Chapter 14, The first classchange

At first nothing happened. Then suddenly the whole cave began to shake, causing the princess of Rolante to stumble backwards at the wall in surprise.

 "Concentrate harder!" Jinn cheered, his voice seemingly magically cutting through the rumble, "harder!"

 'You'll succeed, Kevin!' Lise triumphantly thought, but didn't dare to call out to him as well since that maybe would shatter his concentration.  

    She had to hold on to a rock in the wall to keep her balance, the tremors just seemed to grow more and more violent until… they stopped, as sudden as they had started. Kevin looked up, and as Lise carefully moved away from the wall again she saw that his eyes were completely calm. As if there was no problem he had to worry about anymore. His frown was also gone.

    His peace somehow seemed to spread over the whole cave, bathing Lise in it as well. For a moment she felt utterly safe; nothing could possibly harm her or anything she had ever cared for.

 'Thank you Kevin…'

    But she didn't know why she thanked him for the stone's blessing. Wouldn't it be proper to congratulate him…?

 'Why don't you stay focused?' her sense of duty muttered somewhere in the back of her head, 'this is important!'

 "Well done."

    Jinn's voice awoke her from the trance, but the feeling of true security stayed. It felt shy somehow though… tentatively reaching out. Lise had to smile.

    Kevin.

    The blessing was his achievement, and somehow it also was him. But she couldn't explain the conclusion even to herself.

    Almost like his being had filled up the hole in the mountain.

 "Now then," the wind spirit softly continued, "you may become a monk or a bashkar. Monk is representing the Light side of your power, bashkar the Dark. However they're titles, nothing else, it doesn't mean good or evil. It is how you use your powers that counts."

 "I'll be a monk," Kevin said, "whatever you say about it, Dark only makes me think of Deathjester."

    His voice wasn't grunting when he spoke, instead it was smooth as a caressing wind. Lise was amazed to hear her friend speak without his hopeless growling and speech problem. 

 "So be it!" Jinn called out.

    The stone's light focused and silently exploded from within, filling up every shadow with a warm glow which strangely enough wasn't blinding. And in the middle of it was Kevin, being showered in a peacefully flashing storm of divine colors. 

    As the rainbow intensified and flourished into the half blood's body the light strangely assembled and followed the colors, dragging the embracing feeling of Kevin's soul with it. Everything in the cave seemed to be absorbed by the warrior, becoming a part of him and giving him new strength.

    Even Lise.

    For a moment nothing existed to her, nothing apart from Kevin. She watched him with her eyes probably wide open, she couldn't tell. He was only looking in the direction where something important had been, but she couldn't remember what that had been… there was only him, calmly claiming the whole world and it's blessings, all good it could bring him. And probably without noticing it himself. 

    It was suddenly over, and Lise almost lost her balance as the power disappeared. For those last seconds it had felt as if she was a part of the power and light being absorbed by the half blood, who still was watching the stone before him.

    He looked around.

    His fur had gotten a softly reddish tone, but was still mostly grey. The blond hair falling from his head seemed a bit darker and thicker, and his eyes were… they were just…

    Just grown, more of an adult.

    On second note Lise realized that the blood that had stained him after all the battles was gone, and his tunic lacked the cuts it had carried just a little while ago.

 "How do you feel?" she said, hardly hearing her voice herself.

    Kevin looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them.

 "Stronger," he muttered, "much stronger."  

    The grunting was back, but the stuttering had decreased and his voice sounded somewhat deeper.

 "The stone gives you the strength and knowledge of a few years of intense, uninterrupted training," Jinn kindly explained, "as a bonus you get an about two, three years' growth of mind. I believe you are the youngest to ever succeed in a classchange, Kevin."

 "Thanks…" the half blood absentmindedly said.

    He looked up again, straight at Lise. She found herself smiling a bit, happy for his victory.

    Kevin smiled back, and for a moment his shyness returned… he was still himself. For some reason Lise was glad for that as well.

 "You try," he said and stepped aside.

