Tei’jal piped up suddenly, “Don’t worry, Lars. Rhen will be safe with me. She won’t get into trouble, and you won’t have to get so emotional or whatever when she gets a cut...” I made a show of looking about ready to puke, and I stole a glance at Tei’jal, who mouthed, ‘Sorry, couldn’t resist!” Rhen blushed, Dameon looked scandalized, and Elini seemed quite amused.

LOL

Now someone should make a picture of that scene!

I LOVED this update! Pure AWESOMENESS Please continue! <3

Awesome!!! Keep up the good work :3

Nice update Gabs!!!! update soon plsssssss!!!!!

LOL SANA!!!!
i agree,that part was soo LOL!! xD

another update. ^_^ one more will come tomorrow; it's actually almost ready, but i want to edit a bit more.
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Day 69

It's absolutely shocking. Rhen...is a princess! Of a place called Thais. Rhen Darzon is actually Rhen Pendragon, the last of a line of royalty. I can't believe I used to have a princess for a slave. Princess Peta, how about that? Hector and Ylitta would have entered into a coma or something. It's...shocking. Can't think of any other word; it's so shocking that it's making me dumber every minute I think of it.

By the way, I'm talking of our visit to Rhen's house. While looking for the druid's temple (I was on crutches--wooden staffs we didn't sell), we got lost and saw a Mule Express somewhere, which meant that there was civilization nearby. We all assumed it was finally Clearwater, Rhen's hometown, since she was pretty sure Clearwater is in the Highlands because the grass there looked so much like the grass she remembered back at home. For the past few days, though, we couldn't do much exploring; at first, because we were too weak to kill the nemeses and the enchanted trees. Then we got on a quest for Velgerd's eye, and in the process we got stronger (who wouldn't? To live in that hellish house for even just a short time made us more...durable. Haha) but there was still no time for exploring much because we had to kill the daeva. And so we decided to go in the cave thingy, and when we came out, there was this little village which looked nothing out of the ordinary, but Rhen totally screamed out loud, "I'M BAAACK!" Then she started rolling around in the grass like a crazy person. The rest of us looked around to see if there was anyone watching her make a fool of herself, but as there was no one, we let her do what she wanted for a while.

Then Rhen stopped, stood up, and blushed a violent shade of red. Heaven knows I haven't seen anything cuter than that, but it sucks knowing that she wasn't blushing for me, but for someone else. I thought it was Dameon, but she said, "Danny!..." and ran to a house nearby.
"Go ahead, forget we ever existed," I called after her. She probably didn't hear me anymore, but if she did, she didn't hesitate to do what I said. I probably sounded wounded or something, because Tei'jal gave me a pat on my back. "Ow," I said. "I'm not completely healed yet, you know!" I wagged one staff in the air to remind her. "Oops, sorry," she replied. Dameon, for his part, looked sulky the whole day. A few minutes later, she ran out crying. "He's gone to the Wildwoods! And he's probably dead now! And it's all because of me! Selfish me, going around the world like this not giving a thought to anyone else!" she shouted.
"Rhen, you're not selfish! You're the kindest person I know!" I said, throwing out my arms for emphasis. The crutches fell, but that didn't matter, because Rhen hurtled right into me and tackled me onto the ground anyway. I bit my lip to stop screaming out from the pain of my spine cracking. "What happened, Rhen?" I managed to croak out. She sat up, and rolled into the ground nearby, wailing, "Danny's gone! He went after meeeee...*sniff* and there hasn't been any news from him anymore, and maybe he's...he's DEAD!" Dameon went over to her and said, "Shush now, everything's going to be alright--if he's dead, we'll just--"
"Dameon, you PRAT!" I hissed, still face-up on the ground. "Heal me first; the girls can handle her..."
"Fine, boy. Rhen's crying and you don't give a damn--" He went over to me and proceeded with a healing spell.
"I DO give a damn! Why the heck did you have to mention the possibility he's dead?! You're tactless, man! And--"
"Shut up. I'm almost finished," Dameon replied. I could hear Elini and Tei'jal comforting Rhen while she went on wailing. "Thanks," I said. Then I got my crutches and stood up.

