The sounds of fireworks echoed around the incubus, who, after the third or fourth distant explosion, managed to open one eye to figure out whether they really were fireworks or if it was the sound of a gun. Soon after, he closed his eyes to rest again, though it wasn't long until someone interrupted it.
"U-Um... A-Are you okay?" A timid childish voice called out to him. The voice was familiar... It was the same as the one that mentioned Labentis earlier. Maybe if he just pretended to sleep, she would leave. He didn't want to deal with this.
"... Vei?" She called again. This time, his eyes opened. What a nostalgic nickname-- how did she even know it?
Groggily, he stared at the girl. For a brief moment, he saw the visage of an old... friend of his. But that was impossible. "How did you--"
"Long time no see, Veinth." The incubus turned his head to see a girl with rose tinted hair. He'd met Laima a few years ago, though seeing her again was unexpected. Well, the whole day was full of unexpected events.
"... Oh. Laima. I see. I'm fine. Just tired." For a while longer, Veinth stared at the red haired girl in front of him, "... By the way. You are...?"
"M-Mistreil. Sorry to have bothered you... Do you need me to get you anything...? Or.. uh... Should we just let you... rest...?"
She wasn't like Arlette at all. She was much too sheepish, whereas his friend was more... Bubbly. Still, he couldn't decide whether to just let her leave or to settle his curiousity by speaking to her. Thus, an awkward silence fell among them for a while.
Veinth wandered around the festival with Waru, picking up some food along the way. As time passed, the incubus grew more and more exhausted, both from a lack of mana, stamina and... his own energy. The smaller fomor, however, was still a bundle of energy.
"Veinth slow!! Waru going ahead!!" The imp kicked Veinth, running to explore on his own. He seemed to be heading towards some sort of isolated stand near the beach: "Cyniel's Wonderland".
Swearing under his breath, Veinth leaned against a tree. He might as well rest while the tyke explored. Switching to a state of meditation, he hoped he'd regain enough energy to last him the night. He cancelled the magic that hid his horns, deeming it a waste of what little power he had left. In the distance, he could hear the chatter of a pair of girls, one sentence of which broke his concentration:
"Did Labentis go home already?"
Labentis. A familiar name which he didn't expect to hear. Looking around, he spotted a young girl with red hair. Her. She was the one that spoke Labentis' name. His mind began to race in hypotheses before he gave up on speculating. It wasn't his business. What difference would it make? He didn't have the energy to expend to find out, either.
"Tch... How am I even going to get back after this? Damn imp. If I die, it's his fault." Muttering in fomorian to himself, he let his body fall against the tree and rest.
"Veinth! That's your name, right?! You're amazing, you're the coolest!" Arcelle called out to the incubus.
Well, at least someone appreciated his work. Exiting the castle, he was exhausted. Usually he'd just jump from dream to dream, but if the girl had any seeds of angst lingering in her brain, those would suffice.
"Veinth castle too big!! Arcelle better!!" The imp laughed, running around. Waru hadn't the slightest as to what he wanted to do, aside from maybe venturing to the night-time booths. Rather than spending time thinking, he figured making fun of Veinth was much more amusing and efficient. Instead of getting irritated, however, the incubus passed by Arcelle, patting her head as he walked.
"Looks like Waru likes yours more. I lose this time I guess." He poured a little magic in hopes of getting something from her brain-- sorrow, jealousy, angst, whatever. Some deep rooted negative emotion. It's not like it was uncommon. In the brief period of contact, he discovered something amazing:
Absolutely nothing.
She was a ball of happiness or idiocy. Just like Waru. Well, that plan failed. He'd make it through the day one way or another. Probably. With that, he began his return to the festival grounds, the imp beginning to climb up the incubus.
Watching as the blonde haired man coated the small castle of ice in sand, Waru clapped.
"Castle!! Veinth, you make one too!!!" The imp cheered, pushing Veinth's leg.
In all honesty, the incubus thought Arcelle's boasting over her creation was... silly. It was detailed, but small. Her ice magic seemed lazy at most. She could at least go all out. But did he really want to expend energy to dishearten a girl? Not really.
"I'll pass." Shrugging the imp off, he began to walk away, until...
"Veinth's magic too weak?? Weak Veinth!" The small annoyance jeered, sticking his tongue out.
'As if I'd fall for such a blatant provocation...'
