Story by Roxanne
Leeroy
wasn’t very good at talking to people. Around strangers, he would
always either say nothing at all or talk far too much. One could
therefore imagine his surprise when he was approached by three cute
young women who wanted his help for something. Him, of all people!
However, his feeling of luck soon turned sour when they asked him to
sail them to the isle of Furukyo with his sailboat, deep within the
land of Weebon. An island infested with pirates…
Leeroy
had short, messy black hair and almost always just wore similar black
shirts and a pair of jeans underneath that. He became a sailor mostly
to just go out and be alone most of the time. Well, that, and because
he had always just been absolutely fascinated by boats. He had put in
a LOT of work on his trusty boat, the ‘Black Swan’. Turning her
into the best she could be, which perhaps was why the three women had
chosen him specifically.
But
to go to the island of Furukyo of all places… Not only would that
be highly dangerous for the women, but Leeroy also really feared for
his trusty boat! The pirates in that area were highly active, after
all!
However…
he couldn’t just resist these three lovely young women, could he?
“How
much longer till we get there?” one of the women asked. She had
pink hair and wore a fairly typical nun’s outfit, other then the
randomly adorned clocks. She had introduced herself as Estella
Providence, daughter to Lavini Providence. A name rather well-known
since she was one of the High Priestesses of Time, namely the Bishop
of the Glass.
Leeroy
looked over his map and then above him to the stars to align himself.
They had decided to come at night, figuring the lower visibility and
the fact that most pirates would be too drunk by that time. “The
uh… we should be seeing the island soon,” he blabbered, getting
quite flustered. A part of him had wanted to try and impress Estella
by giving an accurate estimate of time. However, he had no real way
of making such an estimate, seeing as sailing was quite
unpredictable.
“Then
we should probably change our outfits, girls!” Estella called out
to the other two, who had just been chatting with each-other about
things Leeroy really didn’t understand.
“Aye
aye, captain!” one of them chuckled. She had a rather short
physique and there was something quite curious going on with her hair
and eyes. One moment, her hair would be green while her eyes were
blue, and the next both would be red. Leeroy could have sworn he also
saw different combinations every time he looked back her way. Why
this was, Leeroy had no idea. Perhaps she just changed her mind about
her looks every so often? Or perhaps she was cursed? She had
introduced herself as Tilli and she was constantly talking about
‘making darling Kaidyn proud on this mission’.
“Alright,
you first then,” the other chuckled. She was possibly even stranger
than Tilli. It was as if someone had gotten two completely different
people, tore them in half and just super glued a half from both
together. Her left side had white hair, a silver eye and a very pale
skin-tone. Most of her skin was covered by some kind of interesting
bodysuit and there were pictures of the moon adorning it all. There
was even a crescent moon in her hair. Her right side on the other
hand had black hair, a golden eye and very much a proper tan. Her arm
and leg were mostly uncovered and there were suns adorning this side
of her outfit. She must have really liked the sun and the moon for
her to incorporate all of these differences so well into her looks!
It was just that Leeroy really couldn’t figure out why. She had
introduced herself as Julia.
“S-so
uh… where do you uh… I mean why do you… uhm,” Leeroy stumbled
over his words. He didn’t really know how to talk to other guys and
he certainly didn’t know how to talk to girls!
“We
need to go to the center of the island, where an old shrine to
Alinavious is supposed to be,” Julia answered kindly.
“There’s
a Keeper of Time who has been slumbering there since ancient times,
and we’re supposed to wake her up,” Estella finished.
Leeroy
just gave them a puzzled look. All of this talk about time and
keepers and shrines really flew over his head. Why couldn’t these
girls have been nuns of the church of sailboats or something? Then at
least he would have been able to talk along.
“This
keeper is… She’s a time elemental like my mom!” Estella added,
noticing Leeroy’s confusion.
“Oh…
that makes sense, I guess,” Leeroy said, though now he started
questioning how a time elemental had a human for a daughter…
“How
do I look?” Came the voice of Tilli, who re-emerged from the cabin,
dressed like a pirate. Well… she looked like what one would
describe a pirate to look like to a child. She wore a big, feathered
hat on top of a striped shirt and a pair of ripped up trousers.
“Okay…
ditch the hat and you’ll pass,” Julia laughed.
“What?!
But I worked so hard on finding this hat…” Tilli pouted.
“Where,
in an all hallows eve store?” Estella giggled.
Tilli
puffed up her cheeks and threw the hat on the deck, just as her hair
changed from blonde to red. “Fiiiine, but I’m wearing it on the
way back!”
“My
turn then,” Julia giggled, vanishing into the cabin.
Seeing
the three women interacting with one-another was certainly nice to
look at. It actually made Leeroy a little bit jealous. Why couldn’t
he talk like they could? Why did everything he tried to say come out
as an awkward mess?
“You
think she’ll keep her halves different?” Tilli asked then,
interrupting Leeroy’s thoughts. Her hair changed colour again then,
becoming green this time.
“No.
We can’t attract any attention on this mission. That’s why they
sent us three in the first place. Julia will just have to adjust to
acting normal again. That’s probably gonna be hard, considering her
devotion to the differences for Zexa Xeza.”
“I
really wonder how she does it…” Tilli pondered aloud.
Zexa
Xeza was another name that Leeroy recognized. They were the twin
priestesses of the Dials. That certainly explained a few details
about Julia!
“For
that matter, YOU need to stop switching timelines constantly,”
Estella commanded.
“W-what?
But but…” Tilli stammered.
“No
buts! Kaidyn isn’t here so there’s no need to be changing
constantly,” Estella said.
“It’s…
it’s not like I can control it!” Tilli shouted. When her hair
turned red again, Leeroy finally guessed what was going on.
“It’s
tied to your emotions!” he said, feeling rather proud of himself
for figuring it out.
“Yeah,
that!” Tilli said.
Estella
rolled her eyes at that and placed her hand on her forehead. “Of
course,” she sighed. “Well, can you at least try to control your
emotions a bit?”
Tilli
closed her eyes before letting out a soft breath. It worked wonders
it seemed as her hair turned blonde again. “I will try my best,”
she said calmly.
“Excellent,”
Estella cheered, just as Julia left the cabin again.
“Arrrr!”
she shouted. She too now wore some old sailor’s clothes. It
actually didn’t look all that bad, if it wasn’t for the fact that
her hair and eye colours were still missmatched, and she still wore a
necklace with a golden sun and a silver crescent moon hanging from
them.
“Hmmm…
ah, I know!” Estella said. She then dug into the pile of extra
clothes that they had brought along for the trip just in case and got
out an old shirt. She then just ripped the thing apart before tying
the rags around Julia’s head, turning it into a makeshift bandana
that covered her hair. Then she got out an eyepatch and placed it
over one of Julia’s eyes.
“Looks
good!” Tilli cheered, to which Estella nodded.
“Thanks,
Stell. Your turn then,” Julia grinned.
When
Estella was in the cabin, Tilli turned to Julia and held a hand over
her mouth, yet she spoke loud enough for Leeroy to still hear her.
“Has she always been this bossy?” she asked.
Julia
laughed then. “It’s what you get when you’re the daughter of a
high priestess. Her other mom, Cassiopeia, says raising her was quite
the handful,” she grinned as she temporarily removed her eyepatch.
“I
heard that!” came Estella’s voice from inside the cabin.
“I
know you did,” Julia chuckled. “In all seriousness though. She’s
mostly trying to prove herself to her mothers. Neither of them really
wanted her to go on this mission out of worry but everybody else
agreed she should go. That’s why she wants this mission to go
perfectly… and why she’s kinda acting like Cassie right now.”
“Huh…
like mother, like daughter, I guess,” Tilli giggled. “I guess you
two must go back quite a bit.”
“We
were the only humans at the temple for quite a while until you showed
up. So we’ve been hanging out every now and then to talk about…
well… human things,” Julia laughed.
“Is
that why they sent you three?” Leeroy asked then. “Because you’re
the only humans?”
Julia
nodded. “You can try and disguise the priestesses all you want, but
they’ll still just attract too much attention,” she explained.
“Ah…
true,” Leeroy nodded as he recounted the high priestesses. Sure,
they all had humanoid bodies but none of them were human. From a
dryad to a brass clockwork ballerina, each of them really stood out.
“How’s
this?” Came Estella’s voice as she left the cabin. She now wore a
similar outfit to that of her companions. She had tied her hair into
a pony-tail and it appeared that she still had at least one clock on
her as a necklace. When all three gave her a thumbs up, she grinned.
That’s
when Leeroy noticed something rising over the horizon. It was mostly
dark, but a large section of it was lit up. They had almost reached
their destination.
Docking
proved easier than Leeroy had anticipated. Indeed, most of the
dockworkers were passed out drunks, and those that did still linger
cared little for a small sailboat such as theirs. Either that, or, as
Leeroy feared, they were planning on simply stealing his boat. Of
course, he left behind some magical protections, but it was still
worrying to leave ‘The Black Swan’ behind like this. He just
hoped and prayed that everything would be alright in the end.
Even
though it was the middle of the night, the sounds of partying could
be heard all over town. The smell of fish and rum permeated the air
here. Something that apparently got to be a bit much for Tilli as she
wanted to just cover her nose, only for Estella to tell her to cut it
out. The streets weren’t exactly the cleanest and most of the
buildings were somewhat shoddy at best. Some of them had broken
windows while others had giant holes in the roof. At one point, the
group rounded a corner just as a guy fell right through a window,
only for him to get back up and jump right back in. Apparently there
was a bar brawl going on in there.
Most
of the pirates were too drunk to care much about other people passing
through. A fair amount, though, still gave them just a bit more than
a passing glance. Leeroy wasn’t surprised, given that his
companions were all women, even through their disguises.
“I’ll
never complain about down-town Stepolis again…” Tilli whined.
“Hush,”
Estella hissed as a particularly big and burly pirate passed the
group. He seemed to eye their group for just a moment longer but then
he just went about his way again.
“Where
do we even go from here?” Tilli asked, looking around.
“If
we uh… just keep on… we’ll just have to walk away from the
sea,” Leeroy stammered.
Estella
nodded. “So this way,” she pointed.
The
four were about to start walking again when suddenly… Leeroy felt a
hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was the big
burly man from before. “You gonna share that?” he asked, pointing
at the three women.
Leeroy
got incredibly pale, Estella looked absolutely appalled and Tilli
looked visibly scared. Her hair seemed to have turned purple as a
result. Julia on the other hand looked incredibly furious. “Say
that again!” she yelled at him.