    The princess' eyes went between him, Jinn and the stone for a couple of times before she nodded. After putting the spear down on the floor she stepped forward and raised her hands to the glowing rock. Pure power buzzed into her skin and she was certain that her hair bristled. Such power, born of the goddess to seal away the eight demons that once had plagued the world…

    As she closed her eyes Lise sent a silent prayer to the goddess that she wouldn't fail, not in front of Kevin… what?

    Not in front of Kevin? She had to succeed in order to be strong enough to find Eliott!

    Not a good start.

    Ahem.

    She forced all the confusion aside and tried to turn her mind into one single needle of power. At first she couldn't focus at all, but after a deep breath she started to relax and concentrated all her will into the buzzing against her skin.

    And it responded. Carefully at first, but then a stream of warm energy began its flow straight into her body and mind.

 "Concentrate, you're doing great!" Jinn called somewhere far away.

 "Come on, Lise!" Kevin shouted, smiling.

    Lise's mind spun into itself, almost turning into a material of pure will. Then… it was embedded in the stone's power, caught in her achievement. She needn't to focus anymore, for now her concentration was locked. Her part was over, now she could just let the stone do its work on her.

    Complete peace filled her, not a thought could reach her mind, no worries, nothing.

 "You may become a valkyrie or a rune maiden, princess Lise," Jinn softly announced, "Light or Dark, but remember that it's only titles."

    She instinctively knew both sides' bounties. They had slightly different strengths and ways of battling, none weaker than the other but not the same thing. But she had to chose one and only one.

    Very well.

 "I agree with Kevin," she calmly said, "titles or not, I follow the Light."

 "So be it!"

    Power swirled into her, the shimmering pearl that now was her mind opened like a thirsty seed and drank everything it was offered. Knowledge, memories of training day and night to her mind and the strength that the knowledge required to her body.

    Kevin had gone through the same wondrous feeling of growth, blossoming… and now he must be feeling what she had experienced during his transformation. Being absorbed by her together with the rest of the world… and she felt everything give her strength. She could feel every bird swirling through the sky, every amazon recovering and training in Rolante, the distant warriors of Forcena, everything… all that could offer her a little more knowledge and strength, just a little piece of everything so that it wouldn't fill her up too much. And Kevin's strong arms and his sad, shy mind stayed with her for a moment longer than all the other things.     

    The surge very carefully slowed down, allowing her mind and body to relax before it drew back completely.

    She raised her head and smiled at the stone before turning to Jinn and Kevin.

 "Well done, princess," the wind spirit smiled.

 "Thank you," she smiled back.

    Then she looked at Kevin, and her smile turned even softer. He was looking at her, shyly as he sometimes did. That timidity was so… she couldn't explain it. It was so against everything he seemed to be, especially in his werewolf form.

    She felt a strange warmth deep inside, and she wasn't sure if that had been there before even though Kevin so often had looked at her like that. So careful, almost as if he was nervous but somehow not unhappy about it.

    Why did he watch her in that way, come to think of it?

    But she didn't find it unpleasant, not in any way. Some peculiar, nice feeling glistened within her when that warmly yellow gaze tentatively touched her face.

    Nice. Lise couldn't think of another word.

    So she smiled at him, and he carefully smiled back. And he did it so that his sharp fangs weren't showing. 

 "Feel?" he said in a low voice.

 "I don't know…"

    She turned around and picked up her spear. Had it felt this light before she had gone through the change? Lise had no idea, the knowledge she had been granted only made the thin pole even more familiar… or had it always felt like this? She wasn't sure, could only guess that she had changed actually. After all she had just passed through a few free years of training.   

    It felt so easy, natural when she made a series of experimental swings with the spear. Had it been like this? No, it was different. She was quicker, more secure.

    She stopped and grinned, finding Kevin doing the same.

    But when Lise tested a defensive stance her body protested.

    Oh yeah… I'm tired.

    That hadn't changed.

    With a sigh she stretched her whole body.

 "I think we'll call it a day," she said, massaging her neck with one hand.

 "I agree," Kevin said.

 "You can sleep here," Jinn offered, "no monsters come closer to the stone than they absolutely have to."

