Trouble in Mirumu

    The van made its way over the road. Everyone was asleep as ususal, and 
Brandan was bored out of his 
mind. He was waiting for Elena to awaken so he could tease her a bit. As if 
on cue, Elena walked out of her room all
dressed and ready to go. Elena walked over to Brandan and gave him a smile. 
"Good morning, Brandan. What are 
you up to?" "Nothing really, just driving the van at 6 in the morning, bored 
out of my mind. I was waiting for ya' to
get up." Elena laughed a bit,"I guess it does get boring staring at a road 
with no one to talk to. So, when will we 
arrive at Mirumu? I can't wait to get there." "Well, don't worry. We should 
get there in about 15-20 minutes. Would 
you do me a favor and get everyone up. If you can't get Becky and Jim up, 
don't bother tring. They'll just have to do 
the work again." "Sure thing, Brandnan." Elena got out of her seat and made 
her way to the back. Elena stopped by
Ryudo and shook him until he woke up. Elena then made her way to the chair 
where Flash was. She rubbed his head
a bit and he got up and stretched. Elena went in to Becky and Jim's room and 
began to shake them. No matter how 
hard she shook them, they refused to get up. So, Elena gave up and left the 
room. She made her way back to the 
front of the van. She sat in her seat next to Brandan and watched the road. 
Ryudo was all dressed and was seated on
the couch with his legs crossed and his arms hanging over the back of the 
couch. Flash walked over and decided to
join Ryudo on the couch. Ryudo looked at Flash who gave him a smile. "So, 
Flash enjoying the ride?" Flash nodded
his head. Elena looked at Ryudo having a one-sided conversation with Flash. 
Elena gave a smile and looked back at 
the road. The frightening images of her dream came into her mind as they 
approached Mirumu. Elena had a feeling 
that something bad would hapen there because of her dream. Elena shook her 
head and wipped the thought out of 
her mind. It was probably just the rememberance of the Eye of Valmar and 
Selene that gave her the nightmare so she
decided to forget it. The van made a stop outside the gate of Mirumu. "Well, 
here we are folks. Please leave all
luggage in the van and have a nice day,"said Brandan making his way to the 
door. Ryudo pointed at Becky and Jim's
door and said,"But what about them, aren't they coming?" Brandan looked at 
Ryudo and smirked. "Well, my #1 rule
is if you sleep in late, you do all the work. The way I see it, Becky and Jim 
will do all the work setting up and what we
get the whole day to ourselves." Elena looked at him a bit confused. 
"Brandan, what do you mean by the whole day?
Don't we have to perform?" Brandan shook his head. "Nope. I said we had to 
perform in 5 days and it's only been 4
days. Which means, we have one day to relax and enjoy ourselves. I want to 
get everything done today instead of 
doing it all tomorrow. I left Becky and Jim a note so they can get everything 
ready. Am I good or what?" Ryudo 
smirked a bit at Brandan and turned to Elena. "Say, Elena, what to go see how 
Sandra and Aira are doing?" "Ok,
Ryudo. Brandan, what to come with us?" Before Brandan could answer, a large 
bang was heard from the van. Becky
and Jim were having some techinal difficulties unloading the instruments. Jim 
tried to get his drum set of the top of 
the van, but one of the drums rolled off and threatened to flattened him so 
he ran for his life. Becky couldn't get any
of the ropes untied. Brandan gave a sigh. "Sorry, but I have to pass. If you 
want something done you have to do it
yourself," said Brandan as he ran off to help Becky and Jim. "Well, I guess 
it's just us." "I guess so, Elena. Hey, do 
you think they had that planned?" "Can't really tell. Both seem quite likely 
to happen when they're involved." Ryudo
and Elena walked to Sandra and Aira's house. Along the way, Ryudo kept 
looking at Elena. Her hand was right next
to his. Ryudo was tempted to take it in his but decided not to. Elena then 
looked at Ryudo who was very red and 
looked a bit nervious. "Is something wrong, Ryudo? Who don't look too well. 
Are you alright?"Ryudo's voice 
cracked a bit,"Me!?Uh......no,no, I'm fine, just thinking about 
....uh....y...Garlan." "Garlan?" "Yeah, Garlan. I was just
thinking about it." "Are you homesick?" "Not really, I was just wondering how 
everyone was doing." "Ok, if you 
say so.....Look, there it is." Elena and Ryudo spotted the house and walked 
up to it. Sandra and Aira were outside 
working in their garden. Aira turned around when she heard them coming. 
"Mother, look who it is." Sandra looked 
up from her garden to see who it was. "Elena, Ryudo. Good to see you again. 
