Sérgio's 1st Adventure
Chapter 11 - The Hero's Best Friend, Jemily!
Written by: CS-Masyet
Uploaded on: August 30, 2015
The next day, I got up early to get ready to go with Jemily and her family to the beach.
"See ya, guys!" I said to the two CSmon, grabbing the stuff I prepared and heading for the door. "I hope you're both not bored without me!"
"Hmph! Don't worry, me and Sprit have planned a bunch of fun things to do!" Serge said in a huff, crossing his arms in his usual "Serge-like" way. "Right, Sprit?"
"Y-yeah, that's right." Sprit confirmed. "So don't worry about us, Sérgio. Have fun!"
"Thanks! Bye!"
--
I ran as fast as I could, not just because Jemily told me to make sure I got there as early as possible, but because I was really excited to go on the beach trip!
"I'm here!" I exclaimed, making my way to their house, their car already ready to go.
"Oh, hey Sérgio!" Jemily called out to me, getting out of the car to see me. "I'm surprised you made it in time."
"Hey, you told me to get here early, so I did. Do you think I'm irresponsible or something?"
"Well, you're the one who said it, shrimp." Kylade cut in, slapping me on the back again. "You excited for today?"
"Yeah." I noticed him holding a large duffel bag on his back. "What's with the bag?"
"I'm getting ready to head out too. Speaking of which..." He turned to his parents, which had left the car as well to greet their son.
"Bye, honey. Have fun at practice today." His mom told him, giving him a hug.
"... Farewell, son." His dad added, in his usual monotone voice.
"Honey, isn't there anything else you'd like to say to him?" She said, to Jemily's dad this time. "Like 'Good luck!' or something?"
"... Farewell, son. Good luck."
"Honestly..." Mrs. Ricardo put her hands on her hips and shook her head, sighing in disappointment. "This husband of mine..."
"Heheh. Well, later guys! Have fun at the beach!"
With that, Kylade headed off.
"Wow, he's seriously going to do it..." Jemily uttered in disbelief. "He's really going for the middle school basketball team..."
"Yeah, he told me all about it yesterday." I stated. "He said he was practicing a lot for it."
"I can't believe it, but Kylade is starting to mature at last. Even you are, kind of."
"'Kind of'...?"
"Hey you two, we'll be heading out as well." Mr. Ricardo said, going back to the driver's seat of the car. "So hurry up and get in, or we'll leave you behind."
"Don't say things like that, honey! They might take you seriously!"
"L-let's get in before my dad actually does leave us behind..."
"Y-yeah..."
--
"I can't believe that this turned out to be another business trip, honey." Jemily's mom said to her husband, sitting in the front passenger's seat of the car while we were on the road.
"You wanted to go to the beach." He responded.
"On a family trip, honey! You always think about nothing but work!"
"... This time is important."
"You always say that!"
"Do your parents always fight like this?" I asked Jemily.
"Yeah, they do. Which is weird, because when they're not fighting, they're actually pretty lovey-dovey."
Her mom sighed. "Oh well. At least we're actually going to the beach this time."
"By the way, what's it like? The beach we're going to."
"The beach we're going to is called 'Shimmer Shores'. It's at the northern coast of the region, but it's not that far."
"Shimmer Shores? You mean that famous place? That's well-known and stuff?"
"The very one! Although, you two should be careful..."
"Of what?"
"There is a place there called 'Groove Grotto', a cave near the beach. It's off-limits to tourists because it's apparently dangerous." She explained. "And the place you'll arrive at is even worse; it's called 'Dendritic Forest', a dangerous... well, forest."
"I see..."
"You'd better not be thinking: 'Ooh, sounds like fun! I totally wanna go to those places!'" Jemily told me sternly.
"I-I wasn't!"
"Hehee, I know it sounds like a scary story grown-ups would use to prevent kids from wandering into places they shouldn't, but even for adults it's dangerous."
In other words, "totally don't go there". Got it.
"I'm sure you two will be having too much fun at the beach to worry about that cave, anyways!" Her mother said, more cheerfully.
"Wait, wasn't there another interesting thing about the beach you told me about before?" Jemily inquired.
"Ah, right! There was a story about a vanishing island I heard before."
"A vanishing island?"
"Yes. It apparently only appears at certain periods of the day, beyond Shimmer Shores. Not only that, only certain people can see it."
Wait, is that...?
"Has anyone tried sailing to it?" Jemily asked.
"They have, but it always disappears before they can make it there. However, someone had attempted to check it out with binoculars while sailing once, and saw some odd creatures there, among a strange-looking rhinoceros."
