Chapter 21
Deputy Commander of the Greil Mercenares
Time passed rather quickly throughout the day. From sitting in Canas's class of advanced elder magic to Nino's next class, I found myself oddly enjoying this school. Oh, maybe after this war, I could move to Begnion and enroll.
The end of the day came soon enough, and I bid my farewells to Nino.
"Will you be able to come tomorrow?" she asked me.
"I'm afraid I cannot. I have a mission to do tomorrow. Another day, perhaps. I want to enroll here someday to really help my magical arts," I replied.
"I look forward to it!" Nino said.
"Until then," I said to her with a sad smile. She's so cheerful and joyous. It's a pity that she's associated with the wrong type of people. Well, at least, if Nergal's around. I hope that we never have to meet them on the battlefield.
With waves of farewell to each other, I embarked on my way back to the mercenary company. Along the way, I ran into Karla.
"How'd it go?" I asked her.
"Amazing," was all she could say in reply.
"Learn anything new?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Ha... at a loss for words?" I said to her. She quickly turned to me with a rare smile on her face and I knew that she must've had the time of her life today.
"You look pretty pleased with yourself," Karla said to me. I looked to her with a smile and held out a tome. It was old and deteriorated in parts, but it was still a dark tome that Canas loaned to me. He said I could start studying it and work on my dark magic as long as I returned it some time after the war was over.
"I got a dark tome. Turns out I'm pretty adept with dark magic as well," I said to her with a smile. She looked to me with a bit of a peculiar look before saying, "Well, don't slack on your other magic."
"I won't," I said to her with a grin.
"... you know, you're so light-hearted sometimes," she said to me.
"I know," I replied back to her.
"Sometimes that isn't good," she said to me in an annoyed tone.
"I... oh... sorry," I said meekly. Damn, I was being chastised by Karla.
"Really, you should take things more seriously. If you don't, you never know what will happen," she continued.
"I understand," I said.
"Do you? Do you really?" Karla asked me again in a pushy tone.
"..." I was silent. I know fully well what happens. Damn it, stop lecturing me.
"Well?" she asked me.
"Yes! I do. Geez..." I said in an annoyed tone.
"What's wrong with you today?" Karla asked me, her voice growing impatient.
"What's wrong with you? You're being even more pushy than you usually are," I said to her in a very annoyed tone. Damn, what the hell is wrong with her?
"Well, you're being even more nonchalant and immature than usual! Someone's gotta set you straight," she said with a tone of finality as if it was over.
"Well, I'm sorry not everyone acts like they have a lance shoved up their... oh forget it," I said said, walking on and not caring.
"Oh, in case you didn't realize. You're going the wrong way. Do you need help with that too?" she said... as if talking to a little child.
"I know my way just fine. I'll take another way back. Go back that way if you want," I snapped.
"Well, fine then!" she shouted back at me as I walked away.
Geez, what's wrong with her? She's so pushy and motherly. Honestly, she doesn't know me that well and who I am. What the hell gives her the right to push me around like that. I'm not some little kid who doesn't know about the world. Damn it! Damn it. I thought we came to that understanding after the whole incident on the ship with the cake and all. Always pushing me to not do things. I'll do what I damn well please at times if it doesn't bother anyone.
"... hello there," I heard someone say to me, barely hearing that voice since I was so deep in thoughts. I snapped out of my reverie to see Titania standing there... without her armor.
"You seemed spaced out after that little argument," Titania said.
"... I... why are you here?" I asked her in a confused tone.
"Well... you two weren't the only ones with a free day," Titania remarked.
"... oh... right," I said. God, maybe I really am stupid.
"Don't feel down or depressed or dumb. It's not your fault. Just chin up," Titania said to me. I sighed and just walked on.
"I'm serious. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself because of that argument," she continued.
"It gets annoying after a while..." I mused aloud.
"That she's only looking out for your well-being?" Titania asked.
"No... not that. I'm not bothered by that too much," I replied.
"... tell you what. Let's go somewhere to get something to eat, and we can discuss this over a meal. You look a bit hungry and like you need someone to talk to," Titania offered.
