Author's Note: Okay! Chapter 5! What's gonna happen? An OC romance? A hated pairing? Something else that annoys readers?! –brick'd- Ow…okay, fine, I'll stop stalling.

"talking"

'thinking'

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Well, except the plot.

Chapter 5

"Why do you hate paperwork so much?"

"It's annoying and useless."

"It's supposed to help you organize things."

"Uh huh, sure."

Iselia Schoolhouse

'Ugh, damn you Advent, I can't believe you left me to do this, you know how much I hate paperwork,' Lilith mused.

"And we just need to fill out this last form here and Artemis will be officially registered," Raine passed another form to Lilith.

'FINALLY!' Lilith filled out the paper and handed it back, "So, about the school hours…"

"Yes? What about them?" Raine asked as she was straightening the forms.

"How long is the school day? Artemis gets pretty nervous when she's surrounded by people that she doesn't know, it's almost a phobia."

"That fear is natural for children her age, and I'm sure she'll find a friend before the bell rings, there is a boy that almost had the same experience as Artemis."

"Really?" Lilith asked, "What's his name?"

"Lloyd."

'HOLY CRAP! WHAT?!' "Uh, who?"

"Lloyd, his caretaker, Dirk, had explained what happened to him, his parents were attacked by desians and his mother was barely conscious when she gave him to Dirk."

'Lloyd…no way…it has to be a coincidence…' "I see…that's terrible."

"Yes, but that's one of the reasons why I think they'll be good friends."

"Oh? You have other reasons?"

"Lloyd has a very compassionate and friendly personality, he's already become fast friends with my younger brother and the current Chosen, and with Artemis the way she is, Lloyd can't help but be drawn to her, if you don't mind me saying, solemn personality."

"I guess, Artemis is the meek librarian type, it's that personality that just screams, "I want real friends too!"

Raine chuckled lightly, "You have quite the sense of humor Lilith."

"Eh, I try, it helped Artemis get more comfortable around me and her uncle, she's really shy."

"Lloyd will help her get out of her shell, don't worry," Raine reassured, "My brother was also just as shy as Artemis, and when he met Lloyd today, they hit it off right then."

'He definitely got that from Anna' Lilith smiled.

Playground

Lloyd was dragging Artemis around, looking for Genis.

"So, who's Genis again?" Artemis asked.

"He was the first friend I made when I got here," Lloyd explained.

"How come he wasn't with you when I met you?"

"He had to go do something for his sister. Oh! I almost forgot! Have you met Colette yet?"

Artemis shook her head.

"Well you gotta meet her, she's the nicest person you'll ever meet," Lloyd grinned.

Artemis grinned back, "I can't wait!"

After much arm pulling, Lloyd found Genis and Colette making flower crowns.

"Hey guys!" Lloyd called over his friends, "This is Artemis! She's new here and I wanted to introduce you guys!"

"H-hello…" Artemis stuttered, still feeling shy.

"Hi Artemis!" Colette greeted shaking her hand, "It's really nice to meet you! I'm Colette Brunel!"

"U-um, i-it's nice to m-meet y-you too," Artemis stammered.

Genis was next to shake Artemis's hand, "I'm Genis Sage, so, you're new here huh?"

"U-um, y-yes," Artemis mumbled.

"Come on Artemis! Stop being so shy, they won't bite! Well, at least Colette won't," Lloyd said.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Genis shouted indignantly.

"Nothing," Lloyd said innocently, "Hey Artemis! Show them your eye!"

"W-wha…?" Artemis blinked.

"Hm? Is something wrong with her eye?" Colette asked.

"U-uhhh…." Artemis tightened her grip on Lloyd's hand.

"Come on Artemis! We won't make fun of you!" Lloyd urged.

"…O-okay…" Artemis moved the hair covering her left eye.

"Wow…" Genis and Colette stared at the cloudy red eye.

"It looks so cool!" Genis shouted.

"Yeah, it's almost pretty in a way!" Colette chirped.

"Um, t-thank you…" Artemis blushed.

"See Artemis, we aren't going to make fun of you," Lloyd said, "We know you're a nice person, and you deserve to be happy."

"You do too Lloyd…" Artemis said.

"Hm?" Lloyd tilted his head.

"You're a nice person too, so you deserve to be happy," Artemis explained.

"Heh," Lloyd gave Artemis his signature dorky grin, "Thanks Artemis."

Artemis smiled back.

Lilith came out of the building looking a little tired, "Alright, I'm done for now."

Artemis immediately let go of Lloyd's hand and ran straight to Lilith, "Are you leaving now Aunt Lilith?"

"Yeah, sorry sweetie, but you have friends now right? They'll take care of you," Lilith patted her head, "remember that okay?"

Artemis nodded.

