Alright... 16 days... sry. I know some of you've been waiting for me to finally catch up and not take as long, but it's not gonna happen. -j Here's the next chapter... and since I took so long, it's extra long. About as long as my chapters in most of my other fics... Enjoy! Chapter... 14... yeah 14.
Chapter 14: Possesed by a Memory
Hazel green eyes slid open, then slowly shut, as if the owner was reluctant to begin the day that proclaimed and announced its beginning with bright sun rays streaming from an open window. Bird chirps outside, coupled with the wafting smell of flowers, and very faintly, food, belayed the darkness that seethed through the halls, and most recently, inside its occupants as well. But all that could be ignored. All he had to do was close his eyes and think about anything at all as long as it made him fall asleep. He was not however, going to think of an annoyingly cheerful brunette secretary to help him fall back into sleep. Because if he did, then he would never be able to-
"Feegi!" Too late. He groaned and turned over, determined to ignore the little voice outside his head.
"C'mon Feegi, wake up. Don't you wanna file forms?" No he didn't. He drew the covers over his face, making a short noise of refusal. Ruwalk laughed slightly.
"I'm surprised I woke up before you, but c'mon we have to wake up."
Alfeegi only drew the covers higher over his face and repeated his childish refusal emphasized with a shake of his head.
"Alfeegi..." Ruwalk's voice held a warning note. But Alfeegi wouldn't get up. Ruwalk sat on the bed and pulled the covers off, grinning when the sleeping secretary turned over and growled slightly.
"C'mon, what's wrong?"
Silence, because he was trying to fall back asleep.
"Are you still worried?" the tone was curious, just a slight tinge of concern to make Alfeegi sigh heavily and open one eye to a slit. But upon the brunette's grin, it closed shut again.
"Buzz off Ru'alk..." was the mumbled response before being forcefully turned onto his back.
"Uh-uh, you don't tell me that, mister torture-everyone-to-work-and-then- won't-get-up-in-the-morning-cause-he's-really-a-lazy-bum-wow-this-is-a-long- name-but-I-feel-like-annoying-you-with-my-voice-cause-it'll-make-you-wake- up."
"Fine!" Alfeegi was highly annoyed and strangely tired now. He growled and made a move to get up, keeping his eyes closed still, but found that Ruwalk wasn't letting him get up, "What the? Are you going to let me get up or –"
His words were cut off as Ruwalk's mouth clamped firmly over his and his body went limp again. This was much better. Ruwalk always did this, Alfeegi thought, almost annoyed, as the brunette brushed his tongue lightly over his lips, but didn't force entrance, nor did he give any. It was simply a sweet kiss, meant to improve his mood. Ruwalk always did this, Alfeegi repeated to himself, make him mad then expect for it to go away with a simple kiss. And usually it worked. But not today. Alfeegi was simply not in the mood. So he turned his head away, gasping slightly.
"You moron," he said monotonously to the grinning officer, despite the slight grin that tugged at his own lips as well. Ruwalk took a strand of untied long aquamarine hair into his hand and stroked it.
"Awake now?"
"Unfortunately. I should have known better than to try to ignore you..." Alfeegi sighed, sitting up completely. Ruwalk hugged his cheerfully, reminding him of Rath's compulsive hugs.
"Yup."
"So, ah... did you just wake up?"
"Yeah. I woke up and came straight to see you," Ruwalk said, as if the action should make Alfeegi feel honored. He didn't respond, just sat up, his messy long hair cascading into some semblance of order and stood to dress out of his pajamas into his clothes for the day. Ruwalk watched him the entire time, making the head secretary feel slightly... disturbed? Annoyed? Flattered? Something.
"Why are you watching me?"
"Cause you're just as gorgeous when gracelessly putting on your shirt as when you're gracefully stalking someone to begin a tirade."
"Great answer," Alfeegi muttered, tying his long hair into the threads that held it.
