A/N: This story was written for Hillary-Ravenian! Thanks for inspiring me again! =3 The link to the picture that inspired this will be at the bottom ;3
Disclaimer: If I said I owned Grand Chase, I would be lying to you. I also don't own a story mentioned in here xD
Oneshot: Of Potions and Gardens
Dear Diary,
Today was like most others, I suppose. Lire and Ryan still haven't returned from the vacation they left for a week ago... I still have to take care of the garden. Speaking of which, I should probably check on it! The grapes have been looking a bit dry... And I've almost perfected another potion! It's for making inanimate things talk :3 That way I can find out whether or not Elesis was lying when she said she didn't eat the Cherry Pie before dinner last week~ It was for Lass! Dx I've already mentioned this in a previous entry, but he had just got back from a really hard mission... I wanted to do something nice for him, especially since I hadn't seen him for three weeks! After all, by now it should come of no surprise that I'm in love with him... Well, it's a few hours until dinner! I'll go check on the garden, that'll give me some free time before Amy calls for the meal.
-Arme
P.S. Now no one's around to scold me for eating the fruits! ;D
Closing the cover to the small purple notebook, Arme picked up her Advanced Mechanics of Magic text book and slid it inside. When she was certain it was firmly in place, the magician slid it under her bed with a sigh. Since Kaze'Aze had been defeated and the Grand Chase had decided to live together in the castle, Arme had had to be cautious with where she left the book. In other various hiding places it had been nearly found by a mischief-making Elesis and an unsuspecting Ryan, as well as several others (including Lass himself, much to Arme's horror). She had finally found a secure place for it in her second copy of AMM, the only book on her shelf that she could be guaranteed no one else would touch.
Slipping out of her room quietly and locking the door behind her, Arme began the short walk to the garden. Her room located on the second floor, she only had to walk down one set of stairs and out through the kitchen to reach it. The garden itself looked more like a forest, though Arme supposed that was to be expected when two elves planted it. An assortment of rare, tropical plants that towered over the small girl were surrounding the entrance, and Arme moved through them quickly. Her goal right now was... Ah! Arme smiled as she made it to the area where the grapes were planted up, spiralling through several of the trees around and hanging down in long vines from the branches. Looking at the plants, Arme bit her lip. She had no idea how Ryan and Lire were able to maintain the fruit's health, when she herself had problems just navigating through the vines. She had already gotten lost in them once, forced to wait for rescue that eventually came in the form of a hysterically laughing Jin. Determined to not repeat the humiliation, Arme had been avoiding the plants until she had realized they were looking slightly wilted. But watering them all at once... Wait, doesn't Amy have an attack that can summon rain? The magician sighed relievedly at the memory, saving her from much more watering than she had ever wanted to do. That meant she could just wait until dinner to request the starlet's assistance.
Pulling one of the fruits from a lower branch on one of the trees, Arme took a bite from it before heading off to the lab near her room. The potion wouldn't finish itself, after all.
"Finally!" Arme declared, even though no one was in the room to hear her success. She had been in the lab for roughly an hour while finishing the potion, and she knew there wasn't much time until dinner. There was still enough time to test the potion though, hopefully... The light beaker held tightly in her hand, Arme headed back to her room. It was meant for the fridge, but Arme couldn't see the Knight Master being very tolerant about buying them a new one should she crash the one they had. She was about to go to the bookshelf when a note caught her eye, and the magician walked over to it cautiously.
Arme,
Your desk was looking a bit messy so I cleaned it up for you! You also left some books lying around, so I put them back on your shelf~
Amy
The slight gesture made Arme smile, setting the note down on her cleaned desk and making a mental note to thank the pink haired girl later. But for now... The purple haired girl turned back to the bookshelf with a determined look on her features, quickly skimming over the surface of her shelf. She was about to pull out 'Winter Memories' but hesitated, finally leaving it in it's place. While her potions mostly went well, she could think of a few that certainly had their downsides. She didn't want to lose a book she wouldn't be able to get back... The spine of another volume caught her sight from the corner of her eye, and in an instant she pulled it out triumphantly.
