A/N: I tried for some intensity in this chapter. Gotta love angst.

Darilsheid (Chapter 5) – Chelsea


"Chelsea...it will...be alright." The young archer heard her grandfather speak. Although the words were hopeful, his positive attitude seemed forced. She did not think it would be all right.

She'd awoken a bit later than she should have, and was awakened by a loud noise next door, which she realized later on, must have been the bow and arrow set that Alba had been using to fight against the guards. What had happened, was while Chelsea slept, Darilsheidan guards quietly entered Alba and Garr's room, where they had gained hostage of Garr. Alba had told her that they wanted to talk to him about that amulet, and he refused. So they forced him to go with them.

After that, he explained, they had beaten up the old man. He was hurt badly, now...Chelsea was lucky to get him to Darilsheid's hospital in time. Even if it was a bad hospital - she looked around at the cracked walls and lack of assistance - it was better than nothing.

"Where do you think they are?" Chelsea asked.

Alba strained himself to sit up in the bed. "I don't know, but if I were you I would check the Castle..." He coughed loudly, and then continued. "However, you must never give up that amulet to anyone. Do not take it off, no matter what. I know that Garr will not confess to the location, so giving it up would be a huge waste...I don't think you can do this by yourself...I wish I could help you, but I can barely talk."

Chelsea nodded. "It is alright, Grandpa. I will find someone to assist me, but first I need to go to the Castle."

As she got up to leave, Alba called out to her, "Good luck, grandchild."

She exited the hospital, and into the streets of the capital city. It looked like a normal day; everyone was going about his or her own business...there didn't appear to be anything wrong. She figured they would go about what they regularly do—buying apples, thinking they've got deals with the peddlers, not knowing that their southern country's Prince was somewhere near, held captive. It made her angry that these people, similar to the ones that Garr looked over, went on unnoticing or uncaring about an issue like this. If it were Phandaria, she thought, people would have known something was wrong. And they would have figured out what happened, and helped.

But the citizens of Seinegald were not like Phandaria. They were busy and kept to themselves. She also didn't know anyone in the whole city, except her Grandfather and Garr. How could she know where to go? She could not leave the city either, since she had no clue on where to go.

And where could she look? She didn't know anyone, and it had probably been too early for anyone to see the guards take the Prince anyway. She felt lost, and leaned against a building, trying to think of a solution. Her mind wandered to yesterday's event, maybe trying to keep herself calm, and she remembered how nice it had been. She was surprised that that swordsman Leon had gotten the promotion, even if she had heard a lot on his swordsmanship abilities.

Wait a minute...she thought. I can ask Leon!

She wasn't sure what she had thought about the young swordsman, as she looked up toward the castle in the distance, but she did respect him. He had a cold sense of authority around him, and in a way she felt proud that he had gotten promoted against all of those other, older men.

Excited on her new lead, she started to run north, toward the huge castle with an objective in mind. She swallowed hard when she saw the number of guards outside, and the actual size of the whole thing. She'd never be able to search the whole castle, even if she looked all day...

She ran up toward the front doors, expecting to be allowed in. She did not even make it past the expensive looking fountain when the guards grabbed her and started to pull her back. Chelsea had to realize that in the largest city in the world, they would have reinforced guards.

"Let go of me! I need to go inside!" She yelled at them, angry.

The guards dropped her in front of them, not letting her get by. "Who are you and why do you need to get inside?" The one on the right asked, sounding bored and monotonous.

She stood up, insulted, and brushed off her clothing. "I am Chelsea Torn, granddaughter of Master Alba. I need to see Leon."

The guards looked at each other one of them raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, yeah, every girl needs to see Leon."

Chelsea's green eyes flashed with anger, and embarrassment, and she shouted, "It's not like that! I need to talk to him about important matters, which may concern the Prince of Phandaria's life. Let me through now!"

"We haven't heard of you so we cannot let you in. You can turn back now." The guard said, returning to his original expression, ignoring anything else the girl might say.

She was steaming angry, but there was nothing she could do. She was about to yell another furious protest, when the doors of the castle opened behind them. The guards turned around to see none other than the young Master Swordsman Lieutenant Leon Magnus, wearing his regular black pants and black shirt, scarlet cape flowing behind him. He walked down, complete with his messy black hair circling his pale, flawless face - fit with a stoic expression.

"It's fine. Let her in; I heard what her matter is." He turned then, as the guards parted, allowing the girl inside. They did not apologize, however, which was sort of what Chelsea expected. She continued in the castle insulted, following Leon inside.

She caught up to the boy once they got inside and stood in front of him. "Where is Garr?" She said, more of an order than a question.

Leon glanced around cautiously, and then motioned for her to walk to the left. She made an impatient noise, and he muttered, "We can't talk out in the open here." He led her to a door far down the left hall. "We'll talk here. No one comes in this room."