"... thanks. Where shall we go, though?" I asked.
"Well, how about that place you went before?" Titania said.
"I really don't want to go there again right now," I merely said.
"How about we--" she began.
"There's a nice place," I said, pointing randomly to a restaurant that was nearby.
"That works," Titania said. Together, her and I walked into the restaurant. We were seated and given menus. You know, without that armor on, I was able to see what Titania really looked like. She wasn't really that bad looking, except for the fact she was so much older than me. I'd estimate about eight to ten years. A blue dress with no sleeves and just two little things going around her shoulders. It went down to about her knees. She was also wearing... heels? Why? She also had her hair down.
"I'm guessing you've never seen me without my armor," Titania said with a smile.
"I... er... no," I said sheepishly.
"It's fine. You were just a bit curious," she said to me.
"Quite, actually," I said to her.
"Curiosity killed the cat," Titania said jokingly.
"... but cats have nine lives," I countered. All of a sudden, my mind flashed a big neon sign that said "CHEAT CODES!"
"I guess you got me there," she said with a smile.
"If you say so," I said to her.
"Why do you say that?" she asked me.
"I'm sure you probably had something to counter that if you wanted to," I said with a smile.
"Perhaps..." she said in a somewhat pseudo-ominous tone. After that, we looked through our menus and figured what we wanted to order. Our waitress was a fancy, yet bubbly lady. Intelligent systems must not have focused much on the looks of the NPC characters because she looked average. Finally, an average-looking girl. A sight for sore eyes... sore eyes from lack of sleep, that is.
Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Too many good-looking girls is a bad thing. To be honest, I was actually happy to see her. She wasn't exactly the worst looking, but she definitely wasn't like the playable characters. To have someone normal around... it just re-affirmed my belief how realistic this world really was.
... even the menu was designed like how it was at home.
"I'll have the chicken and pasta for my order," Titania said.
"Any appetizers?" the lady asked.
"Those spicy chicken wings," Titania said.
"What do you want to drink?" the lady asked.
"I'll have water... and a glass of red wine," Titania said.
"Mmm, okay. You, sir?"
"Well, um... could I have the twelve ounce ribeye?" I asked.
"Sure thing, hon. How do you want it cooked?" she asked.
"Rare," I replied.
"An appetizer?" she asked.
"A salad?" I asked.
"What kind?" she asked.
"Hmm," I mused to myself. I don't know what kind of salads they had here.
"Surprise me. Pick a random one and don't tell me," I said to her with a smile.
"Okay, and to drink?" she asked.
"Tomato juice," I replied.
"... any wine?" she asked me.
"Er... no thanks," I said.
"You sure?" Titania asked.
"Quite," I replied.
"Okay, your salad and those wings will be out shortly," the lady said. With a quick smile, she walked off to give our order to the kitchen.
"You like chicken, don't you?" I asked Titania.
"It's something I'm in the mood for," she replied to me.
"I understand," I replied to her. Getting something just because you're in the mood for it. Now that sounds like something I'd do.
"So, tell me... why were you so upset earlier if it doesn't bother you that she's just looking out for you," she asked.
"... do we have to talk about this? I'm actually beginning to enjoy this experience," I said.
"Oh, enjoying yourself? You consider this a date with the deputy commander?" Titania asked curiously.
"Wh-what? That actually... didn't even occur to me," I said. Holy crap, I didn't even think of it like that. Great, what's Karla going to think now?
"Relax! I was just trying to lighten the mood with a joke. If I had known you'd be so flustered, I wouldn't have said it. You really are a shy guy... or perhaps you have a little secret you'd like to share?" she said in a curious tone.
"A secret?" I asked her curiously.
"Oh, I don't know. The new person to the company... the young one... having a thing for one of the leaders. Such an interesting scenario," she said jokingly.
"Sounds like a romance novel gone bad if you ask me," I said dryly.
"Oh, you read them?" she asked, genuinely curious now.
"A few here and there when I had the time at home," I replied to her.
"You know, you're avoiding the question," Titania said.
