Now that I am done with the shit-fest that was the tournament, I can finally get back on track with updating my fics.

Sorry for the delay, but I actually finished this chapter months ago, but with all the work, I forgot about it. Plus I sent it to one of my betas, and she never got back with me on that; I think she may have forgotten. Regardless, this is unbetaed.

Now I forget what I said in the beginnign, but for the most part, these chapters will probably be random/linkable for the most part, and mainly dealing with either the trio and building their friendship, or Emmy changing her feelings, sort of. But there is a plot, if the prologue wasn't any indication.

My muse is kinda down, so I'll be back to to writing video game reviews on my blogs as a warm up to wake her the hell back up. Also, I will be role-playing on Shiva Dancing and Crystal Epos. I highly recommend the both of them, and I even play Hannah on Crystal Epos! XD Out of all the characters in Last Remnant, she is actually my favorite, though tied with Emmy. And I thought it'd be a good challenge to take her based on the plot I am developing for Betrayed.

I thank all of you who are enjoying the story thus far, and hope you continue to read! Your praise always helps make me feel mighty good about myself! ^_^

Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Last Remnant. I do not. Sad, isn't it?

Chapter 1: Rushing Into Trouble

In another part of the palace, in the newly redecorated kitchen, Rush and Blocter stepped out, with the mitra holding a bowl of the foulest substance Blocter had ever smelt within his twenty years. Rush would be overwhelmed as well, had he not took the precaution and equipped a clothespin onto his nose. And while he couldn't really get a good sniff out of anything, he was sure that the contents within the pot were enough to strike down even a dragon!

Thankfully, the diabolical concoction wasn't meant for eating; no living being could so much as sip it in the first place! Rather, Rush had though to fill some of the training dummies with the substance. He thought that the idea would go really well with Irina's training, giving her more of a feel of the battlefield, minus the assortment of demons and monsters waiting outside. And since he wasn't a vampire and unable to use real blood, he had to make due to his culinary skills.

The moment he proposed that, Blocter had immediately preferred getting actual blood. He could've sworn his own lifespan had just dropped a few decades!

The general eyed Rush carefully, making sure that none of the liquid was spilled onto the carpets; the last thing he wanted was to spend his months cleaning the halls of the palace. "You sure you're not gonna spill it?"

Rush rolled his eyes; why must everyone assume he was an incompetent? Sure, there was that time in the kitchen…and that day he taunted the giant bird in Fortstrand….and no one could forget his stupidity when he accidentally lead several Greater Demons to the entire group.

…Okay, maybe he did have his faults, but who didn't? At least in his mind…

"No, mom," he said sarcastically. "I can handle this just—GAH!"

Blocter raced, or in this case, wobbled his amphibian-body in front of Rush, his hands ready to catch the pot. To his surprise however, the pot was not on the ground, or even in his hands. Instead, Rush still held the pot perfectly natural, grinning at Blocter's panicked stricken face. The grin faded away with the Yama's grief, and said Yama automatically reached for his axe, though he had forgotten that he left it to the blacksmith to be upgraded.

Blocter shot a glare at the young mitra. As much as Blocter enjoyed jokes, in their current situation, it was not so wise to play around; it would only lead to Blocter's true fears! "Why you little!"

Rush only laughed. "Your face was priceless, dude! You looked like a fish outta the water!"

"I'll throttle you!" Blocter charged at Rush, but soon stopped when his face was mere inches away from accidentally running into the foul cauldron. Unintentionally taking a whif, he retracted himself and fell to the floor, gagging. "Damn that shit stinks!"

"It's not that bad," commented Rush, trying his best to hold in his laughter.

Blocter made his best effort to get up, struggling to even stand on his small legs; he was beginning to regret being so massive in size. His head swirled, body unable to stand straight as he tilted to his sides back and forth. Normally he would pound or chase Rush until he was tired, but with such a smell, one more whiff would probably kill him.

…Maybe he could get one of the Hinnah or Hannah sisters; he kept forgetting who was who, to teach him the error of his ways, by braking his bones and such.

Rush walked past his dazed teammate, snickering, and continued his trip to the training grounds. He shouted to his partner, "Would you hurry it up? You can't seriously expect me to do all the work!" A single second flew by before Rush gave up and carried on. "Whatever. But you better come on and meet me there!"

