Tales of Alidaire: The Corruption Disc 2

Lily grinned and slapped her arm around Lyra's waist, holding her tightly. Lily snatched up one of the drinks and held it up in the air, "Alright everyone! What say you we all have a good time?!" Lily shouted towards her allies, gesturing towards the feast with her drink hand. She placed the drink to her mouth and took a swig of the contents, sighing with content. Lily looked up from her drink with a huge smile. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself at the moment.

A delighted gasp rippled through the crowd and wild sparks shot up in the air, cascading in a rainbow of colors. The gathered people made way for an oddly dressed man as he gallivanted haphazardly towards the group. He flourished his multicolor coat and doffed the floppy, white top hat from his head. Children gathered as close as they dared, grinning from ear to ear. The man grinned mischievously, reaching his entire arm inside the hat.

"Come on!" One kid cried in anticipation.

The strange man pulled his arm out, holding a bag of powder which he promptly dropped. It exploded on the ground into red and plumes of smoke. "And al finé of all!" Just as the smoke was settling, the man raised his hat as if it were a cannon and it promptly exploded as well, spewing rainbow sparklers and green smoke . . . and a tiny, delicate flower. Children and a few adults burst into fits of laughter, and the man, replacing his hat, bent to pick up the little, white flower.

"Hmm, the Smiths didn't have pancakes this year." He said, examining it. "Ah well," He tucked the flower into his breast pocket to display it. "There's a grassy knoll somewhere." The idea must've been quite pleasant to him, as he suddenly gave a serene smile at the group. "Come on, you must like pancakes too? Say yes? And not pie."

Sonia blinked. The performance had been rather amazing despite the failed attempt at an amazing trick. She clapped a little bit, still quite stunned by the man's question. It didn't quite make sense to her, but she supposed she could answer him. The trick was making it seem like she understood him completely. Which was only that much harder for herself.

"Y...yes... pancakes... are the... wonder of the world? I... the performance... was... like pancakes?"

Lyra smiled even wider. Her hat came sailing through the air and landed firmly on her head as she, too, helped herself to a drink. By now, heaping plates of meat were making their way to the tables. There even appeared to be a performer that caught Lyra's interest. He seemed to be spouting nonsense though, so she just enjoyed being with Lily and took a nice, refreshing sip of her drink.

Upon Lily's call for enjoyment, he smiled. "How could we deny these people's hospitality? I do say we enjoy!" he exclaimed causing the kids around him to jump with joy. That's when he took notice of a rather odd fellow. He seemed to be addressing the group. The question was simple enough. "It has been a long time, but I do remember enjoying pancakes in the mornings," he replied honestly, hoping to satisfy the gentleman.

Annon's serene smile snapped to something much more rapturous. His eyes widened and his smile stretched as he sucked in a breath of pure happiness. Without any warning at all, he leaped at Sonia with a monumental hug that brought them both to the ground. Strangely, he was the one that landed hard against the ground, saving Sonia from being crushed under his lanky body. He squeezed her in the hug and making a sound like he was petting a very cute puppy.

He set her beside him and stood, lifting the summoner back to her feet, as if nothing had happened. He plucked the flower from his breast pocket and handed it to her. "One day, daisies will fly." He said, smiling and tapping the side of his nose like he knew something she didn't.

Lily ignored the spectacular showing of the trickster's entrance. She was more concerned about the piles of food stacking up. She decided to push herself and Lyra over to the table, "Forget the festival, that pile of food looks lonely!" Lily commented. She immediately began digging in, stuffing her starving body full of meat and biscuits. The fight with Pandora had taken it's toll on everyone, so food and drink were necessary to have after a tough battle.

Unfortunately, if Lily didn't stop drinking, something would happen that she just might regret later. Or not, one of those.

She practically fainted, the man had surprised her thoroughly. The smile was to be expected, but the hug was another thing all together. As they hit the ground, she felt as if she was going to faint. A new exciting and scary experience each and every day, that was what this was becoming for Sonia. As she was pulled to her feet, she assumed he apologized for his act. At first she was too stunned to speak, but in the end, she tried her best to reply.

"F... for a flower to fly... it n...needs s...sweet syrup and... p...pancakes?"

Annon's smile returned to its previous, peaceful state. "Silly, a flower needs a field to fly." He patted her head good-naturedly and turned away into the crowd, but not before casting a curious look at the ghost. "The canvas wiped clean? Time hasn't yellowed it . . . " He shrugged, walking away towards the tables covered with delectable goods.

