Okay, um... First of all, forgive the unbelievably long time of me updating this story... My excuse is that I joined a writing contest wherein the winner gets to have an untranslated doujin get translated! I couldn't pass up the chance to miss it so I used all my time and began to create my story... unfortunately...
This chapter went longer than I intended... I figured I should lengthen this chapter, but it looks like I went overboard... but hey, that's not a bad thing, right? Heck, it's a GOOD thing! The longer it is, the better!... Oh wait... nevermind... length is no good when the contents are no good as well... well, hopefully, I did good on this one... Read and review to help and motivate me :D
Oh, and if you guys want to see my entry, go to my profile and find my story, titled 'Quality'. Hope you enjoy :D
Anyways, this story is simply a filler; it's canonical, but I felt that the next chapter I intended wouldn't give much of a good impact, so I gave this as a sort off filler... and DANG what a filler! It's friggin long!
Chapter 5: Magic of Love
*Ding Dong*!
"Commin~!" The voice of a little boy, named Aramis, answered as the doorbell rang, a clear signal of a visitor (or a daring burglar, whichever fits the netherworld after all) in an attempt to attain the attention of the house's tenant... Although it doesn't show on Aramis's face, he sometimes wish for the visitor to be cruel enough to attempt to rob him... so that he can kill him and literally butcher him so he could have more 'pieces' to work on for his zombie collection... *ahem* But instead of a crook, he was a bit surprised to find his friend, Flare.
Flare looked rather sullen, clearly having something troubling her mind.
"...You look terrible. What happened?" Aramis bluntly asked.
Flare sighed. "...Lady Tomoe isn't in the mood to teach me anything right now... And I couldn't find Sir Davis..." Flare sulked.
...Aramis sweatdropped. "...How is getting free time a bad thing?"
"I don't mind getting time off from training... it's just that I don't like to see Lady Tomoe so sad..." Flare replied, wearing a sad expression.
"...Er... Pardon me asking, but... Why didn't you use the dimensional gate to get here? Why walk all the way here?" Aramis said, curiosity getting to him with why Flare had to appear by the door.
"...I was just wandering around, looking for Sir Davis, when I inadvertently walked all the way here..." Flare said, keeping her sullen expression...
Aramis was more surprised than amazed; normally, it would take about half an hour to walk all the way to Aramis's house from the overlord's castle... But Flare was too preoccupied with looking for Davis to notice where she's been going... But other than Flare's uncanny way of getting to one place to another, Aramis could care less, seeing Flare's seemingly sad face... Aramis may be a rude boy, but even he can feel sympathy for his friends... Aramis also wore a sad face as he saw his friend in such a state... "Sorry 'bout that... A-anyways, c'mon in. Forget your woes in here, alright?" Aramis kindly suggested.
Flare's frown slightly turned upside-down. "...Thanks." Flare said as she accepted Aramis's kind gesture and entered his home.
As they headed for Aramis's room, feint groans were heard, as is someone was simply a breath away from death... such noises weren't unfamiliar in Aramis's house since Aramis's hobby is zombie assembling... but his zombies aren't supposed to make any noise unless they were being put together… so the only reason the zombies were groaning is…
"Ah! I almost forgot!" Aramis suddenly exclaimed. "Will! Come out of there and let me introduce you to Flare."
Just as Aramis called out to 'Will', a curious head popped out from Aramis's room.
Flare met Will's pure, orange eyes wearing a small pair of spectacles resting just above his nose; the white-haired head, downed with some sort of hat that resembled that of a… monster…? More like a skull of sorts, with dark, swirls for eyes on it with stitches on its maw, probably to resemble teeth. On the upper-side, was a bit of extra cloth with a brown ring of sorts with yellow linings… the hat's ears? Speaking of ears, the boy (Yes, he's a boy) wore a pair of brown orb earrings with yellow linings, much like his hat's accessory.
"U…Ummm…" The boy named 'Will' simply stammered.
"Will, this is Flare." Aramis happily introduced. "Flare, this is Will, the one I told you about."
