Alright, I'm several days late.

...And I have school tomorrow. Joy.

Anyway, successfully completed the kidnapping arc, if you want to call it that. And now I have no idea where to go with this story. I've been letting that arc carry me through the past 10 chapters.

I decided to make a cute fluffy Short 24, but... I don't know. Either I'm going to have to start actually thinking, you guys are going to have to start thinking, or I'm just going to have to find a way to end it. Might have to considering school is likely going to drain me of all life. I could still make other things, though, to amuse my fans. Maybe make a joke fic concerning the Chibi Specter Knight shimejis. Let's face it, they are adorable. I want to hug them.

Short 19

(Day 14)

Mona awoke to the sound of talking. She let out a low groan and opened her mouth, fully prepared to start shouting her lungs out at the idiots who dared to disturb her sleep. She was stopped by a familiar, excited to the point of almost being ear-splitting, voice calling out, "She's awake!"

Another voice chimed in, much quieter than the previous one. "Quiet down. Just because she's conscious doesn't mean much. You're probably just giving her a massive headache."

The previous voice replied with, "Ah, right. Sorry, Mona."

Mona grumbled in response to this and forced her eyes open, blinking repeatedly when the rising sun got in her eyes. 'Sun?' She questioned. Looking around, she realized that she was in a forest, and the Magicist and Plague Knight were in front of her. The former looked somewhere between mildly happy and extremely pissed off, while the latter had a sheepish, apologetic grin on his face.

Tiredly, Mona shook her head in a vain attempt to remove the cobwebs clogging her brain. It didn't work particularly well, and she was left as dazed and confused about her actions as before.

Plague Knight seemed to notice her disorientation. "You alright?"

"Maybe, maybe not," she answered. "I'm still trying to figure that one out for myself."

"Well, that's reassuring," the Magicist commented sarcastically.

"Do you think you can walk?" Plague Knight asked gently.

"Let's find out," Mona replied, pushing herself into a standing position.

Plague Knight nodded happily and pointed in the direction they were heading, waiting for her to start moving before taking a single step himself.

Mona's body, still weary from the previous night's excursion, though she still for the life of her could not remember what that even was, was stiff, and on multiple occasions attempted to seize up and downright refuse to work properly. Despite this, she decided it best to not request a break at any point. She saw a particular expression she hoped to never see on Plague Knight's face. He was worried, scared even; something was chasing them. He glanced behind him constantly as though expecting something to jump out at them at any moment. None of them had any weaponry, unless the Magicist could conjure her magic into a sword, so they were basically defenseless.

The Magicist walked at a speed that the younger woman found it difficult to keep up at times. Plague Knight took notice of this and said on her behalf, "We should slow down a little. Mona's having trouble keeping up."

"I'm fine," Mona insisted. "We should get back as soon as possible."

In spite of this, the Magicist slowed her pace, though only barely.

It was many minutes later until the silence that befell the group was broken again. "How long do you think it will be until they come?"

The question had come from the Magicist, and Mona prayed that it was directed towards Plague Knight, because she still couldn't figure out what was going on.

Luckily, it seemed her small prayer was answered positively, and Plague Knight responded, "I'm not sure, actually. Yesterday, when the wife came to get me for breakfast, it was a couple hours after sunrise. I know that they don't rise before the sun, as I waited by the door for my savior until natural light started to fill the room. I took several minutes to lock the room back up and making it appear as though I never returned downstairs after getting sent to my room, so I'm not sure." He let out a low snicker as he was reminded of his stunt that got him thrown in his room earlier than expected.

The Magicist picked up on the laughter and became confused. "You got sent to your room? Why is that funny?"

"I launched mashed potatoes at Thomas during dinner."

The Magicist chuckled. "Yeah, that is pretty funny."

There was a momentary silence before, "So you don't know when they'll come, if at all?" It was Mona who spoke, her brain finally starting to work properly after the mention of Thomas, one of the two brothers who kicked the crap out of her and left her helpless for nearly a week, as she recalled.

