“Always remember this: face your enemies according to your abilities. If by any chance you’re surrounded by a big group of adversaries that you have even the slightest lack of confidence in beating, the best choice is to escape. There’s no point in acting like a hero when you won’t walk out alive,” her trainer had told her. She chuckled silently to herself at the memory. Screw that.
Christine twisted her body sharply to avoid a Stiletto that was being thrown in her direction, which disrupted her thoughts. However, she didn’t avoid it well enough, and the tip of the dagger grazed her right cheek before it plunged into the wall behind her. Blood slowly trickled down her smooth face. Her eyes darted around with a dangerous gleam, searching for the one who threw the dagger at her.
“Hey! Don’t you know that aiming for a girl’s face in a fight is despicable?!” Christine scowled, and turned her attention to stab a Soldier Skeleton that was running towards her in the mid-section, kicking at him to free her sword just in time to swipe at another one’s head. As her targets fell to the ground in a mangled heap, she wiped the blood off her face with the back of her gloved hand, flinching when she had accidentally applied too much pressure. That had better not leave a scar.
“Your looks should be the least of your worries right now, girl, don’t you think?” the leader of the Soldier Skeleton battalion leaned against the wall and said casually, looking on as his subordinates tried to pin the audacious Swordswoman down.
“Humph, you’re probably the one who has to worry about how you’re gonna have to deal with me after I finish with your men,” Christine shouted at the top of her voice as she continued to fend off the incoming attacks from a few more Soldier Skeletons.
“Oh, those are big words coming from such a small person. You do realize that you’re dealing with fifty of us, don’t you?”
“I think you meant twenty five more,” she smirked, pointing at the group of Soldier Skeletons who were still standing, and instantly ducked when one of them swung his Stilettos to form an X-shape at the level where Christine’s neck was. “Whoa, that was close.” She swung her leg at the Soldier Skeleton’s ones and brought him down, then mustered all her force in her right hand and punched at his head. The impact immediately separated his skull from the rest of his body.
“That would be enough to finish you off. I trust that my men aren’t so incompetent that they can’t dispose of a brat like you,” the leader said. He kicked away the decapitated skull of his subordinate which had rolled to his feet, disgusted that it had discredited his statement almost immediately after he had said them.
“We’ll see,” Christine said, as she scanned her surroundings for the Acolyte. She half-hoped that the Acolyte had managed to teleport out of the dungeons while she was keeping these Soldier Skeletons busy, but figured that it would be close to impossible, considering the fact that the Acolyte’s pride and ability as a warrior of the Rune-Midgard Kingdom had just been challenged by the leader of the battalion. When one’s pride was on the line, no one would back down from the insult without a fight to death.
“Blessing! Increase Agility!” A voice shouted from behind, and Christine suddenly felt that her strength and speed had increased. There was no doubt that it was the Acolyte who had casted the support spells on her. However, Christine made a grave mistake – she dropped her guard and turned around to look for the Acolyte again. It appears that she was sitting in a corner, grimacing in pain, and probably was close to unconsciousness. The Acolyte was clutching her right arm with her left, and her white uniform was dyed a deep shade of red. More blood was pooled beneath her left leg.
“Oh crap, she’s seriously injured,” Christine muttered under her breath.
“And just where d’ya think yer looking at?” a sinister voice whispered in her ear, and Christine’s eyes promptly flickered away from the Acolyte and refocused on the battle at hand again. But that brief moment of distraction proved lethal, as the Soldier Skeleton whom had whispered to her managed to plunge his Stiletto into the flesh of Christine’s unprotected back.
Christine howled in pain, but managed to quickly separate herself from the dagger before the monster had the chance to push it in deeper and made the wound severely life-threatening. She coughed out specks of blood while she reached for a Red Potion in her pouch and bit on the cork to open the bottle, then thirstily gulped down its contents. However, the Red Potion only managed to slow the outflow of her blood by a little, as the wound was too deep for it to work its wonders.
