So now Chase has a formspring (link in profile). Because I apparently don't make him suffer enough. And I really want to hear Yuri sing. Because I found youtube videos of his Japanese seiyuu singing, and yeah. (Disconnected ideas...)

Contest entry number six! "Late Night Talks" by Dreamer's Samhain! Chase always gets in trouble when Letha's involved. Not that that's a bad thing...

Today is May 27, we'll say the contest ends midnight May 31. Though if you have an entry you're working on but aren't sure you'll have finished by then, let me know and I'll happily make an extension. Otherwise, the poll for voting on the entries will go up within a few days. A reminder to check my profile for info!

Alternate chapter title: In Which the Author Demonstrates Her Ability to BS. Three guesses what part that's referring to, and the first two don't count... Much of the time working on this chapter was me staaaring at it, wondering if it only made sense in my head.

Nilious:

The Atherum chapters were boring? Well, I've heard some people say they found that part of the game boring, but I personally had fun with those chapters. Because of Nevi and making Letha miserable, so I'm biased. And there's still a bit more to get into about Letha's new ability, hopefully further revelations will be interesting (and still make sense...).

Angelic:

Yes, again. And the "up" arrow key came off during this chapter, but that went back on. Now I'm suspecting the "B" key wants to come off... Surprised I haven't actually found raving reviews from you in the entries with the YurixLetha pairing, or that there isn't an entry I can trace back to you (I have my ways).

And and and! I'd totally provide a sample of Letha's voice, except I don't have one or the tech savvyness to record one! Sad Sylph!

The Smurfette Principle:

Fanfiction and Gmail are conspiring so I can't send you a review reply, I dunno why. Letha is gloating about making people cry-

Letha: No, you are!

Hush! And she totally appreciates the attempts to hug her. And I'd absolutely love if someone actually did cover the song, but no biggie if you say you can't. Instead we'll all hope that a miracle falls into my lap and I figure out a way to do it myself. And get over selfconsciousness/stage fright to actually put it up for you guys.

x x x

Chapter 40: Rita Sensei

x x x

Yuri and Judith talked with the innkeeper (it was called Anteres Inn, by the way, if that actually matters) while most of the others eyed the knight standing right in front of the front desk. Chase, presumably already having room arrangements of his own, moved straight on to the common room area so he could leave our bags on the table.

"What's he doing here, anyway?" Rita asked, jerking her head a bit to indicate Chase.

"Don't mind me," he simply said, "I'm just the innocent victim of a robbery."

Estelle's hands flew to cover her mouth, "You were robbed? Even with all these Knights around?" The inn keeper looked nervously at the knight standing just right there, as if wondering who would be crazy enough to cause trouble under such conditions.

"Oh, they jumped me in an alley," Chase told her conversationally. "A pair of hulking brutes," he stretched his hand up in an indication of height, "with these really nasty looking clubs." And the knight was very unreassuring in his lack of concern about this story.

"Oh my," the princess breathed.

"How frightening that must have been for you," Judith's words were directed at Chase, but her eyes were on Karol's nervous shuffling and probably my rolling eyes.

"Yeah, absolutely terrifying. I'm lucky I got out of there alive." By that point Yuri, Rita, and Raven were also giving the Ace and me these Looks. What must they think really happened...?

My face an exemplary image of innocence, I said with utmost concern, "You should be careful! What if you run into them again next time you go out?"

"That's right!" Estelle gasped, still not catching on. "You could get seriously hurt if it happens again!"

"You know what I heard," I continued, warming up to my little game, "I heard that if you wear your clothes inside out and backwards, it'll scare bandits away."

All eyes on me were filled with incredulous disbelief. Except for two pairs that sparkled bright with wonder.

"I've never heard of that before!" That was Estelle.

"Really? That's amazing!" And that was Karol.

I raised a finger like I was lecturing. "Of course! This was an ancient and rarely used charm for travelers. But it is noted for being highly effective and sending your would be assaulters fleeing in terror with a flatulence-like gust of wind."