"Oh, they'll come," Plague Knight was quick to assure her. "It's just a matter of when. I'm almost positive that they're already aware and are dashing towards us as we speak."

Mona frowned. "And we don't just deviate from our course because…?"

Plague Knight looked at her in confusion. "What would that do?"

"Won't they be coming down the exact path we're taking? If we take a 90 degree turn to the side and go to either side for several minutes, they'll still be following this path and we'll be somewhere else entirely."

Plague Knight opened his mouth to reply, but found that he couldn't get words out. Finally, he let out an irritated moan and swiftly turned to the right. The two women looked to each other. Mona shrugged and followed while the Magicist groaned, wondering why she didn't think of that plan.

Five minutes into the trek to the right, Plague Knight stopped. "Let's take a break now that we're no longer in danger. My feet seriously hurt."

The females nodded in response to this and gratefully sat down. Mona, whose back was killing her by this point, swiftly took the chance to lie down on her side.

She watched, somewhat disinterested, as Plague Knight absentmindedly rubbed at his feet as he leaned against a tree. She had to suppress the urge to jump when he acknowledged her. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad. Though I'm really yearning for a proper bed right about now."

Plague Knight released a small, depressed sigh. "I'm afraid of how long it'll take for you to get that, though. This is such a mess."

"It isn't exactly ideal, is it?"

Plague Knight shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "This is my fault, isn't it? I shouldn't have told them of my fake identify when they were trying to find me."

"They would have found you anyway!" Mona protested. "Everyone in the village was raving about you every time I had to go to the surface. Don't try to pin the blame on yourself. If anything because it's cliché as all hell."

"Yeah… but-"

"OK, fine. You're responsible for everything!" Mona snapped with a clearly annoyed tone of voice. "You are the reason I have a hole in my shoulder, not the man that actually did the deed. You are the reason you were taken away. You are the reason your captors refused to listen to your explanations."

Plague Knight chose to not respond to that. Mona merely looked at him and watched. Eventually, he sighed and muttered, "Right… right."

Mona groaned as she realized that she likely hurt his feelings. "I'm sorry. I'm just… tired. You know how irritable I can get."

Plague Knight nodded, though his mood didn't seem to improve much.

'Just when I need that child side of his to kick in so he'll forgive me easily, it's not there. Of course,' Mona groaned to herself.

The Magicist could tell that the situation was likely not going to improve, so she said, "We should head out now."

The alchemists looked to her and nodded, pulling themselves to their feet.

By the time the three managed to spot the village, it was nightfall. The twins and their master were nowhere to be seen. It was likely that they had arrived, but were unable to find 'Adam,' and thus left to search elsewhere. The group could only pray that this was the case.

Despite the fact that his feet were killing him and he just wanted to get back to the Potionarium before the crazy family appeared again, Plague Knight ran forward and let out a small whoop of joy, spinning around and looking to his female companions.

"I have never been so happy to see this place," he informed them.

"I can tell," the Magicist replied with an amused smile.

Quickly, a small crowd gathered, all very gleeful that the boy they had inexplicably become so fond of was back without a scratch.

The Magicist spotted something and nudged Mona, pointing somewhat vaguely in an attempt to not be noticed by the crowd at some adventurers. Their status was obvious because they had bright armor; the shorter of the two, loosely holding a shovel, was wearing protective gear the color of the sky and the other, a tall woman wielding dual shields, a bright crimson. Both watched the crowd at a fair distance, seemingly interested in what was going on, but not enough that they felt it was worth it to approach and talk to the villagers.

"Those are the guys we were going to kidnap?" Mona questioned, to which the Magicist nodded.

"It's probably not wise to try and do it now, though. Too much attention, plus you wouldn't be able to back Plaguey up. Not that he's like be able to lure them to the forest, though."

"That's my nickname; back off," Mona snarled.

Interestingly, the Magicist merely laughed at this. "You're not threatening right now, I hope you know that."