After a half hour, Rhen stopped crying. All of us joined forces to assure her that we'd go after Danny. When we were about to leave Clearwater to go to the Wildwoods, she turned around with a bright face and said, "My parents! I need to go see them! How could I have forgotten?" She shook her head laughing. It seemed like Danny was suddenly at the back of her mind or something. "Well? Let's go! I want all of you to meet my dad and mom!" I reddened and prayed that she wouldn't mention that she was kept as a slave by my family.

So yeah, there was a reunion between father and daughter (or so we thought). Rhen went on to introduce all of us, taking special care to introduce Dameon. Elini was introduced with her full name, and when it was Tei'jal's turn, Rhen's father hesitated to shake hands with her. "Tei'jal doesn't bite humans, dad. Relax," she assured him. She told her dad how she wound up on the Eastern Isle and how she was enslaved. And then she told him of Shadwood Academy, and how I volunteered to accompany her on her travels. I almost didn't recognize myself in her story--'Lars' "left his privileged life to come with me, Daddy! He's put his life on the line many times for our group, too!" Dameon got a lot of compliments from Rhen, but I don't care. Did Rhen really mean what she said? That's been on my mind since then.

Then Rhen asked her father if she was his real daughter. He didn't say no, but told her (and of course, we could hear--we were right behind her) that he used to be a general of a long-lost kingdom called Thais, which was wiped off maps when a powerful demon attacked it after catching wind of a prophecy that a Thais-born child would defeat him. The child was King Devin Pendragon and Queen Alicia Pendragon's daughter, whom Tailor Darzon was tasked to hide from Ahriman. That child was Rhen.

"No! Say it isn't true! I don't believe you!" Rhen cried. Poor Rhen. She was under more emotional stress than the Danny business. I was going to put a hand on her shoulder and say something when Elini noticed me and grabbed my arm. I looked at her, questioning, and she answered with a look that said 'Don't interrupt them.' I thought better of it, and didn't attempt again. Tailor Darzon unlocked a chest in the corner and gave Rhen a Pendragon Sigma Ring, which would identify her as the princess when she returns to Thais. She doesn't want to go, though. Despite the prophecy, she still believes that Clearwater is her home.
"Why me? Why can't my...PARENTS run their own country?!" Apparently, Rhen's mother is dead. And her father is also presumed dead, though his body was never found.
"I...I don't know what to say, Daddy. I don't like this AT ALL," she choked out. Her voice was definitely breaking. Dameon had on a plastered face. I don't know if this was from trying to keep away from comforting Rhen or if he has some hidden agenda. But for heaven's sake, at a time like that, one can't think of crown jewels.
"You don't have to say anything; you will always be my little girl," Tailor Darzon said. His eyes were welling up at that point. He hugged Rhen, and I just wanted to disappear. It just felt like we were intruding on a special moment between father and daughter (well, he did raise Rhen; he deserves to be called her dad).

Well, to make a long story short we all camped in Rhen's room. Still here now. Rhen is still crying, but Elini's on it already. Talia would've been better at comforting Rhen, but she's not around, so Elini is some sort of First Aid. I won't attempt to do anything now. I might just say something that'll offend Rhen or something, and she does NOT need that now. Dameon, at least, has kept his distance. Still sulking over Danny boy. I can see it in his face: 'Did she just lead me on?? I thought what we had was SPECIAL!' He's by the window, with a pained expression on his face. I'd like to go up to him and tell him he's not the princess of Thais and he can stop putting on that stupid show of sorrow because there are more important things than whatever he has on his mind. Like what I have on MY mind, for example.

Can't be nice to Dameon, and habits are hard to kill.

Meanwhile, our vampress has discovered the delight of apples. Apparently, Rhen's dad is too scared of her to stop her, because she's eaten 9 already, and she's still eating more. She's going to have a bad stomach tomorrow.

A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!! Another update!!! Great work as always Gab!

I find it so amusing that your Rhen is so childish. xD And I write her so cynical and mature. Ish.

