A/N: Another Chapter~ =3
Disclaimer: I don't own Grand Chase. If I did, there would be A LOT more hinting to LassxArme xD
Chapter 20: Across the Sea
"Yay! We're here!" Arme exclaimed excitedly, looking out at the sparkling blue expanse of water known as Partusay's Sea. The previous day had been nothing but running, something that didn't particularily amuse Arme. They had run into few hordes of monsters, nothing significant enough for Arme to even be able to practice her new weapon on. Leaving the castle hadn't been eventful; neither had dinner of the previous night. She had managed to get much further in the alchemist's book, and had resorted to, for the most part, using Lass as a guinea pig for the support spells. So far nothing she had done had injured him, which the magician took to be a good sign.
"It's so pretty!" She cried out, Lass setting her down as she attempted to push herself off his back. The moment the girl was set down she shot over to the edge of the grass, kneeling down to run her hand through the water as she turned back to face the rest of the group, Elesis looking back at her displeasedly.
"It's just like a huge puddle of water..." She muttered, "But whatever you say. I'm going to the dock to see if I can find the boat guy." Ronan blinked as the spear maiden turned to the nearby pier, a decent sized building on the shore nearby. Several large boats were tied along the dock, and Arme guessed one would be the one to take them to the Ellia continent.
"Boat guy? Really, Elesis?" He questioned as he followed her with a sigh, "I'll help Elesis bargain with the cicerone, it should only take a few minutes." Arme nodded as she watched the indigo haired man walk away, Lass and Amy coming to take a seat next to the violet haired girl as Amy set her kleiophone down. The Sidtri flew up from Arme's shoulder at the proximity of Lass, flying around in a few wide circles before lighting down on Arme's right shoulder and in between herself and the silver haired boy.
"Woahhhh... I haven't been here in ages." Amy gaped, watching the early morning sun reflect playfully off the water's surface. They had left early in the morning to resume their journey, and as a result the firey orb had hardly risen by the time they reached the sea. Arme grinned, splashing a small amount of water onto the reminiscing dancer, who gasped.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, splashing back at the miniature magician. Soon there was an all-out water war occuring, and Lass stepped back as to not get soaked in the crossfire. Sighing, the assassin turned to where Elesis and Ronan had exited the house, a somewhat large man donning traditional sailer's garb on their heels.
"And which boat were you thinking about taking?" The bucaneer asked cheerfully, gesturing to a row of boats, "These are the ones for rent!" Elesis frowned as she looked over the boats and back to the man.
"We're going to be in Ellia for a while, and we're planning on taking the bridge through Trial Mountains back... We won't be able to return the boat." The boat dealer nodded.
"That's fine!" He exclaimed, pulling out a map and handing it to the knight, "There's another docking station positioned across the sea from here. You can return the boat there, and it will be sailed back here later!" Elesis nodded, turning to look at Ronan, "That should be fine!" Looking back over the boats, she let out a sigh.
"Now, which one to take...?" Amy and Arme, who had by that point finished their water fight, wandered over to join Elesis and Ronan as they walked onto the pier. Lass also followed after a moment, observing the ships as he walked past them.
"Perhaps this-" Ronan was cut off by Amy, the dancer seemingly extremely excited over the sight of one of the ships.
"This one!" She cried, tugging on Elesis' arm to drag her over to a medium-sized boat. Arme couldn't figure out why exactly it attracted the muse; from what she could see it appeared to be a normal dinghy, sails of beige hanging from the mast. A small cabin was hardly visible from where Arme was standing, and S.S. something-or-other was written on the side in bold letters.
"It looks rather... Practical." Ronan admitted a moment later, recieving a cheer from Amy.
"So we can take it, right? Right?" She asked, a large grin on her face. Elesis paused, looking between Amy and the ship for a moment before turning to Ronan, clearly hesitant to accept the suggestion of the muse.
"Ronan, what do you think?" She questioned, watching as the indigo haired man repeated the process she herself had just finished of looking over the ship and Amy repeatedly.
"Why do you want to take this ship, Amy?" He finally asked, watching as the dancer hesitated.
"I just do~!" Was the reply a moment later, causing both knights to look at her uncertainly. Finally glances moved over to the ship dealer, who shrugged.
