Yes, I know Valentine's Day was nine days ago and the lunar eclipse was three days ago. So I'm slow. I was trying to have this done by the lunar eclipse, but it doesn't help that my calendar lied to me... so I started on it too late. Sorry! I'm working on the next chapter of the main story...
Anyway, this is the Valentine's Day/Lunar Eclipse special! It is set from Arche's point of view! It's also an Archester chapter for all of you Archester fans... I haven't gotten to do a really sweet moment for them, so that's part of the reason for this chapter. Heh...
I wish you could see the squigglies I put in this... Unfortunately, they're taken out when I post it. Sadness... There were a lot in this chapter, too... Because of the way Arche is... Ah well.
Please enjoy this bonus chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Tales of games. They are owned by Namco.
--Valentine Winner--
"Mint! Ami-chan! Suzu-chan! Milard!" I burst back into our room after our early dinner, where the other four girls are preparing to head out.
"Something wrong, Arche-chan?" Mint questions.
"Look what I found!" I hold a calendar up.
"A calendar...?"
Ugh, how could she be so slow?! "Today!" I point. "Today is Valentine's Day!"
"Eh?!"
"Really?!"
"Yep! C'mon, we're gonna go make chocolates for the guys!"
"Eh? Where at...?"
"The castle's kitchen, of course! Meri-chan's gonna join us—she's getting everything ready!"
"But we're supposed to—"
"The guys can do it—it'll keep them busy!"
"And what's our excuse for staying behind?" inquires Milard.
"We're spending some quality time with Meri-chan!" They're stalling... "Come on!" I grab Mint's arm and drag her out of the room. One by one, the other three follow. I lead them straight to the kitchen, where Meri-chan and some servants are setting everything up.
"Hey!" Meri-chan greets us. "I already have someone sending the guys off, so we have nothing to worry about!"
"Thanks!" We help spread things out on the large counter space. Wow... We're really starting from scratch, huh? Heh heh... "This should be fun!"
"Who are each of you making your chocolates for?" questions our hostess.
"Um... I guess everyone..."
"No!" I yell as I advance on the silly cleric. "Yours are for Cless!"
"Eh?!"
"I'm going to make my best batch for Cless-san!" Ami-chan declares. "Oh, but I should also make some for Onii-chan and Dad and Dhaos-san..."
"What about you, Suzu-chan?"
"I don't know. I don't have anyone to make chocolates for."
"Why don't you help me make some for Marcus?" suggests Meri-chan. Oh yeah, her brother's about Suzu-chan's age, right?
"Very well."
"And you, Milard-san?"
"I guess I'll make some for Klarth... he'll complain if I don't. Honestly, he's so childish..."
We giggle. "What about you, Arche-chan?"
"Mine are for Chester!"
"Eh? For Chester...?"
"Yep! You're making some for Marcus, right, Meri-chan?"
"Oh dear... I'm making my best batch for Chester as well..."
"Eh?!" No way...!
"Let's try our best to make chocolates for him!"
She's making chocolates for... I glare at her. "I won't lose!"
"And neither will I. Looks like this'll be fun!"
"L-let's just start cooking!" I grab a mixing bowl; the other girls grab their own bowls as well. Let's see... all the ingredients are out... "Let's see... What would taste good? A lot of chocolate!"—I pour some into the bowl. "Wait, this is unsweetened, isn't it? Then it needs sugar!" I pour some of that in as well.
"Don't forget the milk and butter," Mint speaks up as she stirs her bowl.
"And it needs a tiny bit of salt," Milard speaks up.
"Right!" I throw those into the bowl as well. Let's see... what else am I missing...? I glance around at the others; Mint's adding some mint stuff to hers, while Ami-chan's adding fruits... What does Chester like...? He likes meats... so I'll add some meats! I search around the kitchen until I find their freezer. Wow, Meri-chan has quite a bit of different meats! I grab a few and take them out, to where the fire pit is. Meri-chan's using that magitech machine to heat her chocolate up... I'd prefer not to use that. So...
Let's see... I need to aim at that angle... not too strong... only fire... "Fire Ball!" Fire starts up under the meats and they start cooking. All right! "Heehee, this is fun!"
"What are you cooking, Arche-chan?" Meri-chan questions.
