Yay, headache was gone on Monday, and the cold disappeared by Tuesday. I'm glad it passed quickly…
How is the name "Ein" supposed to be pronounced? Since I got Fia's ending, I know the game pronounces it EYE-in, and, following logic, so do the producers. It sounds awkward to me, though, so I pronounce it EE-in. I dunno…
It feels almost as if this fic is the lifeline of the Riviera section, huh? Not to brag or anything, but it's pretty much the only one receiving constant updates (though there are a couple that were updated recently). That makes me feel both proud and pressured at the same time…
Here's chapter 12, the anticipated intense yuri chapter! XD I hope I did okay… I'm not too good at fluff, and I often think it's because I'm a perv. I still like romance, though… but I think this chap's more on the pervy side than the romantic side. Don't say I didn't warn you! XD Now, enjoy!
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Fia walked into the kitchen, looking completely innocent with a bright smile on her face. "Stop staring!" she exclaimed, looking around at the shocked eyes around her.
"Oh, Fia!" Ein quickly recovered. "Uh, we were just talking about-"
"-what to make for dinner!" Rose finished. Ein glanced at her, shocked, but she just put a finger to her lips.
"Oh, I see," Fia said. "Why was it so shocking when I walked in?"
"Uh, um, because we were talking ab-" Cierra started.
"Because we, uh, thought you could help us decide!" Rose said.
"I don't get what's so shocking about that, but alright," Fia said. Rose breathed a sigh of relief.
"Say, Fia, how much did you hear back there?" Cierra asked.
"Oh, I just heard the last sentence." Fia helped the group with the vegetables. "Something about not wanting to talk about someone?"
"Oh, okay, that's good then," Cierra said, and quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late.
"Why is that so good?" Fia pressed. "What were you really talking about?"
"Crap…" Rose said under her breath. "Um, hey, Fia! Help me with these sticks!" She pointed at the asparagus. "I'm pretty bad with these."
"Uh, okay," Fia said suspiciously. "You're not getting away without answering that question, though."
"Question? What question?" Rose giggled uneasily. "You must have been hearing things."
Fia looked hard at Ein, whose head was ducked down in the vegetable basket, scrubbing furiously at a crown of broccoli, face flushed red. Fia watched him for a while, and after a moment, he glanced up at her and quickly looked back down again. Fia hid her smile as she continued her cooking. He's so cute, she thought. I can ask him later. She decided to forget about the earlier statement for the time being.
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Serene and Lina made their way towards Serene's house, which was near the Grove of Repose. They reached a stream, which Serene easily glided across. Lina hopped on some rocks to get over.
"It's already dusk," Serene remarked, looking up at the dark blue sky.
Lina looked up and almost tripped. "Uh huh," she said, catching herself. "The sky doesn't look very clear."
Serene could see clouds scattered over the sky. She suddenly felt something warm in her hand, and looked down to see that Lina had taken it and clasped her fingers between Serene's.
"No, it's a bit cloudy," Serene agreed. "I don't think we'll be able to see the stars and moon tonight."
"Aww," Lina complained, bending down to pick up a rock. "The night sky's so pretty! Lina wants to see it every night." She threw the rock as hard as she could with her free hand, and it landed a few meters down the stream. Her motion threw Serene off-balance, but she used her wings to steady herself.
"Lina, careful," Serene scolded. Lina apologized sheepishly. "Ah, it's okay." Serene eased up, and her voice softened. "I wonder how much longer they'll take to cook?"
"They'll shout when they're done," Lina chirped. "You told them to, after all."
"Yeah." They arrived at the path leading up to Serene's house, which she carved out of a tree near the grove.
"Come on!" Lina pulled Serene along, and Serene let her drag her along. Lina pulled a key out and unlocked the door.
"Huh? Where did you get that key…?" Serene felt around in her pockets, but her key was gone. "Lina… how did you…?"