It is! It's Serge Island!
"Did someone seriously see something like that...? Are you sure he wasn't just dreaming or something?" Jemily uttered.
It's near Shimmer Shores?! I should remember the way there then, in case I want to fly to the island someday.
--
After about an hour more, we had made it there. I had never traveled that far before (except by Crystana's portals, I guess). I was so glad that I was finally able to get out of the car and stretch.
Jemily's dad parked near a cabin, where we were going to be staying for the weekend. There were four beds inside, and they said I could choose whichever one I wanted. I picked one randomly and put my bag of stuff next to it.
While I was setting up my bed, I noticed Jemily's parents walk out of the door.
"Where are they going?" I asked Jemily, now the only one besides me in the cabin.
"They went to the research center nearby. I don't know for how long, but they said we could do whatever we wanted until they come back." She explained. "Wanna go play at the beach right now?"
"Of course! I'm already ready, actually!" I took off my pants to show her I was already wearing my swimsuit.
"Seriously?! Jeez, I still have to get ready, y'know!"
"Well, hurry up! I want to go right away!"
"I know, I know. Hold on..." She picked up her beach bag, which I figured had her swimsuit inside it, and brought it into the bathroom with her. "You'd better not go there without me! Wait there!"
I groaned, sitting down on my bed, near the bathroom door.
"Fine..."
I ended up waiting for a while. One minute passed... Then another... And another...
"Hey, Jemily!" I called out to her, through the bathroom door. "What's taking so long?"
"H-hold on! I still need to... uh... mentally prepare myself!"
What's that supposed to mean...?
"Are you having trouble putting it on?"
"N-no, it's already on..." She uttered, poking her head out from the door, looking embarrassed.
"Come out here, then!"
"A-alright, fine!"
Jemily came out slowly. She was now wearing a regular two-piece swimsuit. Nothing seemed strange about it at all.
"S-so... um..." She stammered, acting really nervous for some reason. "H-how do I look?"
"You look fine to me." I assured her. "Why, do you think something is wrong with it?"
"N-no, that's not it... I'm just wondering how you think it l-looks on me..."
"Like I said, it looks fine. It doesn't look weird at all."
"Mmnph..." Jemily started to look upset for some reason.
"I mean it! It looks perfectly normal! Nothing stra-..."
She hit me with her beach bag, knocking me over.
"N-never mind, you dummy! Hmph!" Jemily put her bag over her shoulder, and walked out the door.
"Hey, wait! Don't leave me behind!" I grabbed my own beach bag and followed after her.
Jeez, what's she so mad about all of a sudden?
--
We headed to the beach, and set up our stuff on the sand.
"Did you remember to put on sunscreen?" Jemily asked me, apparently not mad anymore. "I already put mine on a while ago."
"Mom said I don't need to, actually. Apparently it has something to do with my fire powers."
"Seriously?! Lucky..."
"Hey hey, we finished setting our stuff up, so let's go play!"
"Sheesh, you're more impatient than a child..."
"I am a child!"
I slipped off the sandals I was wearing and ran toward the water.
"Hold it!" She immediately followed after me, slipping off her own sandals. "You didn't even take your shirt off!"
"Actually, mom told me to keep it on, because I need to hide my wings and it's not good to get them too soggy..."
"So, you're really going to swim like that, then...?" She sighed, looking kind of sad. "I see..."
"Why, does it bother you?" I questioned. "I don't really understand why it matters..."
"N-no, it's fine! I don't care!" She responded, now looking upset. "Hmph!"
I don't get her sometimes...
I looked around, and noticed something strange.
"Hey wait, are we the only ones here right now? Why's that?"
"It's not surprising. The legends about the cave and forest near here must scare other people and keep them away."
"Oh, right. So, it's just gonna be just us two here all day? It seems kind of lonely, but it might also be kind of fun, in a way."
"Yeah... Just us two, alone on the beach... It's kind of romantic...!"
"Romantic? How?" I said in confusion.
"Ugh... But with your personality, Sérgio, I guess it's not going to be romantic, after all..."
"Well, it doesn't matter if there's anyone else here or not. Let's go swimming!" I grabbed her hand and went towards the water.
"Y-yeah, okay..." She said happily, her face turning pink.
But right before we reached the water, Jemily stopped, almost making me fall down.
"H-hey, what's the matter?" I asked her worriedly.
"I almost forgot to do something, something important! Hold on, Sérgio!"
She sprinted back to where we left our stuff, took off her hair ribbon, left it there and then ran back to where I was waiting for her.
