I had so much trouble writing this chp ;_; I had to rewrite it like a 1000 times! I guess I just couldn't make up my mind about what to put in, and what to leave out... Anyways, it worked out alright in the end... Enjoy~!
"WAH!"
Arme woke up with Lass's sleeping face inches away from hers. Her arms and legs were entangled with his. She immediately disentangled herself and he opened one eye.
"Hmm…?"
"Why are you here! Thought you got off!"
"Meh…"
"Urgh. I can't believe I slept in the same bed as you," Arme grumbled, slapping her face. Lass laughed lightly, and got up, stretching like a cat. Lass was wearing nothing, except shorts and bandages. The bandages didn't cover him completely, and Arme could see the outline of his body. She turned around and faced the wall, while getting her clothes and changing in the bathroom.
After breakfast…
"Arme- come on. The Knight Master is expecting you and me. We have to get going now," Lass said.
"Now? Lass, you should be travelling! What a short notice it was! "
"Yeah well, hurry. I am fine. It is a ceremony for a new knight…and her partner."
Arme frowned. "Your wounds will open if you overexert yourself."
"Don't worry Arme. I'm tough," Lass said, and dragged Arme towards the door.
"Lunch is in the fridge ok? You just have heat it," Arme told Jin, who was closest to her.
"Ok. See you," Jin replied, and waved to her and Lass.
"How much longer…?" Arme groaned. The sun's heat was getting to her.
"We're half way," Lass replied, and gazed off towards his left. "Prepare yourself. An army of orcs are coming this way…" Arme looked in the direction Lass was looking at and sure enough, the outline of a troupe of orcs could be seen. Lass positioned himself between the orcs and Arme.
"Lass! You aren't going to fight! What if you get hurt? You haven't healed yet!"
"Don't worry Arme. I am tough, and I can't just watch a girl fight by herself here you know. What if you get hurt?"
Arme didn't respond, and began charging up her mana. As soon as the orcs reached them, she yelled, "Meteor!"
The orcs hesitated, and Lass took the opportunity to kill as many orcs as possible while meteors crushed the rest.
Arme was just about to turn her back towards the orcs, when a huge orc appeared.
"ARME!" Lass yelled, pushing her to the side as the orc boss lunged at the spot where she had been seconds ago. The two fell down on the ground. A hammer swung down from the orc. Lass got in front of Arme and the hammer dug itself deep into his shoulder. Lass winced and pulled the hammer out.
"L-lass…!" Arme managed to choke out. Lass's shoulder was bleeding badly.
"It's nothing," he muttered, and turned back to face the orc boss. Arme stood up shakily as well.
"Lightning bolt!" Arme aimed the bolt directly at the orc.
"Impact Slash!" Lass hit the orc as many times as possible while the bolt of lightning held it paralyzed.
The orc bosses ran towards Arme with hammer held high. However, it hit nothing, as Arme teleported behind it a second before the hammer touched her.
"Final Strike!"
The orc boss cried out in pain, and fell to the ground, not moving.
"Cu-"
"Hold it. Save your energy for later. I'm fine." Lass started to walk again in the direction of the Knight Master's castle.
"Your fine? Look at all that blood!" exclaimed Arme running up to him.
"Don't worry about it."
The two continued to travel, battling a few more orcs along the way. None of them attained any more injuries, as they were fully prepared. Not belong long, the entrance to the castle loomed over them.
"Wow… it's gigantic…" Arme stared up at the magnificent stone columns carved with many complex designs. Lass pulled Arme into the castle, and then guards escorted them to the Knight Master. Lass bowed down, pulling Arme down too.
"You are Arme, yes?" The Knight Master looked at the short girl with purple hair.
"Y-yes madam," Arme stuttered nervously.
"No need to be formal with me Arme," the Knight Master said, descending from her position to join Lass and Arme. "Greetings Lass. Long time no see…I see you're injured. Couldn't Arme heal you?"
"I didn't want her to waste her energy," Lass replied. "I'm fine."
"Ahh, I see… Arme," the Knight Master said, directing her attention back to her.
"Yes?"
"I congratulate you for passing the test and joining the Grand Chase. You're partner is, of course, Lass. He can be a bit distant at times, but he can be quite a gentleman at times." Lass coughed as she said this, and Arme smiled knowingly.
"Thank you for your information," Arme replied.
