And now we are in St Binah! Enough of the awkwardness! :D
Pardon the random pervertedness in the previous chapter. I can't seem to help myself. And no, even though it was implied, there will be no AnhxJade in the future. Back onto business...
I also have a special guest that's appearing in here! :D He never appeared in the game but who cares! He's the epitome of awesomeness!
Thank you, Mieu for beta-ing this~!
Disclaimer: I don't own ToA. Enough said.
Chapter 10: The Citadel: St. Binah
Rose brought us into St Binah, without a hitch. The Oracle Knights wasn't suspecting our coach at all. Once we got into the city's inner parts, Rose and a few other people from Engeve moved the boxes so that we were able to leave the suffocating tight ass spot. We said our shares of 'thank you's and 'good bye's and Rose left, leaving us to our own plans.
St. Binah looked more impressive from the inside instead of the outside. Of course it lived up to its name as the Citadel. Almost every building in the city was built out of brick, heck, even the ground was bricked. If there weren't bricks, then there was some form of plants like grass, trees, or flowers. Shops were set up inside the buildings while there were some small stands. In addition to the usual weapons, grocery and tools/accessory shops, there was a florist here as well. Surrounding the stand was a variety of flowers I wasn't able to name. Well...Aside from the rose, any other flower would be foreign to me.
"...Uaaah!" a voice screamed, breaking my train of thought. I looked away from the children to see Tear hugging Guy's arm. Both of their backs was on me but I knew Guy had said something Tear didn't like.
"Don't say stupid things." Tear told him, calmly.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Stop touching me!" Guy begged, quivering uncontrollably. "Please!"
After a moment's consideration, Tear released Guy's arm. Slowly. He toppled over onto the ground, still shaking as if an earthquake had hit. Many people around paused a bit to look at Guy and whispered to each other before continuing on their way. Now to resist the urge to poke his defenseless form.
Resist...
Resist...
Ain't working.
I walked over to Guy and knelt down, poking his arm lightly. "Guy, you still alive?"
"P-please stop touching me...!"
Luke tsked walking over to Guy and I, he brushed my hand away from Guy before trying to help him up. "If he asks you to stop, then stop. You'll give him a heart attack if you continue."
"Well then, we should continue on our way," Jade spoke up. "Guy, I know you're enjoying yourself but we really must move on."
"What part of me is enjoying it?"
"None whatsoever." Luke answered. "Hey, Guy, can you stand?" A really long pause gave him the answer. "I guess it can't be helped. Jeez Tear, do you really have to cripple him?"
Tear didn't give him an answer; instead she scoffed, moving along.
"I need someone to take Guy's other side," Luke told us, looking around. He already got Guy's arm slung over his shoulder, but Guy might had been a bit heavy.
"I could help, Luke, but I'm of the opposite gender..." I sighed. A pity really. I want to tease him some more, but he was teased enough. Later maybe.
"Of course, I cannot do such a thing." Jade replied, shrugging. "I'm old and you are much younger than I am, Luke. You wouldn't want me to break an arm or something."
"Breaking your arm sounds really tempting..." Luke muttered.
"I could help." Ion volunteered himself.
"No." Tear and I said simultaneously.
"Ah...Well..." Ion laughed nervously.
"I-I'm all right, Luke," Guy said, "You can let go of me."
"What are you talking about? Do I look like I'm stupid? You're still shaking."
"It's not as bad as it was before." Guy admitted. I looked behind me to check on him. He was already standing on his own, using Luke as a support. "Besides, Ion's right. I should be able to overcome this fear...in time."
"'In time' is the keyword here, Guy..." I laughed, facing forward. If he thought Tear was bad, wait until he sees Anise. All we need to do is switch Luke with Guy and it will be Guy's worst nightmare.
"It still doesn't mean I can't get over it."
"In the meantime, I think we should head over to the inn." Tear suggested, gaze going to Ion. Ion looked at her and his gaze dropped.
"I'm fine!" he protested.
"Actually, that would be a lovely idea." Jade nodded. "Guy, Luke, Anh and I could meet General McGovern. Tear, you and Ion can book a few rooms in the inn."
"We don't have enough money for the stay," Tear pointed out. Jade smiled, waving a small hand at her.
"No worries, just mention my name and it should be fine."
Tear's gaze narrowed and she eventually sighed, giving in. "All right." We were at what looked like the center of the city. Tear led Ion to the northern end while Jade pointed over to the eastern end where a large building with military guards standing at the gated entrance.
"Well then, shall we be on our way?"
"Oh! If it isn't Jade!" an old man whose beard covered half of his body said as everybody entered the room. The elder and another Malkuth soldier were in a conversation before Jade interrupted them. Naturally, the response wasn't of anger, but more of shock.
Jade had just said a few words to the guards in the front entrance. They told him that General McGovern was already talking to someone else, but, knowing Jade, he walked right in. He overheard the two men talking to each other, and just walked right in. No problem whatsoever!
The elder's beard covered half of his short body but underneath the long beard was a yellow robe. He wore a red cap and it appeared that one eye was hurt since it was never seen nor raised. On the other side of the table was probably General McGovern. His gray hair was tied into a ponytail and only two bangs were sticking out. I don't even know why but his hairstyle reminded me of Saito Hajime from Ruruoni Kenshin. His nickname should be Bamboo Curtain or something. I probably shouldn't use it since he was a general. Aside from the hairdo, the general wore teal Malkuth uniform with white gloves and boots.