Zero made her way to the tables of food, where Lily was stuffing her face, a bit away was Sonia looking flustered, not really suprising, and there was a man she did not recongize. The man seemed to be getting along with the others, somewhat, but who he was wasn't Zero's concern. As long as that man doesn't bother her, he could be Zeus or even a beggar for all the windwalker cares. Glancing around again at the party, Zero smiled a little and said to herself, "I wonder what it would be like to have a party like this with Lust, Pride, Greed, and all the others."

"Wouldn't be a party without elephants." Annon, said, standing next to a woman in robes that seemed to disappear and reappear when he moved his head. "But one has to be able to perceive the field. Can you make pancakes?" He stared her down as if he was asking a serious question in a life or death situation.

Zero turned as she was eating a piece of meat to see the man asking her a question, and a pointless one it was. Pancakes? Zero looked at the man and sighed, he was strange, to say the least. Normal people aren't that serious when asking someone about something as trivial as making pancakes, especially when the question is right out of the blue too.
"No, I'm horrible at cooking." Zero replied and resumed eating after asking, "Is there something wrong with your head? You don't just come up to someone you don't know and ask them if they know how to make pancakes."

Annon gasped in utter horror, fingers rising reflexively to clutch at his hair, then turn an accusatory finger on Zero."DEVIL WOMAN! NO PANCAKES?! WHY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ARE THERE NO PANCAKES?"

He rounded on the closest pair of people, two women obviously enjoying each other's company. "Tell me, I implore thee, that this world may be saved! Tell me, by all that is holy, let the words fall upon mine ears that there be PANCAKES!" He fell on his knees, grasping the shoulders of both Lily and Lyra, desperation coloring his face and widening his eyes.

Zero blinked once, the man definetly was not sane. In fact, he reminded Zero almost of her sister, Rei. Now Zero hoped that the man would leave her be and go bother the others, for it would probably prove to be tiring and stressful to talk, or even listen, to him. The windwalker shrugged and turned back to the table of food, this man was probably just some random person, which meant as soon as this party was over he would disappear from Zero's sight.

Lily looked down at the man who had grasped her shoulder and frowned. She didn't know what the heck this person was talking about, but the fact remained that he was getting on her nerves. Lily glanced at Lyra, wondering what she was doing. If she ignored the man, then Lily would reject him, but if she said anything to the man, Lily would reject him. So, with that in mind, Lily glared at the trickster, "I suggest you remove your hand from my shoulder unless you want me to remove it from your wrist." Lily said, poison in her voice.

Valincar was left to scratch his head some more at the strange man's words making him completely forget about the hug he had given Sonia. What did he mean? It was too much to worry about during a time like this so he just let it go. Now it seemed he was bothering Lily and Lyra. Bad choice.

"Oh, the odd performer from before," Lyra offered halfheartedly, her true mood indistinguished. She took a moment to take a bite of a roll slathered with grape jam. "You might want to do what Lily tells you; she keeps her word," she added with a delightfully wicked smile and winked at Lily. The man was asking about pancakes, and no one confirmed that there were any. He would certainly be in distress now...and he obviously already was in some sort of state of anguish. Quite over the top.

Sonia was left to stand there for just that while before noticing the man had left. And he had gone straight for Zero, a bad sign for him and her both. She rushed over to them, only to have him move onto Lyra and Lily in a fit of anger. She looked at Zero, trying to put a forgiving smile on her face. But it didn't work out to well, she turned only to hear Lily throw a venomous remark at the Trickster. This time she was faster getting to his side, looking at both of her allies.

"Don't mind him... Z...Zero upset him."

She then turned to the Trickster, whispering in his ear.

"They aren't... in the same ocean... they aren't... used to the waves? I know how to make pancakes.... I'll make you some later if you come with me..."

Annon turned a hard look on Sonia, brow furrowed and mouth set in a peculiar frown. "If they can't make pancakes, the bananas won't be good. You have to grow them right or they turn bad. The still waters they run won't make a difference."

Despite his seemingly negative comment, the trickster stood and brushed off the knees of his pants and smiled again. "Bananas need a grassy knoll too you know, they don't grow on trees. But they probably won't fly though."

Lily rolled her eyes back to the food and drink. Upon taking another swig, however, something strange began to happen to her. Her grin turned loopy, and her eyes hazed over slightly, as if she were unconscious. She was obviously still conscious, however, just a little drunk from all the alcoholic drinks. Her hand made it's way around Lyra's waist again, turning the girl around to look at her.

"Hi Lyra," Lily giggled. There was definitely something wrong with Lily now, she couldn't hold her alcohol, and it was becoming obvious for everyone. "I have a...a secret to tell you." Lily leaned in close to Lyra's ear and began whispering nonsense no one could hear except Lyra. Lily backed her head away from Lyra's ear and planted her lips on the enchantress' own. There was no doubt that Lily would have never done this in public when she was sober. Even so, Lily wouldn't stop kissing the witch.