"Oh." Flare looked at 'Will' with a small bit of curiosity. "…I'm Flare. A pleasure." Flare bowed politely; neither smile nor frown, Flare simply kept staring at Will with a plain expression.
"U-uh, Th-the pleasure's all mine." Will replied as he nodded, somehow able to give a good response, despite stuttering.
Flare raised a brow with wonder at Will for his behavior. "...What's with him?" Flare asked Aramis.
"Dunno. He's never acted like that. Oh sure, he may be the shy type, but he's never like this."
"…Huh… oh well." Flare shrugged and faced Will. "So what are you doing?"
Before Will could respond (since he was a bit slow), Aramis interrupted… "Uh, assembling zombies, Duh!"
"I know that." Flare pouted at Aramis's rather rude statement.
"Then why'd you ask him what he was doing?"
"Uhhh…" Will was about to speak but-
"I was just being nice. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate or something." Flare said, causing Will to sweatdrop hard.
"That's some weird way of showing kindness." Aramis scoffed.
"U-ummm…" Will tried to get their attention but-
"At least I was showing kindness. What about you?"
"Uh guys…" Will called out, but-
"He's in my house, isn't he? And I'm letting him assemble some zombies, isn't he?"
"Hey, guys…" Will called out again but-
"Yeah, you're letting us make some zombies alright. But you won't even let us keep it!" Flare retorted.
"Guys…" Will called out again but-
"What, zombie parts don't grow on trees you know." Aramis said, still oblivious of Will calling.
"Oh please. Just kill some random demon out there and you've got yourself some zombie parts."
"Guys!" Will called out again, with a much louder voice than the last… but-
"Hey, getting zombie parts isn't as simple as you think; ya gotta think about the quality of the parts! A bad part is a fatal flaw in zombie assembling!" Aramis said. (Starting to sound like a nerd)
"What good is quality when you don't even have variety? It's more fun to have more parts to choose from." Flare debated.
"GUYS!" Will finally shouted, GINALLY earning the two's attention. "U…um… W-why don't we just forget who's right and who's wrong and let's just assemble some zombies, alright?" Will kindly suggested.
After looking at Will, both Aramis and Flare slowly looked at each other… then both shrugged and went in Aramis's room.
"(I still think variety over quality)" Flare mumbled.
"What was that?" Aramis asked, hearing Flare's voice.
"Oh nothing, nothing." Flare coolly and quickly brushed Aramis off.
Will sensed the growing heavy atmosphere and sweatdropped. "U-Um… A-Aramis, Wh-what do you think of the zombie I just assembled?" Will said, hoping to avert the impending feud of right and wrong.
Without being asked, Flare reflexively looked at Will and his zombie.
As Will asked, Aramis carefully examined Will's zombie creation… and sweatdropped. "Uhhh… this is your creation…? It looks… uh… how do I put it…?"
Will silently snickered.
Aramis couldn't bring it to words… Will's 'creation' was somewhat… no; more like it WASN'T humanoid… it had big chicken legs with a humanoid leg sticking out of where its butthole should be… its tail? It had a normal head… with a smaller one just on the left side of his neck. It had arms with… two forearms? "*cluck cluck*!" the zom-… er… 'Creature'… made a sound; instead of the typical zombie groan, it… um… clucked like a chicken? For its torso, it was that of a very muscular humanoid's.
Looking at the entirety of the… handmade… THING… Aramis couldn't help but struggle to hold his laughter.
Flare also gawked at Will's… STRANGE creation… then suddenly tried to hold her laughter from escaping, which was in vain. "Ahahahahaha! Wh- hah- at's that supposed to be? Hhahahahaha!" Flare laughed her lungs out;
Aramis couldn't hold his laughter himself and joined the red mage in laughing.
Although not as hard, Will laughed himself, showing that his 'creation' is nothing more than a humorous joke to him as well.
The three laughed at the creation. After all, who in the right mind would create such a foolish-looking thing with intention to impress people? No mad man (or in this case, child) would appreciate such a monstrosi-
"Hold on a minute! Hahaha!" Aramis suddenly spoke, his laughter somewhat hindering him. Although difficult as it may be thanks to his constant laughing, he examined the abomination a bit more and… "Haah, haha… haaah… Will… You never… hahah… cease to amaze me… Ahahaha! No no, seriously! Hahaha! This… haha… is… genius!"
