Who knew?

That having a strong desire to live

Can bring me back from

The

Abyss of Death…

At least… for me. That's how it is.

It was another sunny day in Daath. It was 3 years after Luke freed Lorelei. In the Oracle headquarters were…

"…Luke and the others will be visiting Daath." a feminine voice informed. "Uh huh. That's just because Anise and Florian's here." Followed by a male one.

"Sync, don't be like that, you know how Luke brought us back here."

"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to remind me again, Legretta." Sync replied with an annoyed tone.

Legretta sighed. "Why are you acting like you're not happy?"

"That's because I am! I'm not happy. I should've stayed dead." Sync growled.

"Arietta doesn't think so." It was Largo. Followed by Arietta.

"Tch. Oh please, the only reason she--" Sync trailed off upon seeing Arietta look away.

"She?" Legretta asked with an angry expression. "Nothing." Sync mumbled then went for the door. "Where are you going?" Arietta asked.

"Why do you care?" Sync answered coldly. Arietta looked away. "…" Sync looked at her with a guilty expression.

"…I'm going out for a walk." He replied. "Okay…" Arietta still didn't look at him.

As Sync went out of the room, Arietta mumbled, "I'm not acting nice toward you just because I know now that you're a replica of Ion."

"We know that, dear. Just… give him some time. It's been really hard on him." Legretta said with a gentle tone.

"Like not wanting to live? That's just… I'm going to find him." Arietta replied.

"Are you sure? The both of you will just end up fighting again, you cry, I punish him—Oh. Sorry." Largo sighed.

Arietta just glared. "I wanted some fresh air anyway. I'm going."

"Goodluck with that." Legretta smiled sympathetically.

Arietta nodded and went out of the HQ to find Sync. "Huh. I wonder where he could be…"

As Arietta continued on finding Sync…

Sync's POV.

Tch. Gimme a break. The only reason she thinks that way of me is because she sees me as Ion. She and Anise are the same. That's all they see. Ion. Ion. Ion!

I kicked a pebble. I was in a forest. I decided that the only way I could get her out of my mind was fighting monsters, but then..

Tue rei ze croa riou tue ze

Croa riou ze tue riou rei neu riou ze

Va rei ze tue neu tue riou tue croa

Riou rei croa riou ze rei va ze rei


Va neu va rei va neu va ze rei

Croa riou croa neu tue rei croa riou ze rei va

Rei va neu croa tue rei rei

I ran to see who it was. Maybe it was Van's sister. I hid on a top of a tree like I did when I was controlling Guy.

"Who… is she?" it wasn't Tear. It was somebody else. I was about an inch taller than her. She had long black hair and ruby red eyes. She had long sleeves with one black stripe along.

(A/N: That's all I can describe, but I'll draw her for you. Don't worry. ^^)

There was a monster, too. It was just… standing there. She stopped singing. The monster then charged at her. "Come on! Do something!" I mumbled.

She grinned at the monster, as if it was all just a game to her. She closed her eyes then began singing this weird song. It wasn't Yulia's Hymns… It was something else. The whole place vibrated, like the beat of her song was shaking the area.

I covered my ears. And watched them. The monster roared so loud. She wasn't really singing, she was humming.

(A/N: Try and hear this song, it almost fits the description of the beat of the song she's humming: "Time Castle" by Shoji Meguro. SMT: Persona 3 FES.)

"What the hell?!" I cursed. The monster's killing itself. It's ripping itself to pieces. I watched them…

She opened her eyes and stopped singing. The monster charged at her again. She smiled, then the monster stopped. The monster banged it's head on the ground. It kept on doing that until it died.

She put her hand on her head and grunted. But she quickly got her composure back. Not thinking, I charged straight at her. "What the--?!" she was caught by surprise.

She stood her ground, my body suddenly stopped when she put a finger on my forehead. 'What the?!' I jumped away from her.

"Who the hell are you?!" I yelled. "What's your problem?! I don't even know you!" She shot back.

We heard a roar. "Arietta?!" it was Arietta and her liger, what was she doing here? "Sync! And… who's this?" her expression from happy and relieved suddenly turned to mad and pissed.

"..Ren." she smiled. "Ren?" I asked. "Yeah, you heard me, didn't you?" She shot back.

"I just met you but I already think you're annoying!" I growled.

"You keep on yelling! You're gonna ruin your cute face if you keep on doing that" she sighed. I blushed slightly, but my expression was still annoyed. Arietta looked pissed off at her. Not that I know why.

"Anyway, I'm out of here." Ren walked away but I grabbed her hand. "No you're not. I'm going to take you back." I snapped.

"What did you say? You're crazy!" She tried breaking free from my grip.

"You're crazy! You did that weird hymn thing on that monster! I'm just gonna ask the others if this is even possible." I explained.

"Humph. Fine. But make it real quick." She sighed in defeat. "Sync…" Arietta called. "What?!" I sounded impatient, this made her flinch a little. "…" She looked on her feet.

