Kei-ten: AHHHH hahaha... I love the "Tales" series/games ; ___ ; they're so BEAUTIFUL. Ahem. not .... really...? iuno... But i like em, they're my favorite games~~!!~~!! :D

Well, I think i'll have some pictures of Artemis up soon, so if anything the link to it will be on my profile!!

Page 1: Meeting

Artemis covered her mouth as she let out a yawn. She winced as the light from outside hit her eyes. It was so bright and a layer of sand lied on the opposite side of the window.
Looking across the room at the satchel that sat on top of her folded clothes, she remembered why she was in Chesedonia. She had to restock on some supplies, and what better place to do so than the trade capital of the world? She pulled herself up out of the bed sheets and proceeded to get dressed. After pulling on her shirt and vest she strapped the satchel to her waist. Then she slipped the cloak over her shoulder's and carefully pulled the hood over her head. It wouldn't do her any good if someone saw her appearance. After all, not many people in Auldrant walk around with dual-colored hair.

Artemis' light green hair was cut short like a boy's and under that her hair reached past her waist in straight dark green. She tied the darker layer against her neck with a red tie while the lighter colored bangs fell in her face. All in all, Artemis looked like a-

"Sir?"

Man.

"I think this will be my last day in Chesedonia," she said smoothly, "If anything, I'll come back here for the night."

"Alright then."

Artemis walked around a bit, while being wary as to not run into anything or one. A voice made her lift her head up and turn. Her light green eyes turned to the scene before her. A woman seemed to be seducing a young man, Lorelei knows why.. Artemis' eye twitched as she saw the woman put some gald away. The cloaked woman made move to intervene, but someone beat her to it.

"-return what you stole."

The red haired boy patted his side's down quickly, "Huh? Hey! My wallet's gone!"

"..Humph. So you're not all chumps, huh?" the woman scoffed and tossed the wallet to a man in clown's clothing, "York! Take care of this! Urushi, we're outta here!"
Another man quickly followed her in her escape. York, the woman's accomplice attempted to run away, but Artemis made her move first.

Tear was about to cut the clown off but a cloaked figure intervened, well.. More so the bulky man ran straight into the poor cloaked fellow. He let out a small "oomph," as he hit the ground and the other man fell a little ways from him.

"W-watch it-!"

"Don't move."

The man didn't. He froze in place and sweat fell down his face. The cloaked man sat up into a sitting position and put his hand under his chin.

Tear continued, "If you return what you stole, I'll release you unharmed."

The clown gulped and tossed the wallet into the air and jumped up, "You've got some guts making enemies of the Dark Wings," he started once he was a good distance away from Tear, "You haven't hear the last of us!"

Finally the group ran off.

Tear sighed and turned to cloaked man. Instead, she found him sprawled on the ground with Luke's wallet on his face. She blinked.

"They're the Dark Wings?! If I'd known that, I'd have cut them to pieces!" Luke exclaimed, upset that someone had tried to dupe him.

"Yes, after all, you did a great job of protecting your wallet," Tear sighed.

"…" Luke kept quiet.

"If it weren't for this man, I don't think you'd have your gald anymore…" Tear trailed off as she looked at the man's face. She had to squint to see it without moving the man's hood. A little trickle of red slid down his face.

"Ack! He's bleeding!!" Guy exclaimed and bent down to move the cloak.

"Quick, Tear, heal him!" Anise added on quickly, "he just saved m- our gald!"

Guy slid the cloak off the man's face and was surprised what met his eyes. A soft green matched his fair skin and the dark shade of the color contrasted to his paleness. But more so, the trickle of red on the man's face was the most evident. Guy moved his hand to touch the man's face when he suddenly sat up. Unfortunately for both of them, the distance between the two was not sufficient enough to prevent the two from hitting each other's heads.

"Ack!" "Ow!"

"…" Tear watched as the two men interacted -the two apologized to each other two or three times. She turned to Jade, "By the way, Colonel," Jade turned to Tear, "why did you just stand by and watch as she did that?" she asked, referring to the Luke's assault.

"Oh no, you got me," was his bemused answer. "It looked like it would be so amusing…"

"…What the?!" Luke exclaimed, "You jerk!!"

"Either way, I think we should get moving," Jade said.

Luke growled at the colonel in annoyance.

Ion bent down to the green haired man, "Are you alright?"

