A/n: the final chapter is here! Yatta! Bleh, I guess a few good reviews is better than a bucket of flames, right? Anyway, the final segment…
(…)
"Well?"
"…"
"Erk!"
The sage unwillingly looked up from his struggle with the ring to see a very angry Serra tapping her foot impatiently on the trail. Of course, he had said he would escort her back to the camp, be it himself who said it, or Mr. Sage. But he still had to go through with the promise. And for reasons of logic, he spent the whole time trying to remove the blasted ring before the cleric could change him.
Even though she hadn't yet…which he found odd, but he still kept at it.
"What is it, Serra?" he asked, partially annoyed and still distracted.
"You haven't said you were sorry yet for not catching me," she replied angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. Erk could only thank Elimine that she hadn't hurt herself, thus leaving him to heal her. The only damage was the bit of dirt on her dress, and whichever genius decided to event a stave for every possible occasion, just happened to forget the OxyClean one.
"Why don't you just bring back that old Sage version of me- I'm sure he'll apologize," he growled, keeping his eyes focused on the task at hand, being that of removing the ring.
There was an awkward silence, and he looked up once more to see Serra standing there unusually hushed, her eyes downcast. "Uh, Serra?"
"Do you really think me that selfish?" she sniffled before clutching his shoulders and lowering her head to his chest, quickly dampening it with tears.
It would have been an understatement to say Erk was surprised and he stood there frozen for a least a minute while the cleric's cries softened. Fighting the urge to say "yes," in reply, he shook his head slowly and brought his unsure hands to her back. "Um, no…of…course not…"
"….really?" she sniffled, her face still hidden in the folds of his wet clothes, her grin unseen. How Serra loved playing the guilt card.
Unfortunately, what with the dreaded ring still on his finger, and now in clear view, he was a bit distracted…ironic, if one really thought about it. The silence confirmed Serra of this fact and she quickly dislodged herself from her escort's comfy chest to glare into Erk's distant eyes, which were obviously still on the hell that started it all.
"Erk!"
"One moment," he gritted through his teeth as he twisted the ring this way and that.
"Pay attention to me! No ring is more important than me!" she cried, angry tears building in the corner of her eyes. She turned so that her back faced the sage, and then grabbed his arm and pulled it under her own.
"Serra, what are you-Gah!!"
And from there, she proceeded in pulling off the ring with her bare teeth, as Erk struggled to get her to release his arm. But one couldn't say that this wasn't efficient, since with a tug from the pair, the ring slipped off, near to being swallowed by the cleric.
"Peh!" She spat out the ring onto her palm and clenched it tightly, her knuckles turning white as she lowered her arms to her sides. "Now you pay attention to me!" she growled, her eyes closed in anger.
The silence that followed made her twitch, and she reluctantly opened her eyes, not sure of what the sage…wait, mage…was doing now if he was so quiet.
She arched an eyebrow as she stared at Erk. He had a dazed look on his face, his mouth partially open, and his eyes wide. "Erk…?" Serra waved a hand in front of his face, but it gained her no response. Finally…
"I…I could…kiss you…" the mage whispered, barely audible to the girl before him. Serra blushed slightly, what with it being the true Erk to say this, and not the sage. She closed her eyes and waited patiently.
And waited some more, now impatiently.
After a minute she opened one eye to see Erk still standing there, but the dazed look was gone. "Uh, Erky?"
"I said could. "
Serra sighed, bringing her hand to her face to cup her forehead when she suddenly realized something was still inside it. She opened her hand to see the ring (looking almost as new as when it was first made) situated in the center of her palm.
"G-Get rid of that," Erk whispered in a fearful voice.
"Why?" the cleric asked, lifting it up to the light. Her companion looked like he was going to drop dead right then and there.
"W-What do you mean?!"
"Well…" Serra began, running the ring over the tips of her fingers, "I'm sure you don't want it, and to be honest, it was much too annoying for you to keep switching back and forth…"
"…so why keep it?"
"I'm sure it would look quite nice on myself," she grinned evilly as she continued to toy with the trinket.
For the second time that night, Erk nearly died. To imagine Serra…worse than she was now…that was a fate crueler than death. And even more so, was Serra actually being that horrid. He could not let that happen! His eyes searched hers, still not believing. A line of sweat was forming on his brow.
"B-But-"
"Mm?"
"It clashes with your dress!" he shouted suddenly, rapid breathes following as he had been holding his breath all this time.
"Oh my gosh, it does!" Serra screamed, throwing the ring on the ground as if were some sort of rodent. "Erk, kill!" She pointed at the accursed metal from behind her escort.
"With pleasure," he sighed in relief as he brought his hands above his head and muttered a few words. In a few seconds the ring was unseen, covered with smoke and small flames.