There was a brief moment of perfect silence followed by a, "Wait, what?" from Yuri. I just grinned at them all, no longer trying to hold back my glee.

"Did yer parents drop ya on your head or somethin'?" Raven asked.

"No, but I tended to fall down stairs and bump my head on low shelves a lot," I replied in all seriousness.

Rita sighed, shaking her head, "And so much is explained."

"I suppose it is," I agreed amiably. Her look of disgust made me smile.

After the innkeeper timidly warned us about the dangers of the desert, shooting furtive glances at the Looming Knight of Observation, he promised the supplies we needed would be ready before we left. Which, in the game, was only a selection of canteens. In real life I was sure there'd be more that we'd need.

But first: dinner. A grand affair of curry and...curry! For dessert, more curry!

Hey, at least it wasn't fish.

It certainly wasn't bad, the others seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit (especially Karol and Chase). I just have a low tolerance for even mild levels of spice in my food. I drank a lot of water with my curry.

"What are you guys going into the desert for, anyway?" Chase asked at one point. "I got that you're looking for some guy called Phaeroh, but what for?" There was a moment of awkward silence while it slowly dawned on everyone that Chase didn't know that Phaeroh was a monster (coughEntelexeiacoughcough).

Yuri took the lead on this. "Estelle was attacked by a giant monster back in Dahngrest. We've heard that Phaeroh might be able to tell us why. And there's also rumors that that monster appears in Kogorh." Ooh, nicely done.

"Woah, a monster came all the way from Kogorh to Dahngrest to attack you? That's pretty impressive." And a pretty good indication that Phaeroh is no ordinary monster.

Estelle's eyes lowered, as did her dainty spoonful of curry, "Oh, yes..."

"Well what about you?" Raven questioned in turn. "Yer pretty far from where we last saw ya."

"Ah, umm..."

"Yeah!" Karol chimed in, "You were going to tell us what your job is earlier!"

"Ehh, it's nothing all that interesting," he laughed a bit awkwardly, spoon pushing the curry in his plate around instead of properly eating it. "My boss just sends me out to do the work he doesn't feel like doing himself. Deliveries, errands, going to meetings in his place..." Finally ate another spoonful, then swallowed and waved the spoon at us. "A real nuisance is what he is!"

"Annnd he sent you out to Mantaic because...?" Yuri raised an eyebrow.

"Meeting this time. Have some paperwork that needs to be signed."

Rita had to comment on that, "That doesn't suit you at all." Privately I had to agree, and realized it wasn't quite so private as I was nodding slightly.

"Yeah, I've been told that," he said without taking any offense. "Some people have even assumed I was a member of the Hunting Blades."

"That I can see," the mage affirmed, not sounding all that complimentary about it.

"Ah yeah," Chase coughed a bit, "And what have you guys been up to? Besides chasing down this Phaeroh."

"Well," I supply, "we were in Nordopolica not that long ago."

Judith picked up the conversation from there, "Yes, the tournament was very interesting to see. Yuri and Letha even participated."

"Oh, yes! They were very impressive!" Estelle finally perked up again. "And Letha's uncle fought too!" There was a slight metallic squeal as Yuri's spoon scraped across the bottom of his plate. This, of course, drew all of our attention to him.

Chase spun his spoon idly between his thumb and forefinger. "Something wrong?"

"Nah, nothing," Yuri said. "Just remembered something Ludwig and I talked about." That's right, during that fight... And whatever it was upset Yuri.

"What about?" Chase pressed further.

"No big deal, although..." Yuri frowned a bit and looked over at me. "He said something strange. Something about how I wasn't really the winner."

Karol sat up a bit straighter, "What? But you were winning, and he gave up!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. And he just said to ask Letha." And then everyone was looking at me expectantly.

"I, uh, well..." I leaned back in my seat and tried to recall the details of both coliseum fights. And then even further back to the days learning to fight behind Ludwig's cabin. And the day I left...