Damn it. At this rate, I’m going to get myself killed first before Shurank gets his hands on my neck.
“Not so tough now, are ya?” Another Soldier Skeleton sneered as he aimed both his Stilettos at Christine’s shoulders. She parried the attack by blocking the weapons with her sword; and then she leapt backwards to give herself more room to anticipate the next attack. However, a second Soldier Skeleton managed to slash her – one of his Stilettos left a gash across her abdomen.
That attack caused Christine to lose her balance. She slid sideways across the rocky floor of the Payon Caves, and came to a stop only when her left shoulder connected with the rock that she was hiding behind before the fight started with a sickening cracking sound.
“ARGH!” she screamed. The pain was immense, and she coughed up more blood as her previous injury was further aggravated by the second attack. Christine tried to prop herself up with her left hand when she noticed that the leader of the battalion was ambling towards her, but it just wouldn’t support her weight.
Crap, I dislocated my shoulder.
“Having some trouble there, girl?” the leader of the Soldier Skeleton battalion now stood right in front of her, apparently admiring the view of Christine writhing in pain. Christine looked up at the monster, and attempted to not let her weakness show. At that moment, the Soldier Skeletons that were still alive started to crowd around their leader and sneered at her along with him. The leader roughly grabbed Christine by her hair and yanked her head backwards, forcing her to look into the sockets in his skull that were presumably supposed to be his eyes. Christine’s eyes twitched at the sharp pain.
“Hmm, I like those eyes. I can see the determination and defiance burning in them,” he mused. “However, that is exactly the thing that would lead you to your downfall.”
He cackled as he threw Christine’s head towards the ground brusquely, nearly giving her a whiplash injury. While he was walking away from her, Christine quietly uncorked three bottles of Red Potion and downed the contents, praying that it would let her last until she could finish off the final ten Soldier Skeletons, including that annoying leader. The worst of the pain subsided, but she knew that it was only temporary, for her wounds would reopen anyway during the fight. But at least it wouldn’t bother her too much. The tricky part would be killing them all before her blood starts to gush out again.
“Where… are you going…? I’m not… finished with you yet…” She stood up slowly and painfully by using her sword as support, her left hand dangling limply by her side. If there was one thing that Christine was thankful with, it was the fact that her dominant hand and her legs were still in good condition. And although her sword was supposed to be wielded with both hands, she had to make do with one.
The leader of the Soldier Skeleton battalion turned around at the sound of her voice and sighed. “You sure are one hell of a persistent brat, aren’t you? Finish her.”
At his command, his subordinates slowly cornered Christine, smirks plastered on their bony faces. She entered her battle stance, and muttered something inaudible while the Skeletons made their way closer. When she was sure that all of the remaining Soldier Skeletons were in range, Christine shouted “MAGNUM BREAK!”; fire erupted from the tip of her sword, promptly engulfing all of them at the same time, reducing them to ashes.
“Wh… what did you do?!” The leader was taken aback when his remaining subordinates were wiped out in a flash. Christine’s mouth curved upwards, and she slowly walked towards the last monster standing.
“Killed them, of course. You don’t really think that I would just sit there quietly and die, do you…?”
“Then why didn’t you use that skill from the start?”
Christine merely shrugged, still inching closer towards him. “I had to get them close together before it would be effective. So, are you prepared to meet your end?”
He cackled again. “You’re the one who’s going to meet your end. You can barely even lift your weapon or walk right now.”
She said nothing.
“Humph, being stubborn won’t do you any good. Let me have the honour of putting you out of your misery!” he said, and launched himself at her rapidly. The Stiletto in his left hand aimed for her jugular, and his right went for her stomach. Christine dodged the attack by crouching down and sliding to her right, grimacing as the pain flared from her wounds.
“Not bad for someone who’s injured so badly. But let’s see how long can you last!”
