Lily was walking through the town streets and the look was funny to behold. She amongst everybody else, seemed to have no clue where she was going. At one point she would stop and stare at the stores along the way at the items they hung up.
'Get familiar with the town' that's what her grandmother said anyway, and she was doing just that. She found it quite ridiculous having to walk around aimlessly, but if it would stop her grandmother from pushing her time to time, then why not do it.
Additionally, it had been a long time since she was out here. She kept on walking and on one of the streets, she could have sworn she saw someone she recognized in the tavern. "He never striked me as the drinking type," she commented in a low tone.
An old man was passing by and looked at Lily with displeasure, "are you talking to yourself lady?" The old man continued glaring at Lily, he was looking like nothing ever pleased him in his life. The wrinkles on his face gave out the look that he was a natural frown.
'I'm talking to you old man', The old man felt an echo in his mind. He looked at the lady that he just spoke to with fear and disbelief, "witch... you are a witch," he stuttered almost having a heart attack.
Lily walked past him and flushing a wicked grin, she made a sound under her breath softly, "sshhh." Immediately, the old man behind her stood still and with a lifeless expression on his face, he turned around and quietly walked back towards the direction he was coming from before.
"That's cruel," Titus's voice echoed. Lily continued walking without stopping. A few seconds later a fine gentleman came from the shadows between the blocks and walked along with Lily.
"What are you always dressing up for," Lily teased Titus. Titus cleared his voice after a few seconds of silence. Lily slightly smiled since she always knew how to get on his nerve, and she was very sure she just did so once more.
While Lily was walking and conversing with Titus, nobody else could see Titus other than herself. "Can you sense anything Lily, because we need to be on the move before we lose our first lead," Tutus asked in a concerned tone.
Lily was far much more powerful than him so if by any chance he missed a clue, then Lily might have definitely noted it. His task according to the demands of the dark race, Tutus was to assist Lily in her quest to enable an easy passage for the members of the dark race.
His role by Lily's side was to offer wise council and not let Lily blow their cover because she was rather not easy to tame once she goes berserk. Lily's dark powers were ancient and mixed with strong magic in them that even Lily herself could not know the limits of her darkness.
They had recently got word that they might have the fastest lead nearby and they had to seize it before any other person or creature could sense them. Everybody in the land was aware of the existence of magic and dark creatures, but a few knew of their intentions.
Lily had to find the woman in question before predators could find her and be a step ahead of her. It was true that many dark creatures existed, but not all shared the same ambitions. Additionally, Lily was aware that it would not be an easy task to fullfil.
This was so because, everyone in the town knew her as little Lily, so she could not prove them wrong, at least not this soon. Lily had to find a key. And with this key, she would be successful in opening a doorway that would marry the human world with the demon world.
However, this key was not easy to obtain. Even the dark race did not know the whereabouts of the key that would be able to open the doorway. And because of this, Lily had to use her resources and her identity in the human world to help her trace the key.
The first resource being the woman they were to look for. Titus did his own digging and through that, he was able to track the woman in question. People that lived around her knew her as a fortune teller.
What they did not know was exactly what Titus and Lily could sense off her. The energy that she gave off was that of a sorcerer, a dark one at that. She had lived amongst the humans for a very long time and easily blended in with them.
"We leave at dusk, not a minute earlier or later," Titus noted then vanished into thin air. Lily wondered what she was supposed to do now that she had almost the whole day to herself. She thought of maybe walking to the beach and later on dismissed it.
"Forest fairy?" Lily heard a masculine voice call from behind her. She remembered that voice and she was familiar with his energy ever since that day tha she encountered him for the first time. When she turned around, Leo was standing in front of her making a silly inquisitive face.
He looked at her and for a moment got stuck staring deep in her eyes, those blue ocean eyes. Two little boys ran past them giggling, bringing them back to reality.
"Mind if I join you?" Leo asked looking at the now amused Lily. Lily shook her head and let him tag along. "You know I'm not very familiar with this town, so perhaps you do me the honors of being my tour guide just for today?" Leo continued.
Lily had no problem with that, on the contrary, her expression showed that she wouldn't mind the company at all. It actually looked like she was enjoying it. He was just everywhere, she thought to herself.
Now he was here chatting away with her and just a few minutes ago she saw her at the tavern drinking. She really didn't understand him.
"Maybe you should directly ask me, I'd try my best to give an honest answer?" Leo tagged Lily's shoulder gently. Lily immediately got alert. Did he listen to her thoughts, or could he actually hear her? She was alarmed by the possibilities because Lily would have felt it if Leo wasn't a simple human being.
"You seem like you have a lot in you mind, your face is saying it all," Leo spoke pointing at Lily's face with a warm smile. Lily immediately lowered her guard after hearing that.
"Let's go to the beach," an awkward silence followed after Lily uttered those words. Immediately Leo burst out into a laugh not believing what Lily just said. She looked like she was no fun at all and now she wanted to go to the beach?
"Sure, I hope you know how to swim," Leo added. A few moments ago, Leo had happened to see Lily from one of the stores he was in with his mother. He used that chance to get away for a while.They came all the way downtown for what his mother called a walk that later turned out to be window shopping.
His mother ended up getting into every store admiring items and getting acquainted with a few people in the town since she was now going to be a resident of Umbra Town. It was such a small town that it would be impossible to not recognize a face if one saw it more than once.
The town's people also knew of the existence of the tower and the pivotal role it played in the towns all across. They could say this Town was the most important of all the towns because of the existence of the Ignis Tower.
Everybody knew that the tower was located deep in the woods, this was so because anybody coming into the Town from outside would see the peak of the tower from a far. Even when standing on a slightly higher ground, one could see the peak of the tower from the town center itself.
It was just that the tower was buried deep inside the woods and those woods were dangerous. The only people who could go in there and come back in one piece were people who possessed magic or the people who lived in the tower.
This did not include the servants because they were just normal humans that had no magical protection whatsoever. So the only way they would be safe was if they had or used any form of magic. As much as the town's residents feared the woods, they dreaded more the Ignis Tower.
Lily and Leo walked by the shores after a few minutes.The beach was not that far from where they met moments ago. Lily felt like if Leo was not there to begin with, she would have easily teleported to the beach in a finger snap.
But now she was not alone, and so she had to act normal. She knew pretty well that anybody could recognize extraordinary abilities if they witnessed any, especially in these times and place.
Lily felt a sudden immense peace as she walked by the shore with Leo, it felt normal. She could definitely get used to this, a normal life. Maybe after she succeed on what she came to do, she might actually be able to live a normal life.
That was something that never crossed her mind until this very moment right here with Leo. Was her brain malfunctioning? She knew those were not her priorities and yet this human made her feel that way.
"Should we get in the water, it seems fine and the waves are not bad," Leo looked at Lily waiting for a response. Lily nodded and smiled slightly. The smile made her look so relaxed and so charming. Leo could not take his eyes off her.