How The Soothsaying Started

Good night friend

"We need to talk," Snow said. "Lily Belle and I learned some interesting things last night."

"As did Nicklaus and I," Kaza interrupted, picking at her shirt hem. The rest of the questers looked at Charles and Admin, waiting for them to say something.

"We... umm," Admin said. "We met some girls. And some gay twins. But..uh.. We didn't learn anything really helpful." He hung his head, ashamed.

"Well," Lily started. "Me and Snow have some interesting information from those gay twins. They told us that Discord's father, whoever that is, had a bastard child with Maria, the innkeeper. The child is-"

"Fendrel?!" They all gasped. The group had a hard time believing that. She had seemed so sweet and innocent. How could she have been Discord's sister?

"Nick and I learned the whereabouts of the main Weght camp, and after he left and passed out on the floor," Kaza shot him an irritated look. "I also found out the name of the leader."

"What?" Lily said, astounded. "This is great news. With it, we should have no trouble finding them and wiping them out."

"Ah, well, ..you see.... The camp is in the Hadaae Dessert, and it is next to impossible to cross it without the help of dragon flight. Even then, we would not have enough water for the trip." They all looked discouraged. "But, the leader's name is Xemnas, from the kingdom of Lienid." Kaza finished, immediately looking down again, avoiding the eyes of her friends. She was frightened they would learn of her father and abandon her.

"Well, at least that's helpful," Snow said, patting Kaza's shoulder. "I heard from my spirits in the night. Rose is not yet dead, but I sense that her soul is in great pain. Something is gravely wrong with her spirit. Something is off. She has changed dramatically in some way, I just can't seem to..." Snow cut off, a look of horror on her face, but she quickly masked it. "She is torn between love, and hatred for somebody. We can only guess that she became aware of Fendrel's role in these unfortunate events." She sighed, and looked at Lily. Lily nodded, almost imperceptibly. It seemed that she understood what Snow had seen.

"Where is she?" Nicklaus asked, lifting his head with effort.

"She lies south of here, in the direction of the Hadaae Dessert, which means that we can go to the Weght and Rose." Snow said, her eyes closed.

"Can we take a rest day?" Nicklaus said meekly. "I'm not sure I can handle a day on the road right now." He grabbed his head again and winced.

"NO." Snow shouted. "We cannot leave Rose! She is in great turmoil. If you weren't so hungover, Nicklaus, you would be able to sense the remains of her aura on the spirits. Then you would understand why we cannot wait. She needs us to help her. We MUST leave today, incapacitated sorcerer or not." Lily nodded her head in agreement as Nicklaus's cheeks turned a blotchy red.

"Umm..uh, I" He stammered.

"Well then," Charles said. "We go south. Snow, can you see the spirit trail?" She nodded her head, panting. "Then you must drive. lead the way." He passed her the reins reluctantly and took her place next to Lily.

That night, after Snow had parked the caravan in a clearing, Charles and Admin questioned her.

"Why were you acting so strange earlier?" Admin asked, nervous about what she would do to him.

"I wasn't acting 'strange', Admin. I am just tired. And worried about Rose. We have worked together before, and I don't want her getting hurt." She said calmly, flashing her smile that made even old men swoon.

"You uh.. you know that's not what I meant." He said, trying not to react to her red lips.

"Fine," Charles said. "Be that way. We won't ask again tonight. We'll wait until you've.... calmed down." The two boys walked off, leaving Snow steaming mad. Why can't they just trust me! She thought. I cannot, in good conscience, tell them what Rose has gone through. It would be wrong. I must stay true to her, she needs me. Snow walked over to where Kaza was lighting a fire,and sat down, automatically joining in the conversation, trying to forget what she saw in Rose's spirit.

Before I fell asleep, I thought about what Dimitre had said to me. Remember the willow. I know of what he was speaking, I just couldn't connect it to the situation. How did the legend of the Pearly Willow and my mother make any impact in our quest? I must keep it to myself until I am certain. Then, and only then, will I tell them.

Kaza was not the only one with night problems. It is impossible to escape the horrors of nightmares.

It started in a dessert, the Hadaae dessert.

I was alone in the desert wearing a colorful and quite tawdryset of clothing. Discord stood in front of me, with his completely black body, white eyes, and horrible mouth that took up the entire bottom half of his faith.

"Hello again, Liliana Belle." He smiled, the only thing he did when he opened his stupid mouth.

"What do you want? I have a friend to save and an organization to stop."

"Your friend is in perfect condition, although her mentality is quite..chaotic."

"You bastard! What did you do to her?!" I huffed and stomped the sand in frustration.

"Fendrel is taking care of her, so you have nothing to worry about." Discord smiled with a smug look. "Your friend Charles, it seems you and your friends don't know much about him, do you?"

"Discord, I'm warning y-."

"I wonder how your friends would react if I took the reins for a while." Discord mused to himself. "It's been a long while since I've possessed a mortal."

I lunged at him, but he simply dissipated and reformed behind me.

"I will reside in him for a while, I would take caution to my brother, you have a long journey ahead of yourselves, it'd be a shame if it were delayed, now wouldn't it?"

"Discord, I swear to all the dragon lords of hellfire, if you lay a..whatever the hell you have on Charles, I will personally kill you." At this point the world began to spiral out of control.

"I'm already dead, sweetheart." The world went to darkness.