"I just don't like it when I get into a fight with whoever I'm with. It's always the catalyst for a breakup at home. After the first fight, things just aren't the same... and breakup soon happens," I said.
"So, you're afraid of losing her?" Titania asked.
"I guess you could say that," I said.
"Tell me more about your home," she asked me.
"What about it?" I asked.
"Well, let's begin. Where were you born?" she asked.
"I don't think you'd know where I was born even if I told you the name of the city," I said to her.
"Humor me. Tell me what the town was like," Titania said.
"Well, I was born outside of a large city named Pittsburgh. It was a city well-known for manufacturing steel cheaply and effectively. It was even nicknamed the steel city, if memory serves," I explained.
"Sounds like a nice place to live," she said.
"It really is at times," I said with a smile, reminiscing about my hometown and my visits to my family when my father went on short vacations there.
"So, where did your parents live? What did they do?" Titania asked.
"In Pittsburgh, my mother was a nursing assistant. She worked at hospitals and helped the recovering patients. My father was still in school," I said.
"So, how was life growing up?" she asked me.
"I was home schooled. We moved at an early age, so I don't have many childhood memories of my hometown. My mother didn't trust any children my age. She didn't want me to have any bad influences, or so she said, so she raised me in the home. I had almost no contact with the outside world, except for when she'd invite her friends over or when I was at the library," I said.
"It must've been hard when you finally did connect with the rest of society," Titania commented.
"Quite. I was oftentimes blunt, speaking my mind without knowing I'd hurt other people's feelings," I said.
"Sounds like Soren," she said to me.
"My parents soon got divorced, my father moved to another country, my mother grew completely overprotective of me, and my first year of actual school was total hell. Damn, I hated most of high school," I mused, more to myself than to Titania.
"Here's your wine, ma'am," the waitress said as she came over and gave Titania a glass of wine.
"Thank you," Titania replied politely to the lady.
"Mmm... Titania... can I ask you a question?" I asked her. She took a sip of the wine and looked at me.
"You already did. Presuming a bit too much, are we?" Titania said.
"I... I didn't..." I began. She wasn't getting upset with me, was she?
"You really to need to let loose, let go, and not take things so seriously," she said to me.
"I don't think I know how to relax," I said back to her.
"You know... for a person who's very outspoken and social in group functions, you sure are timid at times," she said to me.
"Groups are one thing... but I'm deathly afraid of talking to anyone one on one," I explained. She took a liberally hefty swig of the wine before looking at me.
"You need to take charge and be more confident in yourself. At the same time, you have to know what to say and what not to say to a girl. Why don't you try it out on me?" she suggested.
"... do we have to?" I asked her.
"I'm only trying to help you and look out for you. It's not like I have anything else to do at the moment," she said casually to me.
"Yeah, but..." I began.
"Do you really want to live the rest of your life not knowing what to do or say to the female species?" Titania asked me before draining the rest of the wine in her glass.
"More wine?" the lady asked Titania as she walked by and saw the empty glass.
"Yes, please," Titania said.
"... what do you want me to do?" I asked her carefully.
"There you go again. Don't be so timid. If you're timid, they'll just see it as a sign of weakness. Be more assertive. Don't be afraid to make an assumption once in a while," she said.
"Okay..." I said. I rubbed my head in my right hand. Damn, this was going to be a weird night.
"Okay, now supposing I was Karla and we were on a date. What is the first thing you'd do?" Titania asked me.
"Uh... offer to pay for her meal?" I suggested.
"Well, that's one of them," Titania said.
"Here's your wine, ma'am," the waitress said as she returned with another glass.
"Thank you," Titania said to the lady before she walked off.
"... I don't know," I honestly said in defeat.
"That's not an answer. What did you do on dates back at your home?" Titania asked me.
"I... er... I've only been on a date once in my life before I got here. The girl asked me out, and all we did was watch a movie," I said.
"A what?" Titania asked.
"A movie. Er... it's like a play," I said, trying to find a decent way to bridge the connection.
"Wow... whose idea was that?" she asked me in a slightly incredulous voice.
