A/N: Yay! A oneshot done this week, AND the chapter on time? If I actually get this done, I'm gonna be proud of myself. ;3
Disclaimer: I will own Grand Chase the day someone walks up to me and hands me the rights to them. (It hasn't happened yet, but I can keep hoping, right? xD)
Chapter... Wait, what chapter is this again? o_o... 15? That sounds right... *checks* Yup! Chapter 15 :D
Chapter 15: Time of Rest
Arme was awoken yet again as she was placed down on a soft surface, eyes opening to see the rest of the chasers. It was obvious that they were now inside the castle, in a room with a circle of various chairs, sofas and couches. She had been placed on on of the couches, Lass sitting down at the end where there was room. Sitting to the left of him was Ryan, next to Elesis and Ronan. Amy and Jin stood next to the pair of knights, the closest to Arme's right. Everyone was looking at Elesis, and Arme remembered vaguely that they were to be given instructions when they reached the castle. Looking grateful for everyone's attention, Elesis took a deep breath before starting.
"Alright, then. The places that desperately need to be checked from here are the Forsaken Barrows, the Marsh of Oblivion, and Gaikoz Castle. It would make most sense to give Jin and Ryan the task of checking Gaikoz Castle, if they go there and clear out the area they can stay at the castle until they've collected all of their shards. Forsaken Barrows is the next most pressing issue, seeing as we were attacked by more monsters than should have been in there in the first place... Ronan and I will go check that out. That leaves Lass and Amy to go check out the Marsh of Oblivion. Sound good?" She looked around at the others to see if there were any problems, her eyes stopping at Lass.
"Yes?" The assassin sighed.
"Elesis, there's kind of a big flaw in your plan. If we do that, Arme is going to be left alone in the castle. Seeing as she's a bit too..." Lass paused for a second, "Dangerous to herself to be left alone here, I'm thinking that's a bit of a really bad idea. Not to mention the fact that this place doesn't have a fridge. She'd have to go out hunting every day, and I'm pretty sure we'd come back to a starved magician." Elesis blinked, her eyebrows raised as though she hadn't realized that part of the plan.
"I could leave my gon here with her?" Ronan suggested, getting a look from the rest of the group that clearly said 'you have got to be kidding me'. The gon also whined in protest, burying it's head into Ronan's hair as it often did and clawing more tightly than usual into his shoulder. Petting it's back absentmindedly, Ronan looked back at the red haired knight.
"What would you suggest, then?" Frowning thougtfully, Elesis looked around at the others.
"Hmm... We'll have to shuffle some people. Lass, I'm assuming you're the most adept at keeping Arme out of trouble, so you'll stay here. Amy will come with us, I doubt it'll take an entire month to scout out the Forsaken Barrows. When we finish there we'll take a stop back here, and then we'll use the remainder of the month to head over to where the Marsh is and check that out. That should give Arme a bit higher level of security, I'm sure." She explained, looking at the silver haired boy. Lass nodded, looking over at Arme. The magician also nodded in agreement with the plan, the other members of the group following suit.
"So we'll stay here for a day to rest up, and then we'll set off tomorrow." Amy nodded hyperly, raising her hand in the air and waving it around to get the knight's attention, "... Yes, Amy?"
"Ohh! Can I cook today?" She asked energetically, looking hopefully at Elesis. The red head in question seemed somewhat hesitant to hand over her last assured good meal for the rest of the month to the dancer, but in the end she acquiesced. With a stretch she looked at the others, standing up.
"The supply of food we had from that Mongban Ronan and I found ran out, so it's up to you to find something to cook. As for me, I think I'm going to go catch a nap. I could use a decent sleep in a good bed." Ronan nodded, picking up his glave.
"I'm assuming Amy will need some help with hunting? I have some energy, so I might as well help." Jin stood up as well, watching as Amy followed.
"I think I'll come too." The muse clapped her hands, giving a quiet cheer.
"Yay~! Let's go!" Seeming extremely excited to get cooking, the girl nearly flew out the wooden door. Soon after the two males followed, breathing a sigh at the energy levels of the muse. This left only Ryan, Lass and Arme in the room, all three sitting silently and looking at each other. The magician was the first to stand, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she moved. Lass watched her cautiously as she made her way to the door, turning back to the two at the last second.
"I'm gonna go explore for a little while, kay?" She smiled, making a slight wave. Lass looked at her for a second as though he was going to stand up, yet in the end he didn't move.