"Lina's sneaky!" Lina giggled. "Here!" She handed Serene the key and, letting go of Serene's hand, waltzed into the house. Serene shook her head out of amazement and pocketed her key before following Lina into the house.
Lina found matches somewhere and handed them to Serene, who lit a couple candles around the room. The dull glow illuminated the small living room, which had a few couches and chairs scattered around a table. A couple of pictures hung on the wall, but it was too dark to make out what was on it. A flight of stairs on one side of the room led to another floor, and a doorway in the other side led to the kitchen. Several scythes leant against a wall behind a couch.
"Serene, what's on these pictures?" Lina asked curiously.
Serene shook her head. "You'll see when you come here when it's lighter."
Lina's head drooped. "Come on, Serene, why can't you tell me?"
"You'll find out yourself anyway." Serene sat down on a couch and lounged on it, watching Lina explore.
Lina made her way into the kitchen. "Does Serene have any applecots?" she called.
"Of course! They're in the basket in the storage room!"
It's kinda dark, Lina thought. Storage, storage, storage… She suddenly felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. She stifled a scream when she realized it was Serene.
"The storage is here," Serene whispered, guiding Lina's hand to a door. "The applecots are in this basket here." She continued to guide her hand into a basket. Lina grabbed a random object in the basket and pulled her hand out.
"Okay, thanks," Lina said, biting into the applecot. It tasted sweeter than the ones at her own house. "Where did you get these?" she asked. "They're sweet!"
"Secret." Serene winked in the darkness, grinning. "Come here whenever you want more."
"Aw, can't you just tell Lina where to get them, so Lina can get them herself?" Lina protested.
"If I told you, you wouldn't come here anymore," Serene said, ruffling her hair a bit. "Don't worry, there's quite a big supply here."
"Aw, fine." Lina gave up and bit another chunk. "It's so good though!"
"That's good." Serene withdrew her arm from Lina's shoulders and went back to the living room. Lina followed behind her.
"Hey, Serene, what's that scythe there?" Lina pointed at a scythe that lay on the table. It wasn't there when they first came in.
"That's my new scythe, Crescent Darkness," Serene explained. "I've been working on it for a while, and it's very powerful. I just pulled it out from the bunch over there." Serene pointed at the stash of scythes behind the couch before picking up the scythe in one hand and swung it a couple times in the air. Lina felt a cold chill rush by her. "It's much lighter than the other scythes too. Wanna see?"
Lina quickly stuffed the rest of the applecot into her mouth and tossed the core into a nearby waste bin. "Sure!" She took the scythe out of Serene's hand. It felt lighter than most of her bows. "It's really light!" She avoided swinging it around in fear of hitting something by mistake. She ran her hand along the smooth blade's side, and felt etches in the blade. She looked closer and saw that the words "Crescent Darkness" were carved into the dark blue metal.
"You made this?" Lina asked. Serene nodded. "It's amazing!"
"Glad you like it," Serene smiled. "Let's take it outside and see what it can do."
"Okay!" Lina jumped at the chance to test out the scythe, and skipped out the door behind Serene.
"Okay, see that log there?" Serene pointed at a log that lay on the yard. Lina nodded. "Chop it up!"
"Okay!" Lina chirped. She held the scythe in one hand and rushed toward the log. The weight of the scythe barely affected her movements as she spun in midair, slicing straight through the log. The log split in two.
"Hey, it's really good!" Lina called. "How's this?" She unleashed the overskill Darkness Calls. Spinning the scythe in her hand, she cut the log into six pieces. As a finisher, she spun around and sat down with her back to the log. After a couple seconds, a big flash of electrically charged dark energy slashed through the log, reducing it to splinters.
"Not bad, not bad at all!" Serene exclaimed when Lina brought the scythe back to her. "Okay, now it's my turn. I already mastered the overskill. But aw, why did you have to destroy the log?" she complained. "I have to find another one now!"