"It's a perfectly good ship, probably the one I'd recommend you to take for this journey. She's seen her way over the stormy seas of Partusay many times..." With a sigh Elesis nodded, Amy letting out a cheer.
"We'll take it." The crimson haired female murmured, reaching into her bag to retrieve a satchel of what Arme assumed to be gold. As she did this the magician was surprised to see the cicerone shake his head, holding out a hand to stop her from taking out any money.
"Hey, it's on the house, alright? Ellia has been going through some really rough times for the last few months... I can't take your money when you're saving the lives of many." Elesis blinked.
"But-"
"It's free! Now get going!" The boat dealer insisted again, waving them off and onto the ship. Elesis stepped onto the boarding stairs hesitantly, looking back.
"Th-thank you!" She called as she boarded the boat, the others following moments later. The man just smiled and waved, looking almost sad as he untied the boat from the dock.
"Sail safely!" Arme hardly heard the farewell of the cicerone as she looked around the boat excitedly, watching the other members as they went their separate ways. Amy had disappeared the moment they had got on deck, though Arme couldn't fathom a guess as to where she had disappeared to. The ship wasn't very large... Elesis had gone into the cabin, bringing the map the boat dealer had handed over with her along with all of their bags. For some reason the magician wasn't very surprised when Ronan took to the steer of the ship, Lass staying back to pull in the stairs. Arme herself ran across the deck to look over the rail and at the water, watching almost disbelievingly as small fish swam by the boat.
"This is so awesome!" She laughed excitedly, turning to where the dock was already getting far away. Giving a big wave to the cicerone should he still be watching, Arme took a deep breath of the clear air before a sound next to her alerted her to the fact that Lass had come over to stand next to her.
"I know you're excited, but be careful." He warned with a sigh, "It wouldn't be very fun if you fell overboard." Arme's grin just widened.
"You'd save me if I did though, wouldn't you?" She asked with a laugh, a decently sized wave on the somewhat calm ocean rocking against the boat and splashing small droplets of water on her.
"Not the point." Lass stated, rolling his eyes, "Really, Arme. I don't want you falling off the boat, and it's pretty obvious you've never been on one... Perhaps it'd be safer for you in the cabin." He mused quietly, watching as Arme shook her head furiously.
"No! I won't fall over, I swear!" The little magician said pleadingly, "I don't wanna wait in the cabin!" As she did this she leaned over the rail, reaching her hands out and towrads the water. Another pair of hands were lain over top of hers, and Arme was surprised to find Lass pull them back and place them securely on top of the rail.
"Careful." He reminded her, sighing as he let go of her hands. Nodding, amethyst eyes regained their focus on the shimmering water. They would have stayed there longer had a shrill shriek not been heard from somewhere behind the cabin, causing all of the chasers present on board to turn in shock. Arme and Lass were the closest to the sound (Which the magician was fairly certain came from Amy), and the two hastily made their way in the direction the noise had come from.
"Amy? Are you alright?" Arme gasped as she noticed a pair of pink spirals shooting out from behind a stack of crates.
"Yes~!" Came the excited voice of the dancer; Arme soon found out why. Standing up to face them, Amy revealed what appeared to be a white cat tinted lightly pink in her arms. It had a red ribbon around it's neck tied into a bow, and soft blue eyes that peered back intelligently at the lilac coloured girl.
"I found the Ship's Cat! She's so cute~!" Amy cooed, petting the cat's head. It had been purring until it noticed something on Arme as she and Lass approached, and the cat erupted in a hiss. A flap of wings and the feel of soft down on her cheek reminded Arme quickly of the bird that had taken a seat on her shoulder, and she turned to notice this Sidtri's wings spreading out as it stared back at the cat.
"Her name is Luna! It says so on the inside of the ribbon!" Amy proclaimed joyfully, completely ignoring the tension between the cat and bird. Lass let out a sigh as he looked at the animal, glancing up at Amy.
"That's why you chose this boat, isn't it?" He asked after a moment.