"It'd be bad if I lost it when we were swimming."
"Yeah, that's right. That ribbon is very important to you, right?"
"Oh, so you do remember, huh?" She teased.
"Of course. I only forget about some things!"
"Well, will you at least make sure to remember your time with me today, then?"
"Sure thing, no problem!"
"Okay, then. In that case..." She grabbed my hand this time, and went toward the water. "Let's go play!"
--
Me and Jemily did a lot of things together at the beach. We swam in the ocean, made castles out of sand, played with a beach ball she brought, looked for sea shells, and all sorts of other things.
Before we knew it, the sun was already starting to set.
"It's already getting dark?!" I exclaimed, before groaning in disappointment.
"We sure played a lot today, huh? We haven't gone something like this for a while..."
"Nova, stop going down! We were having so much fun!" I yelled at the sun. "I still wanna play more!"
"Heheh, you aren't tired yet?" She asked me, giggling. "Don't worry, we can still play tomorrow, y'know."
"Yeah, I guess so..."
I followed Jemily back to where we left our stuff, although I was still sad we had to stop playing.
I sighed.
"Hey hey, quit staring at the ocean and start drying off." She told me sternly. "If you stay wearing soggy clothes like that, you might get sick."
"Don't worry about that! Watch this!"
I used my power to surround my body with heat, drying up the water that was on me.
"Neat, huh? I didn't even need to use my towel!"
"Yes you do, Sérgio! You still need to rub off all the salt and sand that got on you!" She told me, not seeming impressed by what I did. "Here, I'll help you."
Jemily used her towel, which she had just finished using to dry off her own body, to wipe my arms and legs.
"Thanks. But what about my shirt? Would it be easier if I took it off?"
"E-eh!?" She stammered, her face becoming red for some reason. "N-no, that's not necessary! Really!"
"Um, okay then..."
She continued to wipe me down, mostly at my shirt and neck.
"There, done."
"Thanks. But you could've used my towel..."
"Actually, do you mind if I borrow it for something?"
"Sure." I took my towel out of my bag and gave it to her. "Here you go."
She accepted it, and placed it down on the ground sideways.
"What are you doing?" I questioned.
Jemily sat down on it, on the left half. "Here, sit down next to me."
"'kay..." I did as she asked, but still not getting why.
"Look." She pointed off toward the ocean and the sky. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Nova had already finished setting, and was no longer in sight. What it left was a bright orange sky, and turned the water a more greenish-yellow color.
"Yeah, it's pretty." I said. "The sky looks kind of like fire."
"It's like the fire has come to play with the water, in a way..." Jemily sighed. "It reminds me of you and me."
"Really?"
"The fire and water are happily together right now, but it won't last forever. Eventually, the fire will go back to the sky, and leave the water all alone..." She explained. "It's just like you and me lately. You're always going off on adventures and stuff, and I don't get to play with you as much as before..."
"Yeah, you're right. But it's okay." I looked at her and smiled. "Even if the fire and water are often apart, the fire will always come back to see the water eventually, right?"
"Sérgio..." She uttered, starting to tear up.
"And just like that, I'll always make time to see you, Jemily! No matter what!"
"Even... when we grow up?" She asked, sounding a bit sad. "You and Kylade are both starting to get more mature, and are changing little by little. It's kind of scaring me... I feel like a lot of things will change, which will make us drift apart, until we end up never being together again..."
"No way!" I yelled, surprising Jemily. "I might change when I grow up, but us being together and doing fun things together won't be one of those things! I promise!"
"S-Sérgio..." Jemily went up closer to me, and gave me a hug while crying. "I-I always want us to be together! Forever and ever!"
"... I have an idea." I told her, wiping her face once she let go of me. "Let's make a sign of our friendship. Right here!"
"How?"
I walked up to a nearby tree, Jemily following me. I picked up a rock next to it and started writing on the tree trunk.
"Hey, I don't think it's okay for you to that!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine!"
I finished writing, and showed Jemily.
"'Sérgio... Friends Forever'?"
"I made space next to my name to write yours." I told her, handing her the rock. "Here you go."
She giggled, seeming to cheer up. "Okay."
She wrote on the tree, writing "& Jemily".
"Sérgio & Jemily... Friends Forever!" Me and Jemily both happily said at the same time.
"This is a symbol of our eternal friendship. As long as this is here, we'll be friends, no matter what!"
"Yeah!" Jemily agreed cheerfully. "Although maybe, we may end up as something mo-..."
"Jemily! Sérgio!" Her mother called out, from the steps up to the cabin. "We're back!"
