Mostly Normal: Our Path

Chapter Four: Traveling Blind

Fred and Madeline stumbled away from the monster and Donna, though the son of Athena had a feeling that the girl was leading the monster the other way. If she was blinded as they were then she could not run for long. "What was that all about?" Madeline asked when they stopped running for a moment.

"I don't know," Fred panted, trying to catch his breath, "something...about illusions?"

"You're the smart one," Madeline said, folding her arms, "I'm just the crappy daughter of Janus."

"You're not crappy," Fred protested, "you're beautiful. And smart. And witty. And..."

"Okay, I get it," Madeline laughed, "Let's keep going. Maybe Donna will catch up to us?"

"Doubt it, she ran the other way."

"And you certainly do not have time to mourn," a silky smooth voice called from above. Fred and Madeline both pointed their heads towards the sky to look at the person who had spoken, though since they were still blindfolded this was an impossibility.

"Who's there?" Madeline called, brandishing her longsword as if she were being attacked by a swarm of bees.

The voice laughed. "Don't you worry, dears," it said, "I won't hurt you. Unless, of course, you want to fight me?"

"Uhhh, n-no," Fred stammered, "we're not looking for a fight, thank you very much."

"Shame. I haven't fought anyone since the middle ages. No one's come for me in a long time." There was a thump as the speaker jumped from the tree onto the earth in front of them.

"Came for you? What do you mean by that?" Madeline asked, sheathing her sword as best she could.

"You're trying to put your sword in the wrong spot, sweetie," the voice said, almost kindly, "Move it a little to the left. There you go."

Fred heard a soft shink as Lonna slid smoothly back into its scabbard. The stranger chuckled softly.

"Who are you, anyway?" Fred asked boldly.

"I am a river spirit. I was sent into this realm by my king some time ago, let's see what era is it now?" she spoke with a calm, rather bored tone.

"Uh, 2017?" Madeline asked though she sounded a little unsure.

"Near 2,000 years ago then," the voice said, "he sent me in here to finish a quest that was impossible for river spirits to complete. But! Now that you have come, you can do the quest and release me from this prison!"

"Uh," said Fred, "We're not here to release you. At least, that's not our quest. We're here to save two tree spirits named Remon and Raimu. Seen them?"

"No," said the river spirit mournfully, "I have not. Which is the reason why I am still here, you know, in this odd reality of monsters and spirits. You will finish the quest, right?"

"We hope to," Madeline said bravely, "otherwise we would be stuck here virtually forever."

"Well," said the spirit, "If you want to continue on your quest unhindered by those unsightly blindfolds, I need you to go on a different quest for me. Okay?"

"Depends on what it is," Fred said, suspicion making him jittery.

The spirit laughed before placing her hand on the underside of his chin, lifting it up slightly, "All you need to do my darling, is find the largest river in this land, and catch the golden herring."