Chapter 8: The Greenest Honesty



One minute left before the tournament resumed, so Cyras took a deep breath. Outside, rain and lightning textured the sky.

Ahmond said. "Was sunny only a few moments ago."

Cyras said, "Probably just a freak shower. That happens a lot around Spring."

Ahmond nodded. "Oh yeah! You're right."

"I saw Lilu at the tournament, but we never talked. She's focused on herself."

"As usual."

"Why did you two come into the wilds anyway?" Cyras asked. "You two were, if I may say, woefully unprepared for a fight."

Ahmond said, "Rosod bet us some money, meanwhile, Lilu wanted to run away from home. Um, after she becomes a queen, she'll have no time to play Towers or anything, so this is her last chance to win one."

Cyras' brows furrowed before her attention went to the clock, which struck three. The tournament was about to restart. Several younger animals clambered in a horde towards the indigo card game shop, though Cyras eyed some fries left unattended. She was about to jump up to bite the salty little treats, when Ahmond shoved her and said, "No."

With a pout and a growl, Cyras caught up and got back into the shop.

Ahmond faced Lilu in the quarter-finals, and Cyras was hoping she'd win.

Lilu took out her with a barrage of Fighters and said, "Next."

Well, that sucks.

"Sorry I lost," Ahmond told Cyras.

Cyras smiled and wagged her tail. "You got to the top eight. I think you did as well as you could this time."

"No, I actually made a few misplays."

"Well, have you had fun?"

"I guess," Ahmond told her.

At the semi-finals, Cyras took out a jackal, while Lilu faced Rosod, but the bipedal weasel announced, "I surrender."

All eyes went over to her table. Lilu's face screwed up into shock. "But, you could probably win."

"I think you need this more than I do," Rosod told her before she walked away from the table.

Ahmond's ears went up in alarm. "But Rosod is probably the best player, why would she leave the tournament?"

"There are only fifty players here," Cyras pointed out. "This is hardly as many as I'd thought in a place as big as Wysdom."

Ahmond told her, "There's an entrance fee you have to pay to join the tournament. Not everybody has the money, the time, or the skill. Also, this is part of Sunnyvilla part of the tournament, not the Wysdom Empirical Tournament."

"So there's more!?" Cyras shrieked, getting some eyes on her.

Ahmond glanced at Cyras' scarf and spoke calmer. "Luckily, Lilu paid for us, but others won't have the entrance fee money even if they have enough points. Anyway, all six winners will get their own tea party before the internationals."

Cyras wanted to ask more questions but thought about how Lilu helped them. A jackal's voice snapped her back to the current state of affairs.

"This is the final game for the Towers Juniors National Tournament. We have two competitors left."

Both girls faced each other knowingly. Cyras held her head up as she arrived at the table, and hopped up while flicking her brush.

Lilu hadn't needed to hop up, already being plenty big.

Cyras and Lilu sat across from each other, and shuffled, with Cyras banging her cards against the edge to get them neatly aligned, while Lilu sprawled her cards and mixed them up. Both cut the other's stack before beginning play.

Shock lit up their faces. Their hands were the exact ones they drew in their first match.

Lilu read Cyras' expression and said, "And to think, I was going to win that match too."

Cyras said, "You were going to lose."

"Hmph."

Both monotonously played, until finally, they arrived at the game state as before.



Cyras: 10000 Soul Points

Field: One Ancient Stone Wolf (3000/10000)

Tower: 2 Fire.

Hand: 4 cards



Lilu: 6000 Soul Points

Field: 1 Viper Piper, 1 Kaiser Vanguard, 1 Instant

"My Poison Element Viper Piper, and my Dark Element Kaiser Vanguard, Combination Call. I unveil Princess of Fangs." She put Viper Piper and Kaiser Vanguard in her discard to play a Poison and Dark-Element Fighter, a chimera.

15000/13000

"Ancient Stone Wolf cannot be attacked," Cyras told her.

"Instant, Unveil, Freezer. Now all abilities during combat are nullified. Princess of Fangs, battle."

As Princess of Fangs had more Strength than Wolf had Shield, the fanged creature ripped Cyras' card apart and inflicted the excess Strength as 5000 Soul Points to her.

Cyras put the salamander-like being into her discard pile.

Cyras' Soul Points: 10000 - 5000

Lilu put an instant, and said, "Your move, make this count."

"Okay. I pay all ten of my Fire Tower, for Burn Wyrm," Cyras told her.

Burn Wyrm: 10000/10000

Lilu had Barrier, meaning that she could stop any attack Cyras gave. However, Burn Wyrm would inflict 5000 damage to either player at the end of the turn, meaning Cyras was guaranteed to lose, while Lilu would survive.



"Lilu, I'm sorry."



Lilu blinked.



"I know your mom chased you out of your home, but Ryvoh chased me out of mine as well, after you left." She undid her scarf, as Ahmond's eyes widened.



Marks and scratches covered her body, as she explained, "After the library, I ran into the Empress, and we battled, and she left electrical marks all over me. However, I came back to the Wilds, and Ryvoh kicked me out after I said I met Owlis and told me she never wanted to see me again."