"A-ah! Coming, mom!"
"Wait, what were you saying, Jemily?"
"I-it's nothing... You can forget about it!" She assured me, turning her head away from me. "Let's go. My parents are waiting for us."
"Okay..."
Me and Jemily grabbed our stuff and headed back to the cabin. We had dinner that Jemily's mom made. It was really good! We had baths after and then went right to bed, because we were tired. Even though it was early it was fine, because that just meant that we'd have more time to play tomorrow!
--
The next day...
"...the ...en...iti... ...est?" I heard, while waking up. I was hearing only some parts of what someone was saying. "No honey, you can't go there!"
"There's a rare and valuable herb we need for the medicine we're trying to produce. I came here to help look for it, because I heard it was here, but apparently a lot has been taken by other people and animals already." A second voice explained. "However, I was told that certain location may have some left."
"But... you can't!" The first voice protested. "I won't let you go there, honey!"
"Sorry, but I must." The second voice said sternly. "With our new medicine, we'll be able to save so many more lives."
"That's fantastic honey, but I don't your life lost in exchange!"
"Sérgio, are you seriously still sleeping?! Wake up already!"
Jemily yelled right in my face, jolting me awake.
"Hwah!" I shouted in surprise. "G-good mornin'..."
I noticed her parents head out the door again.
"Come on honey, let's try looking for the herb in a safer area, okay?" Jemily's mom said to her husband before they left the cabin.
I wonder what Jemily's parents were talking about...?
"Do you have any idea what time it is, Sérgio?!" Jemily said in an upset tone, reminding me that she was still there, sitting next to my bed. "It's already past 8!"
"Sorry, I'm used to Serge or Sprit waking me up..." I stretched and yawned. "But it's okay, we still have plenty of time to play!"
"... Actually, that'll have to wait 'til later."
"Huh? Why?" I asked, now fully awake.
"Do you hear what my parents were talking about?"
"I dunno... It was about some herb or something..."
"It's not just any herb. The herb my dad is looking for can be made into a medicine that can cure illnesses that other, current medicines can't. It's really important that he finds it."
"Oh, I see..."
"But, apparently, the only known place that it can found right now is in Dendritic Forest."
"Wait, wasn't that the dangerous forest your mom talked about yesterday?!"
"Yeah... Because of that, they may not be able to get the herb at all..."
"Oh... That stinks..."
"That's why we'll get it for them!"
"Huh? We?"
Not many people have gone to that forest, or even through the cave. For all we know, there could be monsters or something in there..." She explained. "But with your powers, you might be able to go through to the forest without any trouble!"
"Oh, so you want me to beat up the monsters in the cave and get the herb for you? Sure, no problem!"
"Not exactly. I'll be going, too. I can't just let you go alone like that, it wouldn't be right... Besides, you don't even know what the herb looks like."
"But you don't have any powers like me! Plus, don't you normally get scared by this sort of thing?"
"I-I am scared. Really scared... But I also really want to help my dad. And everyone that'll need his medicine."
"Jemily..." I uttered in awe. "You were saying before how me and Kylade were getting more mature, but I don't think we'll ever be more mature than you."
"Heh, thanks. So, will you come with me to Groove Grotto?"
"Of course! Let me get changed, then we'll go!"
"You still need to eat breakfast first!"
--
Once I got changed, Jemily made me some food. Once I was done eating, we immediately headed for the cave.
"It's a good thing I decided to bring my fireproof outfit just in case!" I stated, adjusting one of my gloves. "Oh, and thanks for breakfast, Jemily! It was really tasty today!"
"Really? It was just bacon and eggs..."
"Well, they were really good bacon and eggs!"
"Heehee, thanks I guess. Even though it's something I fixed up for you quickly."
"So, are you ready? Are you all set to do this?" I asked her to make sure. "It's not too late to go back, y'know..."
"You don't need to worry, I'll be fine! I even brought a weapon!" She took a stick-shaped object out of her bag. "See?"
"Isn't that just a baton...?"
"Besides, you promised me you'd always be there to protect me, right?"
"Yeah, of course!"
"If you're by my side, I know I can get through this. Because of you, I don't have to be scared. So let's go!"
"Right!"
We both began to walk through the cave, a bit nervously at first. When we made it further into the cave though, we felt better, because...
"This cave isn't very interesting..." I uttered flatly. "I don't see any monsters or anything. It seems like just an ordinary cave..."
"To be honest, I consider that a good thing..." Jemily added uneasily.
As soon as she said that, something swooped down at her from the grotto's ceiling.