"Big sister wouldn't let you live it down if you didn't at least try. Labentis made Waru a castle before, you know?" Waru switched to Fomorian, unsure of how to get his message across in Tuathan, "It was big enough to Waru to run in and out of!! Labentis is much better than Veinth, huh?"
'... Annoying. Of course he has to bring them into this.' Irritation returning, Veinth sighed. It was his loss. He couldn't let the taunt pass. Casting, he lured water beneath the sands and began raising a mixture of ice and sand from below himself. Distancing himself from the blondes and imp, he created a bridge as he walked and erected a castle, dragging water up with it.
It was relatively large-- at least 10 times the incubus' size. The interior consisted of a simple staircase and large, spacious rooms which lead to a balcony, but it would suffice. Returning to the imp, he lightly kicked the cretin in the head.
"There. A castle." He was exhausted, but tried his best not to let it show. 'Damn, we're only halfway through this festival. I shouldn't have done that.'
"Oooh!!" Waru ran towards it, stopping in front of the stairs. He frowned. "Waru can't climb these. Stairs too big! Castle too big for Waru!"
As the male elf returned with whiskey, Veinth watched as Miloriana dashed beneath her booth. Just as he felt his temper returning to its natural state, Waru clambered back onto his head and began speaking.
"Veinth!! You should drink the whiskey!! You need to relax!!!" The imp laughed, kicking his feet a bit. It was all intentional, his pissing Veinth off.
"Waru." Veinth pulled the imp off his head and into his hand, "Are those floats on tight?"
"Hot!! Summer is hot, Veinth!! We eat ice cream next!!"
"Waru." Repeating himself, Veinth ignored the command.
Waru realized he wouldn't be getting anywhere if he didn't answer and simply responded "Ya! Ice crea--"
"Good." With that, the incubus grabbed Waru's head, "I'll help you cool down, then."
He ran forward a bit, summoning an ice spear as he did. When he stopped running, he let go of Waru, throwing the imp as far and as high as he could-- which admittedly wasn't that far. Following up, he sent the ice spear below Waru, who grabbed onto it. Off it went to the ocean, slamming the imp into the water. The inflatable armbands pulled Waru to the surface of the water, ensuring his safety. Paddling around, he didn't seem to mind the toss and revelled in the cool of the ocean.
Remembering that there were two others near him, Veinth glanced over. "He'll be fine. I'm going to meet him by the beach."
Awkward. He had no idea what to say, and simply left. Getting drunk, or even tipsy, probably wasn't going to work well. He had to chaperone the entire day, after all.
As he waited, one of the staff handed him and Waru two dolls resembling the hosts: Oonthe and Ishiki. Both seemed to be fomors-- that or they were the types that enjoyed animal motifs in their outfits.
'I should've brought a bag. Waru definitely isn't going to carry them. They're around his size, after all.' The thought of having to carry luggage around threw his mood off kilter a bit more, though he eventually decided to tie the tails of the dolls together and hang them from his shoulders.
After a while, Veinth saw the light haired man leave-- something about getting whiskey for a kiss instead of paying the fee.
'Isn't a shot of whiskey more than 50 gold? ... Then again, it might just free.' He wondered as he approached the booth. Whether or not it was a scam didn't really matter to the incubus, in any case. It wasn't any of his business. More than that, he was surprised that he could hear himself think. Waru quietly sat on Veinth's head, apparently trying to prove that he could be patient and quiet. If only he could always be like this.
"50 gold, right?" Dropping the money into the girl's hand, he waited for Waru to get off his head, though the imp didn't seem to take the hint.
Waru looked up-- it was Arcelle! His ride had come to him, without him needing. What a smart stinky.
"Waru should give cookie to Arcelle. If Waru could reach table." Waru stared at the girl expectantly, testing her intelligence again.
---
"I'm so sorry," Arcelle broke down a bit as she picked up the imp and placed him on the table, "I'm really, really sorry for tossing you like a potato sack."
After smoothing out her dress nervously, Arcelle reached to pick up a cookie, but stopped herself when she remembered that Waru would reward her with one. Not wanting to impose, she stood there like a good human servant, waiting for her treat.
---
Waru was confused. Waru was not a potato sack. Was Waru skinny like potato sack? Potato sacks were nice. The big stinky was a funny person. She reminded him of big sister!
"Waru likes potato sack. You throw Waru better than big sister -- big sister cannot catch!! Dumb Veinth catches Waru, keke!!" The imp picked up a cookie and handed it to Arcelle before turning to the rest of the food and picking up a piece of bread.
