(I hope people like it…if not, I will take some time editing it more XP Oh yeah, I am not changing the name Zaleb!)

Chapter Three: The Beginning of Disaster

Laren sighed entering a quaint wands and staff shop after trying on some new clothing…and buying some. ‘I wonder where Kai is?’ thought the wizard curiously since they got separated when a mob of archers separated them, they were going to an Archer’s competition. “Hmmm”, said Laren as she looked at most of the wands, which were no better than the wand she has…well, had. Laren sighed thinking about what had happened when she was trying a new dress, she accidentally broke her Mythril Wand and felt completely devastated. Of course, Jay had told her to get a better wand…one up to her level of magic, but she had declined thinking about how much mesos Gin and Tino had saved as young magician’s to get it for her. ‘I guess I will have to tell them’, thought Laren as she had placed the broken pieces of the wand away…it was still special to her. However, she lost her train of thought when she saw…it! A staff, a beautiful staff that was exactly for her level, beautifully made, and seemed a rare find…but a little ‘too’ pricey for her budget. She sighed and walked away from the store wondering what to do as a few sets of eyes had caught the glimmer of admiration…they hid from sight while planning something.

Laren had gotten over the mood of another lost dream with the help of…a strawberry ice cream cone at an ice cream parlor. “Yum”, said Laren, as she had merely tasted a bit of the ice cream and thought it was the best thing in the world. Then again, even Jay’s cooking would taste great if she hadn’t had anything to eat since yesterday and she had vowed to never eat his cooking again…ever again. ‘I knew I shouldn’t have skipped breakfast’, thought Laren who had thought she needed to save some mesos, Gin and Tino wanted to share…but she didn’t want to spoil their meal and had waited outside, hungrily. Laren blinked thinking about her friends, the best friends who had always been there for her…helped her get a pet license for the Tick that continued to follow her since that night of serene silence…gave it the name Tickle…and fed it some apples, which it seemed very fond of. ‘I should get something for Tickle’, thought Laren quietly, she had promised to get ‘it’ a very cute doll the other day…wait till Jay sees her new friend.

“Great, where is Gin?” asked Jay as he glared at the fear petrified Tick as it hid away from the fire wizard. “Remember, he said he was going to find your sister and friends…poor little guy”, said Artin as he walked over to pet the Tick, it seemed to be comfortable around the hunter. “It wasn’t my fault, no one told me they had a monster for a pet…what was Laren thinking? I told her to get rid of it, but she keeps it for a pet…if mom and dad sees it…I would be in trouble”, said Jay who glared at the Tick with ideas of turning into cinders as the Tick hid from sight. “You should be more worried when your sister find out you tried to roast her pet”, said Artin as Jay gasped…he never thought of that, he promised to never hurt any pet she EVER had or incur her wraith. “I would fight a Jr. Balrog then face her”, mumbled Jay as he began to head out the door, quietly lugging his Evil Wings…another finely perfected weapon. “Where are you going?” asked Artin as the Tick quietly hid under the bed and hearing most of the conversation, only understanding a bit of human language. “I need to write a will…just in case”, said Jay as he left the room with a deep and heavy sigh, Artin soon followed as the Tick jumped onto Laren’s bed and began to fall asleep.

“Hmmm”, said Laren as she suddenly felt a sudden urge to hurt Jay…not knowing why? “Probably jitters”, said Laren who suddenly eyed a sign…Lubridium’s Doll Store, the store where dolls may come alive with your touch. ‘I hope it isn’t literal’, thought Laren as she walked into the store and found no one there. “Strange, it didn’t say it was closed”, mumbled Laren as she suddenly saw looked at a bunch of assassin dolls…one of them was moving. “AHHH, LIVING DOLLS”, yelled Laren as she used a nearby panda bear doll and began to destroy it. “WAIT! STOP! I AM HUMAN”, said the ‘doll’ as he watched a bizarre and insane girl point a Fire Arrow at him…it was her! ‘This is perfect’, thought the assassin as he sweat dropped as the point of the arrow was pointed in between his eyes. “Okay…then who are you?” asked Laren as she held the arrow in place, she never knew dolls were great as weapons too, who knew? “My name is…Zaleb, I am an assassin working to get some steelies!” said Zaleb as he watched, to his relief, that Laren put the Fire Arrow away…the doll was mysteriously unharmed. “So…are you looking for something?” asked Zaleb who continued his duties as the vendor of this store…he really needed mesos for steelies.

