Chapter 9: To the Undine'sTear

Reva stared outside the window of the boat as it drifted over the icy waters of the north on its way to Keterburg. The chilling air stung at her lungs and skin the closer the boat got to the main land as it seeped through the walls of the ship. A frown etched itself onto face as she rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm up. The cold was not something that she appreciated, having grown up in warmer climates. She shifted in her place, the boredom encasing her mind until she finally had to say something.

"I'm bored."

Ethan, who was reading nearby and looking quite comfortable, looked over at her with a curious look on his face, "What do you mean?"

She sighed heavily and lazily looked at him with a deadpanned face, "I haven't done anything this entire cruise…" She thought that much might've been obvious, but it seemed lost on the young knight.

He chuckled nervously, certain that a bored Reva was something anyone would want, "Really? There's quite a bit to do." Her mischievous streak was not something he wanted to deal with again, and having her occupied with something was what he believed would be in his, and everyone else's, best interest.

Reva ignored him and stood up before striding to the door. As she touched the handle, she heard familiar voices. Leaning into the door to hear better she caught what sounded like the beginning of a conversation.

"Celia, it's nice to see you."

"Hello, there."

Her eyes lit up, curiosity getting the best of her opened the door, and saw Cameron and Celia talking, the former holding a container of fruit. Cameron had a smile stretched across his face but a small bit of nervousness leaked through.

"I heard from Jason that you like fruit, and I made this with some fruit I had." He handed her the container, and ran a hand through his hair, a clear sign of how nervous he actually was.

A bright smile lit up Celia's face as she took the container,"Thanks, I have a feeling I'm going to really enjoy this." She turned to leave, but looked backed and waved before exiting.

Cameron waved back, and let out a relieved breath. His shoulders relaxed as he smiled to himself, satisfied with his accomplishment. He had no idea as to who just witnessed the events that had transpired.

Reva smirked smugly, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed, "Well, well, what do we have here?"

Cameron jumped slightly when he heard her voice, "Ah, Reva, hello!" The nervousness returned as soon as he saw who it was. It may not have been so bad if it were someone other than Reva but it wasn't. Everyone was quickly starting to learn that Reva was a very mischievous girl when bored.

Reva noticed his anxiety and decided to save this new found information for later,"Busted," She said as she strolled past him, and outside to the deck. She heard him release another relieved sigh before she was out of hearing range. It didn't interest her at the moment, since she wanted to find something else to do at the moment.

Ethan walked to the door after Reva had left. He saw Cameron, the effects of his previous anxiety clearly showing, and asked with curiosity lacing his tone, "Cameron, what were you doing?"

Cameron chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, not sure how to answer he muttered, "Well, um…"

Ethan smirked, realizing that whatever it was, it was enough to embarrass the usually calm and collected Cameron, "What was with the gift?"

Cameron shut his mouth before turning to leave, having had enough people with information he wanted to keep secret. Quickly he began walking away, ignoring Ethan's question and closing the door behind him as a way of saying not to continue questioning him.

Ace then decided that it would be the perfect moment to enter the scene. "Ain't it obvious?" He asked as he walked over to Ethan, "He's fallen for our little genius."

"What?" Ethan questioned, confusion masking his face as he turned his head to Ace.

Ace shook his head, "Cameron is used to girls fawning over him, and Celia doesn't do that."

Ethan backed into the room from his place in the doorway, his face returning to its usual semi-serious look, "I don't see that a reason to fall in love," He replied as he closed the door.

Ace shrugged before continuing to his room. He had other things to do anyway, especially with his little sister around. Things weren't about to get any easier for him in the long run but he was glad to have a small bit of light during his journey. Having Amanda around was something that would keep his spirits up, even if nothing seemed to go right.

"Amanda!" He called, looking for his little sister.

The small girl ran out of the room, excitement clearly etched on her face at the sight her brother. She hugged her brother's leg and a grin lit up her face, "Brother!"

He bent down and picked her up, a small grin on his face as he asked, "How've you been?"

She laughed, "Fine!"

Ace began to walk towards the deck, "How about we go find the others?"

Amanda nodded, excitement covering her face at the thought of the other people she could play with.

Jason felt the icy wind sweep through his hair as he looked over the railing of the boat towards Keterburg Bay. It was off in the distance, but close enough for him to start getting anxious, "So close, but so far."

"It's not that bad. At least we'll be getting there in one piece," He turned and saw Ace and his sister. Amanda was beaming at the sight of Jason, having already become attached to him like she had for most of the others.

"Hey, guys," Jason waved, a faint smile coming to his face.

Ace placed Amanda down and she immediately ran to Jason's side. Jason placed a hand on her head before speaking to both of them, "How are you?"

