There was a time he could not do this. There were reasons of course: too weak, too young, too afraid. It was a rationale that had a time and place in the past and when yesterday became tomorrow, such naivete had to be left behind. Yesterday...thought of so easily, so quickly, it almost tricked the Sniper into believing it really had been just one day since he was nothing more that a child in his shadow. The fantasy flickered in his honeyed eyes just long enough to be savored, his legs clinching as he crouched onto the towering branch letting his mind wander.

But yesterday was five years, six months and twenty days ago. And Kallistei would do well to remember that.

The moonlight washed over the Sniper's weathered face, etching into every scratch and scar that had found its way there over the years. The fantasy had gone, leaving the 22 year old Kallistei alone in the woods. Miles of trees pained his hardened gaze, refusing him even the promise of rest. Strange. As many times has he had gone back and forth through these woods, he could probably do all of this blindfolded. But then, the young Sniper couldn't entertain the one final strand of arrogant boyhood not yet smothered out by the world.

Kallistei's body coiled into a single muscle before springing forward, the forest air filling his lungs and clearing the metallic stench that had clogged his senses as he ran through the green tops. More than anything he wanted it over and done with now, but it was more of a reflex emotion other than anything he would ever actually act on. Anyone who knew that wide-eyed boy from years ago; family...friends...considered him dead or worse. The only part of him that really existed was his hands, stained in a life of fearful, final gazes. It was almost funny looking back now.

All I wanted was my own life...

The Sniper gritted his teeth, pushing out the shock of a sudden landing from his mind. Allowing his body to move on its own may have made the trip faster but it didn't exactly make it easier. But, he was here: the only place that knew or cared to know him. Pushing the black hood off his head, Kallistei stood fully upright, looking past the wreckage of the steeple being consumed by the lush grass around it. Its been five years, could he seriously consider this place home? No: its sole inhabitant would probably ridicule him for even considering it. Kallistei could, to be fair, turn around. A sudden gust cut into his vest, pushing a feather he had tucked away out of it. Before the wind could take it too far from his grasp Kallistei snatched it back, keeping the falcon feather in between his fingers.

Using his other hand, Kallistei swept some of the long green strands that had gotten into his eyes. The natural color of the feather was gone, mixing it in perfectly with the darkness surrounding him. Why feathers? There were so many other things that he could've order Kalistei take and he would've done so. But, he just kept asking for...stained feathers as confirmation. It was just another part of his training; training he had demanded and something he couldn't now escape from.

The Sniper kept his eyes on the feather, his mind going in and out as he walk briskly through the singular hall, leading into a massive open sanctuary. The moon shone through the missing roofing, illuminating the bits and pieces of broken marble statues littered across the remnant of the floor. Near the pulpit a lone table sat in front of the massive female head of what could have only been the goddess and as soon as Kallistei made contact with those blank eyes he slipped behind a large, intact pew, slipping the falcon feather inside of his vest and waiting.

Sure enough, the room soon rang with a series of footsteps. As quickly as he had came, Kallistei was no longer alone. A wild, familiar thought rung through his head; his heart going from passive to throbbing as his fingers threaded his Orc Archer Bow. He took a breath, willing himself upright to face the dark, robed figured standing several feet away from him; the arrow pulled back in the bow ready for fire. He could do it; he knew it. His grip on the arrow tightened, keeping it aimed right between the man's closed eyes. If they were opening, he'd be staring a hole directly through Kallistei. And after what seemed like forever, his apparent confusion melted in to cold control.

"Impressive. It actually took me a moment to be sure it was you this time." The robed being's withering voice called out to the Sniper; freezing him in place.

Kallistei winced at the words, lowering his bow as the older man walked up the row, his eyes remaining shut but the scowl a permanent fixture just as it was five years ago. If the years had been rough of Kallistei, they hated this Scholar. "...Uncle."

Omri chuckled scathingly, the height difference between the two nearly closed but apparently it wasn't enough to stop him from giving the younger Sniper a rough pat on his green head. Kallistei was in no mood for the Scholar's belittling and swatted his hand away, but that didn't to phase him much tonight. Another bruising chuckle left Omri, well used to the youth's growing iciness and simply held his hand out. The hand stayed empty for a moment as Kallistei glared at the Scholar's eyelids, patting down his dark blue outfit before remembering he stuck the damn thing in his vest.

"Here. Happy?" Kallistei nearly spat, thrusting the feather into Omri's pale hand. Omri's simply nodded as his hand closed around his prize.

"#74. I warned you we'd meet again." Omri mused, his thumb running along the crimson portion of the purple feather. He turned, his eyes slowly opening to get something of a better look at Kallistei. The Sniper recoiled, taking a step away from the growing milky-white of Omri's eyes. He had said back then, 'There was nothing left worth seeing' and since then Omri's eyes had grown older and older. Yet they remained as sinister as ever. "And you; it felt a bit less predatory this time didn't it? Now its just the knowledge that what is in front of you must die."

He hated to admit it to Omri, but as Kallistei watched his 'Uncle' return to the sole table in the room he quietly admitted to himself that he had been right. Before there had been a spike; a rush of emotions leading to the kill. It had made the realization of exactly what he done that much worse, the tears spilling into the broken body cradled against his body that much more bitter. That was then, the first time he had completed an order given to him by Omri Usoa. Putting the bow on his shoulder Kallistei followed behind him as Omri took a seat, placing the feather with the others...

