Disclaimer (Willow): I don't own Osaka, Japan; Grand Chase; Stanley the gas can; or Hinahime. That's right; this is the second appearance of the ever-lovely Hinahime!

Hinahime: *bows*

Willow: Those of you who have deviant art accounts, you've already met her. Those of you without, fret not for I will provide a detailed description of her ^w^ Oh, and Seighart?

Seighart: What?

Willow: You must serve the tea. NOW.

Seighart:…okay… *pouts*

Willow: *glares at until tea is fully served* Good. You won't die in this fanfiction.

Seighart: O_O;;

Willow: Lol, jk, you won't even be featured. This is made as a (belated) birthday tribute to my *AMAZING* BFF Utsuro~ I MISS YOU MORE EVERY DAY!*wails*

A Journey Unexpected

"Bye!" Arme exclaimed, hugging her friends in a giant glomp. They hugged back.

"Stay safe!" Lire demanded; Elesis nodded in agreement. The last thing that was needed was for them to lose Arme.

Lass stood on the side of the door, eye twitching in irritation, "Arme, are you ready?" Arme bounced over to lass excitedly.

"I sure am, Lassie!" She replied with a smile. Lass nodded and opened the door. He ran out of it and hailed a cab while Arme walked over.

There had been strange disturbances in the Temple of Fire and a quest had been received to remedy the situation. Arme volunteered her's and Lass' services. Since that was all that would be necessary, that's all they sent. What a big mistake it was.

"Miss Arme," a young blond sailor gasped as he ran into the doorway, "You are needed up top!" Arme had been reading peacefully but had set aside her book. Arme's Warstaff sat mounted to the wall next to the door. She didn't ask questions as she dressed; preferring the explanation along the way. Jonathon the magic hat was sleeping peacefully on a pillow next to her. Arme rolled her eyes at him as she followed the boy up to the deck.

"So what is the problem?"Arme asked as she grabbed her weapon from the wall.

The man turned a corner, "Huge ocean storm assembling. We are trying to get around it but it's sucking us in"

Arme turned around and headed back to her room. The boy looked back in confusion. Arme stroked the side of her slumbering pal and he quickly woke up. Arme didn't waste time putting on the hat. She then grabbed her book and bag of supplies. The mage then motioned for the sailor to go to the deck

'What is going on?' Jonathon asked, mentally yawning.

Arme sighed lightly, "I think the spirits are causing a great storm to take place on the ocean. We must quiet them."

Jonathon laughed, " 'We'? I think you mean 'You'. I am NOT getting involved.

"Ha," Arme started, "That won't work. I can't understand them without you, remember?"

"GAH!" Jonathon exclaimed frustrated, "Fine, woman. I suppose I shall help. The next time you go shopping though, I expect you to take me; especially if it's that sexy Amy girl you go with. ALSO I DEMAND that you allow me to read the red head's mind. What was her name? El…?"

"Elesis, her name is Elesis. And fine, but you have to promise not to go through the extremely personal parts of her mind," Arme said, inadvertently switching out of telepathic communication with her hat and not noticing.

"I give my word as a Hatketeer that I will leave the excessively personal things alone. Just curious, does that include the…er…"

"Yes," Arme answered with finality. Jonathon sighed but agreed. The two stopped talking and Arme had time to notice the confused look on the boat boy's face.

"What? I was talking with my hat," Arme explained. He muttered something and looked away. They had arrived at the top of the deck. Arme saw water seeping underneath the door.

The boy's eyes widened, "Oh no. We can't already be in the storm." He hastily opened the door and water came rushing in. Not enough to flood them down the stairs, but enough to make Arme lose her balance for a moment. She gripped the railing to her left and called forth assistance from Sylph the wind spirit. The spirit gladly helped, and stabilized her human friend. Arme thanked the apparition and set out to calm the storm.

The moment the mage set foot upon the deck, the storm grew worse. Arme could feel herself being pulled away from the floorboards when Lass pulled her into a tight hug.

"The winds are very strong," he explained. When Arme was about to begin communication with the seemingly angry storm spirit, Sylph wrapped herself around Arme and Lass and tried explaining the situation to Arme. Jonathon translated.

