The Battle of Judecca in the Year 842. That was the turning point in Ace's life. In fact, it affected not only Ace, but Class 0 as a whole…

It was a critical time for Suzaku. The Kingdom of Concordia had allied itself with the Milites Empire, driving the Suzaku Dominion of Rubrum to its limits. Class 0 had been assigned to assist in the two-pronged battle against both Concordia and Milites.

On board the airship taking them to Judecca, where the battle against Concordia was raging on, Ace stared at the horizon. Dragons swarmed the skies in countless numbers, pitting themselves against Suzaku's airships like ants swarming sugarcoated candies.

Deuce watched the familiar silhouette with apprehension; she knew the toll that the pressure was taking on the leader of Class 0. Gently, she placed a hand on his shoulder. A simple gesture, but it was more than enough of a consolation for Ace. He turned to her and gave a reassuring smile, which she returned.

Gritting his teeth, Ace motioned for his classmates to begin the assault. Summoning his deck of cards, he initiated the counterattack on the horde of raging dragons.

There they took down dragons after dragons, and yet the assaults barely ceased. Their panic, however, did not escalate until they caught sight of a massive blue dragon approaching them. This dragon was no ordinary dragon. She is Souryuu, a l'Cie of the Souryuu Crystal supporting the Kingdom of Concordia.

L'Cies are extraordinarily powerful beings bound to cater to the whims of their respective Crystals. Class 0 knew full well how hard it is to defeat a l'Cie, let alone one as huge as this.

'This looks badddd~' Jack, the blonde haired katana-wielder groaned, 'a l'Cie that big! How are we supposed to take it down?'

Even Queen, who usually has a solution to everything, could not come up with one at this massive complication. 'We keep fighting,' she said, clenching her sword tighter in trepidation. But even she cannot deny that, at hand, there was no feasible solution to fighting a l'Cie that huge.

Their flicker of hope was, however, reignited at the sight of a flaming pair of wings, which streaked through the skies, charging right at the gargantuan dragon. That, they knew, was Zhuyu; the Suzaku Crystal's very own l'Cie.

With their hope renewed, Class 0 continued their crusade against the swarm of smaller, yet still potentially dangerous dragons right ahead of them. Trying their hardest to keep their focus on their own battles, the red-caped candidates witnessed Zhuyu's tiny figure clash time and again with Souryuu. Enraged, Souryuu breathed ice onto the battlefield, freezing a number of airships and dragons, as well as changing the whole terrain into that of ice crystals.

The airship Class 0 was on was one of the airship casualties in Souryuu's icy breath. Picking themselves up from the floor of the deck, they could see a path out of the ice crystals being formed ahead of them.

'Let's split up and follow the paths,' Ace commanded. His classmates, Cater, Deuce, Nine, Queen, King and Seven nodded and followed him down the frozen path ahead, while the rest of their classmates followed an opposing path from the back of the airship.

Their trail was not a smooth one. For apart from dragons, the Souryuu army commanded monsters as well. Bombs, behemoths and flans were among those blocking their paths. High above them, the endless horde of dragons too joined in the fray.

'This is insane!' Cater exclaimed, 'How are we going to get past all these?'

'Maybe it will cease if Zhuyu can take down that dragon,' Queen suggested half-heartedly.

They focused all their might on the battlefield that lay ahead of them, so much so that they did not realize it when Zhuyu ceased his assaults on the mighty blue dragon. They all gave involuntary gasps when Zhuyu landed in front of them, efficiently obliterating every enemy in their area.

'Sir!?' Queen almost shrieked in her surprise. 'What are you doing here!?'

Zhuyu silently eyed the members of Class 0 one by one, seemingly oblivious to Queen's question or their bewildered stares. When his eyes fell on Ace, he finally whispered, 'The Crystal has given me a new Focus. You have been chosen to be the new l'Cie.'

'What!?' Everyone exclaimed at the same time. They could hardly believe their ears.

Ace quickly regained his composure and asked, 'Why me? Why the sudden Focus?'

Zhuyu shook his head as he said, 'No one can question the Crystal's will. There's no time. Will you be willing to serve the Crystal and our nation?'

