~Ch. XXII~
The heat of Lestallum hit the five friends like a wave. They were back in town once more to report the good news to Talcott. As soon they pulled in, they were met with the warmth that radiated from the meteor shards providing energy for the people to utilize. The group crossed the road and headed for the hotel. Walking along the streets, Ryella's ears caught the sound of music. She could tell it was coming from the direction they were heading. Upon reaching the Leville, they saw a couple of musicians playing by the fountain.
Ryella was immediately captivated by their performance, and joined the small crowd gathered around to listen. One of the men played a guitar while the other played what looked like a conga drum. The music they made had a very tropical tune to it, but Ryella liked it all the same. The boys took notice of her interest in the musicians and allowed her to stay and listen while they stepped inside the hotel. Jared, Talcott, and Iris were already in the lobby.
Iris hopped out of her seat with a smile as soon as she saw them. "You're back! How'd it go?"
"Great," Noctis replied, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He looked over at Talcott, who approached alongside his grandfather. "You're information was spot on, Talcott. Thanks to you, we found the sword."
The boy bowed respectfully, beaming with joy. "You're welcome, Prince Noctis. I'm glad I could be of assistance."
Jared glanced around, not seeing the Guardian anywhere. "I daresay, where is Lady Ryella?"
Gladio pointed his thumb toward the entrance behind him. "She got sidetracked by the musicians at the fountain."
Ignis cracked a smile. "She's as curious as a cat when it comes to places like this."
"It's actually pretty cute," Gladio commented.
Prompto gave a slight glare at the muscular man, feeling a little jealous. "Dude!"
Gladio smirked at the blond. "What? Just saying." He shrugged his shoulders.
"We should probably go get her before she wanders off," Noctis said.
"I'll go too," Iris added.
The group exited the hotel, immediately turning their attention to the musicians. Among the small gathering, they easily spotted Ryella. Her long, brown locks bounced a bit as she bobbed her head and swayed to the beat. She appeared to be enjoying the music. Iris and the boys couldn't help but smile at how cheery she seemed to be. They approached her from behind, causing her to turn her head upon hearing their footsteps.
"Oh, there you all are," she said, turning all the way around to face them.
"You sure seemed to be having fun over here," Gladio told her.
"Yeah," Prompto agreed, grinning. "You looked like you were having the time of your life."
The girl blushed lightly in embarrassment, her eyes darting to the side as she rubbed her arm. "I-I can't help it... I really love music." She glanced longingly back at the musicians. "I wish I could play again... It always helped to ease my mind."
"I can't blame you there," Iris added. "Listening to the music that's played around Lestallum always makes me happy."
"Well, enjoy this time all you like," Noctis said, earning Ryella's attention. "We might be sticking around for a bit. Might as well have fun while you can."
Iris went over to stand alongside Ryella so they could both enjoy the music. Prompto thought back on the Guardian's words. I wish I could play again... It always helped to ease my mind. Her expression in that moment showed just how much she missed her life before everything happened. The gunman wished he had a way to grant her request---for her to be able to do what she loves again. A thought suddenly popped into his mind, causing him to gasp. With the two girls preoccupied by the musicians, Prompto quickly gestured for his friends to follow him away from the crowd. Puzzled, the boys complied, walking with the blond back toward the hotel and stopping right outside.
"Guys, I've got a great idea!" he quietly exclaimed. "Did you notice how sad Ryella was when she mentioned playing music?"
"Of course," the shield responded without hesitation. "A look like that doesn't slip by me."
"Well what if we could get her a new instrument to play?" Prompto suggested.
Ignis hummed in thought, pushing up his glasses. "Not a bad idea. If I recall, she mentioned before that she played the harp. If we could find similar stringed instruments..."
Noctis gave a small nod. "I'm sure we could find something if we look around town. It might be a little pricey, but I think Ryella deserves it."
The gunman grinned with excitement. "And why don't we surprise her with it later as a gift from us? Man, I bet she'd love that!"