"Lemme help," Ruwalk offered, pulling the long, silky strands of hair into his hands, "I have the sea in my hands..." he murmured, nuzzling Alfeegi's neck slightly. Alfeegi blushed, but he was grateful for the attention.
"There's pancakes today..."
"How do you know?"
"Because I asked Cernozura last night."
"Oh," Ruwalk finished twisting the long hair together and tying the ribbon, "There, all done. You have long hair... Rune has longer though... weird. Why don't you cut it?"
Alfeegi turned around, one hand to the back of his head protectively, "What are you talking about? I love my hair!"
"Just kidding."
Alfeegi glared majestically at the snickering officer and headed out of the room, barely waiting for his companion.
"Oh, c'mon Feegi, what are you mad about?"
"I'm not mad."
"Obviously the right side of the bed is the wrong side of the bed. I'll make sure to push you off the left side tomorrow."
"Haha," Alfeegi muttered sarcastically, stepping into the dinning room. Lykouleon and Tetheus sat there already, along with Thatz, Kitchel, Cesia and Kaistern. Kaistern was trying his best to eat with his left hand, which made for Cernozura putting extra napkins around.
"Jeez, everyone's here," Alfeegi muttered.
"Yeah, it's cause you usually wake up earlier and so you miss the usual breakfast hour."
"I am so waking up early tomorrow then."
"Is someone not in a good mood?" Kitchel giggled, poking Alfeegi as he sat next to her, Ruwalk sitting to his right.
"Yeah. That about sums it up."
Lykouleon grinned and Tetheus raised his eyebrow. Ruwalk shrugged in response.
"Well, when I'm in a bad mood, I snuggle up to Thatz... or yell at him. Why don't you try it with Ruwalk?" Kitchel giggled. Lykouleon burst out laughing the hardest, as well as everyone else.
The white secretary turned an amusing shade of scarlet before responding laconically, "Don't even joke about the first one, but the second one I can do to ALL of you."
"Please don't," Thatz put up his hands. Cesia tapped him and whispered something in his ear and Thatz looked at Ruwalk and Alfeegi for a second, "You sure you don't wanna try out the first one? It works."
"No it doesn't," Alfeegi said venomously.
"Oh, so you're tried already?"
Alfeegi only turned a deeper shade of scarlet, stepping on Ruwalk's foot furiously as he suppressed a snicker.
"No!" his response was only met with wide laughter. Alfeegi growled, glaring daggers at the table.
"Denial," Kitchel and Cesia said in unison.
"How's Rune doing?" the white secretary asked coldly. All laughter was suppressed instantly, replaced with an air of anxiety and depression. All the occupants of the table looked at Alfeegi with a mixture of surprise, and disbelief, with a small bit worry as well. Cesia and Kitchel looked down, Thatz biting his lip worrisomely. Alfeegi stood up harshly and walked out of the room, the large doors slamming loudly.
"That... that was below the belt," That muttered, poking his food with his fork.
Lykouleon frowned in the direction Alfeegi'd gone in and looked at Ruwalk, who appeared distressed, "Is something wrong with Alfeegi? It doesn't seem like him to do something like that..."
"I don't know. I mean, he's been acting... a bit odd, but only today."
"That's not true," the black officer spoke up, "I've seen him in his office or the library looking fairly depressed. I asked him about it and he only sighed and said it was nothing."
"He's always more cheerful when he's with you though, so that's why you may not have noticed," Lykouleon added.
Ruwalk sighed heavily and stood up, "Well, let me go look for him. I'm sure he's beating himself up for that comment..."
"Maybe we shouldn't have made fun of him. But we didn't know he was in that much of a bad mood," Kitchel mumbled. Thatz rubbed her shoulder consolingly and nodded.
"Wait, Ruwalk."
"Yes, your Highness?" Lykouleon motioned for him to sit back down. Ruwalk obliged but cast a glance at the door, which opened. Delte walked into the room, bowing at the group and murmuring a quiet hello before heading towards Kaistern. He looked up at her and she smiled.
"I wanted to show you something. Would you come with me?"