Chelsea hesitated on going into a vacant room alone with the sixteen year old boy. He did have a good point since she did not want everyone to hear her, but she didn't think it would be a good idea to go in a room alone...

He rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently. "Are you going to go inside, or am I wasting my time?"

She decided it would be okay, she did have her bow and arrows, and he was her only clue to where Garr was at the moment. She went inside, and Leon followed, closing the door. "What do you know about Garr's location?" She asked.

They say down at a table, Chelsea figured this room must have been a small library once.

"I know where he is, and what they did to him. I also know why they took him." She saw him look at her amulet.

"You were there?" She glanced around the room, marveling at the display of ancient books. She wondered if there were books on archery.

"At the interrogation. Don't worry; I didn't tell them anything about you."

She breathed a sigh of relief at this. "Where is he then? And is he alright?"

The worry spread over Chelsea's face as she saw Leon hesitate. "Garr is alive," he replied, then continued, looking at her amulet warily. "Do you even know what that is, and where it came from?"

She pulled it out from her shirt and stared at it through the dim light of the room. "Not really, they would not even tell me what powers it holds."

"Well..." Leon trailed off, thinking, "From what I heard, it's a piece of the Eye of Atamoni, that was removed centuries ago. I guess it has a lot of power, since so many are after it." He paused, reaching over and picking up the amulet, analyzing it in his hand. "It's strange how small this is, and yet they claim it could do some mean damage. I think the one's after it only want it for company profit. With the exception of Langer..."

Chelsea backed away, putting the amulet back and looked away from Leon. "We have to find Garr!" She declared.

"We?" Leon raised an eyebrow; Chelsea knew he was probably always conscious of being dragged into meaningless missions.

"Yes, we. You need to help me, Leon. Please?"

The boy sighed and looked over at the girl sitting across from him. "I see nothing I could gain from this pointless expedition. I don't care for the fate of that Prince, and I have things to do here...you know, being Master Swordsman eats up a bit of time." He said the last part dryly, then shifted in his chair and yawned rudely. "What am I getting out of joining you?"

Chelsea frowned at the response she did not expect, "Well I'm sure Garr could pay you plenty, once this is over..."

Leon set his head on the back of his chair, staring at the ceiling. "I've got plenty of money, being the s-" he stopped shortly, and Chelsea wondered if he'd almost slipped up on something. "Being the mansion my home." He finished his sentence quickly, bringing his head up and acting casually.

She frowned, but her confusion turned to exasperation. "Leon, please! What do you want?" She then sighed, feeling tears come to her eyes. This boy was her only hope; the only one who knew where her Garr was, and if she didn't get to him fast enough...she didn't want to think about it.

He thought for a while, and seemed to get lost in thought. She imagined he was planning what he would do, and she prayed it was to her advantage. Finally, he came out of his thoughts and sat straighter up in his chair. "Fine." The master swordsman answered, brushing the black hair out of his eyes. "I'll assist you. I have some business that needs to be taken care of when I'm there, that you need not to worry about." He stopped, tilting his head to the side as he looked at Chelsea. "To the north there are some old ruins of a town that no one lives in anymore, ever since the Aeth'er War destroyed it. But there's an abandoned Oberon shop in there that is still standing. They took him there."

She sighed in relief, "Thank you...you don't know how important this is to me."

Leon waved the gratitude off, "I'm only going with you out of convenience. You owe me for this, so you'll follow my order when we leave."

Chelsea realized this was going to be a long and maddening trip with Leon along with her, but she had no other choice. She didn't think it would be too bad—he would probably be much nicer once she got to get to know him. She stood up, ready to leave the solitary room, still nervous about being alone with the boy.

They left the room and went to leave, but Leon stopped and turned to the north. "You wait here, I have to inform my superiors that I will be leaving."

So Chelsea stayed around waiting for him. In a short time he returned, and they set out for the abandoned shop. Leon wanted to stock up on some traveling material, so she joined the wiser soldier, glad that her pack was quite big. After their shopping, he also had to get something "essential" from his house, so she waited again while he ran into a huge mansion on the east side of town. The mansion, which she was very impressed by, was a great building, resembling the castle itself. She didn't have much time to gawk, though, because he returned quickly with that sword she had seen the day before.

"What is that, anyway? I know it's a sword, but what does it do?" Chelsea asked, as they walked through the busy streets, heading west.

Leon placed a hand on the sword as he spoke, "It's a Swordian...a sentient sword that has been around for years, ever since that Aeth'er War. Well, six important people that were included in that war had their mind transferred into these swords." He stopped for a second, seeming to realize whom the girl lived with and then said, "Perhaps you're familiar with them? I'm quite sure Garr owns possession of Igtenos..."