"It's been a while, Field Marshal McGovern." Jade nodded towards the elder man as he approached him.
The old man laughed as he stroked his beard. "I'm long retired now. There's no need for those formalities anymore. And what about you? Don't you think it's about time you accepted a promotion? Even at your age, you could have easily made lieutenant general by now."
"Oh, I don't know. I think I have my hands full just being a colonel." Jade casually replied.
"Is Jade somebody important?" I heard Luke whispered. I turned around to see Guy just shrugged.
"Sounds like it."
I rolled my eyes, turning my attention to the other two. Luke and Guy had no idea. Best friend to the Emperor. Being a colonel was more than enough for Jade since most would imagine Peony barging into his office and harassing him about 'cute little Jade'. Or when Peony randomly has his lovely strolls around the city, the soldiers would come directly to Jade, asking him where the Emperor would be. Yeah, Jade's hands would be full if Peony does either of those.
"You and His Majesty go way back, don't you?" The elder asked Jade, still stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Could you ask him to do something about the Oracle Knights?"
I should stop calling him 'old man' or 'elder'. Hmm...Old Man McGovern sounds right to me. Honestly, I don't even know if his first name was revealed to the entire party. Maybe just the 'Field Marshal' part. I believed General McGovern's name was revealed. Now what was it? Glen? Glen sounded right. Was it with one 'n' or two, I couldn't remember.
"I'm afraid they're after us." Jade told Old Man McGovern. "Once we leave the city, they should as well."
I felt someone tap my shoulder and I looked over it. Luke was gesturing to me to come closer and so I turned to Jade and Old Man McGovern before leaning in closer to Luke.
"So Jade's friendly with the Emperor?" Luke asked me.
"Not just friendly," I corrected him. "He's best friends with the Emperor."
Luke almost gagged as he gaped at Jade. "Him? With the Emperor?"
"Believe it or not, it's the truth." I muttered, recalling the time when I met him momentarily. In the audience hall, he was somewhat all business, then...when we arrived to his chambers, he was like another man. All easygoing and teasing. Especially when it comes to his close buddies, like Jade.
"Have you received any letters from a Fon Master Guardian?" Jade asked, moving along to the topic. General McGovern nodded. He pulled out an envelope and slid it across the table towards Jade. There was a seal on top of the envelope, the seal looked like one from Daath. One side of the envelope was torn, indicating that it was already opened by someone else.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we opened it to confirm the contents for security reasons." He said as Jade took the letter from the envelope.
"That's fine." Jade nodded, opening the letter. "There shouldn't be anything in there that would be a problem for you to see."
Anise was pretty good at not revealing anything. She must have chosen her words carefully. Or so I thought when the letter was passed to me. I skimmed through the contents, choking on my own saliva when I found out that half of the letter was written to Luke. And in that letter was a whole bunch of cutesy stuff. Anise...Even I don't write like you do. I slapped my face as I handed over to Luke.
I forgot about her 'detailed' letter.
"What does it say?" Luke asked as he took the letter from me.
"It appears half of it is addressed to you." Jade explained.
I sighed. No kidding. With all of the hearts at the end of each sentences that mentioned Luke in it. Anise also fancied the borders of the letter with a lot of girly stuff. Luke just earned himself a real life fangirl. I saw only one line regarding Ion while the rest was to Luke. Luke doesn't appear to be very moved by the letter itself.
"I think I'm gonna be sick..." he uttered.
Guy laughed, slapping him on the back. "Damn, Luke, popular enough with the girls? Just don't get carried away. You're engaged to Princess Natalia, you know."
"You have got to be kidding." Luke snorted. "I don't want anything to do with that annoying chick... Tear, on the other hand, now she's something. Her personality needs work though."
"Who's personality?" Tear asked as she walked into the room. She crossed her arms in an irate manner as she gave Luke a menacing stare. Her stare went elsewhere and it lightened. "What's the 'next location'?"
"Kaizur." Jade answered. "It's a city to the southwest of here, on the other side of the Fubras River."
"If we make it to Kaitzur, we can rendezvous with Van." Guy said.
Tear's gaze softened at the mentioning of her brother. "Van's there..."
"Hey, I don't know what happened between you two, but you're his sister, right?" Guy asked. He took one step closer to Tear, it didn't make much of a difference since there was a chair and part of the table still in between them. "Don't go trying to slice him up like you did in Baticul, okay?"
Tear nodded. "I know. I won't."
That still meant she would.
"Well then," Jade turned towards Old Man McGovern. "We'll bid you our leave."
"If the Oracle Knights are chasing you, I'll gladly lend you a hand." Old Man McGovern smiled, patting Jade on the arm a few times. "I was elected by the city representatives here. Come by anytime you need help."
Jade nodded. "Thank you, Field Marshal."
"And you, young lady." Old Man McGovern spoke up, everybody had already left so it was just Jade and I with the two McGoverns. The two of us turned around to see what else he had to say. I pointed to myself and he nodded.
"Take care of Jade," he told me. "You may not know him as well as I do but regardless of such. He was a handful when he was younger and he's still a handful even now."
Jade pushed his glasses up with a droll look on his face. "Field Marshal, please, I'm not a child anymore."
Old Man McGovern laughed. "You're still a child to me!"