Mona glared. "You wanna bet?"

It was at this point that Plague Knight managed to pull himself away from the crowd. He saw the situation, and, despite not knowing what they were arguing about, decided it was best that he broke it up.

"Mona…" he said, gaining her attention. "Don't do anything reckless, now. You're still hurt."

Despite clearly being annoyed, Mona huffed and gave up. Plague Knight smiled and made his way to her side, waiting for her to begin moving.

"What were you arguing about?" He asked as she started shuffling forward. In the background, the crowd congregated on the Magicist, bombarding her with questions about how she found Plague Knight and why in the world she let Mona out. (What was she, a dog?)

"Ah…" Mona had to stop and think, wondering if it was worth it to inform him they were fighting over the use of a nickname. The Magicist took a step back out of shock.

"It can't possibly be that bad," Plague Knight said in an attempt to encourage her to speak. The Magicist stumbled over her words.

"And you'd know that because…?" She let out a small groan. "Fine. I was annoyed because…" She turned her gaze away, embarrassed. "…because she used my nickname for you." The Magicist attempted to answer another question thrown her way, but was cut off by someone else.

Plague Knight blinked. "That's why? You want to be the only one who calls me 'Plaguey'?" He snickered. The Magicist began to feel like she was going to suffocate.

"And you're laughing at me. Thanks." The Magicist attempted to get away from the large group.

Plague Knight stifled his laughter. "No! I actually find it sweet. Ridiculous, yes, but sweet nevertheless." The Magicist ended up roughly shoving some poor sap. Everyone stared.

Mona smiled to him in gratitude. "I suppose that makes me feel a little less stupid." The Magicist looked at the crowd, silently pleading for them to leave her alone. They did not move a muscle.

"You, stupid? Perish the thought!" The Magicist finally pulled herself away from the crowd.

"Guys!" The Magicist whined as she caught up to them. "Why didn't you save me?"

Plague Knight turned his gaze to her in confusion. "You needed saving?"

"Yes! That throng converged on me, and I couldn't breathe, and… and…!"

Plague Knight watched in silence for no more than a couple seconds, trying to keep a straight face before he couldn't take it and burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?!"

"Haha… Y-you are!" He gasped. "A crowd was asking you questions, not trying to stab you! Ahahaha!" Amusingly, Plague Knight then fell over, holding his stomach as he struggled to breath.

The two females looked to each other.

"It wasn't that funny, was it?" The Magicist asked with an annoyed huff.

"Not to me," Mona responded with a shrug, before chuckling at Plague Knight's behavior. "Calm down, Plaguey, you're going to draw the crowd back to you if you keep that up."

Plague Knight immediately stifled his laughter. "True…" he muttered. "Time to get back, then, I suppose. We need to check on your injuries, Mona."

"He just did a complete 180," the Magicist noted. "From laughing at something that isn't even funny to completely serious…"

"I think he may have snapped…" Mona muttered.

"He wasn't even trapped for a week!"

"Hey, are you guys coming?" Plague Knight yelled, already 30 feet away.

The two were still for a moment before they started walking silently.

"Maybe..." Mona murmured in thought after several feet. "Think he's trying to fight the child in him?"

"No, I think it's just good ol' crazy Plague Knight being crazy."

"No matter how strange he may act at times, he's never that weird."

"Let's try and look into it if it ever happens again. Otherwise, we'll ignore it, okay?"

"Fine."

And Plague Knight's nickname makes its first offical appearance in this story. Yay!

Also, for some reason, I feel like Mona's the type to be extremely grouchy if she's woken prematurely, or been working way too late, and so everyone (except possibly Plaguey since she'd probably be nice to her partner regardless of her mental state) has learned to fear her at the beginning and end of every day. Plaguey would probably be aware of how mean she can potentially get, but doesn't really worry about it or attempt to alter the behavior regardless of his minions' complaints because that anger is seldom directed at him.