Disclaimer:

*Starts "Promises, promises" from Incubus in the background*

*Starts singing in a horrible voice*
"I'm on the road of least possession. I'd like to own Namco but I just don't. So I promise you only one thing, I do: I'll never own Tales of Graceeeeeeeeees." *Stops singing after the amount of ear bleeding in the audience reaches critical heights. *

"Ok guys, you heard me. I don't own stuff, I'd just like to. The story is mine, the characters and stuff are not. Thank you for listening to me" *bows and leaves the stage*

Chapter 4: Catastrophes and Contempt

Asbel leaned over the railing of the ship and watched the beautiful clear night sky, as he let the events of the day pass in front of his eyes.

It had taken nothing short of a small miracle so that the Duke didn't do what Richard had threatened. Of course Richard simply could have ordered him, but that was not his intention. He hadn't wanted to force a person he respected so much. And the king had to admit, that - to a degree - the way the man cared for him did amuse him. It was simply another of Dalen's traits that he valued so much. So, after an hour of convincing, bargaining and even light threatening, the Duke had finally caved in. They had begun to prepare for moving out immediately, while Richard and Dalen had refined some details of their plans to work without his majesty.

The group of four had left with the Lhant troops towards their home, again via landscape, then left the troops there and made their way to Lhant's port to get to Strahta. The weather would have allowed for travel via boat directly to Oul Raye from Gralesyde, but the storms near Gralesyde had always been difficult to manage. Now that they had become even more unpredictable and strong, it was riskier than it was worth to travel from there. Asbel hadn't wanted to take the risk.

Luckily, the wounded hadn't proven to be a problem. Thanks to Cheria's and Wudrow's efforts, most of the soldiers had been rested enough to take the trip. Wudrow had worked small miracles and at least a third of the soldiers had something to talk about him on the trip back. Though many of them had complained about Wudrow's bad, very bad jokes. At least that's what the lord had heard from them. The two one-legged soldiers had been downright shocked when the medic asked them, if they both wanted wooden rods as prosthesis together with two eye patches and call themselves the one-leg-pirates. He had even offered to make them a flag.

What had proven to be a problem however, were Asbel's duties in Lhant. As the lord it was not so easy to leave whenever he wanted. He had also noticed the growing discomfort of Bayley whenever he had to act as a substitute. It had ended with Bayley being slightly frustrated because of the extra duties, while his lord went out to see the world. He hadn't voiced any complaints towards Asbel, but the lord simply knew the others thoughts. But there was no choice. He was the best man for the job and Asbel knew that he would be able to prepare Lhant for any monster attacks as good as the lord himself could. Maybe he should give him a holiday after this whole trip was over, he earned it. He could also ask Cheria if she felt like playing matchmaker for the still single captain of his troops. It was certainly not one of his worst ideas.

They had taken off to Strahta afterwards. Asbel had spent the largest part of the first day on board with Cheria, simply talking to her most of the time, at least between some light kissing and enjoying her company. But now, after night-fall, he felt the desire for some seclusion to think without interruption.

So he had gone to the railing and enjoyed the view and the calming sound of the waves. He must have stood there for quite a while, because his back felt stiff when he turned by the light sound of silent footsteps.

"Oh hey, Sophie. What are you doing out here?"

His adoptive daughter looked enchanting in the night. The elegance in her movement didn't fail to entice the looks of a few sailors that were still up working. But that didn't matter to Asbel. She was still Sophie to him, she would always be. And may Fodra have mercy on the man's soul that dared to be around her the moment she decided to discover the wonders of love other than the love to family and friends. It might be a bit out of his place but he still felt like and legally was her father after all... His thoughts were interrupted.

"I couldn't sleep and wanted to see the sky. But I thought you would be asleep with Cheria "

She gave him a small smile that radiated with warmth.

"I wanted to be alone for a while but I'm fine now. Care to keep me company and watch the sky together?"

"Of course."

With another movement that was enticing to watch she moved besides him and they watched the sky together in silence, soothed by the rhythmic sounds of the water.

By the time Sophie started to speak again, Asbel had shifted his posture a few times already to avoid his back getting even stiffer.