I smiled, resisting the urge to laugh. "Thank you, sir." I kindly gave him a bow before I ran off to catch up with the other two.
"Oh, welcome back everyone!" Ion chirped as we approached him. Apparently Ion wasn't resting in his room, instead we found him in the kitchen. Tear and I weren't looking very pleased at Ion. In fact, in Ion's hands was...a sandwich! A SANDWICH! And not just any sandwich, it was almost done.
"Where did that sandwich come from?" I asked him.
Ion looked down at the sandwich and then back up at us with a smile. "Oh, I made it for myself."
"Fon Master, you could have asked me before I left the inn." Tear sighed.
"I didn't want to bother you, Tear," Ion chuckled. "Besides, I just got hungry some time after you left. The kitchen staff said they didn't mind letting me use some of the food here. They even gave me a recipe book for me to keep."
In the game, I recalled that we found the recipe. Now...Ion did the finding for us and we got a recipe for our recipe collection or whatever it was called. Cook book! That's it! Damn. Note to self, learn to cook before everybody else knew you never cooked before.
"Shall we head over to the rooms?" Ion asked. "Tear had already made the reservations. It appears that the inn was willing to let us stay here since the Malkuth military will be covering the cost of the inn for us."
Sweet.
"Since Luke is familiar with Guy, they will share a room," Ion chirped again. "I'm with Jade and Anh, you're sharing a room with Tear."
"Yes!" I beamed, pumping a fist into the air. They all, except Ion and Jade who just smiled and pushed his glasses up respectively, gave me weird looks and I coughed. "Sorry, I really don't like sharing one with...Uh...yeah..." My gaze went to Jade but I still got weird looks. "I'm...going to check the rooms right now."
Then I fled.
"Ah, bath~" I sighed as I doused myself into the bathtub. "Oh god, I missed you~"
Skipping the examination of the room, I went straight to the bath, which was apparently part of the room itself. It was just separated by a door, which was just perfect. Bathroom, how long was it since I got a good bath? Since Grand Chokmah, right? I couldn't remember. The Tartarus wasn't meant for luxury so no bath. Grand Chokmah was such a long time ago. Or maybe it felt like a long time ago. But screw that! I missed a good bath. Feeling dirty twenty-four/seven and hair was always greasy was seriously irking me.
I lathered a bar of soap onto the cloth and rubbing the cloth against my skin. I sighed once more. Ah...this was paradise. As a bonus, this wasn't my house, so I get to use all of the hot water I want! Though I shouldn't be doing that but damn! I missed you, bath! And here I thought that (after the experience in Engeve, old styled baths) the baths here were going to be old fashioned. Good to know that it was just Engeve because they were just a town and not a city.
They had almost everything in here! Spare toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, towels, soap, a toilet, a sink...everything! It was like going to a hotel! Except I never been into one before so I wasn't able to compare that. However! It felt like a hotel to me. As for the bath, there was shampoo and soap. I was hoping for body wash but soap was just as good. After this bath, I was going to have to wash the uniform.
Good for me that I had a bathrobe so I can always wash them in that. I wasn't leaving the inn anytime soon, anyway. Oh wait...I think I still have my PJs somewhere. Hmm...Were they in the Wing Pack at this moment? I should check it when I get out.
After a good wash, I dried myself before putting on the bathrobe. I left the cotton rub against my skin and I tied the belt around my waist, twice, to keep it tight. I placed a towel around my neck so it would catch the water droplets that were still in my hair. It didn't bother me to know that there wasn't a hair dryer; I loved leaving my hair to air dry.
I stared at my uniform and sneered at it. The blood smears made it looked really ugly. I was going to have to change that really soon. I chucked the uniform into the tub full of water and began to scrub the blood areas the best I could. Ew, I hated dried blood. They were a bitch to handle. Now how long was it since they got here? Two three days? Something like that.
Well, most of the blood was gone. I had just finished the boots, now they were left to dry. I had changed into my PJs. White PJ with pink vertical stripes. They weren't the best ones since the pants were down to my mid calves but they were comfortable and one of my favorite jammies. The towel was still wrapped around my neck as I looked around the room.
After playing a quick game of eeny meeny miny moe, it was decided that, rather I decided it, I was taking the bed on the right while Tear would take one on the left, the one closest to the door. I was contemplating on taking that bed but there was this random thought when someone might barge into the room and attack us, Tear would be the first to confront him or her. But then there was also the possibility of the window... If they came from the window then I would be the one attacked first.
I was thinking this waaay too hard.
There was two beds; twins beds in fact. Nice. The blankets were plain and thin but I guessed it was for the weather; it was pretty nice outside so no need for thick blankets. The bed themselves were nice and soft, so anybody could jump on them. And the pillows! The pillows. I could hug them to death. They felt like my pillows back at home. There were two chestnut colored dressers for Tear and I to use, one on the left side of the Tear's bed and one on the right side of mine. Not that we really needed them but it was nice to put some stuff in there if we stayed here for some time. Too bad we weren't.
White paint spanned the four corners of the wall, there was a pot filled with flowers on the shelf right next to the window. The flowers, themselves, were a shade of hot pink to purple. Between the walls and the beige carpeted floor was a wooden border with flower etchings on them. To finish the room off, there was a desk with a chair for some paper work and a lamp placed on a counter between the beds.
