A/N: Omnomnom! 31 reviews?! I love you guys! =D Chapter of stuff~ Late update due to me getting sick ;_; Sorry!! My sister gave me two requirements for this chapter: Sushi Bar and Rose O_O
Disclaimer: If I said I owned Grand Chase would you really believe me? Because if you did, you'd be terribly wrong!
Chapter 9: Meeting the Counsel
"It's time to get up." Arme stirred lightly as a voice interrupted her sleep, waking her. She opened her eyes lightly to see Elesis shaking her, most of the other chasers visibly awake behind her. She rubbed her eyes for a moment, warily sitting up to see the sky still a pitch black. None of the others seemed fazed by it, so Arme forced herself to stand up and stretch. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, a large portion of it taken away by her insistance that it wasn't healthy to sleep in trees in the cold without anything. She had stood outside the forest, calling for Lass to come back for a while. Quite predictably, he hadn't. Fed up and determined she wouldn't be ignored, the purple haired girl had wandered into the forest again.
When she was completely lost, Arme felt confident he would have to show himself to help her out. She gave a silent cheer as she heard a loud sigh, and a dull thud next to her. With a grin of victory she turned to face the sound and was surprised to see no one standing there. She stared confusedly at the spot for a moment until something flew past her face, landing with a dull thud on the ground. When Arme looked down there were two kunai sticking out of the ground, both relatively close together. Her head turned in the direction they had come from, but Lass was nowhere in sight. After another frustrated call, another kunai came down a few feet away from the first two, coming from a different direction. She walked near it, unknowingly following as more kunai were thrown further and further away. She blinked as she unwittingly ended up at the exit of the forest, glaring at the trees behind her. She had decided to sleep against a tree unless he accompained her back, but that plan was thwarted as well. Another kunai was thrown dangerously close to her foot to serve as a warning, and Arme got up. Even though she knew with an absolute certainty that Lass wouldn't hit her with one, it was obvious he wouldn't let her sleep if she stayed there. She gave a final sigh as she stared back at the trees, walking defeatedly back to the group. Only Jin was still awake, glancing at her frustrated expression before turning back to the fire.
Now looking around, Arme noticed everyone was there, Lass included. Amy was heating up the rest of the second crab's meat, Jin sitting next to her. Elesis had already changed, and was sitting next to Ronan and Ryan. The three were having some sort of conversation she didn't want to intrude in on, so she quickly changed under her blanket to assist Amy with the cooking. When she was done changing, however, the meat was done heating up. The portions were handed out by Amy with a smile, the purple haired girl wondering how anyone could be that cheerful in the morning. She accepted the plate she was handed, the group eating with a conversation held by most of the members. Arme was one of the ones who sat out, still not quite awake enough to participate in any form of conversation. She half-dazedly helped Amy pick up the dishes after the meal, stacking them in her seemingly endless bags as Jin helped collect the blankets.
"We should reach the wall in about two hours!" Elesis exclaimed from across the fire pit, Arme staring at her vaguely. Wall...? Oh. Yawning, she stood up from her seated position next to the bag. Everyone seemed almost ready to go, the last of the fire's embers being put out by Ryan. Soon eveything had been picked up and everyone was assembled, turned toward the direction where Elesis was.
"Let's go!" A walking pace began, and Arme followed along. When she looked around, she was surprised to see Lass walking next to her. Remembering the previous night, Arme hurried up her step until she was next to Amy. As the pace picked up, the pink haired girl could be seen looking at her.
"Lass not carrying you today?" The mage shook her head hastily. Amy watched concernedly for a moment, but shrugged and continued running. Arme was proud of being able to maintain the pace and quickly sent a glance back to see where Lass was. The silver haired boy was running along with everyone else, watching her warily. Realizing that he could see her watching him, Arme turned her head back to look forward. They continued on silently, Arme realizing just how much she hated running.
"The wall is just up ahead!" Elesis yelled, a light cheer ringing out from the group. Arme let out a sigh of relief, prepared to collapse the moment they got within the safe area of the Wall of Serdin. The stone slowly came into view, Arme speeding up to reach it. She had just barely been able to keep up with the group, and was completely lost on how they could manage to run like that an entire day. No one else seemed the slightest out of breath... She looked up in surprise to see red hair, Elesis looking back at her. The knight had slowed down, so she was now running next to the mage.
"Arme, are you okay? You look kinda... Tired." She finished, downplaying the purple haired girl's exhaustion. Arme thought a minute before responding.
"I... I didn't get much sleep last night, I'll be fine!" She smiled lightly, though the red-head didn't seem to be buying it.
