[Ludovico]

Oliver waited until the healer was paid for and had crawled back under what ever rock he wished him from under. He inspected Zosa's wound seeing that it looked decent enough, Oliver took one step back and then angrily punched Zosa in the arm. He looked some what like a bird that had gotten his feathers ruffled and was still riding the adrenaline rush from the fight. Though he wasn't hurt physically, he some what felt like Zosa had lied to him. Story be damned Oliver was not going to stick around to see if the bandits would come back or if Zosa was going to tell another part of the story. He marched out of the alley way and into the hordes of people. He didn't know exactly where to go, but he was a bard now surely that counted for something.

[littl3chocobo]

he was shocked when his lord punched him, it didn't hurt in the least but that was not the point. he was assaulted for absolutely no reason. he had no idea the boy blamed him for the book's decision to start the first chapter though he did know the boy was mad at him for something. he chased after the other never losing him in the crowd but not quite being able to catch up. if he had tried he prolly could have but he knew it would be against the other's wishes

[Ludovico]

( Hee looks like Zosa will still get to murder some one after all, if hes in the mood to save his ungrateful, some what stupid lord again. )

He huffed as he made his way through the streets. His mind was racing over the past few events and what Zosa had told him. If he was indeed trapped in a book then the question became how does one get to chapter two? In majority of the stories he read the first chapter established every thing. He already had a character and Zosa was a knight, though for all good being a bard was. He stopped, it dawned on him that perhaps it was more like a video game, and merely needed to ask others were to go. Oliver however was afraid of being attacked by bandits again. Bravery be damned, Oliver doubled back to the inn where he and Zosa were eating their meal. Curiously he looked around at the people casually picking up the pieces of their lives as if a bar fight were a regular occurrence. The alley was a different story. Down the darken path he saw the shadows of the surviving bandits. Oliver took a deep breath, his fingers clenching and unclenching around the only weapon he owned. Oliver needed a bluff. It was simple, they didn't know what Zosa was no longer with him. “You.” He said announcing his presence. Oliver swiftly kicked the one that appeared the weakest. “Why did you attack me?” He did not notice the other bandit weakly glaring at him with narrowed greedy eyes. The man gave his last breath to answer nothing. Oliver turned to the other fellow. Unaware he was fringing helplessness.

[littl3chocobo]

as oliver passed down the dark allyway zosa shivered. chapter two had begun and he was not ready. he wished his sword back and rushed to the mouth. his lord had just kicked one of the remaining bandits. another looked over the lad's shoulder at zosa, zosa wished they could leave this place safely. his wish was granted but not before the book threw one more curve at the two

[Ludovico]

Oliver turned to see where the Bandit was looking. His gazed at Zosa's unaware that he had made the wish for he and Oliver to leave the place safely. The boy however had no intentions of letting the bandit go with out getting answers. He was too impatient to find them out later and scoffed at Zosa. Turning towards the bandit he made a lunge for the man assuming he was weak and broken from the fight. Oliver repeated his question demanding answers from the bandit. In an instant his eyes turned pure black and he hit Oliver in the head. Oliver rolled off the man yowling at the burning between his brow. The bandit laughed as a dark portal opened beneath his feet. Zosa that they could leave, he didn't say how. The strange bandit made a grab for Oliver once again while the boy was temporarily stunned.

[littl3chocobo]

seeingthe portal open beneath his feet he grabbed the back of the boy's cloak. the void sucked them both in. as they fell into the white zosa began to panic. not good, bad, very bad. very, very bad! beyond bad! he could feel his mind begin to unravel, the story was interupted, it was trying to reset.'my lord! oliver....please' he clung to the other next to him. 'wish we were back at the inn, i beg of you..please!' already he was begining to forget about the scuffle in the...in the where...in

[Ludovico]

For once Oliver just did as he was told. He scrambled to touch a bit of Zosa's bare flesh and made his wish. “I wish that we were back at the end.” He said shakily. They continued to fall through the void as the world reformed around them. Oliver tucked himself into a ball not sure where he was going to land. He felt himself fall on something thick and fleshing, and all around him there was fabric. He cautiously opened one eye and realized he was in a room at the inn and they had landed on a bed. He had landed cradled in Zosa's arm. He was just a little to spooked to ask any questions he simply went back to resting his head on Zosa's chest.

