Chapter 6

'No,' said Samaroh.

'What?' said Valkron, wiping sweat off his face with his palm.

'Are you sure you're a priest?' said Khan.

'Yes, I'm sure,' said Samaroh. He was attempting to be irritable, but since he was still shaking he just looked apprehensive. 'I don't have any relief for this kind of pain.'

'He's right. Stop bugging him,' said Emeth some way away, wiping his face with his cloak. 'It's old magic. We don't use it.'

'Why not?' said Khan.

'Because it'll kill us, that's why,' snapped Samaroh. He looked down at the fallen hunter and passed a hand over his face, whispering. A few minutes later the hunter opened his eyes rather weakly. 'Nice of you to wake up. It's still night time, but you might as well not be so vulnerable.'

The hunter raised a hand to his forehead. He had golden-brown hair tied up into a high ponytail, and the bluest eyes Valkron had ever seen. Amaru's eyes were blue, too, but they were a much darker, deeper colour. He could have been called handsome, but after what had happened everyone looked bad.

'You felt it, too,' he said, sitting up with some help from Samaroh. 'I heard all of you, before it - it hit me.'

'Yeah, well, we all share the same thing in common here,' said Valkron. He was on the way to recovery already, since he was a generally hardy person (being a knight had some advantages). 'What's your name, and how'd you get here?'

'Me? Um...I'm Nocturne. I got lost.' He grinned apologetically at Valkron's suddenly blank face. 'I thought my party was somewhere out here and somehow I got...stuck.'

'You're a hunter,' said Amaru, covering his cart. He too had a face as blank as Valkron's. 'How could you lose your way in a forest, of all places?'

'Time-space distortion,' said Emeth, still not looking at any of them. 'Like we saw back in the forest near Payon, Valkron. Everything looks the same, no matter where we walk. It must have happened to people who're walking about, so we didn't notice it.'

'Yeah, probably so.' Valkron turned back to Nocturne. 'Do you want to go back?' he said. 'We're heading to Prontera.'

'Sure, I'd be glad.' The hunter brushed away a few errant strands of hair from his eyes. 'Sorry to bother you, though.'

The knight ignored the last statement and went over to Emeth, who was staring resolutely at the ground. 'You all right?' he said in a low voice. 'You were the only one who didn't seem to be affected by any pain.'

'What? Oh - no, I'm fine.' Emeth said this somewhat unsteadily, though, so Valkron was not entirely sure if he could trust him or not. 'Just - well, I'm just still shocked. The old magic really does things to you.'

'Your eyes glowed. Was that it?'

'They did?' The wizard lifted a hand to his eyes. 'I didn't know that. No, something else. It was offering me power. I actually felt the old magic at the tips of my fingers. I could have used it! But...' He stared at his hand, and then put it back down. '...I'd rather stick to being ordinary and using the much tamer magic of today. I'm very attached to my life.'

Valkron couldn't find anything to say to this. Normally he would have, but seeing Emeth so shocked and distressed made him feel sorry for the wizard. 'You don't want extra power?' he asked.

'No. No way, no thanks. I'd rather go and throw myself down a scorpion pit.' Emeth looked at him. 'And what about you? You're becoming different.'

Valkron was startled by this observation. 'What do you mean?'

'A few days ago you didn't even like me being around, am I right?' said Emeth. 'We wizards can tell. Now you're actually offering help to someone you don't know anything about apart from his name.'

The knight gaped at him for a minute or so before saying, 'That's not becoming different. It depends on...whether I like it or not.'

Emeth gave him a knowing look, not unkindly. 'I'll keep it to myself. You don't have to hide things from me. There really isn't any point. I can tell how old you really are, you know.'

'Yes, by looking at my experience,' snapped Valkron. 'I know that, all right?'

He moved away to sit by himself. He felt very uncomfortable, and was aware of heat rising up his face. With a huff he leaned against a tree and folded his arms. What with the recent events, it didn't take very long for him to fall asleep.

The next morning found the little party standing at the Western Gate of Prontera. The place was filled with the usual people milling about. They didn't look concerned about anything at all. Valkron found himself wondering if they knew what was really happening out there.

'I say,' said Nocturne, going over to the side of the great arch that framed the gateway. 'Look at this.'

It was a poster. One look at it, and Valkron knew it was the King's declaration of the threat spreading through the world. But by the state of the parchment no one had even bothered to come along and take a look at it. It was easy to tell - Nocturne had to scrape off the crusted grime on it. It hadn't even been one proper week yet.