"Ah... sure," Kaistern nodded and stood, Delte taking his arm and pulling him along.
"It's just a small thing that I thought could help you get back your memory," she explained, the door shutting close behind them.
"What was that?" Thatz mused.
Cesia raised her eyebrow, "Delte? I didn't think she even knew the blue officer existed."
Lykouleon cleared his throat, his amused expression at their comments fading, "It's not what it seems. In truth... I wished for a distraction for Kaistern. Rath and Alfeegi will have to be informed later, Delte already knows."
"Knows what? Tell Rath and Alfeegi?" they all questioned, the air heavy with tension.
"I don't know if you've realized... but the situation is quite more urgent than you think," the Lord hesitated, "We fear that Rune... with all of these strange occurrences, is being possessed. Under some spell..."
"But can't you get rid of it?" Thatz asked, alarmed.
"How do you plan on doing that? We don't know what's really going on, this is all an assumption. A very well placed one, but one nonetheless," Tetheus answered him coolly.
"And Kaistern as well," Lykouleon continued, "It seems too strange that he loses his memory, and that Nadil's Tribe finds him, and returns him to us when they very well could have poisoned him against us and turned him into a demon. It just doesn't make sense that he came back so easily.
"The key to this is that Nadil's army, or Kharl the Alchemist, whichever is behind this, has control of two of our pieces. And we don't know what they're planning. Most likely, access to Nadil's head. But they're using Rune, and could use Kaistern to the same purpose as well.
"And so... for our protection as well as theirs, I want to have someone with both of them at all times. It may seem a bit cruel to have them under constant watch, but what can we do if we want to assure their safety as well as ours?"
Everyone at the table frowned, taking in the hidden implications.
"So... as long as someone's with Rune and Kaistern, everything should be fine, right?" Kitchel asked, her voice quivering slightly. Tetheus nodded.
"Yes. There is a dark presence in the castle, and everything it has surged, something else happens to the water knight."
"Well... you can be with whoever you please, whenever you want, but just make sure that someone is with them at all times. If there's not, then please do so..." Lykouleon sighed and leaned his head on clasped hands in front of him.
"Well then, we better make sure Runey has some company 24/7," Thatz said, taking Kitchel by the arm as he forced a smile.
"Right," Lykouleon sighed again but smiled lightly as well.
OoO
Cesia stole soundlessly to Zoma's bedroom door. She opened it quietly and snuck up to the sleeping boy's side, carefully muffling all her movements.
"Zoma..." she whispered hauntingly. No response. She smirked evilly, and jumping on the bed, screamed, "ZOMA!"
"Aah!" the little horned boy shot up straight, his face merely inches away from Cesia's and screamed again then fell back, scowling.
"Darn it, you scared me again. No fair."
Cesia winked, "But it's so fun to wake you up this way," she pulled the covers off and stood, gathering his clothes for the day.
"What time is it?"
"Oh, only late morning," she tossed his clothes on the bed and waited for him to change.
"I'm bored. The castle's so morbid... Did Rune wake up?"
"No... not yet. We have to keep checking on him all the time, ok? And Kaistern too."
"Why?"
Cesia paused, she didn't like the idea of having to keep watch on two dragon tribe members as if they were criminals or something. And she certainly didn't think Zoma would either, "Cause without his memory he might go places he's not supposed to and get into trouble. Plus, I'm sure he wants some company."
Zoma looked a bit dubious but shrugged anyways, zipping up his jacket. It was getting cooler now that the heat of summer was waning, and Zoma had always been a bit cold-blooded.
"I'm ready," he said, jumping off the bed and opening the door, turning to look expectantly at Cesia.
"I'm coming. They're having omelets for breakfast today."
"Omelets?" the little boy scrunched up his face, "Ew."
"They're good. You haven't even tried them."
"But they sound... weird."
"No, they're good. Now c'mon, follow me," Cesia pulled Zoma along.
