NAA: I changed my pen name! From now on, I will call myself MJC in these A.N.s!
NAA- er, MJC strikes a pose of determination before immediately editing how her title appears in Author's Notes.
MJC: Anyways, I just want to take a moment and just appreciate all of my readers and their support. Seriously guys.
Elsword: What's gotten you into lately? Bein' appreciative and crap.
MJC: Well, I've just been going through some stress, and my sister's been going through a terrible mess, and I started reading some of the reviews people submitted onto my old fanfic, Misinterpretations and Lots of Confusion. One of them, from a girl under the penname Xou was absolutely inspiring, and man, even though she only reviewed twice, I just wanna say that I love her.
Elsword:... You're a lot worse than I expected.
MJC: Oh, and when I say I love her, I don't mean romantically.
Elsword: My-Joyful-Chaos does not own Elsword.
MJC: EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE NOT READING THIS, AND THIS STORY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU, I DEDICATE THIS CHAPTER TO XOU!
Chapter Eighteen:
I'm Watching
Third PoV
Golden tinged locks, soft and thin as spider's silk splayed out behind the scantily clad woman. An expression that could easily be translated into both apathy or plain disinterest displayed itself on her features.
A cape billowed similarly to her hair by an unknown draft traversing the chamber. A sheath hung at her hip, long and slender. On her back was a bow, securely strapped. Intelligently sharp, golden straw hued eyes darted to examine her surroundings.
She was tense. The draft was not helping. Where was that man?
You see, this woman, going most commonly as The Watcher was a bounty hunter of sort. As in she constantly hunted for a bounty. She didn't really care what the job was, just so long as it had good pay.
Assassination? Sure, she could do that easily. The apprehension of dangerous criminals? Piece of cake. Even something as menial as wood chopping, or deer-skinning was easy enough, just so long as she got her golden coins.
A job as a bodyguard sounded simple enough. And that was exactly what had been requested of the woman. However, the quiet atmosphere was intense. Something was happening, but what?
The woman ignored the little voice in her head and focused on the few glitter demons within the chamber. They stood at attention, quite alert. Ready for anything, and prepared, too.
Odd for glitter demons.
The Watcher pursed her lips. Perhaps she was over-thinking. But the many decades' worth of experience in all too many crazy scenarios told her that her intuitive observations were, at the very least, heading in the right direction.
Where was that draft coming from anyway? Altering her readied stance in order to peer around at the nearby opening to a smaller tunnel of sorts. A shadow flickered in the opening. She blinked.
Was it just her, or was there someone-
"Oh, miss... Watcher, welcome to my Lord's humble abode!" The dark skinned elven woman who had only recently entered through some other entrance spoke loudly. Almost as if she considered the bounty hunter a stereotypical blonde, and deaf to top it off! "I am Chloe, one of Lord Ran's highest, er, servants."
Scowling, the bounty hunter flicked hooded eyes back to the other entrance.
"Do you think me an idiot?" She questioned in a low, and dangerous voice.
"W-Well, of course not!" Chloe plastered on a clearly fake smile in an attempt to placate the intimidating women before her.
"Where is your 'Lord Ran'?" Said women spoke again, raising her voice enough to establish an air of superiority.
"I'm afraid he has a bit of business to attend to. You see, we've recently has a bit of a disturbance with-" 'Tch'ing, the bounty hunter turned on her heel, her cape swirling after. With billowing magnificence, it tailed her as the women strode towards the suspicious entrance.
"Tell him I only deal with my client directly." She informed, emphasis on 'directly' to further her point. Finally allowing her fake hospitality to fall, Chloe glared disapprovingly.
"Then I suppose you won't be needing the job after all." The dark elf spoke nonchalantly, grinning sadistically a bit near the end. The bounty hunter paused in her stride, and twisted her head just enough to see Chloe out of the corner of her eye.
"Well if your Lord cannot see me personally, then I suppose he won't be needing my services." Another flickering shadow caught the bounty hunter's eye. However, before having the chance to investigate, a great burst of wind caused her cape to billow up behind her. Looking to the source, the elven women allowed a smidgen of satisfaction to enter her conscious.
"My Lord Ran!" Chloe, flustered, exclaimed. "I thought you were-" The silver haired demon rose a hand, signaling Chloe into silence. The Watcher wasn't quite sure what to do. Should she bow, perhaps? Before she could conjure a solution, Ran's focal point fell on her.