"She says she is taking us to a safe place. It wants you two. It's such a primitive spirit though; I can't tell what its intentions are. It's not speaking.

Arme mentally nodded in agreement while she clung tighter to Lass's frame. Wind whipped violently around the pair. The mage could only imagine how hard on her spirit friend transport was so she stayed silent.

Thirty minutes had passed and Lass' feet finally touched ground. He could feel Sylph's presence fade as she set the couple down. Lass supported his shorter comrade and put her on the ground when the wind spirit had let them stand. Arme spun around to face the manifestation of her friend.

"Thank you, Sylph. You have once again saved us much pain and troubles," Sylph gathered her skirts and curtsied in reply before dematerializing in front of them. Lass looked around, taking in their surroundings. A heavily forested area stood all around them and threatened to engulf its inhabitants/trespassers.

He finally turned to his friend with a blank expression, "Any idea where we are?" Arme thought to herself for a moment when she got an idea. She positioned herself in front of Lass and then shoved her Warstaff between the two's legs. Before Lass could fully understand what was happening, Arme lifted the two of them high into the air to survey the area. The thief clutched the magician tightly around the waist as they lifted off. That action caused the duo to blush many different kinds of red, but neither was paying much attention. Lass was focused on not falling off while Arme was busy trying to figure out where they were.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that we're not in Ellia. All I see are trees. It's too bad that Ryan isn't with us. He'd be ecstatic," Arme laughed. Lass smiled but did not respond, "I don't think we're in Archemedia either because it's a technological wasteland. There'd be few trees, let alone an enormous jungle like this," Arme felt glum. Suddenly she spotted something that lifted her spirits; a castle, "Lass! There's a town over there! It's a ways away, I can barely see it, but it's over there! Let's go!" Once again, Lass was not aloud time to protest as the witch took off. Lass kept his head buried in Arme's neck as the mage flew faster and faster to their destination. Arme's heart fluttered excitedly from the contact. She'd developed a fondness for the thief over the course of their journeys. This was part of the reason she volunteered him and herself for the mission. As a certain RUDE magical hat had pointed out to her on numerous occasions, what she was experiencing was called a "crush". Lass felt the same way and tried every day to test the water, trying to pick apart the mage's feelings for him. It was a typical teenage relationship; both feeling things, both too shy to come out of the closet about it.

Thirty minutes later and the two were still moving at an exceedingly swift pace towards a town Lass had just begun to see. To Lass' insistence, Arme was not performing barrel rolls in the air. They compromised on gentle rocking movements. They weren't exactly G5 spins, but they were something to keep Arme interested in flying so she didn't drift off. The pilot hummed one of Amy's songs to herself to pass the excruciatingly long flight duration. Lass was just content to have an excuse to hold Arme without seeming out of character or suspiciously affectionate.

"Brace yourself" was what Arme heard before a wave of pain hit her legs and sent her spiraling to the ground with Lass in tow. Arme pulled herself off of the staff and Lass readjusted his grip on Arme. Arme caught her weapon right as inertia knocked her mind for a loop. Lass had caught a tree branch and Arme was wrapped around her waste in his other arm. Instinctually, Arme turned into Lass' chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. Lass himself dropped to the ground and supported Arme as she regained her balance for the second time that day.

The adrenaline quickly kicked in and Arme felt fine after a moment. Before Arme could ask what happened, a roar cut through her mind and an overly muscular figure appeared. It pulled a rock out of the ground and chucked it at Arme and Lass. He clutched her tighter and dodged. Arme summoned a fire ball and repetitively burned its head. Lass held on to Arme, allowing her to deal all of the damage while keeping her safe. Just when the beast was about to die, a pink vine shot out of nowhere and snaked itself around Lass. The large creature grabbed Arme from him.

"LASS!" Arme cried out. The monster began to crush her. Before Arme lost consciousness, she sent an air blade to slice through the pink vine.

The purple haired maiden awoke to find her neck bent at an uncomfortable backwards angle. Her body was being moved, which did not help to curb the insane dizzy spell her being was undergoing.

