loser's rant:
So many ideas "invade" my head, thanks to the ideas given to me (by other people... you know who you are ^_^), the story isn't stopping with it's expansion ^_^... and the same goes for Etna abusing me T_T... By the way, this chapter might seem a little bit similar to Flare's debut, and when i say similar, I meant that this'll be cut into two or three chapters. sorry if you find this chapter rather short, given the duration for me to post it _...
Also, I have another excuse... I got a fever...-_-"
Chapter 14: The Smile of a Stranger
Morning quickly became noon, and noon quickly became dusk. Tomoe was watching her pupil as Flare trains her fire magic rigorously; unlike male magicians, female mages practice their magic through actual performance rather than merely studying it. Davis was peacefully watching the sky, as usual. And Stella was Training her spear techniques.
"Haa!" Flare lets out a small shout as she cast a simple 'fire' on the numerous training dummies. In a quick motion, one training dummy was incinerated, followed by another, and another, as if it was a cause-and-effect of a chain reaction.. the 'fire' wasn't strong, but it was strong enough to burn most of every training dummy.
"Good, Flare. With this, you could now hit multiple targets." Tomoe praises her pupil with a smile on her face. Flare happily smiles back with sweat all over her body and clothing.
"Why don't you make her practice her stronger 'fire' spells like giga fire, instead of just plain 'fire'?" An unfamiliar female's voice tells them from the side. The mentor-and-pupil turn to face the source, and finds a woman with long blond hair in a curly twin tail, had a blue military-like dress, and a big belt wrapped around her lower torso(something similar to Stella's chest belt). Lastly, she had a very 'adorable' face, and on it was a sweet-yet-hildish smile that could melt a demon's heart. To Tomoe' eyes and experience, she knew that the person was an Archer... and she also knew there was more to her than meets the eye.
"Who are you?" Tomoe bluntly asks the unfamiliar face.
"Me? I'm Selena. Nice to meet you.^_^" The 'stranger' greets the two as she politely takes an elegant bow, while the two remain silent as they watch the newcomer do her thing. "I'm sorry. I seem to be disturbing you, so I'll take my leave now." Having said that, the stranger leaves, leaving the two alone.
"...There is something about that woman... but I can't put my 'fist' on it." Tomoe thinks out loud while biting her thumb nail. As the brawler ponders, a weak tug was felt on Tomoe's waist. Tomoe looks and Finds Flare with a worried face. "Oh, Don't worry, Flare. It's nothing." Tomoe reassures her pupil with a smile, but speaks inwardly. "(At least, I hope so...)"
Meanwhile...
Davis was still on his usual spot on the middle of the two-seater bench on Flonne's garden/veranda, continuing to adore the dusk-filled sky. Feeling absolutely peaceful (and sleepy), Davis decides to lay his whole body to rest on the bench while resting his legs on the bench's arm rest. About to doze off, Davis slowly closes his eyes while engraving the beautiful image of the sky. In his peaceful serenity, Davis enjoys the cooling wind, making him more sleepy. Not wanting to fall asleep as his master might call him, Davis slowly opens his eyes and closes them again for peace... But not after taking a glimpse of an unfamiliar woman staring at him.
"Uwaaah!" Davis leaps out in surprise.
"Kya!" The girl also leaps back in reflex to Davis's sudden reaction.
At the sudden surprise, both of them take heavy breaths while holding their chest. while gasping for air, both of them look at each other in the eye, as if to familiarize each other.
"Who are you?" Davis (also) bluntly asks the unfamiliar person.
"*huff**huff*... teeheehee~!^_^" after finally catching her breath, the stranger suddenly giggles, failing to give Davis an answer, making Davis sweatdrop. "*sigh*..." after her little laughing fit, the stranger lets out a sigh as she still continue to look at Davis in the eye with a smile on her face. "I'm Selena. Nice to meet you. ^_^" The stranger finally answers Davis with a smile on her face while reaching her hands to the male warrior, who was rather in disarray after his little 'surprise'.