The others...

The first one was laid on that table five years ago and still it sat there; its rich tan untainted by blood. Next to it the second, covered by the life of that pink Priestess. Then on and on, each time becoming less and less connected with those smiles, those connections as his arrows severed them.

"He was more trouble than the others." Kallistei murmured to himself, scratching the flesh behind his neck idly. "But I pulled it off eh?"

"You 'pulled it off' because you and that fool looked at the situation completed differently. The Will to Act is more than just following orders. It also seeks completion; follow through. In the end, his willingness to stab others in the back on direction paled against your own Will to make him forget you." Omri noted, taking a deep breath. "Six of the seven completed and already you have become stronger: your mind maturing to the place you want it to be. Isn't it just as I told you Kallistei? Only through the shedding of blood can you find truth."

Truth. That was a pretty word to be sure. Kallistei watched, the back of his mind noting something to him as Omri waved him away. "Now go. I need to rest."

"Wait. You promised."

"...I don't recall any promises. Are you sure you're not thinking of someo-"

"Bullshit Omri!" Kallistei roared, breaking the tenor of the conversation. "You promised me!"

"I promised I would teach you, but by asking for this from me you have learned nothing!" Omri growled in return. "Have all of these been for nothing if you're still trying to turn back time?"

Kallistei stopped the coming rant with a thud, his fist nearly breaking through the table in front of Omri. "No! I will never go back to that...I just want it okay? And I have done everything to get farther away from that...wannabe! I deserve to have this...I deserve it!"

Those aged, worthless eyes burrowed into the lively, raging gold ones. Omri might has well have been all-seeing; he saw the Sniper's intent lost in a blaze of hatred. So close...why not? "I said I would give you what you wanted when you finished the circle Kaliistei. So, finish it."

"...What?"

A cruel grin spread across Omri's face as Kallistei took a step backward. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to leave the room but he seemed attached to that hellish gaze. "Destiny opened this door didn't it? All of those years ago? We were put together for you to finish this lesson. Now string your bow."

Kallistei took another deep breath, trying in vain to silence his quaking heart but the idea of what he would have to do just seemed surreal. But should it have? After all of those feathers for all of these years? Could it be exactly what this old man said it was? Completion?

"He died in agony; his life erased because of something he was never born to be. You watched him take his last breath remember Kallistei? Remember how he died and the people he gave his life for [I]forgot[/i] who he even was in a few weeks time? How they went on as if he never existed?"

Kallistei's eyes begin to sting, his more rational faculties shutting down as he pulled the steel arrow back. "You remember how you made me promise that I wouldn't let that happen to you? You remember how you wanted never to be attached to anyone who could cost you your own life?" Omri noted, as if he was telling the time and not facing down an arrow from a trained Sniper at near point-blank range. "You wanted a better life than him; a complete life. Six out of seven kid; the circle requires a final addition. And I...am all that you have left in this world aren't I? The only one who knows...or could even possibly care..."

"Damn you Omri!"

"Fire." Kallistei hesitated. "Fire!'

The Scholar's eyes widened as the arrow pierced his black heart, the force hurling him back against the broken statue. Kallistei blinked, his bow rattling off the floor as his mind began to process what he had just done. A dense chuckle broke through the room as Omri pushed himself upright, his free hand clutching at the arrow running him through.

"Good...Very good.."

Kallistei's eyes glazed over as he stumbled across the remaining space, dropping to his knees just far enough away to watch as the Scholar's blood poured onto the floor. He had done it. He had actually done it. He had killed Omri...his Uncle...

"The Will...to Act." Omri coughed, blood splattering across the floor. "You've found it...Kallistei. The power you wanted...its yours now. And with your past dead...this crest of blood will define you. -cough- You are stronger now...than I ever could have been."

Omri's eyes had left Kallistei as he reached into his robes. Slowly Omri withdrew something wrapped in completely black; a shape Kallistei recollected. As quickly as the Scholar's shaking arm extended it the Sniper had snatched it off, unfurling the sheets to reveal the cracked Kitsune Mask the dying man had long held from him. Its left side stained with its former owner's blood; its empty eyes now replacing Omri's atrophied steadiness.

"...If Caskay could see us now huh?"

Kallistei turned and watched as Omri's breath shook, gasped, and finally became still. All that was left was the Sniper's own ragged breathing. He tried to calm himself, as he had remembered to but the breathing seemed to just get louder. Slowly Kallistei pulled himself to his feet, away from the corpse lying alone in its own blood and moved back towards the entrance; his eyes now firmly locked onto the open holes in the Mask.

"See? I'm stronger than you faker." Kallistei said under his breath, his voice trembling. "I won't be some pathetic martyr for those people looking for a 'hero'. I'm not going to die because they were hiding in fear! Its my life! Mine!"

The Mask remained silent as Kallistei stopped, just at the grass outside of Omri's sanctuary. The Sniper nearly doubled over, managing to land on his knees with the mask falling in front of him. With a strangled cry Kallistei unless a wild punch, connecting with the dirt at the right of the mask before his face collided into it. Tears ran freely down his face as he clawed into his green mane, silently mixing into the ruthless grin beginning to etch itself on Kallistei's lips.

"I did it. I did it..."

A/N: Kallistei Konradr belongs to Resalan/SinfulShinrai.