Author's Note: I know I am late, so I should just jump straight to the point. Please be aware that Michael and Elizabeth are minor characters. They are here just to make the story more interesting. Please Review!!
Chapter 24:
"No, we will join you afterwards when we are done with our tea, right Eve?"
Jenos winked at Eve who knew exactly what he was thinking. They both have to win this game and beat them, causing Eve to let out a small smirk.
"Right."
"Okay, what games should we play first?"
Jenos asked impatiently, mainly two reasons, first, get rid of Elizabeth who was latching on his arm tightly and glaring at Eve jealously who just stood there patiently waiting for the conversation to go on. Secondly, he wanted to really play and find out how good his cousins really are, perhaps they were excellent at games, who knows, never judge a book by it's cover. However, he was getting impatient; they had been standing there for fifteen minutes waiting for Michael to decide what game they should play. He glanced at Eve who had changed her dress to clothes that were much proper for playing games. Who ever wear long dress to play games anyway? Even Elizabeth had changed.
"Why not we play War and Strategies? We have the right amount of people anyway."
"All right. So long we get to play games."
Jenos answered Michael's question eagerly. Michael was pleased to hear such an enthusiastic reply but suddenly he frowned. Eve noticing his looks and was curious,
"What's the matter, cousin?"
"Oh nothing but I was wondering how we should split into two groups."
"I want to be with Jenos; after all we are husband and wife!!
"You mean future husband and wife, Elizabeth."
"I don't care, I hate you! Go away, stupid Eve!!"
"Oh yeah, sweet words from you being my sister-in-law so suddenly. Cousin, I have suggestions for the pairings needed, care to hear me out?"
Michael looked at Eve in surprised but shrugs his shoulders allowing Eve to speak. Not leaving her gaze on Michael,
"You and your sister, leaving me with Jenos respectively. Fair?"
Jenos was happy to hear this but there were shouts being heard too. Elizabeth pointed an accusing figure at Eve.
"How come you get paired up with Jenos while I get stuck with Michael?! Jenos is my husband and you are Michael's fiancée, shouldn't the pairings be different?!"
Michael gave a jealous look.
"I must agree with my sister. Why are you paired up with Jenos while I'm paired with my sister? Aren't fiancées supposed to be together?"
Eve closed her eyes and let out a huge sigh at the accusations directed at her. She turned towards them with eyes that showed she meant business, not child play,
"First of all, Jenos isn't very used to Elizabeth yet, same with me and Michael. I didn't think you guys would have any problem with the pairings, considering that you are siblings, also applying me and Jenos. But I thought you guys would have probably played better since you guys knew each other so long as I'm sure that I would definitely played better with Jenos. So if I heard any complaints from any of you, you guys can quit this game and go back running to your mommy, I don't care. To think you guys were the one inviting us to play! So if you are still going to complain, you can kiss this game goodbye, get my drift?!"
They both nodded quickly, scared to anger the quiet girl more who had stalked off with his laughing brother to discuss what strategies were to use to win this game. After making sure she was a mile away, they both breathed out deeply. Eve can be so scary at times, unfornately, that attracts Michael more towards her. Elizabeth turns towards her brother in an impatient way,
"Okay, 'brother' since we been so forcefully paired up, what are we going to do now?"
"Well, let's get start with our plans first, shall we?"
"Sure, do you have anything in mind?"
"Yup, the rules said that in a two-player team, one is an attacker, one is an assassin or a strategist, I am definitely going to be the attacker, what about you, which one do you want to be?"
"Perhaps I will be the assassin."
"You? The assassin?! That's stupid! We'll lose for sure then!"
Michael brushes his fingers lightly on his shirt with Elizabeth boiling with anger.
"Okay! I will be the strategist! Happy?!"
Michael shrugged effortlessly.
"Better than nothing."
Elizabeth stamped her foot angrily.
"Argh! Just go and find them! I will be near the trees on the lookout! And don't come back empty-handed!"
"Don't worry, I definitely will! I won't lose to him!"
"How come you are so sure that Jenos will be the attacker, Michael?"
"Well, my little dense sister, boys are always the attackers, girls always take the sissy parts. I'm off!"
Michael walked off with a confident air with Elizabeth trying to cool off.
"So Eve, you get my plan?"
"Of course. Should be pretty easy since they don't cooperate with each other."
"Yup, nothing to worry about, after all is just a game. Of course, I do hope we win to destroy their egos."
"Shh, I hear footsteps. My goodness, here comes Michael walking as though he really is walking in a park. He is underestimating us too much."
Jenos shrugged.
"Who cares about that idiot?! Anyways just do what you are supposed to do and if everything goes according to plan, then we are sure to win."
"Right."
From the bush, Jenos quickly leaped unseen by Michael to search for the second enemy. Eve counted one to ten before walking casually towards Michael from the bushes. Michael was surprised and pleased to meet Eve.
