Nell & Pepper

CHAPTER 1

The afternoon sun warmed the sand and seagulls wheeled overhead, crying out.
The rhythmic sound of breaking waves made for a calming afternoon in Blue Lagoon.
A seemingly endless ocean stretches out to the horizon, and the white sands are lost in the distance.
Rows of empty bungalows stand vacant, like giant, squat mushrooms on the beach.
A girl sits on a hill overlooking the beach, obviously lost in thought.
"Lolo? Lolo?"
The tan young man called to her in a soft gentle voice. His soft voice was lost amongst the cries of the gulls, the wind, and the crashing waves.
"Lolo! Lolo!"
This time he got her attention.
"Hmm? Oh, Quma! Did you find anything out?"
Her voice was full of anticipation, but tinged with trepidation.
...
"You know... The Fragments... of Time?"
He handed her something that looked like an ordinary stone at first.
However, the stone in his palm had too exact of a cut, it was also etched with ancient letters and symbols.
"Yeah, but I couldn't get any mor information on it. Cadie didn't know what it was for either." He said as he wiped dust from his pants.
"Well if Cadie doesn't know, then nobody knows what this is for? Laaame!"
She pouted playfully as she inspected the stone in the afternoon sun.
...
"Don't you think it's strange how these just started popping up?"
"Hmm?"
"You don't find it peculiar?"
As she waited for an answer a large breaker rolled in and silenced Quma.
"It's probably nothing..."
Quma turned his back and continued to look out at the ocean, if she asked why he wasn't listening he could always tell her it was the waves.
"Lolo can go on days with her different theories. It's better to leave her now unless I want to listen to her stories all day," thought Quma.
Quma couldn't shake a feeling of unease as he walked down the hill, away from Lolo.
"I've got nothing on this. Nothing in any books or scrolls I've seen. It might be better that way." Cadie had told him.
"There's definitely something more to that Fragment of Time..."
Quma thought of the rest of what Cadie had told him. The part that he didn't tell Lolo about.
.........
"Aha! So they are resurfacing hmmm? Reacting to evil forces I would assume."
To be continued...


CHAPTER 2

Cadie was alone in the Philosopher's Sanctum. The Sanctum was concealed deep within the Maga Academy.
Only Cadie, after obtaining the title of "Wisdom" was granted access.
Cadie broke the silence by letting out a long sigh.
"Haaa..."
The sigh that slipped out of her mouth wasn't a sigh of regret but a sigh of relief.
Within her crystal ball stood the reason for her relief.
The crystal ball was currently aimed at a place within Maga Academy.
A young girl of about 10 years stood looking around. Her hair was cut short, and she was petite for her age.
Despite her cold, unsmiling face, her ruffled blouse and skirt made her look cute as a button.
The little girl walked across the hall she was in, chin up with an aggressive, masculine gait.
As she walked an upperclassman approached and the little girl made eye contact.
The upperclassman seemed troubled at first, but soon smiled and greeted the little girl.
"Good morning! Going to Pangya practice all alone?" Her classmate asked.
"Of course not, Pepper is coming with me. And besides, I'm not practicing, I'll be in a real match today."
"Meow!"
The cat she was holding mewed as she held it up to show her classmate.
The meowing was just as monotonous as the girl's speech.
Her answer sounded as if she learned how to talk from a textbook.
Something didn't seem right about her, at least to the classmate.
Being much older than the little girl, she decided to say something encouraging.
"I... see... Good luck out there! I hope I didn't take too much of your time!"
"No, not at all. Thank you for your kind words. I hope to see you soon," Nell replied.
Nell walked away, walking with her aggressive steps. The classmate stared blankly for a moment then hurried off as she remembered something.
...
"Perrrfect! She perfectly applied the 3rd Grade Abbot Element! And she displayed excellent use of foreshadowing for future activities; making people feel like they are already good friends with her... Furthermore, what exquisite use of a cat! Cute pets are always best at triggering social interaction with complete strangers! And it was all thanks to my teaching! Flawless, no?"
Cadie held up both of her arms in the air as if waiting for an applause from the audience.
She was grinning ear to ear.
The little girl in the crystal ball made it to the end of the hall and stood there.
With a little bit of hesitation she pushed the door open and she was out of the building.
Once Cadie confirmed that the girl was safely out of the building, she snapped her fingers at the crystal ball.
The image blurred and faded into darkness.
To be continued...


