**Action starts at Chapter Three**, everyone, but please bare with this one. I've added some cool parts to this as well! As usual, please review; I'm desperate! Oh, and this is a bit shorter than chapter one, of course. I wanted this chapter to basically be more focused on character development, so there will be a lot of dialogue here! ^_^
*Disclaimers are over with.
Demons With Arches
Chapter 2 – The Demonic Wendel Royalty
by Rieszeye
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"J-Jessica.." Hawk murmured, enclosed in his blankets.
"W-what is it with that name..?" a paranoid Riesz whispered to Angela, who seemed to be too occupied in preening, like her looks and.. attire.. weren't enough to get dozens of men to gather around her. Hawk sure was lucky. He'd be saving the world with two beautiful princesses.. literally.
"So we have to travel with him, huh..?" Angela dropped the hairbrush on the desk. The inn in Wendel sure was big. "He did save our butts big time back at the cave. Who knew he'd be so fast!"
Surely hoping her rival, er.. ally, wasn't blushing, Riesz sat down beside her and examined her face. "Don't be getting any wrong ideas, Ange, this guy's a whole lot of trouble. Who knows what a bad influence he might have on us!"
"On you, you mean. Why do you have to get me involved in your doubts?" the pink-haired maiden spat.
"And surely that means you dearly enjoy my company, right, Riesz?" a just-woken-up Hawk interrupted. And who knew he'd be in a great mood today. Wait, were they forgetting someone..?
"Oh, Hawk! Thank goodness you're awake!" chimed a faint, squeaky voice; one they really hoped would never be heard.
"Damn it, I thought we got rid of you at the cave." Angela sulked. "Weren't you eaten by the bats or something..?"
Well, they wished she was. It wasn't that the Fairy was all that annoying, but she sure did ruin the mood, what with her non-stop talking about their priorities and such. Didn't she know these people had lives? Especially Hawk, imagine what it'd be like to explore a cave with three noisy women.
The trip through the cave was one hell of a nightmare. Everywhere you went, zombies were wandering everywhere you'd think would be clear. Especially for Angela, she'd complained countless times that the infamous bats kept ruining her hair. That probably wasn't near the life of the royalty, Hawk wondered a couple of times. Too occupied by her hair again, Angela left Hawk and Riesz to fight on their own, but Riesz didn't mind. How could she? She'd get some alone time with that seductive thief.. which probably sounds risky, but it's better than listening to the Fairy, who they left in Angela's care. And THAT's why they figured she was long killed.
"I'll have you know, just because I'm small, doesn't mean I'm helpless." the Fairy argued, coming out of hiding again. She had apparently slept inside the opened drawer of Angela's jewelery. If only she closed it before sleeping..! "What happened to the great personalities you three had before?"
"They disappeared once we got in the cave." Riesz stood up, heading for the bathroom. "Your were a little too.. loud." It wasn't the nagging that was the problem, it's the fact that they could hear it. If she said it in a softer voice they couldn't hear, they would've happily ignored it.
"I was simply advising you what you should do next. If it weren't for me, you would've never been able to get out of that cave alive." the Fairy put on her arrogant look.
"Thank you very much, Fairy." Angela blocked Riesz's path to the bathroom. "I need to go in there first."
"Whaa-?" It was another princess bash on who would be able to go into the bathroom first. "It's about time I'd get a chance to get in there! You were practically born there!"
This was proving out to be more of a nuisance for Hawk, like he could even expect anything more with his great team. He'd be more of the focused character of course, and now with this new 'epic' mission to save the world, how could anyone expect two, er, two and a half LADIES to accompany you possible make it any less tragic? No, it wasn't the distractions, well, that was most of it, but other than that, that'd mean he'd be hearing these kinds of arguments every now and then. Now THAT was tragic. And he thought having to save Jessica and all was already proving to be difficult, and what's worse? He now has the fate of the world lying on his shoulders. Just him. It's not like the other two are actually coming along for the same purpose, they're just tagging along for the sake of their own little problems.. and to be by Hawk's side while doing so. This.. wasn't what he had expected.. at all.
"Look," he tried his best to control his temper. After all, he is dealing with two princesses."I'm trying my very best to keep up with two very attractive girls, but I don't think this is working out."
Wait, what did he just say?
That statement was suddenly misinterpreted by the three girls. You could tell by the sudden halt in their argument. They wondered if that meant he had rejected their confession.. wait, they didn't even have one yet. What could this guy be possibly talking about?
"I-I don't mean, well," he stuttered.