How are you?" "Fine, we're here with 
my minstrel group to perform tomorrow." "I see you two are doing well. I can 
see you don't fight anymore." Ryudo
laughed a bit and put his hand behind his head,"No, not really. You can say 
we get along pretty well now." Aira
just laughed a bit. Just then, Flash came running from the van and ran over 
to Elena. He jumped up and gave Elena a
big hug. Elena returned his hug and twirled him around. "Hello, Flash. Did 
you help Jim and Becky with the 
instruments?" Flash gave a quick nod and smiled. Aira stepped up to Flash and 
looked at him. "Hello, my is Aira.
What' yours?'' Flash just smiled and looked at Elena, then back at Aira. "His 
name is Flash. He's an automata, but he
can't talk,'' said Elena. "Oh, I see." Brandan then came running over in 
laughter. "Hey,guys, you gotta see this. Look 
towards the van." Ryudo and Elena did so. When they saw, everyone started 
laughing. Jim had tripped and fallen 
into a bucket next to the van. Seems he got stuck and couldn't get out. Becky 
was tring to pull him out in every way
possible, but nothing seemed to be working. "Oh dear, poor Jim." Brandan 
stopped laughing for a second. "Yeah, 
come on. Let's give Becky a hand and get Jim out of the man-eating bucket." 
Elena laughed again and waved to
Sandra and Aira and said,"Sorry but we have to go help our friend. We'll see 
you later. Bye.'' Aira and Sandra waved
as Brandan, Elena, Ryudo, and Flash headed towards the van to help Jim.
    Later after saving Jim, the gang headed toward the inn to get some 
dinner. They found a nice table in the 
back and sat down. Brandan preferred sitting in the back so he could see and 
comment everyone in the inn. 
Everyone got a menu and decided what they wanted. Elena went over the menu 
with Flash so he could point to what
he wanted. When the waiter came over, everyone ordered and waited for their 
food. Elena decided to look around a 
bit before their food came. Brandan was looking around for something to 
comment on when he noticed Ryudo 
looking at Elena. Brandan gave a smirk and put his arm around Ryudo's neck. 
"Ryudo, buddy, pal, new compadre,
what ya' looking at?" Ryudo blushed a bit but stopped himself. "Nothing, just 
looking around for...the....uh...waiter."
Brandan didn't buy it. "Sure you are. Not correct me if I'm wrong, but you're 
in love with Elena, right?" Ryudo 
blushed again, "No, not really. I just like being around her." "Sure Ryudo. 
Come on, we're not stupid,'' said Jim.
Becky then stepped in,"Yeah, Ryudo. You always look at her and get a bit 
nervious around her." Ryudo blushed
once again,"Welll.....hhehe...'' Brandan gave a small smirk. "Don't look now, 
but some guy is flurting with her.'' 
Ryudo jumped up a bit in his seat and looked around frantically. "What!!! 
Where......where!!!" Brandan, Becky,and 
Jim laughed. "See, I told you. Your in love, Ryudo," said Brandan between his 
laughs. Ryudo relaxed a bit and 
decided to forget about it.
    Meanwhile, Elena was walking around looking at people enjoying themselves 
and the shell formations on 
walls. Elena walked by the bar when someone caught her eye. Elena turned 
around and saw someone with long, 
brown hair and a purple tail. "Hey, Elyssa is that you?" The person turned to 
elena and sure enough, it was Elyssa.
"Hey, Elena. Haven't seen you in a while. How you been?" "Fine, thanks. What 
are you doing here in Mirumu?'' 
"Nothing important. Just passing through, plus I heard a large monster was in 
the area, so I decided to do a 
perimeter check, but I haven't seen anything unusual.'' Elena smiled at her. 
"You have your work cut out for you.
Anyway, would you like to have dinner with me and my friends?" Elyssa got off 
of her stool. "Sorry, but I have 
to pass. I should get going, but I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" "Alright." Elena 
then noticed a small light green, 
winged dragon on Elyssa's shoulder. "What's that on your shoulder, Elyssa?" 
Elyssa looked at the dragon and then
at Elena. "Oh, this is my pet and traveling buddy. His name is Zeke. Go 
ahead, you can pet him, he won't bite." Elena
smiled at Zeke and stroked his head. Zeke made a kind of purring sound and 
squeaked a bit. "Well, I have to go. See
you around, Elena." "Bye, Elyssa. Bye, Zeke." Elena then walked back to her 
table. Elyssa was right infront of the 
door, when she turned around and looked at Elena walking back. "My job 
protecting you begins here. You'll have to
use powers you never even knew you had. Is she ready to meet the true powers 
of light and darkness, Zeke?" Zeke
gave a small type of roar. Elyssa closed her eyes and smiled and left the 
inn.