Ace was speechless. Such a great decision to make and there's hardly enough time. His thoughts drifted onto the closest thing to him; the war ahead. So many of his fellow countrymen were dying, Suzaku was at a disadvantage. With the power of a l'Cie, however…

'I'll do it,' Ace firmly replied much to the astonishment of his fellow classmates. They all gasped and gaped at him as Zhuyu's hand shone in a bright shade of vermilion and reached it out to Ace. Following suit, Ace's arm soon bore the mark of a l'Cie as his eyes glowed scarlet.

With a satisfied smile on his rugged face, Zhuyu began to crystallize from his feet up. The fate of a l'Cie who has completed his focus was eternal life… in the form of a crystal. In essence, being a l'Cie equates a slow death. For if a l'Cie defies his focus, he will be nothing more than a corpse.

Tears welled up in the girls' eyes as Zhuyu crystallizes. It was not only Zhuyu they were mourning for, but even more so, for Ace. They knew the fate that awaits him, slowly losing his mind in servitude of the crystal. In a few short months, he would be nothing more than a soulless manifestation of the Crystal's will.

But the shock did not come greater for anyone but Deuce. She could not barricade her tears any longer as Ace commanded them to move forward whilst he streaked into the sky with the same pair of flaming wings Zhuyu had earlier… towards Souryuu.

'Deuce,' Queen said, worried, 'Are you all right?'

'Yes…' Deuce sobbed, 'I'll be fine… We've got to finish this.' Steeling herself, Deuce began walking onwards while her classmates watched helplessly for a moment before following suit. It was so blatantly clear how hard this was for her; to watch the person she love sacrifice himself for their nation.

…

Ace's coronation as a l'Cie brought victory for Suzaku in that very battle while Caetuna, the other Suzaku l'Cie, brought back the same victory against Byakko in the west, at the cost of her own life. Nevertheless, Suzaku had much to celebrate about… and yet, nothing could dampen Class 0's mood even more.

When Ace was called forth by the Parliament one day, Class 0 discussed this unexpected twist in their assigned classroom.

'It's so hard to take in,' Eight admitted, 'that one day Ace won't be the Ace we now know anymore…'

'I don't want to lose Ace…' Cinque said grimly, a tear sliding down her cheek.

'Even though I've known him only for a while,' Rem said, 'I feel just as terrible about this.'

They all stopped their discussion when they caught sight of Deuce's pale face. It was as if she was petrified; as if her heart had lost her soul just as Ace had.

…

As the days passed, Ace soon ceased coming into Class 0's assigned classroom. His communications with his classmates also subsided along with it. Nobody knew where he went apart from his meetings with the Parliament – not even Deuce.

Even though Suzaku claimed victory after victory, and the whole Peristylium was celebrating, the atmosphere around Class 0 became increasingly grim.

Deuce no longer smiled. She walked around the Peristylium, attended classes, ate, slept and carried out her daily activities in the form of a walking zombie – her face pale and expressionless. Her friends tried to console her but to no avail. After all, they too were distraught at the loss of Ace. Hence, whatever sympathetic words leaving their mouths were half-hearted at best.

One day, Deuce escaped another one of Queen and Cinque's attempts at consoling her. She was sick and tired of everyone trying to sympathize with her; sick and tired of everyone saying they knew how she felt. How could they understand? Ace was the most important person in her life, and she was forced to watch his familiar figure walk, talk and fight – all without him being able to acknowledge her.

Her thoughts subconsciously led her to Class 0's private backyard. She knew that the rest of her classmates were up at the refresh room and concluded that the backyard should be empty enough for her to enjoy the quietude. But the moment she set foot on the tranquil courtyard, she knew she was wrong.

On the bench at the very corner of the courtyard lay a serene youth with platinum blonde hair, seemingly asleep. Deuce let out an involuntary shriek as her eyes caught the figure of the boy she had yearned for all these months.

Her shriek alerted Ace to her presence. He opened his eyes and got up to face her. At the sight of his bright, scarlet eyes, Deuce was once again forced to remember that the Ace standing before her was nobody but a stranger.

'Did the Parliament ask you to come and find me?' Ace asked, matter-of-factly, his tone flat and devoid of emotions. Hearing his cold voice stabbed another dagger at Deuce's heart.

'N-N-No…' she stammered, averting her gaze. Looking at such a familiar yet distant figure proved too overwhelming for her. 'I-I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I-I'll just leave…'

Hearing her words, Ace relaxed a little. 'You don't have to leave. It's just that I'm not interested in their strategies and whatnot,' he explained, 'I'm only concerned with the Crystal's will.'