"I understand." Riesz stated politely, which gave Hawk a bit of a relief. "Well, that's good." He smiled.
"You think Angela's being too bothersome and you'd like some more alone time with me!" the amazoness princess shouted in glee.
Oh boy, this was going to be harder than he thought. And what's worse, the Fairy, out of all the people in the world, had to be in the conversation.
"What part of THREE did you not understand?" she blurted out of nowhere on his shoulder.
"You didn't tell me that before I accepted! I never signed up for this.. it's bad enough I have to deal with you, and now I have to deal with.. THEM .. everyday!" It was a little bit easier to just talk in his head, later on realizing the fact that the two princesses were staring at him, making faces with no words coming out. They probably thought he was an idiot.
"I thought you liked the accompaniment of two beautiful ladies!" the Fairy retorted.
At least she didn't say 'three'. "Normally I do, but this whole thing is serious for me.. and they don't seem to be of any help.." Hawk reasoned out. If it weren't a mission, he'd surely love having them around, but this is another story.
"Anyway," he then completely ignored the still-blabbering voice. Was this what having a conscience felt like? At least she wasn't in his head like yesterday. "Riesz, I thought I told you to wait with Duran.."
"I did, but then he started telling me about his story and I got bored. So, I stormed off." Riesz delightfully explained. Dear god, what is this..?
"Oh, that really handsome knight? I remember him!" Angela suddenly peered in from the bathroom. Thank goodness she was wearing clothes, although what she considered to be 'clothes' were.. lacking some things. "I was sleeping at the inn and he suddenly became all perverted and started staring at me! It wasn't when I woke up that I noticed how attractive he was, well, not since after I beat him up with my staff, but he wasn't that bad. Apparently he was just looking for something he dropped.."
Yeah, right. Since when was that a valid excuse for snooping?
"So, what was his story, huh?" Angela suddenly remembered what Riesz had said.
"He wasn't pretty clear, but he said something about a wizard with a red cape who suddenly threatened the king of Forcena or something like that.. so I think he wants to get stronger."
Typical..
"THAT DAMN KOREN." Angela loudly closed the bathroom door. "I'll get him for that...!"
"Did you say you're from Altena, or something?" Hawk brought up another point.
"Yeah," she faintly replied. "Everyone there is too obsessed with the power of Mana.. Mother said they need it to warm up our snowy climate. Not even her power was enough. To unseal a Mana Stone, you'd need to sacrifice a life.. and mother told me that since I was a disappointment to the royal family, you know, having no magic and all, that I'd rather sacrifice my life for it..."
The room was filled with silence after that brief statement. There really wasn't anything else to talk about.
"We should get going." Riesz announced. "Who knows what we'll need to do after talking to this so-called 'Priest of Light'. I mean, after a protagonist talks to someone wise, they always end up having a thousand things to do to fulfill their goal, right?"
Ah, that was true.
The other two nodded as they payed the innkeeper their thanks and headed out the door. Wendel was a nice, quiet place that gave them chills. It was either the weather or this whole city was just too holy for them. Whatever the case, this Priest of Light better be something. They travelled all the way here for him, hoping that he'd solve their problems.
Just as they had met these awkward men with weird hats, they were certain the Priest was near. Uneasiness suddenly portruded their hearts, especially Riesz's. As high and mighty and popular as this Priest may be, what are the chances her brother will be found? Yes, Hawk and Angela's problems are reasonable and should be solved with his help, but her problem was different. How can you easily get a kidnapped prince back?
"Are you the Priest of Light?" Angela frowned as she looked up and- to her surprise, the man was just an old man with the same hat as the others. Wise men have to be old it seemed.
"How can a hag like you solve my proble-" She was suddenly interrupted by the back of a hand. "Angela, it'd be best if we were kind to this man..." Hawk suggested. Well, yeah. He's the one they needed help from anyway.
"Priest," she finally calmed herself down. "I need your... guidance.." she almost choked when she heard herself say those words.
"You are..?" The Priest tried his best not to anger her again. "Angela- the Princess of Altena!" she snapped.
"You're.. Valda's daughter..?"
"Hn. Why are you so shocked? Didn't think the Queen of Reason would have a daughter? I'm as shocked as you are, believe it or not..! That- she- tried to ..kill me! She needed to unseal a Mana Stone with a forbidden spell to warm up Altena." Angela fell on her knees. Riesz, Hawk and the fairy, wherever she was, stepped back.