"You can rest when we get to the wall, but we should be leaving shortly. After all, we were here a couple weeks ago." Arme could briefly remember Elesis and Ronan disappearing for a couple days during her first few weeks, so she nodded in aggreance with the statement. The group's pace was slowing down as they approached the wall, the large gate held in the center of it opening. What Arme wasn't expecting to see inside, however, was a huge swarm of people. If not for the barricades holding them back, the purple haired mage was certain they would have been mauled by the horde. Sensing her distress, Elesis grabbed Arme's arm and led her to the front of the group. They entered the crowd to the huge cheers of the people, clapping and the roar of the audience filling her ears. The sound in itself reminding Arme of the unfortunate on-stage display she had been forced to put on the previous day. She gave a small wave to the crowd, moving so the group was surrounding her and blotting her from the audience's view. It didn't seem to do much as far as deterring the crowd went; they seemed to get even louder when they couldn't see the newest member.
After a few moments of large cheers going up Arme resignedly moved out of her protective circle of chasers to allow the crowd to see her. The building they were apparently headed to was nearby, and she figured she'd better get the viewing over with. The response to her showing was almost instantaneous, the crowd roaring up in approval. The last few steps to the door seemed heavy, the running finally taking a hold of her as she followed in after Elesis. A group of three older people were sitting in a pleasant, living room-like area. The Grand Chase filed into the room rather quickly, escaping the eyes of the over excited public outside. Arme was the first to take a lunge for one of the couches the people were motioning to, a light laugh coming from the group as she sprawled her full body against the couch and only managed to take up two of the three seats availiable. The rest of the group tool a more civilized approach to sitting, calmly seating themselves around in the other various chairs.
"This is the newest member of the chase?" Arme could hear the voice of an old woman come through, and she opened her eyes slightly. The eyes of all of the elderly people were on her, looking her over with a smile. The blinked warily, suddenly feeling a bit more than self-concious.
"A-ah... Yes! H-hello, I'm Arme! I'm the newest member of the Grand Chase, a magician under the instruction of Elena, the high mage of the Violet Magician's Guild." Arme repeated the introduction mechanically, wondering how many times she would be forced to re-state it. The middle elder nodded at her, turning to the blue haired spell knight.
"Ronan, You're just passing through?" He asked, his eyes not turning to look over any of the other members.
"That is correct." He concurred. The three people seemed deeply in thought before one stood up.
"Well, if that's the case, could we ask for your presence in the great hall for a short meeting? There are some members of the serdin guard here looking for a representative of the Grand Chase." Ronan looked over at the red headed girl to his right for a moment, his gaze lingering uncertainly. Arme could hear Elesis murmur something, followed by Ronan giving a nod to the people infront of him.
"So long as it doesn't interrupt our travels." He stood up abruptly, walking over to where the three people stood waiting. Turning back to the chasers for a moment, he gave a wave.
"I should be done in a little while, we'll meet back up at the usual spot?" Elesis gave a nod of confirmation, watching as the other knight left the room. She stood up when the rest of the chase began to move, looking over them.
"Ronan will be back soon, until then you have some free time to do whatever you want!" Amy gave a squeal, grabbing Jin's arm and bolting out the door before anyone could give much thought to the action. This was followed by a large roar of the crowd outside, large cries of 'AMY!!' reaching the people inside. Ryan gave a shudder before turning abruptly to a side window, sliding out it. It was facing a forest, and provided a much more discrete exit then the front door. Lass followed him out a moment later, not sending back a glance to the exhausted mage on the couch. Arme allowed her eyes to shut again, and had nearly dozed off when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Hey?" The voice was Elesis'. Arme contemplated pretending to be asleep for a moment, but in the end she sat up, looking at the red headed girl.
"O-oh! Well, I know I said you could rest when you got to the wall, but I was kind of wondering if you wanted to come shopping with me?" She asked warily, looking uncomfortably at Arme. The purple haired mage was on the verge of rejecting the offer in favour of a nap, but seeing the look on the fighter's face she reconsidered. Elesis seemed... Worried, for lack of a better word. She let out a sigh of relief as Arme stood up, stretching and nodding.
"My nap can wait until later." She stated, following Elesis as she approached the door. The crowd seemed to have thinned out in the slightest, though there were still enough people there to eagerly swarm the pair. The previous barriers that were up had been taken down, most likely for the convenience of the Grand Chase, so they could get around without problems. It instead seemed to have the reverse effect, people almost tackling them to get a look at the new magician. With much difficulties the two managed to escape the crowd, running into a more secluded street. People still stared with amazement, but seemed to have less to say to the members.
"What was with those people?! It's like they were crazed!" Arme cried, throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation. The red head shrugged.
"It's not like this in our home town because people are used to seeing us, but you will get that alot in different towns. It may seem sort of intimidating, but it's actually that they want to support us." She explained roughly, preoccupied with looking at the various stores that lined the paths.
"Well, they should really get a better way to show it!" Arme vented, her lack of sleep and energy making her feel more frustrated than usual.
