Searching for Swords?

It was a clear, peaceful, sunny day at the city of Seyruun. There had been no major incidents in the city for since the pillar of light had finally vanished and Princess Amelia had returned. There was, however, a chance that peace within the city of white magic would be broken today. Friends of the prince and princess were walking through the city streets. One was a short red-head with titles such as the bandit-killer and dragon-spooker and the other was a tall blond that was her companion-protector.

"Hey Lina, uh, why are we here again?" Gourry asked innocently.

Lina Inverse muttered something under her breath, rolling her crimson eyes.

"To find you a new sword jellyfish for brains," she sighed. "I swear don't you remember anything for more than five minutes?"

Truth be told, she was used to it. At this point, arguing with Gourry about his brains--or lack thereof--was as much a ritual as fighting over food.

"Oh, to find me a new sword!" Gourry said, seeming to understand, "But wait Lina I already have a sword!"

The sword he was referring too was a gift to him from 'The Village of Heros' back when they had been fighting to stop the Dark Lord Dark Star. It was certainly of good make, maybe even the work of a master blacksmith, but it was still ordinary and nothing like the Sword of Light. He had forgotten again that they were looking for a weapon specifically to replace his old family treasure that he had sent back to the Overworld.

"And didn't you say you were going to ask Phil to look in some library? How would we find a sword in there? Wouldn't it be better to look in an armory for a sword?"

And again he apparently had forgotten what they had been doing for a while. Lina had been dragging him along through several cities to look through old books in search of some relic or weapon that could compare to the Sword of Light. Nothing they had looked into had born any results, with the last lead they had followed taking them to a giant rock that vaugely looked like a sword. Of course Gourry had already forgotten it all, especially the books which didn't interest him at all.

Claden Issaldy, entrepreneur and eternal optimist, just happened to find himself in Seyruun as well. He'd arrived in the city three days earlier, his clothes singed from the latest explosive misadventure on the road, but in that time he'd managed to procure for himself another wagon, enough supplies to get his work back in order, and the permits that he would require both to demonstrate and sell his wares.

At present, his wagon and his horse were parked in one of the central squares of Seyruun, where Claden had hastily erected a stand. A brightly painted sign hung above the stand, "Issaldy's Astounding Shows of Light", and a smaller sign was pegged beneath it, "no open flames, flare arrows, or other heat sources, PLEASE!".

Behind the stand, Claden was busily mixing several powders carefully. He had a prime spot in Seyruun, he could make a mint here! But to do that, he'd need to make a good impression on the citizens and travelers.

"Okay, Claden... We've done this before, and we've got a warning sign, nothing can go wrong this time..." he mumbled to himself as he peeked up from his work. He still hadn't attracted any customers, and was barely even getting curious looks from passers-by.

Really, what did that ice cream stand across the way have that he didn't?

Another clear, sunny, and peaceful day at the city of Seyruun! Aedin was quite pleased with herself for choosing to come to the city of white magic, and even more pleased to have found that it was all she had expected. She wasn't at all fond of crowds, but once she had gotten past that, she had started to enjoy the city much more.

To top the wonderful start of her time in the city off, she'd also found a particularly amazing ice cream stand.

She'd come to the city to relax on her journey, although that wasn't the only reason. She was also in the market for any interesting rumors.

For the time, however, Aedin decided she'd relax a little. Gazing up and down the street again, a brightly painted sign hanging above a stand caught her eye. 'Issaldly's Astounding Shows of Light,' it said.

Taking a curious glance at the sign, Aedin finished off her ice cream and walked hesitantly over to the empty-seeming booth.

"Hello?" She asked, somewhat quietly.

In order to be a truly great bard, one had to gain a lot of life experience, and learn legends from all over the world. Or, so Lily's mother had advised her. Lily's mother had been a bard, and her father a mercenary. Lily had some fighting ability and knew a decent amount of magical skill, but her skills as a bard were the best developed. She'd practiced those the most, and listened attentively to her mother's tales, or when her mother had played music, or sang. Those abilities weren't destructive, and could be practiced at any time.

Lily Arioso had never been to Seyrunn, one of the major kingdoms in the world. Now that she was traveling and making a name for herself as a bard, this was as good a time as any to visit the kingdom. While she wasn't going to claim to be the best bard in the entire world, she was skillful enough in storytelling and in music to find paying customers. Oftentimes, she could strike up a deal with an inn - a couple of hours of entertainment in exchange for dinner, a small room, and breakfast the next morning.

The tall young woman hummed a tune to herself. Perhaps she'd seek out a library first. A library would contain a history of Seyrunn, and possibly a few of the kingdom's legends.

Amelia's eyes ached.

She paused from her reading to press her fingertips to them, digging in gently with pressure as though that would solve the problem. Taking a breath, she pinched the bridge of her nose, determined to get back to work within a few minutes.

She'd spent quite a bit of time lately in Seyrunn's numerous libraries, pouring over tomes so ancient that sometimes she found herself holding her breath when she turned a page, praying that the yellowed paper wouldn't crumble to nothingness in her hand. Princess or not, librarians did not look kindly upon those who destroyed their libraries.

