I dusted myself off and began to follow Ryan once more.
"I'm beginning to find this hopeless. . ." Lire said. Me too.
"Truthfully, I think so too," Arme said, agreeing.
"Uh oh," I heard Ryan growl.
"What is it, doggy?"
Ryan snapped at me before pointing his nose to a pile of armor, its wearer missing.
"Armor?" Arme cautiously approached the pile.
"Whoa, Ronan stripped!" I cried out.
"I'd rather not find him," Arme muttered. "At least, not me. . ."
"Uh, same here," Lire agreed. "So, uhm, Lass, Ryan, looks like you two should go find him?"
"I guess. . ." Ryan growled.
"But wouldn't he have clothes under his armor?" I rubbed the back of my head a bit. "I really don't wanna. . ."
"We're all men," Ryan said. "Except you might be missing a. . ." He didn't get a chance to finish before I threw a kunai at the puppy, but he ducked it.
"Sorry, Arme!" Ryan gulped. Apparently, Arme silently threatened Ryan.
"Let's go," I grumbled.
"If we don't find him soon, we're going to have to give up," Arme sighed.
Lire nodded reluctantly.
I ran ahead of Ryan, as he dropped down onto all fours to run faster.
"Great, I'm a slow runner," Lire said.
"You're lucky you can actually run," Arme countered. Soon, we left them behind.
"Slow-ass wolf!" I taunted.
"Some assassin you are!" Ryan countered. "Can't even catch your breath, can you?"
"Shut up!" I yelled.
I felt a whack to the back of my head as Ryan swatted me with his big, hairy paw, and I stumbled forward. In fact, I rolled right off a ledge, but luckily, it was only a few feet. When I looked up, I saw Ronan. He seemed to be wearing some new clothes, and had his gaze turned skyward.
"Hey, it's Ronan," I said to myself. Then, calling to the others, I yelled out, "Hey, I've found Ronan!"
It seemed only Ryan heard as he jumped down next to me, huma-er, elven again. "What?!" Then he turned and saw Ronan and cried out, "Ronan, hey!" Ronan didn't answer.
I approached, thinking nothing wrong, and began, "Ronan, hey, Elesis-" before a strong wind started. It seemed to be coming from Ronan.
"Ronan?!" Ryan seemed as confused as I was.
"Abyss Storm. . ." Ronan's voice. . . It sounded so hollow.
"Ronan, what are you doing?!" Ryan cried out.
"Why do I have to be a light weight?!" I yelled, as the wind blew me back to the base of the ledge. I landed pretty heavily, despite me complaining about being light. Guess gravity does that to you.
Then I heard, from behind Ronan, "R-Ronan?" He turned around, eyes clouded, slowly. Behind him was Elesis.
"Ronan. . ." she began. "You hate me, don't you. . ." He looked confusedly at her.
"That's why you left us, isn't it?" Elesis sounded tired. . . How long had she been traveling?!
"Elesis?" Ronan sounded surprised. "Is that you?"
"Yes. . ." she answered, "of course it's me. . . Who else has red hair that's this long. . .?" She coughed slightly before continuing. "I'm also the only one that looks close to death at the moment." Indeed she did. In fact, Elesis was bleeding again, and she looked a bit pale.
"Elesis, I. . . Never meant. . ." Ronan sighed in frustration, and then opened his left hand. I saw a small, golden gleam, and I could make out the small, round shape. A ring.
"I. . . must be a burden now. . . aren't I?" Elesis asked.
Ronan looked at the ring in his hand, then back at Elesis. "I. . ." He stumbled backwards a bit, as if someone had struck him. "Please, under. . . stand. . ." His voice quivered as he spoke.
"Ronan. . . please. . . don't leave. . . ever again. . ." It seemed as if Elesis wasn't aware of what Ronan had said. She seemed a bit delirious from blood loss. Her eyes seemed clouded.
"Take it, Elesis. . ." Ronan began to shake. He held his head, yelling, "It hurts!" Headache?
"T-Take w-what?" Elesis asked. She seemed about ready to fall over.
Then, Ronan began to laugh, a strange, twisted, demented laugh. It chilled me to hear him laugh this way.
"I've done it. . ." he whispered, as I heard Arme and Lire approach. Looks like they finally arrived.
"W-What's going on?" Arme asked immediately.
"I've broken the will of one of the most faithful members of Grand Chase. . ." Ronan seemed to answer. "The Royal Guard Master of Kanavan, eh?"
Oh crap.
"N-No. . . Don't tell me. . ." Arme whispered, fear in her voice. Ronan laughed, psychotically.
"K-K-Kaze'aze. . . a-again. . ." Arme looked frightened, and so was I.
"Kaze'aze?!" Lire exclaimed. "No. . ."
