Whoo, it's been a while. Good to be back, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own, blah. Blah. Blah.

I awoke with a start at the loud crow of Colette's damn rooster and rolled over to face the window. Ice ran down my spine when I saw light streaming in, and Colette's empty bed.

'Oh, crap.' I flung back the quilt and rocketed downstairs, pausing only to change out of my night clothes and offer a hasty, 'thanks, Prescott!' to the rooster that had saved me from Professor Sage's sharp tongue. I gulped down a glass of juice in record time, leaving it in the sink apologetically for Phaidra, and flew out of the house, pulling on my boots as I half ran, half hopped toward the school. Villagers that I passed along the way grinned, for they'd seen this sight many times. I passed the north gate to see Lloyd running up just as frantically.

'Amie,' he gasped, 'we're gonna be late!'

'Shut up, Lloyd, I know! Stop talking and run faster!' We barreled into the school house just in time to see the Professor's back turned. I smiled. Maybe we could still pull this off. I dropped to my knees and crawled to my seat next to Colette, leaving Lloyd standing there gaping stupidly as the Professor whirled around and glared at him.

'Lloyd, you know the drill. Those buckets won't hold themselves.' Lloyd nodded miserably and started to make his way to the back corner when the Professor stopped him again. 'Wait. Amethyst is not with you?' By this time, I'd made it to my seat and spoke up.

'I'm right here, Professor.' The Professor narrowed her eyes and circled my desk.

'How long have you been sitting there?'

'Um, all class, Professor.' I looked at her almost pleadingly, and she finally looked away, to see Lloyd fast asleep in the corner, still standing, still holding the buckets. She flipped the piece of chalk in her hand, then flicked it toward him, and her aim was true as it smacked him sharply in the temple.

'Lloyd Irving, wake up!' He jumped and dropped the buckets with a crash.

'Oh, Professor Raine. Uh, is class over?' I shook my head and clapped a hand to my face. The Professor had a similar reaction. After a bit of scolding and teaching, I saw the thing I'd been waiting for, after eight months of waiting. The oracle. I never thought I'd be so glad to see that monstrosity. It took all of my self-control not to run out of Iselia toward it. The Professor ran out of the room, yelling over her shoulder for us to stay where we were. Hah. No chance.

'Lloyd, you coming? No way I'm staying here while there's adventure out there!' Lloyd grinned and followed me out of the school, Colette and Genis, the Professor's little brother, in tow. As we reached the front north gate again, a couple of monsters leaped out of the bushes at us. In a heartbeat, Lloyd had his swords drawn and defeated them, more than a little clumsily. He turned to Colette and me, and flashed a winning smile.

'Don't worry, you two, I'll protect you!' I bit my lip to hide my laughter. There was no doubt in my mind that I could defeat him as I was now, as weaponless as I was. Genis, not normally one to be left out, piped up.

'Yeah! I will too! Just leave it to us!' I regained my composure and nodded.

'Thanks, you guys. We should stop by Phaidra's, though. There are a couple of things I need to pick up before I leave.' Lloyd shrugged, and we made our way to the house. While the three of them chatted to Phaidra about the oracle, I raced upstairs to pull the elegant wooden box out from under my bed. Inside, just as I left her, lay Dehlayny, in her dark green sheath, still attached to my belt. I took her out of the box and headed back downstairs.

'Ready, you guys?' The three of them nodded, and we left the house once more. On our way to the gate, I fastened the belt around my hips and pulled out my beloved sword, examining her carefully.

'Hello, beautiful,' I murmured as I checked the sharpness of the blade, though it never seemed to dull. In fact, nothing about that sword seemed to falter. The wood was always polished, the leather was always soft, and the blade was always sharp. It was truly a work of art. I slid her back into her sheath, and glanced up to find Lloyd staring at me.

'Where did you get that?' I smiled and ran my fingers along the leather pattern, a habit I'd taken to back on Derris-Kharlan, one that hadn't quite gone away.

'My dad got her for me in Palmacosta.' Well, that was half true, in any case. He didn't actually get her in Palmacosta, not even in Sylvarant. He'd found the merchant in Tethe'alla, somewhere around Ozette. Foolishly, I thought that that was the end of Lloyd's interrogation.

'Yeah, but can you actually use it?' I raised an eyebrow and twirled her gracefully around my fingers a few times before aiming the point at Lloyd's throat.

