Chapter 5: Out of Bounds
Amy stood between the two swordsmen sitting across each other and staring daggers. Elesis and Sieghart, despite noted as "long lost siblings", had this sudden challenge against each other with a little game of arm wrestling to prove which one of them is the best. The pink-haired dancer turned her head sideways to check for the audience: Mari reading her ether tech manual and Arme watching them with her lilac eyes widened in surprise. The blonde-haired archer blinked in confusion as if staring into blank space.
"Ready?" the dancer asked, with no humor in her voice.
The match started with the two warriors pushing each other's arms down to the table. Elesis' teeth gritted in anger. Amy stared at them with hesitation when her glance went towards Sieghart. He is known to be lazy but his rage makes him stronger. Dark purple aura would engulf him and, according to Elesis' lousy theory, Sieghart is an immortal with the guts to fight and a gladiator who has a 'stalker' for the first time of his life. Well, it is a bit clear that she is referring to the ether tech Mari, who has the curiosity towards Sieghart's gladiator skills. The two melees started at each other with rage and torment as their wrists can expose their veins.
"Uhh... what are they doing?" Lire whispered. The mage rolled her eyes. "Don't mind them. The dumb-assed redhead over there keeps on denying the fact Sieghart really is her grandfather," she replied, referring to Elesis as a weenie with a sword. The mage turned her head towards Lire. "But hey, I have slices of cake just for the two of us. You can sneak a single slice for... him," Arme giggled when she said the word 'him'. Lire knew it was that mysterious druid...
The archer's face flushed. She smacked the mage's shoulder playfully before they sneaked inside the kitchen past the three, who as well are busy doing their arm wrestling match and couldn't figure out when this would end...
Lire went upstairs to her room after her private snack session with Arme. She looked through the books placed on the shelf beside her bed. The book entitled with the existence and extinction of her beings couldn't slip off her mind.
"It's true many elves in the forest are getting really extinct,"
Elves are getting extinct. The elders from the Elven Corps are starting to retire and are living on their own inside their havens until they reach the end of their lives. Young elves are trained and recruited. Female elves stayed inside their havens for domestication. But for Lire, she had the courage to join the Elven Corps and the Grand Chase in behalf for her beings.
The painful memories of her parents' death changed her life, especially when her memories would always include... Ryan...
This isn't what I wanted... why can't these painful memories fade? she thought. W-why is... he in my d... memories? Do I have to find a social attachment to end this icy distance?
Do it at the right time, child. You just met him.
A battered Drillmon crashed itself on the ground with a thud, blood leaking all over its body. A red-haired boy placed his foot over its corpse while staring back at the rest of the monsters torn limb from limb. An orange-haired druid placed his axe over his shoulder and panted in exhaustion.
"Looks like we got quite a haul," Jin wiped off a sweat. "Damn, the heat is starting to kill me,"
Ryan stood up and kicked off a dead Gon with his feet. A red health totem sat beside him. Jin approached him and together they sat on the totem for energy.
"Do we have to follow Ronan to the Gaikoz Castle?" the druid asked. The fighter replied with a shrug. "I don't know. If we do, we'll get ourselves torn limb from limb like the monsters here,"
"Well, you have the mission scroll, what does it say?"
Jin pulled out the mission scroll and gently unrolled it, careful not to destroy the weak material. "Let's see now..." with this he started to read. "Step one: Enter the Gorge of Oath, check! Step two: Slay the monsters, check! Step three: Defeat the Giant Drillmon. Step four: Retrieve its horn. And step five: Hmm... looks to me like taking a break,"
The health totem faded as the two stood up. "Alright, on to the portal," the druid stated. They raced through the gorges and found a glowing light waiting for them. As they stood on the portal, they faded from the light blue aura and transported themselves to the final destination.
