A/N: It's finally the epilouge~ The name of this epilouge is actually one of the missions for Xenia or something like that, but... It just seemed to fit~
Disclaimer: This is the last time I have to say it on this story! :D I don't own GC!
Epilouge: A Brave New World
Arme stood at the top of a quiet hill, several trees surrounding her as she waved around a long staff randomly. A shorter staff, a pot and a lamp sat under a tree nearby, recently used, and a bird of red and gold flew in wide circles above. A hat sat atop the girl's head, watching her lazily.
"Honestly Arme, are you listening to anything I'm telling you or just waving your staff around like a useless stick? You're the leader of the violet mages, not some child pretending to be a knight!" Arme glared up at the hat, huffing.
"I'm trying, Bou! This isn't easy, you know!" She retorted, swinging the staff up in the air once again. Mahou Boushi sighed for the umpteenth time that day, rolling its purple eyes.
"Do we have to go over this again? You don't have much time left today anyway, you know. Look at the sun. Weren't you supposed to go somewhere with Ninja-boy today?" Arme glanced up as instructed, blinking at the sight of the fiery orb in the sky.
"It's already that late? Lass and I were going to head to some villages to check out some rumors on some twisted god... He wanted to leave around noon." Arme sighed, "... We should get going, then. But... I really wanted to master this today so I could show him..." Noting Arme's dejected thoughts, the hat was silent for a moment.
"Let's go through this one more time, all right? Deep Impact is just like meteor." He lectured quietly, "Only bigger. Your problem is that you keep thinking meteor... You need to realize you're summoning something much larger than meteors... How about we put it like this? Don't think meteor, think asteroid. From there, point the war staff to the sky. Saying 'Deep Impact' out loud would be better for now, even though it's generally frowned upon in actual battle. You're only practicing today anyway, and it's only been a month. You're already moving on from the lantern, to have gotten most of the skills of a battle mage is amazing." Arme nodded, taking a deep breath.
"What I did with the lantern was hardly mastering, though, Bou..." She muttered, "I just wanted to get a basic knowledge of it before I moved on to the war staff... After all, I can't lead a guild if I can't even be a successful battle mage..."
"Don't put yourself down, and I really wish you'd stop addressing me by that ridiculous name. I've never seen spirits take to people like they did you, they normally have an incredible dislike of those who aren't spirits themselves. Most can hardly tolerate mages." As if to verify this there was gentle laugh in the passing breeze, and Arme felt the Sylph fly by. Salamander hovered over the lamp three spirits called home, and if one concentrated they could vaguely see the outline of Undine's head peaking out of the lake nearby. All watched over their new charge with interest, observing her whenever there was an opportunity.
"Could be because Elena had them locked in there for years... From what I hear, she didn't use her lamp often." The hat nodded as much as it could.
"You made a wise decision, allowing them to roam when you're not in battle. Now hurry up, let's try this once more. Come on, before you're late!" Arme shut her eyes, her hand gripping her staff tightly. It had only been one month since their battle with Kaze'aze, and Arme had been mostly been practicing with her weapons. Lass would often accompany her to the small, peaceful area she had claimed for practicing her weapon, though on that particular day she had insisted he stay home so she could surprise him with her job change. Biting her lip gently, the magician took a deep breath before following the hat's orders.
"Deep Impact!" Holding the pose of her staff in the air for a moment, Arme paused and waited. The area's temperature changed quickly, heating up in correspondence with her attack. Shadows loomed over her, and Arme turned around to see large, firey boulders falling from the sky. Salamander was weaving around them, pleased with Arme's development. The magician grinned as they fell around her, and she began laughing excitedly.
"Yes! Thank you, Bou!" She smiled, holding her staff tightly, "That means I'm an official battle magician!" As she said this the Sidtri swooped in, seating itself on her shoulder and letting out a squall of three melodic notes.
"What did I say about the name ...?" It sighed, finally giving in and smiling as well, "Congratulations. Ellyrine will be pleased, this means we have five battle mages again..." Arme sighed as she was reminded of the great losses of the battle with Kaze'aze for the violet mage guild.
"I still can't believe we lost fifteen magicians and four alchemists... That's almost three fourths of the magicians we brought... Not to mention losing Lore." The hat was silent as Arme walked over to the tree to grab the weapons that lay there. The Sidri lifted off her shoulder before she could, picking up the pot to make it easier for the magician to carry the other items.
