KAT: Hehe! Sorry for keeping you guys waiting! I was real busy! Oh! Before I forget, Mana Valley is also known as Valstrath in NAGC. While Astaroth is also known as Asharoth in NAGC! Hope this tiny bit of information helped! =D
Ryan: It's okay as long as you're still uploading! ^_^ Oh! And thanks for the info KAT!
KAT: Thanks and You're welcome Ryan! ^_^V And if you're going to ask why this chapter is long, it's because of Willowwhip's request!
Arme: Didn't you received a lot of reviews saying that they want to know who saved me?
KAT: I know! But I couldn't seem to find the correct scene to reveal the boy's identity. But I promise you, his identity will be revealed in the next chapter. ^_^V
Jin: Okay, who'll say the disclaimer?
Elesis: *raises hands*
Jin: The disclaiming room's all yours! :D
Elesis: *enters disclaiming room*
Disclaimer(Elesis' voice): KAT owns the plot and reviews, but she doesn't own Grand Chase and the characters of said game. Ya heard that?!
KAT, Arme, Amy, and Jin: Yes, yes we did, Elesis. *nods at the same time*
KAT: Anyway, enjoy the chapter! :D
The boy carried the purple haired mage to a lonely looking house. He kicked the door open and walked in the abandoned home's only bed room and laid Arme on the surprisingly comfy bed. He sighed.
"You're not supposed to be here…" he murmured. His eyes widened when he noticed the fact that she looks really pale. He placed his hands to her chest; her heart isn't doing well…
"She made contact with those contaminated mana stones…" he muttered. He sighed and concentrated his mana, he boy pulled her close, his arm replacing the also surprisingly comfy pillow. He rested his forehead on hers, his mana transferring from him to her.
He slowly pulled back, not wanting to wake the sleeping mage. He laid her on the bed once more. Standing up, he gave her one last glance and left the building.
Moments later, Arme started regaining her consciousness. Her eyes slowly opened, remembering the fact that she fell of a platform unconscious!
She sat up, massaging her temples, trying to remember what happened after her fall. Wait…I'm alive?! B-but I fell off and… she remembered being trapped in someone's arms.
She also remembered that she still needs to finish the mission along with her friends. Arme stood up, but froze after her first step.
"W-who…who's mana is this?!" she's starting to get nervous. "Huh? This mana…it feels so familiar…but…who would…?" she caught a glimpse of her rescuer. "Is he really…?" she shook her head.
"No, Arme! Stay focused! You still have a mission!" she said, smacking her cheeks with her hands. Ow…note to self…don't ever do that again! She rubbed her left cheek as she took out a purple hair pin from her pocket.
"Now, let's get started," she said, she started chanting the spell required afterwards. The hairpin turned out to be her battle staff. It started to levitate in mid air; hopping on, she made sure that everything is secured before she starts flying.
"Okay, let's go!" she immediately flew to her friend's current location. The boy from earlier just silently followed her.
Now, let's see how the others are doing…
"Stay outta my way!" Elesis yelled, slamming every monster, a.k.a. 'obstacles' blocking her path.
"She sure is…energetic," Jin said, sweat dropping as he kicked an assassin away from Amy.
"It's about time this place got cleared," Elesis said, resting a sword on her shoulder.
"Let's take a break for a while, we need to check for any injuries," Amy said. Elesis pouted at first, sitting down a minute later.
"Fine, Arme was like this the first time we became a team," Elesis said, crossing her arms. Amy just smiled at her comment, while Jin just sweat dropped.
"You both look tired," Amy said, taking out her chakrams. She started dancing while singing, healing the two red heads at the same time.
"There, feeling better?" the dancer asked.
"Thanks Amy," Jin said. While Elesis just nodded and stood up.
"Break's over, again. Now let's get moving." Elesis said. Amy hid her chakrams, making sure that no monster will snatch it from her. A mysterious voice suddenly chuckled.
Elesis took out her spear and threw it at the source of the voice. The spear was travelling at a fast rate; but somehow, it froze in mid-air.