Gladio smirked. "Damn, you're really going all out with this. You sure you're not just doing this to try and win her favor?"
Prompto blushed. "N-no, of course not. I just think she could use a little reminder of home, something that'll make her happy." He pursed his lips together for a brief moment, turning his gaze to the ground. "B-besides, she's always bringing up her brother and her boyfriend. She probably doesn't see any of us as anything more than friends."
Noctis gave the boy's shoulder a firm pat, causing Prompto to meet his gaze. "Still, it's a good idea. I'm sure Ryella will be thankful for it."
"We merely need something to keep her distracted while we have a look around," Ignis chimed in. "Perhaps we could ask Iris to create a diversion of sorts."
"No sweat, Iggy," the tattooed man responded. "I'll have Iris set it up." Gladio walked over to his little sister, nudging her arm lightly to get her attention. "Iris, could you come over here for a sec? Got something to ask you."
Iris skeptically arched an eyebrow. "Uh, okay."
Ryella watched the two walk away for a moment before turning her attention back to the musicians. She was a bit curious as to what the siblings wanted to discuss, but she simply assumed it was family matters or had something to do with the journey. Either way, they hadn't asked for Ryella, so she decided not to bother them. She was never one to rudely pry into someone else's business.
"So what's this all about?" Iris inquired, looking at each of the boys.
"Shh," Gladio hushed, glancing back at Ryella. "Keep your voice down. We've got a little something planned for Ryella."
"We wanna buy her a gift and surprise her with it later," Prompto explained.
"That's so sweet of you guys!" the brunette quietly gushed. "How can I help?"
"All we require is for you to keep her occupied here at the hotel while we go find her gift," Ignis told her.
Noctis rested a hand on his hip. "It'll be easy, just don't let her leave."
They suddenly realized that Ryella was coming over to them. The musicians had finished up, leaving the girl with nothing else to listen to. She froze when she saw everyone's eyes on her.
"I-I'm sorry," she nervously stuttered out. "Was I interrupting?"
Iris smiled brightly. "Not at all, we were just having a quick chat. So, Ryella, you wanna hang out with Talcott and me for a bit?"
Ryella smiled back. "Um, okay."
"Great!" Iris swiftly snatched up the girl's hand, tugging her along toward the hotel lobby. "Let's go inside! We can play games and catch up! You've gotta tell us about your trip so far!"
"W-wait." Ryella's soft voice caused Iris to pause. The Guardian looked back at the boys. "What about you guys?"
"We're just gonna do a little grocery shopping," the prince lied.
Gladio waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry 'bout us, you girls have fun. We'll be back in a bit."
Ryella gave a nod of understanding before allowing Iris to continue pulling her inside. Once the two females left, Prompto enthusiastically said, "Alright, let's get to searching!"
"We must be certain to purchase an instrument most similar to a harp," the bespectacled man advised. "There's no guarantee she'd be able to play something like a guitar simply because it's a stringed instrument."
"We'll see what we can find," Noctis added.
The four boys began their search at the Partellum Market. Alongside the foods were things like pots and pans, fabrics, and a variety of small trinkets. There was a single small shop that had an assortment of instruments, but they ranged from the conga drums to the guitars that were the most commonly played intruments in town. There wasn't anything remotely similar to a harp. So, the boys looked elsewhere. They walked the streets, looking through the types of wares sold by the various shops around town.
But they had no luck in finding any place that sold uncommon instruments, at least not until they reached a small place at the edge of town close to the tunnel leading into Lestallum. It was a shop called "Moatte's Odds 'n' Ends". The vendor there sold numerous things that couldn't be found at the other shops. From small instruments to car decals, there was quite a selection. On the shelves behind the man, the boys scanned over the types of instruments. There was a flute, a couple of harmonicas, a ukulele, and a single instrument that looked like a small version of a harp.
"That one, there!" Prompto cried, pointing to it. The man running the shop followed his finger and took the instrument off the shelf. "It's basically a mini harp!"