"I'm quite astonished that Ellyrine would still be the replacement leader so soon after Lore passed away... They were partners when they got battle magician status, when Elena lent Ellyrine me for a while. Well, Elena never was one to choose a weak pupil."
"That was still a lot of magicians..."
"And it was a battle I'm sure they were honoured to give their lives in." Turning to where she could see the grand chase house, Arme stretched.
"Honour isn't everything, Bou..." She replied, beginning to make her way down the hill. Looking up at the sun, the magician rethought her plan and closed her eyes. The next time she opened them she was standing in front of the gate of the house, the tall walls looming over her. The trick gate had been replaced with an actually functioning one upon their return from Maurion after Elesis had broken it down in a fit of frustration involving the difficulties of jumping over an eight foot gate with a sword easily weighing the same as her, though Arme still teleported through it for convenience's sake. Pushing open the door she peered around the hall way before making her way up the stairs and into her room. Once she had set down her weapons on the bed she picked up the war staff again, looking at it appreciatively as the Sidri dropped the pot onto the bed next to the other items. The three spirits had huddled into the room, and they were watching her curiously.
"Oh!" Arme exclaimed, looking up at them, "I'm going to take my war staff this time, not the lamp." Salamander and Undine nodded, the Sylph letting out a visible sigh. She looked at the pale green spirit regretfully.
"But... You three can come along if you want!" She amended, smiling at an excited gasp from the wind spirit.
"Now do you three want to get into the lamp? You've been out for hours, you're all probably pretty tired by now..." The elementals nodded, and with a tricoloured swirl they had disappeared into her lamp. The magician picked up the weapon, setting it into the bag that sat limply at the foot of her bed.
"Now let's see... What else do I need to bring?" She couldn't help the grin on her face as she placed Mahou Boushi on her bed, the Sidtri curling up to it as she kneeled down to look under the aforementioned piece of furniture.
"Huh? My alchemist's book? How did it get under there?" Shrugging, she brushed it off and set it on the bed next to her pot. Pausing, she stared at the weapon for only a moment before looking back at her travelling bag and wondering if there was room for both weapons inside.
"Going to use your pot to transport things? It's probably for the best, seeing as there's infinite space inside." Arme nodded.
"From what I've seen though, living things can't go inside..." She muttered as she threw her staff inside the pot, "And I don't want to chance putting the spirits in there, at the very least it'll be uncomfortable for them." The hat looked around.
"Perhaps ask the ninja-boy? He'll carry one for you if you ask." Arme frowned, placing her hands on her hips.
"He has a name, you know... And I know he will, but I don't want to need his help all the time! I'll..." She picked up the pot, spinning it around on the palm of her hand.
"Hm... It'll probably fit... I hope." Sighing, she placed it back down.
"Well, I'm going to go see if he's ready to go!" She told the hat, picking up her warstaff before she started to make her way down the stairs. He obviously will be, but... Her thoughts went silent as she entered the first floor, peeking her head into the kitchen. Both Amy and Jin were inside, the fighter leaning with his head against the table as he watched Amy cook.
"Amy? Have you seen Lass?" The dancer turned, humming questioningly.
"Lass? Hm... I think I saw him in the living room reading a book." She said as she stirred a pot of something on the stove, "You two are headed off to your mission soon, right? Can you stay a few minutes extra? Lunch is almost done!" Arme nodded.
"Oh! And how'd your training go?" Arme grinned, but said nothing. This grin transferred to Amy's face, and she went back to stirring her pot. The magician tip-toed her way to where the dancer had said Lass would be, and before long she found herself standing in the door of the living room. As suggested Lass was lying on the couch, a book sitting on his lap. He wasn't reading it, however; his eyes had shot over to her the moment she entered the room. Despite Arme's protests the dark assassin had cut his hair short once more, though long enough that it would have fallen to the nape of his neck had it not been splayed over the arm of the couch. The violet haired magician grinned, holding her war staff rather conspicuously behind her back as she approached. Lass raised an eyebrow, looking at her skeptically.
"Am I supposed to pretend I'm not seeing your war staff here?" He questioned, sitting up. Arme half-shrugged, swinging the staff in front of her.
"Not quite, but... Come with me!" Grabbing the thief's arm, she attempted to pull him off the couch. Lass complied, standing up and glancing at Arme.
"Where are we going? Our mission starts soon..." He said as Arme led him through the door to the training grounds. Elesis was already outside, and she waved at the two as the entered the grounds.