"Maybeeeee~" Amy replied, rocking back and forth on her heels as she petted the light-rose coloured cat's head. Staring for a moment, Lass shook his head slowly and sighed.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. The boat's good..." He turned to watch Arme as she reached out to pet Luna, cautiously glaring at the Sidtri. Seemingly displeased with Arme giving affection to another animal, it looked caught between pecking Arme's arm to make her pull back or not doing anything.
"Lass?" The assassin's attention was brought back from the Sidtri to Arme as she turned to look at him, scratching the cat behind the ear.
"Yeah?"
"I wanna explore the ship!" With a shrug, the sapphire eyed boy nodded.
"It's not very large though... looks like it'll take a couple minutes at most." Arme grinned, grabbing his arm to pull him along. Amy was still coddling the cat when they walked past her. The back of the ship didn't appear to be very interesting, simply more crates and boxes. Arme still took a few minutes to read some of the tags on the boxes, Lass leaning against the rail as he waited for the magician to finish with her exploration.
" 'Kay, let's get going~" Arme called as she finished with the boxes, the two walking past Amy (who was still petting the cat) to move to the front of the boat. Aside from Ronan and the helm, there wasn't much at the boat's deck, and the lavender haired girl turned to the cabin. Lass breathed a sigh of relief as they entered it, and Arme looked around the small room. The Sidtri had flown off her shoulder when they entered, clearly preferring the sea air to being in an enclosed area. Arme realized quickly that it appeared to be almost a study, a desk and bookshelf secured to the walls as to not slide around while the ship was in motion. The bags lay against the far wall, sliding back and forth ever so gently with the ship. Elesis sat at the desk, and she had turned to look at both Arme and Lass as they entered.
"Plotting out the course?" The assassin asked as Arme made her way over to the bookshelf, almost tripping on a hatch in the ground. Elesis shook her head.
"There isn't really much to plot out... It's only a few hours away." Lass nodded.
"Well, Arme wanted to look around the ship..." He continued, looking out the small window of the cabin.
"Oh, really? You managed to keep her off the observation post?" The scarlet haired female asked.
"Well-"
"What's the observation post?" Arme piped in, getting a sigh from Lass.
"Uhm... It's... The tip of the boat. Where you can see things. And stuff." The violet haired girl frowned.
"That doesn't sound right... But what's down here?" Both the red head and the silver haired boy turned to look at Arme, who had been distracted by the wooden hatch. Lass seemed grateful for the change of topic, and he went to sit next to her as she futily attempted to pull it open.
"It leads down to the crew's area. There are beds and whatnot, for journeys that would take more than one day." He explained as he flipped a latch Arme hadn't noticed, tugging it open to allow the magician to peer down into a dimly lit hallway.
"Ohh! Cool!" The violet eyed girl exclaimed, "We can go down, right?" Without waiting for an answer Arme stepped onto the rather steep staircase, making her way down somewhat cautiously. The corridor wasn't very tall, about the perfect height for Arme. Turning around, the violet magician laughed gently upon realizing Lass had to lean down to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.
"Hmm... Wonder what's in here?" Turning to her right, Arme pulled open a door. It led, it seemed, to a surprisingly clean bathroom. There was also a small tub, and Arme blinked curiously at the pipes that ran into the wall of the room.
"Does it use the water from the sea for the bath?" She questioned, leaving the room a minute later. As the door swung shut Lass laughed quietly, shaking his head disbelievingly.
"Arme, you do realize how gross sea water can get some days, right?" The magician shrugged, a blush coming to her face.
"I dunno, it looks a lot cleaner here than..." She paused for a second, yet kept walking down the hall until another door presented itself on the left side, "Than where I grew up." Lass looked back at her somewhat inquisitively, but didn't say anything as she swung open the door.
"Wow... This room is awesome!" The magician cheered, stepping inside. The interior of the room itself didn't seem all that special to Lass; a table nailed to the floor, assumably for playing cards or something of the likes, a somewhat comfortable looking bed and dresser, a fairly large window and a picture of the cicerone steering the ship hanging from the wall.
"It's probably the cabin for important guests or the captain, seeing how small the ship is..." The assassin mused as Arme shot over excitedly to the window. Lass took a seat in one of the chairs surrounding the windows, resting his head on his hands as he watched the violet haired girl's eyes open unbelievably wide.
