Lisa carefully stood up from the sound. Her body ached all over making this quite hard. She doesn't want to wake up Hendricks so she'll have to make do with doing this slow.
Once she finally stood, Lisa began to flex her limbs a bit. It took her some minutes till the ache became bearable to a degree she could mostly ignore. She looked over to her snoring master and smiled warmly.
After a quick scan across the room colored by the sunset in violet and orange, she walked slowly to the other sofa in the room. On it was the white cat laying down on a folded black blanket. The cat stared Lisa when she saw her approaching and adorably tilted its head in confusion.
When she reached the sofa, Lisa softly pushed the cat off the blanket it was laying on. Of course, the cat began to meow in protest, however, a shush gesture from Lisa made her quiet down.
Lisa patted the cat and muttered a quiet thank you and then walked with quiet steps back to where her master was sleeping. She put the blanket on him with care.
“Goodnight and thank you,” Lisa said with an almost inaudible voice. She smiled a bit and took a step back.
A sigh escaped her as she stood still. Although she endured it so far, her body really ached and even if it had gotten a bit better, she still wished for a warm bath to relieve the pain.
Looking over her shoulder, Lisa wanted to mouth goodbye to the cat. However, she didn't see the cat on the sofa. Perplexed, she looked around the room and found the cat licking its paw while sitting near the staircase. It stared at her with those black feline eyes.
Lisa showed her usual small smile and walked to the staircase. She endured the aching pain and bent down near the cat to stroke it. While feeling the soft fur beneath her fingers, Lisa whispered a goodbye into the cat's ears. She heard two very quiet meows in return, causing her to smile quite warmly.
Having enough for now and wishing for a warm bath, Lisa eventually stood up. Yet, when she walked to the stairs going down to a dark abyss, a long sigh escaped her lips.
Smiling wryly, Lisa began walking down the endless stairs. However, when she took her first step, her vision suddenly distorted and the next second she was already down at the bottom of the stairs. The mess of a tower before her again, Lisa fell into a daze.
A meow to her side caught her attention and she saw the cat standing beside her with a wildly wagging tail. It must have been the one who had helped her down the stairs.
“Thank you, dear,” Lisa said with a sweet voice. After petting it once, she walked out of the tower. The cat for some reason followed her but she didn't mind. If it follows her home maybe it'll let her hug it when she goes to sleep. Hugging a cute cat to sleep was something she always wanted to do.
A cool breeze grazed her exposed skin as soon as she left the tower. It wasn't too cold but with her aching body, having even a bit cold air didn't really help. Furthermore, her white blouse didn't have any sleeves so her arms bore the most brunt of the cool air. At least, she made the right move and chose to wear black thigh-highs.
With a shrug and small smile, Lisa walked in the direction of the train station, the white cat following her every step.
The promenade leading to the station was still as popular, now even more so with couples. With the ongoing sunset that really wasn't a surprise to her. After all, she also wouldn't mind having an outing or date here.
However, Lisa spared the visitors on the promenade only some cursory glances and moved towards the station in a steady rhythm. She would have liked to sit down and enjoy the scenery but a warm bath is calling for.
Luck seemed to be on her side as she and a train arrived at the station at nearly the same time. After a quick check on the schedule-board to make sure she didn't take the wrong train, Lisa entered the white train. The cat still followed her and promptly jumped on her lap after she found herself a seat.
Lisa stroked the soft fur lightly, inciting a low purr from it. The shadows of the windows moved fast past them as the train hurried through the sunset towards its destinations.
Lisa observed the other passengers also bathed in the sunset colors and as her hand moved atop the cat she thought of Veronica. While they were talking on the train, Veronica had told her about the most random of things. She even made her agree to meet up with her in a few days.
She sighed a bit at the trouble that woman would bring her, but it also made her think of the store she had told her about. A fine art store was not far from the plaza near her new house.
Perhaps, she should see if the store is still open and buy some utensils. Her body still ached, and she honestly felt quite exhausted but if she does this now, she can spare herself the trip tomorrow.
Lisa scratched behind the white cat's ears on her lap and knew she had already made up her mind.
The train eventually reached her destination and still under the sunset she left stepped out of it. Lisa glanced at the two suns going down the horizon and felt it to be quiet odd. Sunsets usually don't last so long, or at least she didn't remember them taking over thirty minutes to pass.
Not too bothered by something different in a different world, Lisa exited the train station with the cat in tow. Under the light of lamps, she walked on the street leading to the plaza. Even the street lamps light was in white instead of the more yellow color she is used to. This city really loved the colors white and red.
While walking, Lisa kept her sight on the stores she passed. As her vision roamed across the street, she suddenly saw the knight Cale rushing through the street. An impatient almost angry look was on his as nearly ran across the walkway. It made her wonder a bit about what happened, but since it is not her business she didn't linger on it.
When Lisa reached passed a store called Vimar Exquisites, she walked into the small street beside it. According to Veronica, Selena's Daily Colors should be just down this street.
A few minutes later, seeing the open sign on the store and the lit light within, Lisa was relieved. Without pause, she and the cat strolled into the store, a jingling sound coming from the door as Lisa opened it.
As soon as she entered, Lisa saw the counter with a woman sitting behind it, lazily resting her cheek on her palm. Her long black hair had white highlights running through it. Some of her long hair was tucked behind her left ear, showing the exquisite silver accessory on it.