[littl3chocobo]

zosa gasped like a fish as the world righted itself once more. he was so very frightened, there was nothing in his limited store of knowledge to have prepared him for such a fate. he quickly made a promise to himself, he would /never/ allow the story to be disrupted again, for while he knew there was no death he did not understand until this moment that there was always a new beginning.

as he laid there though he became aware of the other clung tightly to him their cloaks tangled around them. he began to laugh then, softly but growing. here he was worrying about his own existence when he had sealed the fate of the other. if the boy started over he could have picked a safe way through the book now he was stuck in this version. zosa felt sick

[Ludovico]

Oliver listened to the sound of Zosa breathing but then he heard him growl. He wondered what was wrong. As far as Oliver knew he had done exactly what Zosa had asked him to do. A little knot of anger formed when he realized that not every thing had been explained to him and he still didn't understand why those men were after him. Oliver pulled himself up and scooted to the edge of the bed. In the room on a table their things had been placed. He couldn't hold on to his anger for long, Zosa was tired and Oliver realized he did not know what to do with out him. With a heavy sigh he moved towards the instrument the story provided for him. His fingers nimbly started to pluck an acoustic version of one of his favorite songs as he sung it.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS_DcqPkEYM ← song )

[littl3chocobo]

zosa felt the warm reassuring weight of his lord leave him and a few moments later a soft tune slowly issued from the strings, a sweet soprano came with it, ‘i’m not listening to you, i am wandering right through…’ this part was unintelligible, a sad whisper mumbled through more than sung, ‘…with no purpose and no drive, ‘cause in the end…..’ the tempo plucked up as the other grabbed the lute like a guitar and banged on it angrily. he did not shout the lyrics but he spoke them angrily enough that is was almost as bad and the brutal strum and pick of the instrument conveyed it just as well. when the boy had finished his song he slumped to the floor against the leg, the lute against his legs, he faced zosa but all his attention seemed to be on the strings, he slowly began plucking the melody again. zosa had turned his head to the boy around the time he struck up a din but he had done no more, now he turned his whole upper half towards the bedside and faced oliver, his head resting now on his fingers.


‘once upon a time’ he began, ‘there was a selfish prince.’ he shook his head as oliver looked up at him to interrupt. ‘who wanted to be loved. he wished and wished for one to love but noone came.’ he paused ‘one day the book, having heard the wishes of the prince found playmate for the prince, someone just as lonely, someone who would believe, someone strong, someone with a wish.’ the noise of the lute stopped. ‘once upon a time. there was a prince who was asleep. when he woke up his One True Love touched him and made a wish.’ as the music began up again he began to cry silently. rolling back onto his back he stared through the tears at the ceiling of their shared room. after a few moments of composing himself he spoke again, ‘i need to teach you how to navigate through the world, the rules are simple enough if you’ll hear them, one, to make a wish is to believe it, if you don’t believe it is so then it won’t come true, wishes may be desire but wishes are belief too. two, you cannot skip the story, you must play through the end, if you do not we will have to start over..no, you, you will have to start over, i will disappear.’ he shuddered again at the thought. ‘three you cannot kill me and i cannot kill you but we can both die, dying will start the story all over. finally,’he paused again, ‘if you do not direct the book the story will go on without you so you must be careful of what you wish for and how long you wait in between. the book does not care about you only about the story.’ he was quiet then. certain the other would either not listen or not care

[Ludovico]

Olivers trembling fingers abandoned his instrument. He reached up to wipe away a dried tear mark from Zosa's cheek. He listened whither the man believed him or not. He learned he shouldn't ask questions, though his mind wondered if Zosa was the prince trapped by his own selfishness or the friend abandoned by the prince. Oliver instantly grew afraid. It was one thing to trust in the unknown, it was another to know it would obliterate you if you deviated from the path it set with out know the path. His face paled and turned away from Zosa at that realization. He bit his lips, the questions in his mind were breeding like fruit files but wasn't sure where he could get the answers with out the book or story getting up set. His fear weld up to frustration which came out in the form of tears. Mostly because he didn't know how to help him or Zosa. Oliver removed his glasses and pretended to clean them, moving from his setting position to pace in a small circle. If his believe and desire truly were his wishes, then his only wish for now was this 'I want something that will help guide me, I do not want Zosa and I to die. Help me know the story so I can get to where I need to be.' Oliver could see the small glow on his chest but he wasn't sure it had any effect. He curled up and sat beside Zosa and asked in a small voice. “What do we do?” his fingers pushed aside the mans hair from his face.

