From the Ashes

by evergreenlove

.:chapter 2:.

A/N: Hi there, quick note from the author - I should have done this earlier, sorry - but this is my official warning that there will probably be major game spoilers in this fic (definitely the 1st and 2nd story arcs, possibly the 3rd as well). I may utilize backstories or Town Events that encompass OTHER characters besides Leon, so be duly warned. No character or event is off-limits, and may be referenced in this story!

Also,disclaimer: I do not own Rune Factory or its characters. I'm just writing a fictional story here to satisfy my immense fondness for the LeonxFrey pairing. Don't mind little ol' me!

The morning after the fire dawns grey and murky. Frey dozes in fits and bursts, exhausted but unable to stay fully asleep. She stares out the window as the smoke-stained sky lightens bit by begrudging bit. Leon, who is sitting up against the corner where the bed meets the wall, watches her through slitted, sleepy eyes. With a mutual sigh, they both silently agree to give up on pretending to rest, and rise from the bed.

"Thanks for staying last night," she says softly.

"Don't mention it," he replies, walking over to the cold teapot of water on the bedside table. He holds the china in both hands delicately and infuses just the tiniest bit of magic into his palms, letting the water slowly but surely come back to a boil. Pouring them both a cup of tea, he gestures at her hip. "How's it feeling?"

Stiff from sitting up all night, she doesn't say. "Not too bad."

Some knocks at the door. "Um, Frey? Are you awake? It's Xiao Pai."

"Oh. Come in!"

"Good monrig!" Xiao Pai says, smiling tentatively as she enters. At that very moment, Frey realizes just how this all might appear, Leon being in her room in his pajamas so very early in the morning - but if Xiao Pai is shocked or confused by his presence, she doesn't let it show.

"Hey, Xiao Pai, isn't it supposed to be 'Good Morning'?" Frey asks.

"Hm?"

Did she not hear me or did she just not understand me, Frey thinks, amused despite herself.

"Mama sent me up here with breakfast," Xiao Pai explains, both hands obviously empty.

"Dare I ask what happened to it?" Leon drawls with a twinkle in his eyes.

The short girl scuffs bashfully at the ground with one slippered foot. "Well... I may have dropped it in the kitchen. But don't worry, Mama made too much food in the first place, so she'll be up here soon with new plates." She digs into her pocket and pulls out a note. "Oh, and here's a note that Mr. Volkanon left for Frey earlier this morning!"

The note is written in Volkanon's fastidiously fancy cursive, making it somewhat difficult to decipher. She feels Leon drawing closer to peer over her shoulder and reads aloud, "He wants me to know that all my monsters are safe on the beach. And apparently, the butlers' wing is mostly undamaged, so I should head on over there after breakfast to get some new clothes."

It helps considerably, she realizes, to have clear and concise directions to follow. Feeling a bit more grounded, she sits at the small table in the corner of the room to finish her tea. Leon joins her, slouching in his seat so his long legs almost brush up against hers.

"Breakfast first," Xiao Pai insists, "Then a nice hot bath! We have some therapeutic bath oils and salts that should help with any aches or pains from yesterday."

Frey nods. "That sounds great." It really does, now that she thinks about it. Suddenly, she's aware of every bit of grime and dust, every point of pain or dull ache on her body.

"Can I borrow a towel for my bath?" she asks eagerly as soon as Lin Fa appears.

"Of course! I'll get you one fresh from the dryer, our absolute fluffiest!" she replies, bustling back downstairs with her daughter in tow.

Frey picks at a roll filled with cream and some scrambled eggs impatiently, not very hungry. Leon takes a long look at her mostly full plate, but says nothing as she gets up to leave. Instead, he ruffles her hair playfully. "Hey, I'm going to go find Volkanon while you do your thing. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay!" Briefly, she thinks about thanking him again, this time for everything, but as if sensing her sentimental thoughts, Leon smirks and shoos her away with a dismissive hand.

The painful experience of going down the stairs with a bum leg barely dims her enthusiasm for a good scrub; she hobbles at full speed to the women's bath and sheds her clothes in record time. Finally, she slips into the water with an indecent groan, practically feeling the dirt and grime float off her skin.

A moment later, Lin Fa enters, holding a towering stack of towels. "Here, Frey, fifteen of our fluffiest towels, just like you requested!" she says cheerily.