"Lass! I can see the sea!" She exclaimed, hands pressing gently on the glass as she leaned forward.
"Imagine that, seeing the sea from a boat." The assassin replied lazily. Arme frowned, but she didn't bother to look away from the water.
"Oh, shush, you!" She huffed, gasping in shock and pulling back from the glass as a rather large fish swam closer to the glass than she had been expecting. Blinking, the girl laughed joyfully before leaning back forward.
"Look! Lass! A fish!" The silver haired boy traced her pointing finger to where a horde of small sunfish were swimming, "and over there! A fishie! And there-"
"Another fish?" Huffing again as a blush of embarrassment crossed her cheeks, Arme focused back on the schools of small sea animals. A minute passed before Lass stood up, walking over to join the magician at the window. She refused to look at him, eyes still strictly trained on the window. Something catching his eye that he was certain Arme hadn't noiced, he pressed his hand lightly to the glass to point at it.
"Hey," he commented, a light smirk crossing his face, "over there."
"A fish?" Arme couldn't keep the excitement from her voice as she almost automatically looked in the direction he was pointing, though Lass couldn't imagine why. Aren't you already looking at fish?
"Not quite." The little magician's eyes were nearly the size of dish plates when she noticed what he was pointing at; a whale swimming up to the surface in the distance.
"It- It's huge!" Arme gasped, grabbing Lass' hand. Before he could ask where they were going the amethyst eyed girl had led him out of the room and up the staircase, nearly bumping her head on the hatch as she attempted to make her way back up in to the main cabin. Still dragging Lass along as she pushed open the door, Arme didn't bother to comment at Elesis' confused glance before speeding out of the cabin and onto the deck. Running over to the rails, Lass couldn't help the smile that came to his face as Arme excitedly scanned the horizon for any sight of the animal she had just seen. A splash was heard when the whale did surface, it's back the only thing visible in the distance as a large spout of water was shot out of it's blowhole.
"Look!" The girl cried loudly, pointing to the whale even though Lass was already watching. The assassin nodded, looking at not only the whale but keeping focused on Arme from the corner of his eye. She was grinning widely, eyes sparkling in delight as she observed the mammal.
"It's amazing!" She gasped, laughing cheerfully. Footsteps were soon heard, and Arme looked over to see Amy watching as well. Luna firmly grasped in her arms, the pink haired girl's expression was similar to Arme's. In less than a minute another person had joined them, and Arme spotted red out of the corner of her eye.
"Ahh... I was wondering why you guys were- Amy? Is that a cat?" Amy blinked suddenly, turning to look at Elesis.
"Ehehehehe... Sort of?" The dancer laughed somewhat nervously, hugging Luna tightly.
"Amy, is that why we ended up taking this boat?" Elesis asked with an exasperated sigh, watching as Amy bit her lip.
"Well... Sort of?" She repeated. Elesis sighed again.
"Amy... Well, whatever. It's fine so long as you know you're not taking her with us." Amy gasped, grip fastening on the cat.
"But-"
"Amy, it's the Ship's Cat-" Arme didn't bother to stop and listen to the rest of the conversation, turning away from the rail almost the second the whale disappeared under the surface. Lass' hand still clasped in her own, the magician sped towards the cabin again. A sudden lapse of thought had her running straight into the wood; she bounced back lightly after her face had made contact.
"Turning the doorknob generally works." Lass advised helpfully, reaching forward to open the door as Arme rubbed her nose.
"I know!" Was the sore reply as she flung open the hatch, nearly leaping down onto the staircase. This time her foot apparently missed the first step, and the amethyst eyed girl probably would have tumbled down the rest of the stairs had Lass not been holding her hand. Grasping the ledge of the floor before he could fall down as well, the silver haired thief waited for Arme to steady herself before letting go and allowing himself to be dragged further.
"It's just a whale, Arme. Don't kill yourself here..." He murmured with a chuckle as the magician raced into the room. She immediately ran to the window to stare out it intensely, searching for the animal.
"Over there." Quickly locating the whale, Lass pointed it out for the overly excited violet haired female.