The Coywolf shuffled around on her feet nervously. The one jackal who coordinated the event stared at her, squinting.



Cyras said, "I joined this tournament to get revenge, but Lilu-"



"Finish this."



Cyras blinked, "Oh, uh, I end, so we both take 5000-"



"Barrier-"



"Reverser, which means you lose the Soul Points I'd have lost."



Lilu blinked.



Cyras winked at her. "Gotcha. Anyway, about my rant"



The hyena bolted, leaving the confused fox to follow in her wake. "Where are we going!?"



"We're getting out of here as soon as possible! There are guards coming here to arrest you, now hurry! Run, run, run quick!"



As Cyras tore across the landscape, she asked her, "Well can she really get me on this territory? I thought this was Sunnyvilla, not Wysdom!"



"Wysdom is Sunnyvilla!" Ahmond said.



"You told me this isn't actually the Wysdom tournament but the Sunnyvilla tournament-"



"I'll explain when we're not fugitives!"



Rosod grabbed the trophy and said, "I'll hold onto this"



The girls rushed out of the mall as several angry guards ran at them.



***



Cyras and Lilu came to the "DO NOT ENTER" sign in the red block letters. "I'm not going any further!"

Rain beat on the grass as wind smacked the leaves, causing a chaotic storm of green and grey and blue.

"I lost that tournament, I lost everything. That was my dream." Lilu smacked her own face, as she said, "I gave up everything I had and everything I wanted just for some Wilder girl who hates me."

"You lost the tournament because I beat you at the game," Cyras told her. "You haven't given up anything for me, stop being melodramatic."

"No, I found the news story about how you attacked Owlis, and I was going to tell the guards to get you removed."

Cyras stared away.

"But I didn't, and now you've taken away something I really, really wanted."

Lilu advanced towards the sign that was now of darkened wood, a splintered sign with three foreboding words. She was about to step over the imaginary line.

"You won't survive very long out there," Cyras told her.

"I don't care anymore, I am so tired," Lilu said. "Of social status, of queenly jobs, of life. I need to get away."

Ahmond told Lilu, "Okay, you're feelings are valid Lilu-"

"NO THEY'RE NOT!"

Ahmond fell back to her rump as Lilu shouted those words. Her ears curled up.

"They're not, they're not, they're not." She stamped the floor. "Why does everyone say that? I need help, I need someplace to go."

"Life's not getting better if you run away," Ahmond told her.

"Why am I so messed up!?" Lilu asked her.

Ahmond paused, before saying, "You're not messed up."

"I'm so messed up." Her tone had almost no strength as the words blended in almost a whisper.

She kept her head low as she was too tired. "I never was the child that my mother wanted, and anytime she asked me to do anything, I never would out of spite. I always did enough to avoid punishment, but little enough for her to get angry at me.

"I always did enough for Ahmond to make sure she stayed, and I tried to do the same with you. But as soon as I realized you weren't going to let me run all over you, I wanted you to leave me alone, and I wished you weren't as good to me as you were."

Ahmond kept silent.

Cyras said, "Lilu if you were really that awful, we'd never have met. Everything I've seen from you isn't someone who's like your mother, you're someone who's just trying to survive. And the problem is you're trying really hard to."

Lilu's voice trembled as she said, "I am."

"You're upset because I happen to have boundaries," Cyras told her, "and yes, you have to appreciate me. Because of that, there's one thing I deserve no matter what before you go into the Wilds. Apologize for how you were."

Lilu simply glared.

Cyras turned tail, saying, "Probably nothing left to talk about then."

Lilu bit on a white rose and ran up behind her. Ahmond was about to warn her, but as soon as Cyras turned around, she received the flower straight to the nose.

The Coywolf in the audience rolled her eyes, but still grinned at them. "That is smooth."

Cyras said, "I'll take this as an apology."

"Cyras, all I wanted when I came out there to meet you was the call of the wild," Lilu said as she went past the tulips, which swayed in the wind to meet the roses. "The ability to be part of something greater than I was. Something greater, yet so much more simple."

"But you won't find that out there," Cyras told her, nodding towards the wilds. "My life is only simple to you because there's no customs or laws, but every day is a struggle, and to be honest, I think there are customs there even I have no idea about."

"I already found what I was looking for."

Cyras raised an eyebrow, then blushed at her.

"Anyway, I guess you two joined the tournament just so I would lose. I guess I deserved that."

"Yes, but there was another goal. I want to talk to Owlis," Cyras said, "we're beginning to think there's something between her and me."

"Well... I am a queen," Lilu pointed out, "so maybe I'll be able to help with that."



***



Lilu slowly entered the dining room of Empress Owlis, and at first, the Empress was about to greet her graciously, until she saw two girls slinking through.

Cyras laid eyes on Owlis for the first time in a few days and Owlis had clearly been in some battle. Marks and scratches covered her body just like how Owlis' burns covered the younger Cyras.

