeah." She holds the rat out to Lilith.

Lilith pats the rat lightly on the head before petting it down its back. It nips at her halfheartedly, but has given up hope of escape.

"But I'll miss you," Lilith whispers.

Qehna looks at her friend. She's touched, but is sure now. "I'll miss you, too, but you've got to get out of here." Lilith looks up at her, mouth dropping and eyes scowling. "No, no, I want you around!" Lilith snaps her mouth closed but keeps her scowl. "It's just... in this town... well, you know what happened to you today! The others need a break from you and you need a break from them, not to mention the fact that your own mom hasn't acknowledged you as her own since before the first time you opened your mouth." Lilith giggles. It's true.

"Look, Lilith, point is, maybe if you're a successful Hero, your mom will talk to you again, for one." Lilith laughs again and concurs, but Qehna knows it's probably the one thing that wouldn't rebuild even a remnant of a relationship. "And maybe... the others here will... see you were right."

Lilith stops smiling and laughing and looks seriously at her friend. "But what about you?"

Qehna smiles. "You learn to read, go to a store, and ask for stationery. They'll give you paper, then you can send me letters, straight to Saile'm! Then we'll never really be apart."

Lilith lets this run through her mind. "Stationery... okay!" Lilith smiles, then stands. "Then I'll go at nightfall tomorrow! That's when he's leaving," she explains.

"Um, not in--wait, how do you know that?"

"Hmm? Well, he's gotta leave, right?"

"Wha- no, not that! How do you know... when?"

"Oh." Lilith turns red and coughs, breaking eye contact. "Um, well, you see..." she laughs nervously.

Qehna stares at her blankly, then shrugs. "Ai'ight, not gonna touch that one. But seriously, you need travel clothes first. There's no way you're going like that."

Lilith looks down at her skirt, once reaching the ground but now to her ankles, and the same dirty shirt she'd worn for longer than a shirt's lifespan usually allows. "Why?" She twists the skirt around to look at the back.

"Because you need travel clothes," says Qehna, pushing past Lilith to look out the window. "We can talk to Braxton tonight. He should know what to do." She looks down at the rat. "Mind if I keep this?"

Lilith looks at it blankly. "Umm... go ahead."

-------------------------------------------

Braxton is working late that night on a new style of belt. Previous generations carrying his name had never thought to change the design of the belt to help differentiate characters, but new ideas, he supposes, are in the very core of his design. He's carefully stitching green thread into a leaf when there's a knock at the door.

He laughs dryly, picking up a towel and wiping the sweat off of his face. The workshop often grew hot in the daytime, even this time of year, and his age didn't help.

"Who could be up at an hour like this," he calls to the outdoors, laughing and coughing. "I don't suppose it to be Lilith, stealing away like a thief in the night, just to steal time from the life of a working man such as myself?"

He opens the door and laughs lightly but gratingly at Lilith and Qehna's bewildered expressions. "Don't look so shocked; I know ya better by now." He starts closing the door. "I made those dilapidated rags fer ya; do ya really need much else? I'll not have ya waste my time on any childish games, neither."

He goes to close the door, but Lilith sticks a hand and a foot in the way. "Not no game, mister. I need your help, now."

The man peers around the door with a cautious and suspicious curiosity. "Aye? Go on, then...."

"Lilith, don't use double negatives," whispers Qehna. "It's not a game--"

"I'm in need of a travel clothes."

"Not 'a travel clothes', just travel clothes--"

"I ain't got no nothin' to do with none of yer travelin' clothes."

Qehna looks from her friend to Braxton and back again. "You know what, you're fine--"

Lilith continues, "Sir, I truly and honestly have no idea what you said, but if you'll listen--"

"You's lookin' to run away with that Hero boy, ain't ya?" Qehna cringes visibly. "But I'm not playin' no part of yer childish schemings no more, hear me, Ms. Lilith?"

Lilith looks up at the man, her eyes reflecting a puppy begging for a treat. "Please, sir--"

"I'll have none o' that!" Braxton tries to nudge her foot out of the door with his own worn boot. "You leave here this instant, Ms. Lilith, I'll have no part of your pranks, I say!"

"Yeah you will, sir."

