Author's note: As was the case with the original "Stupid Cupid" (in my first Fifteen Minutes story), none of these pairings are my idea (except for the obvious ones and the ones I liked). Everything was done by lottery, which means it's all completely random. With that said, there's going to be some yaoi and yuri in here, but most of it's in good fun. Don't take anything seriously, okay?
Stupid Cupid, Part Two: The Tale of Millie
Poor Koyu and Hoi were literally out of breath by the time they reached the laundry room. They had sprinted as fast as their thieving feet could carry them, and even at their magnificent speed, they almost didn't make it. Their pursuer was none other than Stallion, the fastest living creature in all of Stupid Castle, and while normally he would never chase people, this time the blue elf made a very rare exception. Koyu and Hoi had stolen something very valuable from him--so valuable that it merited a chase.
These two thieves had made it safely, though, but they had collapsed before they had been able to completely deliver the item in question to their client. This was no problem, as their employer wasn't so defenseless that she couldn't even walk the few steps from one side of the room to the other. Poor Yoshino had seen the whole thing, and while she would normally not let it disturb her washing chore, she couldn't help but look up.
"Are they all right?" she asked. Millie, who had hired Hoi and Koyu to attain the item in question, turned her head around and gave her usual brainless smile.
"Aw, they'll be okay!" she assured Yoshino. "They just outran Stallion. No biggie!" A huge question mark seemed to hang over Yoshino's head, but it disappeared as Millie squealed out in joy. "AAHH! Aaaahhh!!!!! That's it!! That's the thing I've been looking for!!!" The bizarre girl bent down and plucked what appeared to be a bow with a quiver of suction-cupped arrows, and slung it over her shoulder. She smiled at the thieves and gave each of them a well-deserved kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks, you guys!" she sang. "Now I can finally go and spread good cheer and love throughout the whole castle!" Hoi and Koyu, who currently had hearts floating in their eyes from Millie's smooches, paid little attention to her as they laid in the grass; she, on the other hand, went skipping ahead, and started to plan her most devious scheme to date.
Put simply, this was the bow and arrows of Cupid. Anyone who got struck with the suction-tipped arrows would instantly fall in love with whomever they saw first, be it man, woman, child, or nonhuman, and Millie was in the possession of it. God help us all.
Millie obviously had several people in mind when she started her journey. She badly wanted to hook Klaus up with a nice girl, and Eilie would most definitely be happy with Lord Riou. Pico and Rina each needed a nice solid love interest, as did Sheena and Nina, and of course, she planned on getting a boyfriend for herself as well. Millie's quest was pure, but by the end of the day, she would most assuredly make more mischief than love connections.
Still, it certainly didn't stop her from trying. Millie's very first victim that day was Klaus himself, who was taking a relaxing walk just outside the kitchen. She figured that that area was the best place to find people--after all, almost everyone in the Stupid Army had to eat (excluding Gadget), so the kitchen area was the best place to be. Millie knew that Klaus was sweet to Sierra and vice-versa, so she hoped the cute vampire was in the area as she let her arrow fly.
Suddenly, Humphrey Mintz emerged from the kitchen……
"Whoops!" giggled Millie. "I guess I'll have to try harder than that!" Before poor Klaus could connect with the wrong person--the very wrong person--Millie quickly distracted him with her pet Bonaparte. Humphrey passed without catching Klaus' eye, and a sigh of sweet relief escaped Millie's mouth.
"Huh? Millie? What's going on?" asked Klaus. Millie gave him an obviously fake smile and added a watery chuckle to boot.
"Ahh… hehehe… nothing!" she smiled. Klaus crossed his eyebrows and scratched his head in confusion. Millie wanted to try again, but without Sierra in the area, she had no hope. Thankfully, the adorable vampire was just coming out from the stage area, yawning her head off and muttering about how boring a pair of dancing Kobolds were.
"Oh!" she exclaimed as she saw the two. "Good afternoon, KLAUS."
"G-good afternoon, S-Sierra!" he managed. Sierra giggled playfully at him, and Millie saw her chance. She let an arrow fly in Sierra's direction, and was almost certain that the cute vampire would spot Klaus. But as fate saw to it, Hanna emerged from the kitchen just before the arrow could take affect.