"Ohh..." Shrugging at how easily amused Arme was, the azure eyed boy moved back to sitting in one of the chairs. He simply leaned on the table and observed her for several minutes in silence as she stared out into the water, commenting on all the creatures she saw.
"And look! It's-"
"I take it you want to stay down here for the rest of the trip?" He questioned, cutting her off. This made Arme pause, placing her hands on her hips for a moment as she contemplated the idea.
"I should probably practice alchemy a bit..." She said with a sigh, looking wistfully at the fish.
"Practice alchemy? On a boat?" Lass laughed, "No way, I don't think the boat dealer would be pleased to find a hole in his ship. You can enjoy your fish-watching." At this statement Arme was crossed between being happy and annoyed, the joy winning out.
"I can control the bombs most of the time..." She complained quietly as Lass walked over to hover over her.
"Sure." He chuckled, resting his chin on her hair as he regarded the waters idly, "Did I ever mention you're almost the perfect height for a headrest? A bit short, but..."
"Lass!" Arme whined gently, "Don't be mean!" The teasing grin on Lass' face just grew, and Arme reached up to tug on his bangs.
"Your hair really is getting long..." She observed, pulling her hand through the surprisingly smooth white strands that were beginning to fall below his shoulders, "I think it's actually longer than mine now."
"If you keep pulling on it I'm going to put it in a pony tail." He muttered, not expecting the squeal of delight that came from Arme.
"Really?" Lass sighed.
"That threat doesn't appear to have worked quite the way I'd wanted it to." He murmured when the short girl turned around entirely, still holding onto his hair. She stared at him contemplatively for a moment before grabbing his wrist to pull him over to the bed.
"Sit!" Arme commanded, searching through her pockets. Lass did as told, watching curiously as she finally pulled out a strand of blue ribbon.
"I knew I had it somewhere in there!" She exclaimed with a grin, holding it out in front of Lass. The assassin, quickly comprehending what she was planning, stood up and held his hands out in front of him.
"No way, Arme!" The boy insisted, earning a frown from the magician.
"But... You just said..."
"I know, but that was supposed to get you to stop pulling my hair!" He exclaimed, sighing at Arme's expression.
"Please, Lass? Your hair is so pretty!" She begged, pouting. Crossing his arms over his chest, Lass shook his head.
"No!" Blinking, he felt his resolve waver when tears began bubbling up in the corners of Arme's eyes.
"B-But..." Arme reached out to lightly hold onto the front of his shirt, the (what Lass was certain to be fake) tears falling down her cheeks, "You... You promised you'd *sniffle* take care of me!" Don't fall for the tears, Lass. Do NOT fall for the tears!
"Protect, Not take care of! And that has nothing to do with this!" At this Arme began crying even more, amethyst eyes shining with water.
"L-Lass! You... *sniff* You're supposed to be like my guardian, r-right? *sniff* B-But you would... Wouldn't even...?" Lass bit his lip, cheeks turning ever so lightly pink. Don't fall for the tears, don't fall for the tears, don't fall for the tears...
"No, Arme! You... Damn it, stop looking at me like that!" He could almost see the glint of victory in her eyes at that point.
"L-Lass..." She blubbered quietly, causing Lass to sigh.
"Arme..." She looked up again, pleading orbs of lilac meeting his sapphire ones. Don'tfallforthetearsdon'tfallforthetearsdon't- "Fine!"
"Yay!" Lass groaned as he was led back to the bed, Arme sitting next to him and whistling cheerfully. Knew it.Pulling a hand gently through the strands, Arme blinked as Lass winced.
"Ouch..." He muttered, reaching a hand back as the magician's hand snagged on a knot.
"For your hair not being extremely long it sure has knots..." Arme scolded lightly, "I'm gonna grab a brush from Amy's bag. There's gotta be one in there somewhere... Don't run off!" Lass nodded, letting out a sigh as the magician ran out of the room. Leaning back on the bed, he frowned lightly as he glanced at the window. Am I honestly sitting here waiting for Arme to come back and do my hair? He wondered somewhat disturbedly. This was followed by the thought, Would she really notice if I was just... not here when she came back?, to which the answer was completely and indisputably 'yes'. Still, an escape might be worth the effort in the long run... Thinking back to the crying violet haired girl, Lass sighed. Ehh... I guess I'll just deal. Rolling onto his side, the silver haired boy glared at a pillow sitting innocently on the sheet. "You're supposed to be like my guardian, r-right?" ... Why did you have to say something like that? he questioned silently, face warming at the memory, and why does it matter? An answer wouldn't come to him, and as much as the assassin tried to shake off the thought it kept coming back. Lying on his back frustratedly, the azure eyed boy's musings were only brought to an end once footsteps were heard pounding down the steps.
