Divided

The next day, the team was having a picnic in the meadow. It was sort or a reunion party for Prier and Croix. Angie was giggling as she spun her baton around; tossing it up in the air and showing off her repertoire of tricks to her father. Croix was having a great time watching her. Prier had told him about how having a child had helped her keep it together all these years; it sounded like such a wonderful thing.

Suddenly, they felt the earth begin to shake. Prier dove to push her daughter out of the way of a rift that began to open. However, due to all the scrambling around that occurred in the quake, the team was cut in half. The girls were on one side while the guys were on the other. Prier was looking a little mad at this. She and Croix were finally together again and now they were split by a stupid earthquake!

"We'll have to check up ahead," level headed Culotte yelled across the chasm, "I'm sure that the break will end sometime. But we should be careful; the only path available to us is through Labyrinthe Forest." He was right; there was a large split in the earth blocking the path back to town. Once they met up in the forest, they could devise a plan for getting back home together. Prier reached her hand out towards the other side; a signal to tell Croix that she'd go through Hell and Highwater to find him again.

"Take care of your mother Angelique. You know how much trouble she can get into," Croix called to his daughter. Prier was mentally reminding herself to slug him the second she found him; she wasn't always in trouble and most of the time it wasn't her fault. But then she recanted. Croix worried about her a lot. It was a sign of his love; plus the simple fact that he didn't want to screw this relationship up as well.

With that, the guys headed down their side of the forest. Prier looked towards Angelique and Francoise; ready to lead them as well. Not that she felt that good about this incident. The timing of the quake was just too convenient. Something was obviously watching them; some enemy waiting for the group to be split to take advantage of weaknesses. However, little did they know, Prier's only weakness was her love for her friends and family. But that was also her strength; she fought harder to protect them.

S...S

Jacques called out, "C'mon…crashing pain…" The words were followed by a large meteor hitting the small group of Mini Dragons; fire spreading out over them once it vanished. Off to his side he could see Culotte casting a Fire spell; not wanting to waste his power. Croix was simply shooting his gun off.

Suddenly, after all of the enemies were killed, Croix stopped in his tracks. "Damn it! I forgot to give Prier the present I brought her. Right before I planned on doing so, we heard Angelique scream as Loup attacked the church. Then with all the excitement of Angie's new powers, it slipped my mind completely." Culotte wondered what in the world he was giving her to cause such a reaction. Not like Prier was used to getting presents; Croix being her first love and all. But he was usually so calm.

"I'm sure she'll understand," Jacques reassured the young hunter, "After all, even Prier has a reasonable side. You could always butter up the part about being concerned for your child. From the three months I've lived in the church, I've noticed that Prier goes overboard a lot when Angelique is concerned. She makes a good mother in that sense. So if she thinks it was mere parental concern…"

"Sounds right. Prier has said before that Angie was the glue that held her life together while you were on your journey. She knew that there were some sacrifices needed to properly raise her child. I know she didn't wish the lives that she or you dealt with upon her offspring," Culotte added. Croix got the picture easily. Prier had been forced to grow up way too fast because she'd lost her parents; having to become a surrogate mother to her brother. Croix too grew up fast when his parents were murdered protecting him as a child; some villagers though that he was a freak because he'd killed a rampaging Demon at only seven years of age. Of course, because this was the two of them, the plan didn't work.

Croix smiled and replied, "You two are right. She'd understand; after all she put up with me being gone for four years while she was pregnant and raising a child without hunting me to all ends of the earth. After this is all over…then I'll give her my surprise." He fiddled with the tiny box that he kept in his pocket.

Suddenly, a twig snapped behind them. Croix's lightning fast reflexes allowed him to turn right on his heels and shoot within a split second. The Demon, which resembled a deformed bobcat built to the proportions of a man and wearing ripped shorts, died the second the bullet penetrated its skin. However, it had a partner. Analysis showed that they weren't sentient beings; simply a slave underclass of Demon.

Culotte stepped forward; now was the time to show how grown up he'd become. "Take this!" The youth threw a barrage of his usual supplies at the enemy; he had been attempting to devise a new skill for the past four years that powered up his Kitchen Sink ability. However, all that it did was make the Demon really mad. It began chasing the boy around the clearing; not bright enough to watch its back for the other two Demon Hunters. That was how Croix managed to get a similar shot to his first one off.

"Well, I wanted a new skill," Culotte remarked, "I guess it turned out to be a Combination attack in the end. Thanks Croix." Croix smiled at his beloved's little brother; well, not so little anymore, he'd actually thought he was seeing things the first time he'd seen Culotte. If they worked together, they would definitely be able to find the girls. And they better take care of one another; if either he or Culotte were injured in any way Croix could just picture the angry looks and temperamental reaction from Prier later on.

But they didn't even get a step further when a third of those beasts appeared. This time, however, it had seen how its comrades died. So the second Croix tried to shoot, the creature used its arm to guard against the bullet hitting its throat. It then ran straight at the former Dark Prince; eager to test his strength.

The beast was so intent on attacking Croix that it didn't notice Jacques was grabbing his large bazooka. Sang would later curse herself for even thinking about hiring out the incredibly stupid Mal Chat race to hunt and test the one she believed to be her master. Though he didn't kill it, Jacques's shot managed to knock the beast for a loop. While it was on the recovery, he turned to Croix and smiled.

"We'll show them!" the younger man called out. He positioned his bazooka over his shoulder as Croix aimed both his guns. At the exact same time, the men fired; killing the creature on impact. A moment after their victory, and once everyone was determined to be ok, the three men returned to their search for their friends. Jacques felt a terrible worry; a strange sense of fear for Francoise's safety.

Teefa's Last Words...

Mal Chat…? Evil Cat. Heck, we were out of real good names in French. Next chapter is the girls' POV. We are also reminded an important lesson that most enemies in La Pucelle forget quickly (evil grin)

I do wish I wasn't the only one updating. I've reread my own stories over and over again just to have some more La Pucelle fun.