Chapter 6 – Me and You

It's been three days since they returned to El Nath. They trained hard for the battle against the Black Mage. The day of the invasion was getting closer and that scared the living daylights out of everyone. Even the five of them were afraid inside. Anything could happen.

It was five in the morning. Hanson burst out of his room and trudged happily towards the training hall. He thought he was the earliest to awake and train and he was proud of it. As he walked down the stairs, he saw everyone busy training away.

"Dang it! I thought I was going to be the first to start training!" he whined as he stomped his feet. Lea smirked. "No matter how early you get up, you'll never be as early as ME."

Dinah giggled and went back to bringing down a wooden dummy in front of her with her magic. Kyle had destroyed almost half of the dummies standing in the training hall. The rest watched in awe as he jumped around, slicing the dummies into half with his sharp sword.

Hanson practically blew up some of the dummies there. Lea sighed as she set her bow down. "It's gonna be a boring day." She said as she yawned. "We can't train all day. I feel like going out!"

"Really" Hanson's eyes lit up. He slipped his gun back into its holster. "Me too! Come let's!"

"Seriously, Hanson? Who goes out at five thirty in the morning? Let's wait until seven, shall we?" the Bowmaster raised her eyebrows.

"Sure!"

They continued training. Non-stop until seven. "Phew!" Dinah exclaimed as she sat down on the thick hay on the floor. She gulped down a bottle of blue elixir and started examining her staff. "Gee, I've been training so much, my staff's getting warm!"

"You call this much? You definitely have never trained like this before." Ivan muttered.

"You don't have to comment on everything I say!" the Bishop snapped back.

Lea stuffed her bow into her large equipment bag. "I'm going out now. Have fun training, you all." She gave a small wave as she walked towards the door.

"Wait, I'm coming!" Hanson reminded her as he ran after her. Dinah watched until the both of them disappeared out of sight. She sighed again as she looked up at the Shadower.

"I agree it's boring here. I've got a friend to meet at Kerning City. I'm going to Victoria Island now. Good riddance." He said as he grabbed his bag.

"Can I come?"

"What?"

"Can I go to Kerning with you?"

"What? Of course you can't! You'll just be in the way."

Dinah whined as she stood up as well. "I don't care. I'm going! I'm so bored, I'm going to die!" she grabbed her bag as well to show Ivan 'there's-no-stopping-me-I'm-following-you'. He sighed and shook his head. "Alright. If you really want to. But if you annoy me, I'll just leave you there."

"How about him?" Dinah suddenly asked as she turned around to look at the warrior. He waved his hand.

"Thanks but no thanks. I don't feel like going. You guys have fun." He said.

"Okay. Bye, Kyle!" Dinah waved as she followed Ivan out the door. "Soo…where are we going now?"

"I'm stopping by a potion shop to buy an Orbis Tower scroll. You wouldn't want to climb up the tower, would you?" Ivan snapped.

"Of course I don't!"

In no time, they reached Orbis, thanks to the handy scroll. "So…we're taking the Victoria Island ship?" Dinah asked as she ran to keep up with Ivan's pace. Every step she took was tiring.

"What ship do you think we'll have to take to go to Victoria Island?" he shot her an annoyed look.

"S-sorry." She grumbled.

"Tickets please." The ride attendant said as Ivan handed her a small ticket. "Thank you, Sir. Tickets please." She put out her hand to take Dinah's ticket.

"She's with me." The Shadower quickly said as Dinah was allowed into the ship. It was crowded with people. Mostly pixies from Orbis and some thieves from Magatia. Low-levelled noobs, Ivan thought as he eyed the people carefully.

"What are you looking at?" Dinah half-whispered, half-yelled.

"Shush!"

He continued looking around as the bored Dinah ran around the ship, searching for interesting things to keep her occupied. "Please be seated. The ship will be leaving in a minute's time." a voice boomed over a hidden loudspeaker. Everyone scrambled to grab a seat.

"Sit down, idiot." Ivan growled as he patted an empty spot on the seat beside him. The Bishop obediently sat down. "How long's the flight?" she asked out of boredom.

"Haven't you been on this ship before?" he asked back in a rather rude manner.

"I have! But I forgot! People can forget sometimes, you know?"

"Sheesh, I think you've got amnesia." He gently pushed her forehead back with his fingers, "It's a 4-hour ride."

"Damn. And was it so hard to just tell me?"

"You're so annoying."

They reached Victoria Island in exactly 4 hours. Ivan exited the ship and walked ahead with no intention of waiting for Dinah. She squeezed herself out of the ship and ran after him. "Don't…leave me…behind…!" she squealed between pants as she grabbed his cape.

"If you don't want to be left behind, walk faster!" he yelled as she let go of his cape.