"And that forbidden spell- requires to sacrifice a life..? H-how could she attempt to kill her own daughter! I-I thought she was the Queen of Reason!"
Angela stood up. What was she doing, crying like that? "Enough questions, old fart!" she suddenly changed personalities. "I need to know-"
Again, she was brutally interrupted, this time, by the painful swat of Riesz's arm which sent her flying until her back made bad contact with the wall. "Argh.. HEY!" she screamed, massaging her aching back.
"P-Priest of Light, my name is Riesz, Princess of Rolante! A few days ago.. Navarre ninjas invaded the Rolante Castle and kidnapped my brother, Elliot.. Please, tell me what I should do..!" she pleaded.
"Navarre- invaded Rolante? Hey, you, over there!" The angry Priest pointed to Hawk, who wore a confused look. "By those clothes- are you a thief from Navarre..?"
How did he-
"Yes," Hawk calmly admitted. He slowly took a few steps forward and gestured Riesz to move aside, in which she gladly obeyed. At least she wasn't slapped to the wall.
"I'm here because I'm considered a traitor to Navarre. Of course, our people would never do such a thing as invade other territories! This is all a result of Isabella's doing- she mainpulated our leader, she killed my best friend Eagle and cursed his sister Jessica." Surprisingly he was able to pull that off with a straight face nonetheless. "That damn Isabella put a cursed necklace on her and if Isabella dies, Jessica would share the same fate.. so I need to know how to cure her from the curse.."
"Well, why didn't you take off the damn necklace in the first place, genius?" Angela shouted from the corner.
"It's not as easy as that." Hawk retorted. "If I do so much as inform her about it, Isabella would've killed her, just like that. Besides, the guards captured me after they thought I had killed Eagle and locked me in jail.. Nikita had helped me escape that horrible place.."
And who was this.. Nikita?
"Cursed necklace, huh?" the Priest repeated with a hint of doubt. "I apologize, I don't know how to disable a curse. Honestly, I have never heard of a spell that curses the wearer.. it must be forbidden!"
"So far, you've been very helpful to us, Priest." Angela commented sarcastically as she stood up, grabbing her staff. "All I want is to learn magic! Can you help ME at least?"
"Y-yes.. of course!" To her surprise, the Priest of Light actually didn't mind her annoying personality. "The eight spirits can help give you magic. I'm not certain all of them will, but you'll definitely learn magic that way. And- after class-changing, you can continue to learn more and become more powerful..!"
Alright, this was enough. After a few more conversations, the fairy had finally exposed herself once more. Where could this shining ball of nags have been hiding?
"Priest of Light, I need your help!"
I? So all of this was basically for her own good.
"It's- it's a Fairy..!" the old man exclaimed, shaking a bit.
"Creepy, huh?" Angela moved to the back. She got what she had wanted anyway.
"Is there something happening to Mana? I heard it's growing weak.. does that mean..?"
"I've gathered these three to help me in saving Mana, Priest of Light. What- should we-."
"So can you save Elliot or what?" the ever-persistent Riesz shouted.
"Not even he cares, Riesz." Angela muttered.
Tired of all the commotion, the Priest stood up. "The Goddess can give you what you wish for!" he exclaimed as all four calmed down. The Priest of Light was relieved. They had finally stopped arguing. Hawk didn't even bother saying a word.
"Go to the Holyland where she sleeps and I'm sure if you help her save Mana, she'll do whatever you ask. In the meantime, gather the eight spirits starting with the spirit of Light, Wisp, who's in the very cave you just came out of."
That's great! They had to come back to THAT place. Riesz was right. There are always a million things to do after talking to wise men.
"Thank you, Priest of Light," the Fairy tried her best to give him thanks since she knew fairly well how stressed he must have been from the noisy children. The Priest nodded and the four ended up outside, being greeted by a new.. minature face.
"It's a two-foot MONSTER..!" Angela shrieked in fear. "And we're not even in the cave yet..!"
She quickly gripped her staff and swung it so high in the air, you could pummell even a bear. The sad thing was, she missed.
"EEK!" the two-foot monster also shrieked. That little missed shot scared even... it.
"I think it's a little.. girl." Hawk bent down, caressing the little girl's cheek, which made her glance at the thief's topaz eyes for a moment. A sweet laugh emerged from her mouth, and Angela creeped up closer to it.
Suddenly, she was greeted by an unexpected swing of a weapon she had never seen before- a ball and chain. To her surprise, Hawk had swiftly pushed her out of the way before evading the weapon himself. Angela was hardly able to stand still as the little maniac started chasing her.