‘Finally’, thought Zaleb as he watched the girl buy 10 times more dolls than he had sold in a month, which was just one to a very…charming girl. “Thank you”, said Laren as she payed for her purchases and was on her way out the door. “Excuse me, but umm…Laren isn’t it? Would you like to go to the Festival with me tonight?” asked Zaleb as he watched Laren gave her the odd stare…he suspected as much. “Sorry, but I am going with my friends…and I am not really into…um, yeah”, said Laren who blushed and began to turn away while Zaleb decided to use his ‘charm’, it may work…it has to work! “But you are such a sweet and pretty girl, why are you not going with a boyfriend instead of…friends?” asked Zaleb who thought those words were burning his soul, probably more than a dozen Fire Arrow could ever do. “Umm…” began Laren as she never heard a compliment from someone else before…well, besides her friends, but they always say nice things to her. “I mean…you have such beautiful eyes, such elegant hair, and a very wondrous smile”, said Zaleb who think he could instantly combust if this girl was not giving into his ‘charm’…it was horrifying for some reason. “Ummm, I got to go…I will meet you tonight in front of the Lubridum Clock Tower”, said Laren as she rushed out of the store as her face flushed like a tomato, a Kodak moment. As she left, Zaleb sighed…phase 1 was complete as he can now get closer to the girl…then to the wizard…and to the prize. ‘Wait! Isn’t there something happening in front of the Lubridium Tower at the Festival?’ thought Zaleb as he suddenly remembered…

Laren sighed rushing all the way back to the lobby of the hotel, she had never felt so embarrassed in her life…okay, besides the time when Jay told everyone she had a crush on the history teacher at magician school…LIES! ALL LIES! “Hey Laren, you seem…embarrassed?” asked Gin as he looked at Laren, she looked like she was put on the stage to sing like a canary. “Yeah Laren, did you meet a guy? Maybe a guy in the doll store?” asked Tino as he watched Laren frown and glare, it seemed, in Laren’s view anyway, that they did not value their life. “Well, at least she isn’t secluding herself anymore”, laughed a third face as he wielded his new spear…a Nakamaki which he, as a spearman, was very proud of. “Quit it Nelson or I will fry you too”, said Laren who watched the three guys chuckle as she thought, ‘Grrrrr…Boys!’ “So Mrs. Tomato! Are you ready for tonight?” asked Gin who chuckled as Laren hid behind a nearby couch. “I guess not…but she should be, we practiced for a while and we want the prize”, said Tino as he watched Laren shiver with fright…stage fright. “Well Laren…before you try and claw your way out of this, we have a gift for you”, said Nelson who walked up to her and handed her a leather wrapped present. “Wow, leather”, said Laren as she watched the faces glare at her, it was probably something important. Laren slowly unraveled the present and found…A Maple Lama Staff! The one from the store! “Surprise”, said the three as Laren seemed overwhelmed with embarrassment again as her eyes welled up in tears. “But…it costed…”, mumbled Laren who never had anything so expensive, it costed 3, 549, 000 mesos…how did they get so much money? “Look Laren, we know you broke the Mythril Wand…and this is a good replacement”, said Tino as Laren waved the mighty staff a bit, this had to be a dream. “Besides, how can you be a wizard without a weapon of this…rarity”, said Nelson as Laren began to sob a lot, she never imagined they would get this for her…it was enough to get them new equipment for themselves and yet…she was holding all their mesos in the palm of her hand. “Thank you”, said Laren as she had wanted to hide in her room for the rest of the night, but now…she wanted to show the world how happy she was. “Don’t worry about it…just don’t be so upset, you need to keep smiling”, said Nelson as the others nodded, they thought smiles were better than frowns any day.

“Hey Guys!” said Kai as she walked up to them wearing a red kimono and walking on wooden shoes. “AHHAHAHAHA”, laughed Gin as he found the look beautiful, yet ironically not how Kai would ever appear in public…too traditional. “Nice to be noticed”, said Kai as Tino fainted again while Nelson dragged the Cleric away. “So, you found something nice for the festival”, said Laren who sighed finding nothing, until Kai gave her something… a present too? “Here you go…think of it as a best friend present”, said Kai who watched Laren look at what was inside, the fire wizard awed at what was inside. “Than-” began Laren, but a girl had pushed her away screaming ‘Jay! We love you Jay!” as Laren growled…again? “What is going on? I saw other girls act like this, is there a celebrity here?” asked Kai as a few girls trampled over Gin’s hand, he had gotten up after that to get some ice for his hand. “No…but I am guessing it’s my brother, not sure why he has so many fans though”, said Laren as she was forced to sit on a nearby couch with Kai, the girls were running to wherever Jay was like fans to a rock star. “Well…he did come back from destroying Zakum, give him some gratz”, said Artin as Laren tackle hugged the hunter, she hadn’t seen him in too long. “Great…I am stuck in a hotel where the weird is normal and hotel service stinks”, said Kai as she pulled a book from her bag and began reading it, ‘The Book to Finding True Love’. She just can’t ‘wait’ until the festival begins…