"Asbel" she began, her voice with a more questioning tone "Why is Richard so sad all the time?"

That question caught Asbel off guard.

"Sad? What do you mean?"

"Richard is trying to hide it, but he always gets sad eyes when he looks back to Windor. I asked him, but he said that there's nothing wrong and that I shouldn't worry about it. But he's sad Asbel! I see it! Why doesn't he want me to know?"

It clicked in Asbel's head as the gears set in motion. He hadn't noticed it, since he himself had been relieved that his friend was all right and he was busy organizing their trip to Strahta, but Sophie was right. Richard's enthusiasm these past few days had decreased and his usual smirk had begun to lessen. It surprised him that he hadn't noticed it earlier himself.

'Have I really begun to stop looking behind your mirage, Richard?' he silently asked his absent friend.

"He's feeling responsible Sophie. He thinks that it's his fault what happened in Barona. And he feels guilty for all the people he couldn't save. He blames himself whenever he meets someone who lost an important person in Barona. And it eats at him. He can't forgive himself for what has happened."

"But why? The dragon attacked the people, not him. He protected them and he saved them. Why is he still sad?"

"Because he still thinks he could have done better. There is always one more person, or just one more child that could still be alive if you had just tried harder. This feeling that you didn't do enough. It's always like that and if you don't learn how to deal with it, it kills you from the inside. I guess he thinks, that if he had just been better prepared, if he had just fought harder, that he could have saved more."

Asbel sighed. He knew these feelings all too well. He had been in the same position after he had defeated Lambda. Had they just been a little faster with their chase... The lord mentally slapped himself for the second time in this week. This route of thought led nowhere good.

"It will be okay, Sophie. Richard just needs some time to deal with all of this. He'll manage"

The tone in his voice was meant to sound uplifting, but judging by the still worried look on Sophie's face, he hadn't done a really good job.

"Richard will be fine Sophie, I promise."

This finally did the trick and his daughter's face showed some relief, but she wasn't completely calmed yet.

"Pinky promise?" she asked him hopefully.

"Pinky promise."

Asbel noticed how the words magically drove out the worry lines from her face and replaced it with a heartwarming smile.

"You know, if you continue to worry so much you'll start having wrinkles very soon."

"Wrinkles?"

"They are lines on your skin. Everyone gets them when you get older. They develop because of the movement on your face when you express your feelings. You'll see them eventually on Cheria and me. You may even see some if we meet the captain again. Just don't tell them when you notice them. Especially not to Cheria! Some people think that they don't look good with wrinkles on their faces"

Asbel chuckled. He knew his wife well enough by now to imagine her reaction if Sophie would ever tell her that she saw some wrinkles on her face. It was cute in his eyes how she sometimes panicked because of the funniest thing. When Richard had told him why Cheria had hid herself from him every time they had gone to the Turtlez headquarter, he had nearly died laughing. Luckily, said wife hadn't been around to punish him for his amusement at the time.

"Oh. So if I don't move my face, I won't get wrinkles?" Sophie asked, her face showing her curiosity.

"I... guess so. Wait,why do you want to know?" Asbel asked , suspicious of her motives.

In truth, the lord somehow knew the reason for the question. But he didn't want it to be true. However, the moment he noticed that her face fell plain without even the slightest emotion showing on it, he knew he shouldn't have brought up the subject. She avoided eye-contact while she answered, a small blush coloring her cheeks.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's fine. I think I'm going back to sleep now. Good night, Asbel."

Asbel tried to diffuse the now ticking time bomb before it had the chance to explode.

"Sophie! Wait...!"

But she had already closed the door to the cabins behind her. For a moment, the lord considered if he should go after her, before someone could ask her about the sudden disappearance of her facial expressions. Yet, the lack of motivational energy to explain yet another of humanity's mysteries to his daughter let him stop. Sophie's newfound attention she paid to her looks from time to time were adorable, even if displays of it were rare. But they usually triggered a chain of events that somehow always led to him calming Cheria or trying to minimize the damage her behaviour otherwise caused. Well... his future-self would have to deal with the bomb if it exploded. He just had to hope that she wouldn't talk with Cheria about it...