"It's called a lyre," Ignis corrected. "While it may look much like a harp in appearance, it's much smaller in size with a different sound to it." He smiled slightly. "But it's the closest thing we've seen all day, and its portability makes it a perfect choice."
"That'll be 2,500 gil," the vendor said, setting the instrument on the counter in front of them along with a casing to carry it in.
"Huh, I expected it to cost more than that," Noctis muttered, digging into his pocket.
The man behind the counter smiled. "Nah, a lot of people here in Lestallum enjoy music. We can't go charging too much for items that can be considered necessities."
After fishing out the gil from his wallet, Noctis paid the man and took the lyre and its case. The group began leaving the shop, examining the instrument. It was well-crafted into an almost teardrop shape. The wood it was made of was sturdy, light, and smooth to the touch. It had a small, four-leaf clover design at its center, and even the strings appeared to be made of a strong type of chord. As for the case, it was a solid dark blue color and made out of a soft, cloth-like material with a zipper to open it and a handle to carry it with ease.
(This is what the lyre looks like)
With Ignis holding onto the case, Noctis held the lyre firmly in one hand and experimentally plucked a couple of strings. "Meh, it's got an okay sound to it."
"In the hands of an expert, a lyre can produce quite an array of beautiful melodies," Ignis told him.
The bespectacled man zipped the case open for the prince, who carefully tucked the instrument inside before zipping it up and taking it. "I bet Ryella will play it like a pro," Prompto chimed in. "Maybe she'll even sing too. I heard her voice a little before and she sounded beautiful."
"Well she did say she made music and sang with her brother and Lady Lunafreya," Gladio pointed out before fixing his gaze on the blond. "Are you really sure you're not just doing this in hopes of winning her over?"
The gunman's face heated up and he became flustered by the abrupt change of subjects. "Dude, we've already been over this! I just want to cheer her up, that's all!" He then let out a sigh. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Ryella's great. She's sweet and kind, and really pretty. Not to mention she's super strong when she can use magic or transform."
"Sure sounds like you fancy her," Noctis mumbled under his breath.
Another, more hopeless sigh escaped the gunman's lips. "She's way outta my league though, and there's no way I could be anything close to her boyfriend. He must've been so cool."
"You mean her ex-boyfriend," Gladio corrected. "He's gone. Sure, she's going to miss him for awhile, but she'll also have to move on. If that Clement guy really cared about her, he'd want her to be happy after his death."
"And if you haven't noticed," Ignis interrupted, "you're not him. You are an entirely separate person, you don't have to be anything like him."
Prompto hung his head down. "Still..."
Noctis suddenly stopped walking, causing his friends to halt and look at him. The prince turned to his best friend and held out the lyre. "Here. You can be the one to give this to her."
The blond hesitantly took the handle of the lyre's case, looking dumbfounded. "Wh-why me?"
Noctis crossed his arms. "Because it's obvious you like her. Besides, you came up with the idea to buy her a present."
The prince began moving again, causing his friends to follow. Prompto gulped and clutched the case handle tightly, growing anxious at the thought of presenting the gift to Ryella. What his friends had said was true, the boy was developing a huge crush on the Guardian. But he believed that he didn't have a chance with her. She had already loved someone else, and Prompto couldn't imagine her forgetting all of that. Currently, the blond's desire to be more than a friend seemed like nothing more than a distant dream.
Certainly he'd be better off chasing after Cindy instead, she was his first crush, after all. But for some reason, he got a strange, unpleasant feeling at the thought. It was like his heart had already made a decision that his head wasn't agreeing with. Get it together, Prompto, he mentally scolded. Ryella's just a friend. That's it. Cindy's the one I really like...right? But Ryella is truly special. Never met a girl quite like her, and she's so cute. He tried to shake the conflicting thoughts from his mind. Why's this gotta be so complicated, dammit?! It shouldn't even be that difficult of a choice! But then...why does thinking of Ryella make me feel so content? Seeing her smile is enough to calm my nerves.
