Note: This story contains male x male themes and interactions.

Setting: Alternate timeline. The story doesn't take place before, during or after the events in Arc Rise Fantasia.

Disclaimer: Arc Rise Fantasia is copyrighted by imageepoch. No money is being made off of the writing or the publishing of this story and no ownership is being claimed.

A Cold Front

An Arc Rise Fantasia Story

Chapter One

"Mr. L'Arrrrrrrc..."

L'Arc Bright Lagoon sighed and briefly shut his eyes to the far-stretching, snowy countryside around him as Niko's whiny voice seemed to fill the entire great outdoors. He paused his advance across the vast white land and turned around to reluctantly face a heavily bundled up and hooded Niko, who currently had his white gloved hands tucked tightly underneath his armpits. Both him and Niko were wearing slightly bulky black winter coats with white buckles and white fur trims along the hoods, but even with all the protection from the cold, the wintry wind seemed to pass right through them.

"What is it now?" he inquired in a somewhat exasperated tone as he placed his gloved hand over his lower left hip and rested his right hand on top of his silver, black and red sword, which was partly buried in the thick, glistening white snow.

"I'm f-f-freez-zing!" Niko exclaimed with chattering teeth as he stopped a few feet away from L'Arc.

"So? You think I'm not?"

"B-but..."

"Geez Niko! What's the point in talking about it?" L'Arc shouted with a lowered brow and frigid stare. "You're just making it worse for yourself... and me!"

"S-sorry..." he said in a defeated tone as his light blue eyes drifted downward to the snow-covered ground. Light flurries were falling and continuing to add to the accumulation of freshly fallen snow.
L'Arc shook his head and exhaled heavily before saying, "seems like that's all I ever hear from you. You're either apologizing for being a bonehead or you're whining about how hot or cold it is, or how hungry you are. It's always something with you. Get with it already, Niko!" he irately instructed as he raised his left fist.

"A-a-all right, all right! Sh-sheesh. I'm s-s-sorry I ever l-l-learned how to t-t-talk!" he yelled with wide eyes and hands that momentarily went up into the frigid air in a gesture that indicated frustration before panicking and again crossing his arms and tucking his exposed gloved hands back underneath the protective zone of his armpits.

"Pfft... you're not the only one."

"Mr. L'Arc! T-t-that's re-really c-c-cold!" he loudly protested, now appearing more hurt than annoyed.
"Look, the longer you keep that mouth of yours running, the longer it's going to take us to complete our guild quest. Is that what you want?"

"N-no Boss..."

"Good. Now let's get moving again."

"Yes s-s-sir..."

"Ugh... what did I ever do to deserve this?" L'Arc silently asked himself with a shake of his head and a roll of his eyes as he turned back around and glanced up at the blue sky that looked down upon the Opalus countryside. It wasn't so blue now. The thin white clouds that were once stretching across the clear sky were retreating from view, and darker, thicker clouds were gathering in their place.

"Dang..." he said softly as he reached into his left coat pocket and removed a folded topographical map of the area. He shook the map a couple of times to get it to open while his right hand continued to hold on to his sword.

"W-what's... what's the matter? Are we... l-lost?" Niko hesitantly asked with some fear clearly icing over his words. "Be h-honest, Mr. L'Arc... I c-can take it!"

"No, we're not lost," L'Arc quickly replied back somewhat irritability. "And no, you can't," he promptly added on, nearly chuckling at Niko's insistence he could handle any sort of bad news without having a panic attack. "I know that there's a Moon Inn nearby and I'm going to find it on the map," he explained as he finished unfolding the map and began examining it.

"Aww Mr. L'Arc! You do care!" Niko exclaimed in a high-pitched voice and with a wide smile.

"Wh-what are you going on about?" L'Arc asked as he looked at a beaming Niko with a perplexed expression. "And what's with that... face?"

"You know how cold and miserable I am, so you're going to take me some place to warm up! You act all tough, but you're really just a big softy!"

"No you idiot!" "L'Arc snapped at him with raised cheekbones and tightened lips. "You have eyes, don't you? Look at the sky!"

"Eh...?"
L'Arc sighed and briefly dropped his head at Niko's inability to connect the dots before saying, "it's going to start snowing soon, understand? Opalus is known for its blizzards and if we get caught in one, well, I don't think I have to spell out what will happen to us, even to you."