"Oh, sorry," Lina said sheepishly.
"Meh, it's okay," Serene patted her head. "I'll use a boulder."
"Uh, a boulder?" Lina gasped. "That scythe is powerful enough to cut a boulder?"
"A boulder's just rock." Serene laughed. "It's nothing for such a powerful scythe."
Serene went down the path into a nearby forest. She managed to find a boulder that wasn't destroyed when the beast fell. Lina stayed back ten meters to watch.
Serene swung the scythe in a graceful horizontal arc that sliced right through the boulder. The top half of the boulder slid right off, landing on the right side of the boulder. From her watching spot, Lina gaped.
"So easily?" she exclaimed, dumbfounded. "What a scythe!"
"I'm not done yet." Serene winked at her. "Here's my trump card! Serene Chaos!"
Within a couple seconds, Serene swung the scythe 12 times, slicing through the rock. Before the rock had a chance to split, she swung it one last time. A dark dragon with glowing blue eyes spouted from the blade and wrapped around the boulder. Ice shards surrounded it in a cloud. With an upward thrust of the scythe, the dragon squeezed the boulder, completely shattering it. The dragon then exploded, causing the boulder to explode too, sending rock shards flying in all directions. Serene whipped the scythe around, blocking rock shards. When the explosion subsided, there was nothing left of the boulder but several shards that lay scattered on the ground.
"Ohmygods!" Lina exclaimed, rising from her crouched down position she'd taken to shield herself from the shards. "That's amazing!" She ran up to Serene, who was standing with the scythe draped over her shoulder, almost unscathed except for a couple scratches here and there. "Such a powerful scythe…" The blade was still emitting a dark aura.
Serene grinned. "I shall help Ein protect Riviera with this scythe," she declared. "Crescent Darkness shall be the blade I use to destroy my enemies."
Lina looked up at Serene, amazed. "Maybe I'll show you my new bow sometime," she offered. "I made it myself, like you did."
"A new bow?" Serene asked, surprised. "I'd like to see it, but I don't think I can use it."
"Probably not," Lina agreed. "But it's powerful just like yours." She looked at the blade again. "What kind of metal did you use?"
"Some dark blue stuff that Ritz found in the mine," Serene replied. "It took forever to shape it like this."
Lina gazed at the scythe, mesmerized by its dark aura. "This is the first scythe to have the dark element attached, right?" she asked.
Serene nodded. "Its power flows from some unknown source. Maybe it's the metal?"
"We should ask Cierra," Lina suggested. "It's mysterious."
"Don't let it get to your head." Serene laughed. "I wouldn't want it messing you up."
"Lina's fine!" Lina chirped, jolting up from the scythe. "Come on, we left the door unlocked."
"Oh yeah, we did." Serene followed the jumpy Lina back to the house.
Once back inside, Serene set the scythe back on the table, and Lina decided to explore the bedroom upstairs more. Serene followed her up the stairs.
Serene kept her bedroom simple. There was just a bed, a table with a mirror on it, and a closet. The size restriction set by the tree made her limit the size of the bedroom. A window on the wall gave a view of the surrounding area outside, and another window on the ceiling provided a great view of the sky. Inside, Serene found Lina jumping on the bed.
"Serene's house is boring," Lina complained. "There's nothing to do here!"
"Well, it's a house," Serene protested as she walked in. "What do you expect from a house?"
"There should be stuff to do!" Lina stopped jumping and lay down on the bed, looking through the window in the ceiling. "I remember the view from here last night," she said softly. Serene went to sit down by her. "The sky's so pretty at night when the moon and stars come out…"
"Yeah, it is." Serene got up onto the bed and, on all fours, arched over Lina, who lay under her. She leaned on her hands, which she placed beside Lina's head. Her knees were placed beside Lina's waist. "Just like you," she whispered. She brushed a strand of hair off Lina's face and tucked it behind her ear and, closing her eyes, leaned down and pressed her lips against Lina's. Startled, Lina's eyes widened, but she relaxed after a moment and closed her eyes too. She put her arms onto Serene's back under her arms and wings and relaxed, returning the kiss passionately.