With a sigh he turned and leaned over the railing again to watch the sky. This time however, a slight feeling of unease rested in the back of his head.

Richard had diffused the whole wrinkle situation before it became really problematic. Asbel didn't know how, but somehow he had gotten the idea out of Sophie's head that showing emotions on her face was a bad thing and that she instead should show them more clearly. The fact that the king wasn't able to stifle a chuckle when he talked to his friend about it, relaxed Lhant's lord a bit. Besides that, the trip had been quite uneventful. Asbel had chatted with the other three a lot and enjoyed the evenings in the company of Cheria. Of course he was concerned about the fact that Pascal still didn't respond during their trip. But he kept talking to himself that everything was fine and that they would be fine as well. Otherwise nothing happened and with no urgent task at hand for them, all of them appeared to be nearly too well rested when they arrived at the port of Oul Raye at noon, a week later.

The city had changed since the last time they had set foot here. A lot of subtle changes could hit the eye of one who paid attention to it. There were more plants around at places that were usually dry. The color of them had changed from a dry green-yellow to a bright, healthy green. The water level at the port seemed higher then usual. And additionally, the air seemed a bit more moist than it had been the last few times Asbel had visited the coastal city. However, none of these changes were consciously noticed by any of the four as they walked through the port.

What they did notice was the increased activity of workers in the city itself. They were nearly everywhere, building wooden walls and other obstacles around the city. And they did it hectically, as if they anticipated an attack at any moment. Overseers walked around and shouted small commands to the workers if something was not to their satisfaction. That in itself was quite a surprise and raised a lot of questions within the four. Yet, before they were able to ask anyone what was happening, an even greater surprise unfolded before their eyes.

"Take the blocks over to the eastern wall. Hurry! The wall has to be up by dawn!" shouted a big, muscular man in front of them. His deep, booming voice carried over the site and the strong commanding tone made a few of the stoneblock-carrying workers on the place hurry in eastern direction. The voice was incredibly familiar to them and they knew why the moment the man turned around.

In front of them stood Malik Caesar, envoy of Fendel's Chancellor Eigen, overseer of the heat-water-project in Fendel, war hero of the Lambda and Fodra conflict and also former instructor and good friend of Asbel Lhant. In the few months since his last visit he hadn't changed one bit. The blond hair and beard looked good on the man, though a few unattended stubbles could be seen that had to be a few days old. His brown jacket and pink shirt showed minor signs of being worn out and his usually clean and shining Demonbladerang on his back looked like it had seen quite some action in the past few days.

His face betrayed no surprise at the sight of his former companions although there was no way that he could have known of their arrival. He simply raised an eyebrow and smiled with a look mixed with fondness and sadness while they approached him.

"Captain! It's good to see you again!"

Asbel carried out the rather emotionless standard military greeting, while his face showed how happy he was to see his teacher. He had never stopped respecting his former instructor and it was still hard for him to meet him on eye-level. The captain answered with an identical greeting and then folded his arms in front of him, just like he always did.

"It's been far too long since the last time I saw you. And I mean that to all of you. I'm sad that we don't meet under better circumstances. I assume that you are already familiar with what has happened?"

The voice of the instructor was kind, but a tinge of sadness could be heard. Cheria was the first to answer.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Captain. We are here to find Pascal. A green dragon appeared over Barona and attacked the city. We came to ask her for help."

The Captain didn't move one bit, but his eyebrows raised again, this time both and this time to symbol surprise. He didn't need to ask, Asbel read his expression and immediately started to explain what had happened in the last week. By the end of his speech, Malik's shoulders seemed heavier than before.

"An attack in Windor as well, is it? These are dark times indeed."

Asbel managed to ask the question before his wife could.

"What's wrong Captain? What do you mean?"

"Something similar happened to Yu Liberte. But a blue dragon appeared, instead of a green one. And it didn't waste time to destroy the city, it flooded it completely. No known survivors. Hubert, Pascal, the president and I were in Sable Izole, to extract information from the lost archive under the tower when it happened. The capital is now at the bottom of the lake of Liberte."

