Reason for Attraction
Story (c) JustSnapCrackle
Grand Chase (c) KOG Studios

Chapter 3

"Where's Zero?"

The immortal muttered, looking around the dining hall as he set his tray of food down onto the table. The men around him rolled their eyes, knowing that he merely asked that to avoid the said demon. It had been a week since that incident and they were all fully aware of how Sieghart had been trying to avoid the wanderer.

"Well, he hasn't arrived yet, Master Sieghart."

Yet Sieghart kept an uncertain face. He thought he had seen the demon heading to this hall as well. To add to that, he knows from the imaginary schedule of every one in his mind, and that the demon seldom came late to anything. It was as if he moved according to plan, coming at every exact time.

'Odd…. Although he's not one to socialize, Zero does spend a good time in the dining hall', he thought. The dining hall was one of the best places to gain information of any significance as it was another social centre of the castle. One can just sit at the corner and just hear people talk and talk from their daily lives to tales of legendary treasures. But the best kinds of talk were gossips and rumours as it could easily be used as leads for vital information as well as blackmail materials. Of course, the gladiator believed that Zero stayed for the purpose of gaining new information instead of the latter.

Sieghart immediately shook his head. These little bits of information on the demon for the past few days were gradually becoming more vivid in his mind. He had truly paid no attention to them before, but somehow he just seemed to know them, and became more conscious of them now. And the fact that the usual routine Zero had was not followed made it all the more easily to realize.

Putting that aside, he shouldn't even think about the wanderer. Zero wasn't in the room and that was good enough for the poor soul of the gladiator.

But the gladiator found himself constantly watching the door, expecting the wanderer to waltz in, clumsily dragging his sword. Sieghart didn't even notice how much the druid and the fighter sitting beside him steal a couple of spoons of his meal, let alone realize that the spell knight got fed up with their petty attempts and just swapped his own meal with the gladiator's to show his childish bravery.

"Maybe he's wandering around alone then..." Sieghart lightly muttered to himself, unaware that the men around him might overhear him. Fortunately enough, they were more concentrated in their little fight over what used to be the gladiator's portion of lunch. Sieghart then sighed as he slumped down. 'Then again…. The guy was always alone….'

Even in the midst of friends, it was not rare to catch the wanderer's attention drifting away into another world. Yet, he was vigilant enough to keep track of everything around him, so ironically, it wasn't that easy to notice such behaviour. Albeit all that happening around him, Dio seemed to be one of the few that the wanderer would casually open up every once in a while (at those times, Grandark would have been sleeping nearby).

'Actually… That brat has been acting a little strange recently as well…' Sieghart thought as he looked at the far end. The stygian now was across the room, busy trying to capture the attention of the bounty hunter. Both the demons, despite their difference in status and race, had such a strange relationship. And by that, Sieghart meant that whilst the two were able to cope with one another's existence, most of their time together was spent on irritating one another (which was one-sided on Rufus' part as Dio's obnoxious personality would always make the initiative).

"Play with yourself, dick for brains. I'm busy with a project!"

From the far end of the dining hall, Sieghart could recognize the sharp, and quite loud, retort of the bounty hunter before he left Dio alone on the table. Rufus was far from level headed by this point and had decided to waste his time better as he stalked away. Other than their irritation towards one another, Sieghart knew that both Dio and Rufus weren't all too close to one another by just watching their actions together and the discomforting air that grew around them. For starters, they were both 'alpha' males. There was no way would Rufus nor Dio submit defeat towards one another. And it was that same reason why Dio would rather follow around Zero who lacked the ability to be provoked by the stygian's obnoxious personality.

Why was he with the bounty hunter and not hanging around with Zero? It was so clear that the stygian was definitely lonely, his fingers twitching in irk in that solitude. And sitting next to Rufus didn't help at all as everyone knew how the bounty hunter loved solitude and blocked everyone out in an instant, probably with the exception of a couple of certain- useful- company. Plus it was only on rare occasions do the two demons actually have a somewhat peaceful conversation. Somewhat.

But wasn't Zero someone he had always gone to when he was lonely? He shook his head. He didn't really care what happens to Dio. That stygian wouldn't care for him anyways. How does Zero even call that guy a friend, let alone cope with his selfishness?

Sieghart could recall several times when Zero tolerated thousands of abhorrent conversations that the chieftain would come up with. The demon would sometimes reply with a coherent reason that amused the immortal as it was simply logical compared to the insanity the chieftain's ideals. But the fact was that Zero would spend even the slightest amount of time as one of the few people that the chieftain could talk too so freely.

'Zero's a really great guy to be able to put up with him,' the immortal thought. He could imagine that the demon would've treated the immortal the same way if they had a close relationship as well. The demon would comply to his selfish wishes like letting him nap a little more and kept his sleeping location a secret from the rest. If not, he'd quietly listen to him complain about the immortal life and be a trusted person to confide to when everything turns into shit. Zero was really a dependable person if not someone easily taken advantage of.

'Ha… But the poor kid doesn't get noticed, huh…' Sieghart couldn't help but smile sadly for him. Even in battle, it was the wanderer who usually was, as usual, ever so vigilant. And with that level of awareness constantly watching over not just the party, but the whole battlefield, Zero would be the first to move and strike or defend areas that needed him. Although he never raised his voice for the others to tread carefully, it was pleasing to watch him attempt it. In several occasions, he used his awkward silence to even get chasers to move away so they'd avoid silly pitfalls. Regretfully, Sieghart fell in some of them out of pure insolence.

