…I'm on a roll with this thing. Right, here's the new chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, then Kratos should've stayed with his kid and, oh I don't know, HUG HIM!

(Edit: The chapter's fixed up.)

All he could see around him is darkness. Deep, un-impetrating darkness; he wasn't able to see three inches in front of him.

There was a presence somewhere in the darkness. He couldn't exactly see it, nor feel it, but he knew it's there. For some reason, this presence…unsettled him. He didn't know why though.

Suddenly, he felt something behind him. He turned swiftly on his heel-

And he could only let out a gasp of shock as he saw some…undistinguishable thing before him. He couldn't tell what it is, though he could barely see its outline in its red aura. He took a step back, then another but he suddenly felt something around his neck. He instinctively tried to pry it off but – to his horror – his feet soon found themselves on nothing, and his legs dangled. He squirmed, kicking his legs as he tried to get himself free from…whatever it is that's got a grip on him.

He soon turned his dark eyes onto the thing that held him, staring into what he assumed to be its eyes. Despite the grip the…thing had on him – more so when it decided to tighten its grip – he glared back at it in defiance.

Then, it said:

"You shouldn't have been born."

Before he felt something sharp go through his chest-

Yuri gasped out as he shot up from his bed, panting to calm his beating heart as he patted around for the wound. Finding none, he sighed, then flopped back onto the mattress. "Great, now weird ass dreams…?" He muttered, closing his eyes.

To be honest, this isn't the first time where he had a…strange – that's the best he could describe it – dream. Growing up, he often had dreams where he felt a…presence. Most of the time, it was a warm, familiar presence; other times, it was another, unfamiliar one, yet, somehow it was still…warm.

And yet…somehow this presence is…different; not like the other two where they were warm and…made him feel…safe. This one, however, is dark, malicious even; as if it wanted to kill him. Sure there are other things that tried to kill him – Alexei's Royal Guard, the Hunting Blades (on occasion), Leviathan's Claw, and the occasional monster that invest the world. But…for some reason he's getting a feeling that this…thing is not from Terca Lumireis. And that unnerved him.

Speaking of other things that unnerved him… he thought as he opened his grey orbs and looked around him. Karol was dead to the world, his limbs sprawled out as he lightly snored – he could even see a bit of drool coming out of his mouth (despite the fact that his sight is better than anyone else's). Rita is on her side, her book clutched in her arms and she muttered some things in her sleep – and he didn't want to be around when she started to cast her spells in her sleep on accident (again). Judy looked calm even in her sleep – and he randomly wondered if her antennae would feel sore after sleeping on them – and was pretty started to see her violet-blue hair down instead of its usual bun. Finally, he looked down at his feet to see Repede with his legs sticking up in the air, his tongue out – and on occasion, the warrior dog's leg would kick, and he would make a content whine; it seemed he was having a good dream (not like he can try to ask the dog himself).

He smiled a little at the others sleeping and looked up at the window. From what he could see, the sky started to light up, signaling the coming dawn.

…In a matter of a few hours, they'll head to Zaude and confront the ex-Commandant. Once more, anxiety took hold of him. And questions like 'what if they failed to stop Alexei?' and 'What exactly is Zaude?' There are a lot of question he had, yet he had so little answers.

Well, right now, who cares? They'll just go there, kick his ass and stop whatever the hell he was going to do. And if something is going to stop them, there's going to be hell to pay-

He flinched when he realized he had thought about 'them'.

Meaning Estelle.

Sure he wanted the whole group there…but, to be honest, he didn't want Estelle to go with them. The girl had gone through enough horrors with Alexei – he isn't sure if her going with them would make her feel worse. The bastard did make her use her Child of the Full Moon powers to blast them away and made her fight against them – he was just lucky that he still had Estelle's memento of her mother to help her regain her senses. But, still…it was hard on all of them. They all don't want to hurt her…and he – really – didn't want to end her life. He knew he was facing that worst case scenario on their way back to Zaphias…but, to be honest, he never wanted to kill her – no matter how much she begged.

He never, never, wanted to do harm on his friends. He'd rather cut his arms a thousand times than to do that.

