Author's Note: Alright so I was on a bit of a hiatus there. Real life problems, you know how it is . Had some inventory that kept me busy for a week, a little vacation to keep me busy for another, a graduation and family reunion that's coming up, and just a bunch of other stuff. That and this chapter was a bit of a pain to write. As you will see, this chapter doesn't exactly have a lot of dialogue and it was a little difficult for me to get my thoughts straight and type everything up.

But I expect this to only be a problem for this chapter. The following chapters will have more dialogue and things should get a lot easier for me again both irl and writingwise. Anyway, let's see what we have here…

Smith Smithson: Yeah about that chapter…it's here! Lol! Glad you enjoyed the start of it and I hope that it won't take me a month to add another chapter!

BluSkyHeaven: Haha, don't feel bad if you were confused about the flashback/dream sequence. Seeing if anyone would get confused with it was part of the reason why I had decided to switch out Alex with Amiti for that part.

Mystics Apprentice: I've only seen a couple Amiti fics so far that I've read and enjoyed with the top being A Different Kind of Storm by Mystwalker. Yours seems to be doing pretty good though! I'll be sure not to disappoint as, like I said in the beginning, I'll be bringing a lot of material from the first game into this fic.

Cstan: It's been a long, long ten years . The Alex/Veriti/Amiti issue will be one of the main focuses in this story and I already have it all planned and everything. I just need to make sure to keep updating so that I can see my plans come to fruition!

Xxxxxxxxx

A thorough search had been conducted that night. Search parties had been sent into the tunnels but when nothing turned up, the search was extended to the surface. Unfortunately, despite the manpower that was committed and the number of citizens that were questioned, all the reports that came to Amiti's desk in the morning told him the same thing: there had been no signs of any Proxian anywhere in Ayuthay.

Disheartening to say the least.

Running a hand through his blue locks, Amiti checked the latest report which, to his dismay, was reduced to a single sheet of paper. It had been four days since the attack and while the first day had greeted him with a pile of paperwork as the initial searches were conducted – all which had been unhelpful of course -, every day since then had given him a pile that only shrunk more and more until he was reduced to what was currently held in his hands. While he hoped that this single and perhaps final report would give him what he wanted, he soon found that this wasn't to be. Frowning heavily, Amiti tossed the report to the side where it started its lazy tumble to the floor.

While not finding any clue as to the whereabouts of the Proxian that tried to kill him bothered him, what was worse to Amiti was that there had been no sightings of a Proxian – whether an assassin or an innocent traveler – anywhere at any point in time within the kingdom whether it be on the day during, before, or after the assassination attempt. It unnerved him for several reasons but the main one was the possibility that the Proxian had known exactly what he was doing.

If no one had seen him it could very well mean that the assassin had not needed to do any scouting and had somehow managed to acquire a layout of Ayuthay's underground tunnels. And with no guards having encountered any suspicious individuals during that night…the implications were too frightening to believe.

Probably linked to his disappearing act, Amiti thought grimly.

When the icy stalagmites of his Megacool had cleared, the Proxian hadn't been where Amiti had seen him fall. Nothing had been there in fact; no discarded weapon, no blood, not even a piece of shredded cloth. Considering that the only door leading out of Amiti's room had been swarmed and busted down by guards, there had been no way that the assassin got out. There was no other entrance – secret or otherwise – so it was as if the Proxian had vanished into thin air.

Though Amiti could not recall any such spells that would've allowed him to do it, he had to assume that the assassin had escaped with psynergy. All Proxians were known to possess psynergy and though the assassin hadn't used any during their duel, it didn't mean that he couldn't. There was always the chance that the assassin had learned some unique ability which could've assisted in his infiltration and escaped. Sveta's Slap and Spirit Sense were two unique spells that he knew along with Himi's Saearch and the Insight Glass that Amiti kept on a chain around his neck allowed him to perform one of his own. It certainly made sense as Amiti was known to be a powerful Adept so if an enemy wanted him dead, the obvious course of action would be to hire another Adept to do the job.

