Lost In Time - A tale of the unknown [WILL BE CONTINUED LATER ON]

Chapter 3. Compromise or not?

[18/08/2012, 7:56PM]

Karsyn felt a hand at his shoulder, it was Clairé. She was staring right at him, "So, do you have any idea how we're going to find our next two people?"
"I'm pretty sure Wanderer said that they are a bit further away from where we were standing."
"Ah. So it might be a bit far?"
"Less questions, more finding."
Clairé sighed and rolled her eyes, "Ugh, fine..."
Karsyn flicked through the pages until he found the map. And to his surprise, somewhere close to where they were, was circled in white pen.
"Oh, it's just over here! Come on, let's go!" Karsyn said, doing a hand movement that signalled for everyone to follow him.
Eventually, following the map lead to a grove of trees, it was so quiet and peaceful. That was until someone pushed Karsyn to the ground, dropping the book.
"HEY, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"
"I want the book." the person said, picking the book up.
The person was a tall man, but not as tall as Karsyn. He was a bit shorter than him, he was pale and also had dark blue hair. All of a sudden, he heard a voice behind him:
"Cut it out, Lorenzo."
Behind him, was a man, probably the same age as Karsyn. He had red hair, and standing next to him was a girl, she had jet black curly hair and fluffy, black wings.
"Yeah, Lorenzo! So uncool!" the girl laughed.
"Sorry..." Lorenzo sighed, handing the book back to Karsyn.
"Who even are you, and why are you here...?" the girl asked.
"Oh, my name is Karsyn...and I know this may sound crazy, but this book is the reason why I'm here!"
The red-haired man stared at the book, "Wow, really now...?" 
"Yeah...you can open it and see for yourself if you want!"
The man opened it and saw the locations that were circled, "Oh, so you aren't lying?"
"Yep."
"Well, nice to meet you Karsyn, I'm Euphoria, Euph for short...and this annoying little menace is Idyllic!"
His name sounded familiar to Karsyn. He just ignored it and thought it was a coincidence.

"Excuse you...I'm not a menace!"
"You are excused, and also...you are."
"I'M NOT!!"
"You are, only menaces like you would deny it."
"SHUT UP EUPH-"
"Woah, woah...you guys should stop arguing."
"Sorry." they both mumbled.
"JINX!"
"NOOO, JINX AGAIN!"
"AGH, STOP COPYING ME!"