"Lilu, you have a minute to explain the meaning of this, and to tell me why you've let an attempted murderer into my dining room," Owlis told her.

Lilu said, "Okay, so, basically I met Cyras out in the wilds, we had a nice talk, she followed, we played card games, I wanted to prank her, she got angry, she beat me in card games, became the Sunnyvilla National State Champion, and now we're here."

"Your turn," Cyras told her, "I need to know why you're interested in me and what N:Era is. One minute."

Empress Owlis' expression turned into a small grin. "Years ago, there were four Seasonal Cousins. Your mother, Sumhyr, and your cousin Ryvoh left us and went into the Wilds, but something happened to your parents. That's where Ryvoh came in and raised you. My goal was to find you eventually, but as the years went by, I figured this was impossible..."

Cyras blinked and said, "...You got another minute."

"Why thank you. Anyway, that just left me, the only seasonal cousin left. So Cyras, you're my little cousin once removed... However, I created a project known as N:Era, and had three wolves with special powers as the leaders. They are planned to be the first teachers.

"I am not able to protect this entire Empire myself, so I need a small task force with special powers, at least one other Ascended."

"An Ascended?" Cyras asked her, "I've never heard of one before."

"Wilders tend to have no true religion," Owlis said, "but basically, Ascended are nature gods."

Cyras burst out laughing.

Owlis rolled her eyes. "Must you laugh at everything I tell you?"

"I'm not a goddess or anything, Owlis," Cyras told her. "Otherwise, I'd have some weird, unexplained powers. I've heard of tales of gods before, but they're all unrealistic, and I doubt most of them."

"So the girl who is a god is an atheist," Owlis said.

"Like, name one power that I have."

Lilu said, "Cyras, I've never met someone as young as you with the same proficiency as fire as you do."

"So I had to learn how to use flames to survive."

Ahmond said, "You also were able to take on both of us at the same time."

Lilu said, "Not to mention the fact you picked up on Towers within literally just a few minutes, and you're already a champion of Sunnyvilla."

Cyras blinked, before saying, "Well that's not much."

Ahmond said, "You have a lot of luck in card games."

Lilu said, "You were able to keep up with Owlis to at least some extent even though she's an Ascended herself."

Cyras shouted, "I'm not some kind of god or goddess! I have no idea why all of you are even talking to me about this. I'm just some Wilder."

Owlis told her, "Cyras, listen to me." Her voice echoed throughout the long chamber. "I know we've left on the worst terms, but you are going to pay off your community service debt, all you have to do is join N:Era, and trust me."

Ahmond nodded to Cyras for reassurance. "I'll join you."

Lilu said, "I will too."

Cyras said, "If Lilu stays with me." Lilu stared at Cyras, almost certain there was no way Owlis could honestly say yes.

Owlis said, "Jazmyn will get angry and cause an international incident."

Cyras remained steadfast as Lilu shrunk back. "No."

The voice belonged to a hyena, as Cyras and Ahmond stared at Lilu, who said, "No. I'm tired of running away from my mom and I'm tired of dealing with all of the bile she spews at me!" She stomped the floor. "Cyras, I'll be okay. But you better believe that I'm going to face Jazmyn, and I'm going to tell her exactly how she's treated me, and I care not about anything she says. Even if all she does is tell me to leave, I'll be okay."

Cyras locked eyes with Lilu who smiled, genuinely.

***



"Dear Cyras,

I knew you never got the cookies you wanted so I baked these for you.

Love, Ahmond."

Cyras stared around at the purple room of Owlis, the older fox at the head of the bed, but was far from comfortable with her yet.

"So, thanks for accepting the tea invitation with Lilu."

Owlis said, "Technically I had to honor the deal. Though I suppose I’d be harder pressed if you hadn’t had Lilu at the helm, otherwise you’d be arrested on the spot."

Cyras took out a package attached to the letter and popped the lid open, before taking out a single gingerbread cookie. "This is a weird shape."

"That's a gingerbread man."

Cyras blinked and said, "I, uh..."

"Eh, don't think about this too much," Owlis told her.

"Gotcha." Cyras winked at her before she tossed Owlis a cookie. Both bit down, as Cyras tasted the warmed bread, the brown sugar, and the baked edges.

"I was wondering Owlis."

"Ask anything you want."

"I've been having a lot of problems with a sign with some red block letters. Let's rewrite them. To: Answer the call."

*

Special thanks to KIERAL for support, for reading, and the title of Lilu's theme.

Thanks to Arianwells for help with beta reading.

Thanks to Bethanyclark95 for your support.

Thanks to Void Android for supporting the live readings.


"Fading Away" - Lilu.

I guess the day by day

Wouldn't be so bad

The fact you realized

Makes me feel glad



I thought this was just normal

Just the average daily turmoil

And every day,

I sat and thought

I knew the way

Other families fought

There must be something wrong with me

A problem in myself only I could see

All the chains

That would free me

And the key

Who would stop me

Can't hold now

I'm fading away

From sorrow

The pains of love

From the screams

And crying nights

Can't hold now

I'm fading away.