"Sheesh, it isn't me who is slow! You're walking too fast."

"Well, it's not my problem."

"Ugh, let's just go!"

They walked towards Kerning City, the town of thieves, arguing non-stop. Dinah has never been to Kerning before. Her mother used to forbid her from entering the town and mixing with thieves. She could still remember her mother's advice.

"Never EVER try to sneak into Kerning City. If the thieves there find out you're a magician, they might…do things to you."

"Why?"

"Thieves and magicians can never get along. It isn't us who are at fault, though. It is them."

"Why don't thieves like magicians?"

"I really don't know. But just…don't go there and don't befriend any thieves, okay? They can't be trusted."

"Yes, mummy."

"DINAH!" Ivan shouted as she snapped out of her thoughts.

"W-what?" she stumbled on her own words as she looked up at him. She suddenly realized he was tall. Like…two heads taller than her. Maybe one. Who cares?

"Geez you gotta stop spacing out all the time." he grumbled while sighing, "I was asking you…have you ever been here before?"

"N-no."

"No? Like seriously?"

"Yeah. Seriously, no."

Ivan raised his eyebrows in surprise. Seriously? "Okay, then. I'm meeting my friend here." He said, stopping in front of a lighted up bar. It was already evening and people were walking in and out of it.

"A-a bar?" Dinah stammered, slightly shocked. The Shadower raised his eyebrows again.

"Yeah. What's wrong with it?"

"Bars have…bad people and fights and…"

"You think too much. There's really nothing to worry about." Ivan rolled his eyes at Dinah's pathetic-ness.

"For you, maybe."

"Fine. Wait outside if you're too afraid to come in." he pushed open the doors of the bar and walked in. Dinah hesitated for a moment, then ran after him.

"WAIT!"

They squeezed through the crowd in the huge underground bar. Almost everyone there was drunk. They all looked like drug addicts too. That totally creeped Dinah out. She had never been in an environment like this before.

Ivan grabbed her hand and she immediately reacted by jumping up. He snorted as he continued walking ahead. "Just so you won't get lost." Silence.

"I spot him." He told Dinah as he pointed at a green-haired assassin sitting on a bar stool, chugging down a whole glass of what looked like beer. They walked towards him slowly, trying not to ram into people.

Ivan tapped him on the shoulder. The assassin spun around. He looked seriously drunk. His whole face was bright red and he was mumbling some vulgar shit. "ALEX!" Ivan yelled as he shook him hard. "W-what?" the drunk dude replied groggily. Dinah didn't get what was going on.

A few other thieves joined them. They all seemed to know Ivan pretty well. Old friends, probably. "Yo, Ivan." One of them, a redhead, slapped the Shadower hard on the back. "It's been a long time."

"It has, Kevin." Ivan simply muttered as they started laughing. They weren't as drunk as the guy Ivan had called 'Alex'.

"I don't get why you even joined that shitty fight thing." Kevin sighed and shook his head. "You could've declined the Dark Lord's offer and stayed her with us."

Another blue, shoulder-length haired guy nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I wouldn't even give a single fuck about it."

Ivan sighed and turned away slightly. "Why did you call me here?"

Kevin laughed loudly as slapped Ivan's back again, "We have plenty of time tonight for that. Now, tell us your story so far!" the rest of his, probably, cronies started snickering.

"There's no story to be told."

"Ivan, can we go?" Dinah whispered as she tugged on the sleeve of his dark pirate blouse. He looked and shook his head, ever so slightly so that no one would notice.

"Ah, I see you've found a girl!" Kevin laughed even louder, making other drunkards stare at him. He roughly shook the Bishop's hand. That scared her. Ivan quickly pulled Dinah's hand away from his friend's grasp.

"Just tell me why you called me here. We're in a hurry." He growled.

"That no way to treat your buddy, Ivan." Kevin shook his head. "In a hurry? Since when have you been in a hurry? We've got lots of time. Don't worry!

"Yeah, have a seat." The seriously drunk Alex grinned as he pulled Ivan down onto one of the bar stools next to him. Kevin grinned along and gave him a thumbs up.

"That's the spirit!" the redhead praised. He looked over his shoulder at Dinah and eyed her for some time.

"Stop it. Just…what do you want? Is it anything important?" Ivan snapped, making Kevin turn back to face him. He nodded.

"Pfft. I really don't get why you're so desperate to leave." Kevin quipped. He looked at Dinah again. This time, he noticed the head of her staff poking out of her bag.

"Your girlfriend…she's a magician?" he suddenly asked darkly. Dinah stumbled back a little. Her mother's words played in her head again.

"Never EVER try to sneak into Kerning City. If the thieves there find out you're a magician, they might…do things to you."

