Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews. They are my motivation. This is Chapter II.

Weakness

"Byallan, home sweet home!" Athena was so happy that she could have kissed the grassy grounds of Byallan island. "I guess it is good to be back." Serna said as she looked at the many different people who wove past, coming and going. Some Blacksmiths and Merchants had put up their stalls near the black-haired Kafra girl.

"Hey Serna, how is Jet?" Sechia looked at her older cousin after she had seen the wares for sale. None of them had interested her.

"He's okay. He became a whitesmith just this morning. He called me this morning to tell me he'd wait for me to become an assassin cross and…then…" Serna dreamily sighed. Her cheeks were flushed.

Sechia sighed as she took off her drooping kitty and replaced it with her brown monk hat. Two clips of mustle, hidden underneath it, were fastened firmly to her blonde hair. 'I shouldn't have asked.' She thought to herself. Serna always babbled about her battle smith boyfriend, Jet Forge, whenever they, she and Athena, asked her about him.

"Hey, come on you two. Time's a wasting. We've gotta go hunting. We're not here to chat." Athena, who had gone ahead, called as she stood near the temple gate entrance to the cave.

"Okay, okay." The two called out in response before they hurried to join the high merchant, who immediately whizzed inside, not caring if her two companions had gone in yet or not.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The remains of a mob of swordfishes littered the ground. "Phew." A bubble came out of Sechia's mouth at the word. She scanned the underwater grounds for any remaining treasure that was dropped by the monsters. She had picked up a rough elunium, a rough oridecon, and some sharp scales and gills

Suddenly, something caught her eye. It poked out beneath the rib of one of the swordfishes. It looked like the corner portion of a card. She pulled the rib away, not minding the carcass, and saw on the sandy ground, a swordfish card. She picked it up and put it safely away in the secret pocket compartment of her traveling bag.

She scanned the area. She had an uneasy feeling that she was being watched. She knew Van was nearby but he wasn't the only one watching her. 'What am I thinking! I should be hunting not thinking about my bodyguard and whatever or whoever else is watching me.' She shook her head and scanned the area once more until she saw a marc, a pinkish seahorse monster, charging towards her. 'That should be easy.' She thought as she ran towards it.

Before long, there was nothing left of the marc. It didn't drop anything either, but she didn't mind. She sat down and rested for awhile. 'At this rate, I'll have to move around.' She thought. Bubbles gently floated around her. She enjoyed the peace and tranquility that surrounded her. She closed her eyes. Her mind drifted off to calmness as she emptied her mind and relaxed.

Suddenly, she heard movement coming from behind her. She turned around and gasped. The sound was coming from a merman. Its large, scaly, blue body swam through the water agilely. It had the head of a fish and the body of a man with webbed hands and feet. In its hands, it held a large trident.

'Oh my God, it's coming towards me.' She stood up and swam as fast and as far away from it as she possible could. But before she could get far enough away, she felt something pierce her back. It, she knew, had used a ranged attack on her. She crashed to the sandy ground, her body ached from the collision. Her pointed elven ears poked out from under her long, blonde locks. She turned around cautiously.

The merman was pointing the trident at her. She gulped as it raised its weapon near her throat. 'God, how can I heal myself now?!' She was unable to move as long as the sharp points of the weapon were near her throat.

The merman was preparing for another attack. She pulled out her cranial buckler. She was grateful to her father. Because of him, she had an extensive knowledge about the monsters she had fought as well as those she hadn't yet. She was also thankful that she had bought her buckler, knowing that it could protect her from demi-human monsters, the merman being one of them.

Sechia heard a slash. She was surprised when she felt the merman shift away from her. She lowered her buckler and looked over the edge of it. The merman had another target, Van! The merman was stabbing at him but Van dodged it easily. The trident it held was gone! Van was so swift that it was hard to keep track of him.

The high acolyte stood up. 'What is he doing?'

"Attack now." He called to her with his deep, baritone voice.

"Okay." She said.

"Use wind-imbued weapons." He advised.

"I know that." 'What am I, an idiot? Everyone knows that weapons imbued with the wind element worked best against water-type monsters.' Sechia thought as she took out White Rose, her wind sword mace, a gift from her father, who had made it one of the strongest weapons she owned so far. She managed to hit the merman quite a few times before it turned on her again.

A wind damascus slashed it in the back. The merman looked between Van and har, clearly confused. Finally, it turned on Van. Sechia bashed its head with White Rose. Struck with the final blow, the merman shrunk its size and turned into a blue fish. It breathed its last.

"That was tough." Sechia heaved a sigh of relief as she placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"You should train like that more often if you want to become a champion sooner."

"What? And risk my life?" Her growing annoyance was evident in her voice. She looked at him and noticed that he had on a Jack a Dandy. Van sighed, the romantic leaf dangling from his lips moved slightly to the side of his mouth.