---
"U-Uhh," she took a bite out of her reward cookie, "yes, that's good. I think?"
Unsure how to answer Waru, she felt that blindly agreeing with everything he said would probably work out. After all, it's not like he had done her any wrong so far.
Finishing the cookie, Arcelle could feel her stomach still grumbling, but instead of a piece of cake in her hand (or, even better, two pieces) she found a key accompanied by a letter. Not sure if she was hungry enough to eat both, she shoved the letter in her mouth and downed it with a cup of punch. Yes, she was that hungry.
Sensible enough as to not devour the key as well, she passed it to Waru and prayed no one saw her eat the slip of paper. To cover it up, she grabbed a few plates of everything.
Everything.
(How embarrassing.)
---
Soft bread, hard bread, stupid looking bread... Waru took a piece of all of them, not caring to finish them. He was an imp, not an ogre! He glanced at Arcelle, who devoured a piece of paper greedily. What a weird... paper eater. Oh well. Waru didn't care. Veinth ate weird stuff too, after all. The imp had long decided to not question the peculiarities of the lesser beings.
One crumb, two crumbs, three crumbs... As he munched on the bread, they left a little trail, ensuring he wouldn't eat the same bread twice. At some point, Arcelle passed him a key before going to devour plates and plates of food.
... What was he supposed to do with a key? Was it food? Did she think it was food? Was it a food present to him? Waru stared at it for a while before continuing with his bread. He looked around a bit to see other people with keys, which they were not eating. He could just follow them later, probably.
---
Now feeling satiated, Arcelle looked back at Waru and the key. What were they supposed to do with the key? There were probably instructions written on the paper, but the note was beyond saving at this point -- what with it being in her stomach and piled on top of by heaps of food and anything that may have resembled food.
Following Waru's gaze, she turned her head towards the other partygoers who were beginning to trickle out of the ballroom. Not wanting to admit to the host that she ate the precious letter, Arcelle regretfully picked up Waru and stalked the others as they walked into a hotel.
A hotel key! That was most likely what it was supposed to be. Wait, they would get a free hotel room? Now that sounded even stranger than a young lady munching on some processed lumber. Without even looking at the key for a room number, Arcelle began visiting every door and stuck the key in each keyhole, hoping to figure out which room was theirs.
---
Arcelle apparently knew where to go, as she followed the other attendees. Smart stinky, smart stinky!! Looking at the key, he noticed some funny letters written on it.
"BIZ"
What was a BIZ? Was that the hotel name? What a dumb hotel name. Waru watched curiously as she put the key in every door. The hosts didn't even give them the number of their room?! What dumb hosts!! Big dummies. The hotel was as big as 5 dragons!! There were too many doors!!
"The hosts are dummies!! Too many doors for one key! "BIZ" Hotel is big like 10 dragons!!" Waru scoffed, looking at the doors. A few odd stares came him way, but he didn't care. They were probably mad that they had to search through thousands of rooms too. What dumb hosts!!
---
The corridors seemed endless as the brave duo went down the winding paths, repeating the same tasks over and over again: door, keyhole, key in keyhole, hand on doorknob, chakachaka, no entrance, next door. When she reached the end of the first floor and saw the stairs leading to the next, Arcelle felt her legs beginning to give way and her stomach rumbling again -- this time, it wasn't hunger.
Frantically searching for the treasured land commonly referred to as a bathroom and not thinking to check if there was a public one on the main floor, Arcelle ran up the stairs as thoughts of a mini doomsday happening in her silky gown covered up the odd ranting of her imp master.
'BIZ'? The only "biz" she cared for at this point was the business that needed to be dealt with in her nether region.
---
Woosh! Arcelle sped up the stairs, fast like a coyote searching for delicious imp blood. Stupid coyotes. 211... 212... Some other numbers Waru didn't care for-- what if they had to go to floor 58459043?!?! That was too many floors!! What crazy hosts... Amidst his furious thoughts, a sound went off.
Chaka. Click. An angelic chorus began to sing.
The door to room 218 opened, and Arcelle nyoomed inside, dropping the imp and running into another room. What a funny person. Maybe she saw something in the room? Whatever the case, Waru was now on his head, staring at the door.
