JUST LOVE

Chapter Eleven

Melfice woke up from his sleep as a crow landed on the balcony and cawed really loud. Melfice
growled in annoyance and rolled around on his bed in an effort to go back to sleep. He even
covered his head with his pillow to muffle the crow's cries but failed miserably. The crow cawed
louder and louder and it drove him nuts. With a snarl, he quickly sat up from the bed and threw
his pillow at the glass, sliding door that lead to the balcony. The crow cried once more and flew
away as the pillow hit the door.

"Finally..." Melfice sighed with relief and sank back to his bed. Melfice stared at the ceiling,
wondering how he is going to spend the day.

Melfice's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said groggily.

Millenia entered the room. She stood beside Melfice and put her hands on her hips. "What's
taking you so long?!" she asked, a bit irritated. "We'll never get to St. Heim if you..." she stopped
talking as Melfice stood up from the covers. He only wore a pair of white sweat pants, leaving
his upper body naked to her eyes. Millenia's body started to feel hot and uneasy being alone in a
room with a handsome, half naked man. It took every ounce of her strength not throw herself at
him. Instead, she watched him move around the room.

Melfice walked over to his dresser and took out a comb and a black ribbon. He combed his long,
blue hair and then tied it into a ponytail with two long, bangs hanging over his face. Melfice
turned to Millenia and gave her a quizzical look. "If I what?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

Despite her uneasiness, Millenia managed to keep her cool. "If you sleep all day! We're here to
fight, not sit around and do nothing you know!"

Melfice ignored Millenia's comment and sighed. "Are you going to stand there all day? You
know, I'd really like to change clothes. I don't mind if you stand there and watch while I change
but watching might make you uncomfortable."

Millenia was speechless and glared daggers at Melfice.

Melfice forked up an eyebrow. "Well?"

Millenia growled in frustration and stormed out of the room.

Melfice smiled in triumph and went to the bathroom to clean himself and change.

***

Millenia stormed in her room and then slammed the door shut. She lay on her bed, frustrated
about what just happened. Ever since that night on Garlan, Millenia started to feel hot and uneasy
whenever she is around Melfice. Also, there are times where she can not help but stare and
admire his many fine qualities whenever Melfice's attention was somewhere else. Millenia sat up
from the bed and cursed herself.

She was attracted to him. She loved his emerald green eyes, his handsome face, his voice, and his
muscular body. She also liked the way his bangs and his long ponytail swayed back and forth in the
breeze like grass in the meadow. She also found it hard to resist the urge to throw herself at him
whenever he is half naked around her.

Yes, she was attracted to him. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she thought. Millenia
scoffed at that question. It did not really matter. She is a woman, is she not? And Melfice is a
very handsome man. Besides, she only liked his looks and nothing more, it was natural.
Personality wise, Melfice is a gentleman, elegant, smart, witty, very focused on his
responsibilities, and a bit confident on his skills. "I would never fall for him or anyone else. I've
had enough. Love is a cruel thing and I would never let it hurt me again," Millenia told herself.

Roan and Tio then entered the room while talking to each other. Both of them carried grocery
bags with each hand. Roan was the first one to notice Millenia. "Hi Miss Millenia," he greeted.

"Hey Roan," Millenia replied glumly.

"What is the matter?" Tio asked.

Millenia's voice was back to normal. "Oh, nothing. Say, did you two get all the supplies we
need?"

The young king nodded and put the bags down on the floor. "Yes. We got food, medicine,
matches, all of the necessities."

"Is Melfice awake yet?" Tio asked.

"Well, if it wasn't for me, he won't be," the red head answered harshly.

Roan looked alarmed. "Did you two have an argument or something?"

Before Millenia could answer, Melfice entered the room in his white, shining armour and red
cape. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yeah, we were just waiting for you," Millenia spat.

"Oh, I am so sorry for my tardiness," Melfice apologized with a small trace of sarcasm. He then
turned to Roan. "Did you get the supplies?"

"Yes," Roan answered.

"Let's get going then," Melfice suggested.