Suddenly, Sechia realized that her secret was out. She pulled her thick blonde hair over her pointed elven ears in an attempt to hide them. He hadn't seemed to notice and, surprisingly, there was no one else around.

"There are always risks involved if you want to get what you want. The more you take the risk, the closer you are to getting it. You shouldn't regret taking the risk." He said in the indifferent tone she had grown used to.

She looked down at the ground, still trying to calm her beating heart. After a few moments, she looked up at him. "As of now, if I ever solo another merman, I would die." She said in a voice that was as indifferent as his.

"In that case, you cheated your way through your promotion to the monk class and took advantage of that when you became a high novice and finally, a high acolyte." He said.

Her annoyance was fast becoming irritation. "How dare you! You don't have the right to say such things about me. You don't even know me. When I was a Monk, I was strong enough to defeat four mermen at a time."

"So, you lost your strength?" There was a hint of challenge in his voice or was she imagining it. It was a question but he seemed disinterested to know her answer. "No! I was…I was just surprised when I saw the trident that close."

"Surprised or shocked?" He added.

Sechia felt her forehead throb, the beginning sign of a headache. He was so irritating. "Why I…!" She huffed. She swam away without another word.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

'Who does he think he is! He is such a...' Sechia was fuming as she stood on the underwater cliff, her hands clenched into fists at her side. 'I didn't even need his help. I could have defeated that merman.' The thought fueled her irritation. 'But he did save my life…' A part of her knew that was true…

She sighed. She was unable to make up her mind whether to thank him or to let the incident slide, which was impossible since he was her bodyguard. He was watching her…and he would always protect her. She sat down as she tried to clear her head. She knew that she had to thank him. It was the right thing to do but being near him was bothersome. An image flashed in her mind…a pair of purple eyes.

She shook her head and stood up. 'I should thank him even if he is...unbearable.' Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her legs. She looked down and her breath caught in her throat. Her legs were wrapped in tentacles! She looked behind her to see myriads of penomenas, sea anemone-like monsters. Their tentacles were starting to entangle her.

Instinctively, she pulled out White Rose, which was dangling from a loop of her belt. She struck each of the tentacles off yet as each tentacle crept away, dozens more would wrap around her again. Some were around her arms. Before long, she felt weak, tangled in a web of long tentacles.

"Heal!" She called out weakly. A green aura engulfed her as she cast her healing power upon herself yet it didn't help much. They were draining her of her strength. She wheezed. The world was slowly dimming. Even though her eyesight was hazy, she caught sight of a glint of steel cutting through the tentacle web before she slowly fell to the ground. Within moments before she hit the ground, an arm caught her. She caught a glimpse of a snow-white, fur-collared blue coat before losing consciousness.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sechia slowly opened her eyes. She sat up, trying to get her bearings. She was sitting on a bed. Her azure eyes looked around the room. There was one thing for certain: she was not in her bedroom. Suddenly, she heard the door slowly open. Her eyes wandered to the growing crack as the door was opened. A man wearing, from what she could tell, white and gold embroidered garments entered the room, his long bluish black hair tied back in a neat ponytail. He was a high priest, a very familiar high priest.

"Brother Nikkz?" She looked at her fellow guild member.

"Hello Sechia, you're finally awake. How are you feeling?" Nikkz looked at her with concerned, turquoise eyes.

Sechia smiled. "I'm fine. What happened? Where am I?" She looked around the room, bewildered.

Nikkz sat on a chair nearest the bed. "You're in the only inn in Izlude. As for what happened, well, let's just say you should be thankful to that certain someone who saved you and who sent for me."

Out of the blue, a thought popped into Sechia's mind. "Wait a minute. Aren't you supposed to be participating in the guild war?"

The high priest nodded. "Supposed to be but when I was sent for, I couldn't refuse." He replied with a smile on his attractively lean face.

"How long have I been here?" She asked, truly curious.

Nikkz looked at the clock on the wall. "Hmm, about a few hours, I believe. Those penomenas did drain most of your energy. But don't worry, your parents have been informed about the incident."

"…Thank you." She said softly. She knew she would be in very big trouble when she got home.

"You're welcome..." He stood and headed for the door. He held onto the doorknob before he turned to look at her. "…but you should thank your savior as well." He looked at her meaningfully before he closed the door slowly behind him.

She laid her head on the pillow. 'My savior…' She closed her eyes.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Sechia, I love you. I will never let you go!" The icy voice said.

"No!" Sechia's eyes flew open and she sat up on the bed. Her breaths came out in heaves. Sweat trickled down her face. She touched the gold heart locket hanging from a gold chain around her neck. It was given to her by her fiancé. She couldn't control the tears that ran down her cheeks as she thought of those words...his words.

"Sechia?" Serna slowly opened the door and entered the room. Seeing her cousin crying, she ran to Sechia's side. "Sechia, what's wrong?"