"Do you understand what I request of you?" He inquired, leaving no room for introductions.
"To eradicate the girl. The gate protector." The Watcher stated confidently, earning an approving nod from Ran. Without time for small chat, the Watcher once again whirled towards the entrance, or, in this case, exit.
"My Lord Ran, why do you need her for such a simple job?" Overhearing a smidgen of the conversation as she left, the Watcher couldn't help the scowl mar her features.
"Because there is more to a Dimension Witch than one would think."
Meanwhile...
The young girl gazed longingly through the glass display case. Her eyes reflecting the glittering lights which illuminated the many sparkling objects.
"Ara?!" Someone called from the entrance of the store, beckoning the girls attention. A small pout formed in her expression.
"Yes, Aren-nii?" The young girl asked, a whine evident in her tone.
"Don't go wandering off into strange stores." An older boy chided the girl. Her pout seemed to increase. Ruffling her long dark hair affectionately, the boy grinned slightly. "Let's go." Nodding, the girl immediately clung onto her elder brother's pant leg as they left. A bell chimed as the door closed behind them.
"Aren-nii, those people have weird hair." Laughing at his younger siblings reaction, Aren patted Ara's head.
"Maybe they died their hair?" He offered as the two bickering, strangely colored hair strangers passed. With a glimmer in her amber hued eyes, the girl let the pant leg go, and trotted over to the two. Tugging on the spiky headed guy, she looked up questioningly.
"Why's your hair that color?" Eliciting a giggle from the spiky haired guy's female companion, Ara asked quite seriously.
"Uh..." Was the only response emitting from the boy.
"Answer the question, Elsword." Grinning a bit wickedly, the curly-hair girl slapped the spiky head guy's shoulder playfully.
"I don't know." He resorted to scratching the back of his neck. Aren only stared on, a bit confused.
"What about your's?" Ara pointed at the curly hair girl.
"Well, I was born with my hair like this." Cocking her head lightly in response to the girl's reply, Ara gazed at her, confused.
"Sorry! My little sister's a bit too curious for her own good." Aren quickly apologized, smiling sheepishly. Ara watched as the girl brushed it off without so much as an awkward stutter. Before long, interest was lost, and Ara began looking around.
"Aren-nii!" Ara exclaimed, breaking her elder brother's conversation with the strange people. She pointed at a nearby cafe. "I want ice cream!" She cried, forcing a pleading expression onto her features. After a few moments of staring each other down, the elder boy finally relented.
"Fine, let's go." Waving a small good-bye to the strange people, Aren led his young sister by the hand across the road, and into the cafe.
"How cute." Aisha stated, smiling fondly after the two.
"They're after Aisha!" Aisha Ostrum hissed, ducking her head away from the entrance. "We have to warn her!" Patting her shoulder, Elsword, of Ri, attempted to calm her. Instead, he simply managed to draw two angry violet orbs to him. "C'mon." She whispered urgently, as they both realized the 'Watcher' was heading towards them. She mumbled a transportation spell, and before long, was gasping at the place they had originally entered the lair from.
"I think the other Aisha will be fine." Elsword stated matter-of-factly, nodding his head in agreement with himself.
"How do you know?!" Aisha cried, clutching his arm in a slight panic.
"Well, unless this 'Watcher' person can traverse dimensions, than I'm pretty sure Dimension Witch Aisha'll be alright. For now at least." He informed. Aisha sighed.
"I suppose."
MJC: For one thing, I apologize for this chapter's extreme late-ness, and short-ness! I really wanted this out a good two months ago, but then... Welp, let's just say that having to walk to the library is a good incentive to stay home. And, I've been finding a bunch of animes to watch, mangas and normal books to read, and homework to do!
Elsword: I'd say that those are just a bunch of excuses.
MJC: Well, fine then. I apologize for updating really, really, really, late. AND I take FULL responsibility for it!
Elsword: Tch
MJC: WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE, I THOUGHT IT WAS... SOMEONE ELSE'S TURN TO BE IN THE AUTHOR'S NOTE!
Elsword: You took so long to update that everyone left.
My-Joyful-Chaos is currently sputtering indignantly.
Elsword: Heh.
MJC: I ONCE AGAIN APOLOGIZE!
Toodle-loodles,
~My-Joyful-Chaos