Though, its purpose could have been for the sake of a team that could help him achieve his ambitions, it was still good help. Even willing to play vanguard with Sieghart every now and then when they partied together. And he knew no one really wanted to be near the gladiator in a battle as Sieghart could be ruthless and senseless.

No wait… He was acknowledged. Sieghart noticed him.

"Eh? Master Sieghart? Where are you going?" the fighter asked just when the man stood, leaving his plate.

"Going to wander around a bit." Sieghart quickly replied, noticing how the stygian there was becoming more unnatural. It's not that he was concerned for the stygian.

Rather, he was curious to why Zero wasn't there.

And he forgets why he ran from Zero in the first place.

The immortal let his feet walk around the world without having the slightest idea to where he was going. He simply followed his usual routine. The thought of the wanderer's attraction to him had somehow slipped his mind. Sieghart was much curious to why the wanderer was a little out of place from his usual pace. After all, that's how he knew how Elesis would stay in the field all day – skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner – whenever she felt horrid or just depressed, and how Lass would constantly take mission after mission when he was bothered by Kaze'Aze, and so on.

He felt the need to know these situations just because he was still the 600 year old man in the group – he was still an adult who had to take some responsibility, right? Or maybe he was really worried about Zero? 'Nah... That isn't possible... This is Zero we're talking about... I know he can take care of himself.'

"Strange…" He muttered to himself when he found himself standing on one of the roofs of Serdin Castle's buildings. Well, of course he would never find Zero on the rooftops. The demon wasn't as heavy as him, but considering the demon's weight plus that sword could make more than a dent on the roofs. It could even collapse. But he knew that from this spot, his little peak of the whole world, he could see Zero would be somewhere roaming in the forest just outside of the castle, seeking for some sad enemy that seemed hostile enough to be challenged and killed as part of his training (and Grandark's sick interest).

But as the man had said, it was strange. The demon was not roaming around in the forest. Even if he did wear green, which obviously, was easily camouflaged in the evergreen trees, Sieghart could always spot those ears of his somewhere in there.

It, however, confirmed to the immortal that the demon was really out of his usual pace. Sieghart thought that he might have been summoned by Knightmaster for a mission but he shook that theory out of his head. They had just returned from a mission together. He wouldn't just go for another one – Knightmaster was definitely strict when it came to such matters anyways. She certainly knew how to keep chasers in line when it came to their conditions and missions.

Sieghart blinked. Was it because of the fact the immortal feigned ignorance earlier on when they were on the same mission together? Sure, that was indeed Sieghart's fault, but how could he act around a person he knows who's seriously attracted to him? It made him feel so foreign and unaware of what might happen. It had been centuries since anyone told him they were attracted to him anyhow. And how much did it affect Zero? Dejection may be one thing, but to actually disrupt his usual pace was the same thing as misery.

The immortal didn't realize how much he felt worried over the wanderer's disappearance.

Where was he? What could have happened to him?

Instead of comprehending his worries, Sieghart realized he would actually resort to running for the sake of the demon.

"Zero!" He gasped out, relieved to see the familiar grey hair and elven ears of the demon after the whole day of searching. It was nearly midnight and Zero was just entering the castle from the east gate. He quickly recalled that the east gate lead anyone from the castle straight towards town, which was definitely weird as the demon seldom went into town unless he had to get ready for another mission. And knowing Knightmaster, she'd never let anyone go on missions continuously for efficient reasons.

Sieghart then stopped. 'Why was I searching for him?'

His heartbeat was still crazily beating from running around and he never thought he would pant so much just to find the wanderer. And after achieving that goal of his, Sieghart was at a loss, unable to comprehend the reason to why he ran and ran. There was nothing in his mind that he could think of to share with the wanderer at the moment, not even their usual topics. Yet the sight of the Zero in his field of vision had somewhat soothed him.

His black eyes blinked in surprise as his body backed away hastily at the sight of a brunette following after the demon so casually.

Rufus Wilde was the bounty hunter of the Grand Chase. And it was common knowledge to everyone in the castle to know that the brunette liked, loved, to be left alone unless it was necessary for him to stick to someone – it was either for bounty purposes, blackmail or something of such sinister acts. The only thing that can be agreed however was that he gave special exceptions to certain people. And certainly Zero was not any one of the certain people to walk beside, especially when the direction came from the nearby town. From what the gladiator knew, Rufus didn't synchronize well with the wanderer because he didn't seem to like how Grandark always glowers at him.

Although, Grandark was far from glowering at all. It was there, sleeping soundly behind the wanderer's back.

"Well, that was a little tiring, but I actually had my share of fun," the brunette casually said, a small smirk in his mouth as he caught up to the grey haired demon's side. There was neither sarcasm nor harshness in his tone. Instead, it was quite light and almost cheery. "But the next time we do that, I swear it has to be on my terms. Fucking Burning Canyon's so annoying recently that he clamped himself next to me and I don't need idiots to interrupt us. I had to use another precious insult to keep him in the Dining Hall!"

"Alright," Zero nodded, "I'll try to make a date that could fit our schedules easily next time."

Did the wanderer say date? Sieghart shook his head, thinking that he must have misheard it or misunderstood. Zero's speech wasn't the best after all. There was still a sort of uneven flow in it that makes it so easily misinterpreted, despite how literal he meant it to be.

"I don't mind if we continued our conversation in my room you know," Rufus snickered, almost too seductively to the gladiator's likings.

"Lass lives next door to you. He will overhear us."

