Tears pouring down her cheeks, face flushed, Arietta ran through the grassy fields of the Cheagle Woods. Anyone could tell that she was upset. But why? What had happened this time? Had Anise called her Gloomieta again? Perhaps Dist was bullying her? Or did Sync flick her on the forehead and call her annoying?

Still running, Arietta failed to notice the bump on the ground. Her left foot had not been lifted up on time and when gravity caught up with her, she fell forward. She didn't bother to push herself up- No. She had been too upset to be bothered with it. What was the point anyway? Every time she got back up she only got pushed down again.

Her liger mommy and friends were each killed one by one. She had been replaced by Anise to protect Ion. Ion... It was her fault. It was Anise's fault. Ion had died because of her. Because of Anise. If it was Arietta who had the title of Fon Master Guardian then it would've been different. She would've stopped Ion from traveling with that replica, Luke! She would've prevented his death! Why had she been relieved of her position in the first place? What had she done wrong? It didn't matter anymore. Ion was gone. All hopes of happiness for her were gone.

"Crying again? Are you serious? And here I thought you'd be plotting to murder Dist for making that joke about your beloved Ion." A familiar voice called out. Arietta didn't bother to turn around. She recognized that mocking tone from anywhere.

"g-Go away, s-Sync." Arietta finally answered after wiping her tears away. She pushed herself up off the ground and stood up. She didn't turn around to acknowledge him not like how she acknowledges Ion. Sync gritted his teeth at that.

"I don't get what's so great about him. He was just a weakling after all-"

"s-Shut up! d-Don't you dare speak of him that way! y-You don't e-even know him!" Arietta said with her eyes welling up with tears.

"You don't either..." Sync said under his breath just low enough so that Arietta didn't hear him. He didn't dare to have Arietta find out that the Ion that was with Luke was only a replica. Not after seeing her reaction to the joke Dist made. He knew that Largo wasn't joking when he said Arietta would kill herself if she found out about Ion, but he didn't expect her to react the way she did when Dist made that joke.

"j-Just go away." Arietta stifled a sob.

"Dist wasn't serious, you know. He was only kidding around. You didn't have to take it so seriously-"

"It doesn't matter! h-How... How could he just say that? Even if it was a joke... It's just too cruel! How can he just say that... That he could just make a replacement Ion... It's not the same! Even if he does... th-They'll just be trash compared to the real thing!" Her words stung. That's right, Sync was also a replacement Ion. Or at least he was supposed to be. So does that mean if Arietta had found out then Sync would be viewed as trash by her too?

"So you're alright with living in the replica world that Van's going to create, but you're not alright with the fact that Ion could be replaced? Choose one or the other! Which is it?" Sync exploded after hearing Arietta's words.

Taken by surprise, Arietta could only utter a few "uh..."s or "um..."s. Why had Sync reacted that way? Was it because he was angry that she couldn't follow through with Van's plans completely or was it because he didn't want to be viewed by her as trash?

After receiving no answers from her when minutes passed, Sync's impatience reached its full capacity. "If you're against the fact that Ion can be replaced with a replica then you shouldn't be a God General in the first place! Why are you even here?"

"i... I'm here to get revenge for Ion and mommy. I'm here so I can kill Anise." Sync sighed at her reply. Arietta hadn't answered his first question, but she at least gave him a reason for why she was here and that was good enough for Sync.

"I see..." He walked a bit closer to Arietta and using his height to his advantage he held Arietta's doll just above her for her to see. "You left THIS back at headquarters." Sync said with a smirk on his face.

"Ah..." When Arietta turned around and reached up to grab it Sync pulled it away and ran for it only to have Arietta chasing after him. "Give it back!" This time Arietta had acknowledged him.

"You're the one who left it behind!"

Well, maybe not ALL hopes of happiness were loss.