"Ronan Erudon's body. . . is mine!" Kaze'aze exclaimed, through Ronan.
"Kaze. . . aze. . .?" Elesis murmured. It seemed only now, did she realize it.
"That's right. . ." Ronan answered.
"If you're Kaze'aze. . ." Elesis said, "then that means I have to kill you. . . right?" Wait, did Elesis mean she would kill Ronan simply because he was possessed by Kaze'aze? Was her mind that muddled?
"E-Elesis?" Lire called out.
"She's. . . suffering from blood loss," Arme explained. "Her moving around. . . opening her wounds up. . . not bothering to stop the blood flow. . ."
Ronan crossed his arms and held up his left arm. "Poor girl." He swung his tyrfing behind him as Ryan was almost upon our possessed teammate.
"Ouch!" Ryan cried out, falling backwards.
Elesis then took her sword out, but held it as if it weighed a ton to her. She staggered slightly before she ran at Ronan.
"D-Die. . . witch. . ." she uttered. Her breath came out in short, ragged gasps.
"N-No, Lass, stop her!" Arme cried out. I ran towards Ronan, only to be blown back as he turned to face me, so I just stayed where I was, helpless against the powerful wind.
Ryan stood up, holding the arm that Ronan had cut.
Elesis swung her sword, with great effort, at Ronan, who had his back turned to her. He yelped as her sword hit him, weakly. Ronan jumped back from her a bit.
"Y-You shall finally f-fall, Kaze'aze. . ." she said weakly, before stumbling forward, ready to strike again.
"No, Elesis, stop!" Ryan cried out, and threw himself at Elesis. As Ryan passed Ronan, Ryan was hit on the back of his head with the hilt of Ronan's tyrfing, who chuckled a bit. Ryan landed near Elesis, who stumbled over the elven idiot. She used the fall to try and hit Ronan again. He turned around, Elesis was right there in front of him. She was painfully slow.
"I guess I should just kill Ronan now, hm?" Ronan thoughtfully said aloud. "Or Elesis can do it for me. . . A burden on your conscience, hm?"
Elesis missed and fell forward, not bothering to stop herself.
"Huh?" Ronan said, surprised. "Worthless." He grabbed Elesis' left hand as she fell, catching her.
"I'm dead, aren't I. . .?" Elesis asked.
"Perhaps. . ." Ronan muttered. He held up Elesis' left hand with his right hand, and slid the ring over her ring finger.
"W-What is this. . ." Elesis asked.
"The ring that. . . Ronan wanted you to have. . ." he answered.
"A-Are you mocking me now, K-Kaze'aze?" Elesis tried to sound fierce, but failed miserably.
"Perhaps. . ." Ronan grabbed Elesis' right hand, which held her sword, and held it so the blade pressed against his neck. "Doesn't this just make you angry. . .?"
"Not. . . really. . ." Elesis coughed.
Ronan snorted before he said, "Come on, kill me. . ."
"How can I. . ." Elesis muttered, "when I'm so close to death. . . I mean, look at me, I can hardly even stand. . ."
"Do you want me to do it then, feeble girl?" Ronan asked, sneering.
"If. . . you want. . ." Elesis answered. "I'll be happy that we'll. . . die together. . ." She fell unconscious then. The sword fell out of her hands, but Ronan kept his grip on it, and it cut his neck slightly, blood trickling through the cut.
Ronan growled and tossed Elesis aside. "That doesn't matter," he snarled.
As Ronan walked over to a tree, rubbing some of the leaves onto his neck, Elesis murmured, "I'll still love you. . ."
"Now, Ronan is withdrawing. . . from Grand Chase. . ." Ronan muttered. "Good luck killing me now." He pulled the scarf draped around his neck closer to him, hiding the bleeding.
"No. . ." Arme said. "Ronan, please fight back!"
"Ronan. . . who?" Ronan turned and laughed, looking at us. Suddenly, his eyes seemed to change. He fell to the ground, and cried, "Arme, everyone. . . Elesis. . . please. . . I'm sorry. . ."
"Ronan, please. . ." Arme begged, "come back to yourself. Fight Kaze'aze' off!"
"Stop me. . ." Ronan pleaded. He began to yell out, holding his head. "I. . . I can't!"
"I'm sorry Ronan, but we can't do anything. . ." Arme said grimly. "This is a mental battle only you can fight, Ronan. . ."
"It's too late," Ronan said, chuckling. It seems that. . . Kaze'aze won. . . No. . .
"Ronan, please, without you, Elesis will. . . will. . ." Arme couldn't finish.
Ronan stood up, brushing his hair to the side. "Ronan. . . I broke his spirit. . . First, by cursing his beloved." He looked at Elesis coldly. "Ronan was easy to break. . ." Crossing his arms, frowning, he finished, "If you want Ronan back, then you'll just have to fetch him."