“You know what…? You seriously need to shut up…!” Christine spat, and swung her sword just in time to block an attack that was aimed for her outstretched right leg. She then used the hilt of her sword to bash at one of his wrist joints. The impact effectively knocked his weapon out of his bony hand. The Stiletto dropped to the floor with a resounding clang, and Christine kicked it out of his reach.
He cursed colourfully as his gaze followed the direction of his weapon, but quickly refocused on Christine who brought her sword down upon his head. He side-stepped it, but the velocity of the swing was too fast, and the sword caught him in his left shoulder blade, ripping his arm off.
“Now we’re even,” Christine said. She winced when she felt that warm blood was making its way out of the gash in her abdomen again, and stained her uniform red. Damn it, not now!
Her opponent apparently noticed it and started to laugh. “Save the talk for your afterlife. You’re at your limit, girl.”
“I thought I told you to shut it?” Christine glared at him, and swung her sword at his bony neck. The Soldier Skeleton took a step backwards to avoid it from severing his head, but slipped when he tripped over a skull belonging to his now-dead subordinate. His grip loosened on his last Stiletto, and it fell to the ground.
Before he could retrieve it, Christine got to it first and chucked it over her shoulder. With nothing left to deal any real damage to the girl, the Soldier Skeleton slowly edged away from the Swordswoman, but she quickly closed the distance that he’d put between them.
“Game over, skelly. This is a rather apt reversal of situations, don’t you think?” She aimed the tip of her sword at the Soldier Skeleton’s throat.
“Tch… it seems that I have underestimated you.”
“Damn straight you did. Go to hell,” she hissed through clenched teeth, and dropped her sword on his neck without giving the Soldier Skeleton the opportunity to say his last words. After sheathing her sword, Christine staggered towards the direction of the Acolyte, her good hand clutching her abdominal wound, and the other just swayed limply by her side.
“Hey… are you o…” Christine’s voiced trailed, as she stumbled forward and collapsed due to the massive blood loss she had just experienced. Oh damn was the only thing that managed to cross her mind amidst the ragged breathing from her and the Acolyte in front of her, and then she officially blacked out.
* * * * *
The acrid smell of herbs filled the room, where a heavily bandaged girl lay unconscious on the bed. An Acolyte with purple shoulder-length hair was standing by the window, looking at the children who were playing in the rain despite their mothers growling at them to get into the house.
“Takuma, Miho, Koizumi. I am well aware that you three are out there. You have my permission to enter the room, if that is what you are still waiting for,” the Acolyte said quietly into the wind in the Amatsuian language, and edged away slightly from the window. True enough, three fully-covered figures with only their eyes revealed stepped into the room, and promptly went down on one knee, bowing their heads towards her.
“As expected of ojou-sama to notice our presence; have your wounds healed?” the man closest to the Acolyte spoke in the same language.
“Yes, I am fine now. Thank you for your concern. But have I not asked of you to not address me with sama when we are outside, Takuma?”
“Ah- hait! Please accept my deepest apologies, Ame-san. Our pact slipped off my mind,” he bowed even lower.
“It’s alright, since there is no one else present. Please do away with the formalities. You, of all people should be aware that I am not in favour of such treatment. So, what exactly were you three doing in the Payon Caves? If my memory serves me well, I believe I have requested that no one should be following me,” a trace of anger could be heard in her voice. The three dark-clothed figures remained silent.
“Never mind. I think I already know the answer. It was otou-sama’s orders again, was it not?” she sighed, her hand reaching up to massage her temples. Does he still not trust me enough to let me train alone?
“I apologise if this sounds out of place, Ame-san, but your father means well. He was just worried about your safety,” the man called Takuma spoke again.
“Wakatta, but I have already explained to him. I will not be able to stand on my own two feet if he keeps sending someone to guard my every move. This is a path that I have chosen, and I am fully aware and prepared to face the dangers that accompany it.”