"Sit down if you get tired... We don't know what exactly that Lich's spell did to you, so it might still be hovering around. There's a chance you'll get tired, so... Be careful. And keep in mind that since this place is old, there might be some holes in the floor. Just... Try to avoid those, alright?" Arme nodded at the instructions, eager to get out of the room and look around. She left as soon as it seemed Lass had nothing to add, marvelling in the size of the hallway outside. To her right was an immediate staircase downstairs, so Arme tuned to the left to check out more of the floor she was currently on. Like the silver haired boy had warned her of, several chunks of both the floor and walls were missing, allowing her a peek into several rooms as she walked by them. The first that really piqued her interest was a study, and she wandered into it cautiously. There were three large shelves, and the magician went to the first slowly. It was aging and musty, easily several hundred years old. The chances that it could fall over on her were high, yet even so she took her chances and eased a book out of the shelf. Flipping it open, Arme nearly gasped.
"It's... English!" She said out loud, marvelling in the writing even though no one was around to hear. It's called Old Bermesian now, but all the word orders are the same. Someone just decided to change all the letters a while ago, so...
"Ah!" She remembered with a grin Amy's explanation on the languages, and she flipped through the book with a sigh of relief. Something I can read properly! Finally! She hadn't actually expected seeing her own language's writing would be so much of a reprieve, but she felt much more comfortable than she had in weeks when she slid several of the books from the shelf onto the table. She had read often in the hospital, and it was something that she remembered as a calming past time. This should help a lot... She frowned as she realized that she wouldn't be able to read up on the current battle with Kaze'Aze, It being too recent to have been documented in her language. What she could do, however, would be to read up more on magic, and the world in general. It was a nice thought that she was being given a chance to catch up on the fifteen years she hadn't lived there.
When the short girl had piled up all of the books she wanted on the table from the first shelf (disregarding the higher shelves she was unable to get to without pulling some stunts she was certain Lass wouldn't be appreciative of), Arme turned to the second shelf. Even though the shelf itself was just as ancient, the contents in it seemed a bit more recent. It was still in Old Bermesian, so Arme gratefully piled up several of the books from that shelf too before moving on. It was at the third shelf that she began getting confused. This was, she assumed, where the New Bermesian form of writing had began to come into play. Letters were mostly Old Bermesian, though she could see the evolution of them as she went on. Book by book, they were slowly getting more compressed, having new symbols added to them, and having lines moved around until by the end of the bookshelf Arme could only understand what she had learned of the new language. Frowning, Arme still picked up some of the books dealing with magic. I guess I'll read them when I finish the others... Taking a glance towards the last book shelf, the magician knew without looking that they would all be in Bermesian. She pulled some of them out even so, sighing. I'll have to get used to the language some time... Three books stacked into a pile in her hands, Arme turned to the desk with look of mystification. There were roughly twenty books piled up on the small rickety desk, and the thing looked like it could hardly stand anymore. The problem is, she mused, how to get these to my room. Where is my room, even? She sighed yet again as she placed the last three on the writing table, eyes widening at a small creek that came from the legs of it.
This small creek was naturally followed by several louder creaks, ending up in Arme staring as the entire desk collapsed in front of her with a large thunk. The books had added additional noise to the fall, thudding noisily and heavily on the floor around her. Well... This is just great. She bit her lip, a hand running through her hair as she tried to come up with a reasoning for her breaking a desk potentially worth thousands of dollars for it's age. She stood there contemplating for about a minute before the door was flung open and Lass barged in, looking at her as though he had expected something slightly more life-threatening to have been going on. He stared at the broken desk and back to the magician, repeating the action several times before closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.
"Arme?"
"...Yes?" Arme smiled embarrasedly, eyes down to the ground.
"Did you just stick a large stack of rather thick books on a desk that appeared to be near breaking down without anything on it?" He questioned slowly, as though he wasn't really expecting an answer. Arme scratched the back of her head timidly, looking up at the blue eyed boy.
"Sort of...? It didn't look that frail!" She protested, defending herself weakly. Lass sighed and smiled, shaking his head disbelievingly.
