Jesús: "Hey everyone, sorry for the wait. work as usual. but hey,at least I'm already used to it huh? well, on with the story shall we...?" [Disclaimer] "I don't own the RF series nor any of the Anime/Manga/Videogames referenced in this story. All credit fo them goes to their respective owners."

Ch. 38

Raguna POV

Early in the morning and getting ready for school...

The melody of trust grows within 12 maidens...what could it mean?

"Something wrong son?" Dad asked me over breakfast.

"Is nothing, just thinking about something" I said

"Hasn't every morning been starting like that lately?" Mom said

"Well, no time to fret over something I don't know about I guess..." I said and finished my breakfast, picked up my backpack and walked out the front door to go to school.

I arrived in school with some time to spare and just laid my head on my desk to think about the stone's message.

'Melody of trust...12 maidens...the way it seems to be worded and also the strange light orbs that came out from the stone...' i said to myself

"Hey Raguna. something in your mind?" Uzuki asked taking her seat behind me.

"...not quite, but yes." I replied

"That...made no sense..." Uzuki said

"Morning..." Cinnamon said and took her seat.

"Cinnamon...could you maybe talk to your boyfriend? he's not making any sense." Uzuki said trying to understand the short and misleading sentence I used.

"What happened?" Cinnamon asked

"She asked if there was something in my mind and I said "not quite, but yes." she's not really good with puns word play and the such so you can picture how her mind went." I explained to Cinnamon

"What happened?" Cinnamon asked this time.

"I'll explain it during Lunch period." I said and the two girls calmed down.

Class after class time passed quickly as if someone had pressed a fast forward button on a recording system. we gathered at the school's roof-top as usual and this time even Eunice, the Lunch girl, joined us.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you." Eunice said everyone replied with a similar reply or a humble bow.

"So then Raguna? what was that thing that had you thinking?" Uzuki said

"Well the thing is that I went up...a tower..." I started...let's be honest these girls wouldn't understand a word I said and much less believe them...at least most of them wouldn't. "In this tower I found a strange looking stone monument and there was a message on it. "The Melody of trust grows within 12 Maidens." I've been trying to figure out the meaning of the message, but nothing really comes to mind." I finished sugar-coating most the story.

"That...sounds...Amazing! Is just like one of those fantasy books I've read. where the main hero gets involved with a bunch of girls and they all fall for him one way or another and in the end he has to save one of them and..." Selphy took off in a fantasy story talk.

"No seriously what is it?" Uzuki said.

"I know your a joker, but I never knew you had this romantic sense of humor Ragu." Mist said

Cinnamon stared at me, right on the eyes.

"Did something else happen?" she asked

"Well...yeah but..." I started

"You can talk to us Raguna." Lara said.

"I don't quite understand what's going on, but it sounds fascinating." Eunice added

"Alright then, here's the whole story." I started and told them everything, excluding the location of the path to the clock-tower.

After finishing my story all the girls looked more confused, all but one...Cinnamon. The rest of the school day passed rather easily. I didn't even realize we were in math class until the school release bell rang. I walked Cinnamon home today and on the way we just kept some light conversation going on.

"So then Raguna. what really happened yesterday?" Cinnamon asked when we almost got to her house.

"I..." I started and looked around. I don't want this information to just leak out to anyone's ears. "...Cinnamon, I'll tell you, but can we talk in your room? I don't want anyone to overhear any of this." I finished

"Fine. Come on in." she said and opened the door to her house.

The both of us walked right in and once inside she called that she was home. Mrs. Cari greeted us and then Cinnamon and I walked over to her room and she set a sound barrier.

"So then where should I begin...?" I started.

"I'm gonna make a guess and say it started with the beanstalk?" Cinnamon said

"Yeah...well, I guess that's a pretty good spot to start. I actually climbed the beanstalk, it was really tall, far taller than I thought it'd be, and to be completely honest I'm surprised I was able to climb that it about an hour or so." I said

"You mean you went to the top of the beanstalk?" Cinnamon asked with a terrified face due to worry.

"Yeah. Once I made it to the top I landed on an Island. I guess you could call it a Magic Island. This island stay afloat due to a Huge Rune Cluster on its back, and not only that but it is able to speak too. Apparently it gained consiousness many hundreds of years back. My great-great grandpa apparently helped it in the past and now this problem seems to be coming back and asked for my help." I continued.

"So in other words you're going to climb back up there and maybe fight something that is far stronger than anything you've seen or could even imagine?" Cinnamon asked

"I didn't want to worry you, but most likely yes." I replied and Cinnamon just went quiet suddenly there was the sound of glass breaking meaning she took down the barrier.

"I don't want you getting hurt. please be careful Raguna." Cinnamon said and gave me a hug.

"Don't worry about me. I promise you that no matter what I'll be back." I said and I hugged her back lightly. "...Well, I should probably get going. If I'm gonna go through with this I should go train and make sure I'm ready for anything." I said and picked up my backpack.

"Right, if you need any medical help don't hesitate to come here. And Raguna, Please Take this." Cinnamon said and handed me a small package.

"What is this?" I asked once I held it in one hand.

"Go ahead and open it." Cinnamon said and so I did.

From the package I pulled two scarfs

"Its a Scarf." I said and paid close attention to it and then gave a quick look around the room. "Cinnamon, did you make this?" I asked noticing a few knitting tools on her desk.

"Yeah, I made it special for you. I remember reading that near this area there were more element focused dungeons so I made you that scarf. if you wear it, regardless of cold or hot temperatures you will feel as if it was always a pleasant temperature." Cinnamon explained

"I'm guessing one of them is for you?" I asked and Cinnamon just nodded her head.

"No, one is for you and the other is for Kin. I know how she goes with you on your Dungeon hunting so I thought it would help both of you." Cinnamon said "Besides I already made one for myself." she finished and removed her school jacket showing she was wearing it.

"Thanks. I'll make sure to always have it with me." I said and instantly put it around my neck. "I'll be off now." I finished and the two of us shared a kiss and then I left her house.

'Element resistance huh? Wow, Cinnamon can even put magic into objects to make someone more resistance to different temp. She's more amazing than I thought. I have so much to learn from her still...But this scarf will not just be a defensive mechanism for extreme weather but a luck charm.' I said to myself and got home.

After having some light lunch and finishing my homework, I grabbed my sword and Kin and I walked over to the school to start training.

"Alright Kin, we should gear up." I said and started wrapping Kin's scarf on her.

After finishing Kin and I started walking through the school's hallways and to the dungeon. I presented our pass and then we were in the dungeon.

'Here we go. Time to train and become stronger than even Great-great Gramps was.' I said.

Jesús: "Sorry for the long delay. Work had me busy this week, I was also hanging out with my friends, and I had a trip planned so I hardly had time to finish this up. I hope its to everyone's liking and you all come back for another chapter. Please leave a review and I'll see ya all next time. Bye!"