"Aw, not again!" moaned Millie. Sierra was painfully close to becoming a lot more attached to the quiet warrior, and poor Klaus seemed to still be under the influence of the love arrow that his eyes rested not on the vampire, the warrior, or the little girl, but the scholarly young man who had just came out of the kitchen.
"That Koyu…" muttered Marlowe. "I swear, he gets into trouble more times than he blinks!" Klaus' eyes grew hearts as he spotted Marlowe--Sierra sighed dreamily as she gazed upon Hanna--and two extremely unlikely couples were made right there on the spot.
"Holy cow!" shrieked Millie. "This is getting out of hand!!!" Wanting to fix things as soon as possible, Millie fired two more arrows in the direction of each would-be lover. One arrow struck unfortunate Marlowe; the other hit the ninja Kasumi as she was passing by. In the confusion, Hanna had managed to escape, but not without giving Millie a powerful scowl.
"I'm really sorry!" she whined--but Sierra was sorrier still. Not only was she still pining over her "loss", but Marlowe and Kasumi were currently in a fight over her.
"She's mine!!" shrieked Kasumi.
"I saw her first!!" yelled Marlowe. Poor Klaus looked ready to cry as his former love interest fought with the ninja, and since Millie liked him, she didn't want him to be sad, so she let another arrow fly and for the first time all day, it hit its mark. With the determination of a warrior, Klaus shoved Marlowe and Kasumi aside, and gave Sierra a smile.
"……Hello, Sierra!" he said, just slightly out of breath. The vampire blushed lightly and gave him a sly glance.
"Hi, KLAUS. Hasn't this day been a strange one??" Klaus' face turned quite red, but Sierra's became redder still as the young strategist asked her out on a date. Of course she agreed, and the cute couple held hands as they walked back to the stage.
"Yessss!!" cheered Millie. "I did it! I finally hooked Klaus and Sierra up! Awww, and they're such a cute couple, too!" She sighed dreamily, but didn't notice the fact that both Marlowe and Kasumi were now harboring a great interest with each other…
Millie's next victims for the day were General Valeria and her rival Anita. Although the two couldn't stand each other, they were most certainly entitled to have a love interest, and so Millie set about in amending such a grievous error. She found them at the bar--oddly enough, sitting right next to each other. It was a strange wonder why two heated rivals such as Anita and Valeria ever shared such close quarters with each other, especially since it seemed they liked nothing better than the absence of the other's company. Millie could've spent all day thinking of reasons why they sat together, but she had a mission to do.
With her bow taut and her arrow aiming sure, she pulled off two shots and hit them both square in the arm (the arrows had suction cups for tips, so they were hardly painful). She was hoping that one or the other would spot Humphrey, Rikimaru, or Amada--and if she was especially lucky, Flik and Viktor. The number of double dates they could go on was too irresistible! Unfortunately, they spotted neither Flik nor Viktor nor anyone else in the bar, except for each other.
"Ow! Someone hit me! Was that you, ya goody-goody?!" screamed Anita.
"Watch who you're accusing, harlot!" spat Valeria. Both women snarled at each other, and it seemed as if Cupid's arrows took that very moment to take affect. Valeria and Anita slowly removed their disgusted faces and smiled warmly at each other.
"……Anita…… uh…"
"No, you don't have to speak," whispered Anita. "I know… I know… You've been a pain and you want to apologize, right?"
"Of course," whispered Valeria. "I've been treating you so badly for so long, but you must know that deep down inside, I truly love and care for you…"
"Oh, Val…" Anita smiled dreamily, and the two rivals leaned forward to give each other a hug. Millie wisely snuck away before they could give each other anything more intimate than that.
"Oh well," she shrugged. "I guess they need some time to make peace. But who else should I hit???" Millie knew that the possible combinations for lovers in the castle was absolutely infinite, but if she made any more errors, then there would be Hell to pay. Of course, this was Millie here, and before she knew it, she was already singing and skipping her way to more romantic pursuits, her pet Bonaparte squeaking all the way.
Millie's day certainly was busy, but hardly productive. She managed to hook up dozens of people, yet almost none of them ended up making any sense. Viki's pining over Ron Chan Chan was absurd at best; Pico and Genshu were about as compatible as water and electricity, and poor Amada was forced to explore the "other" region of love as his pursuits ended him up with both Camus and Jess. Millie tried to note that things could be worse, but she couldn't see how.