I like how your Te'ijal keeps on taking delight on eating weird things and Lars' comments on that are always so funny. Can't blame her for liking apples, though. I would totally do the same thing, providing there's an endless supply of apples around I LOVE apples.

@sana: thanks ^_^
@Candide: nice thing about these characters is that they give us the chance to mold their personalities into whatever we like
@daeva_agas: well, Tei'jal is a stranger to the world aboveground XD

EDIT: i forgot to update! XD silly me. i'm getting old. here goes:

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random thoughts.

Can't sleep. I wonder if anyone else would feel the same way in my shoes. I mean, I mistreated a princess! And even if Rhen was just plain old Rhen, I'm already feeling guilty of how I treated her back when she was our slave. And now I find out she's a princess. What next?

I need to apologize. But I can't do it now; I need to say sorry when it's just the two of us. Dameon is always with her, save for bath time (for Rhen; Dameon rarely takes a bath).No one else needs to hear that apology except for Rhen. Besides, if I do it now they'll all think I'm only apologizing because of her status as royalty. But when will that time come?

I wonder what caused Rhen to think about Danny first and almost forget about her parents. She said he's a childhood friend, but there's got to be something more. I mean, I'm not pining for Hector or Ylitta. Danny must have been someone close to her or something. Closer to her than Dameon, even. How is this going to work out? We need to get this Danny back to Clearwater for Rhen's sake. Afterwards, will she just go back, marry him, and live a simple life despite the prophecy? Will I be able to let that happen? It's not like I really have a claim over her. I don't own her. I wish I did.

I watched her reunion with her father. I've never experienced something like that before. I never got to know my own father. I wonder what that feels like, hugging a parent without having to worry about ruining his or her clothes with tears or crushing the clothes until they're hopelessly ruined. I have few memories of hugging Mom. Always, she shooed me away quickly, saying something like, "I have to go to a party--you'll ruin my clothes, Lars, if you keep hugging me like that" or "Lars, you naughty boy! You've got mud all over my best dress! No supper for you, young man!"

Which is why I'm not a touchy-feely kind of guy. It's good though; I don't think that I'd look nice if I were touchy-feely. Not that I have anything against guys like that (except Dameon) but it just. Doesn't. Work. With me.

Dameon looked worse than me when Rhen hugged her father. After all, Dameon doesn't have a dad, too. Talia killed him to save innocent lives. But a dad is a dad, I guess. Perhaps that's just normal for him.

Oh no. I'm sympathizing with the pansy. I'll turn into a pansy too if I don't stop.

Tomorrow we're going to have apple pies for breakfast. Tailor Darzon told us that Rhen's mom (well, not really her mom, but...) is going to make apple pies tomorrow--eight apple pies, actually. Tei'jal is ecstatic, and Rhen's mood lifted quite a bit (but she's still depressed). It's weird that we haven't seen her, but for some reason, Tailor Darzon got to contact her (do these Thais generals have some sort of communicating device, or is it telepathy or something?) to tell her Rhen is back. With four friends. And even if she's gone to Sedona for shopping, she'll be back home in about a few hours and prepare breakfast. We asked Tailor Darzon to tell her not to take the trouble of doing all this for the whole party, but apparently, Rhen's mom is too excited that she doesn't feel like sleeping or relaxing even for one minute. She wanted to surprise Rhen in the morning, but Tailor Darzon let it slip anyway. Well, Rhen pried the info from him, to be honest.

Rhen's ma makes the best apple pies in all of the Western Isle. In fact, the reason why she's in Sedona is because she had an apple pie-making demonstration. And book signing. And she has an apple pie shop in Sedona (she wants to make the eight pies herself, though, so she won't get them from the shop). Rhen's surprised, so I guess she wasn't a celebrity before. "She had to take her mind off your disappearance, lass," Rhen's dad said. The book is currently being sold only in Sedona, which is why we've never heard of it. I'm going to buy one and I'll bring it to Mom if and when I have enough courage to ever return home. She likes to pretend that she knows how to cook. I took after her.