The
big burly man grinned then, showing off his terrible dental hygiene,
and leaned over right in Julia’s face. “I said… is this wimpy
excuse of a man going to share you three or not?” he said, fairly
loudly so that other people in the street could hear him.
Julia’s
visible eye twitched. She then clenched her fist and got ready to
punch.
“Julia,
no!” Estella called out but it was too late. Her companion gave the
man such a strong punch in the face that he fell over onto the ground
and he was out like a light.
Leeroy
looked from the man to Julia, who was wiping some grime off her fist.
Tilli looked mortified while Estella just glared at Julia. For a
moment, the whole street was silent, until everybody burst out into
loud cheering and laughter. This actually surprised all four of them.
Julia just grinned and bowed to the audience while Tilli awkwardly
helped Leeroy up. Then, everybody just moved on with their lives
again, leaving the man just lying there.
“T-t-thanks…”
Leeroy muttered. It was a good thing Julia was there to save the day
alright. It kind of made him wonder what he was even doing here in
the first place. He could have just stayed on his boat. Then again,
he would have been there all alone if that were the case.
“That
was reckless of you!” Estella hissed at Julia.
“I
wasn’t exactly gonna let that go unpunished, was I?” Julia
replied, crossing her arms.
“We’re
lucky everybody thought it was funny!” Estella argued. “If they
hadn’t we may have had to fight our way through and somebody might
have gotten hurt and then my moms are NEVER letting me go on a
mission like this again…” She sighed then, looking to the ground.
That’s
when Julia placed a hand on Estella’s shoulder. “Hey, cut it out,
okay?” she smiled. “We’re going to find this keeper and your
moms are gonna be proud of you.”
“...
You really think so?” Estella asked.
Julia
nodded. “Zexa Xeza was crazy worried about me, but I know they’ll
love it when I tell them of this guy,” she chuckled. “Point is…
they’re never really going to stop worrying about you, and that’s
a good thing. It shows that they care. All you gotta do is just be
yourself and show that you can do this in your own Estella way.”
Estella
gave a meek smile then. “Thanks… and honestly, that was really
awesome,” she admitted.
As
the two were having a heart to heart, Leeroy had started looking over
the man. “Did… did you kill him?” he asked.
“Hmm?
Oh! Nah, he should wake up with a bad headache after an hour,”
Julia grinned. Knowing that these people were from the temple of
time, Leeroy figured that that hour estimate was probably very
accurate.
“Uhm…”
Tilli interrupted then. “Can we finally move on again? This city is
giving me the willies…”
Estella
nodded, suddenly looking a whole lot more determined and in control
than before. “You’re absolutely right! Let’s go, team human!”
Getting
through the rest of the city was actually quite uneventful. Estella
just strutted through the city as if she owned the place, and it
appeared that this actually demanded quite a lot of respect from the
pirates. Julia’s talk must have done wonders to the girl’s self
esteem. Eventually, the group finally reached the edge of the forest.
A few people gave the group some odd looks as they left the city
behind. They were probably just curious about their direction, Leeroy
figured.
“Whoah,
it’s so dark here…” Tilli said. Even though the party had lit
up a torch, it was still pretty hard to see anything in here.
“The
pirates must not like leaving their city all that much,” Julia
surmised as she removed her eyepatch.
Leeroy
didn’t really blame the pirates. After all, the forest looked
pretty creepy. The trees did not look comforting, there was an eerie
silence and though there was a path here, it didn’t look like
anyone had been here in years. It really gave him the creeps, and it
seemed that that was the case for the others too. As such, he decided
to keep the conversation going to distract from the forest. “So…
uh… Who is this keeper anyway?”
“She’s
the Keeper of Bells. She is one of the original five keepers of time.
When our goddess died, the five keepers at the time went into a deep
slumber in order to prevent time from desynchronizing. Her shrine is
supposed to be on this island.” Julia explained.
“But…
if they went to sleep to prevent a temporal disaster, then… why are
they waking up now?” Leeroy asked.
“Because
of the new keepers,” Tilli smiled. “With the new keepers present,
they can maintain the flow of time without having to stretch
themselves super thin and all that.”
“Indeed.
And also, my mother has foreseen an event that will take place soon.
An event for which we will be needing all ten keepers,” Estella
added.
“Ten?”
Leeroy tilted his head. Counting them all up, he was certain there
were only eight keepers, if one were to count Zexa Xeza as one. This
keeper of bells would of course make the ninth but then there was
still one missing...
“We…
currently don’t know yet where or even who the fifth new keeper
is,” Estella sighed.
“We
only know what her DLC is. It’s a…” Julia said, but she was
interrupted by Tilli.
“Look!
It’s the shrine!” she shouted.
“Ah,
excellent!” Estella cheered.
However,
what they saw wasn’t exactly worthy of cheering. Before them stood
a pretty big, distinctly eastern pagoda with five floors. Leeroy
guessed that the only reason they hadn’t seen it yet from the sea
was because of the darkness of night. From what Leeroy could see,
there were clocks hanging on all four sides on the third story. There
were several bells hanging from each roof corner, though some had
fallen off already. There was also a huge belfry on the fifth floor,
but it was too dark to spot the bells. Some of the roof tiles had
fallen down and there was a rusty, ancient spire lying next to the
pagoda. Leeroy guessed that it had probably fallen from the very top
of the pagoda. Black and red were the colours used most it seemed.
The place must have looked quite impressive back in the day when it
was still visited daily but now…
“You
know… when they said ‘keeper of bells’, I didn’t expect her
shrine to look this… ominous,” Tilli whined. Indeed, this place
didn’t look all that cheery, and that wasn’t just because of the
worn-down status of the whole thing. There were two large statues of
rather scary-looking lions at the front. There were also several
wooden carvings of dragons all over the pagoda. A thousand years of
abandonment didn’t really do their appearance much justice.
“Yeah…”
Julia nodded, eyeing some of the dragons.
“Hmmm…
I guess we should check the area first,” Estella said. Both her and
Julia then looked to Tilli whose hair by now had turned an even
deeper shade of purple.
It
wasn’t until a few moments later when Tilli realized what was going
on. “O-oh!... fi-fine…” she whined. She then stepped forwards.
She put on her bravest face, which seemed to turn her hair red this
time, before enveloping herself into an aura of light and vanishing
from sight. Looking around, leeroy could see that she had teleported
herself to the first floor balcony. Moments later, she was on the
second floor. And then on the other side. And again. And again!
Leeroy had never seen someone teleport this effortlessly before.
Teleportation spells were usually quite hard to pull off after all.
“Do
we even know how to wake her up?” Julia asked.
“Ehehehehe…
not really, no,” Estella admitted. “BUT! I’m sure we’ll
figure it out.”
“Then…
how did the others wake up?” Julia asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well,
the others just kinda… did. My mom showed up at Ysera’s shrine
just as she awoke. Then my mom and Bridget also just… showed up
right as Hestia awoke. Aria was there when Feline awoke and Bridget
and Hestia together were there to wake Christine up. As far as I
know, they all just woke up by themselves. That or maybe we just…
have to ring a bell or something,” Estella explained.
Just
then, Tilli returned to stand next to them to give her own two cents.
“But they were are all time elementals. We’re only humans! Would
our connection to time be enough?” she asked.
“I’m
sure it will! There’s three of us after all,” Estella cheered,
though she didn’t seem as certain about it to Leeroy.
“I
hope you’re right, then!” Tilli said before just blinking
elsewhere again.
“And
what if we can’t wake her up?” Julia asked.
“Then…
one of the keepers will have to come here after all, but that’s
just far too risky, what with the pirates,” Estella sighed.
“All
clear,” Tilli said smiling upon her return. Her hair was blonde
again and only now did the light that surrounded her extinguish
again.
“So…
we go inside now?” Leeroy asked, not exactly looking forward to
that.
“We’ll
have to, yes,” Estella nodded as she walked up to the front door.
It was a huge set of wooden doors with a clock’s face carved into
it. It also had a knocker on both doors, but it was highly unlikely
that they would be answered. Opening the doors, however, looked like
it wasn’t going to be easy.
“Let
me at it,” Julia grinned. She then slammed her fist into her other
hand before stretching her fingers. Finally, she grabbed a hold of
one of the doors and just started pulling with all her might. It was
incredible to see, but she actually caused the door to budge and
eventually open up as well. Leeroy knew that she was strong judging
by her muscles and her earlier run-in with the pirates, but THIS
strong?
As
the doors opened, the group got their first look at the inside of the
shrine… and it somehow looked even more solemn on the inside than
out. In the torch-light, Leeroy could make out a huge worn-down
shrine on the far wall that had been all but destroyed by a
fallen-over pillar. The floor was just an absolute mess of things
that had fallen down from the upper floors. There was a spiralling
staircase leading up in the middle, and they could see that the upper
floors didn’t fare much better. There were rotting benches and
vague symbols could be seen on the walls. Dust and cobwebs had
claimed most of the room.
“How
welcoming…” Estella sighed.
Tilli
was the first to take a few careful steps inside. “Helloooooo? Is
anybody here?” she called out. Her voice echoed throughout the
entire tower, but other than that, she was met with silence.
“Keeper
of bells?! We come from the new church of time! We’ve come to wake
you up!” Estella called out.
Nothing.
“We’ll
have to search,” Julia said, joining the two while clapping some
dust off her hands.
Leeroy,
however, was still outside. How could the girls all have just walked
in like that without preparing? There could have been a trap or
something! Sighing, he just carefully joined them inside.
“Guess
we’re going up to the belfry?” Tilli proposed.
“That
staircase doesn’t really look all that stable anymore…” Leeroy
moaned, eyeing the old wooden steps.
“But
it’s the only way up,” Estella argued, already approaching the
stairwell.
Leeroy
groaned but he decided to act brave this time. After all, if he goes
up the stairs first, then it’ll be over sooner. As such, he placed
his foot on the first step. It felt sturdy enough alright. The second
step on the other hand was a lot softer, and things didn’t really
improve from there…
“Are
you sure about this, Estella? Tilli asked as she too took her first
few steps on the staircase.
“Not
all of us can teleport around, Tilli. Some of us have to walk,”
Julia chuckled, following suit.
Things
seemed to be going alright. That is until Leeroy got about halfway up
the stairs, when he felt the next step actually move as he placed his
foot on it. Out of panic, he yanked his foot back and stepped on the
previous step, but this only caused this step to also start shifting
around. “We gotta get off this thing!” he shouted.
“What?!”
The three women cried out in unison as they too now noticed the
splintering wood.