'You'll just have to wait and see,' I said darkly, and changed my tone swiftly. 'Come on! Time isn't on our side here! Let's get Colette to the temple.' We left the village and quickly arrived at the Martel Temple. As we walked up the path leading to the temple, I was practically leaping up the stairs with excitement. We began our trek up the lengthy stairway, the pastor from the temple staggered down the steps. A large gash ran from his shoulder to his hip, and his robes were singed, a sure sign of a fire. Colette gasped as he collapsed, and she raced to where he had fallen.

'Pastor!' Lloyd came up behind her as she cradled the pastor's head in her lap, either not noticing or not caring that his blood was coating her pants.

'Are you okay?' Lloyd asked in concern, and the pastor groaned.

'The Desians broke the non-aggression treaty and attacked the temple,' he gasped, 'Chosen One… Quickly… The oracle…' He broke off with a wet cough and spit out some blood. Colette ran her fingers through his hair in an attempt to calm him.

'I know,' she said simply. The pastor managed one last nod.

'Please… Be c-careful. I r-regret that I will… not be able to p-protect the… Chosen. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against Colette's hand as life and light left him. My three companions dropped their heads in mourning, while I merely nodded to the lifeless man in front of me in respect.

'Colette…' I said softly, 'we have to go.' I extended a hand to help her up and she took it, then hugged me tightly.

'I know.' She looked up at me with unshed tears in her eyes, then blinked them away. 'I know. Let's go.' Genis's mouth fell open.

'Colette, are you insane? There are Desians in there!'

'Genis.' I stepped down from the stairs and laid a hand on his shoulder. 'She has to go. You're welcome to join us or not. This is the duty of the Chosen. As tragic as it is, the death of others is not an excuse to stop, and the Desians must be faced at some point.'

'Yeah, but-'

'She's right, Genis,' Colette agreed, 'I have to go to accept the oracle on the Day of Prophecy.' Genis still wasn't convinced.

'Lloyd! Are you going to let them go by themselves? We haven't even seen Amie fight yet!' Lloyd shook his head.

'No, I'm going with them. You're right, I haven't seen Amie fight, and a sword in inexperienced hands can make people hurt themselves.' I choked back my laughter and turned back toward the steps.

'Genis, what about you? Could you fight? If it came down to it, could you kill someone?' I felt Genis's stare on my back and turned around. 'If you can't finish what you start, you'll put the rest of us in danger.' My violet eyes were blazing as they cut through the young mage, who nodded meekly.

'I'll fight. I have to protect Colette.' I nodded solemnly.

'Let's go, then.' I turned and walked up the stairs to see Phaidra guarding the entrance of the temple, and three soldiers advancing menacingly.

'Where is the Chosen?' The largest man, who I assumed to be the leader, stepped forward. Phaidra's eyes flickered toward us nervously.

'Run, Colette,' she urged, but one of the soldiers turned before we could make an escape.

'Lord Botta, there she is!' Wait, Botta? I'd heard that name before… The source was just out of reach in my mind. The man, Botta, most likely, turned around slowly. His grizzled face was no doubt handsome before it had seen years of battle, with high cheekbones and sharp eyes.

'Chosen One,' he said in a deep accent, 'your life is mine.' Lloyd drew one of his swords angrily, nearly slicing my arm off in the process. I drew my own sword, the dragon engraving glittering furiously.

'I won't let you Desians get away with anything,' he growled, and the nearest one, the one that had spoken, threw his head back and laughed wolfishly.

'Desians? Hah!' Genis scowled.

'What's so funny?'

'Well then, die at the hands of the Desians you so hate,' sneered the man on the other side of Botta, 'get them!' The three of them lunged forward and I readied my sword to defend, my head spinning. These weren't Desians. I'd fought enough of those off to know their techniques by now. These men moved differently, they were more in control of their bodies.

One of the 'Desians' swung his sword downward unexpectedly, changing his target from Lloyd to me, and I barely had enough time to raise Dehlayny to block the blow. We struggled against each other for a while, and I finally pushed him off to the side, jumping out of the way when he used his momentum to swing back around to try and get a gash in. This left his left side completely open, and I saw the soft spot in his side where the armor didn't quite reach, and took my chance, piercing it with Dehlayny's tip, enough to wound him badly, but not enough to kill him. He gasped as the wind blew my long auburn locks out of my face.

