13This chapter was edited. On 07/29/20. And again in 07/30/20. That is all.
Enjoy!
Aris was still in the back of the fruit vendor's cart, this time lost in thought.
'I could've done something to get back at that princess and made her make the Weather Stone work, but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do that."
She traced her fingers on what appeared to be eight different grooves in the stone.
"How do I get this to work?" she asked herself.
"You still talking out loud, girly?" the vendor asked.
"You stay out of this!" Aris yelled back. "I wish that it could tell me something." she said to herself.
All at once, a beeping sound could be heard from the stone. It flashed blue.
"Need some help?" it asked.
"A TALKING ROCK?!" yelled the fruit vendor.
"Actually, my sister called it a stone, so-HEY! It DOES talk!"
"Aaaah!" the vendor yelled some more. "Get off my cart!"
The vendor was about to throw Aris off, but Aris jumped off. She threw the stone at the vendor's fruit; an apple.
"My lively hood!"
"Well that's what you get for pushing a lady!" Aris retorted.
"I'm keeping this now!" the vendor said as he held it high.
"But it talks."
"Oh, you're right!"
The vendor threw the stone back at Aris. The stone turned into a pebble as he threw it.
"Good! It won't hurt me, then!" Aris called.
"Me either!" said the vender.
Aris threw it back at him. Soon, they were throwing the stone like a hot potato.
"That's it! I'm just going to drive away!" the vender said as he pulled on the reins to his two horses.
Aris was left on the side of the road, with nothing but the (many) clothes on her back and the Weather Stone, which had turned back from a pebble into a stone.
"H-Hello?" Aris asked, hastily.
"Hello?" the stone answered back.
"Aah!" Aris screamed as she let go of the stone.
"Stop doing that!" the stone spoke. "You wanted some help, right?"
Aris picked the stone up.
"Y-Yes?" she asked, still upset.
"Is that an actual question?" the stone sounded impatient.
"No!" Aris regained her composure.
"Good. Now, if you really want to know how to make this work, all's you must know is that there's eight types of weather you must use to bring yourself back to normal." the stone explained.
"Why can't I use a beauty stone?" Aris asked,
"Because you'd just use it on yourself. That's why I-I mean your sister-gave you the Weather Stone. So, that you'd still be able to protect yourself while in the rest of the world." the stone explained further.
"But I can't use the Weather Stone!" Aris whined.
"Doesn't matter. You'll come across a man soon that will be able to help you in your quest. A knight, Besides him, you'll need to find some others. Eight total. You should know who they are; YOU were the one who stole their beauty,"
"Nope."
"What?"
"I can't remember everyone who's beauty I stole."
"B-But you only stole from eight!"
"Not my problem."
"ARIS! You need to turn around and walk right back to the castle! OR follow after that vendor!"
"Don't mess with me! That princess WISHED to be beautiful. I had no part in it. My sister, I-Wait a minute! It's YOU! IRA!"
"Um. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a talking rock is all."
"Stone."
"Same thing How did you know it was me?!"
"I'm not full of hot air, you know! Besides. You made it easy. Well, thank you, anyways. I needed the help. Now, give me powers back!"
"I will only give you back your powers when you let go of your selfishness. But I will tell you what the people you're looking for do for a living. 1, The princess, 2, the fruit vendor-"
"-Oh, not HIM, again!"
"3, A knight, 4, a woodcutter, 5, a blacksmith, 6, a clothes designer , 7, a baker, and 8, a florist.
"Before I do anything else, you MUST tell me-Why is it that the princess wished to be beautiful to impress the guy she fell for?" Aris asked, confused.
"You may not realize enough about the world, Aris, but some people in this world are more deceiving than others. For example, the princess. She lied to you when she said she wished to be beautiful for the one she loved. She wished to be pretty for herself. Like you!" Ira almost sounded worried.
"So, then YOU took her beauty away, not me!" Aris lashed.
"Correction: YOU did!" Ira lashed back.
"Wait. I'm confused." Aris really was.
"I did indeed take her beauty. But you were responsible for initiating the beauty-taking. You must know by now that I was able to take peoples' beauty only after you left our cottage." Ira explained.
"But that was only a day ago!" Aris said, indignantly.
"It seems like it, but in reality, you've been here a week." Ira explained.
"Woah." Aris couldn't believe.
"You almost sound impressed." Ira smiled, only Aris couldn't see.
"Not a chance!" Aris said.
Ira chuckled. "So, now are you going to behave?"
"I'll stop arguing with you. For now." Aris finished.
"Then I suggest you go after the vendor. He won't lie to you like the princess." Ira suggested.
"You're watching me, aren't you?" Aris realized.
"Yup." Ira admitted.
"And I'm not getting that castle, OR a kingdom am I?" Aris realized.
"You already rule over part of the world." Ira reminded.
"A dusty old cottage isn't very nice. Oh, well. I guess I'll have to catch that cart." Aris realized again.
"Yup." Ira plainly said.
"One more thing; How can I get out of these clothes?" Aris asked.
Ira laughed again. "You can either step into some water which will cause your clothes to dissolve. When you get out, they'll automatically appear once dry. OR you can change the weather,"
"Weird, but it'll do. Well, time to go." Aris said.
Aris put the stone in her pocket and started jogging.
"Hey! Take me out!" Ira commanded. "I'm not done, yet!"
"Quiet! I'm all sweaty because of you!" Aris yelled.
"Fine! I won't tell you anymore!" Ira yelled back.
Aris stiopped. "Hold on, y-It's the vendor!"
The vendor saw Aris over his shoulder.
"Hyah! Hyah!" he urged his horses.
Aris didn't give up. Then the stone shone brightly in blue from Ari's pocket.
The light bothered everyone's eyes.
The vendor had to stop.
The stone shown a lot less bright.
"Okay, what do you want?" the vendor asked.
"I want you to-Ira, what do I need to do?" Aris asked.
"Are you two seriously the Twin Goddesses?" the vendor asked, too.
"Yes, now listen." said Ira, impatiently. "Tell 'um, Aris." Ira said.
"You wished to have beauty in your life, right? Well, my sister here has turned both you and I and seven others into ugly people for being selfish or something." Aris explained.
"The only thing I can think of is that I wish I had apples that lasted longer and looked good. Could that be it?" the vendor asked.
"That's it." Ira explained.
"Well, I didn't want to cause any trouble. I'll take any normal-looking apples over rotten ones. Can you two forgive me?" the vendor apologized.
"Do we HAVE to forgive him?" Aris complained.
"Yes. That's what I was looking for all along." Ira told her.
All at once, Aris' dress changed color. It turned from sky blue with a white trimming to the color of a yellow sun.
The dress shone over the apples and turned them a juicy red.
"There we go!" Ira spoke happily.
"So, where should I go next, Ira?" Aris asked.
"Just go down that road, Aris." Ira pointed. "The knight is there."
"I'm heading there that way myself," said the vendor. "Want a ride? I feel like I owe you."
"And my sister owes you!" Ira blurted out.
"Does it have something to do with your outfits?" the vendor asked.
"It does. She'll tell you on the way." Ira assured.
The stone stopped glowing.
Aris settled down on the cart next to the vendor.
"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself?"
"Oh! I'm Brick."
"Brick, huh. Pssh. Dumb name."
"Hey I don't care if you're a goddess, I'm treating you like a normal woman."
"Hmph. Suit yourself."
And so, Aris and Brick set out to find the eight people who's beauty was stolen.