By: yume-chan29
Standard disclaimers apply.
Dedicated to: My wonderful reviewers! I love you all!
To keto, Lady Dragonnaine, gher h, Wink, Hououza, G-unit, Silver Fox of Thieves, lizzy!
Chapter 2: Mission "Seeking Cesia's Stalker"
Yours truly. Love?
What the hell kind of name was love.
Scarlet irises closed in irritation. Cesia's secret admirer must be some sort of idiot.
An involuntary growl from the Dragon Knight pierced the silence. Cesia's secret admirer.
The thought set him on fire. A day had already passed since his discovery of the cursed letter and still the very memory of its contents had his blood boiling.
He remembered the anger when he'd first laid eyes on the thing. Oh yes. The RAGE, the distinct FURY that had eaten away at his emotions the second he had pieced together what the letter was actually saying.
Good lord, someone in the damn castle was IN LOVE with CESIA.
The very concept was somewhat revolting in his opinion and yet it seemed he couldn't stress the revelation enough. The anger had mixed well with his disbelief.
Don't get him wrong, it wasn't that he couldn't believe that someone was in love with her. After all, when he thought about it—though he'd go through hell before actually admitting it—Cesia had a few…appealing qualities. She was polite and knew when to shut her mouth when need be. She was strong willed, independent, and not easy to push around (though, Rath wasn't exactly sure if this was one of her positive traits at times…). And—though he'd go through hell again and twice over—he had to admit that she was…easy on the eyes.
He controlled the blush threatening to creep across his cheeks.
What he couldn't accept as truth was the mere fact that the bastar—er, admirer had the gall to actually write such a horrendous letter to the wind witch in the first place. An admirer was simply supposed to wait in the background until the infatuation (which Rath was sure of in this case) wore off in time, right? And there in had laid the source of his bitterness.
The resentment towards Cesia's admirer was not, and he'd taken particular note of this from the get go, NOT jealousy.
Definitely, DEFINITELY not. Jealous? The feared part-demonic, past terrorist of Dusis, yokai-slayer, Dragon Knight of Fire was jealous over something as petty as a tiny dispatch of romantic interest towards the Castle's fortune teller? There was a better chance of Thatz fasting for an entire month.
Just because he was a bit pissed off (like he wanted to rip off someone's head, pissed) didn't mean he was jealous in the slightest. NOT AT ALL.
Because if he were jealous, hypothetically of course, that would have meant that he harbored some feelings toward the wind sorceress. It would have meant that he saw her on a level above that of friendship. That he liked her.
Again, pink spread readily across his cheeks.
And that, of course, was IDIOTIC.
Their relationship was not something even relatively close to that of…lovers. She could barely tolerate him, and vice versa, at times. How was there a possibility of him being jealous?
None. Period.
He only was angered due to the fact that he…wanted to…protect—yes, protect—Cesia. Her admirer could be some perverted stalker! He had described her "sensual lips" for crying out loud!
And because he was probably the first to see the love note besides Cesia herself, he was automatically in charge of making sure that she wouldn't get into any trouble. It was surely an unwritten rule. It was now Rath's duty to ensure Cesia's safety from the idiotic pervert called "love".
Soon he was to set his plan into action.
Rath grinned maliciously. When he found out whom the stupid, FOOLISH, probably ugly "admirer" who dared send such a brainless "love letter" to Cesia would certainly have hell to pay.
Tomorrow, Mission " Seeking Cesia's Stalker" (a.k.a. "Trace the love letters back to Cesia's stalker through spying and sneaking around until finally discovering who the baka actually is and putting him down on 'Rath's hit list of eternal torture' ") was to be put underway.
Rath groaned tiredly. How long, exactly had he been here? He didn't know. One usually could not tell time while waiting in darkness, under a bed.
Where in all of Dusis was the freak?
The Fire Knight was almost sure that the "admirer" would drop off a second note of adoration in Cesia's room at approximately this time in the morning. It was the first moment of the day that the wind witch went out of her bedroom to complete her daily Fortune Telling duties.
Was it possible that the fan boy delivered the letter while Cesia was sleeping? Or maybe…that correspondence of romance had been a one-time thing?
The thought both relieved and mildly irked him.
It eased his thoughts because then Cesia's safety was no longer endangered. (A reason he constantly engraved in his thoughts even when his heart disagreed.)
And it slightly annoyed him because, well, if had known that Cesia's devotee was too much of a coward to continue with his (obviously one-sided) affection, Rath wouldn't have even bothered with thinking twice about the damn letter in the first place!
Rath sighed. Lying on a dirty floor, under a girl's bed, surrounded by a population of gigantic dust bunnies, in the dark, and all the while waiting for some unknown person to come through the doors to deliver a love letter, was NOT fun. Waiting a few minutes, Rath came to the conclusion that the jerk was spineless.
No courage to confess to her face, eh?
He smirked triumphantly.
Just as he was about to open the door out of Cesia's room, the doorknob turned itself and beat him to it. Someone was coming inside!
