For Her Hand

Chapter Nineteen

While only four hours had passed since the group left Camphrier Town, it felt as though it had been longer than that. It was already the middle of the afternoon and they had only just made it to Palais Lane, which led them all by the Parfum Palace. Glancing over at the palace from a distance, Seth muttered something unintelligable to himself as he trailed behind the group. While he wasn't too thrilled about the circumstances he was currently in with regards to the princess, he was, in a way, excited at the same time. The challenge that he was being presnted with would be a true test of his skill. The competition, he was facing was going to be fierce. Granted Enzo was a classic textbook trainer, his team was an entirely different story.

Even though he'd won that match, Seth knew that had his opponent been a bit more skilled, the outcome could have ended differently. Pushing the battle aside, he began to focus on the task that was ahead of him, which was preparing for his next gym battle. Having studied up on the leaders of Kalos, he knew that the individual he would be facing next would prove to be difficult to defeat. As luck would have it, Seth found himself in the extraordinary position of having at least one counter to the leader's team. On top of that, he was in the habitat of a particular Pokemon that would prove to be yet another valuable ally. All he had to do now, was find it.

"Yo Seth," Tierno began as the group meandered down the path, "have you thought about what strategy you're going to use against Grant. I know my team's gonna need to bust out some serious dance moves if we're gonna win!" Tierno asked as he did a little shimmy whilst walking.

Seth smiled faintly and nodded. "As a matter of fact, I have. That's partly why I'm glad we decided to come back this way," Seth replied, a determined expression in his eyes as he shifted his gaze to and fro as if studying his surroundings.

"Well, I did want to get some good shots of the palace before heading off to Ambrette Town. What I'm really looking forward to is those caves!" Trevor exclaimed excitedly while snapping a shot of a Fletchling flying from a tree to his left. "This route also has some rare Pokémon on it, so it was worth coming back here."

Which is exactly what I was counting on, thought Seth, keeping his senses tuned into his surroundings as he walked. Mathilde said she found hers here... and I've always wanted one of my own. The only problem is finding the little tricksters...

"Hey Seth?" Serena started, slowing her pace so she could walk beside him, "you mentioned earlier that you had armor to go with that sword, right?" Serena continued, her eyes shifting down to the sword at his hip. "Where exactly... is it?"

Seth gave her an inquisitive look before indicating to himself. "I'm already wearing it," he replied shortly.

"Really? but... those are just regular clothes," Serena blinked in confusion. "Is it underneath?"

Seth nodded as he kept his concentration on his surroundings. Any disturbances he sensed were being processed by his aura sight. For the entire duration of their walk, he had been sensing one particular presence. It was faint, meaning that he was being stalked by someone or something that was trying to remain undetected, but it seemed as though they were curious.

"Isn't it hot though? I mean, a full suit of armor must be uncomfortable to wear 'round the clock," Serena pressed, getting only silence from Seth as his eyes continued to shift. "Hey, are you okay? you seem rather-"

She was cut off as Seth stopped suddenly and reached his hand down to the hilt of his blade.

"Uh Seth... what are you--"

The sound of steel against steel rang out and Serena found herself on her back, looking up at Seth who had his sword drawn and was clashing with a blade of scarlet metal. The hilt of the double-edged sword was silver while the sash that draped from it was blood red with lavender intermingled with the design. The eye was of like coloration. A golden scabbard was gripped by the sash. Serena's eyes widened at the sight. By all accounts, this didn't make sense. The others of the group had even turned around to see what had occurred. Needless to say, they were all just as stunned as Serena.