The group packed their supplies and their belongings and then left the inn. It was warm outside
and the sun shone happily which caused some of the snow from last night to melt. They walked
down a street that was full with people. It was around noon, lunch rush. People left their places
of work to get some food or take breaks. Some people ate their lunches while they walked
around and there were others that sat on the benches on the sidewalks while they read the
newspaper and ate their food.

Melfice looked around, he noticed that the people who were aware of his presence gave him
frightful looks. Melfice shook his head and sighed as his heart suddenly felt like it weighed a ton.

"It is a good thing we got our supplies earlier," Roan remarked as they continued to walk.

"Yes, I would hate to fight my way through this crowd," Tio agreed.

Millenia was silent. She noticed that the men on the streets could not keep their eyes away from
her. She even heard one of them whistle at her. "Slobbering idiots," she growled to herself.
When she started living in Liligue, the men in the city were the same. She liked the attention at
first but then things got out of hand. Most of her admirers became obsessed with her. Some of
them started to stalk her and some even forced her to have some bedroom fun. With the
combination of Millenia's powers and temper, all of them ended up with a broken arm, a burnt leg,
or an arrow on their butt.

Millenia heard another whistle and snarled. How she wished that she could hurl a Burn! spell to
those fools, that would teach them a lesson but that would attract unwanted attention. Millenia
wanted to get out of the place and wanted to leave now. She turned to Melfice to ask him if they
could take a cab out of the town.

Melfice had a sad look on his face as Millenia looked up to him. Millenia wondered what made
the blue haired man upset. She then looked around and found her answers. The people that
know Melfice are still afraid of him. "They probably think he's out to commit more crimes," she
thought. Somehow, she felt sorry for Melfice. People fear, reject, and shun him for the things he
did in the past. She definitely knew how that felt. People gave her the same treatment the first
time she appeared at Carbo. Millenia reached for his arm to get his attention but a man from
behind pushed her out of the way and ran ahead of them.

Millenia fell on the ground and snarled. "Hey! What the hell was that for?!!"

Melfice bent down and offered his hand to the red head. "Are you all right?"

Millenia did not answer and stood up on her own.

"What a rude man," Tio commented.

"Some people these days," Roan added while shaking his head in disgust.

The group then heard a woman screaming from behind. "HELP! Help! That man stole my
purse!"

Millenia arched an eyebrow. "A thief, huh?" She took out her Black Angel Bow and went after
the thief. "Hey! Get back here!!!"

"Millenia, wait!" Melfice cried as she left.

Millenia ignored Melfice and went after the thief. The thief laughed and crossed the street. The
red head crossed the street as well and almost got hit by a car in the process. Millenia then
growled in annoyance as she could not move around on the sidewalk, it was very crowded and the
thief was getting away. Snarling, she pushed an old man away that was about to walk into her
and bent down to her waist. With a grunt, she sprouted black wings on her back. Millenia
flapped her wings and took to the air.

The thief laughed as he noticed that Millenia was not following him anymore. "I lost her," he
thought. He then stopped running to catch his breath and looked what was in the purse. "Wh...
what?!!" he sputtered as he found out that the purse was empty.

"Disappointed in your catch?" Millenia asked mockingly as she landed behind him.

The thief turned around and his eyes widened as he saw Millenia's black wings. "You... you're a
demon!"

"Not exactly." The red head walked slowly to the thief and stopped half way through as he pulled
out a knife. With a scoff, she took out her Black Angel Bow, not caring if she was attracting
attention. "Stealing is a bad thing but pushing me to the dirty ground was worse!" She fired an
arrow at him and hit his leg.

"AAAAHHHH!!! Damn bitch!" he cried in agony as he fell on the ground.

Smiling, Millenia walked over to the thief and kicked the knife on his hand away. Millenia looked
around the crowd that gathered around her and noticed that the lady, the thief's victim, was
standing among them. She snatched the purse from him and walked towards the lady. She
extended her hand with the purse to her. "Here's your purse."

The lady backed away a bit. "Get away from me... you... you Valmar incarnate!"

