"I'll see you later, Ryan. I gotta go to Elena's."

"Alright, Ronan. I'll see you later then. Good luck!" Ronan laughed.

"Thanks! Bye, Ryan," he waved and turned the other way.

Ronan was in high spirits. The Grand Chase had just returned from defeating Gardosen at Hell Bridge. The loot they had pilfered exceeded their expectations. Ronan had finally saved enough to buy a magical Lightning necklace. Necklace's enhanced a weapon's ability when worn. He turned in the direction of Elena's stall.

After the Grand Chase had defeated her Kamiki form in Ellia continent, she claimed to have seen the error of her ways. And so, the Grand Chase had allowed her a last chance to prove her loyalty. So far, she was true to her word. However, not many trusted her. The Grand Chase was among the only people who still went to her.

Elena had a stall down an alley where not many people walked in. Elena figured she'd own an out-of-the-way stall before hitting the main streets in Serdin. It was in this alley that Ronan was walking down now. He waved as he approached Elena's stall.

"Hey there, Elena. How's business?" he called out. Elena was leaning on the counter resting her head on her hands. She looked over when she heard Ronan. Her face lit up at the idea of finally having some company. She waved back

"Hey Ronan. You're the first customer of the day," she grinned. Ronan frowned. It was past noon. Surely, he couldn't be the first.

"First? Is business really that bad?" he reached the counter. "Don't worry bout it, Elena. I'm sure it'll pick up when people finally realize that you're on our side." He smiled. "Anyway, I got something for you to enhance." He reached inside his pocket and pulled out two pouches. One was full to the top and the other seemed empty. He reached inside the empty one and pulled out the Lightning necklace. "Tada! New necklace. I finally had enough! Let's see what you can do for it, eh?" He patted Elena on the shoulder. She smirked.

"Alright. Let me get my wand." She turned around and started rummaging around her desk for her wand. "I hope you brought enough gems for that necky," she added. Ronan held up the other pouch.

"Oh sure. I went all out. I spent all my money on the gems. Hopefully, you can bring out the full potential of this necklace. Good thing about this is, it won't break. Unlike all the Wind necklaces you broke," he emphasized the last few words. Elena scowled.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," she laid the necklace down on the counter. "Now run along while you wait."

Ronan walked around for a bit. This alley really was run-down. Stalls dotted the walls. The alley wasn't well maintained. Dirt and all kinds of trash littered the ground. Ronan decided to confront the Queen of Serdin about this later. He leaned on the opposite wall of the stall while he waited.

A crash broke the silence.

"Owie, owie, owie~!" a voice squealed. This outburst was followed by laughter.

"Haha, this is why you jump around in an alley, Arme. You're bound to trip," another female voice remarked. Ronan looked toward the entrance of the alley. The silhouettes of three girls came into view. The one called Arme had gotten up and was rubbing her head.

"I can't help it," she whined. Her purple hair had dirt and dust all over it now. She started dusting herself off. A girl with blonde hair helped her fix her hair.

"Geez, just hurry up," remarked a third girl. She was ahead of the other two and was kicking rocks around. "Who cares about the hair," she muttered.

"Oh, stop it, Elesis," the blonde girl frowned. "News flash. We're not you. Unlike you, we're actually girls," she let out a laugh. Arme giggled.

"Ugh. Whatever." Elesis turned around and started walking. That is, until she saw Ronan. She smirked. "Well, look here. Waddya want, Ronoob?" Ronan's mouth twitched. Ignore it, he told himself. One of us must be the mature one. He acknowledged the three of them.

"Arme, Lire, Elesis. How do you do?" he bowed courteously. Elesis scoffed.

"Whatever," she said. She shoved past Ronan and headed in the direction of Elena's stall. Lire apologized.

"I'm sorry about her, Ronan. She's just anxious to get that rune of hers refined. I don't blame her. It's been a while since we found anything great for any of us," she remarked. She resumed walking to Elena's stall. Ronan fell into step with the other two.

"I gotta say. You three are like siblings. Lire's like the big sister. Arme's like the mischevious little sister. And Elesis is the tomboy of the family," he joked. "It never gets boring watching you three."

"Creeper," Arme piped in. Lire laughed.

"I was just joking," he added. They reached Elena. "Is my necklace done yet, Elena?"

"Yup. Here it is. I think you'll be pleased with the results." She winked. "Actually, I'm pleased with the results. Lucky day for me, I guess." Ronan's eyes lit up like a child's at Christmas. He snatched the necklace. It was pulsing a pale blue light and had lightning flashing in the gem in the center of the necklace.

"Ohmigod. Thank you, thank you, Elena!" He reached out and hugged her. "This is the best necklace ever!" He started twirling around. Arme leaned toward Lire.

"And all traces of sanity have left his body," she remarked. Lire laughed and nodded in agreement. Elesis scowled in the corner. She walked up to Ronan.

"Feh. What's so special 'bout that necklace? Look's like an ordinary lightning necky to me." She snatched the necklace away from Ronan and examined it. "I was right. There's nothing special. Just lightning and a blue light. Ooooh, very impressive," her voice was dripping with sarcasm. She started laughing.

It only took Ronan a moment to realize his necklace had disappeared from his hands. In that moment, he crouched down and performed a leg sweep, knocking Elesis' off her feet. She landed with a thud. Ronan's necklace flew into the air, landing in Ronan's hands.

"Damn it all!" Elesis jumped back up and faced Ronan. "I'll take you on any day!" Ronan's eyes flashed.

"Anytime, anywhere!" he retorted.

"OH, IT'S ON!"

The two were staring daggers at each other. Arme and Lire sighed. Put Elesis and Ronan in the same vicinity and a fight was bound to start. Elena stepped between them.

"Both of you, stop it," she said calmly. "This isn't the place to start fighting. Besides, you two don't even have your swords with you. Please, leave it for another day. I don't want my stall broken into pieces. This alley's too small." Ronan was the first to turn away.

"You're lucky, tomboy. Elena just saved your ass."

"EXCUSE ME?" Elesis rushed toward Ronan. Before she could reach him, Lire was standing in her way.

"Stop it, Elesis. Ronan uses magic. Remember that. Besides, we're on the same side, aren't we?" Ronan smirked.

"Thank you, Lire, for stopping her and her idiocy." Ronan turned toward Elena. "Well, I'm off back to the castle. Thanks for today, Elena. I'll see you later." He waved to Elena and the others in turn and walked off.

"Oh, one of these days. He is soooo going down," Elesis growled through her teeth.