"A-again with the putdowns? B-be nice, Mr. L'Arc!"

"Be useful, for once!" L'Arc shot back in an icy manner before returning his emerald eyes to the map. "The Waxing Crescent Inn isn't too far from here. We have a better chance of reaching the inn before it starts snowing than if we were to turn around and head back to town."

"Okay... so the Waxing Crescent Inn it is, then!"

"I just said that."

"Well, I know, but..."
"If you want to keep on yakking, I'm not going to stop you, but I'm leaving now," L'Arc said in a calm fashion as he folded the map and put it back in his pocket before resuming his trek through the tightly packed snow.

"I told you before Mr. L'Arc, I'm not leaving your side, ever!" Niko said determinedly as L'Arc noticed him catch up with him and even pass him up some. As he did, he turned around and started walking backwards so that he could face L'Arc.

"Lucky me," L'Arc answered flatly without bothering to look directly at Niko.

"I know, right?"

"You sure are full of it."
"Huh?"

"I'd explain it to you, but I don't want to be around here until the next ice age rolls around."

"Uh, wait... was that a shot?"

"Maybe... maybe not."

"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Geez Niko, give it a rest!"

"I'm just trying to make conversation!"

"Well don't make it with me!"
"Eesh! You're no fun."
"Good. Go have 'fun' with someone else."
"But..."
"If you want 'fun' so bad, then get out of the mercenary line of work and go join the circus. Come to think of it, you'd be right at home there."

"C'mon, Mr. L'Arc, another putdown? You sure are picking on me a lot today."

"'Cause you're extra annoying today!"

"Well... you're... extra grumpy today, so we're even!"
"Gah! That doesn't even make sense!"
"To me it does!"

"Figures."

"Hmph."

L'Arc's eyes suddenly went wide as he quickly pressed forward and shoved Niko to the side so hard that he knocked the older teen over.

"H-heeeeey!" Niko yelled in surprise as he fell backwards and landed in the snow. "Cold! It's so c-c-cooooold!"

L'Arc brought his right arm from behind his back forward and forcefully slashed at a large white snow frog that had boldly launched itself into the air and was fast approaching. His silver, black and red sword swiftly knocked the attacking frog out of the air and it landed face first into the snow, where it went still shortly thereafter. Confident his blow had been a decisive one, he began a quick visual survey of the surrounding area to make sure nothing else was approaching. Upon concluding they were safe for the time being, he allowed his posture to relax slightly as he sighed. He turned his attention back to Niko, who was now sitting up in the snow, apparently in a state of shock.

"You idiot! Pay attention when you're walking!" he shouted at a frozen Niko.

"S-sorry..." he managed to utter with a gulp.

L'Arc shook his lowered head and exhaled slowly, but heavily. He took a couple of steps forward toward Niko. For a brief moment, L'Arc did nothing but look down at him and Niko wasn't sure what to make of his expressionless face. After a short period in which neither of them moved and only the sound of the wind traveling across the open, snow-covered field filled the chilled air, L'Arc extended his gloved hand to Niko, who slowly took it, and was pulled to his feet. L'Arc's face remained unchanged.

"...Mr. L'Arc?" Niko hesitantly spoke.

The muscles in L'Arc's face tightened a bit before he let his thoughts out.

"You know, by the time you wise up and have the skills necessary to become a mercenary, you're not going to be able to get out of your rocking chair," he said in a non-joking manner as he turned away from Niko, who was just now brushing himself off. "If I stop saving your butt, you won't even live to see old age with as clumsy as you are," he added with his back still turned to Niko. He resumed walking, neither waiting for a reply nor looking to see if Niko was following.

"I'll... I'll try harder, Boss, really, I will," Niko said with what seemed like sincerity in his voice as he again rushed forward, but this time, he didn't turn around and walk backgrounds.

"Good, see that you do. Honestly Niko, didn't you learn anything while in the army?"
"Sure... I learned lots of stuff... I just, uh, kind of, forgot what I learned..."

"If you're so absent-minded, how do you ever expect to learn something, no, anything, from me?" L'Arc asked as he turned his head slightly to his left to look at Niko.