"Well... It could have been worse, I guess. Did you find all the books you wanted?" Arme nodded, not quite in the mood to ask for any of the higher up books. Instead she kneeled down and began picking up the fallen ones, setting them in a pile next to her on the floor as she collected too many to carry. When she looked over she was surprised to notice Lass helping too, picking up the stack she had been piling. In the end she had only five books to carry, and had to watch as the assassin somehow managed to balance 18 rather thick looking volumes.
"Do you know where your room is yet?" He questioned as they made their way towards the door, watching Arme out of the corner of his eye. The magician shook her head, allowing Lass to lead the way. He seemed to have a good understanding of the layout of the castle, and they made it to a large door without problems, Arme pulling it open to help the assassin inside. When she followed him in the short girl gaped at her surroundings, a rather large room with a double bed and two large windows on either side; one was crumbling, yet still maintained it's shape well enough and kept the glass pane in place . A beige, aged armoire stood to one side, though it still seemed in a rather decent condition. There was also another door that she could only assume lead to the bathroom, and a fireplace to the side of that door. Two large bookshelves stood to the right of the bed and the window, nearly empty. This was where Lass began to deposit the oversized stack of books, setting them on a high shelf. He then looked back at Arme, and as though on a second though, began to move them to lower shelves.
"Hey! I'm not that short!" Arme huffed, cheeks red as she placed her five books on the second bookshelf. Lass rolled his eyes, placing one back on the top shelf with a smirk.
"Alright, then. If you say so." She gaped as he walked away, sitting on the edge of the bed where he could still watch her, "Can you get that book, then?" This was where it was the magician's turn to grin, watching as his cocky expression changed, confusion taking over.
"Of course I can, Lassie!" With a simple determination Arme began pulling books off the shelf, piling them on the ground. Lass stared for a moment, as though disbelieving that the girl would actually use the rickety stack as a foothold. His belief was proven wrong, and the magician stepped onto the pile cautiously. It was at this point that the assassin began standing back up, eyes wide as Arme made a small jump from the stack of books to the bookshelf itself. Grabbing onto the shelves, she hung precariously off the higher shelf as she gained a new foothold on one of the lower shelves. She snagged the book successfully, her grin widening as she reached back with her foot to find the stack of books. When her left was securely on them Arme pulled back her right, and she had nearly set it down when the entire stack toppled forward.
"Ahh!" Arme gave a short scream as she fell back, though she knew full well she wouldn't hit the ground. As predicted, before her back could connect with the stone floor Lass had grabbed her, lifting her up cautiously and staring at her cynically.
"Got it!" She smiled, placing the thick text in his free hand. The silver haired boy took it amusedly, setting her down on the bed and placing the book on the nightstand.
"Just so we have this clear, you only do things like this when I'm around to worry me, right?" He questioned with a small smile. Arme shrugged.
"Well, I don't do it just to worry you! That happens to be a side-effect!" The assassin smirked as he picked up the books from the floor to set them back on the bookshelf, "Mmhmm. Of course you don't." When all the books were back in place he stood up, stretching.
"Now you should probably just stay in here until dinner. After all, you'll have a full month to explore." Arme shook her head, attempting to stand back up. It was then that her stomach decided to act up again, a simple, sharp pain that forced her to fall back onto the bed. Her hand pressed over it as lightly as she could in an attempt to lessen the pain, and she could see Lass walking closer.
"I'll rephrase that," He said as he picked her up lightly, setting her down on the bed again so her head was on the pillow, "I'm demanding that you stay here until dinner." The pillow was surprisingly soft for it's age, and Arme could feel herself getting drowsy again as he pulled the blankets out from under her to set them down lightly over her. When the magician looked to tired to move Lass took his leave, allowing her to lay there in silence and stare at the ceiling. Whatever that magician cast on me, it's getting annoying... She thought irritatedly, her eyelids too heavy to keep open. She glanced over at the book on her nightstand, but didn't bother to reach out and pick it up. If she was supposed to actually be learning from it... There was no way she would remember anything the next morning from that energy level. Her eyes lazily peered around the room to search for a for a source of amusement as her eyelids closed slowly, Arme sighed. Instead of looking for something to keep you awake, perhaps you could actually do what Lass told you to? There's a novelty idea! Her stomach was aching, and the idea of a reprieve in sleep finally overtook her, pulling her heavy eyelids shut and lulling her into sleep.
"Arme? Dinner's ready."