The last Drillmons crashed on the ground as the blood stained them. A harpy extended its sharp talons towards Jin, who is charging himself with his burning energy when Ryan charged enough power to hit the beast with his axe. Then a beast with bright orange body and a deadly sharp sting faced them. Its pair of dragonfly wings helped him soar on mid-air.
"Giant Drillmon..." the druid muttered as he tightened the grip of his axe. "You ready, Jin?"
The fighter nodded, recharged from burning.
"Hey, Lire!"
The archer turned around and saw Elesis standing not too far away from her. "What's up?" she asked.
"I'm gonna go to the old weapon shops to buy myself a new sword, mind if you come along?" the knight asked. Lire replied with a reluctant nod. "Y-yeah uhh... sure~"
"Great~" Elesis smiled. "And oh, Amy wants to come along,"
Lire blinked. "Uhh... why?"
"Shopping," the knight replied. "Well no biggie, I darn needed clothes, too,"
Never knew Elesis liked shopping, the archer thought. She snapped herself out of it. "But what about Arme?"
Elesis snorted. "Nah, leave all the work to her. I told her we'll bring you along and we'll be back in a jiffy,"
Amy ran downstairs, her hair tied into curled pigtails and dressed in her Xenia's oracle oufit. "So, ready to go?" she asked. "Miss Goody-goody Lire is," the knight replied, jabbing her thumb towards Lire. "Alright, new sword here I come~"
The three girls rode on a horse-pulled cart with an old man ordering his horse to pull a little harder. Amy fanned herself with a straw fan as her face cascaded with sweat. Lire wore a straw hat with her hair tied into a ponytail. Elesis sat on a haystack, staring down at her shoes.
"How long is this gonna take before we get there?" Amy asked, fanning herself rapidly from the extreme heat.
The old man chuckled. "This won't take ya any minute now. Just a few more,"
Elesis groaned. "Can't this thing get faster?"
"This is our way of transportation, kiddo~" the old man replied. "We don't use a lot of electricity unlike the ones from the big cities," The knight grumbled. "Well, Lire is used to this simple life. She's an elf, you know? She lives in the forest. They don't use electricity, do they?" The blonde-haired archer blushed. Amy just rolled her eyes.
"Elesis... always the impatient one,"
The trip took like twenty minutes before they reached their destination. They hopped off the cart when Elesis approached the old man. "How much do I owe you?"
The old man put a finger on his beard. "Let's see now... since my passengers are little kids, I might as well take three silver coins from you,"
"But I thought the rides usually cost cents!" Amy bawled.
"The trip from the castle to this town is somewhat too far," the old man replied. "That's how we charge our passengers,"
"Fine..." Elesis sighed in frustration as she pulled out three silver coins from her money bag. She handed the money to the old man before he departed. The horse pulled the cartas it set off to another town.
The town is crowded with people exploring the shops and little kids pulling their parents' wrists and pointing to certain toy shops. The three girls walked across the aisle and looked sideways. One man sold his goats, chickens and piglets for ten to fifteen pieces of silver. Doves are locked up on wooden cages with the farmers taming them. At their left, two men stood behind a large table with elixirs and potions that differ in color and quality sitting on it. One potion placed inside a small flask shimmered and glistened.
"Hold it," Amy broke in, her glance fixed towards the potions. "Mari sent me to buy her some of those potions." Her forefinger pointed towards the flasks sealed with corks. She pulled out a scrap paper from her pocket and began reading. "Hmm... two flasks of slime goo, fountain water taken from the Fountain of Life and... aha! White incense," She approached the shop owners. "Uhmm excuse me, do you have the... white incense and the... phoenix tears?"
The man managing the potions bent down and opened the drawers. While he browsed, Elesis went off to the nearest weapon shop where the ancient shields, spears, swords and accesories caught her attention. Lire stayed with Amy while peering over to the displayed potions. The man stood up and on his hand held a flask with a clear and colorless fluid shimmering. "These tears came from the rarest mythical fire bird that once flew around the Kanavan kingdom."
