Well, that's that. I don't know when I'll next update, so don't ask… I'll do my best to update as soon as I can, tho', so don't start flaming me just yet. I beg forgiveness, mostly because I've been so busy with school that I'd found no time to write at all for about four weeks…

Anyway, here is the last regular update to The White Wings: chapter 21! Fun little SxL segment at the beginning, then we get into more of the plot. The next new weapon's also introduced in this chapter, and I'm pretty sure most of you can guess what it is, heh heh. Well, enjoy!

--

Serene woke up slowly. Her aching side muscles reminded her of what had happened earlier. She looked outside to find the sun still high in the sky. Rubbing her eyes, she looked beside her to find Lina sleeping with her head on Serene's chest, with an arm around her waist.

Serene chuckled silently. She fell asleep tickling me? She gently stroked Lina's cheek and smiled. Even cuter when she's asleep… She tucked Lina's hair behind her ear and relaxed on the bed, wondering how she'd been pulled up the stairs.

Beside her, Lina stirred slightly. Serene draped her own arm over Lina and snaked her other arm under, pulling Lina into an embrace. "Serene… Lina wuvs yew…" Lina mumbled in her sleep.

Serene chuckled again. What's she dreaming about now, she wondered. She decided to play with Lina's dream a little, squeezing her a little tighter. "I wuv yew too, Lee-na," she whispered.

Serene saw a faint smile come onto Lina's face. Still asleep, Lina reached up and tried to plant one on Serene's cheek, but missed and kissed her on the nose instead. Serene's cheeks turned a light red and she, still smiling, smooched her back on the cheek.

"Mm mm…" Lina mumbled. "You, stay away… Serene is… Lina's…"

Now I'm really curious… Serene giggled quietly. I hope she remembers so she can tell me later…

Serene suddenly realized that both of them were mostly naked, besides her panties and Lina's bra. The blanket had been pushed to the side for some reason, and her exposed body felt a bit cold. She reached over Lina to pull the blanket over both of them, careful not to agitate Lina too much.

"Serene, it's so cold…" Lina's sleepy voice reached her ears again.

Serene thought for a moment, then replied, "You're naked. What do you expect? And the water is definitely going to be cold."

"Wah… Serene… give Lina some heat…"

"You have all my heat already." Serene pulled the blanket close, and under it, Lina snuggled closer. "Still too cold?"

"Turn on more hot water…"

Serene was puzzled. "Turn on hot water? I can boil water if you want."

"Wah, it's hot…"

"Um, sorry. Now what should I do?"

"Kick it higher… Yeah, that's it…"

What the heck kinda dream is this? Serene wondered. "Uh, hya!"

"Yay… go Serene…"

Serene scratched her head in confusion. Now I really don't know where this dream is going…

"Mmb… give it back… thief…"

"You're not gettin' me without a fight!" Serene answered. "Take that! Hya!"

"Aha… it doesn't even hurt…"

Serene debated pinching Lina in the arm, but suppressed the urge. "Ugh… Here, you win."

"Yay… Now, you must receive punishment…"

Lina's eyes suddenly sprang open, and she tossed Serene into the air and tackled her playfully. Serene, surprised, didn't have enough time to brace herself for the impact, and had the wind knocked out of her. "Gah!"

Lina giggled. "Playing with Lina's dreams, Serene?" She straddled Serene's waist and leaned down, bringing their faces close together. "You meanie!"

Serene managed to recover after a moment. "How long were you awake?" She grinned sheepishly. "I had no idea."

Lina sat up and looked upwards, putting a finger to her chin. "Um, Lina doesn't remember!"

Serene scratched her head. "Do you remember what dream you were having? You said something about me being yours."

"Huh?" Lina lay down front down on Serene's bare chest. Her arms snaked under Serene's neck playfully. "Um, not really… Someone was trying to steal Serene from Lina or something."

Serene's arm draped over Lina's back. "I figured it was something like that…"

"Uh-huh." Lina reached up and kissed Serene on the cheek. "Lina missed before, right?"

Serene giggled. "Yeah." She poked Lina on the nose. "I didn't really mind though."

"Okay! But this time, it's the real thing!" Lina moved her head a bit and connected with Serene's lips. She closed her eyes as Serene responded.

Energy flowed through Serene as she kissed back. She found her hands roaming about Lina's bare body, and felt Lina's hands doing the same on her own body. Lina trembled first, and Serene soon followed. After a moment, Serene broke the kiss and pulled away. Their eyes opened, and Serene found herself staring into Lina's eyes for a few seconds.

"Mm, maybe that's enough for now," Serene remarked, breaking the silence. "We've been inside all day. Let's get some fresh air."

"Okay!" Lina jumped up and hopped off, heading for the stairs.