"Get on with it…" Lass muttered.
"Ok, impatient as usual I see. Well, I called you here today to present you two the bracelet which bonds you two as partners... in missions of course- you don't have to marry each other or something," she added hastily when Arme blushed and Lass raised his eyebrows.
"These are bracelets made from woven leather, and it has 2 jewels attached to it as well," she continued, holding out the bracelets. "As you can see, the jewels look blank right now. You need to channel a bit of your mana through it to make it a proper jewel. Only put your mana into one of the stones." The Knight Master handed them each a bracelet, and Arme and Lass both infused the rock with mana. The stone immediately glowed, and with a blinding flash, Lass's rock turned into a sapphire, while Arme's transformed into an amethyst.
"Now, you must do the same thing to each other's blank jewel," instructed the Knight Master, while Arme and Lass obeyed. Soon, they both had an amethyst and a sapphire on her wrists.
"Those stones represent the life-force of its owner, so if one of you die, or becomes fatally injured, their stone will react. Also, I have heard some stories about the stones wielding unknown magical powers… but who knows if they are true. Don't go and wound yourselves purposely to test the stone out."
"Yes. I understand," Arme and Lass said.
"Oh, by the way. There will be a party, celebrating Grand Chase's new member. The whole of Grand Chase will be coming ok? No matter what. It has been decided that you guys should all wear black. It's a very stylish colour isn't it?" Lass and Arme raised an eyebrow.
"Ok. I'll tell the others, thank you." Arme bowed.
"There will be a horse-drawn carriage waiting outside your mansion tomorrow evening." The Knight master said. "Look forward to seeing you guys there!"
"Ok." Lass muttered.
Back at the mansion at night...
"Arme, come here," Lass said, sitting on the roof. Arme walked out into the balcony.
"How'd you get up there?"
"Here," Lass said, offering her his hand.
"T-thanks," Arme muttered. Once she was up, Lass pointed at the night sky.
"Oh wow. It's beautiful!" Arme held her bracelet up in front of her, where the gems sparkled in the moonlight. Lass watched the gems dangle for a moment.
"Yeah," he agreed. He lay down, pulled Arme down next to him.
"It will look better if you lie down," he explained. The two lay next to each other, gazing up atthe tiny, white pinpricks that littered the dark canvas above them, not speaking, but enjoying each other's company.
Next day, afternoon…
"What should I wear?" Arme banged around in frustration, almost knocking down a very expensive looking vase. She had no idea what she would wear, and she hadn't brought any of the clothes she was particularly fond of. She buried her head in her hands and winced at the loud knock on the door.
"Come in." Arme said, and Amy opened the door, carrying a huge stack of black.
"Arme! May I help you choose something to wear~? I figured out that you'd have nothing to wear…" Amy wore a flawless black dress, that cut down her body like a waterfall, cascading slightly around her strappy shoes.
"Amy! Thank you!" After an hour of going though all the dresses, Arme decided on a skinny black dress that went up to just above her knees.
"It looks good! You have a pretty slim body!"
"Thanks Amy. You saved my life."
"Not at all! You can keep that dress~! I have too much anyway."
"What? REALLY? Thank you so much!" Arme pulled Amy into a great bear hug.
"No need to thank me, really~! Let's go down now and show the others!"
"Just a minute. I need to fix my hair," Arme said, reaching for a black ribbon.
When she arrived downstairs, she saw that Elesis was wearing a thin jacket over a singlet. She had a mini skirt on, all black of course. The tom-boyish girl obviously didn't like wearing big fancy dresses. On the other hand, Lire's dress was long and poofy, and if it was white instead of black, Arme would've thought it was a wedding dress.
"Wow. Nice dress Arme," Elesis said, admiring the satiny material.
"Thanks. You look awesome too. So do you Lire. Where are the others?" Arme asked, looking around the room.
"The boys all left earlier. We aren't supposed to see what they were wearing," Lire said, giggling a little. It was clear that her little grudge against Arme had disappeared.
"Come on! If we don't hurry, we'll be late!"
The room was huge, yet still crowded. The walls and ceiling were elaborately decorated. The music blared loudly.