Davis couldn't help but feel awkward with the stranger's presence, taking a few-second pause before complying with the woman's hand and fixing his seating position. Afterwards, an awkward silence fills the air... but only affects Davis while the woman merely continues to stare at Davis with the usual smile on her face.
"*Giggle* ^_^" The stranger giggles again, breaking the awkward silence, and even slightly startling the uncomfortable male warrior. "I guess you want to be alone. Sorry for disturbing you. I'll be leaving now. See you later~ ^_^!" and with that, the stranger gives him one more smile before turning to leave him alone once more.
Yet, even after her leaving, Davis is still bewildered by the quick-and-sudden event that just transpired a few seconds ago. "What the heck was that all about???" Davis thinks inwardly with question marks appearing above the lone demon's head. "That woman..."
Meanwhile...Again
At the back of the castle, the female spear-wielder was practicing her spear maneuvers, slash-piercing empty space in front, behind, and beside her with great focus.
"...Ha!" Stella lets out grunts between her strikes as she continues her training, with sweat sparkling and flying with Stella's movements.
Stella continues to stab behind her, beside her, and in front of her, close enough to touch the nose of the unfamiliar woman in front of her. The woman on the other hand, doesn't flinch at the close call, as did Stella, who wasn't really all that surprised with the woman's presence. The two stare off for seconds with the stranger having a smile on her face while Stella has only sternness on hers.
"...*Giggle* ^_^" The stranger breaks the silence with a giggle while Stella maintains her facial expression. After the little giggle of the stranger, the silence returns.
This time, Stella makes a move, retreating her spear away from the stranger's face and plants the pole to the ground beside her feet... and AGAIN they return to their silence-for-seconds...
"... You are...?" Stella breaks the silence as she questions the person in front of her without changing her expression.
"I'm Selena. Nice to meet you...^_^" The stranger responds while widening the smile on her face... and AGAIN the silence returns...
"...You are..." Again, it was Stella who breaks the silence. the stranger merely awaits the next words of the female warrior... and the next words from Stella are...
"A Nice person! ^_^"
"Thank you~! ^_^" Not a second has past and the woman quickly responds to Stella's compliment, showing good reflexes.
Although the silence returns (AGAIN), it only lasts a second and a half, and the two goes off on a laughing fit as if the two of them were old-time buddies.
After their little fit, they take breaths to fill themselves with the oxygen they used up from all the laughing... and after that, silence(AGAIN!!!) befell upon them, though it only lasted exactly one second.
"...*sigh*...^_^" the stranger takes a sigh if satisfaction after her little fit. "I guess you're busy with practicing... ^_^ I'll talk to you again some other time. ^_^"
"Oh, it's ok. I'm pretty much done anyway. ^_^" Stella replies, stopping the woman from turning her back to leave the scene. "So, what brings you here to our overlord's castle? are you touring the area or something?" Stella politely asks.
"Well, something like that." Selena replies, rolling her eyes towards the sky.
"Then why don't I show you around? ^_^" Stella offers.
"That would be wonderful! The other people here seem to be rather...'anti social'! Says Selena, with two imaginary bubbles appearing above her head showing Tomoe and Davis in each one.
"Yeah, I know." Stella replies with her own imaginary bubble, showing Laharl. "C'mon! let me show you around the castle!" Stella offers her company, stretching her arm towards the stranger with a a friendly smile on her face. The stranger returns the smile with one of her own as they casually walk around the large lot, exploring every nook and cranny of the castle.
A few hours later...
The Dark sun was close, if not, set, and Davis was done with watching the sky; the night is also pretty but not as good as the sunset. Tomoe and Flare was just about done with their training (Tomoe was doing some training of her own).
Davis and Tomoe(and little Flare beside her) found each other just by the door of the recruit's dining hall. Both found each other having faces as if in thought.