Deuce looked at him incredulously. So Ace had indeed turned into a slave of the Crystal, devoid of his own motivations and desires. 'I-I see…' she said.

A long, uncomfortable pause followed as Deuce contemplated her next move. This was her chance. She could ask Ace something that had been bugging her all these while.

As Ace turned around to lay back on the bench… 'A-A-Ace!' she blurted. Surprised by the sudden reaction, Ace turned back to face her. Deuce could feel the nervousness creeping back up to her the moment his red eyes caught her green ones. It's now or never, she thought. Steeling herself she continued, 'Ace, do you… remember me?'

'What are you talking about, Deuce?' Ace asked, frowning.

Deuce did not know which would have hurt more; that he could remember her name yet act so indifferent towards it; or if he had simply forgotten instead. She turned her back on the blonde haired l'Cie as a stream of tears gushed down her cheeks. She wanted to hide the fact that she was crying from him, even if she was certain that the boy standing at the backyard at that very moment would no longer care…

…

With Ace's help, Suzaku soon approach a unified Orience. The time soon came for the final confrontation against the Milites Empire, the host of the Byakko Crystal – its capital being the only city left standing which Suzaku had not conquered.

The army had been taken down; all that was left to do was confront their leader, Cid Aulstyne. As Ace and the rest of Class 0 made their way to Byakko's Parliament Building, their steps were halted by a man in a white tiger-shaped mask.

He was a l'Cie of Byakko, one of equal powers to Ace. With his eyes glowing red once more, Ace commanded the rest of the class to infiltrate the Parliament Building and force Cid to surrender while he fend off the l'Cie.

'Such arrogance,' the Byakko l'Cie hissed as he summoned his weapons… a pair of bolt-shaped rapiers.

Even though he has lost a majority of his mind and heart, Ace could still recognize the enemy l'Cie's weapon of choice. It was his classmate, Machina's weapons. Unfortunately, recognizing them did not equate sympathy in the case of a l'Cie. His mind was no longer his own, and he could not make out anything in his head apart from the words ringing over and over again, 'destroy the enemy.'

They were no longer friends, nor were they humans anymore. The battle that followed was beastly and fierce, each fighting with the aim to kill. Before any of their classmates could prevent the battle from raging, it had already begun. Powerless to stop the power of a l'Cie, they could only watch helplessly as the former friends slashed at each other's throats.

They were fighting to kill. No less. Ace's flame-imbued cards repeatedly clashed against Machina's glowing rapiers. The unforgiving battle tore down buildings and decimated streets around the entrance of the Parliament Building where their friends stood, unable to remove their sights from the brutal fighting ahead of them.

'We've got to stop them!' Rem cried hysterically with Eight and Jack trying their best to hold her back. She would have been killed if she got in the way of Ace and Machina's battle.

Deuce, on the other hand, stood still as she desperately shouted inside her heart for the fighting to stop; for Ace to return to his former self; for Ace to return to her side…

'Ace… Ace… ACEEEEEEEE!' She screamed at the top of her lungs. All the desperation, the pain, the helplessness poured out into the most powerful scream she had ever produced. For a split second, Ace's red eyes turned back to his original blue as he turned to face her, seemingly knocked out of his trance.

He paid dearly for that split second of humanity.

With his concentration broken, one of Machina's bolt rapiers pierced him through the abdomen. The class screamed and gasped as Ace fell to the ground. The sight of his former friend lying lifeless in a pool of blood seemed to have struck Machina back to his senses as his mask slid off from his face. He knelt petrified some distance away from Ace, a look of indescribable fear and horror on his face.

Deuce had run immediately to Ace's side where he, with the last of his strength, gripped her hands tightly and said, 'Deuce… I'm glad… it's you I see… for the last time…'

'No…' Deuce sobbed, 'Don't say that… You'll be fine…'

'I know my limits…' he said, coughing out blood, 'Bring an end… to this war… don't… forget… me…' His last words were so faint that no one but Deuce could hear them. With that, the grip on her hand slackened as his body began to turn into crystal.

'No… NOOOO,' Deuce screamed, trying desperately in vain to stop the crystallization. When the crystallization was complete, he was no more than a crystal statue… a poignant reminder of the love she once had.

…

Arecia watched from afar. This experiment was another failure. There was no point in continuing this if one of her precious pawns is dead. With a twist of her hand, time began to rewind...