Lire and Amy gasped in awe. "Too bad Elesis left in a jiffy," the dancer said. "After all, she is from Kanavan,"
"Elesis?" the man blinked in surprise. "You mean, the daughter of the tracker?"
"Err... yeah..?"
"Blimey~" the man bellowed, placing his large hand on his creased forehead in astonishment. "Are you the warriors of the Grand Chase?"
"Y-yes, sir," Lire nodded hesitantly.
"We've heard rumors about Miss Elesis' secret life back when she was just a little girl. Ahh, those memories... her father was a tracker and ooh, her grandfather Sieghart is once a skilled sword master. A shocking rumor spread about Sieghart reincarnated and was found lurking in the gorges of Kanavan!"
"Uhh... pretty, fascinating!" Amy nodded sheepishly. "So uhmm... then we need the white incence and two flasks of slime goo," the dancer reread the list to make sure she bought the right potions.
"What's that?" Lire asked, staring at a flask with shimmering golden fluid inside.
"The world's luckiest potion," the shop owner replied. "When a person drinks the entire flask, he will experience complete luck for twelve hours straight. Excessive dosage of the potion may lead to presumption and worse, the growing attribute of ambitious personality,"
"Does it include aggression?" the archer asked.
"It depends on the consumer's condition," the man replied, handing the three flasks - two slime goos and the phoenix tears - to Amy. He even handed her a small blue duffel bag of the white incense. "That would be seven pieces of gold," he extended his hand out to them as Amy fished something out of her money bag. The pieces of gold sat on her palm and counted them. Seven. She placed them on the shop owner's large palm before heading to the weapon shop to fetch the red-haired knight.
"Elesis," Amy called. "You've been in there for like two hours!"
"Just a sec," the knight retorted, holding a Swiss knife on her hand. "This one looked interesting just in case you don't have any weapon on hand," she winked and proceeded to the counter to purchase the product and the new sword to the shop owner. "Do you have some of those realistic roses that'll send out spikes?" she asked.
"Eh?" Lire and Amy's jaws dropped.
"What?" the knight retorted.
"So you're gonna use that on Ronan?" Lire asked.
Elesis smirked. "No no no," she shook her head and let out a low sadistic chuckle. "For the two featured love birds in the castle: the mysterious Lassy and for that shorty, Arme," she giggled, placing the Swiss knife and the sword on the counter. The shop owner pulled out the product she asked for. He picked the one with the dark blue petals. "Perfect~ I'll also take that one,"
"Elesis never changed..." Amy sighed. "Oh, speaking of Lass, I wonder where'd he went off to? He should be back by now. Arme's so dead worried about him,"
"Maybe he summoned Ronan's dragon to take him home," the knight replied, paying her purchase. "...and that little Arme putting that love potion extract on that cherry pie she made for him,"
"And... what about Jin?" Amy's voice is half filled with worry. "That Giant Drillmon might have squashed him along with Ryan,"
Ryan... Lire felt herself twitch from the druid's name. Her light green eyes stared at blank space as her heart pounded wildly.
"Oww... looks like you got her extremely worried," Elesis chimed as Lire caught the two girls staring at her. Amy clamped her mouth with her hand. "Oops, I didn't mean to startle you, Lire... you know he and Jin are in the Gorge of Oath just like what the Knight Master assigned them,"
"N-no, it's okay," Lire replied with a weak smile. The druid's deadly stare suddenly flashed in her mind once again.
The three girls stepped out of the weapon carpentry as Elesis leads the way. "Next stop, clothes!" Amy punched the air and dragged Lire along.
"This one should fit better," Amy pried into one of the baskets containing the unique clothes compared to the ones hanging for display. Elesis is inside the fitting room where Lire carried all of the clothes she tried on. Amy pulled out a silk dress as it hung on her hand. "Ooh~ this dress looks good on you, Lire!" she smiled and threw it on the stack of clothes that almost buried the archer alive.
