Thank you to all my reviewers! Luv ya all!

And here comes chapter 5!

Yay!

And 3x exp's the best! My priest's now 70/40!

I'm in a very good mood today,

Responses to reviews:

Skye/heh. I'm glad you noticed the link between the chapters…

Zetheus: There's not much action yet… There's a little in this chapter, but it's just short… I'm still trying to develop the plot. (and besides, yours truly sucks at writing action scenes). With regards to knights, there's one in my story… Midori, remember?

P.S. Remember the blacksmith and alchemist at chapter three? They're gonna be here…

WARNING! Mild violence (guess who) in this chapter… And there's also going to be a good amount of blood in this chapter…

Disclaimer: Ragnarok belongs to Lee-Myoung Jin. Not me. Got it? Good.

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Chapter 5-Of Thieves and Spiral Towers

Midori paused as she heard the voice from behind the door. It was THE PRIEST! (she doesn't know what to call her, as she doesn't even know her name…)

She knew that someone had to let her in, even if she probably wants a piece of Akiru.

And so, the female knight opened the door.

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Even if Akiru knew what was going to happen, he couldn't help but gape at the priest standing before him. It was hard to believe (for him) that the really sexy priest in front of him was the same (dull) acolyte who Heal-bombed him.

When Hikari went inside the room she caught him staring at her and decided to hit him on the head with his own sword. She brought it down his head and she was satisfied to here a loud crack. (hey, on the bright side, it was still sheathed, so it wasn't like Akiru was bleeding or anything… but it still hurt.)

"YEOWWWW!" Akiru yelped. He cowered behind Midori, who made no effort to comfort him or anything.

'What a loser,' thought Hikari. (okay, this totally contradicts rule number 6)

There was a long silence after that.

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Midori was the first one to break the silence.

Bowing down in apology, she said, "Look, Sister, we're really sorry-" not bothering to be gentle with Akiru, she grabbed him by the hair (which happened to be the spot where Hikari hit him) and also made him bow down "-for the incident last night. Right, Akiru?"

Akiru (still bowing down) was tempted to say no, but after the hard shove Midori gave him (and the way she held his hair) he thought otherwise.

"Yuh…" he managed to say weakly.

Midori let go of him (or rather, his hair). Akiru stood up uncertainly.

"And to repay you for whatever damages-" she looked at Akiru pointedly, "-WE have caused, WE would like to accompany you to whatever destination you choose."

When she saw the incredulous look on Hikari's face, she quickly added, "Well, we'll be sort of like your bodyguards and stuff…"

When she saw that Hikari was still eyeing them skeptically, she also said, "We're going to pay for everything! Promise!"

When she saw that Hikari was about to open her mouth to say something, she said, "And we promise not to be burdens."

Hikari was about to say something, but Midori started to babble on about being good boys and girls.

After a while, Hikari asked bluntly, "Are you finished yet?"

Midori stopped muttering random stuff and looked away, embarrassed.

Hikari continued, "Well, I just noticed that you were offering me all these favors, and you never even told me your names…"

Midori suddenly perked up. "Oh, well, my name is Midori. Midori Kirishima. And this young lout," she pulls Akiru, "is Akiru. Akiru Kisaragi."

Then, letting go off Akiru, Midori went, "Umm, mind if I ask, but what's your… name?"

Hikari replied, "Okay, and since you did the favor of telling me your names, my name is Hikari. Hikari…" she thought for a while, trying to recall her surname, as she never really bothered remembering it (only time she used it was when she began her search, and she hasn't gotten used to it, yet), "…Asahi. Hikari Asahi."

She waited for a reply, but hearing none, she continued, "Umm…regarding your offer…I'm not really sure…because…" she glared at Akiru.

Midori saw what she was getting at. "I'll make sure HE doesn't go out of hand. Promise."

"Well then… I guess I'll take up your offer…"

Midori became pretty happy when she heard that. She's always wanted a priest in their party, but no one seemed to be daring enough to join (maybe because of Akiru…).

Then, she said, "Umm…where do you want to go anyway?" and at the same time Akiru said, "WHAT! WE'RE GOING WITH HER?"