"Unggggmmmmmmmahhhhhgggh," Arme ineloquently groaned as she attempted to correct herself. Suddenly the mage recalled what it was that caused her to fall unconscious. Arme struggled and whomever it was that was carrying her, set her down.

A light touch on the shoulder prevented Arme from attacking the being, "Arme? Are you okay?" It was a voice the mage would recognize anywhere.

"Lass!" Arme jolted up and lost her footing. The man caught her in a gentle embrace. Arme grabbed his shoulders and Lass let go of her body. He, instead, chose to brush the hair from his crush's face and decipher Arme's condition with his gaze. Arme kept her head bent down and breathed heavily. Shortly after, she matched his look, "I'm fine. What about you?" He muttered something along the lines of 'I'm okay' and continued to check for broken bones.

"That thing squeezed you really tightly," Lass explained, "I need to make sure you didn't break anything."

Arme giggled lightly hit Lass' shoulder to signify a light tone, "I'm fine Lassie~. My magic must have healed me in my sleep." Lass nodded as though he believed her and took her hand.

"Um…" Arme blushed in confusion.

Lass started blushing too but didn't admit or show it to Arme, "I don't want you to get lost in the forest. We're heading to the town; maybe they can explain why those things attacked us. With me leading you, you can look at the scenery without me worrying about you getting lost and targeted again." Arme nodded twice and proceeded to follow him. Seeing as Lass had a firm grip on her wrist, the mage took time to look around at the lush greenery around her.

The sun brilliantly gleamed down on the pair as they made their way to a far away town. If the jungle was rich in one thing, it was wild life. Butterflies fluttered around, birds of every color imaginable chirped and chased each other, dancing among the trees. Lynx lazed about the sunny patches that penetrated the dense forest cover. Wild Ox battled one another. Exotic scents from exotic flowers filled the air, covering the sickeningly sweet stench of decay that lingered. Although all seemed peaceful in the rain forest, Arme felt a strong sense of foreboding, tension, in the atmosphere. She couldn't tell if it was paranoia from the recent battle with the beast or if it were genuine magical sense warning her of evil lurking in the darkness. Jonathon was not feeling anything magically amiss so he told her to stop being paranoid.

Two hours of walking passed and Arme began feeling light-headed and exhausted.

"Lass," Arme started, eyelids drooping deliriously, "I need to rest."

Lass chuckled lightly, "Wow, I know that you're accustomed to flying everywhere, but you can't be THAT out of shape," Lass heard Arme stumble over roots in the ground and turned back to look at her. She looked rough. Arme's hair was askew; a thin layer of sweat coated her body. She was panting lightly and when Lass stopped, she put her hands on her knees to prop herself up. Lass rested his hand on her shoulder and Arme looked at him with a dazed look on her face. The thing that frightened Lass the most was her eyes. They appeared clouded with something Lass couldn't readily identify.

"Arme?" He called but the words were muted against the sound of the beating of her heart. She was already gone. Arme blinked and the world slowed down around her. All she could hear was her breathing and heart pounding in a slow manner. Soon even those grew faint and all she knew faded to white. Arme knew no more.

"Arme!" Lass called out in vain as he watched the life fade from his best friend's eyes, "Oh my god what is happening?" He cried to no one in particular. Suddenly, a predatorial screech erupted from the trees and a figure fell, trying to land atop him. Instinctually, Lass grabbed his Nodachi from his belt and held it out from the direction the beast was falling. The creature landed, gut in sword; a monster-ka-bob. Lass wrapped his free arm around his crush and cleaned his sword off with the other arm. He stored his sword and resumed carrying his female bridal style and sprinting to their destination.

Arme opened her eyes to see white all around her, encompassing her entire being, "Where am I?" She asked to no one in particular. The mage tried to move but found herself incapable of doing so. She was being held back by a soft but flexible invisible force. Arme realized it was a substance similar to cotton candy and was able to create holes and dig her way to something. After what seemed like fifteen minutes of straight digging, she saw a field of yellow and white daisies and broke her way out of the white cotton candy. She tore away and landed on the daisies with a painful thud. Rubbing her head, Arme got to her feet and looked around. The sky was purple and the clouds pink. When Arme looked straight forward, she saw whom she assumed to be Lass. It was hard to tell. His hair was wavy and down past his shoulder blades. He wore a loose shirt and baggy pants with a wreath of white and yellow daisies in his hair. All in all, he looked like what could be called a 'hippy'. An uncharacteristically large smile adorned his face.