"Nnhh... Hm?" Arme woke lazily, opening her eyes to see Jin standing next to the bed, "Amy sent me to come get you." Arme nodded, a light pain in the bite wound as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Jin watched her worriedly as she managed to stand up, grabbing one of her arms and placing it over his shoulder to act as a support when she appeared that she was about to fall. This didn't work very well, the height difference resulting on Arme's left foot being up off the ground and her right only touching by the toes.
"Hmm... Piggy-back?" He suggested, kneeling down. Arme was too used to being carried by that point to bother protesting, so she gratefully accepted the help. Looking around the room before they left, she noted briefly that the fighter had left her bag on the ground near the armoire.
"You should tell Amy that your injury's bothering you, she might have something for it." He mentioned briefly, walking out of the room slowly as though afraid to drop the magician. Arme nodded, looking around the halls when they left her room. Speech could be heard from a fair distance away, and Arme could only guess that it was the people in the dining hall... Seeing as she was on the third floor at the very lowest, Arme decided this was probably normal. The speech got a bit louder as Jin made his way cautiously down a staircase, Arme guessing that he wasn't all that used to carrying another person.
"Sorry about this..." Arme apologized quietly, looking around. The fighter shook his head.
"It's no problem, I carry Amy all the time. It's just a bit more daunting knowing Lass would probably murder me if I dropped you or anything bad happened." Arme's cheeks quickly burned to a cherry-red hue, an embarrassed frown on her face.
"Why does everyone say that?" She complained lightly, hitting Jin on the head lightly in a manner she was sure wouldn't actually hurt him. The fighter shrugged, a grin on his face.
"Because it's true?" The magician had no comeback to that, and all she could do was avert her eyes from the red head's seemingly knowing grin. There was a quiet laugh at her somewhat childish behaviour, but even so Arme refused to look at him again throughout the small walk to the dining room. She was simply praying the flush would be gone from her face by the time she arrived at the table, knowing there was a highly likely chance Amy would tease her if it wasn't. Fortunately enough for the magician it seemed to be mostly gone when she was let down, her face seeming much less warm as she was set in a chair. Most of the Grand Chase was already there, excluding Amy herself. Arme was personally seated next to Lass (she was well aware Jin had done that on purpose) and Elesis, the knight looking rather impatient for a meal.
"Arme's here, Amy!" Jin called out, taking his seat next to Ryan and an empty chair as a loud clap was heard from the next room.
"Finally~!" Arme was certain her jaw wasn't the only one that dropped when Amy came out, somehow balancing more plates of food than should have been possible. The assortment almost reminded Arme of the near-buffet she had made the first day she was in the Grand Chase's house, though created with several less ingredients. The dancer placed each plate on the table cautiously, and Arme noticed with amusement that all of them had been placed on the side of the table where Elesis wasn't sitting. The knight had apparently also noticed this, and even as Amy began speaking she was pulling on the sleeve of Ronan (who was on the other side of her) and asking him to bring over some of the plates.
"I hope you like it!" Amy blushed, a pale green apron still tied around her waist. Taking her seat next to Jin and Ronan, Amy clapped her hands again, "Let's eat!" Elesis easily complied with this instruction, reaching for the plate that Ronan had pulled over for her. It seemed to be filled with harpy meat, and Arme hastily grabbed her own piece. The chances that there would be much left when Elesis was done with it...
Arme gaped as Elesis dumped the whole platter onto her plate, and then followed up by reaching over to Arme's plate and taking her piece of harpie meat without so much as a glance.
"Elesis!" She frowned, reaching over to recollect her piece. The knight glared, pulling her plate protectively over to the side and away from Arme. What she wasn't expecting, however, was for the indigo knight on her other side to snatch two pieces from her plate.
"Elesis, don't be a pig." He scolded as he placed Arme's piece back on her plate, tossing one to Lass after, "Everyone else needs to eat too."
"But Ronannnn! I like harpie meat!" She moaned, looking at him pleadingly. The spell knight sighed, grabbing a small amount of some sort of soup as it was passed around, "You can have my portion, then."
"Yay!" Arme laughed quietly, passing down the plate with the rest of the harpie meat Ronan had forced the red knight to put back. Taking a bite of her own piece, Arme's eyes widened.
"Amy, this is really good!" She called, recieving a smile from the muse.
