Disclaimer: Own: To have something as your property. Fan-fic: A story using characters and/or settings from a previously existing work by a fan of said work.

Chapter 3: Missing the Obvious

"Where did I put that hairbrush? I know I just had it!" Mel scoured her room, looking for the elusive item. The princess, having finished her own packing earlier had come to have a 'girl talk' (aka: Lecto talk) again, but ended up being enlisted in helping her look for her missing brush. They were to leave soon, and for the life of her, Mel just couldn't think of where she'd placed her brush. "Ugg!" Flustered, she tugged on her hair, "If I don't find it soon, I'll have to leave it behind. And I just bought it, too!"

Beside her, the princess giggled, "Oh, Mel, what are we to do with you?"

"That's a good question." Both girls jumped and turned as Fern added from the open doorway with a smirk, "Are you sure you're cut out to be the Master Wizard, Mel?"

Seraphia, angry at having been intruded upon-what if she'd been talking about Lecto instead of Mel-groped around for the object nearest her and hurtled it at Fern, yelling, "The door was closed for a reason!" Fern easily caught the projectile as the princess added, "And you didn't even knock!"

"Well, sorry." Fern said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Then glancing at what Seraphia had thrown at him, he smirked, and tossed it to Mel, "Here, this was what you were looking for, wasn't it." It wasn't a question.

Mel caught the hairbrush and stuffed it in her bag. "Thanks you two!" With a big smile, she swung her pack on her back, and then reaching for both their hands, started dragging them out of the room, saying, "Now that we've found it, we better hurry, or his Majesty may leave without us!" That wasn't true, and they all knew it, but Mel felt that this would be the only way to make sure it was only the argument that was killed. After all, Fern had yet to come to understand that it's best not to argue with a PMS-ing girl.

Once outside, Mel dropped her friends' hands, allowing each of them to mount their own horse. Both parties were being silent…which could be either a good or bad thing, depending on the reasons why. Looking up at the cloudy sky from her saddle, Mel sighed and whispered to herself, "I hope it doesn't rain."

The rain amazingly had held off so far, but the stormy atmosphere was doing nothing to help her companions' dispositions. Mel sat in her saddle like a sack of potatoes as she watched Seraphia and Fern arguing ahead of her-something they had been doing since they'd set off five hours ago. Lecto had somehow avoided being drawn into the mess, and was riding beside Mel. A quick glance told her that his eyes were fixated on Seraphia. Mel suppressed a smile and thought, 'Now, if only I could get them to be alone together.'

"el-Mel!" Mel just barely refrained from jumping out of her skin as Lecto practically yelled in her ear over a strong gust of wind.

"Sorry." Turning to him, she added, "I was thinking about some things and couldn't hear you. What is it?" Lecto didn't say anything, and instead pointed to the road ahead of them, where, far in the distance, there appeared to be something blocking the road.

Mel's eyebrows narrowed as thoughts swirled through her head. From here, they couldn't tell what that 'something' was, and that would have to change before his majesty and the princess got too near to it. Once they knew what it was, the appropriate action could be taken. If it was dangerous, then the whole party would have to be stopped until the danger was taken care of. If it was innocent, it would have to be evacuated from the road before the rest of the party reached it.

All these thoughts only took a moment for Mel to process. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Vaith talking to a few of his guards. "Lecto, please get Yue and tell him that I would appreciate it if he would come to the forefront with Vaith and I to see what can be done up ahead." Lecto nodded, and began to turn his horse around, when Mel added, "Oh, and after that, would you please return to the king and princesses side…in case something happens while we're gone." Lecto nodded curtly rather than yell over the rising wind, and then left to do as he'd been told.

By now, both Seraphia and Fern had noticed what was going on, and were silently looking at Mel. "Princess, please stick close to his Majesty." Seraphia nodded, for once not pointing out that she would rather be called by her name. "Fern…I may need your help…so would you please come with me?"

Fern, being Fern, smirked and retorted, "Well, duh! Of course I'm coming. I'd follow you even if you told me not to!"

Mel rolled her eyes, "Whatever…let's go." Maneuvering around the few people ahead of them, Mel and Fern quickly joined up with Vaith and ten of his men. They were soon joined by Yue, and then they spurred their horses into a run.