"Hi Arme! I've been waiting for you! Let's go play!" Lass exclaimed with joy as he twirled around in an effeminate manner. Arme looked at him with an incredulous look on her face.

"Lass are you feeling alright?" She asked, taking his hand and preventing him from any more twirling, "You're acting like Amy."

Lass giggled, "Yeah I'm fine, but you're not! Come on, let's go swimming!"

Arme tried to break free but to no avail so she just asked her question, "What do you mean 'I'm not fine'?" Lass laughed again.

"Seriously? You need to ask that question? Look around you and tell me that's not messed up?" He replied. Arme chewed on her thoughts and decided he was correct. She followed him without complaint to wherever he was taking her. They shortly came up to a swimming hole and Lass took off his clothes. He had swim trunks on instead of underwear. As Lass dove in, Arme noticed not only that she didn't have any swim clothes with her, but that Dream-Lass had an angel wing and a bat wing tattooed across his shoulder blades on opposing sides.

Arme sat on the ground, "Nice tattoo."

Lass turned in the water to look at her, "Yeah, thanks. Aren't you coming in?"

"I don't have any swim wear," She explained.

"Yes you do, just take off your dress," Lass contradicted.

Arme gave in and realized that she was wearing a purple baby doll halter dress with white embellishments. She undid the knot behind her head and stepped out of the garment to reveal a bikini.

Arme's eyes widened, "Oh…" She didn't know she'd been wearing a bikini. Arme chalked it up to being in a dream and sat on the edge of the water. That wasn't fast enough for Lass because he dragged her into the water with him. Arme emitted a short scream before being submerged in the warm water. She came up, gasping for air and looking for Lass. Arme was confused but her search was quickly ended. She was pulled under the water by her feet. At first she was calm. Lass wouldn't let her drown; he's just having a bit of fun. A couple moments later, Arme needed air and kicked free to get back to the surface. Just as she surfaced and took a breath of air, she was snagged back down into the water. Confused, Arme looked at Lass for an explanation. He had a mischievous grin on his face and a wild look in his eyes that made Arme very uncomfortable. She swam back to the surface but found that Lass wouldn't let go. She kicked but he held on tighter and dragged her further underneath. Her eyes widened in realization; he was TRYING to drown her! Arme sent a blade of fire down at his face and he recoiled in pain. With haste, Arme swam to the surface, pulled herself out of the water, and got far away from the edge. She got up, grabbed her dress and ran for safety. She knew not where to go, so the mage ran back to her cocoon of white cotton candy. Lass stopped her before she could move more than three feet.

Arme screamed in terror and Lass cupped her mouth and forced her to look at him. The wildness seemed to be gone from his eyes and he was frowning in concern.

"Why are you running from me? Why are you afraid?" Lass asked. Arme allowed herself to relax and sighed in relief.

Arme remembered he'd asked a question and replied, "You were trying to drown me!" Lass looked at her with a confused expression.

"I did nothing of the sort! I was playing with you! I see you can't take my practical joking. I won't do it again."

Arme looked at him sadly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad."

Lass shook his head, "No, I really shouldn't have done that with you. Let's go have a picnic and then head back to the castle okay?"

Arme nodded happily, eager to please him. It was comforting that Lass seemed to be back to his normal, calm self. The mage skipped alongside her luncheon companion until they got back to the site of the arrival. Her cotton candy cocoon had been woven into a picnic blanket and a basket with food rested atop it. Arme cheered and quickly took her place on the mat. Lass casually walked over and took his place on the other side of her. Arme was rapidly pulling out various meats and picnic foods. All meats were various forms of harpy and drillmon. A thermos of hot chocolate was retrieved from said basket as was an entire strawberry-shortcake. Arme gasped as she saw the items and looked to Lass hopefully. He smiled lightly at the excited expression on her face.

