Response to reviews: Hmm...well, since this does fall into the AU category
I'd say that Rutee and Leon have known that they were siblings since Libra
five, Leon just survived the flood and instead joined them in their fight
against Kronos.
Warning: This is the chapter where it actually lives up to its PG-13 rating.
Chapter 4
Leon awoke in the middle of the night to possibly the strangest sound he could've heard. At first he didn't believe it and wiggled his finger about in his ear to make sure, but he still heard it. Going to his door and stepping into the hall the sound was slightly louder and there was no way to disprove the fact that Rutee was indeed laughing. Tip toeing silently to her door he managed to open it just a crack without making a sound.
Peering through the small opening he saw his sister sprawled out on her bed, flat on her stomach with what looked like a bright yellowish ball of light in her hands. Squinting to make sure he was looking right he watched as the small orb flew around his sister's head then landed softly back into her hands.
Deciding to leave it be he quietly shut the door and retreated back to his own room. When he sat on his bed Chaltier noted the look of somewhat distress and, most obvious, confusion.
"Is something wrong, master?"
For a moment the boy was silent, then shook his head. "Rutee had a ball of light in her hand and she was happy."
"Is that bad?"
He paused. "No, I suppose not, but it was strange, when I looked I could feel something...something strange. It was like there was a presence in there with her, but I couldn't see it."
The sword was silent, pondering this. "Do you think it's anything to worry about?"
"I don't know." He said bitterly. "But I will certainly be keeping an open eye about now. That goes for you too, if you see anything strange you tell me. Got it?"
"Got it, but then I already have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"You're looking out for your sister, I find THAT strange."
Leon cast the weapon a menacing glare, which was laughed at, and pulled his covers over his head, hoping to drown out the world.
...
It was at least noon by the time Rutee awoke; she had spent most of the night with Stahn. It was strange, though he didn't talk she could easily interpret what he felt or meant. Stretching widely she changed into long pants and a red t-shirt, knowing that it would start getting cold since they were approaching Phandaria.
As she was walking out of her door she noticed that the ball of light that was her lover had disappeared. Shrugging, though slightly saddened, she reasoned that he probably couldn't be with her every moment and that he would probably return that night.
...
Mary looked up when she heard soft footsteps enter the dining hall. Rutee entered, gave her a smile, then sat down across from her. The warrioress was a bit confused, but smiled back. Philia took the liberty of bringing over some food for her, which the young woman quickly ate. When she was finished she pushed he tray aside and sighed.
"That was nice, I forgot how long it had been since I last ate."
The priestess smiled, taking the dishes away, and nudged Leon on her way back to the kitchen. The boy wondered about it for a minute before he remembered how he had told them all about the strange light he had seen. No one knew anything about it so he was going to confront her about it.
"Uhm, Rutee, can I ask you a question?"
The former lens hunter looked to her brother. "Yeah, what?"
He stopped, wondering if it was a good idea to ask. Steeling himself he decided just to ask. "What was that strange ball of light I saw you with last night?"
The girl froze in place, her face paling and eyes blanking out. Mary thought perhaps she had turned to stone, but when she looked down and quickly looked back up she knew that the girl was just startled.
"You saw him?" She asked.
"Him?" Leon asked.
The young woman shook her head violently and stood. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm going back to room to think, call me when we're about to land."
Storming away Rutee brushed a few tears away and hastily made her way back to her room. Slamming the door shut behind her she flung herself onto her bed, her mind screaming at her. Through her thoughts and tears she briefly asked herself why she was acting in such a manner, it wasn't like her.
The answer to her question came when, out of no where, a piece of paper fluttered down and landed on her head. Silencing herself quickly she picked the paper up and looked at it. She had the back. Flipping it over she saw a picture of what appeared to be the ruins of a temple. Looking at it closely she knew she recognized some of the bushes around the stone, though she couldn't directly place them, and the statue in the middle of the photo was clearly that of the goddess.
As her mind asked her where the thing had come from a disembodied voice echoed in her mind.
"This is what you need to find."
Quickly recognizing the voice that of Stahn she sat up and looked around.
"Is this the hidden temple of the goddess?"
"Yes." The voice was now in the whole room, not just her head. She looked at the picture again, stumped. She just couldn't place the scenery, even though she knew it.
"Where is it?" She asked.
"..."
The young woman looked up at the hesitation. "Stahn? Where is it?"
"...I can't tell you..." He said bitterly.
The woman sat in anguish and frustration. It would drive her crazy, it was like knowing a few lines to a song but not knowing its name, she would think about it nonstop till she remembered. Shaking her head she sighed loudly and waited, for what she didn't know.