"Do you have to try all of these?" she asked.
"Not really," the dancer shook her head. "I'm only looking for accesories and skirts."
"I never knew Elesis liked shopping," the archer told her. "I knew her as a tomboy,"
"Nah, even if she's a tomboy, she has girly instincts. If she's a tomboy, she wouldn't have worn those sort-of mini skirts and tied her hair like Rapunzel's,"
"I heard that!" Elesis' voice boomed from the fitting room. Her head poked out from the curtain while changing back into her current armor. "Don't listen to that pumpkin-faced troll, Lire. She's the whole reason why I got so 'girly' and 'sensitive',"
Amy gasped and controlled herself from outrage when Elesis called her a troll. "You know, all those girly instincts came from your character. Besides, you're a girl. Even tomboys have senses of fashion, you know?"
The knight pouted. "Once again, I've been thwarted by the youngest of them all," She stepped out of the fitting room in her current armor. The outfit she picked hung on her arm as she approached them. "Are you done or what?"
"Look," Amy unfolded the green sequined dress she picked earlier. "This should fit Lire, don't you think?"
Lire formed a nervous smile. "Err... y-yeah..!"
"Try it~" the dancer shoved the dress towards her. "If you don't like it, we'll look for another one,"
"B-but I - "
"No buts!" Amy cut her off sharply. "Now get in there and make mama proud~" Elesis' eye twitched and glanced towards the dancer as if she said something weird, which she really did.
"Make mama proud... blah blah blah..!" she mimicked. "What kind of a quote is that?"
"Do you have a problem with that?" the dancer retorted.
While the two bickered, Lire held the dress in her arms and stepped inside the fitting room. She peeked through the curtain where Elesis and Amy argued. She sighed and took off her armor. She stared at her reflection in the mirror as her long blonde hair touched her skin. She stared towards the dress with curiosity and she put it on. The fabric felt soft when it reached above her knees. A feather boa fell on her feet and picked it up. She knew instantly that it is a choker. She shrugged and placed the choker around her throat. Once again she looked at the mirror.
The dress looked great. It fit her perfectly. She put on the last touch as the belt as it encircled around her waist. She peeked through the curtain as Amy stared towards her.
"C'mon, let me see how you look," she motioned for her to come out as the archer obeyed. She gulped and walked timidly towards them. Amy's brown eyes sparkled in awe while Elesis clamped her hands on her mouth to hide it from astonishment.
"I knew she'll look perfect!" the dancer squealed. "So... do you like it?"
Lire looked down at the dress. She couldn't take her eyes off its shimmering and soft fabric. "Err... sure, I-I'll take it,"
"Ooh goody~" Amy clasped her hands together.
"I wonder what would he think when Lire shows up dressed like that," Elesis suppressed a giggle. Amy grinned. "Yeah~ I'm sure he'll get stunned,"
Lire blushed when it grew deeper when they emphasized the he. She went back to the fitting room to take off the dress and put her armor back on. While removing her dress, her eyes are fixed on her reflection. She never saw her almost naked image look so... beautiful. She shoved the dress away and grabbed her clothes when the image from the mirror rippled. She suddenly found herself staring at a pair of... strong emerald eyes, giving her a cold and brittle stare. Lire staggered backwards with fear.
"He is the one... he'll be yours someday, he'll own your heart and you'll be binded together as one,"
The archer's lips quivered when she was snapped out of her thoughts. "Lire, are you done yet?" she heard Amy's voice right outside the fitting room. Lire stared back at the mirror and she saw her own self. She sighed in relief and hurriedly put her cothes back on. She stepped out of the room with the dress hanging on her arm as Amy snatched it from her. "We'll be paying for this while you wait, okay~?"
"Okay," she nodded and watched the pink-haired girl storm off with the clothes ready to purchase.
