The duo walked into Big B Village to find a place to grab a bite as it was almost lunch time. Lyte was busy wondering what the B in the name of the village stood for while Lisa looked around in discomfort. Lisa did not want to be there at all but Lyte did not notice his friend's discomfort. If only he did.
People around started giving the two dirty looks, especially at Lisa. Lisa squirmed uncomfortably and held onto Lyte's sleeve as if she was a child holding onto her parent in fear that she would lose him if she let go of her grip. Lyte noticed the stares but ignored it as he did not want to start any unnecessary commotions. They did quite a good job ignoring the people around them until one of them threw an apple at Lisa. It hit Lisa's head but thankfully there was not harm done. The apple fell onto the ground and rolled a little towards Lyte. He angrily kicked the apple away at what he hoped was the one who threw it in the first place.
"Hey! What the heck is wrong with you!? Why did you do that?!" Lyte was enraged at the person's action. He almost lurched at the guy but Lisa grabbed his elbow before he could do something stupid.
"It's fine, Lyte. I'm not hurt. Let's just go," Lisa begged Lyte with fear in her eyes.
Lyte knew better and decided to just leave the premises. But before that, he gave the guy that threw the apple a death glare. The guy did not seemed fazed, instead he spat at their direction. Lyte was even more furious but he just looked away and walked off with Lisa, clenching his hands into fists.
"Lyte. I have to tell you something. It is very important," Lisa whispered to Lyte as her body slightly trembled. Her knuckles had became white from gripping onto Lyte's sleeve so hard.
"What is it?"
"Actually... This is the village me and my sister lived before. These are the people who hated witches. That was why that guy threw that apple at me and the reason the people here are giving us dirty looks,"
"What? These people. I need to have a word with the person in charge here. This is ridicu-"
"N-no, Lyte. I don't want to start anything unnecessary. Let us just get some food and quickly get out of this place,"
"But the way they treated you is just fu-"
"Please Lyte, I beg you not to do anything rash,"
Lyte looked into Lisa's eyes and saw true fear. He nodded to let Lisa know he promised that he would go along and not do anything that might caught unwanted attention to themselves. This seemed to calm Lisa's nerve a little as she let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, and one more thing Lyte. They will tell you crazy stories to make you think I'm a bad witch, to make you hate me and turn against me. I have experienced it before. Whoever befriended me and my sister would be told lies they created just to make us sound like we did not deserve kindness of any sorts and should be isolated. We lost a lot of good friends because of these lies. In fact, my parents' lives became a price to pay to these lies. So, if they tell you anything about me at all, please do not believe them,"
"Don't worry, Lisa. I won't. You have been so kind to me. Whatever they have to say would be the complete opposite of what I believe you to be, so I could never believe them at all, "
"Thank you, Lyte. I feel more assured,"
"You are welcome, Lisa. Hey look! There's a diner there. Let's grab some grub and leave this freak circus, what do you say?"
"Hehe, I would say, it sounds like a plan. A good plan indeed," with that, Lisa relaxed a bit more.
The two walked into the diner and took a seat near the far corner of the diner to avoid the stares from people around. A waitress who was wearing surprisingly little and exposing clothing for a waitress was fortunately nice enough to walk over to them and politely took their order after they had waited for someone to do so for half an hour.
Lyte ordered a plate of spaghetti and an iced lemon tea while Lisa ordered a bowl of raven ramen and a glass of water. The waitress left with their orders and even gave them a smile before leaving. However, Lisa seemed to be afraid again and Lyte could not understand why. He decided to be a caring friend and asked Lisa about it.
"She seemed nice. I guess she is one of the people who are okay with the presence of witches in this village. But why do you look like you want to throw up, Lisa?"
"L-Lyte. I think we should leave now. I-I have a bad feeling with the smile she gave us," Lisa was shaking. Her face was pale as if she had just seen a ghost and not a human.
"Lisa, what's wrong? Why are you acting so strange?"
"Did you not see her smile? It had a sinister meaning to it. I think she knows something. It's just a guess, but I think something bad is about to happen. Please, let us leave, Lyte,"
"Lisa. I know you have bad experiences in this village, but you should stop being so paranoid. I'm here, so you'll be fine. Let us just wait for our food, eat it as quick as we can and I promise you we will be out of here ASAP. Okay?" Lyte tried to sooth Lisa. He did not know what Lisa was talking about. Lyte was a fool for not taking Lisa seriously, taking it as normal paranoia.
"N-no, Lyte. You don't understand. I have lived here for a few years. I know the people here better than you. We have to leave now, befo-" Lisa was cut off by another loud voice that made everyone around went silent. The previous sounds of chatting and cutlery clanging abruptly stopped, replaced by a heavy silence.
"Before what?" the sound yelled out, directed at Lisa.