"Haha, what? Teeheehee!" Flare giggled as she spoke.
"Haha… W-wait, are you serious?" Will said, who was laughing the least, thanks to his somewhat reserved demeanor.
"Haha, yeah… Haaah…" With his fit finally dying down, he exhaled deeply to keep him from laughing anymore... "*whew*… I'm not kidding! Will, you just gave me an inspirational idea!"
"I…I did…?" Will said, sweatdropping… Well, he never really intended to give inspiration in the first place so he's quite surprised that his joke creation turned out to be a work of art in Aramis's eyes.
"Haha… H-he did?" Flare followed suit, her laughing fit also dying down.
"He did!" Aramis quickly replied as he went closer to the undead creature. Upon coming closer, he examined the creature's double forearms. "I never thought of this idea! Two forearms in a single arm! If I get the nerves done right, I can make a very nimble zombie!"
"Uh, y-you're welcome?" Will sweatdropped with a smile.
"Wait here, you two. I'm gonna go get my stuff ready. Oh, this'll be my best work yet!" Aramis spoke with determination as he scavenged around his room for all the parts and tools he'll need for his creation. From one closet to a dresser, Aramis searched every nook and cranny of his room for his tools, consuming more time than he needed had he cleaned his room… but alas, 'tis the arrogant life of a demon child.
Flare and Will sweatdropped at Aramis roaming around.
Although up and about, Aramis caught a quick glance his two friends looking at him, sitting awkwardly as they waited for him to stay in a single spot. "Oh come on, you two, don't give me that look. Talk to each other why don'tcha."
Hearing his suggestion, the two reflexively looked at each other… then sweatdropped. "…But… What can we talk about?" Flare asked while Will shyly turned away.
Aramis scoffed. "I don't know, talk about magic or something! You two are both good at that, right?"
"Huh?" both spoke and looked at each other. "You know magic?" Both spoke in unison.
"C'mon, Flare. Don't tell me you forgot already. I told you about him." Aramis sweatdropped.
"I… I practice Fire magic." Flare spoke first, the word 'magic' piquing her interest.
"I-I study Wind magic." Will responded.
"Ooo~h…." Flare cooed with interest; it's her first time meeting a Wind Mage.
Aramis sweatdropped at the two's quick change in mood… it was like they knew each other for years… "O~K… uh, why don't you go talk about your robe, Will?"
"M-my robe?" Will stuttered, suddenly blushing.
"Yeah. It does involve your magic after all." Aramis grinned while quoting the word 'magic'. And after saying his piece, he left the two to their own vices while he went on and worked on his new project.
Flare raised a brow in confusion. "Why? What's up with his robe?" Flare will's robe; an olive green cloth matching his hat... but as Flare examined further, she noticed that Will's hat... wasn't a hat at all, but the robe's hood of sorts.. Flare grew more curious at Will's robe. "…Come to think of it, it does look kinda funny…" Flare smiled and giggled at the weirdly-shaped hood. "Is it supposed to amplify your magic or something?" Flare joked.
Will turned red as he pouted."Not funny. My skull hat is what keeps my concentration on magic strong."
"Your concentration on magic?" Flare looked at Will with wonder.
"…Yes…" Will replied, forcing a serious expression… but instead, showed a pouting face, unbeknownst to him.
Seeing Wills awkward facial expression, Flare's giggling expression slowly changed when she realized that Will's weird pouting expression seemed… cute… Flare help but ask while trying to hold her girly squeal… "Say, how old are you?" Flare suddenly asked out of the blue with an energetic tone.
"H-huh? U-um, I'm 905 years old." Will said with a sweatdrop.
"Oh, you're only a few years younger, yet you look soo~o cute!"
"I… WHAT?" Will turned beet red.
Overhearing the conversation of the two, Aramis lost focus with his work and starting laughing out loud. "PffwAAAhahahahahaha! Oh that was rich! Ahahahahaha!" Although laughing at the two, he still continued with his work.