The "noises" that came from General Valeria's room could've been anything, and to the casual observer, it seemed they were either fighting physically or fighting verbally--or both. Millie's naïveté allowed her to conclude one of these theories, but the more "experienced" people in the castle had completely different ideas. Max and Tengaar also made noises, but on a completely different spectrum.
"Forward, milady!" shouted the old knight. "Forward into glory! Ha HAA!! Watch as I slay giants and evil sorcerers for you!!" Tengaar, poor sweet Tengaar, groaned in misery as the ancient warrior led her forward into another strange quest.
"Ughhh… Old man, you've flown off your rocker!"
"Nonsense!" he cried. "Why, this is for chivalry and nobility!"
"You could've at least recruited Hix as your squire!" she exclaimed. "What's the deal having Sheena along?"
"Trust me, babe, I'm enjoying this as much as you are," groaned Sheena. "I remember the same thing happened to me the last time."
"For real," moaned Tengaar. "But at least nobody's trying to hook me up with Meg this time around."
"Hm, that doesn't sound like a bad idea…" muttered Sheena to himself. Tengaar gave him a fiery glare and sneered at the poor boy.
"You just watch your mouth, mister! Or do you wanna get hooked up with Yam Koo again??"
"Eek, no, anything but that!!!!" he screamed. Poor loveable Max hadn't heard a single word they were shouting; he was still concentrated on charging forth into his delusions of grandeur.
"Whatever," shrugged Millie as she went towards other pursuits.
Sensing that Ayda was near, and Kinnison not too far away, Millie planned for her next big hook-up. She knew for a fact that the young woodsman had a thing for Ayda, and vice-versa, so hooking them up would be easier than eating pie. Of course, Ayda's senses alerted her to Millie's presence, and a bow much deadlier than Cupid's was drawn.
"Easy, easy!" exclaimed Millie. "I'm just trying to hook you up with Kinnison! Honest!" Ayda still had her bow drawn and her arrow aimed, and doubtfully gave Millie a hard gaze.
"…I learned from my friend Quincy of just how innocent this business really is," she said. "Sure, it starts out fun, but lots of people experience heartbreak and sadness because of it."
"But it all works out in the end!!" exclaimed Millie. "See???" And with that, she let her arrow fly.
"NOOO!!!!" Scream as she might, Ayda could not stop the arrow of love, and soon hearts grew in her eyes. Unfortunately, it was not Kinnison that emerged from the trees, but Tomo instead. Millie shrieked out in horror as the nature-girl squeezed Tsai's daughter, and a quick arrow changed Ayda's romantic pursuits from the dark-haired girl to a more questionable mate, the inimitable Hoi.
"Dear sweet thief!" wailed Ayda. "How I long to caress your beautiful features!!"
"HEEEEY, looks like I finally got me a babe!!" grinned Hoi. Millie stuck her tongue out in disgust, apologized to the hapless thief, and tried Ayda again. Just then, Pesmerga emerged from the darkness of the forest……
Both Nina and Rikimaru were fighting a vicious battle over the same hapless cook; Hai Yo was screaming as loud as he could, but he could pry neither maniac off of him.
"I saw this man first!" screamed Nina. "Hai Yo and I will live forever in happiness!"
"No! We will live in happiness!" screamed Rikimaru. "Hai Yo, I have fallen in love with your cooking!!"
"Ay! Then have some Ramen!" shouted the poor chef. Rikumaru almost literally dove into the noodle soup, and slurped up half the bowl in delicious delight.
"Mmm, mmm, scrumptious!" he sang. "Delicious! Wonderful! Superb! Never have I eaten such wonders!!" Hearts continued to float in Rikimaru's eyes as he swallowed down the soup, and soon Nina had the chef all to herself.
"No, wait!" she screamed. "I love Tai Ho!" The schoolgirl then went over to squeeze the poor fisherman… "No! Wait! It's Vincent that has my heart!" The poor aristocrat suffered greatly under her embrace… "Aiee!! Fitcher! My true love!"
