Title: Love Potion Dilemma

Author: KikoAyumi
Rating: K+
Couple: LarsxRhen

Notes: Near the end of the game, after Elini acquires the love potion, and after Te'ijal and Galahad are wed.

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PART 1 (I'm thinking three or four parts here. We'll see.)

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Elini eyed John from a corner of the Inn, absentmindedly tracing the small indents of the bottle within her hold.

'He would make quite a suitable husband. This love potion shall make him loyal to me forever!'

Turning her back to the rest of her companions, she brought the bottle into view before unscrewing the lid. A sweet aroma filled her nostrils, and a mischievous smile decorated her lightly painted lips before she clenched the bottle and swiftly turned back around.

Eyeing her victim once more, she ventured across the room in long strides, raising her hand higher with every step.

'If I just dump this on his head…'

She was only five feet away.

Five feet!

And out of nowhere, the northern brat came walking in front of her, (it was a smaller Inn, after all, and they had quite a big party) causing her to start in surprise.

Unfortunately, because the bottle had already been tipped and ready to spill, the sudden jerk backwards made the sweet-smelling liquid spill onto Lars's head. Lars gasped in surprise, not expecting a shower, and immediately shut his eyelids tightly to avoid getting the liquid in his eyes.

There was silence after the sudden splash, the majority of people in the room staring wide-eyed at the scene whilst Lars began shaking visibly in anger.

They knew he would blow up any moment.

However, Rhen was the one to break the silence first.

By bursting out in laughter.

An arm firmly tucked in her now-bent stomach, she gleefully pointed at the drenched boy in front of her.

"Hahaha! You… you look like a drowned rat! Haha…!"

She slumped to the floor in amusement.

Dameon snorted at the comment, grinning widely at the other man's expense.

Finally having enough, Lars's eyelids flew open, and he angrily turned toward the hysterically laughing girl sitting by the bedpost. However, as soon as his eyes met Rhen, the anger was swept away, replaced by a doe-caught-in-the-headlights look.

Elini panicked upon seeing the look, eyes drifting from Lars, to the empty bottle in her hand, to Rhen, and back again.

Without saying a word, Lars made his way to Rhen, suddenly putting out his hand in a gesture to help her up. Rhen immediately snapped her mouth shut, all traces of laughter gone as she looked at the hand skeptically.

"… What are you trying to pull?" Rhen asked a little fearfully. Lars was supposed to blow up. Never had he taken an insult calmly.

This had to be a trick.

And everyone else in the room thought this as well, all but one very vexed Elini.

To everyone's shock, Lars smiled.

"I'm trying to 'pull' you up from the floor," Lars spoke innocently, "A beautiful girl doesn't belong in such a place."

More silence.

Rhen now resembled a fish, her mouth opening and closing, but voice failing. Dameon looked irked at the sudden comment, but was stopped from making a move by John's hand falling on his shoulder in warning. John cleared his throat, eyeing Lars carefully for any trick he might be trying to pull.

"Lars…?" John started.

Lars just turned in question, raising a brow. His hand was still waiting in midair.

"There ain't no need to do anything hasty, 'ya know…" John trailed off unsurely. Lars's eyebrows creased together.

"What do you mean by that?" Lars asked, turning back to Rhen and insistently bringing his hand closer to her, "Let me help you."

Rhen pursed her lips together, staring at Lars before hesitantly taking his hand. As soon as he felt her soft flesh in his hold, Lars hoisted the light girl upwards.

He didn't stop there, though.

With another quick tug, Rhen let out a squeak, finding herself flush up against the necromancer, who merely smiled softly.

"Wha… wha… eh?" Rhen spoke all too intelligently, blushing at the proximity. Her nose was nearly brushing his!

Te'ijal smirked from her bed, mumbling, "Humans are so amusing."

Galahad, in the bed next to her, shot her a dirty glare before snappily replying, "Wish I was still one of those humans!"

"You should get some sleep. We begin our quest for the final druid tomorrow and I want to make sure you're in top shape," Lars said, letting go of her hand and running the tips of his fingers through her bangs. Rhen shifted awkwardly, avoiding his gaze, but nodding none-the-less.