"Heya! What are you guys out here for? Aren't you headed to check out rumors about Thatanos?"
"We're staying until lunch!" Arme called in response, stopping in the middle of the grounds.
"We are?" Lass questioned, blinking.
"Amy wants us to." The magician replied shortly, "But that's not what we're out here!" Lass wasn't given any further time to question her; the violet haired girl swung her wand up and into the air.
"Deep Impact!" There was a second before the fiery rocks started thundering down on the area, and Arme laughed gleefully.
"I'm an official battle mage, Lass!" She called, turning around to look at the assassin. He was watching her with interest, a small smile on his face.
"So that's why I was excluded from your practice today." He noted with a small smile, "Congratulations." Arme nodded cheerfully.
"This means when we head to the village I can bring my war staff! Hm... I might want to stop by the weapons store to buy a new one, though... This training war staff isn't very good." The assassin paused when she said this, a grin coming to his face.
"I almost forgot, but I have something for you. Wait here, all right?" Arme tilted her head to the side.
"Have something for me? But you just found out-" Before she could finish her sentence the silver haired boy turned and raced back into the house leaving her to lean against one of the dummies as she waited for him to return. She didn't have to wait long; the window from the second floor was slid open and Arme wasn't surprised to see Lass jump out. He was holding something behind his back, though from the distance she couldn't tell what it was.
"Close your eyes!" He commanded as he approached. The violet magician complied after a moment, holding out her arms patiently. A second later a warm piece of fabric was dropped into them, and Arme struggled to keep her eyes closed.
"You can look now." Lass added, much to Arme's relief. She did so quickly, and gaped at the item in her hands.
"Lass, this is..." She paused, holding the item out to inspect it, "This is the battle mage's armour! You can't tell me you just went out to buy this- Why did you even have this?" She questioned incredulously, eyes aglow with happiness as she looked over the golden patterns on the armour. Lass looked to the side, face turning ever so slightly pink.
"I didn't just get it." He answered, averting the question. Arme blinked questioningly.
"Then when did you?" She prompted, folding the clothes back into her arms and glancing at them appreciatively. The dark assassin shrugged.
"Nah, it was sort of... It didn't make much sense..." Pulling a hand through his hair, Lass turned back to the house, "Shouldn't we go in and see if lunch is done?" Arme grabbed his arm before he could get too far, tugging on it gently.
"I wanna know now! Please?" The sapphire eyed boy sighed.
"I don't see how it's relevant..." He muttered, trying to pull away. His face remained pink, and Arme only felt more curious.
"It obviously is if you don't wanna tell me!" She insisted. There was silence for a moment before Lass responded.
"Well... It's not important... Just... You remember the first time we were in the store?" Arme nodded.
"Well, you were looking at it back then. And I went up to the front to return it to the store keeper, but when I got to the front... I have no idea what I was thinking." Arme's eyes widened at Lass' rather unexplanatory answer.
"You... You mean you've had this for four months?" She gasped. The assassin refused to meet her gaze, his cheeks getting more red by the second.
"Like I said, it didn't make any sense! I knew even then that you were probably like Elesis, Lire, and Amy, but..." A smile replaced Arme's shocked expression, and she wrapped her arms around Lass' neck to pull him into a hug. It took the assassin a moment to relax before he wrapped his arms around her waist, his head resting on her hair.
"You must have known not many mages ever make it to battle magician... That you believed in me that much in the beginning..." Her smile grew, "Thank you..." The two stood silently that way for a moment.
"We've been through a lot in the last month..." This was voiced rather quietly by Arme, and the assassin nodded his head in agreement.
After Lass had woken up he had been more than shocked to see Arme awake as well. The week that followed was predictably the roughest for the magician; coming to terms with never seeing her family again had been a slow process. It had also been bad for Lass; the thief had been caught between frustration between Arme for not listening to him, and himself for not forcing Arme to listen to him. This frustration was tided over by his relief that Arme wasn't gone; a relief that he had guiltily contained for a week before Elesis had lectured him into letting Arme know.
Overall though, it was quite clear that Ryan had had the worst past month. He had been forced to accept that Kaze'aze had broken the connection between worlds- another way of saying there was no way for Lire to ever return. This knowledge had hit the druid like a ton of bricks, and he had been avoiding the others as much as possible. Arme had decided to keep her knowledge of Lire's being sick to herself; there wasn't much it would have done aside from make Ryan even more upset.