Ace walked over to the railing as well, "I'm just fine." He replied as he leaned against railing with his arms crossed.

Amanda began jumping up while holding onto the hand on her head, "I'm fine to!"

Jason knelt down and removed his hand from her head while smiling at her, "That's nice to know," he said, as he picked her up.

Celia ran over to the four of them, her footsteps making a light tapping noise, "Hey, guys!"

Jason directed his smile towards her and gave a small wave, "Hey, Ce."

She took Amanda from Jason before starting up a new conversation, "Cameron was nice enough to make me a fruit salad."

He groaned slightly, "Um, why?"

Ace pulled him over, "It's kinda obvious," He answered as he shrugged.

"I know," Jason replied, a sigh escaping his mouth.

Ace glanced at Amanda, then over the rail, "We're almost there, I can rest…"

Skit: Brotherly love

Ace: This was probably a bad idea…

Celia: Bringing Amanda? What do you mean?

Ace: Protecting her isn't going to be easy…

Amanda: Don't worry; I won't leave your side!

Ace: But…

Jason: Heh, calm down, man.

Ace: How am I supposed to be calm?!
Jason: I wouldn't be spazzing like this.

Celia: Yeah, that's because Natalie is fifteen.

Jason: Yeah, but if anyone hurt her…

Ace: What would you do? I could use some advice.

Jason: Heh, it'd be best if you don't know. It's kinda gruesome.

Ace: You're one protective brother.

Celia: You wouldn't believe. He goes insane if someone hurts Natalie.

Ace: Well, okay…

Amanda: Tell brother what you would do, Jason!

Jason: Alright, but later. I don't want you to be around.

Amanda: Okay then, talk to you later!

Celia: Wait up!

Ace: So, uh…

Jason: Come 'ere.

Ace: Alright…?

Jason: *Whisper* *Whisper*

Ace: Holy crap!

Jason: Told you it was gruesome.

Luke and Tear wondered around Keterburg, looking for Jade, but came up with nothing. Luke stomped out of aggravation then looked back at Tear, "Where do you think he is?"

Tear strolled over to him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I'm not sure. We'll find him, so no need toget upset."

Luke nodded, letting out a breath that swirled a milky color before disappearing into the air, a clear sign of the cold, "Yeah, you're right."

Jason ran in front of Luke, stopping him, "Wait up! Isn't Jade the governor's older brother?" He asked, his voice winded from the run.

Luke nodded, enthusiasm taking over, "Exactly! She should know where he is."

Luke and Tear made their way towards the house of Nephry Osborne, the governor of Keterburg, and Jade's younger sister.

"Nephry!"Luke called, hoping the woman was there.

She poked her head out of her office, "Ah, Luke, Tear, hello," she greeted with a small smile before joining them outside her office.

Tear advanced towards her and decided to get straight to the point, "Hello, Nephry. Is Jade around?"

She shook her head, "No, Jade is out of town with his pupil, Emma. They're somewhere North. I'm not sure where exactly."

Tear nodded, a grateful, yet thoughtful smile on her face, "I see, thank you for the information."

The two bid her farewell and went to the north exit, where the others waited. Amanda was playing with some of the local children, Ace watching, the look on his face made it seem like he was on the verge of a heart attack. His instincts as an older brother were at an all-time high at the moment.

Jason lightly elbowed him to retrieve him from his thoughts, "Get your sister, we're going."

Celia sighed before shaking her head, "No, Ace. Ask Tear if she could drop her with the governer. She'll be safe there."

Ace nodded, liking the idea of his sister being safe and went. He picked her up then went to Tear, and requested her take Amanda to Nephry. She agreed, knowing that's it would be for the best. He went back to the others and explained the situation, "She'll meet us there. Where are we going, anyway?"

Luke face palmed, scolding himself for forgetting to inform the others, "I almost forgot. Jade and someone named Emma are out north."

Ace chuckled, and brought the attention to himself, "I know where to go, then. Follow me." He turned to the outside of town, and left with the others following him. He guided the others to the cave Nag had blown a large hole in a few weeks ago. He spotted the ones they were looking for and shouted, "Hey, Emma!"

She turned and gasped, "Ace!" She beamed at him as excitement filled her.

He ran over to her, a grin of his own plastered on his face, "How've you been?"

"Fine," She answered, before noticing the others behind him. A curious look crossed her face and Ace took note of it. He gestured for the others to come over. They complied for the most part.

Luke, however, went to Jade, "Jade." He greeted, not knowing what else to say.

He didn't look at him, "It's been what, a year, and that's the first thing you say?"

Luke sighed and rubbed his neck, "Sorry."

Jade chuckled in response, "No matter, what is it?" He inquired a knowing look in his eyes.