Eyes wide, Frey nearly chokes at the sight. "Wha -? Uhh, Lin Fa, I only asked for one towel..."

"One?" the inn owner cries, setting the stack of towels down next to the bath. "I could have sworn you said fifteen! Although now that I think about it, that does seem like a few towels too many..."

A few?! Try fourteen too many! Frey laughs awkwardly. At that moment, the door to the women's bath room bursts open and a huge group of girls walks in, chattering loudly. Frey tries to count them all, and sure enough, there are exactly fourteen new clients who all grab from the towel pile as they spread out over the huge bath.

"Your luck is almost frightening," the princess says in awe. Lin Fa just laughs and gets back to her feet, leaving Frey to finish up. Picking up her washcloth off the bath's tiled floor, Frey scrubs furiously at her limbs, finally able to remove the most stubborn soot stains.

Her hair is a lost cause, as she guessed last night. She gives it a rough rinse, then tosses it back into a high bun to get it off her neck. Maybe Clorica or Vishnal can help with that later. Letting the indistinct conversation of the other patrons relax her, she slides neck deep down into the hot water, and tries to fortify herself for the day ahead.

By the time she leaves the Bell Hotel about a half hour later, Frey feels much more relaxed. Dressed in a frock that Lin Fa was able to dredge out of the depths of her closet and without her trademark hairstyle, it seems she's mostly unrecognizable as the Princess of Selphia. Most travelers or townsfolk pass by without a glance, which is why it is somewhat surprising when, five minutes into her walk to the palace, a black and purple blur pops out at her.

"Frey!" cries the blur, enveloping her in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're alright!" Clorica pulls back just enough to look her princess over, head to toe.

"C-Clorica!"

"Oh, this outfit won't do, let's get you some clothes that fit you, hm?" The butler-in-training grabs her friend's hands, half marching half dragging Frey behind her. Her normally drowsy expression is replaced with one of determined focus. Frey gives in with a sigh and allows herself to be tugged along.

When they reach the courtyard, Frey feels her stomach drop. The entire right half of the palace - her living quarters and a good portion of the receiving room where Ventuswill used to sit - is a charred, black mess. A thick layer of ash covers the ground and huge pieces of rubble block off most of the courtyard.

"How long did it take them to get the fires out?" Frey asks quietly, horrified.

"A couple of hours," Clorica admits, "We were lucky that a lot of mages live in town, since the only real way to extinguish fire magic is with water magic. It's going to take some work to get everything fixed up again, but Mr. Volkanon thinks we can get most of the rebuilding done by Fall."

"We will," Frey says. She straightens her shoulders and forces that terrible mix of guilt, terror, and sadness out of her mind, instead focusing on the feelings of determination and purpose that have been steadily building in her since last night. "I'll make sure of it."

Clorica ushers her into the butler's quarters that she, Vishnal, and Volkanon share. True to Volkanon's word, the fire hadn't touched their rooms - it had instead ended right outside the entrance to their living area, out in the hall. Frey can see a fine, translucent shield shimmering in the doorway that neatly blocks out the thick smoky air from the wreckage.

A pile of neatly folded leggings and a white button-up shirt is deposited into her arms. "Here. I'm afraid I don't own too many casual clothes, but I thought you could wear some pieces of my uniform until the seamstress is done with your new wardrobe. We're pretty close in size, so they should fit."

Frey changes behind a small folding screen Clorica has near her closet. Luckily, the maroon leggings are more pants-like than she first thought; the material is thick and sturdy, and they settle high up on her stomach. She tucks the white shirt into the waistband, and pulls on a large black cardigan with gold buttons that she leaves open.

"I also have an extra pair of my shorts to go over the leggings, if you'd like," Clorica calls from the other side of the screen. Frey takes a moment to picture herself in the green, poofy shorts that the lavender-haired girl somehow manages to pull off on a daily basis and...

Yeah, no, she'd look ridiculous.

"I think I'm good," she says, giggling to herself. "Do you have a mirror I could use?"

"Yes, over this way."

Clorica leans next to the mirror, watching with a small smile as Frey surveys the finished product. The white shirt is quite plain, but the edges of each cuff are cutely ruffled, poking out from the sweater's black sleeves. The maroon coloring of the leggings makes her look even paler than usual, but they fit decently enough and they're pretty comfortable. To complete the picture, Frey removes her hair tie, her damp locks tumbling down in an unruly mess over her shoulders.