Hikari glowered at him, which shut him up immediately. She turned to Midori (she already had a place in mind) and replied, "Geffen."

Midori nodded, but then Akiru blurted out, "B-but… why… there?"

Midori nudged him hard, but it didn't stop him from continuing. "I-I m-mean… don't you know?" He looked at Midori, then at Hikari uncertainly.

"What?" both of them said at the same time.

"T-there… there… there… there are ghosts there!" he said weakly, even unsure of what he was saying.

Midori laughed. "Akiru, seriously… You still believe in that kind of crap? Aww… c'mon… you're too old to be scared of ghosts…"

With that she picked up all of their stuff, handed some to Akiru, then dragged him out of the room, Hikari following them silently.

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Prontera Square…

"Ryo! Watch it!"

Aoi shoved Ryo away, who nearly landed on her cart filled with her stuff (mostly pots). She shook her head then said, "Ryo… be more careful next time!"

Ryo decided to say nothing. Besides, he was the one who suggested they teleport to Prontera.

He told Aoi, "Hey, Aoi, I'm heading over to the PVP square! You just, well, do your thing…vending or whatever…"

Aoi said nothing, as she was busy setting up her shop.

Without waiting for her reply, Ryo went off.

But just as he was inside the PVP Waiting Area, he heard a high-pitched scream, which seemed pretty familiar…

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While Aoi was setting up her shop, she did not notice Ryo slip away and a stranger creeping up to her.

Next thing she knew, that stranger was already pointing a knife at her throat. He swiftly dragged her to a deserted alley.

The stranger happened to be a rogue. He had mousy brown hair, and was wearing the normal rogue uniform, except that it was darker and there was some sort of symbol etched on the cloth.

He whispered to Aoi, "Tell me what's the secret of making Poison (A/N: Acid, whatever) bottles (A/N: or potions)… or else." He gestured toward the knife.

Aoi managed to sputter, "B-but…I'm not supposed to reveal that… And besides… there's no secret!"

"Oh, really?" The rogue said dubiously. "But my master said that there IS a secret…now, be a good little girl and tell me…"

Aoi said nothing, shaking her head.

"See here, I don't have much time… Say what it is on the count of three, or I might spare your life, if not, I guess I'll just have to kill you and take whatever you have in that puny little cart of yours…" Then he added, "And oh, if you scream… you know what's going to happen…"

"One…"

Aoi tried to get a look at his face, but she wasn't able to see anything, only his mop of brown hair.

"Two…"

Aoi squirmed in fear.

"Three…"

Aoi could not take it anymore. She said, "ALRIGHT! FINE! TAKE MY POTION MANUAL! IT SAYS EVERYTHING YOU NEED!"

The rogue, still not letting go of her, asked, "Where is it?"

"There… at my cart…" Aoi managed to say.

The rogue fished around in the cart. Aoi winced when she heard the sound of breaking glass (and the spilling of its contents…).

Triumphantly, the assassin held Aoi's potion manual.

Then, he stabbed Aoi.

"W-what…" Aoi said in shock.

The rogue shrugged, then slowly withdrew the dagger from her. "I just said that I MIGHT spare your life when you give me the manual…whatever. Well, I just changed my mind…"

"You're… not… getting… away… with… this… Ryo… will…"

"You mean that boyfriend of yours? He's not coming here any time soon. He's been taken care of." With that he left, taking Aoi's cart along with him.

In great pain, Aoi screamed.

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When Ryo heard the scream, he knew that it was Aoi. He immediately turned and headed for the door. But when he turned, he saw five male thieves (as in the job class) blocking the way, knives bared.

"Shit!" thought Ryo. But since he was raring to fight someone anyway, he brought out his axe and said, "You're going to regret the day you crossed the path of Ryo Kunisaki…"

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"EYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Akiru, Midori, Hikari and the pecos (the ones carrying their stuff) heard a scream as soon as they left the inn.

"What was that?" Akiru wondered.

"It came from there!" shouted Hikari, pointing to a side alley. She immediately rushed to that part.

Shrugging, the other two followed, dragging along their pecos.

