Dream Chaser

by headphone frenzy

At the end of it all, Guy begins having strange dreams, each one delving further into an ultimate abyss. Sync is his only beacon of light, but will the boy give the newest God-General the courage to chase this last, forsaken dream? SyncGuy. LukeAsch. THIS IS GOING TO BE MOVED TO MY NEW ACCOUNT, JUDITHAN, AS WELL AS REWRITTEN.

1. One

Dream chaser

(x)

Pairings: Sync x Guy, Luke x Asch, Jade x Dist, (slight) Luke x Guy, (slight) Natalia x Asch, Anise x Ion (It's cute, people!), and (slight, like miniscule) Guy x Peony.

Headphone does not own.

(x)

CHAPTER 1;

Warning: Major spoilers ahead, so if you haven't played through at least once, don't complain! C:

The mirror Guy stared into was dirty.

The outer coat of the thin mirror was gritty and made his face look three shades darker and two tones filthier. The walls were a nasty old-hotel color, and the floor was almost identical to the vertical. Scents of rose and some sort of vulgar-smelling smoke, almost to the effect of gunpowder, filled Guy's nose, leaving it slightly wrinkled and displeased, and a large part of his brain wondered so vividly 'what am I forgetting'. After all, the rancid smell of smoke, of gunpowder, was a sign that trouble just happened, whether the blonde was harmed or heard. It was very odd for him to simply smell the scents of war without feeling the effects, without having visual aid.

'What was it?'

It all seemed so familiar, yet he couldn't lay a proper finger on it.

There was a sharp rap on the door, making the distracted blonde question roughly how long he had been spacing out, before simply ignoring the question itself to answer to the knocking. Taking no real initiative to care about thinking of a cover story, Guy opened the door with one flick of his wrist and saw a vaguely puzzled Luke. There was a small gap of awkwardness between the two, an uncomfortable sort of silence that completely engulfed them until it suddenly cracked onto the floor

"What were you doing in there?" Silence broken, but awkwardness increased tenfold. The tension between the blonde and redhead was thick enough that it could be cut with something that wasn't even meant to make any sort of incision.

Guy simply shrugged slightly, and he could see the childish anger and displease that swelled in Luke's young green eyes. It pained and possibly even humiliated Guy in every way possible to have to see Luke with such complete ignorance and naïveté and have to obey the boy's every beck and call, no matter how stupid or juvenile. Though, no matter what dislike or disdain Guy held for the boy, there was some sort of awkward feeling in his gut saying 'ignore it, it'll all be better soon'.

"Well, whatever, get out. I need to piss." He said it with a cocky sort of grin.

Obliging wordlessly, the older male closed the door behind himself, stopping as he heard the click of the latch. His eyes darted around quickly, making his brain slightly dizzy with all of the new yet far too familiar and nauseating images and colors he was pulling in through tired retinas.

Without even thinking, without dropping a single beat, his legs took up the simple action of walking and his brain just zoned out until he reached his boring redwood door and frame. The stained yet spotless plaque opened quickly with every creak and cringe he could remember his door ever making, and he took little to no time in making his way to his bed.

The auburn throw pillows and maroon comforters looked so completely inadequate and bothersome that it wasn't even worth removing them before Guy could find him plopped down on it; face first, and legs up. His mind was dreary and half-asleep even though it was barely past dusk, past twilight, and past any sort of disgusting feeling of hate and wrath. The silken pillows were soft on his face, and the feather mattress curved with his exhausted body.

Apparently he was more tired then he thought he was, because as soon as he closed his eyes, sleep engulfed them with no chance of even the typical thoughts before the endless black that swallowed them whole as he rested peacefully. Surprisingly, though, instead of the typical endless blackness that was far too common, his eyes opened to some unknown room, with some unknown person hovering over Guy like he was some sort of prey, the silhouettes body half-straddling the blonde's hips. Guy couldn't hear anything, and he felt as though his mind was swimming, and there was something wrapped around his head and it hurt far too much to just be part of a dream. There wasn't much light in the room, and even if there was, the blonde would have been far too asleep to focus on a single object, no matter how blunt or miniscule.

"Oh good, you're awake." There was a small pause between their dialog before continuing, not allowing the confused male to even think of inquiry as an option.

"I don't have much time to talk, we need to go."

Their voice was choppy, rushed, yet at the same time soothing and careful. The person's hands were wobbly and rickety on Guys thin shoulders and the blonde could almost faintly hear the sound of some sort of beeping in the distance that sounded like a hollowed out version of a heartbeat. The entire place seemed like it was shaking, yet it was entirely still aside from the ridiculous thump of the male's heart beat and the adrenaline that rushed through his bones like some sort of awkward I.V.

"Who're you?" Guy slurred out, making himself sound retarded or just mental instead of tired and probably drugged with things he couldn't even pronounce. The shadow simply frowned, or what Guy assumed was a frown, and said nothing for a few seconds, opening a void for an empty, awkward silence to ensue and capture the air.

"It doesn't matter, we need to hurry."

After taking a patch off of the blonde's upper arm, Guy's wrist was suddenly latched onto, and the silhouette carried him out of his bed, sloppily to his feet, and to a crooked door. The air was silent and smelled like something had just died, and it made Guy want to rudely pinch his nose to block out the disgustingness. His feet slid on the floor, and he assumed there was a wax coating covering the whole thing, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference either way.

The guide simply held Guy's thin, boney wrist and led him down dark, almost eerie and all-too-quiet halls, making sure that he kept his feet light, and his breathing almost to the point of silent. Guy followed in suit, and tried to silence his heavy breathing, and his hefty steps, but failed almost miserably and just made a mess out of his balance.

"Where're we going?" the slurring blonde inquired, his eyes trying to take in the sites as they approached his retinas. Corridors and walls, empty rooms and the smell of death; Guy would have normally been able to put two and two together and figure out what everything was, and where he was going, and what was going on, but he was too asleep, too drugged, and too brain-dead to be bothered with such a demeaning and confusing task.

"Quiet." Guy simply did as he was told, and shut his mouth, and tried to look around at all of the sights. There was darkness everywhere, except for the occasional window that let in scattered patches of pallid moonlight. The walls were a silky shade of green, only done over nicely by a thick paste of dust with a hint of common-day rust. There was random bit of trash floating around the hallway, and the walls seemed to have permanent stains on it that gave Guy a bit of weariness over all of the cleaning that hadn't been done. The entire place seemed to hold this awkward feel of permanent vacancy, and it made the blonde only slightly wonder what he was doing in there in the first place.

The guide had lead Guy to a door, a large bronze frame covered with a sheet of green rust, and the glass in-between the frame covered with fingerprints and pits of dried paint with cracks and canyons. The door opened with an ear-ripping creak, making the silent night tear and making the cats in the alleys wake from there skittish slumbers. The air outside smelled of cigarette smoke and some sort of pollution. The lighting in the area in front of the building was only coming from a solo street light that hovered and flickered several yards above their ignorant heads.

"This way." The now-visible silhouette spoke almost silently, almost as though it was simply a mental note, and all Guy could now focus on was the green hair that spoke in so many tones. It stuck up in so many wild directions, and all the blonde could think about was that it looked so familiar, it looked as though he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't yet put a name on who it was. Then, his brain started to try to work, and the bandages around his forehead hurt. Then, an image popped into his head, innocent eyes, green ovals, a petite nose, and a heart-shaped face.

"Ion?" The blonde's voice was heavily laden with fear, yet at the same time, he felt relief at the fact that Ion himself was saving him from wherever he was before. In his personal opinion, the place they had just left looked like some sort of hell-hole done over with a nice coat of olive paint and a friendly case of trash and filth.

There was silence, aside from the clacking of shoes on the hard pavement, and the night itself seemed to turn with them as they curved quickly, ending up in a dark alley. The place smelled like musty socks, and some sort of over-expansion of mold, like some sort of rot had taken over that small, almost miniscule, part of city.

"This should give us enough time." They said quickly, and the lack of niceness in their tone told Guy that it wasn't, in fact, the deity of the Order of Lorelei, but someone else who looked and sounded so remarkably similar. They sounded innocent enough, yet completely serious, like there was some sort of something that was connecting this person to Ion, yet at the same time the captor and the naïve boy were two entirely separate people.