"We've been looking for something," Luke replied, having not noticed the look in Jade's eyes.

Jade looked at Emma, before turning back to the conversation, "I know, so have we."

Luke followed his gaze, "What is it?"

"I'm not sure. A few weeks ago, some ominous men blew this hole in the wall; they were looking for something," He turned his gaze to the hole in the wall; inspecting it.

Luke put a hand on his hip before changing the subject, "I heard you retrieved something from Emperor Peony."

"I did. A bracelet that allows one to use artes. Emma's wearing it," Jade replied, gesturing over to the mentioned girl.

Luke nodded, "You could say we're on a mission from the emperor. How about you come with us?"

"Well, I don't see why not. I'm sure Emma won't mind either," He walked over to the others, "Do any of you have an idea about anything someone might try to excavate from this cave?"

Celia stepped forward, the answer already leaving her mouth, "A new type of fonstone. They have incredible power, and can be very dangerous if in the wrong hands."

Jade nodded, a look of understanding flashing in his eyes, "I see, then we'd best search harder if it's so important."

Reva jogged into the large hole and, with her new lance lightly gripped in her hand, began lightly tapping the wall. "Get over here," She demanded, still investigating the wall.

Ethan ran to her, wondering what it was, "What do you need?"

"There has to be some spot on this wall that's weaker than the others. If I can find it, getting deeper in here will be a lot easier,"She explained while her eyes ran over the entire wall, analyzing it for any then gasped, "I found it!"

Emma ran over, excitement masking her face as she loudly proclaimed, "I got it! I'm gonna try one of my new fonic artes!"

Reva and Ethan backed out of her way, not wanting to be anywhere near the soon to be pile of rubble. A red casting circle appeared around her as she concentrated on her arte.

"Roar, O conflagration, and command this impure soul to their ashen end! Corona Rain!"(1) A small meteor came crashing through the roof of the cave, and hit the spot Reva pointed out. Everyone jumped out of the way as pieces of the ruined wall flew.

When everything settled down Cameron walked over to the newly formed hole, "Damn, girl, why did Reva search for the spot if you were going to blow the whole wall?"

Emma giggled and shrugged, a small amount of embarrassment lacing her tone, "Sorry."

Cameron smiled then walked through the hole, followed by Ace and Ethan.

Luke looked at it, "Wow, impressive." He commented before passing through with Jade behind him. Jason, Emma, Celia, and Reva passed through last. Reva glanced back at the sound of clicking footfalls and found Tear, trying to catch up to them. She stopped, and waited silently as the others continued before Tear spoke.

"Wait!" She called as she came running after them. "Sorry for the wait," She said, sounding slightly out of breath.

Luke shook his head and smiled brightly at her, "It's fine."

Reva ran off with Ethan pursuing close behind her. She stopped at a group of blue stones and began to inspect them, her curiosity overriding everything else at the moment,"Interesting…"

Ethan drew his sword, the feeling of calm before an attack washing over him, "Reva, be careful."

"Whatever," She muttered, waving off his concern and continuing her inspection.

"Come on, just be-" a shard whizzed by his head, cutting his cheek.

Celia pulled out a pistol she had brought along, and Ace drew his. They both shot in the direction of the first shard. A human shaped group of crystals jumped from a ledge and began running towards Ethan. Before Luke could assist, Jason grabbed him.

"There are more of 'em. They'll befine," Jason answered Luke's unasked question as he turned to begin a fight with another enemy.

A large group of them emerged from a wall near the group. It was enough to keep the entire group occupied. Ethan glanced behind him to find Reva still observing the fonstones. "Damn, how are you still doing that!?" He slashed at the assailant as it came towards him, "Reva, get up!"

She brushed him off again, and the monster turned to rush back towards him. "Frontline Bash!" He hit it in the head with his shield in order to stun it before slashing it with his sword. He thrusted at the enemy then brought up his sword, tearing apart its torso and head. "There." It backed away, and punched, hitting him in the jaw."What the heck?!" He rubbed his jaw, before blocking the oncoming attack with his shield. He jumped back and came hurtling forward with a thrust, shattering the rest of its body. "Finally." He knelt down and began panting. Another came running up behind him, about to strike.

Reva jumped up and ran to it. "Meteorite!" She called as she jumped up and came crashing down diagonally on the monster, her lance engulfed in flames.(2)

"You know well that that is one of the worst mistakes a knight can make," She scoffed while looking at him, and then ran towards the others. "Let's get to helping the others."

Jason smiled as he saw the two of them. "Maybe they'd be able to get along with each other and everyone else after all." He was brought back to reality as one of the monsters came up behind him. He turned and shouted, "Draco Blast!" as he punched it with the might of a dragon, shattering it and sending its pieces everywhere. He shook his hand. "Damn it, that hurt!"