"Oh wow," murmured Arme, and then something silver caught her eye. Lass, along with the rest of the Grand Chase dudes were there. Lass turned and saw Arme staring at him. He looked amazing. The contrast between the black and his albino skin was shocking. He was wearing a slightly unbuttoned black shirt and bondage trousers. He wasn't weatring the bandages anymore. The others wore similar things, although Jin and Ryan wore shorts instead. Ronan was blushing slightly, asking the stubborn Elesis to dance and looking slightly alarmed when she kicked her heels off, sending them flying across the room.
'More comfy.' She shrugged in distaste.
"Hi there Lire!" Ryan called, waving a glass of wine in his hand. He looked a little drunk.
"Uhh, hi Ryan. You ok?" Lire dashed over and caught Ryan just as he slipped on nothing.
"Yeah, yeah. M'fine," he muttered.
"ARME! What does a duck that walks into a pharmacist say? Give me some chapstick and put it on my bill! Hahaha! Get it? Hahaha!" Seighart laughed deliriously.
"Ignore him. He's drunk," Lass muttered. The song finished just then, and Jin urghed Lass to dance with Arme on the next one.
"No…!" Lass immediately said. Arme, on the other hand, didn't think that it was such a bad idea.
"Why not? I really want to try out my dancing skills!"
"Then dance with somebody else! Lass muttered.
"You don't want to dance with me cause you're scared that I'll embarrass you. Is that it?" Arme was a little hurt.
"No! That's not it!" Lass shouted. He had been watching Arme dance, and he knew that she danced well. Arme pouted.
"What do you call a boomerang that doesn't work? A STICK! HAHAHAHA!" Seighart yelled.
"FINE! I'LL DANCE!" Lass yelled fustratedly, grabbing Arme's hand and running onto the dance floor just in time for the music to start.
Arme was extremely careful to not make any mistakes while she danced. He dances extremely well, and there is something in it that makes it kind of… Lass-like, she thought. They continued to dance, perfectly in sync. Lass let go of Arme as soon as the song finished, and Arme looked away, somewhat disappointed. Why should I be disappointed? It's only natural. I should be happy he even danced with me.
"I got to go somewhere," said Lass, disappearing into the crowd.
"Arme! This stuff is awesome! You should really try it!" Seighart waved a glass of purplish-red liquid around.
"Uhh, no thanks. I am no good with alcohol," Arme replied, taking a seat on a chair opposite him.
"Aww, just try! You never know until you try! Seighart got up unsteadily (he's drunk remember) and tottered over to Arme. He then brandished the glass on wine in the air, smashing it down on the table in front of Arme, who stared at him as if he was crazy.
"See? It's perfectly safe! It didn't spill! Drink, and you'll be surprised!" Seighart explained, taking a swig of it himself.
"O-ok…I'll drink a bit if that'll make you calm down a bit," Arme muttered, reaching for the glass. Without warning, Seighart dumped the whole glass of wine down Arme's throat. Arme choked and gagged in surprise, the liquid running down her neck.
"It tastes nice doesn't it? Oh, I'm sorry," Seighart said when he saw the spluttering Arme.
"W-w-wh-" Arme managed to say, before blacking out as the alcohol took its toll on her.
"Uhh. I can see how you have low alcohol tolerance…" Seighart said, before blacking out himself.
Grand Chase Mansion, after party…
Arme slowly opened her eyes, and found herself back home in her bed. She felt nauseous. A pair of azure eyes stared at her directly in front of her. So close. Arme gasped and jolted backwards. Lass stayed where he was, leaning over her bed.
"I leave you for five minutes and you get in trouble," he muttered.
"It's not my fault! Seighart forced me!"
"Yeah I know." Arme raised her eyebrows.
"However, you promise me that in the future, you won't drink alcohol no matter what ok?"
"What have you become? My dad?" Arme retorted. Lass's eyes narrowed and he withdrew and stood up straight.
"No. I just want you to be safe, and not an alcoholic addict."
"I'm not. I hate alcohol, and I won't drink it ever again, even if you don't tell me not to."
"Sleep. It's good for you," he muttered, and climbed out the window.
Arme closed her eyes and fell into deep, dreamless slumber. She did not noticed the shadowy silhouette that clambered back in, nor did she feel the light sigh that he breathed on her face before exiting.
Did you like it? Seighart isn't that crazy all the time. He was just drunk lol. There'll be more of him further on in the chapters. Their adventure is gonna start VERY soon! xD
And... review~! Please! I want to know what you think about this chp! =]