[littl3chocobo]

as the other touched his face knowledge of what he had to do welled in his mind, the other two wishes were wasted but the third filled him like a light over a dark valley. he smiled widely and reached to oliver's chin pulling the boy's face to his he whispered excitedly 'we wake up!' and in true fairytale fashion he made a wish, closed his eyes and kissed the other gently on the lips

[Ludovico]

It was not a white void, he woke up in this time. It was a white comforter. Olivers body bolted up right from a bad dream. He ran his fingers through his hair thinking he was a bard and he had killed his knight. The last thing he remembered was a kiss, and the subtle command to wake up. He pressed two fingers against his lips and moved across the room in his boxers to gaze out the window. His alarm clock blinked at him, its red eyes telling him it was just past 10 am. He opened his curtains to view the world. Soft white drops of snow danced down from the sky. The smell of bacon brought Oliver out of his dream like state. He grabbed a robe pulling it tight around his body as he walked into the kitchen. “Good morning Zosa.” He said looking around for his glasses. He pushed them in place standing beside the man who was cooking breakfast. He leaned in close sheepishly inhaling bacon. It felt so right, but some part of him said it was wrong. He listened to the other voice telling him to accept it, to be happy, to indulge in every thing hes ever wanted. “No, the story...” He said aloud to the voices, but shut himself up at the bewildered look that his roommate gave him. He moved away making up some lie about a creative writing class and went to go look for some orange juice.

[littl3chocobo]

he snapped to attention at the words 'the story' he was relieved that the other remembered. he was worried he had made a wrong move. when he had awoken next to the other in a soft room high above the streets of the city where snow was still white and the air breathable he did not understand anything was amiss, he got up put on his glasses, brushed his teeth and made it all the way to opening the package of bacon he found in the fridge before he broke free of the spell. he was relieved to find the other was safe as well. he turned off the stove and went over to the fridge where the other was busy looking for something, he saw there was juice in the back of the fridge leaning in just close enough that their shoulders touched he turned to the other and whispered 'my arm will never scar now my lord' and pecked the other on the cheek, grabbing the drink he shook it slightly and grinned at the other who followed his movements 'slow boys get no juice only hard tap water' he all but skipped across the kitchen where he knew the glasses were kept

[Ludovico]

He spun around watching Zosa's movements with alarm. Being hurt, that was in his dream. He pushed his messy hair out of his face and grinned. “How many times do I have to tell you, my name isn't my lord, its Oliver.” he narrowed his eyes playfully. While Zosa had abandoned his post over the frying pan Oliver felt free to grab himself a piece while the other hand rubbed the side of his face trying to stop the tingling sensation of the kiss. His lips pursed into a grim line. “Zosa when did you get hurt?” He said turning a worried look towards him.

Oliver left the bacon and went to Zosa, taking a cup from his fingers. His other hand moved to touch his bicep. A jolt of familiarity trickled down Oliver's spine. He found himself saying “I'm sorry, it was all my fault.” He kissed the fabric that concealed the spot where the wound should have been. Oliver didn't remember why he should have been apologizing, he just did. Every thing he spoke now felt as if it was coming from his heart. “I'm glad your with me.” He chuckled “Who else would cook me breakfast and forgive me for sleeping in and give me juice.” Behind his glasses, his eyes turned into huge pleading puppy dog saucers.

[littl3chocobo]

'hurt? i cannot recall' his brow wrinkled slightly, oliver was not quite there yet. he did not realize it had taken him the better part of ten minutes to righten and that his lord had less than half that. he continued the banter however 'as many times as you will have to tell me to stop telling stories' he sat down with his glass of orange juice and pulled the comic section from a pile of newspapers