He paused for a moment to let them process what he had just said. The noises from the workers around them didn't stop while they waited. It let the whole news appear slightly unrealistic and gave a bitter note to it.

"It also flooded the living grounds of the Rockgagong and the Rockgagong hasn't been seen since. The grounds are now called the Rockgagong-sea. A small amount of terrestrial dragons now live in and near both seas and have started to attack people near them. The blue dragon has occasionally been seen to attack human villages near Lake Liberte as well, as far as the reports can tell. If they are correct, it is an even more dangerous creature than the Rockgagong itself."

A few seconds of silence passed, before Malik Caesar started to talk for the third time.

"There are also reports that claim that Zavhert has been destroyed completely, attacked by a red dragon. Also with no known survivors. It is unknown if chancellor Eigen or any of the other political leaders are still alive."

He stopped. That was a lot of information to take in, especially regarding how catastrophic those news was. All of the three main capitals of Ephinea had been annihilated in the past two weeks. The sheer amount of lost lives was more than any of them could ever hope to imagine. The shock should have been reduced by the things they had witnessed during their fight against Lambda. But nothing could prepare someone for this amount of destruction.

He could see how a hint of desperation held residence in the eyes of his former companions. And indeed, Asbel found himself again confronted with the questions that had tormented his thoughts ever since he had first seen the green dragon:

How? What could he do against an enemy, that outclassed them so much that the mere thought of confronting them seemed ridiculous?

They had dared to attack Fodra before, that had been the core of a giant planet with eleth several times more than the Lastalia. But then again, back then they had the support of Lambda and his powers, which had strengthened them far beyond their normal limits.

'If only Lambda could help us. If only we had his strength to go against this monster '

But they didn't and the hopelessness that made him feel was an emotion shared by every one of his companions. It took him a while until he mentally slapped himself.

"This isn't the time to feel sorry for what has happened. We have to find Pascal and Hubert. Then we focus on how to deal with the dragons. There has to be a way. There always is. Captain, do you know where they are?"

New determination showed in the lord's eyes and the strength that appeared in his voice astonished even himself for a moment. He could see Malik smile while he looked at him before he began to answer.

"You just missed him by a day. He set out yesterday in the evening towards Sable Izole. He was worried about Pascal, so he went earlier and left me with the preparations. She's still over there with president Paradine searching for information about these new enemies."

Cheria was the next to talk. Even though her husbands speech had raised her spirits, some bleakness still remained in her voice.

"How did Hubert take the news of the destruction?"

"You better ask him that yourself. He has... changed ever since the incident."

Asbel could imagine how furious his brother probably had been after he received the news. Hubert could demonstrate levels of anger that other people didn't even know existed. And not unlike Asbel, his reaction to sadness and other less nice feelings was anger in unhealthy amounts, most of the time. Another reason Pascal was such a good fit for him. It was nearly impossible to stay angry or sad around her.

"I'd like to accompany you on the way to Sable Izole. Please, wait here. I'll do what I can to get these guys to finish without me."

The group had nodded and had then sought out shelter in the shadow of one of the surrounding palms from the heat of the sun. The climate in Strahta was pretty warm all year around and they did manage to reach it in spring, one of the cooler seasons in the land. But it still was hot and the shining sun felt like it was enhanced by a lens to burn their skin. And, as if to make fun of them, the heat was combined with such humidity that it simply drained the energy from them. Not that this was really necessary. The report had taken its toll on them as well and all the earlier energy they had accumulated during the seafaring had disappeared into nothingness.

They were quiet most of the time with Sophie resting her head in Richard's lap and Cheria leaning her head against Asbel's shoulder with closed eyes. Her husband held her hand and drew small reassuring circles with his thumb on the back of it. As far as he could notice by the way her shoulders started to relax, it seemed to work.

It was a peaceful moment for them, if they disregarded all the noise of the workers around them.

Sadly, before long Malik had finished with his instructions and they made their way out of town. He now had a short rope attached to his belt, but nobody asked him why.

On their way to the gates Asbel started a little talk.

"Captain? What were you actually doing in Oul Raye? I know you talked about preparations, but what did you mean by that?"

