JUST LOVE
Chapter Eight : Love Pursuits
Ryudo let out a relaxed sigh and slumped on the couch in the living room. He brought up his feet and let them rest on the coffee table in front of him. He then wiped away the beads of sweat from his forehead and eyebrows with his hand. "Finally, everything is clean."
"Ryudo! Dinner is ready!" Elena called out from the kitchen.
Ryudo smiled and chuckled silently. He liked what he heard and had a feeling he would hear it many times more. "Coming," he called back and stood up. He went to the kitchen and inhaled the smell of the food. Everything was ready, the table was set and the food was ready to eat. The only thing that was missing were the people.
"Come on Ryudo, let us eat," Elena smiled and sat down.
"You know, you didn't have to do this. You're my guest," Ryudo smiled back and walked over to Elena.
Elena's body tensed with Ryudo standing right beside her. "Oh, it is nothing. I had to do something. I cannot just sit in a corner and let you do everything."
Ryudo put his hand on his stomach as it growled. "Man, I'm hungry but we can't eat without the others. What's taking them so long?" Right after Ryudo's statement, they heard a knock on the door. "I'll go get it, it's probably them." Ryudo walked away to answer the door. When he opened the door, the whole gang entered.
"Is that food I smell?" Melfice said.
"Yeah, Elena cooked dinner for us," Ryudo answered.
"Ryudo, not only is she good looking, but she can cook too?" Melfice whispered to Ryudo's ear with a sly tone.
"Be quiet," Ryudo growled through gritted teeth and turned to Roan. "Did you find anything about Gatta?"
Roan shook his head. "No, we did not see him. We could not ask around either since there were no people around."
"It seems that the citizens of this town are all hiding in their homes," Tio said.
"Really strange," Millenia added.
"Ryudo! Is that Melfice and the others?" Elena called out from the kitchen.
Ryudo scratched the back of his head and smiled embarrassingly. "Oh yeah! Dinner is ready. Come on, we'll figure that out later and let's start eating."
Everyone nodded and went to the kitchen. Lance was the last one to enter the kitchen and took off his mask as he seated himself. The group complimented on Elena's cooking and asked questions about their next move as they ate. Other than that, they mostly ate in silence.
After their meal, Melfice went outside and Lance as well. Elena went upstairs, to the balcony to watch the stars and the moon in the sky. Millenia, Roan, and Tio went out to the porch to sit around and talk. Ryudo stayed behind in the kitchen to clean up and wash the dishes.
***
Melfice stood right in front of his grave, he was in the cemetery. "So this is where they buried me, right beside Reena. Who is me anyway? Who was running around while I was sleeping in that factory?" Melfice knelt down and pounded the ground with his fist. "How could I let myself get possessed by Valmar? How could I kill Reena? What have I done?!" Although he had not shown it to anyone, he hated himself for succumbing to Valmar. He wanted power to protect, power to do justice. Instead, he ended up having power to destroy, power to unmake the world. He would never forgive himself for making such a mistake. He would never forget the faces of the people he killed; Reena, some of the people of Garlan, the villagers of Mareg's hometown, and many more. Those faces would haunt him forever and there was nothing he could do about it.
However, there was one thing he could do to make sure that would never happen again. He had decided to help Ryudo stop Gatta. He hoped that by helping Ryudo, his conscience would become clean again. He would fight Evil in any form it took to make the world a better place to live for everyone. Melfice stood up and picked up his sword from his grave. With his sword and the Star Egg Ryudo gave him, he was ready to do battle.
***
Elena stood in the balcony and watched the stars and the moon in the sky. Watching the sky during the night was one of her favourite past times. It reminded her of the night when she and Ryudo watched the sky together on Ceceile Reef before they confronted Melfice. The night, the memory was special. It was the first time Ryudo actually opened up to her and said something nice about her too. Ryudo. How was she suppose to tell him her feelings now? Ryudo was in the middle of a family reunion and still had to find answers about Gatta's whereabouts.
"I do not want to get in Ryudo's way. I guess things will have to wait until everything is over," Elena said to herself. She would fight with Ryudo for now and when everything was settled, she would make the Geohound hers.
"Looking at the sky again?" a voice said from above.
Elena gasped and her body tensed a bit. She turned around and looked up. She saw Lance perched on the roof. Obviously, she was not still used to the Ninja sneaking up behind her. "Good evening," she smiled.
Lance jumped down from the roof and landed right in front of her. "Scared you again?"
Elena nodded. "Y-yes," she said nervously.
"Sorry, that's just the way I am." Lance leaned against the railing and crossed his arms over his chest.
"It is fine. I am glad you made it this far with us. You have been really of great help. Thank you."
"Heh, it's my pleasure."
"If I remember right, you said you had 'a score to settle' with the Cathedral Knights. What did you exactly mean by that?"
Lance looked at Elena and then looked away. He did not know if he should tell her his intentions.
Elena looked a bit alarmed. "Did I say something wrong? I am sorry, please, forgive me."
"Don't worry about it," Lance said in his usual cold, monotone voice and still kept his eyes away from Elena. "I come from the Iga Ninja Clan. My clan secretly supported the government of the city of Minalin. My clan did their dirty works behind the shadows. We're there whenever they needed someone exterminated whether it's a crime syndicate or a corrupt government official. We're there whenever they needed someone to investigate when the air was foul."
Elena frowned. "You lived in the city of Minalin? I have never heard of such a place."
Lance shook his head. "No. You see, Minalin was a city surrounded by mountains and forests. I lived in the secret fortress of the Iga Ninja Clan, which was hidden deep in the forests and mountains. Whenever Minalin needed us, we were there. It's how we made a living."
"So, you were like a Geohound."
"Not really. We just worked for the government and no one else. And whenever we did a job, we made sure we were completely unseen." Lance's tone of voice then changed. It got harsh, colder, and icier. "About a year ago, when Valmar was trying to revive, a woman named Selene and the Cathedral Knights came to Minalin. They claimed that the city harboured a piece of Valmar. No one admitted that they were possessed by Valmar so Selene decided to purify the whole city. With the mass slaughter, my clan was summoned to protect the city. However, my clan was no match for the Cathedral Knights. They were purified along with innocent people. Everyone got killed except me. I was away on a scouting mission at the time. When I finally got to Minalin, there was nothing there except ashes and Selene was long gone but I wouldn't let her get away with it. I tracked her down and after a year, I finally found her but just to learn that she's dead. But, the Cathedral Knights are still around and I won't stop fighting until every last one of them is dead!"
Elena walked over to Lance and looked into his ruby red eyes. After speaking of pain and sorrow, she was surprised to see that his eyes were void of any emotions or feelings. His eyes were completely hollow. "The poor man, he rid himself of emotion because of his painful experiences," Elena thought. "I am very sorry to hear that."
Lance did not say anything. "Who wouldn't cast away emotions if life and memories bring nothing but pain?" the Ninja asked himself mentally. He looked into her ruby red eyes and found joy, doubt, pain... emotions. Her eyes were full of emotions and life, something he would never possess. Lance closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "How am I suppose to tell her?" he thought. Lance turned around and jumped off the balcony to disappear into the dark night.
Elena cupped her hands together on her chest. "I should help him."
***
Millenia, Roan, and Tio sat around on the porch while they talked to each other. "What a nice evening," Roan said as a gentle breeze blew against them.
"Yeah, thanks to us," Millenia scoffed.
"Yes, all of our struggles against Zera were all worth it," Tio replied.
Millenia sighed and curled herself into a tight ball. "Running around to find the Granasaber was fun. I wonder what lies ahead on this journey?"
Roan smiled. "Well, whatever danger is in store for us, I am sure we will overcome it. We cannot let history repeat itself."
"Yes, we cannot allow anymore suffering," Tio agreed.
Millenia then stood up and stretched her arms. "I'm going to go for a walk. Do you two want to come?"
"No thank you. We will just stay here," Roan answered.
"I am tired, maybe some other time," Tio added.
"Okay, see you later then," Millenia said and walked away.
When Millenia was completely out of her view, Tio spoke, "Roan? What exactly is love? From what I have learned from Mareg, love is something that brings people together and happiness. But from what I have seen from Elena and Millenia, love is something painful and full of doubts. Is love always like that?"
Roan blushed a bit from Tio's sudden question. For once, he was at a loss for words. He did not know exactly how to answer Tio's question. "I... I do not know Tio," Roan managed to say.
"Oh," Tio said in a disappointed tone.
***
Millenia walked down a street while several thoughts raced through her mind. She wondered if she would ever find the man of her dreams. She could try and steal Ryudo away from Elena but that would be futile. They were obviously in love with each other but were too shy and preoccupied to tell the other. She wondered if she would find a man like Ryudo. What if she did not? She would have to be lonely again. Millenia stopped walking and then groaned in disgust.
"Ugh, what the Hell is happening to me? I used to be tough... didn't care about anyone... but now look at me... I'm mourning at a man that won't love me. I've been waiting for him for a long time but he never came. I've been wasting my time. Hearts... love... who needs it?"