Millenia dropped the purse on the ground and stepped backwards, a bit shocked. "Hey! I just got
you your purse back!"

Roan, Tio, and Melfice then arrived. "Let's get out of here," he whispered to Millenia's ear.

"Look, the Demon Man is here too!" a man from the crowd cried.

"Valmar has returned in the form of that man and that woman!" one of the townspeople panicked.

Millenia shook her head rebelliously. "No way, I'm going to teach these ingrates some manners!"

"Millenia, these people are afraid of us. Let's not make it any worse," Melfice insisted through
gritted teeth.

The red head looked around her and saw many frightened faces. Why were these people afraid of
her? She only stopped the thief from getting away and nothing more. She tried to find an answer
but her emotions got in the way. Millenia felt like someone shot arrows at her heart, it hurt to be
rejected and shunned. Putting her crossbow away, she turned around. "All right, let's get out of
here." Millenia ran away from the crowd with the others right behind her.

***

The group left the town of Mirumu and were now about to enter the St. Heim Mountain paths.
Holding a map with both hands, Melfice pointed a path to his left. "That way." The group
walked down the snowy path in silence. Millenia was angry and hurt at the same time by the past
events. Roan and Tio wanted to say something comforting to Millenia but could not think of
anything to say. Melfice did not try to say anything for he had his own problems.

After twenty minutes of walking around in silence, Roan decided he had enough of it. "Are you
all right Miss Millenia?" he finally asked.

Millenia sighed heavily and answered. "No, of course not! I get that lady's stolen purse back and
she... she calls me a Valmar incarnate!! Those ingrates make me soooo MAD!!"

Before any of the three could reply, a big, white gorilla like monster appeared out of the bushes
and snarled at Millenia and company.

"Oh get the hell out of here!" Millenia snarled and hurled a Burn! spell at it.

The Snow Man was knocked over from the fire attack. He slowly got up from the ground and
began to jump up and down while growling. Three more Snow Men appeared from the bushes.
Their mouths were wide open, giving the intruders a good look of their fangs.

"Bring it on," Millenia growled under her breath and took out her Black Angel Bow.

"Spread out!" Melfice ordered as he unsheathed his sword, the Cardinal Blade. Each one of them
then ran in four different directions so they were not clumped and could move more freely.

One of the Snow Men ran towards Roan and swung its powerful arm forward. Roan was hit right
on the face and fell on the ground. "Hey! Stop it!" He immediately casted Healer on himself and
rolled away as the enemy brought its foot down in an attempt to crush him. Roan stood up and
analyzed his situation.

One, his ways of attacking the enemy are limited. Most of his techniques and the Mist Egg's
magic spells are Ice based, which are no good to his opponent. Two, the next line of attacking
spells that the Mist Egg has are Wind based, they will do damage but not much. Three, he only
has two options; fight up close with his Gladius or attack from a far with his Wind magic.

The Snowman growled and lunged at Roan. Roan managed to avoid the attack while the enemy
lost its balance and fell on the ground. Quickly, the Young King got on the Snowman's chest and
plunged his Gladius into the Snowman's heart, killing it instantly.

Tio threw a Lotus Flower at a Snowman and stunned it for a moment. She ran towards it and
repeatedly slashed her opponent with her Angel Circle until it fell. Tio threw her blade rings in
the air, caught them with one hand, and took a bow. "Threat eliminated."

Melfice charged at his opponent with his sword held by both hands, ready to strike. When he was
at striking distance, he slashed upwards at a 180 degree angle from the ground. The tip of the
Cardinal Blade cut the beast's stomach open. Blood poured out from the wound and some
intestines were visible from where Melfice stood. Narrowing his eyes, Melfice finished the
Snowman off with a Burn! spell.

Millenia kicked a dead corpse in front of her and snorted. "Was that all you got?!" she growled at
the Snowman she just killed.

Roan walked up to Melfice. "You know what? That was too easy," Roan frowned.

Melfice nodded. "I know what you mean. I knew we were going to beat them but not that easily
and quickly."

"It is like they never had a chance," Tio added.

