The Goddess' Druid

(Chapter 7) Maiden of Snow Storms

Arcadia flew as fast as she could, before the air was cold and she could see her breath. She sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose, before she heard rustling in the bushes behind her. Deathpierce came out of them, his eyes wide as he looked at her, but she hadn't seen him yet. "Arcadia?" He asked, causing her to jump, a yelp escaping her lips as she did so. "Deathpierce, you shouldn't be here." She hissed, causing him to laugh. "Well then neither should you. If I'm not supposed to be here, then neither are you." He chuckled, causing her to give him the side eye. "However, this does give me the chance to ask you about perhaps going on a date in town tomorrow night." He proposed, but she wasn't listening. Arcadia fidgeted with the hem of her jacket, looking around nervously as she did so. "Deathpierce, please just go back to the tower. It's not safe for you here." She said, her voice soft and almost pleading as she prayed to whatever god would hear that this man left her alone. He sighed, walking over to her before he cupped her cheek in his hand. "Come on, I know you want that type of relationship, but you protecting me is a bit much. You might as well get off of that high horse and be a little more humble. Besides, acting like that won't get you a partner who can take care of you." He said, his tone condescending towards the woman. "Are you trying to say that I should be dependent on someone else?" She threatened, her voice as icy and cold as the snow on the ground beneath her feet, her eyes holding a furious glint within them as she spoke. Deathpierce's own eyes widened as he shook his head frantically. "Fine then, go on and try to follow me. It should be easy, right?" She challenged, causing him to look nervously down at her. "Of course, Lady Arcadia, I would like nothing more than to assist you with my magic." He said calmly, but his eyes were fearful as she started to walk. She scoffed internally at the male, writing it off as his own stupidity. When will this week finally end? She asked herself internally, before she saw a shrine in the center of the forest, a goddess she knew all too well strumming a harp made of ice as she hummed softly. Arcadia motioned for Deathpierce to go first. "You want to protect me, fine then. But I'm not saving you if she tries to kill you." The goddess heard the crunching of the snow behind her, and turned to see Deathpierce, a smile on his face as he spoke. "Fair goddess maiden, I am Deathpierce of the Pleiades of the Azure Sky. I have come to ask that you join me and my comrades for a meal at our-." He started, before the woman held up her hand. Arcadia snickered in the bushes behind him. The blonde stared at him with a scowl. "Yeah, yeah, I've heard. It was quite fun wrenching that stupid group name of yours from the men I tortured and killed as well. Now then, if you wish to live, then you can leave now and never return. I'm not playing your silly little games, human." She said, getting ready to attack. However, her attack left her hand late, causing her to scowl darkly at the silver haired male in front of her. Just before she could start a worse snowstorm than she had going now, Arcadia's laughter got to her ears. Deathpierce was terrified as Arcadia was howling with laughter, rolling on the ground. "Oh my deities, you should see your face right now, Deathpierce. It's priceless, hahaha!" She wheezed, walking out into the clearing the shrine was in after she had calmed down enough to stand. "Oh dear goodness." She said, wiping away a tear from her eye. "Oh, you crack me up." She said, finally catching her breath before she turned to the green eyed lady atop the shrine. "Ah, Mal, long time no see, my dear. Your wings look lovely today." She said, causing Deathpierce to stare up at the platinum haired woman in shock. "Wait, what?" She questioned, before putting her hands over her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes as she ran to the blue eyed girl. "Arc! I've finally found you! I missed you so much!" She exclaimed, running up and hugging the girl as tears rolled down her cheeks. She shook with soft sobs as she gripped the girl tightly, with Arcadia hugging her back. "I missed you as well." She said, and then gestured to Deathpierce. "This is Deathpierce, he's a Holy Knight, but I'm pretty sure that at least ninety percent of that achievement is from dumb luck alone. He's a human." She said, causing Muriel to sigh. "Hey, Mal, can I ask you something?" Arcadia questioned, causing her to nod softly. "Where's Orchid? I was hoping you knew." She asked. Muriel looked down at her feet. "She's still in the Celestial Realm, which is where I should probably get going soon now that I've found you again and I know you're alive." She replied, causing Arcadia to nod before she spoke. How about lunch first, then you best get going, alright?" She asked, causing the blond to nod. Muriel then followed Arcadia out of the forest, watching behind her as the snow melted in her absence.