But who hired him? Kaocho?

An obvious choice but Amiti had trouble believing it, especially as Kaocho was a shadow of its former self. Emperor Wo's lust for war and conquest had been his undoing two years ago. Having assembled an army through volunteers and conscripts, Emperor Wo had assaulted Passaj and laid siege to Ayuthay in order to take control of the Alchemy Machines that were located within them. Unfortunately for Wo, Passaj was able to easily repel his troops due to its mountains and while his conquest of Ayuthay was a bit more successful, he didn't know about the underground tunnels that kept Ayuthay's people safe and secure.

The most devastating turn of events, however, had to be the Grave Eclipse.

When the darkness of the dreaded eclipse stretched forth over Ayuthay, the underground tunnels had proven to be a safe haven from the shadow monsters as well for the Ayuthayans. Not so for Emperor Wo's army and the invaders were simply no match for the infinitely-spawning creatures. Without the leadership of Kaocho's brother generals Ku-Tsung and Ku-Embra – both who had been defeated and captured by Amiti and his friends -, the army had been surrounded and completely decimated. Kaocho itself had been under siege long before that and with no army coming back to their rescue, the city, its emperor, and its people were overwhelmed.

As much as Amiti had despised Wo and his warmongering, that did not mean that he had wished to see the city and its people consumed by the Grave Eclipse. He still had nightmares of that day when he and Matthew had passed through Kaocho. Torn corpses that had been dumped into the streets and the buildings that had become ravaged with broken doors and blood-stained walls. It was the same sight everywhere they had looked.

How many had died? Amiti remembered asking himself that question time and time again. Considering Wo's heavy conscription for his army, there had been more women and children then men that had been living in Kaocho when the Grave Eclipse hit. With the shadows of the Grave Eclipse reaching across most of Angara and the monsters having no qualms about who they hunted down, the only grim result that came to the young king's mind was that every man, woman, and child that hadn't been able to seek sanctuary had been slaughtered.

As for Wo himself, Amiti still did not know even to this day as to what happened to the emperor. He had assumed that Wo had been taking shelter in his palace along with some of Kaocho's citizens but what spies Amiti had assigned to watch over the city after the Eclipse's end and his ascension to the throne came up with nothing concerning the emperor's current whereabouts.

Their emperor gone, their city a ghost town compared to what it once was, Amiti was still surprised to get reports that people still lived in Kaocho. He had expected whatever survivors that were left to have moved on or Sana's own Emperor Ko to have absorbed the land back into the whole of his nation. Even with two years having passed, neither happened and more and more Amiti was wondering why.

A concern for another time. As of now, Amiti found it very unlikely that the assassin had been hired by Kaocho. Even if Wo had always been a vain man and would probably love to see Ayuthay's king disposed violently by his hand if it was to be his last act, his mysterious whereabouts had Amiti searching for another suspect. The Tuaparang did come to Amiti's mind but he hadn't heard or seen anything from them since last crossing paths with their agents in the Apollo Sanctum.

Bilibin could certainly be another culprit though. The aggressive expansion of the McCoys had been expected to lead to a war with Morgal and though the beastmen had survived a lot better than Kaocho's citizens, they had still been weakened by the Grave Eclipse and it had long been suspected that Bilibin would've used this chance to declare war. They didn't and, in fact, their expansion had been put on hold for quite some time now. At first Amiti thought that Bilibin had also been weakened but with his entry into politics, Amiti realized that there could be a lot more to it than that; specifically Amiti's relationship with the Queen of Belinsk and Kaocho's current state.

It was public knowledge that Amiti was an ally and good friend of Sveta's and the McCoys probably expected the possibility of Ayuthay and, due to a treaty, Passaj allying with Morgal if a war was indeed conducted. Two years ago, when Kaocho had been on the warpath, that wasn't a problem as Ayuthay had to worry about sieges and Passaj had been repelling troops. Now that Kaocho was no longer around to keep the two honest, Bilibin could find itself outnumbered and outmatched if it wasn't careful. And there were the stories about beastmen that were able to control the very sunlight itself…

There were too many unknown factors that could make a declaration of war a possible disaster for Bilibin. So did they hire an assassin to eliminate some of those factors? If Amiti was to be slain, the search for a replacement ruler alone would leave Ayuthay leaderless and without direction for quite some time. With Ayuthay out of the way and, in extension, Passaj, the McCoys could continue their expansion without fear of any outside intervention.