"No, wait!! Clive! Dear sweet beautiful Clive! No! Killey! I LOVE the color red!! …NO!! Richmond! Yes, dear Richmond! Aye! No! Riou! Beloved lord Riou! No, Stallion!! No, Amada!! No……"
"I'm really sorry!" shrieked Millie. Ayda gazed into the face of her love and sighed dreamily.
"Don't be sorry, sweet Millie," she sighed. "After all, the fifth time's the charm…"
"But you need to be with Kinnison!" she shrieked. Another arrow slammed into Ayda's stomach, and the poor forester instantly fell in love with Sid as he came flapping by.
"My wonderful Winger!" she sang. "Come here, delicious sweet! Allow me the honor of holding you!!" Sid, who normally wore a skeleton grin on his face, laughed out loud as Ayda rushed towards him.
"Hehehehehe…… I guess I have that charm…" Millie smacked her face yet again, and shot poor Ayda with another arrow. This time, the hapless hunter's devotions went straight to Karen…
Tengaar, finally free from Max's clutches, went off to reunite with her boyfriend Hix. She certainly didn't need a silly love arrow to fall hopelessly in love with the would-be warrior, and as meek as he was, she knew that his love and devotion for her was unquestioned. The door to Hix's room was locked, and from the muffled noises on the other side, it sounded like he was actually training for once. Tengaar smiled at his newfound efforts and used a bobby pin to pick the lock. Unfortunately, as she opened the door, she did not find her love interest with a sword in one hand and a practice dummy in the other--though he was awfully close to it.
"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed. "HIX!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Tengaar had accidentally stumbled upon her boyfriend and Lord Riou doing "things" together, and instantly became traumatized for life as she saw them…… well, without the aid of socks over their feet, or anywhere else. She screamed and slammed the door in horror, and wailed all the way to her room. Poor dear sweet Tengaar flung herself on the bed, buried her head in the pillow, and began to grieve with a power previously unknown to her.
Her sniffling and sobbing was so powerful that it caught the ears of Eilie. The kind-hearted circus performer slowly crept in the room, and her heart instantly went out for the redhead. Tengaar usually didn't cry, so Eilie could only guess that Millie must've been up to her old tricks again, and Hix had become the brunt of her attention.
"……Hey, Tengaar," whispered Eilie as she laid a compassionate hand on the other girl's heaving shoulder. Tengaar merely sniffled.
"…Yeah?"
"You wanna talk?" she offered. The redhead sniffled again and stuffed her head further into her pillow.
"…No."
"Are you sure? Is something the matter?" A pause. Tengaar's tears were staining the pillow, so she decided to turn around and address her kind friend.
"…It's about Hix," she managed. "I… I wanted to see him, but when I came into his room, he and Lord Riou were…… were……" Eilie's face immediately drooped down, for she too bore great feelings for a certain somebody, and to hear such distressing news must've been traumatic on her.
"Oh…… I'm so sorry…" She kindly drew Tengaar into a gentle embrace, and the two girls mourned on each other's shoulders. After they both had a good cry, Eilie slowly released Tengaar and gazed into her face. She smiled weakly and wiped a few strands of hair out of the older girl's face.
"Nice women like you shouldn't have bad luck in love," she whispered. Tengaar snorted up her tears, managed a smile, and thanked Eilie for being there for her. Slowly, the smile grew warmer, and their faces drew closer together, and……
"What the heck's going on??" questioned Nanami as she passed Hix' room. Not only were there "noises" coming from that place, but there were also "noises" coming from next door, which was Tengaar's place. Nanami couldn't figure out why there were such strange and funny sounds coming from them…… but then again, it wasn't her concern.
"Oh well!" she exclaimed. "It's none of my business! C'mon, Templeton!" And with that, she dragged the poor mapmaker over to her own room, where a steaming plate of stew was waiting for him…
"Sorry! I'm real sorry!!" Poor Millie had to literally apply a crowbar to snap Meg off of Kinnison, as well as another good yank for Jess to leave Ayda alone. She began to fire another arrow, but luckily, both foresters stopped her.
"Listen, Millie," said Kinnison, "I think Ayda and I can hook up together without your help."
"I agree," said Ayda. "After all, I was planning on asking Kinnison on a date anyway…"
"You were?" he smiled. Ayda smiled and nodded her head. "Well, I accept!!" And with that, the two inevitable lovers linked elbows and marches away towards the stage. Millie sighed and muttered something about how true love conquered all…… then was tackled by an overzealous Wakaba.
