Fantasy Project Anima

Even though the night was dark, the princess's face was so bright as she was brimming with joy upon her agreement. She grabbed Crimson's hand and squeeze it. A drop of tears fell on her cheek. "T-thank you so much...I was so afraid that you will turn me down...thank you so much..." she said between sobs.


Gills wasn't in the same mood, though, as he started to grumble. "Oi oi, I provided you with all the information that I have. Did I ever hide anything from you? None. I even helped you doing your job. If I'm not there, do you think you could've won against Steel? You don't have to be so hung up with this woman, Arty. Surely I alone is suffice."

She couldn't help but smile at the girl as she shook her hand, it was actually funny this girl seams to bring out a bit of happiness wile her brother drove her crazy. hearing him grumbling she frowned at him and jumped off the horse facing him "you gave me only part of the job at first then only gave me information as the job went on so yes that is hiding things from me" her voice started to get angrier. "and no I dont think I could of and I never did for once in my life I was a little scared, and even though it was exciting! yes I needed you like you need me" she poked him in the chest as she said this. She turned away from him and crossed her arms "if you want to try it alone fine I wont help" she said then started to angerly walk off form them, as she mumbled to herself.

Gills wasn't expecting her to burst off like that, even poking on his chest. He could only stand there dumbfounded as she threw everything on him and then stormed off. For a while he just stood there in a daze until Arty pinched his arm.


"Ow! What the heck?"


"Brother...why do you have to do that??"


She pouted at him before running over to where Crimson was. "Miss Crimson?" She called out to her, not wanting her to leave them yet. Her small hand grabbed Crimson's sleeve tightly. "Miss Crimson, I'm sorry, please don't be angry. Please forgive my brother, he didn't mean it."

Crimson was walking away as she felt Arty's hand take her sleeve, trying to hold her anger back from her face she sighed. "look ill stay but only because we already shook on it..." she said then leaned on a near by tree "Arty...I think he did mean it..." she whispered looking into the woods. why did she care what he thought of her or what he even said? she shook her head then turned to her "we need to get some ground between us and the city" she started to walk back to the horses.

Gills was already waiting with the horses. When Arty came back with Crimson, he didn't say anything and just hopped up to his horse. Seems that he was also eager to get moving. When he offered his hand to Arty, however, she didn't take it and went to Crimson instead.


"Can I ride with you?" She asked softly.

walking up to the horses she said nothing to the prince nor even looked at him, she wanted nothing to do with him at this moment so him being quiet as well was perfect. She was about to get on her horse when Arty walked up to her and asked to ride with her. she looked at the girl for a moment then nodded "thats fine" she said then helped her up. getting behind her she took the ropes and got her horse start to walk "were are we off to first?" she asked Arty as she looked down at her slightly.

The princess smiled as she hopped up to the horse, sitting in front of Crimson. She leaned her head on Crimson and felt comfortable shifting her weight so the assassin supported her from behind. When she was asked on where to go next, she closed her eyes for a few seconds, giving it a deep thought, before giving her decision.


"Lapant," she answered. "It's the Kingdom to the west of Serion. Our destination should be the capital. If I'm not wrong, we would have to get there as fast as we could, or else...there would be war."

She sat there quietly then nodded hearing there next destination. "Lapant it is...it will take us almost a week to get to the capital unless you or...know a different way to get there"she didnt feel like saying his name or even thought of him as there. with the girl leaning on her it hurt slightly but she didint mind, her wounds will heal better if she is relaxed and being like this she was.

Gills sort of know that he was being ignored right now, but he didn't care...or at least he didn't want people to think that he cared. He led the horse to walk behind Crimson's, not saying anything along the way. As Arty didn't say anything about the it, it was agreed that Crimson's route was the best and a week's journey was promised.


"A week...it should be enough," Arty murmured to herself. "Miss Crimson," she looked up a bit so that she could see her face, "is there any news lately from Lapant? Is the old King still in the throne?"


"...? What about the King?" Gills chimed in, the topic seemingly interest him more than his pride.


"Did you forget what I've told you, brother?"


"Hey, you told me all of them nine years ago. I can't remember them all," he scratched his neck.


"Hmm...the old King of Lapant will die, and the new prince will take the reign. The new prince will wage war with Serion, and that will be the trigger..." she stopped there. "We have to stop it at all cost, that war."

Being asked a question she looked down at her and was about to answer, until the prince chimed in. She poked back up and watched the path they were walking, they wound hit a road soon. Hearing that they were done talking she shifted a bit on the horse. "well it's been a wile but the last I heard the King was sick...but that he would make it" she paused for a moment trying to think of anything else she had heard. "then again I haven't heard anything about him getting any better."

Arty nodded after hearing Crimson's explanation. "I see..." she murmured softly. It seems like she still want to know more about Lapant, but as long as she was still in the journey, they wouldn't be able to do anything anyway. She decided to let it go for now and just focus on the road.


