Hello again and welcome!

Please read the previous chapter. The context there will explain everything. I'll try to catch up with the flow so please bear with the delays.

Disclaimer: AC02 does not own Grand Chase and the characters. She owns this plot alone. Grand Chase belongs to KoG.

Chapter 1: When Things Go Out of Hand

Please.. watch over him. I beg of you.

Those viscous words remained in her thoughts even while running for dear life.

The rain continues to fall. Unfortunately, it grows heavy over time. She has no umbrella for protection - just her scarf. Running farther and farther, she eventually grew tired.

I can't believe I left.. Lich was right there. Why did I have to run? I could have just swooped in and stopped him. What have I done?

She found shelter under a cavern later on and stayed there. Seeing her clothes wet, she stripped them off and plucked a large and wide leaf off of a stem to use it as a cover. She piled her wet clothes over a soaked boulder. It was mere luck when the cavern happened to have a small pond for her to bathe in.

She dipped herself in and let the touch of the water diminish her alibis for a short while.

"Well well."

Lire felt like jumping when she heard a voice. She jerked and looked over her shoulder.

"E-Eh? What are you doing here?"

Elesis folded her arms on her chest as her face gave an exultant expression. "Your escape operation is a failure."

"How did you find me here?" the Elf demanded whereas getting embarrassed from being seen naked, albeit only half of her body is shown.

"Our midget exerted a lot of effort contacting the spirits at once to track you. So they served as our navigators. Right now, she's right here resting her ass." Elesis turned her head towards Arme. The lilac-haired magician leaned on the coarse cavern walls with her chest heaving. "Boy, she got tired from all that running. We've ran out of drinking water."

"Where are the rest of you guys? Why are you only with Arme?"

The red-haired knight sticks out her index finger. "Amy has violin practices. But she'll catch up."

She sticks out her middle finger. "Mari is confined in her lab while that stupid "gramps" rests his ass whereas being her hamster."

Then the ring finger. "Lass went somewhere to get this midget a present. Dunno what it is and I don't care."

Then the pinky. "Ronan becomes overly worried about you and that tree-hugger so he wanders around the Elven Forest to hunt him down - and you, of course."

The blonde-haired archer then asks "What about Jin?"

Elesis suddenly guffawed. "Oh, him. He "accidentally" punched a treant, went home with ridiculously huge tumors and... got lost. Hahahahaha!" She laughed merrily to an extent that tiny droplets of tears emanated from the corners of her eyes.

Surely, Jin has become the laughing stock - the comic relief - of the Chase. For some reasons, he tends to target Elesis as he spits nasty jokes to an extent that he classifies her bust size under the B-cup level. Hence, leading the two redheads to break into fights and ridiculously exaggerated shenanigans. Lire just sighed and turned away from the female knight.

"Ronan told me everything."

It was then she heard these words come out of Elesis's mouth. The Elf remained idle albeit the tension is rising right into her. The tone of the knight's voice seemed not surprised at all.

"I was with Jin and Amy that time. Ronan gave me the other details." she continued. "We thought if we could work together like we always do."

"Too late for that..." Lire replied passively. "Who knows he already made it within those two weeks. This stupid act I've executed served as the incentive.."

"Well... you're still running after him, aren't you?"

The Elf couldn't utter a reply. Elesis can tell just by looking even while her back is turned on her.

"Uwaaa... I'll never summon spirits again!" Arme's whining was heard, cutting the silence between the two girls as she stood up. "Hey, there's a swimming pool! I wanna go for a dip!"

"Ditto." Elesis replied as she and the magician undressed and neatly placed their wet clothes next to Lire's over the boulder. They joined her as their faces are filled with pleasure and relaxation.

"This is the life~" Arme moaned.

"I... I thought this was cold.." Lire said while looking at the water.

"Of course not! It's a hot spring, you know?"

"On a rainy day?" Elesis eyed her incredulously.

The magician put her finger on her chin. "Weeell... maybe there are water spirits here that control the water's temperature. I guess we're the lucky ones~" She took her magic lamp just beside the water's damp edge and stroked its body. A faded magical mirror appeared as it revealed a scene of a silver-haired male raiding a shop.

"NONONONONONO!" the magician panicked. "What in the world is he thinking?!"