Anyway, I asked Elini about that thing with Velgerd back when we gave him the glass eye.
"Is he one of your ex-boyfriends?" I asked. Elini's eyes widened and darted about the room as if there was someone eavesdropping. Everyone in the room looked at her expectantly. Even Rhen turned her tear-stained face to Elini.
"Uh...I guess you could say that, but I was only really after his glass eye. No romance there," she said, and paused. Then she turned green and almost puked. "Ew. Thinking about a romance with Velgerd is disgusting. Dorvan sort of hired me to get it in exchange for a special picklock. It was quite easy to get the eye, though. An hour and a half of fake flirting and a barrel of ale did the trick. The next day I left and gave the eye to Dorvan, who gave me the picklock. The 'leaving him for a pirate' was just a tale spun by Dorvan."
"How come Dorvan didn't recognize you? And Velgerd only thought you were familiar when we gave him the eye. Why?" Dameon asked.
"I'm not sure about Dorvan--maybe he has memory problems--but Velgerd only recognized me when he got back that eye because the last time he saw me was when he had it."
"What was the picklock for?"
"How did you get to know Dorvan anyway?"
"How long has it been since that happened?"
Rhen, Dameon and I spoke all at once while Tei'jal stuffed herself with more apples.
"Bedtime story's over, people! No more questions. Can't afford to stay up too late," she replied, winking. Rhen whined but obediently buried her head into a pillow. Dameon grunted. I stuck my tongue out at Elini. "Killjoy," I teased. "How am I going to sleep when I'm thinking about all that?"
"Hey, it isn't my fault you asked. Ignorance is bliss; some things are better left unknown, northerner. Now go to sleep, will you? Bothering me with questions this late will give me wrinkles, and I don't like wrinkles." Lights went out and everything went quiet. Tei'jal stopped eating apples and Dameon slept sitting against a wall.

I don't need crutches anymore. Just saying.

Oh well. I better stop here. Elini's complaining that she can't sleep with the sound of a pen writing on paper.
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if there are any grammatical errors, please tell me; my eyes are too tired to do a final final final edit. XD

lol,tell elini to wear some earplugs xD xD
LOL,lars turning into a pansy
this is so awsum gabby!!!!! xD

Oh no. I'm sympathizing with the pansy. I'll turn into a pansy too if I don't stop.
LOL!!! That is so hilarious! XD
Awesome update as always!

Snark is always good It's what makes your story interesting. Why do you never describe the daeva battles though?

Yay! that was great *thumbs up* good job!

Oh no. I'm sympathizing with the pansy. I'll turn into a pansy too if I don't stop.

Haha that was the best line
Awesome job! Keep up the great work ^^

SUPER AMAZING! Seriously,LOL! These updates are awesome!

Why are guys so territorial? Lars wishes he owned Rhen. <raises eyebrow> Reminds me of how dogs like to mark spots with their urine.

wow
It's so good

^_^

GAH! *rereads all 3 new chapters* Tei'jal ish so funny~!!!! xDDD i cant wait for Galahad!!! you did amazing!! i so missed this story~!!! =D

@Valkyriet, sana96 and Sniagyte: i'm so happy you liked that line X3
@daeva_agas: well, i can't remember the skills they use in daeva battles. i don't even remember the daevas' names anymore. ^_^"
@Aveyondstars, phoenixalia and whispers: aww, thanks. ^___^
@kitkat: too bad i'm making them rescue Danny first before going to Sedona...XD

another update. this is just short, but i'll try to make a longer one soon.
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Day 70

We woke up at almost lunchtime.