"Who are you?" Guy asked again, his voice now sounding a bit more like he was with the program and that the bandages around his head were not, in fact, cutting off all circulation to his brain. The other person just chuckled lightly, and the blonde traced over the slim shoulders and frame with his eyes as they moved up and down with the small laugh.

"Do you honestly give up?" They asked, refusing to turn around to face the confused blonde, and Guy knew somehow in his brain that with this one sentence, a spark would go off, and he would remember all the nights and days that he thought and dreamt about this one person. This one person whose name -he feared- was taboo from his dreams. Guy just swallowed an awkward air bubble in his throat and tried to bring up the courage to say this one single word.

Sync.

"Tell me who you are." Guy didn't want to say the name aloud. He feared with every inch in his body that the moment he did, the figure would be cast away, and then, there would be no ending to this terrible yet wondrous story, dream, new reality, cruel illusion, any other synonym that could possibly rename this entirely awkward situation. The blonde shifted his weight to his other foot, and his eyes refused to focus in the dim light in the musty alley.

"I am Sync, your temporary savior." Sync turned around when he stated this, and Guy couldn't help but feel mildly awkward at the second half of the sentence, but he didn't try to process it too hard. His head hurt from the bandages, and every single thought that went into it was just one more thing that filled up and tightened his brain, that tightened the bandages and cut off all circulation and communication.

"What do you mean by 'savior'?" The thought of Sync saving anything, or more so anyone was as common as Dist being listened to and cared about -It just didn't happen. And it wasn't that the jasmine-haired teen wasn't generous or nice or anything, it was more so that he just didn't have it within him to be generous, or to even fathom the thought of being evenly slightly kind. All Sync had going for him was a brain filled to the brim with insensible nonchalance and plastic manners that were below Ghetto in levels of refinement, if that was even possible.

"I mean what I say. But I don't have much time, so we'll have to be quick."

"Why, what's going on? Where are we?"

"Like I just said, I don't have enough time to answer the first question. But as for the second one, you are currently located in Belkend, City of Dreams."

"What? But…this doesn't look anything like Belkend, there aren't any machines littering the streets or—" Guy was completely bemused, since he was most definitely not in Belkend, if anything, it looked as though he was in the Malkuth capital, Grand Chokmah. The streets were so eerily bright yet welcoming to the night group, and the litter and filth around what the blonde had seen of the city was fairly clean, not to mention the fact that the lack of Kimlascan soldiers didn't give him much of anything to go on, as terms of who's country it was.

"Guy, the fairy tails are going to have to be left at home."

This hit Guy like one big block of 'What the fuck', since he never knew Sync to be someone of calmness, or composure, but that was the exact thing the green-haired teen was displaying right now, and it was creeping the hell out of the confused blonde. There was a large clatter heard a ways away, and it sounded like people searching, hurrying, like there were a stampede of people all running in the same direction, and even the alley cats hiding in the nooks of corners and trash cans had ran out and away, almost afraid.

"They're here."

"Who's here?"

"Guy, I need you to tell me something, promise me something." Promises were another thing Guy thought that the teen thought were completely ludicrous, inane, and even childish.

"W-what is it?" It was almost unavoidable to hear the worry in Guy's voice, and even though the low rumble of the feet and voices was getting closer by the second, and had almost become upon them, it was still easy to tell the tones and hitches in voices. It was still easy for Sync to distinguish the sound of fear in the older male's voice, and the only thing he showed to cure that fright that was ever present in Guy's voice was a stiff smile that Sync was sure had confused and maybe even further concerned the poor male even more then before.

"Promise me that you'll never wake up."

The low rumble was getting louder, slowly but steadily, and Guy could see the cheerless yet pleased look framed on the boy's smile, but all the same there was a pleading look glistened into his eyes.

"What-?"

And with that, The voices were almost upon them, almost around the corner, and he could hear the individual cries and shouts, and he was more paralyzed by fear then anything, and he knew that with one more bend they would be at present. Something in the way they searched so easily told Guy that they knew what they were looking for, and that he was the object that they so ever desired.

"Promise me!" Anxious and desperate were two ways to easily describe the pain that was laden in Sync's voice, the words being shouted fiercely, yet holding a hint of concern in it that counteracted everything. Guy could hardly focus on one thing, and there was nothing he would love more then to not deal with anything like this ever again.

The shouting got even louder, and the emerald haired boy clung to the wall like there was nothing else there to protect himself with. And with one last turn chosen by the leader, there was nothing but air between the mob of yelling, and the two males hidden in the alley. At that moment, vivid red hair was seen prominent in the midst of everything, the shouting seemed to be nothing more then white noise of the past, and the terrified blonde's eyes went blank, closing shut and blocking out all of the noise in the world. There was endless darkness forever, and the walls seemed to be illuminating with something known as daylight, sunshine, or even artificial luminance. When Guy lifted his locked eyelids, he vividly noticed he was somewhere else and that all of the yelling and screaming that was so present before was now gone. He was at home again, back in the Baticul manor, and there was a tired Luke looking at him from the open door frame leading to the vacant hallway.

"Breakfast's ready."

And Guy had never felt more relieved.

(x)

The days went by slowly, and there wasn't hardly ever a moment in where Guy wished to know what that dream had meant, and what exactly it had to do with anything. For all he knew it was simply a dream, and nothing much to worry about, but he couldn't help but wonder if it was possibly about something else. There were times where he would just sit and watch Luke do whatever he did every day and simply think thoughts about what exactly it had all meant. Though, sadly, he never came to a confirmable conclusion.

Words were thought over and even with the preciseness in Guy's thinking he realized with such disappointed that he couldn't really say much, since he lacked the knowledge of dream's meanings, and other psychology related things that confused him more then it intrigued him. And while this was interesting, there had been plenty of things that had bothered the blonde male in the past, but this dream, this nightmare, absolutely irked him to no end, and it wasn't anywhere within his nature to not be curious about something. But, no matter how long he pondered and thought, and delved into this mindset and vision, he couldn't figure out anything besides the fact that he was completely confused and possibly a bit terrified about it all.

"Guy, you seem out of it."

"Huh?"

"I said you seem out of it."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's okay. Just hurry up and help me with this."

"What is it?"

"Homework. Math. I hate it."

Luke was completely ignorant about the dream that completely engulfed the machine-obsessed male's brain, and Guy couldn't bring it upon himself to ask the redhead for his input when the youth was simply too spoiled to do anything but complain. The entireties of the days spent with Luke were wasted on anything between homework, silly word games and puzzles, and the ever-present wonder about the yelling, screaming, and secrets.

Though, on one day, many moons and mornings after the dream had paralyzed Guy's skull with a permanent smear, there was a meeting held between the duke and the blonde. Not many words were spoken between the beginning and the heart-retching end, but by the time the whole meeting was up there was a dismal smell engulfing Guy's nose, and a striking fear growing painful in his chest. The meeting began with a formal 'how do you do' and a response that was somewhere along the lines of 'no time for small talk'. The room wreaked of olives with a side glass of an indistinguishable alcohol that thoroughly reminded Guy of a bad drinking accident he had about two months ago that made his stomach slosh uncomfortably.

Uncomfortable would have been an easy way to explain the air in the room, disapproving would have been another way to describe it. After all, Guy had never particularly liked the Duke, in actuality, he hated the man with every fiber that his spine would be willing to deal with, and being told he was fired while the uncouth man was drunk was like drenching an open bleeding heart with 7 pounds of table salt and then saying 'oh dear, this is quite a mess'. It was wrong on so many levels, and in the slob's current state of mind, he probably couldn't have cared less.

The middle of the meeting, the course of the news, was this disgusting vile thing that seemed to flip the entire lining of Guy's entrails and gave the Duke a small sliver of a drunken smirk. It was this little slice of the meeting that topped the whole cake of 'FML' and Guy couldn't help but feel like he was being fucked over by the most savage man in all of Kimlasca. Though, in all actuality, the only words that Guy could particularly remember sticking to his mind so well that he could have repeated them 4 years later were the four simple words of 'You're on leave, now.' And although, this hit the blond like a brick to the face, he couldn't help but feel like he somehow had this coming and that eventually there would be no use for him. He took his time stalling and trying to humbly (and this shattered his pride in ways that he couldn't have imagined was even possible) plea to give him more time, since simply kicking him out would seem inane and would make no sense.