"Strahta is trying to reinforce the villages and other cities to anticipate further attacks from those new dragons. Safety of the people is Paradine's top priority, so he started to improve the defenses. Hubert was sent through a few villages with Oul Raye as the final goal and I decided to support him."

That answer confused Asbel more than it helped him.

"But...aren't you needed in Fendel?"

"Are you so eager to get rid of me?"

Malik smiled. But before Asbel could start an excuse he continued.

"No need for an apology. I know it must seem strange, but there is not much I can do. My political opinion only mattered as long as I was in high regards of the Chancellor. Without him, my options are quite limited. I could not replace him, neither would I be able to. I'd have to wait until the situation is clearer and either the chancellor returns or a another leader is found. Therefor I can support the people Fendel better by asking for help in Strahta than by going back. Time will show if that was the better solution."

Asbel nodded. What his former instructor told him made sense. And part of him was glad that Malik had decided that way. He wouldn't have had the chance to see him again otherwise.

Malik's former pupil was especially glad to have met his instructor after they had left the city.

"Be careful where you step. Rainfall has increased ever since this blue dragon appeared. The darker patches of sand that you see are quicksand. Step in it and you'll sink hip-deep in sand. Fortunately you can't drown in it (1). But it's hard to get free after you sink in and fighting dragons or other monsters doesn't get easier while you're stuck in sand, believe me. Hubert and I had to learn that the hard way, hence the rope."

Outside Oul Raye the changes were obvious. Besides the smiting humidity and aforementioned darker patches of sand, small puddles of water had formed on the ground where it wasn't seeping away fast enough. The amount of plants had drastically grown and all of them looked greener and thicker than before. Signs that the amount of water eleth had drastically increased were everywhere.

That same water-eleth in the air however was taxing enough that most of them didn't feel like talking. It stayed that way for most of the journey as the hours passed and the sun moved more and more towards west. Dusk had long since passed when they heard the first sounds besides that of the wind, their own footsteps or their own voices. It was the death cry of a human echoing over the verge of a sand dune.

They didn't need to exchange words between them to know what they had to do next. Silently, they hurried over to the dune to see who had been the source of that cry, moonlight illuminating their path. They increased their pace when sudden flashes of lightning from the other side of the dune started illuminating the area around them. Soon, other cries could be heard, accompanied by the sounds of clashing swords and casted magic. The noise was loud enough to make it sound like two big groups of fighters were clashing against each other. Another death cry appeared before they finally made it over the edge and got a good look at the situation.

The guess that two groups were fighting hadn't been that inaccurate. It was just that the second group wasn't a group at all. It was one person. A person in a blue strahtan officer uniform and fitting blue hair.

In the middle of ten bandits, only a few hundred meters away, lieutenant Hubert Oswell was breathing heavily and fighting for his life. Sweat covered his forehead and ran down his chin, blood dropping from several shallow wounds on his back and arms. Several dried bloodstains already covered his uniform as well as a small amount of cuts and holes.

With incredible precision and effectiveness he opened the stomach of a bandit in front of him with a vertical cut and send sent him bleeding on the ground, where another bandit and a mage were already lying. In the fraction of a second he turned, drew his guns and fired a burst of bullets at a mage that was about to cast a spell behind him. Before the last bullet even hit its target, he anticipated an attack and side-stepped, evading a small bomb that was thrown at him by another bandit on his left. The explosion whirled up sand and gave both parties a small moment of rest, before the fight continued.

After that stunt, Hubert didn't have another opportunity to attack. He had already eliminated three of them in a matter of a minutes and the remaining nine opponents didn't dare to give him another shot at it. Or at them. At least not as long as they could prevent it. And regarding the already ailing condition the lieutenant was in, it wouldn't take long until they would have finally worn him out.

That however would never happen. There were five reasons for that and all of them came into effect at the same time. Before anyone could react, two bandits were covered in a sea of fire that burned their clothes and skin from their body, a mage collapsed with a dagger in the back of his head, a bladerang cut through the arm of another bandit before a punch to his back shattered his spine and another mage fell to the ground, cut in half by seemingly nothing but the wind.