Wih Aramis laughing hysterically and Flare looking at him like a child, Will couldn't help but feel a bit struck in the chest… sure, he's still young, but being a male and all, being called cute is a blow to any man's ego. Sadly for him, he can't retort, knowing that Flare didn't mean any harm in her words; not to mention it was probably a compliment rather than an insult. "C-c-c… cute…" Will could only say that single word…
"Yep. Cute! ^_^" Flare repeated, sending an imaginary dagger onto Will's head, labeled 'cute'.
Will groaned.
A question mark appeared above Flare's head as he noticed Will's sudden drop of expression. "Hm? What's wrong?"
"…Nothing…" Will replied (though clearly not what he said to be) as he looked away.
Flare simply looked at Will for a few seconds… then shrugged. "Well, let's start over…" Flare suddenly said, gaining both Will and Aramis's attention. "…I'm Flare, nice to meet you." Flare introduced herself, extending her hand for Will to shake.
A bit surprised, it took Will a few seconds to react to Flare's introduction… then sighed. "Nice to meet you too… I'm Will." Will replied with his first sentence having a tone of reluctance as he accepted Flare's hand.
Witnessing the two's reintroduction, Aramis smiled, then returned to his work. "(…Two totally different people, but are attracted like magnets...)" Aramis thought as he connected the zombie's nerves…
As the two shook hands, a small smile crept onto Flare's lips... then somehow formed into a small smirk that seemed to look as if she was holding her laughter.
"Wh...What's so funny?" Will asked nervously.
"Y...Your hood... Pfft..." Flare snickered.
"What? Uuuuu..." Will pouted. "I told you it's not funny. I wear this robe for my magic..."
"Yeah, but... Pfft... Why does it have to look so funny..." Flare giggled.
"...It's not like I had a choice... It's a traditional magician's robe given to us as proof of being magicians ; the appearance is fixed." Will defended.
"Wow, the tailors in the early age must be regretting this design right now." Flare giggled as she joked again.
"Haha." Will laughed sarcastically. "What about you? What's your proof of being a magician?" Will retorted.
"Me? Ummm..." With a question of her genuinity as a mage imposed on her, Flare pondered... and cutely at that, which Will noticed, causing him to blush, but, fortunately for him, went unnoticed, and returned his serious(?) expression. "Hmmm, I don't think I was given anything special for my being a mage..."
Will furrowed his eyes. "See? Then you can't call yourself a-"
"Aah! My ribbon!" Flare exclaimed, interrupting Will.
"Wh-what? Y...your ribbon?"
"Yes! THIS is the proof that I'm a real mage! It serves as an antennae that absorbs magic in the atmosphere for me to use." Flare said with a happy smile...then, her smile turned into nostalgia as she remembered how she got her ribbon...
...Will saw Flare's sudden change in mood, lightening his stern(?) face and gazed at Flare's nostalgic expression with wonder...
Flare's ribbon... Flare could clearly remember how she got it... from her mother... her ever gentle mother... When she was only about 500 years old, Flare's mother gave her her ribbon, gently tying it onto her hair as she smoothly combed the little girl's hair and sang a sweet melody... Flare would often fall asleep whenever her mother sang to her while doing her hair... and her mother would embrace here in return... Flare would always consider her mother tending her hair to be a signal that they would go out; sometimes at the nearest bazaar to (window)shop, or just around the corner to watch her mother perform her practice in magic... or sometimes the graveyard where her father was laid to rest... But... on some occasions, Flare would just simply fall asleep in her mother's arms... at times, Flare would turn and embrace her mother like a pillow... and Flare would dream of her mother doing incredible magic tricks impressing millions of other demons, or sometimes, she'd dream of herself performing magic equal to that of her mother's... That's right... Flare truly cared for her mother...
Who died...
"Ah-!" Flare snapped out of her flashback and teardrops almost fell from her eyes as she quickly wiped them...
Will simply observed Flare... who seemed to have the expression of nostalgia... and melancholy at the same time... Will somehow got more... 'interested' in her...
