Brilliant Innocence -3-

Chapter Three: Kerrie Beach

His arms enveloped me as I inched closer to him. A warm pair of lips pressed against mine as a hand trailed up my back. A familiar aroma fills my nostrils as our lips moved as one. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I begin wonder who it was I had been kissing. His hands trailed back down as he leaned in closer for a deeper kiss. My back presses against a hard cover, causing me to desperately try to open my eyes. Suddenly his lips were lost to me. He had pulled back, stroking my hair. I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he sung silently in my ear. My eyes cracked only slightly to reveal to me black hair.

"Arme…"

I suddenly awoke to the warm comfort of Ronan's arms. Had I dozed off with Ronan by the tree? A cool breeze sent chills down my spine, causing me to scoot closer to Ronan's chest. Just then, I had realized we still had a mission to do. I carefully removed Ronan's arms from around my waist and shoulders, getting up on my knees to awaken him.

"Ronan…Ronan wake up." He eyes fluttered open as she gazed upon my chibi face. She smiled sweetly, causing my heart to melt and my cheeks to flush. He sat up and placed his soft, warm hands on my violet haired head.

"Feel better?" He asked, our eyes locking. I slowly nodded, not remembering why I wasn't "feeling batter" before. Suddenly, a picture of Sieghart flashed into my memory. 'That's right…He showed up.' Every fiber of my being was terrified of the man but I hadn't known why. Ronan got up to his feet and dusted his attire.

"Ready to go?" He said with an innocent grin. I smiled as he pulled me up to my feet. Ronan took out his communicator/tracker that the knight master had given him and looked for Elesis's location.

"They're headed for Kerrie Beach." I stated. Ronan nodded, putting his tracker back in his pocket. "We've got a lot of ground to cover. Let's get going."

"Right!" I skipped behind him as we made our way through the forest outside of the wall of Serdin.

Lire's P.O.V.

"Do you think they're okay?" Ryan asked looking behind us, desperate to find Ronan and Arme smiling as they approached. Elesis grunted as we neared Kerrie Beach.

"They're FINE Lire. Ronan's there. I doubt he'll let anything happen to Arme. Same goes for Arme. They're tougher then you think," She explained. I nodded slightly at this. Elesis and I should know. We all started together. Ronan and Ryan only joined after we encountered each other in Serdin.

"Well yeah. I know that much Elesis. But aren't you the least bit worried? Especially if it gets cold. What if they need to keep warm and decide to share each other's body hea—"I shoved an oak leaf in his face to protect him from finishing that sentence.

"Don't be vulgar." I told him as we moved on. I could see Elesis twitch in front of us. I couldn't tell if it was due to the fact that we had yet to encounter Sieghart, her supposed ancestor, or Ryan's perverted suggestion. Either way, I could tell she was ready to burst at any second.

"UGH! Where IS that bastard! And why aren't Ronan and Arme here yet! Goddammit! This is so annoying!" She hollered holding and scratching her head with both hands. I walked up to Elesis and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't we rest here? Then if Ronan and Arme arrive, we'll all be prepared to go into Kerrie Beach." I assured her. I knew she was in no place to argue. She grunted in agreement and signaled Ryan to set up the tents. They'd camp here while waiting for Ronan and Arme to arrive. Then Elesis, for sure, was going to give them a piece of her mind. Of that, I am certain.

Arme's P.O.V.

"So…tired…" I groaned as my knees gave in. Ronan and I had encountered many enemies on our way and by now, I had hoped they had seized. Ronan just kept on walking. His stamina must've been at 50% while mine was at 0. Panting I sat on the ground, fanning myself with a nearby branch.

"We're almost there Arme. Can't you walk a little longer?" I could tell he was annoyed. I knew he just wanted to get back with the others but I physically and emotionally couldn't go on.

"But Ronaaan! I'm tired! Can't we just rest here?" He shook his head no as pondered on what to do next. I knew he knew that if we rested here, we'd end up sleeping and being even FARTHER behind. He must've wanted to see Elesis as soon as possible, the love bird. Before I knew it, Ronan was bent down in front o me, his back facing me.

"Get on." He said. He was kidding right..? He wasn't seriously going to carry me on his back, was he? Elesis would kill me! Nonetheless, I climbed aboard anyway, prepare for the consequences. It's not like she and Ronan had a thing anyway. She just didn't want to walk the rest of the way. Ronan ascended and continued walking.

"It's only a little bit farther. Think you can stay awake that long?" I couldn't answer his sentence. His soothing blue hair was the perfect pillow as his cape seemed to be a mattress. Ronan himself was soft and warm, personality and physically. Before long, I had drifted into dream world.

Magenta colored hair stood out in a blob of colors. They seemed to have taken a form of a boy. I could only vaguely make out his features. His eyes stared off into the distance. The way the sun hit his frame made him seem like a god. He was sitting up, his claw hand resting on a bent knee while his other leg laid flat. His other hand was supporting his weight, ensuring he wouldn't fall backwards. My body shifted, causing him to turn his head my way. To my surprise, he had been next to my sleeping body. He looked down at me and smiled ever so slightly.

"Arme…" He cooed as he bent down to kiss my forehead. My vision of him was blurry. I couldn't completely see his face. The colors merged as I tried desperately to see him more clearly. 'Don't go…Don't go..' The sensation of falling over came me as the blurry imagine of a boy faded and faded…until there was nothing but the comfort of darkness.