"Ronan, you know as much as I do that Elesis would never give up hope on you!" Arme was talking to Ronan, not Kaze'aze. "No matter what you did to her, she still loved you! Even when you told her that you didn't love her that long time ago, she told me it hurt to think about you, but she did so every day, because she didn't want to forget you." Arme paused. "And now, you're going to throw it all away, by letting this mangy dog called Kaze'aze beat you." Arme practically spat out Kaze'aze's name as if it were a bitter taste.
Ronan blinked. "That's very touching. . ." Ronan said sarcastically.
"If it makes you feel better, Kaze'aze", Arme said, "Elesis is going to die very soon. I hope you're happy. And once she dies, there's nothing stopping me from going all-out on you, no matter who you possess." Wait, what if I was the one possessed again after Ronan?!
"Ronan can't hear you, he's gone numb," Ronan said, smiling.
"Then I'll unnumb him until he wakes up again!" Arme snarled, before she raised her staff, the larger one. Large, flaming boulders began to rain down from the sky. Ronan, caught off-guard, dodged clumsily, but he was struck by a few of the boulders, getting a tad burnt and fell to the ground. He winced, and then said, "Not going to happen." Ronan twitched slightly before he got up.
"I'll never stop hunting you, Kaze'aze, not until your last breath, your last heartbeat, your last words, are taken by me, and I will do so, no matter the cost. . ." Arme threatened. I knew she meant it, and I shuddered.
Arme swung her staff towards Ronan, the tip pointing at him. I could see the air swirling around her staff, seemingly thickening, before being propelled forward, a powerful attack, her Air Blast. Ronan tried to dodge, but he didn't make it in time. Even when I plugged my ears up tightly, his scream penetrated deep into me.
"Die, Kaze'aze, die!" Arme yelled.
"Stop! Arme!" Ronan cried out. It sounded as if it were Ronan, pleading. The sadness, the pain, the sorrow that filled his voice nearly made me break down.
"I will not stop until Kaze'aze has released you," Arme said apologetically. "Until then, I'm sorry, Ronan." Arme shot out a spear of ice at Ronan, thus freezing him. She walked over to the frozen Ronan and said softly, "How does it feel to be trapped, Kaze'aze. . .?"
"I think," Ronan said, voice sounding thin through the ice, "it was more exciting in the girl's body. . ."
"Oh, you think?" Arme said icily, before summoning a pillar of lightning. Ronan shrieked in pain as the lightning struck him.
"You shall suffer again, Kaze'aze, just like when you were in Elesis' body. . ." As Arme spoke, spears of ice erupted from the ground, piercing through Ronan's limbs, through the ice. He screamed again.
"How does it feel, Kaze'aze. . ." Arme asked. "Painful?"
"Yes. . ." Ronan answered. "I love it. . ." He began to laugh weakly, before he began to convulse a bit.
"Good," Arme muttered, tapping the ice. She reached behind her, under her cloak, and pulled out a green vial, and let it shatter at her feet. A green cloud began to engulf the ice, slowly melting it, yet also bringing pain to Ronan.
"Damn you," Ronan muttered, closing his eyes. "I'll retreat for now. . . But next time. . ." He opened his eyes, and began to cough, causing blood to stream from his mouth.
"You'll be next!" Ronan whispered sharply, before a black mist seemed to seep into the air, out of Ronan, out of the ice, and into the atmosphere.
"I'll be ready for you then. . ." Arme whispered, before she melted the ice. Ronan fell to the ground, coughing.
"Ronan, are you okay?" Arme asked. He turned away.
"It's hard to resist Kaze'aze. . ." Arme muttered, trying to reassure him, but Ronan didn't seem convinced.
"Don't be ashamed, Ronan," she said, as if reading his mind. "I mean, Lass couldn't, not even Elesis could, and I most likely won't either." I looked down. It was Kaze'aze's words, for she had tricked me. Perhaps I was simply weak of mind. . .
I looked up as I heard Ronan standing up. He bit his lip, as if to hold back a cry of pain.
"How do you feel?" Arme asked.
"I'm in pain," Ronan answered, "but I'm fine."
"I'll tend to your wounds," Arme offered, but Ronan walked, walked past her, to Elesis. He sat down beside her and held her close, kissing her forehead. I stood up and walked over to Ronan, but kept my distance, giving him some space. I could hear Elesis' faint breath, almost nonexistent. It seemed as if she could very easily die at any moment.
Ronan closed his eyes, and muttered, "Holy Inferno," bathing the both of them with a soft, blue light. Eyes still closed, he whispered, "Elesis, I love you. . ." Ronan lifted up Elesis' left hand, and kissed the ring on it. She moved slightly, but otherwise didn't respond. Ronan put her hand down, and didn't move after that.
It began to rain.