The moment of reminisce would most likely have lasted longer had the doorbell not rang at that precise moment. With a sigh Arme released the thief, turning to the door. Over the previous month and after the replacement of the gate fans had been making their way to the door several times a day, often with gifts or just to see the Grand Chase. Arme had been extremely shocked to see how many miniature dolls of herself had arrived in the mail since they had left on their journey; it was no longer a shock to see miniature figures of the magician lining the shelves next to the others of the chase. The only reason they bothered opening the door was for fear of missing an important message; as the violet mages had been severely damaged several had needed to be passed around. Jin wasn't in the kitchen when they entered, and Arme could hear his voice from the front hall.
"Miss, really... Please, we can't just be letting people walk in here all the time!" There was a pause before a quiet voice mumbled something in response, and Arme averted her path from the back door, where she had been planning to return.
"We've already told the public that Ryan isn't accepting and visitors, and unless you're a courier for the Violet Mages I'm afraid Arme is busy as well. She has an important mission soon." Both Lass and Amy had paused as well, a frown coming onto their faces as they listened to the conversation.
"Listen, I'm really sorry... Is there anything you'd like me to tell them?" The quiet voice responded quickly, an urgent tone taking to it's voice.
"No! Saying that... that isn't funny! We're grateful you could take the time to come visit, but-" Arme made a dash for the main hall, catching sight of Jin's red hair.
"Jin, don't close the door!" She gasped, nearly pushing the shisa out of the doorway to view the person on the other side. There was silence for a moment as she stared, taking in hair of long pale blonde and eyes of a deep forest green.
"L... Lire?" She questioned, taking a deep breath as footsteps entered the hallway. The girl, staring back, nodded.
"LIRE!" Amy's voice rang out loudly, shock entering her voice. The blonde looked up to where the siren was and smiled, her grin growing even wider when she noticed Lass. Tears had begun forming in her eyes, and she stepped inside quietly. Jin appeared more than confused at the events; he looked back and forth between Lire and the others before shrugging.
"Lire, how did you...?" Arme questioned, staring at the seemingly elven girl inquisitively. Lire looked back at Arme, and to the magician's surprise she reached out to hug the shorter girl.
"Arme, thank you... So much..." Arme said nothing, feeling rather confused. When the green eyed girl released her she took a breath, looking around the area.
"Where's... Where's Ryan?" Jin raised his hand.
"I'm not really sure what's going on right now, but I'll go get him." Lire looked back at the shisa thankfully, then back to the others.
"I'll try to explain the best that I can, then... Arme, you know how the worlds are connected, right?" Arme nodded.
"Kaze'aze forced them together..." The archer nodded.
"Well... It worked sort of like this. When the worlds were connected it was because people were acting sort of like 'bridges' and connecting the two... You, me, Elesis and Amy. When we die on the other side or fade on this side, our bridges shatter. There's nothing connecting the two, and time will flow randomly unless the two are connected again, which means it was entirely luck that you were connected when you were. From what I gather time isn't relative in the two unless someone is bridging the gap... Twenty years could have passed in our world while only a day passed here." She paused, looking at the ground.
"Well, that's not really important now. What is is that even though I had no connection to this world, you still did. Arme... When you came to visit me, the moment you lost consciousness, I... I died. When I was lost on that side, I was holding onto you, and I guess my soul recognized the link to this world. I ended up using your connection like a bridge, and my body reformed back here. I... I have no idea what the chances of that happening were, but it did. Or... That's what my best guess at what happened is." She concluded. Arme could only stare, wide-eyed.
"But... It's been a month since Arme lost her connection. That means you've been here for a month, doesn't it?" Lass' voice cut in as he stepped in next to Arme. Lire seemed almost ashamed when he said this, and there was a moment before she continued.
"Yes... I was. When I woke up I was in the elven forest... Not all that surprising, seeing as that's where my connection first brought me. I stopped them from sending out any messages because I wanted to tell you all myself, but I... I just couldn't think of what to say. I didn't know what you would all think of me returning, or if you would even want me to return at all, but... I needed to see Ryan again. I couldn't just... Even so, it took me a month to gather the nerve to come here... I still don't know how to face him." Arme watched the girl sympathetically, and was surprised to feel arms wind around her shoulders. Lass rested his chin on her hair, his arms crossing over her chest and pulling her close.