Leeroy
wanted to go back down, but since his way was still blocked by his
companions, the only way he could go was up. As such, he got into a
sprint and barged up the stairs as fast as possible. Some of the
steps held while others simply fell out the moment he left it. It
didn’t matter, he had to get up as fast as possible before the
whole staircase came down! When he finally reached the second floor,
he let out a sigh of relief. Looking around himself though, he saw
that he was the only one who had made it up. Panic set in but it was
quickly relieved again when he saw them on the ground floor. “Are
you okay?!” he called out to them.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Tilli cried out in return.
“Tilli
got hit by a stray plank!” Estella replied. It appeared that she
was using magic on Tilli’s leg.
“Stell’s
gonna have to heal her before we move on,” Julia called out.
“And…
w-what about me?” Leeroy asked.
“Are
you hurt?” Julia asked.
“No…
I guess not,” Leeroy replied as he checked himself over.
“Well
then… just stay there and we’ll think of a way to get you down
when Stell’s done,” Julia said.
“Great…”
Leeroy muttered to himself. He just sighed and looked around at his
new surroundings. If anything, this place actually looked quite nice.
Unlike the ground floor it seemed to have withstood the test of time
surprisingly well. It was quite open here and he got a very good view
of the whole island from up here. There were a few old bells lying
around here and there that had obviously fallen down from the beams
up above. There were bronze bells, silver bells and even golden
bells. None of it was as impressive as the absolutely gigantic bell
that hung in the middle. It looked like it was made out of iron. How
loud it must sound when rung…
Possibly
even more intriguing than the iron bell though was the tiny silver
bell lying on a pedestal underneath it. It was quite a pretty little
thing alright, and Leeroy found himself carefully approaching it to
take a better look at it. Everything in the room, while impressive
looking, was also mostly covered in dust. This small bell though was
completely unblemished. There was writing on it, but the symbols
looked alien to him.
“Leeroy?!”
came Estella’s voice from behind him.
He
had been so caught up with the pretty silver bell that he had almost
forgotten where exactly he was. Thus he walked back to the hole in
the ground where the staircase was. “Yes?” he called down.
“What
do you see up there?” she asked. It seemed that she was still in
the process of healing Tilli who, by the way, looked like she was
being way too overly dramatic about her wound.
“Well…
uh… bells. Lots of bells,” Leeroy replied.
“Any
sign of the keeper?” Julia asked.
“No…
There’s no-one here,” Leeroy said.
The
women all looked at each-other for a moment then. “Tilli will come
up with you shortly. We’ll think of something then,” Estella
said.
Leeroy
nodded at them before moving back to look at the pretty silver bell
again. It was quite captivating to look at alright. A part of him was
reminded of his first time seeing a sailboat or his first time out at
sea on his own. He really wanted to hear what it sounded like. Well…
seeing as his companions were still busy, there probably wasn’t any
harm in ringing it, right? It was so small after all. They probably
wouldn’t even really hear it.
He
had made up his mind. Carefully, he picked up the small bell. It felt
oddly cold to the touch. As if it was a small clump of ice. He
hesitated for a short moment. This thing was probably magical. Maybe
he shouldn’t ring it… but he simply couldn’t resist it. Thus he
gave the trinket the tiniest of swings.
…
tinkle…
The
chime that followed sounded so clear and wonderful. It was simply
divine! Oh how beautifully it chimed and sang its celestial tune. His
favourite sounds of the sea simply could not compare at all. He
didn’t even really realize the silly smile he had on his face as he
listened to it.
Leeroy
rang it a second time, shaking it a bit more, and it sounded even
better! It was strange. It was just one tiny bell but it was as if
this bell had so much to say. It sang of merry times. It told of the
first snowfall of the winter times. It chimed along the sound of the
creaking ice over a lake. Even amidst a pirate-infested island far
away from his sailboat, it was nice, cheerful, and calming. He soon
realized how soft it made him feel.
He
couldn’t contain himself, he had to ring it a third time!
…
tinkle…
…
ting…
As
he rung it again, he heard something that he didn’t expect. Instead
of just the soft chime of the silver bell, a new sound joined into
the mix. He jumped and quickly looked around to see where it had come
from, only to find that it was actually one of the golden bells
hanging from the ceiling. It seemed to have started swinging… for
some reason. Sure, there was a bit of a breeze up in the belfry, but
it definitely shouldn’t be enough to make one of these heavy bells
start swinging, right? And yet here it was, softly ringing on its
own. It wasn’t unpleasant to listen to though. In fact, it sounded
very beautiful. Unlike the melodious chiming of the small silver
bell, this bell sounded louder. It sounded… happy.
Soon
another bell joined its companion. And another… and another! Had
Leeroy’s ringing of the silver bell started this? If so, this
should probably really worry him… and yet he wasn’t. The harmony
of this happy jingling and gleeful swelling just lifted his mood up
so much. Oh how joyfully they sang their song. All of his worries
seem to just wash off him. The only thing that still lingered was
whether the girls would be angry with him once they get up for
ringing these sacred bells. Ah, but that would be a problem for
future Leeroy, he thought to himself. For now he felt as happy as the
bells themselves.
That’s
when something seemed… off. His hair was hanging over his eyes. He
had been brushing it aside a few times as he listened to the song of
the bells but only now did he realize how strange this was. He had
always kept his hair short. How was it now hanging over his eyes? As
he held up his hair, he also noticed something off about his hand. It
seemed smaller, and a lot softer too. What was going on?
“Oh
no…” he gasped to himself. While the bells still jingled and
swelled, he started frantically inspecting his own body. He had
become quite a bit shorter from his usual self judging by the fact
that his clothes had started sagging quite a bit. His skin felt so
much softer than usual and he could feel a numb pain in his chest.
This definitely wasn’t good…
Ting,
ting
Bing,
bong!
It
was as if the bells had heard his worries then, for their happy song
actually changed as well. As more and more bronze bells joined in on
the chorus, their ringing actually became more urgent. Their clamor
and clangor swelled up more and more as Leeroy became increasingly
worried about his body. He wasn’t sure whether the bells were
reacting to him, or whether he was reacting to the bells.
The
numb pain on his chest became stronger as it started pushing out into
two lumps. With disbelief he stared as two breasts formed on his
shirt. He gasped as he physically felt his manhood retreating back
into his body. He reached for it, but to no avail, as it soon formed
a rather feminine slit instead. This wasn’t happening…
And
all the while, the bells howled. A cacophony of sound that swelled
and clanged. Their clamor must have been audible throughout the
entire island! The girls downstairs must be hearing it at least.
Surely they will come up soon to rescue him from all of this, right?
… Right?
“E-Este-What?!”
he tried calling out to them, only to realize that his voice sounded
so much higher in pitch. His hair was now reaching down beyond his
shoulders even and his shirt was now more like a tent while his pants
had already fallen down his legs. Thankfully, he seemed to have
stopped shrinking now, but the changes sure weren’t stopping. His,
or more accurately her shoulders slimmed down while her facial
features became even softer. Any hairs on her body other than on top
of her head simply vanished into thin air. As the bells howled and
clanged, she caught her reflection into some of them, and she was
shocked by what she saw. Leeroy had turned into a Weebonese girl! Her
short physique, the shape of her eyes, her new hairstyle, it was all
very much like any far eastern woman!
The
bells clamor and clangor didn’t show any signs of stopping. These
brazen bells weren’t just growing more urgent, they were seething
with terror. As if to send a warning. As if they howled of a forceful
fire, or of a terrible hurricane. Oh how turbulent they howled and
growled.
Leeroy
found herself curling up in a ball, the silver bell tightly clutched
in her hand. She placed her arms over her head, trying desperately to
cover herself from the cacophony, but it was useless. The bells rang
and rang, louder and louder.
“Make
it stop…” she whimpered softly, but the bells rang.
“Make
it stop.” she said a little louder, but the bells howled.
“MAKE
IT STOP!”
she
yelled… and so did the bells finally stop. The belfry went as
silent as it had been before. Her ears were still ringing slightly,
but other than that, there was nothing. Opening her eyes, she looked
around. The bells were hanging still, as if they hadn’t even moved
to begin with. Brushing her hair to the side, she slowly stood up
again, looking around in confusion. Had all of this just been an
illusion? Well, no, that certainly wasn’t the case, for she was
still a woman. Yet the girls downstairs weren’t calling out to her.
“At…
least it stopped,” she sighed. She was about to finally step away
from the altar then when…
…
GOOOONNNGGGGG!!!!
An
overwhelmingly loud clash of iron on iron sent the newly transformed
girl buckling down and dropping to the ground. She screamed out from
the deafening gong and tried desperately to crawl away, only for
another eardrum shattering gong to howl out. The large iron bell had
started singing its own tune. It was so loud that it too much to
handle…
Or
was it? As it tolled a third time, as loud as before… Leeroy
actually thought that she heard something. It wasn’t just an
incredibly loud noise. No. It was like the bells from before. The
silver bell sounded merry. The golden bells sounded joyful. The
bronze bells sounded turbulent. And now… this iron bell sounded
solemn. It was as if it mourned. As if its monody told a tale of
solitude and sadness.
By
the fourth gong, loud as it was, Leeroy actually stopped covering her
ears. By the fifth toll, she looked back up again. By the sixth cry,
she found herself standing up again. The tolling of the iron bell was
louder than any sound she’d ever heard, but it no longer seemed to
faze her.
“You’re…
sad,” Leeroy said, surprising herself even on the seventh gong. Why
was she speaking to a bell? It was a bell. A thing. And yet its song
was filled with so much feeling and emotion.
“You’re
alone?” she asked, just as it gonged its eight toll.
“You’re
missing someone,” Leeroy deduced calmly on the ninth gong. The bell
must be missing the keeper of bells after all.
“Where
is she though?” she asked herself on the tenth toll. Wasn’t she
supposed to be asleep right here?
“I
know where she is…” she said then as the eleventh gong howled out
across the island. It seemed so obvious to her now.
“I’m
right here,” she said on the twelfth toll before outstretching her
hand and touching the bell’s massive clapper, instantly causing the
bell to become still once more. She smiled at it, and it truly felt
like she was reuniting with an old friend.
And
then the bell dropped.
She
closed her eyes calmly. She wasn’t scared as the bell fell right
over her, trapping her within. Yet it never touched the floor.