"I mean, really... I'm glad, but..." She wasn't able to finish the sentence before Elesis grabbed her wrist, yanking her inside a store. The walls were filled with displays of weapons, pictures, and various necklaces. The knight paid no heed to them, walking up to the front counter where the shop keeper was staring at them, seeming to have dropped his previous task upon their entrance.
"Elesis-sama! What can I do for you?" The man said, looking over the two. Without making much of an effort to be social, she grabbed her blade off it's sheath on her back, holding it out so the man could see it.
"I'd like to have my spear sharpened, we had a battle with orcs outside the town. Their armour probably scratched the edge. Taking the spear from her, the shop keeper nodded.
"Yes... While it's beautiful for cutting through monsters, it tends to have a problem with thicker materials. Not quite like your sword, eh?" He continued, running his hand lightly on the blade's edge.
"Not at all." she scoffed, "But it's a ton lighter." When the man reached to grab a cloth, Arme almost figured they were done in the shop. She was about to turn around when he looked up again, eyes lighting over the pair.
"Ronan-sama not travelling with you today?" Elesis visibly stiffened, waiting before giving an answer.
"No. The elders wanted to see him." She answered quietly, frustration visible in her stance and voice. The shop keeper gave a light laugh, laying the cloth on the blade.
"Them again? Don't let them get to you, Elesis-sama! Tell you what, this is on the house!" He exclaimed. Elesis gave a light smile, taking off her sheath to leave it on the counter.
"Thanks... So I'll be back again in a couple of hours to pick it up, can I leave my sheath here until then?" She questioned. The shop keeper nodded.
"And I wouldn't reccomend going down town right now. I saw Amy-sama and Jin-sama headed down that way a while ago, and they had quite a horde on their heels. There is a nice little sushi store that just opened up near here though, if you wanted to go there!" Elesis sighed and gave a chuckle.
"Alright, then." She turned to exit the store with a wave, Arme following hesitantly. There was a delay before she finally decided to ask the question she had churning around in her mind.
"Elesis...? Is Ronan seeing the elders a... bad thing?"
"Nnnn... Well, no. No, but... You didn't notice it when you met them, did you?" She asked. Arme thouht back to the meeting, but could find nothing wrong.
"What?" Another heavy sigh from Elesis.
"They... They refuse to acknowledge me as the leader of the chase. Ronan, as a natural member of the Royal Guard, is much more fitting in their eyes. They're probably right, but still! Whenever we're here they go out of their way to make sure any position I should be given as the leader is given to him. Anything I do wrong is highlighted and made to seem way worse than it was. He's more suited to public events, so it works out in the end, but..." Arme watched Elesis carefully.
"Elesis... Are you mad at him?" She asked quietly. The red head turned to her in surprise.
"Who, Ronan?" Arme nodded, causing Elesis to laugh.
"No way. I may argue with... Well, at him alot, but I can never really get mad at him. I offered him the position as the leader of the Grand Chase once, you know? He refused it. I'm kind of glad he did... I never would have become as strong as I am without the responsibility of being a leader, and I think he knew. Ronan's just like that. It was just the three of us for that time... We've known each other for almost two years, and I don't think he's ever let me down." She explained quietly, her eyes glazed as she reminisced. A small smile came to Arme's face.
"When you speak like that, I can't help but wonder if Amy isn't the only dense one..." A blush came to Elesis' face as she glared at the mage.
"And what are you trying to say by that?!" She huffed, the blush darkening on her as she began walking down the street at a faster rate. Arme hurried to keep up, keeping silent. She bumped into the kinght suddenly; she had stopped infront of a store. When no explanation was provided Arme looked at the storefront. A large arrow was in the center of the bulletin board, and she stared at the writing for a moment. Still unused to the wierd language, it took her a minute to translate the words.
"A... Archery... Range? Why are we here?" She asked. Elesis didn't say anything, cautiously stepping forward. The door was pressed open lightly, Arme watching as it swung silently. Inside was a quaint little area, the walls made of wood. Bows were up against the wall, several targets on hangers with price tags above them. People were headed out the door that was placed next to a large observational window, not much viewable from the front door. The shop owner dully noted their presence, nodding towards them as he continued stringing the bow in his lap. Elesis stepped further into the store, Arme following worriedly. Why this place...? They continued in until they were at the observation window. Elesis sitting down on the small bench that was avaliable. Her head turned slightly as she scanned the outside area, not finally landing on something in particular. Outside was the archer's range, And people lined up at the shooter's line or in the benches that surrounded it. Amethyst eyes followed the gaze of crimson, and soon Arme found what the red head had been looking for.
On a secluded bench to the side sat Ryan, his knees up to his chest as he watched the archers. There were a few people that had tried in vain to talk to him, the orange haired druid right out ignoring them. his eyes remained solidly on the people in the shooter's lines, following the arrows as they flew toward the targets. It didn't seem to matter to him that most of the shots were fails, or that some had even been so off track to almost hit him. Ryan seemed to be in a total trance, and Arme found herself doubting he would move even if an arrow was headed straight at him.