Do things to me? Dinah stammered. "I-I…"

"She's a Bishop, isn't she?" Kevin growled. His sudden change of attitude was surprisingly freaky and Ivan slightly widened his eyes. Finally, he opened his mouth.

"How'd you know?"

"What type of magicians use staffs? Only Battle Mages and Bishops. And she definitely doesn't look like the Battle Mage type." He explained. His explanation had a rather evil tone in it. "She looks too soft and innocent."

Ivan watched as Kevin walked closer towards Dinah. She stood there, frozen, embarrassed to make any sudden movements. He smirked, seeing her fear. He slowly ran his hands over her bare arms, making her pull back in shock.

Ivan got up from his seat and pulled Kevin away from the Bishop. "I've had enough for today." He quickly grabbed Dinah by the shoulders and pushed her away. Kevin, in disappointment, shouted at them as they walked away.

"You're just jealous I was messing with your girlfriend!"

The Shadower ignored his friend's yells and insults. He was probably too drunk to realize he was doing such embarrassing things. "Just…ignore him." He muttered to Dinah. She nodded obediently. They walked out of the crowded bar.

Dinah was heaved a sigh of relief after they exited the scary, wild place. "Where do we go now?" she asked and looked around her. It was already dark.

"Back to El Nath before Lea else sends out a rescue team to look for us. You know how super concerned she is."

"Okay."

They walked along the deserted streets. "Why aren't there anyone here?" Dinah asked again.

"This is Kerning City. If you want to stay safe, don't come out after 8."

"Oh…you mean…we're NOT safe?"

Ivan chuckled. "What's there to worry? I'm here."

"The portal's right across that alley! Let's use it as a shortcut." Dinah pointed at a portal at the far end of a dark alley. Ivan shrugged and agreed. They took a few steps when the Shadower abruptly stopped.

Dinah stopped as well, surprised. She could see Ivan's golden hair swaying as the wind blew. "There's someone…" he mumbled. "Duck!"

He pushed Dinah onto the ground and ducked as well. Three steelies embedded themselves into the wall behind them. "W-what was that?" the Bishop stammered, wielding her staff out of her bag with shaky hands.

"Stay alert and be careful." Ivan whispered. He glanced around him. There was nothing. Only darkness. A creepy laugh echoed through the alley as Dinah clutched onto Ivan's blouse. "I-it's alright." He said, trying to make the Bishop shut up so that he could concentrate.

"How wise of you two to come walking into a dark alley this time of the day." The voice said. Dinah could make out the figure of the person who owned that voice. He was walking towards them. As he got closer, she could see there was a black patch covering his right eye. He had two kataras in his hands. He looked dangerous.

"Ah, what a pretty lady you've got there. I must be lucky today." He continued as Ivan and Dinah backed away.

"If you lay a finger on her, I will kill you." The Shadower warned as he flipped out his dagger, wielding it to show the thief that he wasn't afraid to use it. The thief merely laughed.

"I see." He charged towards Ivan as fast as the wind and slashed his kataras wildly. Ivan dodged his attacks and attempted to stab him with his dagger. The thief was quick. He swiftly hopped onto a garbage bin, safe from Ivan's dagger.

Without warning, he flung two steelies at the Shadower. Ivan was too slow to react and the steelies stabbed his upper right arm. He let out a faint cry. Dinah gasped and quickly healed him. She shot some holy arrows at the thief but he just laughed and dodged them easily.

He quickly tackled Dinah to the ground, kicking her staff away from her reach. Ivan got up and tried to stab him again. This time, he wasn't swift enough and the dagger was buried into his back. He smirked as he spun around, slashing Ivan's side with his katara.

The Shadower staggered back, holding onto his side in pain. The thief was wounded as well. "I've had my fun for today. You people are quite tought." He said. And with that, he disappeared. Ivan limped over to Dinah. She had her left arm wounded and her staff was chipped.

"Are you okay?" she whispered. It almost seemed like she had lost her voice due to shock.

"Yeah." Ivan simply muttered, still holding on to his side. Dinah suddenly started sobbing. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"T-this isn't the time!" Ivan yelled and it made her sob even harder. "Heal me."

She healed him between sobs. The pain quickly went away and the wound on his side was stitched up neatly.

"I-I'm never coming h-here again." She shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm never following you h-here again." She attempted to wipe her eyes again when Ivan quickly hugged her.

"We won't come here again." He mumbled. He could feel her tears seeping through his shirt as he rested his chin on her head. "We should go now. The last ride's at 12." He said, quickly pulling away.

"O-okay." Dinah squeaked as she followed him through the portal.

Somewhere on the rooftop of a rundown building in Kerning City…

"We've found them."