They found a bleeding alchemist leaning against the wall. Her face was drained of color, and she looked like she was going to fall into shock.

Hikari encountered a lot of injured people, but this was far by the worst she has encountered. To put it plainly, there was a lot of blood.

She knelt beside the Alchemist, put her hands near the wound and started muttering an incantation. Her hands glowed and the wound started to close up.

Even if the wound was already sealed, the alchemist was still pale with shock. Hikari held her hand and asked gently, "What happened?"

The female Alchemist related everything that took place. "The person… who took… the book… went that way…" She pointed a shaking finger towards the direction the assassin took.

Hikari nodded, then said, "What's your name? Is there anyone we should notify about what happened?"

The pale alchemist said, "Aoi… Aoi Kosutero… Please tell… Ryo…"

With that she fainted.

Hikari stood up, then faced Midori and Akiru. She immediately took charge and said, "Both of you. Stay here and guard her. She has lost a good amount of blood… And when she wakes up, make sure she eats this." She went over to Midori's Peco-Peco (who carried her's and Midori's stuff) fished around her bag and pulled out a chocolate bar. "It will make her feel better."

If any of them found her instructions odd, none of them said anything. Midori just took the bar from her.

"I'm going after the thief. Increase Agi!"

"Wait!" Midori objected, but it was too late. Hikari disappeared around the corner.

Midori faced Akiru. "Akiru. Go after her."

"Wha- what? Why me?" he whined. He was not willing to go against Hikari's instructions (knowing what she was capable of).

"You're the one with the protective skills. Crusader boy. Besides, we're her bodyguards. Right?"

"Yeah…but…"

"Akiru! Just go!"

Akiru finally obliged (even if he knew he was going to regret it later) and left Midori with the pecos and the unconscious alchemist.

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Hikari scanned the area for the assassin Aoi described, but saw no one fitting the description.

Until she saw a person with a really, really fake moustache on the bridge, with a cart, reading a book. She climbed up the bridge and confronted him.

"Hey there! You guy with the really, really fake moustache! I think you have some thing there that belongs to a friend of mine!" Hikari shouted.

"Oh really? What makes you think-" the man started to say, but his moustache fell off.

His cover was blown.

"Arrgh! I know I should have killed her outright!" he said, then tossed three knives at Hikari. Hikari moved away from the knives, which narrowly missed her, cutting some of her hair instead.

Long purple strands of hair fell on the ground.

The crowd, which was busy doing their usual thing, suddenly stopped and stared at what was happening on the bridge. They did not dare to go near the bridge (even if they wanted to help her), seeing that the rogue there was really homicidal.

"If I needed a hair cut, I would've told you!" Hikari taunted the rogue.

This time, the rogue got totally annoyed. He started flinging daggers at her, in random directions.

"Take that! And that! And that!"

But thanks to her increased agility she was able to dodge them all.

The crowd cheered.

Until…

The rogue was gone for a split second, then suddenly shouted, "BACKSTAB!"

He was behind her, and was poised to strike.

The crowd gasped.

She knew she was going to get hit, no matter what she did. Backstabs never miss (pun intended).

Then…

"DEVOTION!"

A strange green barrier formed around her and the hit ricocheted from the barrier.

Instead, a crusader with brown hair took part of the hit, with bounced off his shield.

"Man, that was a hard one." Akiru said, wiping off the blood from his forehead, which was oozing out from a mild cut caused by the reflected Backstab.

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And that's the end of chapter five…

As you can tell from the final scene here, there's going to be more action in the following chapters…

And I've mentioned all the surnames (actually, just random surnames I got from the Japanese dictionary and anime/video game characters) and of the characters appearing in my story (so far… there's going to be more…).

As usual, my only request is for someone to review, as that's the most rewarding thing I get for writing this…

As usual, I accept constructive criticism. Just don't flame my story with no basis (translation: there must be a reason why you're flaming me).

Thanks again for your unending support!

-Kaylee

P.S. So far, this has been my longest chapter…

P.P.S. In my future chapters, I'll start talking about the characters in my story… (just random stuff)