"Just my secret ingredient!" Hm... this'll take too long! I charge up. "Fire Storm!" There! Now it'll cook faster!
As that cooks, I walk back over to my bowl and begin stirring everything else together. It needs to be smooth, right? Maybe I should add some more milk... Yeah, it's too solid! I add more milk.
"Arche-chan, will you let me know when you're done with that?" Mint asks, indicating to the fire pit.
"Of course!"
"Thank you."
"Mint-san, can you help me with this?" Ami-chan questions.
"Yes. What do you need help with...?" The two work together on the young girl's chocolates. Meanwhile, Suzu-chan and Meri-chan are working on the batch for Marcus while Meri-chan's batch for Chester cooks. Hmph... I won't lose! I have a secret ingredient! Oh! Speaking of, is that ready...? I pull it out of the fire pit. Hm... Yep, it looks ready! "Mint, you can use the fire pit real quick!" I take it to my work station and begin chopping it up into smaller pieces. Heh heh, this is great! I'll bet no one's ever thought of this before! I pour the pieces of meat into the mixing bowl and mix them in with everything else.
I glance over—Mint's watching her chocolate carefully. Milard and I are both waiting to be able to cook ours, and Meri-chan's is done cooking. Suzu-chan and Meri-chan's combined effort is on the magitech stove now... Ami-chan's waiting for that to cook hers.
I sit down. Geez, this is taking too long... I want to cook mine! Meri-chan's going to finish first... but that just means that hers won't be as good as mine, right? I'm put more effort into it!
Mint finally finishes up with the fire pit, and I hurry to grab it before the meerkat can. I put my bowl in and wait as it cooks. Mint hands me the spoon to stir with; I stir it as it cooks. Chester's going to love this!
It's melting together quite nicely and stirring smoothly. "Heh heh, this is my first time making chocolates! This is a lot of fun!"
"Yeah, it is!" Ami-chan agrees. "Think the guys will like them?"
"Of course!" Meri-chan says as she puts her chocolates in the freezer and takes a seat.
Hm... I think mine's done now! I take the pot out of the fire pit and move so that Milard can use it. I finish stirring it and then pour my chocolates in a tray. I place them in the freezer, where all except the two cooking already have their chocolates waiting. I then join the girls at the table. "When should we give the chocolates to them?"
"Tonight," the queen says quickly. "Tonight happens to be a very special night... We'll distribute the chocolates then!"
"All right!"
"Where should we meet up?" Mint asks. Oh geez...
"Who said we were meeting up?" our hostess questions.
"Huh?!"
"Mint, you're supposed to give Cless his chocolates... alone," I whisper.
"Ah... I-is that..."
"It's perfectly fine! He'll like it better like that!" Leaning in a little closer, I add, "And don't forget the kiss!"
"A-Arche-chan!"
Milard joins us at the table. "The guys are slow... Even if you give your chocolate to one alone, he may not understand how you feel..."
"Are you giving yours to Klarth-sensei alone?"
"I don't plan on it. I have no reason to."
"And I thought Chester was slow..."
"Klarth and I are friends. I doubt it'll ever be more than that..."
"Why do you say that?" Ami joins us as well.
"Do you love him?" I question.
The woman sighs. "You don't understand... Klarth is a hopeless case. It'll take someone really special to get him out of his research and for him to pay attention to her..."
"Is it... hard...?" the dove asks.
"No. Because... he's happy when he's researching. That's what matters..."
"Geez, Milard! Haven't you ever heard of carpe diem? Seize the day? C'mon, you can't just wait on him the whole time! You have to tell him or something!"
"Arche-chan, are you really in the best position for giving advice...?"
"Ah..."
"You're right, Arche-san!" Ami exclaims. "I'm going to tell Cless how I feel about him!" Uh oh... this could be bad.
"Ah..."
"I'll tell him as he's eating my chocolates! I'm a little nervous, but it'll be fine... right?"
"R-right..." I don't know how to tell the kid the truth...
"Ami-chan, you like Cless-san...?" Ack, Mint sounds kinda annoyed! This is bad... this is very bad...
"Yep! I love him!"
Oooh, what should I do?! Now not only do I have to worry about Meri-chan trying to take Chester, but I also need to figure out how to get Mint and Cless alone without Ami-chan noticing...