Serene gently broke the kiss, relaxed, and lay down rather than crouched. She lay a bit to the left, so her right leg rested between Lina's legs. She used her left elbow as support beside her, tucking her other arm around Lina's head. Lina hardly moved at all, but her eyes opened halfway to see what Serene was doing. She turned her head to the right a fraction, closed her eyes again, and felt Serene's lips meet hers again.
Unable to resist exploring, Serene slipped her tongue into Lina's mouth. She felt Lina shudder and grow warm. She became warm herself as she moved her tongue around inside. After a moment, she withdrew her tongue and felt Lina's enter her own mouth. A shudder came involuntarily, and she felt her heart beat faster in ecstasy. After a moment, Lina withdrew her tongue and broke the kiss, breathing hard and shallow. Serene found herself doing the same.
"I've never kissed before that time on the cliff," Serene said between breaths, relaxing in Lina's embrace. "And that… was a bit… fun."
"Yeah!" Lina exclaimed. "Same with me, that was my first kiss too." She pulled Serene closer, heart beating like mad. "That felt nice."
"Mm," Serene replied, playing with Lina's hair. Finding the right spot, she kissed Lina on the neck and felt her shudder again.
Lina closed her eyes, a feeling of ecstasy washing over her again. Serene really knows how to do this, she thought. At her neck, Serene continued sucking on the vein, biting gently. Lina didn't feel any pain at all. A smile came onto her face.
Serene gradually stopped her work on the vein. She looked up at Lina's face to see she was smiling. Serene smiled too, and put both her arms around Lina's neck and leaned her head on Lina's chest. Lina tightened her embrace a little, putting both her arms around Serene's back, wishing she could never have to let go.
After a few minutes, Serene's ears suddenly perked up, and she lifted her head.
"Dinner's ready!" a voice called from the distance.
"I guess it's time to go," Serene whispered. "Dinner's ready. Let's go."
"A few more minutes…" Lina pulled Serene down, eyes still closed. "Just a few more minutes."
"Okay." Serene didn't really want to leave either. "But just a few minutes, or they'll worry again."
"Yeah." Lina pressed her lips against Serene's again, and she responded almost naturally. For a few minutes, they were one.
After a moment, Serene reluctantly got up, gently breaking free from Lina's embrace. "Come on, we should be going," she said softly.
Lina opened her eyes. "Okay, let's go." She hopped out of the bed and followed Serene down the stairs. "Let's do this again later."
"Huh?" Serene turned around, surprised. Lina wasn't paying attention and walked right into her. "You want to sleep over again?"
"Yeah," Lina replied after a short pause.
"Well that's okay," Serene said. "As long as there's no problem with the others, which I'm sure there shouldn't be."
"Okay!" Lina squeaked happily and skipped out the door, Serene following close behind, carrying her new scythe and locking the door behind her. Hand in hand, they made their way back to Fia and Lina's house quietly, where dinner was waiting for them.
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A/N: I don't know what came over me when I was writing the tongue part, so don't ask XD
The pictures on the wall kinda scream "BACKSTORY!" don't they? It'll be a short segment, but I'll be sure to write a little bit on it. The new scythe and bow seem to hint at something, and if you picked it up then you're pretty sharp XD. If you didn't pick it up, don't worry, it's not a big deal (or maybe you just didn't notice that you noticed, because it's a minor thing…)
On the next chapter of The White Wings…
Chapter 13: Discussion (Release on August 20, 2006)
Everyone chats while eating. Ein shares news of his new nemesis, and everyone tries to think of a good way to fight him. Lina, being the hyperactive girl she is, finishes eating quickly and decides to run around the house while they chat.