Valentine's Day Special

Oh ho ho ho! This one is set over twenty years ago! *Smirk* I bet you all can guess what that means.

On another note: I EFFING HATE MY LAP TOP! It's like the sole purpose of its existence is to piss me off!

x x x

FTaBV Omake: The Beat of Wings

x x x

'In Aspio there is a researcher by the name of S. Althea who requests an escort to the Quoi Woods'

With such vague terms it was no wonder none of the other guardian guilds had stepped forward to accept the request. If that wasn't bad enough, no one was willing to set foot into the supposedly cursed woods. The few bodyguards for hire that might have considered accepting lost interest at the low reward being offered on completion.

In the end his boss Mikael had 'suggested' Ludwig take the job himself, with that smile that said to those who knew him, "Just take that damn sword you're so proud of and get out of our hair already!" As one of the guild's best fighters, Ludwig had been growing restless thanks to the lack of high difficulty work. And taking a lower level job just to kill time seemed unfair to the beginners still struggling to make names for themselves.

But those ambitious younger members practically threw him and his jian sword on the boat to take him across the sea. Apparently Mikael wasn't the only one fed up with Ludwig loafing around guild headquarters and giving swordsmanship to practically everyone. Devon, Mikael's brother, had snapped at him once for describing different stances with the dao for the third time just the other day.

Sighing, Ludwig stuffed the the brief instructions back into the envelope Mikael had shoved into his hand literally seconds before he'd found himself being swept up the gangplank by sailors impatient to be out to sea at once. Another slip of paper fell out and fluttered to the deck like a wounded bird. Bending over to scoop it up he immediately recognized the familiar scrawl.

'Hey Luddie! Be sure to find yourself a good woman this time!'

"Very funny, Arcas," he grumbled while crumpling the paper in a fist. "But shouldn't you find a girl yourself before sticking your nose into someone else's love life?" With a soft snort for his old friend's antics, Ludwig lay back on the sun warmed wood of the deck to doze.

x x x

"Just where is this Althea hiding?"

Ludwig had been sent on a wild goose chase all over Aspio since his first steps through the main gate. Several other researchers recognized him from previous jobs, and the friendliest of them tore their noses out of their books just long enough to point him in the direction of the client's house. But the door was locked and there weren't any lights in the windows. When he'd knocked on the neighbor's door, he heard that Althea hadn't even come home in the last two days.

Since then he'd been following the directions of more people than he could count who recalled seeing Althea in passing. From shop, to shop, to the library, to another shop where he'd apparently been just a few minutes too late, and finally he was back in the library again. And still couldn't find Althea anywhere.

With an exasperated sigh he leaned back heavily against a bookshelf, causing it to rock slightly despite the heavy weight of the books it was loaded with.

"Waugh!" Startled by the cry from above his head, Ludwig looked up just in time to see something large and yellow falling on him. He grunted in pain as he was knocked down and his head banged sharply against the shelf behind him.

"Owww..." The yellow thing shifted its weight, so the swordsman was able to sit upright properly. He discovered that a young woman was sitting in his lap, hand covering her eyes and shaking her head slightly as if to dislodge the disorientation from the fall.

She wore a pale yellow dress embroidered with a pattern of white feathers. Her brown hair was long and gathered back into a braid, though many wisps had escaped and curled around her neck and back. He'd just noticed a clip shaped like a pair of spread wings keeping her bangs from getting into her face when her hand finally dropped and she looked up into his eyes.

Her eyes were bright green, and unlike nearly everyone else who lived in Aspio she immediately gave him her full attention.

"I'm so sorry! The shelf just suddenly moved under my foot when I was about to climb back down, and I just couldn't help slipping!"

"Er-no, I should be the one apologizing, it was my fault you fell..." Ludwig's words trailed off as something about the situation finally registered. "Wait, do you mean you were climbing the bookshelves?" He looked around as he questioned her incredulously, but didn't see any of the ladders kept for reaching the highest shelves nearby.

She giggled a little bashfully. "Ah, yes, well sometimes when I get caught up in my research I just don't want to waste a single second to learn more. I've actually gotten really good at climbing the shelves, and can reach any book much faster than if I used a ladder." Realizing she was still sitting on a complete stranger, the young woman scrambled back to her feet and helped Ludwig stand.

"Thank you," out of habit he briefly checked to make sure none of his gear was damaged before returning his attention to the young woman. "May I ask, have you seen someone named Althea recently?"

"Not since the last time I passed by a mirror," she smiled, her green eyes half closed in an oddly cat like expression. "I'm Althea. Sophia Althea. And you are?"

He was sure his expression betrayed his surprise as he looked her over again. This is the person I've been chasing all over Aspio? "Ludwig Vitae. I was sent to be your bodyguard in the Quoi Woods."

"Oh, wonderful!" Sophia clapped her hands. "I was starting to think I couldn't possible wait any longer, and would just go by myself!"

"Just what could be so interesting there?" the swordsman wondered. "I've only ever heard stories that the woods were cursed."

"But that's just what makes it interesting!" she beamed at him. "What if the curse is caused by a buried blastia? There could be undiscovered ruins in there, and everyone just missing them because they're afraid of some silly curse or ghosts or whatnot. If it is there, just imagine all the new blastia we could find, and what we might learn about why they were buried in the first place!"

"Hold on for a moment," Ludwig broke into her rant before she could get enough momentum to launch a full lecture. "This sounds like a hypothetical argument. Do you have any proof that these ruins might exist?"

"That's why I need to go look," she told him as if it were the most obvious thing. "If everyone else has been too frightened to look properly, then even the most obvious proof may have been overlooked. I, for one, intend to thoroughly comb over every inch of those woods before calling it quits!"

Seeing the determined fire in her eyes, Ludwig did not doubt for a minute that she would do just that. This is beginning to sound like a much longer assignment than any of us thought... But even if he turned her down, at this point she was perfectly ready to go by herself. And there was no way he could show his face back at The Protectors headquarters if he'd just abandoned a normal person to the mercy of the wilds.

"I think we'll need to purchase more supplies than I brought with me," he sighed.

"Not too much more," he looked at Sophia questioningly. She smiled and pointed out a pair of travelers bags over in the corner. "I've been putting together everything we'll need since this morning, so as long as you don't have anything to add that I've missed, we're good to go."

A quick inventory of the bags impressed him greatly. Gels, panacea bottles, nonperishable foods that required little in the way of cooking, a water proof tarp, canteens, matches and flint... She'd clearly put a lot of thought into what would be necessary for a prolonged trip in the wilderness.

Within the hour the pair were leaving through Aspio's gates, Sophia skipping along ahead in her eagerness to reach her goal. Watching her yellow skirts twirling around as she bounced along, Ludwig had to smile at the image of a chick hopping around while trying to flap its small wings.

If she's a bird, then I suppose earlier in the library that was her falling out of her nest. Now it's my job to make sure none of the predators snap up this little chick before she learns to flap her wings properly. Something told him that he wouldn't mind this job at all.

x x x

And I have a big grin on my face now.

No one requested this, it was just a whim of mine. Maybe I'll post more about these two, but that'll depend on how much people like this omake and if the urge to write about the lovebirds hits me again. But I thought their meeting would be a nice little treat for Valentine's.