Hey everyone! I'm soooo sorry about the wait for this next chapter. Three things of relative hinderance occured: firstly, the dreaded system 32 murdered my pc, so i had to delete everything and reinstall it all. Secondly, me moving back in with my folks turned out to not be such an awesome idea (big news) so i've been preparing to move yet again and lastly was totally my fault; i dislocated my arm putting a hoodie on...i suck, i know :/ Anyway, i'm all better now, as is my PC (Kinda) and good news is i've had the time to map out like half of the entire plot for this story. I'll be suprised if i have any reader left but hey ho ^^ Here goes...

Part Three - Out of the Frying Pan

The room was gigantic. Made of the most brilliant crystal, it stood as the largest and most impressive room of the aptly named 'Crystal Tower'. The false master of this tainted tower lay on its cold floor, his blood pooling around him. Luneth looked upon him with mild relief and a profound sense of guilt. Though it meant saving the world, killing still didn't sit right with him. He was snapped out of his trance by something in the corner of his eye.

"Oh God, no!" He saw Ingus fall to his knees, a thin veil of smoke rising from his shoulders. Ingus had allowed a spell to hit him so that Luneth and the others could gain the upper hand. Luneth rushed over to him, catching him, but stumbling under the older boy's weight.

"Ingus! A-are you alright?" Luneth desperately scanned his friend's face until his saw him wince.

"L-luneth," He struggled onto his side. "I'm f-fine!" He hissed as he attempted to move. "where are the o-others?" Luneth's eyes widened as he scanned the room. His attention was drawn to a sound coming from closest wall. It was the sound of sobbing. Refia had her hands held to a huge wound in the abdomen of Arc, who was leaned against the wall, his eyes misty and lifeless. She was sobbing as she cast spell after spell to try and save her friend.

"No! Arc!" Luneth dashed over to him, falling to his knees and sliding to his best friend's side. "Refia, let me see." He wimpered, his voice weak.

"N-no! I can still save him! She sobbed. Luneth moved her aside and saw the blood. He saw the wound. He saw his breath caught in his chest...he saw the death in his eyes. Luneth gasped and fell backwards, the vacuum being filled hastilly by refia, who continued her hysterical attempts at revival. Luneth turned his head to see that Ingus had become very still. 'Not Ingus...' He thought. He collapsed on the cold, crystal floor, his eyes clouded by tears. He shifted his leg and felt something press against it inside his pocket. He drew it out and saw a small phial, containing a flouresent liquid. Realisation struck him. "I can save them," he murmered as he scrambled to his feet. "I can save them!" He pointed his hand at ingus. If this was to work then it needed to be fast! "I'm so sorry but i have to...Aero!" a sudden gust of wind blasted Ingus from the ground, catapulting him towards refia and Arc. With speed befitting that of an Onion Knight, he dashed over to where Ingus would land and threw the phial at the ground, enveloping the four in a bright cloud. He couldnt see or hear a thing. Every fibre of him was certain that the fog would clear to reveal the bodies of his friends and refia sobbing amongst them, but he so loved those rare occasions when he was wrong. A pair of strong arms pulled at his waist, dragging him out the cloud. Before he could orientate himself, he was staring into Ingus' bright blue eyes.

"I owe you my life, Luneth." He said softly as he hugged him tight. Luneth closed his eyes tight and held on to Ingus.

"I...i just couldn't bear the thought of you not being there any more." He whimpered into his shoulder. He drew back and saw the blush on His older friend's face.

"Don't you ever tire of saving me, Luneth?" A familiar voice sounded to the right of them. Luneth turned his head to see Arc standing there, an ear-to-ear grin on his face. "Those megaelixirs are something else, huh?" Before the sentence had properly left his mouth a hand slapped him across the face. A hand belonging to a distraught Refia. "Hey! What was that fo-"

"You just died and now you're laughing and joking?" Refia whimpered, tears streaming down her face. "Ingus, i'd slap you too but you might drop Luneth!" She wailed as she collapsed to her knees. Ingus, now realising he was still holding Luneth, put him down and tried not to let him see the blush that had crept across his face. The three gathered round refia, safe in the knowledge that they had made it. If only that had been true. They thought the nightmare had ended there...but it was just the start.