A violent shake of the ship sent Rutee flying off of her bed with a yelp. Grabbing onto her bed she wondered what had just happened and chose to ignore what she thought was Stahn's laughter in her ear. Standing quickly she ran towards the cockpit, tumbling into Garr as she entered.
The young monarch turned just in time to catch the young woman. Helping her stand upright again he focused back onto the situation at hand.
"What's wrong?" The dark hair girl asked, nudging her long time partner.
Mary looked at her with a grin. "The engine caught fire and we're probably gonna crash. Sounds fun, huh?"
"Arggh! Does nothing go right for us?!"
"Don't worry, Rutee." The king reassured her. "We're in Phandarian territory now. Even if we have to walk it shouldn't take long to get to the capital."
"Yeah, if we don't die first!"
Another, stronger shake sent all of the inhabitants of the room flying. The pilots were having a terrible time keeping the flying dragon in control and advised the others to go sit down and fasten their safety belts.
The whole situation wasn't promising and the moment the ship hit the earth below a deafening crack sounded and the impact slammed into all of them. The remains continued to slide over the snow and ice until it finally stopped by way of numerous trees.
Recovering first Garr unhooked himself and went to check the others. To his dismay the two pilots died from the crash and nearly everyone was bloodied up, he himself nursed a large gash across his forehead. Gently shaking everyone back into life he coaxed them to gather what they needed quickly so they could set out on foot, night was falling and the temperatures fell even further.
...
Rutee jumped down from the ship, her bag slung over her shoulder. The small group began to slowly truck towards the capital, though they honestly had no idea where they were going. Continuously Garr would check trees and rocks for familiar markings, hoping to find a way. When the night was pitch black and next to nothing could be seen the six travelers made a small camp, gathering around the fire.
Hope was very scarce, though they knew they wouldn't die something else nagged at them.
"Four days." Rutee mumbled.
The others looked at her curiously until Mary gently touched her shoulder and asked,
"What's four days?"
The young woman looked up, violet eyes sparking in the fire light. "Four days, we only have four days left. We still need to get to Phandaria castle, find the relic in Seingald, bring them all to a temple we can't find then solve that stupid riddle. It's hopeless."
The dark hair girl laid her head in her folded arms and cried freely, not really caring at that moment if her great mask was broken. For a few minutes the others were silent, but when Leon snapped a twig everyone looked at him.
"It's not that hopeless. We're in Phandaria and with actual light I'm sure Garr will know better where he's going. Seingald really only has one temple and that's the Straylize temple, the relic should be there somewhere. As for this temple, well, I can't say but I'm sure something will lead us to it."
"And the riddle?" His sister asked defensively.
He sighed. "Don't fret too much over some words, they are, after all, just words. Leave the riddle to me and you just do your thing."
It was a strange thing to say, but it made her feel safer and more secure none the less. Smiling she rubbed away some tears, then yawned.
"I think we are all tired. Let's rest now so we can set out early tomorrow morning."
Garr's voice was commanding, yet calm. Doing as suggested everyone lied down and fell asleep as best they could in such cold weather.
...
The morning dawned, cold and bleak, but the weary travelers knew that they needed to get up and get moving. Leon was right, with real sunlight Garr was able to navigate them safely through the forest and before noon they were at the capital city.
A large group of people were there to welcome them and the guards quickly whisked them to the palace where they were warmed, received medical attention and fed. When they were all content the young king guided them towards the throne room, where he proceeded to give instructions to remove one of the jewels within the royal crest.
Several of the officers gave him an odd look, but ultimately did as they were told. The crystal was embedded between two swords above the throne, which was quite a task to get out, since it was welded in gold. After hours of waiting, and the sun setting, the relic was finally salvaged and added to the other three.
"There now, now all we need is the fourth one." The silver hair monarch announced happily, looking at them all.
Leon looked at the three and made a sound of confusion.
"Something wrong?" Chelsea asked.
"They're glowing." The boy said simply.
The others looked down immediately and saw that, indeed, the three crystals were glowing faintly in the dimness. The raven hair boy picked one of the relics up and moved it away experimentally, noting that the further it went the softer the light became. When he put it back in place and moved them all so they were touching each other their glow increased greatly.
"That's odd." Philia said, stunned.
"I don't really care, I say we get our butts moving and head over to Straylize temple now and find that crystal and see if the priests have found anything out about the temple." Rutee blurted out
"An excellent idea, Rutee, but there's just one problem..." Garr said, scratching his head.
"And that is?" She asked vehemently.
"Our ship is totaled. We can't even get one until tomorrow morning at best. I've already sent men out to work on this so I suggest we all just relax and enjoy this comfort while we can."