I was used to staying in a room with someone else since I was sharing a room with my younger sister for quite some time. I could imagine Tear as my younger sister. Except Tear wasn't shorter than I was. Darn. Sharing a room with another female brought back memories of my own room. The only thing that was missing was the excessive anime crap I would put all over the room. Other than that, it was perfect.
Except for that teddy bear that was randomly sitting in the corner of the room. I frowned at it, getting a closer look at it. It was beige all over and the eyes were covered. It reminded me of the bear I had bought for my sister for her birthday. Now what did she named that bear? Chinky Bear? Not to be racist or anything but I think she named it that way because of the eyes. That and it was made in China, too. I wondered if this one had it, too.
Picking up the bear, I turned it to its bottom to find the tag. Instead, it exploded in my face, creating a large cloud of thick smoke. I fell to the ground, coughing as I fanned myself, trying to get rid of the smoke. A hand reached out for me.
"Are you okay, miss?" the voice asked. I coughed, reaching for the hand as they pulled me up.
"Thanks," I thanked whoever it was. Then I got a good look at the face of the person and I felt my heart skip a beat. Blond hair, green outfit, chef's hat, red cape and a huge ass pitch fork. "Aaah!"
I shoved the man back into the corner I found him in as I scrambled onto the bed. The door slammed opened as Luke, and Guy ran onto the room, ready for battle.
"I heard a scream!" Guy shouted, madly looking around. I tossed the first thing that was in my hands, which was my towel, and it landed right on Guy's face before he turned his head towards the Wonder Chef's direction.
"Out!" I shouted at them.
Guy tore the towel off, opening his mouth to protest. "But you just-"
"Out!"
"Jeez, that woman has no appreciation," Luke muttered, sheathing his sword. He walked up to Guy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Guy. Looks like she doesn't need our help."
I closed the door once both of their feet were on the hallway. I turned around, back on door, hands on door, and my heart was thumping madly as I glared at the Wonder Chef. He was dusting off his clothes, completely oblivious. I tore myself away from the door, marching towards him. "What are you-" I pointed to him. "-doing here?" I pointed to the floor.
"Why, I am the Wonder Chef!" he beamed, his arms splayed in front of him. I facepalmed. As if that wasn't a given.
"Thanks, but why are you here?" I asked him. "You're not supposed to be here at all!"
"Eh? This isn't Sylvarant?" he asked, looking around him. He didn't look upset, more like he was intrigued about the area.
"No," I sighed, after hearing the name of one of the worlds in Tales of Symphonia.
"Tethe'alla?"
"No."
He paused a bit, pondering lightly. When he thought of something, he lightly smacked his fisted hand into his palm. "I got it. Terca Lumireis."
Terca what now? I believed I heard it before but I couldn't seem to put my finger on it. Heaving another sigh, I answered, "No."
The Wonder Chef shrugged, lightly. "Well, then, where am I?"
"Auldrant."
He snapped his fingers. "I knew something was wrong when they said that..." He paused a bit, and then shrugged. "Oh well, since I'm here, let me teach you a recipe~!" He held his pitch fork up high and with a ridiculous smile on his face.
"No, thanks." I told him, blandly. I crossed my arms, intending not to be budged by that answer.
"No?" His face dropped to a frown as he lowered his fork.
"No, we already found a recipe in this town." I explained to him. "It was the sandwich reci-...And you're not listening..."
No, he wasn't listening. Instead, he was sitting on my bed, digging through my bag in search of something. He tossed out numerous things, including the rifle and cloak, from the bag and onto the bed, mumbling to himself.
"Ah! Here it is!" he exclaimed as he pulled out the...Wing Pack? He started fiddling with it and then the screen appeared and he flipped through the sections in the Wing Pack. His eyes were filled with concentration, which made me wonder what was he up to. I had so many questions to ask him. First thing was first: How the hell does he know how to use the Wing Pack? Second: How did he get here? Third: Was he going to repeatedly appear in towns and other places while we travel around Auldrant?
"Looks like you're missing some ingredients..." he said, finally. I rolled my eyes. Go figure. "Well! Since you already know the recipe, here's some ingredients!"
He lifted his fork up into the air and a cloud of smoke enveloped him. I waved a hand in front of me, trying to get rid of the smoke once more. Once it was cleared up, the stuff on my bed was back in my bag, but my bag was on top of my bed. Everything but the Wing Pack. I sighed. Great. He said that he was giving me some ingredients and then disappeared. Honestly, I don't get him.
He wasn't a part of Auldrant and yet, here he was. He said that he was going to give me some ingredients and yet he just disappeared the same way he appeared. Minus the bear. He was probably a ball of magic since he threw nearly everything in my bag onto my bed and once he left, they were all back in. Yep. He was magic all right. Unexplained magic, but magic nonetheless. Magic: The solution to all unexplained things.
Magic aside, I was just about to reach for the Wing Pack until there was knocking sound coming from the door. I tsked before I left the Wing Pack where it was before answering the door, poking my head out. Once I saw Tear standing out there, I sighed in relief and let her in. She walked into the room, cautious.
"What's wrong?" I asked her. Tear was looking for something, that I was sure. She even checked the empty drawers of the dresser.
"Guy and Luke said they heard a scream in here." Tear answered, looking at the underside of the beds.
"I got an unexpected visit," I admitted. "That's all."
"An unexpected visit from who?"
No need to lie. "The Wonder Chef."
Tear gave me a dubious look. "Anh, the Wonder Chef exists only in stories."