Celia noticed another one about to drop atop him from above. "Streak Shot!" She carefully aimed at it and fired. The shard flew through the air, hitting the monster in its forehead, shattering it. It had already leapt, and when it landed, it shattered. "There."

Ace dodged each attack that was aimed for him easily, and kept a close eye on Emma. He was worried about her, since she seemed to be more of a spell caster than anything else. He returned to concentrating on his fight as he pressed the button on his gun and turned it to a dagger. He used to stab the monster and leapt back, while Cameron ran at it, and cleaved it in two.

Emma looked around, the shards of the fallen monsters everywhere. She noticed an odd movement in one of the walls and sighed. "One more." A green casting circle appeared around her. "Shear the enemy that stands before us! Aero Blade!"(3) Two blades of winds struck the wall, and a portion of it shattered, revealing it to be another was a pause as everyone waited for any sign that there may be more.

"We're clear. Let's get going," Jade looked around the room, "Any passages we can use to continue on?"

Tear noticed what appeared to be a small slit at the bottom of a wall and gestured to it for the others to see. Luke and Jason walked over to it. Jason inspected it for any clues on how to get past it.

"What do we do?" Luke asked.

Jason gripped it and began sliding it, "Luke, help please?"

Luke nodded and gripped it as well. The wall slid, and easily lifted, creating a large passage for them to pass through.

Jason stepped back and smiled while dusting off his hands, "There, we can move on."

They went through the new passage. Inside was a large area where there were many halls and doors area gleamed from the ice crystals that covered every inch of it. Many of the group had to pause due to their amazement of such a surreal place. Some of the more serious members quickly came back down to reality.

Ace whistled once they were inside. "Wow, this is weird," His voice echoed throughout the crystalline hall.

Cameron walked forward, "Let's see, where to go…" He began walking down a hall. "It'd probably be best to split up, but I'd doubt half of us would return."

Emma and Celia ran ahead of him and looked down the two halls, one going left, the other right.

Celia turned to Cameron, dragged him forward, and began to explain in a rushed tone, "Stay here. Emma and I will go inspect the halls, and when we finish, we'll look for you, and when we get here, we're together again."

The two girls ran down their halls, leaving the others behind. Celia opened the first door down her hall, only to be greeted by an empty room of crystal walls. "Nothing." She went to the next room, full of cardboard boxes. "Odd…" She went inside and opened one of them. "It's empty. Why are they here?" She tossed it aside, and opened another. "Glasses…" Another one of them was full of books. "This is just weird. Why are there books in such a desolate place?" She threw that aside as well, but stopped before she opened the next. "What the hell am I doing?" She left the room and continued on her way. A little down the hall, one of the rooms contained an armory. "Wow, impressive, but why here?" There were swords, axes, lances, bows, and other things of the like. "Nothing I would be interested in." She closed the door and continued, but nothing else stood out as she reached the end of the hall. She retreated back to the others and sat down like the rest of the group.

"Nothing down there, let's hope Emma finds something," She reported, as she made herself as comfortable as possible next to Jason.

Emma opened another door down her hall. "Wow, a library! She ran around, looking at all the books. "This is amazing! So many books!" She bumped into a bookcase, and all the contents fell out on top of her. "Ow…" She rubbed her head and began to tear up. "That really hurt…"

"Are you alright?"

She looked up to see Ace, the others in the doorway behind him, "Ah, yes…"

He held out a hand, and she took it. Having helped her up and they ended up with their faces within inches of each other, causing them to blush fiercely.

Jason 'tsk' ed, before loudly calling, "Get a room, you two!"

Ace dropped her hand and swiveled around to face him, "Not cool, man!"

Jason scoffed and waltzed past them, "Let's get to work."

Soon, they were all pulling books, hoping for the typical 'book switch'.Everyone was scattered around the room, searching for anything that stood out. Reva spotted a book high up. The spine stood out to her, and she began climbing the bookcase, in hopes that it was the correct book so she could be out of the cold faster.

Ethan, who stood below her, felt a book hit him. He looked up, an amused look gracing his face as he shouted, "Reva, what are you doing?!"

Reva felt out towards the book, but her weight caused the case to tilt. It began to fall into another, then another, until all the cases were falling in a domino effect. At the end of it all stood Celia, who was close to having all of the cases fall upon her. She stared at them in terror as they fell closer and closer to her.

Cliffhanger.

Corona Rain: Arte created by me, Incantation by Blue-Black Flames.

Meteorite: Arte created by Blue-Black Flames

Aero Blade: Arte by me, Incantation by Blue-Black Flames

Blue-Black Flames, who helped with the artes, helped me with the chapter as well.