Rather, it hovered over her before shrinking down somewhat. The top
of the bell opened up, as well as two holes on the side. Two
appendages seemed to grow out of these two holes. The outside of the
bell seemed to take on a more fabric-y look while the inside remained
iron. Soon, the whole bell looked more like a silky gothic dress than
anything else. A gothic dress that wrapped itself around her body and
fit her perfectly. The inside was still very much a bell alright, and
the iron felt rather cold around her body, yet she wasn’t bothered
by it. Not at all. It felt comforting. It felt right.
As
her skin started taking on a pale complexion, more bells came down
from the ceiling. Bronze, silver, golden, all of them came down. Some
bells spiralled around her sleeves while others attached themselves
to the hem of her skirt. Two silver bells reached into her hair and
tied it up into two ponytails, where they wrapped themselves around
the ties. Two bronze bells reached for the very end of her sleeves
and attached themselves, merging to form cone shapes that were still
very much functioning bells. Lastly, the silver bell that had started
it all. She had held onto it throughout the entire ordeal, and now it
too was glowing. It hovered out of her hand and rested right over her
neck, where it formed a ribbon.
As
she looked down at all of this happening, she didn’t know what to
feel. As her skin now turned a pristine white, memories of her
sailboat were becoming incredibly hard to remember, while new
memories entered her head.
But…
they weren’t new memories, where they? These were old memories.
Very old memories. As her shoes morphed into knee-high boots, she
remembered. She remembered the bells. Bells ringing to introduce a
new day. Bells singing to end another hour. The bells that could
twinkle. The bells that could ring. The bells that could howl. The
bells that could sing. The bells. Her bells. She was their keeper
after all. She was tied to them and they were tied to her. After all…
She
was time.
While
black eyeshadow applied itself to her eyes, she realized this truth
about herself once more. Of course. She was the Keeper of bells. She
was Time. She served the goddess Alinavious. And she was… awake?
Why was she awake? It was quite the conundrum alright.
“Whoah!”
came a sudden voice from behind her. Looking over, the Keeper saw a
rather short girl, barely taller than herself with blue hair.
Calmly,
the keeper turned around to look this strange girl over, chiming a
few of her silver bells in the process.
“Are…
you the keeper of bells?” the girl asked.
The
keeper nodded wordlessly, uncertain yet about whether the girl was
friend or foe.
Just
then, the girl’s hair turned blonde as she smiled broadly. “Girls,
I found her!” she called out.
“Wait,
really?!” “See, I told you it would work, Tilli!” came two more
voices from two unseen women.
“Who…
are you?” the keeper asked. Though her voice was quite high
pitched, it also sounded quite raspy. She sounded quite neutral too.
After all, she had never really been all that good at expressing her
emotions. The bells did that for her.
“I’m
Tilli,” the girl smiled. “My two friends down there would be
joining us here but uh… well, we kinda broke the stairs trying to
come up here. Sorry about that.”
“I…
see,” the keeper said, tilting her head. “And you were looking
for me?”
“Oh
yes! But uh… let’s try and go down first. Hold on to me. I can
teleport us down but… well it takes a lot out of me, so we gotta
get it right in one go.”
“Ah…
right. I guess that would make talking easier.” the keeper said.
Confused as she was, she just did as she was asked. She walked off
her platform and approached this ‘Tilli’ person. The bells around
her body jingled and tinkled as she walked. It was definitely
something that she had missed after a thousand years of sleep.
Carefully, she held the girl’s outstretched hand, just as the girl
started glowing. It was a dim glow at first, but it grew out brighter
and brighter. Soon, the keeper had to close her eyes and when she
opened them again, she was no longer up in the belfry alright.
Instead, she was down in the main hall of her pagoda. Or… what’s
left of it at least. Looking around, there was so much rubble and
dust everywhere. The Chronan texts on the doorway were barely
visible. The benches had mostly broken down from the collapsed
staircase and pillars. It was truly a sight for sore eyes. It was to
be expected of course but still…
“Whoa…
it really is her,” came a female voice. Looking over, she saw the
two other women she had heard earlier. A pink-haired woman and a
woman whose hair was both black and white.
“Greetings!”
the pink-haired woman spoke up. “My name is Estella and this here
is Julia. It is an honour to meet you!”
The
keeper gave them a silent, expressionless curtsy in return.
“So…
what’s your name?” Julia asked.
Her
name… she knew her own name of course, even if she hadn’t used or
heard it in a very long time. “I’m Lorelei,” she answered.
“Pretty…”
she heard Estella mutter under her breath.
“So
why have you awoken me? And how do you know who I am? I didn’t
think I’d be all that famous 1044 years after I went to sleep,”
Lorelei pondered out loud, her voice as monotone as ever.
“Oh,
right! You see, we are representatives of the new church of time. We
have been sent by your sisters to wake you up,” Estella explained.
“My
sisters…” Lorelei repeated, looking down to the ground as her
iron bell tolled solemnly. She had missed them a great deal alright.
“Ysera,
Hestia, Feline and Christine, yes. You’re the last to wake up. At
least… from you original five keepers,” Julia smiled.
This
caused Lorelei to look up again. If they had all awoken before her,
that meant that she would see them again soon. Realizing this, two of
her golden bells sang happily. Yet throughout it all, her face
remained neutral. “Original… you mean to tell me there are more
keepers of time now?”
“Yeah!
There’s four new keepers and we’re looking for number five!”
Tilli cheered.
“That’s…
unexpected…” Lorelei mused. If all of this was true, then the
church of time had indeed been resurrected, and bigger than ever
before! Yet… she knew the sad truth that their goddess was still
not there. She could not feel her presence after all. She stepped
towards the grand doors then, the iron bell of her dress tolling
softly. “Then let us get back to them.”
“Ah…
about that,” Estella started, nervously touching her index fingers,
“getting off Furukyo is going to be a bit of an issue.”
“Furukyo?”
Lorelei asked. That was definitely not the name of her island. Her
island was called Nakakyo back in the day. “What happened?”
“The
island’s kiiiinda infested with pirates,” Julia explained.
Lorelei’s
eyes widened somewhat. “What? But this was the seat of the royal
family of Nipshon.” She moved her hands to make the bronze bell
clang in alarm then. If it weren’t for them, she would appear
incredibly nonchalant and uncaring about the whole matter. Something
that was of course not true at all.
“Well,
it isn’t anymore, I’m afraid,” Tilli said.
Lorelei
looked to the ground again. “What has become of my homeland?” she
asked. She almost didn’t want to hear the answer.
“Oh,
don’t worry. The land is mostly fine. It has just had to move its
capital city elsewhere. Also… the counties called Weebon now,”
Julia said.
“I…
see,” Lorelei said. This calmed her down somewhat alright, but it
was still sad to see this happening.
“This
island must have meant a lot to you,” Estella said.
Lorelei
sighed as more memories of the past returned to her. She remembered
the war between Nipshon and Stepolis. A war that lasted until the
church of time stepped in to start peace negotiations. Lorelei
herself ended up joining the church and she herself became a symbol
for peace, even if she had to give up her humanity for it. Not that
she regretted that. On the contrary. “More than a lot… I was her
princess at one point,” she explained.
All
three women gasped at that. “Y-you were a princess?!” they asked
in unison.
“I…
guess I should have said that sooner. I should have realized that
it’s not all that common to be a princess,” Lorelei replied,
ringing a few of her bronze bells nervously.
“You
can say that again,” Estella laughed. “But… what’s with the
outfit then? That looks kinda western.”
“Oh…
I thought that if I was going to be a symbol of peace between our
nations, I would wear some of Stepolis fashion. Ysera and the others
showed me this, and I instantly fell in love, though my father didn’t
like it very much. In hindsight, maybe it was a bit rude of me to
start wearing it,” Lorelei explained.
“I
think it suits you!” Tilli smiled.
“I…
thanks,” Lorelei said, ringing a silver bell gratefully. “Anyway,
how do we get off the island then?”
“Well,
we have a plan for that,” Julia grinned as she got out what looked
like a heart-shaped locket with a fiery emblem on it. When she opened
it, it started glowing quite brightly as sparks flew out of the
trinket. After only a few moments, a new woman stood before them. At
least, she looked like a woman. In actuality, this was a fire
elemental.
“...
and then I sent them such a big ball of fire that… huh?” the
elemental looked around herself curiously, eyeing Lorelei for a
moment. “You’re not Dalia…”
“Hello
there, Lucia?” Julia grinned. “Remember me?”
The
elemental looked around at the woman who had summoned her. “You! I
remember you… you and those twins of yours!” She certainly didn’t
look all that pleased.
“I
have several questions…” Lorelei frowned, holding up a finger.
“Just…
go with it,” Estella replied softly. “Julia, Zexa, and Xeza, uh…
their one of the new keepers. Anyways they explored a dungeon and the
treasure they found was that locket which can summon a fire
elemental.”
“So
what do you want, huh? Scared of the dark and wanted a light?”
Lucia teased.
“Hardly.
How would you like to pretend to be a dragon?” Julia grinned.
Lucia
held up her finger then, about to tease some more when she realized
what Julia had said. “Come again?”
“A
dragon. We need you to create a diversion while we sneak around to
get to our boat,” Julia explained.
The
fire elemental placed a hand on her chin then, thinking about it. “It
would certainly be a real blast… and a flaming good story for
Dalia…” she mused to herself. “Okay, I’ll do it! Just in
between though, who am I distracting exactly?”
“Pirates,
and lots of them,” Estella explained.
Lucia
gave a haughty laugh at that. “I’ll fire up a dragon so big,
those rum-drinkers won’t know what hit them!”
“Excellent!
Thank you, Lucia,” Julia cheered.
“As
for us, we should get ready to start sneaking!” Tilli smiled.
“I’m
not exactly good at sneaking,” Lorelei said before wiggling her own
body and beginning a small chorus of bells.
“Right…
meaning Lucia will have to pull out all the stops for her diversion,”
Estella said.
“Pshaw!
Don’t get your cinders in a fit. You just get yourselves to your
boat as fast as possible and I’ll see ya again once you’re out,”
Lucia grinned.
Lorelei
looked at the fire elemental. Did she really have to make such
horribly bad puns all the time? No wonder elementals always got such
a bad rep. Then again, Lorelei herself had also made some bad jokes
to herself in the past. She just… wasn’t very good at telling
them to others.