"Hey... What's on your mind?" Asks Davis, being the first to break the silence.
"...Nothing... What's on yours?" Tomoe replies, asking the same question as she also notice Davis's pondering.
"Nothing... Well actually..." But before revealing what he has to say, Davis opens the door to the dining hall. Upon opening their path to the room, they find a chatty Stella, talking her heart out to whoever was beside her... and to their surprise, that 'whoever' is somewhat familiar...
"Oh hello there! ^_^ We meet again!" The stranger cheerfully calls out to the two demons.
"Oh hi guys!" Stella also calls out to the to as she takes notice of her companions' presence. "I'd like you to meet my friend-
"You?" The two demons spoke in unison.
"...You know her?" The two demons spoke the same words... again.
"I don't know her." The two demons deny each other as they AGAIN use the same words.
"Ummm, I guess you've met Selena." Interrupts Stella.
"Oh yes. ^_^ This woman and her little companion were practicing at that time, just like you, Stella! ^_^" Selena gleefully tells her friend. "This man on the other hand..."
The woman takes a pause and silence suddenly falls on them. Stella, Tomoe, and even little Flare were staring daggers at the only person who didn't do any training.
"W...What?!" Davis questions the group, despite already knowing the reason for the stares. "I... I Was watching the sunset! You guys know how much I love that, don't you?!" Says the axe wielder, hoping to get out of his predicament.
"Well, the sunset is over now so there's nothing left to watch, right? Why don't you do some "night training"? After all, we were training hard while you were just being idle with your sky-gazing." Says Tomoe, keeping Davis in his pinch. The girls were grinning at Davis; even Flare couldn't help let out a snicker within her grin. the heavier atmosphere takes its toll as Davis starts to sweat like a pig.
"B-But it's already dark out!" Says the quick-thinking Davis, using proper logic.
"Say, this is out of the blue but..." Stella interrupts, getting the attention of the group as they turn to face the female warrior. "I was just thinking that my name was derived from the word stellar, then it hit me... If you like beautiful scenery, why don't you go train at the 'Stellar Graveyard'? the stars are beautiful over there at around this time. You could watch the stars while training. Teeheehee!" Says Stella in a sarcastic tone.
The group return their eyes to Davis with grins on heir lips. Davis's sweating becomes heavier with the eyes of his companions.
"B-b-but!" unable to think quickly enough like last time, Davis stutters. "Uhh. Oh! I haven't eaten dinner yet. L-lemme go have a bite to eat first." Says Davis, hoping to avoid night training once they forget about it during dinner.
"Alright. Flare, remind us of Davis's night training, okay?" Easily reading Davis, Tomoe instructs her pupil of a reminder, and Flare promplty responds with a childish nod.
"Uuugh..." Davis slouches and groans at his predicament. Not having any hope to escape night training, all he could do was to stall time, via eating slow. Hoping to at least have a good meal before training, he heads for the food selection to choose his meal... but before he could even take a step towards his destination...
*BANG* the door bursts open, with a small-yet-fearsome overlord entering the dining hall. "EVERYONE, GET YOUR GEAR READY! WE'RE GOING TO THE STELLAR GRAVEYARD!" The overlord orders his pupils with a face of rage.
"Wh...What's wrong!?" Davis questions his master while forgetting to show his respects, not that Laharl minded.
"There's a traitor in our midst!" Says the furious overlord, making the group's face widen with disbelief. Nobody knew that someone had the gall to defy Laharl. "The suspect is a prinny!" laharl continues, making the groups even more surprised. Of all possible traitors, it had to be a mere Prinny! "And his crime is STEALING MY STEAK DINNER!"
"..."
An awkward silence fills the air with the group sweatdropping... the traitor is a mere... meal thief?
"I WORKED REAL HARD MAKING THAT STEAK! I WAS IN A GOOD MOOD TOO!" The red-headed higher demon shouts in fury, intensifying the sweating of the group... who knew Etna could cook? And for Laharl no less!
