Author's note: Thanks for waiting as always! Here's where chapter 12 left off, by the way.
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"If that's the case, then I must talk to her."
Hearing those words from Patroklos, Z.W.E.I. nodded. "If you wanna talk to her, she's at the tavern." he said.
"Thanks."
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When Patroklos reached the tavern, he saw Marie, sitting at one of the tables, her optimism gone. He sat with her, concern in his eyes.
"Marie...?" he asked.
Marie turned to see him, and said, "Patroklos...I'm..." she sighed, before finally adding, "I'm afraid Pyrrha has fallen."
This completely shell-shocked the younger sibling, as his jaw dropped. "B-But...how?"
"I saw through Viola's crystal ball that Pyrrha's moon is no longer blue. It seems..." she replied, but trailed off.
"It seems like it was fate that brought her to this."
Patroklos's words prompted Marie to sigh again, but saw one of her hands being taken into his. "Even if she will be our enemy, we must fight together to quell this evil once and for all." he told her.
She raised her head up to see him, her brown eyes connecting with his blue ones. It didn't take long for a large smile to appear on her features, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"And we will. After all, good will always triumph over evil, after all." she said.
He nodded, before she then asked, "Uh...can we change the subject a bit?"
"Sure."
Marie curiously looked at her hand being held in his, and said, "You have such large hands...and warm ones, too."
This prompted him to blush a bit, as he replied, "And your hands are quite soft, I'll admit."
She, too, wound of blushing and managed to say, "T-Thanks...I've never been complimented by a boy like that almost my whole life."
Patroklos raised an eyebrow, before he asked, "Have you ever been around a guy...romantically?"
Marie shook her head 'no', and said, "Freyja has always been lecturing me that I save myself for someone I like."
"Like...me?"
She burst out laughing, and replied, "M-Maybe. But definitely not with Greed; he's way too much of a pervert."
"He and I had ourselves a little fight over you; kind of petty, but still..." he said.
Patroklos chuckled, and the two left the tavern together, heading back to the base.
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Making sure that everything was neat and tidy in her room, Marie allowed Patroklos enter inside. They had intended to continue where they left off regarding Greed and Malice.
"Greed said he was pretty obsessive around you; said he'd wanted to hang around and get to know you more often."
Marie nodded. "And as for Malice? Well...he's pretty aloof, but I never had any interest in him, either." she replied. "But all that aside, there's also something I wanna bring up."
"Shoot."
"Did you ever...lay with other girls before?"
The leader's question prompted him to recall the times he'd slept with Elizabeth and Lydia (individually, of course), before he finally responded with, "Yeah. Yeah, I have."
His words took Marie by surprise, and she asked another question, "How about dates?"
"I've been on them, most of the time with Lydia. She had the hots for me and Pyrrha, obviously." he replied.
With eyes as wide as saucers, she asked Patroklos, "Will you ever ask me out on a date someday? Especially since you've spent plenty of time with the five of us, even when you and Pyrrha encountered us for the first time."
Scratching his head, he was perplexed initially. But as he didn't want to disappoint Marie or anything like that, he smiled. "Of course. After all, I've been thinking about you and the other ladies." he said to her.
Marie smiled, and gave him a hug. "Then in about of couple of days, we'll have a little get together of our own."
"Exactly."
"And especially since it's a birthday celebration for my father."
Patroklos was surprised, and asked, "Really?"
"Yep!"
Her smile was enough for him to smile back, and said, "Well, I have to get to my room and sleep. Goodnight, Marie."
"Goodnight, Patroklos!"
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Staring into the night sky, Pyrrha had admired the view from Nightmare's castle. And yet, she had also admired her new appearance, which was the result of her status as a malfested.
She then turned to gaze at Soul Edge and its matching shield briefly, before her eyes went to Tira. "So, what do you think?" she heard her ask.
Pyrrha could only smile, with a cold serenity about her. "I'm...getting to like my future thanks to you, Tira."
"Hey, you shouldn't thank just me, thank Nightmare, too!"
She nodded, and with her newfound confidence, took the sword and shield in her hands, telling her, "I am ready to learn more if you wish."
All that Tira could think in her head was...Oh, this will be a delight!
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Chapter 13 is currently in the works, featuring a banquet, and Greed's attempts to seduce Marie!
With love for my fans,
Chrissy