Serra nodded her approval. "Good. Because if it clashes with my dress, then no one can wear it."
"Of course," the mage (and thankful for it) sighed again, rolling his eyes. "Let's just get back now." And the two continued down the trail to catch up with the others who had long since left.
(…)
"Good night, Serra," Erk nodded as he continued walking to his tent while the girl had stopped at her own. He felt more exhausted than usual and just wanted to sleep more than anything.
"You know, you never did apologize," Serra shrugged sadly as she lingered at the tent's entrance.
The mage stopped in his tracks and thought for a moment, realizing that she was right. "I am sorry for not catching you and dirtying your dress," he spoke in a robot tone, like a child who was made to repeat something by his mother's command. He started walking again, until Serra's voice halted him once more.
"If I wanted a heartless apology I should have just used the ring on you." There was a pause, indicating that Erk didn't believe her since he made no attempt to correct himself. "I could easily spend more of the tactician's money on a matching dress…"
Apparently, that did the trick and the fearful Erk had returned to Serra's side. "Alright, alright." He took a deep breath and pulled his head back so as to not make eye contact. "Serra, I'm sorry for not catching you and ruining your dress, do you forgive me?" He spoke this rather quickly, somewhat scared to think what would happen if someone witnessed him falling to Serra's commands once more.
"Of course, Erky!" she giggled. "Night then!" She waved and was about to enter her tent when she heard a throat being cleared. She turned around to see her escort still there. "Yes?"
"Shouldn't I receive an apology as well?"
"Whatever for?" she asked, keeping an innocent face.
Of course, Erk could have listed several hundred events, starting from when the first met to the present, but it would have taken quite a while. "Abusing my power?"
Serra shrugged, the sting of the guilt being little or nothing. "Sorry about that!" she smiled, tilting her head to one side to gain a more childlike appearance. She was about to enter her tent once again when she noticed that the mage was still there.
"T-That's all?" Erk questioned in an unbelieving tone as his left eye twitched. After he has to deal with the threat of death for a heartless apology, she goes and does that?!
"What, does wittle Erky want a kiss good night?" the cleric taunted, leaning forward with her hands on her knees, as if talking to child.
"N-No!" He hid his mild blush by supporting his shaking head with his hand. "I was just expecting something more heartfelt…but again, this is you…"
Serra grinned, "And I'm sure you wouldn't have me any other way." With another wave good night, she exited inside leaving Erk alone in the night.
"Nope…" was his last sigh before turning to leave.
(…)
"Where the heck is everyone? I'm finally able to treat everybody to a feast and there's barley anyone here?" the tactician sighed, slumping down in his chair.
"Well, you did just happen to rob the toughest, and not to mention largest group of bandits. Of course people are a bit tired," Kent pointed out.
"I said it was Matthew…and speaking of which…where is Matthew? I don't recall him helping much today."
Sain, who had been caressing a new silver lance against his cheek (carefully), looked up. "Oh yeah, he told me he had to browse around for leftovers."
"Leftovers?! Are we bandits ourselves?"
"A little extra stuff here and there couldn't hurt us…" the tactician grinned.
"Especially this delicious chicken," Sain drooled, grabbing another piece, as Lyn walked in yawning.
"Oh, go caress your lance," Kent grumbled.
"Don't mind if I do!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Lyn didn't even try the chicken.
(…)
"And this is why I don't rob lowly bandits," Matthew muttered, shaking his head. An empty bag was slung over his shoulder, part if him debating on trading it for something to look like he didn't leave empty handed.
Annoyed, he kicked up a bit of dirt on the trail with his left foot. Suddenly a sparkle amongst the dust, lingering in midair, caught his eye. He snatched the object in its drop and raised it up towards the light of the night sky.
"Well, what do we have here…a ring…a guiding ring!" Well this was certainly apparently a bit of déjà vu. He frowned a bit, noting that if this 'finding a guiding ring a day' was becoming a pattern, then they must not be very rare…what would be the point?
Staring at it for a bit longer, he finally drooped his shoulders in surrender. "Better than nothing."
He pocketed it and grinned to himself as an idea struck, "I'm sure I can get quite a large sum from a kind monk…Who could say no to being a bishop…" And Matthew took a bit of a detour before arriving at the feast, not bothering to ask why Lyn was running so fast.
end
a/n: Hope it was good! I'm giving up on the whole stave/staff thing. I dub them shiny magical sticks. Heh, thanks R Amythest! Yep, I dunno why this fic isn't getting much recognition…if it's the crummy summary, I'm open for suggestions. Thanks to those who reviewed though!
(glares at Starreaver) one would expect the dude who came up with the plot to review his best friends writing but no…For that, I'm drawing a scantily clad Serra and shoving it in his binder when hes not looking so when he opens it next class… See, if he had read this, he wouldn't suffer so (grins)