“Well,
if everyoLeeroy wasn’t very good at talking to people. Around
strangers, he would always either say nothing at all or talk far too
much. One could therefore imagine his surprise when he was approached
by three cute young women who wanted his help for something. Him, of
all people! However, his feeling of luck soon turned sour when they
asked him to sail them to the isle of Furukyo with his sailboat, deep
within the land of Weebon. An island infested with pirates…
Leeroy
had short, messy black hair and almost always just wore similar black
shirts and a pair of jeans underneath that. He became a sailor mostly
to just go out and be alone most of the time. Well, that, and because
he had always just been absolutely fascinated by boats. He had put in
a LOT of work on his trusty boat, the ‘Black Swan’. Turning her
into the best she could be, which perhaps was why the three women had
chosen him specifically.
But
to go to the island of Furukyo of all places… Not only would that
be highly dangerous for the women, but Leeroy also really feared for
his trusty boat! The pirates in that area were highly active, after
all!
However…
he couldn’t just resist these three lovely young women, could he?
“How
much longer till we get there?” one of the women asked. She had
pink hair and wore a fairly typical nun’s outfit, other then the
randomly adorned clocks. She had introduced herself as Estella
Providence, daughter to Lavini Providence. A name rather well-known
since she was one of the High Priestesses of Time, namely the Bishop
of the Glass.
Leeroy
looked over his map and then above him to the stars to align himself.
They had decided to come at night, figuring the lower visibility and
the fact that most pirates would be too drunk by that time. “The
uh… we should be seeing the island soon,” he blabbered, getting
quite flustered. A part of him had wanted to try and impress Estella
by giving an accurate estimate of time. However, he had no real way
of making such an estimate, seeing as sailing was quite
unpredictable.
“Then
we should probably change our outfits, girls!” Estella called out
to the other two, who had just been chatting with each-other about
things Leeroy really didn’t understand.
“Aye
aye, captain!” one of them chuckled. She had a rather short
physique and there was something quite curious going on with her hair
and eyes. One moment, her hair would be green while her eyes were
blue, and the next both would be red. Leeroy could have sworn he also
saw different combinations every time he looked back her way. Why
this was, Leeroy had no idea. Perhaps she just changed her mind about
her looks every so often? Or perhaps she was cursed? She had
introduced herself as Tilli and she was constantly talking about
‘making darling Kaidyn proud on this mission’.
“Alright,
you first then,” the other chuckled. She was possibly even stranger
than Tilli. It was as if someone had gotten two completely different
people, tore them in half and just super glued a half from both
together. Her left side had white hair, a silver eye and a very pale
skin-tone. Most of her skin was covered by some kind of interesting
bodysuit and there were pictures of the moon adorning it all. There
was even a crescent moon in her hair. Her right side on the other
hand had black hair, a golden eye and very much a proper tan. Her arm
and leg were mostly uncovered and there were suns adorning this side
of her outfit. She must have really liked the sun and the moon for
her to incorporate all of these differences so well into her looks!
It was just that Leeroy really couldn’t figure out why. She had
introduced herself as Julia.
“S-so
uh… where do you uh… I mean why do you… uhm,” Leeroy stumbled
over his words. He didn’t really know how to talk to other guys and
he certainly didn’t know how to talk to girls!
“We
need to go to the center of the island, where an old shrine to
Alinavious is supposed to be,” Julia answered kindly.
“There’s
a Keeper of Time who has been slumbering there since ancient times,
and we’re supposed to wake her up,” Estella finished.
Leeroy
just gave them a puzzled look. All of this talk about time and
keepers and shrines really flew over his head. Why couldn’t these
girls have been nuns of the church of sailboats or something? Then at
least he would have been able to talk along.
“This
keeper is… She’s a time elemental like my mom!” Estella added,
noticing Leeroy’s confusion.
“Oh…
that makes sense, I guess,” Leeroy said, though now he started
questioning how a time elemental had a human for a daughter…
“How
do I look?” Came the voice of Tilli, who re-emerged from the cabin,
dressed like a pirate. Well… she looked like what one would
describe a pirate to look like to a child. She wore a big, feathered
hat on top of a striped shirt and a pair of ripped up trousers.
“Okay…
ditch the hat and you’ll pass,” Julia laughed.
“What?!
But I worked so hard on finding this hat…” Tilli pouted.
“Where,
in an all hallows eve store?” Estella giggled.
Tilli
puffed up her cheeks and threw the hat on the deck, just as her hair
changed from blonde to red. “Fiiiine, but I’m wearing it on the
way back!”
“My
turn then,” Julia giggled, vanishing into the cabin.
Seeing
the three women interacting with one-another was certainly nice to
look at. It actually made Leeroy a little bit jealous. Why couldn’t
he talk like they could? Why did everything he tried to say come out
as an awkward mess?
“You
think she’ll keep her halves different?” Tilli asked then,
interrupting Leeroy’s thoughts. Her hair changed colour again then,
becoming green this time.
“No.
We can’t attract any attention on this mission. That’s why they
sent us three in the first place. Julia will just have to adjust to
acting normal again. That’s probably gonna be hard, considering her
devotion to the differences for Zexa Xeza.”
“I
really wonder how she does it…” Tilli pondered aloud.
Zexa
Xeza was another name that Leeroy recognized. They were the twin
priestesses of the Dials. That certainly explained a few details
about Julia!
“For
that matter, YOU need to stop switching timelines constantly,”
Estella commanded.
“W-what?
But but…” Tilli stammered.
“No
buts! Kaidyn isn’t here so there’s no need to be changing
constantly,” Estella said.
“It’s…
it’s not like I can control it!” Tilli shouted. When her hair
turned red again, Leeroy finally guessed what was going on.
“It’s
tied to your emotions!” he said, feeling rather proud of himself
for figuring it out.
“Yeah,
that!” Tilli said.
Estella
rolled her eyes at that and placed her hand on her forehead. “Of
course,” she sighed. “Well, can you at least try to control your
emotions a bit?”
Tilli
closed her eyes before letting out a soft breath. It worked wonders
it seemed as her hair turned blonde again. “I will try my best,”
she said calmly.
“Excellent,”
Estella cheered, just as Julia left the cabin again.
“Arrrr!”
she shouted. She too now wore some old sailor’s clothes. It
actually didn’t look all that bad, if it wasn’t for the fact that
her hair and eye colours were still missmatched, and she still wore a
necklace with a golden sun and a silver crescent moon hanging from
them.
“Hmmm…
ah, I know!” Estella said. She then dug into the pile of extra
clothes that they had brought along for the trip just in case and got
out an old shirt. She then just ripped the thing apart before tying
the rags around Julia’s head, turning it into a makeshift bandana
that covered her hair. Then she got out an eyepatch and placed it
over one of Julia’s eyes.
“Looks
good!” Tilli cheered, to which Estella nodded.
“Thanks,
Stell. Your turn then,” Julia grinned.
When
Estella was in the cabin, Tilli turned to Julia and held a hand over
her mouth, yet she spoke loud enough for Leeroy to still hear her.
“Has she always been this bossy?” she asked.
Julia
laughed then. “It’s what you get when you’re the daughter of a
high priestess. Her other mom, Cassiopeia, says raising her was quite
the handful,” she grinned as she temporarily removed her eyepatch.
“I
heard that!” came Estella’s voice from inside the cabin.
“I
know you did,” Julia chuckled. “In all seriousness though. She’s
mostly trying to prove herself to her mothers. Neither of them really
wanted her to go on this mission out of worry but everybody else
agreed she should go. That’s why she wants this mission to go
perfectly… and why she’s kinda acting like Cassie right now.”
“Huh…
like mother, like daughter, I guess,” Tilli giggled. “I guess you
two must go back quite a bit.”
“We
were the only humans at the temple for quite a while until you showed
up. So we’ve been hanging out every now and then to talk about…
well… human things,” Julia laughed.
“Is
that why they sent you three?” Leeroy asked then. “Because you’re
the only humans?”
Julia
nodded. “You can try and disguise the priestesses all you want, but
they’ll still just attract too much attention,” she explained.
“Ah…
true,” Leeroy nodded as he recounted the high priestesses. Sure,
they all had humanoid bodies but none of them were human. From a
dryad to a brass clockwork ballerina, each of them really stood out.
“How’s
this?” Came Estella’s voice as she left the cabin. She now wore a
similar outfit to that of her companions. She had tied her hair into
a pony-tail and it appeared that she still had at least one clock on
her as a necklace. When all three gave her a thumbs up, she grinned.
That’s
when Leeroy noticed something rising over the horizon. It was mostly
dark, but a large section of it was lit up. They had almost reached
their destination.
Docking
proved easier than Leeroy had anticipated. Indeed, most of the
dockworkers were passed out drunks, and those that did still linger
cared little for a small sailboat such as theirs. Either that, or, as
Leeroy feared, they were planning on simply stealing his boat. Of
course, he left behind some magical protections, but it was still
worrying to leave ‘The Black Swan’ behind like this. He just
hoped and prayed that everything would be alright in the end.
Even
though it was the middle of the night, the sounds of partying could
be heard all over town. The smell of fish and rum permeated the air
here. Something that apparently got to be a bit much for Tilli as she
wanted to just cover her nose, only for Estella to tell her to cut it
out. The streets weren’t exactly the cleanest and most of the
buildings were somewhat shoddy at best. Some of them had broken
windows while others had giant holes in the roof. At one point, the
group rounded a corner just as a guy fell right through a window,
only for him to get back up and jump right back in. Apparently there
was a bar brawl going on in there.
Most
of the pirates were too drunk to care much about other people passing
through. A fair amount, though, still gave them just a bit more than
a passing glance. Leeroy wasn’t surprised, given that his
companions were all women, even through their disguises.
“I’ll
never complain about down-town Stepolis again…” Tilli whined.
“Hush,”
Estella hissed as a particularly big and burly pirate passed the
group. He seemed to eye their group for just a moment longer but then
he just went about his way again.
“Where
do we even go from here?” Tilli asked, looking around.
“If
we uh… just keep on… we’ll just have to walk away from the
sea,” Leeroy stammered.
Estella
nodded. “So this way,” she pointed.
The
four were about to start walking again when suddenly… Leeroy felt a
hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was the big
burly man from before. “You gonna share that?” he asked, pointing
at the three women.
Leeroy
got incredibly pale, Estella looked absolutely appalled and Tilli
looked visibly scared. Her hair seemed to have turned purple as a
result. Julia on the other hand looked incredibly furious. “Say
that again!” she yelled at him.
The
big burly man grinned then, showing off his terrible dental hygiene,
and leaned over right in Julia’s face. “I said… is this wimpy
excuse of a man going to share you three or not?” he said, fairly
loudly so that other people in the street could hear him.
Julia’s
visible eye twitched. She then clenched her fist and got ready to
punch.