"MILLIE!!" she shrieked. "My one and true love Millie! Hey, hey, hey, is Bonaparte with you too??"
"Ho, boy!" sighed the younger girl. "This just might be a longer day than I originally thought!!!"
Indeed, the day turned out to be a very memorable one--if not a very strange one. For the majority of the day, Millie zapped people left and right with Cupid's bow, oftentimes causing more grief than she did romances. Kasumi and Oulan ended up being interesting but disastrous, Camus and Viki was three times more humorous and three times more terrible--Humphrey and Viki was by far the weirdest pairing yet--and Teresa and Jeane just never seemed right, either. Millie accidentally punished Koyu by hooking him up with Hoi, and it seemed Pico's flirtatious ways got the better of him when Vincent began chasing after him.
Dr. Huan, who deserved a lady-friend as much as anyone else, seemed relatively happy with Raura; however, Teresa's failure with Jeane ended up being worse once Apple spotted her. Shin literally ran for his life once he found Nanami pursuing him, and poor Jess earned the affections of both Sasuke and Max--although the latter was less painful.
"Onward, my squire!" shouted Max. "Onward to victory!"
"Does he do this all the time?" whispered Jess to Sheena. The younger man rolled his eyes.
"Nah, sometimes he's worse."
Of course, Millie also was responsible for making many successful love connections, as well. The shy Annalee and the meek Marlowe seemed just right for each other, and once Koyu recovered from his bout with Hoi, he gained the much-desired affections of Wakaba. Humphrey and Hanna seemed to enjoy each other's company--after all, they had so much to talk about!!--and Viki and Connell made such an adorable pair that even Bonaparte seemed to approve of it. Vincent seemed most content hanging out with Simone (after nearly getting strangled to death by a lovesick Hanna, anything was better), and Maximillian seemed overjoyed to have such an "important person" by his side.
Oulan sighed as she entered the library. Bob the werewolf had just ditched her for Lorelai, thus leaving her depressed and downright saddened. Oulan might've been a tough and powerful bodyguard on the outside, but she had just as many feelings as the next person. She really had liked Bob, but it was not meant to be. Her travels led her to Emilia, who was also looking rather depressed over something.
The beautiful and intelligent librarian had also felt her fair share of love-stings that day. Not only had Pico passed her up for Karen, but Clive, Camus, and even Sheena had left her for other pursuits. She was glad her affair with Kasumi was brief, and Richmond briefer still, but now she was so lonely that she would even accept the gruff private eye into her company. As fate saw things, she and Oulan locked eyes at the exact same time.
"Oh, hello Oulan," greeted Emilia. "What brings you to my humble library?"
"I'm just trying to escape the outside world," answered the muscular redhead. "It's been insanity out there ever since that kid got a hold of those arrows."
"I know," moaned Emilia empathetically. "I got hit by a few myself, but most of the pairings were actually very nice."
"Oh? Who'd you get?" Emilia smiled as she listed off the names, and Oulan's eyebrows wiggled whenever she heard an interesting one. "…Well, my day was just as strange. The best luck I had was with Bob."
"Bob?!" shrieked Emilia. "You were hooked up with BOB?!?!?!?"
"Hey!" spat Oulan. "I happened to like him a lot! Okay, so he was a werewolf--but so what? At least I'm not chasing after Sid or Gengen."
"Amen to that," sighed Emilia. The two members of the lonely heart's club sighed and smiled at each other, and Oulan sat next to Emilia and gave her a friendly slap on the shoulder.
"Hey… listen… You're a very pretty lady, all classy and mature, and I'm sure a lot of people like you. But would you be interested in… say, a bodyguard? I mean, just in case…"
"Yes, I would," smiled Emilia. She and Oulan grinned at each other, and slowly, the two women drew closer together, and closer still, until--
"Bolgan like to read!" shouted Bolgan. He jumped up and down and started to memorize the alphabet. "'A' is for Apple, 'B' is for Bash, 'C' is for Club…"
After Millie pried Raura off of her, she stormed into Miklotov's room with a determined look on her face. By this time, Anita and Valeria would've settled their differences, so it was inevitable that they needed boyfriends. Millie knew for a fact that Miklotov bore a huge crush towards the General, whereas his counterpart Camus had eyes for Anita. The four of them would be absolutely fabulous together, but first, Millie needed to break a few of them apart.