Ludwig was unlocking a drawer in the desk by the window, but I couldn't see what he took out of it at first. When he turned he held it up for me to see and I sucked in a surprised breath.

"Is that-?" It was beautiful hair clip, carved like a pair of spread wings, with a shining red jewel set in the center.

"Yes, a bodhi blastia." He smiled fondly at it. "Actually, I haven't needed to use one for a long time. The monsters here don't pose much danger to me anymore. But this one belonged to Sophia." He held it out to me, "I believe she would have liked you to have it."

I opened my eyes, which apparently had drifted closed with thought. "Ludwig didn't have a bodhi blastia." I looked around the table and shrugged a bit. "I'm not sure if he still even has his anymore, but I know he had one before and that he wasn't using it in Nordopolica."

"Now that you mention it," Judith contemplated, "he didn't use any artes against either of you."

There was a moment of silence all around as everyone else replayed the fights in their own memories. "Do you mean," Estelle said slowly, "he went easy on you...? On both of you?" Yuri's face took on a slightly sour look as I nodded.

Chase was frowning as well, tapping his spoon on the edge of his plate. "Dad always told me that Ludwig was one of the best in the guild. You know, before he left. But I'd have thought he'd, like, get a bit rusty with age."

I could only shrug, "Maybe he has. But he's also been living al-aah, outside any city barriers the whole time protecting our home himself. Not as easy to fall out of practice that way."

Both Yuri and Chase went, "Hmm." Which was weird, because if they didn't have different voices I would have thought it was just one person.

After that the conversation returned to the safer small talk. For the most part. Estelle asked me what the phrases of 'ancient language' I'd been using in the Weasand meant. I got out of that fairly easily by saying that I was only parroting stuff I'd heard before and knew was supposed to be insulting. When asked where I'd heard it from, I shrugged and blamed a combination of Sophia and lack of discretion around an impressionable young girl. Sorry, Sophia! Ludwig! That was one cover up lie I don't think they'd appreciate.

x x x

Showers are heavenly. Divine. Blessed. Inventions of inspired genius.

I had to keep mine brief, as wasting water in a desert is incredibly short sighted, and the inn actually had some kind of timer set up that made them shut off automatically. Been a while since I'd seen something like that. But it was enough to put me in a state of bliss.

That is, I was happy until Rita caught me. I had been tying my damp hair back into a ponytail on my way back to the rooms. She was sitting by the door to the room Judith and I were sharing, reading from her book (the same one she'd been smacking bats with), and the moment the mage saw me she sprang to her feet. Catching hold of my hand, "Come on, we need more room," she yanked me along behind her. I nearly tripped over our feet as she dragged me out the inn's door.

"Rita? Rita!" At least after the initial surprise I was able to keep up with her easily. "Just what is this about?" She was leading me through the dark streets of Mantaic, where thanks to the knight enforced curfew there were very few lanterns. Rita broke stride for a short moment to reach out and grab one of the lanterns lit with an actual flame. Most light, however, came from the town's barrier and the still mostly full moon. The familiar landmarks I recognized (thanks to the shopping trip with Karol) gave me a rough bearing. It seemed Rita was aiming for the lake the town had been built next to.

Once we'd reached the shoreline she finally let me go. I immediately ground to a halt and folded my arms. "So?" I asked, making sure to nonverbally convey how much I didn't appreciate her methods for getting my attention. "What is this about?"

"Magic tests, of course" she replied totally unfazed, surveying the stretch of beach we were on critically. "Hmm, we have some good elements to work with here... Okay, I can work with this." Her attention snapped back to me. "First, we need to see how good you are at sensing the flow of aer." 'If you're any good at all,' could have been tacked on to the end there. Being from Earth, it wouldn't be surprising if I reaaally sucked.

Despite knowing just how much it would try her (very limited) patience, I asked, "How do you mean?"

"I mean," she said in an overly patiently tone (which made me think she was trying very hard to work past that short coming for the long term goal of satisfying her own questions about my tattoo), "that everyone can sense it to at least some degree, if they try. If they have a blastia, that is." I nodded a bit slowly, as that seemed simple enough.