“Julia,
no!” Estella called out but it was too late. Her companion gave the
man such a strong punch in the face that he fell over onto the ground
and he was out like a light.
Leeroy
looked from the man to Julia, who was wiping some grime off her fist.
Tilli looked mortified while Estella just glared at Julia. For a
moment, the whole street was silent, until everybody burst out into
loud cheering and laughter. This actually surprised all four of them.
Julia just grinned and bowed to the audience while Tilli awkwardly
helped Leeroy up. Then, everybody just moved on with their lives
again, leaving the man just lying there.
“T-t-thanks…”
Leeroy muttered. It was a good thing Julia was there to save the day
alright. It kind of made him wonder what he was even doing here in
the first place. He could have just stayed on his boat. Then again,
he would have been there all alone if that were the case.
“That
was reckless of you!” Estella hissed at Julia.
“I
wasn’t exactly gonna let that go unpunished, was I?” Julia
replied, crossing her arms.
“We’re
lucky everybody thought it was funny!” Estella argued. “If they
hadn’t we may have had to fight our way through and somebody might
have gotten hurt and then my moms are NEVER letting me go on a
mission like this again…” She sighed then, looking to the ground.
That’s
when Julia placed a hand on Estella’s shoulder. “Hey, cut it out,
okay?” she smiled. “We’re going to find this keeper and your
moms are gonna be proud of you.”
“...
You really think so?” Estella asked.
Julia
nodded. “Zexa Xeza was crazy worried about me, but I know they’ll
love it when I tell them of this guy,” she chuckled. “Point is…
they’re never really going to stop worrying about you, and that’s
a good thing. It shows that they care. All you gotta do is just be
yourself and show that you can do this in your own Estella way.”
Estella
gave a meek smile then. “Thanks… and honestly, that was really
awesome,” she admitted.
As
the two were having a heart to heart, Leeroy had started looking over
the man. “Did… did you kill him?” he asked.
“Hmm?
Oh! Nah, he should wake up with a bad headache after an hour,”
Julia grinned. Knowing that these people were from the temple of
time, Leeroy figured that that hour estimate was probably very
accurate.
“Uhm…”
Tilli interrupted then. “Can we finally move on again? This city is
giving me the willies…”
Estella
nodded, suddenly looking a whole lot more determined and in control
than before. “You’re absolutely right! Let’s go, team human!”
Getting
through the rest of the city was actually quite uneventful. Estella
just strutted through the city as if she owned the place, and it
appeared that this actually demanded quite a lot of respect from the
pirates. Julia’s talk must have done wonders to the girl’s self
esteem. Eventually, the group finally reached the edge of the forest.
A few people gave the group some odd looks as they left the city
behind. They were probably just curious about their direction, Leeroy
figured.
“Whoah,
it’s so dark here…” Tilli said. Even though the party had lit
up a torch, it was still pretty hard to see anything in here.
“The
pirates must not like leaving their city all that much,” Julia
surmised as she removed her eyepatch.
Leeroy
didn’t really blame the pirates. After all, the forest looked
pretty creepy. The trees did not look comforting, there was an eerie
silence and though there was a path here, it didn’t look like
anyone had been here in years. It really gave him the creeps, and it
seemed that that was the case for the others too. As such, he decided
to keep the conversation going to distract from the forest. “So…
uh… Who is this keeper anyway?”
“She’s
the Keeper of Bells. She is one of the original five keepers of time.
When our goddess died, the five keepers at the time went into a deep
slumber in order to prevent time from desynchronizing. Her shrine is
supposed to be on this island.” Julia explained.
“But…
if they went to sleep to prevent a temporal disaster, then… why are
they waking up now?” Leeroy asked.
“Because
of the new keepers,” Tilli smiled. “With the new keepers present,
they can maintain the flow of time without having to stretch
themselves super thin and all that.”
“Indeed.
And also, my mother has foreseen an event that will take place soon.
An event for which we will be needing all ten keepers,” Estella
added.
“Ten?”
Leeroy tilted his head. Counting them all up, he was certain there
were only eight keepers, if one were to count Zexa Xeza as one. This
keeper of bells would of course make the ninth but then there was
still one missing...
“We…
currently don’t know yet where or even who the fifth new keeper
is,” Estella sighed.
“We
only know what her DLC is. It’s a…” Julia said, but she was
interrupted by Tilli.
“Look!
It’s the shrine!” she shouted.
“Ah,
excellent!” Estella cheered.
However,
what they saw wasn’t exactly worthy of cheering. Before them stood
a pretty big, distinctly eastern pagoda with five floors. Leeroy
guessed that the only reason they hadn’t seen it yet from the sea
was because of the darkness of night. From what Leeroy could see,
there were clocks hanging on all four sides on the third story. There
were several bells hanging from each roof corner, though some had
fallen off already. There was also a huge belfry on the fifth floor,
but it was too dark to spot the bells. Some of the roof tiles had
fallen down and there was a rusty, ancient spire lying next to the
pagoda. Leeroy guessed that it had probably fallen from the very top
of the pagoda. Black and red were the colours used most it seemed.
The place must have looked quite impressive back in the day when it
was still visited daily but now…
“You
know… when they said ‘keeper of bells’, I didn’t expect her
shrine to look this… ominous,” Tilli whined. Indeed, this place
didn’t look all that cheery, and that wasn’t just because of the
worn-down status of the whole thing. There were two large statues of
rather scary-looking lions at the front. There were also several
wooden carvings of dragons all over the pagoda. A thousand years of
abandonment didn’t really do their appearance much justice.
“Yeah…”
Julia nodded, eyeing some of the dragons.
“Hmmm…
I guess we should check the area first,” Estella said. Both her and
Julia then looked to Tilli whose hair by now had turned an even
deeper shade of purple.
It
wasn’t until a few moments later when Tilli realized what was going
on. “O-oh!... fi-fine…” she whined. She then stepped forwards.
She put on her bravest face, which seemed to turn her hair red this
time, before enveloping herself into an aura of light and vanishing
from sight. Looking around, leeroy could see that she had teleported
herself to the first floor balcony. Moments later, she was on the
second floor. And then on the other side. And again. And again!
Leeroy had never seen someone teleport this effortlessly before.
Teleportation spells were usually quite hard to pull off after all.
“Do
we even know how to wake her up?” Julia asked.
“Ehehehehe…
not really, no,” Estella admitted. “BUT! I’m sure we’ll
figure it out.”
“Then…
how did the others wake up?” Julia asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well,
the others just kinda… did. My mom showed up at Ysera’s shrine
just as she awoke. Then my mom and Bridget also just… showed up
right as Hestia awoke. Aria was there when Feline awoke and Bridget
and Hestia together were there to wake Christine up. As far as I
know, they all just woke up by themselves. That or maybe we just…
have to ring a bell or something,” Estella explained.
Just
then, Tilli returned to stand next to them to give her own two cents.
“But they were are all time elementals. We’re only humans! Would
our connection to time be enough?” she asked.
“I’m
sure it will! There’s three of us after all,” Estella cheered,
though she didn’t seem as certain about it to Leeroy.
“I
hope you’re right, then!” Tilli said before just blinking
elsewhere again.
“And
what if we can’t wake her up?” Julia asked.
“Then…
one of the keepers will have to come here after all, but that’s
just far too risky, what with the pirates,” Estella sighed.
“All
clear,” Tilli said smiling upon her return. Her hair was blonde
again and only now did the light that surrounded her extinguish
again.
“So…
we go inside now?” Leeroy asked, not exactly looking forward to
that.
“We’ll
have to, yes,” Estella nodded as she walked up to the front door.
It was a huge set of wooden doors with a clock’s face carved into
it. It also had a knocker on both doors, but it was highly unlikely
that they would be answered. Opening the doors, however, looked like
it wasn’t going to be easy.
“Let
me at it,” Julia grinned. She then slammed her fist into her other
hand before stretching her fingers. Finally, she grabbed a hold of
one of the doors and just started pulling with all her might. It was
incredible to see, but she actually caused the door to budge and
eventually open up as well. Leeroy knew that she was strong judging
by her muscles and her earlier run-in with the pirates, but THIS
strong?
As
the doors opened, the group got their first look at the inside of the
shrine… and it somehow looked even more solemn on the inside than
out. In the torch-light, Leeroy could make out a huge worn-down
shrine on the far wall that had been all but destroyed by a
fallen-over pillar. The floor was just an absolute mess of things
that had fallen down from the upper floors. There was a spiralling
staircase leading up in the middle, and they could see that the upper
floors didn’t fare much better. There were rotting benches and
vague symbols could be seen on the walls. Dust and cobwebs had
claimed most of the room.
“How
welcoming…” Estella sighed.
Tilli
was the first to take a few careful steps inside. “Helloooooo? Is
anybody here?” she called out. Her voice echoed throughout the
entire tower, but other than that, she was met with silence.
“Keeper
of bells?! We come from the new church of time! We’ve come to wake
you up!” Estella called out.
Nothing.
“We’ll
have to search,” Julia said, joining the two while clapping some
dust off her hands.
Leeroy,
however, was still outside. How could the girls all have just walked
in like that without preparing? There could have been a trap or
something! Sighing, he just carefully joined them inside.
“Guess
we’re going up to the belfry?” Tilli proposed.
“That
staircase doesn’t really look all that stable anymore…” Leeroy
moaned, eyeing the old wooden steps.
“But
it’s the only way up,” Estella argued, already approaching the
stairwell.
Leeroy
groaned but he decided to act brave this time. After all, if he goes
up the stairs first, then it’ll be over sooner. As such, he placed
his foot on the first step. It felt sturdy enough alright. The second
step on the other hand was a lot softer, and things didn’t really
improve from there…
“Are
you sure about this, Estella? Tilli asked as she too took her first
few steps on the staircase.
“Not
all of us can teleport around, Tilli. Some of us have to walk,”
Julia chuckled, following suit.
Things
seemed to be going alright. That is until Leeroy got about halfway up
the stairs, when he felt the next step actually move as he placed his
foot on it. Out of panic, he yanked his foot back and stepped on the
previous step, but this only caused this step to also start shifting
around. “We gotta get off this thing!” he shouted.
“What?!”
The three women cried out in unison as they too now noticed the
splintering wood.
Leeroy
wanted to go back down, but since his way was still blocked by his
companions, the only way he could go was up. As such, he got into a
sprint and barged up the stairs as fast as possible. Some of the
steps held while others simply fell out the moment he left it. It
didn’t matter, he had to get up as fast as possible before the
whole staircase came down! When he finally reached the second floor,
he let out a sigh of relief. Looking around himself though, he saw
that he was the only one who had made it up. Panic set in but it was
quickly relieved again when he saw them on the ground floor. “Are
you okay?!” he called out to them.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Tilli cried out in return.