OoO
"Jeez, his room is one green sanctuary..." Thatz mumbled, brushing one of the ferns on Rune's balcony away from his face. Kitchel looked up at him from her nail painting.
"It's pretty though. And that's the reason you guys like his room better, right?"
"Yeah. Just a little sunlight and this place becomes a jungle..."
"Don't exaggerate, it's just a couple plants on the balcony and some flower vases."
Thatz turned around, looking at Rune thoughtfully. They'd been in here for a while now, it was now noon. The elf laid in bed, tossing and turning feebly, weakened by the fever that still had not lessened. If anything, it was getting worse. Cernozura came to check on him at least thrice a day, but never had any good news to tell. Every once in a while, he would mumble incoherent sentences of which very little made sense. Sometimes he'd scream or whimper in his sleep, and Thatz could only imagine the nightmares he was going through.
People viewed Rune as the weakest on of the three nights, but Thatz thought differently. Sure, Rune got nervous all the time and he would much rather play it safe than go with his and Rath's crazy plans. And he got sick easier and wasn't as strong as the other two on some occasions... but heck, he'd gone through so much, and personally, Thatz admired him. How he always went along with all of Rath and Thatz's dangerous plans, always came to the rescue in the end, how he controlled Varawoo, who was one nasty and powerful fish, and how he was still strong despite the fact that he never saw Tintlet... Thatz didn't think he could bear being away from Kitchel for too long, but how long had it been since Rune had actually seen and talked to Tintlet? Years. And all of his kind was destroyed. Was Delte the only faerie left? Besides Rune and Tintlet? It was possible...
Thatz shook his head. Funny how it took a life or death situation to really appreciate the elf. But... he would make sure that nothing happened to Rune. He stood and replaced the now warm cloth on Rune's forehead with a cool one. The only sign Rune ever felt that was the slight twitch of his head to the side, before that turned into a string of coughs.
Thatz gently took hold of Rune's burning hand, gripping it tightly before letting it fall limply again.
"You'll be alright..." he prayed.
OoO
"Alfeegi... where are you?" Ruwalk muttered to himself. After Alfeegi had left the dining hall in a huff, Ruwalk hadn't been able to find him. And if he wasn't in his office or the library, there weren't that many other places he could be. He wasn't in his room, or the courtyard, or the bathroom for the Lord's sake! He racked his mind, trying to think of where the sea-haired beauty could be hiding. It was most uncharacteristic...
Well, there was one time in which Alfeegi had run away... much like today... It had been years ago... all the officers had gotten drunk, and someone had said something... Ruwalk couldn't even begin to guess what it had been about, but the end result had been Alfeegi getting very upset and leaving almost in tears. Where had they found Alfeegi? Chances were that he would be there again. He turned a corner, now in the darker halls of the castle, those that lacked the light of day, so deep where they inside. And there he was, hunched up in a corner, looking out into space, the remnant tracks of tears on his face, face flushed as his shoulders shook slightly.
"There you are!" Ruwalk cried, sitting next to Alfeegi and hugging him lightly. "Ruwalk," Alfeegi choked out, looking sorrowfully at the ground.
"What's wrong with you?" the brunette officer asked quietly, leaning back.
"I don't know... I just got really mad, and I wanted to say something to shut them up... and I said something really horrible," he sobbed slightly again, leaning into Ruwalk and pressing himself close.
"Yeah, but you're not perfect, much as you want us to believe, so we forgive you. They've all forgotten about it by now, we had to talk about something important. Remember when you told me that you though that Rune was being controlled by something? Well, Lyk- His Highness thought about that too cause he asked us to keep a close watch on Rune and Kaistern at all times."
"Like... guard them?" Alfeegi asked.
"Well, he didn't want to go as far as to put guards outside their rooms and confine them, but he does want someone with them all the time. Much better than guards, don't you think?"
"Yeah..." Alfeegi sniffed, comforted that his error had been so easily overlooked.