"Hers," I replied simply.
"... and I thought you were bad at this," Titania commented.
"It's actually quite normal to go to see a movie for a date," I said to her.
"Peculiar. I wouldn't see a play for my date. Personally, I'd rather go to a weapons exhibition. Now, that's something that would really excite me!" Titania said, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. She took a sip of the wine from the new glass and looked at me.
"Now... aside from that, you've never been on a date?" she asked me.
"No, I haven't," I replied.
"Are most males of your world like that?" she asked.
"No... actually... most males go on a lot of dates. I just preferred to work on my schoolwork and talk to my friends rather than to go dating. Dating costs money, which was something I rarely had," I said.
"Well, now you have a ton of money if you want to go dating here," Titania said.
"You're right..." I said to her.
"Well, here's a pointer. Compliment the girl. Tell her what you like about her. Go ahead. Try it on me," she said to me.
"But, I'm not dating you," I said to her.
"Pretend we are. I want to see just how inexperienced... or hopeless... you are," Titania said.
"... thanks," I said to her in slight annoyance.
"... I think Soren rubbed off a bit on me," Titania commented thoughtfully. She took a nice drink from the glass, effectively draining half the glass.
"Okay... um... I like your hair," I said to her.
"... what about it?" she asked me.
"It's really... uh... red," I said.
"... is that the best you can do?" she asked me. She drained the rest of her wine and looked me in the eye. Where's the food? I hope this isn't like an Italian restaurant. I mean, I liked the restaurants when I was over there, but they value socialization over eating. They spaced out the meals, so that it gave the food time to settle down while the participants conversed.
"You have nice eyes," I said to her desperately. Well, if she's looking me in the eye, maybe she's trying to hint at it?
"Uh... really?" she asked me.
"Actually, yeah, you do. I'm not making it up, either," I said to her with a smile.
"Um... thank you," she said to me meekly.
"Hey, hey, don't get embarrassed!" I said to her.
"You know, maybe you shouldn't be so assertive on your dates. You can be cute when you're shy. That is, if you don't stutter," she said aloud in a thoughtful voice.
"... is that a compliment?" I asked her.
"It can be, unless you don't like being cute," she said to me.
"Okay..." I said. Whatever floats her boat, I guess. She knows more than I do.
"What else?" she asked me. Dear god, I can't say "I can't see anything else". That'd be an insult to her. I think.
"Another glass of wine?" the waitress asked as she walked by.
"Yes. I'd like white wine, though," Titania said.
"Er... if you keep this up--" I began.
"Don't worry. I'll pay for the meal this time. It's only a mock date, anyway," Titania said.
"That's not what... oh, nevermind," I said. She's probably already well on her way to getting drunk.
"Well, um... you're like a really great mom... or something," I said nervously. Yeah, I took that from Boyd's support conversation.
"... what?" she asked me with a weird look on her face.
"Uh, I think I gotta go to the bathroom," I said to her quickly. Before she could react, I quickly hopped out of my seat and left to go to the bathroom.
... or at least wander the restaurant aimlessly looking for it.
"Lost?"
I turned around to see Titania there. Apparently, I wandered the restaurant in a complete circle. I could've swore there were less empty glasses of wine before I left. I wasn't gone that long, was I?
"Yeah... but I don't have to go anymore," I said.
"That's... good," she said. She hiccuped slightly before smiling weirdly at me.
"I think you should stop drinking the wine," I offered to her.
"Only if you drink a couple glasses as well and promise never to tell the rest of the company about this," she said.
"No one knows that you drink?" I asked her curiously.
"Not really. I do on occasion though. I need to. It's a stressful job to be a deputy commander of these mercenaries... responsible for people's lives and making sure that everything is under control," she said.
"... I understand. I won't tell anyone," I said to her.
"Well, then... drink up," she said to me, handing me the glass of wine.
"You know, I'm underage," I said to her.
"Underage?" she asked me.
"Where I'm from, there's an age limit on drinking. You can't drink if you're under twenty-one," I explained.
