Amethyst and Jolrael were moving faster than either of the twins. It didn't take long for them to come to a town. It didn't look all that different from other towns. Merchants and peasants going about their day to day lives while a modest number of soldiers hung about, obstensibly on guard duty. The only really odd thing about the town was that nobody batted an eye when Amethyst and Jolrael showed up at the edges of town.
"I told you they wouldn't attack such obvious defenders of justice as us," Amethyst noted.
"What is it with all those mini-speeches?"
"You know, I never really figured out that myself." Jol face faulted. "My white magic mentor made it part of the curricullum."
"And if you never found a reason for why they were necesssary," Jol started. "WHY do you keep doing it?"
"Habit." Jol face faulted again. "Are you feeling okay? You didn't hurt your legs or anything did you?"
"I'm fine," Jol said. "There we go, he looks like somebody official." Amethyst looked to where a soldier with a more formal looking uniform was chastising a pair of soldiers now standing at attention.
"Sir, hello, sir!" Amethyst called out running towards the man.
"Amethyst, wait," Jol called out running along behind her.
"We are here to warn you of ..." Amethyst stopped as suddenly there were nearly five sword and spear points directed her way and about two dozen spells being readied across the town square. "What did I do?" she asked nervously. The officer looked her over suspiciously, glancing over at Jolrael who was facing similar odds.
"Okay, you might get us," Jol admitted. "But we'll take a lot of you with us."
"And I don't think those swords are going to do you much..."
"Astral Vine!" all the weapons suddenly glowing. Jol and Amethyst sweatdropped.
"....umm there's an dark army of undead coming out of the northlands to spread evil and corruption across the land?"
"Yeah right, you're just a pair of mercenaries."
"We really don't care if you pass through," another commoner said. "But we don't like people thinking they can push us around just because...."
"Stand down!" the officer called out. "You are Princess Amethyst Lina Sailoon-Greywords?"
"Greywords-Sailoon," Amethyst corrected. "Sailoon is the actual family name. Why?"
"Your parents travelled with Lina Inverse before she 'died', is that right?"
"But Lina-sama isn't..." Amethyst's eyes snapped wide and she shut her mouth.
"Lina is alive?" this elicited a murmur of excited muttering.
"I'm not sure she'd wa..." Amethyst snapped her mouth shut again. Jol sighed.
"Yes, Lina's alive, but she prefers that people think she's dead." The swordsman admitted.
"And you are?"
"Jolrael Gabriev."
"Hey, didn't Lina-chan travel with a Gabriev?" somebody asked.
"That was my father..."
"Really?" Suddenly all the weapons and prepared spells disappeared. Jol and Amethyst watched cautiously for a moment before they were mobbed by a horde of friendly faces. "So they're friends of Lina's" "Hey, welcome to Zephilia." "Lina is alive you say." "How is she." Both Amethyst and Jol sweatdropped.
"Didn't you hear us say that there's an army of undead heading this way?!"
"Time enough for that later." "Yeah, there's always something attacking us around here." "Hey, who's going to tell Luna?" Total silence and massive sweatdrops around the town.
"Who's Luna?" Jol asked nervously.
"Lina-chan's sister." Somebody answered. "She's the Knight of Ceipheed."
"Lina-sama's sister....is the Knight of Ceipheed?" Amethyst repeated.
"What is it with that family?" Jol asked no one in particular.
"Hey, I know," somebody shouted. "Why don't we send them to go tell Luna?" Jol and Amethyst sweatdropped. "We can't do that to them without giving them a good meal first." "They can come to eat at my restaurant." "Your restuarant? Ha that's a laugh." Jol and Amethyst looked about and realized that fully two thirds of the buildings they could see were restaurants of some sort.
"Umm, is all Zephilia like this?" Amethyst asked someone at random as the arguing continued with cries of "Hot Pot!!" and "Roast Beef!!"
"Well, only the core really," the woman answered. "Some of those fringe villages are just boring."
"I see," Amethyst sweatdropped.
"I wonder if anybody here cooks chili?" Total silence again as everybody turned to look at Jolrael.
"You don't mean...DISCORDIA'S chili....do you?" someone asked. Jol sweatdropped.
"You've heard of it?" Everybody nodded quietly. "That's one of my favorite dishes! Can anybody here cook it?"
"What's 'chili'?" Amethyst asked.
"Discordia!" somebody called.
"What?" A rather petulant female voice called out.
"Somebody wants to try your chili!"
"Really," there was the sound of a low, mischievious chuckle as short girl wearing spectacles pushed her way to the visitors. "You want to try my chili?"
"Yeah, I love that stuff," Jol said.
"Hey, are you a copy or something?" Amethyst asked as she looked through the girl's spectacles.
"What, no! Why do you ask that?"
"Did you know that you have two different colored eyes?"
"Yes," the girl said through gritted teeth. "Now come on, if you want chili, follow me." The girl led them to an odd building covered in geometric patterns that continued on with out change about the whole of each surface. Each individual surface had a different pattern, and they were gathered together without much concern for the order apparent within themselves. Every chair, table, shelf, even plates, books and plants, were covered with the same geometric patterns of lines.
"Just sit there and we'll see how much chili you can take."
"I'll just have coffee please," Amethyst said sheepishly.
An hour later Amethyst was on her fifth cup of coffee and Jolrael was on his, much to Discordia's irritation, twentieth helping of chili. Outside the villagers watched on in a state of near awe.
"He can actually eat it!" "How is that possible?" "He must not have any taste buds at all." "That stuff can burn a mazoku's mouth, what are you talking about?"
"I don't see what all the fuss is about," Amethyst said then. "Can I try some?" The girl who stood about half a foot shorter than Amethyst glared at her a put down one of two bowls of chili in front of her.
"Its good isn't it?" Jolrael asked as Amethyst took a taste. She nodded as she started eating it a little faster. Then the spice hit her and she dropped her spoon. She was through the crowd outside in blur and at the fountain drinking as much water as she could. Jolrael sweatdropped at his companions reaction to the chilly. "Mom does that too." He scratched his head as if he couldn't figure it out.
"Hmm, there's nothing wrong with the chili then," Discordia noted. "And I've been making it hotter each time." The crowd outside sweatdropped and looked to where Amethyst still had her head stuck in the water.
"I noticed!" Jolrael yelled out happily. Discordia growled, the crowd face faulted.
"Luna shouldn't be a problem for HIM," somebody said. A panting Amethyst appeared in the doorway then.
"Can we go talk to this Luna person now?" she asked as tears elicited by the chili's spices rolled down her cheeks.
"Yeah, get them out of here before I get annoyed." The villagers remembered the last time Discordia got annoyed. For a month the town's food supply was bombarded with her spices and nobody could eat at their accustomed speed.
"Yes, she's in the next town over," somebody called out desperately. "Just follow the road and you'll get there soon enough."
"But what about the army of undead?" Jol asked.
"We can handle it if it comes here!"
"But don't you want to here about Lina?"
"We get the news later!"
"But...but...what about all this chili!?"
"Come on Jolrael-san," Amethyst sighed. "I'm sure you can have as much chili as you want later."
An hour later they were approaching another town.
"You could have let me finish that helping," Jol complained.
"Jolrael-san, you don't usually act like this."
"I don't usually get pulled away from all the chili I can eat."
Then something large flew over them and passed along at incredible speed before crashing at the edge of the town ahead of them.
"Hey, that was Val-san," Amethyst shouted. The next thing they saw was an explosion and then about fifteen or so seperate spells. They both sweatdropped.