"Have you encountered Lich while on your way here?" Lire asked the two girls as they jerked their heads at her.

"Yeah," Elesis nods. "Ronan came and did the honors."

"Oh..." the Elf said. "Well... he attacked me before I got here. Lich is on his way to the Elven Forest... probably attacking my people."

She got obsessed with chasing after that druid. Suddenly, the ghosts of the past are coming back to her. Her dream of Gaia appearing to her and warning her about the world's fate made him upset big time. No matter how concerned she gets, it will just annoy Ryan even more. Yet the urge of the goddess wanted her to thwart him.

If only I could just forget everything. she thought to herself while Elesis and Arme are chattering and sharing stories of all kinds.

Lire then got up, stepped out of the pond and grabbed her clothes. Still wet, she put them on, not giving a damn whether she'll catch a cold, catch a fever or whatsoever. She sat on the ground and leaned her face on her knees. She can feel her body shivering from the cold. Looking towards the ground, she can see a red totem planted on it and giving her warmth. Then she lied down to cherish the warm essence coming from the totem.

"Fire Ring!"

The petite mage's voice was heard instead. A spirit enveloped with fiery aura emanated out of Arme's lamp's snout.

"Don't you have any extra clothes?" the mage asked.

Lire shook her head wordlessly.

Arme eyed her sheepishly when she went towards her backpack which she brought along with her and unzipped its mouth. She pulled out a green garment and showed it to the Elf.

"This was the dress, right?"

Lire furrowed her eyebrows. "Where did that come from?"

"Do you remember? Amy bought this one for you. You were with her and Elesis when you were out of town."

The Elf observed the dress. The beads sewn on the garment remained untouched and neat.

"I wonder what he would think when he sees Lire wearing this dress. I'm sure he'll be stunned!"

Lire averted glances as her cheeks turned red. "W-Why did you bring that with you..?"

"Why, it's yours!" Arme replied. "This dress is cute. Really!"

"I can't wear that."

"The rain doesn't seem to stop, does it?" Elesis chimed in. Lire felt awkward seeing the two girls still naked. It gets more awkward because they are not aware. Perhaps because there were no other persons around but them.

"I'll be keeping this with me for the time being, okay?" Arme said as she gently folded the dress and shoved it inside her backpack carefully. Silence returned as Lire went back to her initial state. She realized that the red totem was a mere pigment of her imagination. Growing bored, Lire stood up and told the two girls that she's going to pick some berries for them to eat.

The Elf exited the cavern and put her scarf around her head and neck. She scouted the woods and looked around for riped fruit. She stepped on boulders, picked berries, evaded monster attacks, crossed the swamps and gathered as many berries as she can. She used her scarf as a bag by tying a tight knot to secure it.

She went all the way back to the cavern along with the berries she picked. She stepped her feet onward when she froze on her tracks.

In front of the cavern's entrance, Sieghart is sprawled on his back on the muddy puddle. He grimaced as a large tumor protruded on his dark locks.

"PEEPING TOM!"

Jin ran out of the cavern followed by the still naked Elesis. The fighter shielded his head with his hands whereas the knight slammed her spear's shaft on him repeatedly.

"I didn't see anything!" he retorted between painful growls. A bead of sweat appeared on Lire's head as she sighed. The Elf walked past them along with the berries when she saw Arme quickly putting her clothes back on.

"Kyaa!" the mage squealed. "L-Lire, you're here! I thought Sieghart is gonna rape me!"

"What's going on..?" the Elf asked.

"Auuu... those guys are on us!" Arme cried. "I don't want Lass to see me like this!"

"Men have feelings, you know!" Sieghart growled behind them just as he is sitting upright. "Who would go to a place like this while naked, anyway?!"

"UWAA! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!" The magician screamed as she summoned a shock stun to electrocute everyone in the cavern into crisps. Lire gaped when she saw Ronan standing a few meters away from them, his entire body turned into crisp as he collapsed. Arme whimpered while pointing her staff towards the guys.

"Where's Lass when we needed him..?" Sieghart grumbled under his breath.

I hope you have read the entire explanation. Like I've said, I have replaced it into an updated version because the original actually was rushed.

Stay tuned for more!

Update: 09/08/13