Everyone knows that Arme is the most cheerful member of Grand Chase, but contrary to this fact, she absolutely hates strangers. Especially the gloomy ones...
Only a while ago, the mage, the archer and the knight fought against their greatest antagonist; KazeAaze. The battle was fierce, bloody and equally unpredictable so it wasn't long before they chose to retreat. Elesis, of course, couldn't stand the fact that they ended up with nothing but a mysterious boy... One who took interest in joining the group to right his wrongs. Although the mage didn't want to have a person like him around, she unwillingly welcomed him as a friend. It was something she regretted despite knowing that he could make a great addition to the team which was still quite small with a mere total of five members, including her.
Right now, she was sitting on a bed at Serdin Castle's clinic, bandaging the stranger. So far, the only thing she could hear was the stretching of the white fabric she held. And she hated it. His existence made her more and more uncomfortable by the minute.
The boy, on the other hand, watched her eagerly, secretly suppressing the need to pull her closer to him. He didn't know why, but he loved her presence... Her every movement. And most of all, he loved her cheery, childish attitude. It was the first thing he had noted in his mind when she first spoke to him. Although there was a hint of pretense in her voice at that moment, he simply hoped that one day, they'd both be inseparable.
"The upper arm's done," The mage informed, thus breaking the silence. "Where else did Elesis hit you?"
The boy looked down, and sure enough, there was a trace of a small yet deep gash on his chest. Luckily, the dim-witted knight hadn't struck him straight in the heart or he'll definitely be a corpse by now.
Arme looked away, hiding the faint red glow on her cheeks, and stood up. "I-I'll get Ronan to bandage it for you..."
"No!" The boy protested, automatically making Arme stop dead on her tracks. White as a ghost, the girl turned slowly, knowing she was in more trouble than she had hoped for. "I want you to do that..."
Crap... This guy must be going nuts! She thought. Why me?! Why?!
Arme swallowed hard before setting herself down on the bed again, then she began to pull out another box of bandages. She looked down on the gash, blushing madly as she slowly took off the boy's shirt. She carefully dabbed the injury with a wet cloth, just like she did with the other wounds. Only this time, she couldn't concentrate. She gulped once more before whirling the bandage around the boy's chest.
The boy inhaled the mage's strawberry scent, staring down at her as she worked on the injury. It should have hurt him, even if slightly, but his attention was completely consumed by the petite, purple-haired girl.
"Done..." Arme announced, a bit angrily as she jumped off the bed.
The boy looked at her with an eccentric flicker in his eyes. "Battle practice. Three O'clock in the afternoon. Tomorrow. Don't be late."
"Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?! Your injuries haven't even healed!" Arme yelled, trying to look scary. However, her efforts were wasted. She ended up looking like a doll... Just to state the least, she always looks like a doll...
"I don't care. I want to train as soon as possible," The boy retorted, grimly.
Good luck surviving then The infuriated mage contemplated as she walked out of the room, allowing the newcomer to rest.
The next day...
"Sorry...If I...made you...wait," Arme panted. "I was...unaware...of the...time."
"It's okay," The boy stated. "But before we start practicing, I want to make a deal with you..."
"What...kind of deal?" The girl questioned.
"If you win, I'll leave you alone... If I win, you'll let me have whatever I want!"
"Sure! This is going to be easy!"
Three thunder slashes and one stone curse later...
"I told you! This was just too easy..." Arme taunted.
"Oh yeah? We're not done yet," The boy replied as he grabbed his daggers. Within seconds, he was off the ground and fully-stationed in mid-air. All the mage could do was watch in disbelief as dozens of shockwaves began falling straight at her direction. The impact was so strong that it sent her to the ground.
"Ouch..." She muttered to herself.
"Give up?" He asked, mockingly.
"No!" Arme snapped, smiling slightly as she revealed a vile that contained some bizarrely-colored liquid. It was poisonous of course, so Arme closed her eyes and held her breath as smoke escaped the object, making herself immune to its effect. Of course, she knew that her act was risky, for her opponent was swift, and could land an attack on her without warning, even if a strange poison was already surrounding her.
Minutes later, she felt something envelope her; a strange kind of warmth that she found soothing... Surprisingly, it took her to the extent of standing completely still just to embrace the warmth a bit more. She stayed in that position until she began hearing soft, lulling heartbeats.
"What the?!" Arme screeched as she backed away, sending her and the stranger down.
"I win!" The boy announced, keeping the mage pinned on the ground, in a very, very awkward position.