"Blastia react to aer, and they react differently to different kinds of aer. For example, aer with a strong fire element," she held up the lantern she'd 'borrowed', "causes the blastia to react with fire based formulas. Like this." A familiar red formula circle flared into life under her feet, and the flame inside the lantern nearly tripled in size, sparks and embers thrown off and spiraling out into the dark night sky. I felt tempted to applaud.

"See? With the blastia and formula, I could add more aer to the fire and make it even stronger. If I redirect the aer I can even control the fire any way I want." To prove this the formula lit up the ground again, and the flame arced out from the lantern to loop through the air around us and back into the lantern. This time I did clap.

"Easy!" Rita preened a bit. Then she put the lantern back down on a nearby convenient stone. "Now what you need to do is learn how to tell the difference between different types of aer."

"Uh, how?" I asked, suddenly feeling daunted by the lessons. "I don't know where to start."

She waved a careless hand, "It's not that big a deal, it's basically the same as gathering aer for a strike arte. You just have to pay more attention to what the aer you're gathering is like."

"Oooh-kaaay..."

"Just try it," she says, accidentally letting her patience slip a bit.

Hoping that putting myself on familiar ground would be a good place to start, I drew one of my Gemini daggers (Oberon, by the way, was back in my room. But fairy inspired paranoia even has me bringing my daggers into the public shower room...) and starting the process for Pierce. Paying minimal attention to the familiar arte, I tried to concentrate on the aer that I was channeling into the metal.

It was like...like I was holding a rope that was getting pulled through my hands. If I held too tightly it would scrape and burn my palms, but if I loosened my grip it would be pulled away entirely. And I was trying to hold that rope in a way that it followed a direction I wanted, like I was coaxing it to thread itself through a hole. The mental image accompanying that assessment was of a thread being poked through the eye of a needle.

I let go, so to speak, the aer gathered forming a wavering green glow to the edge of my Gemini before dispersing naturally again. For a minute I stared at where the green wisps had faded into nothing, barely aware of Rita crossing her arms and tapping her foot a bit. I really hadn't given much thought to the aer used in my attacks before. I always just figured it moved through me, into my blades, and then back out again (leaving some behind that would accumulate and cause the occasional aer sickness attack. Happily they were rarer and less intense, as long as I avoided aer krenes and the like). I'd never actually tried to study how it worked, as long as I was sure it would work.

But...what about the differences in the aer Rita mentioned? I tentatively tried to study the aer more closely, ignoring the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach that disliked getting too close to something that had a tendency to cause me pain when in large doses.

It took a few tries of totally missing the point, before I was startled to realize there was a section (for lack of better way to describe it) in the 'rope' of aer that felt warmer than the rest. Using the rope and thread metaphors again, I followed that strand back to its source. Which turned out to be the lantern flickering merrily away. And the aer in its immediate area felt hot and thrummed with energy.

Well isn't that interesting.

Finally getting the idea, I managed to separate two other distinct types of aer. There was a lot of cool, silky smooth feeling 'threads' which I tracked back to the lake. There was also an abundance of gritty yet solid feeling ones, which after some confusion (there was no single direction to follow, so I got 'lost' in a sense) I figured out were earth.

Feeling mentally exhausted, I let the aer go again and sat down with my back leaning against one of the palm trees. "Phew..."

"Well?" Rita prompted.

I rubbed my face with the palm of my hand. "Yeah, I got it... I was able to figure out fire, water, and earth. The rest were kind of weird, though."

"Those would be the dark and wind elements," she told me. "It's a bit too late for much light. That's not bad for a start."

"Mmph."

Rita was relentless, "Now you have to try gathering a specific type of element, and nothing else. One or more might turn about to be easier than the rest, those would be elements you have a natural inclination for. For now it'd be a good idea to concentrate on those."