Annon watched the pair with some amount of passing interest, then squealed all of a sudden. "Ah, I love peaches!" He turned around and grasped Sonia's shoulder. "I know you can make pancakes, let's go." He took her gently by the elbow and tried to lead her towards more food, and away from the kissing duo.

Little thought went through Lyra's mind as Lily's hand travelled around her waist and turned her. The two were just naturally touchy-feely....but there was something wrong with Lily. It wasn't until Lily started whispering nonsense in her ear when she finally realized what was wrong.

"Lily, you're not making much sense," she started to say uneasily, knowing that there wasn't much reasoning with a drunk person. That's when Lily kissed her. Lyra's cheeks went from pale to bright red in an instant. She was so taken aback, and kind of ashamed she didn't see it coming. But in the back of her mind, she was very glad. If Lily hadn't done it now, Lyra certainly would have done it eventually. The two had a good rapport--a powerful bond. Lyra placed her arms around Lily and kissed the archer back. That's when the truth of the matter hit her: Lily was drunk. She most likely knew not of what she was doing. In a hurry, Lyra broke the kiss and placed a hand on each of Lily's shoulders.

"N-no more drinks for you this evening," she spoke gently, but nervously to Lily. "We should probably get you watered down." One of the housewives obliged and brought Lyra a glass of water who then handed it to Lily. "Drink up, girl."

By now, desserts were floating to the tables. The sweet heavenly scent of cakes and pies filled the air. Musicians pulled out their instruments and began playing jolly tunes. The sky began to darken as the sunset, but at that moment, everything was shrouded in an orange glow--a gift from the sun before it disappeared completely over the horizon. Valincar sighed and looked at the peaceful sight before hovering over to Rosetta who had chosen to isolate herself throughout the duration of the entire party.

He sat down next to her, a little unsettled by her aura, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was a shame for her not to enjoy herself. "What do you think of all of this, hm?" he asked, gesturing to the partying townspeople. "Kinda makes you feel good on the inside, am I right?"

Lily, still drunk and incoherent, obliged and took the glass of water. She drank the water, and after awhile, her eyes phased back to their normal color. Which is when she noticed the piles of dessert stretched out in front of them. "Oh wow," Lily said, "Those are a lot of sweets, right Lyra -- hey, how come you look all flustered?" Lily asked, looking at Lyra now. She placed her hand on Lyra's forehead, testing her temperature. "You aren't getting sick, are you?" Lily asked, removing her hand. She shrugged and turned back to the desserts. Lily wiped her finger in the icing on a cake slice, then stuck the treat in her mouth. Lily's eyes flashed with delight, seemingly enjoying the sweet taste.

Lily was back to being sober, although it did take quite some time. She didn't even know why Lyra was flustered, her memory must have blanked out when she was still drunk. Now she was busy taking part in all the desserts.

Valincar tilted his head kindly as Rosetta seemed to be remembering some people she knew. He never realized that his allies might have had other friends and family, and now they were probably so far away now. It was kind of saddening. But she seemed to recover, though the question she posed shocked him slightly.

"I want to say that it means nothing now," he replied, regaining his composure. "It's only that it happened so long ago...I've grown used to this. I knew of my fate even when I was alive, but when it actually happened...I was so scared. All that I knew of life was gone. Feelings, both physical and emotional. Interacting with other people, or even the wildlife. I knew nothing but darkness for years until I finally began to regain some of the things I lost...and even now...," he broke off, looking gently into Rosetta's warm, amber eyes. "All that I have acquired is fake. Senses. Emotion. I have to tell myself that I am dead and keep it that way. When Lily jokes around, I can't humor her in fear that I will forget only to be reminded later, and the darkness comes back to me...colder than ever."

He placed a comforting hand on Rosetta's shoulder. "I know you and the others have come close to death, and you....," he had to stop, feeling the sadness from not knowing if the girl would return from being obliterated or not. "I don't want any of you to have to experience the darkness I did, at least, not until it is time. I will do my best to ward off what has already claimed me."

Lyra wasn't surprised that Lily couldn't remember what had happened. It would probably be for the best. But Lyra certainly wasn't going to forget it. She smiled back at Lily. "Slow down, Lily. I don't want you to choke," she said and chuckled lightheartedly before helping herself to a bowl of pudding.

"They... deserve their privacy..."

Sonia let the Trickster drag her away from the tays of food. But not before grabbing a crepe covered in several sweets. She was unsure how they came to make the dessert, but she figured if it tasted good, it would be fine. Devouring it, she hadn't spoken to her companion in a while. Putting down the fork, she turned to the multicolored man.

"I never got your name... and nor you mine. M... my name.. is Sonia..."