"Back!" Arme called as the door swung open, "It was near the top!... Which is good, 'cuz I'm not so sure there's a definite bottom to that thing." Lass shrugged as he sat up, looking with disdain at the rather pink hairbrush in the magician's hand.
"Do you really have to do this...?" He asked hopelessly as the girl sat back down behind him, receiving a nod.
" 'Course I do, Lass!" She exclaimed with a grin, easing the brush gently through Lass' hair. Repeating the process, Arme was surprised at how easily the brush slid through.
"The knots come out pretty easily, at least... I'm not hurting you, am I?" The magician asked a moment later, worriedly. Lass shook his head lightly, unwilling to admit that the procedure felt somewhat good. With a smile, Arme began humming again as she made sure every strand was in place. After all of the silver locks had been brushed through Arme set the brush down, and Lass almost protested. He didn't, of course, saving his pride and keeping quiet. The magician ran her hands through his hair once more before she began pulling most of it back, leaving only his bangs hanging down.
"This is going to look wierd, you know." Lass informed her lazily as she made sure everything was in place.
"It'll be fine!" Arme said softly, "Your hair really is nice... Was it always this colour?" The assassin rolled his eyes.
"The girl with purple hair is asking if my white hair is real? But if you must know, yeah. Kind of like ocular albinism, but reverse, only my hair and skin were effected. Or that's what I'd have to assume at the very least, it's not like I had parents explain it to me." Arme tilted her head, looking at him curiously as she wound the blue ribbon around his hair.
"Lass?" She asked after a moment, brushing his bangs again for a lack of things to do. Realizing there wouldn't be much of a chance to get Lass to agree to having his hair messed with again, Arme pulled out the strand of blue.
"Yeah?" He asked, completely oblivious to the fact that she was dragging out the procedure as she ran the brush through the back of his hair again. She continued this for several minutes even though there were no knots, hesitating before she voiced her question.
"I was... What happened in your childhood?" She finally whispered. The assassin didn't look over at her; he didn't make any indication in the least to let her know he'd heard her. There were a few minutes of silence before Lass exhaled loudly, leaning back so his head was almost touching her skin. This made it difficult for Arme to continue brushing; she set down the pink object next to her for a moment as she looked back at him.
"I... I don't think I'm ready to tell you that yet." He replied quietly, "It's probably for the best if you never find out." Arme frowned at this, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him back so he was leaning against her. Chin wresting on his head and holding him as a child might a teddy bear, she sighed.
"Why? It wouldn't change my opinion of you..." Lass sighed again, but he didn't pull away from her.
"Don't say that so certainly." This was whispered under his breath, though the magician still heard.
"Lass, nothing could be that bad!" She insisted, tightening her grip on him. The blue eyed boy frowned ever so slightly, closing his eyes.
"You'll find out eventually, I'm sure... Until then, humor me and don't ask?" Arme looked at him with concern, not replying for a minute.
"Alright." She finally answered, "But... When I hear whatever it is, I want to hear it from you, alright?" A relieved look crossed Lass' face, and he nodded.
"If I can help it, I'll be the one to tell you... It's not very unknown, though. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up hearing it from someone else first." The magician shook her head furiously.
"I want to hear it from you!" She repeated again, finally releasing him to resume her task of brushing his hair. The sudden loss of her warmth made Lass sigh, and he resumed propping himself up with his hands. Even though the process took much longer than Arme knew it should have, the assassin didn't complain. When she could finally drag out the event no longer Arme tied up his hair again, dragging a chair over to the window to watch the fish contentedly. Lass decided to lie down on the bed fully, taking extra care not to fall asleep as he watched the cheerful magician rock back onto the heels of her chair.