Before the gunman could even finish his thought process, he suddenly realized they were about to enter the hotel. He hadn't even noticed how far they'd walked. He grew nervous all over again at the idea of giving the gift to Ryella. How will she react? What if she doesn't like it? He pushed back the negativity and followed his friends in. They climbed the stairs to the second floor and approached the door to Iris's room. Prompto hid the present behind his back as Noctis gave the door a few knocks.
It swiftly opened to reveal Iris's friendly smile. "You're back! How'd the shopping go?" She gave a mischievous wink.
"We found what we were looking for," her brother replied.
Iris let them all in and shut the door. "We found something Ryella's surprisingly good at."
The boys followed the brunette's gaze over to where Ryella and Talcott were. The pair sat side by side at the edge of a bed. They each had a pad of paper on their laps and pencils in their hands. Talcott was watching the girl closely as she drew, then tried his best to copy her. Jared appeared to be sitting in a chair, watching TV while his grandson was occupied with the Guardian. Ryella didn't bother looking up from her drawing, knowing the guys had returned. But Talcott looked up, a grin spreading across his face.
"Prince Noctis, welcome back! Lady Ryella's teaching me how to draw cactuars!"
"Turns out she's got a talent for drawing," Iris chimed in.
Ryella finished up her picture before finally looking up at the four boys with a smile. She picked up the drawing and held it up for them. "What do you think?"
On the paper was a perfect sketch of a cactuar. Each curve of its limbs and every needle on its body was exactly like the real thing. "Impeccable," Ignis complimented. "It's quite beautifully drawn."
"You never told us you could draw so well," Noctis said.
Ryella put down the picture. "It was just a minor past time. I never spent a lot of time on it."
"I drew a cactuar too!" Talcott exclaimed, holding up his picture. His creature had squiggly lines and plenty of other mistakes. "It's not that great, but I still had fun drawing it."
Ryella flashed the child a smile. "You'll get better with practice."
Gladio suddenly pushed Prompto forward, nearly making him trip. "By the way, Ryella, we picked you up a little something."
"You did? You really didn't need to do that."
"We wanted to," the blond finally blurted out. He moved closer until he stood right in front of her. He suddenly held out the case that he'd been hiding behind his back. "So, here ya go."
Ryella stared at the case for a moment before politely taking it from him. She carefully unzipped the case and opened it up to see what was inside. She suddenly gasped, her eyes wide in amazement at the instrument. She lightly trailed her fingers across its side. The lyre was gorgeously designed, but it was the fact that her friends had remembered what she'd said before that amazed her the most. They went out of their way to get her a present based on her likes.
"Y-you bought this...for me?"
"Yep," the prince answered. "You can thank Prompto for that. He came up with the idea to buy you an instrument."
The girl looked up at the gunman in front of her. He nervously laughed, a goofy grin on his face and his cheeks tinted red. "D-do you like it?"
Ryella set the instrument aside, stood, and surprised the boy by wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Yes, I really really like it. Thank you so much."
Prompto's face grew redder, and before he had the chance to return her hug, she pulled away. She smiled brightly, overjoyed by the gift. "G-great!" the blond stuttered out. "I'm h-happy to hear that!"
Ryella sat back down, took the lyre, and strummed a few strings. For quite a while, the Guardian continued testing out the new instrument by playing short tunes and melodies. Everyone found it pleasant to see her as happy and carefree as she was when she made music. Prompto was especially satisfied by how things turned out. His brilliant idea earned him a hug and many smiles from Ryella. He admired how swiftly she'd gotten accustomed to the lyre, using her delicate fingers to pluck the right strings at the right moments, creating beautiful music. He hoped that he'd soon get to hear her sing as well, because from what he'd heard of her singing voice before, she sounded like an angel. All in all, it was a good day, and Ryella was finally able to do what she enjoyed again.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top