“But-”
She cut him off before he could finish what he wanted to say. “Tadashi… This time, I am thankful that the three of you have decided to overlook my request and followed my father’s orders instead. Otherwise I might have perished in the dungeon with her,” she turned to look at the girl lying on the bed. “I must thank you for not showing yourselves until she had fainted.”
“Actually, we had the intention to save Ame-san from the group of Soldier Skeletons and Archer Skeletons, but the girl appeared just as we were about to make our move,” another dark-clothed person spoke up.
“Yes, I have realized that, Miho,” Ame said, nodding curtly at her.
“Oh yes, Ame-san. I took the liberty to collect these,” the third person said, handing a black sack to the Acolyte.
“What are they, Koizumi?”
“Eto… Skeleton Bones. It is the item that has to be collected to be exchanged for the reward, is it not? I figured that it would be best for us to subtly repay her bravery with these.”
“Ah, arigato.”
It was then that the heavily-bandaged girl who was lying on the bed started to stir and groan, which made all four of them turn their heads towards her in alarm.
“I think that she will be waking up soon. It is best that you three left. I do not intend to invite unwanted questions from her if she happens to see you,” the Acolyte said softly to the trio.
“Wakarimashita. Then we shall take our leave now. Please excuse us,” Takuma announced, and the trio bowed to Ame again before disappearing out of the window. The Acolyte dragged a chair quietly to the side of the bed, and sat there in anticipation for the silver-haired girl to regain her consciousness.
* * * * *
“Christine, you’ve made me very disappointed in you,” Shurank said, his brown eyes scrutinizing the girl intently, almost boring holes into her skull.
“I’m sorry…” Christine said meekly, eyes flickering between the fuming form of her swordsmanship trainer and the floorboards beneath her feet, which shuffled uncomfortably. She closed her eyes and tried to fight back the incoming onrush of tears.
“You know what? Since you always refuse to pay heed to my teachings, I think that it’s best if you stopped being a Swordsman altogether. Even though you have the talent to be an excellent sword-wielder, it’s all negated by the fact that you lack the discipline expected of a member of the chivalry,” he said quietly, not even taking a single look at the disciple that he had just disowned.
“But-“ she began, voice choked.
“No buts. Leave. Now.”
“NO!” her heart thumped, and her eyes flew open once she heard what Shurank had said, jerking forward to reach out for her trainer. However, her forehead seemed to have collided with something else instead, and white spots invaded her field of vision momentarily.
“Ow!” two voices said at the same time. Rubbing her forehead with her palm, Christine slowly opened her eyes, just to find herself sitting on a bed in an unfamiliar room. There was a purple-haired Acolyte sitting in a chair next to her, massaging the bridge of her nose which appeared reddish.
“Goot… yer awake…” the Acolyte said, still wincing at the pain. “Ah… tank gootness my nose isn’t bwokeng…”
“Sorry… come again…?” Christine blinked, unable to comprehend a thing that the other girl had just said.
“I said, ‘Good, you are awake. Ah, thank goodness my nose is not broken,’” she repeated her words and smiled at the silver-haired Swordswoman.
“Oh… Um… wh- where am I…?” Christine gazed around the room uncertainly, and grimaced when she felt sharp pains flaring in her back, abdomen and left shoulder.
“I think you should lie down first, before your other wounds reopen,” the Acolyte said, noticing the blood that had started to seep through the bandages wrapped around the Swordswoman’s abdomen. She placed her open palms over the area, and muttered “Heal” under her breath. A warm, green light started to radiate through her wound, and Christine could feel the pain subsiding into nothing more than mere throbs.
“And now to answer your question, we are currently in an inn located in Payon. The owner told me that someone had brought us here after they had found us unconscious in the Payon Caves. Do you remember what had happened?”
Christine nodded slightly from her pillow, but still appeared confused. “Y… yeah… I was kicking all the sorry asses of the Soldier Skeletons… then I passed out… but where’s Shurank…?”