Though, by the end of the meeting, he was given an extra week and was to be kicked out of the manor from then on. Guy wasn't really concerned about Luke, since he figured the boy could take care of himself after being thrust into the world so quickly, not to mention the boy had Tear, Natalia, and Mieu to turn to for friendships and other relations. (He preferred to not word that in any other way that made it less discrete. After all, this was Luke he was talking about.)

The world seemed to be caving in, and he was completely without a place to look back to. So, with nothing but his usual traveling items and a few extra dollars he had stashed away just in case, he used his time plotting out a convenient yet inexpensive trip to Malkuth, and eventually found himself face-to-face with the flamboyant emperor.

"Why, if it isn't Jade's advisor, what was your name again, good lad?" Peony was always in a good mood, it seemed, and Guy couldn't help but choke a bit at the thought of being called Jade's advisor, let alone actually being it. There was a stir of awkward silence, aside from the white noise of the glistening waterfall pooling out its watery yet beautiful vomit into the lake, and Guy couldn't help but feel a bit tongue-tied under the stares of the country's ruler.

"Guy Cecille, my lord. And actually, I am not Jade's advisor, or even working for him. I was but a humble servant working under Duke Fabre, but now I am not connected to that line of business." Even a fool could hear the unease and discomfort that was heavily laden into his arrogant yet modest voice. Guy could see a small twitch ensue after the words 'my lord' slipped through his mouth, and assumed nothing of it aside that he didn't like being called that.

"Got the boot, huh?" The words sounded casual, and almost sympathetic, but the way it was said with such simplicity and nonchalance filled a bubble of anger and discontent in Guy's churning stomach. Though, that was a typical feeling and emotion as of late, and he could simply write it off as hunger from his lack of breakfast.

"Uh, yeah."

"And you're asking for work from me?"

"That's the general idea," There was only a small pause, and the younger blonde found himself adding on another one of those formalities he learned from working under the uncouth slob in the Fabre Manor. "Your highness." As soon as those small words escaped the orange-clad male's lips, he felt another bubble of discontent and apathy curdle up in his stomach, wavering through the organ uncomfortably.

"Enough with the formalities, just call me Peony. Being called 'My lord' and 'your highness' makes me feel like some sort of king." Another bubble formed, and Guy had to shift his weight to his other foot in order to keep himself even slightly comfortable. The only noise that could be found now was found from the waterfall in the back, still barfing up its dam contents into the glorious back-water pool. Peony cleared his throat, hacking up whatever phlegm he must, and spoke again.

"But if you need a job, I'd be happy to give you the assignment of watching my Rappigs."

At that, another bubble swelled together, cuddling up to the first one, almost acting like some sort of warning, but the blonde ignored it, and went on with whatever he planned to say.

"That would be greatly appreciated."

In reality, Guy wanted to strangle the emperor for giving him the most demeaning job that he could probably think of. But, being one to stay calm under pressure, hatred, general annoyance to anyone that didn't have the first name of 'Sync' and hair that could match the trees, tried all too familiarly to keep emotions off of his face.

"And where are you staying?"

"Not sure yet."

"I'll set up a place for you in the noble quarters. Sort of as a 'thank you' gift, for keeping the world from destruction and all that." A winded laugh quietly echoed out of the emperor's mouth, the airy chuckle reaching Guy's ears and making him wince ever-so-slightly at how completely childish the ruler of his home-country was.

"Thank you very much."

"See me later for the address and information, I have another appointment."

And Guy left without another word.

(x)

Days, weeks, and possibly even months later, Guy could find himself in Chesedonia, a feeling in his chest tight, and the worry in his stomach apparent on his face. He felt like he was going to up-chuck on something, and he wasn't sure if it was just repercussion of eating some hot dish that Natalia had whipped up in her free time, or if there was something actually wrong and fever-inducing that made his hands that clammy, and feel that light-headed.

'It's just the heat'. He told himself, convinced for the moment, but not at the next. It was like this disgusting cycle of excuses and exclusives, since he wasn't convincing himself, and he didn't feel like telling anyone that didn't already know (Jade knows everything) that he felt like his stomach was doing cart-wheels with its best friend, Gall-bladder.

Though, taking themselves through the border without so much as a concern, the group stopped as a familiar voice wavered through the sand-infested air.

"Come one, come all! Everyone who wants to know the Score follow me!"

Guy felt his heart pound, he felt his fingertips tingle, and he could hear this bell of alarm go off in his head that no one else seemed to notice. Silence overhung the group, if only for a moment, and for only a split second, it was as though the polarity of Auldrant had suddenly switched itself around and flipped in every direction nameable.

"Hey, doesn't that sound like…?"

No one wanted to say names at first, without actually seeing for themselves who it was exactly. It was like this thing that they told themselves 'If we don't say who it is, maybe it won't be them.' They honestly believed it, too, if only for the briefest of moments, smallest of seconds, but during one time period in their minds, they all held the same doubt.

But everyone wasn't such an ignorant fool.

"Sync!"

And then the world began to fall apart at the seams once more.

(x)

Guy had never in his life imagined he would feel so guilty, so inhuman, so entirely wrong and filthy. But he did, he felt all of those emotions with a sickening gag running through his throat, paralyzing his heart and veins cold with the feeling of icy venom. The entire thought process he had felt wrong, from the tip of his tongue to the heel of his foot, he felt guilty, sickened, maybe even the smallest bit maddened.

He watched, all so dutifully, as Sync was bashed on, blamed for, persecuted against, and he not could do a single thing about it but swallow his pride and accept the terrible differences as they were. How he would have loved to have angrily spoken up in the sandy winds that never ceased, and simply admitted something about himself that the everyday person could have found was awkward, creepy, possibly even deranged with a small hint of insanity and foul play. How he would have loved to simply lie in Sync's lap, like a scared, run-away cat, curling up tightly and forgetting everything and anything that he had done wrong throughout his whole entire life of hate, revenge, and lies. It would be so sick and demented, but he would soak up every moment in pure pleasure.

"Anise, you of all people should realize."

Sick bastard, as he may be, Sync knew which tricks to play that worked, and which ones didn't.

He sounded identical to his twin, yet he did it not for the pure sake of unadulterated innocence, but of the pure malice of marring Anise's normal mood, stature, and emotional sanity. This green-haired devil, who did everything and anything just for the pure purpose of ruining everyone else's lives like they ruined his so easily, was ever so close to shattering her straight-faced mask that hovered delicately over her pallid face, leaving her 99 percent defenseless and stranded with a side dash of emotionally raped. But, what did he care? He didn't, and that's why he did it all, and it hit Guy like a brick to the face as he realized the self-destructing replica that he had became infatuated with.

It all made him feel sick, but he couldn't find the words to say anything, yet all the same he still felt the ever-so-strong urge to run away. He felt he needed to flee from Luke, and from everything that had ever reminded him of strictly revenge, and simply fall to Sync's feet like a pathetic love-struck girl. But he knew that he could never do that, if not for the fact that he cared about his pathetically stupid red-haired idiot, then for the fact that the age differences would make him look like some molester of sorts.

"Come on, let's go to Astor's."

"All right."

Guy felt his ego ripping after that, and there was nothing to stop the shredding seams.

(x)

Almost directly afterwards, with the poise and position of world order and sanity, they had a visit to his imperial majesty, Peony Upala Malkuth IX. The floating water capitol was the same as it always was, bright and sunny with a shapely waterfall covering the majority of the horizon and marring the sunset that etched its way beautifully into the once-blue sky.

The group had something or other to report to the emperor, but Guy wasn't paying too much attention to the events as of late, and just went along with whatever they had to do, regardless of what it actually was. Everyone in the group seemed tense, so Natalia had insisted that everyone wind down a bit before going to see the flamboyant ruler, which mainly meant that she and Tear wanted to do some shopping but didn't want to openly suggest it. Luke had automatically protested, but a creepy smirk and agreement from Jade that yes, they should relax a little bit, was all the replica needed to allow the miniscule vacation that each party member needed in equal amounts.

"Tear and I off to do some restocking." Natalia was the first one to scoot out of the group, a slightly disgruntled songstress being dragged along by the arm, forcing her to be brought along to help carry the plethora of items that the princess 'needed'.