It didn't take long for the lieutenant to overcome his own surprise and exploit the confusion of his enemies. He separated both halves of his dualblade and cut the stomach of a bandit on his right with his right blade. Utilizing the momentum of his movement he threw his left blade at a casting mage angular behind the bandit and pierced his chest. Before that mage fell on the ground Hubert stood already by his side, freeing his sword and reuniting it with its other half to lift his weapon above his head and defend against a sword attack of another enemy. A swift kick to the chest of his opponent and a shot between his eyes while he stumbled backwards were enough for the lieutenant to finish him off.

Strahta's deadliest soldier turned just in time to watch Sophie jump in the air and shatter the skull of the last mage with a kick. The body nearly flew three meters before it touched the ground and lay still, close to the bandit whose stomach Hubert had opened only a few seconds ago. It had taken less than two minutes to end a fight, that had seemed to last a small eternity.

Overcome by a wave of weakness as the surge of adrenaline finally subsided, the lieutenant rammed his dualblade in the sand to support himself with it. Deep, heavy breaths raised his chest as he finally took the time to glance at the faces of his saviors, dazzled by the sun. It took him a few moments to recognize his brother and his friends. He didn't show any signs of happiness that they had come to his aid. Instead his face looked even angrier for a moment once his eyes turned to Asbel. Words came from his mouth in between his breaths.

"Brother? (gasp) What (gasp) on (gasp) Ephinea (gasp) are you (gasp) doing here?"

While waiting for an answer, Sophie walked to Hubert, pulled one of his arms over her shoulder and supported her uncle. It showed on Hubert's face that this displeased him, but he didn't stop her.

Asbel wasn't sure how to react to this. The subtle aggressiveness in Hubert's voice confused him. Malik was the one that answered in his stead.

"Actually, we were looking for you and Pascal. It seems that Barona has also faced an attack similar to the attacks on Yu Liberte and Zavhert. We wanted to ask if they have any new information about our new enemies. "

The lieutenant's mouth twitched slightly at the mention of Strahta's former capital but otherwise his face was neutral while he drew one deep breath after another.

Malik continued.

"But what about you? How were these bandits able to corner you like that?"

Hubert took a few seconds to recover his breath before he answered this time. With more air he finally sounded more like his usual self.

"These cretins surprised me while I was resting yesterday. Fifteen of them attacked me. I merely finished off a few of them before I was forced to retreat. I managed to hide myself in the night, but they detected me before I was able to get to the city. Their pathetic plan was to blackmail Paradine for food. It was an act of desperation. Food supply has gone short in this region since Yu Liberte was destroyed, Malik, and they prefered to die by sword rather than starvation."

The way his face showed anger mixed with disdain for his enemies surprised Asbel. Lhant's lord wasn't used to this side of his brother. He had seen him angry before, yes. Even angry enough that he scared him, yes. But contempt and disdain were new. Hubert had always shown at least a minimum of respect for his enemies, even if only with subtle gestures. Had the events in Yu Liberte wounded him so much?

Asbel decided to not address the topic for now. The biggest part of him was still relieved to see that Hubert was still alive.

"How bad are your wounds Hubert?"

Again there was a small flicker of anger in Hubert's eyes when they looked at Asbel, but he responded.

"Most of them are superficial. Nothing lethal or otherwise harmful. The only things I require are rest, food and time; nothing more will be necessary. But thank you for your consideration, brother."

"Let me tend to your wounds first. No need to suffer more than necessary," sounded Cheria's voice beside him.

Before the lieutenant could object she had already started healing and he lightly bit his tongue at the surprising sharp pain. He managed to say a small 'Thank you' through gritted teeth and closed his eyes to wait for her to finish. The moment she did, Hubert broke away from his niece, opened his eyes and turned around towards Sable Izole without saying a word. He walked a few steps, but without the sound of other footsteps behind him he turned around again, irritation displayed on his face. Five people looked at him, confused by the way he was acting, but he had no patience to talk with them about that now.

"Are you awaiting a carriage? Move!"

And so they did.

(1): Hollywood myth busted: You can't drown in quicksand. It's like trying to make an inflated football sink in the ocean - it doesn't work. Why? Because quicksand is far more dense than the human body is. Therefore the human body doesn't sink that much - just like an inflated football doesn't completely sink in water.