"Why Eve, I didn't know we will meet so soon, so what role are you playing? Assassin? Strategist?"
"No, I am an attacker. By the looks of it, you must be the attacker too."
Michael stared for a while before bursting into laughter.
"Forgive me; perhaps I have heard wrongly, you are the attacker?"
"You have heard right, Michael."
"Hah, indeed you are interesting, most girls who I interact with wouldn't even bother joining the game but you are different which makes you interesting and sweet in my eyes. Yes, you are definitely the one for me. Back to the topic, you do know the rules of this game; the attacker is the strongest, followed by assassin and then strategist. On the other hand, strategist is the brainiest of all which have the highest defense. If an attacker meets up with a strategist, both are tied and out of the game, if an assassin meets up with a strategist, the only way for the assassin to win is to ambushed the strategist. You know this, don't you?"
Eve nodded.
"Clearly."
Michael smirked.
"Yet you are the attacker, is Jenos so afraid of me that he would hide behind a lady's skirt? I will have him know that I am skilled at martial arts."
Eve was annoyed at hearing her brother being insulted by relative but she must play cool or they would lose the game instantly.
"Oh would you care to try it on me, Cousin Michael?"
Michael looked at Eve as though she had lost her mind. He backed off as though eve was a powerful opponent.
"Try it on you?! Never! I never lay a hand on a lady such as you!"
Eve mentally smirked at his poor excuse and walked off with a confident air, she turned back slightly, and smiled at him,
"Fine by me, coward."
Hearing the words, Michael immediately responds towards Eve's insult and stomped angrily towards her.
"Wait a minute, what did you just say?"
Eve turned towards the angry cousin and stared straight back at him,
"I said 'Fine by me, coward', are your ears deaf?"
Michael exploded in anger and took his position.
"How dare you verbally insult me? That's it! No more mister nice guy, I don't care are you a girl or not, or whether you are my fiancée or not, no one get away with insulting me, prepare to accept my fist of fury!"
Eve only nodded sadly.
"Stupid name."
Eve dogged a fist and hastily walked back. She may be mighty good at dodging but she wasn't good at attacking, she could only pray that Jenos had reached his goal and would come and helped her.
Jenos was actually doing very well. Elizabeth have been stupid enough to stand under a tree day dreaming, perhaps this game was much too boring for her. However, he didn't care, from the tree; he landed right in front of her and tapped her on the forehead in victory. Elizabeth suddenly seeing Jenos' face let out a muffled scream,
"Jenos, you scare me!"
Jenos let out a small smirk.
"Whatever you say, Princess, the most important part is that assassin beats strategist! My side wins; wait till Eve hears of this easy victory!"
"But that's not fair, you are my future husband, how can you betray me?"
Jenos shrugged, not caring of her fake tears that were clearly seen.
"Sorry, darling, all fair in love and war. Come on, a prisoner have to follow wherever the jail keeper goes."
Elizabeth huffed in annoyance.
"Jenos, you meanie! How can you treat your future wife like this!"
Jenos then turned away from her and headed towards another direction.
"Tough luck for you! Come on hurry up, I afraid Eve might be losing to your snobby brother!"
Elizabeth slightly muttered,
"Hmph! Hope she loses!"
Though Jenos heard it, he chose to ignore it. Now wasn't the time to pick a fight with his 'prisoner'.
Eve was slowly but surely falling under Michael's attacks, it wasn't surprising, considering she was a girl. Michael knew he was winning, Eve have broke into a cold sweat in just avoiding his attacks, he has to admit, Eve was one excellent person. Skilled at dodging and reading, she would make a perfect wife. He wondered where the other two was.
WHAM!
They both looked at the object that had hit Michael's head. They saw Elizabeth standing there with a bewildered look, Michael's anger raised when he thought his own sister had betrayed him. He marched straight towards Elizabeth, ignoring Eve at the progress. Elizabeth was terrified at her brother's look,
"Elizabeth, what is the big idea of throwing a thick branch at me?! Were you trying to kill me?! I have the right to demand an answer!"
"You got it wrong brother! I didn't throw the thick branch at you, Jenos was the one who did it!"
Hearing this, Michael immediately stared at his surroundings hardly, not daring to let go of any suspicious movements. Once he considered that no one was around, he turned back angrily at Elizabeth, only to face Jenos.
"Hey, I was wondering how long it took you to finish scouting your surroundings."
Michael took a step back, surprised.
"But…where…where did you come from?! I didn't even detect you!"
Jenos pushed him, causing him to fall.
"This is what you call skills. We win."
Jenos beckoned Eve to follow him and was about to walk off when Michael's angrily shook the dust of him and got up.
"I am not beaten yet! How can you declare you have won victory?!"