However, Lisa thought the most striking aspect of her were those deep red eyes eyeing her with interest. She quiet visibly narrowed her eyes as she looked at her face.
“Good evening,” Lisa said with the usual small smile on her face. She unhurriedly went on to see the store's selection of art supplies. She always liked to paint, especially after her sister had gone through the trouble to teach her it.
“Good evening, dear customer,” The woman said to her with a husky voice.
It took Lisa quite a bit of time before she finally decided on what to buy. Although she hesitated a bit, she eventually also decided to buy some things for an ink painting.
At the counter, the woman was still staring at her, a lazy smile on her refined face. However, once she went up to her to pay for her selections, the woman quickly went to her work and in no time told her what she had to pay. Having no clue if it was expensive or not, Lisa just gave the necessary coins from Era's allowance.
“Thank you for your patronage, Miss?” The woman said with a tilt of her head, clearly asking for her name.
“Lisa.” Not shy, Lisa answered.
“Lisa, huh. A nice name. My own is Eleanor” Eleanor said with her husky voice. She gave Lisa her change and after pushing the items to her, she lazily leaned on her hand again. With a lazy smile, she said, “If you have something for your paintings to buy again, be sure to visit us again. I would certainly be pleased with it. Anyway, Hava a nice evening, Lisa~”
“I will if there is something, and a nice evening to you too, Eleanor.” Lisa showed her usual smile and stored the things in her storage space within the silver ring. She wondered for a moment why Eleanor didn't pack them up but instead just pushed them to her.
Leaving the store after a quick goodbye wave, Lisa felt the evening directly. The suns had finally gone to rest and the silver moon began its work. The air was also slowly turning chilly, making her almost shiver. While she loved things like the night or even the winter, she has always been the type to stay at home during such times and drink hot chocolate. She just can't handle the cold.
Lisa was about to quickly make her way back to her new home with the cat when the silver ring on her hand began to vibrate. Looking at it, she saw its engravings lighting up.
She stroked the engravings and suddenly felt a pull coming from somewhere. As if something pulled on her hand with the ring, urging her to go in that direction. The cat meowed at her in confusion but Lisa was too focused on the ring. Every second the pull became strong and more irresistible.
Lisa glanced at the cat before she decided to give in and follow that pull on her hand. If anything happens the cat could just teleport them away, so it should be safe.
With a sigh at the loss of the bath that seemed so close, Lisa walked along the direction she was pulled in. A turn into an alley here, another turn into that street, she walked with a relaxed pace through the maze-like streets and alleys.
Eventually, as she was about to turn around a corner and the pull on her finger became almost painful, the cat bit her shin. Lisa paused and looked down at her leg. The cat had dug its teeth into her thigh-highs and tried to pull her back.
She crouched and petted the cat to make it stop but instead it bit her hand lightly and pulled on it. The strange behavior caused Lisa to frown and turn back to look at the corner she almost had walked around.
Her frown only deepened as she couldn't see anything, at all. All around her the silver moon brought enough light to comfortably see as the moon was in its full glory up in the sky. Yet, that bit she could see around the corner was just black and nothing else. There was only nothingness.
“If something happens you'll get us okay directly, okay?” Lisa whispered to the cat after a moment of thought. The cat nestled it's against her hand and meowed quietly once.
Taking it as acceptance, Lisa stood up and put her back against the alley wall to the corner. When she had walked to the corner along the wall, she bent her body a bit so she could see barely around the corner.
First, she couldn't see anything as there was only a dark abyss of shadows before her. Then, her eyes twitched for a second and the shadows began to fade. Once the darkness faded enough for her to see, Lisa opened her eyes wide.
---
Doused in shadows again, Evin looked at the girl near his feet. It certainly wasn't a pretty job, robbing a young girl such as her of sanity and life. Nevertheless, he didn't really mind as long as he could achieve his goals. Even if he had to sacrifice some innocent girl along the way. Although, he felt it to be a bit of a pity.
Well, she only had herself to blame anyway, he thought. If she would have just stayed confined within her home, then she could've lived her blissfully ignorant life a little longer.
Evin turned his hand around a bit, causing the brown-haired girl to cry out. The oversized long bronze needle twisting within her chest as she had her back to him. However, it didn't draw any blood.
But it's not like he couldn't understand her feelings. Who would want to live like her, after all? Caged in a tight schedule, no freedom of self, always guarded, like a dog on a constant leash.
Evin wanted to push the needle deeper in her chest when it began to vibrate all of a sudden. He was about to suppress the unruly needle when it spoke to him. Under its laughing ringing in his ears, Evin looked up to see mellow blue eyes staring at him from a corner.
No, they were staring at the impaled girl before him. He smirked and twisted his hand, causing another cry to come from the girl.
“Liking the show?” Evin said, “Hiding like this, aren't you embarrassed as someone holding an artifact?”
His abrupt words caused the eyes to disappear. He almost wanted to laugh when someone walked out of the corner.
Even he had to narrow his eyes at the youthful, almost breathtaking appearance of the young woman coming out from behind the corner. Her long blonde hair danced with her every step as she walked up to him with a small calm smile on her red lips. A white cat followed her.
“Good evening, mister evil guy,” Lisa greeted the middle-aged man stabbing the lovely honey-eyed girl at his feet.
Dun dun dunnnnnn how dare he go around stabbing people with artifact needles! And without filling out the proper forms, at that!!
Thanks for the chapter
Uh oh, he hurt the waifu.
Thanks for the chapter