Ren glanced at the both of us. "Is she your girlfriend?" she asked, smiling. She and I blushed madly. "N-no! She's not!" I shot back. "Then why am I seeing a love quarrel?" she pushed.

"U-umm.. No, it's not what you think…" Arietta trailed off. She wore the usual dead-expression again. I looked at her with guilt. 'Why am I taking it out on her?'

"Hah hah. Just kidding. Come on, make it quick already." She laughed.

"Fine. Let's go." I sighed, I glanced at Arietta. I felt really guilty. She just stood there. "Arietta?" I called. "Huh..? Oh… right." She sounded lifeless. She followed us.

"You look sad. Why?" she asked Arietta. "Huh? I-it's nothing." She forcefully smiled, though I can see right through it. She was hurt… Because of me.

"Oh I know there's something." She pushed. "Huh? N-no.. It's nothing! Really.." She looked away.

"We're here." I said. We went to the room where Largo and Legretta was. I came in followed by Arietta then Ren. "Oh! You're back! And… Oh, who might this be?" Legretta smiled.

"I'm Ren." She smiled, she sure is childish. The way she fought that monster before… It was like she was just plaing.

"Anyway, we brought her here because…" I explained everything to the both of them.

"You sang… another hymn?" Legretta asked. "Huh? I'm just singing what comes out naturally." She smiled sheepishly. Legretta glanced at Largo.

"Oh… Ren..? Is it okay if you stay here for a while?" Largo asked.

"Why?" She tilted her head naively. "We're just going to watch you for a while, is that okay?" Legretta asked gently. "Okay…?" she replied. "Weirdo." I scoffed. "What did you say?! You're the weird one! Arietta just came then you were all pissed off at her!" she yelled.

I flinched. Legretta and Largo stared at me. "I…" I looked away with a dark expression. "Where IS Arietta?" Largo asked. "Arietta? I didn't really see her come in this room." Ren answered.

"You should go apologize to her." Legretta said calmly, though her face was serious. "I know! You don't have to tell me!"

Ren put a hand on her head and grunted. "What's wrong?" Legretta held Ren. "My head… it hurts.." she suddenly collapsed.

"What the hell?!" I cursed. Largo carried her. "Arietta's room's the closest, so.." Largo was cut by Legretta. "Go! Quick!" She was panicking. "Sync, come with me." Largo called. "Huh? Okay." I followed Largo. We entered Arietta's room then Largo put her on Arietta's bed.

"Sync, look after her." Largo ordered. "What?!" I argued. "Just for a while, I'll come back. I still have to do something." He reassured me. I sighed. "Fine!"

I sat on a chair. There were ugly unusual stuff toy things in here. But the room smelled like Arietta. I slapped myself mentally.

I didn't notice the door open until someone spoke. "Great, now you bring her in my room? Couldn't it be your room?!" she yelled coldly.

"Arietta… I didn't bring her here, Largo did. She suddenly collapsed and said her head hurt." I explained.

"Uh huh. Fine, then I'll go away. I can't believe I'm being thrown out of my own room." She growled, just when the door was about to close I grabbed her hand.

"…What?!" she hissed. I sighed then went outside of the room, still holding her hand. "I wanna go somewhere." I said. "..So?" she replied coldly. "SIGH. Just… come with me. I wanna talk to you." I spoke gently. Her expression darkened. She didn't look angry, she looked sad.

We went out. If I come back, Largo will be really pissed for leaving Ren. When we were already farther away, I decided to talk. "Look.. Arietta, I'm sorry about earlier, no… I mean all the times I hurt you…" I sighed.

"Huh? No… It's okay. I'm just being annoying anyway." She mumbled. "It's just.. You know, I thought that you were just acting that way toward me just because I'm a replica. I mean, I know that's it." I trailed off.

"That's not true! I didn't act this way just because you're… That's not it, you understand? I mean, I really care about you, you know." She looked at me. I blushed and hid it with my bangs. I smiled sadly then said, "Trust me, you don't."

"Yes I do, BECAUSE your Sync." She smiled. I didn't get it at first soI laughed it off. She giggled. "I'm glad this brought back your smile." I blurted. "Huh? Oh.." she blushed.

"Heeeeeyyyy!!" a feminine voice called. "Anise?!" Arietta and I said in unison. "Hey! Whatcha doin'?" she smiled. "Anise!" followed by her was Florian.

Then there was Luke, Guy and the others. "Hey Sync, it's been a while." Luke smiled. "Huh? Y-yeah." I replied.

"You too, Arietta." Guy smiled. Luke and the others sighed. "What?" Guy asked. Arietta giggled.

I was still thinking about what Arietta said, and I got what it meant, she meant to say was she didn't care because I was a replica, she cared BECAUSE I was Sync.
Because I was myself. Thanks, Arietta… You're the first.

(A/N: Until the next chapter. ^_^ Ren's the very first OC there is in my stories.)