Crystal Magic Adventure: A Tale of Discovery

Chapter 15: Panic Mania Part I.

The moment their eyes met, Lila's mind was overwhelmed by fear and panic. Another beggar was watching her. They finally found her. She berated herself for relaxing her vigilance. How could she forget that they were still after her? Her eyes were jumping at shadows, expecting a dagger-wielding arm to pop out at any moment. Grabbing her hat frantically, she prepared to rush back to her room, hoping for some safety.

"Calm down," Crystal's voice echoed in Lila's mind.

"They're coming to get us! We need to get out of here. Forget that, we need to get out of this city right now!" Lila said. In her panic, she forgot to keep the words inside her head. They spilled out loudly, grabbing the entire restaurant's attention.

Seeing that Lila wasn't going to be able to calm down before drawing even more attention, Crystal shined with an easily missed, dim light. Calm Spirit was made to be cast on panicked horses to prevent them from throwing off their riders but it was also handy in situations like this. The spell instantly took effect and suppressed Lila's temporary insanity. As the ability to think rationally returned to Lila's mind, Crystal continued.

"Okay now listen, sit down and eat your meal. We should assess the situation first."

"But..." Lila paused for a moment, looking back at the beggar. He was no longer looking in their direction. "Alright, let's try that," she finished.

She did as Crystal instructed and started to nibble on her meal while carefully watching the poor man with the side of her eye. He definitely felt different than Nure, that much was certain. Although she did not catch him eyeing her again, she could feel how unpleasant he was just by how his face looked. It was full of wrinkles and lines, which were filled with filth. Even though she was nowhere close to him, she could easily imagine the stench he probably gave off, making her retch at the thought. He was glaring at every passerby who didn't toss some pittance in the cracked bowl sitting in front of him. By the time she finished her meal, only a handful of people went over to him.

"He is definitely one of them, Crystal," Lila thought.

"I can feel a little bit of malice from him but it is not directed at anyone in particular. He feels like just a normal beggar. It's probably nothing, girl."

"You couldn't feel Nure either. I felt him first. I don't think I'll listen to you this time."

"You know what? Fine. Have it your way oh mighty 'Wizard'," Crystal replied in an exasperated tone.

With that, Lila took a deep breath and mustered her strength to get up, putting one foot in front of the other. She went to pay for her meal first. The owner was still giving her a weird look due to her small outburst but nonetheless, he did not ask any questions and quietly gave her change. On her way out, she saw a man walk inside the restaurant, someone who gave money to the beggar outside. Color withdrew from her face as the magically enforced calm started to fade. She did not stop in her tracks despite the trembling that started in her legs. Getting out of the restaurant, she took off in the direction of the carpenter in a hurry, until the beggar and the restaurant were no longer in sight.

When she came back, Roland was about to go on a rant for being able to be late to work twice in one day. Seeing her pale skin and dim eyes, he swallowed his anger to ask about her well-being instead.

"What happened to you? Did you get sick or something?"

"I think it's the food... I don't feel well," Lila answered weakly. She was getting quite used to lying.

"Ah, you went to Lucky Shot, haven't you? Their mystery meat is the reason why they're so cheap."

Lila looked at Roland in horror,
"What do you mean 'mystery' meat?"