A/N: I don't know… But I think this chapter will be the last… And possibly the longest… T T… It's a very, very serious chappie people, no laughing please… It's ok, though, I'm planning on making a FenrisxLoki fic based on a Disney movie! Watch out for that too! (Hey FT, no prizes for guessing what movie!) Well, here goes, the fifth and final chappie to A Poring By Your Side…
Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online or even Ragnarok: Into the Abyss. (I wish I did though… T T)
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Chapter 5:
So Near… Yet So Far…
Glast Heim seemed more menacing than the last time Mayah and Lidia visited it. It had the same open graveyards and violent and bloodthirsty monsters. However, something from the shadows seemed to have multiplied its darkness. The nervous Kafra at the gate beckoned them in, but with a few warnings and some rosary beads. The duo trekked in, expecting the usual smell of corpses and stale, dry blood to fill the air.
"The Glast hasn't changed," Lidia commented, "It's still gloomy as ever."
"Watch out, it's a Bathory," Mayah summoned a Marine Sphere in time to blast the Bathory to pieces.
"You're getting to be just like Aldaria, Mayah," Lidia said as she picked up the Bathory's broom.
"I'm flattered," Mayah blushed under her glasses, "I could never surpass her. Anyway, let's go; find a blonde huntress with silly angel wings in her head and a black masque with a Poring."
"Like that one?" Lidia pointed to a girl cowering under one of Glast Heim's famed willow trees, being cornered by an Abysmal Knight and a Myst.
"That was fast," Mayah said, "Artemis! ARTEMIS!"
"Miss Mayah! Help!" Artemis called out, but her gaze didn't leave the Knight, not aware that her Poring was bouncing towards Mayah.
"Mayah!" Miko exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're here, it was about to eat us alive!"
"Fight now, talk later," Mayah told the terrified creature, "Artemis! I'll support you! Drink this!"
Mayah tossed the huntress one of her energy-restoring potions while she threw a couple of Marine Spheres at the monsters and a few Flora to distract them. Artemis drank up the bottle and fired a few silver arrows at the pair of monsters. Lidia was attacking in melee, striking the monsters with her own lightning-fast moves.
The three worked together successfully, Lidia and Artemis attacking the monsters and Mayah providing the support. Soon, the Myst expired and what was left was the Abysmal Knight. The trio found a great difficulty in dealing with the monster. Lidia was soon panting on the ground, her back hurting.
"Miss Lidia!" Mayah screamed, "Watch out!"
The Abysmal Knight was about to trample the old woman flat, luckily a swordsman came to their aid, knocking away the monster's hooves with his sword.
"Miko!" Mayah was beaming, "You… you…"
"I made my choice," Miko said, "Now, let's rock!"
"Yahoo!" Mayah threw a couple more Marine Spheres at the Abysmal Knight while Miko attacked it with his sword.
"You guys make a pretty good team," Artemis said as soon as the Abysmal Knight evaporated, she turned to Miko, "I'm Artemis Shroomer by the way."
"I know," Miko said, "I stayed in your house last night."
"What?"
"Here's Tacz, Artemis," Lidia handed the sleeping Poring from Mayah's bag into Artemis' cradling arms, "He's in perfect condition, aside from he's drugged."
"You drugged my Poring?"
"It's very simple actually how that came to be, Artemis…"
Miko took the liberty of explaining what actually happened to the huntress as they walked inside Glast Heim. After that story, Artemis was breathing fire from her nostrils.
"And you did this because?"
"Because Miss Shroomer," Miko held his breath, knelt before Artemis and took her soft, milky hands, "I am positive that you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."
"Miko…"
This is soooo corny… Mayah thought, but just then, something caught her eye.
"Look out yonder!" Mayah called out, "There's an injured knight out there and I don't think he's in the condition to heal himself."
"A Knight!" Artemis woke up from Miko's spell and quickly scanned the surroundings, "Keiru! KEIRU!"
She ran towards the injured figure and quickly checked its pulse.
"He's still alive, but barely," Mayah said, kneeling down on the Glast's bloodstained floor, "It's a good thing we got here in time or he might've been dinner for the Bathories."
She tilted the Knight's head and made him drink a dark green fluid that seemed to have a life of its own. The knight suddenly coughed and regained consciousness.
"It's made out of the leaves of a Shining Plant, guaranteed to cure even the biggest and nastiest wounds, but it's very rare so you owe me at least a hundred and fifty thousand Zeny," she told the Knight.