Without turning,
"Use your brain, Eve is an attacker and I am an assassin. Let us put it this way, if you were to kill Eve, you also die since you both are attackers . If you were to kill me then you have wasted much energy, leaving Eve to easily defeat you. So there. Now let's go."
Michael could only glare at them in anger.
End Flashback
Oh yeah, those were the 'good' old days. He was soon brought down to Earth when his 'future wife' greeted him.
"Jenos, long time no see! Did you miss me?!"
With a shudder,
"Hey Elizabeth, how are you doing?"
Elizabeth presumed to give a spoiled child's look.
"Jenos, as a closely related wife and husband, I gave you permission to call me 'Eliza' didn't I? Are you still not used to it yet?"
Jenos gave a slight bow.
"A thousand apologies, my lady. I admit that I am still not used to it yet."
Elizabeth gave him a big hug that almost deprived of air.
"Silly Jenos. We will have time to fix that. Haven't you heard? We might be living quite near to you in the future, so you don't have to worry about our relationship!"
Jenos gave a look of pure disbelief and shock. He let out a strangled whisper.
"Impossible…!"
"Um, what is impossible, Jenos?"
Jenos quickly shook his head.
"Nothing! Would you like to have a drink?"
To Jenos' horror, Eliza immediately clasped her hands tightly on Jenos' arms.
"Why, I'm glad you asked. I feel quite thirsty already."
Jenos led her to a chair and beckoned her to sit down.
"Why not I get some 'punch' for you while you wait here? You must be tired already."
Eliza let out a giggle.
"Why Jenos, you are the sweetest guy I ever known, even my own brother doesn't do that!"
Jenos bowed and quickly ran off in search of Eve. He found her talking to Sephira near the table.
"Eve! Eve! Is it true that Michael and Eliza are staying near us in the near future?"
Eve nodded dejectedly.
"I inconveniently met up with Michael just now. Looks like he is still determined to have me as his fiancée. How disappointing."
Jenos stared at the floor with fear.
"Eliza is also still bend on insisting we are future husband and wife."
Sephira shook her head sadly at their dejected faces. She glanced at the doorway and suddenly smiled.
"Hey guys, I got good news for you."
They both looked up at the same time.
"Good news? Are they leaving?"
"Nope, sorry. I thought I just informed you that your friends may have arrived just right on time."
They looked up and beamed.
"Train! Rin! You guys are early!"
Train and Rin had left their headquarters just fifteen minutes ago after all the guests have left. Creed had retired early and they had taken this opportunity to sneak out. Train had make sure that no one was following them as they hurriedly make their way to the Palace. Rin towards Train, eyeing the bundle Train was tightly clinging to,
"Hey Train, what are you holding?"
Train looked up and shrugged lightly.
"Is a coat given by the King who wants me to wear it during the party."
Rin stopped in her footsteps.
"Really, how come I didn't see you bringing it back to headquarters?"
Train answered it with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Simple. I hide it. I couldn't afford to let Creed discover it."
Rin placed her hand delicately under her chin in deep thought.
"No wonder you are wearing your old suit again, the coat would cover your suit perfectly. Where did you hide it anyways?"
"I will tell you one day. Come on lets hurry up, the Palace should be just around the corner."
Both of them were clearly exhausted when they had saw the Palace. They thought they would never reached the Palace after such a long run. They slowed down their pace as they went closer to the Palace. They stopped abruptly right in front of the entrance as they were entranced by the crowd. Villagers and royalties from all over the place have come to participate in the party. Train and Rin felt quite small among the crowds but they didn't have to worry so much as Belze walked calmly towards them.
"Are you feeling lost? If that it is so, allow me to take you to Prince Jenos and Princess Eve. Train Heartnet, I suggest you put on the coat first."
They both nodded and followed him whilst Train put on his coat. He felt uncomfortable as the materials of the coat are obviously different than his usual ones. Rin was awe at Train's appearance. She didn't know one coat could make a person look smart. Train was good-looking at the beginning with his casual clothes, however, he looks even better than before with this coat on.
"Train, I think girls will swooned at the sight of you."
Train gave her a strange look and smirked a little.
"And are you feeling jealous?"
"Of….Of course not! Why should I?"
"You do know that you are stuttering."
"Nonsense."
They both diverted their attention from each other when they heard their names being called.
"Train! Rin! You guys are early!"
End-of-Chapter
Reviews:
Mayab: Thanx 4 the review! I will try and make sure that part is an interesting as possible!
Mama: Thanx 4 the Review! I'm glad you like the chapter! Forgiove me 4 not updating often!
Rilafbrk: Thanx 4 the review! And yes, Train would also be a relative to Michael and Elizabeth but, of course a distant relative!! I'm glad u like this chapter!!
Lizz: Thanx 4 the Review!! Hopefully u will find this chapter as interesting as chapter 23!!
SnakeG-V: Thanx 4 the Review and oso ur support!! Hopefully you will finished reading this story!!