Serene stared for a second before yelling after her, "Uh, Lina, I think maybe you should put on some clothes first?"

Lina froze in mid-step for a second before turning around, grinning sheepishly. "Uh, oh yeah…"

After a few minutes of getting dressed and fixing their hair, the two of them went outside the house. Serene held onto Crescent Darkness, draped over her shoulder, while Lina carried Diana's bow.

"Training?" Lina asked. "Where?"

"We can just head to a field somewhere," Serene replied. "We need to train up. We'll be fighting again soon, and I'm pretty sure our skills aren't as good as they should be right now. Besides, it was a couple years ago that we fought last, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Lina tossed the bow into the air a couple times. "Okay then! So I get to shoot arrows at you, and you have to block them?"

"Uh, no?" Serene chuckled. "I'd rather not do that. It's not fair."

"But Serene can't use bows!"

"I know, okay?" Serene shook her head. "I'm not sure what kind of training we should do…"

"Why don't we join up with Ein and Fia?" Lina suggested. "And Ledah too, maybe."

"Okay, good idea." Serene turned around to lock the door, but couldn't find her key.

"Looking for this?" Lina tossed a key at Serene.

"Not again!" Serene cried. "How is it you can do that without me noticing!"

"Lina's sneaky, like she said before!" Lina chirped.

Serene sighed and locked the door. After pocketing the key, she turned around and took Lina's hand. Together, they headed off to Fia's house.

---

It was around mid-afternoon when Ein got back to the house. Rather than tucking Fia in bed for the third time in three days, he decided to place her on the living room couch. It was also by her request that he did so.

After standing around for a minute, Ein decided he needed to sit down. He lifted Fia's head a little and sat down, placing her head gently on his leg. He ran his hand through her hair a few times and placed his other hand around her neck area. After a while, he was on the verge of nodding off when someone came skipping into the house, yelling his name.

Fully awake due to the unexpected arrival, Ein got up and made his way to the doorway. There he found Serene standing, leaning against the wall, while Lina jumped around the house looking for him. The blade of Serene's scythe lay on the floor, and her hand rested on the butt of the handle, keeping the scythe standing straight up.

"Couldn't you guys come in any quieter?" Ein remarked. "What's up?"

"Oh, Ein." Serene looked up at him. "We were looking for you so we could maybe train together."

"Train?" Ein scratched his head. "Um, okay, I guess. Um, who's 'we'?"

Suddenly, he felt something hit him on the back of the head, and he fell down facefirst from the impact. "Dwah!"

A giggle came from behind him. "Gotcha, Ein!"

Lina… Ein stood up and rubbed the back of his head while turning to face Lina. "What was that for?"

"To cheer Ein up!" Lina chirped. Her giant bow rested in her hand, and her other hand was balled into a fist, which she unclenched. "Lina needs some target practice! Ein wanna be a target?"

"H-hey, wait a minute. You want to shoot arrows at me?" Ein took a step back.

"Yeah, why not?" Without warning, Lina quickly loaded her bow and shot an arrow at Ein. The arrow went over his shoulder, right under his ear, and out the open door.

"Whoa! Don't do that!" Ein cried. "That came so close I could feel the air moving!"

Lina giggled. "So want to train or not, Ein?"

Ein gulped. "Um, if you agree not to shoot arrows at me?"

Serene chuckled. "Lina, let's not shoot arrows at our allies, okay?"

"Aww, but shooting Ein seems so fun!" Lina grumbled. "Okay, okay, Lina won't shoot Ein."

Ein sighed, wondering if he should trust her. "Well, I suppose I'll train some too." He glanced toward the living room where Fia lay. "Uh, I don't think we should bother Fia…"

"What happened?" Serene asked. "She seems exhausted."

"I let her try using the Angel Blade, but it zapped her strength," Ein explained. "I don't think I should have done that."

"Hey, there's no way you could've known," Serene assured him. "Come on, let's go then."

"Okay, let me get my things first." Ein headed off towards the living room to pick up Oracion and the strange rainbow sword that had possessed Fia earlier. After a short debate in his mind, he decided to take Fia's Needle of Light for training too.

"Mm, Ein… where are… you going…?"

Fia's weak voice drew Ein's attention, and he looked towards her. "Just going to go train with Serene and Lina," he answered gently. "I'll be back, don't worry. You get some rest, okay?"

Fia's eyes opened slightly. "Okay…"

Ein leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. With some thought, he headed upstairs to grab a small blanket and brought it to Fia. After laying the blanket over her, he turned and left the living room to join Serene and Lina, who were waiting outside.

---

"So if you add a laughshroom to this potion and make someone drink it, he'll start crying and won't stop?"

Cierra held a laughshroom over a potion in a glass flask. "Yeah, that's right."