'Amazing,' said Samaroh, staring at the smudged parchment.

Emeth tapped a nearby monk on the shoulder. 'Excuse me,' he said politely, to the furious glare he received, 'do you know or have you heard anything recent about this?'

He pointed to the poster. The monk took a look. 'Load of balderdash. Nothing's happening. We're all perfectly fine.'

The six of them exchanged meaningful looks.

'It looks like nobody really gives a damn,' said Emeth, glancing at the splotchy declaration. 'It's probably because they don't know how the old magic feels like.'

'I don't think they give a damn anyway,' said Valkron, turning towards the gateway. 'No one does, these days. Will you hurry up? I've got important business to do here. We'll need to find all the information we can get about the portal.'

'For example?' said Khan politely.

'Where it is. So we can destroy it before it's too late.' Valkron glared at Emeth. 'I'm sure our wizard can help out.'

'Well, come to think of it, I can do some research in the library,' said the wizard, taking a step back. Valkron's glare was like a torch - its beam hit you no matter where you went. The only way to at least lessen its severity was to back down. Emeth was certainly bright enough to understand this.

They made their way to the plaza and stood there. Eventually Valkron wordlessly signalled for all of them to walk a little way away, up north of the city. When they finally got out of the plaza and stopped at a place where only an occasional swordsman or knight would pass them, they inhaled as one man. Valkron highly doubted that Prontera Plaza had any more oxygen left.

'All right, we split up here,' he said, turning around. 'Emeth, get down to it. The rest of you spread out and--'

'Why, there you are, Nocturne,' said a highly feminine voice. It was probably out of shock from being interrupted so abruptly that made Valkron turn to see who it was. So did the others.

An alchemist stood behind them, looking half-annoyed, half-relieved. She had a cart behind her, a Lunatic at her feet and an axe over her shoulder. The party stepped back as one man at the sight of her.

'Oh, hi, Eni,' said Nocturne sheepishly.

The alchemist shook her head in what was clearly exasperation. She had long brown hair, also tied in a high ponytail like Nocturne's. The only difference was that hers came down to her waist, while his remained at the back of his neck. When she looked up again Valkron found himself looking into a pair of bright, clear violet eyes.

She was also wearing a hairband with bunny ears.

'Come on, you,' she said, striding up to Nocturne - ignoring the fact that he was in the centre of the party - and grabbed him by the wrist. 'Iruna's been looking for you all over Prontera. Fancy you bothering her like that! We've got to go Al de Baran today, remember? Those monsters up there are really bugging the residents, and when it's Lord So-and-So offering sixty thousand zeny we can't forgo it!'

The party gaped as they watched Nocturne apparently let the alchemist pull him away. The little cart swung around as she did, nearly hitting Emeth in the shins. The Lunatic washed its nose and began hopping after the alchemist.

'Um...excuse me - miss?' said Emeth.

The alchemist turned. 'Yes?'

'Is he...' He gestured vaguely. Female alchemists literally took the air away from a place after they'd been it, and the wizard looked as if he was in serious need of oxygen. Nevertheless, he managed anyway. '...one of your party?'

'Oh, yeah.' She looked at the hunter. 'A small party. We're not fit for the mercenary rivalry. There's one more member.' She paused and looked at the five of them. 'You guys look like you could counter anyone.'

Valkron covered his eyes with his hand. Emeth was evidently trying not to look at him.

'So, well...I'm amazed that, uh, he follows you like your pet.'

Samaroh turned and strolled down the street. The others began to look for places to hide.

'My...pet?' The alchemist glanced down at her Lunatic, which was washing its ears. 'Well, no, not exactly. He's my brother, see.'

Valkron's hand dropped away from his face. So did his jaw. Emeth was starting to look awkward.

'Your brother?' said Khan, who had not managed to find shelter for the time being.

'Yep,' she said happily, while Nocturne stood by the cart and waited with his head carefully turned away from them. 'Younger than me, mind you. A bit dreamy at times and somewhat weird, but he's serious when it gets to fighting. Or shooting, really.' She smiled cheerily at them. 'You found him last night?'

'It was more like he found us,' said Emeth. Valkron remembered himself in time and shut his mouth.

'Oh, really? Well, one way or another I've got to thank you for finding him. Who's your leader? He deserves it.' Much to their surprise she walked up to them and gave them a closer look. 'Hm, I can see who looks like a leader here, although he's tall.'

She walked straight towards Valkron, who paled within less than a second and tried to back off. Unfortunately he was right up against Amaru, who hadn't found shelter either and was ignoring everything around him.