"Thank you," the Knight handed Mayah a bulging bag of coins, "You saved my life. My name is Keiru by the way."
"Oh, we noticed," Lidia said, "Now, shall we continue?"
"No," Artemis smiled sweetly, "This is my mission. I've saved Keiru from harm, thanks to all of you. I could never repay you with anything… The least I can do is to invite you all to my wedding this week."
"You're getting married!" Miko exclaimed.
"Why yes, with Keiru here," Artemis looked at Keiru dreamily and noticed the look on Miko's face, "Oh, Miko… You have done a lot for me… Including saving my life... I'm sure no girl could refuse someone as brave as you. But I'm not that girl… I'm sorry, Miko."
"Number 54," Miko hung his head sadly as Mayah distribute magical Butterfly's Wings that would transport them back to Prontera, "Are you happy, Mayah?"
"No, Miko," Mayah answered back as soon as Keiru and Artemis left, "I'm neither happy nor sad. I'm just thankful that you came out alive."
"That's it!" Miko exclaimed, "I've had enough! I'm swearing out love from my life, forever! Anyway, nobody ever loved a loser like me! I have to turn myself into a Poring or a Dokkaebi to have somebody love me, right!"
"Miko…"
"I was a nobody before I became a Poring," Miko said defiantly, "I was nobody when I became a Poring and I'll stay a nobody!"
"Well, you're a somebody to me!" Mayah retorted back, "That's what best friends are for Miko!"
"Oh brother…" Lidia sat down on the ground, "With that volume, they might just wake up the dead and send them back to their graves in an instant."
"Yeah right!" Miko yelled back even louder, "What does that matter! Nobody loved me when I was myself and nobody ever will!"
"What does that matter?" Mayah was turning red in anger and her glasses were falling off her ears, "Miko… I loved you when you were yourself! I loved you even if you're that way and I always will! Nothing will ever change that! In my eyes Miko, you're the best swordsman in all of Midgard! Doesn't that matter!"
Miko was stunned even for words. He just stood there, watching Mayah in silence.
"Friends never have to prove anything to anybody, Micz," Mayah regained composure and adjusted her glasses, "Much less to each other. Since you've made up your mind… I'll leave you. All I have to say is that I'm grateful to have met somebody like you… a person that taught me to love more than myself… a person that taught me life is not always desperation… and most of all, a person that can make me laugh the world away. I love you, Miko Kaiser of Lutie and, as I said, nothing will ever change that. Goodbye, forever…"
She threw the Wing into the air and instantly vanished.
"Aldaria was her great, great grandmother, you know," Lidia told Miko, "She really has it for you, boy. I never thought an intellectual like her would ever be susceptible to these feelings."
Miko sat on the ground and stared into space.
"We better go, boy," Lidia tapped Miko with one of her daggers, "You don't want the Dark Lord to spot you and have you for dinner, right?"
Miko stood up, still in his dreamland.
"You know where to find her, Miko," Lidia whispered, "Look inside yourself, I'll see you back in Prontera…"
Lidia vanished and Miko was wrapped in the Glast's sultry silence. The Mysts saw him, but refused to attack. The Mysts did not dare to attack a person like himself, something within him was burning a certain aura of holiness…
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Artemis Shroomer's wedding was full of smiles and gay laughter. White flowers adorned the Sanctuary, symbolizing a new chapter of love for the happy couple. As Artemis looked up into his husband's eyes, she knew that their bond of treasured love could never be broken, forevermore.
"I do…"
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Mayah stared out into the window of the Sanctuary's highest belfry, aka her workshop. Father Andrei Rubalkabara knocked several times that day, telling her that Artemis Shroomer was looking for her in the Sanctuary's chapel and still is. Mayah didn't have the heart to answer back. Though he was dressed in her white alchemist's dress, which she always wore for weddings, she didn't show her face to the crowd.
So many memories were coming back to her…
FLASHBACK
There were two novices in the field. The girl was holding a wooden mace and the boy was wielding a simple sword. They were attacking a rabbit-like creature.
"Come back here you crazy Lunatic!" the girl was chasing the creature around the field in a frenzy.
Suddenly, a Metaller materialized in front of her.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
The boy stepped forwards and shielded the girl from the Metaller's blows. He held unto the crying figure tight, even though his back was getting blue from the beating.
"Don't worry, you're safe now…" he whispered, before finally collapsing to the ground.