    He paused for a moment and then grunted:

 "If they aren't extraordinary, but then I guess I can wake you up to help."

 "Sure," Kevin said with another grin.

    He shook off his backpack and released his bedroll from it. Lise followed his admirable example.

    As she had unrolled her blankets and reached up to take off her winged tiara she realized another fact about the classchange. Kevin had been cleaned from all the blood, and so had she. With a grateful smile Lise assembled her hair and let it flow over her left shoulders like a river in the shivering sunset. The color seemed deeper, softer than she remembered it. But it could also be because of the peculiar light that the Mana stone emitted.

    The flow was only held together by the green ribbon she used to keep it away from her face. Now she pulled that away, releasing her once again clean hair.

    And Kevin watched her. Strangely enough… she somehow knew even though he was behind her. There was no sound of him unrolling his bedroll, that was it. But instead of turning around Lise threw her hair backwards again and took care of the tiara. She didn't want to embarrass him by showing that she knew he looked. He was free to do that, and she knew that he wouldn't try anything. 

    It was simply an impossible thought that Kevin would attempt to harm her, she couldn't even consider the theory.

    She even felt a bit ashamed at having to reject the mere idea. Wasn't that a sign of that she carried a grain of doubt?

    Now that just doesn't make sense… what are you nervous about all of a sudden?

    But she wasn't nervous, at least she didn't feel normally nervous.

 'I really need to sleep,' she tiredly concluded.

    Behind her back Kevin forced himself to turn his head at his bedroll and made a big affair of spreading the blankets for the night. He didn't know why he wanted to look at Lise, but it was hard to keep from doing it. Too often… she didn't smell irritated, but he didn't want to risk her becoming that either.

    He managed to keep his eyes down while he heard her getting out of her armor and crept into her bedroll with a sigh of relief.

 "Good night," she said.

    Kevin looked up and met her gaze. She smiled a bit sleepily, draping her blanket around her with one hand.

 "Good night, Lise," he mumbled.

    It felt as if he wanted to say something more, or something else… but he didn't know what or why.

    Lise closed her eyes and fell asleep almost immediately. Her hair flowed out over the simple pillow and the cave floor, the peace she had been blessed with just before the classchange was almost back. But it could never be the same, that calmness was magical and sleep was natural.

    His chest felt strange when he watched her sleeping now, in the smooth light of the Mana stone. She wasn't bloodied and battered anymore like when he had sorted out her hair, and he could see her face properly.

    It felt as if his heart was beating only to send out that sad happiness into his entire body.

    Jinn descended to the height of Kevin's head, smiling softly.

 "It's a sleeping beauty you have there," the elemental warmly said in a low voice.

    Kevin slowly tilted his head without taking his eyes off Lise.

 "Beautiful?" he mumbled, trying out the word on another living being for the first time ever.

 "Yes."

    The wind spirit began to grow transparent.

 "Now try to get some sleep," he kindly said, "you've really deserved it."

    He disappeared, but Kevin still felt his guardian presence.

    The half blood laid down between his own blankets, but kept his gaze helplessly locked on Lise's peaceful face until his eyelids became so heavy that they fell shut by themselves.

 'Beautiful…?'

    He fell into a deep, calm slumber.

And while Lise and Kevin sleeps I can happily announce that Duran should be a ghost about now and Carlie an' Angela are running around on the infamous ghost ship set on making the sad spirits there even sadder. But since this fic isn't about the chosen ones those guys just have to root on that whoever is playing the game manage to get them out :D I'm focusing on the other guys. Ah well, for now only two of them.

Drifting between sleep and awakening Kevin heard Lise move around, making as little noise as possible. She was probably getting dressed again. 

    Was it morning already? He yawned a little and turned his back at the light that touched his eyelids and softly burnt through them. Yep, it's morning already. Probably even more than morning, the light was sharper than it usually was when the sun rose. That much he could detect even though his eyes were closed.

 "Hm," he heard Lise mumble, and there was a soft smile in her voice. 

    Hmm?

    With another yawn he opened his eyes and found her sitting down on her bedroll, brushing her hair and watching him with the smile still alive on her lips. Looking at him like she had done in the night. Friendly, warm. It made him feel strange again. But much more glad than bitter.