"You didn't honestly believe he wouldn't want to see you... Lire, you should have known how he'd feel... How all of us would feel." Sighing, he regarded Lire, "But... At least you came back." The elf looked up at him, her green eyes large. A small smile fell onto her face; a knowing smile.
"You've changed a lot since I've last saw you. Before all of this you wouldn't have understood at all." Lass scoffed quietly.
"A year changes people... Four months can change a person even more than that." His arms tightened around Arme, and the magician blushed, "Though the one who's changed the most is probably Ryan. And I'm expecting you to make that change for the better, in the end." Lire nodded, eyes glancing up at the stairway.
"I'll do my best." Any further conversation was halted by the sound of footsteps pounding down the staircase; a head of orange hair soon rushed into view. There was a moment of silence among everyone as the two elves stared at each other, ended when Lire took a timid step towards the sentinel.
"LIRE!" Ryan was no more than a blur of orange as he nearly tackled Lire into a hug, holding the blonde tightly, "Jin wasn't being an ass! It really is you!" Lire let out a laugh, hugging him back just as firmly.
"Yeah..." She confirmed after a moment, tears beginning to fall heavily out of her eyes, "It is me." Arme, watching the pair, placed her hands over Lass'.
"Do we really have to go on that mission right now? I don't think I want to leave just yet." Lass let out a murmur of agreement.
"And as far as your guild knows, we're already gone." He added, and Arme could almost feel the grin in this statement, "You're our magician before you're their magician. You're my magician before you're their magician." Arme laughed quietly.
"I don't want to be their magician for a pretty long time to come... Right now, I think I'd be happy if things could just stay like this." The assassin nuzzled his nose against her hair lightly.
"You're always going to be my magician first." He responded, "Besides, you don't have to worry about the Grand Chase disbanding for a long time. Our journey isn't over."
Far away from the main house, where everyone still stood rejoicing in Lire's return, a storm spiralled endlessly. In the distant land of Xenia, near the depths of the lost continent that many feared to tread, sand was coiled about, mercilessly wearing down all it came in contact with. Tiles of what appeared to once have been a regal marble had been reduced to slabs of worthless stone, walls that had once stood proud diminished to crumbling slate and damaged paint. Cloth that may have once made up the curtains or otherwise in a magestic castle lay tattered and strewn about the desert-like area, littering the sandy ground like useless pieces of trash. Seemingly devoid of anything living, the cold, barren lands were simply a flurry of dark browns and golden yellows, cutting into what seemed to be the remains of a gallant kingdom. In the scene only one colour stood astray; a speck of cyan standing alone in the dead wasteland. Faded strands of blue hair were whipped about, sand painfully nicking the pale skin of a huddled up girl clinging a book to her chest. Crawling forward to press her back against a large wedge of cracking stone as a pathetic defense from the dangerous winds, heterochromic eyes of a deep sapphire and contrasting ruby peeked open ever so hesitantly, and the girl clutched the book tighter to protect it from the grains of sand.
"Wh... Where am I?"
The journey was far from over.
A/N: IT'S OVERRRRR ;-; I can't thank all of you who've been with me up to this point enough! You've all helped me through a story I don't think I could have finished otherwise! I've met so many people I'm grateful to, and had so many comments that made my day... I want you all to know how much it means to me that this story has gotten to be the most reviewed story in the Grand Chase archives! It's really amazing even reading and seeing Lass and his cherry pie everywhere... Always manages to make me smile!
I wanna extend a huge thanks to WillowWhip and Shokora, you guys deal with my complaining and procrastinating about this nearly every day xD;;
http:/ www. lassxarme. webs. com / - This site is for spreading the LassxArme love~! Please take a minute to check it out and sign the guestbook, many people have put hours of hard work into it~
... It's really over. o_o This is probably gonna get me pretty slowly xD;; Well, my plans are to put some summaries in my profile and see what gets the most votes for my next story, so stay tuned for that! For a while though, I'll probably just chill and write some oneshots/get some drawing done (seeing as I currently owe someone a picture of Lass in a nurse outfit :3 )
And as a small note on this ending... I know I set it up like there was a sequel, I'm sorry! OTL It's how I work... There is actually no sequel xD
Once again, I'm so grateful to all of you~ I could write a list here thanking all of you for what you've individually done, but that would up my word count by a few pages so I think I'll just not xD
This is the end of Into the Dark, thanks for reading~! Spread the LassxArme love~!
-Utsuro