Hi again. Guess what? I FINALLY BEAT THE GAME! -still can't believe that it's over and can't wait for the next one- I almost cried at the end. I just got so into the game that at one point I had a hard time believing that it had to end. I spent so much time on that game. And I saw the final scene, when the Spirit gets sent back, and I know mine from chapter one doesn't match, but I'm leaving it like that, since I like it.
Dis: if i owned the game, would i be this excited about beating it? probably not.
She landed in a forest clearing. Ayme and Folon were back to their original appearances. Arietta got off the ground where she landed. Looking around, she almost started crying. She would know this place in her sleep. Nekton, the Forest of Spirits.
"We don't have time to mess around. Follow us," Ayme said, quickly taking control. Arietta nodded silently, still trying to grasp the fact that she was in Mira. She was so deep in her thoughts that the two Imperials were leading her up to Calbren's mansion before she knew it.
She watched as the guards quickly stepped aside to let the three of them pass. The two loose-cannon soldiers led her to a large room on the top floor of the mansion. Through the door, she could catch bits of conversation.
"…shouldn't have…them go! I don't…them!" Even through the think wooden door, there was no mistaking that voice. Arietta almost cried. Kalas!
"They were…people…the job. We are all…here," Savyna's voice replied. That was when Folon got fed up and opened the door. He and Ayme walked confidently into the room, while Arietta stood behind them shyly, her inferiority complex not letting her bring attention to herself.
"Speak of the devils," Gibari's voice said from somewhere on her right. "You guys find her?"
"The Great Mizuti be sensing something peculiar. Odd. Strange. But it be familiar, too," Mizuti's odd voice put in.
"See for yourselves," Folon said, and he moved aside so they could see Arietta.
Arietta herself was fighting back tears. Everyone was the same as she remembered. She took a shuddering breath in an attempt to steady her nerves.
"Who are you?" Kalas asked, a little harshly.
"Kalas!" Xelha cried.
"Kalas…? Is that really you?" Arietta finally said. Kalas stopped dead. Arietta took a few steps forward. Then, unable to stop herself, she ran and caught him in a bone-crushing hug. "I missed you so much!" She looked at his face. He still looked a little confused. "Kalas, it's me. Arietta!" Recognition bloomed instantly over his features. Behind him, she could hear Xelha gasp happily.
"Arietta? It's really you? My Guardian Spirit?" he asked in disbelief. That was when Savyna stood up.
"How do we know she's really your Spirit?" she asked.
"Savyna?" Gibari asked questioningly.
"No, she's right," Lyude spoke up. "How can we be sure she's really Kalas's Guardian Spirit?"
"How can you guys say that?" Kalas asked. Arietta let go of him.
"Go ahead," she said quietly, "ask me anything." Savyna looked as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. She looked at Kalas.
"There are plenty of things only you and your Spirit know. Ask something." Kalas looked surprised, but nodded and looked at Arietta.
"Uh… Lemme see…" he looked thoughtful for a minute, and then asked, "Why did Gramps come to Mira?" Arietta could tell he really didn't want to bring this up, but answered anyway.
"Because he wanted to keep you and Fee safe and away from the Empire." Kalas nodded his confirmation, and Savyna nodded her acceptance.
"It be her," Mizuti put in, nodding.
"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Lyude asked. Everyone nodded. Arietta felt herself slide back into her Guardian Spirit mindset. She listened as they discussed the note, and, like she had so many times before, she waited for them to ask her opinion. And, just like old times, they did.
"So what do you make of this, Arietta?" Kalas asked. Everyone turned to her.
"Well, there's something about it that sort of makes sense, but I'm not sure how. Back home, some people believed in the Roman Pantheon, and there was a goddess named Eris who ruled over Chaos and Discord in the Pantheon, but…" She didn't get any farther than that, because Gibari interrupted.
"Are you SERIOUS?" he exclaimed. Arietta nodded.
"I think we should discuss this more tomorrow." Savyna cut in, glancing outside. The sun was setting, and the light was fading quickly. Arietta stood up when Kalas and the others did. She opened her mouth to ask where she would stay when Mizuti grabbed her arm. It was so odd for Arietta to see her younger friend without her usual mask.
"Arietta be staying with us, yes?" the wizard girl asked hopefully.
"All of us girls are in one room, and the guys are in another," Xelha clarified. Arietta grinned and nodded.
"As if I would miss a chance to have a slumber party with my friends?" she asked rhetorically. Mizuti's face lit up and Arietta found herself being dragged down the hall by the floating teen.
Mizuti brought her to a door on the floor below where they were talking.
"This be where the girls sleep. The Great Mizuti be so happy to be seeing you again! Extremely! Very much!" Mizuti said. She opened the door and pulled Arietta inside. The room was simple. There were three beds and a table, along with a balcony that overlooked the mansion's extensive gardens.
"Oh wow…" Arietta breathed as she looked out at the gardens. "I was never able to see all this when I was here with Kalas…"
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Savyna's voice asked. Arietta jumped and turned around, gathering some of her magic out of habit. She let it dissipate when she recognized Savyna's face.
"Yeah…" she said. She looked back at the huntress to find herself being studied.
"How old are you, anyway, Arietta?" Savyna asked. Arietta blinked.
"Seventeen, why?"
"Seventeen? But the Great Mizuti only be sixteen!" Mizuti cut in.
"Yeah, and you're probably able to kick my butt in a magical fight," Arietta told her.
"So you were only fifteen when you met Kalas?" Savyna ignored Mizuti's outburst. "How did that happen?"
"I was at work, when I passed out from a severe headache. When I woke up, I was in Nekton, looking at Kalas. Of course, when I got back home, they told me that I had hit my head when I passed out and fell into a coma," Arietta said thoughtfully. That was when Xelha walked in.
"We're going to take a walk through town," she announced. The three on the balcony nodded and followed Xelha out the door.
"So, this is what you really look like?" Gibari asked Arietta a few minutes after the group of seven had left the mansion. "Funny, I thought you'd look, I dunno, more powerful."
Kalas started laughing.
"Are you saying I look WEAK, Gibari?" Arietta asked. She could feel her magic roiling under the surface.
"Not at all!" Gibari hurriedly reassured. "I was just saying how you don't look like someone who saved the world!" Arietta gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists in an attempt to keep from yelling out her fire spell.
"I can't say what I wanted to, because if I did, you'd burst into flames," she said through clenched teeth. The rest of the group laughed, and in all, it was a pretty nice evening.
The next morning made itself known to Arietta in the most creative way yet. She quickly learned that, even though alarm clocks didn't exist in this world, ice-water did.
"That was COLD, Xelha. You could have woken me up some other way, other than an Aqua Burst Magnus. I wouldn't have minded being shaken awake," Arietta grumbled as the older mage giggled.
"We tried, and three times you rolled over and fell asleep again."
Arietta couldn't think of anything to say to that, knowing that it was true.
They were back in what Arietta figured out was the Conference Room, discussing the odd note.
"So, Arietta, tell us more about this goddess from your home," Lyude said. Arietta opened her mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance to because an Imperial soldier ran in.
"Emperor Lyude!" he wheezed, having obviously run from somewhere, "You must see this!"
"What is it?" Lyude asked, ignoring Arietta's startled look and standing up.
"It's the Ocean, sir. It's receding!"
There you have it. This probably won't be a very long fic, and it'll probably be kinda fast-paced, but I hope you like it, now REVIEW!