Great, someone doubted me.
"Ask Luke or Guy! They probably saw him!" I cried out. "I'm not lying!"
"Anh, they didn't see anything in here," Tear sighed, picking up the Wing Pack. Aw...Was the Wonder Chef hidden behind the bed when they came in? Tear's eyes narrowed as the screen appeared, revealing what I believed to be the food section. "Anh, did you go shopping?"
"No, why?"
"We have more ingredients than we used to..."
"That would be the Wonder Chef's doing."
"Anh, he doesn't exist."
"Well, then that doesn't explain why there's ingredients in there. I haven't left the room since I got in here." I sighed. We were not going to get anywhere. I might as well drop the conversation. "Can we just drop it, Tear? We're not going to budge on what we know. You need anything else?"
Tear held up a slip of paper. "I was wondering if you want to do some shopping. I know we don't have much Gald on us right now, but see if you can buy some supplies."
"No guarantees there, Tear."
"I know but try." Tear walked out of the room, but she paused at the door for a bit. "You should change to something else before you go though."
Right, I forgot that I was still in my PJs...
"Right, right, later." I gave her a shooing motion. Tear nodded before leaving the room. I mentally counted to five before I stared at the slip of paper. Oh great. Uh...I couldn't remember what each swirls looked like. The Fonic Alphabet looked foreign to me...just like Hiragana and Katakana. For some reason, I was glad that I learned Japanese during my first year of university before somehow appearing in Auldrant. I wasn't even sure why I should be glad but I was. Japanese writing and the Fonic Alphabet wasn't even remotely close. Aside from the swirls and such.
Ah screw it! If I learnt Hiragana and Katakana, then I could learn the Fonic Alphabet as well! Now as for shopping...
...I got it...!
I already changed into my somewhat damp uniform as I searched the entire inn for Luke. I didn't get a hold of him until I found him and Guy sparring with each other in the yard of the inn. Luke was doing most of the attacking (some sort of thrusting attack) while Guy was just avoiding the attack, blocking it if necessary. They looked like they were even but then Guy made some swift move (from what I saw, he dodged before making a move that looked similar to the one Luke was trying to do), knocking Luke to the ground. Luke groaned before Guy held out his hand to help him up.
"Dammit!" Luke cursed, taking Guy's hand. "I swore I had it that time."
Guy chuckled. "Nice try, Luke. But you still need to work on your stepping."
"Okay," Luke nodded. He readied his sword for another battle. "Again!"
"Uh..." I spoke up before they could continue. "Can I interrupt for a sec?"
The two of them stopped and relaxed their position. Luke sighed, irritably. "What do you want?"
"Can I borrow Mieu?" I asked them. The cheagle, after hearing his name, poked his head from the bush he was hiding from. He ran towards me, and up my uniform, onto my shoulder. Mieu rubbed his furry head against my cheek and I patted his small head. Luke nodded, gruffly.
"Fine, fine. Not like I needed him right now."
I smiled at him. "Sweet, thanks, Luke. Just what are you guys doing?"
"I'm trying to teach Luke Sonic Thrust," Guy explained. He laughed as if he was recalling something earlier. "He's still not getting it even after the many times I threw him down with the same attack. I don't think he'll learn the attack by the end of today like he said."
Luke tsked. "I said I would get it by the end of the day. Just you wait and see, Guy!"
"Is that so?" Guy asked in a teasing tone. His arms were crossed and he was towering over Luke. "Well, then, how many times did we spar?"
"Stop rubbing it in!"
"I'm going to leave now..." I told them, leaving them to themselves. I head towards the market. Mieu was now hanging from my shoulder, eager to see the market. I pat the cheagle's head. "Just promise me one thing, Mieu. Don't tell anyone what I'm going to ask you."
"Myuu~! I promise!"
Good. Cause you were going to be my translator.
-page break-
"A..." Mieu began reading the first letter on the slip of paper Tear had given to me. "...P...P..."
I knew he had some knowledge but I didn't think it was going to take this long.
"...E...L..." Mieu had already spelled the entire word out. "Ah...Ah... Ap... Ap-p... Ah-pp..."
"Apple gel," I told the cheagle. Mieu was attempting to read it but it was taking a tiny bit too long. At least he was trying, unlike me. No one would notice, right? It was just me spending quality time with Mieu. Clever Anh.
I sat on a bench in an open space where people would walk around and not notice that there was a talking cheagle. I was sitting not too far from the shops so I could just head over there once Mieu was done reading the paper. Mieu was sitting on my lap while I was holding the slip of paper in front of him. He was slowly pointing towards the letters written down. His ears perked right up when I told him what it was.
"Myuu~! Apple gel! There's a one to it, Anh. So we should get one apple gel!"
I smiled, rubbing Mieu's head in a gentle manner. "Great. Now read the next one."
"Yes!" Mieu pointed to the second line. "...P..."
Aww...he was sooo cute! His adorable voice trying to read the line. From what he was trying to spell, it was a panacea bottle. And it seemed that I had to go buy two of them.
"Pa... Na... Pana..." Mieu attempted to read it. "Pana...cea. Panacea! Panacea bottle!"
"Good job, Mieu!" I rubbed his head once more. Mieu looked up at me proudly.
"Mieu can read apple gel and panacea bottle!"