"But doesn't a laughshroom make someone laugh like crazy?" Soala asked. The two of them were making potions in the Magic Guild.

"Normally, yes, but this potion reverses the effect and makes the victim cry," Cierra explained. She dumped the mushroom into the flask and sealed it with a stopper. She then proceeded to shake the flask, and when she finished, the mushroom had disappeared, dissolved into the solution inside, which was turning reddish-brown.

Soala nearly recoiled in shock. "Uh, that looks disgusting…"

"Want to try it?" Cierra asked sweetly. "It's supposed to taste like raw meat mixed with eggs."

"If it tasted like anything good, I might try it." Soala flailed her hands in front of her. "Sounds disgusting the way you put it."

Cierra giggled. "Well, it's supposed to taste like sweet chocolate if you cast some spell on it, but the spell escapes me…"

"Huh? Chocolate? Really?" Soala's ears perked up. "I love chocolate!"

"That's for another day, Soala…" Cierra sat the bottle down. Its contents continued to fizz as gas bubbled out of solution. "Have you the staff I asked you to make a while ago?"

"Oh, the staff!" Soala went to a desk drawer and pulled it out. The drawer was full of junk that didn't have any known use to sprites, but to Soala, the junk usually helped her make things, as she often needed the strangest of ingredients. "Now I know it's in here somewhere…" Soala's voice muffled as she rummaged through the drawer.

Cierra drummed her fingers on the table absentmindedly as she waited. "How's the search coming?" she asked after a few minutes. "You know it helps to be organized."

"Mmph, I knowph, I knowph…"

"It seems like your drawer's about as organized as Lina's room is," Cierra remarked. "Random clothes here and there, a bow here, a claw there, a banango peel under the bed…"

"Mmph! Youph distracfting me!"

"I'm diffracting you? Oh dear, that's not good at all… So you're spreading outwards because of me… you're getting fat?"

"Mmbb… fergepth ith…" Soala's head reappeared a couple seconds after. "Okay, got it!" She held up a golden staff about six inches long. The bottom was rounded, and the top was decorated with an astrological symbol that resembled Riviera. Soala chanted a spell quietly, and the staff grew in size to about 18 inches. "Here it is, a compact, powerful staff, the Golden Rod."

Cierra took the staff out of Soala's hand and held it up. "Golden Rod, you say? It's pretty light." She flipped it around playfully. "What's the spell you used to enlarge it?"

Soala repeated the spell, and Cierra tried it out on the staff. It suddenly grew to about four and a half feet long. "Whoa! What?"

"Oh, eh heh, that's the enlarge spell," Soala explained sheepishly. "Each time you use it, it triples the length. You also have to be in contact with the staff in some way, like holding it or taping it to your back or something like that."

"Isn't there a shrinking spell?" Cierra asked, panicking. "I don't want to lug around a staff that's almost as tall as I am…"

"Yeah, there is," Soala replied, giggling. She recited the spell, which Cierra promptly repeated. The staff returned to about 18 inches. She repeated the spell again, and it shrunk to 6 inches.

"That's so useful!" Cierra giggled. "I better start training with this soon!"

"Yeah, you better," Soala affirmed. "Whew, I can finally take a break!"

"Okay, I'll see you later then!" Cierra waved as she left.

"Hey, wait!" Soala cried. "What are you going to do with this!" She held up the bottled potion.

"Just leave it there for now," Cierra called back. "I'll come back to pick it up later!"

"Hmph…" Soala grumbled. "I wonder if I can sneak this into Claude's drink sometime?" A grin came on her face as she planned it in her head.

"Well, well, where shall I go now?" Cierra said to herself as she left the cavern. "Maybe I should go train with Ein and the others…" Cierra started off down the path to the house. When she reached the house, Coco redirected her towards a grassy field elsewhere, saying the master was out training. With that, Cierra headed off to join up with Ein and company.

--

A/N: Ever wonder how you can mess with someone's dream? I do sometimes. I wonder if how loud you are will affect how well you mess with the "victim"'s dream?

Ah, yes, adding a laughshroom to a random potion makes someone cry. Don't try that at home, folks XD. Besides, I just randomly made it up… if you do try it, at least don't drink it, 'cause there's like a 70 chance you'll either get really sick or just die, heh heh XD

The Golden Rod… I have yet to make Cierra's overdrive. Golden Burst? Golden Flare? Expensive Boutique? Who knows XD

Well, here's all I can do for a preview for now…

Chapter 22: A Tour of the Village part 2 (Release date TBA)

Rose and Ledah settle down to relax after meeting the blacksmith Chappi. While resting at the grove, they meet Mursya and Reiche... (That's honestly all I have written so far… again, my sincerest apologies. Until next time, then!)