Roan turned to Tio. "What is going on? The monsters are weakening. Do you think that this has
anything to do with what happened back at Raul Hills?"

"Maybe," Tio answered.

Millenia cackled. "Who cares? What's important is that I'm feeling a little bit better now. Come
on, let's keep moving," she suggested.

"Yeah, let's keep moving. For now our concern is Gatta and the Cathedral Knights," Melfice
agreed and began to walk with Millenia following behind him.

Roan and Tio nodded and followed the two.

***

Melfice sat on the ground with his legs crossed in front of burning firewood. It was almost dark
outside. He and the group decided to camp in a cavern. Roan and Tio left to fetch some water
while Millenia was inside the tent.

Melfice pondered about what just happened back in Mirumu. The townspeople shunned, feared,
and rejected him for his past deeds. It hurt. Being rejected was another reason that fuelled his
desire to fight and destroy the Cathedral Knights. He figured that if he got rid of them, his name
would be cleared. Tomorrow, he and the group will go to St. Heim to learn more about the
enemy.

A squawk from a crow outside jolted Melfice back to reality.

Melfice stood up and went outside. The wind was picking up, it was getting colder, it was getting
darker, and Roan and Tio have not yet returned. Melfice turned around and went back to the
cavern. He went in the tent and found Millenia curled into a ball on a corner with her eyes closed
and with a sad look on her face.

"Hey Millenia, we..." He stopped his sentence when he saw the look on her face.

Millenia shot a dirty look towards the blue haired man. "What do you want?!"

Melfice ignored her question and stood beside her. "Are you all right?" he asked with concern as
he looked down on her.

Millenia kept her position. She bit her lips and her eyes sparkled as if tears threatened to flood
her eyes. There was no way she was going to cry, especially with him around. Millenia
composed herself and blinked back the tears she held. She wore a scowl on her face and spoke in
an irritated tone. "I'm all right, just pissed at those Mirumu idiots!"

Melfice sat down next to her. "No, you're upset because after getting that old lady's purse back,
she called you a Valmar incarnate in return."

Millenia sighed. "You're right. But, I don't see why they should be afraid of me. Do you think
it's because of my black wings?"

"Maybe."

"Do you think I'm a demon, a Dark One?"

"Not at all."

Millenia did not know why she is opening up to Melfice and had no intentions of doing so in the
first place. However, it made her feel better and relieving herself of pain was her top priority at
the moment. "I didn't like the way they talked to me, looked at me, and treated me. It made me
feel..." Millenia trailed off.

"Different? Alone? A freak?" Melfice finished.

Millenia nodded her head slowly. "Exactly."

"I know how that feels. It..."

"...hurts and gnaws your heart. Melfice, why do people do this? Do you think we'll find a place
where we belong?"

"It's just human nature to be afraid of things you don't know. Those people don't know the story
behind your black wings, that's why they were freaked out by them. It's also human nature to be
hurt and depressed by words and looks. They don't damage the body but the heart and the soul.
In times like those, try to think about your place in the world and your friends and family. You
have your sister, Elena, and Ryudo, Roan, and Tio. You belong with them."

Millenia thought Melfice was right, but just about the human nature part. She can not explain
why but there were times where she felt left out in the group. "What about you? Where do you
think you belong?"

"Let me see... I terrorized places and people, killed my fiancee, shunned by my hometown and
countless of other people, and people think I'm a freak too. I don't know, I feel lost. All I have is
Ryudo and no one else."

"You really shouldn't have come here. You should've been back in Garlan with him."

"No, you don't get it. Even if I have Ryudo, I can't really stand being around him. I feel ashamed
and embarrassed whenever I'm with him. I made his life a living hell in the past years. I was
happy to see him at first but then as time passed I felt..."

"...like digging a hole and crawl in it and die so you don't have to face him?"

Melfice smiled. "Right."

"Don't worry, Ryudo will forgive you. He was pretty devastated when you... the other you died
so you better not die on this mission."

"I won't. I don't plan on dying as long as the Cathedral Knights are around and my questions
about me aren't answered. Right now, I belong in the battlefield."