"I have a double of this!" She said to no one in particular, setting the second version of Advanced Mechanics of Magic down on her bed. The other one was still holding her diary, but that didn't mean it was illegible. She would still have a copy of it if the potion did something terribly wrong to the copy in her hands. Lifting it up, Arme poured the concoction over the pages carefully, opening up the cover of the book. If it was supposed to speak... Arme guessed a book would read out it's contents. She waited anxiously for a few minutes, frowning when nothing happened. No words came from the book at all, the only sound that of the cover when Arme slammed it shut disappointedly. The liquid had dried seamlessly into the pages, and they didn't appear to be stuck together in the least, much to the magician's luck. She slid it back into the bookshelf quietly, looking at the rest of the potion frustratedly. Jamming the cork back into it with more force than necessary, Arme slipped the potion into her pocket before leaving her room again. Maybe I added too much of something...? Or... No, I'm pretty sure that was right... Entering the kitchen, the short magician waved at Amy. The dancer was looming intensely over a large pot on the stove, making a shooing motion towards Arme with the hand not currently clenching a wooden spoon.
"Dinner will be done in about half an hour!" She stated, "But no peeking! Go out in the garden or something!" Arme blinked, heeding the instructions. Whatever Amy was cooking, it would be best not to disturb. She headed hastily out to the garden, looking around for something to do. Eventually Arme decided on going back into the forest-like garden area, possibly to harvest some of the fruits. They were terribly useful in making dinner, partially the reason Arme had been instructed to look after the garden (in an almost punishment for all the times she had taken foods without asking). Now, where would the fruit-collecting baskets be kept? She pondered the question for a moment, deciding to check the shed. After all, plenty of other odd things had been found in there, and a basket really wouldn't be that out of place.
"Where was the shed again, though...?" The best she could remember was that it was somewhere in the forest, for 'convenience'. Arme scoffed at the idea. Sure, this is really convenient! She thought, looking around at the trees that just seemed to be growing larger and more dense as she continued on, I'll probably be lost before I even make it there!Frowning in distaste at the idea of being stuck in the 'garden' again, Arme began to look for a landmark, or anything else she could recognize. Hmm? Yes! Arme let out a small cheer as she noticed a small grape vine, and she began following it further. So long as she didn't get lost inside the grape vines themselves, they made a pretty good landmark. She tried to note the things around her as she walked, paying attention as she was rewarded with a glimpse of red in the distance. Moving slightly revealed that it was the roof of what looked like a shack, most likely the one she was currently trying to locate. She looked at the grape vine one last time before she hesitantly let go, looking down at it.
"They still look pretty miserable..." An idea sparking, Arme grinned. Wether it was a good one or not wasn't taken into question as Arme pulled out the remainder of her failed potion, turning over half of the remaining contents on the roots of the grapes. Hey, maybe they'll be able to tell me what's wrong with them! She thought somewhat sarcastically, turning back to where the shed stood. She made her way cautiously, large roots sticking out of the ground and quite capable of tripping her. The tangle of branches above her head and the roots below her feet made getting to the small shed a challenge, but she made it after only a few minutes of difficulty. Pushing open the door quietly, Arme took a few steps into the small, dark shed.
"Baskets, baskets..." She muttered, looking around. What caught her eye first, however, was a purple schemed outfit hanging on the wall...
"Hey, Lass!" The striker turned to look at Amy as she waved him over from the small display window between the kitchen and the living room.
"I'm going to the dining hall now, Amy." He said exasperatedly. Whenever the dancer cooked she had an unhealthy obsession with making sure everyone made it to the meal, and she would often remind each member twice or three times.
"That's not it! Come over here, would you?" She asked, motioning him over again. Lass approached curiously, partially wondering what would be important enough to Amy for her to delay his getting to the table. She looked over to the door leading out of the kitchen and back to him, frowning.
"Arme went outside a while ago, and I'm beginning to think she forgot the meal was almost done! Could you go get her, pretty please?" The starlet begged, pouting. Lass sighed and rolled his eyes. Naturally, it still involves someone getting to dinner on time. Even so, the white haired boy nodded. He could remember back to when Arme had gone missing for lunch four days prior, having been retrieved by Jin two hours later. He wouldn't doubt it if the same thing had happened to the petite mage again, as she always seemed to have an affinity for getting into trouble. Grabbing onto the ledge he easily swung himself through the window, exiting out the door a moment later. The garden was immense, not particularly suiting his tastes. Then again, he had never really enjoyed dealing with plants as a whole.