As reasonable as it may sound, it was just a theory and all that Amiti could do was write down deployment orders to keep an eye on Bilibin.

With that out of the way, all that the young king had to do now was…well…ruling stuff. Other then reports of search parties and deployment orders, Amiti had a different stack of papers that needed to be viewed. Progress reports on construction, updates on the kingdom's treasury, trade agreements that needed to be signed, and there was even a note to remind him that an ambassador was on the way from Kalay and should be arriving within the next week.

As uneasy as the peace may be, it was peace nonetheless and all that Amiti had to worry about nowadays was to make sure that he still had enough foodstuffs for his people and enough money to not only rebuild what Kaocho destroyed but also to expand. His social interactions were restricted to his advisors and the occasional ambassadors, a sharp contrast to his adventuring friends and the monsters that they would have to dispatch. As boring as it was, Amiti couldn't complain; Ayuthay was growing larger and more prosperous then it had been two years ago. Between the activation of the Alchemy Well and Passaj's Alchemy Forge, the trade agreements, the threat of Kaocho extinguished, Bilibin's conquests on hold, and the friendly ties with other countries both human and beastmen alike, Ayuthay was on its way to a golden age.

And then the assassin. A Proxian assassin. As Amiti took each report, carefully read them over, and signed his name – or left it to the side to review it for another time -, the thought kept pounding into his concentration over and over again.

His eyes trailing away from the latest treasury report, he instead looked to some other items that crowded his desk. To be exact, three maps that were carefully laid out on the side with a couple scribbles and notes written all over them while, piled on top of those, were about half a dozen hardcover books. The maps displayed detailed pictures of Weyard's continents while the first five books were of the Sun Saga. The sixth book was older; the cover broken and battered, the pages worn and torn, and one of the only books that had been saved from Ayuthay's library before Kaocho had burned it to the ground. Not to mention the only book that had anything to say about Proxians.

It was too much of a coincidence that Amiti would be having dreams of Prox with the latest and most vivid one having occurred on the same night that he was attacked by an assassin that happened to be a Proxian. And so he was turning to children's books and an encyclopedia that was probably older then all of Ayuthay to find any information he could about Prox while Ayuthay's brightest scholars sought to accurately locate where the village could be found after thirty years of Weyard's shifting continents. It was a problem that Amiti and his friends had encountered before when trying to discern the location of the Umbra Gear but Karis, the brightest of their group, had been able to figure it out in a day.

A large X that had been written on one of the maps marked the spot and Amiti felt like that one letter was taunting him. The young king couldn't lie to himself: he wanted to go to Prox.

But he couldn't. He was Ayuthay's king and his duties were to his kingdom and his people. Other than his attention being needed on construction, he had to be available if an emergency of any kind was to arise. Going to Prox was not only unwise but dangerous. There was a reason why there was so little information about Prox and it was simply that no one goes to Prox. Ever since the Warriors of Vale lit the Mars Lighthouse, very few – if any – people went to Prox. The ferocious reputation of Proxian warriors kept pillagers and curious travelers away and, from what Amiti had heard, any scholars that had wished to learn about Prox, its people, or the Mars Lighthouse had been flat-out rejected and even driven from Prox.

But he needed to go. Whether it was to relive his adventuring days from two years ago, concern about possible hostilities with Prox, or just simple curiosity, Amiti felt a desire to go to Prox. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he felt as if this was something he had to do. The dreams, the assassin, and his parentage; they were all pointing towards Prox. There were answers to be found at Prox that weren't just about the identity or the intentions of the assassin. Answers that could put to rest the uncertainties that plagued his soul.

