A/N: First of all,

I. HATE. WRITING. ROMANCE.

Oh well, might as well give it a shot…

In any case, enjoy – It's supposed to be a Valentine's Day special, but I really don't care anymore.

BTW: This is the 700th Maple Story Fan Fiction! Huzzah!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

February 14th.

On this day, all of Maple World gather to Amoria, the town of marriage, in a majestic festival of love, celebrating Valentine's Day – the day a man named Saint Valentine built Amoria to remember his dead wife. Every single Mapler abandons their rigorous training regimes and busy business schedules to spend some time with a loved one. Even monsters would gather in their nests and dens, resting with their brethren.

Meanwhile, in Erev…

A certain tanned Commander of Lightning was doing squats on the podium the rest were resting on. Oz was using her laptop and updating her blog, at the same time reading her fan/hate mails. Irina was fiddling with her bowstring, Mihail was reading the newspaper, and Ickart… was sleeping in his tree. As usual.

Mihail suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence. "Hey… Tomorrow is Valentine's Day," he pointed out, lowering the newspaper he was reading. Irina looked up and sheathed her bow back into its quiver before standing up. Her emerald eyes blinked in realization. "Oh, yeah!" she exclaimed. "Gosh, I'd better go home to El Nath – my dad is probably waiting for me… We have to visit my mother's grave."

Oz snorted. "That is, if the Empress lets us off," she pointed out simply.

Hawkeye nodded enthusiastically and stopped doing his squats, wiping the sweat of his brow with his sleeve. "The Empress will most likely give us a speech, then Nineheart'll say…" Hawkeye strode to the middle of the podium, before saying "No leave!" in a very good imitation of Nineheart.

The Commander of Flames snorted again. "Look behind you, Hawkeye."

He turned around, and was greeted by the sight of the young Empress, arms folded, frowning. Next to her was the Royal Tactician, Nineheart. Hawkeye yelped in fear and clumsily stepped backwards. "Oh sh- Milady, I was-"

"Yes, I'm sure you were kidding," muttered Cygnus in a bored tone. Nineheart cleared his throat and adjusted his monocle, for lack of a better response. Irina and Oz giggled. Mihail facepalmed. Ickart… remained asleep.

The Empress smirked. "I have an important announcement to make, my dear knights," she said, trying to sound as pompous as possible. She turned to Nineheart, and the latter promptly produced a scroll for his pocket and handed it to Cygnus. The scroll was new and fresh – it appeared it had just been written on.

All four of the knights went closer to try and read the scroll. Ickart was still sleeping.

Cygnus read the contents of the scroll aloud.

"Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. The knights have been faithful, guarding the island since their inception as commanders two months ago. I propose that they be let off to enjoy the festival in Amoria tomorrow – they deserve a rest. By Athena Pierce."

"Why the hell would Athena write to you?" asked Hawkeye.

"Shut up, there's more. Dear Empress, I understand that you have recruited several Maplers to be your knights. Or may I say bodyguards? Haha. Anyway, I suggest that they be relieved of their duty for a day and sent to Amoria. Unarmed. Nothing can happen on Valentine's Day, right? Sincerely, Dances With Balrog.

"What the- Dances with Balrog too?" said a bewildered Oz.

"Why don't you all just shut up and listen to the announcement?" Ickart had woke up – actually, he had never been sleeping in the first place, it seemed.

"Send your Knights to Amoria. It is 100% safe. I assure you nothing will happen tomorrow. Especially not a catastrophic event that could destroy Erev and tear the world asunder. Kyrin."

"….Kyrin? I didn't even know that she even KNOWS how to write…" said Hawkeye, scratching the back of his head in thought.

Cygnus looked up. "Wait, there's another message…"

"Empress, my prediction is that tomorrow will be a completely safe day, without any interference from the Black Wings. My predictions have always been 100% accurate, thus I suggest that you should leave Erev unguarded. From Grendel."

"What about Dark Lord?" asked Hawkeye (un)helpfully.

Ickart mumbled something and closed his eyes again. "He wouldn't bother with such rubbish," he muttered.

Irina turned to Nineheart, her emerald eyes gleaming. "Will we get to go to the festival?" she asked hopefully.

"Please please please please please please please please please…." begged Hawkeye.

Oz stepped forward. "I would love to go to the festival, Empress," she added. Irina glared at her fiercely. "Er, I mean we would LOVE to attend the festival."

Mihail unsheathed his sword and randomly slashed it through the air, cleaving imaginary enemies in half. "If they want freedom, give them freedom," he said to Nineheart. "We've worked hard – we should all get a day of rest."

