Boot Disc Battle

The team took to the Sea Dragon once again and headed towards the temple. It wasn't too hard to find; Stahn knew that inlet well. Once there, they saw that it was quite subdued in color with plain stone statues forming columns along the sides.

"I should stay at the first door," Garr suggested, "After all, I'm the one without a working Swordian and if he'll open it then that frees the others up a little longer."

With that, the young king walked up to the depression on the wall. He placed his blade within the slot and waited. When the Core Crystal came in contact with the hidden cache, it activated the mechanism to open the doorway for the others.

"We'll be back soon with the Boot Disc, so don't worry," Stahn told him.

Garr replied, "Good luck to all of you. Just stick together and you'll be fine."

Soon, in the next room, they came across another depression. Philia stepped forward; it was her turn now. "Don't worry about me; I'll be safe here with Clemente. So just get the Boot Disc."

-Yes, I'll protect her,- Clemente added, -Philia is in good hands with me here.-

'That's what worries me,' thought both Stahn and Rutee.

Leon muttered, "Well, don't screw it up so we can get through and bring back the stupid disc. I just want to get this over with as soon as possible; I've got more important things to worry about."

Clemente scoffed as Philia put him in the depression. -Temper, temper young man. You've got to learn a little patience if you want to get anywhere in life. Youngsters these days…they don't seem to want to mind their elders. At least your sister can act polite sometimes.-

"I'd kill you if you weren't important to the mission," muttered Rutee, "I'm the good sibling here."

In the next room, they came across yet another depression. Stahn was counting on his fingers and realized it had to be the last one. Leon wondered why he was relying on that moron to watch over his sister when they were in combat together.

"You'd better not fool around in there; I don't need you two deciding to make out in the corner when there's an enemy about," Leon put in.

Rutee yelled, "Now see here young man! I'm not that irresponsible and I don't have feelings for Stahn like that! He's just my good friend and I'm happy to fight by his side and protect the world and our friends and family. Why don't you just shut up and stop putting your problems onto me."

His temperature rose a hundred degrees. "You have no right…no right to talk to me like that after what I've been forced to put up with! For starters…."

"All right!" Lilith interjected, "Stop the bickering you two. I'm going to go ahead with Stahn and Rutee so just open up the door and leave your sister alone. What's your issue, anyway?"

Leon said not another word as he opened the way for the others to step through the door. Rutee took one last look back at her brother with sorrow; why hadn't she taken his feelings into consideration when making a quip? But what's done was done and they had to move on.

"Chaltier," Leon asked once they'd gone on, "Will it all work out? Why did it have to happen?"

-Bocchan! I know that your father will find out what's going on there. And perhaps we'll discover a clue as well. Your sister wants to support you; I believe you should let her help out,- the Swordian said.

S...S

The trio arrived at the inner sanctum not too long afterwards. There, they beheld a misshapen monster that resembled a Dragon Knight. However, it had been twisted by the emanations from the room and grew in power. Rutee and Stahn both unsheathed their Swordians while Lilith held her frying pan out with a vengeance.

Rutee screamed, "I'm going to kick your ass, damn monster…Bloody Rose!" She charged the enemy and began furiously striking out with Atwight. Stahn rushed in as well to add his own attacks to the mix. The monster was knocked back, but still not out and it lumbered towards them.

Lilith smirked as she watched. 'Perfect! They won't even know I'm not fighting, though I will step in if someone is about to get hurt. I'll see how they work together and form a new plan from there.'

Using her Snipe Air technique, Rutee found her way above the enemy's head and dove down on top of it, while Stahn swiped at the monster with his Dragon Blade. Then it was his turn to use Spin Flare to make a diving attack while she struck with Snipe Roar. Then, the two Swordian Masters ran at the beast from both sides, striking it as one. It began to convulse, and die.

"Well, we did it!" exclaimed Rutee, "That chest must hold the Boot Disc." She walked up to it and opened the box. Finding what appeared to be a larger Aura Disc, she pocketed it as well.

"Let's get back to the others, Rutee, Lilith," Stahn replied. Both nodded and they turned back.

S...S

Each of their friends was happy to see them, even Leon who still looked to be on edge about something. Rutee shot him an apologetic look; Stahn thought that whatever was wrong must have been set off by Rutee's earlier words.

But when they arrived at the front chamber, the familiar sound of Belcrant firing went off again. Then, the earth shook and they could hear the ground as it rose up into the sky. Stahn clenched his fist; whoever this was wouldn't get away with it.

Garr stated, "We must not be hasty. Delivering this Boot Disc to Raiker and his assistant is our first priority. Then, we can go after the guilty party in the theft of the Eye of Atamoni."

Stahn nodded. "Sorry if I seem impatient. I just can't stand what this guy is doing."

"None of us can," Rutee added, "But we've got to make sure to keep our heads about it. If we don't, then we can fall in battle. I don't want to lose any of you. Promise me, everyone, promise that you'll do everything in your power to come back home safely."

Everyone agreed to her promise and they walked back to the Sea Dragon. Boarding it, the team began to steer their way to Radisrol once again. But despite the promise, dread was still in all of their hearts; the enemy was strong enough to kill about forty five people in a single night, and char the bodies. It would take a lot of hard work and friendship to prevent even one death.

"Garr…why'd you take so long to return? I was getting bored waiting in this stuffy old shell!" exclaimed a small, female voice from the back of the Dragon.

The team turned to see a girl of about fourteen with piercing green eyes and long pink hair done up in ponytails from a clip on top of her head. The girl wore a poofy green skirt and a semi-halter top with poofy green sleeves and pink, black and blue triangles over the front of it. She was both smiling and angry at the same time, while Garr and Stahn were shocked.

The king exclaimed, "Chelsea! Why have you come here?"

He saw the girl begin to pout. "Well, you were going to leave me all alone in the palace and go off somewhere fun again. So I followed you and snuck on the ship when you left port. Then, I continued to follow you onto the Dragon and off of it every time you went on or off. I've had enough and wanted to speak with you. Oh…hi Stahn!"

"This is great," muttered Leon, "First we get saddled with the hyper sister, and now the little kid. What's next, a wandering tamer of a flea circus?"

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words...

Ok, what is Leon's issue? Why is he even more moody than usual and how come it's got Rutee on edge as well? Will Lilith succeed in her matchmaking scheme? And will my "a" button stop sticking long enough for me to type out a chapter?