"Tch...! That idiot!" Arme turned to look back at the red haired girl as she stood up, muttering curses under her breath as she moved toward the door. Arme followed at a fair distance, watching as she charged over to where the orange haired was sitting. Her eyes widened and she gasped as the knight grabbed him by the collar, dragging the surprised druid off the bench.
"Come on, tree hugger! Lire isn't here! Stop depressing yourself!" She demanded outright. Ryan seemed at a loss for words, though Arme couldn't be certain if it was Elesis' speech itself, or the blatant tone in which she said it.
"Now let's go! I'm hungry, so you're buying us all lunch!" Elesis continued, still dragging the shell-shocked elf off of the archery range. She passed Arme, giving a slight motion for the purple haired girl to follow. Any words she had died in her throat immediately as she looked at the determined features on the girl's face, and she followed along without complaint. Ryan only seemed to regain his footing when they were outside the building, stumbling to keep up with the pace of the knight as he attempted to pry her hand off his collar.
"W-What was that about?!"
"Me being hungry." Elesis responded, not releasing his collar as they continued down the street. The group came to an abrupt halt infront of another store, and Elesis used her free hand to point toward it.
"There!" The store was a sushi restaurant, and Arme could only guess it was the one the previous shop keeper had told her about. They stood there for several minutes, the confused druid still trying to comprehend what was going on. A few moments later he clued in, looking at the knight exhasperatedly.
"Elesiss! I don't even like sushi!" He complained lightly. Arme was fairly certain the events at the Archery Range had done something to him; he seemed alot less lively than he had during their travels. She let it off as the red head led the group inside despite Ryan's reluctance. The whole place turned to the door as the entered, an amazed silence taking the area for only a second. It was ended when a man in chef's apparel came out to greet them, looking cheerfully at the group.
"What can I get for you today?" He boomed. The magician shrunk back, but Elesis didn't seem to mind.
"Alot of everything on your menu! Orangie over here is paying!" Ryan gave a resigned sigh and nodded, reaching into his pocket. He threw a bag of money that the man seemed more than happy to take from him.
"Alright, then! Sit anywhere you'd like, the food will be served to your table shortly!" The chef nearly spun out of the main room and into the kitchen, Arme staring worriedly after him. They eventually decided on a seat next to the window, Ryan staring at the window dejectedly until the food came. When it did Elesis was the first to leap on the platter, filling her plate to the brim. She watched the other two inhabitants of the table confusedly, neither taking any food. It was a few minutes later that Arme filled her plate lightly, Ryan following suit.
"So... What are you going to do for the rest of the day?" Elesis asked, the question directed at the axe-wielder. He shrugged uncomfortably under her intense stare.
"Well... I'm going to... Wander around the town for a while..." He explained lamely. He recieved a doubting look from both of the females at the table, but didn't bother to elaborate on his shedule.
"You can't go back to the Archery Range..." Elesis murmured. It seemed she would have continued had she not been preoccupied with popping another sushi roll in her mouth. Ryan turned his gaze back to the window, staring out it dully. His lack of a response seemed to annoy Elesis.
"Ryan! You are not going back to the range!" She stated firmly. Yet again recieving no response, the red head resorted to glaring.
"No matter how many times you go back there, she's not going to just be there! You're wasting your time!" This seemed to recieve a little more of a response from Ryan, though aside from moving his eyes so he could see her he made no indication of hearing her. Arme watched the scene without making any input, staring at Elesis. She had known the other girl had a short temper, but this seemed a bit out of the usual... The topic of the archer seemed to be extremely touchy.
"Ryan--"
"Cut it out, Elesis. I get it. We're in a restaurant." The druid finally decided to speak, his words quiet and calm. This seemed to further frustrate Elesis, and Arme could nearly see her bristling with frustration. Standing up, she turned around and walked out of the place without another look back. Ryan let out a sigh and looked apologetically at Arme. The magician was looking a the door worriedly, uncertain of wether or not to get up and follow the red head.
"Don't worry about it, she has a really short fuse when Ronan's not around. I don't even know how that guy does it... With a couple words from him she's perfectly fine. But... Until he's done at the meeting, you might want to not take her too seriously." Arme nodded lightly, standing up.
"I think I'm going to go see if she's alright. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah. I'll stay here, someone needs to eat the rest of this." He visibly shuddered as the chef continued to bring sushi, seemingly oblivious to the argument that had transpired moments ago. Arme nodded and headed toward the door, turning around at the last second.
"And... I know you probably don't want to hear this, but... Just try not to dwell on it too much." Ryan hesitated before nodding reluctantly. With that, Arme left the small restaurant in favour of finding the angry red head. The streets were fairly clear, and she first decided to walk up and down them to see if Elesis had gone in any shops. From none of the front windows was the redhead visible, and Arme was unable to spot her on the paths either. Her mind inevitably wandered as she did, and soon she was just standing in one place and thinking. Hmm... I wonder what Lass is doing today. She quickly dismissed the thought. Not only would the silver haired male be nearly impossible to locate in the middle of a people-filled village with hundreds of tiny nooks and crannies for him to hide in and practice being a ninja or whatever else he did in his free time, she was still a little mad from the forest incident. Giving a frustrated sigh, she opened her eyes and was greeted with a small flash of red in the corner of her view. Elesis was sitting on the curb across from her, not noting the purple haired girl's presence. Carefully, she took a seat next to Elesis.
"Elesis?" The red haired girl's head shot up when she heard her name called, eyes falling on the magician. She stared for a moment, then rested her head back on her knees.
"Are you... Alright?" The red head scoffed.
"Me? I'm perfectly fine. But if Ryan keeps moping around... I know that hurt him alot, but... He just can't keep doing this to himself, and as the leader I'm supposed to help him..."
"Well, if it makes you feel better, I don't think Ryan will be going back to the archery range." Arme said, smiling at the girl who was still looking somewhat miserably at the ground. Elesis looked up a moment later.
"Alright, then. What should we do for the rest of the day?" She questioned. After a moment's contemplation the purple haired girl shrugged; not knowing much about the area or technology avaliable made it difficult to think of an activity. The knight stood up, stretching.
"Ronan should be out of the meeting soon, I think I'm gonna go wait at the door of the place. You can come with me if you want." She added the last bit with a slight delay, as an after thought. Arme hastily agreed with the offer; she had been told time and time again about her poor survival skills in general, and couldn't imagine spending an afternoon in an unfamiliar village would bear any good consequences. A plan decided on, the pair quickly made their way through the streets with Elesis in the lead. The streets seemed fairly empty, as most of the crowd had followed Amy and Jin when the went into the center of the town. Eventually they came upon a large white building with a small section on the left covered with large glass window panes. The two sat down on the front steps, though it was obvious Elesis was quickly getting impatient. After a few minutes she resorted to standing up and pacing back and forth. She finally stopped, her eyes falling on something. Arme traced her gaze; it led to the windowed area of the building.
"That's where they hold the meetings! Maybe we'll be able to see Ronan from there!" She exclaimed, grabbing the mage before she had a chance to reply. They quickly made it over to that side of the building, the trees and height of the windows obscuring the shorter girl's ability to see into the room. When she finally managed to see into the room by standing on her toes she found herself peering into a big, white room. Inside was a long table, several people sitting at it. Ronan was one of the few nearer to the window, the back of his head directly viewable from their position. None of the people in the room seemed to have noticed the two outside the window, but Arme started feeling precautious.
"E-Elesis...? Maybe we should go..." She murmured.
"Nhh... They're gonna take forever!" The red head said, paying no heed to Arme's comment. She kneeled down and began searching the ground for something, every once and a while picking up something the mage couldn't see.
"Elesis...?" She questioned. Elesis stood up, and Arme was able to identify the small objects in her hands as pebbles.
"I'll just throw a couple at the window and get his attention. That way, he'll speed up the meeting!" Sensing the large flaw in the knight's plan, Arme attempted to form some kind of response. A rock was flung by her head before she could speak, bouncing lightly off the window and back onto the ground. The same procedure was followed by the next rock in Elesis' hand, and the next one after that. They didn't seem to be catching the attention of the spell knight, and Elesis was getting easily frustrated. The pebbles she began picking up were getting larger and larger, most out of the size range of 'pebbles'. Arme began worrying again at this point... It was highly possible the window would--
*Crack!*
Elesis blinked rapidly as the window cracked, a small hole in it allowing the rock (now about the size of her fist) to zoom into the room and straight at the back of Ronan's head. Said knight faceplanted on the table infront of him, the rest of the inhabitants of the room hurriedly going over to check on him.
"Ronan-sama!? What happened?!"
"Someone check outside!" Voices were jumbled as they came closer to the window, and Arme quickly turned to look over to where Elesis was standing. 'Anything I do wrong is highlighted and made to seem way worse than it was.' Without much thought, Arme pushed Elesis into the cover of the nearby tree. She was grateful that the confused knight didn't try to move, sitting silently under the branches. It wasn't long before some men came running out to the window where they were standing; Arme waved politely at them as they approached.
"Was it you who threw that rock?!" One demanded. Within a few seconds of her giving a confirmational nod her arms were grabbed, and she was hustled inside the building. When they had dragged her into the room where Ronan still lay unconcious, everyone turned to stare.
"What shall we do with her?" The guards asked simultaneously.
"Stick her in the cell until we can get this all sorted out." One of the several people huddled around Ronan responded. With a worried Arme in tow the guards nodded and began walking through the halls. They eventually ended up infront of what looked like a single prison cell, and the two released the mage inside of it.
"I-I have to stay inside here...?" Arme questioned, recieving nods from the two. She sighed and sat down on the small bed, her gaze toward the ceiling. Her fatigue hit her almost as suddenly as she sat down, and she ended up resting on the extremely uncomfortable bed. No sounds could be heard outside, and Arme soon fell asleep.
"Get up."
"Nnhh...?" Arme's eyes opened toward the voice, only to see one of the guards she had previously been escorted by.
"We have a request for you from the meeting room." As soon as the message was relayed Arme shot up, finally remembering her location. She looked around, but no one aside from herself and the guard was in the cell. Standing up, she followed him out of the small cell and back out through the way she had come. When she was dropped off at the meeting room she stared at the doors for a long while before hesitantly pushing the door open. Inside was the previous setup viewable from the window, Ronan awake once more. He stared at her in suprise for a moment.
"Arme?!" She gave a weak wave and a smile, still not fully awake. He looked at her disbelievingly before continuing.
"Can we finish this discussion in a moment? I'd like a chance to explain the situation." The elders nodded, allowing Ronan to step out of the room along with Arme.
"Do you know where any of the other chasers are?" He asked as soon as they were out of the hearing range of the room. Arme contemplated the question for a second.
"Well, depending on how much time has passed Ryan may still be at the Sushi Buffet, and Jin and Amy were down town somewhere..." She neglected adding the location of Elesis for worry of how obvious it would be that she was the one who actually threw the rock. Ronan nodded thoughtfully for a second, continuing to lead Arme through the building. They were soon at the front door, which was pushed open lightly. Along with the view of the outdoors, Arme was surprised to see Elesis sitting on the step. At the sound of the door opening she leaned back, noticing the two immediately.
"Ronan! Arme!" She exclaimed, standing up and turning around to face them.
"Elesis, that kind of hurt. The next time you decide to throw rocks at official buildings, you might want to reconsider." Ronan said, causing both Arme and Elesis to stare at him.
"You... But...! Arme said she did it!" Elesis stuttered, a blush appearing on her face. Ronan gave a laugh.
"No offense, Arme, but there's no way you could have thrown a rock hard enough to break through a window and knock me unconcious. Judging by the way you mentioned everyone's location but Lass' and Elesis', I figured Elesis must have. After all, I highly doubt Lass would have let himself or Arme get caught for that." Even with the light tone Ronan used, it was obvious Elesis felt bad about letting Arme take the blame for the rock-throwing.
"Well, it was kind of amusing to watch all of the people freaking out!" Arme grinned. Elesis nodded, but Ronan let out a sigh.
"You see, here's the problem... They've decided to use this as an excuse to prolong the meeting until tomorrow." Elesis gasped.
"They can't do that!"
"They can. I've already tried arguing with them, but they just won't listen! I won't be able to leave tonight, but I can catch up with you when the meeting's over." Elesis shook her head rapidly.
"No way! We're not leaving without you!" She declared, trying to get past the blue haired knight and into the building. He held her back, an arm pressed lightly against her stomache.
"Elesis... Don't give them any reasons to try and force the leadership out of you. I'll stay here and deal with them, you guys can fight without me for a while. It won't be that long." He was now quietly pleading with her, a frown setting on her face.
"But..."
"Elesis, please."
"... We'll set out at dawn, there's no point in leaving when it's getting dark like this." Elesis muttered, turning around quietly. Arme looked up at the sky; Elesis was right. It was getting steadily darker, the time passed when she was sleeping becoming obvious. Ronan gave a sigh as the red head walked away silently, her hair swaying behind her.
"...Ronan? Why can't we just wait for the meeting to be over to leave?" Arme questioned.
"She's already prolonging the leaving date for me... If she stretches it any more, just so I'm there when we set off, the counsel will be back to trying to usurp her position. If they see that, they'll almost certainly try to blame it on Elesis being unable to control the group without me..." Arme nodded, looking off in the direction Elesis had disappeared in.
"She should be headed to the MoonView Hotel, it's the one we always stay in in this town." Ronan explained, handing her a piece of paper. Further inspection on said piece of paper revealed that it was in fact a map, tracing from her current position to where the hotel was.
"I'll just be a little longer here, then I'm headed over. You can go ahead of me, if you'd like." She nodded, wanting to go make sure Elesis was alright.
"And... If you see anyone else, make sure to tell the what's going on." With another nod, Arme turned around to follow in the direction Elesis had gone. Grateful for the map she had been given by Ronan, Arme was able to make it to the hotel with hardly any problems. There had been a few people begging for her to demonstrate her spells, she had done with just summoning a few fireballls for them to see. This seemed to be all the people really wanted; Arme had learned that outside the Grand Chase's village magicians were few and far between. Most magicians went to the village for the instruction of Elena, one of the few extremely sucessful mages of the time. The lady at the front reception desk looked at her and smiled; Elesis had been in there a few minutes prior to book the rooms and had left to go look for the others. Even though she knew she should most likely go see if she could help, Arme guiltily walked up the stair case and to her assigned room. When inside it she dropped onto the bed, her head falling on the overly soft pillow. Still tired from having just been asleep, Arme hastily closed her eyes. Sleep wasn't far behind.
It was still dark outside when Arme awoke to sounds coming from the rooms next to her. She rubbed her eyes, sitting up on her bed to peer around her pitch black room. The door was flung open a few seconds later by an overly energetic Amy.
"Arme, it's time to get-- Oh, good morning! It's almost time to go!" The girl chirped, spinning around before flitting back out the door and slamming it behind her. Arme stared blindly at the door for a moment before forcibly getting out of the bed. She hadn't changed into her pajamas the previous night, leaving her in her battle clothes. Even so, she brought a spare with her as she raced into the bathroom to take advantage of the shower while she still could. One of the conveniences of being a fighter, she mused while washing her hair, was that one never really had to wonder what to wear. It had become apparent to her over the days that most just had several duplicates of the same outfit with minor alterations. The ones she had bought while shopping with Amy were hardly used, reserved for days she hadn't had classes with Elena or practices with the other members. There was a loud knock on the door as she finished her shower.
"Almost done in there?" It was Elesis' voice.
"Yeah!" She called back, feeling more energized and clean. The spare clothes she had were hastily folded into her small bag, and she threw it over her shoulder as she left her room to meet with the others. When she made it to the main lobby of the area the entire chase was there, Ronan having woken himself up early to see them off. Elesis was still visibly frustrated as she leaned up against the door frame, not turning her head as Arme entered the room. Ronan waved, looking at the rest of the group.
"So, I should meet up with you some time this afternoon. It shouldn't take too long." Elesis huffed.
"Fine, already! let's just get going!" She turned to face the door, motioning for the rest of the group to follow her. Before she could leave, however, Ronan grabbed her wrist.
"What?!" Elesis turned around again, staring defiantly at the blue haired knight.
"Be careful." With that, he handed her something Arme couldn't see. Whatever it was, it seemed to make Elesis blush parfusely.
"I don't need your stupid rose!" She exclaimed, though Arme also noted that she didn't drop the flower. Ronan grinned as she turned around and stormed out the door, waving to the rest of the group as they filed out the door behind her. When Arme left she slid the door shut behind her. The rest of the town most likely hadn't been warned on their leaving, as no one was up or around as they silently exited the village. As soon as she saw the large field winding out infront of them, Arme was dreading the day ahead. She quickly glanced over to Lass and noticed him watching her. Not quite ready to ask him for help, Arme opted to struggle through the day's running. She stretched before beginning; Elesis had decided to start out at a running speed that day.
"We're headed to Kerrie's Beach because someone filed a complaint!" Elesis called, recieving a cheer from Amy and Jin.
"Not for relaxing, Amy! We have reasons to believe they've elected another Harpie Queen." She yelled. There was another, less enthusiastic cheer heard from the direction of the muse. The news of the Harpie Queen didn't dampen Arme's spirits; partially because she didn't know what one was and partially because she had never been to a beach before. The idea of swimming brought a smile to her face. With a little more energy, Arme continued running with the group.
She wasn't nearly energetic one hour later, when Elesis' cry of 'Goblins and Harpies on the horizon!' reached her ears. Relieved as she was that the running was on a momentary halt, she didn't know how she was going to find the power to summon anything. As the rest of the fighters rose to meet the front line of goblins, Arme spun a shield around herself. She observed the group of enemies as well as she could. There were small, green clothed goblins with bags that she assumed to be full of stones, small red goblins with shovels, and... She searched the enemies for the harpies she had been told about, but couldn't find anything other than the goblins. Summoning a few fireballs with the reserves of her energy, Arme wearily looked for another enemy. But... Where are the Harpies...?
"Arme! Look out!" At the sound of Amy's voice Arme twisted around, looking for the threat. There were no enemies to be seen... Without warning, she heard a loud screech from above her. Her head flew up just in time to see a large bink bird flinging itself in her direction. She stared at it blankly. I-I'm not sure... My shield can take that... In natural instinct, her hands flew up to cover her face. The impact was sudden; it wasn't from the right side, and didn't particularily hurt, either. Bewilderedly, Arme's eyes flew open.
"L-Lass!" He had somehow managed to make it to her before the large bird had sunk it's talons into the spot where she had been standing moments prior. Not responding, the silver haired boy continued to carry her until they were a safe distance away from where the harpies and goblins were.
"Stay here." He murmured, setting her down as the swarm came closer, seemingly following them. She sank down to the ground as she watched the fight, her overly sore legs refusing to hold her up any longer. Still determined to help however she could, Arme sent forward a few fireballs to assist in defeating the approaching horde. Most of them sputtered out before they could reach the enemies, some wavering unevenly and missing their target. The magician stopped moving entirely as one twisted away from her control, spinning in an odd spiral before changing direction and slamming directly into Lass' upper arm. Her eyes widened and she stared hopelessly as he winced, but continued fighting. The enemies were thinning out, several of the other chasers destroying bundles of the monsters at a time. When they were all gone Lass returned over to where she was sitting. Kneeling down, he stared at her.
"I did tell you you'd waste your energy, right?" He mentioned, seeming unworried even as she didn't respond and began healing the burn. Without much force or control behind it the flame hadn't burned deeply, but Arme still felt herself tearing up as she looked at the injury.
"I-I'm sorry..." She sniffled quietly, gasping as he picked her up.
"No crying, alright? I'm fine."
"...Mmhm..." Arme wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he maneuvered her onto his back, standing back up with a stretch.
"Let's not keep the rest of them waiting." The group began running again as Lass and Arme rejoined them, Amy watching the two with a smile.
"The beach is about an hour from here." The assassin explained, Arme nodding, "Try to get some sleep." She rested her head lightly on his shoulder, the exhaustion of the battle luring her to sleep nearly immediately.
"Arme, wake up. We're at the beach." Arme blinked slowly, her eyes opening with slight delay, then flying open.
"The beach!" She exclaimed, hastily lifting her head off the silver haired boy's shoulder to look around. There was a long expansion of sand and water, small patches of grass here and there. The sun shone down upon the whole area, and Arme could only imagine the warmth of the sand and the water. Sensing her excitement, Lass put her down. Where as the rest of the group approached with caution, the purple haired girl ran onto the shore without much hesitation. As she had predicted, the sand was warm when she reached down to pick up a hand full. Feeling somewhat immature, the girl smiled as she began making a sand castle. Amy came to join her a couple minutes later.
"Hey! Come on, guys! we're here for a reason!" Elesis repremanded them. A light argument broke out between the muse and the knight, the three hardly noticing when there was a yell from Ryan.
"Guys, the Harpie welcoming crew is here!" Arme turned around quickly, her eyes locking on the swarm of large birds in the distance. She stood up to begin charging as much as she could before the birds made it to her spot, the rest of the group getting into battle stance. The harpies moved rather quickly; Arme hadn't had much of a chance to charge before the group of birds approached. She attempted a stone curse as the first of the harpies showed up, dropping several into the ocean. From there she teleported back to a point where she could better see how the battle was going on. Amy and Lass seemed to have the best advantage with hitting the birds, the others finding it simpler to destroy the goblins that were now lining the edges of the beach. Ryan transformed into a wolf to make it easier to reach up and snag the unfortunate harpies out of the sky, jin preferring to get to the stone goblins before they could throw their stones at any of the other chasers. Elesis... Arme's eyebrows furrowed as she watched the knight. Her moves seemed a little less smooth than they had the last time she had watched the red head fight. Her swings seemed a bit more choppy, her movements a bit less aware. The magician scanned the horizon. For the majority the harpies seemed to have stopped coming, but there was one large shadow on the horizon. Arme squinted at it for a moment and gasped. Another harpie was on it's way, at least five times as big as most of the other harpies.
"Harpie Queen!" She yelled, catching the rest of the chase's attention. The group all turned to the queen, most of the other minions fallen. Her mana full, Arme released a meteor on the remaining harpies. The queen managed to dodge the falling rocks, adjusting it's target so it was now following the mage. Not wasting time, the chase spiraled around the harpie. Most managed to land a decent hit as fireballs singed it's feathers, leading the Harpie Queen on a lopsided spiral. Refusing to be brought down, the monster flew higher. Aiming faster than ever for the magician, it had almost made it there when the group heard a large whoosh of air. Everyone including the harpie turned to look at the addition to the group. Arme stared, blinking several times. A... Dragon? She vaguely remembered Amy telling her something about one, but couldn't remember what. She teleported to the rest of the chasers, watching anxiously as the dragon flew closer. A large flame came out of it's mouth, raining down on the harpie. Before the harpie queen could fall to the ground the large red dragon bit it, swallowing the monster that looked almost small in comparison. The dragon lighted down carefuly, and Arme may have been the only one who was surprised to see a person leaping off it's back.
"Ronan!" Elesis was the first to begin approaching him, staring questioningly.
"It's not even noon yet! How'd you get out of the meeting so quickly?!" She demanded. Ronan shrugged.
"When the meeting started I told them I had somewhere to be. They weren't happy, but..." He allowed the sentence to trail off, looking a the group. The red knight seemed several times happier as she turned back to them.
"So, Arme! Are you up to cooking some harpie for lunch?"
A/N: O_O 2 weeks for an update!? I'm sorry ;_; Certain parts of this chappie were killing me!!! Well, it's up, at least! I lost the internet connection on my laptop, so this is gonna be annoying to update xD Oh well =3 Please Review~!
-Utsuro