Disclaimer: On chapter 1
Setting: Between WKC 1 & 2
There they were again. It took all Alastor had not to look over his shoulder to see them following after him as he made his way along main street towards the castle just like every other time he was in Balandor. Sure, he had earned a bit of a reputation for saving their princess, not as much as Leonard's mind but enough to become known throughout Balandor at least, but that did not mean he needed to be followed around all the time.
"Something wrong?" Yulie asked noticing a subtle change in her friend as she walked along beside him.
"It's nothing." Alastor replied quietly.
Yulie quirked an eyebrow in disbelief clearly not buying the whole "nothing" act. She had been around the mage enough now to pick up on any change in him no matter how small.
"Come on, you might as well tell me. I won't stop pestering you about it until you do." Yulie pointed out nudging Alastor with her shoulder.
That, sadly, was true. Just like Yulie had learned more about himself during their quest, Alastor had learned quite a bit about the purple haired as well. One of her more annoying habits, in the mage's eyes, was her persistence especially when her curiosity was piqued about something like magic something in which Alastor excelled at and, after much pestering, taught her during their travels.
"Behind us, three stalls back. Four girls a few colours short of a rainbow." Alastor told her as they kept on walking.
Giving her blue haired friend a dubious look, Yulie took a moment to look through some of the items at the next stall they were passing pretending to be interested in a few of the many trinkets scattered along the table while she cast quick glances back the way they had come.
Just like Alastor had said, several stalls down the road, four young girls were trying, and failing, not to be noticed by them. It did not help that their respective hair colours were light blue, hazel brown, reddish brown and viridian green causing them to stand out even if they were doing their best to hide the rest of their bodies.
"You know them?" Alastor inquired as the two continued on their way.
"...Maybe." Yulie replied trying her hardest not to burst out in giggles as she figured out what was going on. "They've been following you for a while, haven't they."
The subtle twitch of the mage's eyebrow was all Yulie needed to know that she had hit the nail on the head not that it was hard to deduce.
"They're call the Maidens- it's not an official name but that's what the townsfolk have called them." Yulie explained for Alastor. "Unlike most kids their age, those four are more interested in magic rather than swords or bows and the like. See where I'm going with this?"
"So they want to become mages, huh? Then why not just come up and ask me just like what you did?" Alastor asked although he realised that not everyone, or at least all the girls, were like Yulie when it came to persistence.
Not expecting such a reply, Yulie was not able to keep herself from snorting in suppressed mirth catching Alastor's attention.
"That's...not entirely it, Al." Yulie managed to get out without bursting into a fit of giggles. "See, most mages in Balandor, well, all proper mages that can cast more than a simple fireball anyways, are all around Eldore's age. You, on the other hand, are not only a powerful mage but are young and...well...attractive."
Inside her head, Yulie could not believe she had just said that out loud. Sure, there was no mistake that Alastor was attractive, not to mention handsome although his serious expression tended to ward off most girls. Most being the keyword as Yulie was starting to see Alastor in a similar light herself.
"You're saying they like me?" Alastor asked incredulously looking over his shoulder to where the young group was spying on them causing all four to suddenly duck back behind the stall wall. "Looks more like they're scared of me than anything else."
Yulie could not argue with him there. Famous or not, unless one properly knew Alastor, many would usually try to avoid him due to the cold and intimidating image he portrayed. However, Yulie reckoned those girls were not hiding from Alastor because they were afraid of him but more likely because he was looking at them and none of them wanted him to see them swooning or blushing from getting his attention.
Not that she had ever been in their place- getting praise for mastering a spell or a rather impressive bow kill did not count.
"They're young, Al. They're at the age where they get their first crush." Yulie pointed out. "Like I said earlier, you're young, attractive, a powerful mage and just recently rescued the fair Princess Cisna from the hands of evildoers."
"Helped, Yulie. I helped rescue the princess." Alastor corrected her.
Smirking, Yulie leaned against Alastor so that she could rest her head on his shoulder knowing full well she was in full view of the four Maidens.
"Bet that's not how your fanclub see it." She whispered in his ear.
Alastor suppressed a shiver that ran up his body from where Yulie's breath brushed against his ear as the girl pushed herself off of him grinning widely as if finding the whole thing funny.
"Of all the nerve of that hussy!" Hiita hissed as she watched that purple haired bimbo snuggle up against Alastor.
"You...don't think that they're actually going out...Do you?" Eria asked her friends as they continued to spy on the pair as they separated.
"If they are going out, wouldn't that mean that they're actually out on a date right now?" Aussa pointed out carefully adjusting her glasses so that they did not reflect the sun's light and give away their position.
All four girls frowned at the thought of somebody who was not one of them going out with the Hero of Balandor. It was blasphemous, even more terrible than being forced to eat all their vegetables before being allowed to have their dessert.
"They could just be close friends." Wynn suggested.
"No, that girl and the boy who can transform are the only ones who knew each other prior to what happened at the ball." Aussa supplied. "If anything, she should be going out with him and not Alastor."
"So then why is she snuggling up to Alastor instead of that guy?" Hiita asked heatedly continuing to glare at the back of the purplette's head in the hopes it will suddenly burst into flames.
Not even Aussa could explain that one as the girls stealthily moved to another stall to keep up with their idol and the bimbo that was trying to steal him away from them. Whatever the case, one thing was certain, they needed to make sure the purple haired bimbo did not get any closer than she already was whenever their hero was ever in Balandor.
For those curious, Aussa, Eria, Hiita & Wynn are the names of the four elemental Charmers/Familiar Possessed spellcaster monsters from YuGiOh!
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