JUST LOVE

Chapter Sixteen

Elena hurried out of the balcony as more tears ran down her cheeks. She ran down a hall way, then the stairs, and finally went to Cyrum Castle's beautiful garden. She went to the spot where she and Ryudo first met after such a long time, the bench by the huge water fountain. Elena sat down on the bench and wiped her tears away.

Elena wanted to be with Ryudo. He is so close, yet so far. Their obligations to fight make it impossible for them to take their friendship one step further. She was okay with that though, she could always wait. But now, Ryudo is pushing her away as a friend and it was gnawing her heart out. Elena was frustrated, she did not know what to do anymore. Should she move on with a new man? Should she still wait for Ryudo? Or maybe just stay the hell out of Ryudo's way? Elena clasped her hands together on her aching heart and watched the water fountain. "Why do things always have to be like this?"

"Hey," a voice from behind said.

Elena's body tensed nervously and turned around to see Lance without his mask on. She sighed in relief for it was just the Ninja, not someone else. "Hi," she smiled weakly.

Lance walked over to her and stood next to her. He paused and studied her expression. "What's wrong? You look upset."

Elena looked up to the Ninja. As usual, his face had its cold and emotionless look. She wondered if his expression ever changed. "Lance... had you ever fallen in love?"

The question caught Lance in surprise but he did not let it show. He paused for a moment to think of an answer. Elena waited patiently. Lance then chuckled weakly. "Yes, once."

"Did... did the Cathedral Knights take her away from you too?"

Lance sighed. "Yes, they did."

"Who was she? What was her..."

Lance cut Elena off. "You know, back at Garlan, I noticed something..." he said.

Elena put on a disappointed look. "Noticed what?"

The Ninja put on an inquisitive look. "When we fought "him" you had angel wings. Normal people don't have them. Why do you have them? And for how long did you have them?"

"I do not know... I must have possessed them ever since I was a child but I did not know I had them since about a year ago. And back at Garlan, they sprouted again when this... this uncontrollable power surged through my body."

"That was a magnificent display of power Elena."

"I cannot control my powers. I only did what I had to do. I just knew... I just could not let "him" hurt Ryudo."

"I see. You really care about him, don't you?"

"Yes, the two of us are very close friends."

"But you want the two of you to be more than that."

Elena blushed a bit. "Ye... yes. But I cannot see that happening soon."

Lance nodded. "I noticed. That's what is bothering you, isn't it?"

Elena felt the sting of tears again. "Ryudo had been pushing me away lately... Lance I do not know what to do anymore..."

Lance put his hand on her shoulder. "Do you really love him... is he the one?"

"Yes..."

The Ninja let out a sigh. "Look, there's nothing you can do for now. You can only wait. If Ryudo feels the same, he'll come to you when everything is over. Right now, just stay out of his way, he's going through a tough time." With that, Lance withdrew his hand and walked away.

Elena watched Lance leave. "Thank you for listening and for the advice..." she whispered to herself.

***

The sun finally went down and the group gathered in the royal dining room. There was a big round table with food in the middle of the room. Two guards stood at the entrance should Roan need anything. Roan looked around. Everyone came and took their seats, except Millenia. The red head was no where to be seen. "Say, where is Miss Millenia?" the Young King asked.

"She said... she's not hungry," Melfice replied. "She's in her room."

"Well, she should be here anyway. Are we not here also to discuss our next course of actions?" Tio said.

"Don't worry about Millenia. I'll just fill her in with the details later," Melfice answered.

Ryudo took a sip from his cup of orange juice. "So, tomorrow we're leaving for the Birthplace of the Gods to meet Elmo. Do you guys really think we could learn something about the Cathedral Knights back there?"

"Maybe... but I also want to learn about my origin," Tio said.

"It is worth a try, we have nothing to lose," Roan added. "If we do not find anything though, I am sure we will figure some thing out."

"How long will it take us to get there?" Elena asked.

"About half a day," Skye replied.

Roan laughed a bit. "The Granasaber Ship will not be ready for awhile. The repairs and the upgrading are going to take longer than I thought."

"Oh well... at least once it's fixed, it'll help us fight and we can travel more freely," Melfice remarked.

Roan cleared his throat. "Ryudo... may I ask you something?"

"Go right ahead... shoot," Ryudo said.

"What are we going to do should the Cathedral Knights attack us?" Roan questioned.

Ryudo shook his head. "I don't know... I really don't know..."

"Since we're having a discussion now, I think it's worth mentioning now..." Skye began.

Melfice raised an eyebrow. "Mention what?"

"Back in Garlan, we were attacked by this very powerful man. That's why we came here in the first place, to warn you about him," Skye continued.

Tio frowned. "Do you know who he was?"

"No, the only thing we could say is that he had the crest of Valmar at the back of his shirt," Elena replied.

"Just what is happening to the world?" Melfice whispered to himself.

Lance, although he had been silent the whole time, listened to every single word the others said. His ruby red eyes travelled from one person to the other. "Nekura... why do you have the crest of Valmar?" he thought.

"Whoever that person is will show himself sooner or later," Ryudo said.

"Yes, you are right. The only thing we could do now is hope for the best and wait," Roan agreed.

After awhile, Melfice finished his meal and stood up from his chair. "Thanks for the meal Roan."