"I...I'm sorry... Just ignore me... I'm alright." Flare said plainly, easily hiding the small bit of sorrow in her heart as she continued to rub her eyes off of tears.
"...It's alright..." Will said in a soft tone, which took Flare's attention.
Removing her hands off her eyes, Flare looked at Will, whose face was red. "...Wh... What? Why are you looking at me like that..."
Will raised both brows. "Hm? Uh, I just thought you looked... cute..."
"U... Huh...?" Will's words caught Flare off guard for a bit, causing Flare to blush...and her heart to feel all warm... "Wh... why thank you." Flare smiled happily at Will's compliment... "Other than everyone in the castle, no one has ever said something so nice to me before..."
"Hey! You make it sound like I'm not saying nice things to you!" Aramis complained, who happened to overhear their conversation despite his busy state.
Ignoring Aramis, Flare gave a proud puff. "...Well either way, not only is my ribbon my proof of being a mage, it also makes me look good too." Flare said as she flung her silky hair proudly.
"Hey! My hood looks good too!" Will defended.
"I didn't say it looked bad." Flare snickered.
"...But you were thinking it." Will pouted.
"Oh, was I? Teeheehee~..." Flare cooed, as if toying with the magician.
"...E-either way, not everyone thinks my hood looks bad."
"Oh? Then who said otherwise?"
"U...ummm..." Will pondered, thinking of a proper response... "...Oh! The Succubi! Yeah, that's it! They said that my hood looks cu-" But before Will finished his sentence, he realized that he almost dug his own grave.
Aramis snickered in the background as he heard Will speak.
Hearing Will almost say the obvious word, Flare half-closed her eyes as she wore a wry smile. "Hm? Cu... What?"
"N...nothing..." Will suddenly went silent, knowing well of his predicament.
"No no, I think you were supposed to mean something with that last part." Flare grinned.
"I said it's nothing."
"I think that last word was supposed to be cute." Aramis suddenly said, grinning as he said so.
"Arami~s!" Will drooped.
Flare simply giggled.
"Oh haha, gang up on me why don't you?" Will pouted with his face all red; a single tear drop was about to fall at the side of his eye, a sign that he's still a child who doesn't lie being teased... Yet, at one's point of view, his facial expression was just too cute to ignore... Flare included.
"Aww, don't be like that." Flare said as she suddenly gave Will a hug, much like the ones she's been giving Davis and the group; a habit she got used to... only the one she's hugging was just about her size so it was a new experience for her... The young magician seemed so small and frail that Flare couldn't help but snuggle on him.
"Wh-wh...wh-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Will stammered.
Hearing Will's voice escalate got Aramis's attention and faced the two... only to widen his eyes and turn red when he saw Flare's arms wrapped around Will in an embrace. Seeing something he thinks he shouldn't be seeing, Aramis returned to his work, with his face somewhat red.
"What? What's wrong with hugging someone? Don't you like hugs?" Flare asked, a bit confused.
"N-no! N-nothing's wrong! A-and it's not like I hate hugs... I-it's just that..." Will stammered in a panic, his face totally red. "(It's wrong to hug someone you just met! And it's not like I don't like hugs, especially not from someone as cute as you!)" Will thought, and for the sake of his pride and morals, obviously he wouldn't say that out loud for everyone to hear.
"It's just that what?"
"Wh...why so suddenly?"
"No reason ^_^. You just looked so cute being all teary like that."
Will groaned...
"Done!" Aramis shouted, earning the two's attention. "Check out my new work!" Aramis proudly said.
Looking at the undead creature, it had a very muscular torso, a buffed pair of legs, and a muscular pair of arms... with two forearms?
Flare and Will sweatdropped. "...It's... uh... congratulations?" Flare said awkwardly.
Hearing Flare's tone (and both their reactions in seeing his creation), Aramis quickly took notice of their distaste for his work. "...What, no good?"
"I-it's not... well... yeah..." Will was supposed to deny, but decided not to... "...I-it's just so weird-looking... Why not just give it four arms?"
"But that's unoriginal. I wanted to make something unique."
"Hmmm... Well, if you look at it closely, it does look kinda nice." Flare said as she examined the creation.