"And why's that?"

"'Cause Qehna's gonna talk it into you." Lilith looks back at her friend, whose jaw drops as she stares at Lilith, aghast.

"Wh... ME?!" With the eyes of both grammatically incompetent NPCs on her, Qehna feels the pressure to appease them. "Fine, alright, um... please help Lilith. Okay?" She puts her arms up in a shrug. This isn't something she's made for.

Braxton raises a grey eyebrow at her and Lilith's expression turns to desperation and pleading.

"Kaaaahhgggghhh..." Qehna lets her arms and head sag with the weight of the boundary she was about to break. "Okay... debate. Umm..." standing back up, she looks to the sky for inspiration. "Umm..." didn't she already say that? "Look, Braxton... you, you know Lilith." He nods slowly, waiting for more. "Yeah! And umm... well, yeah, she plays a bunch of tricks and pranks." He nods, small and bouncy this time, agreeing. Lilith widens her eyes at her, terrified of where this is going.

Qehna takes a deep breath. So smooth! This is fun!

"Okay, yeah, that's just kind of her thing, but the thing is, sir, she's--" OH GOSH WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS-- "this isn't just a prank this time!" He looks at her blankly, waiting. MORE OH HIGH LIBRADA HE WANTS MORE "A-and that's because... she's..." WORK BRAIN! "She's finally just trying to work toward something--you know! Like, you like making--" she looks into his workshop-- "belts!" He looks back.

She finally has some footing in this argument! "Well, she likes doing Hero things!" He looks back to her and nods affirmatively. Yes! "And there's a Hero here she wants to run off with and I mean well if you're allowed to do what you like why shouldn't she like for real all of us do what we like to do except her and it's not fair at all so yeah she needs travel clothes if she's going to go anywhere but you're the only one who can make anything like that--" Qehna abruptly falls back into a sitting position, face red and gasping for air, a slight, pleased smile playing on her eyes.

Braxton stares at her, blinking. Then he looks up to Lilith. "Alrighty then, youngster. But just so yer friend ain't got a need fer killin' herself. Come on in, and we'll talk travel clothes." Lilith enters, the bounce in her step pronounced in victory. She smiles back at Qehna as Braxton closes the door behind her.

Qehna blinks up at the candlelight as it disappears. After listening to muffled discussion behind the door for several minutes, she stands, smiling at no one. As she turns and goes back home, she mutters, "I should be a lawyer."

-------------------------------

Lilith waits patiently for Braxton to finish writing measurements in his illegible handwriting so she can go home and sleep. Already, her eyes are closing, too heavy to stay open.

"Lilith," says Braxton.

"Hmm?" She replies, coming out of a half-sleep.

He's silent for several seconds, then says, "Considerin' you ever come back, mind tellin' me if time's changed?"

Lilith thought about this. "What d' you mean?"

Braxton snaps his notebook shut. "I never wanted sewin' belts," he says, pointing his pen at his work. "You go out there an' you change things, an' I can do what I wanna, no more of interferencin'. You go fix things and I can do what I want."

Lilith feels the weight of his request. She doesn't realize the gravity of what she's planning to do yet, but she knows that Braxton is getting more out of it than she is, and if she fails to succeed, she fails him.

She sets these thoughts at the back of her mind, where they merely continue to disturb her by sending the feeling of cold water down her spine. "Mr. Braxton," she says hesitantly, trying to change the subject. He's absorbed in various colored fabrics. "What do you want to do?"

He doesn't even pause in his work. "I'll tell ya when ya get back," he mumbles distractedly. "Come back in the morning and I'll have these gotten all ready fer ya."

Um... thanks? XD

Oh darn, i knew I slipped up somewhere :P Thank you

You... you gotta teach me how to write like that xD
If you don't keep going, I will throw... *looks around* calendars at you.

XD Don't worry, chapter 5 is in progress...
I mean, I already have three deaths planned in the series as a whole, so I'm ready to get the full... three... six... ish? books out.

I honestly don't even know, I was just like, "hey, think I'll write a story today", and my brain vomited this into existence and it keeps getting nice stuff said about it (i have it on two other sites n///n) so I'm like, "oh okay..." XD