When the group got back to the tower, Denzel was surprised to say the least, but pleasantly surprised nevertheless. Out of the corner of her eye, Muriel saw Deathpierce put a hand on Arcadia's shoulder as he spoke to her, causing an irk mark to appear on her forehead as she glared at him. Arcadia looked uncomfortable, and tried to shy away from his hand, but he gripped her shoulder tightly, staring her down. However, he stopped when Muriel used her magic to freeze his hand in a ball of ice, causing it to fall to his side limply as he looked over at the goddess, a smirk on her face as she turned back to continue to speak with the leader of the group. "Unfortunately, I can't stay down here, Sir Denzel, but I do have a request." She said, causing him to nod, as if to tell her to continue. "Arcadia has five more days here, right?" She asked, causing him to nod. "Well then, my request is that you let the poor girl get back to Liones instead of being harassed by this bastard over here." She said, pointing her thumb at Deathpierce, who was beating his ice encased hand against the wall in hopes of breaking the ice. Denzel sighed deeply as he watched Deldry laugh at the silver haired man, before nodding in defeat. Muriel clasped her hands together before telling Arcadia to get her things together, before going up to Ella and scratching under the dragon's chin. Arcadia packed her things before turning to get to the door, her eyes narrowing at the sight of Deathpierce in the doorway. "You never responded when I asked about a date." He said, causing her to laugh. "You think I'd go on a date with you? You're pathetic, Deathpierce, you really are. Someone as weak as yourself, not to mention as incompetent as yourself, should know that. You're a misogynist and an arrogant fool, Deathpierce, something I'd never waste my time on." She responded, causing his eyes to widen in shock as she shoved past him to leave.

Once Arcadia got back to Liones, she bid Muriel goodbye before watching her disappear into the clouds hanging above the kingdom. She then put Ella back at her nest and went to her room, dropping her stuff off and putting her armor on its stand in the room, before she went to find Hendrickson. She walked down the hall and rounded the corner before her lover's room, immediately colliding with Dreyfus. She smiled and looked up at the brunette, before a slight frown replaced her smile. "Um, Dreyfus, where's Hendy?" She asked, causing him to shake his head and then grin. "He's in his room, if you must know." He responded, causing her to smile before thanking him and walking over to the door to the druid's bedchamber. She knocked on the door, before a tired Hendrickson opened it and smiled when he saw her. However, when she hugged him, Arcadia noticed that he flinched away from her slightly, but hesitantly hugged her back. After he separated from her, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, causing his face to flush slightly. "So, what are you working on?" She asked, looking over at the project on his desk. He dismissed it, however, telling her it was nothing of much interest. Arcadia nodded before telling him she had to do something, and then went to her room, grabbed Molly, and then perched the small dragon on her shoulder as she walked around the castle. She knew what had happened to the two men, and it almost broke her heart. However, she didn't know that Zaratras didn't know about what had happened in Danafal. She was walking when she saw Elizabeth running up to her, Margaret and Veronica in tow alongside the Trio of Troublemakers. When the silver haired princess saw the dragon on Arcadia's shoulder, her eyes lit up, and she ran to the female. "Is that a dragon? Can I pet it? Where did you get her from? What can she do?" She asked, causing the Holy Knight to laugh before putting her hands out to quiet the girl. "Yes, you can, she's from the Celestial Realm, and she's a messenger dragon." She explained, causing Elizabeth to squeal with glee as she gingerly picked up the small reptile and petted her. She hugged the little dragon before Howzer looked up at Arcadia and then the dragon. "That's so cool!" He said, as he and Gilthunder patted the small dragon on the head, causing her to start squeak purring like she always did when she was content. Elizabeth and Griamore laughed as the small creature did so, before Molly got up and jumped onto Griamore's head, causing him to yelp in surprise as he tried not to scream. Arcadia carefully took the dragon off of him, holding her out for the boy to touch. All the while, she thought of Hendrickson and Dreyfus, and how they acted strange while they were around her. She wrote it off and forgot about it for now, but she swore she'd find a way to get them back. After the children told Arcadia goodbye for the day, she headed back to her room and flipped onto the bed, taking off her boots and changing into her nightgown, before getting under the covers and falling asleep.