"Of course~ You taught me, after all!" The magician blushed at the compliment, picking up some more food from the plates as they were moved along. Looking around the table, Arme realized confusedly that the only one not really eating was Ryan, absentmindedly stirring a bowl of soup as he stared at Amy. The dancer didn't seem to notice his gaze at all, and Arme watched as it wavered from one of resentment to a much more... soft gaze, almost caring. She watched for a moment until the druid noticed her stare, turning back to glare down at his soup as though it had done something wrong.
"Arme? You might want to get eating, unless you want your whole plate to go missing." Lass mentioned idly, bringing Arme out of her curiosity and back to the meal. She down at her plate just in time to realize Elesis was stealing from it again, the serving dishes apparently empty. She glanced over at the female knight and almost laughed as she realized the spearman was also taking from Ronan's plate, the dragon knight having given up on stopping her. Quickly eating the rest of what was on her plate before Elesis could get to it, Arme was about to stand up when Amy shot out of her seat.
"Don't go yet!" She called as she rushed back into what Arme could only assume was the kitchen. Returning a few moments later with a large platter, the group watched as she set it on the table and elloquently pulled off the lid.
"Blueberry cheesecake!" Jin was surprisingly the first one to say anything, his hands nearly on the cake when Amy shooed them away.
"I'll cut it~" She said with a blush, handing the first piece to Jin, who looked like he was about to explode from happiness.
"Where'd you get the ingredients, Amy? Arme questioned as she was handed her slice, the dancer shrugging,
"My bag~" Having grown used to the oddities of said bag, Arme didn't bother to ask anything else. They all ate their desert quietly save Jin, who was lavishing complements on the muse. By the time they had finished with the meal Amy's whole face was a dark pink, near matching her hair. Arme stood up with her plate, picking up the plates for those around her (not including Elesis, who was still demanding seconds). As she walked to the kitchen Lass stood up to follow, the assassin following her as though worried she would fall. His worries weren't wrong; nearly as soon as the plates had been put on the counter of the large kitchen small pricks of pain began entering her stomach. She was still able to stand when the white haired boy picked her up, though frustration wouldn't allow her to protest.
"Why does this have to keep bothering me like this, half of the time letting me walk and the other half not? Can't it just choose one or the other?" She complained quietly as they entered the dining room again, looking for Amy. The dancer was watching her worriedly, and she stood up to join the pair.
"Can you bring her to her room please, Lass? I want to do another check up on her stomach before we go." The thief nodded, heading up the stairs hastily as Amy followed. When they made it to her room the magician was set gingerly on the bed again, and Amy turned to look at Lass.
"I'll call you back in when we're done, alright?" She stated, waving him out. Hesitating for a moment, the blue eyed boy nodded and walked out of the room to leave the two girls. When he was gone Amy looked at Arme's attire, frowing.
"Can you change into your pajamas? This'll be a bit difficult to do in a one-piece outfit." Arme nodded, accepting her bag when Amy brought it over from on the floor. While the magician was searching through for her night clothes Amy took the time to look around her room, opening the door that Arme had noted earlier.
"Ohh! You have a bathroom?" She gaped, looking at the small, amethyst-eyed girl. Arme shrugged, "I guess so." Sticking her head back inside the bathroom, Amy turned to her.
"Mind if I take a bath while you get changed?" She asked excitedly. Arme nodded, and before anything else could be said the dancer shot out the door. She returned not even a minute later with her own bag, making a beeline for the bathroom. Arme laughed lightly, and then grinned as she found her pjs. Putting them on took a fair bit of effort from the girl, yet she finally managed to get them on despite the aching in her stomach. Resolving to wait until Amy finished her bath to even look at the injury. Instead she picked up the book from the nightstand that had been placed there a few hours prior.
"Sieghart the Immortal?" She looked at the cover curiously, opening to the first page where a rather accurate sketch of a black haired man was. Surely there's no such thing as an immortal, right? Even with that doubt, Arme began reading the first chapter.
It was several minutes later that Arme heard the door to the bathroom creak open, and she quickly memorized her page before setting it back down on the nightstand. Amy was still shaking her hair of water droplets when she approached the magician, looking at the book with interest.
"Oh! You're reading up on Sieggy?" She questioned as she set her gigantic bag on the bed, pulling out a small medical kit. Arme nodded, tilting her head curiously.
"Yeah... Why?" Amy looked up at her as she lifted the hem of the shirt to look at the wound.