"AAAACCCCKK! WHY IS IT CHASING ME..?" The Princess ran away. For some reason, the girl seemed to treat this as a game of tag.
"You be mean to Carlie! Now Carlie be mean to you!" the little elf.. cheered. "Don't ever be mean to Carlie ever again or you regret it!"
Someone missed one or two English classes.
"Who's .. Carlie?" Riesz asked. Angela was still apparently playing tag with the little menace and Hawk was sitting down on the porch.
"I'M CARLIE!" she exclaimed. Then what's with this third-person talk?
"GET HER OFF OF ME!" The day was just getting noisier and noisier. Now with Hawk even annoyed, he stood up and sighed, heading for ..Carlie. By the time he caught up to her, he gently grabbed her by the waist and pulled her over his head, her legs dangling down his shoulders. Angela started panting as Hawk ran.
"WEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Carlie sure enjoyed the ride, and Hawk was, too, despite the fact that he had only done this to shut her up. She let go of her weapon as Riesz picked it up, signaling Hawk that he could at last let her go, which he did. "Why you stop? Carlie wanna ride again!"
The annoying baby threw tantrums and started vigorously scratching Hawk's face and neck with her sharp nails without hesitation. It's as if she were a cat and the thief was her sofa.
"Unh," Hawk held one of her wrists, which broke free after a while. It's not like he could use his daggers. After all, he couldn't possibly hurt a girl, unless it was Isabella.
"You little bi-, you little elf, stop hurting him..!" Angela exposed her staff once more, with Riesz and her lance right beside her.
"If you don't stop, we won't give your weapon back." Riesz threatened the little girl, holding the ball and chain up in the air, as if ready to throw it away. Not that it would break, but of course she'd fall for it.
"N-noo! That my weapon! You give it back!" She screamed.
"Then let go of him, you monster!" Angela added. After a while, Carlie pouted and released the thief, whose face and neck were covered with painful scratches. His expression was nothing but the same, of course, he was just a little shocked about how aggressive that little elf was. Carlie quickly ran to Riesz as if she were ready to do the same thing, but not before Hawk caught up and blocked her path, the back of his hand plastered onto her forehead.
"If you hurt her, imagine what your little weapon would experience," Hawk tried to sound as nice but as threatening as possible, bending down again. He fluffed her curly blonde hair which was half-covered by what seemed like a Jester's hat. "If you want it back, be a good girl, okay?" he smiled, with the fifty or so scratches still embedded on his face.
Riesz slowly handed her the weapon, still full of doubt. After a few more minutes, she skipped happily and left, leaving the four tired and.. wait. Where was the fourth member?
A bright light suddenly emerged from nowhere. "Hawk, are you okay..?"
"I'll manage. Speaking of which, where were y-"
"You useless fly, where were you? Are you always going to hide when danger strikes?" Angela enclosed the fairy with her fingers, as if ready to squeeze her into bits.
"That was the Priest's granddaughter, Charlotte. I think she has the ability to heal if I recall correctly." the Fairy disregarded Angela's words and flew away.
"The Priest was one annoying guy, I'm not surprised." Riesz laid her lance down on the grass beside the porch. "She should've at least healed the people whom she injured, you know."
Good point. At least then she wouldn't be that useless.
"Chances are this won't be the last time she'll show up. Come to think of it, she might be a bit useful in our journey if you keep getting injured like that!" The Fairy went on.
"Easy for you to say! It's not our fault someone wasn't there to help. You practically need us for you safety, damn it! And if you think we're going to let that little .. thing.. join, us, you can forget it!" Angela stomped off. "I'm going back to the inn."
And besides, didn't the Fairy say THREE people..?
"That's a great idea. We'll need to rest up for tomorrow. We need to get Wisp, remember?" Riesz followed after her. Tomorrow would be another round of screaming and injuries, not to mention the horror of what could be in that cave. They've already been there once, but it seems as if there's something else that lurks there.. a spirit... or perhaps some new enemies to be encountered.
The Fairy moved her attention to the thief. "Does it hurt?" The scratches were definitely noticeable, even for a small person like her. Hawk wasn't really frowning, he was just staring at the ground, one of his usual pasttimes. "Hey, I asked you if it-"
"No." Hawk moved his glare to her.
"That's good."
...
"Ahhhh; food tastes so much better when you're hungry!" Riesz occupied the whole couch in the inn with her plate of fresh complimentary food.
"No shit, Sherlock." Angela commented. "Hey, Hawk, you want any more soup?"