Uncertainties that had been with him ever since Matthew and his friends first came to Ayuthay. When the lies had first been revealed while the truth eluded him.

Amiti took a long, slow look at the gathered maps and books, then back at the reports that he had yet to read and sign. These were his options. He could go, find the answers he was looking for, and come back to rule as he should. It would only take weeks, a month at most. Or he could stay and continue to lead his people and rule as he was destined to, but all with that one question weighing upon his heart and mind.

Just who was Amiti?

Xxxxxxxx

If there was one person that Amiti had never wanted to displease other then Paithos, it was Charlotte. When Veriti had passed away, falling to an illness shortly after Amiti's birth, Paithos had been forced to handle the responsibilities of the crown. Charlotte had been Paithos's closest advisor and had been invaluable when Amiti's uncle was first settling into the role of king. She had been around for every major event that had happened in the last twenty-five years; the start of the Alchemy Well, Amiti's birth, Veriti's death, Kaocho's siege, the Grave Eclipse, Paithos's death, and Amiti's ascension.

These events and just politics in general had been responsible for the gray that has overtaken the black of her long hair. Though stern and dedicated to her work, Charlotte had nonetheless been a beautiful woman in her day. She still was in a way. Despite how she had more gray then black in her hair, her flesh having become worn, her eyes tired and sunken, there was nonetheless a strength to her character that allowed her to remain upright, shoulders straight, and her eyes to remain hard and searching for any hint of danger or opportunity for Ayuthay.

There had been suitors but she had never married and never had any children. She was simply too dedicated to her job and thought of married life not only as a burden but a complication that she did not need as she knew her lifestyle would be unfair to any husband or child that would come into her life. So when Amiti had been growing up, he had been the one and only child that she would ever place on her lap, her stern demeanor morphing into one of care and adoration when Amiti would stare and gurgle happily at her. He was probably the closest thing to a son that she would ever have and she the closest thing he would have to a mother.

But that wasn't saying much. They had been friends, perhaps moreso then most, but their relationship had never gone beyond that. Their interactions were few and, due to their duties, brief. For Charlotte there was always the politics concerning Ayuthay and the constant shifts and changes going on with all of Weyard while Amiti was to be properly tutored and trained for the day that he would take the throne.

However, he still felt guilty upon looking at the brown eyes that were now narrowed and the frown that was permanently etched onto her face.

"This is ridiculous," she stated flatly.

Straight up and to the point; Amiti liked that about her. She didn't tip-toe around issues like most politicians and instead attacked them head-on. That's probably why she had tended to butt heads with the other political advisors but right now Amiti found it as a relief.

"It is," Amiti replied as he went to his closet, picked the heaviest and warmest cloak that he could find, and then stuffed it in his pack that was already more than half full.

"In all my life there has never been a year, nonetheless two, where we've had such few problems," Charlotte continued. "Always a death in the royal family, always an expanding empire that threatens us with hostility, always a meeting that could give us even more enemies if we do it wrong. The last two years have been the most prosperous and peaceful years that both myself and Ayuthay had seen since before you were born. And now you want to ruin all of that with this foolish quest of yours?"

"There's certainly the potential if things go wrong." The Masamune was already belted and sheathed at his waist. Taking a standard Ayuthay dagger that was on his desk, Amiti unsheathed the weapon, taking a look at the reflective and unscarred surface of the blade, and then sheathed it before sticking that at his side as well. "I don't expect them to though."

"No one ever does. But then again I don't even know where you're going!"

"It's probably best that you don't."

"What am I going to tell people?"

Amiti shrugged and figured that this nonchalant attitude of his probably wasn't doing much good for Charlotte's nerves. "That I'm on a secret diplomatic mission. Isn't that the usual excuse that kings like to use?"

"And what if a crisis were to arise? What am I supposed to do when you're not around?"

"I trust that you'll be able to know what to do," Amiti assured and he was telling the truth. If there was anyone that Amiti thought was capable of handling Ayuthay while he was away – as well as someone he trusted so completely – it was Charlotte. "I won't be gone long. A couple weeks, a month at most. What could possibly happen in that short amount of time?"