“Shurank? Is he your boyfriend?” the Acolyte tilted her head slightly and looked at Christine quizzically, a small smile playing on her lips.
“For the love of Freya, no!” Christine shot up again from the bed, then fell flat on her back almost as fast, grimacing once again.
“Whoa, take it easy there. So, who is this Shurank person?”
“My trainer… I was talking to him just a moment ago…” a confused look formed on the Swordswoman’s face, accompanied by a tinge of sadness when she remembered what Shurank had said in her face.
Ame chuckled at Christine’s words. “There is no one else in this room except for us. I believe you were just having a bad dream, um… how should I address you again…?”
“Bad dream…? Oh,” the other girl blushed, then quickly added, “I’m Christine, Christine Fletcher. I’m turning eleven soon, and I come from Prontera. A pleasure to meet you. And you?”
“My name is Ame… Fujioka, and I will be fourteen this year. I have been born and raised in Amatsu, but I am currently residing in the Prontera Sanctuary in order to receive my Acolyte training.”
“Oh, no wonder your accent sounds different,” she smiled. Christine noticed that Ame had hesitated a little before mentioning her surname, but thought nothing of it. She just held out her right hand from under the sheets for Ame to shake, which she gladly accepted.
“By the way, how long have I been unconscious?”
“About three days, I believe.”
“WHAT?!” Christine shrieked, but caught herself before she darted up again and inflicted more pain than was necessary.
“Considering the wounds you have received, I am more surprised that you have awaken this fast,” Ame commented as-a-matter-of-factly. Christine merely managed to let out an exasperated sigh. Then she remembered that she didn’t pick up all the reward items, and groaned again.
“What’s wrong? Do you feel any pain anywhere?” Ame panicked.
“Oh, no, no. It’s just that I didn’t get to pick up the Skeleton Bones which were left behind by those Undead pain-in-the-asses. There goes my reward,” the silver-haired Swordswoman shook her head and sighed again.
“Speaking of that, I almost forgot.” Ame stood up and walked over to the table in the middle of the room and picked up the black sack that she had received from Koizumi earlier, and handed it to Christine. Christine untied the strings around the sack and took a look at its contents, then stared wide-eyed back at the grinning Acolyte.
“Eh? Skeleton Bones? B... but-“
“Take it as a token of appreciation from me. You have my sincerest gratitude for saving my life. I do not think I would be able to sit here and talk to you right now, had you not showed up at the caves,” Ame smiled.
“In that case… You’re welcome? Though Shurank would probably rap me on my head for acting so brashly,” Christine scowled.
Ame laughed at her expression. “It sounds like you are rather close with your trainer. Do you like him?”
“Yeah…” Christine mumbled, and then finally registered what Ame was really implying about her feelings for Shurank. “Wait- no! Not in that way! I mean, there’s no way I’d be remotely interested in that grumpy old man romantically,” she mimicked Shurank’s angry face, complete with closely knit eyebrows and flaring nostrils, to which Ame laughed again. “I guess it’s more of a feeling of respect. He really tries his best to teach me, even though we started off on a bad footing.”
“I see…” Ame mused.
“Oh, right. Something has been bothering me while we were in the caves. Why didn’t you heal yourself, but casted Blessing and Increase Agility on me instead? From what I gathered, you were injured quite badly yourself.”
“Hmm? I ran out of Blue Potions. I drank the last bottle I had and could only cast the supportive spells on you before my spiritual powers were exhausted. In any case, I would not be able to heal myself and fight the Undead army either. Anyway, I believe you shouldn’t overexert yourself. Perhaps you should rest now, then we can return to Prontera in two days,” the Acolyte smiled at Christine.
“Eh-? What about the Soldier Skeletons and Archer Skeletons?”
“A lot can happen in three days, Christine. The other warriors have successfully eradicated the Undead army for the most part. Maybe there are a few of them left, but they can do no harm to the citizens of Payon anymore.”