"That's my girl," Lilith ruffled Artemis's choppy auburn hair, "See ya later!"

"So who's she?" Lloyd asked.

"She's my aunt," Artemis answered shortly.

"What about your parents?"

"…I don't know where they are…" Artemis mumbled.

"O-oh, sorry, I didn't mean to…" Lloyd apologized.

"It's okay, you didn't know," Artemis reassured.

"But still…" Lloyd trailed.

"It's fine."

"So what about your uncle?" Genis asked.

"Aunt Lilith says that his job is really hard and it keeps him busy, so I don't see him a lot," Artemis replied.

"What does he do?" Colette inquired.

"Aunt Lilith said he's a mercenary," Artemis answered.

"What's a mercenary?" Lloyd tilted his head.

"Uh, Aunt Lilith said that a mercenary is like a swordsman who travels around a lot."

"So he travels?"

Artemis nodded, "That was all that Aunt Lilith told me."

"Traveling around the world…" Lloyd tilted his head.

RING RING RING! The bell had rung.

"Time to come inside everyone!" Raine was standing at the door.

All the kids had run inside and sat in their seats, except for Lloyd and Artemis. Raine had told them to stand in front so they could introduce themselves. When the other students noticed the two in front, the classroom was abuzz with gossip and chatter. Some boys were talking about the boy in red, and some rude girls were insulting Artemis' choice of clothing.

Raine clapped her hands together, "Alright everyone! Class has begun, please be quiet so our new students could introduce themselves," Raine turned to Lloyd and Artemis, "Which one of you would like to go first?"

Artemis was trembling, and Lloyd noticing her problem volunteered, "I'll go."

"Alright."

Lloyd stepped up, "Uh, hi, I'm Lloyd, um, I'm five and I like red…I guess that's it."

"Thank you Lloyd, now your seat is behind Colette's," Raine led Lloyd to his seat, "Artemis, it's your turn."

Artemis flinched, "………hi…I'm Artemis…I'm five years old……and, I don't really have much to say…"

"That's just fine Artemis, you can sit down, your seat is right next to Lloyd's."

Artemis nodded.

"Let's begin our lessons for the day," Raine picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the board.

Recess

The students were let out and they immediately crowded around Lloyd and Artemis.

"So where are you guys from?" a boy asked.

"I don't really remember," Lloyd answered, and Artemis nodded to show that she didn't remember either.

"Really? That's weird!"

"Hey, Artemis," an older girl asked, "What's up with your clothes? They're so dark, what are you, goth?" The other girls, along with some of the other students laughed.

"I-I don't know what that is…" Artemis mumbled while fumbling with the hem of her shirt.

"And what about your hair? It makes you look like some shady character," Another girl said.

"Hey!" Lloyd started to get angry.

"U-um……" Artemis began to sweat nervously.

"Are you trying to hide something?" This statement seemed to pique some of the students' interest since they tried to move Artemis' bangs away from her eye.

"Ah, s-stop…!" Artemis dodged their advances.

"Come on guys, stop it!" Lloyd pushed the students out of the way and pulled him and Artemis to a spot away from the playground.

"-Huff- -huff-, looks like we got away," Lloyd grinned.

Artemis bit her lip.

"What's wrong?"

"Why were they making fun of me?" Artemis asked as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"They were just being jerks," Lloyd replied, "Don't worry about it."

"Hey!" Genis was running to them with Colette following behind, "Are you guys okay? We saw you running and were wondering what happened."

"Some snooty girls in the class were making fun of her," Lloyd explained, his voice tinged with anger, "Just because she's different than most people are, they think they can just make fun of her!"

"It's okay Lloyd," Artemis said.

"But we can't just let them do that to you!" Lloyd shouted.

Artemis shook her head, "I don't want to cause anyone unneeded trouble."

"But Lloyd has a point Artemis," Colette explained, "If you don't do anything about it, then they'll keep bothering you!"

"Yeah! Maybe we should tell Raine about it," Genis said.

Artemis bit her bottom lip, "…I just don't want anyone to get angry…" she mumbled to herself.

End Chapter 5

Alkenet: Ah, another chapter!

Lilith: I'm actually surprised that people are actually reading this.

Advent: Aren't you nice Lilith.

Lilith: I know I am!

Alkenet: ...........

Advent: Don't worry Ms. Alkenet, you know Lilith only cares about Artemis and I.

Alkenet: Well, I did make her that way...

Advent: Please review while try to get Lilith to like the authoress, who is also her creator.

Lilith: Are you trying to imply that she's my mom?

Advent: No, I'm saying that you should be nicer, Ms. Alkenet could get rid of you at any given time.

Lilith: She'd never do that, she loves me too much!

Advent: Is that true?

Alkenet: Half-truth...