Chapter 2 - Coincidentally, You Friends are Always Close By

He couldn't help but gape blankly at them. The will-o-wisps danced around him, all too fast for his eyes to follow, and even faster for him to make out what they were trying to tell him. Always dancing in the same pattern, in the same unfathomable forms. His curiosity glared at them, starving for their reason underneath their magnificence.

'Beautiful aren't they? Truly magnificent spirits,
Bring them back to the world, back to their duties,
Reach out to them, claim the strength to protect,
And find your true self, Elf of Nature's Guardians.'

The words were whispered in to his ears ever so softly, it almost excited him more than he imagined. Oh how he just wanted to let his hand rise up and gently caress the fluttering lights, wanting to know how it could just tempt him in its innocence.

But the moment the tip of his finger touched the will-o-wisp, he screamed.


"The Grand Chase was a band of warriors, gathered by the Queen of Serdin, to battle against the evil that tried to reign over Aernas. We were heroes, despite what lineage we came from or what background we had, protecting what was important to all of us…. FASTER!"

"Yes, sir!" Elaine shouted confidently back as she continuously jabbed the wooden sword in her hand through the air. She had lost count to how many times she had done so, let alone figure out what this was for. All she knew was that the moment she fell asleep again, Elesis was there next to her in her dream world and commanding her to grab a sword and start training. "But may I know what this is for?"

"Your body seems to remember my techniques that I had utilized before like instincts after my fight with the Orc Lord. But your mind won't be able to read it so easily. I'm just helping you recollect it all." Elesis crossed her arms with a smirk, watching her new self gradually gaining back her motivation and hastening her pace. "Loosen up your upper arms. Work on your hips' movement."

"Got it!" Once the red haired teen nodded, she began correcting herself slowly. The girl failed to ask her why this was to be done though. She was beginning to enjoy cutting through the air to ask that, and the thought of doing it in real life was exhilarating. "So Elesis. When you mean by band of warriors, how many are there?"

"Fourteen, myself included." A soft chuckle was made by the senior warrior. "You could say we were like a bizarre group of different and eccentric people who could barely stand each other, yet stick together like family."

"That means there are thirteen other people like me then…" Elaine stopped. She then turned to the older girl, straight into her ruby eyes. "I'll find your friends. Then we can end this all."

Touched by the decision and mused by the determination of the young girl, Elesis merely laughed. "Like I'd allow that. After how much I'm seeing, I'll have to shape you up a lot more that you can imagine! Now do some squats!"


"Did you hear about Naoto?"

"Yeah. Delinquents had tried to fight with him on his way home."

"I heard he returned ten folds though but they played dirty with knives."

"I want to visit him and nurse him!"

"You can't! No one knows where he's hospitalized…"

Elaine sighed to the never-ending gossip girls just next to her table. Where on Aernas did they get all these information from? She will never know. But surely eavesdropping on them was better than to look into her book of gibberish which everyone else calls a 'History Book'. She didn't really hate the subject. It was just that, the subject seems to find it easy to bore her to death. And don't get her started with her history teacher. An old man who just goes on and on and on without realizing he had gone off topic. It wasn't even a wonder that he didn't realize that she had been skipping his classes.

She doesn't even know why she was sitting there, waiting for the class to start. Maybe because the rumours about Naoto was so interesting to her. About the guy who loved her enough to even die protecting her.

"Elaine? You alright? You're really red?"

"H-huh?! Of course I am!" Elaine dryly laughed as she convinced a classmate she was doing fine. There was no way she could say that to anyone. Not when there's a bunch of his fan girls just sitting there with a high possibility to kill her if they knew.

'… Naoto…' Elesis had whispered to the flushed girl. '… Who exactly is he…?'

'What do you mean, Elesis?'

'He's no ordinary person, for sure. He knew a lot about the procedures and he knew I was in your body…' A solemn sigh seeped out of the spirit. 'Damn… He might even know where the others are… If only I heard him tell me who he really was properly…'

Elaine didn't even think another second to agree. The boy had more secrets than she knew. He even mentioned about not letting this happen. Now what was that about? Was he trying to prevent all this to happen? Or could it be that he didn't want Elesis to wake up at all? Then again, he had submitted to her wishes to wake up the saviour. "Urgh…. All this is messing up my head…" The teen stood and headed out of the class as the bell rang, deciding that fresh air might do her better than listening to her teacher lecture on and on.

"And where do you think you're going?" An unfamiliar voice halted her. Elaine looked up to see a young man, presumably still in his early twenties, and holding a history book. She was more surprised to see how handsome he was; Navy eyes and hair, perfectly fit body. Could he just be anymore… "Well?"

"W-woah..!" She retreated inwards into the classroom with surprise. Giggles from the girls were heard as they began dispersing from their gossip groups and back to their respective seats.

"I'm guessing you're Miss Elaine Sieghart?"

"Who the heck are you?! What happened to that old guy?!"

"Well, Miss Sieghart. You've been skipping history classes enough to not realize that he had decided to have an early retirement and have me replace him since last week." Though he had a frown, Elaine couldn't help but look at how he looked so… Dazzling. She quickly scampered back to her seat, already in embarrassment and unwilling to go through more humiliation.

As the class went, Elaine took an opportunity to whisper to the classmate next to her. "Who the heck is this guy?"

"Rolan Erudon. He's our temporary history teacher until they get a new history teacher. But honestly, I don't mind if there isn't a new teacher."

'Hahahaha! I don't mind it either.' Elesis laughed heartily and uncontrollably. 'I can't believe it! Him! A teacher! And history! Hahahaha! It so fits that noob!'

'Noob? Elesis, what are you talking about?'

'This guy… Rolan, right? He's another of the Grand Chase. He's Ronan Erudon, the Abyss Knight.'


Elesis couldn't stop laughing inside the whole day. She kept saying how 'Ronan' it was for his present self was a teacher, teaching history. And of course, Elaine didn't get it. But she hadn't heard the knight laugh so much, so truly, since she woke. The chuckles she made before were sometimes dry and fake to her. So she let Elesis laugh on.

'Seems like he runs a club so we can't see him today…' The teen sighed as she shut the History Department's staff room. She had thought she'd approach him that day about the Grand Chase. The quicker she did this, the quicker it all ends, the lesser people she'd see getting hurt. A chill shivered her the moment she recalled how depressed Sibil was in that hospital room, holding onto her brother's hand in desperation.

"So sir, when are we investigating it?" A soft voice echoed from the other end of the hallway. Elaine blinked in bewilderment, seeing Sibil shuffling next to the teacher she had been seeking for, carrying a box of who knows what.

"Just after I drop this in the club room. We can gather all our members there and head out for a bit, Sibil." Rolan was laughing childishly to the student, unaware of their red headed watcher. "It'll cheer you up as well."

A light blush formed on Sibil as she smiled sheepishly to him. "I appreciate that, sir."

Elaine stared at them, walking away in to the distance, chatting away in their own world. She was happy, that Sibil seemed fine (And actually surprised that Sibil was part of the club Rolan was, whatever it was). But inside her, something was burning.

It was a fire she had never felt before. It wasn't as warm and passionate as the one she wielded. It was too fierce and hazardous, rampaging around inside of her in distortion.

'E-Elesis…?' Lightly, Elaine questioned, assuming all that ignites in her had to do with the knight.

'… Let's go, Elaine…'

'But Elesis. Mr. Erudon's there so we could-'

'Not… Now…' The high school girl twitched. She had never heard Elesis growl in pure anger. Elaine merely complied and hurried away, in confusion to what had just happened.


"I walk the lonely road, on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams…"

'Stop, Elaine.' The girl halted immediately, half shaken and half relieved. The saviour inside her had been miserably quiet and the silence she made was suffocating her terribly. She didn't even dare to think why she was so angry so suddenly. It was just Mr. Erudon and Sibil together for a club activity. But that was to be kept at the back of her mind as she responded to the spirit with a grunt. 'Elaine, you hear that? Someone's singing softly.'

"Where the city sleeps, and I'm the only one, I walk alone."

'I know this song. Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I haven't heard it in a while.' Elaine looked around but of course, she couldn't pinpoint who it was. She was at the subway station, in the midst of bustling, noisy people, chatting amongst themselves or on their cell phones. But there was another group of people that would be in their own worlds, reading a book silently, gazing into space, or just- 'That guy, he's listening to music with those headphones. He's the one who's humming.'

'Headphones? That funny looking headband with the ear muffs?' The knight questioned, reminding her that the spirit inside of her was but a person from an old era, still alien to the tech savvy world she lived in (but the fact she could see some familiar technologies was a little astonishing, such as trains and cars – she reminded herself to ask the saviour later on about her knowledge). Nevertheless, they both were looking at the same person. The same, orange messy haired, young well-built man with black headphones, nodding his head to the song he listened to as he sang lightly. 'Never mind that. That's him. Chase after him!'

'W-what?!'

'I can recognize his voice anywhere after listening to him spout endless crap about nature to the point it's infuriating. It's Ryan. The Grand Chase's Vanquisher!'

Without a second thought, Elaine obeyed her commands and rushed over, squeezing through masses of bodies towards the man. Her hands reached out to him as much as she could to grab his attention, knowing that her voice would never reach to him when the rhythm of the song became louder the closer she got to him. Just an inch more to latch on to his grey vest…

[The train to South Kanavan Park will arrive soon. Please mind your step and stay behind the yellow line.]

"Aaack!"

"Owch!"

"S-Sorry!"

Elaine groaned and looked up after getting pushed back forcefully by a larger person and falling on her bottom, only to find a blond man, smiling sincerely at her. A thought of why were there so many good looking men appearing now crossed her mind as she shook her head, eyes still connected to his own gold sparkling eyes.

"It's alright. The train was coming."

"Let me help you up." He offered her his hand. Naturally, Elaine reached for it.

SLAP

"OW! Rivera! What'd you do that for?!" Elaine blankly stared as the blond whined in pain after getting his hand slapped harshly. And was just speechless to see that it was the orange haired man that slapped it. The guy who seemingly possesses one of the Grand Chaser's soul.

"I don't trust you with girls. Any ages of any girls, you disgusting perverted paedophile," he snapped immediately as he grabbed the red head's hand and pulled her up. "Look, you have to know that Riku here is a womanizer who targets a girl's ass. So be careful around him. Best way is to completely avoid him."

"Rivera! Don't say that! She'll tell all her other girlfriends!"

"That's the point. This will ensure the fact I will never be another scapegoat to your stupid love affairs ever again." He retorted back immediately before glancing back to Elaine with a childish smile. "Actually… Now that I look at you closely…" He scanned the girl from head to toe. Elaine swore she saw his nose twitch ever so slightly. "You're from my neighbourhood, right? At around South Kanavan Park."

"Yeah…" Elaine answered, half truthfully. Only because she knew she lived in that area and she didn't notice he lived at the same area as well. Actually, she couldn't remember seeing his face around at all when she was usually arriving at school very early and coming back late from school activities. But that orange hair of did seem a little conspicuous from the backgrounds in her memories.

"Oh I see. You gave me a bad name but you're picking up the girl instead. Pretty clever, Rivera." Sarcasm and irritation was in Riku's tone. The orange haired merely jabbed him by the stomach, sending him to his knees in pain.

"Riku. Go by yourself. You, let's go. The train's here." He smiled with his green eyes, holding on to Elaine's hand. "Unless, you're planning to go somewhere else?"

"… I'm going home."


Leaving Riku was a piece of cake, if you overlooked the fact he had clamped onto the man's legs, begging to come with him to a blind group date and they had to even call security to pull him away. The orange haired merely sighed next to Elaine, hopelessly thinking why he was even friends with such a guy.

"Oh yeah… I didn't introduce myself, right? I'm Rivera Axentinne, university student."

'I don't know what university means, but I can say that's something surprising.' Elesis inside couldn't help but slide a comment. 'Thought Ryan wasn't the nerd type.' Elaine hushed her immediately.

"Elaine Sieghart. Sophomore at East Noire high."

"Hey, that's where I graduated from~!" He laughed cheerfully to the petty coincidence as his hand scratched the back of his neck. Elaine couldn't help but let her red eyes trail on to his hand, and up to his ears. He was still wearing those headphones. She could feel the music was dead; not a single beat could be felt, and heard, from them. Why was he still wearing them?

'I'm curious about them as well, Elaine….' The knight hummed. 'Those 'headphones' don't really suit him…'

'What do you mean, Elesis?'

'He's actually a-'

"Okay. So what did you want from me?" Before Elesis could tell her the rest, Rivera had caught her attention.

"Huh?" Elaine blinked at her blankly.

"You tugged my jacket just before you were pushed back by Riku. I know there's no way a girl would just approach me. Cause I'm…." He trailed away lightly before covering his face in what she thought was shame and humiliation. "…. I know I'm forever alone…"

'That's no surprise…' Elesis commented bluntly once more. 'Ryan was really obsessed with nature, he'd forget people sometimes. That's what you get for obsessing over nature, you tree hugger!'

Elaine couldn't help but let out a snicker after listening to both parties. "Sorry..." She gave him a light apology with no feelings whatsoever but amusement. He didn't seem to mind it anyways. "I'll go straight to the point then. You have one of the members of the Grand Chase's soul in you and I'm going help you wake him up."

"… What?"

"Like I said. You have a soul in you. I'm helping you wake him up."

Rivera stared at her in disbelief. "Girl, you must have somehow bumped your head hard when you fell."

"I'm not joking! I don't joke!" She snapped back at the false accusation. "Believe me! I went through it all! The dreams, the fighting, the-" Elaine was suddenly gagged by a pair of hands as Rivera once more looked at her with his disbelieved puzzlement, and this time, he was paler and shocked as well.

"Hold on. You said.. The dreams? As in… You had them too…? The ones that keeps bugging you every night but leaves you completely blank when you wake up?!" Elaine nodded and soon enough she was freed from her restriction. The uni student leaned back on to his seat and sighed heavily, brushing off the sweat on his face. "Oh Gaia… I thought I was going crazy…"

"So you believe me? You'll let me wake Ryan's soul up?"

Rivera gave her a mere glance. He then stared onto the metal plated ground of the train. "Ryan… He's the guy inside me?... That means you've got someone inside you as well?"

"Her name's Elesis Sieghart. She was the Grand Chase's Savior."

"Grand Chase. I thought they were just fairy tales." Rivera blinked in surprise at the sudden sight of the high school girl winced in pain.

"Don't say that… Just don't. They're as real as the souls of the heroes inside us…" She muttered, angst entwined in her tone. The uni student could only imagine how the ancient hero seemed offended to his statement and just blew up inside her. He had no choice but to just give in to the girl.

"And who was Ryan? I mean, what he was like in the Grand Chase and all."

The red head asked the knight inside her the same question. Elesis grunted, still irked about the earlier topic. 'Repeat after me.'

"Ryan was the Grand Chase's Vanquisher, the storm that protected nature with Gaia's blessings. That's what Elesis tells me." The girl looked at him. He was gradually losing his childish aura, replacing it with a more concerned expression on his face. "He's also a… What..?!"

"What? What did this Elesis say?"

Elaine stared at him with doubt. She reached out to his headphones and pulled them down. Long ears poked out of them, as the older man flinched away from her. "Elesis said Ryan was also an elf…"


'Elesis said Ryan was also an elf…'

Those words repeated themselves in his mind again and again to the point it was just torturous. Rivera looked at the orange haired man in the mirror, staring back at him with the same green eyes he had. His ears were long and pointed.

'No one else in my family had them… I had always assumed I was adopted or something…' He touched them lightly, observing them in deep interest. He sighed as he looked at them closely. 'So it's all this 'Ryan' person's fault that I have them, eh? That I'm an elf?'

'Why am I waking him up when he's the cause of these?! You know how much I suffered because of them?! These pointed ears are the reason that isolated me from the world!'

Teeth clenched and fist tightened, he glowered at the sight of those ears he had. Oh he could remember the countless years he had gone through when he was younger, being teased and tortured. All because he was different from the other kids. That he had long pointed ears.

'Oh and maybe I should blame the fact I became a monster when I was younger on this Ryan person!' Baring his teeth to the toned man in the mirror, fury boiled in the depths of his heart. Rivera remembered it all clearly, glowering into the midst of the emerald eyes.

He could recall the sole reason he was secluded amongst the others. All he wanted was to play a game of hide and seek. The others were already wary of how his ears seemed so.. Inhumane. But they chose to give him just one chance. When it was his turn to seek, everything began to feel strange. It was only when fur started to grow on him did he see something felt amiss. And soon enough he could see himself as a powerful beast. He could see the fearful expressions on the others.

Those faces had haunted him for years.

'I don't care what you went through! I've gone worse! I've lost a friend because of the soul inside me! And look at me! I'm still fighting! So will you fight with me or not?!'

His mind stopped. Elaine's voice was loud and clear in his head, screaming at him at the very last second they were together. She had lost a friend. That was far worse that having no friends at all, he thought to himself. The miserable feeling of loss of a beloved soul - compared to the misery he felt, of emptiness - he imagined it to be simply tormenting.

When Rivera drearily took a glance at the mirror once more, all he saw was a huge vermillion wolf.


Silence filled the red head's room. Elaine was on her bed, staring drearily into the space just beyond the ceiling above her. To anyone, she was just daydreaming moments before she could fall into slumber. But in reality, she was conversing with the spirit deep inside her.

'So Elesis, what should we do about Rivera? It's likely he won't cooperate with us…'

'But he believed us, did he?' The saviour made her point. 'We'll work our way from there.'

Unconsciously, Elaine nodded. She quickly wondered if the spirit inside could see her nod and instead, made a hasty 'yes'. 'What about Rolan? How should we approach him?'

The girl bit her tongue instantly. She had forgotten Elesis' mood the moment they saw the teacher with her senior just back in the afternoon.

'… We'll tell him directly. If he really has Ronan's spirit, he would think it through before he acts.'

Elaine blinked in confusion. The saviour was just cool by the mentioning of the teacher. 'Elesis…?'

'Huh? Oh. Sorry… I was thinking about something…'

'What is it? You're practically inside me so you can't hide it from me.'

'That is true, but I didn't plan on hiding it.' A soft chuckle of amusement came from the older spirit before she sighed in concern. 'The Orc Lord was one of our enemies. He approached us and he wanted me to sleep longer… He wants me out of the way…'

'That means… Everyone else's lives are in danger?!'

'Unless we wake them up. The Grand Chaser's souls can protect them that way.'

'But the enemies could come at them at any time and-'

TAP TAP TAP

"Kya-!" Elaine couldn't make a proper scream. Not when a huge paw with sharp nails covered her mouth. She stared at the being, the monster in her room; the gigantic orange pelted wolverine. With surprisingly fashionable denim blue pants.

"Ssshh! It's me! Rivera! Believe me!" The beast started stuttering as lowly as he could, but after looking at Elaine's pale and frightened face, he was convinced nothing was coming into her ear. She was just too startled that her systems froze. He groaned in irk. "Damn it. I can't believe I'm going to talk to a spirit… Elesis. If you're really in there.. Tell her to calm down. If you say there's this Ryan guy inside me, then you'd know, right?"

A few heartbeats later, Elaine was back to normal. It was then did Rivera let her go.

"Why didn't anyone tell me you could transform?!" The girl hissed at him in anger. The wolf merely shrugged and made his way onto Elaine's scarlet bed, sitting on it and slumping lazily.

"I can't transform by free will! And this hasn't happened in a long time! How was I supposed to tell you I could transform into a wolf when it's inconsistent?!" He growled back to the girl, slightly showing his fangs. But this time, it didn't seem to scare her at all.

'His transformations is useless if you asked me. I like relying on my own powers. But just to let you know, he's got three transformations and they strengthen him enormously.' Elesis groaned.

"Damn it! And you can transform into two other strong forms! That makes three! THREE! Three transformations in total!" The red head whined in irk. "Damn it! That seems so cool!"

"Three…?" Rivera questioned, curiosity roused greatly, especially when he heard the word 'strong'. Now what was that about?

"Elaine, darling? Are you alright?" Elaine flinched with Rivera as they immediately glared at the door of the bedroom. Another voice had made its appearance, accompanied by light knocks.

"N-no! Nothing's wrong, dad! I'm fine~!" Elaine yelped back to the door. When she looked back to see a concerned look from Rivera's wolverine face, she sighed. "What? You thought I lived in this house alone?"

"I forgot." Immediately the wolf lost all interest in such topic and looked around her room. It wasn't as girly as he imagined. Then again, he had never been to a real girl's room. But the typical stuffed toys lying around and cute clothes were poking about everywhere. And being a high school girl, he could see piles of books, papers and folders here and there as well.

"Well, what are you doing in my room?" Elaine crossed her arm, feeling awkward now that she was aware that there was someone else, older and male, inside her room and examining it all closely. "Actually, how'd you find where I live?"

"Powerful nose, awesome tracking skills. It's a wolf thing." He grinned widely to the point he involuntarily revealed his fangs as Elaine reminded herself to how he was actually sniffing her the moment they first met. "I'm here because I've decided. I want to know how to wake Ryan up."

"What a coincidence! I was thinking of searching for you so I could get you to wake him up before you were killed!" Elaine smiled happily as she clapped her hands with glee, sending shivers down the beast.

"… K- Killed?!"

"Elesis and I were just discussing about it. Before she woke up, some huge freak – or the Orc Lord, as called by Elesis - tried to kill me in order to keep her from waking up. It just means that the rest of the Grand Chase is targeted by his group."

"There are killers hunting for us?!"

"Sssshhhh! My father is still in this house!" She hushed desperately as the wolf sank away from her, paws covering over his whole nuzzle. "Yes, if we don't get to them fast. Now, Naoto said that the only-"

"Who's Naoto?"

"Shut up and listen." She spat back, silencing the wolf. But more precisely, she rather not speak of him now. "Naoto said that it all happens in the dream world. You have to first unlock some sort of door, then you'll be able to call out Ryan's name to wake him up."

"That's pretty straight forward." Rivera bluntly spoke. He immediately shifted himself on the rose coloured matt just on the centre of the girl's room. "Good night."

With less than a passing second, he was blissfully snoring away.

"Seriously?! Sleeping in my room?!" The red head hissed angrily, but seeing that there was no response, she grumpily marched around him, towards her bed. After brushing off the orange pieces of hair left by the overgrown dog off her bed, Elaine glanced over to the said dog. '… What do you think made him change his mind?'

'Ryan loved his comrades like family - maybe even more. I'm guessing when you had mentioned about Naoto's condition, he might have felt how hurt you were…' The savior groaned lightly in a tone the girl hadn't heard before.

'Elesis… You miss them, don't you? You're comrades.'

'Course I do. They're my friends… They're like my family…' She trailed away softly. Yet it left Elaine a sharp thin pin, stabbing in to her. Was it Elesis' feelings? Her feelings of sadness? They were like the intense flame that ignited inside of her so suddenly just earlier that day, without her intentions to feel so.

'Hey, Elaine.'

'Yeah?'

'Are you close to your father?' Elaine blinked in surprise.

'Of course. Why wouldn't I? I love him.' A satisfied grunt came from the savior until slowly, she quiets down. In seconds, Elaine soon followed after, to slumber.


The plan was to wake Ryan up. And with the vanquisher's help, they could utilize Rivera's wolf transformation (if he could control it well), and track the rest of the current bodies of the chasers. It was, yes, pretty straight forward. And actually, it seemed easy enough.

But from a whole new perspective, it didn't seem so at all.

Elaine was yawning countlessly. Next to her, Rivera – now looking as a human (well, we can ignore his pointed ears for a while) – was grumbling in irk to how tired he felt.

They both spent the night horribly, the most portion going to the orange haired. And he didn't even realize how it happened. On the other hand, Elaine stared at the sleep deprived uni student cautiously.

She remembered how the orange bundle of fur was shivering uncontrollably, claws scratching the ground and leaving deep marks of fear and angst. Elaine sat there, watching the wolf whine in terror, unable to move herself to aid him at all. She was paralyzed; there wasn't anything relatively coherent enough in her mind that could help the wolverine.

The itch to jump in to the fight and aid the man was tremendously irritating. But how could she when the world he battled in was in one she could never reach?

Though, one thing that worked out that morning was how Rivera had turned back into a full grown man, half naked since he still had his pants on, and had successfully sneaked out of the house and back to his own place without anyone spotting him. It was merely coincidental that they had met once more, heading towards the station.

"Are you really alright, Rivera?" Again, Elaine asked the older man. He merely nodded.

"Yeah… I'm just… Astonished… That you made it seem so easy…" He muttered, letting silent sighs and dreary yawns pass by his mouth lightly. "Even though it's actually hard… From the way I'm so worn out…"

"Sorry…" A discontent groan seeped out of the teen. Why was he struggling so hard? She was perfectly fine when she went through it. All she did was to call out Elesis' name after-

'Of course! Why didn't I realize it sooner?!'

'You've thought of the same thing, Elesis?' A small grin formed on the teen's mouth. 'Ryan hasn't released from his neutral state. And that 'old man' knows what to do!'

"Why are you two smiling?" The dreary uttered as he blinked lazily. "Oh Gaia, I'm so worn out that I'm seeing double…"

"Are you sure you can go to your classes?"

"Yes, he is. I'll take care of him, little miss." The both souls jumped from hearing the third voice from behind. A smiling blond waved at them lightly as he made his way towards Rivera's back, patting him friendlily. "I mean, I should definitely return the favour. Hell, you left me for a little girl so I could spend the night with two hot babes! Dude, I am never making fun of your lolicon fetish ever again."

"Get away from me you disgusting pig! I don't have a lolicon fetish! And what the hell do you mean again?! I never had one!" The orange haired growled at the newly arrived Riku, harshly shoving his hands off of him. Elaine did nothing but sigh in the blonde's stupidity and pity the orange haired man's suffering.

[The train to Centerpoint will arrive soon. Please mind your step and stay behind the yellow line.]

Without realizing, Elaine had found that the three had already arrived at the station, just moments before the arrival of the train. She turned to Rivera as she fished out her cell phone. "Before I forget, give me your number."

"Oh okay. Let me get my phone …" He made the same gestures as the girl, reaching down into his baggy pants for his own cell phone.

'Number? Phone?' Inside Elesis stared through the teen's red eyes. Her hand held a small square like device with a flashy moving picture, quite similar to the older man's own device, but his was of a light green color and hers was a deep red.

'So I can contact him without meeting him.'

'Hmm… I guess that's useful…'

"Oh.. So you two lovebirds are going for another round or something?" Riku snickered as he nudged the both by their shoulders. Instantaneously, he was jabbed at his stomach by both, and left to whine in pain on the ground.

"Thanks. I'll update you with anything new, alright. So you better take care of yourself."

"Eh? We're not going to sit together on the train again?"

"No. I don't want people to see us suspiciously. Especially with that blonde ass around." She chirped quickly as the train slowed down in front of them. She then skipped inside a carriage far from the two men. Rivera's eyes followed her as he headed into another carriage, placing his headphones over his ears. True, if people were to notice how close they suddenly became, things could bring about trouble and attention. And attention is something they had to avoid when they know that they were all targeted. And Rivera agreed to how Riku can be obnoxiously annoying.

"Hey, Rivera." A groan was behind him.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were still alive. Shall I hit you harder?" Rivera grunted back, uninterested to whatever the blond wanted to talk to him about. Hell, why was he even talking to him? Or hanging out with him for that matter? All the idiot does to the Rivera was to sexually harass him one way or another.

"Aww, come on, Rivera. We're best buddies!"

"I don't recall use being best buddies. As far as I'm concerned, you're just a classmate in my biology lectures…"

Riku stared at him turning up his music to maximum volume. The beat to the song was definitely loud; he could actually make out the song he was listening to without listening what the orange haired man hummed.

"It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep"

A light chuckle escaped the blond, unnoticed by the humming student. "You weren't using your headphones when you were with her… Showing that elven ears around… I'm guessing she's one of you guys, eh?"

"Cause everything is never as it seems, when I fall asleep…"

"I guess with all those tiresome nights you went through, that is true…" He whispered, leaving a grin on his face. "But don't you worry… Those restless dreams will soon end."


The red head thought twice on approaching the history department. This was mostly because she was unsure of Elesis' reaction. After what happened last time, she was desperate not to make the tension filled scenario take place once more.

"Elaine?" She was startled the moment she heard the call of her name. A glance to her right and she saw the graceful Sibil, slowing down to match her pace. "I'm surprised that you'd actually go to this part of the school. Are you looking for a teacher?"

"Y-yeah... Sort of..." The teen smiled. A burning angst had bloomed inside of her, probably from Elesis. Why did the saviour felt this way to the girl she looked up to as a sister? She had done nothing wrong. Did she? "Mr. Erudon, actually…"

"Ah! I was looking for him as well. You see, he's our superior of the club in charge of." She smiled lightly in that modest, mature way of hers. "Mr. Erudon's also kind and thoughtful. But he isn't really my type."

"Huh?" The red head blinked blankly.

"He's so.. Um.. What can I say…?" She hummed, "Weak, I guess. I like tough, masculine guys."

"…. I see…" Elaine dryly laughed afterwards, without a clue to how she should respond to what Sibil had told her. But her heart seemed to have lost a weight that had pressured her down. She assumed that Elesis had calmed down somehow. It puzzled her in many different ways. But she lost concern for it as it doesn't seem like she has to worry more.

"So Elaine… Are you looking for him because you're interested in him? I won't forgive you if you are. You'll have to wait for Naoto to wake up and give a reply first." Sibil joked lightly, attracting the red head's attention. How could she be so happy at a time like this? After her brother's been admitted in the hospital. She giggled once more. "Elaine, I know you're worried, it's written on your face."

"Eh really?"

"Yeah. I guess that's one reason you're adorable." Elaine couldn't help but blush to her compliment. "But honestly, I'll be alright. I know that... Even if Naoto's always calm and reserved, I know he'll get really angry if he sees me in depression." Sibil grinned at the girl. Yet the red head could see it; she was shivering lightly, holding back her grief.

'She's really strong…' The saviour commented from behind. Elaine agreed to her as she grabbed the snowy haired teen's hand.

"Let's go find Mr. Erudon, alright?"

"Yeah." The red head nodded, returning a comforting smile.

Inside, she asked herself (and she made sure no one else – Elesis included – heard), what was the saviour's relationship with the abyss knight.


He gaped in awe, looking at the vast scene that spread before him; A thriving city with a bustling center and cheerful people. It couldn't get any better can it? The royal navy flags held up high and dancing with the wind with its gold emblem. It was truly a grand place, greater than anywhere else he had ever been in his life.

'The city of knights is prosperous and magnificent,
Guarded by the Royal Kanavan Knights of azure,
Leave everything that clouded your vision and go,
Stride forth, take back your title, your people.'

Confusion always blurred his mind whenever he heard those lyrics. He thought he was calculative and cautious enough to avoid such a thing like getting a clouded vision, or to his opinion, a blurred truth. He shook his mind of the negativity.

When he blinked his eyes open, everything blacked out.

Chapter 2 - End


A/N [When I first posted this]:
Woo~! Rivera and Rolan, the containers of Ryan and Ronan.

I must be sick sadistic person. I love calling Ronan a noob. It could be he's just dead gorgeous to the point he looks like a girl (especially with the recent updates..), or the fact I keep killing my brother's Ronan in Pvp. And his name.. Rolan. Wow. Takes a genius to make up that name which requires changing one letter.

Actually, the name Rolan means something like 'famous land'. And it's from Mid-Europe... Somewhere there.

I've decided to turn Sibil into the older refine sibling who has a strong taste in macho men. Mmmm... Beefcakes. Hahahaha... It's all out of Random shit really.

Rivera is into music. He has just listened to Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Greenday and Fireflies by Owl City. They seem to match his current character so I used those songs. And next to him is Riku being an ass =D

Oh yeah. Elesis here knows about trains and cars. Well, slightly. This is because of 1. The Grand Chase has been on the Underworld Express which involves a train. 2. Mari has a freaking tank - she even drives one into the dungeon if you use her third job, if I'm not mistaken. So more or less, that savior can figure some stuff out or else she becomes just another idiot for show which I don't really enjoy writing about. Though I have yet to see whether the Grand Chase ever come across a device for communication. That or I haven't observed Mari enough... =-="

Hmm... Can't think of anything else to say so Ciao~