It was going to be a long night...

x x x

Rita's lessons and tests didn't finish until late. Despite my good start of identifying three different elements, I proved to be bad at picking out just one type at will. Either I'd gather all of them at once, or none at all. Add the fact that the extended practice wore at me more than it would most people, and we had to break it off earlier than Rita would have liked. At least she didn't work me til I passed out.

Not quite ready to go back inside, I sat on the water's edge while looking up into the starry sky. Rita lingered for a few minutes, before deciding to go back to the inn to make sure Estelle went to bed early so she'd be well rested. Before leaving she warned me that if I slept in too late the next morning, she would not be responsible for how unpleasant my awakening was. For the time being, I couldn't feel to concerned about that...

It was still incredibly strange to see the barrier's rings stretching above, huge and, to my mind, oppressive. They were like a constant reminder, 'you can not step beyond this point without forgoing all pretense of safety and control'.

And yet...it represented safety to these people. It let them sleep soundly in their beds the night through. It's removal would make an already uncertain life all the more unstable, when every day you'd have to wonder if your neighbors or friends or your own family might lose someone precious to a monster attack.

But this safety is an illusion, a conceit. Overall the use of each barrier, of each blastia, is bringing calamity like the Adephagos closer. On Earth, comparable disasters would be global warming, or nuclear warfare, or any number of other controversial Armageddons that we'd kick ourselves for in the future if they ever happened. My point being, even if the thought had occurred to people on Earth that things could go bad, we were far too fond of the common amenities to give up our lifestyle. Terca Lumireis had no clue, other than vague fairy tales they no longer understood the significance of.

If these people knew...could they give this up? I find it doubtful...the world may be different, but human nature is human nature where ever you are.

I could almost hear Estelle's voice in my head, repeating her response to my summary of the corrupt and frightened world depicted by Firefly. 'You can't know that for sure...'

Growing uncomfortable and depressed by that train of thought, I looked away from the barrier and back at the stars. They reflected off the surface of the lake, creating an awe inspiring tableau of lights shining in the dark sky and swimming in the dark water. Chin in hand and elbow propped on one knee, I watched the play of lights in the water, letting my mind wander. And, as it often does in such cases, suggested appropriate musical accompaniment to my moods. Slow, a little sad, and finding a certain peace in the beauty of the foreign words.

"Soshite bouya wa nemuri ni tsuite
Ikizuku hai no naka no honoo
Hitotsu, futatsu to

Ukabu fukurami itoshii yokogao
Daichi ni taruru ikusen no
Yume, yume

"Gin no hitomi no yuragu yoru ni
Umare o chita kagayaku omae
Ikuoku no toshitsuki ga
Ikutsu inori o tsuchi e kaeshite mo

"Watashi wa inori tsuzukeru
Dou ka kono ko ni ai o
Tsunai da te ni kisu o"

Hey, some part of my mind realized, isn't this somewhat familiar? Sitting on a lakeside, alone, singing... And then suddenly realizing someone is behind you?

"People seem to have a bad habit of listening in when I don't want them too," I announced aloud, not turning around.

"And here I thought I hadn't been noticed," came Judith's voice from the shadows. "What gave me away?"

"Nothing, just that someone had to be there since I'd really rather there wasn't anyone." I shrugged a bit, then leaned back until I was lying back on the sand with my head cradled . "Hullo Judith. Whatcha doing up?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing much. Just out for a walk." Sand crunched a bit, and then she was standing within my field of vision. The krytian bowed over me so that, while appearing upside down, we were looking each other in the eyes. "That was a lovely song just now," (and I flushed with embarrassment), "More of that 'ancient language'?"

I hesitated a bit before answering, "Yes." It was just so tiring living a lie...having to keep up with all the false and half false stories I kept weaving, trying not to let them trip me up in their tangled web. And, since Nordopolica, I'd been turning over and over the realization that the truth really wouldn't make a difference to these people. Well, some of the truth, but the troublesome parts could be left out so easily...and no one would know. It could be accepted that my life before and the world I came from were too vast for it to all be explained.