"You should eat the meat first," he advised. Arme nodded and made herself a sandwich with bread also found in the basket. After performing this action the mage poured her a glass of hot chocolate. She chomped down on her drillmon sandwich and munched happily. Lass looked content with his lunch of drillmon meat. As soon as the sandwich was gone, Arme cut herself a piece of strawberry shortcake.

Arme jested, "It's my favorite because it's short like me." Lass laughed softly at the joke and continued to slowly eat the meat. As Lass finished his meat, Arme reached for a second piece of cake.

"Careful," Lass warned, "If you eat too much of it, you'll get ill." Arme shrugged it off and continued to eat. Lass sighed, knowing she'd ignored him. He decided to claim a piece of it before it was all gone. Halfway through his piece, Arme had given up on 'pieces' and started to eat the entire dessert with a fork. Lass smiled to himself and continued to eat his slice of cake.

Upon finishing, Lass cleaned up the area. Arme was relaxing on her back to try to stay comfortable. Her stomach was distended from eating too much and she was regretting it. Lass came up behind Arme, lifted her back off the ground, and moved himself behind her so that he was supporting her.

"Mmmmm I'm sore now," Arme stated. She hiccupped once and groaned, "Great. Now I have hicc-ups" She complained to Lass. He laughed in response.

"I told you that you'd feel bad. Listen to me next time." He rested his hands just above her abdomen. Arme was too tired to tell him to move them, and besides, it felt good. Lass kissed Arme's forehead and rested his cheek there.

"Uhh," Arme warily began, "We're a couple in this dream?"

Lass shrugged, "It's your dream."

Arme tilted her head from side to side, weighing this information, "Fair enough I suppose."

The couple sat in silence and waited for Arme's hiccups to dissipate. It seemed like hours but right as they stopped, they realized the sun was setting. Arme bolted up.

"We have to get back to the castle, remember?" Arme exclaimed. Lass stood and offered Arme a ride on his back. She accepted and they were off.

Upon arriving at the castle, Arme was given the cold treatment. Everyone had their backs to her.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Arme inquired innocently. They all turned around simultaneously. They had no faces. Arme turned to Lass whose face also disappeared. The mage turned to run, but the one assumed to be Elesis grabbed her by the hair. She slammed Arme's face into the wall and then threw her to the floor. Everyone started kicking her and Arme cried out.

"STOP!" Arme screamed at the top of her lungs. Lass turned around mid-step and looked at her. He threw his backpack to the ground and cupped Arme's tear streaked face. She was kicking violently and shrieking. Lass sat on the bed and tried to awaken his love.

"Arme, Arme wake up. Arme please wake up. You are having a nightmare. Wake up please," Lass felt as though he was going to break down. He couldn't stand to hear Arme so distraught. He lightly shook her, trying to wake her up. The action worked and Arme's eyes snapped open. Unfortunately, due to the dream she'd just had, Arme ended up punching Lass in the face trying to get away. Arme was in a weakened condition so her punch hardly fazed him, "Arme please calm down. It was just a nightmare."

Arme stopped fighting; those words cut through the delirious state she was in and made her aware of her actions. Lass rubbed his cheek once and then looked into Arme's eyes. She wrapped her arms around Lass' neck and buried her head in his chest as she started to cry. Lass stroked her back comfortingly as sobs shook her body. He just allowed her to cry. He didn't try to make her feel better, or tell her that her fears were silly. They sat in each other's embrace for fifteen minutes until Arme finally stopped crying. She pulled back, wiped her eyes, and looked around.

"Ah…where are we?" Arme croaked. She was sitting in a comfortable bed with white sheets. The walls were white with white tiles. Arme frowned at the excessive amount of white in the room. It looked like a hospital or a sanitarium. Lass looked to the door where three women stood in contemplation. The one in front was approximately five feet six inches tall. She wore a short black dress with crimson bows on it and a crimson corset with black lacing. Her foot wear was black knee high boots and her hair was jet black and reaching the small of her back. She was a complete contrast to the room they were in. The one on her left was a female of short stature with blonde hair in ringlets at shoulder length. She wore a cornflower blue dress with a white apron and white sandals. The girl clutched a book to her chest as if letting go of it would cause her impending doom. The one to the right of the black haired maiden was a burgundy haired, silver eyed, platform Mary-Jane, wearing dutchess. Beneath those Mary-Janes were white stockings. She had two hair clips holding back her bangs and a half pony tail holding her thick hair off of her neck. She had hair that reached the small of her back and was pin straight. Her dress was maroon and reached down to a Capri cut. It had long sleeves that flared out at the elbow and was bordered by white lace. She held a vibrantly orange feather in her left hand and a partially written on scroll in her right.