"That's not a problem. I overheard that one of the girls found some truth or dare potion set and they want Ronan, Ryan, Jin and Lass to play along the whole night. At the girls' dorm." The bounty hunter had taken a step closer to the wanderer, his voice had softened. "Dio's probably gone to get pissed off somewhere in some sad elven forest and destroy it all…"

"There is still Sieghart…"

"But you said that he's avoiding you, isn't he?" the brunette chortled. "Well, even I've noticed how he's acting all shifty since that day. I doubt he'll be anywhere near the guys' dormitories."

"Fair enough… Let's go…"

As the footsteps died away into the distance, Sieghart simply stood still, speechless beyond words.

Sieghart sighed as he strolled in the gardens, looking out for a perfect napping spot. He was in the messy forested part of garden that the druid had been working on, seeing as the magician and the rune caster were having their usual tea party near the usual spot he napped in. They were being extremely loud after their fun last night with some sort of truth or dare potion.

WHACK

He then accidentally walked into a branch again. It annoyed him that he didn't notice it beforehand. It was practically in front of him, for hell's sake!

He sighed once more, finally deciding he should just sit at some random base of a tree and sleep under its shade. He could care less if it was prickly and uncomfortable or filled with rotten disease-ridden fungi. He was immortal and nothing would kill him.

But maybe what's in his mind was much lethal to him than any fucking stick poking his ass.

Zero had suddenly ceased to appear before the man for weeks. In many ways, it was a positive thing to the man. He didn't have to worry about Zero's so-called attraction to him nor did he worry about any of the other chasers start any talks about him and the demon. He won't have to worry about when the demon was going after him every day. He won't worry about the demon ever laying a hand on him. And…

He won't ever listen to the soft words of the wanderer. He won't ever fight alongside the wanderer. He won't ever laugh at the wanderer's curiosity or enjoy the calm air around him. He won't even feel those touches again. He won't shiver in delight, feeling himself drained out of his sane mind, leaving nothing but his desire driven instincts. He won't let pleasure take control of him and ravish onto that lies deep within the demon's body. He won't ever hear his name whispered so gently, so spine-chillingly into his ears, making him succumb into the demon's power over him.

An empty void had made its way into the stomach of the immortal.

But he shook his head. Wasn't he supposed to be happy? That the wanderer wasn't going after him anymore? He won't get his ass raped and the wanderer has his curiosities fulfilled by another person. Everyone's happy.

He sighed. Then he slapped himself because he sighed. "What the hell am I doing… I'm supposed to be happy here!"

"Master Sieghart? What's the matter?" The man instantly stopped when he heard his name being called out. He turned around to see that a summoner had been floating under the shades of the tree for a while and noticed how concerned he seemed. Well, he didn't really hide it, thinking he could simply brush it off with one of his usual excuses.

"Well, Red was tailing me again and-"

"Elesis, by this time, should be practicing her dexterity with Lire you know." The summoner interrupted him, catching him off guard. She made a cunning grin. "Sieghart, even if you're the oldest of us all, I will refer myself as the big sister of the Grand Chase. I know what all the girls are doing."

Ley Von Crimson River was always the schemer in every situation she found beneficial to herself. And with that smirk on her face, there was no telling what she was hiding. Sieghart made a mental note to himself that the summoner knew the schedules of the girls (he probably has to keep his guard up to whether the summoner knew any other schedules as well) as he narrowed his eyes on her.

"What do you want, Ley?"

"To be rid from my boredom," she huffed immediately, "Jeeves won't stop nagging to me about the shit load of work from Elyos that must be done as the Crimson River's pride. He bothered me too much that I sent him off to a wild goose chase whist I play around. The question is Master Sieghart, what do you want?"

She made a sly smile that made the immortal shy away from her. Who knows what she's planning inside her head? Nothing bad ever comes out from associating with demons like her. He emphasized demons like her very much for he knew how much trouble it was to collaborate with her. Besides, Sieghart was well aware of the existence of other demons who were much cooperative in a more respected manner… Like Zero.

"Zero," it had involuntarily slipped out of the treacherous mouth of the immortal as he thought of it. Sieghart bit his tongue to silence himself further from revealing anything more to the heiress.

"Zero? Hmph," It wasn't strange to see the summoner to snort at the wanderer's name, but just meant that the wanderer did something that had unconsciously upset her or he did nothing at all with her (she was a woman who really loved attention). "As usual, he is simply incomprehensive. Heed not your attention to him. He's probably enjoying that master-slave kink of his with his good-for-nothing sword. Honestly, the sword should take care of his pet better."

"But if you ask me, I'd like to see him make a move on Rufus instead. Oh the beauty in the savages of the inner lust." She hummed at her own thoughts. On the other hand, Sieghart did nothing more than to stare at her. There was no way Zero could 'make a move on' anyone, let alone Rufus. From what he knew, Zero was beyond reserve that he can't just do such indecent things or even something as cute as a friendly hug. And the way Ley hummed only sparked more suspicion on her and everything. Well, she was always laughing at her own vulgar thoughts. Ley, despite being a high class demon had found humour in dirty jokes.

Even so..

"What do you mean by that?! Is this some sort of joke to you?! This is Zero we're talking about!"

"Calm down!" The summoner had warped a few feet away from the man as she avoided getting grabbed by the little clothes she had to be interrogated harshly. "Why the heck do you worry about him so much?"

Sieghart's fingers twitched cautiously away from reaching out to the barely-labelled-as clothes that Ley wore. Not to say he treated Ley with utmost care but he was surprised to how rough he had reacted upon hearing Zero's condition from the demon. It wasn't like him to worry about someone battle-ready like Zero. There was no need in the first place. He understood their situations well.

