The inside of the Den of Stories was massive, it had hundreds and maybe thousands of seats with some of them being in the walls in the second and third floor of the theater. The stage was also massive, probably the length of the building in my shrine. Maybe even bigger… It was a weird feeling entering it, I felt small, insignificant. How the hell do the story tellers here even perform. Even if I were to scream with all the air in my lungs, I don’t think I can even reach half the people here with my voice.

“Keep walking forward.” Islay entered the room after me, closing the door behind her. “ Do you see that person sitting on the chair in the very front? That’s lady Lilias, please show respect.” She walked in front of me, wiping the sign with her handkerchief. She pointed forward and I followed her, gripping my Gohei while rubbing my shoulder. “So what type of person is lady Lilias? I heard she was one of the people who helped create this city.”

“She’s a… a peculiar person.”

“So, she is a weirdo like you?” She glanced at me, frowning while repeatedly imagining me getting ripped to pieces inside her mind. “Actually I’m a little curious Islay, what are you?

“I’m the receptionist of the Den of Stories and nothing more.” She dashed forward, leaving me behind. I began running trying to catch up to Islay who was already chatting with another figure in the front. The theater is such a cold place, I don’t think I could stay awake here while listening, it’s too comfortable. “Islay!” I ran with my feet and jumped forward towards her. She rolled her eyes and simply raised her hand to stop my body in its tracks. “Bwah!’ My face was smacked by her, my body falling with a soft thump onto the ground. “How could you not wait for me?” I glanced my eyes away from Islay who was stabbing daggers all over my body.

Lady Lilias, sat in one of the chairs of the theater, which seemed to be a comfortable and well sized black chair. The chairs were fat and squishy looking, I could only describe them as pillows stuck together. Lady Lilias had a neutral face which paid no attention to me, she remained looking forward despite my earlier display of rowdyness. I was certain old people like her would love such a lively display of stupidity, the old man certainly did. Actually she doesn't look old at all, definitely a different species than me. “Lotus…”

I turned my gaze back to Islay who was waving her sign in front of my face. “Stop acting like a dumbass," She flipped the sign instantly. “You’re gonna wake up lady Lilias!!!”

“Shut up! You didn't have to read it out loud and yell!”

“Haaaaah~ Why are you so loud, Islay?” She stretched her arms outwards, rubbing her back at the super comfortable looking chair. “Ah sorry about that, lady Lilias.” Islay stopped her fist from slamming into my head, disappearing into the air and reappearing in front of lady Lilias, leaving behind a blur. She rubbed her hands together and bowed her head repeatedly. “I'm so sorry but this,” she snapped her head towards me, eyeing me from my head all the way to my shoes, “person… wants to ask some questions.”

“Hmm?” Lady Lilias slowly turned her head, her eyes still slightly closed. “Huh? A free treat?” She moved her hands over my shoulder and grabbed a round dark mist. She opened her mouth in an unnatural way and shoved the mist into her face. Islay eyes opened wide as she watched her lady slowly munch on the demonic mark that was on my shoulder. “Huack guack! Buh!” Lady Lilias raised her arms towards her throat as she slowly started coughing and choking. “OH damn!” I looked at Islay for help and she was standing there panicking before looking at me. I waved my hands around, trying to signal I don’t know what to do.

Islay turned her eyes back to lady Lilias and began to slam her hands into her back. Lady Lilias hunched up and began punching her own throat. Two fluffy fox ears sprouted from her head as she continued to make terrifying noises.

Lady LILIAAAAAASS

Emergency Emergency, stop lady Lilias from chocking

I threw my Gohei to the ground and pushed Islay off the way, I spun lady Lilias and grabbed her from the back. I performed one of the 17 important lessons taught to me by the old man. “Remember this Lotus, not everyone is capable of stomaching the things that enter their soul, so you must learn this technique. It’s called the 14th art of being a shrine priest, it’s Heim, the Lich’s very own maneuver.”

I lifted lady Lilias and wrapped my arms around her, thrusting my hands inward. She spat out the black mist, her feet were dangling and her head was drooping down as she continued to cough. “Ack! Bwach! That tasted so bad.” I dropped her back to the chair and fell to the ground, wiping the sweat off my head. Islay's body collapsed onto the chair next to lady Lilias, her eyes remaining fixated to the ceiling as she breathed loudly.

“Hmph. Time for round 2!” Lady Lilias leaped into the air, grabbing into the floating black mist. She landed on a chair a couple rows away, shoving the mist back into her mouth. She then turned around and sat on the chair before closing her eyes. A dark shadow covered her face as the mist slowly evaporated, escaping her mouth as a white gas instead of its original black color. “Looks like I still got it in me, Islay.”

“Whatever you say lady Lilias.”

She glanced over to me and rubbed her chin. “What made you bring this stranger inside Islay, did I not say to close the Den of Stories for a little while?” Her fox ears evaporated like smoke.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“Actually I’m here for a very special thing, I need to investigate the current big problem in the city.”

“Hmm… You’re an outsider aren’t you? What makes you so interested in this little incident of ours? Maybe strangers like you should keep their nose far away from other people’s trouble. Did he hire you? Or was it the city?”

“Ahh no, I’m a shrine priest from the shrine in the mountain valley. I’m just here to help this place out.”

“And for free? I didn’t know there were people like you still in the world. Well you did save my life earlier, after actively playing a part in endangering it, so consider me okay for questioning.”

“Actually he’s also here for another reason.” Islay chimed in with a smirk on her face. “He is gonna tell a story to you and if you find it boring or bad I get to kill him.”

“What? Come on, I thought I already cleared your suspicion of me.”

She crossed her arms diagonally and shook her head.