"BIZ"
The door said BIZ!! The imp then realized what BIZ was-- it was 218!! Wow. The hosts must be really bored if they make these puzzles. What's the point of that? Waru looked around the room and proceeded to climb onto the bed, clamboring on top of the pillow. Soft... Soft like big sister's boobies.
The sleepy imp dozed off, not really sure what Arcelle was doing in the other room. Maybe she was praying or something before she slept. She was weird, but she worked hard. What a good stinky.
... It was sort of stinky in the room though. Waru shrugged it off-- ogres smelled worse. Especially dead ones. Eww... Oh well. A stupid hotel with a stupid puzzle and a stupid smell.
---
When the door to room 218 opened, Arcelle thought about what sort of saintly thing she might've done in the past to be rewarded so kindly. Unfortunately, what she was about to do was probably going to negate any good karma she had possibly incurred over her lifetime. Into the room she ran, and onto the floor fell Waru, whom she apologized to in her mind, since everything other than words would probably spill out of her mouth if she opened it.
Many exorcised demons later, the gassy girl dragged herself out of the washroom (of course, she flushed and washed up) and looked groggily at the single bed in the room. Good thing she asked Waru instead of Guede -- that would've been disastrous. Actually, him being present as she swallowed paper would've already been disastrous.
Careful as to not wake the sleeping imp, Arcelle climbed onto the bed and slipped under the warm, comfortable blanket.
A great number of things had happened that day, but nothing was quite as enjoyable as falling asleep.
Except the toilet, maybe.
---
Thus ended the story of the amazingly cute Waru and his stinky (literally) companion, Arcelle.
Stupid people. Waru had been wandering the room looking for 'Alil' for a while, before blood went spewing everywhere, including on the imp. Using the sheet of paper to wipe off the blood, Waru took off his vest and continued walking.
'If that's 'entertainment' to them, they could give me a raincoat at least.' His thoughts approximately translated to that, though they were much more irate and verbose. He didn't mind the fact that an ogre died-- he didn't like ogres. They were big and stinky-- nothing like the refined elegance of an imp.
Giving up on finding 'Alil', who looked like he was either and imp or an elf in the picture (Waru couldn't tell-- He looked small and had the same pointy ears, but his face was too dumb to be an imp's), Waru hungered. The buffet tables were too high for him to reach, so he figured he would make use of Arcelle.
... Wherever she was.
The imp wandered around more, looking for the weird girl. If he could find her, he'd have someone to sit on at least.
Standing atop Giegue's head, Waru laughed. "Giegue looks like a wolf, and smells like one too!!"
"The great Waru will help!!" The proud imp proclaimed, deciding to grace the milletian with his fashion prowess. "Big sister always say colour is most important!! Giegue should wear all the colours Giegue likes!"
Wise advice, as noted by Waru's own taste in clothing. After all, peacocks use vibrant colours to attract mates! So it stood to reason, wearing all of your favourite colours would attract people with similar tastes. Furthermore, since Giegue was wise enough to ask for help from the mighty imp, she clearly had good taste.
Waru picked up the giant sheet of paper that fell from the sky-- it was some sort of instructions for the Prom.
"Waru has clothes already. Handsome Waru." The imp said, reading the letter. Upon noticing the mention of a partner, he realized why he received it: To grant divine help upon the one called 'Giegue'. To make the one who might be ugly, less ugly!
Wandering about, he figured he needed to find this 'Giegue', and so he faced two options: Let his superior tracking ability take over, or find information. The former would be much faster, and noticing a blue dire wolf (or perhaps it was a werewolf? They were both ugly, so Waru couldn't tell), he decided he needed a cool ride and a flashy entrance. Thus, he jumped off the cliff upon which he was perched.
Landing perfectly (although his hat had flown away, and his grip on the wolf's head was less than perfect), Waru issued a command: "Wolf!! Bring Waru to 'Giegue'!!"
What is "colour scheme"? Beat up other colour?? Scheme "evil"??
Waru favourite colour blue and red, if that what goblin want to know.
Tuathan language weird.
(( slowly slowly makes responses sorry \o/ waru does not english very well and i am switching between american and canadian spelling and i have no idea why. ))
An imp sits beside a box, ornamented with the words "Ask Waru the Imp". Marbles are scattered around the imp, and a silver marble is painted onto the box.
"Waru copy funny people of Erinn. Answer questions of curious. Waru is nice like that."
(( decided to make an ask blog for my imp \o/ i spent half an hour on that box ehuehue ))