And of all of my new friends, Judith would be the safest to confide in. She'd listen, and whether she accepted it as truth or deluded fancy she would give her silent support. She wouldn't spread it around, no matter the circumstances, if I wanted to keep it between the two of us. Perhaps, perhaps she might not even judge me for keeping it secret. Or at least not too harshly.

"Is there something on my face? You're staring."

"You're the one standing over me," I pointed out. "I'm just stargazing."

I couldn't make out her expression, but the outline of her head tilted at a questioning angle, "But you looked like you had something to say."

Closing my eyes, I sighed internally while struggling with the upwelling urge to just talk, talk about it all until it no longer felt like a heavy weight in the pit of my stomach.

There was a clatter that reminded me if horse drawn carriages echoing down the streets, surprising me into opening my eyes again. "What was that?" Above me Judith's outline had moved, attention fixed on the direction the noise had come from.

She looked back down at me, and I could imagine the airy smile on her face as she said, "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing much. I'm going to go finish my walk, you should go back to the room before you fall asleep out here."

Mental equation. Mysterious noise plus Judith taking a walk late at night (alone, emphasis on alone) equals Judith destroying a blastia. "Ah." Now, do you a) go with her or b) go back to the inn? "I'm not all that tired yet. Do you mind if I come with you?" Choice A then.

There was a reluctant pause before she acceded, "I suppose there isn't any reason why not."

I rolled back onto my feet (aikido style for the win!), and took a moment to brush the sand from my clothes. "Off we go then."

I think she might have tried to slip away on her own if she ever managed to fall back to walk behind me, but as I just naturally kept a little behind and to the side of her she couldn't pull that off. So we walked down the Mantaic streets together. Upon reaching the intersection that connected with the road leading deeper into the desert, I saw for the first time the 'carriage' I'd heard.

It was, pretty much, a carriage. More for the transportation of large objects than people, so maybe calling it a covered wagon would work. Hitched up in front were those substitute things people used instead of horses (as I hadn't seen a real horse anywhere). You can ride those things like horses, right? I wish we had some... But buying and caring for them would cost too much, and knowing us we'd end up leaving them behind in some city.

Two knights were busying themselves checking the harnesses and making sure everything was properly secured. They were hissing at each other in low voices, too low for me to hear what exactly they were saying. Grunting, they both picked up a large object that had been lying on the ground nearby to load it into the back. While I couldn't make out exactly what it looked like, light from the barrier was caught and reflected off of a jewel-like surface.

Ahead of me Judith was intent on their work, but I was looking around. Game plot-wise, Judith should have been caught by the others in the inn and had them along with her to destroy this blastia (not that anyone besides Yuri knew she'd meant to do that). But that was obviously not the case this time, and I was wondering if we'd be alone for this.

There was a darker shape moving towards the knights from another street, the one that led to the inn. It stopped a few feet away and asked, "That looks heavy. Want some help?" A smaller ran up from behind him, but was stopped by a lifted arm.

"Ah, nice of you to offer..." one knight said distractedly as they finally pushed the mystery object into the carriage, but when he turned to look at whoever was speaking, "Huh...? It's you..." A gauntleted hand wrapped around a sword hilt, but he seemed undecided whether to fight or flee.

The smaller shape ducked under the arm and stood in front, arms crossed and confrontational. "That's a hoplon blastia, isn't it? What are you going to use it for?"

"Run!" one of the knights smacked the pseudo horse so that it was startled into a lurching run, both knights jumping on and using the carriage as their escape vehicle. Judith sprinted after them, despite the improbability of catching up on foot. I nearly slipped and fell in the sand trying to keep up with her, already knowing it wouldn't take long before I was left behind (bad for any running besides sprints, remember?).

I was not all that surprised to find myself running besides the two dark shapes that had been talking to the knights. AKA, Yuri and Rita. "What a coincidence to see you and Judy here," the swordsman said ironically.