"So that's all we have for now, let's do the actual shopping," I grinned at the cheagle. Oh, he wouldn't mind if he was being used. After all, I still didn't know how the read it. Ah well, I should learn how to read it sooner or later. I picked up Mieu as he climbed up my arm and sat on my shoulder. I walked over to the shop. Time for some shopping!
Well, shopping was done. I could use Mieu for every other time I would need him for shopping. That was absolutely great! And no one would notice unless Mieu spoke up. Hopefully he wouldn't. I was just about to head over to the inn when Mieu jumped up and down on my shoulder.
"Myuu~ Anh! They are at the gate! They're at the gate!" Mieu chirped as he pointed to the entrance of the city. I looked to where his little paw was pointing to to see everybody hiding behind a large bulletin board. Tear and Jade was closest to the door while Guy and Luke stood across from them, placing Ion in the middle. I frowned a little bit as I approached them. Careful not to get too close to Guy.
"What's going on?" I asked them. Tear gestured me to come closer to where she and Jade was. I passed Mieu to Ion before coming close to them. Tear moved lower so that I was just a bit higher than her, getting a good view of the gate.
Peering past the two obvious Oracle Knights standing there, there were not three God-Generals but there were four of them. Along with Largo, Arietta and Legretta, Sync the Tempest had joined them. Oh, that was great. Sync was there. Green spiky hair, face covered by a freaky looking mask, he wore a black uniform. There wasn't much to say about him since he wore a mask and was completely mysterious except for the insert spoiler here. Other than that, he was quite the mystery.
Sync stood in the middle of the group, Legretta and Largo flanked his sides while Arietta's monster stood directly behind him. Arietta, herself, was standing also standing behind him, not too far from his right, stroking her pet liger.
Largo looked well, even from the attack from Jade if I remembered correctly. Although, he was looking a bit pale, he must be still recovering. Well, a man with his stature could stand against a lot of hits.
"Have you found Fon Master Ion?" Legretta asked one of the soldiers standing at the gate. The soldier quickly saluted her before he shook his head.
"It doesn't appear that he's entered St. Binah."
Arietta clutched her little doll closer to her so that the head of the doll covered half of her face. "Those people with Ion are the ones who killed Mommy... My liger friends told me." She lowered her doll, her eyes filled with rage. "I'll never forgive them..."
Uh...Heart to you too, Arietta?
"What about that Fon Master Guardian they said was hanging around?" Sync asked, taking a step closer.
"She appears to have made contact with the Malkuth military." The soldier answered. "But Malkuth is saying it's 'classified' and is refusing to provide any useful information."
Largo gripped an area over his heart. It must be the wound that was inflicted on him. "If I hadn't let that Necromancer get the better of me, Anise would've never gotten away."
We all tore our attention away from the God-Generals and towards Jade. He seemed impervious of the stares and continued focusing his attention to the gates. We could have stared at him all day before a very disturbing laugh broke out causing us to turn our attention back to the entrance.
Oh God...It wasn't...
"That's why I told you!" the voice boasted. I nearly wanted to cringe and flinch because it was Dist. "The only one who can defeat that beastly Jade is the elegant servant of the gods."
Elegant servant of the gods? By the Greek Gods, Aphrodite would have fainted if she heard him say something like that. And defeat Jade? Now who was it that picked on poor runny nose as children?
Wearing a black suit and purple pants, Dist the Reaper...floated...along towards the four current God-Generals. Pale lavender hair surrounded by what looked like huge dyed peacock feathers. The man must have lost his sanity as a man because he was crossing his legs in a feminine fashion instead of the usual male way. Does he have no pride for his man parts? I was quite surprised he wasn't on the ground while clutching them since he held that kind of sitting for quite some time now. To top it off, he wore large circular glasses and purple...lipstick.
For some reason...He was making me change my thought of him not being gay. Because the thought of him being either straight or gay never occurred to me, looking at him now...That changed. Was he really gay? Gay for Jade? Or was he trying to be more feminine for Jade, not that he was going to suddenly turn a new leaf if Dist ever did that. Hands down for Dist being a total gay man.
I wondered what would happen to me if he knew I was working for Jade. I should worry about it until he actually meets me instead of just wondering it now. Does he still have that revenge journal of his?
"The esteemed member of the Oracle Knights' Six God-Generals, yours truly, Dist the Rose!"
Without missing a heartbeat, Sync quickly corrected him. "You mean 'Dist the Reaper'."
Dist, you had no idea how much that name suited you. Rose? No. Reaper? Yes. Reaping the Necromancer's work. Yep, it suited him. Very well.
Dist pounded his fists onto the arms of his floating chair. "How is one so beautiful as myself a 'reaper' and not a 'rose'?"
The bishonen fangirls would like to have a word with you, Dist.
"There's no point on dwelling on the past." Legretta turned to Sync, leaving Dist completely ignored. "What do we do now, Sync?"
"Hey." Dist sounded extremely offended.
"Withdraw the troops from Engeve and St. Binah," Sync answered Legretta. He, too, was ignoring Dist.
"But...!" Largo started to protest but Sync held his hand up in the air, cutting Largo off.
"Your wound still hasn't healed." Sync pointed out. "The Necromancer almost killed you. Why don't you take a break? Besides, the only way for them to cross the border is through Kaitzur. If we stay here and antagonize the Malkuth military, it could spark a diplomatic incident."
"Hey! Stop ignoring me!" the ignored cried out.