"Aw, Feegi, it's ok," Ruwalk hugged Alfeegi again and he let himself be taken in, so much like a child that Ruwalk laughed, "You know, sometimes I wonder if you're more of a little kid than we thought."
"Well, this little kid is more responsible than you," he mumbled, nuzzling Ruwalk's chest. Then he leaned back and stood up, glaring at Ruwalk, "We have work to do, so let's go."
"Hey, you're the one who cause all this," Ruwalk sputtered, put off by his change of mood.
"I know," Alfeegi smirked behind his back as he left, letting Ruwalk catch up to him.
OoO
Kaistern sighed, leaning over the banister of the bedroom balcony. Delte had shown him some paintings of cities that he'd supposedly visited on business trips, but it hadn't jogged his memory at all. Now she was sewing a dress, sitting primly on one of the large chairs of the long forgotten room as Kaistern looked through all of the paintings and various objects, feeling confused and frustrated. The only thing that kept spiders and dust out of here for the most part was the dutiful cleaning of the maids.
He sighed and stood up, shaking the dust off himself and setting all the paintings and artifacts where they belonged. Looking over to the faerie girl in the chair, he saw that she'd fallen asleep, needle poised treacherously in her palm. Shrugging, he opened the door and walked out. He heard her yelp and poked his head back inside.
"Oh sorry, I just poked myself with the needle..." she said sheepishly and stood up hurriedly, walking outside as well.
"Oh, well, you could have stayed sleeping," he said, slightly put off. He had the distinct feeling that it hadn't been a mere coincidence that Delte ad come waltzing in and taken him off when Lykouleon had said he needed to talk to them about something. And now that he attempted to leave, she followed him. All he thought it was though, was that maybe she was an attention seeker or she liked him. He would have never guessed that it was because she'd been ordered to watch him. So he didn't give it a second thought.
Kaistern walked on rubbing his right arm gingerly. The stupid thing was a liability all the time. Couldn't dress right, couldn't eat right, couldn't write. He was bored out of his mind in this place. And he couldn't do much more than listen in conversations because, as he'd found out, taking part in a conversation required experience, and without a memory, he might as well not have any.
"I'm bored," he said out loud.
"Well... we can, uh, play a game," Delte said, running up to Kaistern.
He turned to her, "Like what?"
She thought for a moment, "Um, well, chess?"
"Don't know how to play it.""..." Delte sighed. She was tired. No sleep either last night with all the events and creating new fortune telling cards.
"Is it noon yet?" Kaistern asked, looking outside.
"I think so," she responded, "Hey! Why don't we go outside! It's a nice day..."
"Do you think we could go outside of the castle?" Kaistern's tone hinted hope.
"I'm... not sure..." she frowned. She knew Thatz went out all the time, but in the current situation, she knew it was better if she kept Kaistern inside the castle.
"Fine... I'm going out to the courtyard, see ya," the blue officer waved his hand.
"Ah, wait! Um, can I come with you?" Lucky thing it was just the courtyard, and not his room, or else how would she explain wanting to stay with him then? Well, she guessed, more like hoped, that if he was in his room, they didn't need to stay inside as long as he didn't come out... which would require someone to watch when he went out. Sooner or later he'd notice. Rune was the easy one. For him it was more like keeping company since he had to stay in bed anyway. But Kaistern sure wouldn't like to be watched all the time and he wandered around the castle a lot. He was bound to notice and be annoyed if someone followed him the whole time. All day... she was not envious of his position.
"Whatever," Kaistern strode on, walking around the trees and bushes. Delte tried walking with him for a while, making small bits of pleasant conversation, but soon grew tired.
"I'm going to sit at that tree... Will you come get me before you go back inside?"
"No problem," the albino (yes I used the term again, but it's not meant as an insult, only a descriptive word, and hello, he kinda looks it? If you don't like the word, replace it with another.) replied and watched her make her way up the hill to sit under a tall tree, dappled in shade.