The woman in front cleared her throat, "Hello Arme. I am Clarice, your doctor. The lady in the blue on my left is Janet my intern, and to my right is Hinahime, the lady of this castle. I will do my best to ensure your health's return. Please enjoy your stay. Would you like something to eat?" Lass answered for her.

"She wants Drillmon soup with hot chocolate to drink," he replied. Arme nodded again. Clarice disappeared, handing Janet a chart that she'd been holding. The girl walked over to Arme and pulled out her stethoscope.

"Breathe deeply," The girl instructed. Arme did so and repeated the procedure until it was no longer necessary. Janet then put her hand to Arme's forehead to take temperature. Janet sighed, "Do you have any medicinical or food allergies?" Arme shook her head and Janet went to a cabinet with pills in it. She grabbed a large bottle half empty with medium sized pills and took one out. She got a glass of water and took the pill over to her, "Swallow this." Arme did so and was relieved to feel the cool water on her burning throat. Janet sighed again and wrote on the chart. Hinahime sat in a chair at the foot of the bed and tapped Lass' shoulder.

Lass looked at the girl, "Should you not be headed to the lines now?" He nodded and turned back to Arme.

"Will you be okay here by yourself?"

Arme hesitated before answering but smiled in the end, "Yes" she answered. Her throat was hurting her from the dryness. The water hadn't been enough to quench her thirst. Lass stroked her head caringly once and then exited the room. Hinahime noticed the empty glass, "Would you like more water?" Arme nodded once more and Hinahime rose. She filled the glass with more water and handed it back to the mage. Arme gratefully accepted and drank from the cup. Hinahime watched as Arme drank the entire glass. When Arme was finished she put the glass on the bedside table and rested her head back down. She was about to doze off when she remembered Hinahime.

"Thank you for letting me stay here," Arme bowed as much as she could. Hinahime smiled.

"Yes, it is fine as long as you allow me to observe you. I am a writer, and I use other people's actions, relationships, and lives as my inspiration. Clarice is an old friend of mine and when the infection hit, I let her turn this wing of the castle into a hospital. I use her admissions as my personal muses and my stories have been more interesting lately as result," Hinahime explained. Arme smiled.

"Of course its fine," Arme replied, "But I have to ask, what did Lass have to go do?"

The castle lady's eyes widened, "His name is actually Lass?" Arme nodded, "oh, well, you see this infection is not exactly…" Hinahime searched for the correct words to use, "a…standard infection," Arme looked with confusion, "ah…this…is…an infection that…it changes people. It turns them into monsters. We need people to combat this disease and Lass volunteered his services. Apparently you people fight monsters for a living?" Arme nodded, "Yes. It is the same infection that you were given. He got you to us in time that Clarice was barely able to inject the antidote. You're body is still trying to get rid of it, so you need all the rest you can get."

Arme was shocked and confused, "I was becoming a monster? How? How did I get infected?"

Hinahime sighed, sick of explaining herself, "Lass tells us that you got into a fight on the way here?" Arme nodded, remembering all too well, "That giant monster is what we call a 'Tank'" the monster that wrapped its tongue around Lass is called a 'Smoker' because of the smoke it emits. I do not understand why it is called that either due to the fact it's attack is with the tongue. Anyways, the Tank dug into you when you got taken in its hands. The mark is on the right of your abdomen. I was here when you were brought in." After she said those words, Clarice came in with a tray of soup and hot chocolate.

"Hello sunshine, it's always good to see patients awake and getting their brains probed," Clarice joked with a sly smile and a gentle nudge of Hinahime's shoulder.