She sat on a bench and thought about the mysterious druid's image showing up on the mirror and the faint whisper haunting her head. Why would Ryan show up in her memories? Yes, her past has something to do with him. Both have their parents dead. Her mother destined her to be with him forever. But how can she cope with this situation?
"I wish I'll get the opportunity to interact with him... but how?"
A deadly stare from the pair of green eyes flashed in her mind. I heard it just like what your mother told you. There were no witnesses... no other than me.
Ryan... Lire thought. She sighed and looked down on her shoes. There's something in him. Something making me lure myself towards him...
"Lire!" Elesis broke in and waved to catch her attention. The blonde-haired girl looked up and stood from the bench. Amy waved as well, carrying the shopping bags containing their new clothes.
As they stepped out of the shop, they faced the crowds of people once again. They walked across them when they found some people huddled around near them. The three girls exchanged glances as the crowd broke into a hubbub.
A dragon with red orange scales landed on the ground and tucked its wings behind. Elesis, Lire and Amy approached the beast and found a passenger riding on its back.
"Ronan!" Elesis called out. She saw the indigo-haired spell knight lying on his stomach on the dragon's back and bruised. He summoned his dragon to take him away from the Gaikoz Castle before the Anmon Scouts anf Dark Mages could kill him. He used all of his mana (energy) with all his might to slay the monsters. A Mongban almost squashed him when the dragon swooped in for rescue.
"Isn't that the Royal Guard Master?" a citizen murmured.
"Yeah, I heard he's a descendant from the Erudon family if I'm not mistaken,"
"Ronan!" Elesis stepped on the dragon's back and shook the guy. "What happened? Have you defeated Gaikoz?"
Ronan groaned and blinked. "Mmhh... E... Elesis..." he gritted his teeth from extreme pain. The red-haired knight hesitated and turned her head behind her. "Lire, Amy, I need some help here!"
Lire and Amy hurriedly approached the two knights and tended Ronan's wounds. "I'm afraid we don't have any bandages," the archer said sadly. Elesis sighed. "Alright, it's a good thing we're going home,"
"Hey, uhmm... Mr. Dragon!" Amy called, tapping the dragon's head. "Could you uhmm... take us back to the castle? You know... the one located in the - "
"The dragon knows where the castle is," Elesis interrupted. The dragon spread its wings and took flight. Ronan, injured and battered, lay his head on the knight's lap as the dragon flew all its way to the castle.
Arme pulled the oven lid open and the aroma coming from the cherry pie entered her nostrils. She put on her pair of bunny pot holders to protect her hands from the pie's heat. She placed the pie on the table and used her foot to slam the oven shut.
The mage stared at the newly-baked cherry pie and smiled. Lass sure is gonna like it~ she thought and shook off her pot holders.
She heard something rustling out from the bushes outside. She narrowed her eyebrow and poked her head out the window. No one was there. She just shrugged but before she can close the window, a blue scarf landed on her forehead, startling her as well. Arme looked up and found herself looking up into a pair of azure eyes.
"Hey," Lass greeted her when he landed on the window on his feet. "Didn't mean to scare ya~"
Arme pouted. "You startled me, Lass!" she bawled when the thief hopped inside. The sight of the cherry pie gave him a crooked smile.
"Huh. Bet that's for me, eh?"
The mage blushed and placed her arms behind her back. "Err... yeah. It is... I thought Elesis might eat it before you arrive,"
The thief snorted. "Nah, that dumb-assed redhead would always eat everything in the fridge without saving some for the rest of us," he sat on the table as the mage seats beside him. "She will only save them for Ronan, as usual,"
"Oh yeah? Ronan can be like her sometimes. For short, both of them can be despicable. You know? Remember the time they turned you into a glob?"
"Don't even remind me," Lass replied grimly. "I've been thinking of ways to pay them back."
Arme giggled and held a butter knife to slice the cherry pie. "Let this cherry pie cheer you up~ it's your favorite!"
"Yes, please!" the thief grinned.