A silence answered him and before he could speak again the young lens hunter turned on her heel and left to go find a room.
...
Rutee sighed as she walked into her room, back from her bath. It had been a long, stressful day and a bath always seemed to make her feel better. She had apologized to Garr when she had passed him in the hall and he had informed her with a smile that a new ship was almost ready and that he would tell everyone to set their alarm clocks to four AM so they could get an early start.
Despite the pleasant news she still felt a bit worried. Their days were now numbered to three. Was that enough time? Pulling out the picture that she had found she looked it over, still not placing the location. Sitting on the bed she put it in a drawer in her nightstand and sat still for a moment.
When she let out another sigh the ball of light she knew all too well suddenly came zipping into her view then darted around the room until it came back to her again. Smiling fondly she held out one of her hands, the other keeping her towel secure.
The small orb stopped in front of her, but to her surprise did not nestle in her palm, rather, instead it began to glow, hot and holy, blinding her slightly. Raising her hand up to her eyes Rutee wondered just what was going on and when she sensed the light had died down and she lowered her hand she found her answer.
Standing before her, in his normal sized body was Stahn, surrounded by an eerie golden glow, looking rather blank. Standing, her mouth agape, the young woman tried several times to say something but before she could finally get the words out she was smothered into a kiss.
This surprised her to say the least. The first night she had seen Stahn she could poke him and get a small shock and now he was completely solid. Pulling away, careful not to drop her towel, she shook her head violently and waved her hand about.
"Wait, wait, wait! How is this possible?"
The form cocked his eyebrow.
"You! Here! Solid! How is this..."
A sudden realization dawned on her and her lover smiled, knowing she had caught on.
"Every time we get another crystal and place it with the others you grow stronger as well, is that it?"
He nodded, enthused.
The young woman gave him a look. "You and your country bumpkin ways."
"Oh, surely we're not all that bad."
Sitting down the dark hair lady inhaled deeply and let a long breath out. Stahn came to sit beside her and when she looked over to him she noticed a look in his eyes she had never quite seen before. Opening her mouth she tried to ask what the look was for but when she was quickly kissed again it became very apparent to her what that look meant.
She knew it was probably wrong, and if they failed in their mission she may live to regret it, but at that moment Rutee simply did not care. Her love was there, they were safe and most importantly they were together, alone.
...TBC
So, yeah...next chapter, the group makes their way to Straylize temple and continues their search.
Warning: This is the chapter where it actually lives up to its PG-13 rating.
Chapter 4
Leon awoke in the middle of the night to possibly the strangest sound he could've heard. At first he didn't believe it and wiggled his finger about in his ear to make sure, but he still heard it. Going to his door and stepping into the hall the sound was slightly louder and there was no way to disprove the fact that Rutee was indeed laughing. Tip toeing silently to her door he managed to open it just a crack without making a sound.
Peering through the small opening he saw his sister sprawled out on her bed, flat on her stomach with what looked like a bright yellowish ball of light in her hands. Squinting to make sure he was looking right he watched as the small orb flew around his sister's head then landed softly back into her hands.
Deciding to leave it be he quietly shut the door and retreated back to his own room. When he sat on his bed Chaltier noted the look of somewhat distress and, most obvious, confusion.
"Is something wrong, master?"
For a moment the boy was silent, then shook his head. "Rutee had a ball of light in her hand and she was happy."
"Is that bad?"
He paused. "No, I suppose not, but it was strange, when I looked I could feel something...something strange. It was like there was a presence in there with her, but I couldn't see it."
The sword was silent, pondering this. "Do you think it's anything to worry about?"
"I don't know." He said bitterly. "But I will certainly be keeping an open eye about now. That goes for you too, if you see anything strange you tell me. Got it?"
"Got it, but then I already have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"You're looking out for your sister, I find THAT strange."
Leon cast the weapon a menacing glare, which was laughed at, and pulled his covers over his head, hoping to drown out the world.
...
It was at least noon by the time Rutee awoke; she had spent most of the night with Stahn. It was strange, though he didn't talk she could easily interpret what he felt or meant. Stretching widely she changed into long pants and a red t-shirt, knowing that it would start getting cold since they were approaching Phandaria.
As she was walking out of her door she noticed that the ball of light that was her lover had disappeared. Shrugging, though slightly saddened, she reasoned that he probably couldn't be with her every moment and that he would probably return that night.
...
Mary looked up when she heard soft footsteps enter the dining hall. Rutee entered, gave her a smile, then sat down across from her. The warrioress was a bit confused, but smiled back. Philia took the liberty of bringing over some food for her, which the young woman quickly ate. When she was finished she pushed he tray aside and sighed.