“Tilli
got hit by a stray plank!” Estella replied. It appeared that she
was using magic on Tilli’s leg.
“Stell’s
gonna have to heal her before we move on,” Julia called out.
“And…
w-what about me?” Leeroy asked.
“Are
you hurt?” Julia asked.
“No…
I guess not,” Leeroy replied as he checked himself over.
“Well
then… just stay there and we’ll think of a way to get you down
when Stell’s done,” Julia said.
“Great…”
Leeroy muttered to himself. He just sighed and looked around at his
new surroundings. If anything, this place actually looked quite nice.
Unlike the ground floor it seemed to have withstood the test of time
surprisingly well. It was quite open here and he got a very good view
of the whole island from up here. There were a few old bells lying
around here and there that had obviously fallen down from the beams
up above. There were bronze bells, silver bells and even golden
bells. None of it was as impressive as the absolutely gigantic bell
that hung in the middle. It looked like it was made out of iron. How
loud it must sound when rung…
Possibly
even more intriguing than the iron bell though was the tiny silver
bell lying on a pedestal underneath it. It was quite a pretty little
thing alright, and Leeroy found himself carefully approaching it to
take a better look at it. Everything in the room, while impressive
looking, was also mostly covered in dust. This small bell though was
completely unblemished. There was writing on it, but the symbols
looked alien to him.
“Leeroy?!”
came Estella’s voice from behind him.
He
had been so caught up with the pretty silver bell that he had almost
forgotten where exactly he was. Thus he walked back to the hole in
the ground where the staircase was. “Yes?” he called down.
“What
do you see up there?” she asked. It seemed that she was still in
the process of healing Tilli who, by the way, looked like she was
being way too overly dramatic about her wound.
“Well…
uh… bells. Lots of bells,” Leeroy replied.
“Any
sign of the keeper?” Julia asked.
“No…
There’s no-one here,” Leeroy said.
The
women all looked at each-other for a moment then. “Tilli will come
up with you shortly. We’ll think of something then,” Estella
said.
Leeroy
nodded at them before moving back to look at the pretty silver bell
again. It was quite captivating to look at alright. A part of him was
reminded of his first time seeing a sailboat or his first time out at
sea on his own. He really wanted to hear what it sounded like. Well…
seeing as his companions were still busy, there probably wasn’t any
harm in ringing it, right? It was so small after all. They probably
wouldn’t even really hear it.
He
had made up his mind. Carefully, he picked up the small bell. It felt
oddly cold to the touch. As if it was a small clump of ice. He
hesitated for a short moment. This thing was probably magical. Maybe
he shouldn’t ring it… but he simply couldn’t resist it. Thus he
gave the trinket the tiniest of swings.
…
tinkle…
The
chime that followed sounded so clear and wonderful. It was simply
divine! Oh how beautifully it chimed and sang its celestial tune. His
favourite sounds of the sea simply could not compare at all. He
didn’t even really realize the silly smile he had on his face as he
listened to it.
Leeroy
rang it a second time, shaking it a bit more, and it sounded even
better! It was strange. It was just one tiny bell but it was as if
this bell had so much to say. It sang of merry times. It told of the
first snowfall of the winter times. It chimed along the sound of the
creaking ice over a lake. Even amidst a pirate-infested island far
away from his sailboat, it was nice, cheerful, and calming. He soon
realized how soft it made him feel.
He
couldn’t contain himself, he had to ring it a third time!
…
tinkle…
…
ting…
As
he rung it again, he heard something that he didn’t expect. Instead
of just the soft chime of the silver bell, a new sound joined into
the mix. He jumped and quickly looked around to see where it had come
from, only to find that it was actually one of the golden bells
hanging from the ceiling. It seemed to have started swinging… for
some reason. Sure, there was a bit of a breeze up in the belfry, but
it definitely shouldn’t be enough to make one of these heavy bells
start swinging, right? And yet here it was, softly ringing on its
own. It wasn’t unpleasant to listen to though. In fact, it sounded
very beautiful. Unlike the melodious chiming of the small silver
bell, this bell sounded louder. It sounded… happy.
Soon
another bell joined its companion. And another… and another! Had
Leeroy’s ringing of the silver bell started this? If so, this
should probably really worry him… and yet he wasn’t. The harmony
of this happy jingling and gleeful swelling just lifted his mood up
so much. Oh how joyfully they sang their song. All of his worries
seem to just wash off him. The only thing that still lingered was
whether the girls would be angry with him once they get up for
ringing these sacred bells. Ah, but that would be a problem for
future Leeroy, he thought to himself. For now he felt as happy as the
bells themselves.
That’s
when something seemed… off. His hair was hanging over his eyes. He
had been brushing it aside a few times as he listened to the song of
the bells but only now did he realize how strange this was. He had
always kept his hair short. How was it now hanging over his eyes? As
he held up his hair, he also noticed something off about his hand. It
seemed smaller, and a lot softer too. What was going on?
“Oh
no…” he gasped to himself. While the bells still jingled and
swelled, he started frantically inspecting his own body. He had
become quite a bit shorter from his usual self judging by the fact
that his clothes had started sagging quite a bit. His skin felt so
much softer than usual and he could feel a numb pain in his chest.
This definitely wasn’t good…
Ting,
ting
Bing,
bong!
It
was as if the bells had heard his worries then, for their happy song
actually changed as well. As more and more bronze bells joined in on
the chorus, their ringing actually became more urgent. Their clamor
and clangor swelled up more and more as Leeroy became increasingly
worried about his body. He wasn’t sure whether the bells were
reacting to him, or whether he was reacting to the bells.
The
numb pain on his chest became stronger as it started pushing out into
two lumps. With disbelief he stared as two breasts formed on his
shirt. He gasped as he physically felt his manhood retreating back
into his body. He reached for it, but to no avail, as it soon formed
a rather feminine slit instead. This wasn’t happening…
And
all the while, the bells howled. A cacophony of sound that swelled
and clanged. Their clamor must have been audible throughout the
entire island! The girls downstairs must be hearing it at least.
Surely they will come up soon to rescue him from all of this, right?
… Right?
“E-Este-What?!”
he tried calling out to them, only to realize that his voice sounded
so much higher in pitch. His hair was now reaching down beyond his
shoulders even and his shirt was now more like a tent while his pants
had already fallen down his legs. Thankfully, he seemed to have
stopped shrinking now, but the changes sure weren’t stopping. His,
or more accurately her shoulders slimmed down while her facial
features became even softer. Any hairs on her body other than on top
of her head simply vanished into thin air. As the bells howled and
clanged, she caught her reflection into some of them, and she was
shocked by what she saw. Leeroy had turned into a Weebonese girl! Her
short physique, the shape of her eyes, her new hairstyle, it was all
very much like any far eastern woman!
The
bells clamor and clangor didn’t show any signs of stopping. These
brazen bells weren’t just growing more urgent, they were seething
with terror. As if to send a warning. As if they howled of a forceful
fire, or of a terrible hurricane. Oh how turbulent they howled and
growled.
Leeroy
found herself curling up in a ball, the silver bell tightly clutched
in her hand. She placed her arms over her head, trying desperately to
cover herself from the cacophony, but it was useless. The bells rang
and rang, louder and louder.
“Make
it stop…” she whimpered softly, but the bells rang.
“Make
it stop.” she said a little louder, but the bells howled.
“MAKE
IT STOP!” she yelled… and so did the bells finally stop. The
belfry went as silent as it had been before. Her ears were still
ringing slightly, but other than that, there was nothing. Opening her
eyes, she looked around. The bells were hanging still, as if they
hadn’t even moved to begin with. Brushing her hair to the side, she
slowly stood up again, looking around in confusion. Had all of this
just been an illusion? Well, no, that certainly wasn’t the case,
for she was still a woman. Yet the girls downstairs weren’t calling
out to her.
“At…
least it stopped,” she sighed. She was about to finally step away
from the altar then when…
…
GOOOONNNGGGGG!!!!
An
overwhelmingly loud clash of iron on iron sent the newly transformed
girl buckling down and dropping to the ground. She screamed out from
the deafening gong and tried desperately to crawl away, only for
another eardrum shattering gong to howl out. The large iron bell had
started singing its own tune. It was so loud that it too much to
handle…
Or
was it? As it tolled a third time, as loud as before… Leeroy
actually thought that she heard something. It wasn’t just an
incredibly loud noise. No. It was like the bells from before. The
silver bell sounded merry. The golden bells sounded joyful. The
bronze bells sounded turbulent. And now… this iron bell sounded
solemn. It was as if it mourned. As if its monody told a tale of
solitude and sadness.
By
the fourth gong, loud as it was, Leeroy actually stopped covering her
ears. By the fifth toll, she looked back up again. By the sixth cry,
she found herself standing up again. The tolling of the iron bell was
louder than any sound she’d ever heard, but it no longer seemed to
faze her.
“You’re…
sad,” Leeroy said, surprising herself even on the seventh gong. Why
was she speaking to a bell? It was a bell. A thing. And yet its song
was filled with so much feeling and emotion.
“You’re
alone?” she asked, just as it gonged its eight toll.
“You’re
missing someone,” Leeroy deduced calmly on the ninth gong. The bell
must be missing the keeper of bells after all.
“Where
is she though?” she asked herself on the tenth toll. Wasn’t she
supposed to be asleep right here?
“I
know where she is…” she said then as the eleventh gong howled out
across the island. It seemed so obvious to her now.
“I’m
right here,” she said on the twelfth toll before outstretching her
hand and touching the bell’s massive clapper, instantly causing the
bell to become still once more. She smiled at it, and it truly felt
like she was reuniting with an old friend.
And
then the bell dropped.
She
closed her eyes calmly. She wasn’t scared as the bell fell right
over her, trapping her within. Yet it never touched the floor.
Rather, it hovered over her before shrinking down somewhat. The top
of the bell opened up, as well as two holes on the side. Two
appendages seemed to grow out of these two holes. The outside of the
bell seemed to take on a more fabric-y look while the inside remained
iron. Soon, the whole bell looked more like a silky gothic dress than
anything else. A gothic dress that wrapped itself around her body and
fit her perfectly. The inside was still very much a bell alright, and
the iron felt rather cold around her body, yet she wasn’t bothered
by it. Not at all. It felt comforting. It felt right.