"I was wondering if you could take a look at my hair," Frey says, holding up the severely burned strands.

Clorica winces in sympathy. "Yeah... that looks bad."

A pause. Silence.

"Right, um. Would you be able to help me with it?"

Sheepishly, she says, "Sorry, Frey. I usually ask Vishnal to cut my hair. I'm terrible at that sort of thing. Maybe Dolce is done helping at the clinic and can do it? She's so handy. Oh, or Meg, though I think she's with Amber in Yokmir Forest today..."

"No, no, don't worry about it," Frey protests. "I can wait for a cut, there's no reason to hurry." Save for my own vanity, she thinks to herself wryly. "Maybe for now I can just put it in a braid or a ponytail to hide the worst of it."

Gathering all of her hair at the back of her neck, she contemplates a low braid. However, she realizes quickly her hair is too long for her to braid easily by herself. Clorica's hair is always braided, though - maybe she could help with this part...?

"Zzz... zz..."

Hm, nope. Frey shrugs and laughs quietly.

"Boo."

"AAHHH!" Frey shouts, nearly yanking out her own hair in her surprise. "Wha - LEON. That was horrible, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Leon leans against the entrance, smirking. "Just checking to see if you were on your guard."

"Wha...?" asks a sleepy Clorica, now awake but still unconcerned.

"You're a terrible person," Frey retorts, whirling back around to face the mirror. She quickly throws her hair into a single neat ponytail, swinging her head side to side. She watches the one lone tail swish along with it. She sighs. "This feels weird!"

"Sorry, Frey," Clorica says. "But until we can get your hair evened out, your twintails would just be all lo-o-oopsided-" she yawns.

The princess sighs. "I know. It would look ridiculous. Guess I'm sticking to the single ponytail until someone can fix it... or maybe I should just cut it all off?"

The sound of a fan snapping shut pulls her attention away from her reflection. "It might be easier to move around with shorter hair," Leon says thoughtfully. "Certainly less risk of being grabbed when you're in a battle."

Moving closer to her, he peers intently into her face. "Your face would be framed nicely, too. Hmm, all good points, and yet."

He runs a hand through her single ponytail, the fine strands falling through his fingers. Frey feels her face blaze up from the contact. "I think I prefer it long," he finally says, twirling her hair gently.

Frey gapes at his boldness and looks off to the side to see if Clorica is reacting with similar disbelief. The butler in training is slumped on the ground, snoring again and very obviously not paying any attention.

"Why would I care about your preference for my hair?" she finally sputters, knocking his hand away.

"Well, you're the Princess of Selphia, and the princess belongs to her kingdom, does she not? As a concerned Selphian citizen, surely that gives me at least some say," he retorts, his cheek twitching from the effort to keep a straight face.

Rolling her eyes, Frey takes a step back. "My hairstyle definitely does not fall under the category of Official Royal Business, jeez.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes!" Scowling, Frey changes the subject by asking, "What did Mr. Volkanon want to talk to you about anyway?"

Smiling, Leon says, "Oh, just a little of this and a little of that. It would mostly bore you. Where are you headed next, Frey?"

"I want to go check on my monsters. Volkanon's note said that Jones would be done checking them over by mid-morning," Frey says, heading over to Clorica's bedroom area and snatching a pillow off her bed. Gently, she wedges the pillow between the sleeping girl's head and the wall, then tugs Leon quietly out of the butlers' quarters.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" he asks casually.

"Not as long as you keep your teasing to yourself," she replies sweetly.

"Oh, girls, are you all okay?" Frey asks, hands coming up as her fairies whirl around her head, chittering excitedly at the sight of her. The bright colors of red, blue, yellow, and green are a welcomed sight and almost bring tears to her eyes.

Greta, the wind fairy she had once met trapped and hurt on Maya Road, bumps her tiny head against Frey's cheek, nodding vigorously with a smile. The others tug fondly at her hair and fingers; Aine the water fairy spritzes a tiny jet of water playfully at her nose.

As she's wiping at her face, her silver wolf, Argent, limps over. The very sight of Argent's gingerly bandaged foreleg makes her heart constrict painfully.

"Hey there," she says gently, getting down on her knees to wrap her arms around him. "Are you okay, Argent?" she whispers, ruffling the scruff of his neck.

He licks at her palm soothingly, whining at her distress.

