"The eater of flames rides destruction,
The sower of life faces his death,
The face of reason ends a nation,
And the Hero of All takes a breath." The nun recited the words she had memorized, and turned a piercing gaze upon Blaze. "Do you know who I believe you to be in that prophecy?"
Blaze shrugged. "My father hates poetry. The rhymes annoy him, but Other Uncle loves it. That was a poem you just said, right?"
"Do you ignore the questions your father asks you like you do mine?"
"Yup." Came the cheerful reply.
"You're a cheeky little girl." The nun muttered, then said, "I believe you are the 'Eater of Flames' that 'rides destruction'. Can you guess why?"
"I don't eat flames." Blaze said with a confused expression. "I make them."
"Yes, it could be a metaphor. Or perhaps you will unlock a special ability in the future that will let you eat flames. But the real reason I believe that line of the prophecy is talking about you has to do with the fact that you're riding a constructed beast of your own making… that represents destruction. Add that to the fact that you yourself said your greatest desire was destruction, with no prior knowledge of the prophecy, and I would stake my life on that line being about you."
"Father says that betting is bad. Especially if you bet with your life. But then he said that everyone makes bets, and some bets can't be avoided." Blaze moved closer to the cage of furiously buzzing abominations. "I think that bet you would make is avoidable."
"Yes, yes. There's one more thing that has me convinced of what I said, however." The nun continued, not having paid the slightest bit of attention to the little girl. "I had a vision. A vision about you and your flaming dog. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before, and it promised change. Change and opportunity. But only if you are raised right." She shuddered. "The implications were very strong on what would happen if we were to raise you… incorrectly."
"Wolf." Blaze said.
The nun looked up with narrowed eyes. "Yes, exactly- the wolf of destruction. That is what will be brought upon the land if we fail in our mission to teach you right from wrong correctly."
"No, you said Fiery Wolfy Destroyer was a dog. She's not. She's a wolf." Blaze decided then and there that she disliked the nun.
"I see." The nun clearly didn't care. "Here, put this dress on. It belongs to another of the girls staying here, and I was fixing some holes in it, but you can have it now. I have no doubt she won't mind the sacrifice." She tossed a patched dress with the same color scheme and from the same uncomfortable-looking material that she was wearing to Blaze. "I write a few more letters, now. Spend this time changing and getting used to the noise these infernal creatures are always making. I'll be back shortly." And with that, the nun left Blaze alone in the tower of the temple.
Blaze looked around the room, not finding anything particularly interesting, then put the clothes on. Unfortunately, they felt as uncomfortable as they looked.
And they weren't fireproof.
"Well, I guess that settles it, Destroyer." Blaze looked at the flaming wolf, who was currently poking its fiery head out the window. "It's time to go." Destroyer pulled back from the window and looked at Blaze with its head cocked. "No, let's leave right now. I don't want to have to explain anything to that nun lady, so let's just go. I'll change later." Blaze pulled a crutch out of her inventory to use until she changed, and began descending the stairs quickly. She had listened to the sound of the nun's footsteps, and had noted that the nun was in a different room one floor below her bedroom behind a closed door. So Blaze wasn't too worried about running into the nun yet. She did send her companion ahead of her to make sure the way was clear first, however.
She escaped the building successfully with no more unwanted interactions with the strange folks inhabiting it. Then she remembered what she had set out to do in the first place. "Oh. Where do you think father is?" She had walked down several streets and made some random turns to throw off any would-be pursuers. Her wolf stalked a few steps behind her, silent as ever aside from the occasional crackling of its flames. "Last time he disappeared like this, he ended up in the castle fighting all of the most powerful people in the city, so that's likely where he is now." With her decision made, she changed her course to head for the towering spires of the castle set into the center of the giant plateau.
She made it to the gates of the castle without incident, though Destroyer gained several curious looks. The guards at the gates barely glanced at her before waving her through. She hesitated, not having expected to be allowed to enter the castle so easily.
In the end, she walked between the guards with a grumbled, "I didn't even get to scare anyone." and walked into the main courtyard with wide eyes drinking in every last detail. "It's a garden!" She approached a unique flower with droopy yellow petals and smelled it.
The courtyard was basically a jungle with an obscene mix of the most random and spectacular plantlife Blaze had ever seen. "There's no way Father came through here." She moved to a spiky watermelon looking thing and poked it with a giggle. "If he had, he'd still be here. For forever."
"You there- girl! Come with me. The princess has requested a nun to attend her." Blaze tore her gaze from the strange plantlife to raise an eyebrow at the speaker, who happened to be a man in full metal armor with a strange sword on his hip in the shape of an 'L'.
'A princess? Like the blonde girl father and I met in the first city? She'll probably know where everyone is.' With that in mind, the young girl with fire-colored hair entered the castle alongside an armored man bearing a queer sword.
"Did you know that your sword is bent?" Blaze wasted no time in getting to the important subjects.
"I am aware." Came the curt reply.
"Are you going to get it fixed?" Blaze was half-distracted by the vines growing along the walls of the hallways they were passing through at a hurried pace.
"It was designed this way with intention and precision. There is nothing about it that needs to be repaired." He glanced at her as she hobbled along with him, and adjusted his pace to be slightly faster when he saw that she was getting a lead on him. "What happened to your leg?"
"A big man made of metal ripped it from my body." She responded in a casual tone.
He nodded as if the reply was exactly what he had expected. "And the flaming wolf? Did you earn your companion when you sought revenge upon the 'metal man'?"
Blaze simply shook her head and spoke softly. "My father got revenge for me."
Their conversation ended there, as the man had nothing more to say, and Blaze was in a sad mood brought about by the dark memories he had dredged up.
The mood - and the silence - were dispelled as if they had never been when the man with the strange sword opened a massive door and motioned Blaze in.
Inside, a massive kangaroo with leaves growing on its green and brown-tinted fur was kickboxing with a giant of a man wrapped head to toe in thick armor wrapped in even thicker blankets and cushions.
"My lady, I have brought a nun, as you requested." The blade-wielder announced before leaving the room and shutting the door at Blaze's back.
"Oh? Aren't you a bit young to be a nun? And what is that creature following you?" The princess was a girl who couldn't have been a year older than Blaze, with dark curls wreathing a cunning face with intelligent eyes. She was wearing a simple yet elegant dress that clearly bespoke affluence and style.
Not that Blaze knew anything about style. As far as her and her father were concerned, style was a ridiculous thing to worry about when the world was going to be destroyed in a matter of… 'Hmmm. I wonder how long it will take us to destroy the world?' She nodded respectfully to the princess and answered, hiding the fact that she was contemplating world destruction like it was second nature. "'That creature' is a she wolf named Fiery Wolfy Destroyer, and I don't know the first thing about nuns."
The princess' eyes lit up. "That's an awesome name. This big Plantaroo is named Leafy Punchy Puncher. And I must confess that I too, know little to nothing about the ways of nuns, though I am given lessons by them nigh on every other week."
Blaze smiled. "Cool! I'm Blaze. Who are you? And why do you talk weird?"