As they neared, Mel felt relieved. It wasn't some band of renegades or bandits. Instead it was a group of peasants struggling to remove an uprooted tree from the road. From beside her, she heard Fern say loudly over the wind, "Don't relax just yet. It could be a set up." Mel nodded rather than attempt to be heard over the ever increasing wind. Fern had a valid point. She doubted this was a ploy, but better safe than sorry.

When the people on the road noticed them, they dropped what they were doing and quickly moved. Obviously fearing that Mel and her companions were dangerous, they clustered together to one side of the road. Everyone, that is, except one young woman whose foot was apparently caught under the tree. She desperately tried to rock the tree off her, but without everyone else's help, she could do nothing, and her foot stayed trapped.

Dismounting, Mel caught Fern's eye, then approached the woman who began to struggle even more. Tears were falling down her face as the woman looked at Mel like she was a witch bent on destroying her. Continuing forward slowly, Mel put both her hands in front of her, palm up, indicating that she had no weapons. The woman didn't seem to calm at all, continuing to jerk wildly at her leg.

Mel heard a crack, and instantly knew she had waited too long. Speeding forward, hand extended, Mel whispered a sleeping spell. Catching the woman before she fell, Mel turned to Fern, who had, of course, followed her, and motioned for him to hold her upright. Once she was free again, Mel saw that the woman's companions looked ready to either bolt or charge her. The thing that was probably stopping them from doing so was the line Vaith's men had made between them and her. Shaking off their angry and fearful glances, she turned her attention to the problem in front of her.

Summoning up her power, Mel wove a complicated air spell around the tree. After what felt like forever, one end of the tree began to lift into the air, until the woman's foot was visible. Without prompting, Fern moved the woman's foot out from under the tree, allowing Mel to slowly lower the tree once more. When finally she was done, Mel repressed a sigh, instead opting to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Lifting such a heavy object was not an easy thing to do.

Hearing a commotion, Mel looked at the group of villagers. They were all whispering at once while glancing, or in one case, pointing, in her direction. Shaking her head, Mel turned back to the unconscious woman who was now laying on the ground as Yue dismounted and approached her. Mel didn't wait for him. Kneeling down for a closer inspection, she found what she had expected to. Not only was the woman's foot turning purple, but her leg didn't look quite right either.

"That leg's broken." Yue's stoic voice sounded from behind her. Mel nodded as he continued, "It had probably already been fractured, but all that struggling is what really did it in."

"I agree." Looking at Fern, she added, "Would you break off two sticks about this big," Mel motioned with her hands, "for me? We'll need to do basic first aid before she wakes up. Somehow I don't think she'd like to be awake as we set her bone."

Fern made a face as he turned to the tree, "She'd probably start screaming and thrashing and break something else." Mel didn't respond, instead receiving a roll of linen from Yue and then waiting to be handed the branches. Once she had both, Mel looked at Yue, expecting him to want to set the bone, however he was looking at the crowd of peasants, an odd expression on his face. Shrugging it off, Mel did it herself, then placed the sticks on either side of the woman's leg and wrapped the linen around them tightly, making a temporary cast.

"That will have to do for now." Standing up, Mel dusted herself off, and then turned to look at the now quiet crowd. Moving forward cautiously past the line of Black Knights, she felt Fern behind her and was comforted. She couldn't be sure of how these people would react when she spoke to them, but Fern's presence gave her courage.

"Your friend is fine, and she should be waking up soon. I apologize if I frightened you with my sudden appearance, however if I had not taken immediate action, I fear her injuries would have been far worse." The group's faces showed mainly relief, however that relief was of a grade much higher than her actions or explanation should have brought.

Suddenly Mel instinctively knew that something else had frightened them, something more sinister than a stranger nearing a pinned down friend; however, Mel did not know what that 'something' was, and she knew better than to bring it up to these skittish people. Glancing over her shoulder at Fern, she knew that he had noticed it too. Returning her gaze to those in front of her, she decided to offer for their group to help the villagers move the tree.

In the end, after much cajoling and kind words, they did help them remove the tree from the road. As Mel had expected, they were ordinary people-despite their previous abnormal reactions-just trying to clear the road; in spite of this, though, Fern refused to leave her side. His behavior struck Mel as slightly odd, but she pushed it aside as him just being overly cautious. And she couldn't blame him for that, after their earlier behavior. After all, she reasoned, his official job was to protect her.