Dameon practically growled, wrenching his shoulder from John's grip and stalking over to the two. Grabbing Lars's arm, he pulled him a few feet away from the girl.

"You're making her uncomfortable!" Dameon exclaimed, mirroring the nasty glare sent at him, "What's wrong with you, brat?"

"Hands off, Sun Priest," Lars spat, ripping his arm away, "Don't think I haven't seen the looks you give her. You're just jealous!"

The aforementioned Sun Priest's face flushed, from anger or embarrassment, one could not tell.

Probably both.

"Enough!" Elini suddenly shouted, grabbing all the attention, "I am the cause of this, and I do apologize!"

She held up the small bottle, which reflected specks of rainbow light against the western wall. Te'ijal sat up, squinting as if to see it better.

"Is that a love potion, Elini?" Te'ijal asked, though from her amused tone, one could tell she already knew.

"Love potion?!" Rhen exclaimed, once again pointing at Lars, "Is that why he's acting so weird?!"

Lars looked offended at the comment.

"I love you!" Lars exclaimed, throwing a glare at the bottle, "It's certainly no potion's fault."

Both Rhen and Dameon choked at the admission.

"Love potion or not, you don't deserve her!" Dameon shouted, crossing his arms. Lars grit his teeth.

"Are you saying you do?!" Lars replied with a mocking laugh, "You're not even hardly trustworthy!"

"I'm a man, boy," Dameon countered with a sneer, "I don't resort to petty little tricks to get a woman to notice me!"

"Ha! But who's stronger?!" Lars replied, forming a swirling ball of water in his hand, "I could kick your as-"

"ENOUGH."

Though Rhen was confused and flustered by the sudden change of events, she let anger override as she continued speaking, "I would appreciate both of you shutting up! I'm right here, you know! Dameon, I've never seen you act so childishly!"

Dameon guiltily looked to the floor while Lars let out a pitiful, "Hey!" at the jibe.

Rhen sighed, turning to Elini.

"Can we talk outside?" She asked, rubbing at her temple before throwing a glare at the previously arguing boys, "Alone?"

In the next few moments, Rhen and Elini made their way out of the building and into the streets of Thais, leaving Lars and Dameon staring out after them. With one last warning glare, Dameon crawled into his bed, purposefully turning his back to Lars.

Lars rolled his eyes at the gesture before following example. In the bed next to him, Galahad frowned.

"Women are brutal, aren't they?" Galahad spoke.

"Shut up, vampire."

Galahad pouted.

--

"So it's a real love potion," Rhen said, amazed as she fiddled with the small bottle in her hands, "It smells like perfume."

Elini sat next to her on the stone ledge, a tree above casting them in darkness.

"I really am sorry for the trouble. My target was John, certainly not the northerner," Elini replied, leaning back against her hands and staring into the leaves. Rhen gripped the bottle a little tighter.

"There has to be a cure," Rhen said, making Elini make eye contact with her once again, "Right? I mean, someone wouldn't make a love potion without a cure…?"

"I'm uncertain of that. But Rhen, maybe you should think about this?" Elini questioned, a ghost of a smile on her lips, "It is Lars after all. If he is in love with you, he surely won't pick on you any longer. And, to tell the truth, if he acts like he did in there… minus the fight with Dameon… he would be much more pleasant to the lot of us."

Rhen shook her head automatically.

"No, it would be wrong to use him like that. Lars… I've been with him longer than all of you have. Granted, not under the best circumstances, but… that's how I can tell he really has changed! Surely you've noticed?" Rhen inquired, looking almost hopeful. Elini eyed her a moment before looking up into the leaves again.

"He has become a little more agreeable, yes. … You are a truly noble woman. Even though he has treated you horribly, you still defend him."

"Well… he did say he was sorry. And he's helped me… us… a lot during this journey…"

Elini's smile widened.

"Are you sure this situation bothers you so much?" Elini taunted.

Rhen blushed.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Rhen exclaimed, pointedly turning away from her. Elini did not answer, but the smile stayed plastered to her face. With a huff, Rhen stood up, announcing, "We have to find a cure! It's our first priority!"

"First priority? You are putting a love potion cure over the last druid?"