"We're here!" Elesis' voice called down from the hatch, capturing the attention of both Lass and Arme. The assassin stood up as the violet haired girl waved to the passing-by fishes happily.
"Bye, fishies!" She called before turning to Lass. Once she was certain he was following her Arme left the small room and entered the hall way, making her way excitedly up the staircase. The hatch had been left open, and Arme quickly grabbed her bag from the pile before leaving the small cabin. Outside stood Ronan, Elesis, and Amy (the cat at her heels), all waiting for the two other chasers to join them before exiting the boat. The dock to this seemed similar to that of the Bermesian side, excluding the different boats and majorly different scenery. She would have admired their surroundings more had Elesis not burst out in laughter at that point, looking at the pair.
"You actually let Arme play with your hair?" She questioned jokingly, watching as Lass' eyes widened. He hastily reached up to undo the ribbon the magician had tied into his hair, letting it fall as he slipped the strand into his pocket. Arme huffed at this, frowning at Elesis as they joined up, the Sidtri flying in circles above them.
"That's no fun!" She exclaimed, watching as a medium sized man walked out of a house identical to it's Bermesian counterpart.
"I thought I heard a boat!" He called loudly as they stepped of the boat, regarding Amy with a smile as the group filed off the boat.
"Finally..." Elesis sighed. Arme, on the other hand, was rather disappointed to be leaving the ship. Stepping onto the dock with a sigh, she turned to where Amy was smiling overly widely at the cicerone.
"This is a really cute cat!" She exclaimed, picking Luna back up. The man blinked, then chuckled.
"Loonie? She's a good cat, but she doesn't take to many people. Not that I can blame her for taking to you..." Amy seemed almost oblivious to the comment, petting the cat again.
"So adorable..." She murmured sofly. At this the boat dealer sighed.
"Beautiful, yes. Practical, no. She doesn't take to her job very well, doesn't like the water. A cat like that doesn't really belong on a ship..." As soon as he said this Amy's eyes began to sparkle, and she hugged the cat tightly.
"You... You mean you don't want her?" Amy gasped. Elesis groaned from her spot next to the boat, clearly disliking the turn the conversation was taking.
"I... Well, I suppose not... She doesn't make a very adept ship cat." He admitted with a frown. Arme could almost see Amy activating 'full-sparkle' mode as she looked pleadingly at the cat in her arms and back at the cicerone.
"That's so sad... She'd probably like a life travelling on land a lot better, wouldn't she?" The man nodded hesitantly, still watching Amy.
"S'pose so..." At this the muse jumped up, grinning widely.
"Hey, we're travelling on land!" She exclaimed as though it was a coincidence, "We could take her off your hands for you!" Luna purred appreciatively, and Elesis groaned louder.
"Amy..."
"I... Well I suppose you could." The ship dealer finally said, losing Arme's attention. She turned to look back sadly at the ship one more time before they had to go, something catching her attention. Atop the mast was a somewhat small, bucket-like area that Arme hadn't noticed previously.
"Lass? What's that?" She questioned, cutting off whatever reply Amy had began to give to the ship dealer. Following her gaze, the sapphire eyed boy quickly shook his head.
"Nothing! Isn't it about time we get going?" He asked with a grin, grabbing Arme's arm to drag her off the dock before she could question what he was saying. The others followed quickly, Amy's face one of utter success as she coddled Luna.
"Thanks for the cat!" She yelled as they began to move into a light run. This only carried on until the dock was a fair ways away, when they paused.
"Lass, do you even know where we're going?" Elesis complained as she turned to look at the white haired boy, who shrugged. Sighing, she then turned to Amy.
"And you realize you just... Like... Stole that cat, right?" She questioned worriedly. Laughing happily, the dancer smiled as she set Luna down.
"He said I could have her!" She informed the crimson haired leader promptly, clasping her hands together innocently.
"You're evil..." Elesis sighed, turning to look around.
"Now, we're headed to that somewhat small castle over there! It's hard to miss!" The swords woman exclaimed, using her spear to point a black tower that didn't seem too far away. Ronan nodded in confirmation, looking over the group members.