Lecto rode silently beside Seraphia, easily perceiving her anxiety. He was worried about Mel as well, but he figured she was safe with Yue and Fern there to protect her-he really couldn't bring himself to put much faith in Vaith, but those two should be enough. He was about to point this out to the princess, when he heard hoof beats nearing them.

Looking away from the princess, Lecto caught sight of riders topping a nearby hill, thirteen to be exact. For a moment, Lecto's breath caught in his throat. Why were they one rider short? Had something happened? But then he noticed that one horse held two people, and he felt relief swamp him. Yue cantered ahead of the others, reining up in front of the king and started to explain what had happened up ahead.

By the time Yue had finished, the others had rejoined the party. To Lecto's surprise, it was Mel and Fern who were sharing a horse, something Yue's tale had not explained. Before he could say anything about it, though, Seraphia did, "Where's your horse, Mel?"

"I lent it to the woman who's leg was broken, since she couldn't walk. We'll be passing through their village anyway, so we can retrieve it then. And Fern offered to let me ride with him, so it's not really inconveniencing me."

The princess giggled but didn't explain why as she continued to look at the two. "Well, I'm glad things worked out for you." Was it just him, or was Seraphia pointedly saying that to Fern, not Mel?

Mel, obviously not noticing what Lecto had, retorted, "I'm glad too. At first I was afraid that the villagers were going to mob me or something." Mel moved one hand to her chin, her eyebrows furrowing as she added, "They almost looked like they thought I was a monster, or a mass murderer." She then shrugged openly, a smile returning to her face, "Oh well, they got over it after I helped that woman. They probably didn't know I was the new Master Wizard."

Lecto just looked at Mel stoically, even as she almost fell out of the saddle due to waiving her arms frantically at something Seraphia had said and was caught by Fern behind her. She was the strangest mix of perceptive and oblivious Lecto had ever seen. She'd discerned that these people were afraid of her, but somehow thought that it was because they didn't know who she was. How could they not know who she was? She was traveling with a squad of Black Knights, Vaith and Yue on the day the king was supposed to arrive to show off his new Master Wizard.

She was a very interesting person. Yue often spoke highly of her, something he rarely did for anyone. Seraphia looked up to her, almost as if they were sisters. In some ways, he sometimes felt that she was more brilliant than him. And then there were times when she would completely overlook the obvious, coming up instead with a better, or happier, possibility. She was overly optimistic…which could put her in danger.

Watching Fern lecture Mel, Lecto eventually came to the conclusion that Fern did, indeed, understand what had really happened. Unlike Mel, he knew that it hadn't been a simple case of fearing a stranger…but he obviously hadn't informed Mel. After another moment's thought, it became clear to Lecto as to why. Fern didn't know exactly why they had acted as they did…and he probably didn't want to worry Mel unnecessarily.

For a moment, Lecto contemplated telling Fern what he knew, but quickly decided against it. Yue had specifically ordered him to not tell anyone about the rumors going around. Fern would protect her if anything happened, and he was already overly vigilant, so there was no point in warning him. Lecto didn't understand why Yue felt he should stay near Mel while they were on procession.

For reasons Lecto didn't know and couldn't figure out for the life of him, Fern was always around Mel. She didn't need a bodyguard. She practically already had one.

There, I hope you liked it. I'm so sorry for such a long wait, but a lot of things have been going on, such as finals being soon, having company over, and getting sick with bronchitis. I'm afraid things will continue to be hectic for the next month or so, but I will continue to try to find time to type. I promise you, I will not quit writing this in the middle of the story. I absolutely hate it when people do that, and I can't stand to leave a story hanging.

Now, the plot thickens. What are the rumors going around? Why is Yue so worried? Will something happen when they get to the village?

Please review, critique and/or visit my Deviant ART page…just don't flame…you don't want to know what would happen to you. (Hint: Envision Francis and his little music box with you, or some other unfortunate flamer, being duck-taped to a chair while he tries to teach you to sing his theme song) Now, let's move on to my pretty list!

Thanks to:Mystic Mage-chan, M-x-M, Rebel of my Destiny, Theblackroseofkonoha, wild angel eyes, Ivee Waterlilly, SnowWolfSpirit, cheer up emo kd, suzely, & iNsAnE nO bAkA for reviewing!