Well… Perhaps not anymore. Sieghart was seriously worried about the demon's strange behaviour.

Why? He himself could not understand it.

Ley on the other hand huffed, flicking her hair behind her after brushing any 'traces' of the immortal on her. The man she saw now was not the great Sieghart she knew but a man who was in utter confusion. She sighed gravely and rubbed her temple lightly. "Master Sieghart… What do you really think of Zero?"

His face instantly turned red at the moment the woman asked him that. There were too many things to describe him, yet nothing seemed well enough to be said. Or worth defining such a piece of work. Seeing this, Ley made a satisfied hum, yet she kept her fiendish stare on him, still waiting for an answer.

"Well, Master Sieghart? You can't possibly be blushing without a reason." She giggled, lifting her body up into the air and floating lazily in front of him. But she gradually calmed herself at the sight of the immortal's menacing glare towards her. "That's no way to treat a lady, you know."

"And teasing your seniors with bad jokes is no way to treat your seniors."

"True." She nodded calmly, "But you know… You do seem bothered around that guy and I'm interested in helping you."

"And why do you think I'll let you help me considering you're you?"

Ley blinked at the man and smiled. There hadn't been a human who was so cautious with her actions for a long time. She was well known in the demon community to be mischievous and malicious, but not so much to the humans (and elves, but she cared no to that race as they were pretty much human like if not for their pointy ears). The other races have yet to taste a slice of her devious acts. Then again, Sieghart was the old and maybe wise man. He definitely knew the dangers any demons possessed.

"Well, Master Sieghart." The summoner landed onto her feet in front of him, showing not a single drop of fear to him. "Let's just say I'm taking a risk to help you and if all of this works, I won't have to worry about my own relationship getting endangered."

Sieghart stared at her with disbelief. He knew not of any relationship that the woman was in. Of course he cared about it- it . He didn't even know that she had a relationship to begin with. Then again, Ley was the queen of secrets, being one who was raised in a noble life and knew the tricks and trades to negotiation. But never mind that. The question was how could both of he and Zero affect it? He knew that he'd never make a move on any girls in this present world and Zero was just too inexplicable for anyone to be interested in unless given a hellish amount of hours.

He then thought of Dio. The stygian had always been best friends with Zero. It wouldn't be a surprise if they ended up together. Moreover, he recalled that the stygian had once screamed in anger to the summoner in a fight that they were once in a relationship together and he never enjoyed a single bit. Ley must have been feeling regret about it and wanting to try and reconcile with him.

Nevertheless, that didn't really bother him much. The summoner can stay as a spinster for the rest of her life and he wouldn't care. She might as well deserve it for causing trouble to everyone around her. Besides, it was obvious to him that Dio thought not of a relationship deeper than what it was now with Zero.

Actually, the chieftain seemed a little too pissed off at the sound of the name of his friend just a couple of days ago. He would have to investigate that.

On the other hand, Rufus posed as a threat to the immortal.

As of late, he had noticed how often the bounty hunter slipped out of his daily plan of actions, sometimes just vanish into thin air. And at late nights he would be entering the castle with a certain wanderer. Multiple times had he tried to follow after Rufus, but Rufus wasn't the easiest cookie trail to follow, or see with the naked eye.

Sieghart had even interrogated the next closest person to the bounty hunter, Lass. But the thief knew nothing at all. Even Lass himself was quite suspicious about and had the same ideas as to investigate it himself. It was only a matter of time until Lass would recover the necessary details and Sieghart would casually ask them out of him.

But time was not of the essence in this case. The thought of Zero terribly attached to Rufus troubled him. There was no way he'd fell comfortable, knowing that the bounty hunter was wrapping himself all over the grey haired demon, leaving bite marks wherever visible to clearly show that Zero was his.

But he grew to hate that even if it wasn't Rufus who managed to have the wanderer, someone else might take him away.

He hated the fact that Zero might never caress him with those frosty touches of his, or whisper his name in that low alluring tone, or even just stay next to him like a wonderful partner he was. He hated the fact that he demon may never treat him like the way he was treated now, humouring him by listening to his idle boastings and caring for him by just watching over him, despite him being an immortal. He knew that the demon was attracted to him so shouldn't he stick with him instead of going after another?!

"Wow, Master Sieghart… I didn't think you were so serious that you'd even let out your rage aura…"

Sieghart snapped to reality at the voice of the summoner and felt flushed. He personally knew that whenever his rage aura slipped out of his systems, he was slowly succumbing to his instincts. And his instincts told him his true desires, his real feelings.

He sighed. The facts were there, lying in front of him like a brick wall. And he'd been trying to run away from it for too long. He had always faced danger head on, especially when he had become immortal. Yet such a simple thing as attraction could send him cowering away so easily, it almost made him so despicable, unworthy of his legendary title.

"I just don't know, Ley…." He sighed. "Things have really become complicated shit…"

"Then let's break down complicated shit into simple shit." She bluntly said, dragging him back to the base of the tree and sat there next to him. "We aren't in a rush to do anything important so we've got plenty of time."

Sieghart began to feel wary of the summoner's enthusiasm to help him. There was no way she'd even do this just to reclaim back her man. But, he thought, it was better than nothing…

He was suffocating enough in these complicated feelings.

"…. Promise you won't laugh?"