"HUH?" Will exclaimed, realizing Flare's WEIRD tastes...
"Ah, looks like someone knows her stuff!" Aramis said proudly.
"Heehee~!" Flare snickered at Aramis's praise.
Will felt out of place... or... more like he felt like he was hanging out with weird people... "Th-then, why don't we each create our own zombie and find out who's got the best-looking zombie!" Will boldly suggested, feeling like HE'S becoming the weird one.
"Huh? Then how will we know who's got the better zombie?" Flare asked.
"Simple: once we create our zombie, we'll each pick which one is the better zombie. Of course, you're not allowed to choose your own." Will explained.
"...I don't get it..." Flare scratched her head.
"Let me explain... once we create our zombies, we'll show them to each other... then, we'll take turns choosing which one is the better zombie among each of us... *ahem*" Will paused for a bit and cleared his throat, and continued. "here's an example... let's pretend that we all created our own zombies." Will carefully explained, and both Aramis and Flare nodded. "We'll then choose among us who'll vote first; let's say Flare will be voting."
"Ok." Flare complied.
"Flare will then be choosing the better zombie from either my or Aramis's zombie, but she's obviously not allowed to vote for her own zombie."
"Ah, I get it!" Flare exclaimed. "The one who gets two votes wins!"
"That's right."
"But wait a minute..." Aramis interrupted. "...What if we ALL get one vote from each other? It'll be like playing rock-paper-scissors for all three of us, and we might end up choosing one of the three for each of us; we'll end up in a circle."
"Then we'll just start all over again till we get a winner." Will answered.
"Okay! I'm up for that." Flare said cheerfully.
"Hah! Like you two can beat me." Aramis said confidently.
"...Is that right?" Flare suddenly grinned. "..Then let's make this interesting... loser has to be the winner's vassal for a week; no questions asked."
"W-wait, WHAT?" Will exclaimed, his simple game suddenly turning into a gamble.
"Alright, but you guys are a thousand yea-... Uh, I mean... you guys are WAY too young to beat me in a zombie assembling contest! It's only a matter of luck to see which of you two will be my vassal for a week." Aramis proudly declared.
"Oh, is that so?" Flare gave a sly smirk. "...Then all I have to do is vote against you and you won't win."
"H-hey! You're supposed to vote for the zombie that you'll like!" Aramis panicked.
"This is the netherworld; anything goes. Heehee!" Flare giggled.
"Fine! We'll see who'll get no votes!" Aramis spat.
All of a sudden, Flare faced Will with a big smile. "Will, if you vote for me, I promise to vote for you."
"E-eh?" Will stuttered...
"WHAT? That's totally unfair!" Aramis exclaimed.
Flare simply snickered. She knew that if Flare and Will get each others' votes, there won't be anyone left to vote for Aramis, thus, leaving him with no votes. "Enough talking! Let's get started already!" Flare exclaimed energetically and ran of into collecting her parts for her creation.
Reflexively, Will started as well.
"Wh- H-hey wait! Darn it!" Aramis gave an exasperated expression.
.
.
.
...And after spending time with each of their own work, the trio finished, showed each their creation, and made their decision for their votes... Flare liked Aramis's creation since it looked nothing like the typical 'gross' look but instead looked rather cool, Will liked Flare's creation since it didn't seem to be violent but instead seemed to be cute and docile (huh?), and Aramis liked Will's creation... just because Flare's creation was too... cute... thus, each had one vote... well, at least it WAS supposed to be the case, but...
"Will wins! Yay!" Flare happily exclaimed, her plan a success; she may not have won, but seeing Aramis's pride down in the dust, that's a win in her book. Aramis clearly voted for Will; he'd NEVER vote for Flare and make HIM into her vassal for a week.
"No fair! You two ganged up against me!" Aramis complained.
"All's fair here in the netherworld!" Flare snickered.
"...And YOU!" Aramis pointed at Will.
"Wha... me?" Will sweatdropped.
"You're supposed to be MY friend! Don't tell me you're kissin up to Flare already, you wuss!"
"I-I can't help it! She promised to vote for mine!" Will excused.