"Watch out!" I grabbed Jemily and jumped away from it, us ending up on the ground as a result.
"Kyah! W-what was that?!" She asked, shaking in fear.
"Don't worry, I think it was just a bat." I got up, and held out my hand to Jemily. "Here."
"T-thank you..." Jemily took my hand and got up slowly, wiping some dust off of her skirt. "B-but that really scared me... What if it was an actual monster?!"
I wrapped my arm and hand around hers comfortingly. "Everything will be okay. I promise, Jemily."
"Sérgio..." Her face became flushed, but she looked happier. "T-thank you so much..."
"Let's keep going. We can't quit now!"
We continued through the cave, me being careful of anything around us, especially from above.
How long is this cave? Jemily still looks scared, and it's starting to get dark in here...
"It's starting to become harder to see, huh Jemily? So I'll..."
"Oh, that's right! There's a flashlight in my pocket." Jemily told me, more calmly. "Could you take it out for me, Sérgio?"
"Um, sure..."
I grabbed it and turned it on. I held it up, and shined it all around the cave, scaring a few bats far away from us.
"Now we won't have any problem seeing anything!" Jemily said, looking a bit happier. "I told you I was prepared!"
I could've just use my fire to light the cave... Oh well.
I lit up part of the wall and touched it. It was smooth and wavy.
"Why do the walls of this cave look so weird? Are all caves like this?"
"There might've been water in this cave at one point. If water is in contact with rock long enough, it can make it smooth and wavy, like the walls of this cave."
"Wow... Y'know, you're really amazing, Jemily. You're so grown up, and you know so many things..."
"Thanks. But I think you're the truly amazing one, Sérgio."
"Really?"
"Really. I think the reason I could do so much is because I have you by my side. You always encourage me, so I want to be able to things for you in return... To cover for the things you can't do."
"Wait, are you saying I'm dumb...?"
"Well, I'm not denying it."
"Hey!"
"Heehee!" Jemily started to giggle.
"But together, I think we can do a lot of great things, huh? And nothing will stop us from getting through this, either!"
"... You know, I don't know if I've told you this, but I'm really glad I have you as a friend, Sérgio."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Whenever I get sad or upset, you always know what to do to help me feel better. And no matter what, it seems like you can get through any situation undaunted."
"I have no idea what 'undaunted' means, but there's still something I haven't been able to do..."
"Huh? What's that?"
I saw Darkés again the other day. Y'know, my dark half." I told her. "I tried to be friends with them like you said, but it didn't work..."
"Oh... That's too bad..."
"But I won't give up! I'll keep trying, no matter what happens! I won't rest until I'm able to make everyone happy!"
"That's the spirit!" She said happily. "It's just like I said, you can get through anything undaunted! It means you can get through anything, no matter how difficult or dangerous it is."
"So I'm undaunted, huh? It sounds kind of weird, but also kind of cool! I like it!"
"U-uh, you're not really using the word the right way..." She sighed. "Oh well. Whatever makes you happy, I guess."
--
We eventually made it through the rest of the cave, without running into any trouble.
"Wow, we made it to the forest! That wasn't so bad!" I said cheerfully, turning off the flashlight once we finally saw the sun again.
"Remember though, Dendritic Forest is supposed to be a lot worse than Groove Grotto."
"But the cave was just dark and had some bats in it. I'm sure we'll be fine!"
"Yeah... But just in case, let's leave immediately after finding the herb. Better safe than sorry..."
"It's fine; I don't want to stick around here anyway. I want to go back and play, after all!"
"Yeah, let's do this so we can go and play at the beach again!" Jemily told me, just as cheerfully as me.
Alright, we're already here. There's nothing that'll stop me from finding the herb Jemily wants! Absolutely nothi-...
All of a sudden, I noticed a blue light appear from behind us. A familiar blue light...
"Hey, isn't that..." Jemily began to say, looking behind us.
No way, it can't be... Not now of all times!
I turned around slowly, seeing what the blue light was coming from.
It was coming from one of Crystana's portals, which was placed right in front of the cave exit.
"Your aid is needed, young hero... Quickly now..."
To be continued...
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Writer's Comments:
Phew! Barely made it! Today (Saturday night, not Sunday morning) was literally my only day to finish this chapter this month, and I pulled it off! (I'll be too busy the rest of August.) Hooray, now I only have to worry about working on two chapters next month instead of three!
Now, to prevent any potential spoilers, I'm going to end off this section here. Yeah, I know it was short, but it can't be helped, sorry!
Only two more chapters to go! Let's do this!
- CS-Masyet