"I'm off to go get some repairs on Toku." A slight curtsey, and Anise was off as well, using the age-old excuse of her precious fighter needing to be stitched up, when in all honesty, she was most likely going to spend her cut of the groups money on chocolate and useless weapons, like she did every time they restocked individually.

Jade honestly left without so much as a word, not even caring if the two remaining males were at all worried about where he was going, though, knowing the Colonel well enough, they assumed he was either off to a bar, or he was going to go check that his office hadn't been thoroughly diminished by the rappig-obsessed king.

"Hey, Guy, what are you going to do?" Luke really had started to sound much more innocent, naïve, and maybe even with a slight dash of docile, in the past month or so that they had ultimately reunited, and it made something itchy and uncomfortable stick to the back of Guy's throat. In all honesty, some part of it made him feel guilty, but he was hardly sure what exactly it was anymore, and decided not to think on it too hard.

"Go home, probably, set up a couple rooms for us." Guy's voice sounded tired -exhausted really- because while saving the world with his best friend forever was a rather fun and adventurous ordeal, it was hardly to be considered an easy task. In all honesty, it drained his energy completely just thinking about all of the fights and challenges that they'd had to overcome just to make it as far as they had, not to mention the rest of the road of battles that they were surely to come across.

"Oh, to save money aside from going to an Inn?" 'Innocent', the blonde swordsman thought to himself grimly, 'purely innocent'.

"Something like that." The blonde paused for a moment, air coating over his lungs smoothly, easing whatever anxiety ailed him, if only momentarily. "You go and have fun, if you run into anyone, make sure to tell them to head to my place when they're done shopping… or being Jade."

A light chuckle escaped through the redhead's mouth, turning into an innocent cackle before settling down enough for him to agree to let Guy take care of the sleeping arrangements in a winded tone of voice that spoke in 1000watts of 'nostalgia'. Without so much as another word, the last member of the party departed from the blonde swordsman, leaving him alone in front of the marred beauty of a waterfall, before he himself set off to his house.

He could already feel the eyes on him, but tried his hardest to ignore them.

(x)

He knew that the residential area of Grand Chokmah was a twisted maze of turns and broken pathways, but he had never gotten lost in it before. Well, that is, before now. At this moment, the easily-excitable was as lost as Alice in Wonderland, and he couldn't exactly remember which way it was to his own house, considering the month that he had been away from it. By now, the sunset that marred the beauty of the waterfalls that aligned Grand Chokmah so carefully was now turned into a purple hue, the sun dipping beneath the horizon, but still present enough to dimly light up the streets.

Another turn, and he found himself in yet another alley way, each one seeming to be identical to the last, the only difference, really, being the amount of trashcans that lay tipped over in them, forgotten to the suburban eyes. He swore that despite being lost, everything seemed to look strangely familiar, like he was on the right track to somewhere, but as of the past half-hour or so it had seemed like he was on the right track, only to be painfully reminded that he really had no idea where he was anymore. But, despite the obvious reminders previously that he didn't know where he was, this alley way that he was located in now, with a musty look to it and a bit of graffiti here and there, spoke to him vividly, telling him that he knew exactly where he was.

'It can't be…'

This alley, with its hollow-drum trashcans and rusty pipes, was the one from his dream, the only thing missing, really, was the olive-haired boy and a plethora of screaming and yelling. The realization of where he was hit Guy like a brick to the side of his face, and he couldn't help but feel absolutely disgruntled and confused, his heart automatically racing at a hundred miles per second and his mind shutting down as he could have sworn he heard someone yelling in the distance, but prayed for it just to be his imagination.

With shaky legs, he proceeded to walk down the alley, taking note at every small detail, remembering each scuffle and painted scar from his dream and thinking how absolutely creepy it was for this never-before-seen alley was the one that came straight from his dream, let alone for it to be from one of his more tabooed dreams, with names in it that he would never dare speak of his own volition. Cerulean eyes dashing from detail to detail, a part of his mind racing with only one thought, one small prayer, and that being that he would find his way home soon, because the group was surely going to get worried if he wasn't there soon, but more importantly, a larger part of his conscience praying with every fiber in his body for the horizon to stay silent, at least until he passed through open frame between the two buildings and into the hastily depleting sunlight once more.

A hollow bang echoed behind him, causing him to jump nearly a foot in the air, a gasp of air being taken in after subconsciously holding his breath for the past few moments, and turn around in one fluid motion, eyes training quickly to the source of the sound. The first thing he saw was green, followed by a deep charcoal, only for him to realize at the last second what it was, and who it was that was running away from him with such a might that it turned over an empty trashcan.

"Sync!"

The forsaken name escaped from his lips, his voice an octave or so higher then it should have been, yet still keeping a sort of manly aggression in it that made it sound like he hadn't been hoping for the fon master's replica. The aforementioned boy, who had previously been trying to run away in a half-hearted haste, was now frozen solid, his muscles halted in a mid-running pose, and now he wasn't even trying to run away. It struck Guy as a bit odd, since a few moments after the boy stopped, he turned his head slowly to face the blonde, a half of a smirk gracing over his hardly delicate face, the bags under his eyes appearing tenfold as dark, considering how overworked he must have been with all of the work he must have been receiving as of late.

"So, you came."

Guy didn't really know how to think of this, considering that if the God-General thought he was searching the place out, then how would he react to the knowledge that he had stumbled upon the place on accident, and even more so that he was actually lost.

"I, uh, sort of."

'Great, real intelligent sounding.' Guy chastised himself hastily, sarcasm floating through his mind like a heavy dose of cyanide. The look Sync through at him was a desperate mix between anxious, upset, and amused, though that last part of it was mainly the pleasure he got from seeing people around him make fools of themselves like the idiots that the God-General knew they truly were. Though, while the look the teen gave the blond had this hint of inferiority in it, the majority of it was this sort of ambition, this lonely arrogance, that Guy knew almost all too well was just a façade.

"What are you doing here?"

Sync's voice seemed to reach three octaves higher, and while it made him sound if even slightly closer to his high-and-mighty Gemini, it just didn't seem to fit the arrogant, snide attitude that he had pretty much trademarked. An uneasy feeling swelled in Guy's gut, and he didn't know if he should just up and tell the truth that he was lost, or if he should lie to the Tempest and tell him that he was just wandering around town or some other lame, bull-shit excuse that he was hardly clever enough to come up with. An awkward moment passed in silence, the purple hue of the sunset coming over them in an unsettling mood, and Guy just pressed his weight onto his other foot, comfortable if only for the briefest of seconds.

"I'm lost."

The two words seemed to simply slip out and become lost in the air between them for eternity, only for the olive-haired teen to finally realize the meanings of the words, a snarky chuckle relapsing into the back of his throat. A time period that might as well have been three and a half ice ages passed before the Tempest settled back down, his shoulders rotating ever-so-slightly, and his emerald eyes lolling lazily over Guy's face, making him feel an unsettling amount of tension and anxiety boil in his lower stomach, flapping thin butterfly wings to tickle its neighboring organs.

"Y-you're actually lost? Wow, talk about pathetic! I'd have thought that traveling around would have given you some sense of direction, but apparently not." Before he even gave Guy the allotted amount of time to justify himself, another round of low chortles erupted from within the tempest's thin throat, killing the precious silence that had formed only moments ago, only for the sound to quickly subside into a messy halt, not riding off eventually like it had done previously. The tempest shook his head lightly, obviously trying to shake something out of his mind, 'perhaps a bad memory or thought?' Guy mused momentarily, before casting the thought away as quickly as it had come to him.

"What are you doing here Sync?"

In all honesty, Guy's voice surprised the boy as much as it surprised himself, and not just because of the way it sounded low and sultry, but with a hint of childish curiosity and excitement like it always had. The olive-haired replica froze at this, ignoring the tone of his voice and, if the blonde could assume correctly, thinking of some sort of excuse, because telling the enemy all of his plans was one thing that was not normally on the typical menu of conversation.

"It, uh, well," There was a momentary pause, the olive haired replica's voice sounding so unsure of itself before rising four octaves and turning into back into his typical throaty, defensive shout. "It's none of your business!"