'You! You're…' Fear took over pain in his face, and he called out to his companion. 'Fall back! She's a higher power!' The two of them hobbled back into the temple as quickly as they could. Apparently Lloyd had given the other a run for his money. I raked a hand across my scalp as I saw a large man exiting the temple with a mace and hammer. This could be tough. I nodded to Lloyd, and we tensed as he spoke.

'Do not get in our way,' he said gruffly as he began to swing the mace above his head. Okay, that complicated things a little.

'Genis! Distract him with magic!' I yelled, and turned to the young Chosen. 'Colette, you protect him while he does! Lloyd, let's get as close as we can with that thing in there.' Everyone nodded, and we took our positions. Thankfully, he lacked in speed what he had in strength, but Lloyd and I still couldn't get in a single hit, even with Genis's magic. I risked a glance at Lloyd, and he was just as frustrated as I was. Just as I looked back, I saw the hammer come my way, and it collided heavily with my hand, knocking Dehlayny down the stairs.

'Oh, shit!' I retreated to examine my hand, knowing that Lloyd could evade the large man's attacks easily. There was no doubt that it was broken, and it was already a considerable amount larger than its right hand counterpart. I cursed. This was going to knock my training back for a few weeks, something I couldn't afford. To my horror, I saw Lloyd kneeling on the ground in exhaustion, flanked by Colette and Genis.

'This guy is really tough,' Lloyd noted through gritted teeth, and closed his eyes as the soldier spun the mace again. Just as the mace started to fly toward him, a longsword knocked it out of the way, sending it to the ground. My heart leapt. He was wearing travelling clothes, but it was still him. My dad. He tossed Dehlayny back to me, having picked it up near the stairs.

'Think you can fight with your other hand?' he asked gruffly, and I nodded curtly. I staggered to my feet, holding my injured hand close to my chest as I bit back the pain and joined Dad and Lloyd, who stood beside him. We immersed ourselves in the battle, three being more effective than two, vanquished him quickly. Dad slid his sword back into its sheath and turned to me, then gently picked up my hand.

'First Aid, he muttered, and I felt the tiny bones pop back into place and heal themselves, not painlessly. My eyes flicked up to his and a smile grew on my face.

'Haven't seen you in a while,' I said casually.

'I've had things to do.' My smiled turned to a full blown grin as I sheathed my own sword and I flung my arms around his neck in a hug that he fully returned.

'I really missed you, Dad.'

'I know. I'm sorry I took so long. I've missed you too.'

'Wait, Amie. This guy's your dad?' I nodded and flexed my hand experimentally. It was still sore, but at least I could fight.

'He's been away guarding a pilgrimage for the past eight months. That's why I came to Iselia.' Lloyd, surprisingly, accepted this, just as Dad's Cruxis Crystal caught the light.

'Hey, is that an Exsphere?' Dad was saved from answering by Phaidra shuffling towards us.

'How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?' she wheezed at Dad, who feigned a surprised look.

'Hmm. So this girl is the next Chosen…' Colette leaped forward and grinned.

'That's right! I have to go accept the oracle! Grandmother, I'm going to undergo the trial now.' Lloyd frowned.

'What trial?'

'The monsters,' I mused, 'something weird's going on in that chapel.' Phaidra nodded.

'It is as the young one says. The Chosen is to receive judgement from heaven… But the priests that were to accompany her fell at the hands of the Desians.'

'But those weren't-' I was cut off by a sharp kick to my leg, and I knew Dad was trying to keep me from saying too much. At that moment, Lloyd decided to be a hero.

'Then I'll take on the job of protecting Colette,' he said proudly, and Phaidra hesitated.

'Lloyd? I would be uneasy with just you…' Behind me, Dad stiffened.

'Your name is Lloyd?' The young swordsman bristled, and I knew what was coming next.

'Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name?'

'I am Kratos, a travelling mercenary- though you already knew that.' I winced, and he turned to Phaidra. 'If you can pay me, I'll accept the job of guarding the Chosen.'

'I suppose I have little choice,' she said reluctantly. 'Please be of service.' Dad nodded.

'It's a deal, then.'

'Wait!' Lloyd's voice rang out sharply. 'I'm going too.'

'Lloyd, you're only going to get in the way.' I said, turning toward the open door of the temple. 'Take Genis home and go wait with Frank.' Lloyd scoffed.

'No way. If you don't let me come with you, I'll just follow you on my own.'

'Fine, do as you like,' Dad said with a huff. 'Amie, you are to take the young one home.' I reeled back in shock and pushed my hair out of my eyes.