"Well, welcome to Tellius. Drink up!" she said to me, perhaps a bit too cheerfully. I looked at the glass and drank the rest. Thank goodness Titania drank half of it already. I've never really drank before.
"So, enjoying the date?" she asked me.
"I thought you said this wa—oh, yeah, I am," I said to her with a smile.
"That's good..." she said. She looked at me expectantly, as if expecting me to do something.
"You look really stunning tonight," I said to her. I wonder if this is actually what I have to do when I go on a date. I feel really pathetic looking back at my old life. Never been on a date aside from that one to the movies... which didn't count because I didn't know it was a date. That really is quite sad.
"Thank you," she replied to me.
"Ah, order up. I'll pay," I said to her.
"... really?" she asked me.
"Yes," I said to her.
"Good. You're starting to get the hang of this," she said to me. I smiled back at her, proud of the compliment.
"So, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?" she asked me.
"I guess pra--"
"Assertive!"
"Oh, yes ma'am," I said sheepishly.
"So... what do you do in your spare time?" she asked me again.
"Well, I enjoy reading books and practicing my magical spells," I said to her.
"... that's it?" she asked me.
"Is that bad?" I asked her.
"Well... no. It's rather typical of a mage... a studious mage, at that," she said.
"A nerd, you mean," I said to her. She looked at me and nodded.
"Here are your appetizers," the lady said as she dropped by. I got my salad and she got her chicken wings. My salad consisted of lettuce, sliced tomatoes, grape tomatoes, bacon bits, mushrooms, egg, and olives. Mmm, that looks really good. I wonder what kind of dressing this is. I take a bite out of it. The dressing tastes like a cross between soy sauce and lemon juice.
"Surprise you, I did," a voice said. I quickly turned around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
"Something wrong?" Titania asked me cautiously.
"I thought I heard something," I said, shrugging it off.
"I'm in your head, moron. She can't hear me," it said. I jumped slightly from the surprise.
"What is it?" she asked me.
"Nothing. It's just that noise earlier sent a small shiver up my spine," I said to her.
"That's oddly disturbing and creepy," she said to me.
"Thought I'd make a little change to this world for you," the voice said. What change... and who is this voice?
"The person who sent you here. The change... I got your favorite ingredients in a salad and your own custom ingredients for your own salad dressing recipe, and made it a popular salad type in this world... as of fifty years before this date in this world. Surprised yet?" it asked.
Hell yeah. My salad's in this world... and it's popular! This is fantastic!
"I see you've finally stumbled upon dark magic. Another little present I gave you," it said.
Oh, so that's the present. Thanks!
"You're welcome. I'm still intrigued to see just how far you go in this world. Don't disappoint. Until next time," it said.
"You shouldn't do that on a date," Titania commented to me.
"Do what?" I asked her.
"Space out," she replied.
"I didn't mean to. I got contacted by... well... that voice I told you about," I told her.
"... that seems rather random," she said.
"That's what I told it," I said to her. Must be just me, but her face seemed to be a little bit red. We ate our appetizers in silence. I was hungry as anything, so I finished my salad rather quickly. I looked over to see her working on those chicken wings. Man, I miss those things. They were like little morsels of delight on a bone.
We finished our appetizers without saying much to each other. As she finished, we got into a casual conversation about what home was like. I explained what school was like back at home.
"So, they don't teach you how to wield a weapon at your school?" she asked me.
"No. Fighting is left to our military. Some citizens carry weapons, but you have to go through a complicated process to get a weapon," I explained.
"So... what kind of activities did you do in your school?" Titania asked.
"I... um... well... I did a couple things, but that's not really important," I said.
"Sure it is. I need to know the members of our company more," she said to me.
"Well, um... I played piano and trumpet for the jazz band... with solos in both instruments. For parades, I occasionally did bass drum. I played trombone for concert band. I was a bass for select choir and a tenor for regular choir and school musicals. I was also a senior mentor, meaning I got to teach the new students about the school and be an advisor when necessary," I said.
"No sports?" she asked.