"Aaah!! Lady Millie!!" Camus was also in Miklotov's room, "assisting" him with "things". Millie paid little attention to them, even though she had to admit that they were nice together, and forced them to… "put on a pair of new clothes" for their inevitable date with Valeria and Anita.
"But… but…"
"No buts!" exclaimed the brunette. "Now come on! Your destiny awaits!!" The two knights barely had time to get their… socks on, when Millie finally dragged them out of their room and towards Valeria's. There were no longer any noises coming from the room, and since nobody had seen Anita since she and her rival were last in the bar, it could only be assumed that she was in Valeria's room--and thus the two had made their peace.
They're sharing the same bed, so that must be a good sign! thought Millie to herself. She screamed out to the two, and woke them up from their afternoon nap. Valeria and Anita groggily rose out of bed, still looking rather ravishing, though in desperate need of a shower. She thrust Camus and Miklotov in their direction, and shot the four of them with a single arrow each.
"…Oh, Camus!" sighed Valeria.
"Miklotov, my dear sweet knight…" sighed Anita. Millie screamed at the mix-up and switched the knights around before the women knew what happened.
"…Uh, oh wow, Valeria, you look great!" sighed Miklotov. She blushed.
"And Lady Anita is always beautiful!" smiled Camus. She blushed.
"Yesssss!!!!" cheered Millie. "Two perfect couples, matched in the same day! Now I'm off to make even more people happy!!!" And with that, she scurried away, leaving the four warriors to get better acquainted……
Templeton smiled at Meg as he approached her, and the bizarre Trickster held back not a single tooth in her grin.
"I heard from a reliable source that you like to travel!" she said. Templeton nodded his head.
"Like? Like? Meg, I love to travel! I'm a cartographer, so I'm always on the go. I sail across oceans, climb mountains, walk through valleys, and wade through swamps--all for the sake of my map."
"Oh, WOW!!!" squealed Meg with stars in her eyes. "That sound SO COOL!!!!"
"It is!" he smiled. "And I heard that you like to go on adventures as well!"
"DO I!!" The two young people smiled at each other with intense excitement, and a date was already set for the two new lovebirds…
Exhausted beyond belief, Kahn Marley sat himself down on a stool in Leona's bar, and let out a sigh. The day was almost behind him (and so were about fifteen would-be love interests), but he still had only a few hours left before he would be granted sleep. He motioned towards a rather expensive wine on the rack, and Leona smiled knowingly as she poured him a glass.
"Thanks," he said. A single sip and it was gone, and two more sips passed before he was ready to spill his mind. Thankfully, the bartender was a gorgeous and attentive woman, who was not only candy for the eyes but also a method of unloading the day's burdens. Kahn, like most everybody there, told her of all the failed romantic adventures he had been through, and she expressed the same.
"I didn't succumb to even one of them," she said with a slight boast. "Though many of them were indeed interesting. They were mostly too young for me."
"You're only thirty-two," he said. "That's still quite young in my book. I'd be interested in you."
"You would?" she said with a raised eyebrow. Kahn looked up and almost apologized, but the smile on her face told him that it was unnecessary. He smiled back and poured his wine into two glasses.
"Yeah," he said, "I most certainly would." Leona smiled and winked at him.
"So I heard you helped in slaying Neclord," she began. "A vampire hunter kills the vampire, so what does he do after that?"
"I'll tell you, I came prepared," he replied with a smirk. "I'm planning on becoming a mineralogist once the war's over."
"Oh really?" she said. "Well, I do like a man who knows what he's going to do with his life!" Kahn smiled at Leona, and the two clinked the wine glasses together.