A/N: Finally finished this one. It took forever for me to get a finite picture of Oul Raye in my mind before I started describing it. I had a small hunch before, but couldn't really press that into words. I hope a bit of that does show in the things I wrote. Anyway, yes, this chapter is catastrophic. In the way that it shows that I destroyed around half of the world by now... Be assured, that I won't destroy (much) more! At least I haven't planned it, I'm not entirely sure how some of the more important scenes will turn out. Therefore I can only give you a 98% promise ^^

Oh yeah, and (1) because of science. Simply science. Hollywood doing evil stuff and lying to us. Hmm...there was some other stuff I wanted to include in these AN, but I don't remember them anymore. Guess I'll edit them later.

Update the first: Don't worry my friends, there will be many more to come (or I'll put them in the next AN...where I'll forget them again), since I've forgotten quite a lot of points that I had wanted to add here. I guess I simply wanted to finish the chapter and frankly, I'm quite happy with it. The boat scene just came over me after watching some Bill Cosby show. And it surprised me (after reading with a bit more distance) that Sophie's dialogues on the boat fit that good. At least I think that. Still struggling with Hubert's and Malik's speech patterns...does Malik even have one? He uses more military words and a slightly enhanced vocabulary, but besides that? Haven't noticed. I think some parts of the dialogues fit them, at least partially, but that's only for around half the things they say...hmmm.

I'd be interested in reactions to the fact that I just destroyed half of Ephinea. I'm interested because I myself have never been a very big fan of storys that change the original environment too much. But I simply had to do it in this place. I actually tried to do it otherwise, but the moment I did it, it just didn't feel right anymore. You have to consider (strength-wise) that these guys are f***ing TERRIFYING enemies (maybe I should add that the T-rating is also for cursing in the A/N), even without eleth as back-up (Set the difficulty on chaos and you know what I mean. They make mashed potatoes out of you if you're beneath level 70). Adding to that, that each of them represents a certain element and that I always regarded the Valkines more as a prison to save the world from their influence, there had to be some major catastrophes going on the moment they left their Valkines...ses. Now they're stronger than ever, while the group itself is weaker (Only slightly stronger than post-main-arc), since I attribute most of their power growth in L&L to Lambda and his tempo-mode. And without that...well, they're screwed. With Lambda they maybe could've started to take on a dragon, but without him...that's bleak.

I just remembered: I have to apologize for my interpunctuation. To be more precise, for the comma placement. I'm incredibly poor at that and I'm sorry if it makes your eyes bleed while you read over my story. I manage in my mother tongue, but I never really got the 100%-hang of commas in english, just as well as the difference between "Cherias" and "Cheria's" with this "possessive s"-thing, if I remember correctly. I'm also not 100% sure about some figures of speech or sentence constructions I used, please contact me in any way you seem fit if they strike your eye with a dagger and seem wrong to you.

Oh, and a hint for the future: By now I have introduced nearly every starting point (except one) for one of the greater conflicts within the group. It will take some time until the conflict itself appears (Hard guess...minimum 2, maximum 7 chapters away), everything else (regarding that particular conflict) will evolve out of them. Hope that gets some of your minds thinking. I for one can't wait to write the scenes I have in mind ^^

Agarfinkel: Doesn't really do the trick for me. I seek the challenge, hence first save on evil as soon as available and chaos afterwards with a new game + (I only used "double Gald" and "every title available" at the shop, chaos is still a bitch though). About Pascal and bad odor: I don't believe she's that unclean anymore. She has a reason now not to be and someone who takes care for her instead of Furier and who sees her more frequently *wiggles eyebrows in Hubert's direction*

D-Drive: I don't really recall any conversations between them (Cheria and Richard). Between Hubert and Cheria the only exchanges I consciously remember is Hubert raging about Cheria's short skirt. And also Cheria putting out all the Nostalgia-storys about Hubert that embarrass him and her interest in his love life. But that's about it. Not that much to go by, but at least a starting point for some teasing and a few remarks ^^

Update 17.04: Beta-proofread!