"Ugh! This is the main reason why I hate strangers!" She screamed, trying to squirm away from her opponent's grasps.
"I've told you guys my name and you still think of me as a stranger... What kind of friend are you?"
"For your information, I wasn't listening! And I don't befriend people like you!"
After hearing those words, the stranger felt as if a thousand needles had pierced right through him. But he knew one thing: It was his turn to abandon the mage. "Fine then... You win... I'll leave you alone."
And with that, he got up and stalked away from the training grounds, leaving the mage bewildered at what she had done...
The next day was no different... And so were the days that followed. Arme and the boy never spoke to each other. In the mean time, the other members knew something was definitely wrong about this picture, after all, Arme was usually vivacious, but now, she was frowning as if it was the end of the world. The boy who actually came by the name, "Lass" hadn't been himself as well. He never listens to anyone, even the Knight master. This little problem didn't go unnoticed, and the team knew they had to do something about it...
They had to make Lass and Arme work together.
After days of planning, the other members had come up with the perfect mission just for the two brats, which the knight master gave off right away. The quest was to make sure the elven forest was monster-free, so by the end of the day, Lass found himself on the northern border of the said place, while Arme was on the south.
The two had battled a total of six harpies... Nothing else. But they both knew they weren't done yet, so they continued their search for more gruesome creatures.
Hours passed, and Arme encountered a troll, sitting lazily beneath a tree. Unknown to her, Lass was seeing the exact same scene. So at the very same moment, they readied their weapons and attacked, killing the troll with a single blow.
Tired from more than nine hours of patrolling, the mage collapsed, and the thief hastily caught her, inhaling her addicting scent once again. He set the girl down on the ground and sat beside her, watching as she dreamed.
When she woke up, however, it was another impression. It was as if she was seeing KazeAaze for the second time. "What are you doing here?!"
"Don't worry, I'll leave sooner or later. I just wanted to make sure you were in a secure area," Lass replied.
"Secure?! Not one area in Bermesiah is secure! Now if you excu--"
"You really hate me don't you, Arme?"
"Hate you? No, I don't hate you... I absolutely loathe you!"
"Well then, I'm gonna leave you now. Again. By the way, since you weren't listening. The name's Lass"
Arme smiled pretentiously, eying him as he stood up. But before he could even walk a single centimeter, he crashed down, still conscious, but in unquestionable pain.
"Lass, what's wrong?" Arme asked frantically, kneeling next to the boy.
"I-I'm fine..." Lass retorted.
"You know I won't believe that! Let me see," The mage demanded, forcing the used-to-be stranger to roll-over. To her surprise, the small gash she had bandaged a few weeks before was larger, and a bit deeper. "What happened to you?!"
"Harpy... Attack..." Lass replied weakly. Upon hearing this, Arme immediately performed a healing spell, -- something she could only use in battles-- miraculously stopping the blood from flowing. The main problem now was how to clean what was left of the injury.
"How long have you been enduring this?" Arme questioned, using a few herbs she had found earlier to cover the remains of the wound.
"Two hours."
"You're really lucky, you know?"
"Why?"
"Not even I could have survived that long..."
"Well, I would be dead by now if you didn't come around..."
"I'm really sorry... For lying to you all the time. "
"It doesn't matter anymore..."
Arme sighed. "I hate to say this but... What can I do for you, Lass?"
The said boy smiled slightly. "Sing for me..."
"W-What?! I-I can't s-sing!"
"Just do it..."
Faint as a whisper came the command, but she didn't turn it down. He wanted her to sing, and so she shall. No matter how awful it may sound...
Her voice came out like a million chimes, ringing in synchronization. A slow, wonderful, if not beautiful, lullaby. At that moment, Lass lost all control of his emotions. He immediately grabbed the girl's purple, shoulder-length hair, pulled her close and claimed her lips hastily. He didn't want her to finish the song... He wanted her.
He kissed her with passion that seemed to radiate the whole forest, and he made sure there was no space between them as his tongue took control of her mouth. She tasted better than he had ever expected.
The kiss lasted for more than two minutes... A time duration that seemed like years to the both of them. They wanted more, but they knew they needed oxygen, so they parted, gasping for air.
"That..." Arme panted. "That...Was my... First--"
Again, Lass pressed his lips against hers for a much shorter, yet more passionate kiss. And then he pulled away.
"I still won in the battle practice," He said.
"Yeah... I know... So what do you really want?" Arme breathed, a cherry-red blush visible on her cheeks.
"Arme... You're not going back to your room tonight..."