They were taking a route slightly farther than the main road where merchants usually take to, although the distance should be the same. A part is to evade any pursuers, as Gills mentioned randomly that the Kingdom should've issued order to intercept any major roads for anyone attempting to leave the Kingdom. The less traveled road in this case would be the best option.


All they could see was rows of trees, and the occasional starlit sky whenever the foliage above was thin enough. There was danger for bandit, of course, but frankly by having Crimson traveling with them, it should be the bandits who feared them instead. Nevertheless, the night strolled on and right when they exit the thick sea of trees, they ended up on an open field. It was hectares of wheats, with some farming houses around, most possibly a part of the local village.


"Wow," Arty remarked upon seeing the scenery. Dawn was coming, and as the sun started to rise from the mountain range on the horizon, the gentle light shone upon the wheatfield, making them glow in gold-ish hue. "I keep on forgetting how beautiful this world is...I can finally able to see this scenery once more."

She really didn't want to take a way he suggested, but he was right they needed to take the road less traveled. Crimson watched the trees the whole way looking for any signs of danger or anything to eat. At one point she had seen a rabbit and was going to kill it, but remembering that's her had no needles...or even swords for that matter made her sigh.


As they tracked on they got to the edge of the woods and the sight was beautiful. Hearing her talk she smiled slightly then let out a yawn. "we should find some were to bunk down or you will have to take lead so I can sleep" she said looking down at Arty as they went on.

Arty let out a yawn as well upon seeing Crimson did it. Seems that yawn truly was contagious...the princess giggled upon remembering that fact. "Yes, perhaps a rest would be good," she nodded. "Umm...big brother..."


"This place is a village on the eastern part of Serion. We've come quite a long way. From now on, if we keep going east, it will only be fields as far as our eyes could see," Gills remarked, not needing to hear the rest of what she was going to ask. "These villages tend to be isolated from outside news. It should be fine to stay for a day or two. I'll go and ask if they can lend us a place to rest."


Having said that, Gills took place in the front and led them down toward the farmhouses. Some farmers were tending to their field, and upon seeing the three on their horses, they were surprised. Not many people came to this area and travelers were a rarity. One of them got curious and approached them.


"A place to stay? Hmm, you can talk to ol' Joel, he's the owner of that house. Whenever there's traveler stumbling here, he would be the one who are willing to take them in."


Further inquiries revealed Joel to be an amicable old man. Having a large barn to store his harvest, he would allow travelers to stay for a cheap price. Paying a few silver coins gave them access to this building. There were no beds, but they can sleep anywhere they want. Stacks of straws were lined up on the ground and upper floor, so there should be no problem in getting comfortable. Gills tied the horses outside so as not to let them consume the old man's stock.


"Hmm~ this feels good," Arty commented as she plopped into a stack of straw. The princess sunk into the soft bundle.

Falling the prince was fine with her for now, she was just to tiered to care. She yawned again as they were showed to a barn. Getting off her horse she went inside and looked around, there was straw in the upper level so she worked her way up there. She looked down at the already comfortable Arty "I'll be up here if you need me, just say something and I'll be right down" she gave her a slight smile before moving to the back.


Moving some straw here and there she was able to make a nice little nest for her, after looking it over she nodded then sat down. She had to look at her wounds and didn't want them to think she felt pain. She looked at the burns and cuts with a sigh, they were going to heal slowly...it seamed all magic wounds did.

It didn't take long before Arty was down deep in her slumber. It seems that her body still wasn't fully ready for the long travel. Gills pondered over delaying the journey by taking more frequent rest, but Arty was adamant that they hurried as fast as they could. This sister of his, he couldn't fully understand what she was saying sometimes. She had been like that ever since she was small. He stroked her hair gently. Looking at her peaceful sleeping face somehow put him at ease.


He stacked some straws and laid down beside her. His rapier stayed on his hip, ready to be drawn if anyone dared to attack them. His mind wouldn't let him sleep, though, and he kept on thinking about what to do next.

Crimson laid down but even when she was tiered on the horse it seamed that she couldn't get much sleep. Hearing them both lay down she sighed. Looking up at the ceiling she started to hum softly, then started to sing quietly thinking that they were both asleep. Her song was a dark one that she heard her teacher sing when she was little.

Gills was deep in his thought when he heard a humming from the back. It seems to be Crimson's voice...what was that woman doing? Then it went into a song. The lyric was dark, and the melody giving him goosebumps, yet the sound of her voice kept the song within enjoyable spectrum, making it heard more like a lullaby for him.


His mind, which was a constant moving gears grinding each other non-stop, slowly stopped and began to hibernate. His eyelids grew heavier, and slowly he succumbed. "Heh...such a bad song...why was she singing...that..." he grumbled, although with smile on his face, before losing himself to sleep.