"Sure it is, I mean, you said yourself that you'd been waiting." Contrary to popular belief, Guy actually was very smart when it came to putting two and two together, and in this situation, the way that Sync had originally addressed him told him very easily that the boy had been waiting. So, you came, the words themselves were fairly innocent, maybe a teeny bit weird and concerning, but in the context of the current situation, the words became awkward, puzzling, and maybe a bit more hen just creepy.

"I-uh, what?" The tempest stammered out, his voice becoming indignant and pitchy, probably a bit shocked at what the blonde swordsman had said.

The way the boy's voice contorted so easily, responding so swiftly to the words the blonde spoke, sent a bubble of uncertainty to Guy's stomach, his brain shutting down momentarily before rebooting, now realizing at the last moment how entirely close he was to the tempest. Ten feet, maybe, was all the distance separating them, and if Guy truly wanted to, he could easily seize the boy, but quickly cast the thought aside, since it wouldn't do him any good.

A moment or so passed in silence before the boy reopened his mouth to speak, uncertainty lacing gracefully over his pallid face before being locked back down by ball and chain somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Get out of my way and let me do what I came to do."

Obliging wordlessly, Guy stepped out of the teen's way, watching him out of the corner of his eye and becoming simply mesmerized by the way Sync's hips swayed to and fro with such simplicity, and the way his hair hardly moved as he crouched down to face the side of one of the buildings that made the alley as dark as it was. 'What is he doing?' the blonde thought hastily, his eyes scanning over the teen carefully, making sure to fully analyze everything he was doing, from simply crouching down on one knee, to the way his gloved hands traced a line over the wall, bringing it up to closely examine what it was on it. The way that Sync did all of this, with the secrecy and the structured confidentiality, it was so similar to the way he acted in that dream, the way he held himself with this odd sense of niceness, and the thought of this all being a dream discomforted Guy to no end.

"It's not your blood, idiot."

The words themselves were nothing higher then a whispered sigh, but it was loud enough for the blonde guardian to hear, and it made every blood vessel in his body race, his heart pumping tenfold and his mind going into a similar shock that he could remember from last time. With hands clammy and blood pumping, Guy could feel his brain suffocating, blocking out all rational thoughts.

"What do you mean by that?"

Without so much as even a glance, let alone an explanation, Sync got to his feet, barely staying standing long enough before running down the alley, not caring which direction so long as he was away from the inquiring blonde. Panic infested within Guy's stomach, bubbling uncomfortably and making his eyes see butterfly wings as he thoughtlessly gave chase to the tempest, running towards the purple hue that made up the lighting outside the alley.

"Hey, wait!"

He could feel his footing come up from behind him, making him stumble forward before straitening back up and giving way to a full-force sprint, not allowing himself even a moment to even think of the repercussions of darting out of the alley before crashing into something, falling flat on his ass. At first he was winded, but after hardly even half a second passed before the clumsy blonde had found his voice again to humbly apologize for his ill mannerisms.

"I am so sorry, please accept my apology…" His eyes were shut tight, wincing in the pain his buttocks yelped in, his left hand supporting himself on the dirty city sidewalk with his other hand rubbing his side slowly, in all honesty, it was the most typical of positions possible for the after-math of a klutzy fall, but that didn't mean the swordsman wasn't engaging in it. With another puff of a breath, he opened one of his eyes, gracing the azure orb onto the person who he had so ceremoniously collided with, only for both eyes to widen tremendously, and for an awkward feeling to burrow its way deep in his conscience, paralyzing rational thought.

"L-Legretta?"

His voice sounded unsure, because he wasn't really sure if it was her or not, considering that she had this air of ultimate nonchalance about her, which she would never be caught dead possessing, not to mention the dull fact that her face wasn't nearly as well-carved as it normally was, and her chest seemed to have been lacking in the bust department, if only slightly. Not like he really stared at it or anything, it just was an observation.

"Legretta, leave him. Not today."

A voice sounded behind the sharp-shooter, and before Guy could really process how ultimate cruel it sounded, with this cut and curt sound to it that shattered his ego, he noticed an olive color, his heart pumping blood at a pace that he was sure it was going to burst at any second. Merely half a moment later, the owner of this mysterious voice revealed himself, showing that it was simply the Fon Master, Ion. This connected with Guy's brain as being rather suspicious, because not only was Ion particularly lethargic, he also lacked the shimmering light in his eyes that he always had, regardless of being around the God-Generals or not, not to mention something about him seemed particularly grim.

Was this even Ion at all?

"But, Fon Master…" The look that the blonde gave him made Guy shudder lightly, because even from his pathetic position on the ground, he could see the fear dancing through her eyes, and panic that was most likely racing through her veins. It made the clumsy male wonder a bit, because he knew that Legretta normally had this ultimate air of bravery about her, never backing down and never ceasing a single challenge, regardless of orders. To see her reduced to such a scared state, it seriously made the swordsman worried about who exactly Ion was, or if he was even Ion at all.

It was odd, really, watching the squabbling between the two, yet something struck Guy as so entirely odd that he couldn't find what to place it as, whether it was the fact that Ion was surprisingly the same height as the sharp-shooting feminist, or if it was the fact that the Fon Master didn't look nearly as young as he really was, and actually appeared to be somewhere along the lines of seventeen, maybe even eighteen if he just aged well. But, the thoughts of their oddity were as quickly abandoned as they were summoned, and the fallen guardian proceeded to occupy himself with watching the two co-workers.

"Legretta..." The low tone of his voice, it held this odd sultry tone that was a dangerous mix of innocent Ion's nicest, lightest alto chuckle, and the Tempest's darkest, deepest staccato growl, and it sent shivers of unpleasant electricity down Guy's spine. A feeling of uncertainty burrowed its way into the guardian's mind, telling him to get up and run away, but no matter how many commands were sent to his nerves through his vertebrae, he stayed put where he was, staring up at the purple-hued sky beyond the two 'imposters'.

"Alright."

Without so much as another word from either of them, the two imposters left the clueless male, and without so much as another thought on it, Guy proceeded to pry himself from his position on the ground, and resume attempting to find his house in the maze of dead ends and lost passageways.

He somehow made it home before everyone else, and 'relieved' would have been the understatement of the century to describe how he felt.

(x)

Many months and moons later, and the final destination had come to be, and with one last fast-maneuvering on Noelle's part, the group had not-so-safely landed within the vast walls of Eldrant.

The inside of it was extremely different then how one would expect it to be, the rooms being made entirely out of a brilliant, creamy white marble, the walls being aligned gracefully by breath-taking statues of dress-clad maidens and the floors being recreated with a delicate pattern that spoke in volumes of pure regality and elegancy. Though, while the scenery was so utterly beautiful it seemed to stun even Jade, if only in the slightest, their goal seemed to be more prominent in their mind, since the moment they even dared taking a step inside of the forsaken building, a certain blond sharp-shooter stood in their way, risking her life like her camaraderie before her.

"Legretta!"

This time that Guy saw her, she was back to how she always was, elegant face being distorted by an overly serious snarl, her eyes flaring vividly with the passion to protect her commandant, not like the scared half-busted woman that had seen him fall so gracefully onto his thinly covered butt. She was the Legretta that didn't back down from a challenge, that put her all into fulfilling her tasks, and only took orders from the man that she had originally planned on killing.

A speech commenced, raising morale among herself, before bravely plunging into an ultimate fight to the death, in where she obviously had no hope, considering the four on one scenario that the group always though of as a 'fair fight'. It was pathetic, really, how her vicious efforts were strangled so easily, silencing her within seconds and sending her back into the Fon Belt, her particles rejoining with those of her deceased comrades.

The rest of the events in this replicated Eldrant, this fools' haven, were just too positively strange to be considered real, everything just seemed like it was all part of the façade of this horrible nightmare, this terrifying reality. It shook everyone to the core to realize the demise of their oh-so-lovable God-General redhead, the original of the Fabre twins, yet something helped them to cope with it, and that might have been the realization that Luke had simply absorbed the older Gemini into himself, amplifying his already impressive power to tremendous levels unlike anything before. Though, before anyone could properly mourn over the loss of their worst friend and closest enemy, a certain figure stood before them, white coat tails flowing blithely in the sensitive air currents, and his eyes set bitterly on the thought of victory overly the group that had meaninglessly slaughtered the rest of his co-workers.