Wait, isn't Ami-chan giving chocolates to her brother? Heh heh... I can use this to my advantage! Okay, I'll have Ami-chan get him where I want him... While she's giving him chocolates, I'll get Cless and Mint alone... "Heh heh heh..."
"What are you laughing about, Arche-chan...?"
"Oh nothing! Anyway, where are the guys?"
"They should be back soon... They've been out for a while," answers the eldest of our group.
"They're back," our hostess suddenly says as she turns to look at the entrance.
"Eh? Are you sure...?"
Just after I finish speaking, Cless pokes his head in. "Hey, we're back. Did you girls have fun?"
"Yep!"
The swordsman pauses a moment to sniff the air. "Did you cook something while we were gone...?"
Before we can answer, Chester pops up behind Cless. "Hey, what's that smell?"
"It's a secret!" Meri-chan answers as she hops up and hurries over to them. The rest of us get up and walk over as well. "You'll both find out later tonight, okay?" Leaning closer to Chester, she adds, "Hey, speaking of... there's something special going on tonight that I want to show you. Will you meet me on the balcony around nine-thirty?"
"Uh, sure..."
That idiot...!
"Thank you!"
Okay, I have to put this in my plans now...
"We're going to go shoot some pool. Anyone wanna join?"
"I'll be there in a minute. Arche-chan, will you help me with something?"
"Huh?! Um... okay."
"May I come watch?" questions the cleric.
"Of course!"
"I'm coming, too!"
"This should be entertaining... I think I'll join in the game," Milard speaks up.
"And you, Suzu-chan?"
"Might as well."
All of them walk off, leaving me and Meri-chan alone in the kitchen. "So then, it starts..." the woman speaks up. "Let's see who Chester chooses... I suggest you try meeting up with him before nine-thirty, because what I want to show him will take a while..."
"If he meets up with you," I taunt.
"You don't have long..." She opens up the freezer and gently touches some of the chocolates. She mutters something and a tiny magic circle forms—the chocolates get harder. Did she... "Hm... I think Suzu-chan and I should give these to Marcus soon... I wonder where he is..."
"Probably not with everyone... Why's he so shy, anyway? He's completely opposite of you!"
"I don't know... I'm going to go find him! Tell the others that I'll be there shortly!" Meri-chan hurries off through the halls, towards Marcus' room.
She's right; I don't have long... I need to get Ami-chan and start the plan! I hop on my broom and float off towards where the others are, in the entertainment room. They're all in here... Heh, looks like Chester and Cless are on a team against Milard and Klarth-sensei... Milard's up—she shoots and gets it in. "Nice shot, Milard!" I call out.
"Thank you, Arche-chan."
"Keh, you didn't see the amazing shot I made earlier!" the werewolf brags.
"If you're as 'skilled' as you are with your bow, then I'm sure it wasn't that good," I tease him. Heh, it's fun to make fun of him!
"What was that?! You brat...!"
"Jerkface!"
"Dork!"
"Idiot!"
"Arche-chan, Chester-kun, that's enough," Milard speaks up.
"Where's Merilynn-san...?" Mint questions.
"She's finding Marcus; I bet he's hiding somewhere again!" Oh right, speaking about kids... "Hey Ami-chan, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Huh? O-okay!" I float off down the halls, and the young girl follows me. Right, she'll distract Chester so I can get Cless and Mint together...
"I need you to do me a favor!"
"Okay! What do you need me to do?"
"When you give your brother his chocolates, I need you to make sure he's out of the city, to the east. And keep him busy for me while I set up! I'll come out there to relieve you once I'm done with everything!"
"Ooh, are you going to give Onii-chan the chocolates you made then?"
"Yep!"
"All right! I'll do what I can! When should I do it?"
Hm... good question... "Nine o'clock!"
"All right! Let's join the others 'til then!"
"Okay! And thanks!" I follow Ami back to where the others are playing pool. Everything's going perfectly! I'll send Cless and Mint into the snowy courtyard out front... The cold air would give Cless a good excuse to hold Mint! If he stops being so slow, anyway...