“Aww shucks. That means I’ve missed all the fun while I was out cold here?” Christine asked, and her speech slurred a little.
“In a way, yes.” Ame nodded wistfully.
“Damn,” Christine yawned sleepily, and the next thing Ame knew, she was in a deep slumber again.
Looks like I’ve found an interesting new friend, Ame chuckled silently to herself at the sleeping face of the younger girl, and sauntered off to her bed to catch up on her sleep as well. I just hope that she would not treat me any differently if by any chance she discovers my true identity in the future.
* * * * *
Two days later, Prontera.
A gray-eyed girl whirled around excitedly with her long, silver hair breezing behind her, apparently elated that she had the chance to enter the Central Palace of Prontera.
“Wow, this is really huge!” she looked goggle-eyed at the reception hall, where a large chandelier was hung in the middle of the room. Red tapestries woven intricately with gold threads adorned both sides of the wall, symbolizing the royal colour. Even the pillars were made of the best marble around, each pair carved in a specific floral design.
A purple-haired Acolyte with brilliant amethyst eyes looked at her in amusement. “Christine, if you whirl around like that any longer, you will get dizzy and crash into one of those marble pillars, you know.”
“But isn’t this great, Ame?” the Swordswoman made one last twirl around the hall, then stopped to look at the Acolyte. The latter stared back at her with a puzzled expression.
“Is there something on my face?” The Acolyte asked instinctively, and began to head to one of the marble pillars to look at her reflection when the other girl shook her head.
“Nope. Aren’t you excited to be able to see these great stuffs? You seem rather apathetic to me,” Christine spread her arms out, as if trying to show the Acolyte the hall.
“Oh. No, I’m afraid not. I am not really interested in lavish things.”
“Oh right, I almost forgot that you’re an Acolyte. Do all Acolytes and Priests act so indifferent towards materialistic things?” Christine looked up at the ceiling to admire the mural that depicted the Valkyries – Odin’s battle angels.
Ame shrugged. “I think it depends on who the person is. But I guess most of us do not really chase after wealth.”
Someone suddenly cleared his throat behind the girls, which made them jump. They turned around together, and found one of the palace officials looking down at them. He handed a pouch to Christine, which she accepted.
“This is the reward money for the Skeleton Bones with a grand total of twenty thousand zennies, as promised. I would like to thank the both of you for doing such a noble deed. Now, would you please excuse me,” the official bowed to the duo, and then turned around to leave. Christine shot a confused look at Ame, whom in turn raised an eyebrow.
“Twenty thousand zennies? That would mean there was 400 Skeleton Bones in there! How did you manage to collect so much? I thought I only killed fifty of them?” the silver-haired girl asked while they started to walk out of the palace.
“Um, I am not very sure of it myself. I guess I might have lost count,” Ame said. She reassured herself internally that she wasn’t technically lying – for it is a sin for Acolytes or Priests to lie – about the Skeleton Bones. She really had no idea exactly how many bones Koizumi had collected in the first place.
“Ame, this seriously far surpasses the actual amount that I have killed. I should return the excess to you,” Christine said.
“I told you that I seriously do not mind. After all, you have saved my life, so it is only natural that you should accept all of the money.” However, when no reply came from the younger girl, Ame turned to look at her, and discovered that Christine wasn’t beside her. She stopped in her tracks and whirled around in search for the silver-haired girl, and found her standing in the middle of the hallway, looking at something intently.
“Christine?” Ame called out, but the Swordswoman still didn’t break her gaze with whatever she was looking at. The Acolyte broke into a short jog towards her friend, and turned to see what she was looking at. It was a family portrait.
“Christine?” Ame asked again. Still no response. Chuckling silently, the Acolyte waved her hand in front of the Swordswoman’s eyes.