CHAPTER 3

It was another beautiful day in Wiz City.
The sun shone, rainbows filled the sky, and birds serenaded the quiet streets and lanes of the city.
In a few hours, the afternoon crush of students being let out would begin. But at that time, the city was quiet and peaceful.
The only sign of life was the mysterious young girl in her school uniform and blank stare. The sound of her footsteps broke the silence of the city.
She was carrying a long, cylindrical backpack.
It bounced off her shoulders as she walked, from the looks of the bag, it appeared to contain the Air Knight clubs.
It was evident that she was able to wield the Air Knight, or she wouldn't be able to carry such heavy club set with ease.
As she walked, her expression would change slightly.
Occasionally her cat, Pepper, would dart out in front of her.
The cat would daintily turn around and meow loudly at her as if to complain about her slow pace.
She lightly scolded the cat, "Pepper! Have you forgotter already what Professor Cadie told us? We have a long walk to Ventus, we should pace ourselves."
There was no real anger in her tone, and Pepper ignored her anyways.
Pepper mewed at her, seemingly to ask her, "Why are you going so slow?"
Nell stared blankly at the cat as if she was thinking of what to say.
The blank expression on Nell's face soon turned into what seemed like a wicked little grin.
She stared at the cat for a moment, returned to her more dour expression and continued on.
"Pepper, you are simply too cute. I'm afraid that there is such a thing as too cute, just as there is not cute enough. What am I to do with you?"
To be continued...


CHAPTER 4

On the outskirts of Wiz City stood a red haired boy.
His black garb and the long sword he carried made people around him feel uneasy.
His name is Kaz, and he is the most feared man on Pangya Island.
Most simply find him difficult to approach.
Whenever he tried to ask for directions, people would run in terror.
After making several attempts at getting directions he began to wonder why everyone was so scared.
As Kaz walked in what he thought was the correct direction, he spotted a little girl in a school uniform.
The pack on her back and the Air Knights in her hands told Kaz he was a student at Maga Academy.
When she continued walking towards him, he couldn't help but be a little surprised.
"I'm definitely getting the directions this time!" He thought to himself.
Until now, Kaz had been guessing his way to Wiz City.
With everyone running away, he had no way of telling if he had the right directions.
"S'cuse me, is this the way to get to Wiz City?"
Kaz tried extra hard to sound nice and not look scary.
"Mew..."
The girl with the cat didn't react.
Both the cat and the girl walked past him. Kaz wasn't expecting this kind of response.
"Oi, did you hear me?"
He reached out to tap her on the shoulder but he felt a shiver as he got close.
"No! Stay away from her!"
Karen, the ghost who haunted Kaz attemped to warn him. But her spirit voice was too quiet and only her sense of urgency was conveyed.
Her urgency crept over Kaz like static electricity before a thunderstorm.
Kaz reacted to the feeling and called on all his training as a swordsman.
Time seemed to slow down as Kaz drew his blade.
"!!!"
Within the blink of an eye, the tip of his blade came to rest a mere inch from her face.
To be continued...


CHAPTER 5

On the outskirts of Wiz City stood a red haired boy and a poker faced girl staring each other down.
Kaz shouted, "What are you?"
Kaz asked the girl without lowering his sword.
His cold stare looked more deadly than his sword.
The girl just stared at him blankly.
She didn't even blink, despite the drawn sword in front of her.
It seemed that she didn't think of it as a threat.
Kaz was positive that this girl was not ordinary.
He fixed this grip on the sword.
"Something's not right here. There's definitely something fishy about this girl," Kaz thought to himself.
"Answer me!" Shouted Kaz in an effort to shake off the strange vibe he was getting from her.
The girl mantained her stiff poker face but opened her mouth to speak.
"My apologies. My attention was on Pepper. My name is Nell. I am a student of Maga Academy in Wiz City."
Even at that moment her eyes were set on the cat, not the sword.
She didn't seem bothered by the sword at all.
Kaz realized that he was getting nervous.
The tension turned into a cold sweat and ran down his back.
This was a similar tension Kaz felt when facing a strong opponent, but different.
The main difference being he was scared of this little girl.
"Why do I feel so nervous?" Kaz thought to himself.
Kaz pondered the situation for a moment.
Should I answer her? Should I ask for directions? Or keep this stance?
Then Kaz heard a cheerful voice behind him.
"Hey! Is that you Kaz? Long time no see! Are you on your way to Wiz City?"
The voice came from Nuri, a descendant of an ancient hero who sealed the Demon King.
An idiot that keeps saying "Let's play!"
However there's something about the boy that makes it impossible for anyone to hate him. It must be his attitude.
"Oh, it's you... What do you need?"
"Oh me? I was on my way to Wiz City to pick up new club set. How are... Wait! What are you doing!?" Nuri suddenly noticed the sword.
"Stay out of this, Nuri."
"Dude! Put down the sword!"
Kaz clicked his tongue, annoyed by the interruption.
Kaz had a sword pointed at a little girl, with his only excuse being "She felt odd to me."
Kaz was not going to come out of this looking good.
The sword slammed back into its sheath.
By the time Nuri was startled by the noise, Kaz's sword was back in his sheath.
"My mistake. I apologize. You may go."
"Huh? I don't comprehend this situation, but I am glad see all is well. Everyone makes mistakes. Even the best of us."
The cat that was watching the whole situation from below finally approached Kaz and brushed its tail against Kaz's legs.
Nell looked at Pepper, confused.
To be continued...