However, too distracted by his own yelling, Rush failed to notice two things in the hallway. One of which was the mysterious creature he dubbed Mr. Diggs; not too clever with titles was he. Said creature accidentally thought his master had summoned him, appearing in his unusual, and surprisingly mystical, way. With both the cauldron and yelling distracting Rush, he stepped onto the creature's head, his foot now stuck in between the horns of the poor monster.

The pain rushing through his head by the young Sykes, as well as the weight crushing his tiny body, he immediately panicked, squeaking what was probably his version of a shriek, and tried to escape. Unfortunately, the more he struggled, the more tighter the grip his horns would get on Rush's foot.

Rush, finally noticing his young pet, tried to get his foot away from the clutches of the horns, panicking as well. "Get off of me, Mr. Diggs!" He picked his leg up, trying to kick away the poor beast rapidly. "I don't have time to play, nor do I have any morsels, so scat!" He stopped as the heat of the cauldron was in face-level, nearly burning off his skin. 'Damn it!' He knew keeping this up now would only result in him becoming the first human monster repellant.

Blocter, his senses finally returning to him, at least partially, ran towards his friend, grabbing Mr. Diggs, and stopping Rush from moving. Sadly, Rush was right near yet another thing he had failed to notice:

The banister at the end of the hallway. As for what was on the other side, his soon-to-be accidental target was approaching…

Emmy left the throne room wordlessly and unrushed, immediately heading towards the training grounds in a calm demeanor. In her head however, several words and other violent actions were swirling about as she knew Rush was going to piss her off; it's like she developed a special sense for his stupidity.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. This wasn't like her, at least wanting to kill a comrade wasn't too much like her. Not to mention all of it was draining her, and she needed every ounce of it for the training regime she had already planned for Irina. The first step would be a mere day or two to get her used to weaponry, then actually take her and Rush through several areas, hunting down rare beasts in order to test her limits. While dangerous, she had made absolutely sure that they wouldn't encounter problems to allow any fatalities during their journey; she would never under any circumstance, allow harm to Irina either, and not just because of David's orders either.

Her thoughts stopped when she spotted another comrade in arms, Nora, leaning against the wall, inspecting her new hammer as always in the event of an attack. Though technically a mercenary, she had agreed to take the place of Emmy during her absence while she and Rush trained Irina. Emmy called out to her, "Nora!"

The witch look-alike picked up her head, slightly smiling at Emmy. Nora never really got along with anyone in the group, usually hanging around the bar for food and the occasional gold she could get with jobs and even gambling. Emmy and Irina however were the only two she could smile at genuinely, feeling sympathy for Rush's sister, and treating Emmy as one of the few equals in the group, often comparing her to the late Emma. "What's going on?" she asked, putting the hammer to her side. "I assume you guys are ready to head out soon?"

Emmy shook her head. "Not yet. Before we actually get the real training started, I feel that Irina needs to have at least a small degree in weapons training first, since I don't want her to rely on us all the time."

Nora nodded, approving of the plan. "Sounds fine by me. Only problem is I am going to be bored out of my fucking mind all day!" she added with rolling eyes. "The good news is that I can at least feast on any amount of shit I want, so long as a certain soldier isn't cooking."

"No need to worry about him. He is coming along with me," she muttered regrettably. She was thankful Irina could cook during their trip.

Nora chuckled, a part of her catching onto that sentence and wishing to tease her just a little; she never got such an opportunity these days. "What? You're going to give him a private lesson or something?"

Emmy blushed furiously, knowing full well the meaning behind those words. "D-don't be ridiculous!"

The mercenary shrugged. "Whatever you say. I'm just in this thing for the money. But…" She leaned forward. "Just remember to always keep your eyes on the boys."

The young general arched an eyebrow. "I think Rush already knows not to do such acts around me. Otherwise I would break his arms and the usefulness of alone time would be stripped of him." The thought nearly made her shiver, recalling memories of when other gentlemen, if they could be called that in the nicest of terms, had attempted to bed her. Naturally, they met dire results, especially ones who though she was just another weak fighter. She couldn't deny some pleasure was brought from the experience.