'I don't think so! I'm coming with you!' I said sharply, but Dad shook his head.

'You're not yet ready. Take the young one home, and wait at the house of the Chosen. Once the Chosen has undergone the trial, I will accompany her back to the village.' I let out a mirthless laugh.

'I'm not ready, but Lloyd is?'

'Yes.' Rage was building in my throat.

'That's all you have to say after eight months? You stuck me in this tiny village with no warning and took off to Martel knows where, leaving me to create an entirely new life and that's how you greet me again?' Dad's expression darkened, and he strode toward me.

'You are not yet ready. You lack defensive skills, and you focus on one enemy rather than working together with your comrades. Take the young one home.' I set my jaw, ready to protest, then changed my mind and turned on my heel, stalking down the stairs.

'Come on, Genis, let's go.' Genis, who had been looking upon the scene before him with wary eyes, jumped at the sound of his name.

'Um, yeah okay.' I stalked down the stairs, fuming. As we went, I heard Lloyd exclaim something about exspheres, but to be honest, at the moment I couldn't bring myself to care.

On the way back to the village, though we met few monsters, I took out my anger on them, abandoning my training and killing them mercilessly, sometimes not even bothering to finish them off properly. I stormed into the village, sheathing Dehlayny as I went.

'So, uh, I'll see you later, Amie!' When I heard Genis's small frightened voice, something inside me changed, and I immediately softened.

'Oh, Genis,' I said as I made my way over to him, 'I'm so sorry.' I pulled him into a quick hug and left before he could say a word. Colette's house wasn't far, so I ran the whole way there, tears pricking at the back of my eyes.

'No,' I thought, 'I will not cry from this.' What I needed was a distraction. My glass was still in the sink from this morning, and Frank and Phaidra's breakfast dishes were now there as well. Perfect. I put Dehlayny back in her box upstairs after I cleaned the blood from the monsters off of her. As I came back down the stairs, I missed the last step and slipped, spraining my ankle painfully.

'Oh, for the love of- sweet Martel, who the hell are you?' A young man, perhaps four or five years older than me was leaning against the kitchen counter.

'Ah, I've been wondering when you'd notice me,' he said in a lilting tenor voice. 'Granted, I did hide when you came through the door, but you looked like you were ready to murder someone. Also, you had a sword. Not particularly fond of women with swords…'

'Who are you? Where are Frank and Phaidra?' My voice was shaky, and I was still sitting on the floor clutching my leg.

'I don't know who you're talking about, but the house has been empty since I got here. Now, you don't have any other concealed weapons on you, do you? Because I think you'll actually try to murder me in a moment…' He crossed the kitchen and kneeled down beside me, pushing my hands out of the way gently. A faint aura appeared around him, and the pain in my leg faded.

'First Aid,' he muttered, and sprang away as soon as the spell was finished. I staggered to my feet clumsily and edged to the opposite side of the room.

'Why won't you answer me? Who are you?'

'You know, in many cultures, it's considered polite to thank someone when they help you. It's also often considered rude when one's house is messy when hosting guests.' He gestured to the sink, which was now filled with dishes.

'I make a habit out of only thanking people when gratitude is genuine. You, on the other hand, broke into my house, dirtied my kitchen with your own dishes, and quite frankly, scared the living daylights out of me.' The man chuckled.

'You noticed that, huh? Well, I suppose I can clean up after myself, but it's your job to do the rest of these.' I narrowed my eyes, but moved over to the sink nonetheless, which was already filled with water and soap. The mysterious intruder reached down into the sink and pulled out the bread knife, placing it on his other side with a smile.

'Wouldn't want you around me with sharp objects,' he teased, but it wasn't malicious. For some reason, though I didn't know anything about him, conversation between us was very easy, and I eventually relaxed into our task, sometimes washing, sometimes drying. More than once, our hands brushed in the murky dishwater, and an odd something twinged in my stomach.

'So,' I tried again, 'who exactly are you?' If it weren't for our close proximity, I would've missed the corner of his mouth turning up as his eyes flicked toward me, then back out the window.

'All in good time, grasshopper.' He dried his hands on a clean towel and rested them on my shoulders. 'You'll see me again, Amethyst.'

'Amie,' I corrected gently, 'just call me Amie.' He smiled.

'As you wish… Amie.' The slight weight on my shoulders vanished, and before I knew it, the house was empty once more.

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