"Get the hell up!" I heard Elesis yell. I was in a futon as Elesis towered over my wet face. "You had that nightmare again! Did you remember anything this time?"

"Ma…" I began. Elesis cocked her head to one side, a puzzled expression easily written on her face. "Magenta… I remember seeing magenta..." What could that have meant? Elesis puckered her lips as she tried to think of some explanation. When she had finally given up, she merely shrugged and pulled me out of bed.

"C'mon! We've got to make it to the springs before the guys do this time!" I nodded in agreement as I ran out of the tent, a change of clothes securely kept in my hands.

Once we had all finished with our showers and daily arguments, we started toward Kerrie Beach. Once we had arrived, we all gasped. The scenery was beautiful, the water was calm and peacefully and we were all dying to jump in.

"I…I know what your all thinking…We can't slack off here…Not when we've got a mission to take care of! Let's just walk throu—"

"Let's jump in! As leader of the Grand Chase, I order you all to change into your swimsuits and hop in!" Elesis cheered as she dashed to a nearby bush. She put up blankets we had used for our tents and waved for me and Lire to come over.

"Alright! Now that's an order I'd gladly accept!" Ryan stripped to his boxers right then and there while Ronan set up a curtain of his own. Lire was wearing a green and yellow two piece swimsuit with a bandana to match. Her perfect blonde hair was tie in a ponytail as she put matching mini floaties around her wrists.

I wore my purple cap backwards and attached matching purple and white floaties to my wrists. I was in a light purple one piece with matching sandals. I probably was the only one not in a two piece. No it was a certainty. I WAS the only one in a one piece.

Elesis's waist long red hair was tied into a low ponytail as well. She wore goggles on her head and mini red and pink floaties around her wrist. Her two piece was less revealing then Lire's. The top piece was more like a red t-shirt and her bottom piece looked like red swimming trunks.

Ryan's swimming outfit was a lot more complicated. He had green arm accessories and an orange Tee. To match, he wore black and orange swimming trunks and green goggles on his head. On his feet were black, orange and green…flippers? Ryan had never seized to amaze me.

Ronan's hair shocked me. His long blue hair was chopped short and he wore a cap over it. He wore a plain blue tee and plain blue swimming trunks with fluff and the end. He wore plain blue sandals and blue floaties around his wrist. I must admit. Ronan looked…attractive.

"What the hell did you do to your hair!" Elesis dashed toward him, running her hands through his hair. Ronan's face flushed at how close her face was to his. Lire and I giggled while Ryan grinned.

"I cut it…I thought it'd look better this way. You…You don't like it?" It was Elesis's turn to blush as she backed away from Ronan's shy expression. She grunted as she made her way to the beach, hollering how much fun she promised to have.

Everyone jumped into the ocean except for me. I sat on a purple and white striped beach towel with an umbrella hovering over my head. My knees were to my chest, my arms securely wrapped around them as I watched everyone have splash each other.

"That looks fun…" I whispered to myself. I physically shook the thought from my head. I couldn't swim. How could I have fun with them? Lire and Ryan had tripped over each other's foot as Elesis and Ronan giggled and laughed at their clumsiness. Did they even notice I wasn't with them?...Guess not.

"You should join us" Ryan suddenly appeared next to my, grinning. I jumped at his sudden comment. When'd he get there? Slowly I shook my head no at his suggestion.

"I can't swim." I told him. He shrugged and stood up, stretching.

"That doesn't matter. We can teach you! C'mon!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the ocean. I tried my hardest to dig my heels into the sand but to no avail. Ryan tossed me to Lire and Ronan as he made his way in the ocean himself.

"Look who decided to join us." Ryan grinned. "She says she doesn't know how to swim. You mind teaching her?" Ronan shook his head as he drifted me from everybody. I clung tightly to his tee as he dragged me into the deeper sea.

"Relax! You act like I'm just going to drop you in the middle of the ocean" He laughed. Glad HE was enjoying himself. I on the other hand was TERRIFIED! He untangled my fingers from his shirt and held both my hands. He put some distance between us and had me lay on my belly in the water.

"Try paddling your feet to get closer to me. There, you get it!" In no time I was swimming in circles around Ronan. Not professional like but enough to keep myself from drowning. Often, I'd forget to breath and Ronan would pick me up and hold me up until I could catch my breath. Elesis tackled Ronan as I was practicing my "swimming". I could see them flirting almost. It had made me smile. Just then, I felt something tug at my foot. I ignored it until it yanked me underwater.

"Arme?" I heard Lire call before I went under. I don't think they realized I was under them. My eyes automatically closed as the mysterious thing dragged me down into the bowels of the sea. I finally decided to tug back and swim back to the surface but I ultimately failed. I was about to give up when I heard a splash. Lire and the others were nowhere to be seen.

As I began to lose consciousness, I suddenly saw a black mass of hair coming toward me. What was that? An octopus? No…I didn't see any tentacles. Plus octopuses didn't have any hair. Whatever it was was helping me. It had broke the grip over whatever had grabbed me and wrapped their arms or whatever around me. Once I was able to breathe air again, I had immediately lost consciousness.