An hour later
Everyone was at the dining room enjoying lunch, in which it consists of bowls of ramen. Lisa had a bowl of ramen with bits of chicken and teriyaki broth, Kurotsuki had the same bowl, but Frederick stared at his bowl in a gloomy expression.
"Something the matter?" Asked Lisa.
"Yeah, I thought you were taken hostage by Enju. She is a member of the circle of ten, usurpers of every region of this land. However, it became clear when she tries to protect you from the king himself. I am foolish" he replied.
"Well, you didn't know that. I learned how to perform a ritual on resurrecting a dead person, by using their ash!" she explained with glee.
"Don't you think it's kind of wrong to desecrate anyone's burial to acquire their ashes, and to bring them back through a ritual?" He questioned.
"It's not really wrong when you're doing a favor for the deceased persons family and friends, especially when it involved with the newly revived person to go back to their family" said Enju.
"Only for them to smell like ash and clay, in which it makes animals hate them due to being unnatural in the world of the living" he added.
"Hey! At least it wasn't so bad if you take a bath and mask your scent with some stuff!" Kurotsuki called out.
Enju looked at Frederick in an irritated look on her face, but she was calm enough not to say anything or do anything. Then Yukio entered the dining hall, dressed in feudal era official (you know, politicians back in the day) outfit, and sat down at the table.
"Are there any more noodles?" He asked.
"Here, have mine. I don't feel like eating" said Frederick, passing his bowl of ramen to Yukio.
"Lisa, once you finish your bowl, I have some things to give to you" said Enju.
"You do? I just got done eating" answered Lisa.
Enju was surprised how fast Lisa had eaten the ramen, then she and Lisa left the dining room to the main reception of the castle.
"What things you're going to give me?" Asked Lisa.
"First, I'm going to give you this key" replied Enju, reaching down the pocket of her kimono and pulled out a key.
The key looked similar to the key with the peridot that Lisa found back at the toy region, but this key has a garnet and has an image of a Japanese feudal era castle engraved on it.
"This key will, shall we say, restore the part of the film. I was entrusted with the garnet key by the king, as he wouldn't let anyone restore the film as a means of saving this land. Now, the main reason why I give key key to you is: you remind me of my sister. I have regretted about giving my sister away to the king, only because I was jealous that she will inherit this region as its princess. Now I want to undo what I did, so please, rescue my sister and other rulers of each regions! Also, I have discovered a keyhole at one of the trees behind this castle. Use this key on it, and it will restore the film" Enju explained.
Lisa was surprised at this, but she remembered using the key with the peridot on the keyhole at toy town. She realized that she restored the first part of the film by using the key with the peridot, and now she is going to use the key with the garnet to restore this part of the film. She took the key with the garnet from Enju, even though she was a bit confused on the exposition.
"The next thing that I want to give to you is: a companion. You'll need more companions if you wish to continue far, so that's why I am allowing you to choose which of my bodyguards to accompany you" Enju explained.
"Are you sure? I've got Frederick to bail me out from problems" questioned Lisa.
"Trust me, one companion won't be enough to get this far. If you go to other regions with him alone, you'll get kidnapped by my fellow members of the circle of ten. Some will use trickery and deceit to try and send you to the king without you knowing, others will try to kidnap you with force if needed to" Enju warned with a stern tone.
Lisa stood there, thinking on who to choose go accompany her and Frederick.
"Take your time to choose who to accompany you and Frederick, while I get my bodyguards here" said Enju, walking back to the dining room.
Meanwhile
Over at the castle in the clouds, one winged goblin flew through the window of the throne room to report to the king. When news of Enju giving her garnet key to Lisa reached to the king, he was furious at her betrayal. Other members of the circle of ten were terrified by seeing his face turn red from anger, and he let out an angry cry that shook the throne room.
"How dare this witch give the garnet key to the girl!! This won't be forgiven, not ever again!! She will be eliminated for this betrayal, to make an example on those of you nitwits who dare defy me!!" He bellowed, and everyone was cowering in fear.
"Pardon me, your majesty. Why not entrust me of kidnapping ze girl? I'm one of ze cleverest members of zis circle, I'm sure my silver tongue will manipulate ze girl into coming here so you will begin your plan" said the man who is dressed like an artist (a beret, a beige artists smock, black pants, and dress shoes).
"No, Pierre. I already sent Sherry jubilee and Clown-a- round over at the dessert region, besides, you need to govern the art region to keep its citizens in line" said the king as he barely rein in his anger.
Back at the castle of the eastern region
Enju brought forth Yukio, Kurotsuki, and Tsuchi (Who is wearing only a fundoshi).
"Why is Tsuchi wearing only a fundoshi?" Asked Lisa.
"He is skilled at using earth based ninjutsu that he can use the calcify technique to turn his skin into rocky texture with spikes protruding from him, which will tear any clothes if he wears it. Also, this is the only clothing since Yukio got the officials outfit to put on earlier" Kurotsuki explained.
"Now then, you must choose any of them. However, you can only choose one since I need the other two to keep me safe" said Enju.
Lisa looked at each of the revived men, wanting to choose either one of them. She wanted to choose Kurotsuki, since he could be useful in stealth and using darkness based ninjutsu. At the same time, she wanted to choose Tsuchi since she was the one who revived him, and he can use earth based ninjutsu.
"I choose... Yukio!" She said.
"What!? Why me!? I'm not good at combat, even though I can punch and kick but not that hard compared to those guys! I could cast few spells that I remembered before I died, but these won't do me any good!" Yukio panicked.
"Are you sure you want to choose him? Don't you want a more combat oriented companion, shall I say, the ninjas?" Questioned Enju.
"I get that Kurotsuki misses his team members of that elemental ninja group, and he just started to caught up with Tsuchi. It doesn't feel right if I choose any of them, which means they won't see each other until the end of my journey" Lisa explained.
"You do make a point, very well I shall lend you Yukio" said Enju.
Yukio sighed in disbelief that he was chosen to accompany Lisa and Frederick, he then wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Alright, fine. I will go along in your journey, but I won't be useful in certain situations. I don't want to get killed again, which would be a waste of myself" he said.
"I have predicted that you will be useful, with your brains and a bit of magic skill, you can be a reliable ally to them. You might need a copy of my spell book, so you won't have to rely on few of your spells" said Enju.
Authors note: what do you think of how Lisa has chosen Yukio? And which region does she go to next after using the garnet key?
YOU ARE READING
Trapped in the film
FantasyLisa, aged eighteen, has found a box at the back of the closet. When she opens it, it contains an old VHS tape of an old animated film from the 60s called "The Land of the starry night". According to the tape, it was made by a company whose name was...