"Do you, now……"
The rest of Millie's day seemed to solely focus on wrapping up everyone's romantic interests. After seeing the flirtatious Pico and the flirtatious Rina suffer through a lot of failed romances, she decided the two would be perfect for each other and hooked them up, and she was dead-on right. Lorelai and Flik were also brought together--for the second time, she noted--and this time, it seemed rather permanent. As for Kasumi, she ended up with Tir McDohl, again, and the two seemed especially happy to be together (Millie noted that quite a few noises came from Kasumi's room, and she could only assume that they were not noises that would come from a dojo). At first, Jeane and Raura held a wild romantic interest with each other, but then Raura rekindled her love for Jess (poor Huan was "occupied" with Shu and thus could not enjoy her company) and Jeane found out that Jude gave the absolute best massages in the whole entire world.
Sasuke's crush on Kasumi ended in failure, but his newfound interest with Tomo did not, and the two hit if off without Millie ever having to even touch her bow. Also, the love-hungry Sheena and Nina seemed good for each other, and although Millie claimed that the connection was a success, people who saw them together had to question her decision. Nanami seemed a little more pathetic when she clung onto Futch and declared him "hers" (in quite a loud voice, to boot), but the young dragoon seemed to actually like the attention.
"Dead man walking," muttered Viktor as he saw the young couple.
Hix and Riou held hands like young lovers as they walked through the halls of Stupid Castle; Eilie and Tengaar were equally intimate with each other as they strolled through the corridors, so it was only a matter of time before they bumped into each other. At first, there was a dangerously awkward silence hanging in the air. After all, Hix had betrayed Tengaar's trust by not only seeing another person, but also by seeing a person who shared his same gender. Love arrow or not, he had done something inexcusable.
"…Tengaar?" he whispered. His hand immediately unclasped from Riou's, and an age-old spark of love was fanned into a flame once again as the young warrior gazed at his one true love. The redhead was stubborn to his advances at first, but even her heart melted as her true love approached her. She let go of Eilie's hand, and the two embraced tenderly without even saying a word to each other.
Finally, after they both had a good cry, they smiled and stared into each other's eyes. Hix wiped away her tears and a strand of hair, and gently placed his mouth upon hers.
"I love you, Tengaar," he whispered before the kiss. She practically squealed in delight as he kissed her, and declared her own love once her lips were free to speak. Neither one of them needed an apology; their love was too big and great to think about the past. Without anything to say except for a silent smile, Hix knelt down and produced a box from his pocket.
"I already know the answer," he began, "but Tengaar…… Will you marry me?" The young girl gasped in awe, and knelt down to hug her beloved warrior. The ring fit her beautifully, and a thousand Yeses came from her mouth as the two young ones embraced.
Unfortunately, neither Riou nor Eilie had such a powerful bond, and their silence dragged on for some time. Finally, the leader of the Stupid Army stepped forth and opened his mouth for an apology. Eilie instantly silenced hi with a powerful slap to the cheek, sending poor Riou back a few steps. Hix and Tengaar stood up, the former holding the latter gently as they watched the two. Slowly, as Riou recovered from the shock, he gave Eilie an apologetic look and a slight whimper.
"……Eilie… I…"
"Shut up!" she shouted. Suddenly, she dashed forward, and hugged him fiercely--something she had never been brave enough to do. "Just shut up," she said, sobbing gently as she rested her face on his shoulder. Riou quietly returned the hug, and the two of them stood there in the hallway comforting each other. In the distance, Millie smiled fondly, and secretly wished the two of them good luck in the future. They both deserved happiness, and if things went right, they would most definitely get it.
Millie concluded her task of romance with one final, last encounter. She spotted Oulan tenderly holding Emilia's hand, and from the glow of the ladies' faces, it was fairly obvious that they were more than just acquaintances now. They were a very strange yet somewhat fitting couple, and had Millie not encountered two more people, she might have let them go. But as things went, Shu and Huan stepped out from the opposite end of the hall, also holding hands. The two men and two women bumped into each other, and awkwardly apologized, when Millie suddenly leaped out with her bow aimed and Bonaparte squeaking.
"Not so fast, you four!" she declared. "All throughout this day, I've been hooking people up left and right! Most of the time I made mistakes, but'cha gotta admit that I also hooked up a lot of people who otherwise would've never found each other! I'm almost finished, but I have four more people to connect before I can put this bow away!"
"Surely you don't mean us?" questioned Shu. "Huan and I are happy as things are."
"That's right!" said Oulan. "And Emilia and I are coming along very nicely!"