“Huh?! What?!” Christine finally snapped out of her trance-like state, and stopped looking around when she found Ame smiling at her quizzically. “Oh, sorry. I stopped to look because the people in the portrait looked familiar.”
“Oh?” Ame fixed her gaze upon the said portrait again, and scrutinized the figures in it. There was a very good-looking man with white hair and silver eyes, a beautiful woman with beige-coloured hair and eyes of a deep shade of blue, and also a pair of new-born infants sleeping blissfully in the cradle, most likely twins. “Hmm, they are probably a part of the royal family.”
“I feel like I’ve seen there somewhere before… but I just can’t remember.”
“Maybe it was a mistake. Members of royalty hardly show their faces in public anyway.” Ame reminded Christine, whom shrugged.
“Maybe. Let’s go?”
* * * * *
Up until the moment that the two girls reached the main gates of the Central Palace of Prontera, Christine was still trying to persuade Ame to take her share of the reward.
“C’mon Ame, don’t be so stubborn. We’ll split it 50-50?”
“No.”
“60-40?”
“No, Christine. I said that it’s okay,” Ame laughed at the younger girl’s antics.
“If the both of you don’t want the money, I’ll gladly take it.” A third voice spoke up behind them, and the next moment, the bag of coins in Christine’s hands disappeared. The girls turned around just in time to see a Thief running away from them towards the direction of the usual Pronteran crowd.
“HEY! COME BACK HERE! THAT’S MY MONEY YOU DIRTY BASTARD!” Christine yelled and broke into a mad dash, chasing after the Thief.
“Ah-! Chotto matte!!” When she had finally deciphered what had just happened, Ame squealed after her friend, and started running after them as well.
It must be quite a scene for the bystanders to see a Thief dashing past them, only to be followed by a Swordswoman who was yelling something unintelligible after him, and then an Acolyte who was trying to catch her breath while running after the aforementioned people. Everyone looked at them with raised eyebrows, trying to guess the story behind their marathon. Some grunted and others cursed colourfully at the trio whenever they had bumped into them or stepped on their foot.
“Sorry! Pardon me! Excuse me!” Christine kept on apologizing to everyone around her as she tried to squeeze through the crowd. “DAMN THIEF! YOU HAD BETTER STOP RIGHT THERE THIS INSTANCE!” she suddenly yelled, making some of the people jump.
The thief suddenly swerved around a corner and turned towards the direction of the East gate of Prontera, much to Christine’s joy, as the crowd was thin in that area. A plan suddenly came to her mind, and she detached her weapon from her belt, then unsheathed her sword.
“Ah! Christine! Don’t kill him!” Ame, who was running a good distance behind Christine, went wide-eyed when she saw the metal gleaming in the morning sun. But of course, Christine couldn’t hear her shouts as she was too far away.
Back to Christine, she took a good aim at the Thief who was still running in front of her. He doesn’t even know how to run in a zigzag pattern while trying to escape?! She scoffed internally, but was glad because it would conform to her plan. Then she raised her arm over her shoulder and hurled the scabbard at the Thief, hitting him squarely in the back.
The Thief stumbled when Christine’s scabbard found its target, and went sprawling on the ground. The silver-haired girl managed to close the distance before he could get up, and sat right on his back. “Hah, gotcha!” she panted, trying to catch her breath.
The Thief squirmed under her and tried to say something, but the words came up muffled so Christine turned him over and sat on his stomach instead. She looked over at his face, and rolled her eyes when she realized that he was wearing a Mr. Smile mask.
“Oh, hah hah. Very funny. Hide your identity, will you?” She gave a mirthless laugh and reached over to pry the mask off in order to uncover his identity.
“Geez… You… seriously… run… too… fast…!” At the same moment, Ame had finally caught up to her friend and the person who initiated the entire wild-goose chase, doubling over and took in deep breaths to replenish her oxygen deficit.
“YOU!” Two distinct voices said together, and Ame immediately looked up to see what was happening, just to find the Swordswoman and the Thief glaring daggers at one another.