Ley gave him a reassuring smile. "I won't"

After hearing that reply, Sieghart just told her his story briefly as she reservedly listened to him. When he ended, Ley, at first blankly blinked repeatedly at him, not believing his tale. But after he went into detail, Ley laughed without reserve after hearing the immortal rant out everything to her. "Master Sieghart, I didn't know you were such a worrywart!"

"Ley… You promised not to laugh…"

"I didn't. I only said I won't promise I'll laugh." She huffed after the last sigh of laughter escaped her lips, earning herself yet another insulting title from the immortal. "But really, Master Sieghart. I didn't expect you to be tormenting about such a thing, you who is always boasting about how 'legendary' and 'awesome' you are. I bet Dio would do anything to hear this…"

"Ley…" The man growled.

"Of course I won't do such a thing, Master Sieghart. If he knew, he'll be bugging me for more of these embarrassing moments of yours and it'll be a pain in the ass." The summoner then cleared her throat, putting all jokes aside "Master Sieghart, you just made Zero sound like the perfect mate."

"W-what do you-"

"You treat Zero so differently. You lust for him. You enjoy how he treats you in such a sensual manner. But you don't just desire him sexually. You are obsessed with him. You know about his usual routines and his little habits. I mean, I don't think anyone would go their way to notice that Zero always strayed to the back or he stayed up late, let alone care about it. And you think about him far too much."

Ley then stopped for a bit, having something come in her mind before she continued. "Well, you don't show your care easily, seeing as we both know he's can take care of himself far better than you'll ever do. But instead, you do show some concern to him, no? You trust him being watching your back and you simply enjoy his company. And as you said earlier when you were telling me all this, you say that he deserves someone far better than you. That alone already shows some sort of care."

"And then you have the need to have him by your side. I mean, judging from your reaction when I said doing this will help my relationships, I guess you thought about what would've happened if I didn't butt in, right?"

As Sieghart groaned in defeat, Ley began to give him the final blow.

"You are capable of feeling attracted to him."

Yawning lazily, Seighart made his way towards the cafeteria restlessly. He was feeling insomniac, continuously thinking about what Ley had made him realise the day before.

'I'm capable of being attracted to Zero..'

'That's like I have emotional feelings to Zero..'

'Hell, does that meant that I like him...?'

"DAMN IT, SEIGHART! THIS IS SO NOT LIKE YOU!" Sieghart yelled at himself, outraged at his own trivial thoughts. It frightened the nearby maids as a squeal of shock was made. Seighart immediately turned and apologised as he scratched his head in embarrassment that he accidentally let his thoughts go out loud. Knowing the laid back Seighart had reappeared, the maids laughed it off, seeing the rare sight of a faint blush on his face.

'Like hell. She's just spouting bullshit to me again… Like every other thing she tells me when she tries to help me…' Sieghart snorted to himself. Right. There was no way the legendary hero of 600 years could believe the words of a demon, especially when she was notorious for being a sneak and a sly woman. He sighed for the zillionth time that day, scratching his head. 'Then what the fuck's wrong with me...?'

Without realizing, he had knocked over a bucket and tripped over. Screeches of maids and splashes of water filled the hallway, leaving a messy gladiator on the ground, irked beyond comprehension.

Laughter behind him disturbed him even more. But the strange thing was, he recognized not whose laughter it belonged to.

"My my, Master Sieghart. I know now where Elesis gets her clumsiness from."

"You're mistaken, Lothos. Elesis is the first in the Sieghart family to be clumsy."

As the gladiator got up, he saw Knightmaster with a smug face, approaching him as if she had found something new. She always kept a straight stoic face around nearly everyone, be it her superiors or her juniors or the random commoners, but only a small handful of people had managed to weave through her barricades and see a gentle side of her. These people were notable by the way they would call the knight by her name instead of her title. And apparently, Sieghart had just learnt it was with these close people, she would reveal her cheery laughter to the world.

"I don't seem to see it that way, Master Sieghart. You see, I've worked with Esclud once on a recon mission and he's a natural klutz."

"Shut it Lothos." Sieghart whined childishly, pulling the bucket off of his foot and pushing it to the side. "Esclud wasn't a klutz. The kid's always lost in thought."

"And it seems that you are, as well, lost in thought." Knightmaster pointed out.

"Oh? And since when do you care?"

"Since it's going to affect the whole Grand Chase." The blond knight retorted immediately. Her seriousness would always return when something jeopardized her ambitions. In this case, the crumble of the chase was something she wanted to avoid. And if she had approached Sieghart, it meant she knew clearly that Sieghart was the cause of trouble.

"It's just a phase, Lothos. I'll get over it soon."

"Soon is not good enough, Master Sieghart. I don't give a damn about what problem you're having but it's got to stop now." Knightmaster commanded, poking hard at the man's chest in fury. She was literal about having no concern towards the Chaser's individual problems. She knew herself well that she wasn't a miracle worker nor was she a counsellor so there was nothing she could really do but to nudge the chasers on to getting over their problems. "It's not obvious, but even the younger members of the chase can tell something is wrong with you. They just gave up the thought to ask you about it since you'd just 'brush them off'. And this is affecting the overall morale of the Grand Chase."

"Well, they all-"

"That isn't all, Master Sieghart. Even the demons are affected by this as of late. Dio's pace had changed to accommodate it and he's quite violent about it – I had to send him to Archemedia so he'd let loose of his steam there. Reports are telling me he's doing more damage than usual. Ley is awfully friendly to practically everyone that it's bringing about suspicion and distrust despite the fact that so far it has been nothing but beneficial. And Rufus and Zero has been playing hooky together and hasn't shown up to my office lately for missions and it's piling up. I suspect they're involved in something together-"

Knightmaster stopped at the sight of a purple flame flicker above the gladiator. His eyes were glowing intensely in fury. "What do you mean Rufus and Zero have been together? Do you know anything about it?"