Millenia's thoughts were interrupted as she heard a faint explosion. Millenia ran towards the source of the explosion and led herself in an open field. From where she stood, she saw a man cast a Burn! to a nearby boulder.
Millenia arched an eyebrow. "Who's that?" She crept towards the man until she could identify who he was. "It's just Melfice," she said to herself in a disappointed tone. "I wonder what he's doing?" Millenia ran towards a tree to hide herself as Melfice turned around towards her. Millenia leaned against the tree and peeked to see what Melfice was doing now.
Melfice took off his cape and then shed all of his upper body armour, leaving him half naked in front of Millenia's ruby red eyes. Millenia could do nothing but stare at Melfice's muscular form and marvelled how his chest rippled and the rest of his muscles contract as he moved around. She was also mesmerized the way his long, blue hair flowed freely in the breeze.
Melfice bent down to pick up his sword from the ground. Holding the sword with his right hand only, he began to slash and parry with an invisible opponent. For someone as tall as he, he was incredibly fast and graceful in his movements.
After a couple of sword drills, Melfice sat down on the grass and wiped the sweat off of his muscular body. "You can come out," Melfice called out. There was no answer. "Come on Millenia, I know you're out there!"
"How did he know I was watching him?" Millenia thought and stepped out of her hiding place.
Melfice stood up and walked up to Millenia. "What are you doing here?"
It took every ounce of Millenia's power to concentrate on what Melfice was saying instead of letting her eyes wander down to his beautiful body. "I... I was just walking around and s... saw y... you..." Millenia stuttered as her heart beat rapidly as if it threatened to explode.
Melfice arched an eyebrow. From what Ryudo told him and from what he had seen, it was unusual for the red head to be stuttering and nervous. "Are you all right?"
Millenia finally composed herself. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?!" she hissed.
Melfice put his hands up in defense. "Whoa. I was just asking."
Millenia eyed Melfice suspiciously. "What about you, what are you doing here?"
"I'm practising my sword skills and my magic. You were watching me the whole time weren't you?"
"Not really... say, do you want to spar with me? I've got my Chaos Egg and Black Angel Bow right here."
Melfice shook his head. "No thanks, I don't fight women, even if it's just for practice. But I can walk you back to my house though, I'm done training."
"Forget it, I'll walk by myself. Ha, you're no fun," Millenia scoffed and left.
***
Ryudo combed his hair right in front of a mirror after taking a long, hot shower. He wore nothing but a white towel that was wrapped around his waist. Ryudo chuckled in satisfaction when his hair was finally perfect. Ryudo then turned towards the hook on the door where he hung his blue sweat pants but the door opened.
Elena entered the bathroom dressed in a white robe with her hair untied. "Oh my!" she gasped as she saw a half naked Ryudo standing right in front of her. Elena's eyes travelled up and down Ryudo's muscular body, she could do nothing but stare.
Ryudo could do nothing either but marvel how beautiful Elena looked without her Songstress clothes, he really hated that bonnet she wore, and with her hair untied. Ryudo took a step forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "Elena..." he whispered softly.
Elena's body tensed and her heart raced. "Ye.. yes?"
Ryudo's body felt hot like he was burning and sweat began to form on his forehead. "Elena... I... I lo... Are you sure about this?"
Elena's body relaxed a bit. "What do you mean?"
Ryudo took a step backwards. "Are you sure you want to come along with me on this journey? It's going to be rough... and I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want to get you involved in this."
Elena sighed heavily. "Ryudo, me and the others have been waiting for you for one year, one month, and three days. We have been waiting for you for so long and we cannot wait any longer. We are your friends, we already are involved in this."
"I don't want you to get hurt. I won't be able to..."
Elena threw herself at Ryudo and without stopping to think for a second, she kissed him fully on the lips. Ryudo returned her kiss tenfold and his hands travelled down to her waist to pull her closer. Elena moaned lightly as Ryudo deepened the kiss and slid his tongue into her mouth. Elena rubbed his muscular chest in a circular pattern with her hands.
Ryudo broke their kiss to catch his breath and then began to plant kisses on Elena's neck. Elena could feel Ryudo's arousal through his towel with her thigh. She ran her fingers from down his chest to his abdominals. Her fingers kept going down and down and then jerked her hands away as she reached the towel.
Ryudo stopped kissing her neck. "Elena?"
Elena blushed a bit and took a step backwards. "I am sorry..."
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it was me. Ryudo, we cannot do this."
Ryudo was about to protest and but then remembered that he had to take care of Gatta before he could be with Elena. "You're right..." he said reluctantly and looked down. "I'm sorry too... I let myself get carried away." With that, Ryudo took his sweat pants from the door and left the bathroom.