OoO
Cesia knocked lightly on the door of a certain knight's bedroom. Hearing no response, she opened the door quietly and walked inside. She watched Rath for a moment, sprawled upon the bed, but actually sleeping peacefully. So many other time had she checked in on him and he'd be so restless and sickly... she wasn't sure if he was getting better about it or if it was simply the night before that had let him fall asleep so easily. She wondered if he was an insomniac... she scratched that thought and walked over to the bedstand, picking up a black book she been reading the past week and had left in his room.
She closed the door quietly, letting him catch up on the sleep he'd most surely missed in the past couple weeks. He'd wake up soon though, it was getting near noon. And she had to tell him about keeping Kaistern and Rune in watch. Rune would be easy, he was still too sick to even walk, but Kaistern was another matter she realized. Maybe I'd give them a good excuse to become reacquainted, so to speak. Rath had been avoiding Kaistern lately, and Cesia didn't like it because she knew it was hurting Rath as well.
Shaking her head lightly, she made for one of the many-chaired areas of the palace where she could read and have some peace and quiet before Rath woke.
OoO
Hours later, she looked up at the sound of footsteps and Rath sauntering in with a sandwich, half in his mouth half in his hand. "Good afternoon," he said, his voice cheery. "Well, did the happy bug bite you while you slept?"
"No, anything but that, it's just that I'm feeling good today, and I will until I see Rune or Kaistern," he responded leaning over her shoulder and looking at her book.
"Um... well, about that..."
"What?" he responded immediately at her tone of uncertainty, his voice serious suddenly.
"Well, Lykouleon is scared that Rune and Kaistern may be turned against us and such and so he just wants us to keep an eye on them all the time."
"Us being?"
"Well, all of the officers and well... the general 'us'. The knights, Kitchel, Delte, Cernozura as well... you thought he meant only us two?"
"Oh," Rath chewed thoughtfully.
"I think Delte's been with Kaistern all this time, so why don't we go relieve her. And also, the poor man is out of his mind with boredom. Why don't you show him something you guys used to do all the time to try to, you know, trigger his memory?" she felt like she was giving a pep talk that Rath was about to dump out the window. Or more like a suggestion Rath was going to ask Fire to burn, "Hey, thinking about Fire, where is he? I haven't seen him around in forever..."
"I don't know. I think he's in his sword. He got mad at me a couple days ago cause of the party, and when I made him drink wine, and he got a huge hangover – I didn't even know dragons could get one – and I laughed at him, so he sealed himself in the sword. He comes out every once in a while to cruise around the room though, but he's 'getting some well deserved rest from my torturous demon killing sprees,' as he put it," Rath sounded more than a little put off about it.
"Aw, do you miss your widdle dragon? Serves you right."
"Hey, whose side are you on?"
"The right one."
"Well, really, you're in the left side on the castle, in the left side of the room, to my left, facing the left. You're on the left side. Hence, the wrong side," Rat answered back smartly. Cesia growled good-naturedly.
"Anyway, about meeting up with Kaistern so Delte can go off? It's not fair that she stay with him all day, and that'd make him suspicious, and how would Kaistern feel if he knew he had to be watched all the time like this?"
"Fine... But what do you plan on us to do anyway?"
"I don't know... let's go find him first," Cesia stood pushing Rath along in front of her.
"Oh, so you're coming?"
"Well, you being the social disaster you are, yes I am," she grinned.
"With this vote of confidence on me, how can I fail?" the scarlet-haired knight muttered sarcastically.
Walking outside into the hot sun, they searched around for any sign of Kaistern or Delte
"Oh wow, it's so nice today. Let's find something to do outside," Cesia said, raising her eyes to the sky as she shielded them from the sun.
"There's Delte..." Rath said, pointing towards a huge tree growing on a hill.
"Sleeping. C'mon, let's wake her and ask where Kaistern is," she said.
"What for?"
They both jumped at the cool voice behind them and turned to find Kaistern, smirking widely, arms crossed on a knee, foot raised on a bench.
"Um, well, we wanted so quality time," the yokai girl tried lamely.