But…there are some things that he wanted to keep a secret from them. The group finding out what he had done to Ragou and Cumore is one thing, but…what happened last night…

He sighed, closing his eyes as he recalled the conversation he had with Flynn before he headed to bed…

"What?" The blonde exclaimed as the dark haired male but his shirt on. "You wanted to keep this a secret?"

"Well yeah," Yuri replied, focusing on dressing himself, "This is kind of personal Flynn. I don't want to add any more crap on our plate."

"Yuri, your friends have the right to know about what is going on with you," the Commandant said, as Yuri adjusted the sleeves of his shirt – the dark haired man decided to leave the vest off for now.

"Uh, you did say that you were weirded out by the appearance of the wings," Yuri reminded him, feeling the somewhat wet (and sticky) stain on the back – Flynn told him that it was his blood that was on there – and continued with, "How exactly do you think they'll react when they see them?" He shuddered as he thought about what Rita might do when she sees them. No doubt that she'll demand to test them or something.

"Hm…that is true…" The blonde trailed off. "But…you do realize that they'll find out eventually."

At that, the dark haired man paused. "…Yeah, I guess you're right," he admitted. "But, here's the deal: Don't tell anyone about this, alright? I'll…" he sighed, "I'll tell them when…when I'm ready."

He didn't have to see the blonde to know that he nodded. "Alright," he said, "Preferably after the whole mess with Alexei is over."

Yuri paused by the door before muttering "Yeah," before he left…

Once he was out of his memories, he sighed then looked around at his friends once more – well, those that are around them; Estelle probably went to sleep in her room (since it's literally been a while since she was last there) while the Old Man is snoozing away in the jail. And, for some reason, he felt…self-conscious. What would his friends think of him when they see the wings? Would they still accept him? Reject him? He felt this odd fear in his chest at the thought of rejection-

He shook his head. Dammit, it's not the time to think about random thoughts! Just…think about something else for a change like-

The growl of his stomach seemed louder thanks to his…super ears.

But he was thankful for the distraction. And, hey, it's still early – maybe he could train a little before they head off to Zaude.

With that in mind, he pulled on his vest, belt and boots – his eyes lingered onto the Bodhi Blastia before he took it with a bit of hesitance along with his katana (and Dein Nomos) – and silently left the room. Well, as silently as he could, Repede would hear him still. But luck was on his side when the dog decided to stay asleep.

As he walked towards the cafeteria – the hallway devoid of knights at the moment – he felt an itch on his back; no, in his back. He grimaced. Aw crap, now the wings are making his back feel funny. He looked around to see if there's anyone around – once he's sure he's alone, he closed his eyes, concentrating on making them appear. He let out a sigh of relief as they just…slid out gently; not bursting from his back painfully. He didn't know why but…somehow it felt wrong to keep them confined. As weird as it sounds, it somehow…he didn't know, but he knew it felt wrong. He was fortunate that his clothes weren't on when they appeared – he didn't think he could explain the two large holes on the back of his shirt and vest.

Wait…

Momentarily forgetting about breakfast at the moment, he looked over at the bluish-purple wings as they just…flapped behind him. He wondered…could he…fly?

"Only one way to find out," he muttered, instinctively withdrawing the wings – just in case if there's anyone coming down the hall – as he made his way down the hall towards the training grounds.

When he got there, the place is deserted. Good. He immediately called the wings back out and looked back at them. Okay…how could he try to fly? It's not really every day that someone else suddenly sprouted wings and teach newbies to fly. The only ones that could are birds, bird monsters – except for the Axe Beak family – and a couple of Entelexia.

…Well, he might as well improvise – he did the same thing with how he fights and with Tiger Blade and Dragon Swarm.

Besides, how hard could it be?

A few minutes later, he is eating those words when he tried – for what felt like the fiftieth time – to try to stay afloat. Well, more like flapping his wings madly and gaining no success. He panted heavily over the effort of doing so, sweat running down his face. Above him, he could swear the crows are mocking him, cawing away like they were laughing. He glared death at the black, dirty feathered birds.