"I am quite impressed by your reflex, mortal." The voice finally revealed itself; the voice belongs to a man wearing an armor of red. His eyes were hidden under his helmet, and his weapon, it is nothing but a sword, and a huge one at that.
And he was holding Elesis' spear on one hand, making it seem as if it was floating in mid-air while he was still concealing himself.
"I really am impressed, but nevertheless, your actions are still futile," he said, breaking the knight's spear after saying so.
"Tch! Great. Now I have to buy Arme a new staff and a new spear, thanks a lot jerk!" Elesis yelled, a vein popping.
Amy was staring at the floating man, who, in return, shifted his gaze from Elesis to her.
"I see that you are doing well, oracle," he said. Amy said nothing, clenching her fists.
"Amy? Do you know him?" Jin asked. Amy just replied with a slow nod, she looked up at the man.
"This man is Astaroth, the God of Domination," she muttered, though Elesis and Jin managed to hear her words.
"God of Domination…?" Jin whispered in a questioning tone. Elesis planted a sword on the ground and sagged on it.
"Does that mean he's strong?" Elesis asked with interest.
"He's a God, of course he's strong," Amy said. "Since you said he's strong, let me try him out," Elesis said, taking her sword back from the ground. Astaroth just smirked at her statement.
"Oh? A challenger?" he asked in mock innocence. "Very well, just make sure you survive, having my opponents die in one blow is rather dull" With that said, he held his sword tightly and disappeared.
"Jin! He's right behind you! "Amy shouted. Jin turned around to see Astaroth about to strike.
BOOM!
Clouds of dust covered the two. Amy prayed for Jin's safety. They heard clanks and swings; the annoying clouds disappeared without a trace, finally allowing the two girls to see what's going on.
Amy gasped. Elesis just smirked at the sight. There was Jin, he was still standing, he managed to catch Astaroth's sword with his bare hands.
Jin switched from defense to offense, Astaroth sensed an attack coming from the fighter and moved away before Jin could launch the attack.
"Heh, gotcha fooled there," Jin said, as he landed on his knees. Astaroth chuckled.
"I see you've managed to trick me, boy." He said. "But, it won't happen again," he said, heading straight towards the red haired male.
"Hold it right there!" Elesis blocked Astaroth's sword with her own. "You're fight's with me," she added. Amy took the chance and helped Jin walk away from the battlefield. She managed to find a spot behind a huge rock and let the older teen sit.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Jin panted, giving her a smile afterwards. And of course, he just forced himself to do so.
"M-my arms are numb, I can't seem to feel them there," he said. Amy's eyes widened and gently grabbed the fighter's hand.
"You have some broken bones on your right arm. Same goes for your other arm, but your right arm's condition is worse than your left arm's." She said. Jin just blinked at her news and chuckled.
"W-what are you doing chuckling?! Can't you see you're hurt?!" Amy exclaimed, surprising the fighter.
"Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry," his expression changed from sorry, to dead serious. "But to tell you the truth, he is stronger than I expected. My hands couldn't stop trembling. He's a difficult opponent to defeat." He said.
"My type heal can't fix broken bones but it could lessen the pain and-" Jin cut her off just by shaking his head, signaling a 'no'.
"You don't have to. For now, you need to help Elesis defeat that Astaroth guy. But you could hand me the healing potion Arme gave me in my pocket." The older teen said, showing his still-numb arms.
Amy blushed and nodded. She sat on her knees and started searching for the potion in his pocket. Jin was blushing at the contact.
"Found it!" Amy uncorked the flask of red liquid. "I guess you'll have to drink this so your bones could heal first," she said. The fighter nodded and leaned on the rock.
Amy placed the flask near his lips, waiting for him to open his mouth. She slowly poured its contents the moment the older teen opened his mouth. Seeing the flask now empty, she discarded the empty flask and stood up.
"All better?" she asked. Jin gave her a smile and nodded.
"Now go." He said. Amy dashed away, hoping that Elesis was still standing. The said knight was tired and covered in scratches.
"Are you still going to fight me, mortal?" Astaroth asked, wearing a smug look. Elesis took out a flask and showered herself with its contents.