She was walking closer. The knight hardly ever had anything to do with girls except beat them off when he rescued them, so this was unnerving. But what was even more unnerving was that she apparently assumed someone who was handsome and tall was by nature a leader, so she walked past Valkron and right in front of Emeth. She gave him a polite peck on the cheek, even if it meant she had to stand on tiptoe.

Emeth blinked. 'I'm not the leader,' he said. His voice and face were carefully blank.

'Oh, really?' said the alchemist in surprise. 'Then who is?'

Everyone pointed to Valkron, who made a sound like 'grrk'.

'Well, hey, not everyone gets a kiss from a girl.' He could have sworn she winked at him. Whatever it was anyway, he allowed himself to stand still, although his legs ached with the want of running away. But the little calm part of it said: Knights don't run from girls.

Damn himself.

They watched her walk off, swinging the axe behind her. She gave them a wave as she did. 'I'm Eni! See you another day!'

'Nice,' said Samaroh, a few minutes later.

'Eni! Wait up!'

If Eni's voice had been what you might have called girlish, this voice was womanly. It had a rich tone to it, like someone who just came down from the mountains. But it was also accompanied by a very loud jingling sound as of that made by armour clashing together, as well as ground-shaking thumps normally associated with pecos being ridden at full speed. The result of the combination that passed the party was someone who looked like she'd come down from the mountains wearing armour and riding a peco at full speed. Both rider and bird hurtled past the stunned party and skidded to a halt ahead of a trail of sparks.

Eni turned to look. 'Iruna!' she said joyfully. 'I was wondering when you'd come!'

'Well, I was wondering when you'd come for me to say that you've got Nocturne,' said the rider, dismounting from the peco. Valkron shook himself awake and took a second look.

It was a crusader. A young woman with blue hair. She was (as all crusaders were) heavily armoured. Her Might Peco tossed its head and grunted. Valkron's own peco snorted and pawed the ground.

The crusader turned around. Once again the party took a step back as one man. Although her eyes were covered by a strip of cloth she seemed to radiate the feeling that she was looking right through it at them.

'Hm,' she said. 'Five men. Let's see...a knight, a wizard, a priest, an assassin and a blacksmith. Trying to get you to fight them, Eni?'

'Nah, they helped us find Nocturne,' said Eni happily, still unaware of what was actually going on. 'Helpful for a bunch of men, aren't they?'

The crusader smiled briefly, still facing them. 'I don't think they'd actually fight us, not with a knight as their leader.'

She knows, thought Valkron. Oh, damn.

The armoured woman sighed. 'Oh, well, time to go. Al de Baran it is.' She put one foot in the stirrup, ready to mount her peco again.

And then pain hit. Again.

Valkron staggered upright and tried to focus. Beside him Emeth was simply a pile of cloak, but his attention was on the three of them ahead of him.

'You can feel it, too,' he said somewhat weakly. He limped towards them.

'Oh, yeah,' said the crusader tiredly, leaning against the wall of a house beside the street. 'Get them all off the road, will you? They'll be trampled. Merchants, blacksmiths, alchemists, supernovices - they're running out of space in Lower Prontera. They'll be coming here soon.'

With help from his peco, Valkron got his fallen comrades to move to the side. The crusader had done the same with hers. The knight made his way to her, and then leaned his back against the wall. He slid down it to sit next to the crusader. Sweat was running down his face.

'I thought there weren't any more people like us,' he said breathlessly. 'I still can't quite grasp the fact the portal's magic is going that far.'

'Not sure about that,' said the crusader. She was clutching her shoulder. Valkron had seen her go down like that, before pain overtook his own mind. 'By the way, my name's Iruna. No need to call me madam, miss or dame, and I'm certainly not married.'

'Ah,' said the knight, still breathless. 'Valkron. I don't understand this.'

'Count me in,' said Iruna.

After a while they got up. The members of their party were stirring now, and attempting to get up. By the sound of it Nocturne was throwing up somewhere behind a nearby wall.

'Look at us,' said Iruna, turning her head slowly from side to side, as if looking at the area. 'I'm amazed people haven't started calling us loonies yet. I think it best to get everyone to a nearby inn, hm?' She faced Valkron.

To his amazement he found himself agreeing to the blank face framed with long blue hair. 'Why not? We've got nowhere to go.'

Iruna smiled disconcertingly. 'What a coincidence. So do we.'

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Small note. Age is measured by experience. Of course, the more you have, the older you are.