"You know what? I sort of feel the same."

"We both actually belong somewhere then."

"Right," Millenia agreed and chuckled.

Melfice arched an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Isn't it so much better when we both agree on something?"

"Yeah, it's better than arguing, huh?" Melfice gave her a charming smile.

Millenia stretched her arms out and stood up. "Say, where's Roan and Tio?"

"They went to fetch some water so we have something to drink when we eat dinner," Melfice
answered. "Dinner? Dinner? ...I forgot to start cooking dinner..." Melfice thought and had a
troubled look on his face.

Millenia noticed Melfice's distress. "Something wrong?"

"I forgot to get dinner started."

Millenia narrowed her eyes. "You what?!! How could you forget something like that?!! Great!!
We're all going to die from hunger now!" she growled.

"Looks like she's back to her old self," he thought. "What about you?! I didn't see you doing
anything," Melfice countered.

"I didn't see you doing anything either! You're useless."

He forked up an eyebrow. "Is that so?" Melfice turned around. "I'm going to cook dinner now
and since you called me "useless," you're not getting a speck of food." Chuckling, he left the tent.

"Hey, get back here! I'm not done with you yet!" Millenia snarled and put her hands on her hips
and in an irritated manner.

***

Meanwhile:

Roan sat on a boulder by a stream. On the ground was a jar of water that they needed for dinner.
Roan smiled as he watched the stream flow gently. "Everything is going as planned. What do
you think Tio? Should we go back to the cavern?" he asked.

Tio shook her head, who sat beside the Young King. "Maybe we should wait for five more
minutes. Do you think this will really work?"

"Of course, it worked for Ryudo and Elena last time."

"What should we say if they ask us what took us so long?"

Roan looked crafty. "We will just say we got lost, it worked last time."

"I hope this would really help Millenia... and Melfice," Tio whispered to herself.

***

The following day, the group continued their journey to St. Heim after they ate breakfast. They
got through the St. Heim mountains without encounters from monsters. By the time they got to
St. Heim, it was nightfall. The group were several feet away from the gates of the city and hid
behind a bush. The gate was guarded with Cathedral Knights.

"It seems that they have fortified the city," Tio remarked.

Melfice snorted. "I was counting on this."

"It sounds like you have a plan," Roan said.

"Yup," Melfice nodded.

"So, what's the plan?" Millenia whispered.

Melfice turned to the red head. "Use your wings to get past the Cathedral Knights and the city
wall. We'll take care of the Cathedral Knights and when we're done with them, you open the gate
from the other side."

"All right." Millenia bent down to her waist and sprouted a pair of black wings. With a flap, she
flew high in the dark, cloudy, night sky.

Melfice turned to Roan and Tio. "Okay you two, cast your strongest spell on them. We have to
kill them in one blow so they don't call for help."

"Right," Roan and Tio agreed.

The three charged up their magic spells and casted them all at once to their unsuspecting victims.
Roan used Crackling, Tio unleashed Howlnado, and Melfice attacked with Hellburner. The seven
Cathedral Knights that once stood in front of the gate were nothing more than corpses after the
attack. The group hurried out of the bushes and ran towards the gate.

"Millenia, open the gate," Melfice said.

"We did it," Roan said as the gate opened.

The three entered the city. In front of them was a road that would eventually lead to the ruins of
the Granas Cathedral. To their left was an inn and to their right was a general store. Melfice
took a step forward and looked around. "Where's Millenia?" he asked.

"She's right here," a sinister voice hissed. Gatta stepped out of an alley with a Cathedral Knight
carrying an unconscious Millenia on its shoulder.

Melfice unsheathed the Cardinal Blade. "What did you do to her?!!!" he demanded.

"Millenia!" Tio cried.

"Drop your weapons or you'll perish with her!" Gatta snarled and snapped his fingers. Cathedral
Knights stepped out of the alleys and surrounded the group. All of them put their hands forward
as if they were getting ready to cast a big magic spell.

Melfice growled in defeat and dropped his sword on the ground. Roan and Tio dropped their
weapons as well. "We surrender."