"I will, Mr. L'Arc! Seriously, uh, I will..." Niko promised, as he too turned his head a bit to partially face L'Arc... but still made sure to keep part of his attention on where he was walking.

"Well that sure was a reassuring response to my question," L'Arc remarked sarcastically.

"I'll make you proud one day, Boss!"

"Just keep in mind I'm not going to live forever."

"Sure you will! You're invincible!"

"Yeah, whatever. I'd have to be a demigod to put up with you day after day."

"A what?"

L'Arc sighed. His attention quickly perked up though when his ears caught the sound of something moving through the air. He quickly turned to his full attention to his left and saw a circular object with two long tentacles flying toward them from above.

"Get out of the way!" L'Arc shouted as he readied his sword.

"Huh...? Uh oh!" Niko exclaimed as he caught sight of the monster and hurriedly ducked to give L'Arc room to maneuver.

The flying white and gray monster with a body that resembled a nautilus and tail that was long and wavy used both of its strong, long-reaching tentacles to reach out and grab hold of L'Arc's sword. He attempted to maintain his hold on his sword, but the monster managed to swiftly yank it out of his hand with great strength and toss it several feet away from him. L'Arc clenched his teeth in anger as his eyes remained fixated on the monster. He could see blood begin to run from its white tentacles from having come into contact with his sword, but the creature wasn't retreating.

"Dang!"

"Uh oh!"

"Would you stop saying 'uh oh' and do something?" L'Arc instructed with irritation as he ducked to avoid being hit by the flying creature.

"Eww!" Niko remarked with extreme disgust in his voice as L'Arc saw him freak out over getting some blood from the monster on him as it flew past them. "Gross!"

L'Arc groaned in annoyance and attempted to make a dash for his sword. Unlike the monster though, he had layers of snow beneath him to contend with. Once more, the monster appeared ahead of him as it glided seemingly effortlessly across the sky, and came at him from above. He instinctively dove onto the soft snow and rolled to the side before getting back up and again heading in the direction of his sword. He briefly glanced back, sensing pursuit by the monster, and ducked again as it flew over his head. Rather than turn around and attack, the monster headed for the sword, much to L'Arc's frustration and disbelief.

The monster grabbed hold of the sword once more and flung it several more feet away.

"Toying with me, huh? Big mistake!" he shouted and held up both his arms near his face, crossed them, closed his eyes and began concentrating. His breathing deepened and his fists tightened as he channeled his strength and thoughts to his circular silver necklace under his clothing and around his neck which housed his inferno gem. A semi-transparent reddish-orange light surrounded his body. When he felt a surging power within him, his eyes shot open, he uncrossed his arms, pointed his right arm and open palm at the again approaching monster, and sternly declared, "I command you to burn!"

The semi-transparent light sped from his body and gathered above the monster where a scorching hot and vividly bright flaming rock materialized in the sky before plummeting downwards at a blinding speed; striking and slamming the monster against the ground and thoroughly obliterating all traces of it, as well as quite a bit of snow.

L'Arc relaxed his body and let a sigh of relief escape him. There was a time when he believed his sword alone was enough to get him through a fight, but Alf eventually convinced him otherwise. Although L'Arc didn't like to admit it, his persistent friend had been right and he had been wrong.

"Did you see that?" Niko asked him in an unusually prideful voice as L'Arc turned to face him.

"Uh... yeah?" L'Arc responded somewhat unsurely and with his right eyebrow partially raised, curious as to why Niko seemed so pleased with himself. He watched as Niko raised the barrel of his black soldier gun up near his mouth and blew on it before grinning. "Okay then..."

"Good thing you had me by your side, Mr. L'Arc!" Niko said as he continued to boast a big grin.

"What the heck are you going on about?" L'Arc asked him as he walked off in the direction his sword had landed.

"My sniping, of course!"

L'Arc picked his sword up off the inches of snow it was resting on and looked back at Niko in silent confusion and minor exasperation.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You're mad at me even though I followed your order?"

"How did you follow my order?" L'Arc asked as he approached Niko, who had a stunned expression on his face. "I had to kill the monster! You hid behind me... as usual."

"Mr. L'Arc... if I hadn't shot and stunned the monster, it would have gotten you!"