Looking around, he sighed. Finding Arme in the garden would be difficult, even for someone as agile as himself. If he were to choose to search high there was a good chance he would get caught in the branches, and it would also give a chance that he would pass over Arme entirely. This left the only other option a ground search, much less preferable. The striker grudgingly began walking through the forest, resisting the urge to just slice through the branches that were in the way with his nodachi. A short lack of patience proved this impossible, Lass remembering as he reached down to grasp it's handle that he had left it back in his room. It was odd for him to be anywhere without his weapon, making Lass feel even more uncomfortable in the forest setting.
Hey, focus. You need to find Arme, you never know what kind of danger she could be getting herself into. Turning his head at a sudden rustling, the striker nearly ran straight into a large group of vines. It was apparent with only a few second's inspection that they were grape vines, and that his hand had somehow become tangled in them.
"I don't remember getting my hand caught..." He muttered quietly, turning back to where he had heard the rustling as he pulled his arm to release it from the grip of the vines. Frowning, he pulled again as his hand refused to be dislodged.
"What...?" The white haired boy's eyes widened considerably as the vine crept further up his arm, nearly dragging him forward.
"Hm?" Arme turned her head curiosly as she heard something that sounded oddly like someone speaking, finally fixing the sleeve of the odd outfit she had found around her arm. Ah! That would make sense, Amy wouldn't want me missing dinner! The baskets she had finally uncovered were abandoned as she left the small shack, searching for where she had heard the voice. It would be simple enough to get back from there, but whoever was in the forest would probably be looking for a while unless she met up with them... Her thoughts were cut short by a bright glow in the distance, coming from... The area where the grape vines were?
Now extremely curious, the magician began hastily making her way over. It was faster than the first time, as she had remembered where several of the things that had tripped her up the first time were. It only took her about two minutes to make it to the strange glow, and when Arme got there she gasped. The vines were swaying and twisting in nondescript patterns, the grapes having evolved from their nearly wilted state of a few minutes ago to a more than healthy purple glow, causing the shine she had seen earlier. Reverberating from the small purple orbs was a sound that, if she didn't know better, she almost would have described as a purr. Note to self: Never give potions to Lire and Ryan's plants. I don't know exactly what's going on here, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be blamed for it.
"Nmhfhh!" Arme blinked and looked around, trying to determine the origin of the sound. Someone was nearby, but where? It sounded like it had come from abo- Looking up, she finally realized what had made the sound. The magician burst out laughing as she finally located Lass, completely tangled in the vines and suspended high off the ground, in the corner where she had nearly missed him. The vines were rubbing up against his face affectionately, some wrapped against his mouth and most likely the reason he had been unable to request help prior. He seemed highly displeased with the magician's reaction, struggling even harder against the vines. After a few seconds they finally gave him some leeway, moving off his mouth and allowing him to speak.
"This isn't funny, Arme! Get me down from here! ...And what are you wearing?" At this the magician finally stopped laughing, a blush painting her cheeks as she looked down at herself. While searching through the shed she had found an odd outfit, the tag on it quite clearly stating it was for her, from Lire and Ryan (supposedly because it would be 'amusing'). Surprised yet somewhat intrigued, the short girl had ended up slipping on the pale white-beige dress, lined with vines from the very plant that was giving Lass so much trouble. There were also small grapes on it that Arme had almost considered eating, but hadn't for fear of what Lire might do if she found out Arme had defaced the dress she had made so carefully. A pair of large purple wings with an intricate pattern on them were attached to the back, though they didn't weigh much, and Arme hardly noticed them. The large sleeves bloomed lightly against her arms, their length only allowing the very tips of Arme's fingers to show. The hem of the dress fluttered delicately behind her as she walked, nearly touching the ground due to her height. She looked up at Lass flusteredly, unable to explain how she had come upon wearing the strange clothes. Instead she chose to follow the ninja's request, pulling herself up with some of the vines and climbing up the more sturdy ones. As she did this the striker watched her amusedly, his face red as though he were blushing (though it could also have been because he was hanging upside down).