"Ah, me?" the man waved his hand in the air as to wave off the fact that blood was drying on his face, "No worries, just sensitive skin and when I bleed, I bleed… a lot."

A nervous chuckle followed his explanation, "There was probably something stuck on to Luke's wallet."

The two turned to Guy, "Sorry about that."

"It was nothing," the man said again with an amused smile.

Ion stood up as well and Guy helped the man up. He thanked Guy and turned to Luke who was frowning still. He handed him his wallet.

"I guess this is yours?"

"… Do something about that blood on your face, it's gross."

"Luke!"

"What?!"

"I'm really sorry," Tear started, but the man just laughed.

"It's alright," he waved her off, "I'll just have to wash up before I see Astor."

"Astor?"

"Yup, I need to verify my supplies, then I'm outta here."

Anise blinked at the young man, "To where then? You're traveling all by yourself?"

"Ah, not quite sure at the moment and yes I travel on my own."

"I suppose that's not healthy for a man of your health and stature," Jade added on.

The two stared at each other for a moment and the difference between both their heights and skin tone was evident. Jade rose over the man a good five inches and his skin had a more healthy appearance. The green haired man looked as if he would faint at any moment.

"…I would suppose not…" he replied slowly. Then he turned and pulled his hood over his head again, "I'll be going first then."

"Ah, wait," Guy handed the man a handkerchief. He pointed to his own forehead, "so you can clean it off."

"Thanks…"

"Guy, Guy Cecille."

"Right, thanks Guy," the man smiled, "I'm Artemis Nile, I'll be sure to return this to you!"

Artemis? Such an odd name to give a boy. Surely, Artemis was a female name? Well, Guy supposed that it could sound masculine… in a feminine sort of way… Well, then that just ruined his argument.

"Luke fon Fabre and the emissaries, I presume?"

"What's the status of the ship to Baticul?" Jade asked.

The consul nodded his head.

"Preparations are currently underway," he said, "Why not partake in some sightseeing around town while you wait?"

Sightseeing, more of that? Luke would surely lose all his gald… They should focus on more important things! - Guy wanted to hit himself, he was the one dwelling on someone's name earlier… Someone's NAME! He really needed to wake up. The group needed to do something productive, well, they could enjoy a break -Luke probably needed one-, but nonetheless… Something productive… His eyes lit up.

"Why don't we take this opportunity to investigate that fon disc?" Guy suggested to the group.

"If you need a fon disc analysis machine, I believe Mr. Astor of the Chesedonia Merchants' Guild has one."

Several eyes met each other for a moment. Guy shrugged his shoulders and turned to Luke.

"Luke, let's stop by there for a minute. Tear'll probably be busy after we get back to Baticul and all."

"I do wonder what's on it," Jade added on, while adjusting his glasses.

"Hmm. Well, okay. I want to take a look around, anyway," Luke consented.

"Thank you for your support," Artemis clapped her hands together, "I'll send you the newest products as soon as possible!"

"Of course, of course," Astor replied, "a little discount in supplies is nothing!"

He laughed heartily, "Just be sure to send those little trinkets of yours as well, little Nanette loves those."

"I'll try my best to ship everything off to you as soon as possible," Artemis said, "though I think this should suffice for now?"

She pulled out from her satchel a small rappig doll and a folded slip of paper. Astor took the two items and smiled as he unfolded the paper. A sketch of his niece was beaming up at him.

"I'm sure she'll love it," he said, "though I'm sure she wants to see her idol just as much."

"Ah, you speak all too highly of me now…" Artemis said sheepishly, "I'm just a work in the crafts and gel making.."

"Nonsense!" he gave Artemis a smack on the back, "You're pretty handy in the medical field, you saved little Nanette's life you know!"

"…It was-" seeing the pressing look that the man gave her she changed her choice of words, "Thank you."

"See," the man laughed, "that wasn't so hard!"

"I-I suppose…"

"Shall I see you off then?"

"Oh that won't be necessary, I'll be on my way, plus I -" Artemis paused.

"Artemis?"

"I hear footsteps… Guests, maybe?" she looked at the man. A thoughtful look crossed his face.

"Guests?"

"I'll let them in on my way out."

"Alright then."

With that, Artemis closed the door. Looking up, she almost ran straight into someone.

"Oh my, we meet again," a chuckle made her turn her eyes straight into a pair of ruby ones.

"It's the klutz!"