“Killing him is a little extreme.” She took big steps forward, moving quickly towards her earlier sitting place. “Ah, thank you! At least lady Lilias understands.” She moved her hand under her chin and began rubbing it again, her eyes closing as the relaxing feeling overcame her. “But I am a big fan of stories… So sorry, random stranger but please risk your life.” She clasped her hands together, doing a begging motion as she continued to stare at me with her closed eyes.

“Well, the old man did tell me a lot of stories, is a fairytale any good?”

“It can be anything, a fairytale, a made up story, an epic, a ballad, it can even be a story about your own boring routine yesterday. Just tell me a good story in an entertaining way and I'll be quite happy.”

A story, a story. I did blabber about telling a good story earlier but that was in the heat of things. It could be about anything but I just can’t think of a good story.I moved my bag off my body and stood up from the floor. “This tale is an old one about a group of powerful heroes. The group’s leader was a p-”

“Wait, stop for a moment, let’s keep things in tradition shall we not? Does that big stage behind you not probe any interest from you? How about you take a seat and take these as well.” She flicked her hands and summoned three blue flames in the sky. She flicked one of them into the stage and blew two of them onto my hands. The flame poofed out, creating a small cloud of smoke. Two objects then fell from the smoke, landing onto my hands. A dark blue paper fan and a hand towel. “Those are the only tools a storyteller needs. Now Islay if you may.”

Islay dashed towards me, her face looking at me angrily. She grabbed onto my legs and tossed me onto the stage, my body slamming into the blue flame. The blue flame poofed into a much bigger white cloud compared to earlier, leaving behind a cushion for me to land on. It was soft to the touch and reduced the pain of the throw from my legs, sadly the same could not be said about my body, arms, and head, which all landed onto the floor. “So damn violent. Jeez.” I sat on the cushion and cleared my throat. “Ahem. Good afternoon lady Lilias and Islay, my name is Lotus and I will tell you a very special story about a group of heroes.”

“It began with the group leader of the heroes, he was a smart man, making intelligence decisions that lead the group to win battle after battle. They continued to fight and win against all their enemies, gaining so much strength and power that each and every single one of the heroes could fight an entire army of monsters on their own. Now the leader, he was realizing more and more as they continued to grow, that his strategic mind and planning was soon becoming obsolete. If each and every single one of his allies become so powerful it will lead to them disregarding his position as the leader. With his pride at stake, he made a hasty decision.”

“I want us to fight the leading force behind evil in this world. I want to cleanse it will all our might, we will remove all of the beings behind the monsters attacking the innocents. He said confidently to the other heroes, ordering them all to go out and fight a powerful monster on their own. He decided that he will show true fear to his comrades, removing any chance of them to reject his leadership. He will make it so that they all need him and his brilliant mind. The heroes all set out in distant lands, each going on their own to face a powerful monster that shook terror into the world. Now his plan was set in motion and now all he needed to do was wait for his allies to return, shaking in fear so he can soothe their minds with his ever so brilliant mind.”

“But in the end he was still a prideful man, he went out on his own as well. He traveled far away and onto the depths of the abyss on his own. He will not stay away from danger, he will use his brilliant mind that will lead his group to victory and slay his chosen monster. After all, every single battle they won when they were weak and frail was because of his strategy and commands. He was the sole reason as to why they all got so powerful in the first place. He was the leader and the leader always led the battle to victory. But what is a leader without his army?”

“He left the abyss a failure. His pride and mind were broken beyond repair. His hands shook rapidly, and his ever so prideful mouth was stuttering with each word. He had now understood the truth. The group did not need him, he needed the group. He vowed to himself, he would beg the other heroes to stay with him, despite being a weak and cowardly hero. But the only two faces that returned to greet him broke his heart. One gazed with disgust and the other looked blankly. They all blindly trusted his orders for he was the ever so brilliant mind.”

“He gave up his role as a leader and remained as a member of the group. Sitting in the sidelines with his pathetic afraid self, watching new members come and go as he remains terrified of not the abyss but of himself for he is the ever prideful mind. The ever prideful mind, waiting for a moment to show his brilliant and redeem himself. The end.”

“Thank you for listening.”

Lady Lilias slowly clapped her hands, she glanced up to the ceiling and stopped her hands. “That was pleasant, it was a nice story. But” She lowered her head, her eyes gazing right at my temple. “That wasn't very good, your story telling abilities could use some refining. I can understand that you, as an outsider, aren't familiar with how we do it but the way you perform makes it so painfully obvious you know nothing about the art of story telling. You kept waving the fan and towel around, making it distracting and annoying to the eyes. Your face lacked any emotion, your voice was dry and fast, it was like you were reading it off a book. Your posture kept changing, please try and find a comfortable position before you start speaking because having you constantly shift in your seat is grating to the eyes. The story gave so little to the imagination, yes you described the character as prideful and smart but what else. Was he tall, was he bald, did he carry a cane around? What did the monsters look like, were they massive, were they demonic, animalistic, or extraterrestrial? You gave so little to the audience's imagination and left so much to it at the same time.”

“We all know this tale of the heroes of this world but please the next time you try to tackle a famous story such as this, try and give it some justice. Hmm.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her chin. “I would tell Islay to go off and have fun with you right now but, I am in a bad mood and telling stories cheer me up. So, how about this, I’m gonna tell you a story free of charge. Deal?” She shoved her hand forward, waiting for me to shake it. "Cough cough cough.”

“Did you just say cough?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that, I was just merely letting out all of that dark miasma from earlier.”

Lady LILIAAAAAASS [Complete]

+300 Karma

New Taboo Unlocked: Flame's Disicple