"Almost there!" She called, frowning as she realized it would be difficult to get up any higher. There were some vines hanging from where Lass had been caught, and she settled for pulling down on them as hard as she could. The reaction was instantaneous, similarly to if she had pulled a cat's tail. The vine she was currently using to hold herself began squirming furiously, and the vine below her feet did the same.
"Ahh!" Forced to let go of the upper vine, Arme had to put all of her weight on the vines holding Lass. These too gave a struggle, but the magician determinedly managed to climb several inches up them until she was able to grab onto a small portion of Lass' jacket. She would have given a cry of victory then had the vines not wrapped around her hand tightly, pulling it off Lass' jacket as they realized she was trying to take their newest play-thing. She was lifted up several feet higher than Lass by her hand before the vines angrily flung her.
"Arme!" The striker yelled out as Arme fell. A much worse injury would have been sustained had she not accidentally fallen into a tangle of vines, halting her fall momentarily. She grabbed the vines before she could be dropped again, and the grapes attempted to twist out of her grip. They didn't succeed, and instead a loud rip sounded. Arme gasped as the vines in her hand fell completely slack, and it was soon apparent they had been pulled completely off the rest of the plant. The only benefit to this was that she had been right below Lass, the fallen vines loosening the ones holding him. He was soon released as well, falling a couple feet from Arme. Said magician was rubbing her head as she sat up, fixing her dress around her. Her attention was soon distracted by the silver haired boy, who was lying on his side lazily. She was about to go over and help him up when a vine wrapped a vine tightly around her upper arm, yanking her into a standing position and cutting off her circulation. She winced as several other vines wrapped around her limbs overly tightly, digging into her skin. Worse than that was when the vines not occupied by holding her in place began whipping against her. Holding much more strength than Arme would have expected for vines, she bit her lip roughly to stop herself from crying out.
"Arme!" She let out a sigh of relief as they stopped making contact with her skin, and her eyes opened cautiously.
"L-Lass! Move, they're gonna hurt you!" She exclaimed quickly, watching as the striker stood infront of her. He was pulling at the vines holding her in place frustratedly, blue eyes locked firmly on her amethyst ones.
"I'm not moving, I'll be fine. Besides that- Wait, duh!" The striker reached into his pocket hastily, pulling out a kunai. He used it to sever the vines holding her in place, and then grabbed her by the waist. Carrying the petite mage until they were out of the grape patch, Lass watched her as he set her down on the ground.
"Dinner's ready." He remarked dully, allowing her to pull at his arms and walk in a circle around him.
"You're hurt!" Arme said loudly, eyebrows furrowed at a particularly bad gash on the side of his arm, where the vine had actually managed to break through the skin. The striker rolled his eyes.
"Arme. We've fought Kaze'Aze, huge gatekeepers, and gods themselves. You're worried about a wound inflicted by a jealous plant?" He questioned skeptically, allowing the magician to drag him along with her despite that. Arme nodded.
"Of course! Now come on, I think I have a potion left over in my room. Aside from that, I need to start researching a cure for this. I can't picture Lire or Ryan being particularly appreciative that I gave their plants an attitude." She said, as though it was obvious. The thief didn't bother arguing, somewhat skeptically wondering why exactly Arme had fed the grapes a potion. When they finally stepped into the house after escaping the gigantic 'garden', Amy was waiting for them as predicted.
"Took you long enough! What were you doing?" She demanded, watching confusedly as Arme continued to walk past her.
"We'll come down for dinner later, Amy! Lass and I need to go to my room!" She stated. The dancer stopped mid-step, a wide grin breaking out on her face.
"Ohhhhhhhh~ So that's what happened!" There was an evil sparkle in Amy's eyes when Arme turned around, her face entirely red as she realized the implications of what she had just said.
"Not like that, Amy! Nothing happened!" She protested, but the starlet would hear none of it.
"Okay~! Play safe!" She giggled, Arme watching helplessly as the pink haired girl pranced off to the dining room.
"Amyyyyy!" She called, then let out a sigh, "We'll deal with her later." Lass nodded as Arme continued walking, deciding to leave out the fact that by 'later' it would probably be far too late to stop any of the commotion the starlet was going to cause. He followed her quietly until they reached her room, sitting down on the bed as she began shifting through her shelves for a potion. She finally managed to unearth one, lifting it from it's space next to her more valuable books. She handed it triumphantly to Lass, only to have the striker shake his head in refusal.