Chelsea thought about that sword, Igtenos. Once, she had went with Garr to Heidelburg's Castle and he'd been looking at it. He had explained what the sword was, and what it did but she could barely recall or make sense of what he was saying—something about the wind. It had been a long time ago. However, she remembered what it looked like—long and ancient, with many old words etched into it…she had thought it looked like a ninja's blade.

"Yes, Garr's father has it. I think he's going to give it to him once he gains position of being King."

As they continued on west, Chelsea saw a girl walking towards them…she wasn't sure if she was coming to them or not, but her question was answered when she stood in front of their path, making them stop to talk to her. Chelsea turned to Leon and saw his expression crumble into annoyance.

"Anatola…what do you want?"

The girl, Chelsea thought, was very alive-looking. She had really long blonde hair—not as long as Chelsea's auburn, never been cut hair—but still very nice. Her eyes were brown and so energetic, as they darted all over the places, taking in the world at a highly vigorous sight.

She smiled sweetly, then answered, "You!"

Chelsea giggled at this; it was a new way of talking that seemed humorous to her. She saw Leon roll his eyes, then walk around Anatola, gesturing for Chelsea to follow. She did, but knew that girl, Anatola, would follow them both.

She did catch up to them, and walked beside Leon. "So who's your girlfriend?" She asked, and Chelsea wondered if there was jealousy in Anatola's voice.

"Not my girlfriend," Leon defended, glaring at her, "My colleague. We're on a mission, and it's confidential as well as important. You can go now."

Chelsea was sort of impressed by being considered a colleague, but she didn't say anything. She heard Anatola sigh and as she left, "Well, alright. I'll be waiting for you, honey."

The young archer grinned as she saw Leon cringe. "Friend of yours?" She giggled quietly, as the boy scowled.

"No. I don't have friends."

Chelsea figured he'd say that. She noticed they were getting further away from the city, there were less and less houses appearing. She watched him glance around, maybe looking for a key point to tell them where they were, and then switched the direction to the right, where he said would bring them north—toward the ruins.

"This should be an uneventful trip," Leon stated, probably from previous experience. "Nothing dangerous lives around here, because the land is so dull. We should not have any problems."

They began to get further and further away from civilization, Leon consistently checking his compass and comparing it to the map, making sure they were on track. Chelsea kept the lookout for any hostile threats that could surround them. As they walked on, she understood it would be a few days before they reached this shop the way Leon was frowning at the map, muttering little things like, "stupid scale..." and, "I knew it seemed too short."

She didn't ask him any questions though, since she knew he would snap at her, but instead waited for him to inform her. Which he did, reporting that they would get there by the next evening. She had nodded, glad that they'd brought sleeping material.

So from then on, they knew their destination. Chelsea began thinking about her silver-haired friend, wondering what was happening to him. She thought about what him and Alba had said to her, and wondered if she was doing the right thing. If she barged into the place and got caught, the group of bandits would probably kill Garr, Leon and herself then gain power of the Amulet. She was afraid of that, but she couldn't just wait around doing nothing. They were going to kill him...

She realized she was falling behind, and hurried to catch up to the older teenager. As she caught up, she saw him staring off into what seemed deep in thought. His expression looked really sad, almost troubled...it was weird to see this since he usually had a sneer or a bored look on. She felt...concerned.

"Leon?"

He broke out of his little trance, and turned to her, visage back to normal. "What?" He snapped, with annoyance clear in the tone of his low voice.

"Nothing...you just looked a bit weird..." Chelsea trailed off, nervous at the hostile response. "What's your problem, anyway...?"

"What do you mean?"

The girl had to put more enthusiasm into her pace to keep up with Leon, finding herself falling back every few seconds. "Oh, you know... your whole attitude toward everyone. Why do you hate the world so much?"

Leon stopped and glared at the fourteen-year-old. "I've come to learn not to trust anyone. It's better that way in the end."

Chelsea stopped as well; putting her hands on her hips and pouted, "Oh, come on. I'm sure you trust someone—you have to! And I don't see anything wrong with it. I trust a lot of people."

The boy snorted and crossed his arms, "Yeah, and that makes you a naive kid. You wouldn't understand anything even if I did tell you. Let's continue." He started walking again, but Chelsea ran up to him, standing in front of him.

"Whom are you going after?" She asked skeptically, eying the sixteen-year-old suspiciously.

He stopped again, looking directly into her eyes, probably trying to see if she knew anything. "Who says I'm going after someone? I need to take care of some business that is none of your concern."

Chelsea sighed, blowing the air up, causing the strands of hair in her face to fly everywhere. "Well then, let's keep going if you are going to be a stubborn brat." She turned around and started walking, knowing very well she wasn't going to get away with that comment.