"It doesn't matter to me, I'm empty."

"Sync…"

"Let's test it. You, or the empty me. Let's see which side the world wants to survive!"(1)

Guy could hear his heart smashing into a thousand pieces, and part of him didn't even care enough to pick the shards up.

(x)

The moment the final blow was landed onto the frail replica, Guy couldn't help but feel the ultimate regret. Sure, he had defeated the tempest plenty of times in the past, but the teen always receded before any real damage could be done to risk his health permanently and now, with the future of the world hanging in the balance, giving up was a last-resort option that had greedily been stolen from the olive-haired tempest's menu.

Seeing the boy kneeling there, one leg propped into a ninety degree angle, and the other being forced to the ground to give his upper body the shaky support he needed, all the while showing off the scars and tattoos that he hid under his clothing, the image itself was the epitome of 'pathetic'. Guy felt the butterflies of uncertainty wiggle their way into his stomach, flapping away to tickle graciously against the surrounding organs, and the blonde guardian couldn't even bring himself to care anymore. Eyes gazed upon him, some roughly, and others with just sheer curiosity and possibly bemusement, as he walked up the steps Sync placed himself on top of, each step throwing fuel to the fire as the butterflies in his stomach worked their way up, throwing his heart into his throat, along with his kidney and spleen.

"Guy…?"

With one last resounding 'tap', he had made his way up the half-dozen steps, and while they felt like they went on forever, he reached the top, the goal, the tempest, and without so much as another logical statement, sentence, or even thought, he wrapped his arms carelessly around the male, showing the 'hollow' teen the affection he had been robbed of since the moment he was 'born' from the bowels of a replication machine.

Everyone simply stared at him, each with their own individual taking of the scene, a clammy-palmed Luke staring wide eyed and simply livid at the thought of his Guy showing affection to anyone other then him, while on the other side of the spectrum, a wide-eyed Anise simply gazed upon the two with an approving maternal sort of smile. An uncanny silence filled the air, seemingly everyone holding their breathe except for Guy, who seemed to simply breath with a sort of winded smile.

Sure, Guy could feel the eyes on him, each one sending an individual shiver down his spine, but when the bleeding teen cautiously wrapped one arm lazily around his hip, bringing the older male closer to him, he felt all of the stares disappear, because he finally had what he wanted. At long last, he had obtained the acceptance of his previously unrequited love towards the olive-haired, white clad tempest, and nothing was going to tell him that he was doing anything wrong, that he was a sick, perverted old man.

"I'm sorry."

The words themselves seemed hollow, but when Guy opened his eyes from the blissful tirade that had made them close, he found the tempest's olive orbs staring straight into his, salty water pooling into them, threatening to fall and mar the awkward teenage beauty that he had. The blonde guardian simply flashed the fading replica a small, half-docile smile, fully aware of the infection in his heart known as loneliness, and self-hatred that was becoming cleansed with that one, seemingly simple, hug.

"It's alright, Sync, everything is alright."

And with that, the tempest faded into the hollow grips of nothingness.

(x)

Shortly after, the final battle had commenced, and while there was an odd sense of completion, of finality, that came with the permanent defeat of Van, having to see the redhead, who the blonde guardian had raised since the young replica was first brought into the world, leave like it was going to take him merely a moment to release Lorelei simply tore Guy apart to no end, especially with the final departure of his 'love'. In all honesty, he didn't like referring to Sync as that, since it just seemed a bit too weird for even him, but having the confirmation to be able to, it was a little guilty pleasure the blonde guardian loved to take part in.

Though, the only thing that really saddened him to the point of no end was the fact that he knew that if he returned to Baticul now, there would be no fumbling, almost-always cheerful redhead awaiting his for arrival eagerly, and the fact that he knew if he got lost on the way to his home from resuming his job of grooming his emperor's rappigs, there would be no olive-haired teen there to give him a bit of interesting conversation before sprinting off to leave him with some oddly-placed imposters.

'It just, wouldn't happen anymore.' He told himself solemnly, trying his hardest to convince himself, even though the doubt that heavily laden his conscience's voice was thicker then Jade's well-timed jokes of being an 'old-timer'. 'Not in this lifetime, or any other.'

After all, there was nothing that needed to happen. The world had gone back to normal, Van had been ultimately silenced, and not even the occasional reminder of a dream long-abandoned could convince Guy otherwise.

The only real reminder he had anymore of the adventure that had already celebrated it's second year anniversary was the occasional visit he got from Jade while delicately grooming over the uncaring, flamboyant emperor's rappigs, hardly even listening to the awkwardly-pitched rambling of the over-excited ruler. During one of the visits he received, however, the now-promoted Brigadier General had mentioned something about a get-together that was going to be happening in Tataroo Valley on the third year anniversary of Eldrant's destruction, and how the group was going to be reassembling.

"It would be appreciated if you came with." For once, the tone in Jade's voice wasn't sarcastic, or even a rude growl, it was just this odd sort of leveled-out seriousness that left a horribly rancid taste in the very back of Guy's mouth. Being one to always put up a mask, the blonde rappig-sitter simply smiled pleasantly, nodding his head lightly with his confirmation.

"Well, I wasn't really planning anything that far ahead, so I'm sure I'll be able to go."

The days after that seemed to simply merge with one another without so much as a moment going by that the now-childless guardian didn't yearn for both of his replicated loves back, with Luke filling the position of his rambunctious child and Sync taking place of a youthful first-love. It was overly dramatic and partially sappy, but every second that went by of every day, Guy seemed to miss the two boys even more, hardly even caring at all about the other four members of the God-Generals -and the solo rogue- that had risked their lives to bring about Van's dream…well, aside from Dist. Dist was currently locked up in a penitentiary that was hardly even an entire hallway away from Jade's office, meaning that the General got an earful of the albino-haired male's screeching more often then not in a day. That poor, poor man.

But regardless, weeks passed by slowly, but before Guy even had the time to change his calendar properly, the date for the long-awaited gathering had finally rolled around, causing both an awkward anxiety and an unbearable excitement within the blonde, the conflicting emotions settling into a hopeful medium that allowed him to pretend he wasn't expecting the redhead to simply appear, the light of the sacred flame blazing through the forsaken night.

When everyone had first found each other on the Albiore, it was just one surprise after another, considering that Anise had not only grown by leaps and bounds since they had last seen each other, but she now had this air about her that made everyone believe she really was going to be the next Fon Master, Natalia was looking like a very promising new hope for the Kimlascan throne, and Tear had, not only expanded her bust size, but she had also expanded her wisdom and understanding of the hymns, allowing her to sing the Grand Fonic Hymn and know the meaning of every verse.

At the last moment, instead of simply gathering to watch the view of the fallen empire, they had decided to lure out the first 'perfect' replica with the studies that the songstress had taken so much time and energy to practice.

"Tue Lei Ze Kuloa Ryuo Tue Ze,"

The world seemed to spin around them, and if Guy hadn't already felt like he was guilt-tripped and drugged, he did now, considering the way his head felt constricted yet loose, like there was pressure building inside of his skull like some screwed-up balloon.

"Kuloa Ryuo Ze Tue Ryuo Lei Neu Ryuo Ze,"

'Everyone's so tense', the blonde noted casually, not even caring as to have some sort of brain-filter, because his head felt so tripped out on acid, or whatever it was, that he didn't even care how terribly uncouth he acted in the realm of his own mind.

"Va Lei Ze Tue Neu Tue Ryuo Tue Kuloa,"

'I wonder if,' He paused for a second, his eyes shutting in bliss as the power of the hymn overtook him for half of a second, before he continued on with his thoughts. 'Luke will actually hear this, or if he's even alive anymore.' At that, Guy shook his head softly, shutting his eyes tight as he did so before opening them again quickly, staring out into the bruise-shaded sky, not a single star shimmering. 'No, I can't talk like that, for all we know, he's still alive, maybe just resting.'

"Ryuo Lei Kuloa Ryuo Ze Lei Va Ze Lei,"

Another verse, and he could feel his gut warming in an uncomfortable silence, the effects of the songstresses' hymn luring him into an odd trance. 'Yeah, Luke is just resting, and as soon as he hears this, Lorelei will wake him up and…' He cut himself off short, realizing just how terrible he was acting about this situation.