Loud, ground-shaking footsteps tear her attention away. Frey's head snaps up, and sure enough, just as she suspects, there comes her Elefun Lucy charging toward her at full force. Before she can even draw in a breath to tell Lucy to stop, Leon pulls away from his conversation with Jones to step in between them. He holds his hands up and says in a firm voice, "Woah, there!"

Lucy scrambles to a stop, but can't stop her trunk from bumping directly into Leon's chest and face. He grunts at the slight impact, but holds his ground and begins to pet the overly excitable Elefun to help her calm back down. "Doesn't quite know her size, does she?" he asks, amused.

Frey can't help a small smile. "No, she thinks she's as light as a Cluckadoodle."

"Yeah, as light as a Mamadoodle, maybe," Leon mutters in return, keeping up his gentling motions. Lucy peers around his shoulders and sends a pitiful look at Frey, a little sulky at being intercepted.

Frey steps up to stand side by side with Leon and begins to pat her down as well. "I'm glad to see you too, Lucy," she says. "I heard you helped guide a lot of the others out of the barns before the fire got too bad. Thank you."

"What a smart girl you are," Leon says.

Lucy stomps in excitement.

Taking a quick glance around the makeshift camp, Frey does a silent head count. There are her four Cluckadoodles and three Buffamoos, dawdling over in a large wooden pen. All of her fairies are accounted for, as well as her Butterfly Demon Sia, Marion the Marionette, and Axel the Lightning Horse. Gantz the Ogre is hard to miss, his gigantic, hulking form plopped down right in the center of the beach with Pam the Palm Cat perched on his lap.

Something deep inside her seems to relax as she takes stock of all of her companions. She breathes a little easier, watching Axel chase Sia around the beach and Pam climb all over Gantz almost like any other normal day, the change in locale of seemingly little importance to her crew. A huge part of her secretly worried that they would be frightened or changed somehow, that they would now look at her with accusation instead of affection.

She's glad to know they're stronger than that. It reminds her that she can be strong, too.

"Frey," Jones says, interrupting her train of thought. "I can assure you that your beasts are in the best care possible here. Why don't you head on over to the Tiny Bandage for a quick follow-up? Nancy has a few potions that will help with the pain. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Okay," she says agreeably. "I can go now. And Jones – thank you, for taking care of them." Frey gestures widely at her monsters. The doctor merely smiles and inclines his head. She turns to Leon, who is still gently patting a besotted Lucy. "I guess I'll see you later then. Back at the Inn?"

He gives her a small salute in agreement.

At least, she thought it had been in agreement. About ten minutes after "splitting up" with Leon, however, Frey notices she's being followed.

Poorly.

Rolling her eyes, she decides to just ignore him. Surely he'll get bored and stop soon enough, she reasons, and she really has a lot she needs to get done today.

Except... as she heads to the Clinic... after her trip to Meanderer Blacksmith... on her way to the Sincerity General Store... afternoon turns to evening, and still, her fox-like shadow shows no signs of leaving.

"You really don't have to follow me, you know," she finally says, whirling around to face her stalker with an exasperated expression.

Leon closes his fan and points it at his chest, even having the gall to affect a surprised look. "What? Who? Me? I'm just going about my day. Is it so crazy that I just so happen to be heading in the same direction you're headed?"

Frey taps her foot against the ground, arms crossed. "Since you've been headed in the same direction as me all morning and afternoon, I'd say yes."

"Wow, what a funny coincidence. Fate's obviously pushing us together - maybe we should just give up and be travel buddies, then," he replies smoothly, stepping up to walk beside her.

"You're too much," Frey grumbles, reluctantly conceding temporary defeat. "I was planning on going to the general store to purchase some supplies, then spend the rest of the day working on clearing out the debris from the fields."

Leon makes a harsh noise, like a buzzer for a wrong answer. "BZZT. No can do, Princess. Pick another option."

Managing just barely to rein in her desire to throw her arms up in the air and ask the universe WHY, Frey demands, "What do you mean, no? If I want Moon Farm back up and running anytime soon, there's a lot of work that -"

"That other people will handle, for now," he interrupts. "Frey, you're still limping and you're exhausted. You didn't sleep at all last night and you're in no condition to do back-breaking physical labor."

"Well, I have to do something!" she huffs, very pointedly ignoring his concern.

"How about dinner?" he suggests with a raised eyebrow.

"... dinner?"