Unfortunately, no library and no ancient tome -- however aged -- had been at all useful. She'd read so much recently that concepts began to blur together, and many of the books began to seem repetitive. It wasn't promising. Amelia was hardly the type to give up even when running her head into the wall, but it was a little distressing to her optimism to find nothing at all.

Chimera were perhaps even rarer creations than one might imagine.

Maybe a break after all . . . Careful to close the book before her so that she wouldn't lose any pages (or disturb its fine layer of dust), Amelia slid off her stool. Waving towards the librarian with a cheery smile (she'd learned not to be too loud the hard way), the girl headed towards the exit.

Claden had taken a moment to notice Aedin. It could have been the din of the city around them, or his attention to the task at hand, or it just might have been his player's new copy of Devil May Cry 4 distracting him from the known world. Whatever the case, fourth wall breakage aside, Claden didn't realize his mistake until he glanced up a couple of moments later to see a young woman standing in front of his kiosk.

"OH!" Claden stammed, getting to his feet and pulling up his goggles. "I'm sorry! I didn't notice you there! I've been mixing these powders to restock, and I must have let the day get away from me. Welcome! I'm Claden Issaldy, proud manufacturer and operator of Issaldy's Astounding Shows of Light!"

He leaned forward on the edge of the kiosk, smiling brightly at his newest customer. "You may have heard of me! I've been putting on shows from Sairaag all the way here to Seyruun," he said, hoping beyond hopes that his name had preceeded him without any mention of the explosions that accompanied him. "Can I assume that you have some interest in my inventions?"

Aedin smiled warily, taking a slight cautious step back at Claden's excitement. Not meaning to seem rude, she quickly tried to discard her more nervous nature and smiled interestedly.

"Well, the sign caught my eye, you see," She nodded absently, looking around at the kiosk. "They look kind of cool, but, uh.." Aedin trailed off a little, unsure if she was looking for a demonstration or not.

Oh no... it was happening again. Had he laid it on too thick?

"Oh, um, sorry about that... you're my first customer, you see," Claden explained with a nervous laugh as he started to reach up to scratch his chin. He stopped when he saw that he had some flakes of powder on his gloves, and he hastily took them off. "Once I've garnered some more interest, I'm planning a demonstration. These fireworks are things of wonder, fantastic shows of light and sound with no magic whatsoever involved. They're especially nice at night, the perfect touch for a festival, a party, or anything else you might want to spice up!"

He was saving his mention of where they came from until he needed it to draw in more attention. Surely mentioning Rezo the Red Priest's research into them would draw her back in, but he didn't want to waste it too early. He fancied himself a showman, after all!

Lina thought for a long minute about smacking him. Or maybe blowing him up again. But for once she was actually attempting to lay low until she got Phil's permission to hit up the libraries.

"Libraries are full of books on old sword legends jellyfish brains," she sighed. "Besides, we're looking for a sword to match the one you gave away. There's plenty of legendary swords if you know how to look for them!"

And if on the other side the sword didn't suit Gourry, she could always sell it for profit. It would be easier though, if they could just find the correct sword for him to wield. Then it would be back to bashing bandits, and other unsavory creatures.

An interested, although maybe a little feigned smile, dawned itself on her lips. She took a step forward again, so as not to seem rude as Claden explained to her what exactly his display was all about. "So it's stuff you don't need magic for, then?"

"Erh, not to seem, you know, like, rude.. But I can probably achieve the same effects with magic," Aedin frowned slightly, looking at her gloved palm, then back to Claden and his kiosk. "I could show you? If maybe you don't know magic does the same thing?"

"Oh, but that's just the thing!" Claden said, smiling. "With these, even people who couldn't cast a spell to save their life could make a brilliant display, worthy of even the finest celebration! I know that magic can easily do what these fireworks can, but these don't require the concentration that a spell does, and I'm confident that I can make better color patterns with appropriate powder mixtures than all but the finest wizards could produce!"

"Besides," he added with an eager tone. "Even a skilled wizard must appreciate how something like this can recreate the effects of an intense burst lighting spell without any effort whatsoever. They're great for distractions and breaking Shadow Snaps!"

"Oh, okay, I think I get it then," Gourry said scratching his head as he tried to process the information.

"Well well," a deep voice came from a man armored from head to toe in green and brown with only his eyes visible, "I have not seen you in a long time, Lina Inverse. Are you still traveling with that idiot friend of yours as well?"

Gourry looked to the man and then back to Lina and looked like he was thinking again. "Lina, is he talking about me?" he asked.

She nodded slightly, tugging on her cape and fretting with it absent mindedly while listening to Claden speak. "I ah.. I guess I could appreciate them, if they're all as useful as you say they are!" Aedin bobbed her head enthusiastically at his eager tone.

A thought crossed her mind and she coughed anxiously, glancing around. "I hate to change the topic off of your uh," She trailed off again, making a gesture to the kiosk, "Your.. stuff, but I was wondering if you'd happen to know where the library is?"

Aedin blinked lightly, going over her words in her head. "Oh! Of course, I'd really like to see a demonstration, too!"