"Shut the hell up!" He ordered them, realizing how ridiculous it sounds. Yuri tried to ignore them by turning around and flapped the wings madly again. He was up by a few inches-

Until his strength gave out and, landing wrong on his feet, he fell flat on his face. Growling, he pushed himself up from the ground, muttering profanities (the kind where Estelle would force the male to sleep in the dirt if she ever caught him saying them) under his breath, when he suddenly noticed that a couple of crows have landed before him. He looked at them dryly. "…Came down here to insult me personally, huh?"

The birds seemed to ignore him as the one in front of him started to…move its wings around. Yuri just watched the bird as it does the strange motion with a raised brow. With his enhanced hearing, he could hear the feathers push against the wind…the said wing blowing a bit from the motion of being pushed against…

Wait. Is...the crow showing him how it's done? As strange as the thought, he couldn't help but watch as the other crow demonstrated by doing the same motion as the first crow, managing to lift off the ground and flew towards the roof. It hopped in place to look back down at him with its beady black eyes before cawing at him. He looked back down at the first one to see it do the same as the second one and flew up next to it and turned to look back down at him.

The dark haired man seemed to have got the message as he slowly stood up and looked back at the wings. He took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled slowly through the mouth. He did the same as the crows – drawing in more air this time – and managed to get a couple of feet off the ground. His grey eyes widened in awe for a bit before he looked up at the roof where the other two crows were at. He set his mouth into a determined flat line before he leaned forward-

"Whoa!" He let out when he found himself rolling in the air. The swordsman gritted his teeth when he heard the crows – seemingly – laugh at him again. He jerked forward as he tried to straighten himself, nearly losing some altitude in the process.

Once he had regained balance he took in a breath again. 'Okay, okay…' He mentally muttered before he decided to try again – only this time, by leaning a little. Yuri had gotten himself into the direction he want – grinning fiercely at the achievement – and slowly flew to where the crows are. Once his feet set foot onto the roof, he looked down at the two birds next to him, feeling somewhat winded. For some reason, he had a feeling that they were smirking in satisfaction. "…You guys are smarter than you look," he muttered, dumbfounded and held a new respect – somewhat – for these feathered creatures.

The crows just cawed and they flew off. He sighed a little and looked back at the wings. Well, so far so good…

Now here comes the hard part.

A few more minutes later, he thought that his grin might've split his face in half. "Woo-hoo!" He hooted, feeling the wind against his face, feeling absolutely giddy, above Zaphias's castle. He laughed wildly as he flew up higher, pass the symbol above the 'sword's' point, and flew around it once. Man, this is awesome! More awesome than- well, he isn't sure what's more awesome, but still! This felt ten times better than any battle he had gone through! Such adrenaline! He never felt this sort of rush in all of his life! He flew near the clouds and reached out to touch them. They slid through his fingers, and he could feel the moist trapped within them. Damn! He didn't have the pleasure to do this when they were riding on Ba'ul!

Flying near the castle, he quickly noticed Tweedle A and Tweedle B walking down the hall from the window. Smiling evilly, he floated near the other window and knocked on it just as they were in front of it, standing on the sill and withdrew his wings. They barely glanced at the window before doing a double take and stared at him, their eyes wide in shock. Tweedle A's visor comically fell over his face. He just smirked, waved at them, and fell back. He quickly pulled out his wings and flew out of sight, just as he heard them open the window to look out and try to look for him.

"I say! Did you see that? ?" That was Tweedle A.

"I-I did! But how is it possible for Yuri Lowell to be out here? ?" And there's Tweedle B.

He chuckled wildly to himself. "Morons," he muttered before he went back to his flying spree.

Oh man, this is such an exhilarating feeling! He never had such greater freedom like this! The wind in his hair…the feel of the clouds on his body…this felt a lot better than riding on Ba'ul (no offense to the giant, whale-like Entelexia). Somehow…a part of him felt…complete. Feeling absolutely alive! This is-!

"YURI!"

He flinched, nearly falling from the sky when he heard the voice. But his blood couldn't help but run cold when he recognized it.

It was Estelle.

"YURI! WHERE ARE YOU? ?"

