Strong Exists Everywhere

Ezekiel: “Umm, what the hell is this?”

Okasaki: “Bunch of freaks. That’s what it is.”

Ryoko: “Can’t process. Weirdness. Don’t understand.”

Ezekiel: “The kid is biting his fingernails again like crazy. Hey, Isara, what the hell are we doing in this place?”

Isara: We are just stopping here for the day. It’s on the way to the Infinite Library, but I agree this is a little strange. I wonder why there are so many people with clown makeup on.”

Ezekiel: “I’ll tell you why. It’s because they are a bunch of freaks.”

Okasaki: “Why can’t I just beat everyone up right now with their stupid faces? They are all looking at us funny.”

Isara: “No, no, no, no. Let’s just stay for the night and not get into any trouble please.”

Liz spoke to Isara via her mind.

‘Isara, I think this is a type of entertainment city. Crown Red is almost set up like a carnival. It still is strange though that everyone is dressed up like a clown. Surely not everyone is a part of the acts.’

‘Yeah, I don’t know, but maybe they are all very nice. Maybe they all really get into the spirit of the entertainment. I mean, even the audience is dressed like that. Nobody is bothering us yet at least.’

‘Come on Isara. It’s our job to keep you out of trouble and I know we haven’t been doing a great job, but this is definitely not a good idea,’ Sarz replied. ‘We can stop off the road somewhere. This is just…Creepy.’

‘And what if there is more trouble on the roads? Getting to this library is not going to be easy.’

‘We can deal with it easily,’ Ine chimed in.

Ezekiel: “Hey, are you done spacing out?”

Isara: “Ah, sorry. We are going to get a room to stay in. Two separate rooms. I will be getting my own thank you very much. The three of you will be together.”

Ezekiel: “Not much trust yet is there? Eh, I don’t blame ya. Whatever gets me a nice bed or even a comfortable floor would be nice…So, where the hell do we go? There are red and white colored tents everywhere. Why does everything look the same?”

Okasaki: “I’m thinking we burn everything to the ground.”

Ezekiel: “Will you shut up and think for a second you big oaf.”

Isara: “Everyone, there is a big white and red tent up there that says ‘rooms’ on it. Let’s go.”

Ezekiel: “See. Open your eyes a little.”

Okasaki: “Oh, like you saw that either. This is why I had to back you up in the tournament. That sniper would’ve shot you dead.”

They entered the tent-like structure much like at a carnival and inside was nothing short of a standard hotel. There were various rooms to choose from and the person at the front desk greeted them like normal. Everyone inside had clown makeup on as well, which creeped them out even more knowing that they would be sleeping next to all of these people.

Regardless of the fact, they got a room and spent the night without any problems.

Isara: “See guys, I knew there wasn’t going to be anything bad that happened.”

‘Just wait. I don’t have a good feeling about this place,’ Liz said.

Isara: “Think about it. A lot of people had to come from this place or go through here to get to Loosenhall City. None of the people we passed had clown makeup on. It might just be a tradition for the townsfolk.”

‘Whatever. Let’s stop talking and get moving,’ Sarz said. ‘We don’t have the horses anymore because they ran off for no reason.’

Ezekiel: “Hey! Open up the door. We got enough sleep. Are we heading out? I can’t take much of these creeps anymore.”

Isara opened the door ready to depart as they headed out of the hotel. Isara didn’t have much money left though, which was called Petals. This was something she struggled with a lot in her young life because she didn’t really have the capacity to work. She always sold objects or items she found usually for Petals, but there was no time to lately.

They headed down the stone road continuing onwards for a few miles before they were eventually stopped by a strange looking man. He looked dirty and homeless, but he wore a nice red scarf around his neck. It certainly didn’t match his overall attire with his bare feet and black messy hair along with the eyepatch over his right eye.

They decided to not speak a word, but continued on to not cause any trouble before the man suddenly stopped them by blocking their path and holding his hand out. He didn’t have a weapon and he certainly didn’t look like a threat, but he spoke with a mix of confidence and cockiness in a strange voice.

???: “One Glory Coin please from each of you and you may be on your way. If you cannot provide that, then 100 Petals please.”

Petals were the main source of currency in this world. They were small silver coins, however Isara had just used up most of them to get the two separate rooms.

Ezekiel: “Who the hell are you? Get out of my way.”

Ezekiel knocked the man to the ground with a single punch before he got back up and repeated the same phrase as if he was unharmed, yet his punch already triggered blood across the man’s face.

Ezekiel once again knocked him down, but the man over and over again got up and repeated the same words out of his mouth. Ezekiel was so fed up that when he punched him to the ground, he got down with him and started to throw multiple fists at the man’s face until he was bruised and bleeding profusely. His nose was smashed in and his teeth began to disappear one by one with each punch.

Isara: “Stop! You’re going to kill him. Let’s just go, please.”

Ezekiel: “No Isara. He’s gotta be taught a lesson. Begging people for money ain’t the way man. Go get a job.”

Ezekiel finally stopped once Isara and Ryoko pulled him off. The man just smiled on the ground and asked for Petals while lying there almost lifeless. It almost seemed like he had just enjoyed what had happened. He gasped for air, but continued and continued to ask for Petals.

Ezekiel: “Crazy freak.”