"So next comes deciding how to deal with them at Kaitzur." Legretta nodded. "Let's return to the Tartarus for now and consider matters there."
"Inform the troops. First Divison, withdraw!" Largo ordered to the Oracle Knight. The soldier nodded, saluting him.
"Yes, sir!" He ran elsewhere to inform the troops.
...Weren't they inside St. Binah...?
After the soldier left, the four God-Generals exchange glances with each other before they departed, leaving Dist behind. Dist clenched his fists as he looked like he was having a seizure on his chair.
"You're all just jealous of my intelligence and beauty." And with that, he just left.
Once we were completely sure that all of them were gone, we stood out in the open. Jade's face looked like he wasn't pleased to see one of them there.
"So, Largo survived."
Guy looked at the entrance. "This is the first time I've seen the Six God-Generals. Actually, there were only five of the six there."
"Who are the Six God-Generals?" Luke asked. He was looking at all of us as if we were about to give him an immediate answer.
Luckily, Ion did the answering. "The six executive officers of the Oracle Knights."
"But there were only five of them," Luke pointed out. Ion exchanged short glances with Jade.
"There's Largo the Black Lion, Dist the Reaper, Sync the Tempest, Arietta the Wild, Legretta the Quick and..." Guy listed the current God-Generals, lifting a finger for each. "Looks like the one missing was Asch the Bloody."
"They are Van's immediate subordinates." Tear explained to Luke in simplest terms. She looked away, one hand underneath her chin. "If the Six God-Generals are taking action, then the one who's trying to cause a war is Van..."
"The Six God-Generals side with the Grand Maestro. Mohs is likely giving orders to Van." Ion elaborated. Tear frowned, crossing her arms.
"Grand Maestro Mohs would never do something like this." She countered. "My mission for the Grand Maestro is top secret, so I can't divulge any details. However, I assure you it is one of peace."
Uh-huh. Peace. Riiiight.
"Wait a minute!" Luke shouted. "Master Van wouldn't try to cause a war either!"
Riiight. Now who was it that put crazy ideas of being a hero to a certain redhead person? Tear obviously still doubted her brother.
"It's just the sort of thing my brother might do." Tear narrowed her gaze at Luke. Luke wasn't backing down either; he gave her his own glare.
"What are you saying, huh?" Luke challenged, pointing a guilty finger at her. "What about you? How do we know you're not a spy working for that Mohs guy?"
Because Mohs wouldn't kill Van. Unlike the other way around, Van wouldn't hesitate to slice the ugly fat man into sashimi. Even though sashimi would taste better than a fat deluded man.
"Please, settle down," Ion begged as he stood in between the two of them. Guy nodded as well, walking towards Luke and placing an arm in front of him.
"He's right. Now's not the time to be worried about Van or Mohs. Right now, we have to get past the Six God-Generals and prevent this war."
Tear softened her gaze and nodded, slowly. "You're right." She looked at Ion and Guy. "You're both right. I'm sorry."
Luke moved Guy's hand away from him, turning away. "I'm not accepting the apology of anyone who badmouths Master Van."
Tear shot Luke a glare that said 'I wasn't apologizing to you'. She hadn't said it out loud, but she was smart not to say so. Otherwise they would be jabbing at each other some more.
"Well, now that that's over, let's head for Kaitzur, shall we?" Jade asked all of us. He earned himself a few sighs, both irritated and weary, and nervous grins.
"Actually," Ion spoke up, "would it be all right if we stayed here for a bit?"
Luke gave Ion a once-over before nodding. "Yeah, your face does look pale again."
"Even after eating that sandwich?" I asked him. Ion nodded slowly.
"I'm sorry."
Ion...You were starting to sound a lot like Colette and Emil. No need to apologize for every small thing. It was for your benefit in the first place. If Luke was being such an ass and said no, I would had kicked the ass before dragging it towards the inn.
I should make something for Ion! Good idea!
Bad idea...
Actually...it was a good idea if I knew how to cook. I bitterly stared at the final product of the sandwich I was making. Everyone else had walked Ion to his room, including Mieu. I, on the other hand, walked over to the kitchen with the sandwich recipe in hand. There was a large selection on what kind of sandwich to make, but they were so easy to make though. Take some thin slice of meat, your desired vegetables and such and slap them onto a piece of bread, mayo was optional. So I up the ante a little bit by trying to make grilled cheese sandwich. I mean...How hard was it to make grilled cheese sandwich? You put cheese in between two slices of toasted bread and melt the damn cheese.
Well... My sandwich had cheese melting off of the sides of the bread. When I took it out of the frying pan and placed it onto a plate, the cheese that was hanging out of the bread had already hardened and it stuck itself on the plate. And not just the plate, there was some on the pan as well. Well, that was going to be a bitch to get off.
Apparently, making the sandwich was harder than I thought. I glared at the recipe book that had only a five points of instruction. FIVE!
I was hoping to give it to Ion so that he might feel a little better. I glared at the sandwich on my other hand while my free hand rested on my hip. Maybe I should eat it and search for the Wonder Chef. He might be able to help me make it, but would it be a waste to ask him to do something like this. And where would he be now? Crap.
"Darn. You're not good at this." a voice spoke up. I screamed, tossing the plate at whoever it was. He caught the plate and took a bite of the sandwich and made a face. "So...tell me how you fail to make the bread crispy and make the cheese melt like crazy?"