"A-as I said," Knightmaster tried to stay calm near the angered man in front of her. Nearly loss for words in the sudden encounter of the infamous rage more, she choked out what she could grasp from her throat. "It is possible that they're going to plot against us, or to leave the Chase themselves. The latter being more realistic."

'He's leaving you.'

"They've spoken to no one about this nor have they shown visible signs of leaving but I had their financial accounts watched observed and noticed that both have taken out generous amounts of money over the few weeks."

'Taken by someone else.'

"And Rufus had been carrying out most of his items from the castle and-"

'Rufus.'

The blond knight only stopped speaking when she took note at the second spark of a purple lit above the gladiator. It was then followed by an immediate burst of flame.

"I'll… FUCKING KILL HIM!"

Located right next to the sparring field, the cafeteria was usually packed with people, from foot soldiers to military officers. Regardless of status, everyone comes to the cafeteria for food. Well, it's only packed in the busy meal hours. As of now, only a couple of people had remained in the room, probably in their break or simply wanting to seek for idle chat, uninterested in patrolling the already well-guarded castle. Two of these people were Rufus and Lass. They were there not for the stated reasons. Rather, with a chessboard in between them, the two were having a peaceful game of chess.

In actuality, it was something Ronan introduced to the two as an alternative from always trying to compete with one another's strength to the point killing was necessary.

"Hey Rufus. Seriously, why the hell are you hanging out with Zero?" Lass asked as he played his turn, moving his knight forward and shoving a white bishop off the board.

"Again? Look, it ain't anyone's business but my own." Rufus snorted back. "Unless…. You'd strip naked for me, I might consider." After giving Lass a mischievous smirk, he took advantage of the thief's shock and pushed forward his rook and knocked off a pawn that was too close for comfort to counter him with irritation. Looking at the black and white battlefield, Rufus smirked. "Check."

"D- Dork! You don't use those kind of things on me!" Lass snapped, trying to regain back his composure as he started thinking of a quick counteraction. "Ugh… I didn't even see it coming and it's pretty obvious you'd drop that there…." But the blue eyes kept his eyes staring at the brunette's.

Although they were half-brothers, Lass wasn't one to easily worry about Rufus. He was fully aware of how the brunette was much stronger compared to him, especially with the couple of years of experience behind him. But lately, the bounty hunter always returned to his room at night, all covered in scratches and bruises. There was even once where he saw multiple shrapnel deeply embedded in his arm, yet Rufus spoke nothing to Lass except to help him heal it. In the day however, whilst his wounds easily disappeared, so did more of his guns and explosives.

It had all started on that day. Zero had approached Rufus for some unknown reason. Lass at first brushed it off, thinking it was just a trivial demon matter that they had to speak of together. After all, there wouldn't be anything else that would connect the two together, right? Yet somehow, the thief had once again over analysed it all. Who could blame him?

Days passed with Rufus covered up in small but numerous wounds at nights and Zero disappearing often, and finding the two 'hanging out' at every other hour. To where and why, was still something he had yet to find out. Rufus being the expert of the hunt knew what to expect from a stalker and simply vanished from the thief's line of sight and left no traces to follow. Zero on the other hand seemed to bore the thief as he ends up just casually walking around doing nothing- the wanderer probably sensed the thief and diverted his actions

Zero and Rufus were up to something together. And it did not please Lass knowing that this was happening.

BAM

Both brothers collapsed from their seats, chessboard followed suit and crashed onto the floor. One by one the pieces of their little wooden army fell. Both pair of eyes of blue and red looked up to see the entrance of the dining hall.

The doors were rammed down and standing on them was a deranged, psychotic gladiator in full rage mode. Eyes glowering in fury, the black irises shot across the room like a bullet, scanning for the kill.

"Damn, I think it's clear to say neither of us saw that coming…" Rufus nearly stuttered out. He had cleared up his throat afterwards to try and establish back what composure he once had before the two had fallen onto their butts. But really, he had gone into deep thought. How was it possible that neither he nor Lass felt the charging presence of the murderous aura that leaked in bucket loads from Sieghart?

Unless, he thought, Sieghart had let his rage reach to the peak of its stages. He was the ultimate predator, concealing all presence and raw emotions even in broad daylight. Powered by instincts, all his aptitudes skyrocketed beyond his limits and making him the perfect killer.

The thought of it made Rufus shiver – A sort of pleasurable feeling bubbled inside of him when he grew conscious of the killer's instincts the gladiator possessed. Surely, it was obviously just an interest as a bounty hunter who'd love to achieve a level of murderous intent to that stage. Yet he was aware that there was something else that grew inside of him.

"Shit… The way Master Sieghart is right now is seriously turning me on." The bounty hunter smirked, licking his lips in a lustful manner. A desire fizzed up from the bottom of his guts. To dance with the raged gladiator, the clashing of swords and guns ringing into their ears into the night. To pin him down whilst he growled in ferocity, struggling to achieve freedom, groaning in angst for troubled feelings of lust and hatred to his hunter. Rufus shivered at the thought of it – him grinding down the legendary Sieghart in his infamous raged mode.

WHACK

Lass just had to give the brunette a good smack on the head.

"O-ow! What the hell was that for?!"