Mrs. Darzon's apple pies are absolutely sinful. Or heavenly. The pies may be called sinful because of the amount of fattening ingredients that, while affecting body weight for the worse, taste heavenly anyway. I ate half a pie, and one pie is bigger than a dinner plate. As for Rhen, maybe it's just because she really missed her mother's pies, or she's just a glutton--she ate a whole pie. One whole apple pie. And she was going to eat a bit of another pie if there was any left, but Tei'jal ate the last pie. Tei'jal ate a pie and a half, actually. So much for manners, but instead of table etiquette, she displayed such delight so that Rhen's mother could only beam at everyone since then. Dameon ate a quarter of a pie, and Elini forgot about caring for her figure and ate half a pie, just like me. We thanked Rhen's mom for the pies, and she packed the remaining pies in a lunch box which Tei'jal began eyeing. Rhen had a few moments with her mom, and we went out to go to the Eastern Isle again to look for Danny.

...BUT. We weren't even out the exit cave when a loud rumble shook the air. I looked up but saw a clear sky. I looked around, and saw nothing unusual, until I saw Tei'jal clutching her stomach and her face turning green. "I need to go," she mumbled weakly.
"I told you apples aren't good in excess--"
"Shut up, northerner! Now's not the time! Carry her to back to the house before it's too late!" Elini commanded.

I did as she said, and everyone else followed back into the house.
"Excuse me, sick vampire coming through!" I shouted, blindly charging into Rhen's house. Thankfully, none of her parents was in the bathroom, and they didn't seem the least surprised that Tei'jal had a bad stomach.

Half an hour later, Tei'jal emerged from the bathroom with a grin. "Mission accomplished," she said.

"I thought you're already dead. How come your stomach reacts like that of a normal person?" Rhen asked.

"I don't know. This hasn't happened to me before, though. But then again, there aren't any apples in Ghed'ahre," she replied.

"Anyway, whatever you do, Tei'jal, DON'T overeat apples again, okay? We need to go find Danny already!"

So we said bye again to the Darzons and left for our boat between the Highlands and Lowlands. Unfortunately, woodworms had gotten to the boat and chunks of the bottom were gone. At least the waves didn't carry the boat away.
"Aw, bummer. We're going to have to repair it before we can set sail," I said.
"How long will that take?" Rhen asked.
"I dunno. Let's get to work, people," I commanded.
"Fine. For Rhen's sake," Dameon said.
"Whatever, northerner. I'm too lazy to argue now," Elini said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey! You're stealing Lars's signature move!" Tei'jal laughed.
I rolled my eyes at Tei'jal. She snickered, but went to a tree and bit off a large part of it for me to chop up with one of Rhen's old swords. The rest got more pieces, and pretty soon we had enough to cover up the holes in the bottom. Half an hour later we stood by the boat wondering if it was okay to use it already.
"I guess it's okay now," Elini said.
"Let's go already," Rhen whined. She was so impatient to save Danny and Dameon stood by her with his lips tightly shut in case he said another pessimistic remark about Danny.
"Yeah, I think we can get to the Eastern Isle in that," I said.
"You're sure we won't sink? What about the pies; will they get wet?" Tei'jal asked.
"If we're sinking, the pies getting wet will be the least of our worries!"
"For you. I'm immortal, remember?"
"Gah! Let's GO already! The sun is going down!" Rhen cried, exasperated.

It took us forever to find the Eastern Isle again, because we all forgot how to navigate. We arrived here at what seemed like 10 pm. A few minutes later, all of us stumbled into the tavern.

We're now in the room at the Wildwoods tavern, where Rhen is bawling her eyes out because she thinks a vampire has eaten Danny. Apparently, he hasn't been seen at the Tavern for a really long time...Rhen wants to go to Ghed'ahre, but she can't walk straight anymore and we're all really tired so we can't go there right now. She coped by getting drunk with goat's milk. She wanted strong stuff but the tavern owner wisely stayed firm even while Rhen was waving her sword in front of him. "I'm sorry, but we're not allowed to sell alcoholic drinks to minors, lassie," he said apologetically, unbelievably calm in the face of imminent danger. It took Elini and Tei'jal to hold her back, and I had to snatch her sword away from her.

Te'ijal ate another pie, the living dead glutton. Anyway, I'm sleepy. Good night.

xDDDD "You're stealing Lars's signature move" xDDDDDD lol~~~ Tei'jal FTW~~ haha amazing update! i especially liked the sword and tavern owner part! xDDD