CHAPTER 6

"You sure talk funny. You must be a student at Maga Academy! My name is Nuri! Nice to..."
Something began to glow within Nuri's pocket as Nuri held his hand out to shake hands with Nell.
"Woah! What the...!"
The glowing object began floating away from Nuri's pocket and into the air.
It would pass as an ordinary stone if it wasn't etched with letters and symbols covered in light.
"!!!"
Kaz got a strange feeling in his gut, like he had seen the stone before.
The stone stayed afloat in the air, then began to tremble as if trying to resist something before it got sucked into Nell's bag.
When the stone disappeared back into Nell's bag Kaz's head cleared.
Kaz, annoyed by Nuri making a dumb face to try and get Nell to smile, spoke.
"Hey, what was that just now?"
"Wait, what? Huh?"
"The thing that was in your pocket. What was it?"
"Erm well... I am not exactly sure... Oh come on! Not the sword again."
Nuri jumped as Kaz reached for his sword. Nell spoke as if she was uninterested in the two.
"That was a Fragment of Time."
"Fragment of Time?"
It poses a great danger as it possess a small portion of the Demon King's power. Professor Cadie has requested these Fragments of Times be collected."
"Cadie?"
She held up her backpack and continued to speak.
"My bag possesses magical powers that attract Fragments of Time. Professor Cadie has promised rewards for collecting these stones."
"Meow."
The cat by Kaz's feet meowed as if agreeing with Nell.
Nuri, after hearing Cadie and rewards felt cheated.
"Well, I have long ways to travel. It was a pleasure to meet you. Let's go Pepper."
"Wait! I'll go with you!"
"I am not going to Wiz City. I am going somewhere in quite the opposite direction in fact."
"Ah, well I wanted to ask something..."
Nell continued to walk off despite Nuri's attempts to initiate a conversation.
Kaz muttered quietly under his breath.
"There's definitely something unusual about her. Fragment of Time? What is Cadie trying to hide?"
To be continued...


CHAPTER 7

At the Philosopher's Sanctum...
"Sigh..."
Cadie let out a deep sigh at her crystal ball.
Up until now she was watching the three of them interact.
"Running into Kaz and Nuri in that short trip, what an odd coincidence this is."
And that same fate was about to visit Cadie in a moment.
"It's almost as if fate is telling me to be more hopeful."
She took a glance at her crystal ball and saw a boy headed towards her place.
She slowly stepped outside trying to time it right.
...
"Hello Nuri."
"Hello Cadie, how are you? Umm..."
"I see... I suppose we may as well cut to the chase."
"Huh?"
"It's probably better to tell you now and get it over with."
Cadie took a deep breath as if she was preparing for a long story. Then began to speak in a calm, quiet voice.
"Long ago, when the Demon King was sealed off, his strength was weakened and he left his heart behind.
To prevent the Demon King from reviving, we divided that heart into two, we tossed one into the deep ocean of the Demon Land. We kept one here, in the deepest confines of Maga Academy.
The evil power of the Demon King has been gathering around its heart. The heart began to beat recently and it began to take a human form, just like the kid you met earlier."
"...Is the Demon King coming back?"
"No, don't worry about that. We are searching for the other portion of his heart to prevent that from happening. The kid is also learning Pangya which will naturally weaken and seal the evil power. However..."
"However?"
"The other half of the heart may have started to beat."
"That can't be good, can it?"
"Calm down Nuri! That's exactly why we are searching for it."
Cadie reminded him gently.
Nuri seem to be taking in everything he learned from Cadie.
"That answers the question about the girl... How about the Fragments of Time?"
"Huh?"
Cadie seemed startled by the question, then looked at Nuri while trying hard to hold back laughter.
"Haha... Wow you are... just..."
"Wait, what?"
"Don't worry about it. You may have to train harder to see what's beyond the surface of things."
"Uh..."
Nuri seemed confused at Cadie's sudden gale of laughter. Cadie continued as if nothing happened.
"So, the Fragments of Time. Those things have been dragged up to the surface after being attracted to the evil power of the Demon King. We are searching for them all over Pangya Island.
I don't see any immediate threat from the stone, but I am making the kid collect the stones just in case."
"I see. What about the reward she mentioned?"
"Well it was part of the magic tool that the Cross Chronos Tibe used before. If all the fragments are put together and forged with magical power, you should be able to interfere with the flow of time."
"So collecting the stones will give you the power to interfere with the time? I don't quite get it but should I be collecting it too?"
"Yes, it won't change the fact that Demon King's evil power is growing however."
"I got it. I'll collect as many as I can!"
"You don't need to go out of your way for it..."
...
...
...
"Fragments of Time, Nell, another half of the Demon King's Heart, a hero, the Demon King... Something big may be about to happen."
Cadie thought to herself as she watched Nuri leave.
The end.