Nora chuckled, then threw her head back and laughed, unable to picture Rush like that. "Ha! Not what I meant, though it would be interesting to see him go through a wall simply because of that! I'm talking about—"

"SHIT!"

The young general's senses flared, recognizing the shriek of Rush. Forcing herself to gaze wide-eyed above, only to immediately shut them as the lava that was the concoction poured from its prison on top of her. Lady luck clearly played no hand to aid the general, for the pot containing the dreaded poison swallowed the top half of her body, trapping the acidic substance all around her. The slush trailing slowly trailing down her form sent a chill up her spine, though it quickly faded with the burning intensity piercing through her.

Air was a luxury at this point, along with a bath and David's Gae Bolg to shoot Rush! Once the slush moved away from her mouth, barely past her chin, she shouted the name behind it all. "RUSH!"

"That." She heard Nora finish, able to hear the chuckling despite her predicament.

Something pushed the cauldron, forcing her to step back because of the weight, nearly tilting backwards. Before she could hazard a guess, Nora's voice came back. "Okay, just hold still and I'll get you out. Don't wanna kiss your mom in the heavens yet, do ya?"

If the substance that entrapped her hadn't entered her system, she would have turned pale rather than purple. "Wait! What are you doing!" she panicked, her voice echoing in fright within her chamber.

"Gonna knock your head out of the park if you don't hold still!"

The young, shivering adolescent gulped in fright. He had already heard his name shouted through the cauldron, yet his legs anchored his body to the ground, forcing him to watch Nora strike Emmy…repeatedly. Like a bell, the noise echoed, and Emmy moaned in pain before falling to the ground. All Nora had accomplished was hurting the general, and a large dent that no doubt was ready to pierce right through Emmy.

"Wow…Pagus' cauldrons sure got harder over the years…"

Rush immediately glared at Blocter, both in fear and anger. "You blockhead! Look what you made me do!"

Blocter returned the gaze, walking closer towards Rush until he was in his face. "My fault! You're the one who decided to pull a prank on me!"

"At least I can control my anger and not—"

"Oh where have you been for the last year! After you joined us, your reckless crap easily topped my own!"

"Well at least I didn't make a dumb decision like pull Mr. Diggs off! Seriously, you could have just caught my damn back or something!"

"Yeah, and who's the moron to summon it in the first place!"

At this, Mr. Diggs bowed his head. Rush glanced to his side, and both he and Blocter redirected their attention towards the entire cause of all of this. "You!" they said simultaneously, startling the creature.

Yet the creature revealed its secret weapon, a skill used only by the most vulnerable of children, and occasionally adults as well…

The puppy dog eyes.

Neither hardened warrior, if they could be called that, was able resist upon seeing the cute expression of the tiny animal. "Well…maybe we can't stay mad at you…"

"I can!" shouted an all too familiar voice.

Slowly, with pale and horrified expressions pasted onto their faces, the duo turned their heads around, eyeing a burnt Emmy crouching atop the railing…with Nora's hammer ready to smash their skulls, even after the damage she had already done to the castle walls just by climbing them with it. The damage her armor sustained was minimal, with only the colors slightly obscured by Rush's cooking, along with her hair. Her face however was beet red, both from the dragon-sized rage welling inside her, and the heat that burnt her skin.

Rush was the first to speak, though he gulped and laughed nervously. "Hey Emmy…You look…tan…" His words held little effect, and so he resorted to getting onto his knees, pleading with her. "Oh come on! You know I would never do this on purpose! It was all just an accident! Ask Blocter!" He pointed to where his friend was, the key word being was. Upon seeing Emmy's raised eyebrow, he twisted his body to stare at the vacant space. He stared at the small trail of sweat left behind, growling when Blocter retreated behind the corner of the hallway. "Traitor!"

"You have five seconds, Sykes…" she said, smacking the rod supporting the hammer against her hand. Though she wasn't exactly as handy with it as Nora, the murderous intent in her eyes said otherwise to Rush.