"D-don't just stare at him like that! We're in a situation where normal people think this is a fucked up position." Lass growled at the brunette, keeping his head low from the line of sight of the immortal standing metres away from them. As he pushed Rufus down, the silverette stared in confusion to the unknown on the other end.

Why would Sieghart just snap like that? The man wouldn't just-

The immortal perked up and smiled twistedly. "Rufus! There you are, ya son of a bitch!"

Knowing Rufus, the silverette expected him to retreat because they were both aware of the sudden huge difference in strength between he and the immortal.

Unfortunately, Rufus stood up straight and hollered the immortal over to him. Drawing out his eyeteeth, he smirked lustfully. "Let's dance to death's door, shall we?"

"Fucking idiot! This ain't time to get riled up just because you're facing someone stronger than you!"

"Think about it, Lass. When will you, in your lifetime, get the chance to fight the legendary Sieghart in his greatest form?! Not even that spoilt brat of the Burning Canyon could fire him up like th- ACK!"

"Wha-?!"

With one swift motion, Sieghart had dashed for the kill, shoving off the thief across the dining hall and grabbed onto the demon's throat, crushing it ever so slowly, enjoying the angst face he made. Rufus twitched and jerked in the gradual loss of oxygen in his limbs, desperately clutching onto his life as his right hand tries to lightly claw off the immortal's hands on his neck.

"Wah… I'm beginning to understand why you demons enjoy this slow, torturous killing…" Sieghart laughed, smiling happily behind the cloak of darkness.

BAM BAM

"FUCK!" The immortal roared, reaching to the two bullet wounds over his shoulder, fingers following suit into flesh to dig them out. Rufus fell onto his knees, gasping the air hungrily. His left hand still possessed one of the eyeteeth and its barrel was warm from blasting bullets. The bounty hunter could not help but let out a sigh and a chuckle. He was definitely amused to this Sieghart.

He wondered what on Aernas drove the immortal into the edge like that? And why was he the target? Nevertheless, it had Rufus shivering for more. He hadn't felt such adrenaline bursting through his veins like his life depended on his pure skills and determination in so long.

"Want some more of that? Then come and get some!" the brunette snickered as he scampered towards the large tinted glass of the dining hall. Launching himself through the window with a crash, he dashed towards the training grounds just meters away. Obviously it was better for the two of them to have their match at a proper field. Lass was still there. If he regained conscious, the silverette would probably try to stop them in that small area. So being in an open field keeps Lass from trying to tie both of them down easily and stopping the fight.

Just the thought of that for a second meant that Rufus had lost his focus for a second. And in that one second, he saw a real monster appear in front of him.

"What the he-"

An uppercut launched the bounty hunter into the sky. Sieghart cackled madly, watching him rocket through the air. "Come now! Are you treating this seriously?!"

As the bounty hunter crash landed on the far side of the field, the gladiator quieted down. He sensed a chaser stalking around him – no soldier would dare come close to him on the battlefield, especially when he was in his rage mode so it was obvious someone of the Grand Chase members were closing in. Lass whom had already gotten conscious from that blast was the obvious answer. He was at a safe distance that Sieghart told himself not to forget to praise the kid for being smart enough to stay out of his range of grabbing. Something he rarely did.

Nevertheless, Sieghart ignored him. Even though he was in range, it did not mean that the gladiator would choose to acknowledge every single being that waltz into his area. His eyes were fixated on the bounty hunter that had just crash-landed metres away from him.

If he erased the existence of that bloody bounty hunter, maybe he'll feel at ease inside of him.

'Feel at ease?' It was a moment of silence inside him around the fury that surrounded him. Rufus wasn't a demon he usually associated with, so the gladiator harboured no particular hatred towards him. A bit of spite maybe but nothing as to murder him. 'How would this make me feel at ease?'

Bullets zipped passed him and Sieghart was once again clouded in rage at the sight of the bounty hunter. Rufus was indeed satisfied despite already dislocated his jaw and possibly broken one of his limbs. And that satisfied face of his made the blood in the gladiator boil more than how much it already had.

Mocking him as if Rufus had stolen away what was rightfully his.

"You fucking son of a bitch! I'll fucking kill you!"

"Zero!"

The elven ears twitched at the sound of his name being called. He did not turn to see who it was that had called for him. The voice enough told him it was Lass. And from the state of it, he was quite desperate. But Zero rather kept his head fixated at one direction. Towards the training field.

"I presume it is about Sieghart?"

"Well duh." the thief replied bluntly. "Who else would radiate enormous amounts of rage like that? But that's not the point! Dio is still out on is mission so Rufus is fucked up if you don't help him because you're the only one that can match up to that dickhead!"

Zero blinked at the thief. He was well aware that Sieghart had his outrageous moments, particularly when something unsettled him greatly. And most of the time, the cause would have been the fault of the stygian for threading on areas he shouldn't be in. So hearing Rufus was the cause of it was utterly shocking considering the bounty hunter liked staying in neutrality to keep all advantages open to him when the time comes for him to utilize it. And Sieghart in particular was one wild card he would keep in reserve safely.

'The Bounty Hunter is actually getting hunted?! Wahahahaha! Now this is a show to watch!' Grandark laughed eagerly. 'I knew that bratty asshole would get his ass bitten one day!'

The cheery atmosphere coming from the great demon sword immediately caught Lass' attention. His blue eyes narrowed with suspicion and then darted towards Zero. "I don't really understand why he's attacking Rufus but... Is it possible that it has to do with why Rufus has lately been hanging out with you?"

Lass had asked innocently with a slight fear deeply embedded in his tone. On the other hand, his movements contradicted him. The thief already had has hands reaching out to his knives, cautious of what word may be said by the wanderer.