"That was nice, I forgot how long it had been since I last ate."
The priestess smiled, taking the dishes away, and nudged Leon on her way back to the kitchen. The boy wondered about it for a minute before he remembered how he had told them all about the strange light he had seen. No one knew anything about it so he was going to confront her about it.
"Uhm, Rutee, can I ask you a question?"
The former lens hunter looked to her brother. "Yeah, what?"
He stopped, wondering if it was a good idea to ask. Steeling himself he decided just to ask. "What was that strange ball of light I saw you with last night?"
The girl froze in place, her face paling and eyes blanking out. Mary thought perhaps she had turned to stone, but when she looked down and quickly looked back up she knew that the girl was just startled.
"You saw him?" She asked.
"Him?" Leon asked.
The young woman shook her head violently and stood. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm going back to room to think, call me when we're about to land."
Storming away Rutee brushed a few tears away and hastily made her way back to her room. Slamming the door shut behind her she flung herself onto her bed, her mind screaming at her. Through her thoughts and tears she briefly asked herself why she was acting in such a manner, it wasn't like her.
The answer to her question came when, out of no where, a piece of paper fluttered down and landed on her head. Silencing herself quickly she picked the paper up and looked at it. She had the back. Flipping it over she saw a picture of what appeared to be the ruins of a temple. Looking at it closely she knew she recognized some of the bushes around the stone, though she couldn't directly place them, and the statue in the middle of the photo was clearly that of the goddess.
As her mind asked her where the thing had come from a disembodied voice echoed in her mind.
"This is what you need to find."
Quickly recognizing the voice that of Stahn she sat up and looked around.
"Is this the hidden temple of the goddess?"
"Yes." The voice was now in the whole room, not just her head. She looked at the picture again, stumped. She just couldn't place the scenery, even though she knew it.
"Where is it?" She asked.
"..."
The young woman looked up at the hesitation. "Stahn? Where is it?"
"...I can't tell you..." He said bitterly.
The woman sat in anguish and frustration. It would drive her crazy, it was like knowing a few lines to a song but not knowing its name, she would think about it nonstop till she remembered. Shaking her head she sighed loudly and waited, for what she didn't know.
A violent shake of the ship sent Rutee flying off of her bed with a yelp. Grabbing onto her bed she wondered what had just happened and chose to ignore what she thought was Stahn's laughter in her ear. Standing quickly she ran towards the cockpit, tumbling into Garr as she entered.
The young monarch turned just in time to catch the young woman. Helping her stand upright again he focused back onto the situation at hand.
"What's wrong?" The dark hair girl asked, nudging her long time partner.
Mary looked at her with a grin. "The engine caught fire and we're probably gonna crash. Sounds fun, huh?"
"Arggh! Does nothing go right for us?!"
"Don't worry, Rutee." The king reassured her. "We're in Phandarian territory now. Even if we have to walk it shouldn't take long to get to the capital."
"Yeah, if we don't die first!"
Another, stronger shake sent all of the inhabitants of the room flying. The pilots were having a terrible time keeping the flying dragon in control and advised the others to go sit down and fasten their safety belts.
The whole situation wasn't promising and the moment the ship hit the earth below a deafening crack sounded and the impact slammed into all of them. The remains continued to slide over the snow and ice until it finally stopped by way of numerous trees.
Recovering first Garr unhooked himself and went to check the others. To his dismay the two pilots died from the crash and nearly everyone was bloodied up, he himself nursed a large gash across his forehead. Gently shaking everyone back into life he coaxed them to gather what they needed quickly so they could set out on foot, night was falling and the temperatures fell even further.
...
Rutee jumped down from the ship, her bag slung over her shoulder. The small group began to slowly truck towards the capital, though they honestly had no idea where they were going. Continuously Garr would check trees and rocks for familiar markings, hoping to find a way. When the night was pitch black and next to nothing could be seen the six travelers made a small camp, gathering around the fire.
Hope was very scarce, though they knew they wouldn't die something else nagged at them.
"Four days." Rutee mumbled.
The others looked at her curiously until Mary gently touched her shoulder and asked,
"What's four days?"
The young woman looked up, violet eyes sparking in the fire light. "Four days, we only have four days left. We still need to get to Phandaria castle, find the relic in Seingald, bring them all to a temple we can't find then solve that stupid riddle. It's hopeless."
The dark hair girl laid her head in her folded arms and cried freely, not really caring at that moment if her great mask was broken. For a few minutes the others were silent, but when Leon snapped a twig everyone looked at him.