"You have no idea," Charlotte replied and she actually hissed those words out. "I may not know where you're going but I do have my suspicions. This has to do with the assassin doesn't it? The Proxian?"

Here, with his hand on a batch of herbs, Amiti hesitated, wondering how much he should tell her. He was trying to keep secrecy not only because Charlotte would outright refuse to let him go if she knew where he was going, but he was worried about any leaks. Though he trusted Charlotte with his life, leaks happened and he didn't want the assassin or some Kaocho remnant forces to catch wind of where he was going.

"There's more to it than that," he finally replied as he shoved the herbs into his pack. "This is something that I have to do. Please at least understand that."

"I don't," Charlotte replied with that same disapproving flatness. "Especially why now? You are the last of your family and you're deciding to go on this adventure while you have an assassin still alive and hired to kill you."

"He didn't kill me," Amiti pointed out.

"He didn't kill you that time," she countered. "You might not be so lucky if there does end up being a rematch. And you're not even going to have guards with you though I can't possibly understand why! You're not even taking a carriage or a ship!"

"Don't worry about my travel arrangements." Of course, if Charlotte did know about Amiti's true travel arrangements, she would probably leave and bolt the door to his room closed this instant. When he had decided to go on this journey, Amiti had sent a letter to a certain pirate king. Though Amiti and Eoleo had learned to get on friendlier terms during their journey with the Grave Eclipse, Charlotte would no doubt have a fit at the idea of Ayuthay's king being on the ship of a pirate.

Eoleo didn't know what Amiti was asking of him either. All that Amiti had written down on that letter was that he required a favor of Eoleo that involved the use of his ship and he would pay whatever price that pirate king named for this favor. Amiti figured that the gold – and having a king owe him one – would make this irresistible for Eoleo. That would, of course, depend on if Eoleo wasn't as horrified at the idea of going to Prox as everyone else seemed to be.

"At least tell me where you're going." Here, the flat, disapproving tone of Charlotte's was replaced with something else that caused Amiti's heart to twist: desperation and worry. "At least tell me that you're not going anywhere dangerous. Tell me that you'll be safe."

When Amiti turned to face Charlotte, he found her stern look replaced with the worry that he knew she was feeling and again he felt guilty. But he forced it down and, looking at her steadily, he said, "Charlotte, please, I want you to trust me. I want you to trust in the fact that you're the one person in this entire kingdom that I would never want to disappoint. I also want you to trust in me. We've known each other for so many years now and I know that you're worried sick, but I want you to trust that I know what I'm doing. I need to do this."

Despite the assurance and his sincerity, Charlotte still looked as if she was being betrayed by Amiti's decision and the young king felt a stab at his chest. He had so few friends nowadays, true friends, and with Matthew, Karis, and the others being busy with their own families and duties, Amiti desperately wanted to keep Charlotte's regard. He did not want her to look so betrayed but again there was that need to do this that drove Amiti onwards.

When Charlotte slowly approached, Amiti wasn't sure what she would do. So when he felt her arms encircle him before she pulled him against her, he was caught completely off guard. Charlotte had hardly showed such affection and, lacking any kind of mother in his life, Amiti felt uncomfortable and downright strange with this contact. Nonetheless, he returned the hug, holding her tight and she, him for several seconds before it was Charlotte that pulled away.

"Just come back safe and sound," Charlotte replied as she looked down at him with sad eyes. "Please. For once I want to be the one to outlive a member of the royal family."

Swallowing against a knot that had formed at his throat, Amiti nodded in confirmation. "I promise that I will come back. And if this ends as I hope it will, I will be able to be a better king to you and everyone else."

That, at least, seemed to assure Charlotte. If only a little.

Xxxxxxxx

Author's Note: Like I said, not much dialogue and It was one of the reasons why it took a while to get this chapter up. But now that we got more of our friends coming to play (such as Eoleo), I don't expect this to be too much of a problem anymore! Well, time to get to sleep and think about the next chapter. See ya folks!