"Va Neu Va Lei Va Neu Va Ze Lei,"

'I really am pathetic.'

"Kuloa Ryuo Kuloa Neu Tue Lei Kuloa Ryuo Ze Lei Va,"

In all honesty, some part of Guy's brain told him he was ultimately a terrible person, yet some other part of him prayed with every fiber it could convince that Luke would appear, and not only that, but he would have his olive-haired love in tow, a half of a frown plastered to the less-then-enthusiastic boy's face. It would be perfect, really, it that could happen, but the blonde knew that it was really just exceedingly cruel wishful thinking and scolded himself to stop before he actually upsets himself.

"Lei Va Neu Kuloa Tue Lei Lei."

With one last note that seemed to draw out to an eternity, the group seemed to settle down from the state that the song had worked them all into. A feeling of uncertainty etched its way into Guy's brain, only to settle into his stomach as the group let out a simultaneous breath of air, seemingly each person holding their breath for the duration of the big-busted songstresses' hymn.

A moment of silence followed, each person taking little to no heed to the raging waterfall in the background, or the nighttime cicadas that chirped noisily to create a typical sort of white noise. Azure eyes scanned over the horizon, taking no notice at the glistening sea, or the way the selenias seemed to open up, if ever so slightly. The scenery really had no effect on the depressed childless guardian, and if he really gave even the slightest of attention to his surroundings, he may have noticed the way that the to-be female Fon Master twiddled her hands nervously around the seams of her protective, pale rose tabard, or the way that the middle-aged General seemed to uncomfortably shift from one foot to the other, finding neither comfortable in this truly hopeless situation.

Natalia chose that moment of awkward silence as her opportunity to break the ice, mentioning to the big-busted Songstress and guardian of the absent replicated boy how their presence was required for the services of Luke's coming-of-age ceremony, regardless of him being there or not. The two seemed to freeze in an uncomfortable unison, and all Guy could think of was 'don't break', his mind racing with thought after thought of how cruel exactly the situation really was. 'Don't you dare break character.'

"Let the other's stand around Luke's grave, telling stories of how young and noble he was, but I won't be joining them!"

He could feel salty tears filling around the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision until everything was one dark blob, but no matter what he did, he refused to let the marring liquid fall, let alone smear its way down his reddening checks. In all honesty, the tears were not because of how Luke refused to come back, or to even show some sign of finding an eternal peace, but because of the fact that before, he had been leading Luke, showing him what to do, what not to do, how to sit up straight and use utensils properly, but now… now he was the one who was being led. The redhead had dragged him along for the second half of their adventure, making sure that Guy was as interested in him as he was with everything else that wasn't Sync, and then at the very end of it all, Luke just….

Luke just left him.

"We shouldn't stay here too long, the monsters here at night get especially riled." (2)

With that, the group agreed with the General wordlessly, not finding the words within themselves, considering the immense depression everyone must have been feeling. At that moment, Guy was beside himself, screaming out every insult and synonym of the word 'pathetic' that he could come up with to describe himself, finding each one more and more appropriate. No one spoke at they trudged through the grassy plain, and because of this heavy silence, when a single gasp cut through the air from Tear's lips to everyone's ears, the entire cast had to simply turn around to see her, eyes watering as she gazed forward, urging them all to look for themselves.

There, in the middle of the field of blooming selenias, stood a single figure, luscious red hair gracing across the bruised night sky, stature taller now then anyone had ever remembered, with his eyes leveled into a calm gaze.

"I like this place; it has a nice view of Hod."

"Luke!"

Without so much as another thought, everyone aside from the stone-cold General rushed towards the redhead, finding him to not be an illusion like they had maybe thought at first. The guardian of the boy could feel his veins being pumped with adrenaline, his heart practically thumping out of his chest as he reached the now-grown replica, finding another shadow behind the teen.

"Luke, is that…?" Natalia's voice trailed off as she looked uncertainly at the two shadows that had emerged from behind the matured redhead, revealing a shocking discovery of two specific faces.

"While I was merged with Lorelei, I resurrected two of our 'closer' friends." The sarcasm ran dry through his sentence, and he ended up sounding more calm then anything, as the two figures emerged from his shadow, revealing hair of dark cherry, and bright olive. It took Guy a moment to realize what exactly was going on, but he then realized that his ultimate fantasy, for Luke to reappear and simply hand over the deed to his very own Sync, was actually happening, along with an awkward not-upset redhead that he had never before seen pleased.

"Asch? Is it really you?" Her voice was shaky, tears welling up in her eyes, and the princess seemed to think it was an appropriate time to ignore any manners she had been taught, and simply flung herself at the two males, bringing the Gemini's into a bone-crushing hug and was both tear-stained and bruising. The now-mature replica simply smiled at this, and allowed himself to be brought down under the weight of the Kimlascan princess, while his original, who seemed a bit weird in terms of how he looked and acted, laughed at this, saying little half-sentences along the lines of 'it's alright, Natalia, you don't have to cry.'

Though, what really caught Guy's attention, aside from the awkward hug-fest going on between the two Gemini's, Natalia, and a jealously added-in Anise, was a shy look that he was getting from a now-grownup Sync, with hair being pulled sloppily over his head to cover his right eye, while other chunks stood out of place like it always did, just slightly longer. In all honesty, he wasn't sure how excited he could be with Sync, or how much PDA he could show the young replica, but he decided to simply give the boy the benefit of the doubt and embrace him in a way that was friendly enough to not be creepy, but intimate enough to get the point across, pulling the revived olive-haired teen in an odd run-hug that the Kimlascan princess had done on her cherry-haired fiancée.

"Wah! Guy!"

Obviously, the teen wasn't expecting the blonde to tackle him full-out, and the two fell to the ground, the blooming selenias lighting up the olive-haired male's face in a way that spoke in both 'elegance' and 'beauty', though with this odd sort of difference in it that wasn't the same as his face usually was. Guy quickly dismissed it, however, since he was absolutely ecstatic at the fact that he had everything he ever wanted, Luke, Sync, and the ability to coddle the two with no one even caring less about if he was getting a bit too 'personal' with the replica that used to hate them, and do things simply to spite them.

"Jeez, Guy, can't keep your hand off of him for a second, huh?" Luke had his toothy grin back, and even though his hair was dramatically dipping down his face, to cover his eyes, the bright emotion in them was prominent, and his guardian could feel his veins pumping with a positive adrenaline, bubbles of excitement swelling in his gut. Without so much as another breath, the blonde ex-swordsman reached out his hand, grabbing Luke by the coat-sleeve and dragging him down to the ground with the olive-haired ex-tempest. A few moments passed in silence before everyone burst out laughing, enjoying the silly childish the Luke brought out of Guy, and the Guy brought out of Luke.

"Hey, we should probably be heading out, monsters and all that. An old person like myself wouldn't be able to defend myself against a rampant boar." (3)

"Oh, shut up, Jade, you're so obnoxious!"

Life seemed, at long last, to be looking up.

(x)

Months went by afterwards, and the renown swordsman and his love, an ex-God-General, began to reside together in the blonde's humble abode in the shimmering capitol of Grand Chokmah. Life was wonderful for the busy couple, and aside from the odd stare or two they had sometimes received from the occasional pedestrian as Guy ran off to his duties in Peony's throne room, after being promoted wonderfully from his task of guarding the emperor's precious rappigs to guarding the emperor himself. It wasn't that complicated of a job, but the way that Peony fretted over the blonde made him a bit flushed.

Surprisingly enough, to both the blonde guardian and anyone who dared enough to inquire on the touchy subject, him and Sync had a strict rule of keeping their pants on, surprisingly enough. It wasn't as though Guy felt bad for the age difference that was between the two, considering that Sync was now only seventeen, almost eighteen, but more-so because he wanted to wait before he dared to paint over the replica's pretty, pearly white, virginal canvas. It just wasn't in him to dare initiate that kind of thing.

Some things just weren't in Guy's nature; intercourse was one of those things.

Peony, however, knew about the blonde's disposition of naivety, and took it upon himself to set the mood for the two, though; the majority of his attempts ended in a horrible failure and were normally somewhere along the lines of sexually harassing the two by sending them mail along the lines of 'have children already!' Needless to say, the awkward couple found the mail irritating, and the older of the two was always forced to decline his overly flamboyant ruler's raunchy command.