"Nope. I have breathing problems. Funny since I do marching band, but... that's the way the cookie crumbles," I said.
"The cookie... crumbles?" she asked me.
"Oh, well... it's a phrase. It means that's just the way things went... I think," I said to her, hesitant considering I realized I never really truly figured out what it meant.
"I see," Titania said to me.
"Uh... I was invited to be in the National Honors Society, but I turned it down. To me, I didn't see a point in it. It was a society of people who got good grades in school, but from what I saw and heard, it wasn't all it was made out to be. I graduated sixth out of two-hundred in my class," I said.
"Anything else?" she asked me.
"Er, I'm a college student now. I went on to a higher form of education toward getting a degree for a job," I said.
"Why do you need a degree for a job?" she asked.
"Eh, it's hard to explain all that stuff," I said to her in a sheepish voice.
The rest of the dinner went by pretty well. I had a nice conversation about the company. Most of the stuff I already know. As she said, she stopped drinking the wine. Aside from being a little slower on the uptake, she wasn't really different from her regular self. She must've built up a tolerance to alcohol. We struck up another conversation about the company and the members, and through her I was able to find out more about everyone. We got our main courses, finished them, and opted for no dessert. It was pretty late when we finally left to go on the way back to finally meet up with the rest of the company.
"So... what's going to happen to us now?" Titania asked me as we walked back.
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"What's your future-sensing knowledge telling you will happen next?" she asked me.
"I... don't know?" I said curiously.
"I guess it's really only good for major events. It doesn't tell you about small things like this," she said, musing it over in her head.
"Well... I guess so," I said hesitantly.
"You know... you really aren't that bad at going on a date. You just need more confidence in yourself. You lack confidence in yourself and your abilities. That's why you think you can't do it," she said to me. I looked at her. She was red in the face... geez, I think the alcohol's catching up to her.
"You really think so?" I asked her.
"Yeah, you're the type of person who can do anything they set their mind to, yet lack the confidence to really take it seriously," she said to me.
"I... see," I replied. I never thought about it that way. Well, I have. People told me that before, but I always dismissed it. Maybe they were really right after all. We walked back in silence to the entrance of the imperial palace, or whatever it was called.
"You know, there's one way to find out if a date went well," Titania said to me.
"What is that?" I asked her.
"Figure it out," she said to me.
"... nope, nothing appropriate comes to mind," I said.
"You make it sound like a few inappropriate things came to mind," Titania said in a teasing tone.
"No, no, no, not like that!" I said quickly.
"Okay, you just have to bring the topic around to an appropriate place and ask if she had a good time," Titania said.
"I see. So, the weather's pretty nice tonight," I commented.
"Uh... yes, it is," she said.
"Well... I enjoyed tonight. I hope you did too," I said to her.
"It was an enlightening experience," she said to me.
"Hm?" I asked. Well, asked is not the right word. I made a sound of curiosity at her statement.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Good night," she said to me.
"Good... night," I said to her. I walked over to her and she looked at me curiously.
"What is it?" she asked me.
"I really have to thank you for teaching me tonight... I'll try to have a bit more confidence in myself," I said to her as I hugged her close. I kinda realized just now that she's a bit shorter than me.
"I'm just here to help the members of my company," she said. I partially let go of the hug and looked her in the eye.
"Really? I could've sworn you honestly enjoyed yourself tonight," I said in a joking tone.
"Oh, so now you're ready for joking?" she asked me in a lighthearted voice.
"Be prepared. That's the scout motto," I said to her.
"Well, it is good to be prepared. I try to be prepared for every eventuality that may happen," she said to me.
"I know of one that will probably take you by surprise," I said to her breaking eye contact and started randomly looking at a marvelous looking window on a random floor of the palace... looking exactly like every other one I could see.
"Humor me," she said.
"You're gonna regret saying that!" I said in a singsong voice.
"Try me," she said. Looks like she doesn't like backing down from a challenge.
"You asked for it," I said in a slightly more daunting tone. I pulled her close and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Then I stepped back and observed to see the damage I had done. A triumphant smile flitted across my face as I realized I caught her by complete surprise.