"Get off my back, Guy." I moaned. The blond chuckled as he finished the sandwich.
"Now, let the master show how it's done." He tore off his gloves off and rolled up his sleeves. He was going through the Wing Pack while I rolled my eyes.
"Guy. It's a sandwich. You put ingredients in the bread and cook it."
"Right. And you didn't seem to do a good job at it." He chuckled, pulling out a frying pan. He buttered it before tossing a slice of bread on top of it. I frowned at him. That wasn't in the cook book. "You don't always have to do what the cook book says."
"Well, improvising is not a good idea for me." I said.
"No, it shouldn't be for those who were starters," Guy agreed, chuckling to himself. He took a slice of cheese and placed it over the slice of bread before putting another one on top of it. He hummed to himself before flipping the sandwich over onto the other side and grinned at the sandwich. "Will you look at that side of the bread. Nice golden brown look means it's ready and it's going to be crispy. Just a few seconds on the other side and..." He tossed the sandwich up in the air and it landed into a plate he grabbed from the table. He passed it over to me. "We're done."
"Thanks, Guy." I thanked him, taking the plate from him. That wasn't going to help me actually make the thing. "I was hoping to make it for Ion myself..."
"Ion would appreciate the thoughts but that sandwich was still too soft for grilled cheese sandwich."
"Gee, thanks..." I muttered. "I'll ask you to teach me how to do it next time."
Guy grinned his woman swooning grin. "No problem."
I smiled, nodding at him before I left the kitchen to go to Ion's room.
"Knock knock~" I said before opening the door to the room Ion and Jade were staying in. Ion was sitting on the bed while Jade was nowhere to be found. Such a good babysitter, Jade. I walked over to Ion and handed him the plate with the sandwich. "Room service~!"
"This is really unexpected!" Ion took the sandwich before smiling at me. "Thank you, Anh!"
"Actually, Guy was the one who made it," I admitted. "I was trying to make it but it didn't go too well."
"At least you tried," Ion pointed out with a smile.
"You should have seen it though," I laughed. "It was disastrous! The cheese was flowing out of the sandwich before it was properly cooked. And I thought it would be okay if I just followed the recipe." I shrugged lightly. "Turns out it didn't go too well."
Ion chuckled. "Apparently not."
I sighed, looking at him from top to bottom. "How are you feeling?"
"A little bit better," he admitted, taking a bite of the sandwich. His eyes lit up like a kid and a smile was brought to his face. "This is good. Tell Guy I said thank you."
"All right." Seeing him smile made me smile. I think there was a saying that says that a smile was contagious. "By the way, where's Jade?" I looked around the room. I thought he might be eavesdropping on us or something. It was something Jade would do actually.
"Jade went out to request some funds for the trip." Ion told me. "He said that a certain someone had used up a large sum of money so now we have little."
I slapped my face. I was the one that used the large sum of money. "I can't help it!" I cried, lifting my face and moving my fists in front of me like a child. "He asked for 12,000 Gald! And I didn't know the way to Engeve! Fuuu! It's not my fault!"
"Fuuu?" Ion repeated, his tilted his head to the side.
Ack! I wanted a desk instead of my hand now. My face felt really hot, was I blushing? I think I was. "Ah. I make random sounds if I get frustrated...sometimes..."
"Sounds?" a new voice asked. Jade had stepped into the room, looking interested. "Such as?"
Geh! Time to flee! I stood up. "Since Jade's here, I should head over to my room now. I got something to do."
"Oh, let me walk you to the door." Ion set the plate onto the counter and stood up.
I want to hug him soo badly. He was being too kind.
"That's all right, Ion," I told him, holding a hand up. "I don't want Anise raging at me in my dreams if you push yourself."
Before he could say anything else, I bolted right out of the room.
I sat on the desk with a list of the Fonic Alphabet I had saw earlier today from the list. It wasn't a lot but at least I can start with those first. To be able to recognize them, I written the English equivalent underneath it. I stared at the letters. Too much swirls. And here I thought Hiragana was bad. This was worse.
Swiggles, swiggles, and more swiggles.
Waay too much swiggles.
Damn it! If I had a choice between this and Mandarin, I would totally choose Mandarin!
Ugh. I give. I would procrastinate when that time comes. For now, I was just going to screw it and just use Mieu until someone found out about it. All right!
I dropped my pencil and folded the paper up, stuffing it into one of my pouches. I slid the chair back, causing it to make a loud skidding noise. My arms fell to the side as I thought of something to do. Nah, I should improvise on the way.
Begin plan Be Lazy!
Yes, if you haven't noticed yet, the Wonder Chef made his appearance. To those at the forums complaining about him not being in Tales of the Abyss, you know you are *coughBritcough*. I hope you're happy.
Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are worlds from Tales of Symphonia while Terca Lumireis came from Tales of Vesperia. Yay for Tales references! :D And yes, I did actually failed making grilled cheese sandwich (this really happened in real life). I just happened to put more cheese in the sandwich and it just happened to melt before the bread was properly cooked/toasted.
Review and...stuff happens! Shit won't happen because the last time I said that my laptop went BOOM!
A shout out to my buddy, Loy, who's birthday (Sept 4th) happens to be today in her side of the world. So...Happy Birthday, Loy! Or in Japanese: Tanjoubi Ometetou, Roi-chan~!
See you all in the next chapter!