"Just out-for a late night-walk!" I managed to get out.

How the hell would we catch them? It's one thing for a game to skip such explanation by cutting screens, but unless these guys started running in circles to give us a chance to head them off, they were home free. I had my answer when from the carriage came shouts of surprise and fear. "Monster!"

The carriage was stopped, and I almost missed the sight of a dark shape rising away from it and flying away. The others were too focused on the knights to pay it any mind. In the confusion of the 'monster's' appearance, the pseudo horse had balked and apparently the rigging of its harness had been cut, as it was running off over the sand dunes. The shock momentarily made the knights forget just what they were running from, but they were reminded by Yuri's sword and Judith's halberd held right before the visors of their helmets.

"End of the line, boys," Yuri informed them a bit smugly.

"They've caught us...!" The apparently bolder and more duty bound knight retreated back a step, raising his shield just in time to protect him from Judith's spear. "Our orders were to eliminate all witnesses, no matter what!" The other knight, probably his subordinate, whimpered a bit but obediently drew his own sword and shield at his superior's barked command.

The bold knight ran to the blastia in the carriage, apparently believing his unenthusiastic comrade would be able to buy him enough time to use it. But Yuri's sword easily dove in and back out of the wimps guard, taking his sword away and sending it flying away harmlessly.

Judith practically launched herself forward past them, low to the ground, and brought her halberd sweeping up, "Say goodbye!" There was a bright flash, as if a moonbeam as strong as if it had come from the sun shone off her blade, and the knight fell away. The armor covering his arms and hands was rent, blood dripping dark onto the sand, but it wasn't fatal. Most of the attack was suffered by the carriage and the blastia sitting inside it, though of course it looked as if that was incidental collateral damage. It sparked and the carriage caught fire, giving off plumes of dark smoke.

Rita made a strangled noise of fury and horror, running up to the smoking blastia. Afraid that she'd actually try to go into the flames to rescue the blastia, I grabbed her by the shoulders to hold her back. "Argh, this wouldn't happen if amateurs would keep their clumsy hands away from blastia!"

The wimpy knight gave a particularly wimpy cry, and ran off in the direction of Mantaic. "Damn it, you just wait..." his less easily intimidated counterpart growled, trying to hold his injured arms in close as he pushed past us and after his companion.

Rita moaned sorrowfully, no longer trying to fight free of my grip. When the smoke and flames died down enough to be safe, I let her go and followed as she dragged her feet dejectedly over to inspect the damage. "Oh no, the core is burnt to a crisp..." I patted her on the shoulder in silent sympathy (imagining to myself my reaction if it were an heirloom piece that had burned made it easy to empathize) as Yuri and Judith muttered secrets among themselves a distance off.

x x x

Chapter is short. I'm sorry. But this is where it wanted to stop, and I didn't want to force it. Next chapter I'm should start getting into some events that I've been looking forward to for awhile. Unless, you know, last minute inspirations sidetrack me again.

...The thing about inside out and backwards clothing, complete with the flatulence wind, was actually a reference to a chapter of Dennis L. McKiernan's Once Upon a Winter's Night. The heroine was quite nonplussed when the crazy hag's advice actually worked.

The song is "Tsunaide te ni KISU wo" ("Tsunai da te ni KISU o"...I can't be positive on the spelling) from D. GrayMan. Also known as the Fourteenth's Song, Musician's Score, "Please Kiss these Hands" (or various other versions of that phrase) and it seems like every translation I find of the lyrics is a bit different. And I copied and pasted the words, so yeah. I can't speak or write Japanese. Neither can Letha, she's parroting.

And, by the way, I just recently fond a song on youtube that HAS STOLEN AND BROKEN MY HEART. "Ashes of Dreams – Aratanaru" is a song from the game NieR, which apparently I have to look into because the soundtrack is awesome and beautiful. Actually, it fits the mood better for Letha's introspective moment, but neither the Japanese version or English version fit the little list of songs I have that Letha may sing at any given moment. Yes, there is a list.