We watch them shoot pool. Chester and Cless seem to have the upper hand, but Milard and Klarth-sensei are doing pretty good! Hm... Chester's pretty good at this game... too good... Maybe I'll challenge him to a game after he eats my chocolates! Then I'll show him up!
Meri-chan and Marcus join us, but the young boy is staying in the back. Figures... Ugh, I'm getting bored! I need something to talk about!
I glance at Mint. "Hey hey, Mint, have you ever tried wearing make-up?"
"Eh?!"
"I can never get it to look right on me, but I bet it'd look great on you!"
"Ah... I don't think so..." She blushes and stares at the floor.
"I bet shop keepers would even give you a discount if you wore make-up! That'd be so cool!"
"A-Arche-chan..."
"Well everything's too expensive!"
"Try bargaining shopkeepers," suggests the ninja.
"I can do that!"
"For some reason, I have the feeling that you two have different ideas of 'bargaining'..." mutters our group angel.
"My way's better!" I tell them. "They give you an even better discount! And you don't have to argue so much!"
"What's your way, Arche-san?" Ami asks. Um...
"Well you see, guys just love beautiful women... So if you dress up nicely and—"
"ARCHE!" Uh oh, Chester heard... "What the heck do you think you're doing?!"
"Ami-chan asked me a question!"
"You're not seriously going to tell her...?!" he whispers to me.
"Why not? She'll be a teenager in two more years!"
"She's my sister!"
"You can't always be so overprotective!"
He grabs my arm and starts dragging me away. "Come on, I think we need to have a talk..."
"Eh?! W-wait, Chester!" No, he's going to mess up the whole plan...!
He drags me into the kitchen, where he stops and turns to face me. "Look, Ami's just a kid! You can't go around telling her that stuff! She doesn't—and shouldn't—understand it anyway!"
"Why not?! She fights with us all the time—she should be able to know more adult things now!"
"Those are two separate things!"
"How so?!"
"They just are! Cless and I went hunting all the time before we knew about that stuff!"
"I bet you were still a perv back then..."
"ARCHE!"
"You're acting like a doting mother, you know!" I tell him with a laugh.
"I am not!"
"Whatever you say!" Heh heh, this is fun!
"Keh...! You little...!" He pauses. "...Hey Arche?"
"W-what?" What's gotten into him...?!
"Should that fire be going...?" He points to the fire pit—ACK!
"Oh no, it's spreading!" I hurry over to it and start charging up. "Maelstrom!" A vortex of water appears under the fire, spreading out across the room—it douses the fire. "All right!"
"Ack!" I turn around—oh no, Chester's caught in the spell! It throws him against the wall with a loud thud. He winces.
"Chester!" The spell dies down, and I fly over to him. I hop off my broom and hold out a hand—he takes it, and I pull him up.
"Hey, watch what you're doing...! Spells like that are dangerous, especially when you don't pay attention to the people around you!"
"What do you know?! You don't cast spells!"
"Keh... You know what? I don't want to argue this right now..." Uh oh, he sounds really annoyed... "And I'm hungry..."
"You're always hungry..."
"I am not!"
"It's not the full moon, is it?"
"I'd already be a wolf if it was. And that's tomorrow anyway..."
"Wow, so soon? It's only been... what, two and a half weeks?"
"Well we're in a different time period... The moons get full at different times in this time period than in that one."
"Oh... right..."
"Does Merilynn have anything to eat...?" Chester opens the freezer—oh no...!
"Ah...! Chester...!"
"Huh?! Arche... what's with all of these chocolates?"
"Ah, um..."
"Is this what you girls made while we were gone...?"
"Ah ha ha..."
"These smell really good! Hm, I haven't tried eating chocolates since I became a werewolf... Can I try some?"
I walk over to the freezer. "Well, I guess it's a little late to hide it now..." I pull out the chocolates I made. "These are for you."
"For me...?" He sounds really surprised.
I grab his hand. "Come on! Others will be coming in here soon, so let's go outside!"
"It's too cold outside!" he protests.
"Oh stop complaining and come on before I grab your ponytail!"
"Hey, I never pull your ponytail!" he complains, but he allows me to drag him out anyway. I take him out a side door, so we're outside next to the castle.
"So are you going to tell me what all of those chocolates are about and why we couldn't know about them?" the boy questions.
I laugh. "Silly, it's Valentine's Day!"