Hawkeye stroked his imaginary beard. "Hmmm… You two should get some rest too," he said. Cygnus's face lighted up. "Hey, that's an excellent suggestion!" she squealed. "Knights, you are officially dismissed!"

Ickart's eyes opened suddenly, and the Commander of Darkness nearly fell from his branch in surprise. Luckily, he managed to balance himself in time, merely causing the branch to shake. The other knights stared at him weirdly.

Nineheart's eyes widened in shock. "B-But, don't you think-"

"Never mind! Let's go prepare! I haven't been to a ball in ages!"

"-this letter is very suspi-"

"Zip your mouth and just enjoy yourself! The island will be fine!"

Laughing, the Empress grabbed the poor strategist's hand and ran off happily, leaving the knights alone to plan their activities during the festival.

"Wow, Hawkeye actually managed to convince someone," Oz smirked.

Irina shrugged. "The Empress mentioned a ball. Are we, like, going in pairs or something?"

Somehow, the sentence that the Commander of Wind had just uttered was strangely familiar to Oz, but she assumed that she had read that sentence somewhere. "Well, we should find partners for the ball, right? We can't go alone…"

Hawkeye's face lit up. "A date? Oh yeah, oh yeah…"

Irina smiled shyly. "Um, Mihail, I was thinking… You know, if you'd… errr.."

Mihail raised an eyebrow, trying not to blush, and failing miserably with every attempt. "Um… Yeah?"

Before the Commander of Wind could continue, however, Oz interrupted her. "Hey, Mihail! Go to the festival with me!" she asked, rather rudely.

"Hey! I- I asked him first!" Irina stammered. Leafy green eyes met fiery red ones, and electricity seemed to crackle in the air.

Hawkeye sighed. "Hoo boy…. Somehow, I think it would've been better if we weren't given permission to go to the festival, it would've been better…"

Deep within the Ant Tunnel, a sinister cackle emanated from one of the caves, scaring Evil Eyes and sending them scurrying away in fear.

"Heh heh heh… time to summon my secret weapon!" laughed a short man in a cloak. He clutched a straw marionette in his right hand, a summoning stone in his left. "Arise, fallen one of the past!"

There was a guttural noise, and the cave shook violently. Several stalactites wobbled threateningly above, almost snapping. Thankfully (for the strange man), they didn't. There was a bright flash of white light, and a man in chrome knight armor appeared in front of him. The knight was kneeling on the floor in a daze, appearing to be stunned by the light.

"What… was that?" the knight said to himself. His face was not visible, as the visor of his helmet was in the way. "I remember… I was in the Sharenian Ruins, then I…"

The short man beckoned. "Now, now, relax. You've just gone through a lot. Maybe you should rest a while, get your bearings–"

The knight stared at the puppet in his hand. "Who… are you?" he asked cautiously, fingering his mace, which was strapped to his back via a leather strap. "Are you one of those necromancers?" He gripped the handle of his weapon tightly, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

"Hah hah hah… Necromancer. You've quite a sense of humor, White Knight of Nightfall."

The White Knight hesitated. "How is it that you know my job and guild?" he questioned warily. His eyebrows creased into a frown. "What is your name?"

"Heh heh. I mean thee no harm. You do not need to know my name – however, you can call me Francis if you like. I summoned you to help me execute an important task."

"Important task?"

"Yes. You see, you are now in the future – I summoned you from the past to aid me in my endeavors." Francis stroked his puppet almost lovingly, and the puppet glowed briefly with red energy. "Some certain… people are wreaking havoc in today's world, and I need you to help me stop them."

"My help?" asked the White Knight. "Why, of all people, would you need my help?"

Francis laughed again. "An evil empress has taken over the Maple World. She has been trying to squish us out for ages – she is trying to secure her position as ruler of this world, and she will stop at nothing to destroy us, the resistance. I'm sure you are acquainted with the feeling of a tyrannical entity reigning over you, do you not?"

"Of course."

"Well, I need you to go to the empress's private island on a sabotage operation. I have already managed to get the guardians of the island to leave their posts by sending them a fake letter, posing as figures of authority. We will strike tomorrow."

The knight dipped his head. "If it is for a good cause… I will do it."

Francis smiled, a smile that was void of life and emotion. "Very well. Thank you for your assistance, knight – what is your name?"

The White Knight took off his helmet. "My name is Hyrien."

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Yeah, OtDOtS references!

Also, there is a easter egg in this chapter – Let's see if you can find it!

Hint - POKEMON