"Yeah, or lunch," he says with a wry smile, "You know, the two things you completely forgot about today? They involve food?"

It only takes Frey a few seconds after Leon says the word 'food' to realize she's actually starving. Her annoyance at their argument dissipates immediately as her mind changes gears. Sheepishly, she says, "Oh, yeah. Dinner. I... may have forgotten about that. That's probably a good idea. Should... should we go to Porcoline's?"

Leon smiles. "Whatever you want, Princess."

"Oh la la laaaa~ Are you two on a dateeee? Wait! Frey, are you cheating on moi?!"

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Frey mutters, pouting at Porcoline who is now twirling dramatically behind the counter.

"I thought we had something special!" the chef wails.

Leon is laughing not so subtly behind his fan. He moves in and places his arm across Frey's shoulder, leaning in close. "What makes you think we're on a date?" he asks innocently, pulling the sputtering princess of Selphia into the curve of his body.

Porcoline flops to the floor in a dramatic faint.

Frey shoves away the offending arm, giving him her best warning glare. She peers over the counter and asks, "Um, Porcoline? Are you okay down there? ... Can we please order now?"

Sniffling, Porcoline jumps back to his feet, grabbing a mutton chop from the pocket of his apron and taking a huge bite. "Mmm~ I guess so. Food is the only comfort I have left now... OooOooOOhh, wait, this is delish! Would you care for a bite, Frey?"

Eyebrow twitching at the mutton chop thrust in front of her face, Frey tries to smile. "N-no thanks, can I just order my own food instead?"

"We'd like one order of Salted Rainbow Trout, one order of Curry Rice, and one order of Dumplings," Leon cuts in. "Oh, and one slice of Chocolate Cake for dessert, maybe a few cookies if you've got 'em."

He gently shoves Frey in the direction of an empty table. They take their seats, sitting directly across from each other. They both watch distractedly as Porcoline begins cooking their dishes - he continues to sample both the Curry Rice and the Salted Rainbow Trout until they're gone.

"NOOOO~~~!" He cries out, looking horrified; he even has the audacity to appear shocked, as if he has no idea how this happened. This expression lasts for a few seconds, before he relaxes and simply pulls out the ingredients for Attempt #2.

"Watching him manage this place is like watching a one-man show. You basically get free entertainment to occupy you until you finally get your food," Leon says.

"I always wonder how he stays in business," Frey laughs, unable to stop herself from fiddling with the end of her single ponytail. "I guess his food is too good to pass up, even in the face of his weird personality quirks."

"Mm," he replies in agreement.

"I always like watching the newcomers," Frey admits in a conspiratorial whisper, "The moment they realize that Porco is eating THEIR food, they get all confused. They never know what to do. It's hilarious! Oh, look, there are a couple over there by the door."

Leon scans the restaurant briefly. His eyes land on one such customer who is standing stock still in the middle of the doorway, watching the chef in sheer bafflement. The man is visibly torn between wanting to try the famous Porcoline's food and running out of the restaurant at full speed. Leon laughs loudly at the weirded-out, hungry look on his face.

"Shhhh!" Frey shushes around her giggles. Leon quiets his own laughter, but if anything, the situation only gets funnier. His shoulders shake with the force of his own quiet hysterics.

"My my, looks like this little love fest is going swimmingly!" Porcoline cries out, coming over with their food in hand. Even laden with dishes, there's a certain odd grace to the chef as he twirls in front of the table. "Ta-DAAAAA! Hope it's super-mega-delish! AND! Everything's on the house!"

Before she can say a single word, Porcoline wags a finger at her. "Now before you try to argue, Frey, I'm going to have to insist. We all just want our Princess back in fighting shape, now." He pirouettes away.

Staring after him, Frey smiles and says fondly, "Seriously. What a weirdo."

The food is, of course, absolutely delicious. They both tuck in with enthusiasm.

"I didn't think you liked sweets," she says later as Meg sweeps away their dinner plates and Dylas arranges the desserts in their stead. She eyes the slice of chocolate cake greedily and tries to subtly pull it in front of her without Leon noticing.

"I don't necessarily hate them - but most baked goods use milk in their recipes, which... eugh. Disgusting."

"So then why -"

"I ordered them for you, Princess," he says. "Don't you think you deserve something a little sweet after all you've been through?"

Frey stares at him, touched. "Leon..."