They walked around him, but was again suddenly stopped by the rumbling of the ground. They all questioned what was going on before a flash of red appeared in the distance and in the blink of an eye, 3 different colored swords with mana lines on them were lodged right through Okasaki’s armor.

Okasaki: “Wh-What…?”

Ezekiel: “Hey! What the hell!?”

Ryoko: “Umm…Umm…Umm…”

Isara: “Okasaki! Someone stop the bleeding!”

Another silver sword was at Isara’s throat as a woman’s voice spoke.

???: “Tell your fairies that if they try to make a move, then I will kill everyone here.”

Everyone was confused, Isara especially. She thought, ‘How can she sense them?’

Just a few miles outside of this city, a homeless man asked them for money and then they were attacked and blood flew in the air. The woman insisted that they tie each other up with rope while she checked on the homeless man.

???: “Akari, you fool. Get up. You’re wasting all my Healing Chaplets.”

Akari: “My pleasure sister.”

???: “For the thousandth time, call me by my name, not sister.”

Akari: “Agatha just doesn’t sound right sister. I prefer the latter.”

Isara noticed on the woman’s back was a half gold, half black sword with white stripes running down the middle. There were a total of 14 holes that could hold chaplets, but the only chaplets that were in them were Healing Chaplets. A golden orb with a plus symbol on the outside. Isara knew of this chaplet mainly because she had one, but also because of traveling and in books.

Akari: “I was just enjoying the fun. No need to butt in. I was loving it! The pain felt so good!”

Agatha sighed and stared at the 4 of them. She had long black hair and had a black eyepatch opposite of Akari’s. It was on her left eye. She also wore no shoes and her facial features were similar to her brother’s. Black mana lines eventually dispersed from her face so that they could see it better, but they remained on her body, where she did not wear a shirt, only a black bodysuit that extended to her black pants. In the most expressionless voice possible, she spoke.

Agatha: “I see you were harming my brother. Not that he doesn’t provoke it, but let’s just get this over with. State your names and birthdays so I can put it on your graves.”

Ezekiel: “Who do you think you are? You whore. Get out of the way so that we can get going. We got places to be.”

Agatha: “People always make it so difficult. State your name and birthday. If you want the name of your sword on there too, then state that too.”

Akari: “Here is a pen and paper. Always have to have one handy. Write your name, birthday, and name of your sword. My brother insists on doing this for some reason this time around.”

Okasaki: “The hell with that. You think these swords are enough to stop me. My armor seeps up the oozing blood from me. It’s a special piece from Chaplice Hill.”

Oksaski rushed at Akari and punched him to the ground again and then tried the same with Agatha, but she easily evaded. She made it look so easy that it was almost like Okasaki was moving in slow motion. She continued to stab him with swords and pulled them out at the same time at a rapid speed where he could not do a thing. The armor was so strong though, that it soaked up every patch of blood that she created.

She was not impressed and instead began to rip apart the armor piece by piece until he remained in normal clothing. The only pieces left was the armor around the shin going down to his boots. He tried to punch her again, but missed and fell flat on the ground where she kicked him 100 feet away.

Agatha: “Brother, please have them write down the information or else we are leaving. I don’t want to sit here all day.”

Akari: “I say…We leave! I’m not in the mood anymore. Let’s go mess with that big guy again. Ohhhh, that was so much fun! I took 3 Glory coins from him. I want all the coins he has. We will get Petals later from these guys…Say, how come the animals aren’t here? I just noticed that. Did you move them? It makes it less scary around here. I love scary things!”

Agatha: “They got up and left for no reason. I’m tracking them right now. Get on my shoulders. I’m going to have to use another Healing Chaplet now on you. Let’s just get out of here.”

Agatha darted off at the speed of light with Akari on her shoulders. The afterimages of her remained for a small time because of the pure speed from her.

Ryoko: “S-S-Scared. Unknown entity.”

Ezekiel: “Screw them. Okasaki, are you good?”

Okasaki: “Yeah, I’m fine, but she destroyed almost all of my armor. That kick hurt though. Pretty sure she broke the right side of my ribcage. It’s harder for me to breathe.”

Ezekiel: “Here. Let me just kill you. You’ll come back.”

Isara: “NO! Are you insane? Why would you kill him?”

Ezekiel: “Huh? So he comes back, you idiot. Stop yelling at me.”

Isara: “Come back? If you kill him, then he won’t come back.”

Ezekiel: “What? That makes no sense. Do we get death tokens?”

Isara: “Death tokens? What are those?”

Ryoko: “Comprehending. Comprehending. Death equals death. Cannot revive.”

Ezekiel: “Let me get this straight you two faced baby. If I kill him, then I don’t get death tokens and he doesn’t come back?”

Isara: “Two faced baby? I’ll look past that for now, but in what world does that make sense. I don’t know what death tokens are, but he won’t come back. If you kill him, then he’s going to die.”

Okasaki: “I don’t think this place works like where we were Ezekiel. When we came here, we had no idea of anything here, and she seems to have no idea of anything where we came from. Maybe if we die, then we die for real. The kid might be right.”

Isara: “Duh, I am right. You don’t get a second chance. You need to cherish the life you have and love yourself and others.”

Ezekiel: “Alright I don’t need a lecture on liking other people. You can save that for your little book study group that you put together to talk about your feelings. Let’s just get moving and not encounter those freaks again.”