A sigh, "Luke you aren't one to talk."

"Sh-shutup!"

"It's you guys," Artemis blinked slowly. She looked at small distance between her and Jade. She took a step to the side to distance herself. Then another familiar voice reached her ears, "Artemis!"

"Guy? Why…are you all here anyway?"

"Ah, to read the data from this," Guy pulled out a fon disk and showed her.

"We managed to get it from enemy hands.." Tear explained.

She stared at it for a moment, "Ah…I'm no good with that stuff.. I'm sure Astor has something-"

"Oh, my. Fon Master Ion!" Astor popped his head out the door.

Artemis smiled, "Well, I'll be seeing you lot later then."

"Ah, Arte-" Guy started but Artemis had already run out.

Artemis was headed out to leave the city when she saw the ferry. The thing actually looked well prepared, or at least more than usual. She whistled.

"Ah, Neils!" Artemis turned to see an engineer run up to her. His face was marred with sweat and soot and a small scratch, that was relatively new, was on his face.

"Yeah?"

"Do me a favor?"

"Depends on the favor I suppose…"

"Ah, okay, well-"

Artemis strummed her fingers against the sides of her arm. She had to wait for Guy's group of friends and tell them that the ferry was ready. Apparently, they also were headed Baticul. She wondered how many times she would end up seeing Guy and his group. She glanced at her satchel and frowned. When was she going to get the time to clean his handkerchief??

"Artemis!"

Artemis barely had time to think as someone ran their arm straight into her throat. A fist hit her head and messed with her hood so that half her face was covered. She heard the laughter come from him.

"Where'd you go? Running off like that?"

"G-Guy," she rasped, while trying to breathe.

"Guy, I don't think he can breathe," Anise exclaimed as she ran up to the two. Surprisingly, the young man actually recoiled and jumped back a few steps. Artemis lost her balance and had to grab his arm.

"Uh, s-sorry Artemis, I uh," Guy mumbled.

"Guy has a gynophobia," Jade stated simply.

"…Gynophobia?" Artemis questioned and removed her hand slowly, but naturally.

"Yeah…" Guy started, "But, b-besides that…why were you just standing around like that?"

"Ah, I was asked to tell you that the ship is ready," she said, "Looks like we'll be together till Baticul too… Well, we should get going to the Kimlasca-side port--"

"Look out!" Tear exclaimed.

Artemis pulled Guy to the side as someone ran pass them. She bit her lip when she felt a cut sear into her hand. She pushed him farther away and followed him, almost pushing him to the ground.

"Hand those over!" the masked boy stopped by them.

Jade frowned and spoke, "We shouldn't cause a scene here. To the ship!"

The group nodded in consent.

"Damn it! They just don't give up!" Luke exclaimed.

Give up? Was Guy a fugitive? Whatever the case may have been, she was running along with the group. They were running to the ferry and they probably weren't going to wait for her to casually board the ship while they were trying to escape.

"You're not getting away!" Artemis hoped the boy's words were wrong as the party continued their escape.

There! The port was right there!

"Master Luke, departure preparations are complete," a soldier said to the red haired teen.

"Get this ship moving! Now!" Luke exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" the soldier was confused.

"We're being chased! Hurry!!"

Luke barely managed to get on the ship and Artemis had to dive down to save Mieu from falling into the sea, while Guy had managed to grab the end of her leg. Her ragged cloak fell down and off her shoulders, leaving only her norm outfit.

"Oomph," Artemis let out as she hit the floor of the ship. She grinned at the blue ball of fluff that was quivering in fear in her hands, "gotcha, you little cheagle."
The little cheagle's ears unfolded from its form and thankful eyes met hers.

"Thank you so much, Artemis!" it cried.

"It can speak?!" she exclaimed almost dropping the cheagle.

"Y-Yeah it can," Guy huffed, "Luke, help me out here."

"Huh? Oh, right."

The two hoisted Artemis up quickly and Mieu remained latched on to her until her stance was stable. Then he jumped down from her arms and ran up to Luke.

"Mieu, Master! I was so scared!"

"Shut up thing!"

"…" Artemis stared at the two for a moment.

"Mieu can talk because of the sorcerers' ring." Ion explained with a smile as he bent over into Artemis' line of vision.

"Huh, oh," Artemis blinked, "that's… unexpected…"

R&R IT MAKES ME HAPPY!!!! :D