"Stop making stuff up and let's go!" L'Arc sharply instructed him as he turned back in the direction of the inn and started walking.

"R-really? You don't believe me? C'mon, Mr. L'Arc..." Niko said in a disheartened tone as rushed to catch up.

"I didn't hear your gun go off," L'Arc countered as his focus remained forward.

"But... that's probably because you were concentrating on casting magic..."
"So I just blocked out the sound of your gun firing... uh huh."

"I guess..."

"Pfft... you're really a piece of work."

L'Arc's firm face relaxed a little due to surprise setting in upon noticing the only snow crunching going on now was being done by his boots alone. His eyes widened slightly before he turned around to look behind him. Niko was no longer keeping up with him. Instead, he was as motionless as a snowman, staring down at the freshly powdered ground.

"Come on. We need to keep moving."
"It's not fair, Boss... I really try and you don't seem to care."

L'Arc exhaled noticeably and shook his head.

"Y-you don't even believe me when I t-tell you something."

L'Arc couldn't tell if the stuttering was a result of the cold or if Niko was actually upset, but either way, he didn't have time for this.

"Look Niko, if you want to talk about this, we can, but not out here. We've got to reach shelter before the weather gets worse."

"M-maybe I s-should just head b-back to town... you a-apparently have everything u-under control and d-don't need m-me..."

"Don't be stupid! You'd never make it back to town in time," L'Arc shouted with a raised fist and eyes that had grown narrow. "The Waxing Crescent Inn is a lot closer. Now let's go," he said, but when he noticed his words failed to move Niko an inch, his frustration grew even more so. "Come on!" he shouted. That got Niko's attention.

"Y-yes s-sir!" he acknowledged with a visible gulp as his eyes momentarily went wide and body stiff as a board.

L'Arc watched as Niko ran past him and kept running, the sound of snow crunching under his boots having resumed once more.

"And watch where you're going this time!" L'Arc called after him as he prepared to hurry on too. He was just about to pick up his own pace when the sound of something mixed in with the occasional gusts of wind captured his attention. His grip on his sword instinctively tightened as he turned back toward the direction they had come from to see if there was anything in sight. Somewhat far off in the distance and to the east of the path they had been taking, there was the perimeter of a thick, snow-covered forest, and beyond it, a rugged mountain ridge. His stare remained fixated on the forest as he wondered if he merely imagined what sounded like the roar of something... big. With more snow falling around him and the gusts of frosty wind becoming more abundant, he brushed off his concern, realizing it was far more important they find shelter at the moment and beat the approaching storm.

L'Arc's view of the isolated but inviting inn improved with every step as he and Niko hurriedly moved across the frigid landscape. A thin trail of chimney smoke rose into the air from the inn in the direction of the ominous gray clouds that were hanging above them. More snow was falling around them and the gusts of wind came at them in shorter intervals, a precursor to the approaching storm that L'Arc was now convinced was coming their way. He couldn't help but chuckle as Niko franticly rushed up the aged steps first to the old inn and swung the creaky, wooden door wide open without bothering to hold it for L'Arc.

"Such a gentleman," L'Arc remarked as he caught the closing door and opened it just enough for him to get in. He quickly shut it behind him to prevent too much cold air from accompanying them in and stood next to Niko.

"Phew... my chest feels like someone's sitting on it," Niko said as he leaned forward and placed his gloved hands on his kneecaps while he gasped heavily for air.

"Geez Niko. I expected you to be in a lot better shape, considering you spend so much time running away from things," L'Arc said with a smirk as he wiped his boots on the worn, yet clearly well-made and very resilient, brown mat and pulled back his hood.

"Boss... do you have to say that so loud?" Niko asked as he turned to him and pouted in annoyance. They weren't exactly alone any longer. He pulled back his hood as well, setting free his unruly red hair.

"Well.. you could always stop doing that. Then I'd have no reason to say stuff like that," L'Arc casually explained as he stepped off of the doormat and began walking directly ahead toward the small, but welcoming, brick fireplace, where a petite yet lively fire casually nibbled away at the slowly shrinking logs.

"I'm... I'm trying... really..."

L'Arc heard Niko's soft words and stopped. He lowered his head a little, closed his eyes for a moment and sighed lightly.

"I know..." he said, just as softly, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything more.

To Be Continued...