The guy from the Miyagi Dojo last chapter; he had a description, he's probably important.

Chapter 2: He can use Artes?

Luke rushed ahead of Jason and Tear, Mieu following. Jason sighed. "He's like a little kid; does he usually act like this?"

"Not really."

"He's eleven now, right?"

Tear looked at him. "You know that-"

"Yes, I'm well aware that Luke is a replica; maybe that's why he's acting like a little kid. He's eleven."

Luke looked back at them. "C'mon, you two; let's go!"

Tear ran ahead. "Try not to fall behind!"

Jason began walking slightly faster. "Let's see… when we meet Ce, we'll get them… dammit."

He ran to the two. "Hey, wait!"

The two stopped. "What's up?"

"Can we stop by Chesedonia? My friend Celia is there waiting for m- er, us."

Luke nodded. "You're the one in charge here; what you says goes."

Jason pulled out a map. "Alright then, we'll be there in… about a week; we'll stop by the desert oasis for a pit stop, and to restock."

Mieu flew ahead. "Then let's go!"

Luke ran after him, leaving Tear and Jason. "You work for Emperor Peony?"

"Yes, I do; a spy to be exact, and Celia is… she doesn't involve herself, but she could be a big help."

He pulled out the phone. "Like this; it's a way to communicate with people wherever they are, she calls it the Fon-phone. It's actually a phone, but it runs on fonstones."

Tear took it from him. "She created this? Impressive."

Jason continued to walk. "She could make some for you and Luke."

Tear rushed after him. "I'd appreciate that."

"All the way to Chesedonia; by yourself?"

A young woman was combing her long blonde hair. "Yes, I am." She went to her closet and took out blue jeans, a blue shirt, and a black jean jacket. "I'm about to change; you can leave now Count Gardios."

Guy laughed nervously. "Ah, yes, sorry!"

He began to slowly back away. The young woman pushed him out. "Were you taking so long? You were hoping that I'd turn around and start changing? I didn't think you were like that Guy."

He blushed. "I-I'm not!" She pushed him out of her room and slammed the door. "Don't take too long Celia; you don't want to keep Jason waiting too long!"

"Whatever; just go!"

Guy sighed and walked away. "I hope she'll be fine all by herself."

"Are you worried about her?"

Guy turned and chuckled. "Ah, your majesty, um…"

Peony laughed. "How old is Celia, eighteen? You're six years older than her Guy, I didn't think that you'd be interested."

"I-I'm not! Celia doesn't fight; she might get hurt, and won't be able to do anything!"

Peony sighed. "I'll send some knights with her; alright?" Guy smiled. "Thanks, your majesty."

Peony walked to Guy. "If you want some advice, I could-"

"I wouldn't need it; I don't want to ask Celia out or anything."

"Ask her out? That's not ask intense as I was-"

"Shouldn't you be searching for the other fonstones?"

Peony laughed. "Yes, yes; I'll leave you be."

Peony left, and guy sighed. "This is insane…"

"This is delicious, Tear."

She giggled. "Thank you, Jason." Luke scarfed down most of the rice balls, and Mieu nibbled on one of them. "Damn, Luke."

Luke looked at him. "What?"

Jason heard rustling from the nearby bushes. "Odd."

Tear followed his gaze. "What is it?"

Jason stood and drew his sword. "Hate to cut lunch short but, we need to fend off some freaks."

A large man jumped from the bush, and Jason sidestepped. He slashed at the man's back; he stumbled, and Luke followed up, killing him. "Dammit; is there something else we can do? I'd like to avoid killing if I can."

Jason fended off two more men that came up from the bushes. "No can do; they probably saw me looking at Gnome's Crystal."

Luke sighed. "Fine then." Luke heard footsteps behind him and turned, blocking the oncoming strike. He pushed the man back and slashed at his chest. Luke turned to Tear. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Luke went back to focusing on the men that attacked him. Jason had dealt with everyone that he could. He noticed that two men were sneaking up on Tear while she was fighting one of their allies. "Demon Fang!" He shot the projectile at one of them, while another blue one struck the other. "Azure Edge? Where did that come from?"

Another man ran from the bushes and ran towards the man in front of Tear, and cut him down. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, and Jason chuckled. "It's you; from the Miyagi Dojo yesterday."

The man scoffed. "I'll be taking my leave now."

He began to walk away, but Luke called out to him. "Who are you?"

The man laughed. "We'll meet each other again; you'll find out in due time." No one spoke up the second time, and he wondered into the brush.

Jason sheathed his sword. "Let's get out of here."

"Wait." He looked at Tear. "You use Demon Fang; how?"

Jason turned. "Our mystery man used an arte too."

"I know, but why? We lost the ability to use artes."

Jason continued to walk. "Don't worry; you'll find out eventually."

Luke stared at him. "I wonder if it's a good idea for him to be using those."

Tear nodded. "It must be; he wouldn't otherwise."

The two followed him, but Mieu stayed behind and played with the shield of one of the assailants. "Mieu, c'mon!" Mieu dragged the shield along with him.

Jason raised a brow when he saw Mieu emerge from the brush. "What's with the shield?"

"I thought it looked nice!"

Jason picked it up and looked at it. "Odd; there's some weird crest on it."

Luke and Tear looked at it; a star shaped crest was in the middle of it. "I wonder what it could mean."

Tear turned back to the road. "We can worry about that later; I doubt this was the only time we'll see people that wear that crest."

Luke joined her. "She's right; we can't waste our time worrying about something like this."

Jason put it on. "I might as well use it for the time being." The four continued on their way.

Celia looked out her window later that evening. "A week until I see Jay again…"

"You miss him, right?"

She turned around to see Natalia standing on her balcony. "Hello Natalia. You're right; I'm not away from Jay that often, and it's going to be two weeks before I see him."

Natalia walked next to her. "It's not too bad; if you waited for him here, you'd have to wait longer."

Celia nodded. "You're right; it's kinda a good thing, then. I can't wait to get going tomorrow, it's been so long."

"As soon as you see him, you have to get to work, though."

Celia sighed. "I know; but it's not too bad; I like my work, it poses a nice challenge."

Natalia looked up at the sky. "This job is very important you know; we still don't know what we're up against."

"Just three years ago was the incident with Van and Eldrant, now this."

"Without artes, it'll only make things more difficult."

Celia walked back to the door. "I know, but I'm still searching."

Natalia smiled as Celia went inside. "That girl; trying to find a way to restore artes… she works so hard for something that's basically impossible." She turned back to the sky. "Maybe… maybe she'll do it; what will happen then? Without the planet storm, then… Celia isn't that careless, right?"