"… That is not possible. What Rufus and I have been discussing about has nothing to do with Sieghart..." Zero reassured, lightly shaking his head. Yet the thief still held his suspicions towards the demon. He sighed, shaking his head. "Lass. You might have been misunderstanding the situation... Rufus and I have simply been discussing about the different set of traps that would be easily established at different dungeons. I asked him if he could create some traps for me to train with and he gladly accepted me as his test dummy for some of his prototypes as well."

"Then the wounds?!"

"Explosive mines with shrapnel and bullets. Rufus seemed awfully interested in replicating one of your mines so he tells me he spends some of the nights at the dungeon site to create them and asks me to try them out by midday. It is quite costly though to get more shrapnel and explosive materials so he seemed quite satisfied with most of his results and special tweaking as of late. I had offered him some aid, but he seemed capable of relieving his own wounds. You seem to possess the reason he wishes this not to be leaked out but I'm afraid with the current circumstances, secrecy must be put aside."

"O-oh..." Lass sighed in relief and embarrassment. He seemed to have been worried about the bounty hunter and his weird behaviour recently. Well, the thief was his half-brother. It felt natural for him to care for the bounty hunter's well-being. But Lass also sighed because now he understood why Rufus had been keeping it all a secret. Who wouldn't feel embarrassed that they looked up to their younger siblings' ideals? All the same, he sighed that Zero wasn't particularly involved with Rufus and just seeking more ways to adapt and survive.

Lass then continued, raising his voice in defence. "T-then… What of Sieghart? Why is he attacking Rufus?!"

"He has no such reason to fight with Rufus. I don't unders-"

It clicked in Zero. It was possible for Sieghart to have felt the same way as what Lass did. If Lass had thought that there was something happening between both he and Rufus, there would be no other reason Sieghart would do the same as well. But to what extent had he misinterpreted the situation, to the point he would go so far as to assault Rufus?

'…. Good fucking Elyos… The bounty hunter probably fucked around with that shitty immortal. Why else would the dick go attack him?' Grandark rolled his eyes in frustration to the silence. The sword was getting restless – he had just listened to something that was interesting enough for him to actually feel the need to participate and wreak havoc, only to be stopped by some silly interrogation and detective play. 'Let's just deal with them and be on our way… I certainly don't want to waste our time in Knightmaster's study listening to her bitch on and on about human morals and bullshit. We're already wasting time being in this whole chase nonsense.'

"H-hey…. Why did you approach Rufus in the first place?" The thief queried curiously. "I mean… I'm much better at making traps than Rufus so…"

"There were more convenience posed if it were Rufus than you. He easily looked beyond the personal and emotional factors when business and confidentiality mattered. If it were you, I would be subjected to days of suspicion. From the rest of the chasers as well. Such a small matter needs not to have much effort wasted. Even then, the fact that he was a demon made much sense in terms of the social norm."

Zero paused. True, he actually approached Rufus in the first place because being with a demon companion may make it seem more natural, rather than humans. It made sense that Sieghart would get worked up if he had mutual feelings towards Zero in accordance to Ley's words. Sieghart would be one to quickly notice why Mari was not the better candidate instead – Unlike Lass' subtle and silent traps, hers were more explosive and ended with more than a bang. But there was still that final piece of the puzzle that made it all too meaningless. Why attack Rufus to the point rage mode was necessary?

Rage mode had been the representation of Sieghart's instincts and desires.

If killing Rufus was part of his desire due to Zero's temporary attachment to the brunette that would be no same as to say-

…

Jealousy?

Jealousy was a dangerous emotion, as far as Zero understood. It was occasionally a feeling of envy and want, which would be simple to brush off. But if left unsupervised, it could grow and grow, sucking in all the negative thoughts in one's mind and heart. And possibly drive anyone to do anything to get what they desired. Killing included.

Sieghart was yes, very very capable of feeling jealousy. He had always sneered at Dio whenever the chieftain took hold of the glory, or pout when Elesis was dragging along someone else instead of him to spend a full day of fun at town. His level of jealousy varied to different situations. So the thought of the immortal being jealous was possible.

But of what reason? There was nothing too drastic that Zero had done to ignite such a feeling to arise in the immortal. Maybe the fact he had heeded to Ley's advice to mind his own business for now- to worry about himself as she said it- had created more than just a simple trigger to the chain reaction that lead them all to this point. All it took was to tell himself he was going to improve on an area of field missions he felt weak or left unsupervised. It, of course, decrease the amount of time he spent in the presence of Sieghart to deal with Rufus' traps could be considerable but that was something-

It can't be… Sieghart wouldn't be jealous because- It's too much for even the wanderer to believe… It was too childish- But this is Sieghart we were talking about…

Zero shuddered and waved the thief lightly. "I apologise but I sincerely had no intentions of any sort of harm towards your half-brother."

"What do you mean, Zero?" Lass questioned worriedly. The switch flipped and he was already prepared to strike. "What happened?! What did you do?!"

'Zero…' Grandark growled furiously. 'What the fuck did you dare planned and done behind my back?!'

Zero shook his head and slipped around the silver haired man, already accelerating his pace towards the training field.

"Rufus is in terrible danger."

[Chapter 3 - End]
Chapter word count : 9,443
Total word count: 27,104

A/N:
To be honest I'm not into the game as much as before, especially since it's official end. But I can proudly say Long live the Chase and this story will not end! Yet!
Thank you for reading with me once again.

-Hishin