"Of course, I'll never pass up a good fight," Elesis said with a smirk. Astaroth finally decided to fight seriously. He planted his sword on the ground. Elesis' eyes widened.
No way...I-is it even possible?! She thought, running away. She turned around and her suspicions were correct.
"Che! It seems like he knows how to use Kanavan Strike," she muttered. She didn't notice the fact that Astaroth was already preparing to stab her from behind.
"Curtain Call!" a huge piano landed right on top of the God of Domination. "Run Elesis!" Amy said. Elesis nodded and ran away from Astaroth's reach. Amy, too, ran away.
Astaroth was standing once more.
"I have had enough of this fool's play!" he yelled. He raised his sword. Without any warning, giant meteors started falling from the sky.
"Oh crap." Elesis said.
Okay…well, whatever! Let's return to Arme and see how she's doing!
"Wow, this must be Elesis' doing," the purple haired mage said as she saw the unconscious bodies of some monsters. There she saw a familiar gray haired person.
"Hm? Isn't that Vanessa?" she made her staff fly lower and lower until her feet could almost touch the ground.
"Vanessa? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I see you are doing well, Arme. I was ordered by Master Zen to come and assist you here." Vanessa said, turning to her. "May I ask why you are not with your comrades?" she asked.
"It's along story. Ah! Since we're heading for the same place, why don't we go there together," Arme said.
"Hm…I might as well follow you. Come, let us make haste," the silver haired woman said. Arme just nodded and started leading the way, unintentionally.
An hour has passed and they heard voices and a series of explosions in a certain area.
"That must be them, let's go!" Arme said, beginning to fly at a really fast rate. Bingo! They found the other members of the chase.
"I-is that a D-deep Impact?!" Arme exclaimed. Vanessa ran as fast as she could, hoping that she would be there on time.
"Vanessa!" Amy cheered, seeing as her friend shield them fro Astaroth's devastating attack. Arme sighed in relief when she saw her friends were alright.
"Now, who casted that spell?" she searched the area and saw a man clad in red armor. "That must be him," she muttered. She jumped off her battle staff and started chanting.
"What are you doing here Vanessa?" Astaroth asked. Vanessa turned to look at the God before her.
"I am here due to Master Zen's orders," she said, after all, she could not lie to a God, even if he's evil.
"Heh. Zen is foolish enough to trust these mortals," Astaroth said. Vanessa was about to launch an attack, but someone managed to beat her to it.
"Haaaaa!!! Deep Impact!" Arme summoned equally large meteors, only, her target was the man in red.
"Che. I must go for now, but I guarantee you, you won't be as lucky as today." Astaroth said, disappearing from their sight.
"Arme!" Amy squealed and tackled her purple haired friend. "You're alive!" she added.
"Yes, yes I am," Arme said sweat dropping. "By the way, where's Jin?" she asked. Amy froze.
"Ah! I almost forgot about him!" Amy ran behind a rock and returned to her friends, helping Jin walk.
"Hi Arme!" Jin said, giving her a weak smile.
"What happened to you guys while I was gone?" Arme asked, helping the fighter sit down and started treating him.
Somewhere in the shadows, the boy was seen smiling, seeing as Arme's okay. He still continued following them after seeing the group continuing their mission.
KAT: Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Jin: Amy almost forgot about me?!
Amy: I was caught up in the moment! I'm so sorry Jin~! *hugs Jin*
Jin: *blushes* O-okay.
Elesis: Darn that Astaroth, how dare he break my spear?!
Arme: You can buy me a new staff anytime you want. You can buy your spear first if you want.
Elesis: I can?! Thanks Arme!
Arme: You're welcome!
KAT: Are you feeling left out too?
Vanessa: Not quite.
KAT: Oh. Okay. Can you at least say these words for me? :3 *hands a script*
Vanessa: *reads script and nods*
KAT: *waves hand and leaves room*
Vanessa: *looks at the readers* KAT just requested me to tell you to Read and Review, so please do.
Arme: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Tune in for the next chapter! Adieu! *disappears from the room*