Flare laughed. "Face it Aramis; you're now officially Will's vassal for a week!" Flare grinned.
"No way! I refuse to anyone's vassal! You two cheated so this contest is invalid!"
"Oh, don't be such a sore loser. Besides, you had it coming. Even karma exists here in the netherworld."
"Hmph. Whatever, but I still refuse to be his vassal coz I lost to a bunch of cheaters." Aramis pouted.
"Fine, but at least be his vassal for one day."
"Fine, I'll do that much..."
"Eh? B-but, do-don't force yourself if you don't want to! I-I don't mind! I don't deserve it since I cheated after all." Will stammered a bit.
"Oh don't be so modest. I couldn't call myself a man if I didn't do this much anyways." Aramis said. "...And you can't call yourself a demon if you don't cheat at least once."
Will Sweatdropped with a dubious face. "A...are you sure?"
"YES! I told you, I don't mind. And besides, it's only for one day anyways."
Will's dubious face turned into a smile. "Alright! Then, as my vassal for a day, I want you to get me and Flare some cake!" Will happily commanded.
"Sorry. Fresh out of cake since I already ate the last slice." Aramis said, smirking as he stuck his tongue out. "...But I have cookies if you want'em."
"Okay!" Will gladly accepted.
Will turned around and left the two, heading for the kitchen to prepare the (not-so-fresh) cookies.
With Aramis out of the way, Flare faced Will... and snickered.
With what's happened to Aramis, Will couldn't help but join the red mage in her laughter.
"Stop laughing you two! I can hear you!" Aramis's voice echoed, causing the two to stop with their laughter for a second before resuming.
Children's innocent(?) laughter...
Everyone has the right to smile, laugh, and enjoy their childhood... This event is a perfect example.
Their minutes of fun turned quickly into hours, and the red sun had already set.
"Oh! It's dark already?" Flare spoke, only noticing the dark sky out the window.
"What of it? You gonna go already?" Aramis said.
"Yeah... After what just happened to me, I don't want them to worry."
Will looked at Flare with a small question mark above his head. "...Why? What happened?"
"Oh, she got attacked on her way home from us a few days ago..." Aramis bluntly answered.
Will's eyes bolted open. "Wh-WHAT?"
"Stop overreacting; she's alive, isn't she?" Aramis coldly said.
"Mhm." Flare nodded. "I'm fine, and everything's alright now." Flare smiled.
"...If... If you say so..." Will said, with a bit of doubt...
"Well, I guess I'll be going now." Flare said as she readied herself.
"Oh, want us to guide you?" Will kindly offered.
"No need, thanks. I'll just help myself out." Flare politely declined. She then faced Will and gave him a smile. "Nice meeting you."
Hearing Flare's words, Will made a wide smile and placed a hand behind his head, bowing slightly. "Th-the pleasure's all mine!"
Being content with Will's response, Flare turned to Aramis. "Well, I'll be going now. I'll be seeing you!"
"Yeah, see you too." Aramis replied.
Content with her friends' response, Flare turned to the room's door. Looking back one last time, Flare waved at her friends, who waved in return, then disappeared from the two's sight as she entered the dimensional gate...
"There she goes..." Aramis said to no one in particular...
A few seconds later, a small thunderous noise was heard, coming from outside, the sound entering through Aramis's window.
"Uh-oh. Looks like it's gonna rain..." Will said, remembering that it was already rainy season in the netherworld.
"Nah, I don't think so." Aramis replied... but upon a closer look outside, looking at the sky, Aramis noticed the small bit of rain clouds from the distance. "Oh wait, you're right; looks like it WILL rain in a few moments..."
N-nevermind... This wasn't so long... actually, his chapter was supposed to be over 10,000 words longer, supposedly making this my longest chapter ever... but i thought that it might get TOO long, so I just decided to divide it... Where's the other chapter, you ask? I'm still in the middle of thinking about the small parts of the chapter... it's only a small thing, but that SMALL thing may get pretty big in the future part of the story; it's crucial to think about these kind of things so that it might improve your story...
Please are with me and my tardiness *sweatdrop*