"You take the potion, you were hurt worse than I was." He said cautiously, not expecting the reaction he got. Arme uncorked the bottle, and before he could refuse she forced it up against his lips. When about half of the potion was in his mouth he managed to push the bottle away, glaring at her defiantly.
"Don't spit it out, you'll just waste it!" She exclaimed, putting a hand over his mouth. After a few seconds of staring the striker gave in, swallowing the liquid reluctantly. Arme released his mouth with a grin.
"There! That wasn't so hard now, was it? There's still half of the potion left, though!" She waved it infront of his face, and Lass shook his head assertively.
"No way. You're drinking the rest of it." He stated forcefully. Arme frowned.
"You've already drank the first half, now just drink the rest!" She attempted to do the same thing again, but this time the thief snatched her wrist before she could.
"No! You're more hurt than I am, just drink the rest!" At this point he began pushing the vial towards her, and their argument probably would have gone on longer if at that moment another sound hadn't entered.
"...Dr... Ryy...Thr... Spss... Ll... Ry...Gar... Ch..." The two stopped their quarreling momentarily, both looking around the room in confusion. The first place both checked was the door, yet it was still perfectly closed. No footsteps were heard. yet the strange mumbling continued. Lass slowly stood up, passing by Arme to gaze curiously at the bookshelf.
"Arme... Do your spell books usually make noises?" Arme shook her head, moving closer cautiously as Lass ran his hand over the spines of the books, bringing his ear closer to the bookshelf. After a few seconds he eased a book out of it's spot, and Arme gasped in surprise.
"My Advanced Mechanics of Magic book! The potion worked properly after all!" Lass looked at her curiously as he held the heavy book, looking at the cover. The murmurs had grown louder, yet it was still uncertain as to what it was saying.
"Would that happen to be the same potion you fed the grapes?" He asked, looking at the magician. Arme blushed, playing with her thumbs.
"Kind of... It didn't work right on them anyway, though..." Head down, Arme realized Lass had decided to leaf through the book only when the murmurs got louder.
"The grapes have been looking a bit dry... And I've almost perfected another potion!" Arme's eyes widened, her heart icing over as she saw the book opened and a rather familiar book left between the pages.
I used the potion on the wrong book. Amy cleaned my room and she put the book on my shelf and I used the potion on the wrong book. Lass is here right now, and it's reading out loud, and I know what comes next. Please, no! Arme shook heavily as she reached out to grab the book from his grasp. The thief simply held it up higher, by now somewhat intrigued with what the book was slowly reading out.
"Lass, please! Give me the book!" She pleaded desperately, nearing tears as anxiety built up. I can't let him hear that... I can't let him know! He spared her a single glance, yet otherwise kept his attentions on the book, which continued reading faithfully.
"It's for making inanimate things talk..." Arme began pulling at his arm as hard as she could when she realized there was no way she could reach it at it's current height.
"Lass, I'm serious! Give it, please!" She begged, pulling against him again futily. He refused to look at her, raising his arm slightly higher.
"That way I can find out whether or not Elesis was lying when she said she didn't eat the Cherry Pie before dinner last week~" Arme's heart began beating faster, and she wasn't sure of what to do anymore as helplessness set in.
"Just close the book!" She demanded as loudly as she could. This didn't attract so much as a glance from Lass, though it may have grabbed the attention of others in the house. More fear filled her at the thought of others coming, and she squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling.
" It was for Lass! I've already mentioned this in a previous entry, but he had just got back from a really hard mission..." Her eyes opened ever so slightly, and she could see the confusion on Lass' face. There's only a little bit more until...
"I wanted to do something nice for him, especially since I hadn't seen him for three weeks!"
"Lass! Please, stop!" He obviously didn't heed her plea; she hadn't been expecting him to. In a last bout of determination she did the one thing she could think of; setting the book on fire. This received the reaction Arme had been hoping for; Lass dropped the book in surprise. Still, the book managed to choke out some final words before turning to ash.