"It's not that hopeless. We're in Phandaria and with actual light I'm sure Garr will know better where he's going. Seingald really only has one temple and that's the Straylize temple, the relic should be there somewhere. As for this temple, well, I can't say but I'm sure something will lead us to it."
"And the riddle?" His sister asked defensively.
He sighed. "Don't fret too much over some words, they are, after all, just words. Leave the riddle to me and you just do your thing."
It was a strange thing to say, but it made her feel safer and more secure none the less. Smiling she rubbed away some tears, then yawned.
"I think we are all tired. Let's rest now so we can set out early tomorrow morning."
Garr's voice was commanding, yet calm. Doing as suggested everyone lied down and fell asleep as best they could in such cold weather.
...
The morning dawned, cold and bleak, but the weary travelers knew that they needed to get up and get moving. Leon was right, with real sunlight Garr was able to navigate them safely through the forest and before noon they were at the capital city.
A large group of people were there to welcome them and the guards quickly whisked them to the palace where they were warmed, received medical attention and fed. When they were all content the young king guided them towards the throne room, where he proceeded to give instructions to remove one of the jewels within the royal crest.
Several of the officers gave him an odd look, but ultimately did as they were told. The crystal was embedded between two swords above the throne, which was quite a task to get out, since it was welded in gold. After hours of waiting, and the sun setting, the relic was finally salvaged and added to the other three.
"There now, now all we need is the fourth one." The silver hair monarch announced happily, looking at them all.
Leon looked at the three and made a sound of confusion.
"Something wrong?" Chelsea asked.
"They're glowing." The boy said simply.
The others looked down immediately and saw that, indeed, the three crystals were glowing faintly in the dimness. The raven hair boy picked one of the relics up and moved it away experimentally, noting that the further it went the softer the light became. When he put it back in place and moved them all so they were touching each other their glow increased greatly.
"That's odd." Philia said, stunned.
"I don't really care, I say we get our butts moving and head over to Straylize temple now and find that crystal and see if the priests have found anything out about the temple." Rutee blurted out
"An excellent idea, Rutee, but there's just one problem..." Garr said, scratching his head.
"And that is?" She asked vehemently.
"Our ship is totaled. We can't even get one until tomorrow morning at best. I've already sent men out to work on this so I suggest we all just relax and enjoy this comfort while we can."
A silence answered him and before he could speak again the young lens hunter turned on her heel and left to go find a room.
...
Rutee sighed as she walked into her room, back from her bath. It had been a long, stressful day and a bath always seemed to make her feel better. She had apologized to Garr when she had passed him in the hall and he had informed her with a smile that a new ship was almost ready and that he would tell everyone to set their alarm clocks to four AM so they could get an early start.
Despite the pleasant news she still felt a bit worried. Their days were now numbered to three. Was that enough time? Pulling out the picture that she had found she looked it over, still not placing the location. Sitting on the bed she put it in a drawer in her nightstand and sat still for a moment.
When she let out another sigh the ball of light she knew all too well suddenly came zipping into her view then darted around the room until it came back to her again. Smiling fondly she held out one of her hands, the other keeping her towel secure.
The small orb stopped in front of her, but to her surprise did not nestle in her palm, rather, instead it began to glow, hot and holy, blinding her slightly. Raising her hand up to her eyes Rutee wondered just what was going on and when she sensed the light had died down and she lowered her hand she found her answer.
Standing before her, in his normal sized body was Stahn, surrounded by an eerie golden glow, looking rather blank. Standing, her mouth agape, the young woman tried several times to say something but before she could finally get the words out she was smothered into a kiss.
This surprised her to say the least. The first night she had seen Stahn she could poke him and get a small shock and now he was completely solid. Pulling away, careful not to drop her towel, she shook her head violently and waved her hand about.
"Wait, wait, wait! How is this possible?"
The form cocked his eyebrow.
"You! Here! Solid! How is this..."
A sudden realization dawned on her and her lover smiled, knowing she had caught on.
"Every time we get another crystal and place it with the others you grow stronger as well, is that it?"
He nodded, enthused.
The young woman gave him a look. "You and your country bumpkin ways."
"Oh, surely we're not all that bad."
Sitting down the dark hair lady inhaled deeply and let a long breath out. Stahn came to sit beside her and when she looked over to him she noticed a look in his eyes she had never quite seen before. Opening her mouth she tried to ask what the look was for but when she was quickly kissed again it became very apparent to her what that look meant.
She knew it was probably wrong, and if they failed in their mission she may live to regret it, but at that moment Rutee simply did not care. Her love was there, they were safe and most importantly they were together, alone.
...TBC
So, yeah...next chapter, the group makes their way to Straylize temple and continues their search.