Chapter XII - Precedent

(Lyra POV)

I woke up. I'm always the early riser among us in the group. I glanced at the sleeping beds beside me. I got surprised when I didn't see Camille or Marie.

"Come to think of it.... Camille, Marie, Lycan, Athrun and Sei had some sort of discussion in private last night," I whispered to myself.

I got up and tidied my bed. When I went out of the tent, a more surprising scene greeted me.

Sei and Athrun were.... having a spar.... if that's what you call it. Lycan, Camille and Marie were watching them. I walked over to the observers and started to watch the spar.

Even though I don't know martial arts, I could tell Sei was winning. My assumption proved to be right when Sei deflected Athrun's punch, grabbed that hand and twisted it backwards. Ouch.... that's got to hurt.

"Nice try Athrun!" Lycan said.

"Eheh. Can't really defeat Sei even if I had my gauntlets," Athrun laughed nervously while scratching his head.

I saw Sei glance at me then looked back at Athrun. "It's fine Athrun. You just need more practice." He shot Lycan an arrogant look. "You're next."

"Ehh?" Lycan sweatdropped. He got up and said, "You know I'm not fond of hand to hand combat."

"Hmm. Fine." Sei took 3 thick straight sticks. He gave two to Lycan. Sei took a stance.

"Gladiator stance eh? He's taking Lycan lightly." I heard Athrun comment. What's gladiator stance?

I saw Lycan ponder the two sticks and sighed. "Too bad these aren't my storm blades. I miss those things."

"I'll give it to you when the time comes." Sei answered. His eyes turned serious. "Let's start."

"Woah." I said as I saw how the two fought. Sei was on the aggressive while Lycan defended himself equally.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Camille said.

"Yeah it is! I didn't know Lycan had this in him!!" I said excitedly.

"Everyone has their own secret talents, Lire." Marie told me. Wait... what did she call me?

"Erm... Mari. I don't think she's Lire," Athrun said.

Lire.... isn't she a Grand Chaser?

I heard the sounds of wood clashing stop. I looked at the two. Lycan was crouching. His right hand was helf by Sei. His left stick was positioned near Sei's neck.

Sei was.... Sei's stick was positioned... ready to strike Lycan's head off.

"Woah." I said in awe.

Sei pulled Lycan up and patted his back. "You still got it in you Lycan," he said grinning.

"Heh thanks." Lycan said. "If you were in your Ares form, I would have been slaughtered in seconds."

"Now don't say that Lycan. I'm not that strong." Sei retorted. Lycan laughed quite unsure.

I saw Aron come out of the tent. "What's the noise about earlier?" he asked.

"Oh. We were just playing around." Lycan replied.

"Sorry we woke you up." Sei said.

"Nah. It's fine. It's morning afterall." Aron glanced at us. "So Celina's still asleep...." he grumbled.

I saw Sei whisper something to Lycan and Athrun. The two nodded. I wonder what it was about.

When everybody was awake and had breakfast- we split up into pairs again.

Lycan dragged me to the bank of Lake Aurora. "Watch," he said.

He crouched and put his left hand on the ground. He closed his eyes and whispered, "Nature Tamer."

A plant of sorts grew and it's flower bloomed. I saw the lake glow during the plant's growth.

How did he make a flower grow with just his words?

Lycan got up and faced me. I cast him a confused and curious face. "Lyra...." he looked away. "Will you believe what I'll tell you?"

I don't understand what he was trying to say. I said my approval because I thought it was just a trivial matter.

I don't know if I should regret what I did.

Lycan looked straight into my eyes.

"Eryuell Island...." why did that seem important to me? "I mean... You are Lire of the Grand Chase."

Something sparked in my mind. Realization dawned on me like a rampaging stream.

I held my head and whispered his name.... "Ryan...."

He embraced me as I cried in his arms.