"W-what?!" Haha, he's kinda cute when caught off guard! "Then these..."
"I made them for you!"
"...You made them...?"
"That's right!"
"...Suddenly, I'm scared."
"HEY!" Why that jerk...! "Just eat them!"
"I don't know, I might die if I do..."
"You will not! I worked hard to make those for you, so you better eat them!"
He pauses and closes his eyes.
"...Chester...? What are you doing...?"
"Praying to Martel that I don't die. Or would Yggdrasil be better? If I prayed to Fenrir, then—you know what, scratch that—I don't think something made by you could be made worse..."
"HEY!" I glare at him. "You said you wanted to try chocolates, so try them!"
He pauses again, only this time with his eyes open. "Just be sure to buy me flowers when I'm dead..."
"Chester!"
He breaks off part of it and stares at it, nervous.
"I really worked hard to make these so you'd like them..."
"Lucky me..." he mutters sarcastically. "Well, here goes nothing... I hope being a werewolf makes me immune to this..."
He just has to be a jerk, doesn't he?!
He puts the chocolate in his mouth. All right...!
"Ack!" He puts a hand over his mouth. "This is... the worst thing... ever...!"
"WHAT?!"
He turns into a wolf. Ah...!
"W-wait, why'd you change?!"
Chester lets out a whine.
"Oh no, it wasn't that bad!" I yell, glaring at him.
He lies down in the snow, his ears laid back.
"Hey, isn't that cold...?"
Chester jumps up; haha! I laugh, and he growls softly at me.
His wolf form is kinda cute, actually... I take off my right glove and reach down to pet him on the head. And he's so soft...! He lets out another growl. Heh heh...
I scratch him behind the ear. He stops growling and closes his eyes, looking happy. He's so cute! He must really enjoy being scratched behind the ear!
I kneel down in the snow so that I'm closer to his level. It's cold, but...
Chester suddenly stares up at the sky. Huh...? I glance up as well.
"Whoa...!" One moon is missing, and the other's slowly being covered up by a shadow or something! "This is..." I continue watching. "Where's the other moon, though...?"
The werewolf changes back to his human form, standing; he sits down next to me. "It's a full lunar eclipse... Tethe'alla is hidden behind Sylvarant..."
"Wow... that's pretty rare!"
We sit in silence, watching the lunar eclipse. I can't ignore it, though... it's freezing out here! I fully sit down and wrap my arms around my legs, trying to warm up.
"It's pretty cold out, huh...?" Chester inquires.
"Yeah..."
"But something like this will probably never happen in our time..." He pauses. "Look, I'm only going to do this once, so don't get used to it or anything..."
"Huh?"
He turns into a wolf again. He walks over to me and lays down, leaning against me. He's so warm...! I pet him. "Thank you, Chester... But it'd be easier if you were human, you know!"
He glances away from me—is he embarrassed...?
Heh heh... I'm so happy! This feels so nice...!
I watch the sky again. The moon's still disappearing in shadows; it's a dark reddish-brown now. It keeps getting darker and darker...
The moon's almost gone now...
Chester turns back into a human, his face a crimson color. He curses; "Figures... the one time I want to be in my wolf form..."
I giggle. "What, embarrassed?"
"O-of course not! I just... don't want anyone getting the wrong idea..."
"Yeah, yeah... You're just trying to keep us both warm, right?" I taunt.
"Exactly!"
"Heh heh... Then why is your face so red?"
"I-it is not!" Chester turns his head away. You know... I think he's completely forgotten about his meeting with Meri-chan...
I lean on him. "This is much warmer..."
"Ah..."
He's not protesting... that's good! We sit there a while longer, watching the sky as it becomes completely black...
The moon starts to reappear, and I can see a star in the sky again. I glance up at the star. The first star back... I wish... that Chester would start noticing me... and that he would care about me...
We continue sitting there, even after most of the eclipse is over. I'm not sure I like the silence, but... if we start talking, we may just argue again...
"Tell me when you're ready to go back in..." he mutters.
"Okay!"
I'm not ready. I don't think I will be for a while... though I'm getting kinda tired...
Everything's going black again...
Arche gained the title of Valentine Winner. Even if my chocolates failed, I still won the battle!