"Well… we'll find it along the way!" Rhen exclaimed, determination swirling with her eyes, "… Any idea where we should start?"

"We received the love potion in my homeland, did we not?"

--

"Veldt?"

The word was spoken by five surprised party members. Elini nodded in response.

"We will be taking a short detour back to Veldt. I have urgent business there that must be attended to before we head to the Dark Caverns," Elini explained, going along with Rhen's plan from the night before. It was better not to mention the real reason for heading back to Veldt, simply to keep Lars from objecting and from others ridiculing about making something like this more important than the druid.

"The dragon 's had enough rest. We can ride 'er anytime," John spoke.

"I will go to the shop and get us stocked up, then," Galahad offered, making his way to the door. Te'ijal quickly shoved a bottle of sunscreen in his side.

"Go out there without this and you'll get nice and crispy," Te'ijal warned with a smile. Galahad paled at having forgotten again, and quickly took the sunscreen, mumbling under his breath as he applied it.

"Where's Rhen?" Lars asked, exceedingly aware that he had not seen the girl since last night's argument.

"She has been training," Elini responded vaguely.

"All night? We can't head off to Veldt when she hasn't slept!" Lars disagreed. Dameon rolled his eyes.

"She's a big girl, Lars," Dameon spoke mockingly, though looking a little worried about the fact himself.

"'Nough of that bickering," John piped in, strapping his rapier to his side.

"I wasn't even a part of that one," Lars defended, slipping on a boot.

And so the morning went. Galahad returned with his hands full of food and potions, and Rhen had showed up not too long after. Despite being a little tired, she was one hundred percent ready for the journey.

Though she ended up avoiding Lars. If keeping her distance from him wasn't enough to tell, Lars's foul mood and Dameon's happy-go-lucky one was a dead giveaway.

The Blasted Lands were just how they had left them… ugly and dead. For someone who had not seen its previous glory, the thought of lush greens and brilliantly colored flowers was nearly unbelievable.

"How long should this take?" Te'ijal asked in boredom.

"Uncertain. Hopefully it will be quick," Elini answered, glancing behind her. Rhen was in the very back of the party, busying herself with staring at nothing, while Lars kept tossing troubled glances her way. The boy was absolutely itching to strike a conversation with her. And even though Elini hadn't known Lars for too long, she did know the boy was as impatient as one could be.

"Rhen, are you really going to ignore me all day?!"

Elini smiled in triumph.

Rhen pointedly stared ahead.

"You are not Lars right now," Rhen replied, tone neutral. Lars blanched.

"What the heck do you mean?!" He yelled, very near ready to pull his hair out, "Is this about that potion again?! I told you, I love y-"

"Potion talking," Rhen butt in, still calm. Lars took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, because it was obvious that this wasn't working.

"Just let it go," Dameon growled. Lars felt the flames of anger flare up again in an instant.

"You-"

"Promise be damned, I'll bite you both if you don't be quiet," Te'ijal interjected, baring her fangs in warning.

Things became quiet after that, but tension was still hovering over them like a dark cloud.

Though she appeared calm and collected on the outside, Rhen was in inner turmoil.

'I can't take much more of this. I want so badly to go smack some sense into Lars's head, not like it'd work. That's definitely no cure for a love potion. … Am I willing to say that I'm actually missing our little arguments? … It was definitely better than this silence.'

Rhen dared a glance at Lars, noting the beginnings of a pout on his features.

'… Why am I avoiding him again?'

Because you don't want to end up in a situation like last night.

Rhen blushed at the memory, her nose suddenly tingling.

She hastily scratched it.

What had the boy been thinking?! She was 'nothing but a commoner,' as he liked to put it, and in front of everyone like that..!

'It was the love potion! The love potion!!'

And if it hadn't been?

Rhen nearly choked at the thought.

'It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't the love potion! Lars would never…'

She could not, for the love of God, figure out why she felt a little disheartened at that.

A feral growl reached her ears, snapping her out of her stupor. Her very first thought was that the guys had gotten into a fight again, for they tended to growl at each other a lot.

But no, this was no human growl.

Tense, Rhen whipped around just in time to see a red wolf lunge at her, claws bared.

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This was a lot of fun to write X3 Hope you enjoyed it! R&R!