Hinahime blushed and looked down, "I'm not that bad, besides!" She looked back up and playfully glared at Clarice, "She was probing ME. NOT the other way around this time!" Clarice laughed and put the tray of food down on Arme's lap. It was a bed tray so it stood on its own.

"Whatever Hina, your horror buddy is awake if you wanna talk to him." Hinahime bolted up and out of her seat to check on the person. Clarice laughed and shook her head at her friend's antics. Clarice took a seat on the bed to talk to Arme.

"So Arme, how are you feeling?"

Arme hadn't thought about it yet. She had a headache and her entire body was sore. There was nothing besides that.

"My head hurts and my body aches. I don't feel anymore discomfort than that though."

Clarice smiled warmly, "The headache should go away and your body pains should be subsiding soon. You might also start experiencing chills because what Janet gave you was a pain and fever reducer."

"Thank you," Arme said, "Hinahime says that if you hadn't given me the injection…I'd be…a monster?"

"Ahhh yes," Clarice started, "You'd have more specifically been a witch. Look at your hands."

Arme looked down and saw that they were slightly longer than normal.

"Anyways, I'll let you eat your…lunch. I'm going to go check on some more patients, alright?" Arme smiled and nodded as she rested her head back on the pillow. Sleep was calling to her, but she was afraid to fall asleep for fear of the nightmare again. She was comforted when the sleep was dreamless.

Lass sat atop the castle perch, waiting to catch a glimpse of one of his victims. He couldn't wait to wreak vengeance upon the freaks that hurt his Arme. If her body temperature and breathing pace hadn't increased instead of decreased, Lass wasn't sure how he'd have handled it. He cringed as the next thought entered his head.

"I don't just have a crush on her, she's my unrequited love."

Lass quickly shook this thought and every thought remotely similar to it from his head. He couldn't afford to think about things like that and he didn't want to. He blushed nonetheless. A cry was emitted and soon the sound of rushing air was heard. Lass pulled out his Nodachi and slashed the head of a "Hunter" clean off. They were mysterious hooded figures that jumped at their prey and slashed them to pieces with their tiger-like claws. It was similar to the creature that attempted to "pounce" on him on the way to the castle. Lass spotted a "Boomer" in the distance and threw a kunai at it before it got close enough to spew the disgusting contents of its stomach. The large, balloon-like creature exploded, splashing its bile and blood everywhere. Unfortunately an sad soul was standing a smidgen too close and became coated in the vomit contained in the Boomer's stomach. Lass sighed ruefully and went down to assist in defending the man. When Lass got down there, all was quiet. In a growing roar, shrieking and yelling was approaching.

"HORDE!" someone called out and the protectors took battle positions. Lass kept an eye out for special infected, but the only things that came were Hunters. No Smokers were involved. Suddenly the ground shook and Lass cursed. He turned to the poor boy who'd gotten puked on.

"Can you see yet?" The male shook his head. Lass pulled him onto his back, "Hold on, there's a Tank coming so I have to get you to safety." The boy held on and Lass jumped away, scaling the building so that he was in a safe position. They watched the battle together after the vomit was wiped away and dried. Soon the Tank was killed and the men returned to their positions. A couple of males were being wheeled to the infirmary when Lass brought the boy back down with the others.

A figure materialized next to Lass, who in turn jumped and drew his weapon. Lass sheathed his weapon upon realizing who it was.

"Oh, hello Captain Strawberry." The man looked over at Lass with mild contempt in his gaze and then smiled.

"You realize how special you are that you can call me that?" Lass nodded, "Very well then. That chick you came with…Arrrr…may? She's asking you to go to her. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine." Before he could say another word, Lass was on his way to see Arme.

"Lass?" Arme asked as soon as He came in. The thief sat on the edge of Arme's bed and held her hand.

Lass looked at her with a tilted head, "Yeah?"

Arme looked down and away for a moment before bringing herself to face him again, "How long have I been unconscious?"

He was caught off guard by that question but quickly recovered, "You've been asleep for about a week. Why?"

"Just asking," Arme questioned. She stared deeply into Lass' eyes, searching for an emotion to answer the question she really wanted to know the answer to. She found none and felt herself become mildly disappointed. As if he could read minds, Lass sat back further and relaxed.