"I dreamt about him...I heard his voice." Sechia spoke through her sobs.

Serna knew who he was at that instant but she had to ask. "Oclar?"

Sechia nodded. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop crying. She felt her cousin hug her in a soothing way. "There, there. It was just a dream." Serna said softly.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Van walked around the dark streets of Izlude. There was not a single soul out. The city was so quiet. No one usually went out at that time of night after all. It was almost the middle of the night. He idly walked passed the wide entrance and stopped before one of the unadorned marble railings of the bridge, gazing out at the clear water below.

The moon, a round, white pearl in the ebony darkness of night, was reflected on the water's surface. In one swift motion, he perched himself on the railing. His left leg dangled over the side. He placed his hand on the marble, feeling its smoothness. It was cold to the touch.

His mind was elsewhere...'This whole thing is...' He shrugged. 'I've been wasting my time. I shouldn't have taken this mission. Kaizen's going to pay for all of this. What an idiot I am for taking this assignment?!'

"Van!" A voice called out from his personal armlet communicator. He raised his idle arm close to his chest. "Kaizen, just the person I was looking for."

"Really?" The stalker on the other line asked in surprise.

"Yeah, remember the Silvercraft assignment?" Van asked in a tone Kaizen knew too well.

"Yeah. What about it?" Kaizen waited for the bad news. He could already sense it coming.

"It's uninteresting." Van replied bluntly.

"Van, you're kidding? Come on. Tell me, is she pretty?"

"…If you call weak girls pretty, yeah."

"Ouch. Oh come on, she's gotta have some strength. I heard she was a powerful monk."

"Hah! That's a laugh. And another thing, she isn't single. She's getting married in a month."

"Well…that was new. I didn't know she was going to tie the knot. I was hoping to dump Kirei for her, if you gave me an impressive report."

"Well, you better stay away from her." Van warned.

"Uh…Oh well, if you don't like it, why not leave? You do have a choice, you know?!" Kaizen sighed.

"I was going to until you called. I hate this mission."

Van turned off his communicator, not waiting for another response. He jumped off of the railing and was about to leave Izlude when…

"Aaaaaah!" He turned around at the sound of a scream. In the light of the moon, he could see Sechia. An assassin of the cross, his platinum hair untidy, had her pinned to the wall, his grip tight. Van soundlessly moved closer to the two.

"Oclar, please let me go. You're hurting me." She was wincing in pain.

"You've hurt me more, Sechia. All I want is just compensation." Oclar said in an icy voice. Oddball hit the man with his tail. The assassin cross kicked the smokie away with the tip of his boot. Oddball hit his back on a nearby bench and slumped to the ground.

"Oddball!" Sechia cried out. The Assassin Cross squeezed her arm. "Aaaaah!" Tears swelled from her eyes.

"That's enough." Came a deep voice.

Oclar looked at the auburn haired stalker who spoke. Cold silvery gray eyes met fiery purple ones. "This is none of your business. You should leave while you're still in one piece." The assassin warned.

"Van, please, help me." Sechia begged weakly.

Oclar turned to face her. "Is he? Is he the one you left me for?" He grabbed her by the neck. She gasped.

"I said that's enough." The blade of a double-bloody, boned gladius came close to the assassin of the cross. He dodged it easily though he had to let Sechia go in the process.

Van brought her behind him and shielded her from the platinum haired assassin.

Oclar drew out his infiltrators. He was poised to strike when..."Who's there?!" Another voice called out. The assassin stopped and looked to where the voice came from. A light appeared in the distance. He turned to Van. "We'll settle this next time." He sheathed his infiltrators, took out some sand from a pouch tied to his belt and blew on it.

In the blink of an eye, he was gone. The sounds of footsteps were drawing closer. The light, from what Sechia could tell was a lantern, moved closer. She was relieved. She looked around, Van had also disappeared. She knelt beside Oddball. She used her healing power on him. He stirred and nudged her gently.

"You were so brave, Oddball." She whispered into his ear as she held him to her. He licked her face gently. Before long, she looked up and saw two men wearing brown uniform close by . They were Izludian guards. They saw her and went to her; one of them was holding a lantern.

"Miss, what are you doing out here this late?" The one holding the lantern asked.

"I was just taking a walk around, Sirs." She said politely as she stood up, clutching Oddball in her arms.

"We heard a scream coming from around this area. Did you see anyone in danger?" The other asked.

"Danger? No, Sir." She shook her head. "May I go back to the inn now, Sirs?" She looked from one to the other.

"Of course. Please be careful, Miss." The guard holding the lantern said while his partner nodded his head in agreement. They went back to scanning the area.

"I will." Sechia gave them a smile when they tipped their hats to her in farewell. She then returned to the inn, knowing that although someone was watching her, someone else was watching out for her in the shadows.