As
her skin started taking on a pale complexion, more bells came down
from the ceiling. Bronze, silver, golden, all of them came down. Some
bells spiralled around her sleeves while others attached themselves
to the hem of her skirt. Two silver bells reached into her hair and
tied it up into two ponytails, where they wrapped themselves around
the ties. Two bronze bells reached for the very end of her sleeves
and attached themselves, merging to form cone shapes that were still
very much functioning bells. Lastly, the silver bell that had started
it all. She had held onto it throughout the entire ordeal, and now it
too was glowing. It hovered out of her hand and rested right over her
neck, where it formed a ribbon.
As
she looked down at all of this happening, she didn’t know what to
feel. As her skin now turned a pristine white, memories of her
sailboat were becoming incredibly hard to remember, while new
memories entered her head.
But…
they weren’t new memories, where they? These were old memories.
Very old memories. As her shoes morphed into knee-high boots, she
remembered. She remembered the bells. Bells ringing to introduce a
new day. Bells singing to end another hour. The bells that could
twinkle. The bells that could ring. The bells that could howl. The
bells that could sing. The bells. Her bells. She was their keeper
after all. She was tied to them and they were tied to her. After all…
She
was time.
While
black eyeshadow applied itself to her eyes, she realized this truth
about herself once more. Of course. She was the Keeper of bells. She
was Time. She served the goddess Alinavious. And she was… awake?
Why was she awake? It was quite the conundrum alright.
“Whoah!”
came a sudden voice from behind her. Looking over, the Keeper saw a
rather short girl, barely taller than herself with blue hair.
Calmly,
the keeper turned around to look this strange girl over, chiming a
few of her silver bells in the process.
“Are…
you the keeper of bells?” the girl asked.
The
keeper nodded wordlessly, uncertain yet about whether the girl was
friend or foe.
Just
then, the girl’s hair turned blonde as she smiled broadly. “Girls,
I found her!” she called out.
“Wait,
really?!” “See, I told you it would work, Tilli!” came two more
voices from two unseen women.
“Who…
are you?” the keeper asked. Though her voice was quite high
pitched, it also sounded quite raspy. She sounded quite neutral too.
After all, she had never really been all that good at expressing her
emotions. The bells did that for her.
“I’m
Tilli,” the girl smiled. “My two friends down there would be
joining us here but uh… well, we kinda broke the stairs trying to
come up here. Sorry about that.”
“I…
see,” the keeper said, tilting her head. “And you were looking
for me?”
“Oh
yes! But uh… let’s try and go down first. Hold on to me. I can
teleport us down but… well it takes a lot out of me, so we gotta
get it right in one go.”
“Ah…
right. I guess that would make talking easier.” the keeper said.
Confused as she was, she just did as she was asked. She walked off
her platform and approached this ‘Tilli’ person. The bells around
her body jingled and tinkled as she walked. It was definitely
something that she had missed after a thousand years of sleep.
Carefully, she held the girl’s outstretched hand, just as the girl
started glowing. It was a dim glow at first, but it grew out brighter
and brighter. Soon, the keeper had to close her eyes and when she
opened them again, she was no longer up in the belfry alright.
Instead, she was down in the main hall of her pagoda. Or… what’s
left of it at least. Looking around, there was so much rubble and
dust everywhere. The Chronan texts on the doorway were barely
visible. The benches had mostly broken down from the collapsed
staircase and pillars. It was truly a sight for sore eyes. It was to
be expected of course but still…
“Whoa…
it really is her,” came a female voice. Looking over, she saw the
two other women she had heard earlier. A pink-haired woman and a
woman whose hair was both black and white.
“Greetings!”
the pink-haired woman spoke up. “My name is Estella and this here
is Julia. It is an honour to meet you!”
The
keeper gave them a silent, expressionless curtsy in return.
“So…
what’s your name?” Julia asked.
Her
name… she knew her own name of course, even if she hadn’t used or
heard it in a very long time. “I’m Lorelei,” she answered.
“Pretty…”
she heard Estella mutter under her breath.
“So
why have you awoken me? And how do you know who I am? I didn’t
think I’d be all that famous 1044 years after I went to sleep,”
Lorelei pondered out loud, her voice as monotone as ever.
“Oh,
right! You see, we are representatives of the new church of time. We
have been sent by your sisters to wake you up,” Estella explained.
“My
sisters…” Lorelei repeated, looking down to the ground as her
iron bell tolled solemnly. She had missed them a great deal alright.
“Ysera,
Hestia, Feline and Christine, yes. You’re the last to wake up. At
least… from you original five keepers,” Julia smiled.
This
caused Lorelei to look up again. If they had all awoken before her,
that meant that she would see them again soon. Realizing this, two of
her golden bells sang happily. Yet throughout it all, her face
remained neutral. “Original… you mean to tell me there are more
keepers of time now?”
“Yeah!
There’s four new keepers and we’re looking for number five!”
Tilli cheered.
“That’s…
unexpected…” Lorelei mused. If all of this was true, then the
church of time had indeed been resurrected, and bigger than ever
before! Yet… she knew the sad truth that their goddess was still
not there. She could not feel her presence after all. She stepped
towards the grand doors then, the iron bell of her dress tolling
softly. “Then let us get back to them.”
“Ah…
about that,” Estella started, nervously touching her index fingers,
“getting off Furukyo is going to be a bit of an issue.”
“Furukyo?”
Lorelei asked. That was definitely not the name of her island. Her
island was called Nakakyo back in the day. “What happened?”
“The
island’s kiiiinda infested with pirates,” Julia explained.
Lorelei’s
eyes widened somewhat. “What? But this was the seat of the royal
family of Nipshon.” She moved her hands to make the bronze bell
clang in alarm then. If it weren’t for them, she would appear
incredibly nonchalant and uncaring about the whole matter. Something
that was of course not true at all.
“Well,
it isn’t anymore, I’m afraid,” Tilli said.
Lorelei
looked to the ground again. “What has become of my homeland?” she
asked. She almost didn’t want to hear the answer.
“Oh,
don’t worry. The land is mostly fine. It has just had to move its
capital city elsewhere. Also… the counties called Weebon now,”
Julia said.
“I…
see,” Lorelei said. This calmed her down somewhat alright, but it
was still sad to see this happening.
“This
island must have meant a lot to you,” Estella said.
Lorelei
sighed as more memories of the past returned to her. She remembered
the war between Nipshon and Stepolis. A war that lasted until the
church of time stepped in to start peace negotiations. Lorelei
herself ended up joining the church and she herself became a symbol
for peace, even if she had to give up her humanity for it. Not that
she regretted that. On the contrary. “More than a lot… I was her
princess at one point,” she explained.
All
three women gasped at that. “Y-you were a princess?!” they asked
in unison.
“I…
guess I should have said that sooner. I should have realized that
it’s not all that common to be a princess,” Lorelei replied,
ringing a few of her bronze bells nervously.
“You
can say that again,” Estella laughed. “But… what’s with the
outfit then? That looks kinda western.”
“Oh…
I thought that if I was going to be a symbol of peace between our
nations, I would wear some of Stepolis fashion. Ysera and the others
showed me this, and I instantly fell in love, though my father didn’t
like it very much. In hindsight, maybe it was a bit rude of me to
start wearing it,” Lorelei explained.
“I
think it suits you!” Tilli smiled.
“I…
thanks,” Lorelei said, ringing a silver bell gratefully. “Anyway,
how do we get off the island then?”
“Well,
we have a plan for that,” Julia grinned as she got out what looked
like a heart-shaped locket with a fiery emblem on it. When she opened
it, it started glowing quite brightly as sparks flew out of the
trinket. After only a few moments, a new woman stood before them. At
least, she looked like a woman. In actuality, this was a fire
elemental.
“...
and then I sent them such a big ball of fire that… huh?” the
elemental looked around herself curiously, eyeing Lorelei for a
moment. “You’re not Dalia…”
“Hello
there, Lucia?” Julia grinned. “Remember me?”
The
elemental looked around at the woman who had summoned her. “You! I
remember you… you and those twins of yours!” She certainly didn’t
look all that pleased.
“I
have several questions…” Lorelei frowned, holding up a finger.
“Just…
go with it,” Estella replied softly. “Julia, Zexa, and Xeza, uh…
their one of the new keepers. Anyways they explored a dungeon and the
treasure they found was that locket which can summon a fire
elemental.”
“So
what do you want, huh? Scared of the dark and wanted a light?”
Lucia teased.
“Hardly.
How would you like to pretend to be a dragon?” Julia grinned.
Lucia
held up her finger then, about to tease some more when she realized
what Julia had said. “Come again?”
“A
dragon. We need you to create a diversion while we sneak around to
get to our boat,” Julia explained.
The
fire elemental placed a hand on her chin then, thinking about it. “It
would certainly be a real blast… and a flaming good story for
Dalia…” she mused to herself. “Okay, I’ll do it! Just in
between though, who am I distracting exactly?”
“Pirates,
and lots of them,” Estella explained.
Lucia
gave a haughty laugh at that. “I’ll fire up a dragon so big,
those rum-drinkers won’t know what hit them!”
“Excellent!
Thank you, Lucia,” Julia cheered.
“As
for us, we should get ready to start sneaking!” Tilli smiled.
“I’m
not exactly good at sneaking,” Lorelei said before wiggling her own
body and beginning a small chorus of bells.
“Right…
meaning Lucia will have to pull out all the stops for her diversion,”
Estella said.
“Pshaw!
Don’t get your cinders in a fit. You just get yourselves to your
boat as fast as possible and I’ll see ya again once you’re out,”
Lucia grinned.
Lorelei
looked at the fire elemental. Did she really have to make such
horribly bad puns all the time? No wonder elementals always got such
a bad rep. Then again, Lorelei herself had also made some bad jokes
to herself in the past. She just… wasn’t very good at telling
them to others.
“Well,
if everyone is ready, then let’s go, team human! Well, and Lorelei
and Lucia now,” Estella laughed.
Lorelei
looked around for a moment. This was likely going to be the last time
she would see her pagoda for the foreseeable future while these
pirates were still here. Her iron bell tolled sadly once before
turning around again, determined to see her sisters again. “Let’s
go then,” she said.ne is ready, then let’s go, team human! Well,
and Lorelei and Lucia now,” Estella laughed.
Lorelei
looked around for a moment. This was likely going to be the last time
she would see her pagoda for the foreseeable future while these
pirates were still here. Her iron bell tolled sadly once before
turning around again, determined to see her sisters again. “Let’s
go then,” she said.
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