"Umm…" Sweat simply poured out of Rush, trailing down his neck and face like a waterfall. He turned his direction to Mr. Diggs, perhaps the only thing that could stop her at this rate. "Diggs? How about some help here?" The creature pointed towards Rush, winking before flipping in the air, the mystical energy taking him away. Rush's eyebrow twitched. "I'm going to kill them if I survive…"

Emmy got up, jumping down onto the ground and tapping the hammer against her hand. "Time's up…Any last words before I break your legs?"

Rush crawled backed up as Emmy got closer, walking backwards with his hands out, trying to stop Emmy. "Can't we talk first?"

She shook her head, murderous eyes glaring down onto Rush.

Panicking, he reached into his pockets, searching for some gold. Lady luck blessed him with something better however: his talisman. Torgal had advised Rush not to use it so frequently, only for survival. Given the situation, it begged to be used. As he gripped it, the mystic aura surrounded his body, and he ran like the wind, leaving Emmy behind.

Emmy blinked, then growled. "Cheap trick…" she muttered, but grinned evilly before dropping the hammer; she could run faster without it. She knew the layout of the castle almost as well as Torgal and the others, while Rush still had trouble finding his way out; the perfect advantage.

She ran down further into the corridors, stopping every now and then to decide which path to take. Despite knowing the layout, she had to be careful not get lost herself; there were one or two areas she had never gotten the chance to fully explore. That, and she didn't want the others involved in this matter. She never would kill Rush…Just bruise and possibly injure him, teach him a lesson everyone else refused to. If anything, she was doing Torgal a favor, knowing the Sovani had at least wanted to punish Rush a time or two in the past.

A heavy sigh escaped Irina's lips. Flipping another page of the large book before her, her head fell onto the pages. She had said she'd give it her all by studying all sorts of magic, staying away from the blades and such for her brother's sake, but the more she read, the more she wanted to hurl the book back onto the rack and sleep. She had already borrowed some items from Rush, some of which Pagus managed to find copies of, yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't use something as basic as a Spark magic, to her dismay.

The Quisti encouraged her however to learn different arts, some of which even Rush had not dabbled in. So far, she could at least perform basic healing, but that wasn't good enough. She wanted to fight, not stand on the sidelines and play cheerleader or the damsel in distress again while Rush continued to play the reckless hero. It was her turn to protect, and she would be damned if the chance was taken away.

The resolve made her snap awake, pounding the desk before returning to her studies. That's right. For the sake of everyone, she had to keep reading…

But just as quickly, she became bored once again. She was beginning to wonder when Emmy would pick her up and go adventuring. Part of her was jealous that while she was being held captive, Rush got to go around the world to various locales, and once again play the part of hero. Her jealousy only grew when he told her all the stories, some even involving dealing with such groups like the dreaded Third Committee, or when he mentioned the time going into the ruins of a castle to save a woman, though it turned out she merely lost something. There was something about that one that seemed to make Rush turn slightly red, along with Emmy.

Her dull day came to a screeching halt when the doors flew open, and her brother came forth, his arm held back behind his back while being dragged by Emmy. Irina's face drained itself of color, watching Emmy roughly slam Rush onto the table, pressing her arm against his neck. He tried to wiggle free, only for Emmy to increase the pressure, seething as she did so. Neither one had even noticed Irina was literally right in front of them

"Um…guys?"

Both of them had stopped, and Emmy's grip finally loosened, her face transforming into a nice shade of red. She knew she would be caught eventually, just not by Irina. She bowed her head. "I-I'm sorry Irina."

Rush on the other hand collapsed on the desk, struggling to breathe and get back up. Immediately he pointed at Emmy. "She started it!"

A glare from the general was aimed towards him. "And who was the one who poured lava-like substance all over me!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Technically, you only begged for your life." Before Rush could even counter, she stomped her foot onto his. She gave a small smirk, watching him shout and bounce around the room. Clearing her facial expression, she turned her attention back to Irina, remembering her earlier task from David. "Are you ready to begin your weapons training?"

Irina happily nodded, ignoring her brother's pleas for help; she had always done so when he pissed off the wrong women. She thought of it as him learning his lesson, one she really hoped he'd learn. "Naturally!"

Yeah, short as hell, but hey, some comedy to keep you guys tamed eh? Like it said before in the prologue, Emmy will be going through hell and back in this story!