Karsyn scratched his head, "Okay, enough of that. By the way...do you know anything about a ball...?" 
Idyllic's eyebrows furrowed, "Are you talking about...King Romero's ball?" 
"Yes."
"Well, yeah...he sent his town crier to tell everyone about it-"
"And, it was like "BLAH BLAH BLAH MASQUERADE BALL...7PM...ENDS AT MIDNIGHT BLAH BLAH BLAH!" Euphoria blurted out.
Karsyn shushed him and Idyllic began to explain, "Basically, the town crier...what was his name again?!"
"Ernest!" Euphoria called.
"YES! He was the man who was telling everybody that there's a masquerade ball happening every evening until the end of the week, just to celebrate Romero's coronation anniversary!"
"And that's why Wanderer was telling me that I had to go with you two..." Karsyn mumbled.
"What was that?" Euphoria questioned.
"Nothing!"
"Well okay-"
"So you're going to go like that, to the masquerade?" Lorenzo brought up.
"PFFFT! IMAGINE HIM TURNING UP LIKE THAT-"
"Shut up, Idyllic."
"Well, I'm not quite sure-"
"Hey, Karsyn. My good friend, Lorenzo here designs his own outfits with his girl-friend...you know, friend who's a girl! He's a fashion designer, so I'm pretty sure he'd be very glad to come up with something for ya!"
Lorenzo nodded, "Yep. And I also sow in my own house, not to worry, it's not too far like those fancy boutiques or tailors you would see."
"Eh, but won't it be too much work for y-"
"Oh please, you think that's a lot of work? Wait till ya see how many requests I get in an hour!"
"He gets a lot! And only because he uses quality fabrics-"
"Shut up Idyllic!" Euphoria shouted, nudging her with his elbow.
"Anyways, sorry about her...do you want us to show you around?"
"Yeah...that would be nice, come on guys!" Karsyn agreed.
Euphoria put his arm around Karsyn's shoulder, "Welcome to the Chapdelaine Estate!"
"Woah...this place is called the Chapdelaine Estate? I've never heard of such a place..."
"Yeah, here's a bit of history for you; this place used to be owned by one of the wealthiest families, and they were called the Chapdelaine's. One of their daughters, named Séraphine, also the name of my mother...was at war with another part of the land, the Rochefort's. Well, that was a long time ago, so I don't think it matters anymore...but anyways, it's a good thing I tell you now...they were so close before, but ever since King Romero was crowned, in a furious rage...he set this whole place on fire. That also adds up to why my mother and the Rochefort's were at war with each other, my mother thought that they were the ones who set this place on fire. I don't want to finish the rest..." Euphoria said, tears slowly forming in his eyes.
"Wait, you said the Rochefort's, right...?" Naledi asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"You're talking about my family!"
"Wait, what...?"
"You were talking about MY FAMILY!"
"THE ROCHEFORT'S...?!"
"YES!"
"So that means...you must be a part of the Chapdelaines."
"Used to be part of them, you mean...my mother decided to change her surname to my father's after their marriage."
"It doesn't matter! You're still part of them."
"I said I used to be a part of them. God, it wasn't even my fault this happened!"
"That's true, but wait...why was your mother even at war with us?"
"I'm not sure, my father told me that before he got married to my mother, he was great friends with her...and apparently, she had been in a relationship with one of the Rochefort's, but then he passed away and I think the Chapdelaine's didn't give them money to contribute towards the death...something between those lines!"
"Wow."
"Yeah, wow indeed...by the way, what is your name...?"
"Naledi...Naledi Rochefort...!"
"Wow."
"It's getting late, we should probably continue heading to Lorenzo's place."
"Yeah, good idea...but quick question, where even does he live...in a house, or a flat-"
"Pffft, flat? Please, we all live in treehouses."
"Wait...what-"
"Yeah. But no worries! Lorenzo's girl-friend is very tidy and welcoming! She gets up every morning at 6AM, sweeps the house an-"
"Okay, okay. We don't need a whole timetable, Idyllic."
"But Euph, I wanted to tell Karsyn about Jolene-"
"You can do that later, because we're almost there and I want Karsyn to actually see it for himself."
"Fine..."
They all began to quicken the pace of their walking because it was getting quite late. Eventually, they got to the tree house. There was a set of stairs made out of wood planks and climbed up them, they were greeted to the fresh smell of blueberry pie.
"Oh hello there Lorenzo! I was baking your favourite blueberry pie!"
"Thanks, Jolene...I'll have it later because right now, we've got guests staying overnight!"
"Jolene!"
"Oh my gosh, Idyllic!"
"Jolene!!"
"I've missed you so much!"
"Me too. It's been quite a while since we've last seen each other!"
"And Euphoria! Hey!"
"Hi Jolene, I've brought some friends over."
"Oh that's perfectly fine!"
"Hey, I'm Karsyn! You must be Jolene...right...?"
"Yes!"
Jolene looked around and saw that everyone was feeling a bit tired. 
"Guys, you seem tired, you need to sleep, because I'm pretty sure you're going to be a bit busy with the ball and stuff like that, also you should start planning on asking someone to dance so you don't embarrass yourself at the ball-"
"I think that's enough, Jol. You guys should start heading to bed. You can sleep in the guest room, it's very big, so use up all of the space."
"Alright, Lorenzo." the rest said.
Before they went to the room, the last thing Karsyn heard Lorenzo say was, "So, can I help myself to some of that blueberry pie-? If you don't mind, that is."
He was being pulled by Clairé to the room, "Come on, Mr Snooper...off to bed."
"But, I'm not tired-"
"That doesn't matter, we have a very busy day tomorrow, so it's best to get some rest."
"I guess you're right..."
"Come on, sit down and sleep..."
"I will, just wait...I need to ask Wanderer another question."
"No! Ask them tomorrow!"
"I can't. It's about tomorrow."
"Fine." Clairé whispered, resting her head on him and slowly dozing off to sleep.
Karsyn looked next to him and saw Clairé asleep on his shoulder, he looked around and almost everyone was asleep. Everyone except for Euphoria.
"You might want to push her off."
"Who is that...?"
"It's only me." he said, grinning with his irradiate crimson red crystal necklace hanging from his neck.
"Oh...good, I thought you were-"
"Someone else? Oh please!"
"Whatever, why are you even up?"
"I can't sleep."
"Oh, you could at least try-"
"No, even if I try, I'll still somehow end up awake."
"Fine, just don't stay up for too long."
"I won't."
"Euph, I hope you don't mind me asking...what is that red necklace thingy?"
"Oh, it's a special necklace...and it has it's purpose..."
"What purpose?"
"It was given to me by my father. He told me when I was a little boy that it was meant to protect me from evil stuff, I don't think it's that important though!"
"Well, that's nice."
Euphoria yawned, "I think I'm a bit tired..."
"But I thought you said you weren't-"
Euphoria rested his head on Karsyn's shoulder and fell right asleep. Karsyn blushed from embarrassment and decided that he would just fall asleep since everyone was sleeping.
He closed his eyes and began to fall asleep, only to end up having a nightmare.

The Nightmare
"Gosh, you really thought I would let you live, Karsyn?"
"N-No...please, Romero...please! I have to get home to my parents...please!!"
"Too bad, they will probably be so sad that their only son isn't alive..." Romero evily cackled, holding a sword against Karsyn's chest.
"NO!!!"

[End of Chapter 3]