"Knowing about him is pretty manditory~ Almost everyone does. What few people know, however, is that he shares a name with Elesis' grandfather~" Arme's eyes widened, though Amy wasn't certain whether it was the fact about Elesis or the dark purple bruise blossoming around the injury.
"So they're related? Does saving Bermesiah come in the blood or something?" She questioned, watching the dancer pull out a tube of some form of cream. Spreading a small amount of it gingerly over the thin skin where red was still prominent below, Amy shrugged.
"I personally doubt that they're related, but... I guess you never know~" Amy said, putting the cream away. Arme looked at her curiously.
"You doubt it? Why?" The mage asked as the dancer pulled out a vial of liquid. She handed it to Arme as she continued looking through the bag, a small smile on her face.
"Drink that. And I guess it's just a hunch, really." Amy continued shifting the contents of the bag, and Arme drank the vial's liquid hesitantly. That sent her into a coughing fit, a hand over the bit in a useless attempt to stop it from hurting when she did.
"A-Amy, that tasted terrible! What was that?" She demanded, dearly wishing she had a glass of water with her. Amy seemed to hear her unspoken request, fishing through her bag to pull out a bottle of water as she explained.
"It was a potion, specifically designed for that wound. It'll help it heal a lot faster... Here they are!" The last part was exclaimed happily, and Arme paled as she realized the dancer had just located dozens of other vials looking nearly the same. She chugged down half of the water in the bottle before looking at the pink haired girl disbelievingly.
"And those are..." Amy rolled her eyes.
"More of the same potion, obviously! They'll taste better if you mix them with something, but you need to take one each day until Elesis, Ronan and I get back from the Forsaken Barrows. I'll give them to you, but you can't forget to take them... Wait, I have a better idea! Lass, you can come in now!" She called, Arme hastily covering up the wound as the door slid open. The muse motioned him over to the bed, showing him the large group of vials.
"Arme needs to take one of these a day, kay? Otherwise her wound is liable to get worse." Lass nodded at the instructions, and Arme gulped. There's no getting out of drinking them now... With a sigh the magician nodded, looking out at the darkening sky with a frown. There wouldn't be much reading that night unless she read by fireball light...
"And you need to apply this cream to the bite every day too!" Amy continued, bringing Arme's attention back to the conversation as the small white tube used before on the wound was handed to Lass.
"W-What? I can do that myself!" The magician protested, a blush covering her face as she reached for the white tube. The assassin raised his eyebrows and looked at her amusedly, but didn't hand it over. He instead turned back to the dancer, slipping it inside his pocket.
"Anything else?" Thinking for a second, Amy nodded.
"I know she was walking around today, but until her wound fully heals she's going to need to be on bedrest. I mean... She should be fine with walking to the washroom on her own and all that, but until it's all better I'd like to see her staying inside this room. That'll speed up the recovery process~ And... Make sure she has proper food each day, her body needs things to work with if it's going to be healing something that bad. Also, no magic! Mana in the system speeds up a person's natural rate of healing, which means there's no point in her wasting hers." Nodding again, Lass turned towards the door.
"If that's all, I have some things that need to be seen to..." He gave a light wave as he exited, Amy grinning.
"Well, that should make sure you get properly taken care of while I'm away~! I'm going to stick the vials in in your armoire along with your bag, alright?" Arme nodded, and the dancer came back to grab her bag.
"Get some good sleep today, alright?" She said, and she was almost out of the room when Arme stopped her.
"Wait! Amy... Why was Ryan staring at you at dinner today?" She questioned, waiting curiously for an answer. Amy put a finger to her lips, looking down thoughtfully.
"Oh! I know why..." Turning back to Arme, Amy motioned vaguely to her outfit, "It's the apron. It was Lire's... She used to cook for all of us. Well... Not Jin because she never met him, but that's beside the point."
"Ah..." Arme sighed as the dancer left, wondering (not for the first time), what Ryan had been like when Lire had been around.
Loud footsteps woke Arme up the next morning, her door being flung open as footsteps rapidly approached her bed. Soon a weight was flung onto her bed, and Arme opened her eyes in surprise. Amy was lying there, a wide grin on her face.
"We're leaving now~! Thought you might wanna come say goodbye!" Arme nodded, not choosing to add that she probably would have preferred a few hour's sleep more. Her wound didn't protest nearly as much as it had the previous day as she lazily got up, following the hyper muse down the staircase. When they managed to make it to the first floor (With Arme noting quietly that her room was on the fourth), everyone was waiting in the hall.