As soon as she took a few steps, she heard his footsteps and then felt him grab her arm and turn her around. She spun around and was staring at Leon's angry lavender eyes. "Don't make any more comments like that, you stupid girl."

She was a bit surprised at his amount of anger, but she just rolled her eyes and struggled to get out of his strong grasp. "Let go of me, then!"

He let her go, pushing her northwest as he walked in front of her. "Don't forget that I have the authority here. I can go back whenever I want to, and I also have the power to kill you in a single movement." He continued walking, and Chelsea had no choice but to follow.

The girl was very unhappy at the facts, but she had to realize they were true. She was under order of him since he was her only hope. She hated to be in this position, and she also knew he did not care about her fate. Whatever or whomever he was after was his main concern.

They continued walking, talking about other things...she did most of the talking since Leon wouldn't talk about himself except for his Army life. She tried to get him to talk, since she was genuinely interested in the boy's life, but he chose not to. They walked all day until the sun disappeared behind the plain horizon. She found the sunset very pretty, but Leon didn't seem to care much. Seem to, anyway. She knew he was capable of feeling positive emotions.

As nightfall came, the two teenagers decided to camp out. They were lucky it was good weather, nice and dry and not much to bother them. The two set up their camp easily, building a fireplace and cooking some pre-readied supper they had brought along.

They ate their supper in silence, sitting by the burning fire...just staring into the burning flames. Leon had got plenty of firewood, enough to last the night. While Chelsea stared into the orange flame, she wondered where Garr was now...if he was alive, and if he was all right. Not beaten senseless or brainwashed.

And all this mess is because of this stupid amulet, she thought angrily, pulling it out form her shirt again. She glared at it, but also marveled at the extreme beauty of the lens charm. The fire reflecting off of it gave it a yellowish orange, flame-ball image...it was a very astonishing sight. She was appalled at how ironic the situations were. This beautiful amulet causing such disasters. This small charm holding enormous amounts of power. This long journey to end up getting her killed. This bratty kid causing so much confusion in her heart.

What? She thought. Where did that come from? She frowned, looking over at Leon. He had finished his meal, and was lying down...probably had dozed off to sleep already. His eyes were closed anyway, and he was lying in a sleeping position - on his stomach, arms curled around his head. The shadows of the burning fire flickered on his adorable face. That was ironic too; his shock of messy jet-black hair with his flawless, almost perfectly smooth complexion. She closed her eyes, too, feeling the exhaustion of the days exercise. This world was full or irony. The good and the bad working together; the small and the big intertwining. The planet was one huge goddamn paradox.

She glanced at Leon's sword, Chaltier. The boy had mentioned that he could communicate with it, that it was alive - an imprint of some famous warrior's mind - from the ancient times. However, he also said only Swordian Masters could hear the sword speak, so she didn't know if she believed him or not. She'd have to ask Garr.

Garr...Leon...she felt a breeze fly over their campfire as she sat there, awake, on guard, and felt entirely helpless. She had the best swordsman on the whole Prime Continent with her, and they were after the Prince of Phandaria, but she was still just a kid. She relied on the help of others, and that made her very angry. Angry at herself. At the world. At the ironies. At Leon.

Leon. No, not just Leon—Master Swordsman Leon Magnus, she thought sarcastically. He was a total arrogant twit. Any feelings she may have had about him were turned into anger, as she watched the boy sleep. Not so powerful now, are you? She thought, feeling fury creep up to her. I could kill you right now!

She grabbed her bow and picked up and arrow. Aiming it at the sleeping teenager, she laughed into the night as she felt the power of having someone's life...someone's future depend on you. Chelsea pulled back on the bowstring and prepared to shoot the older teenager, the feeling of authority taking over her usual reasonable mind. HA! What are you gonna do now, you stupid little punk?

She was just about to let go of the arrow, when her normal mind snapped back into her, and she managed to pull her arm to the left, shooting the arrow into the burning fire. What did I...what was I - What am I doing!? She was horrified at herself, and threw the bow behind her. She watched the arrow that almost killed her companion burn in the dying fire. It caught easily, spreading up from the sharp wooden edge to her grandfather's famous black fletching, the feathers burning hungrily, as if the fire was holding onto it's only source of life.

I can't believe I almost...killed someone...out of what? Anger? Jealousy? ...Fear?

The young girl set her head in her hands, covering her eyes with her palms. Oh, Atamoni...please help me. I have a piece of you by my heart. She grabbed the amulet with one hand, as if for comfort, while she looked up into the moonlit sky for a long time. She began to feel cold, and realized the fire was slowly burning out. Chelsea took her eyes away from the sky and focused on the red embers of the former blaze. Once it was so big, a burning inferno, but now...just glowing coals.