GAMBIT 23 023| Bitter-Swee

Quartz wakes up early in the morning, wherein the sun is still resolutely below the horizon and the streets are as dark as some old-school black and white movie. He lifts his upper torso, stretching his hands as far as it could reach. He then tilts to his arc-shaped window to watch the beginning of a new day.

With maximum velocity, Quartz prepares for an adventure he has planned alone while the others lurking inside the castle are still asleep. If he remembers correctly, Virgo will be in the patch of flowers once more, playing with her ocarina.

With his sword and leather armor, he now proceeds to the forest. His feet, as much as possible, they try to emit the slightest of the slightest sound in order not to awake the other men especially the king, queen and the princess from their slumber.

In one of the kingdom's barn, he rents a white stallion which was proclaimed as one of the fastest horse in the kingdom by the farmer guarding the barn. Since, the young man is from Earth, he is quite familiar and used to riding stallions especially during festivals in their country. Humans also us stallions as transportation for both people and objects.

Without another moment to lose, the young man takes off with the white stallion and heads towards the direction wherein the sun is rising. He has the determination to seek the peculiar woman that has attracted his attention despite the princess ordering him not to go to the forest of Pureheart due to the vast amount of creatures lurking there.

While there are those who are kind, there are also those who are born in the dark, preying on the weak. Aside from being a vast forest, it serves as a pa.s.sage way to three cities. Uno, the city of ice. Primarily because it rests upon the pinnacle of one of Sacchi's tallest mountain. Dos, the city of fire. It sits beside a fissure volcano that has not erupted for more than three years. And lastly, Tres, the city of thunder. Frightening the city is, for it is. .h.i.t by thunderstorms very often. The dark clouds add a pinch of gloom to the city. However for now, the young man has no plans or whatsoever of visiting these three strange cities. Yet.

Reaching the deepest parts of the forest, the young man halts his stallion for a moment after hearing the familiar melody. His heart listens to the melody, leading him to the same patch of flowers. As expected, Virgo could be seen, playing with her ocarina and skipping around the blossoms like a young girl with the b.u.t.terflies drifting above her hair. Her attention was then caught after seeing Quartz. She stops playing for a moment and gestures the young man with a delighted smile.

"H... hi." His voice emits his words in a trembling manner in order to greet the young woman. A drop of sweat falls off his face as he walks closer in an unusual way. Seeing Virgo makes the young man timid.

"Are... you alone?" The woman queries.

"Y... yes." He replies.

Hearing his words, Virgo smiles and grabs the young man's hand. She brings Quartz to a nearby tree with fine leaves bearing a galore of fruits. The color of its bark is brown, without a single scratch or mark, symbolizing that the tree is still young.

"Try it." Upon reaching the tree in the middle of the patch of flowers, Virgo climbs and grabs a fruit for Quartz. The fruit has a red color, however, its size is as small as a penny. It somewhat looks like a berry.

"Wh... what is this?" He queries, observing the fruit in the palm of his hand.

"An Elppa berry."

"Elppa berry? Hmm..." Without a moment to waste, the young man gobbles the whole berry in his mouth. Inside his mouth, Quartz could sense a somewhat bitter taste, however, the longer it stays in his mouth, the more sweeter it becomes.

"How does it taste like?" She surveys.

"It tastes bitter at first, but now it tastes sweet. It's... bitter-sweet." Quartz smiles, responding with ecstasy.

"Elppa berries, they are my favorite. It tells us that a bitter start can have a sweet ending. However, some Elppa berries prove different. Sometimes, it tells us that a sweet start can have a bitter ending." Upon the lush gra.s.s Virgo begins to sit, leaning her head to the bark of the tree.

"So from, what city do you belong too?" Quartz sits and leans his head to the bark as he asks a question to the princess.

"Me? My city is dead." Hearing the question, her smile turns out into a frown.

"I despise the war between the two kingdoms. It has crushed the hopes and dreams of the future generation." She adds, uttering her words in a soft manner.

"It is fine, at least Pureheart is doing its best in order to stop Witherheart from expanding its wrath throughout the whole of Sacchi."

"Pureheart? Witherheart? They're also the same. They fight with greed for the orbs while the rest of Sacchi suffers from plagues, drought and destruction. And what do these kingdoms do after the sieges they've brought upon? Nothing. They feast inside their castles, laughing and fiddling with each other while the towns cry and mourn... Wait a minute, you're a soldier of the king aren't you?!" She suspects, suddenly standing and enraging at the young man.

He was left speechless, thinking of a reply. Should he lie to the young woman or tell the truth about his true t.i.tle as a p.a.w.n of the king? He wonders deeply in his mind how the princess would react after hearing the truth. Luckily, an unexpected event occurs, grabbing both of their attention. From above, a bird dashes down the tree, hitting its wings on branches and twigs...