 "What?" he said, surprising himself with avoiding the traditional stuttering.  

    Lise's smile widened a little for a moment. Then it went back to the original one.

 "Oh, nothing," she said, "good morning."

 "Yeah, morning."

    He stretched out and yawned for the third time in just a couple of minutes.

    Ugh, forgot to turn back from wolf-form before falling asleep again. He wrinkled his nose as the scent of the blankets caught up with him. It wasn't a bad smell, but no one is used to actually feeling their own personal scent like that. You're supposed to be so used to it that you don't feel it yourself. It felt eerie to him. Werewolves seemed to smell more than humans for some reason. Maybe because they were much stronger…

    He rubbed his neck for a moment before getting to his feet. Lise put her hairbrush aside and reached for her backpack.

 "Would you like some breakfast?" she offered, "I've still got enough for both of us."

    At the comment Kevin's stomach moaned. He hadn't been eating properly yesterday. Lise had more or less forced some of her supplies at him when she realized that he had traveled, swum and collapsed for a while before climbing the mountain, without eating after resting. Kevin hadn't been able to decline, starving as he found himself.

    Looking back at it he was amazed that he hadn't collapsed again of hunger. Most possibly he had been too ecstatic about succeeding in reaching Palo and facing a chance to find his friends that he simply had forgotten all hunger.  

 "Have enough even though I robbed you yesterday…" he grinned and sat down on the ground before her.

    She tilted her head a little with a smile.

 "What?" he said.

 "Nothing special," Lise warmly said and opened her backpack to take out the smaller sack of food, "I just noticed that you're stuttering less than before."

 "Ah…"

    She cared about such small things? He hadn't really bothered much about it even though it had irritated a bit him sometimes. 

    There was that warmth in his chest again, and he didn't really know what to say. But he felt less awkward than he was used to when confronted with unfamiliar aspects of human friendship. And for once something that felt appropriate finally emerged from the mist in his mind.

 "Thanks."

    She smiled again, but the smile wavered and she suddenly straightened up to watch him much more gravely. He didn't like that, feeling alarmed as if Lise was threatening him. And that did not feel pleasant.

 "Look, I know that you think it's dangerous," she said in a low voice, "but I need to find Eliott. I'm willing to follow any possible path and I'll face the risks. Don't you feel more secure in your own and my strength after yesterday?"

    Kevin grudgingly ran his right hand through his thick red hair, avoiding to knock his hat off by everyday wearer's expertise.

    He should have seen that one coming.

    Sure he was stronger. Strength he had never had known before was filling up his every muscle, memories of well practiced battle techniques in his mind and body were ready for tests and successful use. It felt slightly easier to think too; after all Jinn had said that the changed ones gained a couple of years of mind growth as well. Easier to think, to feel better prepared for the future. 

    And Lise had changed too; he had noticed that at least her speed had increased when she had tried out the attacks in the night. Doubtlessly she felt much the same as he did.

    But even though they were both stronger… he still wasn't sure that he could take on Beast King yet. And he definitely didn't want to risk Lise's life in an experiment of his own power.

 "It is dangerous, gah…" he said, finding that both the grunting and slight stuttering returned when he became frustrated and tried to hide it, "I don't…"

 "Kevin, please."

    Her soft fingertips touched his hand and his eyes moved between the touch and her face, brought off guard by the surprise.

 "I have to find Eliott," Lise gravely said, "if Deathjester could know anything at all I must try."

    I have to… I must…

    He felt helpless hearing that. Wishing that he could relieve her from all those things she regarded her duties, and only saw one way to do it. Even though he didn't feel comfortable about what he needed to go through with. He sighed, giving in.

 "Alright. But, ah, no like it."

    Lise gravely nodded.

 'Thank you, Kevin…'

    She knew that she couldn't go alone to the Moonlight forest, and he was the only one she could get any reliable help from now. He was the only trustable one who knew that mythical place at all, and the only friend she could rely on with the strength to survive; at least if his averseness was to be interpreted in the way he obviously meant it to be.