After her song had stopped everything was so quiet, but at last she was falling asleep. She wondered why she was doing this, taking this job with them. With one final yawn she rolled over and fell asleep.


Hours later before the sun came up Crimson stretched then sat up. She had a strange dream about the high priest, holding her head she sighed. Getting up she stretched then started down and walked past the two quietly. She looked at them for a moment then walked out of the barn to see the sun rise.

Gills opened his eyes groggily. Strange...he couldn't remember when did he fall asleep. Then he remembered the song Crimson had sung yesterday. That must be the reason he had fallen asleep. As his eyes slowly regained his focus, he found that his sister was still sleeping, but there was someone else at the barn entrance.


From the silhouette, casted by the rising sun, it was Crimson. He sighed and started to walk toward her.


"Hey," he called out. "Got a minute?"


"Look, I...apologize for what I'd said earlier. It was wrong of me to antagonize you like that," he said while scratching his neck.

She was enjoying watching the rising sun when she hear the prince call out to her. she only turned slightly to him as he started to talk. "it's fine...worse things have been said to me" after saying this she turned fully back to watch the sun rise, it would be fully up soon. "so what will we do now...are we going to rest for a bit or go?" she asked after being silent for a bit. She was in a peaceful state at the moment so her voice was softer then her normal voice.

He was looking at the ground as he was talking, but seeing the light grew stronger, he had to look up as well. The rising sun on the mountain far in the horizon was the same thing like yesterday, but...what did Arty said before? This world is clearly beautiful. He could've seen this scene again and again for his entire life and still won't get enough of it. It was superb.


As he was about to answer her question, he glanced at her. The sun illuminating her face made them more defined than usual, as he tend to see her only in the night. He could see her rosy cheek, the way her lips was shaped perfectly for her beautiful face...he shook his head slightly. "I...don't know. I wanted to rest a bit longer for Arty's sake but I think she'll just insist that we move immediately. I'll just have to wait until she woke up."


He grew silent again. "...My sister," he murmured, "she had always said strange things ever since we were young. From the time that she was capable of speech, she would told me of things little kids like her shouldn't have known yet. She told me...tales. Stories. About herself. About me. About what will happen in the future. Her insistence was such that I couldn't help but starting to take her seriously. But...I'll always have my doubt you know. Kids and their imagination. Until that time when she was eight. I was still a naive young man back then, and I didn't heed her warning that she would be taken away from me. From us. But I didn't do anything. I remembered what she'd told me. I hid myself in the study, not letting the High Priest and his company to see me. That let me off the radar. Letting me plot to save her."


"But I can't shake the feeling of disgust, of disappointment toward myself. What if I had interfered back then? What if I had not been a big coward? If only I had managed to take her away from that place, from all of this, I would've been able to spare her those nine years of suffering. That's why...I don't really care about world peace and those big words. All I ever want is to see her safe, and happy."


"Please help me keep her safe," Gills looked at her with a serious eyes. They were neither condescending, nor mischievous. It was the eyes of a man pleading with his whole life. "If, at one point, I was not there by her side, please, no matter what you have to do, please keep her safe. If anything else, don't do it for me. Please do it for her smile."

She stayed silent as he spoke, why did this matter to her? She had no reason to care about this man or his sister...but for some reason she did. when he was finished talking she turned to him, her hair blowing slightly behind her. "why would you want me to watch your little sister why not pay a knight or something?" she would probibly do it anyway even if he did not ask. she had already started to like the girl and this Job would be a long one so she was sure to get attached to her...and him.

Gills laughed dryly. "Yes. A knight would've been better, yes? Arty was the one who wanted you," he continued. "She had told me that one day, an assassin will come and tried to take my life. However, that assassin would be the one who will help her in her journey. And that person, was supposed to be you. However, I'm not really sure. She did tell me that the sign of that person would be their ability to use that Animus Artifact on your belt," he pointed at the dagger. "I managed to get that, right where she'd told me to find it. It was tough, but I did it. So for every assassin that came to me, I fed them the Golem and put that dagger in the place you've found it. As a kind of test, I guess."

"oh...." was all she said before turning back to the sun, it seamed like he would rather get help from someone else then her. "im leaving after are journey is done...im sure you can handle it on your own when its done" she turned and went past him and back into the barn, she didnt want to be around someone that did not want her around for vary long. even if she did stay what would she do? they would most likely settle down in a small town and live there lives there or even go back to there lives and she could defiantly do that.

Arty had woken up right after the two had finished talking. The young girl let out a huge yawn, her eyes still groggy from the long sleep. She blinked a few times to let her eyes returned to focus. Upon seeing Crimson entering the barn, she hopped down from her makeshift straw-bed and approached her.


"Good morning, miss Crimson, hmm..." she yawned again. "Is something wrong? You looked unhappy..."