hapter 25

Elise walked down the sidewalk during the afternoon while she held a single orange flower in her right hand. And as she looked at the sCmall flower she smiled and said out loud to herself, "Wow this flower is SO pretty. I hope Jambavan will like it." When she came up to the end of the sidewalk though she saw the bear beastman standing on the other side of the road getting ready to cross it. Seeing this prompted her to smile and wave at him as she added, "Jambavan, over here!" Upon saying this she saw the bear smile and wave back at her before he looked both ways and crossed the street. And once he was in front of her she went on with, "Hi, Jambavan! I'm glad I ran into you. But aren't you suppose to be in school right now?"

"Hello, Elise. And well, I guess I normally would be... B-But I asked for some time off." The gray and white furred beastman explained catching the princess off guard.

"Wow, really?! But won't you fall behind in your classes?" Elise asked concern clear in her voice.

She watched as Jambavan just smiled at her and reassured her, "There is no need for you to worry about that since I got most of the later assignments done already."

"Wow, you did?! Boy, you sure are smart, Jambavan." The pig tailed girl commented before she saw the bear lightly blush out of embarrassment. After this occurred the two began to walk down the sidewalk together. As they did this though the princess found herself looking down at the sidewalk a little while she added, "Hey, Jambavan, um I don't mean to be pry or anything. But why DID you ask for some time off from school?"

To the girl's surprise she thought she saw the bear's blush darken a little when he asked, "W-Well actually I've got a question for you, Elise... When you and your friends go back to your world, will you end up fighting monsters like what we encountered a few nights ago?"

"Hmm, that's a good question. I guess we MIGHT end fighting some Faceless. But why do you ask?" Elise answered back as she looked up at the bear.

Before she knew it she saw the beastman had stopped walking and had knelt down in front of her so that they were at almost eye level. Once he did this she felt him place both of his hands onto her shoulders while he told her, "I just wanted to know because...because I want to go back with you. This way I can keep you safe. A-And honestly after I had dropped you off a few nights ago I began to worry about what might happen to you..." Elise looked up at the bear's gray colored eyes and saw a few tears fall down his face before he continued, "And just thinking about those things ended up keeping me up at night. A-And that's because I-I really like you, Elise... You're so kind and considerate towards others. And when I'm around you...I always find myself smiling and being happy."

Hearing those words from the anthro bear caused Elise to blush as well as she replied, "Wow Jambavan, I had no idea you felt that way about me. But hearing you say that makes me really happy." She then remembered about the flower in her hand. And upon lifting it up and showing it to him she added, "That's actually kind of why I wanted to give you this flower. Because I really like you too. And well, I also wanted to give it to you as a way to say thanks for what you did a few nights ago."

To the princess's surprise she felt the beastman gently take the flower out of her hand before he placed it into his outer jacket pocket. Once he did this she saw more tears fall down his face when he said, "T-Thank you Elise. You don't know how much this means to me. B-But I'm afraid I'll have to finish my schooling before we can be boyfriend and girlfriend though..."

The princess gently lifted up her left hand towards the bear's face when she told him, "Don't worry, Jambavan. No matter how long it takes I'm confident it'll be worth the wait."

ooooooo

Azura found herself walking to the lake that she had been going to since arriving in Tokyo for what she knew would be for the last time. Upon reaching the lake though the young woman was surprised when she saw Bathym staring out onto the small body of water. And as she made her way towards him she softly called out, "Hello, Bathym. I wasn't expecting to run into you... Especially after what I did last time..." And once she was standing next to the anthro wolf she added in a sad tone, "Again I am truly sorry for what happened."

The singer looked up at the grayish pink furred wolf when she heard him let out a heavy sigh. She then saw him look down at her as he remarked, "You don't have to apologize, Azura. And if you left in such a hurry because you thought I was mad. Well, than let me tell you right now that I wasn't angry, just confused as to what happened."

"I understand, but I cannot deny these feelings of regret for what I did. And to be honest I had no idea that my pendent had the power to separate two demons from one another." The light blue haired woman confessed as she looked down at the blue jewel. While she did this though she added in wonder, "But that brings up a question. Why did you have that demon possess your tail to begin with?"

At first Azura heard nothing from the demon wolf other then a sigh causing her to look up at him again. When she did she a sad expression on his face as he explained, "Ok, ok I suppose I should tell you why Tail-chan was possessing my tail. You see my kind used to be loved and adored back in my home world. But something changed to where instead of love and admiration the people who visited us began to fear us instead. ...And honestly I didn't want people to fear me. All I want is for people to love and admire me. Which is what led me to making a deal with Tail-chan. Because upon meeting him he said that he could make anyone fall for me, or whatever else I wanted. The catch was that...I had to give him a part of my soul to do it."

"What?! You gave up some of your soul just so you could put people under some sort of spell to where they would love and admire you?" The young woman commented, shock clear in her voice.

"Yup, that's what I did. But for some reason when I met you my usual tactics didn't seem to have an affect on you. At first I thought maybe it was because of your pendent, which could still be the reason why Tail-chan wasn't able to get you to "fall" for me." The horned wolf admitted, before Azura saw and than felt him place his right hand on her cheek. She then saw that his eyes were partly closed when he added, "But I think it never worked because I was the one who fall for you right away instead."

"If that's true than may I ask why you had hit on Corrin before we left for our date quite a few nights ago?" Azura asked while her eyebrows narrowed a little.

"Awe, there's no need to be jealous, Azura. I only wanted to see how he would react is all." Bathym remarked with a grin on his face. This only lasted for a few seconds though when he continued, "But you know when I look into your eyes I get the feeling you want to tell me something. What is it?"

"I'm afraid I've come to say goodbye. Later tonight Corrin and I along with the others will be going back to our world to finish our fight against the Kingdom of Valla once and for all." Azura stated to which she saw a twinkle in the wolf's eyes.

And before she knew it the anthro wolf had moved his hand away from her face and placed it against her side. He then started to walk away from the lake as he exclaimed, "Well alright then, let's get going!"

"What?! You're willing to come back with us? What if something happens to you while we're there? What if we run into that demon you call Tail-chan? I'm afraid I cannot agree to you willingly throwing your life away like this." The white dressed woman remarked as she looked up at him with a worried look.

"Oh Azura, everything will be fine. Besides you need a dazzling fighter like me on your side. With my amazing moves we'll win the day for sure!" Bathym slightly yelled out causing Azura to be taken aback by his words.

She knew that she most likely could not get him to change his mind as she told him, "Very well Bathym. But just promise me that you'll be careful while you're "performing on stage"."

"Sure, sure. No problem." The anthro wolf replied while the two walked out of the park As they did this though he mentally went on with, "Although what will happen to me if Tail-chan is there? Will I die completely? Will I get back the part of my soul that he stole from me? I guess I won't find out until that time comes."