"Did you get what you needed to ge- Damn it, Amy, I told you not to wake her up." Lass sighed, frowning at Amy. The dancer grinned and shrugged, rocking back and forth innocently on her heels. She then turned back to Arme, leaning over so she was near the girl's ear.
"Are you sure you don't want Ronan's gon? It might provide more conversation than Lass~" She giggled, bouncing off to where the rest of the group was. The next thing she did was launch herself at Jin, hugging him tightly as her feet dragged on the ground.
"Imma miss you~!" She exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek before letting him go and grabbing his hands to spin in little circles with the by then terribly blushing fighter. Arme watched the scene with amusement, turning to Lass.
"Did someone give Amy too much sugar or something?" She questioned, the silver haired boy looking back at her and sighing.
"She made eggs for breakfast. I can't see how that could be too bad, if it weren't for..." Lass' eyes widened as he looked around at the others.
"Does anyone remember... There being a full jar of coffee on the counter?" He asked slowly. Faces paling, Ronan and Elesis nodded. The assassin left the group and headed up the staircase, returning a few minutes later.
"That jar is now officially empty." He reported grimly, looking at the pair of knights, "Good luck." They shared a glance before nodding, Ronan grabbing Amy's arm.
"We'll be going now, and we should return in under two weeks." He stated, dragging the muse along as the first three left. Jin and Ryan left a few minutes later with a light wave, not saying much other than a "Bye." This left the thief and the magician in the front hallway.
"Well, since you're up now you might as well get some breakfast." He said, picking her up. Blushing for what felt like the dozenth time in the last few days, Arme tried to push him away.
"I'm perfectly capable of walking myself, Lass!" She stated, though even so she wasn't put down.
"I know you are, but that's only until your bad luck ends up with you tripping up the staircase and killing yourself." He reminded her, Arme unable to retort due to the sad knowledge that it was a possibility. When they reached the dining room she was set down next to the table, free to choose her own seat as Lass wandered into the kitchen to find the food. He returned a moment later with a plate that she assumed had been left on the counter for her, the contents still fairly warm. The meal felt more quiet than she would have liked, and she finished quickly. Lass had been standing off to the side, prepared to pick up her plate and her right when she was done. As he placed the dish back in the kitchen Arme was grateful her face didn't turn red again, having been expecting it more than she had been previously. She allowed herself to be carried back up to her room hastily, sighing as she was placed back on the bed. She no longer felt like sleeping. Reading would have been her alternative, yet the dark sky outside didn't allow that. Her first thought was to light a fireball to read, but with Lass in the room that was quite obviously out of the question. The next thought that crossed her mind was the fire place, and she almost laughed as she glanced at it. Lass, following her gaze, shrugged.
"Do you want to light the fireplace?" He asked quietly, receiving a shy nod from the magician. Lifting her up again, he set her in the large chair infront of the fireplace before running his hand along the mantle. When he had nearly reached the end he found what he had been looking for; a box of matches. With the logs left by the hearth it was easy enough to start a fire, and the thief walked back over to the bed. He picked up her book and tossed it to her before lying back on the soft covers, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Just barely catching it before the book was cast into the flames, Arme would have called out some sort of reprimand if the assassin didn't look so peaceful at that point. Instead she eased back into the chair, flipping the book open as she noted that she really needed to find a book mark somewhere.
The crackle of the fire and the stars outside made for a comforting atmosphere, and Arme had only read a chapter before she began to feel tired, roughly half an hour having passed. She closed the book sleepily, holding it to her chest as she stood up. Hm? Lass hasn't tried to stop me from walking on my own yet? Surprised, the magician turned to the bed. What she saw there almost made her gasp, cheeks reddening again as she noticed that Lass had fallen asleep. Walking over as quietly as she could, Arme set the book down before sitting on the bed. He looks so cute! She smiled softly, a hand placed on his hair for a second before she pulled it back to her side, lying down cautiously. Might as well not wake him up... Her eyes closed as she curled up, the reddish light of the morning sun peering hazily at the two sleeping teens through the window.
A/N: Did I plan to end the chapter there originally? You can bet I didn't xD Was that scene even in the original plan for this chapter? No, no it was not~ That's not the important part, though :3 Sorry, this chapter was a bit boring ^^; But yay! I'll actually have this done on time and posted!
-Utsuro