Leon continues, "And it just so happens that every time you eat a piece of chocolate cake, you always shove all of it in your mouth at once. You look exactly like an excited Chipsqueak when you do that."

She whacks him in the shoulder, unable to respond verbally since at least half of the cake is currently in her mouth. Chocolate crumbs fall from her pursed lips. The guardian of Leon Karnak only smirks, point proven.

"It's good to see you stuff your face, Princess," he says as she swats him again. "I'm being serious here, stop hitting me already!" He laughs. "It's been a little worrisome, watching you run around and overextend yourself so soon after everything. I know you're trying to keep your mind off of certain things, but instead of concentrating on all the work you think you have to do, why don't you let us help you out with the town so you can just focus on yourself right now?"

Frey keeps her gaze directed at the table, running a finger through some chocolate crumbs on her plate. "What else is there to focus on? Rebuilding the palace and taking care of Selphia are the most important things."

"Hm, let me point out the obvious first," Leon says, "You're not fully healed from all your injuries, so even though you want to run around and lift rubble, you just can't. Doctor's orders."

Frey bites her lip.

"You're not eating, either. You barely touched breakfast this morning and if I hadn't reminded you, who knows when you would have finally remembered to feed yourself."

"Yes, okay," Frey says gloomily.

"Then there's the issue of your safety. All day you've walked around like an air headed Wooly. You were so zoned out, it would have been incredibly easy for someone to ambush you."

"I noticed you were following me," she retorts.

He raises a brow. "Yes, but only because I wanted you to. If I had wanted to remain hidden, you would have never seen me coming."

"Well that's -" Frey sputters. Then she actually tries to think back to her day, and realizes how much of it seems a weird sort of blur. Her shoulders slump and she sighs. "Right, so you may have a point there..."

Leon's tail lashes smugly behind him. "Of course I do," he purrs. "So in deference to my impressive observational prowess, I want you to do me a little favor." He waits until she finally looks up from the table and meets his serious gaze. "Rely on me. Rely on everyone, if only for a little bit. Let us help you, Frey, and don't continue pushing yourself too hard too soon. We need you, yes, but we need you for the long haul, not just for today or tomorrow. Ensure that you're our princess from start to finish. Okay?"

Frey wipes away a few stray tears. Her voice cracks. "You got it."

Leon nods, pleased. "Oh, and one more thing. Volkanon and I agree that until we figure out exactly what's going on and who's responsible for last night, you shouldn't be left alone – especially while you're still healing."

Frey opens her mouth instinctually to argue.

"Ah ah ah," Leon cuts in. "No arguing please. Just think of yourself as an actual princess, and me your lowly but devilishly handsome knight coming to the rescue."

"Oh, well, if that's all," she says dryly, "Is there anything else, Sir Leon?"

"Nope, that should be all, My Lady," he says with a twinkle in his eye. "Unless you want to revisit that discussion about your hair."

After dinner, Leon tries to convince Frey to head back to the Inn to try to catch up on her rest. When convincing turns out to be too laborious a task, he defaults to just annoying her into it, which is far more effective – he'll have to remember that for the future. After only a few minutes of badgering her nonstop, she leaves for the Inn, muttering unattractively under her breath.

"I'll be watching you from here," he calls after her, delighting in the glare she sends back his way. "So don't think you can pull a fast one on me and go somewhere else!" Leon watches as she disappears down the street – from this distance, he can just barely see Xiao Pai stumble down the steps of the bathhouse to welcome Frey back.

Satisfied that she's in good hands for the moment, he heads to the other side of Porcoline's complex where Arthur's office is.

"Good evening, Leon," Arthur says at the door. "I'm glad Mr. Volkanon was able to pass along the invitation. Please, come in."

As he takes a seat, Leon notes that Kiel is already sitting on one of the couches. The younger boy looks up from where he is scribbling away to give a small smile in greeting then almost immediately ducks back down to continue working in his notebook.

Arthur is similarly engaged with the pile of books on his desk. Leon's mischievous side perks up at the obvious opportunity to cause a little mayhem, but he manfully suppresses the urge. Kiel looks uncharacteristically focused and Arthur seems almost harried as he flips through several tomes; instinct tells Leon he would very quickly regret messing with these two in their current states.