Oh crap! She's looking for him! He can't let her see the wings! Or anyone else! He looked around quickly and spotted the training ground. He flew over to it quickly and landed on the ground, and made the wings vanish. He spotted his katana and quickly ran over to it, grabbing it and put his hand over the hilt.

Just in time to hear heels clacking against marble-

And the pink haired princess came in from around the corner. "Oh, there are you Yuri," she said, looking relieved – and Repede just walked around the corner, calmly. "I was looking for you," she added as she and Repede went over to the dark haired male.

"Really." Already, he put on his usual façade; he can't let the princess know what's wrong.

"Yes," she nodded, "I heard from Adecor and Boccos that they've saw you outside. But…how did you…?" She tilted her head, as if she couldn't comprehend the strangeness of it.

"Who knows," he said, putting on his usual grins. "I think those two are finally going senile like the Old Man."

"Yuri…" The princess lightly scolded him.

He shrugged. "Not my fault if their eyes are going."

Estelle shook her head a little, a small smile on her face. "We should go and meet the others," she said, "They should be awake by now, and hungry," she added, her smile widening.

Yuri couldn't help but smile back. 'It was as if what happened with Alexei didn't occur at all…'

"Alright, alright, we better go and meet with the others," the dark haired male said, "Knowing Rita, she'll probably try to blast me six ways to next week for being late."

"…Can she do that?"

He sighed. "Not really." Even after all this time, she still couldn't understand them.

The way she tilted her head in confusion didn't help much. He lightly shook his head. "Never mind, let's go."

As the three of them walked down the halls, he felt Estelle look up at him with her green eyes. "Yuri, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"…How come you're not wearing your Bodhi Blastia?" He nearly stopped when she asked that question.

Oh crap, he forgot to put it on, didn't he? He didn't let the panic appear on his face, though and smoothly said, "Yeah, I was kinda training without it. If my enemies took the Blastia from me, I'd be put at a disadvantage." His sweat from earlier enforced his lie.

Estelle hummed a little. "I think you have a point there." Whew, she bought it. He hated lying to her about what he was really doing; but…he felt uncomfortable to tell her that. He looked over at Repede, to see him looking up at him with his single blue-green eye. Yuri had a feeling that the dog knew what was wrong with him. They've been together for four years since he left the Imperial Knights, so…he supposed that would make sense.

He assured the princess that he'll put the Blastia back on later as soon as everyone is finished.

However…the unease that he had felt last night is back. And…

Why couldn't he shake off that something bad is going to happen? Something much worse?

He hopes it's just him...

~o~

"Lord Yggdrasill."

The Higher Seraphim turned his attention to an angel that had flown in. "What is it?"

"We have located the angel," she reported.

He smirked darkly. "Excellent. Where is it located?"

"We have managed to locate the angel on the world called 'Terca Lumireis'."

He raised a yellow brow. Terca Lumireis? He hadn't heard that name over twenty years ago. And an angel on that Aer invested world…? How is that possible? Somehow, something doesn't seem right…

"What is our next order, Lord Yggdrasill?" The black feathered angel asked, her gaze blank – much like all the others.

The blonde went silent for a moment, thinking. Then he made another dark smirk. "You dismissed."

"Yes sir," she bowed robotically, then flew off, not questioning her orders – as she and the others were programed to do.

As for himself…

His vibrant, pinkish-purple wings appeared from his back as he moved off of his throne, making his way towards a particular room. The smirk he had on his face is still present.

For he had an angel to find, confront…and – in a worst case scenario – possibly kill them…if this angel becomes a likely threat.

~o~

"Oi! Flynn!"

The blonde paused before the entrance toward the exit in the public quarter and turned to the source – along with Sodia and Witcher – to see Hanks running up to them.

"Hanks, what is it?" The blonde queried when the elder man got near them.

The elder man had to stop and hunch over a little to catch his breath, his hand over his chest. He barely caught Hanks muttering, "I'm getting too old for this…" before the elder straightened himself. "You're going after Yuri, aren't you Flynn?" It wasn't a question, the blonde knew; Hanks knows the two of them well enough.

"Of course," the blonde nodded, "Someone else had to look out for him."