“Oh, as if stealing my sheets wasn’t enough, you decided to come steal my money as well?! You ungrateful bastard!” Christine spat at the green-haired Thief lying on the ground.
“I merely took your sheets. Have you forgotten that you threw out my clothes? How am I supposed to walk out without wearing anything?!” he shot back.
“I thought I told you that it was the Acolyte who disposed your clothes?! Good grief, were you deaf as well?”
“Uh… Do you know each other…?” Ame glanced between the Swordswoman and the person pinned underneath her. Then she narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the Thief closely.
“Joel?!” Her hand flew to her mouth when she realized who the boy was. This time, it was Christine’s turn to be bewildered.
“Do you know him?” she raised an eyebrow at the Acolyte.
“Ye-yeah… He’s Joel Etherington… son of Cyrus Etherington…”
“Cyrus Etherington…? As in Father Etherington, the High Bishop of the Prontera Church?!” Christine stared at the Acolyte incredulously. Her question was answered with a nod.
“B- but…! His father is a High Priest and he’s a Thief?!”
Ame nodded again. “His mother is from the Stalker class anyway…”
The information proved too much to Christine, whom still sat comfortably on top of the son of the Prontera Church’s High Bishop, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of the water.
“And just how long do you intend to sit on me? I could very much sue you for sexual harassment and flashing, you know.” Joel finally spoke up. Christine’s head snapped in his direction, eyebrows furrowed.
“What do you mean?” her tone was dangerous. He jutted his chin at the direction of his chest, and Christine’s eyes followed the path which stopped at her skirt. Which was opened towards the field of vision of Joel Etherington that was lying underneath her. Never mind the extremely compromising position that the both of them were in right now. Christine jumped up, flushing furiously as she pressed her skirt down.
“You perverted…” she began, but he cut her off.
“Ah, ah,” he raised his index finger to her eye level and waved it twice. “Technically speaking, you were the one who showed your undergarments to me. It was purely unintentional on my part.”
He smirked gleefully as he brushed off the dust off his clothes, and enjoyed the scene of Christine fuming. “Now then, if you’ll excuse me.” Saying that, he disappeared into one of the dark alleys of Prontera city.
“Are you okay…?” Ame tapped Christine on her shoulders, and noticed that she was trembling in fury.
“I. Am. Going. To. Kill. That. Bastard. Someday.” Christine said through clenched teeth. Ame sweat-dropped at the sight of her, and went to pick up the bag of coins that was left behind.
“Here you go, and really, you can keep all of the money. Just take it as a present from me, for being my new friend.” Ame slipped the bag into Christine’s hand. Christine’s anger immediately dissipated.
“Okay, fine. We’ll do it your way this time. Just because you’re my friend.” She smiled at the Acolyte, whom grinned back in response.
Just as they were walking away from the East gate, Christine stopped in her tracks again. Ame looked back at her quizzically.
“Christine, what’s wrong?”
“Um, do you by any chance know what day of the week it is?” A contemplative look was plastered on the Swordswoman’s face.
“Monday, why?” Ame cocked her head slightly, eyebrows raised.
“Oh Lord Loki, please bless me and bestow your strength unto me,” Christine breathed, staring into the distance.
“Huh?” Ame blurted again, and then suddenly shouted when Christine sprinted away again at a baffling speed. “Hey! Where are you going?!”
“SHURANK IS GOING TO SKIN ME ALIVE!!!” Christine’s voice echoed down the empty streets, earning odd stares from the occupants of the houses around.
Ame just stared at the non-existent shadows of her new friend, clueless as to how she had managed to run so much in a single day. Nonetheless, a smile found its way to the Acolyte’s lips. She should’ve at least asked me to cast Increase Agility on her. Silly girl.
1 comment:
Nice novel you have there, chrys =D <3
Meh loves Shurank.
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