Leon doesn't have to wait too long for entertainment, however; just a few minutes later, the sound of obnoxious squabbling is heard from outside. Doug and Dylas enter, one after the other, already bickering heatedly. A severe look from Arthur seems to shut them up, if only temporarily. Cowed, they both scuttle over towards the hallway leading to the restaurant.

Flicking his fox ears around, Leon listens closely to what is happening in the other room. The sound of glass clinking together tips him off to the fact that the two hotheads are most likely pouring themselves drinks. Arthur, who normally would try to keep them in check, is now hunched over Kiel's notebook and paying little attention. Leon wonders if he should say something - those two drinking together always leads to the same predictable result - but in the end, chooses to keep quiet. After all, just because it's predictable doesn't mean it isn't still amusing as hell.

He decides against a beer himself, instead going to pour a nice, steep glass of red wine from Porcoline's kitchen. By the time he gets back to the table, Arthur is visibly annoyed as the two rivals compete in a drinking contest. Doug chokes suddenly on his beer, swearing in defeat as Dylas continues to steadily demolish his pint.

"DAMN. Argh, chug it back faster, horseface, maybe you'll drown yourself and save me a lot of trouble," Doug says viciously, wiping at the beer dripping down his chin.

Dylas finishes his drink, slams his glass down on the table and points a strong finger at the red-headed dwarf. "You. Shut the hell up. Every time you open your mouth, you just piss me the hell off. You're such a sore loser!"

"I wouldn't have lost if Kiel hadn't poked me at such a critical moment!"

Kiel pouts, "I was curious to see if I could feel your stomach expanding due to your rapid fluid intake!"

"What the hell kind of a reason is that?" Doug says, bewildered. Leon cracks up.

"As interesting as this all sounds," Arthur interrupts finally, tapping his fingers against the tabletop. "Maybe we should get down to business?"

"Yes, children, let's all behave," Leon says, sounding as obnoxiously condescending as he can.

Dylas opens his mouth to retort, but a quelling look from Arthur has him rolling his eyes instead. "Why the heck are we here anyway? There's a lotta work to be done with the Palace, y'know."

"We're here to set up a guard rotation for Selphia's borders," Arthur replies. He gestures at Kiel, who beams and holds up his notebook. "Kiel has been kind enough to draw up a general schedule, but now we need to specifically assign you all posts."

"A guard rotation?" Doug asks, squinting across the table, trying to read Kiel's fine print.

"Yes. We have plenty of knights under Forte who have volunteered to take shifts at the main gates to do security checks on travelers both entering and leaving the city. But we also need to try to be proactive, which is why we're looking for some of our stronger warriors to patrol outside of Selphia."

Doug asks, "You mean, to try and find whoever set the fire? They could literally be anywhere."

"I believe they're closer than you think," Arthur argues. "The palace in Selphia has a deceptively open design - no real doors, a simple layout. But there's a reason for that. When it was originally built, it was encased in high-security protection wards. People who seriously bore ill-will against the Divine Dragon or the royal inhabitants were physically stopped by those barriers and could not enter."

"But Doug was able to get in, no problem, even when he was all -" Dylas twirls his finger in slow circles next to his head in the classic 'crazy' gesture. Flushing angrily, Doug kicks him under the table.

"You goddamn horse-faced, mud-munching asshole! Why you gotta bring that up, huh?"

Wincing in pain, Dylas grumbles, "It was just a joke, damn it!"

"That was probably because the wards recognized you as basically harmless," Kiel pipes in, completely clueless as to how that sounds.

"Bwahaha!" Dylas laughs, clapping a hand over his mouth. Kickkickkick. "OUCH, DAMN IT."

"Anyway, the wards were built to withstand both physical and magical sieges. They would have had to be dismantled before the attackers could lay their first flame." Arthur takes a sip of his tea, then continues, "Even if you had a group of magic-users working together, it would take ridiculous amounts of energy to tear down those wards - and then to light all of those fires afterwards? The individuals or group that did this simply wouldn't have the energy to flee far, even with the help of the Teleport spell."

"How do we know that they didn't simply bring two sets of mages, one to bring down the wards and one to set the fires?" Leon asks.

"Magical signatures around the crime scene only showed three or four perpetrators, at most," Arthur says. "And even if they weren't hampered by exhaustion, it still seems likely that this group of criminals wouldn't want to leave the area."

"Why is that?"

Grimly, the bespectacled prince frowns and says, "They didn't accomplish their presumed goal, which was to assassinate Princess Frey. They won't risk going too far when they still have a job to do."