"Come on!" whined Millie. "This isn't right!! The Sword and Shield didn't make the world just for men to be with men, or women to be with women! It was never supposed to be like that! Guys and girls were meant for each other! This is just plain wrong!!"
"And forcing people to love other people isn't?" asked Huan. Millie blushed and grinned innocently.
"Ah, hehe, okay, I guess you got me there," she managed. "Okay, okay, I swear that I'll never use this again! But you gotta admit--you girls would much prefer these guys, and you guys would much prefer these girls. Admit it, Oulan! You've had a huge crush on Shu ever since you joined the army!" Oulan's face soon matched the color of her hair, and Shu's eyes were especially trained on her.
"And you, doctor!" pointed Millie. "Didn't I overhear you pine over Emilia?!"
"Well, I, uh…" For all his medical skill, the good doctor could not concoct a way out of this trap. He had indeed liked Emilia for some time, but he had never found the time to tell her. The librarian's face was as crimson as her "friend's", and Millie smiled broadly at the four of them.
"Yeah! See? You didn't need my arrows of love to know that! All you really had to do was look deep in your hearts and admit your true feelings! That's what love is!!" She smiled brightly, and silently encouraged Oulan and Huan to step forward and take their destiny by the hand, so to speak. The muscular bodyguard carefully approached Shu and smiled weakly as her hand clasped with his, while Huan still managed to keep his cool, even with Emilia around. Without looking back on their former love interests, the two new couples walked away into a brand new life together, along with all the other people Millie had hooked up.
"Well, that was sweet!!" she said as she stretched. "Right, Bonaparte? OH!!! Golly!! I almost forgot to get me a boyfriend!!!" After briefly freaking out, Millie rushed back down to the grand hall as fast as she could, leaving poor Bonaparte to just barely cling on. She slid down the banister of the stairs and ended up right next to the tablets of promise--and to one of the few young men who was still unattached.
"LUC!!!!!" she screamed. The young wizard, who had experienced enough misery the last time a crazy girl got hold of a magical device that induced love, bolted out of the room as fast as he could, but Millie was a fast little thing, and before long, she almost had him. Suddenly, as he was dashing for the exit, Luc bumped into the very last person he had expected to slam into.
"D'gaaah!!!" he screamed. "LOTTE!!!! What're you doing here?!"
"Isn't it obvious?!" she squealed. "I came to see my Lucy-poo!" Lotte fiercely wrapped her arms around the poor wizard and squeezed the stuffing out of him, but was hotly intercepted by a very-enraged Millie.
"Huh? HEY!!!!!! What the heck do you think you're doing?!" she screamed. Lotte stuck her tongue out like the mature girl she was and held Luc even tighter, if that were possible.
"I'm giving my boyfriend a little huggly-poo!" she squealed. Millie nearly screamed with rage.
"But he's my boyfriend!" she yelled. With that, she tugged on Luc's free arm, and nearly yanked it out of its socket.
"He's mine, loser!!" screamed Lotte, tugging on the other arm.
"No, mine!!!" screamed Millie. The two girls glared and cursed at each other, leaving poor Luc to moan out in agony.
"AAAAAHHHH, stop it!!! You're gonna rip my arms off!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
Quietly, as the two girls fought over poor Luc, Stallion raced forward and grabbed the bow that Cupid had "loaned" him. With an evil grin, he jogged through the castle until he came to the elevator. He could only hope that Shin was still trying to run away from Karen--otherwise, his plan of getting Teresa to fall for him wouldn't work out that well, now would it??
The End
(Let's hope so!)
Closing comments: My favorite pairings might be slightly stranger than the norm. I like Klaus/Sierra, Hix/Tengaar (their relationship in the first game was better), Riou/Eilie (sadly enough, I haven't seen any of these), Tir/Kasumi, Anita/Valeria (but I like Valeria/Miklotov and Camus/Anita much better!!), Templeton/Meg, Ayda/Kinnison, Kahn/Leona, Rina/Pico, Annalee/Marlowe, Koyu/Wakaba, Oulan/Emilia (I like Oulan/Shu and Huan/Emilia much better!), Lorelai/Flik (she kinda looks like Odessa), Jess/Raura, Nina/Sheena (hehe), Sasuke/Tomo, and Nanami/Futch. Poor Futch. Poor Klaus. Poor Ayda!!!!!!