Not like he had any faith in Yuri's friends. Yet there's also the fact that Lady Estellise had gone after them – sometime after breakfast when they left – and, as a knight, it's his duty to protect everyone he could. And, as the new Commandant, that responsibility increased.

"I see…" The elder man sighed a little. "That Yuri…he's much like his mother in a way." The blonde blinked. That's the first he had ever heard about Yuri's mother. "Which reminds me…" Hanks trailed off as he dug around in his pocket.

He shared a look with his – newly appointed – Captain and magician and looked back at the elder man, just as he pulled something out. "Here it is! It's a good thing I thought about taking this with me with the whole fiasco around here before things returned to normal yesterday."

The blonde blinked again when he saw what it is. "A letter?"

"Yes," Hanks confirmed with a nod, "I meant to give this to Yuri earlier, but that lad was in such a rush. It was almost as if he didn't want Miss Estelle to go with them."

He heard Sodia scoff a little. "Leave it to him to be rude even to elders…" The Commandant ignored it as he thought about what Hanks had said. A letter...to Yuri? But…who could have…?

"…May I inquire who it was from?" He cautiously – and politely – asked.

"It's from his mother." Hanks' answer made him do a take in shock. A letter; from Yuri's mom? First the memento and now this letter?

"His…mother, Hanks?" He asked slowly, as if he isn't sure if he could believe it.

"That's right." Well, that answered his question. "She asked me to give this to Yuri as soon as he's old enough before she passed away." The elder sighed. "Such a shame, really…Yuri was barely a year old when it happened."

…Why is it lately that he's finding out some more things he didn't know previously about his friend? First the wings, and now this… What next? His real father is actually from another world, and the source of the wings Yuri has now? He knew that part was unlikely, but…

"Anyway," Hanks' voice brought him out of his thoughts, "I had a favor to ask of you: Can you deliver this to Yuri? You are going to the same place he's going, right?"

Flynn automatically nodded. "Of course," he said as he delicately took the envelope – it looked really old – and looked over it, and the signature that says 'Yuri'.

…Strange, it looked…a bit too neat to be written by someone from the lower quarter…

"And one more thing, Flynn," he looked back at the elder man as he looked over the new Commandant. The blonde could see that the elder man had a glint in his eye – like he was proud of the young Commandant, but…he seemed a bit…sad somehow. "Just promise me that you two get back safely. You two are like a part of our ever expanding family, y'know."

Somehow, that sentence touched Flynn's heart, and he felt his cheeks heat up a little. "And also," the elder added, "don't do anything crazy over there, you hear? Especially Yuri."

Knowing Yuri, that's likely to happen, the blonde thought as he straightened out. "Of course," he nodded, "I'll make sure that Yuri and I will come back, safe and sound. I promise." ...Why did he have a feeling he wouldn't keep that promise...?

Hanks smiled. "I know you will." With that, the elder man left the three of them to return to the other people of the lower quarter, to fix up the mess that occurred when Co- Alexei abused Lady Estellise's power.

The young Commandant looked over at the letter, and was reminded of the weight of the music box in his pack. There are now two promises he had to fulfill. With a nod, he tucked the letter with the music box and looked over at his two, faithful companions. "Let's go," he spoke up, and the three left Zaphias.

A while later, Flynn found himself standing at the deck of the Imperial Warships, a lot of them on their way towards the structure that he risen from deep in the ocean brought out by Alexei. As he looked out over the horizon, something…disturbed him.

It was as if that something is going to go horribly, horribly wrong there…

And – unknown to him, Yuri had the exact same feeling – he couldn't shake off this unease that settled into his heart.

He hoped it was just him...

WAH! ANOTHER SHORT ONE! …What's WRONG with me?

For those of you who played Tales of Vesperia and had completed Zaude…shit is about to hit the fan; and it is where the change is about to occur.

…And seriously, would you be giddy too if you can just fly around for the hell of it? I actually had a bit of fun writing Yuri's 'flying lesson'.

Reviews make me happy. So…leave one here, please? *tries to make puppy eyes, but fails epically*

(Fixed this up; in my own face!)