Silence reigns at the table as the weight of the situation weighs heavily on all the young men.

Straightening his shoulders, Doug gestures at Kiel to hand over his schedule. "Right, well, we're never gonna let them succeed. How do we sign up for this thingie?"

"I've created charts that are divided up by times and by location. For maximized efficiency, we ask that everyone sign up for at least two shifts a day, but no more than four total. No one should do back-to-back shifts, and each shift should be in a different area." Kiel points at tomorrow's chart. "See? I'm signed up for two shifts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Right outside Yokmir Forest and the other at Sercezo Lake. Try to pay close attention to who is supposed to be at your location before you and who is supposed to relieve you at the end."

Doug starts putting his name down, eyes scanning all the listed locations. He whistles. "This is a lot of ground to cover..."

"Which makes it doubly important that we go about this in an organized and systematic manner," Arthur agrees. "The longer these criminals stay hidden, the more time they have to regain their strength. We need to try and find them as quickly as possible."

"Ah, and just as a quick side note," Kiel adds in, laughing awkwardly, "If possible, please try to take shifts at Obsidian Manor - y'know, for Forte's sake."

Dylas rolls his eyes but obliging takes a few shifts at Obsidian Manor over the next few days. "Here, your turn," he says, shaking the notebook roughly in Leon's direction.

Kiel snatches his notebook back, protectively smoothing down some wrinkled corners. "Actually, Leon is off the roster for now. Mr. Volkanon and the others agreed that his current job is to stick to Frey like glue."

Arthur nods and pushes up his wire-framed glasses. "Yes, Leon is the perfect candidate for Frey's personal security. He's strong, both magically and physically, and we all know how cunning he can be. He also has the room in the Inn next door to where Frey is currently staying, so he can literally guard her 24/7 without being too invasive."

"Ah, about that," Leon cuts in smoothly, "I actually need to run some quick errands tomorrow so I wanted to ask if Dylas could take over, just for the afternoon."

Blinking, Arthur says, "Errands? Well, I suppose that shouldn't be too hard - Kiel, can you switch Dylas' afternoon shift with Bado's?"

"Already on it!" The boy replies, scribbling away.

"I'm assuming these are important errands," Arthur says to Leon with his eyebrow raised and a hint of warning in his voice. Leon chuckles and holds his palms up innocently.

"I promise, no tricks here. These errands are princess-safety related," he says.

"Hm," says the prince, not thoroughly convinced but willing to let it go. "Well, now that we've settled that, I do believe we can conclude this meeting. If anyone notices anything strange while on patrol, no matter how small, please check in with me."

They all mumble their assent, each tucking his own copy of the patrol schedule away as they begin to disperse. By the time Leon reaches his room at the Inn, the exhaustion feels like a physical burden weighing down his entire body. Frey's room is already closed up and the dark narrow space under her door indicates the lights are off. Ears twitching, the Dragon Priest stands in the hallway for a moment, trying to discern if she's awake with his super hearing and only feeling mildly creepy about it.

No movement or shuffling. Good. Satisfied for now that even if she isn't asleep yet, she's most likely lying in bed trying, he quietly enters his own bedroom. It's a complete mess - his furniture is in complete disarray from his haphazard redecorating yesterday after he had brought Frey back. His desk, chair, and bookshelf are all crammed against the far corner, out of the way, while his mattress now sits pushed all the way up against the wall that he and Frey share.

He passes out as soon as he slides under his sheets, curled on his side with his back pressed close to that shared wall. One sensitive ear remains upturned, pointing in the direction of the room next door. Just making sure.

SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY. I meant to get this up much sooner, but my personal laptop was out of commission for a few weeks (luckily, it was repaired fully), and my activity on my work computer is monitored, so I couldn't post it from there. Hopefully the sheer length of this chapter will help to make up for the wait, at least somewhat.

Anyway, thanks so much for tuning in and please leave me a review if you enjoyed! HUGE shout-out to VampireMassacrexx,PlaidPajamas01, Kaylawaylaand Guest who left me reviews on the last chapter, you guys make me absolutely giddy and I can't thank you enough! Seriously, I grin just thinking about your comments.

All my love,

evergreenlove

PS: If you guessed that the monsters in this chapter are from my actual game, then you would be absolutely correct! I have no rational explanation as to how I came up with any of their names, though. Womp womp.