"Miko!" the girl cried as a party of adventurers defeated the Metaller.
The Crusader took Miko and made him drink a potion to make him feel better.
"One day Mayah, I'll be a Crusader too…" Miko muttered weakly into her ear, "I'll protect you…"
FLASHBACK
Yes… I'd kill just to hear those words again, Miko Kaiser…
Suddenly, a guitar's soft rift echoed into the chamber.
"Please leave," Mayah called out.
Still, it persisted:
"It never even crossed my mind,
That I would fall in love with you…
You were always there behind me
But I never looked that way…
Friends are friends I looked at them
Nothing more and nothing less…
Familiar things you say and do,
Seem so strange, it's not like you…
"It never even crossed my mind,
That I would fall in love with you…
You were always there behind me
But I never looked that way…
Funny things that made me laugh
Is when I think about the past…
I never saw it coming
But when I turned around and you were there…"
She turned around and saw a carrot-top Crusader expertly strumming the guitar. His eyes looked straight into hers, full of happiness… and hope… and love…
"Miko…"
"I learned today,
That I need you more each day…
Grab on to you...
Don't ever let go...
I learned today,
That I need you more each day…
Grab on to you…
Don't ever let go..."
"Your Valiant Knight, huh?" Miko laid a bouquet of flowers on the Alchemist's feet, "I'm sorry, Miss, but I'm a Crusader…"
Mayah didn't know how to react, since she had almost forgotten Miko's bard-like skill with the guitar. The first word she sputtered out was:
"How?"
"Well, it turns out one of the Crusaders was passing the Glast when he sneeked a peek in our battle with that Abysmal Knight. He reported the happening to their leader and they decided to recruit me," Miko shrugged making it seem as though the armor was almost weightless, "Your constant bickering with me finally paid off, Mayah."
"No, what I mean is…" Mayah looked at him in the eyes, "Why?"
"I said to myself, I'll forget about all this in the height of my duties," Miko told her, "But, I remembered a certain promise I made to a little girl who got attacked by a Metaller. And I remembered that I didn't need to be a Poring to protect her…"
"I… I don't want to force you, Miko…"
"You're not forcing me…" Miko took Mayah's cold hands in his, "Mayah… I… I love you too…"
"And I never thought you'd say those words to me…"
"I won't fail the 55th time, will I?"
"Never…"
Even with the strings of love closing in on the couple in the chapel, another bond is being made directly above it. There will be changes… In the seasons and the times… but still, treasured love will always be true. As the bells tolled on the Sanctuary's highest belfry, a Crusader and an Alchemist held each other close, never leaving each other's embrace. A flock of doves took flight on the belfry, but neither of them noticed.
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It was the 23rd day of the month of Frigg, the Goddess of Marriage and Motherhood. Old Woman Lidia was making her way into the Prontera Cemetery and laid a bouquet of flowers on Aldaria, the famed Alchemist's grave. They said that even in death, the residents of Asgard had preserved her beauty, making her an eternal reminder of faithful love.
"Well, your great, great granddaughter is getting married today," she sighed, "She's as stubborn as you, but I think she'll get on just fine… At least she won't be like me…"
She cried softly and as if the wind carried her sobs, she heard the most heavenly voice she has ever heard in her years on Midgard.
"Lidia…" a dark-eyed old man came up to her.
Time's passage may have deformed his figure, but he still had the same eyes, eyes as deep as the dark side of the moon.
"Hello, Loki…" Lidia answered, "Why are you here?"
"To tell you how much I've loved you these past years," Loki sighed, "I've always loved you… Even if we cannot be together, Lidia, my love will always be with you…"
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And somewhere inside the Sanctuary… A new chapter will open in Midgard's unwritten history…
I learned today,
That I need you more each day…
Grab on to you...
Don't ever let go...
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A/N: Finished at last! Finally, I can rest! This wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it will have to do, bare with the fact that I'm passing this story in about five day's time and I'm running out of it! Anyway, I can finally thank everyone on my list: Kamikazee, for their song Girlfriend. Feathertop, thanks for bearing with the fact that you're present every chapter saying the same words all over again grins widely and I'm still wondering if you and toooot! could ever be together… Just kidding! Akune and Therence, thank you for… erm… I don't know, being present I guess; Chonki, I remember your face everytime I get a grammatical error; All the reviewers, you kept my spirits up, thank you, thank you, thank you! And finally Francis, you light up my life, in short, you are my life! Thank you!