Though, despite the weird mail the ex-tempest and guard got from the emperor on the rare occasion, life was going rather swell for them, with a decent income from Guy's 'important' job, and a small amount of allowance coming from commissions Sync would do on the rare occasion to pose in as a body guard for travelers, they were able to live a very comfortable life together, with or without the little squabbling here and there.

The only thing that could ever bother them, aside from the small fights that any healthy couple would have, were the dreams that the good spirited blonde would have every once in a while. While dreams were a good thing, and having them on regular basis was healthy for any normal person, be them male, female, infant or senior, Guy highly doubted having repulsively real, always consecutive dreams –nightmares, really- was healthy, especially for a twenty-four year old male.

The first one he had, it was nothing more then a small bit, a snippet if you will, of the whole story that he had yet to begin to learn, and even begin to hate.

Drearily, his eyes opened with a bruised feeling to stare at a greyhen ceiling, finding nothing really that amazing about it other then the fact that it was far too dirtily stained for it to be his bedroom's clean plaster. Less then a second later, his ears began to detect a light 'beeping' from his right, but as he went to turn his head to investigate the sound, he was intercepted, a pair of woman's hand, and he could only tell this by the scarlet red nail polish that scorned it so and the way the skin over her knuckles was so smoothly aligned, taking his right and left temple into their grasp, keeping his head from moving, before shouting something that seemed so surreal and typical that Guy would have laughed had he not felt the dire urge to throw up.

"Doctor, he's awakened!"

Moments after this woman, this 'nurse', as he presumed in his dreary state, had spoken so loudly, he was being forced off of his back, his lower areas being kept as they were, his weak hands being used to prop himself up. It was a natural position, but with the dreariness of his mind, he couldn't even find himself comfortable lying down, let alone being forced promptly into a sitting position. His vision swam, if only for a moment, before a bright light was being shown into his eyes, one at a time before receding into a blur of rainbow phosphenes.

"His eyes are dilated, Doctor." The woman's voice was calm, almost like molasses slowly trickling down some wall, or possibly even a steep ramp of sorts, and it calmed Guy down, if only for a moment, only for his adrenaline to be shot back up on a bullet train at the sudden realization that a woman was touching him. A speed up of beeping echoed through the room, demanding the serene nurse's attention so quickly he found it almost impossible.

"Doctor, get in here, quick! His heart rate is…!" Her voice trailed off in a rushed panic, and if the blonde in medical questioning cared enough to gaze upon the woman, he could have seen that her eyes were wide in alarm, and her eyebrows were furrowed carelessly, enhancing the serious creases in her forehead. Though, because Guy really didn't care enough, he instead focused on keeping his head from lolling off of his shoulders in a lazy slump and kept his gaze low, swimming in and out of staring at his sheet-covered feet.

"What is it, Nurse?"

"His heart rate…"

Barely above a whisper, and yet the red-nailed woman's voice was so overbearing that the medically questioned blonde almost dared to cover his ears to protect the sensitive muscles, but didn't even think to lift a muscle, whether it was from fear of the appendages falling off, or simply out of manners, was unknown to him as well as the two professionally trained paramedics in the room.

"Did you touch him?" The doctor's voice was exceedingly stern, and the way he said it was so critical that it made the blonde feel bad for the nurse, but Guy didn't dare to look up at the rail-thin medic, seeing enough of him simply from the white lab-coat he donned so carefully, and the way his stomach seemed to cave in unhealthily around his waist. The nurse fidgeted for half a moment, barely enough for the hunched over male to catch from his peripherals, before responding uncertainly.

"Well, it's my duty to and—"

Cut off, so cleanly and so carefully.

"Answer the question, did you, or did you not, touch the patient?"

The question was so redundant, so completely repeated, but the way the two professionals refused to talk to anyone, or about anyone, using their actual names worried the blonde, if only in the slightest of measures.

"Yes, I did but I don't see how-"

"Idiot!"

'So professional' The patient thought sarcastically, cyanide slipping smoothly through the cynical thought, before the acid dissolved the statement and left him hollowly staring at his covered feet, attempting to wiggle the limp appendages. The feeling of having to actually give the command to his feet, one at a time, wiggling millimeter by millimeter, felt exceedingly weird to him, if only that. It was like some sort of revelation, only it wasn't so ground-breaking as it was memorable, since the moment he saw a little toe moving ever-so-slightly under the sheets, he felt a goofy grin encase his face, obviously making him look mad from another person's standards.

"Doctor…"

"What?"

"What is he doing?"

The medic looked at the grinning patient, matching his line of vision with the blonde's before realizing the strength and willpower it took for Guy to move that one, single, digit. Immediately, the blonde guard was given the positive attention he needed, being asked if it hurt anywhere, if he needed to rest, if he felt nauseous, and a list that went on and on of typical things that could be asked during a physical that didn't go anywhere near as far and the old 'cup and cough', thankfully enough for the blonde. He could feel his vision leaving, only to come back full-swing, and the intensity of it made him loose tension in his wrist, gracelessly falling back on the rock-hard 'pillows'.

"Are you alright?"

In all honesty, Guy wasn't sure how to answer that question, and as before, his vision swam again, this time not going back to its full power. He felt like he was going to be sick, and simply brought a hand up to his mouth, not even sure if he was helping keep the liquid from coming up, or keeping the oxygen he needed to breathe from going down.

"Hey, are you alright?"

From somewhere in the background, Guy could hear a constant beeping, going high before hollowing back down, a constant spiral that kept getting progressively higher. The blurs markings he could vaguely make out as the doctor's face, and if he had cared enough to put a name on his face, he wouldn't have been able to, being in or out of his right mind.

"Doctor, I think we're loosing him again!"

'Again?' The delirious guard thought, if only for a moment, before his vision completely left him, leaving his ears to pick up nothing but a distant, blaring beep, a ceaseless battle cry that seemed to simply hollow out his eardrums before eventually becoming a distant nothingness. All around him was black, and while he could have easily stood up and attempted to look for a way out of perfect darkness, he found it comfortable to simply 'lie' wherever he was. An eternity and a half could have passed that he was simply 'lying' down, but eventually, he heard a faint beeping sound in the distance, not like the vibrantly vivid one he had heard in the 'hospital' that had now faded, but a deeper sound, much more sugar-coated and friendly.

As it turned out, it was his alarm clock, and with a hazardous slam to the clockwork, he opened his eyes groggily, finding the ceiling of his bedroom to greet him with a serene sense of hope. The scene itself, of him getting up and getting ready for a hard days work of simply standing and having to choke down the emperor's harassment, was neither a very pleasant nor exciting ordeal. Though, this morning, with a horrible dream setting the mood in a hardly appropriate way, something just seemed to set itself apart, something seemed to make everything just ten times worse and he just couldn't seem to figure out the real reason as to 'why'.

The moment he had fully 'awoken' for the morning, and he was ready to face the day with a full-out grin, meaning that he had successfully washed his face and released his bowels in the always open-lidded toilet, he had noticed a lightly trembling figure curled deep with the stomach of comforters on his bed.

Without so much as a second thought on what was really underneath, he carefully brought the fleece blanket back, carelessly revealing a sobbing, olive-haired replica. The sight itself shocked him, to say the least, considering that after all of the pointless squabbles and lover's spats, he had never once seen the ex-tempest openly sob. The boy's eyes pierced through him, the emerald shades seeming to turn into ice itself, and it stung him so mortally to see the olive orbs he so adored pulled so carelessly into such a jaded and wild emotion.

"You- you promised me you'd never wake up."

Guy could feel a lump hitting the back of his throat, and somehow he knew nothing would ever be the same.

(x)

(1) I like changing the dialog in some spots, but this is one of those lines you just have to keep as is.

(2) There are some lines I have memorized perfectly from this game. This is not one of them.

(3) This is funny, because the monsters there are so pathetically weak.

SO, this totally took me forever to write up, since I took my sweet-ass time with the beginning of it, but a day or so ago, I hunkered down and wrote up the entire portion from Grand Chokmah to the end. I'm pretty proud of this, actually, despite my absolute loathing of that ending. Oh well. None of the chapters after this are going to be anywhere near as long. But they are going to be massive walls of text.

Also, is anyone curious on the plot? At all?