"I was really worried you know. You should never get that sick that fast again. Ever." Arme giggled lightly at his statement. That was the wrong move to make. Lass quickly moved his head to look at her, "It's not funny! I was frightened for you!" He looked away again and with a hint of darkness he said, "You don't know what it's like watching someone very important to you die."

Arme was taken aback and her mind was flurried with questions, 'Die? I wasn't dying, was I? Important? What kind of important? Does he like me too? What did it look like? What did I look like? Was I repulsive?' What came out was not quite what her mind was telling her to say.

"…" There was dead silence on either end as Arme chewed on her thoughts, "Explain?"

Lass sighed but acquiesced regardless, "You…first off, you had collapsed randomly. When I looked back you were sweating, tired, and out of breath in a way that you shouldn't have been. You'd been fine earlier today, so it freaked me out. Then you looked at me and I watched your body shut down to fight the infection. On top of all that it was YOU who'd just passed out. If it was Elesis or Ryan it'd be different…but…you…" Lass shut up and looked away after that. He'd realized he'd gotten too wrapped up in his explanation and let out a little too much information. Arme caught it.

"I'm…what?"She asked. She felt hope. Perhaps he really did feel the same way.

Lass continued to not look at Arme, "You're…special. More important than the others…" She could hear the embarrassment in his voice and smiled happily.

Jonathon, who'd been sleeping happily in the corner, sensed Arme's excessively happy vibe and woke up. He hopped along and jumped on Arme's head to read her thoughts.

"Awwwww. Isn't that cute? Go on, tell him how you feel. Assure him that he's not alone in his feelings! NOW WOMAN!"

"Shut up you! I will!"

"I feel the same," Arme said. Lass looked up and saw her smiling brightly. He was deciphering her face to see if she knew what he'd meant, she did.

He got up and moved closer to her. After moving, he was resting next to her in a cuddling position. Arme curled herself into his chest. Their discussion had worn her out. Arme was asleep in moments.

The week that followed was focused on Arme's recovery and protecting the castle. After that week was up, Arme and Lass stayed for another week to help get rid of the infection. Arme studied books to find the cure while Lass waited patiently; holding out until at last a cure was discovered. It was administered in a mist over the entire jungle thanks to a spell. The infected were returned to normal and all were happy; all but one.

"We have to get going now! Good luck!" Arme yelled as she mounted her Warstaff. Lass followed suit. The entire town was standing outside of the castle to see off Arme and Lass. Hinahime, who'd been quiet up to that point, stopped Arme from taking off with a shoulder touch.

Arme turned, "What is it?"

"I…" Hinahime looked down and away, "I would like to come with you."

'She has everything she needs here. Why would she want to come with us?' Arme thought to herself.

Jonathon answered, "Perhaps she doesn't have what she wants."

Their questions were silenced shortly, "I want to see the world and experience different cultures," Hinahime explained, "I have lived here my entire life. It's time I got out. Your spirits intrigue me. I want to see how your story plays out."

Arme laughed, "I don't mind, but you'll have to take that up with our leader when we get to her." Hinahime smiled widely.

"That sounds delightful," She said.

Arme scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "There's a slight problem. This wand is a two-seater."

"That's no problem. I have my own form of flight."

Hinahime summoned a cumulus cloud and hopped aboard, "I know where the nearest dock is. Follow me~"

And with that said, the three of them flew off into the distance.

Fin~

A/N: A WEEK PAST MY DEADLINE! DX I'm so sorry! Also, I cannot complete "Unintended Consequences" until I do some "research" so I will work on it until the final chapter. If I can't get to a computer to do "research" by then, then I'll have to wait until I can. What else did I want to say…hmm…

ALSO! I'm sorry about the…sketchiness if you saw it. I apologize. I promise I wasn't rushing (as indicated by the tardiness) I just didn't know how to describe it. I hope you all like it~ Patrick says hello from Xbox and Josh shoots him in the foot by the justification of a lack of Cheetoes™. I own Clarice and Janet. Utsuro-chan owns Hinahime. RESPECT HER! *threatens* As always RRE~

-The one with Stanley the gas can

Willowwhip