"Ah, no thanks." Hawk had come out of the bathroom with a towel hanging over his shirtless body. He proceeded into his bed and sat down, completely ignoring the fact that everyone was sitting around the table except him. He was just so eager for the feeling of his head to finally make contact with the soft pillows and enclose himself in the blankets. He had never missed so much rest in his time at the Thieves' Guild.
"Hey, I hear there's a weapon and armor shop here in Wendel. You guys ought to check it out before we leave tomorrow." the Fairy flew near the table. Of course she couldn't eat so she'd end up just staring at the food.
"Not right now," Riesz rejected. "I think my lance is still in good shape, right, Hawk?"
Hawk winced as he remembered the horrible memory of that lance beating up herds of beastmen in five seconds. He wouldn't want that to come in contact with him, that's for sure. Without replying, he simply smirked and indicated he'd rather stay at the inn. He had been looking for some new daggers but it didn't matter anymore. He was able to kill bats and zombies without help from Angela and the Fairy anyway.
"I'll go! I think my staff's all dirty.." Angela stood up and placed her plate in the sink. Her staff wasn't just dirty, it had scratches all over, much like Hawk's face right now.
That's right. No one could forget what that Carlie had done to the thief.
"Alright, I'll come with you then." the Fairy rested in Angela's shoulders. "I want to experience the evening breeze once more.."
When the two headed out and the door clicked, Riesz headed inside the bathroom. Hawk stayed lying down on his bead, clutching his daggers to his forehead, the blade covering the blinding light.
Riesz came out with a bucket of water and a soaked towel and walked near Hawk, who had a puzzled expression. "And that is..?"
"Your wounds." was the amazoness' reply. "You don't want them to get infected now, do you?"
She smiled while awaiting her patient's reply. Hawk sat up and lowered his daggers onto the floor and removed the towel, which gestured Riesz to continue.
"I'm surprised you didn't kill the elf," she snickered as she lay the soaked towel on the thief's face, which gained her a pained movement. It seemed the wounds didn't heal yet.
"Hold still." she ordered, gently holding his head as she continued to submerge the wounds. At least they weren't that deep. The fact that Hawk was still sane after being scratched by what seemed like a two year-old was surprising enough. If that had been Angela or herself, that Carlie might've ended up dead.
"I can't hurt girls," the ladies-man smiled. "Unless it were.. Isabella." he had remembered thinking about that before. Maybe nightmares really did visit him even if he was conscious.
"Don't mention her." Riesz frowned, softly rubbing his head. "If it ends up eating you alive, I'd rather not hear that from you." Hawk looked at the ground and slightly nodded. A few minutes later, she had felt his skin shiver a bit after the towel withdrew.
Riesz looked back at the thief's body, with some new.. scars?
"Hey, where did you get these deep wounds..?" Riesz looked as if she were about to cry. What had happened to her ally? The wounds were definitely still bleeding.
"When I fought with Eagle.. and when I fought some Beastmen too." the thief didn't even frown. Riesz slowly laid a hand on the wounds to wipe out some of the blood, which gained her more pained quivering.
"What's wrong? Is it that painful?"
"N-no, I'm just.. a bit cold." he answered.
"Oh, right!" Riesz quickly ran to the bathroom to find his vest still hanging on the towel rack. Even if it was still summer, the nighttime was always cold, especially with fans in the inn. She handed the vest back to the thief who gave back a grin. After wearing the vest, he then noticed how filthy the cloth was. The amazoness stepped back and smirked.
"And you didn't want to go to the armor shop."
Hawk's topaz eyes met Riesz' sapphire eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, softly.
"Why are you apologizing, you can visit tomorrow! And strong men don't say sorry, silly!" she tried her best to lighten up the mood.
"No, I meant about.. earlier."
"Oh.."
Riesz then remembered the words the thief had said in the morning.. about how much of a nuisance the girls would be and the many examples he had given. She often wondered whether he meant them or not, as despite the fact that the girls didn't seem to mind, they were hurt quite a bit. It was still there.
"Don't worry," she didn't want him to know about her sensitivity, of course. "Hey, we have a long journey tomorrow. Forget about the others, we need to rest. Especially you, you're injured. Good night!"
Without a word, Hawk enclosed himself in his blankets again and tried his best to forget about everything; everything about Isabella, everything about Eagle and everything about Jessica. This will all be solved one way or another, right?
..
THERE. :D Sorry for being late. Again, this is character development and action starts at Chapter THREEEEE. Please review! And thanks for reading!