"It should be about a half an hour away." He estimated, patting the head of the gon currently sitting atop his indigo hair. At this Amy gasped, looking over at Arme and then down at Luna.
"Almost all of us have pets now! Lass, Elesis! You two need to get pets too!" She exclaimed cheerfully as they started their run to the castle, the cat trailing faithfully along behind her.
"I think I'm good." Elesis replied, taking the lead again.
"And I already have a dog." Lass added, earning a gasp from nearly everyone else in the group.
"You do? Why haven't I seen it?" Arme questioned shockedly, the assassin shrugging in response.
"I normally leave him at the assassin's guild. After all, it isn't all that convenient keeping a dog around that can shoot fireballs out of it's mouth, and the younger thieves enjoy playing with him." This earned a few seconds of stunned silence from the group, the magician the first to start talking again.
"What kind of dog is that? If it breaths fireballs, is it even really a dog anymore?" She asked disbelievingly.
"More importantly, you let little kids play with a fire breathing dog?" Amy chipped in, eyes wide.
"They're not that young!" Lass said defensively, "And most of them can deal with a slightly dangerous canine. As for the breed question, I really don't know. He just sort of... Vaguely resembles a dog. A bit." Ronan sighed.
"From the sounds of it, it's more dangerous than a slightly dangerous dog, Lass." The indigo haired knight said, "In fact, it doesn't sound much like a dog at all."
"Might not be." The assassin agreed without protest, "But I'm going to have to go with that until I can find some kind of better explanation, which I'm not expecting to show up any time soon." Ronan nodded.
"True enough... I don't suppose you would hear about animals like him very often." The conversation continued until they reached the tower, straying from the original topic so much that Arme had lost track of what they were talking about by the time they arrived.
"... And so rabies really is a bad thing." Elesis finished her story as they stopped at the entrance of the tall, thin castle. Something appeared to be glinting off the roof, though it was impossible to make out at their distance.
"You don't say?" Lass muttered as he set Arme down. The magician was still observing the building, it's walls ancient as the last castle they had went to, albeit no repairs had been made recently.
"What's this place called?" Arme asked as she stepped in through the large, crumbling archway behind Ronan. Elesis shrugged.
"It was actually just called Ellia Continent for a while... They stopped that due to an obvious confusion. It doesn't really have an official name any more..." She explained as she looked around, "We're just here because when I compiled all the new requests before we left the the castle there was one about people seeing an ominous shadow here, the Knight Master sent it along with one of her letters. It was empty the last time we were here, but we're still required to check it out if the Knight Master requests it, even if the note seemed a bit boring. You know, the whole generic 'people go in and never come out' stuff." Arme shuddered as she almost ran into a cobweb, brushing it away before she continued looking around.
"Does anyone feel kind of... I don't know, suffocated in here?" Elesis asked quietly from where she was standing.
"I do..." Amy called, Lass nodding ever so slightly.
"I don't feel anything..." Arme shrugged.
"Nor do I... Perhaps it's the dust?" The redheaded knight nodded as she wiped a layer of dirt off a box.
"That's a pretty good possibility..." The Sidtri had flown in through the window and perched on an ancient wall candelabra, watching Arme curiously. The rickety, stone stairwell seemed kind of scary to her, yet she still started up it, Lass following a bit behind.
"Arme? Watch your step." He warned, getting a nod from her. The magician paused at the sound of shuffling feet coming from on the next floor, waiting for Lass to catch up with her.
"I... Think there's someone up there..." She whispered when he did. The assassin nodded, waiting as the other chasers began making their way up. When they were all assembled the violet and pale blue chasers lead the way onto the next floor, Arme peeking her head in cautiously to survey the room. It seemed to be rather grey and broken down, almost an imitation of the room below it. That would be, if Arme hadn't caught sight of a shock of blue hair held up in an odd fashion.
"Elena?"
A/N: NOMNOMNOM, Elesis was talking about completely ordinary things! I swear! 8D Cicerone is actually more like a guide than a boat seller, but still! xD Not much to say right now, I'm sleepy... And remember, even though this is a double update, reviews on both chapters would be nice! I live to hear your guy's feedback =D
-Utsuro