Rath hurriedly ducked under the bed as if his life depended on it—actually, if it was Cesia who found him in her room, his life would literally depend on his haste.
The door opened. His blood-hued eyes widened slightly. From underneath the purple sheets of Cesia's bed, he found himself staring at two feet. Two BIG feet in two RUGGED looking boots. Too LARGE and too MASCULINE for it to be the Dragon Tribe's personal Fortune Teller.
His eyes drew into a sharp glare.
The damn bastard had come back. With a second note to Cesia. Of his perverted love.
Rath silently wished that looks could kill.
The anonymous fan boy set his letter gently upon Cesia's black edged desk. His mission complete, he scurried out of the room. As the door swung to a close, Rath rushed out from under the sorceress's bed, three thoughts in mind.
One, read the letter first, and as quickly as possible.
So that, two, he could run out and discover the admirer's secret identity.
Three…well, he wasn't exactly permitted to commit…but the thought of beating the idiot up was certainly in his favor.
Rath walked over to the Cesia's raven colored desk and picked up the second note.
A…Post It?
What happened to the fancy envelope and neat calligraphy?
All Rath saw was a pathetic little Post It note and a barely legible scrawl written upon it. 'Love' had even written the words on the wrong side as the sticky edge was faced upward. Someone was losing his touch.
Rath held the paper close to his ruby irises, inspecting, and trying to figure out just what the baka had written. How could this dismal excuse for a love letter be even considered…?"
WHAT THE HELL?
Rath's eyes squinted, trying to read the unreadable chicken scratch again.
Dear Cesia,
Please meet me at the market at 3:30 this afternoon. We must go buy the supplies and things for the trip and plan it ASAP. Also, we have much to discuss.
Signed,
3
P.S. Where DO you think we should go?
Rath grit his teeth HARD.
Damn him.
DAMN HIM.
A TRIP! A FbeepING TRIP!
When had they planned this? When had HE?
Surely, Cesia couldn't have agreed to this. FOR SURE. She wouldn't just…consent to a trip with an admirer whom had just confessed his love for her YESTERDAY, right? NEVER.
The infatuated stalker called "love" or in this one, " 3", was merely insane, mistaking rejection for appreciation. When Rath found him, after a bit of fun-filled torture, the romantic moron was going straight to the asylum!
With this, Rath gained a slight boost of confidence. Because, no, Cesia would never agree. She'd never run off with some stranger she didn't know, with some LOSER who couldn't confess to her face to face. It was simply IMPOSSIBLE and…
The pyro knight's ears perked as he heard the sound of footsteps. The doorknob to Cesia's room was once again turning to let someone else in.
Rath dived for his spot under the covers of Cesia's bedding and the door swung open. In walked a pair of petite feet, sporting high-heeled velvet boots. He heard the sound of the figure's soft humming and immediately knew it was her. Cesia.
He watched anxiously as her feet moved across the floor to her desk. A slight ruffling of paper signaled that the fortuneteller had picked up the note and in her silence, was reading it.
Cesia's shoes moved from his line of vision. Probably going to throw it away, he thought cockily.
Instead of the sound of crinkling paper, he heard the squeak of another door opening. Her closet?
The wind witch wrapped a warm coat around her slim form and walked out of the room, unaware that a pair of shining red eyes and a slightly agape mouth followed her movements. When the door closed, Rath came from underneath the black-laced bed and quickly walked to Cesia's desk yet again.
Please be there, please be there…The correspondence had disappeared from the table. It didn't lie in the nearby trashcan either.
She had brought it along.
He couldn't BELIEVE it.
Cesia was going to meet with him.
end chapter 2--
A/N: CLIFFIE! Bwahaha. Hopefully it was good. Longer though, ne?
Review Responses:
keto: THANK YOU! You were my first reviewer ever on You've boosted my confidence and for that I am truly grateful! Here's your update and review!
Lady Dragonnaine: Ahaha. Now that I think about it, Cesia-chan is not exactly "cute". But what IS a "sexy" room really like? I matched her room to her style of dress (frilly). Also, I think that your stories aren't typical. Typical in motif, perhaps, but NOT in story…erm…greatness! Update "Imprisoned" Please! Thanks for reviewing!
gher h: Thanks! Here's an update!
Wink: Thanks so much! Yes, yes, jealous!Rath and murderous!Rath is certainly cute, ne? Review please!
Hououza: Thank you! Hopefully I did an ok job on this one too. Review, and, oh! Good luck and best wishes to you too!
G-unit: Thanks for reviewing! Reviews get me perked up, but you of all people would know that wouldn't you? Yes, of COURSE jealousy rocks. It makes us all tingly (in a good way) inside.
Silver Fox of Thieves: :blushes: I'm on your Favorite authors list? Why, THANK YOU. RathxCesia is just the BEST isn't it?
lizzy: Thanks a lot! Loved that you thought it cute. Jealous!Rath is the best, huh?
Review! And be gentle, onegai!
