Help. Me... LOLI!!!
*Argus's Narration*
"Okay, so… let me get this straight. You have this voice inside your head which is your only friend in this world… and you and 'HER' got into an argument and she mentioned a particular name… Then you got so pissed that you lost all control and thought that I was the guy behind it all? That's bat-shit crazy!" said 'My Loli'.
It would be a massive understatement if I said I bewildered her.
I, on the other hand, sat on the floor with my knees hugging my chest.
Still under the aftereffects of my previous bawling-my-eyes-out.
-HIC…
*Sniff* "Yeah… that's exactly what happened. Okay?!?." I said, as I looked up with eyes ready and waiting for another round of bawling.
"Okay! Now stop crying! Wh-What are you? A Baby Adventurer?" Lili said with her hands on her waist.
"I'm not crying… Someone's cutting onions around here…"
/Jeez man… you remind of that 'Deep' guy from The Boys… /
"Shut up! I'm nothing like him!" I croaked.
"What…? 'SHE' said something?"
"She said, I remind her of that 'Deep' guy from The Boys! Well, Yeah? Can he skewer the balls of a Level 1 as I did?!"
"What the… Okay… Okay, of course, he can't. Yup! You're the best. Here, wipe your nose with this…" she said, as she handed me a handkerchief to wipe the noise that was never there.
I'm not that pathetic, okay?
*Sniff…*
-HAA! PHOOORRR!!
Absolutely not.
/Eahhh… /
.
.
.
Lili and I were close to Babel, in search of the cheapest Inn around.
"So what's the plan now, Loli? We're basically Excommunicado." I asked before I took a huge bite out of a potato croquette.
All that drama made me hungry again.
"Deep cover… You're not the only one with a fancy trick up their sleeve. I have a magic that allows me to disguise myself… it's called Cinder Ella. I'll tell you more about it later. For now, let's just find someplace to sleep."
"You know… back at my place, Cinderella was a Disney Princess… OR at least I think. It's a fairy tale about a girl who wanted to be something else… someone special… So she changed herself. Married a hot dude and stuff… Not as hot as me, though." I said as I winked at her with a smile.
"I'd like to hear that story someday…" Lili replied while looking forwards.
Her expression was hard to see because of the hood but I could tell she was in deep thought.
"Sure… I'll try to recall it as best as I can… I was a little kid when watched it."
"Watched it…?"
"Yeah… kinda… we had these big screens that could… replay memories, movies we called them. So, rather than reading it I watched it with my mother."
With a reminiscing chuckle, I went on.
"When watching it… I remember my mother teasing me that… 'When you're all big and strong, I'll find you a princess a-thousand times prettier than her.'… and I blushed mad. Mother was really fond of this one."
"Sounds amazing… Did she… your mother found one for you?"
"She never needed to… I found one myself. A million times prettier…" I replied as our walk came to a halt.
Orange lights from the Inn left of us shone on both of us, casting long shadows.
Lili slowly turned around to face me.
Her eyes wavered.
Drawing a deep breath, she asked…
"What happened then…?"
"Exactly what I hate the most…" I replied as our eyes met.
There was no need to speak out an answer.
We may have only known each other for mere hours but, at that moment, it felt like we've known each other all our lives.
.
.
To call the Inn, Lili chose shabby, would be an insult to the word.
The receptionist was a guy picking his nose as we walked in.
A few tables and chairs lying around for a lobby.
The lights used were cheap orange.
[They'll give me a bed, right?]
/ They should… I mean, this is an Inn, right? /
"You really did take me somewhere funny, didn't you? Like I said before, my love for lollies…"
My loli jumped on me to cover my mouth with a fierce blush on her face.
"This is a proper Inn! And we're sleeping in different rooms! Now shut up or I'll bite you!" She said with a cheery face and forced shut eyes.
A single room was 200 Vs. I had about 1500 on me courtesy to the guy we found in the dungeon. So, money was not a problem for me, for now.
.
.
In all my life, I had never entered a room this cheap and unkempt.
The dry smell of dust was in the air.
The supposed white bedsheets were more yellow than white.
A small mirror on the wall had numerous cracks in it.
The desk and chair didn't even look safe to use.
The inn had no private baths. Lili told me that there was a common bathing place by the end of the corridor.
[I'm so not showering with strangers…]
/ Maybe you should try going when there's no one in there… how about after midnight? /
[Yeah… I can't sleep without a shower…] I conveyed as I let out a disheartened sigh.
Done planning my night, I channeled mana into my clothes and shaped a comfortable pair of shorts and a T-shirt, before hopping on to the bed.
-CREAK!
"Holy shit! The bed won't break in my sleep, right?"
.
.
.
It was past 12.
[Alright! Commence the mission 'A peaceful shower.']
/Here we go… /
We talked while I walked towards the supposed bathhouse.
Peeking in, I confirmed there were no 'hostiles' in.
The 'bathhouse' was divided in two by a wall with 4 shower heads on each side.
There was nothing separating a showering place from another.
[Doesn't it look like the showers they have in prisons…?]
/ Now that you've mentioned it… anyway. I would suggest you make this quick. /
[Yeah… Let's do this!] I conveyed before I hurried towards the shower at the very end of the 'bathhouse'.
.
.
Humming 'Fairy Tail's theme' I was almost done when a sudden harsh voice of a man came from the entrance, paralyzing me out of my wits.
"Dayamn! Ain't that a pillar…?" said a blurry man grinning at me with dirty yellow teeth.
"Huh? Wai… DON'T YOU DARE COME CLOSE! He- HELP ME!… HELP!!… ME!! ... LOLI!!"