"After all... By now... It should come of no surprise... that I'm... in love with him..." Arme's eyes widened as the flame on the book went out, leaving only black char. She couldn't hold it in anymore as she looked at him through wide eyes, his expression betraying no emotions aside from confusion and shock. She choked out a sob, tears streaming quietly down her cheeks. It's all over... It's all pointless. He knows, he knows, he knows... She couldn't bear being in the same room as the silver haired boy any more, and she backed up a few steps. Shaking violently, the petite girl turned, running to the door and flinging it open. She slammed it behind her as she exited, looking at both sides of the hall ways. Not wanting to spend too much time, she quickly chose the left hall.
Running as quickly as she could, the magician knew she didn't have much time. Soon Lass would be wanting an explanation, and it simply wasn't possible to outrun him. More so impossible, she supposed, when he was determined, like he would be. She noticed the staircase to the third floor gratefully, and she ran up it as quickly as possible. Where to hide, where to hide? She looked around worriedly, searching for a hiding spot. The library wouldn't do at all; she almost laughed at the thought of even trying. A split-second decision was made to go to the small guest's room, where no one ever stayed. before she could get too far, however, she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and she was yanked backwards, and she knew without looking who it was. She struggled in vain, pulling as roughly as she could to free her wrist from Lass' hold. It was quite obviously a failed attempt, and before long Arme gave up, her watery eyes forced to look into his clear azure ones. The anger reflected in them was enough to make her try desperately to pull away, but he was holding on too tightly.
"I-I..." Her voice trailed off quietly as she closed her eyes; anything to avoid seeing that look reflected back at her. She was certain by now her own fear was tangible, but it didn't cause the striker to loosen his grip in the least. They stood like that for at least a minute, Arme quaking as the boy glared back at her.
"Arme... Was that the truth?" He finally asked, and the magician had no idea what his expression she was. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know either...
"I- I'm sorry!" She whimpered, surprised when the grip on her wrist loosened ever so slightly, the other brushing against her cheek softly to wipe away the falling tears. The action caused Arme to open her eyes ever so cautiously, wincing at the spiralling emotions in the deep pools of azure.
"Don't apologize, Arme..." She wasn't expecting him to lean in closer, or for him to press his forehead gently against hers, "I should be here. I made you cry, and right now I'm pretty certain you're feeling afraid..." Then would have been the perfect time to get away, but Arme couldn't feel the will to escape her current situation anymore. She was thoroughly confused, and not even certain of the emotions going through herself any more.
"Lass...?" She questioned quietly, shocked at a sudden release on her wrist. What now...? Do I run?Before she could make the decision she was pulled into a tight embrace, foreheads no longer touching in favour of the striker resting his chin lightly on her hair. Her hands rested protectively across her stomach, holding there until she finally gave in. Her arms wrapped around him cautiously, Arme had no idea what was going on.
"I..." Lass sighed, running a hand through her hair (cut short again once they had finished the mission, though it was growing longer with each passing day), "Damn it. I'm no good with words... But I guess... I'll try to explain the best I can." Arme waited for the words that were to follow, but there were none. Instead, the blue eyed boy leaned down and softly pressed his lips against hers. Eyes widening even further and a blush burning onto her face, the magician couldn't help the grin that burst onto her face when he pulled back.
"That's a good thing, right?" She asked happily, hugging him tighter. The striker rolled his eyes, by now a light red covering his pale face, "Take a guess." Giggling, Arme held on tightly. She was aware that they would have to move soon, as they were blocking up the main third floor hall way, but at that moment she couldn't care less. She just wanted to stay there forever, held by the person she cared about most-
*Creee... Slam!*
The magician's eyes opened widely at the sound of the front door, still quite clear from the third floor due to the placement of the staircases and front room. She began to chuckle nervously when an unmistakable female voice rang throughout the castle.
"Arme, we're home! You've been taking care of the garden, right?"
A/N: Good luck explaining the grapes, Arme xD Anyway, thanks so much to those who provided an inspiration for this (Hillary-chan and Willow-chan), and my sister, who distracted me with metal gear solid xD (while distracting, it's an awesome game).
Here's the picture~! - http:/ hillary-ravenian. deviantart. com/ gallery/#/ d2r49tp (without the spaces x3) It's a terribly cute picture~
I also used the title of one of Willow-chan's stories in here, 'Winter Memories' 8D
-Utsuro