"..."
She was totally silent and unmoving. Wow, I really didn't surprise her that badly, did I?
"... that was unexpected," she said slowly.
"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best," I said back to her.
"... aren't you pushing it a bit too far for the first date?" she asked me.
"You asked for it," I said to her.
"I didn't expect that," she said.
"Then my job has been completed when I said I'd take you by surprise," I said in a triumphant tone.
"... I see," she said in a spaced out way.
"You're not upset, are you?" I asked her. She seemed a bit different now. I was beginning to worry that wasn't the best course of action. Damn me for always wanting to rise to a challenge presented.
"Oh, I'm not... just... that was my... first," she said slowly.
"Oh... oh... sorry," I said, looking down.
"It's fine," she said.
"You've... never been kissed before?" I asked carefully.
"Never really gave it any thought. I was always more absorbed in my work and my training," she said.
"I... didn't know," I said. Damn, now I feel bad.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. It was bound to happen someday," she said.
"... someday? Someone on your mind?" I asked her.
"N-no! Not really," she hastily said.
"... you forget who you're talking to. I can read people fairly easily... sometimes like a book," I said to her.
"I won't tell who," she said.
"I could help you if you want it, you know," I offered.
"You mean it?" she asked.
"Scout's honor. You helped me out so much tonight. It wouldn't be right not to help you out too," I said to her.
"Thank you," she said to me with a smile.
"It'll cost you a kiss a day. You gotta practice," I said to her in a joking tone.
"... as if you had any experience," she countered in an equally joking tone.
"Ouch... harsh words from a tough lady," I said.
"Go to bed now. That's an order from your deputy commander," she said jokingly.
"Yes ma'am... right away," I replied, mock bowing to her.
"... you'll have her back. Just be patient," she said to me.
"You really think so?" I asked her.
"Yes. I'm sure," she said. "Now off to bed."
"Yes, understood," I said to her. With that farewell, we went inside and went our separate ways into our rooms.
Author's Note: Sorry for the extremely late update. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff IRL that's pretty encompassed a huge part of my life. There's been a lot of personal problems, as well as financial and social problems going on in my life. I'm gonna continue to update this story, although I don't know how often I'll be updating it. Hopefully when things finally are settled, I'll be able to do the one chapter a week goal that I used to have for myself on this story.
I also kinda realize I use the Author's Note as a blog of sorts.
Also, in regard to the last chapter's Author's Note about the multiple universes, I decided to make it a bit of a compromise. I decided I'm going to do it, but I'm going to do it in this way.
This fic will continue to the end of Radiant Dawn and a little further. I initially had a final adventure planned... sorta like a third part to the Tellius world... like a trilogy. That'll be the ending of this story. I'll post up another story with another universe in a separate fic, which will be like a semi-canon (canon for this world at least...) spin-off. Those who want to see the crossover and the other universes can follow through to the next fic, and those who are against it can stop at the end of this story. I won't slack on the ending of this story, though. If that idea works, then post it in a review.
It's a compromise I've got planned in my head. I got some people who are for the crossover and some people who are against it. I decided this was the way to go to make both parties happy. If anyone likes it or doesn't like it... or has a better suggestion, leaving it in a review or a personal message would be cool.
... and I realized how horrible the grammar was in that last sentence. Ah, my english teachers and professors would have rolled around in their metaphorical graves if they had read that sentence.
Also... I've been working on some plans on my character in the story. I've realized that he's become kinda... mary sue-ish, for lack of a better term. I mean, I know that he's myself, and most of the stuff I put in this fic are just... stuff that actually happens in my life but in the Fire Emblem setting, but still... I feel it's really pushing it. So, I've been planning a lot lately on how to get the fic back to its humble roots. Hopefully, by the time everyone leaves Begnion to deal with Daein, it'll be back to before.
My e-mail should be on my profile. Give me your input people! Also, I'd like to say that the whole Karla sub-plot is about to end soon. How will it end? Find out in the next chapter... of Spell. Binding. Radiance!
... time to cue the DBZ music.