"No!" Luneth sat bolt upright, throwing his arms forward and holding on for dear life. He was sweating and the corners of his eyes were wet with tears. "Help!" He whimpered as he buried his head into soft fabric.

"Woah, woah! Easy buddy!" He felt gentle arms wrap around him, one of them holding the back of his head. Luneth sobbed into the chest of whoever was holding him. "Calm down, it's okay. It's all okay, Luneth. Open your eyes." The familiar voice said softly into his ear. Luneth felt himself calming down so he drew back and opened his eyes, ashamed to look up because of the lack of control he had shown. He slowly looked up to see a pair of deep, concerned eyes staring back at him. the owner of the eyes bought his tail up next to his face and swayed it from side to side to mimic waving. "Hi." He said quietly. a smile raced across Luneth's lips as he looked at Zidane, his eyes burning with the fire of excitement.

"Zidane!" He yelled as he threw himself forward again, but this time stopping halfway and wincing at an intense pain in his stomach. "Ah!" He yelped. Zidane, who had been sitting on the edge of his bed leapt forwards and slowly lowered Luneth into a lying position.
"Hey, take it easy!" Zidane said as he settled Luneth against the pillow. Making sure he was comfy, Zidane then sat at a wooden chair that was next to the bed and looked upon his new friend. Luneth tilted his head and stared back at him.

"Where are we?" Luneth asked as he surveyed the room. the two boys were in a lavish bedroom with intimidating stone walls and a luxury silk-lined bed. "What happened to me?"

"Well, that's a long story-" zidane was cut off as the large, wooden door to the room creaked open. The two stared at it in interest but nobody entered. Zidane sighed and rolled his eyes. "I know you're there, Bartz! I can smell you." Luneth looked at Zidane in confusion.

"You remembered my smell?" a brown-haired boy entered the room, looking disturbed. "That's kinda creepy, Zidane." Bartz's attention was drawn to the bed, where a young boy was watching them in acute interest. "Oh, he's awake!" Bartz scrambled back to the door, nearly tripping over himself. "He's awake!" He shouted into the corridor. "Luneth's awake!" He reentered the room and walked around to the other side of Luneth's bed. "Hi, i'm Bartz! Nice to meetcha, Luneth!" He stuck his hand out to the speechless Luneth, who looked down at it to see him withdraw it slightly. "Wait...you can't smell me too can you?" he asked, dusting himself down.

"Why are you so wierd?" Zidane piped up from the other side of the bed. Bartz scowled at him and stuck his hand out again. Luneth took it and shook, still trying to find the words.

"H-how do you know my name?" Luneth asked softly. Bartz shot a look over to zidane, who began to shift uncomfortably in his chair.

"Zidane told us, of course!" He gave a sincere smile as he walked back over to the other side of the bed and leaned towards the tailed boy. "He told us and told us and told us...ouch!" He was cut off as Zidane elbowed him in the ribs.

"I-i was worried, is all! didn't want you to die because of me. Well, i didn't want you to die at all...obviously." He started to stumble in conversation, much to Bartz's delight.

"Oh, i hear the others coming!" Bartz exclaimed as he exited the room to meet them, leaving the two alone. Luneth tilted his head towards Zidane, his expression showing how confused he was. Zidane gave him an 'all-will-be-explained-in-time' look and a weak little smile. Luneth smiled back at him and gasped as he felt something soft brush against his side. Zidane blushed and brought his tail out from under the sheets, holding it with one of his hands.
"sorry," He mouthed. "It has a mind of it's own!" He explained. They were interupted by the door swinging open once again, granting entry to three new faces. It had begun.

Well there we go! Please tell me what you think, if there are any of you left that is . Anyways more very soon i promise ^^

Peace out,

-SPoP