"I don't buy that."
"I wanted... to practice sword fighting with you..." Rath spoke up, fidgeting with his hands.
"And where's the sword?" Kaistern bit back, although it was clear his curiosity was piqued. It was something to do, and he had nothing to do. Something new and exciting.
"Well, Fire's been a bit touchy lately, so I didn't want to risk to bring the sword out unless I could find you... Do you want to?"
"Sure," the blue officer shrugged. Rath's face cleared
"Ok, I'll get my sword. I don't think Fire'll wanna play cause he's mad at me," the fire knight sped off back into the castle.
"What does the dragon have to do with his sword?"
"Oh, I forgot you wouldn't remember. Although you knew Fire was a dragon..."
"I heard the other officers talking about it."
"Well, Fire lives in the sword Rath uses, and apparently he's mad at Rath. He's a smart dragon, did you know he can write?"
"Really?"
"Oh yes," Cesia said, but Kaistern only lapsed into silence, leaving Cesia to fidget and wait for Rath to come back. Which he did, carrying that stupidly huge sword that Cesia could have swore he'd trip over one of these days...
"Let's go over to the fighter's guild. We can practice there," Rath piped happily. Cesia smiled, happy to see him in a good mood.
"That's... a big sword," Kaistern gaped.
"Yup!"
"Where's Fire?" Cesia asked. Rath held up a corner of his sleeve, revealing burnt crisps.
"Still mad."
OoO
Rath and Kaistern positioned themselves, and the blue officer hefted his sword experimentally.
"It's long..." he murmured, holding it up to the light so it shone with the glinting rays of the sun.
"Yup."
"I don't know how to fight..."
"Sure you do. You just don't remember. But as soon as I try to cut your head off you'll react and just do it naturally," Cesia and Kaistern sweatdropped.
"You're not REALLY going to hurt me are you?"
"No... unless you don't duck."
Cesia laughed and watched from a ways off. Most of the other dragon fighter and guards were watching as well. It was always a treat to see the great youkai slayer in action. Even if it was only practice.
Rath charged, aiming straight for Kaistern's side. The blue officer stood frozen for a moment then instinctively blocked and turned his sword, parrying the attack.
"See? I told ya you'd get it..." Rath aimed again, this time from above and Kaistern rolled to the side, trying to get Rath's arm but the boy was too good. Of curse. And in a moment he was behind the bewildered officer, who swung backwards as he swirled around, the swung to the side as Rath ducked and aimed to stab him. Kaistern froze as the huge sword came within a inch of his neck and stopped.
"But I'm still too good," the fire knight said triumphantly, lowering his sword with a flourish.
"But didn't I teach you?" Kaistern said frustrated and more than a little shaken as well at how quick that had ended.
"You taught me, sure, but so did Tetheus, and I have talent. And more experience than everyone in this castle together. Plus, I have special powers," he said, referring to being a demon.
"Argh, let's try that again. You won't be so lucky this time..."
"Wanna bet?"
Cesia smiled again. She hoped all days could be like this. She had no idea of what would happen in the days that would follow...
Right, foreshadowing in that last sentence... kinda lame... anyway. Another partly filler chapter, but the next one is all good. So be patient... hehe. Hope you liked. Remember, you can review at the bottom any comments! Cause I'm always looking for reviews... but the only place I can find them is in the Stats page. You'd think with all the stuff under my bed I could find a review... but it doesn't work that way :cries: anyway... byby!
Rune:wails: What if I die?
Rath: Then we get your plants... and let them die. Fire needs aim practice anyway.
Rune: You wouldn't :raises big 3 ton block of granite:
Rath:sweatdrop: You're right, I woudln't :runs away:
Kaistern: How do these swords work again...? Aah! My eye!
Kharl: I'm surrounded by geniouses... I'm glad I'm the idiot.
Garkfakcy: He's not being sarcastic either.
Kharl: YES I AM!
Animegoil: ... they're so fun to watch. :drools over cast: