To view how Melodi looks, either look for her name in my profile, or go here:
www. swirl3y. deviantart gallery/26091998#/d5p6su9
Chapter X:
The festival hunt!
Melodina awoke, finding herself in a field of green. She was lying in between a grand city with a castle, and a place full of rocks. She started to panic when she found out her parents weren't with her, and that her brother had actually tried to kill her.
A woman with auburn hair and pale green eyes had been strolling along the field outside the city; she stopped midway when she noticed a small girl in the middle. This woman was wearing a deep red corset-like shirt, tight black pants covered by knee-length deep red boots. She also wore brown gloves. She calmly went up to the child.
"What are you doing here?" she said rather monotonously.
"My mom, my dad, they're dead!" the little girl said. She then started to cry. "my brother killed them!"
The woman raised a brow to the girl. That was way too much information for her. She sighed and lent her hand to the girl for her to get up. She took it without hesitation. She asked, looking down at the small child. "What's your name?"
"Melodina Cora, I'm a Yua," she said, hand wiping off the tears she kept making.
"Yua!?" gasped the woman. "I don't sense any Yua power from you though."
"I don't have any Yua powers," she replied. "My mom and dad said I wasn't born with any."
Melodina looked up at the woman. "What's your name?"
"Rose Walker," she said, holding onto Melodina's hand. "I'm also a Yua."
Melodina eyes widened a bit. "Really? Why are you here? Lillivale isn't here."
Rose chuckled. "I got sick of it and left. When I came to this continent people were nice to me," she said. "People were too mean back home, and I didn't like it."
Melodina sniffed, and they continued walking. "Where are we going?"
"Lindblum, I have a place there. I'll take care of you from now on," she said. "Tell me your full situation when we get there," she looked at Melodina. "And I'm calling you Melodi from now on, Melodina's too long for me."
Melodi nodded yet again.
ȶ
Melodi woke up, and groaned as she turned around in her bed. The same nightmare she got when she was little started appearing again, and they've been bothering her. She struggled to keep a calm face, but ever since she first heard the distorted voice from that waltz she'd been having those dreams little by little. She hasn't gotten much of a good sleep, but she tried ignoring it. She had other things to worry about at the moment.
It had been about three days since Melodi and Zidane made their bet, and Melodi couldn't stop thinking about it. Every time it came to thought, she always got a bit flustered. Who asks for a date? She thought. Why couldn't he bet money or something, since that was something she had. She sighed, and got up from her bed. She tried her best to avoid Zidane for those three days, but she wasn't very successful. Since they both liked walking around the city, they eventually saw each other. Every time they did, Zidane gave her a big smile, and always reminded her of their bet. He was so confident he would win.
It was nice to see though, Melodi thought. His confidence was certainly admirable and his strong attitude was... certainly a work in progress. She walked out of her hideout, and decided to make her way towards the castle. Today was the hunt, and she was pretty nervous, and it wasn't because of the monsters. She remembered last year's hunt, and how a lot of men died. She wasn't able to join since she was out of town, but she had joined the previous years before that.
It was also a nice three days though, since Melodi had more than enough time to train herself. She was feeling in tip-top shape, and was ready to kill anything. Whether or not she would gain first place was the problem, but she was going to give it her all. She made her way to the air cab, and headed towards the castle.
ȶ
Mel walked into the main guest room, and saw everyone there minus Zidane. Maybe he wouldn't show. She saw Vivi, Steiner, Dagger, and another person. She had appearances similar to that of a rat, and figured she was of the Burmecian race. Mel never visited Burmecia, but she had heard stories of it through Rose.
"Melodi, it's great to see you," Dagger said as she climbed down the stairs. Steiner followed her immediately, and Vivi did the same. She was surprised to be surrounded by them all, well Steiner was there because of Dagger, but Vivi and the princess greeted her fondly.
"Are you gonna join the festival?" Vivi asked, looking up at the young spy. Melodi smiled lightly, and nodded her head. Although she didn't care about prizes or titles, she liked the hunt because it was a great way to get some training in without worrying at all about the opponent's health. Mel looked over to the Burmecian, and returned the look.
"My name is Freya," she said. She stuck out her hand to shake Melodi's, and she returned the handshake.
"I'm Melodi," she said. "You're here for the hunt?"
"That, I am," she replied. Melodi nodded, and Freya looked around. "We're just waiting for Zidane."
Melodi's eyes lit up a bit, but she composed herself. It didn't really surprise her that Zidane knew Freya, since she was a woman. Freya, however, had an air about her. She looked strong and confident, and Melodi wondered if Zidane had a thing for the Burmecian. Melodi looked towards the door, and sighed. "The sooner he comes, the sooner we can begin."
And with that said, Zidane walked through the door, and into the guest room with everyone else. "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late."
The guard walked in after, and asked around to gather around. He gave them the message and explanation of the hunt, and it stated that everyone had twelve minutes to get the highest score possible. Should someone lose, they were forced to withdraw. The guard asked what everyone wanted for their reward, and Zidane immediately went for Gil. Freya thought for a moment and spoke calmly that she wanted an add-on.
"And you, Mr. Vivi?" the guard asked. Vivi, on the other hand, looked confused and scared. Vivi panicked, and looked around.
"What!? I never signed up!" he shouted. Melodi wondered if his name was a mistake, and would've asked until Zidane spoke up.
"I thought you would do pretty well, so I signed you up," he said, looking at his scared face. "Don't worry, with your black magic, it'll be a piece of cake."
Vivi shifted a bit, and wasn't so sure if it would be. He was only just getting used to fighting, and fighting a bunch of monsters just didn't seem to fit well with him. Freya sighed in annoyance, and rubbed her temple. "That was very inconsiderate of you, Zidane."
But then Zidane gasped, as if some brilliant idea came to his head. He ran to Vivi and whispered something in his ear. Vivi gasped, and grabbed his hat and lowered it out of embarrassment. "Me and the princess!?"
Melodi looked over to Dagger, who had her arms crossed. She didn't like them talking about her, and it did sound very suspicious. Steiner also shared that suspicion, and started yelling as usual. "What was that!? You just mentioned the princess! What evil deeds are you plotting now!?"
Zidane looked up at him and gave him a smile. "It's nothing, right, Vivi?"
Vivi looked at him and agreed. The guard looked at the boy and spoke. "So, what would you like for your reward?"
Vivi, still a little overwhelmed by everything, simply asked for a card. The guard gave him a weird look and then looked towards Melodi. "And what about you, lady Melodi?"
Choosing what she wanted for the hunt was always the hard part of it. She recalled having spent a day before one of the hunts just trying to figure out what she wanted. Personally, for this year, she didn't want anything. The hunt was always an excuse for her to train, especially now that she hadn't been fighting for two months. She thought for a moment and figured a free pass to Treno sounded like a good idea.
"A free pass to Treno," she said. The guard nodded, and started to tell everyone's starting point. Zidane had to start from the theatre district, Freya had the industrial district and Vivi needed to start from the business district. Melodi had the short end of the straw and needed to start from the castle's air cabs. She sighed, and crossed her arms. Everyone headed out towards the entrance, and Zidane walked up to Mel.
"Don't forget our deal!" he said as he patted her back. He gave her a quick smile, and ran out to reach his starting point. Melodi sighed again, and walked towards the castle's air cab.
Mel stood just outside of the air cab leading to the castle, and all she needed to do was wait for the call to let everyone start. Mel started to think on the time her home town had sponsored an event like this, and watched as her brother would enter them.
Her brother... she loved him so much but hated him at the same time. She could never forgive him for what he did, and she wanted her revenge. But Mel could never track him down as he kept disappearing. But the distorted voice that the black waltz had was her brother's voice. That was a fact, and Mel knew that he finally came out of hiding.
Go!
Everyone heard the bell, and Melodi stumbled a bit before running, she was a bit out of it. She knew what she had to do, and she was going to her revenge to get as many points as she could. She took the cab towards the theatre district, and saw a trick sparrow. They were the weakest, so it was no problem taking them out.
ȶ
Dagger and Steiner looked across the field and saw Zidane, Vivi, Freya, and Melodi fighting. Steiner was cheering on Vivi and so was Dagger, actually, she was cheering on Vivi and Melodi. She was surprised to see Vivi fighting, since he was so against it earlier.
"Go Vivi! Go Melodi!" Dagger shouted. She watched as Vivi fought—and sometimes ran—and was surprised at Melodi's prowess. Steiner peered through the field and saw Melodi slashing at every animal that came into contact. She had suddenly gotten stronger, compared to when they first met. Sure she had defeated him along with the rest before, but that was because he wasn't fully prepared as he was taken by surprise. He could really see that she was strong.
He also couldn't deny that she was very skilled with her sword. She was quick, flexible, and on her guard. She had no special powers except for healing and of course, her trance. Really, all she had going was her natural strength and healing abilities, but even that was enough to impress him just a little.
He also couldn't deny the skills and abilities that Zidane had, no matter how much he hated himself for thinking it. The boy had potential, and he even agreed that he was tremendous help in protecting the princess while they were on their journey to Lindblum. As long as the money tailed thief stayed away from the princess, he was sorta okay with him being around. Sort of.
Steiner shook his head. "Go master Vivi!"
ȶ
Melodi had fought her way through many sparrows, mus, and fangs without having to heal. At times three fangs came up to attack her but she quickly disposed of them, this hunt was definitely a good work-out. Pretending that the monsters were her brother definitely made her motivated to cut down almost everything, and that was good. Mel felt herself get into the groove of fighting. She ran to the air cab leading to the business district, and there were a lot of monsters in this area too. Mel ran towards the end of the district to kill off any other monsters.
"I'll make this short and painless for you," She said, slashing two mus at once.
As she made her way into the middle of the district, she saw Vivi running away from a fang. The poor kid really wasn't doing well. Mel came in running and attacked the fang, letting Vivi run away to safety. The fang attempted to bite her, but she kicked his nose, causing it to stagger. Mel saw another fang coming at her, and she attempted to slice it with her sword, but the fang she previously kicked had grabbed it with its mouth to keep her from hitting the other one.
Mel groaned. These things were really annoying. She let go of her sword and kicked the fang coming at her, and punched it after wards. The other fang was charging at her, and she back flipped causing it to hit the other fang. Mel grabbed her sword and stabbed both of them. By now, she had completely gotten back into the groove of fighting, with her moves fluid and effective. This was the 'oomph' she needed.
She made her way back to the air cabs and headed to the industrial district, where Freya had been stationed. She didn't see a lot of monsters, which wasn't really surprising. That Freya chick looked pretty strong after all.
Mel made her way to the rear of the district and noticed two kids being harassed by a Zagnal. As Mel quickly made her way towards it, she saw Freya jump from the rooftop to the floor. Zidane came in running after wards.
"Those children are in trouble!" Freya shouted.
"We can get rid of it together!" Zidane said, lifting up his weapon. Which Mel noticed changed to a duel bladed-sword.
"Alright, let's do this," Mel said, lifting up her sword.
Freya took the first attack, and then used her 'jump' ability and soared into the sky and waited a while before jumping back down, impaling the beast with her spear. Zidane took a swift attack at the beast with his weapon, and then ran behind it and took another attack. Mel ran up to the beast and attacked its leg, and then ran to attack its other leg. Zidane followed by attacking its rear legs. Freya jumped and sliced its back, leaving an open wound. The Zagnal kicked and pushed Zidane a little to the side, but still wounding him a little. He grabbed a potion and drank it, and he was up in a matter of seconds.
He continued to attack, and so did Freya. Mel was getting annoyed that the monster wasn't falling, so she took initiative and waited for the monster to kick. Freya and Zidane stabbed the rear legs, causing the front ones to kick up, and Mel immediately jumped on its legs and then jumped on its back.
She took her sword and stabbed its neck; it jerked, causing her to stumble a bit. She took out her sword and jumped off the monster. Zidane took his sword and double slashed it with its double ended blades. Freya took one last stab before Zidane finished it off.
"I'll stay with the children," Freya said as she bent down near them. "Good job you guys."
"Thanks," Zidane said, scratching his head. He looked over to Mel, who looked at the children. "Hey Mel, you did a really good job. I didn't know you could fight that well."
"I just wasn't motivated," She said. And it was true; it had been two months since she was regularly fighting. She looked around, and stared back at Zidane. "Gotta go."
Zidane blinked before taking in what she said, and ran the other direction. Mel was scouting out the area and mostly found mus, so she killed them all. As she ran to the air cab however, she heard the announcer call the time. It was twelve minutes. The winner had been Zidane.
Mel sighed, she was certainly not pleased with the results, but that was a good work-out and she wished it wouldn't have ended. She went into the air cab leading to the castle and headed to the throne. Mel was the second to arrive, the first being Vivi. She looked around and also saw Dagger and Steiner.
"I must say you did a splendid job, Master Vivi!" Steiner said to a very exhausted Vivi.
"Thanks, but I sure am tired," Vivi replied. Dagger walked up to Melodi, who was patting any excess dirt off her shoulders. She smiled and gave her friend a hug.
"Melodi, you were splendid!" she exclaimed. Melodi chuckled, and returned the hug. She was no longer used to Dagger's hug, since it had been a long while, but she assumed she would have to get used to it.
Freya then came into the room and took her place in between Mel and Vivi. Mel couldn't help but have some kind of respect for her this early. She was a woman who fought so bravely and courageously. Her movement with her spear was very smooth and quick. But then again, what could be expected from a lancer?
Lastly, Zidane walked into the room, and waved at everyone. Mel couldn't help but scowl and cross her arms. Cid appeared on the throne, and jumped up and down. "That was marvelous! All of you!"
"230 points! Congratulations!" Artania exclaimed. Cid formally granted the title and his reward to Zidane.
"Congratulations, Zidane!" Vivi said with a cheerful look on his face.
Zidane thanked him and looked at Mel, who returned the look. She knew what he was going to say, and she wasn't really looking forward to it. Nor Mel or Zidane could say anything though, since they were greeted with a troublesome surprise...
How did this happen...?