After the little comedy, Laharl notices the woman seated beside Stella. "Selena! It's time for you to show us your skill! DON'T hold back on the enemy!"
"Yes Master." Selena complies as politely gives a bow.
"Wait- what?" Says Davis in surprise. "This girl here is a new pupil of Master Laharl's?"
"Oh, come on, Davis!" Exclaimed Stella. "Don't you think that's already obvious, given that she's eating in here?"
"Uh, well I guess." Davis sweatdropped.
"*Sigh*. Please forgive our companion. he can be a bit... 'stupid' at times." Tomoe bluntly tells their new teammate while staring daggers at Davis, which in turn, hits.
"Oh, I don't mind, really. ^_^" Says the new member with her usual smile, relaxing the group and making Davis sigh.
"Uh, Are you guys done with your little bonding time? COZ I'M MISSING MY DINNER HERE!!!" Laharl thunderously shouts, snapping the group off of their little world.
"Oh! Sorry, Master!" Stella apologizes to Laharl and prepares herself to another quest. The rest do the same thing.
Davis also fixes himself, grabbing his axe and the rest of his equipment, but not while taking another good look at the new member. "...Something is off about her..." Davis thinks out loud, but is heard by nobody, while continuing to look at Selena without being noticed. But as soon as Selena notices Davis's eyes towards her, she come close to the axe-wielder with her usual smile, slightly taking Davis aback.
"Don't worry. I'll show you what I'm made off! ^_^" Selena tells Davis in reassurance as she feels the uneasiness within Davis.
"(WAY off!)" Davis extends his thought, this time, keeping it to himself.
Etna: -_-
Stella: ?_?
Loser: -_-"
Selena: ^_^
Stella: ummm...
Etna: Uh, loser...
loser: y-yeah?
Etna: what is 'she' doing here?
loser: uh... well...
Selena: Oh, I decided to come over to tell everybody about myself, to save you guys the hassle! ^_^
Stella: Oh! That's nice of you!
Selena: Your welcome! ^_^. Now, here we go!
Name: Selena
Occupation: Archer
Age: 1819
Sex: Female
Hobbies: Picking flowers, archery
Likes: Flowers, Hair accessories, Sweets
Dislikes: none ^_^
three sizes: That's a secret ^_^
About myself: Oh, I'm just your average little girl who enjoys life and makes the most of it. ^_^. I also enjoy archery, Hence, my occupation! *gets cut off*
Etna: What is this? Your resume?
Selena: Oh, silly Lady Etna! I'm telling the readers about myself! ^_^
loser: yeah, but I hope you don't mind... I was planning on telling the readers your intro on the next chapter... well, telling the readers this much info isn't such a bad idea too though...
Selena: *Giggle* Thank you! ^_^
Stella: Um, This might be a different topic, but we should get to the good stuff...
Etna: Finally!
Stella: Which comes back to YOU, Lady Etna! ^_^
Etna: H-huh? Me?
Stella: Yeah! I didn't know you could cook!
Etna: Oh, of course I can, silly! I was the late king's vassal too, so it was only natural that I could cook!... Speaking of which, hey loser. since your the guy who was making this joke-of-a-fanfic, how'd you know I could cook?
loser: OH, well as a player of Disgaea, I also have the Disgaea 2 game CD. And when I played long enough, I heard Laharl say that he "Hasn't had any beef in a month" When you went and left him.
Etna: Ohhh, that. Well. It goes to show you, the price just can't live without me.
Selena: Aw. How sweet~ ^_^
Etna: Psh! Sweet? Please. That brat is anything but sweet.
loser: uh, guys? I think we've taken enough time now... It's about time for me to post this...
Etna: Oh, OK, mr. Killjoy... lucky for you, we didn't do any harrassing today.
loser: uuugh...