Rivalry

Leon's first move was to grab his 34Z869, the Gatling gun, and fire it at Lilka. She countered with her Nova attack. Ashley moved in and used his Slowpoke to keep him from going too fast, while Cecille made use of her Extension/Barrier combo to shield the party from Leon's attacks. In return, Leon fired off a shot from his RAW777 machine gun at his male opponent. The barrier was able to slow it down a little, and Ashley's Defender had kicked in as well. He fired Hybrid H/X8 after using Accelerate to speed himself up.

"You're not half bad, for kids," stated Leon, "I guess it can't be helped, what with Guardians Invoked and all. Me, as you can se I haven't used Ge Ramtos's powers once this whole fight. If you would like, I'll give you a demonstration of how dangerous I can be with my Guardian." He aimed his shot carefully at Lilka since she seemed to be the ringleader. Then, he cast the Doom Circle on her. But the Dark Ward that was innate inside of Elemental Ward activated, causing her no damage whatsoever from the attack.

"Thank Raftina for PS," chorused the twins. They were forever doing that, much to the annoyance of everyone else. Virginia had been worried for awhile that they both were exactly alike in likes and dislikes. She began to worry about it being something she had done, that she was an unfit mother for them. Jet had to knock some sense into her, and the twins had found their mother's sore spot. It was useful when they were trying to get something out of her, or just wanted to give a rise to one of their parents.

Lilka said, "We really have no reason to fight, all of us have Guardians so we can work together in this fight. Leon, if Filgaia dies, we're going to go down with it. So please, join us in our quest to save the world from destruction. You can help us greatly in battle, I can see the power inside of you. Ask any one of my family members, or our close family friends, I tend to see things that others are unable to see."

Leon looked at her. So full of determination, battle spirit, and even peace. There were too many different emotions locked inside her soul that it was difficult to count them. He wanted to know how she'd gotten such a strong spirit. But something about her was starting to cause a strange feeling in the pit of his belly. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it looked like what his father had described to him years ago. The boy then shook his head, in disbelief. 'I can't be in love, love is for weak minded fools. Sure my parents love one another, but they don't pine after each other or want to be by the other's side 24/7. Is this what I feel in my body now. No! I'm not with love. How can I have feelings for a little runt like her, anyway?'

"Hey, Leon," shouted the brown haired girl, "If you wanna have the jewels, go on ahead and take them. We're not going to argue over something so stupid. But just let us leave here, we've got a mission to complete. You should think about what I said, you're destined to come along with the rest of us."

"I don't really care if I'm supposed to fight by your side, kid! The state of the world is of no concern to me. You can go on your little quest for justice, or truth, or whatever you feel like, but leave me out of the game. I have jewels to find," Leon stated, looking into Lilka's eyes the whole time. He was blushing, but able to conceal it. Jet hadn't even been able to do that, he'd always show Virginia the truth in his eyes.

Lilka signaled her team to retreat. Luckily, before Leon had come, they'd each stashed some of the treasure inside of their pack. Thus, they too were able to grab some of the gold to sell in town. As they left the room, though, Lilka looked back. She thought, 'Leon, sooner or later you'll realize that you must come with us on this quest. You are destined to do this, and without the two allies who support the Gemini, our whole mission will fail. I wonder though, what exactly is this threat that calls the prophecy into play. Oh well, doesn't matter now. We're committed, and there's nothing I can do to change that part.'

* * *

Back in town, they enjoyed a refreshing drink at the saloon. Not of liqueur, mind you, but of fruit juices. Lilka had blueberry, Ashley had lime, and Cecille had grape. They were discussing the trip they'd just returned from, and the boy they had met while on it. Ashley wasn't too happy with him.

"I can't believe what a jerk!" he exclaimed, "If Filgaia is destroyed, or if it is evolved like those men that Mom and Dad fought against wanted, all humanity is going to die. What good will his gems do him if he's not around to spend them on anything? This guy's really got to think about things for once. And I saw the way he looked at you Lilka, I don't trust that kid one bit." He was a little overprotective of his big sister, blaming himself for both times they were kidnapped as children, although there was nothing he could do.

"Yeah, I think he's got a crush on you Lil. That's so cool, you've got a boyfriend already. What a belated sixteenth birthday present," Cecille added, giggling the whole time she had been speaking.

Ashley yelled, "That's not funny Cecille. A jerk like that wanting Lilka as his girl? For starters, he's only fourteen, a little too young for girls. Also a little too young for going out on his own, but that's not the point of this story. The point is, he's a jerk, and it's not good if Lilka goes out with him."

Cecille wasn't one to lose a fight. "But there are people of his age at mom's matchmaking parties. They don't get married right away, but they try to find that special someone when they're young. If you fall in love and hurry into marriage because you don't want to miss out on becoming a parent, there's a better chance that the marriage is doomed to end in divorce in only a couple of years. But if you're a teen when you meet that special someone, then you have a longer time to think about it before coming of age."

"Can we stop debating my love life?" Lilka requested, "We've got more important things to worry about. Like the Gemini prophecy, and the Guardians. We've got to find out where the other ones are. Mom, Dad, and Uncles Gallows and Clive have twelve between them, but there are twelve more hidden out there. We've got to use these ones, since the old ones are already in sync with the previous generation. So let's just go to Baskar, and see if the High Priestess has any leads on where they are."

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

I actually wrote this at 7:30 in the morning. Well, I was up and bored.