"Oh, it was nothing," Roan smiled.

"I'm going for a walk. See you guys later," Melfice said and left the dining room.

***

Melfice entered the garden and let out a relaxed sigh as the gentle, night breeze caressed his face. He had planned on sparring with himself in the garden but all of that changed when he saw Millenia, who sat on a bench and stared at the water fountain as if she was in deep thought. He stopped on his tracks and could not help but let his eyes wander up and down her slender form.

Ever since he met Millenia, he found himself being drawn to her more and more. Millenia was not like most of the women he had met in his life. She was beautiful. He liked the way her long, soft, red hair flow in the breeze. Her ruby red eyes shone like the stars whenever she was angry. Her body was slender and had the right curves in the right places. She looked magnificent, fragile, and yet deadly like a rose with thorns.

On the outside, she was selfish, short tempered, and capricious. However, on the inside, in her own Millenia way, she was really a gentle, kind, and a good hearted woman that was plagued with loneliness and pain. Melfice knew her burden. He too was lonely and also rejected by society, just like her. He could feel her pain and she could feel his.

Melfice finished his thoughts and looked at Millenia again. She looked miserable after what just happened to her, she was still in shock. He wanted to go up to her and comfort her. But he did not know exactly how to approach her. After his thoughts, he felt soft and mushy on the inside and also somewhat nervous.

Melfice let out a sigh as he watched Millenia get up, spread out her black wings, and fly towards the night sky. "Millenia..." he thought. He then turned around as he heard a crackling noise to see Ryudo with a grin on his face.

Ryudo crossed his arms over his chest and a mischievous smile crept across his lips. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Millenia is more than a friend to you now."

Melfice frowned innocently. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. Did you make any moves yet?"

"No... I mean, I'm not even sure about how I feel."

"What are you talking about?"

"Reena, Ryudo. What if I end up hurting or killing Millenia like what I did to Reena?"

"Melfice, you won't go mad again. Valmar is dead."

"It's not Valmar I'm concerned about."

"It's about you being in that tank, isn't it?"

Melfice nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

"Melfice, I don't think..."

Melfice cut his brother off. "Ryudo, do you have any regrets about finding me?"

"No... what are you saying? What's gotten into you? Did a giant frying pan fall on your head or what?"

"I'm sorry I let myself get possessed by Valmar. I'm sorry I ruined your life. Knowing that has been eating me alive. I feel so ashamed and feel like I should hate myself for causing you so much pain."

Ryudo walked up to Melfice. He gave him a brotherly look and a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. I forgave you a long time ago. The only thing that matters now is that we're a family again."

Melfice let out a sigh as he felt his heart and shoulders lighten a bit from burden. "Yeah... I'm glad we're a family again."

***

Back at the Granas Base, Gatta paced around a hall. He was about to report to Cardinal Uru, the man that continued the production of the Cathedral Knights. He was going to report to him about the damages done by Ryudo and his friends and he was planning in his head about what he should say.

After awhile, Gatta sighed and entered the door in front of him. He took a respectful bow as he saw Cardinal Uru on his chair. "Gatta, reporting sir."

Cardinal Uru crossed his arms over his chest. "How much damage did the intruders do?"

A bead of sweat ran down Gatta's forehead. "Sir, the damages done are being repaired. The main explosion from the attack came from one of our main data banks. The data bank suffered severe damage and most of our data was lost."

"Exactly what kind of data?"

"Data about Cathedral Knights, Sir. Cardinal, our data to produce Cathedral Knights was destroyed."

Uru's voice rose a notch. "First you let the enemy attack us, destroy our data, let our prisoners escape, and steal our Granasaber Ship and now you are telling me that we cannot make anymore Cathedral Knights?!!! INCOMPETENCE!!!" Uru nastily grabbed a pencil from his desk and threw it at Gatta, a bit feebly due to his old age. "How can we purify and restore Light back to this world without the Cathedral Knights?"

"Sir, please forgive my mistakes. It will not happen again, I assure you. We still have about fifty Cathedral Knights and I don't think Ryudo and his friends would kill anymore of them."

"Yes, you are quite right. If those idiots discovered what the Cathedral Knights really are, they will not slay anymore of them."

"Sir, what are we going to do with the rest of the prisoners?"

"Keep them around, we can use them as a shield should the enemy attack again. You are dismissed."

"Thank you. Good day to you, Sir..." Gatta took a bow and left the office. "...and enjoy them while you still can," he chuckled mentally as he walked down the hall.

***

Nekura sat down on the ground, in front of a bonfire. A day had passed since the fight from Garlan. His wounds, cuts, and broken bones have healed, thanks to the power of Valmar.

"So... it's true about what I've heard about Garlan. Garlan... the town of the most talented swordsmen in the world. I must admit that Geohound was certainly strong. However, he's the least of my worries. That girl, the one with angel wings, she'd be a problem in the future if she learns to control her powers. Then, there's also that Ninja with black wings. Who knows what's he's capable of?"

Nekura narrowed his eyes at the bonfire. "That Ninja... he looks very familiar. I've met him before... but where? It feels like I've known him for a long time..."

Nekura laughed psychotically. "It doesn't matter who he is. I'm going to kill him, that girl, and everyone else. I'm going to plunge this world back into darkness..."