Gianni and Lyra: Legacy of Legend

The three men sat in silence, a heavy cloud of smoke hanging above their heads.

The man on the left, a short and stout fellow, cleared his throat before finally speaking up. "So listen to this, I was walking back from the tavern last night, you know, just minding my own business when I see this light in the distance. So now I'm wondering what's up with that and so I keep walking towards it and I hear this weird sound. Like the wind but not quite. Not quite like anything I've heard before I mean." The man took another long drag on his pipe before continuing. "So finally I get closer to this light and it's some guy standing there talking to a tree, or at least that's what it looked like because all he had was a stick and he was poking at the branches."

The man on the right interjected. "Yeah, that's exactly how I found him too! Aye, he must have been high out of his mind or something 'cause he didn't even notice me walking up to him until after I tapped him on the shoulder."

"Yeah, but did you hear what he said? He told me that he was doing research for his thesis. Said some tree spirits were talking to him in his dreams and he thought maybe they could be real!" The first man exclaimed with wild gesticulations as if trying to emphasize his point by making more noise than necessary.

The third man nodded sagely as if fully understanding everything that had been said thus far by his compatriots. "Yes well let me tell you just how real it is." He leaned forward into the candlelight and spoke in a low raspy voice. "It's true lads, she walks among us today."

The other two men stared at him silently for a moment before bursting into laughter. The tall skinny one wiped tears from under his eyes as he tried to speak between guffaws. "Are you serious? Are you telling me you saw her? That it's true?"

The third man leaned back in his chair with a look of superiority as if waiting for them to end their amusement before continuing. "Of course I saw her my good friends. Though she does not go by that name anymore of course." His face took on an odd look as if reliving some private memory then suddenly cleared to reveal an expression of disdain mixed with sadness. "That is no longer her name."

"But wait," The chubby little man piped up, "If she can talk why doesn't she just talk instead of letting these people make all these ridiculous stories about her." He gave an exaggerated sigh as if speaking to a child before continuing in an exasperated tone. "I mean really...a giant serpent? Honestly who would believe that? It's obvious they're making up stories about her just so they can make money off tourists who are stupid enough to believe them or something like that." He waved dismissively at his friend who had fallen silent while listening to the other man talk.

"I used to think that way myself," the tall lanky one added with a nod of agreement, "but then I saw her for myself too...and let me tell you she sure looked nothing like no snake!" He gave another hearty laugh which seemed more forced than genuine this time before coughing and clearing his throat again when his friend gave him a dirty look.

"Look," The third man began again after giving both men a disapproving glare for interrupting him when he was trying to explain himself earlier. "They don't call her 'The Princess' for nothing y' know?" He leaned forward again and stared intently at both men till they began nodding slowly in understanding without fail every few seconds as if afraid not to do so lest they miss something important being revealed by their friend at any moment now. Finally satisfied with their attention he continued explaining what really happened twenty years ago while still staring intensely at both men during each pause in his narration until they eventually slumped over onto their tables face first into their food or beer with their hands clasped behind their necks pretending they were suddenly asleep rather than risk losing eye contact with him and missing whatever crucial information might be revealed next by their friend who knew so much more about this mysterious woman than all four of them put together combined after all including whoever wrote those silly tourist pamphlets about her supposed history!

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These events take place twenty years ago where the Princess went by her birth name Lyra, Prince Gianni went by Gianni and Prince Matteo went by...well...anything but Matteo! And Prince Gianni will soon meet Princess Lyra for the first time once he defeats the dragon terrorizing Italy! Tune in next time for part two when we discover which prince ultimately wins Princess Lyra's heart!